Here's another fic for the DenIce fest. The prompt for this one was "promise."

Who'd have thought one year studying in Denmark would change Eiríkur's life so drastically? He had been unsure about being placed at a Danish school, since he had wanted to study in America, and his Danish wasn't the best. That had all changed when he met Magnus, the cheery boy who tutored him. One year, and they had fallen in love, and then Eiríkur had to go back to Iceland. So they made a promise: in one year, Eiríkur would join Magnus at Aarhus University, and they would wait for each other. One year couldn't be that long, right?

"What? What are you saying?" Eiríkur tried to keep his voice steady, but from the way Magnus winced on his computer screen, that wasn't going so well.

"It's just that university life is a lot different than I expected," he said. "I'm not suggesting we break up, just take a break. Until you get here."

"But we made a promise! I applied at your university for you!"

"I know, and I'm sorry, Eiríkur. You would understand if our situations were reversed."

"No, I don't think I would." Eiríkur hung up and logged off Skype. He did not log back in for several months.

Spring came, and Eiríkur finally graduated from secondary. In the fall, he would move to Aarhus. He logged into Skype, but Magnus was not on. He shrugged, logging out. Of course he couldn't expect him to be there whenever he wanted. He brushed it off, or at least pretended to.

September, and Eiríkur was back in Denmark. His dad patted him on the back, trying to be reassuring, but he shrugged it off. He had made his choices; now he had to live with them. And his Danish wasn't bad at all anymore, so at least he didn't have to worry about that.

He had been randomly assigned to a student apartment shared with three other students, and two of them were there when he moved in. Niklas was a quiet Norwegian, and Eiríkur thought they could easily get along. Gilbert, on the other hand, was a noisy German, who seemed more concerned with their third missing roommate.

Eiríkur had to go to orientation, sign up for classes, and then his dad took him out to dinner. Eiríkur ordered in Danish for the both of them, feeling a spark of pride when he almost hid his Icelandic accent. Halfway through their meal, his dad reached for his hand and told him how proud he was. "You stuck with your commitments, and you accomplished your goals."

Eiríkur swallowed his food which seemed to have dried out in his mouth. Commitment, yeah, right. Magnus had broken their promise, and then Eiríkur had. Well, at least he hadn't gone for anyone else, not that that made any difference.

After making sure he was all settled in, Eiríkur's dad flew back to Iceland. When Eiríkur got back to his apartment, the last roommate was just moving in. Eiríkur gaped in shock straight into Magnus's bright blue eyes. "What are you doing here?" he asked after a moment or two of stunned silence.

"I live here," Magnus said blandly. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here, too."

Eiríkur continued to stare at his...ex boyfriend? Had they ever officially broken up? Then all of a sudden he realized it didn't matter. They were here together, just as they had promised. He wasn't sure if he or Magnus moved first or if they moved at the same time, but they were in each other's arms, and that was all that mattered. They were together again at last.