Chapter Text
Luke looked at himself in the mirror, smoothing the sheer robe over his chest, and smiled. He was excited to finally get to come to his boyfriend’s apartment. His boyfriend! Luke was so happy to even be able to call him that now.
He’d started seeing Lee about two months ago, and Luke already felt like he might be in love. Lee was incredible in every way. Luke can’t remember a time he felt so cared for.
This was the first time Luke was able to come to Lee’s apartment. In fact, their dates were usually during lunchtime, and if they did anything together outside of those hours, it was never at Lee’s place. For a while Luke wondered if he’d been keeping a big secret, like a wife and kids or something. But Lee was great, and Luke couldn’t imagine him keeping something like that.
And then over lunch today, Lee had given him a little speech about how happy he’s been the last couple months, and that he’d love to move forward with their relationship and be boyfriends. Luke was happy, too. Of course he’d said yes! And then Lee had invited him to stay the night with him tonight. There were some things implied about spending the night, and that wasn’t exactly new to either of them. Things got a little hot and heavy after their third date, but it hadn’t happened again since.
Luke agreed to stay the night, and Lee gave him his address and asked him to come over at five. Luke felt a little confused about why he couldn’t come home with him now, but he agreed. He could use the time to pack an overnight bag and freshen up a little anyway. Luke had been waiting impatiently for six weeks to get to do this with Lee again.
Now Lee was in the living room, hooking up his new television. He’d apologized to Luke with a kiss when he arrived, stating that he thought this wouldn’t have taken so long, and showed Luke to his bedroom to get comfortable.
The apartment was nice, the door opened into the corner of a hallway. Straight ahead there was a door on the left to the bathroom, on the right the entrance to the kitchen, and straight ahead was the living room. To the left was a hallway that led to the bedrooms. Lee’s bedroom was straight at the end of the hallway with an en suite bathroom. Two doors on the right side of the hallway were closed. Lee said the first was a coat closet. The other a bedroom.
Luke checked over himself one last time in the mirror, and decided he looks great. He smiled at himself and left the bathroom, turning the light off and then walked to the bed. He took a deep breath and sat on the bed, getting comfortable while he waited for Lee to finish up in the other room.
The sound of footsteps approaching caught his attention, and he leaned back against the headboard. At the last second he let the robe slip off his shoulder, hoping the extra peek of skin is attractive to Lee. Maybe he should adjust the bottom of the robe to reveal more leg?
The door knob rattled and Luke braced for his super hot boyfriend to walk through the door. He licked his lips and watched the door open and-
A toddler?
Luke stared wide-eyed at this little carbon copy of his boyfriend. The little boy stared back, even more wide-eyed. Luke’s pretty sure this baby’s eyes take up half of his little tiny face.
A little tiny face that was starting to scrunch up in a way that worried Luke. Big blue eyes started to water and his mouth contorted into a little frown. Oh no.
“Uh, hi?” Luke managed.
The little boy’s eyes spilled over with tears and Luke braced himself as the boy let out a wail. Luke panicked and jumped up from the bed to comfort the kid. He reached into his bag and dug around for a second.
“Shit, okay. Uh, it’s okay, kid! Everything is alright! Do you, uh. Here! Do you want a little treat? Would that, uh, make you feel better?” Luke asked as he pulled a half eaten stick of gum out of his bag.
That only made the boy cry even louder. His face red and wet with tears.
“What’s going on?” Lee came down the hallway and saw the scene in front of him. His new boyfriend holding out a half eaten piece of gum to a sobbing little boy. Luke was doing great.
The little boy looked up at Lee and pointed at him, then pointed at Luke, and then back to Lee. Luke didn’t know what the hell that was supposed to mean, but Lee apparently did. Lee smiled softly at the boy and scooped him up, giving Luke a look that begged him to give him just a moment, and took the boy to the living room.
