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The moment he opened his eyes, Luke was greeted by a throbbing headache and an aching jaw. He groaned and sat up, the act of which immediately shot a wave of nausea through his body as his vision blurred and his chest heaved. Whatever events transpired last night, it must’ve been as a result of an obscene amount of alcohol.
Whatever happened last night also must’ve been crazy enough for him to completely lose his glasses. Luke squinted as he tried to make out the dark and blurry streaks of colour in front of him.
It took Luke a moment to realise that he wasn’t in his room, and another to realise that this was Tom’s room. Attaboy! Luke thought to himself, You finally got your man, huh?
The triumph was quickly washed over with another wave of nausea crashing over him and Luke scrambled out of Tom’s bed to grab some water—and maybe a pair of trousers, he noted once he realised that he was fully naked.
Luke grabbed the first piece of fabric he could find on the floor—which turned out to be a pair of sweats that were very clearly Tom’s. Luke couldn’t help but laugh at the way the trousers bundled on the floor, making them almost look like a skirt.
Now, he could also just search the floor for just a moment longer to find his own trousers, but between his horrendous vision and dire thirst waiting to be quenched and—okay, fine, he just wanted an excuse to steal Tom’s clothes.
Tom’s flat was small but cozy. There was always something comforting about the beige walls and red accents, as plain as they may be. The cool water was heavenly on Luke’s tongue as he pressed his lips against the random glass he had grabbed from a cabinet. Luke leaned against the counter and dragged a hand through his hair, cringing at the knots and cowlicks that slipped through his fingers. He was in desperate need of a shower.
His legs were incredibly sore too, and as the memories of last night came flooding back, Luke immediately understood why. He deserved it, to be honest, given how much of a little shit he was being during the show. Between taking his trousers off onstage and giving Tom that smirk…yeah, he really couldn’t blame the poor guy for being so flustered.
Luke chuckled as he remembered Tom’s wide-eyed stare during that scene. Neither of them was very good at subtlety, it seemed.
A floorboard creaked quietly. Luke flinched, but his muscles relaxed once he recognised the figure—not that it could’ve been anyone else, anyway.
“G’Morning,” said Luke.
“Good mor—” Tom froze mid-sentence and a deer-in-headlights look flashed across his sleepy face. “Luke?!”
“That’s my name.”
Tom stood motionless. He opened his mouth, then closed it again and rubbed at his eyes as if to test if they were deceiving him. It was quite a cute sight, Luke admitted.
“Y-You’re still here?” he finally stammered out after several seconds of silence.
“Well, of course.” Luke took a drink from the glass. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Uhm.”
Tom blinked, a dazed look on his face. It took Luke a moment to realise where his eyes were fixated on: his trousers.
Luke looked down. He grabbed the trousers while tiptoeing in the dark, so he didn’t get a chance to see the design; the trousers were a burgundy red and were covered in a checkered pattern. Luke stifled a laugh as he was fondly remembered of Sam’s wardrobe.
“Are those…my trousers?”
“Oh, uh. Yeah, they are.” Luke smiled sheepishly. All the confidence that clouded his shame last night seemed to have largely dissipated by now, as the awkward tension in the air was so palpable that he could almost breathe it in.
“Oh, okay—yeah, cool.”
After another drawn-out beat of silence, Luke cleared his throat. “I—ack, uhm. I’m sorry about…yesterday. I might’ve taken it a step too far.”
“Ah.” Tom looked away and ran a hair through his hair. Luke’s eyes followed the movement of those long fingers and well-defined knuckles. “It’s no problem. I, uhm….I quite enjoyed it, actually.”
“Oh. Yeah, uh, me too.”
A light pink blush dusted across Tom’s cheeks, and Luke idly wondered how this six-foot-five giant of a man could be so adorable. He could feel his own cheeks heating up.
“Anyway—” Tom sighed and dragged a hand down his face, the motion that he often did during their shows when one of them—usually Sam—made a risqué joke. “Sam and AJ are coming over for that meeting later, yeah?”
“Oh fuck, you’re right,” Luke breathed.
“So, uh, you can take a shower and I’ll make us breakfast. Sounds good?”
“Yeah, sure.”
. . .
The cool water was calm against his skin, soothing his aching muscles. Seriously, what was wrong with him? Where was the Luke from last night, all confident smirks and obvious flirting and lack of shame?
Luke sighed as the soap suds flowed from his hair down to his toes. It wasn’t that he never had a one-night stand before, but it felt… different with Tom. There was a certain delicacy about it all, how this would surely change their friendship—if they could even still call it that anymore—forever, for better or for worse.
As scared as he was about the unknown, it was also exhilarating as it occurred to him that Tom clearly had some sort of feelings for him. Whether it was romantic or purely sexual didn’t matter, to be frank. What mattered was that Tom felt something for him . Sure, the other man’s prolonged stares in his general direction were telling, but there was always an air of uncertainty with it. There was a line that neither dared to cross all this time, both out of fear for the consequences that might follow and contentment for the status quo.
