Relocation - Part Eleven

[churbooseanon]

The chapter wherein we all scream at David and Alex to just FOCUS here. Geez. And Alexa is the best sister ever.

Relocation - Part Eleven

There were moments in his life when Alex really did hate his sister. There was the time when they were ten and she broke the camera their father had given him on their birthday. Then there was the whole semester in high school where Alexa had been praised as an artist when she’d started bringing in prints of his photographs to school for assignments in her art classes. It had been impossible to try and make everyone understand that it was his work, he’d just been seen as a jealous older brother, so he’d dropped it and started to hide his stuff from her better. There was even something that could have been said for Alexa’s timely arrival on the day David had moved in upsetting him a bit.

None of that quite compared to just how he felt about his sister while he stood outside of David’s apartment—really it was starting to get ridiculous how nervous he found himself whenever he stood here—a bottle of red wine cradled in his hand as he tried to prepare to knock on the door.

Only Alexa would decide that the best thing for him right now would be some time spent alone with David. Only Alexa would manage to talk Connie into agreeing. Only Alexa would leave a note and a bottle of wine on their dining room table while he was out in the park for an afternoon of personal photography. Only Alexa would decide to kidnap Connie for a romantic evening all their own, and leave Alex with the implication that he just needed to ‘hit that.’

Only Alexa really tried to get him to take the steps he never really wanted to take.

Alex took the chance to smooth his hair, straighten his shirt, and actually pretend he could breathe normally before he knocked on the door. Of course he almost immediately caught himself holding his breath, and rolled his eyes. It was just a meal. Nothing complex, nothing painful, nothing even important. Just a meal shared with a friend to repay him for a kindness he had…

Yeah, he wasn’t falling for that line of reasoning, was he?

The door opened—he hadn’t known it not to yet—and between the savory smell in the air and the smile David offered him, it was almost perfect.

“Right on time. Which isn’t something I can say of Connie,” David greeted him, standing aside almost instantly to offer Alex space to join him. “I just got a call from her. She’s decided to 'gracefully duck out’ of my offer. I’m…”

“Don’t kill her,” Alex immediately cut off, walking by David and smiling before he held out the bottle. “I suppose we’ll have to enjoy this without her.”

“Oh… Lambrusco,” David cooed—did he actually just do that, dear god that was cute—as he closed the door and then swept the bottle of wine from Alex’s grip. His hands were warm, Alex couldn’t help but notice that from the brief contact. “This will go perfectly with the roast. Which Connie isn’t even getting a taste of the leftovers of. Traitor.”

Alex wanted to laugh, wanted to chuckle, wanted to continue the light atmosphere that David had greeted him with. Instead as he watched David start off toward the kitchen he found his voice catch just a bit as he asked, “Is a night with me that much of a let down?”

There was silence between them for a moment when David turned to look at him, some unreadable expression lingering on his face. Then it was gone, replaced by a wide smile a bit too much like one of those that Shaun guy used, but it was genuine so far as Alex could tell.

“No. It’s nice. Now, are you going to stand there like a fumbling guest who’s never visited me before, or are you going to act like the man who made me breakfast yesterday and pretend you’re comfortable here?”

“Comfortable. That option sounds like a lot more fun,” Alex chuckled, toeing off his shoes by the door and shuffling after David toward the kitchen.

The closer he got the more intense the aroma grew, and Alex couldn’t help but pause just beside the breakfast bar to take a deep breath of the wonderful smells. “You weren’t kidding about picking up a think or two about cooking.”

“It’s a hobby,” David insisted as he opened a crock pot on his counter and smiled down at its contents. “Never really took the time to seriously try my hand at it.”

“Well, if this is what you create without trying too hard, then I’m sure you could be quite the chef if you tried,” Alex chuckled as he reached David’s side. “You know, as much as I’d love to talk, that scent is going to drive me mad. So why don’t you put me out of my misery and tell me just how long I’m going to have to yearn for this delicious scent before I get to try some?”

