Eric
ERIC
On some level, knew the chief was talking, possibly to him. The words never made it to his brain, drifting away in the wind before his mind could process their meaning. Instead, his attention was locked on the set of baby blues staring at him in wide-eyed shock.
“Hello, .”
Blaine’s words rocked through him. It was only as he recognized the familiar rumble of the man’s voice that realized he’d almost convinced himself he was dreaming. But no, it was really and truly Blaine standing in front of him.
The twenty-year-old with the final traces of childhood was replaced by a man who was and wasn’t the Blaine he’d known. Time had added a few inches to Blaine’s former six feet, which irked the slightly below-average . It had shaved off the remnants of a babyface, leaving a square jaw and prominent brow. He’d grown broader too, more muscular than ever, even at the height of his high school football career. Blaine looked good, really good.
And hated it.
“You,” finally managed, voice thick and hoarse.
It was then he became aware of the silence that followed his proclamation. Chief Morgan stood to ’s right, glancing between them with a raised brow. almost grimaced, knowing neither he nor Blaine had been exactly subtle in their surprise.
But of fucking course, he wasn’t subtle. Blaine had been gone for eight years. Hell, hadn’t known if the man was dead or alive for most of that time. It had been better that way. Easier to forget, easier to move on.
“So,” Chief Morgan began, returning their attention to him. “I’m sensing a little awkwardness here.”
“I’m glad the old detective picked up on that,” said, staring down at his shoes.
“And you two know each other?”
“Friends,” Blaine supplied.
’s lip threatened to curl upward. “Former.”
“Right,” the chief said, drawing the word out.
Being called friends shouldn’t have stung as much as it did, and cursed himself inwardly. Yeah, just friends, that sounded about right. It’s all he should have been thinking of them as. After all, Blaine had preferred to run away into the mess of bullets and bombs on the other side of the damn world rather than deal with what had been in front of him.
“Huh,” Morgan grunted. “Hadn’t seen you two were from the same town.”
sucked in a breath, refusing to let himself slide any further into his thoughts. “He my new partner?”
He could feel the chief’s eyes on him. “That he is. Nowhere else to put him. Well, unless we bench him until we can assign him to someone else.”
looked up then, eyes finding Blaine’s and almost sneering. There was a coldness to Blaine that hadn’t been there when they’d been younger. Apparently, going through fire and near-death experiences in the middle of nowhere had taken something from him. But could still see the wariness, the tightening of the skin around his eyes.
He’d bet Blaine wondered if would throw him back onto the bench, where he could cool his heels for weeks, maybe months until they found someone else to partner him with. Maybe would even get lucky, and Blaine would have to be transferred to another precinct far away.
Morgan cleared his throat, backing away. “But I don’t want that to happen. Man’s got plenty of experience dealing with bullshit, and it shouldn’t take much to get him up to snuff with the rest of you yahoos. And even if you’re the one teaching him, I’m betting he can come out okay.”
“Fuck you too, chief,” shot at him.
Morgan grinned, plopping down behind his desk. “Glad to see you’re in your normal, stellar mood, Andreas. Speaking of, hey, Edwards.”
Blaine turned, shoulders straightening. “Sir?”
Morgan’s lips twitched at the formality. “Was he always a prickly ass, or was that something he picked up after you were gone?”
’s fingers flexed at his side and waited in the silence.
Blaine cleared his throat. “Will we be starting immediately, sir?”
The evasion was about as smooth as sandpaper, and wasn’t sure if it was the avoidance that pissed him off or the knowing smirk on the chief’s face.
“I won’t be starting you today, Edwards. You’ve been in the city, what, a week?”
“Five days.”
“Five days isn’t enough time to get on your feet, not when you’re starting here,” Morgan’s gaze flicked to on the last word.
“If you say so, sir,” Blaine replied.
Morgan nodded. “I do. We’ll see how the two of you work. Here’s hoping a bit of history between you eases things, though who knows with the way you two are acting.”
“Chief,” warned. He didn’t like the knowing look in the man’s eyes.
He was ignored. “But for today, Andreas will show you the office you two will work out of. Then you can have the rest of the day to yourself. Personally, I’d take the time to reacquaint yourself with your new partner, but I’ll leave that to you.”
“I would prefer to have something to occupy us, sir.”
“I’m sure you would. Andreas.”
scowled. “What?”
“Show the man the spacious office and his high-tech setup.”
“Right. Straight out of the nineties,” growled.
“Oh, don’t mind him. Our systems aren’t that bad.”
rolled his eyes. “Fine. Anything else?”
