going to the gym felt good. knowing he looked good for sullivan felt good. plus, eating sweets all the time was giving him a little belly and he was getting a little self conscious. in high school he didn’t play on a sports team, because his family couldn't afford it. but he ran a lot and the jobs he picked up were all outside and physical. compared to how he looked he was letting himself go. but sullivan always managed to make him feel good. “i love that place.” he says softly. memories are flooding his head. before they leave the hotel room sage casually makes sure he still has the ring in his pocket.
sage is feeling everything at once. his heart is pounding and it’s filling his ears to the point where he can just hear sullivan recall their first interaction. he pulls back from sul just a little bit and watches him. “… i think you stole mine.” rings through his ears and right to his heart. he knows it’s time. “sul…’ his voice is soft, and his eyes bright. “i never believed in love at first sight until i had it.” sage isn’t nervous. this is sullivan. “it’s only suppose to be in movie’s, right? that doesn’t happen in real life. but it did. here. how many years ago? and even after everything, here we are. i love you, sullivan.“ he’s not sure how or when he’s going to ask but words just keep pouring out of his mouth. “when i left home after high school i wasn’t suppose to stay in one place for too long. i wasn’t suppose to fall in love with a giant vegan millionaire. i wasn’t suppose to mess that up. but i know i was suppose to be in seagrove. i was suppose to see you again. and we are suppose to be here. together. you…, sullivan.” he takes his boyfriend’s hands and squeezes them. “ you mean more to me than anything. i look at you and i’m calm, i’m home. you are my soulmate, sullivan kingsley.” he lowers to his knee, and takes hand from sullivan’s. he struggles for a second to open the box with one hand but he gets it. “i want this forever. i want random trips to paris. i want accidentally bringing home a new animal. i want a future. i want a life. all with you. will you, sullivan james rhys kingsley, marry me?” sage looks at sullivan, a smile on his face and his eyes forming tears. his other hand is squeezing sullivan’s hand. he’s not worried about his answer. he’s confident and he knows no mater what sullivan’s answer is they’ll be together.
the moment, though nostalgic, is unique on it’s own. they were basically different people now. sage, more confident. sullivan, more grounded. they fit together better, and before where there was always the uncertainty, now ? now, it was sullivan and sage. they both knew that. they both felt that. sullivan loves him, and sullivan was always so confident he’d never love again. or at all. sage was something that came out the blue. from the moment he met, he knew sage was different. at the time, his heart said trouble, but now his heart said destiny. if you asked sullivan six years ago if he thought he’d be married by the time he was thirty, he would’ve laughed. if you asked sullivan the same question two years ago, he may have punched you. but now ? now, he would say yes. speaking of ▬ despite the moment, and how he feels in the candy shop, he’ not expecting what he sees. he doesn’t expect to see sage sinking to one knee, holding his hands and looking up at him.
he has a short flashback to the first time this happened. when sage first proposed to him. he felt happy, excited. but this time ? he’s looking down at sage and he sees his future. it’s different, in all sense, and god, does sullivan want to shout out yes ! before sage is done talking. but he listens, and there’s tears coming to his eyes before his boyfriend is done talking. he doesn’t mean to, but it just happens. when sullivan thought about it before this moment, he was nervous. worried about if sage would hurt him again. but now ? he knew he wouldn’t. they weren’t the same people they used to be. they were both surrounded by love, and happiness, and positivity, and god, they were in the right place to be engaged again. he gets so distracted by his feelings that instead of speaking, he’s just pulling sage to his feet, wrapping his arms around him. he hugs him tightly, pulling back to kiss sage over and over, until – oh shit, he didn’t actually say yes yet. “i love you.” he breathes out, his hand coming forward for sage to slip the ring on. “yes. yes, i’ll marry you.” although he could pitch a joke about how they’ve tried this before, he completely forgets that they’ve tired this before. because this is different. this, sullivan knows, is going to be better.
