slight spoilers for the movie undertone in this chapter!! nothing about the plot is really explained, but it does contain/reference scenes from the film. (i watched this film over spring break and found it to be incredible, so i had to include it lmao) also this might be my fav chapter ive written so far

ALSO JUST GRADUATED COLLEGE!!!!

——

LOCATION: Brian's Car

TIME: 9:35 A.M.

It had been a lazy morning, all things considered, so the couple had left the hotel a bit later than Brian had been expecting. That was fine, the plans he had in mind weren't all that time sensitive until later that night.

"Did you pick a place? Or do you not care? Actually, are you that hungry or do you just want like a coffee?" Brian was driving semi-aimlessly, the vague concept of breakfast on his mind but mostly just wanting to spend time alone with Evan away from the resort and the presence of his coworkers. Currently, though, he was scrolling through his phone to find some music for the two of them to listen to.

"I don't care. Whatever is fine with me." Which ordinarily would be the most annoying thing to ever hear from your significant other, but Brian didn't mind all that much. Evan was relaxed and comfortable. The least Brian could do was pick a place.

-

Predictably, the couple ended up at a park, sitting in the trunk of the car with their legs dangling off the edge, a large takeout bag from McDonald's off to one side. "See? You always have the best ideas." Evan rested his head on Brian's shoulder, an unwrapped McGriddle nestled in his hands, content. Brian looked down at him with a fond smile, his own sandwich forgotten as he took in the sight of his boyfriend enjoying the quiet morning.

"I'm glad you're feeling better. I was kind of worried you wouldn't be able to walk and we'd have to spend most of the day in bed...not that I would've minded! I just..." Brian turned away, watching a flock of birds peck at the grass. "It's nice to be away from the resort and have some time to ourselves."

"I get you."

The two sat in a comfortable silence, broken only by the cawing of birds, rustling of leaves in the breeze, and the noises they made as they ate. At a certain point, Evan had lifted his head and shuffled so that his legs no longer dangled and he was sitting further inside the trunk so that he could lean back. If there wasn't a lingering soreness in his leg, or his foot was still locked up in a medical boot, then he'd probably be sitting crisscrossed or with one leg tucked under like Brian, but instead he kept his legs stretched out in front of him.

"I'm so glad we moved in together." When Brian turned his head he found that Evan was already looking right at him. "When you offered me your spare bedroom, I was in such a bad place, and I didn't think anyone would help me out of it. Not really. And look where we are now!" Evan leaned forward and grasped his hand. "I love you so much. Thank you for helping me feel not so alone."

Brian brought Evan's hands to his lips and pressed a soft kiss to his knuckles, using his other hand to put down his own food. "I should be thanking you, Evan. It was such a crazy situation I put you in after you moved in, you know? I...It's just that...Craig made me feel like I was going crazy sometimes, you know? But, you always had my back and made sure that I knew we were in this together. You didn't have to do that, and you did. Means a lot to me. More than you know."

They settled into another stretch of comfortable
silence, polishing off their breakfast and enjoying the scenery around them. Once he was done, Brian tossed his crumpled up wrapper back into the paper bag he had pulled them from, taking the rest of the trash as he did so before setting it off to the side. As he pushed himself backwards so that he could sit directly next to his boyfriend, he found that Evan had dozed off and was now sleeping soundly. Gently, he settled next to him, moving his head so that it'd rest on his shoulder instead of the side of the car. Content with just sitting there. He brushed his hand against Evan's before committing to holding it, delicately lacing their fingers together so as not to disturb his boyfriend's rest. Brian watched the birds, and another couple walking on the other side of the park, a black dog happily bounding between them.

He turned to Evan, smiling. "You're the greatest person I've ever met." Brian was whispering now, careful not to wake him. "Everyday I spend with you becomes my new favorite day, favorite moment- just everything. I'm so in love with you it makes me dizzy just thinking about it." He brought his hand to Evan's face, brushing a strand out of his eyes and pausing as Evan shifted. "I think I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

-

They ended up dozing for the better part of an hour, finally deciding to move on once a small group of mothers arrived with a fleet of children under the age of six. Brian figured that was a good sign for them to leave, and helped Evan back to his seat before cleaning up properly and sliding into the driver's seat.

"What's next?" Evan was beaming.

Brian reached over and opened the glovebox, taking out a small bottle of pills. "Well, now that you've eaten, it's time for your meds. But then, I was thinking the botanical gardens, though that is a lot of walking."

