Chapter Text
Layla had heard all about the new headmate from Steven. The one she had sort of met back in Cairo that had not only saved all their lives, but that had looked at her like that before disappearing again.
She still saw that look in her dreams. The dark eyes, focused and determined. The parked lips that had twitched up into a small smile at the corners. The knowing nod of acknowledgement before Marc had been dropped back into front position without a clue.
The phone call she got a week later from Steven had been long winded and rambling as he discussed how he had finally spoken to the mystery man. Then the far shorter phone call later from Marc about his reluctance to have anything to do with him.
She gave them space, as much as it killed her. She gave them a month to sort things out. She had to have faith that they would ask for help if they thought they needed it.
So she waited.
Her worry never grew, as she received daily updates from Steven, who had gotten in the habit of calling her every morning. She found it far too endearing and hoped he never stopped excitedly telling her about the most mundane things.
When he missed a day, she had eventually relented and called them late at night.
When the phone picked up, she could hear breathing on the other end, but no acknowledgement.
“Marc?” She tried. “Everything alright?”
There was the smallest of sounds, like the exhale of air through a nose. She waited a moment then tried again.
“It’s you, isn’t it?” She listened intently, trying to pick out anything that would give her a clue as to who this stranger in her husband’s body was. “You remember me, don’t you?”
“sí, señora.” He laughed softly. “I remember you.”
Her heart fluttered in her chest. “Nice to speak to you at last.” She paced in her apartment. “Are things going alright there?”
He laughed and it was a soft sound. “Yes. We are… Working on communication.” His accent was so different from Marc’s and Steven’s. If she hadn’t known better she would have believed that someone else had taken the phone and she was now talking to a completely different body.
“Oh.” Was all she could get out. He sounded so intense. So serious. “Do you need more time? I don’t want to intrude. I just… You know…”
The man on the other side laughed again. “Do not worry, señora. He…We are not going to disappear on you again. I do not run.”
She sighed in relief. “Thank you.” She took a moment to let her fear subside. “Can I meet you? In person I mean. When we aren’t all about to die?”
He was quiet for a moment then she heard him hum softly in thought.
“If you want to come to see us, I will not hide this time. If I am there, perhaps we will meet. I am sure we will meet eventually.”
She flushed and exhaled softly. “Okay.” Why did talking to him make her so nervous? She felt like a schoolgirl calling up a crush for the first time.
She had to remind herself that she did not know this man. Just because he was in her husband’s body did not mean that they had to get along. He could even hate her for all she knew.
“Hasta luego, Hermosa.” He hung up.
She did not know Spanish. She had thought she didn’t need to. Thinking about it now, she didn’t know why it slipped her mind. Marc understood Spanish. He knew a lot more languages than she did and had dazzled her by often speaking Arabic to her in times of passion. His tongue was clearly built to be flexible.
She pulled up her translator and typed out some of the things he had said that she did not pick up on.
Her face flushed bright red. “Beautiful.” This man was clearly a smooth talker. She would have to keep an eye on him.
She gave it another week. Simply because she wanted to hear from Steven and Marc first. This man was smooth, but she could not be sure that he was telling the truth.
When she next brought up coming to visit with Steven, he had practically bubbled through the phone and begged her to come visit.
Well that was two down. Marc was a different story.
“Now?” She could hear him frowning through the phone.
“Of course now. I want to see you. I miss you. I have been missing you for months, Marc!” She insisted. “I gave you so much time to get it all together.”
He made a strained sound. “I just… I’m not sure we have it together enough for…visitors.”
“Steven seems to think it is a good idea. And so does the other one.” She pushed back.
“Jake?” Marc paused. “You spoke with Jake?”
So mister mysterious had a name. She mulled it over, wondering how it might sound in his accent. “Yeah. I spoke with him. He said he would be happy to meet me.”
“I bet he did.” Marc muttered. “Fine. Whatever. Just… I don’t know if we’re exactly as put together as we could be right now. We’ve had some arguments. Turns out it’s difficult for three people to share one body.”
“Of course.” She nodded. “I’m not expecting it to be like before. I just miss you. And Steven.”
