The Golden Second Chance

Leo had never been particularly fond of Easter egg hunts. Something about watching grown adults scramble after plastic eggs like sugar-starved toddlers always struck him as more humiliating than festive. But when his sister, Rachel, guilt-tripped him with talk of "community spirit" and "you need to get out more," he found himself in the middle of the town square--surrounded by pastel streamers, the scent of warm cinnamon rolls drifting from the café, and more bunny ears than should be legal in public.

At least he wasn't alone. His nephew, Oliver, looked equally unenthused.

"I don't wanna do this," the seven-year-old grumbled, kicking a pebble across the cobblestones.

"Yeah, well, neither do I," Leo muttered. "But your mom'll kill us both if we don't at least pretend to try."

Before Oliver could respond, the mayor--cheerful in that unnerving, over-caffeinated way--lifted a megaphone to her lips.

"Welcome to our annual Easter Egg Hunt!" she chirped. "This year, as always, we have a special challenge--golden eggs hidden throughout the town, with fabulous prizes for the lucky finders! And to encourage community bonding, everyone will be randomly assigned a partner."

Leo's stomach dropped.

So much for wandering around with Oliver, sneaking candy from the kid's haul and calling it a day. Now he was stuck hunting eggs with a stranger who probably took this entire thing way too seriously.

Fantastic.

He sighed and reached for one of the wicker baskets on the sign-in table--just wanting to get this over with--when another hand brushed his.

Warm. Familiar. A touch that sent a shiver right down his spine before his mind could even catch up.

Leo looked up.

Carter James.

Still effortlessly gorgeous in a fitted navy jacket and dark jeans, his hair a little shorter but just as artfully tousled as Leo remembered. Those sharp blue eyes lifted from their touching hands, and for one dizzying second, the noise of the town square faded.

"Leo?" Carter's voice curled around him like smoke, smooth and amused. "Well, well. Didn't think I'd find you at an Easter egg hunt. You never struck me as the competitive type."

Leo's mouth went dry. "I'm not."

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Community spirit," he deadpanned, glaring at Rachel, who was suddenly very busy not making eye contact.

Carter chuckled, reaching for the basket again. This time, Leo let go, letting Carter claim it.

"Guess that means I win round one."

Leo crossed his arms. "Didn't realize we were keeping score."

"Oh, I always keep score." Carter winked. "But don't worry--I play fair. Most of the time."

Leo's chest pulled tight. God, this man. Carter had always known how to disarm him with just a glance, a half-smile, a well-placed tease. And damn it, it still worked.

Two years. That's how long it had been since Carter left. Since Leo had let him go.

They'd been inseparable. The kind of couple people in town just assumed would last forever--coffee dates that turned into slow mornings tangled in bedsheets, laughter that lingered like perfume in the air, plans built on half-dreams and hope.

Until Carter got the offer in Seattle. A dream job. A new life.

He asked Leo to come with him. Begged, even. But Leo had panicked. Leaving his family, his roots, the only town he'd ever known--it felt like too much, too fast. So he stayed. And Carter went.

They tried to hold on. Long-distance calls that dwindled into strained silences. Visits that started sweet and ended with aching goodbyes. And then, eventually... nothing.

And now, Carter was back--standing close enough that Leo could smell his cologne, the subtle citrus and pine of it triggering a thousand memories.

"All right, everyone!" the mayor's voice blared through the megaphone, snapping Leo out of his thoughts. "Check the partner board to find your hunting buddy!"

Leo blinked. "Wait--did she say--"

A firm hand clapped his shoulder.

"Looks like we're a team," Carter said, grinning. "I love it when fate shows off."

Leo shot Rachel a dirty look. She gave him a thumbs-up from across the square, the picture of innocence.

Fantastic.

-------------------------------- The hunt began, and Leo found himself being practically dragged by Carter, who approached the event with all the intensity of a professional athlete.

"We're going for the golden egg," Carter declared as they jogged toward the park. "Obviously."

"Obviously," Leo muttered. "Because why not turn this into the Hunger Games?"

Carter smirked. "Come on, you used to love a challenge."

Leo shook his head but couldn't help the small smile that tugged at his lips. They fell into an easy rhythm--Carter leading the way, Leo pretending he wasn't trying to keep up. It felt frustratingly natural, like no time had passed at all.

As they scoured the park, Carter's competitive streak only intensified. He climbed onto a bench to check a tree branch, knelt in the flower beds, and even sweet-talked an elderly woman into giving him a hint about where the mayor had hidden the special prize.

