Hello friends! Long time, no see!
Here, we have the first drabble that I wrote while writing The Underground. This piece comes from Chapter 7 and reveals what James and Dave talked about in that Brussels hotel carpark. I hope that you enjoy xx
They watched Lily walk into the hotel and when she cleared the threshold, James turned to Dave and smiled, "She's stubborn, our Evans."
Dave laughed, "That she is. Gets it from her mother."
James grinned, "I always tease her that it's the hair."
Dave laughed, louder this time, "Oh, I bet she loves that."
James chuckled, stuffed a hand in his hair, "It's not her favourite thing."
Dave looked at James quietly for a moment, studying him - James shifted his weight nervously between his feet, but held Dave's gaze. After a long moment, Dave smiled, nodded, stepped forward and patted James on the back, "You're a good kid, James."
James flushed and his hand jumped to his hair again, "Thanks, Dave."
"I'm serious," Dave said, and James smiled involuntarily, thinking of Sirius, "I'm… I'm really glad she's got you. The way you calmed her down from that temper tonight?" Dave whistled, shook his head with a laugh, "We've known her her whole life and we've never been able to do that. Once you get her going…"
James laughed, "She's unstoppable."
Dave smiled softly at James, "But you get her. And…" Dave paused, shifted his weight a bit, took a deep breath, "Look, James, I'm not one for big speeches. Poor Suz knows that well enough," Dave chuckled and James smiled, breathed a laugh.
"Anyway," Dave continued, "I want you to know that I'm, uh… I can tell how much you love her… and how much she loves you. And you make her… uh… the way she looks at you?" Dave was quiet for a moment, but James waited, figured he wasn't finished. Dave looked up, nodded, "You're doing something right. And I'm glad she's got you."
James beamed, "Thanks, Dave. I'm so," he laughed, "You've got no idea how happy I am to have her. She's… she's everything." Dave clapped James on the back, smiled wider than James had seen him smile yet, and James felt a sudden need to share.
"Hey," James said, grinning almost uncontrollably now, "want to see something cool?" Dave raised an eyebrow and James just laughed, "Let's go under that streetlamp, I'll show you."
They walked (James practically ran) over to the streetlamp on the other side of the carpark. James was bouncing on the balls of his feet, his hands in his trouser pockets, as Dave covered the last few metres. Dave laughed, "Alright, son, what is it?"
"I've, uh…" James' voice was shaking, one of his hands jumped out of his pocket, buried itself in his hair, "I've been carrying this around for about a month now and I uh… well, Lily doesn't know yet, obviously, but I figured you should know just how serious I am while we're talking about it."
James pulled the small velvet box out of his pocket, his hand shaking all the time, and Dave sucked in a breath. Dave looked up, met James' eyes, and broke into a broad smile. "Congratulations, son."
James breathed out something like a laugh, "She hasn't said yes yet."
Dave smiled softly at him, blinked back the tears that had formed in the corners of his eyes, "She will."
James laughed, and it was loud and a bit manic and so, so happy, and Dave couldn't help but laugh with him.
"Oi, Dad!"
They looked up and James hastily stuffed his hands back into his pockets, buried the box at the bottom underneath his mobile. Dave chuckled, "We're being summoned."
They started the walk back across the carpark and Dave turned to him, "Really... congratulations, son."
James beamed, "Thanks, Dave."
