Gally hadn't been lying when he'd said he was going to be late back. It had been dark for hours, and there was still no sign of him. Newt was curled up on the sofa, a lukewarm mug of coffee clutched to his chest, the TV blaring with a dull light in the background. He was knackered, and his eyelids kept dropping. Caffeine seemed to have been having much less of an effect on him lately. He felt himself slipping off again, the mug tilting dangerously. Letting the coffee spill before jolting upright, Newt checked the clock for the twentieth time. 11. He set down the coffee, wiped at the sofa aimlessly with his sleeve, and stretched his arms out.
He shouldn't have waited up for Gally. Tomorrow was Saturday, and so inevitable Gally would want them to go out together. He would be so pissed if Newt was tired all day, dragging his feet around, and inevitably he'd end up flipping out. And if Newt was tired, he couldn't act energetic at all. But then again if Gally got back, and Newt had gone to bed without him, or he'd not been up to greet him, he'd have flipped out again. Newt raked his hand through his hair and groaned with frustration. He just couldn't win.
The paranoia about where Gally actually was had begun to set in too. Usually, Gally was back when he said he would be – Newt couldn't remember the last time he was late, and recently he'd been getting earlier. Now he was two hours late and Newt was panicking. What if something had happened to him? What if he was stuck somewhere overnight and Newt would be alone? What if he'd been in an accident? If he was hurt?
Newt let himself get wrapped up in his catastrophizing, leaping up and running to the phone. He jammed in Gally's mobile, pressing it to his ear. Straight to voicemail. He smacked the bloody thing, before dialling again. Still no answer. The third time he waited for the drone voice to get to the bleep anxiously.
"Hey, Gally, it's me, it's Newt, look, where are you? I'm getting really freaked out now, please call me?"
He pressed the red button and wandered back into the lounge, shaking just a little bit. He needed to just slow down and stop getting wound up about such things. There seemed to be nothing to do but wait so, still on edge, Newt slumped back onto the sofa and curled into a ball. He was just lessening the panic down when another though entered his head. What if Gally was with someone else? But he pushed it out. Gally, whatever his faults, would never do that.
The minutes ticked by, and Newt hugged his knees closer still. His eyelids grew heavier, until finally he felt himself falling asleep. Just as he was drifting off, he thought he heard the phone ring. But the darkness was coming too quickly, and he couldn't know before it took him.
…
When Newt woke up, the first thing he noticed was that he was covered in a blanket. Gally must have got home safely then. He glanced over at the clock. It had just gone one. Pulling the blanket back, he staggered to his feet. He felt bleary from just having woken up, and his bruises had just started to ache badly. He made his way towards their bedroom, flicking the light off behind him, the blanket draped over his most injured arm. He wanted to hide it from himself and Gally, as if that would let them ignore that it had happened.
Gally was fast asleep on his side, looking, in Newt's opinion, insanely comfy. Throwing the blanket over a chair, he snuck over to the right side of the bed, and slipped under the covers. Trying desperately not to wake his boyfriend, he snuggled up behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist and burying his face into Gally's muscular back.
After a couple of minutes, he stirred and grabbed one of Newt's hands, rubbing circles on the back of it slowly.
"Hey gorgeous." He murmured groggily.
"I'm sorry I woke you up." Newt replied quietly. Gally chuckled softly under his breath.
"It's ok. I wasn't really asleep anyway."
"You scared me." Newt whispered into his back, pulling him closer.
"I know, I'm sorry. The dinner meeting overran and there was a massive accident, so the traffic was hell."
"Just please don't do it again. I was so worried."
Gally leant down and kissed his hand.
"I won't, I promise."
"Thank you." Newt kissed the back of Gally's head.
"Newt?"
"Yeah?" He replied sleepily, already feeling himself dozing off again.
"I love you."
"I love you too." He murmured, and then fell asleep.
…
The second time Newt woke up, it was to the smell of bacon cooking. He slunk out of bed, still aching badly, and then quickly showered and threw on some clothes. Ten minutes later and he was walking barefoot into the kitchen to Gally shoving two (slightly burned) bacon sandwiches onto plates. His boyfriend sat down and Newt slid in opposite him, taking a mug of coffee from Gally.
"You didn't have to do all this." Newt said, taking a sip of coffee.
"Maybe not, but I did want to treat my gorgeous boyfriend. Is that ok?" Gally smiled at him.
"It's great. Thank you." He smiled back, and they spent the next five minutes eating in a comfortable silence.
"Listen," said Gally, wiping his mouth, "I've been thinking. How about we go on a road trip? Just grab a couple of things, find a motel or something to stay in and just drive off for a bit?"
Newt fiddles with the cuff of his hoody.
