Dream About This (Star Trek RPF Fanfic)
Title: Dream About This
Author: therumjournals
Fandom: Star Trek RPS
Pairing: Chris/Zach
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 5,700
Description: Fifth Installment of This is Us
Previously: Chris looked up at him groggily. "I did not profess my love to you."
"Didn't you?" Zach still had his eyes closed. "That must have been a dream I had, then."
A/N: I porned all over the beginning over this fic, and then I sapped all over the end of it. I don’t even know, you guys.
Chris threw a few more things into his backpack, zipped it up, and headed out the door, swinging his keys around a finger. He’d decided to walk to Zach’s, maybe give himself a little more time to calm his racing heart. Not that it was a big deal, or anything. Just, it was the first time he’d be staying over at Zach’s and the first time they’d really be spending time together since the day of their little “talk.” Five days later, he still blushed whenever he so much as thought the word “boyfriend,” and he hadn’t quite been able to bring himself to say it out loud.
Zach answered the door wearing a black t-shirt, jeans, and a fucking gorgeous smile.
“Hey.”
“Hey.” Chris grinned back at him. “Gonna invite me in?”
“Actually, I thought I’d just look at you for a while.”
“If that’s what you’re into, I think the life-size Captain Kirk cutouts are on sale at Costco.”
“Kirk’s not my type.”
“I am Kirk.”
“But you are not Kirk. Now are you going to get your ass in here, or are you gonna let the paps get a few more shots first?”
A look of terror crossed Chris’s face as he threw himself into the doorway, nearly tripping over Noah in the process. Zach shut the door and grinned at him. “Hey baby,” he said. “What’s in the backpack?”
“Nothin’. Just some clothes and stuff,” Chris said, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck.
“Oh my god, you a packed a bag for our little sleepover?” Zach shook his head, grinning. “I’m not going to say it Chris, but you know what I’m thinking.”
“Shut up,” Chris said, punching him lightly in the shoulder and letting Zach pull him into a loose hug.
“So, what did you have planned for tonight?” Chris asked.
“I was thinking I would make you some dinner - I got stuff for fajitas - and then maybe we could watch a mmffff-“ Chris cut him off with a kiss, surprising himself. He forgetting how much he wanted to do that now that he could, kept thinking that they’d just be hanging out, chatting and watching movies like they had in the past. He knew it wasn’t just physical with Zach, but in the time they’d known each other, they’d done far too much talking and nowhere near enough kissing, and it all still felt so fucking good and new. When it came down to it, he just wasn’t ready to be in the same room with Zach and not, well, not do this.
“On the other hand,” Zach was panting, “I was also thinking we could spend the evening making some serious in-roads into the gay kama sutra.”
“Yeah,” Chris breathed. “That sounds like a better plan.”
“Yeah? You’re not intimidated?”
“Hell no. I can give as good as I get.”
Zach pinned him against the wall with an arm across his chest, pressing their erections together and sliding a hand up Chris’s shirt. “Oh yeah,” he asked, kissing and biting at Chris’s jaw. “And tonight would you rather (bite) give (lick) or (kissbitelick) get?” He finished the question with a well-timed thrust of his pelvis.
“Guh,” was Chris’s completely unhelpful response.
“What was that?” Zach asked, spreading his palms over Chris’s ass.
“Guh…get, Zach, Jesus, get, get.”
Zach slid his hands down to get a better grip over Chris’s tight jeans, rubbing his fingers hard between his legs, practically pressing into him despite the layer of fabric between them. “Yeah? That what you want?”
“Ffffuck, Zach,” Chris groaned, squirming against him, pushing back against his fingers. “Want you so bad, want you to fuck me.”
Zach captured his mouth in another kiss before yanking him away from the wall and pulling him into the bedroom. Chris was breathless with need as he stripped off his clothes and threw himself onto the bed. It occurred to him briefly that this was the first time he’d ever actually been on Zach’s bed, and he considered that maybe he should treat this milestone with a bit more ceremony, but he quickly dismissed that thought in favor of rubbing his aching erection against Zach’s expensive sheets. He felt a warm hand on his hip as Zach stretched his naked body across Chris’s back, and a warm huff of breath against his ear as Zach whispered, “I am going to fucking worship your ass.”
Chris groaned into a pillow and let Zach maneuver him into position, light touches across his hips and abs and lower back guiding him until he was on his hands and knees. His whole body twitched in surprise as Zach pressed a damp kiss to the top of Chris’s crack, and slowly dragged his tongue upward along his spine. Chris forced himself to stay still, steadied by the firm hands on his hips as Zach licked his way back down. Chris shuddered as Zach scraped his teeth across the smooth planes of his lower back and gasped when Zach bit down hard on his left ass cheek.
“Okay?” Zach murmured, swiping his tongue across the marks that he’d left.
“Uh huh,” Chris managed, though what he meant was fuck yes, keep doing that. Zach seemed to understand, repeating the gesture on the other cheek - the sudden sharp press of teeth, followed by that soothing tongue. Then Zach’s hands were on him, massaging him, brushing his fingers tantalizingly over the most sensitive area, and Chris pushed back against his palms. Then Zach’s tongue was back against the cleft of his ass, only this time he was dragging it downwards and spreading his ass cheeks open with his hands and holy fuck. Chris keened and jumped forward a few feet, slamming his head into the headboard when Zach’s tongue pressed lightly against his entrance.
Zach laughed and pulled him back by his hips. “Everything okay?” he asked, tucking his chin against Chris’s shoulder.
“Zach,” Chris wheezed, “fucking keep doing that.”
“You sure?” Zach asked, kissing his neck, “I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”
“’m gonna hurt you if you don’t keep doing that,” Chris growled and turned his head to catch Zach’s mouth in a hot, desperate kiss, before releasing him and letting him return to his place of worship.
This time, Zach didn’t mess around, swiping his tongue once across Chris’s hole and then plunging it immediately inside. Chris tried to stay still as he felt the hot muscle of Zach’s tongue work its way into him, sliding against sensitive nerve endings. He drew in a ragged breath as Zach fucked him with his tongue, thrusting into and out of him, plunging in farther than Chris would have thought possible. He felt as though every part of him had gone completely numb, except for the burst of fiery pleasure as Zach worked him over, sliding his tongue out to lick and suck at the skin around his hole. Chris was using all of his strength to hold himself up off the mattress, knowing that the slightest pressure on his cock would set him off. And he fucking wanted this to last forever.
Zach pulled away for a moment to catch his breath, but Chris could barely tell, as Zach’s hot, almost frantic gasps ghosted over his ass, sending shivers up his spine. He felt Zach rub the slick tip of his cock across his entrance, messy and desperate.
“Zach, fuck, want your cock so bad,” Chris moaned, pressing back, ready, waiting. But then Zach pulled himself away with a groan that said it had taken all of his willpower to do so, as he stretched across the bed, reaching for a condom from the nightstand.
He stopped to thread his fingers through Chris’s hair, giving him an apologetic smile, and pulling him into a deep kiss. Chris leaned into him, tangling with that dangerous tongue, until they remembered their aching cocks and pulled apart with renewed purpose.
