Relocation - Part Eighteen

[churbooseanon]

I continue to be. Today was fun, what with the writing. I’m doing it while the husband plays Mass Effect: Andromeda. Loving that. Anyway, feel free to jump over to Ao3 to comment, send me a message here, or even use the new Tumblr messenger. Or, if you’re feeling really generous and supportive, check out my donation link.

Relocation - Part Eighteen

Perhaps the reason the image stuck so powerfully in Shaun’s mind, even as he steps out into the brisk cold of the November morning and shivers into his scarf, was because of how perfect it was. A bone in his craw as it were. The lingering taste of a wine too good to forget, not that Shaun was very big into wine either. What a pretty image his dream had made as well, the perfection of David’s skin pressed bare against the gray of David’s sheets, the sweet and fading autumn tan touched by skin the shade of winter snows. Perhaps it  the brush of wintery skin against the more spring to early summers of David’s body that got him. But there was no denying the beauty of his dream.

   “You look like you’re about to drool,” Daniel mumbled, his own voice practically swallowed up by the scarf around his neck. It was an old thing, something Shaun was hoping to replace for him this Christmas, because Daniel would never accept a gift just for the sake of taking care of him.

    “You can’t see my mouth,” Shaun countered as they turned in the direction of the cafe and their pending dose of caffeine. “So you don’t know that I’m drooling.”

    “Which you just confirmed,” Daniel returned as he strode up closer. Today Nate wasn’t hovering at his shoulder, the big man’s day starting later due to some situation or other Alex’s twin had gotten up to.

    Alex… The thought of the man brought the memory of the dream back with him. David spread out on his own bed, gorgeous and hungry, his eyes blown wide with his desire. Strong arms pressed against his shoulders, pinning him, holding him, expecting things from him. Strong pale arms that matched a strong pale torso and icy pale eyes and soft golden hair. The image of Alex leaning over David in that damn skimpy toga, lips working over the column of David’s neck just like Shaun liked to do, like he knew David lived for, and the noises it drew from his lover was just…

    Thank god for the cold and multiple layers. Shaun buried his face in his gloved hands as if he was going to blow on them. Of course Daniel would know it was just an effort to hide himself. After the conversations he’d had with Nate–or more accurately that the big guy had forced on him–in the last two days since the moving mess, Shaun had definitely gotten one message. Leave poor Daniel with his lack of interest in sex as far out of Shaun’s desires as possible.

    “Nothing going on here, D. Just an adult having adult thoughts in his own private adult mind. Nothing to share or say here. Don’t mind me.”

    When you’ve known a person for a long time, you can can almost sense when they are rolling their eyes. Not only could Shaun feel that now, but he could even feel the resigned sigh that would have been mingled with it. He almost wanted to smile over that fact. At the same time he didn’t think he cared to tease Daniel for it, not really caring to drag Daniel into this newest… oddity to his social life. Being turned on by the idea of his SO sleeping with someone else wasn’t something he’d ever experienced before, and when that someone else was clearly his chief romantic rival…

    Nothing about this was normal or acceptable.

    “He just mulling things over on his own again?”

    “When does he…”

    The voice must have registered to Daniel a bit later than it did for Shaun. Because the second he heard the first syllable Shaun had stopped moving. Stopped thinking. Stopped breathing. That was all he could do when he heard that voice, all he had ever done.

    Charlotte was a master of cutting him off at the pass, no doubt about it.

    “Char?” Daniel’s voice came out as a gasp as Shaun slowly turned to look at the woman behind him.

    Of course she would be here now, as his life was starting to settle into something he liked, that he felt accomplished with, something that he had achieved outside of her. Beyond her. After her. And of course just seeing her would leave a terrible ache in his chest, burning in him with a sort of want that he hadn’t thought was possible to feel again until he’d come to care about David. Just seeing her made him want to earn that smile, golden warm and perfectly shaped, framed as always by the curl of the end of her ponytail, the dyed red a splash of vivid color that matched her lipstick and stood out in the most wondrous way from the soft aqua of her coat. It was only a light coat, something that always left Shaun confused. A girl from Texas should not have the sort of tolerance for the cold that Shaun always lacked despite his background in the New England region.

    “Hey Dee,” Charlotte greeted, her voice a sweet warmth as she reached out to embrace the man he had once shared with her as best friend. Not that Daniel was ever as close to Charlotte as he was to Shaun.

    Maybe he was a bit possessive after all of this time, after everything she did. And didn’t do.

    It was almost like he could feel the ghost of the ring box that used to wait in his pocket for the right moment that had never come.

