Work Text:
Beneath Thanasis, the grass is soft. He runs his fingers through the blades and inhales, taking in the crisp mountain air, his heart rate back to normal after the exertion of the uphill climb. Everything’s quiet now, Petros finally done singing – or rather, attempting to sing – along to music on his phone, Stefanos silently scrolling through the portraits he just took. Thanasis licks his lips, sweet berry taste coating his tongue, and as he exhales, content, he thinks to himself, It’s like old times.
Stefanos used to photograph him frequently. Always spur of the moment, anytime of day, whenever the creative mood struck him. By the water, in a meadow, even out in the city in the middle of the night. Thanasis didn’t care about the time or place. He was ready for anything, up for whatever Stefanos wanted to do. And he would pose like a good model, letting Stefanos position him exactly how he wanted until he murmured a satisfied, “Perfect.”
On the very best of these days, the ones that Thanasis would privately replay in his head for years to come, Stefanos would say something innocuous like, “Want to stay a little longer?” and they would fool around in whatever makeshift spot they could find. He loved Stefanos like that, wild, spontaneous, desire dripping in his tone as he moaned Thanasis. Sometimes, when it’s quiet like it is right now, he can still recall the exact feel of the cool ground, the sound of a rushing stream nearby, or the way Stefanos breathed hotly into his curls.
But that was a long time ago, longer than he’d care to admit. Those days became fewer and farther between until, eventually, they stopped entirely and Stefanos started traipsing around with other people. They never discussed it, not really. There was an unspoken understanding that that part of their relationship was over. They could still be friends, but nothing more. Stefanos had moved on and Thanasis should too.
And someday, when it hurts less, maybe Thanasis will.
“This one’s great,” Stefanos says, breaking the silence. He sidles next to Thanasis on the ground and shows him a photo of Thanasis biting into a ripe strawberry. It’s a nice picture, close up and well-lit under the bright sun. Thank god he kept his sunglasses on, Thanasis thinks to himself, or else his eyes might betray how he was more hungry for the photographer than for the berry. As Stefanos leans closer to give Thanasis a better look, their legs touch and a surge of want courses through Thanasis.
“It’s good,” Thanasis agrees, clearing his throat.
“I think I’ll post it,” Stefanos says.
“Online? Really?”
“Yeah, on Instagram.”
Stefanos hasn’t posted photos of him in who knows how long. Thanasis nods and tries to act like his stomach didn’t just do a somersault at the notion of this public recognition.
“Ok…posted!” Stefanos announces a minute later, smiling at his phone.
Thanasis hears a loud zip and turns to see Petros closing his backpack. He supposes that’s the cue for the three of them to head back. It’s late afternoon now, after all, just a few hours until sunset. But when Thanasis sits up and wraps his arms around his knees, Stefanos isn’t moving.
“Should we go now?” Thanasis prompts.
“Mm, no, not yet. Petros is going,” Stefanos replies, lazily running his hand through blades of grass. “I thought you and I could stay a little longer.”
Thanasis freezes. Now? After all this time? He can’t mean—
“Bye, guys!” Petros calls, slinging the backpack on.
“You—I—well, shouldn’t we go with him?” Thanasis presses.
“Do you want to go with him?” Stefanos asks. His expression is even but his voice seems to falter a little.
Thanasis gulps, torn between his desire to stay and see what this leads to and his longing to preserve the smidgeon of dignity he has left. As usual, whatever option gets him closest to Stefanos wins out.
“No,” he says softly.
In his periphery, Stefanos’s shoulders relax, almost imperceptibly. “We’ll see you tonight, yeah?” Stefanos hollers to Petros, and Petros gives a thumbs up, already heading down the hill.
Neither utters a word until the clomp of Petros’s footsteps fades away completely.
Thanasis stares straight ahead at the snowy Swiss mountains in the distance, afraid of losing his composure if he looks Stefanos directly in the eye. “Why did you bring me here?” he asks softly.
“To Gstaad?”
Thanasis shrugs. “To the tournament. This hike. All of it.”
“I wanted to talk to you.” Simple, innocuous, like always.