Zach was back down the bed in seconds, sliding on the condom and taking hold of Chris’s hips. Chris relaxed a little, letting Zach hold him still as he nudged the head of his cock against Chris’s entrance. They took a breath together and Zach said “fuck” and pressed inside.
Chris was eager, and he knew Zach was too, but he could practically feel the restraint radiating from Zach’s body as he tried to draw out the pleasure. Zach pressed in slowly, filling him, and Chris gasped at the unexpected sensation when Zach ran his thumbs around Chris’s stretched hole. How Zach was managing not to pound into him like a fucking jackhammer, Chris had no idea, but the image of that alone had him choking out “Zach, please.” Zach slowly let go of his self-control, sliding back and pressing forward in one smooth motion, then another thrust that rocked Chris forward and set off fireworks in his groin. He tried to turn his head to see Zach’s face, but it was too much effort and he let his head drop forward again. “Zach, talk to me.”
“Fuck, Chris, feels so fucking good, ohhh fuck,” he stuttered as he pumped his hips faster, “so fucking hot watching you take my cock.”
Chris shuddered as Zach shifted and slammed into him at an angle that had him seeing stars. He felt Zach reaching for him - “Zach, don’t touch me, I swear to god, I’m so close-“
“Fuck Chris” - Chris felt fingers digging into his hip as he rode out the final, frantic thrusts, until at the last second, he felt Zach’s fingers wrap around his length. He came hard across Zach’s fist and sheets, a full-body climax that shook him to his core, so that his brain barely registered the words as he gasped them out, “I love you”, pulled from his throat as Zach came with a shout behind him.
Chris dropped onto the mattress, drained, and Zach collapsed beside him. Oh god, that had been so amazing, he still felt like he was in the middle of an orgasm, what had Zach done to him, some kind tantric fucking yoga thing? Chris was so blissed out that it took a few minutes for him to remember…something. What had happened there at the end? He was coming and Zach was shouting and he was telling Zach that he loved him - oh fuck. Chris squeezed his eyes shut, then risked a glance at Zach, who was sweaty and splayed out beside him, hair falling into his eyes as he managed a tired grin in Chris’s direction. Good lord, no fucking wonder he’d said that, it was a surprise he’d held off this long in the face of that gorgeous body. But fuck, fuck! - he couldn’t just say that! They weren’t even close to saying that! At least Zach hadn’t heard - that much was obvious by the way Zach wasn’t giving him shit about it right now. That knowledge, and few deep breaths, helped Chris calm himself down enough to drift into a light sleep beside Zach.
He woke up thirty minutes later, yanking himself out of a dream in which he’d said something to someone that had left him with a nervous fluttery feeling in the pit of his stomach. Zach was waking up too, smiling at him, and the words flashed through Chris’s head and it all came back to him and yep, there was that fluttery feeling after all. He dragged himself out of the bed and across the hall, passing Noah and Harold on the way, watching him from their prone positions right outside the bedroom door.
“Well, that’s only mildly disturbing,” Chris muttered, as he walked into the bathroom. He’d have to have a talk with Zach about his animals’ unhealthy interest in their sex life.
In the bathroom, he splashed some cold water over his face and made a face at himself in the mirror. He shook himself out of it, stood, and stretched, checking himself out, trying to see what Zach saw.
“Hey Zach!” he yelled across the hallway, “I have bitemarks on my ass!” His voice betrayed a mix of pride and a little excitement as he strained to get a better look.
“Do they spell out ‘Property of Zachary Quinto’? ‘Cause that’s what I was going for,” Zach called back from the bed.
“That’s weird, it looks like you accidentally spelled out ‘Property of Karl Urban’ instead,” Chris said, laughing.
“Get your ass back in here,” Zach yelled. “Or should I say my ass?”
Chris wandered back into the room with a grin on his face.
“Hey, Zach?”
“Yeah?”
“Did you put a new toothbrush out on the sink for me?”
“Yeah. I put out a towel for you, too.”
“Zach.” Chris climbed onto the bed on all fours and hovered over him. “You are so fucking adorable.”
He leaned down to kiss him, but not before he caught a glimpse of the blush creeping over Zach’s cheeks.
Zach returned the kiss and pulled back with an eyebrow raised. “I’m a good host. I do that for all my guests.”
“Is that what I am, a guest?” Chris asked, teasing.
“Why, what do you think you are, huh?”
Now it was Chris’s turn to blush. “Shut up. You know.”
“Do I? I knew you wouldn’t want to say it. Come on, what? What are you?” He ran his hands up Chris’s sides until Chris gave an unmanly squeak and fell sideways onto the mattress. Zach slid down, planting kisses across his bare skin on the way.
“What are you doing?”
“Just doing a little editing.” He bit and licked at Chris, avoiding his thrashing legs. Finally, he dragged himself up with a smile.
Chris smiled back at him, panting. “What’s it say now?” he laughed.
“Zachary Quinto’s boyfriend.”
*
They did eat fajitas, after that. Zach cooked in his yoga pants and nothing else while Chris drank a Corona and ogled him. It was 11:30 when they finally ate, and Chris made sure to show his appreciation for the food by moaning orgasmically through his quacamole. By the time their plates were clean, he was pretty sure Zach was ready to jump him across the table, if the look in his eyes was any indication.
“So,” Zach said, standing up from the table and reaching out to pull Chris up from his chair. He wrapped his arms loosely around Chris’s waist and rested their foreheads together. “Orgasm then sleep, or movie then sleep?”
“Why can’t we have movie, then orgasm, then sleep?”
“Because I know you, Chris Pine, and there is no way you’re going to make it through an entire movie cuddled on the couch with me without falling asleep.”
“Mmmm,” Chris murmured, the idea of watching a movie in Zach’s arms sending an unexpected flood of warmth through him, as he ran his fingers through Zach’s hair and pressed a kiss to his lips.
“What about orgasm during movie, followed immediately by sleep?”
Zach chuckled, nodded in agreement and pulled Chris by the hand into the living room.
They sprawled together along the length of the couch, Zach reaching an arm around Chris’s waist to stroke him lazily as they watched. Chris moaned happily as the forces of alcohol and sleepy contentment fought for his surrender, while the feeling of Zach’s fist around his cock reminded him of the benefits of staying awake just for a bit longer. After a little while, he was almost surprised to hear the ragged sound of his own breathing and to feel his hips bucking, then almost without warning he was tensing, and his head dropped back onto the cushions as he came. He turned to face Zach with a lazy smile, kissed him over his complaints that he was trying to watch the movie, and slipped a hand beneath his waistband to return the favor. Zach laughed as Chris try to stifle a yawn, but he managed to stay awake long enough to make Zach writhe under his touch, bringing him to a shuddering climax between their bellies. Chris nuzzled into Zach’s chest and fell asleep before he could say another word.
***
Chris was emptying his dishwasher late in the afternoon when Zach called.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Hey, so, I was just in the area and I was wondering if I could stop by.”
“Zach, I left your house 6 hours ago.”
“So? I’m not doing anything.”
"Really? You don't need, um, space or anything?" He pulled a mug out of the dishwasher.
He heard Zach chuckle. "Space? No, I don't need space. What I need is your lips wrapped around my cock.”
The mug slipped from Chris’s hand and shattered on the floor. “Shit, Zach, you can’t just say things like that!”
"Why, are you blushing?"
