Work Text:
The heat had been unbearable for weeks.
Adam trudged up the steps to the small apartment above Saint Agnes. The humid air pressed in on him, each breath a conscious effort. He pushed open the door with an exhale of relief.
He pulled a granola bar and an apple from his backpack and tossed the bag in the corner. The only good thing about the heat was that it destroyed his normally ever-present appetite. This would be more than enough tonight.
Crossing to the sink he rinsed out a glass and filled it with water, gulping it down in long swallows. It wasn’t cold, but it would do.
He saw the first flash of lightning as he stripped out of his grease-stained coveralls and sweat-dampened white tee shirt. Out of an ingrained childhood habit he counted… one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi... he heard the distant roll of thunder. The storm was close.
He was in the shower, head ducked beneath the cold spray when the lights went out.
“Fuuuuck….” he hissed under his breath. He had very little food in his tiny fridge, but what was there he needed. Replacing spoiled groceries was not in his budget. There was nothing to be done about it, though, and he forced himself to put it out of his mind.
He stepped from the shower, cooler now, and toweled off. He pulled on a clean pair of boxers and a worn tee shirt and left his towel to dry on the door.
He heard the rain before he saw it, a low roar approaching. And then it was upon the church, a deluge. Some of the rain blew through his open window, but he didn’t mind – the rain-cooled breeze was worth the puddle on the floor. He sat on the floor beneath the window enjoying the mist on his face. He stared, eyes un-focused into the night, and saw headlights turning into the empty church parking lot.
There was only one person who would drive through a storm at night to an empty church. Or to Adam.
He watched as Ronan swerved to a stop and parked the BMW. Adam couldn’t see inside the car -- the water pouring over the windshield obscured Ronan’s face. He sat in the car for several minutes, long enough that Adam started to worry that something might be wrong. Just as he was bracing himself to throw some shoes on and run out into the rain to check on him, Ronan finally emerged from the car.
He didn’t race to the church doors or to the steps leading to Adam’s apartment. He just stood in the rain letting it soak into his skin, eyes closed, his head tilted to the sky. Adam watched the water run down his face, his neck, soaking through the black tee shirt he wore, plastering it to his chest. Adam’s breath caught in his throat and he felt a pull in his stomach.
Lightning flashed and pulled Ronan from his reverie. He shook himself and walked to the steps leading up to the apartment.
Adam pulled himself up off the floor, not wanting to be caught watching him from the window. He moved to the bathroom, drying the rain on his face with the bottom of his tee shirt, and grabbed a towel for Ronan.
When the knock came at the door it was soft, almost drowned under the sound of the rain.
Adam opened the door and handed the towel to Ronan without speaking, stepping back into the room to let him pass. Ronan took the towel with a smirk.
“Thanks.”
“What are you doing here?” Adam asked, “It’s not fit for man nor beast out there tonight. You’re one of those, right?”
“Depends who you ask.” Ronan toweled off his head and neck and tried to dry his soaked-through shirt. “When the power went off at Monmouth I figured I should come check on you. I know how scared of the dark you get.”
Adam snorted. Darkness was on the low end of the scary shit scale.
“Kind of you, Lynch. I’m fine, though.”
“But how will you do your precious homework in the dark, huh? I brought you a present.” Ronan pulled something from the pocket of his jeans. He opened his palm and several tiny lights rose into the air.
Adam couldn’t suppress his smile. The fireflies from The Barns. They rose in the air and circled the room, casting warm light across the tiny space. It was like candlelight but better. The fireflies spun in the cool breeze. Adam felt light, his muscles relaxing, his heart slowing.
The smell of rain and the soft light made him feel as if they were in Cabeswater, or as if Cabeswater was reaching out to him, but it was simply a summer storm. And Ronan. Two things he could have even if magic were not a part of his everyday life.
His eyes were pulled back to Ronan who was watching the fireflies as they floated around the room.
Could he have Ronan?
Could he have him in the way he had increasingly been thinking about him?
Not just as his loyal, aggravating, honest to a fault, infuriating best friend but as more than that?
He had been noticing Ronan’s long stares more and more. Ronan always looked away when he was caught. It gave Adam the chance to stare back. To consider. To wonder. To let his tightly regimented mind wander.
