𝙏𝙊 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙎𝙐𝙉 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝘽𝘼𝘾𝙆 ✦ ryland grace x reader
SUMMARY – Slow dancing at a colleague's wedding makes you and Ryland ponder the question; to marry or not to marry? As if it wasn’t a question gnawing at the backs of your minds for the last 2 years. But as you two talk it through, you can’t help but imagine what it would be like.
TAGS – fluff, established relationship, domestic, dancing in his arms, physical affection, talks of marriage, smitten ryland, imagining a future together, gender neutral reader, no use of y/n
WORDCOUNT – 2.1k
AUTHORS NOTE – it’s my first time posting here !! i wanted to write a tooth achingly sweet one shot for my first fic, so any feedback is appreciated, as are likes and comments, and i hope you enjoy <3
It was no secret the school’s favourite science teacher was dating the English teacher. It was painfully obvious the first year, from the stolen glances, from the way you always brought him lunch, from how his hand always found its way to yours when you crossed in the hallway. And the year after, it never tamed, never paled, only solidified into unabashed trust for one another as you effortlessly bounced off each other during staff meetings and school trips. It was no secret, and Ryland made sure of it, showing everyone just how smitten he was with you, especially to your colleagues on lunch break or the occasional drink in town. You were made to last, and everyone knew it.
But also made everyone wonder, when either of you would pop the question.
It had crossed your mind, no doubt, but why ruin something so sweet and easy when the both of you were perfectly content? You were almost sure that Ryland was as content as you, although sometimes you wondered if he desired more. Sometimes, you find yourself dreaming what that would look like. A proposal, a marriage, a lifetime. Together.
The maths teacher beat you both to it, showing off her ring, and of course you two were just as overjoyed as the rest of the staff, even more so when you received the invite in the mail. And so there you were, at the luscious venue, decked out to the nines in your best clothes, Ryland making sure to tell you at least 20 times already that night how amazing you looked. His hands never left you in that delicately devoted way they always stayed, now even more comfortably nestled on you as you danced in the middle of the floor, slow song in the background.
His eyes never left you either. They never really did, either always on you or scanning the room for you, no matter the situation. Your only brief respite from his baby blues was during class, and even then, you found yourself missing them. But now, swaying together, you knew it was where you belonged, loving gaze longing to lock eyes forever. “You okay?” His warm voice broke the surface, above a mutter to not ruin the moment. Nothing ever could though, and you smiled with a nod.
“Yeah, it’s just.. This place is so beautiful,” your eyes left his to take in the decor, the cream white drapes across the walls, the low blue lights, the flowers adorning pillars and tables alike. “It’s peaceful.”
He smiled in return, his glasses crinkling up, and for once they weren’t askew or hanging off the side of his face. “We should go to weddings more often, I’ve never seen you this relaxed.” He teased, his hand squeezing your side as you chuckled.
“You’ve seen me relaxed,” You scold with an eye roll, but your shoulders ease, eyes still wandering as you soak it all in. “I think I just needed this, y’know? A break.” You see him nod from the corner of your eye. Truthfully, you both needed this. It was exam season, and as stressful as it was for the kids, it was just as much for the staff. Meetings every week, late night grading, trying to encourage the kids and keep them motivated and happy, it was a lot. No matter how many coffees you brewed and how many massages Ryland offered, it still got to you both. Your eyes came back to him, but for once, his own wandered. They scanned the room for nothing in particular, the tips of his ears were pink, his arms felt stiff, and you knew that something was plaguing his mind. Either a ridiculous pun, or a genuine timid thought, either of which he needed to get off his mind, otherwise he’d be stuck on it the rest of the evening. “What?” You try to coax it out of him, catching his eye with a gentle smirk, and he let out a sigh, eyes wandering yet again. “Do you, um.. like the flowers?” Your eyebrows shot up, and any question or statement you were expecting was thrown out the window. “Well–” You blink, looking around to catch the flowers again, attempting to give him a proper answer. “They’re really pretty, but everything is white so they just.. fade into the rest, I guess. Why?”
“So you’d like different colours?” He not so subtly evaded, his eyes finally coming to meet you in genuine curiosity, the both of you still swaying together.
You can’t help but feel off guard, the questions feeling elusive, and you need to get to the bottom of it. “For what?” Your voice hardened but was in no way harsh, simply pressing for answers that Ryland was struggling to give. His dancing notably slowed but your bodies stayed intertwined, his look suddenly bashful. “For your, um.. wedding.” Your brain seemed to short circuit, words refusing to align so they could be spoken, your heart simultaneously skipping so hard you thought it had erupted from your chest, but he gave you no time to formulate a reply, already rushing in with another question. “Do you ever think about getting married?”
You take a second to breathe, hands repositioning themselves to steady you both, since you decided to dive nose deep into such a heavy topic. Not that you weren’t open to talking about it, but Ryland always had the habit of saying whatever was on his mind, at whatever moment it appeared in his mind. For better or for worse, but you loved him for it either way. So you took the question seriously. As much as the both of you enjoyed a good laugh, now was not one of those times, and you’d be damned if you ever struck down your lover for such innocent ponderings. “Well… Sometimes.” It was still hard to articulate, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. And of course Ryland was right there to pick up the slack. “And the other times?”
