Hellllooo my friends! How are y'all doing? Miss me? I missed y'all not gonna lie lol Sorry for the hiatus there and all. Had a lot of stuff going on for a little while. Mostly good things and being busy, honestly lol I don't regret any of it though lol

But hey, I'm here now and I'm writing lol Hope you guys enjoy this update, and much love, everyone!

"So what tool do you need now?"

"Just a wrench."

"Need a specific size or something?" I looked over to Jim who was surrounded by small bike parts. He now had his tongue poking out of his mouth. His concentration was evident as he twists something into place.

"Nah, there's a universal one with the bolt sockets. I use that for everything." His tongue went back into its original position as I passed him over the tool he asked for. The man giving me a happy nod with a smile as he took the tool from me with glee. A small giggle escaped me as he went back onto working with the small bike that was scattered in pieces in his lap.

"It was something my dad and I were supposed to put together when I was a kid."

Jim's voice echoed in my head as I watched the man in question put tightened a bolt in place with the wrench.

"Toby refused to let me move out of my mom's house without. Saying that even though my dad promised to build it doesn't mean I wouldn't want to build it myself at some point. I just kinda forgot about it, I guess."

I smiled as he pulled the box beside him closer to find a particular piece he realized that he needed.

"So you just kept it. All of this time." Jim gave me a small shrug as looked over the box I was showing him in question.

"As a kid, it just didn't feel right to build it without someone. That it was meant to be built by a pair and that having it built by my lonesome would ruin its initial purpose. Ya know?" I watched Jim as he went into the box and grabbed out a small bell that was supposed to be attached to the handlebars of the bike. "By the time I even remembered it as a teenager, I wanted to build or get a Vespa or something instead anyway. So it just kinda lost its purpose all in general."

"But you still kept it." I put an arm around his back so I could place my left hand on his left shoulder so I could look over the pieces with him. "It must still have a purpose. Even with it still gathering dust now."

"Well," I looked up toward Jim as it was obvious something captured his thoughts within that moment. "It just might if you want it to."

"What do you mean?"

I smiled like a fool as Jim spun the tire of the small kid's bike with ease. I triumphant smile taking over the man's face as he finally brought his tongue back into his mouth.

"We could build it together."

"Not bad for not building anything without an engine for the last," Jim paused for a minute as he seemed to count the years by in his head. "Six or so years." He let out a small chuckle before giving me his full attention. "Are you sure you don't want to help with the actual building part of this? I wouldn't mind showing you a few things."

"I quite enjoy watching you work though." I smiled as I took the wrench he had now passed over to me and placed it back into the small blue toolbox next to me. "Even then, I kinda need my fingers being soft and nimble for my line of work. If I mess up and strain my hand or anything doing something out of my normal, I can't draw or tattoo for a little bit."

"Isn't that normal for artists at times though? At least those that draw as much as you." I chuckled as the blued man started to mess with the gears he was trying to put in place.

"Was about to say there, love, you're an artist too."

"But hey, I can't draw anything as beautiful as you do though."

"And if I could draw anything as beautiful as you, I would be called Claria Da Vinci." I smiled as Jim snapped his attention completely toward me with a blush scattered about his cheeks. "Cat got your tongue there, mi amor?" I felt a smirk take over my smile as my boyfriend before me seemed to struggle with his words.

"J-Just was never called beautiful before and I was not expecting that." I giggled for a moment as I reached out and took his right hand in mine.

"You are a beautiful man though." I intertwined my fingers with his as a soft chuckle escaped the blue-eyed man.

"You really are something different there, Claire." I tilted my head to the side for a second as I squeezed his hand gently.

"You got that now? After all this time? I don't care for gender-specific bullshit and all, you know this." I giggled at his blush darkened just a little.

"I know, I know." He muttered at first as he ended up quoting me from our first conversation after I complimented him in such a way. "Everyone can be anything if they wish for it."

"Exactly." I leaned over and placed a quick kiss on his cheek before pulling back and look over the project in his lap. "Wanna take a break for now? We can build the rest later or something." Jim turned his attention toward the bike as well as he seemed to realize that the floor was covered in scattered pieces of a small child's bike.

"Yeah maybe." He chuckled after a second as he checked his watch on his left wrist. "How long have we been sitting here anyway?"

"Two hours? Maybe?"

