#rhyslin

A boring, spring day found Tamlin heading back to the war camp after being forced home to celebrate his father's birthday, something he knew only happened because his mother requested it, walking along the wall that separated Prythian from the human world when he felt a pulse of magic and a human girl stumbled backwards through it, landing right in front of Tamlin.

Tamlin was gifted in picking up language and had learned many, including the old language of the fae and human dialect. It had come in handy when he used to speak to his human nannies until his father had been forced to set them free. Tamlin had been sad to see Seraphena go but happy that she got to be free at the same time. So when the frightened young woman fell through the wall, Tamlin was quick to reassure her when she looked at him with frightened eyes.

"You are safe. No one will hurt you, I swear." He promised, hand over his heart.

She had calmed down before smiling at him and had said her name was Feyre and she had been chasing her dog when she lent on what she thought was a normal hedge before falling into another world it seemed.

"I am Tamlin." He told her, though he knows his father warned them about humans and the possibility of them returning to cause them harm. But as he looked into gray-blue eyes that reminded him of a cloudy day, he found he didn't care one bit, and he offered to show her around before helping her return home. They walked over hills and valleys, admiring the flowers and the birds before stopping at the starlight pool and going for a dip. They ate apples and berries they picked from trees and bushes, Feyre remarking that they were the best things she had ever eaten and they talked; about their families, how they were both youngest children, how they were ignored, their love of nature and their love of the arts, her with painting and him with music. She had turned to him then, a happy and peaceful look on her face, so different from the fear that had been on it earlier.

“You are beautiful.” She had said before reaching out to touch his face. “Like a painting.”

When she crossed the wall a while later, she turned back and smiled before saying “Perhaps we will see each other again someday.” And then she was gone. And he, feeling things in his heart he had never felt before, had stood in that spot for three days wishing he could have followed her.

As he stood there, heart full of longing, he remembered an old story one of the sentries had told of a female who had longed for wings and had gone to the Night court to beg the High lord to work his magic and give her some. He obliged, and she had come back with majestic wings sprouting from her back, though she also returned with hair so white it was almost clear, like the crimson color had been stripped out completely. Every deal with the Night lord came with a price it had seemed.

With that in mind, Tamlin walked back towards the manor, stopping at the top of the hill and taking it in. This might very well be the last time he sees his home and for a moment he thinks of going inside and saying goodbye but he knows deep down that no one, save his mother, would care in the slightest. With one last look, he hopes whatever sacrifice he makes will be worth being with Feyre forever. Closing his eyes, he thinks of only one place before winnowing directly in front of a giant castle.

One year later...

The bell above the door is the same as it was the last time he was here, more than a year ago, Rhys notices as he walks into Sidra. There's a small line leading to the cash register where the same redheaded barista that was here the first time he came was taking orders. 

He took a deep breath as he looked around. This had been one of Tamlins' favorite places, the place they had connected for the first time. He wasn't filled with the heartbreak and guilt he thought he would which means his therapist must be on to something when she said he needed to try to go to the places he used to go with both of his ex loves. Something about letting go of the past. 

It was a slow process, but he thinks he's finally seeing clearly. He can trace back his issues to his upbringing and past but still acknowledge that his present self was to blame for the hurt he caused himself and others. 

This was his last stop on his tour of places, and he was feeling good. He's proud of himself for taking the step towards getting help so he doesn't hurt anyone else. He's hurt enough people to last a lifetime.

The bell jingles behind him, and it seems life has a cruel sense of humor as he hears a voice say his name. The same voice that had surprised him that one day in June more than a year ago. A voice he hasn't heard in a year, one he only hears in his dreams. He takes a deep breath and turns around, his heart stopping as he takes in the blonde that stole his heart.

His golden hair is cut short, tapered as the side with longer waves on top. The white t-shirt he wore clung tightly to his body, which looked even more toned as Rhys eyes drifted down his legs to where his blue jeans hugged his thighs. 

He's still beautiful. 

“Tamlin.” is all that comes out as he looks at the man he never thought he'd see again. His heart has started beating again, but it's just beating to the sound of his name. Tam-Lin. Tam-Lin. Tam-Lin.

“Hi.” The smile on his face was hesitant as he stepped closer. “It's been a long time.”

Rhys finally found his voice. He cleared his throat. “Uh yeah. About a year now. You look great. I uh love the new hair.”

“Thanks, I decided to start fresh after I…left.” There's a pause before he opens his mouth to say something else, but the barista calls next, and Rhys realizes it's him.