He held up the bottle. "Are these my anti-depressants? Or for my leg? Because I already took the ones for my leg when I woke up."

"Anti-depressants, I'm pretty sure. Definitely different from the ones you took in the room."

Evan popped open the bottle and swallowed one dry. "If you say so. Oh, and I'm down to walk around a garden if that's what you want to do. I told you, I'm feeling way better. Especially since I don't have to think about work for at least the next two days. Maybe longer. They mentioned reworking some of the schedule this morning in the announcement chat."

"They keep a pretty tight schedule, huh?"

"Well, we finished up with most of the more official events, and the rest of the trip should be looser- filled with various team-building exercises and such in order to boost morale or something."

"Like a field day thing?"

"Kind of. There's a relay race, that I know of. And I think something like speed-dating, except obviously a little more professional. That's all I know. And I only know about the relay race because one of the executives let me know that I could just sit and watch it because of my injury. I might just skip it."

"They're taking this merger thing a little too seriously, don't you think?"

Evan scoffed. "Tell me about it. There's no way we need this much integration. They probably had too big of a budget, or we're in for something absolutely awful."

Brian was on his phone, listening to his boyfriend while he studied the GPS to figure out where they were going. "What, like downsizing or something?" He looked up in time to see Evan shake his head.

"No way. Why would they hire five new people if they intended to lay people off? Probably just planning something big for the company, like structure wise? Something like that."

"Well, if you count what happened with Blarg, then they have started downsizing." Evan threw his head back in instant laughter, his phone making its way into the cup holder. "What? It's true!" Evan continued to laugh. "Oh my god, didn't you want to go see that movie? We can do that."

Brian wasn't sure if Evan had been able to hear him above his own laughter, which lasted a few minutes longer, but eventually he did answer. "Oh, right. Do you want to see a movie? I can see what theater is around here."

"As long as I'm with you, it doesn't matter what we do, Ev."

"Since when did you get all romantic?"

"It just comes out naturally with you." Brian looked over at him and found that Evan was already looking at him. "Was that too much?"

"Probably." Evan said, seemingly mesmerized in the same way Brian was before he had to return his attention to the road. "I don't think it matters, though. I get the same way around you. You're making me lose my edge-I'm all soft now."

Brian reached over and grabbed Evan's hand. "I reckon you've always been soft, my love." He pulled his boyfriend's hand to his face and pressed a kiss to his knuckles. "So full of love and nowhere for it to go, it was bound to come out eventually."

"Have you been watching Hallmark or something? I'm seriously getting worried about you." Evan's voice was light and unserious, and his free hand was scrolling through a movie theater website projected on his phone screen. "If I suggested something scary would it like totally kill the mood right now?"

"Don't make me say something sappy again, Ev. What movie did you want to watch? We can go to a park afterwards."

"Kinda want to see undertone, looks interesting. I've heard mixed things, though. Honestly, the theater has a pretty stacked movie lineup at the moment."

Brian smiled. "Shall we just spend all day at the cinema, then?"

Evan shook his head. "I think I'll be fine with just one movie. We have like another week and a half here anyways-do we? When do we leave?"

"Well, we drove here, so I guess we can kinda leave whenever we want."

"I am so in love with you."

—

About halfway through the movie, Evan had started holding Brian's hand. Which was fine, they were dating, Evan could hold Brian's hand whenever he wanted- touch him however he saw fit. Except, Brian was a little concerned about the way he was holding it. Tightly, almost a little too much, and when Brian had turned to look at him he found that Evan was intently focused on the screen. His lips pressed into a thin line and a shade paler than usual, visible even in the darkness of the theater.

Instead of whispering to his boyfriend, he tightened his own grip and pulled their arms towards his chest, angling it in such a way that Evan would (hopefully) be able to feel Brian's heartbeat. At first, Evan had tensed, but quickly relaxed, resting against the touch while leaning into Brian's side. It was probably one of the awkwardest ways to cuddle at a movie theater, but it worked comfortably for Evan and Brian.

As the movie continued to amp up and reach the climax, Brian got a better understanding of what Evan may be feeling. Every once in a while, there was a white, shadowy figure stood behind the main character, and the strange things happening to her continued to get stranger and borderline paranormal. He squeezed Evan's hand as a reminder that he could see the same things as him- it was a movie and it was not real. Brian hoped he understood. Evan's grip loosened, so he assumed that it was working.

By the time the movie was over, Brian could see the emotional toll it had taken on his boyfriend. He was pale, eyes halfway to being glazed over, and his eyes kept darting around rapidly. Brian didn't say anything, figuring that this probably wasn't the best time.

