"It's Amazing when the moment arrives that you know you'll be alright."

[keytomylife]

Who: Miles Morrison and Rhys Meyer
What: Date Night
Where: The Loeb Boathouse, Central Park
When: Friday night

Without a doubt, Miles favourite sort of day was not having to work, and chasing it with a date out with Rhys. Their relationship was still new, but making time together was the key. Once they decided to make things official, they had promised they would always make time for frequent dates and not let life get in the way of them (unless it was an emergency, of course). Luckily, that night, the planets were in alignment for them. They had an amazing intimate, yet late, dinner at The Loeb Boathouse, one of Miles favourite places in New York. Rhys had finished work at the theatre, and they both had Saturday off, so they could sleep in the next morning.

Now, as they waited for their shared dessert platter to arrive, Miles found himself suddenly laughing. He probably looked and sounded like a crazy person, but his train of thought just took him to an amusing place as he sat there gazing contentedly at Rhys while he held his hand across the table. They had been working their way through a bottle of sweet Moscato wine, and whilst neither of them could be classified as tipsy, it was giving them a warm and fuzzy feeling. "You're amazing, you know that?" he told Rhys, squeezing his hand. "After everything, you have this way of just chilling me out and feeling like there's nothing in the world to worry about. I'm not sure I've ever really felt this way before."

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[keytomylife]

"Me. I'm laughing at me," Miles admitted sheepishly as he took another sip of his wine. "All this time we've been friends, and I knew you were this amazing person, but I really convinced myself we were just good friends. I know it wasn't even delusion. You have to be aware of something first to delude yourself of it. I was just wondering how different things might have played out if we had started to date shortly after we met. Wondering if it would have worked back then like it is now, or if it's working so well now because we were friends first, you know? All those lunches we spent in the cafeteria at work just chilling out and talking? We could've been married by now, you know," he pointed out, still laughing. It was funny to think about. Them as an old married couple.

He shot Rhys a huge grin. "I'm pretty sure somewhere on the dating milestones 'Bringing them toilet paper when they run out' should be on there. I should've been more grateful. Instead, I was tired and grumpy from a long night at work, and I blamed you for not changing the toilet roll. When it was my fault all along," he said with a snort of amusement. He had blamed Rhys as the culprit, when Rhys had to defensively argue that he had pooped at the theatre the evening before. It was definitely them climbing the domestic ladder.

[whatabuzz]

Rhys reached over and softly patted Miles' cheek. "Let it go. Let it gooooooooooo," he joked, laughing. "Let yourself off the hook. We were both pretty basic realising things along those lines. I think we might have it made this way. We know we don't piss each other off, we know we enjoy each other's company, we've seen each other throw up, and cry, and we know each other's favourite foods. Plus, I don't get offended if you fart in bed. It's really a perfect arrangement, you know. Though, I'm not sure if we're allowed to talk about farts in a fancy place like this. It doesn't matter if we would have worked back there. I think we would've figured it out, but this is our time now and we're doing pretty well. Which kind of maybe brings me to something I've been wanting to ask you..."

He pretending to go hunting around in his pocket for a ring, but he could see Miles was smirking at him in amusement. They weren't there yet. Maybe one day if things kept going well for them. He was pretty sure they were at least on the right track. Instead, he was taking his own wine glass in hand and still holding Miles hand with his other. "I wanted to know how you would feel about coming to LA with me to meet my folks. I've told them all about you, and they really want to meet you. I just know it might be a bit too soon, and I wouldn't want to push you into anything. They sometimes stay with me when they come visit New York, so I didn't want it to get awkward down the track. Besides, I want you to know my family, and then to see I'm in really good hands. Even if you blame me for being a Phantom Toilet Paper Ninja."

[keytomylife]

"Damn, babe. You should ditch Buzz and nab the role of Elsa in the Rainbow Room," Miles snickered. Rhys had a fucking fantastic singing voice, but this was only in the name of mocking. They playfully pulled the piss out of each other all the time, and it was nice that laughter and joking was a prominent part of their relationship. The positive vibes that came from it were healthy for the heart and soul. "Can I take this moment to also remind you that I took care of your drunk arse when you got blind trashed, and even if you threw up on my leg and shoes, I still couldn't quit you? I think that at least buys me five or so years leeway of farting in bed. Not that you're completely innocent of that. You just get me every time with the silent-but-deadlies. I'm going to take a stab in the dark here and wager a bet that everyone in this fancy place farts too. We're off the hook."

