Langour ・❥・Joost Klein・❥・

54.

'Hanna Kloppefield, will you marry-'

'Yes!'

Apson's proposal had been short despite it's extensive planning. A hot air balloon took him, Hanna and the Albino Sports team over the scenic fields of The Netherlands. It was the perfect setting and the velvet box had sat in his pocket for the 1500ft ascent into the sky.

In the wicker basket, Apson lowered onto one knee while Hanna was consoling a terrified Fenne. The Meer hadn't let go of Joost's arm until he pried it from her grip to promote his new song, Luchtballon, on TikTok. Stuntje took over filming as there was no way Fenne was going to stand freely. While attached to the basket's side, Fenne's refused to look down and Hanna tried to point to where their house was in the distance.

Hanna coincidentally turned as the pilot cleared his throat. The older man had been prepared for the proposal and helped a poor Apson out who was waiting with the velvet box now in hand.

The diamond ring was beautiful and Hanna's eyes were filled with tears in an instant. Apson was able to capture the brunette in a hug and kiss, before he was assaulted by his surrounding friends.

Joost, Teun, Stuntje, Daan and Nathan had piled in for the trip and congratulated their engaged friend. In the only way they knew how, they congratulated Apson with painful claps on his back and overly intimiate kisses to the sides of his face. 

Despite the great height, Hanna didn't care that Apson was being yanked in all directions. All that she cared about was that her dream of being married to the love of her life was coming true.

'Look, Fenney,' Hanna spluttered through tears as she held her hand out to show her friend the ring. 'I'm engaged! I'm engaged to Appie!'

'That's great, Hanna,' she managed a wobbly smile. 'I'm really happy for you... can we go back down now?'

As for Fenne, she was surprised that Joost hadn't proposed the day after the playground. In fact, she found herself finalising Apson and Hanna's wedding well into the next year with no ring on her third finger.

This had put Fenne on edge at first. Every room that she walked into had the potential of being some extravagant proposal. Every time they walked the dogs, there was the gnawing assumption that there was a box in Joost's pocket. When Fenne came home to a dark house, she would take careful steps with her shoulders hiked up to her ears. But all she was met with were the odd looks from Hanna, Apson, Teun or Stuntje.

Joost's final show for the Europapa tour was in London. At a sold-out venue, Joost was preparing to give as lively of a performance as he had so many times before. The setlist was perfect and the city was significant. He had never performed in the UK before and to sell-out to an English-speaking crowd was unlike anything he had ever imagined.

He made sure that Fenne was with Teun when he checked the box in his pocket. Hugo had been the one to give it to him, which had been a surprise. When their mother passed, Nanda and Hugo had delegated everything that hadn't been listed in their parents' will. Joost had thought that his mother's precious posessions like her engagement ring were taken by Nanda and stored in a undisclosed safe. But after a painfully emotional convesation with his older brother, Joost was handed the dark brown box with Hugo saying,

'I was hanging on to this, but I think we both know I'll be waiting a while. Mum would want it to be used, so I think you should have it.'

The gesture had made Joost sob for the first time in years to his older brother. Now, with it sitting in his fingerless-gloved hand, Joost's tears were replaced with anxiety.

There was no use trying to plan a hot-air balloon ride like Apson, or prepare an elaborate date with fireworks and rose petals. It wasn't Joost's style and wouldn't feel genuine to him. There was only one proposal that he knew Fenne would love and hate at the same time; on stage in front of the hundreds of people who only spoke English.