Relocation - Part Eight

[churbooseanon]

So the two suitors meet, and bad news hits home. 

Relocation - Part Eight

“Well, fancy seeing you here this early in the morning,” Connie greeted Alex as he approached the counter, teasing clear in her voice. “What are you doing up at the crack of dawn?”

“Mostly I’m hoping that a cup of your strongest coffee will keep me conscious for the next several hours,” Alex grumbled as he moved to lean on the counter, a hand coming up to rub at the back of his neck.

“Early morning shoot?” Connie asked as she turned her back to him and gestured to Tucker, who sighed and started working on preparing something to drink.

“More like I’ve been working all night,” Alex groaned, shaking his head. “Last minute job came up yesterday and I took it rather than…”

Alex went dead silent as David came out from the backroom looking quite attractive in the dark gray of his uniform shirt. Of course, he hardly needed to finish what he had been saying anyway. He could see the recognition on Connie’s face, the pity, and the urge she had to reach out and comfort him.

“Alex!” David greeted, striding over with a wide smile that made Alex smile back for all that he felt about ready to fall over. “I didn’t see you around yesterday.”

“Got called in first thing for a job,” Alex explained with a yawn. “I’d rather head back and get some sleep right now, but there’s a deadline and so I need the caffeine.”

“Well, I’m sure Connie can…”

“Alex, I’m going to need you to duck here in a moment,” Connie cut into the conversation, and Alex watched in bewilderment as she whipped the hand towel off her shoulder, broke a chunk off the bagel she had been munching on, and tied the bagel into the towel.

As Alex took a step back he glanced toward David and saw an odd look flash through his eyes, something hopeful mixed with relieved. With that he followed Connie and David’s gazes and he could feel his heart stop for half a moment when he saw the pair of men just before they pushed through the door. One was a tall and lean man with long black hair and an arrangement of green dress clothing that he marked as Daniel from the descriptions that Donut had offered at the picnic on Saturday. In fact, between Donut’s descriptions, the presence of Daniel, and the lines of stitches that drew attention to the left side of the second man’s face, there was only one person that could be.

“Good morning, Rebecca!” the man said as the door was flung open in front of him, and Alex actually flinched backward as a blur of brown shot past him. His eyes followed the path it would have taken, and he found the green clad man had caught the bundle Connie had made just short of the injured man’s face.

“Geez, that’s no way to welcome me back,” the injured man, Shaun observed, mock hurt in his voice as he smiled at Connie, then turned his attention to David and smiled all the wider.

It was a testament to how tired Alex was that it actually took this long for him to put two and two together and come up with Shaun being the man who had kissed David. His had also been the name that had been mentioned before David had rushed off after Tex at the picnic, and never come back.

Did he have to be so handsome?

“They let you out early,” David observed, crossing to Shaun and holding his hand out to Daniel for the towel and Alex watched the exchange and ignored the way that Connie’s hand gently pressed against his shoulder.

“I believe he was inflicting undue stress on the nursing staff, particularly Nurse DuFresne, and thus his early discharge was an attempt to end the situation,” Daniel offered, sounding a little annoyed.

“Yeah, D, I guess you could look at it like that,” Shaun laughed. “Anyway, Connie, sorry I missed the picnic and everything. I was just prettying up my face and the eyebrow pencil did all sorts of horrible things when it slipped.”

“Whatever, just sit down. If my other patrons stare at you too long they might lose their appetites,” Connie returned with a cheerfulness that Alex knew from long experience was forced. In fact, from the way David flinched, he could hear it too.

“Patrons? Looks like you’ve just got this one guy,” Shaun said, and before Alex could really react the brunet had crossed to him, smiled widely, and held out a hand. “Name’s Shaun. You’re not terribly offended by my devastatingly good looks being ruined by an eyebrow pencil, are you?”

“Tex failed to warn me about just how funny you aren’t,” Alex returned as he took the other man’s hand firmly in his and shook it, forcing a kind smile to his lips.

