Chapter Text
Simon found it amazing that a man so powerful on the battlefield, who could easily hold a ten-ton truck, struggled so much with holding a single egg.
One morning when Hugh had been making breakfast, Simon heard a crack and whirled around to find his boyfriend staring at the egg yolk dripping down his fingers.
“I barely touched it, I swear.”
Simon raised an eyebrow. “I think you squeezed it.”
“I absolutely did not,” Hugh retorted, then frowned at the egg again. “Well. Maybe a little bit. They’re just so fragile, I can’t help it.”
Hugh had snapped at least three door handles in the month they had been living together, although, to his credit, Hugh did apologize profusely every time and did his best to install replacements.
All things considered, they had settled into a comfortable routine.
Simon would wake up before Hugh, kissing his forehead, then climb over him to make breakfast. Hugh would grumble a little, but he barely registered Simon’s weight for the most part. Simon made sure that Adrian cleaned his teeth, and combed his dark curls, all while Adrian complained.
“Do I have to do this every morning? I don’t want to.” Or when he was particularly grouchy, “Stop pulling!”
Simon normally cooked dinner too. He was doing exactly that when Hugh came into the kitchen.
“What are you making?” Hugh asked, a cheesy grin on his face.
Simon glanced over his shoulder. “Carbonara.”
Hugh hovered behind him, inhaled deeply before reaching for the pan.
“Careful! It’s hot!” Simon warned, pushing Hugh’s hand away.
Hugh just winked, dodging Simon and sticking his finger into the sauce. Straight in the simmering pan. Simon watched warily. Right. Hugh didn’t feel pain. It was uncanny: Simon thought he might never get used to it.
“Tastes great,” Hugh said, and gave Simon a gentle kiss on the cheek. He did that sort of thing often, but Simon still felt a warmth spread through his chest.
“Thank you. Hey, do you mind giving Adrian his bath? Quickly, just so it’s out of the way before dinner.”
Hugh paused. Simon noticed him blinking rapidly. “Me? But you always do that!”
“It’s easy,” Simon assured, peeling his eyes away from the stove. “Just keep his head tilted back when you're washing his hair so he doesn’t get shampoo in his eyes. He can wash his body himself, but keep an eye out because he forgets to wash his feet.”
“I—uh… I mean, yeah. Yeah I can do that,” Hugh stammered, and Simon couldn’t help noticing him twitching.
“Thanks,” Simon replied and turned his attention back to the stove. Why was Hugh acting so strangely? If anything, it was usually overenthusiasm that Hugh struggled with. It had been less than a week since Hugh had been beaming as Adrian first rode a bike without training wheels.
They had watched Adrian wobble down the street, Hugh grinning from ear to ear as he put his arm around Simon’s shoulder. Unfortunately, Hugh had been a little too excited at the time and had put a little more pressure on Simon than perhaps intended. Simon’s knees dipped and he had nearly gone crashing to the ground. Hugh immediately realized his mistake and loosened his grip, steadying Simon instead.
Hugh wouldn’t stop apologizing, and Simon had just brushed it off, laughing weakly.
Simon paused. Hugh rarely meant to hurt anyone. But Adrian was only six years old…
Good intentions didn’t stop accidents from happening. Was that why Hugh had seemed so twitchy? Did he think he would hurt Adrian?
Simon abandoned the sauce and hurried upstairs.
He slowed a little as he sped across the landing. The bathroom door was slightly ajar. It would hurt Hugh’s feelings if he thought Simon didn’t trust him with Adrian. And he did trust Hugh, he really did.
He just wanted to quickly check if Adrian was okay. Surely there wasn’t any harm in that.
Simon flickered out of sight and stuck his head into the bathroom, the door creaking further open.
/ / /
Hugh had been clenching his teeth ever since Simon had asked him to give Adrian a bath. Ever since they’d become a family, he had done his best to comfort Adrian and make him laugh. He’d avoided touching the kid whenever he could.
Adrian was tiny. It didn’t seem that way when he was being carried in Simon’s arms, but next to Hugh, Adrian looked minuscule. Hugh was terrified that he would casually break Adrian’s fingers while holding his hand and wouldn’t even notice unless Adrian screamed.
“Adrian!” he called. “Come and take your bath.”
Adrian stuck his head out of his bedroom door. “Doesn’t Simon usually do that?”
“Yeah, well, you’ve got me today!” he said, forcing himself to sound cheerful.
He waved Adrian into the bathroom, leaving him to strip as the water ran.
The water was a problem. Hugh was aware that other people felt pain if the water was too cold, and could be seriously hurt if it was too hot, it was never something he’d needed to worry about before.
He twiddled the dial back and forth, allowing the water to run over his fingers as he tried hard to concentrate on the sensation. Too hot? Too cold? How was anyone supposed to know?
He turned the dial down until the water felt nice and cool to his touch.
“Adrian. Come tell me if the water’s okay for you.”
