Chapter Text
“Hey, Simon and his friends are having a dinner thing on Saturday night. A potluck, nothing fancy. They invited us – me, you, Markus. You don’t have to go, but…” Daniel shrugged. “If you want to, you’d be welcome. They’re okay.”
Ralph worried his lip. “…You, me, Markus, Simon… how many more?”
“Just two. Josh is cool, he’s pretty low-key, easy to be around. North’s a little intense sometimes, but she’s okay too and she won’t be an ass to you.” He paused. “I’ll make sure nobody is.”
A faint smile twitched over Ralph’s face. “Up… in your apartment, or somewhere else?”
“Just upstairs. If you want to just stop in and then leave early you can do that, too.”
Ralph nodded thoughtfully. “A potluck. So I should bring something for people to eat.”
Daniel shrugged. “I already told Simon I’m bringing dessert. You could bring some kind of bread if you want.”
Ralph frowned. “I… I should bring… oh, I know a good salad I can make! I – I don’t like… meat, I just eat other things. Um. Can I… can I borrow a bowl? A big one?”
“Sure!” Daniel smiled. “I’ll tell Simon, he’ll be happy you’re coming, too.”
He grinned. “Really, you think? I don’t see him a lot now. But I like him.”
“Oh yeah, he asks about you sometimes, makes sure you’re doing okay. …So what kind of salad, just lettuce and stuff?”
“No, no, dandelion leaves and wild spinach and wild onions. I’ll wash it off first. Very good with, mm, a tangy clear dressing. I make it sometimes, I saw it in a magazine with expensive food, but it’s so easy!”
“Hm, we’ve got a balsamic vinegar dressing upstairs, how’s that sound?”
“Yes! Yes, perfect!” Ralph laughed a little, then his smile faltered. “…I like you and Simon. M-Markus… is okay too. Do you think… the other two are nice?
“I think they’ll like you once they know you better. …They’ll be nice either way, though.”
“I… I might… drop things…”
“So don’t pick anything up.” Daniel grinned and flipped a bit of Ralph’s hair back from his face. “Carry your salad up and I’ll take it. If you drop your fork or whatever at dinner, just pick it up and brush it off. No problem.”
“Really?”
“Sure.”
“What… what if… I say something stupid?”
“Everybody says stupid shit. Don’t worry about it.” He didn’t look convinced, so Daniel stepped closer so their arms were touching. “Doesn’t matter, anyway. I’ll be right there, right? Anybody gives you trouble, they’ll have to deal with me. Say anything you want, stupid or not. Drop things, throw things. Nobody’s gonna start a fight with me.”
“D-don’t… you wouldn’t…”
“I sure the hell would, and they all know it.”
Ralph inhaled sharply and tipped his head to rest against Daniel’s shoulder for a moment, and when he straightened up again he was smiling widely. “…Okay,” he mumbled. “I want to go. I’ll bring the salad.”
“Great!” Daniel grinned back. “Take any bowl you want, and whatever else you need. Saturday at five. It’ll be good to have somebody there who’s not attached to Simon at the hip. …Not that North and Josh are that bad. Markus is practically his boyfriend, though.”
Ralph frowned thoughtfully. “…Is he?”
“I – I don’t know for sure. I do know Simon’s got a huge crush on him. You can tell, can’t you?”
“Mm, yes,” Ralph said decisively. “When he looks at him his eyes get soft and bright, and he always smiles. And his voice gets a little higher, and he blushes a little and he looks happy when he talks about him.”
“Exactly! All that. I don’t know how Markus feels, but Simon’s got it bad for him.”
“…Markus seems nice.”
Daniel made a face. “Maybe.”
“What if he does like Simon?”
“…I don’t like to think about it,” Daniel grumbled.
“W-why?”
Daniel didn’t answer, but kept watching the dough in the old stand mixer until he turned it off.
“Maybe… maybe they’d make each other happy.”
