Together (2)

"Hello," Harris murmured, drawing back a little after the kiss and looking Joshua over. Once he'd confirmed that Joshua wasn't having another crisis of confidence he smiled. "Sorry it took so long. It was like everyone had a favor to ask. And I was getting ready."

Joshua looked Harris over, taking another moment to appreciate his outfit. He did look stunningly good in it.

Harris looked down self-consciously. "You said to dress casual."

Joshua smiled. "Yeah, I did." When he said it, he had been hoping for inconspicuous and maybe a little sloppy, but this was Harris he was dealing with. Harris could probably wear a bin bag and make it seem like a) it was designer and b) he was about to wear it to tea with the queen. Joshua patted Harris's chest. "You look fine, love. C'mon." He threaded his fingers through Harris's and tugged him toward the door.

"I don't suppose you want to tell me where we're going."

"Nope," Joshua said. "It's a surprise."

They emerged together onto the sidewalk. The sun was out, and while it wasn't a very warm day it wasn't too cold either- just the right temperature for walking, but Joshua had decided they ought to take a car. Harris had been given one made up to look like a taxi when he became a tailor. He had been vague about what he was meant to use it for, but Joshua could think of reasons. He could remember a few times when Harris had called a cab during the not-dating period they'd had before Harris became human. From what Joshua understood, a cab driver was likely to forget that Harris had even called them, so probably those cars had belonged to the tailors the whole time. And he knew cupids could just transport themselves from place to place, but maybe sometimes they needed their charges to share a cab for a meet-cute or to prolong a date or whatever. Knowing the driver took just one more variable out of the equation.

Joshua really loved Harris's cab, and during his off-hours Harris got to keep it and often let Joshua drive it. As they climbed inside and Joshua pulled out into the street he said, "So other than all your meetings going late, you having a good day?"

"Other than that, yes. A bit tedious, perhaps, but good."

"Why tedious?"

Harris hummed thoughtfully. "I've been learning to fake identification papers, like the ones they gave me after I became human. I've also been shoring up my own identity. I've gotten quite good at it, so if you ever want to embark on a life of crime…"

Joshua laughed. He thought about saying 'you mean re-embark on a life of crime,' but then decided against it. Harris didn't much like to think about the things Joshua had had to do before he got Dean out of his life; Joshua didn't much like to think about them either. He was just so happy right now, with Harris, and he didn't want to ruin the mood. "I'll keep that in mind," he said instead. The part that was sweet and a little bit scary was that Harris was joking, but Joshua also suspected that there wasn't much he could do that Harris wouldn't willingly follow him into.

"What about you?" Harris asked. "How has your day off been?"

"Good," Joshua said. "Didn't have much of a lie-in though, since I wanted to do some last minute prep."

"What for?"

"Never you mind," Joshua said, and laughed at Harris's put-upon expression.

He found a place to park not far from their destination, which was a genuine stroke of luck rather than the result of any prior planning. Of course, it could have been that someone upstairs- or even closer to earth- was looking out for them. Joshua had learned that such things were a lot more likely than he used to believe.

Harris stopped short when they reached their destination. "This is where we had lunch the day we met," he said.

"That's right."

"That was a year ago today, wasn't it?" When Joshua nodded, Harris looked down at his shoes. "I'm sorry I didn't remember, Joshua, I-"

"Hey," Joshua said immediately, bumping Harris's shoulder with his. "It's not a big deal, yeah? I remembered and I wanted to do something. It ain't all on you. I get to make romantic gestures too sometimes. You can have the anniversary of when we got together, okay? This one's mine."

Harris blinked at him for a second, looking like he couldn't decide whether to laugh or tear up. Finally, he smiled and said, "Yes, all right."

"Aces." Joshua held the door open for Harris.

With a laugh and the faintest of flushes, Harris went inside.

Just like the first time they were there, they ordered fish and chips. Joshua paid for it, which was new, but he found the way Harris ate his meal as adorable as he had the day they met. Harris had this delicate way of picking at his food that made him look out of place in a pub like this even when he wasn't wearing a perfectly tailored suit. The first time, Joshua had been reluctantly charmed. Now, looking across the table at Harris, he couldn't have been happier that they had managed to find each other, and he liked to believe what Harris had told him once, that they always would have.

"Got you this," Joshua said, pushing the present he had wrapped as neatly as he could across the table to Harris.

Harris chewed his bite of food, took a sip of his Guinness, and said, "You'll spoil me."

"That is hilarious coming from you," Joshua replied.

Harris snorted out a laugh and nodded, picking up the present. Harris was more careful taking the paper off than Joshua thought the job he had done with it warranted, but he decided not to say anything about it.

He did say, "It's really nothing," as Harris got the paper off and turned the gift over in his hands. "I didn't want to set the bar too high." It was a book, the same one Joshua had been buying the day they met. It had quickly become one of Eliza's favorites. "So she doesn't have a crying fit the next time she stays over." It was apparently baffling to Eliza that everyone didn't have the same book collection that she did at home, and Joshua figured Harris's bookshelf could do with a classic.

"I think it's perfect," Harris said quietly. He reached across the table and squeezed Joshua's hand.

Later, after they finished lunch, Joshua drove Harris back to the shop and walked him right up to the door.

"Lunch was lovely, Joshua, thank you," Harris said.

"See you tonight, yeah?"

"Of course." Harris gave him a little peck on the cheek and then hesitated, lingering close. "Can I-"

"Yeah," Joshua said, smiling. There were some people passing on the sidewalk, but none of them were paying much mind. "Yeah, go for it." It was a process, but today of all days Joshua was willing to push his boundaries a little. Harris kissed him, soft and gentle, and then drew back. "I figure if I can kiss you because some guy was eyeing you up, you can kiss me after our sort-of anniversary date."

