[Samuel x Roman]

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"You will do no such thing," Roman said sternly, flicking his boyfriend on the end of the nose. "I put my blood, sweat and tears into these cupcakes and they will not be used in illegal tradings."

"Well then, give us leftovers and we won't have to illegally trade them," London said, sitting her baby in her lap and handing her a brownie.

"As a law student, I can confirm that that is the best course of action," Elissa said in a mock pompous voice, still gently running her fingers through Matthew's hair.

"Oh shit she's got you there," Elliot hollered. "Dumbass."

"I'm not a dumbass."

"You totally are. You didn't go to uni."

"You're doing an arts degree, are you really going to uni?" Roman joked.

Elliot rolled his eyes and reached forward to pick up a cupcake. "Samuel, you're the graduate and therefore you wear the pants in the relationship. Control your boyfriend."
 
"Okay but in what world does Samuel wear the pants in the relationship?" Evan insisted from the floor and looked up for affectionately gazing at his girlfriend and daughter for a moment to grin at Samuel.

"Hey, I assure you I can be very assertive," Samuel said with determination, to show how assertive he could be

"Yeah right,"

"You're mean," He really wasn't very assertive.

"awe, Samuel I'm sure you can control your boyfriend by looking hot instead," Gabi said, casually, she didn't have much shame, but shame enough not to use any vulgar language when she continued, "Tell him you won't… Make out?" she glanced at Allison and seemed to decide that was an okay word to use in front of a baby, "unless you get what you want,"

"Gabi I hate you," Samuel whined, blush probably present on face and Gabi laughed.

"Nah you're right he probably does that with you, no offence, but Roman is very attractive," Samuel failed to see how it was offensive but let her continue, "And anyone who denies that is lying,"
 
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Everyone looked at Roman to see his response, but Roman just shrugged and nodded as if it was no big deal. "Yeah."

"God, you're a snob," London chuckled, clearly not meaning it, shaking her head.

"I am not. I am simply facing the facts." Roman laid a hand on his forehead, as if he felt dizzy from the responsibilities that came with being so attractive.

"Yeah, like, didn't you say that when you met Elissa she was totally flirting her butt off with you until she knew you had a boyfriend?" Elliot chuckled. He and Elissa were friends by this point, and he had teased her about this many times in the past, which was probably why he did it now, because he had learned that it was okay to joke about. However, he had never done it in front of Matthew, and both he and Roman realised at around the same time that this was something Matthew probably wouldn't like to hear.

Elissa's hand had stilled in Matthew's hair and she was looking at Elliot with irritation in her eyes but an otherwise blank expression. Elliot seemed to realise he had potentially fucked up real bad and leaned back into the couch, pressing a fist to his mouth and exchanging a look with his girlfriend. London focused on her baby and Roman looked at Matthew with a slightly guilty expression as he waited for his reaction.
 
The room was dead silent for a moment after Elliot's comment and everyone knew he had fucked up, Samuel glanced over at Matthew to assess the damage, his face was completely blank, as it so often were but as it rarely where when he was with his girlfriend.

After a moment of Matthew just sitting there expressionless, he peered over at roman, with was almost a slight glare and Samuel half expected him to say something rude again. But he didn't. Instead, he turned to his girlfriend for a moment, now looking more hurt than anything. Of course, this was Matthew so all of these changes in his expression were very subtle and you would have to know him quick well to pick up on what they really meant.

Samuel didn't want his friend to be mad at his boyfriend again or for his friend to feel hurt and tried his best to do his best to save the situation before Matthew said something stupid.

"Ugh, I mean she barely had a chance before I came and acted all mopey and jealous about it," Samuel started, now Matthew wasn't the only one to have been bitter about that situation, "But like, it was a good thing at the end because now Elissa is our friend,"

Samuel smiled over at the couple, he did his best to highlight that Elissa's flirting had led to them meeting her and in turn, Matthew meeting her, so it wasn't all bad. Matthew seemed to accept this because he sighed a little and then kissed Elissa on the cheek.

