A/N: Happy Valentine's Day!
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could you go and run into me
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It's a shitty day out, unseasonably enthusiastic snow being whipped around by a wind strong enough to make their windows rattle in the frames. Shisui glares halfheartedly at one of said windows, like maybe he can keep them from shattering through sheer force of will; it's fucking cold enough as it is and they don't have enough duct tape to do a patch job that big.
Not that Shisui's feeling the cold much. He hasn't gotten out of bed all day, so he's still cocooned in a glorious pool of warmth under four layers of blankets.
Itachi's still conked out beside him. Shisui had to play dirty to keep him from getting out of bed, and the result, he observes with a smirk, is that his longtime boyfriend is well and truly worn out. Score for Shisui's obviously superior stamina.
As if his 'Shisui is being an idiot' radar still works even when he's sleeping, Itachi makes a little grunting noise and shifts under the covers. His hair slides over his eyes. The Cousin It comparison suddenly becomes apparent.
Biting his lip to keep from laughing, Shisui reaches over and brushes a few black strands out of Itachi's face. His eyelashes are inky dark against pale skin.
It's really not fair that anyone can look that pretty when they're still asleep and haven't showered yet, besides.
Shisui flops down on his back and stares at the ceiling. It's not an awesome ceiling, objectively speaking, cracked and water damaged and god only knows what else. The same could probably be said for the rest of the apartment. But it's theirs, down to the electric blue paint in the kitchen that Shisui'd insisted on and the half-finished knitting projects Itachi leaves everywhere, so Shisui loves the place despite its idiosyncrasies. (Like how it only decides to have hot water some of the time. Stuff like that.)
And it's been a pain in the ass to get here. Years and years of pining after his best friend-slash-sorta-cousin and wondering what the hell he was going to do with a crush that, far from withering away, seemed determined to make itself nice and comfy somewhere inside of his breastbone. And then, when they'd both decided to say fuck it and give in to the frankly ridiculous levels of UST, several more years of keeping secrets and kissing behind closed doors.
And then there'd been the inevitable fallout when their shared family found out. Shouting and cold looks and Shisui losing his temper and Itachi walking around for days, weeks with that closed expression, like if he didn't let anything in then he couldn't get hurt anymore.
They'd gotten into more than their fair share of fights during that shitty period, Itachi having gotten thrown out on his ass and the both of them living on top of each other in Shisui's campus apartment that was even more of a shoebox than the one they live in now. Shisui's anger blew hot and Itachi's was ice and they both knew way too well how to hurt one another.
But it didn't last. Shisui gave up and hunted down a cheap apartment that'd give them room to live without living out of each other's pockets. Itachi's parents sent him a letter than left him with shaky hands and a shakier smile (but it was the first real smile Shisui'd seen from him in months, and goddamn, he remembers thinking that it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen).
Sasuke had brought copious amounts of cheap-ass alcohol to their housewarming party, such as it was, and they'd all got drunk and stupid and gathered enough blackmail material to set each of them up for life if they ever felt so inclined.
Shisui's grinning at the memory when another gust of wind hits, strong enough to shake the whole damn building, or at least it feels that way. Itachi makes an irritated sound and squirms closer to Shisui, trying to leech more of his body heat.
And it's kind of a ridiculous moment to think about it, but Shisui looks down at this gorgeous, scary smart person he's called his best friend since they still had all their baby teeth and all he can think is, I love you so much it's gross.
An idea hits him, and it's coming out of his mouth before he even thinks twice about it.
"Hey," he murmurs, "you wanna get married?"
For a second he doesn't think it was loud enough for Itachi to hear, let alone to wake him up, but then he's opening groggy black eyes and looking up at Shisui from the pillow, face unreadable.
But he must see something he likes, because his eyes clear.
"When?" is all he says.
Shisui's eyebrows hike upward, but he manages to keep an otherwise straight face. "Uh, today? Courthouse should still be open, it's not like it's Apocalypse Now out there."
Itachi seems to consider. Then he nods. "I'll get in the shower."
He starts to move and that's what jogs Shisui's brain back into functioning. He catches Itachi's wrist.
"Hang on," he says. "You're serious? Just like that?"
Itachi looks back at him, frowning. "Weren't you? Serious, I mean?"
Shisui flounders. "Well—yeah, but I thought—you look through every strawberry in a carton to make sure they're all, like, aesthetically pleasing and shit before you buy them, you know?"
Itachi blinks at him in that slow way that means Shisui's being really stupid. "You are not a strawberry, Shisui."
"Yeah, I'm aware," Shisui says dryly. "I just—figured you'd want to think about it first, is all."
Still with the blinking. "What is there to think about? We have lived together for years. We have known each other our entire lives. I trust you completely." The crease between Itachi's eyebrows deepens, like he's honestly confused. "I love you. Is there something else you expected me to consider?"
And, well, when he puts it like that.
Shisui sits there like a dipshit for a good couple seconds, blinking hard to douse the heat pricking at his eyes. Maybe they can learn to communicate with each other via Morse code blinking at some point, he thinks, and it makes him laugh, because Itachi totally would.
"Nah," he says, grinning again. "Just checking."
"Hm." Itachi doesn't sound convinced, but he forgoes being a pain in the ass in favor of pulling Shisui in and kissing him. It's slow and openmouthed and Shisui's pretty sure they both have godawful morning breath, but he's not too worried.
"I love you too," he says when Itachi breaks the kiss. "I mean, in case it wasn't obvious already."
"I know," Itachi tells him with a smile. Then he pulls away to pad over to the bathroom. Shisui watches him go with what he's aware is probably the soppiest of all soppy looks on his stupid face.
Itachi pauses in the doorframe. "It would conserve time and water if you were to join me," he remarks lightly.
Shisui doesn't need to be told twice.
He flings the covers off his body with aplomb and launches himself off the bed, following after his fiancé (holy shit) with a five-alarm smile on his face.
It's gonna be a good day.