Work Text:
Theo wasn’t used to this.
Jealousy as a whole was something he’d been acquainted with, but that was much more abstract. He knew the longing for friendship and romance and love and kisses and attention, and he got annoyed when he saw other people had it because he just wanted it so much, but this was so much different. This was having someone and trusting that someone, but still feeling wronged when he was spending time with someone else.
It was for work, which Theo knew, and the people Akk was apprenticing under were a married couple. There was no reason for Theo to be jealous and if he thought about it logically for a few minutes, he would be fine. But then he’d see the way Akk would light up at the way Lucas praised him or the way he got excited when Manon tried out a Thai phrase, the smile he had when they kissed his cheek as a hello or a job well done. Maybe it wouldn’t be so annoying if they were old or ugly, but they were young and hot and Akk very clearly liked the attention they gave him.
But it wasn’t even just that either. It was the way that every time they went to a coffee shop or a bakery, the worker would fawn over how cute Akk was when he spoke or bowed his head. They weren’t wrong, he was adorable, but it was like no one ever considered that Theo was his boyfriend even when they were standing right next to each other, holding hands. That was a new problem. Even back home people assumed they were a couple before they even were.
France was just a multitude of people flirting with his boyfriend right in front of his face.
“Theo, your ears are bright red and I don’t have my camera, that’s not fair,” Akk said, letting himself be dragged out of the coffee shop after yet another barista slid him her number. Akk made a show of finding the straw with his mouth as Theo just pulled him down the block to the building they were staying in because of course he did. He was hot and charming and everyone in the entire country was aware of it.
Theo knew he should be glad. Akk was thriving here and that’s really all he wanted. He’d wanted Akk to be happy and successful, to have dreams and aspirations, to lay in bed with him and talk about all the places they’d go together once they made names for themselves. Akk was going to be a known photographer and Theo would be the next Nicholas Sparks‒just without the divorce.
But it was going to be so annoying if he had to go every day until then with people trying to date his boyfriend.
Theo unlocked the door to their apartment and grabbed Akk’s hips in the same movement. Akk’s eyes went wide, but he smiled as he let Theo back him into the counter.
“What’s happening right now?” he asked. Theo set his own coffee on the counter behind Akk and then took Akk’s coffee to do the same. “Oh, so you spent money on me and won’t even let me drink it? This is a cruel, cruel turn of ev‒”
Theo kissed him, leaning into him and over him as Akk willingly bent back. His arms wrapped around Theo’s neck to pull him in closer without question. Nothing but open mouthed kisses and shared breaths, pressing in so every single inch of their bodies were aligned.
"You still want your coffee?" Theo asked, one hand on his hip and the other tilting Akk's head up to leave a trail of kisses down his neck. He watched Akk feel around the cup and couldn't help the surge of adoration he felt for him in that moment. He let go of his jaw and slid the cup into Akk's palm.
"I like you when you're like this, keep going," Akk urged, taking a sip of his coffee. Theo rolled his eyes, but he licked a long stripe up the length of Akk's neck as a form of silent agreement as his hands went to the waistband of Akk's pants. Akk was relaxed and welcomed the escalation. "Hey, Theo."
"Yeah?" Theo said, nudging his nose against Akk's jaw as he undid the button of his jeans. He pressed more kisses across his neck, open-mouthed and with teeth. Claiming. Akk was his. Why didn't everyone know that he was his?
Theo shoved his pants and his underwear down in one go, leaving a trail of kisses over his t-shirt as he got onto his knees.
"I love you," Akk said, petting his head. Theo glanced up at him, caught his eyes as he smiled around his straw. He was ridiculous, but handsome and charming and funny. No wonder everyone was interested in him.
But he was Theo's. And he has every intention to keep it that way.
"I love you too," Theo said, still looking up at him as he kissed his hip.
And then he got to work showing him just how much he meant it.
-
The best part about working from home was Theo got to have lunch with Akk and got to walk him to work whenever he wanted.
He liked holding hands with him and listening to him talk about clients he had. He always had interesting characters–elderly couples who wanted updated photos together, unruly children who didn't want their pictures taken, family portraits that turned into them revealing all of their family dirt to everyone, and the occasional single person of all ages who wanted to boost their confidence.
"I think something I never really understood was that my job as a photographer isn't just showing someone the beauty of themselves, but the whole process in itself is vulnerable to that person and it's my job to make them feel confident," Akk had told him one time over a meal, reciting it like he'd been taught it by the only teacher he'd listened to in his life, "Manon said I'm good at it."
