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Title: Believing in Happiness
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham
Fandom: Hannibal
Rating: PG-13
Table: 50ficlets
Prompt: 43, Believe
Author's Note: Sequel to "Worth Any Sacrifice."
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Hannibal Lecter or Will Graham, unfortunately, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

It was still hard for him to believe that he was getting married.

Will sat at his desk, looking at the engagement ring on his finger. He turned his hand from side to side, smiling as the overhead light made the diamond flash.

In all of his wildest dreams, he'd never thought that he would be a married man. He'd spent his whole life thinking that a relationship would never work for him.

But Hannibal understood him in a way that no one else ever had, or had ever tried to. Hannibal accepted him just as he was, with all of his faults and foibles. Will doubted that anyone else would have ever been able to do that; no other person would have taken him at face value.

He'd been lucky to find Hannibal; he didn't doubt that for a moment. Sometimes it was even hard for him to believe that his fiancé existed.

There were times when Hannibal seemed too perfect, when the thought of the life together that stretched ahead of them didn't seem as though it could be possible.

But it was, he reminded himself. It was going to happen.

He shouldn't be questioning his good luck. That was foolish. Questioning it would only make him worry, and that wasn't what he needed to do at this stage.

He had enough worries just trying to help Hannibal plan the wedding. They hadn't disagreed on anything yet, which was good, but there were still a lot of headaches.

No wonder people hired wedding planners when they got married, Will thought with a grimace. They avoided all of this brouhaha, all of this stress and worry, and just told someone else what they wanted. Then the other person got to deal with all of the details.

But they didn't want to do that. They wanted their wedding to be hands-on, something that they had arranged from the ground up, something they'd done themselves.

And Hannibal was good at handling the details. He had to admit that.

He should really just sit back and leave the driving to the other man, Will told himself, smiling again. Hannibal was much better at arranging events than he was.

Of course, his lover always took his wishes into account. They had spent a lot of time discussing what they wanted the wedding and the the reception to be like.

Miraculously, they hadn't had big disagreements about anything.

That was because he and Hannibal were on the same wavelength, Will thought to himself. They might not agree on everything, but they had similar tastes.

He had never believed that he would find someone like Hannibal, someone who was so much like him. Yet there were things about them that were also very different, fundamental differences that he couldn't deny. Though he didn't think that was a bad thing at all.

If they were too much alike, then they would probably get on each other's nerves too much, he mused. They wouldn't have been able to stand each other for very long.

As it was, they had enough similarities to be comfortable with each other, and enough differences so that they didn't both fall into the same bad habits.

And they would find out more about each other as time went on.

They had a lifetime to discover each other's little quirks, Will told himself with a smile. They could take their time; there was no hurry. They had forever.

Not so long ago, he wouldn't have thought in that way. But becoming engaged to the man he loved had given him an entirely new outlook on life.

From now on, he didn't have to live for his work, and he didn't have to look on the dark side of life. He could live in the sunlight now; he didn't have to feel that he was always walking under a shadow, that his life span was limited because of his job, and his singular abilities.

He could believe in a life filled with love and happiness. Yes, there would still be a dark side to dealing with his work, but he could cope with that.

Having Hannibal in his life as his husband was going to change so many things. Just being engaged to him had already started to make changes in the way he looked at everything.

His life was good, and it was only going to get better.

He truly believed that, Will realized, feeling a little started at the thought. He hadn't been this optimistic about his life for a long time, if ever.

He believed that the two of them could have a good life together, a happy life. A life that would work for both of them, despite the more gruesome aspects of his job. Will was sure that Hannibal believed it, too; if he didn't, then his lover would never have proposed to him.

They were going to have a wonderful life, he told himself, looking down at the diamond ring on his finger again. He had finally found the happiness he'd always wanted.

He did believe that. With all of his heart and soul.

It was a belief that he would hold on to, a belief that he knew would see him through a lot of dark days that he spent at work, at crime scenes, wondering why he was there.

He would have that happiness to go home to at night, a happiness that would wash all of the darkness away. The kind of happiness that he'd never thought would be his.

Well, now it was his. And he would never let it go.

Will smiled, feeling contentment and joy seep through him.

All he had to do was believe that he could be happy, and he was.

Who would have guessed that it could be that easy?

***