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It had become a routine for them to go to bed early.
Sometimes they did stay up a little to watch a movie on Edward’s old laptop and Bruce’s Netflix account. Or when Edward wanted to finish a book he was all wrapped up in.
But most nights they were in bed by 8:30. Being in bed earlier meant they had more time for themselves. It meant they could talk for a long while and still be asleep at a reasonable time.
The bed had become just their space. No phones, no books, no puzzles, just them. And they both really cherished it.
Getting into bed with Bruce, just to talk and be with him, was easily Edward’s favourite part of the day. It was the time that belonged just to them. That felt like nothing in the universe existed except Edward, Bruce and the bed.
Edward had never liked the cold times of the year, mainly because it was dark for such a long time. But this time around, he found himself almost enjoying it. Turns out, laying in the dark with the person you love could actually be all kinds of exciting.
His head had already hit the pillow, he was curled up under the blanket with his weighted blanket on top, while waiting for Bruce to finish brushing his teeth. He was using the electric toothbrush, which’s charging station he had recently moved from his place to Edward’s. Edward’s head felt light, whenever he thought about it.
Finally, the light in the bathroom went out and Bruce stepped out of it, wearing one of Edward’s oversized shirts and blue chequered boxers. Edward saw him smile and felt himself doing the same.
“You’re blending in with your environment really well” Bruce turned the remaining lights off and then finally made his way to the bed, to Edward. He lifted the mountain of blankets that Edward was almost fully hidden under. “I should have never gotten you that heavy thing”, Bruce joked. “It’s like armour. Makes it so much harder to get to you”
Edward felt the old mattress dip, while Bruce laid down next to him and smiled in his direction, his eyes still getting used to the sudden darkness. “Well, I like it. It makes me feel very protected”, he said, while taking off his glasses and gently nudging them against Bruce.
Bruce took them from him and put them on the bedside table. “Then you're double protected. Me and the blanket” He turned to him again, finally settling under the blankets, and wrapped Edward up in his arms. Edward could feel Bruce’s smile against his face and turned his head to be able to kiss him.
“I feel so safe”, he mumbled against his lips and Bruce pulled him even closer. His forehead softly pressed against Edward’s and Edward let go of a content sigh.
“Today at work”, Bruce began “someone asked me what my thanksgiving plans were”
“Oh, we don’t have to do anything”, Edward quickly replied to the question that hadn't really been asked. He had never done anything, since holidays were meant for families and he didn’t have one. He suspected that Bruce might have similar feelings about that topic. “Unless you want to?”
“I don’t know, not really.” Edward knew that Bruce wanted to say more. He was right. “I just thought that maybe it would be nice, if we had dinner with Alfred? At my place. We don’t have to sleep over, just spend some time there”
Of course, holidays were for families. But Alfred was Bruce’s family, Edward realised.
The answer came so easy to him. “You’re right, that would be nice” He smiled into the dark and placed a short kiss on Bruce’s lips. “And it’s fine, we can sleep over. I like a comfortable mattress from time to time”, he said half jokingly. Bruce’s place still intimidated him and even Bruce said that it didn’t feel like home. He liked Edward’s apartment much better. But they’d be together so it would be okay.
“We should get a new mattress”, Bruce yawned and shifted, rolling onto his back and taking his hand from Edward’s waist.
“It’s expensive” Edward situated himself onto Bruce’s chest instead. Bruce snaked an arm around his shoulders.
“We’ll split it. I use it just as much as you do. We’ll figure something out that’s fair”
Edward wanted to argue but he knew it was no use. Part of him really liked how assertive Bruce could be, especially concerning financial questions. And he was right, they should both give their fair share. It already had taken Bruce a lot, to convince Edward, to let him pay for a part (the majority) of their groceries. Edward had argued and tried to resist, saying it was his apartment, Bruce was his guest, it just wasn’t how he was raised. But it had all worked out in the end. Bruce gladly paid for things. He was fortunate enough to comfortably be able to afford everything he wanted and he wanted to share this with the person he loved. Fortunately, Edward seemed to begin to accept this.
“Fine”, he simply said.
He threaded one of his legs between Bruce’s and lightly started drawing circles onto Bruce’s chest with his pointer finger. A few seconds passed quietly, with them just enjoying each other’s presence. Edward was the first to speak again.
“Hey, do you want to do pasta for dinner tomorrow?”
“Sure”
“Mac and Cheese?”
