Once Upon a Time - 5. He was freed from his enchantment and the next day they were married.

Tomorrow was Ted’s wedding day and he could not be more excited to marry the man of his dreams. Ken was the perfect man in his eyes ever since he came to Ted’s home to do some major repairs on his old house after a friend of his referred him to Ken’s house repair business. The man with his blond hair ruffled, his stubble on his rugged face and a body that said that he worked with his hands for a living made Ted, the slight recluse, very excited to have someone like him in his house to do repairs.

Never a great conversationalist, Ted interacted with Ken by giving him homemade lemonade from fresh lemons picked from the garden behind his house. Ken was very appreciative of the drinks as he worked to make the house that Ted’s family owned for more than a century back to working order. His family, including his parents, were very stingy when it came to money and that was why the house was being held together by glue and tape. But they would always say that that same stinginess was the reason why they had the wealth they had now, and Ted should have been appreciative for that whenever the plumbing did not work that day.

However, after his equally frugal grandfather passed away a few months ago and gave half of his fortune to his only grandchild, Ted decided to buy the house from his parents who graciously took the money and moved to California where they lived in a house by the beach. With so much money remaining in his bank account, he decided to spend more on fully repairing the house, and despite the repairs costing more five thousand dollars, it barely left a scratch on his overall fortune.

So, Ted was a little surprised when only Ken showed up for the job, and though he was grateful to have the owner of the home repair shop to repair his house himself, Ted was still unsure whether he could fix the house in less than a month since he planned to have friends of a certain variety to move back in and stay. But to Ted’s surprise, Ken was very efficient in his job as a repairman from fixing the electric wiring in the walls to replacing all the lightbulbs that were too high for Ted to reach. After two weeks of repairs, Ken was literally almost done with everything which really impressed Ted to no end.

The infamous plumbing was the last thing that was tackled, and Ted warned Ken that even he was going to have some trouble repairing the pipes that must have been rusted beyond repair and most likely need to be replaced with up-to-date pipes. Ken assured him that he had seen worse cases of neglect when it came to plumbing, which involved a backed up toilet that resulted in a brown volcano eruption that Ted could not imagine doing without having severe mental trauma afterwards. So, Ted trusted him and left him to do the job.

It was a few hours later and Ted decided to go to Ken with another glass of cold lemonade. Just as he approached the door to the bathroom that Ken was working on, the man himself came walking out without his shirt on and exposing his muscled torso. Ted swallowed his throat upon the sight of the man’s chest that was covered with blond hair, and those small nipples that were erect, begging to be nibbled on.

“Oh, sorry. The water got all over my shirt and I had to take it off,” Ken apologized as he swiped sweat from his brow.

“Oh, it’s okay. I, uh, brought you some more lemonade,” Ted offered with his hand extending out with the glass.

“Ah, thanks again, Ted,” Ken said as he accepted the glass of lemonade.

As Ken drank, Ted could not direct his eyes away from the man’s throat with the pronounced Adam’s apple that was flexing as he drank, then downward to his hairy chest that Ted would love to feel on his cheeks and then to the abdominal muscles he would like to lick down to Ken’s happy trail and beneath the waistband of his faded jeans. Then he looked back up to see Ken looking at him with a raised eyebrow and an empty glass in his hand.

“Oh, uh, s-s-sorry,” Ted apologized with his cheeks red like an apple.

To Ted’s surprise, Ken chuckled and said, “Not the first time someone was checking me out.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that,” Ted said sincerely as he accepted the glass back from Ken.

Smirking, Ken said, “Don’t be. I’ve been checking you out since the day I started working here, but I didn’t know if I should act on my urges or stay professional.”

Blushing again, Ted said, “Really? I-I-I—”

Ken’s smile broadened, and he walked towards Ted who backed away nervously before the back of his legs hit the side of the bed, causing him to fall onto the mattress. Ken continued to move like a predator cornering his prey, his legs on either side of Ted’s hips that trapped him there as Ken grabbed the empty glass from his hand and placed it on the nightstand.

Ken then inched closer with his hands by Ted’s head and he looked at him with the most smoldering look someone had ever gave Ted before. And Ted was looking back with what must have been the most surprised look since this was a scene that he believed only happened in pornography where the plumber, after a long day of work, seduced his client and they had a passionate fuck before the scene ended with the two men making out while swapping each other’s cum.

“So…how about it?” Ken asked as lowered his face towards Ted’s.

