him, muttering behind their hands; someone calls out to him, and there are footsteps approaching him from behind, but a cab pulls up before anyone can ask him what he’s doing and he gasps, “Town, please—the high street,” to the driver, tells him to go, quick, before it’s too late.
He makes it to the theatre and the door’s unlocked, nothing inside but silence and emptiness. He charges up the stairs backstage and bursts into the office like there’s a fire behind him, half expecting to find Patrick not there, that he’s already changed his mind.
But he is there, sitting in this office that’s empty save for the chair he’s in, the desk he’s sat behind, and the sofa pressed against one wall. He looks up, startled, at Noah’s dramatic entrance, and everything about his face says he can’t believe it, that Noah’s really here, with him.
Noah stands there breathless, his heart hammering out of his chest, staring at Patrick, who’s staring back, frozen, waiting.
“Say it,” Noah begs. “I need you to say it.”
Patrick gets up very slowly, and he comes around the desk, and he approaches Noah, and he says without hesitation, his voice low and rich with sincerity, “I love you.”
A breath rushes out of Noah, and his knees threaten to buckle, and he gets his hands fisted in the front of Patrick’s shirt and he clings on.
Patrick brings his hands to Noah’s face. They’re trembling, and the touch is gentle and reverent against Noah’s cheeks. “I love you, Noah,” he says, softer this time, tremulous, thick with the emotion Noah feared he wasn’t capable of.
“What about your life,” Noah asks, “America—”
Patrick pulls away from him, and Noah almost whimpers at the loss, hands reaching out for him. But he doesn’t go far. He collects two thick stacks of documents off the desk and brings them to Noah. His hands are still shaking, and his eyes are swimming with moisture, and Noah can’t believe this is happening.
“If I sign this,” Patrick says, holding up the first pile of stapled documents, his voice cracking and straining, “I own this theatre. And if I sign this,” he continues, holding up the second, “I move into that empty flat above your shop.” He drops the documents onto the sofa beside them and gets Noah’s face in his hands again, steps in close and looks at him as if he’s looking at his entire world. “And if you’re with me on this,” he whispers, thumbs tracing over Noah’s cheekbones, “I’m not going anywhere.”
Noah’s so full of emotion, of relief and happiness and love, he can’t do anything but pull on Patrick’s shirt to bring him in closer, feel his heat and breathe him in and get his head around the fact that this is it now, this is his life, Patrick’s his .
“Do you really think you’re ready to settle down?” he asks, because he has to be sure before he takes that final step, that leap of love and faith.
“Yes,” says Patrick. “If you’ll have me.”
There’s no longer an ounce of doubt left in Noah’s mind. He leans up to him, drawn in like a magnet, and Patrick meets him in the middle. And they kiss, soft and slow and unhurried, because they have time now, all the time in the world, and Patrick’s kissing him like he’s worshipping him, like he will spend the rest of his life making Noah feel this beautiful rush of exhilaration.
“You know what we need to work out now,” Patrick says an eternity later, looking down at him.
“How to build a relationship out of this craziness?”
“No,” says Patrick. “What we’re going to name this place.”
Noah laughs, and Patrick gathers him up, hugs him to his chest like he never wants to let him go.
Epilogue
Noah has an emotional goodbye with Connor when he goes to collect his things. Patrick isn’t thrilled about Noah going there alone, isn’t sure of Connor’s temper, but Noah feels certain it’s safe, he’ll be fine.
Connor tells him he’s moving to
He makes it to the theatre and the door’s unlocked, nothing inside but silence and emptiness. He charges up the stairs backstage and bursts into the office like there’s a fire behind him, half expecting to find Patrick not there, that he’s already changed his mind.
But he is there, sitting in this office that’s empty save for the chair he’s in, the desk he’s sat behind, and the sofa pressed against one wall. He looks up, startled, at Noah’s dramatic entrance, and everything about his face says he can’t believe it, that Noah’s really here, with him.
Noah stands there breathless, his heart hammering out of his chest, staring at Patrick, who’s staring back, frozen, waiting.
“Say it,” Noah begs. “I need you to say it.”
Patrick gets up very slowly, and he comes around the desk, and he approaches Noah, and he says without hesitation, his voice low and rich with sincerity, “I love you.”
A breath rushes out of Noah, and his knees threaten to buckle, and he gets his hands fisted in the front of Patrick’s shirt and he clings on.
Patrick brings his hands to Noah’s face. They’re trembling, and the touch is gentle and reverent against Noah’s cheeks. “I love you, Noah,” he says, softer this time, tremulous, thick with the emotion Noah feared he wasn’t capable of.
“What about your life,” Noah asks, “America—”
Patrick pulls away from him, and Noah almost whimpers at the loss, hands reaching out for him. But he doesn’t go far. He collects two thick stacks of documents off the desk and brings them to Noah. His hands are still shaking, and his eyes are swimming with moisture, and Noah can’t believe this is happening.
“If I sign this,” Patrick says, holding up the first pile of stapled documents, his voice cracking and straining, “I own this theatre. And if I sign this,” he continues, holding up the second, “I move into that empty flat above your shop.” He drops the documents onto the sofa beside them and gets Noah’s face in his hands again, steps in close and looks at him as if he’s looking at his entire world. “And if you’re with me on this,” he whispers, thumbs tracing over Noah’s cheekbones, “I’m not going anywhere.”
Noah’s so full of emotion, of relief and happiness and love, he can’t do anything but pull on Patrick’s shirt to bring him in closer, feel his heat and breathe him in and get his head around the fact that this is it now, this is his life, Patrick’s his .
“Do you really think you’re ready to settle down?” he asks, because he has to be sure before he takes that final step, that leap of love and faith.
“Yes,” says Patrick. “If you’ll have me.”
There’s no longer an ounce of doubt left in Noah’s mind. He leans up to him, drawn in like a magnet, and Patrick meets him in the middle. And they kiss, soft and slow and unhurried, because they have time now, all the time in the world, and Patrick’s kissing him like he’s worshipping him, like he will spend the rest of his life making Noah feel this beautiful rush of exhilaration.
“You know what we need to work out now,” Patrick says an eternity later, looking down at him.
“How to build a relationship out of this craziness?”
“No,” says Patrick. “What we’re going to name this place.”
Noah laughs, and Patrick gathers him up, hugs him to his chest like he never wants to let him go.
Epilogue
Noah has an emotional goodbye with Connor when he goes to collect his things. Patrick isn’t thrilled about Noah going there alone, isn’t sure of Connor’s temper, but Noah feels certain it’s safe, he’ll be fine.
Connor tells him he’s moving to
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