A Wrench in the Gears [Damien Haas]

24. It's time to get this bread.

"Woah...," I mumble to myself as soon as I finish cleaning and lie down on our couch. "I can't believe I cleaned all that... and it's only nine?"

It felt like a new chapter somehow, and I was happy with what I had done. I cleaned out the parts of our lives that felt invaluable to me and it felt good. There were so many hurdles that Damien and I had to face in the first year of our relationship, and now it all feels like relief and comfort being with him. We had everything we wanted in life.

I look at my hand. Not everything yet. Even though I've been with him for a good year, we were not getting married quite yet. The clock ticks a bit loudly, and I realize that we're both growing a little older each day. When would he pop the question? Would he pop the question to me? Am I thinking that everything's going so fast?

The doorbell rings, and Damien comes in with his blue umbrella and his backpack from work. "Hey!" he greets me before closing the door behind him. "Ooh, umbrella holder. Nice!"

"Hi," I greet him back, and he kisses me on the cheek. "Ooh, you seem joyful today. What's up?"

"I have the best girlfriend in the world, that's what's up," he answers, smiling before embracing me and spinning. "My best anchorwoman girlfriend! Oh, God. I'm so proud of you. You were always made for this, and you're finally getting the one you deserve."

"AAAAA, PUT ME DOWN!" I shout at him, laughing. When he puts me down, he doesn't stop embracing me. "Thanks, baby. Where'd you learn the news?"

"Lily came by Ian's office today and she told it to him," he says. "I was wondering why you weren't texting me."

"I was cleaning." I point at the different areas I've cleaned, and he takes my hand before running upstairs. He puts his bag down at the table in our bedroom and jumps into the bed with me, laughing.

"We are literally peaking at this time of our lives," he tells me, sighing and smiling. "I kinda miss the days we would just lie down and eat some dinner while watching whatever anime we've been watching. It's all about work and work and work... and sleeping at different schedules. But oh, boy, that's gonna change!"

I look at him, saying, "You are extraordinarily happy today. Tell me, what's up?"

He looks back at me and takes his phone from his pocket before showing it to me. "Just read what it says."

So I do read what it says, and my eyes widen. "Woah. Is this for real?"

"Yeah!" he exclaims. "It's our first FBE react together. They called me earlier to ask me when we're both available, and I told them, 'Hey, my girlfriend's getting a big promotion at her job today, so I'll call you again when she sorts out her schedule and we're both available.' And they agreed to it! I'm just... just overwhelmed that we're being guested and the name they'll be using for us is 'Damien Haas & Jade Greene from Smosh's Why We're Good at Dating.' We just made ourselves a brand."

"So we're actually doing this?" I ask him, smiling. "I mean, I'm exhilarated we're doing this. I'm available this Friday, so..."

"After that, we can get dinner if you want," he adds.

"So it's a date!" I exclaim.

"Ahhh, I miss our dates!" he shouts.

"Me too," I mumble. "You know, I cleaned out so many parts of the house tonight. That's why we have an umbrella holder now."

"I love you," he says suddenly, holding my hand.

"Um, what's up?"