life didn't give me much, but if you're here it gets better day by day
Title: life didn't give me much, but if you're here it gets better day by day
Rating: PG-13
Fandom/Pairing: Football RPS, Gerard Piqué/Bojan Krkić
Summary: In which Gerard meets Bojan under odd circumstances. AU.
☆ I do not own any of the characters mentioned in the following work of fiction. Any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental.
★ UNBETAED, all mistakes are mine. Feedback is always lovely :3
Gerard isn't a rich man. He isn't successful, hasn't got a large house, he's never had big ambitions or dreams and life just seems to pass him by.
He works in the storage at an electronics store, makes just about enough money to get by each month, lives in a small one bedroom apartment and has a black cat with a poofy tail named Fluffy. Gerard isn't really creative.
An afternoon on a rainy and particularly bad day in mid-September Gerard gets off the bus (he has no car) at the stop right in front of the apartment building he lives in, black umbrella in hand.
There's a boy sitting on the bench next to the bus schedule. He can't be more than 16. He hasn't got a coat, umbrella or even shoes for rainy weather. He wears dirty, beaten up textile shoes. They must be soaked, Gerard thinks but walks on, letting it go and paying the boy no more mind. He probably sits there to take cover from the rain since it's under a roof.
Later, Fluffy rubs against Gerard's legs when he's taking out her food. She always knows when it's time for food and never misses a chance to suck up to him. He loves her all the same and puts the small plate down on the floor and pets her head.
Before Gerard goes to sleep, he always pulls down the blinds to get as much sleep as he can in the morning (he can't sleep when it's light). Today's no different. Except that the boy down at the bus stop is still sitting there, hands hidden in pockets. It doesn't make sense to Gerard but he's no one to judge so he shrugs it off and lets the blind fall shut without a second thought
:::
Night goes and morning comes and Gerard goes to work. The boy's gone and the tiny twinge of worry that crept up on Gerard during the night disappears. He sighs and shakes his head. This is ridiculous, he thinks and sits down on the cold bench.
:::
Early fall turns into full-blown autumn and late October-weather somehow comes early. The nights get colder. The days gets colder too of course but they're more bearable because they always seem sunny nowadays.
Gerard goes to work early in the morning as usual.
The boy's back at the bench and he's wearing only a hoodie and dirty jeans. Same textile shoes as before.
Gerard has a scarf and even a cap on because it's so cold.
The boy keeps his hands in his hoodiepockets and doesn't look up when Gerard sits down next to him on the wooden bench.
Gerard opens his bag and fishes out the black gloves he always has with him just in case. He stretches out his hand with the gloves to offer them to the boy.
The boy doesn't seem to respond but turns to the bigger man when Gerard shakes them a bit in front of him.
His eyes are a sad green, Gerard notes. Beautiful in a tragic way. He can't quite put his foot on it though.
The bus comes. A short woman in her thirties steps off. Gerard drops the gloves in the boy's lap and gets on the bus.
He gives the boy one last glance when the bus drives away.
He can't seem to get those eyes out of his head during the rest of the day.
:::
A week goes by before the kid shows up again. He's dirtier this time. Hair all tousled and stand on ends.
That isn't what Gerard's surprised over though. He's more concerned over the fact that his heart leaps a bit when he recognizes the tousle of brown hair in the morning on his way to work.
He receives a small smile when he sits down next him. Gerard smiles back.
The boy's still wearing the gloves but moves to take them off. Gerard puts his hand out and stops him.
The boy looks confused but at the same time grateful. He still just wears a hoodie (the same hoodie) and the gloves might not be much but they're something.
The bus comes too fast and Gerard gets on it. He wonders why the boy just sits here and doesn't ever take the bus. This is the only bus that stops here.
:::
Gerard gets a letter from his mother the following day. It's all written in neat handwriting on flower-decorated paper.
She wants him to come see the family on Christmas. She wants him to meet this girl who's her friend's daughter who would perfect for him. She wants him to go to this job interview at an office that this other friend recommended.