And he was good at it.
Akk's skills had improved immensely and he seemed to actually have a vision now. He stayed up late every night editing, he rambled to Theo his ideas, he had a wish list of new cameras and equipment–he was even drawing again. Akk got more beautiful every day as he really allowed himself to enjoy life for once, letting go of things. And maybe that was why so many people noticed him here. He’d always been handsome and charming, but now he was at a completely different level. Which meant Theo couldn't really be upset or jealous because he understood and he preferred it.
But not being jealous was much easier said than done.
"Stop, Akk!" a girl shrieked, laughing as Theo walked into the studio. He tried not to stumble over his feet at the sound, holding onto their drinks and food to the best of his ability. There was only one Thai place worth eating at in an obtainable distance and Theo didn't want to waste it.
"Get back here!" Akk shouted, laughter in his voice as well.
Theo halted to a stop as a girl sprinted past him and Akk was shortly after. He blinked a few times and watched as Akk chased a girl around the studio, both of them jumping over props and furniture like they were used to it. He tried to ignore that painful feeling in his gut as Akk caught her, the momentum throwing them both the ground and Akk bracing her fall. They were both laughing and catching their breath, splaying out on the floor after Akk rolled off of her.
"And I'll take that," Akk said, reaching over and plucking something out of the pocket in her overalls. She pouted and whined, but it was all playful.
"You're so mean."
"You would say that, thief."
Theo felt more than a bit nauseous.
People flirted with Akk all the time, but he was always dismissive or oblivious. But this was different. This was Akk teasing and playing–which wasn't inherently flirting, but Theo had been on the receiving end of him flirting before and it was familiar.
"Oh, Theo, darling!" Manon called. Theo got a full few of Akk's eyes widening and he sat up quickly, his eyes meeting Theo's. And he smiled, not an ounce of guilt in him. He didn't look like he'd been caught.
"Hi," Theo said, accepting cheek kisses from Manon. His eyes stayed on Akk as he grabbed the girl's hands and pulled her to her feet. She was gorgeous, there wasn't any doubt about that.
"How is everything coming along in your book? It feels like it's been forever since we've seen you," she gushed. It'd really only been a week, but Theo had been on a good writing streak and didn't want to mess it up. But he'd sort of hit an impasse and what better way to spend it than spending time with his boyfriend?
Or at least that's what he felt before he realized his boyfriend was clearly not as eager to see him.
"Theo, I didn't know you were coming," Akk said. Theo waited for a kiss he didn't get. "Theo, this is Chloe, Chloe, this is Theo."
"His boyfriend," Theo supplied. There was no venom in it, but his insecurity was probably obvious to people in space.
"Yeah, my boyfriend, isn't he cute?" Akk said, reaching forward to pinch his cheek. Theo leaned away, but let himself smile at the attention. "Chloe's a new intern, this is her first week."
"Hi! I've heard so much about you," she said, going in for a hug. Theo awkwardly accepted it around his full hands. She had an accent he couldn't quite place, but it was clearly French wasn't her first language. Which–maybe that was good because Akk deserved someone else to relate to. Second languages were hard.
"I would invite you to have lunch with us, but I only got enough for two," Theo said. He liked to think was polite enough to not let his annoyance cloud him. Akk talked about him, she knew he had a boyfriend, they were allowed to be friendly without it being flirty. And he would tell himself that until he was blue in the face.
"Oh, don't even worry about it, you guys have fun."
There was small talk around him, Theo feeling a little too spaced out to really mentally translate what they were saying as Akk took one of the drinks and the bag out of his hands. Akk led the way into the little makeshift break room, pulling out a chair for him.
"You okay?" Akk asked as he sat down. Theo nodded, deciding that 'maybe, do you reach into all of your coworkers pockets?' was a little much.
"No, I haven't been kissed since this morning," Theo said. Akk grinned and leaned down, pressing an annoyingly chaste kiss to his lips. "More?"
"When I'm not at work," Akk laughed, sitting right next to him and starting to pull out their lunch.
"Did you miss having lunch with me?" Theo asked. Akk looked at him, eyebrows pulled together.
"Of course. I like being around you all the time," Akk said. He took a bite of his food. "You're being weird. What's up?"
"Nothing."
"Liar," Akk said, leaning forward with that pretty smile, "I know you. Spill."
"Nothing, I promise," Theo insisted as he focused on that face, that smile, that mark on his neck Theo had left, "Feed me."
