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Chapter Text

(moodboard and title graphics by ArtemisAdore)

There were only six weeks until the deadline for Edwin's dissertation and end of year showcase, and he felt as though he were running around like a headless chicken trying to get everything finished in time. He was a perfectionist when it came to his work, and so he had started writing it early over the Summer holidays the previous year and had spent all of his free periods polishing it and making sure that the word count was met. He also had a very neatly organised collection of Harvard References and an appendix of additional material that he had created to accompany the body of his work.

He had just had it printed on high-quality paper at the local print shop (the course required the submission of a memory stick containing the digital file of his work as well as a physical submission of a printed and spiral-bound copy of the dissertation), and had been on his way to the university library to have it spiral-bound when the unthinkable had happened.

He had run into someone.

By all means, he should have been looking where he was going, but he had been flicking through the pages to make sure that everything was in order as he was walking and oh, how he regretted it. He should have just put it into his bag and had done with it.

But no. He just had to give it one last look and now the pages were scattered all over the floor. Outside. In the wind. Along with the person he had bumped into, who was now scrambling to pick up his dropped phone before trying to help grab the scattered paper.

“Oh my god, I'm so sorry!” the stranger said in a distinctly American accent as he grabbed several of the pages.

Edwin kicked into action. “No, no, I am sorry! I should have been looking where I was going.” he apologised, as he too attempted to hurry after the paper, before it could be blown away by the wind.

Unfortunately, as they rushed about, some of the pages were inevitably lost as they blew down the street and into the road, caught under car tires and flipped away out of sight. Bloody hell. That print job had been expensive.

“Shit, was that your dissertation?” the man asked as he looked down at one of the pages he had grabbed – the front page – with a wince.

“Unfortunately...” Edwin replied, deflated. “It's my own fault. I really am sorry for knocking you over like that.”

“Don't sweat it. Why don't we go back to the print shop? Maybe you can get them to re-print the specific pages that are missing?” the man suggested with a sympathetic smile.

Now that Edwin was able to look at him properly, it hit him how gorgeous he was. He was dressed in a black turtleneck, a fluffy coat and a monochromatic kilt. His hair was strawberry blond and pushed back (though one piece was deliberately left out to flick artfully over his forehead), he had one dangling earring in his left ear that ended in a tear drop-shaped black gem. He had eyes like warm, polished amber and a little scar above his lip that was frightfully distracting.

“Oh,” Edwin shook himself out of his stupor. “Yes, I suppose that I had better get it re-printed...” he dreaded the cost, but he supposed that he could… live on pot noodles for a couple of weeks, if push came to shove.

“Come on!” the man said, cheerily. “I'll help you figure out which pages are missing!”

He nudged Edwin's shoulder and started walking towards the print shop. It took Edwin a moment to catch on to what was happening, and he had to jog for a few steps to catch up with him.

“I'm Thomas, by the way.” he said, as Edwin started walking by his side. “Thomas King.”

“Edwin Payne.” he replied. “You don't have to help me, you know. It was my fault that this happened.”

“Well, I was checking my phone, too, so it wasn't all on you.” Thomas grinned. “Besides, it means I get more time with you.” he winked.

Edwin had to do a double-take at that. He blushed furiously as he followed Thomas into the print shop. “Well I never...” he muttered under his breath.

He was taken aback when Thomas actually sat with him in the store and helped him to sort through all of the pages and reorganise them into the correct order (thank goodness for numbered pages, or they would have been there for far, far longer).

Edwin handed the printers back the memory stick and managed to get them to re-print the specific pages that had been lost (as well as some that had gotten dirty or bent from the fall). What had taken him aback all over again was that Thomas had reached across him with his card and paid for the new pages.

“What on earth do you think you are doing?” Edwin asked, baffled at the gesture.

“Call it an apology gift for you dropping them in the first place.” Thomas said.

“But that was my fault, not yours!” Edwin protested.

“Fine. Then call it a thank you gift for letting me spend time with you for the last half hour.” Thomas changed his answer with ease.

“Oh honestly !” Edwin exclaimed. “If anyone should be offering up apologies or thanks, it should very much be me and not you. I bumped into you after all, and then you helped me for over thirty minutes with my dissertation, which, by all means, was quite the arduous task.” he could not make heads nor tails of it.

“Alright, then we should go to the café next door and you can buy me a large vanilla frappuccino with extra cream.” Thomas shrugged. “to apologise and thank me.”

Baffling. Utterly baffling.

He certainly wasn't going to turn it down, though.

As soon as the printing was done and safely inside the folder that was tucked into Edwin's bag, they went next door to the café.

Once Thomas had the frappuccino in hand and they had started walking back in the direction of the university, he popped the lid off and stuck his tongue directly into the cream, licking off the top half of it. It was clear that he was doing this in an attempt to be sexy, though he had inadvertently managed to give himself a cream moustache and Edwin could barely suppress a smile.

Without thinking, he pulled out the handkerchief from the breast pocket of his waistcoat and used it to wipe away the cream.

When he pulled back and refocused, Thomas was looking at him in wonderment, lips slightly parted in surprise as he blushed furiously from the action. He broke from it with an embarrassed chuckle, looking off to the side and biting his bottom lip, bringing his hand up to cover his mouth for a moment before looking back at Edwin.

“How are you even real?” he asked with a half-smile. “You're fascinating .”

“That is terribly rich coming from you, Thomas King.” Edwin responded, unsure what to make of this whole situation.

“So, what are you studying? Something academic, or are you just a hipster?” Thomas asked him teasingly as they walked inside the building.

“I assure you, I am not a hipster. I dress this way because I like it.” Edwin huffed with a roll of his eyes. “and to answer your question; I am studying English Literature.”

Hipsters were not the only ones who could enjoy waistcoats and other such vintage fashion, thank you very much. Niko had described his choice of attire to him once as ' Dark Academia ', but he had yet to be won over on the label.

“Oh, that makes so much sense actually.” Thomas nodded.

“What does that mean?” Edwin tilted his head at the statement, ready to take it as an insult if it was meant as one.

“Well, you're very well-spoken and eloquent.” he answered, and Edwin immediately relaxed. “That and your dissertation is thick enough to be a novel.”

“Yes, well… What about you? What are you studying? I can't say that I've seen you around.” Edwin commented, already theorising that it was probably fashion or textiles, or something along those lines. If that were the case, then surely Niko or Crystal should have been familiar with him, but neither of them have mentioned him before, to Edwin's knowledge.

“I'm doing my Fashion Masters at the moment. The fashion show is this summer, so I've been working non-stop. I was actually on my daily coffee run when you knocked me flat on my ass.” Thomas chuckled. “I think looking up and seeing you might have made it the only time I've been shoved on the ground and been happy about it after, though.”

Edwin felt rather triumphant that his deduction had been correct, though it was hampered a bit by the sheepishness that he felt at having made such a blunder. He might have had time enough to feel guilty about it had Thomas' continued blatant flirting not flustered him again.

He was also debating what to say to Niko later. Had she known that this utterly gorgeous and charming man existed and failed to tell him about it, he would be having words.

“Well…” he could do this; he could flirt back! “I'd say a few pages of my dissertation were a small price to pay for the privilege.”

“The privilege of knocking me on my ass?” Thomas was grinning at him in amusement and Edwin felt himself flushing again.

“The privilege of bumping into you.” he corrected, despite being hyper-aware of the way that his face was most definitely red. “and having you accompany me afterwards.”

As they reached the entrance to the library, Thomas turned to him and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Hope this isn't too forward, but… can I get your number?” he asked, looking all too confident that Edwin would agree.

He was right to be confident.

“My number?” Edwin fumbled for his own phone and held it out. “I suppose that would be agreeable.” he smiled to himself as they traded phones.

When they traded back, Edwin found himself oddly endeared by the fact that Thomas had saved his name with a little crown emoji and a heart at the end. Before he could put it away, it dinged and a message popped up from Thomas that said: “Hi <3”

Edwin smiled and looked back up at Thomas, who was already watching him.

“Should I expect a lot of emoticons in your messages?” he asked.

“As many as I deem necessary.” Thomas winked.

Edwin looked between Thomas and the door to the library. He would have to be back at his class soon, having used the vast majority of his lunch break on his dissertation and talking to Thomas. He was suddenly very aware of just how little time he had left.

“I ought to get on with having my dissertation bound.” Edwin said, a tad distractedly (and more than a tad disappointed that he would have to cut their conversation short).

“Right… then I guess I'll see you around.” Thomas smiled, though he seemed just as disappointed as Edwin.

Before either of them could make a move to leave, Edwin did something that he never thought himself capable of doing…

“Would you like to accompany me on a date this Saturday?” he asked, heart leaping up his throat as he did so. He had never asked someone out before, never had the courage to take the initiative in such a way.

Thomas' grin was back full-force. “A date?”

“Yes. If you would be amenable.”

“I'd love that.” the way that Thomas looked at Edwin as he voiced his agreement made Edwin a little hot under the collar. No one had looked at him like that before.

“Excellent. Well, then… I shall text you to organise the details?” Edwin knew that he sounded unsure of himself, but he was still reeling at how he had successfully asked out the most attractive man he'd ever seen.

“Please do~ I'll see you later, Edwin~” Thomas gave him a coy finger-wave before walking back in the other direction.

Edwin watched him go until he was out of sight and then heaved a sigh. What a bizarre and wonderful day he was having.

He headed into the library to get the spiral binding done.

-----

When Edwin had officially submitted the physical and digital copies of the dissertation, he had the rest of the afternoon to focus on preparations for the end of year show and his final major project. Some people were writing poetry, plays, children's books, and other things along those lines. Edwin himself had been working on a detective novella, which was going incredibly well.

He only had another five thousand or so words to go to wrap it up before he would be able to take it to the print shop. The university's own print shop would do most things, but there were some projects which they did not have the adequate facilities to handle, such as professionally printing a novella to a standard suitable for publication. Which was why Edwin was opting for the independent print shop off-campus (a print shop that he currently felt like he should be baking muffins for as thanks for providing him the avenue through which met Thomas).

He wanted nothing more than to get out of class so that he could message Thomas. Which was a crazy thought to him, because he had never been so eager to message someone. He didn't even like technology that much. What was happening to him?

It certainly did not help that once he had reminded himself that he didn't like technology and texting, he was then led on the train of thought that it would be very nice to exchange physical, hand-written letters with Thomas.

Nobody did that anymore though, and it was way too sappy of a thought to be having when he had only just met the man. They hadn't even been on a first date yet.

When he got out of his class, Niko was already waiting for him. She immediately picked up on the fact that something was different with Edwin, like she could tell that he wanted to talk to her. She looked at him excitedly.

“What happened? You have a ‘ something happened’ face!” she said with anticipation as the two of them made their way out.

They were going to the small two-bed flat that Niko shared with Crystal and Charles for a movie night. It had been odd for him at first, living in a different flat to his friends, but he found that while he missed having Charles around all the time, he liked having the space to himself as well.

The three of them had moved together in their second year. Niko and Crystal had already been housemates and Charles had moved in at the start of the final year, when their relationship had gotten more serious.

It had taken Edwin a while to get used to it, but he had come to love Crystal like a sister, and Niko had become one of his dearest friends as well as a trusted confidant.

“I met someone.” Edwin blurted, unable to control the way that he said it.

“Edwin!” Niko squealed. “You met someone ? Who? When? How? I have to know all of the details!”

“I bumped into him and dropped my dissertation. He helped me sort it out to see which pages were missing and then paid for the reprinting, even though it was my fault. I bought him a coffee and he walked with me back to the library and we exchanged numbers.” Edwin rapid-fired the information at her. He usually wouldn't have babbled in such a way, but then, he usually wouldn't have been in this sort of situation.

“Edwin!” She exclaimed and clapped her hands together. “What's his name? What does he look like? Is he hot?”

“He is definitely attractive.” Edwin replied, recalling those warm eyes and that little scar just above those perfect lips. “He's got blond hair, amber eyes… he is very handsome and a little bit shorter than I am. He was so sweet and so charming, Niko.” Edwin was gushing. He couldn't help it. “His name is Thomas King.”

“Wait. Not the Thomas King? The fashion guy who's low-key Instagram famous? The one who throws all those parties?” Niko questioned, seemingly gob-smacked. “and you liked him?”

“So you do know him and you never told me? I feel that perhaps I should be offended that you were apparently keeping him from me.” Edwin teased. He didn't know about the apparent social media fame or the parties, but it made sense for someone like Thomas (good-looking and charismatic), so he couldn't exactly say that he was surprised.

“I don't really know him, I know of him.” Niko explained. “He's kind of infamous. Super good at what he does and also kind of a slut. Not that I'm judging him, though!” she hastened to add at the end.

“I asked him on a date.”

“You asked him out ?” Niko gasped excitedly, practically bouncing as she walked beside Edwin. “Edwin, I'm so proud of you! What did he say?”

“He agreed to accompany me this Saturday.” Edwin smiled – mostly to himself – as he replied, something that did not go unnoticed by Niko, who was giving him a knowing look.

“That's huge! Do you know where you're gonna go?”

“I have an idea or two. I know that there are plenty of decent options, but I think that I shall endeavour to try something a little more interesting.” he replied, already formulating a plan in his head.

“Well, hopefully you'll both have a good time, whatever it is!” Niko smiled. “You've gotta tell me all about it when you get back!”

“Well, that goes without question.” Edwin smiled back.

-----

As soon as they arrived at the flat and Niko had unlocked the door to step inside, they were greeted with Charles and Crystal mid-way through setting up the snack selection on their coffee table.

“Took you guys long enough! Did you get sidetracked again?” Crystal said, jokingly. However, when she looked up at them properly, she narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “Edwin, you have your ‘ something happened’ face on, what's the gossip?”

“There really isn't any gossip.” he replied, knowing that it was entirely unconvincing.

Crystal crossed her arms and raised a brow at him. “Really? Nothing at all you want to share with the class?”

“Oi, leave it be, yeah? Might really be nothing, and besides, we still have snacks to get ready.” Charles said, gently, trying to help Edwin by trying to redirect the conversation.

“Oh no, absolutely not. I gotta know what's got him looking so pleased with himself!” Crystal insisted, turning back to Edwin expectantly.

Charles offered him a sympathetic look and a shrug.

“Alright, alright, fine .” Edwin could feel the pleased little smirk making its way onto his lips, even as he attempted to keep it at bay. “I have a date this Saturday.”

“A date?” Charles questioned at the same time Crystal exclaimed, “With who ?”

“With Thomas King!” Niko answered for him in excitement.

“You can't be serious… how the bloody hell did that happen?” Charles looked utterly bewildered and perhaps slightly concerned.

“We bumped into each other by chance and he kindly paid for me to re-print the pages of my dissertation that were dropped. I then bought him a coffee and we walked back to the library together. When he asked for my number, I agreed, and then I asked him if he would be amenable to going on a date with me. He said yes.” Edwin explained it very matter-of-factly, though he was smiling the entire time.

“Edwin! You scored a date with Thomas King ?” Crystal was still reeling. “That's one hell of a meet-cute, like it came straight from a rom-com or something.”

“Does everyone already know of him? Truly, am I the only one who had never heard of him before today?” Edwin huffed. “At this rate, I shall start thinking that you were keeping him from me on purpose.”

“It's just… he throws a lot of parties, we've been to a lot of parties, you, famously, don't like parties .” Crystal reasoned. “Besides, he's not really your usual type.”

“An attractive man?” Edwin asked, sarcastically.

“An obnoxiously flirty man who parties and has a lot of flings.” Crystal quipped back.

“He also fancies himself as some kind of social media influencer and thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread.” Charles frowned. “It's not too late to cancel, mate.”

“Edwin doesn't want to cancel! It sounds like they get along really well.” Niko protested on his behalf.

“I'm just saying.” Charles raised his hands up in surrender. “He could do better than some bloke who's shagged half the uni.”

“Charles, please. His sexual history has no bearing on my own experience with him.” Edwin was starting to get flustered. He hadn't been expecting such a harsh reaction.

He also wasn't entirely sure of how to adequately defend someone that he had only just met. They were painting him as someone that felt entirely different than the man he had met. Sure, he was flirty, but he had been nice and hadn't come across as overly promiscuous. He certainly wasn't what Edwin would describe as obnoxious.

“Right...” Charles did not hide his scepticism.

“I will not be cancelling. He was pleasant and thoughtful towards me when we met, and I was very much the one who asked him on this date. I do also believe that I am perfectly capable of forming my own opinion of him, thank you very much.”

That marked the end of that particular conversation. Niko looked awkwardly between them all, and Edwin could very much relate to disliking the tense atmosphere after a fresh disagreement. Meanwhile, Crystal was glaring daggers (likely for the slut-shaming) at Charles, who now had the decency to look a tad sheepish.

Thankfully, Niko was able to break the tension by bringing up the movie choices for the night, successfully directing everyone's attention back to the real purpose of their get-together.

Once the movies were over and his friends had fallen asleep on the sofa, Edwin stood from the arm chair and quietly made his way back across the room.

“Goodnight, Edwin.” Niko whispered from the end of the sofa. “Good luck on your date.”

“Thank you, Niko.” Edwin smiled softly at her sleepy form, too tired to see him out. “Sleep well.”

-----

When Saturday finally came around, Edwin was surprised that he didn't feel any nerves creeping up on him. The last two times that he had tried dating had gone… poorly. However, he had a good feeling about Thomas King, and it was steam-rolling over any trepidation he might have felt otherwise. If anything, he was pleasantly looking forward to it.

He had chosen an outfit for himself that he hoped would be suitable. It consisted of a cotton shirt ticked neatly into a pair of fitted corduroy trousers, with the first three buttons undone. Over it, he wore a soft woollen jumper in a rich shade of dark green.

Before leaving, he sent a quick message to Thomas, to let him know that he was on his way.

I am just about to leave my flat. I should be arriving at the front of the university in approximately ten minutes.

- Edwin

Already on my way there <3 Can't wait!

-Thomas<3

Edwin wanted to blush at the enthusiasm that Thomas seemed to have for their first date. He was aware that he could often come across to others as abrasive, so having someone so obviously and openly looking forward to spending time with him was unfamiliar. At least outside of his already established circle of friends.

He hoped that Thomas would enjoy the date that he had planned and wouldn't find it boring (wouldn't find Edwin boring). It might not have been the sort of thing that he would be expecting, but Edwin hoped that it would be enjoyable nonetheless.

He hated to say it, but although his opinion of Thomas wasn't in any way tarnished by his friends' descriptions of his promiscuity, the closer he got to their meeting place, the more nervous he became that he wouldn't be able to live up to Thomas' expectations. Edwin had dated a couple of times before, but he was nowhere near as experienced as Thomas when it came to this sort of thing.

All thoughts vanished from his mind, however, when he saw Thomas waiting for him in front of the steps of the university entrance. He had his strawberry blond hair pushed back out of his face, and wore a single dangling earring and a simple chain necklace. His outfit was a cream turtleneck with an expensive-looking tiger-print jacket and a pair of wrap-trousers and combat boots.

“Edwin!” Thomas waved when he caught sight of him, and his eyes lit up as he broke into a smile.

“Good afternoon, Thomas.” Edwin greeted. “I hope that you enjoy books.” he smiled, a little nervous underneath it.

“I dabble.” Thomas smirked playfully. “It depends on the genre, obviously.”

“Oh? What sort of books do you like?” Edwin asked, relaxing as he started leading the way to the first book shop on his mental check list.

“I am quite partial to a good queer romance.” Thomas replied, “but that doesn't just go for books.”

The look that he gave Edwin told him that he may be insinuating that they could have a ' good queer romance' , and wouldn't that be just excellent? Edwin hoped that this first date would go well enough to lead to a second one, and dare he admit it to himself, he also hoped that these first few dates would lead to a relationship.

It wasn't exactly common for Edwin to meet someone that he naturally got along with, someone with whom he had instant chemistry of this sort. He had only been in two brief relationships prior to this one and neither of those had been good for him. The first had been borderline abusive in that his boyfriend had been ashamed of him and had made him feel like something dirty while they were together (he had also thrown Edwin under the bus when his parents had discovered them and had told them that Edwin seduced him. An utter load of tosh that had ended their entanglement). The second had been a sweet enough guy, but Edwin had realised too late that he didn't really have feelings for him beyond friendship.

So, all around, not a great selection of experiences.

This was so wholly different from what he had been through in the past though. Here, there was open interest, common ground, an inherent fascination… a spark .

As they walked into the first book shop, they were immediately met with the warm scent of new books; paper and binding glue and whatever else it was that gave them all that unique scent that couldn't be captured anywhere else. The walls were lined with vast shelves, lined completely with all manner of books across any genre that one could hope to peruse. There were tables at the front as well, topped with various selections, some being new releases, some award-winners, some that were simply staff picks.

It was one of the many things that Edwin adored about book shops; the element of personality that differed with each one. It was sort of like getting to know a person, the way that one could learn the organisation and the preferences of those who set about organising it. On some of the shelves, there would be little note cards with recommendations from the people that worked there, with little explanations of why they enjoyed it.

“I've never been in this one.” Thomas said, turning to Edwin after looking around. “I usually go to the one that's around the corner from the ice cream shop, but this is nice.”

“That wouldn't happen to be more for the ice cream than the books, would it?” Edwin found himself teasing and Thomas simply grinned at him.

“You already know me so well, huh?”

“So it would seem.”

“Could even say you read me like an open book.” The look that Thomas offered became more mischievous again, and Edwin could not deny the way that it sent a flurry of butterflies through him.