Shaun was silent for half a moment as they shook hands, and then the disarming smile was right back in place, focused entirely on Alex. It was a nice smile, managing to draw the eye despite the wreck that was the left side of the man’s face.

“You another one of Tex’s friends in the business?” Shaun asked as their hands separated, still smiling but with a harder edge to it.

“Just a photographer friend of Connie’s,” Alex answered. “Who really can’t afford to linger around here very long. How’s that drink coming, Connie?”

When he turned back to the counter he found the woman standing there, a pitying smile on her face, as she pushed a bag across to him. Quickly Alex peeked in—he hadn’t ordered the cinnamon roll but she wasn’t charging him so who was he to complain—and then picked the bag up. “I guess with this I’m good to go.”

Again his attention turned to David, whose gaze was frustratingly occupied with the injured Shaun. Really, Alex didn’t want to hold that against him, especially since Shaun was clearly hurt, but he couldn’t help but be the slightest bit annoyed when David noticed his glance and looked away, a blush rising to his cheeks. It looked good on him, very good, and Alex hated that he hadn’t been the one to put it there. Instead it was Shaun, the man who was laughing his way over to the booth with his green clad friend, and who David was watching intently.

Well, it looked like that conversation he had been meaning to have with David was going to have to happen sooner rather than later. It was probably the only way he’d have any chance of measuring up against the looks David kept sneaking of Shaun.

“David,” Alex said, pitching his voice into the same soothing territory he’d used the whole time he’d spent bleaching his neighbor’s hair. Almost immediately David’s eyes were on him, a smile plastered on his face, and a strange firmness to the expression that made it seem a little more strained than it should have been. “Connie meant for you to take some of the leftovers home Saturday, and I was going to drop them off yesterday but I got that call and… Well, just come over after you’re done with your shift and I’ll help you haul them over to your place.”

“You sure I won’t be interrupting you?” David asked, his face painted with genuine concern. “You look about ready to fall over. Maybe you should get some sleep.”

“I’ve still got a few more hours of touch up work on the raws I took for my client yesterday, so I’ll be up until those are done. Don’t worry. I just don’t want Alexa to eat through your stuff as quickly as she is through ours,” Alex assured him, even as he hoped he’d be conscious enough to see David that long from now.

“Alright, I’ll see you then,” David promised, and smiled one last time before he made a beeline for the booth that Shaun and Daniel had no doubt settled at.

Alex knew it was because it was David’s job to deal with customers. Yet as he pushed through the door of the cafe and into the street, Alex wished he could have been the one to hold David’s attention so easily.

* * * * * *

“If you suggest even one hint of what I know you are thinking,” Daniel warned, his voice dangerously low, “I will see to tormenting you in any way remotely possible.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Shaun insisted as he settled into his seat, thankful to be out of the hospital and back into the more familiar routines of life. Granted it was Monday and he really should be going to work today, but the doctors had warned him against anything that might strain his eyes as he adjusted to the slight blurring from his left, and that meant today was a day off whether he wanted it or not.

“You aim to continue your harassment of David today, and I do not approve.”

“Easy, D. For one thing, it’s not harassment. He said I’m allowed a chance to try and win his attention. For another, aren’t you supposed to be on my side?” Shaun asked, smiling widely at his friend and enjoying the fact that while Daniel was fuming at him, the other man could say nothing else because David had just arrived at the foot of their table.

“Morning there, handsome,” Shaun greeted, turning the full force of his smile on David. “Been a long time.”

“Not long enough,” David answered, though there was none of the easy dismissal there had been during their previous encounters in the cafe. Instead there was a quieter sort of tension, as if David was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“You wound me,” Shaun insisted, still smiling as he stared up at David.

“Do I have something on my face?” David asked at length, looking genuinely concerned. “I asked Caboose but…”

“Ah, so Connie put you on baking duty this morning as punishment for abandoning the picnic?” Daniel asked, and Shaun couldn’t help but look at his friend in confusion for the question. He hadn’t known David was going to be punished for abandoning the picnic to come visit him in the hospital. How had Daniel? Was it possible that Tex had been right and D and David were bound to become friends? Well, wouldn’t that be interesting?

