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What slowly wakes him up in the first place is a stubborn beam of sunlight consistently shining on his face.
Tommy tries to bury his head further into his pillow, but it doesn’t help.
It doesn’t make sense, because the only window in his bedroom faces the north and never has sunlight streaming in, in the morning.
The pillow also smells slightly different… not like his detergent… and the mattress is just a little on the wrong side of soft...
That’s when it all starts to come back to him.
The bachelor party. Being called into work. That beast of a fire that seemed to go on forever. Rushing to the hospital, trying to make it in time for the impromptu ceremony.
That breathtaking kiss.
Evan.
He pries his eyes open, slightly crusty from sleep, and is immediately blinded by the harsh sunlight filtering through the loft’s tall windows. He has to blink a few times before he can actually see.
And the picture in front of him takes his breath away for a second.
Evan looks so soft and peaceful, asleep. Still, in a way Tommy hasn’t seen him yet. Because the Evan he has met so far is a bundle of endless energy. Bouncy and wild, like bubbles trying to escape a bottle of champagne.
God, and he is so beautiful that it makes Tommy seriously wonder how he ever got this lucky.
Long lashes are fanned out on his cheekbones, that are littered with small pinprick freckles running all the way across his nose. Plump, pink lips are slightly parted, soft puffs of air escaping with every breath. There is a little bit of drool on the pillow and Tommy really shouldn’t find it as endearing as he does.
Tommy fights the urge to reach out. To run the tips of his fingers over the pink birthmark that stands out against the pale skin. To run along the strong slope of his nose. To map out every freckle, every scar, and study it like constellations. Until he can find every single one of them in his dreams.
It should scare him. How much he feels. How much Evan makes him feel.
It’s way too much and way too soon.
It should scare him. And yet…
It doesn’t.
It’s thrilling.
He honestly can’t remember the last time he was this eager to just talk to someone, to get to know them, to grin like a silly teenager each time his phone lights up with a new text. Evan fills him with a type of giddiness he normally only feels when he’s high up in the sky.
He walked into the hangar that night with Howie and Eddie, all long legs, blue eyes and a smile that could light up the world. And listen, Tommy has eyes okay? He is not blind. Objectively, Evan is a very attractive man. But that was even before he got to know him. Before he found out how funny he is. And charming. And caring. How Evan has a heart of gold that he wears on his sleeve, for the world to see.
Before Tommy found out what beautiful shade of pink Evan turns when flirted with. How he stumbles and stutters around him, all bravado leaving him with a single wink.
He had been a little sad after that first date, he has to admit. But he knew he had to cut it short if he didn’t want to pressure Evan into doing things he was not yet ready for. If he was going to cut it short, better do it before his feelings got the better of him.
Then Evan had surprised him, asking him to meet for coffee. Asking Tommy to be his date to his sister’s wedding. But it was still so new, fragile and a little unsure. So Tommy was adamant about taking it slow, giving Evan the space to come to terms with all of these new feelings, letting him set the pace.
Which is why Evan absolutely blew his mind when he marched up to him in the hospital lobby with such confidence, kissing him like a dying man savouring his last breath.
It seems like every time Tommy thinks he knows what to expect, Evan manages to surprise him yet again.
And now, this very morning, in this very bed, Tommy knows he’s well and truly fucked. Because he’s falling and he’s falling hard.
After leaving the hospital, Evan had taken him to the station to drop off his gear and gather his things, before driving them both to his loft. Tommy hadn’t objected, a little delirious from both exhaustion and that breathtaking kiss.
They had honestly tried to draw out their energy as much as possible, but had both crashed hard pretty early in the evening.
At that point, he had been awake for over 24 hours and had spent the better part of it straining under the weight of all his gear, trying to contain a vicious wildfire in the hills. And once the adrenaline wore off, Evan had been absolutely drained from all the concern and stress of the whole day. Not to mention whatever chaos had happened the night before, after Tommy had left.
So, when their make-out session started to consist of more yawns than kisses, Evan had taken him by his hand and led him upstairs.
He can barely remember climbing into bed, but he has no idea at what time they went to sleep. He vaguely remembers a few more soft kisses under the covers and a promise of more, tomorrow.
Now Tommy carefully stretches, without dislodging the arm that is curled around his waist. The display of Evan’s alarm clock shows 7:13 am.
He’s sore beyond belief and there is a headache steadily building behind his eyes that tells him he definitely didn’t drink enough water yesterday, but he thinks he managed to get a decent amount of sleep. He still feels a lingering tiredness, but no longer the bone-deep exhaustion that had weighed him down yesterday.
Settling back on his pillow, he smiles. Evan looks a lot more alive than he did yesterday, but the remnants of a hangover hide in the dark circles under his eyes. If the drunk and illegible texts he received from Evan that night are any indication, it must have been a wild night.
He carefully leans in and places a featherlight kiss on the pink birthmark.
Evan stirs, eyelids fluttering and he lets out a soft sigh, before sinking a little deeper into his pillow, lips curled in a small but soft smile.
“Hey,” Tommy whispers, softly. Afraid that if he speaks any louder it will break the spell that seems to capture them.
“Hmm, morning,” Evan croaks, his smile widens and finally, Tommy gets to see those baby blue eyes open up.
“Good morning.”
Evan reaches and tangles his hand with Tommy’s, mumbling, “what time is it?”
“A quarter past seven,” Tommy brings their tangled hands to his mouth and presses a soft kiss to them.
Evan stretches with a groan and yawns before he shuffles even closer and curls up against Tommy’s chest, “hmm, that’s too early.”
Tommy chuckles.
“That’s okay,” he presses a soft kiss onto the curls that are tucked under his chin, “we have time.”
He smiles to himself and bites his tongue to prevent spilling something that is way too early to say.
But it’s okay, they have time.