He ends up throwing the letter into the trash before he even gets through half of it.
There's a reason why he and his family went separate ways.
:::
The weather turns colder and colder as everyone waits for December to come around. The days grow cloudier and the sun goes into hiding.
The next time Gerard sees the boy, it isn't on the bench. It's on the staircase in his apartment building.
"It's getting cold," he says from where he's sitting, like he knows that he's on Gerard's mind.
Gerard nods. It is getting cold.
:::
The kid's name is Bojan Gerard learns on one of the rare sunny Decemberdays. It fits because it's cute and different, just like him.
Fluffy seems to like Bojan too. When he steps into the apartment she's immediately at his feet, sniffing shoes and rubbing back and tail against his legs.
Bojan picks Fluffy up and she presses her face against his to smell it too. The pendant on her collar glimmers in the sunlight that streams into the room through the large livingroom window.
"Fluffy?" Bojan's eyes meet Gerard's with an amused glance but Gerard just shrugs and gives him a sheepish look with a lazy smile.
:::
"You haven't got a tree?!" Bojan, who's kind of short, looks genuinely surprised.
Gerard, who's kind of tall, shrugs next to him, thinking that isn't that big of a deal.
"But you gotta have one it's, you know, tradition and all!" Bojan turns wide eyes on Gerard.
They end up buying a plastic tree and on the way back they get the ornaments. Gerard likes the multicolored glassballs and Bojan insists that they get the cat-angel for the top of the tree. It's not so traditional but Gerard never was anyway.
Putting up the last decoration (the angel on top of the tree) and lighting the electric lights made it worth all the work. The tree actually looks nice in the corner of the livingroom next to the TV. It isn't that beautiful and it's not even large but it's quite personal. It's home-y.
Gerard bends down and kisses Bojan then. The sun has gone down and it's dark and the only light in the room is the multi-colored electric lights in the tree. It's kind of nice.
Except that Bojan doesn't respond. At all. That might be a minor setback.
When Gerard opens his eyes he meets a pair of shocked emerald ones.
There's this bizarre moment when they just stand there with their lips against one another without moving. It's shortlived though, for the shorter male reacts soon enough and backs away.
He brings his hand up to his lips, "I, um," Bojan almost whispers, already edging towards the hallway, "have to go," when he finishes the sentence he's already out of the room.
Gerard lets him go.
He sighs and runs his hand down his face and rubs his closed eyelids when the sound of the front door closing reaches him.
Fluffy lies on the couch and watches him carefully.
:::
Gerard doesn't see Bojan for a week then. He's never at the bus stop, not in the hallway. Gerard even skips the bus he's supposed to take and gets on the one after, to wait a bit longer for him.
He sleeps badly those nights. Fluffy seems to know this and mostly walks around in the apartment, from room to room, her paws making this pitter-patter sound on the wooden floor. Gerard listens to it while he stares up at the ceiling. He watches the shadows play and form different shapes on the uneven surface, unable to fall asleep. Occasionally, if it's a better night, he drifts off at three in the morning.
When Bojan finally does show up outside Gerard's front door though, he has a nasty blue-purple bruise on his cheek and another one on his throat. Gerard doesn't ask questions, just eyes the bruises cautiously.
Bojan looks sheepish and embarrassed. His face falls though when he sees the taller man's circles under his eyes, "Jesus, what happened to you?"
Gerard's too tired for explanations. He's been missing sleep and his mood has been all over the place. He shrugs like he does most of the time and walks back into the apartment, leaving the door open and expecting the boy to follow.
Bojan does follow him and closes the front door behind him. He shimmies off his always present textile shoes next to Gerard's under the coat rack. He still just wears that same hooded sweater like before.
:::
There's a weird vibe when Gerard sees Bojan now. It's not quite awkward but it's kind of tense. Like they're okay but at the same time not. Bojan had said that they were okay and that he had been taken by surprise and freaked because of that.
And then Gerard had kissed him again. And he had kissed back.
