WHO: Beau Alderman and Josie Reed WHEN: Evening of December 14 WHERE: Northwind Stables, then ~their spot~ SUMMARY: Beau's plans to pop the question come to fruition. WARNINGS: None! Possible cavities from cute?
He had been planning this day in some way for the last several years. He hadn’t planned the exact details until recently, though he had certainly gone over dozens of different options. It had taken finding the perfect ring, and deciding on a perfect time for him to really put all of those pieces into place. He was still fully aware that their parents might say that it was still too soon, but they seemed to have accepted after Josie’s graduation that their relationship was as solid as they claimed. She’d been his forever since the first dance in that high school gymnasium. He had been hopelessly captivated by her, and he’d never even been tempted to look away.
The closer that they came to his graduation and the promise of living to one another permanently, the more certain Beau was that this was their next step. An actual wedding would still be some time off, but to be able to call Josie his fiancee instead of his girlfriend was a change he was looking forward to. He’d purposefully waited until after their finals were completed, but then it had just been a matter of finding the right day before Christmas to make it just a day for themselves.
It was a normal evening, really, and that was precisely what he’d wanted. The ring was an unfamiliar weight in his pocket, but he hoped before too long it would be one she would know all too well. His hand was tucked into hers as they drove around town. He had puttered slowly through neighborhoods as the sun had begun to set, looking at all the lights that people had put out in celebration of the holidays.
They had laughed as they drove around in his old Mustang, sipping hot cocoas. Beau had driven them towards the outskirts of town, where the lights grew fainter, but some of the country houses really had the biggest displays. It also happened to be close to an area where they’d driven often during their early dating days to lie on the hood of his car and watch the stars until they could no longer pretend that they didn’t know what time of night it was or that it was well after curfew. Christmas songs played lowly on the turned-down radio, and Beau grinned over at her, teasingly betting, “If Northwind Stables didn’t add anything to their display this year, I’ll eat both of our shares of your mom’s fruit cake on Christmas, but I think I’m probably still safe.”
The holiday season had always been up there with Josie's favorite time of the year. Summer was a very close second, but having grown up in a small town wherein most people tended to go all out when it came to decorations and cheer, it was hard to not feel endeared. It had become even more endearing after she and Beau had started dating and, with each passing year, they had made traditions for themselves. She had plenty of those with her family that she loved, but there was something about creating something new with the boy (turned man) that she had fallen in love with. Having always liked to see the evidence of how their lives had entwined together as they had, doing things like taking long drives around town to look at the Christmas lights together would have made her feel warm and fuzzy inside, even without the hot cocoa.
It was easy to feel especially light this year, too. With another semester under her belt that meant she was one step closer to her degree and with plans their future just around the corner as Beau's graduation inched nearer, it felt as though Josie's life was on a trajectory that she not only liked, but loved. She had never been much of a planner, often joking that she didn't need to do that given just how adept Beau was at making plans instead, but seeing a plan for her future was exciting -- especially when it was a plan that they had been talking about for so long.
Josie laughed, leaning forward in her seat as though that few inches would give her a better vantage point as they drove toward the stables. "I think you're probably safe, too," she replied, turning to give Beau a smile, "but I wouldn't be too sad if you decided to eat my share anyway."
While Beau could eat just about anything, and did now that his powers required him to consume so much energy, no one really liked fruitcake. He was convinced of it, and yet one always seemed to appear around the holiday season anyway. He could already almost see a glow of haze in the air, as though the light was trying to defy the darkness from as far away as possible.
"Let's just see how desperately hungry I get, but I'm absolutely eating dinner before dinner because I don't want to be that person that makes it so no one gets leftovers," Beau laughed, though over the last few months they'd adjusted to his heightened appetite and he knew how to plan for it.
He turned up towards the stables and saw the very first tree covered in brightly colored, old fashioned Christmas lights, "Here we go, babe."
"Oh," Josie sighed happily, the moment she saw the first flash of lights. She leaned back in the passenger seat, reaching one of her arms across the back of the seats to let her fingers idly trail into the hair at the back of Beau's neck. It was an easy point of connection between them that didn't require him from removing a hand from the steering wheel.
