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Okay, so was it a mistake to accidentally fall asleep in his boyfriend's car, yes, maybe it was. But Kenma really just needed a break from his friends screaming. I mean seriously, would it kill them to be able to watch a movie in peace for once? Maybe without Bokuto screaming at the top of his lungs every time a jumpscare hit which was promptly followed by Kuroo making fun of him. And maybe, just maybe, Oikawa could stop disproving all of Daichi's theories, just for a little bit, because it made the former Karasuno captain go fucking crazy and- fucking hell, could Tsukishima shut up for one minute about how "that's not realistic" and "physics doesn't work like that."

So yes, he maybe slipped out of the dorm common room just long enough to hide in Kuroo's car for a few minutes with the excuse that he needed some fresh air. Was it a crime to want to be alone just for a little bit? Plus, Kuroo had been acting weird lately and Kenma was still in the process of trying to silently communicate that all his sneaking around and getting back to the dorms unreasonably late was starting to piss him off. Of course, the smaller boy wasn't going to say that out loud, so he settled for non-verbal cues which, so far, hadn't been working out for him.

But really, more than anything, he just needed the peace and quiet. And Kuroo's car was nice. His parents were loaded so of course, he had a shiny black sports car (it had some fancy name, but Kenma's knowledge of automobiles only really extended as far as the games he played). It was peaceful and dark and as he laid on the floor of the backseat, curled up in a little ball with his phone between his hands, he actually felt relatively calm. Sure, the silence was a little unnerving after being halfway through Don't Breathe, but otherwise, it was nice.

What wasn't nice, however, was the fact that Kenma had fallen asleep in a little bundle on the floor of his boyfriend's car. And it wasn't nice that he had been awoken by the sound of Bokuto chiding Kuroo for running a red light (Tetsuro Kuroo was a terrible driver at best. At worst one might think he was suicidal). It wasn't nice that he was suddenly stuck on the floor of a moving car while the people driving it had no idea he was there. Like what was he supposed to do? Just pop up and give them a friendly little greeting? That's not what you do in these situations. And it only got worse when he heard someone who sounded suspiciously like Kuroo started talking.

"Okay, he has to be around here somewhere...he couldn't have gotten that far..." Kenma tensed up, guilt shooting down his spine at how worried his boyfriend sounded. You know that saying 'well at least it's not raining'? This was the very definition of that. At least they weren't literally using the car Kenma was in to look for Kenma, right? No. Wrong. Because that's exactly what was happening, and all Kenma could do was go along for the ride.

"Dude, are you worried?" Bokuto was there too. That's just great. Kenma tried not to panic as his mind frantically jumped back and forth between the burning humiliation that would come with revealing where he'd actually been and debating how long he could stay put before the called the cops and freaked out. Maybe he could wait until they got out of the car? But then he would have to answer questions about where he'd been the whole night and, while Kenma was good at pretending he didn't care, he was trash at overtly lying.

"Fucking obviously I'm worried...I mean, I know Kenma's an adult and whatever but that's my future husband so..." He knew he shouldn't be, but Kenma's mind locked onto the phrase 'future husband' the second it left Kuroo's lips. What? He had been dating Kuroo since they graduated high school and he'd never heard his boyfriend refer to him like that before. The pudding-haired boy tried to force his mind back to the topic at hand but it was getting increasingly harder as the two men continued speaking.

"Speaking of future husbands, did you get it yet?" Get what? Kenma's mind was now fully engaged in the conversation he wasn't supposed to be hearing, abandoning all thoughts about his current predicament in favor of eavesdropping.

"Get?"

"The ring, stupid." The fucking ring?! Kenma tried to rationalize with himself. Okay, this could just be a misunderstanding. There were other things rings were used for in daily life other than proposing to people, right? It wasn't like the only thing rings were used for was marriage. It couldn't be. Because as long as Kenma had known Kuroo, he'd spent an inordinate amount of his life convincing people he was never (and I seriously mean never) going to get married. He thought the tradition was stupid and a waste of time, money, and energy. So this couldn't be real, right?

