accidentally nailed it
who: chris & velma setting: restaurant
Christian got there early, because that’s what he did, finding them a table and ordering himself a drink. Of course he hadn’t really had that much of it, just holding on to it as he looked around, waiting on Velma and trying to keep his leg from bouncing too much.
Velma wasn’t late, never liking to keep people waiting. She was glad to see Chris outside of the library, where they studied for their classes together. It was nice to have something resembling a social life in general. That was one of the things that she was struggling most with since the loss of her job. It had been highly demanding of her time, and a lot of the demands were in keeping with social circumstances. When she got there she waved and smiled. “Hey!” she said, giving him a quick hug before she sat across from him. “How are you?”
“Good. Anxious. A mess?” He couldn’t lie. He was a mess. He really was. He reached for her hand to squeeze it then waved over a waitress so Velma could order. “I think I screwed up, huge. Like giant.”
Velma blinked, and looked at him, concern immediately springing forth. “Oh no honey, what’s wrong! What happened?” she asked, after she gave a super quick order she didn’t even think about. She was too focused on Chris. “Tell me everything.” Velma was nothing if not a problem solver.
That was why Christian had texted her. Because Velma helped with this kind of unmitigated disaster. “I accidentally proposed to Tris,” he explained, pressing his hands flat against the table.
“Oh my--” she reacted immediately before she clapped a hand over her mouth to quiet herself down. She was wide eyed looking at him over her hand. “Oh my god!” she whispered instead, leaning forward. “That's –“ she broke off as it sank in better. “...explain 'accidentally',” she requested, forcing herself to calm down because yeah. This could be not a happy thing but a total screaming disaster. The gears were already turning in her mind as to how to go about repairing this.
Christian let his head thunk against the table. “I said things, that I thought were asking if he wanted the same things and he thought I proposed. He told Ethan. But it was all wrong. No ring, not fancy sayings. Nothing. And he still said yes. And I screwed up so bad.”
“Oh, hey, nooo,” she said, reaching across the table to urge him to sit back up. She eventually just moved chairs so she was next to him, not across and she kept one hand on his shoulder. She listened and assessed. “...so you don't want to marry him? Or not yet?” she asked, figuring right now was a one question at a time sort of deal while she calculated in her head. She was keeping the fact that she would be devastated if he said he didn’t want to marry Tris to herself. She really loved those two, they were like her relationship goals poster boys.
Christian sat up, but reached for his drink, not to drink it, but to stir it with the straw, like he needed something to do. He was relieved when she moved closer, all but leaning into her presence. At her question he made a face. “What? No. No. That’s not...no. I want to. More than anything. I want this whole life together. It’s what I told him. Or was telling him. That I can see it all and I want it. I want to get married and adopt kids and be together until we’re old and gray and can’t hear and he thought that I was and...and it wasn’t right at all. It wasn’t what I had planned or wanted and…” Christian cut himself off, realizing he’d said more words in the past two minutes than he usually did altogether. He forced himself to breathe, slow down, and not turn into a babbling mess.
God that was a rush of relief for her. She was going to be so very upset if anything broke bad between Chris and Tris. She wasn’t trying to see that. “So your ‘major screwup’,” she used airquotes, “Is that you didn’t propose ‘right’?” she used them again. She looked at him for a moment, then rubbed his back a little to try and help with an oncoming panic attack. “Breathe, babe, breathe.”
“Yes. Oh, Velma. Yes.” He shook his head. “I wanted to do something right, something perfect and I just blurted something without a ring, without a plan, anything.” He sighed and rested his chin on his hand. “I wanted something nice. Something perfect. He deserves something perfect. And…” He set his hands flat on the table. “He said yes.” Which was still sort of sinking in. That was insane.
“This is the damage romantic comedies does to the world,” she muttered to herself. “Okay, Chris? Look at me,” she said, putting her hands to his cheeks to turn his face toward hers. “Not everyone needs that or even wants it,” she told him firmly. “Just because the movies and internet love to sell this story about elaborate proposals with flash mobs and carriage rides and skywriting or some shit, doesn't mean that everyone wants that. And honestly? Knowing Tris – why would any of that be important to him?” she posed. “Forget the bullshit you think you know about this, I want you to think about Tris. Tris, who didn't come from lavish beginnings and specifically keeps himself at arm's length from it even if he has friends at every turn trying to spoil him. Tris isn't a guy who needs all that, and I don't think he'd want it either. He'd want the two of you, alone together, where you decide to change your lives. Which seems like what happened. Perfection is an illusion, sweetheart. But you might have accidentally nailed that anyway with how it went down.”