“I, uh…fuck yeah!” Ted accepted as he abandoned all his inhibitions and slammed his lips onto Ken’s.

And Ken proceeded to fuck Ted’s brains out with the help of extra tools in his toolbox, and they later did it again after the job was done, and a day later and the day after that. Then for months until they were no longer fucking, but making love to one another with the ultimate release being the sealant to their love for each other. Ted fell in love with the scruffy repairman who loved to create wooden miniatures of buildings and other structures, and Ken fell in love with Ted who loved working at the garden and inventing new mechanisms to have his green haven flourish even more. And when Ken proposed to him, Ted nearly had a heart attack as he said yes, and all day did he show his love for the man who knew all the right ways to work his tool inside him.

Now it was only a day before they finally tied the knot and Ted was so happy to be marrying the man of his dreams…however there was a secret that he had kept hidden from his soon-to-be husband and the angel and demon on his shoulders were bickering about what course of action to take for this situation, and quite literally actually.

“You have to tell him as soon as possible!” Stacie, the small girl said on his right shoulder.

“Not now! After the wedding, and then you can slowly ease him into the revelation that there are people living in the walls your house,” Stevie said who was the equally-sized boy on his left shoulder.

“But a wedding is commitment that no secrets will be between two partners in holy matrimony! What will revealing this secret of our existence after the wedding tell him about what Ted thinks about their relationship?” Stacie explained.

“No! That would be unnecessary weight on both their shoulders on a day that is supposed to be the happiest day of their lives,” Stevie declared.

“What about us? What about our happiness in continuing to live in this house without the fear of being exposed? Ted, please say that I’m right.”

“No, Ted. I’m right! Please tell that to my thick-headed sister.”

“Okay, okay! Settle down you two. Just let me think for a minute,” Ted said as he looked at the mirror in his bedroom.

Ted was wearing his black tuxedo, making sure that it fit him as he thought about what was the best way to break it to Ken that the house that he moved into several months ago had small people living inside the walls of their home. And they were not like rats, cockroaches or any other type of vermin, they were just people who wanted to live in a place that guaranteed safety and happiness without the fear of being the food of predatory animals. Some of them have even become very close friends like the twins on his shoulders, though despite their constant bickering, have enriched his life completely along with Ken and the insane way he could work his tongue on the sensual parts of his body. God, did he love him.

“Ted, are you listening?” Stacie said into his ear.

Ted sighed. “I am, yes.”

“So, have you decided on what to do yet?” Stevie asked with impatience.

Loosening his bowtie and throwing it on the bed, Ted then sat down and covered his face with his hand in frustration. “I really don’t know what to do.”

“Well, you have to know sooner than later because the longer you put this off, the more conflict it would cause between the two of you,” Stacie explained.

“I know, I know,” Ted said, dropping his hands on his lap. “But how do tell someone that you love so much that they have little people living in the walls in your house?”

“I don’t have a straight answer for you, Ted. But he needs to know regardless if he really is going to be part of this household,” Stevie added as he patted Ted’s head for comfort.

“You’re right.”

Standing up, Ted walked to the huge, twelve-foot tall bookcase that was built into the wall on the opposite of the bed and when he pulled on a book on the center shelf, the book then retracted back before the whole bookcase started rotating clockwise. After doing a complete one-eighty, the other side of the secret bookcase revealed a literal miniature city on the shelves filled with small people living there.

Many of them greeted him in which Ted greeted back with the wave of his hand. There were holes in the shelves that allowed them to venture to different levels in the bookcase and on the sides as well that allowed them to venture into the walls and other parts of the house. Ted invented this himself so that he could keep track of who was living in his house and just to have a central hub for where these people could live in and interact with each other.

These people have been living in his house for so long, almost for a full century around the time the house was first built. Ted remembered plenty of times when trying to sleep in his bedroom that he would hear noises and people talking, and when he told his parents they would just dismiss it as mere paranoia of a child scared of monsters under his bed or in his closet. Then when he discovered the little people on accident one night trying to get food from the refrigerator a decade ago, to say that he was surprise would have been an understatement since he literally fainted at the sight of actual tiny humans venturing in his house and grabbing food when everyone was supposedly asleep.

It was also funny since that was around the same time when witches and magic were revealed to be real in this world, and these little people were one of the products of witchcraft. Ted then remembered waking up a few moments later and saw that the people were still there, and by his face to make sure that he was okay and that was when a newfound purpose was instilled upon him, to protect these people and give them the life they deserved.

