No Better Version of Me Than When I'm With You

Chapter 1

"You can call it a marriage," Thomas laughed, "it's not like we have to worry about falling in love with each other. I mean, we've lived together for how long and I'm pretty sure if it was gonna happen, it would've by now." He leveled his gaze at Newt, who nodded.

"It's the best idea anyone's come up with so far, and I wouldn't have to move back home while we wait for the card to go through, I don't think." Newt said thoughtfully.

Thomas nodded, "Exactly. Sounds like a crazy plan, but is it really?"

"Yes." Newt said without hesitation, and Thomas laughed. "Me, marrying you, my best friend; just to get a green card? Isn't that something that happens in drama tv shows? But. . .it's doable, I'll give you that much."

Thomas grinned, scooting until he was hip to ankle next to Newt and throwing an arm around his shoulders. "So is that a yes?"

"Well-" Newt's gaze sharpened, and he grinned back at him. "You oughta do it right, if you're going to propose; and wait and see what I say."

It took Thomas only a second to catch on, and he hopped eagerly off the couch, casting around for something to fashion into a ring. He landed on a twist tie sitting on the kitchen counter and snatched it up.

"Newt." He twisted the tie into a circle shape and kneeled in front of the couch, directly in front of his best friend who grinned down at him. "Will you make me the happiest man in the world and give me the honor of marrying you? To set us up with a green card and tax breaks galore?" Newt rolled his eyes, but his grin sobered into a warm smile as Thomas held up the ring and waited, oddly anxious to see if he would say yes.

After several anxious seconds, Newt reached forward to grab his hands and pull him up. They stood as one and he plucked the makeshift ring out of his fingers to slide it onto his own, letting that be his answer as suddenly Thomas was pulled into a hug and a brief kiss was pressed to his cheek. "Yes, I'll marry you, Tommy."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Thomas couldn't help but laugh as he pulled out of the hug and let himself flop sideways onto the couch, tugging Newt with him; and then they sat there laughing their asses off, coming to the realization of what they had just agreed to do.

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It wasn't until the next day that everyone else found out about their plan, and Minho was the most vocal about his support. He had been teasing them for years about how they were already practically a couple, and hearing they were getting married seemed to only add fuel to the fire. He was insufferable, but Thomas was glad for the support despite the near-constant nudges and inappropriate jokes and teasing. In the end, he and Newt managed to get the point across of why exactly they were doing it, and that no, they hadn't gotten together in the process. Even both of their parents were excited, calling them brilliant for figuring a way forward that seemed to work for both of them.

They decided to have a small civil ceremony, only inviting a couple of their friends as witnesses, until Thomas' mother decided she had to show up to take photos of the ceremony. At first, Thomas didn't know if he should dress up into a tuxedo, until Brenda brought up a solid point: who was going to believe they'd actually gotten married if they went and signed papers and exchanged rings in their casual clothes? He didn't want to make a big deal out of it, honestly, but then he thought of seeing Newt in a tuxedo and excitement took hold. He'd seen Newt dressed up before, but not like this, not about to get married to him, no matter how fraudulent the reason, and it felt different somehow.

"You ready?" Thomas asked as they sat in the waiting room with several other couples in the city hall, waiting for their names to be called. They had filled out all the appropriate paperwork and got their marriage license, now all that needed to be done was the small ceremony where it was officiated and witnessed to make it legally binding, and they were all set.