Chapter Text
Clyde reached up to smooth down his hair for what must have been the tenth time in ten minutes.
Before his hand even touched it, Mellie swatted at his arm.
“Quit that! You look just fine. I haven't seen you this dressed up since Mama's funeral.”
Clyde frowned at her over the bouquet of flowers he held in his prosthetic - blue hydrangeas and white daisies. “You're comparin’ this to a funeral?”
It was true he may have been a little overdressed, for him, anyway. He wore the nicest button-up he owned, dark blue with little designs etched into the white buttons. It was in nearly new condition when he dug it out from the back of his closet and had only required a bit of ironing. The slacks and shoes were new, bought in a panic when he realized the ones he had - unused since said funeral - no longer fit.
He washed up thoroughly and combed his hair neatly and even used a little product in it, courtesy of Mellie, which made it fall in soft, shiny waves like he’d never seen before. Jimmy helped him find the flowers - dating Sylvia apparently made him an expert in romantic matters, or so he thought - and even offered a tie for him to wear, but Clyde thought that might be overdoing it.
“You know that's not what I meant,” Mellie insisted. Her face softened a little and she squeezed his arm. “I just don't want you gettin’ yourself all worked up over this. It's gonna be just fine.”
“She's right,” Jimmy chimed in. “Just relax.”
Clyde sighed and tried to take their words to heart. They meant well, but they'd never had a long-distance lover like he did, and so they couldn't understand the pressure he was under, seeing him for the first time in four months like this.
It had taken nearly all of those four months for Clyde to work up the nerve to ask Stensland to visit. He even offered to buy the plane ticket, feeling a little pang of guilt when he lied and said he could afford it because he was saving up tips. When he finally did ask one evening over the phone, Stensland sighed with relief and confessed that he wanted to ask to visit for weeks but couldn't work up the nerve, and that he was so glad Clyde was so brave, which made Clyde's face go all warm. It seemed Stensland could do that to him without even being there in person. He could say things that tugged every one of Clyde's heart strings and he didn't even have to try.
Which was part of why…
Clyde cleared his throat and turned to his siblings.
“I appreciate the ride here and back very much,” he assured them, “even if Mellie drives like she's in the Indy 500.” Mellie didn't look even a little ashamed. “But if you two don't mind...that is, would you be alright with...waitin’ back at the car for us?”
Mellie’s eyebrows nearly went through the roof and Jimmy folded his arms and cocked his head to the side and Clyde regretted everything leading up to this moment because they were never going to let him live it down, not ever, that he wanted privacy to greet his boyfriend at the airport…
But he stood his ground. He never stood his ground, at least not when it came to Jimmy and Mellie, as evidenced by the trouble they always got him into, but this time he needed this. Just this one thing, just this once…
“Well. You heard him,” Jimmy finally said with a shrug. He nodded his head towards the exit. “C’mon, Mel.”
Clyde’s eyes widened. He couldn't believe his luck. He didn't believe his luck. There had to be some catch here.
Mellie watched Clyde a moment longer, their eyes locked, before a strange, un-Mellie-like look crossed her face and she broke eye contact to look up at the arrivals board.
“Right on time.” She stepped forward quickly and smoothed down the front of Clyde’s shirt a little, the way - the way his mama had the day he went to his first school dance, and something was suddenly stuck in Clyde’s throat or something because he couldn’t speak, could barely swallow around it. “That city boy’s very lucky. I hope he knows that,” Mellie added quietly, then turned to follow Jimmy before Clyde could put together a response.
Clyde took a steadying breath and turned to glance up at the arrivals. Sure enough, the plane in from Seattle had just landed.
A fresh wave of nerves swept through Clyde and he took a few more deep breaths, feeling almost dizzy. He was pretty sure he wasn’t even this nervous leaving for his first tour of duty, though he supposed he was younger and stupider then.
People began to trickle out from the gate and Clyde’s gaze flicked over them one by one in search of a familiar head of red hair.
He still wasn’t even one-hundred percent sure what to do when he finally saw Stensland. They talked about it - or, Stensland had, and Clyde listened. At first Stensland proposed a grand, movie-like reunion, with him running into Clyde’s arms and people cheering and so on and so forth, but the longer he talked, the more he convinced himself it was a terrible idea and said it would probably be best if they just hugged like regular people.
The crowd grew, and with every person who wasn’t Stensland, Clyde grew more and more anxious. What if he wasn’t even on the flight? What if he changed his mind, what if he wasn’t coming, what if he - what if -
There.
