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Their anniversary was coming up and Jamie had no idea what to get Roy. It felt especially important to Jamie since it marked a year of them being in a queer platonic relationship. A year since Jamie made that silly powerpoint presentation when he thought he had to convince Roy to be in said relationship with him.
Aside from the extra importance Jamie was putting on the occasion, Roy could be incredibly hard to shop for. Not only was Roy fucking loaded, meaning he could basically buy anything he ever wanted, he didn’t even have expensive taste when it came to most things. Another reason was that while one of Roy’s love languages was gift giving, born out of his desire to take care of the most important people in his life, he was awful at accepting gifts. Maybe awful was a stretch, since he genuinely appreciated gifts he was given. Yet he never seemed to get as much joy out of things or objects as he did when he got to see how happy someone else was with a gift he gave them. Jamie found it incredibly sweet so he let it slide.
A week later, Jamie was walking through John Lewis when he passed a display of Lego sets near the toy section. They were always fun and he hadn’t built Lego in such a long time. He figured it was worth checking out, maybe he would find a set Phoebe would like and they could build it together next time she came around.
There were so many cool sets, and some were things he didn’t even know they made. There were sets that were like art now and things that looked really realistic. The botanical sets looked really fun. There was something about flowers made out of little bits of plastic that he enjoyed.
As he looked through the botanical Lego sets, Jamie came across one that really caught his attention. Amidst a bunch of rose sets was one white orchid. Like a needle in a haystack or whatever the saying was, expect he didn’t know he was looking for it. It was the perfect gift to get Roy. Sappy, a fun thing to do, and not actually that expensive, even by a not a stupidly rich footballer metric.
Jamie could feel the smile spreading across his face as he looked down at the printed orchid on the front of the cardboard box.
Once he got over his incredible find, he remembered that he was actually looking for one to do with Phoebe so renewed his search through the Lego sets. There was a lot that he knew Phoebe would love, but he settled on the Milky Way galaxy set. It looked like controlled chaos with all the different pieces and shapes that made up the design. Phoebe herself was a bit of controlled chaos so Jamie decided it was perfect. Granted he also knew she was in a bit of a space phase at the moment which greatly improved the chances of her loving it.
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It was finally the day of his and Roy’s QPR-versary and Jamie was both giddy and nervous. He wasn’t too sure what the actual reason for his nervousness was. The best he could figure was that this was the longest relationship he had ever been in as well as the most important. It had only been a year, at least officially. They had basically been in a QPR before either of them even knew. But then and now, Jamie knew that Roy was it for him. Even if their relationship didn’t make sense to others, it made perfect sense to them.
Roy made them dinner, one of Jamie’s favorites that he could only really indulge in eating during the off season. He also ordered a cake from a posh bakery since baking wasn’t his forte. It even said “Happy Anniversary” on it in loopy script which Jamie was endlessly endeared by. It was a great way to spend their evening, Jamie almost wished they could celebrate smaller anniversaries more frequently, and he supposed no one was actually stopping them from doing that.
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Jamie insisted that they make a fuss over opening their gifts for each other, leading Roy over to the sofa after they finished eating. Roy was both excited and nervous for whatever gift Jamie got him. He was always so thoughtful with gifts since he could read people so well. Roy knew that Jamie would like what he got him and knew that ultimately the gifts weren’t the most important part of celebrating their anniversary, just a fun bonus that Roy would never deny Jamie. At least that’s what Roy told himself, despite knowing that he was also guilty of enjoying giving gifts to the people he cared about.
Jamie seemed like he was barely containing his excitement. Roy figured he really wanted to give Roy his gift already, since Jamie loved just because gifts and hated having to wait until a specific day. Yet he still made grabby hands when Roy asked him to open his gift first.
“C’mon, Royo, gimme,” Jamie said as he settled more comfortably against the sofa cushions.
