Little Doves & Bonafide Heroes ~ Archie Cruz

Welcome, Pt. 2

"Close your eyes," he said as he climbed the stairs up to the loft, where I sat surrounded by pillows and blankets.

"What are you going to do?" I asked with a nervous laugh, covering my eyes.

"You'll see." I heard his feet shuffle on the carpet. "Keep 'em closed, I'll be back," he mumbled. A few moments later, he returned, bringing a sweet sweet smell in the air, and the couch beside me dipped as he sat. "Okay, open them."

I opened my eyes to see two plates of pancakes and a bottle of champagne on the table, which made me laugh to myself, but that basically summarized our relationship; we were like kids, but we were old enough to drink the big kid "juice" and get wild.

"Sorry it's a little weird, but I could only find pancake mix. I need to go to the store," he said, a light blush on his cheeks. "Been in Los Angeles for a while now."

"It's perfectly fine; I love you, we're in Finland, and I am as happy as can be just to be with you. Pancakes are perfectly fine with me, and the champagne? Well, you're a smart man," I purred, picking up the bottle.

"It's the same stuff you like in America, just with a Finnish label. I'm glad you like it, though," he said, leaning over and kissing my cheek. "Do you want to open the champagne while I look for movie?"

"Sure."

"Alright. Horror or comedy?"

"Mmm... comedy. Let's change it up."

"Okay." He began to read the list to me, not seeing that I was struggling with opening the bottle of champagne. After a few minutes, he randomly picked one and turned back to me, trying to contain his laughter when he realized that I still hadn't gotten the bottle open. "Want help?"

"Nope," I said, holding up a hand.

"Are you sure?"

"Y-yes," I said, feeling the cork move slightly. "I got it!" I shouted, pulling out the cork, followed by the bottle overflowing with fizz and running all over Archie. "Shit! I'm so sorry, Archie! Fuck," I said, panicking as I looked around for something to help my situation- with no idea of what that would be, as Archie laughed beside me.

"It's okay, don't worry about it," he wheezed. "I got it," he said, running downstairs for a towel. I honestly felt like crying, but I tried to keep it together as he came back and threw the towel over the mess.

"Well, this was going to be very sweet and borderline romantic until I spilled the champagne on you," I said with a nervous laugh, crimson blush spreading across my face as I held the foam covered bottle in my hand. "I'm so sorry."

"Nah, don't sweat it," he said with a smile. "I guess it gives me an excuse to take off my clothes sooner rather than later," he said with a wink, laughing as I blushed even more. "Hey, I get it; if you wanted me to take my shirt off, you could have just asked," he teased as he started to take off said shirt. "Anyway, welcome to Finland, baby," he purred as he kissed me, slowly trailing down to my neck.

Fuck.

"Okay," I mumbled as I put the bottle of champagne down. "The movie's gonna have to wait," I said with a giggle, climbing into his lap. Judging by the smile on his face, he knew what he was in for.

°°°°°°

"Hey, relax, babe," he said, taking my hand as we headed up to the rehearsal space. "You're going to love them, and they'll love you, too."

I nodded, focusing on my breathing as I stared at the electric green walls, following the single yellow stripe that marked them with my eyes.

"What if they don't?"