Back when they were in high school, Grimmjow and Ulquiorra were able to see each other every day, and it was easy to spend time with each other. They walked to school together, were in the same class, and they usually went out after school. Should there be any exams coming up, Ulquiorra would help tutor Grimmjow at his house. Though Ulquiorra was younger than him, he was smart and was able to skip grades, which was why it was possible for them to be in the same class. When they entered college and chose to study different things, it got a little harder to find time to spend with each other since their schedules often clashed. Which was why they welcomed semester breaks; a time when they could spend as much time as they could with each other until it was time for them to return to their studies.

But then came the time for them to start working. That was when things got difficult. It became a challenge just to maintain their relationship, but they always managed. They did not live together as their work places were far apart. They were both always busy with work and Ulquiorra often worked till late at night, so if they were lucky, they were able to meet each other once a week.

And honestly?

Grimmjow was sick of this arrangement.

Grimmjow had spent many years with Ulquiorra and had put a lot into their relationship. It was not easy to get together with Ulquiorra, so when Ulquiorra had finally accepted him as a boyfriend after knowing each other for so long, Grimmjow was over the moon. They understood each other and made each other happy. And though they had their ups and downs just like any other couple, they were content and accepted each other. Just being Ulquiorra's boyfriend was enough to make him happy. But now, Grimmjow wanted something more.

He was tired of being apart from Ulquiorra.

He wanted to wake up every day to see the sleeping face of his loved one.

He wanted to be able to meet Ulquiorra every day. To hold him.

He wanted Ulquiorra, and no one else. Of this he was sure. Because to him, Ulquiorra was perfect for him.

That's right.

Grimmjow wanted to marry Ulquiorra.

Grimmjow had no idea how he was going to propose to Ulquiorra. All he knew was that he wanted the moment to be perfect. He was going to get one chance to get Ulquiorra's answer, and he wanted to do it right. So during the past few days, Grimmjow had been studying women's magazines. While Ulquiorra was not a woman and was very much male, he guessed that it really did not matter. Love was love, no matter what gender, right?

Grimmjow flipped through the pages of the magazine until he came across an article that caught his attention.

"Things the Perfect Man Would Do."

This seemed promising.

While it was not exactly a proposal, Grimmjow supposed it was a good way to work his way to proposing. Besides, it was written by a female. And from experience, Grimmjow knew that women were better at giving advice for this sort of thing than men. He looked at the first tip on the list. There were about ten.

The perfect man would always call you for no reason at all other than to hear your voice.

Well, that sounded easy enough.

And so began Grimmjow's mission to propose to Ulquiorra.

Attempt Number One

Call number one; made at 7:24 AM

Beep, beep, beep.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Ulqui, I just wanted to-"

"Sorry, Grimm. I'm driving right now. Talk to you later, kay?"

"But-"

Click.

Call number two; made at 12:37 PM

Beep, beep, beep.

"Hello?"

"Ulqui, it's me-"

"Can't talk. Working now."

Click.

Call number three; made at 3:59 PM

Beep, beep, beep.

"Hello?"

"Ulqui, I need to-"

"I'm in a meeting right now. Sorry."

Click.

Call number four; made at 8:15 PM

Beep, beep, beep.

"Hello?"

"Ulqui-"

"I'm out right now. I can't really talk."

"I-"

"Look, I'll talk to you tomorrow, alright? We'll be meeting each other then. Love you."

"Wha-"

Click.

Call number five; made at 1:00 AM

Beep, beep, beep.

"H-hello...?"

"Ulqui?"

"Grimmjow," Ulquiorra said groggily. He looked at the clock by his bedside. "It's one in the morning. Is there something wrong?"

"No."

"Then?" Ulquiorra said, irritated that his sleep was interrupted. He was exhausted.

"I just wanted to hear your voice."

"..."

"Ulqui?"

"... Are you drunk?"

"Nope, I'm completely sober-"

"Goodnight, Grimmjow."

Click.

Grimmjow stared at the phone. Ulquiorra had hung up on him.

Attempt Number Two

Well, his first attempt was a bust. But that did not mean he was going to give up. Grimmjow just had wrong timing in calling Ulquiorra. This time he was not going to fail. The second thing on the list was; The perfect man would attempt to look his best for you and will bring you out on a date. Since his first attempt went bust, Grimmjow decided to mix two of the things on the list together.

