Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Well, when will my bags be here?” I mutter, rubbing my eyes in frustration.

The woman on the phone pauses for a second. “They’re with the van.”

That doesn’t really answer my question. I’ve never been known with someone with patience and this lady is making my patience wear thin.
“And where the is the van?” I grimace.

“It’s about an hour or so away.”

OR SO? “I don’t understand, I left in my taxi at the same time as the van. How can there now be an hour between us?”

“The driver got lost. What is the town called again Sir?”

“Maple Bay…” I reply, and then realising “Wait, how come you’re only asking me this now? I put the whole address on the online booking!”

“Yes sir, we understand. Just looking… and yes. The van should be with you within a two hour time window. Is that okay?”

It’ll have to be won’t it?
“Yes, that’s fine. I’ll wait around until then.”

“Thank you sir. I’ll hang up now. But before I go, how likely are you to recommend -“

I hang up before she finishes. I’m not likely at all actually.

I climb to my feet and look at the house I was sitting in front of. My house, or new house to be exact.

It’s not huge, but then again it is only me living there so that doesn’t matter. It’s something of a fixer upper. It wasn’t an expensive house to place a deposit on so I took the chance straight away. The wooden exterior could look nicer, with brown paint chipping away. It has two windows at the front, each with their own cracks and cobwebs, and the door could probably be kicked in by an infant if they really wanted to get inside. Probably not a good look for me to kick a door down on my first day here however.
I definitely have some work to do over the summer.

I wanted a fresh start. I was tied down and I wasn’t happy at home. As much as I’ll miss my friends and family, I needed to get away from it all and make a fresh start. Obviously that means look for a job and a house somewhere far away, so here I am.
I managed to secure a job easily, I was a teacher at home and I’ll be a teacher here, 2nd Grade Teacher at Maple Bay Elementary School.

Riveting stuff.

After my moment of self-reflection, I ponder on whether putting my bag with my new house keys into the moving van was really such a great idea. Hindsight is a wonderful thing for sure. I message my family and friends, letting them know I’m here and I’m safe (enough).

I guess I’ll take a walk around, get used to the area. It’s always good to find the nearest place to buy chocolate milk or gin.

I turn towards the street and take a look around. I’m sort of on the end of the cul-de-sac, on the right as you drive in. There’s a patch of grass in the middle with some flowers and what looks to be a scooter. I guess there’s kids here then.

In my peripheral vision, I notice that the house next to mine is effectively a gothic mansion. I didn’t notice that on the housing ad but it’s cool to look at? Is it a house or a museum? I guess I’ll find out at some point, but the garden full of flowers and plants is nice.

I scan the rest of the houses on the cul-de-sac. A house with some bottles in the window next to the gothic mansion, a bright house next to that, a house with a window lined with books, a house with a guitar mail-box, a house with some exercise equipment on the front lawn and then the house across from my own.
It was relatively big, almost like what you think of when you hear the words “log cabin”. I notice some power tools on a work table.

Hmm. Looks nice enough. Each house seems to be dark inside.
I check the time. 1pm. Okay everyone must be out then, it is the start of summer after all, it would make sense.
Not that I was expecting my new neighbours to be at the door welcoming me with hugs and gifts and celebrations, that would be really weird and definitely a stupid thing to imagine happening!

“I suppose I’ll walk around then.” I announce to myself.

I take another look at the house and set off in the opposite direction.

Luckily I have my headphones with me, so I put them in my ears and decide I want uplifting music. Superstar by Jamelia it is.

I continue to walk around, but I’m getting too warm. I’ve definitely over-dressed. I decided all black would be a good look, it would make me look sophisticated and cool to the new neighbours, but the black turtleneck is making my neck hot and the black jeans are sticking to my legs, so instead of sophisticated, I look like I’m being broiled.

Drink. I need drink. Who wears black to somewhere with Bay in the name? Why is my necklace chain itching? It’s not even touching my neck? Why so many questions? “Take off your ring, that’ll help”, I pull the small metal ring off of my middle finger. Yeah much better now idiot, much cooler now that an inch of metal is gone from your finger.

I pocket the ring and keep walking (and sweating) down the street. I’m overthinking. Just relax.

After a few turns and corners, you notice a coffee shop coming up on your left. You assume they do iced stuff, so why not. This could be your new spot. If anyone asks if you know any hidden gems, you could say “oh that little coffee shop on that one road”. This ‘new place’ stuff is easy.

I take out my earphones and walk in.

As I walk through the door, I get punched in the nose by the smell of coffee and bananas. Hmm yeah, this is good.

The shop is a decent size. A few tables and chairs and a counter with a menu written in chalk. Also a stage with a guitar in the corner?
You don’t see anyone behind the counter though.
After scanning the menu, you decide on just a vanilla iced latte, with oat milk of course. Although this is one of those places with different names for food so I will have to order an Ice Ice (Latte) Baby. The name could maybe use some work.

Suddenly, I notice a pink cap and tuft of hair from behind the desk, like there’s a person crouched down.

I cough a little to make myself known. I wasn’t, however, expecting a small girl to rise from behind the counter.

“Sorry! I was restocking the chai! Hi! Hello! What can I do for you?” Blurts out the junior barista.

“Hi…” I pause, am I going to make this child make me a drink? “Do you work here?”

The girl looks slightly offended, as if I’m questioning her barista abilities.

“My dad owns the coffee shop, I help him sometimes.” she retorts.

I feel very bad for undermining this girl, in her own coffee shop no less.
“Of course, sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I just didn’t want to ask you for a drink if you had other jobs to do!” I make up that lie on the spot, in reality I wonder why is a child making me coffee?

Her face lights up a bit at that.
“Okay! My dad makes the drinks. I usually do other things to help, like get the cups.”

I can’t help but grin, her enthusiasm is so infectious.
“You sound like someone I’d love to work with.”
Time to cover up those insulting words.
“I love your dungarees by the way.”

It’s true, she was wearing a set of pink dungarees. Very cool.

“Thanks! I like your…” she scans my outfit. I’m suddenly back in school and am being judged by the sports boys. “Clothes…” she finally finishes.

Okay ouch. Being judged by a child still hurts.

“Thanks…” I reply.

The girl darts into the back room. I hear her explain to an unseen figure that someone wants a drink.
“He looks warm, be quick dad”.

A man comes out of the kitchen. He’s tall, wearing squared glasses and looks thirty times cooler and more interesting than anyone I’ve ever met.

“Hey man, sorry for the wait” he says.

His voice is smooth, and deep. This man is very cool.

“I’m Mat.” He introduces.

“Hi, I’m [Y/N]” I say. Cool and handsome. What a guy Mat is.

“I’m Carmensita!” Yells the girl, still in the kitchen. I grin again, she’s also very cool. I guess it runs in the family.

“Never seen you man, are you new around here?” Mat asks.

“Oh yeah, I moved today. On the cul-de-sac” I reply. Okay I’m talking to people that’s good.

Mat’s eyes light up.

“No way! That’s where we live too! Right on!” Mat gleams.

