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Laurel sighed quietly to himself as he shuffled to the door of Warren’s room. He found it difficult to sleep on his own ever since he had to stay a while with Warren. He would admit—albeit wearily—that he’d become needy for Warren’s presence.
He stopped in front of the older man’s door and knocked a couple times. He waited patiently for Warren to open up, as he was not a heavy sleeper, but the door to his room did not open. He knocked again to no avail. He was nervous now, had something happened to him?
He pushed the thought aside and left the dorms, hoping that maybe, hopefully he’d find Warren on the ship. Still alive, still breathing. He took a deep breath and focused on finding Warren.
He searched for a while before he finally stumbled upon Warren in the stargazing area, eyes focused on the billions of stars and planets that hung in the sky just beyond his reach. Laurel came up to him quietly and sat down next to him. Warren turned and looked at him.
“What are you doing out here?” Laurel murmured, curious as to why the crewmate was trifling instead of getting his needed rest. Warren hummed and looked back out.
“Couldn’t really sleep so I decided to come here. It’s always peaceful here.”
Laurel watched him and then looked out themself. He stared out into the deep space for a while, the multicolored stars and nebulas reflecting in his eyes. Warren glanced at him and hesitantly grabbed the taller person’s hand. Laurel didn’t look at Warren, but they squeezed his hand in silent acknowledgement.
Warren subconsciously played with Laurel’s fingers as they both watched the empty space silently. Laurel looked down at his hand.
“Did those memories come back to you?”
Warren was quiet for a moment. “Yeah, sort of.”
Laurel didn’t want to pester him further, he knew that Warren struggled. And if he was being honest, he enjoyed their comfortable silence. It soothed him from the constant anxiety and fear in his mind. Though it felt strange, letting Warren fidget with his fingers. It made their heart beat faster—something twinged through them when he grabbed their hand.
It was unnatural, actually. They watched Warren run his fingers over their own, and their fingers flexed slightly. Warren sighed and looked at Laurel.
“What are you doing out here?” He asked, lightly grazing Laurel’s hand with his thumb. Laurel blushed lightly and looked back through the window.
“I…I’ve been having trouble sleeping.” A half truth on their part, but they were too embarrassed to complete their reason. Warren sighed and looked back out as well.
“You’re so like me and yet so different…maybe us meeting wasn’t just a coincidence, y’know?” Warren mumbled. Laurel laughed a bit.
“Do you think we were destined to meet? Like it was written in the stars?” He asked, staring at a nebula that caught his eye. Warren interlocked their hands and Laurel subconsciously squeezed his hand in return.
“Yeah, maybe. Do you think so too, or am I just a crazy dude spitting out words that mean nothing?” Warren said, holding Laurel’s hand comfortably. Laurel took a deep breath.
“Maybe it was the universe. And if it wasn’t, we’d have no way to know,” Laurel responded with a small hum. “But even so, I don’t think I’d have it any other way. Do you understand me?”
Warren nodded his head in response, not letting go of Laurel’s hand. They sat there in a comfortable silence, both willing to bask in each other’s presence.
Laurel wondered if Warren knew that his heart was beating much faster than normal. Did he know that Warren brought such inexplicable feelings to him? The feeling was so unnatural, yet so welcome. Laurel decided to clear his mind and look back at the stars. It would probably do him good.
“You know…”
Laurel blinked at Warren curiously. “Hm?”
“There’s more stars out here than grains of sand on Earth.
And even so…all of these stars will never shine as brightly as you do.”
Laurel’s breath hitched minutely. Was Warren inside of his head or something? Now he couldn’t clear his mind. His heart was racing. What should he say now?
“…Oh.”
Really? That’s it? That’s all he managed to spit out, after Warren said he was brighter than billions of stars and all he could manage out was a mere ‘Oh’? How pathetic.
Warren noticeably wilted at Laurel’s response, suddenly discouraged. “Nevermind, forget that. I don’t know what I’m talking about. It’s late and—“
“No, no. I’m…I appreciate it. A lot. I just…I don’t know how to–to take compliments. It’s not often that I get complimented, especially by someone like you…”
“Someone like me?” Warren murmured. His grip on Laurel’s hand weakened slightly.
“Not–Not in a bad way. Someone like you…someone as great, as amazing as you,” Laurel stuttered out, trying not to come off the wrong way. “There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re so perfect, and you’re…complimenting—flirting with someone like me?”
“And you’re so perfect to me. There’s nothing wrong with you. Why are you putting yourself down? I’m flirting with you for a reason, Laurel.” Warren replied, his eyes boring into Laurel’s soul.
