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The newly opened mechanics shop in Itinere might not look like much from the outside looking in. But one should never judge a book by its cover. Adam Parrish has never met a broken thing that he didn't know how to fix. He was a tinkerer, a repair man, a fixer of most things. He was the Magician. Inside, one only needed to glance around to find items of all sorts from motorbikes to radios, from lamps to engines, from heating and cooling units to bicycles. Things came into Parrish's Garage and they always left repaired. Given the recent cold snap and snow, there were space heaters littered about the space since the large garage door was open to allow customers in. Music was playing from a radio that looked like it came from ancient times. The boy inside was busily hunched over one project or another. Anyone was welcome to disturb him.

[ CLOSED to RONAN LYNCH ]

The snow was an unexpected surprise. Adam had noticed the strangeness about it, the fact that it continued and continued to snow and yet it never piled up more than what would be appropriate on the front of a Christmas card or in a Norman Rockwell painting. For days since it had started Ronan had been bugging him to go out and go sledding in it. Adam had adamantly refused because getting Adam to do things outside of his comfort zone always took some coercion. For days Ronan hadn't let it rest either mentioning it vicariously or outright until finally Adam caved. Adam always caved when Ronan really seemed to want to do something.

This was how Adam found himself bundled up and out in the cold. He had on a thick coat, a scarf, a wool cap and some snow boots that Ronan had dreamed for him. It was freezing outside and Adam still looked up at the snowfall with a hint of skepticism. He looked down at the trash can lid in Ronan's hand and shook his head. "Okay, nope. That's not a sled." He proceeds to turn on his heel and start back to the apartment building.

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Ronan and Gansey are thick as thieves. Gansey is his brother, more so than Declan ever has been, but Gansey is too wrapped up in who he used to be to see clearly who he is right now. Besides, Gansey is terrified of the Ronan he was right after Niall's death and he's looking so hard for that Ronan, he doesn't see the man he's become. It's not that Gansey doesn't want to see the person Ronan has become; he's afraid that Ronan will backslide and this time he wants to be there to stop him. In any case, Adam sees more of who Ronan is rather than who Ronan was.

Ronan could tell him, if it was brought up, that Gansey didn't give a rats ass. It had never been discussed (because it wasn't a big deal) but Gansey knew that Ronan was gay. He probably always had. As for the rest of it, did Adam think Ronan was completely oblivious? This boy that could dream objects down to scratches in the paint? To the numbers in a contact list? Down to the watermark on a passport? Ronan didn't miss anything. If Adam sees Ronan for who he really is, Ronan sees the same in Adam. He knows all of that and he doesn't care. In fact,some of those things are part of Adam's appeal: the tenacity and willpower it takes to get to Aglionby from where Adam was, that's admirable as far as Ronan is concerned. Adam is a broken creature, but so is Ronan and he thinks that's why they fit so well. Neither of them have any hope of being unbroken, nor are they interested in making certain the other is unbroken either. It's the breaks that make them both interesting (in Ronan's opinion). Ronan would hate to see the night terrors Adam would dream if he could dream.

Maybe it isn't that simple, to speak what he wanted it to mean, but it's a place to start. Right now, Ronan feels like they're walking on uncertain ground. He never knows when it's going to fall out from underneath him, never knows when Adam is going to change his mind and decide that this is just a phase he's going through. There are few things Ronan is certain of, but the ability to remain friends with Adam regardless is one of them simply because he's got no other choice. Much the way Cabeswater needed Blue and Adam to work together, he needs Adam and not just to fix the ley lines, but because Ronan's world is fragile and it only works with Adam in it.

Ronan nods a little, trying to decide how to take Adam's words, trying to see the motivation and the emotion behind them. He has that intense sort of look on his face as he listens to Adam, gives him the space to say his words, to get it all out before he speaks.

