w o n d e r b o y

"Man, it's really great to see the town getting together for something like this, don't you think? I mean, this could make a real impact on people."

He was so sleepy, drifting somewhere between dreams and reality, yet Terence felt impossibly safe tucked away in Henrik’s arms. The warmth surrounding him, the steady beat of Henrik’s heart beneath his ear, the soft sound of his breathing — it all wrapped around Terence like the gentlest spell. A lazy smile tugged at his lips when Henrik told him he loved him too, and despite hearing those words countless times before, they never failed to make his chest ache in the sweetest way possible.

He knew Henrik loved him.

At least, logically, he knew.

But Terence had always been the sort of creature that needed reassurance the way flowers needed sunlight. Being a fairy meant his emotions often burned brighter than he intended them to; jealousy could creep in unexpectedly, insecurities blooming in the darkest corners of his mind no matter how much love he was given. Sometimes he still wondered how someone like Henrik could look at someone like him and see anything worth keeping.

Because in Terence’s eyes, Henrik was extraordinary.

And Terence?

He was just an awkward little bean who had stumbled headfirst into love and never quite recovered from it. The kind of person who tripped over his own words, who got emotional too easily, who wanted so desperately to make Henrik happy that it consumed nearly every thought in his head. If he could have bottled up the stars themselves and handed them over as a gift, he would have done it without hesitation.

Still, somehow Henrik always managed to make him feel like the treasured one.

And when Henrik suddenly asked if he wanted to move in together, it was like someone had poured pure lightning into Terence’s veins.

The exhaustion vanished instantly.

In the span of seconds, Terence went from half-asleep and limp against him to practically vibrating with energy. His eyes widened so much they looked ready to fall out of his skull, and he shot upward so quickly the blankets nearly tangled around his legs.

“OH — MY — GOD!”

His voice cracked halfway through the sentence from pure excitement.

“Are you serious?!” he gasped, grabbing Henrik by the shoulders as if he needed physical confirmation that this was real. “Do you actually want me to live with you? Like — with you with you? Every day?!”

He looked moments away from combusting.

“Henrik, do you KNOW what this means in gay terms?!” Terence practically shrieked, hands flying dramatically through the air. “That is like one step before marriage! This is serious business! This is historical!”

He pressed both hands over his mouth, eyes glistening with overwhelming joy before immediately dropping them again because he clearly could not stay quiet for more than two seconds.

“Oh my god, we’d have matching mugs. We’d argue over blanket theft. I could leave little love notes everywhere and annoy you every morning forever. We could grocery shop together like one of those disgustingly adorable couples people hate in public.”

His grin softened then, becoming smaller, more vulnerable.

“And I’d get to come home to you…”

The words came out quieter that time, filled with so much affection it almost hurt.

Terence stared at Henrik for a moment as though he were trying to memorize every inch of him, disbelief and love tangled together in his expression. Then, without warning, he launched himself forward and wrapped both arms tightly around him.

“Yes,” he breathed instantly against his shoulder. “Obviously yes. A thousand times yes.”

he had learned a lot about terence over the years. how he cared about people with every morsel of his being. how he thrived off reassurance and communication. how he would ignore his own needs for others to name a few, and henrik was more than happy to make sure terence was taken care of. that his needs were met when he was too busy worrying about everyone else. it was the things you do for love, and he’d do them until his last breath. 

henrik froze at his partners sudden spring to life, worried for a moment that he might’ve asked the wrong question. when it registered that he was happy, henrik laughed and nodded when his shoulders were being clawed at “yes terence, i’d like you to live with me every day. that’s part of the whole moving in together thing” 

He didn’t know what it meant in ‘gay terms’ according to terence but it had felt like the natural next step in their relationship. they had been together for years, they obviously loved one another, they were practically at each others places all the time anyway. living with terence was absolutely something he wanted to do. “i don’t know about the terms thing but I take our relationship seriously and we could talk about the idea of our own place and a garden someday but why not do it?”

batching terence in amusement, he did consider that the man might genuinely combust with pure overwhelming emotion. “baby, we do all of that now. we’d just be doing all of it in the same house, and I’d love nothing more than coming home to you every day.” he smiled, brushing the hair from his boyfriends face. not that he had much time to do so considering terence had flung himself into his arms.

Like always, Terence melted beneath the affection so freely given to him. Henrik's touch had become something dangerously close to a lifeline these past few weeks, perhaps even the only thing tethering him to what little sanity he had left. He tried his best not to show it, to keep the same bright smile and dramatic charm everyone expected from him, but exhaustion had begun to claw through the cracks. There had been moments at work where he caught himself dozing off against the counter, waking with a jolt and powdered sugar stuck to his sleeve. Sleep simply refused to come easy anymore, not after the news about Tina and James.

His bonbons had not saved them.

That thought alone haunted him more than he dared to admit aloud. Every recipe he had perfected, every late night spent researching ingredients, every ounce of care he poured into his sweets — none of it had mattered in the end. And now there was this strange illness spreading through them like rot beneath polished wood. He did not want to imagine losing Tina. He could not bear the thought of losing James either. The guilt sat heavy in his chest, gnawing at him endlessly, convincing him somehow he should have noticed something sooner, done something better, been smarter.

So instead he buried himself in work and clung desperately to Henrik whenever he could.

"it was a red velvet cake for Guin and Lady Lannister," Terence explained with a faint laugh, leaning into his boyfriend's warmth as if he belonged there permanently. "Though honestly, you'd have to question who takes whose last name when it comes to gay couples."

The tease was lighthearted, but there was something softer hidden beneath it, something almost cautious. Marriage was not a topic they had truly touched yet, at least not seriously, and Terence immediately pretended the comment meant absolutely nothing at all. Still, the tiny smirk tugging at his lips betrayed him.

His expression faltered again not long after.

"I am pretty sure it is the same thing," he muttered quieter this time, fingers absentmindedly curling into Henrik's sleeve. "The symptoms are nearly identical and..."

He hesitated.

After checking Henrik's blood samples, he had noticed something strange buried within them. Something unfamiliar. Something wrong. The kind of thing that made his stomach twist into knots because he knew, deep down, Tina and James would probably show the exact same abnormalities in theirs. Terence hated how quickly his mind jumped to worst-case scenarios now.

With a tired groan, he let his forehead fall dramatically against Henrik's shoulder.

"God, am I ready to go home," he sighed. "I miss our cuddles."

And perhaps what he truly meant was that he missed feeling safe, even if only for a little while in Henrik's arms.

“we’ll go as soon as the hospital confirms they’re allowed visitors, i promise. no matter what time, i’ll drive us over and we can see them” he reassured him. 

sensing the internal despair of his boyfriend, henrik stood behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist and resting his head in the crook of his neck; pressing a kiss to the skin for good measure. “show me the designs?” he asked, in an attempt to keep terence distracted and his mind off tina and james. he always was genuinely interested in the work that terence did, he was creative and it always paid off whenever henrik would witness the finished results. 

“i suppose it depends on the couple. they’d talk about it and see what works best for them. think of us for example…” it was a risky move bringing up the topic. it was something they hadn’t discussed “would you take my name? would I take your name? would we hyphenate?”

@paxtonpatterson @patrickpattersxn @henrikhera @ellasweetfontaine