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It had been about a month since Thomas woke from his coma, and since he and Arthur had officially gotten together. He felt bad for Arthur always taking care of him, but the older man didn’t seem to mind at all. Arthur was very vocal about wanting to take care of Thomas, which always made him feel slightly dizzy, especially when the older man looked at him with those pretty blue eyes. Just being in the same room as Arthur drove him crazy.
Arthur would come over every morning, around 10 AM, or whenever he woke up. Occasionally, he would bring pastries, coffee, or tea; he had even memorized Thomas’s coffee shop order. He used to wake up every morning at 7:00 AM sharp, pour himself some coffee, grab something to eat, and immediately start his day. But ever since the surgery, Thomas found it difficult to keep up with his old routine, even with extra coffee or tea. Arthur had coaxed him into the habit of sleeping in, waking up whenever he heard Arthur knock on his front door. Thomas would just roll out of bed; he didn’t care if Arthur saw him in his pjs, as he was already used to Arthur’s help around the flat. He was finally strong enough to move around without the aid of a cane or wheelchair, but sometimes he would stumble, which was where Arthur would swoop in and help.
“When’s the last time you’ve done something like this?”
Thomas looked back at Arthur, who stood with his back to the kitchen counter, methodically swirling his coffee in his hands. The younger man knew he normally preferred hot coffee, but it was early June, and the temperature was still uncomfortably high, even with the air conditioning unit on.
“What do you mean by this ?” Thomas replied, taking a sip of his own coffee, wiping off the condensation before setting it back down on the dark wood table.
“I mean,” Arthur stifled an uncomfortable sigh, “ being with someone.”
Thomas glanced up at him. He hesitated for a moment, but decided to just break the ice. “I haven’t been with anyone since med school.”
The older man looked back at him, a bit surprised. “Really?”
“Nothing serious, anyway,” Thomas said, a slight embarrassment cracking through his voice. “I had a girlfriend in the first two years of university, but things sort of disappeared between us, at least for me. She was a sweet girl, I just wasn’t right for her.” He began to think. “Remembering how it kind of fizzled out, makes me think-” He cut off the end of his sentence, letting out a low chuckle, and lowering his head out of embarrassment.
Arthur moved to sit in the chair opposite to him at the table. He took a sip of his drink, the cold ice clinking against his teeth. “What?”
Thomas chuckled, his cheeks flushed. “I’m just having a crisis ‘is all.” His fingers found the bridge of his nose, rubbing it and his forehead to ease some of the tension.
Arthur smirked, his hand coming up to push some of his hair back. “What, did you just realize that you’ve always liked guys?”
“Shut up ,” he laughed, the lines around his mouth deepening with every smile. “I’m having a moment here.”
The older man pushed his chair back, and walked towards the kitchen counter to grab himself a pastry. He had brought a box of them over, just for him and Thomas to share. He returned to his seat, and took a bite out of a buttery croissant. “Did you ever have a crush on a guy? Well, besides me?”
“ No .” Thomas huffed. “No… well-”
“ Well? ” Arthur raised his eyebrows in suspicion. “Come on, you can tell me.”
Thomas ran his hands through his hair, a twinge of embarrassment in his eyes. “I may have had a few… experiences with guys, in engineering school. It was just at parties,” he waved his hand as if to make the memories disappear. “Heat of the moment, you know.”
“I understand that,” Arthur took another bite of his pastry, watching the younger man fidget in his chair. “I had… a few experiences like that, too. But it wasn’t with men.” He absentmindedly changed the subject, like it was a casual conversation. “Do you want me to grab you one? These are really good.”
“Yes, please.” Thomas was searching for anything that would take his mind off of the current moment. He knew this conversation was inevitable, just like their earlier serious conversations were.
Arthur had handpicked the crew of the Nostromo, so obviously he had read his file, but Thomas thought it would be better to talk about his past in detail with him before they were officially together. Now, Arthur knew about his history with drugs, and how he was hospitalized and eventually expelled from medical school. He knew he couldn’t drink. He knew how he wasn’t to be stationed in the medbay. He knew he hated hospitals. Arthur knew all of the details of his file, which was embarrassing enough. But telling him all of his deepest secrets about his sexuality wasn’t on the list of things the younger man was suddenly prepared for. Telling his co-workers about his past was just standard procedure; this wasn’t.
The older man could tell that Thomas didn’t like the spotlight focused on him. He grabbed another pastry from the paper box, and handed it to Thomas before sitting across from him. “Did you know-” he paused for dramatic effect, “-that Ripley and I had a talking phase?”
Whatever shame Thomas was feeling disappeared completely. “ What? ”
Arthur took a sip of his coffee, trying to quell the embarrassment. “Yeah.”
Thomas’s attention immediately turned from himself to the older man. “I thought you two were just friends!”