Things were easier when it came to hide these little people or gnomes from his parents, although it was difficult to hide their activity once more of them came to move into his old house. However, things were nonetheless simple, especially after his parents moved out to live in California while he stayed behind and looked after the gnomes and improving their lives like the rotating bookcase that all the gnomes benefitted from and thanked him graciously for his efforts.

Now Ted had to deal with the realization that he was going to be married in less than one day to a man he loved so much and would live with him in this same house he also considered home. This was a major secret that Ted kept from Ken, and though he believed Ken deserved to know, he just did not know how to present the subject that gnomes were living in the walls of their house and made the bookcase their central hub. So, instead he was silent about the issue even when the noises and racket were sometimes heard around the house reminded him every time about the situation that he was putting Ken in. He really needed to know, and not blame the noises and the missing mini marshmallows on rats.

A ringing noise was suddenly heard, and Ted knew that was his phone. After pulling down the miniature figurine that represented a statue of the gnome people, the bookcase rotated back to its original position and Ted walked to the nightstand where his phone was located.

Picking it up and swiping his thumb on the screen, Ted said, “Hey, Ken!”

“Hey, handsome. Did you get your tuxedo from the tailor yet?” Ken said with a cheerful tone.

“I did, and it fits perfectly!”

“Awesome! I’m looking forward to tomorrow when I take your hand in marriage and—uh, God! I can’t wait.”

“Me too, Ken,” Ted said with a huge smile.

“See then, handsome—Oh, and before I forget. I know you’re having a rat problem in your house lately and I decided to put a trap in a hole I found a few days ago in the kitchen. Just one and I’ll find out if it traps catch anything before I get more of them,” Ken explained.

Ted eyes widened. “What kind of trap are you talking about?”

“Nothing major. Just some type of very sticky tape I got from some random store a while back. Well, I have talk to the caterer now to make sure the wedding cake is coming tomorrow on time. See you later, Ted. I love you.”

“Love you too,” Ted said before hanging up and changed out his tuxedo before rushing to the kitchen with the twins hanging on by the threads of his worn-out jacket.

Walking downstairs to the first floor and into the kitchen, Ted opened the pantry where he knew the hole Ken was talking about that was hidden by several cans of asparagus. However, there was a yellow piece of paper in their place instead, and he carefully removed the sticky paper before any of his gnome friends accidentally stepped onto it.

“Godmother, you really need to tell Ken now before things like this happen more often,” Stacie said with concern.

“For once I agree,” Stevie said.

“I know, I know. But what if he doesn’t…”

Ted paused when he felt the sticky paper twitch between his fingers like it was alive, and when it jumped from his hold and latched onto his face, he stumbled backwards into the refrigerator that caused a vase on top to fall to the linoleum floor. Pulling the sticky paper that had a mind of its own from his mouth, Ted managed to take it off before tossing it to the floor next to the broken vase.

“What was that?” Stevie asked as he tried to stand back up on Ted’s shoulder.

“I don’t know, but I think that trap was somehow enchanted,” Stacie inquired. “Are you okay, Ted?”

Ted was about to say that he was okay, but when his mouth would not open, he realized he was in huge trouble. He attempted to at least move his lips, but they did not budge either. It was like his lips were superglued shut and no amount of prying it open with his fingers or the spoons from the sink made any difference.

“Oh, no, Ted! It seems the trap that Ken bought really was enchanted, and it somehow sealed your mouth shut,” Stacie said in shock.

Ted nodded and hummed in agreement just when his phone rang again. He looked at the screen and realized it was Ken calling, however if his mouth was truly shut closed, then there was no way he could communicate with Ken. Also, his phone was ancient and could deliver text messages, and he cursed to himself for not upgrading his phone when text messages were the norm and it would have provided a lot help in his current predicament. And with his phone ringing again and again, Ted was panicking as ran around his house like a crazy man, not knowing what to do or who to ask for help.

“Relax, Ted. Maybe there’s something on the sticky paper like instructions on how to remove the enchantment,” Stevie said.

Groaning in frustration, Ted had no other choice, but to walk back to the kitchen and grab the piece of sticky paper that cursed him with a sealed mouth. Looking at the back, he read that the trap was designed to force a person to tell the truth, and the longer they held the truth the stronger the sealant became until it permanently sealed mouth and making his mouth disappear altogether. Upon those last words, Ted began to cry as the realization that his mouth would likely be gone if he did expose the truth to Ken right then and he would not be able to kiss his husband-to-be in wedding tomorrow was shattering him from the inside. And as he cried, he could feel the sealant on his mouth begin to press his lips closer together.

