Ben was still half asleep even if he was dressed and had his hair already braided back. He came out of his room, his eyes barely open as he went to the kitchen where he could smell coffee brewing. Sweet, sweet coffee made by sweet, sweet Caleb.

Caleb didn’t even say “good morning” he just held out a cup to Ben without turning away from the stove where he was frying up potatoes and eggs for breakfast. He did this every morning since they’d moved in together post-war, made breakfast and coffee in the mornings while Ben got dressed. Ben loved him.

“What?” Caleb asked, sounding choked as the spoon he was stirring with falling with a clatter to the floor. Ben tried and failed not to wince at the sound.

“What?” Ben asked, refocusing on his coffee and taking a drink.

Caleb turned around to look at him like he had grown a second head before he scoffed and rolled his eyes. “You talkin’ to your coffee ‘gain?” Caleb picked up the spoon from the ground, rinsed it in the washbasin, and went back to making breakfast.

“I don’t talk to my coffee,” Ben said shaking his head and rolling his eyes, finally starting to wake up.

“Oh?” Caleb turned around and crossed his arms over his chest, smirking at Ben like he’d just won something. “So you were tellin’ me that you loved me?” 

Ben froze, the cup halfway back up to his mouth as he stared, wide-eyed at Caleb. “What?” 

“You said pretty clearly. “I love you.” And since I’m the only one in the room and you weren’t talking to your coffee.” Caleb uncrossed his arms and made a motion with his hands like he was presenting something to Ben. 

“I could have been talking to myself,” Ben pointed out. He was panicking and Caleb was laughing. Though he seemed to be laughing more at Ben’s panicked reaction than he was to what Ben had let slip out. 

“’course,” Caleb said, turning back to the pan and taking it off the heat. “Grab plates, will ya?” 

Ben set down his coffee and did what he was asked, like he did every morning. Maybe they could just skate past this and everything would return to normal. They could continue to be just two friends who lived together, one who made breakfast and one who made dinner. The thought made him irrationally upset. 

They sat across from each other but Ben didn’t eat, he was too busy staring at Caleb. 

“What now?” 

Ben looked at his plate and picked at it without eating. “If I said I wasn’t talking to myself and I wasn’t talking to the coffee, what would you say?” 

“I ain’t answering that.” 

Ben flushed and his voice was thick when he said “Oh.” 

“You have something to say you say it. For real. I ain’t wait five years for half measures.” 

Ben looked up and Caleb was staring at him, chewing his breakfast and waiting. He looked tired and anxious and a little bit irritated the way he did whenever Ben was beating around the bush too long. Ben was suddenly tired of waiting too. “I love you, Caleb Brewster. For better or for worse I’m in love with you.” 

 Caleb's grin lit up his whole face. “I love you too, Tallboy.” He grabbed Ben’s hand and squeezed. “You can kiss me about it later. Now eat your damn breakfast. I worked hard on it.” 

**

Caleb woke up with a pounding headache and slightly nauseous. The sunlight burned his eyes and made him flinch away. He knew he shouldn’t have drank quiet so much but it had been David’s birthday and Caleb hadn’t been about to be the first one to go home.

Ben had made fun of him when he’d been too drunk to get his key to work when he’d finally gotten home sometime around 3. “You don’t even get this drunk on my birthday and I’m your best friend,” Ben had said as he’d hauled Caleb to his bed. Caleb hadn’t actually needed the help getting to bed once the door was unlocked but he was a weak man when he was drunk and he’d let himself lean into Ben’s strength.

“Do to,” Caleb had said with a laugh. “We’re just always already at home.” He thought he remembered Ben rolling his eyes and laughing as he tried to help Caleb out of his boots but that was also about the time he gave in to sleep so it might have just been a dream.

He stumbled out of his room to the smell of cooking bacon and coffee. Sometimes he loved Ben so much it made his chest ache.

Ben turned around when Caleb came through the kitchen door. “Good afternoon,” Ben said, turning back to the pan. Caleb smiled as he came up behind him, hoping that the coffee was for him.

Ben handed him the cup and Caleb couldn’t help himself. He kissed Ben’s cheek and whispered “Thank you,” before he went back to the table to wait for breakfast. Or lunch. Whatever meal it was the Ben was making for him.

Ben coughed loudly. “Um. You’re welcome.”

Caleb curled around his coffee and ignored Ben’s weird tone. He rubbed at his temples and closed his eyes, only opening them when he heard the dishes rattle as Ben got them from the cupboard. Caleb turned to watch him, wishing that he could wrap his arms around Ben’s waist and bury his face in his chest just for a few minutes. He was sure that would cure his hangover.

Ben set the plate of food down in front of him but instead of immediately going to the other side of the table where he usually sat, he lingered long enough to lean down and kiss the top of Caleb’s head.

“Did you just kiss the top o’ my head?” Caleb asked after a moment of shock passed. It had been long enough that Ben was already sitting across from him and eating.

Ben shrugged but his face was bright red and he wouldn't look away from his own plate of eggs.

“Okay. Is that a thing we do now?”

Ben shrugged again. “You started it.”

Caleb opened his mouth to argue until he remembered not ten minutes ago kissing Ben on the cheek. He hadn’t even realized he’d done it, not really. What it meant certainly hadn’t hit him until just then. Caleb nodded. His headache was quikcly fading and he couldn’t quite tamp down on the hope bubbling up in his chest. “That mean I get to kiss you other places too?”

Ben looked up at him through his lashes. “That’s really up to you, Brewster.”

“Yeah?” Caleb asked as he pushed his plate to the side. He saw Ben clock the movement so he couldn’t have bene too surprised when Caleb leaned over the table and kissed him square on the lips, though he gasped all the same.

Ben leaned up into the kiss for just a second before they both pulled back. “Yes. Now eat before it goes cold.”

“Yes, sir,” Caleb said with a laugh. “After all it is the first time you’ve managed not to burn the eggs.”