Updates might not be as frequent as they have been bcos I've got lots of shifts at the pub I work at. I'll try and get a chapter out at least every two days. Sorry if it takes a bit longer!
Trigger warning.

It isn't until well after midday that the men are even in the same room. Andy makes something for lunch and goes to tell Remington, not about to let the boy miss a day of eating just because of this.

Remington is in the living room messing about on his phone, not bothering to look up when he senses a presence at the door. "Not hungry," he says, before Andy has even spoken.

The man sighs. "That's a lie. I made soup. Come on."

Remington still doesn't look up. "I'm not hungry," he repeats, "would you kindly piss off?"

"Alright, this is ridiculous. I know I fucked up and I'm sorry, but you giving me such a hard time about it is not helping. And you can't slip back into your bad eating habits because it could get you killed. If you don't wanna talk to me, fine, but please come and eat something."

Remington huffs, violently putting his phone down. "You did fuck up," he agrees bitterly, glaring at his husband. "This is your mess." He purposefully barges past the man, shoving him to the side.

"Remington, please," Andy tries, not really understanding why the younger is making this into such a big deal. "Let's just talk about this."

The boy shakes his head. "No," he replies, leaving the room, "it's your mess. You clean it up." He goes straight past the kitchen and ignores the food, stepping out by the pool and sitting on a sun lounger. He checks the time on his phone and frowns. It's past midday. Half a day has gone by and all he's done is accused Andy of fucking up and no doubt made his already bad mental health worse. What the fuck is wrong with him?

Remington is right. He is making Andy's mental state worse. The man still hasn't replied to the agency about Kacey, and instead is just ignoring their messages, hoping they'll just back off and ask someone else. He ends up lying on the carpeted floor in the living room, hands over his face to try and calm himself down. Andy knows he can't blame Remington for how he's reacting. The man understands. Remington gets confused and overwhelmed sometimes and it would be really wrong to make him feel bad for it. But it's just hard to remind himself that his lover isn't actually angry at him when they're fighting like this, specially when he's feeling so down.

The agency calls him and he lets it ring through to voicemail, and after, throws the phone at the couch. He closes his eyes and pushes the heels of his hands into them, tearing up and willing himself not to cry. Today's been such a disaster.

He sits up, eyes still closed, and hopes with all he has that Remington will come to terms with this so they don't have to keep fighting.

How's Greece?

Remington sighs at the text from his older brother.

We had a fight :(

Why? What happened?

long story.

Did he hurt you?

No. But I think I upset him and I dunno what to do

Talk to him

I can't

Why not? Or give him a hug? You know he's been feeling sad recently. Maybe that's why he's fighting with you??

What if I made him sadder?

Just go and give him a hug.

He might be mad at me

He literally never could be mad at you. Hug him. Now.

Sebastian is right. Remington knows he is. He should give Andy a hug. God knows the man needs it. After a moments thought, Remington goes back inside, hesitant once he is in the room Andy is in, heart hurting at how his husband is sitting, hands over his face, half-slumped against the couch, clearly close to tears. This is my fault, he thinks, I made Andy cry.

The man hasn't noticed that he's here, too caught up in trying not to crumple into a mess of tears, and when he hears Remington's voice nearby, he lifts his head without saying a thing.

"I..." Remington begins, trailing off. "Look, I know you were trying to do the right thing, and I know you're-um-kinda suicidal, and I'm sorry I didn't try to be more understanding of how this is for you." He looks down. "But it feels like you didn't trust me enough to tell me about it and that...well it hurts."

Andy wishes he could respond but words seem too difficult at the moment.

The singer goes on. "I should have let you explain to me calmly and I shouldn't have told you that you fucked up because you didn't. You were trying to keep me happy and I should have appreciated that and not made you feel bad about it." For a second or two, he's quiet, and then he talks again. "I'm sorry. I made you feel terrible about something that was out of your control and I knew you were already feeling pretty down, and the right thing for me to do would have been to give you a hug and tell you that it's okay. But I didn't do that, because I'm stubborn and immature and I made you cry. I made you cry." Remington's voice is soft by the end, and he says the last sentence sadly. He made his own husband cry.

Still, Andy doesn't respond. He doesn't know how and it feels as though he'll burst into tears the moment he opens his mouth.

"And I know you're trying not to cry right now and I'm so sorry I made that happen. It was so wrong of me to act the way I did, specially since you just tried to...you know, and I should be supporting you and making you feel loved and looked after. And what did I do? I made you cry." He sounds guilty. He feels guilty. It's such a horrible thing; knowing he's the reason why Andy is so upset. "I understand that I hurt you and that maybe you need time, and I'm not gonna pressure you into saying anything or doing anything until you're comfortable with it. Just-I love you and I'm here if you want a hug, or a shoulder to cry on, or anything. I'm always here." He can see the hurt in Andy's face. "You didn't fuck up and I'm not mad at you. If anything, you should be mad at me for being such an argumentative bitch."

Andy returns his head into his hands as Remington turns and walks away, trying to compose himself, failing, and not managing to keep back the tears anymore. He's relieved that Remington said what he did, that he was so gentle. He wouldn't have been able to withstand another fight.

Remington, as to not make Andy feel crowded, sits by the pool with his sketchbook and a pencil, working on a drawing he was doing a while ago and never finished. He's sitting on his own quietly for the best part of half an hour before the pencil that he's holding is carefully pulled from his grip, the book lifted from his lap and put under the sun lounger that he's in, and Andy sits himself between his legs, leant back into his chest.

"Hey, darling," Remington murmers, wrapping his arms around Andy's waist and kissing the man's shoulder.

This time, Andy finds his voice and manages to respond. "You're not an argumentative bith," he says, "we're both just sensitive bitches and that's okay." He puts a hand over Remington's. "Just gimme cuddles now, okay? And then we can actually enjoy the fact that we've been married two years."

"You can have all my cuddles," Remington says cheesily, smiling. "Turns out I'm incapable of staying even remotely annoyed at you."

"Turns out you're also adorable. Who knew?"

The younger shakes his head even though Andy can't see, just happy things have been sorted out between them.

At least for now, anyway.

Ur welcome bItcHeS