    “Charlotte, I thought you had gone back south,” Daniel greeted with joy, the hug clearly a welcome one. Just seeing them like that made Shaun feel betrayed. How could Daniel, HIS best friend, reach out to her like that after everything that happened? But really, how could he be that unfair to Daniel? Just because Charlotte had up and walked away didn’t mean Daniel had to lose that fondness for her he’d always had.

    “Work takes me a lot of interesting places,” she shrugged when she pulled away from the smaller man, her gaze turning to regard Shaun at long last. Her eyes were still the same piercing green that made even Daniel’s look plain. Stupid biology. How many times had he gotten caught up in them and wished to have those eyes look at him and him alone? No, fuck that. Fuck all of this. He wasn’t going to take it. “Shaun?”

    “I thought I got the city in the divorce,” he answered quite blandly. No offered hugs were going to be accepted by him. Not after…

    “Yeah, I did have an agreement there, but there was a stipulation that I wouldn’t be constrained in the course of my work,” Charlotte returned, but there was a touch of amusement in her voice. Like all of this was some sort of game. As if seeing her didn’t make him want to reach out and pull her into his arms, hold her, kiss her, promise never to let her down again.

    Strange how at this point he could almost believe it was him that let her down, rather than the other way round.

    “Glad you got work,” Shaun replied. There was no way he had gotten enough caffeine into him to face this. To face anything that had to do with Charlotte Church. Better not to face her without his morning drink in his hands. Maybe he’d ask David to make it double strong.

    David.

    “Maybe we should try somewhere else for breakfast, Danny,” Shaun grumbled. He wanted to walk to Connie’s, but… Could he have his ex-girlfriend, almost fiancee, around the man he was now involved with? That seemed like a bad idea. Definitely a bad idea.

    “Nonsense, Char would love the sorts of things Connie serves,” Daniel countered. The man offered an arm to the woman, one Charlotte gladly took.

    “Oh, are you buying me breakfast, Daniel? Shaun pays you enough for that? I’m quite happy to see you’re doing well then,” she teased. Shaun wanted to be sick at the laughter in her voice. He used to live to drive such noises from her, to earn her smiles. He lived to love her. How dare she come back into his life?

    “Of course. I would be glad to, seeing as Nate covers mine many mornings now,” he admitted, and Shaun just turned to walk ahead of them. Hearing her was bad enough. Seeing her like little had changed when the whole world was different, he couldn’t accept that. Wouldn’t put up with it. Except for the fact that the words made it too real.

    “Nate? Who’s Nate?” Charlotte asked as Shaun shoved his fists into his pockets and tried, very hard, to make her voice sound like someone else’s. Maybe his sister’s. She would be a better person to just randomly waltz back into his life, even if he wasn’t too big on his siblings most of the time. Or his mother. No, better than that, Daniel’s mother. Yeah, if he could just imagine her…

    “My boyfriend,” Daniel admitted behind him, his voice shy. He had never been shy over talking about Nate, not to anyone. Could this have to do with the fact that everyone else had been there to watch the relationship grow? Or was it because Daniel, just like Shaun, had always wanted to impress Charlotte, though for entirely different reasons?

    “Really? Congratulations Daniel. I hope he’s good enough for you or I might have to beat him up,” she teased, her voice that sweet sort of reassuring she used when someone had done something that really pleased her. Her teacher voice, Shaun used to call it. Once Charlotte had wanted nothing more than to be an art teacher for kids in underprivileged areas. When that had changed he didn’t know, it just had. A lot had changed between them a lot of times, so he didn’t care to pinpoint when exactly they had started to fall apart. The one that had got away as it were. Not that anyone could hold Charlotte to do anything she didn’t want to do.

    “You’d have a hard time,” Daniel said with clear pride in his voice. “Nate was a marine. He works with a gym now, training fighters and teaching self defense to women and children who need it.”

    There was an appreciative hum granted to him by the woman, and Shaun wanted to turn around and lecture her about being so patronizing. But he didn’t need to stand up for Nate. Or want to. That man would see through her in ways that Shaun and Daniel never had. Or maybe he would be charmed just like everyone else.

    He hoped, with a deep intensity, that David wouldn’t fall for it. Wouldn’t fall for her like people seemed to do. If he lost David to her then he didn’t know what he’d do. The only thing that could be worse than that would be to lose himself once again to the way his heart jumped over seeing her, hearing her, being near her. Thank god he wasn’t close enough to smell the light cinnamon scent of her perfume. Thank god he wasn’t the one touching her, reminded of how good it felt to be the center of her attention. He had someone else he wanted to captivate now, and the last thing he needed was the siren-song of Charlotte Church back in his head.

