When they were still young and their relationship from friends to more starting to grow comfortable, Five gave Peter a gift. They didn't give gifts often, in fact they both avoided it. There was barely anything to find in the apocalypse and anything salvaged was theirs. There was no such thing as individual belongings in this world. Everything was shared. So for them to give gifts specifically only for the other was rare and uncommon.

The first time Peter gave Five a gift was a sachet of instant mocha mix. The closest they could get to coffee. He had been fourteen and it had been two years since they had met. The sachet had been scratchy in his palm but still sealed. The look in Five's eyes when he had offered it over breakfast one morning what sent a shiver down his spine. Peter had wanted to see it again even as it faded and Five chided him for giving him a gift. It was a fond chiding and Peter had just laughed and twirled up into the air. His cheeks warm and satisfaction in his chest.

Five had never given him a gift back even as Peter filled the years with moments of excited and eager offerings. Like a cat occasionally leaving present for their owner. Five once woke to hotel sized grubby bottle of gin on his pillow and Peter wordlessly watching the fire. Another time he came back from scavenging to Peter cooking up some tinned meat for him. Even in that time, Five had not left him something just for him. Everything they brought back was shared and Peter never minded. He took joy in the smug satisfaction Five wrote when he returned from a good scavenging trip, or the wordless weight of joy and something else in his eyes when Peter offered his gifts. Something else that he later, when they hade been married for almost ten years, learned was love. Not that Five ever really said the words.

So it was a surprise to wake up on what would had been his twenty first birthday to Five, aged roughly twenty two, sitting up in their bed. (They had began sharing beds ever since the first winter. Too cold to sleep by themselves). This bed was in the wreckage of an old hospital where they had been camping for almost a month. It was one of the more comfy ones. Remains of old hospital mattresses stacked up and covered in blankets. The two young adults had laid each other bare here a few times, glad to have a more comfy bed than usual for their relationship activities. Peter was still shirtless. The warmth of summer allowing him to stay bare for the night.

He blinked groggily at the man next to him. Five had the blankets draped over his lap and one of Peter's T-shirts over his frame. The blonde bigger in the shoulders and taller so the fabric slightly swallowed the brunette. Peter liked it. It felt like he was with Five even when they were apart, not that they separated for much other than the solo scavenging missions. "Morning", Five's voice was gentle as it sometimes was in the mornings. Peter liked how soft the brunette could get when he relaxed

"Morning", Peter moaned as he stretched. Five watched him and one hand reached out to push back the unruly blonde curls. Peter leaned into the touch and smiled when Five bent over to kiss him. It was gentle and soft. Loving rather than one of desire.

"I have something for you", Five muttered as they parted. Peter blinked and pushed himself up, blankets pooling at his waist and exposing his bare skin to the dry and still slightly nippy air of early summer in the apocalypse.

"I thought we weren't doing gifts", he queried, unable to keep the excitement from his voice.

"Says the one who ignores that rule constantly", Five rolled his eyes as he leaned over to grab something from his bag. He turned back and held out his hand. Peter watched as something dropped into his lap. It was a short length of chain just long enough to be a necklace.

"Happy birthday". Five's voice softer, sincere. "Sorry you are still stuck here with me for it".

Peter picked up the chain and let it roll over his fingers. The links were all uneven. Multiple different sized links most likely salvaged from other pieces of jewellery. It was perfectly imperfect and he instantly loved it. "Did you make this?" He turned wide green eyes to meet hazel.

Five actually seemed a bit bashful. "Don't get smug about it".

Peter beamed at him and held up the chain. "Help me put it on?" He asked, already turning.

Five wordlessly took the chain back and brushed a few of Peter's curls away from the back of his neck, the blonde ringlets getting long again. He would need to cut the soon. Peter felt the cool metal against his collar bones as Five attached the clasp. It didn't hang very far down, just enough to be hidden under the collar of any tshirt.

"Thank you. This is the best birthday present I've ever gotten".

Five seemed surprised by that. "What about the ones your mom gave you?"

Peter leaned back and let himself sprawl back onto their makeshift bed. It was his birthday and they had enough supplies for a day in bed if needed. He felt Five wriggle into a comfortable position and he rolled onto his side to face the smaller. "We did not have much money. A widow with a child who couldn't go to school or leave the house much? She worked so hard. I did not know it at the time but she worked so hard for me. But we never had much money for birthday presents. Instead she would try to bake me cakes. Though she wasn't very good. I still ate them though".

Five hummed and rolled so that they were facing each other. The blankets covering them in a bundle of warmth. "That sounds nice".

"It was. But I am glad that I an here with you. This apocalypse maybe shit and all but I am glad I have you".

Five stared at him for a moment. He didn't answer Peter's statement with words but instead leaned over to kiss him smoothly and gently. Peter sank into it, seeing it for the comfort it was and for everything it conveyed that neither put into words. They had been in the apocalypse together for eight years by then. They didn't need to say the words 'I love you' to know that it was reciprocal.

The necklace lasted years until one day it broke while on a mission for the commission. Peter, once he had recovered from the chokehold their target had wrestled him in, had stood staring at the broken pieces in silent mourning. Five, who was cleaning the blood splatter from his face with a stray napkin, turned. "Are you unharmed?" The grouchiness of his voice didn't disguise the worry. Peter turned to him, a smile already flitting to his face as his mind replayed them in their twenties. A long time ago to the old men they had become.

"I am alright. How are the calculations going?"

unedited

S4 pissed me off so I had to write them being sweet. Also there are going to be a lot of flashback chapters in this book. It builds their relationship.