Chapter Text
You awoke feeling almost uncomfortably warm. You remembered you were wearing a hoodie, and you were clearly under multiple layers of blankets, but there was a warmth around your waist and pressed against your back that you couldn’t place. You blinked your eyes open and-
oh.
Right, you had stayed the night at Thoma’s. In his bed. With him. That would explain the immense warmth you felt.
You gently turned around, trying not to wake Thoma whose arms were wrapped around you, spooning you from behind. His entire front pressed against your back, and you could feel him exhaling softly.
You wanted to stay in his arms forever, but you couldn’t deny you were feeling a little too hot in all of your layers. You moved out of his arms slowly, doing your best to ensure he wasn’t disturbed by you or the bed moving. You turned around to make sure you didn’t wake him; you watched his eyebrows furrow and the corners of his lips turn down, clearly subconsciously dissatisfied at how empty his arms were.
You quickly shucked off your (his) sweatshirt, laying it gently at the end of his bed, before softly laying down again, this time facing towards Thoma. It was clearly early in the morning, you guessed, due to the lack of light outside, but Thoma still looked beautiful in the low light.
You closed your eyes again, resting your head on the pillow that laid next to his. Drifting off, you felt arms wrapping around you before you were lost to sleep.
The next time you awoke, you felt much more direct warmth, and the pillow underneath you was gently rising and falling. You opened your eyes to see red, specifically the red sweatshirt that Thoma always wears. His sleeves were rolled up, as you could feel his hands resting on your bare back underneath your (his) shirt as he hugged you to his chest. You now saw warm light throughout the room, indicating that it was daytime and sunny out. You yawned, softly stretching your arms a little before looking up, eyes widening in surprise when your gaze met his.
Thoma was looking fondly down at you and you couldn’t help but feel a little shocked, especially given how… intimately he was holding you, while clearly being wide awake. This couldn’t be blamed on sleep, you realized. His arms tightened around you, pulling you further up his chest as he greeted you. “Good morning.”
God, what a voice, you thought to yourself. You had never heard Thoma’s morning voice before, but now you decided that it was all you ever wanted to hear.
“Good morning,” you greeted back, heart beating faster. “How did you sleep?”
“I slept great with you here, actually. Probably better than I have in a while,” he smiled, rubbing his hand up and down your back. “Did you sleep well?” He asked in return.
Maybe it was the grogginess, sleep still clinging onto you, maybe it was his hand moving up and down your back underneath your shirt, or perhaps the butterflies in your stomach that went wild whenever Thoma smiled at you a certain way, making you feel so at ease while simultaneously sending your heart into a frenzy. But you reached up, moving your head just the slightest bit from your position on his chest, to leave a soft kiss on his jaw, replying to his question with a soft yes.
And Thoma – sweet, lovely, lovable Thoma – had an instantaneous reaction. Red bloomed across his cheeks and to his ears, his heart beat faster beneath your palms, his hand froze on your back, fingers twitching like he couldn’t figure out what to do with himself.
Feeling flustered and one-upped yet again, Thoma could do nothing other than curl into you, burying his red face in your hair.
You chuckled at his cute behavior, moving to wrap your arms around him while he held you even closer than before. You heard him mumble something under his breath, but since it was muffled through your hair, you couldn’t quite figure out what he said.
“I want to kiss you so bad,” Thoma muttered, rubbing his face into your neck, trying and failing to will his blush away.
“What was that?”
“Nothing,” he replied, much more clearly this time.
The two of you were cuddled together in silence until Taroumaru decided to interrupt, asking for his morning walk. Thoma groaned, obviously not wanting to leave your embrace, but Taroumaru had been waiting long enough for a walk. You disentangled yourself from Thoma, much to his displeasure. You began to get up, putting Thoma’s sweatshirt on again, and he mourned the loss of the sight of you in his t-shirt, with the wide neck exposing your collarbones now being covered up by his sweatshirt. The garments you were wearing were still his, though, which assuaged him.
“Wait, you can just stay in bed! Taroumaru won’t want a super long walk anyway when it’s so cold outside,” Thoma reasoned, knowing that you were still tired (and admittedly wanting to come back to the sight of you in his bed).
“Nah, I’ll join you,” you responded. “Though I’m sure you’d love for me to stay here and keep your bed warm,” you winked, laughing when you saw his face bloom pink again.
“I-, that wasn’t-” Thoma stuttered, interrupted by Taroumaru giving an impatient bark, telling his owner to hurry up. The dog looked at you, as you were now putting on your coat, ready to brave the morning cold, as if to say ‘this guy, huh?’
