Pinto #8 please please pleeeaaasee
things you said when you were crying
When Zach tastes salt, he pulls away, eyes wide with alarm. “Are you crying?”
Chris swipes at his wet cheeks like he can get rid of the evidence that way, but it’s too late. His eyes are wet and shining, and as Zach watches, another couple of tears spill out onto his cheeks, though those quickly get wiped away too.
“No, I’m not crying,” he says irritably, like there exists an amount of indignation that will force Zach to disbelieve his own eyes and the moisture on his fingertips.
“Chris…” Zach drops his overnight bag on the floor, forgetting all about the cab waiting down at the curb, and puts his fingers to Chris’s face again, this time to gingerly wipe away the tears and then caress his cheekbones for good measure. “What is it?”
Chris lets out a quick huff of a sigh and looks down, away from Zach. Redness is rising into his cheeks, and he has the fabric of Zach’s shirt all bunched up in his hands, even though he looks like he might be contemplating pushing him away. To say that Zach is confused would be an understatement. One moment they were kissing goodbye—just for tonight, just one night—and the next moment Chris goes all weepy on him? This has never happened before.
“You’re going to think I’m so dumb,” Chris mumbles. His eyelashes are dark and clumped, and Zach glimpses just the briefest flash of blue through them when he glances up and back down again. “I am being dumb. And…and sentimental. I’m sorry. Just…just kiss me again.”
He tries to tug Zach back in, but Zach isn’t going to give up so easily. He coaxes Chris’s fingers into releasing him so he can clasp his hands and raise them to his mouth, kissing his knuckles instead. There is a tremor in his voice when he asks, “You aren’t having second thoughts, are you?”
“No!” Chris snatches his hands back and loops his arms around Zach’s neck, dragging him in and kissing his cheek, his brow, the corner of his mouth, the tip of his nose, each kiss another reassurance—no, no, no, no second thoughts. Zach lets his eyes fall shut and soaks in the affection until it slows to a stop and Chris rests their foreheads together. “No, Zach, not even a little bit. I can’t wait to marry you.”
“Then what is it?” Zach murmurs, resting his palms on Chris’s chest.
Chris takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “I just…I think it only just sank in. That it’s happening tomorrow.” He backs off a little bit and looks Zach in the eye, finally. “I never thought this would happen to me, you know? I never thought I’d care about someone enough to take this step. And then…and then I fell in love with you, and I never thought you’d care enough about me to take this step. It…it just seems impossible. That I should get to be this happy.”
By the end of the speech, Zach is smiling, an affectionate chuckle rumbling its way out of his mouth. Leave it to Chris to be mostly stoic throughout the whole long process of planning the wedding and then break down the night before. To be fair to him, Zach never thought he’d want to get married either, but everything is different with Chris. Everything is different.
“Well, you’re right about one thing. I do think you’re dumb.” He sweeps his thumbs across Chris’s cheeks again, wiping away fresh tears. “Because you always deserved to be this happy. I count myself lucky that I get to be responsible for that happiness in any way.”
“You’re responsible for it in all the ways.” Chris’s voice has such gravity that Zach can’t help but giggle, earning himself an insincere glare.
“My sweet, sentimental baby,” he coos. Before Chris can grouse at him, he leans in and kisses him again, pouring as much adoration into it as he can. Chris’s mouth still tastes like the ocean, but his mouth curves into a smile against Zach’s, and that smile is all that matters in the world.