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Callum’s been planning this day for weeks now. Ever since he saw it in his phone calendar, he’s known that he has to do something special, especially now they’re fiancé’s. He’s got a list on phone, of all the things he could think of doing. A night away in a hotel, a romantic meal at a posh restaurant. But none of it seemed right. Until he opened his wardrobe one day, and saw a suit. It’s one he’s not worn for a long time, but he remembers the first time Ben saw him in it, and remembers how he almost didn’t leave the house that day, because Ben just did not want to let him go. It was then, that he knew what to plan for Valentine’s day.
Sunlight beams through the curtains, washing over the bedroom in a shade of golden yellow. It’s that sort of sun that makes it seem like it should be gorgeously warm outside, proper t-shirt weather - but it’s cold. The air is freezing and there’s frost all over, glistening in the light. Ben rolls over, trying to cling onto the last remaining remnants of his sleep, hiding his face in his pillow so he doesn’t have to have the light on his face, waking him up, but it’s too late. He’s awake now. He slowly but surely stretches his hand out across the bed, a tingle on his fingertips as it rubs against fabric, the warmth of his bed sheets protecting him from how cold it actually is. He’s searching, looking for one thing and one thing only - Callum.
But Callum’s not there.
His smell is. And his warmth. It’s something so distinctive, and yet Ben’s the only person who gets to experience this. He can just about make out a faint scent of strawberries from Callum’s shampoo when he nestles his head on Callum’s pillow, and he wants to open his eyes to properly look around, but the unrelenting warmth of Callum’s side of the bed just keeps pulling him in and then he’s resting there without a care in the world, cradling the corner of the sheets in his arms, cocooning himself in. It’s peaceful and warm and the tiredness is still there, even though he really should be up.
The door opens softly moments later and Callum panics for a few beats as he looks in the direction of where he left Ben not even half an hour ago, until he casts his eye to the side and sees him laying there, his face in Callum’s pillow, a childlike rosiness to his cheeks and if it’s at possible, Callum thinks he falls more in love with Ben just by seeing this. He grins, and puts the tray of food down on his own bedside table, and he rests himself on the edge of the bed, right next to Ben. He doesn’t want to disturb him, because he just looks too precious and at peace, but their teas are going cold and he wants to spend the entire day with Ben. So he gently runs his fingers through Ben’s hair, like he usually does when they’re watching a film alone together, Ben curling up into Callum’s chest, craving the warmth he happily provides. He gently brushes through Ben’s hair, letting it curl around his ear and Ben starts to stir, leaning into Callum’s perfect touch.
“Morning babe.” Callum grins, and he leans down to press a soft kiss to Ben’s cheek. “Happy Valentine’s.”
Ben opens one eye first, and he can’t help but smile at his fiancé leaning over the top of him. “You weren’t here.” Ben lets out and yeah, he’s definitely only just woken up, if the deepness and the crack of his voice are anything to go by. “I woke up and you weren’t here.”
Callum smiles softly and runs his thumb over Ben’s lips. “I went downstairs to make us breakfast.” He admits shyly. “I thought we’d have a relaxing morning with a bit of breakfast in bed.”
He looks over at the bedside table, and notices the tray of food, and when he looks back at Callum, he notices two more things. “That’s mine.” He notes, pulling on the lapels of the grey dressing gown that covers Callum’s body. Callum chuckles as he looks down, and he’s about to open his mouth to speak when Ben talks once more. “And what are you hiding?” He asks, craning his neck to try and see behind Callum’s back.
Callum lets out a soft chuckle and bites at his bottom lip to try and hide the grin that appears, but it’s in vain, especially with how his cheeks bloom into this stunning pink shade that Ben just loves seeing. “I know we don’t do stuff like this, but I wanted to spoil you.” He sets himself up, and when Ben pushes himself up to sit in the bed, he shows Ben what he’s been hiding.
It’s a bouquet of flowers, all bright and gorgeous and, mixed with the sunlight that’s still beaming into their bedroom, this feels like a fever dream - but it’s real.
Callum can’t bring himself to look at Ben’s reaction, he’s so nervous. He keeps his eyeline entirely on the flowers in his hands he stumbles over his words to try and get them out. “I, I er had to get roses. It’s the most romantic day of the year, and they’re the most romantic flower. And you got me them when you proposed. I just had to. And then there’s sunflowers which mean deep love, and purity and I know you ain’t exactly pure but I do love ya. Deeply. These are peonies and they’re supposed to symbolise a happy marriage.”
There’s a pause for a moment, once Callum stops rambling. He still doesn’t want to look at Ben, and because of that, he doesn’t see the tears start to well up in his eyes.