“Maybe he’d hurt Simon,” Daniel growled.
Ralph waited a moment. “…Maybe he wouldn’t. What if he didn’t?”
“How – how can you be so optimistic? People haven’t –“ Daniel paused, then pressed on. “People haven’t been any nicer to you than they have to me, Ralph. Worse, a lot of the time.”
“Y-yes, I know. But… I think people can be nice if they want to be. You’re nice. So is Simon. I think Markus is too.” He hesitated. “I’m… I’m scared of… people hurting me. But… I always wanted to find people who would be nice anyway. Like… friends, like family. I have to be careful. But I still want to try. Maybe Simon does too. And Markus. And you.”
Slowly the tension drained out of Daniel’s shoulders. “…You know, I think you’re a lot braver than I am,” he whispered after a long moment.
Ralph laughed sharply. “Me? No. But you were always nice, so I’m not so afraid anymore.”
On Saturday, Daniel woke up a little earlier than usual to the sounds and smells of Simon setting up. He was making baked chicken. Daniel had his pie and cake in the fridge, and some cheesy biscuit dough ready to stick in the oven later.
The door opened and North strolled in. “Daniel. Still here?”
He snorted. “North. Did somebody invite you, or are you just here to eat our food?”
“So there’s some guy down there kinda hiding in the bakery doorway, kept looking at the stairs –“
“Oh, that’s probably Ralph. I’ll be right back.” He went outside, and North went to the kitchen to bother Simon.
It was Ralph, and Daniel waved at him. He looked around quickly, then scuttled up the stairs clutching his covered bowl.
“Hey.” Daniel smiled, ready to grab to bowl if it dropped, but Ralph kept a tight grip. “I’m glad you made it. North’s inside, and Simon’s cooking his chicken.”
Ralph’s face twitched into a nervous smile, and he followed Daniel inside.
The apartment was small, but sunny and warm. Daniel stuck the salad in the fridge and put the dressing on the table, then headed back to Ralph before North could corner him. “…So this is the living room.” He pointed to the small couch and old tube TV. “The kitchen’s in there. We’ve got our temporary dining room here, usually we just eat wherever. And in that door is the bedrooms. …Really just one room, we found some cubicle dividers to split it in two. And we’re never asleep at the same time, so it works out.”
“It’s so nice,” Ralph murmured, looking around. “Warm. And… and comfortable, and… pretty, but not… too fancy. I… I like it.”
“You must be Ralph.” North strode out, and Ralph shrank back a little. Daniel squared his shoulders next to him. “I’m North. Can’t believe you put up with this loser every night.” She grinned.
“I – I like Daniel,” Ralph protested, straightening up to his full height, five inches shorter than Daniel. “He’s v-v-very nice.”
Whatever other faults North might have, she could read people well. She backed off a step, and her voice softened. “He’s okay. I heard you really stepped up production downstairs.”
Ralph glanced from her to Daniel and back, reddening slightly. “Oh, um… um… I help, I… yes.” He swallowed.
“Doubled it,” Daniel pointed out.
“Nice!” North smiled. She could be softer when she tried, though she often didn’t. “…And I hear you’re a vegetarian? I brought sweet potatoes, they’re pretty good. I guess Markus is bringing some kind of curry? Might work for you.”
“M-maybe,” Ralph mumbled, nodding.
There was a knock at the door, and Daniel took the distraction to pull Ralph gently to the couch, where they sat close together while North began pestering Markus.
“She… she’s okay,” Ralph whispered.
“Told you. A little rough around the edges, but not bad. And if you can handle her, nobody else’ll be any problem.”
Josh came soon after, and that was easier. Daniel casually nudged Ralph’s knee with his as they all talked. When Josh went to the kitchen, Markus looked like he might too. But Ralph stood up and hurried over.
“Y-you… you’ll be… nice to Simon… right? He… he was nice. To – to me. Rrrr… I… don’t want him to… get… hurt.”
