I Miss You More Than You Know

Part Two

I Miss You More Than You Know

Part Two

"Bang, bang—think I'm allergic to every other person

You're the one, now, I'm certain, yeah

We belong together

We belong together, and you know it."

—"We Belong" Dove Cameron

Within a month, they moved in together.

Ian tried to at least convince Aeric to not give up his apartment, but that ended up being half-assed once Aeric disclosed SolarTech was paying for him to be out here, anyway. Now, if he wanted to stick around after their current project, that's when he'd be on his own. But Ian couldn't exactly argue. They'd kind of "lived together" their first few years of college, Aeric pretty much spending all his time in Ian's single back during freshman year when he avoided his roommate, but this wasn't just a few nights a week studying. This was where Ian fell apart with Sadalia.

She didn't like the idea of adopting a dragon anywhere down the line (and had so rarely gave any indication that she didn't want to take care of one, after bonding well with Blazey), and whenever Ian tried to organize all of her strewn papers for articles and all her potions and lotions in the bathroom with magic, she assured him that the mess was "her organized mess," where despite the clutter, she knew where everything was. The arguments escalated until, well, it became the only part of their lives.

Honestly, Ian thought he might have that problem with Aeric, who used to have a tendency of leaving textbooks open to arbitrary pages and his phone and laptop constantly unplugged at low battery in college, but with most of his work being done in the office and his years moving all over the realms, Ian was genuinely surprised to see him show up at his door with only a couple suitcases. That minimalist living really did a number on him.

"That's all you brought?" Ian asked, genuinely curious as Aeric took up way less than half of the closet.

"Clothes, toiletries, my laptop, a few dumbbells... that's really all I need," Aeric replied with a shrug. For someone so large, he took up such little space.

And now that Ian had also fallen into the extraordinarily good habit of working out, they both seemed to fall right into sync, even better than before. Ian knew Aeric got up pretty early for his morning run; now, they both woke up at six and ran around the city with each other. While Ian showered afterward, Aeric made breakfast for both of them, and then they'd switch right off before carpooling to work. Ian dropped off Aeric at SolarTech, then made his way to NMES.

A seamless, easy transition. Ian had to wait to see if they even had this stride (and that it wasn't just for the sex) in getting back together before telling anyone else. But a few weeks into dating again, and there was just this comfort about Aeric, still laced in the few new things he was still learning. Aeric was a way better cook now, for example, after learning about all these cultures, and how much he'd had to fend for himself now that he moved pretty much completely out from his parents' lives. And now that Ian actually liked exercising, they pushed each other to do well, by running further, lifting more. A friendly competition that always ended with sweat and smiles.

And, well, Ian kind of missed being used as exercise equipment. Knowing that Aeric could still lift him well over his head brought him right back to brought him right back to this balance in their relationship (and it was hot to know he could still do it, even after bulking up as much as he did).