A number of years later

Michael had been sitting on the couch for nearly an hour grading papers when his husband returned home from work. "Hello," he greeted, not bothering to look up, since if they were playing out their typical evening routine, Ian would be sprawling across the couch on his lap in about three seconds.

Two.

One.

There he went, stretching out and being careful to place his head on Michael's left thigh were he didn't have any papers. "How was your day?" Michael asked, using the back of his red pen to push Ian's hair off his forehead. "Did dad have something going on? You're later than usual".

"Your mother is having people over for breakfast tomorrow and she likes my pancake recipe better that Sarah's so she asked me to make some tonight for her to use in the morning," Ian answered, closing his eyes. "I have off the next two days at least so I can sleep in until noon, but then your father has a house party with possible investors on Sunday so Sarah and I are both in and we have to make about three hundered little sandwiches. You know, my job got much harder when you and your brothers moved out and your dad started having bigger meetings from home".

Frowning, Michael dropped his pen down onto the stack of papers on his right leg, giving Ian his full attention. "You know that we're not tight on money at all. Have you considered looking for other jobs?" he asked, and Ian's eyes cracked open just slightly to look up at him, but he didn't respond. "So you have then? I'm not going to be disappointed or anything because you don't want to work for my father anymore".

"That's not the problem," Ian admitted, voice low. Sighing, he sat up– that broke routine, since usually he would rest like that for at least a half an hour– swinging his legs over the side of the couch and leaning forward to brace his elbows on his thighs. "I've been meaning to talk to you about this, actually".

"Um, okay?" Michael asked. His nervousness must have shown in his voice because Ian looked over his shoulder at him and then huffed out a little laugh, leaning back against the couch cushions and taking one of his hands between both of his smaller ones.

"Don't look so scared, Michael. It's nothing bad. I just..." Ian trailed off, his eyes shifting away from Michael's face, and then he huffed. "Let me just grab my laptop real quick, okay? It'll be easier to show you".

"Sure," Michael agreed, but Ian had already left his side to go to the dining room table where he had left his laptop the night before, along with a stack of recipes he had been transferring into a word document lately. Leaning back against the couch, Michael watched him carefully as Ian flipped open the screen of his laptop and crouched forward to pull something up that Michael couldn't see clearly from the angle he was at.

"Don't get the wrong idea or anything, okay?" Ian asked him, carrying his open laptop over but then stopping at the end of the couch to just look at him. "I was just looking but I found things that might be interesting and I just want to know what you think, okay?"

"We're talking about job openings, right?" Michael asked, and Ian nodded, digging his teeth into his lower lip. "In the culinary field?"

Confusion took over the other man's features then. "What else would they be for?"

"I don't know, but you're acting super weird, and I just wanted to make sure you weren't about to ask me if I'd be okay with you becoming a stripper or something," Michael explained, and Ian huffed out a little laugh before moving forward some more.

"No. I only want to do that for you, Michael. Here". He thrust the laptop out towards him, and Michael lowered his eyes from his husband's face to look at the screen. Slowly, he reached out his hands and took the computer from him. "There are other ones I've been looking at in tabs along the top".

Silently, Michael looked through all of them, his gaze lingering on the location of the positions on each page. When he had finished, he looked up at Ian again in confusion. "Say something," Ian instructed.

"They're all in France," Michael pointed out after a moment, though he was sure that his husband already was aware of this. To confirm this, Ian nodded his head bit his lower lip. "Are you going to apply?"

"Well, I wanted to talk to you-"

"Ian," Michael cut in gently, recognizing from the other man's posture that he was on the verge of completely freaking out. "Do you want to apply?"

Turning his face away from him to stare in the direction of their bedroom, Ian answered softly. "Well, I would like to".

There was a lump in Michael's throat when he thought of his next question but he forced himself to swallow around it and speak. "So... what happens if you get a job... we split up?"

Ian looked like he was going to cry then and he practically fell back into his seat beside Michael, his right leg pulled up and folded under himself on the couch so he could face him. "No, Michael. I'd want you to come with me. If you're unwilling though it's not like I'm going to leave you. I'll just look for a job here, no big deal. You're far more important to me than any career. I'd work in a fast food restaurant for the rest of my life if it was the only way I could stay married to you". That made Michael smile, and he reached out one of his arms to slide it around Ian's shoulders, pulling him close enough to kiss him softly.

