"I love it when we come here." Tony gave a satisfied sigh and squeezed Jeff's hand as he watched the sunset fade and give its turn to the night. The sun was as low as it could go, pulling down behind it a cape of tangerine orange, with clouds outlined in the remaining sunlight. Far above them, navy blue darkness had started to descend; the curtain for the next act. The world stood in a glowing, dream-like state; in one last drowsy brightness before it was time for everything in the desert to fall asleep.
"Me too." Jeff said softly. He and Tony were lying on a blanket spread out on the sand, their faces to the sky. Dusty Dunes Desert was Tony's favorite place to watch the sunset, and Jeff's favorite place to stargaze. Luckily for the two of them, it was a short bus ride from their Fourside apartment. Jeff peeked over his shoulder, and behind a tall cactus was the yellow-white glow of the metropolis, bustling with a determined air, even at nighttime.
Jeff found it ironic; he'd hated the desert before. It was excessively hot, bare, and unrelenting. He'd fainted from sunstroke too many times during the Adventure. But in autumn, when the oppressive heat went on holiday, the days and the nights were pleasant, especially for someone who was used to the cold weather of Winters. Then throw Tony in the mix, with his enthusiastic love of all that was dramatic and beautiful, including sunsets. So it came to be that twelve years or so after the Adventure had ended, Jeff Andonuts reluctantly admitted that Dusty Dunes Desert was, in fact, a nice place.
It was an unusually calm time of life for the two young men, Jeff reflected. His Ph.D. research was steadily progressing. Next year, he'd be ready to defend his dissertation, and would become the second Dr. Andonuts. Tony had a position as an editor at a publishing house, and worked on his own novel on the weekends. Sure, a few things could always be better, but life was good, all things considered.
Jeff squeezed Tony's hand back gently and looked at him. Oh, Tony. He loved everything about him. He loved his bright red-copper curly hair, his dazzling green eyes, and his youthful face. He loved the way that he was kind to others, perennially positive, and fiercely willing to defend his friends. He loved the creative side of him, the writer that was always pulling stories out of thin air. The way he cooked, the way he danced, the way he... well, Jeff could go on and on. He was everything Jeff wanted, needed, and didn't feel he rightly deserved. They'd started as roommates, then became best friends. After the Adventure, Jeff was able to see how Tony felt for him. He himself couldn't deny that he felt the same way, although it had taken him time and a considerable amount of courage to tell him that. They had been dating ever since, and living together again for the past few years.
They'd been together in one form or another for a while, so Jeff supposed the thoughts and conversations about marriage weren't entirely surprising. Marriage was something he'd previously been skeptical about. But when he'd reduced it down to its core component; making a commitment to love someone to the best of your ability for the rest of your life…well, wasn't that what they were doing right now? Maybe it wasn't so far-fetched or terrifying after all.
They'd planned this outing only as a last minute type of thing. This was not Jeff's great Plan, the one he'd been trying to cobble together and was losing sleep over for the past couple weeks. But now…now there was an opportunity presenting itself and…well, he decided to go for it. He thought to himself that this opportunity was better; more organic and less cliché than anything he could have come up with.
Jeff wanted to ask Tony to marry him. And he knew that more than anything, that's what Tony wanted as well.
How do I ask, though? He'd analyzed it over and over for the past few months, terrified he'd mess it up spectacularly, until he'd given up and asked Ness. Ness would know. He always knew. Jeff recalled what Ness had told him earlier that month…
"Ness!" Jeff hissed at him, crouching low behind the couch. Ness blinked, confused.
"Jeff? Why are you hiding?" He yelped as Jeff yanked Ness down by his striped necktie.
"How did you do it?" Jeff asked in a low whisper. It was at a party, (appropriately, the one celebrating Ness and Paula's first year of marriage) so naturally, he didn't want to be overheard.
"Do what?" Ness frowned and rubbed his neck.
"Ssssh!" Jeff whispered, "Ask Paula."
"Ask her what?" Ness looked somewhat exasperated.
Jeff rolled his eyes and glanced around. He jabbed at his left ring finger.
"Oh." Ness said simply. "You know…I just asked."
"That's it?!" Jeff said, disbelievingly.
"Well, do you want to be with Tony for the rest of your life?" Ness crossed his arms.
"Yes."
"You all talked about it already?"
Jeff nodded vigorously.
Ness shrugged. "At the end of the day, you just gotta do it. Ask him."
Jeff narrowed his eyes, a bit skeptical that it could be that easy, in theory, anyhow.
"Just…don't tell anyone, please?" he muttered, turning a shade of pink.
Ness smiled and placed his hand on Jeff's shoulder. "You can count on me. I promise."
Jeff couldn't keep himself from a small smile.
"What?" Tony looked over at him. He flipped over on the blanket, going from looking at the sky to lying on his side, giving him a quizzical look.
"Just thinking about that party we had for Ness and Paula." He played with Tony's fingers absentmindedly.
"What a lovely party it was." Tony hummed pleasantly. Then he paused and squinted, a finger tapping his chin. "Although you were hiding behind the couch! Up to sketchy stuff…as usual."
"Sketchy stuff?" Jeff chuckled and sat up. "Who, me?"
"Yeah, you." Tony teased.
"Never." Jeff said dryly, with a smirk on his face as he straightened his glasses.
"I never did find out what you were up to that day. Oh, well." Tony shrugged, laid back down and smiled contentedly at the sky.
