#slow clap.& then i have to be like jesus fucking christ you have been miserable and stressed and so fucking busy and exhausted all fucking

[intertexts-moving]

hate it when disabilities are like. u know. debilitating. etc.

[reddielibrary]

Help Me Remember

Prompt: you’re trying to remember who you made out with at that party last night and asking me for help but it was me who you made out with and I don’t want to tell you in case you’re disappointed AU

Written by: Monse | @jem-carstairs-is-perfection

Word Count: 3138

*click title to read on AO3

“I have an announcement to make!”

Groans and sighs were heard all over the room, as well as a thump when Stan threw what was closest to him, someone’s shoe, in Richie’s general direction, failing miserably before it landed on the floor.

“Beep fucking beep, Richie.” He said, shoving his head under his arms trying to block out his friend.

“I will not be silenced, Stanley!” Richie replied, climbing the sofa in which Bev was trying to sleep. “I need to share my news with the world!”

Thump!

“Ow, fuck Bev!”

“Jesus Christ, Richie you just kicked me in the chest!”

“It was Bev, she knocked me off the couch, Big Bill.”

“Why’re you standing on the couch to begin with?”

“Have you not been listening, Ben? I have an announcement.” Richie repeated, bouncing up from the floor.

“Can’t you make your announcement when we’re not hungover and barely awake?” Mike asked from the further end of the room. Somehow he had ended up curled around one of Mrs. Denbrough’s flower pots the night before.

“No, Mikey, this is far too important.”

“Can you at least tone it down a bit? I feel like you’re shouting right into my ear, Richie.” Eddie said, eyebrows knitted in a frown. It was all you could see of him, he was wearing Richie’s hoodie and it engulfed him completely, the collar coming up all the way to his nose.

“But I am excited, Eds! I get loud when I’m excited! I’m sure your mom has told you that.” Richie said, waggling his eyebrows and earning various grunts from his friends and a middle finger from Eddie.

“Well, I’m tired and I get murderous when I’m tired so unless you want to die without sharing your news, you better tell us what the fuck this is about so I can go back to sleep.” Bev said, voice calm and far more terrifying than any scream.

Richie cleared his throat dramatically. “Last night,” he said, pausing to create suspense and continuing only when Bill kicked him lightly on the shin. “I,” another pause, this time interrupted by a shove from Ben. “Met the love of my life.”

“And here we go again.” Stan said, voice muffled under his arms, which he had wrapped around his head, hoping to alleviate the pounding he felt.

Every once in a while, Richie would claim to have met his soulmate, his future husband or wife, the one. Most of those times he was drunk when he did and that person turned out to be some random girl who handed him a beer with a friendly smile or a guy who let him cut in in the line for the crowded bathroom. And every time Richie would make a fuss before realizing that they were in fact not the person he was going to spend the rest of his life with, only to do it all over again.

They should’ve expected Richie’s announcement would have to do with this, but somehow they never learned.

“Who was it this time?” Bill asked, and the eye roll could be heard in his voice. “Did someone hold the door for you when you went out for a smoke?”

“Or was it someone who complimented your shirt?” Bev added with a smirk.

“Guys, I’m fucking serious this time.” Richie said, annoyed that he was being shrugged off.

“That’s what you always say.”

“You don’t understand, this guy -I’m pretty sure it was a guy, the details are a bit blurry. This guy and I we had a connection, okay? He didn’t just smile at me or hand me something, we talked and we kissed.”

The admission sparked some interest in his Richie’s friends. Bev even gave up on her attempt to fall back asleep.

“You kissed, huh?” She asked, smirking.

Richie nodded intently. “And it was magical. There were fucking fireworks, I’m telling you.”

“Do you remember what he looked like?” Ben asked, curious.

“Other than beautiful, nah.”

“What about his name?”

“Nope.”

“What you guys talked about?”

“Nada.” Richie said, shaking his head. “You know I tend to forget things on my best days, Staniel, you can’t expect me to recall what happens when I’m drunk.”

“What are you going to do then? If you don’t remember anything about him.”

