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Her Royal Highness Princess Daisy of Shield and Mr Lincoln Campbell are engaged to be married!

Daisy swiped past that article and onto the next, and, yeah, sure enough, every major newsfeed in the country was reporting the same thing. Actually, every newsfeed was, scratch just the ones in the country.

She didn't know why she was surprised - the Shield Royal Family was big, regardless of where in the world you were.

And she was, of course, its crown princess.

Her fingers hovered above the next article on her tablet, and she bit her lip, considering. She could click on it, or she could judge the public's reaction a little more… reliably. Personally. (And covertly, of course.)

Actually, yeah, that sounded like a pretty good idea to her. Crown princess or no, she had never been much for rules.

Smirking to herself, she swiped out of her browser and opened Twitter. The clean, crisp, royalty-approved posting format of their engagement announcement stared back at her, accompanied by at least a thousand comments, most of them some form of congratulations with excessive exclamation marks, or heart-eyes, or both.

Looking good, then… This was not, however, the most accurate test of how people were feeling.

Scrolling up to the top of the page, she logged out of her official The Playground account, and into her "secret" account, skyejohnson02, which, as far as anyone on the internet knew, belonged to just another royal fan based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Had she had a lot of fun pretending to fangirl over herself? Yes. Had she even critiqued her own style choices? Hell yes. No matter what Jemma said, the side part had been a really bad choice overall.)

But today, she typed in the hashtag "princess daisy", and held her breath as she refreshed the feed.

The first thing she saw was a retweet of the official announcement, with the caption so how are we feeling about the #royal engagement? in bold letters underneath.

SO. FREAKING. HAPPY!!! someone under the name of emily.for.daisylincoln had commented. I knew they'd be endgame from the first time Daisy said he changed her life right after university.

Okay, well, that level of knowledge about her personal life wasn't disturbing at all.

Shuddering slightly, Daisy moved on to the next retweet, added to by kathryndaisies.

Hey, can someone still kill Lincoln and marry Daisy themselves? Asking for a friend ;)

Daisy snickered, giving the tweet a like before moving onto the next.

omfg they're both SO ATTRACTIVE, my bi ass can.not.function, a retweeter under the handle - she had to smirk - daisyboo had written.

She was very flattered by the sentiment, though, and took a second to like the tweet.

princess daisy of shield is a real-life superhero and *such* an inspiration, daisymint had written on their retweet. to give just one example, that time she went to kazakhstan and helped the native people set up a protection program for the eagles they have there? she didn't *have* to do that, but she did, and she changed those people's lives. and, look, i'm not the kind of person who gets involved with royals, or their straight white boyfriends. but princess daisy can stay, and i wish her all happiness

Daisy was touched, both by this fan's remembrance of her Kazakhstan trip - those eagles had been really cute - and by their overall sentiment.

Of course, there was always That One Person who would be out to spoil things - in this case, one daisy.geralt, who retweeted the original post with lincoln and daisy could not be *less* suited to each other and i predict a breakup within a year. daisy should get together with someone solid and dependable instead

But most of the comments on that tweet had cut it down completely, scolding the tweeter with things like oh, shut up, hater, Daisy and Lincoln are excellent for each other and even if you don't agree with Daisy's choice, it's *her* choice, and you should respect that and be happy that she's happy instead of inventing drama and discontent where there isn't any.

Ooh, she really liked that last one. Nice and snappy, and full of excellent points.

So on the whole - things were looking good, then.

"And that smile?" Lincoln's familiar voice asked, and she glanced up to see him leaning against the doorway, tie half-done around his neck, and a soft smile on his lips as he looked at her.

She smiled back, stretching out one hand in his general direction. Expression softening further, he stepped forward and took his hand, lacing their fingers together.

"I was just checking Twitter," she told him, tugging him closer by their joined hands and tipping her head up at him, batting her eyelashes.

"Nice," he said, brushing a curl of hair off her cheek with his familiar my-girlfriend-is-the-best smile. Wait, no - his my-fiancée-is-the-best smile. Yeah, no, she still wasn't used to that, regardless of the ring on her finger.

Oh, God, she had a ring on her finger.

Little happy sparkles exploded in her chest, and she found herself grinning, grinning madly for no particular reason - something which was happening a lot these days.