Evan dragged the two of them into the restroom that was furthest from the theater they had just come out of, the opposite direction than the other moviegoers. He didn't break his hold on Brian's hand until they were locked inside the handicapped stall, where Evan collapsed onto the floor and clung to Brian's leg, his breath heavy. Brian reached down to pet Evan's hair, trying to soothe him as much as he was trying to soothe himself. He even started doing his breathing exercises.

"Was it too much?" Brian tried to be quiet, but his voice still carried significantly through the washroom. Evan nodded into Brian's thigh. "I know, Ev. It's okay, though, it wasn't real."

"I know." Evan's mumbles were much more contained, their echo not reaching quite as far as Brian's. "Still scary. And she took those pills-I've taken pills like that, Brian!" Brian stopped petting him and just laid his hand on his boyfriend's head, pushing slightly so that he could bury himself deeper into Brian's leg. "Don't even know what's real. And like, I know it's pregnancy too and it can't happen to me but..." He trailed off. Brian still understood.

"It's okay, Ev. I'm right here, okay? She was all alone, but you have me. I'm here. I'm real." Evan detached himself from Brian, and soon they both were on the ground, with Brian's back pressed to the wall and Evan half-sat, half-laying in Brian's lap, still doing his breathing exercises. "It was just a movie. You didn't like it?"

"Actually, it was a really good movie. I'm just never watching it again."

Brian let out a short laugh. "That's fair."

They sat in silence for another fifteen minutes before Evan was ready to leave. After washing their hands and exiting the bathroom, Evan linked their hands together once more, a smile spread wide on his features once again and the color mostly returned to his face. Brian was glad to see the change in mood, but still felt terrible that Evan felt so scared in his own head sometimes.

He was only able to bite down his intrusive fears until they reached the car. Evan let out a heavy breath as he deflated into the passenger seat. Brian started the car, but didn't make any other move besides clipping his seat belt over his torso. "You," he started, careful in his approach, swallowing hard, "you haven't seen anything, have you?" It wasn't accusatory. He hoped Evan didn't see it that way. His reaction to the movie had just been so strong.

Evan was shaking head when Brian looked over at him. "No. No, nothing like that." He glanced at Brian. "Really, I haven't. It was just...it was the movie, with the audio, you know? She put the head phones on and it felt so real, and it kept panning all over the house and like it sounded like we were still at the dining table and...I felt so paranoid. Like something was there, watching us, and I couldn't shake it off because it was so intense." He was quiet for a moment. "I'm really glad you were there with me. Sorry if I ruined the movie for you."

"You didn't." Brian didn't waste a second with his reply. "You could never ruin anything for me, okay? I love you." He leaned over and pecked Evan's cheek.

Evan turned his head and grabbed Brian's face, pulling them together so quickly Brian barely had time to register what was happening as they kissed for real. It was filled with passion, but also a soft reassurance. He melted into it.

"I love you, too. More." Evan said when they finally pulled away from each other. "Even if I'm a little masochistic with the movies I choose. Or I come up with some convoluted plot just to get back at someone and stress myself out. And lose my mind a few too many times. I'm so glad you're here for it." He kissed Brian again. "I love you."

A wide grin spread across Brian's face. "Who's the sap now?"

Evan playfully push Brian back, scowling as Brian erupted into full-blown laughter. "Fuck you. God forbid I have a nice moment with my boyfriend." He wiped at his eyes with his sleeve. "Christ." He said it in a way that sounded similarly to Brian.

"I love you, too, babe. Let's get out of here."

—

It appeared that they had ordered way more than they should have once the food arrived to the table, but although Brian was obviously overwhelmed, Evan stared at each plate like a starved animal. "Oh my god." And then he immediately started eating.

"How the hell are you so hungry?" Brian picked up his fork and took bites of the food Evan wasn't focused on. They had come to a random restaurant that seemed decent enough just on the outside (the two of them were trying to spend as little time on their phones as possible, only wanting to use the devices for an emergency or play music, so they didn't really research any restaurants) and Evan couldn't help himself once the menu was in his hands. "We have reservations for later as well, you know."

Evan nodded, plucking up a piece of the Dragon roll and stuffing it into his mouth. "Oh my god." He said, speaking around his mouthful of food. "Speaking of that, I looked up the restaurant and it's actually insane? Did you look it up? First of all, holy price point- Swagger's a goner, for sure. Second of all, they had pictures for everything and it is going to dominate the dinner from the other day."