The other option he chose was; The perfect man would cook for you. And he must say that it was working. His date with Ulquiorra was going great. Ulquiorra had even complimented Grimmjow on his appearance, making Grimmjow swell with pride.

Of course, Ulquiorra was annoyed with him at first for his constant calls the day before, and Grimmjow even received a lecture on "boundaries" from Ulquiorra. But as soon as Grimmjow brought Ulquiorra to the park that they used to hang out at when they were teenagers, Ulquiorra's irritation gave way to curiosity. And when Grimmjow explained that he thought it would be nice if they had a picnic there with all of the food that he had prepared for them, Ulquiorra's expression softened. The change was slight, but Grimmjow knew him long enough to know that Ulquiorra was touched.

Ulquiorra sighed in contentment as he laid his head against Grimmjow's shoulder, his fingers curling and intertwining with Grimmjow's. The setting at the park was absolutely perfect and it suited the mood; the moon was out, granting them some of its light, stars were sprinkled across the black blanket of sky, and the weather was just right, too; cooling. And Ulquiorra looked so cute today and was in a good mood. He was even enjoying the food that Grimmjow had prepared.

Grimmjow fingered the box containing the engagement ring he had bought for Ulquiorra in his pocket. At this rate, he could propose to Ulquiorra right now.

Oh, yes. Grimmjow felt like he was on top of the world.

"Grimmjow," Ulquiorra said.

He was going to get married to Ulquiorra.

"Yeah?" Grimmjow nuzzled Ulquiorra's hair.

He was going to get married.

"The food is great and everything, but-"

Soon, Ulquiorra was going to be his wife.

What, did you think Grimmjow was going to be the one wearing the dress?

Ulquiorra made a face. "This sandwich tastes odd. Did you wash the vegetables in this?"

Grimmjow snapped out of his daydream. "Yeah, I did," he said happily. "I even used soap."

"... You mean vegetable wash?"

"No." Grimmjow knitted his eyebrows together in confusion. What was vegetable wash anyways? "I used regular soap."

Ulquiorra spat out the sandwich.

Due to his sensitive stomach, Ulquiorra spent the rest of the night with a rather nasty stomach ache.

Attempt Number Three

The magazine told him that "The perfect man would serenade to you".

And that was exactly what Grimmjow was going to do.

Though singing love songs was not exactly his forte, or even singing, for that matter, he was going to give it a try. He even came prepared, having strapped a guitar to his back. After all, he did mess up their previous date. Ulquiorra had wound up with a bad stomach ache and Grimmjow had to, at one point, hold Ulquiorra's hair back as he threw up the contents from his stomach. What happened after was that Grimmjow received a lesson from Ulquiorra on how to wash vegetables properly. Oh, Ulquiorra was definitely not happy with him. So this was a good way to apologise to Ulquiorra.

Grimmjow was now in Ulquiorra's garden, trying to find the window to Ulquiorra's room. It was night so the only sources of light that he had were from the moon and the streetlights. And by the looks of the houses with the lights turned off, he could safely assume that most of the residents of the neighbourhood were fast asleep. Which was a good thing, because he was sure that Ulquiorra would not like his neighbours to see this.

Noting the facts that the curtains were drawn and that the lights in Ulquiorra's house were switched off as well, which probably meant that Ulquiorra was already fast asleep, Grimmjow bent down and picked up a few pebbles from the ground.

Well, here goes nothing.

He threw the pebbles at Ulquiorra's window one by one, careful not to throw them too hard. Waking Ulquiorra up should not be too hard, especially since the man was quite a light sleeper. Sure enough, the window was pushed open seconds later and Ulquiorra looked out groggily, wondering who on Earth was calling him out at this time of night.

When his eyes focused on a certain blue haired man in his garden, Ulquiorra looked at him in disbelief. "Grimmjow??"

"Hey, there, Ulqui." Grimmjow grinned, waving at Ulquiorra.

"What are you doing here? Do you have any idea what time it is??" Ulquiorra hissed.

"I'm here." Grimmjow took out his guitar, and strummed it once. "To serenade to you."

"What??"

"I'm going to serenade to you," Grimmjow repeated.

"Are you an idiot? No, stop strumming that guitar! You'll wake the neighbours up!"