"Trust me I'm trying. But at the rate I'm going, I'm gonna have to propose to him with ring pop or something," Propose. Okay, that was a word that made Kenma's mind do cartwheels. Never in his life had Kenma once thought about someone proposing to him. Literally never. He'd always known he wasn't straight, but whenever he thought about romance, two key details had always popped to the edge of his brain: one, he could never imagine himself getting married, and two, no one would ever want to marry him anyway.

"Honestly, knowing Kenma, he'd probably prefer that." That was probably true. Kenma wasn't really one for formalities and tradition. But something he had to admit that there was something about the idea of Kuroo getting down on one knee that made his heart catch on fire in the best way.

"You're probably right. I honestly don't even know if I care how it happens I just...I want him forever. And don't you dare say a fucking word," Kenma's heart swelled at his words but he quickly clamped a hand over his mouth to keep himself silent. Kuroo had always been the romantic one in their relationship. He was the one who remembered special dates and anniversaries, he was the one who got roses and made special dinners, he was the one who instigated anything and everything romantic and Kenma was grateful for that because god knows he sucked at romance. "Just...Still trying to convince my dad that homosexuality isn't a sin and all that..."

Kenma silently grimaced at his boyfriend's words. As a general rule, the smaller boy tried to force himself to like Kuroo's family because, after everything they'd gone through together, it was the least he could to for the boy who had basically protected him through everything. But sometimes they were hard to like. I mean, Kuroo's mom was nice enough, but she was so subdued and she never spoke out against his dad who was the real evil little bitch. Kuroo's dad was basically homophobia personified, but the kind that thought he wasn't. It annoyed the hell out of both Kenma and his boyfriend.

"I'm just surprised he let you keep the car," Bokuto scoffed, breaking Kenma's train of thought and snapping him back to reality. Kenma really should've told them that he was in the car while they were still in the parking lot, but of course, he was a coward.

"And the tuition money."

"Hey, you're gonna do fine, ring or not. You still want to marry him, right?" Of course, Bokuto had to switch the subject back to the only thing Kenma's brain seemed to be able to think about at the moment. Kenma was already dangerously close to saying something before they'd even said the word 'marriage.' But it took all of his self-control not to practically scream at Bokuto's question, his heart hammering in his chest as he waited for the answer he didn't know if he wanted to hear.

"Of course I want to marry him, Bokuto."

"You want to marry me?" The words escaped Kenma's mouth in a breathless rush before he had a chance to clap a hand over his mouth and his sudden appearance was not very well received by the other inhabitants of the vehicle, inhabitants who had assumed they were alone. Kenma's stomach dropped as Bokuto just screamed something along the lines of, "HOLY FUCKING SHIT KUROO THERE'S A PERSON IN YOUR CAR," in a voice that sounded like it was coming from a nine-year-old girl while Kuroo panicked. And by panicked I mean he got distracted and yanked so abruptly to the left on the steering wheel that they veered off the road directly into a traffic light.

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So that's how they ended up in the hospital at three in the morning with Bokuto claiming the deep cut on his forehead that had only recently stopped dripping blood didn't hurt in the slightest (despite the fact that he was clearly holding back tears as they stitched him up). They had gotten extraordinarily lucky. Bokuto had gotten the worst of it with a cut to the forehead from some broken glass and a basketball-sized bruise on his chest while Kuroo had escaped with only a bruised rib and some microfractures along his forearm. And Kenma had gotten out surprisingly unscathed seeing as he was actually much safer on the floor of the car than in a seat.

But even the bandages wrapped around his wrist and the pain medication they had given him didn't really help with Kenma's guilt about the situation. For one thing, he was literally the reason for the car crash in the first place. And for another, he had not only run off and made everyone worry, but he'd also heard an entire conversation that he was pretty sure was meant to be kept secret. And all of these facts merely bloomed a terrible feeling of fault that weighed heavy on the smaller boy's chest as he stepped into his boyfriend's room.

