「 to have and to hold 」 — open, proposal

[HAYLEY]

[align=center][div style="width: 430px; text-align: justify; font-family: calibri; font-size: 8pt; color: black; line-height: 22px;"]☁  just about every evening, the pair followed the same sort of routine. after a long day's work, they'd find themselves in the living room shortly after dinner, most other residents making their way about, killing some time before bed. they'd sit and play with hope while also talking to whoever was around, entertaining themselves for a few hours before they'd head on up the stairs to put hope to bed.

they were only ten minutes into this endeavor that night when hayley, who sat on the floor with hope on a blanket, rolling the grinning baby from side to side and making faces at her, glanced up to see jackson looking at her with this... this look in his eyes, and this smile on his lips, and she knew, in that moment, exactly what it was; love. in that moment, she could see in his eyes that he loved her, and it scared the shit out of her.

still, she knew he'd been watching her for a minute, so she sort of nervously smiled at him. ❝what?❞ she asked with a nervous laugh before glancing down at herself. ❝did hope spit up on me earlier or something?❞ she inquired, running her hands over her shirt and pants, inspecting her cardigan.

❝marry me.❞

she stopped immediately. stopped looking for vomit, stopped rolling hope around, stopped breathing. she stopped and glanced up at him, eyes wide as dinner plates. ❝... what?❞

❝marry me, hayley.❞ he repeated, earnesty in his voice, and he stuffed a hand in his pocket, from it removing a small black box, the exact size of a ring box, and this time, he slid off the couch and knealt in front of her. ❝hayley chase, i love you. i'm not gonna pretend i know everything about you, or like we've known each other for years, but that doesn't matter to me. what matters is that i love you right now, right here, and i will forever.❞ her eyes began to tear up, and she smiled despite herself, wiping her eyes as he spoke. stupid jack, stupid, sweet jack. ❝you've given me hope, and never in our life will i be able to thank you enough, but i'll be damned if i don't try for the rest of our lives. so marry me, hayley, and let me have that forever.❞

hayleys hands trembled, and she glanced around the room at the various people, eyes wide, finding gazes glued to her with various emotions. she glanced back to jackson to see him still smiling, though his own eyes were quite teary, and her eyes shifted to the box, now open, with a little silver ring and a small, though eye catching, diamond in the middle of it. it was simple, and yet, it was lovely.

❝y-yes,❞ she said after a beat, nodding slowly, eyes wide. she swallowed, smiling now, albeit a bit shaken from the surprise of it all. ❝yes.❞ she'd repeat, this time sounding a bit more resolute, and jackson slipped the ring on her finger right away, before leaning forward and pressing his lips to her own.

[tomorrow]

JUST STANDING WAITING FOR THE PUNCHES

In that exact moment, Tomorrow could feel his heart drop to his feet. It'd been a soft day, a quiet day; he'd went out for a walk and trained some of the lodge's dogs, played with some of the puppies from a new litter - a lodge dog had them, not Claire just yet - and then retired back to the Lodge to curl up in the living room on the floor with his dogs sprawled out around him and a book in hand.

It was routine, and very nice. He'd been shooting glances at Hayley, Jackson and Hope the whole time; a soft smile forcing its way onto his face as they played with Hope, only slightly marred by the adoration clear in Jackson's eyes. Tomorrow choked his own confusing emotions down; he was glad Hayley had someone who loved her so much, she deserved it.

He looked back at his book, and then heard the words spilling from Jackson's mouth and froze. He stared at the pages, breathing in scarce, light gasps he hoped wasn't too noticeable. He felt paralyzed, only able to listen as he heard Jackson's proposal.

He could barely breath as he heard Hayley's answer. And he could only move slightly, to press his hands into Claire's fur as he tried to steady himself. He was happy for her, for them, he had to be. He wasn't jealous or sad or anything; he didn't have claim over Hayley, she could do whatever she wanted and besides her and Jackson had a kid together.

Didn't stop the fact his lungs felt like they were constricting and his heart was hammering in his chest. He managed to look up, only to see Jackson leaned forward kissing her, a ring on her finger. He pressed his feelings down, knowing he needed to say something and not continue to stew in his own mind.

"C-congratul- lations." Tomorrow's voice shook, in what he hoped seemed like a normal "oh tomorrow's just like that" way. He offered a smile, small and forced, and diverted his eyes down to the lump of dogs surrounding him.