#marrying kind

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Every time they got asked the inevitable question of how they met, Calum and Rebecca always shared a laugh followed by a shrug. It was funny for them on two counts. One, it was generally asked on the assumption that they were a couple, which they were not. Two, they couldn’t actually remember how they had met.

It was the type of friendship that had always existed. The one where their parents whispered about how cute their wedding would be when they grew up. The one that often found them walking into their home with the other already sitting at the kitchen table, smirking, “Glad you could join us.”

Calum could hear the happy chatter from the kitchen, the smell of whatever was being cooked wafting through the house. “Smells good in here, Mum,” he called out as he followed his nose. “What’re y- You’re not Mali.” While the words were true, they came out sharper than he intended due to his surprise.

“See, Joy? Your boy’s smart!” Rebecca quipped.

“Ha-ha,” Calum said without humor. “I just wasn’t expecting you to be here already.”

“Well it’s not as much fun to surprise you when you’re expecting it, now is it?”

“Becks understands how much I love it when my children come to visit. Unlike other children of mine who shall remain nameless. You haven’t happened to see any of them, have you? Maybe my son in particular? Looks an awful lot like you,” Joy’s eyes crinkled in the corners as she smiled, her arms opening wide for a hug. 

Rebecca could see the family resemblance as Calum’s own eyes scrunched up as he hugged his mum tight. “Yeah, yeah, we’ve always known Becks is your favorite, Mum.”

“Well, you’ll always be my favorite son,” Joy continued to tease, giving Calum’s cheeks a small pinch.

He wiped imaginary tears from his eyes before resting his hand over his heart. “I’m so touched.”

~~~

“You know, Cal, you should find a nice girl and settle down like your friends,” Joy told him as he helped her with the dishes. Rebecca had excused herself shortly after they finished eating on the premise of giving them some alone time, but not before promising Joy she’d be back tomorrow so they could go to the farmer’s market like they did every Saturday.

“You say that every time I come home, Mum,” Calum pointed out.

“That’s because I mean it. I know your band makes you happy. But you deserve someone to come home to.”

“I do,” Calum insisted, a smile spreading across his face. “I come home to you.”

Joy scoffed good-naturedly. “Someone who’s not actually your family. But someone who feels like it.”

“So someone like Becks?”

“Oh, I would love that! She’s like a daughter to me already. Always coming over to visit. And she already knows all my recipes. You’d be great together. It would be just like it is now, only then she’d really be my daughter.”

“Well, there’s one problem with that, Mum. Becks and I aren’t dating.”

“Cal, girls like Becks come around once in a lifetime. And when they do, you don’t take her out for coffee, and call her the next day.  You put a ring on her finger, and call her your wife.”

“Well, that day might come sooner than you think,” Calum confessed, patting one of his jean pockets.

Joy’s eyes lit up for a second before she frowned. “Wait. I’m confused. You said the problem was that you weren’t dating, but you have a ring?”

Calum nodded. “I’ve had the ring for a while.” Then, a story was falling off his lips. A story about how before he left for London he had mentioned as a joke that they should get married. About how Rebecca had joked back that she would if she liked the ring and the proposal was better than the half-assed idea he was spewing now. About how Rebecca had checked on him after hearing the news about Michael’s engagement to make sure he was okay with all of his brothers paired off and moving on with that aspect of their lives. How he admitted to her that he had remained single for a reason; that he already had a girl he wanted to marry. “And I told Becks it was her. She wasn’t surprised or anything,” Calum started to wrap up his tale. “And we know we have things to work out still. But-“

“But it’s you and Becks. You’ve known each other your whole lives. While you may not have actually dated, your relationship has a strong foundation of love. You’ve seen every version of each other, and no matter how long you’re gone, every time you come back, you two fall in line like no time has passed. It doesn’t have to make sense to the rest of the world, Cal. It just has to make sense to you and Becks.”

~~~

“Wow, you look… wow,” Calum smiled as he got the car door for Rebecca. 

Rebecca blushed slightly. “Thanks. You clean up good yourself. Wanna tell me what this is all about?”

“Nah,” he smirked as he closed the door for her and went around the other side to get in the driver’s seat.

Her eyes were narrowed, and she wore a small scowl. “You know I hate surprises.”

“Oh, trust me,” he continued to smirk. “It’s not a surprise. Or it shouldn’t be.” He laughed as her scowl deepened. “Do you trust me?”

“Always. Although I’m starting to regret that choice right about now.”

He laughed more, reaching over to pat her thigh.

They fell silent as he drove to the restaurant- a mom and pop type diner they used to frequent when they were kids. He had thought about taking her somewhere much nicer, but the diner already held so many memories for them, that it only seemed right that it should hold this one too. 

“You had us dress up for some burgers and shakes?” Rebecca’s eyebrow was arched as Calum pulled into a parking spot. 

“Drop the skepticism, and trust me, Becks,” he chided before getting out of the car.

“Trust you a whole lot more if you clued me in on what we’re doing,” she told him as they walked across the gravel lot.

“Getting dinner.”

“Smartass…”

The bell on the door jangled as they stepped inside. “For two?” the hostess asked.

“Yes, please,” Calum answered.

“Right this way.”

Calum didn’t clue in Rebecca on what he was doing when they sat down, instead making idle chit chat. Idle chit chat that he kept going until they had nearly finished their food and Rebecca finally cut him off with an, “Okay, Cal. This is clearly more than just two friends going out for a bite to eat. What’s the big news?”

“Becks, you know I love you, right?”

“Of course I do. And I love you too, Cal.”

“Good, that’s good,” he nodded, pulling the box out from his pocket. “Put out your hands and close your eyes.”

“Okay…” She did as he directed. “What the hell are you up to, Hood?”

“Shh, just trust me,” he chuckled. He opened up the box, taking out the delicate ring and slipping it onto her left ring finger. “Alright, you can look.”

The slight gasp she let out when the cool metal graced her finger, grew louder. “Oh, Calum!” she breathed happily, admiring the gold band engraved with small diamonds across the top. Her amazement was short-lived however as her mind caught up with what was happening. “Calum Thomas Hood, how dare you!”

“How dare I, what, Becks?!” he shot back, jumping on the defensive.

“How dare you take this moment from me! A proposal should be something a woman experiences once in her life, and you just tainted mine!”

“How did I taint it?! You think I’m joking?! C’mon, Becks, I’m not that cruel.”

“T-this isn’t a joke?”

“No. Becks, I’ve known you my whole life. And I don’t say that as an exaggeration.”

“No, I know.”

“Shh, I’m not finished. Becks, you’ve always been there for me. Every important moment of my life has you in it. And I want you to keep being in those moments because without you, they wouldn’t be important.”

“Then why can’t you just ask me on a date, Cal? Y’know, like a sane person?”

“Because you’re not the girl guys like me take out to dinner, and call the next day,” he told her, borrowing his mother’s words. “You’re the girl guys like me put a ring on, and call their wife. So, Rebecca, will you marry me?”

“Of all the people to love and spend my life with, I’ll choose you every time, Cal. Yes, I’ll marry you.”

“Oh, thank God!” he chuckled in relief. “That was gonna be an awkward drive home if you said no. Plus, you woulda broke poor Mum’s heart.”

She reached over the table to give his shoulder a soft shove. “At least I know my in-laws love me.”

“Hey, I love you, too.”

“Yeah, yeah. Love you too. Wow… Calum Hood, my husband. Crazy, huh?”

“Nah. Crazy is us marrying anybody else.”

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