Fic: With This Ring (Mike/Kevin, 2000 words, FRM)
Title: With This Ring
Author: Ruth Sadelle Alderson
Pairing: Mike/Kevin
Rating: FRM
Word Count: 2000
Disclaimer: Made up.
Summary: True love waits.
Notes: Originally written for an anon_lovefest prompt.
"Mike. Mike, stop." Kevin's hands stop holding him close and instead push hard against his shoulders.
"What?" Mike's still lying on Kevin, only his shoulders and head arching away from him.
"Off." Kevin keeps pushing at him, insistently enough that Mike rolls over onto his back next to him.
"What?" Mike does not want to be talking to Kevin now. Mike was so close to coming before Kevin shoved him away. He would really like to finish that.
"We can't."
Mike turns his head to look at Kevin. "Why the fuck not?"
Kevin's lips press together disapprovingly, and he holds up his left hand in answer. That damn ring.
"I believe in it," Kevin says. "It's important to me."
Mike drops his head back against the pillow. "Fuck."
"I think you should leave."
Mike can't believe Kevin is actually throwing him out. "Fine." He rolls off the bed and lets the hotel door fall shut behind him.
He doesn't even make it out of the hotel; he stops in the bathroom off the lobby, locks himself into a stall, and jerks off thinking about Kevin hard and turned on under him.
*
They have plans for lunch the next day, and Kevin doesn't call to cancel, so Mike shows up and knocks on his door at noon.
Kevin's smile when he opens the door is tight and doesn't quite reach his eyes. Fuck. Mike hates apologizing.
Mike leans in and presses a close-mouthed kiss to Kevin's lips. "Sorry," he says as he pulls away.
Kevin nods and takes his hand. "You know it means a lot to me."
"I know." Mike leads the way down the hallway toward the elevator. "I do," he says when Kevin doesn't say anything. He lets Kevin push the elevator button. "I know," he huffs. "It's okay."
Kevin twines their arms together and steps close enough to lean against Mike while they wait for the elevator.
*
The next time, as soon as Kevin says, "Stop," Mike does. He lies on the bed next to Kevin, panting.
"Shit," Mike swears. He sits up. "I'm going to go-" He waves his hand instead of saying it out loud. He pushes himself off the bed and walks carefully to the bathroom. The fan comes on when he turns on the bathroom light, but he bites his lip anyway as he jerks off.
When he comes out of the bathroom, Kevin's sitting up against the headboard with his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them.
Mike hates the way it makes him feel guilty.
"You want to watch some TV? See if there's a movie on or something?"
"Yeah." Kevin reaches for the remote and turns on the TV.
Mike sits down next to him. They're about twenty minutes into the movie Kevin's chosen before Kevin leans his head on Mike's shoulder. Mike waits another ten before he puts his arm around Kevin.
*
Mike flops back onto the bed and drapes his arm over his eyes. "Do you ever jerk off?" he asks.
Kevin's nervous laughter makes him pretty sure that if he looks, he'll see Kevin blushing.
"Yes."
Mike moves his arm enough to look, and Kevin is both blushing and biting his lip.
"But not after we've been fooling around."
Kevin doesn't look at him. Mike can see his hands, the fingers of the right twisting the ring on his left.
"No," he says slowly. "It wouldn't- Just because it's not technically having sex doesn't mean it would be right."
Mike huffs out a laugh. "I thought you purity types were all about the technicalities."
"Not all of us," Kevin mutters. There's an unhappy twist to his mouth.
Mike turns on his side and takes Kevin's hand, the left one, in his.
After that, Mike sometimes goes into the bathroom to jerk off, but sometimes, now that he knows it means something to Kevin, he doesn't. He just sits or lies next to Kevin and they come down together.
It's nothing Mike has ever done before.
*
"Okay, okay, fuck, Kevin, you have to stop." Mike wrenches himself away from Kevin about two seconds from coming. "Jesus Christ, you're sexy."
Kevin looks both annoyed and pleased. "Don't take the Lord's name in vain," he says.
Mike rolls his eyes. "One step at a time, okay?"
"I know you hate this," Kevin says after a moment. His voice is soft enough that Mike could probably get away with pretending he didn't hear it.
"I don't- Okay, I do." Mike doesn't touch Kevin because he's still so turned on he's not sure he can take the additional stimulation. "I don't get it, okay? But it's not. I'm not going to dump you because of it."
