Philip smiled as he opened another box labelled 'bedroom, Lukas.' They were finally moving in together, after their last years at school and then Lukas on the riding circuit, they were finally moving into their apartment. It wasn't huge but it was theirs and Philip loved it.
Lukas was wandering around shifting furniture to his liking and making sure the couch was in the best position for the TV and Philip wasn't sure if he realized he was humming. It was one of their songs, a slow sweeter one that was more Philips style and it made him smile as he watched his boyfriend pad around their new place, in just his sweatpants because he had packed everything else into boxes.
They'd been together for almost three years now and Philip never got tired of seeing that smile or that ridiculous hair that Lukas could never tame, and his chest always felt full of sunlight whenever Lukas took his hand and told him he loved him.
God, he was lucky.
"Hey, babe can you unpack my boxes for me? I haven't finished getting all the kitchen stuff in yet."
Philip stopped staring and went back to work, calling out his reply that, yes, he would unpack for him.
Most of Lukas' boxes were full of riding trophies or CD's but there was another box, a smaller one, that he'd never seen before. Sure, usually it would be called snooping to go through it but Lukas had specifically asked him to unpack it. Philip bit his lip, feeling a tiny bit guilty, before shrugging and diving in. When he pulled the lid off the box he really didn't know what to expect but it wasn't this. It was a box full of evidence that Lukas was a total dork. A romantic, dopey, dork.
It was filled with pictures of the two of them, polaroid's and lengths of photos they'd taken in booths. Philip had no idea he'd kept this stuff. There were other bits and pieces too, movie tickets, birthday cards, notes they'd passed each other in class. But most interestingly was a small sketch pad, smudged and well worn. Philip took the pad out and carefully opened it, not wanting to disturb some of the loose pages stuck into the book.
Philip gasped a little as he looked at them. They were amazing. He had no idea Lukas was so good, he saw him sketching occasionally but Lukas had always brushed off any of Philips attempts to see them, calling them doodles. But they were beautiful and drawn with a loving hand. And they were of him.
Pages and pages of drawings, and most of them were of Philip. Some were from moments he remembered, like one sketch of him in the barn, and another in their favourite café. But there were others, more intimate and telling of Lukas' feelings. One page was taken up by Philips sleeping face, soft curls laying over his forehead, lips pursed a little in sleep. Had Lukas really drawn all of these?
Philip flipped through them all, marvelling at the talent and emotion that could be seen in the pencil marks. Some of them had dates written in the corner or little notes.
February. Got Philip flowers for our first valentine's day together.
Philip remembered that day. Lukas had bought him daisies, and told him about how the florist reacted when he said they were actually for his boyfriend not his girlfriend. He'd been so proud. The drawing was of Philip smiling down at the little bouquet, nose touching one of the petals. One of the daisies was pressed between the pages.
Soft footsteps came up behind him as Lukas came to sit behind Philip, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend as he hugged him from behind.
"Oh, you found my doodles."
Philip scoffed and flipped through the book.
"These aren't doodles, Lukas. They're amazing. I didn't know you did this."
Lukas tucked his face to Philips neck and swayed them a little.
"Thanks, I'm more than just a sex god you know, I have a soft side."
Philip let out a soft laugh.
"Well you're that too."
"You're my favourite subject."
"I can see that. We should frame some of these."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, they're beautiful."
Lukas kissed Philips cheek, smiling with pride.
"Thanks, they're just like you then."
