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Chapter Text

You weren't quite tipsy…yet. You weren't exactly trying to get black out drunk but Canadian winter was cold and you didn't have any friends, so you tried to warm yourself mentally and physically before you had to go home. The “no friends” part was technically not true, you were at Julie Powers' party after all so she could kinda be classified as a friend.

“I wanna go home.” you mumbled. You weren't the most extroverted, and all these people just made you claustrophobic so you squeezed through the crowd to get to Julie.

“Hey, I'm gonna go.” You tug on Julie's sweater when you get to her.

“Okay?” She answers confused.

“You don't have to ask permission.” She chuckles. 

“Mhm, okay bye.” you back out of the room and put on your clothes on readying yourself for the harsh cold outside. You put your headphones on, walk down the stairs and into the streets taking your usual route home.

“You don't have to ask permission-of course i don't. Sorry for letting you know, fuck man.” You think angrily mumbling yourself. You pause and stop when you pass by a convenience store. 

“Im gonna get something real to drink.” you walk into the store and go to the alcohol aisle. You browse for a while trying to decide what drink to drown your frustration in when you sense someone next to you.

“..........” you hear muffled speaking. You take off your headphones and straighten up to face the person talking to you.

You come face to face with a black haired man, about your age and looking at you with a permanent half smirk on his face.

“Sorry?” you ask with an eyebrow raised looking at the man suspiciously.

“You just looked puzzled on what to buy. I was saying I recommend the Martini vermouth…if I may.” he answered you, cocky smirk never leaving his face, you swore he even winked for a moment when he said that last part of his sentence.

“Oh, well Martini is more of a ‘lots of people’ drink or whatever, I'm drinking by myself.” You look at the bottle of Martini on the shelf next to you then back at the man who was also looking at the bottle.

“Well in that case,” he reaches past you and takes the bottle in his hand. “I can't give you “lots of people” but we could drink this together. What do you think?” he asks with a warm expression on his face.

“Uh…sure, just give me a second.” you walk over a few shelves and take down a medium bottle of the cheapest vodka you can find. 

“I uh I promised myself to get drunk tonight and that's not gonna cut it so yea…” you awkwardly stand with your bottle not knowing how to finish your sentence.

“Alright let's go get some snacks, then can we go to your place? My roommate is having a date in mine.” He says walking over to the snacks.

“Yea sure.” You trail behind him. You were not sure what was exactly going on but you weren't about to say no to company for your late night drinking session even though your brain was righteously telling you “this is how people get murdered.”

Ten minutes later you were walking out of the store with your bags filled with snacks and your respective bottles of alcohol.

“I’m Wallace by the way, we didn't introduce ourselves earlier.” he reaches a hand out to you. You shake it telling him your name. 

“You got an accent, you're not from around here are you?” He asked, looking up at the sky while walking.

“No, I'm not. I moved here a month ago.” You reply looking up also, wondering what he's so focused on.

“That's cool. So got to know anyone around this side of town?” He asks, looking down at you and you mirror his actions. You take a second to answer him, studying his appearance. He is dressed elegantly but casually at the same time, his outfit reminding you of a fresh out of university history teacher you had in high school.

“Yeah, I guess you could say so. I was just at this girl Julie's party so there is one person I know, and then there is you so that's two already.” you quietly laugh to try to ease the awkwardness. You look back up at the sky. It has started to snow a bit, the little icy crystals dancing around in the wind before they fall onto the ground, your clothes, and eyelashes.

“That's cool, don’t worry about it. Noone says you have to cultivate a giant friend group.” he pats your shoulder and lightly smiles.

“Yea well…We're here.” you turn towards an apartment complex. You walk up the stairs and inside of the building after you punch in the code. You quietly walk to your apartment door and get inside. 

“Take off your shoes please.” You say taking your coat, hat and scarf off. He nods and takes his shoes off.

“Si down I'm gonna go get us glasses and bowls…also I don't have a big table or couch so you have those poufs to sit on.”

You point at the coffee table in the middle of your living room. It's not that you didn't have enough furniture. You just needed a table, chairs, a couch, a bedside table, a coat rack, a-maybe you were missing some furniture, but to your defense you did just move in a month ago so you didn't really have the time or energy to properly decorate the place yet.

You came back with two glasses and a few bowls, you put them down on the coffee table where Wallace had already put with the bags and bottles of foods and drinks you brought. You filled the bowls and opened both bottles. 

“Which one do you want first?” You asked Wallace, holding one of the glasses.

“Martini obviously, hey i had an idea,” he handed you the Martini bottle that you started pouring into his glass. After a few seconds of silence he spoke.

“What if we asked each other questions and had to drink two sips if we don't want to answer?” you held out the full glass to him and poured one yourself too.

“Sure that way we can skip the more awkward stages of getting to know each other.” You put on some background music and sat down in front of Wallace. 

“Cheers!” You held your glass out looking into Wallace's eyes deeply. 

“Cheers!” He taps his glass against yours then downs his drink in sync with you. You pour the both of you a second glass and you start the game.

“Okay so,” he thinks for a second “what are you doing here in Toronto?” he asks.

“Like, job-vise or just in general?” you question.

“In general.” he puts his lebow on the coffee table and his head into his palm while looking at you.

