Enemies with Benefits 2

Chapter 26: I lose myself in you

He'd never known a peace quite like it. A domestic bliss that he thought was created by the government  for the sake of appealing to the general population to have families and increase the birth rate of the country. A little tinfoil hat of him, but he genuinely believed that love expired after the honeymoon period. If there even was a honeymoon period. Was this a honeymoon period?

It all seemed so natural. They ate the Greek food together and discovered new things about each other's tastes. Turns out Stavros disliked Tzatziki which wasn't good because it was drenched all over the salad. Luckily, Steven found out that he loved Tzatziki. They turned on the TV and watched a show about dogs being adopted into new families. It was sweet. The moment was so sweet that when they had finished eating and Steven had taken the dirty plates into the kitchen, he'd returned to Stavros reclining on the couch. He'd smiled as Steven came back in and held his arms open. Steven had never done it before so he had no idea how he knew what Stavros wanted. He was tentative. A timid creature carefully sneaking into the arms of someone who clearly knew what they were doing more than Steven did despite the age difference between them. Steven lay down beside Stavros, he rested his head upon Stavros chest and draped a leg across Stavros' hip. He was going to rest his hand upon Stavros' chest as well, but instead Stavros picked it up and kissed each of his knuckles individually. Then he kissed the tip of his fingers, starting from the pinky and working his way over to the thumb. Steven watched him do it. His face felt like it was on fire, and yet he didn't completely understand what he was looking at.

Stavros seemed to catch the look. "Too much?" He asked.

Steven's fingers were held so close to Stavros' lips that he could feel it brush against them. "No. I just—" He just what? He'd never felt such affection? Never been so adored by someone else? He didn't say any of that. It was embarrassing that he lacked an experience as apparently common as love at his grown age.  Was this love? It was for him anyway. "Do you remember that night we went to that club together?"

Stavros nodded his head.

"I don't actually like clubbing." Steven confessed.

Stavros smiled. He kissed Steven's fingers again. "I know."

"I don't think I'll ever go clubbing again in my life."

"I figured." Another kiss, this time on his palm.

"I was jealous when I saw you with that other man."

"So, was I."

"Who was he?" Asked Steven.

"My ex." Said Stavros. "He's the receptionist at the hospital and things did not end well between us. I didn't know he was going to be there. He's not the nicest person when drunk and basically came over to yell at me for our relationship but also flirt with me." Stavros rolled his eyes. "He's a colourful character, I'll tell you that."

"So, he's Andreas?"

"Andreas?" Stavros' smile dropped. He stared off ahead, but not as though he was looking at something specifically in the room. "No, he wasn't Andreas. Andreas is-"  he let out a breath, "I don't even know where he is these days. Athens, maybe. He did always say he wanted to move to Thessaloniki though."

"I won't ask you to tell me about him if you don't want to."

"Do you want to know?"

"Yes," Steven admitted, "but not entirely for none selfish reasons."

"What selfish reasons do you have?" Stavros looked back towards him.

That's how Steven wanted it, with Stavros looking only at him. "I'm old, you know."