Prompt - Christmas

[tensions]

BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE ( joshua, monty, all of the Quills ) It's 7:00 pm and the Quills and their loved ones are gathered together in their childhood home. Old records play throughout, the Christmas tree is shining.

Comments

[tensions]

Monty's heart clenches a little and he's not sure exactly why. It is excitement? Fear? It's not like he hasn't experienced similar confessions before. In fact, he's had plenty. Some of them were simple, some were dramatic gestures. And for each of them, he's always felt the same - a sort of dread.

But this time...something feels different.

So he decides to pursue it a little for once. "...Me too," he says, hand coming down to cup Josh's face, thumbing his cheekbone. He ventures, "...but?"

[singinthestorm]

He can't help it - he leans into Monty's hand, the touch, taking immediate pleasure and comfort in the physical connection between them, however slight.

"I know there are things in your past that... you aren't ready for me to see or touch. Maybe you never will. That you've already shown more - shared more - of yourself with me than -" he pauses, considers the conditions of his wording - "you have for some time. I -" he stops again, knowing that the words are utterly inadequate for the depth and breadth of his feelings about this, "I really appreciate that. I'm... honored, in all honesty, that you trust me enough to do so, to the extent that you have."

"And I want that," he says, slow, considered, steady. "I really, really do. To continue to learn more of you, to share more of myself, to be good for each other, to see what that 'us' might become, in the future."

"But..." He reaches up for Monty's hand, twining their fingers together to rest on the bed between their heads. "Only if that's something you think you could come to want. That you would be willing to work towards."

[tensions]

He listens, and right before Josh finishes his last sentence, Monty leans forward, kissing him deeply, inhaling in those final words. This moment, he tries to convey all that he's feeling, however complex, however difficult, through this intimacy of touch. He knows it isn't enough, but it's a start.

"Then let's be good for each other," he murmurs, solidly conveying his willingness to try if anything else. "I'd like that."

Monty is uncertain if he's able to promise anything further now, but he squeezes Josh's hand in his, a quiet commitment.

[singinthestorm]

He leans in immediately, returning the kiss. This had always been so easy (almost too easy) between them - this falling into each other so naturally that it feels almost unreal - the undeniable physical chemistry between them apparent even on the same day they'd initially met by chance.

He's a little breathless when they part, barely moving, their faces still close, their hands linked between them serving as a bridge over the span of space between them. "Okay," he says, words utterly failing him for the moment as he looks at Monty, moonlight softening the already unfairly attractive lines of his face, and leans in for another kiss.