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“Oh hey Si, you coming for dinner tonight?” Colt asked, grinning at Simon from around the door frame of his apartment.
He’d obviously been waiting for Ryland to get home.
“I think that might be a bit weird.” Simon replied, frowning when Colt scrunched up his face, confused by his answer.
“What do you mean it would be weird? It’s Friday night, you always have dinner here with us. Jody made that lasagne thing again, lots of it. Why would it be weird?”
Simon stared at him for a moment unsure of what to say.
“I mean without Ryland, it might be a bit awkward. You and Jody are great, but I figured you only invited me over because of Ryland.”
Colt frowned at him as if only just noticing that Simon was stood alone at his apartment door. Ryland hadn’t come up with him. He stepped out into the hallway and looked past Simon’s shoulder to the empty stairwell. “Is he down in the lobby with Rocky or something?”
Why hadn’t he come up with Simon, Colt hadn’t seen his brother without Simon in months. The two were practically joined at the hip, it was cute if not a little annoying.
Colt had hoped that inviting Simon over for dinner would be enough to make them both feel comfortable enough to finally tell him and Jody about their relationship.
They had hardly been subtle about it, it was the worse kept secret in the apartment complex.
But it had been over a month and nothing.
“You don’t know?” Simon laughed, sadly. “He’s got a date tonight; he’s been talking about it all day.”
“What?!”
He’d obviously misheard. There was no way Ryland was out on a date with some random guy when he had Simon right there, head over heels for him.
“Yeah, I thought he would have told you. Some guy he met online.” Simon shrugged, “he changed at work and got an uber downtown. He really hasn’t said anything to you? He’s been talking about it all week.”
“No he hasn’t.” Colt huffed unhappily. “Are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Simon swallowed, forcing a smile when Colt frowned at him.
“Aren’t you two—” He stopped when Simon tensed, okay maybe he had been wrong. “Yeah, of course. Well I mean Jody did make Lasagne for four so you can still come over if you want? We don’t mind.”
“No, it’s okay. I have a thing in the freezer and a ton of shows to catch up on. You and Jody should enjoy the time alone.”
Colt watched as Simon shifted his weight uncomfortably and gestured at his apartment door, he was clearly desperate to get away from Colt and this entire conversation.“Yeah, sure. Have a good one.”
Simon gave a small and incredibly awkward wave as he pushed open his own apartment door and stepped inside. Colt cursed Ryland under his breath before closing his own apartment door.
“Hey, where’s Ry and Simon? You finally catch them snogging in the hallway?” Jody teased as he made his way into the kitchen and took a seat at the table. “Are they too embarrassed to come in? You didn’t make a big deal about it right?”
“Did you know that Ryland is out on a date tonight?”
“No.” Jody said, her excitement short lived when Colt shook his head. “I thought you’d be happy for them?”
“No, not them just Ryland. I’ve just seen Simon in the hallway. Looking like a kicked puppy by the way. Apparently Ry’s been talking about some guy he met online all week.” Colt said, gesturing wildly with his hands when Jody frowned.
“But they’re---”
“Nope, no they aren’t. Simon looked like I’d ripped his heart out when I suggested they were together.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah shit, what an absolute idiot.” Colt sighed. “It wasn’t just me, right? They obviously like each other it’s not crazy that I thought they were you know, a thing.”
“You’re not crazy, we both thought they were together. We’ve been making jokes about it for weeks.” Jody said thoughtfully. “Maybe they don’t even know. I love Ryland but he can be a bit oblivious especially when it comes to love.”
“He is, he’s going to ruin his chance.” Colt moaned and then to lighten the mood a little he added. “He’s going to be living with us until he’s dead, he’s never going to find anyone. Especially not someone like Simon.”
Jody laughed, patting his shoulder sympathetically.
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
It was dark by the time Grace got home, shuffling out of his trainers and setting his keys on the side table. Almost jumping out of his skin when Colt appeared at the bottom of the hall, his brow furrowed and his arms folded angrily.
“Where have you been?”
Ryland spluttered. “Cheese and rice Colt. Who do you think you are our dad?”
“It’s almost nine.” Colt pressed and Ryland glanced down at his watch absently, it was barely past eight.
“I’m almost 40, I don’t need my brother’s permission to be out late.” He sighed turning away from Colt to hang his yellow coat up on the rack. “It’s Friday night, it’s not like I have to go to work in the morning.”
“Grace.” Colt started and Ryland turned on his heels abruptly. Shit, he was really mad. He only used Ryland’s last name when things were serious. When he needed to make it clear that Ryland had messed up.
“I went out.”