    Shaun had finally been able to get free of the thoughts about her, the depression that came with wanting to be around her and being dropped, and now here she was. Back in the picture. Someone out there in the grand cosmos didn’t like him very much. He wanted to find them and give them a piece of his mind. And maybe a fist to the face. Could you punch the cosmos? Shaun wanted to be the first person to find out.

*        *        *        *        *        *

    His eyelids were heavy. A relatively useless observation, David knew, but that didn’t keep him from making it. The other observation that came up was the fact that his alarm had come and gone at least five times now and his arm felt heavier than it might have had it been encased in cement. And there, he supposed, was an observation he wasn’t expecting. A stupid sort of comparison that only came with a few very rare circumstances, and as David was certain he wasn’t drunk…

    Despite the weight that his arm was, and the fact that his tongue felt like it had been licking the road in an attempt to wear a groove into asphalt, David finally fumbled for his phone. It took a few reaches, a minor battle with the charging cord, and a weak protesting groan when Siri came on despite his lack of desire for her, but in the end he was able to unlock the thing and get the right number cued up.

    It rang three times before the answer came.

    “If you’re calling to tell me you’re going to be late, David, I already know,” Connie answered.

    “I’m alive, be happy,” David responded with a groan. “You’re going to need to survive without me, Bec. I have to take a sick day. I feel bad. Worse than bad. Super bad.”

    “I can hear it in your voice, David,” she assured him. “And I can’t have you in here if you’re sick. So take care of yourself, make sure you get plenty of fluids and sleep, and I’ll see if I can spare someone to come and check up on you during they day.”

    “I can handle myself,” he protested weakly.

    “Yeah, because you were ever good at that when you were sick. I seem to remember checking in on you one time after you were out from school and your mom said you collapsed in the kitchen when you were going to make yourself soup. I don’t rightly trust your ability to take care of yourself and without me being there I intend to put someone I can trust in position to take care of you. So just… stay okay until I get you help.”

    David would have scoffed but, well, that just wasn’t in his realm of possibility at this time. Nor were rude gestures. So he just grunted his agreement and hung up, tossing his phone aside. Which was, in and of itself, far more energy consuming than he would have expected. Yes, today was going to be one of those sorts of sick days that must left him weaker than a kitten. Oooh, kitten. And that, of course, only went to prove that he was not feeling well. Cats were definitely a good thing, but even he had to be composed.

    Food. David needed that more than anything, which meant that he moved to push himself to his feet with a groan. All he had to do was take it easy. Slowly get to his feet and shuffle toward the kitchen and he would have access to warm food and maybe no coffee but definitely the orange juice he bought two days ago. Once his feet were firmly on the floor he was ready to put weight on them. They were good things, feet. They could be strong and hold you up when you weren’t up and…

    “David? David, wake up.”

    His eyelids were heavy. David groaned at the repeated thought and forced them open anyway. For a while his gaze lingered on the tight spiral of the fibers of his carpet. They were nice, those spirals, they were cosy and all gathered together. Friendly like. But they were rough on his cheek and David most definitely didn’t belong on the floor. Especially not imagining Alex’s very, VERY lovely voice.

    “David? Geez,” the voice of Alex repeated, and then there was a hand on his shoulder making him real. Real enough for David to look up and frown at him. “How did you…?”

    “Connie gave me the spare key,” Alex answered, concern in his voice. “I went in for breakfast a bit earlier than normal, sleep schedule sucks at the moment, and she said she needed someone to check in on you, make sure you hadn’t hurt yourself. I’m glad she sent me.”

    “We only talked, like, five minutes ago,” David groaned as the larger man helped him to his feet. And then right back onto the bed he’d worked so hard to get out of.

    “Try an hour,” Alex corrected. “When I stopped in she’d been off the phone with you for a while. She tried to talk me into being your nurse by threatening me with my sister. I offered to do it because I’ve got a slow day of reviewing images from my work and doing some initial review. Which I can do on the laptop I left behind in the living room when I came to look in on you. Good thing I did. Have you been sleeping there?”

    “No,” David whined, but when his fingers came up to brush his own cheek he could feel the imprint the carpet had left on it. Maybe he had been out for a while. Damn. Connie was right about how much he could or couldn’t care for himself. Why did she have to be right?

    Still, it was nice to have someone as strong and attractive as Alex bundling him up into his bed, even tucking the blankets in around his chin. If only Alex would be so kind as to lean down and press those lovely, pale lips against his forehead. Wouldn’t that be lovely?

    “If you move from this place, I will pick you back up and carry you back in here. Okay, not if you need the bathroom, but until my replacement is here to take care of you, you’re my responsibility. Don’t make Connie mad at me. I haven’t been working out with my sister lately, so Connie could kick my butt if I Ieave you unattended.”

    “Hungry,” David groaned, not caring too much about Alex mumbling at him.