“Yeah. Alright.” He sounded distracted. “No. Steven you already spoke with her.” He fell silent and she imagined Steven on the other side, reaching for the phone eagerly. “You can come over tomorrow.” Marc hurried then hung up.
Not for the first time, she wondered just what her life had become. Never in all her life had she ever imagined she would be married to one man, dating another, and meeting a third all in the same body.
She sat up anxiously that night. What if he really didn’t want to meet her? What if he didn’t show up? When would he show up? Would she take Steven to dinner and suddenly find herself on an awkward romantic date with a stranger?
When morning came, she blinked tiredly at the bright window. She was not a makeup type of girl, but she spent extra long that morning getting ready. She made sure her hair was soft and kept from frizzing. She even used the shampoo that Marc liked.
Dressing in her favorite slacks and shirt with the deeper V-cut than normal, she at last left to see her boys. She told herself the outfit was because she wanted to look nice. In reality, she had missed her husband deeply and the thought of Steven giving her that wide eyed look as he saw her at her best made her heart flutter. She also hated to admit that maybe she might impress this new man.
She skipped the scooter, not wanting helmet hair or to dry out her face in the cold air. Stepping out of the cab, she stared up at the building. Had it really only been three months since she had been forced to hide on the roof while Harrow’s men took Steven away?
She was about to go inside when the door opened and she saw them step outside.
Her first impression had been that it was Marc. The posture was far too stiff to be Steven’s normal slouch. His jacket zipped halfway up with hands deep in the pockets gave her a different impression though. This was not Marc’s posture.
“Jake?” She called out softly.
Jake froze in the doorway and stared at her. She could almost see his desire to step back inside and shut the door. He sighed and slowly moved down the steps towards her.
“Hermosa… I was not expecting you so soon.” He looked at her with his dark eyes, focused completely on her.
She was not used to such intensity. Steven’s eyes always found her as if not expecting to see her there, wide and wandering as he struggled to find a place to settle. Marc stared at her with a softness that had melted her from day one. This… This was a man that focused and took everything around him in with just a single look.
It was the look from Cairo. The look that knew where the danger was. The look that saw through her to her very core.
She blushed and looked down. “I thought it best not to wait. Marc mentioned that there had been some…fighting.”
Jake paused. He tapped a finger at his side quickly, looking past her. “Hmm.” He nodded then frowned. “A little. Do you want to come with me? I was going to walk down to the market to get a few things.”
She looked up at him in surprise. “Oh! Uh, sure! I mean… I’m here to meet you, aren’t I? Get to know the infamous Jake I’ve heard so much about.”
He looked at her with a slight frown. “From Steven?”
She cursed silently. “Yeah. Sorry. It was nothing bad! He was just excited and I was…”
“Curious.” Jake moved to the sidewalk and started walking. She had to give a little skip to catch up then took up position at his side. He walked in a long stride that made her have to do double time to keep up.
“Yeah.” She huffed slightly. “Wouldn’t you be?”
He glanced over and started taking smaller steps, slowing down to match her. “I suppose I am curious about you.”
“Me?” She looked up at him in surprise. “What’s there to be curious about? I’m hardly that interesting.”
He smiled, the corners of his mouth turning up in a crooked grin. “You are the most interesting one here, Hermosa.”
She stopped and gave him a look, crossing her arms defensively. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He looked back at her, once more giving her that intense stare as he looked her over. “Mírate…”
She raised an eyebrow at him. “What does that mean?”
His grin spread as he continued. “You fall in love with a mercenary. And you knew what he was. You aren’t stupid. You have a stretch of bliss and passion and then he turns out to be in contract with a God. You help him and care for him, but it isn’t enough and he disappears. You track him down and find out everything about him was a lie. Yet, still here you are trying to share time with him and two other people you don’t know. Persistent.”
Was he sassing her? She eyed him a moment.
“He died, you know. I assume you died too. If the body goes, then so do all of you.” She walked grumpily at his side. “Protecting me as always. I think we both had a wake up call after that. I realized that he still means the world to me and I know he loves me. I don’t care about all of that. I understand why he did it. He was afraid.”
