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Casey has never been able to forget where he came from. He will never forget the job that led him to this small town called Lindale. The job that killed Irene's husband. The job that turned Casey into a killer, made him change his name, and run far, far away.
But he's never been more grateful for that job as he is right now. Lars and Casey are going on their first date. They've been talking about it for a few months now, but they both wanted to go slow.
Very slow. Lars had just lost the love of his life to an illness, but Casey learned from Lars’ brother that Bianca was a doll and Lars had been trapped in a delusion.
And Casey, had also just lost the love of his life, but in a VERY different way. Irene isn't dead, she's just… out of reach. So, Casey and Lars have been taking their blossoming relationship at a snail's pace.
Casey had met Lars’ family a few weeks ago when Lars shyly told him that his brother's wife invited him to dinner. Karin was very sweet, Gus… not so much, but he just seemed happy that Lars brought home a real person.
It was a very lovely dinner, Karin had asked him all kinds of questions, but thankfully didn't press when he didn't want to answer something.
“So, Casey.” Karin starts, while she's plating Gus’ food. “What do you do for work?”
“I work at Johnson Mechanic in town.” Casey says simply, watching the way Gus seems to relax a bit.
“Lars said that you two met at the mechanic shop, he didn't mention that you worked there.” Karin chuckles.
“I didn't think it was important to the conversation.” Lars mumbles, poking at his pork chop.
Casey shrugs.
“How did you two get to talking? Lars has been talking about you for three months!” Karin practically beams at Casey.
Lars and Casey make eye contact. “Its a long story.” They say simultaneously.
“We have time.” Karin smiles, feeding the baby, who Lars said was named Alice.
Casey stares at the table for a long moment. “Well, we met when Lars came in with a flat and started talking about his car. He didn't say much at first, but cars always get people talking.” Casey starts.
Lars sticks a piece of pork chop on his mouth, ignoring the conversation altogether even though Casey knows that he's listening.
Karin nods while Casey speaks. “He told me all about how he takes excellent care of his car. I could tell, it was in beautiful shape for it being twenty years old. Then after I changed his flat we spoke about our jobs and stuff.”
“Oh nice, how did you guys actually start being friends?” Gus butts in.
“Uh, we ran into each other a few more times, with it being a small town and all.” Casey shrugs. “We just got to talking and realized how much we have in common.”
“Oh? And what is that?” Karin asks while Alice babbles, slamming her hands on her highchair.
“Lots of things. We both like cars, we've both lost someone we loved, we both-”
Karin cuts Casey off. “You lost someone?”
Lars drops his fork. “Karin!” He hisses. “You-you can't ask things like that!”
“Oop. Sorry, Casey. Lars is right. I shouldn't ask.”
Casey doesn't respond. He has stopped eating. “...It's alright.”
Lars places his hand on Casey's shoulder, the first time he's ever initiated physical contact. “Casey, are you okay?” Lars whispers, unable to be heard to anyone but Casey due to Alice's babbling.
Casey nods. “Yeah. I'm okay.” He holds out his hand under the table, visible to Lars, in an attempt to ask to hold his hand.
Lars stares at Casey's hand for a long moment, then slowly lets go of Casey's shoulder and places his hand in Casey's. Their first time holding hands. It would have been sweet if it wasn't overshadowed by their grief.
Lars had mentioned once that touching someone else hurts him, like it burns, so Casey is careful to rarely initiate physical contact that is skin to skin. He's surprised that Lars is holding his hand.
They both let go after a few minutes and go back to eating. Karin and Gus are talking to each other. Dinner ends rather quickly without all of Karin's questions.
Lars helps Karin with the dishes while.Gus makes Casey go outside onto the porch.
“So, Casey.” Gus starts. “You and my brother. Are you dating?”
Casey chokes on air. After he catches his breath he sighs. “No. I mean- not yet? We've been talking about it. But we wanted to take this slow because we both recently lost what we thought to be the love of our lives.”
Gus sighs. “Listen… Lars has a lot of… issues. Okay. He hates when people touch him, he's a hermit, he refuses to make eye contact with anyone, and his “ex girlfriend” Bianca, who died, was a doll.” Gus stares out into the darkness.
“A doll? Like an actual doll?”
Gus sighs, like he has the weight of the world on his chest. “Yes. About eight months ago Lars said that he met someone… then brought inside a sex doll that he ordered online. No, he didn't use it for sex. He was trapped in a delusion and believed that Bianca was a real person. Then about six months ago she “died” because Lars broke the delusion himself. So when he mentioned that he had made a new friend, Karin and I were skeptical at first. Then he kept talking about you and his face would light up every time he brought you up, so Karin invited you for dinner weeks ago. Lars kept ignoring her, like usual, but then he walked into the big house this morning and told us that you'd come to dinner. I just want the best for my brother… he spent a lot of years alone. Our father… wasn't the best to him.”