    “Yeah, yeah, I can do something about that. What do you want to eat?”

    “Bacon and pancakes.”

    “Oatmeal and fruit it is,” Alex chuckled. “And orange juice. You could use the calories and sugars. My Dad always said it was the best thing for getting the body healthy again.”

    The comment didn’t quite make him happy, but David nodded in agreement anyway. “Can I have something warm too?”

    “Don’t worry, there will be soup later,” Alex assured him. The man patted David’s head lightly, the gesture turning into fingers brushing hairs out of the area of his eyes. It was a touch that David couldn’t help but follow after when it was being taken away. “Damn, you’re just like a loving kitten sometimes, did you know that?”

    No, but the comparison was one that pleased him in his current state. If only he had the breath to purr.

    “Keep me company?”

    Alex nodded his agreement as he went back to the door of the bedroom. “At least until your boyfriend gets here.”

    Shaun. The name made David shrink down into his blankets. Stupid sick mind making him yearn toward Alex when he was in a relationship. Luckily no one would probably hold the addled behaviors of a sick person against them. Still, David resolved to try and remember to keep his distance.

    “Shaun’s coming?” David asked when he could get his throat to work, which was just before Alex had closed the bedroom door. And, of course, it made Alex open it again and presented him with the fond expression on that lovely face, but one underlined with a touch of annoyance. Why would that be? Jealousy? Or just irritation that Alex had to be the one dedicating a day to a sick person rather than letting a boyfriend or close friend like Connie do it?

    “Yeah, when he’s free… Saw him when I was at the cafe. Apparently someone out of his past showed up and she sort of has both Shaun and that Daniel guy very distracted this morning. I think Connie told him about you, but until he gets here, I’m the prime nurse. Sorry if that’s disappointing.”

    In some ways it was. The idea that someone could just show up and make Shaun forget about him was frustrating and a bit more than merely upsetting. David could even feel himself pouting over the whole thing. Then again they’d been dating for barely any time at all. Could he really expect Shaun to drop everything to take care of him when there was someone else important to him around, when he had his own business to run?

    Yes, a little traitor part of his mind said. Because Alex had done that, hadn’t he? Maybe not dropped everything, he’d brought his work along. And maybe he hadn’t done it just because David was sick if Connie was actually threatening him. None of that changed the fact that Alex was actually here, actually standing by and helping him when he was sick. Shaun, on the other hand, wasn’t.

    Be fair to him, another part of his mind suggested. When it came right down to it he knew the differences between the two men, didn’t he? There were clearly more things in Alex that screamed he was a nurturer than there were in Shaun. Shaun was excitement and energy and laughter. Alex was a strong shoulder to lean against, the friend who would mother you if you were about to do something really stupid. The only person that might have been better than Alex right now would have been Connie, who was more than used to taking care of David when he was out of sorts. Or his mom.

    Moms were good like that.

    “Consider sleeping,” Alex suggested as he moved to close the door again.

    “Wait,” David said, speaking up before he really thought about what he was going to say. Which was, of course, troublesome. Now here he was with Alex standing in his bedroom door, looking tall and handsome and strong and worried about him. How wonderful was that? Problem was that he wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to say. What he could say. What he should say.

    “Keep the door open,” he decided at last. “I like… hearing people around me when I’m not feeling well. My mom would put me on the couch in the living room so she could watch over me, or did when she could spare the space.”

    “Maybe later we’ll move you out there then,” Alex assured him. “But first we want to get food and liquids in you. Then you’re getting your temperature taken, because you felt beyond hot when I touched your forehead.”

    Touched his forehead? Yes, David could remember it now. Cool fingers stroking hair out of the way. But why such a tender touch to take a brief temperature? No point in questioning, he supposed. No way his brain was going to get to the bottom of anything more complex than a glass of water. If one could say that brains got to the bottom of water glasses at least.

    “Okay,” David agreed, pushing the rest of the thoughts aside. “I’m gonna just… close my eyes until you get back. Do you think that will be okay?”

    “Of course,” Alex smiled, and it was warm and nice and David liked that smile. “Yeah. I think that would be a good plan, David. You need as much rest as you can get.”

    “I need something to hug,” David mumbled. Before he could roll to reach for another pillow, something was landing on the bed next to him with a light whump. David frowned before he investigated, and what he found was that the thick winter coat Alex had been wearing, no doubt from being outside, had been tossed to him.

    “Not a stuffed animal, but maybe it will help.”

    Maybe it would. With that Alex walked away. And David, god helped him, buried his nose in the coat, wrapping it up in his arms. It was amazing at soothing him into sleep.