It was clear as they crept further toward the stables that they had, in fact, added some decorations from the year prior. Lucky for Beau, really -- her mom's fruitcake was pretty awful, even if she always choked a piece down to make her happy. "They always do such a great job," she murmured, eyes looking over all of the different lights. A smile crossed her lips as she turned her head, looking to Beau. "Our future house is going to have to just glow with Christmas lights. You know that, right?"
A shiver made its way up his spine when her fingers brushed over the short hair at the back of his neck, but he tried his best to not focus on that, instead keeping his mind and his eyes on the road, even if they were going relatively slow. Beau took in the sights of all the lights ahead, and gave a small hum of agreement at her assessment of the display.
He glanced over at her, a grin on his lips, “Oh, absolutely. We’ll be those people that go thrifting for what old fashioned decorations we can find, and we’ll have like...the windows and edges of the house framed in lights, too.” It was a big undertaking, but...well, Beau was very fast, and he’d do just about anything to make Josie happy, “The big question is classic white lights or fun multi-colored ones? We could be super pro-active and hunt down the post-holiday mega sales this season in preparation for next Christmas.” He was ever the planner.
Josie met Beau's grin with one of her own, clearly on board with the plan. There was little that she didn't want to do with him, but she especially liked what he was describing. A scavenger hunt around the upper Virginia area for Christmas decorations for the future house that they were going to live in together -- well, that just about summed up everything she liked most. "Definitely multi-colored," she decided, a vision forming in her mind, despite that she didn't even know what this future home of theirs would actually look like from the outside. "White can be really pretty, but I think we can manage something more flashy."
Her gaze lingered on Beau's face, that smile fading into something more gentle and fond. Though the night had been pretty typical, especially when it came to their winter activities together, the combination of his presence and the Christmas cheer did a number on warming her heart. She watched as the lights from the displays outside the car light up his face and eyes for a moment, then looked back out the windshield, still smiling to herself. Her voice teasing, she said, "Remind me to kiss you when you've stopped the car, okay?"
“White is the classic and elegant option, but I agree. Multi-colored is definitely more fun, and we’re definitely not the stuffy everything has to match kind of Christmas decorators,” Beau theorized. Josie was a phenomenal artist and she definitely had an eye for color and things that went well together while still having an eclectic air, and Beau loved that about her. He was really looking forward to not only decorating their future house for the holidays, but also just...generally furnishing it. He wanted to do all of those domestic things with her from picking out paint for their walls to the fabric of their couch.
Her request for him to remind her to kiss him made Beau laugh, chancing a glance over at her as the opportunity presented itself. His heart gave an extra hard thump against his ribs as he was reminded once more of what this drive would hopefully conclude in. God, he loved her, “I think I need one to hold me over until then.” He reached up in the glow of the flashing Christmas lights and tapped his own cheek gently with a small smirk on his lips, “Safety first. Eyes on the road.”
That easily drew a laugh from Josie, her eyes back on Beau from the moment he spoke. Luckily there were plenty of decorations to be seen from the vantage of his side of the car, too. Without any real hesitation, she leaned over, stretching the limits of her seatbelt so she could give his offered cheek the kiss that it deserved. And, because she was Josie and couldn't help herself, she lingered there for a few seconds longer than she perhaps ought to have, trailing down for one more kiss at his jawline before backing away.
Settling back in her seat with a grin, and shifting her fingers from his neck to settle at his shoulder instead, she said, "Pinky swear the one you'll get later will be better. I think the Stones would appreciate the restraint and not accidentally taking out any decorations."
Beau kept his eyes on the road as she pressed that kiss to his cheek, and then let her lips linger there with another kiss to his jaw. He glanced over at her once more, a pleasant buzz in his system just from that small bit of additional contact, “I’m doing my absolute best to not create a Christmas catastrophe. There will be no decoration disasters on my watch.” The promises were purposefully silly, but Beau reached up from the steering wheel to cross his heart anyway.
“I will definitely be cashing in on the promise of that kiss later, though,” he assured her as the house and then the stable itself, in all their very bright glory came into view. For a moment, he was almost breathless, though it wasn’t too different from the display the year before. It was always just...an astounding sort of feat, “We might have to ask them for some tips on the best light-hanging procedures because wow.”
Leaning forward once more in her seat, a wide grin bloomed across Josie's face. They really did know how to decorate, the Stone family. Her eyes moved across the display of lights in front of them, filing away different details for future reference. "Definitely wow," she echoed, her fingers tightening gently at his shoulder. "Their lights are probably my favorite in the whole town."