"No." It was just a little warm in the kitchen, that's all. He looked at the shattered pieces on the floor with a frown. "That was my favorite mug."
"Was it the one with the horses on it? Because good riddance."
"Shut up, my sister got that for me!"
“It had horses on it.”
“It had good balance,” Chris mumbled, but he couldn’t help but smile about the fact that Zach knew which one his favorite mug was, regardless of his opinion of it.
“I’ll buy you a new one. So can I come over?”
“So, this is, like, a booty call, right?”
“I think it ceases to be a booty call when you’re actually dating. You know, when it’s your…come on, say it, Chris…”
“No.”
“Come on!”
“Boyfriend,” Chris mumbled.
“You love me.”
“Bye Zach.”
“See you soon.”
“Don’t forget the wine.”
*
He came while his mouth was otherwise occupied with Zach’s cock, and thank god, because it felt so fucking good that he wasn’t sure he could have stopped himself from saying those words again. His relief lasted through most of the bottle of red wine and half a boring indie movie, before Zach was pumping two fingers into his ass and he came so hard he had to shove a pillow into his mouth so Zach wouldn’t hear the “I love you” spill from his lips.
“Hey. Chris? You okay there, buddy? Did you forget to breathe?”
“’m fine,” Chris said, coughing because he wasn’t okay and he actually had forgotten to breathe. He had to stop doing that. How was it that he could barely choke out the word boyfriend and yet “I love you” was falling out left and right. He wondered if Zach would find gagging him kinky, because that was what it was going to take, it seemed. Well, that or to stop having orgasms altogether, which was completely out of the question. He smiled weakly at Zach and consoled himself with the fact that at least he only said it during sex.
***
He said it three more times that week - each time following a mind-blowing orgasm, twice into pillows and once with his thighs clamped firmly over Zach’s ears. Once, he actually managed to stop himself from saying it, albeit in a rather painful way that left teeth marks visible on his forearm for days. And he’d decided he could deal, could mitigate the risk of discovery, as long as he knew the pattern - orgasm, then “I love you.” He could deal, that is, until he woke up one night and found himself mumbling the words into Zach’s t-shirt with, as far as he could tell, no orgasmic prelude whatsoever. Fuck.
***
Chris gradually became aware of an incessant banging sound coming from somewhere outside his room. He rubbed his eyes and squinted at the clock. 5:30 AM. Someone was about to get the shit kicked out of them for waking him up, and he had the distinct feeling that it was going to be a Mr. Zachary Quinto. By the time he dragged himself out of bed and into the living room, the knocks had slowed to one every three seconds or so, interspersed with a mumbled “Le’ me in.” He checked the peephole but couldn’t see anything - then he realized that was because Zach was leaning his forehead against the door. He was wondering if Zach had maybe passed out right there in the hallway when there was another weak knock. He pulled the door open, catching Zach as he practically fell into the room.
“What the fuck, Zach?”
“Hi baby,” Zach mumbled into his shoulder.
“Are you drunk?”
“’m not drunk. Tired.” He pulled away from Chris and collapsed onto the sofa.
“No, no, no,” Chris said, grabbing his hand and yanking him upright. “Come on, you can make it all the way to the bed.” He dragged him into the bedroom, tugging Zach’s clothes off as they went. He smelled like perfume and leather and - was that lipstick on his cheek? “Um, Zach? What were you doing?”
“I made a friend,” said Zach, falling onto the bed. “’s Madonna.”
“Okay, Zach. If you say so.”
“Tell you in the morning. Need to sleep.” He held his arm out and Chris slid under it and pulled the covers over them. The last thing Zach said before he drifted off to sleep was “Smells like strawberries in here.”
The last thing Chris said, after he was sure that Zach was sleeping, was a whispered “I love you” into his hair.
*
“Where’re you going?” Zach mumbled, as Chris extracted himself from the bed. It was 10:30 and Chris had officially slept for 12 hours, while Zach had been out until all hours partying with - well, who knows, given that it was Zach, it probably was fucking Madonna.
“I’ll be right back, just have to run a few errands.” He dressed and slipped quietly out of the apartment.
Zach woke up at 12:30, showered, dressed (in Chris’s clothes) and spent the next thirty minutes jumping around the apartment whooping while Chris made him pancakes.
“Oh my GOD, Chris, I can’t fucking BELIEVE I was hanging out with MADONNA!!! Oh my god, I was so fucking chill, you should have seen me - well, you would have seen right through me, but I didn’t freak out AT ALL, oh my god, AHHHHHHH!!” He jumped onto the arm of the couch and collapsed across it with a ridiculous grin on his face.
Chris was smiling at him tolerantly from the kitchen as he flipped pancakes from the griddle onto a plate.
“That’s great, Tom Cruise. You want syrup on these pancakes or what?”
Zach came in and Chris handed him the plate. He kept talking through his pancakes. “And Chris, it was so crazy, there were like all these people - oh my god, these pancakes are amazing!” He leaned forward to give Chris a sticky peck on the cheek before he continued. “These people, like, standing around us watching us have a conversation, it was totally surreal.”
“So, has she seen Star Trek?” Chris asked, leaning against the counter and taking a sip of coffee.
“Um, I don’t know. We didn’t really talk about me.”
“So you just basically worshipped at her feet.”
“Oh please, like you would do anything differently?”
“Luckily, we’ll never find out.”
“Well, she does want to meet you.”
Chris raised an eyebrow. “I thought you didn’t talk about you.”
“I had to stop her from hitting on me somehow.”
“Shut up.” Chris hid his smile behind his coffee cup and aimed a kick at Zach’s shin.
“I didn’t want to tell her who you really were though, so I kinda told her that my boyfriend’s name is, um, Kirk.”
Chris choked on his coffee. “Kirk?! Are you crazy? Why didn’t you just tell her my name was Tiberius, that would have been subtle.”
“Shut up, okay, I had to think fast! Would you rather I told her that my boyfriend’s name was Christopher Whitelaw Pine?”
“You basically did,” Chris muttered into his coffee, but he still had a smile in his eyes. “Oh. Speaking of which.” He set his coffee down and reached into his back pocket.
“Speaking of what?”
“Speaking of…you know…being your…you know…”
“My bitch?”
“Ass. Your boyfriend, okay? Happy now? Here, I got you this.” He handed Zach a silver key.
“Oh my god, Chris, is this the key to your heart?!”
“No, Taylor Swift, it’s the key to my apartment. And it comes with the very important responsibility of never, ever, ever waking me up between the hours of 2:00 and 6:00 AM to make me open the door for your dumb, Madonna-worshipping ass. Got it?”
The last two words were muffled in Zach’s neck, because he was enveloped in a smothering Zach-hug that squeezed the breath out of him and smelled like maple syrup. He decided to stay there for a while.
***
It was easy to say it at night, he found, to whisper it on the edge of sleep, easy to wait until Zach's breaths became a steady, even rhythm. With Zach's arms tight around him - and they never relaxed, never slipped away in the night, no matter how deeply Zach slept, Chris pressed his lips to Zach's skin and whispered the words, "I love you."
And at some point, he realized he wanted Zach to hear them.
***
“Chris, close your eyes,” Zach was saying through the closed door of his apartment. “I have a surprise for you.”
