Day: June 26, 2015

**In honor of the SCOTUS’s momentous, stupendous, about freaking time decision, a flash fic.  I’ve brought back Jack and Ryan to tell the tale.**

Jack had lost hope years ago.  He was convinced that, despite the way the country as a whole was leaning, the Supreme Court would never rule in favor of same sex marriage.  My cynical, pessimistic boyfriend was utterly certain he wouldn’t see a nationwide mandate for equal protection and rights under federal law in his lifetime.  Jack was sure we would have to fight for the rest of our lives to be recognized for what we were to each other.  That I would always be his significant other, his partner, but never his husband.   And he thought I was a fool for believing, deep down, that things would change.

Today, Jack was proven wrong in the best possible way.

I’d been anticipating the decision, most of me convinced that there be would positive news.  Though I was scared we’d be once again denied, I just couldn’t let go of that shining hope that finally, finally, it would be as it should have always been.  And it wasn’t just about the wedding, about the marriage.  Jack and I were as committed to each other as any straight married couple could be.  We could have left Montana behind and moved to any number of states if it was just about that, and wed one another.  No, it was about being recognized as equal.  As valued as any other human being out there.  Now that we had that, now that we had the legal protection we’d been so long denied, there was no better way I could think to celebrate than with a proposal.

I’d been planning it for a long time.  Because I knew that Jack would never ask.  And while I would have taken the news at any time, that it was the end of June was perfect.  Because that was when we had met, seven years ago.  I’d been up on a ladder, picking pine cones off the trees.  Jack had wandered down the row to check on our progress.   I’d taken one look at him and I had known he would be mine for the rest of my life.  We’d had our bumps, and a necessary separation, but now we were stronger than ever.

I couldn’t wait anymore.  I grabbed the jewelers box from the back of my sock drawer, and headed out the door.

I found Jack among the Scotch pines.  At least a dozen workers were picking pine cones from the trees, and I ran up the row just as Jack was climbing down from a ladder.  He saw me, and his face lit up for just a second before a scowl and concern replaced it.

“Ryan?” Jack’s voice was full of worry.  “Baby, what’s wrong?”

I shook my head, trying desperately to catch my breath.  It took just a minute or two, and then I beamed up at my beautiful man.  “Did you hear?  The Supreme court ruled for equal protection and a fundamental right for all people to marry.  Everywhere and in every state.”

Jack’s smile was soft, and his gaze was fixed solely on me.  I could see a hint of disbelief there, but mostly relief.  He reached out for my hand, and squeezed it tight, not being able to say a word.  He didn’t have to.

I dropped to one knee, and held up the box with the hand he wasn’t holding.  It only took a flick of my finger for the lid to spring open and show off the two gold rings inside.  Jack’s breath caught.

“I love you.  Always have.  Always will.  Even when we were apart, my heart beat for you.  I never want to be parted from you again.  Marry me.”

There was a long beat of silence, and then Jack simply said, “Yes.”

It was all I needed to hear.

**Oh Ben and Zack, how I love thee.  This week brings our story to a close, and Ben is taking over the narration again.  I’m not saying we’ll never see Ben and Zack again, because you never know where they will pop up, but their coda is complete with this week’s challenge of a moving mishap, questioning commitment and serenity.  Enjoy!**

He was so quiet it was starting to become unnerving.  And the less he spoke, the more nervous and quiet I got in return.  We’d been home—well, back in New York at any rate—for one day, the moving van had arrived with my things, and as we unpacked the boxes and crates, Zack had all but ceased speaking.

I had to wonder if he thought he made the wrong decision.  Now that I’d invaded his home, he may have changed his mind.  He possibly discovered that he wasn’t as committed to this as I was, and he didn’t want to be with me forever.  While I wished he’d figured it out before I moved all the way across the country to be with him, I couldn’t really fault him.  Sometimes, it took something that big to open one’s eyes.  I didn’t doubt Zack’s love for me, I just thought that he felt we were moving too fast.

I’d have to live with Josie until I found a place of my own.  Or went back to California.

“Ben, I need to talk to you.”  Zack’s voice was soft, contrite, and full of worry.  Here it was.  He was going to tell me he’d made a mistake and that we would have to part ways and slow down.

“All right then,” I responded slowly, shoring myself up.

Zack took a deep breath, and then he took my hand, pulling until I followed him upstairs and into his spare bedroom turned office.  The movers had shoved my desk up against the far wall.  Zack’s hand trembled as he reached out and opened the box set on top, and then, with another deep breath, tilted it so I could see the contents.  Inside was the antique hot chocolate pot that had belonged to my father’s grandmother, the one she’d protected on the journey across the ocean.  It now lay in three pieces.

“I’m so sorry,” Zack whispered, and I heard the anguish in his voice.  “I swear I packed it carefully, did everything I could to ensure that it would be safe.  But it wasn’t enough, and I found it hours ago and I didn’t know how to tell you and—”

“Zack,” I said, cutting him off and pulling him into my arms.  We were basically the same height, I only had maybe an inch on him, and I loved that I could look right into his deep blue eyes.  “Is that what’s had you so upset?”

He blinked.  “Well, yeah.  It was a family heirloom and it got busted in the move.  The move you made for me.”

I kissed him, quick and hard, my relief making me giddy.  Later, I would tell him what I’d thought, and I knew he’d get indignant that I’d questioned his commitment to me.  But for now, I was so relieved that his behavior had been over a piece of broken porcelain that I couldn’t help but pour that into the kiss.  Zack responded in kind, and it was only when he needed to breathe that he pulled back.  He lifted his hands from where they were clutching my waist so that he could cup my face and tilt my head until he could look right into my eyes.

“You aren’t mad?” he asked like he couldn’t quite believe it.

“I’m not mad,” I responded honestly.  “I’ll glue it back together and set it in the cabinet.  It’s not like it was ever used, and it has more sentimental value then monetary.  It’s fine, I promise.”

“Oh thank fuck,” Zack breathed.  Then he gave me a wicked grin.  He pushed his body a little bit closer, his hands and hips working in conjunction to position me the way he wanted me, which was trapped between him and the desk.  “We’ve worked long and hard today.  I’d say it’s time for a shower, to wash off all the sweat and grime.  And we should probably call it an early night.”

I shivered at his commanding tone, and nodded eagerly, happy to follow behind when he tugged me out of the room.

***

Later that night, Zack was snoring softly beside me.  Even in sleep, he refused to let me get far.  Every time I moved, he moved to match my new position.  I didn’t mind one bit.  Sated and pleasantly sore, I snuggled closer into his embrace.  This was what it was all about.  The deep seeded contentment, and peace I felt in his arms.  Our beginning was not the easiest, and I was certain we’d have arguments and disagreements in the future.  I didn’t expect smooth sailing, and that was just fine.  Nothing worth having was ever easy, and working at a relationship had never scared me.  Just being with him settled something inside me, and it had been like that from the first.  We would have to put in the work to keep things good between us, but we had a solid foundation.

I sighed happily, and pushed even closer, loving that Zack immediately pulled me in tighter.  As I fit my body to his, a sense of true serenity washed through me.  I savored it, knowing it was the kind of thing that didn’t happen often.  It might have taken me decades to find it, but now that I had it, I was never letting it, or Zack, go.