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The last time Lawrence had gone on a first date, he had been in college.
It had been perfect- Alison, neat and polished in a navy dress, him in a pressed suit. The restaurant had been one neither of them had been to before, but Alison had heard from a friend that it did the ‘best pasta in town’ and she had been desperate to try it.
This time, it was a restaurant he had been to several times before.
They were both dressed up more than usual- Lawrence had picked his nicest slacks, and a shirt Adam had complimented before. Adam on the other hand, was in a clean pair of jeans- new, Lawrence had just gotten them for his birthday, and a sweater that made his eyes stand out. He looked gorgeous- Lawrence couldn’t believe his life sometimes.
The waitress was a pleasant young woman, and she fawned over them for a moment before leaving them to deliberate their order. Lawrence didn’t need to, but he opened the menu anyway.
“It’s lovely in here, isn’t it?”
Adam nodded distractedly, looking at the people sat at the tables around them. “Looks fancy.”
His hand disappeared under the table again, and Lawrence frowned as he heard him scratch at his leg. A nervous habit, maybe.
“Are you alright?”
The man flushed slightly, stopping immediately and nodding. “Yeah, course.”
Lawrence watched as he picked up the menu, the way his expression tightened as it scanned over the items listed. It was on the fancier side- he had usually been here with work colleagues, but he thought the food was good.
Adam shifted in his seat, reaching up to tug at his collar, and Lawrence couldn’t stop himself.
“Something is wrong. What is it?”
Their eyes met, and he held his gaze until Adam sighed finally.
“I just- I wish I had nicer clothes.” Adam’s brow furrowed, and he seemed embarrassed to even admit it. Lawrence hadn’t noticed- he always thought Adam looked good. “I kind of stick out, y’know? It’s not really my… scene.”
And that, well. Lawrence hadn’t even stopped to think about whether Adam would want to go to a place like this. Adam wasn’t Alison, and Lawrence wasn’t the same man he had been back then. He suddenly felt very, very stupid.
Closing his menu, he smiled. “Do you want to get out of here?”
Adam blinked, surprise clear in the parting of his lips. “Lawrence, you made a reservation.”
“They can unreserve it.”
Lawrence watched the man war with himself- his clear discomfort going up the ridiculous need the man seemed to have to be good enough for Lawrence, or to be what he thought he wanted. He didn’t understand- Lawrence just wanted him.
Lawrence pushed his chair back, moving to stand. “I’ll go talk to the host, grab your coat and I’ll meet you at the car?”
Adam watched him. “Are you-”
“I’m sure.”
By the time he had spoken to the host- and tipped them handsomely for their trouble- Adam had already left, their table cleared. Lawrence stepped out into the frigid night air, and then started to walk over to the car. As it turned out, leaving Adam to his own devices had been a mistake, and he heard the man speak as soon as he opened the door.
“Lawrence, I’m sorry I ruined our-”
Lawrence sat in, his leg aching a little from the movement. “Adam, stop.”
“This was supposed to be our first date, and you went through all of that tr- mmph!”
His lips were warm, and Lawrence kissed him breathless before pulling back. “You didn’t want to be there.”
“It was perfect, I just- I’m not-” Adam made a frustrated noise. “I’m not that guy.”
Lawrence took his hand, smoothing a thumb over his knuckles before bringing them to his lips. Adam went the prettiest shade of rest, his eyes following the movement. “I know you’re not.”
He turned on the car, so that the fans could start to clear the fog from their talking. “It was an old-fashioned idea.”
Adam smiled softly, the slightest hint of teasingness to it. “Well, that makes sense then.”
Lawrence swatted at him. “What would you like to eat, then?”
The man thought about it, and when he spoke it was slightly embarrassed again- Lawrence hated it, the way that Adam saw the gap between them as something to be embarrassed over. “I kind of just want to go home now.”
“Yours?”
Adam always seemed to be shocked by Lawrence’s willingness, if not eagerness , to go to his apartment. Lawrence wasn’t shocked at all. Lawrence’s apartment, as new as it was, still didn’t feel like home, but there was Adam in every nook and cranny of that apartment. When they had both been out of the hospital, it had been an effort to fix it up, to undo the damage that had been done during Adam’s kidnapping, but it had been worth it just to see Adam’s excitement when the stray kitten he had been feeding returned again. Lawrence loved it there.
A familiar little tug of stress niggled at his brain, but Lawrence ignored it. He had never handled it well, when plans were changed suddenly, but it was something that he had gotten far more accustomed to in the aftermath of everything. Sometimes, one or both of them had worse pain days and plans had to be shuffled around. Sometime, Alison was busy and they had Diana on a day they weren’t expecting to have her. For once, Lawrence was rolling with the punches as best as he could.
Adam nodded. “Uh, yeah. Sure.”
“We could get takeout? That one place you like?” Lawrence tugged his phone out of his pocket. “I could call right now, and we could collect it.”
“You’re really fine with our first date being takeout on my shitty broken couch?”
Lawrence rolled his eyes. “Our first date could be sitting in this car for the rest of the night, and I would enjoy it.”
Red again, Adam scowled. It was a work in progress, getting him to accept affection as easily as he gave it sometimes. “Just drive the damn car, sap.”
Lawrence laughed, and put the car in gear.
–
Once Adam had finally jiggled the lock on his door open, Lawrence was glad to be in out of the cold. The warmth of the food in his hands was doing wonders to raise his body heat, and he brought it to the man’s kitchen counter. “Plates, or do you want to eat out of the containers?”
