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As the sun began to set, the light in the room faded. Anthony gently closed his book and set it on the armrest to his right.
However, the lack of light wasn’t the reason he had stopped reading. After all, he could have easily turned on the small lamp by reaching out his hand.
He had stopped reading because his attention had been drawn to someone who interested him far more than his book: his lover, who had fallen asleep against him while he had been reading as well.
Asa was lying on his back with his head resting on Anthony’s thigh.
The professor smiled fondly when he saw how his lover was clutching his book in his sleep, and how his glasses were askew on his nose.
He knew he couldn’t take the book away without waking Asa, so he gently pulled the glasses off and placed them on the closed book on the armrest.
Then, he leaned back against the sofa, tilted his head back, and let out a long, contented sigh.
There were few moments in his life when he had felt such pure contentment. Moments when he needed nothing more than what he had.
This was one of those moments.
If he was honest with himself, he had spent most of those precious moments with Asa, just like today.
He’d experienced happiness before meeting Asa, of course, but with him, everything had a different hue and flavor. Everything was more vivid and brilliant.
He lifted his head when he felt Asa stir slightly and looked down at him. Despite his sleepy face, he could see that his lover was beginning to wake up. He couldn't resist. Bringing his hand close to Asa's head, he wrapped a strand of blond hair around his finger, enjoying its softness. Then he let it slip away and wrapped another strand around his finger.
After a few moments, he felt Asa stir, so he moved his hand from his lover’s hair to his cheek and gently caressed it.
"You're coming back to me, my angel. I thought I’d lost you in your dreams."
A soft grunt answered him, and Asa tilted his head back slightly. "Almost," Asa replied in a sleepy voice. Then he added with a wink, "But I have to say, reality is much more alluring than the dream."
Anthony let out a little laugh.
"And you call me the smooth talker..." he said, leaning down to kiss his lover's forehead.
Asa sat up, set his book down beside him, and rested his head on Anthony's shoulder. Anthony slipped his arm around the bookseller's shoulders, burying his hand in his blond hair and gently stroking his scalp. He let out another little chuckle when he heard the sigh of satisfaction, almost a purr, that his fingers elicited from his lover.
They remained in comfortable silence for a few moments until Anthony broke it, asking softly, "Have you ever imagined a moment like this?"
Asa remained still for a moment, then leaned back slowly, just enough to look Anthony in the eyes.
He shook his head gently.
"Even in my wildest dreams before I met you, Anthony, I never would have thought that this..."
Asa made a sweeping gesture around him, then across the space between them.
"...could be for me. I could never have imagined such contentment. Such happiness. I hoped for it. I dreamed of it. I experienced it through my books, but to live it like this? No, I didn’t really believe in it anymore."
Asa raised his hand and traced Anthony’s jawline with his fingertips. He brushed his thumb against Anthony’s lips and added softly, his voice tinged with emotion, "It’s mostly thanks to you, you know?"
Anthony tried to deny it, but Asa cut him off by pressing his thumb against his lips.
"You told me, ‘I’ll wait for you.’ Where are we having dinner?’ It's a simple phrase with no hidden meaning if you don’t know the context. But just as I was about to let go, you said those words, and everything changed."
"I need you to write your number down, too."
Asa paused briefly, then added, glancing at the professor, "For me."
Just as the professor looked up and met his gaze, Asa continued, "So I can ask you to dinner."
The professor looked at him in silence. Asa continued, "You'll say no, and...um...but at least I'll have asked."
There.
I did it.
At least I tried.
Hope, stronger than anything else, blossomed, and Asa couldn’t stop it.
The other man had his head down, humming, before looking up and saying, "I'm not going to give you my number."
Of course.
What did you expect, Asa?
Keep smiling.
Say sorry.
Then go away.
He stammered, "No, no, no, no. Sorry."
"I'll wait for you."
What?
What did he say?
Asa’s heart nearly skipped a beat, and he didn’t dare to hope, until the professor continued, "Where are we having dinner?"
Nothing could stop the smile from spreading across Asa’s lips.
The joy he felt when Anthony’s smile mirrored his own was unmatched.
"Asa?"
Anthony was looking at him with concern.
Asa realized a few tears had rolled down his cheeks as he recalled the day they first met.
With a lump in his throat, he softly said, "I'm fine. It’s just too much emotion. You have no idea how much you healed me with just a few words and smiles that day."
Anthony straightened up, forcing Asa to do the same. Then he cupped his lover’s face in his hands, his heart overflowing with love that he had yet to express. Wiping away the tears that escaped onto Asa’s cheeks with his thumbs, he said softly with emotion in his voice, "I’ve taken a few detours in my life. Sometimes I’ve followed paths that didn’t lead me where I wanted to go. But one thing is certain: walking into that bookshop that day was not one of those detours. My life has never seemed as beautiful as it does now that I've met you, Asa. You're not the only one whose life was changed."
Anthony leaned in, bringing his face closer to Asa’s until their lips finally met.
It wasn’t a passionate, fiery kiss, but rather one filled with aching tenderness. It was slow and intense, brimming with what they had just confessed to each other and what they hadn’t yet said, but which burned on their lips. A little more each day.
Asa buried his fingers in Anthony’s hair, pulling him closer. Meanwhile, Anthony cradled Asa’s face as if he were kissing a precious treasure. The kiss went on and on as if they couldn’t get enough. Each time they parted, breathless and dazed, the silence stretched only a heartbeat before one of them leaned back in, unable to stop, as if drawn by a magnetic pull.
When they finally broke contact, they didn't pull back. They remained there for a long time, panting, their chests rising and falling in sync and their foreheads pressed together.
After one last light kiss, Asa snuggled up against Anthony, burying his face in the warmth of his neck and shoulder once more. He felt Anthony’s arms tighten around him, and the gentle caresses in his hair resumed like an invitation to surrender.
They were building something. It wasn't finished or perfect, it was a work in progress that they were crafting day by day.
Little by little, they were realizing that happiness wasn't a destination to be reached but rather this very moment.
As the last of the sunlight faded from the room, leaving them in the soft intimacy of dusk, they didn't move. They remained entwined, savoring the softness of this special, blissful moment that was theirs.