Arthur chuckled, scratching at the side of his face with his fingernails. “It was a couple of years ago. We were just co-workers, we went on maybe one or two dates.We just weren’t right for each other, and on the clock, we bickered over everything. She had to let me down with the “I don’t like boys” thing.” He looked up to see Thomas’s eyes wide as he took in the information. “We’re better off as friends, anyway.”
“I couldn’t imagine you two being together,” Thomas grimaced. “You fought enough on the bridge as is. I’m glad you two are still friends, though,” he smiled.
“Did you know she told me about her crush on Lambert before they started dating?”
“No way.”
“I had to keep it a secret. If I didn’t, I’m sure Ripley would have killed me.”
Thomas laughed. “Anyone else you’ve been with, besides Ripley?”
Arthur hissed in response. “We were never together . I think I maybe had a couple girlfriends in college, I can’t remember all that well…”
“You have much more experience than me,” Thomas joked.
Arthur let out a small laugh. “Well, not when it comes to men.”
“Oh, shut up.”
“I’m just teasing you.” Arthur loved to say that. Thomas would never admit it, but he did find it endearing.
Thomas pushed his chair back to go rinse out his cup. Arthur instinctively stood up to help him, but was a bit surprised to find he was able to maneuver to the sink just fine, without Arthur’s aid.
The older man sat back into his chair. “You’re getting stronger.”
“I know. I have Ash and my doctors to thank for that,” he said, rinsing the plastic cup under the water. He tossed it in the trash can, and walked behind Arthur’s chair. “And you, of course,” he chuckled, giving him a small peck on the cheek as he passed him, moving to sit back down.
Arthur sighed and looked down at the table, at the last ice cubes remaining in his cup. “Soon you won’t need me to come over every morning.” He said, a hint of sadness in his voice.
Thomas lifted his gaze to match the other man’s, even if he didn’t reciprocate. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, soon you won’t need my help.” He gulped down the last remaining drops of coffee.
“I still want your help, though. I’m still healing, and physical therapy has been getting harder,” Thomas justified. He was still recovering, that was the truth. But maybe he liked the excuse to get to spend time with his former captain. “It’s just- always nice when you’re here.” He paused. “But I know you have your own things to attend to. I know you can’t take care of me forever. I have to learn to rely on myself again”
Arthur sat in his chair in silence. “Is that it, then?”
Thomas stopped fidgeting with his hands on the table. “What?”
“Do you not want me to come over anymore?”
“No!” The younger man stood up. “That’s not what I meant. I thought you saw helping me as a chore-”
Arthur rose to his feet, eyes still fixated on the table.“I wouldn’t get you coffee every morning if I thought it was a chore. I come over because I want to spend time with you.” A heavy silence fell over the apartment, one that made Thomas’s stomach churn with anxiety. “What am I to you?”
Slowly, Thomas joined the older man at the opposite side of the table. He placed his hands on Arthur’s shoulder, smoothing over his arms gently. “You’re my b-” He tried to say boyfriend , but he decided it was not the right time for that. “I love you, Arthur.” Thomas paused. “I am so grateful for all that you’ve done for me, I promise. But I don’t just enjoy your company because you deliver me food and help me shower.”
Arthur laughed low in his throat.
A wave of compassion overtook the younger man, overwhelming him with affection. He wrapped Arthur’s hands within his own. “How about you stay with me?”
“What?”
“Stay with me. Here. The flat is big enough for the both of us, at least for a little while. You’ve basically been living with me, anyway.”
The older man started rubbing circles on the back of his hand. “I couldn’t do that to you-”
“You wouldn’t have to carry your stuff back and forth every time,” Thomas smiled, trying to convince him. “Plus, now that I can stand for longer amounts of time, I can finally get back into cooking.”
Arthur’s eyes widened, and his head tilted to the side, suddenly curious. “You cook?”
“It’s the only skill I’ve never lost. I’ve been dying to try out new recipes.”
Arthur shrugged, letting his arms drop, as a smile crawled across his face. “Well, if you insist.”
Thomas removed his hands from the man’s shoulders. “If you stay here, with me, I don’t want you to see being with me as work. I want it to benefit both of us.”
“You don’t think this has benefited me?” Arthur teased. “Thomas, I love you, you’ve made me feel more at home than I’ve ever felt before. You’re my-” His lips pursed, embarrassed by something.
Thomas got up close to his face, teasing him further. “Say it.”
“It’s stupid, I’m 48 years old-”
“Say it.”
Arthur took a dramatic deep breath, and closed his eyes to really sell it. “You’re my boyfriend. Happy?”
A swell of happiness made Thomas wrap his arms around the older man’s waist, pulling him close. He rested his head into the crook of his neck in an effort to hide his blushing face. “Happy.”
Thomas could tell the man was smiling. “Now, get off me,” he pushed Thomas playfully. “It’s too hot for this.”
“Whatever you say, Dallas.”