“I came to Canada because I have distant enough family here that they won't bother me much but still help me if I need it but I'm far enough from home to feel free.” You answer him. You might have left out a few specifics but it's not on you to tell him everything if you don't want to. You look at him and he nods, humming then gestures with his hands telling you its your turn.

“Do you have a lot of friends? I mean you seemed surprised I only knew one person here and you came up to me, a complete stranger in the store. You must be quite the social butterfly.” you slowly sip your drink looking at him.

“Yea i wouldn't say i have a lot of friends but i do talk to people easily, and even more when i drink. Like now.” He grins at you and you can't help yourself smiling back.

A few hours pass like this. You questioning each other and sipping your drinks either as a punishment for not wanting to answer or just a way to occupy yourselves while the other was talking. Slowly the questioning turned into genuine talking and then talking turned into laughing about nothing as the bottles of alcohol got drained.

Around 3 am you have run out of booze. You were laying on the carpet next to each other laughing so much about this guy named Scott your stomach hurt and tears were running down the side of your head. You had to admit Wallace was really funny, just the kind of chaotic you liked and told stories like a stand-up comedian. This night was truly the one your have enjoyed the most this past month since you have arrived to Toronto.

“Aha-h ah stop Wallace i can't!” You got out the words trying to stop your laughter from bubbling up again.

“Sorr-rh-ry but it's true i sweah-ar.” He spoke back trying to calm himself down.

“Ah god my stomach hurts…pffff” you said putting your hand on your aching abdomen.

“We should go to sleep, it's really late.” You turned your head and looked at the clock on your wall, then turned back to look at Wallace.

“I'll go get you some clothes to sleep in, drink some water while I do that.” you got up on two legs, still quite woozy and seeing double, but you have already crossed greater distances in this state at this point in your life so you weren't about to let it stop you. 

You entered your room and dug around in your drawer pulling out a large shirt and some sweatpants. When you got back into the living room you found that Wallace had already sat up and was drinking a glass of water while staring at a some random spot on your wall. You walked up to him and put the clothes into his lap.

“Here you can change into these. I'll just go and put all these in the sink and then I'll go to sleep too.” You picked up the empty glasses and bowls from the table and went into the kitchen. You put them into the sink then washed your hands and turned around to go to your room. When you entered the living room you were met with the sight of Wallace in nothing more than his underwear.

“Ah shit sorry!” you turned away

 “I thought you were changing in my room.” You told him.

“It's fine, I don't mind.” There were some clothes rustling for a few seconds then he spoke again.

“You can turn around and I'm fully clothed now.” He said in an amused tone.

“Okay then shall we go?” you asked. He nodded and you both went into your room. You laid down and pulled the blanket up facing away from each other. At Least you were facing away, you couldn't see the position Wallace was in due to having your back turned to him. You shut off the small light that was on the floor next to your bed.

“Good night Wallace.” You said.

“G’night” he drowsily answered you. 

Due to the alcohol still coursing in your veins you were out cold in minutes but you could have sworn that you felt arms wrapping around you in your dreams.

Chapter Text

Next morning you woke up with a headache. Not the kind that would crush you and make you want to stay in bed all day, but more the kind that is just strong enough to be mildly annoying but could easily be solved with a glass of water. You thanked all that was holy for your remarkable alcohol tolerance as you sat up and stretched. You got out of bed and sleepyly walked towards the kitchen. After crossing the living room stepped inside the small kitchen and jumped with a high pitched noise that could hardly be called a scream.

“AH-fuck! Wallace, you scared the shit out of me!” The man quickly turned around at the noise of your arrival. 

His hair was messier than yesterday meaning he probably hasn't fixed it yet after getting up, he was making some egg based abomination in a pan on your gas stove wearing the same sweatpants as yesterday and, for some reason, shirtless.

“Good morning to you too.” he greeted with a rasp in his voice signaling that he hadn't woken up much earlier than you. 

“Do you want some omelet?” He asked, pointing at the pan with a movement of his head.

“Yea no thanks my stomach is still pretty messed up from yesterday i think i'll skip it, do you want tea though?” You walked over to the water heater and turned it on then started rummaging in a box of unlabeled tea filters. When he didn't answer you you turned to him.

“Do you want tea? Also, can I ask something?” You questioned.

Wallace seemed to be zoned out but your question snapped him back.

“O-oh yea yea sure the tea and the question, go for it.” He hurriedly went back to making his omelet trying to not burn it.

You faintly smiled a bid which he reciprocated which you followed up by completely deadpanning.

“Why are you shirtless?” You asked. 

“I remember giving you a shirt last night, that's about the only thing i remember…” the water had boiled so you took two mugs and poured the hot water in them. You put a nice smelling(but still unlabeled) tea filter into your mug and looked back at Wallace waiting on an answer.

“It was warm in here and i have a tendency to undress in my sleep so i woke up like this, i have no idea where your shirt went.” He told you while looking through your tea selection looking increasingly concerned about the chaos of it.

You hummed a noise of aknowledgement and went back to stirring your tea that had some honey in it by now.

“At least I have something nice to look at.” You said, only realizing your words after you said them, your ears turned a soft shade of red and your tea seemed to be way more interesting than it had been a moment ago.

“What was that?” He chuckled and asked in a teasing tone. You dismissively waved your hand towards him at which he laughed. 