His mind wandered now. It wandered to the wet black fabric sticking to Ronan’s chest. To the drop of water sliding down, down, down his buzzed skull and along the tendon in his neck. To his lips meeting that drop of water as it slid to where Ronan’s neck met his shoulder. To his hands peeling Ronan’s wet shirt away from his body and sliding his palms up the flat planes of his stomach to his chest. To the feel of the wet denim of Ronan’s jeans against the soft cotton of his boxers as he pressed himself against him.
Ronan cleared his throat and Adam snapped back to himself.
Jesus, how long had he been staring at Ronan?
“You OK Parrish…? You seem….out of it.” Ronan looked truly concerned, as if Adam were suffering from heat stroke, or exhaustion, or both. He supposed those might seem to Ronan like more likely reasons for Adam to be staring at him, pupils dilated, lips parted. More likely to Ronan’s brain than Adam getting lost in a fantasy about his best friend, while said best friend was standing right there.
Adam shook himself. Get it together, Parrish.
“Sorry, yeah, m’ fine. Just a long day, and the heat, you know?”
Ronan visibly relaxed. “Yeah, drink some water, man. You look like shit.”
Adam chuckled and crossed to the sink. “Yeah. Good idea. You want some?”
“Uh, sure. Or I could just suck on my shirt.”
Adam turned to Ronan over his shoulder as he filled his glass. “You can borrow clothes if you want to get out of those, ya know.”
“I’m fine.” A light blush crept up Ronan’s neck, and he turned to the door. “I just wanted to bring you the fireflies so the storm wouldn’t interrupt your power nerding. I know how much you love to feel up your textbooks on a Friday night.”
Ronan walked to the door, and as he touched the knob a flash of lightning lit up the room as a crack of thunder made the building shake.
“Fuck!” Ronan jumped back
“I don’t think you’re going anywhere, Lynch.” Adam said calmly, raising an eyebrow and smirking at Ronan Lynch, fighter of men, startled by some lightning. “The storm is right overhead now. It’s dangerous to be out there. Just stay the night.”
Ronan huffed. “Fine. You gonna entertain me or should I just lie on the floor while you do your thing?”
Adam smirked “Entertain you? I though I was supposed to “power nerd” tonight.”
Ronan returned the smirk. “Well if you’re ordering me to stay, then as my host I think it’s your duty to entertain me.”
Adam rolled his eyes. “Fine. First order of business is to get you out of those clothes.”
Ronan raised both eyebrows at that.
Adam stuttered “I mean, get you into dry clothes so you’re more comfortable.” He felt his face flush with sudden heat, and turned away, squeezing his eyes shut briefly. He crossed to the plastic bin of clothes and pulled out the first things his hands landed on -- his coca-cola tee shirt and a pair of black sweatpants.
He thrust them out to Ronan. “Here. I’m not giving you my underwear. This isn’t Sixteen Candles.”
Ronan guffawed and took the sweatpants from him. “I’ll wear the sweats, but I’m not putting on that ridiculous shirt.”
“Fine, be half wet. What do I care.”
“Please, Parrish, like I’m gonna wear a shirt. Even with the breeze coming in, it’s still fucking hot.”
Ronan strode into the bathroom and slammed the door. Adam stood there feeling a little dizzy. Was Ronan actually planning on coming back out half-naked…?
The door opened.
Yes. Yes he was.
Adam swallowed.
Ronan’s chest was beautiful. He was still damp from the rain. His smooth skin stretched across taught, perfectly formed shoulder muscles. His sweatpants were a couple inches too short for Ronan so they rode low on his hips. Adams eyes traced over the V-shaped lines of his stomach muscles as they disappeared beneath the waistband. One little tug and…
Adam physically wrenched his body around so he was facing the other direction.
“Jesus Parrish,” Ronan whispered in a low voice, “If it bothers you that much I’ll put on a fucking shirt.” There was a tinge of hurt in his voice, as if he thought Adam found him unpleasant to look at.
Adam laughed crazily in his own head. How could Ronan interpret his actions so entirely and completely wrong? And then he stilled. My god, he had no idea how Adam felt. Not an inkling. But how could he? Adam was only barely beginning to grasp it.
But that wasn’t true was it.
Part of Adam was clearly several steps ahead of the rest of him based on the scenario that had been playing out in his brain a moment ago. Why was he keeping this from Ronan? From his best friend who he trusted with his life. Who he trusted with everything.
