Before long, winter returned, and with it, Jimmy and Karen's one year anniversary.

Karen had a hard time believing they'd only been together a year- in many ways it seemed that they had been dating for longer than that, but the calendar swore otherwise.

She knew Jimmy had made a dinner reservation, but he wasn't saying much else about the plan for the evening. She was looking forward to a nice night out.

Ana was sitting cross legged on her bed as Karen got ready, excitedly telling Karen about her date this weekend with the cute neighbor two floors down.

"So finally, as we're folding the last of our clothes…"

"And that was your third trip to the laundry room this week?" Karen teased.

Ana's eyebrow became suddenly very itchy, "Uh, maybe fourth?" Karen laughed as Ana cut her off, "Hey! I did Kyle's too!"

"And how many times did you check mail in the last two weeks…?"

"Hey- it comes every day!"

"Except Sundays… and only ONCE a day…"

"ANYWAY, as I was saying, I was folding the last of my clothes," she began again.

"That were probably already clean from yesterday…" Karen whispered with a grin.

Ana narrowed her eyes but continued, "And he asked if I liked sushi. Of course I said yes. And now I have a date Saturday night!"

"Well, I'm happy for you. All your stalking finally paid off- and without a restraining order!"

"Yeah, well, we can't all have our true love delivered to our doorstep. You're welcome for the introduction by the way…"

"You make him sound like an Amazon order."

"Like you could have ordered a better guy for yourself. I mean, really Karen?"

"He is pretty great."

"I'd say it's a bit more than great…?"

Karen nodded, blushing. "We just click, you know? We can talk about anything, and while he makes me CRAZY sometimes, it's not like, crazy crazy-" she paused, "Does that even make sense?" she shook her head.

Ana nodded back with a smirk, very familiar with their manner of making each other crazy- and making up…

Karen finished the last check of her hair and make up and turned to Ana, "So, how do I look?"

"Stunning." Ana hopped off the bed to walk with Karen to the door and gave her a quick hug, whispering, "Have fun tonight!"

At that moment a gentle knock on the front door pushed it slowly open. Jimmy froze in place when he saw them, "Wow," he breathed, "You look…" he took in her red dress.

Ana elbowed her, "See? Told you- stunned," she whispered with a grin.

Karen resisted the urge to step on her foot, instead flashing a shy smile at Jimmy. "Uh, you ready to go?"

Jimmy nodded slowly, eyes still on Karen.

/

In the cab they discussed their day- sharing work anecdotes and Ana's conquest. Jimmy tried hard to focus on the words, but he was distracted by Karen. She was always pretty- beautiful even- but tonight she was gorgeous. Her hair fell in loose waves and when she smiled or laughed she was… radiant. He still couldn't believe he'd gotten so lucky. Not only was she beautiful, she was kind and funny and kept him from getting "all grumpy Jimmy" (Kyle's words).

In seemingly no time at all, they arrived at the restaurant. Shortly after being shown to their table, Karen excused herself to the restroom, leaving Jimmy with her drink order.

On her way back, she saw Jimmy, who looked even more handsome than usual, speaking quietly to their server. The fact that she was leaning down further than would be considered normal- or really appropriate- also caught Karen's attention.

Karen watched her boyfriend smile up at the girl, whispering one last remark as she caught his eye. He sat up straighter and the server stood quickly and walked toward the bar.

Karen cocked her head at Jimmy, "What was that about?"

Jimmy shook his head, "Just ordering drinks," he shrugged, toying with his fork.

Karen, still somewhat bothered, tried to shake it off- it was their anniversary after all. They were going to have a nice night. They'd been so busy lately, a night out was what they needed.

Unfortunately, as the meal progressed, the server's behavior did not improve. She lingered overlong and returned to their table to 'check on them' far more times than was necessary.

Karen may have been a bit rude when the girl returned with their check and asked if they needed anything else.

Before they left, Jimmy excused himself, promising to return in a moment. Karen collected her things and decided to meet him at the front. Across the restaurant, she saw him talking to their server, handing her something before walking away.

He spotted Karen and joined her. "Ready for a night out?"

Karen, feeling suddenly sick, shook her head. "I think I'd rather just go home."

Jimmy hesitated, glancing at her, "Uh, I thought we'd go out, have a good time- it's our anniversary…?"

"I'm just kind of tired, you can go out if you want."

Jimmy stopped short, "Karen, what's going on?"

"Nothing. I just want to go home."

"Ok, let me just-" he held up his phone, "uh, I need to make a call real quick." He walked a few steps away before turning back, "Uh, just have to um, cancel the… thing, the thing we were going to do."

"Sure, go call her," Karen grumbled under her breath. Determined not to make a scene on the street or in the cab, she held her tongue further. They'd definitely be talking about this when they got home though.

The whole ride home, Karen stared out the window as Jimmy went over the entire meal to try to figure out what had gone wrong.

He'd been planning this night for months. He knew when he asked her to move in almost six months ago that she was the one he wanted to spend his life with. He bought the ring shortly after and had the store keep it so she wouldn't find it at home.

Home.

It brought a warm feeling to his chest at the thought of their place as home. The only person in his life he'd ever felt truly comfortable with- before Karen- was Kyle. And he'd known him his entire life. He couldn't believe how quickly Karen had carved out a place in his life- and his heart. His heart... which currently felt as if it was made of lead. What was going on?

