(Some background info) This is an AU where Childe is a popstar , and Zhongli is attending his concert .
PS I started crying while writing this chapter bc of how absolutely adorable I made it. I WANT WHAT THEY HAVE SO BADLYYY)(Yeah forget the edit i made here it never existed)
Zhongli sat in his office peacefully working on business files. He sighed in boredom, as any other boss or high-ranking official would with so much work on their hands. His hands cramped from the rigorous typing he did constantly. off in the corner of his desk.
"Must be a work call.." Zhongli thought to himself, picking it up to observe the contact name.
To his surprise, this was no work call, quite the opposite indeed.
The name CHILDE was displayed across the phone screen, it had a single red heart emoji sitting next to it naturally.
"Finally... I was starting to think the show was about to get canceled last minute." Zhongli speculated, relieved at the thought that his husband was calling instead of another company manager complaining about anything and everything.
He accepted the call quickly, starting with a simple, "Hello?"
"Hey, babe! The concert is rescheduled for eight PM instead of six PM! Are you gonna be able to make it ?!" Ajax yelled, having to be loud due to the loud background noise.
Zhongli quickly broke the tension between his phone and his ear, the screams worsening the headache he had already been enduring for hours.
"Hm...You're cutting it close, but I'll be sure to try my best dear." Zhongli warned his partner.
"WHAT WAS THAT?? SORRY, I CAN'T HEAR YOU RIGHT NOW!!" Childe's howls resembled that of a speaker, receiving a knock from Ninnguang's office next door as Zhongli's signal to make Childe shut up.
Zhongli hung up the phone, shopping on messages.
You (Zhongli)
"I'll be there for sure, you can count on it."
CHILDE ❤
"Ok!"
"Can u apologize to Ninnguang for me?"
"I know she hates how loud I can be"
You (Zhongli)
"She doesn't hate you"
"She just prefers the quiet much rather than her co-bosses noisy husband."
CHILDE ❤
"Haha so funny"
"Anyways"
"Can't wait to see you tonight!
"Love u <333"
You (Zhongli)
"I love you as well my star"
A small chuckle was released by Zhongli as he finished his conversation with his mate. Not long after a look of disappointment when he realized that it was still only five o'clock. And on that note he got back to work, typing away on his computer yet again.
________________________
Eight o'clock rolls around and Zhongli's cleaning up his workspace and getting ready to descend to the stadium in which his husband was located. He grabbed his things and headed out the door, saying goodbye to everyone else in the office as he left, including Ninnguang, Hu Tao, Keging, Shenhe, and Baizhu. Qiqi was also in the office, but that was primarily because it was "Bring your child to work day", and everyone begged to see Baizuhs daughter.
Zhongli walked out onto the parking lot ,hopped into his car ,and sped to the nearest convenience store to buy him and his husband some water, being as thoughtful as ever. After that he raced to the stadium, hoping to get here on time. After all, Fountaine, the place where Childe was having his concert was quite away from Liyue. Zhongli would have to drive through Sumeru to get there.
He hurriedly parked his car, fleeing it as soon as he stopped the car. He dashed out his phone to check the layout of the stadium, as it was a new stadium, one that Childe had never performed in before.
Finally, he spotted the elevator that would take him to his final destination; backstage. He knew that without his support, Childe would be a nervous wreck. People nearby gave him a confused look, wondering why he looked so ambitious.
And there it was, the door that would lead him to Childe's dressing room. Just before he opened the door, Aether popped up in front of him.
"Hello, Mr. Zhongli! Late again I see! As per usual, here to see Tartaglia again?" He intercepted, gripping his clipboard unnaturally tight.
"Yes, I quite certainly am. He is right behind this door, so if you don't mind I'd like to see him briefly before he starts the show. I do need to get to my place in the audience before they close the doors to the stadium." Zhongli respectfully reasoned.
