Through the Screen

abel 's eyes wander around the busy pavement, watching as a woman passes him with a conjoined stroller with two babies, both wearing blue onesies and one of them having a bow on their head. he smiles at them, and then at the mother, and the woman who can't be any older than twenty five returns his smile, finally walking past him. he sighs happily, clutching the straps of the backpack and pulling his sleeves over his fists—it's a habit he hasn't gotten rid of.

london's march air is forgiving, chilly enough for a sweater and warm enough to ditch a jacket, and the sun shines unabashed atop his head, painting a few strands of his curly hair in golden light. there are barely five minutes left to see noah, the wait almost seems longer than the three years he has spent fixing both himself and their relationship. he can feel the steady beat of his heart going haywire, he can feel the oxygen supply becoming bare, he can feel the shakiness of his hands and the heat in his cheeks—he's been anticipating this for so long.

his phone buzzes lightly in his pocket and he pulls out the device, trying to control the blush that marks his cheeks almost instantly.

noahrobster : where are you?

the app had found it's way back onto their phones only two weeks ago, when adrian had spent a considerable amount of time convincing both of them to have the signature 'robster' next to their names for no apparent reason other than the entertainment of watching his fathers cringe.

abelrobster : almost there

he bit his lip before adding onto his text.

abelrobster : i'm nervous to see you

noahrobster : don't be, it's only me

abelrobster : yeah but it's been a while

noahrobster : it's fine i won't bite

unless

cheeks but noah has proved him wrong yet again. now he's standing in the middle of a pavement with his cheeks

: shut up you

minutes later he is pushing the doors open to starbucks, conventionally the most inappropriate place to see your husband again after years but noah had insisted on getting coffee first and abel was really in no position to contradict anything the man said. he walked further into the busy shop, trying to spot noah's dark fringe somewhere along the mass of people but having no such luck. fortunately enough, after a solid minute of confusion, there were cold fingers grabbing his

you standing like that?" and being surprised to look at noah would probably be an understatement. the years look unbelievably good on him, the

abel swears for a minute he almost can't believe this is happening. he stares unashamedly at noah as he leads them to the counter to order, noticing the way his hair is pushed back into a quiff, his glasses resting effortlessly on the bridge of his pointed nose, and the sleeves of his shirt tighter around his biceps. his broad shoulders and defined arms give away instantly that he's been working out, and abel can't promise that all his thoughts

hair," abel comments as soon as they get in line, and he watches as noah's cheeks flush, his fingers going up and pushing the hair further

collarbones and it's only a second later he notices the small black gages covering his

his hand in a bold move, placing it on his cheek and taking ahold of the plasticky material gently, watching as abel draws in a shaky breath. it pleases him in a strange way that the littlest of his touches still make abel

looks good," he licks his lips, letting his hand fall back down. "really

to a table of two, both of them sitting across from each other with unmet eyes and flushed

finally looks at him, trying not to get too carried away with the relief he gets by hearing

good," noah answers vaguely and offers him a small

this conversation to stay as light hearted as possible.

he does actually, but whatever he wants to say doesn't match

the conversation going and noah

do," noah says and abel scrunches his

you won't make an effort so clearly someone has to do it," abel snorts, and noah laughs, momentarily forgetting about what

end their friendship on a sour note and he is surprised when noah doesn't look bothered by the fact. their conversation pauses for

were on a break?" abel mumbles, slumping back into his chair and finishing the last of his drink. he fiddles his fingers