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Finch knew that his boyfriend hated taking naps. As explained by Albert, he never voluntarily took naps, but the real issue came about if he ever fell asleep by accident. No matter how short or long the nap was, Albert said he always woke up disoriented and therefore in a grumpy mood; it was rendered even worse when it was on the longer side. In all the time that Finch had known him, Albert hadn’t napped once in his presence or complained about it happening elsewhere (which would’ve been odd, considering they were college roommates).
Finch knew all that, and yet, Albert was currently napping in their dorm.
He guessed it was some new boyfriend powers he’d acquired last Saturday.
Today was their one-week anniversary and they planned to go out for dinner as an official first date as partners. Funnily enough, they’d actually discussed if the late night stargazing trip and watching the sunrise together a few weeks ago both counted as ‘first dates’, despite the fact that neither of them had called them that back then. They concluded that, yes, those trips did count — and were very important to their relationship development, as Finch believed — but the one tonight was special because the date itself and their new status were declared official.
It made a big difference, okay?
The week leading up to today had rained hell on them, both literally and metaphorically. The weather had been dreary and humid because of daily rain, making fellow students, professors, and staff alike uncomfortable. Finch did love this aspect of early October, but he didn’t love having to be out in the rain to walk between classes every day.
Additionally, midterms were coming up, which meant studying for exams or working on projects that counted for the same thing. Finch was pretty sure he’d never been in the library with his friends so much just because they all craved a change in scenery. They’d found several really pleasant views from private study rooms in the past week alone.
Using his aforementioned boyfriend powers, Finch managed to convince Albert to take a nap before their date later. Albert had tried to argue that Finch should nap too, but they both knew Albert had taken a bigger hit. He had to juggle more time-consuming assignments and tiring, indoor baseball practices as the season wound to a close. It was mid-afternoon and creeping towards early evening — the time that Finch agreed to wake up Albert at — but sue him, he was extremely comfortable in bed and had a wonderful view in front of him.
Well, it wasn’t his bed, but Albert’s. Finch was sitting up at a slight angle with his back against the headboard; he wore his reading glasses and propped up a nice hardcover book. But that wasn’t all: there was a warm and heavy weight over his body in the form of one Albert DaSilva.
Deciding on a cozy position wasn’t too hard. It was mostly Albert’s maneuvering that got Finch reclined on the bed with his book and glasses, then Albert just kind of sprawled on top of him. He laid his head on Finch’s chest and wrapped his arms around his torso while the rest of his body, face down, stretched out between Finch’s legs. To top it off, a blanket covered them both, although Albert was plenty warm enough on his own.
Finch didn’t expect for Albert to be so clingy after they got together, not that he was complaining in the least though. Race teased him relentlessly about it, and JoJo still got excited over seeing them hold hands.
All that to say, Finch was perfectly content with his book and a sleeping Albert on his chest.
Even so, he promised to wake up his partner in the next seven minutes, but he was already at a chapter break and the next chapter would take much longer than seven minutes to get through.
Nap time’s over then, Finch thought, putting in the bookmark and placing his book safely out of the way on the nightstand. He tilted his head to get a better view of Albert’s serene, sleeping face and ran a hand through his soft red hair, barely damp now from his shower earlier.
“Sweetheart?” Finch whispered, expecting zero reaction when he’d hardly done anything yet to rouse his boyfriend. Surprisingly, he got a quiet, almost cute hum in response, feeling it in his chest as much as he’d heard it. He continued to say, “It’s time to wake up, Sleeping Beauty.”
A faint scrunch appeared on Albert’s face — he was listening much better than Finch had expected — accompanied by another vaguely annoyed hum. Finch kept up his finger-combing, careful to avoid knots if he couldn’t untangle them, and used his other hand to push the blanket off them partway. He wasn’t warm somehow, but he hoped it would help wake up Albert more.
It did. Albert twisted an arm back to grab the blanket and pulled it right back in place, promptly undoing the progress Finch had tried to make, then wrapped himself back around Finch like nothing happened.
“Excuse you,” Finch said to his partner, who was failing miserably at appearing to be asleep again. “I can tell that you’re awake. You’re smiling because you’re amused.”
