The Hiding Spot
Pairing: Robby/Reader Summary: While doing some cleaning to help out Robby, you stumble across his hiding spot. Word Count: 2,294 A/N: This idea strung from one sentence that spiraled at 1 am last night and I am very happy with it so I hope you all enjoy!
You and Robby had only been officially together for a little over three months, but he gave you a key to his place so that you didn’t have to wait for him to be off shift before coming over to hang out together. So far, you had only used the key when he invited you to meet him but over the last week you had noticed how tired he was and how some of his necessary tasks were falling to the wayside.
You tentatively opened his front door, hoping he wouldn’t think you were intruding by sneaking into his house to do some laundry and get some cleaning done. Once you were inside, you decided that you had made a good decision because his place was probably the messiest you had ever seen it and you were sure it was causing him extra stress that he did not need.
You started by making a list of all the different things that would need to be done and then once you were satisfied that you had thought of everything, you put your headphones on, started your audiobook and got to work.
You started by gathering all his laundry, grabbing his hamper, stripping the bed, gathering all the towels from the bathroom and kitchen, and collecting discarded socks and sweaters that were in the living room. Once you had the first load running, you moved on to the kitchen and took care of all the dishes, loading and running the dishwasher and then handwashing anything that didn’t fit. When you decided to wipe out his fridge, you frowned at how empty it was. There were a few takeout containers that upon inspection, went straight in the garbage, otherwise it was sparse at best. You quickly finished the task of cleaning it before snooping in his cupboard to see what all groceries he could use and then placing a delivery order so he could have a restock of the essentials.
You spent the next couple hours moving from room to room and getting his space spotless. Initially your goal had been just to do a surface level clean, dishes, laundry picking up and maybe a vacuum but you found yourself dusting and wiping down walls and doors. The doorbell startled you and you quickly went to the door to gather and put away the groceries you had ordered. You had also made sure to buy ingredients to make a dinner for him so you set those off to the side so you could get started once you finished with the last of his laundry.
You had chuckled to yourself on just how empty his sock drawer was when you had opened it, until your eyes landed on a small red velvet box. You felt your ears ring, suddenly no longer hearing the audiobook that was playing. You felt as if your heart was both in your throat and as if it had fallen to your ass. You told yourself that it was none of your business and you should just put his socks away and ignore it. You should more definitely not take the box and open it.
And yet, almost against your own wishes, the box was in your hands and you were carefully inspecting the soft fabric between your fingers. You took a deep breath, and without exhaling you flipped the lip open. Upon seeing the most stunning ring you had ever laid eyes on, you sharply inhaled more air and then slowly let it out “oh my god’
You were looking at the ring of your dreams. It was everything you would want in an engagement ring. You were pretty sure if someone took all the photos saved to your pinterest board and took the best qualities of each ring, this would be the results. You sat there stunned, not knowing what to think of what was sitting in your hands. It felt vaguely familiar but in the way that you assumed was because it was everything you wanted in a ring.
It wasn’t as if you didn’t see a forever with Robby, you very much did. You couldn’t begin to imagine your life without him but you hadn’t talked much about the future together and it was still only a few months into the relationship. A sinister thought crossed your mind that this ring wasn’t meant for you at all but you tried to brush that thought away.
After what was probably many minutes of just sitting staring at the ring, you took a deep breath and stood up. You went to put the ring back where you found it but instead you slipped it into your pocket and then after a moment to try to orient yourself, you got back to the task at hand.
Luckily there hadn’t been much else to do other than put the bed back together and cook dinner. You did both while in your head trying to decide how you should bring up what you found to Robby. You know he obviously hadn’t meant for you to find it so you didn’t want him to feel like you had invaded his privacy but you also couldn’t keep what you had found from him.
You had so many questions but the two big ones were when he had purchased the ring, was it something recent or had he had it for awhile? And the other was when he was planning on proposing with it. The more you thought about it the more you were sure you would say yes no matter how soon he asked, but you were curious when he had been planning on doing it soon.
You had planned to text Robby to warn him that you were over and cooking him dinner, but the shock of the ring had it totally slip your mind and it wasn’t until the front door was opening that you realized you hadn’t warned him of your presence.
“Hello?” You heard Robby’s confused voice saying from his entryway.
“Surprise!” You responded with a slight hesitation in your voice. You stepped into his line of sight with a tight smile. “I hope I didn’t overstep. I just wanted to do something nice for you.”
“You cleaned my house?” He asked, stunned, taking in the sight of his clean space.
“Yeah.” You admitted. “I also did some laundry and may have bought you groceries and cooked dinner.”
“Wow,” He gave you a soft smile and takes a few steps to pull you into him. “What did I do to deserve all this?”
“You deserve so much more than a little cleaning” You told him, looking up at him. You wrapped your arms around his neck and stretched up to plant a kiss on his lips. You meant it to be a chaste kiss in greeting but Robby didn’t let you go so easily. His arms tightened around you as he pulled you close to him and deepened the kiss.