"eh," Matthew said and shrugged, he was clearly a little grumpy about it but not about to make a big deal of it which was a relief. Matthew really did seem to have matured quite a bit.

"…I can't believe Samuel is the jealous type," Evan joked to light up the mood a little, he definitely knew that already but it turned him a couple of chuckles. And a glare from Samuel.
 
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Roman was shocked when Matthew just ... let it go. Did not press the issue or get angry or cause a scene. He just kissed Elissa and shrugged it off. This was so out of character for Matthew ... or maybe for the idea of Matthew Roman had in his head. Perhaps Matthew had grown and matured over time, or maybe due to his newfound relationship with Elissa. Whatever the reason, Roman was grateful for it.

Elissa seemed to be as well. She let out a tiny, almost unnoticeable sigh and kissed her boyfriend on the top of the head. Elliot also relaxed since it had become apparent that Matthew was not angry, and everyone laughed a little at Evan's comment.

The rest of the party went on smoothly. Roman ended up splitting the leftovers between the four couples and Gabi and sending all the baked goods, including the remainder of the cake, home in Tupperware containers. Evan and London were the last to leave, and when Roman finally closed and locked the door behind them, it was getting late -- around eight o'clock. Roman let out a little sigh and crossed to the couch.

"I thought Matthew was going to fuckin' kill me," he confessed to Samuel as he sat down. He picked up his guitar from its stand beside the couch and positioned it in his lap, strumming a few delicate cords.
 
The rest of the party went on without any incidents, Samuel could tell that Matthew was maybe just a tad salty about the whole thing but Samuel figured that it was for the better that he found out about that whole thing now rather than later. Everyone got some baked goods to take home, both Gabi and Evan were delighted.

"Ugh, me too," Samuel chuckled, after the guest had all left he had slumped back onto the couch since it was the most comfortable place to sit close to him,"But I am very happy he didn't and that you are alive and well,"

He pulled his knees up to his chin and looked over at Roman with nothing but love and affection in his eyes. Possibly some expectation as Roman had grabbed his guitar. He was just strumming some chords right now but Samuel knew he didn't grab it just to do that and Samuel was always excited to hear Roman sing or play an instrument.

"What are you playing today?" Samuel asked softly, today had been a fun but long day, he felt a little tired and mellow and he was just looking forward to relaxing and listening to Roman playing for a little while before possibly cuddling up in bed and finding some movie to mindlessly watch until they fell asleep.
 
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Roman didn't answer. Instead he looked down at his guitar, put his fingers in their proper place and began to strum a simple, gentle tune, one that wasn't too complicated or intricate, but nice and sweet.

"Wise men say only fools rush in," he sang in a slow and gentle voice, synchronising his notes with that of the guitar with precision and ease. He looked at Samuel.

"But I can't help falling in love with you."

Roman looked at Samuel the entire time with nothing but adoration and love in his eyes, looking away only a few times to change the chords he was playing. His voice sounded smooth and effortless, yet carried all the emotions he felt for the man sitting beside him, his boyfriend, his Samuel.

The love of his life.

"But I can't help falling in love with you."
 
Samuel kept his eyes glued on Roman as he played, as he sang this love song for him. Roman had played like this for him before, but this time felt special. Something about the almost gentle tone in his voice, something about the song choice made things feel absolutely perfect.

Today Samuel had graduated. Today was the start of the rest of his life. Soon he'd have his dream job and Roman already had his, and Samuel had gotten to see him succeed with that this past year, and he was going to get to see him succussed with that every day going forward. It was all Samuel wanted, to spend his life with his boyfriend and for them both to be happy.

When Roman's voice quieted down, fading off from the last note and he had played the last couple of chords, Samuel leaned over the guitar, cupped Roman's face with his hands and pulled him in for a deep, long kiss.

