Holy shit you guys the end is actually in sight. Well, the end of Arc 2. Don't get me wrong, I love this arc. I genuinely consider chapter 23 to be some of my finest writing in the fic and I still think WTF was chapter 22 on the regular but I'm also really excited to almost be done with Arc 2 for SEVERAL reasons.
One of the big reasons I'm excited about the end of Arc 2 is because I'm just so damn excited to write Arc 3! On top of that- I'm stoked to re-edit arcs 1 and 2, I have so many fucking ideas, including introducing May and June (*GASP*) and does it suck to introduce characters early into a fic after already publishing 30 chapters of it? No, I think it's actually very sexy of me. Y'all should be rereading this fic anyway. I've been told that it's good by a handful of Tumblr mutuals.
The last reason I'm so excited to finish Arc 2 is that after I do the re-edits I'm gonna start publishing this story on AO3 (*SECOND GASP*). I'm trying to make the most of my new AO3 account and honestly? I think that this story is gonna go over pretty well. Well, I hope. Maybe only Sally will review still, but that's okay too. :P
Anyway, Chapter 30 will be following ASAP bc I want to get you guys to the finish line if it's the last thing I do. Well. One of the finish lines.
Louie could hardly remember anything if it wasn't on his calendar. Which was why their calendar was large and smack dab in the middle of their fridge. Louie poured over that thing, leaving detailed notes on every square. Apparently, it was incomprehensible to anyone but him, Huey, and Violet. Boyd didn't even look at the thing.
So when Louie began to scheme about his impending proposal he put his plans right on the calendar, jotting ring shopping down right under glazed doughnut day and therapy.
If Boyd looked at the calendar long enough to realize that Louie was plotting a proposal then Louie would just be happy that his soon-to-be fiance was finally paying attention to the calendar. Louie wondered if Boyd would say something if he did figure out that Louie was gonna propose. He had his whole proposal plans listed out, the calendar running a detailed play-by-play until February 17th, Random Acts of Kindness Day, the day Della's Corner Pub opened, and their one-year anniversary. That was the day Louie was going to propose.
Louie could write out his plans plain as day on the calendar but he had to be a little bit more cunning when it came to telling Boyd his daily itinerary when they ate breakfast together.
"So what's the plan for today?" Boyd asked.
"Doing some shopping with Aunt Daisy after therapy. We'll probably get lunch together," Louie said.
"Oh," Boyd said, trying to hide disappointment, "It's been a while since we grabbed lunch together, I was hoping you could come by on my break. But I understand."
"Sorry, darling. But I'm yours tonight unless something happens." There'd been some complications with the pub, complications with his other business, and there was one big complication coming up with the proposal but that hurdle was one week away on the calendar. That one would be harder to lie to Boyd about.
"Good. I miss spending time with you. Can you believe last year we spent so much time together with you in recovery?"
"Well, I'm still recovering," Louie said, "It's a process. That's why I'm in therapy."
"Yeah, and I'm so proud of you, babe. But I meant like, from broken ribs."
"Oh," Louie let out a little laugh, "Well, here's to a year of not getting grievously injured."
"You think you can promise that?" Boyd asked with an eyebrow raise, his fists clenched below the table as he thought about Louie getting shot. He was still pissed that that had been allowed to happen. Louie's arm had only just healed.
"Uh…"
"Because you told me not to make any promises I couldn't keep. So I'd ask that you do the same."
"Well, here's hoping for a year where neither of us gets grievously injured," Louie said, leaning over and planting a kiss on Boyd's lips.
"I love you, Boyd. Have a good day at work today."
"Have fun with your Aunt, babe. I'll see you later."
When Boyd left Louie let out a small sigh of relief. Now he had a few hours before he had to lie to Boyd again. That was enough time to find the perfect ring, and Louie pretty much already knew what he wanted. Gold would look tacky on Boyd and silver wouldn't stand out, but rose gold- rose gold was perfect.
