Chapter Text
Etho smiled down at his phone. Joel sent him a picture of himself holding a peace sign next to a roast he’d cooked and said he was proud of. The roast did look good, Etho wished he could be there to enjoy it with Joel.
“Oh my god, I get it, you and Joel are in love.” Gem grumbles next to him on a park bench. “I don’t know why I bothered to come at all if you’re just going to make heart eyes at your phone the whole time.”
Etho shoved his phone into his pocket apologetically. She was right, he had plenty of time to talk to him later. Right now they were at a dog park sitting on a bench while they watched Wilson run around. Today they both had days off from work and they were spending it in hopes to relax a little.
They’d gotten bagels again for breakfast (while Etho showed Gem how cute Joels yogurt parfaits had turned out), then they went shopping and Gem steered Etho away from more than half of the stores, which was kind of rude because he doesn’t have a shopping addiction, he can stop anytime he wants. Shopping reminded him of when he and Joel went to the mall so he told Gem all about it. Gem had listened eagerly, wanting to hear all the details about technically their first date. Lastly, they picked up some sandwiches from the Deli for a quick lunch and picked Wilson up for the dog park.
“I just want to ask,” Gem says, “if you guys are so crazy about each other, then why didn’t Joel want you to come with him to England? Not that I want you to leave here.”
Etho smiles a little at that and nudges her with his elbow. “I knew you were fond of me.”
“Oh please,” Gem scoffs, “like you don’t take every chance to use that against me. Taking care of Wilson, taking care of you, putting up with your lovey dovey attitude,” she says ticking them off on their fingers.
“I give you purpose, and thank you for doing all that. It does mean a lot to me.”
“Yeah, yeah. I am pretty amazing.”
When they get back, they go to Gems apartment to watch a movie. With the months he’s been gone, Wilson now has a dog bed and food and water bowls in her kitchen and so Etho watches as Wilson goes and rests in his spot.
“Oh, Etho, can you grab some chips from your place? We can eat them while we watch the movie. And do you have a big bowl? We can put the popcorn in there.” Gem says.
He does as Gem asks and goes over to his own apartment. He figures he can check if Joel sent him any more messages but his pockets are empty. He probably left his phone on Gems counter. He got the requested items and was back. His phone was in fact on the counter, but he didn’t have any new messages. He shot a quick selfie and sent it to Joel instead.
“Ugh you’re so obsessed!” Gem exclaims from behind him.
“Sorry, sorry! Putting the phone away now.”
On the couch they settled in together and finally started a movie. It was nice just hanging out with Gem. It had been pretty routine before the game show to just come over whenever they felt like it. They both had keys to each other’s places. The game show had really shaken everything up, especially with Joel now in the picture.
Afterward, he grabbed his things and Wilson and headed back to his own place. The next few weeks were filled with Joel. They texted constantly, had video calls regularly, and any time they both had free time they would find ways to incorporate each other with their daily lives. Sometimes it was Etho who would just watch Joel cooking in his kitchen, other times it was Joel who would just be on call while Etho was stressed out with work stuff. He didn’t even have to say anything, but he felt better that Joel was in some part with him for it. They told each other about every little detail of their lives.
That’s why he was a little worried when Joel told him he wouldn’t be able to call on the phone for a few days. Sure, he didn’t expect Joel to be able to answer his every beck and call, but it still felt off somehow. He knew Joel didn’t owe him an explanation of what was going on, but his evasiveness about the subject put him on edge. The second day, Joel stopped texting him too. That’s when he really started to worry. His mood carried into his day at work, and so finally when he got home he decided talking to Gem might lessen his anxiety.
When he knocked on her door, though, she didn’t answer. He pulled out her key and let himself into her apartment only to find it empty. She hadn’t told him she would gone, but he figured he would wait until she got back from wherever she was. After an hour, he went back to his own apartment. She could be out with other friends. It didn’t help to think that though. All he could think was that the two people he knew were gone or not talking to him. Did he do something? The panic settled in.
Wilson, sensing something wrong whined and pressed against his body. He went to the couch with Wilson. He was definitely overreacting. That didn’t stop the shudders that wracked his body. He clutched around Wilson’s neck and held onto his warm body. It helped ground him. The steady breathing. The soft fur that nuzzled into him. Even if everyone else left him he would still have Wilson.
The sudden sound of keys in the door brought him back to the present. Gem. Of course she was back. He almost shook himself at how stupid his little episode had been.
“Gem?” He called to the sound of the opening door. “I stopped by earlier but you were out-“
He stops suddenly, mouth frozen open because it isn’t Gem that walks around the corner to the living room, it’s Joel. He stops when he sees Etho with his hands shoved into his pockets casually but his wide smile shows his happiness to be here.
“Miss me Eefo?”
In the span of a second he’s off the couch and has Joel in his arms and he’s kissing him. Hard. He doesn’t know how he’s here or why he’s here, all that matters is that he is here. Being able to hold Joel’s face in his hands, it’s heaven.
“I’m not surprised in the slightest.” A voice says behind Joel. They break away and there’s Gem. She’s carrying a few suitcases. Suitcases that Etho recognizes. They’re Joel’s.
“How are you here?” Etho finally asks, because despite living in England and not having any way to have known where he lives, Joel is standing in front of him bundled up in a large puffy jacket, scarf, and hat. Winter had finally hit Canada with full force.