"So what does Twitter say?" Lincoln asked, snapping her from her thoughts. He grinned down at her, tracing the dimples in her cheeks with his thumb.

She closed her eyes, fighting and entirely failing to stop her grin from widening ridiculous amounts. "Well, you know," she said, pulling on his hand to get him to sit down in front of her and smirking wickedly at him, "many of them want to come kill you and marry me themselves."

"Very fair," Lincoln said appreciatively, settling on the edge of her dresser.

She rolled her eyes - there was a chair right there, and yet. On the edge of the dresser it was.

From the impish sparkle in his blue eyes, she could tell he knew exactly what she was thinking, and had, in fact, done it precisely because it would annoy her.

She rolled her eyes again, even more expansively, but there was no denying the fondness behind it. "The other half of them," she went on, giving up the silent chair debate, "think we're unfairly attractive together and are losing their bi minds."

"Awww," Lincoln said, putting a hand to his heart.

"I mean, they're right," Daisy said, standing up and tugging him after her. Loosening their hands and snuggling into his side, she flattened her palm against his chest, wrapping her other arm around his middle.

He shook his head at her - "You are so modest, Daisy" - but nonetheless wrapped an arm around her and considered their reflection in the mirror.

Daisy beamed. "See? Very attractive," she said proudly. "Though… something has got to be done about your hair."

"Hair jokes. Really? It's that time of the day already?" he groaned.

She cackled. "It's always that time of the day."

He mock-glared down at her. "If you're not careful, I'll ruin your hair," he warned.

Daisy jumped away from him immediately, raising her hands protectively in front of her. "Noooooo," she cried dramatically. "You can't do that! Besides, Bobbi would kill you."

"Bobbi loves me," he protested, just a little doubtfully.

"Maybe, but she hates your hair," Daisy pointed out, with a whispered, "and she has a point" for good measure.

He rolled his eyes, but he was grinning affectionately down at her. "Alright, alright," he said. "I get it, my hair's a nightmare."

"Thank you," she said, beaming up at him. "Oh, and while we're on the subject of nightmares - what did you do to your tie?"

"I didn't do anything!" he protested, holding up his hands.

"Exactly," Daisy said emphatically.

He folded his arms, looking mournfully at her. "You know I suck at doing ties."

"Four years of dating me, and eight of being my friend," she said shaking her head and pretending to be grievously disappointed.

He twisted his head to follow her as she circled around him, straightening his collar and gathering his tie. "That's why I'm marrying you, isn't it?" he asked playfully.

"Right, yeah, how could I forget?" Daisy asked, smacking her palm against her forehead. "For the ties."

"Absolutely," he agreed, straight-faced.

Daisy gave the tie a quick tug, and, satisfied that it was looped properly around his neck, proceeded to tie it. "Well, it's a good thing that one of us has a semi-functioning brain," she said, settling the tie in the center of his chest. "Because you do kind of have to look presentable for the photoshoot later today."

"Oh, yeah, the photoshoot," he said, his smile fading somewhat.

Daisy bit her lip. "Afraid so. And then an engagement interview." She tried for a laugh, but it fell a little flat. "Nothing can be normal when you're marrying into royalty, right?"

Lincoln's gaze softened immediately. "Hey," he said, cradling her cheek. "I'm not mad at you, and I don't regret this, not one bit."

"Still, though," Daisy said. Some part of her knew it was ridiculous, that he had stayed with her this long and wasn't going to leave - but the other part, the part that had watched boyfriend after boyfriend (and, to be fair, girlfriend after girlfriend, and even friend after friend) walk away because of the pressures of royal life… that part of her made itself known now, and no matter how stupid she logically knew it was, she couldn't shove away the thought.

Everyone left. They always left.

And she couldn't even blame them - it was so, so much to ask, this living every second in the spotlight, under scrutiny from every news service on the planet.

It changed people, no matter how much they said it wouldn't, it was going to be okay. It was just so much.

And much as she logically knew it wasn't her fault, not really, she also couldn't help but think that it was. If she had just warned them all better, protected them the way her parents had always protected her, and made them feel loved - adored - despite the spotlight.

Her parents had always managed that so well for her… but could she do the same?

Was that on her? Was that something inside her that was just… wrong? Was there something in her that made it so people just… didn't want to stay?