Casey is quiet for a long time, taking it all in.
“If you're going to leave, you better do it before things get serious. I don't even care that you're both guys at this point. Lars deserves someone that loves him for who he is, so if you don't you better just leave.”
“I'm not planning on going anywhere, but you should know… I'm not the perfect guy that I appear to be. I've done bad things, Gus.”
Gus laughs. “What'd you do? Kill someone?” He snorts.
Casey stays quiet and Gus’ laughter cuts off.
“Casey?”
He remains silent.
“You killed someone!?” Gus stands abruptly.
“It was self defense.” Casey sighs.
“Start talking before I call the cops.” Gus demands.
“...I lived in California before I moved here. I was a getaway driver for people occasionally. Good money. I had a set of rules. I give them a five minute window. Anything happens before or after that, you're on your own. I don't carry a gun. I don't participate. I just drive… then I met this woman.” Casey starts.
Gus slowly sits down, his face serious, but curious.
“...Her name is Irene. She has a son, Benicio. I fell hard for her and the kid. Then her husband got out of prison. Eventually, Standard and I became friends… Then I found out that he was in some money trouble. It was bad. So, I was his driver. There's more to that story, but I don't want to get into the details. It was a set up, when Standard came out of the store he was shot and killed. I drove away with the other robber Blanche in the backseat, we barely got away… we made it to a hotel and they came after us. They killed Blanche, I killed one of the guys and drove off. I still had the money, they wanted it. They found my apartment, they found Irene. I killed a guy in the elevator then drove off-”
“You can stop.” Gus interrupts. “I get it. Self defense. So you ran away and came here?”
“...They think I'm dead.”
“They don't know where you are? So, would Lars be safe? We would be safe?”
Casey nods. “Thats another reason we've been going slow in our… friendship. I told him that I'm running from some trouble and don't want to risk his safety. He doesn't know the details.”
“Good. He doesn't need to know the details.” Gus stares out into the darkness again.
“Agreed.” Casey says softly.
They sit in silence for a few more minutes until Lars pokes his head outside.
“Karin made cake.”
Gus stands. “What kind?”
“Chocolate.”
Gus rubs his hands together in excitement and motions for Casey to follow him inside. Casey stands, following them into the house.
Lars grips Casey's jacket sleeve as they walk into the kitchen. For someone that really hates physical touch, Lars really loves to have one hand on Casey at all times.
The cake was delicious, it was a wonderful dinner, and Casey learned a lot about Lars that night.
Back to the present, Casey is standing outside the only Italian restaurant in town, waiting for Lars. He knows that Lars likes to show up early, so Casey was an hour early to the set time for the date.
Right on time (early as fuck), Lars arrives at the restaurant. It's six-thirty, the date is supposed to start at seven.
“Y-you're early.” Lars stutters as he walks up to Casey.
“So are you.”
“...Yeah.”
“Come on.”
Lars nods, allowing Casey to lead the way, and hold the door open for him. As they walk up to the hostess booth, Lars’ fingers find their way to the back of Casey's jacket, gripping tightly.
“Reservation for two. Casey Jones.” Casey says as they walk up to the hostess.
She checks the book of reservations and smiles. “Hello, welcome to Ristorante, my name is Kimberly.” The hostess smiles and leads them to their table.
It's near an exit, but far enough away from the door that Lars doesn't feel like people are staring as they walk by.
They both sit down and Kimberly hands them their menus. “Your waitress will be here in just a moment.” She smiles and leaves.
Lars looks over the menu, specifically the drink section. Casey already knows what he wants to drink, he gets the same thing at every place he goes to.
A waitress walks over with a big smile. “Hi! I'm Ashley, I'll be your waitress. What can I get you to drink?”
Lars makes eye contact with Casey, then says, “I-I'll have a… um… lemonade if it's not too much trouble.”
Ashley writes that down, then looks at Casey. “I'll have an unsweet tea.”
Ashley nods. “Would you like to see the cocktail or wine lists?” She asks while she writes down Casey's drink.
“We don't drink.” Casey says firmly before Lars has a chance to panic about the unexpected question.
Ashley nods. “Alrighty, I'll be right back with your drinks. I'll let you two look over the menu.”
They sit in silence while they look over the menu, Casey knows that Lars needs quiet while he makes decisions, so when he's done he simply sets down the menu and looks outside.
Ashley returns quickly with the drinks, Lars’ eyes fill with panic. He's not ready to order.
Ashley sets down Lars’ lemonade and Casey's unsweet tea. “Are we ready to order?”
Lars stares at the menu.
