Professor Layton | But Still, He Loves Me | Chapter 16: Past

[bedes]

Summary: When going through a box of stuff Luke had collected over the course of his and Crow’s relationship, he stumbles upon something that Crow didn’t know he had. (A continuation of the ‘Commitment’ chapter.)

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“I cannot believe you kept that.”

Crow was staring at a small piece of paper in Luke’s hands with a certain mix of disdain and disbelief, which his husband was staring at with loving nostalgia and a big, goofy grin. Luke sat on the couch, with Crow leaning over his shoulder from behind it, so he turned to him and rolled his eyes lovingly.

“Of course I kept it!” he responded, his voice light and fluffy. “It made me so, so happy to read. I wanted to treasure it!”

On the small piece of paper, old and torn, was a drawing of two birds. However, what had obviously made Luke keep it for all of these years was the small words in between them, in Crow’s handwriting. ‘Crow Triton.’

“How did you even...” Crow buried his face in one of his hands, sighing, before starting again. “How did you even get that?” he asked, his voice muffled.

“The teacher told me to turn in your paper for you, because you forgot! And my last name stands out in writing, sooo...” Luke shrugged, but his demeanor was still cheerful and relaxed.

Crow hopped over the back of the couch (a bad habit for which Luke often scolded him for) and plopped next to Luke, crossing his arms. He was blushing very slightly, and Luke only really noticed because he was sitting closer now.

“Crow,” Luke said in a warning tone for jumping onto the couch, before putting the paper back into the small box, labeled ‘Memories (Crow)’. “Don’t look so mad, hehe! You’re the one who wrote it~”

“Yeah, but nobody else was s’pposed to see it, much less you!! Besides, why even keep it now? I mean-“ Instead of finishing his sentence, Crow motioned to the wedding band on his finger, which matched Luke’s.

Upon it being called to his attention, Luke gently brought his hand to the ring on his other finger, and a small smile graced his face. “I know... But it’s still nice, you know, to keep bits of our past with us!” He leaned up a bit closer to Crow’s, resting his head on his shoulders. “Back then... I didn’t know whether or not you wanted to really settle down with me, or if you just thought about me while I was there. If I only really existed in your mind when I was with you...”

Crow snorted a bit, then nudged Luke with his elbow. “You’re always on my mind in some form or another, stupid. Whether it be romantic, melodramatic stuff, or just remembering that I’m not supposed to eat your cereal.”

“But I didn’t know that!” Luke replied. “So...” His expression went soft. “So, it was important to me, to see that you thought about me. And us... Married.”

Crow nudged Luke again, but his expression was a bit more sweet, as well. “Hey, don’t go get sappy on me, now. Back then, I was too stupid and emotionally dumb to really talk about how I was feeling, ya know? But, I dunno, being around you...” He shrugged, and looked away, even though he was smiling. “S’helped, I think. Now I can say more emotional stuff. So, if you wanted me to say something, or to tell you that you’re on my mind, I could!”

Luke smiled gently at that, making a content noise, and leaned more onto Crow, who, in turn, wrapped his arm around him, letting him snuggle up to his chest. Crow pressed a kiss to the top of Luke’s head, and kept his face there, buried in Luke’s hair.

“Dork.”