It took nothing for him to agree with that statement, “Mine, too. I’m glad they don’t mind people coming by to look.” He made a slow turn of his car where seemingly dozens of others had done the same thing based on the pattern of the gravel, but still lingered for several more long moments to take in the splendor of it all, noting all the little details.
As they started back down the path the other direction, Beau didn’t drive quite as slowly, though kept to a reasonably slow speed. They hadn’t gotten too far when he reminded her, “It’s a pretty clear night if we want to go by our spot to see some stars, too.” His heart jumped nervously, but he took a slow, deep breath to remind himself that there was nothing to be anxious over. It was all...part of what they’d been promising one another for what felt like forever now.
As they pulled down the driveway once more, Josie turned to give one more look back at the lights behind them. They could come back later on in the season, of course, but she couldn't help herself.
But her attention was easily caught on Beau once more, just as it always was. It had taken a lot of time and practice to be able to study with him after they'd started dating; it had helped that he was her tutor and therefore they did have to do some studying. He was far too distracting to her, in all the best ways. She didn't have to worry about studying now, though. In fact, she didn't even have to worry about curfew. Being twenty had many perks.
Josie looked out the window toward the sky, glad to see the stars twinkling above. They would shine nicely in Dunhaven normally, but they were even better away from the bit of light the town had and in the outskirts like this. "It's been way too long since we went to our spot," she decided. "Let's do it."
That agreement was all that he’d really needed. Everything else was all set up to plan. He’d run the different scenarios until it all seemed just perfect. Of course there were things that could still potentially go awry, but Beau had faith. Regardless, he hoped it would make for a good story later.
Their spot was a clearing off one of the smaller roads that branched from Winter Roses Way, and he didn’t really know if the property was owned by anyone in particular, or just the city at large. Even still, no one had ever run them off from the area, and Beau had been up here several times in the last week by himself. He had pulled in carefully, and shut off the engine and the headlights, the stars twinkling brightly above, “Look at that. We’re parked. Wasn’t I owed something?” His words were playful, even as he unlatched his seat belt, as though he might not recall what she’d promised less than ten minutes prior.
Once parked, Josie withdrew her hand from Beau's shoulder, only so she could move to undo the buckle on her own seat belt. As she did, though, she feigned a confused look. "Were you?" she asked, even as a smile started to fight for ownership of her mouth. She had never been good at keeping a straight face when lying, even playfully and especially with Beau.
As the seat belt slid away, she let her gaze fall to Beau and all attempts at a straight face were gone. "Oh, that's right," Josie said, as though she'd had a great revelation. Rather than explain that revelation, she edged closer to him across the seat and reached out once more with her hand, this time to land on his cheek and urge him a bit closer himself. A moment later and she was kissing him, taking her time with it as her hand drifted and her fingers found his hair. Kissing Beau would never grow old and they'd had plenty of practice with it over the years. From that very first kiss they shared at the start of their relationship, all the way to this one that was perhaps a bit more thorough than she'd intended when she'd first made the tease, each one had been an expression of how she felt about him -- and maybe that was a cheesy, romantic thought, but no one was more cheesy and prone to romantic thoughts than Josie Reed.
The kiss was well worth waiting for, and Beau had leaned into it. Even if it was more than a simple, sweet kiss like she’d promised, he wouldn’t complain. Beau loved in her all measures, and it was a familiar action that he never seemed to tire of. He could still taste the faintest lingering of cocoa on her lips, his hand lifting to brush against her cheek, his fingers there over her pulse in her neck.
It was with some amount of reluctance that he did break that kiss, brushing his nose gently against hers in a sort of eskimo kiss, a small laugh escaping him, “I’m very glad that we figured it out. What a thing to miss out on.” He kissed her again, sweet and slow for a long moment, “I know it’s a little chilly so we don’t have to get out long, but we should see the stars unobstructed even just for a few minutes.”
There was no denying that Josie would have been perfectly content to just make out with Beau for as long as they reasonably could in his car, but the lure of the stars and getting to look at them with him was too great. It was almost like driving around to see the Christmas lights, but at a much grander scale.
"That," she started, before reaching into the back of her seat to find her discarded scarf from when she got warm during the ride, "is why I came prepared." She twisted the scarf around her neck, the purple yarn framing her face. Smiling, she leaned in and stole just one more quick kiss from him, before moving to get out of the car.