You smile, mulling it over. “It feels transactional. Sometimes, I think you should just love and let love.”
In all his seriousness, Ryland huffed out a laugh at your twist on the idiom, the corners of his downturned eyes creasing and his glasses threatening to slide off his nose. But he pushed them back up, his smile turning sheepish, coy even, as he looked at you through his lashes, his cheeks reddening. “And what if… I proposed?”
It was still in his flurry of questions, still a late night hypothesis he’d mull over and share when he couldn’t contain it any longer, but it didn’t stop your heart from twisting, your chest from tightening, your mouth hanging slightly agape as your feet threatened to stop dancing and trip over air. You willed them to move, your mind to think, think, think of an answer, anything to ease the dizzying love you had for your man. And you could finally breathe, finally let out a nervous laugh, following it up with a joke to hide how badly you wanted to be his forever. “It depends how you do it.”
Ryland laughed again, the same wide smile blooming on his face, but he knew. He knew when he’d caught you off guard, made you overthink, made you stop thinking, and whilst at times his knees practically buckled at the weight of having such an affect on you, there were those rare moments he seized the opportunity to make you fall even deeper in love, if that were even possible.
“Well…” He hummed, and your head snapped up, not expecting the conversation to continue from how long the silence hung over you both. You were even beginning to worry you’d hurt his feelings, before his voice cut through and his arm tightened tenderly around your hip. “You’d think it was like any other date. I’d take you to the museum, and we’d do all your favourite exhibits first, hand in hand, I’d let you point to that one statue you think looks like me and we’d laugh and continue on…” You feel your shoulders relax, your smile soften, your eyes follow his as you imagine vividly what he’s saying. Already completely enamored.
“And then I’d take you to the planetarium…”
“Did you know that–”
“Venus spins backwards?” Your hands are interlocked as you enter the planetarium, your eyes glowing in the low light from all the planets hanging above. “You tell me everytime we come here and yet somehow you forget every single time.” You chide him with a smirk, bringing up his hand to kiss his knuckles before you let go of it, both of you breaking off to explore. You always love going to the moon display first, but you scan the room, noticing that the only two people in the vicinity were you and Ryland. You figure it must be getting late. You hear him laugh nervously from behind, steps fading away, no doubt to read up on all the panels displaying facts on the planets, but after a moment of reading up on the moon, you hear a noise from behind.
“I’d take out my phone, and play your favourite song, and bring you in to dance under the stars,” he smiles longing, his arms squeezing around you like he was also imaging you there.
The music echoes through the spacious room, sound bouncing off the walls and amplifying. A confused laugh falls from your lips, especially as you spot Ryland in the centre of the room, by the big sun display, dancing by himself and outstretching his arms to you, the biggest grin on his face.
You immediately join him, hands falling into his and being pulled into the dance as you ask, completely baffled. “Ry, what is this? Where is everyone?” You’re far from complaining though, the spins of the dance illiciting laughter that joined the music, a yelp following them as Ryland picks you up to spin you more fervently.
“It’s all ours!”
“We’d dance, and the song would end, and you’d think it’s the best date ever, sadly coming to an end, but…”
The music slowed, the stars twinkled above you, and laughter was replaced by reverent silence as you stared longingly at one another, smiles playing on your lips, arms in a tight embrace. But the song came to a close, and your smile saddened. You watched him, both of you still standing there, expecting him to say something, a why, a how, but Ryland visibly shrinked, face paling, fingers toying nervously at your shirt. You frowned. “Ryland?”
It snapped him from his daze, and he took a sudden step back, making you jump, worry overtaking your senses. He brushed his clammy hands on his jeans, one coming up to forcefully shove his glasses back up his nose bridge, mutters and jumbled up babbles pouring from his mouth as he stuttered and stirred, but you reached out, offering him a quiet hand. And he took it. And he eased. And he seized the opportunity.
“I’d.. get down on one knee..”
The picture was so vivid in your mind it almost scared you. Ryland’s hands cupping one of yours, one knee to the ground. But he stared up at you devotedly, with so much conviction and yearning that you swore if he could get on two knees and worship you in that moment he would, his eyes seeing nothing else but you in a room full of everything he was passionate about. Because no passion burned brighter than the one for you.
“And take out a ring,” His voice shook, as if simply describing it was a declaration, a proposal, and it almost felt like it, the both of you so lost in your trance that you still swayed but no longer heard the music. “Whatever ring you’d like,” he rambled, “Big or small, fancy, gold, silver, whatever you want, but.. with our initials, inscribed on the inside, with something written with it..” He breathed out. “Something like, ‘to the ends of the universe and beyond’.”
And now you were back, back on Earth, back at the wedding you were attending, back on the dancefloor, the both of you swaying completely off beat like you had two left feet, and your face broke into a smile, one hand leaving his shoulder to come up and cup his cheek. “That’s too long, baby, it wouldn’t fit..” You joked sweetly, his laugh shattering any nerves that remained. “Okay, then..” He thought for a moment, his eyes sparking when it. “‘To the sun and back’.”
And it was perfect. Because everything with Ryland had always been perfect, and if he did propose, you did get married, you did grow old and die side by side, it would always be perfect, because it was him.
“To the sun and back.” You repeat, leaning up to seal it with a kiss.