“No, I’m not,” Albert whispered back. He tucked his face into Finch’s chest, hiding it from view.
“Alright,” Finch conceded, still playing with Albert’s hair. “If you aren’t awake —”
“Yep, very much unconscious right now.”
“— then I guess you can keep napping and we’ll reschedule our first date.”
That garnered a proper reaction. Albert’s eyes fluttered open and he propped himself up on his elbows, looking at Finch with such pretty green eyes.
“I lied,” he admitted unnecessarily, but Finch played it up with a frown.
“That’s rude, Al.”
“Can I please make it up to you with a kiss?” Albert suggested (he’d gotten into the habit of throwing ‘please’ in there before Finch could even tease him to say it).
He was already leaning closer, and without verbally confirming, Finch just closed the remaining gap for the apologetic kiss. It was sweet and slow, then Albert pulled back first to roll off of Finch’s body. He didn’t get twisted in the blanket and he didn’t fall off the twin-sized mattress; Finch was impressed.
“I would’ve tumbled straight to the ground if I was in your position,” Finch remarked knowingly, earning a laugh. He stretched his legs out and sat up some more while Albert stretched his entire body, his arms going up over his head in full extension before landing on the pillow and crossing at the wrists.
Finch took a few moments to simply admire Albert, though he found that his gaze strayed to his crossed hands. Albert looked over shortly after, his sudden grin confusing Finch.
“You didn’t even take your glasses off, bub,” he noted, in fact reminding Finch that he still wore his reading glasses. When Albert started to reach up, presumably to remove them, Finch blinked and suddenly Albert’s wrists were positioned above his head again. The only difference was that they were locked together under one of Finch’s hands.
“Is this okay?” Finch managed to speak in a rather normal voice. He removed his glasses with his free hand and cautiously placed them on top of his book.
“Yeah,” Albert replied, thankfully not sounding too weirded out.
“I just got another idea but before I do that, I think it would be a great time to let you know that I’m asexual,” Finch said in a slight rush.
He hadn’t shared that information with any of his three best friends since starting college, only going as far as saying that he liked guys when the topic came up. Finch actually had zero clue what Albert’s stance was on sex in a romantic relationship, so it definitely needed to be clarified during these early stages of the relationship.
“Thanks for telling me.” Albert smiled warmly, but his eyes were distant and thoughtful.
“You’re welcome.” Quietly, Finch added, “What’re you thinking about?”
“This is probably going to sound really sudden,” Albert preempted himself, speaking slowly, “but I’ve actually been giving this some thought recently and… I think I’m ace too?”
Finch’s eyes instantly went wide — he couldn’t help it. There was always a tiny, barely-there hope that whoever Finch’s heart chose for life would also be asexual like him, and that he’d never have to worry about the issue of sex in a relationship. Even the sliver of a possibility of that coming true —
Wait a second. Albert clearly wasn’t entirely sure, seen by his questioning tone, so it wouldn't be fair for Finch to get his hopes up. He couldn’t, and he didn’t.
“I’m glad you told me,” he replied supportively. “Maybe we can talk about it sometime?”
Albert nodded in agreement. Taking on a playful tone, he prompted, “So what did you want to do that called for sharing your asexuality, Fi?”
“Well,” Finch said, matching the tone, “I wanted to ask about sitting here for a bit, if you don’t mind.” He tapped at Albert’s waist indicatively.
“You want — you want to straddle me?” Albert pieced together, his cheeks turning a light pink at the idea.
“Only if you don’t mind,” Finch reiterated firmly. “I just think it’d be fun, seeing as I’ve never done it before.”
His boyfriend gave it a few seconds of consideration. “Go right ahead, bub.”
A bolt of excitement shot through Finch. He wasted no time in readjusting, eventually sitting comfortably over Albert’s lower torso while still holding his hands over his head. Finch decided to switch the latter arrangement, instead taking Albert’s hands into his own and simply resting them over his ribs.
“This is fun,” Finch declared, gazing lovingly at his handsome partner.
“I agree. You look stunning from down here,” Albert complimented. “Can I please kiss your pretty face?”
It was Finch’s turn to blush, and he leaned down to accept the sweet kiss. He swore he’d never get used to these times of casual intimacy.