The three of you made your way out of the apartment rather quickly, much to Taroumaru’s pleasure. In the early morning sunlight, he stopped at nearly every plant and fire hydrant on the block, taking in every scent as he pranced around in the still fresh snow. You yawned as you walked, bundled up in the warmth of Thoma’s sweatshirt and your coat, you were slightly regretting not staying back and falling asleep in Thoma’s bed again, surrounded by his blankets and his cologne…
“I told you you could’ve just stayed in bed,” Thoma smirked at you, seemingly reading your mind.
“No no, I’m totally awake,” you yawned again. “Besides, I like walking with you and Taroumaru, and the cold will wake me up anyways.”
“I’ll make you some coffee and breakfast when we get back. If you’re free to hang out today too, maybe we could watch a movie or something?”
You agreed after mentally going over your schedule, remembering that it was nearly nonexistent for the day. Thoma smiled in response, looking awake and chipper even at such an early hour, always the morning person. How he could regularly get up so early, you had no idea. It wasn’t even eight in the morning yet!
The walk was indeed short, like Thoma had hypothesized, as Taroumaru decided that it was his breakfast time and walking was overrated. He skipped over the last half of the block, choosing to bound towards the door to the apartment complex instead.
After brushing your teeth and washing your face, you made Thoma’s bed for him before joining him in the kitchen. It was clear Ayato wasn’t awake yet, and probably wouldn’t be for awhile, until noon at least. Taroumaru happily finished his breakfast before looking at you for more treats (which you supplied while Thoma’s back was turned).
Thoma in the kitchen making the two of you breakfast, sunlight streaming in through the windows, the smell of coffee in the air, love songs playing from his phone speaker, Taroumaru sitting in his dog bed next to the stove – the scene was painted in domesticity. It made you think about what life would be like if you and Thoma were together, romantically together.
Then you could sleep in his bed whenever you wanted to, and he would wrap his arms around you, peppering kisses on your head. Oh, to kiss Thoma…
You shook your head, pulling yourself out of your stupor. It felt inappropriate to be thinking of kissing him when he was only three feet away from you, making eggs while being oblivious to your vanilla daydreams that he was the subject of.
Thoma, on the other hand, was having an inner turmoil of his own. He didn’t know if playing the playlist that he secretly made for you would be too much, but you seemed oblivious to the fact that every song was connected to you in his mind. On top of that, he didn’t know how to stop craving your arms wrapped around him every time he cooked, now.
His mind kept wandering wistfully to last night, with your chest pressed against his back and your arms around his waist while he cooked a meal for you to share. It had been a scene straight out of his daydreams, and now he couldn’t figure out how to ask to be in your embrace again, to have you hug him while he’s cooking just like you did then. The more he thought about it, he could just ask you, but it was so hard not to chicken out.
He casted a pleading look to Taroumaru, who met his eyes before looking away as if he couldn’t be bothered. Damn, so much for being a wingman, Thoma thought. He turned around to look at you, finding you sitting at their little dining table, head resting on your arms as you gazed at Thoma. You didn’t put any effort into hiding the way you looked at him, maybe because it was so early in the morning, but the look in your eyes made his whole body shiver.
He licked his lips, trying to think of a way to get you in his arms again, but the food being finished quickly reoccupied his mind. He plated up breakfast for the two of you, and poured you a cup of coffee before you could even think about getting up to grab it for yourself.
With breakfast now in front of you, Thoma moved to place the cup of coffee in your hands before moving it out of your reach.
“Ah ah ah,” he teased, relishing in the pout you gave him in return. “You’ll get your coffee…” now is a chance “in exchange for a kiss.” He smirked, hoping his expression wasn’t giving away his thundering heart.
Your eyes widened, and you felt yourself flush. You couldn’t tell if kissing him right on his pretty mouth would be pushing a boundary, if that was even the type of kiss he was asking for. Or if kissing him like that would make him spill the coffee, that was important too.
Is he just teasing me? Does he want a cheek kiss? Should I kiss his hand just to be safe? Or…
You stood up from your seat, wrapping your hand gently around the coffee mug in Thoma’s other hand, just to make sure it wouldn’t spill, before standing on your tiptoes to leave a chaste kiss on the corner of his mouth.
It was a good thing you decided to grab the coffee cup first, because you felt his grip on it go slack.
Too scared to look at Thoma’s face immediately, you gently placed the mug down on the table as you sat back down. Only then did you look up at Thoma, whose mouth was agape and whose face was covered in a pink blush yet again.
