𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕥 𝕥𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕤

Regulus sputtered, hand waving in front of his face like he was fighting away every species in existence attempting to take his breath away. He continued to cough and toss his hand, almost to the point where Leo found it both amusing and dramatic. Regulus was never much for dramatics, no that was often his youngest brother's job: Hollering, scoffing, rolling those unusually large eyes of his and gagging directly on his middle finger right in front of you.

Leo rolled over in their shared bed, leaning over the edge and reached for his jeans that had been ripped off him just a while ago. He shuffled through them until he found the left front pocket and plucked out a blue velvet box. With a satisfied hum, he was up in their bed again, Regulus teary-eyed from fighting for his life and his lack of oxygen. His brows were knitted together, confusion and bewilderment sketched on his entire face.

"Baby," he cooed, and immediately he knew the deepening color on his partner's cheeks weren't simply from catching his breath.

Such simple words, simple names, always won his icy heart over. In a world where Regulus was always the protector, the blade with no shield - he craved one. Wished, begged for someone to protect him his entire life even if he would never admit to it. Being abandoned by your father, and your mother passing from difficult childbirth, it twists your brain in ways no one could ever think of. Being the eldest of three other siblings - one barely able to walk . . . Regulus had no time to show fear, to show weakness. He went from being such a bright, spoiled and adored child to rigid, cold and distant. He built his walls of obsidian, closed his heart in ice and forgot where the keys were to either of his fortresses. He didn't know where they were, no one else would be able to find them.

Yet, there was always Leo. Leo who was warm to the touch, who didn't shy from the grittiness he had. Hadn't hissed back when he bit, shivered away from his iciness. Rather, he welcomed all of it. Like they were made for each other. The Lion's Heart, The Little King. That had been the reason why his mother given him such an odd name compared to the rest of his siblings. Who would have guessed the Lion would love his heart so bitter and cold? Cherished his heart even through all its ugliness?

Regulus never thought he deserved it. Even now, through his years of sobriety, being on his own and being an entirely new person, he had a hard time accepting Leo's love. It had gotten better since they'd been reunited with each other, his confidence stronger than what it had been when he was a kid, but he still hesitated when it came to accepting Leo's affections.

Even on a day like his birthday, where he'd been nothing but spoiled between both Leo and his brother. A day where you were specifically meant to be loved and adored, he would still shyly bow his head and mutter the smallest of thank you's.

Even as they were in bed together, kisses and closeness shared. Hot breaths, limbs tangled together, hushed words of adoration and admiration - Regulus could only make so much of it before his head was muddled, he was teary-eyed and whimpering in the pair of arms that always kept him from falling over the edge of his own insanity.

While Leo was hung over their bed, rooting around in his clothes, Regulus could feel his heart hammering in his chest. So fast, it felt like a horse galloping against his ribs - so fast he wasn't sure he could breathe. The small sip he'd taken of water didn't help. He was choking on his own emotions and water that had meant to hydrate him and settle him.

When the velvet box had been set on the disarrayed pillows between them, Regulus hiccuped, his calloused and scarred hand reaching up to cover his quivering mouth. Fair lips pressed tightly together behind his fingers as he heard Leo coo at him. Call him from that edge and talk him back down to earth like he always did. His free hands that had been so tightly wound up in the sheets beneath them slowly loosened, but it hadn't stopped the incessant trembling as he reached for the box.

He knew what was in it, and he knew his answer already. Deep down in heart, he did. But his head always argued, always told him to run before he got hurt. But Leo never hurt him. Never in their many years of knowing each other. The only thing that ever hurt was when he'd left, but it wasn't without notice. Regulus knew he'd be leaving, even when he tried to guilt him to stay like the child he'd been. Nothing could keep him when his grandmother had grown ill and her health had declined rapidly after Regulus came out of rehab. It was like fate telling him he had enough time. It wasn't out of spite, it broke both of them - it was one of the few times he ever saw Leo cry.

"Listen, it wasn't really my plan to fuck you stupid in your pillows and do this," Immediately Regulus was scowling towards the crude joke, the blue in his hazel eyes like shards of ice stabbing right at Leo. His hearty laughter filled their small bedroom and he was reaching out to playfully shake at his rigid posture. "Listen !!" He whined playfully, "I wanted to give it to you today regardless. This was just a little out of sorts for the plans I had laid out." His smile was bright, even for as gentle it had been for Regulus. He scooched over until their shoulders were pressed together and he pressed a warm kiss to Regulus' reddened cheeks.

