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Ronan was washing dishes at the sink by the window. He liked his little life and routine, even though his heart was miles away. He thought about it often. Lately, much more often than he’d like to admit. His proud sense of self never allowed to commit to these thoughts, but they were as insistent as his magical dreams. He even scoffed quietly to himself, as the intrusive thought came to his head. He was not the Magician, after all.
Bright lights fell through the windows of the Barn just as Ronan was finishing up with the dishes. He didn’t pay them any attention. There could have been only one reason for that. He smiled, a little, as he grabbed a dishrag and started the drying process. A minute later, cold arms wrapped around his torso from behind and he felt soft lips against his exposed neck. Ronan smiled.
“Where’s Opal?” Adam asked, trailing little kisses down Ronan’s neck.
“With the girls.” Ronan answered. “You’ve come to see her?’
Adam scoffed, letting go of Ronan. “Yeah, she’s what’s keeping me coming here.” He said, going to the couch and dropping down. “You know I like filthy mouths, big eyes and questionable fashion choices in people.”
Ronan laughed, putting the dishrag down and stepping closer to the couch. He leaned over it, looking straight into Adam’s eyes.
“What are you doing here, really?” He asked, walking around and sitting down.
Adam sighed and pressed his fingers on his eyes.
“Can’t I just visit, no reason at all?” He asked, kind of pissed off.
“No.” Ronan answered, shrugging his shoulders, like it was that simple. Because it was.
“You hate it here.”
Adam sighed again. He moved, putting his legs over the couch’s armrest and his head in Ronan’s lap. Ronan’s hands automatically went to Adam’s hair, pushing it back from his blue eyes.
Adam looked tired. Bone tired, exhausted. A pang of worry sparked in Ronan’s chest.
“Do you want err… something to eat?” Ronan asked, feeling sheepish. Adam just gave him a look.
Ronan sighed. “What are you doing here, Adam?” he asked again.
Adam sat up, slowly. He straightened imaginary wrinkles from his shirt and looked up to the ceiling, seemingly gathering his thoughts.
“I don’t hate it here, you know.” Adam said, finally. “I just…”
“Hate Henrietta,” Ronan finished for him, flatly.
Adam looked at him, sadness seeping through his eyes. He didn’t answer.
“You know I’m staying here, don’t you?” Ronan asked, knowing the answer.
Adam got up and started walking around the room. He was clearly agitated, huffing when a loose floorboard squeaked under his feet.
“I just… I don’t hate it.” Adam said, stopping his pacing. “Not anymore.” He added, looking at Ronan.
Ronan took in a sharp breath.
“What are you saying?” He asked, calmly.
Adam stood there, looking at Ronan for a while. Ronan looked back, into Adam’s deep eyes, waiting, holding his breath.
“I missed you.” Adam said, finally. “I don’t like it out there as much as I thought I would. Being here, with you, with all the weird Dream stuff and your creatures, and your miserable self, and these Barns, and the ley lines, and everything that happened, and…”
Ronan stood up, coming to Adam and placing his hands on his boyfriend’s face.
“You miss me.” He said simply.
Adam smiled, putting one of his hands over Ronan’s.
“Yeah, I… I miss this. I miss you.” Adam leaned into Ronan’s touch, closing his eyes.
They stood there like that for a while, just breathing in the quiet night and musty smell of the house. Somewhere on a shelf that was built especially for the purpose, Chainsaw let out a soft squeak, sleeping.
Finally, Ronan leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Adam’s lips. Adam sighed and leaned into the kiss, deepening it.
They stood there, kissing like this for minutes, until Ronan pulled them back to the couch. They laid like this, just kissing, remembering what each other’s lips tasted like, until Ronan pulled away for breath. Adam laid his head on Ronan’s chest, breathing heavily. He faintly remembered their second kiss, like this, laying there on a couch in the Barns. Nostalgic for something from long ago, something still innocent, still unaffected, before everything that did went down.
“You could stay.” Ronan whispered into the night, hoping.
“You know I can’t.” Adam answered, sadly.
The silence stretched between them.
“You could,” Ronan persisted.
“And do what?” Adam snapped.
“Be a kept man?” Ronan joked.
Adam slapped his chest, unkindly.
“Okay, okay.” Ronan laughed. “There are career opportunities here, you know.”
“Like what?”
“You could… open a bakery? Or a flower shop?”
Adam looked at him, deep disappointment in his eyes. Ronan laughed again.
Some minutes passed again.
“We could figure it out. Together.” Ronan said, finally, tentatively.
Adam stiffened against Ronan’s chest, thinking it through.
“It… might be possible.” He relented.
Ronan did not expect such an easy fight. Their fights were usually tornadoes hidden in the guise of storms. Only thing Ronan always knew coming out of them is that he loved Adam. Tempers, magic, fate and all the turmoil behind them.
“We can keep thinking about that.” Ronan whispered, unsure, trying not to scare Adam away.
Adam splayed his fingers on Ronan’s chest, tracing very real creases of his shirt, his torso, later his arms.
“I still want to graduate.” He said into the comfort of Ronan’s side.
“You will.” Ronan sounded sure. “And then we’ll see where the fate leads us.”
Adam lifted his head, looking deeply into Ronan’s eyes. “Fate?” He asked, cynically.
Ronan groaned, “Whatever you want to call it, oh the faithless one.”
Adam laughed softly. “I guess I’ll be amendable to that.”
Ronan’s heart did something weird inside his chest. He didn’t want to give it a name yet, he couldn’t let himself hope. He firmly pushed the feeling down, ignoring it until the time came. Unhealthy was his life choice and he didn’t care. Not now.
“Trust you to use amendable in a sentence, Parrish.” Was all that he said.
Adam was used to sighing around Ronan, so when he did, it came without any strong feelings.
“I am amendable to letting this one go,” he said.