:::
When January comes around the corner, Bojan is at the apartment almost every day and night. It's cold out, really cold, so Gerard lets him spend the nights in the apartment.
Bojan sleeps on the couch in the livingroom with Fluffy by his feet. Gerard has some moral bumps in the road with his age still and thinks it's better if they sleep separately. Stupid age, Bojan thinks when he's laying on the tweed-clad three-seat.
He doesn't really get much sleep, maybe three hours every night, and spends rest of the night watching infomercials and re-runs of old shows. He's not complaining, no, this beats being out in the cold and sleeping on benches with newspapers as covers.
A week later he finds himself trudging into the bedroom with the blanket he uses as cover wrapped tightly around him. He has to turn Gerard over a bit to get him to not take up the whole bed. He crawls in after him.
When Gerard wakes up in the morning he's confused why he has his arms around a warm body and his nose in fruit-smelling hair. It isn't necessarily bad though. It might be worth throwing morals away if he can have this. He kind of enjoys it. He doesn't say anything about it to Bojan that morning though, things seem easier now. Like they've passed a stage in a relationship somehow.
The next night Bojan sleeps in Gerard's bed too. And the one after that. And the one after that one.
:::
In the last days of January, Gerard gives Bojan a copy of his key to the apartment. Bojan still hasn't told him anything about being homeless or why he is or where he goes when he's not there but Gerard would have to be a blind idiot not to get it.
And really, he'd rather have Bojan here than out on the streets.
When he gives him the key that early morning, Bojan goes still. His reaction is hard to read, somewhere near reluctant to accept the offer and confused as to why he's even being offered this.
Gerard just grabs his hand and turns it palm up, lays the key there and closes the palm with Bojan's fingers. Bojan's eyes continuously move up and down from his hand to Gerard's blue eyes.
Gerard must go to work. He wants to stay, to reassure the other that he's welcome here anytime but he just cups both Bojan's cheeks and drops a kiss on the pouty lips before he's out the door, hurrying to the bus.
Bojan's left in the hallway, key still in hand. He stares at the piece of silver, still unable to process the information.
Fluffy stands in the doorway to the livingroom and meows. She doesn't care if he's shell shocked. It's time for food.
:::
"Don't you speak at all?" Bojan asks quietly when they're watching TV one late Saturday night. It's dark and cold since it's February and the radiators seem to have shut down for the third night that week.
Gerard's face is illuminated in the blue light, and he turns his head to look at Bojan. He has a frown on and doesn't look at all pleased. But without a word he turns back to the horrible yet amusing soap opera they were watching.
Bojan sighs and snuggles deeper into the heavy blankets they have wrapped themselves in. He doesn't want to press the issue in case Gerard gets mad for real and decides to kick him out.
Gerard's arm comes around Bojan's neck and his mouth finds the top of Bojan's head. He can't stay in a bad mood long enough around him.
:::
Bojan never says it out aloud. But Gerard knows that he knows. He must have figured it out by now.
He's thankful that Bojan doesn't ask questions. It's easier that way. Maybe sometime in the future he'll tell him. But not now. After all, Gerard is mute and all.
:::
February isn't the busiest of months. But Bojan got the paper of confirmation that he now has a permanent address yesterday. There's only one thing left to do now.
He looks nervous as he approaches Gerard who's sitting in the kitchen that sunny afternoon.
"Um, Gerard?" Bojan even sounds nervous and that makes Gerard confusedly look up at the other male. He blinks a couple of times.
"Um, I was thinking, since I got that letter yesterday that I would, you know if it's okay with you, if it's not a problem, try to get back in school, there's this high school downtown that seems good, it's a public school so they don't charge tuition, but you know, if it's not okay with you I could always apply for a job and you know, earn money but I don't know if that many hire people without a high school degree so I thought I would get that and then help with the bills and... yeah," he doesn't look up as he rambles, his question somewhere between never-ending, nervous sentences. He never stops wringing his hands either.
