30 days of fluff challenge: day thirteen
"get dressed up for a casual date"
Evan sighs as he looks at himself in the mirror in their bedroom He’s excited, any time they do something that isn’t just curled up on the couch these days is exciting, but he’s also tired. He’s not sure if he’s coming down with something or just run down from his last shift, but going out feels like the last thing he wants to do.
He fumbles with the button at the top of his shirt, looking up in the mirror once more. He’s paired a baby blue button-down with navy dress pants—an outfit Tommy has made more than clear he’s fond of. Evan’s pretty sure it’s just because it makes the color in his eyes pop more, but he’s not complaining. When he’d seen Tommy walk into the bathroom with his own outfit, he was fairly positive his boyfriend had color-coordinated their outfits.
He grabs his navy oxfords as he walks out of the bedroom into the kitchen, and settles in a chair to slip them on. As he’s finishing tying the second one, Tommy comes out of the hallway and Evan trails his gaze down his body, and while he doesn’t magically feel better, he definitely appreciates the sight.
Tommy has a medieval blue polo on underneath a smoke-gray collared cardigan and paired with black jeans.
“You look hot,” Evan rasps, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Tommy smirks back up at him as he adjusts his watch, letting his own gaze take Evan in as he stands up from the chair.
“Not so bad yourself, baby.” He crosses the space and drops a kiss to Evan’s lips. Evan leans into him, sighing softly. Tommy lifts a hand to his cheek, brushing his knuckles gently over his jaw. He furrows his brow and tilts his head. “You feeling okay? You’re a little warm.”
Evan shrugs, leaning into his hand. “‘m fine.”
Tommy tilts his head further at him, clearly questioning the honesty of that statement. He shakes his head after a moment and glances down at his watch again.
“Why don’t we just go, make an appearance, and come back home,” he offers. “We can order pizza and watch Oppenheimer.”
Evan nods, and Tommy kisses his birthmark before stepping away and grabbing his keys from the hook by the doorway. Evan follows after him through the house and out to the truck.
When they’ve pulled out of the driveway, Tommy reaches across the center console and grabs Evan’s hand, tracing circles on the back of his hand with his thumb. He glances over at him as they pull up to the exit of his neighborhood towards the main road. Evan has his head on his fist, eyes closed.
“Babe.”
“Hmm?” He opens his eyes slowly, glances over at Tommy.
“You sure you’re okay,” he asks again. “And don’t lie to me this time.”
Evan blinks slowly a few times, staring out the window at the twilight sky.
“I’m just tired,” he murmurs, turning on the headrest to look over at Tommy. “Besides, Maddie put a lot of work into tonight.”
Tommy nods. Pretty much from the morning after their engagement, Maddie had started planning a party for them. And for as obnoxious as Evan had been about making sure that Chimney had a proper bachelor party—never mind the fact that he didn’t actually attend it—they’d requested something small. They were open to formal or semi-formal, but just wanted it to be their closest friends.
Tommy turns the truck onto the interstate, keeping most of his focus on the road but still glancing over from time to time at Evan. He’s nodding off again, which makes him want to turn around and take them back home. Still, he knows even if Evan is dozing, he’s still conscious, and he would not be okay with them not showing up at all.
“Think you can manage twenty minutes,” Tommy asks him.
“Mmhm.”
. . .
When they pull up outside of Maddie and Chimney’s house, Evan rouses, mostly because of the change in motion. He glances over at Tommy and smiles wearily before unbuckling himself and getting out. As he makes it around the vehicle, Tommy is coming out of the driver’s side, reaching for his hand. Evan reaches around himself with his right arm and pulling Tommy’s arm across his body. Tommy rests his hand on his hip, giving a few light rubs as they cross the street towards the house. There are cars everywhere already, which makes him think they’re probably the last to arrive.
“Are we late,” Evan asks as they stroll up the walkway.
“If we are, it’s fashionably so,” Tommy jokes. He lets Evan step in front of him onto the front stoop and open the door, following closely behind him.
“Hey, they’re here,” Eddie calls out from inside the house.
“Buck! Tommy!”
Tommy steps inside the house, only to be quickly met with Christopher tossing an arm around each of them. They both hug him back, and when he steps back, their friends are starting to swarm, greeting them with hugs.
“Can I get you both a drink,” Maddie asks from the back of the pack. Tommy glances over at Evan, remembering their discussion in the car, but Evan shrugs.
“Just some water for now,” he replies. When Maddie glances up at him, Tommy nods as well.