He could trust him with this.
Adam turned back around.
Ronan was staring at the floor. His shoulders were pulled down and his arms were crossed across his chest. He was protecting himself from whatever came next.
Unknowable, thought Adam. I don’t want to be unknowable. Not with him.
Adam took a step forward, and then another. He stood in front of Ronan. He was close enough to touch him, but he waited. Ronan was still looking at the floor, still bracing for a rejection, still waiting to be turned away, to be pushed back.
Adam brought his hand up to Ronan’s face and brushed his thumb lightly across his cheek. Ronan inhaled sharply. He didn’t raise his head. Adam continued rubbing his thumb across his cheek. The movement both soothed him and lit him up inside. He felt grounded and also like he could float away like one of the fireflies still lighting up the room.
“Ronan…” he said, low and soft, not quite a whisper.
Ronan finally dared to move, raising his eyes to Adam almost imperceptibly. He looked wary. Something twisted in Adam’s gut. What had he done to make Ronan feel like this? Feel so unsure around him? He had to do better. He had to fix this. He had to make Ronan understand.
There were no more half measures. Adam had stepped out over the cliff, and it was time to just let himself fall. He owed it to Ronan to be brave.
Adam brought his other hand up and rested it flat against Ronan’s stomach. His skin felt hot. He felt Ronan tremble beneath his hand. He felt him taking shallow breaths.
“Adam…?” Ronan breathed out. “What are you… ,“ he steadied himself, “I don’t understand what…” Ronan couldn’t seem to get a full sentence out but his meaning was clear. His eyes were filled with confusion and the slightest flash of suppressed hope.
“I’m sorry” Adam whispered, “I’m sorry it took me so long to understand.”
Adam slid his hand from Ronan’s cheek to his jaw and pulled him closer. His other hand slid from his waist up to his chest, and around the back of his neck. Ronan had stopped breathing. Adam brought his lips the final few scant inches and kissed him softly.
Ronan kissed him back immediately, confusion replaced by relief, and then need. They opened their mouths against each other, tongues tangling, their bodies pressing together tightly. The cool breeze from the window blew across their heated bodies, raising goosebumps. Or perhaps it wasn’t the breeze.
Adam sucked Ronan’s lower lip into his mouth and Ronan moaned low. Adam needed more hands – he wanted to be touching Ronan everywhere at once. His hands settled on the back of Ronan’s head. He loved the feel of his buzzed hair beneath his fingertips.
Ronan’s hands were pressing into the muscles in Adam’s back, tracing them down to his hips. He pulled Adam’s hips to his and they both groaned at the sudden perfect contact.
Ronan took a step back, keeping Adam pressed flush against his body. Then another until they were at the bed. He pulled away and gazed into Adam’s eyes, asking a question. Adam’s answer was a soft shove that sent Ronan falling back against the mattress. Adam climbed onto the bed, straddling Ronan’s hips and looking down at his flushed face.
“Is this OK?” Adam asked quietly.
Ronan visibly swallowed and closed his eyes “Yes. Fuck. This is more than OK.”
Adam bit back a smile. He bent down and placed his hands on Ronan’s chest. Just taking a moment to look at the beautiful boy underneath him. How did Adam get to have this? How did he deserve this?
Ronan opened his eyes. They were soft and warm, and Adam got lost for a moment as they held each other’s gaze.
“I didn’t think you felt this way,” Ronan said, putting his hands on top of Adam’s, still resting on his chest. “I hoped…but I didn’t see it when you looked at me.”
“You’re an idiot. We both know that,” Adam grinned. Ronan pinched the back of Adam’s hand in response.
Adam’s smile softened. “I didn’t totally know I felt this way either. I mean, I did, but I wasn’t ready to knowI did yet. You know?”
“No. But right now, I also don’t care. Get back to kissing me, shithead.”
Adam sighed. This was what it would be like he realized. It would still be them, but better. His best friend was still his loyal, aggravating, honest to a fault, infuriating best friend. But he was also beautiful, and had soft lips, and hard muscles, and smooth skin that Adam could (and would) spend hours running his hands and mouth over. They would fight, but they would also curl against each other in the night and forgive. As the storm passed over them, and the rain slowed, Adam felt cleansed and alive.
Adam Parrish felt happy.