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“Jon, would you mind helping me real quick?” Martin called from his room.
Jon popped up from the couch. What on Earth could Martin need help with? Maybe he’s stuck on a rhyme for his newest poem, Jon mused. He knocked on Martin’s open door as he popped his head in, “What’s—”. Jon choked on his question as he stared at Martin in slacks, a button down, and a suit jacket. He turned to Jon with a puzzled frown holding an undone tie. Jon fought the warmth flooding his cheeks as he cleared his throat
“What? Am I wearing something wrong?” Martin twisted in the mirror checking his outfit.
“No! No, I. You look great. What’s the occasion?” Jon gently took the tie from Martin’s waiting hand and began looping the end around.
“Oh! I have a date tonight.”
Jon fought to keep his hands moving as his heart dropped and his brain stalled.
“It was so last minute I must have forgotten to tell you. Georgie set it up all I know is the bloke’s name.” Martin fidgeted with his shirt buttons as Jon finished the tie.
“Well Georgie’s not normally one to steer people wrong,” he ground out. He took a step back to admire Martin and felt the blush return, “Besides, you look… great.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” Jon hated the tension that flooded the room. He shouldn’t have said that. What’s something friends say? Coworkers? What would he say to Tim? He opened his mouth to correct himself, but Martin gently brushed past him.
“Sorry! If I don’t leave now, I’ll be late!”
Jon stood frozen as he heard the door click shut. Before he thought better, he dialed Georgie.
“Jon?”
“You set Martin up on a date?!”
“Hello to you too.”
“Why would you set Martin up on a date?”
“Because he’s single and can do what he wants Jon.”
“Yes, well, still you know!” He sputtered indignantly.
“Do I know? Do you? What I know is that you freaked out that Gertrude had been found murdered and camped out on my couch until they realized Elias had done it.”
“As I—”
“Yes, as you said.” Georgie cut him off frustrated. “You lost your apartment because you were too scared to go back and didn’t renew your lease. Martin was honored you trusted him and let you move in with him. You went back to therapy and Martin got you a cat ‘just because’. If someone asked me a week ago, I would have said you two were dating but keeping it low profile because you’re technically his boss. But Martin said he was single and if you’re not going to commit to him then I will set him up with someone when he asks.”
“Mrow!” An indignant Ever complained as her human ignored her.
“You’re right Georgie. I’m sorry. I just don’t want to pressure him into being with me.”
“What. By asking?”
“Yes!” Jon threw his free arm up. “We live together! What if I ask him out and he says yes because he doesn’t want to make things awkward?”
“Jon.” Georgie admonished with a softened tone. “I want you to think for a moment. The Martin you know now, not the unqualified assistant but your roommate and crush, would he give in just because it avoids conflict?”
He slid to the floor and gave Ever a scritch as he considered. Would the man who teases him for liking theater, refuses to let Jon stew in his paranoia, and insisted on naming their kitten Ever because they’ll love her furever back away from a little awkwardness?
“Thank you, Georgie, are exes supposed to be this helpful?”
“Probably not. Anyway, Melanie’s here. Good luck and don’t complain to me if he hits it off on the date and you waited too long.”
Jon slowly lowered the phone to the ground and let himself face-plant into the carpet. Ever quickly took this opportunity to jump on his back and curl up for a nap. Which is the sight Martin came home to about half an hour later.
“Jon? What are you doing?” Martin laughed.
“I was being dramatic, and your cat took it as an invitation.”
“We both know she’s yours” Martin chuckled as he scooped up their problem child. “Besides, who can stay mad at this face?” Martin cooed down at the bundle of fur.
Jon sat up and watched with a fond smile before his brows furrowed in confusion. “Wait, what are you doing home? There’s no way you got through a nice date and back in thirty minutes. What happened?”
Martin sighed and sat on the couch, holding Ever a little closer. “The date was awful,” he murmured. As Jon moved to sit next to him.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Like he hates tea bad or he kicks puppies bad?”