Markus looked blank, confused, then stricken. He shook his head, opening his mouth, then closing it again. He glanced briefly at Daniel, then back at Ralph. “I won’t hurt him, Ralph.”
“Good.” Ralph smiled faintly and retreated back to sit next to Daniel. Markus paused, then went over to the table. Daniel leaned into Ralph, who leaned back.
“He… he didn’t know,” Ralph breathed, eyes on Markus’s back. “I think… I think he knows now. He should know.”
“He might be smart, but he’s not very perceptive,” Daniel murmured. Would Markus do something about it, though? Knowing Simon, he wouldn’t. Markus would need to make the first move if anything was going to happen.
Sure enough, Simon and Markus slunk into Simon’s room, and came out right when dinner was ready. Ralph sat on the corner, and Daniel could see his hands shaking. He kept his leg against Ralph’s, and made sure to pass him the food without meat. At one point he said something that made Ralph laugh loudly, and Daniel laughed too, to ease the tension. Conversation continued, and Ralph didn’t speak, but he gradually relaxed more and more until he fell asleep curled up against Daniel after dinner.
When Ralph woke up, the sun was bright. He was still on the couch in Daniel and Simon’s apartment, covered in a blanket that smelled like Daniel. It took him a minute to spot Simon’s note on the coffee table.
Ralph,
Thanks for coming! I hope you had a good night. You’re welcome to anything you need when you wake up, and stay as long as you want.
-Simon and Daniel
The apartment was quiet, though when he tiptoed over towards the door he could hear deep, even breathing. Daniel, because Simon would be working. …No, it was past closing time for a Sunday. But he wasn’t here. But he might come back soon. So, note or no note, Ralph should get out. Quietly. Daniel was a light sleeper, he remembered. He crept out the door, making sure it was locked. He’d been sleeping in the store room – it felt safe, and he liked it there – but he wasn’t about to go in there at this time of day. The library wasn’t open either, so he slipped back into the abandoned house he’d been sleeping in before.
Someone had been here since the last time he’d come. He hadn’t left anything he needed, but things were in different places. He did a quick sweep of the building – no one there. For now. The kitchen was still covered in scrawling writing from when things got bad. Assurances that he was alive. That he existed, that in some way he mattered in the universe in his small way. Numbers and letters and rough symbols he scratched into the wall just to prove that. To leave a mark, to prove he could change something, even something small. To remind himself.
Things weren’t bad now. Things were pretty good. He had a notebook now that he kept in the back of a bunch of flour bags, between two at the bottom. When he was nervous he’d write as small as he could, and it helped steady him when he was alone.
When he wasn’t alone… he didn’t need it. Or when he did, he found other things that helped. Daniel was good. Ralph would apologize for sleeping upstairs, and… and Daniel just wouldn’t be mad. Probably not. He hadn’t been mad about other things Ralph had done. Sometimes he got mad about other things, but he hadn’t gotten mad at Ralph even when Ralph said really stupid things.
He napped a little under the stairs, then headed out when the sun went down. There was someone watching him from across the street when he emerged from the hole in the fence, but he just bared his teeth at them and ran. They didn’t follow. He shouldn’t go back to the house, though. …It was a frightening thought, but also comforting. He had a better place, the little room in the back. Only a small space, but it felt much more like home now.
Normally he arrived before Daniel, but tonight Daniel was inside cleaning already. He checked the clock – he wasn’t late. Daniel looked up with a tired, tense smile, but didn’t speak, so Ralph smiled back and got to work.
“I – I didn’t mean to fall asleep at your party,” Ralph said as they were mixing up cake batter. “It wasn’t boring. S-sorry.”
Daniel smirked. “Not my party, I was just there. But nah, it’s fine, it was a weird time for our schedule. I’m probably gonna crash before we’re done tonight.”
“Um. Simon’s friends… were nice.”
