Work Text:
If asked, Adam would say that it came completely out of nowhere.
The five of them were spending a luxurious afternoon eating pizza in Monmouth, with all thoughts on graduation, sleeping kings and sacrifices pushed aside for once. Then, Blue made a contemplative noise from where she was eating on the floor. “You know, Gansey and I were talking.”
Before she could go on any further, Ronan interjected with mocked seriousness, “Good, communication is the key to a successful relationship.”
It was enough to prompt Gansey into sighing exasperatedly. “Ronan.”
Adam had to press his smile into his shoulder at the sight of Blue’s sharp glare.
“As I was saying,” Blue huffed. “You two are the weirdest couple that I have ever met.”
Adam and Ronan stiffened at that. While Adam only furrowed his brows, Ronan snapped back, “Oh, you’ve met a lot of couples, have you?”
Completely unbothered by the tension in the air, Noah nodded. “She’s not wrong.”
Though Blue rolled her eyes at Ronan’s display, Adam noticed the high flush on her cheeks. “At first, I thought Gansey and I were doing something wrong. You guys are always just so… intense.” She waved off Gansey’s offended sound and continued, “Then I realized that it wasn’t our problem at all! It’s you two. You can be jerks but you’re always touching, and kissing, and doing that annoying telepathic thing.” She scrunched her nose. “It’s kind of disgusting.”
Adam felt his face burn and immediately said, “That’s not true. We don’t- get off me, Lynch.” He pushed at Ronan who had been resting his head on his thigh this whole time.
Ronan scowled but moved away. The way he shifted made it obvious that he was affected by what Blue said too.
Noah decided to pipe in. “Like she said. Disgusting.”
That was what made Adam and Ronan determined to prove that they could keep their damn hands to themselves.
“Look, Jane and Noah don’t mean anything by it-” Gansey began with his patented reasonable tone with his similarly patented reasonable face on.
Well, that just sealed the deal.
The day was slowly crawling into the evening. The skies were pink outside the window, and Ronan forced himself to concentrate on Chainsaw instead of staring at how perfectly the light fell on Adam’s face. The boy stood next to Gansey before a large map, head tilted to one side as he considered whether they had noted down all the different ley lines Cabeswater had shown him.
Ronan was so focused on the task at hand that his heart jumped when Noah asked, “Adam, aren’t you going to be late for work?”
Though Ronan kept his eyes fixed on Chainsaw, he pictured Adam checking his watch as he swore. The raven flapped its wings as Adam rushed for his bag, and Ronan absently lifted his head while he stroked the bird. On his way to the door, Adam moved to press his lips to Ronan’s cheek, only to pause midway. They froze when they caught Blue humming meaningfully and Noah looking completely smug.
Adam pretended to pick something off the floor as Ronan ducked down to consider Chainsaw’s perfectly fine feathers.
“I’ll see you guys later.” Adam waved awkwardly and took off, feeling strangely empty, as if he had left something behind.
No one had to know that Ronan barged into his room at St Agnes that night, and pushed him roughly onto his bed. Adam made it up to him in kind by dragging his mouth over his hips.
Not like it was anyone’s business anyway.
Noah was in a good mood, though it definitely was not the case with Blue and Gansey. Acting on his romantic ideals, Gansey had apparently decided to reserve an entire restaurant for his date with Blue. Needless to say, the girl was less than happy about it. They were arguing in the corner of the room while Adam, Ronan and Noah pretended as if they were playing pool, though they were really just knocking the balls around and observing the train wreck before them.
Nevertheless, while listening to Gansey try to justify his actions for the first ten minutes was fun, it was less so twenty minutes later- especially when they all knew how this was going to end: Gansey would be forgiven. They would go on their date, and Blue would enjoy herself.
Adam leaned against the pool table and his eyes connected with Ronan’s. They seemed to ask: Want to get out of here?
As naturally as possible, Adam answered back: God, yes.
The way Ronan’s eyebrows quirked told Adam that he was thinking of the empty streets near the Barns. He had mentioned a couple of times about how no one was ever there so you could drive as fast as you wanted to without ever being caught. Ronan wanted Adam to get behind the wheel in his sleek BMW and try it for himself, and Adam knew as well as him that he would give in and do it soon enough. The phantom aches from their previous reckless adventures said as much.
Noah’s amused tone sliced through their thoughts: “You’re doing it again.”
Adam shifted his gaze immediately, and Ronan made a sound that was the very definition of annoyance.
