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The silver keys jingled in Phil’s hand as he brought them up to the lock on the door. There were three keys on the fluorescent purple keyring. When they were handed the keychain, Dan immediately insisted that one of their first tasks was to buy a less hideous lanyard for the main set of house keys. The first key Phil tried didn’t work, and Dan huffed anxiously beside him. This wasn’t their first or even second time visiting the large modern house. But now it was officially theirs.
The door to Dan and Phil’s forever home swung open on Phil’s second attempt with the keys. The main hallway stood large and empty before them.
“Should I carry you over the threshold?” Phil offered jokingly.
“And conform to the heteronormative and patriarchal rituals of home-owning?” Dan sassed back before stepping inside.
The walls were stark white, floors a deep walnut. It was built recently in a redeveloped neighborhood of modern architecture. After their first London flat with the cracking ceilings and leaky gas pipes, they were hesitant to invest in an old home, regardless of its “character.” It took a while for their realtor to get over their lack of concern for character.
The exterior of their home was white with accents of dark wood and grey stone, and it stood three stories high, albeit the plot wasn’t very wide, most of the area being taken up vertically. There was a proper drive in front of the house as well, instead of only street parking, and Dan was considering buying a car for the first time in ages. An electric car, of course.
Behind their house was a long rectangular garden with real grass and a stone patio, and someday soon, they would have a corgi running around. The current flat they were moving out of had something of a back garden, but it was only friendly to cacti and succulents, nothing that required decent soil and light to grow. Phil was excited to venture into the world of gardening and yard work, and more importantly, install a hot tub on the patio.
There were a few other features that Dan and Phil enjoyed about their home. Of course, they liked the many rooms and bathrooms, the large open floorplan, and the sizeable balcony off the second-story master bedroom. But it was the windows that really brought it together for Phil. They were massive, floor to ceiling in some rooms, which was an integral request of his. Natural light filtered in everywhere, and the dust of untouched rooms shimmered like glitter in the beams of rare January sunshine.
The boys aimlessly walked through their new home, taking in the vast empty space that was all theirs to fill with memories and new life. It looked so different without the staging set up by the sellers, and it held so much more potential this way, allowing their imaginations to dance with possibilities of how to decorate and design. Dan had grand artistic plans for some rooms, while others, such as the smaller bedroom that still had plush carpeting, were talked about less. They had a quiet agreement that the carpeted room would one day be a nursery, and for now, that was all they would say on the topic.
Occasionally, they would find a mark or hole that was forgotten about in any renovations before the prior owners left. Phil made a mental checklist of things they needed to do or fix or buy. As it grew longer and longer with every room, it overwhelmed him, and he went downstairs to find some paper to write on. The realtor mentioned that she left some information for them in the kitchen, so he went there first.
The kitchen was perhaps one of Phil’s favorite places in the home. Much like the rest of the building, it had modern appliances and sleek countertops, but it also had the largest window wall in the whole house, looking out at the entire garden. After briefly getting lost in the view that was now his, he turned back to see about the papers. They were sitting on a breakfast bar, and Phil was taken aback by an overwhelming wave of familiarity.
Without the photos, plates, decorative fruit, and other random staged knickknacks, it struck him just how similar this kitchen was to the one in their first Manchester apartment. The black cabinetry and contrasting white breakfast bar sent Phil’s memory hurtling back to ten years ago in 2010 when he and Dan moved in together for the first time. It seemed so long ago, how young they were, just getting to know what it was like to live together. They were having fun being stupid, no idea what life would turn out to be in ten years.
Now they were out to all of the internet, made fundamental shifts in their careers with exciting new projects, spent millions on a new home that would be theirs forever, and would be engaged at the end of the month (little did Dan know). His memory brought up an image of 19-year-old Dan, so cute and young, hiding his face in Phil’s York hoodie with a strainer on his head. In that picture, Dan was standing against the very breakfast bar that their new one reminded him of. Now, in a few years, this breakfast bar would be littered with baby bottles and family clutter.
He felt Dan wrap his arms around his waist, nuzzling his face in Phil’s shoulder.
“What are you thinking about?” Dan asked.
“Oh nothing,” Phil said and turned to kiss Dan. He was happy that this was their forever.