“Yeah, they’re okay.”
“I think Markus is nice too,” Ralph said cautiously, and saw the immediate twitch of Daniel’s face, and the way his eyes narrowed. “I – I mean nice to Simon and to me and… he… he seems nice to everyone.”
“Yeah, he’s great,” Daniel grumbled, shoving the open bag of flour back into the fridge. They worked quietly for a while.
“…Simon went out with him after work today. They talked. They’re gonna start dating.”
Ralph looked up. “Oh! …Is Simon happy?”
“Sure seems like it.”
Ralph nodded, still watching him. Daniel glanced over, saw him looking, and glared darkly. Ralph cringed away.
“…Sorry Ralph, that – I’m sorry. I just… he’s all I’ve got. After we got kicked out he had an easier time making friends than I did, but we were still… always the most important person to each other.”
“Aren’t you still?”
Daniel flinched a little. “I… don’t know. I guess. Right now, sure. But…” he paused. “Right now, yeah. I guess I’m just… jumping the gun a little.”
“What are you scared of?”
Daniel bit back the acidic retort anyone else would have gotten. It took him a moment to think of something acceptable to say. “…Let’s say it goes well. He and Markus really hit it off, get serious. He starts spending all his time with Markus. Talks to me less and less. He moves in with him. Leaves me… Leaves me.” His shoulders drooped in defeat.
Ralph shuffled closer and squeezed his arm. “Simon’s a good brother,” he said softly. “He loves you. He won’t forget you, won’t stop talking to you.”
Daniel stood still, willing himself to breathe. “…Maybe not,” he admitted quietly. “But… things will change. I’m – I’m scared of that.”
“Things change a lot,” Ralph agreed. “It’s… it’s hard sometimes, hard to… to let them. But he loves you and you love him. So… he won’t really leave you.”
Daniel cleared his throat and swallowed around the lump that had formed there, trying to distract himself. “…W-what about you, Ralph? This place… doesn’t pay a hell of a lot. I know it’s hard, but… shit, I think you could do better, honestly. I’d write you a great reference, I know Simon would too.”
Ralph froze, withdrew his hand. “Do… do you want me to go?”
“No,” Daniel said instantly, and his voice cracked a little. “…No. I just – you could make more money than this. If you wanted to go somewhere else.”
It took him a moment to look up, but when he did, Ralph was glaring at him intensely. “No,” the shorter man enunciated clearly. “I want to stay here, I’m staying. Here, with you. Unless you make me go, but I want to stay. I… I don’t need more money, I need… to be here.” His stare challenged Daniel to disagree.
Daniel swept him up in a tight hug, eliciting a faint squeak of surprise before Ralph returned the embrace.
“I won’t stop you from doing what’s best for you, but… but I want you to stay,” he mumbled. “And if Simon does move out, you’re moving in upstairs. …And until then, we’re getting you some kind of bed in the store room because you shouldn’t have to sleep on the floor.”
“Ra – I… I don’t need it, I’m okay –“
“You should have it, though. You should be comfortable. And Simon agrees.” He paused. “Are you okay with that?”
“I… well… I shouldn’t… go back where I was staying before. There’s… there were other people there, I saw things moved around. And somebody was watching when I left tonight, I…”
“No, don’t go back there. Stick around, you’ll be safe here. And if you want to sleep up on the couch, that’s fine too.” Daniel smiled a little.
Ralph pulled away and looked up at him, face unreadable. “…Really?”
“We’re friends. Pretty much family at this point, right? You and me and Simon – I guess Markus too, we’ll see how things go there. We’ll be okay, though.”
Ralph let out a disbelieving laugh and hugged Daniel tightly. “Yes! Yes, friends and family, all of us! We’re… we’re okay, we’re safe and good and okay.”
Daniel nodded, resting his head lightly on the wispy blonde hair. Safe and good and okay. Even if things changed, those things wouldn’t.