"I love you," Michael mumbled and Ian sighed, dropping his forehead down onto Michael's shoulder. Michael turned back to the laptop and brushed his fingers over the touch pad. "So... what would I do in France, hypothetically. Last time I check the weren't in dire need of French teachers".

"No," Ian agreed, not lifting his head. "They need people who speak French though to teach English". Overwhelmed with this sudden idea of uprooting their lives and moving to another continent, Michael remained silent, just staring ahead blankly as his mind ran wild. Eventually, Ian lifted his head from Michael's shoulder to look at his face and then sighed heavily, reaching out to shut the laptop. "That's alright. I won't apply".

"But it's your dream".

"Yeah," Ian agreed, stretching to place his laptop on the coffee table and then curling up into Michael's side again. "But you're a part of my dream now, and there's no way in hell I'm going to France and leaving you behind". Michael carelessly tossed his stack of papers on top of Ian's laptop and then turned to his husband, wrapping his arms around him and pressing his face into his hair.

They were silent for a moment, and then Michael said, "won't you regret not at least applying to any of those positions?"

"I don't know," Ian admitted softly.

"Then why don't you at least apply," Michael suggested, brushing his hand down his husbands back. "Depending on what you hear back, we can work from there, okay?" Ian shifted in order to tilt his head up and meet Michael's eyes.

"Okay," he agreed softly, and Michael smiled, hugging Ian tightly as he fell back onto the couch cushions, pulling the other man on top of him. The shift made Ian groan, but he had no problem making himself comfortable and tucking his head under Michael's chin. "You don't have anything after school tomorrow, do you?"

As Michael took a moment to think about it, he began to play with the hair at the nape of Ian's neck. "I think tomorrow is the day that Leo wanted to meet with me to talk about his plan for the end of the year project," Michael admitted. "It shouldn't take too long though. I'll come home right away".

"Ohh, you should bring Leo back with you for dinner, okay?" Ian asked happily. Over the years, Leo had come to actually like Ian, and he went home with Michael after school at least once a week to eat dinner with the two of them. "Tell him I'll make the macaroni he really likes".

"Okay," Michael agreed. "Um, what did you have planned for tomorrow night originally".

Body shaking with laugher, Ian pressed a kiss to Michael's collarbone. "Don't worry. We can stay in bed and do that all day Saturday. God, when is the last time we both had the same day off?"

"It's been about three weeks," Michael answered glumbly before perking up a bit. "All day?"

"Uh-huh".

Smiling, Michael kissed the top of Ian's head. "I'm gonna hold you to that".

***

A little over a year later

"Michael," Ian whispered, gently shaking his arm "You gotta wake up. We just landed". Groaning, Michael lifted his head from his husband's shoulder and looked past him out of the window of the plane. They had been flying for nearly ten hours and Michael's long legs felt incredibly stiff from forcing them into the small place. "How are you feeling? You've been asleep for the last seven hours or so. I'm kind of jealous actually".

"I'm okay," Michael grumbled, sitting up and stretching his arms as far over his head as he could manage. "God, my back hurts though. What about you? You didn't sleep?"

Ian shook his head sadly, his eyes tired. They had flown out of Chicago at five that morning– while Ian was used to being awake at that time, saying goodbye to Joe, Daniel, and Daisy in the airport had been exceptionally exhausting for both of them– and then they had a two hour lay over in New York. Michael couldn't even imagine how miserable he would be without any sleep, and looking at his clearly worn out husband was slightly concerning. "I'm okay," Ian assured, placing a light arm on his forearm and directing his attention towards the front of the plane as passengers began to be let off. "It's probably a good thing, actually, since our bedframe isn't put together so we're going to be sleeping on a mattress in the middle of the floor. Also, it'll help me adjust to the time difference".

The time difference. "What time is it in chicago now?" He checked the watch on the back of his wrist. "Shit. I was going to change this before we left. We're six hours ahead, right?" Carefully, he turned the dials on his watch until the short hand was pointing at the eleven. "I gotta call Joe".

"Yeah," Ian agreed, watching Michael struggle to free his phone from his pocket. "Can I use it when you're done to call Daisy? Mine died a few hours ago".

"You can go first," Michael said, holding his phone towards Ian who just looked at it with half lidded eyes. "It's Joe. He's going to want to talk for a really long time". Not for the first time since leaving, Michael thought of their tearful goodbye in the airport and sighed.

