Will You...

R is for Ring

WC: 1,257

…

It started because of a jewelry box.

Well, actually, it started with all the jewelry Kyoya had started to buy for her over the last six months. Bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and rings. The problem was she hadn't had any place to put them besides scattering them on her dresser. Some of them got placed on the bathroom sink.

There was a flaw in this tactic, however. Things that she still had not gotten up the nerve to tell Kyoya. There was (perhaps) an emerald-and-gold ring that had fallen down the drain. Also, there was a (possible) notion that she had lost one of the diamond earring studs. And there was also the…No. It was too painful to mention.

So thus, a jewelry box appeared a day after Kyoya had visited her apartment and had seen all his expenses just lying across the sink.

The jewelry box was nice. A small, chest-style box cushioned with velvet inside. Everything fit in rather snuggly.

Today, they were going to go out on a dinner date, and Haruhi had forgotten to put on any jewelry, since it wasn't a big thing to her, anyway. But Kyoya had told her to go back up stairs and put on some of that jewelry he bought her, otherwise he was going to take it back.

She wouldn't have particularly noticed if he had taken it back, but she thought that the store might have noticed when he returned only one diamond earring, a gold ring that had been sitting in a sink drain for a few months, and the… no, never mind.

As Haruhi was picking out jewelry to match her ruffled pink tank top and white pants, she noticed that there was a foreign object inside of the box now. Hidden amongst the rings was one that she had never seen before. It was a silver band with a single diamond chip embedded in it.

She picked up the ring and examined it, turning the smooth metal over in her fingers. Kyoya had been here yesterday. He must have slipped it in when she hadn't been looking.

Is that why he was so adamant about her putting on jewelry today.

That was when she saw it – engraved inside of the band was a line of elegant script…

Will You Marry Me?

Haruhi couldn't help the scoff she made. A cross between a shocked sob and grunt of defiance. This was how he was proposing? Sure, it was sweet and all, but did he not have the nerve to ask face-to-face? Now she was going to have to be the one to go downstairs and awkwardly say yes. And what was she going to do if he decided to back out at the last minute and be like, "I didn't put that there."

Maybe he didn't put it there.

No, that was ridiculous. No one else could have put it there.

She picked out a slim, silver necklace with a tiny angel pendant. She put in long, silver, dangly, streamline earrings. She slipped the ring into her pocket.

Two can play at that game.

…

She saw Kyoya's pointed look at her hands when she met up with him outside of the apartment. She hid her giggling smile behind a smile of greeting.

He kissed her, then grabbed her hands and kissed her knuckles. "No rings, dearest?"

"Hm. The rings haven't been fitting properly, recently."

"Really? What about that gold and emerald ring I got you? I thought that you had mentioned it seemed a little big –"

"Oh honey, you're not going to make me unlock my apartment again, are you? Can we go now? I'm famished."

"Of course…" He opened the door of the car for her. "Let's go."

Haruhi still felt awkward sitting in a limousine. She was very keen on keeping her posture regal and her hands in her lap.

Kyoya eased her up, though, by grabbing her wrist and bringing her closer. The divider was already rolled up, so he took no extra time in kissing her. She opened her mouth and allowed herself to indulge in his warm mouth and sweet scent. His prying tongue and wandering hands. The curve of his jawline, the resonance of his breath…

Marry me now, she thought.

"I do love you," Kyoya said, as they straightened themselves out as the car pulled into the restaurant.

Oh, crap, now he's probably thinking that not coming down with the ring was her way of saying, 'no way'.

"I love you, too," she said.

…

After dinner, they had decided to take a walk. They held hands as they walked along the river, both comfortable in their silence.

Dinner had gone fine – no awkward hitches, no wavering glances, and no questions about how many kids they wanted.

In short, no mention of marriage at all.

It was kind of disappointing.

Are you worried about me not saying yes? Is that why you didn't want to ask me up front?

But I've already said yes to you a long time ago.

In the end, Kyoya was going to win this game of silence. He always did.

"You know," Haruhi started, "You could have just asked me. You don't have to be sneaky."

"Ah, so you did see it. I couldn't tell if you had just ignored it or actually hadn't seen it. Either way, I didn't want to ask and ruin the surprise."

"It was cute and thoughtful, but I think I would have liked if you had just asked instead."

Kyoya stopped her by grabbing her shoulders, looked her up and down, and said, "Do you have the ring with you?"

Oh? Now he wants to propose? Even though she felt the weight of it in her pocket, she said, "No." See how he gets around that one.

"Hm, thought you would be troublesome." He reached into his jacket pocket and produced a small, soft-looking box.

Haruhi made a sound that sounded like a shocked sob.

"That's why I brought a backup." Kyoya got down on one of his knees and Haruhi couldn't decide between fleeing, or falling down on top of him and kissing him senseless.

Why on earth did she want him to do it face-to-face, again? The other way was much simpler.

"Haruhi," he said, grabbing her hand and opening the box. This ring had a much bigger diamond on it. Maybe he had been planning this from the start. "Will you marry me?"

All she could manage to get out was a choked, "Yes."

A whole night of knowing that he would propose and she still got teary-eyed.

He put the ring onto her finger, and she admired the glitter of the diamond, except she also thought she liked the other one better. There wasn't such a big stone to (accidentally) knock off.

Haruhi took out the other ring and slipped it onto the same finger, to compare the two. Kyoya pulled her close and kissed her cheek, holding her hand up, too. "Which one do you like better?"

He didn't even seem shocked that she had the other ring. That bastard.

"Hm. I like the little silver one better. It's simpler and less expensive."

"Haruhi," Kyoya said, a chuckle shaking his voice. "That is not silver – it is eighteen karat white gold. I don't think that the store even offered silver."

"Oh," said Haruhi. Why on earth would they make gold white?

Hm, apparently this one would be just as bad to let fall down the drain, too.