“Well, Billiam, that is what I have you all for.” Richie said, nudging his friend’s leg with his feet. Said friend was lying starfished on the floor, staring at the ceiling with a focused expression. “I was hoping you’d tell me if you saw me with anyone.”

“I don’t remember anything after we did tequila shots, Rich, sorry.” Bill told him and at the mention of tequila he scrunched up his nose. Between Richie and him they had finished more than half a bottle. Bill didn’t know how he made it through the night after that.

“I didn’t see you again after our drunk rendition of Dirty Dancing,” Bev said.

“Mike and I were dragged to a game of beer pong in the backyard.” Stan said. His pained expression and the fact that Mike was drooling on the carpet after falling asleep again told the others they hadn’t won the game. “When we came back inside you were already passed out in the armchair.”

Richie sighed, turning around to face Ben. He didn’t tend to drink much and Richie could swear he had seen him around several times last night. “What about you, Haystack?”

“I- uh. I was put in charge of the music and lost track of you after that. Sorry, Richie.” Ben said, after carefully thinking his answer.

Richie groaned, dropping to the floor between Stan and Bill. “You’re all useless!”

Stan snorted. “You’re the one who got so drunk you can’t remember who you made out with.”

“Shut up, Stan.”

“Wait. Eddie!”

Now it was Richie’s turn to snort. “Come on, Bev, I did not make out with Eddie last night.”

“I meant, Eddie was with you most of the night. I know because he complained about having to watch over your drunk ass.” Bev explained. “He must have seen you and your mystery guy.”

Richie clapped his hands together. “Brilliant, Bev.” He said, sitting up.

“Speaking of which, where is Eddie?” Bill wondered, angling his head towards the place where Eddie had spent the night.

He wasn’t there and none of them had noticed he slipped out of the room at some point.

He walked in from the kitchen a moment later, munching on a pop tart and stopping mid-step when he felt everyone’s eyes land on him.

“What?”

“Really, Eds, I’m trying to find the love of my life and instead of helping you run off to get food?”

Eddie shrugged. “I was hungry and you being dramatic is hardly a novelty.” He said, making his friends laugh. “Besides I don’t see how helpful I can be.”

“Bev said you were with me the entire night.” Richie pouted.

“Bev was also drunk off her ass.” Eddie said, slightly defensive, Bev scoffed, offended. “I was with you, yeah but then you left to get a beer and never returned.”

Richie sighed, flopping on the couch on top of Bev.

“Maybe you should give up, Richie.” Bill said, patting his ankle in comfort.

“Never! Someone must have seen him, whoever he was.”

“Unless he isn’t real.”

“Shut up, Stanley, he is!” Richie said, exasperated. “He was real and he was perfect. And I’ll figure out who he is, just you wait.” He added, making his friends sigh and groan, except for Eddie who kept his head down, not wanting his friends to see the worried expression on his face.

“Ben, wait.”

“Oh, sorry Eddie. I didn’t know you were going to order something else.” Ben said, slowing down so that Eddie could catch up with him. They were eating at the local diner, the seven of them and Ben had just excused himself to get another drink.

“I’m not but if I hear Richie mention his mystery guy one more time I might throw my milkshake at him.”

Ben chuckled. “I thought he would’ve let it go by now. It’s been what? A week already?”

“Yeah, but this is Richie we’re talking about, I’m not entirely sure he still isn’t looking for his old dog that ran away ten years ago.” Eddie said, rolling his eyes.

“Right. I’m surprised he didn’t put up a sign, offering a reward in exchange for information on this guy.”

Eddie snorted. “I wouldn’t put it past him so don’t mention that in front of him.”

“Noted.” Ben said with a laugh, he ordered his drink and they moved aside to wait for it to be ready. They did so in silence and were able to hear Richie talking their friends’ ears off.

Eddie rolled his eyes so hard, Ben thought it might give him a headache.

“I’m gonna murder him, I swear.” He said. “I wish I could just make him stop talking about it.”

“You can.”

Eddie snorted. “Never thought you would approve of violence, Ben.”