He explained this in detail to Aunt Daisy as they left the bakery where they had gotten free glazed donuts for glazed doughnut day. Daisy listened patiently, voicing her own thoughts only when Louie shut up.
"Louie, you've clearly given this a lot of thought. I don't think I'm here because you needed a second opinion on rings. No one knows that Boyd looks good in pinks and pastels better than you. I think you're nervous."
Louie slumped a little, "Is it that obvious?"
"Honey, you're wearing one of your oversized hoodies, you only do that when you're anxious."
"Oh." Sometimes Louie forgot that Aunt Daisy and Uncle Donald knew his quirks and tells better than anyone else. They could always see right through his poker face.
"It's okay to be nervous, Lou. I'm here, let's talk about it."
"I know that we want to marry each other but I'm still terrified that something is going to go wrong. Like, what if- what if Gyro doesn't give me his blessing to marry Boyd? I've already talked to Tara and Yuri and they agreed to mediate but what if something goes wrong? What the fuck am I gonna do if Gyro decides I'm not good enough for his son?"
"It doesn't matter," Daisy said, surprising him.
Louie nearly dropped his glazed doughnut, "Wait, what?"
"Boyd loves you more than anything in the world. He knows you're good enough. It's important to talk to Gyro and Tara and Yuri and all that but the only thing that matters is what the man who loves you is going to say when you propose. And I know, I know he's going to say yes."
Louie beamed.
"Thanks, Aunt Daisy. I'm glad you have my back."
"Always, honey. It's gonna be the best night of your life but not because things will go perfectly, things never go perfectly. It's going to be the best night of your life because of the person you're spending it with. Now go sweep your Prince Charming off his feet."
"Right, we still need to buy the ring."
"Ah, yes, right. Rose gold?"
"Rose gold."
Boyd must have been suspicious. It seemed like Louie was always busy. Louie was worried Boyd was gonna figure it out or start asking questions. But his beautiful dumbass of a boyfriend wouldn't do something as simple as check the fridge calendar so those questions went unsaid.
"I have a meeting over breakfast tomorrow, before therapy, so I'm gonna turn in early and then leave early tomorrow."
"Oh, I can turn in early. I just thought we were gonna have movie night. Start a new k-drama."
"And we absolutely will, maybe tomorrow night?"
"Sorry, I'm kind of hanging out with your brother tomorrow?"
"Huey didn't tell me you guys were hanging out," Louie said, a bit surprised but not upset.
"I am kind of hanging out with Dewey tomorrow."
"Oh, wow, okay. That came way out of left field. Did I know about that? I know it wasn't on the calendar."
"Well it was on my phone calendar, I might have forgotten to tell you though. I'm sorry…"
"No, no, babe, don't worry about it. We've both been busy, love. We're going to have more time to be together and watch cheesy k-dramas later. Enjoy hanging out with Dewey. He's fun. He can be fun. He's a terrible poker player though. Which actually could be great for you if you're playing poker against him."
"We're not playing poker. Though a game night could be fun…"
"Yeah, put that on the backburner, babe, that sounds delightful. But after the pub opens."
"Right. Less than a month. I'm so proud of you for all of this," Boyd said, "You've grown so much since we first met and you're doing great things."
"Thank you… I love you, Boyd. Everything is going to slow down after the re-opening."
"I know. Well, let's turn in for the night. Important meeting tomorrow?"
"Yup."
"What's it about?"
"Oh, a business proposal. I am proposing a very important merging of two worlds. I'm gonna wear one of my nice suits."
Boyd laughed, "Every suit you own is nice."
"Not every suit. Have you seen my birthday suit?"
"That's actually your best one," Boyd said, "maybe you should put it on for bed."
"Damn you're so hot and that's incredibly tempting but it's January and freezing and I would like to be warm and rested for my meeting tomorrow."
"Fair, fair. Plenty of time for that after the pub opens, right?"
"Right. All the time in the world." Louie and Boyd shared one more kiss and then headed off to bed.