“Oh, I should…” He gestures to the counter before nodding to Tamlin and walking over. “Hi…” He looks at her name tag. Gwyn. Right. “Gwyn, can I please get a medium matcha, ceremonial grade. And an oat bar.”

“Make that two matchas, please.” Tamlin says as he steps up to the counter. 

Rhys doesn't look at him as he pulls out his card, finding it hard to breathe suddenly; the familiar scent of cedar and rain hitting his senses. He goes to hand it to Gwyn when a hand gently pushes his own down. He finally looks over at Tamlin.

“It's on me.” The blonde says with a smile, handing the card over to Gwyn.

“Oh that's not necessary.” Rhys insists “really.”

“I want to. You got it the last time, remember.”

Rhys nods and steps back. “Okay, sure.”

Tamlin takes his card back and they go to stand at the end of the counter to wait for their drinks.

There's an awkward silence before Tamlin clears his throat and asks “Are you staying here?” at the same time that Rhys asks “Do you want to sit with me?” They share a laugh before Tamlin says “I'd like that.”

Wednesday June 27th

The three of them are hanging out in the living room one day watching the latest episode of Love island, Rhys and Feyre on the couch while Tamlin sits on the chair, half watching the show while working on the shop's schedule for the weekend when he is gone. Lucien is gone for a couple weeks playing shows around neighboring cities so he only had to make up a lie to tell Feyre why he wasn't going to be home until Sunday night. He'd landed on saying his brother requested he attend a florist convention a couple towns over to learn about the latest trends and since his brother is the technical owner of the shop, Feyre didn't think anything strange of the request.

It's been two weeks since he and Tamlin had that argument and he'd invited him to go away with him as a way to smooth it over. They'd spent each day texting each other about things they wanted to do and talking about how excited they were about getting some real time together, not just Tamlin sneaking over to Rhys’ a couple times a week. He'd also spent that time trying to think of how he was going to break up with Feyre. It still made him feel sick, the pain he felt at breaking her heart was real but he knew he needed to do it. For Tamlin. He had finally resigned himself to what he needed to do and of course that's when Feyre threw a wrench in their weekend plans.

"Okay, the suspense is killing me. When are you going to ask me to go with you?" She asks as the show goes to a commercial break, pressing mute on the remote before turning to Rhys where he is sitting beside her on the couch.

"Go with me?"

"On your business trip! I know you requested that I come along! I heard you on the phone. Ressina already cleared my time off."

Rhys just stared at her before looking towards Tamlin who had gone still, and back. "Oh, you did?"

"Yes! At first I wasn't sure but then you called the hotel and booked the romantic suite and I knew you were going to surprise me. I didn't think it was going to be two days before though."

He knows he should make up an excuse, say she misheard or that it was for one of his employees, maybe Mor. Or say he was bringing Cass or Az and the romantic sweet was the only one available. But as he looked into her excited gaze, he found himself nodding. "Right…Sorry, Darling. I just wanted to make sure everything was set up correctly before asking."

Feyre beamed."You're lucky I overheard so I could take the time off."

Opening his mouth to respond, Rhys jumped when Tamlin shot up, muttering 'excuse me' before leaving the room. He wanted to follow him, to explain but how could he when he didn't even know what was happening. So he stays put and listens to Feyre talking about how excited she is, how she looked up the area and what was around there and what they could do when he's not in the conference.

Eventually she excuses herself to pack and he heads down to Tamlin's room. He knocked on the door, waiting for him to open it instead of just walking in like he normally does. He had to find a way to make this up to him, but how?

Rhys was supposed to be watching the football game, Illyria vs. Hewn, on TV after he couldn't get the time off to go to the game with Az in person. He wanted to support Cass as he played his first game back after his shoulder injury but Rhys found he could barely look away from the mess of blonde hair in his arms.

His boyfriend had come over after his shift at the bakery, showering off the flour and chocolate that had somehow ended up in his hair before coming out wearing one of Rhys' hoodies and a pair of Rhys' boxers that were tight around his ass and thighs, looking more like boxer briefs on him. Rhys had forced himself to behave, to turn on the game instead of marching his love back into the bedroom and having his way with him.

Which led him to where they are now; Rhys laying on the couch with Tamlin on top of him. Legs entwined, Tamlin's head on his shoulder as he swiped through his phone. One of Rhys’ hands was holding the remote, hanging off the side of the couch as the other was on Tamlin's ass, fingers tracing the crease where his ass became his thigh; occasionally lifting it to let it jiggle.

