A phonecall woke Shaun from his dream about meeting Desmond for the first time. In a haze he reached for his phone, moving Desmond's arm away from his stomach in the process.
"Shaun here," he sat up in bed, suddenly alert. "Really? Yes, sir, I can be there on Monday. Ten thirty, at the University? I'll make the arrangements now. Thank you, sir. I'll see you then."
"'s that?" Desmond asked drowsily as Shaun got out of bed.
"It was from Swansea University, they want me to come in for an interview on Monday. Two of the professors will leave the university at the end of the school year and they're looking for new teachers. They didn't tell me which posts, but there have been some rumours going since last summer, just before I left for New York and met you, actually." All this Shaun said while he got dressed.
"I'm going to make arrangements for an overnight stay, so just go back to sleep and I'll wake you when breakfast is done," he added as he went into the bathroom.
Seconds later Shaun was turned around and pressed up against the tiled wall by Desmond. His boyfriend started kissing his neck and jaw line, speaking a word between every kiss.
"What if I came with you? It's a long way to travel back and forth each day. We could look for a new place to live even."
A shiver ran through Shaun, not just because of the kisses, but at the thought of building a proper home with Desmond. They were living together now, but it was Shaun's apartment, Shaun's stuff, and he wanted a place with things they both picked out.
"God, yes," was Shaun managed to say, before he kissed Desmond hotly, all thoughts of booking the trip gone.
He pushed Desmond towards the shower, and the water turned cold before they were done.
An hour later, Shaun had booked a room for them at Leonardo's Guest House, about half an hour walk away from the University and situated just by the beach.
Having finished breakfast, he was now enjoying a cup of tea while Desmond had coffee. They were cuddled up on the couch, trying to find something to watch on the telly, when they stumbled upon a real-estate program.
"Did you mean what you said?" Shaun asked, taking a sip of his tea.
"Mean what?"
"Us two moving, looking for a place in Swansea?"
"Of course I did!" Desmond said, putting down his cup of coffee, turning to look Shaun in the eyes. "I want us to start from scratch in a new apartment, with stuff we buy ourselves. For me, finding a job won't be too hard. I can just start of with some shifts at a pub or bar, or maybe a bar at one of the hotels."
"Does this mean we're going to build a home together?"
"Yeah, it does."
Having finished their cups, Shaun took out his laptops and started looking at some places in and around Swansea, whilst Desmond got ready for work. It hadn't taken the American long to find work after moving to London to be with Shaun, and he'd been lucky enough to find a place rather near their apartment.
Shaun spends the rest of the day preparing for his interview on the upcoming Monday and looking for apartments they could look at that weekend. They didn't need a big one, but several of those he looked at had narrow rooms and looked like they needed to be torn down rather than just redecorated. Well, that might be a bit of an overstatement, but Shaun wanted a place that looked light and open and presentable, so he could have colleagues over and students if they needed to talk to him outside of school.
When he'd started the search, he hadn't edited the search perimeters, and several of the apartments showing up throughout his searches were so expensive it was becoming ridiculous. Like the ones in the tower building at the marina, starting at £510,000.
There is no guarantee he'll actually get the job, Shaun knows that, but he also knows he'll have to believe in himself.
When Desmond comes home that night, Shaun tells him that he's bookmarked some of the apartments and says they can look at them later.
But Desmond looks at them while Shaun makes dinner, and he looks at some of the ones Shaun have looked at but not marked. They haven't been together for long, but Desmond still knows what Shaun likes and what he's looking for in a place. And he knows Shaun finds several of the places too expensive, but then again Shaun doesn't know about Desmond and Bad Weather.
Desmond stays quiet during dinner, silently laying a plan for how they can buy the three bedroom penthouse apartment. He could see from the browser history that Shaun had visited that particular apartment several times, so clearly it's the one he wants the most. The asking price is £310,000, but it's not a problem for Desmond.
When Shaun asks why he's quiet, he blames it on a busy day at work, claiming it was stressful because of an incident with a particularly annoying costumer.
They watch a movie on the telly before going to bed. It's not a remarkable one, rather tiring in fact, and Shaun falls asleep during it.
So Desmond turns off the TV and carries Shaun into their bedroom, undresses them both and curls up with his historian.
The next day Desmond starts the first phase of his plan while Shaun's at work.
He's got offers coming in more and more frequently after he put his bar out for sale, but he's enjoyed the extra income from it so far.
But he's decided to sell it now, if he's gotten the right bids. Having invested so much in the place, he's been reluctant to let it go, especially since it holds such a special place in his heart, in both their hearts in fact.
Desmond tells himself it's better this way, and it's not like he's going back there anyways. He just needs to make sure it stays in good hands, because he'll hate himself if the place changes for the worse. He also worries about his employees, Lucy in particular, because she's been his best friend for so long, and she was the first he talked about with Shaun. If she were to lose her job because of him, he'd really hate himself.
