Chapter Text
“Biggest planet?”
“Jupiter.”
“Mm,” Iwaizumi hummed, watching Oikawa physically start to relax. “Closest planet to the sun with a moon?”
“Earth. These aren’t even hard questions.” Oikawa chastised, a small smile growing on his face.
Throughout the numerous months of dating, Iwaizumi learned that even though his boyfriend is an extremely smart man, he stresses way too much. Iwaizumi enjoyed watching Oikawa do his homework and even helped him study from time to time when he proved useful.
One night, trying to crack a joke, Iwaizumi said something dealing with space. Oikawa didn’t find it funny, but the wrinkles in the middle of his forehead weren’t as prominent. So ever since then, when he judged that Oikawa was drowning in stress, he started asking questions about his favorite hobby.
“Well, I’m not as smart as you when it comes to planets, Space camp.”
Oikawa made a noise that sounded like a grunt. “I could just be lying. You wouldn’t even know.”
“Actually, I would. You’d never lie about shit like this.” When Oikawa didn’t answer, Iwaizumi continued. “C’mon, lighten up.”
“I can’t just lighten up. Midterms are literally so close.”
“Yeah, I know, but you’re the smartest person in all of your classes!”
Oikawa raised his eyes from his book, narrowing them at Iwaizumi. “Well I won’t be if I don’t study.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Oikawa watched Iwaizumi get up and stretch. His cast was long gone now, and along with it, a dark cloud that had seemed to be floating over him for far too long. Oikawa never commented on it, but he could tell there was something different with his boyfriend.
Iwaizumi refused any help from Oikawa when it came to his inability to walk properly. The most he let the brunette do for him was get his ice cream on movie nights or let him open the door for him, saying that “chivalry isn't dead.”
Oikawa always had these thoughts on his mind, but seeing how much lighter, happier and full of life Iwaizumi seemed to be lately, he couldn’t bring himself to disrupt his happiness with countless questions. Just seeing his boyfriend happy was enough for him.
“Hey Oikawa?” Iwaizumi turned, looking at Oikawa over his shoulder. The pianists bulk had gone down significantly since they’d met, but since he ditched the cast, his body slowly started to get some of that firmness back, and his skin began to hold that sun kissed color again.
“What?”
“How come you haven’t tried to fuck me yet?”
Speechless, Oikawa ripped his eyes away from his books, mouth agape, eyes wide, staring straight at his partner.
If he could see himself, he was sure he looked like a fish.
What the fuck…?
Iwaizumi had a playful grin on his face, with a hint of mischief in his eye.
Damn did he look good.
“Wha-what did you…? Where’s this even coming from?”
Iwaizumi shrugged, turning around, one arm behind his back. “I don’t know, I was just wondering, ‘cause we’ve been dating for what feels like forever-”
“It has not been forever-”
“And I was just starting to think that, maybe you thought I was ugly or something.”
“Get the fuck outta here!” Oikawa almost yelled. “You’re the one who said we should probably take it slow!”
“Well yeah, but Kuroo said-”
“Kuroo?! That’s it. Yours and Kuroo’s, whatever the fuck it is, is officially over.”
Laughing, Iwaizumi slowly shut Oikawa’s book. “Oh no. Kuroo and I are together forever now. If it’s anyone’s fault that this happened, it’s kinda yours.”
Iwaizumi wasn’t wrong, and Oikawa couldn’t be happier about how well they got along, but now he was starting to think that they got along too well.
Oikawa wanted to protest about the florist taking his books away, but he kept quiet, opting to ask, “What did Kuroo say?”
“Oh, so now you wanna know?” Iwaizumi smirked.
“Just tell me, Iwa-chan~”
“I don’t know~” Iwaizumi half sang. “You just told me to break up with him.”
“Oh, so now you’re dating?” Oikawa turned in his chair, “who’s the cheater now?”
The air was light with the banter between the two. Oikawa couldn’t help but admire the man he thoroughly enjoyed, walk away from him, over to the couch.
Thinking back on when he’d met Iwaizumi, he’d been so angry with the fact that he couldn’t bag this guy. Oikawa had never had problems when it came to getting what he wanted (which was probably why his head grew a little bigger than he’d like to admit; so he refused to admit it, at least out loud).