“Actually, I tried to time this so it would be ready when people showed up, and since you’re the only people I’m expecting…”

“I’m sure I can be company enough,” Alex laughed. “Point me at your wine glasses and I’ll set the table if you want.”

“What, no dinner on the couch?” David teased. “We’re actually going to class this up a bit?”

“Well, I brought wine. I think that necessitates a table. Sort of a class factor,” Alex chuckled. “If you can’t meet me with at least that much class, well I’m going to have to take my wine and leave.”

“Don’t do that,” David laughed, before pointing at the high cabinet over the fridge. “I didn’t expect to need them any time soon so…”

“Not a problem,” Alex assured him. “That’s where I keep the harder liquors myself. It doesn’t stop Alexa when she’s starting out for the night, but it does slow her down if she’s already been drinking.”

It was no effort at all for Alex to get the glasses down and carry them into the dining room with the bottle of wine. At David’s direction he also moved out plates, utensils, water cups—with David insisting that he wasn’t doing the drunk thing tonight—and even some serving utensils. When David was ready he even offered to move the roast to a serving platter and carry it to the table while David handled the few side dishes he’d prepared.

And when they sat down together, smiling thankfully over their meals across a relatively small table together, sipping at a sweet red wine and talking easily about the finer points of cooking a roast, it hit Alex that this had been exactly what his sister had wanted.

Him, alone with David, for what was turning into a quiet and intimate little meal.

Only Alexa could find a way to set them up on a date that wasn’t actually a date.

* * * * * *

Maybe it was the fact that for the first time since coming to town, David had allowed himself the simple pleasure of cooking. Maybe it was the filling and warm meal in his body. Maybe it was the way the wine was going a bit to his head despite everything, running hot through his stomach and his veins and his skin. Maybe it was something in the way that Alex smiled at him, or laughed at even the worst of his less than stellar jokes. Maybe it was how small the table felt with Alex across the way or the way their feet accidentally brushed under the table a few times, or the ease of the conversation.

Whatever it was, David couldn’t help but feel like he was on a date.

He was going to kill Connie for this, he really was. Abandoning him with his gorgeous next door neighbor who was sweet, kind, and gentle, and for what? Some woman she had just met?

It was nice, David realized as he smiled at Alex during a lull in the conversation. Just as comfortable and warm and perfect as it could have been. As he could have wished for.

Now if only he could do anything about it. Like lean across the table and seize those beautiful…

“We never got a chance to talk about what Donut mentioned at cafe yesterday,” Alex commented as he speared a chunk of potato with his fork, and suddenly the urge to kiss the man was the furthest thing possible from David’s mind.

“Donut should mind his own damn business,” David spat with a bit more force than he’d intended. Alex just smiled softly at him in response, and David took a deep breath. “You mean about the pity date.”

“Donut seemed to think there was more to it than that. In fact, Shaun seemed to…”

“You want something we haven’t talked about?” David cut Alex off, spearing a few spikes of asparagus rather than let him finish that sentence. “Just why you were talking with Shaun yesterday. From what I understand you only met him a few days ago, so it clearly wasn’t catching up with an old friend.”

“It was nothing. I was just threatening him,” Alex observed, his voice cheerful and disarming and David could do nothing but stare at him. In fact, he was pretty sure that his mouth was hanging open, which probably wasn’t good for it, but it pulled Alex’s lips into a wider smile.

“You were… You were what?” David stammered, carefully pushing the glass of wine further away from himself because clearly he had heard that wrong and hearing things wrong had to be because he as too drunk.

“Threatening him,” Alex chuckled this time, low and somehow reassuring.

“With what? For what? Why?”

“With Alexa, for any potential actions he took in the future to harm you, and because I’m your friend,” Alex answered, counting off the points on a raised hand, smiling all the while.

“I… Alex…” David shook his head and sighed. “I’m not some damsel in distress who needs you to look after me. I mean, yeah, it’s nice to have a friend do that for me. But there are two points you’re sort of missing out on here.”

