In the Beat of a Wing {boyxboy}

Chapter Nineteen

~Monday 25th February 2013~

"How did you know?" Eden returned his gaze to Malcolm, rather than staring at the trees whizzing past them either side of the car, "did Ari tell you?"

"Every time I blinked your lips would twitch, I've always been pretty good at lip reading so I knew it was numbers. You do it more than you think," Eden began to worry a little when Malcolm's frown deepened, "you can't get rid of something like OCD entirely, things stick around. When you're concentrating, you count your breaths, I noticed it a few weeks back when you were patching up my black eye. I googled it when I realised it wasn't just a one-off. Please don't worry about it," Eden rested his hand over Malcolm's for a brief second before returning it to his lap so the man could change gears.

"I didn't even realise, maybe I should tell Ari," Malcolm murmured absently to himself, "then again, he likely already knows, he's probably-" Eden silenced Malcolm's babbling by resting a hand on his thigh whilst he continued to stare out the window. He may not be sure on the terms of the affection shared between them but if he could help the man calm down then that made him feel better himself.

They didn't talk for the rest of the car journey, yet Eden didn't remove his hand either. In fact, he began to rub his thumb on the man's thigh, biting down on his lip when he heard a soft appreciative noise slip out. He didn't mention it since he thought it might embarrass Malcolm but that didn't mean he hadn't heard it.

"What are you making for dinner then?" Eden asked as he followed Malcolm inside, removing his shoes and leaving them by the door. Force of habit. Malcolm grimaced suddenly and Eden couldn't help giggling, knowing exactly what the man had forgotten.

"You didn't think you'd get this far, huh?" Malcolm shook his head, defeated, "take out then?"

"What's your favourite?" Malcolm inquired as they continued into the kitchen, opening one of the drawers and pulling out a stack of nearly new menus.

"Do you get take out a lot?" Eden flicked through the menus, automatically sorting them into various piles; Thai, Italian, Mexican, and so on.

"No more than anyone else. I just like to have the options. Pick whatever you want, I'm just gonna go get changed," Eden nodded, too engrossed in a particularly nice looking Chinese place. Once he had picked what he wanted, he looked around for notepad and pen. Eden didn't want to look like he was snooping so when he couldn't find anything out in the open he simply typed his order on a note on his phone and left it on the countertop.

Opening the fridge door, Eden sighed at the lack of food. How was Malcolm able to stay in shape so well when he had nothing in to eat? Eden spotted the wine rack, stocked fully. It was an alcoholic's wet dream. Shaking his head and smiling to himself, Eden closed the fridge, looking around for a glass so he could make a drink. Top shelf of the top cupboard, of course, great. Even on his tiptoes, Eden's fingers only just grazed the glass, managing to shift it ever so slightly until-

"Shit!" Eden gasped as the glass slipped from his fingers, falling to the floor. He braced himself for the sound of shattering glass but it never came. Instead, the glass hovered next to his shoulder, righted itself and then settled down on the counter. Eden looked to his left, a deep blush staining his cheeks when he saw Malcolm leaning in the doorway. He looked casual, maybe a little too casual, with low hanging grey sweatpants and a tight black t-shirt.

"Did you pick something to order?" Malcolm asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yeah," Eden gestured toward his phone that was still resting on the counter next to the menu whilst he filled his glass with water, "do you have ice?"

"Should be some in the freezer, I keep meaning to top up the machine," Eden nodded, crouching as he opened the freezer, searching through the frozen food for the ice. He grimaced as the cold bit into his fingers, placing four pieces of ice in his glass and rising back to his feet. Malcolm was talking on the phone, presumably ordering the food. Eden collected his phone, typing something and showing it to Malcolm. Drink?