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“Please don’t make me go to work,” Garrett moaned, burying his face in Anders’ hair.
“Hand me your phone, I’ll quit for you.”
Anders couldn’t see him, but he could feel Garrett grinning against his head. No matter how many times they had this discussion and Anders assured him he didn’t need to work, Garrett refused to quit.
“I can’t deprive the world of my beautiful buns,” Garrett sighed dramatically, rolling onto his stomach. Anders took the opportunity to reach out and squeeze his now prominently displayed bare ass.
“No one should taste them but me.”
Garrett had the nerve to look scandalized, swatting Anders’ hand away.
“I meant my cinnamon buns, thank you,” he scoffed. “But I’ll let Bodahn know you think we should use my ass as an advertising tool.”
Anders snorted, giving his boyfriend a small shove.
“You need to get up, Mr. Advertising Tool, or you’re going to be late.”
“But I don’t wanna,” Garrett groaned again, hiding his face in his pillow. When he didn't move after a few moments Anders yawned and made himself more comfortable, assuming the conversation was done.
“Did you have any plans for tomorrow?”
Anders peeked a sleepy eye open to see Garrett now looking at him expectantly.
“No?” Anders replied, frowning. “Should I?”
Hurt briefly flickered across Garrett’s face but then he shrugged, trying to look nonchalant.
“I mean, it’s Valentine’s Day, so I didn’t know…”
Anders sighed as he rolled onto his back, covering his face with his arm.
“Fuck.”
He could hear Garrett let out a small, disappointed sigh and move to finally sit up and get out of bed. Anders reached out and stilled him, giving him an apologetic look before he could leave.
“I’m sorry, love,” he murmured, looking appropriately contrite. “I’ve been so focused on packing and leaving that I totally forgot. I’ll cook dinner or something for us, okay? And you can top?”
He grinned, raising his eyebrows enticingly as Garrett snorted, no more won over than he was a few seconds before.
“It’s fine,” the other man replied, forcing a small smile. “I didn’t want to do anything special, anyway. We can just hang out here.”
“I’m really sorry.”
Garrett smiled again and made his way into the bathroom, shutting the door quietly without another word. Anders remained still, waiting until he heard the water turn on and the shower door close before leaping out of bed and sprinting down the hall. Woofy looked up as he passed, giving him a curious, food-hopeful glance, but Anders didn’t pay any attention as he ducked into one of the spare rooms.
He opened the far closet, one he knew Garrett never went in, and rooted around the back until he found the container he was looking for. Sufficiently convinced it hadn’t been touched since it had been placed there several weeks before, he closed the door and pulled out his phone.
“Hey,” he said to the person on the other line. “It’s me. Sorry to call you so early but I just want to make sure we’re still good for tonight…”
Garrett tried not to mope.
He was melancholy enough knowing that Anders would be leaving in a few days to report for spring training. Garrett had planned on surprising Anders the next day with his own Valentine's gift: himself. He had asked for – and received – extended time off from work so he could spend the last three weeks of spring training with Anders at the team's camp. But there would still be a month’s span where they would be apart, and it was bothering Garrett more than he expected.
And then, on top of that, Anders had forgotten about Valentine’s Day.
He knew he shouldn’t be as upset as he was. Anders made it clear every day how much he loved Garrett, and Garrett did so in return. He was happier than he had ever been, with a job he enjoyed, a beautiful house, a spoiled dog and a cantankerous cat, along with the best family and friends he could ask for. He knew he shouldn’t complain. And yet…
“What the hell is your problem?” Bethany huffed at him that morning.
“Nothing,” he grumbled, shoving heart-shaped donuts into the case with more force than was necessary.
“Cranky about Anders leaving?” she murmured sympathetically.
“No.”
“Definitely cranky about Anders leaving,” Beth confirmed. “Chin up, Gare. You’ll see him again soon enough.”
“I’m not cranky!”
Beth pursed her lips, studying him for a moment.
“Did you forget about Valentine’s Day?”
“No, but he did!” Garrett cried, whirling around so fast that the tray slammed into the side of the counter. “How could he forget, Beth? We’ve only been dating for like, 500 years.”
Bethany raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms as she studied him again.
“Well, he has been busy…” she began. “Getting ready to leave and all. Maybe it just slipped his mind?”
“That’s what he said,” Garrett grumbled. “I feel stupid now, getting all excited to surprise him tomorrow. He probably won’t even care.”
“It’ll be fine,” Beth assured him, coming over to squeeze his arm. “Stop being silly, you know he’s going to be thrilled.”
Garrett gave her a small shrug of acceptance, unconvinced and not interested in continuing the conversation, and moved to unload his next tray.
Garrett arrived home to find Anders lounging on the couch watching a sports show, Pounce curled up contentedly on his lap.
