OLIVER HELD TIMOTHÉE close with his head on the boy's chest, arm wrapped around his waist as Timothée played with his hair. It was around midday and the two should be up by then, probably wandering around the streets of New York but neither could find the strength to move, just wanting to stay in the other's arms for a bit longer.

         And, God, how Oliver loved the moments like these. The days they had spent together locked away in an apartment or hotel room, just enjoying each other after being apart for too long. It was just then, unaffected by the world, together. He left himself fade in and out of consciousness during these hours, loving Timothée's gentle touch as he combed his fingers through Oliver's hair.

         "I missed this," Oliver said, tightening his grip ever so slightly on the boy's waist.

         He could practically hear the smile that grew on Timothée's face at the confession. "Me too," he agreed, "I missed just lying here with you...just being so close to you. It's been way too long."

         "Yeah, it has. And so much has changed, even just recently. Like, Lottie got a boyfriend and then she broke up with him and then she realized that she's bi," Oliver went on.

         "What? She did?" Timothée practically choked on his own spit at Oliver's words, "Man, Lottie was always the token straight girl on the group."

         "Well now Evan can stay the token straight of our otherwise rainbow-filled friendship," Oliver said, moving his head and opening his eyes so he could look at Timothée's face.

         The boy shook his head, "I don't think Evan's as straight as you guys think."

         "Really?" Oliver frowned, "I think you're just lying here, Evan is like totally 100% straight. Like a pole."

         Timothée shook his head, "Nah, just look at him. He cannot be straight – people that hot are never straight."

         Oliver rolled his eyes and moved the hand he had on the boy's waist to lightly hit him. "Don't go saying things like that. It's bad enough that Lottie wanted to steal you right from under me."

         "You know, a couple months ago I might've let her," Oliver made an offended noise, which brought a smile to Timothée's face before he continued, "You didn't let me finish, and anyway I said a few months ago. I'm yours now, thankfully."

         Oliver leaned up to give him a slow kiss, both of them reveling in it. He hummed at the back of his throat as he pulled away, a gigantic smile growing on his face as he looked at his boyfriend. God, how he missed calling Timothée that.

         He leaned back down, placing his head against Timothée's chest again, listening to his steady heartbeat. It was calming, just that constant reminder that Timothée was there and it wasn't a dream.

         "How'd she find out? Like, what was her sexual awakening for women?" Timothée asked him.

         "Alice."

         "What?" Timothée asked, eyes wide with shock and Oliver giggled at him. Oliver fucking giggled because it was Timothée and he was adorable, and God, he loved him.

         "Yeah, Alice. It was actually because of us. Well, not us 'us', but like our groupchat. Like, they're really similar in ways like when they're angry at us they'll bring out the middle name and always stand by each other so we started this thing. The guys and I, we'd write 'wink wonk' every time they did something like that and it worked for a couple months but then they figured out and told us to stop," Oliver explained, going into further detail about the messages between him and Alice and then him and Lottie. By the end of it, Timothée just nodded.

         "Makes sense. I'm happy for them, they look good together," Timothée complimented them.

         "They do, don't they?" Oliver asked before grinning, "But they're nowhere close to us."

         "That's because we're on a totally different level, babe, of course we're better," Timothée went along with it, bringing Oliver up for another kiss before letting him lie down again.

         There was a pause. It was just a nice, simple pause that was so comfortable and peaceful between them. Just lying there, touching and being with each other. It was blissful and Oliver had to thank whoever above them for allowing him Timothée even after all the shit he had pulled and would probably continue to pull.

         Then: "Hey, can I tell you something?" Timothée asked him and Oliver's eyebrows furrowed, looking at the boy.

         "Yeah, of course. What is it?" he asked, growing a little worried over the seriousness of his voice.

         A smile spread to Timothée's face which eased his worries a bit. "I love you," he confessed and Oliver felt his heart stop for a moment. Even though there had been so many times he had heard the boy before him tell him the exact same thing, it had his heart flutter all the same.

         But it was also special, just like the first time they admitted it to each other. This was their second chance, their second time around and it was just like the first time, except without nervousness and fear of the person but nothing them back.

         Oliver surged forward to kiss Timothée fiercely, full of passion and the emotions he felt for the boy. When they parted, Oliver had a full smile on his face, still close to Timothée as he whispered, "I love you, too."