Requested by and dedicated to pasqualonely

~ Love, Reign o'er Me ~

Five minutes before four o'clock, I still wasn't ready to go. I had waited until the last second to shower and get dressed, and now here I was, rushing to tie my shoes. Roger had said to dress casually and warmly, so I did just that.

I was excited. And a little nervous. We'd been dating for three years now, and he'd almost always told me where our dates were going to take place. Why was today different? Was it because it was Valentine's day? Probably. Last time it had been a surprise was my birthday, and that quack had taken me to the market to show me a canned peas display he liked. Not that I hadn't enjoyed that, but it made me realize I truly had no idea what it could possibly be.

There was a knock on my door not long after I finished getting ready. I stood up and crossed the living room to open it, and there was Roger, holding a single purple flower.

"Hello, love. This is for you. Happy Valentine's Day." He held it out.

"Hey, Roger, thank you, and happy Valentine's Day. Do you want to come in for a moment?" I asked, taking the flower and admiring it.

"I'd love to, but we should be off. I've got a bunch of places I want us to get to."

"Alright then, give me one moment." I went to the kitchen and added the flower to a vase full of the others he'd brought me. "Ready. Where are we going?"

We stepped out of my flat and he spoke as I locked it. "Shan't tell you, you'll just have to wait and see."

"Fine, be that way. Let's go."

We went down the stairs and hopped into his car. I was still wondering where we were going, but I decided to drop the thought. I knew I'd never guess; instead I settled for watching the snowflakes fall against the window.

"Lovely day, isn't it?" Roger looked at me for a second.

"Yeah, it is. The snow is nice."

"Not as nice as you."

"Shut up," I laughed, making him grin. "Seriously, tell me where we're going. I can't figure it out though I've been trying to for hours. I'm going slightly mad."

"And I seriously won't tell you. Come on, it's a surprise. Do you want me to ruin it?"

"Yes, if it gives me some peace of mind."

"Too bad. I guess you'll have to go mad."

"And then you say you care for me," I huffed, turning to look at the snow again.

"Don't you ever doubt it," he shook a finger at me, and we both laughed.

He pulled the car to a stop, and it took me a second of looking around to notice we were at the park.

"The park? This was the huge surprise?"

"First of all, that hurt my feelings. Second, it's not the only place we're going to. Third, hold on a moment, it'll be fun."

"Okay, I'm sorry, I take it back. Let's go then."

Roger nodded and handed me a pair of snow-mittens. "Here, you'll need these."

"Thank you. Now my hands won't freeze," I said as he stepped out of the car.

"Right. Hurry up now."

"I'm going!" I stepped out as well, following him into the park.

"Here, this is a prime spot."

"For what?"

"Observe," he said, and promptly began rolling a large ball of snow around the ground. "Perfect; help me with the next one, will you?"

I realized then what he was doing, and set to work rolling the second ball of snow. When I was sure it was big enough, I picked it up and carried it over to where he was packing more snow around the base of the first ball.

"Great, just put it on top of this one."

"I know what to do, Roger," I joked in a mocking tone, setting the snow down where it was supposed to go. The moment it touched down, it fell apart. And so did Roger.

"'I know what to do, Roger!' Do you now?" He fell back as he laughed, landing in the snow. I tightened my lips and exhaled hard through my nose, kicking a bit of snow on top of his chest.

"Hey, I'll die!" He sat up and shook it off. He stilled for a moment, looking like a sulking child. Then he moved and grabbed a handful of snow at the speed of light, proceeding to throw it at my leg.

"And I'll freeze!" I complained, reaching down to scoop up a bit to throw back.

"I deserved that," he said when it hit him in the stomach.

"I know. Now come on, I want to finish the snowman."

"Snowman? I was trying to make a snowwoman."

"Were you? Were you planning on replacing me with her?"

"Never," he said, pulling my hat over my eyes. I pulled it back and ruffled his hair, making him laugh.

We set to work on the snowman, er, woman, I suppose, and in no time it was finished. We each found a rock to put in as eyes, and Roger laughed at me for grabbing a stick off the ground as he broke a branch off a tree.

"At least I'm not killing a bit of a tree," was my excuse.

We put in the sticks as arms, then fashioned an ugly little cap for it using a bunch of leaves. Roger found a stray blade of grass to use as the mouth. And it was complete.

"He's beautiful," I said.

"Go on and marry him, then, why don't you?" Roger huffed, crossing his arms. He stayed like that for a total of six seconds before we both burst out laughing.

We headed back to the car after saying our farewells to the snow-creation. Of course, Roger refused to tell me where we were going next.