"Hey," Lincoln said again, and his voice pulled her from her spiraling thoughts, anchoring her. Supporting her.

"I can just see what you're thinking," he said, putting his hands on her shoulders and looking tenderly down at her. "But it's not you, and none of that's going to happen. Okay?"

She bit her lip, not meeting his gaze, but he gently tipped her chin up so she had to look at him. "I'm serious, Dais," he said, and she could see that he was, really. "I would never hurt you."

The way he said it, blue eyes earnest and simultaneously incredibly tender… she had to believe him. She believed him.

Of course she believed him! Dammit. This was Lincoln, after all - Lincoln, who she had agreed to marry - and been happy to agree to marry. She, who had once said she would never marry anyone, heirs or no, because she liked being strong and independent on her own, thank you very much.

Lincoln, after all, had been the one who had always encouraged her, had told her that, yeah, no, she didn't have to marry someone if she didn't want to, royal traditions were stupid anyway.

He had also been there through all her worst patches, just like she had been there through all of his.

And he was still around, wasn't he?

Shaking her head at herself, she gave him a slightly watery smile. "Thanks," she said, putting her hand on top of his on her cheek and squeezing gently. "And I'm sorry. I was just having an… insecure patch."

"That's more than okay," he said, flipping her hand over and gently interlacing their fingers. "Everyone needs them sometimes. I mean, I definitely do - and you know that. Besides, you have a point."

"I really do, don't I?" she said with a self-deprecating smile. "I mean… I'm me. Princess Daisy of Shield."

"I know that," Lincoln said, arching his eyebrows. "Funnily enough, I believe you told me that the first time we met."

She half-laughed, shoving his shoulder. "Dumbass."

"Seriously, though," she went on. "I'm Princess Daisy. One day, I'm going to be Queen Daisy. That's… a hell of a lot to get yourself into."

"Which is why it's more than fair that you had, well, an insecure patch over it," he said, sweeping his thumb gently across her palm. His finger brushed against the ring on her fourth finger, and they both smiled.

"But, fact is," Lincoln said, holding her gaze seriously, "I'm not here for the royalty, I'm here for you. I don't give a single damn about titles, or the press, or any of it. I didn't fall in love with your tiara, I fell in love with the way your hair sticks up in a thousand directions every morning."

"I think you're talking about your hair," she retorted, smirking at him. (He pretended to be wounded.)

"Really though," she said, meeting his gaze earnestly. "Thanks. That's… that means a lot." Unable to stop herself, she added, "You sweetheart."

"Awwww, I'm a sweetheart?" he asked, pressing a hand against his chest. "My own fiancée thinks I'm a sweetheart. I'm so touched. I'm so moved. I'm so spellbound. I'm so -"

"Lincoln," she said warningly, shoving his chest and trying her hardest not to start laughing.

"Okay, okay," he relented, but his eyes were still sparkling. "I won't show off how touched I am that my own fiancée thinks I'm a sweetheart. My own fiancée."

She put her hands on her hips, glaring at him. "You're just saying fiancée over and over because you can, aren't you?"

"Yep," he said with a cheeky grin. "You caught me… fiancée."

"Oh, you -"

"Fiancée?" he suggested in a dramatic whisper.

She rolled her eyes hugely, but she was grinning, too - grinning in a way that wasn't going to fade away anytime soon.

She had gone from almost-depressed and extremely insecure to laughing and joking and happy - and it was all thanks to him.

It was… it was amazing. And why they worked.

They just… got each other, and knew what to say to each other, and brought out the best in each other.

… And, of course, as had been established a couple of minutes ago - they were both really attractive. Like, really attractive. And pretty damn good kissers. What? It was just a fact.

"Okay, fiancée," she said, stepping closer and reaching up to grip the collar of his suit jacket. She smiled up at him, stretching up a little to bump her nose against his.

He settled his hands comfortably on her waist, grinning down at her and pressing his forehead against hers. "I love you so much," he said softly. "You know that, right? No matter how much I complain about how dumb and annoying all the royal stuff is, it's just that, complaining. I'd never go."

"I know that," Daisy murmured, her heart expanding with fondness. "And, hey, it's very complain-able. Hell, I complain about it all the time."

"But I love you too," she said, lifting her hand to rest against his cheek, the ring on her fourth finger bright against his skin. "I love you so, so much."