Edwin found himself easily smiling back again. He would have to evaluate later on, just how effortlessly Thomas seemed able to bring out such a sunny disposition from within him. He wasn't generally one to go about feeling and appearing so giddy, even when he was genuinely enjoying himself, but something about Thomas, the way he smiled, himself and the way that he teased, made Edwin want to give as good as he was getting.

“I suppose I could.” Edwin replied, unable to quell the smile now that it had overcome him.

“Which section are we headed to first? I like the romance, but what do you like?” Thomas asked, genuinely curious to know more about Edwin's preferences.

“I am quite partial to a good mystery. I like puzzling things out, trying to read between the lines and catch onto hints from the author.” Edwin answered. “Charles – my closest friend – has told me that he has no idea how I manage to enjoy them when I always figure it out before the end.” he chuckled softly to himself at the memory.

“Who doesn't like being right?” Thomas argued with a shrug.

“Precisely my point.” Maybe Edwin wasn't the only one reading the other like an open book.

They made their way between tables and standing shelves to the back of the book shop, where they kept the shelves of fiction. Mystery was often commingling with other genres, such as thrillers, supernatural series, fantasy and science-fiction. It was something that he was thankful for, as it always gave him the ability to switch things up and stray from his comfort zone.

Thomas happily crouched down by the Adult fiction shelves, in the fantasy and sci-fi section, seemingly looking for something specific. Edwin couldn't deny his curiosity. He hadn't been entirely sure when he had planned for this outing, whether or not Thomas would even be a reader as such. To know that he was interested enough to have something to look for was stirring to say the least. It only further proved their compatibility in Edwin's mind.

“Here you go.” Thomas said, confidently as he placed a paperback book into Edwin's hand. “I think you'll enjoy this one. I just finished it and it's very good.”

“Oh?” Edwin turned the book over in his hand, giving a glance at the synopsis on the back. 'A Marvellous Light' , it was called. It certainly sounded intriguing. “I haven't read it, but it certainly meets the mystery requirement.”

“It met the queer romance requirement for me, and the mystery was a bonus. Why don't you pick one out that you think that I would like, too? We can talk about them as we go.” Thomas suggested, incredibly enthusiastic about his sudden stroke of genius.

“I do admit that I can see the appeal.” he pretended to think about it. “Alright then, I confess that I have not dabbled much in the romance section, but I think I have just the thing.” he, to Thomas' surprise, headed to the same shelf that he himself had just been looking at.

When Edwin came back to him and handed him ' Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries' , it was clear that he wasn't sure what to make of it. Edwin almost asked him if he had already read it before, but Thomas beat him to the punch.

“I wouldn't have expected you to have read something like this. It's been on my TBR for a while.” Thomas said, sounding pleasantly surprised.

“A friend of mine got me to buddy read it with her and I quite enjoyed the academic way in which it was written. It is much like a field notebook or journal, with footnotes, though I admit that I enjoyed the fantastical elements just as much.” Edwin explained, relieved and glad that he had managed to choose something that Thomas seemed interested in.

“How about I buy you yours and you buy me mine, kind of like a little first date gift exchange?” Thomas suggested.

“That sounds like an excellent idea to me.” Edwin agreed.

They looked around for a little while longer, both Edwin and Thomas taking a prolonged moment to look around the gift section that was filled with puzzles, cards, note books, pen and pencil sets and the like. Outside of dedicated stationery stores, places like book shops always seemed to have the best things on display. He dared anyone to find him something better than a Flametree or Paperblanks notebook that wasn't handmade by an obscure small business online.

While Thomas' back was turned, he grabbed a small bookmark covered in rather beautiful illustrations of fairies and ended in a nice quality piece of ribbon. The perfect thing for him to use while reading his new book, Edwin thought.

Once they had left the store and Edwin had handed it over with the book, Thomas' eyes lit up in a way that Edwin hadn't expected. It was yet another thing that made his heart speed up. Goodness.

“Thanks.” Thomas smiled again, and was that a blush that Edwin could see?

“I thought it fitting for the choice of book.” he said, mentally patting himself on the back for the decision to get something extra, even though it was small.

“You thought right,” Thomas began before turning to teasing again. “and we both know how much you like being right.”

That brought a chuckle out of Edwin.

“Who doesn't?” he replied.

They continued their afternoon of hopping from store to store, admiring the different displays and occasionally making fun of cheesy book descriptions or covers. It was fun, so fun in fact that Edwin was being taken aback time and time again by how easy it was to let himself go around Thomas. He didn't feel like he had to hide or act a certain way, didn't feel like he had to put on a front to impress him or make a good impression.

Thomas just seemed to like him, and he just seemed to like Thomas.

By the time that they left the fifth book shop, they were both tired and pretty hungry, so Thomas gleefully suggested that Edwin allow him to take them to the ice cream shop around the corner that he frequented.

It was a hole in the wall sort of place, with a blue and white striped canopy and bunting across the store front. The inside only had two tables and one booth, with cream coloured tables and blue seats.

“They certainly have distinct branding.” Edwin commented as they passed the threshold.

“Gotta stand out with all those other places monopolising pink and yellow, right? Mix it up a bit, keep things interesting.” Thomas joked.

“You certainly seem the type to enjoy keeping things interesting.” Edwin teased.

“Of course, I've gotta keep your attention, right?” Thomas joked back, although oddly, there seemed to be a little less humour in those words than there had been before.

“Well, you certainly have nothing to worry about on that front.” Edwin reassured, though he kept an overall jovial tone. “You have most definitely captured my attention, and quite completely I might add.”

“Good to know.” Thomas smiled and turned his gaze towards the colourful array of ice cream flavours behind the spotless glass cabinet. “Oh shit, they have Jammy dodger.” he half-whispered in excitement.

“Jammy dodger?” Edwin asked, stepping closer with curiosity.

“Yeah, the ice cream itself tastes like the cookie part and it had the jam mixed in like it is with raspberry ripple.” Thomas was practically pressing his nose against the glass as he explained. “Oh my gosh and Cornish clotted cream...”

“May we get a double-scoop with one jammy dodger and one Cornish clotted cream, and another with two scoops of honeycomb?” Edwin directed at the girl behind the counter.

She smiled brightly, and twirled her scooper, “Waffle cone or pot?” she asked.

“Cones please.” Edwin replied.

“Good choice!” she exclaimed. “I always get the cone, too, that way you can eat the whole thing.”

She wasted no time in fetching them their order and ringing them up. Edwin paid of course, citing that it was him who asked Thomas out and therefore it was him who should pay for any food and drinks.

“I'll just have to ask you out for the next one, then.” Thomas winked and then took a careful lick of the Cornish clotted cream from the top of his cone.

The vision was practically sinful, and the pleased little noise that he made was even more so.

They sat in the booth by the front window as they finished up, discussing the different shops and what they had seen while they were there. And, to Edwin's delight, discussed the sorts of things that they both might be interested in doing on future dates.

By the time that they were done, and they had nothing more planned for the rest of the day, Edwin found that he really didn't want it to end. He wished that they had more time, that he had planned to carry their excursion right on through to dinner time. He didn't want to say goodbye.

“I kind of don't want this to end. Does that sound cheesy?” Thomas asked, turning to Edwin as they walked back towards the university campus together.

“I wouldn't worry too much about that; I don't want it to end either.” Edwin replied, offering him an empathetic sort of look. “How far is it to your flat?”

“Inviting yourself over already?” Thomas made a show of sounding shocked and gasping with a hand over his mouth. “Mr Payne, a lady should never be expected to put out on the first date.”

“Come now, you know that is not what I meant.” Edwin protested, cheeks aflame the moment he realised what Thomas was insinuating. “I merely wondered whether it would be feasible for me to walk you to your door.”

“Oh...” it was Thomas' turn to blush, and what a wonderful sight to witness. “I'd like that… It's just two blocks from the university, just around the corner from that sandwich shop.” he said, looking away as though it might cover for the fact that he was still rather flushed.

“Not too far then.” Edwin smiled, graciously pretending not to notice. “That is actually on the way to my own flat, so it's hardly out of the way.”

“We better make the most of it then.” Thomas brightened and looped his arm through Edwin's as they walked, pressing against his side.

The short walk was largely consumed by pleasant conversation that barely managed to distract Edwin from hyper-focusing on all the points where he could feel Thomas' warmth. He was experiencing so many things with this man that he was otherwise unaccustomed to. It was likely something that he would be harping on in his inner thoughts for quite some time (at least whatever amount of time it took for him to get used to it, which he did not expect to be small). This casual touch was something he would have expected himself to be uncomfortable with, but when it was Thomas, he found that instead of discomfort, he only felt assured by his presence.

Perhaps it was odd to feel assured by someone who he had met not that long ago and had only interacted with in person on two different occasions, but it wasn't as though he could control the way he felt. Perhaps it simply spoke to the chemistry that they shared, that Edwin could feel so at ease so early on.

Once they made it to the block of flats where Thomas resided, Edwin felt a small sinking sensation. He was undoubtedly disappointed that they had reached the location of their parting. Thomas hesitated to un-loop their arms and pull away from Edwin. It was a comfort to know that he was just as reluctant as Edwin.

“Well, this is me...” he said, moving back towards the steps to the entrance, though he was still facing Edwin and hadn't moved too far.

“It would seem that it is time for our first date to draw to a close.” Edwin fidgeted a little bit as he stood there, not wanting to be the first one to say goodbye or to walk away.

“You know, I may not put out on the first date… but a kiss would be nice.” Thomas broke the little bubble of silence that had started to form between them, looking up at Edwin rather coyly from under his lashes, biting his lower lip in a way that he must have known was enticing.

“That would be nice.” Edwin agreed.

“Then... Can I kiss you, Edwin?” Thomas asked, leaning subtly closer.

“Yes,” Edwin breathed, unable to prevent his eyes from darting down to Thomas' lips as he closed the distance.

When their lips finally met, it was soft and warm and gentle in the way that every good first kiss should be. They moved together slowly, savouring the sensation of each other without the need to delve deeper, despite the knowledge that greater depths were available for them both to explore should they so desire. It was everything that it needed to be, everything that either of them wanted it to be.

When the finally pulled back, both of them eventually feeling the need for air, they gazed at each other with a renewed fascination and an underlying hunger that waited patiently for when they would choose to indulge it.

“That was...” Edwin trailed off, not entirely certain how to finish his sentence. How could he sum up what that had felt like? How could anyone hope to sum up what it felt like to kiss and be kissed by Thomas King?

“Yeah… the feeling's mutual...” Thomas replied, just as happily dazed as Edwin.

A moment passed between them before Thomas leaned up again to place a quick peck to Edwin's lips before moving backwards up the four steps to his building. “Text me when you get back?” he grinned when he reached the top step.

“Of course.”

Thomas grinned as he went up to his door and buzzed himself in, blowing Edwin a kiss before going inside. Edwin didn't realise just how widely he had been smiling until he was almost half way back down the street and hadn't stopped.

Chapter Text

(graphic by Artemis Adore)

The following day, Edwin was practically buzzing to get over to Charles, Crystal and Niko's place. There was no way that he would be able to keep his first date to himself for any real length of time. He usually didn't like sharing too much about his private life, but he couldn't deny that he was excited to share everything with Niko when he got there.

He had texted Thomas the moment he had gotten back to his flat the night before and they had texted back and forth for several hours before Edwin could no longer keep his eyes open and had fallen asleep. He could very safely say that he had never felt this way before. Perhaps he should have been scared by that, but he wasn't, he was excited by it. A marvel. He had even texted him good morning when he had woken up, and had gotten an almost instant reply.

When he arrived at his friends' shared flat, they quickly buzzed him up and it only took a few minutes to get to their place. The door was, of course, immediately opened before he even had the opportunity to knock.

“Well hello to you as well.” He stifled a chuckle when he was greeted with Niko's overexcited expression.

“Edwin, you have to tell us everything!” she said, practically vibrating where she stood. “Charles and Crystal are getting the snacks, but we can talk on the sofa!”

“Tell us everything about what?” Crystal asked, poking her head around the corner from the kitchen.

“His first date yesterday, silly!” Niko exclaimed, turning to Crystal.

Edwin stepped inside and closed the door behind him, endeared as always by his friend's bright personality. He quickly removed his shoes and made his way into the living room with the girls.

“Oh shit, that's right.” Crystal smirked at him as they all sat. “So~ How did it go?” he had been expecting the teasing, but he didn't mind it as much as he expected. “Did he sweep you off your feet? Was it magical ?”

“It was very nice,” Edwin replied, smiling as he recalled it. “We went to several book stores and each picked a book for the other to read, and then we went for ice cream.”

“Oh my goodness! That's so cute!” Niko all but squealed. “Did you kiss?”

Edwin felt himself blushing and already knew that neither Niko nor Crystal would be letting him live it down.

“Holy shit, you actually did it! Come on, spill the details! Was it good?” Crystal teased him, lowering her voice into a suggestive tone at the end.

“It… was perfect.” Edwin felt shy all of a sudden. “I walked him back to his flat and he kissed me goodbye.”

“Kissed you on the first date, did he?” Charles entered the room with a platter of snacks and placed it down on the coffee table before perching on the arm of the sofa, next to Crystal. “The bloke can't keep his hands to himself.”

“I'll have you know, it was perfectly chaste. He asked me beforehand and I said yes. I wouldn't change a single thing about the day; it was lovely.” Edwin could feel himself blushing again and quickly realised that he may have to get used to it as things continued with Thomas.

“Charles, you kissed me on the first date.” Crystal pointed out, giving Charles an odd look.

“Yeah, well, that's different, innit?” Charles didn't seem to see a single flaw in his line of thinking. “I'm not… like that. ” he certainly seemed to think that he was elaborating.

“Like what?” Edwin asked, and the three of them waited.

“You know, like that .” He repeated, looking between them all a little helplessly as they gave him blank expressions. “Like, he's got a bad reputation, doesn't he? He's always sleeping around with anything that moves, hooking up at parties, making out with random people… he's just not the kind of guy you date .”

“Clearly he is or I wouldn't be dating him.” Edwin arched an eyebrow. “Besides, I really think that as long as I am the only person that he is dating currently, there is no need for me to hold his past against him.”

“He was single all those times though!” Niko pitched in, wanting to help Edwin to defend his new romantic interest. “from what I've seen.”

“That's true.” Crystal nodded. “Who cares if he had sex with a hundred people or whatever, as long as he's serious about Edwin.” she shrugged.

Charles held his hands up in surrender. “I was just looking out for you, that's all, mate.” he directed at Edwin.

“Really Charles, I do appreciate it, but there is no need in this instance.” Edwin replied with a sigh. He loved his best friend, but he could be a little overprotective sometimes. “We have only been on one date, and it went exceedingly well. I like him and I enjoy his company, therefore, I shall be opting to continue seeing him.”

“I know you can handle yourself, mate, but… just promise you'll tell us if something happens, yeah?” Charles asked, looking imploringly at Edwin. If he couldn't convince Edwin to do what he considered to be the right thing and dump Thomas, then he could at least be the first one to offer up his bat when things inevitably went down the toilet.

“ If something happens, which I am certain it will not, then I will not keep it from any of you.” Edwin confirmed, though he didn't bother to hide his exasperation.

“Alright! Now that's covered, we should get our movies sorted out for the marathon!” Niko clapped her hands together and then bounced over to the TV to sift through their options.

Edwin was thankful for the diversion.

-----

It did not take long for Thomas to get in touch with Edwin about organising their second date. In fact, it only took him two days. It was a rather spontaneous turn of events, Thomas having simply texted him to ask if he was currently busy before springing the idea on him.

You busy?

- Thomas

Not particularly… why?

-Edwin

Wanna go skating?

-Thomas

Skating? On the ice? I'll be honest, I hadn't even realised that there was a rink in the area.

-Edwin

I just found one on google and now I really wanna go with you.

- Thomas

…

Well, I suppose that it could be fun.

-Edwin

I'll pick you up in ten and text you when I'm outside. Wear something cute ;)

-Thomas

Please know that I am rolling my eyes.

See you soon

- Edwin

Edwin plugged his phone in to charge and went over to his wardrobe. He was certainly tempted to just wear what he had on already, but Thomas' request had him throwing on a dark blue knit faux-neck jumper, dark jeans and his usual pair of lace-up boots (there was no point in wearing nice shoes when he would spend the majority of the time in rented skates).

Those ten minutes passed by quicker than expected and soon enough Thomas was texting him that he was outside. Edwin grabbed his wallet, keys and phone, and if he happened to check himself out one last time before he left, then that was between him and the mirror on the back of his wardrobe door.

When he got outside, he was greeted with Thomas waiting right outside of the entrance. He was wearing a pair of light-wash jeans and a pale grey hoodie, and a well-looked-after pair of trainers. It was significantly dressed down in comparison to what he usually wore around their campus, but it suited him (as Edwin imagined that pretty much anything would suit him). He was leaning against the door of a dark teal Fiat 500 with a white interior. It was a typical first car for a lot of people their age, but something about Thomas King, specifically being the one to drive one, was kind of novel.

“Don't you dare laugh, this is my first car and I bought it with my own money.” Thomas said, presumably having read Edwin's expression.

“I am not laughing. It may be a more typical choice than I had expected of you, but it is perfectly acceptable.” Edwin defended himself, primly.

“That is the most British way you could have possibly said that.” Thomas could scarcely hold back his smile as he circled around to the driver's seat and opened the door. “Come on, let's go!”

Edwin huffed with a smile of his own and got in. Thomas started up the engine and with belts buckled, they headed for the ice rink.

-----

Upon their arrival, that car park was mostly empty, save for a few cars dotted around and a stray bicycle or two. It was mid-afternoon and the middle of the week, likely meaning that the majority of families that may have otherwise been there were at work and their kids were in school. The perfect time for an ice skating date.

When they headed inside, Thomas managed to pay for the rental skates before Edwin had the chance and simply grinned as he took them from the till assistant who handed them over the counter.

“What?” he asked. “Don't look at me like that. I was the one who asked you out, so I'm the one who's paying.” he reasoned.

“While I do respect that method, I personally prefer to pay my own way where I can.” Edwin replied, taking his own pair of skates from Thomas.

“Fine, fine, then you better ask me out for the next one and then you can pay if you want.” Thomas had not stopped smiling the whole time and Edwin was almost tempted to warn him of that, should the wind change direction, his face would be stuck like that forever.

Instead, they just headed over to the entrance to the rink where there were benches lining the outside and exchanged their boots for the skates. Thomas found himself staring as Edwin did up the laces of the skates tightly, methodically, as though he had definitely done so before. Thomas looked down at his own skates, half done-up and did his best to copy the way that Edwin had done it.

“You'll find it harder if they're not tight enough.” Edwin said.

“What?” Thomas looked up from his task only to find that Edwin was done and was watching him.

“Here,” Edwin shuffled towards Thomas on the bench. “Let me.”

Without another word, he took over the job, loosening the laces at the bottom and tightening them up where they needed to be. Thomas watched silently as Edwin tied his laces for him and then looked at him as though he hadn't just been doing something straight out of a rom-com.

“Thanks.” Thomas said in a small voice, feeling the tell-tale heat in his cheeks that meant that he was blushing.

“You are most welcome.” Edwin stood and offered Thomas his hand.

Thomas took it and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet, wobbling a bit as he attempted to walk across the textured floor to the entrance of the rink. One step at a time. He wondered to himself why he was starting to feel so nervous when he had been the one to invite Edwin out on this spontaneous date.

Edwin smiled at him reassuringly as they stepped out onto the ice and he even let out a little chuckle when Thomas immediately flailed and clung onto the side barrier. His unfairly charming date glared at him with betrayal as he skated around a bit – without leaving their bubble of personal space – and then settled back in front of Thomas with a smug expression.

“You know how to skate!” Thomas exclaimed in an accusatory tone.

“I never claimed anything to the contrary.” Edwin shrugged with a playful little smirk. So he was showing off a little, so what? It was nice to be able to just be good at something unexpected and not have the other person get weird about it.

“This sucks!” Thomas lamented.

“Why does it suck?” Edwin was trying not to find his dramatics too amusing, but was failing rather spectacularly.

“Because!” Thomas started, letting go of the barrier in order to gesticulate before sorely regretting it as he flailed again and was forced to grab a hold of the barrier once more. “You're gliding around like a swan and I'm gracelessly wobbling about like a baby deer.” he complained, just as soon as he had righted himself.

“Why on earth did you suggest skating if you didn't know how?” Edwin was fully smiling at that point and even snickering under his breath.

“I don't know! I just thought it would be fun!” Thomas replied, though he was starting to laugh through his protestations.

“Take my hands.” Edwin said, keeping himself steady as he held both of his arms out in front of him.

Thomas seemed dubious about it for a moment, as though maybe he expected Edwin to drop him on purpose the moment that he let go of the barrier, but then he looked at him a second longer and his expression changed to resolution. He took a breath and let go, propelling himself forwards slightly and fumbling before grabbing a hold of Edwin's arms. The impact of them colliding sent Edwin backwards, though he didn't fall, even as they spun a couple of times on the ice.

Thomas had his eyes screwed shut the entire time and Edwin couldn't help but find it entirely charming. He watched as they slowly stopped spinning and moving back and Thomas slowly opened his eyes, still clutching on to Edwin for dear life. And then he started laughing, well more like giggling.

“You didn't let go!” He said, through mounting giggles.

“Of course I didn't!” Edwin responded indignantly. “Why would I ever let go?”

“I thought for sure I'd end up on my ass.” Thomas looked up at Edwin, drawing himself closer as he did so and in that exact moment, Edwin was struck.

