They were on their way to the restaurant Joe's mum had requested, walking along the beautifully lit and decorated promenade. Joe's dad hadn't talked to his son or his son's friend yet, but both of them didn't seem to mind it. He would talk to them soon enough and Joe, especially, enjoyed the silence they had for now. The silence and the freedom.

The both of them were dressed in a pair of cut-off jeans and tank tops with a quite low-cut neckline, revealing the caramel skin of their chests. Their hands were clasped together, fingers interlocked, and hung between them, gaining glances from other people from time to time, but the both of them couldn't care less. They were proud to have the other and therefore felt no need to hide.

"There we are, boys. I'm gonna ask if there's a free table for us", Joe's mum finally said, letting go of her husband's hand and making her way into the restaurant, almost immediately starting a conversation with a quite handsome waiter. After just a few moments she turned to them and beckoned them all over, leading the way to the table the waiter had shown them.

It was a table for four that was beautifully decorated to give off summer vibes, the multicolored flowers in the vase in the middle of the table making the place especially bright and happy.

Joe led his lover to one of the benches, causing him to smile and thank him with a kiss on his cheek. The taller one noticed out of the corner of his eye that his dad turned away at the sight. And it immediately made him frown disappointedly.

But he sat down next to Sav, either way, wrapping one arm around his shoulders as he leaned into his side.

"Could you stop that, please?"

Joe looked up at those words, coming face to face with his dad's frown. He briefly considered doing what he was asked to do but refused as soon as he took a look down at the warm, gorgeous man he had his arm wrapped around. He was not going to back down and let his dad decide for him how to act and who to love. So he just pulled the younger man closer and ran his fingers over his arm, gaining a gaze full of trust from the said human being.

"Why? You got a problem with it?", he finally shot back, seeing his dad squirming in his seat in obvious discomfort.

"It's... weird, Joseph. I don't want you to be like this. To be... gay. That's a sign of weakness. I don't want a weak son."

That hit Joe quite hard and he felt Sav's hand soothingly place itself onto his thigh. He seemed to know what he was thinking and tried to provide some mental comfort. And somehow, it gave Joe strength.

"I'm not weak, for Christ's sake! I'm just healthily in love, just like you and mum are. It's about the feeling, not about a fuckin' outward appearance or gender. So fuck you if you don't understand that. Call me a faggot all you like, but remember that I'm your son and you should better get along with the way I live, because, as you might have noticed already, I'm a fully grown man and I can decide for myself!"

Joe didn't quite know where that emotional outburst came from, but he sure knew that it felt good to get all those words out. And they had left his dad without arguments, too, since he was unable to do anything more than open and close his mouth with no words leaving his lips. But he couldn't help but feel the softer side in him coming to life as he saw his dad's disbelieving expression.

"Can't you see that I love him? Can't you see how much this means to me? Do you really want to deny me being happy?", he added in a softer tone, feeling the lump in his throat getting tighter. And his bottom lip started to tremble as he saw his dad not giving any sort of reaction to his words.

"Excuse me", he finally whispered sadly, getting up and leaving their table, walking out of the restaurant to reach the sandy beach and sitting down. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to calm himself down. But the deep sadness overshadowed everything else and he let out a deep sigh, jerking as he felt two warm arms wrapping around his shoulders.

"Hey, it's alright. You wanna talk about it?", Sav whispered into his hair, causing Joe to relax immediately.

"Don't wanna talk right now", he mumbled, leaning back into the embrace around him. Sav just nodded in understanding and silently sat down beside his lover, all the while keeping the slumped body tucked against his.

"Sav?"

"Mmh?", the younger one replied into his lover's hair, nosing his way through Joe's soft curls and feeling him relax even further in his arms while he waited for some sort of answer.

"He hates me, he's gonna kick me out, he's gonna-"

"Joe?"

"Huh?" The disappointed man raised his head at the interruption, looking at Sav with tearful green eyes.

"Shut up for a minute, will you?", the younger one replied, pulling him closer by his curls and catching him into a soft, soothing kiss, feeling his eyelashes fluttering closed against his cheekbone and the other man's body melting against his.