When Adam says that he thinks Ronan is better than him, he snakes one hand out, grabbing Adam's wrist and wrapping his fingers around it. "You're a stubborn dickface so I know arguing the merits of 'better' with you isn't going to do a damn thing. I don't give a fuck what I deserve. God'll sort that out when I die, but I want you and all of your stubborn dickface-ness. I want this whole damn mess. I want you to kiss me and touch me and sleep in bed with me and I want it..." he stops a moment, shaking his head, "forever and now you're an asshole for making me sound like a god damn movie," but he's got the ghost of a smirk on his face. It fades immediately when he has to address the part about Adam's parents. "Do you know what I would do to his face if he said one damn word about it?" The latter is growled. "You're not your father, Adam. Just like I'm nothing like Declan, who happens to fucking know. His nose is crooked now and he doesn't say a damn thing anymore. " Which isn't the point. He runs his free hand over his head again. "They're not here and they'll never know what happens here." His stomach roils with the idea of Adam's parents never knowing, or with the idea of that being the reason that he doesn't end up with Adam. "Yeah, it hurts. I get it because it makes me wonder that if Declan doesn't like it, what would Dad say and I do care about what he thinks, but..." he stops and shakes his head. "It would hurt to know you want me and never be with you because of him too."

He lowers the hand on his head and watches Adam a moment. "I'm not pressuring you or giving you ultimatums. I'm just asking you to do what makes you happy, at least here. When we get back...we'll decide what to do then."

Adam had seen very few movies. He couldn't ever afford to go to the movie theater and they didn't have cable. When his dad had been watching whatever was on TV, Adam had scooted right on past to go hide in his room to study or out to tinker with the cars. Needless to say his experience with 'god damn movies' were limited. But if this was what they were like, with Ronan telling him he wanted him, mess and all, forever, then Adam didn't see how they could be so bad.

The words sent a flutter of nerves through him as Ronan held his wrist and spoke so genuinely and evenly. In the back of his mind he could tell something was off with the sheer amount of words they were tossing back and forth between each other, but right now Adam couldn't make himself truly care about that even if he wanted to... which he didn't. All he wanted to do was put those words on repeat to hear them over and over, turn them upside down and backwards to analyze again and again until he fully embraced and knew them by heart. He was desirable. And there was no one or nothing that could intrude on that truth right now.

Ronan is right of course. He's right that the people who might take issue with their being together aren't here to say or do anything about it. It seems so logical and easy without that in the equation. The problem was that saying that they weren't here alleviated some of those concerns but didn't make them disappear.

"I know." Adam nods, looking down at Ronan's hand on his wrist. "I know they aren't here. And I know it shouldn't matter. Logically. They should have nothing to do with you and me." His other hand reaches to uncurl Ronan's fingers from his wrist, not to make him stop holding onto him, but to turn Ronan's hand palm up and slide his own dry, calloused fingertips over Ronan's skin. How often he wanted to reach out and hold this hand, like he felt he would with anyone he liked and was with. But he always talked himself out of it.

"I want to be with you." He needs Ronan to know that. But he also has to be honest about it. "That scares me. It's new. And... what does that make me? Gay? Bisexual? You-sexual? I don't know."

The corners of his lips twitch as he continues to look at Ronan's hand as he touches it, pushing his fingers out straight and then curling them again, touching his palm. "There's a moment when I first wake up in the mornings, if you're still in bed, before my brain fully kicks in, when we're all tangled up and warm and everything feels like it's exactly the way it should be. It's the most content feeling I've ever felt. Happy, I guess. Then eventually my brain always... does what it does. But you... there's happy with you." He smirks. "There's also intense frustration and aggravation with you too, just to be fair. Sometimes you piss me off so much. Sometimes I just want you with me and then everything is okay. Like when you would sleep on my floor at St. Agnes. You just... sometimes you make things that aren't okay, okay."

They can remedy the movies bit. Though, getting Ronan to sit still for a whole movie is a minor miracle. He can occupy Chainsaw and drink while they watch movies. That might settle him enough for a while. And really, what Ronan was afraid of sounding was cliche. In reality that isn't a bad thing. He just doesn't want to voice it.

Oh Ronan is entirely aware that he's using too many words, confessing too many feelings, too many things he'd usually keep buried. Despite that knowledge, he can't stem that flood of words. Right now, he's not entirely sure he wants to. Later he might kick himself for saying everything, depending on how it works out for them. At least Adam is confessing things as well so perhaps it won't be awkward later when whatever is going on wears off. He is incredibly desirable to Ronan, and that much should be obvious from their moment in the snow in addition to the words that Ronan is using.

He doesn't exactly expect the reality of their situation to dismiss all of Adam's concerns. There might even be people in Itinere that will object to their relationship. Ronan doesn't give a flying fuck, but it takes a while to cultivate that sort of attitude and it's something that not everyone does.

