Realizations
Part V: The Question
Pairing: Ransom Drysdale x fem!reader (OTP ninja and puppy)
Words: ~5.6k
Summary: Five times Ransom realized he wanted to marry you.
Warnings: explicit language, so much fluff, some angst, idiots in love, mentions of f receiving oral sex, asshole friends, mentions of sex work, injury to a major character, hospital setting, drunk reader, drug use (just weed), vomiting, no minors due to the AU
A/N: So, the reason I haven’t been super active this week is because I’ve been working on this monster and a whole bunch of other things for our original OTP because there’s a brand new OTP who I cannot wait to start getting into, and their story is dependent on ninja and puppy (y’all know who I’m talking about). Remember when I said I was never going to make these two soft? Yeah, that’s long gone now, we are drowning in fluff, and I love it 🥰
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Ransom heard the sound of someone struggling with the front door and rolled his eyes, putting the last plate in the dishwasher before wiping off his hands to help you come inside in your surely inebriated state.
“Hey there… oh shit!” Ransom had to catch you when you fell forward as soon as he got the door open, laughing at your startled whoop before dragging you inside since you seemed to have the legs of a newborn baby deer. “I was gonna ask if you had a good time, but the fact that you smell like someone dipped you in Jager answers that question.”
“Had a fuckin’ great ti-hic-time.” You we’re giving him a very sloppy grin as you leaned your full weight on him, shrieking when he scooped you up and grabbing his shoulders to steady yourself when he started carrying you towards the bathroom. “Took off a stripper’s bra wi’ my teeth.”
“Really? Kinda seems like maybe one of the brides should’ve done that.” He beamed when you started pinching and pulling at his cheeks, chuckling when you accidentally shoved a finger up his nose while you kept cooing about how pretty he was.
“Welp, Taylor n’ Lauren ‘r kinda uptight fer lesbians.” You let your head roll on your shoulders as he kept carrying you through the house, your eyes drifting closed as you made happy little humming noises. “At my bachelorette party, ‘m gonna get all the strippers.”
“Uh-huh, when are you having this bachelorette party?” Ransom grinned indulgently at your drunk babbling, pressing his lips to your hair when you tucked your head against his shoulder with a soft sigh.
“Wh’n I get married, duh-doy.” You purred as you nuzzled closer to his chest, breathing his scent in and tracing a finger lazily over his arm.
“Oh, you’re getting married now?” He chuckled softly when you peeked at him through your lashes, shaking his head at the ridiculous things you always said when you were drunk. “Who’s the lucky bastard? Wanna send you two a gift.”
“‘S you, dummy.” You slapped his shoulder at his teasing, pouting a little before bringing your hand up to cup his jaw. “Gonna marry the shit out of you, ‘m never letting your ass go. Why’d you stop?”
Ransom froze at the entrance to the hallway, giving you a quizzical look when you huffed out a short, confused breath. As much as he wanted to tell himself you were just saying stupid shit because you were drunk, there was something in the way that you were looking at him that made him think you were at least partly serious. And for some reason that wasn’t freaking him out nearly as much as it should have.
“Baby, what are you talking about?” He gave you a little squeeze when you let out another hiccup, his breath growing shallower as he tried to reorient himself. “You wanna get married?”
“Mm, yeah, love you, idiot.” You were starting to doze off and he gave you a little shake, whining when he wouldn’t just let you sleep. “What else ‘m I gonna do? Not like ‘m leavin’ your ass.”
“Well, good,” Ransom’s heart felt like it was about to burst out of his chest, he honestly couldn’t tell if he was panicked or thrilled at the words that were coming out of your mouth. All he could do was stare at you as he tried to process all the different emotions that were flooding his system suddenly, ducking closer so he could nuzzle against your cheek while you let out a pleased little chirp.
“Ran…” Your voice was quiet when you tilted your head back so you could look him full in the face, swallowing thickly when your glassy eyes met his.
“Yeah, what is it baby?” He might have been smiling, he wasn’t totally sure.
“‘M gonna puke.” You swallowed again when you felt it almost come up, your stomach roiling as Ransom started sprinting towards the bathroom.
“Ah, fuck, don’t you fucking throw up on me!” He kicked the door open and wrenched the toilet lid up just in time, dropping to the floor and running a hand over your back as you emptied your stomach into the bowl. “God, this is why you’re not supposed to have Jager. Gave me a goddamn heart attack and you’re not even gonna remember it in the morning.”