Somehow, being the most frustrated he’d ever been, led Oikawa to being happier than he ever thought he could possibly be.
“C’mon, let’s play some Mario Kart,” Iwaizumi called over, turning the Gamecube on and settling on the couch with his electric green controller.
“No Mario Party today?” Oikawa asked, not so reluctantly forgetting about studying for the time being to play with his boyfriend.
Boyfriend.
Oikawa will never get tired of that.
Handing Oikawa his deep blue controller as he sat next to him, Iwaizumi shook his head. “Naw, I’m in a racing type of mood.”
Oikawa didn’t want to sound crazy, but ever since he talked to Kuroo, asking him how he knew he loved Tsukishima, he couldn’t stop thinking about it.
They’d been together for almost a year now (well Oikawa had been super into Iwaizumi for about a year, and who cares about small details like that) and Oikawa couldn’t think of anything but Iwaizumi.
He worried about him when he wasn’t around, wondered what he was doing, thought about what he could do to surprise him; whether that be dinner or a spontaneous trip to a winery or anything fun.
Oikawa’s life had been taken over by Iwaizumi Hajime. The faint smell of flowers always lingering on him, the piercing emerald eyes that seemed to look directly through him, the soft demeanor he had when no one was around and the way he could control a room with the movement of only his fingers.
Some people say they weren’t whole until they found their significant other, but the brunette dares to disagree. He was a whole person, his own entity before the pianist. But now that he had him in his life, Oikawa was so much more than he used to be.
He reached out more. Once a man who only needed two people in his life to survive, now he found himself purposely reaching out to Yamaguchi, Yachi and Tendou. He might not need them, but he found out that he sure as hell wanted them around.
Iwaizumi had this aura about him that infected Oikawa, and he slowly grew addicted to it.
“Probably when I’d rather do nothing with him, rather than do nothing alone. When I realized how much I thought about him, how much I wanted to hold his hand all the time and never let anyone take my place. He’s my person, ya know?”
Kuroo’s words played over and over in Oikawa’s head like a broken record.
His person.
Oikawa felt hot, his pulse beating in his ears. Iwaizumi was his person. Iwaizumi was the one that he wanted to do nothing and everything with. Iwaizumi was the one he wanted to curl up with in bed, with the smell of flowers in the air, late at night.
Iwaizumi was it.
Iwaizumi was Oikawa’s.
Oikawa was Iwaizumi’s.
Iwaizumi was his person.
Iwaizumi was the one.
The only thing left to do was tell him. But what if he’d be creeped out? What if it was too soon? What if he didn’t feel the same?
No, no, Oikawa was confident in this. Confident in them and their relationship. Even if Iwaizumi didn’t feel the same way, he’d accept Oikawa’s feelings.
He should probably be scared, terrified. But the only thing he could think of was how much he wanted to tell this man how he felt.
“Earth to Space camp! You gonna play with me or what?” Iwaizumi jolted Oikawa out of his deep, heart throbbing thoughts.
His eyes were focused on Oikawa, a questioning hint to them. That only made Oikawa’s face heat up more. He darted his eyes around; to the screen, piano, the windows, the kitchen, the screen again and finally back to that heavy gaze.
“Uhhm Iwa-chan—” Oikawa tried to swallow and it burned , but he tried to breathe past the lump—“You’re my person,” he whispered, but as he said those words, the lump went with it, so he tried again, louder, more sure of himself. “You’re my person!”
Iwaizumi’s face was blank, the curiosity in his eyes shining brighter than before. A gust of wind blew through the open windows, hitting Oikawa’s face with what felt like ice and the heavy scent of flowers.
Oikawa held his breath as he watched Iwaizumi turn his head towards the TV, a look of understanding washing over him. He looked back at Oikawa with a wide, toothy grin. “I can change characters if you want. I didn’t realize you always used Luigi.”
Still holding his breath, Oikawa followed Iwaizumi’s gaze towards the television. On the screen he watched as the pianist switched characters from Luigi to Diddy Kong. Letting the oxygen leave his lungs, Oikawa bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.
What a fucking idiot.