Was Wallace gay? You couldn't remember talking about it last night but to be fair you couldn't remember much. He seemed like someone who either could be gay or the kind of guy who everyone thinks is gay until he turns up with a wife and kids. Your thoughts wandered back to your highschool history teacher again but you quickly swatted the images from your head as you didnt want to mix thoughts of your history teacher with thoughts of someone you just flirted with. 

You both sat down at the coffee table that still had some evidence of last night's drinking, and started chatting about just everything. You learned that he lives with his roommate Scott(a name that rang familiar to you) and that he slept over last night because Scott had his girlfriend Ramona over. You told him a bit about your friends back home and that your attempts at socialization at Julie's party had all failed due to your social anxiety and general awkwardness around new people.

After you have finished your tea and both changed into outside clothes he asked you.

“Do you want to come eat lunch with me and scott? I need someone who isn't just there to eat me out of my money and make me want to rip my face off.” he looked over to you expectantly while putting his shoes on.

“I thought you liked scotts company, at least a little.” You stood next to the door watching him tie his shoes.

“I do. Scott is nice and Ramona is nice but when they combine, Scotts baffled kindergartener energy with….well whatever Ramona has going on is painful.” He stood up and was now wrappin his scarf around his neck.

“So can I count on you to save me?” He stepped closer to you.

“Pfff…” you laughed “sure, i'll be your knight in shining armor and come save you from your own friend group. Where should I go?” You said in a lighthearted tone getting a bit more serious at the end.

Wallace explained how to get to the pizza place you were gonna eat at, and after a bit more talking you bid each other goodbye. You spent the rest of your morning washing the dishes from last time and doing some general cleaning. 

You found the shirt Wallace was wearing to sleep and started to walk towards the hamper to throw it into the wash but as you picked it up a scent made you stop.

“It's like vanilla…and alcohol.” You thought to yourself, smelling the shirt again.

“He smells nice” you stood there for a few seconds, your expression slowly morphing into one of concern.

“Fuck this. Im being weird” you speedwalked to your hamper and threw the shirt in it embarrassed of your own actions. Wallace was hot that's for sure, but you weren't about to get the hots for the first man you could vaguely call a friend in this city. And also what if he wasn't gay. You had a strong suspicion he was but you have had strong suspicions in the past that have ended horribly wrong. And even if he was gay there was no guarantee he liked guys like….you. 

You cut your train of thought off before you made yourself upset over nonexistent stuff you made up in your head and sat down to listen to some music and busy yourself with something other than overthinking.

A few hours later you were out on the streets of Toronto doing your best to find the pizzeria Wallace had told you about. You should have asked for his number, a great mistake that you hadn't. After a good twenty minutes of walking in circles you spotted the restaurant. You pulled on the door then pushed once you noticed the sticker that clearly stated “Push”.

As you walked inside you tried to scan your surroundings looking for any familiar face when you heard your name being yelled. You whipped your head around and saw Wallace waving in one of the booths.

“Hi sorry for being late.” You said walking up to the table. You looked at the two other people(presumably Scott and Ramona) and introduced yourself which they did too(they were Scott and Ramona). You sat down next to Wallace who excused himself to the toilet almost immediately, leaving you alone with his two friends.

“So you're Wallace's new foreigner boyfriend?” Scott asked while looking at the menu. 

You tensed at the mention of being Wallace's boyfriend, your face becoming red in a second.

“We’re-I-I’m not, I'm not his boyfriend.” You denied, your hands making little waving motions. 

Ramona raised an eyebrow at your answer and Scott looked up from the menu and right at you.

“But you went on a date last night and he slept at your place.” Scott said confused.

“Is that what he said?!” blood leaving your face from the schock and entering it from the embarrassment were fighting each other making you look like you were going to faint and have a fever at the same time.

“Well, no,” Ramona cut in, “he just said you went to your place to drink and then you slept together, that sounds like a date to me.” You couldn't believe what you were hearing. First of all you were angry that Wallace would lie to people about having sex with you and second you were overjoyed to learn that he was in fact gay at least to some extent, seeing that his friends didn't seem very surprised that he “slept” with a dude.

“Slept. Together. We were sleeping in the same bed.” A hand was put on your shoulder as Wallace came back and tried to clear things that his friends misunderstood oh so badly. 

You turned your head to look at him and blushed even deeper when he let out a small laugh at your embarrassed expression.

“So you didn't have sex?” Scott asked while trying to get the waiter's attention.

“I have no recollection of it but who-”

“We didn't!” you cut Wallace off putting your head into your palms. Your face was burning and you were already tired from this much social interaction.

“I’m hungry, can we eat?” You looked at Wallace with the expression of a kicked puppy.

Wallace wouldn't answer, he just looked at your face completely dumbfounded. Did he push you too hard? It was supposed to be some lighthearted teasing he didn't want to make you angry.

“Yea i'm starving let's order already.” Ramona cut the awkward silence realizing that Wallace wasn't gonna answer you.

You ordered and talked while you were waiting, then continued talking while eating. Thanks to scotts unserious nature you managed to quickly forget about the earlier misunderstanding and just talked to each other until everyone was finished.

You paid for your food and were getting ready to leave when Scott asked you.

“My band has a show in a few days. You should come see us. I'm sure they'll like you.” He proposed. You thought about the idea for a second then agreed to go. You exchanged phone numbers with Ramona due to Scott “not doing phones” and left to go and continue your weekend routine.