“I love you so much.” You only had a second to huff it out over your shoulder before your stomach was lurching again, a pitiful whine leaving your throat as you somehow brought up even more alcohol soaked nastiness.
“I know, baby, love you too.” He pulled your hair back from your face and kept rubbing your back soothingly, pressing his lips to your shoulder and cooing softly when you sobbed as your stomach heaved again. “I’m not leaving you either.”
Ransom shuddered as he rested his head in his hands, his eyes red and his throat raw with emotion that had him letting out a choked sob when your hand squeezed his thigh.
“Just keep breathing, ok?” You leaned over so you could softly butt his head with yours, winding your arm around his shoulder and pressing your lips to his temple when he leaned into your touch. “The doctor should be out soon to let us know what’s going on.”
“I know.” He wound his fingers through yours and squeezed, turning so he could rest his forehead against yours as he let out a deep breath. “I just worry about him, I love that old man.”
“Have you been crying, Ransom?” Both of you growled when Linda’s harsh whisper interrupted your train of thought, your fingers slowly running through Ran’s hair while you glared at her from the corner of your eye. “If you’re going to make a scene you should do it outside.”
“Jesus Christ, mother.” Ransom screwed his eyes closed and buried his face in your shoulder, heaving out a sigh into your neck as he tried to tune her out.
“God, showing emotion is a scene now Linda?” You wrapped your arms around Ransom and pulled him closer, scowling at his mother as he brushed his lips over the side of your neck to soothe himself. “Your father’s in the hospital, why don’t you worry about that instead of whether anyone noticed your son somehow managed to grow a heart despite being raised by an ice queen.”
“Now who’s causing a scene?” Ransom gave you a warm smile when he tilted his head back to look at you, threading his fingers through yours and pulling your hand to his face so he could plant kisses over your knuckles while Linda walked away from the two of you with a snarl.
“Oh, that’s nothing.” You nuzzled into his hair and grinned when he started tracing your wrist with his thumb. “If there weren't a couple of kids over there, I absolutely would have called her a frigid cunt, just imagine what that would have done.”
Ransom turned his head to muffle his laughter in your shoulder while he snorted softly, humming when you kissed the top of his head as he let himself relax into you. He was still a little nervous, he always was in medical settings, but having you there made it feel manageable. The door back to treatment flung open and Ransom squeezed your hand when Harlan’s doctor walked out, sighing when the sharks immediately moved to intercept him before either of you had a chance to stand up.
“You want me to handle the vultures?” You kissed his forehead when he straightened up, your hands framing his face as you traced the curve of his cheek with your fingertips. “Or we can just wait for them to pick that poor doctor’s bones clean and hope he has some information for us by the time we get to him.”
“I wanna know what’s going on.” Ransom rose to his feet and pulled you after him, winding an arm around your waist and kissing your hair while the two of you walked towards where the Thrombeys were circling the haggard looking doctor. “Let’s save the poor man.”
“No, that’s completely unacceptable.” You sighed when you walked up to Linda berating the man. “If it’s that minor, then he can come home, or you’re lying to us about how serious it is, so which is it? Well?”
“Hi, doctor?” Ransom managed to cut her off before she had the chance to call the man an idiot, letting you shoot her a glare so she didn’t start harassing him again. “I’m Harlan’s grandson, how’s he doing?”
“Yes of course, Mr. Thrombey couldn’t stop talking about you.” The doctor gave the two of you a relieved smile when the rest of the brood finally quieted down. “This must be the doctor.”
“She’s a vet.” You shot Walt a scowl over your shoulder when he chimed in, mostly since his tone of voice let you know exactly what he thought about his father apparently bragging about you to strangers.
“Yeah, still a doctor, Walt.” You turned back to Harlan’s doctor and smiled when he gave you a sympathetic look. “Different expertise, obviously. How’s Harlan?”
“The good news is there’s nothing broken. He has a pretty bad bruise on his hip and a mild concussion for the fall but he should recover alright.” The doctor sighed before continuing, his eyes roving over the Thrombeys like he was steeling himself. “I was just explaining to the rest of the family that we’d like to hold him overnight for observation, just to be safe.”
“That seems reasonable, I know we all want to be absolutely sure there’s not going to be any complications before moving him away from full time medical care.” You felt a ransom relax when you managed to cut off his family’s arguments before they could even voice them, his hand on your waist giving you a squeeze when you leaned closer to him. “Can he have visitors?”