Oikawa wasn’t sure if he meant himself or Iwaizumi. Either way, this was what he got for taking advice from that dumbass, hopeless romantic Kuroo.
What would he even know in the first place? It still amazed Oikawa to this day that Tsukishima and him were together.
“That’s not what I meant…” Oikawa sighed quietly, turning back to the TV and selecting Luigi as his character.
“Hey, it’s Kuroo! The one and—”
Oikawa groaned, dialing Tsukishima’s number for the hundredth time, since Kuroo also didn’t know how to answer his one hundred phone calls from Oikawa.
Calling them was honestly kind of pointless, because he was stomping his salty ass to their apartment while he called.
He just couldn’t help it though. He needed to talk to them as soon as possible. Whether to scream, cry or just sit in silence with their company; he wasn’t entirely sure yet, but he’d figure it out once he got there.
Finally making it up the stairs to their apartment (honestly why were there so many stairs? Didn’t they realize he was in a hurry?) he dug in his pocket for the key, and without missing a beat, swung the door open.
“Tetsu, where the fuck are my glasses?”
“If you wore your contacts, this wouldn’t happen!” Kuroo answered, with his ass up in the air, the rest of him hidden under the couch.
“More like if you didn’t throw my glasses off my face everytime you wanted to make out-”
“They get in the way! And you always complain about how I smudge them up!”
Tsukishima was down the hall—probably contemplating jumping out the nearest window—when he grunted, apparently done with his life and not being able to see.
Oikawa wasn’t in the mood for this, so he kicked his shoes off, walking over to take a seat on Kuroo’s ass.
“Oooh, babe. Ready for round two?” Kuroo wiggled his ass (Oikawa’s new seat).
Squaring his shoulders, he wound up his arm as high as it’d go and smacked Kuroo’s ass hard enough to leave a mark for two days.
“What the fuck?!” Kuroo bellowed, throwing Oikawa off of him, coming out from under the couch. When he saw the brunette, his face melted into a mixture of surprise and anger. “What the actual fuck?!”
“I know you like it rough,” Oikawa shrugged, picking himself off the floor. “Just thought I’d help you out.”
“If you’re gonna be a dick, could you atleast help find Tsukki’s glasses while you’re at it?”
“Is that Tooru?” Tsukishima called.
“No, it’s someone who you refuse to answer the phone for when they’re suffering,” the brunette whined, throwing himself over the back of the couch, looking down the hall.
Gracefully fumbling towards the living room, Tsukishima looked around with squinted eyes. “As you can tell, I can’t fucking see. So how the fuck would I answer your call?”
“Do you even care about me?”
“Tooru, help us find these damn eye helpers and then we’ll talk.”
“Really, Tetsu-kun, eye helpers?” Oikawa scoffed, slowly sliding off the couch.
“If one of you doesn’t find my glasses, I swear to fucking fuck I’ll end both of your lives.”
Fear filling both Oikawa and Kuroo’s eyes, they both silently agreed.
Oikawa had a hunch where the glasses were already, he was just too immensely wounded to care. He figured they’d be in the same exact spot they always were when Kuroo flung them off of Tsukishima’s face.
This same fiasco had happened about four times since they’d moved into this apartment together. Tsukishima would be cooking dinner for them in the kitchen, Kuroo would spot him, telling his boyfriend how ‘spicy, dicey and delicious’ he looked (he seriously said those exact words, Oikawa had been there one too many times to hear it) and start attacking his face.
All four times this had happened, Tsukishima’s food always ended up cold (which would mean they were ordering pizza later) and his glasses were always , always, in the sink.
How Kuroo managed to do that—and how these two haven’t connected those dots yet—blew Oikawa’s mind.
Sighing, he walked into the kitchen, seeing the now cold dinner, and (drum roll please) Tsukishima Kei’s eye helpers.
“Found them~” Oikawa half sung, walking out of the kitchen to give them to the blonde. “And they were exactly where they always are.”
“They are not always there!” Kuroo argued, watching Tsukishima’s glare come back into focus at him. “I mean, I already checked the sink anyways…”
“Why the hell would they be in the bathroom sink, Tetsu?”
Oikawa laughed at Kuroo’s loss of words. He honestly was the dumbest smart person he knew.