Chris closed his eyes and called back, “Is it another guy? ‘Cause I’m not really into that. Unless, wait, is it Karl?”
He heard Zach’s key (Zach’s key!) in the lock and the door opening, then felt Zach’s body heat in front of him and a strong arm encircling his shoulders. “Is that a little fantasy of yours, Christopher?” Zach whispered in his ear. “’Cause, I’ve seen Karl after a few shots of tequila, and I’m pret-ty sure we could get him to do anything…”
Chris chuckled and pressed his lips blindly against Zach’s cheek, then pulled back quickly. “Wait, so, where’s my present?” he asked, his eyes still closed.
“Hold your- hold on a sec, okay, sheesh.” He maneuvered Chris across the room so he was seated on the couch, then told Chris to open his eyes.
Chris wasn’t sure what exactly he’d been expecting - roses, maybe? do guys even give each other roses? - but it sure as hell wasn’t Zach with a ridiculously goofy grin on his face holding what looked suspiciously like a mug. Chris raised an eyebrow. He’d had to close his eyes for a mug? But when he looked a little closer, he broke into his own goofy grin and took the mug from Zach’s hand with amazement. It was almost identical to the one he’d broken the week before - that is to say, it was ugly as sin and covered with pseudo-handpainted horses.
“How the fuck did you…?
Zach gestured to the rolled up paper sticking out of the top of the mug. Chris pulled it out, unrolled it, and started laughing as he realized what it was - a printout of PerezHilton featuring a paparazzi shot of Zach standing in a store, the horse mug clearly visible in his hand. The caption read “Zachary Quinto does some souvenir shopping in Venice Beach. And here we thought ZQ had more refined tastes. We sure hope that purchase is intended to be ironic, Zach!”
“Do you see what I do for you?”
Chris looked at the mug and shook his head. “I actually kinda hated that mug,” he mused.
“Yeah, well, now it’s your favorite mug.”
“Yeah it is.”
“There’s something else in it.”
Chris glanced inside the mug and his eyes lit up at the sight of a silver key. “’Bout time,” he drawled with a wink.
“Oh come on! You only gave me yours, like, four days ago.”
“Five. And I know you’re just giving me this so you can make me come over there and feed your animals when you’re gone.”
“I’m giving you this so I can come home to find you sprawled out naked on my bed.”
Chris tipped the mug to drop the key into his hand and stood up. “So, I’ll just head over there right now, then?” he asked with a grin.
Zach grabbed his hand and stood up. “I hear there’s a bedroom much closer.” He winked and pulled Chris in the right direction.
*
They spent the evening lounging in the living room, reading and sipping wine, interrupting only to make the occasional intellectual observation (and to poke each other. And one blowjob.) Chris was relatively relaxed, his spirit bolstered by the bullet he’d just dodged in the bedroom - namely, the way his mind had been saying “iloveyouiloveyouiloveyou”, but what came out of mouth was actually “guhhhhh”. But at the same time, he almost couldn’t wait to go back to bed, to wait until Zach was asleep so he could say it again. What if he just said it, right now, out loud? His stomach did a flip at the thought, and he could practically hear Zach’s voice accusing him of watching too many romantic comedies (and speaking of which, how many was too many, because it had become apparent that Chris was going to need to clear off a third shelf for his collection).
He took another sip of wine and pretended to read the script in front of him, as he pondered whether there was some other way, some manly way to say it. “I love your dick?” No, different meaning, and he was pretty sure he’d already said that to Zach anyway. “I more than like you?” That just sounded vague and wishy-washy. “I fucking love you?” Yeah, okay, maybe that was manly - or maybe it was one of those things you’re supposed to yell dramatically as your lover threatens to walk out the door into the rain. Chris’s stomach did another flip as he imagined fighting with Zach, and he put down the script and slid over to climb onto Zach’s lap and wrap his arms around him.
Zach set his wine down and hugged him back. “What’s this for?” he asked.
Chris shrugged. “The mug. The key. Just, us. This. Everything.”
Zach buried his face in Chris’s t-shirt. "I love you so fucking much, Chris."
Chris felt his heart swell in his chest and a smile spread across his face. Of course Zach would say it first, and of course Zach would figure out both the manliest and the most romantic way to say it. It was only right.
"I love you too, Zach."
"I know you do," Zach said, his hand sliding around to cup the back of Chris's head, tangling his fingers in his hair. He put his lips to Chris's ear. "You tell me every night."
***
"When did you first know you were in love with me? Do you remember?" They were lying tangled together on the couch, pleasantly buzzed on wine and sex, and it was a question Chris had wanted to ask since the night before.
"I do. I remember the exact words that you said that made me fall in love with you."
"Really?" Chris propped himself up on an elbow. "What'd I say?"
"You said, 'Chris Pine, nice to meet you’."
Chris looked skeptical but his lips quirked up in a half smile. "Shut up."
Zach leaned his head back against the couch. "Okay, maybe not exactly then."
"When, then? Come on, tell me."
"Would it be crude to say that the revelation came when you put your tongue in my ass?"
Chris curled his lip. "Yes."
"Fine. Let me see." He ran his fingers absently through Chris's hair as he mused.
"The first time you kissed me?"
"Before that. Before Lilo and Stitch. Before that night, maybe, I think."
"During filming?"
"During filming, you were a pain in my ass.”
"You loved me then, I know you did."
"I did, but not like that. Not like this."
“Publicity tour?”
“Nope. Though I may have had a little crush.”
“So when?”
“I don’t know, Chris,” Zach said, flustered. “It’s not like there was some big booming moment where some neon light lit up that said ‘You are now in love with Chris Pine’!”
“Incidentally, I’ve got a light like that. Found it at a yard sale. You want it?”
“I love you.”
“Does the phrase suffer from overuse, do you think?” Chris asked, smiling as he threaded their fingers together.
“You tell me. Apparently you’ve been saying it for weeks.”
He blushed. “Watch out. It’s addictive. I physically injured myself trying not to say it.”
Zach laughed. “You’re special.”
Chris stuck his tongue out, and Zach licked playfully at it, following it into Chris’s mouth for a leisurely kiss.
“You could have said it, you know,” Zach whispered when he finally pulled away. “I wouldn’t have freaked out.”
Chris shrugged. “I just…it seemed kind of like a big deal, you know? Like it warranted…a special occasion.”
“Or a mug.”
“Or a mug,” Chris agreed.
“So what about you? When did you realize you were in love with me?”
“When my tongue was in your ass.”
“Crude, Christopher.”
“I’m totally serious. It was an epiphany moment.”
“Maybe that’s the day we should celebrate our anniversary then,” Zach mused.
Chris sat up a little and looked at him with his eyes wide. “Our anniversary? Really? And you say I’m the adorable one?!”
Zach pretended to think for a moment. “Now, what day was that again?”
“January 17,” Chris responded automatically.
Zach tipped his head back and laughed. “Oh god, Chris, seriously. You don’t even know. You could kill baby pandas with that level of adorableness.”
“Shut up,” Chris mumbled as Zach snuggled him.
“I love you, Chris,” Zach whispered.
Chris closed his eyes and let himself relax into Zach’s chest with a happy sigh. “Zach?”
“Yeah?”
“It doesn’t suffer from overuse.”
