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Ryan was on his way to the kitchen for a midnight glass of water when he heard the voice.
He hadn’t noticed Blue’s empty bed on his way out of the bunk room, but that was undoubtedly his newly-discovered brother’s- half-brother’s- voice coming from the kitchen. In the dark, Ryan could only make out Blue's silhouette, one arm holding his phone up to his ear, talking quietly to whoever was on the other end of the line. For a moment Ryan hovered where he was, debating whether it was worth braving the awkwardness of interrupting, before Blue’s words registered and he realized he was talking about the firehouse.
Ryan let himself creep closer, painfully aware that he shouldn’t be eavesdropping on a call that was none of his business. But Ryan still wasn’t exactly thrilled about Blue’s presence at his fire house, and he found himself curious about what Blue had to say about the job he’d been all but handed on a silver platter.
“The job’s amazing. Like, I’m out here actually making a real difference in people’s lives. Feels like this is what I was meant to do, or something. ‘Course, the co-workers pale in comparison to you and the guys.”
Oh. One of Blue’s stripper buddies, then. Blue paused, and if Ryan strained he could make out a muffled voice coming from the other end of the call, but no words.
“Nah, I’m not just saying that, promise. I mean, everyone here knows I only got the job because I’m the captain’s son, and I can’t figure out if they’re just bein’ nice to me to make him happy, or what. Feels like I can’t trust anything they say.
“Ryan, though- that’s my, uh, my brother- he hates me,” Blue continued, and Ryan could have sworn that there was amusement lacing Blue’s voice. “But it’s weirdly kind of refreshing. Like, I don’t have to worry that he’s only pretending to like me ‘cause the captain’s my dad, y’know? He’s a real straight-up kinda guy. I think we’d get on pretty well under different circumstances.”
Ryan’s first instinct was to suppress a snort, but actually, Blue was probably right. Ryan had been impressed by Blue’s quick-thinking when they had met, and he had respected that the guy had rushed in to help even though he wasn’t a first responder. It was why he’d thought that Blue would make a good firefighter. Of course, that was before Blue had turned out to be the living embodiment of all the times his parents had lied to him, and before his dad had hired Blue on the spot with no qualifications.
“Working with my dad, it’s just… weird, I guess. He completely ignores me when I first reach out, but now he’s giving me a job, and trying to be my dad. Like I show up to one emergency he’s suddenly changed his mind and got this fantasy of some perfect long-lost son to be his new protege. It all feels real conditional, y'know? I figure the novelty will wear off and he’ll realize he hired Blue the stripper, not Blue the hotshot potential firefighter, and that’ll be it. I’m just hopin’ I make it long enough to finish training, and maybe I can try find a job at another firehouse after he gets rid of me.”
Blue’s friend said something else, then, and Blue’s face seemed to twist into a frown. “I can’t go back to stripping, man, I really want to make this firefighting thing work some way or another.”
And okay, now Ryan had to admit he was starting to feel a little sorry for Blue. He’d assumed Blue was preying on dad’s guilt about not being in his younger son’s life, using it to leverage his way into dad’s life and workplace. The Blue that Ryan was used to seeing at the firehouse was confident, and outgoing, and seemed so sure of himself and his place there. That was a stark contrast to the Blue in the kitchen right now with nobody around to see him, curled into himself on the couch with one arm hugging his knees and his head resting heavily against the backrest. This quiet, unsure version of Blue was much more difficult to dislike.
Ryan was starting to think he’d gotten Blue all wrong. This wasn’t an interloper coming to disrupt Ryan’s family, this was a kid who had grown up without a dad, scared to let himself hope for anything more than acknowledgement from his new-found father. With a barely audible groan, Ryan realized he was going to have to do something about it.
—
The next morning after breakfast, Ryan knocked on his dad’s office door and let himself in without waiting for an answer. Don was a creature of habit, and one of those habits was getting a head start on paperwork in the last few hours of a shift, retreating to his office unless a call came in. His dad looked up as Ryan entered, with the same hesitant expression that had become commonplace in the fallout of Blue’s entrance into their lives.
“Hey, Ryan. What can I do for you?”
Ryan steeled himself for what he was about to say.
“I think you should invite Blue over for family dinner. Introduce him to Mom, get to know him outside of work. That is, if you’re serious about being in his life as his father.”
A slow, disbelieving smile spread across his dad’s face. “You sure you’d be okay with that?”
Ryan gave a shrug, trying to exude a nonchalance he didn’t quite feel. “Blue’s still my brother no matter how I feel about it. Might as well try and make the best of it.”
His dad stood up and crossed to the other side of the desk and clapped Ryan on the shoulder, with a light in his eyes that Ryan was starting to realize had been missing for a while. With a sudden clarity he knew that this was the right thing to do, that pushing Blue away was doing nothing but making all of them miserable.
“I’ll talk to Blue after this shift, see when he’s free,” Don said, and Ryan felt himself nod encouragingly in reply, warmth blooming in his chest at the hopeful look on his dad’s face.
Yeah, maybe this whole brother thing wouldn’t be so bad after all.