Flash Fic Friday

**More Joshua and Will for you.  They continue their journey here with a missed date, a make up gift, and rain.  Enjoy!**

The temperature had unexpectedly warmed and while the forty-five degree weather was a nice surprise, the pissing down rain left much to be desired.  It was melting the snow, and that was good.  But it was still cold enough to chill me to the bone, and I was fucking drenched.  I’d run out of gas—which had never happened to me before—and I’d had to walk five blocks.  I was soaked, and coupled with the fact that I’d been held up at the office for two extra hours rewriting an opinion, I was also miserable.  I just wanted a hot shower, warm clothes, and snuggle time on the couch with my man.

I was shivering hard when I finally made it through the front door, and I started peeling off clothes right in the entryway.  No sense in tracking all that water through the whole house.  I was half out of my pants when Joshua appeared.  I opened my mouth to tell him about my miserable day so he could make it better, but I snapped it closed when I saw what he was wearing.  The three piece suit in charcoal gray with the light blue shirt and gray and blue tie was something he only pulled out on special occasions.  Like tonight was supposed to be.

I closed my eyes and groaned.  How could I have forgotten?  We were supposed to go out for a fancy dinner, just the two of us.  I was two and half hours late, and our reservation had been more than an hour ago.  I’d missed it.

“I’m sorry,” I blurted out, feeling the shame heat my skin.  At least I was no longer shivering.  I let the pants drop to the ground.  “I’m so sorry.”

Joshua just stared at me, his face impassive.  But I could see the sadness and disappointment in his eyes.  “What happened?”

“I had to work late, and…” I trailed off, shaking my head.  “I spaced.  The judge needed an opinion rewritten and I completely forgot about our dinner.  I didn’t even think to call.  There’s no excuse.  But I am sorry.”

He nodded.   “And you look like a drowned rat because?”

I pulled a face.  “Ran out of gas down on Miller Ave.  At least I was able to pull to the side of the road.”  I looked up at him, searching his gaze.  “I really am sorry, Joshua.”

He nodded again.  “Let’s get you warmed up before you catch pneumonia.”

Joshua all but shoved me into the shower and left me to it while he went to change his clothes.  I felt like shit.  We never did things like this, and the one time we’d gone out of our way to plan something, I’d completely forgotten.  I was awful of me.  I needed to make it up to him somehow.

When I emerged from the bathroom, he’d laid out a warm pair of sweatpants and one of his sweatshirts for me to wear.  My cell phone was pointedly laying on top of the clothes pile, and when I touched the home button it lit up to reveal several missed calls and texts.  Now I felt even worse.  How had I missed him calling?  I nearly smacked myself when I remembered I’d turned the phone to silent so I wouldn’t be interrupted while I fixed the opinion.

As I got dressed, I wracked my brain trying to figure out how to make it up to him.  Slowly an idea emerged.  By the time I was clothed, I knew what I was going to do.  It would take a hell of a lot of planning, but I thought I could make it work.  Tomorrow, I’d start making phone calls.

 

***

When the alarm went off at four A.M. on Saturday morning, I rolled over and plastered my body to Joshua’s.  He chuckled and kissed me, then tried to gently extract himself.  When I wouldn’t let go, he started laughing in earnest.

“Will, honey, I have to go to work.”

“Nope.”

That earned me another laugh.  “Yes, I do.”

I cracked one eye open and looked at him.  “Actually, you don’t.  Lucas, Maggie, and the rest have it covered for the weekend.  You’re not to set foot back in Pounds and Grounds until Monday morning.”

He squinted at me. “What did you do?”

“I had to do it,” I responded fervently.  I gave him my best early morning grin.  “After Wednesday night, I needed to make it up to you.”

His gaze softened and he leaned over.  “Baby, you don’t have to do that.  You didn’t do it on purpose, and you apologized.”

“Yeah but I have this!”  With a flourish, I reached for the plastic bag I’d stashed beside the bed.  I had a feeling that he’d protest.  He was too forgiving.  Most of the time I loved that about him.  But right now, I needed to do whatever I could to make up for my mistake.

He peered cautiously into the bag, and then his eyes just lit up.  With the glee of a five year old on Christmas morning, he upended the bag and spread out the contents.  All seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation.  On Blu Ray.  My man had a huge crush on Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

“You do love me!” His tone was full of teasing, but my response was not.

“More than anything.”

Joshua pulled me across the bed until he could kiss me breathless.  When we were both panting, he leaned back far enough to grin at me.  “And we have the whole weekend to do nothing but watch.”

I nodded fast, grinning back.  That was the plan.  But I pushed the sheet off my body, showing off, and hoping we’d get to that later.  Joshua’s gaze turned heated, and he carefully set his presents on the bedside table.  Later was definitely in the cards.