Ben chuckled, shaking his head. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Then what? Because the only way he will stop is if he figures out who this guy is.”

“Then tell him who he is.”

Eddie frowned, looking at Ben, confused and a little worried. “I don’t know who he is, Ben.”

Ben sighed, he had tried to keep quiet, he really did, after all, this was none of his business but it was painful to watch. “Eddie I know it was you, the guy Richie kissed. I saw the two of you at the party.”

Eddie drew in a sharp breath, head whipping in Ben’s direction. His eyes were wide and panicked and Ben felt a little bad for springing this upon him.

“I- what- Ben that’s- You don’t know what you saw, you were drunk.”

Ben shook his head. “I had nothing to drink that night.”

“You said you lost track of Richie, that you didn’t see him with anyone.”

“I lied, just like you did when you said you weren’t with him the whole night.”

“I-”

“Eddie.”

“Fuck.” Eddie muttered, his expression had dropped completely and Ben felt bad for his friend, he placed a warm hand on his arm. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

“It’s okay.”

“I thought- I figured that if no one saw then I wouldn’t have to say anything and I just could pretend nothing happened.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Ben said. “It’s not like I’m gonna tell, not if you don’t want me to.”

“You won’t?”

Ben shook his head, he wasn’t the best at keeping secrets so he could understand Eddie’s apprehension but he would make an inhuman effort not to spill this particular secret, it wasn’t his place.

Eddie sighed, relieved.

“I have to ask though, why won’t don’t you want to tell him?”

“I think you know why.”

“I don’t, not really. You know I’m not the most observant person.”

Eddie chuckled lightly before his expression turned serious again. “I’m not the mystery guy Richie wants.”

“According to who?”

“Himself. You heard him the day after the party when he thought Bev was suggesting that I was the guy. I don’t want to tell him it was me only for him to be disappointed.”

“I doubt he would be disappointed. Richie is always talking about how much he wants to kiss you.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “That’s just Richie being Richie. And knowing him he would only play it off as a joke or something.”

“And that’s not what the kiss was to you, is it?”

Eddie sighed, shaking his head without looking at Ben.

“I still think you should tell him.”

“I- What if he gets mad at me?”

“Look, Eddie, I won’t claim to know what goes on inside Richie Tozier’s head but I think that if he found out it was you who he kissed the only thing that would make him angry is the fact that he doesn’t remember it.”

Eddie snorted, but Ben was happy to see that some of the tension had left his shoulders and his expression was more relaxed. He even seemed to be considering it.

“I’ll think about it.” He said, just as the girl behind the counter called Ben’s name, his drink ready.

“You do that. And then you tell me all about it.” Ben said, winking at Eddie as they made their way back to the table.

Eddie didn’t lie to Ben, he did think about it but the more he did, the less he wanted to tell Richie. The thought alone made him feel terrified and whenever the chance presented itself when it was just the two of them, he would chicken out. The worst part was that he wanted to tell him, he was tired of sitting on this big ass secret (not just the kiss but the entire reason why it was such a big deal to him in the first place) and part of him wondered if Ben’s words had some truth to it. The other part was still convinced that Richie would be disappointed to find out Eddie was the mystery guy or in the worst case scenario, angry about it and that part was the one who usually won but today Eddie refused to let it win again. Today he would tell Richie and deal with the consequences or at least that’s what he had been telling himself for the past half an hour.

“Eds, you might want to open up a window, there’s steam coming out of your head.” Richie said, nudging Eddie’s leg with his foot. They were supposed to be doing homework in Eddie’s house, but Eddie hadn’t been able to focus on anything other than the fact that it was just the two of them in his room. “What’s got you so worked up?”

Eddie opened his mouth, ready to spew out some lie about just being a little distracted or homework being harder than usual but what came out was, “Do you remember your mystery guy?”

Richie frowned, clearly not expecting that to be brought up. They had banned the subject after two weeks of Richie talking about just that and whenever he tried to bring it up he would get several ‘Beep beep Richie’ in response and one or two objects were thrown at him. “Of course I do. I mean, I wish I could remember him but that bit it’s still a big chunk of nothing. Why?”

