And They Called it Puppy Love
This is my RTcommunitySS gift fic for missdenise4. Merry Christmas! Sorry it’s a little late, took a while to finish, and I hope you enjoy it! Also, happy new year!
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Ship: Mavin
Rating: General Audiences
Words: 4,189
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Gavin couldn’t believe he was doing this.
Actually he could, he was doing it, and he knew why, he just couldn’t believe he could ever love someone this much, to do this for someone.
I better get the good sex tonight. He though bitterly as the woman led him out of the waiting room and through to the kennels.
He was in a rescue centre. A rescue centre for dogs, and he was here to meet a dog.
He followed the woman named Linda, who led him to a kennel near the back of the facility, and in it was the dog he’d seen on the website and called up about.
It was an eight month old Border Collie puppy, a ball of fluff that according to the website had been found as a bag of bones with a broken leg wandering the high street just a month ago.
Gavin wasn’t a dog person, but even that story broke his heart.
Supposedly now she was doing a lot better, she weighed the right weight but was still on medication for her leg. That almost put Gavin off, having to take care of her before he could even take her home. Then Gavin thought about Michael, and what he would say about the situation, and he threw caution to the wind and here he was.
Heidi, the puppy, was bouncing around energetically as they entered the room.
"She’s all ready to go home today if you two get along." The woman said, standing by the door and watching Gavin.
The Brit had no idea what to do, was he supposed to just look at it like when you bought cars or flats? Or was he supposed to go and interact with it.
The question was soon answered when the woman handed him a few little treats and waved at the room.
To reiterate; Gavin was absolutely not and probably never will be a dog person. But the way that little fur-ball bounded over to him on wobbly legs and sat down, looking up at him with wide chocolate-brown eyes and a pant that looked like a grin, it made his heart melt. The next twenty minutes he spent sat in the floor interacting as he was expected to.
He taught her sit and lie down, threw a ball for her, and even gave her a cuddle or two that would absolutely be denied to anyone who asked about it.
"She’s great. I’d love to take her."
And that was that. He signed the forms, was run through her medical history, and told how to care for her. Twice a day she required pain medication, morning and night. She was still on puppy food, but had gotten all her shots and could go for walks; although at the minute the walks had to be short because of her still healing leg. When bathed that leg had to be kept dry and they had an appointment with the vets in two weeks to check if the cast could be taken off or not.
Oh, and she had a cone.
It was comical really, Gavin had convinced Geoff to give him a ride back from the kennels and the poor puppy was trying to get its head out of the window, only with the cone it didn’t fit. That didn’t stop her from trying as hard as she could, though.
"How are you gonna hide her then?" Geoff asked conversationally, taking his eyes off the road for a moment to watch as the dog lapped at Gavin’s face happily.
"I don’t- stop, naughty!" The Brit was trying desperately to keep the wriggly ball of fluff to stay still. But to no avail. He instead ended up with the dog halfway up his shoulder, and resigned to just hold her there instead. "I don’t know, suppose I’ll just keep her in the bedroom and tell him over dinner, then get her out."
"She will shit on everything you love, dude." The moustached man laughed heartily.
"Nah… Woman said she was toilet trained. Everything will be fine." With that Gavin gave the animal a cautious pat on the back. Belatedly, he realised all the excitement must have tired her out, and she was asleep with her paws on the mans shoulder and her head pillowed next to them.
"Toilet trained or not, that bitch is gonna pee everywhere." Geoff paused briefly, making the turn into Gavin’s estate. "She’ll be in a new place, new people, and scared for a little while."
As they drew up to the house Gavin thought about that. It had felt like the perfect time to do this. They’d bought their own house just two months ago, moved in and settled. It had a huge yard and plenty of space, and Michael would always talk about wanting to get his very own dog. With Christmas around the corner he’d thought, what better way to get into the good books of his boyfriend.
He wasn’t necessarily reconsidering it, he was just over-thinking it. A new puppy in their new house, what kind of damage and stains would that cause?
