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Mostly, it happens by accident.
It’s an accident that he gets into a fight with his dad, because he hadn’t actually planned to be home that afternoon.
It’s an accident that he ends up at the club, because he’d run into Tendo while he was stomping his way through the neighbourhood and had been dragged along to his celebrations – something about engagement and moving to Hong Kong.
It’s also an accident that he gets so drunk, because fuck him, but the bartender is gorgeous, and if a man like that wants him to drink something while they talk, then he’s damn well going to agree. Even if that means he’s slamming back beer after beer and confessing his problems to a relative stranger.
The fight, though – if you could even call it that – is definitely an accident. He’s volatile at the best of times, and since he’s spent the past three hours venting to a bartender about his dad, he’s a little on edge. Plus, Tendo and his party moved on to another pub about 20 minutes ago, and the DJ is playing a remix of an already shitty pop song that he doesn’t know, but definitely hates, so he’s… getting tense.
So when some rude bastard bumps into him, making him fall off his stool, he can’t help but clamber to his feet and throw a punch – he’s drunk, he’s pissed, and “really, mate, watch where the fuck you’re going!”
What’s he’s saying is, none of it is his fault.
Or, at least, that’s what Chuck is going to tell himself when he comes to in 17 hours.
9 HOURS AGO
“Come on, Rals, it’ll be fun. Plus, you owe it to Tendo for what you said last year.”
Yancy spins around in the old office chair across the room, periodically clicking his pen, and chucks a scrunched up ball of paper at Raleigh’s head when he tries to ignore him.
Raleigh sighs, spinning in his own chair to face his older brother. He dodges the next ball of paper thrown his way, batting it with his hand so it doesn’t hit his face.
“Yance,” he says, trying to contain his anger. “Seriously, I’ve got a month left to work on this thesis and I’m so far behind, it isn’t funny. I don’t have time to-”
“You so aren’t behind,” Yancy retorts, laughing. “I’ve read it, kid. I know you’re already done.”
Raleigh is too shocked to be mad at that, so he says nothing.
“Come on,” Yancy pleads, and he finally stops spinning, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, face already halfway to puppy-dog eyes. “Please?”
“You just want me to go because you feel bad about trying to get into Alison’s pants.”
“They were on a break!” Yancy yells, barely hesitating, and it makes Raleigh laugh.
“For, like, three hours,” he says, and raises his arms to protect his face when Yancy chucks his shoe at him.
“Whatever,” Yancy grumbles. Then, “Will you come? Please? Jaz won’t be back until tomorrow and if I keep showing up without you, I’m pretty sure Mako is going to break my neck.”
“I think she’ll do that anyway if she finds out about Alison.”
Raleigh laughs, arms raised again, when the other shoe comes flying – at his crotch, this time.
“God, why do I still live with you?”
“Because you’re too scared to ask Mako to move into another place with you?” Raleigh guesses, already laughing, and he’s on his feet at the same time as Yancy, but there’s no way to the door, so he still gets tackled onto the bed.
Yancy gets him in a headlock - using his legs to pin down Raleigh’s arms, which is cheating because it’s such a Mako move – and pins him down.
After a few moments of struggle, Raleigh calls ‘uncle’.
“Say you’ll go,” Yancy orders.
“Go where?” Raleigh retorts.
Yancy releases one of his hands to give Raleigh a noogie, and he groans and struggles for a few seconds before relenting.
“Alright, alright!” he yells. “God, asshole, I’ll go!”
Yancy releases him, rolling back so Raleigh has room to sit up.
“You’re such a child,” Raleigh complains, rubbing at the top of his head.
“Yeah, well, one of us has gotta be,” Yancy replies, and he heads for the door.
Raleigh rolls his eyes, waiting until Yancy has stopped in the doorway and turned around to speak. “Can I finish my thesis now?”
Yancy shakes his head and sighs, a look on his face that says he thinks Raleigh is being his typical self.
“Yeah,” he says. “Go on, you big nerd. I’ll come get you when it’s time to go.” And with that, he leaves, pulling Raleigh’s door shut behind him.
40 MINUTES AGO
“I’m fine, Mako, seriously,” Raleigh says, for the umpteenth time. “You know how I am about clubbing.”
“Yes,” she admits. “But this is for Tendo.”
Raleigh rolls his eyes, looking at the man in question, and laughs at the way he’s draped over Alison and waxing poetic about her eyes – or her legs. Raleigh can’t really tell.