"Oh of course! I just came to inform you that Tartaglia has prepared something special for you. His exact words were: 'I have something special planned for him, make sure Mr. Zhongli is notified ' ." Aether repeated Childe's words.
"Understood, now please excuse me." Zhongli said, pushing past the short blonde.
"Knock knock, guess who's here.." Zhongli called out, waving to Childe through his mirror.
"Zhongli! There you are!" Childe shouted, hopping out of his seat and racing full speed at him, and lunging into his arms securely.
"I've been so worried about you damn it! I thought you were just gonna leave me here alone!" Childe accused Zhongli, whining about how late he was as he always did.
"Shh, I'm here now, save that pretty voice for the concert." Zhongli comforted Childe, now carrying him bridal style back to his chair. "You're going to be great up there. Just perform like you always do. You always manage to impress me more every time you get up on that stage." Zhongli confessed, piloting every word in the right direction.
"Aww...Every time you do this you somehow get sweeter and sweeter ." Childe stated honestly.
"I simply settle for nothing less than the finest compliments to my fine husband." Zhongli defended himself.
Aether cracked open the door, still clutching onto his clipboard for dear life. "You're on in 5 minutes Sir-"
"Thank you Aether, please go make sure the lighting team is ready, don't want the same situation that happened last time," Childe advised him, trying his best to stay serious, despite being seated on his husband's lap like a king upon his very throne.
"R-right!" Aether snapped, still embarrassed by walking in on such an awkward note.
As soon as Aether shut the door behind him, Zhongli burst into laughter.
"Woah," Childe said, looking awestruck.
"Hehe...What's so mesmerizing? You look like you've just seen a ghost." Zhongli asked, still giggling at the scene.
"It's just that you never laugh...You look so pretty when you do." Childe responded, creating a flustered Zhongli.
"Aww look who's laughing now." Childe teased him, leaning in even more than he already was.
Childe sealed the kiss between the two. This was no peck on the lips, to say the least. It lasted quite a while, it just barely qualified as a make-out session. Childe pulled away after shortly losing his breath, only to be Brought right back in after only one breath by Zhongli. After the said make-out session, Childe peppered in some neck kisses, just for fun.
"Ajax, you've got to go now, we can't get too carried away my love." Zhongli insisted.
"Fine...But we will continue this later okay?" Childe pleaded.
"I promise you." Zhongli agreed sternly.
Childe picked himself up from his 'seat' and dusted himself off, fixing some tiny details in the mirror.
"You look gorgeous, now get your ass out there and sing pretty boy." Zhongli rushed him.
"Geez, didn't know you were such a picky man." Childe mocked him. He turned around, replacing his attention on Zhongli, kissing him on his cheek one final time before stepping out into the setup.
Zhongli rushed out of the dressing room, a little more than just exited, yet managed to keep it unnoticeable. Finally, he reached the entrance to the concert hall and shoved himself into the middle of the crowd. He wanted a clear vision of his lover , he wanted to remember these moments for the rest of his life. And then, the lights began to dim, and his husband walked onstage.
"WHAT'S UP FONTAINE?! HOW ARE WE DOING TONIGHT?!" Childe yelled in the mic, hyping up the crowd to lift the mood to fit the occasion.
"ALRIGHT! Alright..! I have an important announcement before I sing the last song, so stick around for that!" He informed the crowd, winning directly at Zhongli's direction, notifying him especially.
Right next to him was a group of teenage fangirls squealing, as they thought he was winking at them. Zhongli smirked at the notion. All these girls drooled all over him, and yet only very few people knew about Childe's true love life. 't mind PDA, it just never occurred to the couple that it was such a big deal. Zhongli got quite jealous and protective on occasion, like when fangirls would go a little too far, trying to get Childe to go out with them and such . But in this situation, a few fangirls were no such threat.
Childe waited on stage for his cue in his starting pose, his eyes told the audience that he was starring to perform. And then, he sang, he danced, he displayed pride. After all of the jumping around, the vocal strain, and the With wild background effects, he stepped up to the mic for one final dialogue.