As soon as Adrian had touched the water, he yelped.
“Hugh, that’s freezing!”
“Right,” Hugh muttered. “Sorry.” He turned the dial up.
He helped Adrian climb into the tub, keeping a close eye on him as he lathered himself up. Making a great effort to be gentle, Hugh rubbed body wash over the hard-to-reach parts of Adrian’s back.
“Don’t forget your feet,” Hugh said, and Adrian giggled as Hugh rubbed in between his toes.
“Stop, I’m ticklish!” he shrieked.
Hugh got out the shampoo and tenderly began to massage it into Adrian’s scalp. The door creaked open, but when he looked over his shoulder, no one was there.
“You do it differently from Simon,” Adrian told Hugh, drawing his attention back over.
“Bad different?”
Adrian shrugged. “Softer. You can press harder, you know.”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” Hugh said, shoulders tense.
Adrian furrowed his brow. “But my head is hard. Feel it!” He grabbed Hugh’s hand and pressed it to his skull.
Hugh chuckled. “That’s right. You’re a tough kid.”
“Yeah, I am!” Adrian said, a hint of pride in his voice.
Hugh grinned and gave Adrian a light kiss on the top of his head, only to immediately regret it when he got a mouthful of shampoo.
///
Simon headed back downstairs feeling a lot lighter. Adrian was fine. Hugh could be boisterous, but he was also incredibly caring and kind: that was one of the reasons Simon had fallen in love with him after all.
When Hugh returned with a freshly washed Adrian, they sat down for dinner. Hugh was his usual jolly self, cracking jokes and offering to do the dishes before promptly snapping yet another fork in half.
“I’ll get the dishes,” Simon intervened, before they ran out of cutlery. “You can tuck Adrian into bed.”
The six-year-old was practically falling asleep at the table, his stomach full of warm food. Hugh gently placed his hand on Adrian’s shoulder, steering him up the stairs. Halfway up, Hugh scooped Adrian up; his head lolled and he fell asleep instantly in Hugh’s arms.
Hugh bit his lip to stop himself smiling. He placed Adrian in his bed and wrapped him up in a blanket.
Not feeling particularly tired, Simon and Hugh snuggled up together to watch a TV show. Simon leaned against Hugh, who ran his fingers playfully through Simon’s hair. Eventually, neither of them could stop themselves from yawning, and they headed up to bed.
“Have you noticed how much Adrian has perked up recently?” Hugh asked seriously, sitting on the edge of their bed. “I think he’s starting to heal.”
Simon nodded. “Yeah. I’ve noticed it too.”
“I get so worried about him,” Hugh murmured. “He’s been through so much. I want to make sure that we’re gentle with him.”
Simon looked at Hugh sincerely. “You won’t hurt him, you know.”
It took Hugh a minute to register what Simon had said, but when he did, his head snapped up. “What?”
“Nothing. I just—”
Hugh stared at him. “How did you know I was worried about that?”
Simon froze. “I— I um… I just thought you seemed—”
Hugh got to his feet and stepped closer to Simon, who had to look up to meet his eyes.
“I thought I heard the door open.” Hugh looked at Simon, scrutinising him.
Simon hung his head.
“That was you, wasn’t it? Were you spying on me?” His voice was quiet, but it was loaded with hurt. His eyes widened, pleading with Simon to tell him he was wrong.
“No!” Simon replied quickly. “I mean, yes, I looked in and I heard you talking, but—”
“And that’s not spying?” he snapped.
“I just wanted to see if everything was okay!”
Hugh’s expression tightened as he reeled in his anger. “How long were you there?”
“I swear, I was just there for a second.”
“I didn’t want you to hear that. You shouldn’t have been there without me knowing!”
“I’m sorry!” Simon said, desperation creeping into his voice.
“You know what?” Hugh said, his tone ice-cold. He turned his back on Simon. “I’m going to go see if Tamara needs help on patrol.”
Simon hurried after him. “Don’t go!”
Ignoring Simon, Hugh went downstairs, taking deep breaths to calm himself. He wrenched the door open, and the frame shuddered. Without looking back, he left Simon staring as he disappeared down the garden path and into the night.
Simon’s chest heaved and his heart pounded in his rib cage. The cold air rushed into the house, making him shiver. He wrapped his arms around himself. Hugh had actually left.
Simon paced up and down the living room, grabbing fistfuls of his hair.
He sank into the couch, thinking how desperately he wanted Hugh to feel safe here. This was supposed to be the home they were trying to build.
Hugh had opened his heart and home to Simon, and he had repaid him by violating his privacy.
The night dragged on, and every so often, he glanced out the window hoping for any sign of Hugh. He had lost track of how long it had been since Hugh left, but he didn’t want to go back to the bedroom, not when his boyfriend still might come back.
Eventually, he couldn't force his eyes to stay open any longer, and he fell into a restless sleep.