Archive of Our Own ^beta

They were working late.

Even before the fire sale it wasn’t exactly an uncommon occurrence, but now it seemed that the remaining employees of the company were working late nearly every night. Seth knew he shouldn’t complain - the fact that he hadn’t gotten fired along with 90% of his floor was nothing short of a miracle. He’d bet on it ever since Will told him in the car, but thankfully he managed to just barely scrape by somehow.

The only bad thing was that now that Peter was promoted, they no longer sat together at work, which made Seth’s job a whole lot more boring. He couldn’t easily poke Peter when they worked late nights, persuading him to go out to a bar or head home early. Now he worked in Eric Dale’s old office, and while Seth was over the moon for his partner, Peter had come to him with the news in tears. Apparently he’d tried to quit in his meeting with Cohen up in the executive lounge but was convinced (threatened) to stay on, lest the company “decide” to fight him on everything from his health insurance to his company benefits - between Peter’s student loans and the crash, he couldn’t afford to not stay with them, and so between being given hell and a promotion, he took the promotion. Seth couldn’t blame Peter for trying, what they had done was beyond anything he’d ever seen, and he wondered how they would even keep the company afloat at this point. Tuld was a ruthless and terrifying man, and after seeing his brutal methods in person, Seth found them to be far less attractive than he initially thought when he first got the job.

Stretching at his desk, Seth checked his watch and yawned. He’d have to worry about the company another night, for now all he wanted was a hot meal and his partner.

Getting up from his desk, Seth grabbed his coat, putting it on and took his bag with him as he made his way over to Peter’s new office. Looking in, Seth smiled as he saw Peter passed out on the worn notebook he took with him everywhere, his head cradled in his arms and earbuds blocking out the outside world. He took a moment to admire how adorable Peter looked before walking into the office and gently rubbing Peter’s back, pulling him from his dreams. 

Peter made a small noise as he woke up, and, apparently noticing where he was, snapped to attention immediately, sitting up with a panicked look on his face until he saw Seth and relaxed with a sigh, pulling out his earbuds.

“Seth.”

“Hey, sleepyhead. Wanna head home?” Seth chuckled. 

Peter looked down at his notes, frowning as if he was upset with himself for falling asleep on them, but when he opened his mouth to protest, instead a yawn came out and he quickly covered it with his hand, blushing. Seth laughed and ruffled Peter’s hair, making him pout a little.

“Come on, you’re not gonna get anything done at this point. Let’s go home - I’m beat.” He stretched to make a point and Peter sighed, nodding and getting out of his chair, pulling his coat on sluggishly.

The drive home was uneventful, though when Seth pulled into their garage and turned off the car, he noticed Peter had passed out in the passenger’s seat. Snorting a little, Seth got out and went over to Peter’s side of the car, pulling the door open and unbuckling the seatbelt. Peter groaned softly, rubbing his eyes again and tried to get out of the car, but Seth helped him first, pulling Peter into his arms, making the older man squeak a little in surprise.

Seth just grinned. “Not every day I get to sweep you off your feet.”

Peter snorted, leaning his head against his chest. “Weren’t you supposed to be beat?” He said softly, and Seth shrugged best he could with Peter in his arms, shutting the car door with his hip and making his way into their house with minimal struggle.

“Yeah, but you’re so cute when you’re sleepy like this - wakes me right up.”

Peter hummed, but didn’t respond otherwise and Seth took him upstairs to their room, setting Peter down on the bed and kissing him gently.

“You hungry at all?” He asked and Peter shook his head.

“No, just wanna be with you.” Peter replied softly, his words slurring a bit. Seth smiled, feeling his heart warm and kissed Peter again, making the man moan softly.

Deciding that he was more tired than hungry, Seth undressed and helped Peter out of his clothes as well before pulling the covers over both of them, both clad in only their underwear. Peter made a small noise of contentment and quickly snuggled up to Seth, burying his face in the crook of his neck. Seth laughed softly and wrapped his arms around Peter in return.

It was silent for a while but while Seth was dozing on and off, Peter shifted a little, getting his attention.

“Seth…”

“Hm?”

Peter hesitated before taking a shaky breath that got Seth to wake up quickly. He looked down at Peter who looked to be on the verge of tears.

“Should I have quit?”

“Peter…”

Peter took a measured breath. “I hurt so many people.” he whispered brokenly, and Seth frowned, pulling Peter into a tight hug.

“You did not. Eric gave you a file, and you just plugged in the numbers. Sure, does it suck that we’re in this company still? Yeah, I guess, but it was Cohen and Tuld that decided to fuck everyone over, not you. I mean shit, if we wanna go back far enough that Robertson chick knew this shit was gonna happen and decided to just ignore it until it bit everyone in the ass, so no, it wasn’t you. At least not entirely - we were all part of the shitshow. Besides, you tried to quit anyways and those bastards held your loans and insurance hostage practically.” Seth reasoned, rubbing Peter’s back soothingly.

Peter made a small, sad noise, but said nothing, and Seth continued to soothe him for a few minutes as he calmed down.

“I don’t know what to do. I can’t stay here.” Peter finally said, and Seth hummed.

“Well… we stay for as long as we can, and once the job market starts to recover we bounce. You’re a smart guy, you’ll find something, and I’m good at finding exactly where I’d be useful in any company, you know.” He grinned and Peter’s head shot up to look at him with wide eyes.

“What? I thought you loved working here.”

Seth shrugged. “I mean, I did, but honestly? I’d rather work somewhere that doesn’t fuck people over for a living than have shit tons of cash - took me awhile to realize it apparently, but whatever… besides, you know I’d follow you wherever. Even if you decide to take up an actual rocket science job. I think I’d make a pretty hot research assistant or something.”

Peter’s eyes misted up and he hugged Seth tightly. “I love you.” He whimpered, the statement muffled a bit from his face being pressed up against Seth.

Seth smiled. “I love you too. Now come on, no more spiraling. Everything will be alright.”

Peter nodded and after some time his breathing finally evened out as he fell asleep cuddled against Seth, who kissed the top of Peter’s head affectionately.

It was going to be rough for awhile, but they would get through it together.

As they always have.