Like You Were Made For Me

It all started with a popcorn maker.

A simple nostalgia retro hot air popper to be exact, from Target. It had been Alex’s idea to buy one for their apartment, but Rian hadn’t been too keen on the idea. For a start, who needs a popcorn maker in their own home?! It’s not like they were around to use it much – Rian’s job as a paralegal assistant kept him at work for ridiculous hours, and Alex’s job as a kindergarten teacher didn’t exactly allow a whole lot of freedom either. Also, Rian rarely ate junk food, so it was just Alex who was going to get any use out of it.

But no, Alex just had to buy one.

This was one of the issues that had begun to surface in their relationship. Alex was too impulsive. Only two months ago he bought a lawnmower when they don’t even have a lawn to mow, and the month before that he bought a bag of 300 tea-light candles, just because they were on sale. Just little things here and there, but it was things that they didn’t need. Things that Rian didn’t want cluttering up their apartment.

And this popcorn maker was just the cherry on top of a shitty cupcake. But do you know what the best part was? Rian was always the one that ended up cleaning the kernels burnt to the bottom.

“Fucking piece of shit, easy-clean my ass, should just throw the damn thing out the window…”

“You know, you should really lighten up,” Alex interrupted, leaning against the door frame.

Rian turned his head to glare at his boyfriend, before looking back down at the gunk-crusted popcorn maker.

“It’s your fucking machine, Lex, maybe you should try cleaning it for once,” Rian grumbled.

“I did, last time we used it – but you said I didn’t clean it properly and then took over. So I figure, what’s the point in doing it if you’re just going to re-do it,” Alex shrugged.

Rian turned round and stared at his boyfriend incredulously, but only received a blank stare. Typical.

“You’re an ass,” Rian said bluntly.

“And you’re a perfectionist. Leave the cleaning and come watch a film with me,” Alex said firmly.

“If we leave it, it’ll just congeal and get harder to clean,” Rian retorted.

“But…a film! Snuggling!” Alex pouted.

“No,” Rian said shortly.

Alex flounced away in a huff, and that was the end of it. This time.

*

Two weeks later, Rian got back from work a little after his usual time, and not in the greatest of moods. It wasn’t that he hated his job – because sometimes it was pretty awesome – but some of the lawyers just didn’t appreciate the work he put in. But whatever. He’d like to see them research the back history of a business without his help. Hah.

What he was looking forward to was a nice relaxing evening with Alex, maybe some slow intense stress-relieving sex. Yeah, that sounded good. A nice evening with just him and Alex. He knew there was something he was meant to remember today, but he didn’t have a clue what it was thanks to the pressure at work. Couldn’t have been important.

But when he opened the front door to his apartment and was immediately hit with the smell of burning, he wasn’t happy.

“ALEX!” Rian yelled, kicking the front door shut.

Alex ran out of the kitchen, eyes wide. Of course.

“It’s not that bad, I swear!” Alex protested.

“Let me guess…the popcorn maker?” Rian asked through gritted teeth.

“If I say no, will you stay out of the kitchen?” Alex asked hopefully.

Rian just scowled.

“I’m taking a shower and I’m going to bed,” Rian muttered.

“But what about dinner?” Alex frowned.

“Funny enough, that smell isn’t exactly appetising,” Rian retorted.

Alex bit his bottom lip as Rian stormed upstairs. This wasn’t exactly the anniversary he’d been planning. Not that Rian had remembered. Oh yeah, that much was obvious. He couldn’t seem to remember anything but his work and how much he hated their popcorn maker. With a sigh, Alex turned back around. Looks like he was eating alone. Again. On their 3rd year anniversary. Just perfect.

*

It’s just a jump to the left,
And then a step to the right,
Put your hands on your hips,
And bend your knees in time,
And it’s a pelvic thrust,
That drives you insane,
Let’s do the time warp again

Alex hummed under his breath to his favourite DVD playing in the background, Rocky Horror Show, dancing around the kitchen with a grin under his breath. Today had been a good day. The kids in his class had all been unexpectedly well-behaved (although he tagged that onto it being show-and-tell day) and he’d even been able to get some arts and crafts done without anyone eating paste or glitter, so he was even more cheerful than usual.

As a result, he decided to make tonight a chill out night for him and Rian. Sure, his boyfriend had forgotten their anniversary a few weeks ago, and he’d been unbelievably stressed and snappy, but this was just a phase, right? All Rian needed was a chilled out movie night. Pizza, popcorn and beer. The pizza was warming in the oven, the beer was cooling in the fridge, there was a selection of movies ready on the coffee table in the lounge, and the popcorn maker had just started. Tonight would be good, he could just tell.