Gerard blinks again. Bojan looks up and looks kind of worried. A wide smile spreads on Gerard's face. Bojan is impossibly endearing.
:::
It's still cold in the end of March. Bojan nervously paces around barefoot in pyjamas in the apartment, waiting for the letter that'll decide his future. He doesn't go out at all. He hasn't gone out for about two weeks now.
Gerard worries but lets Bojan do what he wants. At least he has Fluffy to keep him company in the middle of the day when Gerard isn't there. Even if it's sleeping company.
:::
Bojan receives the letter on the first Thursday in April. Fluffy jolts awake when she hears the loud noise he makes after he's read it.
When Gerard comes home that evening his arms are immediately filled with a hyper and bouncing Bojan.
"I got in! It's in the middle of the term but they're taking me in!" he repeats over and over again all the while hugging Gerard tighter and dropping small kisses all over his face.
Gerard wants to laugh but it's been a while so he settles with a wide grin as they spin around in circles in the hallway and he happily kisses back when Bojan's lips find his.
:::
They celebrate Gerard's birthday in the middle of April. It's two months too late but Bojan didn't know and it's better late than never. He surprises Gerard that day with a homemade chocolate cake with candles.
"I didn't know how much you turned so I put them like a happy smiley. Happy birthday," Bojan says, eyes hopeful and sparkling and Gerard's pretty sure that he haven't seen him quite so beautiful ever before.
And as much as Gerard likes the cake, it's actually forgotten on the coffee table in the livingroom when Gerard leads a laughing Bojan by the hand into the bedroom, closing the door behind them.
Fluffy lays in her chair, determined to ignore everything and go back to sleep in the dark room.
:::
May comes and so does the warmth. The real warmth. It's all blue skies and sunshine from now on.
Gerard and Bojan sit on the bench at the bus stop one bright morning. This time when the bus arrives, Bojan isn't left behind. He gets on the bus too. He has somewhere to be.
He goes to school.
Gerard goes to work.
Fluffy still sleeps in her chair.
And everything is as it should be.
fin.
Rating: PG-13
Fandom/Pairing: Football RPS, Gerard Piqué/Bojan Krkić
Summary: In which Gerard meets Bojan under odd circumstances. AU.
☆ I do not own any of the characters mentioned in the following work of fiction. Any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental.
★ UNBETAED, all mistakes are mine. Feedback is always lovely :3
Gerard isn't a rich man. He isn't successful, hasn't got a large house, he's never had big ambitions or dreams and life just seems to pass him by.
He works in the storage at an electronics store, makes just about enough money to get by each month, lives in a small one bedroom apartment and has a black cat with a poofy tail named Fluffy. Gerard isn't really creative.
An afternoon on a rainy and particularly bad day in mid-September Gerard gets off the bus (he has no car) at the stop right in front of the apartment building he lives in, black umbrella in hand.
There's a boy sitting on the bench next to the bus schedule. He can't be more than 16. He hasn't got a coat, umbrella or even shoes for rainy weather. He wears dirty, beaten up textile shoes. They must be soaked, Gerard thinks but walks on, letting it go and paying the boy no more mind. He probably sits there to take cover from the rain since it's under a roof.
Later, Fluffy rubs against Gerard's legs when he's taking out her food. She always knows when it's time for food and never misses a chance to suck up to him. He loves her all the same and puts the small plate down on the floor and pets her head.
Before Gerard goes to sleep, he always pulls down the blinds to get as much sleep as he can in the morning (he can't sleep when it's light). Today's no different. Except that the boy down at the bus stop is still sitting there, hands hidden in pockets. It doesn't make sense to Gerard but he's no one to judge so he shrugs it off and lets the blind fall shut without a second thought
:::
Night goes and morning comes and Gerard goes to work. The boy's gone and the tiny twinge of worry that crept up on Gerard during the night disappears. He sighs and shakes his head. This is ridiculous, he thinks and sits down on the cold bench.
