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Later, after they’ve talked and eaten and gone to bed together, Tony lays with his head on Stephen’s shoulder and thinks. And thinks. A bit too much, apparently, because Stephen pokes him and says, “I can hear you thinking.”
Tony chuckles and moves back a bit so that he and Stephen can look at each other properly. “Sorry to disrupt the afterglow.”
Stephen makes a dismissive noise. “What’s on your mind?”
Tony hesitates for a long moment and Stephen waits for him. “I was thinking,” Tony says slowly, “that I don’t want there to be an entire country between us anymore.”
“I’ve been looking at hospitals in California,” Stephen says, instead of freezing or changing the subject, or protesting. Tony’s surprise must show, because Stephen’s expression softens. “Did you think I’d say no?”
“No,” Tony says. Not right away, anyway. “But I thought we’d be talking about me moving.”
Stephen is the one who looks surprised now. “It’s a lot easier to move my job than yours,” he says. “Your entire base of operations is here.”
“Yeah, but…” But people always expect Tony to be the one to make things happen. Except Stephen never has. Paradoxically, that makes Tony want to do it more. “Don’t make any commitments without talking to me,” he says. “I want to see what my options are.”
“Of course we’ll do this together,” Stephen says, looking bemused. “You’re my partner.”
Tony’s never been a partner before. Not like this.
He likes it.