Chapter Text
September 2021
Nico wipes the line of sweat that builds around her eyebrows as she twists the key and feels the lock click, allowing her to open the door. It’s late September, but with her affinity for black clothing, Nico still feels the lingering heat and welcomes the cool burst of air that comes as she pushes into the one bedroom apartment. She shuts the door and throws her keys into the bowl by the entrance. She shrugs her bag onto the ground nearby and bends to untie her boots when a little black cat darts forward and starts batting at the laces.
“Hi, Salem,” Nico smiles and scratches behind the cat’s ears, getting a soft meow as a reward. As she steps out of her shoes, Nico glances around the small apartment and notices for the first time the music coming from the closed bedroom door. It’s the newest Jonas Brothers single and the goth girl shakes her head at her girlfriend’s typical music choice. Nico lets herself in and immediately is hit with the faint smell of chemicals. The bathroom door is shut and it’s dark under the crack except for a faint red glow, so Nico knows Karolina is once again using their bathroom as a makeshift photo lab. Knowing better than to open the door and potentially ruin any pictures, Nico knocks on the door and speaks over the sound of Nick Jonas belting out a long note.
“Hey, babe. I’m home,” she says, leaning against the door slightly to listen for a reply.
“Hi! I’m almost done here, give me two minutes,” Karrie says, the music pausing.
“Okay. I’m gonna start getting ready. You need anything steamed or something?” Nico asks, eyeing the closet. Tonight is the rehearsal dinner for Gert and Chase’s wedding and while Gert protested almost every aspect of the traditional wedding, Janet and Victor Stein had insisted on renting out an overly expensive high-end restaurant for the occasion. Since both Karolina and Nico were in the joint wedding party, they were supposed to be there by 5. It was 4:00 now.
“No! My dress is hanging up behind the door,” Karolina says after a brief pause. Nico knows how focused her girlfriend is about her art, so she wanders off, pulling her shirt off and tossing it toward the dirty clothes hamper and unbuttons her pants to peel them off as well. She’s debating whether or not she should change into a different bra when the bathroom door opens and the tall cheerful blonde finally steps out.
“Oh, baby! Way to bury the lead. I’d have come out quicker if I’d known this is what waited for me,” Karolina winks when she lays eyes on her petite and clothless girlfriend.
Nico rolls her eyes,
“I just took them off and no funny business. We’ve got to leave in like 30 minutes.”
Karrie fakes a pout as she takes a few steps forward, closing the distance between the women and wraps her arm around the shorter girl’s shoulders.
“This really isn’t fair. You come home, take off all your clothes and then tell me not to get distracted? It’s only natural when my girlfriend looks like this,” Karolina’s eyes dip down and slowly trace back up, ”to want you.”
“Hmm, well natural or not. You’ll have to wait,” Nico rocks forward onto her tiptoes to press a kiss to Karolina’s perfectly pink lips. Karrie wastes no time returning it with fervor. It’s easy to get carried away, even after two years of dating.
Nico allows herself to get caught up in her girlfriend's devilish lips for a moment longer before she uses all her willpower to pull back.
“No! Get ready! Now!”
Karolina laughs at her girlfriend’s stern instructions and shrugs as if to say ‘your loss’. Nico rolls her eyes, knowing this could easily start back up once the dinner was done. She slips into the black dress and scrounges through a drawer to find some lace tights to go with it.
The pair dresses quickly, both already wearing makeup but fixing their hair for the occasion. Once they’re both completely ready they pause for a moment just to take each other in. Two years and still Karolina takes Nico’s breath away with her pristine and sweet beauty. Where Nico is edges and lines, Karrie is curves and softness. They compliment each other well and tonight is no different.
“Damn, we’re hot,” Karrie nods into the full length mirror they have and Nico chuckles but silently agrees.
She checks the time on her phone and groans when she sees they’re already 5 minutes behind.
“And, officially, going to be late.”
Karolina just shrugs and holds open the door for her girlfriend. They pause at the front to grab purses and keys before quickly saying bye to Salem.