“Is that something in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?” He teased as he pulled away. You immediately stiffen stepping out of his hold.
Robby gives you a concerned look and tilts his head, obviously trying to figure out why you are reacting so oddly to a simple silly comment.
“I-” You stuttered, not sure how to explain it “Listen, I’m so sorry. I am sure you didn’t mean for me to find this but I did you laundry and I was putting away your socks and you know you clearly haven't done laundry is forever cause the drawer was nearly empty and so it was just staring up at me and I shouldn’t have but I couldn't help myself and I looked and it’s stunning and I guess I don’t know for sure it’s for me but I kinda think it is and yeah I am so sorry I promise I wasn’t trying to be a weirdo snoop I just found it.”
You finally took a breath after you got your explanation without so much as spaces between each word. You were holding the box out in your palm, offering it back to Robby. When you finally got the nerve to look up at him, he was frowning, staring at the box as if it would disappear if he stared at it long enough.
“Sorry, if you want me to leave I can.” You finally said, not being able to stand the silence that had fallen. You felt on the verge of tears. You weren’t sure why but Robby not saying anything was feeling like the start of a rejection. You had probably completely misread the whole situation and it wasn’t even for you. Oh god what if there was someone else? No. No, Robby was not like that and he would never do that but still you couldn’t help but think his reaction meant the ring wasn’t for you.
You quickly pushed the box at him and sidestepped him, rushing to get your shoes on so you could run out the door. Before you could even get a step around him, he shot out a hand and wrapped it around your arm. “Wait, stop.”
You paused but you couldn't bring yourself to look up at him. Fearing a look of pity in his eyes or worse, indifference. “Did you not recognize the ring?”
Your eyes suddenly shot up to meet Robby’s gaze, confusion evident on your face “What, How would I-” And then suddenly it dawned on you. “Holy shit Robby, you bought that ring?”
Over a month ago, you had convinced Robby to go to a bunch of different antique stores in and around Pittsburgh and you had spent nearly the entire day driving all around and mostly window shopping in all the different shops you could find. In one of them, you had come across the most stunning ring you had ever seen. You had pointed it out to Robby, saying that it was the exact ring you would want to get married with and you had longing stared at it knowing you wouldn’t be able to afford it for casual wear. You hadn’t pointed it out with any alternative motives, you genuinely just wanted to show him cause you thought it was so beautiful. He had agreed it was stunning but you had missed the soft look he had given you while you were gushing over it. Apparently you had also missed him purchasing the ring.
“I did.” He admitted. “You said it was the ring you wanted to get married with and I knew that the chances of it still being there in a few more months were slim so I went back the next day and purchased it.”
“I- I don’t even know what to say.” You stood there stunned, feeling more in love with Robby than you had thought possible. “I am honestly surprised you were even listening to me”
“I’m always listening to you.” He reaches out to you and pulls you back into him. “I love you. And maybe it’s crazy to buy a ring only a few months into a relationship but I just know you’re it for me and I wasn’t planning on asking anytime soon so I didn’t scare you off but I want you to have everything you want and more so I couldn’t let someone else get your dream ring.”
“Robby,” You whispered, not trusting your voice. You reached up to cup his face in your hands, gently rubbing your thumb over the top of his beard. “Maybe I’m crazy, but if you did ask now, I’d say yes.”
Robby leaned in but before anything else could be said, the kitchen’s smoke alarm started to blare.
“Shit!” You quickly pulled away and rushed into the kitchen. “Fuck!!” You turned off the stove burner and grabbed a towel and started fanning above the now smoking pan. Robby was right behind you and was quickly opening the window hoping to air out some of the smoke. He grabbed a second hand towel and waved it directly in front of the smoke detector until it finally stopped beeping.
You looked down at the now ruined dinner and then up at Robby and just started laughing. He was quick to join in.
“I’m sorry, I wanted to do something nice, and I think I ruined your pan instead” You chuckled as your laughing started to subside.
“I think I can buy a new pan.” He chuckled. “And let’s just order some take out instead?”
“Sounds like a plan.” You agreed. “Now about that proposal…”
“Oh yeah I’m not proposing right now.” He said with a wicked smile. “You’ve already ruined my surprise about the ring, so you aren’t going to ruin a proposal surprise too.”
“So you’re going to make me wait an undisclosed amount of time?” You asked in horror.
“Yep.” He deadpanned.
“Evil!”
“But I do have a question to ask you.” You definitely had a moment where you thought he was just kidding and was going to officially ask right now. “Why don’t we make that key a permanent one?”
“What do you mean?” You asked confused. You think the whole ring thing had short circuited your brain cause you were not getting what he was putting down.
“I liked coming home and finding you here and I want that to be an everyday thing. Move in with me. I can clear out half the closet and you can leave your shitty apartment.” He explained with a hopeful smile.
“I think I’ll need more than half a closet.” You smiled back.
“Is that a yes?” He asked, stepping into your space.
“It is.” You laughed at him as he swept you into an embrace and kissed you passionately.