"I love you," he whispered when he pulled away. It was the absolute truth and nothing would ever change that.
 
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"I hate you."

Two years had passed since Samuel had graduated from university and now both he and Roman were twenty-three years of age. They had now been together for almost six years, but that felt like nothing. Time was moving on so fast. Roman had unfortunately left his first tattoo parlour -- Mick had decided to move to Sydney -- but he now worked in an upper-class parlour in the middle of the rich district of Melbourne. He was making very good money.

Their friends were all moving on with their lives as well. Bella was working full-time in a childcare, which she loved. Blake was working as a personal trainer and Elliot had secured a position on an even better baseball team but also worked in a professional theatre company as a stage director. Elissa was now a first-year attorney in a legal firm and was also making very good money.

London was in her first year of teaching in a high school, while Samuel was in his second year. They worked in the same school. Allison was five years old and was due to start her first year of primary school at the end of the summer.

Time was going so fast.

"You do not hate me," London said as they all stepped onto the beach on that summery day. London had suggested they get the whole friend group together to go to the beach and get some sun. "You love me."

"I mean sure, but I still hate you."

London rolled her eyes. She and Roman set up their towels right next to one another, and the rest of the group set up their towels. The whole gang was there -- Elliot and Matilda, Bella and Blake, Matthew, Elissa and Gabi. They all wore beach clothes. Roman wore swim shorts and a black tank top, since he was pale as shit and didn't want to burn.

Over the last two years he had acquired several more tattoos. He had a cute planet, star and moon on the inside of his right middle and ring finger, all in varying shades of purple, and more planets on the back of his left index finger. He had the outlines of the Peter Pan characters behind his left ear, filled in with galaxy design. He also had the leaves from Pocahontas wrapped around his left bicep. He loved all of them.

Roman sat down on his towel, put on his sunglasses and looked around at his friends. Elliot was setting down the eski filled with all the drinks. He was topless, showing that he had built up more muscle over the years. Blake's arms and legs were now covered entirely in amazing tattoos, all of which Roman had done, and Bella had quite a few as well. They were both wearing bikinis with denim shorts and were laying down to tan. Elissa looked stunning in a vintage-style bikini and her large floppy hat.

Everyone had changed so much, but their friendship had remained the same. That was the important thing.

Roman picked up one of the floaties that London had brought for Allison. "You wanna be a mermaid?" he asked his niece as he prepared to blow up the floatie.
 
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"Yes! You should be one too and then we can be mermaids together," Allison said excitedly, "but we're only mermaids when we're in the water, when we're on land we are humans again,"

Samuel smiled at the little girl's imagination and how much she was talking now at age five. Two years had passed since he graduated from university and Allison had grown a lot since then. She wasn't the only thing that had changed though, a lot of things were different. Samuel was teaching now, History social studies and Spanish, although history was still the one subject he had most classes in since that was what he had gotten hired for.

And he was teaching with London, which was amazing. She and Evan seemed to be doing good in general. Evan still worked in construction but had been promoted and was now making more. There was no doubt that the parents no longer had to worry at all about supporting their daughter.

Today they were at the beach with all of their friends, Samuel loved it because he loved being out in the sun, Roman seemed less positive about it but it would probably be forgotten the moment he and Allison started playing.

Matthew was looking classy next to his equally classy girlfriend, he was wearing some simple navy bathing shorts and had replaced his glasses with equally hipster-y shades, nothing special but somehow the pair always managed to look proper and cool. Matthew was still studying, but he had also spent the last year finishing the book he had been working on off and on for years and there was talk about him actually getting it published, which was cool.

Gabi was also there, laying on her back, wearing a bikini top and bathing shorts from the men's section, reading a book. She seemed to have been just seen where life had taken her the past two years and rolled with it. She had travelled some right after graduation, finally moved out of her parents' house and was now working at the library and writing articles for cash on her spare time. She had not studied to become a librarian on a journalist at university.

