Trigger warning just cos it briefly mentions self harm. It's a cute chapter, I promise.

The two are warm and damp after the bath, and they have a humourous argument over the towel since there's only one in the bathroom. Once they're partialy dressed and giggling over their own childness, the lovers go downstairs and Remington sits on the kitchen counter eating grapes while Andy fries salmon and boils new potatoes.

"I like salmon," the boy says, throwing a grape at Andy. "Oops?"

"I know you do. What am I supposed to do with that?"

Remington shrugs and grins. "Dunno, babe."

"Ew, don't call me that."

"It's a gross word, right?"

Andy hums, flipping over the salmon in the pan. "It's gross, yes. Stick with darling, please." He picks up the grape and throws it in the bin.

The boy swings his legs, kicking Andy gently. "Sebastian uses it all the time for Larisa. It makes me wanna puke. He's like 'oh hey, babe, what do you want for dinner babe?' It's gross and cringy."

"You're gross and cringey."

Remington throws another grape at the man. "Hey!"

Smiling and picking up the grape, Andy shakes his head. "You're wasting them, silly."

"Can you please pass me the orange juice?"

"No."

Remington frowns. "Fuck you, babe." He kicks Andy and slides off the counter. "Fine . I'll get it myself. You bitch!"

The man chuckles, turning the heat down on the pan with the potatoes in. "You're the bitch, bitch."

"I will bite you."

"Looking forward to it." He pokes Remington's shoulder. "Do you wear your own clothes at all?"

Remington opens the fridge. "Nope. Sorry 'bout that."

"Mm, you're lucky you're so adorable."

The boy smiles, finds the juice, and closes the fridge again. "So, darling, we should go away for a bit. You know, like to some nice hotel a few hours away? Because you're not doing great, I need a break from my idiot brothers, and the last time we properly went away was when we got married, so..."

"That's a wonderful idea."

"I'm full of them. So what do you say?"

"I say we should go to Greece again."

Remington raises an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Mhm. Our two year anniversary is coming up next month so why not?"

"Two years? Wow."

"I know, time flies. So I'll book somewhere, yeah? And we can spend our aniversary there."

Nodding and drinking the juice straight from the bottle, Remington sits back on the side. "Yes, do that!"

Andy turns the pans off, watching Remington drink the fruit juice with a humoured smile. "You drink that stuff like it's water."

"It's nice, don't judge. Do you want some before I finish it?"

"No, you have it. Dinner's ready."

Later on, the two are sitting on the couch, Remington's legs over Andy's lap, quiet and calm and playing with one another's fingers. The boy flicks through Netflix for a while before putting on The Vampire Diaries (totally not re-watching this oops) and settling into the sofa with a satisfied sigh. "I'm totally Damon," he says, grinning when Andy laughs.

"You're not Damon. You're more like Stefan, or Elena."

"Elena?"

Andy hums. "Yeah, or Bonnie. Shh, you're talking over it."

"No, Andy, you're Bonnie."

"How?"

"'cause she puts everyone else before herself and dies like...three times for her friends, and you're like that. Obviously you haven't died, but you know." He closes his hand around  three of Andy's fingers. "Damon's hot."

Andy snorts a laugh.

"What? He is!"

The man pulls his fingers free and rests his hand on Remington's knee. "He is quite pretty, I must agree."

Remington hums. "Do you know who's prettier?"

"Who might that be, princess?"

"You, obviously. You're very hot." He takes Andy's hand again.

Smiling and rolling his eyes when Remington licks the back of his hand, the man picks up the remote and pauses the show. "So...I'm ready to talk if you are."

"Go for it, darling. I'm listening." He kisses Andy's knuckles.