"I love you." He stated, waiting for any reaction before he continued. There was a tremble in his eyes, but Regulus remained quiet, wanting to hear the rest clearly. "I think I've loved you since I've met you, rather since I saw you. It's ridiculous I know, but I don't know where else was an exact pinpoint for me. When you spoke to me? Your voice so soft despite your face telling me you'd give me a bloody nose if I pushed my luck." He chuckled, despite seeing the slight roll in his boyfriend's eyes. His own cheeks were starting to feel warm, and damn it his heart was racing. If he wasn't careful, he would start rambling off everything.

"And gods when I heard your name? Not Taemin, as much as I adore it as well, but Regulus? How fucking ridiculous! It was like fate was playing a cruel joke in my face. My heart, right in front of me, and I couldn't have him."

Because at the time, he'd been with another man. A man they both did their best to forget, even with the scars they both shared because of him.

Doing them both a favor, Leo reached out to the small box in Regulus's trembling hand and he flipped the lid open. Within were a pair of matching bands of similar size. The gold and black band just slightly larger in width compared the gold and blue dusted band. They both resembled night skies in their preferred colors, blue for Regulus (another tip about him that seemed so comical to Leo), and the black for Leo.

Despite Leo had been smaller just barely than Regulus, his hands were larger, fingers longer and much more calloused from labor compared to his partner's. Most of Regulus's callouses anymore were from writing and practicing calligraphy in his free time compared to the hard grit of their gang work and street life. While the pads and sides of Leo's were hard and rough from needlework and sewing clothes, sketching designs for new launches of his brand.

Hazel eyes that had been teary from his earlier fiasco were now weepy with an overwhelming amount of love. It couldn't be contained, and the small hiccups in Regulus's breathing were proof that his own walls couldn't contain the melting waters of his heart becoming free.

"Hey, hey, aren't we too old for that?" Leo snickered as he pulled his partner close. There was a weak smack to his bare chest, only causing more laughs to spill out of his mouth. Regulus knew, even as he'd been buried in Leo's shoulder, that he'd been crying too. He could hear it in the slightest crack of his voice while he attempted his piss poor jokes. He could feel it in the way his fingers were trembling as they both held so desperately onto the box that held their rings perfectly together.

Regulus wiggled his way out of Leo's grasp and met those honey-brown eyes. They'd been just as teary and red as he knew his own were, filled with such a flurry of emotions that had been too difficult to find an explanation to. He was scared, scared that it was Regulus's turn to run away, but to not look back. Smiling, he pressed a soft peck to Leo's lips and reached up to wipe away at the tears staining his tanned cheeks. "I love you, too." He whispered. An awkward, sniffly-sort of giggle fell out of him as he tipped his head down to admire the bands still left in their cozy velvet.

He plucked Leo's out first and held his free hand out. "I used to tell myself it was because you were the only person who showed me an ounce of care. That I was crazy for having feelings for you, and would I be like that for anyone who smiled my way?" He explained his own timid stories of being scared of his emotions, of his lack of trust in himself. While he had, he took Leo's hand and slipped on the black and gold band and kissed the back of his knuckles.

"But while you were gone, I realized that maybe it wasn't the case. Others have tried with me, and I... I feel like I tried myself, but nothing ever clicked. Nothing ever felt so right like you had been. I had been content with never seeing you again, especially when Jupe and I moved after he graduated." One would think their chances would increase when they were both back in their homeland, rather than being in such a large foreign country that felt so vast and endless, but Regulus thought otherwise. If Leo returned back to the States, would he have looked for them again? Only to find out that they'd gone back home themselves?

"I still wore the necklace you left with me, like it had been a piece of me I could never let go." He admitted, now taking his own ring and slipping it on his finger. A pained noise of protest made it from Leo and Regulus smirked while he admired the way the blue and gold sparkled underneath the dim light of their nightstand tamps. There would be another time for Leo to properly place the ring on his finger, but he had to get his own jab in for his teasing earlier.

"It's my birthday, isn't it?" He crooned as he wiggled his fingers right in front of Leo's face. There wasn't much time for teasing when said individual snatched at his hand and pulled down on the bed. There was a yelp, causing some startled barking coming from out in the hallway as Regulus's huskies came rushing over to the closed door. Their laughs downed out the huffing of curious black and pink noses at the door sniffing for their owners.

Regulus rolled over into Leo's frame, his fair cheek resting atop his chest. His cheeks were starting to hurt with how much he'd been smiling. His birthdays were usually mundane, though Jupiter and Leo always made a day out of it - he found it to always be another day for himself. He was still on this earth despite everything he'd done in his life might as well had him six feet under before he'd turned twenty-five.