A Bad Idea (Spideychelle)

Ch. 25: Then You Come Through Like The Sweetner (Epilouge)

MJ POV

Six months after the end of the trial, Peter and I were finally moving into our new place. Andrea, my grandmother, helped us decorate. She and I bonded over many trips to Ikea to get furniture and trips to Michael's to get art and photos framed. While Peter was in class one day, she and I were attempting to build a drafting table for me.

"Do you think that a white drafting table was the best choice?" she asked, looking through the screws to find the one I needed. "It's just gonna end up covered in paint."

I shrugged. "This room could use a pop of colour."

She laughed, then gasped. "Found it!"

She passed me a screw, and I screwed it into the table.

I heard the door open, and then heard something fall.

"Em! Are you home?"

"Yeah, Andrea and I are in here!" I called back.

Peter came in, arms overflowing with his school supplies, empty backpack on one shoulder, bottom torn open.

"My backpack...broke."

I laughed, putting my screwdriver down and getting up. "Rough day?"

"You have no idea. Engineering is a rough field."

"Semester's almost over," I said, grabbing some of his notebooks so he could set the pile down without dropping his laptop and damaging it.

"That just means exams are soon," he sighed. "What time do you have class tonight?"

I checked my calendar. "Not for a few more hours. Should we order dinner?"

"Sounds good. Should I invite May?"

I looked at Andrea, and she nodded.

"I'll call the Chinese place, you call May."

In the half-hour before May arrived, Andrea and I finished setting up the drafting table and moved it into the corner of the office opposite Peter's desk.

"Perfect."

May arrived, and we buzzed her in, and set up in the living room.

"You guys don't have a dining table yet?" she asked as I handed her a glass of water.

"No, we do, we just haven't built it yet." Peter gestured at the boxes sitting on the floor next to kitchen.

May chuckled. "You guys really are college students."

"NYU is a university!" Peter protested.

Andrea and May both rolled their eyes.

"They have a point, Peter." I ruffled his hair. "This is very much the college student lifestyle."

"But-"

"We've ordered from that Chinese place so much this semester, they check in on us if we haven't ordered for a few days to make sure we're still alive."

He deflated. "When do we get to be real adults?"

May snorted. "Uh, not for a long time, honey."

The Chinese guy arrived, so Peter buzzed him in and paid, then brought the bags of food over.

The four of us ate and binge-watched the first few episodes of a new Netflix series, and then May and Andrea left, leaving Peter and I to our devices.

After we cleaned up from dinner, I stared at the boxes on the floor in our dining area.

"I know it's late and we should sleep, but..."

"I'll get the screwdriver," he blurted excitedly, kissing my cheek before hurrying to the office.

He came back a few moments later with the screwdriver, and we started unpacking the parts and building. We ended up multitasking, too, quizzing each other to prepare for finals.

It was honestly really nice. The apartment was coming together, we were almost done the semester, our relationship was going great, I felt safe. It was one of those moments where just everything was perfect and I felt peaceful and happy.

The feeling was new, but much appreciated.

Peter looked at the directions. "These last few steps are really simple. Do you wanna go get the Christmas tree and we can set that up too?"

I got up, kissing him on the forehead before I left the room.

The Christmas tree was still in a box sitting next to Peter's desk in the office.

On the desk, right at the edge next to the tree, was a small velvet box.

I frowned, picking it up and going back out towards the dining area.

"Hey, Peter? What's this?"

He looked up, and immediately looked panicked.

"Oh, shit, I forgot that I didn't wrap that." He jumped up, coming over to me. "Um, it was meant for Christmas, but you can open it now if you want."

"If it's my Christmas present-"

He took it out of my hand and set it on the coffee table, then came back over to me and put his hands on my waist.

"How about we set up the Christmas tree and then you can take a peek and decide if you like it, and then if you don't, I can exchange it for something else before Christmas?"

"Why wouldn't I like it?"

Peter chuckled. "You have a very specific sense of style that is hard to pin down."

I grinned. "I suppose that's true. Okay, deal."

He leaned in and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him back, humming a little against his lips. He pulled away and tucked some hair behind my ear.

"Alright, let's get this tree up."

We pulled the tree into the living room and assembled it. I was pretty much in charge of keeping it balanced while Peter did all of the heavy lifting and maneuvering. He was in charge of helping me assemble lights and decorations.

By the end of it, our living room was lit with a warm glow, and the tree glittered with all of the decorations.

I turned around to say something to Peter, and he was standing behind me, with the velvet box in his hands.

"Are you proposing to me?" I teased.

He shrugged. "Consider it a proposal to propose. You know, later down the line." He opened the box, revealing a promise ring. Gold band, black dahlia flower with a tiny diamond in the centre.

"Oh my god, Peter," I breathed.

"It's a dahlia, like-"

"Like the murder. Oh my god, it's gorgeous."

He smiled, his face lit up by the warm glow of the Christmas lights, eyes sparkling as they met mine. "You like it?"

"I love it. Thank you so much."

"Of course, Em." He put the ring on my finger, and then put the box on the coffee table and wrapped me in a tight hug. "Merry early Christmas."

"I love you."

"I love you too. So much."