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Story Link :
https://justcourttee.tumblr.com/post/628536067086270464/the-never-ending-cycle-of-proposals
Masterpost Link :
https://justcourttee.tumblr.com/post/628382470392479744/the-ultimate-masterlist
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This was not how it was supposed to go.
Damian had made sure of it. He found and destroyed every contingency plan that Jason and the others had formed. He flew Marinette back to Paris, to her parent's bakery so that they could be a part of the moment. There should be no possible way things could go sideways.
Clearly he had underestimated the members of Date Duty.
"-and then Marinette fell down the stairs! Can you believe it? It was her big debut at the Wayne Gala as Damian's girlfriend and this girl got so nervous that she tripped over her own two feet."
"That's our Marinette. As graceful as ever."
A boisterous laughter filled Damian's ears as the bakery door snapped shut behind him. Checking his watch, he tried to recall how long he had been gone. It couldn't have been more than ten minutes. How did Jason get to Paris?
"Oh! Damian sweetie, look who just flew in to check in on us and low and behold, he didn't even know that you and Marinette had the exact same thought! How crazy is that?"
Damian plastered on his best fake smile as his eyes attempted to burn Jason's smirk off his face.
"Very crazy indeed Sabine. Do you mind if my brother and I excuse ourselves for a moment?"
"Oh! Not at all, we should really be getting ready to open anyways. Please, feel free to head up to the apartment. Marinette should be back from Alya's soon, but make yourselves at home boys."
They both nodded as Damian stalked behind Jason, forcing him to take the steps two at a time. As Jason threw open the door, he finally released the laughter that he had been holding back.
"I really didn't think you were going to make it. If you actually had any powers, I would've been scared for my life down there."
"I don't need powers to kill you Todd."
Jason reached out to ruffle Damian's hair, his smirk only fueling the smaller boy's rage.
"What are you doing here Todd? This was supposed to be a relaxing vacation for Marinette to see her parents. You are neither relaxing or her parents."
"Oh don't be coy with me Dami, I know what you're really here for, we all do in fact. Did you really think you could get away with proposing to Marinette without getting through us first? You only tore up some fake plans, plans meant to lure you into revealing when you were going to propose. Considering how quick you were to get Marinette on a plane without saying goodbye tells me you plan on doing it this week."
Damian counted backward from ten as he tried to consider all of his options left. He had taken into consideration that the plans could be fake, but there should've been no way that they could've tracked him to Paris. He paid in cash at the airport for the tickets and flew economy, economy for crying out loud!
"I thought your whole little club was to protect Marinette from heartbreak, there was no mention of protecting her from proposals."
"Oh, but that's where you're wrong Damian." The look on Jason's face was unnerving to say the least, but Damian refused to back down. This was his girlfriend, his soon to be finance, and the only woman he wanted to love for the rest of his life. There was no way he would let some street rat like Jason stop him.
"I refuse to allow you to ruin this Todd."
"Allow implies that you think you have control over this and I can assure you that you don't. Marinette will not be leaving Paris with a ring on her finger, marriage is out of the question. You are lucky that we have allowed you two to be together for so long. You are too dangerous for her demon spawn and marriage places an even larger target on her back than the one she already has."
"Are you prepared to be defeated protecting your ideals Todd?"
"Are you Damian?"
Damian felt the low growl in the back of his throat itching it's way forward. He was so close to Jason's face, he could end this right here and now, throw him in the guest room and never look back.
"Damian? Jason? What are you two doing here? And alone at that?"
Both turned their attention to the door where Marinette stood, a sheepish expression on her face as if she could feel the tension radiating off the two men.
"Hey princess! I was just stopping by to check in on your parents and I definitely had no idea that you and Damian were here! You two lovebirds should've told someone before running off to Paris like that."
Jason pulled Marinette into a tight hug, sticking his tongue out behind her head at Damian.
"Well, I did. I told Adrien just in case anything happened."
One look at Jason's smug expression and Damian knew. One little blonde went racing to his brother before he and Marinette had even boarded the plane.
"Oh that's good then, I'm glad someone knew. I'll leave you two alone now, after all, I have places to be and people to see and I'm sure you have a wonderful vacation planned for Damian here."
Marinette nodded with little enthusiasm as she waved bye to Jason, locking the door behind him.
"Damian, what was that about?"
He shook his head as he pulled her forward placing a small kiss on her forehead.
"I wish I knew habibti."
《○》《○》《○》
Damian was on full alert for the next couple of days, unable to relax and enjoy his time with Marinette's family for fear that one of his nemesis would pop out at any moment and steal the ring hidden safely inside his coat pocket. Every once in a while, he would find his hand absentmindedly searching for the box, just as a reassurance that it was still there.
He wasn't scared of the members of Date Duty, but he was scared that the moment that he had planned out for so long would be ruined by a handful of imbeciles.