"It's going to dominate the lobster? Because that was one of the best things I've ever eaten."

"I think it might." Evan put down his pair of chopsticks and sipped at his drink. "And it's going to taste even better when it's not the two of us paying for it."

"What's the name again? I wanna see this for myself."

-

Was it really healthy for someone who is still stumbling around in a boot to be walking this much? Probably not. But Evan was in such a good mood that Brian could (mostly) look past it. Especially when Evan looked so relaxed and carefree, the total opposite to when he had been curled in his lap in a movie theater bathroom, or miserable in bed just a couple days earlier. Seeing his boyfriend so happy warmed his soul.

Just seeing him was enough, really. Getting to look at him, no matter the occasion or situation, felt like the heaviest boulder had come off his shoulders and his lungs no longer had to squeeze themselves together. All the breath he had been holding finally exhaled. And all Evan was doing was just crouching down in front of a shelf, sniffing through candles like it was the only thing to do in the world. Brian was holding the rest of the shopping bags, because why wouldn't he, and watching. Smiling.

The restaurant they'd been at was conveniently located next to a mall, so the park had been pushed back yet again. It was still early, almost four in the afternoon, and the reservation was still several hours away. They had plenty of time. Brian didn't even have any real plans for the day, at least not to the extent that he had told everyone he did, so their phones we're constantly pinging or ringing and the two of them could just focus on one another.

"Babe, smell this one." Evan was still crouched as he held up the candle, so Brian stooped down, meeting Evan at his level. "Isn't this one good?" The candle smelled like honey and the color blue, if the color blue could be described as having a distinct smell. Brian nodded.

"Yeah. It's really good." After hearing his affirmation, Evan placed the candle in the shopping basket beside him that already was home to three other candles. Brian hoped their apartment would be covered in candles if it meant Evan could enjoy a pleasant scent for the rest of his life.

Evan picked up a candle, smelled it, and immediately put the lid on and put it back on the shelf. "Was it that bad?" Brian was teasing and didn't notice his boyfriend had gone still for a moment.

It was so brief that Brian had almost missed the tail end of it, when Evan had shook his head and snapped himself back together and grabbed another candle at random. He didn't even read the label before he was ripping the lid off and smelling it. But his heart wasn't in it anymore, Brian could tell, and it had suddenly become an emotional chore.

Brian moved closer, cautious but wanting to remind Evan that he was there. Watching over him. He crouched again, shifting some of the bags so that he could gently brush his fingers in Evan's hair. "Are we done with the candles, my love?" Wordlessly, Evan nodded, his hand closing around the handle of the basket. Brian pressed his hand to Evan's back, grounding him and making sure he stood alright before gently taking the basket from him. "Let's go pay, and then we can leave, okay?" Once again, Evan nodded.

He paid and led them back to the parking lot. The whole time, Evan was clinging to Brian's arm like a lost child, eyes coming in and out of focus but his footsteps entirely sure of where they were heading, as long as they were being led by Brian's.

It was increasingly hard to not compare it to a few months ago, when Evan was at his worst, just before he had caved and asked to be...sent away. He still remembered the tremble as Evan asked, terrified of himself and perhaps even more terrified of what Brian might do. Brian always wondered what had gone through Evan's mind, what exactly had happened that had been the final straw? The thing that...for lack of better wording...had pushed Evan over the edge and made him ask for help.

He always wondered if Evan was so scared because he thought Brian would leave him now that things were so hard. If Brian couldn't really handle all of it. Couldn't handle him. Just like everyone else who mostly brushed him off until he was already in the hospital on suicide watch, drowning in his own sickness.

Brian pressed a kiss to the top of Evan's head. "I think I have a blanket in the car. The one from our couch." A bit of familiarity could do him good, Brian knew it would. Evan nodded into his shoulder. "You still want the park? We can always go back to the hotel, too."

Evan didn't answer right away, leaving them both to walk in silence. Brian let it fester, worried more about Evan than the stupid park plans The car was in the distance.

As they drew closer, Brian fished his keys from his pocket somehow. He wordlessly opened the trunk, letting Evan see that there was no one there before proceeding to put all the bags inside as if it was the most natural thing in the world instead of a reassurance for his boyfriend's paranoid delusions. Evan didn't tell him what had caused it, and Brian had no intentions of prying until Evan felt okay enough to let him in.