"You should still call him first," Ian insisted. "You promised you would and it's not worth it to upset him".

Michael turned his phone on and then tucked it back into his pocket. "I'll call him once we get situated with the car and everything. You know where we're supposed to go to pick it up? They're okay with us picking it up still late?"

"Yeah," Ian confirmed, yawning. It was getting closer and closer to their turn to exit and Michael stood to free their carry ons from the above compartment. Thankfully, that was all they had brought on the plane so they wouldn't' have to mess around in baggage claim. The rest had been sent over the day before and picked up by movers to be brought to their new home– Michael was a little concerned that they were going to show up and have everything stolen but Ian assured him they would be fine. "It's right by the airport so we can walk there. They're open twenty four seven".

"Okay". After pulling down both of their small suitcases Michael shut the compartment and held a hand out to Ian, who took it and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. "I'll drive. You look like you'd fall asleep at the wheel". Ian grabbed onto the handle of his suitcase when Michael pulled it up, still clutching at his hand with his free one.

"You sure? The French might not be prepared for your driving just yet".

"I think 11 pm is a good time to introduce them," Michael answered, guiding his tired husband down the aisle and off of the airplane. The first thing that stuck him once they were past their gate was that everyone was speaking French. He remembered it being shocking the first time he had traveled there, but for some reason he had assumed he'd be prepared for it this time around since their stay was permanent.

By the time they had picked up Michael's car and were on the road towards their new home, it was past midnight and Ian was asleep in the passenger seat. He had actually fallen asleep in the waiting room of the car place– something Michael knew his husband would be embarrassed by later– but he couldn't bring himself to wake him up after having seen him look so thoroughly exhausted. Michael had ended up carrying him to the car and buckling him into the seat after a fair bit of wrestling that had almost woken the other man.

It was only once Michael had the GPS set and was positive that he wouldn't get lost that he called Joe. Unsurprisingly, his brother picked up immediately. "Hey," he greeted eagerly. "I'm with Daniel and Daisy so I'll put you on speaker". There was a pause, and then three voices greeted him. Joe was the loudest. "Hi Michael!"

"Hello," he responded, smiling a little bit at the sound of them. "It's actually really good to hear from you guys. It was a long day".

"Awww, he misses us already," Joe said and Michael rolled his eyes.

Of course he did. They had been the reason he was initially reluctant to leave.

"Are you guys all settled for the night?" Daisy asked.

"No," Michael admitted. "We picked up the car about twenty minutes ago and we're on our way to the house. GPS says about fifteen minutes".

"Is Ian there?" Joe asked.

"No, I left him at the airport. Yes he's here. He knocked out when we were picking up the car. He couldn't sleep on the plane. It's been kind of a long day".

"Well you did move to another country," Daisy pointed out. "How is it there?"

"Dark," Michael answered. "We'll probably spend tomorrow sleeping and then explore on Sunday. I'm kind of worried about the house since we haven't seen it in person yet, and what do I do if our stuff was brought to the wrong place or-"

"Woah," Daisy cut in. "Calm down. This is making me feel sick".

"Michael or your sandwich?" Daniel asked his wife.

"I don't know. Both probably. I'm going to go throw up real quick. Michael, don't hang up!" Daisy called, her voice getting farther away as she moved away from the phone. A second later, Michael heard a door close.

"I thought it was just supposed to be morning sickness," Michael said and Daniel groaned.

"It's morning sickness, and then whatever food the baby doesn't like sickness," he answered. "I'm gonna go bring her some water. Joe, don't eat my food".

"I don't want to eat anything after that". There was a pause in which Michael figured Daniel left. "Michael," Joe whispered into the phone. "I'm not going to survive. They are such a boring couple to hang out with. I miss you and Ian already. Please come back".

"We're not coming back, Joe," Michael refused. "You will adjust. I promise".

"I don't want to". Over the last few years Joe had been accustomed to spending a lot of his free time over at Michael and Ian's. As the last single brother he often had a hard time being alone while knowing the rest of his siblings were with their partners. To fill to void he spent a ridiculous amount of time working, covering for Brad who was often away traveling with his wife, but he couldn't work forever.

"You're going to be okay, you know," Michael assured him softly. "I know you're worried, but you're gonna text me when you're feeling miserable, okay? That doesn't have to change just because I live a little further away that before". There was a sniffling sound that indicated that Joe was crying again and Michal squeezed his eyes shut for a split second before forcing them open again. He wasn't going to get in a car accident and kill them their first night in France. "You know I'm scared too, right? For a different reason, but I am".

