I'll Wait - A Wrightworth Story

Proud Of You

Phoenix left the court building and immediately had to remove his jacket. A wall of warm, humid air hit him like a freight train and made him sweat like crazy within seconds.
It was late June and the smell of early summer hung heavy over the city.

It had been four months since he'd finally talked it out with Miles.
Their friendship had been growing stronger ever since. They hadn't been this comfortable around each other since elementary school.
Miles was taking a break from work, but he'd decided to stay in the area. Stay close to Phoenix.

And there he was, standing next to his almost painfully red sports car, waving at Phoenix.
His attire was about as casual as it got for, well, Miles Edgeworth, when he had to leave the house. Phoenix thought he looked like a rich dad. With the exception that Miles would never wear shorts (except maybe at the beach; that was a theory Phoenix was yet to test). But the gray pants, polished shoes and snugly fitting polo shirt were enough to make suburban moms drool. And Phoenix.

Phoenix waved back and made his way to the car while rolling his sleeves up.
"Hey! Thanks again for picking me up!"
He took off his tie like his life depended on it and opened the top button of his shirt.
"Let's get in the car, I'm melting."

Miles smirked, eyeing him up.
"Yeah, I can tell. Good thing this baby has air conditioning." He patted the roof of his car. Bad idea.
"Ouch!" Yup, metal + sun = hot.

Phoenix chuckled fondly at this idiot, his idiot, and got in the car.
He immediately closed his eyes and let the cool air wash over him as soon as Miles had started the car.
"Aaahhh, that's better."
He kept his eyes closed, tired and exhausted from the trial.

Miles was having some trouble keeping his eyes on the road. Phoenix was sprawled in the passenger's seat, disheveled, his exposed collarbone glistening with sweat. His chest rose and sunk with every breath, his hair was a mess...
Fuck.
Don't think that, Miles.
He's your friend.
You just got him back.
You just learned to express your emotions and be comfortable around people again.
Do not make this uncomfortable.

An image flashed in front of his eyes.
His dark living room, Phoenix dozing off on his shoulder, spiky hair tickling his cheek, four words:
"It's fine, I'll wait."

I'm not ready yet, he thought. Am I?
I'm pretty sure I know how he feels about me. He's never said it, but he's made a point of showing it. 'I'll wait', he said. How long will you wait for me?

In his head, Miles could say all the things he wanted to say to Phoenix. The problem was getting them past his lips.

Do you know how I feel about you? Do you know how much you mean to me, how much I need you? How much I l-
No, he couldn't even sound it out in his head yet. The one thing that stayed in a locked box in the back of his mind.

He had gotten better at expressing his feelings verbally, though. It was now much easier to say things like 'hey, I had so much fun yesterday' or 'thanks, I really appreciate it.'
Miles was also much more comfortable laughing in the presence of others now.
All thanks to Phoenix.

In the end, it all came down to his insecurities. Feeling self-conscious. Feeling like he needed to look and sound professional and serious all the time.
Phoenix had slowly but surely showed him there was another way, and Miles had watched himself open up more and more. First to Phoenix, then to others as well. It was still scary, but it was also liberating.

But there were some things that he just wasn't ready for. Yet.

His thoughts returned to reality when he realized Phoenix had sleepily mumbled something.
"Hm?" He shook his head. "Sorry, I was... thinking."

"Hey, you better not zone out while driving! I'm too young and too pretty to die," Phoenix joked.

That you are, Miles thought.

"I was asking what we're doing now. Where we're hanging out. Your place? Mine? Somewhere else?"

Miles looked at Phoenix, who still looked as tempting as a tall glass of ice cold water on this hot summer day, and thought for a second.

"Hey, eyes on the road," Phoenix giggled before Miles could say anything.

Miles obeyed, ears turning pink.
"I was thinking, cold drinks to cool us down, and then we could watch a movie at your place?"
Miles preferred Phoenix's place over his own lately, because it meant getting out of his huge, lonely house. A house that didn't always feel like a home. Not the way he did. He was home.

"Perfect," Phoenix replied with a wide grin on his face. "Exactly what I need after a day like this."

"You wanna talk about it?", Miles offered.

But Phoenix shook his head.
"Thanks, I appreciate that, but it's fine. I won, it was just very exhausting." He yawned. "If I feel like I need to talk about that case, I'll let you know. But for now, I'm good."

Miles was in awe. That was the level of open, uncomplicated communication that he was striving for.
A weird thing to be envious about.

But hey, the best time to start was always now, right?
He cleared his throat.
"I, uh, I'm glad you won. I mean, I... I'm proud of you."
Phew, that was harder than he'd expected. But also... really not that hard after all. Hm.

"Thanks," Phoenix replied, wiping sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.
"And, uh, you should know... I'm proud of you too."

Miles furrowed his brows.
"Huh? What for?"

Phoenix chuckled.
"You don't know? Well... a lot of things, actually. I mean, look at you. A handsome young man driving an expensive car with another incredibly handsome young man in the passenger's seat. You've made it, basically. "
He smirked at Miles, eyes half-closed, gazing at him through his eyelashes.

Phoenix was unusually flirty today.
Alright, Miles thought, I can do flirty.
Maybe he could do the flirty part first and the... l-word part later.
Maybe... the 'flirty part' could help him become more comfortable with his... feelings.

He returned the smirk, accepting the challenge.
"Hm, can't argue with that. I'm also taking this... incredibly handsome young man to get some drinks with me..."
He turned his head towards Phoenix, raising an eyebrow.
"But... isn't that a bit superficial? Is that what you think determines whether someone has 'made it'?"

Phoenix chuckled again. He seemed to enjoy this.
"Hmmm, I guess I could have mentioned that you're a... mostly... very successful prosecutor who is currently taking a break from his job to work on some personal issues... and is definitely making a lot of progress there, too."
He suddenly looked serious.
"So yes, Miles, I'm really proud of you."

Miles blushed deeply.
"Thanks, Phoenix. That means a lot to me."
See? That wasn't too hard, he thought.