"I'm not sure…Won't it cause trouble for you for work on Monday? I don't want you to be too tired…"
"Oh come on Newt!" Gally grabbed his hands over the table and leant forward, his eyes shimmering with excitement. "It's been way too long since we've done anything fun together, just the two of us! And besides, screw work! They won't miss me for a day, I can always call in sick or something."
Newt shrugged.
"If you're sure."
Gally beamed at him, and squeezed his hands.
"Excellent. Pack our bags, I'll meet you down by the car in, shall we say ten minutes?"
"But what about the dishes…"
Gally chuckled.
"Screw the dishes Newt, let's just go. In fact, screw bags, let's just leave. I've got my wallet, that's all we're gonna need."
Newt let him grab his hand and drag him excitedly out of the door, barely remembering to lock up behind them. It was a while since they'd done anything spontaneous together, and he was surprised to find himself looking forward to it.
…
If there was one thing Gally was proud of, it was his car. It was a 1962 Spitfire, one of the originals, which he had somehow managed to buy for virtually nothing and then fix up. They may have had a tiny apartment, but Gally had spent hundreds on the damn thing (which he'd named Sonya). Newt smiled now as he unlocked the steering wheel and backed it out of the garage, which Newt then locked behind them. Gally leant over and prised open Newt's door. It would actually have been easier just to climb in, but Gally was too precious about it.
The seats were practically on the floor, and so he had to lower himself down gingerly. His stomach gave another sharp stab of pain as he slammed the door shut behind him. It was still painful a couple of days later and it was starting to really worry him. He rubbed it gently, but then Gally was screeching out of the parking lot, and he forgot all about it.
Newt had missed this. The wind flying through his hair, blowing it in random directions around his face, and his eyes streaming. Gally, who had the one pair or sunglasses they kept in Sonya, was looking impossibly cool with one hand on the steering wheel and the other dangling out of the window. Newt laughed and threw his head back. He could remember when they'd done this every other weekend, just driven away from everything, before Gally had become so… tense. It was so exhilarating doing this together, and it reminded Newt of just why he'd fallen in love with Gally.
"I love you!" He shouted over the roar of the wind and the engine. Gally turned and smiled at him.
"I love you too." He leant over and kissed him quickly, before turning back to the road. They stayed like that, in a comfortable silence for the next hour, maybe longer, enjoying the sensations of the wind, and each other's company. At some point Gally reached over and grabbed Newt's hand and he squeezed it back, letting the world wash over him for a while.
…
Newt must have dozed off at some point, because he ended up blinking his eyes open in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant or something. Gally was just coming out of the door, a couple of paper bags in his hands. He smirked when he noticed Newt straightening up and squinting blearily at him.
"Afternoon, sleepy head." He chuckled, climbing back in to the car and handing Newt the bags. "Nothing fancy, but I reckoned we could find somewhere nice to sit and eat?"
Newt nodded, settling the bags down by his feet.
"Sounds good. How long was I asleep?"
"Dunno, couple of hours maybe?" Gally replied, leaning down to shove the key in the ignition. "It's about half one now."
"Cool. So, where did you have in plan for having lunch."
Gally shrugged and they turned back onto the road.
"Nowhere in particular," he said, with his voice slightly raised over the increasing noise, "I just thought we could drive until we spotted somewhere."
"Nice." Newt smiled, and then yawned widely. Gally glanced over at him for a second.
"How are you still tired?!" He asked, not unkindly. Newt shrugged.
"I'm not sure. Probably just because I didn't sleep well last night."
"Newt, you've just had a two hour sleep." Newt didn't reply. "You know, I reckon it's all these early mornings."
"Gally, I only get up an hour earlier than you!"
"I know, but you don't sleep as deeply as me." Gally glanced at Newt, and must have seen his face, because he grabbed his hand again, rubbing circles like he had the previous night. "Hey, I'm just worried about you."
"Well don't. We're supposed to be having a good time. And I'm fine." He added as an afterthought. His boyfriend grinned.
"You're right. Hey, how about there for lunch?"
There was a river running a couple of hundred yards away parallel to the road. Gally was pointing towards a little copse of trees right on the bank, which had a little dirt trail leading up to it. There didn't seem to be anyone else there. Newt nodded.
"Looks good."
Gally turned Sonya sharply and then they were bumping along the track. The car had virtually no suspension, and was very low to the ground, so the short journey was very uncomfortable, and Gally was forced to drive very slowly so that a random rock didn't knock off a bit of the engine under the car. By the time they got to the copse, Newt was feeling very rattled; Gally seemed fine. But it was worth it.
Newt didn't know why he took such an immediate liking to the place so much, because it was really very ordinary – a few trees, a fire pit and a little beach on the river. But it was very peaceful. From this distance, you could barely hear the noise of the road – it simply mixed into the background along with the crickets. The harsh midday light was dampened by the leaves into cracked patches on the floor, and the river, more a large stream, was flowing softly. Newt smiled and hopped out of the car, carrying the bags, closely followed by Gally.