They broke apart. Finch carefully climbed off Albert, but instead of sitting back on the admittedly too-small mattress, he went the opposite direction and planted his feet on the ground. Albert inquired about what he was doing, and Finch answered only in vague terms.
“You’re avoiding eye contact,” Albert pointed out, now leaning up and sitting on the edge of his bed.
“What? No…” Finch had walked over to his desk and opened a drawer. Inside, he retrieved a small, opaque box from within it. Deftly, he kept it hidden behind his back as he turned to Albert again, widening his eyes to show that he was obviously not avoiding eye contact. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, sweetheart.”
Albert maintained his steady gaze as Finch came to stand in front of him. “Did you want to have a staring contest, or…?”
“No.” Finch intentionally blinked to end their so-called contest anyway. “Since it’s our one-week anniversary, I got you something.”
“But I didn’t get you anything,” Albert said regretfully, then valiantly stifled a gasp. “Wait. Wait, is this something that I never expected happening so soon?”
Finch gave him a quizzical look. “What do you —” He paused, instantly clocking what this might look like, and quickly evaluating Albert’s reaction to it.
Holy shit.
“Did you think I was going to propose?”
Being extremely tentative, Albert said, “Were you?”
“Are you… did you want me to?”
“I mean, eventually, or I could do it, but if you were going to pop the question today, well…” Albert rubbed at the back of his neck, his face an impossible shade of red.
Holy fucking shit!
Overwhelmingly happy, Finch smiled wide and recaptured Albert’s beautiful green eyes so they were looking at one another. “That is so unbelievably sweet of you, Al. It almost makes me feel bad about not proposing,” he joked, successfully easing the tension in Albert’s posture.
“If you didn’t get me a ring, then what’s my present?” Albert peeked around Finch’s body, although Finch knew he couldn’t see the small package hidden between his hands.
“That’s where you’re wrong, actually.”
Bringing the box into view, Finch held it out, trying to remove the anxious doubt from his mind — it really didn’t need to be there after the meaningful exchange they just had. Albert gingerly took the present and lifted the lid, revealing two rings. One band was silver with carvings of stars and inlaid with tiny gems, and the other band was gold with a carving of the sun peeking over a horizon and inlaid with its own collection of gems.
“Goddamn,” Albert breathed out, staring at the jewelry in awe. “These are gorgeous, Finch.”
“They’re promise rings,” Finch began to explain. “Kind of like a ‘I promise to stay by your side and to love you’ deal, or that’s what I was thinking, anyway. But I met with my moms’ jeweler on Tuesday after my last class and we talked about what I wanted to get, eventually settling on these matching designs. I paid for the commission to be expedited by yesterday because I didn’t want to stress about not getting them early enough today for our date and wow, I am just talking at you now. Sorry about that.” He promptly shut up, allowing Albert the opportunity to speak.
“I was going to ask how the hell you managed to pay for such expensive-looking gifts — being a college student and all — but then you said you talked to a personal jeweler and reminded me that you aren’t exactly hurting for money.” Albert laughed afterwards, meaning it all in a lighthearted way.
Still, Finch couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed. “I’m sorry if this looks like I’m flaunting my wealth, because that really wasn’t the goal. I’m not trying to brag or show off in —”
“Hey, no. You’re totally fine, bub,” Albert reassured swiftly. “I never thought you were.” He looked back down at the promise rings. “Now who gets which one?”
Thankful for the switch in topic, Finch carefully slid the rings out of their cushioned slots. “I hadn’t decided yet, but we can pick together. They’re also the same size so we could wear either one.”
“How’d you know my ring size?”
“You tried on some of my rings for fun last semester and they fit you perfectly. I just remembered it, and it happens to work out now with these since we can pick either ring.”
Albert hummed in understanding. “How about…” He took the golden sun ring and held it out to Finch. “You take this one, and I’ll take the constellation one because it’ll always remind me of you.”
“And the sun will always remind me of you,” Finch said, a note of adoration in his voice. “I like that idea.”
“May I have your hand, then?” Albert put on an overly formal accent, making Finch laugh while he indicated his right hand’s ring finger. His boyfriend slid the sun ring onto it. They swapped, and Finch slid the silver constellation ring onto Albert’s same finger.
