A Perfect Picture

Sketching, erasing, sketching, erasing. That's all Paper had been doing the past few hours, hunching over his drawing and scanning at it like a hawk, inspecting every last detail on it. There were dozens of crumpled up sheets lying around the room, but he didn't have the time to care. The dim light that emitted from his lamp began to flicker, causing him to jump a little. He continued to work for a few more precious seconds, before it switched off completely and Paper was left complete, desolate darkness.

'Shit...'

He mouthed, letting out a quiet sigh as he looked back at OJ.

His little sunshine was still sleeping peacefully in bed (god knows what convinced him to go to bed early tonight) and had the most gorgeous expression on his face...

And that sight only fueled his determination to finish this... even if it wasn't more than just a drawing, it still meant a lot to him that he got it just right. He wanted to do OJ justice.

He glanced up at the clock on the wall, curious as to how much time he had left before-

...3AM?-

...Did he really just spend 5 hours on a goddamn drawing-

Well... he should probably hurry this along, shouldn't he? Picking up a marker, he finally moved onto colouring, shifting his drawing on the desk and allowing it to be faintly illuminated by the moonlight.

OJ looked stunning under the moonlight...-

NO- FOCUS. He got to carefully and patiently colouring in his drawing, a soft smile on his face as he concentrated on getting it just right...

But, of course... his hand just had to slip.

The drawing was ruined. A massive orange line, just sticking out of his art like a sore thumb. To Paper, it was basically the end of the world.

His head dropped to the table, the soft noise barely audible with how light he was. What was he supposed to do now?! He definitely didn't have the time to start on another sketch - it took so long for him to even come close to perfecting this one - and OJ would be waking up in just a few hours or so.

But apparently, the universe had decided it'd be a few seconds instead, seeing as he heard the quiet shuffling noise of his boyfriend stirring awake.

Paper froze like a deer in headlights, watching OJ as he realised that a certain someone was missing from their bed. It didn't take long for his gaze to land on him and the fortress of scrapped paper cluttering the floor. Paper watched in complete silence as OJ's eyes blinked awake in confusion, before getting up from the bed with a quiet grunt and making his way over to him.

"Mm... baby, what are you doing...? It's like.."

He took a moment to gaze at the clock on the wall, his eyes widening.

"...3:18AM... that's too early, even for me."

"Nothing is too early for you..."

"Not my point, and you know it."

Paper bit his lip at that, shifting so he could see the drawing. OJ's eyes widened.

"I know, I know, it's dumb and I screwed it up but-"

"Paper, this is incredible!"

Paper's expression instantly shifted from guilty disappointment to sheer disbelief as his lover carefully picked up the sheet. He wore a massive, glowing grin, looking over every last detail with excitement.

"...Wait what?-"

"You drew this? For me?"

Paper nodded in response, unable to shake the bewilderment from his face.

"I mean... yeah? I was gonna surprise you when you woke up, and I've been working on it for a while now. I wanted it to be perfect... but..."

He pointed to the line he'd accidentally drawn, as if it was the most horrendous atrocity anyone had ever committed.

"...You're joking, right?"

"No? You see it, don't you?"

OJ studied Paper's worried expression for a few moments, before suddenly snatching a marker from the desk and drawing a quick doodle of Paper. It was... not what one would call a masterpiece. The straight lines were practically wobbly curves, there was no detail in the doodle at all, and it was pretty obvious that it'd been done by someone with no experience. But to Paper, it was the most adorable thing he'd ever seen... just a quick little drawing OJ had done of him...

"Awww... that's so cute!"

"But it's a mess, and I literally drew it in 5 seconds. And now, Paper, look at YOURS."

He pointed at the original drawing, a proud smile on his face.

"You really spent so, so much time on this... for me. And you're really gonna stand here and say that just because of one teeny, tiny mistake, all your effort is suddenly worthless?"

Paper thought on that question some more, a light blush rising on his cheeks as he nodded.

"...Pretty much, yeah..."

Though as soon as the words left his mouth, he realised just how stupid they sounded. OJ simply shook his head, picking Paper up and twirling him gently in the air, earning a few happy giggles from him. He set him back on the ground gently, giving him a quick kiss.

He stared at his little paper angel for a little while longer, sighing as he spoke again.

"I still love it, y'know... it's the most beautiful drawing of me I've ever seen. Just because you don't think it's perfect, doesn't mean it isn't to me. You're too hard on yourself, and you deserve to be thanked for all the work you put in, even in the smallest of things. I'm so sorry I ever made you feel unappreciated before..."

"OJ, I told you, it's fine-"

"No, Paper. No it isn't."

He took Paper's hands in his own, giving them a slight squeeze and gazing deep into his eyes.

"You deserve the world, Paper. And I can't believe I completely overlooked you as if you meant nothing, for so damn long that you had to point it out to me. I'm your boyfriend, for crying out loud! You shouldn't have to work so hard for just a smidge of my attention. I don't deserve you at all..."

Paper stood there, completely speechless. He searched OJ's face for a hint of insincerity, but found none.

"Oh, OJ..."

His voice swelled with emotion, looking up at OJ as if he'd just hung up all the stars in the sky.

"...You don't know just how much that means to me... thank you. And you do deserve me, okay? Don't ever tell yourself that you don't, because it's simply not true. You've given me so, so much to be thankful for... a home, a friend, a partner... I would be lost without you. I love you."

OJ nodded along to Paper's words, gratitude clear in his gaze. He would never understand how he got so lucky...

"...And I'll always love you too, Paper."

They stood there in complete silence for a few moments, before OJ gave Paper a quick peck on the lips, that small smirk returning to his face.

"Now c'mon, we're going back to bed. It's 3am and I miss your cuddles."

Paper didn't fight it when OJ led him across their room. He was soon back in the safety of his lover's embrace, with nothing but a satisfied smile on his face.

Some colours on a page would never be enough to show OJ just how much he loved him.