Work Text:
“hey babe, i need to stay at work for a little longer than expected. i’ll be home in about an hour.”
Your phone lit up with the text from your boyfriend, Adam Faulkner-Stanheight. You read it and sighed with relief. You had been getting worked up about not having enough time to prepare for the evening, so an extra hour was just what you needed.
It was Valentine’s Day, your first one with Adam since you had begun dating last spring. You wanted your first Valentine’s together to be a memorable one, so you had spent all day at work thinking up ideas for how to make tonight perfect. You knew Adam needed a night like this after everything he had been through.
You were standing in the dimly lit kitchen, boiling a pot of pasta. You weren’t the best cook in the world, but you knew Adam loved your spaghetti and meatballs. As you stirred the pasta, you thought about how lucky you were to have him. Even though what he had lived through four months ago was unimaginably dark, he continued to be a ray of sunshine in your life. It wasn’t always easy - he was having constant nightmares and flashbacks to that awful night, and it hurt your heart to see him struggling so much. But you stayed by his side through it all as he slowly but surely got better, letting him know how much you loved him and how proud you were of him. He truly was the strongest person you knew.
Once the food was cooked, you started to set the table. You picked out your nicest plates and two fancy wine glasses and sat them down by your places at the table. You served up a large portion of spaghetti and meatballs for each of you and then opened the fridge to find a drink. You had forgotten to buy wine on your way home from work, but luckily there was a large bottle of Adam’s favourite soda in the fridge. Not as romantic, but you were sure he wouldn’t mind. You grabbed the bottle and carefully filled the glasses, placing a couple of heart-shaped ice cubes in each of them.
Once the glasses were full, you lit two tall candles on either side of the table. As you were doing so, the key suddenly turned in the door, startling you. You heard Adam coming in, taking off his shoes and hanging up his jacket.
“Hey, I’m home!”, he called. He walked into the kitchen and saw you standing there. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Adam”, you said, greeting him with a warm smile. “Whoa”, was all he could manage to say. You giggled in response, taking his hand and leading him to the table. “You hungry?”, you asked. “Yeah!”, he replied enthusiastically. “This looks delicious.” You pointed to his seat, gesturing for him to sit down and join you for dinner. He did just that, digging into his food as you asked about his day. He said it was fine, but he was glad to be home with you now.
“I’m happy you’re home, too”, you said. “You have no idea how much you brighten up my life, Adam.”
After you had finished your meal, you put away the plates and grabbed two heart-shaped bowls from the cupboard. As you filled them up with scoops of ice cream, Adam walked towards you, wrapping his arms around you and kissing you gently. This made you giggle.
“Knock it off, Adam”, you said playfully, not really wanting him to stop. “You know you love me”, he chuckled. And he was right - you did. You had never loved anyone the way you loved Adam.
When you had finished scooping the ice cream, you went to sit down and eat it on the sofa together. You both quickly wolfed down your ice cream, placing your empty bowls on the coffee table.
Adam was lying down sleepily on the sofa. You moved closer, laying down next to him. “Come here”, he said. He wrapped his arms around you, bringing you even closer together. As you were cuddling, you looked at your boyfriend lovingly, admiring him. He noticed you looking.
“What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?”, he asked, stroking your hair. After a moment of comfortable silence, you responded.
“I’m just thinking about how lucky I am. You mean so much to me, Adam.”
“Don’t be silly”, he said. “I’m the lucky one. You’ve been there for me through all of this. You let me move in with you when I couldn’t handle being alone. You’ve helped me through so many nightmares… I don’t know what I would have done without you, babe. I truly can’t thank you enough.”
“I love you”, you whispered. “I love you more”, he said. He leaned in to kiss you.
After kissing for a while, he pulled away, yawning.
“God, I’m exhausted”, he said. “Me too”, you replied. “Do you wanna go to bed now?”, he asked. You stifled a yawn. “Not quite yet”, you said. “There’s one more thing I’d like to do.”
You went into the bathroom, setting the lights to the lowest setting. You grabbed a couple candles and lit them, placing them on the corners of the bathtub.
Turning the water on, you made sure the temperature was nice and warm before grabbing a bottle of lavender scented bubble bath mix. You poured some in the tub and watched the bubbles form, the calming floral scent filling the room.
When the bath had filled up, you called Adam in. He got in first, sighing happily at the comfortable feeling of the warm water and bubbles against his skin. You got in after, sitting down behind him, your arms wrapped tightly around his waist.
“I love it when you hold me”, he said.
“I love it too”, you giggled.
After a while you got up, wrapping warm towels around yourselves.
“I think I’m ready for bed now”, you said sleepily. “Me too, babe”, Adam replied. He put his arms around your shoulder as you walked towards your bedroom.
When you got in, you went to your wardrobe and picked out two sets of comfy pyjamas. You both got changed and snuggled up into bed.
“Tonight has been perfect”, Adam said.
“I’m so glad you think so”, you said, smiling. “You deserve the best, Adam. I love you so much.”
“I love you more”, he said again.
Cuddled up in each other’s arms, you peacefully drifted off to sleep, feeling safe and so, so loved.