title: i'll follow you down to where forever lies
fandom: the raven cycle
summary: blue and gansey and their 10th anniversary.
pairings: gansey/blue
notes: established relationship, post trk. this is super cheesy, fluff lovers might enjoy it though.
disclaimer: I don't own anything.
On their tenth anniversary, there's Blue and Gansey and the starry night sky in Romania and no one in sight for miles. There's sweet slow kisses in the middle of the forest in a secret meadow and blankets on the grass and a basket of food and wine. There's reminiscing of their teenage years and, what Gansey calls, the glory days. The crickets are their orchestra; the stars are their theater play.
It's the middle of spring and the weather's cool at night but they keep each other warm with plaid blankets and body heat and fiery kisses. Blue's wearing a bright red pleated skirt which ends a few inches above her knees and she doesn't miss the way Gansey's eyes often wander to her legs nor all the times he finds excuses to briefly graze her naked skin. It's a game he's playing at; he's been with her long enough to know he could touch her more brazenly if he so wished but he doesn't. He's biding his time and she has no doubts about what this night will lead to.
Curled up in his arms now, the crickets playing their tune, the stars performing their story, Blue lets out a contented sigh. She strokes the arm wrapped around her waist, bare in his polo shirt. She watches the stars twinkling. She feels peaceful. They've been silent for a while, ever since recalling an infamous incident from when they were sixteen, involving black markers, a sleeping Ronan, and his bare back, ending the story with an abundant laughing fit. It's an easy, enjoyable kind of silence, the kind that speaks volumes with long gazes and skin brushing skin, instead of words and sentences. It's the most comfortable kind of silence Blue's only experienced with one person in her life.
Twisting in Gansey's arms, she brings herself face to face with him, one hand playing at the nape of his neck, the other cupping his cheek. She brushes her forehead with his, the strands of her dark hair kissing the side of his jaw. "Here's to ten more years?" Her voice is but a whisper, a promise of a joint future, quiet because they're close enough to be heard with clarity.
Gansey's smile speaks of years not yet passed, an entire sequence of moments together, a lifetime of memories. His finger moves a piece of hair behind her ear, his lips kiss her own. It's chaste, brief and heartfelt. It's enough of an answer.
She settles back in his arms again and his hands move up to her shoulders, gently massaging her muscles. Blue lets her eyes fall close; his touch is soothing in a way no one else's is.
His mouth is close to her ear when he whispers, his breath pleasantly tickling the shell of her ear, "This is the happiest I've ever been."
Blue moves to reach inside their picnic basket. "Hold on, I'm gonna need some wine for that cheese."
Gansey laughs delightedly at his own expense but his fingers tangle in hair and pull. She twists her neck to smirk up at him. Despite her taunting, her eyes sparkle as brightly as the stars. Their hands find each other's, intertwining, warming. He uses the other to tug her closer by her waist. There isn't much closer she can get to begin with but he somehow manages.
"Laugh it up, it won't make it untrue." His free hand skims the land of skin under the hem of her skirt again and she hides a sly smile with a neutral expression. Gansey continues, "Not just now but every day with you. Ten incredible years and I'm still looking forward to each moment we get to spend together."
She kisses him to conceal her stupid smile, her heart beating out of her chest. It's deeper than the previous, longer than what could be considered a chaste kiss, hungry and purposeful. His fingers play with the small bow she's sewn on her blouse as decoration, hers in his hair, one of their hands still joined. Each caress of their lips turn more heated and more frenzied until conscious thoughts become infrequent and breathing becomes optional. Her veins burn with a fire Gansey does not ease but ignites. She's straddling his lap, hips slowly moving, guided by the hands which come to rest on her waist. Gansey only pulls away to whisper "I love you" as their mouths meet again and again, and her response is something neither of them expects, not something she's given a lot of thought to, if any at all, but it slips out, quiet and breathy and audible in the loud gasping of their breathing and the melody of the crickets nearby.
"Let's get married."
Gansey stills. His hands fall from her waist and she pulls away to analyze his expression because she's not sure what that means. She wonders if she's majorly screwed up now. She knows Gansey is not someone who's afraid of commitment - ten years of relationship, eleven years of friendship is already a big enough commitment in itself - but maybe he didn't want to get married. Blue tries to keep eye contact and look confident. The urge to drop her eyes to the ground in embarrassment is strong.
"Do you mean that?"
She does. She didn't know until a few minutes ago, only her subconscious did, but now she knows, her heart knows - she does want to marry Gansey. A lot.
Blue's just a slightest bit afraid to admit that, afraid he would shake his head and pull away, afraid that he would not feel the same, but she will not lie. It's not in her nature to shy away from conflicts.
Blue nods, a small movement, but it's impossible to miss. Gansey's eyes go wide in response. He blinks a few times, takes a full minute - it feels like a minute - to stare at Blue, then suddenly leans in close to her, resting his forehead against hers. Their noses brush, their breaths mingle, their eyes meet. Blue feels dizzy. He whispers, "Is this a proposal or a generic suggestion?"
She shrugs. Her volume matches his. "An affirmative or negative answer would be nice. A proposal, I guess."
He chuckles. "You didn't ask me a question."
His eyes twinkle, a smile tugging at the edge of his lips. He's still looking at her as he always does, an expression Blue's familiar with, one that speaks of love, devotion, adoration, loyalty. He looks at her like he does when she wears his shirt to bed, when he wakes her up in the morning with kisses, when he reads something interesting and wants to hear her opinion, when she gives him her spoon and the leftover fruit from her yogurt. He looks at her like he did after their first official date ten years ago, after he took her hand and held it in his car and didn't let go for the whole night, after he leaned in to kiss her at her doorstep because there was no threat to her lips anymore. Calm suddenly washes over her, slowing her heartbeat, smoothing her nerves. She cups his cheeks, reassured by the love she sees reflected on his face, and says, "Richard Campbell Gansey III, will you marry me?"
He makes a happy noise in the back of his throat and she's grinning widely even before he says yes. Then they're both beaming from ear to ear, a smile which soon turns to happy laughter and messy kisses and hands holding on tightly to each other. Blue falls back on the blanket, Gansey coming with her, and over his shoulder she can see the stars flickering above them. She can see a thousand little possibilities spelled out in the constellations.
She thinks Gansey has a point; this is the happiest she's ever been.
"I shouldn't be surprised," he murmurs into her neck, "that you proposed to me. It's so… Blue." He raises his head to look at her, takes her left hand and kisses her ring finger. "First thing tomorrow, I will find you a ring."
"We can worry about it later," she tells him, her fingers sliding into his hair, messy already from her tugging hands, using it as leverage to pull his mouth down to hers. This, she thinks, is her future. This is home.