But now that the line had been crossed point-blank, he really had nothing to lose.
A smile slowly crept up Luke’s face as he stepped out of the shower and dried himself off. This entire sequence of events felt nice—no, not just nice, it felt right. And that thought was only affirmed when he went back to the kitchen to see an apron-clad Tom over the stove.
Luke grabbed a chair and sprawled his body across the counter. The headache returned in a painful surge.
“Here.” Tom placed a plate of fried eggs and toast in front of him. “For your hangover.”
“Oh, thanks.”
A dorky smile spread across Luke’s face as he looked down at a plate. Admittedly, it was nothing spectacular—objectively speaking, anyway—but a fuzzy feeling spread across Luke’s chest nonetheless.
“How did you know I have a hangover?” Luke asked through a mouthful of food.
Tom smiled and flicked his forehead. “Anyone with eyes could see that, Luke.”
“Fuck off,” Luke mumbled, shoving more toast into his mouth. For a moment, it felt like nothing had happened between them. The teasing comments, the casual touches, it was all so familiar, and Luke idly wondered if there was a possibility that nothing would change between them. Perhaps last night would sit rusting in their memories, and their friendship would remain untouched.
That would be nice, Luke told himself, but it wouldn’t be. He didn’t mind the status quo, but they could be so much more, this could become the norm—waking up in the same bed, sharing clothes casually, watching with endearment as Tom made breakfast every morning.
“What time is it, lo—er, Luke?”
Did you mean to call me love? Luke wanted to ask, but the words that came out were: “It’s a quarter to noon.”
“So, 11:45?”
“That’s the same thing, love.”
Tom snapped his head up and whipped his entire body around from the stove. “What did you say?”
Luke looked back down at his plate. “Nothing.”
“Right.” Tom set his own plate down and sat across from Luke. “Well, Sam and AJ are gonna be here soon.”
“Okay—”
The sound of the doorbell, almost like clockwork, drowned out the rest of Luke’s sentence.
“I’ll get that,” said Tom. Luke hummed in agreement.
On the other side of the door were, shockingly, both Sam and AJ.
“Did you come together?” Tom, equally surprised, asked.
“Nah, we just happened to see each other on the way to your flat,” said Sam, whose eyes promptly met Luke’s own. “Oh, hey, Luke! You’re early for once.”
Luke smiled sarcastically. “Hi, Sam. Hey, AJ.”
AJ didn’t respond and instead gave a confused look, turning his head dramatically from Luke to Tom and back to Luke again. “Did you two…?”
“Yeah, I stayed the night,” Luke said casually. “I was piss drunk so Tom took me back to his flat.”
That wasn’t technically a lie, though Sam gave a disapproving glance and Luke felt a pang of guilt anyway. The fact of the matter was that neither AJ nor Sam needed to know about the events that transpired last night.
“Anyway, come on in. We’re just finishing breakfast.”
“Breakfast at eleven?” Sam quipped.
“Yeah, we woke up late, all right?”
Sam snorted. “Can’t imagine why.”
“Fuck off,” Luke grumbled. AJ simply frowned in confusion before a look of realisation dawned on him.
Many swear words flashed through Luke’s mind; despite his efforts to avoid sharing the rather intimate details, it seemed that those two were smart enough to mostly figure it out on their own. Luke snuck a glance at Tom, who had a similar oh-fuck expression.
Tom sighed. “We’ll finish up with this and join you guys in a bit, okay?”
“‘Kay!” said Sam with a shit-eating grin. Luke never wanted to punch his friend more than in this moment.
“We’ll wait by the sofa then,” said AJ.
Just as those two left the kitchen, Tom whispered: “Okay, so we’re not telling them about… that , right?”
“Yeah, obviously,” Luke whispered back. “And by the way, you can just say it as it is. We hooked up, plain and simple.”
Tom groaned as his ears flushed red. “Yeah, yeah, of course.”
Luke couldn’t help but chuckle; this version of Tom was so flustered and jittery compared to the confident and assertive Tom he slept with last night. The contrast was quite charming, if he was to be honest.
“By the way,” said Luke as he put the dirty dishes away. “I wouldn’t be opposed to doing that again.”
Tom’s eyes widened. “You mean—”
“Shhh, they’ll hear you.”
“Oh, fuck you.”
Luke grinned. “Maybe later.”
There was his confidence from last night. Luke resisted the urge to laugh too loud as he saw Tom’s stupefied expression. “C’mon, let’s join Sam and AJ.”
. . .
They were discussing plans for a potential future D&D stream—or at least, that was what they were discussing before he spaced out. Truth was, Luke hadn’t been paying attention for the past ten minutes, not when there was such a breathtaking man sitting across from him.