“Those being?”

“First of all, I’m not an idiot. I know exactly what Shaun’s after,” David said, and he had to chuckle lightly at the shocked expression on Alex’s face. “Listen, I understand that you’re worried about me, I mean, I’m worried about me. Granted it is nice to know someone would unleash Alexa on another person for my sake, but I actually know what I’m doing. I know his reputation, Connie and the others have gone over it quite a bit. But I know what it is, and as you pointed out at the bar, that might be exactly what I need right now.”

Alex was staring at him, eyes wide, blinking stupidly, and were the conversation not so serious David might have laughed at him. Instead he continued with the same serious tone he had used before. “I can’t get through a day without thinking about my ex, how badly he fucked me up emotionally. I don’t need an emotional connection or something serious right now. I need someone to wash his taste out of my mouth. To wipe away his hands, his smile, to clear him from my mind. Someone to replace him in my head so I can start from a blank slate when I choose to try and find something… more. And, honestly, if I’m going to use someone, why not pick someone who is looking to use me, and has a reputation for being damn good at it?”

“That’s… a bit cynical,” Alex said at length. “But I suppose I understand. You said there was a second point.”

“Oh, the whole wanting to get laid, at your advice, was the second point,” David chuckled. “Point one, I don’t need protected. Point two, get laid. I suppose one could argue those are pretty important points in anyone’s life, but they are a bit more immediately relevant to me and this situation. Still, thanks for trying to help.”

Alex started to laugh, a sound starting low in his stomach and bubbling out rich and beautiful and David could do nothing but smile at it. No, Shaun wasn’t the kind of man he wanted—or needed—in a real relationship. He wanted someone more like Alex. A man who smiled with genuine warmth, who laughed without a care, and still stood ready to threaten a stranger on his behalf. Not that he could say that out loud. It would be awkward. Maybe it wouldn’t be the wrench in their relationship he had thought before learning that Alex had threatened someone for him, but a wrench nonetheless.

“You’re a lot more complicated than you seem to be, David,” Alex admitted as the chuckles died away, replaced by a wide smile.

“I aim to please,” David answered back, reaching for his wine glass again. “But seriously, you threatened him with Alexa? God, I wish I’d managed to see his expression when that happened.”

“Oh, it would have been worth it. I, of course, went for the classic veiled threat, and he all but jumped at the bait,” Alex chuckled, lifting his own glass and sipping—god he had amazing lips—at his wine. When he pulled the glass away there was a single drop still clinging to them, and god how David wanted to lean across the table and lick it away before kissing the other man. He held himself back and smiled as Alex continued. “He asked me if it was a threat, and the situation was too perfect.”

“You didn’t,” David chuckled, shaking his head and already reading in Alex’s eyes that he’d of course gone for the cliché.

“I told him it was a promise.”

They dissolved into a mess of giggles.

* * * * * *

“Hey, thanks for not bailing on me like Connie did,” David said as they gathered up the dishes and left overs to carry into the kitchen.

“You kind of owed me,” Alex pointed out with a smile as he moved to the sink to rinse the plates he was carrying.

“You don’t have to do that,” David sighed with a shake of his head. “You were my guest.”

“And Alexa and I have a rule: one person cooks, the other cleans.”

“How long did it take you to teach her not to break the dishes?” David teased, and Alex laughed easily at the joke.

“Years. I practically had to house break her when we moved out here together,” he joked right back, opening the dishwasher so he could move rinsed plates right to the racks. “And don’t get me started on…”

Alex froze in the motion of transferring a plate from under the stream of water from the faucet to the dishwasher. He wanted to blame it on something, anything other than the sudden tension in the air. But the simple truth of the matter was that David’s hand was laid gently on his wrist, and when Alex looked up he was meeting David’s gaze.