Minutes passed. Jeff watched the clouds darken and yield to the night. He stared at the first star of the night.
"Tony." he said suddenly. Jeff's lungs squeezed as he sought to introduce his feelings. "Do you… like this?"
"Jeff, but of course! You know watching the sunset is one of my favorite things."
"No, I mean, like…" Jeff took Tony's hand a bit more firmly. He could feel his hand, which was sweaty and clammy and cold compared to Tony's soft, smooth, warm skin.
"Like what, Jeff?" Tony asked quietly.
"Like…this. The two of us…?" suggested Jeff.
"Yes. I wouldn't trade it for anything." Tony said reassuringly.
"Neither would I." Jeff responded as he fumbled around in his mind for the right words. He tried to pick them out with the utmost care.
"Do you…do you think…will you…?" He was sweating even though the sun had just gone down. His face burned, and he desperately wanted to loosen his tie.
"Will I what?" Tony asked innocently.
Jeff sighed loudly, frustrated with himself. He wasn't great with words, not like Tony. He was afraid that trying to ask The Question was becoming nearly physically impossible.
So instead, Jeff got to his feet and pulled up a startled Tony up with him. He gulped and looked Tony in the eyes.
"Jeff?! Goodness! What's wrong?!" Tony looked anxious.
Jeff held both of Tony's hands in his own as he slowly lowered one of his knees awkwardly to the blanket. Tony's eyes widened with sudden realization. One of his hands flew to his mouth.
"Jeff!? Are you…?!"
"Tony, wait. Wait." Jeff held up a hand and gulped in a breath. "Just…let me finish or I'll never, ever get the courage to do this again." he said breathlessly. He cleared his throat as Tony promptly quieted, his right hand still hovering around his mouth in surprise. He could feel his hands shaking as he took Tony's left hand. He didn't dare take his eyes off of him. Part of him was really hoping he'd just waited, so he would have had more time to practice what he'd scribbled on that notecard (likely on his desk, underneath a pile of bottle rocket parts). But this was it. There was no going back now. He'd used The Knee, after all.
"Tony. Um. So…we've been together for a while now…and w-we've known each other even l-l-longer than we've been dating. I feel like I've known you for most of my life. Come to think…t-t-that's true. B-but that's not the point!" Jeff cursed under his breath. He closed his eyes, took a breath, and continued. "What I'm meaning to say is…"
Tony eagerly smiled and waited, like the perfect, patient boyfriend that he was. Jeff could feel his heart threatening to leap out of his chest.
Jeff's voice started to waver. So he started again, quietly. "…I love you. So, so very much. I…"
Here he dared to raise his voice a little, but his throat caught. He swallowed hard.
"I…d-d-don't think I could live without y-y-you. Even if I could…I wouldn't want to." Jeff was starting to tear up. He blinked rapidly. "I…" He could feel tears leaking out of his eyes.
Jeff watched Tony's bottom lip start to quiver slightly, and squeezed his hand even harder.
"Tony, I want to be with you for the rest of my life. Will you…m-m-marry me?"
By now, Tony had tears streaming down his face.
"Yes, Jeff! Absolutely!" Tony's voice choked as he responded, his hand shaking in Jeff's.
Jeff exhaled and felt himself stand up quickly. He felt too warm and a little dizzy and his face was wet. But he also couldn't help but grin as Tony hugged him hard, sniffled, and burrowed his head in his chest. Jeff held Tony to his chest tightly, closing his eyes, losing his hand in Tony's hair, trying to hold onto this moment. He felt an enormous wave of relief and happiness wash over him.
As Tony pulled back slightly, Jeff leaned forward to kiss him. Tony met him halfway with a sweet, slow, kiss. Under the stars, Jeff wished they could stay like this forever. After a minute, the two of them separated.
"I… l-love you, Jeff." Tony said thickly, wiping his wet cheeks with his hand.
"And I love you, Tony." Jeff opened his eyes, but his vision had blurred to the point where he couldn't see.
"Oh, dear, love. Hold on." Tony had Jeff's glasses in his hands, wiping them clean with a cloth. "Here. Try now." He handed them back. Jeff put them back on and blinked a couple times until he saw Tony come into view clearly.
"Better, thanks." Jeff smiled sheepishly.
As if Tony had just realized something, he gasped and hugged Jeff again. "I can't wait to tell everyone! Oh my goodness! We should celebrate!" He was giddy with excitement.
Over Tony's shoulder, Jeff saw a pair of lights slowly approach them. "Hmm. Well, why not dinner?" He looked down at Tony with a smile. "You choose."
Tony looked over his shoulder, noticed the bus coming, looked back at Jeff and grinned.
"And …" Jeff added, straightening himself, feeling more confident, "…tomorrow…we can go to the jeweler's if you'd like. The nice one."
Tony gasped. "What?! You…wouldn't! You wouldn't dare!" His voice shook.
Jeff put his hands in his coat pockets and beamed down at him. "Oh, I would. Only if you want to."
"Are you kidding me?! Of course! Of course I want to!" Jeff thought he could see Tony tearing up again.
"Good. It's settled, then." Jeff smiled as he gently wiped the tear falling down Tony's cheek with his thumb.
The two young men embraced under the deepening night. The stars shone brilliantly. The bus back to Fourside slowly rolled to a stop. Jeff counted out quarters for the fare as Tony shook out the blanket and rolled it up. The bus driver smiled at them as they boarded. After reversing carefully, the bus lumbered around and made its way back to Fourside.