Tom had a simple beauty to him, between his doe eyes and warm brown hair that had the slightest curl to it. But what really made him attractive was the way his eyes would light up whenever the conversation turned to one of his passions, the way he would immediately sit up straight and he would get so excited his hands moved along with his mouth. It was quite an endearing sight, especially those eyes.
Those eyes that were looking directly at him.
Luke smirked ever so slightly, and Tom immediately looked away. It was fun, teasing him.
“What do you think, Luke?”
“Huh?” Luke blinked. “Uhm. Yeah, I agree with what you said.”
Sam raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.
“Hey,” Tom interjected. “Let’s take a quick break, yeah? I need to get some water.”
“Oh, yeah, sure.”
Tom got up and stepped out of the room, and Luke’s eyes followed his every movement. God, he loved him.
“I gotta get some water too,” said Luke. It wasn’t entirely a lie, he really could use some water, but he still heard Sam’s scoff and gave the bastard a middle finger as he walked out.
Tom really was getting water when Luke got to the kitchen. He was leaning against the counter with a glass in his hand, looking annoyingly attractive.
“Hey,” Luke greeted, making Tom do a double take.
“Oh, hey, Luke.”
Something hung in the air. Luke didn’t go to the cabinet where Tom kept the cups, he simply leaned against the same counter and stood in silence. He wasn’t sure why he wasn’t moving—maybe he didn’t need the water after all.
“Hey, listen,” Tom started. “About last night—”
“Yes?”
Tom paused, then shook his head. “Nevermind.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah…” Tom trailed off and something flashed across his eyes.
“You really don’t have anything to say?” Luke pressed further. Tom shook his head.
Luke sighed and stood up straight, crossing his arms and closing the distance between them. “Well, I do.”
“W-What are you doing…?”
“I like you—no, I love you, Tom. If that wasn’t obvious enough,” said Luke, firm without breaking eye contact.
“Oh, uh—” Tom looked away, a red blush quickly spreading across his cheeks. “Y…You do?”
“Well, duh.” Luke raised an eyebrow. “Why else would I flirt with you like that?”
“I don’t know—sex stuff?”
Tom’s answer was so ridiculous that Luke couldn’t help but snicker at it. “ Sex stuff?! ”
“I don’t know! I didn’t expect you to love me!”
“And why is that?”
Tom paused. “Huh?”
Ah, so that was the problem. Luke understood it now. He uncrossed his arms and set his hands on Tom’s shoulders, looking directly into his eyes.
“Listen. You’re smart, you’re sweet, you’re incredibly witty and funny, you light up the room with just a smile, and you’re so incredibly hot. Why wouldn’t I be in love with you?”
Tom was a flustered mess at this point, somehow even more so than at the relentless flirting he endured last night. His fingers awkwardly fidgeted with the glass, his eyes were wide and his mouth hung open slightly, though a frazzled smile slowly crept across his lips.
“I, uhm—I thought you were just flirting with me for fun and—”
“Hold it,” Luke interrupted. “I only flirt ‘for fun’ when it’s with Sam and we’re playing gay chicken, all right?”
“Okay, well now I know that, but—” Tom stopped. “Ah, fuck it. That’s not important, is it?”
“No, it’s not,” Luke agreed. “I do find it kind of funny how flustered you get.”
“Ah…” Tom laughed awkwardly. “Yeah, I—uh—I’m not great with compliments?”
“Yeah, I can tell.” Luke chuckled. “I love it though.”
“Yeah, and…” Something uncertain flashed across Tom’s face, but it was quickly dissolved into a soft smile. “I love you too.”
“Great.”
Luke gently wrapped an arm around Tom’s neck and pressed their lips together. It was a slow, tender kiss, full of a domestic desire that just felt right. When he pulled away, Tom gave him the sweetest smile he had ever seen.
“So you two did fuck!”
Luke flinched and jumped away from Tom. “What the hell? You were listening, AJ?!”
“It’s kind of hard not to listen when you’re so loud, mate,” said Sam matter-of-factly. “Is that how you were last night as well?”
“Oh, fuck off!” Luke shouted, feeling his cheeks burn.
“Oh, god…” Tom groaned. “We weren’t that obvious, were we?”
Luke paused, then shook his head. “No, we definitely were.”
“The hickeys didn’t help either!” Sam called out.
“Shut the hell up, you twat!” Luke yelled back. He fully intended to throw insults towards that bastard’s way, but his frustration was interrupted by a warm hand on his cheek that turned his head back to face the man in front of him.
“Hey, just ignore them, love,” said Tom.
“Yeah, right.” Luke gave a dopey smile at the nickname. Love, that word felt like it was built for rolling off Tom’s tongue.
“So, uh…what are we?”
“What do you want us to be?”
“Well, I’d want us to be lovers, of course.”
Luke hummed. “Then we’re lovers.”