"It’ll be fine. Thanks for the ride, Geoff." Gavin collected the dog into his arms, as well as the bag of things he’d collected for it, and sent Geoff a wave. Getting into the house must have looked comical from the outside, juggling things to get his key into the lock.
Amazingly, Heidi didn’t wake up all the way into the house, or even when Gavin deposited her on the bed of the spare bedroom. Just in case she did wake up though, Gavin left some toys and a water bowl out for her.
He’d just stepped out of the room when he heard the downstairs door open. And a yell of, “Gav, I got dinner!”
"Coming love!" He peeked into the room one last time to see Heidi still sleeping quietly on the pillows, and then he ran down the stairs, launching himself off the last two steps and jogging into the kitchen.
Michael looked exactly like he did this morning, jeans, t-shirt, hoodie, no glasses today because he’d woken up and put his contact lenses in. They’d parted at lunchtime to do Christmas shopping for each other, Michael declaring that he had the best idea for a gift. He wasn’t bearing bags at the moment though, so he assumed they were still hidden in the car.
"Hey boi." He said softly, walking up to his back and sliding his arms around his waist. "How was your shopping trip?"
"Good, I got you everything I wanted to. I got my parents, and I got Lindsay’s." Michael responded with a bright smile, a one that made his dimples show, and he turned in Gavin’s grasp to face him, settling his hands on the Brits waist. "What about you, did you remember to buy for everyone?"
Gavin’s eyes went wide. Bollocks. He’d meant to buy his parents and the Ramsey’s something as well as Michael’s. “Uh… I got yours.”
"God fucking dammit Gavin." Michael sighed, but there was still a smirk on his adorable face. "So we have to go to the fucking store tomorrow and finish your Christmas shopping, cause you can’t remember shit without me there."
"Well, you were the most important person in my list." Gavin announced proudly.
"Fucking kiss ass." Michael laughed, slapping at his hip playfully. "We’re going shopping tomorrow, now sit down I brought home pizza."
With an air of excitement Gavin dropped onto a chair on their dining room table. It felt good to have a table, back in their apartment they just ate in their living room on the sofa. But here, they had a whole table, and a room for the table. It was amazing. “I like having a house.”
Michael set the pizza down on the table, flipping the box open so that they could both get as they pleased. “Yeah? I like it too. It’s good knowing we have more than four rooms in the entire place.”
Munching on a slice of pizza, the Brit nodded his head in agreement. “Plus we’re like a proper adult couple now. With a house and furniture and stuff.”
Michael laughed at that, shaking his head at his boyfriends words. While they ate conversation passed easily, it was reaching seven and Michael was talking about jumping in the shower before calling it a night and watching Game of Thrones in their bedroom before sleep.
Gavin agreed, a plan forming in his head. He’d get Michael relaxed and ready for bed and then dump the puppy on him and await his reaction. It was fool proof.
They parted ways after dinner, Michael pecked a kiss to Gavin’s forehead, ruffled his hair, and the jogged up the stairs for a shower while Gav hung back to tidy and throw away the pizza box.
He had to stop himself from rushing upstairs right now to check on Heidi and make sure there was absolutely no reason for Michael to go into that room. He’d follow the moment he heard the shower running.
That moment never came though. Instead there was a yell of ‘Gavin!’ From the top of the stairs.
Panic rose in the younger lads chest as he made his way towards the source of the noise. “Yeah, boy?”
"C’mere." And then he was gone.
Maybe he just wanted to share the shower, Gavin thought as he climbed the stairs. However, no matter how hopeful he’d been that his boyfriend just wanted to share some kisses under a spray of warm water, when he reached the top of the stairs he was proven wrong.
Michael stood outside the guest bedroom, waving Gavin closer and closer until he could finally raise his eyebrows at him, and open the door.
Without missing a beat, Heidi came bounding out of the room, she didn’t make it far though as he excitement for new people caused her to spin and head back to the two lads. From then on she proceeded to bounce in circles and wag her tail wildly.
"The hell is this?" Michael asked, though Gavin was sure he was supposed to sound angry, he couldn’t help but smirk at the antics of the animal.
