And when the lights start flashing like a photobooth and the stars exploding, we’ll be fireproof

[Olliver Mercer]

“Wesley,” he said with a level look, “this is me we’re talking about here. The concept of a casual anything is completely lost on me.” 

 

As a nineteen year old, most would have been a bit more savvy on such matters, but while Olliver had always been intelligent romance was not exactly a subject he was good at. Nevertheless, he had somehow remained a hopeless romantic throughout the years. Still was.

 

“Besides,” he continued. “I liked you. I liked the idea of us. When you kissed me I... was stunned at the thought that you actually liked me too, but then in a moment it was gone. Like there was no possibility for something serious. I was conflicted. I..."

 

Olliver stopped. His grip on Wes's hand tightened for a moment, before relaxing back.

 

"I thought it meant I wasn't good enough for you. To be honest, I still have moments where I think like that." 

 

[Wesley Mercer]

At twenty-three, Wesley wasn’t in the right state to be in another relationship. With a record of four failed relationships – one which ended in a broken engagement and being left at the altar – dating wasn’t something on his mind. And then Olliver happened. Olliver with his cynical views but optimistic heart, a contradiction yet one that matched perfectly with Wesley, it amazed him how he never saw it before.

 

“I thought you didn’t push me away because we both had a bit too much to drink,” Wesley admitted. “Kissing you complicated everything.” He never regretted it but when Olly avoided him for three weeks after it happened, he worried he’d ruined the friendship that formed between them. A small smile quirked at the corner of Wesley’s lips when Olliver talked about how he felt about them; the realization hit that they were both stupid when it came to dealing with their feelings. Typical.

 

“Hey you're definitely more than I deserve and you were right, I did like you back. I more than liked you, that’s why I kissed you,” grinning, he stole a quick kiss. “But you terrified me and I didn’t know how to let you know I wanted to date you. I thought I was doing us both a favor by suggesting something casual… and then Melissa found out and we had to lie about what we were.”

Edited 21 January 2018, 04:07 am by Wesley Mercer

[Olliver Mercer]

“Don’t be silly, I know who the lucky one is in this relationship.” Olliver smiled into the kiss, letting Wesley was away all his doubts and fears like he always did with certainty.

 

“When I look back now,” he said, absentmindedly lacing his fingers through Wesley’s,“I think maybe I went along with the lies because I wanted it to be the truth. Even if it was fake, even if it was temporary… at least I had you.” 

 

It was a dark time in Olliver’s life, one he didn’t care to revisit. Fear and insecurity plagued his every moment, hammered home by Wes’s consistent reminders that they weren’t serious. But through it all Olliver convinced himself there was something. There had to be something. Every stolen glance, every lingering touch… he could pretend they were real. 

 

And then one day, suddenly, they were. 

 

“I don’t regret it. Not now. At the time I did – at the time I thought the world was playing the cruelest trick on me – but now I know it was all worth it.” He leaned back into Wesley’s chest before giving him a playful slap on the wrist. “Now if only you had actually been honest with me from the beginning we wouldn’t have wasted any time. And maybe my family wouldn’t hate me.” 

 

Olliver laughed, but it was empty even to his own ears. If he had one regret… that was it.

[Wesley Mercer]

There were moments in their relationship where Wesley mentally had to take a step back and take it all in, remind himself that this was very real and not twisted mind tricks his subconscious played on him. This was one of those moments, he was the lucky one in the relationship no matter what Olly thought or how he viewed them, he knew the truth.

 

“I know who the lucky one is too.” When he pulled away from the kiss, he didn’t go far, lingered there for a few seconds before leaning back in again, mumbling against Olliver’s lips. “It’s me.”  He brought the other closer to him, shifting slightly to make some room for his husband.

 

A question plagued him, one that intrigued him more than the question regarding how their marriage came to be. Wesley knew neither of them were in the proper state to be in a relationship when their thing started, but he suspected that the two had different moments where they knew that there was more to them that just something casual, that this was real. The realest thing either of them ever had.

 

“When did you stop pretending?”

 

A part of him, the one haunted by his insecurities feared the answer. Yes, they were married, but that didn’t mean that the fears suddenly went away; didn’t mean that Wesley wasn’t scared of conversations like this one.

 

“You were worth the wait,” Wesley mumbled. “I admit that it was difficult for me to accept what I was feeling. Nevermind admitting it. Remember Puddifoot’s? I was so done with the romance and I wanted the wall gone. You wouldn’t let me tear down the wall and told me I couldn’t have everything I wanted. That was where you were wrong, Olliver Mercer. I had you. I already had everything I wanted back then, and I have everything I want right now.”

Edited 25 February 2018, 04:05 am by Wesley Mercer

[Olliver Mercer]

“We could argue about this for days,” Olliver smiled against Wesley’s lips, nestling in close until they were flush together. “I’m luckier.”

