Through the Screen

Chapter 38

"do you think something went wrong with the bus? or-or i don't know, why is it taking—"

"abel, calm down baby they'll be here soon," noah pushed his arm around abel 's waist, pulling him

closer to his side and abel only rested his head against noah's shoulder, letting out a small yawn in the

process.

"you tired?" noah nudged him slightly and the younger man nodded lazily against his shoulder,

attempting to nuzzle his face further into noah's neck as discretely as possible.

"why did we have to adopt a child, it's too much work," abel complained, reaching forth and grabbing

noah's warm hand in between his cold one, sighing out of relief when the warmth spread out on his

palm.

"you love it though, don't you?" noah nudged him with a little giggle, causing the brown haired boy to

groan and nod hesitantly in agreement.

"why do i love him so much, it's not even fair," he slumped further into noah's side, looking around to

see if any other people in their mid-forties were judging them. when he found no one looking, he placed

a soft kiss against noah's cheek, locking their fingers and resting both their hands on his stomach, his

thumb rubbing gentle circles on the back of noah's pale hand.

"and i can't even spend time with him now that he's back, i'm so busy, i've got a meeting to attend today Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

and i have to pack—"

"you have to pack?" noah interrupted, his voice quiet and abel only looked up at him in slight confusion.

"tomorrow is my trip, i told you didn't i?" abel pondered out loud, and noah's lips formed an 'o' shape in

realisation, nodding when he remembered.

"oh yeah, i'm gonna miss you," noah pouted slightly, causing abel to smile, a strange warmth pooling in

his cheeks, dimples popping.

"ah, you're being so cute i really want to kiss you," it was noah's turn to blush now, as he turned his

head and buried his nose in abel 's hair to hide his smile.

"shut up,"

they stood in comfortable silence, leaning against the stone wall behind them, and noah could almost

feel the coolness of the stones seeping through his thick jumper.

"wow it's actually really cold," noah commented after a while and abel just rolled his eyes mockingly.

"oh i thought me literally trying to cuddle the hell out of you in public would be enough proof," abel

muttered slightly annoyed that the bus still hadn't pulled up and was approximately twenty minutes late.

"i have a jacket in my car if you want?" noah offered, running his hands along abel 's spine as if it would

warm him up, and maybe the gesture didn't but the feeling of noah doing that made abel want to melt

into noah's chocolate brown jumper.

"yes please," he sighed, and noah just ruffled his hair fondly, watching as a few parents started to wrap

their arms around their bodies to shield them from the cold, their feet impatiently tapping on the ground.

it was slightly strange for them to be this calm.

they haven't exactly been normal for the past few months, never saying what's actually on their minds

and being unnecessarily formal and uncomfortable around each other. this was like the long awaited

winter break they finally received. this strange way of teenager-like flirting and displaying their affection

in front of other people.

noah may be slightly insecure about what people were thinking of two males leaning against a school

wall and talking to each other quietly, with one of them occasionally blushing—they looked like they

were in the first week of dating each other.

but maybe they actually were back to square one, where they needed to have dinner outside at least

twice in fourteen days and where noah needed to call abel at work and tell him sweet things. maybe

they needed to be reluctant about taking things too far in bed and maybe they needed to think about

what they're going to talk about next.

and maybe it's alright.

maybe building up their relationship from the scratch is alright for either of them, because right now as

abel steals another kiss against noah's cheek and noah coughs to hide the roses blossoming on his

cheeks—they are both happy.

there is no doubt in their minds. abel doesn't think whether noah is mad at him for something and noah

doesn't have to find anything to be mad at abel.

they're two men in their mid-twenties waiting for their child to return from a trip, and even when they're

surrounded by so many older and more experienced people, who probably have a better married life

than them and have their shit together—they are the only ones who seem to be smiling.