Work Text:
Price sat in his seat, his hands wrapped around the glass with the drink he had ordered hours ago but barely taken a sip from. He occasionally tapped the glass with his fingernails, humming a random tune to himself as he looked across the table.
He was never one for social gatherings. Parties, weddings, even funerals; Price was the first to decline an invitation, oftentimes not even bothering with an excuse. Most of his family members and friends had picked up on the hints early enough and stopped inviting him altogether, but much to his dismay, Price found himself deeply in love with a man that absolutely loved going out and being with people.
Initially he planned not to even respond to the invitation to a gathering, but when Phillip found the partially crumbled shiny piece of paper in the bin, he suddenly looked very excited to meet his partner’s family. John wanted to say No and explain how he never intended on going in the first place, but fuck if he was gonna make the poor bastard sad by telling him the truth. The wide smile on his lips as he socialised, danced, drank and spoke to John’s family all night was ultimately worth the trouble.
Or at least, that’s what he told himself.
Seriously, the night was nothing short of boring. The music was starting to hurt his ears, he had to put up with nagging by nosy family members and worst of all, Phillip wasn’t even there for the majority of the event. He had very quickly gotten to know one of John’s cousins and the two were off drinking elsewhere, probably becoming the bestest of friends or something. It almost made John feel sick to his stomach, despite how much he adored Phillip because of his kind and social nature.
As the night came to an end, his cousin and Phillip finally sat back in the corner where John had only recently started sipping painfully slow on his second glass of whiskey, where the ice had long melted and the drink tasted warmer and more bitter than what was usual. The two were still laughing and talking loudly, but John hardly paid any mind to them. That was until..
-”..So I obviously went looking and when I found the one I had in mind, John tells me No! Can you imagine?”
-”Are you talking about that damn bed again?”, John sighed. Phillip had recently picked up on some new hobbies, one of them being a strange obsession with making Pinterest collections of interior designs he liked. Not that John minded, some of the ideas and designs weren’t half bad. It only got a bit annoying after Phillip tried to convince him to essentially rebuild their entire apartment to fit his new “aesthetic” every other week.
-”Heck yes I am! How dare you”, Phillip huffed with a laugh. “That was a damn cute bed! And it wasn’t even that expensive considering it was king size”
-”How much was it? Had to sell an arm and a leg for the one my wife and I got after the honeymoon”, John’s cousin joked.
-”It was..” Phillip hummed for a moment, stroking his chin, trying to remember. “How much was it again, honey?”
John fake-coughed into his fist, poorly disguising the way he choked on air at the nickname. The two used pet-names so rarely, John never got quite used to being.. Desired like that. It wasn't rare for him to get flustered at simple words of affection, and Phillip didn't seem to realise most times.
-”It was.. Uhh..” Price ran a hand through his beard, trying to not let Phillip see just how much power he could have over him. “Like.. a couple hundred..”
-”John?”, his cousin asked, noticing the way he started hiding his face behind a hand. "Is everything okay?"
-”What’s wrong, love?”, Phillip added, unaware of the way he rubbed salt into the wound and made Price cough with embarrassment once more.
-”I-I don’t remember, it doesn’t matter. Our bedroom is fine the way it is”, he tried to drop the topic, but Phillip must have finally realised what was going on.
-”Oh, is that so, sweetheart?”, he fluttered his eyelashes. “I would appreciate it so so much if you let me redecorate our bedroom!”
-”I- No! I told you, we can’t-”
-”Please, darling! I would do anything!”
John remained quiet, trying to seem unfazed, but his face was already on fire from the pretty words and eyes his lover was giving him.
-”Seriously, let the man decorate your bedroom! Don’t be so stubborn”, his cousin added, painfully unaware of the little game Phillip was playing.
-”..I uh..”, John fiddled with the collar of his shirt. Holy shit, when did it become so hot in here? “I will think about it, alright?”
-”Thank you so much, honey! I will not disappoint”, Phillip promised with a wink; John never wanted to strangle and kiss a man this bad before.
-"Only if you stop with this", John warned, taking the glass from Phillip's hands. "You had enough to drink"
Phillip only pouted in response, but didn't fight back anymore.
-"Seriously, what was that?"
-"What was what?", John ignored the question, his eyes focused on the road. He was lucky he stayed sober enough to be able to drive them home as he had forgotten his wallet at home, meaning they couldn't have taken a cab.
-"Why were you like that out of a sudden"
Phillip's face was pressed against the window as he slowly started dozing off, but not even half as drunk as he pretended to be; probably just so John would later carry him inside.
-"I have no clue what you're talking about", John lied.
-"I didn't know you were so easy to fluster", Phillip teased, placing a hand on John's thigh.
-"You're drunk, hun", he brushed his hand off, ignoring the way his touch left behind a fuzzy warmth. "You need some sleep"
The car was silent for a few minutes, and John started thinking that perhaps Phillip had definitely dozed off.
-"I love you so much, darling", he said with a weak, tired voice, to which John only smiled.
-"I love you too.."