"You really hate losing, don't you?" Leo said, watching him dig through a pile of decorative hay bales.

Carter glanced up, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Winning is just more fun."

Leo rolled his eyes but kept searching. The golden egg was nowhere to be found, but somehow, between the ridiculous antics and Carter's relentless determination, Leo realized something unsettling.

He was having fun.

A laugh bubbled up in his chest as Carter nearly tripped over a toddler trying to grab an egg. He caught himself and shot Leo a glare. "Not a word."

Leo grinned. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Their hands brushed again as they both reached for an egg at the same time, and the warmth of Carter's skin sent a spark up Leo's arm. He hesitated, looking up, only to find Carter already watching him.

For a moment, neither of them moved.

Carter exhaled softly. "You know, I didn't just come back for a visit."

Leo's heart pounded. "No?"

Carter shook his head. "I took a job here. I'll be staying."

Leo's stomach flipped. "Oh."

Carter chuckled, but it was softer this time, tinged with something more uncertain. "That's all you've got to say?"

Leo swallowed. "I... I don't know what to say."

Carter sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "You know, when I left for Seattle, I didn't want to go without you. I thought--" He broke off, shaking his head. "Doesn't matter."

Leo's chest tightened. "It does."

Carter took a step closer. "Well," he murmured, "maybe this is our second chance."

Before Leo could respond, Carter's eyes flicked to something over his shoulder. "Oh, hell no."

"What?"

Carter suddenly bolted past him, diving behind a tree. A second later, he emerged, grinning triumphantly and holding up a shiny golden egg.

Leo blinked. "You--what? Where--?"

Carter tossed it in the air, catching it effortlessly. "Told you I hate losing."

Leo laughed, shaking his head. "Unbelievable."

Carter stepped closer, his teasing glint softening. "Admit it," he said, voice lower now, more intimate. "You missed me."

Leo held his gaze. "Yeah," he said quietly. "I did."

-------------------------------- Carter kissed him, and Leo melted into it, realizing that maybe, just maybe, Easter wasn't so bad after all.

It started softly--tentative, like they were relearning each other, like every breath between them had weight. Leo's heart thundered against his ribs, and the world blurred at the edges, leaving only the warm press of Carter's lips and the grounding heat of his palm cupped gently against Leo's cheek.

The kiss deepened, slow and searching. Carter's mouth moved against his with aching familiarity, like he'd been waiting two years just to remember the exact shape of Leo's kiss. And Leo let himself sink into it, let the past unravel a little--memories rising like heat off pavement.

A sunlit morning in Carter's old kitchen, stealing kisses between sips of coffee. Laughter tangled in sheets. The sound of Carter's suitcase zipping shut. That last night, the silence, the not-knowing how to say don't go.

Now, Carter kissed him like he was still carrying every one of those moments in his bones.

And Leo kissed him back like he remembered too.

When they finally broke apart, the air around them felt thinner, charged. Carter was still smiling, that soft, dazed kind of grin like he couldn't quite believe what had just happened. His thumb traced along Leo's jawline, slow and reverent, as if memorizing the feel of it all over again.

Around them, the town square hummed back into focus. Laughter echoed from kids still darting around with plastic baskets. The mayor's voice rose in the distance, announcing the final tally. Somewhere, a street musician strummed a soft, wistful tune.

Carter didn't take his eyes off Leo.

"So," he murmured, voice roughened by something deeper, "does this mean I get to claim you as my prize?"

Leo exhaled a shaky laugh, trying to ground himself, but Carter's touch was still on his skin, and his heart wouldn't stop racing. "Don't push your luck."

Carter leaned in, cocking his head. "Dinner, then? Just dinner. No pressure."

Leo hesitated. Not because he wasn't sure--but because he was. He looked into Carter's face, and there it was again: sincerity, steady and unflinching. That flicker of something more. The thing that had never really gone away.

"Alright," Leo said, quieter this time. "Dinner."

Carter's smile widened, warmth and something almost boyish lighting his features. "I'll pick you up at seven."

-------------------------------- Back at his apartment, Leo stood in front of his closet, towel-drying his hair, trying to calm the storm building behind his ribs.

It was just dinner. Just Carter. Just the man who once kissed his forehead like a promise and left the next day anyway.