There, there, there. Everything about him was unmistakable from the long limbs to the way he walked to that hair. He was wearing sandals and cargo shorts and a blue shirt with some design on it that Clyde couldn’t make out from this far away. He was chewing his bottom lip and carrying a worn duffel bag.
Stensland’s gaze swept over the crowd, but more people had begun to swarm around where Clyde stood, greeting their own loved ones or heading toward baggage claim. When Stensland didn’t see Clyde right away his face fell. His long strides slowed and then stopped and he began to look like a frightened little animal trapped on a rock in a relentless river of people flowing around him.
Clyde stepped forward. His hands were shaking but he raised the prosthetic one and gave a little wave, hoping it would catch Stensland’s attention. He clutched the bouquet tightly in the other.
When that didn’t work he took a few more steps forward. And then, then Stensland saw him, and his face lit up again, looking the way it was supposed to, bright and happy.
And then he was moving right towards Clyde, nearly tripping over himself in the process, and Clyde surged forward too, because if Stensland did fall he wanted to be there to catch him. That and he couldn’t stand every inch of distance between them, not after four months of long, long miles.
At some point the duffel bag was tossed aside and Stensland’s arms were reaching for him and before Clyde knew it they were flung around his neck and he was the one stumbling, nearly falling on his ass before he steadied himself. His arms curled tightly around Stensland’s middle, the bouquet still grasped in Clyde’s hand smushed against his side. Clyde didn’t care, he didn’t care about one damn thing except that his boyfriend was here, right here in his arms and not on the other side of the country.
Clyde closed his eyes and buried his face in Stensland’s shoulder, letting himself be blissfully overwhelmed by the fabric softener smell of his shirt and the floral scent of his shampoo and the lean but solid body against his.
Stensland’s arms were like iron bars around him, clinging on with everything he had. He had similarly nuzzled into Clyde’s shoulder and Clyde could swear he heard a sniffle. He was mumbling something Clyde couldn’t quite make out, until he pulled his head up a little -
“ - and I just, I just missed you so much, I can’t - I can’t believe I’m here, I can’t believe you’re here…”
“‘Course I’m here,” Clyde said. He remembered Stensland’s crestfallen face a moment ago. “Did you think I wouldn’t be?”
“I - I may have worried, a little. A lot. A little! I just…”
“I would never do that to you,” Clyde said, enunciating each word as clearly as he could so there was no mistaking it. He squeezed a little tighter; he felt Stensland do the same.
“Is this a dress shirt you’re wearing? Let me see, I - “
Stensland began to unwind his arms from around Clyde and lift his head from his shoulder when suddenly his breath caught. Clyde felt Stensland wiggle a little against him and look down. Clyde looked down too and that was when he saw it.
Stensland’s feet were dangling a good two or three inches off the ground. In his rush to Clyde it seemed Stensland had quite literally thrown himself at him, and in his eagerness to embrace him Clyde had just lifted him right up.
“Well,” Stensland breathed, “it seems I got my rom-com reunion after all.”
Grinning, Clyde carefully lowered Stensland to the ground. By then the crowd had dissipated, leaving them a little more space to step back and look at each other. Their hands didn't go far though; Clyde reached his up to smooth down Stensland's mussed hair while Stensland slid his down to Clyde's chest. They both began to speak at the same time.
“You got a haircut - “
“What a nice shirt - “
They both stopped, blinked at each other and then laughed, the last of the tension shattering away. Clyde took a deep breath then darted forward to peck Stensland's forehead.
“It's real good to see you,” he said quietly.
When he pulled back again Stensland had an impressive flush across his cheeks. As Clyde reached one hand up to cup his face he realized he was still holding the mostly-still-intact bouquet. He nearly forgot all about it.
Clyde cleared his throat and handed them to him. “These - these are the kind you like, right?”
“You remembered!”
Stensland snatched them eagerly and clutched them to his chest the way he had the sunflower months ago. He was beaming as he buried his face in them and breathed in deep.
“They're perfect,” he whispered into the flowers. “I wish I had something for you…”
“You're enough,” Clyde blurted out. Stensland lifted his face from the hydrangeas to blink up at him. Clyde's face heated. “I mean. You don't need to bring anything. You brought you. That's...all I wanted.” The last words were mumbled so quietly Clyde was sure Stensland would have missed them if he hadn't been leaning close, hanging on his every word.
When Clyde was finished Stensland let out a shaky breath.
