has_2ls | for Sam

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sam,
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for Sam

Arguing with Carter was never one of Jack's favorite activities and the fight they'd had the other day, he was seriously beginning to worry about the long-term health of their relationship. He was stubborn as hell, that was true, but Carter...Carter was afraid of everything. His life had been spent denying himself what he wanted for the good of his country and, later, the entire world. He'd moved past that on the island but Carter, apparently, had not. Still, it wasn't enough to make Jack quit trying. Short of the day when Carter told him to get out for good, he'd be trying to make it work. He loved her too much to do anything less.

She was still asleep, which was good. Jack liked to go get her coffee and bring it to her when he could, especially when they'd fought. Coffee seemed to go a long way in mending bridges between him and Carter and it'd taken him a little while to get it perfectly right. She was damned picky about it, unlike he and Daniel who'd just take whatever they could get. The hike to the compound wasn't so bad in the early morning and it never took him long to get the coffee and bring it back. Today though, there was a little something extra next to her coffee mug, a new seashell. Lame, but it was rare to find them where both shells were still there intact with the hinge not broken, and Jack's life on the island was kind of about fishing and seashell hunting.

He placed the coffee and the shell to the side, though, and climbed back in bed to try to wake her up. He smoothed her hair and whispered against her ear.

"Good morning, Samantha. Got you some coffee."

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Sam had been sleeping deeply enough that she hadn't noticed Jack get up, and was only dimly aware of him climbing back in bed beside her. "Hey," she murmured, turning over a little towards him. "You're up early." She was vaguely aware of the smell of coffee, but Jack was closer, and his breath tickled her skin.

"Yup. I thought you might want to sleep in and I figured you wanted coffee," Jack said, smoothing her hair back off her face. "And I've got a present for you too."

"A present and coffee? Wow, you really know how to wake a girl up." She stretched and yawned a little, turning away a bit so she didn't blast him in the face with morning breath, then reached up to touch his cheek. "Too bad I can't drink coffee lying down," she said. "I'm pretty comfortable like this."

"You can present lying down," Jack said, reaching for the seashell. "Thought this one was pretty cool. You can open and close it."

And it had been the perfect size to tuck in the ring he'd made with Ronon's kit. Not the most beautiful thing in the world, but there was thought and effort, and the diamond still sparkled even if the setting wasn't perfect.

He'd had the ring for a few weeks but hadn't known how or when to ask, but when he'd found the shell, it'd been perfect.

"Oh, very nice," Sam said, taking the shell. "It's very rare to find both valves of a bivalve mollusk intact and undamaged." She turned it over, admiring the coloration, and as she did it made a little rattling sound.

A little rattling sound like the sound of metal against the calcium-rich shell.

She shook it again, gently, just enough to hear the sound of it again, and then looked up at him.

"I don't know. Don't pearls get left in there sometimes?" Jack said, grinning at her. "I mean, I'm hardly a scientist or anything, but I have fished a lot."

Thank God he had a poker face.

Sam was a scientist, but she didn't need to be to know that what was in this shell was no pearl. The sound was wrong, and the weight was wrong, and for the life of her Sam couldn't figure out what might be inside it.

So she gave it another gentle, experimental shake, and then opened it.

There was a ring lying in the hollow of the shell.

"Oh, my God."

"Good oh my god or bad oh my god?" Jack asked, holding his breath. "I've got coffee too, you know, if you need to uh, take a minute."

Sam pushed up to sitting with one hand, carefully holding the shell in the other. "Surprised oh my God," she said, still staring at it. Her hand was shaking enough that the ring rattled a little in the shell, so she lowered it to her lap.

"Shouldn't be," Jack said lowly, covering her hand. "You know this is what I wanted from the beginning, you know?"

"Me, too," she said, and her breath caught in her throat a little; she had to take a few breaths to make it steady. Why was she panicking about this? Jack was asking her to marry him--and it made no sense to feel this way, because honestly? They were as good as married already. "I'm just a little... overwhelmed."