“It’s not much,” Roy groused, “but I think you’ll like it.” Roy handed over the colorful gift bag full of pink tissue paper. Jamie dove right in, pulling out a few items that were all loosely wrapped in tissue paper. “They’re all products you keep looking at and saying you want to try, but then you keep not buying them.”
“Oh, Roy, these are awesome, man! I keep forgetting to actually buy them, since I have been trying to be better about not buying too many products. Like sure it’s one thing to have the money to buy them and not worry about it, but I do wanna make sure I get around to using them before they expire, you get me?”
“Yeah, I’ve realized, but you deserve them and who knows maybe they’ll become your new favorites or some shit.”
“Thank you, love,” Jamie exclaimed as he leaned over to wrap his arms around Roy and gave him a peck on the cheek.
“Of course. And at least all your products only clutter up your own bathroom and not mine.”
Jamie scoffed playfully, “Excuse you, my bathroom is not cluttered. It is perfectly organized after Phoebe helped me put everything into the Ikea storage containers.”
“Yeah, the storage containers that sat untouched for months until Phoebe got into a fucking Marie Kondo hyperfixation and begged you to let her organize it.”
‘That’s me, encouraging the youth in their endeavors.”
Roy rolled his eyes in response. “Speaking of Phoebe, there’s still something else in the bag.”
“From Pheebs?” Jamie asked, his eyes growing wide with excitement.
“Not from her,” Roy cleared his throat, “More like somthing to do,” he cut himself off, “just fucking open it already and see.”
Jamie did as he was bid and stuck his hand back into the bag to pull out a thin envelope. He slid his thumb under the flap to open it and pulled out gift vouchers.
“It’s two vouchers for that spa that you and Keeley like that Phoebe is always begging me to take her to. I figured you like that sort of thing so she would have more fun going with you.”
“Oh man, Roy, this is mint! Does Pheebs know already? She’s gonna be so fucking excited. Like high-pitched scream excited.”
“I told Ruth about it, but figured you could call Phoebe to tell her.”
“I love it, Roy, truly. A spa day sounds proper lush and getting to spend it with Pheebs is like the icing on the cake. And glad I’m not the only one who thought of getting Phoebe a gift while buying yours.”
“What did you get her?” Roy asked curiously. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for Jamie to get gifts for Phoebe, but Roy felt more endeared by how much Jamie loved his niece with every nice gesture.
“Well I didn’t wrap it up yet, it’s still upstairs in my wardrobe. It’s a Lego set of the Milky-Way and she’s been in a space phase for a bit now, figure she can display it in her room after we put it together. Can match those glow in the dark stars she made you stick to the ceiling.”
“She’s gonna fucking love that.”
“I know! And while she’s building the Milky-Way, you can build this,” Jamie said as he grabbed the gift wrapped in shiny black paper off of the coffee table. It made the tell tale sound of plastic Lego pieces rattling against each other. Roy wasn’t sure why Jamie would have bought him a Lego set as well. Sure Roy liked jigsaw puzzles and other things like that, but his only real Lego building experiences were just helping Phoebe.
Roy gently unwrapped his gift, knowing that there had to be something more to it since it was from Jamie. When Roy freed the box of its wrapping, he let out a slight gasp. It was in fact a Lego set but not like the ones he had helped Phoebe with before. This one said it was part of their botanical collection and it was an orchid, a white orchid at that.
“I wasn’t even planning on getting it for you. I mean like I had other things in mind but then I saw this in the shops and knew you had to have it. I know you like real plants and all, but this way you have an orchid that will last forever. Which is hopefully how long our relationship will last too, you know.”
“I love it, Jay. Really.”
“Yeah?” Jamie asked with apprehension in his voice as he twisted his hands.
“Of course I love it, you muppet.”
Now it was Roy’s turn to throw himself at Jamie. He flung his arms around Jamie, hugging him tightly and pressing a kiss to the crown of his head. He let Jamie burrow himself into the embrace as they indulged in their mutual affection.