Some time passed as Ted lied on the floor of his kitchen with his back to the cabinets, feeling hopeless as both Stevie and Stacie tried to pry his mouth open, but to no avail. Then when he heard the front door open and heard his name being called, he knew that the truth had to come out or everything would be a disaster going forward. So, getting back onto his feet, Ted walked out of the kitchen to see Ken looking around the living room for him with the twins hiding in the hood of his jacket.

“Ted? Where are—Oh, there you are,” Ken said as he approached Ted and embraced him. “God, you weren’t answer your phone and I was afraid something bad happened to you. Thank God that wasn’t the case… Are you okay, Ted? It looks like you just cried with how red eyes look. What happened?” Ken asked with sincere concern for his future husband.

Ted turned his head, ashamed that it had to come to this, to have an enchantment placed onto him, and the only way to break it was to do the one thing he was putting off since their relationship began two years ago. He was also ashamed that he did not believe his partner was worth telling the truth about, even if was something outrageous like gnomes living in their house. He was a kind-hearted man who would did not hurt people, not even once in Ted’s experience with him. Ken deserved to know the truth even though Ted did not deserve a man as perfect as him.

“What’s wrong, Teddy? Are you having second thoughts about the wedding tomorrow? It’s okay if you are, and we can postpone it until you’re ready,” Ken said as he placed his hands on Ted’s shoulder. “Talk to me.”

Facing Ken again, Ted began to mouth the first word of the truth, and just as the back of the trap said it would, the sealant began to loosen and soon his lips were unsealed as he restated his sentence to Ken. “I…I have a secret I need to tell you, Ken. And right now, is the time that I should tell you.”

“Okay, that’s great. We need to be open with each other if we want our relationship to continue working. So, what is it that you wanted to tell me, Ted?”

Taking a deep breath, Ted reached for the inside of his hood and covered the twins with a hand on top of the other. Slowly, he removed his top hand with other hand holding the twin gnomes, right in front of Ken.

“Oh, miniatures! That’s awesome!” Ken said as he looked at the twins more closely.

“Actually…we’re not,” Stacie said as she tapped Ken on the nose.

Ken yelped as he stumbled backwards and hit an end table that caused Stacie to giggle loudly which was quickly squelched by her brother. Ted rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he watched Ken try to regain his balance and fix the picture frames that almost fell of the end table.

“Yeah, so…that’s my secret.”

Turning around, Ken said, “And that’s your secret? I thought it would be something different like you keep your childhood stuffed bear in your closet. Not that you have two gnome friends that you keep by you at all times of the day.”

“Not all the time. Just when it’s convenient,” Stevie retorted with his arms crossed.

Ken groaned which caused Ted to wonder if this was still a good thing to do since there is more to reveal than just a pair of gnomes.

“Yeah and…there’s something else I need to tell you about,” Ted admitted as looked down to try not to see Ken’s reaction.

“More? What else is there?” Ken said with hands on his hips.

Sighing, Ted placed the twins on his left shoulder and said, “Just follow me to the bedroom.”

“Oh, God. Please don’t tell me there’s monsters under the bed as well,” Ken said, still shocked by the revelation of Ted’s.

Going upstairs into the second floor and into the master bedroom, Ted stopped by the bookcase and said, “You…might want to hold on to something.”

Before Ken had a chance to respond, Ted pulled on the same book on the center shelf of the bookcase, causing it to rotate once again and revealing the gnome city from behind. He cautiously turned his head to look at Ken who had his mouth opened completely and his eyes were wide from most likely shock that the area where they first fucked and slept together for almost two years was the same place where more than a hundred gnomes lived from behind the bookcase.

“What…What is all this?” Ken asked with his eyes still on the city that was still from the sight of him looking back at them.

“It’s a place that I constructed, so the gnomes had a place to call home,” Ted said simply with his head down.

“And…why didn’t you tell me any of this when we were together for two years?” Ken asked with furrowed eyebrows.

“Because…Because I thought you would think of me as a freak who kept gnomes like a crazed old lady who would take stray cats into her house. You’re so perfect and sexy, and I didn’t want to ruin such an awesome thing by telling you all of this at first. And then as our relationship grew and we eventually fell in love with each other, it just got me more scared that you might leave me because of the gnome situation… And I didn’t want to abandon the gnomes either just to please one person…but with you it’s so complicated,” Ted explained, feeling out of breath.