"Oh look! It's Chloe and Luka! I didn't know they were in town."
Damian's attention became hyper focused as he narrowed in on the suspicious couple waving them over. There was no way that two members of Jason's little club decided to fly back on the same week that he and Marinette did.
He smiled and shook hands with Luka as they chatted idly for a few minutes. Marinette promised to catch up with them later before leaning in to hug Chloe. The blonde turned her attention to him as she leaned in and hugged him bye as well. Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing suspicious, nothing-
"Fuck."
Damian's hand went straight to his now empty pocket. He searched frantically to be sure that it hadn't fallen in any holes that he wasn't aware of, but alas, it was gone. Marinette held onto his hand tightly, concern filling her eyes, but he waved her off.
If that's how Todd wanted to play, then fine. Damian was ready. It was time for Jason to bring it on.
《○》《○》《○》
Damian wasn't sure how he thought the rest of the week would play out, but this was not it.
Monday he had gone to buy another ring when he ran into Tony Stark. He claimed he was there to get his wife a unique gift from Paris. Turns out a unique gift meant buying her every jewelry store in Paris, or at least majority shares, effectively destroying Damian's chances of finding a new ring.
Tuesday he decided to just propose without the ring, after all, it just meant she could pick out a new one whenever they hit stateside again. They had made it all the way to the top of the Eiffel Tower, watching the sunset with her curled into his side as they leaned on the railing. He wanted to wait until the tower had cleared a bit, right when the sun dipped below the horizon, but much to his fear a large squeal erupted from the platform.
None other than Jagged Stone had decided to do an impromptu concert on top of the Eiffel Tower. Soon, between the noise and the crowd, Damian couldn't even think straight, much less make space to go down on one knee. They called it a night with the question still on the tip of his tongue.
By Wednesday, Sabine had caught on to the real reason they were there. She pulled him to the side along with Tom where the both offered her engagement ring. Damian finally felt like he had caught a break. How foolish that was.
They walked into Marinette's favorite restaurant that night only to find out that it had been bought out for the night by the Agreste family. He apparently decided that this would be an excellent date night spot for him and Kagami.
Thursday came and went with no attempts made. He had barely made it out of bed when he heard two voices in the kitchen. Praying to whatever God would hear him, Damian opened the door only to feel his heart drop. Tim and Dick sat in the kitchen while Marinette heated up some coffee, telling her all about the business deal they were taking care of in Paris.
Lucky for them, they had a day off and wanted to spend it with their favorite couple.
As Friday's sun rolled in, Damian felt defeated.
"Mon amour, are you even listening?"
Damian nodded absentmindedly as he fiddled with the ring in his pocket.
"So do you want to go to this little reunion dinner tonight?"
"With who?"
"With my old classmates? I think Dick and Tim might stop by if they get out early today. Should be fun!"
He attempted a smile for her sake as he sent her a small nod. So on their last night in Paris, they all decided to gather in one spot making it impossible for Damian to sneak out with Marinette. It felt pretty foolproof.
"Damian, why have you been so out of it lately? This whole week you have been constantly checking over your shoulder. Are you worried about something?"
Marinette gathered his hand as she sunk on to the bed beside him.
"I just wanted this trip to be special, but a couple of special idiots have proved to make that nearly impossible. I don't know how you dealt with them over the years."
"Well, it felt nearly hopeless. I was convinced I was going to be single forever, but one man swooped in and saved me making me feel like there was nothing those special idiots could do. I'd like to think that he feels the same way when it comes to me. After all, a proposal doesn't need to be in some big memorable place, it just needs to be between two people who love each other."
Damian's mouth gaped like a fish out of water as he tried to stutter out a denial, but it was hopeless. His cheeks felt like they were a hundred degrees as her laughter floated through the air.
"How did you know?"
"Date Duty had been disabled for a year and a half now. For them to all conveniently show up in Paris on the same week that we did? Well I'm not a big believer in coincidences when it comes to that group."
Damian reached inside his pocket, pulling out the delicate ring that Sabine had given him a few days prior. A few tears formed in the corner of Marinette's eyes as she covered her splitting smile with her hand.
"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you have amazed me at every turn since the first time I saw you many years ago. You are a strong, creative, loving and beautifully confident woman. You are my first thought in the morning and my last as I drift to sleep at night. I can't imagine living with anyone else by my side. Please, will you marry me?"
Marinette nodded as she offered her left hand, allowing him to slip on her mother's ring. It was no where close to the proposal that he had planned, but as her lips crashed into his, it couldn't have made him happier.
Maybe when he saw Jason's little club tonight, he would thank them.
After all, they lead him to the woman he loved and without their persistence, his relationship wouldn't be as strong as it is today.
He had finally broken the never ending cycle, and man, did it feel good.
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This is not My Story.
Creator of the Story :
justcourttee/
@Fanfiction Attempts