Rocky had made all the necessary preparations. He knew it might be moving a little fast, but it had been just barely over a year since they'd officially been living together and he wanted to make sure Lucy knew he truly loved her and would for the rest of his life, even though he hadn't found the courage to say the words until he was twenty-four. There was food on the table, their signature romantic meal, and a little something extra stuffed inside a tiny box in his pocket.

Although Lucy was an amazing writer, it still wasn't quite enough to sustain a decent living, not with the eighteen dollars an hour Rocky was still going to be making for the next year. He'd also made a small...investment in something important this past week. She was working a part time job which required some ridiculously demanding hours, and often she'd arrive home at eleven o' clock at night. This night was no exception, and Rocky heard the door open at ten thirty-eight. She looked over, and he smiled and waved.

"Hey, Luce." he said, and she looked over at the table and sighed.

"You made spaghetti. Why am I not surprised?" she asked, pulling out her chair and sitting down. "Not that I'm complaining. Pass me a fork?" Rocky happily obliged, and watched as his girlfriend ate a ridiculous amount of pasta. He was hungry, but a little bit too nervous to actually eat, as the box in his pocket that kept bumping against his leg reminded him.

It seemed like she took years to finish the food on her plate, and once she had, Rocky reached across the table and wiped the sauce off of the corners of her mouth with the edge of her unused napkin. For some reason that felt a little familiar, but he wasn't going to question it. Right now, Rocky had one priority.

"Sorry, one minute." Lucy apologized, looking down at her vibrating cellphone and hitting the answer button. "Lynn, it's eleven-o-clock at night. What?"

Some jumbled, rapid speech came out of the speakers of Lucy's phone, and when she turned away to whisper something Rocky saw an opportunity, and promptly leaped at the chance. Within half a second he managed to get into a semi-comfortable position kneeling on the floor, and then reached for the wobbly table to balance himself. Lucy looked over when the table moved, and let out a small gasp.

"I...I've gotta go." she said into the phone, quickly ending the call and putting a hand on the table to help Rocky regain his balance. "Oh. My God." she mumbled, watching as Rocky reached into his pocket and pulled out the little black box. He flipped open the lid, displaying an elaborate silver ring with a dark crystal in the center. Lucy closed her eyes and pinched her arm, opening her eyes again and then biting her bottom lip. Rocky couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at how she'd thought this was a hallucination.

He took a deep breath, as he always did before asking an important question. "Lucy...I...I've been in love with you since I was eight years old, and, uh...I dunno if you were or not but the point is that I love you and..." he took a second, allowing himself to breathe before letting the important words exit his mouth, "Will you...will you marry me?"

The smile on her face was enough of an answer.

They waited a grand total of five weeks after the proposal before tying the knot for good. It was hasty, but both had agreed that it seemed ridiculous to wait for long. It was a hastily pulled-together wedding, and really only a couple of friends and their families had attended. As per request, the cake had been black instead of white. Rocky hadn't really been surprised when Lucy's dress followed suit, and his jaw had once again infamously dropped at the sight of how gorgeous she looked. Lucy had kept glancing back at Lynn nervously, who Rocky noticed kept mouthing words at her and holding up a thumbs-up, and Rocky could barely keep himself from not waiting for the ceremony to finish and just kissing her in the middle of a sentence.

The ceremony seemed to take years, in Rocky's mind. He knew he'd written about ten pages of vows, but tried to keep it short and sweet to just get the wedding over with. He looked back at Lucy's sisters as some jumbled words were spoken, and stifled a laugh when he saw Lynn intently staring at the cake and not-so-subtly licking her lips, restraining the two or three-year-old little girl on her lap with both arms. The twins quite honestly both looked immensely bored. Lori was in tears, Rocky was pretty sure, and she also had no motivation to restrain the hoard of children she'd brought with her, two of whom were hitting each other with foam swords. Lily was taking pictures with the Polaroid camera hung around her neck, and Lisa, who sat beside her, was scribbling down something onto a sheet of paper. Leni, who sat near them, was desperately trying to fix her son's hair, as he straightened his own tie, and Luna and Luan we're speaking to each other at a nearly inhuman rate.

Finally, his eyes met with those of Lucy's older brother, and Lincoln smiled at him, which made a wave of confidence flood through Rocky's veins. Lincoln proceeded to press a kiss up to his fiancee's cheek, and she shoved him away, mouthing something that looked like "Lame-O."

Finally, vows were exchanged, and at the end of her final sentence Lucy mumbled a few quiet words that made Rocky's heart nearly explode.

"I...I love you, Rocky." she'd said to him, the first time the words had ever crossed her lips. She looked almost nervous, and Rocky couldn't help but smile down at her in consolation.

"I love you too." he'd whispered back, and then pressed his lips against hers.