“How was he?”
“In an excellent mood! I helped him prepare his meals for the rest of the week.”
“What did you make?”
“A giant pot of butternut squash potage, a big lasagna, four chicken breasts with wild rice and asparagus, and two zucchini breads—I brought one back home.” He tilted his head back and whispered, “I put chocolate chips in ours.”
“You know the way to my heart.”
Adathan grinned. He gulped his wine and leaned over the edge of the bathtub to put his glass on the floor. “Chocolate or double chocolate?” he asked, opening the box of donuts.
“Chocolate now. Double chocolate later.”
Adathan handed him a chocolate donut and took a jelly-filled powdered one for himself. There was no better place to eat one of those than in the bathtub—that shit got everywhere.
William emptied his glass. Adathan took it from him and put it on the floor before relaxing against his chest again. His toes wiggled as he took a bite of his donut.
William followed his lead, letting out a faint groan as the chocolaty, yeasty goodness filled his mouth. He could hardly believe life could get any better than this. But it could, and soon it would.
“I’ve already started looking for a new apartment,” William said.
“Why?”
William chuckled as he took another bite. “What do you mean, why?”
Adathan’s toes stopped wiggling. “We’re happy here, no?”
“We’ll be happy wherever we live.”
“But . . .”
“But what?”
“This is our home,” Adathan murmured.
Annoyance bubbled up in William’s chest, but he kept his voice calm. “The new place will be our home, too. Nothing’s gonna change. We’ll have the same furniture and everything. It’ll just be bigger.” And better.
Adathan’s body stiffened in the way William knew too well. He got why Adathan was so uncomfortable with change, but it was an inherent part of life. They couldn’t just live here forever.
He carefully wrapped his arm around Adathan and said in a gentle voice, “I just thought it’d be nice to have an extra room,you know? We could get a desk for you to draw comfortably, and a big, cozy chair for when you’re in the mood for reading.” He nuzzled Adathan’s hair. “I could use it, too. It’d be nice to spend some quiet time together away from the TV. And hey, we could have a bigger bathtub, too. That’d be awesome, don’t you think?”
“Can we stay here a little longer?” Adathan whispered. “Please.”
William closed his eyes, taking a moment to let his frustration wear off. He should have known Adathan wouldn’t share his enthusiasm about moving out. This was his own fault, really.
The fact that Adathan felt safe enough to go against William’s wishes was a reminder of what was at stake. His plea wasn’t about the apartment itself; it was about stability. Forcing him to move out too soon would be like pulling the ground out from under him.
Adathan had only assumed ownership of their extra set of keys two weeks ago, and he was still reluctant to get his own phone. He needed time.
“You really want to stay?” William asked softly.
“Yeah.”
“Okay. We’ll stay here a little longer.”
Adathan set his half-eaten donut on the edge of the bathtub and turned to face him. “Thank you,” he murmured, his misty eyes melting all remnants of William’s tension.
William shoved his last bite into his mouth and pulled Adathan close. He’d been looking forward to finding a better place to live, but what truly mattered was for Adathan to be happy.