“Yeah, take the rest of the day off after you’re done here. I can already tell what you’re going to be like, and you’re useless without a partner and in the mood you’re in. So both of you, get the hell out of my office so one of us can get something done today.”
Blaine’s arm stiffened, and rolled his eyes. “C’mon, soldier boy.”
There wasn’t the quick reaction to ’s words as there’d been with the chief. It shouldn’t have irritated as much as it did. It wasn’t like he was an authority figure. Sure, he was the one in charge of making sure Blaine knew his ass from his elbow, but that wasn’t the same thing. Or at least, he hoped it wasn’t. Not once had looked at Sam as anything but a mentor and a friend, and he sure as hell didn’t need Blaine looking at him for some sort of authority.
When they were in the hallway, closed the chief’s door and pointed to their left. “Break room’s down there. Coffee is shit, but that’s government spending for you. Once a week, they cater from somewhere, and sometimes it’s good. If it’s the Thai place, get some. If it’s the nearby pizza place, don’t, you’ll regret it for the rest of the day.”
Blaine’s eyes lingered on ’s face before looking to their right. “And our office?”
’s lip twitched, but he fought to keep his face neutral. “Yeah, it’s down there. Let’s get this over with, and you can get back to whatever.”
Blaine’s mouth opened, and pushed past him before the man could speak. had no idea what the hell Blaine would say to him after almost a decade of silence, and quite frankly, he didn’t care. He could feel the coffee he’d downed earlier churning unhappily in his stomach. had never dealt with the past very well, and it seemed like he wouldn’t deal too well with the past rising up and smacking him in the present.
He walked, jerking his chin or a thumb in various directions. “Stairs there lead up to the second floor. Evidence and records are up there. Downstairs is the lockup. Bathrooms are there, but don’t be an ass and take a shit in them, use the ones downstairs for that if you gotta go that bad.”
“Why do we get an office, but others don’t?” Blaine asked softly.
shrugged. “Because we’re investigators, not just foot cops. We actually have to put shit together.”
“I thought that was a detective's job.”
“Chief likes to split things up, ease the workload by spreading it about. People who do well at investigating also get a chance to make detective. It’s how he’s always done things.”
“So it works.”
“Obviously,” growled. “Now shut the fuck up so I can finish the tour.”
“Yes, sir.”
The words were laced so heavily with sarcasm was surprised he couldn’t taste the bitterness. For a brief and shining moment, he considered what would happen if he took a swing at Blaine. It wouldn’t be the first scuffle between officers, though they were in-house secrets. He’d probably get his ass reamed up one way and down the other by the chief, and they’d likely be reassigned to different partners quicker than he could pick himself up off the floor.
And he had no illusions about who would come out on top of that particular scrap.
glared at Blaine. “I’m not your little soldier buddy or the chief, so don’t call me that.”
“No, you’re not,” Blaine said.
Not sure what that meant or if he even wanted to know, turned on his heel and continued down the hallway. The heads at the nearest cubicles of the open-plan room turned toward him and then darted away. didn’t need to look over his shoulder to know Blaine was behind him, staying a few feet away. Marching to the end of the row, he veered into the office at the end.
gestured around. “This is the office we’ll be using.”
Blaine looked around the small room. Two matching desks and computer chairs, with the end of one desk, pushed against the front of the other. had cleared his things off the desks after Sam had threatened to have his hide if he didn’t give his new partner the choice of desk. Apparently, that was just ‘common courtesy’ though suspected his former partner was screwing with him.
Blaine hummed thoughtfully. “The computers don’t look that old.”
“It’s an old joke,” grunted. “We spent several years with nothing but old computers and new software. Made getting through anything a pain in the ass. General at the fort donated a bunch of their older models to us last year, so now things work.”
“Old? These models aren’t more than a year or two old.”
“Yeah, so?”
“Since when does the military have anything up to date?”
“Fuck if I know. Take it up with the general.”
“Which desk is yours?”
crossed his arms over his chest, refusing to look at Blaine. “You pick.”
He could feel Blaine’s eyes on him, but still refused to look up. The silence was heavy before Blaine raised his right hand and pointed to the desk at the back. snorted softly, shrugging to show he didn’t care one way or the other.
That had been his desk, damn it.
opened his mouth to say something, but his words caught in his throat at the glint on Blaine’s hand. For one wild moment, he thought the band of silver on Blaine’s hand was a wedding ring. A second later, he realized it was the wrong hand for that. It looked like a plain band, though he’d swear he caught sight of something on the other side facing Blaine’s palm.