Thanasis tightens his grip on his knees. “Stef, I…it can’t be like last time. I don’t think I can handle that again.” It might be the most vulnerable thing he’s ever said to him.
“I know, I—” Stefanos reaches out and nearly touches Thanasis’s arm before he pulls back and nervously smooths his hair. “Fuck, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Thanasis, I never should have treated you the way I did. I thought—” He stops himself.
“Thought what?” Thanasis asks quietly.
Stefanos swallows and tries again. “It was too much. I don’t know, it’s hard to explain.” He pauses, and Thanasis’s heart pounds with anticipation. “We were getting too close,” Stefanos explains. “I didn’t think I could do both, you and tennis. I had to choose.”
“But—” Thanasis cuts in. “Why only me? What about…the others?” He can’t bring himself to name names.
“Huh?”
“You know…” Thanasis swallows, strawberry remnants bitter in his mouth now. “The girls. The guy…”
Stefanos shakes his head. “No, you can’t possibly think—Thanasis, those were casual. It was never like you, being with them. Not even close.”
Casual. Never like you. Thanasis tries to process this information. “You had to choose,” Thanasis echoes. “And you chose tennis.”
“I chose wrong,” Stefanos says emphatically. “I thought I was playing worse because I was so in love with you that I couldn’t focus. I thought it would hurt my game even more if we kept on so I pulled away. But don’t you see? It wasn’t you! It was my shoulder, and then my back, and all the other bullshit I didn’t want to admit. It was never you! I’m at my best when you’re with me, I know that now. I fucked it all up for nothing. God, I was so stupid and even stupider for waiting this long to fix it. I’m so sorry, you have to believe me. I don’t expect anything, I just needed you to know. I mean, I wouldn’t dream of anything, unless you…” Stefanos stops rambling and wipes a tear off his face. “Thanasis? Are you listening?”
Thanasis caught most of that speech, but honestly everything got foggy after the first bit. “You loved me?” he whispers, finally turning face to face with Stefanos.
“Yes, of course,” Stefanos sniffles. He furrows his brow like it was obvious, like this isn’t a bigger revelation than when Carlos and Jannik came out.
And then, as if Thanasis’s heart weren’t already bursting, Stefanos adds plainly, “I still do.”
Thanasis’s mouth drops open. He sits still, frozen. “Say something, please,” Stefanos begs. He looks stricken, face red, sweat and tears dotting his face. And yet, he’s still radiant under the sun. The most beautiful man Thanasis has ever seen, possibly even more so now after this admission.
“I’ve loved you every day, for as long as I can remember,” Thanasis confesses.
Stefanos makes a small choked noise. He reaches toward Thanasis again but stops short, still unsure if he has permission, so Thanasis clarifies the only way he can think of.
He nearly knocks Stefanos over with the force of his kiss. He presses Stefanos backward until he’s flat on the ground with Thanasis draped over him, connected from head to toe. Stefanos gasps against his mouth but eagerly kisses Thanasis back, and when Thanasis sucks and bites his lip, he moans.
“Thanasis,” Stefanos cries in that desperate tone Thanasis has ached to hear. Thanasis drinks the sound from his lips, kissing him harder, wetter, deeper as he grinds against his hips. It shocks Thanasis how easy it is to fall into Stefanos like this again, picking up right where they left off. It’s maybe even better now, more intimate, with the unspoken words uttered. Stefanos licks into his mouth like he was starved for it. He finally touches Thanasis, gripping his ass with both hands and squeezing until Thanasis yelps.
“Fuck, you’re so sexy,” Stefanos pants, running his hands up higher, under Thanasis’s shirt. “You drive me crazy.”
Thanasis smiles and lets out a laugh, delirious with pleasure. How can Stefanos say that when he’s the one driving Thanasis crazy? Thanasis can’t think of a time his cock has ever been harder. One touch and he might combust.
As if Stefanos can hear his thoughts and is on a singular mission to test Thanasis’s theory, he swiftly moves one hand under the waistband of his shorts.