It was chilly, but Josie was a born and raised Virginian and she could handle the cooler winter weather. There were no complaints as she slowly moved around the car to meet Beau, her head tipped up to look at the stars above. "They really are beautiful out here," she noted, a soft touch of a sigh to her tone.
Beau didn’t often get very cold now that he had electricity or the speed force running through his veins. He still wore a light jacket, but no gloves or scarf. He grinned as she wrapped that scarf around her neck and then leaned in to kiss him, her hair a little wild and perfect.
He got out of the car with her, and moved just to the right spot, glad when she came over to join him. Beau had glanced to the sky, but he was looking down at her as he agreed, “It really is.” And now...the moment had drawn so near that it was irrefutably the perfect sort of moment, though Beau still felt that bubble of nerves in his chest.
Taking half a step back, he had rubbed his hands together a moment, a spark of electricity catching, and bouncing directly where he intended for it to go. It set off a sort of chain reaction. Jars had been set up along a small path, filled with lights, and the surge of electricity that he’d provided powered them. They popped on, one at at time, putting off a soft glow in the otherwise dark evening, and then the back board lit up, in curving letters.
Will you marry me, Josie?
His hand dipped into his pocket, fishing out that ring, and he dropped to one knee just a breath behind her, waiting for her to take it all in.
Josie watched with great interest as Beau created that spark of electricity between his hands, then followed it as it lit up the path. He'd had Barry Allen's powers long enough now that she had grown more or less used to it; she had no powers of her own and likely never would, unless there was a truly surprising twist in Christina's life, and had always been equal parts curious and impressed with them whenever Beau used them in front of her for some reason or another.
And now, she hadn't known what to expect when she followed the trail of electricity and watched as the words lit up in front of her, but it absolutely had not been this wonderfully amazing surprise.
Their future had been something that they had always talked about in one way or another. When they were younger, it was something that they could hope and wish for, especially when their parents had grown concerned about their age difference when Beau had started college and Josie was still in high school. It was something that grew a bit closer when she had finally graduated herself, the two of them at the same perceived level once more and their parents having grown to accept that their relationship was made of stronger stuff than most others at their ages. They had made plans and promises and painted pictures of what their lives would look like together in five, ten, twenty, eight years down the road. There were always variables, but there was one thing that remained the same -- they would always, no matter what, be at one another's side.
They were already at one another's side and they didn't need questions or rings or legal paperwork to know that there was permanence there. That didn't mean Josie didn't like the idea of any of that, though. In fact, she rather loved it and knew it would come eventually. She hadn't expected the question to come now, though, and there was true, complete and utter surprise on her face, made clear with a soft intake of breath.
"Oh." The single word came out as a happy sigh, Josie lifting her hand, the very same one that wore the ring he'd given her that had been a promise that this day would eventually come, to her mouth. "Oh, Beau."
Josie finally turned and her heart about burst at the sight of her boyfriend on one knee, completing the picture of a very them proposal. Though her face split into a grin, there was no ignoring the joyful tears that immediately welled up in her eyes. Rather than doing what she was supposed to do -- or at least what she knew was suggested, from plenty of movie and television shows -- she stepped forward and fell to her own knees in front of him, her arms immediately moving to circle around his neck to kiss him. Her answer was yes, of course, and she would tell him that in a moment, but right now she was being run on her emotions.
Many had expected them to split up when he’d gone to college while she was still in high school, but they had made it over those hurdles together. Beau would never claim that there hadn’t been moments when it was difficult. Every relationship had their trials, but he had never once doubted that Josie was the one for him. No matter what the dreams might have told them, in this world - where they were Beau and Josie, and always would be - they had been made just for each other.
He was going to say something, and not just let the lights do the talking for him, though he couldn’t find it within himself to complain when she’d smiled so brightly, falling to her knees so that she could kiss him. He had held onto that ring tightly so that he didn’t drop it, but his arms had circled her waist and he just enjoyed that kiss and the silent promise that it seemed to impart, even though he very much wanted to hear her answer vocalized as well.
