Chapter Text
Lars moved on with his life as best as he could after sending that letter. Though he never did find his way to California – things just didn’t work out – he kept sending letters back and forth between his cousins and uncles. It didn’t take long for Lars to start seeing Jackson as his uncle as well, especially when he learned what was really happening between the man and Uncle Holland.
Life continued. Gus got married, then moved back home after the death of their father. Lars took a long time to adapt after that. Then Bianca came into his life, and he experienced romantic love for the first time. Then Bianca was gone. Lars was forced to pick up the pieces and grow into the man he’d always wanted to be.
For quite a while, that was how life continued.
That was until Casey came into his life. That was the second time he ever fell in love.
Casey was completely different from Bianca, but that wasn’t a bad thing in the slightest. In fact, Lars rather liked that the two weren’t all that similar. Casey was reserved, didn’t talk much, but that didn’t mean there weren't a million things said between them. There were a million things spoken even if they weren’t with words. Casey adapted to Lars’ schedule, the way he liked things done, and then they learned to build a routine together.
Part of that routine was that Casey got home before Lars did. He worked closer to the house after all. If it was a night that he was in charge of dinner he would either pick something up on his way home or cook something – almost always finishing just as Lars was getting home.
Tonight was one of those nights.
Something was off as Lars stepped into their home though. He still smelled dinner as soon as he walked through the door. But something was just off. Lars looked around for a moment. It really wasn’t that hard since the garage was rather small so his eyes scanned over the area quickly. No Casey.
Lars tried to stop the fear that immediately rose in this throat. Alright. Just because he didn’t immediately see Casey didn’t mean something was wrong. He looked around the kitchenette. Perhaps the man had stepped out for a moment; maybe he’d left a note and Lars really had no reason to worry afterall.
Lars smoothed his hand over the empty counter. No note. That was fine. Everything was fine. He turned around. “Casey?” No answer. “Casey?” Lar’s voice pitched in a way that made him cringe, too childish.
“Yes Lars?” There was a voice from the far corner of the garage where Lars had set up a pseudo closet. It was just a little walled off section of the larger room, but it made him feel better about hanging up his clothes – especially his good sweaters and shirts so they didn’t get wrinkled.
Lars let out a long breath. He marched forward until he was standing within Casey’s view. “What are you looking at?”
There was a box in the man’s hands, a box Lars was very familiar with. His stomach swirled.
“Are these letters?” Casey’s voice was quiet, though it usually was. His brow was pinched in the tiniest bit of confusion.
The man didn’t get the mail, usually at least since he didn’t get much mail to begin with, so he never saw any of the letters Lars got from his family. Lars swallowed and nodded. He didn’t know why he’d hidden the letters from Casey. It wasn’t like they were bad, in fact, they were actually very nice. Lars was just so used to having these letters to himself that it felt strange to share them with another.
Casey held the box out for Lars, who took it readily. “Where are they from?”
Lars looked down at the box, years upon years of letters. Some of them were from his uncles, others were from his cousins – Ryland, Colt, Molly. There were pictures from graduations, school dances, even just random days that someone thought were important enough to snap a photo. Lars could see as his family grew and connected. All those photos and letters made him feel far less alone than he’d been in the past.
His lip wobbled, just a little bit. There was so much about him that Casey already knew, some of it uncomfortable and unfortunate. Telling Casey about his family wouldn’t hurt. Right?
Casey’s eyes looked him up and down. “You don’t have to tell me.”
“I want to.” The words jumped from Lars’ mouth. As his heart continued to beat, he realized it was in fact the truth. “Come sit with me.”
Casey followed him back into the main room, both of them sitting on the sofa. The house grew dimmer and dimmer by the moment, so Lars flicked on a lamp, trying to stop his hands from shaking as he did so. The box of letters sat on the sofa between them, the most recent sitting on the very top.
It was a letter from Ryland talking about his PhD program, something Lars could never wrap his head around. His cousin did his best to explain things through writing, but Ryland had a tendency to ramble as he wrote, streaming this way and that. Lars still cherished every single detail though. “This is from my youngest cousin, Ryland. He’s still older than me too. They all are.” He handed the letter to Casey, the other holding onto it as gently as he could.
“How many cousins do you have?”
Lars thought for a moment. “Four on my father’s side.” There weren’t any that Lars knew of on his mother’s side. If they were out there, they never got in contact. He squirmed a little in his seat. “Well… three now.” He wished he’d met Courtland, Court as Colt and Ryland called him. Now he’d never be able to. The man died in a prison fight, body too mangled for there to be one to see after.
Casey looked up from the letter. “I’m very sorry to hear that.” There was genuine sorrow in Casey’s voice.
Lars liked that he didn’t lie about his emotions, at least not anymore. They were long over any phase of lying or hiding things. As of now. Right. The letters. “Thank you.” Lars mostly said it because he knew that was the thing he was supposed to say. He didn’t really understand why. It wasn’t as though Casey was at any fault.
They looked through more letters, bodies drawing closer as time passed. Lars grew more comfortable by the minute. He pointed out every single detail of the photos, the differences in his cousins’ and uncles’ writing styles: the way Jackson’s writing slanted to the right, how Holly drew little circles for the dots of her i’s and j’s, Colt’s signature that changed with every letter because he was trying to figure out what would work for Hollywood. All of those details made Lars’ heart flutter.
If only he could have seen those details in real life, what other details would he have noticed if he could see their faces without a camera.
Casey leaned his head against Lars’ shoulder. “They seem like wonderful people.”
“They are.” Lars didn’t have a single doubt in his mind. They all struggled in the past, Lars has as well. After all, everyone had situations they dealt with – good, bad, worse, better. They were doing better now. Lars watched as the light in his family’s eyes grew brighter as they aged. It was one of the most beautiful things he’d seen in his entire life.
Casey leaned back; Lars immediately missed the warmth – something he wouldn’t have expected a year or so ago. “Have you taken pictures for them before?”
Lars paused. He had, in a sense. Not very many because that meant getting film, making sure his old camera still hadn’t given up on him, and then not hating the photo when it was finished. He flushed. Maybe he should have been taking more photos.
“We can take one.”
“Us?”
Casey shrugged. “You’ve told them about me before. A photo would be nice to put a face to name.”
“Are you sure?” Lars wrapped his hand around Casey’s. He knew the other was careful about those sorts of things. The man never went into much detail about what happened in his past, only that he’d been involved with bad people back in California and would likely never be able to return because of that.
Casey nodded. “We can take one together.”
“Okay.”
It took a bit of time to find the camera, then to situate themselves comfortably. It likely would have been easier if they asked Gus or Karin to take the photo, but Lars didn’t want to disturb them – especially not since he still managed to get a good photo. Casey said it was good. That’s all that mattered.
There was a glow around Casey as he wrote his name in the newest letter Lars penned. He wrote a little blurb as well, not allowing Lars to even peek until it was finished. Lars just grinned; this was one of the sweetest things he could ever imagine.
Two parts of his life were intertwining – his family which he loved dearly and Casey who he held so dear to his heart. When Casey finished, he held the card out for Lars to read. “I hope they enjoy it.”
“Of course they will.” Lars didn’t have a single doubt about that. He’d told his family plenty about Casey from the moment the man came into his life. They got plenty of updates as the pair grew closer, from strangers to friends to partners. Through all those changes, his family celebrated Lars and Casey. It was sweet.
He pressed the letter, photo included, to his chest for a moment, his heart beating against it. Lars felt complete.