a/n: Boy am I glad to be back where people actually review! (unlike those people at fiction press!) Thanks to all my lovely reviewers for your encouraging words! They make me want to update faster! hint hint

Chapter 10

"It's just this thing we do every year." Heule, a tall man with blonde hair that fell into his blue eyes when it wasn't pulled back, explained to John as they both chopped wood for the bonfire that was happening tonight. "It's always on the last day of summer. The two of you'll like it. There's dancing and singing and after about only two hours everyone gets so drunk that no one can even stand."

"Sounds like fun." John grinned. "We'll be there."

"Great." Heule set his axe down and leaned against a nearby tree wiping the sweat off his face. Across the field, several women were hanging laundry along ropes that ran between trees. Teyla was among them. She had made herself quite at home with the Guireans. Everyday she was either going to someone's house or someone was coming to theirs.

The Wraith darts were of no use. As much as John tried, he could not get the ship fixed. He even tried flying one of the darts but they were all too damaged to work. He and Teyla had eventually given up and accepted that there was no way they would ever get back to Atlantis. This affected them only for the first couple of days, during which the Guireans offered their support.

A week later John and Teyla started building a house of their own because the woman who owned the one they were staying in needed it for her father who's own house had caught fire and her husband and she had no room for him in theirs. Her father had been staying with a friend until John and Teyla moved out, which didn't take too long because a lot of the villagers helped out.

Heule had left to do something for the party and John continued chopping wood until he felt a hand on his back. He spun around and there was Teyla holding a glass of ice water for him. He drank it eagerly and when he finished, he gave her a quick kiss.

"Thank you." He said. "You want to go to this bonfire tonight?"

"I do. Camille has been telling me about it and I'm getting excited."

"Yeah me too." John looked down at the axe in his hand. "Well I had better finish the wood but when I'm done I'll come up for lunch, kay?"

"How much more do you have to do?" John pointed to a fairly large pile. "Well you had better get started then." Teyla said smugly and walked away. John smiled and got back to work.

oOo

The sound of glass clinking glass rang out over the roaring fire as everyone drank to a safe and healthy winter. Glasses were refilled and soon everybody started singing and dancing wildly as they slowly started getting inebriated.

John hadn't wanted to drink too much tonight, but he found it impossible as glass after glass of the alien alcohol was shoved into his hand. Once he had gotten a good buzz, but was still slightly in control of his own actions, he tried to stop, but Teyla, who hadn't even tried to refuse the drink, challenged him to drink as many shots as he could in one minute. The challenge coming from Teyla, he simply couldn't refuse and they took turns doing this for ten minutes. By then neither had any of their faculties left and partook in the rest of the festivities.

After a couple hours, many of the Guireans had either gone home or were passed out on the ground. The woman Teyla had been singing with had just keeled over into the dirt so she made her way over to John and dragged him off to the hills.

John wrapped his arms around Teyla as they stumbled into the night, but it was a bad idea since it brought them both down into the grass. They laughed uncontrollably until they had gotten comfortable on the soft ground.

"I love this woman!" John shouted at the sky. Teyla laughed again. "I want to live the rest of her life with me! Will you marry me?"

"Yes let's get married!" She replied excitedly. "Tonight! Let's get married tonight!"

John was starting to get nauseous so he ungracefully fell back on the hill. Teyla was holding onto his arm so she was pulled down too with a cute little "oomph." John plucked up a blade of grass and did his best to tie the two ends together before picking up Teyla's hand and somehow managing to stick it on her finger.

"Tonight we sleep. Maybe tomorrow."

oOo

John woke up with one of the worst hangovers he had had in a long time. In fact the last time he had gotten that drunk was almost seven years ago at one of his buddies' bachelor party.

He looked over and saw Teyla sprawled face down in the dirt cradling his hand somewhere he was sure she would object to if she were awake. Careful not to rouse her, John gently pulled his hand out from between her hands and her chest and rubbed it to regain feeling in it for it had gone numb from being squished by Teyla.

Teyla slowly cracked her eyes opened and quickly squeezed them shut again, muttering something about turning off the sun. When her eyes had adjusted to the light, she sat up, her hair going every which way and grass sticking to her cheek. John chuckled but was sure he didn't look any better.

"What I would give for some pancakes right now." He groggily murmured while trying and failing to stand up.

"Why pancakes?" Teyla asked as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"They're hangover food." He pulled himself off the ground and swayed for a few seconds until the world stopped spinning. Teyla mimicked him and together they set off back to their house so they could sleep their headaches off.

oOo

Teyla was sipping tea with Saris when the ever vigilant woman pointed out the grass wrapped around Teyla's finger.

"What have you got there?" Teyla looked down at her hand and couldn't remember why she had it. She had rolled out of bed and only managed to change her clothes and brush her teeth and hair before she rushed over to Brenn's and Saris' house for Saris' special tea to cure her hangover.

"Probably just a piece I missed when I brushed myself off after waking up in the grass." She fingered it and when she pulled it off and looked at it, a vision from the night before flashed in her mind. They were in the grass and John had just shouted something. Then he had asked her something.

As realization dawned on Teyla, she hurriedly made up some excuse and dashed out of the house, down the street, through her door, and straight into John.

Breathless, she showed him the ring of grass and he stared at it oddly.

"What's this about?" She flopped into one of the chairs around the kitchen table to catch her breath. John sat in the one next to her.

"You gave this to me. Last night." She explained. John still didn't quite understand what she was going on about. "You… well, you asked me to marry you… last night… on the hill?" John's eyebrows rose so high they were in danger of disappearing into his hairline.

"I did?" Teyla's face turned three shades of red. Embarrassed, she stood up and mumbled a "never mind" and turned to go but John's hand caught her arm. Teyla looked back at his face that was dead serious as he stood up and asked, "Teyla, will you marry me?"

She was grinning from ear to ear. "Yes!" She cried. John smiled and picked her up, kissing her until they couldn't breathe.