They're more than just the sexual attraction. They talk on the phone every day they aren't together. Mike's always saving up things to tell Kevin. Kevin keeps sending him presents from places he goes on tour, to his house when he's home and care of whatever venue TAI's playing that night when they're on tour.
"I love you." It's been true for a while, but it's the first time Mike's said it.
Kevin looks shocked, eyes wide and mouth dropping open. "You do?" Then his mouth snaps shut and he narrows his eyes. "Are you saying it because you think I'll sleep with you if you do?"
"Wow," Mike says, "you are one suspicious motherfucker. I'm saying it because it's true. I know you're not going to sleep with me." He pushes himself off the couch. "I'm going home. Alone. Without pressuring you into anything." He's a little annoyed that Kevin doesn't believe him, and a little hurt that Kevin didn't say it back.
*
"I'm sorry I was such a jerk last night," Kevin says after Mike's picked up the phone but before he can even say hello.
Mike's only sort of awake. "Uh-huh."
"I know you're not trying to pressure me, and I like that. I like a lot of things about you." Kevin's voice goes a little shy at the end of the sentence.
Mike's starting to wake up now. "Yeah, like what?"
"Like the way you look at me when we're making out. And that you play guitar and understand what it's like to be in a band on tour all the time. And that you're nice to my brothers."
"Keep going." Mike's smiling as he pours himself a cup of coffee.
Kevin half laughs and then says, "I love you too, you know."
Mike didn't know. It does more to warm him up than the coffee.
*
Adam says, "He's just tense because his boyfriend's a tease and won't put out."
Mike sees red, and he's slamming Adam up against the wall before he even realizes he's moving. "Don't talk about him like that."
There's a flurry of sound and movement around him, and then two pairs of arms are pulling him away from Adam. Bill slides between them as soon as there's enough room, which means it's Michael and Butcher holding onto him.
"I thought we were done with this," Bill snaps. He's right that it's been a long time since Mike got in a fight with anyone.
"He can't talk about Kevin like that!"
Adam holds his hands up, palms out. "Okay, Jesus, I'm sorry."
Michael pulls Mike toward the door. "Let's take a walk."
Mike shakes Michael and Butcher off and stalks out the door. Michael keeps up with him, and they walk for a while, until Mike's tired and sits down on a bench. He has no idea where they are.
Michael doesn't say anything.
"He can't talk about Kevin like that," Mike says.
"I think he knows that now."
Mike rests his forehead in his hands, his elbows on his knees. "It's not like that. It's something important to him."
"Okay," Michael says mildly.
Mike turns his head to look at Michael. Michael's leaning back against the bench, arms stretched along the back of it. "This isn't just some fling." Mike exhales heavily. "It's more than that."
"Okay," Michael says again.
They sit in silence for a while, then Mike stands up. "Let's go back."
"Sorry, man," Adam says when they get back.
Mike nods. "Yeah. Me too."
*
"So," Mike says, while they're talking about what to do with their day off in Boston tomorrow, "I'm going to ask Kevin to marry me."
There's total silence for about the longest fifteen seconds of Mike's life.
"Wow," Bill says. "That's pretty serious."
Mike ducks his head and rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah. Anyone want to go ring shopping with me tomorrow?"
In the end, all four of them and Tony go with him.
"I could design something," Butcher says between the second and third stores. The first two didn't have anything good, and the snotty salespeople weren't very helpful.
"Maybe for the wedding rings," Mike says, "depending on what Kevin wants."
The snotty sales guy at the third store visibly brightens when he finds out Mike's shopping for an engagement ring for his boyfriend.
"We're still not getting much call for that," he says, "but we have a few things that might work."
One of those "few things" is a plain silver band with three tiny diamonds set into it.
Mike holds it up. "Do you think he'll like it?"
"It'll look good with his other ring," Adam says.
Michael says, "It's pretty," and Tony says, "He's going to like anything you get him."
The sales guy puts it in a box for him, and Mike hands over his credit card.
*
Mike cooks dinner and changes into a nice button-down before Kevin gets there.
"Hey," Kevin says, "I didn't know you could cook."
"I can handle a meal." Mike kisses Kevin and leads him over to the table. His apartment isn't particularly romantic, but he turns out the overhead lights and lights candles.
