Gosalyn released a sigh as she spread out on their bed in Scrooge's manor, quiver lying on the floor where she'd dropped it. Max picked it up and set it properly on its end wedged between the nightstand and the wall where there was no fear of it falling. He set his shield beside it and laid the spear on the floor, flush against the wall.

Where was he supposed to keep a spear? His hall closet? The umbrella stand next to the front door? This hero thing was going to take some getting used to.

"I'm so tired," Gosalyn said, grabbing a pillow and stuffing it under her head.

"We have a party to go to," Max said, taking off his bullet-proof jacket. Was there a laundering process for this? Surely it couldn't be put into the washing machine with his towels or sheets. He'd never considered all the practicalities of heroism.

Gosalyn groaned, rolling onto her side. "I don't want to move."

"Maybe we can arrive late," Max offered, draping the jacket over an armchair for now, "but we do have to go. Most of these people are in this universe because of you."

"Don't come at me with your logic and sense."

Max laughed when a pillow was launched at his face, which he caught easily and tossed back onto the bed. He walked over and took her hand in his, gently pulling. "Come on, honey. Let's change so we can go."

"Or, hear me out," said Gosalyn, her fingers tightening around his. She yanked him down until he was lying beside her. "We stay here."

Max hummed and pressed a kiss to her forehead, soothed by her warmth. His mind kept creeping back to the stark pit of her absence. The bleak nothingness.

It was nice to have her so close. To be able to have physical contact. Proof that she was, in fact, here with him and not a construct of his imagination. He'd probably need a lot of physical confirmation in the coming days. Weeks. Maybe months. Whenever he thought of her being gone forever.

Max used his free hand to brush her bangs out of her eyes, sweeping them away. "We still have to go."

Gosalyn's eyebrows drew together slightly and she sighed. "But we leave the first chance we get to come back here and sleep, yeah?"

Max knew Gosalyn wouldn't leave the party early. He knew she'd wind up socializing with everyone and would stay the entire time. Especially with all the visiting Drakes and Launchpads and Scrooges and even a few Maxs floating around, she'd be keen to talk with them as much as she could before they returned to their worlds.

But he wasn't going to argue that point with her right now, so he just said, "Sure."

She squeezed his hand and sighed again, making no movements to get up.

Max, too, wasn't in any hurry to stir. He was perfectly content lying here with her, memorizing the curves of her face while lulled by the gentle whisper of her breathing.

The words he had been wrestling with for months bubbled up in his chest, inching their way up his throat. They'd done this several times before, very nearly spilling out of his mouth when he and Gos had been out on dates and she laughed at one of his stupid jokes, or when she trash talked him while playing video games, or when she'd come home laden with groceries, saying his favorite candy was on sale so she'd stocked up.

Every time, he almost said them, the words sitting right there on his tongue. But it hadn't ever felt right. Like there needed to be some sort of fanfare and forethought.

So, he'd swallowed the words each time, pushed them back down until the magical moment when the planets aligned and it felt right.

Which was stupid.

There was never a right moment. There was only now.

He inhaled.

"I love you…." Max started.

And stopped.

Gosalyn — beautiful unassuming supportive Gosalyn — immediately said, "I love you, too," her voice heavy with exhaustion.

Max smiled and pressed his forehead to hers. "I wasn't done," he said with a light chuckle, his fingers squeezing hers. She hummed something, right on the border of sleep.

Max took a breath and finally finally said the words that had been echoing in his head for so long. "I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Gosalyn's eyes snapped open and she stared at him, weariness long forgotten.

Max shrugged, trying to come off as casual and self-assured. Even though he really wasn't. "I have a ring," he said with a weak smile.

"Oh, my God," Gosalyn said, sitting up.

Max followed suit, righting himself. "It's not here. I 100% left it in my bedroom at Dad's house. It's buried deep in my sock drawer. It's, um, been there for awhile. I've been trying to figure out the best place and the right words and, you know. All of that. But it doesn't matter. All that really matters is, at the end of the day, you're there for me to come home to."

Gosalyn was smiling.

And Max suddenly became very aware of their surroundings, embarrassment crashing down around him. "I could, um." Max cleared his throat. "I could get down on one knee if you… if that would make this more official."

"No," Gosalyn said, laughing lightly. She detangled her hand from his and brought both of them up so that her hands were cradling the back of his head. "No, I like you close."

Max bumped his nose against the edge of her beak, causing her smile to grow. "You haven't answered my question," he said.

"You haven't asked me anything."

Yikes.

He should have at least done some planning, not just jump into this thing feet first.

Well.

Too late now.

Taking a deep breath, Max closed his eyes and asked, "Do you wanna marry me?"

Gosalyn kissed his cheek. "Yes."

Max grinned, turning his head to capture her in a brief kiss. He pressed his forehead to hers again, thumbs skimming over her cheeks.

"So," Gosalyn said, running her hands down over his shoulders until they came to rest on his chest. "How long have you had that ring in your sock drawer?"