He keeps blushing, maybe he’s coming down with something. Poor guy, you thought.
Thoma stood there, frozen, unable to comprehend that you did just kiss him, right at the corner of his lips too. He wanted to bring you closer, to kiss you for real, but you were already sitting down, drinking your coffee and looking up at him with mild confusion.
Not now, Thoma thought to himself. The time isn’t right. Not yet.
He sat down next to you and the two of you began eating. Taroumaru circled the both of you, looking pleadingly for table scraps as though he hadn’t just eaten a meal himself.
Thoma began brainstorming the best way to woo you, and realized a beat too late that he would have to consult Taroumaru for advice. Should he ask you out first? A picnic would suit you both, but it was wintertime, so that would be far too cold. A coffee shop or a bakery would be good for a date, but not for a confession. He wanted the confession to be grand, or as grand as you were comfortable with. Maybe a candlelit dinner with just the two of you? Maybe he should flirt with you more first, just to make sure that you return his feelings. He thought you would, or at least he hoped, after all, you did kiss him twice today. Maybe you would kiss him again, but for longer this time, and much closer to his mouth…
He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn’t realize you were speaking to him.
“Thoma? You okay?” You asked, waving a hand in front of his face. He had zoned out while staring at you, eating slowly and entirely on autopilot.
His gaze refocused and he met your eyes, your look making his heart flutter. He unconsciously touched the corner of his lips again, thinking of your kiss. “Yes, yeah, I’m fine! Just zoned out there for a second,” he laughed.
“Your cooking is delicious as always,” you commented, after you had finished your plate, now drinking your cup of coffee as you looked at him.
“Oh, thank you,” Thoma smiled bashfully, always flustered over any and every compliment. “I’m glad you like it! I’d cook for you every day if you let me.”
To you that sentence sounded like a declaration of love, but it was likely just Thoma being a good friend, so you brushed it off, no matter how much it made your face feel warm.
Meanwhile, Thoma was mentally fretting over his statement. Was that too bold? He asked himself, overlooking your flustered state out of fear of having made you uncomfortable. When he noticed you shyly rubbing your hand across your cheek, his heart lit up with the realization that he had made you flustered instead. He felt victorious, savoring every moment he could make you blush.
After he finished his food, Thoma proposed that he would do the dishes before you watched another movie. When you offered to do the dishes instead since he cooked, he insisted otherwise, leaving you standing next to him in the kitchen with nothing to do.
You took the opportunity to observe Thoma. He liked a clean kitchen, so he usually did dishes right after he finished his meal if he wasn’t busy immediately after. His blonde hair went a few inches past his shoulders, haphazardly thrown in the same low ponytail that he had done before walking Taroumaru that morning. He wasn’t wearing his headband like he usually would as he did the dishes, likely having forgotten it somewhere. The lack of his headband was clear as the pieces of hair that usually beautifully framed his face were now falling in the way instead, and you watched as Thoma tried to shake his head to move them out of the way.
Deciding to help him out since he was wearing dishwashing gloves, you stepped into his personal space, putting your face nearly directly in front of his. With careful fingers, you swiped the pieces of his hair that were pressed against his forehead to the side, tucking them behind his ear under his watchful gaze. His hands stilled on the dishes he was scrubbing, looking at you instead as you repeated the same motion to the other side of his fringe. He watched you intently as your eyes searched his face, making sure all the hair was out of his way and behind his ears.
“There. Is that better?” You softly questioned, your eyes moving down to meet his. You saw his eyes flicker up the slightest bit to make eye contact.
“Yeah, much.” His words were more like a mumble than anything as his gaze dropped from yours. You were about to move from where you were standing, with your back against the countertop next to the sink, when you heard the water turn off. Thoma slipped off the dishwashing gloves, and moved one step closer to stand directly in front of you.
He placed one arm on either side of you, gripping the counter behind you and effectively caging you in. He looked down at you with an intense expression, green eyes piercing into yours. You watched his gaze drop again before coming back up to meet your eyes. You belatedly realized with astonishment that he was looking at your lips.
His movement had caused a piece of his hair to fall down again, and you reached up to tuck it behind his ear like it was second nature. Your hand lingered at the side of his face, and you felt one of his arms move to hold your waist instead. Your chest was nearly pressed against his, and he moved his face so that it was mere inches away from yours.
His gaze flickered to your lips and back up to your eyes, looking at you searchingly before he opened his mouth.