They walked in a loop around the car, allowing Evan to inspect every angle and aspect before opening the door and allowing him to duck inside. Brian walked in front of the car when he crossed to the drivers side so that Evan could see him the whole time. He slid in and this time the silence they sat in was heavy and thick like liquid glue. Evan was breathing very purposefully, his eyes staying firmly in his lap. Brian wanted to reach out and touch him, reassure him of his presence, but held back. Instead, he reached into the backseat and retrieved the blanket they had brought from their apartment. Their home. Evan gladly took it, scrunching it up in his hands and inhaling its scent.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Evan started shaking his head. "No, no it's fine. I think I'm just sensitive from earlier, it's stupid."

"It's not stupid, but if you don't want to talk about it, then it's okay. Should we go back to the hotel? Where would you be the most comfortable?" It was now that Brian reached out, his hand gently placed on Evan's knee.

His boyfriend wiped at his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt, the blanket slipping from his grasp. "Stupid fucking candle. It...it smelled like that tea that Craig gave me." Evan confessed, putting his hand over Brian's and lacing their fingers together. "I told you, it's stupid, let's just-"

"Evan." He had to stop the spiral. "It's not stupid. Not at all, okay? You went through something hard and traumatic, alright? You're allowed to feel a certain way about it, and you can't just predict when these things will happen. Are you still a little sensitive from the theater? Yeah, probably, but there's nothing wrong with you, Ev." There was a heartbeat of silence. "I still have nightmares of that day, too. If I had been any later...I worry about all the what ifs and the could-have-beens all the fucking time. He...he just had this look in his eyes, and you had no idea and yet I knew you must've been scared, and that made me even more scared. I worry something is gonna happen to you one day, and I won't be able to do anything about it."

From the passenger seat, Evan sniffled. "How do you deal with that?" The two had unconsciously begun to lean into one another.

"Most of the time, I can just look over and see you, my beautiful and beloved boyfriend, alive and breathing, and that's enough. But, sometimes, when that doesn't work, I just hold you tight and try to have faith that the worst is over, and we're gonna be okay." He kissed the side of Evan's face, his nose burying itself in his hair. "We are okay."

—

By the time they finally pulled into the parking lot of a random park, Evan felt emotionally drained. Between the joy of getting to explore the unfamiliar city with Brian, the almost-breakdown at the theater, and the PTSD episode brought on by a fucking candle, he's basically reached his limit. However, the idea of roaming around a park for an extended period of time, holding Brian's hand, was extremely appealing. So, he might not be that drained.

It was actually better that they had put off the park for so long as it was now almost sunset and the mood was much more romantic. Or, it would be, if there wasn't still the matter of Evan having to wear the boot, turning his leisurely stroll into a pitiful hobble, making him look like a toddler who'd just learned to walk. He tried not to think about it. His ankle wasn't even that much of a bother anymore, and he was supposed to be able to walk without it, but due to the incident with his coworker he had been advised to wear it a little longer to ensure a smooth recovery. So, as uncomfortable as it was, Evan wore the boot. He was certainly not above medical advice, and Brian would kill him if he even tried.

"Wow," he stepped out of the car with a smile, taking in the scenery before turning back to Brian, "this place is so nice."

"Isn't it? I was looking at different places when you were trying on clothes earlier."

"Oh, so you didn't think they looked good on me?"

"I put my phone down as soon as you stepped out of the fitting room! Everything looked great."

"You're biased. You think everything looks great on me."

"Well, I'm not wrong. You could wear a garbage bag and still make most people around you insecure." Evan laughed at that, linking his hand with Brian's as they walked towards the park entrance. They weren't planning on a long walk, just something to kill some time before their reservation. Evan almost couldn't believe they had spent a whole day together, uninterrupted by one drama or another.

"You don't even know how many heads you turned at dinner the other day. At least ten people told me how hot you were. Like I didn't know."

Brian led them to the first bench on the path. "Are you sure you're okay to walk? Your leg is okay? We don't have to walk around."

Evan smiled at him, touched that his boyfriend cared so much about him. "I'm fine. It should be off by now, anyways. Fucking Blarg." He muttered the last part, a flash of anger jolting through him.

"Hey," Brian grabbed his arm, "stop thinking about that. It's over, already. Today's about us. Let's keep going, okay?"

They continued walking. Evan oftentimes broke away from Brian to take pictures of plants or wildlife, including a small family of ducks that was paddling in the river. He enthusiastically pointed out each of his findings, going as fast as his half-limp would allow. Occasionally, he did step wrong, leading to Brian immediately rushing to steady him despite Evan being able to (mostly) do it himself.