It was Jake’s turn to stop. He tapped his finger at his side again and she wondered if it was agitation or some sort of grounding tick.
He stared ahead, eyes not quite focused for a change. “Cómo se dice…” He muttered to himself. Finally he gave a head shake and returned to himself as he looked back up at her.
“Are you alright?” She hugged her arms to herself now, worried she had upset him.
“We don’t like to think about the death.” He murmured softly. “All three of us experienced our own journey there…”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” She reached out and lay a hand on his arm.
He looked down at her hand for a moment then the small smile was back. “You were hurt by it too. I saw what you did for him. You are fierce.”
“I was just trying to help in any way I could. Finish the mission.” She shrugged.
“I see why he loves you.” Jake continued on. “You are both stubborn.”
She wanted to argue it, but she could not deny that both her and Marc were incredibly stubborn.
“You have me at a disadvantage.” She sighed and followed him. “I feel like you’ve known me for years and I’ve only just met you.”
“Hm.” Jake shrugged. “Formally, yes.”
She raised an eyebrow again. “Formally? Have we met before?”
He looked back at her then sighed. “The fun part about D.I.D is that you don’t always have as much control as you think. He spent years keeping his eye on Steven. I spent years keeping my eye on him. Sometimes we had trouble and weren’t always aware of it. Sometimes we had to hide who we were so as not to bring attention to ourselves.”
“So you knew all about his life but he didn’t know about you.” She nodded, suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable. “I’ve been looking back since Cairo. Trying to find clues. Anything really. Clues I missed. Things I could have seen or handled differently if I had known…”
“You shouldn’t.” Jake sighed. “You’ll go crazy thinking of all the things you could have done. You’ll tarnish the memories if you look at them all wondering if he was suffering or if it was me or Steven sitting next to you.”
“But I want to know! I want to know each time he stared into space if…” She fought back a sudden knot of emotion that was building in her throat. She hated feeling like this. Hated being so vulnerable in public.
“Layla…” The accent shifted ever so slightly and she swore she could hear more of Marc in it than Jake. He reached out and gently took her arm, hooking his elbow around hers as he pulled her closer. He blinked hard and the accent was back. “No te preocupes, mi amor. Do not worry about us. You don’t have to stress about the past. You can’t do anything about it.”
She blushed. “You are a sweet talker, aren’t you?”
“I keep things from escalating as best I can.” He looked up as they approached the market. It was a little outdoor stand with fresh fruits and vegetables and other goods. “Do you like fried plantains?”
“You cook?” She didn’t know why she was surprised.
“One of us has to.” Jake muttered. “Steven spends too much on take out and Marc should not be left to fend for himself for too long.”
Jake picked out some plantains then moved to get some fresh fruit, expertly checking everything for bruises or bad spots.
She took the basket from him, simply following him around as he picked out items and handed them to her.
He seemed so comfortable as he moved. So relaxed and confident. The space he took up was nothing at all like watching Steven try to shrink down or Marc stand his ground. Jake moved like a man that knew exactly what was happening around him at all times.
She remembered the battle again. The exact moment she had watched Marc go down into the crater and then when he had gotten back out.
It had all been so fast. He moved like a man that was used to surviving in the moment.
She looked up at him as he picked out fresh eggs, checking the shells for cracks.
“Do you have a last name?” She smiled up at him curiously.
“Lockley.” He placed his chosen eggs into a carton carefully.
“Did you pick it?” She knew about Steven’s name now, and had even dug out the old movie and watched it on her own in an effort to understand.
“Sure.” He shrugged. “Sounded good at the time.”
She decided to push a little. “What is your role in the system?”
“Protector. Maybe more. I haven’t really looked into it much.” He grabbed a container of tofu and slipped it into the basket. “For Steven.” He shrugged. “We have to respect his choices and he has to respect ours. It was a topic that came up in the past few weeks.”
“Of course. It’s only common courtesy.” She eyed the tofu, wondering what Steven liked so much about it. “How long have you existed for?”
He glanced at her and she regretted her choice of words instantly. He didn’t seem to hold it against her though as he thought.