I grin again, okay I now know one of my neighbours. That’s good.

“Oh cool, I haven’t gone into my house yet, waiting for the moving van.”

“Bummer man” Mat says. “I’ll get you a drink. Any plans till it gets here?”

I explain to Mat that I’m just gonna walk around with my drink and explore for a bit.

“You oughta visit the library, and the mall, and the park. Me and Carmensita go there lots. See if you can find the other dads”

Other dads? Dads…

“Other dads?” I ask.

“Oh” Mat laughs “Everyone on the Cul-de-sac is a dad. All single. Except Joseph.”

Why did he feel the need to add “all single”?

“Oh I see, that’s cool” I reply. I need to stop saying cool.

“Yeah man, you’ll meet everyone soon enough. We’re all friendly… enough?” Mat adds. “That sounded like a warning, I didn’t mean for it to come out that way. Everyone’s nice, yeah” he continues.

I let out a little laugh and order a drink. Mat gets to work, and expertly crafts an iced latte. Never has a barista been so in tune with his coffee beans.

“I like to name my drinks and food after bands and music. I’m a musician too, I play the guitar. My favourite one on the menu is “Fleetwood Snack”, it’s based on Fleetwood Mac. I feel like you know who they are but for some reason I keep talking”.

I confirm that I do know who Fleetwood Mac are, and that Rumours is a very good album, and let him continue to tell me about the menu. Eventually my drink is done.

“First ones on me, as a welcome to Maple Bay and to the Coffee Spoon” Mat says.

Very kind, very cool, this man is great.

“See you later dude! Feel free to stop by any time” he adds as I wave him off and begin to walk out the door.

“BYE!” Yells Carmensita, still in the kitchen.

“What are you actually doing in there…” I hear Mat ask his daughter, as I walk out of the shop. I don’t want to find out what she’s up to, but that was nice.

Library, Mall, Park. Mat suggested those… I think.

Sounds fun enough!

Chapter Text

I decide to take Mat’s advice. I use my phone to find the library. Maple Bay only has one, so it’s easy to find and it isn’t a long walk. I set off, iced latte in hand.

I think about what I could even do in the library. Shall I take out a book? Wander around for a bit? Or just hang around outside?
I haven’t read properly in a while, and I like reading when I get the chance, it’s just getting to that point that almost never happens.
I did a lot of reading when I was at University, mainly about film. Maybe I could see if there’s any film books? Brush up on my movie knowledge? Sure why not. It can’t hurt can it?

Eventually I arrive at the building, large windows at the front displaying an impressive number of shelves inside. I throw my cup away.

I go inside and past the receptionist. It’s a typical library, quiet and calm. A few people line the desks, scribbling away in their notebooks. Oh to come to a library to draw and write, I usually just lay on my bed and procrastinate.

I take a look around the library, things are labelled well, so that helps. “Film and Television Literature” is labelled as being on the top floor, so I find the stairs and start dragging myself up them. Great now I’m all warm again.

I get to the top and find the Film and TV shelves. I run into a problem. The shelves are pressed together, meaning I can’t get in to find a book I want. What am I supposed to do?

I look around to see what other people are doing, and as it turns out I need to use a crank to move the shelf. It’s all a little bit video game-y, but I suppose it fits more books.

I grab the crank and start turning. The shelf begins to slowly move to the right, opening up a passage way by closing off the next aisle -

“WAIT STOP, SOMEONE IS IN HERE!” Someone yelps.

The sudden loud noise makes me jump. Oh my god… have I just crushed someone? KILLED THEM? I freeze for a second. My hand still on the crank. I don’t want to move in case it’s the worst. What if u look and there’s someone in there, mangled by a library shelf. What a way to go that would be! I’ve been here a few hours and I’ve already murdered a man! I should probably tell the police it was an accident, an honest accident, that way the prison time… “Hello? Could someone open the shelf please?” The voice comes again. The biggest wave of relief comes over me. I am not a murderer! Yes! This is fantastic news. Never have I been so happy. I walk around to where the voice is emanating from.

Pressed inside the shelf, with barely any room to move is a man with his hair tied up. His yellow shirt and bow tie are very charming. No! Stop admiring clothing on a man you could have crushed to death.

“Don’t suppose you could help me out?” He asks.

I pull the crank again, releasing the man from his book prison.

“I am so sorry, I didn’t know anyone was in there, I thought I’d killed you-“
He cuts me off “A simple mistake, don’t worry. No harm done!”

He laughs and picks up his books quickly, I swear I see the WWE logo amongst the pile. He rises and smiles at me. “Did you say killed? This is a library bookshelf, not a bus. It wouldn’t have hurt me, never mind killed me”. How embarrassing. Of course it wouldn’t have killed him. Why would a shelf be lethal enough to kill someone? I feel my face growing very hot. This man must think I’m so strange.

“Hugo, Hugo Vega” he extends his arm and gives me a cheery smile. Oh okay, he doesn’t hate me. That’s good. I take his hand and shake it, hoping to cover up the attempt on his life.

“[Y/N]. Nice to meet you, sorry to nearly murder you”. I reply.

“[Y/N]?” Hugo ponders. “As in the [Y/N] joining our Elementary School staff?”

How does he know that? Who is this man and why does he know me?

“Um yeah, the very same” I try to answer back as unsuspiciously as possible.

“I only mention it because I work at Maple Bay high. There’s only the three schools in the area so there’s a lot of mixing, the staff all know each other” Hugo explains.

Makes more sense now. He’s not stalking me then, that’s good. Good to know a fellow Maple Bay teacher though I suppose. He looks very much like a teacher, even though it is summer. The bowtie and tweed make him seem like the teacher that you can come and sit with at lunch when you don’t like kids your own age.

“Ohh I see, that’s good to know then. Yeah, the new Second Grade teacher, that’s me.” I confirm.

“Well it’s good to meet you” he replies.
“I was just getting some books, are you here to do the same?”

Well it’s a library so yeah obviously.
I should stop being a dick.

“Yeah, just some stuff on film. I studied film at university and want to brush up on it” you inform Hugo.

“I see, that’s why you needed that shelf. Well, let me help you.” Hugo begins to walk towards me, and we exit the shelves together. That’s kind, I’ve just crushed him and now he’s helping me with my books.

“How long have you been a teacher?” He asks me.

“A few years now, you?” You ask back.

“A while now haha” he laughs back. Wasn’t a concrete answer Hugo but that’s fine. I wasn’t expecting his life story.

I open the shelf up and begin to explore the books with Hugo.

“Anything in particular?” He asks.

“I like Horror movies? Anything like that really” I confirm.

While I fight for my life looking through the books, Hugo seems to have an expert knowledge of the library’s filing system. I turn around a few seconds later to see him with a stack of books in his hand.
“Let’s see, we’ve got Horror Film Reader, How Horror was Made and some others. I even threw in a Goosebumps book from my own collection.” Hugo laughs.

“I love Goosebumps books!” I excitedly shout, getting the attention of irritated library readers.

