I adored you Madly, Extravagantly, Absurdly.

Chapter 32

"We thus remained for some time in a state of overpowering delirium, feeling, every instant, a more rapturous, maddening pleasure in each other's kisses, which kept goading us on to madness by increasing that heat which they could not allay, and by stimulating that hunger they could not appease." Teleny 117

After escorting a fuming Regulus to his bedroom last night, Barty grabbed a few of his clothes and left the manor. His body pulsated with anger and the need to punch James's relatives until their pretty faces matched their characters.

Instead of giving in to this impulse, he walked the short way to Evan's cottage. He ranted and muttered about what happened while Evan made tea for him. He kissed him then and told him to go to bed, or he would throw him out again. Barty hadn't noticed how late it was.

So, today, Barty wakes up in the small bedroom of his lover. The cottages on the estate, where some of the servants and their families live, are nothing special. They are neither fancy nor run down. They are neither modern nor falling apart. They are just homes. It feels like a regular home of a twenty-something-year-old man. Barty grew to like it.

He wakes in the early morning, lying on a soft pillow. The missing silk covering doesn't matter. He rolls to his back and feels around on the mattress, hoping to find Evan somewhere, but the man is gone.

The door opens.

"Hey, Richie," Evan says softly, "wake up."

"Richie?" Barty mumbles and frowns without opening his eyes.

"Only rich people could possibly sleep this long. I made breakfast for you."

Barty slowly sits up and looks at the man. He is already fully dressed and holds a tray with tea and scrambled eggs.

"It's not exactly Poppy-level of good breakfast, but you'll live... I think."

"Thank you," Barty reaches for the tray. "Won't you breakfast with me?"

Evan sits on the bed next to him. "I already ate two hours ago. I can't stay too long. As soon as the family finished breakfast, I have to take them to the station. Lord James said, if I accidentally drop their luggage into the mud a few times, I get a bonus."

Barty whistles, impressed. "My, my. I need to know what else was said about Reg in that drawing room that Sunshine Jamsie gives such orders. You know, most of the time, I don't understand what Reg sees in him, but then he goes all protective over him, and I think – Okay, now I get it."

"Do I have to be worried that you'll start trying to fuck Lord James now?"

Barty smirks and leans over to kiss his cheek. "No. I don't care what Reg says, I don't believe he fucks, you know? You fuck."

Evan chuckles. "Great, good to know what your loyalty hinges on."

"No, not on that," he says, looking at his breakfast. "This is good."

"It better be. I'll teach you how to do it one day."

"How romantic. But I live in a house with a cook, Evan. I don't need to know how to cook for myself."

"But you're poor for now. Poor men need to know how to cook."

"I'm not that poor."

"Yes, you are. And, you never know, maybe you won't always live in a house with a cook."

"Reg would never throw me out. He needs me to gossip about James."

Evan sighs, exasperated. "God, you are stupid. Why do I like you again?"