Wne Adam first reaches for his hand, Ronan thinks he's going to pry his fingers off his wrist and push him away. There's a moment of panic quickly quelled by the way Adam's fingertips glide over Ronan's skin. He watches their hands, looking up at Adam from beneath his lashes while he speaks.

He nods at Adam's reassurance. It does make him feel better; it makes him feel less frustrated and hopeless, a bit more confident about whatever they've got going on here. He shrugs a little at Adam's question. "I'm in favor of me-sexual," he says in a voice that's a little gruff and lilting with teasing. He's not sure what that makes Adam either and he's not sure if he cares.

"Me too." It's a bare whisper, raw and exposed. His face cracks into a smirk, sharp and amused. "If I didn't piss you off, I'd worry the fuck about your mental stability." He sobers a little then and nods. "Yeah. Okay."

The irony here was that while they may not entirely enjoy or appreciate the words tumbling unbidden and untempered out of there mouths, this was probably exactly what they needed in order to move forward. Not in general. Ronan and Adam could make it through near anything together. They were irrevocably connected through Cabeswater. But as for their relationship, those unspoken secrets riding an electrical undercurrent of emotions beneath everything they did, that could use some help. And that's what this moment was giving them.

Holding hands should be such a simple act. But how often had Adam wanted to hold Ronan's hand and talked himself out of it since they had first kissed. Too many times. So while Adam's fingers brush over Ronan's palm and his other hand cradles Ronan's hand in his palm, Adam watches it rather than look up to Ronan.

"Ronan sexual? It figures we would do everything different from anyone else." There was no such thing as towing a line when it came to Ronan Lynch. There was no such thing as a mold when it came to Ronan Lynch. And that was a part of what Adam liked so much about him. He was an enigma that Adam looked up to and aspired to be like.

Finally, Adam looks up to Ronan, brow arched. "Okay? So where does that leave us?"

Ronan likes to believe that eventually they'd get here anyway. Eventually, Adam would come to the conclusion that he loves Ronan, that he's attracted to him regardless of what that means for his sexuality; no words necessary (he never did like words unless they were in Latin or swear words). However, there's no denying that whatever is going on is speeding up their forward progress.

It should be and yet when is anything ever simple with Ronan? He likes the hard way, likes the challenge. In fact, it feels like this moment is anything but simple, even with the words paving the way. He should not feel like a bolt of lightening is trickling slowly through him with a simple touch to his palm. Ronan swallows hard as that fire crawls through his bones to the very center of his being.

"'Cause I just love swimming with the current," Ronan smirks. He doesn't even look the same as everyone else when he's wearing his Aglionby uniform. Oh, there was a mold. It was called Niall Lynch and Ronan fit it almost perfectly. However it's a mold that most people don't fit into, can't fit into. Declan has tried his entire life and he comes close but not quite. Ronan isn't sure that he's an enigma, but he is different from everyone else.

Ronan shrugs at Adam's question. "Making out on the floor?" he smirks then shakes his head. "Balls in your court, Parrish. You tell me."

It was laughable, thinking of Ronan lynch doing anything as most people would do it. But now he was dragging Adam Parrish along with him in his nonconformity. Or, if not dragging, he was steering him in certain directions that Adam hadn't known were there before. And now that he knew they were there, it was hard not to think about the possibilities. It opened up a whole new slew of emotions for him, for Adam Parrish who had never been one to know what to do with those sorts of emotions.

He had royally fumbled his way through his crush on Blue. And now, here was Ronan... here he had even more emotions than he had ever felt with Blue. And here he had felt as if he were fumbling his way through that as well, until today. The onslaught of their thoughts finding their way into words was certainly helping. Things they would never have said so fully and completely without the assistance of... something.

Today he was saying what needed to be said, holding Ronan's hand as he had so often wanted to do, and now his skin flushed with Ronan's bold comment about making out on the floor. A vision flashed in his mind of his lying back in the snow with Ronan on top of him, kissing, feeling, being wanted and wanting in return. His insides fluttered, unsure how he felt about the ball being in his court.

As it was, he lifted Ronan's hand in his to his lips and just held it there. There was barely even a kiss. He just held it there. Thinking. "You think we're ready for floor make-out?"

Maybe steering Adam along in different directions and on different adventures is part of the point. Adam lived in a very narrow world until he met Gansey and Ronan. Ronan wants to expand that world. He wants Adam to have new experiences and if that introduces him to new emotions, well...Adam is making Ronan cope with new emotions as well. They'll sort through that together.