Her eyes fluttering shut, she raised herself the last couple of centimetres onto her tiptoes, and just as their lips were snout to brush -

"Your Royal Highness," came Jemma's voice, accompanied by a knock on her door, "are you ready?"

Every. Single. Time.

Jemma had the worst timing in the entire palace, Daisy could swear.

Groaning under her breath, she opened her eyes, exchanging a long-suffering look with Lincoln. Still - Jemma knew better than calling her Your Royal Highness in any normal situation, so this had to mean it was almost time.

"Come on in," Daisy called, not bothering to step out of Lincoln's arms.

Jemma saw them, and her eyebrows flew up. "Oh, sorry," she said, wincing slightly. "Am I -"

"Yep," Daisy said cheerfully. "But it's not a problem. Much."

She wouldn't have minded kissing Lincoln right now - but then again, she pretty much had the rest of her life to do it.

Wasn't that a nice thought?

"Mind checking us over?" she asked Jemma before she could get too caught up in sentimentality.

Her aide did just that, surveying them both with a critical eye before nodding, shooting them a small smile. "You're good," she said, her smile widening as they exchanged pleased glances.

"Thanks, Jemma," Lincoln said, smoothing the fabric of her suit. Instinctively, Daisy ran a hand over the rosy silk of her skirt, too.

Jemma's eyes crinkled with little fond smile lines. "It's my pleasure," she said sincerely. "Now, are you two ready to go?"

"Absolutely," she said, shooting her friend a smile.

Lincoln cleared his throat, holding up two fingers. "Actually, no. We're just missing one thing - where's that fiancée of yours?"

Jemma's expression softened into her special Fitz look - all warm and fond and content. "Prepping the sound interfacing for the interview," she said. "You'll see him in a moment."

"Awesome," Daisy said, failing miserably at hiding her grin. "What would we do without you two?"

"Don't be silly," Jemma scoffed, but her eyes were warm. "The entire world loves you."

Daisy clicked her fingers. "Not quite true. Pretty sure The Express hates our guts."

Beside her, Lincoln nodded, his eyes dramatically wide.

Jemma just rolled her eyes. "Yeah, okay, but when has The Express ever liked anyone?"

That was a fair point, and the answer was, not as far as anyone alive in the royal family could remember. Not even her oldest uncle, Sir Stanley, had anything good to say about that bunch.

"Anyway," Jemma continued, pulling her attention back to the present, "the real question here is, what would we do without you?"

Daisy considered that, tapping her fingers against Lincoln's arm. She smirked. "Oh, I know," she told Jemma, wickedly. "You would never have gotten together."

Jemma's eyes widened, and then she folded her arms, glaring. "That was a particularly cruel prank."

"It worked, didn't it?" Daisy retorted, her smirk widening.

Jemma muttered something under her breath that could have been an agreement, but was more likely something foul and Scottish she had learned from Fitz.

"Tsk, tsk," Daisy chided mock-sternly. "Maybe I should never have locked the two of you in that ballroom, anyway."

Alright, it was an unconventional method, but it had worked. Fitz and Jemma had just been so oblivious - so mutually oblivious - that it was starting to drive the whole palace crazy. Besides, Daisy hadn't even been the only one involved in the plan, anyway. What could she say? The Queen loved pranking.

But before she could congratulate herself on her brilliance, or her mother's, any further, Jemma's smartwatch beeped.

"Right, that's you," she said briskly, swiping away the notification and nodding at Daisy and Lincoln. "Engagement photoshoot, then interview." Her gaze softened slightly. "Are you sure you're ready?"

Daisy turned to Lincoln, raising her eyebrows slightly. In reply, he reached for her hand, brushing his thumb lightly across her knuckles before coming to rest on her ring.

"Hell yes," Daisy replied for them both.

//

Interview couches had to be the most uncomfortable damn furniture Daisy had ever had the misfortune to sit on - and, unfortunately, she had experienced that misfortune a lot through the course of her life. Judging by the grimace on his face, Lincoln was just now learning something similar.

She nudged him subtly with one shoulder to remind him about the cameras, which would start recording soon. If they weren't already…

Above them, the lights dimmed, then brightened. Ah, yes. That would be the signal.

