17. Rehearsal #2
He commanded his heart to shut the fuck up as he escaped into his room and rummaged through his drawers to find a t-shirt that wouldn’t be snug on Dae, since it seemed he’d gone to Korea to do nothing but pushups.
By the time he found one (that was originally his anyway) Dae was at the bedroom door, gazing at Theo’s wall—almost every inch of which was covered with his stickers.
“I don’t understand.” His voice was a whisper. “I arrange all the orders myself.”
Theo wasn’t sure why he was scared, like this was too much, too obsessed, too revealing. “I have a PO box for Jordan’s stuff, so I don’t have to give out her real address. Creepy stalker prevention.”
“But why?” He shook his head, his mouth parting in shock, and maybe something a little like awe. “I would’ve sent them for free.”
“That’s why. I wanted to support you.” It wasn’t about the money. He knew Dae’s stickers were popular enough that he didn’t need Theo’s monthly orders, but he loved the confidence and sense of purpose it gave him to know he was giving people joy.
“Theo, this is…” He shut his mouth, the muscles in his jaw working to keep it that way. They stood for a while, Dae gazing at the wall, Theo gazing at him.
Dangerous.
“Plus,” Theo said, his voice way too loud after such a quiet moment, “it helps when I’m missing you. Makes me feel like a piece of you is hanging on my wall.”
He hid his smile. “Next it’ll be my hair, then my skin.”
“Don't give me ideas.”
He shivered dramatically. “I’m locking the door tonight.”
“Like that could stop me.”
Dae finally looked at him, his dark eyes sparking with something Theo couldn’t handle.
“I don’t think anything could stop you if you wanted something.
” Theo had almost forgotten the pull Dae had, the way his presence commanded his attention.
But then he blinked, shaking his head and backing away. “Do you have extra blankets?”
It took Theo a moment to catch up to the shift and catch his breath. “No, that’s a grown-up thing to have.”
Dae clicked his tongue like he’d raised him better than that. “It’s fine. It’s not cold.”
“You’re not the one sleeping on the couch, Dae. Obviously. Take the bed.”
The thought seemed to shake the foundations of his personhood. “I’m not taking your bed.”
“You’re the guest. My mom would hang my skin on the wall if I let a guest sleep on the couch.”
“I’m not a guest; I’m your best friend.”
“Then we’ll both sleep here.” He hadn’t thought the idea through before it was out of his mouth, but there was no reasonably sane way to take it back. Theo thought Dae would fight him on it, but to his crackling shock, he nodded.
“Okay.” His light tone didn’t match his rigid posture.
“Um. Okay. Here.” Theo handed him the shorts and soft blue t-shirt, which Dae held up, his head cocked to the side.
“This is mine.”
“Statute of limitations on t-shirt theft is one year.”
Dae shook his head, his lips threatening a smirk on his way to the bathroom. “It was one of my favourites.”
Theo changed into his own t-shirt and boxers, then puttered around the room tidying as the sound of the shower nearly short-circuited his brain. Don’t think about him naked, don’t think about where his hands might be on his body or the water running over his—
The door opened with a swirl of steam and Dae stepped out with his damp hair still dripping on the shoulders of his (Theo’s) t-shirt.
“You have impressive, um…” He cleared his throat, pushing his floppy hair off his forehead. “I mean, the water pressure is…” He gave up on words and crossed the room, slipping under the covers quickly, as if afraid Theo would change his mind.
Or that he would.
Theo took a towel from his closet and got into bed, draping it over Dae’s head and gently shaking his hair dry.
It was a strange thrill to smell his own shampoo and soap on him, but he internally shut that shit down quickly.
Once he was satisfied his hair was dry enough to sleep comfortably, he tossed the towel onto a chair, and they both snuggled onto their respective pillows.
Theo turned on his side, his arm tucked under his head, because it was a comfortable way to sleep, not so he could bask in Dae’s profile. “Are you happy in Korea?”
Dae stared up at the ceiling. “It’s beautiful there. The people are kind. The job is great. The food is amazing. I think I’m…” He bit his lip, thinking. “I’m happy-adjacent. An almost kind of happy.”
“Is that enough?”
He let out a long breath. “Probably not.”
He deserved all the happy. All of it. “Are you…”
Dae fought his drifting eyes and turned his head. Fuck, he was so beautiful. “Am I what?”
Theo was going to ask if he would ever come home, but fear of the answer kept the question stuck in his throat. “Goodnight.”
Dae fought it for a few more moments, holding his gaze through the slits in his eyelids, and then he was out.
??? ???
Warm. That was the only thing Theo’s groggy brain could register when he slipped past the threshold of sleep into waking. Warm and comfortable.
But then he felt the hand on his hip and the soft breath through his shirt, and the fuzz of sleep exploded off his consciousness.
Dae’s hand. His breath. His body close under the blankets, his head off his pillow and tucked into Theo’s chest like he’d needed comfort in the night.