*        *        *        *        *        *

    Caring for a sick person was like running a series of sprints from Alex’s experience. Over the years he’d helped his sister through more than her fair share of colds, flus and other failings of health. The secret was that they spent a lot of time asleep if they knew what was good for them, and mostly he only had to act when they were awake, or just before and just after. When he’d gotten to David’s apartment that had been the plan, of course. Focus on his work and get through that, taking breaks to care for his friend. Make sure David ate, that he got doses of the horrible medication that was meant to deal with the symptoms like the coughing that manifested somewhere around noon. There was the need to make another meal for his lunch and sit with David through the whole thing, and they never did manage to get the man to the living room to lay down on his couch. Each time David tried to win his legs it failed, almost miserably.

    It was cute, really, the way that David really needed him. Sparked things in Alex that he had almost forgotten about. Protecting people was just in his nature, and something his sister hadn’t needed since they were about ten. Alexa fought when he tried to take care of her and she was sick, but David just needed him. Crooned when a cool towel was used to mop his brow, whine and squirmed when there was medication given to him. Smiled weakly over the small meals that Alex made and coaxed him through, and even seemed to appreciate the way Alex spoke around him, talking out problems in his work, as he tidied up around David.

    This was almost like being needed by someone he really wanted to be wanted by.

    None of that meant he wasn’t annoyed that it was coming up on five in the evening. As sweet and needy as David was, Alex had plans for tonight that didn’t involve reviewing a picture of the professor he’d worked for during the last month. That, maybe, was why he was really annoyed. This wasn’t the art he wanted, this was what he had to do, not the images he had made for himself. Sometimes it was harder to motivate himself when he had things that were expected of him.

    Frustrated Alex pushed the mouse away from him. He could move this back to his own apartment before he left, there was no way he was wearing what he had one now out for his evening with Sarge, he liked the sweater too much. Heading out right now to move things felt… inappropriate somehow, though. What if David needed him?

    “You’re at his beck and call and he doesn’t even want you,” Alex reminded himself, the words under his breath. Sarge was right, he did need to give himself a break. He needed to get away from David some, stop letting himself get so wrapped up in the man and their friendship until he was really ready to accept the limitation that David put upon them. Strengthen his mind until it could get his heart to follow his lead.

    That didn’t mean he wasn’t pissed to see Shaun letting David down, especially not over a red-haired woman that there was clear romantic tension with.

    “His relationship is not your business,” Alex chided himself. Clearly he wasn’t distracted enough in here if he wasn’t going to be working. With that in mind Alex pushed to his feet at last and headed off into the kitchen. It was getting to be about time where he should look into getting David fed again. Besides, he always felt more comfortable in the houses of strangers if he was in the kitchen. He had to wonder what that said about him.

    “And if I get into that, I’m going to be talking to myself even more than before,” Alex sighed. And the fact that he said it out loud definitely made his point for him, didn’t it?

    The thought made him chuckle and Alex was more than glad to move to the sink and roll up his sleeves. There weren’t too many dishes generated by the repeated feeding of soup and other nutrient rich meals in small portions, but given all day and no cleaning, Alex was pleased to see it. Dishes gave him something to do and left him with little need to think. Sadly they only lasted a few minutes until everything was drying in the rack and he was slowly heating a new dose of soup on the stove.

    Boredom and over thought was spared when Alex heard his phone go off. A stupid little ditty that was something like a cross between mariachi music and polka all at once. There was no particular reason he had chosen it, but it just felt right. Plus the very meaning that came with that sound did a lot to cheer him on its own.

    “Hey, you’re supposed to be working,” he observed after he had fished the phone from his pocket to answer.

    “It’s called a break, Blondie. Ever hear of one?”

    The snark in Sarge’s voice was thick, and Alex had to appreciate it. Beyond his sister he didn’t know anyone who could put so much of it into so little words. Well, perhaps that Daniel guy David was friends with. They had spoken only briefly at the Halloween party and it had been abundantly clear to him in the two sentences that they had exchanged that the man was probably running on pure sass due to having to deal with Shaun frequently.

    “No, never,” Alex returned easily, twisting to lean against the counter. He did make certain that his gaze stayed on the soup so it wouldn’t boil over. Or burn. Or anything else just because his attention was caught up elsewhere. Even like this he had to be so dreadfully responsible didn’t he? “Tell me about this thing called a break.”

    “It’s when I break Grif’s head for annoying me. Or when I take a break from breaking Grif’s head for annoying me.”

    Which Alex was coming to understand from the way the man would talk about it sometimes when they were chatting on the phone. Maybe sometime he would even be able to get to the bottom of just what it was about the laid back barista that drove Sarge up multiple walls at the same time.

    “Well, if you’re sharing some of this, break time was it, with me then I am very honored sir. I just wish I was doing it in person.”