Thomas really was beautiful when he was laughing. It was that genuine look of joy, of mirth, the way the laughter made his eyes shine. Even if everything else in the day had been horrible up that point, this moment would have made it all worth it. Edwin wasn't usually someone who was spontaneous with his plans. He liked to be prepared and to know what to expect, even if it was also true that he was good at thinking of things on the fly, but he was so incredibly glad that he had gone outside of his comfort zone and said yes to Thomas' invitation.

Without over-thinking it, he leaned down and pressed a soft, fleeting kiss to Thomas' lips. Thomas blinked up at him in surprise, and the only regret that Edwin felt in that moment was that it had caused him to stop laughing.

“What was that for?” Thomas asked quietly.

Edwin decided to be honest. “You are extremely beautiful when you laugh.”

In response, Thomas considered him for any sign that he might have been untruthful, but when he found only sincerity, he moved one hand up to bring Edwin back in so that he could kiss him again. Edwin used his free arm to wrap around Thomas' waist, so that neither of them would lose their balance.

When they eventually pulled back, Edwin took a steadying breath, fully taking in the way that he felt, letting it wash through him and settle into his heart. Then, he took Thomas' hands properly in his own, linking their fingers together and started skating backwards again, guiding Thomas along with him.

There was a brief moment where Thomas looked like he thought he would fall, but with Edwin's steady hands leading him, he quickly found his footing. Before long, he was skating rather comfortably around the rink, with Edwin at his side rather than skating backwards ahead of him (though at no point did either of them choose to let go of the other's hand).

“I'm really glad that I asked you out today.” Thomas said, several hours later as they were leaving the rink.

Edwin, who had just held the door open for him on their way out, smiled and said; “I am really glad that I said yes.”

The drive back to Edwin's flat was spent listening to one of Thomas' many curated playlists as he sang along to them slightly out of key. It was so endearing that it might have been the only time that Edwin could say with his whole chest that he had enjoyed pop music. He had simply watched Thomas as he drove and committed the journey to memory. As far as second dates went, this one was pretty perfect.

Once again, he felt reluctant to let the date end, felt the need to try and prolong it for as long as he could. But, alas, the drive back to the flat was fairly short and it would likely be impractical for him to invite Thomas upstairs given that they both had university to worry about the following morning. It wasn't all that late, granted, but he knew that if he spent any more time alone with Thomas then he would be able to focus on nothing else for the rest of the evening.

He would be lucky if his mind wasn't already completely preoccupied when he got inside.

So, he simply leaned over the centre console of the car and kissed Thomas on the cheek. “You're such a tease~” Thomas had murmured to him, just as he had pulled back and climbed out to walk back up to the front entrance.

Edwin watched as Thomas blew him a kiss and winked in a most exaggerated manner before finally pulling away.

Edwin sighed happily and went back up to his flat.

-----

The next week saw them both frustratingly busy with university work. It was getting closer and closer to the time when they would have to think about submitting their dissertations and wrapping up their final major projects. Summer was right on the horizon.

However, that didn't mean that they hadn't made the time to meet up. They had taken to sharing their lunch breaks whenever they could, 'cute little lunch dates', Niko had called them when Edwin had told her about them.

That day, a Thursday, was one of the times when Niko was able to take her lunch break at the same time as well, and she had all but begged for Edwin to finally introduce her to his new boyfriend. Edwin had blushed a brilliant shade of red when she had referred to them as such. He hadn't thought about it, but he supposed that that was exactly what they were. It was nice, having someone that he could call a boyfriend, and he was glad that that person was Thomas.

Niko had met him outside of his class with a gleeful look on her face. She was wearing all pink – one of her many meticulously planned outfits – and that surely meant that she was in the mood for a little romance (read: happily accompanying Edwin as he met up with his boyfriend). He was actually very much looking forward to the two of them meeting officially for the first time.

Sure, they had seen each other in passing at house parties and while clubbing, but this would be their first introduction with the context of their respective relationships to Edwin. It was sort of exciting. His dear friend and the person that he was now seeing romantically. If he had a certain pep in his step on the way down to the cafeteria, then Niko definitely noticed, though she opted not to say anything, just smiled at him knowingly.

When they walked in, Thomas had already grabbed them a table by the window. They all tended to bring their own lunch, though Edwin had stopped – as he did nearly every lunch break – to order himself an Earl Grey tea from the counter before walking over. Thomas had waved enthusiastically as they approached and the moment that Edwin had placed his takeaway cup safely on the table, Thomas had leant up and kissed him on the cheek before sinking back down in his seat with a cheeky grin.

Niko did a little squeal and sat down next to Edwin at the end of the table. “You guys are so cute!” she exclaimed.

“Thomas, this is one of my closest friends, Niko. Niko, this is Thomas… my boyfriend.” it was as the words left his mouth that he abruptly realised that they had never talked about labels. They had never actually made it official during any of the times that they had met up, but Edwin had just assumed.

His eyes darted to Thomas in a mild panic and saw that his whole face was blushing from the tips of his ears, all the way down his neck. But most importantly, he was smiling, biting his lower lip in a way that was unfairly tantalising.

“Nice to meet you, Niko.” Thomas said, unable to keep the grin off of his face.

“So~ what's it like being Edwin's boyfriend?” she asked, leaning her elbows on the table and her chin against the top of her folded hands.

“Being Edwin's boyfriend , is pretty fucking great, thanks.” Thomas was still grinning, his tone dripping with how pleased he was at this little development.

Edwin took a sip of his tea to hide the blush that he was sure that he was also sporting at this point. He could not believe that he had just done that, but he was hugely relieved that it had gone over well. Thomas was his boyfriend, officially. He took another sip of his tea, this time to hide his smile.

“Edwin told me all about how you guys met!” Niko said excitedly, “It was so romantic, like something straight out of a rom-com!”

“No kidding!” Thomas agreed, causing Edwin's cheeks to warm even more than they already had. “I really feel like I've been living in a rom-com. Always knew I was a main character.” he added the last part in jest.

Niko giggled, “You guys should give it a year and then totally pitch your relationship to Netflix or something.”

“No way,” Thomas laughed. “If we did that, it'd never get a second season and I'd like it to last a little longer than that.”

“More than a little, I'd hope.” Edwin said, placing his cup back down on the table.

Thomas just looked at him fondly for a prolonged moment.

“So cute!” Niko half-whispered before ducking to the side and pulling out a meticulously prepared bento from her backpack. It was in a three-tiered box, the top filled with egg rolls, and three small onigiri, the second containing mixed vegetables and some little sausages in a separate compartment that had been cut to look like little octopi, and the third contained a small selection of mochi. She pulled them apart neatly and brandished her Hello Kitty chopsticks with a click, click .

“Alright, leave us to our peasant lunches.” Thomas chuckled, impressed, as he presented a regular chicken salad sub, a packet of tropical skittles and a capri-sun.

“Speak for yourself.” Edwin said, taking out another well-prepared lunch, this time of two kinds of miniature sandwiches that were cut neatly into perfect triangles, a selection of chopped veggies and a little pot of strawberries and apple slices.

Thomas looked between them, forlorn. “You guys are gonna live so much longer than me...Edwin, give me a strawberry?” he asked the question in a fake cutesy voice that made Edwin proud of himself for not cringing.

“No.” he replied.

“Pretty please? I'll let you have a sip of my capri-sun~” Thomas tried again, batting his lashes.

“...give me all your pineapple skittles.” Edwin countered.

“ All of them?” Thomas looked at him aghast, but as silence stretched between them, he eventually relented. “Alright, I'll give them to you, but you have to feed me the strawberry.”

Edwin sighed and rolled his eyes, but he took out a strawberry from the pot and held it out across the table, the back of it caught between his thumb and forefinger. Thomas looked like the cat that got the cream as he leaned over and took it in his mouth, making a show of quickly licking Edwin's fingers as he did so.

At Edwin's shocked gasp, Thomas sat back in his seat and gleefully savoured his strawberry while his boyfriend wiped his hand with a napkin and rummaged around in his bag for hand sanitizer.

“Well I never...” Edwin muttered, causing Thomas' grin to widen.

When Edwin was done, he was met with Thomas' outstretched palm, containing six pineapple skittles. Edwin took them with a grumble, the terms of their barter having been fulfilled.

They chatted and joked around together as they ate their lunch and Edwin felt an immense happiness at the sight of his boyfriend and one of his best friends getting along so swimmingly. It was almost like they had been friends for years, the way they instantly got along and it filled him with hope that it would go even half as well with Crystal and Charles later down the line.

He was excited by the prospect of them getting to know Thomas and the prospect of Thomas becoming a permanent part of their group. Things were still relatively new, of course, but Edwin didn't do things half-heartedly, least of all relationships and especially not this one.

“Oh, Thomas, you must make yourself free this coming Saturday.” Edwin said, just as they were finishing up. They only had a few more minutes left of their respective lunch breaks.

“I must make myself free? Oh~ What for? Is it sexy ?” Thomas drawled in a way that was blatantly exaggerated, but caused Edwin's stomach to flip nonetheless.

“That depends,” he replied, “How sexy do you find the Natural History Museum?”

 “Are you kidding? That's like the third sexiest place I've ever been.” Thomas joked, very much enjoying the way that Edwin affectionately rolled his eyes.

“Excellent.” He replied. “I will meet you outside of your flat at eleven AM if that is amenable to you?”

“Can't wait.” Thomas smiled sweetly, “You can tell me all about your favourite bits and then we can spend way too much time in the dinosaur section looking at bones.”

“That is the best part, after all.” Edwin smiled back.

“You guys are seriously so cute!” Niko commented, causing both of them to remember her presence. She had been watching them make their plans with a sappy, highly entertained expression.

“Maybe next time we can all go together.” Edwin suggested.

“I'd say I don't wanna be a third wheel, but that would be a lie! You guys are like, living a total rom-com plot right now and I would so love to be a fly on the wall.” she said with a giggle.

“It'd be fun. First one's a date, second one's a group outing.” Thomas agreed, “Besides, you need more than a day to see the entire Natural History Museum.”

“Right you are, Thomas.” Edwin nodded “Perhaps with a group, we will be more inclined to look beyond the Mesozoic era.”

“No guarantees.” Niko grinned. “I gotta get myself one of those little stone diplodocuses from the gift shop.”

Before they could talk much longer, it was time for them to go their separate ways. The lunch period always seemed to go so much faster when Edwin spent it with Thomas, and faster still when Niko was there too. He supposed the old adage was true; time really did fly when you were having fun.

Chapter Text

When Saturday rolled around, the weather was none too ideal. It was significantly rainier than had been indicated by the forecast the previous afternoon. If there was one thing that could be expected of British weather, it was that it was unpredictable, sunny one moment and raining the next. Thankfully it wasn't all that bad, just a light drizzle (though that didn't mean that it wouldn't get any worse as the day progressed).

Edwin dressed accordingly in a button-down and a dark green sweater vest, dark trousers and his usual pair of boots. He was just thinking about how he wanted to look good, but not like he was trying too hard, when it struck him; since when had he held any concern for such things? He shook his head to rid himself of such useless thoughts and grabbed his coat and umbrella before heading out.

Thankfully it wasn't windy outside, or the umbrella would be useless. He preferred them over raincoats, if only for the sound of the pitter-patter of raindrops against the clear plastic.

When he finally arrived outside of Thomas' block of flats, he didn't even have to text him that he was there. Thomas was already standing outside, safely tucked under the canopy of the entrance that stuck out over the doorway. The moment that he saw Edwin, he perked up and waved.

He was wearing a purple raincoat over a black sweater and cuffed light-wash denim jeans with that same pair of black combat boots that he seemed to favour. He had on a simple gold chain necklace and a single dangling earring that matched. It was so effortless, and yet, Edwin could tell that he had thought about it the way that he always did.

Edwin smiled up at him and watched as he bounded down the front steps only to jump the last one and land directly in front of him with a cheeky grin.

Good heavens, he was beautiful.

“Hey~” he said, clearly unbothered by the less than ideal weather conditions.

“Good morning, Thomas.” Edwin greeted in return, his own spirits lifted by the other's presence. “Ready to peruse the skeletons?”

“You bet your fantastic ass, I am.” Thomas winked and Edwin flushed, unable to respond to such a statement with anything ineligible.

Thomas just smiled even more broadly and looped his arm through Edwin's, leaning against his shoulder so that he fit under the umbrella as well.

It didn't take them long to get to the station and then it was a short train ride into central London to get to the museum. Luckily, they had managed to snag a couple of seats and Thomas had shared his ear buds with Edwin to pass the time. He was pleasantly surprised to find that he had a liking for Bowie.

Once they were inside, they were instantly hit with the magnitude of the place, the large escalator going up the middle of the lobby through a giant meteor. They really didn't pull any stops when it came to organising their displays. Thomas immediately looked to Edwin with an excited look on his face, and he knew that they would be lost to prehistoric reptiles for the vast majority of their date. Not that it was something that bothered him, though, on the contrary; he loved the enthusiasm.

Edwin allowed himself to be practically dragged over to the escalator and enjoyed the experience of going up through the space scene, past bits of meteor and fire until they got up through the centre of the main structure.

There was so much to explore and so many different routes to take through the exhibits that they would never be able to cover it in a single day, but that didn't mean that they weren't going to do their absolute level best.

They did, in fact, spend an inordinate amount of time looking at the dinosaurs and making a point to read every single one of the little plaques that were dotted around the area by each different thing. It was unbelievably fun to go through the place with someone who seemed just as eager to take in everything that it had to offer. They even ended up playing along with the interactive parts like the shutter games and the colourful little wooden doors in one of the walls that each hid a different dinosaur fact behind it.

Edwin wasn't usually one to have his phone out during social outings, but he couldn't suppress the urge to chronicle some of their date with candid photographs of Thomas looking up at the hanging dinosaur skeletons in wonderment or excitedly looking at the crystal and gemstone displays in the geology section.

Once Thomas noticed that this was happening, however, he grabbed the phone from Edwin's hand and switched it to the front camera before pressing himself close to Edwin's side and snapping a few selfies. He did this again with his own phone, smacking a kiss against Edwin's cheek for one of them, an action which left Edwin thoroughly flustered for a good long while.

As they continued on through the different exhibits, it was easy to lose track of time, whiling away the hours between space photography and skeletons and the coolest rocks either of them had ever seen.

“Okay, okay, one stop at the dinosaur gift shop and then we can move on, I promise.” Thomas said, gesturing to the small shop with the glaringly obvious ' Jurassic Park ' signage.

“Alright, I won't deny that it intrigues me as well.” Edwin agreed, following Thomas through the archway.

Inside was a vast array of merchandise for the museum, and wall-to-wall displays of dinosaur-themed gifts that ranged from figures, to books, to key chains, to plushies, to little statues made of stone.

“Look at this!” Thomas turned to Edwin, brandishing a green metal ruler that was topped with the head of a triceratops.

Edwin hid his chuckle behind his hand and picked up one of the little stone statues, just big enough to use as a paperweight. “I think this might be what Niko was referencing.” he said.

“You should get her one.” Thomas suggested, “that way she won't feel too left out.”

Edwin smiled warmly at that. It meant a great deal to him that Thomas got along well with Niko, and that the two of them seemed to enjoy each other's company so far. It was thoughtful of him to suggest bringing her a souvenir. “I think I shall.” Edwin replied.

They looked around for a while, pointing out interesting trinkets to each other as they went. In the end, they left with matching metal key chains that had dinosaurs etched into them with the museum logo (a keepsake for both of them to remember the day by, as Thomas had put it), one of the museum t-shirts for Thomas and a little stone diplodocus to take back for Niko.

It was as they were leaving the gift shop that Edwin realised what time it was, getting well into the late afternoon.

“Good heavens, there's only a couple of hours to spare before I am to be meeting my friends for a movie night.” he said, suddenly worried about getting back on time.

“Time flies, right?” Thomas smiled, though he seemed a little disappointed that this was going to mean the end of their date.

Edwin could definitely empathise with that feeling.

“Why don't you come with me?” Edwin said, suddenly. “There will be takeaway, Niko will be there and you could meet Charles and Crystal as well.”

Thomas blinked at him a couple of times, taken aback by the offer. “Are you sure I won't be intruding?” he asked.

“Of course not!” Edwin answered, offended by the mere notion that Thomas wouldn't be welcome in this part of his life. “I will text them about it now.”

I would like to bring Thomas along with me to the movie night.

-Edwin

OMG YAY! Yes! Bring him!

- Niko

Seriously? Haven't you only been on two dates?

- Charles

Be nice! Thomas is really cool!

- Niko

Three dates, actually. We are just leaving the Natural History Museum.

- Edwin

Oooh~ Third date, you know what that means!

- Crystal's

????

- Edwin

Crystal, leave him alone, he doesn't know what that means!!

- Charles

What does that mean?

- Edwin

DO NOT tell him!!

- Charles

I'm gonna tell him!

- Crystal

DO NOT!!!

- Charles

DMing him as we speak

- Crystal

What are you on about? This is ridiculous.

- Edwin

Guys stop! This is about Thomas coming to movie night, which I 100% approve of!

- Niko

Thank you, Niko.

- Edwin

I don't want him there.

- Charles

Why not? You better have a real reason this time.

- Crystal

I just don't! He's shifty!

- Charles

He is not shifty, Charles. He is perfectly nice and he is my boyfriend. You will have to learn to let go of your preconceived notions and accept him eventually because he is a part of my life.

- Edwin

Thomas is really nice and he really likes Edwin! Just give him a chance!

- Niko

“What are they saying? They don't want me there, huh?” Thomas said, watching as Edwin's face became more and more irritated.

Edwin sighed and looked up from his phone. “It is just Charles. He has been my best friend for a very long time and he is a bit… overprotective.” he explained with a wince. “The girls seem to approve though.”

“That's good?” Thomas replied like it was a question.

“There was also some implication about third dates that has gone completely over my head and no one is explaining it.” Edwin frowned.

“Oh!” Thomas giggled. “It's nothing crazy. There's this old idea that people put out – or have sex – on the third date. It's pretty antiquated, honestly. I don't know anyone who actually uses that as a rule.” he shrugged.

“Oh...” Edwin could feel his face turning red as his mind was rapidly filled with a very specific set of imagined things.

“They're just teasing you. In reality, there's no real timeline for that. It's different for everyone.” Thomas tried to reassure him, not knowing the kind of thoughts that were currently swimming around Edwin's head.

Thomas told me what three dates means. Do grow up.

- Edwin

hahahahahaha

- Crystal

He better not be expecting anything!

- Charles

He is not expecting anything. I am bringing him with me to movie night and you are going to be civil about it.

- Edwin

Yay!

- Niko

Yes! Bring him!

- Crystal

Fine.

- Charles

Edwin put his phone back into his pocket and turned to Thomas. “Ready to brave the rain?” he asked.

“As long as I can get under your umbrella again.” Thomas gently knocked into Edwin's side as they walked towards the exit.

It was something that Edwin might have considered irritating or an invasion of space from someone else, but he found that he really didn't mind when it came to Thomas. If anything, he actually enjoyed that he wasn't shy about initiating physical affection or contact. It had always been something that Edwin struggled with, initiating things, but something about Thomas had him wanting to accept what was being offered, and wanting to draw closer to Thomas on his own as well.

As they stepped out of the door, Edwin put up his umbrella and leaned it so that it was covering more of Thomas than himself as his boyfriend once again tucked against his side. The brisk walk to the train station was spent with Edwin fighting the dumb smile from his face and enjoying the warmth that seeped through his coat and into his skin where Thomas leaned into him.

-----

When they arrived at Crystal, Charles, and Niko's shared flat, it was ten minutes later than when Edwin would usually arrive for movie nights. Usually, getting held up would bother Edwin (he liked to be punctual), but Thomas hadn't wanted to show up empty-handed, and so they had stopped at a Tesco on the way and bought several large sharing bags of gummy sweets and chocolate.

Edwin barely had the chance to knock before Niko was enthusiastically swinging the door open and greeting them with an excited grin.

“Hi! You're here! Thomas is here, too! Come in!” she exclaimed as she waved them both inside.

“Hello, Niko.” Edwin greeted her back warmly as he stepped inside. “I trust that preparations for the evening's activities are well under way?”

“Of course!” she replied, “Charles is setting up the DVD player and Crystal is microwaving popcorn. I've been organising the snacks into bowls.”

“Well, we got some extras.” Thomas smiled as he followed Edwin inside and passed the bag over to Niko. “Hope they're ones you guys will like.”

“Ooooh! There's Starbursts and Twirl Bites in here!” Niko exclaimed. “Twirls are Charles' favourites.” she said the last part in a stage whisper and then giggled brightly, bouncing into the kitchen with the bag in hand.

From the hallway, Edwin and Thomas could hear Crystal very clearly digging through the bag and triumphantly retrieving the jumbo pack of Rowntree's Randoms with a resounding “Oh, hell yeah!”. They shared a humorous look and Edwin really hoped that it would ease some of Thomas' nervousness about meeting the rest of his friends.

“Well, that went over well.” Edwin smiled.

“Glad I had you giving me advice on what to choose.” Thomas replied with a smile of his own.

“Let's wait in the lounge, shall we?” Edwin suggested, leading Thomas down the hall and over to the living room door, which had been left wide open. It was directly opposite to the entrance to the kitchen.

“Hi Thomas!” Crystal called from behind the counter. Upon looking over, they could see that she had already dug into the bag of Randoms and was pulling out all of the ones that were shaped like crocodiles.

“Hey! Crystal, right? I think I've seen you around.” Thomas said, stepping out from behind Edwin.