“I lied to you.”

“Eds, you’re giving me fucking whiplash with this random bit of information.”

“It’s not random, I- I lied to you about your mystery guy. I know who he is.”

Richie’s eyes widened comically and he gaped at Eddie like a fish. “You what?”

“I know who he is, I was with you the entire night, Bev was right.”

“But why- why didn’t you tell me?” Richie asked, genuinely confused. “Do you hate him? Do I hate him? Is he an asshole or something?”

Eddie shook his head, he refused to look at Richie, focusing on a loose thread on his comforter.

“Who is he?”

Eddie gulped, his throat felt dry and the words weighted heavily on his mouth, but he forced himself to speak, even if it was with a small, wavery voice. “Me.”

“Huh?”

“It’s me. The mystery guy. The one you made out with.” Eddie said, finally locking eyes with Richie. “It’s me.”

If Richie had been gaping before it was nothing compared to what he was doing now. He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly but no words came out, other than that his expression was unreadable and it made worry pool on Eddie’s stomach. That worry turned into dread when Richie burst out laughing.

“Nice one, Eds. You nearly got me there.” Richie said, laughing.

“What?”

“Who put you up to this? Was it Bev?”

“No one put me up to this, Richie what are you talking about?”

“You came up with this on your own then?”

Eddie groaned. “Fuck you, Richie, this isn’t a joke!” He said, angry and hurt, he had expected Richie’s mocking tone but not how it would make him feel.

“Oh my God, you’re fucking serious.”

“Yes you asshole, because unlike you not everything is a joke to me.”

“Woah woah Eds. This isn’t- it’s not a joke. I just thought- Forgive me for not buying the idea that I kissed you.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “Because you would never do it? Because the idea is just so ridiculous?”

“Yes! I mean, no! It is ridiculous but only because never in my wildest dreams I would’ve thought I would ever get to kiss you!”

Eddie’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline, “Oh.”

Richie snorted, his lips curling into a smile, “Yeah, oh.”

“So you’re not- disappointed?”

“Disappointed? Disappointed?!”

“Yeah, you know that it was me.” Eddie shrugged. “When Bev suggested it the other day, you just brushed it off.”

“Well, yeah because I didn’t even consider the idea that it could be you! Because good things like making out with Eddie Kaspbrak don’t happen to idiots like Richie Tozier.”

Eddie snorted. “Well, it did.”

“Apparently,” Richie said, then he frowned. “Shit, I can’t believe my most awaited dream came true and I can’t even remember it.”

“Most awaited dream?”

“Eds I’ve been dreaming about kissing you since we were in middle school.”

Eddie smiled, pleased with how everything was turning out. “You have, huh?”

“I’m not even embarrassed to say, that yes, I have. And now that I finally did I just forgot about it! Of course, that would happen to me.”

“Well,” Eddie said, smirking slightly at Richie. “You can always do it again.”

Richie grinned back at Eddie in an almost predatory way. “Are you asking me to kiss you, Eddie?”

Eddie pursed his lips in thought. “I’m offering to help you remember.”

“Well, I accept your help. Richie said and Eddie had the chance to smile at him before Richie leaned down and captured his lips in a sweet kiss.

The details of their first kiss were blurry in Eddie’s mind but the press of Richie’s mouth against his brought everything he felt that night back to the surface and he grabbed Richie’s face in his hand and pressed himself harder against him. They broke apart and Eddie was met with Richie’s dumb grin and the most adoring eyes staring back at him.

“Anything?” Eddie asked, moving his hands so that they rested on Richie’s chest.

“I think it’s coming back you know, but I might need a little more help to remember completely.” Richie said, failing to keep the smile off his face.

Eddie rolled his eyes, but leaned in, closer to Richie. “Always happy to help."

[xshadesofpurple]

"time passes slower without you"

five word prompts! nurseydex, also over on ao3!—

Nursey smiled, feeling the heat rise from the coffee mug sitting on the table in front of him, chin resting in the palm of his hand as he listened to the red-headed boy going off on a rant in the seat across from him at Annie’s—talking about some kid in his computer science class that had flaked on their group project.