Harris smiled and gave Joshua another quick kiss before fully processing what Joshua said. "Wait." He stopped, blinking. "Who was eyeing me up?"

Joshua laughed out loud.

~oOo~

Ever since the first time Joshua had spent the night with Harris, he had been bringing stuff to Harris's house and leaving it there. A toothbrush here, a change of clothes there, the odd infusion of children's toys or cooking equipment… he did most of it without thinking. It was only when Harris asked him to move in like it was some big thing, and Joshua thought 'why the fuss' that he properly realized that he a) hardly ever slept anywhere but in Harris's bed anymore, and b) there were bits of him in every corner of Harris's home already.

Joshua had found that he was right to think that it wasn't much of a thing at all when he said 'yes, of course, what do you think I been doing' and getting the rest of his things had only been the work of filling up a duffle bag. But he did sometimes see Harris's point in asking so gravely. He did sometimes go home to Harris's house, which he had loved from the first, and realize it was 'their' house and- maybe- get just a little bit silly.

Today wasn't one of those days though, not really. When Joshua made it home, he did take a moment to marvel at how much a year could change things. But it was only a moment; he had work to do.

By the time Harris got home, Joshua had dinner simmering on the stove, the table prepared for a nice candlelit meal, and he had showered- thoroughly- and changed into something nicer. The suit wasn't the shop's usual fare; the lines and cut were more modern than that. Harris had made it himself, just for Joshua, claiming that the blue of it really complemented his eyes and complexion. Joshua didn't think Harris was wrong about that, exactly- but every time he put it on and looked in the mirror he couldn't help but notice that the length of the jacket and the cut of the trousers really complemented his arse.

Joshua had just put an apron on over the suit and started to put the finishing touches on dinner when he heard Harris's key in the door, and a moment later Harris's footsteps on the floor- and a moment after that Harris's voice calling out, "Joshua?"

"In the kitchen," Joshua called back.

"That smells heavenly," Harris said as he stepped inside. His hands went around Joshua's waist and he kissed Joshua's neck and then, when Joshua turned, his lips. Joshua just sort of sank into Harris's kiss at first, but he didn't let himself get too involved, because Harris was distracting and Joshua had worked too hard on dinner to mess it up now.

"Go," Joshua said, smiling against Harris's mouth and pushing on his chest. "Get yourself cleaned up."

"Yes, sir." As Harris turned to obey, Joshua laughed and swatted him on the rear.

Harris wasn't gone long; he returned looking a bit fresher and wearing a suit colored to match Joshua's, which was just like him.

"Do I pass inspection?" he asked, holding out his arms and spinning around. When Joshua nodded gravely he closed the distance between them. "Then where was I?" He kissed Joshua until Joshua put his wooden spoon down and finally let himself give his whole attention to the kiss. Very much reinforcing Joshua's thoughts about the suit he had on, Harris's hands worked down his back and dropped to his arse, squeezing lightly. Then Harris lifted Joshua up entirely, sitting him on the counter to kiss him even more.

Joshua broke the kiss a little breathlessly, taking Harris's face in both hands. "Quit," he said. "I've spent a lot of time getting everything ready for dinner. I ain't letting you distract me now."

He just looked down at Harris from that angle for a moment and Harris looked back up, his expression beyond tender. "I adore you," Harris said quietly. He gave Joshua one more soft kiss. It was just sweet enough to make Joshua think that if Harris pressed him he would absolutely let Harris ravish him over the counter, all the time he had spent on dinner be damned. But Harris backed off, glancing around at everything Joshua had on the stove. "What can I help with?"

"You don't have to," Joshua said, jumping off the counter. "Go relax."

"I'm not letting you do all the work," Harris said. "It's your anniversary too, after all."

Joshua rolled his eyes. "Two things, Harris. One- intentionally or not you been sweeping me off my feet since I've known you and I wanna get mine back. Two- this isn't just our anniversary dinner."

Harris blinked. "What else is it?"

"It's your birthday dinner." Harris continued to look confused, so Joshua explained: "I really didn't want to go all out today. I just wanted to do something special for you, but then I ended up fussing about whether it'd be good enough, so I went to the shop early to keep myself from going overboard and hiring a skywriter or what have you. While I was there, Ait showed me this… thing he found. I don't know if the shop just always way overdid its records or if it was for a party or a present or whatever, but they had a note about your birthday. From back when you were human the first time. The date."

Harris was very quiet and still for a moment. "I'd never given much thought to my birthday," he said at last. "It must be on my identification papers and so forth- a false one at least- but I didn't think… I'd more or less forgotten I had one."

"I know," Joshua said, taking his hands. "And you never mentioned it so I didn't think much about it either, which I'm a bit mad at myself for since you made such a to-do about mine." The suit that Joshua was currently wearing, in point of fact, had been a birthday gift- and while he was sure that Harris enjoyed seeing him in it very much indeed, it wasn't precisely the same as getting a gift that was just his.

"There's no need for that," Harris murmured, his thumbs stroking over the backs of Joshua's fingers.

"Well." Joshua shrugged. "I still am."

Harris just looked down at their joined hands for a moment- and then he looked up again. "Are you telling me that we met on my birthday?"

Joshua laughed. "No, it was months ago, Harris. I just wanted to do something special, and to let you know that I'm not going to miss it again." He gave Harris a quick kiss. "So, happy birthday." He kissed Harris again. "I didn't get you anything else for it- except this dinner and me in this suit and all, but… I hope you enjoy it."

"Joshua," Harris murmured, his eyes warm as they traced across Joshua's face. "I doubt there is anything I would enjoy more."

Joshua wrapped his arms around Harris's neck and kissed him again. Dinner could wait a bit longer.