“I’m sure he won’t miss me,” he says, turning back to his friend.
Mako gives him the same face she always does when he uses logic against her moral code, but she doesn’t ask him again to join them. Instead, she hugs him, tells him to be safe, and goes to find Yancy.
Raleigh watches her until she finds him, smiling at the way they move in sync when Yancy feels her presence. His arm goes immediately over her shoulders, and hers curls around his waist almost without thought on her part, and Yancy presses a kiss to the top of her head as soon as he’s finished speaking.
Not ten minutes later, he watches them – followed by Tendo and the rest of his group – make their way out onto the street.
He raises his empty glass in farewell when Yancy turns back, and gets a smile and a salute in return.
5 MINUTES AGO
Raleigh goes to get another drink, because he figures even though he’s not going to stay there long, he should at least have a drink in his hand while he does.
He makes his way towards the bar, noticing that there’s a space near one of the bartenders who doesn’t appear to be doing anything other than talking to a drunk guy half-perched on a stool. He heads towards the gap, not really paying attention to the other patrons, and just as he puts his hand on the sticky surface, he gets shoved to the side – right into the drunk – by a man half wrapped around a squealing woman. For a moment, he has no idea what’s happening, but then she shoves her left hand towards the bartender and Raleigh spots a comically huge ring on her finger.
“Sorry, mate,” the man says, realising he bumped him.
Raleigh waves him off, nodding at the two people hugging over the bar top.
“Congratulations,” he says, loud enough to be heard.
“Cheers,” the guy yells back, before he gets dragged away by his fiancé.
From his left, before he has a chance to hail the bartender, Raleigh hears a grunt and a muffled sentence. When he turns, the drunk that had been on the stool is clambering his way back to his feet, his fingers slipping on the surface of the bar.
Raleigh offers a hand, helping the guy, who can’t be much younger than Raleigh himself, and as soon as they’re both steady on their feet, he feels a fist connect with his stomach. Not hard enough to do any real damage, but it does take him by surprise.
“What the-?” he starts, but he doesn’t have a chance to get any further than that before the guy is swinging for his face. He dodges, stepping back, but still feels something connect with his jaw.
All of a sudden, huge hands are gripping him by the arms and he’s being dragged through the crowd towards the front door, and he hears more than sees the same thing happening to the drunk that punched him.
“Ge’the fuck o’ me,” he yells, and Raleigh notes that he has an odd accent, as they are both pushed out into the cool night air.
“Ass’ole,” he mutters, after the security guards have gone back inside, and he puts his finger up at the bouncer at the door.
“Take your friend and go,” the bouncer tells Raleigh, nodding at the other man.
“He’s not-” Raleigh starts, but doesn’t have time to finish before the drunk is at him again, swinging his fist at Raleigh’s side.
“Got me kicked outta the fuggin’ bar, dick,” he grumbles, swaying on his feet.
The bouncer looks pointedly between them and crosses his arms.
Raleigh takes a deep breath and starts to walk away, back towards where his car is parked.
After a minute, he hears someone start to stumble after him.
“I wasn’t done with you, y-” the drunk starts, but he cuts himself off with a disgusting half-gag noise.
Raleigh turns around to see him holding himself up with a street sign, puking onto the street.
Raleigh takes a cautious step towards the other man, wary of being punched again – or puked on – and it’s only by chance that he manages to catch the guy before he falls face first into his own vomit.
“Okay, buddy,” Raleigh mutters. “I think it’s time we got you home.”
The man grumbles something that sounds like “no, can’t let dad see me like this” and then passes out.
NOW
If Raleigh were to make a list of ‘Things That Might Happen on a Night out with Tendo’, ‘dragging a passed out stranger to his car’ would be somewhere near the bottom.
As it is, that’s somehow what he’s ended up doing.
When he finally gets the guy – who is a lot heavier than he looks, Christ – into the passenger seat of his car, he immediately starts looking for something that will tell him where he’s supposed to take him.
The first thing Raleigh finds, when he goes through the guy’s jacket, is his phone, which isn’t much help because it has a passcode. He sets it on the dashboard, out of the way.
While he’s trying to check if the jacket has any inside pockets, he notices that the guy is wearing dog tags. Hopeful that the guy isn’t just some civilian that wears them for fun, he pulls on the chain until he has the tags in hand, and breathes a sigh of relief when he sees that they’re at least engraved.
