Letting Him In

Bonus Chapter #1

"I wanna come home to roses
And dirty little notes on Post-its
And when my hair starts turning gray
He'll say I'm like a fine wine, better with age
I guess I learned it from my parents
That true love starts with friendship
A kiss on the forehead, a date night
Fake an apology after a fight"

-Jax, Like My Father
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Elijah

"Oh, no," Elijah muttered, shaking his head as a slight clinking sound filled the room, making everyone quiet down.

Dean looked up from where he was sitting beside beside Elijah at the table to see Kaeden and Christian standing up, waiting to get everyone's attention.

He immediately knew what was coming.

"If we could have a minute, please, it's time for the best men's speech," Chris grinned, and Dean rolled his eyes.

"They're gonna embarrass us bad, aren't they?" Elijah asked softly so only Dean could hear.

"Judging by their faces, I bet they are," Dean muttered. "But right now, I really don't care. Not even them doing their worst can ruin my mood."

He gave Elijah such a bright smile that he might have actually melting right there if Kaeden hadn't said at that very moment:

"Hey, lovebirds, I know it's your wedding but stop with the heart eyes for two minutes."

Elijah shot him a glare which Kaeden ignored. The crowd chuckled, and even Dean looked amused.

Kaeden cleared his throat. "So, after all these years later, and eight breakups-"

"Nine," Chris cut in

"My bad, nine breakups later, we're finally here!"

Chuckles and some applause filled the room, Dean looked at Elijah out of the corner of his eye.

"They don't know it's actually ten," he whispered in Elijah's ear, and Elijah had to suppress a chuckle.

"And they don't need to."

"And after every breakup, these two came back stronger each time," Chris said, making the guests aww. "I couldn't imagine a better match for my brother. Or, well, anyone else who would willingly want to deal with him for the rest of their life, but that's beside the point, I guess."

Dean rolled his eyes, and Chris gave him a toothy grin.

"I remember the day they got engaged," Kaeden said, a small smile on his face. "What they didn't know was, both of them had been planning to propose on the same day. Only Chris and I knew, and we let them go ahead with it. We even bet on who'd do it first."

"Yeah, I was so sure Dean would do it first, but my idiot brother kept chickening out and cost me twenty dollars."

Elijah laughed softly, noticing Dean's light blush. He remembered that day clearly.

They'd been on a date, and Elijah had been so anxious. He'd almost not taken the ring with him, but Kaeden had smacked him over the head and thrust the small box into his hands.

He'd gone to the beach with Dean after lunch at a small, cozy café nearby. By the ocean, he'd seen Dean laughing, the sunlight making his hazel eyes glint, his hair slightly ruffled by the wind. (And Elijah didn't even want to get started on those abs...)

In that moment any doubts, any fear left him, and next thing he knew, he was down on one knee, Dean's eyes wide.

"I've loved you for a long time now," Elijah started, not caring about the people on the beach whose attention they had attracted. All that mattered was Dean. "And I can't imagine my life without you. I don't want to imagine it without you. I want to spend every second of every day with you, if you'll let me. I want to be the one you come home to after a long day. I want to be the one you go to first when something good happens. More than anything else, I want us to be together through everything life throws at us. So, Dean Hernandez, will you do me the honor of marrying me and being my husband?"

Tears threatened to spill from Dean's eyes as he gazed at Elijah, nodded slightly.

"Yes," he whispered, and then slightly louder. "God, yes, I'd love to."

Elijah smiled, sliding the ring onto Dean's hand, a thin metal band with the words 'you're my forever' etched on the inside.

He rose and hugged, Dean, the other boy's arms wrapping tightly around his torso. The onlookers cheered and whistled, and Elijah pulled away, looking around sheepishly.

Dean cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck, the sunlight reflecting off the ring on his finger.

"I suppose this is as good a time as any," he said softly, pulling out a small, black velvet box.

This time it was Elijah's eyes that widened in surprise, his mouth opening to form a slight 'o'.

"I was waiting for the right moment to ask you. I even had a whole speech prepared," he smiled. "But I guess I was a bit late.

"What I want to say is, I've loved you for a long time too. And you're not just someone I can see myself spending the rest of my life with; you're someone I can't handle the thought of ever losing. I want to make memories with you, and I want to cherish them forever. I want to take every step of my life with you by my side. So, even though you've already asked me, and I'm not even doing this right because I'm not down on one knee when I ask you this, but we're us, and we're imperfectly perfect together, I wanna ask you this– will you marry me?"

Elijah pulled him into a kiss, the words not making it out of his mouth. He knew he'd cry right now if he tried to talk.

Dean took that as a yes, slipping a dark blue platinum band onto Elijah's ring finger.

A few people were still watching, and they clapped, a couple even letting out a loud whoop.

Just then, a little girl approached them, a bright smile on her face and a polaroid camera in her small hands.

"I took pictures for you!" she said, excitedly holding up a small stack of polaroid pictures.

Elijah smiled at her, bending down to take them from her chubby little hand. What he didn't expect were perfect shots of their proposal, one of Elijah on his knee, the breeze ruffling their hair, one of Elijah sliding the ring onto Dean's finger, one of their hug, of Dean putting the ring on Elijah's hand, and the last one of their kiss.

He looked at the small girl who was still smiling up at them. "Thanks, sweetheart," he smiled, kneeling down so he matcher her height. "These are really good. We love them." Dean nodded in agreement.

Her smile brightened, and she said a happy 'you're welcome' before skipping back to her parents, both of whom gave them warm smiles. The father even yelled out a congratulations from afar.

They had those pictures framed on their nightstand, a memory they'd cherish forever.

Elijah's attention moved back to Kaeden and Christian's speech which was coming to an end.

"The two of them really belong together. And statistically speaking, even though they're the ones most likely to be the ones to murder eachother, they're still a perfect couple.  So here's to them!" With that, Kaeden swallowed his glass of champagne, and the guests applauded, following suit.

Elijah looked at the man beside him, the one who meant everything to him. Dean was looking back at him.

Elijah had never been one to be grateful to be alive or anything. To him, life was just... life. But right now, he felt grateful beyond belief.
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Hey guys!...The first bonus chapter!!!

Thoughts on the chapter?

See ya soon!
XXX