On a lazy afternoon like any other, Amelia and Arthur sat around the kitchen table of the trio's relatively small apartment. They were both quiet, and would have been entirely invested in their own affairs save for their closeness in proximity. Arthur had become accustom to Amelia's curious forms of affection: playful glances, teasing disputes, and most often making contact with him in some form or fashion. This time she'd chosen to lean with her back against him, head angled towards the ceiling and eyes closed contently while her boyfriend continued his work. There Arthur scrawled away, casting her occasional side-glances when he heard her heave a heavy sigh.
He scribbled and scratched at the page; he felt he was mere days away from fully completing the manuscript that he'd been constructing since his arrival in the States. Just a few touches here, tying up a loose end there, and he could finally move on to editing and all the joys that accompanied it. However intent he was on once and for all putting this story to rest, by the third sigh, Amelia had caught his attention.
Arthur blinked up from his work to shift his eyes back at her. She sat with her head against his shoulder, hands folded neatly in her lap with her back ever-so-slightly arched when she noticed the Englishman was finally returning her gaze.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you."
"If you had intended not to interrupt me, then I don't believe I would have heard you sighing multiple times in a row so very close to my ear."
He couldn't help but smirk when his girlfriend's face flushed a soft shade of rosy red. It was rare occurrence when he gained the upper hand in their conversations, but he had little time to revile in his victory.
"I was just thinking is all."
"Difficult for you, I'm sure." Arthur replied in an apologetic tone, earning himself and swift palm to the nose, feeling Amelia force more weight on him in a feint effort to cause him to fall out of the chair. He laughed and pushed back, surprised when the resistance suddenly vanished, forcing his body upwards faster than he had intended. He worked to right himself only to be welcomed with a warm embrace, Amelia nuzzling her head against his chest.
"I was thinking about how wonderful this all is. Even if you don't have a book published just yet, even if I haven't become a world-renowned actress," her statement reverted to muffled nonsense as she buried her head in his shirt, "I'm the happiest I've ever been in my life, and I know it's because I'm with you."
It was Arthur's turn to blush now, breaking away from his prose. He placed his pen down and repositioned himself, allowing his arms to encompass his girlfriend in order to brush away the goldenrod locks that trickled down her face.
"And I you, Love. You are unequivocally one of the most influential people in my life."
Something about the way he must have said it caught her off guard, as her previous rhythmic breathing stopped. Slowly, deliberately, she lifted her head and gaze up to meet his own and held it there.
"Well then, why can't we spend every day like this?"
The question was posed so swiftly, so nonchalantly stated that it took Arthur a few moments to recognize what Amelia was insinuating.
He instinctively pulled back from her, Amelia recognizably miffed at having to leave her comfortable position but at the same time acute to every twitch and stutter from her rattled boyfriend.
"What if things were to stay like this forever? If we could wake up in the same arms we fall asleep in? Up until this point, my career has been the only thing I could think about or look forward to. It was the only reason that I found for living. But with you I feel like there's so much more to me. That I'm worth something, if only to one other person in the world; and I'm okay with that," her voice softened, her final statement no more than a whisper, "if it's you."
Arthur could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. It was not as if Amelia hadn't spoken of their future at length before. In their approximately eight months of dating, four of that living underneath the same roof, they had discussed daydreams and night visions of a not-so-distant future in which they spent the rest of their lives together. But the depth and sincerity in her voice, the simplistic causality of her phrase brought the reality of her statement crashing down on him all at once.
"Ami—I'm afraid I'm at a loss for worlds."
"Would you be able to write them down?"
"I doubt the ability of my hand to hold a pen properly at the moment."
Amelia's face brightened, a gentleness on her features as she waited for his response.
"Just a 'yes' will do."
Arthur broke away from her stare for a moment, switching from the floor to his lover's face intermediately between the rush of thoughts and warning signals his brain was sending off. What would this mean for their professional careers? Wouldn't they need to move out to find a more permanent residence? What would his family say…?
"You do know you haven't asked consent from my father."
The young blonde blinked, disarmed by the oddness of Arthur's reply. Eventually a grin spread across her face from ear to ear, giving an exaggerated huff at the prospect.
"At least I only have him to worry about-The rest of your family seems to love me."
Arthur chuckled, pulling Amelia closer to him to sit contently on his lap. She leaned forward, enthusiastically meeting his lips and lacing her fingers behind his head. If he thought, truly, deeply thought, what was the point in postponing it anymore?
"And you also know that I intend to do something far more formal for this in the future." Arthur added once he was able, any additional words stolen by more kisses that followed.
"How, then, would you like me to answer the second time?"
He pondered this for just a moment before nuzzling her cheek, pleased with the bubbly sound that resulted.
"I suppose a simple 'yes' will do."
Arthur's Note: URK hello there..! Sorry that I've been so absentminded about this fic lately. There have been a lot more developments on the blog instead so I apologize if this whole thing seems out of place/sudden. But yes, thank you loyal followers and readers for so diligently waiting for me to update this fic, and so you know this is NOT the end of it! Just as Arthur said, there will be a much more formal proposal at a later date, but consider them finally engaged ;D A friend of mine proposed in a very similar manner to this and I thought it was ridiculously sweet AND appropriate for these two.
Anyway, if you want to see all the stuff you're missing, just head over to ask-writer-arthur . tumblr . com. Thank you again!