Continue to the final chapter: Drink to This
Author: therumjournals
Fandom: Star Trek RPS
Pairing: Chris/Zach
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 5,700
Description: Fifth Installment of This is Us
Previously: Chris looked up at him groggily. "I did not profess my love to you."
"Didn't you?" Zach still had his eyes closed. "That must have been a dream I had, then."
A/N: I porned all over the beginning over this fic, and then I sapped all over the end of it. I don’t even know, you guys.
Chris threw a few more things into his backpack, zipped it up, and headed out the door, swinging his keys around a finger. He’d decided to walk to Zach’s, maybe give himself a little more time to calm his racing heart. Not that it was a big deal, or anything. Just, it was the first time he’d be staying over at Zach’s and the first time they’d really be spending time together since the day of their little “talk.” Five days later, he still blushed whenever he so much as thought the word “boyfriend,” and he hadn’t quite been able to bring himself to say it out loud.
Zach answered the door wearing a black t-shirt, jeans, and a fucking gorgeous smile.
“Hey.”
“Hey.” Chris grinned back at him. “Gonna invite me in?”
“Actually, I thought I’d just look at you for a while.”
“If that’s what you’re into, I think the life-size Captain Kirk cutouts are on sale at Costco.”
“Kirk’s not my type.”
“I am Kirk.”
“But you are not Kirk. Now are you going to get your ass in here, or are you gonna let the paps get a few more shots first?”
A look of terror crossed Chris’s face as he threw himself into the doorway, nearly tripping over Noah in the process. Zach shut the door and grinned at him. “Hey baby,” he said. “What’s in the backpack?”
“Nothin’. Just some clothes and stuff,” Chris said, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck.
“Oh my god, you a packed a bag for our little sleepover?” Zach shook his head, grinning. “I’m not going to say it Chris, but you know what I’m thinking.”
“Shut up,” Chris said, punching him lightly in the shoulder and letting Zach pull him into a loose hug.
“So, what did you have planned for tonight?” Chris asked.
“I was thinking I would make you some dinner - I got stuff for fajitas - and then maybe we could watch a mmffff-“ Chris cut him off with a kiss, surprising himself. He forgetting how much he wanted to do that now that he could, kept thinking that they’d just be hanging out, chatting and watching movies like they had in the past. He knew it wasn’t just physical with Zach, but in the time they’d known each other, they’d done far too much talking and nowhere near enough kissing, and it all still felt so fucking good and new. When it came down to it, he just wasn’t ready to be in the same room with Zach and not, well, not do this.
“On the other hand,” Zach was panting, “I was also thinking we could spend the evening making some serious in-roads into the gay kama sutra.”
“Yeah,” Chris breathed. “That sounds like a better plan.”
“Yeah? You’re not intimidated?”
“Hell no. I can give as good as I get.”
Zach pinned him against the wall with an arm across his chest, pressing their erections together and sliding a hand up Chris’s shirt. “Oh yeah,” he asked, kissing and biting at Chris’s jaw. “And tonight would you rather (bite) give (lick) or (kissbitelick) get?” He finished the question with a well-timed thrust of his pelvis.
“Guh,” was Chris’s completely unhelpful response.
“What was that?” Zach asked, spreading his palms over Chris’s ass.
“Guh…get, Zach, Jesus, get, get.”
Zach slid his hands down to get a better grip over Chris’s tight jeans, rubbing his fingers hard between his legs, practically pressing into him despite the layer of fabric between them. “Yeah? That what you want?”
“Ffffuck, Zach,” Chris groaned, squirming against him, pushing back against his fingers. “Want you so bad, want you to fuck me.”
Zach captured his mouth in another kiss before yanking him away from the wall and pulling him into the bedroom. Chris was breathless with need as he stripped off his clothes and threw himself onto the bed. It occurred to him briefly that this was the first time he’d ever actually been on Zach’s bed, and he considered that maybe he should treat this milestone with a bit more ceremony, but he quickly dismissed that thought in favor of rubbing his aching erection against Zach’s expensive sheets. He felt a warm hand on his hip as Zach stretched his naked body across Chris’s back, and a warm huff of breath against his ear as Zach whispered, “I am going to fucking worship your ass.”
Chris groaned into a pillow and let Zach maneuver him into position, light touches across his hips and abs and lower back guiding him until he was on his hands and knees. His whole body twitched in surprise as Zach pressed a damp kiss to the top of Chris’s crack, and slowly dragged his tongue upward along his spine. Chris forced himself to stay still, steadied by the firm hands on his hips as Zach licked his way back down. Chris shuddered as Zach scraped his teeth across the smooth planes of his lower back and gasped when Zach bit down hard on his left ass cheek.
“Okay?” Zach murmured, swiping his tongue across the marks that he’d left.
“Uh huh,” Chris managed, though what he meant was fuck yes, keep doing that. Zach seemed to understand, repeating the gesture on the other cheek - the sudden sharp press of teeth, followed by that soothing tongue. Then Zach’s hands were on him, massaging him, brushing his fingers tantalizingly over the most sensitive area, and Chris pushed back against his palms. Then Zach’s tongue was back against the cleft of his ass, only this time he was dragging it downwards and spreading his ass cheeks open with his hands and holy fuck. Chris keened and jumped forward a few feet, slamming his head into the headboard when Zach’s tongue pressed lightly against his entrance.
Zach laughed and pulled him back by his hips. “Everything okay?” he asked, tucking his chin against Chris’s shoulder.
“Zach,” Chris wheezed, “fucking keep doing that.”
“You sure?” Zach asked, kissing his neck, “I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”
“’m gonna hurt you if you don’t keep doing that,” Chris growled and turned his head to catch Zach’s mouth in a hot, desperate kiss, before releasing him and letting him return to his place of worship.
This time, Zach didn’t mess around, swiping his tongue once across Chris’s hole and then plunging it immediately inside. Chris tried to stay still as he felt the hot muscle of Zach’s tongue work its way into him, sliding against sensitive nerve endings. He drew in a ragged breath as Zach fucked him with his tongue, thrusting into and out of him, plunging in farther than Chris would have thought possible. He felt as though every part of him had gone completely numb, except for the burst of fiery pleasure as Zach worked him over, sliding his tongue out to lick and suck at the skin around his hole. Chris was using all of his strength to hold himself up off the mattress, knowing that the slightest pressure on his cock would set him off. And he fucking wanted this to last forever.
Zach pulled away for a moment to catch his breath, but Chris could barely tell, as Zach’s hot, almost frantic gasps ghosted over his ass, sending shivers up his spine. He felt Zach rub the slick tip of his cock across his entrance, messy and desperate.
“Zach, fuck, want your cock so bad,” Chris moaned, pressing back, ready, waiting. But then Zach pulled himself away with a groan that said it had taken all of his willpower to do so, as he stretched across the bed, reaching for a condom from the nightstand.
He stopped to thread his fingers through Chris’s hair, giving him an apologetic smile, and pulling him into a deep kiss. Chris leaned into him, tangling with that dangerous tongue, until they remembered their aching cocks and pulled apart with renewed purpose.
Zach was back down the bed in seconds, sliding on the condom and taking hold of Chris’s hips. Chris relaxed a little, letting Zach hold him still as he nudged the head of his cock against Chris’s entrance. They took a breath together and Zach said “fuck” and pressed inside.