“I can let two of you back at a time to see him, but visiting hours are over at nine, so you’ll want to keep things brief.” He ignored Linda’s muttered ridiculous and shook your hand when you offered it. “Feel free to find me if you have any other questions, and I’ll be happy to go over expectations for his home care with Marta before he’s discharged tomorrow. Who’s first?”
“Come on, Richard.” Linda kicked her husband to get him to move when she pushed her way past the doctor unceremoniously. “I want to make sure they’re taking proper care of my father.”
You rolled your eyes as you followed Ransom to sit in the chairs again while you waited your turn, smiling warmly at him when he laid down with his head in your lap and let out a relieved sigh.
“You still doing ok, baby?” You ran your fingers through his hair and rested your other hand on his chest, humming when he wound his fingers through yours again as he gazed into your eyes. “I know you hate hospitals.”
“I’m ok, I wanted to be here for Harlan.” He knew he wouldn’t have been able to do it if you hadn’t been there with him, and as much as he hated that his own anxiety could rule him like that, he couldn’t deny that having you around to lessen his fears was something he appreciated a whole lot. “Just another remnant of my shitty childhood I have to get over.”
“Yeah, you never told me why you hate these places so much.” You leaned back in your chair as you kept petting his head. “You wanna talk about it, or do you want me to distract you?”
“I can talk about it.” He let his eyes fall closed and leaned into your touch. “It’s not like it was even that bad. Just had to get my tonsils out when I was seven and all I remember was waking up alone after my surgery except for a nurse because Linda had some major deal she had to close. I don’t even know where Richard was. And, y’know, just had a little panic attack ‘cause I just wanted my mom, since I didn’t know what a horrible person she was yet. It was a good thing someone called Harlan or who knows how long I would have been there by myself. What’s up?”
You had stopped stroking his head as you gave him a pained look, your hand resting on his cheek while he stared up at you questioningly, the hand he had entwined with yours giving you a squeeze instinctually.
“God, Ran.” You curled over so you could press your lips to his forehead, sniffling a little when you straightened back up at the thought of him as a baby being all alone. “Sometimes I really want to kick your parents’ collective asses.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure there’s a line.” He turned his head when he heard the door to the waiting room open again, sitting up with a sigh when Linda and Richard came stomping out.
“He asked for you.” That was all Linda had to say before she was gliding past the two of you, Richard just giving you a noncommittal shrug before following his wife.
“Oh shoot, I have to go, I’m doing that live Q&A for Flam tomorrow.” Joni flitted up to you and Ransom when you both stood up, thrusting a giant crystal into your hands and ignoring your annoyed stare as Ransom swallowed a snort. “Can you give this to Harlan, sweetie? It promotes wellness and should help realign his chakras to speed up the healing process.”
“Sure, Joni.” You rolled your eyes when she waved at you over her shoulder before rushing out the door, hefting the thing as you and Ransom headed back to Harlan’s room. “Is this the one she sells for $300? At least she won’t be plastering Harlan holding this paperweight all over Instagram.”
“Small blessings.” Ransom kissed your hair and squeezed your waist as you headed back to the recovery rooms, his breathing growing shallow but still somewhat under control since you were there with him.
“My dear!” The sight of Harlan in the hospital bed sent a wave of something close to panic through Ransom’s chest, even though he was giving the two of you his typical wide grin, he still looked so frail and small, Ransom hated it. “I was so pleased when I heard the two of you were, even though it was a bit surprising. Are you doing alright, Ransom?”
“Harlan, you're hooked up to a heart monitor and asking me how I’m doing.” Ransom huffed out a chuckle when his grandfather just shrugged at him, letting you go with a final kiss so you could give Harlan a hug. “You scared us, old man.”
“It’ll take more than a couple of stairs to take me out.” Harlan winked at Ransom, grinning between the two of you when his grandson came to stand behind you and rested his head on your shoulder.
“Do you need anything while you’re here, Harlan?” You tilted your head to the side when Ransom rubbed his nose against your temple, sighing when he started running his hands over your arms absentmindedly. “I don’t know if I have time to run back to the manor and get you anything, but I can give it a shot.”
“That’s very sweet, dear, but unnecessary.” Harlan’s grin grew even wider as he watched how relaxed his grandson was with you, he was pretty sure the younger man didn’t even realize he never seemed to be able to stop touching you. “All I could really use right now is a cup of shitty coffee, since they don’t want me sleeping while they assess how concussed I am.”
“Well, good news, I saw a very shitty looking coffee machine down the hall.” You gave Ransom a peck on the cheek before wandering to the door. “I’ll be right back.”
