Title: Whatever Time We Have Left
Pairing: Bill/Laura
Rating: PG
Word Count: 770
Summary: Written for this prompt - BSG, Bill/Laura, Getting married is hard.
Getting married would have been complicated enough under the best of circumstances. Getting married under post-apocolyptic conditions while floating through space with all that remains of the human race... well, that provides about seventeen million new difficulties, and as Laura watches Bill sleep beside her - careworn, exhausted, and his face still creased with tension even in his sleep - she makes a promise to overcome each and every one of those issues and try to make this happen.
Provided Bill wants to, at least.
- - -
It had become clear within half a year of them officially getting together that Bill was not someone who would ever make that first move. That he's a captain first, and a partner second, and that with the future of the human race lying heavy on their shoulders, and with her illness ticking down in the back of their minds, there is no way he's going to add one more thing to think about to that list.
Fortunately for him, Laura doesn’t see it that way. And as that clock ticks off another day, and they come no closer to finding Earth, she just has one more reason to finally get down on one knee and make that final move.
- - -
The day she finally gets the guts to ask isn’t anything special. There’s not a hint of variation from the daily routine. Somehow, though, when Bill comes back from his duties, looking exhausted as always and doing his best to try to hide it, Laura makes the decision to stop being a coward. She kisses him slowly at the doorway, leaning light against him because she doesn’t want to add any extra weight to what he’s already carrying, and then she smiles and nudges him in the direction of the bathroom. As soon as she hears the shower start, she collects a group of candles, sets them across the room, lights them, and then sits down to wait on the edge of the bed. By the time Bill walks out - civilian clothes, damp hair, and a confused expression on his face - her heart is beating so fast she can almost feel it in her throat.
“Special occasion?”
“Yes.”
“Am I forgetting something I should be remembering?”
His voice is lighter than it normally is, a tiny bit of his tension gone as he half-smiles at her from across the room, and she swallows hard as she gets to her feet, smoothing out her skirt and feeling the press of that small box in her front pocket. His look of confusion returns as she crosses the room to him, and when she tugs him into a chair and then kneels down on one knee in front of him, it’s like she can feel the shock radiate out from his body.
“Laura, what -”
“Whatever time we have left, I want to spend it with you.”
She somehow keeps the words steady, and then watches him flush slightly, knows that he’s looking for the response he won’t be able to articulate, knows that he’s so much better with actions and touches than he is with words, knows that he wants the same thing she does - and so she pulls the box from her pocket, opens it, and looks up at him as she holds it out in her palm.
“Bill Adama. Will you marry me?”
The ring isn’t anything fancy - it’s hard to find high quality jewelry within the fleet, without turning to black market sales - but it’s nice enough, shines just slightly in the box in her hand, lit up by candlelight, and she watches as his mouth drops open, his eyes blowing wide and bright in his face. There’s nothing else for a moment - both of them staring at each other, and she knows he’s going over every reason for why this might be a horrible idea - and then he swallows hard, presses a shaking hand against her head, and nods.
“Yes. God, yes. Laura -”
He cuts himself off as she slides the ring onto his finger, and then she’s off the floor, sitting across his knees and smiling as she curls a hand around his cheek, dragging her fingers through the tears that are sliding down his skin, and her insides feel like they’re flying and she can’t breathe and her vision is going wet - and when Bill pulls her in close to kiss her, murmuring her name like it’s some kind of prayer, all she can do is hold on as tight as he can and pray that she has him in her life until the day she dies.