“Yeah, I've been to a couple of your parties with Niko and Charles before.” She leaned against the counter as she spoke. “Didn't get to say more than a cursory hi to you, though, you're a man in-demand.” she joked.

“Well, it's nice to meet you all more officially, then,” Thomas responded easily. “To think, I could have met this gorgeous man sooner if I'd only spoken to you for longer one of those nights.” he nudged Edwin with a grin, playing up the act of woe over his missed opportunity.

It paid off the moment that Edwin brought his hand up to cover his mouth as he chuckled quietly. “Really, Thomas. I think that the way that we met was just fine.”

“Yeah, never been so glad to get knocked on my ass and send someone's dissertation flying across the street.” Thomas laughed and Edwin's heart swooped pleasantly at the sound.

“Gross! You two are so gooey!” Crystal complained.

She was distracted from saying more though, when the microwave went off behind her and the smell of fresh popcorn wafted through the apartment as she opened the door. Not one of them could prevent themselves from salivating at the scent.

“Alright, I do believe that is our cue to make our way into the lounge.” Edwin gestured to the right and Thomas stepped inside the room in front of him.

The room was small and cozy, to be expected from a student flat. There was a wide four-seater sofa against the wall to the left of the room, facing the TV with a little wooden coffee table in between. The table was resting on top of a cute oval-shaped rug that was covered in little stripy cats. One of Niko's additions to the place, no doubt.

“Good evening, Charles.” Edwin greeted his best friend with a warm smile. “Having fun?”

Charles was not, in fact, having fun. He was hunched over their old DVD play trying to figure out why it wasn't connecting to the television. He let out a heavy sigh and put it down on the floor.

“Mate, I am having the opposite of fun. DVD player won't connect to the TV properly, will it? I've been at it for at least fifteen minutes and it's driving me up the bloody wall.” Charles dropped his arms to his sides in defeat and huffed.

“Is it on the right extension?” Thomas asked, peering around Edwin, curiously.

“What are you on about?” Charles asked.

“Is the channel switched to the extension that matched the HDMI port on the back of the TV?” he elaborated, moving closer to get a better look. “Maybe it's on the wrong one.”

“No one asked for your opinion.” Charles mumbled.

“There's a lot of cables back here, I'd almost forgotten what it was like before the invention of streaming services.” Thomas joked, pointedly ignoring Charles' remark.

“You can pry the physical media from my cold dead hands.” Edwin walked over to the sofa and grabbed the remote. He pointed it at the telly and brought up the menu. “Which one is it plugged into?”

Thomas walked around Charles and leaned over to get a view of the back of the TV, where all of the cables were plugged in. “Extension four, I think.”

Edwin tried it. “That does not seem to be the correct channel.” Edwin frowned, flicking through the different extension channels before landing back on four again.

“Well, I could have told you that, couldn't I?” Charles picked up the DVD player and put it back on the lowest shelf under the TV stand, attempting to switch it off and on again.

Meanwhile, Thomas pushed a cable into place and suddenly, extension four lit up with a DVD menu screen. He was so, so tempted to be smug, but instead just smiled politely as he walked back to Edwin's side and plopped himself down on the arm of the chair.

“It seems that the issue has been solved.” Edwin said, “Do we have a selection picked out for tonight?”

Charles glared at Thomas from where he was still seated on the floor and Edwin really, really hoped that he would at least try to remain civil. He wanted his friends to like Thomas. He wanted Charles to like Thomas because his opinion was important to Edwin. He just didn't understand where the animosity was coming from.

Never mind. He would simply get Charles used to Thomas' presence via exposure therapy. Edwin would bring his boyfriend along to as many group activities as possible until Charles got used to him. Thomas was good for Edwin; he was nice and fun, and bright, and Edwin knew that Charles would appreciate him if only he would let himself see beyond Thomas' past.

“Yeah, Niko wanted to watch The Cat Returns again and it's her turn to choose the movies, so,” Charles offered a half-shrug and got to his feet just as Crystal came into the room, carrying a large mixing bowl full of popcorn.

“Snacks are ready!” Niko announced as she followed Crystal into the room and they placed their selection on the coffee table.

Niko hurried over to the DVD player and put the disk into the tray before shuffling back to the sofa to snag her usual seat, closest to the door. She liked it because it meant that she got one of the sofa's arm rests all to herself, something that she could hardly be faulted for. Thomas had managed to snag the other side, which meant that Edwin, Crystal and Charles would be relegated to squishing in between them.

Edwin, of course, sat closest to Thomas and Charles sank down on his other side, with Crystal between him and Niko. It was a bit of a tight fit, and it looked like there might be a complaint, but before anyone could say anything, Thomas twisted himself slightly and draped his legs across Edwin's lap, allowing Edwin a little more space. Upon realising what he was trying to do, Edwin shuffled closer and put one arm behind Thomas so that the position would be a little more comfortable.

Thomas offered him a little grin and Edwin could see the subtle blush that had arisen on his boyfriend's cheeks. “This okay?” Thomas asked quietly.

“Of course,” Edwin replied, “it was good thinking.”

“Ugh! You guys are gonna be so insufferable, aren't you?” Crystal teased them with a grin.

“Probably!” Thomas replied cheerfully.

Charles rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest, sulkily. Niko just giggled from her end seat and pressed play on the remote. Edwin really wanted to scold him, but he didn't want to cause a disruption. No matter, he could always give Charles a talking to at a later date should he choose to continue with his poor attitude. It was almost humorous to see him so sulky.

Rather than make a fuss, Edwin leaned back into the sofa and relaxed, giving his best effort to concentrate on the whimsical animated movie on the screen and not the warm – almost comforting - pressure of Thomas practically snuggling up against his side. It was nice.

Edwin brought his free hand up to rest on one of Thomas' knees and relaxed further into it, letting himself simply enjoy the presence of his boyfriend and his friends around him, as the Baron and his two trusty companions do their utmost to rescue their new human friend from turning into a cat.

Once the movie has ended, they go about ordering some pizza for dinner and chat while they wait for it to arrive. When it does, it's Charles that gets up to collect it from the delivery guy. Crystal is the one to lean forward and shift the snacks over to the side to make space.

Edwin offers to fetch glasses from the cupboard for their drinks and then returns to his previous position directly after placing the five cups on the table. He was far too comfortable to give up his spot and Thomas certainly didn't seem to mind.

Niko put on her next movie choice (Whisper of the Heart), and they settled in with the pizza and drinks. Edwin was pleasantly surprised by the reappearance of the Baron in this movie as well, though this time he was a statue with sparkling eyes and the subject of the main character's fantasy story.

By the end of the film, all of them were full up and starting to get tired. Thomas was visibly getting sleepy and Edwin found himself with the sudden urge to wrap him up in blankets. The thought struck him with another that followed instantaneously: ' What would it be like to fall asleep next to Thomas?' and then, 'What would it be like to wake up with him, in his arms?'. Edwin quickly shook the thoughts from his mind, sure that he could examine them further at a more opportune time.

“Would you like for me to walk you home?” Edwin asked Thomas, in a whisper. “I wouldn't feel right about having you go alone when you're this tired.”

“I certainly wouldn't mind it.” Thomas answered with a sleepy smile. “My knight in shining armour, how chivalrous~”

“Edwin's just a good person, that's all.” Charles commented, refusing to look at them directly while they were all cuddled up together.

Nevertheless, Thomas' expression softened as he replied; “Yeah, he really is.”

“Oh my fuck! Enough of the sappiness! Just go home already!” Crystal jeered with another wide grin on her face. It was clear that she was going to have all the fun in the world teasing them over their relationship.

“Please, Crystal, like you and Charles were any better when the two of you first got together.” Edwin retorted.

“Oi! We were not that bad!” Charles protested.

“Yeah, we were.” Crystal smirked and tried not to laugh at the way Edwin's eyebrows had shot up in disbelief at Charles' denial. Their honeymoon period had lasted over seven months and they were barely any better now.

“You so were! You couldn't keep your hands off of each other! It was so romantic!” Niko gushed, her smile as bright as ever.

“Alright, fine. I concede.” Charles held up his hands as he turned a bright red and Crystal leaned across to smack a kiss against his cheek. The expression on his face was so lovestruck and silly that it only proved Edwin's point.

Edwin was the first to get up from the sofa – reluctant as he was to get out from underneath Thomas' legs – and offered his boyfriend a hand. Thomas took it, of course and instead of letting Edwin's hand go when he was up, simply turned and laced their fingers together.

Just like that, Edwin was feeling sappy. Sure, he had had boyfriends before in the past, but none of them had filled him with such excitement or quite so many mushy feelings. He had never thought himself a particularly affectionate person outwardly, but Thomas was causing all sorts of unfamiliar urges to fly up towards the surface of his mind.

They bid their goodbyes and Niko pulled them both into a hug before waving to them as they left.

Blessedly, it had stopped raining outside and they were free to take a more leisurely pace down the darkened street, lit only by the intermittent street lamps that were dotted along the edge of the pavements. The only sound that accompanied them was the distant music of a house party a couple of streets over and the quiet thudding of their own footsteps.

“Did you have a good time?” Edwin asked just as Thomas had begun to subtly swing their joined hands back and forth between them. “I do hope that you didn't find Charles too off-putting. He can be quite stubborn when he wants to be.”

“I'm sure I'll win him over eventually.” Thomas winked. “I'm irresistible.”

“You certainly have your abundant charms.” Edwin smiled, taking note of how pretty his boyfriend looked under the warm light of the street lamps.

“I certainly do!” Thomas agreed, chuckling slightly before moving closer to Edwin so that their shoulders brushed together. “Do you know why he doesn't like me?” his tone took a more insecure tinge, not knowing what he could have done wrong to cause someone he had never really met properly to dislike him.

“I think that he thinks you are promiscuous due to what he has heard about your history.” Edwin replied honestly. He didn't think that it would do either of them any good if he were to sugar-coat his response or beat around the bush.

“Ah.” Thomas said, suddenly understanding. “He doesn't think I'm serious about you.”

“Rest assured that I, and the girls, have already told him that his line of thinking is antiquated and ridiculous. Just because you have had short relationships and one-night-stands in the past does not mean that our relationship should be any less sincere.” Edwin rushed to reassure him, giving his hand a light squeeze.

“Damn right!” Just like that, Thomas' smile was right back on his face where it belonged. “It's true I had a lot of hook-ups before I met you and my past relationships haven't exactly ended well, but that doesn't mean I'm not serious about you. We haven't been together for very long, but this might be the most fun I've had in a relationship. I like being with you, Edwin, and I want to keep being with you for as long as you want me, too.”

It was a lot for Edwin to digest, but it was undeniable that he felt the exact same way. He liked being with Thomas, he felt free and uninhibited in a way that he hadn't experienced in his previous relationships, and he most definitely wanted to spend as long of a time with Thomas as the other man would want him for.

“I like being with you, too.” Edwin said, just above a whisper. “I'll have you for as long as you'll have me.”

“Better get used to me then.” Thomas replied in a low tone, expression that of a man completely taken. “I might just decide to never let you go.”

“You shan't catch me complaining.” Edwin quickly kissed Thomas' cheek.

The two of them happily walked the rest of the way with matching giddy smiles.

Chapter Text

Alright, I've figured out where our next date will be!

- Thomas

Oh? Do tell.

- Edwin

There's a Fashion History exhibit on at this hole-in-the-wall gallery in central London.

- Thomas

That certainly sounds agreeable to me.

-Edwin

Fuck, I love the way you talk! Have I said that before?

- Thomas

I fail to see how there is anything of particular interest in the way that I speak.

- Edwin

It's so proper, I feel like I'm talking to a real English Gentleman.

- Thomas

You are talking to a real English Gentleman.

- Edwin

Oh~ I am swooning~ Catch me!

- Thomas

Thomas, we are text messaging!

- Edwin

You're so cute!

- Thomas

When exactly is this exhibit?

- Edwin

Two hours from now?

- Thomas

Thomas!! What if I had been busy?

- Edwin

Are you?

- Thomas

…

No.

- Edwin

I'll pick you up in 30 mins?

- Thomas

Alright, I suppose I will go and make myself presentable.

- Edwin

<3 <3 <3

- Thomas

Edwin immediately busied himself with figuring out what to wear. What was appropriate attire for a fashion exhibit? He hadn't been to one before and therefore had no idea what would be expected of him. Was there even a dress code at all?

He opened up his wardrobe and rummaged through his hangers, hoping for something that would stand out to him.

It took longer than he would have wanted, but eventually he settled on a simple black turtleneck – one that consisted of a light fabric, given the fact that the weather was steadily growing warmer – and a pair of trousers that he had been told 'fit him like a glove'.

“It will do.” He said to himself as he examined the outfit in his mirror.

Just as he went about making sure that he had his wallet, keys and phone on him, Thomas texted to let him know that he was already waiting outside. Edwin smiled to himself and that familiar excitement filled him the same way that it did every time he was going to spend time with Thomas.

This would be their fourth official date, though they had spent plenty of time together at coffee shops and book stores in between their more planned outings. Being with Thomas was as easy as breathing. He was always enthusiastic and ever so charming, even when he was going along with something that Edwin had suggested which others might have considered boring. He met Edwin on his own level and Edwin found himself naturally doing the same.

If someone were to look at them individually, then they would likely never assume that the two of them would be so well-suited to each other. They did not have similar personalities and their sense of style and mannerisms could not have been much more different. However, the two of them shared many similarities that were not visible to the naked eye. They were both voracious readers, liked to explore museums and galleries, had an enjoyment for the arts, and most importantly, they found each others' differences to be utterly enchanting.

Thomas had also attended three more movie nights since the first one that Edwin had brought him to and, although Charles was still frosty, the girls had readily accepted him into their group. It meant a lot to him that they were actively trying to include him and make him feel welcome, especially with Charles doing the exact opposite. It meant more still that Thomas was being so persistent in proving that he was there to stay. He had not been deterred by Charles in the slightest and to say that Edwin was immensely relieved by that fact would be a drastic understatement.

When he got outside, Thomas was once again leaning against the side of his car. This time, he was wearing a fine mesh top that was printed with a classical painting of Venus. He paired it with high-waisted denim jeans that cinched with its elasticated waist and ankles, his usual black boots and a cropped denim jacket.

He looked… Well, he looked exactly like himself, if in a little bit of a lighter palette.

As Edwin approached, he caught sight of the silver chain around Thomas' neck and the chunky silver earring that twinkled in the sun. He had also dusted his eyelids with some sparkly white powder and lined his eyes with a subtle, dark kohl.

“How is it that you become more attractive each time that I see you?” Edwin asked, not even trying to hide the fondness that he felt towards the other man.

“I could ask you the same question, sweetheart~” Thomas replied with a cheeky wink.

The drive to the gallery didn't take more than fifteen minutes, even with London traffic. Thomas only briefly lamented the congestion charges, which was a feat in and of itself. It usually wasn't worth driving anywhere in London unless you absolutely had to, what with the heavy traffic and cost of it all, but every now and then, it was nice to have a car available.

For one, they could happily blast the air conditioning and block out the pollution with their rolled up windows. For two, Edwin got to sit next to Thomas and happily watch him as he sang along to Lady GaGa or Britney Spears on the radio, tapping his fingers rhythmically on the steering wheel.

When they had found somewhere to park and walked their way around to the gallery's front entrance, the place became more obvious. There was a small line of people being filtered inside by a clerk and the sign outside read 'Glass Moon Gallery of Modern Art' in big, bold lettering, and was backed by a rainbow-coloured mural that swirled around the glass double-doors and across the wall.

“Do we need tickets to enter?” Edwin asked as he watched the people in front of them scanning something at the door.

“Yeah, but don't worry, I already got that covered.” Thomas smiled, holding up his phone, which displayed a QR code for entrance to the exhibit.

“How long have you had that? Was this truly a spontaneous outing?” Edwin narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“It was! This thing is kind of small, so there were still tickets available.” Thomas shrugged. “I have been wanting to come to it for a couple of weeks now, but kept talking myself out of it until today.”

“Why would you talk yourself out of it?” Edwin tilted his head as he looked at Thomas. Surely he would have had no trouble attending an event like this on his own if it had come down to it.

“I wanted you to come with me, but I didn't think it'd really be your thing.” Thomas admitted, trying to sound nonchalant.

“Thomas.” Edwin said seriously, the tone of voice forcing Thomas to look him back in the eyes. “I must impress upon you that I would always agree to something like this, because it is something that you want me to accompany you for, and because it is something that interests you. I want to know you as much as I can, and that means participating in the things that you enjoy. You would do the same for me.”

There is a pause where Thomas is absolutely speechless at the honest way in which Edwin professed his feelings on the matter. Then, he smiled wide and warmly, taking Edwin's hand in his own. “Thank you.” He said, “and you're right. I would do the same for you.”

As they walked through the entrance, they were greeted with sleek modern design, warm lighting and an array of intricate pieces that changed through the eras as the displays snaked around from room to room. All the while, Thomas was practically bouncing from garment to garment, rambling on about the era and the influences that carried on through the following decades.

Edwin watched him with rapt attention as he talked about the clothing at great length and with such passion. It was clear that this was something that meant a lot to him and the way that his face lit up with fascination, admiration and excitement with each new exhibited piece was breath-taking.

He was explaining an embroidery technique to Edwin with full enthusiasm when it struck.

'Oh', Edwin thought. 'Oh.'

“Isn't that neat?” Thomas asked, turning to Edwin with a grin that could light up an entire building. “...Edwin?”

“Yes...” Edwin replied, breathlessly. “Yes, it is, it's… it's wonderful.”

Thomas looked at him a bit oddly, but shrugged it off. “Yeah, I mean, when you think the whole thing was embroidered by hand, it's kind of incredible.”

'I'm falling in love with him…'

What a miraculous thing it was.

Edwin had not particularly been blessed with good luck in the romance department in the past. His first couple of boyfriends had been disasters and the last one had put him off of dating for at least two years. Thomas was a breath of fresh air, so far from the people he had dated previously in the best way imaginable.

Knowing that he was falling in love with Thomas King did not fill him with any sort of trepidation, despite the relative newness of their relationship. No. Rather, he felt comforted by it. His heart settled into it as though it were arriving home after a long time overseas.

Edwin followed Thomas around the rest of the exhibition with new eyes. There was a weightlessness to his each and every step, and he could hardly contain his happiness for the rest of the afternoon.

-----

When he finally made it back to his flat – after being treated to an Earl Grey tea and a slice of Bakewell tart at a lovely little café by Thomas – the first thing that he did was call Niko, to tell her all about it. It was an instinctual thing to do. She was always there for him when it came to matters of the heart (or matters of any emotional nature, if he was honest) and always had insightful and supportive things to say.

The moment she picked up the phone Edwin started talking, unable to keep the words within himself a moment longer. “I love him.”

“Edwin! You love Thomas?” Niko answered with immediate excitement.

“I love him, Niko, I truly do.” Edwin reiterated, smiling from ear to ear.

“What made you realise it?” she asked.

“He was talking about embroidery and he had such an enthusiastic and passionate expression and he was so beautiful in that moment, so in his element, I just… I don't know, he looked at me and all of a sudden it just occurred to me.” if it had still been the era of house phones, he would have been twirling the chord around his finger as he spoke.

“Edwin! That's so romantic, it's really like a movie or a novel!” Niko exclaimed, “You two are getting pretty serious then?”

“We are.” Edwin nodded to himself as he confirmed it. “I have not shared my revelation with him as of yet, I fear it would be too soon.” he sighed. “I want for this to be long-term, Niko, I want for him to become a permanent fixture in my life, in our little group… I just worry.”

“About what?” Niko asked, though she had a feeling that she already knew.

“I worry that Charles will continue with his disapproval of our relationship. His opinion means a lot to me and his ardent distaste for the man I am actively falling in love with is deeply troubling to me.” The anxiety was clear in his tone and he wished that this could be easier. “What if he never approves? What if he continues to cling to his low opinion of Thomas?”

“Would you ever break up with Thomas if Charles asked you to? If he really did keep insisting?” Niko asked, carefully.

“No. No, I would not. It would pain me, but I would not forfeit what I have been building with Thomas. I care for him, and I would put in the work to continue the relationship regardless of Charles' opinion. I do not want for that, though.” Edwin sighed again. “I just want them to get along. I want Charles to see at least a fraction of what I do, of what you and Crystal can see as well.”

“Charles loves you, Edwin. Thomas makes you happy and he's good for you, you two are good together. Even if he's stubborn for a while, he has to be able to see that eventually, right?” Niko reassured him, gently. “Besides,” she added, “You have me and Crystal in your corner, it's three against one! Four if you count Thomas, too.”

“Thank you, Niko.” Edwin smiled, relieved to have her to talk to about such matters and even more relieved to know that he had her and Crystal's support with this. “I needed to hear that.”

“You're always welcome, Edwin. You know how invested I am in your love story~” she teased in response.

“Naturally.” he huffed with fond amusement.

Chapter Text

In the following weeks, Edwin kept bringing Thomas along to their movie nights and group hang-outs, kept including him in things and talking about their relationship freely. It was frustrating to see Charles scowling at Thomas from across the room or across the sofa, but Edwin was determined not to allow it to deter him from his efforts to weave Thomas into their lives.

Thomas was kind and eccentric, and though it was not in his nature to be all that patient with others, he was patient when it came to Charles. He knew how important the friendship was and how much Charles meant to Edwin, and he cared enough about Edwin himself that he wasn't willing to make things harder for him by actively participating in discourse.

