Chapter Text
Three months later, Gareth found the album by accident.
Or that was what he claimed.
Kayden didn’t believe him for a second, mostly because Gareth had been lying on their bed with Kayden’s phone for nearly ten minutes, one ankle
hooked over the other, chin propped in his hand, looking far too pleased for someone who had supposedly only picked it up to check the time.
“Lovely weather today,” Kayden said, not looking up from his book.
Gareth hummed.
“You’ve been ssnooping through my phone for the last ten minutes.”
“Beg to differ, it's only been nine.”
“So you admit it.”
“My phone's in the living room. I'm not getting it, you're not going to help me get it, so I'm stuck with yours I had to entertain myself somehow.”
“With my photo album?”
“Kayden, you know I love you but I have to agree with the others. You really are a grandpa. You seriously need to get like Instagram or TikTok or
literally any social media," Gareth let out a sigh. "But until then, I'm stuck with your camera roll... with your very suspicious photo album.”
Kayden finally looked up.
Gareth was grinning at the screen, one of Kayden’s hoodies slipping off his shoulder, golden hair messy from where he had spent the past hour
rolling around the bed for no reason Kayden could understand. Moka was asleep against his hip, curled into a pile of blankets.
Gareth suddenly went still.
Kayden narrowed his eyes, “What did you find?”
Gareth’s grin widened, “Oh.”
“Gareth.”
“Oh, this is good.”
Kayden closed his book.
Because whatever Gareth had just found will in fact, be the polar opposite of good.
Gareth rolled onto his side and held the phone above his face, reading with dramatic importance.
“Album name: Important.”
Kayden said nothing.
Gareth tapped the screen.
“Oohlala, would you look at that! It's all me! Seriously though, I thought we were past the stalkerish tendencies, but I'll forgive you, because I know
I'm just too damn irresistible," The grin on hhis face widened, "You really did take a picture of everything, didn't you? There are photos of me doing
everything! Me drinking your coffee, me asleep on the couch, me wearing your coat, me wearing your hoodie, me eating strawberries, Moka looking
stupid, Moka looking even stupider, Moka with a grocery bag on her head, and...” He paused. “Oh my God.”
Kayden reached for the phone.
Gareth immediately rolled away.
“No. Absolutely not. I need to know how bad this gets.”
“Gareth, hand me my phone.”
“Nah, you gave it to me.”
“You stole it.”
“I found it.”
“On my side of the bed.”
“Exactly. Found.”
Kayden moved toward him.
Gareth made a noise. That made Moka lift her head, stare at both of them for ruining her sleep, then immediately dropp her chin back onto the blanket.
“I'll be reporting domestic violence,” Gareth blurted.
“I haven’t even touched you.”
“Your energy is aggressive.”
“You’re in my phone.”
“You made a secret Gareth album.”
“It isn’t secret.”
“It’s called Important.”
“It is.”
Gareth stared at him.
Then his grin softened for half a second before he clearly remembered he was supposed to be bullying Kayden.
“Are you sentimental?”
“No.”
“You are.”
“I keep records.”
“You keep blurry pictures of me eating strawberries.”
“Important records.”
“For what?”
Kayden looked at him.
Gareth’s smile twitched, “No. Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Look at me like you’re about to say something romantic. I’m trying to make fun of you.”
Kayden’s mouth almost curved, “I wasn’t.”
“You were.”
“I was going to say they remind me of you.”
Gareth stared at him.
Then threw a pillow at his face.
Kayden caught it.
“See?” Gareth said, pointing at him. “This is exactly what I mean. I try to bully you in peace, and you turn it into emotional shit.”
“Language. And also, you asked for an answer.”
“I asked for a normal one.”
“You should’ve known better, baby.”
“That was a mistake on my side.”
Kayden set the pillow aside and reached for him again.
Gareth tried to twist away, but he was laughing now, which made the whole thing useless. Kayden caught him around the waist and dragged him
back before he could escape to the other side of the bed.
