Nerves

pairing: Grover x Juniper

warnings: fluff and Grover being cute

Grover was shaking like an autumn leaf. He thought he was definitely going to be sick. Yeah, he thought, if I throw up then I can go home and not have to go through with this.

Coward, the other side of him thought.

The view of Lake Placid that night would've seemed much more beautiful if Grover wasn't considering drowning himself in it. Normally he'd be eyeing some of the giggling nymphs, and he'd laugh when Juniper would smack him. But tonight was much, much different.

He could literally feel himself leaning to the right - that's just how heavy the velvet box felt in his pocket. He'd never been more aware of anything in his entire life.

Proposing to his girlfriend of about five years had taken a lot of balls. They'd been together for a while now, and they were completely comfortable around each other. Neither of them were huge fans of PDA, and that was fine by everyone (other than Percy, who was now nineteen and still teased them relentlessly, cracking sex jokes whenever the opportunity revealed itself).

But still, everything felt so damn nerve-wracking.

Grover wasn't exactly the bold, daring, "fuck-it" kind of satyr. Grover was self-conscious and shy and awkward. What if she says no? What if she laughs in my face? What if she's never been serious about this relationship? His thinking process was clogged with questions. He reached up with his free hand and yanked on his collar a few times, taking deep breaths. This is it.

He nearly fainted.

Juniper looked over at him with wide, emerald eyes and squeezed his clammy hand. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Juniper. She looked fantastic tonight. Her petite figure was clothed in a strapless forest green dress, and she was wearing black ballet flats. (She hated wearing shoes, and suddenly Grover wished he hadn't asked her to dress up. He would've been much less distracted and much less awkward.) Her chestnut hair was curled up into a bun atop her head. The moonlight cast a silvery tint onto her mint-green skin. He couldn't help his infatuation, even after all this time. He loved her more than anything, and he was ready to marry her.

"I'm fine," he choked out.

His phone buzzed, and he furtively glanced over at Juniper. She was staring around her with a small smile on her face, staring at the lake naiads as if having a mental conversation with them. Grover pulled out his phone and opened the text from Percy which read If you don't stop being nervous I will dissolve this fucking empathy link. Please just ask her already.

He had almost forgotten Percy could sense his emotions. He tapped out a quick shut up and hit send, then shoved his phone into his left pocket. Percy and Thalia had been betting for weeks over whether he'd actually be able to propose without fainting or doing something else extraordinarily stupid.

He just prayed to the gods that no one was watching this through iris message.

"Um," he started, "I need to say something."

Juniper frowned, but her eyes sparkled, and he thought he might lose it.

"Juniper," he said, then his breath hitched. He had practiced this little speech in front of the mirror at least twenty-seven times, and he could recite it backwards and forwards last time he checked. He'd even practiced on Percy (who, just to make him feel worse, would laugh and reject him with a blunt insult every time).

But now that he was actually doing it, he had forgotten every single word. All he could think was ohmygodswhatishappening and stupidstupidstupid.

Just wing it, a voice whispered to him. He figured it was Percy.

Juniper was staring at him expectantly, and Grover realized he'd been internally panicking for at least thirty seconds now. She raised an eyebrow and asked for the second time that night, "Are you alright?"

Grover was going to start hyperventilating soon. He had to get the words out before he died on the spot.

"Um, I love you," he spluttered. "Marry me?" His chest tightened and he stopped breathing, refusing to believe he had just said that.

But Juniper's face broke into a smile, and this time Grover lost it. He bleated loudly, slapping a hand over his mouth. Juniper was laughing. "There's a ring, isn't there? Tell me there's a ring."

"Oh, right," he mumbled, fishing around in his pocket for the box.

"And people say Percy's the dumber one," she murmured fondly, but he didn't hear her over the pounding in his ears.

Grover opened up the box, revealing the pure gold ring. There was a large diamond in the center and two smaller emeralds on either side of it. Now Juniper was crying. "Yes," she breathed. "Yes yes yes."

Grover bleated again, this time out of pure joy. Juniper stood up and flung herself at him, making him stumble back and nearly fall over. She was still crying and whispering "yes, yes, I love you" as she kissed him repeatedly. He spun her around and they both laughed. He was officially the luckiest satyr ever.

"I did it man! And get this - she said yes!"

"…"

"…"

"Shit, I owe Thalia so much money."