decade

go back to the youremyboy archive

 

Amir tackles him onto the concrete the second he steps out of the car.

 

“Happy anniversary,” he says, grinning right into Jake's face, acting like he didn’t just slam his skull into the driveway, “I hope you're ready for romance.”

 

“I'm ready for you to stop digging your knee into my thigh."

 

Amir laughs, slapping the ground like Jake said something hilarious. "Oh, you like it. You're happy to see me."

 

He is, against all odds and every law of nature, happy to see Amir, but he rolls his eyes anyway. "I see you every day."

 

"And it just gets specialer every time."

 

"I saw you this morning," Jake mumbles, finally shaking himself free enough to lean up on his elbows, "it's been, like, ten hours."

 

Amir scoffs. “At most!”

 

“Yeah, at most. Which means it’s not been that long. Right?”

 

“Psh, wrong! Ten hours is like, a year, or maybe more.” Amir shrugs and shakes his head, which is Amir code for I know this doesn’t make sense but I’m saying it anyway, and he finally shifts his weight off of Jake's torso, rolling to his feet and extending a hand to help Jake off the ground.

 

Jake’s pride screams at him to bat it away, but his back is screaming at him from being pressed against the cold, hard driveway, so he relents, letting Amir pull him to his feet. He uses the hand to keep the momentum going, pulling Jake past him so that he can turn and put his arm around him as he leads them inside. 

 

Jake doesn’t complain for once; he actually likes Amir like this, excited and eager and so genuine in a way Jake isn’t sure he ever knows how to be, even now, all these years later. Amir gets so excited at the prospect of celebration, no matter the occasion. When he turned forty at the start of the year, they had a party with all of Amir’s weird friends and a bunch of Leron’s kids, and Amir had been so happy, even though their house was stuffed shoulder to shoulder with people. He looks that happy now, too, watching him from far too close as he leans all his weight against Jake’s shoulders. It used to make him endlessly uncomfortable, being constantly watched. Now he can’t even remember the feeling. Amir is like the sun, pulling things into his orbit, but when he smiles down at Jake, his big eyes laser focused and bright, he feels like the only person in the who gets to feel the warmth of it. If he were a plant he could photosynthesize on that shit. 

 

The inside of their house is a mess. Amir's idea of romantic decoration is confetti on every single surface, and roughly a hundred candles at various stages of melted dotted around the living room.

 

Amir waggles his eyebrows, moving his arm from Jake's shoulders to gesture around the room. "Well? What did I tell you, it's romantic as shit, right?"

 

"This is gonna be a bitch to clean up."

 

He just shrugs, dropping his arms to his side's. "C'mon, it's fun, it's charming, it's—"

 

"A fire hazard, I think."

 

"Jaaaaaake," Amir whines, slipping his fingers into the belt loops of Jake's jeans, tugging him close enough that Jake can feel Amir's breath on his lips, "can you just admit that this is romantic as shit already so we can enjoy it?"

 

He knows he's already gone, watching Amir grin like an idiot, lingering an inch away like he's waiting to kiss him once Jake tells him what he wants to hear, but he still drags it out, pretending to consider it. "I guess it's romantic as shit."

 

"Exactly right, thank you." Amir mumbles, and Jake feels more than hears the words as Amir leans forward and finally presses their lips together.

 

Jake sighs against Amir’s lips, deep and heavy, relaxing into his arms immediately and pulling him closer, leaning into him. Kissing Amir is easy, after so many years, but it’s still just as good as the first time. Jake had thought he’d get bored eventually, but kissing Amir just gets better.

 

"Wow," Amir nods as he breaks away, like he's following a logical flow of conversation and not about to say something random and unrelated, "I can't believe it's been ten whole decades since we got married."

 

"Years."

 

Amir just blinks at him. "What?"

 

Jake rolls his eyes, but he's smiling. "Feels like longer."

 

"I can remember it like it was just yesterday—"

 

"I can't," Jake cuts him off before his nostalgia driven story gets going, "I wasn't there."

 

"You are such a drama queen." Amir squeals, and Jake just laughs, leaning in to kiss him again. 

 

He breaks away, smiling, and Amir throws a handful of confetti he got from somewhere into the air. Ten years, and he never expected he could be so happy. “So, dinner?” 

 

“Jacob Blumenwitz, asking me to get dinner tonight? It must be a special occasion.” He’s smiling, and it makes Jake laugh, even though they have dinner together every night. 

 

Jake just watches him, heart still pounding like it did after their first kiss, and he doesn’t even care that he's going to have to spend most of tomorrow cleaning up the aftermath of Amir's romantic gesture. Right now it’s just him and Amir, tied together for a whole decade. Ten whole years.

 

He hopes he’s still this happy in ten more.