"About a year. But I've been thinking about asking you since the day you asked if I'd seen Breakfast at Tiffany's."

Gosalyn sat back, her head cocking to one side and her eyes round. "That was the first time you met me."

It had been. When Gosalyn had strode in, not caring what was happening in the boardroom. Max was sure that it was his romanticism overacting, but he remembered the beams of afternoon light pouring in from the conference room windows and catching the orange highlights in her hair, making the locks positively glow. The confidence with which she walked had winded him. And those green eyes had sent a spark of electricity jolting through his being when they had landed on him.

He'd had issues stringing coherent thoughts together when he'd seen her. He sometimes still did.

Gosalyn had been, and would always be, the most breathtaking thing he had ever seen.

Max smiled slightly. "Yeah."

She leaned in and kissed him, her hands traveling up into his hair. He pulled her into his lap, and deepened the kiss, his hands splayed across her back.

When his mind started to grow a little too fuzzy, on the precipice of that point of no return, he pulled away and kissed her cheek. "We should change."

"Spoilsport," Gosalyn said, the disappointment in her tone countered by the grin on her face.

"I do remember someone asking me to leave the party early," Max said, nuzzling her neck. "And we always could."

"You keep that up, mister, and the only thing that party is gonna get is my condolences."

Max snorted before she kissed him again, this one short and sweet. She then scrambled up and walked towards their closet, Max following not far behind.

Within a few moments, they had exchanged their hard streamlined tactical gear for soft sweaters, warm scarves, and secure boots. Max draped his and Gosalyn's coats over his arm before grabbing her hand and leading the two of them down to the main foyer.

"How do you want to tell everyone?" Gosalyn asked, looking up at him as they descended the grand staircase. "About us?"

A fear unlike anything Max had ever felt descended upon him at the thought of explaining to Negaduck and Drake Mallard that he'd proposed.

Casting his eyes down to the foyer, he caught sight of the two of them, lightly arguing with one another as Huey, Dewey, and Louie pulled on coats and scarves alongside Donald and Daisy. Goofy and Launchpad had already gone ahead to the hotel with the rest of the multiverse travelers, eager to play hosts to everyone who had helped save their world.

Max looked back at Gosalyn. "I don't know."

They stepped down into the room and Scrooge walked in from the kitchen, his face grave as he typed away furiously on his phone. "Someone's broken into the money bin."

Max breathed a sigh of relief that the decision had been made for him and pulled Gosalyn into a half hug, pressing a kiss to her hair. "Guess we'll save it," Max whispered. Looking over to Scrooge, he asked, "Are you sure, sir?"

Scrooge's expression grew dark before he took a deep breath. "I'm sure, lad." He walked over and held out his phone so they could see video feed of the interior of the money bin.

Gosalyn froze under Max's arm and he, too, blinked to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Because it looked an awful lot like Quackerjack, Liquidator, Bushroot, and Megavolt were standing in Scrooge's office, trying to break into the bin. Quackerjack had a toy stethoscope held up to the safe as he spoke to Bushroot, whose vines were wrapped around the knob, turning it back and forth.

"Looks like we have a stop to make before heading to the party," Gosalyn said, looking over to Negaduck and beckoning him over. Negaduck walked to her immediately, Drake trailing behind. They both studied the screen, Negaduck's expression darkening as Drake looked between him and Scrooge.

"You got a back entrance to that bin of yours?" Negaduck growled, glancing at Scrooge.

He hesitated for a moment, but then Scrooge nodded. "There's a small hatch at the top of the bin."

Negaduck nodded and looked to Gosalyn. "Is that dragon still around?"

"Outside," Gosalyn confirmed.

Negaduck's eyes rose to meet Max's. "You tagging along, Romeo?"

Max's grip on Gosalyn tightened fractionally and she leaned into him reassuringly. "Yeah."

Negaduck just nodded as Scrooge said, "There's a security code to access it." He led Negaduck away, whispering to him furiously.

Drake smiled at the young couple. "I'll let you two take point on this one. See you at the hotel?"

Max nodded with a smile as Gosalyn extracted herself from his side to hug her father. She whispered something to him and he squeezed her tighter before eyeing Max.

"Keep an eye on her."

"She'll be keeping an eye on me," Max said, but he tried to look like he was worthy of Drake's faith in him.

"Let's go," Negaduck barked from the front door, which he was holding open and gesturing to the darkness on the other side, gentle snowfall swirling in the golden beam from the porch light.

"You can count on us, sir!" Max said to Scrooge as he followed Gosalyn outside.

"See that building on the hill?" She asked Draco, pointing towards the bin. The dragon nodded. "There are burglars inside. Would you like to help us catch them?"

Draco spread his wings wide, smoke curling from his nostrils and up around his head. "Oh yes."

The three of them claymores aboard, Max taking the front, Gosalyn situating herself one the middle, and Negaduck taking the rear, the three of them clinging onto Draco for dear life as he took off into the skies once more.

A/N: Happy Hanukkah!