Many thanks to MrsJackHarkness for the beta on this one! Song is 'Marry You' by Bruno Mars. Altogether inspired by an episode of Glee.

It was the gold number, he was sure of it. If it wasn't for a mere scrap of gold lamè and her hair, God her hair, all swept out of her face like that and what she did with that grey kohl pencil (not that he knew what a kohl pencil was…) that ever possessed him to do it.

Is it the look in your eyes,
Or is it this dancing juice?
Who cares baby,
I think I wanna marry you.

It was a secret. Only they knew. Not even Shaz saw it they were so careful that they weren't caught. Alex wanted it that way. He wanted to shout it from the rooftops that they'd been shagging since Mac's suicide. Not just shagging. They were a couple who did couple-y things like shopping at 'Tesco's' half an hour away so no-one they knew saw them together. And they did their laundry together. He was staying over most nights, without fail. They were definitely a couple and it definitely frustrated him that he couldn't tell anyone about it.

Well I know this little chapel on the boulevard we can go,
No one will know,
Come on girl.
Who cares if we're trashed got a pocket full of cash we can blow,
Shots of patron,
And it's on girl.

Bloody gold lamè. It was lucky he had self-control or he'd have a hard-on the size of a redwood. Not that he really knew what a redwood was either, he'd read it in one of Shaz's 'Mills and Boone' novels he'd swiped on a quiet day.

Don't say no, no, no, no, no;
Just say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah;
And we'll go, go, go, go go.
If you're ready, like I'm ready.

It was either the gold lamè or the soddin' champagne. Cheap stuff, not the good stuff, not Bollinger. Bolly. God, he was obsessed with the woman. Wasn't used to the stuff. Went straight to his head. Maybe that's why he said it. Too many bubbles. Too much lycra in the dress. It would be too stretchy when he ripped it off her afterwards…

'Cause it's a beautiful night,
We're looking for something dumb to do.
Hey baby,
I think I wanna marry you.

Enough was enough. It was a ridiculous idea that literally just jumped into his head. It came from nowhere. But he simply had to and damn the consequences. He needed to know; needed to tell everyone she was his and therefore strictly off limits. He needed an outward symbol, a gold ring on her finger and badly. To tell her too. Prove to her this wasn't a fling, he was one hundred percent deadly serious about them and they had a future together.

Is it the look in your eyes,
Or is it this dancing juice?
Who cares baby,
I think I wanna marry you.

He couldn't stand it anymore, not for a single second. So he took the damn, fizzy champagne out of her hand and whisked her away from the WPC she was talking to and away, outside, before she could protest.

I'll go get a ring let the choir bells sing like oooh,

So whatcha wanna do?
Let's just run girl.
If we wake up and you wanna break up that's cool.
No, I won't blame you;
It was fun girl.

He pulled her up the stairs and kissed her as if he were dying, until he couldn't stand it anymore, until his need for oxygen turned the world red.

Don't say no, no, no, no, no;
Just say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah;
And we'll go, go, go, go, go.
If you're ready, like I'm ready.

Alex was gasping for air when he finally let her go and he began licking and kissing at her neck, tracing her jugular with his tongue.

'Cause it's a beautiful night,
We're looking for something dumb to do.
Hey baby,
I think I wanna marry you.

"Gene," she sighed. "Someone might see…"

"Don't give a shit."

Maybe it wasn't the gold lamè or too many bubbles in the champagne. Or the bloody kohl pencil. It may have been the lack of oxygen. He'd starved his brain into a stupor.

"Marry me," he gasped, still struggling to breathe.

She stilled. She froze. He suspected he'd made an almighty mistake.

Is it the look in your eyes,
Or is it this dancing juice?
Who cares baby,
I think I wanna marry you.

"What?"

"Nothing" He found a little spot beneath her ear, there was a vein there and he could feel her heart hammering through it.

"No, you said, 'marry me.'"

"Course I bloody didn't!"

"Yes you did!" She shoved him back off her, hard, her eyes were wild.

"Maybe I did." He looked down, sheepish. Shit. He'd screwed this up. Shit.

"Are you pissed?"

"No, I'm bloody not!" He was pretty sure he'd turned beet-red. Perhaps he'd get lucky and she wouldn't see in this light.

"You don't even love me," she said sadly.

Just say I do,
Tell me right now baby,
Tell me right now baby.
Tell me right now baby.

She was right. He had never told her. He was crap at being romantic and poofy and feelings but he did. With all his heart, every fiber of his body. She knew that, didn't she?

The look in her eyes nearly broke him. She looked terrified. Like someone had told her Armageddon was happening, right now, right this very second. Quietly, as if he were approaching a spooked racehorse, he approached her. Very slowly. One step, then two until he was very sure she wasn't going to run away. Then he cupped her face in his hands. Gently. Slowly. And he looked into her beautiful eyes.

"I love you."

A kiss; long and slow. It was okay if she couldn't say it back, he knew she was trying to get home.

"I love you," he told her again. Another kiss. Reassuring.

Then he was at her neck again, whispering into the porcelain flesh he found there,

"Marry me."

Cause it's a beautiful night,
We're looking for something dumb to do.
Hey baby,
I think I wanna marry you.

He was a man possessed. He couldn't help it. She intoxicated him. Always had. He'd known from the first second he'd seen her.

Her body relaxed, yielded against his. Her legs were jelly, shaking, if he hadn't been holding her up she would've fallen.

"Gene…"

"You don't have to…"

"I love you." Her voice was breathy. "Yes."

"Yes?" He never in a million years thought she'd go along with this crazy charade.

"Yes." And then she grinned, her face lighting up. She was simply radiant. "Yes, right now."

"Right now?"

"Right now, yes, yes, yes."

"Everyone will know."

"I don't care, I'm sick of secrets."

"Me too, Bolly, me too."

"Unbreakable?" She looped her little finger with his and offered him a shy smile.

"Unbreakable." he agreed.

Is it the look in your eyes,
Or is it this dancing juice?
Who cares baby,
I think I wanna marry you.

- end