Christian looked at her, taking in what she was saying, biting his lip and thinking about that. What he’d said, it was what Tris wanted. It was a yes. Tris had wanted to marry him enough, he’d heard it even when Christian hadn’t fully meant it. He’d figured it out, seen through that. Just like always he’d understood what Christian hadn’t even fully understood himself. He flushed, pressing his hands to his cheeks, feeling them warm under his fingers. “He said yes… I’m...oh my god. I’m gonna get married.”
“You are!” she said, smiling at him and leaning over to smooch his cheek. “That's more the reaction we should be having!” She laughed. “Congratulations, lovely, I'm more happy for you two than you could possibly know. You're this bright light of hope for the rest of us. I'm just going to cry if I'm not invited! But I'd get over it, too, if you guys want something super tiny and private. And if you need me to organize anything, I'm in!” She was trying to keep her excitement in check and not overwhelm him with too many offers but man did she want to help.
“Of course you’re invited!” Christian shook his head. “You have to be there. Ethan wants to plan an engagement party too. You’ll have to be at that. I don’t want something too private,” he said. “I haven’t talked to Tris about it. God, we’ve barely talked about this at all, because I’ve been terrified that I’m going to throw up or do something stupid.” He nodded though. “We’ll need help. If only to keep Ethan in check. He’s weirdly obsessed with peach?”
“You're not going to do something stupid!” she assured him. She kind of wondered if her role wasn't going to be keeping Chris out of his own way. Which she could do. “But awesome! I'm so damn happy for you two!” she squeed. She laughed at the peach thing. “Okay, well we'll talk about that and color pallets for you both,” she said, shaking her head. “But either way, Chris, this is amazing, and couldn't have happened to two awesomer people.”
Christian waved his hand. “I have a whole plan. I mean, multiple plans depending on what Tris might want? I’m kind of all over the map on it. Part of it is going to be keeping Ethan from going overboard on everything.” He smiled at her, then slumped in his chair a little. “I’m getting married. He said yes.” He put his hands over his mouth. “He wants to.”
“Good!” she said to the plan thing. Then she laughed, grinning at him. “Of course he did, silly boy. You two are madly in love. That's amazing and committing to each other...that's beautiful.” She gave him a hug. “It's going to be the best thing ever, Chris. You two deserve to be blissfully married.”
“I really didn’t think he would have,” Christian said. “I thought I would have had to talk him into it or wait for him to catch up with me and what I wanted.” He smiled, running his fingers through his hair. Then he grinned. “We should celebrate. He got to celebrate with Ethan and I don’t have anyone else. So we should celebrate. You and me.”
That made Velma a little sad to hear. “...hon, he loves you. Anyone who's been around you for two seconds can see that. Don't – don't doubt him, okay? He doesn't deserve that. Tris adores you, and shows it in every look he shoots your way.” She smiled at him, and tried not to be sad that she was getting invited to celebrate because she was the only one around. Velma was good at some things and covering that kind of stuff was one of them so she grinned and focused on the idea that her friends were getting hitched and hells yes she wanted to celebrate! “Woo!” she said, not caring that she drew a few looks. “Absolutely! We're gonna do this up right! Starting with drinks!”
He shook his head. “No, not like that. Tris is just...guarded. He...I don’t know. He is careful about how he feels, what he feels.” It was hard to explain. “I’m not doubting him, I’m just surprised. I thought we’d have to talk about this for a while, that I’d have to warm him up to the idea of it.” And instead, Tris was ready, wanted to get married. He smiled, nodding at her. “Yes, please. We should.” He hesitated then reached out and hugged her. “I’m glad we’re friends.”
Velma smiled, feeling a little better there. “I understand,” she said. “But hey, that's just all the better. No warming up required, he's all in,” she said happily. When he hugged her she hugged him back tight. “Me too, Chris. You're awesome,” she told him with happy affection in her tone.