Dinner Disasters: Drake and Quinn

Chapter 12 (Drake): Fresh Start

On my last shift at my old station, they had a cake for me, but I'd refused to go out one last time as a group. It was time to move on, and even though all of us played a part in that shitty bet, I didn't want to give Quinn any reason to think I was keeping any ties to the firefighters at my old station.

Jessa had cornered me during the cake goodbye with a sour look on her face.

"I still say you're making a huge mistake, Drake."

"Not having to work with you ever again is no mistake. It's a positive change, maybe one of the best moves I've ever made, and the bonus is I get to rid my life of your toxicity."

"You're letting her completely upend your life and she doesn't even want you anymore after what you did."

I just shook my head at her. Some people would never get it. "Have a bitter, nasty life, Jessa. It's what you deserve and what you spread around to those in your sphere. Thankfully, I'm now out of your special circle of misery."

Then I walked away, and I'd never been so grateful for a call out when the alarms rang fifteen minutes later. When my shift ended, I said goodbye to everyone, wished them all well and closed that chapter of my life.

After catching up on some sleep, I stopped by Quinn's when I knew she'd be home from work. 

"What's this?" she asked as I held out a little gift bag to her.

"It's been a week," I said. "The time I asked you to wear the engagement ring. So, since I don't want to push anything, I'm here to repo the ring."

Her lips twisted in amusement. "Repo the ring?"

"Yes, but unlike most repossessors, I have some trades." I wiggled the little bag at her, which I knew was her weakness.

"Little gift bags are so much more mysterious than big gift bags, Drake."

"Well, come in then, repo man. I like a man who knows how to bargain."

Quinn sat herself on the couch, and I knelt in front of her on one knee. "First, ma'am, I'm going to have to ask for the ring before I can offer you the replacements."

With a look of longing, she spread the fingers of her left hand in front of her and admired the ring. "It's beautiful, Drake."

Sighing, she twisted it off and handed it to me, and I placed it back in the ring box that I had in my pocket. She didn't want to give it back. Good, she'd liked it and all that it could represent.

Knowing Quinn like I did, I could see her gathering her courage before she finally admitted, "I liked wearing the ring, Drake. Your ring."

Taking her hand in mine, I kissed her now-bare finger. "I want nothing more than for you to wear it permanently, and I hope more than anything that someday you'll want to. But in the meantime, I have some alternatives to offer that now bare-spot on your left hand."

Reaching into the gift bag, I pulled out --

"A ring pop?" Quinn gave a little giggle.

"Quite a few more carats than the original ring, but this one's clearly a ruby and will definitely draw attention to your hand, with the added benefit of tasting like strawberries if you ever need a candy fix."

 Sliding it on to her finger, we both pretended to admire it.

"However, a ring that heavy would get awkward after a while, so I have this as an alternative!" 

I held up a ring inside one of those clear plastic balls you get from a gumball machine.

"Now, I want you to know how hard I had to search for a gumball machine that had rings. I had to spend four dollars and seventy-five cents before this beauty fell into my hands. I also now have an array of wonderful gifts that you may or may not see on your birthday, such as slime, a rubber creature you can put on your pencil eraser, a giant cinnamon jawbreaker, a super bouncy ball and a set of three, yes, three, temporary Halloween tattoos."

Removing the ring pop, I placed the new ring on her finger.

"I'm almost positive that's an honest-to-goodness real emerald," Quinn said with a straight face. "And I love that the real solid-gold band is squeezable so you can adjust it to fit your finger."

"It comes with a guarantee to turn your finger green in a week or you get your money back."

"I'll never take it off," she sighed, clutching her hand to her chest.

"Now, this last one doesn't have the flash of a thirty-carat piece of candy or the ability to discolor your skin, but it may be something you want to consider anyway."

From the bag I pulled out a little Tiffany box and handed it to Quinn. She opened it and her eyes widened. 

"It's the olive leaf band that you liked," I pointed out.

"Drake, this is too much."

"Do you like it?"

"You know I do, but --"

"Well, how about another deal, then, Quinn?" I took the ring from the box and slid it on her finger. "What if you wear this, and consider it like a promise ring? What if we resume our relationship again, this time with no shitty secrets of mine between us, and you let me show you that I'm the man for you?"

"Drake, you can't hurt me again."

I ran my thumb across the ring. "That's one of the promises this ring holds. I'd sooner run into a burning building without any gear than hurt you again, Quinn. No more secrets -- well, I need to amend that to only one more secret, and that's going to be about your proposal when I ask you to marry me."

"Any other promises?"

"To love you forever, Quinn. To create a beautiful life together. To always let you know how completely lucky I am that you ever gave me the time of day. To prove myself trustworthy every day. To protect you and our love with everything I have."

"One more?" she asked softly. "To always come back to me safe and sound."

I leaned forward and kissed her softly. "I promise I will always fight my hardest to come back to you."

She nodded, understanding. It was something every fire fighter's significant other had to accept. I didn't want her dwelling on that, so I touched her ring.

"You know, olive leaves symbolize not only peace, but hope and renewal, too, which I thought was fitting for us. So you wear that ring on your pretty hand and think of all those promises it holds. And someday, if you decide you want a different ring back because you believe I'll keep all of those promises to you, you switch this ring to your right hand. You don't even have to say anything, but I'll notice and take it from there."

"Got it," she said, her smile soft and sweet, but still a bit wary. Everyone in her life except Keres and Celine had hurt Quinn and I was no exception, but I was going to wipe that wary look out of her eyes and show her that, despite how we began, I would never hurt her again.

"Now, since I have this weekend off before I start at the new firehouse on Monday, can I book your time on both days? I have some things planned that you might enjoy."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I thought I'd take you to the new fire station and introduce you to everyone so you could see where I'm working. Then I want to take you out for lunch, followed by a movie and then a nice bike ride before we have dinner."

"Does anyone at the new firehouse...know?"

I felt that in my heart. "No, baby. No one knows anything, I promise."

"Good."

"Fresh start," I said, bumping my forehead gently against hers.

"Fresh start," she agreed.

Hope. Renewal. Promises to keep to this beautiful woman, and I would.