okay i just wanted to thank all of you for all of your encouraging words that you've given me lately. this past month has been really tough. i'm turning 21 in less than 2 weeks and i am being super pressured to get a job and my license (i have a huge fear of driving since i was in an accident recently so that makes that harder than it already was and i keep getting turned down for starter jobs) and anyway yeah that's making me miserable! also bc of this quarantine, we can't travel up to michigan to be with our family when my great uncle just passed away. it's just been a lot of heavy hits but i am thankful and grateful to have you all here to talk to me and encourage me when i am feeling down. 

i know God has given me a gift of being able to write and bring people happiness, and i really thank Him for giving me that blessing. thank you all for reminding me how much you love reading and how happy it makes you. it really makes me so very happy to read comments like that, and i swear to you i seriously read every single comment i get. 

also, thank you to all of you who have given me birthday gifts already :'-) i've loved all of the imagines, preferences, and art you've made me <3 

i love all of you guys and i promise i will be putting out even more exciting content soon. once i finish my poe fic i'm writing the end of currently, i'll be publishing my first full length barley lightfoot x reader!!

this was requested by sadierules1, it'll be split into two parts bc i got a similar request that'll make a nice sequel :-)

/ / / 

"I can't believe you're really doing this, Barley, I mean..." Ian shook his head. "I mean wow, you're still a teenager."

Barley chuckled, pushing the door open. Ian walked on through. "I turn twenty in a few weeks." 

"Still," Ian said, arching an eyebrow. "I'm surprised Mom didn't kill you when you told her."

"I think that she was just glad that I told her," he said. He glanced around him; the entrance to the mall was nearly empty, with tall ceilings and squeaky clean speckled floors. It was Tuesday morning, and Ian had for the first time ever eagerly skipped school. "Hey, man --- thanks for coming with me. I know you had your chess club today---"

"Hey," Ian said, "chess club happens every Tuesday. This is a once in a lifetime chance." He playfully punched Barley's shoulder. "I mean my brother is getting married!"

"I'm proposing," he corrected. 

"Which will definitely lead to marriage." Ian smiled. 

Barley smiled as he thought of you dressed in a long white dress, probably with the super puffy sleeved you'd always dreamed of wearing "like a real princess would on her big day". He had already sworn to himself that if you accepted his proposal and agreed to marriage, he would give you the fairytale wedding that you had always dreamed of having. 

"I hope you're right, Iandore," Barley sighed. 

"You know that I am." 

Barley's eyes traveled across the line-up of stores before him. He pointed and grinned at an antique store that caught his eye. "Hey look at that! ___ loves places like this. We had our first date at an antique store, you know."

Ian sighed, "Barley, don't get distracted! We're on a quest for the perfect engagement ring, alright?"

"Right," Barley said. "You're right."

The jeweler's was on the first floor of the mall; it was an overpriced place with ceiling to floor posters of women wearing huge sparkling diamonds on their ears, fingers, and necks. Inside of the store, the lights were so bright that every movement forward caused a glimmer to blind you from one of the jewels. As soon as Barley shuffled inside of the place, he felt eyes of disbelief staring at him, at this teenager with a beanie on his head and pins and patches all over his ripped denim vest. But Barley held his head high; he had scraped for money for this for months, intent on saving up enough to get his lady the perfect gem for their engagement.

An old elven man who wore a tightly pressed suit approached the two teenagers with a look of polite disgust on his face. Barley slipped his hat off of his head and bowed, only prompting the old elf to grimace further. 

"Good sir, I have traveled here seeking a gem for my intended," he said, tucking his arm down as he bowed respectfully. 

Ian awkwardly stepped forward. "What my brother means is that he's planning on proposing to his girlfriend and he needs to find an engagement ring." 

"Ah," the man said, "of course. I am Mr. Tipandon, and I will assist you today." 

Barley held out his hand for the man to shake. "My name's Barley Lightfoot, and this is my little brother Ian." 

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Lightfoot," the man replied. "Follow me, and please tell me about your, er, intended so that we can find the stone that best suits her." 

Barley followed Mr. Tipandon to the counter at the back of the store. He placed his hands on the glass and peered down as the elf opened the back of the case. "Well, Mr. Tipandon, my beloved is strong and wonderful. She is my princess and my knight in shining armor all in one."

"Where did you meet?" 