He pulled on a pale blue button-down, rolling the sleeves with a practiced flick. As he caught his reflection in the mirror, something inside him twisted. He looked the same--but didn't feel it. There was a nervous weight in his chest, tight and tender, like possibility and risk coiled together in his ribcage.

The knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts.

He opened it to find Carter leaning against the frame, hands buried in his pockets, shirt unbuttoned just enough to be dangerous. His eyes swept over Leo--slow, intentional--and then he smiled.

"Damn," he said, low and appreciative. "You clean up nice."

Leo rolled his eyes, warmth crawling up his neck. "You're impossible."

Carter laughed, stepping back and gesturing to the car. "Come on. I picked somewhere quiet. You'll like it."

-------------------------------- The restaurant was small, hidden away like a secret worth keeping.

Candlelight flickered across the table. Wine breathed between them. The food was rich, but Leo barely tasted it--too distracted by the way Carter looked at him, like he was something rare. Like he was trying to relearn every expression on Leo's face.

"I asked you to come with me," Carter said quietly, fingers tracing the rim of his glass. "I meant it."

Leo stared at the flicker of light in his wine. "I know. I just... I couldn't. I didn't know how to follow you without losing myself."

There was no judgment in Carter's gaze. Only understanding.

"Are you ready now?"

Leo didn't answer--not yet. But something inside him cracked open.

On the walk back to the car, the sky had darkened to velvet. They walked side by side, arms brushing, each step louder than it should have been. When Carter stopped beside the passenger door, he turned, something unreadable in his expression.

"Can I take you home?"

Leo's breath caught. The question hung there, heavy with meanings. He wanted to say yes. He almost did. But the past pressed close.

"I don't know, Carter," he said softly. "I was really hurt last time."

Carter nodded, not looking away. "I know. And I never meant to hurt you. I was chasing something I thought I needed... and I didn't realize what I was leaving behind until I got there."

Leo swallowed hard. "Then why does it feel like we're just going to end up right back where we were?"

Carter reached for his hand. This time, Leo let him.

"Because I'm not leaving again," he said. "Not unless you tell me to."

Leo studied him, their fingers laced. He waited for doubt, for a flinch, for Carter to retreat behind some wall. But there was none of that. Just stillness. Just the quiet, steady presence of someone who wanted to be chosen, too.

After a long beat, Leo sighed, soft and certain. "Take me home."

--------------------------------

The door had barely clicked shut behind them before Carter's hands found Leo, pulling him in like gravity, like he'd been starving for this. For him.

Leo hit the wall with a soft gasp, his back arching into the heat of Carter's chest as their mouths collided. This wasn't a kiss so much as a reclaiming--a slow, consuming fire that started at their lips and spread through every inch of skin they could touch. It was years of ache, of silence, of what-ifs igniting all at once.

Carter kissed like a man who remembered everything. The way Leo tasted. The rhythm of his breath when he got turned on. The tiny, bitten-off moans he made when Carter pressed just there. Leo's hands fisted in Carter's shirt, yanking him closer, his entire body thrumming with the rush of being touched like this again--like he'd never been forgotten.

"You still know how to drive me crazy," Leo breathed, his voice raw against Carter's lips.

Carter chuckled, low and wicked, his teeth catching Leo's bottom lip before he pulled away just enough to whisper, "I never stopped knowing."

Their lips met again--slower this time, deeper. Carter's hands slipped under Leo's shirt like he was unwrapping a gift he already knew by heart. Palms slid over warm skin, mapping familiar terrain with reverence, fingertips dragging up Leo's spine, making him shiver.

When Leo tugged Carter's shirt off, the sharp sound of fabric tearing between their bodies made Carter laugh, breathless. "Impatient?"

"Shut up and touch me."

And he did.

Carter walked him backwards toward the bed, his mouth trailing over Leo's throat, teeth scraping lightly down his neck before sucking hard enough to leave a mark--a stake of ownership, a confession written in skin. Leo's fingers trembled as they undid Carter's belt, pushing jeans and briefs down together, the sight of Carter--hard, flushed, beautiful--punching the air right out of his lungs.

"You have no idea how much I missed you," Carter murmured, pressing Leo back onto the bed, their bodies aligning with a kind of desperate perfection.

Leo's response was a soft, shaky exhale. "Then show me."

Carter's mouth was heat and promise as it traced down Leo's chest--pausing to tease, to savor, to worship. He licked over a nipple, then bit it gently, making Leo jolt and moan. His tongue dipped into the hollow of Leo's navel before he shifted lower, sliding Leo's jeans down with a slow, aching drag that made Leo's thighs tremble.