“I’m not sure. A long time. Not as long as Steven. Steven was the first.” He glanced at her and beat her to the next question before she could ask. “I am not going to talk about those memories. I would also appreciate it if you didn’t ask Marc about it either. He doesn’t know about that time in his life and we all agreed on taking it slow when it came to memory sharing.” He looked down. “We had a bad time of it a few weeks back when we first started to try it.”
“You can share memories?” She diverted easily.
“In a way.” Jake paused and she realized he tilted his head slightly to the side when he was thinking about something and trying to decide how to communicate it to her. “We can share feelings. Images. Sometimes we can show bits of memories. A lot of it is abstract. It’s a language we are working out.”
“Do you talk? To them, I mean. Steven and Marc were talking to one another all the time in Cairo.” She shifted the basket as it started to grow heavier.
He glanced down at her hands and took the basket away. “I didn’t. I’m learning to now. It’s hard to break old habits. Most of the time Marc only walks when he wants something and Steven…He never shuts up.”
“Why didn’t you talk before?” She followed him to the checkout stand.
He glanced at her then at the register attendant. He lowered his voice. “We had nothing to talk about. I spoke to Marc once when we were little. They didn’t understand. I stopped trying after that.”
She smiled at the cashier and stopped her questions until all had been paid for and packed up. They each took a bag and headed back out to the streets. Once away from the people she started up again.
“Does it make you uncomfortable to talk about these things in public?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“That is one of the things I’m not going to talk about.” He looked at her then cut her off before she could get the next question out. “Are you expecting me to treat you like Steven does?”
She was taken back by that. “What do you mean?”
“To fall madly in love with you at first sight? To gush all my thoughts and feelings to you every chance I get? To cling to you and follow you around like a kicked puppy?” He looked straight ahead. “I’m not Marc and I’m not Steven. I’m not some broken off part of Marc. I’m not even required to like you, much less love you.”
She felt her face flush and felt like she’d been hit. “Now you listen to me, Jake Lockley!” She snapped as her emotions overtook her. “That was rude and uncalled for! You are a stranger to me! You are some unknown man who happens to live in the body of two people I care deeply about! I am trying to get to know you so that I can continue to love them and not have to worry about this extra person I might piss off or offend! Unlike you, I am making an effort!”
She marched ahead, clutching at the bag of groceries tightly. She stopped at a crosswalk and didn’t look up when he came to stand next to her.
They stood in silence for a moment. “Lo siento.” He whispered. “I… I’m not used to talking to people. I’ve had to pretend to be someone else for a long time and now that I don’t…”
“You’re afraid I’ll treat you like one of them.” She glanced up at him. He was looking straight ahead, watching everything around them and scanning the traffic as if expecting something to go wrong.
He nodded. “More or less.”
She sighed. “I don’t expect you to treat me like they treat me. I would honestly be upset if you did. You are your own person. If you said you loved me right off the bat, it would be a lie. If you expected me to love you just because you share a body with my husband I would be offended. I don’t know you.”
He turned to her and held out a hand.
She stared at his hand for a moment then shifted the bag and slowly took it. He shook it gently.
“Jake Lockley. Nice to meet you. I would like to get to know you.”
She smiled and shook his hand. “Layla El-Faouly. I would like to get to know you too.”
They continued on in silence till they got back to the apartment. Once inside, he took the bags to the kitchen and started to unpack them.
Layla looked around at everything curiously. It had been a long time since she had been there. It still very much spoke of Steven. The books, the clutter of things about Egyptology and other things related to it.
The fish tank was still there, bubbling happily with two goldfish navigating the tank together. The postcards were gone and replaced by notes that looked like messages from and to each other.
There were reminders to do things, pick up items at the store, angry notes, sorry notes, and notes that simply said hello.
She noticed a few of Marc’s things strung about, his favorite jacket, his hat, and a few things that looked like they catered more towards Marc’s interests than Steven’s.
She also noticed a few items that she did not recognize: A fancy jacket, a flat cap, a tie, a book in Spanish, and a few magazines on cars.
She walked around the living room, taking in the organized chaos and hints of three people trying to figure out how to share a space.
She heard clattering from the kitchen and looked over to see Jake pulling out some pans and cooking supplies.