It was silent, it was intense, and dammit it was a lot closer than it should have been. Strange, he had remembered David being on the other side of him, and yet there he was, standing next to the dishwasher, close enough to have easily stopped him, far enough to make the moment… heavy. Because as Alex watched he could see the way David’s eyes flicked to his lips—he was far more subtle than Shaun had been at the cafe the day before but Alex was used to looking for tiny cues—and then rose back to his eyes. For half a moment he thought he felt David’s fingers twitch against his wrist, moving to grip him, hold him, solidify their minor contact into something more. He watched David swallow lightly, watched his tongue flash out over his lips, and he knew what David had to be thinking.

Because, truth be told, Alex found himself thinking the same thing.

They were on the edge of a kiss, and the only question was whether one of them was going to push past the frozen moment that hung between them.

David was the one that broke the silence, the stillness, because Alex had resolved not to. Knew he couldn’t push David past what he was willing to set as his own pace.

“I said you didn’t have to,” David’s voice whispered, and it was low and hoarse and frightfully well controlled for the situation.

Waiting wasn’t easy, but he was going to let David set the pace. So Alex just smiled at his friend, shrugged, and returned the plate to the sink. “Alright then. There’s nothing else I can do to help you out here? I mean, you look like you work to keep your workspace neat…”

“Yeah, that chef taught me that,” David confirmed, apparently happy to welcome the change of topic and focus because his arms crossed over his chest as he looked around the mostly clean kitchen.

Still, Alex was struck not for the first time by just how photogenic David was. One of these days, he was going to get the other man to pose for him. Needed to do that. Had to capture the beauty of the man before it had a chance to slip through his fingers.

“My father was of a similar opinion,” Alex agreed, turning to lean against the edge of the sink. “The messes you can deal with while working should always be handled to spare you them in the future.”

David nodded in agreement, but Alex could easily tell that the other man was looking away from him, looking everywhere but at Alex. Well… if that wasn’t a subtle cue that it was time for him to leave, Alex was pretty sure he didn’t know what one would look like.

“Thanks for the meal, but looking at the time, I should really be getting back. If that’s okay with you?”

“Huh?” David asked, returning his attention to Alex, a slightly haunted look in his eyes.

“I’m going to get going, okay?”

David nodded, pushing away from the counter himself.

“Hey, I am capable of walking from here to there on my own,” Alex teased, trying not to let his concern show. Something he’d done, something he’d said, something about all of this had upset David, and he had a nagging suspicion as to just why.

If he ever met Ethan Cannon, Alex resolved to punch him a few times. And he might even expand his definition of 'few’ to roughly ten or more.

“Yeah, but you’re a guest,” David repeated, smiling up at Alex and it looked forced.

“I’m a friend,” Alex insisted. “Friends make themselves at home at your place. And they know how to walk from one room to another.”

“And a good friend doesn’t force them to do it alone,” David countered, and his voice sounded easier.

With that Alex pushed away from the counter and smiled when David followed. They moved for the door in silence, and with an almost unspoken agreement they both stopped short.

“I had fun tonight,” Alex offered, and wanted to kick himself for how much it sounded like something you were supposed to say after a date. Yeah, he was definitely going to kill Connie and Alexa for this little arrangement.

“Me too,” David admitted, and this time when Alex saw his smile, he could see how genuine it was. That was, at least, something. “We’ve really got to do this again sometime. Soon. Maybe you cook next time?”

“I do make a pretty awesome taco casserole,” Alex agreed, smiling.

“What kind of wine goes with taco casserole?” David laughed. “Because I don’t know if I’ve ever had to buy for that before.”

“Well, it won’t be your 'getting used to the apartment’ dinner, so we can afford something a little less formal. In fact, I’ll cover both next time.”

“So no party?” David asked, smiling widely and that, Alex decided, was how David should always look. Happy, cheerful, joking, not haunted like he had in the kitchen.

“No party. Though if I do it then Alexa will invite herself, so it could turn into something entertaining anyway.”

“She’s not a violent drunk is she?”

“No, more cuddly,” Alex admitted, and he held himself back from saying that she reminded him a bit of David.