When you left the pizza place you looked back and locked eyes with Wallace through the window. He had this unreadable expression on his face so you waved and smiled before turning away and walking onto the street. You felt kinda bad, while you had a good time any conversation you had with Wallace were still a bit awkward. Maybe you reacted a bit strongly, they were just teasing after all right? It was just a misunderstanding. Still you felt that weird anxious feeling in your stomach fearing that you ruined a potential friendship and regretting not having asked for his number. 

Wallace on the other hand was sitting in the booth next to the window, looking at you slowly disappearing in the street. Scott and Ramona were talking about something but he wasn't really paying attention. The whole time he was thinking about where it went wrong. He was probably a bit too straight forward right? I mean, he wasn't even sure if you liked guys, and while usually that didn't really bother him, thinking about making you uncomfortable made him slightly nauseous. He went back to his place with Scott, thinking about you during the whole walk hoping that maybe they would bump into you somehow.

Chapter Text

Two days later you were at some shady looking bar. As you entered you were met with a crowd of half drunk young adults with some definitely underage high schoolers sprinkled in. The crowd already had your stomach churning but you promised Scott on the phone(Ramona's phone) that you would definitely come see them, and you weren't about to disappoint him no matter the amount of people squeezed into this small place. You wandered around and got yourself a negroni to drink when you noticed ramona in the crowd, plus point for brightly colored hair. You made your way over to them.

“Ramona!” You tapped her on the shoulder, finally managing to get next to her. As she turned around you locked eyes with Wallace and felt every single life choice you have made until now go through your head. Of course he would be here, he's Scott's best friend(or something like that). It's not that you avoided him, you lived in the same neighborhood after all. You met at the store and at that café Julie works at a few times and it's really not like you were trying to get rid of him but your stuttering and embarrassed rambling simply made normal conversation impossible, so most of the time you just left with some lame excuse.

Before anyone could say another word a dark brown haired girl pushed past Ramona and loudly introduced herself.

“Hi, I'm Stacey, Scotts sister!” She took your hand and shook it you tried to introduce yourself but cant get much more than your name out before she cutts you off.

“Yea i know, you're Wallace's awkward foreigner boyfriend.” you knitted your eyebrows together. “Awkward foreigner boyfriend”? A few days ago you were just a “foreigner”, you were so focused on the characterisation you were given that you didn't even truly realize that you got called Wallace's friend again.

“I told you he isn't my boyfriend.” Wallace said and looked at you.

“Sure he isn't. Every man you see is your boyfriend sooner or lat-” Stacey couldn't finish her sentence when a loud yell cut through the crowds chatter.

“WE ARE SEX BOB-OMB! ONE TWO THREE!” A red haired girl yells hitting her drumsticks against each other then the music starts playing.

You enjoy the concert quite a bit, they are way better than you expected to be honest which still isn't the best but it's not horrible. You slowly finish your drink. Halfway through the second song you tap Ramona and tell her that you're going to get a refill. You walk back to the bar and you put your empty cup on the counter waiting for the bartender to finish serving other people. While you wait you feel someone walk up next to you.

“Hi, do you come here often?” Someone asks. You turn to face your newfound company getting ready to laugh at the lame pickup line, but when you see the expression on the man's face your amusement leaves you.

“Oh you're serious.” you have to raise your voice to be heard. The man answers with a cocky “yeah” to which you crack a smile.

“No, this is my first time here actually.” you lean on the counter feeling slightly lightheaded from your first drink taking effect just enough to make you social.

“Well then can I invite you for a drink?” He asks, mirroring your actions.

“If i had said i come here often would you not buy me a drink?” You grin at him.

He laughs making you laugh too. 

“No, I would have offered anyway but I didn't know how to start the conversation. Anyways, what do you want me to get you?” 

you slowly push your glass towards him on the counter.

“I was about to get a refill of negroni in this” you look up at him. He's quite a bit taller than you so you look at him through your eyelashes smiling.

“Give me a second then I'll go get you your drink.” He says and grabs your glass walking towards the bartender. You watch him walk away a few meters, he had a nice ass, but so had Wallace that night when you walked in on him changing. 

“Ah jesus fuck.” You rub your nose bridge not wanting to think about Wallace right now after you did just that for the past few days already.

“What's up, got a headache?” The mystery man says walking back giving you your drink.

“No I…I was just thinking about someone I didn't want to.” you take the cup from his hand and down half of it in one go.

“Well I'm here and I would very much be willing to distract you if you want me to.” He steps closer to you running his hand over your one that was laying on the bar counter.

Wallace was concerned. You had left at the start of the show and you still havent come back even though the band wasn't playing for a long time now and the afterparty had started. After Stacey and Ramona said their goodbyes he decided to go look for you. He squeezed through the crowd of dancing people trying to not see double but ultimately failing at it.

As he approached the counter he spotted you pressed to the counter making out with some random guy. He felt jealousy bubble up in his stomach. He tried to reason with himself, you weren't together after all. You didn't have to stay away from people for him, you were your own person, but his jealousy won at the end and he hurriedly walked up to you.

He said your name and when you didn't answer he grabbed your shoulder snapping you out of the haze you were in.

“Oh hi Wallace!” You shouted with a wide smile on your face.

“This is Wallace! His friends call me his foreigner boyfriend!” You loudly explained to the man who looked utterly confused about the situation.

“Alright I think it's best if we leave.” He grabbed your hand pulling you away from the counter and towards the door.