“Good to know! Always good for getting kids into Horror I think. Are you the one who bought the house on the cul-de-sac?” He asks.

Hugo seems to know more about me than I do.

“Yeah… are you one of the dads?”

Hugo looks take aback by the comment. I definitely should’ve just asked if he lived there too but Mat’s words are ringing in my ears still.

“Yes, I am one of the dads” Hugo states, adjusting his glasses “Have you met some of the others then?”

“Only Mat” I say. “He told me that everyone is a dad on the cul-de-sac”.

“He’s correct. My house is the one with the books as you might’ve guessed…”

I’m almost starting to tick the dads and houses off in my mind. Guitar house for Mat, Book house for Hugo.

“Oh yeah, I saw it when I got here. Can’t get into my house yet, gotta wait a few hours.”

“Very irritating” he agrees. “I take it you’ve been exploring Maple Bay?”

I nod my head, “I’ve got a while yet so I was going to head to the Mall after this”. Hugo gives me a nod of agreement. “Lots of book stores there” he assures me. I had clothes in mind more than books but sure, I’ll check them out.

I start to peruse the books Hugo handed over to me. I recognise a couple of them as books that I read while writing essays. I’ve cited 40% of them in some kind of work before, but it’ll be good to read them while not stressed out of my mind.

“Oh okay. Well at least you have a stack of film books to kill the time until you can get in. I was going to- “

Hugo’s phone begins to ring. He instantly turns a strange scarlet colour as you hear “BOOYAKA BOOYAKA!” Scream out of his phone.

He grabs it and answers trying to calm himself.
“Hello, yes this is Mr. Vega.”

I stand and watch as Hugo’s embarrassed expression turns to one of annoyance and disappointment.

“When did this happen? Was he alone? Yes, I’ll be coming along very soon. Sorry. Yes of course. My apologies. How much? Yes I see. I’ll be there soon. Thank you”.

“Everything okay?” You ask. It’s strange, I feel like I’ve known Hugo my whole life with the way I’m just casually getting up in his business.

“Not really but it’s fine. I’m afraid I’m going to have to go. But it was lovely to meet you and I’ll definitely be seeing you around”. Hugo shoots me one more moustached smile as he gets a better hold of his books and quickly paces out of the library.

I wonder what that was about? I guess I’ll find out at some point if I’m going to see him around. He could find these books pretty easily which was good.

My bi-annual commitment to reading completed! Will I commit to it this time? Who knows?

I take my stack of books down stairs and begin scanning them to take them home with me. I put them in a tote bag that the receptionist sold me in a very annoyed way.
“ I’m sorry for asking for a bag, how evil of me.” I think while she rolls her eyes and digs one out from under the desks.

Once the books are in the bag, I sling it over my shoulder. Heavy and makes me a little right-heavy. As I get outside, I put my earphones in once again. Something loud I think.

I play my music and walk onto the pavement. I’ll head to the mall and get a not-tote bag, easy to walk around with books that way-

It all happens so quickly. One second I’m walking normally, the next I’ve been tackled to the floor by someone running. My bag goes flying off of my shoulder and I land on the ground on my back. Someone lands on top of me.

“BRO! I’m so sorry!”

Chapter Text

I feel myself skid across the floor on my back, books flying into the street. I feel my back scrape against the concrete, not fun. A figure then tumbles on top of me, flattening me into the ground further.

Whoever is on top of me, they have abs that’s for sure. I can feel them pressing against my belly. I’m not a guy that’s usually into abs but I suppose all of that flies out of the window when they’re pressing into you.

“Bro! I’m so sorry!” The person shouts.

My back does feel like it’s been scraped and I feel quite annoyed that I’ve been thrown to the ground in all honesty. Who is this person?

The guy jumps to his feet and offers me a hand up.
Now I’ve got a better view of my assailant! And… he’s attractive.

God damn, why are all the men here attractive? I know he has abs and he has a face to go with it? Not fair!

He helps me scramble to my feet, and emphasis on scramble as I climb to my feet like a toddler. When I’m standing again I meet the abbed-tackler face to face. He has dark hair sweeping over, decked out in running gear. He quickly collects my bag and books as I check for any lasting damages on my clothes. I think I might have a hole in my top at the back but other than that I’m not dead. A win for sure.

“Bro, are you okay? My bad honest” he starts again, once the damage has been controlled. This guy has a seemingly natural confidence, not that Mat and Hugo didn’t but, there’s less of a bumbling from this guy, he seems unapologetically himself.

“Yeah, I’m okay” I say. “Hurt my back a bit”.

Anything I said about confidence can be retracted. His face changes. Instead of looking confident, he turns into a nervous puppy. He avoids my eye and begins again.

“Man, I’m so sorry! I was trying for a PB and you came out of nowhere…”

So it’s my fault then? I’m slightly annoyed that a “PB” or whatever is what ruined my top.

“It’s fine, don’t worry” I say bluntly. I’m ready to leave now.

“Nah bro, it isn’t fine. Let me pay for a new shirt at least. I’m really sorry dude”. He apologised again, maybe he is sorry after all.

“You don’t have to, I’ve got others just like it. Are you okay?” I realise I never checked on him, better cover that up quickly.

“Yeah bro, you broke my fall…”. I swear I see his cheeks go slightly red at that statement. But he isn’t wrong, I’m not exactly muscly, tubby would be the word I’d use, more like landing on a pillow than the floor. His words make a smile form on my face.

“Oh well, at least you’re okay, that’s all that matters of course!” I say sarcastically. I realise that may have come off a little rude.
“I’m joking I swear.”

“Haha don’t worry bro. As long as you’re good.” He laughs. The confidence has returned. He looks back at me and smiles an open-mouthed smile. He’s a very cute guy for sure, I almost want him to tackle me again.

“Names Craig.” He states quickly.
“[Y/N]” I reply.

Craig starts to stretch his legs back, keeping himself limber I suppose. I assume he’ll return to sprinting soon. It takes me a second to remember but you swear one of the houses in the cul-de-sac had some sporting equipment on the front lawn.

“Random question” I begin “but do you live on the cul-de-sac by any chance?”

Craig gives me a funny look. Maybe similar to the one I gave to Hugo, both displaying a thought of “how does this man know where I live?”

“Sure do bro.” Craig responds.

“I KNEW IT!” I exclaim. “Sport house right?”

Craig grins. “Yeah, sport house I guess?”

“I only say cause I’ve just moved into the empty house on your street. The old one at the end?”

That seems to make things click in Craig’s head. He opens his mouth and lets out an “Ohhhhh” of realisation.

3 down, 4 to go I tick in my head. Craig must be a dad too then. I won’t ask him though.

“Yeah, live there with my girls” Craig says. “Say hi whenever bro.”
Oh I sure will. I smile at Craig and he smiles back. I really like Craig, he’s sweet. Despite throwing me to the ground, I like him.

“I’m usually running around the town, so if you ever wanna join then hit me up bro.” Craig offers. Running. No thanks. I’m not a runner and never have been.

