Eric
ERIC
Blinking into the brilliant sunlight, stepped out onto the back porch of his apartment. Well, that’s the only word he had for the slab of concrete that stood outside the back sliding door. There was enough space for a couple of chairs and the big grill that he rarely had a reason to use.
Heat radiated off the top of the grill, distorting the air around it. sniffed, frowning when he detected the distinct scent of char. Sighing, he lifted the lid and groaned at the sight of black around the bottom edge of the burgers.
From behind him, Blaine chuckled. “Going for super-well-done?”
“Blow it out your ass, Edwards. I told you I don’t grill much,” grumbled, glancing toward the small table in the grass a few yards away.
Neither Blake nor Sean had noticed anything was amiss as they lounged in their chairs. The two of them were chatting quietly. Well, Sean was chatting quietly, but wasn’t sure Blake knew the meaning of quiet. It had always amazed how two men could look so much alike and share so much but still be as different as Blake and Blaine were.
“Well, it’s a good thing I thought we might need more patties,” Blaine said.
sighed, flipping the overcooked burgers onto a plate and handing them to Blaine. “Then you’re in charge of the cooking. I’ll just...go make the potato salad or something.”
“The premade stuff you bought at the grocery store? You’re going to make that, huh?”
“Apparently, I can’t be trusted around fire.”
“Mm, but you do know how to handle your meat.”
swatted at Blaine, shooing him back into the apartment. The last thing he needed was for Blake to hear any sort of dirty joke. The man would take it and run without ever stopping until threatened him to within an inch of his life.
Watching Blaine wind his way around the furniture as though he’d been living there for weeks instead of a couple of days brought a wave of comfort to . It had been three days since their little event in the station's basement, and Blaine had yet to leave his side. Not that needed someone to watch over him, he’d been diagnosed with a mild concussion from the blows to his head, and the bullet had thankfully missed anything important in his arm.
It still hurt like a bitch, though.
“Arm?” Blaine asked.
“Yes,” grumbled.
“At least that’s all that happened. All things considered, it could have been a hell of a lot worse.”
That was true, though wasn’t sure he found much comfort in it. It turned out that David had begun setting up another one of his devices in the physical records room. He had intended to burn the station down with in it, but Blaine’s surprise arrival had put a crimp in that plan.
Information was still coming in, but the entire station was in an uproar that one of their own had been the culprit. A raid of David’s place had unearthed a gold mine of information, and a bit of digging into his past had slotted a few more pieces into place.
It turned out that David Cochran had a father by the name of Anthony Wojack. There was no record of it, as David’s mother had never named a father on any records. It also turned out that the late Alice Cochran had been a heavy drug user and wasn’t shy about using her fists or her brutally sharp tongue on her son. At some point, David had gone seeking his father, only to find out that the man was dead.
Anthony Wojack had been a firefighter once upon a time before a collapsing building cut his career and life short. No one agreed yet, but was pretty sure the realization that his daddy wasn’t going to come save him had broken something in David. He’d become obsessed with the heroic nature of firefighters and anything about his father. It turned out the late Anthony Wojack had come from a family of blue-collar workers, his parents having owned a metalsmith shop in their name. The same name David had used while paying the rent.
Apparently, David wanted to keep firefighters busy and give them a ‘glorious flame’ to put out. How the little toys had figured into it, didn’t know. It was unnerving enough to think that hero worship had turned into such destruction. And apparently, the lives lost in the process hadn’t mattered much to David, which was even more unnerving to than if the man had set out to kill people.
Blaine looked up as he dumped the burned burgers. “You good?”
shrugged. “Feels weird, having a...family thing right now.”
“I think normal is what we could use right now,” Blaine told him, rinsing the plate off.
thought of his brother sitting outside, who he hadn’t spoken to yet. “I don’t know if normal is how I’d put it.”
“Something that isn’t dealing with almost dying in the basement of the station,” Blaine clarified.
“I still say Morgan wanted us out of the way.”
“Probably. We were about as close as it gets, and I’m sure he doesn’t want our, uh, personal feelings getting in the way.”
“I’m a professional.”
“You’re also pissed off.”
“He shot me! And tried to shoot you!”
“Right, pissed off, not exactly what you’d call unbiased.”
tried to cross his arms over his chest and look sullen but only managed a wince as his skin pulled at the stitches. He supposed he’d got off lucky, especially compared to David. In the very brief struggle between Blaine and David, the little firebug had his wrist broken, a couple of ribs cracked, along with a hairline fracture of his skull.
He’d always known Blaine was a well-trained and honed fighting machine, but had never realized what that meant. In the few seconds of pure darkness, listening to the sounds of the scuffle, ’s heart had lived in his throat. He still wasn’t sure what was scarier, the unknowable nature of the fight or the fact that Blaine hadn’t made a noise throughout the whole thing. It had been so quick, and Blaine could have easily killed David, even though it was completely dark.
Blaine picked up the plate of fresh patties and squinted at him. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”
felt his cheeks burn. “Was, uh, thinking about how you took him down.”
“Oh.”
He couldn’t help his smile at the wary expression on Blaine’s face. reached out, snagging the other man by the waist of his jeans and pulling him close. Leaning up, he kissed him gently, rubbing Blaine’s side with his stray fingers.
“Scary, but in the sexy sort of way,” assured him.
“I suppose that was supposed to be comforting,” Blaine murmured.
smirked. “It means I got to see just what sort of skills you have when it comes to having my back.”
“Even if I didn’t, I’d still have your back.”
“I know.”
And he did. might overthink just about everything, but he was quickly learning it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. He could focus on how well Blaine knew him, how it took only a look, and felt something tight inside him loosen or the pleasure of having his warm body curled around him at night. It was a far better idea to obsess over than whether or not his life was an utter disaster and if he’d fucked everything up.