“What about vodka sauce?”
“Oh yeah, that sounds good” Edward smiled and shortly squeezed Bruce’s leg with his own. Bruce squeezed his shoulder in return.
“I love your vodka sauce”, Bruce mumbled into Edward’s hair.
It made Edward laugh. “Thanks. I got the recipe out of a magazine”
“I love everything you cook”
Edward didn’t realise when he started drawing hearts instead of circles.
“What do you like most?”
“The vodka sauce”
Edward laughed again and Bruce grinned against his hair.
“But I also like when you make salads. You know so many recipes”
“Actually, Bruce, I don’t know a single recipe for a salat”
“What?” Bruce looked up from Edward’s hair.
Edward turned his head to look at him. “What do you mean?”
“Every time you make a salad it’s a different one. And it’s always delicious”
Edward understood, now smiling at him. He lifted his hand from Bruce’s chest, abandoning his drawings, to put it against his cheek.
“I just use what we have and make it work”
He watched the realisation slowly spread over Bruce’s face.
“Ohhh.”
“You’re so cute” Edward pressed a short peck to the corner of Bruce’s mouth.
“You have a talent”
“Oh Bruce”
“A salad talent”
“Please, it’s mostly practice, really. I worked hard on my salad skills”
They chuckled and dropped the subject.
Bruce rolled onto his side, leaning into Edward, careful not to squish him. Edward moved with him, knowing the end goal. He opened his arms so that Bruce could press his face against his chest and hugged him, lovingly carding through his hair.
Bruce let out a happy sigh and pushed a hand under Edward’s shirt to let it wander, slowly mapping out his back.
Edward smiled. “You in your happy place?”, he half whispered.
Bruce made another pleased little noise that made Edward’s heart melt. “Yeah”
Another thing that Edward didn’t expect about Bruce but now totally loved: how clingy he was.
When he came home, Bruce would immediately curl up on the couch next to Edward, to talk about their days. He would hug him at any chance he got. He would always hold Edward’s hand when they went outside.
Before Bruce, Edward had always thought that he would be too needy and constantly need reassurance in a relationship. But what he got instead made him so happy. It felt so healthy. Edward felt so loved.
“Tell me something”, Bruce mumbled into Edward’s chest. He liked hearing him talk.
“What do you wanna hear, baby?” Edward kept petting his hair, feeling Bruce’s hand slowly come to a stop on his back. Now it was Bruce’s turn to draw shapes on Edward’s skin. Goosebumps were spreading over Edward’s back and he shuddered pleasantly.
“Tell me about your book” Bruce yawned. “The new crime one”
“Are you sure?”, Edward teased. “You got so scared last time”
“Not true at all. Come on, I wanna hear what you read”, Bruce protested and Edward laughed.
“Okay so, it’s this paranormal thriller and there’s this demon that lives in the walls of-”
“Wow, okay maybe I will get scared this time”
Edward laughed again and Bruce scooted closer to him, entangling their legs even more.
“Tell me something else instead. Tell me, what do you think we will be doing in ten years?”
Edward hummed as if deep in thought. He was still gently dragging his blunt nails over Bruce's scalp.
“In ten years? I don’t know, that’s so long away” He tried to imagine what he wanted their future to look like. “To be honest, I don’t think it’s going to be much different. We’ll probably be married by then. And maybe I’ll have a different job or maybe we’ll have moved into a different apartment, but we’re still going to be the same. And I don’t want anything about us to change. I’m so happy right now and I think I’m going to be just as happy in 10 years”
Bruce had reemerged from Edward’s chest while he listened. He put his head next to his on the pillow so they could see each other’s faces. Their noses were almost touching. His hand slipped from Edward’s back to his waist.
Edward moved one hand from Bruce’s hair to his cheek, pulling him closer. Bruce’s eyes fluttered shut and Edward closed his too, fully concentrating on Bruce.
“I love you so much”, he whispered against his lips, before finally connecting them.
The kiss was full of love, passionate, but so gentle at the same time.
Bruce pulled Edward even closer by the waist. He snaked his whole arm around him and rolled onto his back, the momentum causing Edward to land on top of him. Edward gasped and giggled, excited by the surprise of being moved around like that. He quickly scrambled to straddle Bruce.
“I love you so much, Edward”
Edward smiled against Bruce’s lips and let his hands wander to the hem of Bruce’s shirt, before kissing him again.
Laying in the dark with the person you love could be all kinds of exciting.