“Hey, I wanna hang out with you,” Finn murmured, keeping his voice soft. If he said it enough, Nolan would get the idea eventually.
It was okay that it took him a little while. He’d been through a lot of crap, and Finn suspected he hadn’t quite come to terms with how unfair it’d been just yet.
“I wanna hang out with you, too,” Nolan said. “And I’m glad I don’t have to miss heading to the sanctuary on Friday. It’s the highlight of my life.”
“Because of me, right?” Finn teased.
Nolan rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling. “Because of Buttercup. She’s my best friend now. And Ollie. I gotta keep an eye on him.”
As much as he wanted to at leastpretendto be insulted, Finn couldn’t help laughing. It was nice to have someone to share his life with.
It was also ridiculously easy to imagine doing exactly that with Nolan. Quiet breakfasts and soft teasing and spending a ton of time together with the animals at the sanctuary forever.
Finn’s heart clenched at the thought. He couldn’t expect Nolan to go for that just yet, but it was a nice image.
It was the first time he’d really felt like he could see a future with anyone.
“You’re a million miles away,” Nolan said, dragging Finn back to the present. He looked up, realizing he had a forkful of waffle and bacon halfway to his mouth that he hadn’t eaten yet.
“Would it be super embarrassing if I said I was thinking about how much I like you?” he asked.
“For me? No,” Nolan said, shifting in his chair. “No, I uh… that… I… okay, maybe a little embarrassing, but not in, like, an embarrassing sibling way. I’m still working on coming to terms with having someone actually like me.”
He paused for a moment.
“That came out way more pathetic than it was meant to so I’m just gonna shut up now,” Nolan concluded, focusing on the last few mouthfuls of his breakfast.
Finn smiled at him.
I love you, he thought, so strongly and surely that he just barely caught himself before he said it out loud and ruined everything.
Nolan was still struggling with Finnlikinghim. Love would just scare him off.
But he knew, now. Knowing himself was enough for the time being.
He could tell Nolan when the moment was right.
“I don’t think you’re pathetic,” Finn said. “I think you just need someone to understand you, too.”
“I think you understand me,” Nolan responded, pushing his plate away.
Finn stood and grabbed it along with his own, heading for the sink.
“What are youdoing?” Nolan asked, twisting around in his chair to watch Finn.
“You cook, I clean.” Finn shrugged. “Only fair.”
“You’re aguest. You don’t clean.”
Finn smiled wryly. “Not how I was raised. Besides, I’m not a guest. I’m yourboyfriendnow. Boyfriends have to be good for something.”
“You’re good for a lot of things,” Nolan mumbled.
“I’m multi-talented,” Finn said. “If you behave, I’ll show you justhowmulti-talented later,” he added with a smirk.
“I’ll behave,” Nolan promised, pushing away from the table and moving to sit on one of the stools at the kitchen counter, across from the sink.
“I bet you will.” Finn smirked.
He could definitely get used to mornings like this.