Edwin was beyond grateful for that fact, just as he was grateful for Niko's constant encouragement and for Crystal's support in trying to convince Charles that his dislike was misplaced and getting ridiculous (her endeavour in this had been thus far unsuccessful in sticking, but it was the effort that mattered). She had taken to calling him out nearly every time that it happened with a selection of exasperated reprimands, her favourites being: “Chill the fuck out.”, “He's literally not even doing anything.”, “Charles, seriously?”, or one of her more potent withering glares, which usually quieted him down for at least a few hours.

Edwin had been dating Thomas for almost two whole months at this point, seeing as they were entering July. Thomas' end of year show was fast approaching and he had invited the whole gang of Edwin and his friends to be in attendance. Edwin had seen glimpses of his portfolio and even with his sparse knowledge of fashion, he could tell that the designs and styling choices were of a high quality.

His own end-of-year showcase wouldn't be held until the very end of the month, so he had plenty of time to be supportive of Thomas' work, whilst quietly curating his own project. He had written his first novella, and was preparing it to be printed for the showcase where all of his classmates would be presenting different forms of creative writing. Be it stories, poetry, analytical writing, or scripts, everyone had something that they had been working on for the past months.

The university didn't like to have all of the different courses doing their showcases at once, and so they usually spread out the work of each of their creative courses over a month or two, to give each of them their own time to shine. They did the same thing with graduation ceremonies, though those were done in batches of related courses, rather than having one event for each course.

Thankfully, that meant that Edwin and his friends could attend Thomas' final show and graduation as well as attending each others’.

So, that was what they were preparing for, currently. Thomas had been bringing his sketchbook and notebook everywhere with him, constantly working on it and tweaking his annotations whenever he had the time. Occasionally, Edwin would have to be the one to pull him away from it to rest.

“I have something for you.” he said, one Tuesday night, a week out from the showcase.

“What is it?” Thomas' interest was piqued. He looked up from his project books as Edwin sat down next to him on the sofa.

They had taken to spending their evenings together at each of their flats as their deadlines drew closer. It helped them both to remember to eat properly and drink an appropriate amount of tea when they had each other to keep in mind. On this night, they were at Edwin's flat and had been engaging in what Thomas had referred to as 'parallel play'; each of them doing their own separate tasks while simply existing in the same space, though it was definitely more work than play. Odd as it may seem, it helped them to focus knowing that the other was nearby being productive as well.

Rather than replying with words, Edwin handed Thomas a book. Thomas turned it over in his hand, curiously once it had been passed to him. He read the synopsis on the back, and when he turned it back over to read the front, he was surprised and delighted to find Edwin Payne listed as the author.

“You finished it!” he realised, turning to Edwin excitedly.

“I did. I have only about ten copies printed, mainly just for my own end of year show, but I wanted you to have one.” Edwin explained. “I figured that, since our last book exchange went so well, this might be well-received.”

“Edwin, this is definitely well-received.” Thomas smiled, looking the book over again, admiring the cover design. “Did you design this as well?”

“I did have some significant input, but it was Niko who finished putting it together for me.” Edwin answered, fondly remembering the many conversations he had had with her in order to finalise the design. He would have been happy to let her take the reins, but she had been determined to do everything in her power to capture his creative vision for the cover. In the end, he had ended up hand-drawing some of it, while Niko edited it together with her graphic design skills.

Seeing the cover, anyone would think that it was professionally made, and they might also think that Niko did this sort of thing at university or that she did it as a career. However, it was simply one of her hobbies, something that she got into due to Crystal's interest with photography. Niko's actual course of study was in Journalism alongside Charles. Though, admittedly, Charles wanted to go into Investigative Journalism, whereas Niko was more interested in the editorial side of things.

Crystal studying Photography was something that complimented both Niko and Charles' own interests and had given them a vast number of things to talk about and bond over. Edwin was often able to enthuse alongside them, though (much to his initial chagrin) he found that he was most able to connect with Crystal about it, given that their own courses leaned more towards the Arts.

“She's a talented lady.” Thomas said. “From the synopsis, it seems like she did a great job of capturing the vibe of the story.”

“Yes, she certainly understood the assignment.” Edwin agreed, feeling a strange wave of pride wash over him in knowing that what he had created together with his friend was being appreciated.

“I'll start reading it tonight! I haven't gotten into a good detective novel in a while.” Thomas carefully placed the book inside of his shoulder bag (the one in which he also kept all of his precious design notes and sketches). “You're still coming to my show right?” he asked, once the book had been put away. “And your friends are all coming too?”

“Of course!” Edwin replied. “We have said that we will be there; I have said that I will be there. I want to show up to support you, Thomas. I know how important this is for you and I have seen your sketches. They are works of art.”

“How much do you think Charles will hate Meatball and Honda?” Thomas joked, smirking.

“Oh, the normal amount, I'm sure. Though it may be Crystal that you have to worry about there. I fear that she would either find Meatball to be quite agreeable or wholly intolerable, with no in-between.” Edwin smiled humorously.

He had met Meatball and Honda a handful of times. Honda was a textile and pattern designer who Thomas had met while scouting the university for people who might be able to help him bring his vision to life. She was snarky and extremely skilled. Meatball was a catering student who, at the time that he had been introduced to Edwin via Thomas, was in the middle of having a meltdown over a cookie recipe that kept turning out more like bad cake than biscuit.

They had good hearts, something that they very much had in common with Thomas. And, it was clear that they had a very tight-knit friendship with him to the point that they were all very much like siblings. It was fun to watch the three of them interacting; especially when they bickered.

Thomas laughed and Edwin took advantage of his distraction to carefully close his notebook and sketchbook and leave them neatly on the coffee table where Thomas had been working on them. The moment that Thomas noticed, he gave Edwin a pout of displeasure that had Edwin chuckling as soon as he saw it.

“Don't laugh!” Thomas protested. “I need to work on it more, there's still things that I can tweak and I know I don't have time to make any big alterations to the garments, but it's not perfect yet, I-”

Edwin cut him off by taking his hands and holding them together, offering him a knowing look as he did so. “Thomas King, you are talented and skillful at what you do. You have been working tirelessly to make this final show everything that you envisioned it to be and you have succeeded. You are allowed to rest and know that you have done all that you need to do. You need to allow yourself to rest.” he said.

Thomas stared him down for a moment, searching Edwin's eyes for anything that might give him an excuse to ignore what had been said in favour of pouring over his notes just one more time. But, there was none. Edwin was more than resolved in the security of his statement. Thomas sighed in defeat.

“Alright… I guess you're right. I should probably call it quits on the notes and focus on the show itself. The clothes are ready, the models have been picked out and fitted, I just need to show up on the day with everyone else and collect my degree at graduation.”

“You also need to eat dinner and get some sleep.” Edwin added and Thomas sighed again.

“Alright, alright, you win.” he pretended to be giving up instead of simply letting Edwin cook for him (something that he very much enjoyed). “Anything in mind?”

“It just so happens that I have already finished cooking and have plated dinner. It awaits us in the kitchen.” Edwin's smile widened when Thomas visibly perked up.

“Edwin, did you make that chicken pasta thing with the diced peppers in it?” he asked, just registering the smell of freshly cooked food wafting through the flat.

It was something that Edwin had made a few times. It was a simple and easy sauce and the chicken could be swapped out for pretty much anything else you wanted as long as it paired with a red sauce. Crystal had been the one to teach both him and Charles how to make it when she had discovered that the two of them had been living off of takeaway for four weeks.

It had led Edwin down a path of learning to cook a multitude of things. It had become something that he rather enjoyed doing; looking up recipes, trying them out, expanding his own culinary repertoire. His friends had started calling his cooking 'fancy food', which he could admit had tickled him when they had first started doing it. “If Edwin's cooking, that means we get to eat fancy food again!”, Niko had said gleefully on one of these occasions, as though she didn't have her own long list of delicious meals that she was more than capable of preparing.

“I did.” Edwin stood from the sofa, still holding Thomas' hands and pulled him up off of it as well, guiding him into the kitchen.

When greeted with the sight of dinner, Thomas found himself overcome with gratitude. He kissed Edwin's cheek and shuffled over to the kitchen island, taking up one of the two barstool-style seats that were facing it. Edwin smiled and sat next to him, watching as Thomas scooped a forkful of pasta into his mouth and let out a moan that was practically sinful.

“Oh my fuck, Edwin, this is so good” He said, barely done with the first mouthful before going in for the second. “I didn't realise how hungry I was.”

“Well, I'm glad it's to your liking.” Edwin smiled to himself as he ate his own plate of pasta with a considerably higher level of table manners.

“I think I'm gonna have to marry you.” Thomas continued to gush, unaware of the sudden array of thoughts that he had just inspired.

“Yes, well...” Edwin trailed off, face flushed from his cheeks to the base of his neck. What a lovely thought it was, but perhaps something to be tabled for a later date.

-----

The day of the fashion show came all too quickly and before they knew it Edwin was waiting with Charles, Crystal and Niko in the hall while Thomas attended to last minute details in the backstage area. It was the same hall that the college used for theatre and musical performance, and the stage had been extended with a walkway for the show.

“Do you know what order they're coming out in?” Niko asked, eagerly trying to peer over to the back of the stage to see if anything was about to happen.

“Thomas is going second, I believe.” Edwin replied feeling equal parts nervous and excited on his boyfriend's behalf. “He has been working tremendously hard on this for such a long time.”

“Can't imagine it could've been that hard to draw up some dresses, could it? Only so many designs you can do, right?” Charles commented. Fashion wasn't really his thing when it was outside of alternative styles.

“Oh do stop being such a negative Nancy, Charles.” Edwin chided with a roll of his eyes. “I happen to have seen his work and it is quite impressive,” he added.

“Only “quite”?” Charles replied like he'd caught him out on something.

“Come on Charles, you know that's just how he talks.” Crystal nudged his shoulder and gave him a disapproving look.

“Alright, alright, I'll be good.” he conceded with a chuckle.

“I can't wait to see everything! It's gonna be so good!” Niko grinned, readying her notepad so that she could jot down her thoughts as the show progressed, fluffy pink pen at the ready.

“I should be able to get some good shots, too.” Crystal said, gesturing to the digital camera around her neck. She had added one of her fancy lens extensions to the front and planned to let Niko use the photographs for the article that Niko was writing for it. They had been teamed up for the university newsletter.

Suddenly, the lights dimmed and the stage was lit up with spot lamps. A new-age instrumental synth track started playing and Niko grabbed Edwin's arm in excitement before letting go to start writing. He was glad that she was so enthusiastic about this and felt the feeling slowly overcoming him as well.

This was something that he had been looking forward to, something that would have usually been outside of his comfort zone, or simply outside of his areas of interest, but he was happy to have been introduced to something new through his boyfriend. He hoped that this would be everything that Thomas had been hoping.

When it got to Thomas' turn, a model turned onto the stage in an intricately beaded corset and long flowy fabrics that made the wearer look as though they were floating. It was decadent and the craftsmanship was incredible. As each new design was showcased, Edwin recognised the pieces that he had glanced over Thomas' shoulder over the last few weeks and was awed to see them come to life.

He had even managed to attempt the hand-embroidery technique that he had been admiring at the gallery on the hem of one of the shirts. It was utterly marvellous. He also could not fight away the longing that struck him to be able to see Thomas himself sporting his own designs.

Oh to see him wrapped up in that beautifully draped fabric, waist cinched with one of those gorgeous corsets. He would be stunning; divine, even. Perhaps Edwin should take it upon himself to voice as much once the show was finished. It was something that would very likely be sitting with him in private moments for quite some time.

When the show finally did come to a close, the last model gracefully leaving the stage and the designers coming out to take a bow, Edwin spotted Thomas and immediately had the breath stolen from his lungs.

Thomas was a picture in white and gold, offset by his black nail varnish and very flattering leather trousers. He was wearing one of his own designs as a top, a white shirt with draping lantern sleeves that had a delicate opalescent shimmer and a white corset that went around his waist, beaded with gold shell-like designs and embroidered with sparkling golden thread that spun into patterns of waves. His whole collection had been subtly nautical, all gold and pearls and shimmering like the light reflecting off of the sea. His eyes were framed with golden shadow and white glitter, and his strawberry blond hair was a halo of curls. He had a pale gold metallic lipstick or gloss of some kind and he looked like he had been placed upon that stage by Aphrodite herself.

Edwin's imagination had not done him justice. Not in the slightest.

When he finally joined them in the hall, he was practically buzzing, grinning from ear to ear despite his nerves from the start of the evening.

“So?” he asked as he grew closer, “How did it go? What did you think?” he addressed all of them, but it was clear that he was mainly focused on Edwin.

Edwin, however, was very much distracted by how beautiful Thomas looked. So much so that Crystal had to elbow him to snap him out of it.

“It was truly phenomenal.” he said at last, rubbing his forearm slightly where Crystal's elbow had collided with him.

“Really?” Thomas asked, a bit more vulnerable.

“It was more amazing than I could have imagined, Thomas.” Edwin replied. “The way that your designs came to life was breath-taking. I highly doubt that you'll have any trouble making a career out of this.”

Thomas smiled broadly at the answer, his whole face lighting up at the compliment. He tilted forwards and captured Edwin's lips in a quick but passionate kiss. When he withdrew and opened his eyes again, he let out a quiet giggle.

“Whoops~” he said with a grin.

“What is it?” Edwin asked, a little perplexed at first. Then, when Thomas reached up to swipe a thumb across his lips, he realised that some of Thomas' golden gloss must have transferred. The idea of it sent a wave of heat to his cheeks and another wave of it south. “Oh...”

“It looks good on you, you should let me do you up some time.” Thomas flirted, running his hand up Edwin's chest to his shoulder.

The moment was broken by Niko giggling at them. Edwin sucked in a breath and the rest of the room came back into focus, specifically Niko, a snickering Crystal and a grumpy Charles, who looked two seconds from crossing his arms.

Thomas, still grinning and now lightly blushing, blessedly changes the subject. “So, how would you guys like to come to the after-party? I usually throw them at my flat, but for this one, me and the other designers have booked 'The Lighthouse'.”

“Sounds fun,” Crystal agreed. “We're all already dressed up, so we might as well enjoy it, right?”

“Yeah! We would love to celebrate with you!” Niko chimed. “Charles?” she prompted him, giving him her best puppy eyes while he attempted to resist.

One look between Edwin and Crystal seemed to break his resolve though. He sighed heavily, as though they were rather asking him to walk through a muddy puddle in just his socks. “Yeah, okay, I guess it could be alright.” he said. “Why not, right?” he shrugged.

“That's the spirit, Charles! I love your enthusiasm, it's so contagious!” Thomas said, dripping with sarcasm, though baring no real displeasure.

“Right! Well, I think we should go and interview some of the designers, right Charles?” Niko interjected, clapping her hands together.

“Yeah, good idea.” Charles said, still glaring at Thomas despite addressing Niko. “I'm kinda sick of this one.”

Crystal elbowed him in the arm and Niko's smile turned tight and she went over to grab him and pull him away towards the backstage area.

“We'll see you guys at the after-party!” she called brightly.

“Yikes.” Thomas muttered once they were out of sight. “Still hates me, huh?”

“Yeah, we're working on it.” Crystal sighed and rolled her eyes. “I don't know why he's so stuck on this honestly.”

“He just thinks that Edwin is too good for me and he's right, of course, but that doesn't mean his attitude doesn't suck.” Thomas was fairly resigned about it at this point, but still tried to take it lightly for Edwin's sake.

“That is not true, Thomas.” Edwin protested, voice firm and steadfast. “I am not too good for you. We are perfectly good for each other. I don't want you to think otherwise, even for a second.”

Thomas looked at him in surprise, not having expected a serious response to his self-deprecation. Slowly, his expression melted into a soft smile.

“Thanks, Edwin. I'll try not to let it get to me.” he said, reaching over to hold Edwin's hand, linking their fingers with a light squeeze.

“I will have another talk with Charles. The way that he is making you feel is not okay, and I want you to know that I will not sit idly by.” Edwin assured, squeezing back.

“I'll have a talk with him too.” Crystal added. “Edwin's right that it's not okay and honestly we're all fucking tired of it. You've done nothing but make Edwin happy and honestly? You're fun to have around. We got your back.”

“Thanks Crystal, that actually means a lot to me. It's nice to have people around that give a shit.” Thomas replied, genuinely appreciative of having her in his corner as well.

“Well, I better go check on them, get some more pics of the backstage. Meet you guys at the club?” she held up her camera with a little wiggle and started towards the backstage.

“Of course, I will see you later, Crystal.” Edwin nodded before turning to Thomas again. “Would you like for me to stay and help you with anything?” he asked.

“You are an absolute sweetheart.” Thomas smiled.

-----

After about an hour of clean-up and putting away all of the modelled garments into safe storage, Edwin helped Thomas to carry the bags out to his car and load them into the boot. When they were done securing them and making sure that they were out of sight, they made their way to the club together. It was a relatively short drive and thankfully some parking had been reserved for them nearby.

“I must warn you, this is not exactly my scene.” Edwin said as they approached the entrance.

“That's alright, I'll just say hi to people, we can have a drink, dance a little and then I'll drop you home before going back myself.” Thomas replied, fully aware that they were about to step into a very overstimulating environment. “I'm pretty tired, myself, just from the stress of the event, so if you want to go early, just let me know, okay?”

“Yes, thank you.” Edwin smiled fondly. “I would greatly appreciate that.”

So, they headed inside.

The contrast between the outside and the inside of the club was a stark one. Outside, the bass line of the music had been thudding through the walls, but inside it was almost overwhelmingly loud. Thomas looked back and grabbed Edwin's hand, holding onto it tightly as he guided him though the crowd and over to the booths that had been booked for the after party.

“Hey~!” Thomas practically cheered when he reached his friends and course-mates. “This is my boyfriend, Edwin!”

That earned a bunch of hoots and hollers from the table.

“That'll disappoint a lot of people.” one of them joked.

“Yeah, man, what are you gonna tell the long line of people who wanted to hook up with you?” another asked in jest.

“Sorry not sorry, this cat is spoken for.” Thomas grinned. “I'm a lap cat now. The only one I'm interested in is my most favourite human~” he leaned into Edwin and gave him his best and most deliberate moon eyes.

“Ew! Barf!” Crystal's voice sounded from behind them and they turned to see that she had arrived with Charles and Niko in tow. “Get a room.” she smirked.

“Crystal, please.” Edwin said, disapprovingly.

“No! You're sappy and I'm making fun of you! It's what friends are for.” she retorted with a grin.

“Friends are also for the first round! What are you having?” Honda, who had just gotten up from the edge of the booth offered.

The table, plus Edwin's entourage, rattled off their orders, but Thomas just asked for a sprite.

“You okay? You usually start with a sex on the beach.” Honda teased him.

“I'm not drinking tonight, I gotta get Edwin home safe, and I also gotta get myself home safe, not to mention my precious creations. They're too young to die.” Thomas replied dramatically.

“Wow, you really are out of your hoe era, prioritising a boy over having fun~” she continued to tease.

“My boy is all the fun I need, thanks.” Thomas looped his arm around Edwin's waist and pulled him against his side with a cheeky grin. “Besides, unlike some people, I still have a personality when I'm sober.” he punctuated by sticking his tongue out.

“Oh, fuck you!” she cackled. “Good luck with him, he's a handful.” she directed at Edwin.

“I'm sure I'll manage.” Edwin tried and failed to suppress a smile. He was familiar enough with Thomas' dynamic with Honda and Meatball to know that this was all part of their routine, just a bit of ribbing.

“That's the spirit!” Honda cackled again and walked off to order the drinks.

“Guys, this is Crystal, Niko and Charles, they're Edwin's best friends.” Thomas said, pointing to each of them as he did.

They were given a warm welcome from Thomas' classmates and they all shifted around the booth to make space for the newcomers to sit down. There were cheers all around when Honda came back with the drinks and when it looked like there was no room left with all of them squashed in, she just sat sideways across Meatball's lap (much to his protests that she was crushing him).

The night progressed and despite having never interacted with each other before, Niko, Crystal and Charles got along well with Thomas' group. In a turn of events that really shouldn't have been a surprise in retrospect, Crystal teamed up with Honda and Meatball to make fun of Thomas for being whipped.

At the seventh or eighth joke at their expense, Thomas shimmied off of the seat and offered Edwin his hand with a flourish and a bow. “May I have this dance?” he asked.

Edwin took his hand and, much to the surprise of his friends, accepted the offer.

Edwin would be the first to admit that he didn't really dance. He had always tried his best to get out of participating in it with the claim of having two left feet (carefully omitting the fact that he had done several years of ballet and a few ballroom dancing classes as a child by his mother's insistence). He didn't like the attention or the loud music, or the cramped, sweaty nature of a dance floor. It made him feel awkward and out of his depth.

However, when Thomas was the one asking, the activity seemed to suddenly take on a much more appealing light. Especially when Thomas was still wearing his outfit from the fashion show and Edwin was certain that dancing with him in any capacity would make him feel as though he were being swept off his feet by some prince or demigod.

He was right, of course. Rather than the usual movements one might expect at a night club, Thomas swayed with Edwin, put his hands on Edwin's hips as Edwin draped his own arms around Thomas' neck, twirled him around a couple of times. They were oddly in-time with the music despite the upbeat tempo, choosing to move with the steady baseline instead of the melody.

“You look beautiful.” Edwin said as he gazed down at Thomas, who was looking back with equal intensity.

“Even under these shitty fluorescent lights?” he asked, turning his face as though to catch his good side.

“Under any lights.” Edwin replied with a teasing smile.