“Alright, Mr Hansen,” he mutters, noting that the guy is only a few years younger than him. “Where do you live?”
He continues to rifle through Hansen’s jacket and pants, and he finds his wallet.
Inside, he finds ten dollars in cash, a license, and a picture of an older man in military uniform holding a dog.
On the back of the man’s license is an address, but it’s for an apartment in Sydney, which doesn’t help at all, considering they’re in America.
“Well, then,” Raleigh tells the man sprawled in the passenger seat. “Guess you’re coming home with me.”
Raleigh piles Hansen’s loose limbs into the car, hoping he doesn’t have alcohol poisoning or something, and drives him back to his apartment.
When Raleigh finally has Hansen inside, spread-eagled on the spare bed that Mako pretends to sleep in whenever she comes over, he sends a text to Yancy, despite the fact that it’s nearing two in the morning, asking how to take care of a guy that’s passed out.
probably get better at sex, by the sounds of it
fuck off, he passed out at the club
For a few minutes, Raleigh gets nothing back, then: rals did u kidnap some poor bastard
it was either that or leave him on the sidewalk covered in his own puke
omg dude. ur life is weird.
Raleigh rolls his eyes, and he’s in the middle of getting changed when he gets another text from Yancy.
just make sure his airway is clear. and roll him on his side so he doesn’t choke. and if he starts to breathe funny call an ambulance. also dont touch him w/ ur dick. unless he says its ok. bc consent is important.
Raleigh shakes his head, making his way back to the spare room, and finds that Hansen hasn’t moved, but doesn’t look like he’s having any trouble breathing.
In any case, he pulls him up the bed and rolls him on his side, and leaves a glass of water and some aspirin on the bedside table for whenever he wakes up. As an afterthought, he pulls off Hansen’s boots and puts them beside the door.
Content in the knowledge that there’s not much more he can do for the man, Raleigh steps down the hallway into his own bedroom and goes to sleep.
Raleigh wakes, as he always does, at eight in the morning, though he will admit to being more tired than usual.
He checks on Hansen, who doesn’t seem to have moved during the night, and peeks his head into Yancy’s room to see Mako, sitting up against the headboard, wearing one of Yancy’s shirts and typing on his laptop.
Raleigh nods good morning to her, smiling when she nods back, and they both laugh quietly when Yancy snorts and rolls over in his sleep.
“Coffee?” he whispers, but she shakes her head.
“Tea,” she whispers back.
Raleigh nods and heads to the kitchen.
Once he’s made breakfast for himself and Mako, she joins him at the counter, and they talk for a while about what they’ve been up to.
Even though she’s dating his brother and is over practically every other day, Raleigh doesn’t catch up with her much as he’d like to – definitely not as much as he used to, before she went into a different branch of engineering.
Eventually, though, she has to leave – she’s got classes in the afternoon, and she has to see her… well, Raleigh still isn’t sure what they are to each other, but she has to see Stacker – so Raleigh is left alone.
Yancy wakes up just after one in the afternoon, and Raleigh only knows because a loud groan echoes through his open door.
A few minutes later, Yancy stumbles out of his room and heads straight for the kitchen and the blender Raleigh has set up on the bench.
“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” Raleigh calls, just this side of too loud, and he is rewarded with a low groan and an arm flailed in his direction as his brother searches through the fridge.
Yancy works on autopilot, fixing up his Cure-All Smoothie, and Raleigh, as always, suppresses the urge to vomit when he sees him chug down the pale green liquid.
“You know an apple works just as well, right?” Raleigh asks, and Yancy waves him away, still drinking.
“S’got apple in it,” he answers, and wipes the back of his hand over his mouth.
Raleigh makes a face, turning his gaze down to his laptop. He adjusts his reading glasses – they’re always slipping down his nose – and starts typing. “Yeah, and three eggs and an entire onion.”
“Don’t knock it ‘til you try it, kid,” Yancy says, sneaking around the bench to whack him over the head, and laughs as he walks towards the bathroom.
“I’ll pass, thanks,” Raleigh calls after him.
Three hours later, Yancy gets called into the hospital – thankfully he seems to be functioning normally – and Raleigh is, once again, by himself.
Yancy does check on Hansen before he leaves, but he says there are no major concerns – just that Raleigh should keep an eye on him and call if anything happens, or if still isn’t awake by ten.
Raleigh agrees and goes back to editing his thesis.