 

He looked down at their interlocking fingers, thumb rubbing against the back of his husband’s hand, all soft smiles. Their journey had been unconventional, yes, but perfect in its own way. His family might disapprove – Melissa definitely disapproved – but he’d found happiness somewhere he least expected it. That was more important than anything. He still couldn’t quite believe it.

 

At Wesley’s question, Olly’s grip tightened briefly. 

 

“I… Wow, what a question.” When did he stop? Was it when Wes wanted to get rid of that bloody wall in Puddifoots? Or was it in the L-Squared, back at the very beginning? Nothing had been straightforward for them. Their relationship began as a labyrinth, full of wrong turns, misdirection and, at times, hopelessness. But they’d found their way out. 

 

And now here they were.

 

“I think… I think, in all honesty, I spent longer pretending I wasn’t in love with you than pretending I was. Every moment you’d remind me that what we had wasn’t real… It killed me. Every moment we spent together felt more natural than the last, so much so I don’t know how it took us this long.”

 

Olliver leaned his head on Wesley’s shoulder, smiling absentmindedly as he nuzzled in closer. Hearing Wesley recount that fateful day in Puddifoots brought a surge of affection that turned to full on butterflies at ‘Olliver Mercer’ before flooding every inch of him, a smile bubbling to his lips. 

 

He was so in love.

 

“I’d wait forever for you. For this. I’m glad we didn’t have to though. In all honesty, two years of torture messing around was enough, thank you.” He smirked.

 

But then something Wesley said hit him like a bag of bricks in the chest and he sat up abruptly. 

 

“Wait. Everything you wanted back then? At Puddifoots??”

[Wesley Mercer]

There were times being in a relationship with a lawyer and former member of the Wizengamot had its downsides and this was one of them: winning an argument when your significant other could counter every point made was impossible and while Wesley liked winning, he liked Olliver more. “How about we agree we’re both lucky?” Wesley suggested, resting his forehead against his husband’s silently for a long moment. 

He never planned for this. Olliver was the kid he bullied in school because it amused him, because he couldn’t get to Melissa but could bother her in other ways – through tormenting her little brother – and that was their relationship for four years until Wesley graduated and never saw Olliver again. And then their interaction at the ministry happened and with it came a stupid crush on someone he wasn’t supposed to have feelings for. 

Like Olly, it was easier to pretend that he didn’t have feelings than to admit there was. 

“It took you trying to leave to realize that I had no reason to be afraid anymore,” Wesley admitted, flicking his gaze away from Olly momentarily before meeting it again. “What we had was a good thing and now we have an amazing thing. We may not remember the details of our wedding, there may be mixed headlines about us and Melissa wants me dead now more than ever but you’re worth it. So yeah, I had everything I wanted back in Puddifoot’s: I had you. What more could I have possibly wanted? There’s no one else I want to have a life with, a family with, a future with than with you and maybe I didn’t know it back then when we were fighting over a stupid wall, but I know that now.” 
 

Edited 11 January 2019, 11:33 pm by Wesley Mercer

[Olliver Mercer]

“Ok,” he agreed in a whisper. “We’re both lucky.”

 

And they were. Luck brought them together – that or fate – but somehow it kept them together, too. Forehead resting against forehead, breath against breath… It was moments like these that Olliver could scarcely believe how truly happy he was. For a guy who spent years believing he was never going to find that happiness, believed he didn’t deserve it, he was now so confidently happy he sometimes didn’t recognise his old self. His old self certainly wouldn’t recognise him: they were worlds apart. 

 

Olly linked their fingers together again absentmindedly, eyes never leaving Wesley’s, a rush of affection at each little admission, a soft kiss here and there.

 

But then there was one admission he didn’t quite expect, one that interrupted all other thoughts. Olly’s eyes grew wide, his heart beat faster and it took a moment for the words to form before they all stumbled out.

 

“Wait. Wait wait. You… you want a family with me? Kids?”

[Wesley Mercer]

Olliver’s reaction to the f a m i l y  word made Wesley panicked, made his mind wander through multiple scenarios in which Olly divorced him because he brought up a future in which the two were parents and they had tiny children and they would have to go to court for the world’s messiest divorce because they’d been too drunk to sign a damned prenup. 

 

Blinking slowly, Wesley debated whether it was best if he remained quiet, if he pretended it had never happened. “Uuuuh yeah,” Wesley mumbled, deciding if it was better to quit while he was ahead and drop the subject altogether. “Only if you want to. Obviously in a few years, in the future, two, three years down the road. But you know we have cats, a dog, twenty-seven pygmy puffs, a snake, we don’t need to have kids. We could get a goat. That’s a kid right?” 

 

Wesley bit down on his lower lip to force himself to stop talking. 
 

Edited 12 January 2019, 01:27 am by Wesley Mercer