“Have you eaten? I was thinking of making a frittata with plantains on the side. Steven won’t eat the frittata, but he likes plantains.” Jake paused and looked up at her as if worried she might decline.
“I haven’t eaten. That sounds nice.” She moved to take a seat by the kitchen and watched him. “Do you cook for them often?”
Jake shrugged. “I cook when I feel like it. When I’m done, whoever is out gets to eat it if they want. I learned to cook a long time ago. Marc was-” He cut off and looked up and off into the distance. He shook his head and looked back down, going back to organizing and preparing.
She chewed her lower lip as she watched. “Can I ask some questions about what you have going on? I didn’t really get to talk to them much about it after Cairo. I did some of my own research, but it seems silly to just assume I know everything because an outdated book told me something.”
Jake glanced at her as he started to chop things. “Go ahead. If there’s something I don't want to answer, we’ll skip it.”
“Are Marc and Steven present right now?” She watched his knife work as he diced. He was precise and fast. There was no hesitation as he spun an onion around and made thin slices then spun it the other way and chopped.
Jake nodded. “Marc is. He is… monitoring.” The way he said the last word made Layla think that perhaps Jake was not thrilled at the situation.
“So Marc can see and hear me?” Layla blinked in surprise, suddenly self conscious.
“A little.” Jake glanced up before tossing the onions into a pan to saute. “Fly on the wall situation. You can see things from a distance and hear it a bit. You have to really try to pay attention. There is a heavy reliance on information transfer and communication when someone isn’t paying attention and that…it doesn’t always happen.” He sighed.
“So where is Steven? Where do you go when you aren’t present?” She wanted to tread carefully, but she honestly didn’t know how to ask her questions without just jumping in. For some reason, she felt that Jake was probably the best one to do this with. Marc was still highly on guard when it came to these things and always shut down.
Jake washed some tomatoes and started to slice into them. “A few different things can happen. I don’t really know how to describe it. For me, you are either driving like I am now. You have full control. Sometimes you have an annoying passenger or two that like to leave commentary and you have to try to shut them out so you don’t crash the fucking car.” He paused and she felt that his comment was very pointed.
“Sometimes the passenger reaches over and just takes the wheel. You are still in charge, but maybe you turn left when you really want to turn right. Maybe they do it because they see or know something you don’t and don’t know how to communicate it to you. Or maybe they do it because they are being assholes.” He shrugged and started to pull out some herbs and spices.
“I’ve seen that. When Marc and Steven were fighting.” She shivered as she remembered seeing Marc impaled over and over again by the poles. “It looked unpleasant.”
“Yeah. It’s not exactly fun.” He shuffled the onions a little then started adding in things. “Sometimes you’re in the backseat. Maybe the driver doesn’t know you are there, but you are watching. Marc did that a lot to Steven. You let the driver go about their business and hope the driver doesn’t look up and see you in the mirror.”
That sounded horrifying. Layla suddenly understood why Steven had been so angry at first.
“But you can’t get out of the car.” Layla followed his metaphor. “Can you? So what happens when you don’t know what’s going on? When you get shut out?”
Jake shrugged. “Maybe it’s more like a semi and there’s a sleeper cabin? You don’t know what’s going on. You don’t know how much time is passing. You go off and just exist in your own space. That’s where Steven is now. He’s resting I suppose. He wasn’t really expecting you to come by so early or he would one hundred percent be up here trying to take the wheel.”
She nodded. “So you can slip in and out any time you want into any position? How do you decide who takes the driver seat?”
Jake paused and stirred the mixture slowly. “Sometimes you get to decide. You can communicate and ask and decide what you want in what position. I take care of the shopping and cooking. Marc cleans. He’s a neat freak, really. Steven takes care of the body. He is very particular about that unless one of us asks.”
“And sometimes you don’t?” She leaned forward in her chair.
“We can fight for the position. We can fall out of the position too… There are stress triggers. Trauma triggers. I have a job, remember? So does Steven. We can be triggered out. Or we can flat out refuse to take the seat and throw someone else in. Someone always has to be driving, you see. Sometimes you aren’t expecting it and sudden there you are. I could throw Steven in here right now if I really tried and he would be utterly confused and lost. It’s not a fun feeling.”