“Bye-bye it was nice to meet you!” You yelled at the guy at the counter vigorously waving with your free hand. You walked out on the street and he let go of your hand opting for pulling your coat back onto your shoulders correctly. When Wallace looked back up he was met with your lips on his. Suddenly sparks shot up all around you until you let go of his face and backed away.

“Th'nk you f’taking care of me Wallace.” You smiled at him.

“Let's go let’s go!” You shouted excited and started walking. You walked in silence for a moment, him walking normally and you making small jumps looking like a pleased preschooler.

“Wallace.” You suddenly stopped and looked at him with dead seriousness.

“Yes?” He asked, also stopping.

“I don't wanna go home yet, let's do something fun.” you started walking again doing your best to catch the falling snowflakes in your mouth.

“Where do you want to go?” He asked with a small smile pulling at his face at seeing your antics.

“There is this shitty broken down playground next to my place, its a lot like the shitty broken down playgrounds we have at home so lets go there.” You say giving up on your snowflake eating dreams.

“Sure let's go” you started walking towards your apartment. After a few minutes of silent walking you started talking, conversation coming easily like before the incident a few days ago. It was nice to be able to talk normally again, and even though Wallace knew it was the alcohol that was making you this sociable he hoped that everything would be okay after this.

You shortly arrived at the playground and sat down at the rusty and cold swings that were the only things still in a usable state in the park. You gently rocked yourself enjoying the winter night with your eyes closed.

“I have an idea.” He started drawing your attention to him.

“What if we told facts about ourselves to pass the time.” He proposed a poor and obvious attempt to get to know you better but your drunk mind didn't pick up on it at all.

“Sure!” You smiled widely 

“You start Wallace.” You kicked the ground swinging higher.

“Hm…Me and Scott have been friends since college because he asked me a question during a lecture and I showed up at his house after.” He recounted with a small laugh that you echoed loudly.

“That's some stalker shit Wallace! My turn. I lived in a dorm during high school.” You continued swinging looking at him feeling the alcohol induced fog slowly lift off your mind.

“That's cool, you were surrounded by a bunch of dudes your age. That sounds pretty nice.” he watched you, bobbing his head to follow your movement.

“It wasn't that nice, dorms suck honestly and I was in the girls' dorm anyways so no dudes allowed.” you said not realizing the meaning of your words.

“Why were you in the girls' dorm?” Wallaces question was innocent but it made the blood in your veins freeze, realizing just what you had said. 

Your feet harsly collided with the ground stopping your swing immediately. Your heartbeat was picking up and you felt nausea creep into your stomach. 

“It's very late, I have to go!” You announced and stood up. You walked in front of Wallace, moved his hair away and kissed him on the forehead.

“Goodbye Wallace.” You said backing away, you turned around and hurried away as fast as you could without straight up running.

Wallace sat there dumbfounded. He didn't know what he did wrong, what he's been doing wrong ever since the day you ate at the pizzeria. Usually it went super easily with guys. They met, they fucked and then he dated them if he found them cute enough. And after all you have met, you have kissed…once and that's it but for the first time he didn't feel like he needed to sleep with you to enjoy being around you. That made him upset in a weird unknown way. He was fine with only having short term relationships built on the foundation of sex so wanting to be close to you even when you pulled away from him like you did confused him. Was he…in love with you? He saw the sparks when you kissed but that could have very well been from the alcohol coursing in his veins.

Wallace walked home and went to bed without his usual theatrics. He soon fell asleep but even in his sleep thoughts of where he went wrong plagued him.

Chapter Text

The snowing was getting heavier as the holidays approached making you anxious that your plane might be canceled. You were on your phone texting your family about the weather, assuring them that your plane wouldn't crash and burn in a snowy tundra. You were excited to go home for the holidays and finally relax a little after the stressful two months you had just lived through.

Speaking of stress. You hadn't had any contact with Wallace in the past two weeks, you hadn't had any contact with really anyone in these past two weeks actually. You were feeling more alone than ever before and you knew it was a stupid way to act but having come from a place where acceptance about your transness wasn't the norm, running away at the first sight of trouble has always been the safest option. 

You got snapped out of your thoughts by your plane boarding being announced so you quickly got in line to get on as fast as possible.

Wallace was miserable, that was the best word from it. He hadn't gone to the club in so long Scott was actually starting to get worried. It's not like he didn't try, he went out a few nights after you left him at that playground, but the whole time all he could think about is how much fun you seemed to be having with that other man on the last night you have met. He went to work, and ate, and drank(more than usual) so it's not like he was depressed(he was) he just slept a lot more, and stayed at home a lot more, and yes he may have been depressed but he wasn't about to act like a high schooler crying about a guy he only met a month ago.

“Wallace. Are you crying!?” Scott asked, concerned, walking up to the futon to look at Wallace's face up close.

“No I'm not.” Wallace answered him, wiping a few tears that rolled down his face and turning his back to Scott.

“Look man, I'm not the one to get into your boy problems you know that. But I really think you should try calling him, cause I'm supposed to be the lame and sad one here and not you.” Scott picked wallaces phone up and threw it to him.

“I'm gonna go out now. Call him!” Scott said sternly and shut the door behind himself.

Wallace laid there for a minute contemplating if he should call you, he had your number after all, he asked for it after you had given it to Ramona. He opened his phone and stared at your contact.