"This is nice." Kevin reaches across for Mike's hand and squeezes it before he bows his head to say grace.
After they're done eating, before he takes dishes back into the kitchen, Mike pulls the ring box out of his pocket and kneels down next to Kevin's chair.
Kevin stares at him.
"This is," Mike starts. "I want this to be forever." He opens the box and holds it out to Kevin. "Will you marry me?"
Kevin nods, and a grin takes over his face. "Yes."
Mike's so relieved he can hardly believe it. He wasn't sure Kevin wanted forever with him.
Kevin tugs at him. "Come up here so I can kiss you."
Mike laughs. "Hang on." He takes the ring out of the box and slides it onto Kevin's finger where it nestles against the other ring. Then he puts the box on the table and lets Kevin pull him up. He ends up straddling Kevin, sitting in his lap, while they kiss.
*
Mike walks down the aisle with his parents. He hugs his dad and kisses his mom's cheek at the front row of chairs before he goes all the way up to the altar. His brother, Bill, and Michael are already there, with Kevin's brothers across from them. Mike smiles at all of them.
Kevin starts coming toward him, and Mike stops seeing anything else.
Most of the wedding is a blur. The moment that stands out the clearest is the one where Kevin holds out his hand, fingers bare, and Mike puts the new ring on him. It's a gold band with a simple interlocking pattern Butcher designed. It matches the one Kevin puts on him.
There are toasts Mike barely hears, a meal he barely tastes, and then they're dancing, just the two of them, then with their mothers, then faster and Kevin's brothers and Mike's band come out to join them. Later, they sway together at the edge of the dance floor while the DJ plays something slow.
"Let's get out of here," Mike suggests.
Kevin nods against his shoulder. Mike's sure it will take them hours to say goodbye to everyone, but Kevin seems to be content with the way they visited every table earlier, and they slip out unnoticed.
There's a car waiting to take them to the hotel where they're spending the night. They hold hands in the car, in the lobby, in the elevator.
In the room, Kevin turns and puts his arms around Mike, and it's like they were when they were dancing.
"We're married now," Mike says.
Kevin smiles, and then presses that smile against Mike's lips.
For the first time, neither one of them says stop.
Author: Ruth Sadelle Alderson
Pairing: Mike/Kevin
Rating: FRM
Word Count: 2000
Disclaimer: Made up.
Summary: True love waits.
Notes: Originally written for an anon_lovefest prompt.
"Mike. Mike, stop." Kevin's hands stop holding him close and instead push hard against his shoulders.
"What?" Mike's still lying on Kevin, only his shoulders and head arching away from him.
"Off." Kevin keeps pushing at him, insistently enough that Mike rolls over onto his back next to him.
"What?" Mike does not want to be talking to Kevin now. Mike was so close to coming before Kevin shoved him away. He would really like to finish that.
"We can't."
Mike turns his head to look at Kevin. "Why the fuck not?"
Kevin's lips press together disapprovingly, and he holds up his left hand in answer. That damn ring.
"I believe in it," Kevin says. "It's important to me."
Mike drops his head back against the pillow. "Fuck."
"I think you should leave."
Mike can't believe Kevin is actually throwing him out. "Fine." He rolls off the bed and lets the hotel door fall shut behind him.
He doesn't even make it out of the hotel; he stops in the bathroom off the lobby, locks himself into a stall, and jerks off thinking about Kevin hard and turned on under him.
*
They have plans for lunch the next day, and Kevin doesn't call to cancel, so Mike shows up and knocks on his door at noon.
Kevin's smile when he opens the door is tight and doesn't quite reach his eyes. Fuck. Mike hates apologizing.
Mike leans in and presses a close-mouthed kiss to Kevin's lips. "Sorry," he says as he pulls away.
Kevin nods and takes his hand. "You know it means a lot to me."
"I know." Mike leads the way down the hallway toward the elevator. "I do," he says when Kevin doesn't say anything. He lets Kevin push the elevator button. "I know," he huffs. "It's okay."
Kevin twines their arms together and steps close enough to lean against Mike while they wait for the elevator.
*
The next time, as soon as Kevin says, "Stop," Mike does. He lies on the bed next to Kevin, panting.