Martin cracked a smile. “First off both of those are very bad. Second, he um, well he kept telling me that I probably shouldn’t eat more than a salad if I didn’t want him thinking I was a pig.” A tear welled to Martin’s eye and a hot flash of anger battled Jon’s need to comfort Martin.
“He didn’t.”
“He did.”
“Oh Martin.” John put an arm around his shoulders. “Clearly he doesn’t deserve you if he can’t see how handsome you are.”
“I guess. Maybe I should just stop trying with the blind dates.” Martin sighed. Jon nodded absently; he certainly wouldn’t mind as long as that meant Martin’s dates were with him and not with awful men like that. Martin gasped. “Really? You think I should just give up and what be alone forever?”
“No! No Martin. I,” Jon ran a hand through his hair nervously, “I just think…”
“What?” Martin cried exasperated.
Jon squeezed his eyes shut and blurted out, “I think you should go on dates with me instead!”
After a moment of silence, he peeked one eye open to see Martin staring at him. Jon scrutinized his face but couldn’t get a hint as to what he was thinking. “Martin? It’s ok, obviously, if you don’t feel the same.” When Martin made no move to reply, Jon awkwardly half-stood from the couch. “If I’ve made you uncomfortable, I can leave. I, dear lord, I’ve probably crossed all sorts of lines. I’m so sorry Martin.”
Jon stopped his rambling as Martin’s hand gently closed around his wrist. Jon finally looked back at Martin’s face and saw the fondest smile. Jon froze. He couldn’t dare to hope that Martin shared his feelings. Could he? He let Martin tug him back down onto the couch.
“Oh Jon, why didn’t you say anything?”
“I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable, and you seemed excited for the date.”
“Jon. I’ve had a crush on you since you took over the Archives. I was trying to get over you so I didn’t make you uncomfortable.” Martin shifted his grip to take Jon’s hand in his.
“Oh.”
“Oh, but Martin I was so horrible to you at first!” Jon gaped at Martin, horror and concern dancing in his eyes.
Martin laughed, “As far as you knew I was an incompetent assistant who let a dog into the Archives on your first day as boss.”
“Still, that’s no excuse. I didn’t report you, but I complained about you to Tim and Sasha. I told them that I wished you’d never come back when you got sick,” Jon admitted horrified.
Martin rolled his eyes, “Trust me they told me everything you said. It was actually kind of helpful? I didn’t know what I was doing and hearing your complaints helped me figure out what I was doing wrong and how to fix it.”
“Your work did improve rather quickly, but still how could you have a crush on me when I was acting like that?”
Martin looked down and played with Jon’s fingers as he admitted, “If you just nagged and critiqued then I probably would have hated you. But I also brought you tea and found you asleep at the desk when you refused to stop working. Your inability to grasp the idea of a dog in the archives. You lied about your age to seem more dignified and absolutely were not qualified for Head Archivist.” A playful smile danced around Martin’s lips.
Jon laughed and poked Martin in the side, “At least I had qualifications.”
Martin chuckled and looked Jon in the eyes. They sat in the warm comfortable bubble of familiar teasing before Martin gently broke the silence, “You really want to date me?”
“Yes. I’ll admit, at first, I was annoyed that you were doing your job wrong. But when you started improving, I was able to step back from being your boss and get to know you the way I know Tim and Sasha. I didn’t expect to find a warm and kind man who makes everyone tea and writes poetry. I certainly didn’t expect you to badger all of us when we aren’t sleeping or the smile that lit your face when I bought you flowers to thank you. I was a goner before I moved in and learned all your little habits. The thought of you with anyone else leaves my chest aching and hollow.”
Martin pressed his forehead against Jon’s and whispered, “Movie date here in five minutes?”
Jon paused, overwhelmed by the sudden proximity, as Martin’s words fanned across his face. “I’ll make the popcorn.”
The two smiled and knew their furever love was guaranteed.