Finch intertwined his fingers into Albert’s. “I promise to stay by your side, and to love you, Albert Samuel DaSilva.”
“I forgot I told you my middle name,” Albert muttered, yet again causing Finch to laugh. Drawing himself up, Albert smiled and said, “I promise to stay by your side, and to love you, Adrian…?”
“It’s James.”
“Seriously? You fancy rich people with your fancy names.” Back on track, Albert finished his promise. “I love you, Adrian James Cortez.”
We haven’t actually said those three words yet, Finch thought in a slight panic. Reconsidering, he came to another conclusion: Albert just did, and it’s true.
Fair enough.
“I love you, too.”
The now-promised couple exchanged a long kiss. Finch was pretty sure it wouldn’t get much better than this. (Please ignore the fact that he’s said this countless times, every day, over the past week.)
With the exchange of gifts complete, they proceeded to get ready for their date night. It didn’t take long, and the dress code was to wear something comfortable. Finch vowed that once they got further in the relationship and went on ‘more significant’ (“One week is significant”) anniversary dates, he would get Albert into fancier attire. Albert had groaned, but below the surface of his reaction was pure fondness. They collected their phones and wallets, and headed out.
Just as the dress code was casual, they’d picked a nice sit-down restaurant for their dinner date, forgoing a reservation. Waiting in the lobby was brief, by all accounts, and Finch and Albert followed the host to their table. It was too chilly in the early evening for anyone to dine in the outdoor seating, although Finch and Albert were pleased to be seated beside a large window. A waiter came by and picked up their drink orders before heading off to tend to other tables.
Left alone, Finch observed the view. It consisted of tall, swaying trees for the most part — they were in a less crowded part of the city — a distant lake, and the sun as it gradually crept down the horizon (it’d be a while before it even came close to setting). Clouds had parted from their previously dense cover, instead floating freely in the sky without the threat of rain for the first time all week. The window’s shade had been pulled down, but the distilled sunlight was bright enough to illuminate the restaurant’s interior nonetheless.
Finch was easily reminded of watching the sunrise with Albert, and thumbed at his promise ring, his physical reminder of that memorable day. Glancing across the table, Albert was messing with his own ring. He gave it an experimental twist before doing it a second time.
“Is it annoying you?” Finch asked, his brows pinching in worry.
“No, no,” Albert was quick to assure. “I’m just not used to wearing rings, so I’m very aware of something on my finger.”
“I almost forgot about that.” Finch shook his head minutely; it was dumb to forget. “I was meaning to offer to get you a chain for the ring, in case you didn’t want to wear it on your hand. It can be customized too, if you’d like something a bit nicer, or if you wanted me to pick —”
“You don’t need to do that, Fi.” Albert reached over to take one of Finch’s hands, squeezing it. “I’ll get used to this.” Finch opened his mouth to say something but Albert anticipated it, also adding, “And I want to wear it this way. How else am I supposed to show it off?”
Before Finch could comment, two people who were being led to their own table walked by. One of them did a double take at Finch and Albert, recognition flashing in her expression, and she promptly pulled at the other person’s arm to stop them.
“I don’t want to hold you up for long, but do you mind if we chat for a second?” The young woman, maybe a few years older than Finch, asked the hostess, who nodded briskly. Turning back to the table with a kind smile, the woman said, “Albie, hi! It’s been a while, how are you?”
Albie? What kind of name is that? Finch thought. He looked between them all, trying to decipher the connection. These people weren’t ringing any bells on the appearance front, though they seemed nice enough.
“I’m doing pretty good,” Albert told them with a smile of his own. Finch couldn’t tell if it was strained, but even picking on the notion of it might’ve been telling enough.
“And who’s this?” The young man spoke up curiously, referring to Finch. Seeing both of the strangers head-on, Finch was struck by their clear resemblance, and the question of whether or not they were twins came to mind.
“Right, let me introduce everyone.” Albert chuckled. Motioning to the woman and man in turn, he said to Finch, “This is Isa, and this is Oliver. They’re my siblings, the youngest twins of the six.” Conversely, he said to Isa and Oliver, “And this is Adrian, my boyfriend.”