"What's to be afraid of?" Joe asked, his voice thick, but it was clear he was trying to compose himself before Daniel and Daisy returned. "You're living somewhere you've always wanted to live with the love of your life".

"I am," Michael confirmed. "But that doesn't make it not scary. I'm in a different country, my citizenship hasn't gone through yet, I'm switching jobs and still have to do training in order to teach here, and yeah, I'm with Ian, but I'm not with you and Dan and that's something I've never done before. I'm terrified".

"Then why did you do it?" Joe inquired, and Michael shot a quick look at the man sleeping in the passenger seat before smiling ahead at the road. Fifteen minutes and the would be at their new home soon.

"Because I learned a while back that being scared isn't always a viable reason not to do things," Michael answered. "Sometimes when you do things that scare you, you end up better off than you were before".

"I'll take your word for it," Joe grumbled and Michael laughed. In the passenger seat, Ian stirred.

Daniel and Daisy returned, and the three of them talked until Michael was pulling into the short driveway of a house he had only seen pictures of before. It was somewhat shocking to him how small it was– he had never lived in a tiny house before– but when he got over it he grinned. "Mike? You got quiet. Is everything okay?" Daniel voiced..

"Yeah," Michael answered. "We just got... home, I guess. I should go".

There was a pause, and then Dan said, " Oh... okay. Yeah. We'll talk to you later?"

The hesitance in Daniel's voice had Michael frowning. "Of course. Just because I moved doesn't mean that we're suddenly going to become strangers. Stop being stupid you guys. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Alright?"

"Alright," Daisy agreed. "Yeah. We'll talk to you tomorrow. Right boys? No more tears, you hear me? It's not like he's drying."

"Yeah," Daniel grumbled unhappily, probably because his wife had just brought up the fact that he cried that morning and Michael let out a breathless chuckle.

Joe spoke next. "Love you, Mike".

"I love you too. Talk tomorrow. I'd like to get my husband into bed so his neck isn't sore when he wakes up tomorrow". They hung up, and Michael took a moment to combat the sadness he felt with his excitement. He got out of the car.

Despite hiss best efforts, Ian woke up when he unbuckled him. "I can walk," he mumbled when Michael went to lift him and Michael took a step back but offered his hand to help his husband up. "Thanks for letting me sleep for a little bit. Should we get our bags?"

"We can grab them in the morning". He ran his hands up and down Ian's arms. "You ready for this?"

"Yeah". Ian leaned forward and tucked his face into Michael's neck, putting his weight into him as Michael fumbled with his keys behind his husband's back to lock the car. "You gonna cary me over the threshold?"

"You just told me you could walk," Michael pointed out, wrapping his arm around Ian's waist and finally beginning to caox the other man up the walkway to the front door. "Besides, I did that in the hotel on our wedding night and hit your head against the door, remember?"

"No," Ian said, and then they both laughed because Michael knew he remembered; he had been getting shit for it for years. "You hit my head so fucking hard that I forgot".

"Shut up". They stopped in front of the door and looked at one another. "Would you like to do the honors, Mr. Bradford?"

"Are you just asking me because we gave your key to the movers?" Yawning as he withdrew his keys from the pocket of his coat. Instead of responding, Michael rested his head against the top of Ian's and watched him unlock the door. It clicked and he pushed it open. Neither of them moved.

"What comes next?" Michael asked softly, looking into the dark house. Sure, there was a simple answer to this– next, they went inside and went to bed– but that wasn't really what Michael was asking.

What do we do from this point on? We've moved our lives across the world. What comes next?

He wasn't even surprised by the fact that the man he had chosen to spend his life with understood completely. "More, I guess. The rest".

A/N

Around chapter 19 or so, I was thinking about where I was planning on ending this book, and I realized that I had so many more things I wanted to write about– when Michael and Ian get a place together, what happens to Daniel and Joe after this, the semester I decided that Ian was going to go back and finish– so, as of right now (who knows what's really going to happen, I suck) I have a plan for a 10 or so chaptered thing for these two covering the things I still feel need to be covered. If I finish my next book and decide that I need to move on an write something else, I'll make one of my Trivia chapters with summaries of everything I had planned so you can at least know what their futures hold.