David blushed anyway, as if reading the implication without Alex having to allude to it. It looked good on him, picking out every last freckle that dusted his face like cinnamon floating on the top of a mug of hot chocolate. And yet it still put Alex in the mind of that night they went out to the bar, of coming back, of David’s lips drunkenly pressing against his.

What would he taste like sober?

“Anyway, that’s a question for the future,” Alex continued, refusing to let the thoughts get to him.

“Yeah. We’ll talk about it soon. In the mean time…”

Alex didn’t flinch away when David moved, and honestly, the feeling of those arms wrapping loosely around him was nice. He brought his own arms up to hug David back, a brief motion, and let David pull back without the slightest attempt to stop him. It was friendly, perfectly friendly, as was the smile David wore.

“Thanks for being concerned about me with this whole Shaun thing. I promise, it’s nothing to worry over. One night and nothing more.”

“It’s not my business,” Alex assured the smaller man with a smile before unlocking the door and pulling it open. “But if you need anyone to talk to…”

“You don’t live far away.”

* * * * * *

The door closed behind Alex and it was all David could do not to press up against it and slide down until he was huddled in a heap at the foot of the door.

He should have kissed Alex. Right there at the dinner table. Or by the dishwasher. Or hell, even here, by the door. Should have pulled him down and forced their lips together and tasted him. Felt the warmth that came behind that laughter and those smiles right up against his lips.

It was the alcohol talking, David had decided. The alcohol and the mood and how nice it was to be around the other man. It was Connie’s fault for not being here to chaperone, which had sort of been the point. He couldn’t bear to ruin his first friendship in this damn city by kissing Alex.

And yet, that moment by the dishwasher, that had been a moment, right? Alex hadn’t just stayed there, utterly still, because it was fun. No, there had been something more, an anticipation or a quiet consent or maybe just patience.

Dammit, he didn’t know. With a sigh David pushed himself to his feet, resisted the urge to tear at his hair, and made for the kitchen. There was still a lot of cleaning to be done—he really should have let Alex help him, but then there had been that not-moment, and the memory of Ethan with a knife, growling about betrayal—and sitting around feeling bad for himself wasn’t going to get anything accomplished.

He froze on the way there when he heard a cheerful chirp from his cellphone, advertising a message from Connie. With a sigh David made for the bedroom where he’d left the thing and snatched the device up as he flopped back onto his bed.

how wuz din :-?

You’ve got amazing timing. David sighed as he glared at his phone, and wondered just how much to tell her.

sumthin hapn

Not quite. But I guess you wanted something to.

A is rly gr8 guy u cud do worse

I’m not here to be set up with your customers, Connie.

cud have fooled me w/S

That is no more your business than anyone else’s.

cept i did bad by u then

No you didn’t, Connie. I was keeping it quiet.

shud have knwn neway

Seriously, how can you not have basic language skills?

8-P

Child.

XP but rly how wuz din

I almost kissed him.

O.O

Four separate times.

^.^

Connie, those aren’t words. They are barely faces.

shut up im a free spirit

You’re a pest.

u shud dump S for A

I’m not even dating Shaun. And I’m not planning on it.

rly :-?

Really. Pure, mindless physical attraction.

ooo davey’s gun get laid

That is the idea. Is that a problem for your plans?

np we gud

I need to clean up the kitchen. No leftovers for you.

:-( spoil sport

Yep, that’s me.

but think abut it A is WAY hotter

David rolled his eyes and tossed his phone to the pillow.

The problem, really, was that he could imagine it. Could imagine Alex, even if only in counterpoint to Shaun. He’d kiss gently, slowly, taking his time and slowly teasing David into the kind of contact that Shaun had managed to gain through shock. Everything Alex did would be with a quiet asking sort of sense about him, every step something they agreed to, even if they didn’t need words for it. That, at least, was what he’d read in Alex’s eyes by the dishwasher. A man who was gentle and thorough, who would run his fingers down David’s body slowly, everything about him deliberate and sweet and slow.