“So, you thought I would leave you over this?”

Ted nodded. “You’re the most amazing person who ever came to my life, and to have you walk away…I don’t know what I would do if that happened. I love you, Ken, and I don’t want to ever lose you,” Ted said with his eyes beginning to water.

“Hey, hey. Don’t cry. Come here,” Ken said as he extended his arms out and offered Ken a firm embrace.

Sobbing lightly, Ted took comfort of having his lover so close to him with his face pressed firmly on his warm chest and his strong arms around him, protecting him from anything that posed a threat to them.

“Ted, I want you to know that I love you regardless of anything that life throws at us, and if that includes knowing that we’re living in a house also inhabited by gnomes, then so be it,” Ken confessed.

“Really?” Ted said as he faced Ken.

“Of course. I mean, it’s going to take some time to get used to, but I’m sure I’ll adapt… Also knowing that you’re willing to share your house to these people so they have a home as well makes me think really highly of you like I always do,” Ken said with a smile.

“I always thought highly of you, Ken. Never thought someone would do the same way for me,” Ted admitted with a sniffle.

“You always have a low opinion of yourself. Just look at all those people right next to you who all think so highly of you right now,” Ken pointed out.

Ted looked at the city in the bookcase and saw all those little people waving at him appreciatively with smiles on their faces for what Ted had done for them. “Yeah… I guess you’re right.”

“I am right. And let me show you how highly I think about you right now,” Ken said as he pulled Ted by the collar of his shirt and pressed his lips onto his.

Ted immediately relaxed upon kissing his fiancé with his lips that were sealed shut just a moment ago before he told his secret. And that secret was accepted by Ken, which alleviated more of the tension he was experiencing throughout the planning of the wedding. So happy that he was able to live his life with his husband-to-be and with the gnomes as they all clapped like it was wedding right then and they officially tied the knot.

Their lips soon released, and Ken said, “It’s so great that you have such a caring heart for these people, but…”

“But what?” Ted said, getting nervous again.

“Can you turn that bookcase back around, so we can some…privacy?” Ken said with eyebrows moving up and down.

Ted bit his bottom lip as he placed his hand on the miniature statue that allowed the twins to walk back to the bookcase via his arm before pulling it down. Once the rotation of the bookcase was completed, Ted and Ken were all over each other with lips swapping, teeth biting and hands roaming around all over each other’s bodies. With their tongues intertwined, Ken directed them to the side of bed where he pushed Ted onto the mattress. He then stripped off his shirt, and climbed onto the bed, on top of Ted while licking his lips like a predator eyeing his next meal.

When Ken pulled out a condom from his pocket, Ted took the condom and tossed it away before saying, “I want you, Ken. All of you.”

Ken nodded, and they proceeded to reenact the first time they fucked, however this time they were bonding by soul, body and fluid and that was one of the greatest treasures that Ted had ever gotten. So, when they both reached climax and Ken released his essence into Ted’s body, he felt their connection deepen and become even stronger because of that, and he loved it so much that they did it again until they were completely exhausted from all the love-making, of asses getting filled and erections shooting their seed, they turned the lights off right after and slept the rest of the night before their wedding day.

After that, He was freed from his enchantment and the next day they were married, to spend their entire lives together and with their gnome friends. Surprisingly, Ken adapted very quickly to having the gnomes living in their house, which made Ted very gleeful to have both his new husband and the gnomes under the same roof. Ken even went out of his way to include updates to the city of the gnomes by building new and refined houses for them to live in who were all very grateful to him. And to no longer hold that secret that burdened Ted to no end was such a relief. Maybe that sticky piece of paper that Ken did not know was enchanted was more of a blessing than anything else.

You know, they say that gnomes came to be in this world because they were the literal manifestation of secrets that hid in people’s houses like secrets in a person’s mind or conscience. However, with the secret of the gnome people living in the Ted’s house revealed to his husband, the gnomes were becoming more confident now that maybe they could venture back into nature and establish a new settlement with the help of Ted and Ken. It was ironic, but to know that these gnomes would not have to depend on Ted forever made him very enthusiastic for them, though he and his husband would always leave the door open for them to return and visit. And Ted had Ken to call his own home and they lived in peace and happiness onward.