:::
Early fall turns into full-blown autumn and late October-weather somehow comes early. The nights get colder. The days gets colder too of course but they're more bearable because they always seem sunny nowadays.
Gerard goes to work early in the morning as usual.
The boy's back at the bench and he's wearing only a hoodie and dirty jeans. Same textile shoes as before.
Gerard has a scarf and even a cap on because it's so cold.
The boy keeps his hands in his hoodiepockets and doesn't look up when Gerard sits down next to him on the wooden bench.
Gerard opens his bag and fishes out the black gloves he always has with him just in case. He stretches out his hand with the gloves to offer them to the boy.
The boy doesn't seem to respond but turns to the bigger man when Gerard shakes them a bit in front of him.
His eyes are a sad green, Gerard notes. Beautiful in a tragic way. He can't quite put his foot on it though.
The bus comes. A short woman in her thirties steps off. Gerard drops the gloves in the boy's lap and gets on the bus.
He gives the boy one last glance when the bus drives away.
He can't seem to get those eyes out of his head during the rest of the day.
:::
A week goes by before the kid shows up again. He's dirtier this time. Hair all tousled and stand on ends.
That isn't what Gerard's surprised over though. He's more concerned over the fact that his heart leaps a bit when he recognizes the tousle of brown hair in the morning on his way to work.
He receives a small smile when he sits down next him. Gerard smiles back.
The boy's still wearing the gloves but moves to take them off. Gerard puts his hand out and stops him.
The boy looks confused but at the same time grateful. He still just wears a hoodie (the same hoodie) and the gloves might not be much but they're something.
The bus comes too fast and Gerard gets on it. He wonders why the boy just sits here and doesn't ever take the bus. This is the only bus that stops here.
:::
Gerard gets a letter from his mother the following day. It's all written in neat handwriting on flower-decorated paper.
She wants him to come see the family on Christmas. She wants him to meet this girl who's her friend's daughter who would perfect for him. She wants him to go to this job interview at an office that this other friend recommended.
He ends up throwing the letter into the trash before he even gets through half of it.
There's a reason why he and his family went separate ways.
:::
The weather turns colder and colder as everyone waits for December to come around. The days grow cloudier and the sun goes into hiding.
The next time Gerard sees the boy, it isn't on the bench. It's on the staircase in his apartment building.
"It's getting cold," he says from where he's sitting, like he knows that he's on Gerard's mind.
Gerard nods. It is getting cold.
:::
The kid's name is Bojan Gerard learns on one of the rare sunny Decemberdays. It fits because it's cute and different, just like him.
Fluffy seems to like Bojan too. When he steps into the apartment she's immediately at his feet, sniffing shoes and rubbing back and tail against his legs.
Bojan picks Fluffy up and she presses her face against his to smell it too. The pendant on her collar glimmers in the sunlight that streams into the room through the large livingroom window.
"Fluffy?" Bojan's eyes meet Gerard's with an amused glance but Gerard just shrugs and gives him a sheepish look with a lazy smile.
:::
"You haven't got a tree?!" Bojan, who's kind of short, looks genuinely surprised.
Gerard, who's kind of tall, shrugs next to him, thinking that isn't that big of a deal.
"But you gotta have one it's, you know, tradition and all!" Bojan turns wide eyes on Gerard.
They end up buying a plastic tree and on the way back they get the ornaments. Gerard likes the multicolored glassballs and Bojan insists that they get the cat-angel for the top of the tree. It's not so traditional but Gerard never was anyway.
Putting up the last decoration (the angel on top of the tree) and lighting the electric lights made it worth all the work. The tree actually looks nice in the corner of the livingroom next to the TV. It isn't that beautiful and it's not even large but it's quite personal. It's home-y.
Gerard bends down and kisses Bojan then. The sun has gone down and it's dark and the only light in the room is the multi-colored electric lights in the tree. It's kind of nice.
Except that Bojan doesn't respond. At all. That might be a minor setback.
When Gerard opens his eyes he meets a pair of shocked emerald ones.
