Alfred and Arthur had been together for 4 and a half years and Alfred was ready to take the next step - marriage. He knew he loved him and was just days away from getting down on one knee and asking Arthur to marry him, but he had no ring. Alfred decided he would ask his good friend, Matthew, to help him pick out the perfect ring. He was also going to ask him to be his best man, but not until after he proposed to Arthur.

It was time to sneak away from Arthur and give Matthew a call, asking him to meet up for coffee because he needed to ask a favor.

"Hello?" Matthew answered quietly.

"Hey man! Look, I need you to do me a favor."
"Oh? What is it?"

"I can't tell you that just yet," he lowered his voice, "I don't want Arthur to hear me, so I need you to meet up with me for like a coffee or something first. Or a burger, but you don't seem to like those too much." He laughed.

"Alright, when do you want to meet up? I know a small coffee shop not far from my house, maybe we could go there."

"Yeah, sure let's go there! Do you think you can meet me now though? I don't want to be gone for too long, Arthur might get suspicious."

"Oh, okay, I'm on my way. Bye." Matthew said as he hung up the phone.

Alfred was about to walk out of the door as he kissed Arthur goodbye. "I'll be back as soon as I can, Artie. Love you!" he said, smiling, and left.

When he got to the small coffee shop near Matthew's house, he went up to the counter and bought two coffees. One for himself and another for his quiet friend, since he knew he was too timid to even go up to the clerk and get one. Every time they would get coffee Alfred would get him one, so he knew just how he liked it.

After he bought the coffee, he searched the shop for the familiar face of his friend. When he spotted him, he quickly walked up to his table and set the coffees down, saying, "I'm gonna do it!"

This confused Matthew, so he took a sip of his coffee and quietly said, "What are you going to do? Sit down, please don't make a scene.."

"Oh yeah, sorry dude," he said as he took his seat, continuing his conversation more quietly. "I'm finally going to ask Arthur to marry me!"

This shocked Matthew, and kind of hurt him at the same time. He was happy for Alfred, but, without Alfred's knowledge, he had feelings for him. He always tried to ignore them, but it didn't always work. Alfred was going to ask Arthur to marry him. Oh, he wished he were him. He wished Al would ask him to marry him, not Arthur.

Forcing a smile onto his face, Matthew replied. "Congratulations, I'm sure you two will be very happy together."

"Thanks! But I need your help with it. I have to pick out a ring for the proposal and you're the first person I thought of to help me choose it. Will you come with me to the jewelry store to find the perfect ring?"

'He seems so happy..' Matthew thought to himself, 'Why can't I be the one making him this happy...? Well, I guess helping him find the ring could make him happy..'

Wearing a fake smile, Matthew said, "Sure, I'll help you find a ring."

"Great!" he picked up his coffee and stood up, "Let's go now!"

"Okay.." he said as he stood up and followed Alfred out of the door.

When they got to the jeweler, Alfred rushed inside while Matthew slowly walked behind him. They walked up to the glass cases with rings inside of them and Alfred went straight to the ones with huge diamonds. Matthew needed to remind him that, although diamonds are nice, he's shopping for a man, not a woman, and Arthur probably wouldn't want to wear a ring with a giant diamond on it.

While Alfred was on one side of the store looking women's rings for som reason, Matthew was on the other looking at men's rings. Matthew had found the perfect wedding band. He asked the jeweler to get it out of the case for a moment and called Alfred over to look at it.

"Man this is great!" Alfred said.

"I know.." Matthew said quietly, then whispered, "I would want a ring like that if you would propose to me.."

"What's that? I couldn't hear you."
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing, I was just talking to myself." Matthew responded, slightly blushing. He didn't think he said that out loud. It's not like anyone ever hears him anyway, so he unconsciously thought out loud pretty often, but no one ever noticed.

Alfred decided to pick that ring to propose to Artie with, and thanked Matthew multiple times on their walk back to their cars at the coffee shop.

"You have no idea how much this means to me, dude. Seriously, thanks! I couldn't have found a better ring without you."
"You couldn't have found a guys ring without me!" Matthew replied, laughing.

"I didn't know what I was looking for okay!" Al laughed, "I haven't been thinking of what ring I would want if someone was gonna ask me to marry them! How'd you think to pick this one, anyway? Do you have a boyfriend you aren't telling me about?" he teased.

"No, it's not that.." Matthew replied quietly, looking down.

"Then why'd you pick it?" Alfred replied, confused.

"Well, I've been fantasizing a lot about if this one guy would propose to me.. But, we're just friends, it's hopeless." he blushed and looked back up at Al.

"I'm sure it's not hopeless! Unless, is he taken?"

"Yeah.. For a while now he's been taken and I'm just sitting here watching him be happy with some other guy."
"Aw, man I'm sorry," he hugged him, "What's his name?"

He hugged him back, then replied saying, "It's... You don't know him."

"You sure?"

"Yeah.." he said quietly, "No..."
"Huh? Dude, you're confusing me."

"You know him.. better than anyone, actually. But, I can't tell you who it is..." he said as they got to their cars.

"Why can't you tell me?" Alfred asked, standing next to Matt's car as he opened the door and got in.
"Because.. It's you..." Matthew said quietly, furiously blushing as he slammed his door shut, started his car, and left Alfred, who was standing in the parking lot in shock.

'Oh my god..' he thought, 'It's.. me?'