Maybe Ronan is more tolerant of fumbling. He's certainly more tolerant of any angry outbursts that Adam might have. That's true enough. Ronan would never use this many words and he knows Adam wouldn't either.

Today Ronan was grateful for those words, for the way Adam is holding his hand and for the way Ronan's words make Adam flush. That had absolutely been Ronan's intention, recalling that vision in Adam's head. God knows Ronan's head is full of it. It has been since the moment they pulled away from each other.

Ronan watched Adam with that peculiar intensity, everything inside of him twisting and catching fire when Adam's lips rested against his hand. He swallowed hard, breath caught in his chest. "Fuck yeah. That the right answer?"

Under that particularly intense gaze from Ronan coupled with the tenor of their conversation, Adam is left with anxiousness flooding every inch of his insides. Everything he wanted flashed through his mind like seeing too many channels all at once and being unable to completely process what he was actually seeing. He had to make himself pause, slow everything down.

The ball was in his court.

He shifted up to his knees and moved closer to Ronan. His movements were deliberate but slow and gentle because that was who and what Adam Parrish was when it came to this sort of thing. Up on his knees, he towered over Ronan where he sat, his fingertips slid down his jawline to his chin to guide that chin up so that Ronan was looking up at him. The smile wasn't on his lips, but it was in his eyes as he stared down at Ronan for a minute.

"I guess that's the right answer. I'm gonna kiss you now, okay?" There was a start-stop to his movement as he started to dip his head, but then in one quick move his lips crashed into Ronan's and he kissed him. He kissed him (for the moment) without worrying about what people might think or what this meant about his sexuality or whether he was as good at kissing as Ronan was. He just kissed him, open-mouthed, sloppy, sweet and inviting.

Anxiety hadn't been Ronan's intended reaction. He couldn't help the intensity of his gaze, not in that moment. He could avoid looking at Adam, but he was fairly sure that would send the wrong message entirely. He wanted to do this right, wanted to make certain that his every move was the right one so that he didn't mess this up. That was all he'd been trying to do since before they'd come here.

The ball was in his court and if Adam wanted to take things more slowly then they'd take things more slowly. Ronan wouldn't push nor would he give up on Adam. He'd simply wait until Adam knew what to do with that ball.

Ronan's breath caught when Adam moved to his knees. He swallowed hard, his entire body trembling as he let Adam take the lead in this. He exhaled in a rush when Adam tilted his chin up so that he looked at him. He'd watched Adam's face enough to see that smile in his eyes and it made him relax ever so slightly.

"Okay," Ronan breathed, temporarily thrown off by taking the submissive role, by letting Adam have the lead here. It wasn't a position he was accustomed to being in. He couldn't say he didn't like it; In fact, it was particularly appealing because this was a role he didn't normally take. It was exciting and then Adam's lips were on his and every other thought in Ronan's head fled. All he cared about was kissing Adam in return and being kissed by him. He returned the kiss with equal vigor, shifting up into the kiss to make it deeper, but consciously lnot taking the lead back from Adam. He wanted to let Adam be the dominant one for a little while; he'd be the submissive one for a little while.

As Ronan shifted up to get closer to him, to make the kiss a two-way street, Adam felt his heart race and he came in closer as well. One leg moved over Ronan's thighs so that he was straddling his lap. Both hands rested feather light at either side of Ronan's face as they kissed. And Ronan let him do this, he knew that all too well. This was not a roll Adam would normally take, although he liked being here in Ronan's lap like this well enough.

It was empowering in a way he never would have presumed it would be. Kissing Ronan with this sort of freedom to do so was empowering.

When he needed to breathe, his head was still dipped, hands barely holding Ronan's head in place. Their brows pressed together and Adam nipped at Ronan's lips again. "Is there ever a time when I shouldn't kiss you? Or hold your hand? Or... whatever."

Ronan groans into the kiss, his fingers seeking out Adam's hipbones, slipping up under the hem of Adam's shirt. He presses his fingertips against Adam's skin, pulling his hips into him, closer so that there's little to no space between them.

Though it isn't something Ronan does consciously in this moment, he wants to give Adam more confidence, more power. It's in everything that he does, including this moment.