There's this bizarre moment when they just stand there with their lips against one another without moving. It's shortlived though, for the shorter male reacts soon enough and backs away.
He brings his hand up to his lips, "I, um," Bojan almost whispers, already edging towards the hallway, "have to go," when he finishes the sentence he's already out of the room.
Gerard lets him go.
He sighs and runs his hand down his face and rubs his closed eyelids when the sound of the front door closing reaches him.
Fluffy lies on the couch and watches him carefully.
:::
Gerard doesn't see Bojan for a week then. He's never at the bus stop, not in the hallway. Gerard even skips the bus he's supposed to take and gets on the one after, to wait a bit longer for him.
He sleeps badly those nights. Fluffy seems to know this and mostly walks around in the apartment, from room to room, her paws making this pitter-patter sound on the wooden floor. Gerard listens to it while he stares up at the ceiling. He watches the shadows play and form different shapes on the uneven surface, unable to fall asleep. Occasionally, if it's a better night, he drifts off at three in the morning.
When Bojan finally does show up outside Gerard's front door though, he has a nasty blue-purple bruise on his cheek and another one on his throat. Gerard doesn't ask questions, just eyes the bruises cautiously.
Bojan looks sheepish and embarrassed. His face falls though when he sees the taller man's circles under his eyes, "Jesus, what happened to you?"
Gerard's too tired for explanations. He's been missing sleep and his mood has been all over the place. He shrugs like he does most of the time and walks back into the apartment, leaving the door open and expecting the boy to follow.
Bojan does follow him and closes the front door behind him. He shimmies off his always present textile shoes next to Gerard's under the coat rack. He still just wears that same hooded sweater like before.
:::
There's a weird vibe when Gerard sees Bojan now. It's not quite awkward but it's kind of tense. Like they're okay but at the same time not. Bojan had said that they were okay and that he had been taken by surprise and freaked because of that.
And then Gerard had kissed him again. And he had kissed back.
:::
When January comes around the corner, Bojan is at the apartment almost every day and night. It's cold out, really cold, so Gerard lets him spend the nights in the apartment.
Bojan sleeps on the couch in the livingroom with Fluffy by his feet. Gerard has some moral bumps in the road with his age still and thinks it's better if they sleep separately. Stupid age, Bojan thinks when he's laying on the tweed-clad three-seat.
He doesn't really get much sleep, maybe three hours every night, and spends rest of the night watching infomercials and re-runs of old shows. He's not complaining, no, this beats being out in the cold and sleeping on benches with newspapers as covers.
A week later he finds himself trudging into the bedroom with the blanket he uses as cover wrapped tightly around him. He has to turn Gerard over a bit to get him to not take up the whole bed. He crawls in after him.
When Gerard wakes up in the morning he's confused why he has his arms around a warm body and his nose in fruit-smelling hair. It isn't necessarily bad though. It might be worth throwing morals away if he can have this. He kind of enjoys it. He doesn't say anything about it to Bojan that morning though, things seem easier now. Like they've passed a stage in a relationship somehow.
The next night Bojan sleeps in Gerard's bed too. And the one after that. And the one after that one.
:::
In the last days of January, Gerard gives Bojan a copy of his key to the apartment. Bojan still hasn't told him anything about being homeless or why he is or where he goes when he's not there but Gerard would have to be a blind idiot not to get it.
And really, he'd rather have Bojan here than out on the streets.
When he gives him the key that early morning, Bojan goes still. His reaction is hard to read, somewhere near reluctant to accept the offer and confused as to why he's even being offered this.
Gerard just grabs his hand and turns it palm up, lays the key there and closes the palm with Bojan's fingers. Bojan's eyes continuously move up and down from his hand to Gerard's blue eyes.
Gerard must go to work. He wants to stay, to reassure the other that he's welcome here anytime but he just cups both Bojan's cheeks and drops a kiss on the pouty lips before he's out the door, hurrying to the bus.
