It was Lucy and Schroeder's first Christmas break back home, and they were spending the evening at the Van Pelt house.

They were in the living room, winding down from dinner and watching television with Linus and Rerun. Linus was in the recliner, Rerun was sitting on the floor and leaning against the loveseat, and Lucy and Schroeder were huddled under a throw blanket behind him.

It had been a relatively peaceful visit, all things considered. Dinner was good, and it was nice to see Lucy's brothers again. Even Mrs. Van Pelt had been civil.

That is, she had been civil until she walked into the living room in the middle of The Twilight Zone.

It was some creepy episode about a talking doll named Tina. It was a little silly, but Schroeder had to admit it was interesting. Lucy was trying to pretend that she wasn't invested, but she was. Right as her mother entered the room, the camera cut to a closeup of the doll's face as she cooed, 'You'll be sorry!'

Mrs. Van Pelt made a shivering noise. "Oh, turn that off. That's so demonic. You'll give yourselves nightmares."

Rerun groaned. "Mom, I'm not a baby anymore!"

She picked the remote up from the arm of the couch and flipped it to the next channel, which was showing Bonanza. Lucy interjected, "Hey!"

"This is a better program, anyway."

Even Linus objected. "You don't even like Bonanza."

"I never said I liked it, I said it was better."

"Mom, please change it back."

She ignored Rerun. "So, Lucy, have you signed up for classes next semester?"

Lucy gave Schroeder a 'can you believe this?' look when the woman wasn't looking. "Yeah. I'll have my general studies overwith by May. After that, I can start taking whatever I want once I pick a major."

Mrs. Van Pelt leaned against the door frame to the kitchen. "And your job at the…"

"Bar."

"...is still going well?"

"It pays the bills, I guess. Schroeder's making good money playing piano for that fancy club, too. We're doing well for ourselves."

The praise for Schroeder went ignored as usual. "Well, it's good you've been in that position for this long. I'm surprised you haven't had an outburst at work yet."

Schroeder could feel Lucy bristle. He felt her take a deep breath beside him, and she said, "Actually, New Yorkers are my kinda people. They just yell back if they get called a blockhead. It's all banter."

He smiled. "It's like a city full of Lucys."

She elbowed him. "That better not be an insult."

"If the shoe fits."

Her mother frowned at the two of them. Schroeder knew Lucy understood that he meant it in the best way possible, but he suddenly felt the need to explain that to her mother.

A few moments later, she revealed that she was annoyed for a whole different reason. "I just don't want you to end up doing something you regret. Getting stuck somewhere."

"The only way I'd feel stuck is if I stayed in one place my whole life."

"You're really serious about staying in New York, aren't you?"

Lucy's reply was blunt and indignant, her patience already tried. "Yes."

"Well, maybe you can do some good for yourself, anyway. You've still got three and a half years to meet a husband."

"I'm getting a master's degree, Mom. I'm not taking the same path as you. I'm not dropping out for anybody."

Schroeder barely heard what Lucy said. He would have been proud of her for standing up for herself if his ears weren't ringing with silent anger at what Mrs. Van Pelt said.

It was weird. He was a little surprised just how instantly mad that comment made him. The implication that Lucy would find someone else. All of his upset was directed at her mother for the backhanded disrespect, of course; he wasn't afraid of Lucy ever really doing that.

Wait. He wasn't?

Good grief, he thought. I'm probably going to marry her, aren't I?

Schroeder didn't realize he had been staring blankly into space until Lucy grabbed his hand under the blanket. His heart jumped, and he made brief eye contact with her.

She frowned, and looked at her brothers, ignoring her mother now. "We're going to Schroeder's parents' house. We'll stop back to say goodbye before we fly back home."

Home. Yeah, that was the right word for his and Lucy's little apartment. After tonight, it felt correct.

After Rerun gave an uneasy look to Mrs. Van Pelt, Lucy kissed him on the top of his head and hugged Linus goodnight. Schroeder shook Rerun's hand and tried to do the same to Linus, but the boy pulled him in for a hug instead.

As they left the living room to put their shoes on, Lucy didn't look back. Schroeder simply glanced back with a nod. "Good night, Mrs. Van Pelt," he said dryly.

Once they arrived at his house and greeted his parents, they stayed awake a little while longer and listened to a Beethoven record. Schroeder couldn't play any music himself just then; his upright piano was at their apartment.

They laid on his old twin-sized bed for a while, silent, holding each other. She calmed down relatively quickly; she had only huffed and grumbled for a few minutes after they settled down. Now, judging by her slow breathing, she was mostly at ease now. Possibly close to falling asleep.

He loved seeing her relaxed and quiet and still. He loved her normal, vivacious state as well, of course, but the opposite didn't happen very often, and when it did, it only happened around him. He liked seeing a side of her that other people didn't get to see.

Schroeder stared at the popcorn ceiling. He didn't feel sleepy at all. His nerves were still heightened by adrenaline, his heart feeling restless and unresolved.

He thought a lot about what Lucy's mother had said. He thought a lot about their life in New York. He thought a lot about their childhood. He thought a lot about where he saw himself in the future.

He gently shook her shoulder. "Lucy."

She exhaled through her nose. "What."

"Are you awake?"

"For now."

"I have something to say."

"Say it, then."

"Suppose I asked you to marry me."

A few beats passed.

She propped herself up. "What."

He furrowed his brow thoughtfully. "Suppose I asked you to marry me."

Her big, blue eyes stared back at him. "Uh."

"What?"

"Nothing, I–" She looked so dumbfounded, she wasn't even smiling. "Suppose…?"

"That's the end of the thought."

"Are you really? –"

"Yes. I think I am." Schroeder looked to her. "But just suppose. Would you be angry if I didn't have a ring at the exact moment I asked you?"

She stuttered for a moment, unsure of how to respond. "I suppose it depends why."

"Well, suppose it's because I asked you to marry me after your mother made a very rude comment, and I got very upset, and I decided I didn't want to wait until I got a spare minute to myself in a few weeks to go ring shopping just to propose with a ring you might not even like, because I was very, very sure that I wanted to marry you, and I thought if I had to wait, I might avoid you, because I might explode otherwise and then the surprise would be ruined, and then you'd think something was wrong–"

Lucy, who had been slowly melting into a grin while he'd been talking, threw her arms around his neck and began peppering his face with warm kisses. In practice, it was really like she was just nuzzling his face over and over; once she had started smiling, she couldn't make herself stop long enough to properly peck him.

Schroeder shut his eyes and beamed as her lips landed on his temple. "I'm going to assume that's a yes."

"Of course, you moron!" Lucy's forehead bonked lightly against his as she grabbed his face. "Of course I'll marry you! Of course!"

"Even without a ring?"

"Who cares? We can go to the pawn shop tomorrow. It'll be perfect." She laughed. "Who ever saw the bride come along for ring shopping before? It'll be so much fun!"

Schroeder wrapped his arms around her midsection and pulled her close. "I'm glad you're reacting well. I didn't think that through for very long, you know."

"After all the times I've brought it up, you've never once considered marriage?" she asked cheekily.

"You know what I mean. I wasn't planning on asking you to marry me tonight. After I said it, I was afraid you'd be mad."

She snuggled her head into the crook of his neck. "I could never be mad at you, dear heart."

He squeezed her close to him and sighed. "That's a damn lie."

Lucy sighed happily. "Yeah, that's a lie. But never enough to say no to you. You could propose to me in a dumpster and I'd still say yes."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."