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"Here I am!" Dean calls, and judging by the tired, borderline-annoyed look Piers gives him, he thinks that maybe he's being a little too enthusiastic. "Come on now. Don't give me that face! I come bearing gifts."

For emphasis, he holds up the first of the goodies, a takeaway coffee cup from the cafe up the road. Piers loves it, but his schedule means he rarely gets to pop in. Admittedly, Dean usually forgets the place exists at all, and he would much rather go to Madam Puddifoots, but he knows how stressed Piers has been lately. He's been studying so hard, working his ass off to achieve his dream of becoming a lawyer. Dean wishes he could take that burden away, but all he can do is make it more tolerable. Hopefully that's enough.

"I love you so much," Piers says with a dreamy sigh.

"Do you love me? Or do you love the coffee?"

Piers ponders for a moment. "Yes."

Dean rolls his eyes and shakes his head, muttering under his breath about how impossible his boyfriend is. Of course, he wouldn't have it any other way. Piers really is quite perfect in Dean's eyes, flaws and all.

"But before I went to the cafe, I stopped by Max's bakery."

Piers' expression brightens. Of course he knows where this is going. No matter the reason for seeing Piers' cousin, one thing is certain: they're promised to walk away with Max's famous chocolate chip cookies.

"He even threw in a few chocolate peanut butter ones," Dean says. "Said it was a new recipe he was trying out."

He pulls the box of cookies from his bag and sets it on the table, among Piers' books and scribbled notes.

"What did I do to deserve you?" Piers asks.

"Love isn't about deserving," Dean reminds him, because it's a conversation they've had more times than he can count now. He isn't sure Piers actually believes him.

"Yeah, yeah. But thank you. I really need this."

Dean smiles. He knows, of course. Piers will never admit to how stressed he is, but he knows better than to believe Piers' repeated muttering of I'm fine. "Just wait. You'll get through this and become the finest lawyer England has ever seen," Dean tells him. "Then one day, years from now, you'll look back and laugh that you ever thought this was the hard part."

"You didn't grab a coffee for yourself?" Piers asks, frowning.

"Figured I'd fix a cuppa instead," Dean says. "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere. Besides, you have cookies."