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“I’m so tired!” Shota exclaimed as soon as he entered their apartment, throwing his bag on the floor and hurrying to remove his shoes. He stretched his arms and yawned, as he reached the living room, where he fell on the couch.
Ren followed right after, sitting next to him and letting his boyfriend glue himself to his side. Shota snuggled to Ren’s chest, humming satisfied as he felt the other’s strong arms wrapping around his body.
That Sunday fell right on their anniversary, so they both decided to go out and have some fun like they used to do before, years ago when they weren’t working adults yet, and had much more time to spend together.
They didn’t want anything fancy, they just wanted to be somewhere just the two of them, in their world. So, they decided to head to the beach and pass the day there. They didn’t do much though – since Shota couldn’t let sun rays hit his flawless skin – and for that reason they spent most of the time under their beach umbrella, talking and just enjoying each other’s company. Until Ren decided to scare Shota with a bug he had just caught, causing the older man to dash away while his boyfriend chased after him.
Then, when the sun was setting, they took some pictures together and took a walk on the seashore, hand in hand.
“Today was fun, wasn’t it?” Shota said.
“Yeah, it has been a while since we had gone for a romantic getaway after all.”
“There’s no reason to call it like that,” Shota whined, blushing, “Just two dudes hanging out at the beach.”
“Shoppi, we’ve been dating for years, you’re still at it?” the younger man said, chuckling amusingly.
He could only hide his face in his hands, not managing to hold back an embarrassed laugh. “Just leave me alone. You’re too romantic for me.”
Ren laughed, but didn’t say anything back to him. He only left a kiss on Shota’s soft hair, before resting his head atop of his.
At that moment, Shota’s mind started to rewind all of his memories with Ren. It didn’t happen a lot of times, but when it did, his mind would go back to the very first day he had met him, in front of the seminar hall in their university, where the young man hadn’t noticed that the door had ‘pull’ written and not ‘push’.
Who would have thought that that same airheaded guy was going to be his life partner?
Because even if he had never said it, even if he was always concealing his feelings, the truth was that Ren was the most important thing in his life, he was the person Shota loved the most, and without whom he couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t imagine his life without him.
Days starting without his morning kisses, nights spent away from his arms. A reality that Shota didn’t even want to picture. He needed Ren so much that he would hug him so tight and never let go whenever they would make up after a fight.
He loved him more than his own life and he was ready to devote himself to him.
“Ren, let’s get married.”
Shota looked up and saw Ren’s dumbfounded face. His expression looked just like a PC having lost connection to the browser. Shota could see the clear ‘loading…’ sign stamped on his boyfriend’s face and he didn’t know if he should worry and lie that it was a joke, or wait for Ren to stop buffering.
He broke the hug to face properly Ren, nudging his arm and calling him softly, “Hey.”
Ren blinked his eyes a few times, “What did you just say?”
“You didn’t hear?” he asked, hoping to still have a chance to eat his words.
“I did, but I want to hear that again.”
“Why? Just answer then.”
“One more.”
“No.”
Ren raised his finger and asked once more in a serious manner, “One more, I beg of you, Watanabe Shota.”
Shota rolled his eyes and sighed, knowing that his boyfriend would have just kept on bugging him if he didn’t comply.
“Ren, let’s get—”
The words died in his throat as Ren threw himself at him and smashed their lips together. Shota was caught so off guard that his back even landed on the couch, and now Ren was on him.
“Yes,” replied Ren, with the widest smile Shota had ever seen.
“What’s the point of making me repeat it if you don’t let me finish,” he complained.
“I couldn’t hold myself back,” Ren said.
The other’s gaze made him self-conscious to have just proposed. And his boyfriend said yes. Ren said yes. Ren wanted to spend the rest of his days with him.
He averted his gaze, focusing on the lower table in front of the couch since he felt that he could cry and he didn’t have a cushion he could use to hide his face.
And as if he could read his mind, Ren said, “Want me to take a cushion so you can hide your tears?”
Laughing, Shota playfully slapped the other’s arm. “I will beat you up one of these days.”
“I’ll be waiting for it then,” Ren started, before moving lower and laying his head on Shota’s chest, just above his heart, “You have all eternity to do that.”
He chuckled at that, but it was the truth, their bond was now neverending. His arms circled around Ren’s body and held him close, just like he used to do when they cuddled together. He had always thought that Ren’s arms were his home, and he hoped that for his boyfriend – well, fiancé – it was the same.
Shota prayed that no matter what, even if they would lose each other along the way, he would always be the home Ren would come back to, just like Ren was his.