Under the Willow

Tasha woke slowly, stretching for a moment before rolling over onto her side and looking to her boyfriend’s side of the bed. Finding it empty, she sat up and raked a hand through her blonde locks and moved to get up. Snatching Chris’ button down from the floor, she shrugged it on before doing up the buttons. Shuffling out of the bedroom, she moved towards the kitchen and smiled when she saw a cup for her coffee already sitting out.

Pouring coffee into it, she added her sugar and milk before listening to see if she could hear Chris moving around the house. Silence met her, so she figured he was out on the deck. Opening the French doors quietly, she giggled to herself when she heard him singing. Standing still so she could listen for a few moments, she grinned when he looked over his shoulder and spotted her.

“Morning, Baby.” He grinned, beckoning her over and carefully pulling her into his lap so he wouldn’t spill her coffee. “How’d you sleep?” He murmured, full lips brushing against hers.

“Very well, thank you.” She answered, sifting her fingers through his hair, smiling when he hummed happily. Letting her eyes drift over the woods around them, she listened to the sounds of the birds singing their morning songs, and let the sun warm her skin. Sipping her coffee, she moved off of his lap and slipped into the patio chair next to him.

“Feels nice to not wake and have to be on a movie set,” He murmured absentmindedly, picking up his own cup of coffee from where he had set it beside his chair on the deck and taking a sip. “Really fucking nice...”

“It’s really fucking nice to be able to wake and have you home.” She agreed, light blue eyes meeting his and smiling when he grinned at her again. “But I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t excited to see Sammi and Sebastian later.”

“I told you that the two of you ladies would get along!” Chris laughed, raising his eyebrows at Tasha, laughing when she rolled her eyes at him. He reached out and took her hand in his, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles lightly. “I spoke to my Mom this morning, she wants us to come over for dinner sometime this week, so if you would, figure out what day works best for us and let me know.”

“I can do that,” Tasha smiled, “Although, you’re a big boy and could have done it as well.”

“Shush,” Chris murmured playfully, setting his now empty cup aside and standing, waggling his eyebrows when Tasha gave him a confused look when he stole her coffee cup from her.

“What are you—?” She shrieked when he scooped her up and over his shoulder, “Chris!” She hollered voice full of laughter when he giggled madly.

“I need to shower, and I figured after last night you could use one too, so…we’ll shower together. You know, save water and all of that.”

“You are such a meatball!” Tasha laughed, giving up on struggling against him and allowing him to carry her to the bathroom. When he set her back on her feet lightly and dipped his head to hers, catching her in a kiss that made her knees weak. All of her other thoughts were pushed from her head as he took over all of her senses, overwhelming her in the best way possible.

“We’re going to be late, Tasha!” Chris called, pulling his shirt over his head and stepping into his jeans.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about; I’m already ready to go.” Tasha smirked, leaning against the doorframe of their bedroom and raising her eyebrows as the man in front of her stumbled trying to pull his jeans on.

“How the hell do you do that?” He questioned, finally getting his jeans on and stuffing his wallet into his back pocket. Grabbing his baseball cap on a second thought, he dropped a kiss on her lips as he passed her to grab socks.

“I’m a woman, darling; we’re capable of many amazing things.”

He snorted, “Ain’t that the fucking truth.”

Tasha laughed lightly, giving his bicep a light squeeze when he stood in front of her, finally ready to go. She smiled when he linked their hands together and headed for the door, stopping only to grab the keys to his truck. Thanking him when he opened the truck door for her, she climbed in and buckled as he rounded the front of the vehicle.

Tasha recognized The Black Key’s playing when Chris started the vehicle; he started singing along, tapping his hand against the steering wheel in time with the music as he pulled out of their drive. Digging her phone out of her purse when it pinged, she smiled when she seen a text from Sammi on the screen.

‘Excited to see you…get your quickie over with and get a move on! ;)’

Tasha tapped out her reply quickly, giggling to herself. ‘We’re on our way. Ass.’

Looking out of the window, she looked down when Chris’ hand found her thigh, and once again found herself amazed at how big his hands were. Shaking herself from her thoughts when a blush rushed to her cheeks, she couldn’t help but grin. Giggling when Chris asked her what she was smiling about, she shook her head and watched as he smiled himself.

Arriving to their destination about twenty minutes later, Chris parked his truck and tucked his keys into his pocket before they both climbed out of the vehicle, Chris’ hand finding hers once more when they headed into the small bar, one of Chris’ favorite bars that they always visited when they were home.

Tasha couldn’t help but peek over Chris’ shoulder to look for Sammi and Sebastian. She grinned and let out an excited noise when she spotted them. Poking Chris in the side, she pointed them out and grinned even wider when she seen that Sammi had seen them as well. Chris laughed when Sammi side stepped him and wrapped Tasha up in a hug.

“It’s good to see you!” She muttered, squeezing the blonde tightly and pressing a kiss to her cheek, brown eyes dancing happily. “It’s been too long, we can’t do that again.”

“I agree,” Tasha laughed, smiling at Sebastian when Sammi let her go. Walking up and pressing a kiss against his cheek, she stepped back, “Hello there Mr. Stan, how are you?”

“Doing well, Tasha…thanks. How are you?”

“Great, it’s good to see you guys!”

Sebastian agreed, offering her a bright smile before pulling Chris into a hug. The two couples settled into the booth that Sebastian and Sammi had been saving for them, ordering drinks once the waitress made her rounds. Tasha looked around the bar, remembering the first time that Chris had brought her here, they’d just been on their first date and neither wanted to go home just yet, so they’d decided to come here for drinks.