Ransom ran a hand over the back of his neck as he watched you leave, his movements freezing when he turned back to Harlan and found the man giving him a knowing grin.
“She is very good for you, son.” Harlan nodded to himself when Ransom let out a shaky breath, watching his grandson closely for the signs of nervousness he always showed when forced to talk about his feelings.
“I know.” Ransom actually let himself smile as he looked back at his grandfather, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the wall. “I don’t think I would’ve even made it here if she wasn’t with me. You know, I didn’t even have any panic attacks when I got here?”
“You’re not even going to try to fight me on it?” Harlan had never been more pleasantly surprised, letting out a short laugh when Ransom just shrugged at him before scrubbing his hands over his face with a defeated groan. “Oh, she’s very, very good for you.”
“Yeah, it’s fucking crazy.” Ransom ran a hand through his hair and leaned back against the wall. “Just wish Linda could give us a fucking break.”
“Well, your mother has always had her own ideas about what’s best for you.” Harlan took a deep breath as he gazed at his grandson, there were times he’d wished he’d taken more of a hand in Ransom’s upbringing, maybe then the boy would have found happiness sooner. “But I’m glad you found it for yourself.”
“Were you boys talking about me?” You beamed at the two of them when they stopped talking when you walked back into the room, handing Harlan his coffee and leaning against Ransom when he wrapped an arm around your shoulders.
“We always do.” Harlan cocked his head as he watched Ransom kiss your hair, smiling at the two of you behind his coffee as he took a sip. “You’re very interesting, my dear.”
“Logan, god, shut the fuck up!” Dylan smacked the asshole in the shoulder as he laughed so hard he almost fell off his stool, trying to keep his own expression neutral as he watched Ransom bury his face in his hands with a defeated groan. “Well, it sounds like it worked out fine, Drysdale, you had your panic sex and you both recovered, so why don’t you just forget about calling her ‘Mrs. Drysdale’ . I’m sure she has already.”
“That’s the fucking problem, I can’t.” Ransom took another gulp of whiskey as he ignored Logan’s chortling. “Even worse is that I don’t want to, it felt right, good.”
“Oh, fuck no!” That shut Logan up, his head shaking vehemently as literally every other person at the table rolled their eyes at him. “It’s bad enough you moved in with her, you’re not doing this, you’ll be miserable.”
“You said the same thing when they started living together, Van Doren, don’t be an ass.” Chaz took a gulp of beer and shot a scowl at him before turning back to Ransom. “Not to be a Logan apologist, but you did tell us to kidnap you and take you to Amsterdam if you ever talked about settling down.”
“Yeah, when I was with Sloane.” Ransom shivered when he thought about the nightmare that had been, relaxing quickly once he let his thoughts drift back to you and how happy you made him, even though that fact was also freaking him out. “But she’s not Sloane, she’s not like anybody I’ve ever been with before. I just want her to know how much she means to me.”
“I can’t listen to this soft shit anymore, I’m gonna go get some shots.” Logan shook his head as he rose from his seat, frowning at Ransom before heading to the bar. “That chick is ruining you, Drysdale.”
“God, I know she is.” It made his heart warm though, a slow smile spreading over his face as he felt the panic starting to leave his system. “Fuck, I think I’m gonna do it.”
“Jesus, you’re sure?” Dylan whistled when he watched Ran gulp down the rest of his scotch, not even able to grin himself to stop him when he started emptying the rest of the drinks on the table. “You need to be sure, Ran, I know you love her and everything but if you just do this because you think it’s something you’re supposed to do and not something you actually want, you’re both gonna be miserable.”
“Oh, I want it.” Ransom sucked in a deep breath when he finally admitted it to himself, there was no getting away from you, you were it for him, may as well make it official. “More than anything. I wanna marry that girl.”
“Damn it, this is the fucking worst!” Of course Logan had to come back right when Ransom made that announcement, the dumbass ignoring the way Ransom openly snarled at him as he set the bottle of tequila and the glasses on the table. “Look, I know you think you’re happy, and if you really are, fine. But I think we need to seriously consider the fact that bitch’s pussy has fucking poisoned you, because my boy would never…”
Logan didn’t get a chance to finish his thought when Ransom punched him square in the jaw, growling when he whipped back up like he was going to try to fight him before Chaz and Logan had a chance to get between the two of them.