“Fuck,” Thanasis moans, kissing again as Stefanos palms his leaking cock. Thanasis adjusts to give Stefanos more room to work his wrist, encouraging him with noises and nips along his jaw. In all his recollections, he’d undersold the feeling of Stefanos’s deft hands around his cock. Already, the familiar urge to come rises.
“Stef, I’m close,” he gasps. He tucks his head into the crook of Stefanos’s neck, embarrassed, trying to let his curls shield his face, but Stefanos merely smiles and jerks him harder.
“Good,” Stefanos whispers into his messy tendrils. “I’ve missed watching you come for me.”
Thanasis whimpers at that, even closer to the edge now. He bucks his hips, chasing his orgasm, desperate for the release he’s so longed for. Stefanos licks and sucks his throat, practically devouring him, and when he thumbs over the cockhead, Thanasis trembles and spills over his hand.
Still breathing heavily, Thanasis indulges in more kisses. Stefanos wipes his hand on the grass and runs his fingers up and down Thanasis’s body. “God, I wish I could fuck you right now,” he murmurs, digging his nails into Thanasis’s back.
“Yeah, do it, come on,” Thanasis pleads, kissing him again, each kiss making up for lost time. Now that he’s had a taste, he needs more, needs the incomparable sensation of Stefanos filling him, thrusting into him like he was fucking made for it.
Stefanos chuckles at his eagerness. “We can’t. I don’t have stuff,” he laments, grazing a hand over Thanasis’s clothed hole for emphasis.
“Oh…” Thanasis says, crestfallen. He scans the area, inexplicably hoping to find a stray bottle of lube lying around in nature just for them.
“Next time,” Stefanos promises, smiling. “And maybe in a bed, yeah? Something a little softer.”
Next time. Warmth radiates through Thanasis as he anticipates next time, and more times after that. In the morning before practice, late at night after a match, mid-afternoon just because they can…
Stefanos wriggles underneath Thanasis to get more comfortable and suddenly Thanasis remembers that this time isn’t finished yet. Stefanos’s neglected cock is still pressed against him.
Thanasis makes quick work bringing Stefanos to climax. He settles between his thighs and sucks him deep, massaging his balls how Stefanos likes. Stefanos writhes under his touch, emitting breathy noises with every movement Thanasis makes. When he’s established a rhythm, Thanasis glances up and sees Stefanos’s head tossed back, mouth open, grasping for dirt or grass or anything that will ground him. Thanasis takes him deeper then, until his nose is pressed to Stefanos’s stomach, and Stefanos cries, “Thanasis, fuck,” as he comes down his throat.
After, they lie side by side exchanging soft kisses in the fading light. “We should go soon,” Stefanos says gently. “It’ll be dark before we know it.”
Thanasis ignores the suggestion. “You taste like strawberries,” he replies.
Stefanos chuckles and licks his lips. “I think that’s from you.”
“Oh yeah,” Thanasis says dreamily, kissing him more. How could it be that only a few hours ago he was eating strawberries, posing for portraits? Everything was different then. “I’ll eat berries every day if it makes you act like this,” Thanasis grins.
“It wasn’t the strawberries,” Stefanos laughs. “Although they didn’t hurt. The way the nectar dripped down your throat at one point…I don’t know how I stopped myself.”
“Remember the time with the grapes?” Thanasis giggles.
“Oh god, yeah, in France. How could I forget?” He looks about ready to devour Thanasis again, but then he coughs and nudges, “Alright, let’s go. It’s getting late.” He starts to sit up but Thanasis grabs his waist and holds him in place.
He’s not ready to go yet. What if Stefanos changes his mind once they’re back at sea level? What if he’s suffering from a very specific, rare form of elevation sickness that makes him temporarily committal? If they just stay a little longer, Thanasis can make more memories to cling to, just in case.
“Hey,” Stefanos says, cupping Thanasis’s face. “Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere.”
Thanasis anxiously bites his lower lip, raw and puffy from all the friction. “Promise?”
Stefanos nods, stands up, and offers his hand to Thanasis. “Promise. If we go anywhere, let’s go together.”
And so, they do. As they make their way down the hill, to the next tournaments, toward the bright future, it’s together.
❤️