Blaine’s eyes darted over his shoulder, grunting. “I should get these on the grill. If we don’t feed Blake soon, he’ll never shut up.”
“He can shut up?” asked in surprise.
Blaine chuckled, kissing him again before walking around him. turned with him, enjoying the way Blaine’s muscles shifted beneath his shirt and the curve of his ass in the jeans had insisted he wore. There were only a few pairs of jeans that Blaine had brought with him to stay at ’s, but he suspected there would be more coming. He even wondered how long it would take until one of them finally broached the subject of moving in.
His good mood faded when he saw his brother standing in the living room, watching apprehensively. Now he knew why Blaine was taking himself outside rather than lingering for a little physical affection.
“Uh,” Sean muttered, looking around nervously. “Thanks for inviting me.”
“I didn’t,” told him, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Blaine did it through my phone.”
“Oh.”
had been present and had threatened Blaine with bodily harm if he dared to send the text. Predictably, his boyfriend had ignored him and sent it anyway. could have corrected the text or told Sean the truth, but instead, he’d thrown the phone onto the couch in disgust.
Sean looked down at his feet. “He still has that effect on you.”
“Which one?” asked sourly.
The corner of Sean’s mouth twitched. “Like you don’t have to be anyone but yourself.”
said nothing, not trusting his mouth.
Sean sighed. “He did back then too. You just...you let your guard down and didn’t feel like you had to prepare for the worst or fight the world. I haven’t seen you like that since before he left.”
“And?” asked pointedly.
Sean huffed. “Was I wrong for keeping the letters? Would they have helped or hurt?”
opened his mouth, looked through the doors, and spotted Blaine talking with Blake at the table. Damn it, he knew the answer, and he was sure Blaine knew it too.
“It wouldn’t have mattered,” admitted. “I was so...stupid at the time, I probably would have thrown them out without looking at them. You’re probably the only reason I got to read them at all.”
And they were safely stowed away. Not locked up, could pull them out and look at them whenever he wanted. They were a source of comfort and a reminder of what happened when he didn’t stop and think clearly about those he loved and those who loved him.
’s shoulders sagged. “I’m sorry, Sean. You were right to take the things, but you weren’t for keeping them so long. You could have said something. If he couldn't get through to me, you could have.”
“Yeah. I guess...reading them helped then?” Sean asked hesitantly.
’s hand came up to his necklace, gripping the ring between his fingers. “More than helped. I guess Blaine letting me have it shook me loose a little, got me to stop being so fucking stupid. The letters...they...well, yeah, they did the rest of the work.”
“Good, that’s good. Something good came out of it.”
The last of ’s anger dwindled at his brother’s hopeful tone. He still wasn’t happy that Sean had gone years without saying anything, keeping Blaine’s last attempts to fix things from him. But if he was going to forgive Blaine for leaving and start to forgive himself for pushing him away, then he should also forgive his brother for loving him and watching out for him.
stepped up to him, wrapping his arms around his brother and squeezing tight. Sean stiffened against him before relaxing and returning the hug with a tight hold of his own.
“Thank you,” murmured in his brother’s ear.
“For what?”
“For taking care of me.”
Sean chuckled, giving him another squeeze. “You’ve always been good at taking care of yourself. You didn’t need me for that.”
“Yeah, I did,” admitted. “I needed people like you and Blaine, who put up with my shit and loved me. I’m shit at admitting it, but it’s true.”
Blake’s loud voice carried into the apartment. “Holy shit, is ...hugging someone that isn’t you?”
“And moment ruined,” muttered, stepping away from his brother.
A yelp raised his head, and he frowned as he spotted Blake sprawled in the grass. He was staring daggers at Blaine, who nonchalantly flipped the burgers, looking as if he hadn’t moved.
Sean sighed. “Children, play nice, or you won’t get any dessert.”
Blaine chuckled, closing the grill. “Come watch these for me, Sean. Blake can’t be trusted to cook anything. You can’t even let him boil water.”
“Oh God, you burn a pan one time, and you never live it down!” Blake protested.
“It was a full pan that you left and forgot. It set the smoke detectors off,” Blaine shot back as he stepped into the apartment.
“Accidents happen to the best of us. I’m sure Blake’s learned his lesson. We were all young,” Sean admonished.
Blaine snorted. “That happened a month ago.”
“Oh, right, no cooking for you then,” Sean told Blake.
shook his head as Blake continued complaining but stopped paying attention when Blaine wrapped his arms around him. He forgot that there might be witnesses as Blaine pressed their lips together in a soft but urgent kiss. ’s stomach flipped, and he prodded the other man in the chest in warning.
“I know, I know,” Blaine told him.
kissed him back anyway, not caring if it teased Blaine further. It was nice having him in his home, back in his life. A new source of comfort and pleasure settled into his chest as he realized he would have this for the rest of his life, so long as he played his cards right.
“Mm, someone’s thinking again,” Blaine murmured.
’s fingers toyed with the ring. “Just realizing that this is it, you and me. I’ve got you for real this time.”
Blaine smiled gently. “You always have had me, .”
chuckled. “Yeah, it just took me a while to realize it.”
Blaine’s hand came up to close around ’s, holding the ring between their palms. “And I’m not letting you go. It’s always been you, , and it’s always going to be you.”
kissed him again, holding Blaine’s hand and feeling the ring press against their palms. Eventually, he knew that ring would one day turn into a smaller, more expensive one. And he was sure he would hear vows before an altar of how it had always been and always would be. After that, though, didn’t know what might come their way.
But with Blaine by his side, he couldn’t wait to find out.