All The World Is Only You And Me (Phoenix)

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Those few minutes he spent away from the situation had done wonders for the over-emotional boy and by the time he emerged, although it was obvious he hadn't been fine before, all the stress that he built up despite himself had finally dissolved. The feelings and worries were still there, but at least they were perpetuating each other anymore. Now that he'd taken care of himself, Oriel could finally go back out and take care of his boyfriend, the one he care about more than anything and couldn't stand to be apart from for too long.

Just being able to embrace the slim boy was more than enough to reassure him now. Of course, Oriel was the only one that Phoenix would let hold him like this, of course he love him. He was stupid for even suspecting otherwise. Though Oriel wondered when the next time would be that he let his insecurities explode like that. It scared him more than ever now. The closer he seemed to get to people, the more fear there was, and the more paranoid he became. It wasn't like this before, when he was pushing people away all the time. Now that he had let people in his life that he didn't want to lose, it was turning out to be that his own fears about them leaving were what was going to eventually make it come to pass. Isn't that what Dr. Neville was trying to tell him?

Oriel placed a soft kiss on Phoenix's forehead once he turned to face the dark-haired boy. "Nah, I'm glad you told me." He sighed. "I just wish you'd said something sooner. I feel like...like such a dick for putting you through that." Oriel pulled in closer and nuzzled his temple against Phen's. "I want you to tell me when something ain't making you happy. I can't know 'less you say something. I might not like it, but I'd rather know right away rather than you keep it to yourself." Forcing himself to lie to his lover and then suffering over it. Oriel didn't want that. "You got it?"

Oriel followed Phoenix's pull onto the couch and sat off the edge of it, holding Phoenix all the while. He smiled. Seems like both of them had been thinking over that short yet eternal interval of non-contact. Oriel put a finger to Phen's lips, shushing him for a brief moment. "Hold on," he said, reaching back into his pocket to pull out his cell phone. "Here." He flipped it open and showed Phoenix the screen.

Time: 9:36 p.m.
To: (list of names which includes Erik, Kodi and Tak)

we cant have sex no more. pheonix and me are exluscive
-O

He'd sent it during the ten minutes he was locked away in his room. Oriel rubbed his hand over Phoenix's shoulder and kissed him on the center of his head. "Thought you should see. Since I don't got a real Valentine's present for you, we'll call this it, alright?" Oriel gave him another kiss on the temple. "Now what were you going to say?"

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Now Phoenix felt a new kind of guilt, hearing Oriel say he wished Phen had said something sooner. His eyes dropped and he let out a tiny sigh, curling his fingers into the fabric of his lover's shirt. "It's not your fault," he said softly, closing his eyes at the nuzzling. "You didn't know since I didn't tell you. Don't... Don't blame yourself." He tucked his face against Oriel's cheek. "Okay..." he breathed. "I'll... I'll try." Phen swallowed hard. "I just wanted you t'be happy. That's all I want." He hoped asking Oriel to do this didn't put a wrench in their relationship. If anything, he was asking it so their relationship could maybe get stronger... Or so he hoped.

He curled himself up against Oriel as he sat on the couch, settling in his boyfriend's lap with his arms wrapped around his waist and his chin tucked against Oriel's shoulder. Phen's lips snapped shut as Oriel's finger pressed against them, watching with wide eyes as the boy pulled out his phone and flipped it open. He quickly read the message and, after a moment, let out a small bubble of happy laughter. "Thank you, babe," he hummed, burying his face into Oriel's hair. "I... I really, really appreciate it. I promise I'll... Try t'be enough for you." Although given Phen's work schedule lately, and how tired he tended to be, he hoped he would have the energy to keep up with Oriel's libido...

He smiled at the kisses, planting several of his own against Oriel's neck. Things were going to be alright. "Oh, um..." It took Phoenix a moment to remember what he'd just been talking about. "I, uh, I was thinkin'... Maybe...." He held up his wrist and pointed to the underside. "M-maybe we... Could get matching tattoos, or something. T-they'd be kinda like promise rings, but..." Phen shrugged, dropping his gaze and blushing. "I dunno, m-maybe it's a stupid idea." The symbolism behind it seemed like it might help them feel a little more secure with each other, though. At least, Phoenix hoped.

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Phoenix said it wasn't his fault but…well, the fact that Phoenix hadn't said anything sooner might've meant that he was too afraid to. That he was afraid of what Oriel's response might be to being told something like that. Which told Oriel that yes, there might be other things that Phoenix wanted to tell Oriel, thing that made him unhappy, that he was too afraid to bring up. Was Oriel really that scary? Did he frighten his love that much? "I know…Phoenix," he said, a hint of frustration in his voice. "But….I want you to be happy too. I want you to feel like you can tell me these things without…." He sighed, brushing his large hand through Phoenix's shortened hair. "…without….I don't want you to be scared of me…." Oriel shut his eyes tight, hating how horrible that sounded and how it made Oriel seem.