"Okay okay...So I have one last song left to sing, but now is the time for that 'special announcement ' I mentioned earlier." Chile reminded the audience.
A spotlight was cast on Zhongli, and a shocked expression on his face followed. The eyes of thousands landed straight right onto him. A pathway to the stage was formed in front of him, signaling him to step up onto the stage. At first, he was frozen in shock, he knew that something 'special' was going to happen, but he never imagined something this big taking place.
"Mr. Zhongli, would you do me the honor of stepping up onto this stage with me?" Childe invited his companion.
Zhongli's surprised expression quickly shaped itself into a smile, a smile that came with the happiest tears a person could release. In his mind, no one else existed at this moment. Everyone had disappeared at the moment. Zhongli marched himself onto the stage, where Childe resided, his arms were wide open. It was just him and Childe. No one else. Soon, he was snapped back into reality when Childe opened his mouth once again.
"Zhongli, love of mine, do you mind me introducing you to the crowd? Like, officially?" Childe requested, practically asking for consent. He cared his partner's cheek, wiping away the tears of joy that flowed down his skin, glistening in the stage lights.
"Not at all Ajax, as long as I am here with you," Zhongli replied, cupping Childe's cheeks.
"Everyone, I'd like you all to meet ..my husband. Sir Zhongli. " Childe announced, maintaining eye contact with Zhongli.
The crowd gasped audibly. It was a shocker that Childe had a partner, let alone a male partner. Some claps and cheers could be heard, as well as some boos and scoffs of disappointment. The audience had very mixed reactions to Childe's coming out. Although Childe paid no mind to his fans' opinion on his marriage. If this is what made him happy the most, he was going to devote himself to it wholeheartedly.
"I know this is a very big, stunning confession to you all. Yes, I am bisexual. If you have a problem with that, you can leave and never come back. I am not interested in changing, and if that's all you want for me ,then I will never welcome you as a fan." Childe sternly declared.
"May I say a word? Zhongli requested ,having a brief message to speak to the audience.
"Why of course, " Childe approved, handing the michrophone over to the slightly taller male.
"Greetings fans of ugh..Childe.. " Zhongli always just called Childe by a pet name, or Ajax, so calling him by his work name felt unnatural to him.
"I would just like to say, that I apologize for disappointing some of you. I know a lot of you young ladies like to fancy my husband, but he is mine, alright? Please refrain from trying to take him away from me. Thank you, and may all of you have a magnificent night." Zhongli assured that crowd, smiling through the entire thing. He knew he was making many ladies jealous, and he loved it.
Zhongli placed the microphone back into the rightful hands of the popstar.
"Anyways, let us finish the concert off with a change of genre, " Childe specified. "Instead of performing one of my own songs, I'd like to attempt a cover of the song 'Until I Found You' originally by Steven Sanchez, paired with some slow dancing. So grab a partner, even if you don't know anybody, dance with a stranger!" Childe encouraged his audience.
(A/N : I recommend you start listening to that song for the remainder of the chapter)
Aether proceeded to run on stage, lending Childe a MLM flag to wrap around the couple as they danced across the stage.
The music started to play, and Childe began to sing. Childe held onto Zhongli's solid waist, and Zhongli wrapped his arms around Childe's shoulders. And with that, they started to dance. The dance was simple steps across the stage. The pair's eyes were locked on one another, and they couldn't let go. As Childe vocalized the music, Zhongli fell deeper and deeper in love with him . Every word was like a reminder of how much admiration Zhongli had for this one human being. He also noticed that Childe had been replacing the name 'Georgia' with 'Zhongli'.
"I was lost within the darkness but then I found him." -Childe
" I found you~ " -Zhongli
All of the commotion of the audience clapping had been long drained out from both of them by now. They smiled. They stopped their feet that had gracefully been sweeping the stage for the past minute. and Childe joined their lips. They closed their eyes in sync, and enjoyed the moment while it lasted to the fullest.