“Are they what you put in the wedding plans?” Ben asks cheekily, trying to get Callum to look at him.
He succeeds. Callum nods. “Yeah.” He admits. “We don’t have to have them, if you don’t want. I just thought they’d be nice.”
“I want them.” Ben confirms, without even having to think. He wants it all, with Callum. “These are beautiful. Thank you gorgeous.”
Callum blushes even more at that, and as he reaches over to grab the tray of food, he sees Ben half roll across the bed and then stretch his arm out. “Where are you going?” Callum asks.
Ben ignores him for a second and then opens a drawer. “Close your eyes.” He says, and looks back to make sure that Callum does as he’s told. There’s a soft slam of the drawer and then Callum feels Ben moving back to him. “You’re not the only one who can be romantic.” He says, and puts something in Callum’s hands. “You can open them now.”
It’s a card, with a bright red envelope, red to match the roses. He opens it up with slightly trembling hands and his grin grows wider than he ever thought possible as he reads to my fiancé on the front. He still can’t get over it. That’s what he is now, and one day, they’ll be husbands . He opens the card and reads everything slowly, Ben’s neat handwriting over both the pages, an entire story written out between them, ending with the words ‘yours today and forever, Ben’.
“I love you.” Callum says, all giddy and grinning and Ben can’t help but pull him down for a kiss, not wanting to go any longer without one.
Ben grins wildly into the kiss, one hand on Callum’s head and the other pulling onto his - Ben’s - dressing gown. “I love you too. So much. Happy Valentine’s.”
They kiss some more, and Callum doesn’t want to let go, doesn’t want to pull away, but he has to because he’s more than aware that their breakfast is going stone cold besides them. He pulls away and Ben chases after another kiss for a second or two until he’s settled with a searing peck on red lips. The food finally gets eaten and the cups of tea finally get drained and Ben’s cuddling into Callum’s chest and everything is just like it’s meant to be.
“Have you got any plans for the day?” Callum asks.
Ben turns his face to look at Callum and he’s so happy. So happy. “This is perfect.” He whispers out, as though speaking any louder will ruin it all. “It’s all I want.”
Callum smiles softly and presses an even softer kiss to Ben’s lips and whilst Ben’s distracted, Callum steals the last slice of toast from the plate. “I’m cooking tonight.” He says, pulling away from the kiss and biting into the jammy slice of toast. “Got this place to ourselves. So dress smart.” And he winks. He actually winks.
It’s later on in the day, much later on as dusk is falling, the entire sky a beautiful navy shade, with twinkles of star light scattering all around. It’s the perfect end to a perfect day. Callum’s been preparing dinner for hours now, and Ben hasn’t even seen him, having been banished from appearing in the kitchen. Instead, Ben’s already sitting at the table, admiring how Callum has set it all up. He’s seemingly stolen Lexi’s fairy light to brighten up the room, flickering lighter and then dimmer slowly. He’s really gone all out, with tiny little candles in the middle of the table, joined with the bouquet of flowers from this morning. Ben smiles to himself softly. He’s never been one to enjoy Valentine’s day and the commercialism of it all but this - this? He’s in love, so of course he loves this just as much as he truly loves Callum. All Ben knows about tonight, is that all he has to do is dress nice. That, he can do. He’s sitting at the table in a tight white shirt, all buttoned up to perfection, and a pair of navy trousers, navy to unintentionally match the sky. He hears Callum’s footsteps, rhythmic tapping as he walks seemingly ever closer. Ben’s got this giddy feeling, like it’s the first time he’s ever going to see Callum. It’s such a surreal feeling, but he can imagine this being the exact feeling he’s going to experience on his wedding day, waiting to see Callum walk down to him, ready to spend the rest of their lives together. The door creaks open and the butterflies in Ben’s stomach just explode ferociously at seeing Callum standing there, in a pale grey suit, and white shirt to match Ben’s. He looks amazing .
“You like it?” Callum asks, gesturing around the room as he sits down next to Ben.
It might be a big table, but that doesn’t have to mean sitting far apart. They’d both prefer to be right next to each other, as it should be.
Ben gulps, and he’s captivated by Callum, unable to take his eyes off of him. He hums absentmindedly. “Looks perfect to me.” Ben replies, and they both know he’s not talking about the room that surrounds them.
Callum flushes uncontrollably as he takes his suit off, feeling much more comfortable sitting in just trousers and his shut. Ben watches his every move as if he’s going to be quizzed on it later on. Callum rolls his sleeves up slightly, just to the middle of his forearm and Ben’s practically salivating just watching him do something so menial, so trivial.
“You look like you’re about to devour me.” Callum chuckles, picking up his fork and twirling it around his fingers teasingly.