“Babe, relax. Gert and Chase are like the tardiest people we know. Chances are they got too caught up in each other and are just as late as us,” Karrie says in a chipper, unhurried voice.
Nico rolls her eyes in response as she debates if paying for an Uber is worth it at this point.
“It’s not them I’m worried about… Chase’s dad is way too intense. He’ll probably lock the doors at 5:00.”
Karolina laughs, her head tilting back slightly and her blue eyes catch the late afternoon sun, and all thoughts of being late go out the window as Nico loses herself in her girlfriend’s beauty.
It isn’t fair that after all this time Nico finds herself just as wrapped around Karrie’s elegant finger as the night they first kissed.
“Oh, shit, my camera!”
Karolina pouts and looks over her shoulder at their front entrance now all the way down the block.
“Babe, we have to go back. It’s our best friends’ rehearsal dinner!”
Nico looks at the time, 4:45, and knows that any chance of making it by 5:00 is gone.
“Okay, come on,” she relents and grabs Karrie’s hand to pull them back home again. They run up the stairs and laugh when Salem’s confused face pops up from his favorite spot on the couch. Nico just watches as Karolina gathers her things, each step light yet purposeful and her hands graceful as she carefully packs her favorite camera in its bag.
Nico can’t help the smile on her face as she once again wonders how such an amazing woman could be her girlfriend.
Karrie has her head bent over her work station, golden hair falling over one shoulder and a sun-kissed shoulder peeking out the other side, when Nico walks over to her own desk drawer and reaches into the very back. She takes a few steps back, kneels down to one knee and takes a deep breath.
“Karrie?”
Her girlfriend hums and says, “Sorry, just looking for a lens brush,” without looking up.
“Baby… turn around.”
Karrie’s confusion melts away when she turns to see Nico on one knee, holding open a black ring box. Inside, a vintage opal ring with small diamonds around it sits perfectly. Her hand goes to her open mouth and tears spring to her eyes as Nico smiles.
“Karrie, you are the light of my life. Every day we spend together I fall more and more in love with you. If I never got to be with you again my life would be grey and dull—“
“You like grey,” Karrie interrupts with a soft whisper but Nico just shakes her head.
“I used to think everything needed to be dark and hard. That it was better to separate yourself, that it was safer that way. But that was before I fell in love with you, Karolina. Now, I love pink because it reminds me of the blush on your cheeks after a day in the park. I could look at blue for the rest of my life if that meant staring into your beautiful eyes. I might still love black, but you opened my eyes to a whole rainbow of colors and reminded me that life can be bright and cheerful. So, will you marry me?”
Karolina nods, unable to form words, and reaches forward to grab Nico’s hands and pull her into a deep kiss. It tastes like salt and happiness all at once.
“I love you so much, Nico. Thank you for letting me be yours.”
They’re twenty minutes late to the rehearsal dinner after Karrie fixes her make-up and finally finds her lens brush, but neither one can be bothered when they walk hand in hand into the restaurant. Gert has wide eyes as she rushes over to interrogate them, but it’s Chase who somehow notices the ring now sparkling on Karolina’s finger.
“Woah, that is new!”
“Oh my god. What? When did this happen?”
The two women just look at each other and smile.
“How about we tell you guys later? Tonight is about you two.”
Gert narrows her eyes but Janet is already on her way over and directing the newly engaged couple to their place at the table, so the topic is dropped.
“You know, I was kinda hoping I’d get to propose,” Karrie admits in a low voice as they sit down.
Nico smirks as she says, “Ya snooze ya lose, Dean… Besides, all of this was only possible because of you. If you hadn’t sneaked your way into being my partner, I would have always been the rude girl on the elevator. I figured it was my turn to lock it down.”
Karrie leans in again and places a soft kiss on the apple of Nico’s cheek before sighing sweetly.
A beautiful night with their favorite people celebrating love. It wasn’t quite what Nico planned when she picked out the ring, but now she can’t imagine anything better. And as for spending forever with her favorite project partner? Easy.