Sonny had spent his lifetime defining himself as protector. How utterly marvelous, then, for Santino Colasurdo, older brother, only son, golden nephew of the old man himself, to find himself protected now. He nestled snugly into his companion’s embrace, finding in his arms a pillar of surprising strength, those beautiful, familiar rays of sunshine piercing him in the way they only could when they were summoned by Rhys Hancock.
He met his eye as he was held, nodding along, in appreciation or understanding, at the words. And then there was acceptance too. Rhys was making him a promise, and Rhys did not break promises, Sonny thought. And so, he would not have to feel that way. And nothing was going to happen. And love would trump all.
This word hung electric in the shared air between them, and Sonny seemed to grab it now, throwing away caution and taking this opportunity to simply be. “I love you.” A beat. His eyes widened, and he ducked his head, giving a breath, as if waiting to see what would happen. Had he said it yet? Not with such earnestness. But he had loved Rhys for many years, he was coming to realize.
Still, Sonny laughed now, genuinely, at the notion that Jesse would protect them from Edith, slap her with a permit violation or something. He bit back his smile because he almost believed it could happen. “Are you askin’ me to move in with you, Rhys Hancock? Even just temporarily? It’d be scandalous. People would talk. I’m a good Catholic boy.” He smiled with quiet sincerity. “…Thank you. For…takin’ care of me.”
Rhys still had a goofey smile on his face as Sonny snuggled closer to him, thinking he had totally got it, totally managed to make Sonny feel better about the impending doom he felt. Maybe even made his heart rest a little.
Because Rhys certainly was going to defend Sonny. Even in the face of Edith Alby, even if that did hurt, because he knew he couldn’t ignore how often Edith had been there for him.
He enjoyed the hug, he enjoyed how close Sonny stayed after the hug, as if they were still in the hug. It was warm, and comfortable.
When Sonny said ‘I love you’, it was different from those moments in passing, the ‘i love you’s that were less pressing and less important.
He pressed his lips together until his smile was lipless.
“I adore you,” he said as a joke, waiting a moment to let silence spread out between them.
“And I love you too,” he added then, thinking he was funny.
Rhys’ face hurt from smiling when Sonny laughed, his whole being lifting up at the sound, warmth flooding him.
When Sonny read his ideas as ‘moving in’, Rhys’ first thought was: oh, that’s a brilliant idea. Followed by a quick assessment of what he needed to move in order to create space for Sonny as the other continued his joke.
“People would be jealous,” he offered instead, grinning with rosey cheeks. “You’re a catch, I caught you.”
His gaze turned a little sad like it always did when Sonny was being sincere and sweet and all these things Sonny was that Rhys had no words for. He turned sad because he didn’t want Sonny to be sad, and also because he felt so lucky, so lucky that he couldn’t imagine a life without him, and that he was grateful that maybe he didn’t have to now.
“I am so glad we went to the movies together.”