They traded pleasantries, Finch exuding politeness. It threw him back to his childhood and teenage years, back to the days of formal, business-related events where he had to meet random adults at his mothers’ request. This was decidedly different, seeing as Finch was meeting some of Albert’s adoptive family for the first time.
“Oh, I didn’t, um — I didn’t even know you liked guys,” Oliver said to his younger brother with a light laugh, not rude in the slightest.
Albert just shrugged. “That’s not a new thing, but our relationship is. We’re actually on a date for our one-week anniversary.” He spared a charming smile for Finch, who returned it in the same fashion.
“I was going to ask why you were out and about. That’s so sweet.” Isa waved at them, then seemingly noticing her hand, she lit up. “By the way, I got engaged! Look at this gorgeous ring.” She held it out proudly, and both Finch and Albert leaned forward, complimenting its craftsmanship.
Finch silently wondered if Albert would, in turn, show off their new promise rings.
“You know,” Albert tucked his hands into his lap, “I don’t think I knew you were seeing someone recently, Isa, but that’s wonderful. I’m really happy for you.” It sounded perfectly sincere, and the twins did a good job of covering up any awkwardness at the lack of sharing information with their brother.
Oliver shot an apologetic glance over to their waiting hostess. He turned to Albert again, wrapping up the conversation. “We’ll leave you to it, Red, and it was lovely to meet you, Adrian.”
Isa waved again as they started to leave. “Bye, Albie! Have a nice date night!”
Once the twins were out of earshot, Finch propped his head on his hand, smirking.
“Were you ever going to tell me about those fun nicknames?” He asked his partner, and Albert rolled his eyes, smiling.
“My whole family calls me variations of my name, and Red and Albie are pretty common,” he explained. “I didn’t really like my first name when I was younger, so I wanted to go by Sam for a while — the shortened version of my middle name — but the nicknames closest to Albert just kind of stuck anyway. I’ve come back around to it, obviously.”
“What if I called you Albie?” Finch tested the name in his mouth, finding it as odd as Albert apparently did, if the immediate tilt of his head was any indication.
“I’m okay with Al, to be honest.”
“Me too… now what if I told Race and JoJo about those names —”
“Do not.” Albert hastily vetoed the plan. “They’d be insufferable, I just know it.”
The boyfriends proceeded to toss around poor imitations of their best friends reacting to Albert’s other nicknames. Their waiter returned shortly with their drinks, then asked if they were ready to order. Thankfully, Finch and Albert had been to this restaurant before and already knew what they wanted. And because Finch enjoyed spoiling the people he cared for, he also ordered an appetizer that he knew Albert liked. The waiter collected their menus and returned to the chaos of the dinner rush.
Conservation was pleasant and steady. At some point, Albert had lifted his hands back onto the table, and Finch found himself toying with Albert’s constellation ring.
“Why didn’t you want to show off your ring to your siblings?” Finch said quietly. He wasn’t disappointed or upset, but merely curious.
Albert’s mouth opened and closed soundlessly before he answered. “I don’t know.” Another pause. “Maybe I just wanted to keep it more… private for now. It’s a shitty habit of mine, not telling my siblings things because they usually don’t tell me things.” He shook his head. “I’ll do it eventually. Probably during Thanksgiving break next month, since I’m visiting everyone then.”
Finch had picked up on that when Isa and Oliver were here, some form of disconnect between them and Albert. He was reminded of his and Albert’s heartfelt discussion on the porch roof as the sun rose above them. “There’s a natural gap that I was never able to bridge across,” Albert had said in reference to his siblings. Later, when Finch had asked why Albert wanted to do what they were doing, he’d replied, “Because I wanted to watch the sunrise with someone.”
Whereas his siblings had someone in their twin, Albert didn’t — not until Finch showed up, and fulfilled that need for his best friend turned partner. He planned to uphold that, being Albert’s someone; Finch’s promise ring was evidence of his devotion.
“You can tell them whenever you feel comfortable to,” Finch told Albert, earnest in every word. “I won’t push you to do anything.”
“Thanks, Fi.” Albert lifted Finch’s hand, pressing a chaste kiss to his ring. “I swear I’ll show it off endlessly, making everyone look at how beautiful it is and telling them that you designed them with that impressive brain of yours.”