Matilda had brought a little basket which she had told everyone was filled with some sugar cookies from work since she worked in a small but cute and successful cake shop. She was sitting with her boyfriend in a black bikini with a sheer pastel purple cardigan covering her shoulders. She was also wearing a baseball cap in Elliot's team colours which didn't really go with the rest of her outfit but that protected her face from the sun.

And getting protection was much needed, it was a hot and sunny day, and everyone was sure to burn. Or at least people like Roman and Evan who burnt way to easily. Samuel had come prepared and brought with him some high SPF sunscreen, it was for himself too, not because he burnt very easily but because he needed to cover his tattoos to avoid having them fade.

On top of the hummingbird on his arm, Samuel had gotten a large sunflower covering his left shoulder blade entirely. He had gotten it at a point where he felt his PTSD had gotten a lot more manageable and it was kind of a symbol of what he had overcome in his past and how happy he was at the time of getting it, which was just as happy as he was now. He had also gotten a small Daisy between his thumb and pointer finger, Roman had a matching rose on his hand. Actually, Roman had gotten quite a lot of tattoos, all small but Samuel loved them.

"Hey lovely boyfriend," Samuel said and moved over to sit behind Roman on his towel rather than next to him on his own, "You're so pale it hurts my eyes, it suits you and your gorgeous, but it also means you're actually going to be red by the time we get home, Luckily I am here to prevent this."

Roman has clearly chosen his attire for the day to protect himself from the sun, even if he was going to boil because it was all black, but his arms and face still wasn't protected, so Samuel just went right to it and started to rub sunscreen on Roman without any confirmation that he could do it.

"Hey, could you do Allison's shoulders as well?" Evan said lazily from his spot next to London, "and her nose,"

"Daddy, I don't need sunscreen, I'm a mermaid!" Allison insisted.

"Even mermaids burn in the sun, sweetie, that's why they are in the water all the time,"
 
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"You are touching me without my consent," Roman joked, clearly not minding at all when Samuel decided to rub sunscreen onto his skin. "Luckily I am too busy blowing up this floatie ring to stop you. And I don't particularly want to die from skin cancer."

Roman shut up and proceeded to blow up the floatie, enjoying the feeling of his boyfriend's hands on his skin, and the cooling sensation of the sunscreen. He was beginning to hate the beach considerably less. London took the bottle of sunscreen and began to apply the product to her daughter's arms, shoulders, neck and face to prevent her from burning.

"I wanna play beach volleyball," Elliot said from his place beside Matilda. He was munching on a sugar cookie.

"Count me out," said Roman, pausing the inflation of the floatie to complain.

"Lame."

Roman winked at him.

"I want to find a starfish," Elissa declared, turning to Matthew. Her hair was blowing about her face in the slight breeze and she looked like a model on the cover of a swimsuit magazine. "Will you come with me to the rock pools?"

"Well, I want to be a mermaid," Roman said, finally finishing the floatie and setting it on the sand beside Allison.
 
"Well, I do want to play volleyball," Evan said and quickly stood up despite sounding so tired only moments ago, "London, please make sure your brother doesn't let our daughter drown while I play,"

He kissed both London and Allison on the top of their heads and headed off to play Volleyball with Elliot and whoever else wanted to join. Matthew and Elissa went to go try to find a starfish. Samuel decided he wanted to stay with his boyfriend.

"I'm all done with the sunscreen, you are free to do whatever you want," Samuel said once he was done, he might have taken as long as possible to do apply it simply because he liked being close to Roman, but no one needed to know that."That includes being a mermaid,"

"Yay we can be mermaids now," Allison exclaimed happily, "Come on, uncle Roman I wanna go be mermaids in the water, uncle Sammy too, and mummy,"

The little girl was standing up now and pulling at Roman's arm to get him to come along, Samuel wasn't one to deny her request so he stood up without any protest. Sure. Playing mermaids was fun enough he supposed.
 