“Whatever…” Kuroo mumbled, shuffling over to the couch in defeat. Redirecting his attention back to Oikawa, he asked, “so why’re you suffering?”
Moving back over to the couch with Tsukishima in tow, he threw himself down, laying his face in Kuroo’s lap. “I tol Iwah-an hat I muve him ahn he dn’t relze.”
“You told Iwaizumi that you loved him and he didn’t realize?” Tsukishima echoed—sitting on the other side of Oikawa—in a much clearer form.
He nodded viciously into Kuroo’s lap.
“Well,” the blonde continued, “how exactly did you tell him, for him to not understand?”
Moving his face to the side, Oikawa retorted, “I just did what Tetsu-kun told me to do.”
“You took dating advice from Tetsu?”
“Hey!” Kuroo chirped, “I never gave you dating advice. But if I did, you’d be balls deep instead of crying on the couch.”
Rolling his eyes, Oikawa sat up, shooting Kuroo a venomous look. “I asked you when you knew you loved Tsukki-kun and you said a bunch of sappy shit and then said he’s your person.”
“It wasn’t sappy—”
“So I’d been thinking about it for awhile and I realized Iwa-chan is my person. So I wanted to tell him.”
“I can’t believe you took dating advice from Tetsu,” Tsukishima said, looking surprised? Or maybe insulted? “You would’ve been better off asking me.”
“ Anyways,” Oikawa spat, “We were playing Mario Kart and I told him and-”
“Wait a second,” Tsukishima interrupted, “how did you say it?”
Both their eyes were on him, as he began fidgeting with his fingers. “Well, I, uh, told him he was my person. And he thought I meant the character in the game and I didn’t have the balls to admit to him that it wasn’t what I meant and now here I am.”
They sat in silence for a minute, processing what Oikawa had said. Until Kuroo bursted out laughing. “You told him he was your person? Hah, what kinda shit is that?”
“I asked you how you knew with Tsukki-kun and I just went with it!”
Kuroo tried to respond in between laughs. “Yeah, but—hah—I didn’t tell him—ah—that he was my person!”
The red that grew on Oikawa’s face rivaled a stop sign. “Well how did you do it?!”
Tsukishima sighed, answering for his boyfriend since he wouldn’t be talking coherently anytime soon. “Basically, he laid naked in bed and wrote it out in ripped up toilet paper that he scattered all over the floor.”
Now Oikawa couldn’t keep his shit together, laughing so hard that no noise came out.
“Only ‘cause I didn’t have time to get any strawberries!”
Tsukishima’s nose scrunched up in disgust. “Why would you get strawberries?”
“Because I love you and I know how much you love strawberries!” Kuroo declared, putting both hands over his heart as if he were in a play. “But you were gonna be home soon and I needed to make myself look extra good,” he winked.
“You looked exactly the same as you always do,” Tsukishima deadpanned, throwing his legs over Oikawa and grabbing the remote.
Maybe if Oikawa was a huge idiot like Kuroo, he wouldn’t have had a problem professing his obnoxious amount of love for Iwaizumi.
Sadly (but probably for the best) he wasn’t an idiot.
Or Kuroo Tetsurou.
Watching Tsukishima flip through channels, Oikawa tried to relax into the couch. “I think you guys are missing the point here,” he said, as both heads turned back towards him. “What the fuck am I gonna do about this?”
“Well, since you asked your favorite friend how to go about this in the first place, maybe you should ask him how to get out of it,” Tsukishima glared.
So that surprise that Oikawa sensed wasn’t surprise or annoyance at all. It was jealousy.
“Are you actually jealous right now?”
Oh man, if looks could kill, Tsukishima would be a serial killer. “I’m not jealous. I’m just saying, you let him get you into this mess. This absolutely wouldn’t have happened if you just asked me.”
Oikawa and Kuroo looked at each other, an identical smile growing ever larger on their faces.
“Tsukki, are you jealous of me and Tooru?” Kuroo asked in that obnoxious tone that told Tsukishima it wasn’t much of a question, but rather the beginnings of some form of taunt.
“I think our burning passion makes him feel some type of way,” Oikawa continued, leaning onto Kuroo and twisting his legs into Tsukishima’s.