Then, he quickly kissed the cheek that Thomas had turned towards him, causing the other man to blush and let out a surprised giggle. Edwin was struck once more by how utterly remarkable Thomas was. He was so handsome, so sweet and funny, and so much of everything Edwin hadn't known that he needed and wanted in his life.

Edwin made up his mind. He leaned down next to Thomas' ear and whispered; “Take me home?”

When he leaned away again, the look on Thomas' face went from surprise to a deep want. It ignited a reflection of itself in Edwin. Maybe it was too soon, but Edwin found himself caring less and less about stupid social expectations and imposed time-lines. He hadn't felt this strongly about anyone before and he knew in his heart that this was love, that he loved Thomas, and that he wanted to take the next step in their relationship.

“Are you sure?” Thomas asked, voice cutting through the noise around them. It was like everything else had become muted and distant.

“I am.” Edwin nodded and smiled warmly.

It was all the assurance that Thomas needed to bid their friends goodbye and walk with Edwin back to his car, to drive them back to his flat. The moment the door closed behind them – after they had successfully lugged all of the clothing from the fashion show up to the living room – Thomas pushed Edwin up against it and kissed him silly.

They made short work of removing each others' clothes on the way to the bedroom, though Thomas' shirt didn't come off until Edwin was sitting on the bed already. It was the last piece of clothing that he was wearing aside from his red boxers.

“Turn around, I'll unlace it for you.” Edwin said.

Thomas hesitated for barely a moment before doing as he was asked, his back facing Edwin. Carefully, Edwin unlaced the corset, the fabric coming away easily once it had been loosened enough. When Thomas turned around again, the corset on the floor with the rest of his clothes, he slowly undid his shirt and let it slip from his shoulders into a heap behind him.

There, standing before Edwin, body on full display, planes of it lit by the warm glow of the ceiling light that had been softened by the lantern-like shade that had been placed on it. The whole room was cozy, the floors carpeted with an extra fluffy rug planted right in the middle, soft, luxurious bedding that felt as though you could sink right into it. It was hard to take in those little details though, with Thomas standing in front of him, in all his glory.

“You sure you want this?” Thomas asked, unsure of how to read the look on Edwin's face. “We can stop at any moment and if there's anything you don't like then tell me right away. I don't want anything that you don't want.”

Edwin softened and he felt the heat from earlier simmering under the surface. It wouldn't take much to get it to start boiling over. The way that Thomas was being so considerate, making a point of making sure that Edwin knew that he could back out if he wanted to… it only solidified his want for this.

“I am sure. I want this, Thomas; I want you. I promise that I will inform you immediately should there be anything I am not enjoying and I hope that you would promise me the same.” he replied, bringing his hands up to hold Thomas by the hips.

“There's nothing you could do to me that I wouldn't want… but sure. I promise I'll tell you if I don't like something that's happening.” Thomas cupped Edwin's face with one hand as he spoke and moved forward to place his knee on the edge of the bed, between Edwin's thighs.

Slowly, they moved backwards up the bed, until they were in a comfortable position; Edwin leaned back against the soft pillows with Thomas between his open legs.

What followed was a night of pure, unadulterated passion. The two of them giving in to their desires for each other, with all of the affection and attraction that had been steadily building over the last couple of months of dating. Thomas slowly taking Edwin apart and then piecing him back together again only to have this followed by those same ministrations being enthusiastically gifted back to him.

“I don't care if it's too soon,” Edwin whispered, when they were both worn out and lying in each others' arms beneath the sheets. “I love you, Thomas.”

Thomas swallowed thickly and buried his free hand in Edwin's hair, eyes filled with emotion as he tilted his head up to kiss Edwin delicately on the mouth. “I- I love you, too. Fuck, how could I not? You're everything I've ever wanted and more.”

Edwin beamed and moved to kiss Thomas again, imbuing it with all that he held in his heart. They did not part again for anything but breath until they slowly drifted off together into a peaceful sleep.

Chapter Text

With Thomas' final show out of the way, it was Edwin's that was on the horizon. Thomas had been reading the finished book with so much genuine interest that Meatball had asked him in passing if Edwin had secretly put magnets in the book and in Thomas' face. This had immediately caused Edwin to choke on his tea as he spluttered out a surprised laugh, while Thomas slowly lowered the book and gave his friend a withering look that had the catering student cackling with laughter as he walked off.

Edwin had been spending essentially every free moment with Thomas since the night of the fashion show, the two of them having grown exponentially closer since. They had reached a level of sappiness that had Crystal pretending to vomit every time she saw them, Niko gleefully acting as their number one cheerleader and Charles glaring at Thomas with even more distaste than he had been before (which was saying something).

Eventually, there reached a point where it couldn't keep going on like it was. Edwin bringing Thomas to their hang-outs and movie nights wasn't working to bridge the gap. All of them going out as a group or even meeting with Thomas' friends Meatball and Honda wasn't making things any better. Charles' negative opinions never ceased or wavered for even a moment and it was stressing everyone out, not just Edwin and Thomas.

After several discussions about staging an intervention, Crystal decided that she would talk to Charles herself, girlfriend to boyfriend. If anyone could get through to him other than Edwin, it was Crystal.

“If you don't stop being weird about Thomas, I'm gonna start worrying that you have a crush on Edwin because you're really acting like a jealous idiot right now.” she said matter-of-factly on the evening of one of their group movie nights, after Thomas and Edwin had headed back to their flats for the night. “I know you guys have a super close friendship, and that you're protective of him but this is getting really fucking ridiculous.”

“Crystal!” Charles protested. “I do not have a crush on Edwin. You know that. I love you.”

“Yeah, I know, so why are you acting like this? It can't just be that Thomas used to hook up a lot. I want to believe that you have a better reason than that.” she replied, levelling him with a serious look.

“He's getting Edwin to do stuff that he would never do. I know Edwin, yeah? He doesn't just fall in love at the drop of a hat, he’s acting weird, isn't he? You can't tell me you don't think the same thing. Thomas is turning Edwin into someone else.” Charles vented, hoping to find understanding from his girlfriend.

Crystal sighed heavily and resisted the urge to rub her temples in frustration. “Charles… Edwin is allowed to be happy. Sure, maybe they hopped to the 'I-love-yous' a bit quick, but that doesn't mean it's not genuinely how he feels.” Crystal turned on the sofa to face Charles properly and placed her hand over his. “I know it feels scary seeing your best friend's priorities shift to his partner, but you have to know that it doesn't mean he cares about you any less. He's in love, Charles. You and I both know exactly what that's like.”

Charles didn't reply for a long moment, taking in what Crystal had said. It made sense; it made a lot of sense. Maybe Charles was jealous somehow? Maybe he had been seeing Edwin spending more and more time with Thomas and it had caused him to worry that he wouldn't be as important anymore.

It making sense didn’t mean that he was ready to accept it, though.

“I get it, okay? Believe me, I do… but something just isn't right about that guy, Crystal. There's something off about him and I just don't trust him. I can't trust him at all and definitely not with Edwin. He's going to do something to mess this up and Edwin is going to be the one who gets hurt. I just don't want my best mate to get his heart broken by some fuckboy wanker.” Charles had made up his mind about Thomas King. He wasn't someone who was redeemable in his eyes. He wanted him far, far away from Edwin.

“Charles, come on! I really don't think that Thomas is like that. He's a good guy. He's never done anything to hurt Edwin and it's pretty fucking obvious how over-the-moon he is when they're together. He's completely ass-over-tit.”

“I'm just not buying it, Crystal. He's up to something, or he's got some ulterior motive and sooner or later he's gonna slip up.” Charles frowned and diverted his eyes, unable to meet Crystal's when he knew that she would only be disapproving.

She sighed heavily. “When are you gonna get your head out of your ass? I love you Charles, but you're being a total jackass to Edwin's boyfriend and you don't even have a real reason for why you've been treating him like dirt.” She squeezed Charles' hand. “You have got to at least try to get along. For Edwin's sake. It's hurting him to see his best friend and his boyfriend not getting along.”

Charles' head snapped up. “Has he said something to you?”

“He doesn't need to, Charles. It's written all over his face. Every time you make a snide comment or he catches you glaring at them, his whole face just drops. Something's gotta give.”

“… Alright… alright, I'll try. I promise.” Charles reluctantly agreed. The last thing that he wanted was for himself to be the one hurting Edwin. He wasn't the one that they should be worrying about. There had to be something that he could do to stop this, to fix things before they went too much further, he just needed some time to figure out what that was. Besides, maybe it would be easier to keep an eye on Thomas if he pretended to get along with him.

Crystal leaned over and kissed him. “Thank you.”

Well… fake it 'til you make it, right?

This was gonna suck.

-----

When it gets to the day of Edwin's showcase, everything is smooth and organised. He had been in the day before to finish setting up his display in the exhibition room. He had one of his books on a stand with more copies around it, artfully placed on his section of the table along with carefully selected print-outs of excerpts from the book and its synopsis.

Usually, he would have walked into university, but this time Thomas drove him in early so that he could help with set-up and making sure that everything was as it should be. It would also be helpful in bringing all of the leftover copies of his book back to his flat without having to carry them the whole way.

Every year, the university invited scouts, agents and people who worked for publishing houses to their showcases, so there was a chance that Edwin would be picked up and potentially given a book deal. He had even had a stack of business cards professionally printed for this.  

 “You ready for when they start letting people in?” Thomas asked as he watched Edwin carefully move his book a fraction to the right.

Edwin sighed deeply as he stood up and shook off his nerves. “I think that I am as prepared as I can be.”

“Everyone is going to love your book.” Thomas said, raising a comforting hand to Edwin's arm. “I say that with confidence because I read it and it was fucking incredible.”

Edwin smiled softly and basked in the sensation of his heart warming in his chest. He knew that Thomas wasn't simply offering him lip service when he complimented the book. He had given Edwin a constant commentary as he had read it, whether he said it aloud when they were together or texted him about it at odd hours of the night.

“Thank you for reading it, and for being here with me for this.” Edwin brought Thomas' hand to his lips and kissed the back of it, causing a pretty blush to spread across his boyfriend's cheeks and down his neck. “And for being so sure of my abilities.”

“Edwin!” a cheerful voice sounded from behind them, causing them both to turn. “...and Thomas… great… you two know each other? Didn't think you'd exactly… run in the same circles.” he smiled through gritted teeth, the cheerfulness gaining a strained edge.

“Monty!” Edwin greeted. “Here early for set-up as well, I see. I wasn't aware that you were acquainted with Thomas as well, though perhaps that is because I have truly been missing out by not attending his parties.” Edwin smiled, unsure of how to respond to Monty's tone.

“Maybe you should come to the next one~” Thomas winked and nudged Edwin with his shoulder.

“We'll see.” Edwin sounded hesitant, but there was a deliberate lack of seriousness to his tone. It wasn't his cup of tea usually, but Thomas was good at getting him to explore outside of his comfort zone and he hadn't regretted it yet.

“So...” Monty grinned tightly. “How do you know each other?”

“Well we sort of bumped into each other and, well, I suppose it is a bit of a long story,” Edwin wasn't sure giving him all the details was a good idea. “the short of it is that we are in a relationship; together.”

Monty's face fell as he looked between them. His eyes flitted down for a moment and he quickly tucked some stray hair behind his ear. “Oh, well… congrats I guess…” He brightened, though his smile didn't quite reach his eyes. “Good luck with the show, Edwin! I'm sure all those literary agents will be fighting over you.”

“You as well, Monty. I have seen some of your work and it is nothing to scoff at.” Edwin complimented easily.

Monty's own creative writing leaned more towards dark or urban fantasy. It wasn't something that Edwin usually went for on his own time, but he could acknowledge talent when he saw it and Monty was certainly talented.

“Thanks.” Monty said quietly, the tips of his ears going a little pink. “Um, the show's about to start so… I'll see you later?”

“Of course.” Edwin replied, hoping that he wasn't noticing what he thought he was noticing. He wasn't sure what to make of Monty's demeanour, but it certainly seemed to be indicating something. Goodness, he really wished that he was better at reading people.  

When Monty had made his way over to his own display on the other side of the exhibition space, Thomas let out a long breath. Edwin had thought it odd of him not to have particularly spoken much, but then the atmosphere had been a little tense.

“Well that was awkward.” Thomas commented, sounding fairly relieved that they had been left to themselves again.

“It was a tad...uncomfortable, yes.” Edwin agreed. “You two have met?” he asked, turning to Thomas, who winced.

“Well, to be fair it was a long ass time ago, like when we were in freshman year of high school. I kind of didn't know that I would see someone from my home town this far out and at the exact same uni. I guess you could say that we used to be friends? Friends who kissed a couple of times? It wasn't anything serious. Honestly, I think it was just his way of rebelling against his controlling mom.” Thomas explained.

“Ah… I see. It is quite the coincidence that you both ended up here.” Edwin tilted his head. “Small world.”

“You can say that again.” Thomas huffed a sort-of-laugh. “I'm glad he got out of there, though. Seems like he's developed quite the crush on you as well.” Thomas grinned as he teased Edwin.

“Oh dear, so I wasn't reading too much into that? I don't know how I did not notice before.” Edwin couldn't deny that he felt bad about it. Monty was a nice guy, if a tad overzealous in his fascination with astrology. He had been one of the first people who had approached Edwin in their class and Edwin felt somewhat awkward knowing now that Monty must have been harbouring some manner of feelings for him all this time. It was also odd to think of Thomas and Monty together. They seemed an awfully mismatched pair, but perhaps Thomas and himself also seemed that way to an outsider.

They both had one thing in common, he supposed; having a crush on him.

 “Don't worry about it too much, sweetheart. The guy's got good taste in men.” Thomas winked and Edwin failed to stifle his chuckle.

“I suppose that I can't fault that conclusion given the evidence.” Edwin smirked.

Thomas giggled. Giggled. Then, took Edwin's hand and laced their fingers. “Come on, Detective Payne, there's agents at your table.” Thomas gestured over to the small crowd that was leafing through his books and excerpts.

“How many times must I insist that the protagonist is not based on myself?” Edwin whispered as they headed over.

“Probably a few more times. You're not very convincing.” Thomas joked. He didn't actually think that the main character was a self-insert, but it was fun teasing Edwin about the similarities.

Edwin huffed and rolled his eyes.

Charles, Crystal and Niko showed up a couple of hours later and of course, made a big fuss over Edwin and his book. He gave each of them their own copies and they gushed appropriately. Niko got her own share of deserved appreciation for her amazing cover design.

Being the more personable of the two, Niko got a bit more of a crowd going for Edwin's book, talking it up to the people that had already gathered there and answering questions whenever Edwin seemed to struggle with them. It was impressive how she managed to do so without ever talking over him and it spoke to how well they knew each other.

Thomas took the moment to have a wonder around the rest of the room, looking at the rest of the displays. It was clear that everyone there had put a hell of a lot of work into their respective projects. There were a fair few novels and novellas, but there were also poetry collections, short stories, and plays. It was stuff like this that reminded Thomas of why he loved the vibe and atmosphere of university; it was the creativity and the unity that came with knowing that everyone (well, mostly everyone) was striving just as hard as you were.

Eventually he came to Monty's.

It was a novel. A thick novel at that. It had a black and dark blue cover, the title embossed in silver with a pattern of stars around it. The illustration on the front was of a crow in a golden cage. He picked up one of the cards with the synopsis on it and gave it a once-over.

A crow learns how to be free from a cat and then falls in love with a librarian, huh? That doesn't sound familiar at all.

“Shouldn’t you be with your boyfriend?” Monty asked, arms folded over his chest as he gave Thomas a half-glare.

“Just having a look around while he's busy.” Thomas shrugged.

“And you thought it would be a good idea to come over here and piss me off?” Monty raised a brow.

“I think I did that enough already just by showing up here with Edwin.” Thomas gave him a knowing look. He was poking at him, but not with any cruel intent.

“So what? You're gonna make fun of me for losing to you? You got Edwin. Congrats. Now, go away.” Monty's tone was firm, but he never had been good at hiding his vulnerability. It was written all over his face.

“I'm not here to gloat, Monty.” Thomas said, his tone a lot softer than it had been before. “I know our friendship didn't exactly end on good terms, but I hope you know I'd never hurt you on purpose. This thing I have with Edwin now… I'm serious about it. I love him. I'm not gonna take him for granted.” he hoped that what he was trying to say was coming across, but he had never claimed to be very good at the mushy stuff.

Monty sucked in a breath through his teeth. “Friendship? Is that what it was?”

“Well, I definitely thought you were my friend.” Thomas replied with a frown. Had Monty not considered them friends? If that was true then it was one hell of a kick in the teeth... It was also starting to feel like he was missing something.

“Well I thought you might have actually given a shit about me. Guess we were both wrong.” Monty snapped. “It doesn't matter anymore anyway, so whatever. Edwin seems way happier now, I guess. Don't fuck it up. He deserves better than that.”

Thomas didn't know what to think or how to feel. He didn't understand why Monty didn't consider them friends, didn't understand why he didn't seem to know that Thomas cared about him. They hadn't spoken in years, sure, but that didn't mean that their friendship hadn't meant anything to him. At least… he had thought it was friendship.

 “Ouch.” Thomas fought the instinct to flinch or retreat over the pang that shot through his chest at that thought. He really… wasn’t good at this. “I'm not gonna fuck this one up… he's it for me, I think...” Thomas added, looking back over at Edwin across the room, talking animatedly with someone about his book.

“Great, like I said; congrats. Leave me alone now, Thomas… you're good at that.” Monty was trying to sound harsh, but his eyes betrayed him. They always had.

Still, he'd hurt Thomas with his words and now the soon-to-be fashion graduate needed to go and lick his wounds.

When he got back to Edwin's table, Edwin was ready to leave. The students didn't have to spend the entire day there as the exhibit would be open for several days, they just needed to be there for the initial viewing. The tutors and student volunteers would handle the rest until it was time to take everything down again. Niko was giving him a pondering look as he approached and he wasn't sure he liked it. Charles was also giving him a weird look and he definitely didn't like that.

“All good?” he asked, aiming for nonchalance.

“Excellent, actually.” Edwin smiled. “Though, I must admit that I am relieved to be able to make a move now. I am not overly fond of crowds, as you well know.”

 “One last picture with everyone before we head off?” Thomas asked, pulling out his phone and wiggling it back and forth.

“That's a great idea! Edwin come and hold up your book!” Niko answered excitedly, pulling Edwin over to his display and pushing one of the copies of his book into his arms.

“Alright, one of you, one of you and Niko and one with everyone?” Thomas opened his camera and got them in frame. He snapped a few and then turned it to selfie mode for a little extra one. He chuckled to himself as he turned it back around to flick through them, noting that he looked like a fan who had found their favourite celebrity out in the wild. “Mind if I post these to insta?” he asked.

“Sure, just make sure to tag us.” Crystal replied. “I wanna share it to my story.”

“So what's on now then, mate? Fancy a hangout at our place? You can pick the movie this time.” Charles smiled in that good-natured way of his; easy and inviting.

“I would love to, however, Thomas and I already have plans for this evening.” Edwin replied, offering Charles an apologetic look. “Perhaps we can do something tomorrow?”

Charles' expression soured and he shot a glare over at Thomas. “Oh yeah? What are your plans?” he asked, folding his arms over his chest.

“I'm taking Edwin out for a movie and a dinner date to celebrate the show.” Thomas smiled easily. “It's a special night, right? Deadlines are all over and now it's time to kick back and relax.”

“Right.” Charles said, tone flat though he was trying somewhat to not sound irritated. “Rain check then, mate?” he directed at Edwin.

“Of course. Perhaps we might do something tomorrow?” Edwin suggested, looking between his boyfriend and his best friend a little helplessly. He hated disappointing Charles, hated not being able to just say yes to spending time together whenever he asked, but Edwin also wasn't about to bail on Thomas or their plans for the evening. Charles had done the same plenty of times when he and Crystal had first got together, so surely he must be able to understand… right?

“Come on, Charles,” Crystal looped her arm around his waist. “You can hang out with Edwin whenever you want, let them have their romantic evening together.”

“Yeah, us three can hang out together instead! We can go get milkshakes and burgers and have a night in! I got you guys half way through season one of 'Kamisama Kiss' and we still gotta watch the rest!” Niko added, brightly.

She got a very fond smile from Crystal for that suggestion and Charles thawed a bit and offered her an endeared smile of his own.

“Yeah, alright, Niko. Sounds like a blast.” Charles agreed, unable to keep up his displeasure at Edwin not joining them when she was being her usual, wonderfully uplifting self. “I just gotta do something real quick, if that's okay with you guys? I'll meet you and Niko back at the front of the uni, yeah?” he looked between them for nods before breaking from Crystal and walking off, deeper into the exhibition space.

After a brief pause where they watched him go, Crystal turned to the boys and shrugged. “Well, that was fucking weird. See you guys later?”

“Of course. Tomorrow afternoon, I'd wager.” Edwin smiled, though he had the distinct look about him that suggested he very much agreed with Crystal's assertion that that was indeed 'fucking weird'.

“Yes!” Niko looped her arm through Crystal's now that the previously occupied arm was free. “Have fun on your romantic date~” she winked.

“Oh, believe me, we intend to.” Thomas replied with a deliberately suggestive tone that had Niko giggling behind her hand.

“Yeah, yeah, you giant tomcat.” Crystal teased them and rolled her eyes. “Use protection, kids!” she called as she and Niko shuffled out of the room, Niko waving animatedly at them as she was pulled along.

“Well I never.” Edwin shook his head in exasperated amusement. “Shall we depart?” he offered Thomas his elbow.