“I’m more of a swimmer” I say. It’s true that I’ve always been better in water than on my feet, one of the few sports I did well at in school.

“Aw bro, we’ve got a killer swimming pool! Let me know if you wanna go anytime and we can hit it up whenever. I get in for free, perks of the job bro.”

I assume Craig is being overly friendly as a peace offering from his earlier assault on my spine. That’s fine. Swimming could be good, you enjoy it and you’d be going with Craig, which is also a big positive.

“Um, yeah. I think I’ll need to settle first but yeah, swimming sounds good at some point” I say.

“Nice one bro! Well I’ve gotta go. Need to seriously push myself if I wanna hit the PB now!” Craig says as he starts to jog on the spot.

“Let me move first… please”. I say, stepping aside.

He lets out a laugh and apologises to me once again. I assure him it’s fine and wish him luck on a PB. Not that I know what I’m talking about, I assume it’s running stuff.

“Later bro!”

And he’s off. Craig wastes no time running off down the street. I can’t help watch as he goes. Craig isn’t usually my type but I can’t deny it, that guy was hot. A DILF for sure. It seems that Maple Bay is inhabited by DILFs.

With Craig gone, I think of what my plan was before I was brutalised in the street. The mall? Yeah. I’ll get a bag and maybe a new top, since this one has rubble poking out of it now.

I find the Mall relatively quickly, it’s a large, open building with plenty of that good American capitalism. Shops and food immediately fill my eyesight. I am kinda hungry, maybe I’ll get something on my way home.

I spot a shop that looks like it could sell a black turtleneck. Black everything now I think about it. It has a distinct gothic vibe. I could get a new necklace too, since I’ve apparently got cash to burn. I head into the store and make my way to the jewellery. I spot a necklace with a Ghostface mask which I like a lot. I pick it up and continue to walk around.

“OUTRAGEOUS! The simple fact that you continue to abide by this loathsome consumerism is nothing short of appalling!” I hear someone bellow.

Oh dear.

Chapter Text

I stand holding my necklace. It sounds like someone isn’t happy that’s for sure. And that means I absolutely have to listen to what’s happening because I’m awful.

I crane my neck to get a better view from where the sound is coming from. It’s hard to see what’s happening through the racks of black clothes but I think I can just about see who is making the noise.

A thin man stands in front of the cashier. It looks like he’s wearing a cape? Or a cloak? His long black hair trails elegantly down his back. I can just about see that his nails are painted black, his hand poking out of a puffy sleeve.
In my head I give myself a bet that this is my next-door neighbour. The Victorian House has to be this man’s, it’s just got to be.

“I have frequented your wares for far too long I tell you! The fact you have this under Victorian “Vibes”, which is a travesty in its own right, is nothing short of diabolical!” The vampiric man begins again.

I move around to get a better look. He’s holding a short black jacket, and is frantically holding it in front of the cashiers face. In all honesty, I have no idea what this guys issue is. It makes me feel a little nervous, if this is the man I’m living next to then that’s not great. I start to feel a little tense in my stomach.

“This jacket is obviously that of the Edwardian era, which I will not partake in. See how the jackets length is shorter than, say my cloak?” He adds, holding the coat up like it’s a rabid animal, as far from his face as possible.

The cashier looks dead behind the eyes, I can’t blame them. I’d also want to throw myself off of a balcony if this was my day.

“Sir, I don’t see the difference. Want me to get my manager?” The cashier grumbles.

“Manager? No. Do you think a manager could rectify this mistake? The simple difference is that Edwardian clothing was shorter and tighter, like a modern jacket would be. Victorian jackets on the other hand extend to the knee and are LOOSE.” He explains, voice rising at the end. He’s getting agitated.

“So?” The cashier retorts. Oof even I know that was not the right response. They’re sort of asking for it now. The man takes a deep breath, moving his hand in an elegant way that makes him impossible to stop watching. His hand comes to rest on the counter as he leans towards the cashier.

The man begins to explain quietly, “This coat reflects that of Edwardian fashion. It is not a part of the “Victorian Vibe” collection and as a result should be removed.”

I wish I was this passionate about something. Victorian fashion is a niche interest definitely.

The man leaves the coat on the counter and swiftly exits, cloak/cape trailing behind him. Should I follow to see if he is okay?
I’m not sure. I’m pretty confident this is the owner of the Victorian mansion next to my house. Might be good to get on his good side straight away?

The cashier takes the coat and drifts away lazily, probably to weep after that interaction. I know that’s the first thing I’d do if a Tumblr sexyman got in my face.

I put the chain down and casually follow the man out of the store. He stops his elegant march in one of the darker corners of the mall. He rubs his chin with his finger. I can see his face better at this angle. He’s pale, but also has a lot of colour in his eyes. They feel almost hypnotic.

I judge how best to approach the man.
I was watching your tantrum, you good?

No he’d hate that.

My good sire, doth thou require any assistance on this good morrow?
That probably doesn’t even make sense.

I decide that being casual and considerate of how he’s feeling is the best approach but being formal with it. Yeah that’s good.

I cough and walk up to the man. “Hello there”

Fantastic start.

“I couldn’t help but notice you seemed annoyed in Dead, Goth and Beyond. Are you doing alright?” I ask. Much better.

The man looks surprised that I’d ask him such a question. Oh god, have I offended him? Do I get away before he tears me a new one too?

“Oh… my apologies for what you bore witness to. I take fashion quite seriously.” He gives me a small smile.

“Okay, as long as you’re good then that’s what I wanted to check on. That cashier didn’t seem to care”

“My point exactly” he states quickly. “There are obvious differences between Victorian and Edwardian fashion.”

I sense him looking at my outfit, it is mainly black so maybe that’ll get me some points. I try to hide the scuff marks on my back.

“I admire your colour scheme. Who doesn’t like black?” He asks, smiling again.

He doesn’t seem too bad actually, complimenting my clothes is an instant way to win me over. Maybe we’d be friends, he can tell me about Victorian things and I can look at his flowers? Sounds like a good agreement that I’ve made up entirely by myself.

“I like to change my colours on the daily” I say. “I like lots of different clothes really”.

“Hm I see. Well thank you for coming to check on me.” He says warmly, “my name is Damien Bloodmarch. A pleasure to meet you”.

A very cool name that’s for sure. Bloodmarch? Hell yeah.

“Hi, I’m [Y/N]. I’ve just moved onto the cul-de-sac”.

I’ve added that little detail to test my theory, and as expected his eyes light up. He smiles again.

“Ah then I expect you’re my new neighbour. I trust you’ve seen my home next to yours?” He adds.

Boom. 4 down, 3 to go.

“Oh that’s your house? It’s wonderful.” I say, as if I didn’t already know, “I love the flowers”. This comment makes Damien’s day. He gives me a bigger smile than before, and adjusts his cloak/cape.

“Ah thank you, my pride and joy. As well as my son Lucien.” he beams. Damien actually seems to be a very kind person, maybe the store incident was just an off-day for him. I find myself enamoured by his charm. I’ve lucked out with my neighbours so far, that’s for sure. He checks his watch and realises what time it is.