“Oh…I wouldn’t think that would be fun!” She remembered reading a bit about the trauma response and triggers. It made sense to her and suddenly other things were starting to make sense. “Oh…”
Jake glanced back at her. “Just put two and two together, didn’t you?”
She nodded. “Yeah. A lot of things suddenly are starting to make sense.” She thought back, remembering the times Marc took longer to come back from missions where he finally returned looking pale and haunted. Times when he would wake from a dream thrashing and suddenly go still only to stare at her with a dazed and groggy look hours later.
“Why didn’t Steven know about me? You obviously knew about me.” She moved to get a glass from the cabinet and fill it with water. It was an excuse to focus on something else so she didn’t have to think about all the times she was now starting to suspect Jake had been there right in front of her.
“Marc kept Steven separate. He let Steven build up his own life and kept him there like a fish in a little bowl.” Jake paused and looked to the side. He frowned. “You fucking did. You kept him like a pet. Do you want me to ask Steven how he feels about it?”
She sipped from her glass, glancing over to where he was looking as if expecting to be able to see Marc there. She could almost imagine his posture and grumpy face as he argued.
Jake glared and looked ready to argue more when he glanced at Layla and composed himself. “Lo siento. Sorry.” He went back to cooking.
“It’s fine. If it helps to talk out loud, I want you to be comfortable around me.” She sat back down. “Steven told me that Marc was going to ‘go away’. What did he mean by that?”
Jake stopped and stared down into the pan. He flinched then glanced to the side again then looked back down. His face was tight and she could tell he was struggling with something.
“Is Marc telling you not to tell me?” She set the glass down.
Jake nodded then sighed. “He was going to go dormant. Inactive. You essentially can lock yourself in the trunk and just ignore it all and no one can get you back out but yourself if you ever choose too. You don’t even know what’s going on. You just go into a darkness and stop functioning.”
“Have any of you ever gone dormant before?” She asked quietly, afraid of the answer.
Jake nodded again. “I have. A long time ago. Steven also did for a time. He wasn’t aware of it. We talked about it a bit. Steven was…upset.”
“He’s missing a lot of time. He told me a little about it on the phone. I’m sure there was a good reason for it…” She looked down.
“There was.” Jake stepped back from the stove, letting things cook. “It is one of the things I’m not going to talk about.”
“Is Marc missing time like that? He’s never gone dormant, right?” She suddenly had a sinking feeling.
Jake frowned. “He has never gone full dormant. He is missing small stretches where he left Steven run things…” He glanced up then looked down. “Marc is missing a couple of years. He is…” He winced. “He was unaware of it till rather recently. I have not talked to him about it yet and we all decided it was best that I didn’t until we settled some other things first.”
“You’re a protector.” Layla swallowed. “Did he need protecting that badly?”
Jake nodded then looked away. “Even I have my weaknesses.”
She looked him over, his open posture so different from Marc’s normally closed off stance and still even further from Steven’s calm and friendly inviting posture. One could easily mistake Jake for calm and relaxed man, but he never really was relaxed. He always looked like he was coiled and ready to act in the blink of an eye.
“I know your condition is caused by trauma…” She started.
Jake shook his head. “No.”
She frowned. “I’m not allowed to ask about that either? Not even Marc? I feel like maybe I should have the ability to ask my husband if there is anything I can do to help him.”
“No.” Jake turned off the stove and got a plate. He flipped the pan over and slid a perfect looking frittata across the counter to her. He set out a couple of empty plates and some forks. “Let me make this easy for you, señora. We will not be asked questions about our trauma. You will not ask about our missing memories or lost time. You will not talk about our parents and you absolutely will not ask about our childhood. ¿Lo entiendes?”
She stared up at him. She did not like being told no like this.
Jake set out another plate and placed the fried plantains on it. He gave her an equally stubborn look. “And for the record, it is considered rude to ask to speak to someone else. If Steven is in the driver seat, you do not get to demand to speak to Marc. If I am suddenly in the driver seat by force, there is a damn good reason for it and you will listen to me.”
