"You alright there, babe?"
While everyone else is already scattering around Shaw's after the 2017 Amazing Human/Genius has been crowned, Jake is still at the counter of the bar when Amy approaches him. The touch of her hand gently stroking his arm takes him out of his reverie. He looks up from his beer and his face instantly lits up when he meets her eyes despite his broody mood.
Indeed, he can't take his mind away from the fact that she is the one who should have won the heist this year. It was all part of his plan – a plan he worked on for months before tonight and what literally kept him going during his time spent in jail. She was supposed to win – or at least think she'd won – so that he could propose to the love of his life right where they shared their first kiss (well, as Jake and Amy, that is).
If Charles didn't betray him and cuff him…
He tried to get off them, tried to bribe Fake Charles into helping him, but in vain. It was too late when he finally freed himself.
Rosa had already won, outsmarting the rest of the Tramps (and their boss and Amy) after she figured out Holt had stolen the belt from them.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Jake offers her a true, reassuring smile. Ever since he's been back from prison she's been extra careful with him and how he might be feeling. He's getting a lot better day after new day of freedom but sometimes he still can't retain his mind from taking him back to moments and places he'd rather forget – and she knows that.
She witnessed that.
He's been certain for a while now that Amy's the one for him (decided on the exact date of April 28th, 2017 that he was going to act on it and actually ask her to marry him) but how she's been there for him like no one else in such a dark time and the way he missed her during those eight weeks apart only made his feelings even clearer. He simply can't imagine a life in which she isn't part of.
"Seems like we've both been outsmarted tonight, huh?" Amy lies against the counter, making herself comfortable as she takes a sip of her own beverage and watches from afar Rosa proudly showing off her prize.
Jake keeps his eyes on his girlfriend (who could have become his fiancée by now), on the hand that's holding her beer and the absence of ring where there presently could have been one, would his plan haven't gone wrong and would have she said yes to his proposal. He can feel the little box still weighing on his pocket and waiting to be taken out. Thankfully for him, the night isn't over and he has a backup plan.
"Can we go? There's somewhere I'd like to take you before we head home."
"Where?" Amy frowns as she focuses her attention back on him. "It's past midnight."
"It's a surprise." Jake offers her a mysterious grin. She studies his face for a moment before she obliges, following him out of the bar after they told everyone goodnight.
"Seriously Jake, where are you taking me? Did I actually offend you when I said you couldn't surprise me anymore? Is this why you're doing this, to prove me I'm wrong? Because it was a joke, y'know." Amy starts rambling after a while riding in silence. It makes her boyfriend chuckle slightly and he turns around for a second to watch her. He takes one of his hands away from the wheel and lets it rest on her tight.
"I know you were. We're almost there. It'll be worth it, I promise."
Or at least he hopes so. He knows she loves him deeply (she proved it so a dozen of times in the past few weeks only) and there's realistically no reason she would say no (he's right in the laps of time she gave herself to get married in the life calendar that's hanging in their bedroom) but still, Jake can't help but feel nervous. It's a huge step in their relationship they're about to take after all.
And he wants to do it right. She deserves the best. Because she is the best person he knows.
"Okay…" Amy's not-so-convinced voice takes him back to reality.
They drive for a few more miles until Jake eventually parks in front of a building they both know well. Her frown gets deeper when she recognizes it as he urges to her side to open the door to her and she gets out of the car, looking up. Her gaze switches from the building then back to his face.
"Why are we here?" She sounds suspicious.
And she can be: there's not much to see in here. At least to common eyes – because to them, this is where it all started.
Where they came the night she flirted with him for 20 seconds and he became obsessed with her forever, as Jake confessed to Amy only a few months earlier when she freaked out about her sergeant exam and suddenly disappeared. Their rooftop is just as good a place where to propose as the evidence lockup back at the precinct would have been.
It's still full of history – their history. Hence it being his backup plan.
"Shall we?" Jake refuses to answer her question. He offers her his arm instead with his mysterious smile back on his face. It seems to be catching because despite a shake of her head and a roll of her eyes (mostly for form), Amy can't help but smile back as she hooks her arm with his and lets him guide her inside the building. It's only when they reach the door to the rooftop that he draws away from her.
He takes a step back and points towards the closed door. "After you."
His voice is a little hoarse now and his goofy expression has turned more serious all of a sudden as he can feel a rush of nervousness running down his spine.
As he realizes that this is it. The moment of truth. Behind that door lies his future – a future with Amy forever by his side, he sure hopes.
She seems a little hesitant at first but a smile and a nudge from Jake as she stares at him are all it takes for her to eventually obliges. He doesn't follow her right away – lets her take a few steps ahead before he gets out as well. He watches her looking around at the romantic scene he came to set earlier in the day just in case he'd need it, right where they both sat three years and a half ago during their first date.
Nut?
Only if you throw it!
Right where they stood together at a turning point of Amy's career.
What if everything changes between us? Things are so good right now.
Yeah, things might change a little, but for the better, right?
Right where he now gets on one knee before she can turn around.
"What the–…" The words get stuck at the back of her throat when she meets his eyes and he grins at her. His heart is pounding in his chest but it's not out of stress anymore. It's out of love for this wonderful woman who's staring at him with puzzlement in her eyes (it seems like he managed to keep his secret perfectly and she didn't see anything coming).
It's out of excitement to finally be able to pop the question after months of planning it.
"Surprise." His smile grows bigger.
Amy still needs more confirmation that this is truly happening before Jake can start a speech about all the things he loves about her, telling her how amazing she is. He didn't write it down nor rehearsed it beforehand, and maybe he should have, but not once does he have to pause and think about what to tell her – he just has to look at her for the words to come out naturally.
To think that not so long ago, he was very uncomfortable with emotions… He's now literally pouring his whole heart out with his love towards her.
"Amy Santiago," he finally ends his heartfelt monologue with the most important question he's ever gonna ask someone. "Will you marry me?"
He doesn't have to wait long for the answer he's dreamed to hear to come, his gaze lost into Amy's – her eyes are wet from tears of joy and he can feel salty pearls prickling his own too.
"Jake Peralta, I will marry you."
He can't retain the small sigh of relief he lets out as he stands up and slides the small ring on his now fiancée's left finger. They look at it for a while; how it shines against her skin in the moonlight before Amy eventually pulls him into a kiss, framing his face with both her hands while he hooks his on her back to keep her close.
"I love you so much," she whispers when they part and Jake never wants this moment to end. He doesn't think he's ever been so happy in his entire life – all thanks to the thought that he'll soon be Amy's husband.
All thanks to a promise of forever.
"I love you so much too," he's quick to answer.
(It's only later, when they're back in the comfort of their room and curled up in bed, catching their breaths after an intimate celebration of their engagement that he tells her the whole truth.
"This was actually plan C, y'know." Amy frowns as she looks up at him while her hand is drawing random patterns on his bare chest. "The way I proposed to you on our rooftop. I had another belt made with the inscription 'Amy Santiago, will you marry me?' on it that you were supposed to find at midnight thinking you won the heist."
"And what was plan A?" She stops in her movements and sits up to better look at his face. He brings a hand to her face and replaces a strand of hair behind her ear, smiling broadly as he answers her.
"Propose to you months ago," he says it in the most natural ways, as if it were obvious.
Amy's face softens immediately at the words and she leans over to press her lips against his in a kiss as a response. She keeps her eyes on him when they part, both smiling lovingly at each other.
"I can't wait to marry you," she whispers before she goes back to her previous position cuddling against his side – something she'll get to do for the rest of her life, as the ring on her left finger proudly states.)