Chapter Text
“Marshall, since we’re not going to elope, I’ve been thinking…” Lily started, taking Marshall’s attention off the TV.
“Yeah?” Marshall gazed into Lily’s eyes. He knew it was cliche, but he could drown in them.
“I don’t want to move back in yet,” she said in a rush.
“What?!” Why could she possibly not want to love back in? What happened? Was she… tired of Marshall? But she still wanted to get married? “Why?”
“Part of the reason I left for San Francisco is because our lives are so enmeshed. We sleep together, eat together, and go out together. We’re always together and of course I love you, so it’s not a pain or anything, but soon we’ll be together forever, and I just want to enjoy the last few months before that being a little bit more separate, you know?” She grabbed Marshall’s hands and pulled him so they were fully facing each other. “Besides, I think it’ll make it more special to move in after we get married,” Lily added, rubbing her thumb along Marshall’s hand and smiling up at him.
For Lily, Marshall would do anything, of course, but “This is because Barney’s place is a lot nicer than this apartment, isn’t it?”
Lily grinned bashfully. “Maybe a little bit. He has two bedrooms and a huge living room even though he lives alone! Seriously, what does he do for work? But everything I said is still true. I’ll still be around a lot! It’ll just be like when you first moved here and I still had my own apartment, before it became a restaurant and all that.”
Marshall hummed a little, thinking it over. He couldn’t blame Lily, and she was right about it making their marriage more special. “Okay, we can do that.” He smirked. “But who knows how long you’ll last living there. Remember, your old apartment only became a restaurant because you stopped living there.”
Lily laughed and leaned fully into Marshall. “I really love you, Marshmallow.”
Marshall kissed the top of her head. “I love you too, Lilypad.”