“It was a pleasure to meet you [Y/N], but I must go now. I’ve got a meeting to attend” he informs me.

He gives me another smile and resumes his march. He doesn’t combust when entering sunlight so that’s a good sign, he might be vampiric in aesthetic but not by nature. I have a sudden urge to listen to My Chemical Romance.

Well, only 3 dads left to meet. So far, they’ve all been lovely. It’ll be nice to live on the cul-de-sac if these are my neighbours. Whoever these other three guys are, you’ve got some competition.

I spend some time shopping. I buy a bag for my books, and a different turtleneck, one that has less holes in the backs. Though it’s new, my shirt feels tight on me. Whereas before my shirt almost disguised my body shape, this one leaves nothing to be imagined. My belly pokes out more, not that I really mind. I’m a chubby dude, what of it.

I gather my things and decide that reading at the park would be a good way to spend that last portion of time. It won’t be super long before the van gets here and I can get into my house.

The park is a 10 minute walk away, so I get moving. I never really took note of the rest of Maple Bay earlier, but it looks like a really nice place. I obviously checked out pictures online when I moved but they have to be a little edited to make you want to move here. But the streets are clean and people seem really friendly. There’s even a diner that specialises in cheese.

My new-place-new-people nerves are starting to subside. I like the town and my neighbours seem great. Maybe I’ll be really happy here.

I find the park after some thinking and walking. There’s a large field, with lots of trees and flowers. It’s picturesque that’s for sure. The field has various families dotted around, playing games and eating picnic food. I feel like I’ve stepped into a postcard.

I notice a spot near a tree, it’s in the shade so I’m not going to melt as I read. I walk through the field, past families and find my spot.
I pick up two of the books I chose with Hugo. I don’t think I want anything too heavy, and I’m kinda tired.

Goosebumps it is.

I bend down to get the book out of my bag and ride back up, my back to the rest of the field.

This should be a pretty nice time, reading in the shade in a cute little park. Maybe mystery dad 5# will turn up and -

“WOAH WATCH OUT!” A deep voice yells.

In the split second I hear it, I’ve been whacked in the back of the head by a hunk of plastic… hard.

Chapter Text

You know, as much as I like this place, I’m not overly thrilled about the amount of pain that is being inflicted since I’ve gotten here. First I crushed a man in some shelves, then I was thrown to the floor and now I’m being pelted with frisbees. I rub the back of my head, I never knew a frisbee could hurt so badly, whoever threw it has some strong arms. The back of my head is throbbing and the scratches on my back are starting to sting. The frisbee lands next to me on the ground.

I bend over to retrieve it.

“Aw no! Sorry!” I hear the voice from earlier call. From the way things have been today, another dad is in bound.

“It’s fine-“ I try to say as I turn around. But my throat catches the second I connect the voice to a face. These next few moments might as well have been in slow motion for me, I have no idea what is happening other than that I have just made eye contact with the most dazzlingly perfect man I’ve ever seen.

I swear the guitar riff from You Sexy Thing was playing.

Before me is a tall, burly figure. The first thing I notice is his nervous smile, lips and mouth buried beneath a gorgeous ginger beard. This beard connects around to a messy head of equally ginger hair. I can see his teeth beneath his beard, his greenish eyes displaying an air of nervousness.

He is jogging towards me. I almost want to be tackled to the floor again, if this is the man to do it. Please flatten me.
His open green shirt flows behind him, while his vest underneath reveals his fluffy chest hair, poking from the top, and a belly, that I want to immediately get my hands on, poking through.

As he jogs towards me, his belly bounces, with two huge arms swinging in front of him. Each arm is also dotted with the same ginger hair. After what seems like a lifetime of staring, he reaches me.

I’ve never made it a secret that I’ve been into bears. My type has always been “Bigger and Hairy”, and every single thing I admire and love about bears has been rolled into one neat package standing in front of me. I can feel myself getting hot, as I stare at the man. I think my mouth is open but it’s hard to tell with every other part of my body feeling like it’s both in heaven and on fire.

Through some breaths, he says “You okay bud?”

Bud. Why are you calling me bud, call me anything else please? Lover, darling, dearest, light of my life would all be better.

A small dog comes charging over, grabbing the frisbee that hit me. The dog takes it in his teeth and rushes off with it.

“That’s just Maxwell” Bear man says. “Sorry for hittin ya with the frisbee. Me ‘n my daughter were trying to see who could throw it the furthest. Looks like she wins!” He lets out a big bellied laugh.

I realise that the whole time he’s been talking to me, I’ve just been standing there with my mouth agape. My eyes have been locked into his and I really do feel my stomach tingling.

“Anyway, is your head okay?” He asks again. I better respond this time instead of staring, I don’t want to scare him off. Alright, here goes, the first words I am ever going to say to this wonderful human being.

“Ahaha hmm Zip”

I genuinely feel the world go cold.
ZIP??? WHAT ARE YOU DOING [Y/N]?! The man looks at you and furrows his brow a little.

You have ANGERED HIM! Sort this out, now! Say something else, anything else! Why is my face burning? Why is my mouth so dry? Why can’t I make any sounds? Is time moving this slow on purpose? He’s looking at me like I’m insane.

“I’m… fine”. I manage to choke out. A party goes off in my head. Well done, you managed to say two whole words! Congratulations. I’m sure that’s covered up all of those oddities.

To my pleasure, the man smiles at me again, with his big toothy grin, and laughs. “That’s good bud! Thought Daisy’s might’ve knocked the words outta ya!”

I laugh a little too, this whole “speaking to him” thing isn’t going to get easier. His chest rises and falls as he laughs. He definitely has pecs under there. Belly and pecs… maybe I should get him to check my head out. Or rest my head on his belly… yeah I think that would help.

“Good throw.” I mumble out. Who is this Daisy? An Olympian?

“I’ll bring her over, think she’s worried she’s hurt ya.” He says as he walks away to find his daughter. Please come back. Don’t leave me all alone in this field Mr Bear.

I watch him squat next to a tree, she must be hiding behind it. He gives a few nods and points at me while I stand here like an idiot. While this happens, the dog, Maxwell was it, returns with his frisbee. I try and earn some points with the mystery bear by throwing the frisbee and playing with his cute dog.
As I go down to retrieve the frisbee, Maxwell clearly recognises that I am not a certified frisbee thrower and begins to emit a low growl.

“I’m just gonna throw the frisbee” I whisper as I clutch the other side of the frisbee. “Then you can fetch it”. Maxwell clearly doesn’t want me to have the frisbee, so why am I not letting go?
“I’ll throw the frisbee Maxwell just let go!” I say, a bit louder this time.

“You boys okay?” The mystery bear asks, slightly amused. I hadn’t even noticed him return, I was too busy fighting a Corgi.

“I was gonna throw it for him but I don’t think he likes me” I admit. This makes the Bear laugh again.
“Ol Maxwell won’t give his frisbee to just anyone you know! You’ve gotta be in the frisbee inner circle.”

