Sam hummed softly as Ben kissed him, slow and deliberate, his stubble scraping against Sam’s freshly-shaved skin and his hair tickling the edge of his ear as it fell forward. The tiniest curl of arousal unfurled in his gut, but not enough to make him needy or desperate. Just enough to get his attention.
He whimpered as Ben pulled away, following his lips and catching them again briefly before letting him go.
“That’s one way to get me to shut up,” Sam murmured, opening his eyes slowly.
They had a lot of missed kisses to make up for. Which was just as well, because Sam could have kissed Ben all day and never gotten tired of it.
“That was the idea.” Ben smirked at him. “Not that I don’t enjoy the sound of your voice.”
“Hey, if you wanna kiss instead of talk, I’m up for it.” Sam grinned.
“I wanna catch that sunset,” Ben said, pushing away from Sam, but grabbing his hand again.
Sam’s heart leapt at the contact, excitement making his skin tingle. It hadn’t just been a gesture. Ben was really trying to get used to holding hands.
Judging by his relaxed shoulders and the tiny, persistent smile on his face, he might even have been starting to like it.
“And they say romance is dead,” Sam said as he followed Ben up the trail. Really, they hadn’t needed a map. There was only one way to go, and he could already see the lookout point they were headed to.
“I don’t know if you can really expect me to be romantic,” Ben said. “I’m not sure I know how it’s done.”
“You’re doing a good job so far. I mean, you just said you wanted to see a sunset, and you’re dragging me with you. That’s actually a lot more than I expected.”
“Iamtrying,” Ben said softly, turning to face Sam. “I want you to be happy.”
Sam closed the gap between them before Ben could react, pressing a soft kiss into Ben’s lips before backing away. He didn’t want to crowd him, or pile more physical affection than he was ready for on him, but he did want Ben to know that his efforts were appreciated.
“I am happy. I’m with you.”
Ben looked down, and though Sam had never thought of him as a shy person, he was just realizing that Ben was shy about all this. That it was new to him, and he didn’t know what to expect or whether he was doing things right.
That was okay. Sam was happy to provide regular feedback in the form of kissing him whenever he did something sweet. It was a great excuse to kiss him a lot.
The view from top of the rise they’d been steadily climbing turned out to be more than worth the effort of getting up there. Whatever else was going on at this retreat, Sam couldn’t fault the setting.
“Oh,” Ben said as he paused to look out, staring out into the distance for long moments.
The valley below was already starting to light up in golds and reds as the sun headed for the horizon. The light breeze carried with it the faintest hint of pine and cedar, even though the canopy looked like it was mostly oak.
Normally, Sam’s first instinct would have been to take out his phone and snap a picture or two while the light was perfect. The weight of Ben’s phone in his pocket, alongside his own, stopped him.
If Ben could pause and enjoy something for a moment, so could he.
Sam shifted his grip on Ben’s hand, linking their fingers together loosely as they both stood and watched the colors below shift and change like magic.
The urge to take Ben to every beautiful place on Earth just to see him stop and be still like this for a few seconds hit Sam hard. He would have given anything for the chance to whisk Ben away from all his worries, all his stress, and justbe.
Ben would get bored of it after ten minutes. That was just how he was.
Looking out over the valley and feeling Ben’s fingers intertwined with his own, though, Sam believed for the first time that they might be able to find a balance.
He believed that this could work.