“Call her a bitch again and we’re fucking done, L. I’m so sick of you putting your stupid bull shit on me.” Ransom grabbed the bottle of tequila and took a swig, ignoring Logan’s grumbling. “She’s it, better than any of that easy pussy you try to drown me in and I fucking love her, so you can either accept this is happening or you can fuck off.” He really needed to consider getting better friends, he could not figure out why he still put up with this asshole aside from the fact he’d been doing it forever. “Now, you dumbasses can either celebrate with me, or I’m totally fine drinking this tequila all by myself.”
Ransom was exhausted as he pulled into your driveway, his grip on the steering wheel painfully tight as he thought about flipping on the couch as soon as he walked through the door. Another absolutely useless meeting with Walt always had that effect, the man truly did not grasp the concept of what email was for. He needed a drink.
Or some weed. He could smell it as soon as he walked through the front door, and something else that was making his mouth water. The sounds of your feel good playlist filled the house, Prince singing about how he just needed your extra time, and Ransom knew that meant you had found some new recipe you wanted to try out. He tossed his coat over the back of the chair and kicked off his boots before wandering to find you, grinning at the sight of the dog sprawled across the floor in the kitchen with his tail thumping against the hardwood while the cat tried to get her front paws on the counter to steal some of whatever you were cooking. No sign of you though.
“Oi, keep your paws away from the pastry!” You popped up from behind the counter with a joint tucked between your teeth, hissing at the cat until she scampered off with a sharp meow while you shook your head at her and rolled the sleeves of the Ransom’s sweater you were wearing up around our elbows. “Fucking brat, hey baby!”
“Hey yourself.” The sight of you wearing what he sincerely hoped was nothing but his sweater while you fussed around the kitchen had him feeling some kind of way, his eyes fixed on your bare legs as you slid around the counter to come greet him. “What’cha cookin’?”
“Smoked salmon tarts, they’re fucking amazing.” You passed him the joint before starting to drag him towards the kitchen, giggling when he tried to grasp the hem of the sweater to catch a peek at what you were wearing under there. “Quit, you can do that in a minute. Try this.”
“Ok… holy fuck!” Ransom let his eyes roll back in his head as he moaned when you shoved a whole mini tart in his mouth, grabbing your wrist when you tried to pull your hand back so he could suck the remnants off your fingers. “Shit, that’s fantastic, you sure we should be smoking around all this food?”
“It’s fine, I made so many, we should be good even if the munchies get us.” You tossed the roach into the sink and gave him a peck on the lips before sliding on your oven mitts when the oven timer went off. “Just one more batch to go.”
Ransom groaned when you bent over to pull out the fresh tarts, his sweater riding up your hips until he had a very good view that confirmed you were in fact wearing nothing under his sweater. His gaze raked over you as you put the last tray in, his eyes crinkling with a smile when you started swaying to the music when a new song came on.
“How long do those need to bake for?” Ransom pulled you close so he could sway with you, his steps getting a little quicker when the song sped up. “‘Cause I have a couple of things I wanna do all of a sudden, but I don’t want you to burn our kitchen down.”
“Good news, then, they take thirty minutes.” You squeaked when he smacked your ass before spinning the two of you, beaming at him when he pressed his lips to your forehead with a pleased sound. “Plenty of time for whatever you want, but you’re gonna dance with me first.”
“Am I?” Ransom let out a soft purr when you nipped at his jaw, jumping a little when you swatted his ass at him teasing you.
“It’s James Brown.” You poked him in the chest when he tried to snake a hand under the sweater again, shaking your head at him when he gave you a halfhearted pout. “What kind of assholes would we be if we didn’t dance to James Brown?”
“Fine.” He grinned before pecking you on the lips again. “One song, two max, then we’re gonna see how many times I can make you come on my face before those tarts come out of the oven.”
“Yeah, well be careful not to spoil your appetite.” You tilted your head back so he could nuzzle at your throat, sighing when he let out a low chuckle against your skin that sent a jolt to your core.
“Don’t worry about it.” He leaned back and winked at you. “I’m never gonna have my fill of you.”
You didn’t get a chance to respond before he was spinning you suddenly then dropping you into a low dip, shrieking with purely delighted laughter when he pulled you back up and kissed your forehead while he kept dancing with you. It was a sound he’d never get tired of hearing, his hands framing your waist as he kept guiding your movements through the kitchen while you smiled so hard your cheeks hurt.
“I thought you wanted me to fuck your face Ran.” You were a little surprised when he didn’t release you as soon as the song was over, but it was a pleasant surprise, Ransom pulling you close to his chest with an arm around your waist while he wound the fingers of his free hand through yours and let you tuck your face into his shoulder.