The nurse scurried out to give them some privacy having just finished wrapping Kuroo's arm, which Kenma was thankful for. He was already bad enough at emotions without having the pressure of an audience. And, if he was being honest, Kenma wasn't exactly expecting this to be an easy conversation. He knew his boyfriend was usually quick to forgive...but Kenma almost got them killed. So, he couldn't really imagine this going smoothly.

Kenma tried to come up with something reasonable to say while he fiddled with his fingertips. 'I'm sorry,' really just wouldn't cut it. I mean, what were you supposed to say when you almost got someone killed, especially your boyfriend who had previously been planning to propose to you but was probably reconsidering his decision now. And hell if Kenma had the courage to directly ask Kuroo if he was still interested in being contractually tied to a screw-up for the rest of his life...

There was silence for a long moment before one of them actually managed to break the silence. That was something the smaller boy was still in the process of working on. Usually, he and Kuroo could communicate easily without words, but some situations just required them and Kenma struggled to even form the simplest sentence when under pressure. It wasn't that he couldn't or didn't have thoughts to voice...it was just a lot harder when you never had to do it before. Thankfully for Kenma, though, Kuroo did just about all the talking they needed and the taller boy seemed to have endless patience when it came to his boyfriend's inability to verbally express emotions.

"So, I'm just going to assume you heard all of that," Kuroo pushed himself off the bed, hands behind his back as he nervously fiddled with the ring-pop his stupid friend had given him not fifteen minutes ago. Bokuto was a surprisingly romantic guy for being such an idiot, but that didn't mean Kuroo wanted his help with this particular situation. However, just because Kuroo was feeling stubborn, didn't mean he didn't appreciate the gesture.

He stood to his full height which was somewhere in the realm of six to seven inches taller than his itty-bitty boyfriend, but it didn't help with his nerves at all. Because this wasn't what he'd been expecting. Actually, he didn't know what it was he'd been expecting at all. For one thing, rings were expensive as fuck, and his dad certainly wasn't going to loan him the money to buy one for his boyfriend. And for another, nothing felt right. Over dinner? No. Kenma would hate that because people would stare and he hated people staring. At the beach? No. Sand was gross and annoying. He could do it in their own home, but that wasn't very special no was it?

Proposals were supposed to be romantic and visually stunning, right? But it wasn't like Kuroo know how to do any of that. And no matter how much he agonized over something like this, none of it mattered if Kenma said anything other than yes. Oh god- That was another thing that had kept Kuroo up at night. What if he said no? Kenma and Kuroo, since they were still kids, had both mutually agreed neither one of them felt marriage was for them, but that changed for Kuroo when he actually started dating the man of his dreams.

Sure, when they were still very much platonic (way long ago when they were still in middle school) Kuroo had imagined he would probably end up with a pretty girl. He would be a celebrity volleyball player and drive a fancy sports car and have girls tripping over him, and Kenma would be his best friend, always at his side. They would be inseparable. But then Kuroo developed a stupid little thing called a crush and that dream shattered to pieces, replaced by a new one that was filled with only one person: Kenma. But he had never asked his boyfriend's opinion on the matter because it had just never come up. And what if Kenma still didn't want to get married? What if he didn't want to be tied to one person for the rest of his life?

All of these thoughts ran through Kuroo's head at light speed as he watched the smaller boy stare guiltily at the ground, but there wasn't really anything he could do about it now. Because now, right now, he was standing in front of his boyfriend, in an emergency room, about to propose to the only person in the world he could imagine himself loving for the rest of his life with a fucking ring pop that his idiot friend bought him from a hospital vending machine. And it felt right. It was so wrong how right it felt. But it felt right. Kuroo couldn't imagine a moment beyond this one.

