KISS Me I'm Irish

World Tuberculosis Day

Eric had told me I was able to see him again if it was a holiday, and thankfully I hadn't quite run out of holidays, even if I was running out of ideas quickly. I walked up to Eric's door, ringing the bell and waiting. "What do you want?" he cried, not bothering to open the door. Wincing, I rested my forehead against the door.

"Um it's um...well today I was thinking...I was thinking...oh Eric I'm so sorry, I don't know what the hell I was thinking," I murmured, trailing off. "I'm so sorry for doing that to you, I was drunk and she looked like you but that's no excuse, I never should've...I never should've done that. I'm sorry. I know you don't want to hear me apologize, and it's okay if you want to call off the engagement, I-I understand. Just...just let me know what you want to do," I said, closing my eyes as tears rolled down my cheeks. "I promise I really am sorry."

"Aw I was looking forward to today, I was really excited to see how you turned World Tuberculosis Day into something romantic," Eric said, folding his arms across his chest. I jerked my head up, looking at him as he finally opened the door. "I um...well the theme of World Tuberculosis Day this year is 'The Clock is Ticking' which I mean is kinda ominous but I was just gonna take you downtown to the restaurant that's across the street from the clock tower and have dinner there," I said sheepishly.

He blinked, staring at me for a moment before a smile slowly spread across his face, the first full smile he had given me since St. Patrick's Day. "Thomas Cunningham Thayer, you are sometimes the most frustrating man on the planet," he said. "Wh-what?" I asked. "I mean you ruined the only holiday in March that I had ever heard of by getting absolutely wasted and oh yeah kissing a woman who definitely wasn't me, and then spent the entire next week somehow twisting these super obscure holidays into super sweet and romantic dates!" he cried.

"W-well I didn't know how else to make it up to you, y-you wouldn't let me apologize," I mumbled, sniffling and trying to blink back tears. He gave me a soft smile, putting a hand on my cheek and wiping away tears with his thumb. "I know. I was pissed, I didn't want to talk to you. But you found a loophole and exploited the hell out of it and babe I am very, very glad you did," he murmured. There was a pause before I gave him a shaky smile. "I hope you enjoyed the dates, I-I know you didn't want to seem you were having fun but I hope you had fun on some of them," I said. He let out a laugh, throwing his arms around me and burying his face in my chest. "I had fun on all of them. I loved them, and I love you."

I very hesitantly hugged him back, feeling myself shaking, almost more nervous now than I had been when I was proposing. "I-I love you too and I know you don't want to hear it but Eric I really am so so sorry, I wasn't thinking, I was really drunk b-but still, that's not an excuse, I swear it'll never happen again," I said. He shook his head, hugging me tighter. "I know." We stood on his doorstep wrapped in an embrace before he took a step back. "I still wanna go on that date," he said, eyes sparkling. "Oh! W-well yeah, of course! I mean I love you, I want to take you out to dinner. And maybe...have a better date than we've had for the past few days?" I said hopefully.

He gave me a smile, taking my hands and squeezing them tightly. "It will be. And I really am sorry I was such a bitch the past week. Yeah I was pissed but that wasn't fair to you. You were trying to make things up to me and you were being really sweet and thoughtful and romantic and I was just being cold and insulting for no reason," he said, face going red. I put a hand on his cheek, lifting his face toward mine and kissing him gently on the forehead. "Babe, it's alright. I messed up royally, it's understandable you'd be unwilling to forgive me right away. Now come on, let's go get dinner!"

Dinner was fantastic. I mean the food was only subpar but the fact that Eric was actually talking to me and had forgiven me, with things pretty much back to normal between us, more than made up for that. At last I had paid the bill and we walked outside, about to head back to my car, but Eric grabbed my hand. "Wait, can we just walk around a bit? I don't wanna go home just yet. I like spending time with you and I haven't really let either of us enjoy the past week," he said, face going red. I gave him a quick kiss, smiling. "It's alright. You had a good reason to be upset," I said, but he shook his head. "Still. Shouldn't have been so mean to you," he said. "Eric it's alright! We're not gonna have another fight about our last fight, alright? Now come on," I said, lacing my fingers through his and walking down the sidewalk with him.

"Oh, that reminds me! I almost forgot," Eric said suddenly. "Forgot what?" I asked. "Well okay I know like most couples don't really do this but I feel bad for being such a bitch to you for the past week and also I really love you, like damn Tom I can't even put into words how much you mean to me," he said, giving me a soft smile. I opened my mouth to reply but he kept going. "And I dunno, I like having an engagement ring because every time I look at it I think of you, and how much you love me too, and I like having that reminder. So I got you one too!" he said eagerly, pressing a small box into my hands and giving me a huge smile.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, barely fighting back happy tears. "D-damn, Eric you...you're such a sweetheart, you know that?" I choked. "I did. Now come on, put it on!" he said excitedly, taking my hand and opening the box, slipping the ring onto my finger for me. "There, see? Looks good on you." "Everything looks good on me," I teased, and he gave me a smirk. "Oh, think so? I actually prefer the way you look with nothing on," he retorted. I laughed, pulling him into a kiss, twisting a hand through his hair as his went around my waist. "Oh you do, do you? Mm maybe we should head back to my place and you can reaffirm that," I purred. He grinned, standing up on his toes to kiss me. "Don't think I won't take you up on that offer," he said, before drawing to a halt. "Hey Tommy, you wanna get married?" he blurted out.

I gave him a startled look. "What like...like tonight?" I asked, but he shook his head. "The courthouse is closed tonight, but tomorrow morning we could." "Well I mean--" "I know it's really sudden but I wanna be married to you! I had a whole week apart from you, I don't wanna have that again. I really do love you and we're already engaged, so why the hell not, right? We can even just reuse the engagement rings for tomorrow and get new wedding bands at another point!" I smiled, heart racing. "They'll be pissed we didn't have a full wedding," I teased, brushing a loose strand of hair behind his ear. "Eric and Bruce had one, that's good enough. Besides, I'm sure Paul will force Gene to have an extravagant wedding, you know how dramatic he is. Come on, why not just go for it?" he asked, taking my hands and giving them a squeeze.

I smiled, kissing him. "Why not?"