(Sorry I'm like, really inconsistent with this whole updating thing, I get writer's block far too often, the struggle is real. Anyway, I was thinking that this was gonna be like a flashback chapter?? I hope that makes sense. I wanted to write about the first time Joey said I love you, sorry if that spoils the ending. I wrote most of this in class today when I was bored so sorry if it sucks.)
***
Joey wasn't really accustomed to saying 'I love you.'
It just wasn't a natural thing for him. Truthfully, he was actually kind of scared of saying it.
Those three tiny words, only eight letters, they held so much meaning. It was incredible to him. And sure, he knew there were some people who said that even though they didn't mean it, and he'd definitely had experiences with some of those people. But Joey took I love you's more seriously than he probably should have.
***
Daniel wasn't the same as Joey. When he fell in love, he fell fast and hard, and that was the way it was.
He was the type of person to believe in love at first sight, to just know when he saw someone, that the person he was looking at was going to be someone he'd fall in love with.
He'd known it when he first saw Joey.
And then they started talking, and dating, and kissing and it came out one day.
***
It was about a month after they'd first started calling themselves boyfriends.
It was right in the middle of a serious conversation, in between trips to New York, and the words escaped his mouth.
He cut Joey off, mid-sentence with his whispered, "I love you."
Joey, who'd already been crying with sadness, began to cry with joy instead, and they hugged and things started to get better, but still, Joey didn't say it back.
***
Joey had said I love you to boys he'd gone out with before, but the words never felt genuine. He supposed that's because they never were. He didn't love those boys. Those boys were arrogant dicks, for the most part.
There was just a certain pressure to say that he loved them. It was like he absolutely had to say it, or else he was failing as a boyfriend. As someone who already kind of sucked at dating, he couldn't let anything else ruin his luck when it came to guys.
***
Joey spent time preparing for Daniel's I love you. He knew that was probably really stupid, because it was just supposed to happen one day, and be a cute relationship milestone, but he couldn't help himself from wanting to be ready.
He asked one of Daniel's friends how to say 'I love you' in Romanian, and he got his answer.
Te iubesc.
The word played over and over in Joey's mind.
Te iubesc.
Te iubesc.
Te iubesc.
He didn't know exactly when he'd tell Daniel how he felt, but he knew that when the time came, he'd have already rehearsed the beautiful words a million times.
***
The time for te iubesc ended up coming right around Valentine's Day of 2015, when Joey and Daniel ended up breaking into a mansion.
It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing.
They saw that there was a really big fancy mansion that was being sold not too far away, and both of their inner curiosities got the best of them, and within the next half an hour, they were on their way, living out some cute boyfriend breaking the rules together fantasy that you only ever hear about in cheesy romance novels.
***
They climbed through a window, one after the other, which wasn't an easy task to accomplish, but they managed.
Once they were inside, they spent a few moments marveling at how fancy the interior of the mansion was, and then they spend another few moments talking to each other in ridiculous fake accents about how rich and fancy they were.
Daniel took Joey's hand, leading him into the next room. Daniel sat down first, on a really big, old-looking armchair, and Joey quickly settled in next to him.
They sat in silence for awhile, then, the only sound being their breath, and the only movement being Daniel playing with Joey's hair.
It was surreal. Joey felt completely at peace, even though they were in a completely strange house that neither of them had ever been in before.
Joey finally decided to speak up, breaking their peaceful silence. The moment was just completely perfect, and they were both relaxed, and focused completely on each other.
"Daniel," Joey whispered, looking up at him.
"Hm?" Daniel murmured back, opening his eyes and looking at Joey.
"Te iubesc," Joey replied, his voice sounding shaky, a small smile forming on his face.
He felt himself being pulled toward Daniel, then lips pressing against his. By the time he realized he should probably be kissing back, Daniel pulled away.
A single tear rolled down Daniel's cheek, but he was smiling nonetheless, and Joey knew, he'd picked the right moment.
