fly | madderton

TWO

The next morning, Taron awoke to find himself in Richard's bed.

As he did the next day, and the day after that.

In fact, considering he'd chosen the other bedroom due to being afraid of Richard's, he'd really not spent a lot of time in there. He'd made his bed with fresh sheets when he was unpacking, and they still hadn't been slept in. He was just enjoying being around Richard, who definitely didn't mind having Taron in his bed. Taron was like a human radiator, and Richard, no matter the heat of the room, was always cold in bed. Of course, nothing more than some kissing and cuddling had happened. Still a week later, they'd not gotten any further on the whole label front. Taron didn't mind, not really. He was still on a high about moving to London and going to a proper drama school. Not just that, he was spending all of his time with his best friend.

The term hadn't started yet. They still had a few days before then to get settled in and explore the city. So, to explore the city properly, they'd invited Jamie and Charlie up for a few days.

"Come on, T. They'll be here soon," Richard mumbled, gently kissing Taron's forehead. Of course, Taron just whined and pulled the covers over his head. Richard was up and ready, had already had breakfast and gotten dressed, even with time for a shower. He'd also taken Taron a cup of tea, which he found still full on the bedside table, stone cold. "Right, fine. I don't have much batter left for pancakes, so I'm off to finish it off. If it's all gone by the time you're up, that's a you problem."

Richard left the room, and his deal was more than enough motivation for Taron to drag himself out of bed. Of course it worked, the boy would do absolutely anything if it meant he got food as a reward. He was essentially a dog. A big, cuddly dog.

Taron was finally done getting ready by the time the buzzer sounded, and had just fallen into his seat at the small kitchen table. He gave Richard a look of disgust, to which Richard could only laugh before going to the intercom by the door.

"Hello? Madden and Egerton."

"Bell and Rowe."

"Door's open."

Richard walked back over and quickly pressed a kiss to Taron's cheek, not wanting to disturb him eating his breakfast (or have to kiss him pre-teeth brushing.) They'd agreed to keep it at a friendly level whilst Charlie and Jamie visited. Having them know could cause problems if Richard decided he was straight and just experimenting, and neither boy wanted that. So, they went with the easiest solution - just act like your feelings don't exist. Which was certainly not going to be easy for Taron, who had been updating Jamie regularly before he left for London, and had told him all about his trip to Scotland. There was bound to be questions.

Soon enough he was heading back over to the front door when there was a knock from the other side, and was welcoming in their two friends.

"Rich! Fancy seeing you here, how are you?" Charlie pulled Richard in for a hug whilst Jamie looked around for Taron.

"I'm good, thanks. How are you?"

Taron smiled and stepped up out of his seat as Jamie approached, wrapping his arms around his friend. "Missed you, T," Jamie said, "We need a catch up."

"There's not a lot to catch up on," Taron murmured in response, trying to keep his voice low. The other two boys in the room were far too caught up in their own conversation to notice anyway, but Taron couldn't take any risks. Richard didn't know that Jamie knew anything. Taron felt awful telling him about the kiss, but it had just slipped out amidst his excitement. He'd had to be super strict with himself, after almost convincing himself it would be okay to tell Jamie about his and Richard's current arrangement. It definitely wouldn't, as he'd eventually decided.

But he certainly couldn't be trusted to stick to his word.

Once he'd said hello and given Charlie a hug, Taron sat back down to finish his breakfast, gesturing for Jamie to sit down beside him at the small, square table that sat in their kitchen. It wasn't very big, and although there were four chairs around it, it certainly couldn't seat four for a full meal. Even two was a push, but Taron and Richard had managed to work it out so far.

"Have you guys eaten?" Richard asked, stepping towards the table. "I can't offer you much, I didn't make enough batter for more than piggy here." He gently ruffled Taron's hair, resulting in the boy ducking down and trying to swat Richard's hand away.

"We've had some sandwiches, I'm alright. Jamie?" Everyone turned their attention from Charlie to Jamie, who was stealing some of Taron's pancakes.

"Yeah, I could eat." He laughed, lifting a hand to cover his mouth. The boys laughed with him, and Taron pushed over the plate of pancakes.

"Come on, chef. Please?" Taron tilted his head back to pout at Richard, who couldn't help but laugh. He didn't take much convincing, as he stepped straight back towards the kitchen.

"Fine. Come on, Charlie. Sit down. I might as well make us all some."

sorry this took way longer than promised i never got a chance to proofread it until now but i do have 3 more chapters written