“Hello, Link,” he blurts out, unable to think particularly clearly with Link's beautiful, blushing facerightthere, and no veritable reason for either of them to still be lingering in each other’s spaces. No good reason… except for one.
“Hey,” Link replies, breathy and quiet, his green eyes darting from Ashton’s blues down to his mouth and then back, licking his own lips unconsciously in the process. “Ash, I—” Link cuts himself off as Ashton steps closer, leaving him to track the motion of his throat as Link swallows heavily, his eyes turning slightly glassy, the way they looked in the kitchen this morning.
Link rambles when he’s nervous. “I’m, uh, I’m not trying to make things weird. Or pressure you, or something,” he continues, and Ashton nods, tilting his head just slightly to the side, lifting his chin until his mouth and Link's are less than an inch apart. “I like you, and I respect you.”
“That’s good,” he replies, offering a small smile. “I’m very glad to hear it.” Ashton pauses and gives him a chance to disengage, but Link doesn’t move away. Notably, he doesn’t close the gap between them, either. “I’m a mess, Link. I’m—” He shakes his head, almost imperceptibly. “But I am happier today than I have been in a very long time. I’m happyhere.With you.”
Link sucks in a breath, one of his hands gingerly finding its way to Ashton’s waist, the other reaching up to touch his jaw. “Could be somethin’ seriously good here, Ash,” he murmurs, their bodies swaying magnetically closer until it feels as if every part of them is already kissing, save for their lips.
“I think so too,” Ashton agrees, his voice barely above a whisper, not that it needs to be.
“Been dying to do this since the night we met,” Link adds, right before leaning down to eliminate the final scrap of empty space between them and touch their lips together. It’s a soft, easy kiss. Sweet, cautious, and barely there, at first. Even still, Ashton’s eyes flutter closed, a soft sigh escaping his lungs as Link curls a hand around the back of his head and opens his mouth, just enough to turn this test of the waters into something very,veryreal.
Ashton’s entire body tingles and his belly feels like someone lit a fire inside of it as their lips move in sync. Link seems to be enjoying it as well, humming with satisfaction when he pulls away, opting to keep their foreheads pressed together as he composes himself.
“Damn,” Link says, eyes still closed. “No regrets here.”
“None at all.”
Leaning forward boldly, Ashton steals another chaste kiss before untangling himself from Link's arms and retrieving his t-shirt to pull it over his head. When he turns back, Link is looking at him like he hung the moon, and Ashton feelssowholly undeserving. What has he evendonefor Link, what has he ever given the man to deserve such attention, such affection in return? That thought bothers him so much that he ends up blurting it out.
“I just don’t understand why you’d be interested inme.I haven’t given you a reason to think that—that I’m a worthwhile venture. What I can offer, I’m not sure that I’m… useful. To you.”
Immediately, Link's expression shifts from lust-filled to bewildered, and Ashton scrubs a hand over his face in frustration, mostly at himself. He must not be explaining his concerns properly.
“I just mean—”
“Ash,” Link says, clearly in disbelief. “People shouldn’t want you around because of what you candofor them. You’re not like, a tool to me, you’re a person! I… like you, and I like you because you’re cool, you’re fun to talk to, great to text with in the middle of the night. We’ve got a shit-ton in common. You need more reasons? Alright, I got ’em.” Link holds up a hand and starts ticking off fingers. “You’re a bangin’ artist, you’ve got an ass that won’t quit, you get myBuffyjokes, and you’re a hell of a lot better to look at across the dinner table than Sam and her My Little Pony-ass hair.”
While Ashton fidgets uncertainly with his hands, Link steps forward and cups the side of his face, forcing Ashton to look him in the eye. “Stop trying to figure out what you owe me,” Link says, rather insistently. “Just hold my hand. Enjoy the ride.”
He pauses, and Ashton takes a moment (and a deep breath) before nodding. Hewantsto.God,does he want to. If he doesn’t know anything else, Ashton sure as hell knows that he wantsthis.
“Gonna kiss you now,” Link murmurs, and in response, Ashton grabs hold of his shoulder, pulling him in and kissing back, waves of relief and desire flooding through his veins as their mouths connect. There are several soft presses in quick succession where Link draws away in between, apparently giving Ashton every opportunity to back out if he changes his mind.
When he doesn’t, Link threads a strong arm around his waist, yanks him close, and uses the hand on his jaw to nudge it open so that he can sweep his tongue inside. Ashton can’t help it—he moans and wraps an arm around Link's neck in return, holding him close.
Enamored, he lets Link stumble them towards his work table, knocking a couple of chairs over in the process as he tries to find something solid for them to lean against. It’s wonderful, being in Link's arms this way, and Ashton thinks that he could probably do thisforever.
Despite that—or maybe because of it—something in the back of his mind urges him to stop.
He wants Link, but he wants tokeepLink, and a little voice inside his head is telling Ashton that he shouldslow downif that’s the case. Not because of Link, but because ofhim.If anything, his little outburst only moments prior is a great example—Ashton needs to figure out his own shit first. Anything less would be unfair to Link.
“Wait, wait,” Ashton gasps, exhaling roughly against Link's kiss-swollen lips. He struggles to resist, summoning everysingleounce of willpower that’s hiding in his body to keep him from diving back in, and it’s definitely touch-and-go for a moment. “I want… ” Ashton trails off, words failing him completely, but he thinks to motion in-between their chests with his fingers, nodding and just hoping beyond hope that Linkunderstands,because words aren’t exactly his friend and ally right now. “I do, Ireallydo. Please, believe me. I just need… ”
“You want to take things slow,” Link offers, one arm still wrapped around Ashton’s waist, his half-hard cock brushing Ashton’s thigh through the fabric of his pants. He doesn’t look remotely upset. On the contrary, he smiles, both with his mouth and his eyes, brushing a thumb over the curve of Ashton’s cheekbone.
“‘Course, sweetheart. We’ve got all the time in the world. Hey, you still want to get that drink?”
It’s as simple as that. Ashton set a boundary and Link accepted it, no questions asked. There is no drama, no fallout, no angst. No secret harboring of resentments, stashed away to weaponize when Ashton is least expecting it.
Out in the atrium, Sam has the TV on and three glasses of whiskey poured, though she seems genuinely surprised (but pleased) when the two of them actually make an appearance. They pass the rest of the evening sipping their drinks, talking, and laughing together. They take turns swapping stories and jokes, and when all three of them are several whiskies deep, Link sits on Ashton’s lap and plays with his hair.
It’s almost impossibly perfect.
Once they’re all yawning and bemoaning early appointments, no one so much as entertains the idea of Ashton driving home. After all, that’s what the Soul-arium’s spare rooms are there for. It would be strange if hedidleave at this point, plus he has an entire set of clean clothes waiting in the dryer. It’s merely the logical choice to stay.
After bidding goodnight to Sam, Link walks a warm and fuzzy Ashton to the door of his borrowed room, their hands intertwined, shoulders bumping as they wander the halls. He stops just outside the doorframe like a perfect gentleman, and Ashton likes himso much. Link is the epitome of respectful, and that’s wonderful, except—and this isnotthe booze talking, Ashton is…ninetypercent sure of that—heisstarting to wonder whether there might be a middle ground between ‘space’and ‘sex’.Equally, Ashton wonders whether he can trust himself to navigate that space safely for both of them.