After an hour, they finally conceded to a break, and stopped at a small observation deck that overlooked the river- not to mention perfectly framed the ongoing sunset. Evan walked to the railing, leaning against it and taking in the view. He turned back to his boyfriend. "Babe, let's take a picture." He gestured with his hand, beckoning Brian over- and of course Brian obediently followed his boyfriend's instructions- and digging his phone out of his pocket. "I feel like we have no pictures together."

"Speak for yourself. I have plenty of pictures of you."

"Well, of course I have pictures of you, but I'm talking about pictures of us. Together." He caught Brian's eye. "Fuck you. Take the picture."

Evan handed over his phone to Brian, the front-facing camera already pointed at the two of them. Brian began snapping photos immediately, getting shots of them smiling at the camera, then each other, then of Evan pressing a kiss to Brian's cheek and then Brian doing the same, and finally one of the two of them laughing at themselves.

Brian surveyed the surroundings before spotting a couple of girls just off to their left. "I'm gonna ask one of them to take our picture." He explained as he began to pull away from Evan. "So we don't just have selfies." Evan hummed, almost immediately becoming distracted by another group of ducks swimming in the lake.

"So cute." He mumbled to himself as Brian's footsteps wandered away from him. His eyes followed the animals for a while before focusing on what lay on the other side of the river. There were a few people walking on a walkway located higher up than where they were, and the ground towards the water was a lot steeper. He let out a slow, grounding breath. Such a nice day, there was vague shuffling sounds behind him and he assumed Brian must be on his way back.

"Evan." It was so unusual from the usual way Brian called to him, so Evan spun around. He gasped once the image in front of him registered in his mind.

Brian was on one knee, holding a dark blue velvet ring box with one hand and the other hand was positioned so that he could easily open it. Holy shit, the phrase repeated itself in Evan's head as he brought his hands up to his mouth. Brian swallowed.

"I've thought about this, a lot, and at first, I wanted to plan the whole thing. A special trip, a violinist, something big, whatever. And, then I wanted....this, this perfect day, or to wait for the perfect moment. Just like the movies." He laughed, as did Evan, as they both remembered the movie from earlier. "But, I think we can both agree that if I waited for that, this would never happen." Brian paused, his hands taking on a slight tremble. "Every moment I spend with you is already perfect, Ev, and I mean that. No matter what's happening, good or bad, sad or angry or deliriously happy, every moment is perfect.  As long as I spend it with you. And- And I can't think of a better way to spend the rest of my life."

Evan's eyes were already blurry as Brian finally opened the box, revealing a silver band with decorative engravings all around the outside, with three almond-shaped diamonds set in the middle.

He was already nodding, but that didn't stop Brian from asking. "Will you marry me?"

Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy fucking shit-

"Yes, yes, of course I'll fucking marry you." As soon as Brian slid the ring onto his finger, Evan let himself fully cry, overwhelmed and overjoyed at the turn of events.  He felt Brian's arms wrap around him, which only made him cry harder. I love him. I'm gonna marry him. Holy fuck I'm actually gonna marry this man.

"Thank you so much." Brian said to someone that Evan couldn't look at, too busy holding his hand out and studying his new piece of jewelry.

"It's no problem, really. Congratulations! You two are a beautiful couple." It was a female voice, so it must whoever Brian asked to take their picture.

The two exchanged a few more words while Evan composed himself, still glued to Brian, enough so that he could slow, if not stop his crying completely. Evan kept stealing glances at his fiancé like he was waiting for Brian to take it all back. Like this was just some crazy thing he made up and he'd wake up in the morning and find that none of this had happened.

Evan barely registered that they had started their walk back to the car, far too mesmerized by his ring and the way it looked in the last light of the fading sunlight. His hand was shaking.

Brian's voice startled him out of the trance. "You okay?" He wrapped his arm around him, pulling him close. Evan wished they could fuse their bodies together, sometimes. He nodded rapidly.

"You really want to marry me?" It came out as a whisper, and as actual words instead of a thought in his head, but it was what Evan had been dying to ask since he saw Brian on one knee. His fiancé smiled at him, showing a glimpse of teeth. "Me? You want to marry me?" He already wanted to cry all over again. 

They stopped. Brian pulled Evan's face closer and pressed a kiss to his lips before looking into his eyes, glassy from tears. "Evan. There's no one I'd rather marry. Okay? Fucking no one." He kissed Evan again. "You and me, babe. For the rest of our lives."