"This is perfect." He murmured under his breath. His boyfriend came up behind him, draping his arm over his shoulders and kissing the top of his head.
"As are you. Now, c'mon." He grabbed Newt's wrist (not hard, but it was still an effort not to flinch) and led him over towards the bank of the river. They slumped down, and ate together in a peaceful silence. Their burgers had gone slightly cold, and there was a breeze which was biting through his thin jumper, but he couldn't help smiling along with Gally.
"It's been way too long since we've done something like this." He told Gally, as they were finishing off. "We should do it more often."
"It has been way too long. But you know we can't do it more often."
Newt glanced down at his hands. Once upon a time, he'd have asked why, when Gally had said screw work hours earlier, and when they were having such a great time.
"I know." He carried on looking at his hands. Gally placed his hand on his shoulder, and seemed on the verge of saying something when his phone went off in his back pocket. His boyfriend drew back, seemed to check the screen, and then stood up, dusting off the seat of his jeans.
"This is important, I'm gonna have to take it."
Gally picked up the rubbish and started to walk back in the direction of the car. Newt glanced over his shoulder to watch. His boyfriend was chatting animatedly on the phone as he shoved the rubbish in the trunk, a coy smile playing about his lips, making huge hand gestures despite the fact that whoever he was talking to couldn't see him. Newt smiled at him sadly. They had used to share everything with each other, but now Gally seemed to spend more time speaking to other people than he did to Newt, and increasingly rarely did things such as this. He wondered whether this was just what settling down felt like. If it was, he wasn't entirely sure he liked it.
Sighing softly, he spun back around to face the river. It didn't seem polluted like the ones you saw in cities – the water was clear enough that you could make out details on the bottom, and it was glittering in the sunlight. Newt leant down and dipped his hand in. Cool, but not cold. Another glance behind his shoulder confirmed that Gally was going to be a while, so he pulled off his boots and socks and dipped his toes in the water. He lay backwards, feet still dangling in the river, and looked up at the sky (or rather the patches of it) through the leaves. It was beautiful.
He stayed like that for he next half an hour, until he heard Gally saying goodbye to whoever was on the phone, and make his way back over. He sat up, drawing his knees to his chest and putting his chin on them. Water ran in rivulets from his toes.
"Sorry about that." Gally said, sounding completely unsorry, and slumped down next to him, pulling off his own shoes. Newt fell back onto him, knees bent, his head in his boyfriend's lap. Gally started to draw little patterns on his shoulder, and fiddle with a loose thread in the seam there. It tickled.
"I wish we could stay here all day." Whispered Newt. He felt Gally chuckle slightly.
"We can, if you want."
Newt opened his eyes to see Gally looking down at him.
"Really?" He asked, slightly bewildered.
Gally laughed, leaning his head back.
"Of course, sweetie." He took a strand of Newt's hair and began to play with it absent-mindedly, twisting is around his fingers. Newt let himself sink into the sensation, closing his eyes and letting his face bask in the sunlight.
…
Before Newt knew it (probably because he'd fallen asleep) it was getting colder and darker. Gally was apparently very prepared, and had procured both matches and blankets from Sonya. Now, at about nine at night, they were snuggled up by a roaring fire, covered in pink fluffy blankets, one covered in bunnies (Newt hadn't asked where exactly Gally had got them). The river was making soft noises behind them, the only other sounds the occasional lorry powering past. Neither of them had said anything for a good hour. They'd instead simply held each other close, revelling in each other's presence.
All of a sudden, Gally held out two fingers and put them under Newt's chin, turning it so they were facing each other. Softly, Gally kissed him, and Newt gave in to it, letting his boyfriend's strong arms pull him closer. Gally became more urgent, prising Newt's lips open, crushing them together so that Newt couldn't tell where he ended and where Gally started. It was then that he tried to pull back, but Gally's arms were as strong as iron and had him locked as if in a vice.
Newt had no choice but to give in to it completely. Gently, he slipped his hands under Gally's shirt, inching upwards, tracing all the lines of the muscles under his fingers. The other man responded enthusiastically, pressing Newt closer to him, purring in the back of his throat. He broke his contact with Newt for a second to pull off his shirt, quickly removing Newt's hoody and shirt as well. It suddenly felt so much more intense now their torsos were touching. Gally was trying to take things further, but Newt delayed him, clutching his back, moving his hands up onto his shoulders, kissing him back with more force. Gally wound his hands into his hair cupping the back of his head to keep him close.
"Come on Newt," He whispered in between kisses. "Stop pissing around." He reached his hand lower. Newt didn't stop him. Gally kissed down his neck, down his chest, and Newt couldn't help throwing his head back. Gally chuckled under his breath, and then rolled them, so that they were lying down. Newt smiled as Gally kissed him again.
"We're really doing this on a bunny blanket, aren't we are?"
Gally laughed.
"Only us."