Andy looks down thoughtfully. "I've been feeling-I guess-kinda overwhelmed, recently. There's been a lot going on, as you obviously know, and I feel like it's all been dumped onto my shoulders, you know? And I kept-I keep trying to comvince myself that I'm fine even though I don't think I really am. I started...cutting myself, because it felt...easy? I don't know. I thought that hurting physically would be easier than having to deal with the emotional shit. And then I was ashamed of it so I didn't tell you and it got worse and I was stuck in this self-destructive spiral and it all kinda crashed that night. You asked how I was and you had caught me in a weak moment and, well, you know what happened."

Remington hums.

"And I thought that if you found out what I was doing, you would-I don't know-think less of me or something. It's stupid, I know, but I felt-I feel-just...sad. I don't know why. It's no one's fault. It just is what it is. And when you tell me to take time for myself and to stop doing so much for others, I feel responsible and I feel stupid for making such a hig deal out of it, and so I don't listen to you. I want to, of course I do, but I'm not used to stepping back and letting someone else do something for me. It scares me." He sighs. "Remi, I'm scared, okay?"

"It's okay to be scared, you know?"

The older looks at Remington with a grateful smile. "I know, but..." he sighs again.

Remington rubs his hand. "You're strong, Andy, and being scared sometimes doesn't change that. You've been a rock for me and my brothers and all your fans for so fucking long, and we've been leaning on you, perhaps more than we should, and it's okay to break. It's okay to say 'hey, I need to take a break,' Andy, because you're just one person and you've had the weight of so many on your shoulders for so long and there's only so much one person can take. It's not your fault that you're feeling like this. It's the universe telling you to look after yourself and to take a break from all the drama and the fights and everything. You know it's not your fault, don't you?" He moves, sitting next to Andy and pulling the man's head gently onto his shoulder.

"I just kinda feels like it is my fault, though."

"Doesn't mean it is, though, darling."

Andy closes his eyes. "I wish I could say 'I know,' but it's not that easy."

"And that's okay, too."

"You promise?"

He sounds so vulnerable and Remington rubs his arm. "I promise, doll."

"Hmm, doll?"

"Yeah, doll."

"I like it."

Remington smiles. "Good," he says, "and I'm glad you can talk to me about this stuff. I know I'm shit at giving advice and all that, so..."

Andy shakes his head. "Oh, shut up, you. You are very wise and your advice is great."

"Can you just promise me something?"

"Course I can."

"Promise that you won't hide it from me anymore, Andy. I'm here for you and I love you and I wanna know when you're feeling down because I don't want you feeling like that on your own. Okay? Promise?"

The man yawns. "I promise. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you before. I wanted to."

"It's okay. I get it."

"You're an angel."

Remington strokes Andy's hair, hoping to lull the man to sleep, since he's clearly exhausted. "What's your number?"

Andy yawns again. "Sixteen or seventeen. You?"

"Twenty one. You should go to sleep, darling, you're tired."

"Mm, good idea." He sits up, stretches, and flops down onto Remington. "I think we have the most unproblematic relationship ever."

His husband's head in his lap, Remington pushes his hair from his forhead slowly. "Couldn't agree more. Have a good sleep. You deserve it."

Again, Andy yawns, smiles sleepily, and thinks about the past few days. The stress he was feeling, the hopelessess, and then the relief of Remington being there and offering so much support and love. He smiles at the thought. Remington really is an angel fallen from heaven, dragged through hell on the way down, and remained just as pure. Andy thinks he's perfect.

Remington Leith: Reminder to anyone who needs it: tell your family and your friends that you love them and you're here for them. You might not realise how much they need to hear it. That being said, I love you!!! I'm trying to be here for you all so if you need someone to talk to and don't know who, dm me and I'll do my best to get back to you. And in the mean time, enjoy this photo of our cat, Jenny.

Andy Black: @RemingtonLeith Just found the message you left for me in the bathroom and I can confidently say that you are an actual angel.
Remington Leith: @AndyBlack I keep telling you, I'm a devil! GOD!
User 1: @RemingtonLeith @AndyBlack I'm sobbing how are you guys real?!