Dylan woke up to the sound of his alarm clock. He immediately reached out to turn it off when he felt Flynn stir slightly, still sleeping soundly with his head resting on Dylan's arm.
Dylan smiled to himself. Waking up at five in the morning had quietly become his routine. Every day, he got up early to prepare food before school, making sure everything was ready so Flynn wouldn't have to rush or wake too early.
He moved carefully, deliberately slow, making sure not to wake Flynn. Once he managed to slip out of bed, Dylan quietly got dressed and left the apartment.
As soon as he stepped out of the building, he noticed how unusually cold the air felt against his skin. Strong winds swept through the area, carrying with them the clear sign of an approaching storm. Worried about the weather, Dylan hurried to his scooter and drove straight to Aunt Mary's restaurant to buy food.
On his way back, the first crack of thunder echoed through the sky. Then, without warning, the rain poured down hard. With no other choice, Dylan pulled over and parked near a convenience store, standing under its awning as the rain raged on. He checked the time, irritation creeping in. He knew Flynn would probably be awake soon.
Back at the apartment, Flynn woke up to the sudden sound of thunder and lightning outside. He checked the time—it was only 6:00 a.m. Stretching lightly, Flynn considered going back to sleep. The weather made him want to stay in bed. It felt like perfect cuddle weather. But he decided against it. Sleeping too much always gave him a headache.
Since moving into Dylan's apartment, their school was much closer, so waking up early was no longer necessary. On top of that, Dylan usually handled everything in the mornings, which meant Flynn didn't have to rush or stress about preparations.
When Flynn stepped out of the bedroom, he noticed that Dylan wasn't there yet. Normally, Dylan would already be back by 5:30. Curious, Flynn walked toward the balcony and pulled the curtains aside. Only then did he realize just how bad the weather had become.
Concerned, Flynn didn't wait any longer. He put on a jacket, grabbed an umbrella, and headed out of the apartment and went down to the building entrance, standing just outside, eyes scanning the street despite the downpour.
After more than twenty minutes, the rain still hadn't stopped. Back at the convenience store, Dylan grew restless. He worried that Flynn might already be awake and waiting for him. Since he'd come by scooter, driving back would mean taking a longer route and getting soaked badly.
In the end, Dylan decided to leave the scooter behind and come back for it later. Their apartment was only about five buildings away anyway, and he figured he could just run along the side of buildings to avoid getting drenched too much.
With that thought, Dylan pulled his hood up, stepped back into the rain, and started running.
While waiting outside the building, Flynn suddenly spotted a familiar jacket running through the rain not far away. As it got closer, he realized it was Dylan and quickly stepped forward, holding out his umbrella.
"You're awake already. Why are you out here?" Dylan panted, drenched from head to toe.
Flynn couldn't hide the hint of concern on his face. "I've been waiting for you upstairs," he said simply.
"Is that so? Come on, let's go inside. It's cold out here, and you shouldn't have come down—you'd get soaked with this wind," Dylan replied, Flynn just nodded and followed him back into the building, heading straight to the apartment.
"Wait here for a moment," Flynn said as they stepped inside the apartment, gently stopping Dylan at the door. He quickly grabbed a towel and handed it to him. "Go shower. You're completely soaked from the rain."
Dylan took the towel, a small smile tugging at his lips. "My sweet wife," he teased.
"My wife, my ass. I just don't want to take care of someone sick," Flynn replied, heading to the kitchen with the food Dylan had bought, ready to heat it in the microwave.
After Dylan finished his shower, the food was already laid out and Flynn had it arranged neatly. Dylan immediately sat beside him, ready to eat together.
While they were eating, Dylan's phone buzzed with a rainfall alert. At almost the same time, a message popped up in their group chat from Amanda, informing everyone that classes were canceled for the day due to the heavy rain.
"Haissttt… if I had known there were no classes today, I could've slept longer," Dylan groaned.
No sooner had he said that than another message arrived from Amanda: they were expected to use the day for a review session in preparation for their long quiz when classes resumed.
"Haiiissstt… a quiz again," Dylan complained.
Flynn just smirked at Dylan's whining. "Stop complaining. At least there's no class today. We get more time to rest."
"Have you even looked outside? Who's going to force themselves to review in this weather? I feel like curling up back in bed already," Dylan said, sounding like a kid eager to snuggle under the covers, wanting nothing more than to burrow into the warmth of the cozy, rainy morning.
After they finished eating, Dylan took care of clearing the table and washing the dishes, while Flynn went into the bedroom to grab their bags and brought them out to the living room to prepare the things they needed to review.
Once Dylan was done in the kitchen, he immediately settled down beside Flynn on the couch. Flynn handed him a book and a notebook without a word, already focused on what they had to study.
Dylan let out a quiet sigh and leaned back against the couch, his eyes drifting to Flynn instead of the pages in front of him. He simply watched him read. Even though they spent every day together, Dylan never got tired of looking at Flynn.
To him, Flynn looked even more handsome when he was serious—when his attention was fully fixed on something. Dylan didn't even realize how long he'd been staring.
Despite the cold weather and the heavy rain pounding outside, a sudden warmth crept into Dylan's body. Unable to resist it, he slowly inched closer along the couch, moving nearer to Flynn.
When Flynn saw Dylan slowly crawling toward him—like a tiger stalking its prey—he immediately began to scoot backward.
"D-Dylan… what are you thinking now? We still have a lot to review," Flynn said, retreating inch by inch until he was cornered at the end of the couch.
"Don't you get bored with all that studying?" Dylan replied casually. "What if we warm ourselves up first?" he added with a wicked grin. "It'd be a waste not to enjoy this perfect cuddle weather."
Before Dylan even touched him, Flynn didn't understand why heat suddenly pooled beneath his shorts. He grabbed a pillow and quickly covered his lap.
Dylan noticed—and smirked. "Looks like junior's already missing daddy's hand," he teased, closing the distance between them until their faces were only inches apart. He casually pulled the pillow away from Flynn's grip and climbed on top of him, pinning him gently against the couch.
Dylan took the book from Flynn's hands and dropped it onto the floor. "Let's warm up first," he whispered, before capturing Flynn's flushed lips.
Flynn didn't resist. He let Dylan set the pace of the kiss—until, little by little, his lips began to respond. His hands instinctively reached up, gripping the firm, muscular arms Dylan had braced against the couch, while Dylan's other hand slid up to cradle Flynn's head.
Pressed together, there was no room to pull away. Every small movement only brought them closer, heat quietly building between them.
(To be continued...)