Three weeks had gone by since the first lavender latte, and the rhythm between them had already become something sacred.
Catherine no longer booked flights that would extend her stays any further than necessary. She had turned down a two-month contract in Seoul with a polite email that had even surprised her. "I have reasons to stay home," she had written, and the reason was currently asleep beside her on the couch, one arm slung possessively across her waist, his breath warm against the back of her neck.
They had never actually talked about it, never actually said the words "I live here now," but Luffy's toothbrush was in her bathroom cup. His favorite black hoodie was draped over the back of her chair. A small bag of his coffee beans was next to her French press. And every night when the café closed, he walked the four blocks to her apartment instead of to his tiny studio over the shop.
Tonight, the rain had come back, steady and soothing, drumming against the windows like a heartbeat. They were tangled under a throw blanket on the couch, Mochi and Matcha (the two black-and-white kittens they'd impulsively adopted together the previous weekend) curled into a ball of fluff on the rug. The TV was on, showing some rom-com neither of them was watching.
Catherine drew lazy circles on the skin of Luffy's forearm where it lay across her stomach.
"You're quiet tonight."
Luffy pressed a kiss into the curve of her shoulder.
"Thinking."
"About what?"
He turned so that their faces were inches apart, their noses almost touching. In the dim light of the lamp, his eyes looked almost black, so dark and so deep.
"About how fast this feels," he said softly. "And how right it feels anyway. I keep waiting for the part where it gets hard, where we fight over stupid things or realize we don't actually fit. But every day it just… fits more."
Catherine swallowed. She felt it too the terrifying certainty that this was the person she'd been circling her whole life without knowing it.
"I'm scared of the same thing," she admitted. "That maybe I only feel this way because you're new. That the shine will wear off."
Luffy reached up and cupped her cheek, thumb brushing the corner of her mouth.
"Then let's test it," he whispered. "Let's make it official in the dumbest, most us way possible."
She raised an eyebrow. "What are you plotting, Hubby?"
He gave that mischievous, heart-stopping grin of his and rolled off the couch, disappearing into the kitchen.
She heard the drawers open, the crinkling of the paper, the snipping of the scissors.
He came back into the room with two small strips of white printer paper, twisted into a simple ring form.
One had a small heart doodled onto it in black marker.
The other had a lopsided coffee cup.
Catherine slowly sat up, the blanket draped over her waist.
"Luffy…"
He dropped to a knee on the living room rug, holding out the ring with the heart on it like it was made of platinum.
"Catherine," he began, his voice thick with emotion. "I know we've only had twenty-one days of real-life mornings and nights. I know we've not even bickered over who gets the last piece of tiramisu or whose turn it is to clean the litter box. But I also know that every time you step through the café door, my chest has been feeling like it's finally getting enough air for the first time in years. I know that every time you laugh at my terrible puns, I feel like the luckiest idiot alive. And I know, deep down in the part of me that doesn't lie, that I want to spend every ridiculous, beautiful, messy day figuring out the rest of it with you."
He took a shaky breath.
"So… marry me? Not officially. Not until we've annoyed each other sufficiently and still want to wake up together. But marry me here, tonight, in our living room with these two judgmental cats as witnesses, with these paper rings, and with that rain music. Marry me in a way that says from this second forward, you're my home and I'm yours. Wifey. Forever. If you'll have me."
Tears had already been falling down Catherine's face. She made no effort to dry them.
She took his hand, her hands shaking.
"Yes."
Louder, and accompanied by laughter through her tears: "Yes, Hubby. A thousand times yes."
Luffy's face was the happiest, most boyish-looking thing Catherine had ever seen. He put the paper ring on her finger, slightly too large, crinkled at the edges, and Catherine did the same for him, trying not to tear the small coffee cup drawing.
They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity.
Then they fell into each other.
It was a kiss that was both desperate and full of laughter and tears at the same time. Hands in hair, bodies pressed together, the blanket tangled around their legs. Mochi woke from the floor, grumbling indignantly at the interruption. Matcha simply yawned and went back to sleep.
As they finally pulled away from each other, gasping for breath, Luffy rested his forehead against hers.
"I love you," he said, like it was the easiest thing he'd ever said.
"I love you too," she replied, her voice breaking. "So much that it hurts in the best way."
He helped her stand.
"Come on," he said. "We need real vows. And fairy lights. And maybe a playlist."
They spent the next hour transforming the living room into their own mini ceremony.
Catherine hung the fairy lights from the bookshelf and over the couch. Luffy connected his phone to the speaker and put the songs on the playlist: every sappy, soft song they'd ever sent each other – indie acoustic songs, lo-fi beats, that acoustic version of "Can't Help Falling in Love" that they both cried to once in a voice message.
They stood barefoot in the middle of the rug, hands clasped together, the kittens watching from the couch with half-lidded eyes.
Luffy went first.
"I, Luffy, take you, Catherine, to be my always. I promise to make you coffee even when I'm half asleep. To hold your hand on every beach we find. To adopt every cat that looks at us with sad eyes. To listen when you're scared of standing still. To kiss you good morning and good night and every random moment in between. I promise to love you when it's easy and especially when it's hard. I promise forever starts tonight."
Catherine's throat was constricted with emotion and she barely managed to speak.
"I, Catherine, take you, Luffy, to be my home. I promise to come back to you no matter how far I roam. To laugh at your puns, even when they're bad. To steal your hoodies and keep them forever. To remind you that you're allowed to rest. To build a life with you full of late-night strolls, mango ice cream, and too many cats. I promise to choose you every day, even when I'm scared. Forever starts right now."
They put the paper rings back on their fingers.
And then Luffy drew Catherine close and they danced slowly to the music.
"Dance with me, wifey."
Her arms were wrapped around his neck. "Always, hubby."
They danced until the music played twice over, until the rain slowed to a drizzle.
Eventually, they settled on the couch, her head on his chest, his fingers in her hair.
"We should get real rings someday."
"We will," he promised. "Silver ones. Simple. With our initials inside. And we'll renew these vows every year on paper ring anniversary, just to remind ourselves how it started."
Catherine smiled against his shirt.
"I like that."
He kissed the top of her head.
"Hey… you know what we need now?"
"Hmm?"
"An official wedding photo. With witnesses."
They picked up their phones, set the timer, and took a picture of her sitting sideways on his lap, with her arms around his neck and both of them showing off their paper rings, with Mochi and Matcha photobombing in the foreground, looking unimpressed.
They took thirty or so pictures before they both started cracking up.
The best one was of them in the middle of a kiss, with fairy lights shining behind them and their paper rings sparkling in the light, with the cats glaring at them in perfect timing.
He immediately made it his lock screen.
"Best wedding photo ever," Luffy said, his eyes shining with happiness.
Catherine touched the heart on his paper ring.
"Best wedding ever."
They went to sleep in the midst of the chaos, tangled together on the couch, with the fairy lights shining and the rain pattering against the windows, with the two paper rings symbolizing the promises they were making, bigger than either of them could possibly imagine.
The city slept outside.
Forever had begun quietly inside.