“Hey, love,” Anders greeted with a smile, craning his neck back for a kiss. Garrett obliged, murmuring a hello in return.
“You feel like running out with me real fast?” Anders asked, hopping up and following Garrett to the bedroom.
Garrett shrugged, still not in the best of moods, but he didn’t have anything else to do.
“I guess,” he mumbled. “Can I shower and stuff first?”
“Of course,” Anders smiled, giving Garrett another quick kiss. “We’ll go when you’re ready.”
The pair set out about half an hour later, the shower having lifted Garrett’s spirits somewhat. Now he just had his stomach to contend with.
“Where are we going?” he asked once they buckled themselves in the car.
“I need to stop by the ballpark,” Anders explained as he pulled into traffic. “There was a mix-up with some of the equipment and mine wasn’t labeled, so I have to let them know which it is. They’re shipping it off to camp tomorrow so I figured I would get it out of the way now so I could spend the whole day tomorrow with you.”
He smiled hopefully at Garrett, hoping the other man would be appeased by the gesture. Garrett did seem to relax, smiling in return.
“Can I come inside with you?”
“Sure,” Anders smiled, giving his hand a quick squeeze. “We shouldn’t be too long, but you’re welcome to wander around.”
Garrett hummed in contentment, lacing their fingers together for the rest of the ride.
There were only a few cars in the lot once they arrived at the ballpark, but Garrett could see the large box trucks sitting in the docking area waiting to be loaded with equipment. Anders smiled, feeling the slight bounce in his boyfriend’s step as they approached.
No one was inside the docking bay when they entered, Garrett looking around in confusion while Anders ducked his head into a few offices. They looked around a bit longer before Anders tugged his hand, pulling him toward the locker room.
“Let’s check there,” he said. “Maybe they’re still packing things up.”
Garrett didn’t respond, following along contentedly as he looked around, peeking into the occasional room. Anders turned to look at him every once in a while as they made their way through the quiet halls, loving the fact that his boyfriend could still be this enthralled by his world.
The lights were low when they entered the locker room, both men pausing in the doorway with frowns.
“What the hell,” Anders said, looking around.
“Where is everyone?”
Anders shrugged, walking further into the room.
“No idea, but I’m guessing my stuff isn’t here, either.”
“Ooh, which locker is Justice’s?” Garrett asked with an excited grin. “I want to leave him a note.”
Anders chuckled, shaking his head.
“I’m pretty sure it’ll be thrown away before he sees it, love,” he replied.
Garrett groaned good-naturedly, crossing the room to pull Anders into his arms.
“You’re no fun,” he murmured, giving Anders a brief kiss.
“You’re not having fun wandering this creepily empty building?” Anders laughed before gently biting his lip. “I need to step up my game.”
“You can make it up to me tomorrow,” Garrett hinted, smiling hopefully.
“Oh yeah, lay on the guilt trip,” Anders groaned, pulling away with a smile. “Come on, let’s see if anyone is out on the field.”
“Let’s just go home,” Garrett countered, tugging him back. “We can get some take-out on the way, I’m tired and hungry.”
“It’ll just be a minute,” Anders replied with a sigh. “Come on, I hate to have come all this way for nothing.”
Garrett grumbled something under his breath but followed along, not actually minding the detour. He had visited the dugout on a couple of other occasions, but the novelty hadn't worn off. There was still a certain thrill making the trek from locker room to the dugout and out onto the field. To Anders it was like walking through the front door of his office...to Garrett it was like walking into a dream.
Anders had wandered onto the field, searching the stands for any sign of personnel as Garrett walked the length of the dugout. The space hadn’t been used for several months, and it had the neglected feel of a forgotten building. He had only ever been there during the season, and it was a stark contrast to the well lived-in space that he was used to.
“Love, come look at this,” Anders called with a laugh a couple minutes later. Garrett looked up, not spotting him at first, but eventually found him with his hands on his hips, staring down at the pitcher’s mound.
“What is it?” he asked as he walked over.
“You have to see for yourself,” Anders grinned, shaking his head.
Garrett reached his side, bending over slightly to see what had him so amused. He frowned, trying to make out the marks in the dirt.
Be my husband?
“Who left that?" Garrett laughed, turning to his boyfriend. The smile dropped from his face a second later.
Anders was on one knee next to him, biting his bottom lip nervously as he looked up at Garrett. He had a silver and brown ring clutched between two fingers, hand shaking slightly as he raised it higher.
“Garrett Malcolm Hawke, will you marry me?”
Garrett's eyes grew wide as they flickered between Anders' face and hand, frozen in his spot as he tried to process the scene in front of him. He opened his mouth, desperate for any kind of response, but found no words would come out. The silence of the ballpark struck him all at once, the cool breeze lightly blowing his hair around his face and bringing a chill up his spine.