“With who?”
“I was on a date with someone I met, it’s not really any of your business.” Ryland shrugged, “I don’t see why you’re making a big deal out of it. You’re the one who kept telling me to go out and meet someone. You should be happy that I actually listened to you for a change.”
“That was before you fell in love with Simon!” Colt frowned, ignoring the way that Ryland’s eyes blew wide and his cheeks flushed. “What were you thinking? Fucking hell Ryland you can’t seriously be that blind.”
Ryland swallowed, fiddling with the hem of his shirt nervously as Colt sighed and waited for Grace to say something, waited for the confession he and Jody had been expecting for weeks.
“Me and Simon are just friends.” Grace dismissed.
That was not what he wanted to hear.
“For someone so smart you’re really stupid sometimes. You obviously like each other why not just be honest about it.”
“It’s not like that! Come on Colt have you seen him?” Grace shouted, throwing his arms up.
“I didn’t think you were that shallow.” Colt frowned, dissapointed by Grace’s reaction.
Colt and Jody had been surprised when Simon had moved in, he was a big guy with a pretty gnarly scar along his neck and an incredibly cool looking metal prosthetic left arm. He was a little shorter than Colt but had a muscular frame and dark hair down to his shoulders.
His left eye was slightly lighter than the other and he looked like a man who had been to hell and back several times. He put some of Colt’s injuries to shame.
He was still pretty attractive though; Jody had made a flirty remark about him being rugged and Ryland had quickly agreed with her. The pair practically drooling as they watched their new neighbour move in. He wasn’t Colt’s type, but he could admit that Simon was a pretty good-looking guy if that was what you were into.
What made it worse was that even though he was a little intimidating to look at and introverted he was really polite and friendly and Ryland had gushed nonstop about him when he realised that they would be working together at the school as well as living practically next door.
“No, you know I don’t mean it like that. Come on Colt, you know I think he’s attractive,” Ryland blushed, he gushed and talked to Colt all the time about Simon, but usually changed the subject when things got personal or too honest. Too real. “He’s not interested in me. I’m not blind, he’s super-hot and really nice and funny and all the women at work love him. They’re constantly flirting with him. Why wouldn’t they? He’s amazing and I’m—” he paused, gesturing down at himself. “I’m me.”
“You’re an idiot.” Colt sighed, puffing out his cheeks irritably. He was going to have to break it down for him. “Does he flirt with them too?”
“No,” Ryland scoffed.
“Does he accidentally make too much and take lunch for them most days?”
“No.”
“What about driving them to and from work everyday?”
“Well they don’t live in—”
“That’s a no. Does he have dinner twice a week with them outside of work?” Colt carried on and Ryland cast his eyes down to his hands embarrassed. “Does he call them stupid pet names?”
“It’s not a pet name.” Ryland blushed, “it’s just a silly nickname.”
“Sorry, you’re right. I call my buddies ‘Angel’ all the time. Completely normal behaviour between bros.” Colt laughed and Ryland glared at him, his cheeks dark and his eyes a little wet.
Ryland swallowed and then closed his eyes with a sigh. “Crap.”
Finally.
“Its not too late, I bet he’s still up.” Colt said, his tone softer when Ryland looked back up at him. “I mean, unless your date was amazing and me and Jody should be looking up wedding venues.”
“It wasn’t, he wasn’t—”
“Don’t tell me,” Colt interrupted. “Tell Simon.”
Ryland nodded, slow at first and then with more enthusiasm. “Yeah, okay.” He said firmly, turning without his shoes and opening the apartment door. “Yeah, I will tell him.” He said again and Colt grinned at him, practically pushing him out into the hallway when he hesitated.
“You got this Ry!” He shouted, gesturing towards Simon’s door.
Colt watched as Ryland’s steps faltered the closer, he got to Simon’s door. His hands wringing together nervously and his glasses slipping down his nose as he began to nervously chew at his lip. He rolled his eyes when Grace stopped at the door and then shook his head as he turned to walk away.
“Absolutely not.” Colt snapped pushing past Ryland and knocking on the door.
He held Ryland’s shoulders in place as he started to struggle and begged Colt to let him go. Making several fake promises to talk to Simon tomorrow. Colt wasn’t an idiot; he knew that Ryland would back out and the two of them would never be together.
Colt knocked again, louder and more persistent this time, repeating it until he heard Simon curse loudly on the other side.
This silly charade was going to end tonight.
“Colt please—”
Ryland started but stopped when the apartment door swung open and Simon glared at the pair of them, clearly annoyed.
“Fucking hell do you know what time— Ryland?” Simon started his tone instantly going soft when their eyes met. “Uh, hi.”