“Me too. It's - I - I missed you. So much,” Stensland stuttered out. “Every night I wished you were there watching movies with me and eating takeout…”
“Me too,” Clyde replied quietly. His eyes flickered over Stensland’s face; he didn’t want to stop with that single kiss, he wanted to kiss all over that face, maybe even try for a better actual kiss than his botched one months ago at the airport.
And then the obvious hit him like a ton of bricks. He could do that. He could do all of that and more. He’d spent half the time leading up to this day cleaning and re-cleaning his house and the other half fretting over what he would do or say when they reunited that he forgot the most important, most amazing thing in all this: they had a whole week together, to do...anything.
He cupped Stensland’s face and leaned in. This time Stensland was ready for it, tilting his head up expectantly. Their lips met and...and it was quick and uncertain, and both their lips were dry, but it was perfect.
As Clyde pulled back and opened his eyes he felt fingers bury themselves into his hair. He blinked a few times and met Stensland’s bright eyes, only inches from his. Stensland drew his hand through Clyde’s hair once before plunging it back in again and cupping his head.
“It’s decided. My hands aren’t leaving this hair for the remainder of the week,” he announced a little breathlessly and Clyde found himself starting to smile without having to force it. He’d almost forgotten how nice that felt. He leaned his head into Stensland’s hand.
“You can keep your hands wherever you like,” he mumbled. Within seconds the implication of his words caught up with him and a flush began to spread across his cheeks. “I-I mean - “
Stensland’s face went as red as Clyde’s felt. “Wherever?” He asked, voice gone all high and strained. Clyde nodded.
Stensland’s gaze panned slowly down Clyde’s body in a way that made chills run up his spine in spite of how warm he suddenly felt all over.
“We should probably - “ he began.
“ - go?” Stensland finished for him, his face so open and hopeful.
Clyde nodded and grabbed Stensland's hand with his - with the flesh and blood one, because he needed to feel the warmth of it in his own, needed to feel the way Stensland laced their fingers together and squeezed. He slung Stensland’s duffel bag over his other shoulder and they started to make their way out of the airport, hand-in-hand.
“So,” Stensland began while they walked, “have you thought at all about what I texted you last week?”
Clyde thought for a moment. “About nicknames?” he guessed. Stensland had seemed very concerned with what they would call each other when they were together in person again.
“That’s the one.”
“I have,” Clyde said slowly, “but I’m not sure I came up with anything good.”
“But it’s a start! Hit me. What have you got?”
Clyde blushed and focused his gaze ahead so he wouldn’t get all flustered and bump into somebody.
“Well...this guy at the bar calls his wife puddin’...”
Stensland’s breath hitched a little. “That’s too cute. That - you may be onto something there, though. With the - the food thing.”
When he glanced over, Clyde was relieved to see that Stensland was blushing too. At least he wasn’t the only one. And it gave him an idea, one which before Stensland he would never have tried in a million years, but now he felt so light hearted, so good inside and out. Smiling mischievously, he tipped his chin up like he was considering something very important.
“Well you are awful sweet,” he said. “How about...cupcake?” The flush on Stensland’s cheek deepened. He peered over at Clyde, eyes wide. “My peach? My slice of pecan pie?” The tips of Stensland’s ears were pink and he was biting down on his lip to suppress a smile. Clyde leaned in closer, voice low and teasing. “My cup’a sweet iced tea?”
That one did it. Stensland hid his bright red face against Clyde’s arm. “You stop that!” He was laughing and Clyde had to laugh too. “This is unfair, I like all of those and you can’t use any of them because if you do with that - that smile of yours, I’m just going to melt on the spot…”
Clyde kissed the top of Stensland’s head. “All the more reason to use them.” He laughed again when Stensland swatted at his chest. “But I was thinking just...darlin’. How’s that?”
“That’s...acceptable.” From the way he smiled, Clyde figured it was more than acceptable.
“What about me?” Clyde asked after a moment, after Stensland had regained a bit of his composure.
“Hmm?”
“Do I get a nickname?”
Stensland moved both his hands to grip around Clyde’s arm, slightly possessive in a way that made Clyde’s heart flutter. “I came up with a lot. Some are probably...not appropriate outside the - the bedroom, let’s say.” He cleared his throat. “Anyway. It’s simple but I think I like baby for you. Though after the ones you just named, maybe I’ll have to revisit teddy bear and sweet lips…”
Laughing, they stepped outside to a beautiful day, out into the parking lot where Jimmy and Mellie waited at the car. One step closer to home, where they could finally be alone together.
Stensland’s hand slipped back into his. Their eyes met and Stensland’s smile was brighter than the sun and…
And Clyde Logan had never felt so lucky.