"It's been taking me that long to build this thing?" Jim had a look of surprise on his face as he slipped his hand out of mine to put the half-finished bike back into its box. "When did it end up taking me this long to build anything?" I smirked as I nudged him in the shoulder.

"Maybe you're losing your mojo."

"Maybe so." Jim chuckled as the sound of thudding footsteps started coming up our driveway. "What the hell? What is Douxie doing here?"

"CLAIRE! JIM!" I snapped my attention toward the older man who was jogging up our driveway. He slowed down as he reached where the garage overhanging was before stopping suddenly and putting his hands on his knees. "Damn I never needed to run that hard since high school. Good fucking hell."

"You alright there, old man?" I pushed myself up onto my feet as a smirk took over my face once more. "Turning into Merlin there with all that running you're doing."

"Merlin ran?" Jim joined in once more as he joined me in standing up. "And not from his problems or emotions?"

"Damn, that's harsh there, my ojo derecho." Jim just shrugged as Douxie walked over to the two of us.

"I'm not taking it back though."

"He's not completely wrong either there, sister." The older man placed his hands on his hips as he took a few deep breathes for a moment. "I need your help though. The both of you."

"What's going on there, bro?" I tilted my head to the side as I looked over the panicked feature of my adoptive brother.

"Zoe's coming home early." I looked over toward Jim as a confused look took over my face. His features mimicking mine as we both looked back toward the taller man.

"And that's a problem why?" Doux ran a hand through his hair for a moment as he drew in a quick breath.

"Well, you see,"

Oh God, the poor dude is going to go on a stress ramble.

"Zoe was supposed to come home in a few months right around our anniversary and I had this big plan set up for her and everything and I wanted to do this very specific thing on our anniversary but now that's out the fucking window cause I know I won't be able to hide this fucking thing," Randomly the fellow tattoo artist pulled out a small red box that caused my eyes to widen as he flung his arms around as he continued to ramble. "For all too long from her cause you know Zoe, she can tell when I'm hiding anything from her and this is a really big thing to hide. Well, no, actually it's quite small but like, you understand me. Yet here I am, with a fucking ring panicking my ass off over proposing in my sister's garage from the house she shares with my friend slash their boyfriend because I don't know what to do anymore." Douxie took in a deep breath as he straightened himself out a little. "Did you two get that or do I need to do a speed run of that again?"

"You wanna propose to Zoe now?" I looked at Douxie with a soft gaze as he just nodded a little.

"That's the plan. I was going to on our anniversary being together for six years now and all but yeah. That's the goal here." He gestured the box toward me as a gentle smile took over his face. "Wanna look over the ring? I know I showed it before but I bet you'll like it better in person." I just nodded silently for a second as he just handed over the small red box to me. I pulled open the lid softly before looking over the small silver ring.

Yep. Still just as breathtaking.

The gold and silver ring with its bright right pink stone was still quite a sight to see. It was more obvious now than ever that it wasn't a true diamond in the center, but it was cut to look like one. But even from its little cushion spot in the center of the box, the engravings were as clear as crystal. "Z + D for eternity" were etched into it seemingly effortlessly as the letters curved as if they were simply written in calligraphy instead.

"Yep still given the Claire stamp of approval." I nearly muttered the words to myself as I closed the box and gave it back to him. "So you need help making a plan? How can we help?"

"Yeah, how can we lend a hand?" I smiled as I felt Jim put an arm around my shoulders.

"Well I had planned to propose during the Battle of the Bands being hosted at the high school because that's how I initially asked her out, but that's kinda out of the question." Douxie chuckled as he reached up and scratched the back of his neck with his free hand. "But I might have something else up my sleeve if you two or down."

"What you got, Doux?" I smirked once more as I crossed my arms over my chest which seemed to pull a large smile out of the fellow punk.

"I knew I could count of you two."

"Who else would you count on? Archie?" I elbowed Jim as he just chuckled at his own comment beside me.

"Yes, a cat will help him propose." I rolled my eyes jokingly at my boyfriend as I looked back over toward Douxie who had a sheepish look on his face.

"Actually, that's kinda the plan." I gave him a confused look at Jim seemed to also be confused by the idea.

"Douxie said what?"

Annnnddd hiatus on this one is now officially over as well lol Should I be up again at two AM writing fanfiction? ... Probably not lol But hey, I felt like writing again and this was the one I had an idea for and I have a thing where I like to get my writings to at least 2,000 words when I update a story lol

Anyway, I hope y'all enjoyed it and much love there, mates!