Page 338 of Untouchable

Except… it might not be a dream.

* * *

"I've been thinkingabout the fact that a year ago today, I walked out to my driveway with an axe to see who the hell was coming to bother me—and my whole life changed and I didn't even know it yet," Harp says, and even though he's rehearsed the speech a hundred times or more, it's the first time he's saying it for real and his heart jackhammers in his chest.

"I've been thinking about the positive impact you've made on everything that makes me me, from the scar tissue in my hip to the way I understand the world around me."

Parker gapes at him, goldfishing just like he had on that first day, and Harp's heart begins to find a rhythm again. I love him, I love him, I love him, is all that he's thinking of—not the people behind him who he’s flown in to witness this day in their lives, not the violin music he can barely hear or the snapping of cameras.

"Everything you've taught me and everything you've done is important to me, but... it's not the reason why I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to wake up with you every day because of who you are, Parker. "

Parker squeezes Harp's hand and finally stops looking like a particularly adorable carp that's found itself out of water.

"You are sunshine personified," Harp continues, smiling. "You're everything people wish for in the world but don't think exists. You're smart and hilarious and passionate and kind and rare, and from the first moment you showed me who you really were, I knew that I was being handed something precious. I've been privileged to spend a year knowing you, being a part of your life. Loving you has been the most worthwhile thing I've ever set my mind to."

* * *

Parker’snot quite sure exactly when he starts crying, but he realizes he is when Harp stops to draw a breath. And for some reason, that physical awareness—the tears, sliding hot and smooth down his cheeks, the pricking in his eyes, the way his nose is, not so glamorously, starting to run—brings him firmly into the present moment. He’s suddenly aware of everything, the floor solid and steady beneath his feet, the roughness of Harp’s hands against his, the way Harp is looking up at him like Parker is the only thing he sees, the only thing he wants to see.

And, as shocking as this moment is, Parker feels… almost peaceful.

It’s as though time is no longer unfurling in a straight line. Instead, it feels as though his life is looped over itself again and again, and he can feel the most important moments of their year together, all crowded together like a riotous bouquet of wildflowers. The first time he saw Harp, axe in hand, glowering at him in the yard of the place that would one day become his home. Sitting across from Harp at the Salad Shack, his chest tight and bright with excitement that Harp was really there, talking to him. The night they’d spent at The Stewart, leaning back against Harp’s comforting bulk in the bathtub. The first time they’d kissed. The first time they’d fucked. The first time they’d fought, or Harp had seen Parker cry, or Parker had seen Harp turn in on himself.

Every moment is jewel-bright and precious—even the moments that had hurt, or had felt messy and bad and uncomfortable. Because each of those moments, Parker knows, had been necessary to get them to this precise moment in space and time—a crisp breeze cooling the tears on his face, his friends and family (Jesus, even his parents are here) smiling at him, Harp kneeling before Parker looking up at him with the most beautiful, almost awe-struck expression Parker has ever seen.

They’re here for me, Parker realizes. They’re here for us. Each one of these people had traveled all the way across the Atlantic because they loved Parker. Because they loved Harp. Because the love they shared was strong and beautiful and good.

Parker’s heart is still thrumming in his chest as Harp continues.

* * *

"When I thinkabout my future, I know without a doubt that you're the only person on earth for me. And so what I've really been thinking about the most is whether or not you might be willing to keep making me the happiest man on earth for the rest of my life."

Harp finds the ring in his shirt pocket, the little lump of silver and copper and nickel he slaved over, furtively smelting and hammering and polishing when Parker thought he was working on other projects. It's simple, really, but so is Harp.

"Will you marry me, Parker?"

* * *

Parker closes his mouth,then opens it, then closes it, then opens it again. No words come out, though. He’s just standing there, wide-eyed and tear-streaked, and it almost seems silly to have to give Harp an answer, because the answer is so obvious.

Yes, yes, yes, a thousand million zillion trillion times yes.

This doesn’t make it out of his mouth, though, and Harp is looking up at Parker anxiously—how could he possibly think I’d say anything but yes?—

Abandoning words, Parker beams, hiding his face with his hand as he nods furiously.

* * *

Harp breathesfor what feels like the first time since they left Storm Mountain a week ago and he stands to pull Parker into a kiss. The platform around them erupts into a chaos of cheers and clapping and picture-taking.

Parker will make him whole. He can have this, this unexpected, unlikely bliss, for the rest of his life. Steady and vast as an ocean, he is Parker and Parker is his. Nothing has ever been sweeter.

Their friends and families close in on them the moment they part, Gil and Mandy slapping Harp on the back, Mindy hugging Parker and squealing as Harp's sister and Parker's parents step closer smiling.

Gil introduces his boyfriend and Harp gives Edith a halting introduction to Parker, who is still wiping tears from his face when Edith pulls him into a hug. Parker gets pulled away, passed through the gathered loved ones for more hugs.

"Your sisters really wanted to be here," Parker's dad says when he shakes Parker's hand.

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