"Relax," Grimmjow tried to reassure him. "I've got everything under control. Now, let me start. Oh, Ulquiorra~"

"No, don't! Grimmjow!"

"Your eyes are so green and pretty~"

"The neighbours will hear you!"

"Your skin glows like the moon~"

But Ulquiorra was no longer listening. Instead, he seemed to be looking at something behind Grimmjow, his eyes wide. The raven haired man paled. And that was saying something, because he was already pale. "Grimmjow..." he whispered.

"Yeah, Baby?" Grimmjow said absentmindedly.

Ulquiorra lifted up his arm and pointed at something behind Grimmjow.

"Huh?" Grimmjow looked behind and saw a large, black dog growling at him with its canines bared and its hackles raised. Oh, shit.

He had completely forgotten about Ulquiorra's crazy dog, Murcielago.

Grimmjow never ran away so quickly in his entire life.

"Oh my God, you mean the kitty got chased by a dog?" Nnoitra guffawed.

Even Neliel, who was more polite than Nnoitra, could not help giggling. Grimmjow was just too precious.

"Shut up, Jiruga." Grimmjow sulked.

He really was not in the mood for this. Not only was his serenade to Ulquiorra totally and utterly ruined, but he got chased by Murcielago. Stupid dog. But then again, dogs were never friends of his. After that fiasco, Ulquiorra had to calm Murcielago down and chain the dog up lest he started chasing Grimmjow again. Grimmjow could feel the heat rise up to his face at the memory. He groaned, lowering his head to his hands miserably.

"Now, now," Neliel said after she had gotten over her fit of giggles, laying a hand on her fiancé's knee to get him to quiet down. She turned her grey eyes to Grimmjow. "Look here, Grimmjow. If you really are serious about this, then there's something you can do."

"Like?" Grimmjow said unhappily. He doubted that anything Odershvank was going to suggest was going to work. He had had enough of love advice; he had even thrown that magazine away as proof of this.

And so, Neliel told him.

"Hey..." Grimmjow perked up. "That might just work."

Attempt Number Four

Well, so far so good. There has not been a single mishap since their date began over an hour ago, and they had even finished their dinner without interruption. No arguments, no food poisoning, no crazy dog... Absolutely nothing. And for that, Grimmjow was thankful; he did not want Ulquiorra to think that dating him was bad luck. Ulquiorra already found his behaviour nowadays weird, he definitely did not need Ulquiorra to not want to go out with him anymore.

At first, Ulquiorra was reluctant to go out with him, especially since what had happened during their previous date that involved food was so deeply engraved in his mind. It took a lot of persuading on Grimmjow's part, but in the end, he had managed to get Ulquiorra to agree to go out with him when he reassured Ulquiorra that he was not in any way going to cook, much to the raven haired man's relief.

This move, this was going to be his final attempt. If he was going to succeed, it was going to be with this. Neliel's plan was so simple, yet so romantic that there was no way that it could fail. Even Ulquiorra, who was not much of a romantic, would be able to recognize the beauty of it. Grimmjow was so immersed in his thoughts of Ulquiorra in a tux (or perhaps a wedding dress if he could persuade Ulquiorra to wear one) that he did not hear what his boyfriend was saying to him.

"Grimmjow!"

"Ehh?" Grimmjow blinked, focusing his vision on a slightly miffed Ulquiorra. "Sorry about that. I was just thinking. What were you saying?"

Ulquiorra closed his eyes and sighed. "I really wish you wouldn't zone out while I'm speaking to you, Grimmjow," Ulquiorra said, leaning back in his seat. "I was just commenting on how expensive this place must be. What's the occasion?"

"Occasion?" Grimmjow echoed.

"Yes, occasion."

"Oh, it's nothing." The teal haired man raised his glass of wine, gave a devilish smile, then drank from it. "I just thought that it would be nice to eat at places like this once in awhile."

"Hmm."

Silence.

From the tone of Ulquiorra's voice, Grimmjow knew that he was not convinced, but Ulquiorra was going to understand soon enough. Grimmjow fidgeted in his seat. Where was that damned waiter? He was getting nervous. He had signalled the waiter as soon as they finished their dinner, so the man was supposed to be here by now.

"Grimmjow." Ulquiorra set down the fork that he had been fiddling with.