"Shit," Mike swears. He sits up. "I'm going to go-" He waves his hand instead of saying it out loud. He pushes himself off the bed and walks carefully to the bathroom. The fan comes on when he turns on the bathroom light, but he bites his lip anyway as he jerks off.
When he comes out of the bathroom, Kevin's sitting up against the headboard with his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them.
Mike hates the way it makes him feel guilty.
"You want to watch some TV? See if there's a movie on or something?"
"Yeah." Kevin reaches for the remote and turns on the TV.
Mike sits down next to him. They're about twenty minutes into the movie Kevin's chosen before Kevin leans his head on Mike's shoulder. Mike waits another ten before he puts his arm around Kevin.
*
Mike flops back onto the bed and drapes his arm over his eyes. "Do you ever jerk off?" he asks.
Kevin's nervous laughter makes him pretty sure that if he looks, he'll see Kevin blushing.
"Yes."
Mike moves his arm enough to look, and Kevin is both blushing and biting his lip.
"But not after we've been fooling around."
Kevin doesn't look at him. Mike can see his hands, the fingers of the right twisting the ring on his left.
"No," he says slowly. "It wouldn't- Just because it's not technically having sex doesn't mean it would be right."
Mike huffs out a laugh. "I thought you purity types were all about the technicalities."
"Not all of us," Kevin mutters. There's an unhappy twist to his mouth.
Mike turns on his side and takes Kevin's hand, the left one, in his.
After that, Mike sometimes goes into the bathroom to jerk off, but sometimes, now that he knows it means something to Kevin, he doesn't. He just sits or lies next to Kevin and they come down together.
It's nothing Mike has ever done before.
*
"Okay, okay, fuck, Kevin, you have to stop." Mike wrenches himself away from Kevin about two seconds from coming. "Jesus Christ, you're sexy."
Kevin looks both annoyed and pleased. "Don't take the Lord's name in vain," he says.
Mike rolls his eyes. "One step at a time, okay?"
"I know you hate this," Kevin says after a moment. His voice is soft enough that Mike could probably get away with pretending he didn't hear it.
"I don't- Okay, I do." Mike doesn't touch Kevin because he's still so turned on he's not sure he can take the additional stimulation. "I don't get it, okay? But it's not. I'm not going to dump you because of it."
They're more than just the sexual attraction. They talk on the phone every day they aren't together. Mike's always saving up things to tell Kevin. Kevin keeps sending him presents from places he goes on tour, to his house when he's home and care of whatever venue TAI's playing that night when they're on tour.
"I love you." It's been true for a while, but it's the first time Mike's said it.
Kevin looks shocked, eyes wide and mouth dropping open. "You do?" Then his mouth snaps shut and he narrows his eyes. "Are you saying it because you think I'll sleep with you if you do?"
"Wow," Mike says, "you are one suspicious motherfucker. I'm saying it because it's true. I know you're not going to sleep with me." He pushes himself off the couch. "I'm going home. Alone. Without pressuring you into anything." He's a little annoyed that Kevin doesn't believe him, and a little hurt that Kevin didn't say it back.
*
"I'm sorry I was such a jerk last night," Kevin says after Mike's picked up the phone but before he can even say hello.
Mike's only sort of awake. "Uh-huh."
"I know you're not trying to pressure me, and I like that. I like a lot of things about you." Kevin's voice goes a little shy at the end of the sentence.
Mike's starting to wake up now. "Yeah, like what?"
"Like the way you look at me when we're making out. And that you play guitar and understand what it's like to be in a band on tour all the time. And that you're nice to my brothers."
"Keep going." Mike's smiling as he pours himself a cup of coffee.
Kevin half laughs and then says, "I love you too, you know."
Mike didn't know. It does more to warm him up than the coffee.
*
Adam says, "He's just tense because his boyfriend's a tease and won't put out."
Mike sees red, and he's slamming Adam up against the wall before he even realizes he's moving. "Don't talk about him like that."
There's a flurry of sound and movement around him, and then two pairs of arms are pulling him away from Adam. Bill slides between them as soon as there's enough room, which means it's Michael and Butcher holding onto him.
"I thought we were done with this," Bill snaps. He's right that it's been a long time since Mike got in a fight with anyone.
"He can't talk about Kevin like that!"
Adam holds his hands up, palms out. "Okay, Jesus, I'm sorry."
Michael pulls Mike toward the door. "Let's take a walk."
