Aftermath

Heath's arms snake around John's midsection, hugging him from behind. "How could I not, Darlin'?" He asks, kissing him again. "Can I help?"

"No, you relax and enjoy the view." He chuckled as he chopped up some vegetables.

Heath snaps his fingers. "Hang on..." He goes into the cabinets, pulling out the dishes and a couple of glasses, arranging everything in a way that would have made his old home-ec teacher proud. After a couple of minutes of rummaging, he even finds a couple of candle holders and candles to put on the table. "There."

John chuckles. "Hopeless romantic, huh?" He said, smiling as he cooked.

"Got a problem with that, Darlin?" Heath walks over with one of the candles, using the fire from the stove to get it lit, then light the other one. "Much as I hate being off the road and outta the ring, it's kinda nice to have an extra night at home."

John chuckled. "Not one bit. I love you..." He said, the words slipping out. His eyes widened as he realized what he just said.

Heath blinks, caught off guard. "I, uh," he hesitates, then finally decides the truth is the best bet. "I really like you a lot, dunno if it's love yet, but I'd like to stick around and find out. If that's all right with you, of course."

John smiled. "Yeah... I'd really like that." One of John's flaws was falling too easy. He trusted too easy, and gave his love away too easily. And that led to a lot of heartbreaks in the past. But with Heath, he was sure, or at least he hoped, that this time was different.

Heath kisses his cheek. "You sure you don't want me to make a salad or anything? That I can actually do."

John smiled. "Sure. Just no cucumbers." He chuckled.

"No problem." He grabs the vegetables, then starts chopping them. He gets most everything done, but as he's finishing with the tomatoes, his hand slips and he cuts himself. "Oh, son of a bitch," he hisses, as the blood wells up.

John looked up. He grabbed a kitchen towel, and quickly wrapped it around Heath's hand. "C'mon." He said softly, pulling Heath in the bathroom and found a few bandages, and silently cleans and wraps Heath's hand quickly and painlessly. "There, all better," He said, smiling softly.

Heath hops up so he's sitting on the counter. "My hero." He drawls. "You know, I think I accidentally cut my lip too; I think the only solution is to kiss it and make it better."

John smiled, reaching up. Just millimeters from Heath's lips, he smirked. "Nice try, darlin'." He drawled and went back into the kitchen.

"Dang, I thought for sure that'd work." Heath snaps his fingers in mock dismay. "I'll have to try harder next time." He hops back off the counter, then sits down in the kitchen. "Want coffee?"

"Sure, grazie." He said as he fixed up two plates of food for dinner.

"Grazie?" Heath frowns, heading over to the coffee maker. After being on the road for so long, he's become something of a coffee snob. There was a difference between the coffee you could sit and enjoy and the sludge that tasted like hell but got you out of bed. Sometimes the latter was necessary, but that just made him appreciate the former all the more.

He gets the French Press ready, perking the coffee nice and slow, stirring it with a wooden spoon and then pouring it into two cups. Each mug has his own face on them, making one of his so-called 'goofy' expressions. Wade had gotten him the mugs as a gag gift, but Heath had decided to keep them.

"It's 'thank you' in italian." He chuckled He looked at the mug. "Really? Really Heath? Really?" He asked, holding up the mug and gesturing to his face on them.

Heath immediately imitates the face on the mug. "Wade got 'em as a joke for my birthday; I decided to keep them. Why not? They do the job." He sips his coffee, his eyes slipping half closed as he savors the warmth.

John giggles and sets the plates of food on the table. "Bon appetit!"

"Grazie, darlin'." Heath digs in.

John laughed and sat down, eating as well, though not as animalistic as Heath.

Heath finishes the food fast; the swim and their... later activities had awoken his appetite.

He's far more sedate with his coffee, enjoying the slight burn on his tongue.

When John finishes, he takes the dirty plates and cleans them, as if its a routine and has been doing it forever.

"You need a hand?" Heath cocks his head, going over and starting to dry the dishes.