Alex would spend every last moment he was given searching out all the things that Ethan had never bothered to learn about him. Finding the things Ethan knew would be easy for him, of course, but his touch would be so slow, so gentle, so warm, that it would be different. Those hands sliding over his skin, those lips closing around his nipple, those eyes drinking him in with the same appreciation he’d seen on Alex’s face for even the relatively cheap wine they’d shared for dinner…

David swallowed hard at the very thought of it, at the memory of that drop of wine on Alex’s lips before he’d licked it away, almost thoughtlessly. He imagined the taste of that wine on those lips, on his tongue as Alex’s hands pulled him in close. If he closed his eyes tightly he could see Alex pressing him into this bed, could pretend the hand sneaking under the hem of his shirt was bigger, stronger, and yet soft like silk like the skin he’d brushed against 'accidentally’ so many times throughout the night.

Would Alex be willing to run his nails lightly over his skin? David swallowed back a moan as he let his own finger nails brush his skin. He loved that sensation, always had, and he refused to let the few times Ethan had taken it too far ruin it for him.

No, he wouldn’t think about Ethan, not here, not now. No, it would be Alex, leaning over him with restrained lust in his eyes, a bastion of safety and control and comfort, and god it would be nice to be gazed down at with such desire, such restraint, such patience. Still, he’d ask Alex for it, wouldn’t he? For the light graze of finger down his skin, not enough to even really turn his skin red in the wake of his touch. Just enough to make him feel it, to make the rasping sound that drove him crazy. He’d ask to be able to do the same thing, just to be able to touch the beautiful expanse of skin he knew had to be under Alex’s clothes.

His name would be a soft whisper on Alex’s lips. A question and an oath all in one as his hands would trail along the top of David’s pants. Those beautifully long fingers would be nimble when he undid David’s belt, the button of his pants, pulled the zipper down with slow care. And they would be warm when Alex palmed him, chuckling with that rich, delicious voice of his as David pressed up into the contact.

David couldn’t help but hiss in pleasure as he ran his own palm over himself through his pants. Geez that felt good. He hadn’t even considered touching himself since the knife, hadn’t been in the mood for anything sexual for well over a month before that. The very thought of it had made him sick. Here, though, now, thinking of Alex… David sighed and let his other hand slip back out from under his shirt and powered through belt and button and zipper and let himself groan as he ran his hand over his erection. Fuck, how had he gone so long without this sensation?

Maybe it was just something about Alex that made it okay to do this again. Made it okay to want this. Made him brave enough to let his fingers slip under the band of his boxers to touch himself, skin to skin, and sigh as his fingers closed around his aching erection. He could imagine it so easily, the slow, strong strokes that Alex would give him. So maddeningly slow, but exactly what he’d need. A touch that was meant to let him pull away if he wanted, to slowly walk him right up to the edge of his orgasm and past all the memories of rushed and rough touch from Ethan. David hissed as he rolled his thumb over his tip, and god the way his thumb met warm moisture was almost more than he could take.

But Alex wouldn’t pause to revel in that, would he? No, he would be focused, determined, and so sweet. David started to move his hand again, falling into a rhythm he used to know perfectly and was surprised to find come so easily. It was faster than he thought Alex would use, maybe even a bit more forceful, but he convinced himself that if he asked, Alex would give him this anyway. He’d smile down at David whenever he gasped, and he would always be ready to offer more, if David asked. So David would have him close his hand a bit tighter, pump him a bit faster and dear god.

He laid there for a while, staring up at his ceiling, ignoring the cooling warmth on his hand or the way his breathing seemed to catch in his chest. Damn, he used to last longer than this, a lot longer.

You used to be better, you used to care, you used to…

David threw himself for the bed and toward the bathroom. The very thought of Ethan’s voice, of those words, they set his stomach roiling.

Dinner didn’t taste as good coming up. Yet the cold fingers of water down his back from the shower were nice. They almost managed to soothe away the pain, the memory, the self-hatred.

They didn’t do it nearly so well as the memory of Shaun’s lips on his, though.