"Yeah?"

Ulquiorra paused, wondering how he should put his words. "You have been behaving rather odd lately," he said slowly, "Even for you."

"I have?" Grimmjow responded distractedly. He had spotted the waiter. The pink haired man was carrying a silver platter with two glasses of wine on it, and one of the glasses had something sparkling at the bottom of the wine. It was a ring.

"Yes," Ulquiorra continued. He murmured a "thanks" to the waiter when the man set the glass down in front of him. "Enjoy" was all the waiter said before bowing and withdrawing, a knowing smirk on his face. Ahh couples in love. He had seen things like this happen so many times that he had lost count. "First, it was the calls. Then, you decided to serenade me. And somehow, I get the feeling that you are hiding something from me."

Another sigh. "To be honest, I'm getting worried." Ulquiorra raised the glass to his lips, and let it stay there, making Grimmjow's heart jump.

The moment was coming.

"If there's something you'd like to talk to me about-"

Ulquiorra was going to see the ring.

"- just say it."

And he was going to get Ulquiorra's answer.

"I'm always ready to listen."

And with that said, Ulquiorra immediately downed the entire glass of wine in one go. Grimmjow's eyes widened.

Holy sh-

At Grimmjow's house, Ulquiorra was resting on the couch, his arm covering his eyes. The raven haired man had been resting since they returned, and really, the tension was killing Grimmjow. After drinking the wine in one go like that, Grimmjow had to pull the Heimlich manoeuvre on him, causing Ulquiorra to choke out the ring, sending it flying across the room. What followed the incident involved Ulquiorra telling Grimmjow in a solemn voice that they needed to talk. And he had been silent ever since they got back.

Heck, he did not even look at Grimmjow.

Grimmjow bit his bottom lip, looking at anything, but Ulquiorra. The ring was back in his pocket; the waiter, Szayel, had found it and returned it to him. He drummed his fingers on the table nervously. It was never a good thing whenever Ulquiorra said that he wanted to talk. Because it usually meant that Ulquiorra was either very angry or upset over something that he did. And right at this moment, the teal haired man could think of many reasons why his lover could be upset with him. In the course of less than a month, Grimmjow had irritated his boyfriend with constant calls which Ulquiorra described as "overstepping boundaries", gave him food poisoning, woke him up at an ungodly hour to serenade to him, and had also caused him to choke on a ring. Any of these could be the reason why Ulquiorra wanted to have a talk with him, just take your pick.

A groan.

The older man froze. Slowly, as he dared himself to look, he turned his gaze from the potted plant in the corner to Ulquiorra. The raven haired man was massaging his temple, the expression on his face almost one of pain. Emerald eyes were screwed shut, and a hiss escaped from pale lips. It seemed that Ulquiorra was having a headache. Grimmjow almost wanted to say something when the younger quieted down and lay still, his breaths returning to normal. Sapphire eyes fell to the ground, as though the answer of what he should do next would suddenly appear.

"I know you were looking at me."

Grimmjow snapped his eyes open and looked up just in time to see Ulquiorra sit up on the couch, still holding his head.

"Ulquiorra..."

"What exactly were you thinking, Grimmjow?" Emerald eyes bore into his, searching.

No reply.

Ulquiorra sighed. "You have that look on your face again. I know that look." He narrowed his eyes. "You're hiding something from me, aren't you?"

"..."

Pursing his lips, Ulquiorra scowled, but continued, nonetheless, talking slow, steady strides towards Grimmjow as he spoke. "Not only have you been acting strangely, but you also put something in my drink that made me choke?" Ulquiorra raised a hand to shush Grimmjow. He continued talking, his tone serious, "When I went to the washroom during dinner, the waiter said something strange to me. Something about my boyfriend having prepared a big surprise for me."

The older man tried to speak, but was speechless. Why was Ulquiorra so angry?

"But no matter what the surprise is, have some common sense! Of course if you put anything big in there I would choke. Are you trying to kill me?" Ulquiorra was closer now, so close that Grimmjow could feel Ulquiorra's warm breath tickling his cheek. Pale hands went up and fisted themselves in Grimmjow's front shirt, pulling him down until they were both eye to eye. "What is it that you are hiding from me? Every time I try to talk to you, you brush it off." Frustration was laced in his voice now that Ulquiorra had gotten the ball rolling. "What are you doing, Grimmjow?"