Louie did not really sleep that night. He was too worried about his meeting with Gyro tomorrow. He was very glad that Yuri and Tara were mediating but he wasn't sure how much they could do. He was still pretty sure that Gyro hated him.
But people who hated you didn't wear the scarf you made for them out to breakfast, did they?
"Is that the scarf I made?" Louie asked, almost dumbstruck.
"Oh. Yeah. Well, it's cold out."
"Right, of course. I'm glad you like it though."
"You're not a bad knitter." Tara and Yuri hadn't shown up yet but Louie couldn't help himself, he had to get the ball rolling.
"I hope you don't still think I'm a bad person, because I really, really love your son."
"Of course I still think you're a bad person," Gyro said, and Louie's face fell, "Listen, Louie, the bad stuff you do doesn't go away regardless of how much money you give away or how many apologies you issue. But you have apologized and you're trying. So I think of you as a bad person trying to be better."
Louie took a deep breath. He could work with that. He set the box on the table and slid it over to Gyro, revealing the rose gold ring inside.
"Oh, no," Gyro said immediately, causing Louie to almost lose his composure once more.
"I haven't even asked-" Louie started.
"I don't want to hear it. You're much too young for me and in a committed relationship with my son. It would be inappropriate."
Louie stared incredulously at Gyro.
"Sir, I am not proposing to you. I'm asking you for your blessing so I can propose to Boyd."
Gyro let out a sigh of relief, "Okay, well, that's different. Let me think about that."
Louie tried not to seem impatient as Gyro sipped his coffee and fiddled with his scarf. From the folds of the scarf, Louie could see a sentient light bulb eyeing (Eyeing? Were those technically eyes?) him skeptically. Two of Boyd's family members that Louie had to convince. Louie struggled in the moment to remember his breathing exercises.
"If I refuse to give you my blessing are you going to pursue my son anyway?" Gyro asked.
Louie blinked, hesitating for only a moment, "Yes, of course."
"Good. You have my blessing."
Louie broke into a grin.
"Thank you so much, sir. Can I hug you?"
"Absolutely not."
Louie sobered up, "Right. But really, thank you. I would do anything for Boyd. I won't stop trying to be better for Boyd."
"I know. And that's why I am tentatively okay with this entire arrangement."
"This means the world to me. Boyd means the world to me."
Gyro nodded, spotting Tara and Yuri across the cafe and waving them over. The conversation became easier, lighter, and Louie gushed to his future in-laws about his plan to propose at the grand re-opening.
He decided to go meet up with Craig and Brooke that night while Boyd and Dewey were hanging out. He personally couldn't think of a reason Boyd and Dewey would hang out but he was happy that they were getting along. Louie wanted Boyd to be close with his whole family.
There was no denying that Craig and Brooke were kind of part of that family now. He greeted them with a hug as he walked into the closed-down bar. All of the physical construction had been finished and now they were just getting the cosmetic details inside perfect.
"Remind me again why we can't open for another four weeks when the bar should be ready in half that time?" Craig asked as he pulled away from the hug.
Brooke lightly swatted him, "Babe, their one-year anniversary is on the 17th it's the height of romance, keep up."
"Oh, so you want me to propose on our anniversary?"
"No," Brooke said with a grin.
"And why's that, Mr. Romantic?"
"Because I am going to be the one proposing. When the moment's right."
Craig was blushing hard as Louie stepped away from the pair, beginning a slow walk around the pub.
Many of the decorations had stayed the same from before, though Louie had contributed several pictures. He stood in front of a picture Uncle Donald had dug up of Della shortly before she'd taken off and tried not to cry. It still hurt so much knowing that he had gotten to live longer than she had, that his mom had been dead longer than she had been alive. Really, it was a sickening feeling and Louie didn't know what to do.
So he turned away from the pub's namesake and found his way back to the familiar. He slid into his booth, the place where he'd met the love of his life, running his hand over the picture of him and Boyd kissing at sunset that they'd hung on the wall.
