Chapter Text
Ashley eagerly rapped her knuckles against a dark, wooden door, excitedly eyeing the gold lettering of the unit number just beneath the peephole. The apartment complex was entirely nondescript and void of any extravagant or lavish features. The building was drab in colour and lacked the vibrancy of suburban living. It was the perfect place for laying low, so naturally it was the perfect place for Luis and Leon to call home. Neither of them were exactly well liked figures— at least not in their areas of expertise.
“Leon!” She hollered as she knocked a second time. “Luis!”
She was about to knock again, but the door opened before she could attempt it. She didn’t know what to expect from her gracious host, but it definitely wasn’t seeing Leon in a plain white T-shirt and black sweatpants. He looked like a normal guy in that outfit. If it hadn’t been for him rescuing her, she figured she wouldn’t have even batted an eye in his direction.
“You’re early,” he stated in lieu of a hello.
“You’re underdressed,” she said in return, pushing past him after seeing Luis seated on the couch. She opened her arms and ran at him, squealing in delight when he got up to meet her.
They hugged in the middle of the living room, squeezing each other tightly. Luis managed to pick her up and give a little spin before setting her back down and kissing the crown of her head. No matter how many times he did it, she would never grow tired of his charming greeting.
“Sure, make yourself at home. Why not?” Leon said, gesturing vaguely. “Don’t mind me. I only live here, that’s all.”
“You didn’t say hello,” Ashley shrugged. “I just returned the favour.”
Leon rolled his eyes and walked over to her, ruffling her hair to annoy her. She let out a groan as she fixed her hair, tempted to elbow him in the gut in retaliation, but she knew better than to try to attack a USSTRATCOM agent.
“So why are you here early?” Luis asked.
“I got tired of waiting for five o’clock,” she frowned. “Secret service agents are so boring. I figured I’d cut my losses and meet up with you two ahead of schedule.”
“And they let you come here alone?” Luis’s eyes widened, clearly surprised that she was allowed to show up without any security.
“About that,” Ashley smiled nervously.
Leon’s phone went off, pinging him in that all too familiar ditty. He reached into his pocket and fished the cell out, unamused by this turn of events. He answered it, already knowing what the conversation would be about.
“Hello?”
Ashley looked at Luis with pleading eyes.
“She’s here.”
Luis looked back at her with an indiscernible expression.
“She’s fine. She’s not hurt or anything.”
Luis looked at Leon, waiting for the call to end.
“It’s not my job to figure out how she snuck out from right beneath your noses,” Leon huffed indignantly. “It’s my job to protect her, and now that she’s here, that’s what I’m gonna do.”
Ashley shuffled closer to Luis despite overhearing what Leon had just said. While it was true that he was supposed to protect her, that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to chew her out on her reckless behaviour.
The call ended as quickly as it started, and when Leon finally turned to look at Ashley, she was practically hiding behind Luis. He frowned.
“Ashley.”
“Yeah?”
“What were you thinking?” Leon crossed his arms.
“She’s young,” Luis intervened. “Don’t you remember being her age? It wasn’t that long ago. What matters is that she got here safely.”
“ This time . What if she makes this a habit? It could go worse next time.”
“Cariño,” Luis sighed, reaching out for his hand.
Leon took it, slightly embarrassed to be doing this in front of Ashley. He heard her giggle from behind Luis, further embarrassing him.
“Let’s get her settled in,” Luis laughed, enjoying seeing Leon go pink while Ashley snickered.
“There isn’t much to settle,” Leon pointed out. “She didn’t even bring her bags with her.”
Luis looked around the room and realised he was right. Ashley must have left her luggage with the secret service to avoid drawing more attention and to make her escape easier. She was smarter than she was given credit for.
After giving Ashley a tour of the apartment— which wasn’t very long given how the unit was meant for two— the couple decided to change into more appropriate clothes. It wouldn’t be fair if only Ashley was dressed up.
Ashley walked into the kitchen and stared at the simplicity of it all. While she was shocked that anyone could live in such a small space, she did appreciate how much more intimate it felt than in huge, empty houses. The White House was soulless, but even before that, when it was just her and her dad in their enormous house in New Hampshire, home never really felt like home. It was too bare inside the house. Lifeless. Like it was missing something. She loved her dad dearly, but that estate was too much for just the two of them. It felt more like a glorified dollhouse at times.
There were all sorts of things stuck to the fridge with nerdy elements of the Periodic Table magnets she was sure Luis had bought. Bills to pay. Reminders. A grocery list. Pictures of the couple. It was all so personal. She felt like an intruder peeking through window blinds to catch a glimpse of a life she wished was familiar to her.
One picture in particular caught her attention the most. She reached out and plucked it from the fridge to inspect it closer in her hands. It showed Leon and Luis in bed, the covers pulled up to their chests. Leon was dead asleep, his mouth slightly open and one arm around his partner. Luis was awake and smiling at the camera, leaning into Leon’s chest and an arm outstretched so he could include himself in the picture. She wondered how Leon had ever agreed to have this on display in their kitchen, but she knew Luis could be convincing when he wanted to be.
“Handsome, no?”
Startled, Ashley nearly dropped the picture. She hastily put it back on the fridge.