"High school," Barley said. 

"Ah, so you're high school sweethearts," the man said. 

"We, uh, sat together in history class," Barley said, putting his elbow on the counter as he thought back, "and I remember she was so quiet --- and she still is. I was more on the loud side, of course, so I got on her nerves for a while but, uh, I pretty much fell in love with her the minute I saw her. I knew nothing about her except that she was the single most beautiful person that I had ever seen. She's a great girlfriend, she's my best friend. She's a good big sister to Ian and she... she's really just shown me that she's all that I'll ever need to be really okay in life."

"That's very sweet, Mr. Lightfoot," Mr. Tipandon said. "Let us explore our options here, okay? May I ask what your budget is?"

"Seven thousand," Barley said nonchalantly, even though Ian's eyes nearly popped out of his head. He knew his brother had been saving up for a long time now (he had even opted out of getting Guinevere the Second a paint job in order to afford this) but seven thousand dollars was far more than he had expected. "I want her to have the very best."

"Very well," Mr. Tipandon said. He reached into the counter and pulled out several rings from the display. 

Each one had either a gold band or a silver band. They were thin with a cluster of diamonds at the center. One had a piece of gold band that would bend around your knuckle and hold smaller diamonds above the main gem. They were all insanely glittery and shimmery, but not a single one was one that Barley could imagine giving to you. 

Minutes passed, and Mr. Tipandon was eager to keep Barley in his store even after he had turned down nearly every single ring. 

"Allow me to check what else we may have, Mr. Lightfoot. Stay right here," he said, lifting his hands. 

Barley sighed, his face falling. "There's nothing here that feels like something she would like."

"Well, there's the jeweler's at the mall at the next exit, remember? We can check there," Ian said, smiling encouragingly. "Don't worry, Barley. We'll find it. For now, let's just see what Mr. Tipandon brings back."

He nodded and turned, crossing his arms over his chest. He glanced out of the store windows, where an elderly couple were walking out of the antique store, their hands intertwined. Barley smiled, and then he gasped and spun around.

"Brother! We must go." 

"What?! Why?" Ian asked, but Barley already had him by the sleeve and was pulling him out of the jeweler's. "Quit pulling me, Barley!" 

Barley dropped him, but he was still running towards the antique store. He pushed through the door, which chimed as he entered.

"Welcome," the shopkeeper said. "What can I do for ya?"

Barley was breathless as he approached the counter. "I'm seeking a gem with which I can propose to my intended."

The shopkeeper nodded slowly. "Let me see what I can get you, sir." 

She bent down at the waist and he heard her shuffle through a few boxes under the counter. A long minute passed and when she stood up, she had a wooden jewelry box in her hands. 

"This is our special stock," she said. "We've had these for quite a while. They're just not anybody's style. But I can tell that you're different."

Barley stared at the box as she pushed it toward him and lifted the lid. At once, he was in awe of what was in front of him. He saw the perfect one right away. 

"That one," he said. 

She nodded and picked it up. "We can adjust the ring to any size necessary," she assured him. "And I can assure you that if you need it adjusted at any time in the near future, you can bring it in here and we will adjust it for you." 

"Thank you," he said. 

The shopkeeper smiled and nodded. "Can I ask how you're gonna propose?"

"I've thought about doing it a million different ways," he said. 

"You nervous?" she asked. 

"A little," he admitted. 

She put the ring in a navy blue box and closed the lid. She handed it to him. 

Ian walked up behind his brother and placed a hand on his shoulder. "She'll say yes and he knows it."

"Sometimes that's not the scariest part," she said, nodding. "Sometimes the scariest part is trying to get it right." 

Barley nodded. He desperately wanted to get this right.

/ / /

You were waiting for him on your porch steps, sitting under the warm sun of the early spring. You heard the squeal of the tires before you saw the van swerve over into your driveway. You beamed and got up on your feet. He opened the door and jumped out of the van, a bouquet of flowers in hand. 

"My beautiful lady, your chariot awaits!" he called. 

"Barley," you laughed, letting your purse dangle from your wrist as you stopped walking. He had a lopsided grin on his face as he brought the flowers to you. "What are these for?" 

"They're for my lady," he said. "They're handpicked for you."

You took them from him. Blooms of white daises, golden poppies, and cornflowers smiled up at you. Barley watched you admire them; he was absolutely lovesick.

