ed convincing stede to go skinny dipping under the moonlight with him after a long day of work and they are having fun, breathless laughter as they splash each other, racing each other and both of them cheating to claim victory is theirs.
until ed notices stede had gone quiet, a rare occurrence, and when he looks at him, swimming closer he notices there is an unreadable expression of his face, but there is also a hint of sadness in his eyes, and it takes them a minute to find a balance and be able to float as they hug, ed's arms securely wrapped around stede's waist, but once they have managed it ed gives him a look, an opening, and stede tells him he has never had so much fun, that he has never felt this alive, and that, even if it isn't usual, he does feel from time to time about what it could have been like if they had met years ago, feeling his younger, lonely, self deserved this kind of joy too, and while ed agrees he isn't going to let them both surrender to that kind of thoughts so he spins stede around in the water, hugs him even more tightly and tells him he promised to be beside ed, and that means he can't get lost in the past either, that he wants him here, enjoying himself, allowing stede to cradle his face to bring it close so they can share a kiss, followed by a dozen more
kaledo-art
izzy806
dailybridgerton