Ben scans his eyes from Callum’s fingers to his eyeline, tracking up his arms and across his chest and not forgetting to admire the mark on his neck, half hidden by his collar, that Ben left behind from the morning. He waits to respond, waits until Callum’s got half a mouth full of beer and then - “Maybe I am.” Ben grins.
“Evil.” Callum lets out a chortle, wiping the corners of his mouth dry. “How about devouring this first.” He says, nodding towards their plates.
So they eat in peace, talking about plans for their wedding. It still sounds surreal. They talk about having a stag do, and whether they should have a joint one or not, because, by and large, the people that they would invite would want to go to both, plus, it’ll save money in the long run if they just have a joint one. They talk about suits, and if they’d both want matching ones, or if they would just want similar suits. They talk about colour schemes and flowers and seating arrangements and they laugh until they cry at the idea of Stuart and Phil becoming family, and Ben brings up that one time that Callum sang in Phil’s face and it’s just so perfect. An hour or two flies by with them uncontrollably laughing and planning and their plates are empty and they’ve exhausted their alcohol selection.
Callum’s got his hand over Ben’s on the table, warm and cosy and it just feels all kinds of right. He lifts their hands up, fingers still linking together, slotting in perfectly, and presses a gentle kiss to Ben’s skin. “I’ll be a second.” He whispers out, and he lifts the empty plates up and walks towards the kitchen.
Just as before, Ben can’t seem to take his eyes off of Callum as he walks away. He knows exactly what he’s doing to Ben.
Time ticks by slowly. One second, two seconds, three seconds - and Ben can’t help himself. He can’t physically spend any more time away from Callum. He just can’t.
He walks quietly, trying to not bring attention to himself, probably for the first time in his life. The kitchen door is open, and he watches Callum for a second, cutting into a chocolate cake. There’s a smile on both their faces, and Ben just can’t help himself as he steps over the threshold and into the kitchen. It takes him approximately four steps before his body is pressing to Callum’s back, his hands all over his waist and he’s leaning up to press hot, searing kisses to Callum’s neck, anywhere he can reach.
“You’ll ruin the surprise!” Callum tries to sound threatening but he can’t, not with Ben all around him.
Callum can feel Ben’s lips curl up into a grin against his skin, and he’s so close to just forgetting all about the cake and turning around and letting Ben do whatever he wants to do to him.
“Don’t care about the surprise.” Ben mutters out, spreading his hands everywhere, eventually deciding to rest them on Callum’s chest, his fingers brushing over the material right where his nipples lay. “I just want you.”
Fuck it. Callum turns on the balls of his feet within seconds and wraps Ben up in a hug without even having to think about it. He grins into their kiss, hungry and full of want and desire. Ben let out a soft chuckle and he attempts to hold onto Callum even tighter, but it’s in vain, because Callum takes the lead here. He’s holding onto Ben’s waist, huge hands just completely encapsulating his body and he starts to walk, pushing Ben backwards slightly, the top half of his body moving first until his feet start to catch up. Ben has no idea what’s going on, he’s just trusting Callum with every single move he makes. It doesn’t take long for him to realise that his back is against the wall and Callum’s towering above him and he’s so turned on he’s not even certain he’s getting blood flowing to his brain with how light he feels. Callum’s hands are everywhere, unrelenting, and Ben’s seconds away from getting to his knees and taking Callum right here in the kitchen, until his brain kicks into gear and his fingers are fumbling over Callum’s shirt buttons, undoing one, two, three and suddenly half of his chest is being exposed. Callum grins even more and there’s a huff in his throat as he contemplates starting to open Ben’s trousers there and then before deciding against it and he takes a less subtle approach. His hands move from Ben’s waist fluidly to the back pockets of his trousers, his fingers dipping down into them for a moment or two before he squeezes. He listens and he feels and it’s all encompassing and then he’s bending at his knees for a second and lifting Ben up and a giggle stumbles out of Ben’s mouth.
“Where’re we going?” Ben asks, pulling his mouth away from Callum’s, only to put them against his neck and cheek and collarbone - anywhere he can lay a kiss.
Callum walks with somewhat of an ease, and he’s determined. So determined. “Bed.” He adamants and so that’s that. He manages the stairs, though it’s easier said than done when he’s carrying a fully grown man who’s intent on attacking Callum’s skin, and then they’re in bed, with only a bedside lamp glowing a fluorescent yellow for company.
They move in time together, as one. It’s everything and more. It’s all gentle touches and soft moans and Callum over Ben and Ben’s wrapping his legs around Callum, never wanting to let go. It’s really the perfect end to the perfect day, and the best thing of all? This is only the start. They have forever to come.