Why? Because the engagement step was where things always fell apart in her relationships? Twice a fiancee, never a bride. But this was Jack. This was the man she was meant to be with, and she knew it; she hadn't been meant to be with Jonas or Pete, which is why those relationships hadn't worked. She wouldn't make the same mistakes with Jack.

"I can take it back," Jack said, shrugging a little. "Because really, Carter, you don't look so good. Like you're gonna pass out or something."

"Don't you dare," she said, with a little bit of nervous laughter that died away when she found his hand and squeezed hard. "Don't take it back. I'm not going to pass out."

He'd brought coffee. Possibly that would help with the nerves. Sam let go of his hand and reached for the mug, taking a deep swallow and somehow managing not to spill it, even though her hand was shaking.

"Don't have to answer right now," Jack said softly, toying with her hair. "I just wanted to ask because it felt right to me."

She set the coffee cup aside and closed her eyes a moment, leaning against him while he played with her hair. "It's beautiful." She opened her eyes and looked at the ring again, still resting in the shell. "You made it yourself, didn't you."

"Yeah. Jennifer gave me Ronon's kit before she vanished," Jack said softly. "They're all disappearing, aren't they? Ronon, Rodney, Jennifer, Jill. I'm just scared it's gonna be me or you or Daniel next."

"I'm scared, too," she admitted. And there wasn't much that scared Sam. "Because of the disappearances, and because..." She picked up the ring, laying the shell aside, and turned the ring around in her fingers. "Because this is the point where things always fall apart. The getting engaged part. And I don't want that to happen, not with you."

"I don't know what to tell you," Jack admitted. "I mean, do you want to marry me? Because if you're sure about that, engagement ought to be easy."

"I do," Sam said, and there was no hesitation in that answer. "And... God, I'm not saying no, though I know it sounds like I am. I do want to marry you. I'm just..." She let out a long, shaky breath. She didn't have the feeling she'd had when Pete proposed, when she'd kept the ring in the box and dithered about it for a few weeks before finally saying yes, and that told her something very important.

"I want to say yes, but I don't want to get married right away. Is that okay?"

Jack shrugged. Not the way he wanted a proposal to go, that's for sure.

"However you want to handle it, Carter. I'm just saying, you wearing my ring really doesn't change anything."

That was true; they were together in every way that mattered, and here, at least, marriage didn't even confer any special legal obligations or protections. But it still felt like an enormous step.

At some point, she was going to have to stop being such a chicken.

They were going to get married. Sam didn't have an idea of when or how or where, but they were going to do it. And despite her fears, a slow, quiet smile curled her mouth as she looked up at him.

That smile was encouraging and Jack plucked the ring from the shell and took her hand, slowly sliding it on. It fit perfectly, but that'd been because he'd measured her finger when she was asleep. It'd been a feat, but worth it.

"Will you marry me, Sam?"

When he slid the ring onto her finger, it was as if something shifted just a bit, giving her a little nudge in the direction of this feels right. She hadn't felt that with anyone else. Just Jack. And it was a feeling that made the hint of a smile bloom into a truly happy grin.

"Yes," she said, laughing a little. Her fingers curled around his, holding tight. "I will."

"See? Not so hard," Jack said, squeezing her hand tight. "Now, let's have some coffee?"

"In a minute," Sam said, putting her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. She exhaled against his neck and laughed a little, part nervous and part relieved.

"I've got all the time in the world," Jack promised, murmuring against her hair. "Me asking doesn't mean it happens tomorrow, or even this year. It just means eventually."

She took another breath and sat up, tracing her hands along his shoulders and down his arms to take his hands again. "I will marry you," she said softly, and gave him a gentle kiss. "I promise. Even if I need a little time... it's going to happen. Please don't doubt it."

Jack dragged his hands up to her lips and kissed each softly. "I am so holding you to that, Carter."

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