"Uh…" With no other option The Brit bent down to scoop up Heidi, which was a task considering how much she wriggled, and he offered her out to Michael. "Merry Christmas."
The confused look on Michael’s face just dissolved, and after a moment of consideration, morphed into a huge grin. “Merry Christmas?”
"Yeah, from me." The puppy was wriggling still, whining and complaining as it was offered out again to Michael.
Another moment passed, the silence heavy with a mixture of emotions, and then the American lad reached out to take the animal, cradling it to his chest. “It’s mine?”
"Yup," He nodded his head, brushing his hands together in an attempt to dislodge any hair. "Her name is Heidi. I rescued her from the rescue centre today, and she’s yours."
"You got me a dog?" Michael clarified, holding Heidi up and examining her with a large smile.
"Yeah. You’ve always wanted one, right?" Shrugging his shoulders, Gavin watched the two interact with a soft smile. "And now we live in a house we’ve got the room. So… Merry Christmas."
"If you say Merry Christmas one more time I’m gonna punch you in your god damn face." Michael laughed, moving into the spare bedroom to place the puppy on the floor and watch her bounce about excitedly. "What’s the cast for?"
"Oh, uh, broken leg." The Brit explained, sitting on the bed and pulling out the large blue bag from under the bed with all the dog supplies he’d picked up. "Her meds are in here, we’ve gotta put it in her food twice a day. I got food and toys, a bed and bowls and stuff and-"
Gavin’s words were quickly cut off by lips on his own, and he melted into the kiss with a small hum. “Will you shut the fuck up for five seconds and let me thank you?” The New Jersian chastised, quickly connecting their lips again and cupping Gavin’s cheek as he did so.
"I love you, asshole, you may just be the sweetest person I have ever met." The praise coming from his boyfriend made Gavin blush, but he didn’t interrupt. "And you hate dogs! And you went and got me a dog!"
"Merry Christmas." Gavin chimed again, receiving a playful slap on the arm for his efforts.
"Asshole. Now I’m gonna play with the dog."
Gavin laughed, following Michael when he slid onto the floor to accept the bundle of fur into his lap. “Her name is Heidi, by the way, and she’s eight months old.”
Michael didn’t respond verbally, instead laughing when Heidi started to chase her tail. Shenanigans ensued for the rest of the night then, Michael’s shower was long forgotten, and instead he spent the time binding with their new family member. They used treats and went through her inventory of tricks, turns out she knew quite a few for her age, they clipped on her new leash and took her for a stroll around the block so she could use the bathroom. They played too, and with every toy that Gavin had bought. Heidi would dig out the noisiest one she could find, a squeaker, and run around in circles biting down on the squeaker until Gavin was chasing her to get her to stop. Michael just had to pick up a ball and the canine rushed over to steal it from his hand, then would drop it again when Michael picked up a rope to inspect it, then she wanted to play with that.
By the end of the night, Heidi had collapsed asleep on the bed of the spare bedroom, and Gavin was trying to convince his boyfriend to come to bed too. “Come on, love! I want to go to bed. Maybe you can thank me properly for your Christmas present.” He hinted.
"Gav… I don’t wanna leave her, she’s just got here in her new home. What if she wakes up in the night and thinks she’s been abandoned again." All the American really had to do was pull that pouty face and Gavin sighed and agreed.
He didn’t get sex that night, because the effing dog slept between them like a baby. First of many times Gav would regret it, he imagined.
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The next morning , barking woke him, barking that soon turned to howling. He wouldn’t have worried about it, but when he turned over the bed was empty and cold, so he immediately panicked.
Multiple scenarios filled his head as he rushed down the stairs, burglar, accident in the kitchen, Michael had fallen, all sorts of horrific things. When he reached the distressed Heidi though, he found that she was peering out of the window; where Michael was taking out the trash.
"Really? He goes outside for five minutes and you’re upset?"
The dog didn’t seem to care about Michael now though, leaping up and down to get Gavin’s attention, and when that didn’t work, she sat down in front of the lad.
