Myrtles and Marigolds | Lander One-Shots

💞 Twenty Years 💞

Genre: Fluff

Credits: I'd like to give a shout-out to@Strxwberry_Sugxr  (who I'm sure everyone here knows). We were discussing Lander proposals together, and she helped me come up with some of the dialogue in this one-shot :) 

~

On a rainy Saturday, two twenty-five-year-old boyfriends sat together, in their apartment, cuddled up against one another on their small loveseat, which they had favored over a couch dude to the small nature of their home.

The larger of the two -- Luke -- lay up against his boyfriend's shoulder, softly nuzzling into his neck, quiet tired mumbles escaping his mouth. Despite it only being noon, Luke found himself in a rather restful state, on the verge of dozing off.

Zander, on the other hand, sat up straight and anxiously, tapping his fingers in a rhythmic pattern, over and over, trying to muster up the courage to speak.

"Hey, uh... Luke?" the lilac-eyed man shyly squeaked, attempting at getting his boyfriend's attention.

"Yeah, sweetie?" Luke yawned, words stretched out by his tired state.

"Well, um..." Zander stuttered, before taking a deep breath and continuing, "Basically, a couple of days ago, my mom and I were texting a bit, and she ended up sending me this picture from the first day I went to our elementary school. After you know, moving and stuff."

"Mhm," Luke mumbled in acknowledgment, encouraging his boyfriend to continue.

"Anyway, uh, I saw the time stamp on the picture, and it was exactly twenty years from today. And considering that my first day at that school was the first day we met, that actually means as of today, we've known each other for exactly twenty years."

Perking his head, slightly awakening himself, Luke cooed, "Well, happy twenty-year friendship anniversary then."

Giggling at the statement, Zander then shifted his arm, scratching the back of his neck, "Hey, do you think you'd like to try to do anything nice to celebrate it? It's not like we have any plans for the day to stop us from doing something."

"What do you have in mind?" Luke asked, lifting his head off Zander's shoulder, so he could instead look him in the eye.

"Well, there's this one restaurant nearby that a co-worker told me about, Alasandos. Maybe we could try to go there?" Zander suggested, trying to maintain his nervousness.

Cocking his head at his violet-haired sweetheart, Luke questioned, "You almost never want to go out. Are you sure you wouldn't rather just stay home?"

Face blushing red, Zander answered, "I- I think it could be fun."

A soft smile crossing the butterscotch-eyed boy's face, he cooed, "You're so cute," to which Zander's face only blushed further. "I agree, I think it could be fun. Would we be able to go tonight though? I've heard of that restaurant before, and it seems like one of those fancy places where you'd need to make some sort of ridiculously early reservation."

"Oh no, it should be fine!" Zander assured, "My co-worker said they were able to just walk right in and get a table."

"Okay then," Luke smiled, "I think I may actually get up for a bit. I'm gonna grab a water from the kitchen. Could I get you anything while I'm up?"

"No, um, I'm fine!" Zander stammered.

Giving Zander a grin, Luke softly pushed himself up from the loveseat, walking out and over to the kitchen.

Once Luke left the room, Zander let out a big exhale, releasing nervous energy, afterward tightly hugging himself in the hoodie he wore on this rainy day. In actuality, he was terrified right now, and he had very little confidence in how well he was able to conceal that in front of Luke, only adding to his worry. He hadn't been texting his mom a few days ago, discovering their twenty-year anniversary date. He had discovered it six months ago, looking through an old family album when visiting his family back at home. And Alasandos wasn't some restaurant you could just walk into and grab a table for. He had made a reservation for it a month ago. But it wasn't just telling those lies that made Zander nervous. It was the reason behind them.