So he emails Lucy, asking her to tell him if she knows something about the potential buyers that will make him consider them for the new owners or if they should stay as far away from his place as possible.
Knowing he won't get an answer anytime soon, Desmond contacts the company in charge of selling the apartment in the old brick house, making an appointment for a viewing the upcoming Friday, so they can come back to look at it again during the weekend if they want to.
Desmond also makes appointments for a couple other places – he'll tell Shaun about those at least – just so they can have something to compare. He plans on asking Shaun when he comes home if he should make any more appointments.
When Shaun comes home, they agree on making appointments for two other places, more within their price range, but not as close to the university as the first ones.
Shaun relaxes on the couch while Desmond makes the dinner – they have an arrangement for that.
During dinner they discuss the places they're going to look at when they get there and what they'll look for. Desmond agrees on wanting airy, open rooms with light walls and preferably wooden floors.
The view isn't the most important, but they don't want to look through the windows of their homes into the one beside them; they've had enough of that with the flat they're in now and Desmond had the same view in New York.
They clean up together after dinner and sit down with a bottle of beer each, making a list over things they want and thing they absolutely do not want.
Shaun adds a price range, and Desmond keeps his mouth shut, not wanting to spoil his surprise.
That Thursday evening, Desmond gets a reply from Lucy, telling him she's found the perfect buyer. He's come to the bar frequently lately, scouting the place and finding out how the workers treat their costumers and how well they do their work.
The man likes what he sees, and made an offer to Lucy, which she told Desmond about.
While Shaun makes dinner, Desmond reads the proposal from the man, which includes the promise of keeping all the employees. It turns out the buyer had asked the costumers what they thought of the place, how often they came back, and whether or not they've had a problem with any of the staff.
Every feedback had been positive.
It was the best offer Desmond had received thus far, and the fact that the buyer promised to let the staff continue to work there made it all the more promising.
The only thing left to do now was to sing the contract and close the deal.
When Desmond woke up the next morning, the deposit had been made, so he signed the papers and posted them in the mail while Shaun spent a couple hours at his job before they left for the weekend.
Deal made, Desmond looked through their stuff to make sure they had packed the most essential things for the weekend, as well as the tickets, then packed his computer and charger and made lunch.
The lunch was finished as Shaun walked through the door and after eating they went through the apartment to check that everything was okay, that the doors and windows were closed and that the gas was turned off.
Finding everything as it should be, they grabbed their luggage and left for the train station.
The trip took three hours, but it went fast as Shaun was preparing for Monday and triple checking their booking at the guesthouse. Desmond spent his time reading a book he'd picked at random from a bookstore earlier that week, picked especially for this trip.
They didn't encounter any problems and soon they were checked in.
It wasn't until then that Desmond told Shaun about the appointed viewing at the penthouse apartment.
"Desmond, you know we can't actually afford it, right? There's no guarantee I'll even get the job."
But Desmond just ignored his boyfriend's protests.
"Shaun, there's no harm in looking at the place. We don't have to buy it just because we're looking at the place, you know that right? Besides, we have several other places to look at during our stay."
Shaun just nods in reply, not willing to reply that he was afraid he'd like the place too much and feel like he'd have to settle for something less because they don't have the funds, instead of just looking at places they could actually afford.
But they look at it anyways, of course, and it looks even better than Shaun had imagined. It's perfect, with storage space, large rooms, great view, and they can even see the University and the sea.
He doesn't say anything about how much he wants it, but Desmond can see it on him anyways.
They go out to eat, and Desmond doesn't pressure Shaun into saying anything, because now's not the right time.
All of Saturday is spent looking at the other five places the made appointments for, but none of them comes close to the penthouse.
Shaun spends all the day pretending the penthouse doesn't exist, tries to see the flats for what they are, not for what they aren't.
On Sunday they go sightseeing and hang out at the fair on the pier.
As darkness falls, they walk hand in hand to the pub called Pub on the Pond, located just by the university.
It's an old stone building, typically British, as is the interior.
Because it's a Sunday, it's quite full, but they manage to get a couple of chairs outside on the patio overlooking the pond. They order a beer each and simply sit there for a while, listening to the sounds of the nightlife.
"Shaun, I have a confession to make," Desmond says, suddenly finding himself nervous. The Brit doesn't say anything, just furrows his brows.
"We can afford the penthouse. That bar we met in is... was my bar. I sold it on Friday, because I knew you'd want the place, and I knew you though we couldn't afford it. I know I should have told you sooner, but I wanted us, you, to actually see the place first. And I know now that I was right selling Bad Weather, 'cause I could feel how right the place was when we walked in."
Shaun sits still for so long that Desmond gets worried.
"I need to think about this," Shaun replies. "We should head back," he adds some minutes later, when he's finished his beer. "I need to get up early tomorrow."
Shaun is surprisingly calm during the interview, even though he had problems falling asleep the night before.
He answers every question truthfully and the school board seems pleased.