"Y'know I was a little worried for you that night," Craig said, sliding into the seat opposite Louie.
"Hm?"
"Well, you were wasted and you went home with a stranger. It worked out for you, it doesn't always work out for people. That's why I'm glad we have security now."
Louie nodded, "I honestly don't remember going home with Boyd. It could have been bad. I'm really glad it wasn't…"
"Do you want a drink? Special occasion, you know." Craig said to change the subject.
"Oh, uh... No, I'm fine. I just hit six months sober."
"Congratulations, Louie," Brooke said with a smile, "We're proud of you."
"Thanks. It feels like a lot of people are proud of me right now. I don't know if I always deserve it, but I do appreciate it." He kept having nightmares, kept dreaming of being dragged back into his past. He wanted to be proud of himself, but he couldn't. Not yet.
"You deserve it," Craig reassured, "Listen to the people who care about you."
"You're my favorite employees, you two deserve a raise," Louie said with a laugh. He'd gotten better about not deflecting compliments but old habits die hard.
"So, the venue's set, we have our best flower guy on the job, is everything else in order for the magical proposal?" Craig asked.
"I think so. I have Dewey making a playlist of songs that are the right blend of cool and romantic so as not to be suspicious and- oh shit Dewey and Boyd are together right now, I hope Dewey doesn't say anything."
Dewey was having a very hard time not saying anything.
It was easy to say, "Hey thanks for coming bowling with me."
And it was easy to say, "Can you give this mixtape to Louie?"
But it was much harder to come up with a response to, "Hey do you know if Louie is hiding anything from me?"
Dewey nearly dropped his bowling ball.
"Hiding something how?" He asked as he sent the blue and purple ball spinning down the lane, knocking into seven of the ten pins.
"I know he's been busy with the pub reopening but I feel like he has a scheme brewing or something," Boyd admitted, gripping his own bowling ball tight enough to almost break it.
"Hm. Louie usually has a scheme brewing, so that doesn't surprise me. No clue what it is though. Is something coming up?"
"Just the pub thing. Which I'm excited for, of course, but also, I mean, I'll be glad when it's all over. He's been so busy. And it's probably just the pub thing… But what if he's scheming? Or hiding something? What if something is wrong? He hid a lot from me when we first met."
Dewey was a little surprised and concerned that Boyd hadn't mentioned their upcoming anniversary but he was probably just nervous about things.
"Louie was an entirely different person when you first met. He wouldn't do that again. If he's hiding something from you he has a good reason for it. I wouldn't worry, Boyd."
"Alright, well, if you're sure."
"I'm sure. Louie loves you. He wouldn't do anything to screw up your relationship."
"Nothing on purpose," Boyd agreed, "but even soulmates screw up sometimes. Learned that in Tokyolk."
"What did Louie do in Tokyolk? You guys don't talk much about that trip. Still love the souvenirs, though."
"Louie didn't do anything wrong- except maybe trust me. I… I told him I wouldn't do any hero stuff and then I left him on the roof while I went to do hero stuff."
"Wait, wait, wait, hold up. You left my acrophobic brother on a roof? Like how high of a roof?"
"Towering over Tokyolk."
"What the fuck dude? Now I know he definitely loves you because any lesser boyfriend would've gotten dumped for that for sure."
"Oh. I guess I hadn't thought of it like that. I was pretty busy still feeling guilty about it."
"Well, no need to feel guilty, it's been a couple of months, it's probably water under the bridge by now. I assume you've worked it out?"
"Yeah, we did."
"Then you're probably all good. Anyway, let's bowl."
Boyd didn't worry about Louie's secrets until later when he gave Louie the mixtape, which Louie disappeared into his office with. What did Louie even keep in his office? He'd been so secretive about it. What was on the CD? Who even still used CDs? Boyd had a bit of trouble trusting Louie. But, as Dewey said, they loved each other. That was enough for now.