"No."
"No what?" The front door opened to reveal Michael, and Heidi; the indecisive bitch that she was, ran to his feet instead. "What’s the matter peanut? Is Gavvy Wavvy not petting you, is he being mean?" As he spoke in that ridiculous baby voice, he also scooped up the puppy, cuddling her close.
"Don’t baby her!" The Brit scolded, shaking his head as he by-passed the pair and went to the kitchen. He needed coffee.
"Excuse me, but peanut is my dog, and I’ll treat her however I please." It took a moment for Michael’s sentence to register, but when it did, Gavin paused and held his hand up, standing by the coffee pot.
"Hang on… Peanut?" As far as he remembered the dogs name was Heidi when he’d adopted it.
"Yeah, it’s a nickname. I call her Peanut." Now, normally it was Gavin coming up with odd names that didn’t make sense, so when Michael did it, he sort of understood where everyone was coming from with their complaints and teasing.
He didn’t say anything, but apparently the look on his face was enough to warrant Michael explaining something. “Well, cause I was just calling her names this morning while we were playing. And I said peanut and it just fits.”
Gavin still didn’t understand, but he let it drop. “I’m not calling her peanut- will you put her down for gods sake!” The entire time he’d been talking, Michael had been smooshing the puppy, cooing praises in it’s ear.
"What’s wrong with me cuddling her?"
It dawned on him then, the second reason he regretted this dog. “You’re gonna treat her like a baby aren’t you, spoil her rotten?”
He didn’t even need a verbal answer. A smirk across Michael’s face that Gavin had seen so many times before he knew exactly what it meant. It meant he’d been dissed for something, but he wasn’t going to admit it.
"Bugger me, I’m gonna be replaced by a dog." Gavin sighed, turning to the coffee pot again.
Michael just grinned. “Merry fucking Christmas.”
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Two days after the gifting of the dog, and it was four days to Christmas. December 21st was the day that the two lads decided to finally put up their decorations. Something they’d been meaning to do since the 1st, but work, family and friends had all served to get in the way. Today they were doing it no excuses.
They’d been to the vet with Heidi the day before and were happy to be told that the painkillers could stop, the cast came off and so did the cone. Gavin complained that she’d be a loss less entertaining without the thing on her head, but at the same time he was a little happy for the puppy. It must suck to only see what the cone allows you to see. So today, Gavin had said they’d do the decorations and then take her for a celebratory walk. But only after the decorations were done.
Most of it was no problem, they had minimal lights for outside, consisting of some fairy lights for the porch and around the door, so the Brit left Mr Rage quit to do that. The tree went up before everything else, because Gavin feared it would take the longest, which it did. Three times Michael was chasing his dog around because she’d picked up a bauble and hauled arse with it in her mouth. It was even worse when they’d gotten to the tinsel and she’d tugged it right out of Gavin’s hands, they didn’t need to chase her that time though, as she’d failed to notice how long the thing was and it only took a foot coming down on the end of it to trip the animal up and have her roll to a stop comically.
Once the tree was done, Gavin was set the task of wrapping everyone’s Christmas presents, and Michael finished decorating the rest of the living room. Even Gavin couldn’t resist playing with Heidi a little bit then, she kept sticking her face in the box of ribbons and bows, so the Brit stuck a red on to her head and presented her to Michael a second time with a cheer of ‘Merry Christmas!’. A picture of Peanut hit twitter for the first time that day.
It was at the end of the day when the truly hilarious thing happened.
Gavin finished pinning up the mistletoe in the doorway between the kitchen and living room, and that was the last decoration of the house. Of course he couldn’t resist calling Michael over and pointing upwards. “Mistletoe, you prick. Give me a kiss.”
Michael couldn’t argue, and he leant forwards to connect his lips with Gavin’s softly, drawing it out for as long as he could without it becoming something more. “Love you, Gav.” He cooed softly as he drew away. “Hey, have you seen Heidi?”
