A/N-A oneshot for my lovely beta, PennTheWriter. Thanks for constantly putting up with my bullshit. Happy birthday! Love you!
Cress loved the bookstore. Thorne hadn't really understood why before she first dragged him there.
(Flashback)
They stood outside of the old wooden door. Thorne shifted from foot to foot, his umbrella dripping on the concrete sidewalk. The air smelled wet, like rain. Thorne cleared his throat.
"Why aren't we going in?"
Cress laughed, the sound like music to Thorne's ears.
"I have to wait for Risa to let me in, silly."
Thorne followed Cress's gaze to see a teacup dog pacing in front of the door. It was snarling at them. At least, Thorne assumed it was. He couldn't hear it through the glass door over the pounding rain behind him.
He was confused. Was Cress afraid of this tiny little dog?
She didn't look afraid.
"Why do we have to wait for that tiny dog to let us in?"
"Shop rules. Usually she lets me in right away. I think it's you. Smile at her."
Thorne huffed a long-suffering sigh and faked a smile in the dog's general direction. Cress smacked his arm.
"You have to smile for real, otherwise she won't like you."
Thorne sighed again and smiled for real. The dog immediately stopped growling and pacing and took a running jump through its tiny doggy door towards Cress, who picked it up and started cooing at it.
"Hi, Risa! Hi, baby. Aww, look at you!"
She was using that special voice that women only use for babies and fluffy animals. Thorne, smiling wider now, petted the dog's tiny, fuzzy tummy. It was kind of cute, he guessed. But that didn't mean he liked it.
Cress, still holding the dog, pushed open the door of the bookstore.
Thorne walked in and was immediately hit with the smell of old books: fragile yellow paper and decaying glue. He liked it here. The different types of books were in aisles marked with stained glass pictures of the topics.
Best of all, there was a big pile of giant beanbags in the corner, which said You can only use 'em if you put 'em back!
Thorne tapped Cress on the shoulder, and she stood up. She had been playing with Risa.
"Yeah?"
"Those are beanbags."
"Yes, Thorne. Those are indeed beanbags."
"Can I…?"
"Yep. But you have to pick out a book to read first!"
Cress dragged Thorne to the aisle with adventure stories. They picked one out, and got a beanbag to sit in together in the corner. Thorne was softly reading to his girlfriend when an older man approached them. He looked like was in his sixties.
Cress smiled up at him, then turned to Thorne.
"Thorne, this is Mr. Arnett. Mr. Arnett, this is my boyfriend, Carswell Thorne."
Mr. Arnett looked Thorne up and down.
"Cress here has told me all about ya, Mr. Thorne."
Thorne was a little nervous. The way Cress talked about Mr. Arnett, Thorne was pretty sure he was a bit of a father figure. And the father usually hates the boyfriend.
Thorne scratched the back of his neck.
"Uh, nice to meet you, Mr. Arnett."
The man nodded appreciatively at Thorne. "He has manners. You picked a good one, Crescent."
Cress blushed.
Thorne grinned, deciding to have a little fun.
"Well, Cress, we can get married now. We have Mr. Arnett's approval."
Cress whacked his arm. It was worth it.
(End Flashback)
Three years after the first time they'd visited, Cress and Thorne were back at the same door. Risa had grown old and died, but they still waited five silent minutes before going in as a sign of respect.
Then, Cress grabbed Thorne's hand and dragged him inside. She picked up Rapunzel and began to read to Thorne. It was always her favorite book to read with him, and she often made him read the voice of Rapunzel's handsome prince. She said the story reminded her of them.
Thorne smiled at their routines, all the little things they did the same way every time they entered the small, warm, bright space.
He put his arm around her, and did the thing he rarely dared to do: interrupted her reading.
"Hey, Rapunzel."
Cress glared at him.
"What?"
He got up and pulled her up. "I want to pick out a different book."
Cress looked slightly hurt. "What, are you tired of Rapunzel?"
Thorne sighed. "No! I just wanted to…do something. Follow me."
He pulled her into the adventure aisle.
And got down on one knee.
Cress's hands flew to her mouth.
Thorne reached into his pocket.
Cress put her hand on his shoulder. "Captain. You're proposing to me. Give me a second to absorb the shock."
Thorne laughed and got back up, slinging his arm over Cress's shoulders. He pulled the ring out from his pocket and flicked the box open.
A thin silver ring with two tiny diamonds and one slightly larger blue diamond glimmered at them from the plush interior of the box.
Thorne pointed at the two white diamonds, then the blue one.
"These two are me and you," he said, pretending he wasn't crying, "and this one is our baby."
"Why the blue?" Cress sniffled and wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
"It's going to be the color of her eyes."
Cress laughed and sobbed at the same time. "He's going to look just like you."
They looked at each other and Thorne suddenly kissed Cress. She tilted her head and put her hands around the back of his neck. Then she broke the kiss and wiped his tears away.
Thorne scrubbed the sleeve of his sweater over his face. He looked down to find Cress beaming at him, brighter than the sun.
"What?"
"We need to go tell Mr. Arnett."
Thorne took her hand and they started to walk around the shop, glancing around and looking for the shopkeeper.
"Thorne?"
"Hmm?
"I'm going to ask him to walk me down the aisle since my father's gone. Is that okay?"
"Babe, I'm just happy you said yes."
Cress laughed and Thorne reveled in the sound.
"All joking aside, of course I'm okay with it. Mr. Arnett's practically my father-in-law anyway."
"Whose father-in-law am I?" Mr. Arnett wandered around the corner, almost running into the happy couple.
Cress told him everything and he said, "Crescent, I'd be honored to walk with you. It would be the second-happiest day of my life."
Thorne asked, "What was the happiest day of your life?"
"The day my wife was walking down the aisle to marry me. She proposed, you know."
Mr. Arnett wrapped his arms around both Cress and Thorne, all of them smiling to the point where their cheeks hurt.
"You two have my blessings."
Thorne and Cress thanked him and ran back to the Rampion through the bright sunlight, excited to tell the rest of their friends and start planning. It occurred to Thorne that he'd have to tell his parents eventually, but he brushed the thought aside. He was too busy watching Cress grow more and more animated as she expounded on the importance of picking the right flowers, dress, and everything else.
A/N-I had so much fun writing this. I'm thinking of adding a couple chapters. Scarlet wants me to. Tell me what you think in your review!
Love,
Baz
P.S. I'm sorry this was two days late. The site was being a bitch.