    That earned him a huff. Clearly Sarge had an idea of what he wanted to say about that. If Alex stayed silent the man was definitely going to talk. So he carefully held the phone between his shoulder and ear, braced his hands against the counter, and hefted himself up to sit on the edge. Once he was up there he was content to let his feet swing in the air, the subdued noise of his heels hitting the cabinet door below him oddly comforting.

    “Then you should be here. Or should have been here during any of my shift. What made you defect to Blue Shift?”

    Defect. Sarge really thought about everything in a… novel sort of way.

    “Can’t you all just get along and be a little bit purple?”

    “Just because your apartment is garishly painted with your compliance with Blue Shift ideals doesn’t mean you’re blue to the core. You’re redeemable.”

    Alex chuckled at the statement, shaking his head. Of course he didn’t make any sense, but it was quite amusing to just sit back and listen to it.

    “I’m not abandoning you. Just dealing with the ongoing insomnia and all of that. I figure another few days and I’ll be back to my normal night loving self and you won’t have to worry about me starting to think that Tucker has a better sense of humor than you do.”

    “He doesn’t,” Sarge noted quickly. “But he does seem to be a better dancer.”

    That… was a story that Alex wanted to get to the bottom of someday, but not today. There were other things to focus on, like how the soup was starting to seriously bubble. Alex leaned forward to turn the heat down a bit. Maybe he wasn’t as ready to wake David for a meal as he had thought he would be.

    “I think I might be about ten or so minutes late meeting up with you for tonight, can you forgive me?” Alex couldn’t keep the concern from his voice. There was every reason that the other man might be upset at him for it all. He would know why David wasn’t at work, he could easily figure why David’s neighbor who he recognized as having feelings for David, would be away today. Given their own arrangements it could be read as letting Sarge down.

    “You’re a carer,” Sarge answered, and Alex thought he heard a shrug. Could you hear a shrug? “It’s okay. Besides, I figure it has something to do with how Scars McGee is still here, looking like he doesn’t know if he’s coming or going regarding the redhead that his brainiac friend is mooning over…”

    “The way I read the situation, in my limited understanding, is that she’s an ex of his.”

    “Ah, complications,” Sarge observed. “Shame. Seems like a pretty good lady to me. She practically had Leonard seething.”

    That Alex hadn’t seen, and he wasn’t certain he wanted to get involved enough to know. Instead he brought it right back around to his point. “So it’s…”

    “Fine,” Sarge insisted. “But make it no more than half an hour if you can avoid it. I’ll see what I can do on my end about Shaun lingering here. I’d be a bad date if I couldn’t deal with some of the problems when they’re looking me in the face, right?”

    “Worst comes to worst, Connie will no doubt take off a bit early to come and relieve me. If I can, I’d rather she do that than just leave David here alone.”

    “That worried about how sick he is?”

    “That worried over how scary Connie is when she doesn’t get her way.”

    There was silence from the other end of the line for a solid minute, well past the point where Alex checked his phone to make sure the call was still connected. He was about to ask if Sarge was still there when he heard a brief laugh.

    “You’re right to be scared. That little lady, I’m sure she’s killed a man once just to see him die.”

    “That’s a song,” Alex reminded Sarge, but truth be told he wasn’t sure he could say she wouldn’t. “But she is sort of scary.”

    “For someone that tiny? Damn right. I have seen her when she’s cutting her cakes into small slices. You don’t get that good with a knife out of nowhere. Pretty sure she wants to be scary, and she knows she can be.”

    Alex had to agree, and for a moment he thought about David. About the way he handled a knife in the kitchen, the scar across his shoulder, and he shuddered.

    “I think I’d rather talk plans of attack for tonight. For while your break lasts. Is that okay?”

    “A man after my own heart. Okay, so here’s how I see it playing out…”

*        *        *        *        *        *

    The door opens within moments of Shaun’s first knock, like someone was waiting for him to show. Would make sense, really, the way Sarge had chewed him out over the whole thing. Sitting around in a cafe while his boyfriend was sick in bed, fucking up Sarge’s day because Sarge had to come into work early? The fuss the older man had made stopped Charlotte in her tracks as she was speaking about a woman she had met recently in the local gardens. Daniel had been pleased to discover there was a rose garden in town, something neither of them had known, and Shaun had just been happy that she was sitting next to Danny and not himself. Without the winter coat on, with her so close, he could smell her perfume. Why did she even bother to wear perfume if she didn’t mean to draw attention to herself.

    Curse her being so close.

    The door whipped open and there was the last person Shaun was really ready to see, except for Charlotte. Alex stood there, taller than him by a comfortable margin, looking composed and cool. How dare he be composed and cool? What did this guy think he was about, being in his boyfriend’s apartment.