Chris was eager, and he knew Zach was too, but he could practically feel the restraint radiating from Zach’s body as he tried to draw out the pleasure. Zach pressed in slowly, filling him, and Chris gasped at the unexpected sensation when Zach ran his thumbs around Chris’s stretched hole. How Zach was managing not to pound into him like a fucking jackhammer, Chris had no idea, but the image of that alone had him choking out “Zach, please.” Zach slowly let go of his self-control, sliding back and pressing forward in one smooth motion, then another thrust that rocked Chris forward and set off fireworks in his groin. He tried to turn his head to see Zach’s face, but it was too much effort and he let his head drop forward again. “Zach, talk to me.”
“Fuck, Chris, feels so fucking good, ohhh fuck,” he stuttered as he pumped his hips faster, “so fucking hot watching you take my cock.”
Chris shuddered as Zach shifted and slammed into him at an angle that had him seeing stars. He felt Zach reaching for him - “Zach, don’t touch me, I swear to god, I’m so close-“
“Fuck Chris” - Chris felt fingers digging into his hip as he rode out the final, frantic thrusts, until at the last second, he felt Zach’s fingers wrap around his length. He came hard across Zach’s fist and sheets, a full-body climax that shook him to his core, so that his brain barely registered the words as he gasped them out, “I love you”, pulled from his throat as Zach came with a shout behind him.
Chris dropped onto the mattress, drained, and Zach collapsed beside him. Oh god, that had been so amazing, he still felt like he was in the middle of an orgasm, what had Zach done to him, some kind tantric fucking yoga thing? Chris was so blissed out that it took a few minutes for him to remember…something. What had happened there at the end? He was coming and Zach was shouting and he was telling Zach that he loved him - oh fuck. Chris squeezed his eyes shut, then risked a glance at Zach, who was sweaty and splayed out beside him, hair falling into his eyes as he managed a tired grin in Chris’s direction. Good lord, no fucking wonder he’d said that, it was a surprise he’d held off this long in the face of that gorgeous body. But fuck, fuck! - he couldn’t just say that! They weren’t even close to saying that! At least Zach hadn’t heard - that much was obvious by the way Zach wasn’t giving him shit about it right now. That knowledge, and few deep breaths, helped Chris calm himself down enough to drift into a light sleep beside Zach.
He woke up thirty minutes later, yanking himself out of a dream in which he’d said something to someone that had left him with a nervous fluttery feeling in the pit of his stomach. Zach was waking up too, smiling at him, and the words flashed through Chris’s head and it all came back to him and yep, there was that fluttery feeling after all. He dragged himself out of the bed and across the hall, passing Noah and Harold on the way, watching him from their prone positions right outside the bedroom door.
“Well, that’s only mildly disturbing,” Chris muttered, as he walked into the bathroom. He’d have to have a talk with Zach about his animals’ unhealthy interest in their sex life.
In the bathroom, he splashed some cold water over his face and made a face at himself in the mirror. He shook himself out of it, stood, and stretched, checking himself out, trying to see what Zach saw.
“Hey Zach!” he yelled across the hallway, “I have bitemarks on my ass!” His voice betrayed a mix of pride and a little excitement as he strained to get a better look.
“Do they spell out ‘Property of Zachary Quinto’? ‘Cause that’s what I was going for,” Zach called back from the bed.
“That’s weird, it looks like you accidentally spelled out ‘Property of Karl Urban’ instead,” Chris said, laughing.
“Get your ass back in here,” Zach yelled. “Or should I say my ass?”
Chris wandered back into the room with a grin on his face.
“Hey, Zach?”
“Yeah?”
“Did you put a new toothbrush out on the sink for me?”
“Yeah. I put out a towel for you, too.”
“Zach.” Chris climbed onto the bed on all fours and hovered over him. “You are so fucking adorable.”
He leaned down to kiss him, but not before he caught a glimpse of the blush creeping over Zach’s cheeks.
Zach returned the kiss and pulled back with an eyebrow raised. “I’m a good host. I do that for all my guests.”
“Is that what I am, a guest?” Chris asked, teasing.
“Why, what do you think you are, huh?”
Now it was Chris’s turn to blush. “Shut up. You know.”
“Do I? I knew you wouldn’t want to say it. Come on, what? What are you?” He ran his hands up Chris’s sides until Chris gave an unmanly squeak and fell sideways onto the mattress. Zach slid down, planting kisses across his bare skin on the way.
“What are you doing?”
“Just doing a little editing.” He bit and licked at Chris, avoiding his thrashing legs. Finally, he dragged himself up with a smile.
Chris smiled back at him, panting. “What’s it say now?” he laughed.
“Zachary Quinto’s boyfriend.”
*
They did eat fajitas, after that. Zach cooked in his yoga pants and nothing else while Chris drank a Corona and ogled him. It was 11:30 when they finally ate, and Chris made sure to show his appreciation for the food by moaning orgasmically through his quacamole. By the time their plates were clean, he was pretty sure Zach was ready to jump him across the table, if the look in his eyes was any indication.
“So,” Zach said, standing up from the table and reaching out to pull Chris up from his chair. He wrapped his arms loosely around Chris’s waist and rested their foreheads together. “Orgasm then sleep, or movie then sleep?”
“Why can’t we have movie, then orgasm, then sleep?”
“Because I know you, Chris Pine, and there is no way you’re going to make it through an entire movie cuddled on the couch with me without falling asleep.”
“Mmmm,” Chris murmured, the idea of watching a movie in Zach’s arms sending an unexpected flood of warmth through him, as he ran his fingers through Zach’s hair and pressed a kiss to his lips.
“What about orgasm during movie, followed immediately by sleep?”
Zach chuckled, nodded in agreement and pulled Chris by the hand into the living room.
They sprawled together along the length of the couch, Zach reaching an arm around Chris’s waist to stroke him lazily as they watched. Chris moaned happily as the forces of alcohol and sleepy contentment fought for his surrender, while the feeling of Zach’s fist around his cock reminded him of the benefits of staying awake just for a bit longer. After a little while, he was almost surprised to hear the ragged sound of his own breathing and to feel his hips bucking, then almost without warning he was tensing, and his head dropped back onto the cushions as he came. He turned to face Zach with a lazy smile, kissed him over his complaints that he was trying to watch the movie, and slipped a hand beneath his waistband to return the favor. Zach laughed as Chris try to stifle a yawn, but he managed to stay awake long enough to make Zach writhe under his touch, bringing him to a shuddering climax between their bellies. Chris nuzzled into Zach’s chest and fell asleep before he could say another word.
***
Chris was emptying his dishwasher late in the afternoon when Zach called.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Hey, so, I was just in the area and I was wondering if I could stop by.”
“Zach, I left your house 6 hours ago.”
“So? I’m not doing anything.”
"Really? You don't need, um, space or anything?" He pulled a mug out of the dishwasher.
He heard Zach chuckle. "Space? No, I don't need space. What I need is your lips wrapped around my cock.”
The mug slipped from Chris’s hand and shattered on the floor. “Shit, Zach, you can’t just say things like that!”
"Why, are you blushing?"