She stared into his eyes for a moment, taking in the sharp look and hard lines. “You really do love them, don’t you?”
He blinked, looking startled.
“You do. You are so protective of them both. You didn’t save me in Cairo. You saved them. You saved me because you knew how much they cared about me. You would give anything to keep them safe and happy. Maybe you’re a little too protective. How are they supposed to heal if you won’t let them out of your grip?”
Jake took a step back and blinked. The body shuddered and yawned then stiffened as the posture changed.
“Wow.” Marc glanced around, reorienting himself. “You really pissed him off.” He chuckled.
Layla huffed and looked down. “Damn it. I was trying really hard not to do that…”
Marc leaned over the counter and kissed her forehead gently. “Never change.”
“Is he still back there?” She winced and looked up at him. “I’m sorry. Tell him I’m sorry.”
Marc just shook his head. “He’s off. Gone wherever it is he goes. Honestly, I think he needed that. He isn’t used to being told no or meeting any resistance. Steven rolls over for him.”
She sank down and looked at the food. “He’s a really good cook.” She cut herself a piece and started to eat.
Marc grinned. “He’s fucking amazing with a spatula. Can’t do dishes to save his life though.” He took a bite and glanced around the kitchen at the mess. “Mnh. Save some of the plantains for Steven. He loves this stuff.”
She nodded and savored the frittata. “Did you hear it all?”
Marc gave a bobble of his head. “Yeah. He’s a bit uptight. I mean, he has some good points. I really would rather not talk about certain things… But that’s sort of my deal, isn’t it? Kind of what got me in trouble with you the first time…”
“A little.” Layla smiled up at him, relaxing a little.
Marc sighed. “We’re still figuring a lot out. It was upsetting to find out that I didn’t have the control I thought I did. Steven took it well, but he’s sort of an expert at it now. I’m honestly terrified that there might be more. That I’m so messed up that… I can’t ask you to put up with this. Layla, what if there’s fifty people up there and I can’t ask you to be that patient.”
She took his hand. “Marc… If there were a hundred people, I would still love you. I’d put up with the biggest jackass if it meant I got to spend more time with you.”
He nodded. “Yeah. What did he call you? Persistent?”
She smiled. “And stubborn.”
“I think you and he are going to have fun.” Marc grinned.
“I really hope not.” She blushed. “I wanted to make a good first impression.”
“I think you did just fine.” Marc looked at her for a moment, taking in her hair and outfit. “Any other plans?”
She gave him a sly look. “Pity Steven isn’t around. Maybe my plans were for him.”
“Just me and you, baby.” He leaned forward on the table. “You can always try out your Steven plans on me. I’ll let you know if he’ll like them.”
She smirked. “You’re bad.”
She pulled him close and kissed him softly. “My only plans were to see you all.”
Marc kissed her again and sat back. “Stay the day. Steven will be upset if he misses you.”
“I had planned on taking him out to dinner. It that’s okay with you…” She looked up at him nervously.
“Romantic date?” Marc gave her a sideways look.
“Sort of…” Layla looked down.
“Yeah. He told me.” Marc shrugged. “He’s been blathering about it all night. Passed out now because he didn’t get to sleep till like four in the morning. Enjoy yourself. I told you I was fine with it. It’s… It’s sort of comforting, actually. You with him.”
It was Marc’s turn to look away.
Layla took his hand again and stroked her fingers across it lightly. “I understand.”
Since Marc and Steven had worked things out, Marc had started to rely more heavily on Steven and be more open. Maybe it was part of his lack of self worth, but he also found the idea of Layla with Steven to be a good thing. Like somehow she could find in Steven what he couldn’t give her.
She hoped that one day Marc would see that she had all her needs met by him. That she loved Steven for being his own special person.
She looked at the plate of fried plantains and wondered if Jake had any opinions on the two of them sharing her. Did Jake think she was a potential hazard? If things ever went south, things could get complicated very quickly.
She thought about the way he had looked at her, watching her the same way he had watched the traffic at the light. Watching for danger and waiting for something to go wrong.
She was going to have to change that.
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