    They’re friends, Shaun reminded himself as he looked at the blond.

    “Hi, uh…”

    “There is another can of chicken noodle soup on the counter in the kitchen. He likes it when you heat it up to the point where things bubble, and then let it cool for two minutes. There are two juices in the fridge. He can have orange juice at any time, but don’t give him apple after about eight or he won’t fall asleep as easily. Change the wet towel every hour, but wring it out as good as you can. And give him another dose of the medicine from the bottle beside the bed in an hour and a half.”

    With that Alex was pushing past Shaun and heading down the hall toward his own apartment, as if Shaun wasn’t even there anymore. It left Shaun staring after him in annoyance. But there wasn’t time for that. Shaun just headed into the apartment, closing the door behind him. Part of him wanted to slam the damn thing, but instead he closed it softly, not wanting to wake David if by some chance the man was still asleep. Bad enough that he was getting here so late thanks to her. It would be worse if he upset what rest the man was getting.

    A quick check of the kitchen found that everything Alex had said stood true, there was soup ready just in case David was hungry, there was juices in the fridge, and he was almost thankful that the other man had been there. Shaun knew he wasn’t well equipped for taking care of other people when they were sick. Over the years he had counted himself lucky to find that Daniel was rarely ill, and when he was, he tended to do most of what needed to happen to take care of himself. Shaun mostly just followed instructions.

    He left all of that behind, more concerned to actually see his boyfriend than anything else. The bedroom door was opened just a crack, and Shaun was careful to slip off his shoes before continuing forward. Shaun was more than capable of padding quietly through any space, if he was properly equipped, which meant barefoot. Plus he’d learned enough of David’s apartment to know not to put his foot at a spot two feet in front of the left edge of the door, where the carpet had been placed over something that scratched just a little bit. Soon enough he was at the bedside of his boyfriend, lowering himself quietly so he could sit on the edge. David looked… quiet. Worn out. Like he couldn’t make it through things on his own.

    Poor guy.

    Shaun reached out, gently reaching for the washcloth on his forehead, more than ready to change it out for something fresh and cool, just like Alex had instructed him. The touch, though, roused David. Those beautiful eyes fluttered open and the way David went from confused to beaming at him was magical. Like he mattered. Somehow today he’d forgotten what that felt like. Shaun smiled right back at leaned forward, pressing his lips against David’s forehead.

    “Hey dear,” Shaun greeted softly. “Sorry I’m late. Things got… complicated.”

    “You’re here now,” David kept smiling. “It’s okay. Because you’re here now.”

    Shaun chuckled, doubting that seriously. Just being somewhere didn’t make things magically better. But there was David, starting to sit up and reach for him. Something told him that letting David expend too much energy to the end of getting to his side was wrong. So instead Shaun moved further onto the bed to sit by his boyfriend, pulling David close so the man could lean against him.

    “Tell me about it?” David asked, the words half-mumbled into Shaun’s chest. He smelled of sweat and fever, and Shaun didn’t care. That was the amazing thing. Charlotte had been a heady perfume out of his past, a longing that was immediately soothed by being by David, even if the man wasn’t at his best. Charlotte in her prime was nowhere near as good as David when his body was a furnace from the fever, when he had trouble keeping his head up.

    “My ex-girlfriend is in town,” Shaun admitted after a moment of internal debate. How much was appropriate to talk about? How much wasn’t? “Once I thought I wanted to marry her. I really did. Had a ring and everything. Maybe kids, and I don’t much like kids, but she wanted them and… She broke my heart.”

    “I know what you mean,” David whispered, the words barely audible at all. But the tension in his shoulders said enough. Someone in David’s past. Perhaps the one that made him run away from Shaun after their first night? Perhaps. But if David didn’t want to talk about it, Shaun wasn’t going to push right now.

    “Well, she just waltzed right up behind Daniel and I on our way for morning coffee. Ambush of the past. It’s like she didn’t understand how much her very presence hurt. But maybe she never cared like I cared. So I can forgive her. Sort of.”

    “Be better than her,” David suggested. “Be better because you’re worth being better.”

    “Maybe I want to be better just for you,” Shaun countered, a teasing edge to his voice, but he knew the unspoken praise was worth it too. David was like a flower. He did his best when he was reassured of his value. So Shaun even reached up to toy with his boyfriend’s hair. He loved that so much.

    “Charmer,” David accused.

   “Guilty,” Shaun was happy to agree.

    “Do you still want her?” David asked, and Shaun would have jerked away if the other man didn’t have so much of his weight against Shaun.

    “What? Char?”

