Who: Ashlyn and Keegan...AND A PUPPY ZOMG
Where: Keegan's room
What: stressing out over legislation and then some question popping
Keegan was pacing back and forth. The puppy was pacing with him and he fought the urge to kick it. He was supposed to wait but he felt that it was now or never. Some things just couldn't be planned and just came to the right timing. Tonight was the right timing. He had told Ashlyn to come over as soon as he had seen the muggleborn legislation in the paper. He ran a hand through his dark brown hair and his green eyes looked up at the door every few minutes. He was impatient and went hid the puppy in the next room. He had spoken to her sister, who had agreed to take care of the Yorkie while Ashlyn was in school. He looked down at his khakis and button down and just blew a large breath. These butterflies were nuts, he couldn't deal with them. Hopefully, they'd go away soon.
Ashlyn wasn't in the right mind frame, that didn't even need to be said. She subscribed to the Prophet, mostly to keep up with the current events of the wizarding world while she was with family. Needless to say, Ashlyn was not in the best of ways at the moment. She felt frazzled and even though she'd tried her best to clean up and look nice, her hair was probably all over the place from playing with it too much. Bloody hell.
She knocked on his door softly, ready to just fall into a hug the moment he opened the door. She felt so--dependent--on him. But it was a good dependent, she had to admit. It just felt strange, being the big feminist on campus, and feeling like her day wasn't complete without him or--ugh, she was being cheesy again. She let out a soft sigh, just wanting him to hurry up with the door already.
He opened the door and hoped to God the puppy didn't come out too early. He opened his arms immediately to her. His face was full of worry and love for her. "Hey beautiful," he spoke softly. He was going to comfort her and hopefully make her feel better. He took her in and just held her and kissed the top of her head. "Everything will work out, I promise. This won't be for long. It's stupid that they have it in the first place." He stroked her hair gently and continued to hold her. He spoke loud enough so she couldn't hear the puppy scratching at the door trying to get out. He didn't care if the puppy peed all over his clothes. Clothes came clean and he was going to make sure this was a surprise. Damn it.
She buried her face in his chest, just letting herself get lost in his arms for the moment. She pulled her head back after a while, looking up at him. "I don't...what if they don't let me on the train, Keegan? Or...or worse, if I somehow end up being taken somewhere else or," she didn't know what she was thinking but she wasn't ready for everything that the bloody legislation meant. She groaned, once more hiding herself in a hug. She didn't want to think about not being able to go to school, the waste the past six years would be in that setting. "I hope everything works out," she murmured softly, turning her head so he could properly hear her.
"It will," he said softly. He held her for a moment longer and raised her chin up and kissed her gently. "If they won't let you on the train then I won't go. I don't care. I'll give up everything. Being Quidditch Captain isn't that big of a deal. I'll be able to find work somewhere. We'll get through this Ash. I promise." He kissed her again and drew it a little bit. A nibble on her lips was given as he withdrew. "You mean more to me than schooling does." He hugged her again, a little more tightly before. He didn't want to think about getting on the train without her. It just felt too weird.
Ashlyn looked up at him, feeling tears well up in her eyes. "Oh, Keegan..." She wasn't going to cry over this, no. She didn't want to allow herself to do that. But it did mean a lot to her, that he was willing to give up so much just--well, just for her. She returned the tight hug, taking a few shaky, shallow breaths. "I love you," she whispered, now looking up at him. She loved this feeling, she loved knowing that she had someone so closely tied to her that--that despite how crazy the world around her became, she had a rock to keep her grounded and safe. She didn't deserve Keegan, but she knew that all this information would be that much more difficult to deal with had she not had him.
"I love you too. Always." He just held onto her wanting to feel like that rock she needed. He couldn't believe how lucky he was to have her. He kissed the top of her head and just let her hang on for the time being. The puppy was going to wait a little bit longer. He wanted her to not to be so close to tears. Though, he had a feeling that the puppy wouldn't last much longer. He just hoped to God that he didn't start scratching again.
There it went, the scratching. He wasn't sure if he could hide it this time and Ashlyn probably heard it before he could even attempt to distract her and just waited for her to say something. He blew out a a breath and sighed. The butterflies were back again. Then a small whine came from his closet door. Damn it. The whine was low and very obvious. It sounded as if there was something in there. Luckily he had already tucked the ring in the bright blue collar that he had bewitched with streaks of gold in it to represent the Ravenclaw house. Yes, he was corny and yes, he thought it was cute.
Ashlyn pulled herself away from him when she heard the scratching, an automatic response because of the few times his mum had come up to the room. Her brows furrowed together when she heard the whine. "Er...Keegan? Do you have a ghoul in your closet? Or is it just extremely sad about things, too?" she said slowly, now turning her head to look at him. She had no idea what was going on, at least not yet. But she was extremely curious to find things out. Something was definitely up.
"Why don't you go and look?" he said softly and released her. It was now or never. He looked over at the closet. "It's not a ghoul. I can tell you that much right now." He smiled at her. He hoped she would say yes. Oh God, what if she said no? So many thoughts running through his brain, invading to the point of paranoia. He blew out a large breath and tried to pace.
'Stay calm, Keegan,' He thought to himself and tried to make it work but it just wasn't. He watched Ashlyn carefully.
