Harsh

♡ vingt-six ♡

Jacob had thought about it. He'd thought about it long and hard, only not about whether or not he wanted to do it, because he would do it in a heartbeat, but about the outcome it would bring from the public. He'd been single for thirty-two years, and when he'd been matched with Troye everything had blown up. Paparazzi followed him everywhere, even more so than they had, and with the news about their babies things hadn't changed. And yet Jacob still wanted it. He still wanted to propose to Troye.

He used to think that marriage was something he wouldn't have time for, he had never felt the need to be married. Before Troye, he always figured that if he was matched with a sub then he would take care of that sub and that he would most likely love him, but again that was before Troye. He had no idea that Troye would be his world, his light, his universe. Yet Troye had crept in all blue eyed, soft, and shy, and somehow he melted Jacob's heart and broke down the Dom's walls. All things but Troye ceased to be important. Even his job, which had once been his pride and joy, the thing he devoted everything he had to, was no longer as relevant to him as the small curly haired boy that could win Jacob over with a crinkly eyed smile or a shyly induced cuddle. Jacob wanted to marry him. Everyone would know then that Troye was his and he was Troye's. He didn't give a shit about what other people thought, but he did want himself and Troye to be able to leave the house upon occasion, so he figured that when he proposed it would be in his best interest to not let the paparazzi see or spread the news before they were ready. However, Jacob wasn't quite sure how to go about the procedure. He didn't necessarily want to look for rings with Troye, because he didn't want Troye to know what he was planning. It would also be less noticeable to look for rings on his own without his pregnant sub.

Troye's tummy was highly noticeable.
And so when Troye was twenty-three weeks pregnant and preoccupied by playing Mario kart with Tommy, Jacob turned to the person who had helped him greatly in the past. "Luke, can we talk in the kitchen?" Jacob requested. Luke nodded and gently slid Tommy from his lap, kissing the blonde's head. Both Dom's had been reading, or in Jacob's case pretending to read as he thought about how to propose to Troye. The sub looked up from his game in slight concern, but Jacob offered him a reassuring smile and he went back to his game. The dark haired Dom led the way to the kitchen, Luke following close behind him. Jacob only hoped that Luke could give him some sort of advice. As he turned to face the other man, Luke was already looking a tad concerned. "Everything okay?" he asked. "You don't have to make another trip, do you? And if you do you really should take Troye because-" "No other trips," Jacob assured softly, and he ran his hand nervously over his hair. "But... I want to do something. Something big."

"Are Tommy and I being kicked out?" Luke's face grew more concerned. "No!" Jacob said immediately. "Goodness, no. Nothing like that. I just, like. I want to propose." Luke blinked in confusion, "Propose an idea... a toast?" "To Troye," Jacob whispered. "I want to propose to Troye." The doctor's eyes grew large, but then his entire face lit up as he clapped Jacob on the shoulder, "That is big! And fantastic! That's wonderful Jacob, I'm very happy for you both." "Well I haven't asked him yet, so we shouldn't get our hopes up," Jacob pointed out. "He can't deny me as a Dom really, but he could deny me as a husband."

"Troye would never be able to deny you anything, what are you talking about?" Luke scoffed. "You went on a trip for like a day and a half without him and he was miserable because he missed you so much." Jacob gave a slight smile, "Yeah, well he's pregnant and hormonal, it's probably the only reason." Luke shook his head in disagreement, "He has a very strong... emotional attachment to you." "But anyway," Jacob said quickly, trying to keep a blush from his cheeks. He never blushed, especially in front of others.

"I want to propose to Troye. But I need a ring. The reason I'm consulting you about it is because you- well sometimes I have the inability to know how to make someone happy because I end up thinking about myself but I know that you-" "I don't know if I can think of a time when you put yourself before Troye," Luke was examining Jacob closely. "I'll go with you of course, but you have to pick the ring." Jacob sighed, "I just hope I can pick one that he'll like." Luke laughed exasperatedly, "Jacob think about it. Troye doesn't really care about fancy things, I'm sure you could give him a paper ring and he would still be over the moon because you're proposing to him. When do you want to look for rings?"