After the interview he's guided around the campus and meets some of the people he'll be working with if he gets the job. Shaun even gets to have lunch with them and gets to know a bit from several employees about what it's like to work there and what it's like to have students from abroad.
Even though Shaun tries not to, he starts to envision himself working there, sometimes going to the pub after work, the one he'd been to the night before with Desmond.
And that's another thing he tries not to think about – how Desmond revealed that Bad Weather was his, and that he sold it for Shaun's sake, so they could afford the penthouse after all.
Shaun's always been self sufficient, making his own money, not wanting to rely on others, so he doesn't know how to deal with it. He doesn't know if Desmond wants the apartment as much as he does, and doesn't want Desmond to feel pressured into buying it because of that.
It all makes it feel like it's his fault that Desmond sold his bar, even though he didn't know it until after it was done.
When lunch is over, Shaun thanks the board and they tell him he'll know if he gets the job or not within a fortnight, as he was the last person they interviewed.
Back at the guesthouse Shaun finds Desmond on the bed, reading a guidebook of Swansea, having picked it up in the lobby after breakfast.
"Look, I'm sorry about yesterday," Shaun said, sitting down on the bed, proceeding to tell Desmond about why he'd acted the way he had.
Desmond didn't say anything while he spoke, and just kissed him when he was done.
"Since we're here for another day and the weather's great, why don't we check out a couple of the places in this book? Then we can have dinner, and – if you want to – discuss the apartment. If not, you can tell me about your interview."
Shaun smiled.
"Okay, just let me get changed first, and then we'll go."
Instead of finding a place each, they agreed on going to Penllergare Valley Woods, a historic site on the outskirts of the town.
Starting by the Observatory, they took the Terrace Garden Walk, and, finding that a bit short, took the Coed Nydfwch Walk as well.
They walk slowly, hand in hand throughout the woodland, not feeling the need to speak, just enjoying each other's company and the peace and quiet of rustling trees, chirping birds and running water. Desmond's the first to speak, telling Shaun he'd really like it if they could move to Swansea so they could walk in these woods again.
Shaun just smiles at him.
Hailing a cab, they head back to the guesthouse to change and wash up before dinner, deciding on Istanbul Restaurant after a recommendation from some other guests.
The restaurant is very cosy with lots of people, but still not full.
They order a glass of wine each, and study the menus before Shaun decides on Kiremit Tava and Desmond orders Iskender.
Both meals are delicious and they share them with each other, savouring the fresh flavours.
Shaun tells Desmond about the interview during the meal, he even tells him how he could see himself working there, and how much getting the job would mean to him. Scoffing, Shaun even admits to fearing he'll jinx it by saying it out loud.
Desmond takes his hand across the table and squeezes it reassuringly.
"It's gonna be okay, just wait."
For desert they order a piece of baklava each, and they're full by the time they've finished eating.
Desmond takes care of the bill, and when his boyfriend complains, says it's only right after he withheld the information about his bar from Shaun.
They stop by the beach on their way back to the guesthouse.
Shaun sits down on the grass on the sandbanks, patting the ground beside him. Desmond lies down beside him, pulling Shaun down with him.
Resting his head on Desmond's chest, Shaun starts talking.
He talks about how he wants the apartment, and how he fears Desmond doesn't want it, but only accepts it because of him.
His boyfriend kisses his head, so Shaun looks up at him, looks into his eyes.
"I want the apartment as much as you, babe. It sounds strange, I know, but as soon as I walked into the place, I felt how right it would be for us. Maybe it's a bit on the big side, but it only means we won't have to move if we ever want something more. You get your office, we'll have a bedroom if anyone comes to visit, and the first floor is open and spacey. The storage space is perfect, the much safer than one on ground level, the view is excellent, not far from campus and the town centre."
"And the light walls, large windows and hardwood flooring?" Shaun adds, a bit teasing.
"Perfect. Just like you."
Shaun can't ever remember loving Desmond more than he does in this exact moment. Desmond's eyes hold so much love, the stars reflected in them. Shaun briefly thinks that if he'd been a teenage girl he might just have died. Not that he'll ever admit to that though; he'll never live it down.
Shaun gets up, looks down at Desmond, and then runs towards the guesthouse, shouting "Race you back!" laughing all the while.
Desmond quickly catches up to him, but they race back nonetheless.
When they make love that night neither can remember being happier than in that moment.
Eleven days after their return, Shaun gets a phone call at work. He recognises the number from the University, answering the phone with butterflies in the stomach.
Shaun rushes through the door to their apartment and only then remembers Desmond's at work, so he rushes back out, running the whole way to the bar.
When he arrives he's out of breath and sweaty. Desmond looks up as he storms through the door, and they stand there, staring at each other for what seems forever, until Shaun smiles and Desmond just knows.
They meet halfway, clashing together, holding on to each other, and everything around them is forgotten.
That night they put in an offer at the penthouse.
Four days later they're back in Swansea, signing the contract.