Anders swallowed, nervously glancing away for a moment before taking a deep breath and fixing his gaze on Garrett once more.
“Should I ask again?” he asked uncertainly.
“I…” Garrett croaked out. He snapped out of his daze as the full force of his emotions hit him, tears immediately stinging his eyes.
“You want to marry me?”
Anders laughed, relaxing.
“No, I was talking to the guy behind you,” he teased. “Why would you even ask that, love?”
“Cause, um…” Garrett gulped, quickly swiping the back of his eyes. “Um…”
Anders sighed and began to stand, ready to spend as much time as needed reassuring his boyfriend when Garrett gripped his shoulder, stopping him.
“No, you can’t get up yet, I haven’t answered!” Garrett cried, eyes wide. Anders slowly returned to his knee, giving Garrett a bemused expression. The other man was quiet for a moment, furrowing his brow as he studied Anders’ face.
“Are you really serious?” he quietly asked.
Anders’ face softened. “Of course I am,” he murmured. “Love, why would you think I wasn’t?”
Garrett opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by a loud groan behind him.
“Will you just say yes already? We’re dying over here!”
Garrett whirled around to see a small group of people gathered at the edge of the dugout. He blinked twice until he realized it was Bethany’s voice coming from the dark space.
“You’re going to make us late for our dinner reservation,” Fenris wryly added a moment later.
“What…” Garrett started, turning to look back at Anders. The other man shrugged, holding out the ring again with a grin.
“Our audience is getting impatient.”
Garrett looked between his boyfriend and the dugout before bursting into laughter, whole body shaking with the force of it. Anders tilted his head, another confused smile on his face as Garrett turned to face him, rapidly nodding his head. Anders grinned wider, although he wasn’t exactly sure if Garrett was laughing or crying at this point.
“Of course,” Garrett rasped out. “Of course I’ll marry you.”
Anders’ entire face lit up as he stood, pulling Garrett into a fevered kiss as cheers erupted from the dugout, only getting louder as the group poured onto the field to surround them. He pulled back, looking into Anders’ now wet eyes with a grin.
“How long have you been planning this?” he sniffed, wiping his eyes again.
“Months,” Anders chuckled. “Try on your ring.”
Garrett finally looked at the band as Anders slipped it on his finger. The platinum shone, reflecting the stadium lights as he examined it closer.
“That center strip is from my bat,” Anders explained with a small smile. “I wasn’t totally lying. We did come here for part of my equipment.”
Garrett choked back a half-laugh, half-sob, pulling Anders into another kiss.
“It’s beautiful and amazing and I love it,” he whispered against the other man’s lips.
“Garrett!” Beth cried a second later. Garrett turned just in time to catch his sister as she flung herself into his arms.
“I’m so happy for you!” she sobbed into his shoulder. Garrett pressed a kiss to the side of her head as he hugged her tightly. He glanced over her shoulder to see Justice appear at Anders’ side, tugging him into a hug of his own.
He was about to free himself from Beth’s grip when he felt another pair of arms circle him from behind, a small head resting against the middle of his back.
“Garrett, this was so wonderful,” Merrill squealed. He tried to twist around to see her, a difficult task considering Beth still held him in her own vice-like grip, when another voice huffed next to him.
"You guys can't have all the fun without me!"
A second later and Bela was launching herself at the group, nearly knocking them all over. Garrett laughed as they steadied themselves, opening his arms so he could embrace them all.
“Please don’t crush my wife,” Carver called from off to the side where he was standing with an amused Fenris. It was then that Garrett noticed the other figure standing to Carver’s right.
“Mom!” he cried, shrugging the other women off to run over to his crying mother.
“Oh, my boy,” she whispered as Garrett quickly enveloped her. She pulled back after a moment, cupping his face in both of her hands, smiling up at him.
“Your father would be so happy for you right now.”
“Yeah, and he’d be reading Anders the riot act,” Garrett chuckled, wiping his eyes again as he let her go.
“Don’t worry, your mom already took care of that,” Anders grinned, walking over to give Leandra a peck on the cheek. “I’m sufficiently terrified.”
“Clearly I’ve lost my touch,” Justice mused from behind them, earning a delighted cackle from Garrett.
“Come on, come on,” Bethany interrupted, tugging both Garrett and Anders’ hands. “We booked dinner reservations downtown, let’s go celebrate!”
Garrett laughed as Beth let go, skipping ahead to link arms with Bela and Merrill. Anders grinned, wrapping an arm around Garrett’s waist to pull him in for another quick kiss before they followed. Garrett turned to look at him, slightly baffled expression still on his face.
“Are we really getting married?” he murmured.
“Before you ask, I already warned Carver that you would want Woofy as your best man,” Anders replied. “He’s not happy.”
Garrett burst out laughing again, winking when Carver glanced at them over his shoulder.
“He’ll get over it.”