"No." It was just a little warm in the kitchen, that's all. He looked at the shattered pieces on the floor with a frown. "That was my favorite mug."
"Was it the one with the horses on it? Because good riddance."
"Shut up, my sister got that for me!"
“It had horses on it.”
“It had good balance,” Chris mumbled, but he couldn’t help but smile about the fact that Zach knew which one his favorite mug was, regardless of his opinion of it.
“I’ll buy you a new one. So can I come over?”
“So, this is, like, a booty call, right?”
“I think it ceases to be a booty call when you’re actually dating. You know, when it’s your…come on, say it, Chris…”
“No.”
“Come on!”
“Boyfriend,” Chris mumbled.
“You love me.”
“Bye Zach.”
“See you soon.”
“Don’t forget the wine.”
*
He came while his mouth was otherwise occupied with Zach’s cock, and thank god, because it felt so fucking good that he wasn’t sure he could have stopped himself from saying those words again. His relief lasted through most of the bottle of red wine and half a boring indie movie, before Zach was pumping two fingers into his ass and he came so hard he had to shove a pillow into his mouth so Zach wouldn’t hear the “I love you” spill from his lips.
“Hey. Chris? You okay there, buddy? Did you forget to breathe?”
“’m fine,” Chris said, coughing because he wasn’t okay and he actually had forgotten to breathe. He had to stop doing that. How was it that he could barely choke out the word boyfriend and yet “I love you” was falling out left and right. He wondered if Zach would find gagging him kinky, because that was what it was going to take, it seemed. Well, that or to stop having orgasms altogether, which was completely out of the question. He smiled weakly at Zach and consoled himself with the fact that at least he only said it during sex.
***
He said it three more times that week - each time following a mind-blowing orgasm, twice into pillows and once with his thighs clamped firmly over Zach’s ears. Once, he actually managed to stop himself from saying it, albeit in a rather painful way that left teeth marks visible on his forearm for days. And he’d decided he could deal, could mitigate the risk of discovery, as long as he knew the pattern - orgasm, then “I love you.” He could deal, that is, until he woke up one night and found himself mumbling the words into Zach’s t-shirt with, as far as he could tell, no orgasmic prelude whatsoever. Fuck.
***
Chris gradually became aware of an incessant banging sound coming from somewhere outside his room. He rubbed his eyes and squinted at the clock. 5:30 AM. Someone was about to get the shit kicked out of them for waking him up, and he had the distinct feeling that it was going to be a Mr. Zachary Quinto. By the time he dragged himself out of bed and into the living room, the knocks had slowed to one every three seconds or so, interspersed with a mumbled “Le’ me in.” He checked the peephole but couldn’t see anything - then he realized that was because Zach was leaning his forehead against the door. He was wondering if Zach had maybe passed out right there in the hallway when there was another weak knock. He pulled the door open, catching Zach as he practically fell into the room.
“What the fuck, Zach?”
“Hi baby,” Zach mumbled into his shoulder.
“Are you drunk?”
“’m not drunk. Tired.” He pulled away from Chris and collapsed onto the sofa.
“No, no, no,” Chris said, grabbing his hand and yanking him upright. “Come on, you can make it all the way to the bed.” He dragged him into the bedroom, tugging Zach’s clothes off as they went. He smelled like perfume and leather and - was that lipstick on his cheek? “Um, Zach? What were you doing?”
“I made a friend,” said Zach, falling onto the bed. “’s Madonna.”
“Okay, Zach. If you say so.”
“Tell you in the morning. Need to sleep.” He held his arm out and Chris slid under it and pulled the covers over them. The last thing Zach said before he drifted off to sleep was “Smells like strawberries in here.”
The last thing Chris said, after he was sure that Zach was sleeping, was a whispered “I love you” into his hair.
*
“Where’re you going?” Zach mumbled, as Chris extracted himself from the bed. It was 10:30 and Chris had officially slept for 12 hours, while Zach had been out until all hours partying with - well, who knows, given that it was Zach, it probably was fucking Madonna.
“I’ll be right back, just have to run a few errands.” He dressed and slipped quietly out of the apartment.
Zach woke up at 12:30, showered, dressed (in Chris’s clothes) and spent the next thirty minutes jumping around the apartment whooping while Chris made him pancakes.
“Oh my GOD, Chris, I can’t fucking BELIEVE I was hanging out with MADONNA!!! Oh my god, I was so fucking chill, you should have seen me - well, you would have seen right through me, but I didn’t freak out AT ALL, oh my god, AHHHHHHH!!” He jumped onto the arm of the couch and collapsed across it with a ridiculous grin on his face.
Chris was smiling at him tolerantly from the kitchen as he flipped pancakes from the griddle onto a plate.
“That’s great, Tom Cruise. You want syrup on these pancakes or what?”
Zach came in and Chris handed him the plate. He kept talking through his pancakes. “And Chris, it was so crazy, there were like all these people - oh my god, these pancakes are amazing!” He leaned forward to give Chris a sticky peck on the cheek before he continued. “These people, like, standing around us watching us have a conversation, it was totally surreal.”
“So, has she seen Star Trek?” Chris asked, leaning against the counter and taking a sip of coffee.
“Um, I don’t know. We didn’t really talk about me.”
“So you just basically worshipped at her feet.”
“Oh please, like you would do anything differently?”
“Luckily, we’ll never find out.”
“Well, she does want to meet you.”
Chris raised an eyebrow. “I thought you didn’t talk about you.”
“I had to stop her from hitting on me somehow.”
“Shut up.” Chris hid his smile behind his coffee cup and aimed a kick at Zach’s shin.
“I didn’t want to tell her who you really were though, so I kinda told her that my boyfriend’s name is, um, Kirk.”
Chris choked on his coffee. “Kirk?! Are you crazy? Why didn’t you just tell her my name was Tiberius, that would have been subtle.”
“Shut up, okay, I had to think fast! Would you rather I told her that my boyfriend’s name was Christopher Whitelaw Pine?”
“You basically did,” Chris muttered into his coffee, but he still had a smile in his eyes. “Oh. Speaking of which.” He set his coffee down and reached into his back pocket.
“Speaking of what?”
“Speaking of…you know…being your…you know…”
“My bitch?”
“Ass. Your boyfriend, okay? Happy now? Here, I got you this.” He handed Zach a silver key.
“Oh my god, Chris, is this the key to your heart?!”
“No, Taylor Swift, it’s the key to my apartment. And it comes with the very important responsibility of never, ever, ever waking me up between the hours of 2:00 and 6:00 AM to make me open the door for your dumb, Madonna-worshipping ass. Got it?”
The last two words were muffled in Zach’s neck, because he was enveloped in a smothering Zach-hug that squeezed the breath out of him and smelled like maple syrup. He decided to stay there for a while.
***
It was easy to say it at night, he found, to whisper it on the edge of sleep, easy to wait until Zach's breaths became a steady, even rhythm. With Zach's arms tight around him - and they never relaxed, never slipped away in the night, no matter how deeply Zach slept, Chris pressed his lips to Zach's skin and whispered the words, "I love you."
And at some point, he realized he wanted Zach to hear them.
***
“Chris, close your eyes,” Zach was saying through the closed door of his apartment. “I have a surprise for you.”
