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I.
the line of the supermarket is about fifteen kilometers long when nancy reaches it.
she sends a quick text to bess, telling her the candy and popcorn will arrive late for their movie session. bess replies with a picture of herself and george with the movie already queued up and their places already taken around the living room.
mr darcy is waiting for u. also, we're starving.
nancy smiles. she tries to measure just how long this line will take until it's her turn. there are only two cashiers and it's rush hour so yeah, she'll probably be out of here never. she sighs, setting her feet down, this will be a long night.
ten minutes and several instagram videos later and she's closer now. her stomach growling because she hasn't had time to eat anything yet. she is considering opening one of the million snack she's got on her cart when she feels someone come to stand very close to her.
“hey babe, found you.” she looks up, interest peaked.
she sees ace, her stupidly handsome best friend. his long blonde hair is falling around his head like a halo and she desperately wants to run her hands through it. she considers for a second why he's calling her babe and it dawns on her. he’s using her to cut line.
she takes a look behind her, the people in line eye both of them with interest, some even sending her questioning looks, as if asking if she's actually babe.
nancy considers telling him she has no idea who he is and send him packing to the end of the line, making sure he suffers the wait just as she did. but the way he is smiling at her right now does all kinds of things to her insides. plus, this way might be more fun.
“well that took you long enough.” she says with a smile to match his.
“couldn't find the syrup to save my life!” he says. ace steps closer to her, close enough that he can whisper without the other clients listening in. “for a moment there i thought you were going to sell me out.” he gives her a kiss on the cheek, provoking the people behind them in line.
“i was considering it.”
“you’re mean.”
nancy shrugs, but she's smiling.
they get to the cashier soon after that and are on their way out of the supermarket within minutes. ace takes her hand on their way out, telling her they should really keep playing the part.
nancy pretends his touch doesn't make her whole body shiver.
they get to her car and ace hands her her groceries.
“need a ride?” she asks.
“nah, amanda is waiting at the car around the corner.”
right, she thinks, his girlfriend.
“ oh, sure.” she looks away from him. “i should get going, movie night is just waiting for these to start.” she points to the bag full of candy.
“and here i was worried you were just trying to nestle a broken heart with that much chocolate.”
well she might as well be now .
“funny.” she says “nope, just typical friday night movie night with bess and george.”
“ill let you to it then.”
“i’ll see you at the claw tomorrow.” she tells him. hoping this will make herself feel better.
“yeah.”
II.
nancy is at the convenience store searching for some cheap wine to help her get through today when she runs into ace. he's at the end of the chocolate aisle with a huge bouquet on his hands. nancy wonders what's that all about.
she remembers it's valentines day.
of course.
“ace?” she says, her eyes set on him.
ace turns around, strange look on his face. “nancy?”
“who's the lucky girl?” she asks, pointing to the bouquet on his hands.
she's actually very curious for his answer, because he hadn't told her about any new girls in his life - there was amanda a few months ago, but that ended out of nowhere and he hadn't given nancy an actual reason for their breakup. she wonders if they're back together.
she then wonders why that makes her heart sink deep down in her chest.
“well- uhm.” he pauses, scratching his head.
nancy feels stupid for asking. but he is her best friend so this should be normal. she shakes her head.
“nevermind-”
“you, actually.” he says and nancy sees regret on his face almost instantly.
she actually freezes . her mind going about a billion miles per hour, trying to understand why on earth he would give her flowers today. does he pity her for being single today?
“ excuse me? ”
“i just thought it would be, you know, a nice gesture.”
“a nice gesture? to give me flowers-” she starts. “ -on valentines day. ”
“well-”
“ace! if you're doing this because you think my love life is pathetic or something like that-”
“no! nancy-” he sighs, eyes closed.
it feels like hours go by while ace is obviously processing what to say next. he seems to settle on something and before she can say anything else, he takes her hand and leads her outside the store.
“are you seriously mad at me right now?” he asks her, voice full of emotion.
“im confused, actually.”
“i-” he starts, takes a deep breath. “i just thought it was about damn time i tried this.” he sighs. “but if you don't feel the same way, i-”
“feel the same way as what?” she says before she can really think about it.
then it hits her.
“oh.”
she wonders how on earth she can make a living as a p.i when she can't even see what's right in front of her damn face right now.
“yeah, oh.” he says, eyes glued to the floor.
nancy doesn't let herself think too much before following what her gut is telling her to do. she steps closer to him and presses her lips to his. all bets are off. his lips meet hers with a passion and she thinks simultaneously how she should have done this ages ago and god i hope i don't screw this up .
“so-” he says, holding the the flowers to her. his free hand is on her waist, holding her close to him. “-does that mean you like the flowers or-?”
nancy rolls her eyes and takes the bouquet from him.
III.
“ace? what are you doing here?”
ace nearly drops a very expensive piece of jewelry on the floor. he turns around, slowly. and there she is. his one of a kind girlfriend, all red curls and inquisitive look in her eyes.
he wants her to disappear just as much as he wants her to stay and help him.
“nancy?” he manages to get out.
he swiftly places the ring back to it's holder and tries - not so swiftly - to shield what he's been looking at with his body. as if that'd work. nancy is staring at him with a weird look, almost as if he had insulted her. serves him right.
“are you-” she pauses, trying to make sense of what she's seeing right now. “are you looking at rings?”
ace curses himself, now why did he think it was a good idea to look for an engagement ring locally ? he should have fucking guessed she'd come by this store the exact day that he'd wondered in here.
“no?” now that earned him a glare.
“oh my god- are you proposing?”
“no!”
“ace!”
“not right now i’m not.” he states. everyone in the store has pretty much quit whatever they were doing before in order to watch the circus that has become their encounter. ace pulls her a little closer. “what are you even doing here, nancy? you're supposed to be at the claw.”
“bess asked me to pick something up for her. she had a necklace made.” she states, matter of factly.
“great. today of all days.” he sighs.
he hadn't even known he was going to come into this jewelry today to look at a ring, he just happened to pass by on his way home and noticed one that just screamed nancy to him. he hadn't even known he wanted to propose before he saw it, really.
“ace.” nancy says, carefully. her eyes soften and he can see a smile forming on her lips.
“yeah?” he's pretty much ashamed of himself for blowing this and decides he might never ever propose to her after all.
“are you?”
“nancy!”
“what? like i wasn't going to figure it all out anyways?”
and she's right about that. he couldn't have hid this from her even if he tried . shes nancy drew.
“you're no fun.” he tells her, before placing a kiss on her lips.
“well i’m fun enough to make you wanna marry me.” she says. ace sighs, knowing full well she's goddamn right and he's lost this round.
IV.
ace sees her walking down the aisle to him, like no one else in the room matters to her, but him. it makes his insides turn to mush and he smiles wide, happy . she looks absolutely stunning.
when she reaches him, he takes her hand from her dad and they stand face to face. “hey i thought you weren't going to show up.” he tells her in a low voice, only for her ears.
nancy smiles “ of course i was going to show up.”
“you had a ten minute delay that had me thinking otherwise .”
“just keeping you on your toes, babe.” she states, with a smile gracing her lips.
the nickname makes him smile bigger.
“mean.” he tells her, without really meaning it.
she squeezes his hand. “had a bit of a hair emergency.” she pauses, before adding: “bess’ words, not mine.”
ace kisses her cheek.
“hey, you're not supposed to do that before i tell you to.” nick says, from where he stands facing the couple.
“let's do this, then.” ace says.