"I..."

"What is with you? You never acted like this before. All of this... Serenades, the calls... Are you trying to cover up something?"

!!!

Grimmjow's eyes widened for the second time that day. So that was what Ulquiorra thought. Damn it. He got it all wrong. He-

When Grimmjow did not answer him, a look of disappointment flickered in emerald eyes for a moment. But as soon as it appeared, the scowl returned, and Ulquiorra let go of Grimmjow's shirt, pushing him away slightly. "I see." His voice was soft, yet incredibly clear to the teal haired man's ears. "So you really are hiding something from me." He went to the coat stand and took his coat, pulling it on. "I think it is about time I go back home."

At that, something in Grimmjow snapped.

"You've got it all wrong, Ulquiorra!"

"Oh?" Ulquiorra raised an eyebrow. He turned around fully so that he could face the taller man. "And what have I got wrong?"

"Everything."

"Everything," Ulquiorra repeated. "So I was wrong about you hiding something from me?"

"No, but-"

"Was I wrong about you doing all of that because of something else?"

"No-"

"So I'm not wrong. I will see you next week, Grimmjow."

"Damn it...!" Grimmjow cursed under his breath. "I only did all of that because-"

"Because what?"

Jaegerjaquez took a deep breath. "Because I wanted to propose to you."

Now it was Ulquiorra's turn to be speechless. The raven haired man blinked, unable to believe what he had just heard. "Propose to me...?"

"Yeah," the teal haired man laughed bitterly. "But that's not gonna happen, huh? Because you hate me." Grimmjow fell to his knees, suddenly feeling drained. Silence stretched between the two of them, and Grimmjow could only look at the ground while Ulquiorra just stood there, staring at him with wide eyes, not knowing what to do. He should have expected this. Grimmjow closed his sapphire eyes. Ulquiorra was, after all, Ulquiorra. Caught up in his delusions of romance, he had completely forgotten that Ulquiorra was not one for things like this. If he had not made his move, if he had not taken the initiative to get to know Ulquiorra more, they would not be where they were right now.

Soft footsteps could be heard.

Ulquiorra was probably leaving now, wasn't he?

A soft rustle of clothes.

And then Ulquiorra was right in front of him, kneeling so that they were on the same level. "Grimmjow..." He took one of Grimmjow's hands, and squeezed it, making the older look up at him. Ulquiorra's expression was soft. He did not look angry anymore. "This kind of thing." He cupped Grimmjow's cheek, pressing his pale palm against warm, tan skin. "You don't need to do all of that. All you needed to do was to just ask me."

"So..." Grimmjow still wanted to hear the answer from Ulquiorra's lips. "Will you marry me, Ulquiorra Cifer?"

Ulquiorra smiled gently. "Of course."

And with that said, he pressed his lips against Grimmjow's forehead, making Grimmjow's eyes flutter close and melting away all of his worries.

- x -

OMAKE: Ulquiorra's view

- x -

Now that Grimmjow was in the kitchen preparing something for them to drink to "celebrate", Ulquiorra looked at the ring that now adorned his engagement finger. As of today, he was officially Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez's fiancé. The ring itself was beautiful, the gold and the diamond went together perfectly, with the diamond sparkling softly under the light; it must have cost Grimmjow a fortune to buy this for him. And that thought, along with all of the effort (though most of his attempts failed) his boyfriend had put into trying to propose to him touched his heart. The only problem?

The ring was meant for women.

Idiot. Shaking his head, Ulquiorra chuckled, and his heart lifted when he saw Grimmjow emerge from the kitchen with two glasses of alcohol, looking like he was the happiest man in the world. He smiled. Grimmjow may be an idiot, but he was his idiot after all. And be it through thick or thin, he was going to stand by this man no matter what.

NOTE: Yes, you can get sick if you eat soap, but it depends on how strong your stomach is (and how much you consume, so I assume that Grimmjow left quite a bit behind XP).

DIOR CRYSTAL: As requested by ChiharuSato22, the winner of the fanfiction contest on the GrimmUlquiFC on deviantart. Not my usual style, I know x) Her request was for an incredibly cracky fic with a fluffy ending. This is for you, Chiharu. Congratulations, once again!