When six o’clock rolls around and Hansen still hasn’t moved, Raleigh starts to get concerned. He knows that Yancy said it’s not a worry until ten, but the guy hasn’t moved.
He opens the door to the guest room, taking in Hansen’s breathing, and slowly makes his way to the bedside.
Once there, he reaches out a hand and gently shakes the other man by the shoulder. He doesn’t wake, but he does groan, so Raleigh considers that a good sign.
“Hey,” he says, and jostles his shoulder again, harder this time. “Hey, wake up.”
“Hnh?” Hansen grumbles, and he swings an arm out towards Raleigh. “F’g off.”
Raleigh laughs despite himself and shakes Hansen’s arm again.
“Come on,” he says. “All you’ve done for the past 15 hours is sleep. You need food.”
At that, Hansen groans louder, rolling away to face the middle of the bed.
Almost immediately, he stills, and then jolts up quickly, staring around the room in shock.
Raleigh takes a cautious step back, not sure what kind of man he’s brought into his house, and raises his hands, palms towards Hansen.
Before he has a chance to say anything, the other man clutches at his head and lets out a low moan.
“I wouldn’t recommend doing that again,” Raleigh says. “You had a lot to drink. I think,” he amends.
Slowly, Hansen turns to stare up at him, his expression somewhere between confusion and anger.
“Who the fuck are you?”
“Raleigh. Uh, Becket.” Raleigh replies, suddenly conscious of the fact that he’s only wearing boxer shorts and glasses. “You passed out, and I don’t know where you live, so I brought you here to sleep it off.”
Hansen squints at him, still holding his head, and then nods slowly.
“You got any apples?” he asks, and Raleigh smiles.
Chuck’s never been so hungover in his life.
Granted, he’s only really been able to drink for the past few months – since they got moved to America just after his eighteenth birthday, he hasn’t had a beer in almost three years – but, still. He’s never been so hungover in his life.
Add to that he’s just woken up in a strange room with a half-naked stranger standing over him, and his day isn’t really off to a good start.
Then, of course, the clock in the kitchen tells him that it’s just after six, and he almost crushes the apple that – what was his name, Becket something? – the stranger hands him between his fingers.
“Tell me your clock’s off by about four hours.”
Becket shakes his head, adjusting the glasses still resting on his nose. “Sorry. Right on time. Has to be – my brother’s a doctor.”
Chuck nods, taking a slow bite out of the apple in his hands, and takes a seat at the counter, noting the laptop and piles of paper spread across the surface. He stares at them for a moment, trying not to think of what Herc’s face will look like when he comes home.
Becket notices him staring, and hastily moves to clean up, worrying too much about the papers so he misses when his glasses fall off his face. Chuck catches them before they drop to the floor, and turns his gaze back to Becket, enough to notice just how attractive he really is.
“Sorry,” Becket mutters, and takes the glasses from Chuck’s hand. His fingers are warm when they brush against Chuck’s own. “Working on my thesis.”
Chuck waves him off, trying to shake off the feeling in his hand. “No worries, mate.” Then, because he doesn’t want to deal with an awkward silence, “What are you studying?”
“Engineering,” Becket replies. “And architecture, but that’s just for fun.”
Chuck laughs before he can help it, amused by the sheepish expression on Becket’s face. “You’ve got an odd idea of fun, mate.”
Becket laughs, too, but doesn’t say anything else. Instead, he starts going through cupboards, pulling things out in obvious preparation for dinner.
“Do you remember what happened last night?” Becket asks, while he’s peeling a carrot.
“I remember being dragged to a club and drinking a lot, but that’s about it. I think I got kicked out of the club, too.”
Becket smiles, nodding. “Yeah, you, uh, tried to fight me. Security kicked us both out.”
“And then I passed out?”
“Well, first you tried to fight me again. And then you emptied your stomach into the gutter. But, yeah, pretty much.”
Chuck winces at the story, but nods. He finishes his apple in relative silence while Becket prepares his food, and just as he’s about to ask where the bin is, someone starts yelling about phone calls and both men jump.
“Sorry,” Becket says again. “That’s my phone.”
He walks towards the couch, following the sound, and answers it before it can get any louder.
