What do you guys think of Darren as Hedwig? 😍
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It's terribly difficult to pack his last bag, Joe thinks that next morning as he shoves his last bottle of hair gel inside before zipping it shut. He stares, unblinking, at his bare mattress and his empty desk. This room had become Joe's second home, a home away from home. He had changed so very much as a person inside these walls and it's hard to think about leaving it all behind, if only for a few months.
He turns his attention to Caspar.
Beautiful Caspar, wrapped up in his sheets, clutching the pillow where Joe's head had rested the night before. The skin of his naked torso glows in the morning sunlight and Joe already misses touching that skin, kissing and caressing.
Caspar's side of the room is in complete disarray; boxes and suitcases are stacked haphazardly atop one another, some shoved under the bed and others crowding his desk area. He would be leaving later this afternoon, long after Joe himself departs.
Joe drops his last bag onto the floor and seats himself on the edge of Caspar's bed. Still asleep, Caspar curls into his warmth, nuzzling Joe's thigh with his nose. Joe smiles easily and cards his fingers through Caspar's soft, messy hair as he thinks back to last night.
"How often do you think I'll get to see you over the summer?" Joe had asked as they crawled into Caspar's bed. "We'll be so far apart."
"We'll make it work," Caspar had assured him, tucking Joe's head under his chin. "It won't be that bad."
"We'll be two hours away from each other," Joe had said.
"The drive will be worth it," Caspar had whispered, kissing the top of Joe's head.
Joe sighed into the night, relaxing into Caspar's arms and shuffling closer to him underneath the blankets. He breathed in the familiar scent of Caspar and his sheets and his shower fresh skin. How is he supposed to survive so many months without Caspar in his bed?
"I'm going to miss you so much," Joe had said softly.
"I'm going to miss you too," Caspar had replied. "But we're not saying goodbye. Never goodbye."
"No," Joe had agreed before his eyes became too sleepy to remain open. "Never goodbye."
Caspar had kept his promise to Joe's father and they had not had sex last night. Honestly, Joe's pretty sure they were both far too exhausted from yesterday's drama to even consider sex. Instead, Joe had slept restlessly, waking in the middle of the night to assure himself that Caspar was still there and he still had a few hours left before he had to slink out of his arms and finish his last bit of packing.
Ten o'clock was on the horizon. Joe cups Caspar's face and leans down to press a kiss to his cheek.
Caspar stirs. His eyes are bleary but he smiles when he sees Joe.
"You have to leave, don't you?" Caspar asks, voice scratchy from disuse.
"Yeah," Joe nods, fingers still entwined in Caspar's hair. "I do."
"Text me when you get to your dad's house," Caspar instructs and Joe notices how Caspar refuses to use the word 'home' because maybe home wasn't home anymore.
Maybe this was home now. Right here, on a thin, dormitory mattress with two young hearts as the morning rays of light filtered into the room.
"I will," Joe whispers, kissing Caspar on the lips, heedless of his morning breath.
He stands and Caspar catches his hand.
"I love you," Caspar says.
Oh.