Mike shakes Michael and Butcher off and stalks out the door. Michael keeps up with him, and they walk for a while, until Mike's tired and sits down on a bench. He has no idea where they are.
Michael doesn't say anything.
"He can't talk about Kevin like that," Mike says.
"I think he knows that now."
Mike rests his forehead in his hands, his elbows on his knees. "It's not like that. It's something important to him."
"Okay," Michael says mildly.
Mike turns his head to look at Michael. Michael's leaning back against the bench, arms stretched along the back of it. "This isn't just some fling." Mike exhales heavily. "It's more than that."
"Okay," Michael says again.
They sit in silence for a while, then Mike stands up. "Let's go back."
"Sorry, man," Adam says when they get back.
Mike nods. "Yeah. Me too."
*
"So," Mike says, while they're talking about what to do with their day off in Boston tomorrow, "I'm going to ask Kevin to marry me."
There's total silence for about the longest fifteen seconds of Mike's life.
"Wow," Bill says. "That's pretty serious."
Mike ducks his head and rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah. Anyone want to go ring shopping with me tomorrow?"
In the end, all four of them and Tony go with him.
"I could design something," Butcher says between the second and third stores. The first two didn't have anything good, and the snotty salespeople weren't very helpful.
"Maybe for the wedding rings," Mike says, "depending on what Kevin wants."
The snotty sales guy at the third store visibly brightens when he finds out Mike's shopping for an engagement ring for his boyfriend.
"We're still not getting much call for that," he says, "but we have a few things that might work."
One of those "few things" is a plain silver band with three tiny diamonds set into it.
Mike holds it up. "Do you think he'll like it?"
"It'll look good with his other ring," Adam says.
Michael says, "It's pretty," and Tony says, "He's going to like anything you get him."
The sales guy puts it in a box for him, and Mike hands over his credit card.
*
Mike cooks dinner and changes into a nice button-down before Kevin gets there.
"Hey," Kevin says, "I didn't know you could cook."
"I can handle a meal." Mike kisses Kevin and leads him over to the table. His apartment isn't particularly romantic, but he turns out the overhead lights and lights candles.
"This is nice." Kevin reaches across for Mike's hand and squeezes it before he bows his head to say grace.
After they're done eating, before he takes dishes back into the kitchen, Mike pulls the ring box out of his pocket and kneels down next to Kevin's chair.
Kevin stares at him.
"This is," Mike starts. "I want this to be forever." He opens the box and holds it out to Kevin. "Will you marry me?"
Kevin nods, and a grin takes over his face. "Yes."
Mike's so relieved he can hardly believe it. He wasn't sure Kevin wanted forever with him.
Kevin tugs at him. "Come up here so I can kiss you."
Mike laughs. "Hang on." He takes the ring out of the box and slides it onto Kevin's finger where it nestles against the other ring. Then he puts the box on the table and lets Kevin pull him up. He ends up straddling Kevin, sitting in his lap, while they kiss.
*
Mike walks down the aisle with his parents. He hugs his dad and kisses his mom's cheek at the front row of chairs before he goes all the way up to the altar. His brother, Bill, and Michael are already there, with Kevin's brothers across from them. Mike smiles at all of them.
Kevin starts coming toward him, and Mike stops seeing anything else.
Most of the wedding is a blur. The moment that stands out the clearest is the one where Kevin holds out his hand, fingers bare, and Mike puts the new ring on him. It's a gold band with a simple interlocking pattern Butcher designed. It matches the one Kevin puts on him.
There are toasts Mike barely hears, a meal he barely tastes, and then they're dancing, just the two of them, then with their mothers, then faster and Kevin's brothers and Mike's band come out to join them. Later, they sway together at the edge of the dance floor while the DJ plays something slow.
"Let's get out of here," Mike suggests.
Kevin nods against his shoulder. Mike's sure it will take them hours to say goodbye to everyone, but Kevin seems to be content with the way they visited every table earlier, and they slip out unnoticed.
There's a car waiting to take them to the hotel where they're spending the night. They hold hands in the car, in the lobby, in the elevator.
In the room, Kevin turns and puts his arms around Mike, and it's like they were when they were dancing.
"We're married now," Mike says.
Kevin smiles, and then presses that smile against Mike's lips.
For the first time, neither one of them says stop.