Their interviewer, Mack, crossed the room and sat down in front of them, offering them a quick but warm smile. Daisy smiled back immediately - the furniture might be freaking terrible, but it was always great to see Mack; AKA, the one and only paparazzo who wasn't terrible. In fact, he was pretty great - really warm, and genuine, and the kind of person you could actually talk to, not just because his job demanded it.

"First of all, Your Royal Highness, Mr Campbell, thank you very much for joining us today," said Mack, with a tiny tilt of his head to let them know they were rolling. "Congratulations to you both."

"Thank you very much," Daisy replied with the easy, natural smile the press loved to compliment her on. Beside her, Lincoln nodded, his expression more cautious (but switching to unashamed adoration whenever he turned to her.)

Mack smiled at them both, then shuffled his notes, clearing his throat. "I know there's going to be a lot of interest, so can we start with the proposal, and the actual moment of your engagement? When did it happen; how did it happen?”

Daisy's heart did a little happy skip, because, yes, she still couldn't quite believe that this was real, that this was really happening.

Also, it was a great story.

"Yeah, so, it's pretty funny, actually," she said enthusiastically, turning to grin at Lincoln.

He grinned right back, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "It really is," he agreed.

"See, we'd been talking about getting married for a while," Daisy explained, tapping their joined hands against her knee. "Ever since we passed our fourth anniversary, really."

"Mmhmm," Lincoln nodded next to her, his eyes saying, I'm the luckiest guy in the world.

"And I knew he'd be wanting to surprise me," Daisy went on, "so I decided to surprise him, instead. Flip the board a little bit, you know?"

"So I told him that we had a charity engagement near Lai Shi University, which is the place where we met for the first time." She paused for a quick breath, then went on, feeling significantly proud of herself. "I arranged the date so that it fell on our friend-iversary, too, because I knew he'd remember the anniversary, but probably not the other one."

"Friend-iversary being the day we first became friends," Lincoln qualified, raising their joined hands before dropping them back on his lap. "September first."

Daisy nodded, feeling fondness swell inside her. "September first. And on this year's, I set things up so we'd arrive in Lai Shi early, then I had the excuse that we had some time, and nostalgia, to climb the Quake Mountain."

"Quake Mountain, by the way, is the place where we first became friends, too," Lincoln added.

"Exactly," Daisy agreed, smiling at him. "So I managed to get him up there, and while we were watching the scenery, I turned around and just asked him, marry me?"

"Simple as that?" Mack asked with a small chuckle.

"Simple as that," Daisy agreed, chuckling too. "It was great. Now, I didn't know it at the time, but he had the ring in his coat pocket, and he was actually right in the middle of getting it out." She shook her head fondly as she remembered. "So his answer to me was to snap open the little box and offer me the ring."

"And that's not even the best part," Lincoln said, holding up two fingers. "Both of us went to M - to Daisy's mom - right before the trip, and asked her for advice, and stuff."

"And she just kept completely quiet!" Daisy interjected. "She let us both go on with it."

Mack laughed, hearty and deep. "A little bit of a double-sided, smiling-into-her-sleeve kind of thing?"

"Definitely," Lincoln agreed, his expression wry but very amused. "I can still remember her face - priceless. She did her patented smirk for the entirety of the conversation."

"Oh, I can just see that," Mack said, his eyes filling with genuine amusement. "Our Queen is quite the character."

"Definitely," Daisy agreed. "But she's great."

"Oh, absolutely," Mack agreed. "A truly incredible woman. And, Lincoln, by the sounds of things, you know her quite well. And what about Prince Phillip?"

As always, Daisy winced at her father's full name. Lincoln winced too, but for quite a different reason.

"His Highness kind of, uh, hated me at first," he told Mack.

Daisy rolled her eyes, nudging him with her elbow. "He did not."

"Okay, maybe not at first, but when we started dating? He hated my guts," Lincoln said with a grimace.

"You're being dramatic," Daisy protested. "And, besides, he didn't hate you, specifically. It was just because you're my boyfriend."

"Okay, that's true," Lincoln conceded. "Anyway, I was always way more terrified of your mom."

"And that's fair," Daisy said, giving a dramatic shiver. "I've known her for twenty-eight years, and her murder stare still makes me quake in my boots."

