Ai pushed the gate of the house open, twitching in annoyance when she noticed that the lights were on – it meaning that Conan was visiting again.

Bringing the bag of groceries higher to her chest, Ai entered her house and immediately spotted the slouching posture of the famous missing detective sitting in the sofa.

"You know," Ai said conversationally, putting the groceries in the coffee table and sat opposite Conan, "you should might as well live here from all the times you kept coming in uninvited."

Conan's blue eyes that were normally alert and bright were currently dazed and out of focus. He looked at her and said, "Am I an inconvenience, Ai?"

Startled, she took a few minutes to answer. "Where did this come from?"

Conan shrugged, and Ai noticed that he was fiddling something inside his pocket. "I dunno. It's just that I had a lot in my mind recently."

"That being?"

"Errr..." Conan trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, "You just look so annoyed, so if you're not in the mood –"

"You are never an inconvenience, Conan." Ai cut off, smirking a bit. "But a warning would have been nice."

Conan blushed, not really used on Ai calling him by his name – and he felt embarrassed since Ai didn't even blink when he insisted that she call him that way. Ever since the downfall of the Black Organization, Ai discovered that there was no antidote, and it resulted in Conan shutting himself in his bedroom in the Mouri residence for weeks. Surprisingly, it had not been Ran to make him snap out of his depression but Ai – who knew his situation more than anyone.

Because the two of them had been through a lot together, they started to call themselves by their first names - and it has been that way for fifteen years.

"I'll remember that next time." Conan said.

There was a pause, and then Ai raised an eyebrow. "So?"

Conan furrowed his eyebrows. "So what?"

"What'd you come here for?"

Conan blushed, and started to stutter. "Uh… Well…"

Ai glared. "Spill it, Conan."

"Right." Conan coughed, and then he looked at her seriously. "Ai, we've been through a lot right? And for those years, you've been by my side. I want you to know that I appreciate everything you've done to me."

Ai opened her mouth, but Conan held a hand for her to stop. He didn't want any interruptions, since he might come to his senses and get the hell out of here. "Lately, well, I noticed that you keep on getting these creepy looks from our co-workers… And I found out that I didn't like it."

Slowly, as if not to startle her, Conan withdrew a red box from his pocket and popped it open with one hand. Ai felt her eyes widen with incredulity. In it was an exquisite golden ring with a really really big diamond on top flanked by two Lapis Lazuli's on either side.

Conan stared at her earnestly, his eyes letting her know that his words were from the heart. "I love you, Ai. I didn't know when this started, or how it happened, but maybe somewhere along the fifteen years we've spent together, I fell for you. And I hope that you feel the same way for me too."

"Marry me?"

For a while, Ai was silent. And finally, she looked up at him again, an expectant glint in her eyes. "Well?" she asked expectant.

Confusion was scribbled about the boy's face. "Well?" he prompted back.

She crossed her arms. "Are you going to do it properly or not?"

He stared at her for a moment, eyes wide, before blinking and then hurriedly got off his seat, walked around to her side of the table.

And this time, he did it properly – on one bent knee.