Soon enough, hands wrapped around his waist and tried to get closer, lips becoming more insistent and a tongue asking for entrance that was gladly permitted. Joe was trusting his lover with all his might and that simple display of affection and neediness made Sav smile against the soft lips on his. His main priority was to make Joe feel better, and he seemed to have succeeded judged by the euphoric way in which Joe replied to the kiss, finally ending up on top of Sav in the soft, still sun-warmed sand. The latter parted from Joe's lips to catch his breath after a while, seeing the green eyes of his opponent heavy with devotion and his cheeks flushed crimson.

"I love you, Joe. I don't know if that is somewhat comforting in this situation but still, please always remember that. I'll be awaiting you with open arms whenever you'll need a shoulder to cry on and that will never ever change. I love you, so so much."

Sav gazed deeply into his lover's eyes while saying those words, hoping to be able to get his point across. And judging by the way the green eyes lit up and the reddened lips got tugged upwards into a thankful smile, he seemed to have succeeded. But the moment was interrupted as Joe received a tap on his shoulder and turned around in return. Looking up, he encountered his mother, who had a soft smile plastered on her face.

"Joseph? Can we talk quickly?"

Joe nodded, still with a skeptical expression on his facial features when he finally turned and stood up completely to face his short mother. She was nervously glancing up at him as if it was hard for her to say the words she was about to say. Insecurely he looked back at Sav, who was still sitting in the sand and had his bright blue eyes fixated on him with a seemingly reassuring sparkle in them. One edge of his lips quirking up into a small smile Joe turned around again, mentally preparing himself for the things that were about to come out of his mother's mouth.

"Joseph, darling, I know this might be a pretty hard thing to hear, but I need to say it anyway. Your father doesn't approve of you and Sav being together. But please please remember that he will eventually get used to it. You know your father, he would never abandon you or something. But he also isn't ready yet to accept things as they are. Just give him time, he will eventually come around and get what you were trying to explain to him."

Joe just pulled his mother into a hug at her words, hearing how her voice started to quiver. It made him smile, knowing that his mother liked the things as they were so much that she would stand up even to her husband and defend them from disapproving opinions.

"I'm so sorry, my dear", the short woman he loved so much then whispered into his curls, finally pulling out of the embrace and flashing him a wan smile. Her gaze then switched to Sav again who was still sitting in the sand a few steps away. The young man was looking out at the sea, seemingly in deep thought while the wind did wonderful things to his long curly hair.

"Hey, Sav, do you want to come and eat with us, too?"

Sav's head snapped around at Mrs. Elliott's voice, a smile painting itself onto his lips as he saw Joe and his mother together, obviously not in a depressed, sad mood. He looked so innocent and lovely at that moment that Joe's heart took flight once more.

Pushing himself up from the ground, Sav walked back over to the two Elliotts, Joe taking him into a short hug before kissing him with a smile. He could feel his mother's loving gaze resting on him and his lover all the way, making him forget all about his doubts concerning his father's opinion.

The three of them finally made their way back into the restaurant, the two young men ignoring Joe's dad for most of the time. They actually had a lot of fun during that dinner, talking a lot to Joe's mother and Sav getting to listen to a lot of embarrassing childhood stories while Joe had to blush furiously in embarrassment.

Towards the end, Joe's dad appeared to be more comfortable with the situation, too, but he still refused to address the elephant in the room. So they eventually all went back to their holiday house in content silence, retreating into their different rooms for the night.

Joe and Sav both had wide smiles on their faces as they entered their shared room, happy with how the evening had turned out and especially with the fact that they would be able to spend the night together once again.

Pulling Sav closer by his waist after kicking the door shut, Joe placed a kiss on the tip of the younger one's nose, his heart starting to flutter at the way Sav's cheeks reddened and lifted to reveal a heart-stopping smile while those blue eyes sparkled with sheer joy. Standing so close to him, Joe couldn't help but say those three little words again.