“Yeah. He almost upended a whole bag of flour on my head,” David sighed and ran a hand through his hair, shaking it around and releasing a small shower of tan powder to make his point. “Luckily I saved the thing. Apparently he does that every time he starts working with someone new, so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. Anyway, what can I get you guys this morning?”

“The usual,” Daniel answered without hesitation.

Shaun, on the other hand, made a show of pondering, right down to stroking his beardless chin thoughtfully, before he smirked, and met David’s gaze levelly. “Blueberry scone and a hot drink with… Cinnamon and chocolate.”

To call the look on David’s face merely flustered would have been an insult to the beautiful shade of red he was turning. It was almost better than it had been the first morning, because they both knew why Shaun had ordered what he had. At least, he assumed David understood why he’d ordered it. After all, he was blushing so beautifully.

“Right… Anything else?” David mumbled so quickly the words almost started to blur together.

“Nope. Just hurry back, okay?”

Honestly, the speed with which David turned on his heels and fled was almost amazing.

“What was all of that about,” Daniel asked, and Shaun was treated with a rare vision of his best friend’s brow scrunched in genuine confusion. Nice to know he could evade D’s predictions once in a while.

“It’s his usual,” Shaun observed with no small amount of personal pleasure when he glanced toward the counter and saw a look of annoyance flash over Connie’s face as David delivered the order. He wasn’t entirely sure just what she had… No, that was a lie. He knew exactly why Connie didn’t want him flirting with David. She was protective of her friend, and he liked that. That didn’t change his intentions in the slightest, though.

“How could you guess what his…” D trailed off abruptly when he realized just how Shaun could know. “The kiss.”

“The kiss,” Shaun agreed, smiling contentedly toward David.

“If I might ask you something, Shaun?”

“The mighty Daniel is asking something of lowly little me?” Shaun teased, turning his full attention to the dark haired man across the table and smiling.

“You mentioned that David had allowed you an opportunity to garner his attention, and you have used the chance to subtly reference your kiss? This seems like… a faulty route to his attentions.”

“Because it isn’t part of the plan, D,” Shaun laughed to himself. “There’s a bigger picture that even you apparently haven’t noticed.”

“And that is?”

“Just wait for him to come back. All will be revealed in time, my friend. All will be revealed in time.”

“If I might be straight forward, Shaun?”

“As if I could stop you,” he chuckled as he returned his attention to David at the counter where he was loading a tray with their orders.

“There is something different about your behavior here compared to your previous attempts at conquests…” Daniel said at length.

Shaun was given just enough time to chuckle and shake his head. “This isn’t a conquest. It’s a romancing.”

Then David was at the table and Shaun smiled up at him once more.

“Coffee and muffin for Daniel,” David said as he moved the items to the table. The blush returned as David moved a plate with a scone and a cappuccino cup to the table. “Blueberry scone and a cinnamon mocha. Can I get you two anything else?”

“Nothing,” Daniel insisted.

“Nothing,” Shaun agreed, and the look of shock on David’s face was priceless, and quite beautiful. He just turned his attention meaningfully to the cup before him and took a delicate sip at the hot beverage. Sure enough the combination of flavors was perfect, just the right balance to be just short of how David’s mouth had tasted.

When he lowered the cup David was still there, standing at the end of the table with his tray. Shaun delicately raised his left eyebrow as much as he was willing to risk it, as he returned his attention to the attractive blond. “Is there something we can do for you, David?”

“I expected you to be more forward about all of this,” David admitted, and Shaun watched him bite his lip lightly.

“Is that what you want?” Shaun asked, smiling as he lifted the scone to his mouth and took a small bite. He immediately returned his attention to he drink and when that flavor mixed with the blueberry taste on his tongue it was just perfect. These were definitely the flavors that dominated David’s mouth.

“I’d honestly rather get this out of the way,” David answered, and there wasn’t annoyance in his voice so much as hesitant concern.

“Thursday,” Shaun answered, and enjoyed the way David’s head tilted and his face was a picture of confusion.