The way Adam nips at his lips, the way he stays close and doesn't pull away, it makes Ronan breathless in a way that he's only experienced when driving a car too fast or when splitting a man's lips under his knuckles. His closed eyes snap open and he smirks, shaking his head ever so slightly, but not enough to break the contact between them. "Fuck no. Long as it's something you want to do, go for it."

That breathlessness is mutual. Adam and Ronan's breath co-mingling and heavy. Ronan's answer forces a flutter in his chest and Adam can't help the impression of a smile on his lips. He pushes that smile away and kisses Ronan again, slow and sweet.

"Anything I want, huh?" He asks, his voice tempered with amusement. "Just to be clear."

Ronan doesn't have a lot of experience with slow and sweet. It's something that Adam will have to teach him, to coax out of him, but this is a good start. It makes everything in him go warm and uncertain.

"Any fucking thing you fucking want," Ronan responds, amusement tugging at the corners of his mouth and in his eyes. "That clear enough?"

He can't say why he doesn't kiss Ronan just then. Their lips are so close, the flirtation is ratcheted up beyond ridiculousness, the want between them is palpable. And still Adam keeps that slight distance, close enough to feel Ronan's breath against his lips, too far away to actually do anything about it.

Any fucking thing he fucking wants. Yes. That was clear. So what did Adam want? He was like a starving man at an all you can eat buffet. He'd been without for forever that now that he had all of this, he had problems picking where to start.

"So I can do this?" Reaching down, his fingers tickled at Ronan's sides. It might seem like he was just tickling him, but soon his fingers touched bare skin to show that he was inching his tee shirt up and up and up. Then he fisted it and pulled it up and off if Ronan would let him.

Because sometimes anticipation makes everything better, because this sort of want and intensity is new, because this makes a person feel alive all the way to their bones. Right now, Ronan feels like he's going to burn up from the want, explode with need. His heart is racing in his chest and his breathing is coming in tight, heavy breaths.

At least it's clear, and Ronan is willing to let Adam experiment, to be patient and let Adam figure out what he wants. Really, it's a win-win for both of them.

A grin tugs at the corners of his mouth when Adam's fingers tickle at his side, his eyebrows raise and it's on the tip of his tongue to say 'a tickle war, that's what you want' when his fingers touch Ronan's bare skin and Ronan's breath catches. He bites off a growl, but not soon enough. Adam almost definitely hears it. "God damn, yes please, Ronan responds, words strangled and strained as he lets Adam pull his shirt up and over his head. Every muscle in his body is tense with want, with controlling himself, to keep himself from grabbing control from Adam and kissing him. Instead of doing any of those things, he's very still, letting Adam touch or look, or do whatever the fuck he wants to him.

That growl, deep and guttural, yes Adam heard it. It did something to him, causing a tightness in his belly and his heart to race. He had done that to Ronan. And that tone from the other. Adam was the cause of that too. It was thrilling. Adam felt as if he suddenly held an important power in the palms of his hands and it was both terrifying and beautiful. He felt emboldened. He felt humbled.

He set the removed shirt on the ground. He hesitates only briefly before he grabs his own shirt at the back of his neck and pulls it up and off. It falls to the ground on top of Ronan's.

For just a few moments after that Adam just looks down at Ronan. He can tell that it's taking everything in Ronan to hold himself back. But Adam moves slow. And for some reason, Ronan is giving him this. Finally, his hands reach out to smooth over Ronan's shoulders and down his arms. He takes Ronan's hands and guides them to his own waist. Then he leans down to kiss him again, leaning down even more once their lips make contact so that Ronan has to lie back on the floor and Adam hovers over him.

Ronan's eyes never leave Adam. He devours him with his eyes, allowed to look all he wants for the first time ever it feels like. He brings his wrist with the leather bracelets on it up to his lips to chew at the ends of the bracelets while he watches Adam remove his own shirt, watches him look at him, but when his hands go to his shoulders, Ronan drops his wrist from his lips and chews on the inside of his cheek a moment then Adam is putting his hands on his body and leaning in to kiss him. Ronan's fingertips trail down to Adam's hips, tracing sharp hipbones then lean muscle as he moves his hands back up his body to press his fingertips against the edge of his ribs.

It's an odd position for Ronan to be in, having Adam hover over him like this but with the other boy's lips on his and Ronan's hands against Adam's skin, he finds he doesn't mind this position in the least.

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