“Shut up.” He pressed his lips to your hair and kept his cheek leaning against the top of your head as he kept swaying with you, smiling softly when you hummed along with Neil Young and let out a deep sigh. “I like this song, don’t need you distracting me.”
“Sap.” You scrunched up your nose when he gave you a squeeze. “If you just wanna dance all snuggly, you can say so.”
“Fine, I wanna dance with you, sue me.” He bit his lip when you tilted your head back so you could look at him, rubbing his nose against yours and breathing deeply. “You realize you’ve completely ruined me.”
“And you’ve loved every second of it.” You leaned up and brushed your lips over his, your breath catching when he deepened the kiss and you ran the fingers of your free hand through his hair.
“What I love is you.” He was long past the point of freaking out about what you did to him, how you made him feel and the warmth that spread through him every time he came home and you were there. It made him feel like he was definitely making the right choice. “More than anything.”
“Mmhm, and I love you too, pup.” You rested your face in the crook of his neck and let your eyes drift closed as he kept leading you in a swaying circle around your kitchen, letting out a happy little huff of breath when he kissed the top of your head again. “More than anything.”
Ransom drummed his fingers against the beer bottle in his hand as he stared at Ari and Anne, taking a breath like he was finally going to say something then just blowing it back out with a groan.
“Ok, are you actually going to tell us why you wanted to have lunch, or are we all just going to stare at each other?” Anne flagged down the waiter and asked for another drink, grabbing a fry and chewing thoughtfully as she watched Ransom squirm uncomfortably. “C’mon man, out with it.”
“You just take your time, honey.” Ari reached across the table and gave Ransom’s hand a reassuring squeeze, frowning a little when he turned to face Anne. “You are so impatient.”
“I have shit to do.” Anne shrugged when Ari rolled his eyes at her. “I don’t have all day to exchange meaningful looks with you two, so excuse me…”
“I wanna ask her to marry me.” Ransom said it in a rush so he didn’t chicken out again, feeling like a weight was lifted off his chest as he sagged into his seat with a sigh while they both swung to gape at him.
“Shut the fuck up!” He couldn’t get a read on Anne’s reaction, her mouth opening and closing like she kept thinking of new things to say then rethinking them at the last second. “Shut the absolute fuck up!”
“I fucking knew it.” Ari just grinned at Ransom and clapped him on the shoulder before trying to find the waiter so he could order some champagne. “I told that girl the two of you were it for each other, how are you gonna ask?”
“Just… wait a second.” Ransom took another deep breath before giving Ari a shaky grin, glancing at Anne again and swallowing thickly when she still had that mysterious expression on her face. “I wanna make sure this is a good idea first. Don’t wanna lose her because I try to push something she doesn’t want.”
“Oh my god, you’re so good for her.” Ari just kept grinning as he popped the cork on the champagne, pouring three glasses and handing them out before rolling his eyes when Ransom just gave him a kicked puppy look. “Anne, ease the poor man’s mind.”
“You… you really think she’s gonna say no?” Anne leaned forward and Ransom thought she was trying to hold back a smile.
“She always said she hated the thought of being some asshole’s wife.” He ran a hand over his face and leaned on his elbows. “And we all know I’m the biggest asshole.”
“You’re a giant faker is what you are.” Ari shook his head at him as he took a sip of champagne. “Of course she’s gonna say yes, honey.”
“Look, the only time I’ve gotten even a slight hint she might actually want this was a couple months ago, and she was drunk off her ass…”
“Wait, I remember that night, the bachelorette party, is that when you started thinking about this?” Anne finally let herself grin when Ransom nodded at her. “Aww, cutie, why do you think she was drinking so much in the first place?”
“What?” Ransom could feel his heart swell when he thought about what she was saying.
“Christ, you two dumbasses really were made for each other.” Anne rolled her eyes and took a gulp of her champagne before giving Ransom a smile. “She realized she wanted to spend the rest of her life with you and had her own little panic attack, because she convinced herself you’d make a run for it if she told you.”
“Oh my god, you idiots need to get married.” Ari kicked Ransom playfully when he let out an offended huff, winking at him over his champagne glass as he laughed softly. “And talk to each other, goddamn.”
“Fuck… fuck.” Ransom ran his hands through his hair as he realized this was definitely happening, beaming between his two friends as he thought about asking Harlan for the ring. “I’m gonna do it, shit!”