“Thursday?” David repeated.

“You, me, my apartment, some of the best Chinese take-out in town and a movie,” Shaun offered, smiling up at David and enjoying the continued confusion on his face, mixed with something like pleasant shock. “I’d offer to cook, but D would be the first to tell you that I’m a fire waiting to happen.”

“You’re asking me out,” David said at last, realization filling his voice and Shaun could even see the widening of Daniel’s eyes.

“Yeah, I am,” Shaun agreed. “Sometimes the best way to catch someone’s attention is on a date.”

“That wasn’t what I meant,” David protested. “I meant…”

“I don’t get my stitches out until Wednesday, so I pretty much have until then to get you to agree to this. So why don’t you save us both a lot of time and just agree,” Shaun said, smiling all the while.

“David, I need you!” Connie cried from the counter and Shaun watched as David’s attention danced from him to her and back.

“What do you say?” Shaun asked, still grinning.

“You’re not going to let this go until I say yes, are you?” David asked, and Shaun just shook his head.

“Fine. Thursday,” David agreed before rushing off to Connie’s call.

“I cannot believe that just happened,” Daniel gaped. “That was not like you, Shaun.”

“No, it isn’t,” Shaun chuckled. “But he’s worth it.”

The look Daniel gave him might easily have been described as almost respectful.

* * * * * *

Alex was certain his eyelids had never felt so heavy before in his life.

The coffee had run out hours ago, and so had the work. He’d managed to get the final touch-ups done and sent the digital proofs off to the client, and after that Alex had just been sitting at his desk, wishing he could find a way to keep himself awake. If his clock was anything to judge by then David was due back sometime soon, and he just had to make it that far, just had to survive until David showed up to knock on his door. Just had to keep his eyes open a little bit longer.

He’d passed the time by trying to find some of the answers Connie clearly hadn’t meant to give him or didn’t know. A variety of web searches had done nothing to give him more of the story about Ethan and David. Unsurprisingly he found a lot of trash results, and nothing other than a graduation announcement that linked their names together. Apparently David had been co-valedictorian with one Ethan Cannon, a young looking man with dark hair and vibrant blue eyes that somehow only managed to make Alex shudder. Other than that he hadn’t figured out much at all about the Ethan who had clearly broken David in some way.

A series of knocks at the apartment door found Alex throwing himself to his feet and all but racing for the door. He even managed to make it before the knocks stopped, and threw the bolt back on the door before opening it.

The look the delivery man had on his face at the overzealous reaction probably would have been hilarious in another situation. As it is Alex rubbed his eyes and shook his head to try and wake himself up more.

“I’ve got a package here for an Alexa…”

“I’ll sign for it,” Alex groaned, holding his hands out for the signature pad as the man thrust it at him. The signature looked nothing like his with how his hand was fumbling with the pen, but the man just nodded and pressed the package into Alex’s hands. Then he tipped his hat and strode off, leaving Alex to look down at the packaging.

It was from the company Alexa special ordered all her hair supplies from, which meant she’d be dying her hair a new color very soon. With a sigh he set the box by the door where he knew Alexa would find it. He almost got the door closed behind him when he heard a voice call out in the hall.

“Alex!”

David’s voice had a strange mix of excitement and annoyance to it, and Alex couldn’t help but smile just from hearing it, especially when his name on those lips was punctuated by the sound of someone running down the hall.

“Hey,” he greeted with a weak smile as David slid to a halt in front of the door.

“Hey yourself. Man, you look like shit.”

“Strange, I feel like crap,” Alex laughed, stepping out of the doorway to welcome David in. “Give me a moment and I’ll get the things Connie left for you out of the fridge.”

“No rush. Except, of course, for the fact that you look like you’re about to fall over,” David said, stopping just inside the door to wait while Alex closed it. “You know, I could come back later…”

“Now works,” Alex reassured him as he started to shuffle toward the kitchen. “Like I said, you can’t trust Alexa with good food for any length of time, and you missed out on the proper part of the picnic when you disappeared.”

