After Lover for Pay: ONESHOTS

I Missed You

| something short and sweet and spicy |

enjoy :)

»»---- '*•.¸♡ ♡¸.•*' ----««

It was currently 2:45AM and while London was getting tired, he wouldn't allow himself to sleep just yet. Marbell had taken a trip to Manchester a couple days ago, and since it was the middle of the school year, he and the kids hadn't been able to tag along with him.

As London battled sleep at this early morning hour, he sat up in their bedroom with the television on low. Marbell would be arriving in about fifteen minutes, and he wanted to be awake to greet the man he'd missed so much.

After all, it'd been a long week.

As the fourth movie he'd put on since the evening began came to a close, London let the credits roll and crossed his arms. He stared up at the ceiling of the bedroom and sank into his thoughts. A little ashamed of himself for always sinking to this level of loneliness when Marbell was away, sometimes London wondered how his husband felt about his clinginess. But he couldn't fight it.

They'd talked on the phone every day, made a few video calls, and texted constantly when Marbell wasn't in meetings or asleep, but it wasn't the same as being with the man he loved. Being able to feel him, breathe him in, all of that was taken away when they were apart, and that was something London hated.

Able to hear as a vehicle pulled into the driveway and lights passed the window, London jumped up in an instant and raced from the bedroom. He at least tried to be quiet so as not to wake the kids, and by the time he hurried to the front door and opened it, there stood the man he'd promised every aspect of himself to the moment a silver band met his finger.

The gentleness in the brown eyes looking into him immediately shed all sorrow from London's body, and even more so when the arms of his husband opened and welcomed him into a firm embrace.

A hand met the back of London's hair as he turned his face into the side of Marbell's neck, stealing the woody, vanilla fragrance for himself when he inhaled and clung a bit tighter.

When a small chuckle shook Marbell's chest, London came away by a few centimeters, a slight redness to his eyes as his face was cupped in two careful hands. "Look at you," Marbell whispered as they slowly backed into the entryway and he softly kicked the door closed. "My baby missed me this much, eh?"

The tightness growing in London's throat made it impossible to speak, but his sentiment was understood completely when Marbell smiled against his lips before taking them into a kiss. "I'm home now," he said lowly, the touch of his breath enough to stir London's heart. "Why don't you and I head upstairs and make ourselves comfortable?"

Silent but in full agreement, London followed as Marbell took his hand and they ventured to their bedroom. When the door latched behind them, London found himself frozen where he stood. He watched as Marbell stepped out of his shoes and fiddled with the buttons of his cuffs, but when he seemed to struggle undoing them, London rounded before the man and unfastened them himself.

"Thank you," Marbell smiled, but it dwindled from the continued quiet holding his lover's tongue.

As someone well-versed in London's feelings, especially when it came to his trips away from home, Marbell didn't need an in-depth explanation as to what was wrong. This man he'd fallen for so recklessly, married in an instant, and started a family without second thought was - while incredibly strong on the outside, muscular, and definitely on the intimidating side - one of the softest, most loving people he's ever known.

London was sensitive and wore his heart on his sleeve, and Marbell was glad to be able to see it so plainly as he looked into the dark browns that could see him for who he was as well.