He squeezed Rhys' hand and gave it a tug. "Hey, don't tease me with putting a ring on it. A lad might go and do something stupid like getting his hopes up." And then they were traipsing into Meet the Fockers territory, though he was pretty sure Rhys wouldn't have come from a family anything like the Fockers. He wasn't neurotic or weird enough for that. "Meet your family? That's a pretty big next step. You realise I'm sitting here doing a happy dance on the inside because you want me to, but I'm close to shitting myself at the prospect..."

[whatabuzz]

"Shhh! Don't tell anyone my plans for evil world domination, one Disney character at a time," Rhys hissed, leaning further over the table, grinning. He hooked his finger into the collar of Miles' shirt. "C'mere. Kiss me." It took them both leaning in to reach each other's lips, but it was worth the extra effort. Miles smelled amazing. His favourite cologne was a far cry from the antiseptic hospital smell he came home after a shift reeking of. "Five years leeway, huh? So, you think we have the long-term staying power?" When he sat back again, they were still holding hands, and it was nice to entertain the notion they might only just be starting a journey together that still had a long way to go. He knew he had it bad. Ever since the floodgates were opened, Miles was on his mind all the time. He couldn't see any reason why they didn't have a shot at it.

He nodded, shrugging. "I know. It's huge. You don't have to feel like shitting your pants, though. They'll love you. They just want to stay up-to-date with what's happening, especially when things that are progressing are making me happy. You make me happy. It came like a bolt out of the blue, and neither of us saw it coming. But it doesn't feel hard, you know? There have been hard things. I know you were really affected by what happened to Liam, and I know you struggle with it because of what happened to your dad. But we did it together, and that's a pretty epic thing. My folks are really cool. Promise, you don't have to worry."

[keytomylife]

Like Miles needed to be asked that twice. Sex was one thing, but he was a sucker for Rhys' kisses. He couldn't get enough of them. They were intoxicating. He was amused now that they sort of kicked off through a hook up, because he was now pretty sure it wasn't about wanting more sex with Rhys. All that had done was give him a taste of Rhy's lips, and a teaser of how he felt wrapped in his arms. There had been some time there that he worried about showing his affection to Rhys publicly because he didn't want Liam, or anyone Liam loved, to think Miles had just jumped onto the next piece of arse after Liam because he was desperate for sex. Since then, he had spoken about it in depth with Liam, who told him not to be stupid because he was happy for him. If Rhys was Miles' perfect match, even better. "At least five years. Aye, I think we have the staying power, if only because I can't imagine not having you in my life anymore."

He nodded. "Aye, way more than I anticipated I would be if I ever found myself at a precipice like that. I knew he being a rape survivor and with clinical depression from it, there was always a chance he might be pushed to the edge. I thought I'd be able to help him through it. Which I still wanted to do. I just never realise how much it would remind me that I missed my dad, and all the pain he went through that he couldn't survive. You're an amazing person, hon. A lot of people would've been too jealous to let me do that for an ex. I'd love to meet your family, I just hope they approve of me."

[whatabuzz]

Rhys smiled, because damn, was it nice to have someone - your person - say that about you. He had been single for awhile before he and Miles started dating, and he knew all this stuff always looked nice. Looking nice didn't even touch how nice it felt. When he looked at Miles now, it was in a whole different light to how he usually saw him as just one of his closest friends, and it was giving him this warm fuzzy feeling inside to hear him talk about the longer-term. They were in a romantic restaurant, with candlelight, holding hands and kissing over the table. They were waiting on a share dessert, and they couldn't stop smiling at each other. This was what it was all about. "When I think back now, I don't know how I even resisted wanting to be closer to you, you know. Back then, it just was what it was, but now I feel like I was blinded all along."