I watch as he takes the frisbee from Maxwell with no trouble at all. The dog that looks at me as if to say “You look stupid”.

The bear takes the frisbee and hurls it across the field, sending Maxwell scampering after it. I watch as the small dog zips across the floor, Corgi tail bouncing.

“Try some belly rubs next time, they work a treat.” Big Bear says. On who, you or the dog? Cause I know which one I’d prefer. The tingles still haven’t disappeared, this man is making me feel like I’m going insane. So insane that I hadn’t noticed the girl standing next to him, book in hand.

“This is my daughter Daisy, think she feels bad about what happened” he says.

“Hi. I’m sorry for throwing a frisbee at you.” She shyly says. “It was an accident”.

The best accident ever, thank you Daisy!

“Don’t worry, it happens” I say to her. I take note of what she’s reading and it’s… Finnegan’s Wake? How old is this child? I tried to read it once and had no idea what was happening for the first page and gave up, she looks to be around halfway through.

“How’s the book?” I have to ask, out of pure curiosity.

“Oh it’s good, hopefully I’ll be finished by tonight” she replies, still seeming nervous.

Tonight? Who is this wonder child? She only looks to be around 10 or 11. I’ve taught kids that age and it’s hard enough to get them to read their own name sometimes.

“Daisy’s a great reader.” Bear man says. “Reading on levels above every kid in Maple Bay. Like to write too don’t you? She’s a precocious one.”

She gives a shy smile. “Won a state poetry competition the other day, didn’t ya?”” He beams.

This man sure likes to show off his daughter. I’m used to that in the line of work I’m in, sometimes I do the same with the kids in my class, makes them feel good. I don’t have kids of my own obviously so I don’t have the whole competitive dad mindset yet.

“Oh wow, that’s brilliant. Well done!” I say to her. This makes her smile some more. She adjusts her shirt. Looking at her, she’s dressed very similarly to her dad. Both wearing an open shirt and shorts. She’s going for the plaid-shirt look which I can appreciate as it is a style of my own.

“My superstar, aren’t ya!” He adds again. It’s nice to see him being so full of pride for his daughter but in a selfish way, I want the attention back on me. Ask me about myself. Why yes! I do enjoy being cuddled. I would love to come over tonight, give me some time to make sure I’m limbered up and ready and…

“Name’s Brian. Brian Harding” he announces.

Brian… Brian… Brian…
Yeah that’s good stuff. That name is going to be in my head all day.

“I’m [Y/N].” I say, still tingling internally.

“Good to meet ya [Y/N]!” He says as he pats my shoulder. His hand feels heavy and large on my body. I’m not a small person at all, only just shorter than Brian and I’m not skinny but his hand on my shoulder makes me feel like I’m tiny. Like he’s a giant.

“You new to the area?” He asks.

Here we go. I’m placing my bets on the bright house being his. I don’t take my eyes off of his. They’re a greenish colour, I could look at them all day.

“I moved into the cul-de-sac today” I say. I’m finding it no easier to talk around Brian. My face and mouth still feel dry.

Brian lets out a big laugh. “Good to hear bud! That’s where me and Daisy live. We’re on the end, in the ranch-style house”.

Not the bright house but even better.

Knowing that I live only across the street from Brian makes me feel even more elated. Like I’ve won a competition or something like that. I’m closer to him than Craig, who lives next door to Brian, and I’m closer to Brian than I am to Damien. It’s silly but in my head, it makes me feel like I’ve won.

“Oh, I’m across the street” I reply. My house feels like a shack compared to Brian’s but it’s my first house so it doesn’t matter.

“Hmm, bit of a fixer upper that house” he says, still grinning. I’m still full of butterflies looking at Brian but something about that comment strikes a nerve. Yes, it’s not as good as your house, and what about it? I haven’t even gone inside yet, could be a palace for all you know.

“It’s not gonna stay like that, I’ll work on it through summer”.

Brian grins again. This grin is more one of pride however, like I’ve said the right thing.

“Good plan! I’m a contractor so I’d be happy to help you bud. I’ve got the tools and know how.” He assures me.

Please god yes. Work on my house with me. I have visions of myself laying on the lawn, watching Brian fix my house in nothing but his shorts. I wonder what his belly actually looks like? I’m sure it’s wonderful. I’d watch him sweat and work away in the sun, muscles and belly on show.

“Hmmm yeah” I grumble. I need to get myself together, he’s not going to go near me if I’m some kind of leering weirdo.
“Yeah I mean” I try again “That sounds great.”

He smiles kindly and pats my shoulder again. “Glad to hear it! Just let me know and I’ll come and help whenever I can.”

What’s the catch? Surely no man can be so attractive and so kind? Shall I suggest paying him for his troubles?

“Do you want me to pay for you to help?” That came off as more abrasive than I wanted but the point stands. Did he want money for his time?

Brian laughs. “No bud. Happy to do it! A beer and the good company is enough for me!”

Surely I’m in heaven. Did I die when the frisbee hit me? Have I transcended? How can I have been so lucky. A man willing to help me fix a whole house, and all I have to do is buy him beer and be there?
This is truly a special day.

“Sounds good.” I attempt to say. I can’t help but feel a lot of excitement. I’d sort of made plans with Craig and have said I’d see Damien or Hugo around but this is the first set of plans I am genuinely excited for. Being with Brian… maybe every day? Wow.

The only word I could think of was wow. Wow to this gorgeous man. Wow to his kindness. Wow to his boastfulness. He seems amazing. Maybe he had a need to be better than everyone else but oh well.

I smile at Brian and he smiles back. We look at each other, smiling, his hand still resting on my shoulder. Time feels like it has stopped. I never want this moment to end.

“Dad, I’m going to read for a while” Daisy breaks the silence.
God damn it Daisy. I was admiring your dad here. In all fairness, I’d sort of forgotten she was there for a second. Brian nods at her and she wanders over to the tree she was hiding behind before. Brian beams at her, his face full of pride. He takes his hand off of my shoulder and I feel myself drop internally.

“You gotta love her” he boasts once more. “Never stops reading. I’m talking to her teachers to get her to skip a grade.”

“I have books” I suddenly say. What am I doing? Don’t tell me I’m trying to compete with his daughter?

Brian looks at me, sort of puzzled as to where I’m going with my bold statement. I do indeed have books… what about it?

“…If Daisy wanted to borrow some” I come up with. Okay, well done, smoothed that over pretty well. Makes me seem kind. She’s not having my first edition of The Hobbit though, that’s off limits.

“Thanks bud! She’ll love that.” Brian beams.

He’s a ray of sunshine, I think to myself.

“Of course, it’s the least I can do” I reply.

Maxwell eventually saunters back over to me and Brian. He looks at me and then back to Brian, who takes the frisbee from his mouth once again.

I make eye contact with Maxwell. This isn’t over.