Pulling out of her thoughts with a smile curling her lips, she rested her head against Chris’ sturdy shoulder for a moment, looking up when the waitress set her drink in front of her. Listening to Sebastian and Chris talk, she sipped her drink. Sammi caught her attention a few minutes later, asking her how her book store was going.

“It’s doing really well,” Tasha smiled, “I mean, surprise appearances by Captain America don’t hurt anything either.”

Sammi laughed, agreeing with her. “No, I wouldn’t think so! You’ll have to take me next time we’re in town for longer…I’d love to see it. Maybe we can get Cap’s best friend to show up as well.” The darker haired woman winked, laughing when Sebastian added,

“Only if we’re doing Bucky before the Winter Soldier, because I don’t think any of we want to go through the process of trying to get that metal arm back on.” Chris laughed loudly, muttering something about lube that had Sebastian flipping him the bird.

They spent a few good hours at the bar, swapping stories and catching up. Sometime later Sammi had suggested a walk through the park that wasn’t too much further down the road, and they all agreed, murmuring about needing fresh air anyway. Tasha nudged Chris to get him to stand and giggled when he jumped, complaining about her hitting a ticklish spot. Silencing him with a kiss, she smiled against his plump lips and threaded her fingers through his before following after the other couple.

Her brow crinkled when Chris stopped suddenly,

“Shit, I forgot our jackets in the truck. Wait here, I’ll be right back.”

She nodded, watching him jog back to the truck before Sammi caught her attention, suddenly, beckoning her forward so she could stand with them. Turning to face the darker haired woman, she laughed at a snarky remark that Sammi shot at Sebastian, making the man stutter before he burst out laughing. Jumping when a hand found the small of her back a few moments later, she whirled around and met the solid chest of her boyfriend.

“Sorry babe,” He chuckled, “Didn’t mean to startle you.”

“You’re fine.” Tasha murmured, leaning into his side when he draped his arm around her after helping her into her jacket, she sighed contentedly. They walked down the street, Sebastian and Chris shooting banter back and forth loudly, making others on the street gawk at them at some of the rather vulgar things that they were saying. But none of the group could care less, lost in their own little bubble of happiness.

The park was quiet, and the two couples found themselves calming down quite a bit, enjoying the clear night. The moon was bright, and the sky clear, Tasha found herself looking up at the stars, smiling when Chris noticed what she was doing and pointed out a few of the constellations that he knew. Stopping, Tasha wrapped her arms around his neck and stepped onto the tips of her toes to press a kiss to his lips.

“I love you.” She murmured, smiling when he told her that he loved her as well, and pressed another solid kiss to her lips.

“Oh dear lord, can ya’ll keep your hands to yourself for like, an hour?” Sammi teased, swatting Chris in the chest when he mocked her and her use of ‘ya’ll’ and called him an ass. Tasha didn’t see the wink that Sammi sent Chris’ way, before muttering a moment later, “Well, Sebastian and I are going to give you two a moment alone…we’ll meet up with you guys in a bit.”

Tasha tried to protest, but Sammi giggled wickedly and she and Sebastian took off in a quick clip in the other direction. Confused, Tasha looked to Chris who was chuckling, rubbing a hand against the back of his neck. “Well, what the hell was that?”

“I don’t know,” Chris laughed, falling quiet for a moment before looking around, “Do you know where we are?”

The blonde haired woman looked around for a moment, memories flooded her mind a moment later and she grinned, “This is where we had our first date…” Chris took her hand and they continued down the path, “We had a picnic lunch right…” She trailed off when the willow tree they had their first date under lit up, glowing softly with white lights that had been threaded through the low hanging branches. Still confused, she allowed Chris to lead her to stand under the tree, looking back at him when he shifted his weight from foot to foot; his face had flushed red like it always did when he was nervous. “Chris…” She breathed, hand coming to her chest to press against her heart.

“Now…before you say anything.” Chris chuckled, “I know that being with me isn’t the easiest thing in the entire world. I’m grumpy, and I sing too loud and really can’t dance for shit. I’m gone a lot, and when I’m home I take up your side of the bed and snore too loud. But, Tasha, I can’t picture my life without you, and so I was wondering…” He dug in his pocket and sank to one knee, making Tasha’s hand fly to cover her mouth as it hung open in shock, tears springing into her eyes, “will you marry me?”

“You son of a bitch!” She gasped, laughing as tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes, “Yes, yes! I’ll marry you!” Tasha shook as he slipped the ring onto her finger, standing to his full height, Chris cupped her face in his hands and kissed long and sound. He let out a whoop of happiness when they finally broke apart, and Tasha squealed when he wrapped his arms around her and spun them in a circle. She took a moment to gaze at the ring he’d slipped onto her finger after he set her back down on her feet, “Oh, Chris, this is gorgeous.” She whispered, not being able to resist kissing him again, curling her fingers into the material of his jacket when he let out a hum of happiness.

“I love you, baby.”

“I love you, too, Chris.” Tasha smiled, burying her face into Chris’ chest when he pulled her in for a hug. Stepping back, Chris dug into his pocket and grinned when Tasha gave him a confused look at the switchblade knife he held in his hand. “What are you up to now, you crazy bastard?” She asked him as he took her hand and pulled her towards the Willow’s solid trunk.

“Something that you only see in silly romance novels…” Chris laughed, focusing on the task of actually carving their initials into the tree, a haphazard heart surrounding them. Tasha laughed softly. “What? Our relationship started under this willow, and we took the next step of that relationship under this willow…it’s only fitting.”

A year and a half later, in a small ceremony with only friends and family, they tied the knot…standing under the same willow tree.