A/N: Here we go again!

This picks up right after "Spelling Errors" or Henry's proposal, but works as a standalone if you'd like it to. Will reference things from "At First Sight," but not without explanation.

Once again, I hope you join me in the next part of Elizabeth and Henry's origin story. Enjoy, and as you know, reviews make me super happy.

Elizabeth Adams woke up to sunlight filtering through the curtains in Henry's bedroom. She yawned and smiled as the realization hit her. This was no longer Henry's bedroom, it was their bedroom. And her finger was glistening with a now permanent fixture, an engagement ring. She was engaged. To Henry McCord. And she couldn't stop grinning like a fool.

The day before had been a complete 180. She'd thought Henry had given up on the whole relationship for good after asking her to move in with him, and she was fully prepared to hate him for all eternity. But then he found her, crying in her dorm room, and wholeheartedly admitted he'd been a complete fool. And he still wanted to live with her. And he was hopelessly in love with her. She was so overwhelmed in that moment that she didn't really think before launching herself into his arms and losing herself in the moment. It was intuitive, and the rational part of her brain would've probably been far more cautious about trusting him again.

But then Henry led her to the park, and he covered her eyes, and she'd stopped asking questions ages ago; she just let herself trust him completely. The skywriter spelled out "MAR ME, ELIBET?" and she'd been confused and on the brink of laughter. Then he dropped to one knee and all the doubts she'd ever had about this man, about this relationship, fell away and she was just so overwhelmingly happy that he really had been serious. She'd said yes, and they'd kissed and ever since, she hadn't been able to stop smiling. It was like all the pieces were finally falling into her place, and she couldn't be more grateful.

This led her to waking up in Henry's arms utterly content, exactly where she belonged. Some of her boxes sat in the bedroom (they'd cleared out her single late the night before, too excited and giddy to wait any longer) and she looked at them, knowing they symbolized so much more than a simple move.

It meant she was one step closer to a normal life, a life with a family, not just a brother who only showed up he felt like it, but a genuine family. Over the past few years, Henry had slowly become her family, and she loved him so much for it. And Henry's family was there too, of course. His crazy, raucous family that she'd gotten to know well over the past few years. She had her tense relationships with some of them, but overall, they'd come to accept her. She and June McCord had really bonded and she now considered her somewhat of a surrogate mother.

Now, she felt Henry stirring next to her and he opened his eyes, blinking a few times as he adjusted to the light. Elizabeth shifted so they laid on their sides, facing one another. She smiled at Henry and he grinned back at her. The giddy feeling and novelty of the situation hadn't left either of them yet.

Henry cupped her cheek with his hand and leant in to press a kiss to her lips. He pulled back, still grinning. "Hey," he breathed.

"Hi."

"We're engaged, Elizabeth," he said, his voice still full of disbelief. Less than twenty-four hours ago, he was still frantically trying to fix the enormous mistake he'd made, trying to find a way to apologize for being an idiot and breaking her heart. But somehow this remarkable, extraordinary woman had forgiven him, let him back in and accepted his entirely awkward, bumbling mess of a proposal. He couldn't be any luckier, he'd decided, than he was with Elizabeth as his fiancée.

"Yeah," she said, moving her hand up between them and taking his. "I love you, Henry."

"I love you too, so much." He smiled again and pressed his lips to her in a passionate kiss, and they quickly lost themselves in one another, in the tangled sheets that were evidence of the previous night's frenzied passion, of the all-consuming need they'd had for one another. They crashed together again, becoming one, and after, they laid in the tangle of sheets, breathing hard.

Elizabeth's thoughts were running a mile a minute, and the perfect bubble of bliss she'd been in since the previous night burst with an unceremonious reminder that they were back to reality. Engaged reality, but reality nonetheless. She shot up into a sitting position, leaving Henry lying on the bed, confused. When she turned around to face him, he sat up as well, a look of concern in his eyes. Was she doubting what they'd done?
"Henry, we're engaged," she said as if it were the first time she'd heard about it.

"Yeah," he said tentatively, trying not to startle her.

"We have to tell people! Does your family know? I mean, of course your parents know, I mean, you probably asked if this was a good idea, but maybe not… And Will, I have to call Will, and I think he's still in New York, or did he already leave for Botswana… and—" Elizabeth was rambling and Henry couldn't help but laugh a little — she was so cute when she was frazzled.

"Shh," he said, gripping her hand to calm her down. "One step at a time, we'll tell them all soon enough. But first, let's get dressed and have breakfast, okay?"

"Okay." Leave it to Henry to calm her nerves in an instant.

They got dressed and made their way to the kitchen in relative silence. Elizabeth revelled in the quiet domesticity of it all, and she looked forward to this being her normal, her routine. Boarding school and college roommates were normal to her, so she'd never really lived alone but this, living in an apartment with her boyfriend (correction, her fiancé) was new.

Sitting at the table with steaming cups of coffee and toast, they basked in their new normal for a little while. Eventually, Henry got up and kissed Elizabeth on the cheek as he headed toward the telephone. "Back to reality," he teased. She just chuckled and waited for him to dial a number.

Henry called his mother, knowing that one call would pretty much cover his entire family — once June McCord heard good news, it spread like wildfire. He waited for her to pick up with bated breath, this was all becoming very real very quickly.

"McCord," he heard on the other side.

"Mom, it's me, Henry."

"Henry! How are you?" The joy was evident in June's voice.

"I'm good mom, great actually. Elizabeth and I, um, we moved in together."

"Yes, son, I know that. You'd been planning that for a little bit now."

"Yeah, um, I also asked her to marry me last night. So we're engaged too."