And Kenma wasn't really making it easy on him. The boy was always stunningly gorgeous but there was something about the way he looked - something about how Kuroo's over-sized Nekoma hoodie hung off of his slender frame, about his ripped jeaned and beat-up old sneakers that he was pretty sure Kenma had had since their freshmen year in high school - that was utterly perfect. Something that made words of praise flood to the tip of Kuroo's tongue. Damn, he really should've prepared a speech ahead of time because, even though he was a natural flirt, Kuroo couldn't flirt with Kenma. All that came out was the unfiltered truth.

"Okay, so you know how you said I suck at Halo but that's why you love me?" Kenma's head popped up, golden eyes fixing on his boyfriend as Kuroo began to speak, breaking the silence. The taller boy had to take a brief moment to regain the breath Kenma's gaze had knocked out of him. God, couldn't Kenma just take it easy on him for a moment? "Well, it's like the opposite for me. Like, I love you because you're good at Halo and you wear all my hoodies so I'm fucking freezing in the winter, you little brat, but you forcefully cuddle me to make up for it. And because you somehow manage to get better grades than me even though you turn in assignments three minutes before they're due. And because you miraculously manage to stay hot as fucking hell even though you pull shit like eating an entire cheesecake for breakfast, like what?"

Kuroo had to take a breath and slow down because speeches weren't supposed to just be you listing every single thing you love about a person. They would be there until they died if that's what he did. But he was having a hard time because there were so many things he wanted to say to his perfect Kenma Kozume and there would never be enough time for all of them.

"And I probably shouldn't be telling you this but when you put your hair up I would literally do anything you asked me too without argument. And you're so beautiful and smart and thoughtful even though you're a little bitch about showing it and you're amazing and I-" A breath so he didn't pass out. "Suck at this. Okay, fuck a speech I'm obviously not good at this..." The taller boy set one knee on the ground and Kenma had to suppress a giggle of pure, unbridled happiness that threatened to tear from his throat as Kuroo produced a pink, crystal-shaped ring-pop from behind his back. "So, even though I fucked up every part of this proposal...Kenma Kozume, will you marry me?"

Kenma really tried not to start crying. He really did. He didn't cry when he was sad. He didn't cry when he got hurt. He didn't cry at the happy endings in movies. He didn't cry that much at all. But he was crying now as a smile forced its way across his lips. And he let it. Kenma usually tried to keep emotional expression on his face to a minimum, but there were times when hiding it just wouldn't do. Because a moment as perfect as this deserved a smile.

"Obviously."

Kenma melted into his fiancee's arms as Kuroo slid the little candy diamond onto the ring finger of his left hand, wrapping his arms around Kuroo and burying his face in the crook of his neck. And if there was anything more perfect than the warm, euphoric feeling of having Kuroo reciprocate the hug, tangling his fingers in Kenma's two-toned hair, Kenma had yet to find it. Because this was perfect.

"The ring is just a place holder. I promise I'll get you a real one." Kuroo whispered the words, placing soft kisses to the crown of Kenma's head as he stroked his fingers, calloused from years of volleyball, through Kenma's silky soft hair. But Kenma didn't care about a fancy ring that would probably cost more than college. He loved his candy ring, it was sweet, just like the amazing man who had given it to him. All he cared about was the fact that Kuroo was all his now.

"It's perfect, Tetsu," And it was. Okay, so what if Kuroo had fucked up every part of his original plan? So he didn't propose at sunset on the edge of a cliff that overlooked the open ocean. He didn't propose with a perfect speech planned out to the word that would make even his homophobic father cry. He didn't have a beautiful, shimmering golden ring to offer the love of his life. He proposed in a hospital room with a watermelon-flavored ring pop that probably cost all of two dollars from a vending machine after delivering a slur of adoring words punctuated by an obscene amount of curse words. But it was perfect. And Kenma wouldn't change it for the world. "I love you."

"I love you too, Kitten. So much."

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