“My, what a gentleman.” Thomas grinned like the cat that got the cream as he accepted Edwin's offer and snuggled up close to his side. “It's enough to make a girl blush.”

“And enough for my devilishly handsome paramour?” Edwin gave Thomas an appreciative once-over.

“Especially your devilishly handsome paramour.” Thomas bit his lip and batted his lashes, causing Edwin to break out into a grin.

Thankfully the pair of them were already dressed up for the exhibition, so they had no need to go back to their respective flats to change before their outing. It might have been a little bit fancy for a cinema, but it was more than appropriate for the restaurant that they had made a reservation at afterwards.

-----

Edwin didn't usually like going to the cinema when there was a new film coming out, simply because he knew that it would be crowded and there would be people making noise and leaving their sticky popcorn and spilling their sticky drinks and it could get a little bit overwhelming.

In this instance, however, he was delighted to find that Thomas was driving them to a temporary drive-in movie event that had been set up in the car park for a local sports field. It was one of those 80s fantasy movies that was full of whimsy and ethereal glitter, where the actors made you question your sexuality. It also happened to be secluded and intimate thanks to everyone being inside their cars and graciously minding their own business.

Briefly, Thomas got out of the car and wandered over to one of the three food trucks that had set up along the outer edge of the car park and came back with a big bag of popcorn and two bottles of 7Up Zero.

They sat in companionable silence for the most part, breaking it only to offer each other popcorn or to make comments about what was happening.

Edwin would never have thought to go to one of these events on his own and it was one of many things that Thomas had introduced him to that he knew he would always be grateful for. Even the things that he had done before, he found that they felt new to him when he did them with Thomas. It was like everything was new, like he was seeing the whole world through a different lens, or from a different angle and it was glorious. Thomas made him feel loved and happy and excited about things that he never thought that he would be excited about.

As Edwin turned from the screen to watch Thomas, lit by the glow of the projector screen, animatedly making a joke about Tom Cruise, he thought that it was miraculous.

-----

When they got to the restaurant, they were led by the waitress to a two-seater table at the back near one of the windows that looked out onto the city. It was the kind of place that you could tell was expensive not just by the atmosphere and the candlelit ambience, but by the table cloths and the heavy cutlery wrapped in fabric napkins instead of paper ones.

“Thomas? How much does this place cost? You needn't go out of your way for my sake, I would be more than happy with something a little more toned down...” Edwin half-whispered nervously. Thomas might have had an extra source of income, but they were still university students (at least until November when they would attend graduation).

“Don't be silly, sweetheart. This is an important night and I want to treat my boyfriend to a fancy meal.” Thomas smiled, clearly not sharing in Edwin's concerns as he took his hand and kissed the back of it, linking their fingers together across the table afterwards.

“Alright, I suppose...” Edwin blushed at the action and allowed himself to simply enjoy what he was being given. “You shall have to allow me the opportunity to do the same for you soon as well, though,” he insisted.

“How could I ever say no to you?” Thomas flirted, thoroughly enjoying the bashful expression those words left in their wake.  “Especially when it involves another date~”

Suitably, the dinner was as delicious as it was fancy and the wine that they shared was a perfect compliment to the flavours. The conversation and company were just as intoxicating.    

It was another of those moments that Edwin was struck by the significance of the evening that he was experiencing. In previous years, he would have very much opted to keep to himself, tuck himself away and avoid the types of things that he was doing so agreeably with Thomas, avoid feeling quite so much so openly.

He was used to bottling things up, to hiding his deepest emotions as far away as he could tuck them behind his calm and collected exterior. However, with Thomas, he found himself wearing those same emotions like they were a fine, intricately embroidered suit, like they were something that should be displayed and appreciated for what they were. Hiding them now felt wrong, as though he would be doing them a grave injustice by keeping them away.

And perhaps in the strangest turn of all, he felt that it was easy to do so, to display those feelings. He might wonder to himself how Thomas had managed to bring them out of him so effortlessly, but he knew the reason. It was Thomas himself, his boldness, his unabashed way of showing the world his true self and never hiding from it. He was wonderful, truly. So wonderful that Edwin could not have ever hoped to resist his draw.

Thomas was an oasis; something so beautiful and miraculous that it could have been mistaken for a mirage. But Edwin had touched it, had felt it, had indulged in its waters. He knew that it was real because he had held it in his hands; tangible and warm.

That night, they returned to Edwin flat, Thomas easily agreeing to follow him up the front steps and into the elevator, down the hall to a familiar door. Once it had been closed behind them, the only thing that parted them was the air that filled the space between soft kisses.

They left a trail in their wake, items of clothing haphazardly flung, left to fall where they may, across the floor in a path that had only one destination. A path that the two of them happily walked and stumbled down, until they reached the start of something new.

If there was something that rang throughout them both in tandem and in absolute surety that night, it was that this was only the beginning.

Chapter Text

When Edwin woke the next morning it was to the warmth of Thomas' body pressed against his own, aligned from chest to ankle, legs tangled. His left arm had gone a little numb from where Thomas had been using it as a pillow all night and even though he knew that the moment he moved, he would get pins and needles, he couldn't find an ounce of regret within himself.

He reached up with the hand that wasn't currently trapped and brushed a few stray curls from Thomas' face. He was so beautiful, peaceful as he dozed with the morning sun filtering through the cracks in the curtains, lighting the edges of his hair like a golden halo.

Thomas shifted, brow furrowing slightly before he slowly opened his eyes and he peered up at Edwin sleepily.

“Good morning, handsome~” he purred, his voice a little rough from sleep. It sent an involuntary shiver down Edwin's spine.

“Isn't it just?” Edwin smiled, placing a kiss to Thomas' forehead. “I must admit that I do not wish to move a single inch… but we should probably get a start on breakfast.”

“What's on the menu?” Thomas smiled back almost instantaneously, though he made no effort to move other than to pull himself closer to Edwin, arms still circled around his waist.

Edwin let out a quiet gasp as they pressed together. “You're quite colourful, you know?” he said, brushing his fingers over the plethora of pink and purple bruises that littered his boyfriend's neck and shoulders, a few of them trickling over his collar bone and down his chest.

Thomas closed his eyes and drew in a breath, trying not to get too carried away in the moment and failing rather spectacularly. He opened his eyes to gaze at Edwin from under his lashes, ready to say something salacious, but the appearance of pure, unadulterated affection that looked back at him stole his breath from his lungs.

“Strawberry pancakes.” was what left Thomas' mouth instead of any of the suggestive things that had been running around his head previously.

“Hmm… I'm sure that I have the ingredients for those.” Edwin replied, giving Thomas one last slow kiss on the mouth before rolling himself over and out of bed.

He ignored Thomas' whine of protest at the movement and rolled his eyes at the wolf-whistle that followed him bending over to pull on his pyjama bottoms. “Do behave.” he chastised, though it was with no real heat.

“Make me~” Thomas teased, biting his lip and winking in an exaggerated manner.

“Meet me in the kitchen when you are decent.” Edwin said, throwing one of his dressing gowns at Thomas from where it had been hanging on a hook on the back of his bedroom door.

As it was, it did not take too long for Thomas to throw on the dressing gown and join him (though he wore nothing but his underwear beneath it and refused to tie it shut). The only aspect of his state of dress that Edwin might have protested about, was that it was awfully distracting and he was trying to make pancakes.

In the end, Edwin simply relegated him to slicing the strawberries and attempted to avoid looking at him for too long while the batter was in the pan. He had mixed up a sizable batch of it and he was determined to have them come out perfectly.

“You're so cute when you're concentrating~” Thomas said as Edwin expertly flipped the last pancake over in the pan. “And the competence is so sexy~”

“You are incorrigible.” Edwin replied, turning the heat off as soon as the pancake was done and he had set it atop the pile. He turned to quickly kiss Thomas' cheek before going back to the stack, neatly dividing them between two plates.

Thomas wrapped his arms around Edwin's waist from behind and leaned his chin on Edwin's shoulder, turning his head to kiss Edwin's neck.

“Stop that, you~” Edwin admonished, though he was smiling far too widely for it to land as serious.

“Only if you stop being so kissable~” Thomas flirted, making his point by continuing to kiss a trail up and down Edwin's neck.

Edwin leaned back against Thomas' chest, temporarily abandoning his task as he enjoyed the sensation. It felt like a dream.

A dream that they were both rudely awoken from when the sound of jingling keys came from nearby and the front door swung open. Not many people had access to spare keys for his flat and he had a feeling that he knew exactly who this one was.

“Edwin?” Charles' voice called out and Edwin sighed, not unhappy to see his best friend, but admittedly a little disappointed in having to stop what he was currently engaging in.

“In the kitchen, Charles,” he called back. “We were just making pancakes for breakfast.”

“We?” Charles mumbled as he rounded the corner, only then catching sight of Thomas draped very comfortably around Edwin. “Oh.”

“Have a seat, Charles, I will plate you up a few. We made plenty, after all.” Edwin said, gesturing to the stools that lined the side of the kitchen island.

“You're giving me far too much credit, sweetheart, I basically just stood here watching you while you did all the work.” Thomas chuckled.

“You sliced the strawberries, Thomas, that was a vital part of the pancake-making process.” Edwin replied, his own smile breaking through his serious tone.  

Charles hesitantly pulled out the stool and took a seat at the counter, watching Edwin and Thomas giggle through the process of transferring the pancakes onto different plates. It was surreal for him; bizarre. For one, he had never seen Edwin quite so bubbly and for two, he had never seen him in such a state of undress, wearing nothing but pyjama trousers. He was also seeing a lot more of Thomas King than he would have liked, the man draping himself all over Charles' best mate in nothing but boxers and Edwin's untied robe.

Thomas gave Charles a tight smile as they sat down and did his best to appear jovial and agreeable, starting up some small talk while Edwin brought the plates over with some honey and whipped cream, and sat down next to his boyfriend, opposite Charles.

“So, Charles, what brings you over here so early?” Thomas asked as he stuck a fork into his pancake stack.

“Just came to see Edwin.” Charles shrugged. “We didn't really get to talk much at the show yesterday, so I wanted to come by. Bloody good pancakes by the way, mate.” he directed the last part at Edwin.

“We were supposed to be doing something later today, were we not?” Edwin asked, curiously, remembering the previous days' rain-check. “It might be nice to do something with the girls.”

“Yeah, well, you're my best mate. I can't just pop by anymore?” Charles asked, sounding a little defensive.

“I did not say that, Charles. Of course, you are always welcome.” Edwin replied a little helplessly. He didn't want Charles to ever feel like he couldn't come to spend time with him, didn't ever want him to feel rejected or pushed to the side.

“Just better prepare your eyes for what you might see~” Thomas joked, doing a playful little wiggle in his seat.

“Do behave yourself, Thomas.” Edwin smiled into his next bite of pancake.

“Getting a little comfortable, aren't you?” Charles commented, earning himself a raised brow from Thomas and an odd look from Edwin.

“I should hope that he's comfortable in my home.” Edwin said smoothly, “With any luck, he will be spending a lot more time here.”

“Now who needs to behave?~” Thomas teased, delighted by Edwin's suggestive tone.

“Think you might just be a bad influence.” Charles muttered, causing Thomas to turn awkward and Edwin to frown at him.

That little comment had sounded far too bitter to be brushed off as good-humoured or teasing.

“Charles...” Edwin did not want to do this so early in the morning, over pancakes, but he would if he had to.

“Or a good one.” Thomas cut in. “I don't think it's too presumptuous to say that I make Edwin pretty happy.”

Before Edwin's heart could melt and he could voice his enthusiastic agreement with that statement, Charles decided to let his opinion be known.

“Yeah, right,” he said, sarcastically. “Everything is so much better with you around.”

“Yeah, actually, I'd say it is. I brighten the room with my fun and flirty personality~ and I'm pretty easy on the eyes.” Thomas replied, trying to play it off and not get offended. “Thanks for the compliment.”

“That wasn't a compliment!” Charles put his fork down and stood up, his stool scraping against the laminate flooring. “Why do you have to be so insufferable all the time? Is it fun for you or what?”

“Enough! Charles, why must you be this way? Thomas is my boyfriend and I love him. He is important to me and I thought that you had perhaps finally started to realise that, but I see now that I was mistaken.” Edwin cut them both off. His heart hurt with every word.

“Edwin… mate, I just… I don't think he's good.” Charles floundered a bit, not having expected such a harsh push-back from Edwin.

“There is no reason for you to be so set on this opinion you have. Why must you cling to it? Why must you keep ignoring the evidence in front of you that Thomas has improved my life exponentially since he entered into it? Why must you ignore the fact that this is the happiest I have ever been in a relationship, perhaps the happiest I have ever been at all?” Edwin questioned, his frustration palpable.

“Sweetheart, it's okay...” Thomas gently laid a hand on Edwin's arm, causing him to deflate.

“It is not okay. Not at all.” Edwin sighed heavily and rubbed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “I will not have my choice in romantic partners dictated to me. I can make my own decisions. I am not a child who needs to be sheltered from the world and Thomas is not just some villain out to get me. When I left home, I promised myself that I would never allow myself to be controlled again. You know that.”

“Mate, I wasn't trying to-” Charles abruptly closed his mouth when Edwin held up his hand.

“I do not wish to hear another word on the matter.” Edwin said, with finality. “I would very much appreciate it if you would give me some space today. I do not think that I will be over later as planned. I will apologise to Crystal and Niko myself.”

“Mate, you don't have to do that. I'm sorry.” Charles backtracked. “We're supposed to be celebrating your show...”

“I no longer have the energy, I'm afraid.” Edwin was feeling so incredibly disheartened by this turn in the conversation. He had been so happy all night and that morning, but it felt ruined now and he hated it. He didn't want to feel this way.

Thomas wrapped one arm around Edwin and rubbed his back in an attempt to comfort him.

Charles looked between them, a little lost on what to do, but after a moment, his expression hardened and he pulled his key back out.

“That's alright. Rain-check again then, yeah?” Charles gritted out before spinning on his heel and heading back to the front door. “See you later, maybe.” He closed the door harshly as he left and locked it behind himself again.

Edwin felt his eyes burning. All of this felt so, so unfathomably wrong to him that he didn't think he had the words to even try to describe his feelings on the matter. Being at odds with Charles felt like a physical pain. They were supposed to be inseparable, steadfast for each other… but Edwin was feeling more and more let down by Charles' behaviour and attitude and it hurt.

Thomas just pulled Edwin sideways into his embrace and held him until he had gotten all of his feelings out.

“I'm so sorry, Edwin.” Thomas whispered.

Edwin pulled back and cupped Thomas' face. “Don't be. You have been such a wonderful partner…. If anything, I am sorry. Sorry for allowing this to go on. I should have done more to set boundaries and to protect you from this. I thought that he was getting better about it...”

“You've tried your best, Edwin. He means a lot to you and I've seen how hard this has been for you. I thought things might change as well, but I can deal with not being liked. Do I wish things were different? Sure, but I'm more worried about how all of this is affecting you.”

“I just want him to accept you.” Edwin's voice wobbled as he spoke. “I don't understand why he remains the only one unable to see how much you mean to me.” He sniffled and Thomas offered him a comforting squeeze. “I love him so much. He is my best friend in the whole world and it hurts me that he is rejecting you, the one person whom I love romantically.”

“I love you, too, Edwin. I hope you know how much. Fuck, you really lit a fire in me. I don't give a shit how long it takes or if he never really likes me. I just wanna be with you and I want you to be happy. And, just… Edwin, that reaction to what Charles said seemed like it wasn't just about him and I want you to know I'm here for you; if the stuff about your family or previous situation, or whoever it was that was trying to control you, is something you need to or feel comfortable enough to talk to me about.” Thomas replied. “Now… How about we take our pancakes to the sofa and curl up for a while? Have a day in?”

“...How on earth he cannot see how wonderful you are to me is mind-boggling...” Edwin spoke softly as he gazed at Thomas. He wasn't prying into Edwin's past or what he had said, just leaving the door open for if Edwin decided that he wanted or needed to talk about it. It was refreshing. “Normally, I wouldn't allow meal food in the lounge, but on this occasion, I think that I can make an exception.”

Edwin managed a small smile and Thomas helped him carry their plates over to the coffee table. Soon enough, they were cuddled up on the sofa with some supernatural detective show about ghosts on in the background, finishing off their well-earned pancakes.

That was how they spent the rest of the day, though they both ended up putting on more comfortable clothes when it got closer to midday, and ordering takeaway for lunch. The sofa was their main place of residence, with infrequent trips to the kitchen for tea. They got through almost an entire season of the show before Niko and Crystal showed up.

When they knocked on the door, Edwin got up to have a look through the peep-hole before opening up for them.

“Niko, Crystal, what are the two of you doing here?” he asked, confused.

“When you didn't show up at ours and didn't message either of us, we got worried, dumbass.” Crystal chastised, pushing in through the door, with Niko close behind. “Charles won't speak to us either.”

“We just wanted to check on you!” Niko said. “Charles was in a super bad mood.”

Edwin closed the door behind them and turned to head back into the living room with them. “Yes, well. Perhaps if Charles hadn't barged in on us while we were attempting to have breakfast and undermined my relationship and autonomy then things would have gone more smoothly.”

“He did what?” Crystal fumed at the same time Niko gasped and her eyes widened.

“I do not know why he decided to behave in such a way, but it has left me quite upset. I'm afraid I have been in no mood to be around other people today, though I do apologise for not texting you sooner, so that you wouldn't have had to come all this way.”

“Jeez, why do you always have to be so British about it when you're pissed off?” Crystal said. “You don't have to be polite about it all the time. You can just be angry.”

Edwin huffed and moved past her to plop back down on the sofa, next to Thomas. “How do you want me to say it, then? I cannot describe the way that I am feeling about it because I have no idea where to even begin. I feel belittled, disrespected, insulted and harassed. I am angry at Charles not just for Thomas, who has been unjustly targeted since the start of our relationship, but also for myself. I have had to endure my dearest friend's unwarranted ire towards the man I love for weeks upon weeks and I am exceptionally tired of it. Charles is a good person, a good friend… usually… but for whatever reason, he has decided to take his protectiveness to a level that is intolerably controlling and frankly quite manipulative. I do not like this side of him. He is better than this.”

“Edwin…” Niko looked so upset on his behalf and he almost felt bad for spilling all of his woes, but he knew that she wouldn't want him to hold back.

“Fucking hell. This has gotten out of control.” Crystal sighed heavily and sagged into the armchair on the other side of the coffee table.

Niko sat next to Edwin on the sofa, on the opposite side to Thomas and gently placed her hand on his arm. “You know me and Crystal are on your side, right? We've got your back.”

“I know… I just wish that Charles was on my side too right now.” Edwin could feel how weary he must have looked as those words left his mouth. Usually, Charles would have been the one always in his corner, ready to go to bat for him and stand up to anyone who did him wrong… but now… now Charles was the one who needed to be stood up to and it felt so wrong.

This wasn't how this was supposed to go, this wasn't how things were supposed to be. Charles should have been happy for him, should have been supportive of his happiness. He wanted so badly to be able to share this joy with Charles, to share these wondrous things that he was experiencing. He wanted to gush about Thomas and their dates, but instead every time Edwin mentioned his boyfriend's name or brought him around, Charles would close off.

“Well, until he comes around – which he will – we'll just have to pick up the slack and support you guys doubly as much!” Niko said, determined.

“Agreed. I love Charles, but he's being a complete dick to you guys. Until we can get him to touch some grass, we'll go to bat for you in his place.” Crystal agreed.

“Thank you… all three of you. Honestly, with Charles acting the way that he is, I don't know what I would do without you.” Edwin replied, looking between his friends and his boyfriend, trying to feel the blanket of their support instead of the cold ache of Charles' disapproval.

Crystal and Niko ended up staying the evening and ordering pizza (the second round of takeaway for the day, which was not something that Edwin would usually do, but needs must). Despite Charles not being there, it was still a good time and he was still surrounded by people who loved him. That would have to be enough… at least until Charles could see reason.

Chapter Text

“Alright, enough moping. I'm making an executive decision!” Thomas declared, standing up from his small sofa and facing Edwin with determination. “We're going on a date and you are going to enjoy yourself.”

It had been two weeks since Edwin's confrontation with Charles and his mood had not particularly improved. He was not in the wrong in this situation and so, logically, he could not be the one to reach out and extend an olive branch to Charles. He had spent most of their friendship as the one compromising and giving in to Charles' wants. Not without protest, let it be noted, but usually he would be the one to back down. Edwin could admit to himself that it was generally because Charles' had a history being the one of them more attuned to other people and thus, he was able to convince Edwin to step outside of his usual comfort zone and allow more people into his circle.

This time, however, Edwin could not back down. He wasn't used to being on the other end of things.

More than anything, he just wanted Charles to see eye to eye with him again… for things to go back to the way they were.

He had not been the most fun to be around for these past two weeks, having spent most of his time reluctant to go anywhere and moping about in either his own flat or Thomas'. He imagined that his boyfriend was getting rather tired of his theatrics at this point.

“I don't know...” Edwin trailed off, looking up at Thomas for a moment before letting his eyes drift down to where his hands were folded on his lap.

“You can't just keep being miserable while he's off living his best life.” Thomas said, hands on hips.

“I can't control how I feel, Thomas.” Edwin countered, though he sounded more downtrodden than argumentative.

Thomas sighed and sat down heavily on the sofa again, next to Edwin. He regarded him for a moment before putting his hands over Edwin's, drawing his gaze.