Ashlyn gave him a look before walking over to the closet. The end of her footsteps cued yet another whine at the door and, very cautiously, she creaked the door open. There was a scuttle of nails against the floor before she saw the little Yorkshire puppy jump up and lean against her legs. "Awww," she cooed at the tiny dog, now crouching down to play with him. "Keegan, why on earth did you hide a puppy in your closet?" she asked, scooping up the dog before turning around. The dog began to furiously sniff and lick at her, excited to explore a new person. Ashlyn was oblivious to the ring as she gave him a semi-scolding look, but when she looked down at the puppy--well, something shiny caught her eye. She felt her breath stop in her throat and--"Keegan, what...is this...a--a---?" Surely he wasn't proposing to her, right? They were so young, after all, and and. She had never thought in her wildest dreams that they would be so close in their relationship by this point.
He cleared his throat once, twice and three times and withdrew the engagement ring from the puppy's collar. "The puppy's yours. I've already spoken to your sister. She said she'd keep him while we at school. You can see him on hols and such and..." This was it. He dropped down onto one knee and looked up at her with bright green eyes. He cleared his throat again. Oh God, his heart needed to slow down. He was sure that Ashlyn could hear it wanting to rip out of his chest. "Ashlyn Mabel Cooper, will you do me the honor and marry me?" He had gotten it out. A small weight was lifted from his chest but there was still her answer. So his heart continued it's drum roll. The nerves just wouldn't stop. He smiled, albeit a bit weakly at her in attempts of lightening the moment.
A small laugh escaped her lips. Honestly, she couldn't help it. He had enlisted this tiny fuzzy creature to help win over her heart. Marriage. The word felt so foreign, strange in her thoughts. She hadn't imagined herself getting married since she was quite young, never really considering it given that she didn't have anyone she could for sure consider a candidate. But there he was, staring up at her from one knee, the ring in his hand. It felt like time was dragging on as she got lost in thought, but a playful bark from the puppy brought her back. OH! He needed an answer, didn't he? That was the proper way to respond to something like this. Right. She chewed her lip, really trying to consider what it would mean to her to be seventeen years of age and already engaged for marriage. If it had been anyone but Keegan, she would have a problem. But this felt right. Flashing a weak smile of her own, she nodded. "Yes," she said softly, still holding onto the puppy tightly. As long as they weren't getting married anytime soon. But she would keep that tidbit to herself, at least for now.
"Give me your left hand love," he said softly as he got up from kneeling. He'd never admit it but he was starting to get bad knees from Quidditch. There was a silent pop and a flinch held in. "The puppy will survive without you holding onto it. I promise I won't rush into the marriage. We have a lot of time." He pushed a hand through his hair and looked at her. "The rest of our lives really. I just...couldn't really hold on. I was planning and planning. I was going to do it over Christmas break. I even talked to Pheobe about the best possible approach to this. I think I figured it out on my own," he smiled slightly. The ring was still in his hand and he waited paitently. He was blathering and he knew it and didn't care.
He kissed her softly. "The timing just felt right love. The last thing I want you to do is feel rushed into this. If you want to tell everyone except for Pheobe that it's just a promise ring that's fine with me," he played with the ends of her hair nervously. This was unreal. He was engaged and he wasn't having second thoughts. All he could think of was her in a wedding dress and how beautiful she'll look when that day finally comes. "I think hiding it from our parents for now may be for the best. I know my mum will shit a brick and Dad will smack me upside the head." He sighed, "I'm blathering."
She kneeled down to let the puppy go, feeling as if she had no control over anything in her life except for this one moment. The ministry--the bloody ministry that they had all placed their faith in--was failing. She didn't know if she was going to go through with this ridiculous tattoo nonsense (were there ways to charm it on so it would be removable?)--she didn't want to think about a sign of hatred--of discrimination--being so close to that ring. The two did not belong together. Standing back up, she gave her shaking hand over to him. "You're not blathering, I promise. We'll...I'll get a chain for the ring, I'll wear it around my neck when we're around people we don't want knowing. And we can tell everyone else it's an engagement ring. I..." she was realizing that this was more important than anything else in her life. She wanted things to work out with Keegan, wanted something to be good right now in her life. They were going to make this work. They had to.
He slid the ring on her finger easily and sighed out. He kissed her forehead and drew her to him. He held onto her head. "I'll buy the chain love. Don't worry about it. I have a little more money put away." In truth, he had been saving since he had first started getting allowance. He barely ever bought anything that he didn't need. Like a quill or parchment. Otherwise it was save, save, save. He took a deep breath. "I talked to my mum. She said you could spend the night tonight after she saw the paper. In my room." He stroked her hair gently. "Well after Da' talked her into it. He knows about the ring. Thinks it's a promise ring though."
She had tried so hard and when he pulled her in again, she lost it. The tears erupted from her in an awkward sob. It wasn't as if she had nothing--her parents had more than enough to keep her comfortable, but she just felt as if she needed independence from them, to live on her own after school was over and done with. But if she couldn't get a job with the ministry, if she couldn't work as a healer, what was she going to do? She didn't have the education to go into the muggle world, though she suspected that her mother would take care of things if it came down to that. She nodded slowly at his suggestion. Staying there. It hadn't even occurred to her until that moment--what if the Ministry tried to look for her? What if--what if something happened to her parents, her siblings, if she didn't go through with the whole tattoo mess? She let out a shaky sigh, hoping to get everything off her mind. At least for the night. She deserved to be happy, they all deserved to be happy.
"It'll all work. I promise." He intended to stay up the rest of the night, let her cry herself out and then fall asleep with her. He continued to stroke her hair gently. "Just cry it out love. I'll be here the entire night. I promise. We'll check on your mum in the morning." He kissed her hair one more time and just held on tightly to her. "We'll work everything out. Just leave it up to me." 'I'll support you if I have to,' he thought to himself. A tear slipped out of his eyes and they stayed like that for the next several hours, the brand new edition to their family hopping up on the bed and curling up at their feet.
