Work Text:
Groaning, March sat on the grass, arms resting on his knees.
Man I’m getting old…
Sighing, March reached into his pocket, pulling out a small velvet box, rubbing it with his thumb. He felt silly, being this worked up about something. He’s done it before! It should be easier the second time around. Well, it was in a way. He at least knew the answer that he was getting. It brought a strange sort of comfort.
“You know, it was weird going to an AA meeting again, I haven't been to one in decades. I saw a familiar face there. Never learned her name, but I recognized her from my first meeting. We just kind of gave each other a sad smile,” he chuckled, smiling at the memory.
March took a shaky breath in, fighting back the tears.
“I didn’t relapse too badly, only a bottle or two of vodka or whatever it was. Can’t even remember now. The girl had a rough one though. We just kinda talked for a while after the meeting. We got coffee together, talked about our reasons,” he wiped his face, rubbing the box to keep his mind busy. “She lost someone close to her like I did. Her husband of 43 years. He was a carpenter, good one too, and we eventually realized that it was her husband’s company that worked on our house when it got rebuilt.”
March could feel himself begin to shake, placing the box on the base of the stone in front of him, digging his palms into his eyes. He so desperately wanted to stop the tears, but they flooded his eyes and his face. He wanted to be able to get through this. He needed to.
“You know, they finally legalized gay marriage. June 26th, you missed the big day. Could’ve been there outside the courthouse with me and Holly. She managed to drag me out there a couple days before to go sight seeing. She said she wanted to hang out, but I know she just wanted to be there when they made their decision,” he chuckled, reaching for the chain with the ring around his neck.
Sometimes he still felt guilty for wearing it after all this time, but time after time Healy had reassured him that it was fine, and that it didn’t bother him. March glanced at the tombstone in front of him, a velvet box sitting at the base. It broke his heart, and felt as if sometimes he would go insane, but at the current moment, he of course felt ok, but a strange sense of calm when he had first gotten to the cemetery.
April 29th, 2015 would forever haunt him.
It was December now, Holly had moved in to help March for a while. He had broken her heart when she came home one day to find him passed out on the couch, liquor bottle in his hand. He had apologized several times over the next day, Holly insisting she wasn’t upset, just happy it wasn’t a worse case scenario. March knew what she was implying, and it hurt it to think he had scared her that badly.
Shaking the memory from his mind, March grabbed the velvet box, leaning against the headstone.
“You know, you could’ve just said that you didn’t want to get married,” he chuckled, adding the ring in the box to the chain around his neck. “Hope you’re not talking smack about me to June. She’d join in, but still.”
March smiled weakly, closing his eyes, leaning his head back to rest against the headstone. He felt at peace, and he swore he saw Healy sitting down in front of him before he fully closed his eyes.
622 Words
Posted 8/12/2026