“Hey,” he says, and then pauses while the other person talks. His gaze flicks to Chuck and away, and his voice drops, but not so much that Chuck can’t hear him. “Yeah, he’s awake.” Becket goes silent for a little bit longer, nodding to himself. “I’ll ask, but I don’t think-” he pauses. “Okay.” He doesn’t speak for a long moment, and Chuck gets up to find the bin, barely listening. Becket asks if someone is coming for dinner – Chuck misses the name – and then says goodbye and hangs up.
“Sorry,” Becket says, returning to the kitchen. “My brother.”
“The doctor,” Chuck says.
“Yeah. He’s asked me to ask you to stay for dinner.”
Chuck stares at the half-naked man in front of him questioningly for a moment. He finds himself a little shocked that he seriously considers staying, but then he remembers his dad.
“I should probably head home,” he says. He’s surprised at himself, really, for staying as long as he has.
“No, yeah, of course,” Becket says, and he shakes his head, as though he was stupid for even suggesting it. “Do you need me to call you a cab, or…?”
“Nah,” Chuck interrupts, getting to his feet. Now that he’s said he should go, he just wants to get out of there as fast as possible. “I’ve got it.”
Becket nods, following Chuck to the door and opening it for him. “Well, thanks for not puking in the bed, I guess.”
Chuck laughs despite himself, patting his jeans to make sure he still has his wallet. “No worries, mate,” he replies. Then, after a brief pause, “thanks for not leaving me on the street. And sorry for trying to fight you.”
Becket smiles, and Chuck can't help but return it. “No worries.”
Once Chuck is out on the street, he realises he has no fucking idea where he is.
“Shit,” he mutters, and reaches in to his jacket pocket for his phone, only –
His phone isn’t there.
“Shit,” he says again, figuring he lost it at the club – Becket doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to steal a phone.
He starts walking aimlessly down the street, picking a direction and hoping for the best, when he hears someone call his name.
He turns around, but before he has time to think, someone has him wrapped in a tight hug.
“What the f-?” he starts, but cuts himself off as he realises who it is.
“Mako?”
She pulls away, beaming, and nods. “What are you doing here?”
“I just-” Chuck starts, before he’s even sure what he’s going to say, when he’s cut off by someone yelling his last name.
“Hansen, hey!” they call again, and he looks behind Mako to see Becket, still clad only in his boxers, jogging down the street towards them.
“Raleigh?” Mako calls, turning. Once she sees him, she gasps. “Where are your clothes?”
Becket slows to a walk, close enough to talk to them, and looks down at himself in surprise.
“Uh…” he starts.
Mako just giggles, holding a hand to her mouth, and Chuck can’t help joining in. Becket, after a moment, laughs, too.
Then, seeming to remember why he came running out in the first place, Becket holds his arm out towards Chuck, a phone clutched in his hand.
“I forgot, I had this in my car. It’s yours.”
“Oh,” Chuck says, mostly accidentally, reaching out to take it from him. “Thanks.”
“You know each other?” Mako asks, unable to hide her surprise.
“No,” Chuck says, at the same time Becket says “Not really.”
Mako smiles, looking between them. “Are you coming to dinner, Chuck?”
Chuck, for no reason in particular, looks at Becket, who is staring right back at him.
“I’ve, uh, gotta see dad, y’know,” he says, turning back to Mako.
“He’s with Stacker,” Mako says immediately, a glint in her eyes that Chuck doesn’t trust. “They are working together today. They’re going to be busy all night.”
“Well, I still have to get home,” Chuck tries again, though there’s no heart in it.
“Chuck,” Mako chastises. “Come to dinner. I’m sure Raleigh won’t mind.”
At this, they both turn to look at the man in question, who shrugs. “It’s up to you,” he says, doing surprisingly well considering the look Mako is giving him. Chuck is a little in awe at how well he copes with it – anyone else would wilt.
Mako turns her gaze back to Chuck, but he’s still looking at Raleigh, who gives him a small smile.
“Alright,” Chuck concedes, looking at Raleigh, then turns to Mako. “But only if you promise you won’t let Becket choose the conversation topics. He’s got this weird idea in his head that architecture is fun.”
Mako laughs, looking between them both, and leads the way back to the apartment building.
“I resent that,” Raleigh says, following. “Architecture is fun.”
Chuck looks at him, unable to supress a smirk at the look on the other man’s face, and shakes his head. “Mate, you have got so much to learn.”
“Oh, yeah?” Raleigh asks.
“Yeah,” Chuck replies, and it feels like a promise.
Raleigh’s answering smile is the most beautiful thing Chuck’s ever seen.