“Ahhhhh fuck iiiiitt!” He sighed in frustration and dialed your number. He waited for a bit but his call almost immediately went to voicemail.

“Hi this is voicemail…ehm obviously. I'm on holiday right now and only pick up for like…friends. Sorry. I'll call you back later…maybe.” Your voice chimed in the phone making Wallace ecstatic and even more gloomy at the same time. He had missed your voice so much he was happy being able to hear it again but knowing that it was only a voicemail made him want to break his phone.

Scott came back a few hours later and saw Wallace laying in the bed reading a book, his phone was thrown on the floor instead of neatly put somewhere safe like usual.

“Did you call him?!” He asked, hanging his coat up on the rack.

“It went to voicemail. He only picks up for his friends…he doesn't love me scott i'm telling you!” He closed the book and dramatically tossed it next to himself, putting an arm over his eyes.

“I think by friends he means “people whos number I have”” Said Scott collecting the abused piece of literature and putting it on the table. 

“Why are you so upset over him anyways? I've never seen you so out of it about anyone before.” He sat down on the futon next to Walace and lightly poked him in the shoulder.

“There were sparks…” Wallace murmured.

“What? I can't hear you.” Scott leaned closer to his roommate.

“There were fucking sparks allright!? I didn't even know those actually existed! I just thought they were some stupid bullshit middle schoolers made up, but no. They're real.” Wallace exclaimed, throwing his hands up into the air, then letting them fall back down on the mattress. 

“Oh…” that was all that Scott said. “Oh” like it’s a fucking jupscare in a bad horror movie. It enraged Wallace getting ready to tackle his roommate but ultimately realizing he was too tired and miserable to do that. He folded into himself almost putting his hands over his ear when Scott started talking again.

“You could call him from Ramona's phone. She probably counts as a friend.” Scott said, rolling onto the futon next to Wallace.

“I'm going to the christmas fair at the end of the week with her, you should come with us. You could finally get out of the house for something other than work or groceries and you could ask Ramona for her phone to call the love of your life.” He proposed, nudging Wallace in the ribs repeatedly.

“Fine.” Wallace agreed turning his back to Scott.

The end of the week came quicker than he expected. He tried to call you a few more times but every one of his calls went straight to voicemail. At this point he was truly desperate, he wanted to know what was going on and what he needed to do to make it right, so he arrived at the christmas fair with Scott, lines ready, heart beating faster than healthy and full of determination.

They met up with Ramona and after going through a few stalls and Wallace explaining the situation she put her phone in his hand and sent him away to talk somewhere more calm.

Wallace was jazzed but the moment he saw your contact, his aforementioned determination left his body immediately. Still, he reluctantly clicked on your number and called.

It took a few rings until you picked it up and spoke into the phone.

“Hey Ramona! What's up?” You asked in a casual tone he hadn't been able to attain with you for a long time now. You waited for a few seconds then asked for confirmation that “Ramona” was still there stopping your talking when Wallace spoke.

“Hi, it's...it's Wallace, Wallace Wells.” he spoke into the phone.

“Oh, hey Wallace. What's going on?” your tone changed to worried. Wallace could only hear you but he almost saw the way your face dropped when hearing his voice.

“Nothing I…I just wanted to talk to you, we didn't get to say goodbye before you left and my calls haven't been going through so I asked ramona for her phone…are you still there?”

You were on your third serving of dinner with your unrefusable grandmother trying to shove more food into you, and you trying(and failing) to nicely tell her off when your phone rang. 

“Sorry i have to pick this up it's reeeally important.” you stood up from the table making your cousins chuckle and grandmother frown with fake anger. You walked out into your grandmother's garden and sat down on the half broken down chair she used to sit on when preparing meat or vegetables. You took the call.

“Hey Ramona! What's up?” you smiled, happy that she had called you. You liked her a lot as a person even though she had her moment sometimes, but who doesn't?

“Hi, it's...it's Wallace, Wallace Wells.” you could feel your face and jaw drop as a shiver ran up your spine, you blamed it on the cold winter night and you, only wearing a sweater but you knew well it wasn't the complete truth. You stood up off the chair and started pacing in a circle in the garden. 

“Oh, hey Wallace. What's going on?” you tried to sound confident hoping that your voice wouldn't crack. You could feel a tightness in your throat that you usually feel when you need to cry but can't get it out.

“Nothing I…” he sounded just as close to crying as you were and you hated that you were making him feel that way. In all honesty you hoped he would move on, find some guy to bed over the holidays and then ignore you for the rest of your life, or if you were lucky you could be friends. But here he was going as far as asking for someone's phone just to talk to you. Your heart swelled with love as you listened to his words resonating in the back of your skull.

“…are you still there?” he asked, making you snap out of your spiraling.

“Y-yeah i'm here i'm listening.” You answered quickly.

“And you're right, I'm sorry. It was stupid of me to run away but I was…scared.” You hold yourself shivering in the cold. You didn't want to put a coat on though, you felt like the cold was making you think clearly and you needed that right now.

“Did I…scare you?” Wallace cautiously asked, fear present in his voice.

“No! No of course not I wasn't scared of you per say, but more of your reaction.” You bit at your lower lip, a bad habit you have started doing in middle school.

“Reaction to what?” Wallace asked, you let out a frustrated sigh.

“Look we should really talk this over in person, I…I'll get back to you when im back in Canada okay? I'm going to go now-”

“Wait!” You stopped your rambling listening to what Wallace had to say.

