“It’s not a bad idea, it’s not a bad idea, it’s not a bad idea,” Brooke whisper-chanted to herself as she paced in her living room. She felt ridiculous. She was wearing her tux, the same tux from Nate and Mel’s wedding. Rose petals were everywhere. She’d even lit every candle in her apartment, not letting herself worry about the clashing scents or the sure-to-be-concerning fire risk. While cheesy, she had to admit, it was pretty cute and undoubtedly romantic.
She heard Anna’s key in the lock and held her breath. She then also heard the sound of Anna dropping her keys. The sound brought an instant relief as it gave the slightest ounce of a reprieve. Brooke smiled as Anna finally pushed through the door.
“Honey?” Anna called out, stepping into the little dining area.
Brooke frowned, she hadn’t thought about Anna circumnavigating the living room altogether.“Yes, Darling?” She responded, hoping her voice would be enough to lure Anna in.
“I’ve had the longest day. Oh, did you order us pizza?” Anna asked, the question followed by the sounds of her opening a cabinet, clearly aiming to get a plate.“Why’d you get so much? Also, why did you get olives on one, only Nick likes that.” Anna gasped.“Did you and Nick hang out without me?”
Brooke pinched the bridge of her nose. How could she forget to account for Anna’s… delightful Anna-ness.“Um, yes, he and Christine came over earlier to help me with something.”
“Oh, fun. I’m sad I missed that. What did they help with?” There was only half a second pause before Anna all but yelled out her next thought.“Please tell me you brought up Vivienne and Allegra!”
“Darling, I’d love to show you what they helped me with.” Brooke let out a soft laugh, loving every second of this moment.
“Living room?” Anna called back.
“Yeah,” Brooke’s smile grew wider as she heard Anna moving closer.
Finally, her girlfriend stepped into view, her fancy new chef’s shirt a little worse for wear, a plate with leftover pizza piled high in her hands, and a confused look on her face as she took in the whole scene.
“What?” Anna asked, her voice an octave higher than normal.
Brooke held her poster out, letting Anna have a second to read it. She hadn’t done anything too fancy on it. It simply said: Will you move in with me?
Anna looked frozen. If it weren’t for her eyes watering, Brooke would have thought this was a horrible idea.
“What do you think?” Brooke asked, doing her best to not let her anxiety take over.
“Really? You want me to move in? Like officially?” Anna asked.
Brooke could hear the tremor in her voice. She nodded quickly, hoping to reassure Anna.“I really do. I know it’s fast, and if it’s too fast, I understand. I just… I can’t help it, Anna. I want to get to wake up next to you every morning. I want to make you coffee just how you like it. I want all of it. I want to be half asleep when you get home sometimes when you have to work late. You know, when I fall asleep reading on the couch, trying to wait up for you.” She let out a little laugh, just thinking about the handful of times that had happened. How Anna had kissed her cheeks, waking her up in the sweetest, most loving way possible and helping her shuffle into bed.
She continued, feeling much more confident now,“I want to be there for you when you don’t feel well and need your heating pad. I want to get invested in all of your ridiculous reality TV shows.” Brooke looked around the apartment.“This whole place has felt more like home to me from the second you stepped into it, mismatched socks and all. I’d be a fool to not ask you to be a permanent resident.”
Anna looked down at her plate of pizza and then quickly for a surface. When none sufficed, she made the executive decision of setting the plate on the floor before practically sprinting across the room. Brooke only barely startled, bracing for impact just before Anna slammed into her with the world’s happiest hug.“Yes,” Anna whispered before claiming Brooke’s mouth in a deliriously happy kiss.“Yes, Brooke, I would love to live with you,” she whispered again when they finally broke apart.
Brooke’s heart soared. She set the poster down on the back of the couch, having awkwardly held onto it for the duration of their kiss.“Good.” She took a deep breath.“I don’t even know how to express how happy I am right now.”
Anna kissed her again.“I can feel it.” She beamed up at Brooke.“So, you said Nick helped, huh?” She bit her bottom lip.
“He did,” Brooke looked around the room.“The decorations were his idea. Do you like them?”
Anna nodded.“It’s like the perfect kind of cheesy.”
“Good.” Brooke couldn’t stop smiling.
Anna couldn’t seem to stop kissing her either—not that Brooke minded—until she found herself completely out of breath with Anna on top of her on the couch. The only thing that finally interrupted them was Anna’s stomach growling.
“Darling?” Brooke asked in between kisses.“Should we take five minutes for you to finish your pizza?”
Anna giggled.“My floor pizza?”
Brooke coughed out a laugh.“That was a choice.”
“I was excited,” Anna groaned, blushing a deep red.“You’re not going to judge me if I eat it are you?”
Brooke shook her head, no.“It’s on a plate. It could be worse. I deep cleaned everything last night in preparation for today. So, in the grand scheme of things, it’s fine.”