Gareth landed against him with a breathless sound, phone still clutched in one hand.
“You’re very grabby tonight.”
“You’re very annoying tonight.”
“I’m always annoying.”
“I know.”
“Not annoyinf enough if you made an album.”
Kayden took the phone from him with almost no effort.
Gareth gasped, “Robbery under broad daylight!”
“You stole it first.”
“I was merely investigating.”
Kayden gave him a pointed stare, then turned back and glanced down at the screen.
The picture Gareth had stopped on was from a few weeks ago.
Gareth was asleep sideways on the sofa, one leg hanging off the edge, one hand buried in Moka’s fur, Kayden’s hoodie bunched around his
shoulders. The lighting was terrible. Half of Moka’s face was blurred because she had moved at the exact wrong moment. Gareth’s hair was a mess,
and his mouth was slightly open in a way he would absolutely deny if Kayden mentioned it.
There was nothing particularly remarkable about the photo.
Nothing anyone else would have thought to save.
Gareth looked at it too.
For once, he didn’t immediately make a smart-ass comment.
Kayden noticed.
Of course he did.
Then Gareth cleared his throat, “I look dead.”
Kayden looked at him, “You were just sleeping.”
“I look like I was murdered.”
“You were drooling on my hoodie.”
Gareth’s head snapped toward him.
“I do not drool. And also, it's my hoodie.”
Kayden zoomed in.
Gareth slapped a hand over the screen.
“Evidence obtained illegally is inadmissible.”
“This is my phone.”
“That’s my face.”
“And my hoodie.”
“You gave it to me.”
“You stole it.”
“You let me keep it.”
Kayden looked at him, "I would have asked for it back."
Gareth met his gaze defiantly.
Then, slowly, his grin returned. “But you didn't because you’re that obsessed with me.”
“Yeah, I am." The answer came too easily.
Gareth froze for one perfect second.
Then his entire expression shifted, caught somewhere between pleased and embarrassed and deeply annoyed that Kayden had robbed him of a reply.
“You can’t just say yes.”
“I can.”
“No, because now what am I supposed to do with that?”
“Believe me.”
Gareth stared at him.
Kayden held his gaze.
There it was.
That tiny pause.
Not hesitation. Not anymore.
Just the moment where Gareth let something soft land before he covered it up again.
Then he groaned and shoved his face into Kayden’s shoulder.
“You’re impossible.”
Kayden’s hand settled at the back of his neck.
“So are you.”
“I’m not. I'm just too charming for you to handle.”
“You’re a brat.”
“Same thing.”
Kayden huffed a quiet laugh.
Gareth lifted his head.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“Your laugh.”
“I'm not some inanimate object; I do that.”
“Not enough.”
Kayden looked at him, at the smug little tilt of his mouth, the bright satisfaction in his eyes, the way he had curled against Kayden without seeming to
notice he had done it.
A few months ago, his little monster would have made himself smaller after saying something like that.
Now he only waited for Kayden to answer.
And Kayden was just glad to have his baby back.
He brushed his thumb once against the nape of his neck, “I will now, baby. For you.”
Gareth blinked.
And before he could think of something to say, Moka chose that exact moment to stretch, kick Gareth in the side, and climb over his stomach as if he
were furniture.
Gareth wheezed.
Kayden looked down at her.
“She has excellent timing.”
“She assaulted me.”
“She's just having a stroll.”
“Hey! I'm your boyfriend, you should be taking my side.”
“She's my daughter, suck it up. Also, she weighs like four kilograms.”
“Four kilograms of your betrayal.”
Moka stepped directly onto the phone screen, blocking the photo with one paw.
Gareth pointed at her.
“See? Your so called daughter is embarrassed by your album.”
Kayden looked at him.
Gareth tried to stay serious.
Failed.
He laughed, bright and sudden, rolling into Kayden’s side as if he couldn’t help it.
Kayden went still for a second, soaking up the bubbly sound.
Gareth was still too busy laughing, face half-buried in Kayden’s shoulder, one hand still curled in the front of his shirt while Moka stood on the phone
like she had personally won the argument.
