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Adam curses in frustration as he tugs on the wire of his in-ears, trying to free it from where it’s stuck in his hair. Despite his best efforts to take them off carefully after he’d left the stage, he still managed to get tangled up in the wires somehow. Him being around any kind of cables, cords, or wires always just seemed to result in a mess.
“You need a hand with that?”
Adam looks up to find John grinning at him in amusement. “Please,” Adam replies miserably, admitting defeat and letting his hands flop to his sides.
John laughs and moves in closer, crowding in close enough that Adam can feel the warmth radiating off of him. As Adam watches John’s fingers gently fiddle with the wire, he’s suddenly reminded of the first time they’d gotten in-ears, how John had helped him put them on when Adam had been too intimidated by them.
He remembers how John had stood so close to him then, too, a slight frown of concentration on his face as he’d tried to get the wires to lay just right, oblivious of the way that Adam had been just staring at him, completely lovestruck. All Adam could think about in that moment was kissing him, but it had never seemed like the right time.
Adam is pulled back out of his thoughts by John’s fingers brushing against his neck— cold, always cold— sending a shiver down his spine.
“Sorry,” John murmurs, his breath warm against Adam’s skin.
He’s got that same frown on his face as he did back then, but now Adam has no reservations about pulling John in by the front of his shirt and kissing him, heedless of anyone else who might’ve been backstage. Anyone who could be there to see has known about them for a long time now— there’s no need for them to hide anymore.
John laughs against his lips, a bright and startled sound. He pulls away after a few moments, and Adam can’t help the quiet whine of disappointment that leaves him. “What was that for?” John asks, bewildered, delighted.
“Just wanted to kiss you,” Adam says, slightly sheepish. He’s staring at John again, getting lost in the sparkle in his eyes. “You looked so…”
John’s expression softens, and he steps back behind Adam to finish untangling the wire. Adam never finishes his sentence, but he knows that John will understand what he means.
“There you go,” John says as he finally frees the wire of Adam’s in-ears from the wild nest of his hair. “All free.”
Adam beams. “My knight in shining armor! What would I do without you?”
“Get wrapped up in your microphone cable and eat shit leaving the stage probably,” John says fondly.
“Hey!” Adam exclaims, turning around to look at him, but John is laughing, already walking away. “See if I help you with your in-ears next time, Nolan!” Adam calls after him, but it sounds an awful lot like I love you.