If Nursey was being honest with himself he was probably doing a little more watching than listening—taking in the way Dex’s eyebrows were furrowed in frustration, how his amber eyes seemed to hold more of a spark whenever he was going off about something—green eyes watching as freckled hands danced across the table as Dex spoke.

Nursey would have never imagined himself being so damn fond of the way Dex looked when he was angry, but at some point things between them had fallen into place. After all that time they had spent fighting—hating each other when really the whole reason behind it was that they were both infuriated that they liked each other so much to begin with. Then there was that time after where they were just friends, which was somehow even more miserable than the fighting because not a second went by where Nursey didn’t want to just kiss him. Eventually he took the initiative and did it anyway—against his better judgment—and here they were over a year later, happy and good. Nursey wouldn’t trade it for the world.

“Nurse. Nursey,” Dex was saying as Nursey finally tuned back in, eyes shifting from where they had been focused on Dex’s lips over to those amber eyes that were suddenly much closer to his face as Dex tilted his head to get Nursey’s attention, waving a hand in front of his eyes, “What’re you fucking staring at? Are you even listening to me?”

Nursey let out a quiet huff of laughter, a slow smile spreading across his face, “Yeah, yeah. I’m listening. Chad is a fucking wreck of a partner. He sucks, I’m sorry,” Nursey answered, his smile softening as he looked at Dex under half-hooded eyes before adding, “And I was staring at you—how pretty you look when you’re mad,” he practically murmured.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Nurse, you’re too much,” Dex practically groaned as he rolled his eyes. But Nursey didn’t miss the way Dex slumped a little more in his chair, how that ever obvious blush immediately began to creep down his neck at the compliment, or how for a few minutes after that he wouldn’t quite meet Nursey’s eyes.

Dex could never take a compliment without turning bright red and telling Nursey to fuck off. Not only that, but whenever Dex slipped up and said anything cute he would always do it with a scowl on his face or an added smart remark—because that was Dex, and god forbid he wasn’t on the defense for one fucking second.

So, that was Dex and this was them. Nursey had learned this over time and now he found it endearing—because a lot of the time Dex would hide that embarrassment in the crook of Nursey’s neck, and despite telling him to shut up, he would also be kissing him a second later. Even when Dex was scowling or being a total ass, there was a certain way his eyes would soften that let Nursey know he really meant whatever nice thing he had said.

So Derek let him be embarrassed by his most recent compliment for a second before he reached over the table and gently squeezed Dex’s hand, “Okay, I’m listening. Chad is an ass. Continue.”

Dex managed a laugh at that, letting Nursey keep his hand where it was before continuing his rant, “Chad is going to get a fucking A because of me…”

***

It was a Friday night and Nursey was sitting in the damn library, his laptop open with a Word document up on the screen. He knew there was a party going on at the Haus right now but he had to finish a paper for his Women in American History class, because of course it was due before midnight on a Friday night and of course Nursey had put it off until the very last minute.

He checked the time on his laptop for what felt like the millionth time as he was finishing up his last few citations. 10:53pm. The night was still young, he could work with that.

He pulled his phone from his pocket, finally taking it off of silent to check his texts now that he was practically finished. The SMH group text had completely blown up—as it always did during a kegster—and while Nursey was quickly scrolling through it the words Dex and tequila had him raising his eyebrows.

That alone motivated him enough to set his phone on the table and quickly finish up his citations, doing the quickest read-over ever before submitting the assignment.

Not long after he was swinging his backpack over his shoulder and tucking his phone in his pocket as he headed out the door.

Nursey could hear the party before the Haus even came into sight—the bass thumping through the walls, the inevitable scattering of red cups across the front lawn as he got closer, the smell of booze and weed as he went through the front door.

A few steps into the crowded mess of bodies he stopped, clapping hands with two of the Frogs that walked by as he used his height to let green eyes scan over the crowd in search of that fiery red hair.

“NURSEY! You finally made it, oh my gosh.”