Carter sat, breathless and already hard, his cock flushed a deep, aching red where it curved up against his stomach, thick and gorgeous and so fucking familiar. Leo dropped to his knees between Carter's thighs, the sight of him stealing the breath right out of his lungs.

God, he hadn't forgotten a single detail.

Carter's cock was just as he remembered--long, heavy, veined, the tip glistening with precum. A faint twitch ran through it when Leo dragged his tongue over his bottom lip, and the reaction made Leo's cock throb in sympathy.

He looked up once, catching Carter's gaze. The tension there--need and tenderness braided together--made Leo's pulse skip.

"You're staring," Carter murmured, a lazy, teasing lilt in his voice.

"I've earned it," Leo whispered, voice thick with heat.

Then he leaned in.

The first touch of his lips to the head of Carter's cock was slow, deliberate--almost reverent. He pressed a soft kiss to the tip, tasting the salt of him, letting his tongue flick out to lap up the slick gathered there. Carter sucked in a sharp breath, one hand shooting down to cradle the back of Leo's head.

"Fuck, Leo..."

Leo groaned in response, the sound vibrating against Carter's cock as he licked another slow stripe up the underside, his tongue tracing the vein there with exquisite care. He could feel Carter's thighs tense, could feel how hard he was trying not to buck forward, to let Leo take his time.

Leo wrapped a hand around the base, giving him one long stroke while he sucked just the head into his mouth--lips wrapping around the crown, tongue swirling.

Carter cursed under his breath, fingers tightening in Leo's hair. "My baby... your mouth..."

"Fuck, Leo. Just like that... God, you look so good on your knees for me."

Carter's voice cracked halfway through, too wrecked to hold onto the teasing tone--but that didn't stop him from trying.

He let out a breathless laugh, his fingers tightening in Leo's hair. "I think you just found the golden egg, babe. And by golden, I mean--"

Leo glanced up with a wicked look in his eyes, cock still in hand, lips shining. "You're seriously making Easter jokes right now?"

Carter grinned through a gasp. "What can I say? You've got both eggs in your basket."

Leo rolled his eyes but couldn't stop the smirk tugging at his mouth as he leaned in again, tongue flattening against the underside of Carter's cock. He started to move--slow and steady--his lips gliding down, then back up, letting the crown slip from his mouth with a wet pop before swallowing him again.

The heat of it, the weight--fuck, he had missed this. Missed him. The taste of Carter was already familiar and addictive, a blend of salt and skin and something sweet underneath, like the memory of summer on his tongue.

Carter's hips twitched despite himself, thighs tense, every breath hitching like he was struggling to stay grounded.

"You're gonna make me come just like this," Carter rasped, fingers clutching at Leo's hair like a lifeline. "Fuck, your mouth is so fucking perfect. You always gave me the best blowjobs when we were dating. No one's ever matched you. No one even comes close. I love you so much."

That made Leo pause for a second--just a second. Something inside him fluttered, twisted with heat and something softer, deeper. Then he hummed low in his throat, letting the vibration rumble down Carter's shaft. His cheeks hollowed, pace increasing, spit slicking everything as his other hand slid up Carter's thigh, steadying him, owning him.

He was drunk on Carter's reactions--every twitch of muscle, every strained moan, every whispered fuck that slipped out like Carter couldn't stop it even if he tried.

Then Leo pulled off with a soft pop, his hand still wrapped around Carter's cock, stroking him slow and deliberate. He looked up, eyes hooded, lips swollen, and said with a smirk:

"You literally taste like candy."

Carter's breath caught.

Leo leaned in closer, dragging his tongue along the thick vein pulsing at the base before nuzzling into Carter's hip. "I've missed you so much. Missed this. Missed sucking you. Your cock is mine and mine only."

That possessive growl in Leo's voice had Carter's entire body trembling, undone in a way that felt dangerous.

Then Carter's voice dropped, hoarse and desperate. "If you don't stop, I'm gonna come--"

But Leo didn't stop.

He sucked harder, deeper, relaxing his throat, letting Carter slide in until his nose was buried in the soft curls at the base. He held him there, muscles working around Carter's cock, and the sound Carter made was filthy, wrecked and unfiltered.

"Leo--fuck, I'm gonna--"

And then Leo pulled off--completely.