Blushing, Finch turned away, towards the window instead. “It’s not that impressive.”
“To me, every part of you and everything you do is impressive.” Albert responded with a firm sense of confidence. “You are perfect.”
Somehow, Finch’s cheeks burned even brighter. He felt warm all over, not just from the sun shining in from beyond the trees, but from Albert’s comforting presence and his adoring words.
“You’re perfect, too.” Finch was at a loss for anything other than repeating what he’d been told. Regardless, it was sufficient.
Their waiter returned a couple minutes later with the appetizer. Finch and Albert shared it over mindless banter, and roughly ten minutes after that, their dinners arrived. As expected, the food was delectable and the discussion to go along with it was just as lovely. When asked about dessert, they passed on account of Albert supposedly having a plan for dessert already. Finch didn’t question it, and made sure to pay for the whole meal himself, unwilling to let Albert pitch in at all. They left the busy restaurant hand-in-hand.
Finch was walking towards his car when Albert tugged on his hand. “What?”
“Dessert isn’t in the car,” Albert stated knowingly. They changed directions.
“Where is it, then?” Finch prodded, bumping Albert’s shoulder.
“You’ll see.”
Dessert turned out to be a nearby bakery, shockingly still open considering the late hour. Finch marveled at all the options, making easy small talk with the singular baker behind the counter.
“I actually really enjoy baking,” Finch was saying, “but living in college dorms makes that pretty hard to do.” The employee chuckled, gesturing to a job application sign to Finch’s right.
“We have spots available, if you’re interested,” they said, only half-joking.
Albert glanced over from where he stood at a display of intricately frosted cupcakes. “That’s not a bad idea, Fi. A good way to earn some money while doing something you love.”
Finch tipped his back and forth. “I’m not sure, especially with how busy the semester gets…”
The baker nodded in understanding. “Fair enough, man. I will say that we’re pretty flexible on the hours, though, if that sways your stance.”
“That’s good to know, thanks. How about I just —” Finch pulled out his phone to scan the QR code on the sign, “— get the application, and I’ll definitely think about it.” He faced Albert as he walked back over. “Ready to get dessert, sweetheart?”
In the end, they bought four things from the bakery: a piece of coffee cake for Finch, a glazed cinnamon roll for Albert, a mini lemon cheesecake for JoJo, and a fudgy chocolate chip brownie for Race. Exiting the bakery and retracing their steps, Finch came to a halt at the sight of the sunset as it came into full view amidst the surrounding buildings.
Above them, the sun’s radiance turned the sky into wonderful shades of deep orange, pink, and purple. The light reached out to fluffy clouds, artistically highlighting and lowlighting each crevasse of its great expanse, showing the details that were otherwise harder to identify. The sun itself peeked through the treetops and their turning leaves, drifting lower on the horizon and making quite the dramatic exit, as it often did.
“I want to take a picture of this,” Finch breathed out in awe. He fished out his phone, angling it up and adjusting to get a wide shot of as much of the colorful sky as possible.
“Let’s try to get a better view,” Albert said excitedly, once again tugging on Finch’s hand after he lowered his phone. “Come on.”
Then they were off. Albert led the way, declaring that jogging towards the sunset would be the only acceptable mode of travel. Finch laughed at him, loud and delighted, as they raced across empty streets and wound past lines of parked cars. They reached a grassy field, bordering a lake with a handful of fishing docks ringing the edges — Finch recognized it as the one he could barely make out from the restaurant window earlier.
Stumbling to a stop beside Albert, Finch caught his breath and directed his gaze skyward again. Despite the fairly short amount of time that had passed, the sky appeared to have altered itself. The colors were darker, more vibrant than before, and the clouds were thrown into sharper contrasts.
“Better?” Albert asked.
“Better,” Finch replied happily. He snapped more photos, uncaring if they appeared to be exactly the same thing. While reviewing them, Albert pressed against his shoulder to look, too, and Finch was hit with an idea. “Can I take some pictures of you with the sunset in the background?”
Albert pulled a strange face. “Would you really want me to pose for you?” Finch nodded. “I don’t know how, bub.”