“Who knows, maybe someday he’ll let you throw the frisbee!” Brian laughs. Maxwell stares at me as Brian makes himself laugh. Do I have beef with a Corgi? I think I do.

“Yeah… maybe.” I retort, feeling a rivalry with this dog build.

“Well bud, I’m gonna get back to Daisy. Good to meet ya. I’m just across the street if you want me”

Oh I want you alright.

He pays my shoulder once more and smiles at me. I smile back and we return to looking at each other, both grinning.

Ask me to marry you now and I will say yes Brian, I assure you.

My phone ringing interrupts my thoughts of marriage to a man I’ve just met.

I quickly grab it out of my pocket and answer. Whoever you are, you have ruined my daydream.

“Hello? Is that Mr. [Y/N]?” The lady on the phone says.

“Yeah, speaking?”

“Just to let you know, the moving van has arrived and is waiting outside your house now.”

Oh good, I can enter my own home now.

“Thank you, I’ll be there soon. Goodbye”. I say.

Brian is still looking at me, and for some reason I feel I have to tell him what the phone call was about and my housing situation.

“Good thing they’re here now. Need any help unpacking?” He asks.

I probably don’t really need help unpacking, but if Brian wants to help then I absolutely need help. I feel bad that I’m pulling him from his daughter, so maybe just getting the boxes in the house and that’s all I’ll ask of him… for today.

“Would you mind?” I ask, just to check I wasn’t imagining things. “That would help me out a lot”.

“Not at all! We’re heading back soon anyway, I’ll drive ya.” He says.

And I don’t even have to walk back. Hallelujah!

I thank Brian and watch him get his stuff, and by stuff I mean smart daughter and devil dog.

I follow them back to their car. It’s a big 4 by 4, the side having that pattern that makes it look like it’s made of wood.

I assume I’m getting in the front seat, but as I open the door, Maxwell jumps into the front seat and plods himself firmly into the front.

“Maxwell goes in the front” Daisy confirms. From her tone, I can tell this isn’t something that she’s thrilled about either.

I sit in the seat behind Maxwell. The car rocks as both me and Brian climb in. I watch as Brian itches his leg, moving his shorts up so I can see a little more thigh on his thick legs.

“All good back there bud?” He asks. Did he catch me staring? Oh god!

“Yeah, thanks.”

“Daisy, you okay?”

Okay, he just routinely makes sure everyone is okay. That’s good. I feel safe knowing I got away with my leering.

“Fine thanks Dad.”

With that, Brian kicks the car into life as we pull away from the park. On the journey home, I look out the window at the places I’m going to become more used to as time goes by. The Coffee Spoon, Library, the school. This is my life now. And on the first day, I’ve made some friends and… I’ve met Brian.

Daisy continues to read next to me. A skill I don’t have, reading in a car is a recipe for sickness.

“I find it hard to read in a car, makes me feel gross” I whisper to Daisy.

She rolls her sleeve up to show me a wristband she has.
“This helps me read in the car, I need them with all the trips we go on. Dad’s usually singing so I need a distraction” she giggles.

Brian singing in the car? I wonder why that’s not what he’s doing now if it’s what he “usually” does. Then again, screaming the lyrics to a song with a stranger in the car probably isn’t a common thing to do.
I laugh at Daisy’s comment and turn back to the window. Brian is driving in silence, focused on the road. For a brief second we make eye contact in the front mirror before I panic and look out of the window again. I hear him exhale from his nose. What could that have meant? Have I annoyed him? Did it make him laugh?

My back is seriously stinging now. Maybe the new shirt being tighter is making things worse back there.

Eventually, after much overthinking about nose breathing, the car rolls up Brian’s driveway. Across the street, I see the van full of my things.
Time to move in I suppose.

Chapter Text

I tear the back door of the van open to find my bag. The driver of this van clearly hasn’t been delicate on these roads, it looks as if the van has flipped over on the way. My bags are everywhere, with my suitcase bursting open, leaking out clothes. My back is hurting again. My fan is missing a blade.

“Fabulous.” Is all I can bring myself to utter.

“How long you gonna take to move this into the house? We’ve got other jobs to do” one of the drivers say to me.

“Not long” I say. What I want to say is “You’re the fucking moron who went two hours in the wrong direction. I’ll take however long I want. Dick.” but I don’t feel like taking another beating today. I ponder the explosion of my belongings in the back of the van. Where do I even start?

I decide that I’ll take a quick look inside my house first. I find my keys and go to open the pathetic excuse for a door.

The key takes a couple of tries to work, but eventually the lock clicks open. I push the door and walk inside my home.

From the outside, you’d think that this house would be a catastrophe inside too. You’d be partially correct.
Although it’s not awful, it’s not great. The living room and the kitchen connect into one big room, and a thick layer of dust covers all. There are cobwebs… which means spiders.

I shudder at the thought. This is why house viewings are important.

I apprehensively walk inside the house. It’s a bungalow, so no stairs luckily. I walk to the bedroom and check inside. Nothing huge but enough to fit a bed, a desk and a wardrobe.
There’s a spare room which is effectively an empty box and my bathroom.

I take a peek in the bathroom; shower, toilet, sink, someone’s old loofah and a bathtub. Great, everything I need.

I sense this will be a rubber gloves and mask job to deep-clean the house. Start with the bedroom, I think to myself, that way you can sleep at least.

As I contemplate how I’m going to remove this loofah without touching it, I hear a loud whistle come from the living room.
“Boy… this could use a dusting.”

I feel myself tense up at the voice, it’s truly embarrassing for Brian to see my house in this state but at least I’m not the one who let it get this way.

I return to the living room to see him with his hands on his hips, giving me that toothy grin.

“You’re telling me.” I say to him, smiling back. I watch as he scans the room.

“You know, this’ll be a nice place once we’re finished” he nods.

We’re finished? You intend on helping me with the whole thing?

SWOON.

Brian helps me unload the van, and bring my things inside. It’s truly impressive how much he can carry at once. I watch him lift up my admittedly large suitcase in one hand, the veins and muscles tense in his arm.
I’d love to feel that bicep.

I make my way to the door with a box of video games.

The suitcase is half open, and as Brian’s carrying it, some clothes drop out onto the grass.

“Dropped some” I hear him say to himself.

I turn around at the front door to see what’s been dropped. Brian puts the suitcase down with ease, and collects some of my clothes together, planting a pile on top of the suitcase. It feels a bit awkward having Brian go through the various pieces of clothing that have dropped out.
He notices one thing on the grass that he missed, and goes to pick it up.
I watch as he bends down to pick it up.

He looks stunned for a second, what is that in his hand?

Is that… no surely not. Please I’m begging you. Do not be a jockstrap. Anything but that. Before I can really react, my suspicions are confirmed. Brian has a jockstrap of mine in his hand. I see the BearSkn Logo on the band.

2 hours I’ve known this man and he’s now holding my underwear. And not just underwear, a jockstrap.
This is not something I wanted to him to see, at least not right now.

I feel like drowning myself in the sink. God knows what he’s thinking but I in my mind it rhymes with “Pew”.