It was a moment or two before he broke that kiss, but he stayed right there close to her, not daring to pull away from that embrace, “I love you.” It seemed the most paramount thing to say, though he’d planned words and they all seemed to have vanished with that kiss, “I knew it from the very beginning, babe. I can see what our future could be so clearly, and it’s what we’ve been working towards for so long now. You are...the kindest, funniest, most imaginative, and most stubborn person that I’ve ever met. You are the one that I always want to come home to because home is wherever you are. I...didn’t know if I should keep waiting to ask officially, but when we make our home together in the spring, I want to do it with this promise. So Josephine Margaret Reed, will you marry me?”
Even having just read the question as she had, hearing Beau ask it still felt like as much of a surprise. She was a bit impressed, all told; he had clearly put some thought and planning into this and the two of them were particularly bad at keeping secrets from one another. This was a good secret to try and keep, though, and she was so glad that she hadn't suspected a thing. Yes, she had known he would ask her to marry him eventually, but Josie was incredibly pleased to have it been a shock like this one.
Josie lifted her hands, pressing a palm to each of his cheeks to just hold his face. Her eyes still had those happy tears and, without a kiss to distract them, her lips had gone back to that wide grin that she'd given him when she'd turned to see him on one knee. She nodded, leaning in to steal another kiss (because when was a better time than now to steal such a thing?) before backing away. "Yes," she agreed, "of course I'll marry you."
There were very few things in this life that he ever wanted to keep a secret from her. The trip he had planned for them for her graduation had been a good one, and then this. It was always difficult to keep those plans from her whenever he attempted a surprise, but it had always been worth the look on her face and knowing that what he was keeping to himself was something that would make her incredibly happy in the end.
Even that nod might have sufficed, the warmth of her hands there against his cheeks, but he leaned into that kiss, his lips still slightly curved in a grin, “Thank goodness.” He leaned back a little to hold up the ring he’d chosen between them, “That means you finally get to wear this.”
Somehow, between the questions and the answers and the kissing, Josie had managed to forget that another piece of jewelry came with this proposal. It was easy to remember over two years ago, when Beau had given her the promise ring that she was currently wearing on her left hand for her 18th birthday. It was a memory that felt like both yesterday and a lifetime away.
Josie lifted her left hand between them, the band on that ring lighting up thanks to the display behind her. With her other hand, she slipped the ring off her finger; it felt naked, that ring having not left her finger unless absolutely necessary since he'd gifted it to her. Just as easily as it had slid off that finger, though, she slid it onto the ring finger of her right hand. She might have been upgrading to an engagement ring for her left hand, but that didn't mean she would be rid of the promise ring entirely.
Once that was all complete, Josie looked up once to smile at Beau. "That's good, because I really, really want to wear it." Her gaze went back to the ring. It was beautiful and exactly what she might have picked out for herself. She wasn't too shocked on that, though; Beau knew her.
There was something a little bittersweet about watching her move the promise ring from her left hand to her right, though he was glad she was still going to wear it. He’d worn his matching ring since her 18th birthday, and he wasn’t likely to take it off until he replaced it with a wedding band. Maybe he’d keep wearing that promise ring, too. Maybe he’d take it and put it on a chain. He wasn’t quite sure yet, but they would come to a decision about what to do with those beloved promise rings - their first official commitment to one another.
He took a breath as he slid that engagement ring onto her finger. He’d been waiting to see what it would look like on her for a little while now, and his heart squeezed tightly in his chest. Once it was in place, Beau leaned in and kissed her once more, indescribably happy that this had gone off without a hitch, just like he’d planned, “I really, really love you, Josie Reed.”
Josie had to just stare at the ring on her finger for a few moments. The realization sparked and began to sink in that this was the ring that would sit on that very finger, just as it was in that moment, for the rest of her life. Eventually it would likely be joined with a wedding band, but for now it was just the one, sparkling in the Christmas lights and looking more beautiful than she could have ever imagined.
She looked back up to Beau, those so overwhelmingly happy tears that had been gathering in her eyes skittering down to her cheeks as she smiled. Josie lifted her arms, circling them around Beau's neck to hug him close. "I really, really love you too, Beau Alderman." There was no doubt as to the truth of that statement, nor had there ever been, but it felt like a whole new level. They had always been committed to one another, but this was a next step in that commitment. The next one would involve things like white dresses and walking down an aisle. It had felt insurmountable all those years ago when people had first started making noise about their doubt of longevity. And yet, here they were.