#makeuphoesnw

The way the restaurant was lit was one of your favorite things, it was mostly candle lit, a few chandeliers dimly adding to the romantic aura. Ashton had asked called in reservations months in advance, planned the whole night out. He had you go to your regular table while he claimed to go to the restroom. He asked the host to plant the ring in your dessert when the time came.

He was antsy the whole dinner, he couldn’t stop drumming his fingers on the table or his feet on the floor. There wasn’t much talk, but that’s what you both enjoyed about these moments. These nights were some of your favorites, there weren’t people interrupting for pictures of autographs, it was just peaceful. You didn’t need to talk to communicate, the way you would occasionally tap his shin with your foot. The simple contact had him grinning ear to ear and nudging your leg back.

He kept glancing around the room, looking for the waiter to bring you your dinner. To you he seemed hungry, but the reason was simply he was eager for you to finish your dinner and move on to dessert. Few words were spoken as you both ate, questions of how the food is and then feed each other with bets of who chose the better meal. He didn’t order dessert when the time came but insisted for you to.

When the time came Ashton moved his seat closer to you, he took your free hand in his and waited for you to reach the bottom of the plate. When someone across the room screamed out, you couldn’t help but look for the source of the sound. A girl was sitting across from someone was choking on something, everyone seemed in shock at the disruption, frozen and unable to help. Ashton was the first to react, he was moving to the other side before anyone else could do anything.

Everything seemed to slow down as he made a fist and put it against her abdomen and cupped his other hand and thrusted it up. It took a few hits but soon enough she was coughing up the object stuck in her. The guy across from her was red in the face, and when she caught her breath and noticed the object that was stuck in her throat she reached forward. Ashton recognized the object to, it was the ring he had spent months looking for. The one he had asked your father and friends and even the boys about before your mother found out and insisted he takes your grandmothers ring.

He blocked out most of the conversation, and awkwardly reached out to retrieve the ring just as the man said it wasn’t his. Ashton wiped the ring off on the napkin still neatly folded on the table, “It’s actually my ring, sorry for the, uh, mix up.” Your face was beet red and everyone was watching Ashton walk to you. “The ring was supposed to be in your dessert. It’s your grandmothers, I had a speech planned out but I figure this is already a crazy enough night so I’ll cut to the chase and save the speech fr the party. Would you do me the absolute honor of marrying me?”

Ashton’s hands started shaking when you didn’t say anything immediately, every second that passed he got more antsy. You didn’t mean not to reply,you were just so caught up in the way he looked in the lighting and the shadows that were casting along his cheeks from his eyelashes. Your mind rewound through all the big moments leading up to this moment. You nodded before you voiced your response, “Yeah, yeah. Yes of course. Just uh, can you wash the ring, please? Before it’s on my finger for the rest of my life?”

Ashton not knowing how to do his little girl, Makena’s hair would be a big problem. He would try to look up tutorials to put her hair in a braid or in nice pigtails but he could never do it right. Everything about it was so complicated and he didn’t know how to tie a bow right or braid hair. He would do his best to make sure her hair was at least brushed before they left for school and sometimes he would put it in a high pony but that was all he knew how to do. After a mishap at the grocery store, one of those tiny rubber hair ties would get it stuck in Makena’s hair.

Ashton had no clue what to do and neither did any of the other boys and YouTube just made it worse until his daughter was crying because he broke her hair. As a last resort he knocked on his next door neighbors apartment door. That was how he officially met you other than side glances getting mail or being in the elevator together. He would be asking for help- nearly begging, when you let him inside and assessed the problem. His little girl was standing behind him with tears streaming down her face and a seemingly permanent frown. The rubber tie came out of the hair fairly quickly and then she would ask you fro more help and braid her hair, this time using regular ties. Ashton would end up thanking you to much and promising if you ever needed anything he would be eager to help out any way he could.

Every night, Calum would come home in a pair of sweat pants and a tank top. He would kick his shoes off by the door and kick them next to the side table. even though he had done so at the department,he would follow his usual routine of taking a shower. Dinner would be ready when he got out and on his way into the kitchen to eat he would grab two beers from the fridge, pop the cap off on the counter and kiss you on the forehead. Tonight would be different though, Calum wouldn’t shower or open any beers or kiss you on the forehead because he wasn’t going to be there.

You knew he wouldn’t, you called the station minutes after he hadn’t arrived home and they confirmed your suspicions; there was another big fire that would probably take all night to put out. What you weren’t expecting was for Calum to  not return until the next afternoon, soot and ash smudged against his skin and a tired look on his face. You instantly started running him a bath. You lit the candles scattered around your bathroom and made sure to drop in a bath bomb. Calum was still standing in the living room when you returned from the bathroom.

His shoes were kicked off his feet and you knew he wasn’t going to touch the couches to avoid getting them stained. He didn’t say anything as you pulled him into the bathroom and undressed him, the silence continued until he was in the bath and you were walking out of the room. “Could you stay? And get in?” Calum’s voice was soft as he reached his arm out and he pulled you into him after you undressed.

His arms were wrapped tight around you as he let his head rest against your shoulder. He was completely at peace when during moments like this. They didn’t come too often; you going to college and him fighting fires and training didn’t leave as much time as either of you would like. Nights like last night scared you both, thinking you may not see the other if he couldn’t get someone out of a fire or if it got too out of control.

Once the water started getting too cold for comfort, you pulled the drain. Neither of you made any move to get out until you sat up to pull to shower door shut and turn the shower on. “I guess we should get you cleaned up, yeah?”

Calum gave no vocal response but the slight smile on his lips was enough for you to pull down the shower head and move to sit behind him. You took your time washing his back and massaging his shoulders before moving onto his hair. It was getting long and you knew he would be cutting it off soon. You spent time tangling your fingers into his curls and scratching his scalp just the slightest bit. His head would fall back when you told him it’s time to rinse and with one hand you would hold the shower head, and the other was put to use combing the bubbles out of his hair.

Calum would hand you the conditioner when you asked for it and lean into you while you played with the curls you weren’t used to running your hands through. After spending the same amount of time on the rest of him, he would wash you off and wrap each other in the fuzzy towels. You immediately go towards the kitchen after pulling on one of Calum’s shirts and start dinner. It was early but you knew he would want to eat as soon as possible and then sleep for as long as possible, all with you by his side.

When you called him for dinner and he didn’t come running, you went to look for him. He wasn’t in the living room or your bedroom. The only place left would be the bathroom. Calum was sitting on the floor, staring at the pale stick on the floor. His legs were spread out and the test was between them, the bright pink lines too obvious against the white. “I guess the cats out of the bag?” He looked at you when you spoke and you could see how his eyes were glossed over.