    The answer was very much yes, and completely no. He might jump when she said, but he’d never ask how high. He’d always go his highest. But… for David he thought maybe he might exceed what he thought his limitations were.

    “Yeah, who else would I be talking about, Alex?”

    Snowy, pale hands pressing David’s sunny skin against these very sheets. Lips brushing over skin Shaun took pleasure in exploring all on his own. And god the sight of it had been amazing. Stupid dreams.

    “I guess not,” Shaun said. “Even if he is a bit hot.”

    There was a light and playful shove at that, but not all that much of one. Probably because he was sick. Maybe because what Shaun saw when he watched David watching Alex at the Halloween party wasn’t exactly… wrong. Talk about the weirdest sort of romantic complication there ever was. Both of them finding Alex attractive and completely fuckable. Chances were, though, that David had never fantasized about him. David was too good and pure for that. And he definitely never would have thought about Alex screwing Shaun. There were differences between them, and David was too good to have to deal with what Shaun was like.

    “Stupid,” David sighed. “You know I know that. Be both know I know that. Honestly, provided you don’t act on things, who am I to judge about a little creative thinking? Put your energies toward me, but let your mind do what your mind needs.”

    This man was amazing. How could he not love David? How could Charlotte even be the ghost of a whisper in his mind when this pure, sweet person existed.

    “What do you think about getting a bit of food in you?” Shaun asked, squeezing his boyfriend lightly. “We’ll set you up in the living room and I’ll make a fool of myself being a nurse. From the briefing Alex gave me he seemed a bit more… qualified for this, but I’m definitely going to try for you.”

    “I can ask nothing more,” David chuckled.

    “You can always ask for competence. But I promise that I’m going to try for you, try really hard, to learn all this health stuff,” Shaun promised firmly. “And that starts with getting you somewhere a bit more lit up so we can cuddle and watch really terrible cartoons like I used to do when I was a kid. Or anything else. You get control of the remote.”

    “Please promise none of your horrible romance movies,” David pleaded. “I’m already miserable.”

    “Asshole,” Shaun laughed before pulling off of the bed. “I’m going to make you suffer for that someday. But for now, let me carry you to the living room. I’ll get you a glass of juice, set you up with the remote and some blankets, and I’ll shout really embarrassing stories about how I tried to romance one Charlotte Church and managed to make myself look like a buffoon while I make your dinner. Sound good?”

    David only had to nod briefly before Shaun was smiling and moving to scoop the smaller man up. “Sounds good.”

    Navigating the man through the doorway was a bit of a pain, especially after Shaun worked to scoop up the blankets with him, but once it was done and David was situated on the couch, Shaun felt rather proud of himself. He went back to fetch pillows twice, frowning briefly at the coat that had gotten tangled up with them for some reason. Too big to be David’s to the best of his knowledge, especially as he hadn’t seen it before, but in the end he tossed it onto a nearby chair, figuring David might just be a bit more of a clothes horse than Shaun had given him credit for. Once David was fully nested on the couch, and a small, plush kitten fetched down from a bookshelf that David had been pouting toward, Shaun made his way toward the kitchen.

    “How did you meet Charlotte?” David asked, his voice cracking when he raised it to be heard by Shaun all the way in the kitchen.

    Now there was a story for the ages.

    “Would you believe me if I told you I was a huntsman hired by her evil stepmother to kill her and put her heart into a box, so that the stepmother might be the fairest in all the lands?”

    “That is Snow White. Don’t make me try and get up to hunt you down. I’ll fall over and we’ll all feel bad.”

    True enough. Shaun reached quickly into the fridge to fetch out the juice that Alex said would be inside. Not even a carton, but rather a pitcher. Who put juice into pitchers? Shaun shook the question out of his mind and reached for a glass in the cabinet.

    “Same way I meet a lot of people who aren’t Daniel. Really bad flirting. Went out to a club one night with a group of friends, just after I hit twenty-one. None of them are still friends I will say that, she got them in the pseudo-divorce and many moved on with their lives far away from here in the time after. Anyway, I was young, stupid, and had more and far worse pickup lines than I have now. Worse than Tucker.”

    “No!” David gasped, and Shaun could see feigned horror as he returned to the living room, apple juice in hand.

    “Yeah,” Shaun assured him. “I made Tucker look smooth. But this one girl there, sitting at the bar with this weird little flowy half skirt and the reddest hair that you can find in a bottle of dye, actually laughed. It was the start of something epic. I was so shocked it worked that I almost fell over. Worse, I almost set myself on fire with the lighter I had been playing with.”

    “Smooth indeed.”

    His laughter was like a blessing, and Shaun wanted nothing more than to earn it. Yeah, maybe he was screwed here, just like he had been with her. But this time he knew it was going to turn out well.