15 minutes later, Rian opened the front door, and Alex grinned.

“Hi Rian! You’re home earl…”

“Turn that shit off,” Rian muttered, interrupting.

“E-Excuse me?” Alex asked, surprised.

“That movie. Turn it off. I have a headache,” Rian grumbled.

Alex bit his bottom lip but walked into the other room and did so. As he re-entered the kitchen, he had to swallow the lump in his throat as he watched Rian push aside the case of beers and pull out a bottle of water.

“Um, I thought we could have a chilled out night tonight. Together,” Alex announced.

“Why?” Rian asked sharply.

Undeterred, Alex continued.

“Well we haven’t spent a lot of time together recently and I thought…”

“I have a hard job with long hours, Lex, what do you expect? Not all of us get to spend our days finger painting and wiping noses,” Rian interrupted.

“Yeah, but…”

Alex winced as the crackling of the popcorn next to them picked up a notch in volume. Shit. Not good timing. Nervously, Alex looked at Rian, whose eyes were narrowed.

“The popcorn maker? Again?” Rian asked through gritted teeth.

“I just wanted to do something nice for us,” Alex said weakly.

“ALL I WANT IS A BIT OF PEACE AND QUIET WHEN I COME HOME, NOT THAT FUCKING ANNOYING POPPING NOISE!” Rian shouted.

Alex flinched, averting his eyes. He hated it when Rian shouted at him.

“It’s not that noisy,” Alex mumbled

“YES IT IS! AND FOR WHAT? TASTELESS GARBAGE?!”

“Can you stop yelling at me?” Alex whimpered.

“OR WHAT?! THIS FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT IS FUCKING USELESS!” Rian yelled.

Alex cried out as Rian ripped the popcorn maker from the wall and threw it across the room, before storming from the kitchen. What the fuck just happened?! A sob choked from Alex’s throat as he slid down to the ground, not realising that his hands were shaking and there were tears running down his cheeks until he was huddled in a ball. He’d never seen Rian like that. Never. He didn’t like it.

What was going wrong? Since when did Rian start flipping out over nothing? Was his job really that stressful? Or was it something else? Was it because of him? Was Alex the one in the wrong?

With another sob, Alex shakily pulled his cellphone out of his jeans, and dialled the number of his best friend.

“Jack?”
“Yeah dollface?”
“Oh Jack, I can’t take it any more…”

*

“You’re an asshole, I hope you realise that,”

Rian looked up from his desk, frowning at the sight of his best friend Zack.

“What are you doing here?” Rian frowned.

Zack pulled up a chair and sat down.

“Apart from the fact that we were meant to have lunch today, ooh about an hour ago, I spent all night looking after Jack after he got off the phone with Alex,”

“Uh, that’s nice?” Rian offered.

“Are you really that blind?” Zack scoffed.

“Look, I have a lot of work to do, so if you’re going to give me riddles can you just text me them?” Rian sighed.

Zack just shook his head in anger.

“I really didn’t think I’d have to spell it out for you. Fuck, you’re so up your own ass. You’ve been a complete and utter jerk to Alex for months, and last night was the last straw,” Zack said angrily.

“Excuse me?” Rian frowned.

“Not only have you been snapping at him for nothing and rude for no reason, but you forgot your 3 year anniversary, you scared the shit out of him last night and you had him crying down the phone to Jack for hours! He’s had enough,”

Rian paled slightly. Sure he’d been a little grumpy lately but…

“What do you mean, he’s had enough?” Rian asked quietly.

Zack just shook his head sadly. “Alex is packing his stuff up right now to bring over to mine and Jack’s place,”

“What?!” Rian spluttered.

“What the fuck happened to you, Ri? And don’t blame all this shit on that fucking popcorn maker,” Zack warned.

“I-I don’t know,”

What had happened to him? Zack was right…since when did he freak out and yell and throw stuff? Fuck, poor Alex. He must be scared out of his mind.

“Well you better figure it out because I’m meant to go pick him up in an hour,” Zack said firmly.

“Why did you come and warn me then?” Rian asked softly.

“Because I know you love him,” Zack replied.

Rian bit his bottom lip, tears springing to his eyes.

“Yeah, I really fucking love him,” Rian nodded, smiling weakly.

“Then you know what you have to do,” Zack said simply.

“How am I supposed to get out of work though? I really need this job, Z,” Rian huffed.

“I’ll think of something – just go,” Zack mused.