"I thought we could use a meal," he said as we pulled up to a restaurant.

"You thought right," I said, noticing for the first time how hungry I actually was. He smiled and nodded, and we went inside.

"See, I don't know why they do that," he said once we had ordered and were waiting for our food. He was referring to the breadsticks on the table. "What if someone happens to be allergic to bread?"

"They're just breadsticks, Roger, calm down."

"All in the name of conversation," he said. "So, tell me. How was the first part of your day?"

"Just fine."

"And now? How are you doing?"

"Alright," I said. "And you?"

"Very well. I'm still hungry, though."

"Wait a minute," I said, slapping his hand. He took it off the table and rubbed it, laughing.

"Good God, the abuse. Ah, my savior!"

The waiter had come to serve our food. He had been a bit quiet when taking our order, and that didn't seem to have changed. He gave me a little grin as he set my plate down, not saying anything.

He left without a single word, at which Roger laughed. "How nice. Well, eat, because we've got one more place to get to."

We ate our meals fairly quickly, and the moment I finished Roger practically yanked me out of my chair, leaving a rather large tip under his plate.

"I liked that waiter," he said as he pulled me outside.

"Marry him, why don't you?" I repeated his joke from earlier. Roger laughed as we got in the car.

"Wouldn't dream of it when I've got you."

"Of course you wouldn't, I'm a star," I said, not even able to keep a straight face. "Only kidding. You probably would leave me for that waiter."

He laughed again and said, "this one is going to be the last stop."

I nodded, and a few minutes later we were at... another park. This one was different, though; there was an expanse of water at one end of it where boats regularly moved in and out. Given the snow, it was a miracle it wasn't frozen.

"What it is with you and parks today?"

"You'll see. Come on." He took my hand and led me toward the water. People were crossing around one side of the dock, talking excitedly.

"I hope you know I'll never forgive you if you push me in there. Mostly because I'll be dead and unable too. How fast do you think I would completely freeze over?"

"Not very," Roger said, appearing to seriously contemplate it. "Alright, I'm joking—I would never push you in there. What kind of psychopath would I have to be to do that?"

"Your kind."

He let go of my hand and put both of his to his heart, stumbling back as if someone had shot him there. He blinked rapidly and held his breath for a moment... then started trying to hold in a laugh.

"I knew it," I said, "you can't ever keep a straight face."

"Yes, I can, but I'll prove it some other time. Look!"

A little boat was heading away from the docks, making its way toward some unknown destination out on the water. I stopped moving to watch its journey.

"(Y/N)," Roger called a second later from somewhere to my right. I turned to see him sitting on the edge of the dock, his feet swinging over the water.

"Roger! Is that allowed?"

"Sure. Anyway, what are they going to do? Throw me in jail for sitting?"

"Kick you out of the park," I said, walking up behind him. I pretended to kick at his back, and he leaned back as if expecting me to actually try to push him off the dock.

"What faith," I said as I sat next to him.

"You can never be too careful."

I shook my head and he put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to his body.

"Thanks, I was cold."

"I know. Watch that." He pointed to the boat, which had stopped moving and was now floating out somewhere straight ahead of the dock.

A light shot up from the boat, exploding into a firework many feet above us. The people nearby cheered and I could hardly contain my smile. This was way better than a canned peas display.

A red one exploded into little sparkles, and a green one sent the sky shaking. "They're beautiful," I said.

"True, but they're not half as beautiful as you, love."

I laughed, choosing to not respond. Instead I nestled into his side and watched the fireworks show.

It ended a while later, but I knew there would be an encore—firework shows almost always have encores. But as we were waiting, Roger stood up and held out a hand to pull me to my feet as well.

"What? Aren't there going to be more?"

"In a minute," he said, holding both of my hands in his. "I have something to ask you."

He smiled widely as he knelt down on one knee. He opened his jacket and pulled a little box out of the inside pocket. My hand flew to my mouth as he opened his.

"(Y/N), I-"

"Yes!" I squealed, unable to contain myself.

"I-I had a speech," Roger said, his grin growing. "You mean you'll marry me?"

"Roger, of course I will! I can't believe..." I couldn't even finish my sentence. He practically jumped to his feet and gesture for me to put my hand out.

He took the ring out and put the box back in his pocket as I extended my left arm. He put it on my ring finger, then took my hand and pulled it so as to turn me to face the water. I was vaguely aware of the other people cheering.

A firework was making its way into the air. It exploded in a tremendous display of blue and white; the biggest one that night.

The resulting show of light was almost as big as my heart at that moment.

***

Hope you liked it!
P.S. See if you can catch all the song references in this-- they might not all be that apparent.