"I love you, Savy", he breathed out, tucking a strand of Sav's hair behind his ear with a smile before taking those luscious rosy lips in another loving kiss. The younger man's body melted into him at the contact, his hands running up Joe's back and his fingers finally tangling themselves in his wild dark curls. Joe's whole body relaxed under Sav's ministrations, his hands placing themselves on the younger one's hips and pulling him in close, getting lost in the sensations he was feeling while he slowly but subconsciously led them both over to one of the beds.

After repeating what they had just done when they had arrived earlier, they both laid there basking in the afterglow together, limbs still entangled. Suddenly, a small sniffle broke the silence. Confused, Joe turned to face his lover beside him, seeing his lean body trembling slightly.

"Sav? Hey, are you alright?"

The younger one curled in on himself even more as he was addressed, letting go of Joe's hand and leaving him with a bare back and a mass of curls to stare at.

Now really concerned, Joe gently placed a hand on the trembling man's bare waist, trying to soothe him with his touch to get him opened up enough to talk to him.

"Savy, love? What happened? Please, I need you to talk to me. I wanna help you and I can't do that if I don't know what's going on."

The words seemed to have made an impact because Sav turned around to face him with big blue eyes full of sorrow that were losing the tears spilling down over his rosy cheeks. Gasping softly, Joe pulled the smaller man into his embrace, shushing him the best he could until the soft cries emanating subsided completely.

"I just... I actually don't know how to say this. I feel so happy but yet so sad at the same time", Sav finally whispered hoarsely into his lover's chest, fingers firmly digging into the skin of his back to ensure him that he was there and had no intention of leaving. Joe just patiently waited for him to continue talking while he soothingly caressed the soft fluffy curls surrounding the younger's face.

"I'm so happy I'm here with you, I can't even describe it properly. I love you, so much. You light up my life, Joseph."

Joe cringed slightly at the use of his full name but smiled, either way, placing an encouraging kiss on Sav's forehead, being able to tell that he had more to say.

"But today just let me see again, how much trouble we will have with this throughout our life. Not that I want to leave you or anything, don't get me wrong. But your dad's reaction just really threw me for a loop, I guess. He seems fine now, but I know my own dad will most definitely not react like that. And it's practically inevitable that he will find out one day. Fuck, I'm just so scared of losing you, now that we fought so hard for this."

Joe was speechless for a moment, not sure how to respond to such deep words openly spoken for him to hear and more than anything, not sure how to take Sav's fear he had just explained away. Pulling back slightly after gathering his thoughts, he sought out the blue blue eyes again, his heart breaking a little because he knew Sav was right with practically everything he had said.

"I know, babe, I know. I know how hard this will be. I'm scared, too, to be honest with you, but I believe that this relationship can only survive properly if we lock that fear up. Just imagine how we would behave if we would think about everything that could go wrong and how likely it is for that to happen. We'd have way too much to worry about! Hey, we're young! We have our whole life in front of us! Why should we spend every day worrying about the future? Let's just go on from one day to the next, conquer each problem one by one whenever the time's right."

Sav's frown softened into a smile at his words, a smile that was so true that those cute little dimples Joe loved so much became visible again. And Joe's heart did a happy jump as he witnessed that particular change of expression in response to his words.

"Oh Joe, what would I do without you? I'm such an angsty mess, why do you even keep me?", Sav then replied still quite shyly, his eyes reminding Joe of a shy and hesitant deer, the long lashes casting light shadows over his cheekbones emphasizing that picture even more.

"I love you, that's why I stick to you, you little cutie, you", Joe giggled happily in return, leaning in to place the most loving kiss of the night on the warm pliant lips in front of his own, hearing his lover sigh contently in return. When they parted, still with smiles on their faces, Sav let out a yawn, causing Joe to chuckle.

"Tired over there? C'mere, I'll make sure you won't be freezing tonight", he whispered, opening his arms in a welcoming invitation that Sav immediately took, snuggling up to his boyfriend's warm naked chest and closing his eyes.

Joe's arms then wrapped around his body in a warm strong band that made him feel safe and so protected that he allowed himself to fall asleep almost instantly with a smile on his face. Joe noticed his lover's breath evening out into a relaxed rhythmic pattern and pulled him closer with a smile in return, kissing the top of his head before falling asleep, too, with his nose buried in those lavender-scented soft curls.