“What’re you doing, babe?” Josh asked his boyfriend, leaning down to hug him from behind from where Matt was seated at the desk. Papers surrounded him and he had Josh's laptop open, and a résumé half completed onscreen. He had messy hair and was biting his lip, a sure sign that he was stressed out. He stopped, seemingly surprised that there were arms around his shoulders, but he looked up to see Josh and smiled.
“I’m trying to write a résumé. I’m gonna go hand them around town Saturday... probably.”
“That sounds good. Where did all this job-searching come from?”
“I don’t know.” Matt rubbed his face with his hands. “I just feel like you buy me everything and I owe you the world. So I feel bad for that.”
“Don’t be silly, I like doing that.” Matt shrugged and held onto Josh's forearms, staring back at the screen and sighing.
“But you kinda saved my life and I feel guilty for not giving you anything in return. And with the coffee shop gone, it makes sense.”
“Hey, my dad’s getting it rebuilt soon. He got the blueprints yesterday.”
“I know, you said, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to get a job.”
Josh nodded, and leant down to kiss Matt gently. “You gave me your love in return, Matty, and that’s more than I could ever ask for. I love you.”
He kissed Matt one more time before padding off to the kitchen. He switched on the kettle, and leant back on the counter. They were home alone today because Josh's mom and dad were both out today. That probably would explain why he was in plaid flannel pyjama pants and nothing else, because his parents would nag him to get dressed - put a shirt on at the very least. He rolled his eyes and turned around to grab teabags and sugar, making the cups of tea when the kettle boiled. He carefully walked downstairs to his room and placed the mugs on the desk next to Matt.
“Is one of those for me?” Matt asked as Josh carefully sat on his lap, facing the brunet.
“Yep. You’re taking a break.” Josh said as he took Matt's face in his hands and kissed him slowly. They stayed like that for at least ten minutes, just kissing innocently and sweetly. Eventually Matt broke away, resting their foreheads together gently.
“We should get a cat.” Josh mused, sitting back and staring at nothing. Matt burst out laughing, letting his head fall to Josh's shoulder.
“Where did that come from?” He asked through his laughter. Josh smiled along as well.
“I’m not sure.”
“You’re crazy.”
“No, I’m being serious. We should adopt a cat.” Matt shifted a little as he looked up again and caught Josh's attention. The elder looked down at his boyfriend with a sparkle in his eyes.
“And keep it where? In the basement?”
“No, my parents have always wanted pets but my sisters have allergies. Now they’re all moved out, we could get a cat!”
“You’re crazy.” Matt repeated, shaking his head.
“C’mon, please? Pretty please?” Matt looked at Josh who was trying to pull his best puppy-dog eyes. Matt laughed again, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend’s waist and pulling him closer again.
“Fine.” Josh squealed in excitement, kissing Matt hastily and beaming.
“Yay! I love you!”
“Love you too, even if you are a little crazy.”
“Oh hush up; I just won you over in like two sentences.”
Saturday rolled around soon enough and with an armful of printed résumés, Matt and Josh headed downtown to try and get the younger boy a job. They passed out the papers anywhere they saw with a vacancy.
“Joshy, look, that pub need bartenders! I could do that!” Matt said, pointing in the direction of the local pub.
“Mm, definitely, drunken men trying to pay you to flash your boobs.” Josh tried to muster a serious tone as best he could. “You’d have to wear turtle-neck jumpers.”
Matt laughed and played along. “Sorry, am I showing too much cleavage for you? Do you approve of my sweater or is it not to your standards?”
Josh carried on. “It’ll do. Though I’d prefer it off. But we can look into that when we get home.”
“You’re such a butt.”
“But you love me anyway.”
“Duh.” Matt rolled his eyes and Josh leant in and kissed his cheek. Matt blushed a little and looked at his shoes to hide his pink face.
“D’ya wanna get some lunch? I’m starved.” Josh questioned, checking the time on his phone to see it was just after one in the afternoon.
“Sounds good.” Matt said. The two of them headed to a poky little Italian restaurant down the street that they had grown to love. Matt was particularly fond of their house salad, while Josh loved their spinach ravioli. It was little things like that that made days out like this perfect. They sat down at their usual table and ordered, Josh leaning back in his chair and pinching the bridge of his nose.
“You okay, sweetie?” Matt asked, taking a sip of his water.
“Fine. I’m fine, it’s just,” Josh winced and meekly smiled at Matt. “Headache.”
“Are you okay? Do you want me to get you anything? There’s a pharmacy across the street, if you wait here, I can run over and pick up some –”
“Matt.” Josh reached over and placed his hand over Matt's, using his thumb to smooth circles in the cold skin. “I’m fine. I just need a minute.” Josh stood up and excused himself to go to the restroom, leaving Matt alone at the table.
Drawing patterns in the condensation on his glass of water, he noticed how he grew bored easily when Josh wasn’t around. That was partly why Matt kind of didn’t want to get a job. He didn’t want to be working during the day when they didn’t have college. He also wasn’t the biggest fan of travelling alone. He was always scared something would happen to him. Maybe he was paranoid. Probably. Josh wasn’t long in the bathroom. He returned looking paler than before. Matt bit his lip.
“Sweetie, are you sure you’re alright?” Matt asked, concerned.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I think I caught a cold, you know? There’s a bug going around; it is October...” Matt bit his lip again; breaking the skin and making it bleed a little.
“I think we should go home. You don’t look so good.”
“It’s alright, babe, I’ll be fine. We still gotta go to all those stores and hand in job applications.” Josh smiled.
“We don’t have to do that. I can do that Monday after college.” Matt pointed out. “What do you say, we eat here and then go back to yours and go to bed?”
Josh's face lit up in the slightest. “Only if you let me wear your t-shirt.”
“Of course, babe.”