Derek heard him before he saw him coming, almost losing his balance when Chowder crashed into his side in a hug. He couldn’t help but laugh, slinging his arm around the other boy’s shoulders after ruffling his hair, “Hey Chow,” he grinned.

Chowder just huffed, pulling away in order to flatten his hair, as close to a frown on his face as Chowder ever really got. He hated when Nursey messed with his hair.

Nursey just laughed again, “Where’s Dex?” he asked, after giving the crowd another quick scan.

Chowder was immediately beaming again at the question, face red and eyes bright as he grinned, “Dex!” he practically laughed, “Oh man, I don’t know who decided to give him tequila but—last time I saw him he was dancing.”

Nursey’s eyes visibly widened, “What the fuck,” he said, dumbfounded. It wasn’t even a question, just a statement—because Dex was the kind of party-goer who would sip his drink on the sidelines, play a few games of beer pong, maybe get a little handsier with Derek than he normally would have in a public place but dancing—that was practically unheard of.

“Is he even alive at this point?” Nursey asked, only letting the slightest bit of panic seep into his voice.

“No, no. He’s alive. He’s fine. It’s not that bad. He’s just funny,” Chowder answered, placing a hand on Nursey’s shoulder, “Don’t worry! I’ll go find him for you!”

With that, Chowder disappeared into the sea of bodies before Nursey could even say another word. Although, he didn’t really need to, because it was a minute later that he felt hands slip around his waist and a ghost of breath on the back of his neck, “Heard you were lookin’ for me,” a voice said in his ear.

Nursey turned around to finally see that head of bright red hair he had been looking for and those shining amber eyes, glossed over from the amount of alcohol Dex had drank. His cheeks were a light shade of pink, both from the heat of the Haus and the alcohol, making his freckles stand out even more than usual. The smirk on his face was confident, but the way his body swayed before Nursey placed his hands on his hips gave him away.

“Ohhh man, you are so fucked, babe,” Nursey said under his breath, a smirk on his face as he gave Dex a quick once over, eventually coming back up to meet his eyes, “You even gonna remember this tomorrow?”

“Fuck you. I’m fine,” Dex insisted, attempting to roll his eyes, somewhat failing to succeed, and then just electing to rest his head on Nursey’s shoulder instead, “Tired,” he added, “But fine.”

Derek just laughed, moving his hands from Dex’s hips to wrap his arms around the other boy’s shoulders, “No more dancing then?” he asked with an added pout. “But I just got here.”

“Too bad. Ya snooze, ya lose,” Dex mumbled against his shoulder, “You were late. I texted you hours ago. And you were too busy being like, studious or some shit.”

“You’re telling me that just because I was being a good student that I missed my one opportunity to see William J. Poindexter shaking his thing?”

“Shut up Nurse. You weren’t being a good student. You left that paper to the last minute like you always do,” Dex responded, but all of his usual fight was gone from his voice and his eyes were now closed, head still comfortably resting on Nursey’s shoulder, “’M glad you’re here, though,” he added as an after thought.

Derek smiled at that, “Okay, c’mon. You’re going to bed. Or you’re gonna fall asleep in the middle of this party and you know there’s a fine in there somewhere for that,” he said, moving so that Dex was on his side, leaving one arm around his shoulder as he guided him towards the stairs.

“Wait—bed?! But, wait,” Dex mumbled, eyes flashing open as he let Nursey guide him through the house, “But I wanted to dance.”

Nursey laughed, stopping for a second and turning to give Dex a look. Amber eyes drilled into green ones for a second, before they almost immediately softened and a smile cracked across Dex’s face.

“No, no, I don’t. You’re right,” Dex said, breaking away from Nursey to make his own way to the stairs, “Don’t look so smug about it!” he added over his shoulder.

“I didn’t even say anything!” Derek laughed as he followed him, grabbing Dex’s shirt to stop him from running into someone as they went before heading up the stairs.

***

It felt like an eternity before they made it up to the attic—Dex having gotten distracted by two people on the way, deciding he had to take a piss after they had already passed the bathroom, and at one point almost falling down the stairs.