Much as Tommy tries to stick to the plan, their twenty minutes pass before they’ve even managed to properly greet everyone. They get pulled in opposite directions—Evan by Eddie and Bobby while Tommy ends up in a discussion with Hen and Chimney. Tommy keeps shooting glances in Evan’s direction anyway, watching for any sense of him trying to break away. But after almost forty-five minutes, they’re still on opposite sides of the room and Evan seems to be deep into a discussion with Christopher and has somehow also collected Jee-Yun onto his arm.
“Let me use the bathroom,” Tommy interjects, midway through Hen insisting Tommy still owes her a round of lunch. He walks away from them, through the dining room and into the kitchen, passing Eddie and Lucy deep in conversation as he does. He finds Maddie at the counter, moving hors d’oeuvres onto a plate.
“Evan doing okay,” she asks as she glances back into the other room. “He seems kinda out of it.”
Tommy shakes his head. “I think he’s coming down with something, but we didn’t want to bail.”
Maddie shoots him a glance.
“What?”
She laughs, shakes her head at him. “Please, Tommy. I know you well enough now to know that you would’ve stayed home if he would’ve allowed it.”
“Someone has to stop him from going ‘full Buck’ all the time,” Tommy reminds her, reaching for one of the mini sausages on the plate. “Besides, I think he has a low-grade fever.”
Maddie shakes her head again, but there’s a smile on her face. She looks around the corner into the family room again, spotting Jee in Evan’s arms.
“Wait, you said fever,” she asks. “He’s got my daughter right now.”
It’s Tommy’s turn to chuckle at her as he picks up the platter she’s been working on.
“I’m sure she’ll be fine. Now help me get him out of here while he’s still functioning so that we’re both not cleaning up vomit tonight,” he asks.
Maddie nods, picking up another tray of food. They walk back out into the other room and set the trays on the table in the dining room. Maddie manages to draw everyone’s attention by mentioning food, and people are quickly lining up thereafter, Jee taking off in front of the group to get served first.
Tommy crosses the room then, grabbing Evan by the bicep as their friends move towards the dining room.
“You doing okay,” he asks, lifting a hand to Evan’s cheek. He’s more flushed, and Tommy swears he feels warmer.
Evan lets out a sigh.
“I feel like we should stay,” he comments. “We just got here.”
Tommy shakes his head at him. “You’re flushed, and you’re warm. I talked to Maddie.”
Evan glances past him towards his sister. She’s helping Jee, but she glances up in his direction in a way that tells him she’s been waiting for him to find her, and she gestures her hand in a ‘shoo’ motion.
“People are gonna notice,” Evan rasps, even as Tommy turns him towards the door.
“Let them,” he replies, opening the front door. “Your sister will explain. You need to get home into bed.”
Evan huffs, but doesn’t argue as they walk out of the house.
. . .
Half an hour later, he’s tucked Evan into their bed with fever reducer and a glass of water on the bedside table, changed back into sweats. He steps out of the bedroom as Evan dozes softly in the ambience of the tv across the bedroom, his phone buzzing in his pocket.
“Hey,” he murmurs, lifting it to his ear.
“How bad’s the fever,” Eddie asks from the other end of the line.
“Just under a hundred and two,” Tommy replies. “Didn’t realize you noticed.”
“That he was as red as his birthmark? Yeah, I noticed,” Eddie chuckles. “Everyone just started realizing y’all left, but it seems like they’re still sticking around. I gotta get Chris to a birthday party. Can I bring you some food?”
Tommy glances into the bedroom again as Evan coughs, rolls over in his spot on the bed.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t mind that,” he replies. “I was going to bring some home, but I knew we were on a time limit.”
“Nah man, I got you covered,” Eddie resonds. “Hey Chris, get me some more of that. Maddie?”
Eddie’s voice gets more faint and he can only make out some of what his friend is saying as he seems to gather things for them to leave. A moment later, he’s back.
“Alright. I’ve got some stuff put together. Chris’ party is a few block from you guys, so text me if you need anything else. I’ll be around in a bit.”
Tommy nods, even though Eddie can’t see him.
“Sounds good. Thanks, Eddie,” he states. Evan coughs again, the kind that makes Tommy’s chest hurt just from the sound. “I’ll check the medicine cabinet and get back to you in a few.”
He ends the call a moment later and strolls back into the bedroom as Evan tugs their quilt higher on him, shivering. Tommy settles down next to him and brushes a hand through his hair.
“Meds should kick in soon, baby,” he murmurs. “Get some sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
