Roller Coaster

Anakin didn't normally pay attention to the people that queued for an hour to ride the stupid roller-coaster. They were just faces that all blurred together as the hours dragged and finally passed until the end of his shift. Most of the time, he could even tune out their excited voices chattering about the fun that waited ahead of them when their turn came. He'd been one of them once… When theme parks were fun and exciting and not where he begrudgingly worked to save money to pay off his damn student loans while he looked for a real job. Something with his degree. Something that wasn't this god-damn boring.

He didn't pay attention to the people in the queue until he saw her again. She was beautiful… Long dark hair braided down her back, big brown eyes and a happy, joyful smile that made him want to smile too. She'd been up here with her friend three times now. He saw a lot of people ride a few times but three was pushing it. When it was the girl's turn, Anakin couldn't help himself when the cars rolled up to the gate.

"You must really like this ride." Though the comment was directed to both the girls, Anakin just couldn't keep his eyes off the one with the braid. Honestly, he didn't even try. The little denim shorts she wore didn't hurt one bit either.

As soon as the gate opened, her friend jumped into the car leaving them somewhat alone for one amazing second. Her pretty face turned red as her chocolate eyes flicked between her friend and Anakin. "Well, Dorme does. She loves this stuff."

She climbed into the car beside her friend and Anakin leaned down to check the security handles wee correctly lodged in place. Just as he was about to pull away, the friend – Dorme, apparently – smirked. "She's just here to see you."

"Dorme!" The girl hissed and Anakin would have given his entire next paycheck to stay and listen to more, but there was a security camera and a time limit to keep to.

Still, the entire time the ride was in motion, he watched the cars go with probably the biggest smile of his life.

He was proven wrong two and a half minutes later, when, upon exiting the ride, the girl slipped a piece of paper into his hand with a shy smile. This time his smile actually hurt his cheeks.

By the time the next set of riders went, Anakin already had her number memorised.

"Seriously, Angel?" Anakin sighed and asked the same question for the fifth time. "You can do anything you want for your birthday and this is where you want to come?" He'd thought she'd want to find an adventure somewhere, or visit her family or – or anything really. Anything other than coming to the theme park.

"Oh, Ani, cheer up." Padme smiled warmly and reached over to rub his thigh sweetly, though the action did a lot more to distract him from his driving than make him feel better about spending his day where he worked. For fun. "You used to love riding the rides here, didn't you? Maybe it's about time we recaptured that?"

He drove the car into the parking lot, wincing at what the shitty gravel did to his tires and turned the keys to shut off the engine. Usually, people asked for days off work to avoid coming to work. Not Anakin, apparently. He'd promised her they'd do whatever she wanted and apparently, this was it… God help him. Being a good boyfriend was going to kill him. "Why do you like this place so much?"

Padme beamed at him and even after dating for a few months, he was still utterly disarmed by that smile. He was doomed. "Well, it's a theme park, so it's fun. I like the rides and the people you work with are always so nice! Besides," she unbuckled her seatbelt and shifted on her seat to lean closer to Anakin "This is where we met, Ani! Doesn't it make you nostalgic to be here?"

Anakin twisted one of her pretty curls around his finger and rolled his eyes. "I had to clean a kid's puke off the exact spot we met two days ago, Angel. The nostalgia's dead."

"Romantic." She drawled and turned to climb out of the car.

Anakin woke up to the sight of those bushy curls he'd come to love so much and smiled. Just beyond the window, a snowstorm raged outside but he was more than okay with that since it meant longer before their relatives showed up to their new apartment and disturbing their peace. He was content to gaze at the back of her head – because he was so beyond gone for this woman – until Padme rolled over sleepily and stretched herself awake. Her big brown eyes blinked open and she smiled.

"Merry Christmas, Ani."

Not caring about morning breath on either of their parts, Anakin kissed her. "Merry Christmas, Angel."

She moved closer and laid her head on his chest with a yawn. "I almost wish we could stay in bed like this all day…"

"We could have," he murmured, "if someone hadn't invited our entire families over here for Christmas dinner."

"Hardly our entire families, Anakin. Just your mother and my parents. Sola, Darred and the kids are going to his mother's. And isn't Ahsoka going with Ben and Satine?"

"Yeah." He nodded and graced the crown of her head with a kiss. "At least our parents are bringing all the food with them… Which means we don't have to spend the day cooking frantically."