The embarrassment Oikawa felt from his own failures with Iwaizumi earlier slowly melted into the back of his mind, if only for a minute.
Tsukishima rolled his eyes so far in the back of his head, he could probably see his brain. “You guys aren’t gonna stop until I give some actual advice huh?”
Devilish smiles and Kuroo’s arm falling around Oikawa’s shoulders was the only answer the two offered.
Sighing, Tsukishima ditched the remote back on the table, re-adjusting his long, model-like legs in Oikawa’s. “Just tell him again. But actually tell him. None of this—whatever you’re trying right now—bullshit.”
“But how~” Oikawa whined. “I kinda freaked when I tried to tell him earlier.”
“Do you want him to know how you feel?” Tsukishima asked.
There was nothing Oikawa wanted more. The way he felt in Iwaizumi’s apartment when he knew that he had to tell the pianist—whether he felt the same way or not—was overwhelming. Iwaizumi had become a part of Oikawa, the best parts of him at that.
Oikawa nodded.
“Then just tell him,” the blonde instructed. “Tell him up-front, so there’s no possible way that he could misinterpret anything again.”
“Is that how you told Tetsu-kun?”
Kuroo laughed in Oikawa’s ear. “I guess you could say that. When he saw my amazing display of love and affection, all he said was ‘I can’t believe I’m in love with an idiot like you.’”
“Guess you can’t get more straightforward than that, huh?” Oikawa smiled, wiggling his toes against the blondes legs, making him smile, if only a little. “Thanks guys. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Tsukishima moved his feet against Oikawa’s legs, letting him know that he was an idiot, but one that he loved.
“Would you like an alphabetical list or a chronological one?” Kuroo asked, ruffling the brunettes hair. “But if you want, I can help you setup the perfect ‘I love you’ message at his place with you. And don’t worry”—Kuroo waved his hand—“we won’t use toilet paper. I don’t want you to copy me.”
Opening the door to the flower shop, Oikawa was hit with a strong smell of lavender.
The shop was decorated as brightly as always, different colors of the rainbow lining the door in that archway shape.
Just like the first time he came here, Oikawa felt like he was walking down the aisle to Iwaizumi, who was waiting at the counter with a wide grin.
“Hey, Space camp.”
The way Iwaizumi looked when he was surrounded by flowers like that, always seemed to steal the oxygen away from Oikawa.
He loved it.
“Hey, Iwa-chan. Almost done?”
“Mm, just about,” Iwaizumi nodded.
“Not until you wait on me,” Oikawa smiled, leaning over the counter so close to Iwaizumi, he could almost kiss him.
“How can I help you?”
Iwaizumi knew damn well that everytime Oikawa came to pick him up that the bartender was going to buy whatever flowers Iwaizumi recommended. He knew that, but he loved playing the part of some hot sales guy when Oikawa came in.
He hadn’t always acted this way, but ever since he got rid of the crutches, Iwaizumi had come out of shell; just like how Oikawa came out of his.
“Mhmm, you know, I’m thinking of buying some tulips. Whaddya think?”
The florist put his hand up to his chin, as if in deep thought, then smiled. “Those are actually my favorite flowers. I highly recommend them.”
Oikawa smirked. “Perfect! I’ll take a half-dozen.”
“Great taste.” Iwaizumi said as he went to gather the bouquet. Oikawa watched as he cut the stems and rolled them in paper so delicately.
It was enticing.
When he finished, he came back to the counter with six brightly colored, yellow tulips.
Reaching for his wallet, Oikawa asked, “How much do I owe you?”
“They’re on the house,” Iwaizumi winked. “For our most loyal customer.”
The bartender smiled as he was handed the flowers. They were beautiful, just like the man who prepared them.
Iwaizumi tossed the cut pieces of the stems in the garbage, looking around once more to make sure he didn’t miss anything. Coming out from behind the counter, he called over to his boss to make sure he was alright to leave, and when she said yes, the two of them were out of the door.
“How was your day?”
“Nothing special,” Iwaizumi answered, intertwining their fingers. “Well, I did have this guy come in and ask for six dozen bouquets.”
