holding hands

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They're walking through the park on their lunch break when Amir reaches for his hand.



He shakes it off without thinking, leaning away, but it isn't until he sees Amir put his hands in the pockets of his jacket instead of trying again that he actually considers it. He's so used to fighting against Amir's needy weirdo antics that it's so easy to brush him off. It's almost natural to ignore that he ever reached out in the first place. The Jake from before wouldn't even have considered it; it was a near everyday occurrence to mitigate Amir's weirdness however he could.



But this isn't before, it's now, and Jake isn't the same as he was back then. Amir is his boyfriend. Jake loves him, and wants to make him happy. He makes Jake happy. Jake wants to hold his hand.



There's people around.



It's not like Jake is ashamed of Amir. They're, like, in love, and people know about it. He's just still not used to being out, openly, in public. To strangers, random people in the park that he'll never see again, but he's always cared too much about what other people think.



His entire relationship with Amir has been an exercize in challenging his instincts. It's not easy, and he's not great at it, but he's trying, and he knows Amir is too.



He reaches over and slides his hand into Amir's pocket, tangling their fingers together and tugging until their joined hands hang between them, Amir swinging them back and forth happily.



Jake watches their hands for a second, then looks up at Amir, and he's smiling so wide, eyes soft and shining, that it makes Jake forget about everybody else.