Lincoln nodded emphatically. "Yeah. Like, she never gave me the classic if-you-hurt-my-daughter-I'll-hurt-you speech, but when she found out we were dating, she gave me one glare and I knew: she could have me killed quietly in the night with one click of her fingers."

Mack snorted a laugh, but Lincoln said, "seriously! That's what her glare said, I swear it."

"You're not wrong," Daisy said helpfully. "She could even have done it. Probably."

"There's a nice thought," he said wryly. She was very tempted to roll her eyes, but since this was an official interview, she settled for nudging him very lightly with her shoulder.

"She likes you now, though," Daisy said instead.

Lincoln nodded, his gaze softening a little bit again. "Well, sort of," he said, tracing a tiny circle on the back of her hand. "She likes how I make you smile, anyway. And she did help me find a diamond from Quake Mountain, after all, so we can't be too bad."

"No, you're not! She also likes doing outreach work with you," Daisy pointed out.

He tapped their joined hands against his knee. "That's true. I like that too."

"And you and Dad have mostly figured things out, too," Daisy added for the benefit of Mack's original question.

"We have an understanding, yeah," Lincoln said. "It's pretty simple. You're the best, and nobody gets to hurt you."

"Awww," Daisy said, touched, squeezing his hand gently.

Mack smiled at them. "That is very sweet. And, Daisy, I suppose you have a similar kind of understanding with Lincoln's family?"

"Well, it's a little different, of course," Daisy began, at the same time as Lincoln said, "my mom loves her more than me. Definitely."

Daisy smirked. "She does like me quite a bit, doesn't she? But, yeah, it is different, what with me being Shield's princess and all."

"What's been really helpful, though, I think, is that my mom knew you well before we started dating," Lincoln pointed out. "She got to know you as Daisy, my friend and Amanda's occasional babysitter, long before you were my girlfriend."

"Yeah, exactly," Daisy agreed, shooting him a fond look. "And it's been really nice for me, too, because at the Campbells' house, I can just be me. I don't have to worry about being the Princess of Shield."

"Plus, Amanda loves you," Lincoln said, his gaze softening at the thought of his little sister.

"Aw, she's the best," Daisy said, knowing that her gaze had probably softened just as much. Chuckling wryly, she added, "She wanted the two of us to get together more than just about anyone else, I think."

"Well, except my mom," Lincoln noted with a small smirk. "I think she once said to me, literally, if you hurt Daisy, forget the Queen, I'll throw you in the dungeon myself."

Everyone laughed, including Lincoln, wryly.

"Yeah, our moms get along pretty well," Daisy said. "So that's been really nice."

"I can imagine," Mack agreed, picking up the interview smoothly again. "So, you alluded to it a bit earlier, but you were friends well before you started dating, correct? How did you meet?"

Daisy turned to Lincoln, raising her eyebrows slightly to ask if he wanted to answer this one. He replied with a small shake of his head, you take it.

"We met for the first time at university," Daisy began. "Lai Shi University - it's kind of an academy of excellence for all directions, from medical -" she gestured at Lincoln with their joined hands "- to international relations."

"But there's also a lot of pressure there, you know? It's just such an academy of excellence. And furthermore… I was in my, uh, rebellious phase, as I'm sure everyone here can remember - when I deliberately dressed and acted in a way that would provoke as many scandals as possible." She winced a little at the memory. "Those were, uh, fun times."

"Lincoln actually helped me a lot with that," she went on. "He was someone new, who didn't know… who I was before, or who I was supposed to be, really."

Lincoln raised one shoulder awkwardly. "Yeah, I was never the biggest royal fan. So bizarre as it is, I actually didn't know who Daisy was."

"And that meant, for at least a few months, he was someone normal to talk to," she explained. "It was really, really nice. And good for me, I think."

"That's actually a pretty good definition of what our friendship was like," Lincoln said. "We could talk to each other, and trust each other. We helped each other, a lot, and through some pretty bad spots." He took a quick breath. "For me, it was when I was struggling with depression and addiction. Daisy was the one who got me to AA, and got me to accept I needed help."

She nodded, holding his hand a little tighter, a little more securely. "Just like you were the one who managed to get me to admit how much the pressure of the royal spotlight was affecting me, and talk to someone who could really help me."

Mack's expression had softened. "That sounds like a really meaningful bond," he said, and Daisy could tell he actually meant it, and wasn't just saying it for the interview's sake.

