Disclaimer: I own nothing, it all belongs to the BBC and Tiger Aspect Productions.

Author Notes: Set during the first series, this is the first chapter of a two chapter story – the second part will be posted later this week. It's a weird idea, but it begged to be written. Originally posted on the robinhoodbbc lj comm. All feedback welcome.

The first time Allan asks him they're alone in the outlaw's latest campsite. Will is working on a prop for a supplies lean-to, there's a pleasing curve forming in the wood and Allan's supposed to be helping by lashing together the branches to build the lean-to with. He isn't.

"We should get married."

Allan's sudden words into the comfortable silence startle Will so violently that his knife slips and cuts his finger, the curve continuing in flesh. He hasn't cut himself woodcarving since he was seven and tried to work on a candlestick without his father's supervision. That had ended with an almost severed thumb. His concentration has always been solid and strong and even now it is only Allan and Djaq who can undo it. Oblivious to his bleeding finger, Will can only gape at Allan.

"What?!"

"Us. You, me and Djaq. We should get married," Allan is lying down and gazing up at the forest canopy, a wide grin on his face. "What do you reckon?"

Will gapes, finding that his voice won't work and anyway he's unable to even begin to find the words to answer the proposal. Most of him is convinced that this is just Allan saying something shocking to get Will to blush. He does that a lot. Allan's grinning gaze slides from Will's face to his still-bleeding finger. Casually, he reaches across and grasps Will's hand.

"Think about it. It's a good idea," he focuses on Will's finger again. "You've got to be more careful, mate."

Then Will finds his thoughts scrambled even more as Allan pulls the bleeding finger into the warmth of his mouth to suck it clean. Will can feel the heat from it spreading through his whole body and strangling his voice even more. When Allan finally releases his finger, the bleeding having been effectively stopped, Will is left staring from his finger back to Allan. His thoughts are incoherent and foggy, trying to deal with both a marriage proposal and the sensation of Allan's tongue on his skin. This really isn't fair.

Before Will can form any words, a whistle teases at his consciousness and Allan answers it immediately. Then he is up, chatting to Djaq as she appears through the trees with a couple of braces of rabbits over her shoulders. Will remains sat down, trying to concentrate on getting the prop finished for when Robin, Much and Little John come back from Nettlestone. But as his hands skilfully shape and carve the wood, his mind is focused only on the intent look in Allan's eyes when he'd asked the question and the heat that remains inside his own body.

The second time Allan asks, Djaq is there too. She's mixing fresh supplies of the powders she carries with her to save their lives. Will is working on more dog tags (Much lost his in their latest struggle with the Sheriff's men), whilst Allan is settled with his head pillowed on one of Djaq's knees as she works. It's that almost lazy time before the sky has blackened into night and the outlaws are scattered using the precious time for themselves. The mood is almost idyllic, very rare, and Will is enjoying it.

Then Allan tears through it with that question again. Tonight he directs it at Djaq who snorts, palms him lightly on the side of his head, and tells him to talk sense. How can he think of marriage when there is so much more to worry about?

Allan gently takes Djaq's hand from where it is wrapped around a metal pot and presses his lips to her fingers. His eyes are so serious that Will puts down his knife and the half-finished dog tags to see what Allan is going to do. He hasn't seen Allan this serious since Tom got hung by the Sheriff.

"It's a good idea. It's just words, isn't it? Promises and that. We should do it," Allan tries again, undeterred.

"If it is as you say 'just words,' why are you so keen for us to do this?" asks Djaq, slicing through whatever protective layers Allan is trying to use. "It is important to you, yes?"

Here Allan shifts like he's trying to find somewhere new to look where Djaq can't see through him like that. Djaq's gaze is still fixed on him, but her expression is thoughtful rather than teasing.

"You know it's important," Allan's voice is quiet and serious and without any lies or jokes. "Yeah, it's just rings and promises and all that, but we should do it. I want to."

Will catches sight of Djaq's face again, she's smiling at Allan in that very private way that only Will and Allan ever get to see and her face has a sort of softness to it. Will feels as though his world has been tipped over because if Djaq is serious about this then the idea is real and he's not really sure he can handle it.

Allan turns his gaze to Will, and he has a different smile on his face. Not his usual smirk or triumphant grin, but an almost tender smile that makes Will's insides hurt.

