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Ryland found himself pacing in his apartment, waiting for Tom to arrive. He had said in his last text that he’d be there in 10 minutes, but it had been half an hour at least, and no word. Just as he was about to call, he heard steps outside and a knock on the door. He almost tripped over his own feet rushing to answer it.
Tom smiled wide at him as the door opened and said “Good morning, Sunshine. Sorry I kept you waiting. Had to dodge some paparazzi waiting outside my hotel. Apparently word of me dragging a pretty boy home from the bar last night got out and now everyone wants to know all of our business.”
“Oh, wow. I thought it would take longer for that to happen. I guess my coworkers tagging you in those posts of me singing got around, huh?” Ryland gestured toward the couch as he closed the door behind Tom.
“Well, that and the fact that they had pictures of me literally dragging you out of the bar.” Tom winked and Ryland couldn’t help but blush in response.
Once they were both seated on the couch, Ryland was feeling awkward about it. Was he sitting too close? Was he not close enough? Should he hold Tom’s hand? Tom solved the dilemma by reaching over to put an arm around him. He pulled him in close and they just cuddled for a while.
“I, uh, I told Colt that we’re dating.” Ryland swallowed hard at the admission. He hoped he hadn’t overstepped with that.
“Really? How did he take it? I was worried you’d be mad that I called him looking for you last night.” Tom didn’t sound upset with him which was a relief.
“Okay, I guess? He wasn’t happy, but I think he’ll come around. He did threaten to ‘end you’ if you hurt me though.” Ryland forced a small laugh at that. He didn’t like the idea of the two of them fighting, especially over him.
Tom smiled and said “Well, it’s a good thing that hurting you is the last thing I want to do.”
Ryland cleared his throat and said, “So about last night… My memory is a little hazy and a lot of it is a blur. What happened? How did you end up taking me home?”
Tom explained how he’d come over hoping to take Ryland out to dinner. Then his frantic search, phone calls, texts, the call to Colt. He explained that the Instagram posts by Ryland’s coworkers finally led him to the bar they were at, and then he took him home. Ryland had made a point throughout the night of telling people Tom was NOT his boyfriend and Ryland groaned with his face in his hands every time this was mentioned. Eventually Tom got to the point in the story where he tucked Ryland into bed and Ryland had tried to pull him in as well. Tom gulped a little as he said “You told me you wanted to touch me and that you wanted me to touch you. I told you that we couldn’t do that while you were drunk like that, so I held your hand until you fell asleep and then I left for the night. Not gonna lie, I didn’t sleep very well for thinking of you saying you want me to touch you.”
“Thank you.” Ryland said simply, after Tom’s account of the night before.
“For what?” Tom asked.
“For what you did and didn’t do last night. Whenever we have our first time together, I want to be able to remember it too.”
“So you didn’t mean all that ‘not my boyfriend’ stuff you kept saying? You're still willing to give us a try?” Tom asked, sounding a little more worried than Ryland ever expected from him.
Ryland gave a self-deprecating laugh, “I said that because I didn’t want to assume. I mean, you’re still listed as ‘Future Boyfriend’ in my phone contacts and all…”
Tom put his hand out, “Oh, we better update that then, let me see your phone.” Ryland watched as Tom updated his contact in Ryland’s phone to say “Future Husband”. He also updated the contact photo to a selfie of the two of them cuddling together on Ryland’s couch.
“Well, you’re nothing if not presumptuous.” Ryland said with a smile.
“Yeah, but you love that about me.” Tom replied with a smirk.
They sat together on the couch for a while in silence, each enjoying just being together. The moment was ruined by Ryland’s stomach grumbling very loudly.
“Oh yeah, guess I should probably get some breakfast. Are you hungry, Tom?” Ryland asked as he stretched and stood up from the couch.
“I could go for some breakfast. Do you want to go somewhere or we could order in?”
“Usually I go to this diner that’s on my way to school. Wanna get some greasy bacon and okay-ish coffee?” Ryland was clearly upselling the place. Who wouldn’t be interested?
“Sounds good to me,” Tom said. “I’d like to see more of your daily routine.”
**********
"Breakfast was everything you said it would be and more.” Tom declared, as they headed out of the diner. “I think even the coffee managed to be greasy!”
They both laughed until they saw the handful of people waiting in the parking lot by Tom’s rented SUV, cameras and cellphones in hand. Apparently someone in the diner had posted about them being there.
“Is it like this all the time?” Ryland asked quietly.
“This is a little more intense than usual. You’re a new curiosity and we’re not in LA, so there’s less other celebrities around to grab their attention. How do you wanna do this? We can go back in the diner until they leave or we can soldier on to the car and flip them off on the way. Or we can just go about our day and pretend they’re not here. Let them get a few pictures and speculate about us while we stay as unbothered as we can.”
Ryland swallowed nervously, “I guess we should just try to ignore them.” He hated being the center of attention. He had spent so much time talking to Tom that he had forgotten who he was to everyone else. This felt like it had crept up out of nowhere, but he should have known they’d get attention for being together sooner or later.
They walked together to the vehicle, not touching, but close. Tom had a driver today, so they both got in the backseat together and Ryland appreciated the tinted windows that shielded them from view. “I kinda wanted to kiss you in front of everyone out there. Ya know, stake my claim and make sure everyone knows you’re mine.” Tom whispered as the car door closed behind him.
“How caveman of you,” Ryland quipped. “Did you bring a club to bonk them over the head with too?”
The moment was interrupted by a call to Tom’s phone. He glanced at the display and rolled his eyes. “Sorry, I gotta take this.”
Ryland tried not to listen to the one sided conversation, but it wasn’t like there was a lot of space for privacy in the SUV.
"Yeah Gail, what is it?” Tom sounded annoyed. “Yes, it’s his brother." he paused to listen, "No, I don’t care about that. My ‘brand’ is not more important than me being happy.” There was another pause, and Tom reached out to hold Ryland’s hand. “Remember how you and the studio got so mad about me being all pissy on set? And then I chilled out? Ryland is WHY I chilled out. Because I’m HAPPY. Fuck off, Gail.” Tom clicked the end call button and tossed his phone down on the seat and sighed.
“So I’m bad for the brand, huh?” Ryland asked cautiously.
“Apparently action stars shouldn't be gay for adorable science teachers.” Tom was trying to keep it light, but Ryland could tell he was deeply annoyed.
“Who would they rather you be dating?”
“Doesn’t matter, because if they’re not you, I’m not interested.”