“It’s no big deal,” Noah practically sang. “Just admit that you’re both sappy lovebirds and we can all move on.” He was being more smug than usual seeing as his presence had been almost completely solid for the past few days.
Unconsciously, Adam’s eyes returned to Ronan’s for just one second, and he saw the other boy doing the same. Just one look and Adam knew what was going to happen. Gracefully, he stepped aside as Ronan threw himself at Noah who yelped for help. Frantically, he cried out, “Adam!”
The noise was enough to pull Blue and Gansey away from their argument. As they stared in surprise, the Henrietta boy simply shrugged at Noah and said, “Didn’t see that coming.”
They were supposed to be watching a movie, but as Ronan moved to kiss along his neck, Adam couldn’t even recall what the name of the movie was.
Dramatic music blasted from the speakers of Ronan’s laptop, but all Adam could focus on was the feel of Ronan pinning him down on the leather couch in Monmouth. Things always managed to turn frantic between them whenever they got to be alone after long days under the watchful eyes of their friends. Now, there seemed to be something illicit in every touch. It wasn’t as if it wasn’t good before- back when they were allowed- but Adam was starting to realize that he liked every version of being with Ronan.
When Ronan finally looked up, Adam couldn’t resist touching those lips gently with his fingertips. He watched those eyes darken further, and very slowly, Adam moved to kiss him. Before their lips could touch, they heard the ominous sound of keys jingling.
Immediately, Ronan scrambled to the foot of the couch as Adam moved to sit upright and tried to make his hair as presentable as possible.
“Oh,” Gansey let out when he stepped in. “I didn’t realize you were here, Adam.”
The boy in question smiled weakly while Ronan grunted and stared intently at the laptop screen which was unfortunately playing the credits.
Gansey didn’t seem to notice. He walked right pass them and cheerfully said, “How very convenient. Helen sent my books over and they’ve finally arrived. I’ve been meaning to show you. Here, come take a look.”
It was warm in Cabeswater, an echo of Virginia’s stifling summers. Adam and Ronan had lost track of where the others were from where they were lying under the tree.
Ronan had somehow convinced Adam to speak with his Henrietta accent while he tried to repeat after him in a similar fashion. The old Adam would have been too embarrassed and would immediately turn to the idea that he was being mocked. But the Adam now knew that there was no trace of malice in the way Ronan miserably tried to mimic the Southern drawl.
The boy finally groaned out, “I fucking give up.”
“It’s all the money in you,” Adam replied easily, forgetting to clip his accent.
Ronan turned to his side, and Adam didn’t like the look on his face. Not one bit. True to form, Ronan put on his poor Henrietta accent again and said with a high pitched voice, “Golly, sir. I mean no offence, sweetheart.”
“Stop it,” Adam told but couldn’t stop a laugh from escaping.
“Oh my word,” Ronan forged ahead, and Adam had to resort to covering one hand over his mouth.
“Stop it,” Adam repeated, but there was a bright smile on his face. For a long moment, they just stayed that way, tension crackling like firewood.
Then they heard Noah’s voice. “Well, well, well. Look what we have here.”
This time, there wasn’t any need for their so-called telepathic communication. Adam and Ronan got onto their feet and chased the other boy who screamed for Blue and Gansey.
Fucking Noah.
Adam was walking toward his car parked in front of Monmouth when he heard his name. He turned around and saw Ronan headed toward him. Adam frowned a little. He tried to think of anything that was important enough for Ronan to follow him outside, and he wondered whether it was going to make him late for work.
When Ronan was close enough, Adam asked, “What’s wrong?”
Shaking his head, Ronan answered, “Nothing.”
It wasn’t often that Adam couldn’t figure him out, “Then what-”
“I don’t care that we’re disgusting,” Ronan suddenly said, looking strangely determined. He added carefully, “Do you?”
There seemed to be something heavily implied in his words, his voice, his gesture… and whatever Ronan was offering made Adam’s blood sing: yes, yes, yes. So, he answered, “Do you even have to ask?”
There. That was the sharp grin of Ronan’s that he loved so much.
Adam moved to kiss him chastely on the lips, then bumped their noses lightly. “I need to get to work,” he whispered.
“Just a second,” Ronan whispered back, and pressed their lips together again.
They heard Blue’s voice from the upstairs window. “You guys are disgusting,” she shouted, but it was in glee.
Without pulling away from each other, Ronan flipped her off and Adam smiled.