“Yeah,” David sighed and Alex was pleased to hear the younger man following him. He managed to make it to the fridge and opened the freezer first, hoping the burst of chilly air would keep him aware a bit longer. “I really have no good excuse for that.”

“You care about your friends,” Alex answered, closing the freezer and snatching the fridge door open. It wasn’t hard to see the collection of untouched tupperware in a large paper bag that dominated the bottom shelf. With a yawn Alex hauled the bag out of the fridge and turned around to put it on the counter David was leaning on.

“I barely know him,” David admitted, which made Alex stare at him with a slight tilt of his head.

“Then why did you…?” Alex started to ask, but as he tried to climb up on one of the stools he stumbled.

Almost immediately David was there, one arm wrapped around Alex’s waist, and another resting lightly on his shoulder. The touches were gentle and warm and somehow Alex didn’t groan at the contact.

“You should really get some sleep,” David warned him. “Come on, let me help you to your bed. Can’t risk you passing out on your kitchen floor.”

“Alexa does it often enough,” Alex observed, and the faint chuckle David responded with was amazing. “But maybe you’re right.”

“I know I am,” David agreed, his hand gripping Alex’s wrist and with a careful twist Alex felt his arm wrap around the smaller man’s shoulder. “Not getting enough sleep isn’t good for you.”

Alex couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation.

“What, did I say something funny?” David demanded, though his voice was soft as he led Alex through the kitchen, his hand wrapped around Alex’s wrist, and an arm lightly curled around Alex’s waist.

“No, it’s… The parallel. I did the same for you on Friday night. Except you were drunk, whereas I’m only sleep deprived,” Alex laughed to himself.

“Geez, don’t remind me,” David sighed. “I’ll be avoiding situations like that in the future.”

“Hey,” Alex said as they made it through the door and into his room, “you never answered my question. Or maybe I never finished asking. If you didn’t know that Shaun guy, then why did you…?”

“Go running off to see him?” David asked with a sigh as he turned around so Alex could easily sit on the edge of his bed. “To be honest, I don’t know why. Maybe it was something Tex said. No… it wasn’t any of that.”

“He was the customer who kissed you,” Alex observed as he shifted on the bed to stretch out. He didn’t bother to try and remove any of his clothing, the track pants and t-shirt were comfortable enough for sleeping in.

“Yeah,” David agreed, sighing and Alex wished David would look at him. “That was him. He’s just… I don’t know how to describe him.”

“Then don’t,” Alex yawned, settling into his bed and refusing to let himself reach out and pull David into his arms, as much as he wanted to do it.

“Hey, Alex?”

“Yeah?”

“I think you were right when we were talking on Friday,” David said at length, and Alex watched as the blond brought his legs up on to the bed and crossed them under him.

“Which part? The you not drinking so much?” Alex chuckled.

“The needing to do something to get my ex out of my mind,” David admitted, his voice low and practically a whisper and infinitely soothing.

Alex wanted to say something, tell David something, make him understand that he didn’t need that grinning idiot. But his eyelids were so heavy, his body so weary.

* * * * * *

“I guess I can at least try,” David sighed, shaking his head. “What do you think, Alex?”

There was no response, and confused David looked back over his shoulder at Alex. The older man had fallen asleep, and David took a moment to just sit there and smile down at his sleeping form. It wasn’t until he looked at Alex while he slept that he realized there was some sort of tension in the man when he was awake that had melted away in sleep.

With a sigh David pushed himself to his feet and grabbed the sheet at the foot of the bed. It was nothing at all to settle it over Alex, and he smiled as he watched the man practically snuggle in against the fabric. That, he supposed, meant Alex was the cuddling type. For a moment David let himself entertain the thought of just lying down and letting Alex’s arms wrap around him. Then he had moved away from the bed and slipped from the room, gently closing Alex’s bedroom door behind him.