That right there was why she actually liked Mack.

"Thank you," she said with a genuine smile. "It has been really special, yeah."

"If I can ask, when did it turn romantic?" Mack picked up the interview again.

Lincoln grinned a little wryly. "Oh, I think we both had, you know, crushes for a good while before we admitted it," he said, adding with a touch of much-needed lightness after the more serious note they had left off on - "I definitely did, anyway. I mean, have you seen Daisy?"

"Seconded," Daisy said with a laugh, nudging him affectionately with a shoulder. "But as for the actual moment - we were both really stressed, I think, what with the last year of uni, you know? And both of us were struggling not to go back to bad habits. Instead we, uh, found comfort in each other."

"It made us both ridiculously giddy and happy to find out our lovesickness was mutual," Lincoln said with a half-wry, half-fond expression on his face. "We were both walking on air for weeks, and -" he paused to glance at Daisy, eyes brightening with affection "- it's only gotten better since then."

"In that case, I'm very happy for you both," Mack said, again with that genuine sincerity Daisy appreciated so much. "And would you say you're excited for the future?"

"Definitely," Daisy said, tilting her head to grin at Lincoln. He grinned right back, eyes bright and happy.

"I feel that, apart from the obvious marital benefits -" she couldn't help the slight smirk that tugged at her lips "- there's so much we can do together, you know?"

"Exactly!" Lincoln agreed. "I mean, we've helped each other so much; we'd both like to help as many other people as possible, too."

"Yes, I know you're both very passionate about that," Mack agreed, leaning forward slightly in his seat. "Like for you, Daisy, you've been a big advocate for gender equality and women's rights, as well as anti-racism and -homophobia efforts. You've also done a lot of work for the foster system, and support for vulnerable children, or children under a lot of pressure."

Daisy nodded, proud, and absolutely not trying to hide it.

"Meanwhile you, Lincoln, have focused a lot on mental health, as well as medical relief efforts. Particularly Doctors Without Borders? You did a year of volunteering work for them, correct?"

"I did," Lincoln confirmed. "Two years after university; the same year that Daisy was touring China and East Asia for her women's rights campaign."

"We were already dating by then, and we had to do a bit of long-distance that year," Daisy said, for the benefit of the fans who would indubitably be setting up a relationship timeline. "I still think it's a really good sign that we managed to stay together despite it."

"Agreed," Lincoln said, with an unashamedly fond look at her. "But that's due in a large part to our shared interest in helping people, you know? We both knew the other one was doing something amazing, and we were incredibly proud."

"Oh, definitely," Daisy agreed, returning his fond look. "Something shared like that creates a very special bond, I think."

"And you're both still very interested in these programs?" Mack checked. "You'll still continue doing the work you started?"

"I definitely think so," Lincoln said, at the same time as Daisy said, "absolutely."

Flashing him a wry grin, she said, "there's just so much that needs to be done in the world, you know?"

"Couldn't agree more," Mack said emphatically. "But you're both in the privilege where you can make those changes. Lincoln, especially for you, I imagine that's a very exciting opportunity? Using your heightened platform to give your relief work a further boost?"

"It's very exciting, yeah," he agreed. "Especially just in the sense of… awareness levels we can change? Because this elevated platform means people will really listen to you, world-wide. You can actually make a difference, to so many people. And I mean, it's a completely different lifestyle to anything I've ever been used to, but - "

"- sometimes, being different can mean making a difference," Daisy finished for him, squeezing his hand.

He squeezed back. "Exactly."

"That's excellent for you both," Mack said warmly. "And I hate to ruin the mood, but this far we've only talked about the positives of this engagement, right? Especially for you, Lincoln. This is a big change for you, and you’re getting a lot out of it, but also giving a lot up."

"Well, I don't see it as giving much up, to be honest," Lincoln said frankly. "I mean, yeah, there are definitely things I won't be able to do anymore, like work in a hospital, or help out at Doctors Without Borders. But I do feel that I can help people in a different way now; I very much feel that way."

"So it's definitely not what I imagined when I signed up for a medical course at Lai Shi," he said with a wry but fond look at Daisy, "but I'd say that it's more than worth it, craziness and all."

"I'm glad you mentioned craziness, Lincoln, because it is pretty crazy, right?" Mack asked. "I mean, you can never have a normal life again no matter what you do now."