Squeezing his hand in his, Oikawa smiled to himself. “Six dozen? Isn’t that an obnoxious amount?”
“Well yeah, and they were all different types of flowers. As I was prepping them, he told me his whole life story. Turns out he was buying the flowers to win his girlfriend back.”
“Sounds like he really fucked up.”
Laughing, Iwaizumi nodded. “Apparently he made the worst impression on her parents. Guess her mom saw him naked before he could even say hello and then almost hit her dad with a car. And he said it only got worse from there.”
The thought of embarrassing yourself so drastically before you even got two words out is probably the worst outcome when meeting the parents. An odd feeling overcame Oikawa, realizing he’ll never have the chance to ruin his first encounter with his boyfriends parents.
Did Iwaizumi think about how embarrassing he could be when he met his parents?
“Do you work tonight?” Iwaizumi turned to look at Oikawa.
Sighing, Oikawa nodded.
It was annoying that Iwaizumi’s job was during the day, while his was at night. To top it off, when he wasn’t working, he was usually drowning in school work. This little time between their two jobs was the most serene.
“That’s alright,” the florist could probably sense the annoyance in his boyfriend. “We can go back to my place for a while, and then I’ll visit you at work. Maybe Tsukishima, Kuroo and Suga will even come with!”
Iwaizumi’s ideas always made Oikawa smile. He was so thoughtful, knowing just what to say.
“I’d like that.”
The rest of their walk back to Iwaizumi’s apartment was filled with the sound of birds chirping, the sun shining and conversation about more odd customers and interesting things Oikawa had learned in class earlier that day.
Once they made it up to the door, Iwaizumi unlocked his door, letting Oikawa in first, following behind him.
“Where do you want these ones?” Oikawa asked.
The piano was still decorated with the roses from the first time he’d ever been there, and they were still just as beautiful, laying over it as if they belonged there.
Humming, Iwaizumi took them from the bartender, looking around his apartment for their new home. “Do you know why tulips are my favorite?”
Thinking back, he knew that they were his favorites, just not why. He shook his head no.
Iwaizumi had a shine to his eyes as he wrapped his arm around Oikawa’s waist, pulling him into a kiss.
The scent of flowers filled Oikawa’s senses all at once, as if vines were wrapping around his limbs, tangling Iwaizumi and himself together. Iwaizumi tasted like coffee, mischief and eagerness. As if he’d been waiting all damn day to have his way with Oikawa.
Without a second thought, Oikawa wrapped his arms around Iwaizumi’s shoulders, running his hands down his back, pushing into the kiss.
Iwaizumi hummed, pulling Oikawa flesh against himself.
Running his hands up Iwaizumi’s spine, Oikawa could feel the definition of boyfriend’s bones. The muscle mass he once had seemed to have evaporated off of him, but he wasn’t skin and bone. If Oikawa had to guess, he was probably a tad bit smaller than the brunette himself right now.
Pulling apart, Iwaizumi beamed up at Oikawa. “I missed you.”
“I always miss you,” Oikawa kissed him again. “Now, tell me why these are your favorite.”
Pulling the flowers up to his face, he inhaled their aroma, a soft, content look falling onto his face. Looking around the apartment, his eyes locked on the piano. Oikawa watched as he placed the yellow tulips onto the dried up roses. The bright yellow offset the deep red beautifully.
Turning his head back, he asked, “How do they look?”
“Beautiful,” Oikawa didn’t even have to think about it. “Almost as if you do this for a living or something.”
Iwaizumi smirked, moving over to the couch, gesturing for Oikawa to follow. The pianist sat down first, leaving room on the right side of him for the bartender. Oikawa gladly took his place on the couch, tossing his legs over Iwaizumi’s lap, sitting perpendicular to him.
“Kiss me again,” Iwaizumi breathed, running his fingers up Oikawa’s neck, rubbing his cheek with his thumb.
Not needing to be asked twice, Oikawa leaned in, softly kissing his boyfriend again and again. Iwaizumi was a drug and Oikawa had become obnoxiously addicted.
They stayed like that for what seemed like infinity. Just the two of them, soft, quiet kisses between them. The sound of leaves ruffling outside in the wind and the smell of flowers intoxicating their senses.
