Better Together

OJ twirled the pen around in his hand, taking a deep breath as he stared down at the blank sheet. His office was almost entirely silent, only the occasional tick of the clock to keep him company. He'd told everyone he'd be working the whole day today, but he wasn't expecting that to be so literal.

Not the work he usually did, no. No towels to fold or fights to break up. It was only him, this god-forsaken pen, and an empty canvas that seemed to mock and taunt him every chance it got.

He'd been sitting here for almost 20 minutes, useless thoughts swirling and twisting around in his head, struggling to come up with anything even remotely serviceable.

It frustrated him. The fact he couldn't just- snap his fingers to summon the perfect letter for his boyfriend in seconds. He was no stranger to hard work, sure, but he was an awful writer. He had barely any creative talent...

...God, why did he let Balloon and Fan talk him into this.

"It'll be romantic!" They said, "He'll love anything you write on that page!" They said. If only they could see him now.

He wanted nothing more than to slam his head onto the wooden desk, to groan at his own incompetence and never show his pitiful face to the world ever again. Everytime his brain thought of something corny (the kind of corny he knew Paper would absolutely swoon over), a faint whisper would tell him that Paper deserved better. Something spectacular... something with no flaws, that flowed perfectly, that absolutely swept Paper off his feet and transported him to a wonderful land filled with sunshine and rainbows...

...But nothing ever seemed to hit that mark.

Maybe a drink of water would help clear his head...

He pushed his chair away from the wooden desk, standing up and heading towards the kitchen. In a few moments he was raising a glass of water to his lips, the chill of the liquid pouring down his throat working wonders to soothe his tense mind.

He began to head back upstairs, though something caught his eye on the way up.

Paper, in their room, with that patient and carefree smile on his face. Happily sketching who knows what, humming a tune so simple and familiar, his angelic voice making his heart begin to melt and throb all at once. He was completely unaware of OJ's presence, not looking up from his drawing once before OJ's feet involuntarily took him back to his office.

And soon enough, he found himself in that same chair, exactly where he started.

But, now, with the image of Paper fresh in his mind, he began to write. He wouldn't really call it a letter as much as he'd call it a really long ramble, but that... didn't really matter...

What mattered was that Paper understood how important he was to him. How much he appreciated every moment that Paper stood by his side... every moment that Paper supported him, or cared for him, or held him close...

...He felt like he finally understood why he wanted to write something for Paper in the first place.

The door opened.

"Hey OJ, you got a moment? I was just-"

He immediately spiralled into a slight panic, hiding the sheet he replied with a nervous chuckle.

"Ah, no, no I'm actually super busy! Like super busy, with hotel stuff... uh... come back in... 5 minutes?-"

Paper raised an eyebrow at him in suspicion, giving him the sort of look that said 'I know you're lying but I don't want to push it'.

"...Really?"

"Mm! Mhm!"

He cursed himself when his juice began to simmer. His emotions betrayed him, every damn time...

Paper took slow, steady steps across the room, his eyes landing on the sheet that OJ was hiding so desperately. One curious glance was enough to make his arms slide off the page, revealing it to Paper with the faintest tint of pink on his cheeks.

He picked up the letter, beginning to read over it in his head, and OJ could've sworn he'd never felt so embarrassed. His juice was boiling concerningly quickly and his glass was literally hot enough to burn someone...

What would Paper think? This was a stupid idea, wasn't it, he wasn't a-

"Oh, OJ, this... this is..."

When he met Paper's eyes again, he could see nothing but genuine surprise and awe in them, his eyes locked onto him.

And then he saw tears begin to form, and suddenly Paper was clutching onto him and crying his heart out... the glass was still scalding, but Paper didn't seem to care.

He returned the hug, the faintest smile on his face as he rubbed a gentle, steady hand along Paper's back.

"Hey... hey, it's okay-"

"No! No, I'm not really crying-"

OJ's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, pulling away slightly to look at Paper's face again, his hands on his waist.

Sure enough, Paper's tears were long gone, and he could hear the light giggles much clearer now, somewhat confused.

"What's so funny?"

"I just- I was drawing us earlier! I came in to ask to show you, actually..."

OJ's eyes widened, his jaw so wide it reached the floor. There was no WAY, what were the chances that they had the same idea?

"What? No, no you did NOT-"

"I did, seriously! C'mon, it's in our room..."

OJ was dragged back to their room, and sure enough, a wonderfully detailed drawing of the two of them, on the roof, watching the sunset together, was indeed lying on their bed. He couldn't believe it.

"Damn... how'd that even..."

"I think I know."

"You do?"

Paper had that slightly annoyed frown on his face, but it was one OJ could tell he wasn't really all that upset.

"...Fan and Balloon?"

"...Damnit, of course... they set us up like some cheesy rom-com..."

OJ couldn't find it in himself to be all that annoyed though... he took a glance out the window and was met with an idea.

"Hey... why don't we actually go out and watch the sunset together, hmm?"

Paper's head spun around to meet his eyes again, not a shred of doubt or hesitation on his face.

"I can't think of anything I'd wanna do more."

And so they made their way to the roof, hand in hand. The letter and the drawing were forgotten in seconds. Nothing could compare to actually being in your lover's embrace... and Paper and OJ were fully aware of that, their arms wrapped right around each other as they watched the magic of the sky shifting into hues of gorgeous yellows and dazzling oranges.