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Sometimes when Dean gets really nervous, he gets a nosebleed.
When he had still been in school, they had happened all the time: before writing a test, when walking past the girl he liked, when walking past the boy he liked... He even considered starting to meditate but that plan didn't live for long.
The older he got, the rarer those nosebleeds happened to Dean.
Now, he wasn't the type to be ashamed of every little mistake he made or every embarrassing slip that might or might not have happened to him – god knows, there had been far too many of these to still have him care. However, the one thing he still didn't want to happen was a sudden nosebleed that would have everyone around jump in panic and ruin the scene or the meeting or whatever situation he happened to be in.
Luckily, during the filming of The Hobbit he's only had one nosebleed so far and that was in his trailer after his mother called him to tell him his brother had had a minor car accident. She missed the right moment to tell him that everything was perfectly fine with Brett before he could feel the first drip reaching his upper lip.
Over the years and – in fact – these days, only one person managed to make him feel all tingly inside. That person had the most beaming smile and the most curly hair Dean has ever seen. Speak of the devil, said person approached Dean just when he was leaning back against his trailer to enjoy some of the warm New Zealand sun.
“Hey, Deano!”
“Hey Aid,” Dean lazily opened one eye, being sure Aidan had understood his mumbled response.
“Listen, do you have a spare minute?,” the dark haired man went on.
Dean frowned and nodded sceptically. He watched from the corner of his eyes as the Irishman bashfully scratched the back of his head and sighed loudly.
“Soooo... What I wanted to aaask...,” Dean raised an eyebrow on Aidan unnecessarily stretching the vowels in some words.
“Can we learn lines together?,” his friend suddenly burst out.
The Kiwi found himself smiling fondly and going, “Sure!”
“Brilliant! I'll get my script, be right back!,” and with that he hopped off.
Ten minutes later Dean understood why Aidan might be a wee bit excited about the scene he wanted to rehearse. It was a Kíli-Tauriel scene, the one with Kíli being about to die in Bard's house.
He was so worked up, Aidan's leg wouldn't stop twitching while he sat on the sofa.
“I'm gonna sit in your lap if you don't stop that,” Dean stated calmly, standing opposite of him and flashing him a cheeky smile when he knew he had Aidan's attention.
“Now, where were we... It says here that you lie on the bed and that I'm trying to calm you”, Dean explained, waving about with his free hand.
“Ok, I can do this,” Aidan leaned back and closed his eyes involuntarily. Dean watched in awe at the contrast Aidan's dark long lashes made against his cheeks and the way his curls stuck out in odd angles and if only Dean could brush a hand through them... Shit, he needed to pull himself together!
Then again, why should he...
He set next to Aidan's head and carefully drew his fingers through a few strands of locks.
“Hey... Sleeping Beauty,” he murmured, leaning closer. His heart thumped against his chest, he almost couldn't hear his own voice over the loud beats.
Aidan babbled something incoherent, pretending to be asleep. He felt Aidan’s breath brush against his face and he was sure Aidan was aware of his, too. Slowly, he raised his hand, just to place it gently on Aidan’s cheek, a little sign of affection- and he would have succeeded if it wasn’t for Aidan suddenly tearing his eyes open, widening them in horror when he had taken in the situation.
Dean was confused. He had been so sure Aidan had been aware of their closeness… Then he saw the red drop on Aidan’s face.
“Dean, your nose is bleeding!,” Aidan exclaimed and jumped up to get tissues the next second.
Meanwhile, Dean drew his eyes tight shut in a moment of denial.
“Here,” Aidan sat next to his friend and handed him the found tissues, comfortingly starting to caress Dean’s back.
“I’m okay- it’s fine, nothing serious, I get them all the time, don’t worry… I’m sorry,” Dean rambled, rolling parts of the tissues together with a slight tremble in his hands. He was aware of the other man’s worried look following his every doing, how Dean stuffed the pieces into his nostrils and leaned his head back.
When Dean was done, he peered at his friend and noticed that Aidan hadn't bothered to wipe the blood off his face yet. It had slowly made its way down and now almost reached the corner of his mouth. As quickly and inconspicuously as he could, Dean reached out to wipe it off. Just as swiftly, Aidan gripped his wrist to keep it in place. The look the two men shared then was intense, Dean barely managed to suppress a shiver.
“What exactly do you mean, you get them all the time? I never saw you having a nosebleed before,” Aidan's voice was stern, almost hoarse with concern. He lowered their hands, however, not letting go yet.
“I mean, I always get them when I'm nervous,” Dean explained, a blush creeping up his face. He was painfully aware of his friend's hand still lingering on his. Aidan was quiet for a while. Dean's eyes fixated on his knees until a quiet “Oh!” escaped Aidan's lips. Relieved, he looked up and saw as Aidan's features softened.
“Oh, honey,” suddenly Aidan's face was less than an inch away. The Irish man smiled, Dean felt it more than he saw it, his eyes fluttering shut with the intensity of the moment, warmth spreading in his guts.
The first touch of their lips was more of a tickle than an actual kiss. Yet it was enough though to release a whole firework in Dean's chest. It gave him enough courage to take one deep breath and fling his arms around Aidan, pulling him close and kissing him hard, teeth colliding.
When they parted, Aidan kept the Kiwi's face in his hands and chuckled lowly.
“I hope you won't be that nervous every time you're about to kiss me.”