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"Okay, okay, calm down," Roman pleaded with the gorgeous little child as he got to his feet. London stood up too, and they all made their way over to the lovely water. It was cool, but not too cool, and the waves felt soft against Roman's toes.

He put Allison's floatie ring around her waist and walked out into the water with her. They walked until the water was about up to London's shoulders -- meaning that the water was up to Roman's elbows, and about halfway down Samuel's bicep. He made sure that Allison was secure in her floatie ring, before he and London began to gently push the child between them. Allison floated back and forth in her ring.

"Allison, are you excited to start school at the end of the summer?" Roman asked his niece. He couldn't believe how much she had grown. It made him miss how little she used to be, how soft and sweet she had been when he had held her on the day she had been born.

"Why aren't you asking me if I'm excited? I'm starting my second year of teaching," London reminded him.

"Because you're lame. And so is Samuel, he's starting his third."
 
"yeah, and the second and third year aren't as cool as the first," Samuel chuckled and Alisson seemed happy to know that her starting school was the coolest.

"I'm super duper excited! I've been practising and I can write my name suuuper pretty now," Allison told her uncles proudly as she was being pushed around by the adults, "And we want to the library and borrowed a book and I read all of it and I almost didn't need mummy and daddy to help me at all"

"Are you good at reading Allison?" Samuel knew she was but he still asked to show interest in her reading abilities, they had all always kind of known she was growing up to be smart, she always seemed interested in learning new things and seemed to be picking up things like reading and writing fairly quickly, of course it still took her some time to just read a single word, she had only just turned five after all.

"Mhm, some of my friends can't read yet so I have to help them if they want to know something,"

"well, it's very nice of you to help them," Samuel said with a bright smile and Allison smiled back and when she was pushed a little of her path between Roman and London Samuel passed her back over to Roman and made her spin around in her ring and the girl giggled with delight.
 
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Roman smiled at his niece, incredibly glad that she was happy to start school. Allison was so lovely. Everything about her was bright and happy and she never failed to fill Roman with delight. She was perfect.

"I'm very proud of you, sweetie," Roman said to the little girl. "I'm sure you'll do very well in school. If you ever need help with homework you can come ask me, okay?"

London smiled at her brother, glad that he was volunteering his assistance. Obviously she did not have as much time to care for her child as she did before, due to her having a full time job. She still made sure to make time for the little girl but perhaps she did not get as much as she would have liked.

"So do you losers share a staff room?" Roman asked London and Samuel. "Do you talk crap about the students in there? What's it like to share one microwave between like twelve people?"
 
"It's not like you don't share a break room with the people you work with Roman, stop acting as if you're better than us," Samuel joked, he knew Roman didn't think that at all, "It's a very nice microwave and while we wait for the other twelve people to heat their lunch we totally have time to gossip about the students and that is very entertaining, I assure you,"

Samuel liked his job a whole lot, and it was a lot of fun to have London there with him, there was no denying that they were close by now, they had known each other for as long as Roman and him had known each other, they had lived next to each other for years now and they were practically family by now.

"Like did you hear that Emma Buckley and Thomas Stewart totally broke up before summer?" Samuel asked London as if it was the most serious and important matter in the world, "I heard Hannah Palmer say they'd probably get back together after summer though, then I told her we are supposed to talk Spanish not gossip in Spanish class, and she got really embarrassed, it was great,"
 
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"I totally did hear that. I also heard that Thomas cheated on Emma with Tabitha Morely and that's why they broke up, but apparently Thomas is going to make it up to her on New Years," London chattered, sounding like a silly high school girl herself. It was rather funny. Roman chuckled.

After a little while longer, London decided that she and Allison wanted to find Evan and make him help them build a sandcastle, so the smaller group dispersed. Roman was already tired from swimming with his niece for a solid half hour, so he decided that he and his boyfriend would relax on the towels for a little while. Roman pulled Samuel down onto the sand and laid with his head resting on his boyfriend's chest.