“No, not yet.” Casey smiles politely at her.
Ashley nods. “Alright! I'll be back in a few minutes then.” She walks away, over to another table.
Lars looks at Casey gratefully. “Thank you.”
“It's no problem.” Casey smiles.
“I can't decide on the Spaghetti with meatballs or the Fettuccine Alfredo…” Lars sighs.
“Well, what's keeping you from deciding?”
“I want the meatballs, but I also want the Fettuccine Alfredo… I don't really want spaghetti.”
“Then get the Fettuccine Alfredo with a side dish of meatballs and marinara sauce.” Casey suggests.
Lars blinks. “Oh. I didn't think about that. Okay.”
They stack up their menus and set them down. They start talking until Ashley comes back to take their order.
“What can I get for you, dears?” Ashley asks, resting her weight on one leg.
“I'll take the eggplant parmesan.” Casey says, handing her their menus.
Ashley looks at Lars after she writes down Casey's order.
Lars takes a deep breath. “I'll have the um… Fettuccine Alfredo with a side dish of meatballs and marinara sauce.”
“Okay, now do you want any appetizers?”
Casey shakes his head. “No, but can I get a pitcher of water and two cups please?”
Ashley nods. “Absolutely. Is that all?”
“Yes ma'am.” Casey nods.
Ashley walks away then quickly returns with the pitcher of water and the cups. “Alright, I'll be back with your food as soon as it's ready.”
“Okay.” Casey says.
Ashley leaves and Casey and Lars return to their conversation. Casey is mostly just admiring Lars, admiring the way he dressed up for the date, the way he combed down his hair. It's cute.
“Your hair looks nice.” Casey says abruptly, cutting off whatever Lars was saying about this guy Kurt from his job. Casey wants to punch that Kurt guy in the face. He's so mean to Lars.
Lars’ face turns pink, his ears red. “Th-thank you.” He mumbles, blinking hard.
“You're welcome.”
After a few moments of awkward silence Lars continues what he was saying. Once he gets to know a person he sure does talk a lot.
Casey doesn't mind listening, Lars has a lot to say and Casey loves every second of it.
“And so I told Margo that I think she should go to New York, pursue her dream of acting. So, she's moving to New York next month. She's been saving up for a while now.” Lars says and takes a sip of his lemonade.
“Uh huh.” Casey nods, leaning his head on his hand.
“She already put in her time for quitting. Kurt was pissed! He was like, “She's not going to make it out there, she's not good enough for the camera” and so I said, “You're thinking of yourself, Kurt” and everyone laughed!” Lars chuckles.
“It was funny, I can see why everyone laughed.”
Lars smiles and takes another drink of his lemonade. Ashley returns with their plates. Casey didn't realize that they've been talking for so long.
“I have the Eggplant Parmesan.” Ashley says and sets the plate down in front of Casey.
“Thank you.” Casey nods at her.
Ashley sets down Lars’ plate in front of him. “And I have the Fettuccine Alfredo, with a side dish of meatballs with marinara sauce.” She says, setting both plates down.
“Thank you.” Lars mumbles.
Ashley smiles. “Can I get you boys anything else?”
“No, that's it. Thank you.” Casey smiles and Ashley leaves.
Lars starts eating. They sit in comfortable silence while they eat. It's good food, Casey can't complain.
“This is good.” Lars mumbles after a while.
Casey hums in agreement. They go back to comfortable silence after that.
After they finish eating Casey pays and they walk out. It was an agreement they made before they ever even went on their date. Casey would pay the first time, Lars the second, so on and so forth.
Casey walks Lars to his car, Lars talking the whole time.
“-and it had hints of garlic, butter, cloves, chives. It was good! I really liked the meatballs. I wish they served it with more sauce though.” Lars says as they walk up to his car door.
“Mhm.” Casey steps up close to Lars, but gives him enough space to back up if he wants to. He doesn't.
“Would it be alright if I kissed you?” Casey whispers.
Lars’ whole face turns bright red under the lights of the parking lot. He's quiet for a long time, Casey waits patiently for an answer.
Lars suddenly makes direct eye contact with Casey and nods. Casey leans down, slowly. Giving Lars plenty of time to pull away.
Lars squeezes his eyes shut and leans in. The kiss is very stiff at first, not so much of a kiss more so two people smushing their lips together, but slowly Lars relaxes.
God, Casey sure loves this town and all the new opportunities it has given him. He will marry this man one day.
Lars pulls away, panting softly. Casey stares down at him. Lars’ pupils are blown wide, his lips parted slightly.
“You taste like lemonade.” Casey snorts.
Lars laughs, the sound is so abrupt that it makes Casey smile. “...I really like you.” Lars whispers.
“...I really like you too, Lars Lindstrom.”