After a whirlwind of cancelled tours, several lockdowns and missed chances, Shane and Nicky had grown tired of sneaking out, making up excuses, spending hours on the phone and taking turns spending three hours in the car to close the distance between Dublin and Sligo for just a few hours together. They had been yearning to spend more time together and after two long years of Covid messing with their plans, they had decided to take their (not so) secret relationship to the next level.
It had been Shane who had originally come up with the idea, when they had been lying in their shared hotel room during a work trip to London (at last).
"Nico," he had begun, "I've been thinking..."
"Oh, that's a first," Nicky had replied cheekily.
"Haha, very funny," Shane had rolled his eyes, but smiled, "I'm sick and tired of making up excuses... and of sneaking into hotel rooms in the middle of nowhere to be with you for a couple of hours... You know I won't be able to convince Gillian to move to Dublin, I don't think I could ever leave Sligo again actually... but wouldn't it be amazing to rent an apartment in Dublin? For the two of us, I mean... our own little place... a place where we wouldn't have to hide... We could stay there when we're working and I wouldn't have to drive all the way to Sligo whenever we get back from London, but we could spend another night together... I mean... our wives kind of know about us... but we just couldn't... um... meet at one of our places like that... but if we had our own place... maybe we could... just meet there every now and then... for a couple of days... just you and me..."
Shane had looked at Nicky expectantly, as the blonde had been looking into space, clearly lost in thought.
"Um... say something?" Shane had been chewing his lip nervously.
"I think," Nicky had beamed, "this is a fucking brilliant idea."
***
Fast forward to a few weeks later, the couple had just - after a few minor obstacles and smallish arguments - finished renovating an amazing penthouse apartment in the heart of Dublin. Shane had actually suggested renting a place close to the RTÉ studios for when Nicky was working there, so that he could stay with him every now and then to support him and to maintain an almost normal relationship - if anyone could call their special bond "normal". Nicky had choked up with emotion at Shane's thoughtfulness and even though their wives had not been happy with the idea, they had decided to play along and decided they would rather want to know where their husbands were instead of being lied to all the time - after all those years they were definitely past that stage.
Nicky, who - to Shane's amazement - had shown off some incredible handiwork skills, had painted several walls of their apartment and had taken on most of the interior planning himself. Shane, on the other hand, had not proven to be as useful when it had come to masking the walls with tape, measuring rooms, cleaning their new kitchen or even replacing light bulbs, but then again, he had done a good job keeping Nicky fed and massaging his tired muscles after long days of work to make up for his lack of handiwork skills.
Now that their apartment was finally finished, the two of them were browsing through Ikea to get all the remaining furniture they needed - including a big comfy bed, of course.
"So, do you see anything that you like?" Nicky asked as they were walking through the bedroom department.
"The problem is," Shane whispered distractedly, "as soon as I see all those beds, I imagine you naked... on top of them... so... I'm having a hard time concentrating right now..."
"Oh..." Nicky grinned, "maybe I shouldn't take off my clothes for the full effect, but we could at least test that huge bed over there to see if it's comfy? Just lie down for a second?"