“What is happening?” Luke whispered to himself. He shook it off and decided to change clothes. The time for his sexy robe was over and he wanted to be in something that covered him completely. Maybe Lee had a nun’s habit in one of his drawers.
Of course he didn’t, but Luke found a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Both were big on him, and he took a second to appreciate that his boyfriend was bigger than him. Lee was taller and more muscular than Luke, and Luke was very much into being the smaller one.
Luke put some socks on from his own bag and quietly made his way toward the living room, peaking around every corner as if he’d get in trouble for something. When he peeked into the living room, Lee had the little boy cradled in his arms, whispering something to him that Luke couldn’t hear. He saw the boy nod to whatever Lee had asked.
Lee met his eyes and gave him a tired smile, then stood up with the kid and carried him over to one of the bar stools at the kitchen counter. He deposited the boy onto a chair and gave him a kiss on the top of his head. Lee disappeared into the kitchen for a second and came back with a little cup of juice and a squeeze pouch of applesauce. He opened the applesauce for the boy and handed it to him. Luke’s chest fluttered watching Lee lean down, wipe a couple stray tears from the boy’s face, and ask him if he would be okay alone for just one minute.
The boy nodded and Lee combed his fingers through the boy’s wild curls, and gave him one more kiss on the forehead. Lee looked up at Luke and walked toward him, gently grabbing his elbow and pulling him down the hallway out of the child’s sight.
“Hey, I am so sorry about that. He wasn’t supposed to be home yet. He was going to stay at the neighbors for a while so you and I could… anyway I was going to get him and bring him back for bedtime. I guess he just wanted to come back though, Mrs. Ellison thought he was hiding but I let her know he’s home. Um… I am so sorry, again. This is not what I had planned,” Lee rambled.
Luke reached up, placing his hands on the sides of Lee’s neck. Lee sighed into the touch and seemed to relax. “Lee, it’s okay. Like you said, you didn’t plan for that. Just, um… who’s the kid?”
Lee’s eyebrows scrunched together and he looked up at Luke, confusion painted across his face. “That’s Will? My little brother?”
“You’re acting like I should know that.”
“I mean, given that I did tell you on our second date that I am raising my little brother, I would assume that you did know that?”
“You definitely did not tell me that! I think I… you said our second date?”
Lee nodded.
“Oh… uh. Yeah, that might check out,” Luke admitted.
“What?”
“I was kind of distracted on that date… you, uh… you had on that blue shirt and those light jeans? And you looked so good I couldn’t stop thinking about how pretty you looked. And I maybe only caught about half of what you said?” Luke smiled sheepishly.
“You’re joking! I can’t believe that, oh my god! You were too busy thinking about my ass to pay attention to what I was saying. I’m being objectified!” Lee joked.
“Hey! I wasn’t just looking at your ass, I was looking at your arms too!”
Lee rolled his eyes playfully and leaned in, planting a soft kiss at the corner of Luke’s mouth. “Well, that’s my baby brother, Will. He came to live with me about four years ago when he was four. I’d just turned twenty, and I was contacted by a caseworker from Texas. He had a couple next of kin options, but they were either not approved for whatever reason, or they declined to take him. So I was next on the list. We have the same dad, different mothers. It was a tough choice to make, I was only halfway through college, and I was broke. But after they told me about what he’d been through… I emailed my professors to tell them I wouldn’t be in class and I packed a bag and drove down there to get him.”
Luke didn’t think it was possible to fall further for this man, but he just proved him very wrong. “You’re such a good person. Is he… is he okay, though? He was crying pretty hard…”
Lee let out a sharp breath through his nose. “He’s okay. He was looking for me, and he didn’t expect you, so it just upset him. That’s… that’s kind of why I waited so long to invite you over. He’s moderate needs autistic, and he struggles with new people and also surprises. And that was both. I wanted to be absolutely positive about you before introducing you. I tried too soon with my ex and it was kind of a mess. Will didn’t like meeting someone new, my girlfriend didn’t like being asked to please tone down the pda in front of my kid, and then I broke it off and Will was confused why she wasn’t there anymore. He didn’t like her, but he’d adjusted to it, you know? Thankfully that only lasted a couple weeks. I didn’t want to make that mistake again. But you… it’s been nice to get to know you first. And I really appreciate that you’ve been so patient with me and not letting you come over until now. It means so much to me. I also understand if it’s too much for you. Tonight especially was… a lot.”