"Thank you," you said. "They're beautiful, but really Barley, what are they for?"

"For my beautiful lady," he said again, nonchalantly. You tilted your head, pushing for another answer--- 

And Barley bent down and swooped you up into his arms. You gasped, nearly dropping the bouquet of flowers as he spun you around in a half-circle, bridal-style. 

"Barley!" you said, breathless, "what is with you today?"

"I'm in love with you," was all that he said. He shook his head and let his eyes flicker over your entire face that was lit up by the gold setting sun. 

And that answer was enough as he walked you to the passenger side of his van. 

/ / /

The stars and sky stretched above you; a dome of glittering lights that, with the lights in the back of the van, lit up your evening as you and Barley laid on your stomachs and stared out the open doors. It was chilly, but Barley had already put his beanie over your head and draped the vest over your shoulders like a shawl.

As you gazed at the sky above you, your chin on the heels of your hands, he watched you. He kept his cheek pressed again the top of his crossed arms. He lifted his head only to press a kiss at your jaw, prompting you to look at him. 

You reached down and played with the locks of hair that messily fell around his forehead. "What did you want to do?"

"Hm?"

"Here," you said, "what did you want to do?"

"Oh," he mumbled. He shrugged lazily. "Nothin'."

You raised your eyebrows, kicking your feet in the air slowly. "Nothin'? Really?"

"Not a single thing, my beautiful lady," he said. He pulled his hand out from underneath his head and reached up to run his hand down your hair. Just an hour before, he had braided a few of the wildflowers into it. "I just want to look at you." 

You smiled and dropped your eyes. He kissed you again, his lips landing closer to your lips this time. You turned to kiss him, your lips pressing against his slowly. 

As you kissed, Barley reached behind him to get the box with the ring that he had tucked in his back pocket. He pulled it out, clutched it in his hand, and then moved to sit up. 

You opened your eyes lazily as his lips pulled from yours and sighed at the absence of it. But you stopped as you sat up, turning around to get off your stomach---

And you noticed that Barley was now on one knee. 

Your hands, which had moved to adjust the braid that pulled back the front of your hair, froze. "Barley," you said, "what are you doing?" 

He had the box in his hand. He opened it slightly and grinned. 

You scrambled up onto your knees to meet his eye-level perfectly. "Barley. What are you doing?" 

"You're full of a lot of questions today," he said with a laugh, "but I just need to ask you this now, because it's been killing me that I've been in love with you for five years and haven't asked you yet. ___, babe, you're so beautiful that it literally breaks my heart every time I look at you --- but in the best way. You are princess any knight would kill to have, and you chose me. Now I don't want to get into too much right here because I want to really kill it with the romance during our wedding vows, but I love you more than I knew I could ever love someone. Baby, you're all that I have ever needed. And so I ask you for your hand, my breathtaking Lady ___."

He lifted the lid of the box and showed you the ring. It was a beautiful silver band with a single moonstone on the top. It gleamed softly, as a pearl did. You gasped without a sound leaving your lips. 

"Oh Barley, it's beautiful," you said. 

He laughed nervously. "Babe, I saved up for years for a real diamond ring but I found this thing for eighty bucks. And I don't think I'm supposed to tell you that part, but I have a lot of built up anxiety and I'm just gonna let you know that right now so I don't lose it while I wait for you to answer."

You laughed with him. "Well, then I guess you can use the rest of the money to just work on getting us an apartment, huh?"

He stopped laughing and his eyes widened. "Is that a --- is that a yes?" 

"Of course it's a yes," you breathed. "Marry me, Barley."

"Are you asking me too now?" 

"Maybe," you said, and then he was wrapping his arms around you, his lips crashing against yours. His hand was on the back of your head and you gripped his biceps tightly as he kissed you. 

The box and the ring clattered against the floor of the van as he went to grab your waist. He broke quickly. 

"Oh Chantor's talons, the ring!" he said. He swiped it up and you sank back on your knees, pressing your left hand against your cheek as you laughed breathlessly. 

He sank back, too, but he wordlessly held his hand out for yours. You placed your left hand in his palm, and he slipped the ring up your finger. It was perfect. 

Barley just held your hand and stared at you; impossibly more lovesick as his beloved pulled him against her. 

/ / / 

also i do intend on making a part 3 of detention as well :-)