"I'm not being funny, Will," Allan says. "I'm serious, we should get married."

"Who'd marry us?" Will asks, the concept seeming slippery and unreal. It's something for older normal people, not for three outlaws who live in the forest. "We're outlaws, no priest is going to let us into a church, and there's three of us. I don't think it's legal or something."

"Who cares if it's legal? And who needs a priest?" Allan is dismissive. "We can have our own ceremony. Robin could do it; he did it for that other couple. He'd do it for us."

"No priests, I'm not getting married in one of your English churches," adds Djaq, one hand caressing Allan's face casually as she reaches for another bag of herbs to measure. "And we do not have to ask Robin to do this, we can do it ourselves. Marriage is a commitment, that is the word, yes? Then only we need to be there."

Commitment isn't what worries Will. He plans on staying with Allan and Djaq for as long as possible. He always thought that Allan would be the one to get bored or leave them first, that's why his proposal is so unnerving.

But really it's the idea of the future that has gotten to Will. He hasn't been able to think about it since Vaysey became Sheriff of Nottingham, and life became so cruel that he wasn't sure that a future existed. Will changed too, growing silent and strong. He could help his family better that way. As long as his father and Luke had enough to eat then that was enough. He didn't dare to hope for more.

But then Robin came and fought back and wanted to help make a future for the people of Nottinghamshire as well as making the present more bearable. Will began to see some light a way in the distance. Then there was Allan and there was Djaq, both of whom he wanted and were forcing him to think about the possibility of a future. But marriage is a big idea, it's permanent, and Will isn't sure that he believes in anything being permanent anymore.

"You don't think………think about the future?" he manages to force out. "About what might happen when King Richard comes back and the Sheriff gets arrested like Robin says and we all get pardoned?"

"Who says we're getting pardoned?" interrupts Allan. "Oh Robin will, he saved the King's life, didn't he? But us? We're criminals, outlaws, we haven't done nothing good for the King. We might be living out here forever."

That thought isn't unpleasant. Will's become accustomed to living in Sherwood Forest. It's his home now. Of course when he was a lot younger and the future was something to look forward to, he'd always assumed he'd live in Locksley forever, take over his father's work, and maybe marry Lucy, the baker's second daughter who smiled at him in that special way that made his stomach turn. But that was before Vaysey and before he met Allan and Djaq.

"Perhaps Will does not want to marry us?" offers Djaq, a sliver of something hurt and hard threading through her casual words.

Allan raises his head from Djaq's lap so that he can look at Will the right way up. Will can read hurt in Allan's wide blue eyes, and Will feels awful deep in his guts for making it happen. Because people think Allan doesn't get hurt because he's always talking and joking and lying, his armour constantly changing to keep himself safe. But Will can see through that and so can Djaq and they both know when Allan's in pain.

"Yeah, maybe he's got sick of us," Allan says at last, a statement that would normally be sarcastic and joking but is now delivered flat and a little bit hard and accusing.

"It's not that. I want this too," Will tries explaining, anything to make that look disappear from Allan's eyes. "I just…..I don't think about the future. There wasn't a future for any of us until Robin came back. But the Sheriff's still in power and….."

There Will clams up again, staring at the dog tags scrambled at his feet. He's not one for speeches; he has always spoken with his actions. It's always been easier to express himself through wood taking shape under his fingers or through knocking out a guard to steal bread for his brother's supper. Allan is the one who talks. In the silence, Djaq runs a hand down Will's arm and then forces his chin up so that he is looking into her eyes. Looking at Djaq always makes all his doubts go away, she looks so sure and calm.

"It does not matter about the Sheriff," she tells him. "Do you want a future with us?"

"Yes," Will answers immediately, instinctively, knowing it's the truth.

"Then we will make it happen, yes?" Djaq smiles gently, presses a firm kiss to Will's lips and pats his cheek. "Do not worry so much, it is unhealthy."

"And you'll start to sound like Much," adds Allan, lying back down again with a satisfied look on his face. "So, when shall we get married?"

"Not yet," cuts in Djaq quickly. "Perhaps when there are less people trying to kill us?"

Will grins, picking up his knife and the dog tags again. His heart is beating steadily, but he can feel a tiny bit of belief growing inside of him at the thought of the future. If there is a future out there, he only wants it with them.