Work Text:
“Ronan!”
Adam struggled through the door of his boyfriend’s apartment, balancing two dangerously full paper cups, a bag of unsold muffins, and his wet umbrella, only half closed. Persephone encouraged him to take the baked goods left at the end of the day, and Ronan loved the blueberry muffins.
He dropped the umbrella and it popped back open as it hit the floor, spraying drops of water everywhere.
“Jesus, Parrish, watch it!” Ronan grinned and grabbed the bag and cups as he greeted him, kissing him quickly and retreating from the rapidly forming puddle beneath Adam.
Adam shrugged out of his soaked coat, “Sorry, it’s a monsoon out there. I think I kept the muffins dry though.”
Ronan visibly perked up at that, “Go grab some dry clothes. If you’re fast enough I might leave you one.”
Adam smirked and jogged into Ronan’s bedroom, pulling off his shirt as he went. They’d only been dating a month, but it felt like they’d always been together. Adam was amazed how quickly things had progressed once Ronan had actually been able to talk to him, and once Adam had realized that what he’d taken to be chilly standoffishness was actually Ronan just being a big, tongue-tied dork with a massive crush. It had taken awhile to pry that particular truth out of Ronan, of course.
Adam grabbed a pair of Ronan’s sweatpants and one of his t-shirts. It hung off his slimmer frame, but it smelled like Ronan and he took a second to surreptitiously sniff it as he walked into the kitchen.
“I saw that, freak,” Ronan was grinning around what appeared to be an entire muffin in his mouth.
Adam walked behind him and wrapped his arms around Ronan’s waist, hooking his chin over his shoulder, “Can’t help it. You smell good.”
He turned his head and kissed Ronan’s neck and watched his cheeks flush.
“Where’s the coffee?” Adam asked, glancing around.
“Behind you on the counter,” Ronan mumbled, a few crumbs flying out of his mouth.
Adam reluctantly let go of Ronan and turned to grab his cup, “Don’t you want yours?”
Ronan was quiet and Adam noticed that he had a strange look on his face. Ronan bit his lip and looked like he was about to say something but stopped.
“What?” Adam asked.
“Uh…” Ronan flushed red and looked down at the table.
“What?” Adam repeated, “You’re starting to freak me out…”
Ronan was silent.
“Have you lost the ability to speak again,” Adam joked nervously, “Thought we were past that.”
Ronan finally managed to meet Adam’s eyes and squared his shoulders like he was steeling himself.
Well, this doesn’t bode well.
“I don’t like coffee.”
Adam waited for more, but that seemed to be it.
“You don’t like coffee?”
Ronan nodded, biting his lip nervously.
Adam tilted his head, “But… that’s weird. You’ve been drinking coffee every day since we met. You lose your taste for it or something? I’ve heard that can happen with certain medications… but you’re not taking anything, are you?”
Ronan let out a deep sigh, “It’s not new. I’ve always hated coffee.”
“You’ve always hated coffee.”
Ronan nodded again, resigned.
“But…” Adam had no idea how to finish the sentence.
“I needed a reason to keep seeing you, OK?!” Ronan burst out, throwing up his hands.
“So you drank coffee every day even though you hate it?” Adam was still SO confused.
“Fuck no. I threw that shit out.”
Adam’s jaw dropped, “You… you… threw it out??”
Ronan clenched his jaw.
“You threw it out…” Adam felt dizzy thinking about how many coffees he had made for Ronan. Coffees that were not cheap. “But I’ve brought you coffee here and I’ve seen you drink it!”
Ronan’s steely demeanor dropped for a moment and he looked like he wanted to slip quietly under the table, “You’ve seen me raise a lidded cup to my mouth…”
Adam had never before understood why people in movies clutched their chest when they were shocked, but he came very close to doing it just then.
“You faked it??!”
Ronan had the good sense to look chagrinned and keep quiet.
“Oh my god, you faked it…” Adam shook his head in disbelief. “But… why?”
“To avoid this conversation!” Ronan rose abruptly from the table and grabbed the coffee that Adam had brought for him, pouring it unceremoniously into the sink.
“I could have drank that you know!” Adam yelped.
“That’s just what I need while we’re fighting, for you to be extra-caffeinated…” Ronan muttered.
That stopped Adam in his tracks, “Wait… are we fighting? I’m not fighting – I’m just working through a series of profoundly surprising discoveries…” Adam began ticking them off on his fingers, “…that you hate coffee, that you spent god knows how much money on coffee that you threw out, and that apparently you Meg Ryan-ed your enjoyment of said coffee…”
Adam looked up at Ronan who was now crushing the empty paper cup in his hand, and looking at Adam with wary eyes.
Adam’s smile lit up his face, “And I will hold this over you for years.”
Ronan let out a deep breath and his tense shoulders slumped.
“Fuck.”
Adam grinned and jumped out of his chair, throwing his arms around Ronan’s shoulders and bumping their foreheads together, “You big fucking weirdo. The best part of this whole thing is that we sell things other than coffee! Did you not see the gigantic menu behind me, or were you too blinded by my beauty?”
Ronan sighed, “The last thing.”
Adam cupped Ronan’s face in his hands and gave him a soft kiss, “You’re a disaster.”
“Agreed.”
“But I’m never gonna get over you reading those books so you could talk to me, you know that?” Adam said softly.
Ronan closed his eyes and rested his head on Adam’s shoulder, “Best idea I ever had.”
Adam hummed in agreement.
“Hey Parrish?” Ronan’s voice was muffled against Adam’s neck.
“Hm?”
“Go brush your fucking teeth, you taste like coffee.”
Adam burst out laughing and shoved Ronan away. Ronan was grinning as he deflected several mock kicks.
“Declan’s Asshole Brother,” Adam muttered fondly as he walked to the bathroom.
“I heard that!”