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A day off. A day off is all Evan needs to finally put that Champagne bottle into the fridge without Tommy noticing it. It's almost two months since they could talk things out and came back, and sometimes Evan swears they’re already living together, as Tommy spends most of the nights in his place. The nights he doesn’t, it’s because they sleep in Tommy’s place.
It's only after the doorbell rings that his heart jumps, making him nervous. Why is he nervous? Why is tonight different to any other night they shared? Tommy’s not a stranger; he shouldn’t be still having butterflies in his belly, or shaky hands when he opens that door.
Tommy is stunning. The soft breeze entering the house brings with it a woody sweet perfume, a new scent Evan never smelled before. From that instant, his new favorite. Tommy smiles, his skin looks fresh from just shaved, and for a moment Evan can’t help but stare at that cleft. That beautiful cleft.
“You know? When you texted an hour ago telling me to dress well for tonight, I really was hoping that didn’t mean a tuxedo.” Tommy says, suiting the collar of his own black shirt. “Sorry for repeating the outfit, but this was the only available at my locker. And my new boots.”
“I-It’s fine, they’re... fine.” Evan murmurs, dazzled.
“So... you’re letting me in, or the party’s at the porch, tonight?”
“Uh, no! Please, come in.” Evan moves aside, making space for Tommy to enter the house, and takes a deep breath after him. He definitely adores that perfume.
The living room is low-lighted, only a distant blaze coming from the kitchen, complementing the low lamp next to the couch. Tommy takes a quick look around. Nothing seems different, nothing new to see. Only two flute glasses over the breakfast bar and a steel ice bucket that he prefers to ignore.
“So, uh... how was your shift?” Evan asks, rubbing his hands on the fabric of his pants.
“Ah, same old, same old.” Tommy smiles, watching him step to the kitchen. “Some trapped people on the back of a cab at a car crash, a couple of kittens on an old lady’s backyard... I even flew the chopper, today.”
“You did?” Evan opens the fridge, taking the bottle out.
“Yeah. There were some dinosaurs that needed to be put to sleep at Manny’s beach.”
“Dinosaurs?” Evan smiles, pausing whatever he is doing.
“Oh, yeah. You know, big animals, they needed air support.” Evan opens the bottle and puts it on the ice bucket, taking all to the coffee table, as Tommy speaks. “But don’t worry, I think they were gonna free them in a park like... near this town, I guess...”
“Oh, and me here thinking I just saw one big old dinosaur entering my house, just a moment ago.”
“Careful, kid. We didn’t survive the extinction for nothing.”
They both smile.
“H-hey, look.” Evan drops his smile, taking the bottle out of the bucket to pour the glasses. He hands one to Tommy. “Wanna make a toast?”
Tommy squints.
“Is this... the same bottle I left...?”
“Oh, no. No, no.” Evan smiles again, nervous. “I bought this one myself.”
“Well, that’s a pity. I’m not asking what happened to the other bottle, though.”
“I...” Flashes of that opened bottle come to his mind, one spiteful night where he drank it all watching “Love, actually”, but fell sleep to the end of it. “Let’s forget about that one, shall we?”
“Fair enough. Ok, so let’s toast... to us. And this lovely evening.” Tommy exclaims, raising his glass, and Evan clinks it.
“To us.” He repeats, loving eyes pinned to Tommy’s. They take a gulp. “Mmm, this is goo-- Oh, I almost forgot!”
“You’re acting weird....er, tonight, Evan. Are you sure everything’s fine?”
“Yeah, of course.” He smiles, leaving his glass next to the ice bucket, and rounding the couch to the big speaker on the side table. Searches on his phone and suddenly the strident piano chords of an eighties' song fill the air. Evan comes back, still his nervous smile showing, and frowns before Tommy’s funny expression. “W-what?”
“How on Earth do you know REO Speedwagon?” Tommy exclaims, taking another sip of his glass.
“I don't. Well, didn’t.” Evan murmurs. “I... had some free time on my hands a while ago, and... you know... I got hooked on a TV show, where these two guys had this beautiful love story along the different seasons, and they... danced one night in the living room to this song... and I just felt like that was so romantic and thought to myself... that one day I-I... would want to dance like that with someone I...”
“With someone you...?”
Evan’s eyes are gone in Tommy’s, his heart beating fast. It's hard for him to realize that so much love is possible to fit in his body. In his physical body, in his heart. He takes Tommy’s glass and leaves it next to his.
“Shall we...?” He mutters, grabbing his hand, for a dance. Tommy wraps Evan from the waist, pulling him close, and guides him to rest the arms on his shoulders.
“So, what is this, Evan?” Tommy whispers, face to face, as he leads the slow dance to the romantic music accompanying them. They hug even closer, with their heads on each other’s shoulder. “You tell me to dress nice, buy a nice Champagne... select the most romantic music that you actually needed to google to find the name... What are we celebrating? Am I missing something here?”
“I wanted to dance like this with someone I love.” Evan says, suddenly.
They stop for a moment.
Tommy straights up his head to look on Evan’s eyes, and finds them expectant, shining bright in the low light.
“What--”
“I love you, Tommy.” He interrupts, fast. “I wanted to open that bottle, wanted to share this silly dance with you, only because I love you, and I felt it was time for you to know it, and--”
Tommy kisses him, tender, just like that first night.
“I love you too, my silly chatter.”
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