This is a series. Start here, continued from here.
This is a sequel to Honor Bound, Honor Bound 2, Honor Bound 3, Honor Bound 4, Honor Bound 5, and the prequel Vera.
AO3
Masterlist
Contents: the final arc, fluff, recovery, Isaac/Gavin, slow dancing, love commitments, mild spice, Iris the baby, Fillis, implied past parental abuse
~
Gavin stood by Isaac’s side along the wall of the community center, watching Vera and Tori as they both disappeared out the door. Gavin felt a hollowness in his chest as they went – not sadness, not anything quite so severe, but like a little warmth had left with the two women as they snuck out into the darkness to be together. He glanced at Isaac and saw Isaac looking after them as well. He squeezed Isaac’s hand.
“We can congratulate them tomorrow,” he said, his lips brushing Isaac’s cheek.
“Definitely,” Isaac said with a thin smile. “Sorry. I just… wasn’t expecting them to leave so soon.”
“Yeah,” Gavin said, pulling Isaac close. The slow, haunting melody of the song echoed through the space and hummed through his chest. The chill of the night crept through the pane of the window next to them. Slowly, so, so slowly, Isaac wrapped his arms around Gavin and began to sway in place with him.
Gavin’s lips curved into a smile as he gently slid his right hand into Isaac’s left, resting his other arm on Isaac’s. He leaned his head on Isaac’s shoulder and drew in a deep breath in, deep breath out.
“Do you know how to dance?” Isaac murmured against his hair.
“Yeah,” Gavin huffed with a laugh that was only slightly tinged with bitterness. “I took lessons. Ballroom, tango, waltz, cha cha…” He shook his head and pressed a kiss to Isaac’s neck. “This is better, though. This is… so, so much better.”
He felt the heat as Isaac flushed. “Oh. So you know how to really do this. You must be… really good, then.”
Gavin snorted. “I’d rather be here with you. Trust me.”
Isaac pulled Gavin closer. “I do,” he said.
The song ended, and a new one began. This one wasn’t as slow, but they stayed in their embrace, swaying together. Gavin raised his head to look out the door that Vera and Tori had disappeared through.
“Would you ever get married?” he said softly.
Isaac was silent for a long time. Gavin listened to the song as they shuffled in place. Finally, Isaac said, “No. I don’t think I would.”
Gavin nodded and dropped his gaze from the door. Isaac’s hand slid under his chin and guided his face up until Gavin was forced to meet his eyes. “But,” Isaac said, “I want to be with you until the day I die.”
Gavin’s throat tightened as Isaac looked at him. The air between them was warmed by their breath, and Gavin found himself leaning into Isaac even as Isaac’s hand softened on his jaw. Gavin wet his lips and tilted his head back. “Y-yeah?” he croaked.
“Yeah,” Isaac said, a smile pulling at his lips. His eyes were fixed on Gavin’s, his hair just within reach for Gavin to run his fingers through, his lips right there.
“Well, I want to be with you, too,” Gavin said. “Forever.”
Isaac’s smile widened, and Gavin’s heart stuttered in his chest. He tilted Gavin’s head back and pressed a tender kiss to his mouth.
Gavin drew a shivering breath and brought his hands to Isaac’s face, scratching his fingers through Isaac’s beard. Isaac groaned and backed Gavin up against the wall beside the window. Gavin pulled Isaac closer, nearer, harder, breathing him in, running his hands over Isaac’s broad shoulders, skimming down his arms, encircling his wrists as Isaac cradled Gavin’s face and kissed him deeper.
Gavin panted against Isaac’s lips. “If we want to go any further…”
“…should probably find a room,” Isaac completed for him, with a grin. Gavin smiled up at him as they pressed their foreheads together, breathing hard.
Gavin laced his fingers through Isaac’s and kissed the back of Isaac’s hand. “I do kinda want to stay, though,” he said, still unable to tear his gaze away from the man standing in front of him. “I mean, maybe… maybe we could… later, but…” He leaned forward for another long, breathless kiss. “I want to see everyone. Everyone who’s still here, that is.” He raised his eyebrows and motioned to the door.