The announcement for halftime comes on and Tamllin looks up at him. "How long is the break?"

"Around fifteen minutes, Darling. Why?"

Tamlin's eyes sparkle with mischief as he grabs the hand that's on his ass and moves it up to slide into the back of the boxers. "Since you have such a fixation on my ass, do you wanna see what you can do to it in fifteen minutes?"

Rhys gives him a dirty smile and squeezes his ass. "Challenge accepted."

They don't make it back to the living room to watch the rest of the game and Rhys has to watch clips and read about the game so he can pretend to Cass.

Later, after a quick washing only shower and realizing it was only 9:30 pm, they decided to watch a movie in Tamlin's room. Feyre, Rhys learned through a text, was still at the gallery and would be for a while.

They decided on a movie about two men working on a mountain who eventually fell in love while being married to women. They were laying beside each other, Tamlin’s head on Rhys's shoulder, when it got to the part where the wife caught them kissing.

Hearing Tamlin sigh, Rhys looked away from the screen "What's wrong?"

Tamlin sat up and stared at his hands "Nothing. It's just…"

"Just what?" Rhys sat up and turned towards Tamlin, grabbing his hand "You can tell me."

Sighing again, Tamlin looked at Rhys "Is that going to be us?"

Rhys looked at the screen then back at Tamlin "Is what going to be us?"

"Are we just going to be sneaking around forever? Are you going to get married and just keep me on the side?"

"No! Of course not." Rhys put his hand on Tamlin's cheek "It won't always be like this. I just…I don't know how to leave her.”

"Just tell her your feelings have changed. Then we can be together."

"It's not that simple Tamlin."

"It is! She'll understand. She's gone through breakups before. Just tell her that you don't love her anymore"

"I can't."

"Why not? You don't…Do you? Love her?"

"I-Yes. I do love her but it's different than it is with you… I just need time"

“You've had nothing but time.” Tamlin pulls his hand out of Rhys', moving farther from him on the bed "You don't love me, do you? That's why you won't leave her."

"Tamlin"

Shaking his head, Tamlin continued "Even after everything. After I told you I'm yours….You'll never leave her. You'll never be mine. And I'll just be the fool, who's too in love with you to walk away even when you don't feel the same."

"Tam…You are mine and I'm yours. I do lo-" Suddenly, they heard a door down the hall open. Feyre. Rhys looked towards the door "Shit" then back at Tamlin "This isn't over. We will discuss this later, okay?" He got up and started walking towards the door before turning around and going back to Tamlin. He reached out and held his cheek, leaning down to kiss him.

Despite the tears welling in his eyes, Tamlin returned the kiss.

“I promised I was going to leave her, and I will. Just trust me.” He says as he pulls away, waiting for Tamlin's small nod before he leaves to find Feyre.

The lights were on in the apartment as he walked in. Lucien was out of town for a family emergency, so Tamlin must be home. Rhys hopes he's not here with that creep. As he walks down the hallway, he can hear water running in the shower, and he sighs in relief as he hears Tamlin singing in the shower, something he wouldn't do if he were with someone. The low timbre of his voice sent shivers down his back. The talent the man possessed never failed to impress him.

He slowly opened the door and peeked around it. Through the fogged up walls of the shower, he can make out the toned figure of his lover. Alone, thank God.

Rhys stepped into the room, closing and locking the door behind him before he started undressing. He let his eyes roam over the shape of his lover through the glass door; his toned arms and chest, the six pack leading down to his lithe hips and the curve of his ass. Rhys could feel himself hardening as he takes him in; this perfect specimen on display just for him. Leaving his clothes in a pile on the floor and his rings and watch on the counter, he opened the glass door and stepped into the shower.

Tamlin hadn't noticed him yet, not hearing between the music and the fact that his head was now under the spray. He started to slide his hands around Tamlin’s hips which made the other man let out a shout and whirl around, almost slipping before Rhys gripped his hips and pulled him against his own body.

Tamlin looked relieved to see it was him and not an intruder before seeming to come to his senses and try to push him away. "What are you doing, Rhys?!" He looked towards the door."Feyre…"

"Is still at the gallery. It's just me and you, " He purred, pulling Tamlin closer.

Tamlin visibly relaxed, wrapping his arms around Rhys’ shoulders. “Oh okay. Hi. You looked good tonight.”

