May 4th, For Izzy

[sayshazam]

Billy clutched nervously at the bouquet of flowers in his hands, shifting from one foot to the other. This seemed like a totally good idea when he was planning it but now he worried if it was too cheesy, too over the top romantic or something just for a one year anniversary for dating. You'd think after all this time Billy would be more sure about the sort of stuff that Izzy liked but nope, a part of his brain wouldn't stop worrying that he was screwing up. At least he didn't freak out anymore that Izzy was going to leave him or actually be upset. At worst she'd probably be amused and tell him it was a sweet effort.

But still, he really wanted her to like his plan. He'd put a lot of work into it but it was worth it. When you loved someone it was worth doing extra work just to make them happy. Billy had even talked to Izzy's boss to let Izzy have the day off without Izzy knowing so that he could surprise her at work that morning. Which is why he was here, in the fancy store, wearing jeans and a t-shirt holding a bunch of orchids (why couldn't she likes carnations, they lasted longer, smelled better, and were way cheaper) while waiting for his girlfriend to show up at work so he could surprise her.

Comments

[seveninches]

His face falls and he looks for a moment like he's been crushed underneath one of her heels. All of a sudden she feels like the worst person in the world, but this really isn't how she expected this to go. There are probably a thousand better ways to handle it, plenty of girls who would be over the moon if this happened on their anniversary, but Isabelle isn't one of them.

"Just--" she makes an impatient gesture for him to stand up, desperate for him to get off his knee. At least then she can look him in the eye while she tries to explain. "I'm not exactly wife material, Billy," she says after a moment, frowning. She's a Shadowhunter and that's always going to come first. She thinks he understands that, even, so maybe that's not an obstacle the same way she sees it. Or maybe she's got this completely wrong, but now that she's started she feels like she has to see it through to make sure they're on the same page.

"This is all really sweet and I'm sure if I was anybody else this would be perfect, but it's just not me." Not now, anyway. She doesn't want to say she's ruling it out for all eternity, but it's not something she ever really saw on the cards.

[sayshazam]

It was almost hard to hear her through the ringing in his ears. He didn't even know it was possible to have your ears ring like that without being punched in the head or something. The was emotionally the same as being punched in the head though. Billy would rather Izzy had punch him in the head.

What did she even mean about wife material? Billy definitely couldn't ever see him wanting anyone else than Izzy, it wasn't like he was in this just for a temporary thing, but he'd never said anything about it. He figured it was implied that he wanted to be with her. Where had she gotten all this marriage talk from? She was definitely spending way, way too much time with Alec and Magnus and all their talking about weddings. It wasn't like he was going to get down on one knee anytime soon and-

Oh. Oh.

"Izzy, I'm just tying my shoe!" he said, gesturing down at the shoe that he was kneeling down to tie, showing her the laces were undone. "I'm not proposing! Holy crap, I'm only 18! I'm just trying to not fall on my face!"

[seveninches]

"Oh, thank the Angel," she breathes out, half laughing in relief. The last thing she wanted was to ruin the night they've been having by making things awful. She looks at his undone shoelace, and she'd feel a little embarrassed if not for the fact that Isabelle refuses to be embarrassed about anything.

This will be something that Alec teases her about mercilessly if she tells him. She's pretty sure that once Billy gets over the shock of it he's probably going to make fun of her too, but she doesn't mind that much. She lets him tie his shoelace, and then she tugs him back to his feet again.

"Okay, good," she says, kissing him quickly again. "Not falling on your face is good too, but maybe give a girl a warning before you get down on one knee." She raises an eyebrow at him, a bemused smile on her lips. "On one knee on our anniversary, where we first met." She's pretty sure she's not the only one who would have jumped to that kind of conclusion, given when and where they are.

[sayshazam]

"No way, you totally freaked out and it was amazing. I'm going to start proposing all the time now. If you're going to completely reject my not-proposal I'm going to make sure I get a lot of fun out of this," Billy said, grinning at her. He figured that the best way he could deal with the whole thing to treat it like it was hilarious. It was hilarious, no doubt about it, but some of the stuff she had said bothered him a little. Yeah, it would have been stupid for them to get engaged right now but it still sucked to hear she didn't want to. Feelings totally didn't have to make sense.

"Also, we definitely need to revisit 'not wife material' at some point. But it doesn't have to be right now."