Adam was already shedding clothes as he made his way to the bedroom- Lawrence caught a glimpse of his back, and smiled. “Plates, please.”
Lawrence nodded, humming as he plated everything up. He snuck a couple of his spring rolls onto Adam’s plate, bulking his meal up a little more, and then brought it over to the table in front of the television. Feeling overdressed now, he removed his jacket and shirt, leaving him in a simple t-shirt and trousers.
Adam returned, dressed down significantly in shorts and a t-shirt, an old pair of Lawrence’s sweatpants in hand. “Here- I thought you wouldn’t want to get curry on your nice pants.”
Lawrence took them gratefully, and rolled his eyes as Adam watched him change instead of looking away. His trousers caught on his prosthetic, and he paused before just removing it entirely. Adam could grab his chair, if he needed it. “Thank you. I didn’t know what you wanted to drink, pick for us?”
He watched as Adam went over to his fridge, opening the door and leaning over. His face was illuminated by the light inside, and Lawrence’s heart skipped at the sight of it. Adam was gorgeous- whether sitting in a fancy restaurant, or standing in his own tiny kitchen.
“Beer okay? I drank the last of the orange juice this morning.”
“I can do beer.”
Adam cracked two open, crossing the room and setting them down next to their respective plates before sitting down and crossing a leg under himself. He didn’t notice Lawrence watching him until he had already lifted his plate onto his lap and taken a bite of noodles, his expression pinching with fond exasperation as he talked through his mouthful.
“What?”
Lawrence smiled. “I love you.”
Flushing darker, Adam swallowed before he spoke. “I look like I just rolled out of bed right now.”
“You look lovely.”
Adam pushed at his food with a fork again and Lawrence watched his foot flex under him. “You’re not too bad yourself, doc.”
The silence hung for a moment, and then Adam spoke again. “I love you too.”
Lawrence started to eat then, and Adam flicked through the channels on television until he came across one that was playing some old horror movie that was just a little bit too silly to be frightening. Lawrence had never been a fan of horror movies, not really, but it was perfect- Adam loved them, and Lawrence loved Adam.
“The practical effects look dated, sure, but they’re still so much better than when they try to add them in post production.” Adam huffed, punctuating his sentence with another bite of food. There was some sauce on his lip, and Lawrence loved him so much he could barely breathe from it.
“Mmhm.” He washed down his last bite with another mouthful of beer before setting the plate down on the table and sitting back. Adam was almost finished his too, and when he had finally pushed the plate away onto the table Lawrence gladly tugged him closer to curl against his chest. His hair smelled of smoke, and cheap shampoo, and Lawrence pressed his lips there happily.
“Not the worst first date ever.” Adam laughed at his own joke and then tilted his head back to watch Lawrence’s face. Lawrence smiled at the air-kiss the man gave him, not able to reach his face from the angle. He leaned down and kissed him properly then, humming appreciatively when Adam pushed up into it and climbed halfway onto his lap.
It had been a shock at first, how easy this had been. After everything they had gone through, from the bathroom to both of their respective gruelling healing processes, it had been almost unsettling how smoothly they had fallen into this even before they had put a name to it. Lawrence supposed that it made sense though- they had already made so much room for each other in their lives, it was the natural progression of things.
“I’m sorry about earlier.” He lifted the man’s hand again and kissed at it, smiling at Adam’s expression. Dazed, adoring. He couldn’t believe his luck at getting to have the man just like this. “I should have been thinking about what you wanted.”
“Oh, yeah- a fancy restaurant. You’re the worst boyfriend alive.” Adam shook his head and turned his hand over, cupping Lawrence’s cheek. “This was better, though.”
Lawrence couldn’t have agreed more. “I have a few ideas to improve it.”
Adam grinned then, promising. “Oh? Care to share?”
“It’s a bit more hands-on than that, I’m afraid.”
He felt Adam’s chest against his own as they kissed again, and his hand slid over his shoulder to drop to his hip. He could lose hours, days like this. He could spend the rest of his life here, tangled up with Adam, and he would die a happy man.
“Bedroom? The couch will kill your back.”
Lawrence hummed his agreement. “I’ll need my chair, if that’s alright.”
“No, I was actually just going to make you hop there.” Adam rolled his eyes and got up, giving Lawrence a great view of his waist, his lower stomach as he stretched. “I’ll grab it, we can worry about dishes tomorrow.”
He helped Lawrence to the bedroom, manoeuvring his chair easily and letting Lawrence get himself onto the bed before folding it carefully and putting it away again. “Need anything else?”
“Just you.”
Adam grinned and pulled his shirt off over his head as he approached the bed. “Well, you have me.”
Lawrence pulled him down by the hand, and any response he could have given was cut off by Adam’s lips on his own. Adam kissed him like he had a point to prove- like Lawrence hadn’t been a goner for him the second he had wheeled himself into that hospital room to find the man looking at him. His heart thumped erratically.
“I love you.” He breathed against Adam’s lips, smiling at the shudder it elicited and letting his hands wander over the man’s warm chest, the softness of his stomach from the past year of good eating. Adam was solid, and undeniably alive under his hands.
“I love you too.” Adam’s heartbeat was steady, and he kissed him again with a smile. “Now, you said something about improving the night?”
“I had a few ideas.” Lawrence grinned and then turned them over, pressing Adam into the mattress. “If you’re open to them.”
“ Wide open.” Adam laughed, and then pulled him down to slot their mouths together, hot and wet and eager. Lawrence went willingly, his head spinning a little from the thrill of simply having Adam to himself.
For a last first date, it was pretty damn perfect.