Kayden looked down at him.
At the messy hair.
The bright grin.
The way Gareth had folded himself against Kayden without stopping to think first.
He didn’t say anything.
He didn’t want Gareth to notice and start thinking about it.
So he only tightened his arm around him.
He just did it.
Like it was easy.
Because it was.
Gareth noticed, of course. “Careful, you're staring.”
“I’m allowed to look at you.”
“That’s what people say before they become creepy.”
“You went through my phone.”
“For research.”
“For blackmail.”
“For love.”
Kayden raised an eyebrow.
Gareth’s smile widened.
“Fine. For love and blackmail.”
“That sounds more plausible… and cheesier than anything I’ve said.”
Gareth shifted closer, chin pressing against Kayden’s chest as he looked up at him, “then we’ll be a chesy couple.” They remained like that for a while, bathing in each other’s company. Then Gareth asked spoke. “You’re adding tonight to the album, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t even bother to deny it.”
“No.”
“At least rename the album.”
“No.”
“Kayden.”
“I won’t”
“Why not”
“Because it is important.”
Gareth stared at him for a second.
Then laughed again and dropped his face back against Kayden’s shoulder.
“God, you’re embarrassing.”
Kayden kissed the top of his head.
“I coul not care less.”
Gareth stayed there for another moment, then he lifted his head and narrowed his eyes. “Wait.”
Kayden already knew he wasn’t going to like whatever came next.
“What?”
“Do we have strawberries?”
“It’s almost midnight.”
“That was not the question.”
“You brushed your teeth.”
“Strawberries don’t count.”
“They do.”
“They’re fruit.”
“That makes no difference.”
“It makes the world of a difference.”
Kayden stared at him.
Gareth stared back.
Then he climbed over Kayden with absolutely no grace, nearly elbowed him in the ribs, and slid off the bed before Kayden could decide whether to
stop him or let the chaos unravel.
He chose the latter. Mostly because Gareth had already grabbed his hand and started dragging him toward the kitchen.
Moka followed two seconds later, not because she cared about strawberries, probably, but because she hated being excluded from anything that
might involve food or attention.
By the time Kayden reached the kitchen, Gareth already had the fridge open.
“You bought more.”
“You finished the last ones.”
“Of course I did, what else ws I supposed to do.”
“So good thing that I bought more.”
Gareth turned slowly, punnet in hand.
“You know, if you keep doing sweet things for me, people are going to find out you’re not scary.”
“They won’t.”
“I could tell them.”
“No one would believe you.”
Gareth considered that.
“True.”
Then he shut the fridge with his hip and carried the strawberries to the sink.
Kayden leaned against the counter and watched him wash them.
Gareth caught him looking, “What?”
“Nothing.”
“Nah, stop capping. That was somehting.”
“It wasn’t anything. And what do you mean by capping? We’re indoors, I’m not wearing a hat.”
“Gosh, you really are a dinosaur sometimes, capping is just slang for bullshitting.”
Kayden’s frowned, “Language, Gareth. Your generation is so strange, coming up with all sorts of useless nonsense. And you, in particular, are very difficult.”
Gareth just rolled his eyes, “Stop being dramatic, you’re the one who made an album about me. You don’t get to complain.”
A shrug,“I can do both.” Kayden pushed away from the counter, and Gareth’s eyes flicked to him, but he didn’t move away.
He just stayed there, barefoot on the kitchen tile, wearing Kayden’s hoodie, strawberry juice already staining his fingers, mouth curved like he knew exactly what Kayden wanted.
Kayden reached him and took the punnet from his hand.
Gareth frowned, “Hey! Rude.”
“You’ll survive.”
“I might not.”
Kayden set the strawberries behind him.
Gareth gasped, “My fruit.”
“Our fruit.”
“Oh, so now it’s our fruit.” Kayden slid an arm around his waist, and Gareth let himself be pulled in, though his face remained indignant, “You bought them for me.”
