Love At First Word

Christmas Special!

~ Grimmjow ~

"Jeagerjaques." I heard a rumbling voice say from behind me, and I turned in moderate concern for my own well-being to the menacing aura behind me.

"Yes, sir?" I asked Kenpachi.

"C'mere, boy. Kisuke and I need to have a word with you." I glanced to my side, where Ichigo had turned his head to me in confusion. With a sigh, I kissed his lips lightly as I stroked a hand through his hair.

"I'll be back." I assured him and he kept a hand on me until I was too far away.

I followed Kenpachi into a different room, where Kisuke was sitting quietly. He looked up and smiled.

"Grimmjow! Come here, sit down! We have important things to talk about!" the blonde man told me cheerfully and I cautiously sat down on the couch across from them as Kenpachi plopped next to Kisuke, a thick arm around his shoulders.

"A'ight, Jeagerjaques. We're gonna get straight to the point. We were in town a few days ago shoppin' and we saw you in the jewelry shop."
Kisuke's smiled suddenly looked strained and Kenpachi didn't look the happiest with me.
"What were you doing in there? Don't lie."

"And Grimmjow, whatever it was, I'm sure -"

"I was buying a ring, sir. For Ichigo. I was actually going to ask you later today if I could have your permission to marry him." I interrupted before I could lose my courage.

Kisuke's eyes widened, and Kenpachi stared me down, eerily quiet.

"What makes you think you deserve him?"
Kisuke smacked Kenpachi, probably prepared to reprimand him, but I held my ground.

"I probably don't, sir, but I love him. It's been four years, and I want to know it'll be forever. He's the one person I can truly say I've ever loved romantically, and I never want to love anyone else. I'm not sure I could live without him, at this point." I bowed my head and put my hands together. "Please let me propose to your son."

It was quiet for a few minutes, but I didn't dare look up until Kisuke responded.
"Yes. Of course."
Kenpachi began chuckling quietly and Kisuke waved a hand at me.
"Grimmjow, not only do you deserve him, he deserves you. No one loves the way you treat him more than he does, except maybe Kenpachi and I. You'll be a great son-in-law."
With a grin, Kisuke leaned forward with excitement.
"Now! When are you proposing?"

-

I slid onto the couch beside Ichigo, who curled up to me, his legs thrown over my lap. I let him get comfortable as I watched the activity around us.

It'd been three days since I'd spoken to Kisuke and Kenpachi about the proposal and by then, news had spread throughout the large family. Everyone but Ichigo and Yachiru knew that I was going to propose (because Yachiru still couldn't keep secrets for the life of her).

I grinned down at my boyfriend as he traced fingers over my chest.
"You ready? We gotta leave in ten minutes if we're gonna get there on time." I mumbled into his hair, patting his bum from where I'd been holding him close.

Ichigo sucked in a shaky breath.
"I'm not sure I want to go."

I sat up a bit straighter.
"Ichigo, we've talked about this..."

"Grimm-" his hand gripped at my shirt, "-what if it doesn't work? What...what if I can't-"

"What if the sky fell, Ichi? What if the sun never came up again? What if the moon got hit by a meteor and got knocked a mile or two closer to Earth and fucked up Earth's whole system? The 'what ifs' don't matter because they'll always be there and we gotta deal with it. Now you said you wanna do this and you got the whole family hyped about it. It's happening."