The box in Martin’s jacket pocket seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, sitting there like a lead weight and dragging his attention away from the important matter at hand. He didn’t think that he’d ever been more nervous for a dinner in his entire life, barring perhaps the first dinner he’d had with Theresa when he’d been so anxious that he would commit some horrendous breach in etiquette and bring shame down on his entire family. It had been a very near thing actually, especially when he’d come within a hair’s breadth of spilling the bottle of red wine all over the table and himself, but he’d managed to get through that dinner without any international incidents and even managed to get a second and third date afterwards.

This date was slightly more intimidating however. This was, after all, the one month anniversary of their first date together to the Air Museum, and even if it was something of a silly thing to celebrate Martin still wanted to get it right. Especially considering what he had planned with the small red box that was currently pressing into his side and sending his pulse up through the roof every time he thought about it. Would she like it? Would she think it was too weird? Was he making a huge mistake?

There was no turning back now though, not after he had gone through all the trouble of arranging this date and procuring the present in question. Honestly, getting Theresa to Fitton had been the easiest part of the whole ordeal thanks to His Royal Highness getting into a tiff with the Sheikh of Qatar on the playground and needing a family member present for a teacher conference, something that Martin tried not to think about too much so that his brain didn’t start hurting from the absurdity of it all. Perhaps even more absurd was the fact that he was currently sitting with the Crown Princess of a foreign nation in a tiny pub in Fitton, in spite of his many protestations that something like an anniversary required white tablecloths at the very least. But Theresa had put her foot down, insisting that she got quite enough of white tablecloths and stuff dining at home, and so here they were tucked away in a dark little corner of the local pub, sharing pints of ale and a plate of chips while arguing the finer points of war-era aircraft. It was absurd. And perfect.

As the night wore on Martin grew steadily more nervous about his present and several times even came close to backing out of the whole thing entirely, but the buzz of alcohol through his veins and the happy smiles that Theresa kept sending him gave him a courage that he had not previously known he possessed. At last, when a natural pause came in the conversation and they shared a brief but comfortable silence, he knew that it was time. It was now, or never.

Reaching into his pocket, he fumbled the red box out of his jacket while clearing his throat slightly. “Now Theresa as you know, this is a very important and momentous occasion, one that should be celebrated as such.”

Theresa’s eyebrows shot up in surprise and curiosity, a slight smile playing over her face as she leaned back in her seat. “Oh, is it now? I wasn’t aware that dinner at the pub was considered a momentous occasion here in England.”

“Don’t be silly, you know what I mean. It’s, well, it’s been a month. Since we started dating. It’s our anniversary.” Theresa remained silent, that small smile of amusement she always seemed to wear around him still on her face, and Martin felt his cheeks flush slightly as he plunged forward. “Anyway I wanted to get something to mark the occasion, something that uh, befitted the standing of the parties involved and the, er, gravity of it all. So I, well, I got you this.”

Face burning red by now, he thrust the box towards her over the table and held his breath as she opened it with a puzzled look on her face. A moment that seemed to last a lifetime passed in silence as she examined the contents of the box, not saying anything at all and sending Martin’s pulse pounding through the roof. Words came spilling out of him all at once, nerves and anticipation and the need to be understood exploding together.

“It’s a medal, the Medal of Exceptional Courage and Valor. It’s bestowed on those who have shown tremendous patience and kindness, in this case for honoring this humble captain with your presence and surviving a relationship with him for a whole month. I thought, well, since you gave me so many medals when we first met, it’s about time that I start repaying you the favor. It’s not as official as the ones you gave me I know, but I had it made special -”

“I love it.” Theresa cut him off with a smile, reaching across the table to grab his hand and sending a burst of warmth shooting through him. “I really love it, thank you Martin. I’m honored that a Captain like yourself would give me such a wonderful thing.”