“I understand that you are scared, but I'm not going to let you run away from your problems just because you think that there is anything in this world that could make me not….love you, anymore.” Wallace's confession was followed by silence that made him fear for the worst.

“You like me?” You asked, your voice breaking against all your efforts.

“More than like. I think I'm in love with you.” Wallace said in a similarly hushed tone.

“I think I do too, more than like you. I…I...”

“You don't have to say it. Just promise me that you won't disappear without a word again, and that you'll answer my calls.” He let out a small laugh at that last part.

You also chuckled, wiping away a few tears that threatened to freeze onto your cheeks.

“How will I know which one your number is?” You asked in a playful tone, sniffling from the cold and the emotional merry go around you two just went through.

“It's the one you have like a hundred missed calls from.” You could hear the smile in his voice and you nodded, realizing that he couldn't see it.

“Okay.” You agreed.

“But I really have to go now before my entire family starts talking about me.” You looked over at your aunt who was smoking on the porch and definitely not eavesdropping on your conversation.

“Okay, take care.” Said Wallace softly.

“Bye.” You said.

“Love you.”

“I…me too.”

Chapter Text

“Boy problems?” Asked your aunt as you passed by her on the porch.

“No.” You lied. You loved your family to death but you didn't like it when they put their nose into your personal life, that's one of the reasons why you left for Canada in the first place.

“Hmmm sure. I understand you know, us women have to stand strong because young men are nothing but trouble and they don't get much better with age.” she took a long drag of her cigarette and blew it out into the cold night. This was the reason you didn't like talking about stuff like this. These people, your family knew nothing about who you were. They saw a brave young woman going to Canada to chase her dreams but that was not you. You couldn't fault them, you didn't tell them after all, only some of your closer cousins knew and that was enough for you.

“Okay, thank you.” You tried to make this conversation as short as possible but you knew this wasn't a choice with her.

“Look, I know we don't talk much, we never did but I am your aunt so I'm going to be very honest with my question right now.” She put out her cigarette in the old cracked ashtray you made as a kid in a summer camp.

“Who are you?” She turned to you, dead serious.

“What?” You asked, shocked, almost taking a step back.

“I watched you grow up from this sunny faced child, into this dazzling adult, but somewhere during all of it I feel like we lost the real you and got a version of you that is not true to who you really are.” You felt terror run through your whole body. Have any of your cousins told on you? You trusted them with your life but they are still human and humans can do cruel things.

“Everyone in there” she pointed towards the door, her long decorated nails shining in the moonlight. 

“They're all unbelievably proud of you, and I am too. I just want you to know that, we will continue to be proud of you even if you're…different.” she put her hand on your shoulder, slid8ng it down your arm and to your hand, holding it. You suddenly felt like a kid getting caught stealing chewing gum in the market, only this time you have done nothing wrong.

“Thank you.” You held her hand in both of your palms.

“I think I need more time to be able to be the real me here, but I can assure you that I'm happy where I am currently and I'll try my best to be…me, as soon as I know it's safe for me.” you smiled and she stepped forward hugging you and kissing you on both cheeks.

“Very well, and once everything is cleared, introduce us to that boyfriend of yours.” She held your face still and looked at you with a knowing smile.

“He's not my boyfriend.” You blushed and freed your head from her hands to look away.

“Ah yes, I too stand, out in the cold to confess my undying love to my friends on the night of a family dinner. Veeeery normal.” she said with exaggerated expressions. She made you laugh, and she made you feel safe in ways you never thought anyone in your family could. You went back inside and spent the rest of your evening feeling like an immense weight was lifted off your chest. You were happy, you were ready to face Wallace, and you were awaiting your return with anxious anticipation.

Less than a week later you were saying goodbye to your family. Assuring them that you would text, call, carrier pigeon them as often as you can, you would eat healthy and become famous in some way. You got on your flight and slept it trough almost entirely, dreaming of what the next day would bring.

After you texted Wallace when your plane would be arriving he was preparing like he was going to a wedding. He told got you some food in case you were hungry after your tiring journey, some no name brand soda he remembered you mentioning one time and flowers that made him think of the color of the sparks that flew around you when you kissed him all those weeks ago. He was fully prepared, physically at least, mentally he was more anxious than he had ever been in his entire life. He was checking the time every five minutes and he was at the airport at least an hour before your arrival, just to make sure you wouldn't miss each other accidentally. He was sitting on one of the benches reading the book he had tossed away in a fit of misery a few weeks prior when your plane got announced. He shot up from his seat and quickly walked to the gates staring at the door intensely waiting for you to open it. 

You were walking around stretching your tired limbs looking for the line your briefcase would be given out in. When you finally located it you quickly walked up to it and found your stuff as soon as you got there, you felt weirdly lucky. You took a quick trip to the bathroom, filled your water bottle and you were ready to go, ready to face your fears and fight them, or something. When you pushed through the door to the waiting area your eyes immediately locked with w

Wallace’s. You felt the world stop for a moment as you just looked at eachother. Your romance filled haze was cut short by someone angrily pushing past you, you were blocking the door after all. You quickly apologized and hurried towards the exit to meet with Wallace.

The moment you reached him, you let go of your bags, grabbed his face and kissed him desperate to be close to him. After a few moments you had to pull away lest you suffocate. You looked at eachother, the sparks flying around being reflected in your irises.