“Who?” Ashley asked.
“Ouch,” Luis feigned hurt, a hand atop his chest in pretend agony. “You have to ask?”
He walked over to pull the picture back up. Ashley watched how easily the image tugged the corners of Luis’s lips into a smile. He was always smiling. She wondered how he managed to keep it up.
“I took this the first time Leon asked me to stay the night. I was so happy he wanted me around,” he confessed.
“I thought you two were living together since we got back from Spain?”
“We lived together for a few weeks,” Luis put the picture back and leaned against the kitchen counter. “I moved out after getting my bearings. We kept in touch. Sometimes I’d visit him. Sometimes he’d visit me. We kept it casual.”
“There’s no way,” Ashley let out a breath in disbelief. “You two? Casual?”
“Is that so hard to believe?” Luis laughed. “Yes, we were casual. Just friends. Barely friends. I thought he hated me.”
“Because I did,” Leon interrupted their precious little moment, emerging from around the corner to grab the water pitcher from the table and a glass to pour the water into.
“He’s joking,” Luis winked at Ashley. “He’s been madly in love with me since he first saw me all tied up and rolled in a tarp.”
“You were what?” She gasped.
“Oh,” Luis stood up and smoothed out his shirt. “I thought you knew. I was in a nasty little situation when we met. Not important now.”
“Fine. Whatever,” she shook her head, grinning at the revelations that came spilling out of him. “But back to you two being casual .”
Leon took a sip from his cup, looking to Luis to continue his version of events.
“We were practically dancing around each other,” Luis took his cue. “Neither one of us wanted to—what’s the phrase? Rock the boat?”
“Who made the first move?” Ashley alternated glances between the two men.
“Technically me,” Luis told her. “But none of my advancements were taken seriously, probably because I’m a romantic by nature. But then Leon surprised me.”
Ashley eagerly looked to Leon for his side of the story. She was practically buzzing with excitement. She had always figured they’d been an item since getting back from Spain, but learning that even they had taken their time was thrilling news.
He set his glass down on the table and shrugged.
“I just asked him out to dinner. I don’t know what’s so surprising about that.”
“He asked me out to a moonlit dinner,” Luis clarified, slightly annoyed that Leon was downplaying how romantic he could be despite having told him himself he wasn’t. “Me enamoré más de él.”
Ashley hoped for a translation, but she didn’t receive one. She took this to mean she wasn’t meant to understand that part.
“And then?” She drew closer to them.
“And then we got closer. A few more dates here and there to test the waters,” Luis hummed, closing his eyes and letting the memories come flooding back. He smiled warmly, opening his eyes and pointing back at the picture Ashley had been looking at earlier. “Then he asked me to stay the night, and I did. I almost decided to stay forever right then and there, but I didn’t want to risk everything.”
Ashley gawked at them, her mouth slightly open. Her eyes twinkled like stars in youthful wonder.
“I asked him to move in after we became official,” Leon spoke up. “Asked him to be my partner and a bit after that I asked him to move back in.”
“So no,” Luis chuckled. “We have not been living together since arriving from Spain. There were a few months where we had our own spaces.”
“And I’m just now hearing about this?” She huffed, crossing her arms.
“You never asked,” Leon shrugged.
“You have so many pictures of the both of you on here,” Ashley pointed at the other images stuck to the fridge, curious about the stories behind those as well.
“We can take pictures of you, too,” Luis said. “We’d be more than happy to include you.”
Ashley nearly jumped in place. Her heart soared out of her chest at the offer, ecstatic beyond belief at Luis wanting to include her in their personal space. She should’ve known she was welcome when they agreed to house her for a week while she visited, but the prospect of being added to their collection of memories was almost too much for her. She swallowed thickly and nodded her head, too overwhelmed to speak. Luis understood her well enough, pulling her into another hug. She buried her face in his chest and squeezed him tightly. He let out a grunt and followed it with a laugh. She loved his laugh. She loved his smile. She loved seeing him happy. She loved seeing him in general.
If someone had told Ashley two years ago that she would be kidnapped, held hostage, tortured, and then rescued by a sarcastic hotshot and a flirty doctor who would both eventually become her second family, she would’ve called them crazy and had the secret service on their ass in no time. Currently, however, she couldn’t imagine her life any other way. They were her family, too, now. She’d gladly give up the mansions and estates for a small apartment if it meant she could stay like this forever, her arms wrapped around one of her saviours while the other watched in adoration.
Her father did his best to give her the world, and for that she would always be grateful, but these two had given her what her father had always struggled with. She didn’t hold it against him. She knew he was busy as a politician, but sometimes she wished he’d had more time for her. Being with Leon and Luis felt fulfilling.
At long last, she knew what home was supposed to feel like.
“Instead of going out for dinner like we planned,” Luis suggested as he ran his hand through Ashley’s hair. “Why don’t we stay home tonight and make it ourselves? As a group?”
“As a family,” Ashley muttered in a small voice.
Leon walked over to them and rested a hand on her back, breaking into a smile as well. They were becoming much more frequent in his life. He’d gone so long without them, he’d almost forgotten how to smile. Having Ashley and Luis in his life easily reminded him how to do it.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “As a family.”