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Derek’s feet hurt. His feet hurt, and his kitchen was messy, and he’d forgotten to make his bed that morning, and he got yelled at by his boss, and he was behind on his thesis– Christ, okay, he needed to calm down. What had Will’s advice been? Routine. He could manage the afternoon routine.
So, just like always, he unlocked his apartment, kicked his shoes off at the entryway, tossed his coat on a chair, and all but threw himself at the couch, phone already in hand. He’d been comfortably scrolling through Twitter for almost an hour when his phone buzzed with a reminder titled “eat something?” Derek groaned, but pulled himself up towards the kitchen, pondering the state of his fridge.
He was putting the finishing touches on his “multicultural” fried rice (read: comprised entirely of food he’d almost forgotten to use up) when his laptop hummed with the familiar FaceTime ringtone. Nearly dropping the spatula in his hurry, he clicked the green button and Will’s face filled the screen.
“Hey–!” “Babe!” Their greetings overlapped, briefly startling them into silence. Will chuckled, and spoke first.
“Hey, Derek,” he smiled.
“Hi, Will.” Derek could feel his exhaustion evaporating as he answered his boyfriend. “What’s up? How was work?”
“It was good!” Will launched into some long-winded, joyful explanation of something Derek one hundred percent did not understand. Used to it, Derek let his face slip into a soft smile and contemplated how lucky he was. Long distance with Will has been hard, but moments like these – listening to his voice, admiring his freckles, not paying any attention – made it almost feel normal.
“What about you, how’s the thesis coming?” Will asked, apparently at the end of his lecture.
Derek groaned. “Oh, you know. Terrible.”
“I’m sure that isn’t true–” Will interjected.
“Oh, it is.” Derek laughed as he defended himself. “My advisor won’t return my emails, the library has none of the books I need, and I’m running behind on literally all of my deadlines.”
“I’m sorry. That sucks,” Will said. Derek agreed – the whole reason he was even in Montreal while Will stayed in Boston was to complete this prestigious master’s program, and today it felt like it was falling apart around him.
“I just miss you,” he said, turning the focus back on his boyfriend. “Counting down the days until you visit.”
“Der, I fly in on Monday, it’s not that much counting,” Will half-teased.
“Oh, shut up, we can’t all be prestigious programmers who can do, y’know, basic addition, William,” Derek responded. “Anyway, that’s still way too long from now,” he pouted.
Will’s face shifted abruptly, something crafty but not without nerves. “What if… I didn’t fly in on Monday?”
“Will, what?” Derek built himself into a panic. “Can you not come? Are you okay?”
Will looked equally panicked and raced to correct himself. “No, wait, that’s not what I meant! I’m visiting, I promise, I just meant, what if it was… sooner?” He rotated the camera and Derek saw his own street corner pop up behind his boyfriend’s ear.
“Will! What the hell? Are you here?” Derek was giddy.
“I came in early and I thought I’d surprise you but I couldn’t find a way to bring it up, and–”
Will kept rambling but Derek interrupted. “Holy shit, Will, get yourself up here!”
“Oh, right! Yes, okay. I’m on my way,” Will promised, and sure enough, the camera began to shake as he stood up and started walking.
“Hurry up!” Derek answered with a grin. “I’ll buzz you in.”
_X_
“What are we watching?” Derek hollered from the bedroom.
“That new trashy romcom?” came Will’s suggestion from the living room.
“Ooh, yes, perfect,” Derek approved as he pulled a hoodie over his head and walked back to the couch. He plopped down next to his boyfriend and kissed him on the temple, humming.
“What was that for?” Will asked absently, still pulling up the movie.
“Nothing. Just glad you’re here,” Derek said for probably the fiftieth time that day. Will had surprised him with the early visit the night before, and despite all his stress, Derek begged off of work to spend all day together. They slept in, got coffee, visited a museum, got into a one-sided argument about the importance of an artist’s personal morals when analyzing their work, got more coffee on the way home – it was perfect.
And now, after a lovely home-cooked dinner courtesy of Will, they were sitting down to a quiet night in, with nothing to disturb them. Derek could get used to this.
The movie was blissful nothingness – some standard Hallmark plot with pretty scenery and dialogue that Derek could have written in his sleep – so they spent the two hours cuddling, exchanging jokes, and bickering over the characters’ fashion choices.
Near the end, though, when Amber and Jason had finally found the house that would save their family, Will seemed to tense up. As the credits rolled, Derek sat up a little, keeping his hand on Will’s thigh and turning towards his face. “What’s up, love?”
“Nothing, Der. I’m all good,” Will promised.
Derek knew his boyfriend well enough to know that that probably wasn’t true, but he also knew him well enough to know that if he just let it sit for a bit, Will would say what he needed to say.
Sure enough, about a minute later, Will took a breath, speaking slowly. “Der, this is amazing. I love being here. You’re my favorite person to be around.”
In lieu of a response, Derek smiled and snuggled closer. There was another pause as Will took a breath, seemingly preparing for something.
“What would you think about moving in together?”
Will’s nose collided with Derek’s forehead as Derek shot up right as Will looked down for a response. “Ow!” “Oh my god–” “Are you–?” Their responses tumbled over each other, but once they’d both calmed down, Derek was able to confirm that there wasn’t any visible damage
“Will, we’ve lived together before,” Derek pointed out, laughing a little and bracing himself on the couch to turn towards his boyfriend.
Will was anxiously knotting the blanket between his fingers. “I know, but that was in college, and you’re going to graduate soon and my lease is going to end, and, I dunno, I figured I’d ask, I guess.” He looked up, his face hard to read in the dark.
Derek realized how seriously Will meant the question, how formal he was being, and rushed to respond. “Of course I’ll move in with you, Will. Or you’ll move in with me, or we’ll find a new, place, whatever,” Derek reached out to find Will’s hands, gently kissing his knuckles. “Of course, of course, of course.”
Will didn’t answer straight away and instead used his newfound leverage to pull Derek towards him across the couch, twisting and guiding until he had Derek right in his lap. “Good,” Will said quietly into his ear, kissing his jaw.
“I can’t wait to spend forever with you,” Derek answered, loud enough that the whole world could hear, which, at that moment, was right in his apartment.