/

They entered their apartment in the same heavy silence they'd maintained since leaving the restaurant.

She dropped her keys on their hook and turned to face him, arms crossed and eyes hard. "What the heck, Jimmy? On our anniversary?"

Jimmy opened and closed his mouth, "What are you talking about?"

She spoke slowly, "The. girl."

"What girl?" his voice rose in pitch as his confusion grew.

She rolled her eyes, "At the restaurant?"

Jimmy's mind raced, the only person he'd spoken with was their… oh. Despite himself, he smiled. "Wait- are you jealous?"

She threw her hands up, "Are you kidding me? THAT'S what you have to say for yourself?!" She began walking towards the bedroom.

Jimmy chased after her and caught her arm before she made it down the hall. "Hey, this isn't how I meant for this to go…" He moved in front of her to stop her progress. Jimmy shook his head, "I had this…" She looked toward the bedroom impatiently.

Jimmy caught her eye, "I just asked her to make sure tonight went well," sincerity thrummed in his voice and he felt her begin to relax. "I swear, anything I said to her was about our meal."

He let go of her arm, but held her gaze. "Karen, I'm with you. And I love you- more than I knew was possible." He looked down at his feet as he swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat. He took a steadying breath before looking up at her again. "You're it for me-" his voice caught.

When she didn't respond immediately he cleared his throat, giving a small smile as he shrugged, "I thought you knew that."

Her face softened, "Jimmy…" she began quietly before her gaze focused behind him. Her tone changed, "...Why are the bedroom lights on? I know I turned those off!" Her voice rose in pitch as she looked around wildly, "Jimmy," she whispered, pulling his arm back in the direction of the door, "we should call the police!"

Jimmy wanted to scream (or maybe laugh) with how terribly off course the entire night had gone. But, none of that had changed the most important part of his plan. He took her hand and led her to the room.

"Jimmy? What-" she stopped herself as he opened the door.

Strangely her first thought was that she was wrong. The lights weren't on- the room was lit by votive candles- at least a dozen framed the room. And in the center of her dresser stood a beautiful arrangement of flowers.

As she looked around she almost didn't notice Jimmy lowering himself to the floor behind her. "Oh my g…" she covered her mouth with her hand.

Jimmy smiled as he pulled the box out of his pocket. "So, I had this whole plan for tonight- and hopefully you know that it didn't go at all as planned…" he gave half a smile. "But that doesn't change how I feel- Karen, I love you more than… more than I thought was possible," he trailed off with a huff. "I kind of stole that part of my proposal in the hall…" Karen gave a short laugh from behind her hand. Encouraged, he opened the box and continued, "I wish this night had been more perfect, but it hasn't changed anything for me, and I don't want to wait longer to ask you to be my wife- if that's ok with you." With a small nod and tears in her eyes she watched him as he took a breath, his gaze never wavering, "Karen, will you marry me?"

She dropped her hand, nodding and grinning, "Yes!"

She held out her hand for him to put the ring on her finger. Once in place, she pulled him up, throwing herself in his arms. He cupped her head in his hands, bringing her lips to his, happier than he could ever remember being.

When the kiss ended, she played with the hair on the back of his neck. "I'm sorry I tried to ruin your proposal."

Jimmy laughed. "I'm just glad it wasn't me…" Karen stuck her tongue out at him. "But I'm even gladder you said yes."

He leaned in to kiss her again when his phone chimed. Ignoring it he stroked her jaw with her thumb, her sigh brushing against his lips. He smiled as he-

...heard his phone chime again.

Followed immediately by Karen's phone ringing.

His lips millimeters from hers, "So, what do you want to bet that Kyle and Ana won't stop until we answer."

"Seems like a crappy bet- we both know the result." They each took a step back to silence their phones. Karen paused, "Wait, they knew it was tonight?"

"Who do you think decorated? I was just glad they finished before we got here. Coming home right after dinner wasn't the plan." He typed quickly into his phone. "That's who I had to call before we got in the cab."

Tossing the phone on the bed he pulled her close again. "Ok, I told them I needed fifteen minutes to celebrate with my future wife before they storm the apartment."

"So… we have about five minutes?"

"If we're lucky…"

Karen wound her arms around his neck. "Well, good thing we have the rest of our lives then…"

His heart nearly bursting at her words, he kissed her deeply, his hands threaded in her hair.

Much less than five minutes later, they heard the door slam open and the high pitched squeal of a very excited Ana. "Put your clothes back on, get out here and show me the ring!"

Kyle laughed, "Sorry guys, I tried to stop her but she's been watching the peephole since Jimmy's call!"

Karen sighed, "To be continued, I guess."

"That's ok. I think you mentioned something about the rest of our lives."

"Hmm, I think I like the sound of that," she leaned in again.

Kyle's voice stopped them, "Uh, guys- Ana is about come drag you to the living room."

Jimmy gave her a quick peck, grabbed her hand and led her from the bedroom. "We really need new friends."

/

It's done! I hope you enjoyed it! Leave a comment so we can chat! I love to 'meet' other Jimmy/Karen fans. :)

(Funny story- I unknowingly tried to ruin my husband's proposal- more than once that evening- whoops... Luckily it all worked out in the end) :)

Up next- college AU! (One day...)