"Wow, my boyfriend is so needy," he said, but when Theo went to reach for his own set of chopsticks, his hand was swatted away, "I didn't say no."
It was easy to forget any kind of bad feeling as Akk fed him and teased him and pulled faces just to make him smile. Theo almost felt foolish for even being bothered. They were in love, a deep and serious love that only gained intensity with time. This was his best friend in the entire world and he trusted him.
There was no reason to be jealous.
-
There was one reason to be jealous.
Theo hated working out. It was the actual bane of his existence and he tried to go out of his way to not have to work out, but Akk had found a love for it in France. A love that was apparently shared with some guy named Erik. Theo had really convinced himself that there was nothing concerning, it was good that Akk was making friends, but then Akk posted a picture on Instagram with this guy and while Akk was looking at his own muscles, Erik was looking at Akk. Eyes didn’t lie. This guy had a thing for his boyfriend.
Theo had only met him a couple times in passing, but he very clearly liked to pretend Theo wasn't there, always just talking to Akk. And each time it became more and more clearly he had gotten his mind set on Akk, no amount of hickeys deterred him. And Akk didn't even seem to notice.
Before he even knew better, Theo found himself half-dead on the floor of the gym, his limbs all feeling like they’d turned into noodles.
“Rock, paper, scissors, loser makes dinner,” Akk said, smirking as he hovered over Theo. He was sweaty and his body was radiating heat. It would’ve been a massive turn on if Theo didn’t feel like his soul had left his body.
Okay, maybe it was still a little bit of a turn on.
“I can’t even lift my hands enough to play rock, paper, scissors,” Theo said, still catching his breath. Akk was holding back laughter.
“Might not want him to make you food after that, he might poison it,” Erik laughed somewhere off to the side. Theo really had tried not to be annoyed by him. Yes it was clearly he was into Akk, but it was also clear that the feeling wasn’t mutual. Not that Theo thought it would be.
“Aw, poor Nong’Theo,” he said, pushing Theo’s hair back. Theo’s eyes closed at the sensation of his hand through his hair, the only good feeling he’d had in the last hour. When he reopened his eyes, Akk was still there, still smiling at him. “Do you need me to carry you?”
“Just give me a minute.”
“You sure?" Akk said, poking him in the side. Theo flinched instinctively, but his body was sore and he groaned which just caused Akk to laugh. It was such a nice sound. "Remind me to drag you here once a week, this is hilarious."
"You're such an asshole," Theo cursed. He regretted it when it caused Akk to move further away with his laughter.
"Come on, let's help the little guy up," Erik laughed. Theo glared.
"I'm taller than both of you," he said. Akk snorted, grabbing both of Theo's arms and pulling up to a sitting position.
He felt like dead weight, barely even able to hold his own head up. Akk dropped one of his arms and moved his hand to his neck, supporting his head. Theo felt a surge of adoration at the sweet smile on his face; he really loved him. And he probably would've said that if Erik wasn't watching them.
"We can drop him off at home and you and I can go get something since he can't make it," Erik suggested. Akk raised his eyebrows and looked up at Erik like he'd lost it.
"Maybe another time, I'm taking him home," Akk said, tugging Theo in more. His head met Akk's shoulder and he relaxed there, looking up at Erik who clearly wasn't happy with the way his afternoon was going. Then again, he hadn't looked happy when Theo showed up in the first place.
"You need help?" Erik asked. Akk laughed, too kind, shaking his head.
"No, thanks though," he said simply, "I'll see you later."
"Right. Have a good night, Akk, see you later," Erik said. He didn't really waste anymore time before he left. Theo turned his head against Akk's shoulder and pressed a kiss there.
"You know he likes you, right?" Theo said, slipping back into Thai, "Like, he's not even subtle."
Akk was quiet for a few beats. "I didn't have this issue making friends back home."
Theo lifted his head with what strength he had left. Akk looked a little sad, like he hadn't really considered it, despite it being obvious. Theo pressed his nose against Akk's cheek.
"You're hot and charming, can you blame them?" Theo asked.
"Let's go home," Akk said, disregarding his question. Theo didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
Still, he let Akk help him up and they made their way to their apartment that wasn't very far away in reality, but it felt like it was on the other side of the world. Akk's momentary sadness subsided by the time they made it to their door, back to laughing and teasing and telling Theo he was going to leave him next time.
Akk immediately dragged him to the bathroom and turned on the shower, starting to strip Theo and himself. Theo was exhausted and didn't want to waste time on a shower, but he liked knowing Akk wanted him and he wasn't going to say no . Besides, it felt nice to feel the hot water on his skin.