"Sweetheart! That's wonderful news! I'm so, so happy for the both of you," she said, and one could almost feel her bright smile through the phone. Henry turned to Elizabeth, who'd been listening and holding her breath, with a broad smile. She let out the breath, relieved. June was happy. They talked for a little longer, and June eventually said she was sorry, but she had to get to the church soon. She promised to call again to speak with Elizabeth.

One down, more to go.

Next, Elizabeth dialled Will's number, crossing her fingers that her brother would actually pick up. The phone rang a few times, and finally, Will's voice was heard on the other end.

"Will!" Elizabeth interrupted him, "It's me."

"Lizzie, hey! Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's great actually. I moved in last night, and um, Henry proposed. We're engaged, Will!" She couldn't hide the excitement from her voice.

On the other line, Will beamed. He was so happy his sister had found someone, and really did like Henry. "I'm happy for you both, sis. He was a little impatient there, hmm?"

"What?"

"Oh nothing, this was just planned for a little later." Will chuckled, Henry really did love her.

"Wait, you knew about this?" Elizabeth was entirely confused at this point.

"Ask him yourself," Will said mysteriously. "Listen Lizzie, I gotta go, talk to you soon, and congratulations both of you."

"Bye Will," she managed.

As she hung up the phone, she looked over at Henry. "How exactly did Will know about this proposal?"

Henry blushed and shrugged his shoulders. "Umm, I wanted to run this by Will when I bought the ring. Which was a few weeks ago, I had planned on proposing around graduation, when you got your Bachelor's. But then I was a total idiot, and you know the rest. I guess I'm kinda traditional in that I would've talked to your dad beforehand, but you know. So I wanted to talk to Will. That doesn't mean anything in the patriarchal sense, I hope you know that…" It was his turn to ramble now, and Elizabeth silenced him by walking over and capturing his lips in a kiss, winding her hands through his hair.

Breaking apart, both breathless, she grinned. "You're too sweet, Henry. I say this again, but my dad would've adored you."

"I would've been honoured to meet him."

"Does everyone from our families know now?"

"I think so, my mom will tell everyone immediately."

"You're gonna have to pinch me for a while, okay. Until this sinks in?"

"Of course, babe. Likewise."

…

Henry and Elizabeth had decided to ask their closest friends out for drinks that night, wanting to surprise them with the news. They waited nervously at the restaurant, nursing a drink each, waiting for them to come inside. Julia (Elizabeth's roommate from her first and second years of undergrad) and her boyfriend Ian came, as did Henry's friend Eric. A few minutes in, Todd and Lisa also showed up, and all their closest friends were there.

Elizabeth and Henry had somehow managed to hide the ring fairly well, and they were proud of themselves. Elizabeth herself had also hidden the temporary breakup from days before, so no one suspected anything.

Now, however, they all sat with drinks and Julia went straight for the question. "You guys said you had news. Shoot."

"Well, we moved in together last night, which you knew about," Henry said, and looked over to Elizabeth.

"And um…" she held her hand up, "we're also engaged." She smiled cautiously, and looked back at Henry.

All their friends started back, slightly in shock. Henry and Elizabeth were the first from their circle to get engaged. But who were they kidding, it was practically inevitable with the two of them. After the initial shock wore off, the table erupted in hugs and congratulations for the couple. Everyone gushed at Elizabeth's ring, admiring the diamond and patting Henry on the back for his good taste in rings.

"So, do you have any wedding plans yet?" Julia asked.

"Hey, let them breathe for a minute," Eric said. "They're stressed enough as is."

"Well, we did actually talk about this," Henry interjected. "We're gonna push wedding plans back a few years, and just stay engaged for a little while. Live together, that's it."

"Yeah," Elizabeth concurred. With graduation and the Marines on the horizon, they had more pressing things to focus on.

"See. We always knew they were the smart ones," Ian said.

Everyone laughed at that, and Todd looked over at Henry. "Come on, man, how'd you end up doing it?"

"Uhh," he started, blushing. He'd have to come clean at his complete idiocy now.

"Well," Elizabeth took over, "he led me to a park on the grounds and told me there was something I had to see. He covered my eyes when we got there, and when I was allowed to open them again, there was a message from a skywriter in the sky."

A collective awww erupted and Elizabeth just chuckled.

"Except," she continued, giving Henry a teasing look, at which he buried his face in his hands, "Henry hired the trainee who had little idea what he was doing. The sky spelled out 'Mar me, Elibet?' and I had no idea what was happening." Elizabeth traced a little arc with her finger for emphasis.

Their friends broke out into hysterical laughter, and Todd put his hand on Henry's shoulder. "Man, you're never living that one down. Ever."

"Well, she did say yes," Lisa said, coming to Henry's defence.

"That I did," Elizabeth confirmed. She kissed Henry on the cheek and he grinned.

…

Later that night, Elizabeth and Henry were lying in bed, silently letting the day wash over them again.

She broke the silence, finding his hand in the dark. "Henry," she whispered, checking to make sure he was still awake.

"Yeah, babe?" He faced her, the whites of her eyes visible in the soft glow of the moon.

"Thank you for being my family," she said, cautiously, almost reverently. She looked at him with unshed tears in her eyes, her emotions getting the better of her.

He pulled her close and took in the weight of her admittance; it both humbled him and filled him with such sadness. He kissed the top of her head and pulled back to look at her again.

"Thank you for being mine."

A/N: I hope you liked this, and for reference, Elizabeth is in her fourth year finishing her Bachelor's, it's the beginning of March, and Henry's working on second Masters. Hope that makes sense.