That done he made a beeline for the kitchen and grabbed the bag to tuck under his arm, only to freeze when he noticed the notepad on the fridge. Right, best to leave a note in hopes that Alexa wouldn’t be too mad at her brother when she got home. Quickly David ripped a piece of paper from the pad, grabbed the pen, and quickly wrote an explanation for the unlocked front door and missing food. That done he hunted around for some tape, and in the end gave in and just wedged the message in the frame of the door that had to lead to Alexa’s bedroom.

All of that done David let himself out of the apartment, closed the door behind him, and made his way down the hall to his own apartment. The place was quiet when he let himself in, almost eerily so. He still hadn’t gotten used to the silence here, to the fact that there wasn’t always music or the television or just Ethan’s voice when he came home. With a sigh he brushed the thought aside and stuffed the bag in the fridge, not even bothering to search through it to see what Connie had left him. Instead he set the coffee pot up to running and made for the couch and the book he’d left on his coffee table.

He only barely managed to sit down when he phone started ringing. He didn’t even bother to think, just fished the phone out of his pocket and hit the accept button without looking.

“Connie, I don’t care what red shift did to piss you off, I’m not coming back in,” he said instead of hello, because who would be calling him other than her? None of the other cafe workers had his number, he had enjoyed a long conversation with his parents the night before, and his friends would be at work right now due to the time difference.

“I should have known you’d run to Connie.”

David went rigid, except for his left hand immediately going to his scarred shoulder.

“I thought I told you not to call me anymore,” David hissed, trying to ignore the fact that Ethan’s voice made his whole body tense up in the worst ways.

“You just need to let me talk,” Ethan insisted, his voice pleading.

“I suppose at least you’re not charging me collect to listen to you anymore,” David continued, trying to make his voice sound like steel rather than like he was whimpering, which was closer to the truth.

“Dammit David, why won’t you talk to me?”

“Because we went beyond talking a long time ago, Ethan,” David answered, and he could hear that his voice was far too weak. “Because you stopped using words months ago. Because we’re over Ethan, and the sooner you accept that the sooner we can both move on with our lives.”

“Dave…”

“I’ve met someone. He cares about me, which is more than I can say about you.”

“No. Fucking hell Dave, you can’t do this to me!”

“You’d be surprised what I can do,” David countered, then thumbed the disconnect. The phone started to ring again almost immediately. David hit the reject button and then did the only thing he could do to keep the phone from ringing again: he called someone else.

“Connie’s Cafe,” Donut’s voice answered the cafe’s landline almost immediately, his voice almost painfully cheerful. “How can we make your day the very best it can be?”

“Donut, get Connie for me.”

“Wash? Oh man, I was not expecting to hear your voice,” Donut chuckled, and there was something in his voice that said this was going to turn into an actual conversation if David didn’t stop him soon.

“Donut, get Connie now,” David insisted. “It’s an emergency.”

“What kind of emergency? Are we talking medical, because you want a whole different phone number for that one. Or is it a fashion emergency, because I could totally help you with that.”

“You’re… Kidding, right?” David couldn’t help but ask. “Why the hell would I be calling over a fash…”

“Well, your taste is a little questionable,” Donut said in a sage tone. “You could stand for someone a bit more sensible to help you spruce up your look for a new town. In fact…”

“Connie. Now,” David snarled, and that finally seemed to be enough.

Donut sighed, and in just a few short breaths there was a new voice on the line.

“David? Donut said it was an emergency. Are you okay?”

“No,” he heard his voice break on the word. “No, I’m not.”

“Shit, um, I give me a few minutes to wrap up what I’m working on, and I’ll be there soon,” Connie assured him, concern thick in her voice. “I’ll grab some food on the way there. And beers. You sound like you need beers. Or something else. Um, just how serious of a situation are we talking here, so I know what kind of booze to bring.”

“Ethan called again. Except… Connie, I think I might have fucked up. Please, I just… really need you here right now.”

“I’ll skip the food. We’ll order in,” Connie offered, and David felt himself nodding, for all that she’d never see it.

“But…”

“Yeah, the hardest liquor I can find,” she agreed without having to be told. “Turn off your phone. I’ll be there soon.”

The line went dead and almost immediately it was ringing again.

David did Connie one better. He removed the battery.