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“Race you home?”
“Oh, you absolute shit—”
Alex's laugh echoes in Henry’s ears as he watches his boyfriend sprint to the front door, taking advantage of Henry’s confusion to gain the upper hand. Henry still makes it home a mere two seconds after Alex, hearing him mumble something about “stupidly long legs.”
When the door closes behind them Henry kisses Alex against it, not caring that they're both sweaty and in desperate need of a shower after their morning run. Alex must not care either because he brings his arms around Henry's neck and kisses back eagerly, biting his bottom lip and smirking at the shudder that passes through Henry’s body.
“Shower?” Henry asks when they pull back, panting a little, in an attempt to be reasonable.
“Only if you join me, sweetheart,” Alex replies cheekily. And, well, it’s not like Henry will refuse.
After leaving the shower – which took longer than it probably should’ve – and dressing in soft clothes, they sit on the couch to enjoy the peace and quiet of a rare day off. Alex, with a book in his hands but clearly not paying attention to it, seems to see this as an opportunity to bring up the topic they’d been carefully avoiding the past few days.
“We need to talk about the elephant in the room. Or I guess in this case, our golden furred friend.”
Henry sighs, not displeased, but rather relieved to finally start this conversation. “We should.”
For the past five days, whenever they left the house, they'd see this little golden retriever sitting on their front steps or on the sidewalk in front of their house. He very small, even smaller than David, and even if a bit dirty, he was adorable.
If they stood very still he would slowly advance towards them and sniff their legs and wiggling his tail a bit, but as soon as they moved even a muscle, he would jump away and run down the street, only to return the next day, as if nothing had happened.
“What if we… took him in?”
Henry snaps back to reality. He blinks. “What?” Not because he didn’t hear, but because he wants him to say it again. He wasn’t sure Alex would want that, but he’s been dying to ask.
“Yeah.” Alex smiles encouragingly, if a bit hesitant. “What if we brought him home, you know? Adopted him.”
Henry swallows. “You want that?” He hates how his voice breaks a little.
Alex frowns, “Of course.” Then, his face lights up again. “Hang on.” He gets up from the couch and disappears in the direction of their bedroom, coming back a minute later with a laptop balanced on his arms.
He sits back down and grins at Henry. “I made a PowerPoint on why we should keep him.”
Henry chokes in his own tongue. “Sorry, you made what?”
"A PowerPoint! You know, to tell you why we should take him in.” He turns the screen to Henry and starts to work through the slides, which basically consist of a list in bullet points.
1. David is lonely and would appreciate company.
2. He deserves a home and a roof over his head, not live on the street.
3. He's adorable and Alex is already attached.
He doesn’t even get to the fourth point before Henry tackles him to the floor and kisses him silly, only pulling back minutes later because they need to breathe.
“Is that a yes, then?” Even out of breath, Alex manages to look in control and smug, and Henry has to roll his eyes.
“Yes, you absolute demon, it’s a yes.”
Alex looks extremely pleased with himself and pulls Henry down for another kiss.
—
Slowly but surely, they seem to gain the little dog's trust.
They start by offering food, pieces of meat and some of David’s treats. The little guy accepts the gifts but keeps running away as soon as he can. As the days pass, he doesn’t disappear down the street anymore, sticking to the other side of the road, and they count it as a win.
One day, they bring out a blanket, because “it's so cold at night, Henry, how does he keep himself warm?” and the dog approaches them slowly, looking a little wary, and takes the blanket. They expect him to run right after, as he always does, but instead he slowly walks up to them, pushing his nose into the bottom of Alex’s sweatpants, and stays there.
Alex turns to Henry, eyes wide with silent excitement, and carefully leans down, offering his hand to the golden retriever. After sniffing it for a few moments, he pushes the side of his face into Alex’s palm, and Henry sees Alex completely melt.
He very gently picks up the small dog and places him in his arms, who immediately cuddles further into Alex’s chest and stays put, and Alex’s grin is so bright it could light the world.
Henry brings his arm around Alex waist, feeling him lean into his chest, and whispers into his hair, “I think he likes you, love.”
If Alex notices his own eyes get a little wet, he doesn’t say anything, and Henry doesn’t make any comments either. “I’m half in love with him already.”
It’s when they’re home that evening, sitting on the couch with David’s head in Henry’s lap and Alex holding the newest member of their family in his arms, both dogs fast asleep, that he brings it up.
"Now, we need to talk about names."
Henry rolls his eyes. “I know what you’re going to say.”
Alex raises his eyebrows. “Do you, now?”
“Yes, he deserves a good dog name, not some boring one, and it’s your job to make sure he has a decent name, I get it—”
“Freddie.”
“I— what?”
“We should name him Freddie. You know, after Freddie Mercury.”
Henry gapes at him, speechless. “I— Are you sure?”
Alex rolls his eyes, but it's fond. “I'm definitely sure. And don't even try to pretend you don't love it, I know you want a little army of dogs named after musi—”
He’s cut off by Henry’s lips on his, soft but insisting, strong hands gently cradling his jaw, careful not to wake the sleeping dogs.
“You have no idea,” he whispers into Alex’s mouth, voice filled with wonder, “how much I love you.”
Alex smirks and tightens his arm around Henry’s waist. “I think I have a pretty good idea.”
You don’t, Henry thinks. No one could ever, because every day I love you more.
Instead of voicing his thoughts, he looks down at the sleeping dog in Alex’s arms and very lightly touches his fur, trying not to wake him up. “Freddie,” he murmurs. “I love it.”
There’s still so much they need to do, like book an appointment at the vet, buy another water bowl and toys and treats, but they can worry about it tomorrow. They have forever after all.
Holding onto that thought, Henry leans down to meet Alex’s mouth again, smiling into another kiss.