Finch dismissed the hesitance with assurance. “We’ve posed for JoJo before when he had photography assignments to do. And it’s not like you have to try very hard to look hot, either.”
“I appreciate the confidence boost.” Albert winked before putting some distance between them, walking closer to the lake. “What do you want me to do, oh great photographer?”
“For starters, don’t give me Jo’s rightful title,” Finch requested, raising his phone again. “And I don’t know, maybe look up at the sky?”
What followed was basically a given. Albert took it to the extreme: he made exaggerated shocked and awed faces, gesturing wildly and emphatically at the sunset. The pair fell into fits of amused laughter, causing Albert to drop his act. Finch took a plethora of pictures of those in-between moments, trailing several feet behind as his boyfriend approached the closest dock.
“I think I got enough, Al,” Finch announced. “Want to come look at them with me?”
“How about you come sit over here, then we’ll look?” Albert suggested instead. He was pointing at a wooden bench that faced the lake.
“Sure.” Joining him, Finch admired the sights and sounds of the lake. It was large enough to create waves, lapping at the shoreline and underneath the dock. Belatedly, he realized that any breeze coming off the water would be colder than normal. Like nature wished to make an example of it, a breeze blew past, sending shivers through Finch’s body.
An arm was suddenly draped across his shoulders, and Finch was tucked into Albert’s body, grateful for the shared warmth. Albert pressed a kiss to his temple, then said, “Let’s see what you got.”
Finch opened his camera roll. There were more pictures of Albert with the sunset than there were pictures of the sunset by itself, but Finch didn’t mind. He began cycling through the shots, deleting the blurry ones and sending two particularly hilarious ones to their group chat with Race and JoJo. For the most part, Finch lingered on the good photos, admiring the natural beauty of his subject.
“Wow, you’re photogenic…” Finch muttered at some point, meaning it truthfully.
“I think you’re just good at capturing my best angles,” Albert said in counterpoint.
“But every angle is your best angle.”
“That isn’t true, but thank you anyway.”
Other than humming in disagreement, Finch didn’t bother to argue the point. They finished reviewing the pictures and he put his phone away. At the ground level, Albert was seated to his left, holding him, and the box of baked goods was on Albert’s other side. Up in the sky, the sun continued to set, finishing out its exit with a wash of orange until it faded from view. The moon eventually provided its own light, shining down onto the lake’s rippling surface and making it glow. Finch and Albert spoke in calm, low tones, basking in the private serenity they stumbled upon.
Yet again, Finch still didn’t think it would get much better than this.
He should probably just accept that his life would be, simply, better from now on.
“I think this was a perfect one-week anniversary date,” Albert claimed, his voice as soothing as the lapping waves beneath them.
“It was also our first official date as boyfriends,” Finch added with a smile. “That makes it even more special.”
“How are we going to top it?”
“We’ll figure it out.”
The absence of the sun’s warmth wasn’t fully combated by Albert’s own body heat, unfortunately. Taking their desserts with them, the couple relocated the car and drove back to campus for the night. Race and JoJo were hanging out in their dorm room, and Finch and Albert invited them to the common room to share the baked goods they’d bought. Their best friends were thrilled to be given food, and demanded details about the date while everyone ate.
Time ticked by sluggishly. Finch enjoyed the lighthearted company and conversation, although his body registered the late hour before he actually checked the time. Albert was in a similar state, yawning regularly between mocking Race. It was nearing midnight, and Finch took the initiative to bid their friends good night, leading Albert back into their dorm for the night.
“Sleep with me?”
Finch’s hand had been caught by Albert before they climbed — or perhaps collapsed would be a more appropriate word — into bed. Neither of them had really paid attention to what sleepwear they chose, but they both wore something that belonged to the other.
Smiling fondly, Finch said, “Of course I can, sweetheart.”
He grabbed the blanket off his own bed before joining Albert in his, squished together and under the comforting weight of two blankets.
“Oh, we are not getting up in the morning like this.” Albert wasn’t remotely annoyed by that.
“It’ll be Sunday; that’s the point.” Finch curled around his partner, relaxing fully. “Love you.”
Just before he fell asleep, he heard a quiet murmur of “Love you, too, bub.”