“Really?”

“Go!”

Rian didn’t waste any time. There was just one stop he had to make first.

*

Alex couldn’t stop the tears that ran down his face as he threw the last of his clothes into his duffel bag. He couldn’t believe his relationship had come to this, packing his bags while Rian was at work. But he couldn’t do it anymore. He couldn’t spend another night with Rian yelling at him for something that wasn’t his fault.

It wasn’t fair.

When Alex felt a hand on his shoulder, he shrieked and grabbed the first thing he could, before he turned around and hit his attacker with it.

“A pair of socks, Lex? Really?” Rian mused, not even flinching.

Rian? Shit, Rian was home. He knew Alex was leaving! Shakily, Alex dropped the socks on their bed, and rapidly wiped the tears from his cheeks.

“I-I thought you were at work today,” Alex said as calmly as possible.

“Something else was more important,” Rian said softly.

“What?” Alex asked, confused.

“You,” Rian replied.

Alex didn’t have time to reply before Rian pressed his lips to Alex’s in a kiss, pulling their bodies together with his hands on Alex’s hips. Alex made a soft sound of surprise but didn’t hesitate in kissing back, having missed the feeling of Rian’s lips. He couldn’t remember the last time they’d kissed, let alone held each other like Rian was holding him right now. The kiss stayed gentle, innocent almost, until Rian slowed it down to a few gentle pecks, pulling away to rest his forehead on Alex’s.

“I’m sorry,” Rian said softly.

“W-What?” Alex mumbled, still a little dazed.

“I’m sorry,” Rian said with a soft laugh, “I’ve been a complete asshole to you recently, and you didn’t deserve any of it. But please don’t leave,”

Alex bit his bottom lip, wanting to accept Rian’s apology, but not knowing if he could. What if things got as bad again?

“I love you, so much. I can’t lose you,” Rian added, a little desperate at Alex’s lack of response.

Tears sprung to Alex’s eyes, a quiet whimper slipping from his lips.

“I love you too,” Alex spluttered.

Rian smiled and pressed another kiss to Alex’s lips, a short soft kiss that made Alex’s head spin slightly.

“On my way home, I called my boss and asked for two weeks off work,” Rian announced.

“You what?” Alex asked, surprised.

“I’ve been so stressed, so overworked recently, and all I’ve done is taken it out on you. So I thought if I take a little time off we could work things out. Think of it as our 3 year anniversary present,” Rian explained.

“But I don’t have the time off,” Alex said.

Rian smiled again.

“I called your kindergarten too. While they need you this week, they can arrange a sub for next week,”

“Really?” Alex asked, eyes wide.

“Yeah, really. If you want, we can take a vacation, just the two of us, anywhere you want. If not, we can spend the week here, just the two of us, doing anything you want,” Rian said softly.

Alex felt a little speechless. This was so against everything he’d seen of Rian over the past few months…but it was a welcome change back to the romantic man he knew.

“I-If I just want to stay here, you really wouldn’t be mad?” Alex asked hopefully.

“Of course not baby. I want us to be happy again, so whatever you want to do is fine with me,” Rian nodded.

Alex grinned and hugged Rian tightly, making him laugh and hug his boyfriend just as tightly back.

“Thank you. Thank you so much,” Alex murmured, pressing kisses into Rian’s neck.

Rian just laughed a little more, indulging Alex for a few more seconds before stepping backwards.

“I, um, I got you something,” Rian announced.

Alex just cocked his head to the side in curiosity, watching Rian step out the room and bring a bag back in.

“Here,” Rian said, thrusting the bag in his direction.

Alex smiled and reached in, pulling out a large box. His eyes went wide in shock when he saw what it was.

“A p-popcorn maker?” Alex gasped, “but Ri…”

“It’s not the same type. I asked the sales girl at Target for a maker that was easier to use and clean, and one that made less noise, and this is what she suggested. A whirley-pop stovetop popcorn popper. It’s one of those tins, with a lid that has flaps on, like in the machines at the movies. I just thought I’d get one that I could deal with, because I know how much you love the damn thing,” Rian explained, a little sheepish.

Alex just grinned and placed the box on the bed before kissing Rian hard, clutching at his t-shirt in both hands.

“You’re an ass. But you’re my loveable ass, so it’s okay,” Alex laughed, rubbing their noses together.

“So you’re not going to leave me?” Rian asked hopefully.

“No way,” Alex replied, shaking his head.

Rian whooped and kissed Alex again, making the older boy laugh against his lips. Maybe everything could work out after all.