Oriel kept his arms wrapped around Phoenix as he showed him the message. He thought that'd make Phoenix happy. And since it did, then Oriel was more than happy to have done it. "Phoenix, you dork, you don't have to try." Oriel could do it…right? Keep his relations to just one, special person. Shouldn't be too hard…

Now that that was out of the way, Oriel felt better and turned all his attentions to what Phoenix was trying to say before. And his proposal was….well it was enough to make Oriel blush. Because it definitely sounded like a proposal of sorts, which Oriel was not expecting. Promise rings. Only tattooed. That was so…permanent(though technically not for Oriel, he could remove it himself whenever he wanted), but the idea was still the same. Oriel nodded a bit meekly. "Yeah….I mean, no…it's not a stupid idea. It's actually…a really great idea." He looked down to meet Phoenix's eyes with an emerging smile. "You really want to?" he asked hopefully.

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The truth of the matter probably was that Phen was scared of Oriel. Or, rather... Scared of losing him, more than anything else. That was the very root of all of Phen's fears, was loss. He'd already been back-stabbed, abandoned, left for dead before, and as much as he trusted and loved Oriel, there was still that horrible tickle in the back of his mind that the boy might leave him someday and... Well, he couldn't think about that. Phoenix sensed the tension in Oriel's face and looked up, lifting his hand to toy with his lover's dark locks. "I am happy," he promised, not breaking his eyes away from Oriel. "An' I'll... I'll keep that in mind." He couldn't think of anything else he wanted to tell Oriel at the moment, but... Maybe he'd think of something. Open up that well of communication better. Phoenix's eyes saddened at the last thing that Oriel said, and he immediately leaned in and pressed their lips together, lovingly, cupping the younger boy's cheek in his palm. "Oh, babe..." he breathed as he pulled away. "I'm not scared of you." There were occasions where this might be a lie, but... He wasn't scared in the moment.

He giggled as Oriel called him a dork, wrinkling up his nose and tugging a bit on Oriel's collar. "You know what I mean," he replied. "I don't exactly have the best... Stamina. And with the job and all..." Phen shrugged, sighing. "Maybe I'll build up some endurance," he determined, flexing his non-existent biceps.

Phoenix... Hadn't even really realized how much of a proposal his idea was until he said it, and the realization dawned on him as he waited for Oriel's response. The fact that they might... Get married someday... He'd fantasized about it before, but.... This was just making it so real. "Y... You think it is?" he replied, equally as meek, a shy smile tugging at his lips. "It's not too cheesy, or anythin'?" Hell, when had they let cheesiness stop them? He nodded several times, leaning in to kiss his lover again, this time longer, deeper... And when he finally broke, he tucked himself against Oriel once again and murmured,"I told you earlier... I don't wanna spend my life with anyone other than you." He nuzzled his boyfriend affectionately. "If... If that's how you feel, too."

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It was something that Oriel was worried about and that had been on his mind ever since Phoenix saw him lose it that first time when Kodi attacked him. Since then, Phoenix had seen that side of Oriel more than enough times and Oriel wouldn't be surprised if the older boy had to keep himself from flinching every time Oriel even remotely lost his temper. If he pulled away every time Oriel tried to touch him then…fuck, just the though of it made Oriel's check ache. Oriel managed a weak smile at Phoenix's reassurances, but the worry stayed.

Oriel needed to know if Phoenix was okay or not. He hoped that his lover would do what he said and speak up when Oriel did something he didn't like. He wanted to know so he could fix it. Oriel might not be happy to hear it, but it was more important to Oriel to see Phoenix happy.

Oriel gave Phoenix a blank stare when he put up his arms to flex…and then wrapped his whole hand around that skinny, floppy bicep, squeezing it down to nothing. "You gonna keep me waiting a long time 'fore that happens. You're arms're like noodles."

The promise ring tattoos had really gotten to Oriel, more than he thought they would, though he was trying to not let it show too much on his face. But the prospect was making his stomach tickle in giddy-glee and the corners of his mouth twitching up into a half-smile. "Nah," he said lamely, shaking his head. "It's not, it's really…great." Following the kiss, that half smile quickly turned into a full blown grin, complete with squinting eyes and blushing cheeks. "I do…I do…fuck, you know I do," he urged, not realizing how much he sounded like a blushing bride at the alter. His arms found their way further around Phen's torso and pulled him in even tighter, shifting his lover to straddle over Oriel's lap. Oriel gripped Phoenix's face between both hands, affectionately rubbing his thumbs over his cheeks. "Fuck…I can't even imagine anyone else but you." And he pulled him in for another deep kiss. "Let's do it," he said with a chuckle once they broke.