A/N: I really can't apologize enough for how long it's been for an update. This chapter has actually been done for a while now, I just never really had the time to edit and upload it. I hope it won't take me this long to post the fifth chapter. I think the story's going to wrap up in a couple chapters, so we'll see.

Again, I'm sorry for the wait. So without further ado, here's chapter four :)

By the time Shane arrived home, it was nearing 6 o'clock. Instead of going home after coffee with Blaine, he'd decided to go to dance rehearsal with the rest of the off-Broadway company. They were surprised to see him, because he normally spent Saturdays with Reed, but shrugged it off.

Before entering the elevator, he noticed that he had two missed calls from Reed but no messages or voicemails. Odd, Shane thought. Getting off on their floor, he stepped through the apartment door and shut it softly behind him.

"Reed?" he called out, but wasn't too loud in case the boy was sleeping. He came up to the bedroom door and slowly creaked it open. He found that Reed wasn't asleep, but instead was in bed with his sketchbook; he didn't even glance up when Shane walked in and sat next to him.

"Hi," Shane nudged him gently.

Reed waited a moment, before acknowledging him. "Hi," he kept his gaze averted at the paper, erasing and tracing out various lines. This made Shane feel uncomfortable, and he squirmed a bit.

"Look, I really think we should–" Shane started, but got cut off.

"We shouldn't," Reed said, still not paying attention.

"Reed, we can't just pretend–"

"We're not pretending anything."

"Just listen to me for one minute," Shane tried to reason.

"I highly doubt that whatever you're going to say will be worth while," Reed shrugged, still drawing.

"You don't even know what I'm going to say."

"It doesn't take a genius, Shane."

"Just stop sketching for a second,"

"I have to finish these by Monday," Reed said over Shane's voice.

"You have time."

"I also have a lot of sketches."

"Stop being so difficult."

"I don't think I'm the only one being difficult, here."

"Can we please just talk about this?"

"We seriously have nothing to talk about."

"Reed, please."

"I don't understand why you're making such a big deal out of this!" Reed said as he angrily moved his pencil over the same line repeatedly, making it thicker and darker almost going through the paper.

Shane stayed silent, his lips pulled into a straight line. Reed stopped drawing. Both of them were facing forward.

"Because I want to tell you that I'm sorry," Shane finally let out.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Reed said softly.

"Don't start with that," Shane shook his head.

"With what?"

"Don't try to act like we're fine and peachy. Because you and I both know what I said last night hit home for you and you got upset. And I want to apologize but you won't seem to let me. So please, just let me talk, okay?" Shane said almost in one breath, and turned his head to peek at Reed.

Biting his lip, Reed sighed. "Go on."

"First of all, I'm sorry I didn't realize how affected you were by your parents' divorce. Second of all, I'm sorry I was acting so crazy last night," Reed was about to protest but Shane shook his head. "Let me finish; I think I just got excited with the law being passed, and us being together and everything. Foot in mouth syndrome, I'm telling you. Remember way back when I said I was looking for a cure? I still am," he tried to joke. Reed smiled slightly, but it was very faint. "I wasn't thinking, and I was being inconsiderate and stupid and I'm sorry. I really am."

Reed sat there for a few minutes, biting the insides of his cheeks. "You weren't being inconsiderate and stupid," he mumbled.

"I was, and I'm really–" Shane tried to reason.

"Shane. Stop. You weren't being inconsiderate. You weren't being stupid,"

"…Oh; all right, then. Can I ask why?" Shane wondered, a tad confused.

There was a minute of silence before Reed spoke, but to Shane it felt like hours. "I talked to Kurt today. And I realized that I don't have any problems with the idea of marrying you. It'd be kind of nice, actually. Last night…you just caught me off guard, that's all. And I'm sorry I reacted so badly," Reed looked at Shane hopefully. "Sometimes I'm just scared," he added in a hushed tone.

"Scared?" Shane asked softly. "Why?"

"I don't know. I guess because you're just so graceful and I'm so gawky. You're sure of yourself and I always have to second-guess myself. You're so…handsome and I still look like a kid."

Shane blinked twice, unable to string together a sentence that wouldn't sound as if he were some creepy admirer. "You want to know something?"

"What?" Reed snapped up, wondering why Shane was being so random.

"I met this guy a couple years ago. He wasn't the tallest one of the bunch. He wasn't the most coordinated. He could barely walk into a room without falling over. He wasn't the most outgoing. He sort of reminded me of a cherub. He was so shy sometimes. People told me we'd never be good together," Shane listed off things. Reed looked like he was about to cry. "But you know what? I fell in love with him. And for some reason, something possessed the guy to love me back," he chuckled.

A smiled tugged on Reed's lips. "And?" he asked, his voice still cracking slightly.

"I keep on falling in love with him over and over again every day," Shane shrugged as if it were no big deal.

Shane kissed the top of Reed's forehead. "Start over?"

"That would be nice, yeah." Reed nodded. Shane grinned and tackled Reed into his arms, fumbling onto the bed. Reed's arms were wrapped loosely around Shane's neck, their foreheads pressed together. "I love you," he whispered.

Shane whispered back, not wanting to ruin the moment. "I love you, too."

"I talked to Kurt about things today. About…us," Reed mentioned, hoping Shane wouldn't be upset with him.

Luckily, he wasn't. "And how did that go?" he asked, reaching to take Reed's hand in his.

"I sort of…got carried away, I guess." Shane only gave him a look motioning to go on. "I, uh, I told him how it would be nice to…to sort of have children someday. And we could move somewhere out of city. And then you know…

we could raise them right. And…we could be a family." He smiled, hoping he wasn't being too forward. He rolled them over so that they lay side by side and curled into Shane.

"I think that's a pretty good idea," Shane nodded. "For the future," He added quickly.

Reed sighed happily. "Why are we so in love with fantasy? We're not kids anymore."

"I don't think we in love with fantasy, per se," Shane kissed Reed lazily. "We're just in love."