Isaac fell back a step, still breathing hard. “Alright,” he said, laughing. “Let’s stay. Anyone you want to see in particular?”
“Iris,” Gavin said, looking around for Finn and Ellis. “I feel like every time I see her, she’s a few inches bigger.”
“I mean, that might be true, I don’t know how babies work,” Isaac mumbled. He squeezed Gavin’s hand and turned to survey the crowd.
“There,” Gavin said, pointing across the room to an already haggard-looking Finn and Ellis. He led Isaac through the crowd of happy, dancing people and made a beeline for Iris.
“Oh, good,” Ellis said when they saw Gavin approaching with a smile. They deposited Iris into Gavin’s waiting arms and turned to Finn. “Come here, lover, I haven’t gotten to actually dance with you since what? November?”
“Sorry if you were coming over to see us,” Finn said with a goofy grin as Ellis led them to the dance floor.
“Don’t worry, we weren’t,” Gavin laughed, waving Iris’s chubby arm at her parents as they embraced. She shrieked and babbled as Gavin lifted her to his face, bouncing her, kissing her rosy cheeks. When he glanced up, Isaac was watching with a tentative smile.
“You’re really good with her,” Isaac said softly.
“Weird, considering she’s Ellis’s child,” Gavin said with a sardonic chuckle.
“No, I mean…” Isaac shrugged. “She cries whenever I hold her.”
“Not every time,” Gavin said, considering. “She didn’t cry last week.”
“She was asleep,” Isaac said, raising an eyebrow.
“And I consider that to be progress!” Gavin said, laughing.
As if on cue, the baby began to wriggle in Gavin’s arms. Her eyebrows pulled together, and her lower lip protruded in a pout. Her face reddened. She began to cry.
“Oh, no,” Gavin said in a singsong voice, bouncing her on his shoulder. “Oh, no. We’re crying.”
Finn materialized at Gavin’s side and gently took Iris from his arms. “Okay, who made the baby cry?” they said, rolling their eyes, but a smile played at their lips.
“It’s okay, Iris, Gavin makes me cry on the regular,” Ellis said beside Finn, rubbing comforting circles in the baby’s back. “You’re not the only one.”
“Sorry for once again causing strife,” Gavin said, playfully elbowing Ellis.
“We’ll forgive you eventually,” they sighed, following Finn as they carried Iris to a corner of the room.
“See?” Gavin said. “You’re not the only one who makes her cry. At this stage in her life, with everyone but her parents, it’s only a matter of time.”
“How do you know all this?” Isaac murmured.
“I read their baby book cover to cover when Gray first brought it home,” Gavin said with a shrug.
Isaac watched Finn and Ellis as they held the baby, looking out at everyone else. He chewed his lip in silence for a long time.
“You okay?” Gavin said softly.
“Yeah,” Isaac said, nodding. “Yeah. They’re just… good parents. Really good parents.”
Gavin looked at the two of them, too. Ellis noticed them both watching and threw up their middle finger. Gavin chuckled. “Yeah,” he said. “They are.”
“Just makes me kinda… sad,” Isaac said, almost too low for Gavin to hear.
Gavin looked at Isaac, but said nothing. He reached out and squeezed Isaac’s hand. Isaac smiled at him. “Sorry,” he said. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Gavin said, and leaned forward to press a kiss to his lips. A faster song was playing now, but neither of them paid it any heed. Isaac held Gavin’s face and kissed him slow, swaying together again, clinging together in the warm, low light.
Hello, everyone! Have you been following the Fillis Angst Parade @whump-tr0pes and I are doing tonight, or would you like to, but you’re struggling with all the reblogs?
Fillis Angst Parade also exists here in a Google Doc that you are welcome to view!
Yep Fillis works for Val and she's happier about it than she should be
Vox doesn't like her 🤧 (Too bad she likes him and will keep giving him stupid handmade gifts to cheer him up cuz she thinks he's always sad... And he'll keep throwing them in the trash which pisses Valentino off cuz he's also an artist)