“I feel like I’ve been trying to say this for the past day,” he nervously chuckled, his hand flexing where it rested on your waist. “I like you, so so much. And every time that you’re close to me I think about holding you, and…” he swallowed, “kissing you. Well, actually I think about that even when you’re not close to me…” The blush that had been slowly creeping up his face was visible now, casting a pretty glow across his cheekbones and to his ears.
“I think about it all the time, especially when I’m with you. And I never want to be without you, even when you make my heart beat so fast I feel like it’ll beat right out of my chest. And I was hoping that the feeling is… mutual?” He searched through your eyes for an answer.
You were so taken aback that it took you a moment to answer. All you could focus on were his words echoing in your ears, his heartbeat underneath your fingertips and his eyes on yours. You licked your lips, and watched as his eyes followed the movement and he subconsciously leaned in even closer.
“The feeling is very mutual, trust me,” you whispered, witnessing his eyes light up as he perked up like a puppy, a giddy smile breaking out across his face.
His next words were rushed, like he couldn’t possibly wait to get them out. “Can I kiss you? Please,” he added belatedly, knowing he would shamelessly beg for a kiss from you if needed.
“Of course,” you answered, already bringing his face closer to yours.
Your lips met, and not even Taroumaru could interrupt you. Thoma’s arm wrapped completely around your waist now, bringing you flush against him. Your hands traveled to his neck, feeling just how warm he is, before moving to his hair. You ran your hands along the back of his head before reaching his ponytail, and gently removed his hair tie while his lips moved against yours. Putting his hair tie around your wrist, you carded your fingers through his hair like you had always yearned to do.
The feeling of your hands in his hair had him suppressing a noise against your lips, and he brought you impossibly closer, one hand wrapped around the back of your neck, keeping you near as he savored every second. All too soon did he need to breathe – he gasped out against your lips, not wanting to move away. He reconnected your lips immediately after, making you stifle a laugh at his eagerness, though you shared his want in excess.
You slowed down the kiss, eventually pulling back, chuckling softly as he chased your lips. His eyes fluttered open a few beats after yours. Out of breath, Thoma was flushed high on his cheeks, making his dazed green eyes stand out even more. You slid one of your hands down the side of his face to cup his cheek once again, moving your thumb to press against his plush bottom lip.
In return, he gazed at you with half-lidded eyes, leaning right back in to capture your lips in a chaste kiss yet again, not wanting to part from you at all.
You moved your hands to caress the sides of his neck and his jaw as he kissed you so sweetly. The kiss was shorter this time, the two of you pulled away after a couple moments, both of your faces warm, but the happiness you felt was palpable. “You are so beautiful,” you said softly, giggling as Thoma’s eyes widened and he hid his face in your neck.
You could feel the heat of his blush against your skin, and you started running your fingers through his hair again. You loved his long hair, especially how he looked with it down. You gasped as you felt the press of his lips against your neck, your heart unmistakably speeding up.
“Your heart started beating faster,” Thoma smirked, voice muffled by your skin and face still hidden, but you could easily imagine the expression he wore.
“Says the one still hiding in my neck because I called him pretty,” you retorted, trying to save face. It ended up working, if the choked off noise he made in response was anything to go by.
As giddy as you were, it didn’t take long for you to yawn, unable to suppress it. You felt Thoma move away from your neck, looking at you with mirth.
“I’m sorry, I’m not used to being awake at this time-” you started, feeling a little guilty as you were anything but tired, but you were stopped by Thoma who began peppering kisses all over your face.
“You!” kiss. “Are!” kiss. “So!” kiss. “Cute!” He pressed a longer kiss to your lips after finishing his sentence, unable to pull away now that he was allowed to kiss you. You couldn’t help but grin, his affection making your heart (and your face) feel oh so warm.
“How about I finish up the dishes, and then we can go to my room and watch a movie or something…?” He trailed off at the end, looking a little embarrassed at his own suggestion.
“Or something…?” You probed, looking at him teasingly.
“Nothing bad! Or too much! I just… wanna kiss you more,” he blushed, giving you an awkward grin as you smiled at him in return.
“That sounds perfect to me,” was your soft reply. You tucked his hair behind his ears yet again, and moved behind him to put his hair back in a low ponytail so that it wouldn’t bother him.
Thoma glowed with a bright red blush at the casual and domestic gesture. He began washing the dishes again and this time you decided to wrap your arms around his waist, pressing your front against his back.
He gave a sigh of pure relief, completely unable to stop a smile from spreading across his face. It was like you knew what he wanted without him having to ask. He quickly washed the rest of the dishes, thankful that there weren’t many to begin with, oh so eager to kiss you again.