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“Where do you see us in ten years, Rhett?”
Rhett flinched. It was an unexpected question. They’d fought over dinner. Something trivial to do with his tone when speaking to the waiter. Link had called Rhett ignorant and Rhett had called Link brainless. Apologies were exchanged but the silence that followed beckoned for their night to end. It had been one of the first times they’d agreed to go out together since graduating college and the break up. They really did want to remain just friends… but things were good until they weren’t, and Link was asking Rhett this stupid question just as he was pulling up to his house since driving him home, the rest of the drive having been spent silent.
“Well, I mean… a stable job, my own home -” Rhett began slowly, shutting his engine off as he pulled into Link’s driveway, despite knowing full well what Link had meant.
“No, Rhett. Us. Where do you see - us. Ten years?” Link interjected. He needed to know - he had to ask. If this was the last time...he had to know.
Rhett exhaled shakily.
“Hmm.”
He could feel Link’s eyes on him as he stared up at the home he knew just as well as his own, the bedroom window he’d snuck into many nights in years past and the way it was pushed slightly ajar, thinking of the soft breeze he’d felt from lying in the bed with the same gaze that was glued to him now.
“Tell me,” Link spoke softly. Gently. A stark contrast to the insults they’d slung angrily at each other earlier in the night.
Rhett rubbed a hand over his face, resigned. He shook his head in exasperated amusement before turning to Link.
“You want to know what I really think?” he asked, speaking just as softly as Link had moments before. Link nodded, his eyes wide and sad. His mouth felt tacky and dry as he searched for his words. Without the sound of the engine it was eerily quiet, the air between them too still.
“I still see...us. I see myself with you.”
Link remained silent over the thudding of his heart almost overwhelmingly loud in his ears, waiting for Rhett to continue.
“For so long it’s always been you. And now I...I don’t know. I know you don’t need to hear this right now and I’m not trying to - to… impose this on you but...it’s just the truth.”
Link pushed his glasses up his nose, still unfamiliar with the new frames that he’d have to wear for the rest of his life. He sighed.
“But...why? Even after everything? After how wrong it all went before?”
Rhett wriggled around in his seat, undoing his belt to face Link completely.
“I know. But you’ve always been my best friend and...heck, I just want my best friend back. That was always the plan. It was always us.” Rhett’s voice wavered. “Even if we… even if it wasn’t us… the way it was… it’s still you and me, man. I can’t see myself with anyone else but you...because I don’t want to.”
He saw the emotion on Link’s face shift from stony to warmth. He felt a pang deep in his chest.
“I’d have waited. For anything. As long as it was with you.”
Link glanced down for a moment as a small smile appeared on his face. His gaze returned to Rhett’s, his eyes shimmering with a wetness that wasn’t there before.
“Y’know what’s funny, Rhett?” he asked, feeling suddenly nervous. Rhett raised his eyebrows in anticipation. “I really hope you’re right about that.” He exhaled. “I really, really do.”
The earnest look on his face was everything Rhett could have asked for. He felt flooded with relief. Maybe things really would be okay. “Really?” Rhett asked, and he can tell, just by looking at him, at the way he’s gripped his hands together in his lap, that he’s resisting the urge to throw himself at Rhett, because he could feel it too.
“Yeah,” Link whispered, looking straight ahead. Rhett tentatively reached out a hand, covering both of Link’s with his own, his thumb lightly tracing patterns over his knuckles. “It’s just...such a mess… I don’t want to risk losing all of this, Link. Maybe it’s a mistake-”
“No.” Link said quickly, engaging eye contact. “I don’t think so.”
“Neither do I, we just - there’s so much to figure out. And we will. There’s no outcome where we won’t make it work.”
Link was still smiling at him, wider, teeth bared and bright. He released his hands from their grip on each other and took Rhett’s. “S’That right?”
Rhett felt lovestruck and dizzy and he wasn’t even shocked that he was like this - still. That the few months away made no impact on how he felt about the man in front of him - his man. His heart.
“You really think I can find somethin’ better than what we have here?”
They had a lot to talk about, he knew this, but right now he just wanted to kiss him, and it was taking all of himself not to lean over in his seat and…
The Neal’s front door swung open and Link’s mom’s silhouette could be seen in the doorway, peering out. Link gave her a quick wave and she ducked back inside, leaving the door open behind her.
“So…” Link trailed off.
“Can I take you out for breakfast?” Rhett fidgeted.
“That’d be nice,” Link smiled. He doesn’t bother to ask if it’s a date, if it isn’t, and Rhett’s thankful for that. He’s not even sure himself, if he’s honest. “I should go inside before my mom starts complaining about the heat getting out.”
Rhett laughed, deep and warm, filled with nostalgia. But then Link started to move, and he realised his hands were still intertwined with Link’s, and his grip is tighter now, and he’s not ready to say goodbye just yet. Link looked at him knowingly, squeezing his hands back just as tight briefly, raising his other to brush a stray hair out of Rhett’s face.
“We’re gonna be okay, bo,” he whispered, leaning in to press a soft kiss to his forehead. Rhett’s eyelids fluttered closed as he inhaled his scent, familiar - like home. Link kissed him, gentle but full on the lips, the hand on his jaw guiding and angling him just right, sliding them together in the perfect fit they’d always been.
It’s a simple, familiar warmth but with enough pressure to make Rhett woozy, to melt and sigh into it, and enough to remind him of how many times he’d been here before, the trove of memories they’d shared, and just how much they meant to each other. He kissed Link back, getting Link’s bottom lip between his own and sucks, just as gently as Link was still kissing him. Rhett let his tongue trace the crease and has to keep himself from drowning in how safe he feels here, how badly he wanted to stay there forever.
But suddenly Link was pulling back, his hand still pressed against Rhett’s face, letting the weight of Rhett’s leaning cheek fall into it, caressing it down his jaw.
“I missed you,” Link told him.
Rhett nuzzled closer to Link’s touch until he finally pulled his hand away and smiled softly, slipping away from the car. Before he closed the door he turned to him, his expression uncertain for the last time. “See you tomorrow morning?”
Rhett nodded, searching for words he couldn’t find, tongue tied like a teenager. The door clicked shut and Link walked away, into the darkness of his home, and then he was gone. Rhett felt a little dumbstruck as he started the engine again.
Things still weren’t all alright. And he doesn’t know how they’d make it work. But kissing Link again, soft and gently, being kissed by Link: he knew they’d have to keep trying. And they will. And they do. For as long as it takes.