Mickey - The View From Here - Gallavich

A Proposal

I froze, wondering if I had somehow misunderstood. “What?” I asked in disbelief.

“We should get married,” Ian reiterating before he went on, “then we can’t testify against each other in a court of law.”

Why was I surprised? I should have known that if Ian wanted to marry me out of all people, then there was an ulterior motive at play. It was like a blow to the gut. Somehow, this version of a proposal broke my heart more than if Ian had wanted to never see me again.

I knew what I wanted. Maybe I had known for years and just couldn’t admit it to myself, but I knew I wanted to spend my life with him. But Ian only wanted a safety net, he wanted to make sure I could never rat him out.

As he continued, the security and trust I felt with him slowly dissipated. He trusted me so little, he needed to shut me up with an wedding ring. “You know, in case one of us, uh…had something on the other.”

I disliked this, resisting the urge to stand up and storm out of the diner. I fucking loved this guy since I was a teenager, and still, I had to fight for him at every turn. Clearly, I hadn’t really won his heart back. Maybe I never would.

“It’s called spousal privilege,” Ian droned on in hopes of convincing me.

I struggled to find my words and hide the dejection etched onto my face. “Yeah. Yeah. I, uh, heard of it.”

“It’s for both of our protection, you know?” Ian pushed as his voice wavered into a whisper. “Just help us keep things clean, help us toe the line a little bit. So, what are you thinking?”

Unable to meet his gaze, I glanced over at the kitchen. “I think staying out of jail's a crap reason to get married,” I admitted.

Ian made a face, offended. “No. We fucking love each other. That’s why we’re gonna get married.”

I could feel my body relax.

“The legal stuff, it’s just…bonus.”

Scratching my brow with my thumb, I gave his proposition some thought. “I mean, this is marriage, though, man. It’s kind of a…big step, don’t you think?”

Calmly, Ian locked his gaze with mine. “I love you,” he reminded me. “And…and I trust you.”

And just like that, the idea didn’t sound like such a big step anymore. In fact, it was all I wanted.

Extending his hand across the table to me, Ian asked, “do you love and trust me, too?”

Hesitant, I chuckled and took hold of his hand. Yes, I thought. Yes to all of it.

“Okay,” Ian said softly. “So maybe this decision isn’t that hard.”

“Fuck,” I teased. “You proposing to me over fucking patty melts?”

“Yeah. I guess I am,” Ian sighed before he grinned at me. “So, what do you say? You wanna fit it in?”

A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth as I tried to shrug with indifference. “Fuck it. I do.”

As Ian beamed back at me, he gave my hand a squeeze and I knew that he was truly happy with the decision we had made. After all of the brawls, breakups, tiffs, and trysts, I was finally going to marry the man of my dreams. I couldn’t wait to start our life together.