Then it was gone, Blaine’s hand pulled to his side, hands in his pockets.
* * *
Eighteen was a good age, or at least it was in ’s mind. It didn’t help that he was officially out of high school and never had to look back. Sean was pushing him to go to college, but didn’t think that was in the cards. He’d had to sit through twelve years of school. He didn’t want to go another four to six years. That left him with few options, but there were still some choices.
The other reason was the man wandering the trees ahead of him. ’s heart skipped a beat when Blaine looked back at him, his crooked smile making his eyes sparkle. The man was up to something, but would let him have his fun for a bit longer. They’d been the best of friends since had been the new kid two years earlier, and they’d been dating since a month after ’s eighteenth birthday.
Their relationship was private, unknown to anyone except them and Sean. His older brother knew just about everything there was to know, and it felt right for to keep him in the loop. He knew it made Blaine nervous, but since it was Sean, he’d kept it to himself.
ducked his head, trying to hide his goofy smile. He and Blaine had made it almost a year together, though thought he’d been in love with the man since the first day he’d sat with him outside the school. It might have taken two years for Blaine to see him in the same way, but it was worth it. God, was it worth it. Now he had the man to himself, and while he couldn’t show him off to the world, it was enough.
“So,” Blaine said, words slow and patient as they always were.
stopped, staring at Blaine’s back. “So.”
“Knowing you, you’re probably wondering why I dragged you out to the middle of nowhere,” Blaine said.
“The thought crossed my mind,” admitted.
“And probably did a few thousand laps while it was there.”
“A few.”
Blaine chuckled, turning around. His hand was in a fist, the other loose at his side.
eyed the closed hand. “Okay?”
“Hand,” Blaine said.
rolled his eyes but held his hand out, palm up. Blaine’s loose hand reached up, wrapping gently around ’s wrist and squeezing. The other turned, and felt something heavy drop into his palm.
“I know things have been harder lately,” Blaine explained. “With me going out of town for the apprenticeship and having to work all the time. But I’m trying to make my life better. That way, I can make sure we have a good life together.”
gave him a bemused smile, pulling his hand back to see. His eyes widened as he caught sight of the ring sitting in his palm. It was Blaine’s class ring, the only expensive thing he’d ever bought for himself. Blaine had worked tirelessly at a part-time job to buy the ring his parents called a waste of time and money. Blaine’s name was etched into the silver band circling the peridot gemstone representing his birth month. His date of birth was engraved on one side of the thick band, his graduating year on the other.
“A little old fashioned, giving class rings,” Blaine said, sounding nervous.
And practically telling the world what was happening. Old fashioned or not, even their generation knew what it meant for someone to wear a guy’s class ring.
“And a little big,” admitted, voice faint.
Blaine’s smile widened, and he reached into his pocket. From it, he drew out a chain necklace of interlocking links. It was thick, dense enough to carry the weight of the ring. The necklace was long enough that the ring could sit against his skin, out of sight.
“Oh,” said, watching it pool into his palm as Blaine set it down gently.
“I thought of that too,” Blaine whispered.
It wasn’t the proclamation to the world had thought and even hoped for, but it was something alright. Blaine had graduated a year before , and he’d never taken that ring off except to shower or wash the dishes. It was a piece of Blaine, one could carry around. Yes, it would be out of sight, keeping them hidden, but it would be there.
And as he tilted his head up to kiss the man, he hoped he managed to get all his thoughts across in that one gentle gesture.
* * *
Clearing his throat, shook his head like a wet dog. He knew his eyes were still locked on the place where Blaine’s hand had been only seconds before.
“?” Blaine asked warily.
He motioned to the desk jerkily. “Take whatever fucking desk you want, fill it with whatever you want, I don’t give a shit. Just be here tomorrow on time, got it?”
Blaine caught him before he could stomp off. ’s jaw tightened, and he fought the urge to look up and the urge to swing at Blaine. The last thing he needed was to start a fight or for Blaine to see...something in his eyes, something that would betray him.
Damn him for being here, for coming to Port Dale, of all places.
“, I…” Blaine began, words trailing off.
gritted his teeth, yanking his arm free of Blaine’s grip. “Don’t touch me. You don’t get to touch me.”
“. Please.”
“You—”
No, he wasn’t going to do this. There were too many ears nearby. And really, he wasn’t going to dredge up the past just because Blaine felt awkward. What was done was done, and nothing they said would change that.
“See you tomorrow,” ground out before marching off.