Luke leaned up and captures Lee’s lips in a soft kiss. “Tonight definitely was a lot. But I like you so much. I’m sorry if me being here made him upset.”
Lee shook his head. “No, he knew you’d be here. After I asked you to stay tonight, I picked him up from school and I told him everything. I told him I had been dating someone for a couple months, and I asked him to be my boyfriend today. And I told him you’d be coming over, and he could meet you tonight or we could wait and he could meet you in the morning during breakfast, but either way you’d be spending the night here. And he chose to meet you in the morning, so that’s why he was at the neighbor’s.”
Luke smiled at his beautiful boyfriend. “Wait. You said he was four when you first got him?”
Lee nodded. “Yeah he’s eight, he’s been with me for four years.”
“That feels like a lie, there is no way that baby is eight years old!”
Lee’s jaw dropped in a lighthearted shock. “I swear to god! He is eight! He’s just small!”
Luke didn’t believe it. “No way, what could have possibly made him that small?”
Lee’s smile didn’t completely slip, but it dimmed. “That’s a story for a different time.”
Luke studied his face. “Okay. So… do you want me to stay or should we try this again another night?”
“No. I’d still like you to stay, please. I think he’s probably calmed down enough now, maybe we can watch a movie and order in. If that’s okay, I mean.”
“Of course it’s okay,” Luke said as he leaned up and kissed Lee one more time.
Lee smiled and took Luke’s hand in his, and pulled him back toward the living room and kitchen area. He rounded the corner, keeping Luke just slightly behind him, partially out of Will’s view.
“Hi, baby. You feeling better?” Lee asked. Will nodded and gave him a small smile. “Good. Would it be okay to introduce you to my boyfriend? I know we planned on doing that in the morning, so it’s okay if you still want to wait.”
Will took a deep breath and nodded.
Lee smiled and took a few extra steps towards Will, pulling Luke along with him. “Will, baby, this is Luke. He is very nice and I like him very much. I know it was probably too overwhelming before, but I really hope we can just have a quiet and relaxing night.”
Will looked at Luke with his big eyes and waved. Luke smiled and waved back.
“Luke, this is Will. He’s my favorite person in the whole world,” Lee said seriously. Luke could feel the full weight of his words, and what they really meant.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Will. Lee has told me so much about you. I’m really excited to get to hang out with you.” And he realized just how much he meant that.
Will slid down from his chair and slowly approached Luke. His eyes scanned across Luke’s face, calculating, and then he reached a tiny hand toward Luke. Luke hesitated for a second and then reached down and took Will’s hand in his, giving the boy a handshake. It felt like a huge victory when the little boy smiled back at him.
“Alright, what movie should we watch?” Lee asked as he scooped Will up in his arms.
Will put his thumb and index finger to his chin like he was thinking very hard. Then he started signing. Luke knows a little ASL but got lost after the second letter, because Will was signing so quickly. He made a mental note to sign up for a class.
“Incantation?” Lee asked, confirming Will’s choice. A blinding smile brightened Will’s face and he nodded excitedly. “Alright, let’s get it started and I’ll make a snack, okay?”
Luke sat next to Lee on the sofa, careful not to sit too close. He’d remembered that Lee’s ex was too heavy on the PDA in front of Will and it made both Will and Lee uncomfortable. Will climbed onto Lee’s lap and curled up against his chest while Lee got the movie queued up.
