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Tommy Shepherd doesn’t know why he agreed to this. He’s got an extra bedroom in his apartment, sure. And splitting rent money would be nice, if not actually necessary. It just means he’ll be spending a few hours less on his crap job. It’s not like he uses the apartment much either, only when he’s got work. The rest of his days are spent travelling to new places, seeing the sights, meet up with the local ladies or gents if he’s lucky and in the mood.
So no, Tommy Shepherd didn’t know why he let Billy and Teddy talk him into the two of them moving in with him. It’s his twin who mostly did the talking (complete with excitable flailing arms that threatened to hit Tommy if he didn’t have the superpower to not stay still), about how it would be sooo fun to live together and that he missed Tommy and all that. Teddy, aside from a few hums of agreement, only had a stupid, sheepish, I’m-so-sorry-about-my-boyfriend-isn’t-he-just-adorable smile plastered on his face the entire time that’s even more annoying and perfect Tommy said yes just to make the both of them stop.
(It didn’t work.)
“I don’t know why I agreed to this.” Hearing it out loud makes him feel marginally better.
Billy of course just had to ruin it. “Because you love me, brother.”
“We’re not brothers, we don’t have any DNA in common,” Tommy retorts, even if he doesn’t actually know if it’s true or what.
Billy rolls his eyes, and Tommy doesn’t even have to see his twin’s face to know. He can practically feel it at the back of his eyelids. “Fine, we’re two pieces of the same soul and then reincarnated to different families. We’re soulmates, is that better then?” The fucker even stops unpacking and turns around just to smirk at him.
Tommy scowls, because really? Soulmates? “Jeez, Kaplan, gross. Save that lovey-dovey crap to your actual boyfriend. I don’t know how you two can stand being so sickeningly sweet. Sooner or later you’re gonna accidentally kill some diabetic old lady and let's see if you're gonna be smirking then.”
“Accidentally kill a what?” The guest—well, soon-to-be Billy and Teddy’s—room’s door opens, with Teddy standing behind it with three large boxes (all labelled on one side ‘comic books’, because they’re both nerds) on his arms, two of them being cradled with his very muscular biceps and the other being carried by what looks like another pair of arms sprouting from his elbows.
(Damn shapeshifters.)
Billy visibly perks up and goes over to his boyfriend and makes out with him like he’s dying of thirst in the middle of the desert and suddenly there’s a half-empty bottle of water right in front of him. There’s even tongue too, Jeez. When his twin finally surfaces (silver lining, Billy still has to breathe) he says, “Please, old ladies love us. Just ask Ms. Schuyler from downstairs.”
Tommy didn’t have to ask. He was there when that old bat promptly invited them for cookies. Just because she saw Billy and Teddy holding hands. Goddamn cookies. Where was his welcome-to-the-building cookies when he first moved in?
“Those cookies don’t mean anything, Kaplan,” grumbles Tommy because he can.
“If it helps you sleep better, soulmate.” Billy freakin’ kisses him on the cheek, grinning at him all innocent and pretty, then proceeds to unpack his shit again like he didn’t just pull that in front of his boyfriend.
Tommy turns to Teddy and is greeted with an amused grin and a raised eyebrow. “Anything you wanna tell me, Tommy?” He sets down the boxes he’s carrying on the floor and folds both of his arms across his chest just to complete the image.
He huffs. “Only that you’re both gross and I’m not bailing you out of jail when you murder an old lady.” Teddy laughs at that, which in turns made Billy snort and chuckle. It makes Tommy want to run.
So he does. “Good luck unpacking by the way, because you’re not gonna get any help from me,” sticking his tongue out as he says it to the both of them. He then starts running (like a snail) out of the room.
He hears Teddy shout “Be back before dinner!”, but it quickly fades as Tommy speeds up once he’s out of their apartment. He runs and runs and runs. He doesn’t know where he’s going. He doesn’t care.
When Tommy finally stops, he finds himself in front of a deserted stretch of beach. The waves crash gently against the shoreline, pushing and pulling. He didn’t realise it was already this dark out, with only the last slivers of sunset peeking over the horizon and the first of the stars already dotting the darkening sky.