“I did.”
“And now you’re stealing them.”
“God forbid a man stand in his own kitchen.”
“You’re cruel.”
“You’ll live.”
“You keep saying that like you know.”
Kayden looked down at him. “I do.”
Gareth’s mouth twitched, exasperated and unable to dealt with his man.
So instead, he reached behind Kayden, stole a strawberry from the punnet, and held it up between them. “you don’t care for strawberries, so why are you getting between me and mine”
Kayden took the delicate fruit from his fingers. “I would care for them if you gave them to me, baby.”
Gareth burst into laughter, the sound bright, unrestrained, and uncharacteristically bubbly .
Kayden looked at him, really looked, while Gareth leaned back against the counter with his head tilted and his smile wide.
“What’s so funny? It’s just a fruit,” Kayden said.
“You’re so cheesy it’s unbelievable.”
Kayden shrugged and reached up, brushing his thumb across the corner of Gareth’s mouth where a tiny smear of strawberry juice had caught,“Messy.”
Gareth caught his wrist before he could pull away, then Gareth smiled, slower this time. “You love me when I’m messy.”
Kayden looked at him.
At the strawberry juice on his fingers.
The hoodie slipping off one shoulder.
The bowl left running in the sink because Gareth had forgotten to turn off the tap.
Moka sitting at their feet, staring up and judging her humans.
And Kayden’s mouth curved. “Yeah, baby. I love you.”
Garth looked dumbfounded for a second, trying ro comprehend the sudden love confession.
Kayden laughed before he could stop himself, and Gareth’s eyes brightened at the sound.
At the sound of his beautiful villain laughing.
At the sound of home.
Said sound, however, is promptly interrupted by Moka, who meowed loudly, offended by the lack of attention.
Gareth looked down at her, then at the basket of fruit on the counter, “No.”
Moka meowed again.
“Moka, girl, I’ve told you before, you can’t eat fruit; it’s bad for you.”
Another pitiful meow.
Kayden looked at him.
Gareth pointed at him without taking his eyes off Moka. “shhhhh. I don’t want to hear a single word coming pout of your mouth unless it’s words of encouragement.”
“I haven’t said anything.”
“You’re about to.”
Moka meowed again.
Gareth sighed like this was completely out of his control. “She’s making a compelling argument.”he lasted three seconds before breaking off the tiniest piece of strawberry and crouching down.
Kayden raised an eyebrow.
Gareth didn’t look at him. “It fell.”
“Into your hand?”
“Gravity is complicated.”
Kayden huffed another laugh, and Gareth laughed too.
Because Moka was ridiculous, and Gareth was ridiculous.
And Kayden was apparently the kind of man who kept an album named Important full of blurry photos no one else would understand.
Gareth stood again, scooping Moka up in his arms, and leaned into Kayden’s side without thinking. The older man only wrapped an arm around him and pulled him closer. Gareth shifted their daughter into one arm, then reached his free hand into the pocket of Kayden’s sweatpants.
Kayden raised an eyebrow. “Are you making yourself comfortable, baby?”
Gareth smiled sweetly, “Very.”
Then he pulled Kayden’s phone from his pocket, unlocked it with Face ID, because yes, he had added his face to his man’s phone, and opened the photo album.
“You’re adding tonight,” Gareth said.
Kayden looked at him, “You seem quite attached for someone who finds it quote unquote cheesy.”
“Well then name it something less embarrassing.”
“No.”
“Kayden.”
“Won’t be happening”
“Why not”
“Because,” Kayden pressed a gentle his to Gareth’s hair “It is important.”
Gareth pulled back after a moment and looked up at him. His cheeks warmed, feeling fuzzy throughout his body at those words. He didn’t know what to say in response to that, so instead, he tilted his chin up and kissed him.
It was soft, brief. But it was enough.
Because that was what the photos were, no matter how much Gareth had teased him for it.
Important.
Not to anyone else.
But to Kayden.
To Gareth.
And to the small, stupid, ridiculous life they had built together.