Chapter Text
Imagine this:
In an ordinary town, not too big, not too small, and not too far from the bustling city, thick white snow blankets rooftops, telephone poles, and stoplights. It hugs the ground in a cold embrace, muffling the sound of feet on pavement. A dog sticks its head out of the window of an old sedan at a stoplight and barks at a businessman crossing the street.
Two blocks down from this intersection, sandwiched between a bookstore and an insurance agency, is a teahouse. It’s sign sits, green and white, over foggy windows. Inside the teahouse, a black haired boy who used to dance out front stands behind the counter. He is arguing with another boy over whose turn it is to take out the trash, and he gives in, because he always does. And because the other boy is technically now his manager.
A young man with orange hair stands on a stepladder to hang bright lights and garland over the fireplace mantle. Below him, another young man hands him a nail and hammer with which he will secure the decorations. He looks up at him, in awe of his haphazard beauty, in the light of the fire that dares try to burn brighter than he does.
The black haired boy slings a trash bag over his shoulder and exits out the back way. He is followed quickly and silently by the other, who stops him in the brick red alleyway, and steals a kiss where no one can see. But they know, and the boss knows, and everyone knows, because the fondness is written on their faces when they return, rosy cheeked, to the warm interior.
Imagine that the OPEN signs flicker once and go dark, and above that teashop, the two young men retire to the bedroom. They coax sweet truths from each other’s lips that eventually evolve into naughty, playful nothings and the cold of the world around them is willingly forgotten. A road opens up before them. Though its destination is unknown, it twists and winds through the valleys of discovery, of heartache, of loss and forgiveness, want and plenitude, of sorrow and happiness. And what comes next is the most glorious spring of their young lives.