"You did help him through it, babe. You didn't let the painful stuff that went down between you guys get in the way. We blindside ourselves all the time in life with things like this. We don't realise how close to our hearts things still are because life goes on. And you were in love with him, you cared about him intimately. No one wants to see someone they care about in that much pain. The worst sort of pain anyone can feel, not wanting to keep living." He was still holding Miles' and hand rubbing the back of his as a little gesture of comfort. "I don't like jealously. It's a negative emotion. I've never felt anything negative towards you. I understand you're a caretaker. That's what you do. That's why I want you to meet my family, because you're amazing and I want them to see that."

[keytomylife]

"Hindsight is 20/20 and all those other cliches, my love. We probably reflexively do all this shit like convincing ourselves we don't want to ruin friendships with turning it into more. But how many miserable folk are out there telling that to themselves? And who said friendship has to be some sort of ever-wonderous better thing that a romantic relationship? I'll admit, I fooled myself. You and I always got along so friggen well. I wouldn't have even known if I was actively perving on you. Though, Richie tells me now I was. He knew that if he called me on it back then, I would've denied it," Miles laughed. Richie was never backward in coming forward, but they had all been naive in things recently.

Their dessert arrived then, and he smiled at the waitress, thanking her. "I worry about him, you know. I really fear he could do it without the right help. Which he is getting. I'm proud of him for that. I think going back home to London for awhile will do him good, but it sounds like he has no plans to come back. He's on sick leave from work, but he could just as easily pull the plug for good. I thought he would just pick back up on things with Damien, but he says it's not happening. I didn't really know how to take Damien when I met him. I don't know if he understands the severity of Liam's illness. Then, if I meet your family, I want you to meet mine."

[whatabuzz]

Rhys laughed, and loudly and handed Miles the second spoon on the dessert platter. "C'mon, babe. My ass in a Buzz suit in a hospital full of cute asses in scrubs? Now I'm just glad you were privy to its benefits in the flesh, sans clothing. But while we're on this whole subject of us getting together... I want to apologise for how drunk I got that night. Barfing everywhere was epic fail, and you having to peel me up off the bathroom floor and take care of me so I didn't choke on my own vomit, when you already knew you had feelings for me. That had to be really hard, and I'm sorry I was so basic. I appreciated every minute of it, though. I don't usually let myself get that drunk." He spooned up the first mouthful of their ridiculously evil dessert and offered it to Miles.

"Of course you do. You know how easily your dad took his own life, and how quickly. How your family was blindsided by it because they thought he was okay. There's no way you couldn't be terrified for Liam. Did you ever meet his family?" he asked curiously. He knew Liam had a big family, but he wasn't sure how far his and Miles' relationship had progressed. "I'd imagine it would be hard to just pick back up on anything after a year-long estrangement. Especially if Liam's sick. He's going to struggle if he doesn't figure out how to understand it, though. You want me to meet your family too? Really?"

[keytomylife]

Miles grinned. "Aye, you're arse. I'd ask if you've seen it, but I know you're not in exactly the prime position for that. That's where I come in. The scrubs were pretty damn cute, I had to test drive those, but ultimately, I wasn't meant for the scrubs." He listened to Rhys apologising, shaking his head fondly and picking up the next spoon to offer Rhys some. "Oh, hush, you. You've got nothing to bloody apologise about. I'm a nurse, that's what I do. But when it's you, I hope there is many more nights in our future where I can take care of you when you're not feeling your best. You were the cutest drunk dancer this world has ever seen. It was all hilarious until you turned green."

He tasted the dessert, and was pretty sure he had an immediate foodgasm. "Oh my god, that is evil. If i could brush that all over you and lick it off, I would be all over that in a heartbeat," he decided. He couldn't help it if he was completely and utterly smitten with Rhys that night. That was what it was all about, wasn't it? Spending time together when you were in love with someone, enjoying things together. Even sitting at home not doing anything or lying in bed, together was special there too. "Mental illness and suicide is just... it's painful. For the person, for everyone around them. It's hard to function. I don't know if Liam thinks Damien can handle it. I just can't keep sticking my nose in, you know? Aye, I do. Now you bring it up, I think it's probably the next best step, if we want things to keep progressing with us. I mean, we already live together."