Bella set two cans of Coke next to the boys. "Blake and I are going up to the shop on the hill to get some ice creams, what do you want?" she asked him, kicking his leg teasingly. They had long since recovered from that awkward night when they had kissed.

"A hazelbut Magnum, duh," Roman replied, kicking her in the thigh.

"Can do."

Bella and Blake left and Matthew and Elissa came back from their expedition to the rock pools. Elissa had taken off her thin cardigan and was using it to carry the treasures she had found. She lead Matthew over to where Allison and her parents were making their sandcastle and knelt down beside them.

"Hey, Allison," she said sweetly, setting her cardigan down on the sand to reveal many different shells, starfish and pretty rocks. "Do you want to use these for your sandcastle?"
 
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After their time playing in the water with Allison Samuel ended up laying with Roman, just soaking up the sun and warming up after being in the water. He was casually running his fingers through Roman's damp hair, after years of being with him it was pretty much a habit to do so.

"Can I?" Allison asked carefully and politely when she was told she was allowed to use the pretty seashells.

"Of course you can," Matthew said, putting a lot more emotion into his voice now that he was talking to a small child, he always did that whenever he talked to Allison, he was actually surprisingly good with children, "The people living in the castle will have way more use of them than we will,"

He grabbed one of the shells and handed it to Allison to get her started so she knew it was okay to take them, "Who are the people living there?"

"The mermaids, of course!" she chirped happily and proceeded to put the shell on top of the castle,

Matthew and Elissa left the seashells with Alisson and headed back over to their towels, Matthew sat down and pulled his girlfriend into his lap and kissed her cheek before looking over to the other two.

"What are you nerds doing?"

"Relaxing, it is a thing people do, in case you didn't know,"Samuel joked, "We're also trying to find out how long it takes for Roman to get skin cancer from the sun, my bet is within the next fifteen minutes,"

"I think he already has it,"

"You're just as pale as him, mate, you can't judge him," Samuel chuckled, him and Gabi, who was sleeping softly at her towel now, were probably the ones who were the safest from the sun, Samuel could see from where he was laying that Evan's freckly back was already getting a slight red tone from the sun.
 
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Matthew was actually pretty good with kids, which was nice to see, since it meant that he actually had emotions under that steely exterior. The only other person he consistently showed emotion towards was Elissa, who he clearly absolutely doted on, which Roman thought was rather sweet. She made him a better person. She was to Matthew as Samuel was to Roman.

"You're all acting like I've never seen the sun before," Roman complained, turning onto his back and closing his eyes. The sun caught his hair and dyed it a few shades lighter than it normally was, turned it into a warm amber colour. "I go outside every day."

"The two-minute walk to the fifteen-minute train ride to work doesn't count. You have to spend at least an hour outside," Elissa noted from her place in Matthew's lap. Roman flipped her off without opening his eyes.

"Rude." Elissa turned to Matthew and continuously poked him on the cheek. "Roman's bullying me again. You should defend my honour. I might die from sadness and then who will make you hot chocolate and discuss sixteenth century feudalism with you?"

Elissa obviously could defend herself but she liked to tease Matthew into doing it, and Roman thought it was rather cute.
 
"Roman stop being rude to my girlfriend," Matthew said upon being requested to defend Elissa. His relationship with Roman was good enough now for them to actually talk and tease each other like friends without it turning into something bad.

"He'll stop being rude when she stops being rude to him," Samuel defended Roman instead.

"Well she was saying the truth, a two minute walk to the train doesn't count," Matthew insisted some what drily, nut did kiss her cheek again to sign lay that she was right and deserving of kisses.

"I mean you do have a point," Samuel tapped Roman on his forehead to get his full attention, "Go outside more, the sun gives you vitamin D, you need that,"

Samuel was joking, but he was also a little serious.
 
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