“So did you.” Rhys says, lifting his hand to move a piece of Tamlin's wet hair behind his ears.

“What happened to your hand?” Tamlin asks as he notices his wrapped hand for the first time.

“A cup broke in my hand.” He lets Tamlin grab his hand, bringing it up to examine. “It's not a big deal. It's not even bleeding anymore.”

“How did a cup break in your hand?”

Rhys shrugs. “I crushed it when I saw you leaving with that man.” He admits. "You were right when you said I was too jealous for this.”

“Rhys…” Tamlin scolds, a slight frown on his face.

“I couldn't stand the thought of you leaving with him. Seeing his hands on you…I wanted to slap his hands away and punch him in his smarmy face.”

“Rhys! He was a nice guy!” Tamlin insists, though a hint of satisfaction in his beautiful green eyes, that tells Rhys that he's secretly pleased with his jealousy.

"But it seems I didn't have anything to worry about. You didn't go home with him.”

"I didn't."

"Why not? He was definitely interested. I could tell even across the room."

"I know he was. But I wasn't."

“Why not?” He asks, feeling too full of himself.

“You know why.” Tamlin says, bringing his hand up to his mouth and leaving a kiss on his palm. “I only want you.”

“Good.” Rhys says with a smirk before he pushes Tamlin up against the shower wall, kissing him hard.

The Rainbow art gallery was buzzing with people as they milled around taking in the art on display. The space was filled with ambient lighting and the sounds of hushed conversations and the clinking of wine glasses. Half of the gallery was filled with Feyre's pieces that she had been working hard on for the past few months; the other half was from one other artist after the third had dropped out.

A mix of realism and expressionism, Feyre's art filled the walls in splashes of color and textures that had people admiring and analyzing them for long stretches of time. So many people showed up tonight, a mix of art professionals, family and friends. Feyre's sisters were around somewhere; Nesta having come to town to support her youngest sister with plans for the three of them to go for brunch the next day before she heads back home. Rhys had taken Feyre out for lunch before she needed to come in for last minute walk-throughs.

Rhys had been the first guest to arrive, bringing her flowers that she thanked him for before taking them to the break room to put in water. He'd given her a pep talk and helped calm her nerves before people came and they headed back out just as the first guests arrived.

He stood beside Feyre near the center of the gallery a few hours in, one hand resting lightly against the small of her back as guests drifted past with wine glasses and polite smiles. Pride filled him as she talked to a guest who had asked about one of her paintings. Every time someone walked up and asked about or complimented her paintings, her face would light up with a soft joy that reminded him why he had fallen for her in the first place.

“I can't believe so many people showed up.” She says to him as the guests excuse themselves. She looked gorgeous in a modest black cocktail dress that fit nicely to her curves. Her hair was back in a sleek chiffon, and her mother's pearls draped over her neck; something Nesta had brought with her, a kind gesture that Feyre hadn't been expecting and had her almost in tears.

“I can.” He says, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. “You're unbelievably talented. I won't be surprised if you sell every piece tonight.”

She had truly outdone herself; every inch of the allotted space was full of exquisite pieces of art that she had poured her heart and soul into the past few months. Rhys had taken a look around when Feyre got pulled away by her boss earlier to talk to a group of fellow artists. She had painted one of him but decided to keep it for herself, not wanting to share him with other people. If only she knew…

He'd placed a bid on her self portrait as well as an anonymous bid on the painting she had done of Tamlin, fitly titled “The rose with a musician's soul." It was a stunning image of him sitting among wildflowers and tall grass, playing his fiddle with a serene look on his face. He'd caught people pointing at the picture as they spoke to Tamlin, who had flushed, nodding and speaking animatedly, most likely praising Feyre.

Tamlin had shown up a couple hours ago and Rhys had only briefly spoken to him when he'd come over to congratulate Feyre before he went to look around. His eyes had darkened when he first saw Rhys and he'd had to stop himself from preening and straightening his black suit jacket as Tamlin checked him out. They'd managed to stay away from each other for most of the night though their hands brushed a few times when they passed each other and they shared a few lingering looks across the room.

“I don't know about that.” Feyre says, breaking him from his thoughts. “Im just so grateful to have had this opportunity! It means so much that Ressina believed in me enough to let me do this.”

“You deserve it. You've worked so hard these past few months and it shows.” Rhys says, leaning down to kiss her head before she's pulled into another conversation.