Since I've Been Loving You

71-80

71. Love
Tom never wanted to be in love, even with Joe, so he denies his feelings for weeks and it's when he wakes up in the middle of the night missing Joe like hell that he knows he can't deny it anymore.

72. Genius
Tom's calculus teacher is forcing him to get a tutor and he's paying for it so Tom agrees and then the kid is five grades below him and Tom laughs bitterly and says "what are you, some kind of genius?" and Joe can't answer because Tom's the handsomest guy he's ever seen.

73. Perfection
In the AFC championship game Joe watches Tom throw spiral after spiral for touchdown after touchdown and wonders if he'll ever achieve that level of perfection.

74. Tomorrow
Somehow six months have flown by and Joe's freaking out because he's not ready and he needs more time but Tom senses his uneasiness and he hugs Joe from behind and whispers in his ear, "I can't wait to marry you tomorrow," and just like that Joe's not afraid anymore.

75. Motto
Tom isn't superstitious or philosophical but one thing he loves to hear before every game is Joe saying "I love you no matter what".

76. Likelihood
"But what are the odds he actually likes me?" Joe asks his tight end, Dennis, and Dennis shrugs but he knows for a fact Tom likes Joe because the Patriots tight end told him Tom never shuts up about Joe.

77. Uninformed
"I shouldn't have endorsed Trump," Tom says out of the blue one evening and Joe snorts into his tea and snarks, "you think?"

78. Yellow
Yellow always seemed like an ugly color to Tom but then he notices how Joe's always so bright and optimistic - like sunshine - that he can't help but start to develop an affection for the color.

79. Shaking
Tom wakes up in the night and Joe's shaking from cold next to him so Tom wraps his arms around Joe and holds him until Joe stops shivering and buries his face in Tom's shoulder instead.

80. Dark
When Tom was little, his biggest fear was the dark, and his mom told him angels would protect him from it; now he's grown but he's no longer scared of the dark because he met an angel named Joe.