MHA #2 | Wednesday Evening

[knife_bender]

So the idea had been to go out to eat after spending time in a haunted corn maze (benefit of your anniversary being near Halloween), but by the time it was all over both Diego and Annie were too covered in dirt and straw to really be allowed into a place that wasn't Denny's.

Of course they could have had some self-restraint and not have gone so hard racing through the maze, but they wouldn't be Diego and Annie if they didn't.

That was fine. It had been a fun time, and pizza was always good. Especially when it was timed perfectly and dropped off at the apartment door just as they were getting back.

[For the person who's been his girlfriend for 365 days]

Comments

[knife_bender]

"What to do when your future in-law throws you through a wall?" Too soon?

[defenderofdesmoines]

That statement shouldn't have made Annie smile like that, but it did. (It wasn't the 'through a wall' part, of course.) "How to break your future mother-in-law out of jail and somehow make her love you in the process," she supplied, her smile turning a little shy.

It was still so new to talk about. She didn't want to somehow say the wrong thing and have him change his mind.

[knife_bender]

Judging from Diego's smile, he was more than okay with it. "That was totally my thinking at the time. I'm going to marry this woman, better make sure her mom likes me."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Wouldn't change anything if she didn't, for the record," Annie assured him, her smile widening. "But now she's, like, asking if I'm bringing 'that nice young man with the hand' home with me for Thanksgiving."

Which was a sort of roundabout way of getting it out there that he was totally invited home with her for the holidays this year, too.

[knife_bender]

"Didn't you almost go crazy when you went there for Thanksgiving last year?" he teased.

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Well, a lot of that was that I had finally had sex with this really cute guy, like, right before I left," Annie pointed out, coloring a little in spite of having had sex with that very same really cute guy literally probably hundreds of times by now. "But I also won't have to work, and my aunts and cousins are coming so it might not actually suck?"

And also she could maybe have sex with that really cute guy in her childhood bedroom! Or maybe a very cold cornfield!

[knife_bender]

"That sounds a bit better." And he had put her through a lot with his family, so he definitely owed her here. "What are the chances your mom lets us sleep in the same room?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

Annie considered that, finishing her pizza, and landed on, "Slim, even if I tell her I'm gonna marry you someday," and cue her just beaming all over again, "but I also bet we're both sneakier than she'd expect."

And honestly if Donna went prowling around to see if her almost-twenty-four year-old daughter's thirty year-old boyfriend had found his way to her bed, then she deserved whatever clutching of her pearls ended up occurring over such a thing.

[knife_bender]

"Oh for sure." Diego knew he was sneakier than most, anyway. "I'm sure we'd manage. We usually do."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I sleep away from you half the week, anyway," Annie said, moving over to loop an arm around him now that pizza was accomplished. "Unfair to demand I get worse sleep in my own house. And on a holiday."

[knife_bender]

"That would be a tragedy," he said, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Hold still, you've got more straw..."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Still?" This was what you got when you took corn mazes seriously, clearly, though Annie took the opportunity to not hold still, instead opting to tilt her head up to press a kiss against his jaw. "I guess taking some straw home with us is a better alternative to being brutally murdered with a chainsaw."

[knife_bender]

"That would have been pretty gruesome," Diego said, ignoring the straw in favor of tilting his neck to get more kisses. "You would have broken the chainsaw, though."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I mean, probably," Annie agreed, though it was a little muffled by a kiss or two. "Bad surprise for that guy."

Again, great movie.

"The clowns were kind of worse," she decided. "Like, I know I can take a chainsaw, but psychological torture via clown? Yikes."

[knife_bender]

"The clowns are just creepier," he agreed, lazily running his fingers along Annie's shoulder. "Still, amazing idea for our anniversary. Way better than anybody else's."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Outstanding idea," Annie agreed with a happy sigh, nuzzling lightly at his ear. "I mean, I would have been happy doing anything as long as it was with you."

Again, you got a free pass to be cheesy as fuck on your anniversary.

(Though this also wasn't a real change from the other 364 days of the year.)

[knife_bender]

"Anything?" he repeated. "There's not one activity where you would draw the line?"

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Well, if you're gonna challenge me about it -- no, I sincerely think that even the most miserable thing would be more fun with you," Annie told him, pulling back to look at him. "Like, it might still suck to...I don't know, have to clean up sewage, but it would be better with you there."

A pause. "I mean, I'm glad we're not cleaning up sewage for our anniversary." Just in case, like, the island was listening or something.

[knife_bender]

Diego grinned. "No, I wouldn't want to either, but you saying that is very romantic."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"Well, I mean it," Annie told him, smiling before leaning in to kiss him again. "Everything's better with you. My life is better with you."

[knife_bender]

"Mine is too," he said, sliding his hand against the side of her neck, wanting to keep her close. "I love you. I have a million reasons to want my siblings back, and getting to marry you is definitely one or a thousand of them."

[defenderofdesmoines]

"I love you, too," Annie murmured, leaning into that touch and smiling. "It's, like, extra motivation to find your siblings. We get everyone back, throw a big party and make this thing legal as a reward?"

Sounded pretty great to her, actually.

[knife_bender]

"I love that plan," Diego said, leaning in to kiss her again.

It was a pretty great plan. Though likely not to go exactly to plan considering the people involved.

[defenderofdesmoines]

What? Things always went smoothly for them. Especially when his siblings were involved. There was like, no possible chance that this eventual wedding would involve somehow having to fight crime between the obligatory reading of First Corinthians and the vows.

Annie slid her arms up around his neck, staying close with a soft little exhale. And, like, the best thing about all of this was that there was no obligation at all to not stay close -- she lived here and this was their life and not just a one-day thing that they were celebrating, and she was just so happy.

So happy she was going to kind of see about moving into his lap, in fact. Some things were classics for a reason.

[knife_bender]

Her in his lap was basically one of Diego's favorite things, so there would be no complaints coming from him. He got both of his hands on her waist to keep her steady.

Falling would be bad. They would absolutely push through it, but what a delay.