"Hey," Theo said as Akk pressed a kiss to his shoulder and then to his neck. Akk wrapped his arms around him in a hug, holding tight. Theo did his best to hug him back just as tight. "You okay?"
"I want to make friends here, Theo," Akk said, "I think I do, but you always think they don't want to be just friends. I don’t want to upset you."
Theo froze before he pulled back a bit, looking at Akk’s face. It was that hard to read look that he thought they’d moved past.
"Not everyone," Theo whispered. The water rained over them, hot on his sore muscles, adding comfort to this not very fun conversation.
"I'm not stupid, Theo, I know when you're jealous. I've known you my whole life. I don’t want to do things that I know are making you sad or uncomfortable."
Theo swallowed and hugged him tighter. He slightly wondered how that was the case if Akk was so blind to his feelings for so long even when he couldn't have been more obvious, but now really wasn't the time.
"Just because I'm jealous doesn’t mean you can’t be friends with them,” Theo said, moving his hand up to rub his thumb against Akk’s cheek.
“I’m not going to deliberately upset you.”
“You aren’t, though. I want you to be happy. I’m sorry, I didn’t know I was that obvious.” That was just shy of a lie‒he’d never been good at concealing his feelings. His face betrayed them all and they both knew it.
“Theo,” Akk said, a small grin finding his face. He pinched Theo’s cheek and Theo let him, not even denying that he just liked when Akk was touching him. “You’re so obvious about everything, it’s a lot of responsibility on me to not make fun of you for it.”
“Hey!”
“And I’m trying to be better about giving you the same courtesy and being clear with you. I don’t care how many hot people try to hit on me or how much they pretend they don’t see that we’re in grossly romantic love, it doesn’t change the fact that I am stupidly in love with you. You’re my person, you’ve always been my person. You know that, right? I just want to be with you, not anyone else,” Akk said. Theo nodded his head.
“I never thought you didn’t. I trust you, I know you love me,” Theo promised. Akk smiled and gave him a short kiss, nudging his nose against Theo’s immediately after.
“Good.”
“But I hate that no one knows that you’re mine. I went through so much to get you and people won’t even go ‘oh, guy’s got a boyfriend, off limits’,” Theo said, pouting. Akk put the pad of his thumb on Theo’s bottom lip, tugging it down. Theo whined and pulled back as he glared. Still, the warmth he felt at Akk’s warm smile didn’t fade.
“That’s always going to happen, people suck. It happens with you all the time, I just don’t think you notice,” Akk said. Theo raised his eyebrows.
“No it does not.”
“Um, yes, it does, I see it all the time.”
“It doesn’t make you jealous? At all?”
“No, I’m an unfeeling rock of a boyfriend,” Akk said. Theo pinched his side, but he kept his hold on him as he squirmed so he wouldn’t fall. “Of course it makes me jealous, but I know you’re mine. It was way worse back in the day when I didn’t feel like I was worth your attention, I was definitely way more obvious.”
“What? No you weren’t,” Theo said. Akk scoffed.
“I don’t think I could’ve been more obvious.”
“You could’ve! Because I only caught a couple things!” Theo argued.
Akk lightly bit his cheek, pulling him even closer. A zing of excitement shot up his spine at the feeling of Akk’s bare body flushed against his as he teased him‒he would never get over that feeling. He didn’t care how long they’d been together or how old they got or how many times he’d seen Akk walk around the apartment completely naked, the thrill he got when he knew exactly what Akk was doing would never fade.
“Am I being obvious now?” Akk asked, voice low as he kissed behind his ear. His hands slid down and Theo let out a shaky breath.
“Yeah.”
“Promise me you’ll talk to me if you’re seriously jealous to the point it’s bothering you. We get nowhere when we don’t talk, already learned that the hard way,” Akk said.
“Okay, I promise. And promise me that you’ll still make friends. I like seeing you happy and I know that means other people like it too.”
“You know I’ll keep making friends, how could anyone not want to befriend me?” Akk asked. Theo poked him in the side and Akk’s sole retaliation was to pull Theo’s hips against his even more. Theo was dizzy with it. “I promise. And I like when you’re happy too. Smile for me.”
“I’m already smiling.”
“I know.”
Theo liked this version of Akk. He liked the confidence he carried with him, he liked how sure of himself that he was. He knew this version of Akk caught people’s attention. It made sense. He got that.
But, still, nothing beat knowing Theo actually got to keep it.