Bojan's left in the hallway, key still in hand. He stares at the piece of silver, still unable to process the information.
Fluffy stands in the doorway to the livingroom and meows. She doesn't care if he's shell shocked. It's time for food.
:::
"Don't you speak at all?" Bojan asks quietly when they're watching TV one late Saturday night. It's dark and cold since it's February and the radiators seem to have shut down for the third night that week.
Gerard's face is illuminated in the blue light, and he turns his head to look at Bojan. He has a frown on and doesn't look at all pleased. But without a word he turns back to the horrible yet amusing soap opera they were watching.
Bojan sighs and snuggles deeper into the heavy blankets they have wrapped themselves in. He doesn't want to press the issue in case Gerard gets mad for real and decides to kick him out.
Gerard's arm comes around Bojan's neck and his mouth finds the top of Bojan's head. He can't stay in a bad mood long enough around him.
:::
Bojan never says it out aloud. But Gerard knows that he knows. He must have figured it out by now.
He's thankful that Bojan doesn't ask questions. It's easier that way. Maybe sometime in the future he'll tell him. But not now. After all, Gerard is mute and all.
:::
February isn't the busiest of months. But Bojan got the paper of confirmation that he now has a permanent address yesterday. There's only one thing left to do now.
He looks nervous as he approaches Gerard who's sitting in the kitchen that sunny afternoon.
"Um, Gerard?" Bojan even sounds nervous and that makes Gerard confusedly look up at the other male. He blinks a couple of times.
"Um, I was thinking, since I got that letter yesterday that I would, you know if it's okay with you, if it's not a problem, try to get back in school, there's this high school downtown that seems good, it's a public school so they don't charge tuition, but you know, if it's not okay with you I could always apply for a job and you know, earn money but I don't know if that many hire people without a high school degree so I thought I would get that and then help with the bills and... yeah," he doesn't look up as he rambles, his question somewhere between never-ending, nervous sentences. He never stops wringing his hands either.
Gerard blinks again. Bojan looks up and looks kind of worried. A wide smile spreads on Gerard's face. Bojan is impossibly endearing.
:::
It's still cold in the end of March. Bojan nervously paces around barefoot in pyjamas in the apartment, waiting for the letter that'll decide his future. He doesn't go out at all. He hasn't gone out for about two weeks now.
Gerard worries but lets Bojan do what he wants. At least he has Fluffy to keep him company in the middle of the day when Gerard isn't there. Even if it's sleeping company.
:::
Bojan receives the letter on the first Thursday in April. Fluffy jolts awake when she hears the loud noise he makes after he's read it.
When Gerard comes home that evening his arms are immediately filled with a hyper and bouncing Bojan.
"I got in! It's in the middle of the term but they're taking me in!" he repeats over and over again all the while hugging Gerard tighter and dropping small kisses all over his face.
Gerard wants to laugh but it's been a while so he settles with a wide grin as they spin around in circles in the hallway and he happily kisses back when Bojan's lips find his.
:::
They celebrate Gerard's birthday in the middle of April. It's two months too late but Bojan didn't know and it's better late than never. He surprises Gerard that day with a homemade chocolate cake with candles.
"I didn't know how much you turned so I put them like a happy smiley. Happy birthday," Bojan says, eyes hopeful and sparkling and Gerard's pretty sure that he haven't seen him quite so beautiful ever before.
And as much as Gerard likes the cake, it's actually forgotten on the coffee table in the livingroom when Gerard leads a laughing Bojan by the hand into the bedroom, closing the door behind them.
Fluffy lays in her chair, determined to ignore everything and go back to sleep in the dark room.
:::
May comes and so does the warmth. The real warmth. It's all blue skies and sunshine from now on.
Gerard and Bojan sit on the bench at the bus stop one bright morning. This time when the bus arrives, Bojan isn't left behind. He gets on the bus too. He has somewhere to be.
He goes to school.
Gerard goes to work.
Fluffy still sleeps in her chair.
And everything is as it should be.
fin.