bubbly [richel]

1

I gave myself diabetes writing this, I suffer for you guys, you're welcome lol :v

🥂

Richy 💖🌈:
Happy New Year's Eve, babe, missing you more every day <3

Joey 💜✨:
Happy New Year's Eve!!! I can't believe we've been apart for 13 days...it can't go by fast enough :(

Richy 💖🌈:
What are you doing tonight?

Joey 💜✨:
I don't really have any plans, I'll probably just hang out here with my family. You?

Richy 💖🌈:
Might go out or something, idk. I'd rather be with you though...

Joel sighs. Richard doesn't know it bothers him when he goes out to clubs, because he does a good job of hiding how he feels about it. But the truth is, it always sends a twinge of jealousy through him to think about how he's surrounded by so many people, both girls and guys, that could all want to try something with him. You'd have to be blind not to find Richard attractive, and Joel doesn't like the thought of anyone else getting close to his boyfriend. Not at all.

He's never tried to stop Richard from doing it, though. He's young and he deserves to have fun, and anyway, he trusts him. It's other people he doesn't trust. So whenever Richard goes out, Joel always lies awake in bed, tossing and turning uneasily until he comes back and he can sleep easily at his side.

He misses sleeping at Richard's side. His bed always feels cold without him.

Joel can't quite pin down why, but he doesn't feel like celebrating this New Year's. He'd been working so hard up until this vacation, with hardly a second to rest, so theoretically he should be enjoying every second he has to relax. But his little house filled with family members starts to make him claustrophobic, and he finds himself counting down the days until he can go back to work...and go back to Richard.

Fondling the blue-green stone on the necklace Richard had gotten him, he picks up his phone to respond to his message.

Joey 💜✨:
I'd rather be with you too...

After pressing send, he plugs his phone in, suddenly deciding to go for a walk. Maybe some fresh air will help him feel better.

🥂

Richard scrolls through the pictures he has on his phone of him and Joel together, smiling to himself at every memory. Since they'd started dating, he's had kind of an obsession for taking pictures with him, or just of Joel by himself. He loves the way the camera makes Joel all shy, always trying to hide behind Richard's shoulder or make a funny face. But he doesn't even need to look at the pictures to confirm it: he has the most beautiful boyfriend on the face of the earth.

Without a doubt, the best pictures are the ones where he'd managed to catch Joel smiling. That smile replays in his mind all day long.

Just then, he feels a tug at his pant leg, and he looks down to see his daughter looking up at him, arms raised. He grins, picking her up to cradle her in his arms.

"What did I do to get so lucky, Alawi?" he croons, giving her a noisy kiss on the forehead. She lets out a little giggle, putting her tiny hands on his scruffy face. "Not only do I get to be the dad of the most beautiful princess in the world, I also get to be in love with the most amazing guy I could imagine."

Aaliyah makes a face; apparently she doesn't like having to share her dad.

But that doesn't stop Richard from having a little moment of gratitude. Yes, he went through a lot of difficult stuff in 2018, but the good definitely outweighs the bad...in large part thanks to Joel.

He doesn't even realize until a few minutes later that he'd said he was in love.

🥂

The California sunlight and the light breeze outside do help Joel to think straight, at least a little bit. He can feel some tension leave his body, making him a little lighter. In a way, it's just a relief to get some alone time.

He feels bad for wanting to get away from his family. He loves them all, of course, he loves them a lot. But they can also get a little overwhelming.

As he strolls the streets where he'd grown up, every crack of the sidewalk so familiar, his thoughts wander. He thinks about the past year and how much has changed in his life. He'd gone from never even having considered being in a relationship to figuring out he was gay and starting to date one of his fellow band members...and best friends. It had all happened in the blink of an eye, and part of him isn't even sure it's real.

But no. Richard is real. He's the most real thing he has.

Joel feels so lucky to have a family and friends that are so accepting of him the way he is. He knows not everyone has that good fortune. He knows that he has a good life.

So is it too much to ask the universe to end the year the way he wants to? Is that greedy?

Well, is it?

Before he knows it, he's stopped, standing still in the middle of the sidewalk, Googling flights to Miami. He wants to end the year with Richard at his side. Suddenly, he just knows it. He has to.

He knows his family is supportive of him...but he doubts they'll be particularly supportive of what he's about to do.