“Baby, don’t forget that I gotta get up to make snacks!” Lee teased. Will whined and burrowed deeper against Lee.
“If you tell me where stuff is, I’d be happy to go make something,” Luke volunteered, not wanting to take Lee away from Will.
“Are you sure? I was just going to make popcorn.”
“Yeah, I can definitely do that!”
Lee gave Luke instructions on where to find everything, including Will’s special snack bowl. Will heard “popcorn” and got excited, kicking his feet up and down unable to contain himself. He squeezed Lee’s arm when Lee mentioned maybe having some M&Ms too. Luke could do this forever.
This is the worst movie Luke has ever seen. Every single part of this movie made him feel deeply paranoid, glancing over his shoulder every couple minutes. He wanted so bad to scoot closer to Lee and hide in his chest, but that spot was currently occupied by a little boy who probably would not enjoy his space being invaded by a man he just met.
Will was also staring at him with his big blue eyes for the last fifteen minutes of the movie. He was a very cute little boy, a miniature version of the man sitting next to him, but being stared at was a little unsettling.
The movie ended and Will’s eyes were still on him, calculating. Lee was rubbing his back, trying to make the boy sleepy so he could put him to bed. Will suddenly sat up in Lee’s lap and looked at Lee before making several gestures with his hands very quickly, signing something to Lee.
Lee watched Will, then glanced at Luke, and back to Will. “Are you sure?” Will nodded. “Okay, why don’t we get you ready for bed and then I’ll do that. Sound good?”
Will nodded again and Lee stood, taking him to the bathroom to wash up. Luke kept himself busy by putting the popcorn bowls away, throwing out the takeout containers, and turning the movie off. He opened up YouTube on the television and hit play on some ambient noise video, turning the volume down to just barely audible while he waited for Lee.
Finally Lee returned, having changed into a pair of black sweatpants and a faded cutoff tank top with what Luke assumed was Lee’s high school basketball team on the front. He’d also taken his contacts out and exchanged them for a pair of wire frame glasses. He looked beautiful.
“Hey, sorry that took so long.” Lee sat back down beside him, extending one arm as an invitation for Luke to tuck in next to him.
“It’s okay. You have responsibilities, and I understand that. Don’t be sorry.”
“I really appreciate you for being so understanding with all of this. I know it can be a lot for people, but thank you for staying. Will told me to tell you that your popcorn is the best, even better than mine, and you can come back and make it any time. And that’s a high honor, popcorn is one of his safe snacks and he is very picky when it comes to his safe snacks,” Lee smiled and kissed him on the forehead.
“Really? That’s… that’s so nice. I’m really glad he liked it! I’d feel really bad if it was bad and I tainted a safe food for him.”
“It’s okay, popcorn is a little easier for him to recover from if it’s bad. One time he grabbed a handful of popcorn at an event we went to at the library and I had to take him home he was so upset. Turned out to be kettle corn instead of popcorn and he hated that! He felt okay after I explained that kettle corn and popcorn are different. And I made him his popcorn and he felt much better, but now if we’re in public and he wants popcorn he makes me try it first to make sure it’s safe.”
“You’re really great with him. This definitely isn’t how I pictured tonight going, but seeing you like this? You seem so in your element here with him. I think… I think it makes me feel even better about us. About being with you,” Luke admitted quietly.
Lee smiled, beautiful and bright. “I- I don’t even know what to say. That’s honestly such a relief! Will is… he’s changed my entire life. I changed so much of my life to be his parent. I even changed my major in college so I could get a better and more steady job. It’s definitely not the easiest job, being a single parent of a kid like Will. It’s a lot to sign up for, being in a relationship with me. But I love Will more than anything in the world.”
“It definitely doesn’t sound easy. But I’m signing up for it. Consider me officially in.”
“Well… there is one more thing Will have me permission to tell you about. And it’s kind of intense, but it’s important. It’s about why he came to live with me.”