"To be fair, I haven't had a very normal life since the press found out about my friendship with Daisy, let alone when we started dating," he pointed out. "But that's not something I'm mad about, really. I mean, yeah, it's frustrating, very frustrating, and definitely not something I ever saw myself becoming a part of - but I'm more than willing to live with it all, for Daisy."

Mack nodded thoughtfully. “And do you have that sense of responsibility, Daisy, for what you’re asking Lincoln to do?”

She drew in a quick breath, then blew it out as a soft sigh. "I mean, yeah, of course I do," she said. "If there's one of the things I could change, it'd be the constant pressure and attention. That's not really something I want to pull anyone into, because it… really messes with people." She gave a small smile, but there was none of her usual warmth behind it. "I'm pretty much living proof of how it can push you over the edge sometimes."

She smiled again, a lot more naturally this time. "It is a hell of a lot easier to handle when you're sharing it with someone, though," she said. "It's very comforting to know that there's someone who knows you, who you can come home to and just be yourself, the good and the bad."

"I never wanted to get married," she confessed, with a hint of irony in her grin. "But the older I got, and the worse the pressure got, the more I could… see the appeal? It's a partnership, more than anything else. Unconditional love and support."

"I still don't believe in true love," she concluded, "and I am still sorry for forcing this whole PR nightmare on Lincoln. But -"

"It's not like you dragged me into this kicking and screaming," Lincoln interrupted, nudging her shoulder and looking down at her with affection, and just a hint of teasing, in his eyes. "If I remember correctly, I came very willingly."

She giggled, then covered her mouth with her free hand to keep from bursting into full-on laughter as he turned to her and mouthed so just she could see, more than once, too.

Once she had gotten her laughter under control, she managed to say, a trace of a giggle still in her voice - "As I was saying, I don't believe in true love. But I do believe in partnership, and I believe in us."

Fully under control now, she gave Mack, and the people who would watch this later, her warmest smile.

Beside her, Lincoln squeezed her hand, smiling down at her with overwhelming affection before turning and nodding at the cameras.

Mack smiled back at them both. "Well, congratulations once again, both of you. And a very big thank you for your time."

Daisy waved, letting her smile fill with the bubbly happiness the press loved to compliment her on. And, just before the cameras cut, she turned and kissed Lincoln lightly on the cheek.

An excellent ending to a pretty decent interview, she thought, pulling away to give him a soft smile.

Mack made a chopping moment with his hand, letting them know that they were officially off the record.

Daisy blew him a kiss. "Thanks a million, Mack."

"No, thank you," he said genuinely. "Thank you both."

Daisy glanced at Lincoln, and from the way his eyes crinkled with affectionate smile lines, she knew she was speaking for them both as she said, "it was our pleasure."

//

Fifteen minutes later, they were officially free, and making their way back to their apartments with their hands swinging between them.

"So how was that?" Daisy asked, tilting her head to the side to look at him.

Lincoln wrinkled his nose a little. "It was okay," he said after a moment. "I really don't like the way things work here in Shield."

"I know," she said apologetically, leaning into his side a little bit. "And I'm really sorry."

He came to a halt in the centre of the corridor, tugging her hand gently to pull her to a stop in front of him. With his free hand, he brushed a lock of hair behind off her face, his gaze breathtakingly tender as he looked down at her.

"I meant what I said to Mack, though," he said, his voice soft but sincere. "I might not like everything you do here, but, honestly, nowhere's perfect."

He glanced down at their interlinked hands, blue eyes just a little dry as he looked back up at her. "I'm not going to lie, though, Shield is a lot more crazy than most."

She had to laugh at that, looking down at their hands, too, and particularly at the royal cut of the diamond on her finger.

"But," Lincoln said, and she glanced up at him again immediately, "crazy or no, I do think it's worth it."

With a tiny smirk, he added, "even though you are an absolute menace with the hair mockery."

"It's not my fault it sticks up in twenty directions like that!" she protested, but she was grinning, and he was grinning too.

She couldn't remember the last time she had been this… happy.

Well, no, that was a lie. She had been pretty damn happy on top of Quake Mountain that day.

But if this meant that she could keep feeling this pure joy, these little happy tingles shooting through her body... she couldn't help but agree with him.

It had all been worth it.