A/N: Hey there, happy campers! More Franelius fluff for your reading pleasure. Not that I own them, sadly. sniff Just so you know, Cornelius is 22 and Franny 20.
Franny sighed contentedly and leaned onto Cornelius' chest, breathing in his musky scent. He snuggled up to her as they waited, patiently gazing up at the stars overhead.
It was 11:54PM of New Year's Eve, 2017. The couple were occupying a single inflatable mattress on the cold observatory floor, as they counted down to the usual fantastic fireworks display and the beginning of a new year. Their mobile phones (turned off) and Cornelius' glasses lay abandoned nearby. They both wore modest pajamas with a blanket draped across their sleepy forms, and Franny couldn't help but notice that Cornelius was constantly shifting about and taking long, uneven breaths. She hoped he wasn't catching a cold. Franny absently rubbed small, soothing circles over his taut stomach as she returned her gaze to the twinkling dots overhead.
"It's so...pretty," Franny murmured, and felt the hairs on the back of her boyfriend's neck stand on end.
"Yes she is," Cornelius whispered back. Franny raised her head slightly in confusion, and smiled when she caught him staring at her reverently. She kissed his cheek in thanks and rested her head again in the crook of his neck.
Cornelius took another shaky breath, and Franny couldn't ignore it this time. She sat up and eyed him with concern.
"Honey? What's wrong?"
He looked at her blankly, then raised his body so that he was seated behind her, wrapping his strong arms around her tiny waist. He kissed her neck and mumbled softly,
"Nothing. Nothing at all. Everything's just about...perfect." Franny seemed somewhat unsatisfied with this answer, so Cornelius ventured further.
"But tonight's not over just yet. How can we let this magnificent evening fly by as we just sit here? I want this night to hold something...memorable."
Franny guessed where this line of conversation was headed, and slapped her boyfriend's thigh firmly to stop any dirty thoughts in their tracks. Cornelius yelped, before figuring out how his last few sentences had been misinterperated by her. He blushed deeply.
"Oh. No, I didn't mean to say...that is, if you wanted to-" Franny slapped him again and he laughed mischieviously. She sighed.
"It's not going to waste. You know that fireworks are one of my favourite things in the whole universe, and you were telling me how pretty I was a minute ago." Cornelius rested his chin on top of her head.
"I think I can come up with something better than you being just 'pretty.' "
Franny smiled and began slowly rocking sideways, Cornelius' arms still held in place around her torso.
"Mmm-hmm. Shoot," she said playfully. Cornelius chuckled against her hair and inhaled deeply as he collected his thoughts.
"OK. Lets see. You're drop dead gorgeous, smart, witty, fun, stubborn as heck, fierce, and you never back down from a fight. You listen to me talk about calculations I know you don't understand, and you aren't afraid to be spotted on a date with a well-known science geek. You wipe soot off my face after my latest explosion, and you teach your frog band music that I enjoy aswell. You always save me the last slice of pizza, never leave my hovercar in the garage when the fuel gauge is empty, and you didn't drop me when Bud started that food fight on your first visit by rubbing soup into your hair." Franny stopped rocking, and listened intently as he began to get serious.
"You have a knack for seeing what people are really like, and you always put others before yourself- even if it's someone you've never met. You can make anyone comfortable in whatever their situation, and you can always spot that silver lining in every rain cloud on the horizon. You get me through those blasted moments when I've hit a road block in my inventions, and prompt me to get over myself and keep moving forward. I don't know what the heck I did to deserve you, Fran, but there's a better chance of hell freezing over than me ever wanting you to change."
Franny gripped Cornelius tightly as her breath caught, almost missing his next murmured words.
"...I want you to stay just how you are, always...and I want to be standing right beside you at every obstacle in life so I can give you the same advice you repeatedly tell me. I love you, Franny."
Franny let an unabashed tear run down her cheek as Cornelius shifted again behind her. She turned in his warm embrace, facing him, and raised her own arms up and around his neck. Cornelius gently wiped the stray tear away with his thumb, and whispered very quietly,
"...So tell me you love me anywhere near as much as I adore you, and answer my next question truthfully." Eyes wide, Franny nodded her head vigorously, and waited impatiently for him to continue.
"You wanna be a Robinson?"
Something sparkled in Franny's peripheral vision, and she gasped as Cornelius revealed her engagement ring. It was a stunning white-gold band, with a modest diamond-and-pearl heart shaped arrangement in the centre. An engravement ran along the whole inside ring in miniscule print: My love for you is uncomparable.
Franny looked back up at Cornelius' hopeful, yet worried face, and choked out,
"You have to ask?!"
The euphoric girl barely had time to pounce on her new fiance before the dome was lit up, as hundreds of fireworks exploded outside to celebrate the start of a new year.
It also happened to be the first year of Franny's life that she didn't even notice.
A/N: So? Like it? Hate it? REVIEW and tell me!!!
BTW, my best buddy Mrs Kyla Turner (lol!) just turned out a new fic herself over at Misc. Books, called 'I Will Never Leave You.' It's all owned by her, but SO worth checking out. Read it and weep, Jane Austin!!! (shuddup shuddup, brain.) What are you waiting for? Get over there and review NOW! (Not before you've reviewed my story first, of course ) hehe.