Once the door to their room was closed, Dex flopped face first down onto his bunk, letting out a groan of relief.

“I can guarantee you’re never gonna drink tequila again after tonight,” Nursey smiled, taking a seat on the bed next to Dex.

“No way, I love tequila,” Dex insisted, flipping over onto his back in order to grin up at him.

“You say that now,” Derek smirked, not being able to resist the opportunity to run his fingers through the ruffled mess of Dex’s hair, “Say it again tomorrow morning and I’ll believe you.”

“Mmm,” Dex hummed, closing his eyes at the feeling of Nursey’s hand in his hair, sitting up a moment later to wrap an arm around Nursey’s shoulders and press a soft kiss to his cheek.

Nursey bit back a smile, looking down at where his hands were folded in his lap before turning his head to look at Dex, their faces impossibly close but not quite touching, his smile not being able to hide itself in his eyes, “Who are you and what have you done with my boyfriend?” he said with a soft laugh.

Dex was quiet, letting those words wash over him and brows knitting together as something passed through those amber eyes that Derek couldn’t quite read.

“Nursey, I love you. You know that, right?” Dex finally said, voice much quieter now, losing the playfulness it had held earlier.

Nursey tilted his head to the side, eyes softening, “I know.” he smiled, bringing a hand to rest on the side of Dex’s jaw.

“But do you?” Dex asked quietly, gaze breaking away to look down at his lap, before adding, “I’m always such a dick about it. I’m sorry,” he paused, biting at his bottom lip, before moving his gaze up to the ceiling, “It’s like—I can’t say one thing without rolling my eyes or like, acting pissed or whatever, and it’s just—,” he paused again, longer this time. Nursey wasn’t sure he was even going to say anything else, but right when he was about to break the silence Dex’s gaze fell back onto his own, “But I love you. I swear. I hope you know that,” he finished.

Nursey smiled, running a thumb over Dex’s bottom lip before leaning in to let his lips take its place. He let them linger there for a moment, barely pulling away to rest their foreheads against one another before saying, “I know. I promise I know, okay?”

“Okay,” Dex swallowed and nodded, taking a moment to feel Nursey’s cool skin against his forehead before he let out another groan and fell back onto the bed, “Also, you’re like, really fucking hot Nurse,” Dex said, rambling now, that drunken look back in his eyes, “More than hot, actually. Beautiful is a better word for it. I don’t tell you that though. Because like, everybody tells you that. You could use some humility in your life.”

Derek laughed, rolling his eyes before swatting Dex with a pillow, “Okay. Bed. Sleep,” he insisted before standing up, “I’m gonna get you a glass of water and some ibuprofen so you don’t strangle me tomorrow morning.”

“I would never!” Dex said indignantly before burying his face in the pillow Nursey had tossed at him.

Nursey couldn’t even attempt to hide the little smile that was present on his face the whole time he was getting Dex a glass of water and getting himself ready for bed. By the time he had made it back to their room, he still hadn’t quite managed to wipe it off his face.

Dex looked like he was asleep when Nursey walked in, the only thing visible being a tuft of red hair poking out from under the sheets. As Nursey was setting the glass of water and the pills on the nightstand beside the bed Dex proved him wrong, peeking out from under the covers to whine, “Where did you go? That took forever.”

“I was getting ready for bed. Don’t be such a drama queen,” Nursey said as he sat down on the edge of the mattress, “Scoot over.”

Dex let out a sleepy sigh, looking at him from under droopy eyelids as he moved back towards the wall to make room for him, “’M not, it’s just—time passes slower without you.”

A grin spread over the entirety of Nursey’s face, “Damn, Will. Now you’re turning into the poetic one.”

Dex’s eyes flared up, his cheeks flushing pink, “Fuck you, Nurse! I’m going to sleep!” he said, grabbing the pillow beside him and throwing it at Nursey’s face.

Nursey laughed, catching the pillow before it hit him.

“There he is,” Derek smiled, squeezing himself into the bed beside Dex and draping an arm over his waist.

“I love you,” he added a minute later—and he couldn’t stop the affection from seeping into every word.