Chapter Text
“...The beach?”
Avery nods enthusiastically, shoving another brochure into Derek's hands. He was supposed to just be going out for some groceries, but had also returned with all sorts of travel brochures.
“Yeah, the beach! C'mon, it'll be fun, right? Not to mention a road trip to get there,” he replies.
Derek flips through the paper, already running the numbers in his head. “That's at least a day's drive, and you'll want to spend a whole day there, and another day back, so we'd need a hotel, and that's three days so I'd still have to–”
“Shhhh,” Avery hushes. “I'll take care of everything. Don't you worry. You do so much around the place already!”
Derek looks surprised and slightly confused. Avery grins, knowing that his plan to let Derek relax for once is already working.
“Yeah, I'll do it all,” he confidently continues. “I'll take care of all the expenses and the agenda and… Whatever else goes into it! You're such a great flatmate, you deserve a break, dude.”
Avery pats Derek on the shoulder and takes all the brochures back. Derek is still surprised, but finally gets some words together.
“Well…I suppose if you really think you can plan it all,” he reluctantly agrees. He smiles a bit at how excited Avery looks. “Are you sure about the expenses part? You don't exactly have a job-”
“Shhhhhh!” Avery says again. “Don't worry, I've got this.”
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“Uggggghhh.”
Avery stares at the computer like that's gonna make things easier to figure out.
Derek looks over at Avery from the kitchen, while Avery himself sits at the small dining table with his laptop.
“You alright there?” He asks with a little chuckle. Avery has been trying to figure out a budget for the past couple of days.
“No. This sucks. I miss when you did all the adult stuff,” Avery whines in response.
“All you have to do is ask me.”
“No!” Avery suddenly remembers himself. “No. I'm doing this for you. No way I'm making you do it. I'll figure it out.”
Derek smiles slightly. Avery really is committed to this, that's for sure. But it's also hard not to just go over and help him figure everything out.
Avery takes a deep breath and goes back to it, working on it for the whole rest of the evening. He's only interrupted by Derek closing the laptop and setting some food in front of him.
“Thanks for cooking again,” Avery says as Derek sits across from him. “Maybe I should cook for us, too.”
Derek smirks a bit and shakes his head. “I think you'd better not. I prefer my kitchen not being burned down.”
“Oh, come on, I'm not that bad,” Avery protests. That's a lie. He is that bad. He changes the topic. “I think I'm getting everything figured out now. The worst part is finding a hotel.”
Derek nods. “Do you need help with–”
“Nope,” Avery cuts him off. “C'mon, stop asking. I'm gonna take care of it all. You deserve a break.”
Derek sighs, but more out of endearment than anything else. It's sweet how much Avery wants this little trip to be as pleasant as possible for him, but he's a little worried Avery might stress himself out about it.
“Alright, alright, I get it,” he responds. “Just…don't you stress either, okay? It's gotta be fun for both of us.”
Avery nods, finally grabbing his fork to eat. “This is gonna be the best road trip ever, Derek. I'll make sure of it!”