“Edwin, I know how much this is hurting you, I see it every day. I know it's easier to say it than do it, but you can't let him run your emotions. You deserve to be happy, Edwin. Let me make you happy… please?” Thomas was practically begging him and Edwin didn't have the heart to say no again. Thomas had a point, after all. He had been allowing those events two weeks ago to hang over him like a shadow and it wasn't fair to himself or to Thomas.

“Alright.” Edwin agreed, offering Thomas a small but genuine smile. “What did you have in mind?”

Thomas' face broke out into a grin and he surged forwards to kiss Edwin’s cheek before excitedly pulling him up. “Laser tag!” he exclaimed, gleefully, his eyes full of mischief.

“You want us to go to laser tag?” Edwin was thoroughly perplexed now. He had never been to laser tag before and had only really seen it in shows or movies. Just like the skating rink, he hadn't even known that there was a place nearby that offered such activities.

“I would love for us to go to laser tag! It's fun! Besides, you have a lot of emotion to process right now and what better way to let off steam than running around in a dark obstacle course with a laser gun?” Thomas was still grinning, having full faith in his own ability to win Edwin over on this.

“And we would be on the same team? Who would we be up against?” Edwin questioned, letting Thomas know unequivocally that he had already won in convincing Edwin that this was a good idea.

“We would, and I already invited Crystal and Niko along to be on the opposing team!” He had been thinking about it ever since he had been given a flyer for it at the student hub the week prior. He had messaged Niko and Crystal about it the day after and if Niko wasn't already eager to help, Crystal's immediate enthusiasm for the idea had definitely won her over.

Sure, Thomas was slightly scared of what would happen while they were on opposite teams, but it would all be worth it if they could take Edwin's mind off of things for a while.

“You've thought about this a lot then.” Edwin said, more of a statement than a question. “Alright, it could be… fun, I suppose. What would be suitable attire?”

“Yes!” Thomas cheered, springing up off of the sofa again and pulling Edwin up with him and down the hall to his bedroom. “Anything comfortable and black will do! You can borrow one of my hoodies.”

Edwin was sure then, that even if he had been entirely opposed to the idea before, he would have done it just to be able to see that excited look on Thomas' face.

-----

When they arrived, Niko and Crystal were already waiting for them outside. Niko was in all-pink with a light knit jumper with a giant daisy on the front, pink skinny jeans and white trainers with a pink stripe down the side and a slight platform sole. Crystal was in a black t-shirt and leggings, and black trainers, though her purple socks were still visible. Both of them waved (Niko with a little more enthusiasm) when they saw Edwin and Thomas approaching the entrance.

Thomas was wearing black jeans and a plain black t-shirt, though he somehow managed to make it look way more expensive than it was, like he had just walked straight off the cover of a magazine. Edwin was dressed simply, in borrowed jeans and a borrowed black hoodie that would have been oversized on either of them (he refused to admit how comfortable it was). It was a look that was not generally compatible with Edwin's preferred style, though Thomas had insisted that it suited him just fine.

“Edwin! Look at you~ You almost look normal.” Crystal said, right off the bat.

“Oh ha. Ha. I'm sure it's terribly amusing for you to see me dressed like this.” Edwin rolled his eyes.

“I think you look cute!” Niko complimented. “Is that Thomas' hoodie?” She eyed him with a gleefully knowing look.

“It is.” Edwin replied, feeling all too pleased with that little fact. It smelled like a mixture of Thomas' cologne and his usual fresh-cotton-scented fabric softener and it was giving him all sorts of warm fuzzy feelings to be all wrapped up in it.

“And he does look cute in it. I keep telling him it suits him and I definitely don't have any ulterior motives for suggesting it~” Thomas grinned impishly, punctuating it with a little wink.

Niko giggled behind her hand and Crystal snickered.

“Right. Shall we go inside then?” Edwin said, blushing all the way from his cheeks to his ears. “No use in dilly dallying.”

He speed-walked ahead of them and Thomas shot Niko and Crystal an innocent shrug before jogging after him and linking their hands together.

“How the hell does Charles not see it?” Crystal muttered to herself as she watched Thomas swing his and Edwin's arms back and forth and Edwin gave him an irritated but fond look in return.

“I don't know… but I really hope that he does soon.” Niko answered, a worried edge to her tone. “I really think that he's got the wrong idea about Thomas.”

“Yeah you and me both.” Crystal sighed and shrugged. “Oh well, not like we can force him to change his mind at this point. Let's just enjoy today. We can work on Charles later.” Crystal offered Niko a half-smile.

“Right! This is about Edwin and having fun!” Niko nodded resolutely and the two of them followed Thomas and Edwin into the laser tag building.

-----

Once they were inside, it was only a matter of signing up, donning their vests, arm bands and leg bands, and sorting out their laser guns.

“How on earth do these things even work?” Edwin questioned, awkwardly turning the gun over in his hands.

“For this type of game, you just point and shoot. The vests we have on have pads on them that register as hits and you just have to get as many as possible before the timer runs out.” Thomas explained. “The chest is worth the most points, and the arms and legs are worth less.”

“Alright, that seems simple enough...” Edwin said. “Do you mind…?” he gestured his arms with the gun and Thomas quickly caught on and helped him to get his grip right and make sure that his arm bands were properly secured.

“Good to go, Sweetheart~” Thomas flirtatiously bit the corner of his lip.

“Fuck, you guys are annoyingly sappy. I can't wait to humiliate you at laser tag.” Crystal smirked as she began pre-emptively winding up her gun.

“We'll see who'll be humiliating who.” Thomas grinned sharply.

A competitive match was struck and Edwin and Niko shared a glance before the match finally started.

Niko and Crystal were led into one side of the maze, while Thomas and Edwin went into the other. Two dark hallways lead them to opposite ends and they would have to work their way through the maze within to get to each other.

It was dark inside, darker than the hallway, aside from the glow in the dark paint that marked patterns across the floors and ceilings, a few swirls and symbols on the walls as well. It was disorienting, especially as the speakers played some kind of tense ambience that echoed all around them.

Edwin might have been nervous if he wasn't so distracted by the glowing paint. It was bright and intriguing; a stark contrast to the otherwise completely black course. Thomas even had to nudge his arm once or twice to get him to concentrate and follow him through the halls and passageways.

They didn't speak much as they traversed the maze. It was mostly communication via eye contact and Thomas turning around every now and then to give Edwin a playful grin.

Edwin hadn't thought, going in, that he would enjoy walking around a dark building with nothing to guide him but paint, but this was actually rather fun.

That was, until a laser pointed at him through the dark and suddenly he was lit up red. In the distance, he could hear the distinct sound of Crystal whisper-yelling “Yes!” and celebrating having gotten the first hit in on Edwin.

Quickly, Thomas was firing a shot back through the dark; an arm-hit.

Niko's vest lit up and she quickly ducked away.

Thomas looked back at Edwin and gestured for him to follow and keep quiet.

The moment was broken by Crystal again, though, as she charged at them, firing her laser at both of them, with Niko not far behind her.

“Shit!” Thomas cussed and grabbed Edwin by the arm, dragging him behind a wall for cover. When a moment had passed, he leaned around the corner and fired some shots back, managing to get a couple of hits in, himself.

Edwin looked around, trying to make out any kind of strategic path that he could. As soon as he found something, he tapped Thomas' shoulder to get his attention and pointed to a gap in the wall that seemed to lead around to the right. If they played it right, then they would potentially be able to circle around the back and get the other pair from behind.

“Sneaky~” Thomas teased Edwin with a playful nudge. “I like it~”

The two of them listened out for footsteps for a moment before quickly scrambling for the corridor. It was a long and winding space with a couple of windows along the inner wall that faced the innermost section of the maze that Crystal and Niko were then occupying.

Though they tried their best to be stealthy, the girls caught hearing of their footsteps and Niko swung around just in time to face Thomas through one of the windows. She fumbled slightly, but aimed her laser towards him and fired.

Thomas' vest lit up and if they hadn't been able to see him well before, they could definitely see him now.

“They're in the hall! Come on!” Niko giggled as she ran around to the entrance they had gone down before.

Crystal fired a couple more laser shots through the windows before following Niko down the corridor.

“Uh oh...” Thomas let out a nervous chuckle. “Let's get moving!” he started down the corridor in a sprint, Edwin hot on his heels.

They fired back down the hall in the straight sections, just in case Crystal and Niko were gaining on them and then ducked out of one of the gaps in the wall, back into the main area of the maze. What followed was a barrage of lasers, lights and running around halls and obstacles marked only with glow in the dark paint. And yelling. There was a lot of yelling.

It did what they had set out for it to do, though. It hadn't taken all that long before Edwin was grinning to himself as they ran about the course, getting a kick out of ducking behind cover and peeking out to take shots through the dark at his friends as they chased each other around.

By the end of their time slot, all four of them were completely exhausted and about ready to keel over.

“Well...” Edwin panted, “I do believe that that was more than enough to qualify for my weekly exercise.”

“Agreed!” Niko said, leaning on her knees as she caught her breath. “I feel like I just ran a whole marathon or something.”

“Sadly, no medal for winning this one.” Crystal joked.

“Hang on a tick! We have not yet compared our scores!” Edwin protested the notion that Crystal and Niko had managed to beat them.

“Puh-lease, Edwin. You spent like ninety percent of that game running away.” Crystal rolled her eyes.

“Be that as it may, I was not getting hit for the majority of my time running, which is more than can be said for you.” Edwin snipped back.

“Excuse me, if you lot are ready, we can take your gear and count the totals.” One of the members of staff interrupted their post-battle bickering.

“Yeah, sure, man.” Thomas peeled off his vest and arm bands and passed them over to the guy, who looked between the others rather pointedly as he waited for them to do the same.

“I bet we won!” Niko exclaimed as she passed over her vest. “Team crystiko!”

“Team crystiko?” Edwin repeated the unfamiliar work in question.

“Yeah! Like Crystal and Niko! Crystiko!” Niko explained, happily, clearly very pleased with herself for thinking that one up.

“That's actually kinda cute.” Thomas smiled, endeared by Niko as most people often were. “What would that make me and Edwin?”

“Team tomwin, obviously!” Niko answered brightly. She was practically exuding flowers and sparkles with her levels of enthusiasm.

“Oh my god,” Thomas turned to Edwin with mock dismay, “we sound like a malnourished Victorian child.”

“Edwin already sounds like a malnourished Victorian child all on its own.” Crystal said. “Look on the bright side, at least he had the fashion sense to match.”

“Excuse me!” Edwin protested, completely aghast at Crystal's playful bullying. “That is not-”

“You're excused.” She cut him off with a smirk.

Edwin was so gob-smacked, he almost didn't react when the staff member tried to subtly hurry them up with their vests.

Edwin quickly removed the rest of his and handed them over, Crystal not taking too much longer, herself.

It was a five minute wait once the staff member had gone behind the counter to calculate their scores. Crystal came out on top with the highest score (to no one's surprise), but perhaps shockingly, it was Edwin and Thomas who won as a team with a higher combined score.

“I still beat you guys, just so you know.” Crystal said, folding her arms over her chest.

“Don't be a sore loser, Crystal. Clearly, our teamwork was superior.” Edwin smirked.

“Don't be a sore winner, Edwin. You only got such a high score because Niko didn't have the heart to shoot you.” Crystal fired back.

“It felt mean!” Niko defended herself.

“You're just a little sugar cookie of a human being, aren't you? Niko, don't ever change.” Thomas said, affectionately. She really was the sweetest person he had ever met.

“Yeah, sure, Niko is the best. At least we can agree on that.” Crystal huffed, though it was clear she wasn't really irritated at all.

Niko tucked her arms behind herself and swayed happily, clearly enjoying the compliments.

“So… what should we do now?” Edwin asked. “We still have a whole day ahead of us.”

“Well, I'm pretty hungry after all that running. How about sushi?” Thomas suggested.

Yes. Lunch sounded like an excellent idea.

“Now that you mention it, I am rather peckish.” Edwin replied, feeling the hunger hit him now that he was thinking about food.

“Fuck yes, that sounds perfect.” Crystal easily agreed, clearly going through the same thing as Edwin.

“Yes!” Niko clapped her hands. “Are we doing Yo!Sushi or are we going somewhere proper?” she asked.

Thomas laughed at the frank question. “Japan Centre is about a ten minute tube away and a short walk. We can go there.” he said.  

Niko brightened even more, if possible. “Ooh~ Yes! I love Japan Centre! And Soho is right down the street! We can get taiyaki ice cream!”

 “Ugh, yes, that sounds amazing! Let's do that.” Crystal added, “I could seriously go for a matcha cookie as well.”

It was decided.

-----

The tube ride to Piccadilly was quick enough. Niko and Crystal managed to snag seats while Thomas and Edwin stood at the end of the carriage. Niko had taken her phone out and snapped a few pictures; one or two of herself and Crystal, and another of Edwin and Thomas caught in a candid moment where Edwin had been bickering with Crystal and Thomas had this look of deep affection twinkling in his eyes as he watched.

They had also been holding hands as if it were second nature to them. It was another new thing that had started along with Edwin's relationship with Thomas. He had never been the type to be overly affectionate with others, especially not physically affectionate (Niko was usually an exception to this, herself, but that was mostly because she respected his boundaries and they had this innate understanding of each other that just came naturally), which made it all the more special that he was so comfortable with it if it was with Thomas.

Edwin was the type to feel things very deeply and intensely, but who struggled with expressing himself in the way that he desired. He had broken out of that a little bit when Niko had come into his friendship circle, not long after Crystal. Additionally, although he had always carried himself with a healthy degree of confidence, it seemed to have flourished all the more on the back of his new romantic relationship.

Thomas was good for him; he brought out his confidence and encouraged a comfort and ease with it to blossom.

When they got to Japan Centre, they were lucky enough to find one of the longer tables completely empty and snagged it up. The boxed sushi there was all made on-site and it was delicious. Once they had loaded up on lunch, drinks and tasty snacks, they sat at their table spread out what they were willing to share (Crystal was keeping her matcha cookie all for herself, thank you).

“Mmm, we should totally come here more often!” Niko exclaimed as she finished polishing off another of her salmon rolls. “I love this place! I don't think I'd last without somewhere to get my fix of lychee or strawberry ramune.”

“Honestly the fact that I had no idea this place existed until you showed it to me feels so illegal. Like, how did I go that long without trying dorayaki?” Crystal said – she had already finished her own sushi and had moved on to the sweets.

“That is illegal. How are you evading jail time?” Thomas joked.

“Rich parents.” Crystal replied with a fake smile. “That's how all trust fund kids get out of trouble.” she shrugged, causing both Niko and Thomas to stifle a snort.

“I must say, these are quite good.” Edwin commented, turning their attention to himself. He was half way through his third dorayaki of a different flavour and did not show any signs of stopping. “I think that I shall acquire some more of the custard ones before we leave.”

“Can I try some?” Thomas asked, looking at Edwin, hopefully.

There was a pause of hesitance which made him smile, but soon enough, Edwin relented and broke off about half of the little pancake sandwich before handing it over.

Thomas' eyes widened a bit as he took the pancake. It was a much bigger piece than he had been expecting; definitely more than most people would be willing to part with. He savoured it and took his time. It really was delicious, though he was sure that Edwin could recreate them at home without issue. Perhaps he should try his hand at convincing him to loo up a recipe.

“You should go and try one of the strawberry ones next! They're so good!” Niko suggested.

Thomas was inclined to take that advice. The one that Edwin had shared with him had been a custard one and if that was anything to go by, then he definitely wanted to try more.

-----

 The trip into Soho for taiyaki ice cream had been the cherry on top of a wonderful day. It had been exactly what Edwin had needed; time with his friends, with the people who loved him and supported him wholeheartedly. It was nice to spend time with just the girls (and Thomas) without an air of constant negativity.

It had been a perfect distraction.

Once it was over, however, Edwin's thoughts inevitably drifted back to Charles. The way that they had left things that morning two weeks ago had been… regrettable. It was the first time in their friendship that they had gone so long, with so much argument and resistance, and had not been able to see eye-to-eye.  

It was most perturbing.

Thankfully, he considered the struggle worthwhile. He wasn't even going to entertain the idea of losing his relationship with Thomas just to placate his best friend. He had said that he wasn't willing to give up his relationship, and that he wasn't willing to allow himself to be manipulated and he had meant it.

He had had enough of that with his family and he wasn't going to fall into that toxic routine again with anyone else. He could make his own decisions and knew what was best for his own life and his own future. He did not need for it to be dictated to him by others.

His parents had not taken his passion for literature as anything worth pursuing. They had considered it and his general pursuit of the arts to be entirely frivolous. They had also not taken it seriously when he had refused their attempts to set him up with the daughters of other business associates and companies that his father wanted to maintain good relationships with. One of his refusals had sunk plans for a merger and Edwin's father had made sure to let him know how much of a disappointment he was for letting down their family for his own selfish reasons.

The night that he had come out to them, his mother had cried and his father had gone so red in the face that he could have been mistaken for a phone box.

They had taken away his phone, grounded him so that he was unable to leave the house for anything other than attending his college classes, and had told him very sternly that he was wrong, that who he was was wrong, that he was mistaken and would grow out of his phase. They had told him that he did not know what was good for him and that they knew better, that he was too young and stupid to understand what he was doing with his life.

They had told him that they wouldn't allow him to throw his life away over a perversion.

University had been an escape for him. He had applied for courses in secret and had the responses directed to a PO Box to avoid his parents tearing up any acceptance letters. The moment he got accepted into his top choice, he had applied for his loans, packed up his things and gotten out of his family home as fast as his feet could carry him.

Before that, he had had no choice but to keep his head down and play along with their demands in order to earn back his freedoms. It had taken over a month for him to get his phone back and when he had, he found that they had installed controls on it that prevented him from doing anything other than using google and making phone calls. It also had a tracker on it. Suffice it to say that he had replaced it with a new phone the second he had gotten his first instalment of student finance.

The way that Charles kept insisting that Thomas was wrong for Edwin for no other reason other than that he had a promiscuous past was all too familiar to him. Thomas being more experienced with the physical side of things was no real reason for him to not be good enough and it was no one's decision but Edwin's to choose a suitable partner for himself. It was up to Edwin to say who was good enough for him and who wasn't.

It was hard for Edwin not to hear his parents' words echoing in his ears, telling him that who he wanted to be with meant that there was something inherently wrong with him, that he needed to do what they told him if he knew what was good for him. Always controlling, always carrying an underlying air of threat.

That night, when he accompanied Thomas back to his flat for the evening (Edwin hadn't particularly wanted to go back to his own flat), he spilled out everything about his past, about his parents disapproval and control, and about the deeper reasons as to why Charles' behaviour was so upsetting for him.

The look that had steadily appeared on Thomas' face as the stories continued made Edwin almost feel bad for laying it all on him, but Thomas had not been put off by it and only expressed his sympathy for what Edwin had to go through, for what he was going through now.

“I am sorry if all of this is too much… I am aware that it is… a lot to process.” Edwin said, eyes downcast, fists pressed together nervously.

Thomas had simply placed his hand over Edwin's, running his thumb comfortingly over the back of Edwin's hand until some of the tension began to leave him.

“There is not a single thing that's wrong with who you are, Edwin Payne.” Thomas spoke with conviction. “Your parents are full of shit and if Charles knows about all of this, which I'm assuming he does from what you said before, then fuck him.” Thomas realised that he was getting heated and that talking too negatively about Charles might just upset Edwin more, so he took a deep breath before speaking again. “Sorry. I know he means the world to you, Edwin, but the way he's been treating you… the way he's been making you feel… I don't like it.”

“I- I know… but I know that he's better than this. I don't know what it is that is making him stick to his guns so adamantly, but I know that he does not want to hurt me.” Edwin was so downtrodden. It was painful to see him that way.

“But he is… he is hurting you, Edwin.” Thomas felt a little helpless. He didn't know how to make things better, didn't know how to fix things or improve the situation for Edwin.

“I…. I know...” Edwin sighed like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. Maybe it was. “I don't know what I am supposed to do.”

“I think maybe you're putting too much pressure on yourself to do all the work. You've already spoken to him and if he's not gonna listen, then that's on him. If he really is your best friend, then he'll get his head out of his ass eventually. You trust him, so I'm gonna trust him too, okay? And in the meantime, I'll be here for you and so will Crystal and Niko, and hell, even Honda and Meatball, too.” Thomas replied, hoping that he could lift that burden even a little bit.

Edwin looked at him for a prolonged moment before sighing again and slumping into his side, resting his head on Thomas' chest. Thomas wrapped his arm around Edwin and placed a soft kiss to the top of his head.

“I don't deserve you.” Edwin whispered.

“Yeah, you do.” Thomas countered, offering Edwin a gentle squeeze. “You deserve everything you want.”

Going into this, he had known that he liked Edwin, that there was instant attraction and chemistry between them that couldn't be ignored… but he had no idea that they would meet so much push-back from Edwin's closest friend. He wasn't sure what to make of it, wasn't sure how to help when the problem seemed to be who he was as a person and not anything that he could change.

Nonetheless, he loved Edwin, like he had never expected to love anyone. Yeah it was fast and yeah it wasn't something that he had ever thrown himself into before, but it felt right, it felt like fate that they had bumped into each other that day. He didn't care if it sounded cheesy; that was just how he felt.

He was ready to do what it took to fight for Edwin, to stay by his side and support him through this. He had some guesses as to why Charles hated him (his reputation, his contrast with Edwin's personality, the fact that he was 'stealing' Edwin's time and attention, etc., etc…), but none of them would hold up if he could just open his eyes and see how much he's hurting Edwin… see how happy he is with Thomas.

Maybe it really was just a matter of time, but for Edwin's sake, Thomas hoped that the time it took would be short.