"Always about the bollocking dog lately." Gavin shook his head, sighing playfully. "Last I saw she was in the living room." He smiled at Michael’s back as he retreated, adding loudly. "If she’s pulled that bloody tree down, I’m taking her back!"
Michael’s search returned no positive results, that much was clear when he returned to the kitchen with a panicked look on his face. “Gav, she’s not in the house.”
"She has to be in the house Michael, there are no doors open."
Though after another thorough search, it turned out that no, Heidi was not in the house at all.
That was what they thought anyway, when they sat down on the sofa to start formulating a plan.
"Did you leave the door open when you were outside?"
"No. Did you kick her out while you did the tree?"
"No."
Gavin’s heart was in his throat. He said no, but he couldn’t remember, he might have? Maybe he did. He just didn’t remember. He was about to get up and check when he heard a small high pitched bark.
The couple shared a look. The bark sounded again.
"Here Heidi!" Michael called, and all of a sudden a cardboard box that used to hold decorations tumbled to the floor and the fluff-ball rolled out.
Safe to say Gavin would never be happier to see that dog.
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Christmas Day soon came, and Gavin was waking up his American boyfriend with all the excitement of a six year old on. Michael was dragged downstairs, and Gavin leapt onto the pile of presents, still maintaining that young expression of joy. Around him, Heidi was panting, looking just as excited by the mornings activities.
"Good to know you two are enjoying yourselves."
A cup of coffee later, and Mr Rage Quit was a lot less grumpy and tearing into his own presents. Between them they’d gotten, pyjamas, alcohol, seasons One through Six of Red Vs Blue, more alcohol, and a few books.
"Michael." Gavin called, his head under the tree, and slowly more and more of his body disappearing under there.
"What?"
"I didn’t get a present off you." The Brit said sadly, pulling himself from out under the tree to turn a pout on his boyfriend, however he found the lad smirking at him. "Michael! I’m trying to be serious here, stop laughing at me."
Michael shook his head, his messy curls bouncing around at the motion. “I’m not laughing at you. Seriously.” He said that and then more giggles spilled out of his mouth. “No, I’m sorry.”
"Did you not get me a present?" Gavin’s heart dropped into his stomach, not that he was a selfish person… But he was sometimes, and the idea that maybe Michael hadn’t gotten him anything really hurt.
"No, I did." Michael sat forward, waving Gavin over with a smile that could have lit up a room. Once the Brit had shuffled over on his knees, Michael handed him a box. A little box, about the size of a ring box.
Where it had fallen before, Gavin’s heart was now soaring, beating, doing flips, all of those things. He tore at the wrapping and popped open the box.
He felt winded. Sat inside the box was a simple silver band. A ring. Michael had given him a ring. “I…”
"Hey." Michael’s voice was soft, soothing, and he tucked a finger under Gavin’s chin, encouraging him to look up and meet his eyes. "Gavin Free, you are one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met, you’re wonderful, kind, and a fucking idiot. But I love you. I’m sorry to do this on Christmas Day, cause you always complain about people with anniversaries and birthdays on Christmas… Marry me?"
The only response the sandy haired lad could form was tears, he was staring up at Michael with wet tracks being formed on cheeks. “Michael…”
"Don’t say you’re surprised dude," He laughed, drawing Gavin up and into his lap with cupped hands on his cheeks. "Well actually, unless I did a shitty job, you should be surprised."
"I… I just." Happy tears were blocking Gavin’s ability to form sentences. He wasn’t sure what to say, instead he laughed, an adorable yet odd sound. It was like when you’d been crying over something so long you couldn’t feel sad anymore and laughter just bubbled up inside of you and took over. It sounded wet and sniffly, but genuinely happy. "Yes. Yes Michael Jones I will marry you."
The couple were occupied wonderfully for the next few minutes, celebrating their new engagement. Kisses were shared, touches, and more wet laughter. That was until Heidi got bored of not having attention, and forced her way between the chests of the newly betrothed.
Gavin laughed, ruffling the dogs fur upon it’s head. “Well. I thought I’d got the best Christmas present this year.”
"Nope… Nope, that was definitely me."