Chapter Text
Titch was stood in the kitchen doing the washing up. He stared out the window, admiring the golden hues painting the sky while his hands absentmindedly scrubbed the dishes in the warm, soapy water. He was so distracted that he jumped when he felt arms wrap around his torso.
“Sorry, Love, I didn’t mean to startle you,” Derek apologised.
“It’s alright,” Titch twisted his head around and planted a kiss on Derek’s cheek before turning back to the dishes.
“You know,” Derek leaned in closer to Titch’s ear and lowered his voice, “both Johnny and Janae are at sleepovers tonight. So, we have the entire night all to ourselves,” he kissed Titch’s jawline.
Titch grinned, “Oh, is that right?”
“Mm hm,” Derek hummed
“Then I know exactly what we’ll be doing...”
***
Titch placed their copy of ‘The Princess Bride’ in the DVD player and sat down on the sofa. In the background he could hear the popcorn popping in the microwave. ‘The Princess Bride’ was their favourite film and they used to watch it regularly. That was until their boys came along. They tried watching it, but neither were really interested so the men hadn’t been able to watch it for ages.
Derek came in with a big bowl filled with popcorn, placed it on the table just in front of them and joined Titch under the blanket. Derek leaned against the back of the sofa and Titch curled into his side. They both let out contented sighs. It was perfect, they got to spend their evening watching the perfect film with their perfect husband.
It really was the perfect film. It had something for both of them to enjoy. Derek got to drool over the sappy love story and Titch got to drool over Inigo Montoya.
“What can I say?” Titch laughed when Derek brought it up, “I just love a man with an accent.”
Derek grinned, “Oh really?” He cleared his throat and in a terrible attempt at a Spanish accent quoted, “Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die.”
Titch burst out laughing, in between shaky breaths he pleaded, “Never do that again!”
Derek laughed as well, planted a kiss on the crown of Titch’s head. He sighed dramatically, “Fine!”
They continued to watch the film, laughing and quoting along at the best moments. When it was eventually over, they turned off the TV and Titch yawned.
“That’s such an incredible film, it’s a shame the boys don’t like it.”
Derek hummed in agreement, “They're definitely missing out.”
Titch bit his lip, “Actually, that reminds me. I need to talk to you about something. Something important.”
A serious look settled on Derek’s face as he turned to face Titch properly, “What’s the matter, Love?”
“It’s Johnny, I’m worried about him.”
Derek nodded, “In what way?”
“He’s been too quiet recently. He’s also been avoiding us, and I whenever I look at him, he looks... sad, or maybe worried. I think something’s happened, but he isn’t telling us.”
“Do you think we should talk to him about it?”
“I tried a few days ago but he just told me it was nothing. We do need to help him, but we need to be careful about how we approach it.”
Derek nodded.
Just then, Titch’s phone rang. It was Johnny’s friend Jullian’s mother.
“Hello?” He answered.
“Hello, Titch,”
“Is everything alright?”
“Johnny’s had a nightmare, and he keeps saying that he wants to go home,”
Worried crossed Titch’s face and he bit his lip, “I’ll come and pick him up, thanks for telling me.”
“I’ll let him know you’re on the way,”
“Thank you,” He hung up.
“What happened, Love?”
“Johnny had a nightmare, I’m going to go get him,” He stood up and walked into the hall to grab his jacket and shoes.
“Do you know if it was a... you know...”
“Probably,” He kissed Derek’s cheek, “I’ll be back in a bit, I love you.”
“Love you too,” Derek watched Titch disappear out the door.
***
Johnny sat snifflnig in the passenger seat, curled into a ball, wiping at his eyes.
“Do you want to tell me what happened, Johnny?”
Johnny didn’t answer.
“Was it a future dream?”
He stayed silent.
Titch sighed, “Listen Johnny, I want to help you. But I can’t if you won’t tell me what’s wrong. Please?”
Johnny’s lips trembled as he replied, “It was nothing, you don’t need to worry.”
“What do you mean, ‘it was nothing’! You were shaking and crying when I saw you!”
“Dad, please don’t worry about me. I can handle it on my own,”
Titch knew that was a lie. However, he couldn’t do anything about it. Clearly Johnny wasn’t going to accept any help from him. But that didn’t mean he’d stop trying.