Chris closed his eyes and called back, “Is it another guy? ‘Cause I’m not really into that. Unless, wait, is it Karl?”
He heard Zach’s key (Zach’s key!) in the lock and the door opening, then felt Zach’s body heat in front of him and a strong arm encircling his shoulders. “Is that a little fantasy of yours, Christopher?” Zach whispered in his ear. “’Cause, I’ve seen Karl after a few shots of tequila, and I’m pret-ty sure we could get him to do anything…”
Chris chuckled and pressed his lips blindly against Zach’s cheek, then pulled back quickly. “Wait, so, where’s my present?” he asked, his eyes still closed.
“Hold your- hold on a sec, okay, sheesh.” He maneuvered Chris across the room so he was seated on the couch, then told Chris to open his eyes.
Chris wasn’t sure what exactly he’d been expecting - roses, maybe? do guys even give each other roses? - but it sure as hell wasn’t Zach with a ridiculously goofy grin on his face holding what looked suspiciously like a mug. Chris raised an eyebrow. He’d had to close his eyes for a mug? But when he looked a little closer, he broke into his own goofy grin and took the mug from Zach’s hand with amazement. It was almost identical to the one he’d broken the week before - that is to say, it was ugly as sin and covered with pseudo-handpainted horses.
“How the fuck did you…?
Zach gestured to the rolled up paper sticking out of the top of the mug. Chris pulled it out, unrolled it, and started laughing as he realized what it was - a printout of PerezHilton featuring a paparazzi shot of Zach standing in a store, the horse mug clearly visible in his hand. The caption read “Zachary Quinto does some souvenir shopping in Venice Beach. And here we thought ZQ had more refined tastes. We sure hope that purchase is intended to be ironic, Zach!”
“Do you see what I do for you?”
Chris looked at the mug and shook his head. “I actually kinda hated that mug,” he mused.
“Yeah, well, now it’s your favorite mug.”
“Yeah it is.”
“There’s something else in it.”
Chris glanced inside the mug and his eyes lit up at the sight of a silver key. “’Bout time,” he drawled with a wink.
“Oh come on! You only gave me yours, like, four days ago.”
“Five. And I know you’re just giving me this so you can make me come over there and feed your animals when you’re gone.”
“I’m giving you this so I can come home to find you sprawled out naked on my bed.”
Chris tipped the mug to drop the key into his hand and stood up. “So, I’ll just head over there right now, then?” he asked with a grin.
Zach grabbed his hand and stood up. “I hear there’s a bedroom much closer.” He winked and pulled Chris in the right direction.
*
They spent the evening lounging in the living room, reading and sipping wine, interrupting only to make the occasional intellectual observation (and to poke each other. And one blowjob.) Chris was relatively relaxed, his spirit bolstered by the bullet he’d just dodged in the bedroom - namely, the way his mind had been saying “iloveyouiloveyouiloveyou”, but what came out of mouth was actually “guhhhhh”. But at the same time, he almost couldn’t wait to go back to bed, to wait until Zach was asleep so he could say it again. What if he just said it, right now, out loud? His stomach did a flip at the thought, and he could practically hear Zach’s voice accusing him of watching too many romantic comedies (and speaking of which, how many was too many, because it had become apparent that Chris was going to need to clear off a third shelf for his collection).
He took another sip of wine and pretended to read the script in front of him, as he pondered whether there was some other way, some manly way to say it. “I love your dick?” No, different meaning, and he was pretty sure he’d already said that to Zach anyway. “I more than like you?” That just sounded vague and wishy-washy. “I fucking love you?” Yeah, okay, maybe that was manly - or maybe it was one of those things you’re supposed to yell dramatically as your lover threatens to walk out the door into the rain. Chris’s stomach did another flip as he imagined fighting with Zach, and he put down the script and slid over to climb onto Zach’s lap and wrap his arms around him.
Zach set his wine down and hugged him back. “What’s this for?” he asked.
Chris shrugged. “The mug. The key. Just, us. This. Everything.”
Zach buried his face in Chris’s t-shirt. "I love you so fucking much, Chris."
Chris felt his heart swell in his chest and a smile spread across his face. Of course Zach would say it first, and of course Zach would figure out both the manliest and the most romantic way to say it. It was only right.
"I love you too, Zach."
"I know you do," Zach said, his hand sliding around to cup the back of Chris's head, tangling his fingers in his hair. He put his lips to Chris's ear. "You tell me every night."
***
"When did you first know you were in love with me? Do you remember?" They were lying tangled together on the couch, pleasantly buzzed on wine and sex, and it was a question Chris had wanted to ask since the night before.
"I do. I remember the exact words that you said that made me fall in love with you."
"Really?" Chris propped himself up on an elbow. "What'd I say?"
"You said, 'Chris Pine, nice to meet you’."
Chris looked skeptical but his lips quirked up in a half smile. "Shut up."
Zach leaned his head back against the couch. "Okay, maybe not exactly then."
"When, then? Come on, tell me."
"Would it be crude to say that the revelation came when you put your tongue in my ass?"
Chris curled his lip. "Yes."
"Fine. Let me see." He ran his fingers absently through Chris's hair as he mused.
"The first time you kissed me?"
"Before that. Before Lilo and Stitch. Before that night, maybe, I think."
"During filming?"
"During filming, you were a pain in my ass.”
"You loved me then, I know you did."
"I did, but not like that. Not like this."
“Publicity tour?”
“Nope. Though I may have had a little crush.”
“So when?”
“I don’t know, Chris,” Zach said, flustered. “It’s not like there was some big booming moment where some neon light lit up that said ‘You are now in love with Chris Pine’!”
“Incidentally, I’ve got a light like that. Found it at a yard sale. You want it?”
“I love you.”
“Does the phrase suffer from overuse, do you think?” Chris asked, smiling as he threaded their fingers together.
“You tell me. Apparently you’ve been saying it for weeks.”
He blushed. “Watch out. It’s addictive. I physically injured myself trying not to say it.”
Zach laughed. “You’re special.”
Chris stuck his tongue out, and Zach licked playfully at it, following it into Chris’s mouth for a leisurely kiss.
“You could have said it, you know,” Zach whispered when he finally pulled away. “I wouldn’t have freaked out.”
Chris shrugged. “I just…it seemed kind of like a big deal, you know? Like it warranted…a special occasion.”
“Or a mug.”
“Or a mug,” Chris agreed.
“So what about you? When did you realize you were in love with me?”
“When my tongue was in your ass.”
“Crude, Christopher.”
“I’m totally serious. It was an epiphany moment.”
“Maybe that’s the day we should celebrate our anniversary then,” Zach mused.
Chris sat up a little and looked at him with his eyes wide. “Our anniversary? Really? And you say I’m the adorable one?!”
Zach pretended to think for a moment. “Now, what day was that again?”
“January 17,” Chris responded automatically.
Zach tipped his head back and laughed. “Oh god, Chris, seriously. You don’t even know. You could kill baby pandas with that level of adorableness.”
“Shut up,” Chris mumbled as Zach snuggled him.
“I love you, Chris,” Zach whispered.
Chris closed his eyes and let himself relax into Zach’s chest with a happy sigh. “Zach?”
“Yeah?”
“It doesn’t suffer from overuse.”
Continue to the final chapter: Drink to This