“Hi.” He said smiling at you and sliding his hands to your upper back to hold you.

“Hey.” You panted. You slowly put your forehead onto his shoulder and smiled.

“I'm so happy to be back, i missed you” Your smile faltered then turned a bit more bittersweet.

“But we have some important stuff to talk about.” you looked up to him and he nodded.

“Okay, let's go. Your place or…?”

“Yea my place is fine.” You answered him before he could finish.

Your trip back home was short and uneventful. He talked about the Christmas fair he went to with Scott and Ramona,(leaving some parts out) and you told him all about the things you did with your family(also leaving some parts out). You were enjoying the conversation so much, you felt like you got home in no time. Wallace took off his shoes and walked into the living room while you were putting your coats away.

“Woow a table.” He said, impressed and put the food he bought for you down on it. It was nothing exceptional, just a table with two foldable chairs, but you weren't about to invite a bunch of people to your place anyway.

“Allright, I wanna get this over with before we eat.” You both sat down facing each other. 

“I'm listening.” He said with a reassuring smile, giving you all the time you needed to express yourself.

“I wasn't always a guy, well not in the way I am now. Let me rephrase this. I didn't always know I was a guy. I wasn't born or raised as one but I am a man. Do you get it?” You raised a questioning eyebrow at him. Wallace seemed completely unfazed, neutral.

“Yes I understand, you are trans, right? I have some trans friends and i don't see any issue with it.” He asked for your confirmation. 

“Yea, I just want to make sure you understand, I don't like, have the parts that go...outwards.” You motioned with your hands.

“I just know sleeping with someone is a big part of like relationships for you so if we're not…compatible it's better if we get it over with right now.” He chuckled at your half panicked explanation. 

“I get it, I get it. Hey, I love you for you and not for whatever parts you have, or don't. Besides, people have done more with less thanks to the bottomless creativity of the human mind. We can make it work. You might not have a part that goes out but I definitely have one in mind that could go in.” he winked then laughed at his own silliness.

Your eyes widened, then when you finally processed what he should have said you broke out in loud cackles.

“Oh my gooood, Wallace!” You laughed with fake annoyance.

“That was horrible! Here I am pouring my heart out on this shitty table and you are already thinking about how we're going to bend each other over it. I changed my mind. I don't like you anymore!” You joked. Wallace on the other hand looked petrified, thinking you were serious, but his worries went away immediately when you started to lightly laugh at his expression.

“God, you scared me there.” He laid back letting out a breath he was holding.

“So…” he leaned closer to you.

“So?” You mirrored his action.

“Will you be my boyfriend?” He asked.

“Will you cook for me?” you smiled, cocking your head to the side.

“I might.” 

“Then I'll consider it.” you put your torso on the table and quickly pecked him on the lips.

“I'm very tired, will you sleep with me? “Sleep in the same bed”?” You stood up and started to walk to your room. He followed you. 

It was just like the first night you met. Except you were only in your underwear, too tired to properly change and you were holding each other in a warm embrace for the entirety of the night. You have slept better than you had in a long time. You were safe, you were in the right place, with the right person.

Chapter Text

One year has passed. You and Wallace were happy and living together in a slightly bigger apartment than either of yours. You had a bigger table and normal chairs, but the foldable ones were still out on the balcony for those summer night conversations. Scott and Ramona also moved in together and seemed to be happy with what was going on with them. You managed to get more friends in town and got to know the place better. For example, Julie moved in with some weird guy with a bird name, then they moved away to bird man's house so you didn't see her much anymore.

Right now you weren't in Toronto though. You were in your grandmother's village, in her house, in her living room eating dinner with all of your extended family. Some arguing about sports, some about politics or just calmly conversing. You did bring home that boyfriend of yours after all like your aunt told you to do, and you also managed to come out to them. Some of them didn't accept you but you didn't care, those who truly cared for you, looked at you with the same love and pride in their eyes. Your grandfather was more disappointed that you had a boyfriend who didn't know how to properly chop wood or drive a tractor but your cousins were definitely there for all of Wallace's stories and your grandmother liked him as long as he ate whatever she cooked, so you could say everything went pretty well in the end.

After dinner you excused yourselves saying that you wanted to show Wallace a place in the village. You put your warm clothes on and started to walk towards the fields that were at the end of the village. You went into a field, the fresh snow crunching under your feet. 

“Why are we here exactly?” He asked, holding your hand and following you. 

“Look up.” You said and turned your face towards the sky. Wallace looked up and gasped.

“Are those northern lights?” His eyes opened wide.

“I thought those only exist really far up north.” He said. The colorful lights reflected into his eyes, you could get lost in all the colors of it.

“They usually do but I saw in the news that we will be able to see some of them here too this weekend, so I thought the lack of street lights would make it more beautiful.” you explained to him.

“Yea, they are truly beautiful.” He stared at them with a calm expression. While he was distracted you slowly backed him into a snow covered hay bale, his back coming in contact with the hay was the thing that snapped him back, giving you a questioning look.

“This time last year we were on the phone,” you put your hands on his waist and pulled him closer to you. 

“And there was something I wasn't able to tell you. I know I have said it many times since then but…” you looked deeply into his eyes.

“I love you Wallace Wells. Thank you for not giving up on me.” You smiled and kissed him deeply, holding onto his waist and the hay bale for balance.