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“Are you bored?”
“What?” Hunter asks distractedly, turning away from the pot he was stirring in with a wooden spoon to look at Fitz. A few splotches of red are on the apron wrapped around Hunter’s hips. They are from the tomato sauce simmering in the pot. Hunter’s tomato sauce for Spaghetti is legendary.
“Are you bored,” Fitz repeats his question, leaning back against the kitchen table and swallowing.
Hunter blinks. “Why should I be bored? I’m cooking Spaghetti which I’m going to enjoy with the man I love. In candlelight!”
Fitz’s lips twitch up into a smile. Warmth spreads through him at Hunter’s words. But … still. He feels doubt nagging at him. The feeling is annoying, and he knows exactly there’s no need for it. He has been told so often enough. Has been shown over and over again, that this, that his life with Hunter is meant to be forever. The problem is the past. It’s always the past. A string of betrayals. Some worse than others. Some more scarring than others. But they all left their marks. His father leaving. Ward being the bad guy. Jemma telling him she’s off to visit her parents while actually working undercover. Mack and Bobbi working for Gonzales. Radcliffe using him. Aida planting false memories inside his head.
And all the changes … Everything always changed.
It’s hard to believe something is going to stay. It’s hard to believe he deserves a happy ending like this.
“You’re thinking too hard, love,” Hunter says and Fitz perks up. “Sorry,” he says automatically. Hunter sighs. He puts the lid onto the pot and turns the heat down a bit. Then, he approaches Fitz and opens his arms. “Come on,” he says with a smile.
Fitz sinks into the hug, pressing his face against Hunter’s chest. Warm. Hunter distantly smells of tomato and rosemary. Fitz sighs contently when Hunter gives him a kiss on his head. He can already feel some of the dark clouds in his mind vanishing. Not completely though. They are just retreating and will reappear sometime later. But that’s normal, his therapist says. Recovery never is all sunshine and happy thoughts. Sadly.
“Now tell me,” Hunter says after a long moment of just hugging. “Why are you asking me if I’m bored?”
Fitz swallows. “It’s … Uh. Forget it. It was just … It’s nothing.” It’s just me and my annoying self, destroying the mood again.
“It’s never nothing. You know you can tell me, don’t you? I always want to hear what you have to say. I always care,” Hunter says, running his fingers through Fitz’s hair which is getting longer again, curling at the ends.
“I do know that,” Fitz mumbles, biting his lip. “I was just thinking about what we did at Shield. And about what we do now. Sometimes I wonder, if you really wanted such a, uh, a domestic life. A normal life. We’re living in the suburbs. We’re doing the shopping together. We’re having dinner at fixed times. There are no bad guys to hunt. No dangerous adventures. There’s just, well, this. Me. I don’t know … It’s stupid,” Fitz sighs, looking away.
Hunter is silent for a moment. Then he asks, “Are you bored?”
“No. Never,” Fitz says, shaking his head. It’s true. He’s tired of never knowing what’s going to happen next. He’s tired of space, aliens and Chromicons. He’s tired of losing people. Or of being separated from his loved ones, not knowing if they will be alive tomorrow.
Hunter nods. “Well. Me neither. I wouldn’t trade this life for anything in the world. You know why?”
“Why?” Fitz asks quietly.
Hunter smiles and cups Fitz’s face in both hands, kissing the top of his nose before he talks. “Because I found what I need. I found you and it took a bloody long time until I was brave and smart enough to tell you I want to spend my life with you. Now I want to spend every bit of time being here with you, making you happy. Because you deserve happiness. I do too. We did enough for this stupid world and it’s time it lets us rest and love. I don’t need any criminals to hunt. Someone else can catch them. Everything I need is right here.”
By the time Hunter stops talking, Fitz is feeling tears prickling in his eyes. “I love you,” he says, feeling the truth of these three words glowing deep and warm in his chest.
“I love you too,” Hunter breathes, hugging Fitz close again. “I want to grow old with you. I want to be the one who tells you where you left your glasses and who puts balm on your hands when your skin is dry. And I want to lay in bed with you forever, sharing memories of a happy life.”
“I want that too,” Fitz says.
“Yes, and we will get it. But right now, there’s so much time for a lot of other things,” Hunter grins and presses Fitz back against the kitchen table, kissing him on the mouth passionately. Fitz gasps and returns the kiss, his legs turning to jelly.
Hunter hums happily into the kiss and one of his hands stroke Fitz’s back while the other one starts to open the buttons on Fitz’s shirt. “Why are there so many of them,” he mumbles and Fitz chuckles. “No really, you are like a present. I have to unwrap you, bloody hell.”
“Am I a good present at least?” Fitz asks teasingly.
“The best,” Hunter answers, cheering when the last button is open. His hand strokes Fitz’s chest and he teases a nipple with his thumb, causing it to harden. Fitz groans and closes his eyes, enjoying the way Hunter’s breath tickles his neck and how it speeds up. He can feel Hunter’s erection against his thigh. He’s achingly hard himself by now. There’s no way to not be aroused when Hunter’s all around him, close and familiar and so, so warm.
“God I want you,” Hunter breathes, leaning his forehead against Fitz’s.
Fitz is about to answer, when suddenly, there’s a lout gurgling noise behind them.
Hunter gasps. “Shite! The sauce!”
He turns around, running to the stove and turning it off. He opens the lid of the pot and curses, quickly stirring the sauce. Fitz leans back against the table, breathing heavily. Hunter looks at him over his shoulders, his eyes sparkling. “Don’t move, love. I’m with you in a second. I’m just taking care we’ll have something to eat when we’re done.”