Thread by @jacksgabe

5 Times Gabriel Reyes Proposed to Jack Morrison and 0 Times He Accepted

1.

“Shit,” Gabe says, mouth still warm, tongue tingling from the savory mix of spices in the meat and sauce. “This is amazing. Where’d you learn to make this?”

Jack Morrison stirs the pot of chili and flicks a flat glance paired with a vague smile at him. “Mom’s recipe.”

“Marry me,” Gabe says, angling his spoon back towards the pot. Morrison slaps his hand with the back of the wooden spoon he’s holding.

“No,” he says simply.

Gabe hasn’t figured him out just yet, but he will soon.

He will.

2. “Never thought I’d die in the snow,” Gabe wheezes, breath short. His chest is tight, lungs aching with each breath of cold air he drags in and forces back out in visible puffs.

“You’re not going to die,” Jack says. Unlike Gabe, all four of his limbs are currently functioning.

He’s dug out a cave in the snow, carved a hollow right out of the blinding white bank, and he’s ripping open the emergency flares. “Always prepared,” Gabe croaks. “That’s what I like about you.”

“Someone will come,” Jack says, lighting a flare and aiming it at the sky.

“Hope they come fast,” Gabe says, looking at his broken leg. The skin is swollen, dark pink and purple clouding under the surface.

Jack sits against the back of his makeshift igloo and stares at Gabe appraisingly. “Try not to move.”

“What would I do without you?”

“Die,” Jack says.

“Need to keep you around.”

Jack gives him a rare smile. He has a ready smile for most, but he rarely opens up to Gabe. “You can try.”

“You gonna let me put a ring on it?”

Jack throws a meal packet at him. “Keep your energy up.”

3.

“We should wait out the rain here,” Jack says, kicking the splintered remains of the door out of his way as he reaches the the top of the flat stairs leading to the entrance.

Gabe follows him cautiously, scanning the area behind them as he ducks through the doorway.

“Never cared for churches,” he comments as they move to the back of the room.

“I know,” Jack says absently, eyes on the stained glass windows. “You’re not much for confronting your shortcomings.”

Gabe pivots, glancing at him with an eyebrow raised, but decides to let it go.

He’s not wrong. If anything, Gabe is pleased Jack knows him well enough to comment so astutely. “You do churches though,” he says. “Is God going to cut you down for walking down the aisle with another man?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Jack says, sourly

“It’s been decades since people thought that way.” He lowers his weapon. “Room’s clear.”

Gabe grins at him from near the altar. “So you’ll marry me?”

“Not on your life,” Jack replies immediately, but there’s a hint of a smile in the corner of his mouth.

4.

“Why do you hate marriage?” Gabe asks, sotto voce as the celebrations in front of them proceed raucously. “Look how happy they are.”

“They’re happy now,” Jack grumbles “because they’re not married yet. It’s just an engagement. Why do people do these things publicly, anyway.”

“Happiness is meant to be shared,” Gabe says, stifling laughter. Jack has many qualities to recommend him as a person, but Gabe has yet to work out his reluctance towards romance. It’s entertaining, to say the least. “So when I ask you to marry me, I should do it in private?”

Jack’s gaze darts to him, eyes wide. “I’d settle for you asking me to dinner.”

Oh?

“You want to go to dinner?” he asks stupidly, doing the mental equivalent of tripping over his own feet. Years he’s known Jack, and this is the first inkling he’s had that he might have a shot.

Jack is already looking away. “I didn’t mean that-“

“Let’s go to dinner,” Gabe seizes his chance. “Will you go out with me?”

Jack huffs, a slight noise conveying what Gabe has to assume is contrived disinterest. “As long as you’re not proposing.”

Not yet, Gabe thinks.

5.
“Is this what you’re looking for?” Gabe teases. He’s holding Jack’s tie, stroking the fabric calmly and laughing as Jack goes red in the face.

“Gabe, I need it.”

“How much is it worth to you?”

“Gabe, I’m meeting the president.”

“You’ve met him before. So what.”

Jack sighs, long suffering, and reaches for the tie. Gabe keeps it out of reach.

“Only one thing I want.”

“Do I have to guess?”

He probably could, Gabe thinks. “Just your hand...”

Jack starts to hold his hand out.

“...in marriage.”

Jack snatches his hand back.

“Tie!” he demands. Gabe loops it over his neck and uses it to pull him close.

“A kiss, then.”

Jack is more than happy to oblige, irritation falling from his face as he softens into a smile. “A kiss.”

“One of these days, Jack.”

“Keep dreaming,” Jack says.

0.

“I was thinking we should get married,” Jack says.

Gabe turns his head on the pillow and looks at him, equal parts disbelief and displeasure. “Funny.”

“I’m serious.”

“You’re not.”

Jack flips the sheets back and swings his legs over the side of the bed to stand.

He’s upset, Gabe realizes, taking the quick shortness of his motions. “You’re serious.”

“Said so.”

“Why? What is this, Jack?”

Jack half turns, the light from the window casting him half in shadow, half in brilliant white, his features cut in sharp relief.

“Life is short,” he says obscurely, and for the first time in years, Gabe can’t guess what he’s thinking.

“Is this about what happened to Gérard? Or what I did to Antonio?”

“Do you want to marry me?” Jack asks.

“Since the day we met. You mean it, Jack?”

Jack moves again, out of the garish blast of the moon. He looks like himself again, an embarrassed smile just beginning. “I might.”

“Don’t overhwelm me, Jack. Too much romance is bad for the heart.”

“Marry me, Gabe.”

Gabe can’t stop from grinning. “All right.”