“Hi.” Ryland swallowed.
Colt let go of him, grinning as he waved at Simon. “You’ve got this.” He whispered, patting Ryland on the back when he blushed. “We won’t wait up for you!” Colt said, louder this time and with a wink when Simon’s brows lifted and Colt walked back to his own apartment.
“Christ Colt.” Ryland hissed, tipping his head back to stare up at the ceiling.
Simon laughed softly, the sound bringing Ryland’s attention back down to him.
Ryland felt his brain go blank and his mouth run dry as he looked at Simon. He was leaning against the doorframe of his apartment his one hand covering the bare stump on the left. His hair slightly wet, he was dressed in loose grey sweats and the ridiculous ‘I had potential’ shirt that Grace had brought for him last Christmas.
“How was your date?” Simon asked and Ryland looked straight up into his eyes.
“It was okay.” He answered honestly. It had been just fine.
“That’s good.”
“Yeah, he uh--- he told me all about his job and made a comment about me teaching with a doctorate, about how it felt like a waste of talent.” Ryland carried on, smiling softly when Simon frowned. “He laughed at some of my jokes and he politely asked me to take a breath and be quite twice, said that I talked too fast and that I was rambling a bit.”
“Angel.” Simon began and Ryland laughed loudly, the name hitting differently.
“It really wasn’t that bad, we split the cheque and when he offered me a ride home, I said no.”
Ryland swallowed, his cheeks pink as he watched Simon smile at him. An honest smile that made Ryland feel light and easy; he’d never had to censor himself with Simon or remind himself to not come on too strong.
Simon made him feel so comfortable and like he could be himself without any consequences.
From the day they met, things just felt right. He and Simon fit together easily, it had never felt awkward or forced. It just felt natural.
That was how Ryland should have felt on his date. He shouldn’t have had to filter his conversation or try and change who he was to impress someone else. He should have been able to be himself, like Simon let him be.
“It occurred to me though, somewhere between dinner and getting yelled at by Colt.” Ryland laughed, grinning when Simon waited patiently for him to finish. “That you would have laughed at all my jokes and when I told you that I had a doctorate you never said I was wasting it by being a teacher. You thought it was really cool.” His voice had dropped to a soft whisper.
Simon straightened up, his hand falling to his side as he stared at Ryland.
Ryland felt his heart skip in his chest at the look of hope in Simon’s eyes, the care and affection that Grace had been desperately searching for all right there in front of him. Waiting patiently for Grace to be ready to accept it.
Practically next door for over a year. He really was blind.
“You never tell me to shut up; you just listen and ask questions even if you have no idea what I’m talking about. You put up with my brother and my emotionally co-dependant best friend and never complain or make fun of my relationship with either.” Grace whispered. “My date was fine.”
Ryland paused, taking a slow breath when he realised that Simon had stepped out into the hallway to meet him. So close that he could feel the heat radiating from his chest as they just stared at each other.
“But?” Simon prompted.
“But he wasn’t you.”
“Fuck,” Simon sighed happily, reaching up to press his hand against the back of Ryland’s neck as he pulled him down into a kiss.
It was messy and uncoordinated, and Grace’s hands scrambled trying to find purchase, wanting to touch and pull Simon closer as his hand curved around Ryland’s jaw and his thumb pressed just hard enough for Ryland to part his lips, deepening the kiss with a moan that made Ryland’s heart stutter.
And god Ryland felt like the stupidest person on earth because he could have been kissing this man months ago. He could have been sinking his fingers into Simon’s hair and pressing his hand under that stupid shirt every night if he hadn’t been so oblivious. So clueless.
He whined into Simon’s mouth, panting hard as they separated. Eyes half lidded as they smiled at each other.
“Angel.” Simon whispered, pressing his forehead to Grace’s. “Will you freak out if I say that I love you?”
“Probably,” Ryland breathed. “But I love you too, so I think it will be okay.”
“Fuck,” Simon moaned sliding Grace’s glasses up into his hair as he kissed him again, softer, he pulled Ryland flush against him and they eased into a steady rhythm.
Laughing and moaning happily as they kissed in the hallway, oblivious to everything around them.
“Alright, cool it. That’s still my brother and this is a public space.” Colt shouted, pretending to gag when Ryland pulled away and glared at him. “At least go inside, you’re not teenagers in a rom-com. Christ.”
Simon chuckled bringing Ryland’s attention back to him. “I don’t need to be told twice.”
“Me neither.” Ryland agreed, throwing a thumbs up at Colt as Simon pulled him into the apartment.