#jephen

“you’re going to freeze your ass off out here.” john comments, gaze flickering down to stephen’s bare feet and back up to his face, where he realizes what the blond is referring to, a smile appearing on his face.

“says the man who’s currently sitting on a sheet of ice.” he says,taking a few steps forward and reaching his hand out. “come on.” john reaches out as well, grabbing onto the hand that’s stretched out towards him, allowing himself to be pulled back onto his feet. he still stumbles a bit, the freezing cold ground still a struggle to walk on, but stephen only tightens his grip on him, mumbling softly, “i got you,” and that’s reassurance enough.

once they’re inside, stephen’s quick to find a blanket to cover john with, handing it to him as he sits on the couch.

“thank you.” john says in response, gladly taking it from stephen’s hands, opening it up and draping it over his lap as he continues to shiver from the cold that just won’t leave his body.

“do you want a hot drink or something?” stephen asks then. “tea? coffee? hot cocoa?” john smiles.

“no, i’m fine. thanks.” he says, before his gaze falls to stephen’s still very bare feet, which almost appear to be a different color now. “actually, i think you can use that offer more than i can.” stephen’s eyebrows furrow at the comment, before he follows john’s gaze.

“nah, i’m fine, really.” he says. john raises an eyebrow. “okay, they hurt a little, or a lot.” john sighs, turning over a corner of the blanket, patting the spot next to him on the couch.

“join the party.” he says. stephen bites his lip, but accepts the invitation, sitting down next to john, crossing his legs and tucking his feet under himself in an attempt to feel some extra warmth, in addition to the blanket. but the warmth that radiates off of john, despite the time he spent out in the cold, that just might be enough.

“just so we’re clear, this isn’t considered cuddling.” stephen says.

“nope, completely platonic.”

“yup.”

“just two guys sharing one blanket.”

“...for the heat.”

“for the heat.”

you guys are pathetic.

.

when ronnie goes to sleep at night, now more often since he’s gotten married, he dreams. not of his home in central city, or the beautiful woman who’s peacefully sleeping in his arms, but of places he’s never been, and people he barely knows. well, he knows them, he sees their faces and feels a sense of familiarity, but he just can’t name them, exactly, nor does he ever remember seeing them around the city.

for a while, these people remain nameless, but as time goes on, names somehow slip out, which cause chills to run down his spine as he feels a sense of familiarity, but one that’s tied with confusion.

one night, his dream becomes a nightmare, with the ghost of a gunshot wound staying in his chest as he wakes up. but what scares him most, really, is the name that’s yelled out at him that isn’t his own, but is familiar as though it was. stephen, someone had yelled out as he fell to the floor, previously emotionless brown eyes now watching him with concern and guilt. he doesn’t see the change in this other, blond man since he falls to the floor and the world quickly goes black, but before he blacks out completely, two hands come up to grip his biceps, attempting to shake him awake.

“ronnie?” caitlin says the morning afterward, when she notices the sweat coating her husband’s skin, his pulse racing beneath her fingertips. “are you okay?”

“yeah,” ronnie says, lying but caitlin doesn’t notice. “i’m fine. just a little nightmare, is all.”

“aw, i’m sorry.” caitlin says. “that won’t happen to you again, i promise.” ronnie smiles.

“thanks, cait.” he says. caitlin smiles and kisses him on the lips, before slipping out of bed to get ready for the day. ronnie follows soon afterward, trying his best to get the images of his dream out of his mind.

he does so pretty successfully, until caitlin tells him that they’re out of some things and he needs to go out to get them.

“i’ll make it up to you somehow?” she says with a cute, can’t-say-no-to smile. “maybe even at s.t.a.r. labs, later. we’ll sneak away for some fun.” she winks, shutting both eyes in that adorable way she always does, and ronnie can’t help but giggle, kissing her on the cheek and saying, “you better,” before heading out.

it’s before he even makes it off their block when he has a flashback to his dream. but it’s not completely out of the blue. in his travels, he sees a seemingly familiar head of blond hair, one that has him thinking back to the dream. but something stirs in him, and he’s reaching out, grabbing onto the guy’s arm, and he feels some sort of electricity shooting through him, possibly from the shocking familiarity of the guy’s brown eyes. again, he flashes back to his dream, feeling a pain in his chest and hearing that voice ringing through his ears, calling him stephen. 

“you okay?” this stranger (but he’s not a stranger, i know him) asks, gaze flickering down to where ronnie is still grabbing onto his arm.

“yeah, sorry.” he says, finally letting go, making a quick note of how his heart seems to swell at the sound of the other man’s voice. “you just remind me of someone i, uh, used to know.”

“i could say the same about you.” the guy says, a warm smile appearing on his face. “as much as i’d like to stay and chat, and maybe find something in common about all this, i have to get going.”

“me too.” ronnie says. “i have to run an errand for my wife, so.” he doesn’t miss the way the guy’s smile falters at the comment.

“hopefully our paths cross again someday.” the guy says, smiling once again, before turning his back.

“i’m ronnie, by the way.” ronnie finds himself saying before he can hold it back. the guy turns again, glancing back at him.

“lincoln.” he says, and at that, something in ronnie clicks, and he feels the urge to correct him and say, no, your name is john, but that he restrains from, letting the man walk away from him.