“Well…I don’t really have a good personality…I don’t even look decent…I just don’t understand why you’re flirting with someone as miserable as I am.” Laurel looked away briefly, before having his face grabbed and turned back to face Warren.
“Yes, you’ve got issues. So do I. Neither of us are anywhere near normal by regular standards, but that’s okay. This might be new to you, and it’s new to me as well, but I know—I know that I’m flirting with you for a reason.
It’s…It’s hard for me to love things, you know that. Every time I’ve tried, it’s been taken from me and destroyed. But you, yes you—you haven’t been taken from me. It’s a bit difficult to say this even now but…I love you and–and I don’t want you to be taken away. But I wanted you to know.
I just needed to get that off of my chest. I think that…I think that I’m ready for a relationship now. But I’ll wait if you need time, I can always wait.”
Laurel’s face was blown. Warren genuinely wanted to start a relationship with him, of all people? Of all the better, more stable people in the universe, Warren wanted him. He couldn’t lie, he wanted something more with Warren as well…but was Laurel really worth the time, the effort?
“Why me? There’s better people out there who deserve your love so much more than I do, so why do you want me?” Laurel said, tears pricking his eyes. He hoped this wasn’t a sick joke, though he knew deep within that Warren would never think of doing such a thing.
“You’re amazing, Laurel. You don’t realize it but you’re like…you’re like my perfect fit. We work together in so many ways that it makes my head spin. It’s like the universe wanted us to meet and fall in love with each other. It feels like we were made for each other. Have you noticed that too?” Warren explained, gripping Laurel’s hand tightly. He was probably freaking Laurel out, he should’ve just kept his mouth shut.
Laurel gaped at him. “I think I have—I…Stars, Warren, you…you really think all of that? About me? You’re so phenomenal, so capable, and strong–and…and you want to spend all of that on me? I don’t have much to give, really, I’d love to give you my everything but—”
Warren placed his free hand over Laurel’s mouth, effectively quieting the man. “Yes, Laurel, I’d do anything and everything for you. You are so much more than you think you are. I’m willing to take the risk, even though there isn’t a risk because you aren’t an issue. I only want you.”
Laurel cupped his face and captured his lips in a chaste kiss, surprising Warren. He didn’t pull away though. In fact, he leaned into it. When Laurel pulled away, he could only stare at the other man. “Sorry, I really don’t know what came over me, I—”
Laurel couldn’t finish his statement, as Warren kissed him again–this time more passionately. The redhead hummed into the kiss as he returned it eagerly. Was this actually real? Or was he just dreaming this whole scenario up? He hoped it wasn’t the latter.
This time it was Warren’s turn to pull away, and he huffed. “Do you understand it now? When I say that I love you, and that I only want you?” At this, Laurel nodded bashfully, his face almost as red as his hair. Warren brushed a stray lock of hair away from Laurel’s face and sighed. “I’ll understand if you’re not ready yet, I just needed you to understand how I feel about you.”
Laurel immediately shook his head. “I understand now, I do. And I’m ready–I’m so ready. I never thought that somebody would love me in this way…but I’m so overjoyed that you do. And I didn’t expect to be told any of this in space, for the universe’s sake, but I’m ecstatic nonetheless. I love you, Warren. More than you know, more than I can show—more than anything.”
“So we’re a thing now? We’re official?” Warren inquired, once again rubbing his thumb against the back of Laurel’s hand. He noted Laurel’s loud purring in the back of his mind but didn’t question it. “We’re boyfriends, then?”
Laurel smiled and nodded. “We’re boyfriends.” Warren grinned and pulled Laurel in once more for a gentle, suave kiss. They pressed their foreheads together and gazed into each other’s eyes. It was quiet, but they enjoyed that silence—they preferred it.
They didn’t need words to express how much they felt for each other in that moment, they could see it in the other’s eyes. Laurel laughed quietly to himself. “It’s late, mon amour, let’s go to bed,” he whispered. At this, Warren’s face heated up.
“Y-Yeah. We should go to…bed,” Warren said, standing up quickly. Laurel raised an eyebrow and stood up as well. “Let’s go.”
Laurel didn’t question Warren and followed him back to the shorter man’s room. He’d be okay, they’d be okay. They’d make it work, to where they could be happy together. Both Laurel and Warren found a sudden hope within themselves—the hope from this newfound relationship.
Burn the stars, if that was taken from them–they knew they’d fight for that. For each other.
But for now, they’d sleep. Now wasn’t the time to think about those things, they would cross that bridge if it came to it. Right now they were lovers, and that’s all that mattered.
Though, if Laurel could freeze the universe at one moment, he’d freeze it there.
His biggest fear is telling Warren the truth.
His biggest mistake was telling him the truth.