Only when it was the two of them, did Iwaizumi get this softness about him; melting into Oikawa the same way that Oikawa melted into him. Of course the two of them weren’t always alone together, but seeing the way Iwaizumi was like this, made the brunette want to be selfish and keep to themselves for as long as possible.
“Tulips are the first flowers to bloom in the spring,” Iwaizumi told him, pulling out of the kiss but keeping his hand gingerly on Oikawa’s neck. “The overall meaning of them is rebirth, and I think that it’s beautiful.”
Oikawa hummed, letting the other man know that he was listening as he became lost in those emerald eyes.
“And like I told you before, different colors mean different things.”
Thinking back to their first date, Oikawa remembered how Iwaizumi told him that the purple tulips stood for royalty. As in, the ruler of the heart. He was embarrassed then, but looking back, it was a pleasant accident.
“You know what the purple ones mean already,” he winked, almost as if he read Oikawa’s mind. “There’s white ones, which mean forgiveness. Pink, which are happiness. Yellow is for cheerful thoughts.”
His gaze was pulled over to the piano, admiring the yellow tulips they just brought home. The tulips that Iwaizumi had picked himself.
Locking eyes with the pianist again, Oikawa couldn’t help but smile. “Is that why you picked the yellow tulips earlier? Do I give you cheerful thoughts?”
He might’ve sounded a tad bit cocky, but it was quite the opposite. The thought of him making Iwaizumi cheerful, and think like that, made him beyond ecstatic.
“Orange is meant for understanding in a relationship, either physically or emotionally,” he continued, ignoring Oikawa’s question. “And finally red, stands for perfect love.”
Oikawa didn’t know what to say. He never knew that flowers could mean anything other than just being something nice to look at.
No matter what it was, Iwaizumi knew how to leave Oikawa speechless.
Instead of saying anything, he just pulled his boyfriend closer, kissing him again.
“Don’t forget about the concert in—”
“Three weeks?” Iwaizumi interrupts. “How could I forget? You know how excited I am?”
Of course Oikawa knew.
Humming, he asked, “how’s your piece coming along?”
“Mm, I’m about half way done, maybe.”
“Maybe?” Oikawa cocked his head. “You’ve been working on that thing all year. Well actually, a lot longer than that.”
Iwaizumi kissed Oikawa’s hand. “Well, you know what they say. No one built an empire in a day.”
Scrunching his features, Oikawa smirked. “I don’t think that saying applies here.”
“Tomato, potato, same thing.”
“That’s it. You and Tetsu-kun are officially over,” Oikawa laughed. “I’m forbidding you from seeing each other anymore.”
“Wait, what’d I do?”
“That’s exactly what Tetsu-kun says, and it’s not even the right saying. You guys are a mess,” Oikawa stood.
“Oh no no no,” Iwaizumi grabbed his arm, pulling him back on the couch, “you’re not leaving me. Especially after you demand I never see my mistress ever again.”
Oikawa couldn’t believe he went through his life until now thinking that he was okay with the way things were. How many people did he hurt in the process? How many times could he have actually been happy if he tried?
None of them would’ve amounted to Iwaizumi Hajime, but if he tried with them the way he tried with Iwaizumi, he might not have been such a grinch towards others for so long.
Letting himself get pulled back down, he fell onto Iwaizumi’s lap this time. “I have to get ready for work~”
“But you look so beautiful right now. I just can’t help myself.”
The pianist acted like Oikawa wanted to go to work instead of stay in his boyfriends lap and get peppered with kisses.
He wasn’t making it easy to get up. Nor was he being fair.
Twisting in his lap, Oikawa kissed his boyfriend again. “I always look beautiful, thank you very much.” Iwaizumi raised his eyebrow, as if he was testing the brunette’s statement. “Anyways, if you play some of your piece for me while I get ready, maybe I’ll let you do some more of this later,” Oikawa breathed in that voice that he knew Iwaizumi liked.
After a moment of bargaining, Iwaizumi loosened his grip around his boyfriend's waist. “You drive a hard bargain, Space camp.”
“I know.” Oikawa kissed him once more, before getting up. “Now, serenade the fuck out of me.”