He sits cross-legged on the sand, and he lets the salty breeze wash over him.
It’s taking him back to the times after Genosha—after the Young Avengers got disbanded. It was a hard time for everyone, he knew, but seeing the team break apart sucked. He liked being a hero—liked being part of something good. It didn’t last, because nothing ever does in Tommy’s life, but it was nice. (He still did superhero work sometimes, usually when he comes across trouble on his travels, but it just wasn’t the same.)
And then there was living with the Kaplans. With Billy and Teddy. Most of the time that sucked too, as his twin was all depressed and moping while his boyfriend was either staring at Billy with the saddest eyes Tommy had ever seen. Or worse, putting up a cheerful smile that didn’t reach his eyes, telling everybody that he’s fine when he’s not.
But not all of it was bad; there’s the mandatory Kaplan family dinners, chatting and laughing about trivial things. Or the quiet times when Teddy’s too overwhelmed with frustration and helplessness over Billy’s state that he’d come hang out with Tommy, spar a little, or even just watch whatever’s on the TV, shoulder-to-shoulder. And there’s looking after Billy’s younger brothers after they come home from school, playing with them or helping them with their homework (on the subjects he knows about, anyway). There’s even the rare moments when Billy gets out of his funk and he’ll talk for a bit and smile—just a little, never a full-on smile, but when Tommy catches a glimpse everything is alright and the world made sense.
Good things never last in Tommy’s life, so he’s taken up to enjoy these things as they come, and not get too attached. That’s why he didn’t even notice for the most part that living with the Kaplans made him think that maybe, this time it would last. That this time would it be… forever.
The realisation made him run. And now, Billy and Teddy will be living with him. They’ve only officially moved in together a few hours at most and he’s already scared.
Tommy hates being scared.
He really doesn’t know why he agreed to this.
(He’s a liar.)
The ringing and vibrating of his mostly-unused phone startles his thoughts into reality, and he fishes it out of his jacket pocket. Billy’s grinning face (with Teddy slightly off-frame while kissing his boyfriend on the cheek; Teddy’s is the same but with roles reversed because they just had to have matching contact photos) fills the whole screen. He stares at it for a while.
(Tommy doesn’t notice that the corner of his lips curl up into a fond smile as he looks at Billy and Teddy.)
When he finally answers it, his twin’s voice pierces through the silence of the night. “What took you so long to answer?” There is a sort of fond irritation hiding a sliver of concern in the words Billy says, and Tommy rolls his eyes at that. (Tommy’s smile goes wider.)
“I do what I want, Kaplan. I’m a free spirit,” he replies.
“Yeah, whatever. Teddy’s almost done cooking our celebratory ‘moving-in-together’ dinner, so get your ass here fast,” Billy says.
Tommy rolls his eyes. “I’m not a snail, unlike you. And how is this gonna be celebratory when I’m gonna be living with you two nerds?”
“For your information, I can teleport you faster than you can run, and if you don’t want goulash then all the more for Teddy I guess. I’m not going anywhere near it.”
Tommy quickly gets on his feet. He ignores the dig about him being slow compared to teleportation, because 1.) it’s not true, 2.) teleportation sucks and messes with your digestive system, and 3.) goulash. “Teddy can cook now? Since when?”
“Since forever. And he learned it from dad, by the way.” Billy sounds so smug. Damn Teddy. He probably told his twin about Tommy’s obsession with Mr. Kaplan’s particular goulash recipe. And now Billy is gonna be lording this all over him.
But still, goulash. “Just a warning, but I will kiss your boyfriend so hard if he perfectly makes your dad’s goulash recipe, so no hard feelings.”
His twin laughs, loud and so full of life. “I’d like to see you try. I’m sorry to say, but magic trumps superspeed, Tommy.”
He snorts. “If it helps you sleep better, Billy,” he says as he hangs up first. He finally notices he’s been grinning, and then there’s a sudden rush of euphoria coursing through him. He chuckles, but soon it turns into a full-blown laugh, loud and full of… hope. Or something like it anyway.
Tommy starts running. He runs and runs and runs.
Back to home.
To Billy and Teddy.