Page 95 of Outside Looking In

“The comedic timing has to be spot on,” Nathan said, passing on sage advice from when he performed in the show years ago. Since it was a play that took place backstage, the play and play-within-the-play had to be synched perfectly.

“It’s going to be brilliant. Jason is so funny in it.”

She blushed the second his name escaped her lips. Once she decided to become an actress, her first co-star romance was inevitable. Needless to say, Mark demanded they run lines in the living room, not her bedroom. Nathan warned Mark that this was only the beginning.

They all sat down, and Liam put out the food. He and Nathan had made shepherd’s pie. Nathan figured he should be eating more of it since he was now a shepherd himself.

“Whose turn is it for the nightly prayer?” Mark asked the table once everyone sat down.

“Mine,” Nathan said with a smile.

“This ought to be good.” Liam arched an eyebrow across the table at his boyfriend.

Nathan clasped his hands together. “Dear Lord…thank you.” He looked around the table at his family, at the picture of Mariel sitting on the shelf, at Liam. “Thank you for everything.”

* * *

Nathan awokeat around midnight to an empty bed. The light in the bathroom was off, too.

“Liam?” he asked the dark. He popped out of bed. “Liam?”

Nathan searched the shed, which only took a few seconds, but it was Liamless. He slipped on his shoes and went outside into the warm air. The farm was asleep, sheep snoozing away standing up.

“Liam?”

Nathan poked his head into the hoof house quietly so as not to wake the sheep. Up on the hill, under a beam of moonlight, he found his boyfriend.

“Liam what the hell are you doing out here?”

“It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it?”

“Technically, morning. Could you not sleep?”

A smile stretched onto Liam’s bearded face. He held a small box in his hand. Nathan knew what was usually in those boxes.

“Liam…” But before he could say anything else, Liam was down on one knee.

“I couldn’t wait.” Liam opened the box, revealing a gleaming silver band. “I couldn’t sleep. I’ve been thinking about the best time to do this, but the best things can’t be planned.”

“They just happen.”

“They just wind up dragging a suitcase through your field in the middle of the night.”

Nathan prided himself on not being emotional, but his defenses couldn’t stop the tears from forming. He felt exposed and loved and scared and safe all at once.

“You are sarcastic, bullheaded, caring, sweet, occasionally funny, and someone I want to spend the rest of my life with. Will you marry me?”

Nathan nodded yes. He swore he was never going to be one of those people who was so choked up with emotion that he couldn’t give a one-word answer. But damnit, he totally was.

“I love you so much, Nathan. And the truth is, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You make me a better brother, a better uncle, a better farmer.”

“You’re taking all my lines.” Nathan wiped his arm across his tear-stained cheeks. “But stand up. Leave the one-knee proposals to the straights.”

Liam did as instructed and kissed him under the twinkling lights of their own private, sheep-filled universe.

THE END