“As you wish,” Iwaizumi winked, before he sauntered over to the piano.
Oikawa rushed into the room, quickly getting ready so he could watch Iwaizumi play. He loved listening, but watching and listening was even better.
He tossed on some ripped skinny jeans, a green long sleeved shirt, ran a brush through his hair and tied some ankle high brown boots on. Giving himself a once over in the mirror, he decided he was good and crept quietly back into the living room.
Just as always, the pianist took his rightful place at the keys, running his fingers down them as he closed his eyes. With a deep breath, he began to dance along the keys, commanding the melodic sound to do his bidding.
Iwaizumi melted into the piano, making the instrument another part of his body as his body moved like water. The sun was setting outside, and as it did, the silhouette of Iwaizumi Hajime grew larger, as did the music he created.
The beginning of the song was soft and quiet. The keys were gently touched, if hardly at all. The sound made Oikawa think of his own childhood, as he fumbled through the beginning of his life, trying to find his own two feet.
Abruptly, the sound changed. The keys were almost hammered on, a thunderous noise coming from them. It sounded angry, frustrated. As if the world had been turned on its axis, everything falling to ruin.
As quickly as it came, it stopped, replaced with a sorrowful tone. It sounded as if the piano were in pain; as if it were crying out for help. For some form of salvation.
Oikawa’s eyes never left Iwaizumi as he watched him move with the music. With every shift in the music, Iwaizumi’s face churned with a different emotion. Contempness seemed to be the first emotion. Distress the second. Grief the third.
The third verse seemed to last the longest. As Oikawa watched Iwaizumi play it, his vision went blurry and his face grew wet. Before he realized what was happening, he was crying silently to himself. This melancholy feeling flooded his heart as he realized this piece was about the pianists life.
The first verse was the same as Oikawa’s; his childhood. But the second verse took on that angry tone. With a sense of dread, Oikawa realized that must be when he found out about his mom, and how powerless he felt to do anything about it. The third one was quiet like the first, but full of misery. The misery of losing his best friend, biggest fan and strongest pillar; his mother.
It was the most beautiful thing Oikawa had ever heard. As he wiped away his tears, a different sound came from the piano. This one unlike the other three. It was upbeat with a sense of devilry.
It didn’t take long for Oikawa to realize that this verse was when they met. He thought Oikawa was mischievous?
He smiled to himself as he watched Iwaizumi’s features morph into that of bliss. This beautiful sound was what Iwaizumi felt when he thought about his life now, with Oikawa. Now that was a damn good feeling.
As Iwaizumi began to slow, the brunette caught on that this must be the middle of the piece, which is as far as he’d made it. Oikawa didn’t want it to end, but as he relished in the beautiful sight of his boyfriend at his best, a brilliant idea popped into his head.
Iwaizumi found Oikawa’s eyes the second he finished. “What’d you think?”
“What did I think?” Oikawa’s voice cracked. “That was, it was, I’ve never...” Trying to collect his thoughts, he took a deep breath. “I’ve never heard anything so powerful .”
A smile grew from ear to ear on his face, the slightest tint of pink on his cheeks. “It still needs a lot of work, but I can’t wait to play it for you when it’s all finished.” Iwaizumi closed the cover over the keys, getting up to join Oikawa. “I’m gonna get ready too.”
“You’re gonna sit at the bar my entire shift?”
“No—” Iwaizumi kissed Oikawa once more— “I’ll head over to Kuroo and Tsukishima’s for awhile and we’ll all come together. I already texted Suga to meet me there.”
Oikawa hummed, watching his boyfriend walk back the hall.
Pulling his phone out, he texted his group chat with Kuroo and Tsukishima.
From Oikawa:
Stop stealing my boyfriend from me.
From Kuroo:
I’m not stealing him. He comes here cause he wants to!
From Oikawa:
Whatever.
But I know how I’m gonna tell Iwa-chan!
From Tsukishima:
Are you going to say ‘I love you’?
From Kuroo:
Where’s the pizzazz in that??
Oikawa looked up at the piano, smiling at the yellow tulips as he remembered what Iwaizumi had said about the different colors.
From Oikawa:
I’m gonna give him a red tulip.