Padme lifted her head and leant her forearm on him instead with a playful smile. "Whatever will we do with ourselves? Maybe I can go into the living room and open all the little blue Tiffany boxes I'm sure are waiting for me."

Anakin barked a laugh. "Unless you've got a second boyfriend hiding somewhere around here, I'm not so sure…" It was only knowing how unserious she was that kept Anakin from sweating about the actual gifts he'd gotten her. She came from a wealthy family, one where little blue boxes seemed to be the norm. Anakin… Well, he and his mom were pretty much on the opposite end of that scale. Though, he was doing pretty well for himself these days. His degree was finally paying off with his new job… Which was how he was able to afford the nice apartment with her. A real, adult job to start their lives with.

Padme laughed with him and sighed contently. "I wish the theme park was open in winter…"

He wished he could be surprised. She'd have them live there year round if he'd let her. The first day after he'd left his job there for his new one, Padme had surprised him with year-round passes… Anakin had learned a while ago there was no escaping that place for good. Though he wasn't going to ever admit this to her, he did enjoy their trips.

"You and that damn park!" He laughed and tugged one of her curls gently. When he spoke again, his voice dropped to a husky whisper. "Why go ride on roller coasters when you can ride me right here?"

Padme raised a single eyebrow and traced her fingertip down the length of his abdomen. "Because a roller-coaster can actually make me scream?" Just as he felt his ego deflate, Padme threw her head back with a giggle and slung one leg over his hips. "But hey, since its Christmas, why don't you prove me wrong?"

Her fingers tangled in his hair and Anakin didn't need to be asked twice.

They were walking aimlessly in the mall to kill time before their movie started next door when Padme disappeared into the bathroom, leaving him alone. Glancing around, he found the only somewhat interesting store to look at was one selling jewellery. Intrigued, he came closer and glanced at the sparkling items through the windows. Necklaces, earrings, bracelets and the like were all displayed as temptingly as possible, but they didn't capture his interest. To his surprise, his eyes were drawn immediately to the rings.

The engagement rings.

Honestly, he hadn't thought about marriage properly. It'd always been something for the future, something he definitely wanted with Padme, but in the future. But they were settled now; they had their own apartment and good jobs. They were a far cry from the kids they'd been when they met on the ride platform. His mom had been dropping hints constantly about marriage for a while now and he knew Padme's mom and sister were doing the same on her end. Maybe it was time.

Imagining his girlfriend, the love of his life, wearing his ring brought a surprising smile to Anakin's face. It felt so right all of a sudden that he wished he had more time to look properly at the rings on display. He'd have to find the time to come back during the week so she'd have no idea. Padme was usually ten steps ahead of him for everything, but for this, he was determined to surprise her.

He moved away from the rings just in time for Padme to reappear from the bathroom and he laced their fingers together when she approached. "What were you looking at?" She asked innocently and it took everything Anakin had not to grin excitedly.

"Oh, I was just looking around for my mom's birthday next month."

"Ani, I'm going to be working a little late tonight." She told him over breakfast with a regretful smile. "Bail pulled out a big meeting and it's causing chaos."

His head snapped up from his cereal with panicked eyes. "Wait, what about dinner tonight?" Suddenly, he thought of the black velvet box hidden in his sock drawer and felt his heart seize up. Everything was already planned! He'd practically had to plead with the place to get the reservation and if they cancelled they'd never let them reschedule.

"I think I should still be fine to make it." Padme smiled. "But I'm just warning you in case I run a little late."

It took a moment for the panic to fade and when it did, he struggled not to show the relief. "Alright. Don't make me wait too long though; people will think I've been stood up."

"Maybe you can find my replacement while you wait." She laughed. "Someone younger and hotter."

"No one in this world is hotter, Angel."

Padme rolled her eyes but leaned across the small kitchen table to kiss him regardless. "You're sweet." They were quiet for a few minutes afterwards, enjoying the background noise of the news filling the room as they eat. Finally, it was Padme who broke the silence, looking up from her newspaper. "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you! I read that the theme park is building a hotel so people can stay there. Isn't that cool?"

Somehow, Anakin managed to laugh and accepted her quick kiss as she stood up to go shower. From across the table, he saw the theme park advertisement printed in the paper and groaned. When all was said and done, he had a sinking feeling he already knew where they were honeymooning.