Joel grinned, “I conspired with Gem.”
“How? You don’t have her number do you?”
Gem looked very smug as she said, “One of the days we were hanging out I sent you to your apartment and I saw you left your phone so I took the liberty of getting Joel’s number from it. It was with the intention of giving him the ‘you break his heart again I break your kneecaps’ speech, but we got to talking after that and Joel told me he wanted to surprise visit you.”
“Finally, it’s not someone going through my phone.” Joel says happily. “That’s why I couldn’t talk today, I was on my flight and I needed to talk to Gem about picking me up from the airport.”
“Well, I’ll leave you love birds alone for a while. See ya.” Gem says and heads out.
“What about yesterday? Why couldn’t you talk yesterday?”
Now Joel looks nervous. “I actually need to talk to you about that. I didn’t want you to call me while I was packing obviously, but I also didn’t want you to somehow find out that I’m moving here to Canada.”
Etho just stares at Joel for a moment, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. “You’re moving here?”
“I hope that’s okay, maybe I shouldn’t have made this a surprise because I was kind of banking on you letting me live here, but now I realize I should probably have gotten your permission,” Joel says beginning to ramble, “Of course if you don’t want me here that’s totally okay I can get an apartment somewhere else, I just thought it wasn’t fair of me to assume that you would be the one to put all the effort in of moving to England which is why I didn’t want you to move to England in the first place but then I thought that if you couldn’t move then maybe I could move-“
“Joel,” Etho says cutting him off, “I’d love for you to live with me. What about Grian and Jimmy? They’re okay with you moving away.”
Joel smiles softly, “Yea, they said if I thought I could get rid of them by moving to a whole new country then I was sorely mistaken. They’re happy for me, and honestly I needed a change anyways. Besides, they have their boyfriends too and they promised to visit as often as they can.”
“Okay, that’s good then.”
Joel got a mischievous look on his face, “Enough chit chat, we didn’t kiss hardly long enough before Gem interrupted.”
Before he could say anything, Joel was on him, kissing him fiercely. They’re okay with stumbled back a bit until they fell onto the couch. Joel straddled Ethos thighs and held him in place as he viciously attacked Etho’s mouth and neck. Etho enthusiastically kissed back and tried to put his hands under Joel’s shirt but it was mostly still obstructed by his poofy winter coat.
He felt himself growl as he pulled Joel’s winter clothes off. The jacket, scarf, and then the hat. He wanted to card his fingers through Joel’s soft hair. He wanted to run his palms over Joel’s muscular back. He groaned as he felt Joel bite at his neck and he pressed Joel further into him.
Wilson jumped onto the couch beside them curiously, poking his nose between their bodies. Joel pulled away to look down at Wilson. He was breathing hard and his cheeks were flushed, pupils blown wide. He was in a state of dishevelment that he was sure was mirrored in himself as well.
“Oh my god!” Joel squealed immediately moving on from Etho to petting Wilson. “He’s so blummin cute! I know you sent pictures but look at him!” Joel fully moved off of Ethos lap to better give Wilson attention.
Etho never thought he would feel jealous of his dog, but there was a first time for everything. Wilson was practically preening at Joel’s attention. He could’ve sworn Wilson gave him a smug look before licking Joel happily. Well, it could be forgiven because the look on Joel’s face was worth anything in the world.
Later, they got Joel more settled in. Etho’s apartment only had one bedroom but they were both more than willing to share. (Enthusiastically willing to share). Joel had only brought five suitcases with him and a carry on, but Joel assured him it was all he needed and he could just buy anything else here.
When Joel found out that Etho had been living off of bagels since the end of the dating show, Etho thought he might have a heart attack. He nearly did have a heart attack when he saw that Etho barely had any pots and pans or any cooking equipment at all. He was immediately dragged out to the nearest grocery store where he got to see Joel shop sales like he’d been living here all his life. Joel also bought all the kitchen supplies he thought he’d need and had to pull Etho away from a few random items within the stores. Not that he had a shopping addiction though. He could stop any time he wanted. When they came across a spatula that had a picture of a boat on it though, Joel didn’t even fight him on it when he placed it in the cart.
“Stocking up a kitchen huh?” The cashier asked. He was a middle aged man and he was looking questioningly at the pile of kitchen “necessities” as Joel called it. He wasn’t sure he’d call an electric kettle a necessity, he had a microwave, but Joel had hit him the moment he’d suggested microwaving water and figured a kettle was better than death.
“Something like that.” Etho answered.
“Can you believe this guy? He’s been living off bagels for the last month or so, and when I look, he has nothing in his cabinets but one pot and one skillet, and neither of them look like they’ve been used in the past decade.”
“Hey I made scrambled eggs one time.” Etho protests. Joel only scoffs.
The cashier chuckles. “It’s the same with me and my wife. If she didn’t take over the kitchen I’d be eating nothing but ramen noodles for the rest of my life. It’s nice to see you young couples taking care of each other.”
They both blush at that and the cashiers smile grows wider.
“Don’t tell anyone I did this,” the man says leaning in conspiratorially, “but I gave you two love birds a nice discount.” He winks and gives Joel the receipt. “Y’all have a good rest of your evening.”
They walk hand in hand back to Etho’s apartment—their apartment—and Etho knows they’re going to be alright. Him and Joel together.