I’m burning up in the face, I feel like I’m going scream. But a part of me isn’t actually that upset, it wanted him to see a jockstrap. Maybe he’s picturing me in it right now.

Brian holds the jockstrap for another second before adding to the pile. I don’t think he knows that I saw that. Maybe that’s for the best. I shuffle inside quickly. My back is starting to sting from Craig’s accident.

The van drivers waste no time in skidding away down the street when the van is empty. Not even a goodbye, the nerve of some people.

My stuff lays on the living room/kitchen border. Boxes and bags lay around. I’ve got a lot to do. First up, hide that god damn jockstrap. I quickly stuff it in a drawer while Brian closes the door.

I see the fridge in the corner, and open it. The light comes on, the only thing in there is a plate of cookies. How odd. They look like they’ve been there a while.

“Want a cookie? Freshly baked.” I ask Brian, laughing to myself.

He walks over to me to see what I’m laughing at. I point at the cookies and watch him grab the plate out of the fridge. I’m stunned, they could’ve been there for years for all I know. Does he think I’m being serious?

Brian inspects the plate and jabs at a cookie, it doesn’t move. They have become one solidified lump of old cookie. What a way to go, I think to myself.

Brian makes a Hmmm sound. He pries a cookie free from the cookie mass. WHAT ARE YOU DOING MAN?

“No wait, I was joking-“ I go to say.

“I’ve always loved cookies, good with milk” Brian triumphantly announces.
I am absolutely mortified as he goes to take a bite. They could’ve been there for a long time. He could die? Who do I call? Daisy, your dad is eating a death cookie.

“No stop!” I shout. I whack the cookie out of his hand, sending it across the kitchen and skidding into the living room.

“I wasn’t gonna eat it” Brian begins to laugh. “Shoulda seen your face!” He continues.

Yeah well jokes on you, you big teddy bear, I take food safety seriously.

“Those are confident words for a man in the range of a cookie brick” I respond.

I’m not sure if he fully understood my joke or not but he continues to laugh all the same.

“God, they must’ve been in the fridge for a loooooong time” I say. I take a look at the cookies again, they’d probably taste good if they hadn’t been there since the dawn of time. They have no odour. I think it’s best if the entire plate goes.
Brian continues to giggle to himself as I go outside, hoping to discard the cookie that time forgot.

As I get halfway down my front garden, I meet eyes with a man. This man is coincidentally also holding a plate of cookies. A very identical looking plate of cookies.

“Oh, well hello there!” the man cheers. He looks clean, fresh even. Light blonde hair that is styled to perfection. Handsome face and a sharp jawline.
He looks like he’s straight from a Hallmark Christmas movie. He’s even wearing a cardigan around his shoulders.

“Oh hi?” I reply. I notice that we’re holding our plate of cookies in the same way. It’s like looking into a mirror that doesn’t quite work.

“Snap!” He cheers.

I give a little laugh as the man continues to smile.

“I’m Joseph, your neighbour. When I saw the moving van, I knew I had to stop by with some cookies. My daughter Christie personally sprinkles the chocolate chips in herself.” He laughs again. He seems quite the charismatic man.

“I’m [Y/N], nice to meet you. I would say these cookies are for you but I found them in the fridge when I moved in, so I wouldn’t want to poison you on my first day.”

Joseph takes a look at my plate of cookies and frowns a little. What could I have possibly done?

“Oh. I made those for the last neighbours. They weren’t here for very long, I suppose they didn’t really want them.”

Those monsters. Whoever you are how dare you insult Ken from Barbie over here.

“Oh well, if it helps you can take the plate back at least?”
That is literally the best I can come up with to cheer this man up. A plate.

“That’s okay pal. Throw it all away and we can start again. Pretend I’m not here.”

Okay then…
I go to the bin outside my house and drop the plate inside. I seal the fate of the cookies by putting the lid on the bin and return to Joseph, who is sadly watching his cookies and plate get lost forever. He places his free hand over his heart.

“They are gone.” I say, upon returning to Joseph.

Our miniature cookie funeral is over. May they find peace.

“Let’s start again. Hello, I’m Joseph Christiansen. I’m your neighbour, I live over there with my wife Mary and my 4 children!” He cheerily says, pointing to the bright house in the middle of the cul-de-sac.

I remember Mat mentioning a Joseph now. The only none-single dad.

“Nice to meet you Joseph, I’m [Y/N]. I love to eat cookies provided to me by considerate and kind neighbours!” I reply, just as cheery. Smoothed that all over, Joseph seems happy again.

“Well wouldn’t you know it, I have cookies!” He cheers. He passes me the plate of cookies as we both laugh. Suddenly, I hear a crashing noise come from inside my house, and remember that I’ve left Brian inside my dusty kitchen.

As nice as Joseph is, remembering Brian exists kinda makes me want him off of my lawn NOW.
How am I going to shoo him off politely?

“What was that?” He asks me. “The missus?”

Missus. Do I look like a man with a missus?

“Um no, I think it was Brian. I don’t have a missus”. I feel the need to add that last part. And then feel I have to add “It’d be a Mister if anything”.

Brian emerges in the doorway, me and Joseph look at him. What does he have in his hand?
Is that a cupboard door?

“You probably need a new cupboard bud.” He nervously laughs.

Joseph lets out a big laugh too. My horrible cupboards! How dare he!

I pretend to be extremely offended.
“How dare you! My cupboards! They were my life, my light! My everything!”

Brian finds this hilarious, and I am just thrilled about that. I watch him bring the cupboard door and place it next to the bin. It shall perish with the cookies.

“Hey Joe, how are ya? Real excited for the BBQ” Brian shouts.

What BBQ, I like BBQ’s. Is Brian going? Can I go?
I can’t just ask to come, can I? That’s a little needy. I don’t want to be needy neighbour.

“Afternoon Brian! I’m wonderful today, I see you’ve met the new neighbour!” Joseph responds.
They give each other a short hug.

This sets a fire in my stomach. Don’t hug Brian in front of me. How dare you? I know they would obviously know each other, but back off blondie. He’s my man, go back to your wife.

“Indeed I have.” Brian says.

I’m still sort of hung up on this BBQ. And yes Joseph, Brian has met me, and he has broken my cupboards, what about it?

“Oh that’s right, you won’t know!” Joseph says, finally turning away from Brian.
“I like to host BBQ’s for everyone on the could-de-sac. Having one tomorrow. You’re a part of the cul-de-sac now, be thrilled to have you there pal!”

Knowing that I’m familiar with basically everyone on the cul-de-sac now, it won’t be too scary showing up. And if Brian is there then I obviously have to be there.

“That sounds great actually” I confirm.

“See you there at 3pm sharp. No need to bring drinks, we’ve got everything covered.” Joseph cheerily says. Such a cheery man, I bet his family are really happy.

“Joseph’s BBQ’s are the stuff of legend.” Brian informs me. “It’ll be good to have you there”.

Oh will it now?

“Well I’m glad that’s dealt with. I’ve got to run, Youth Pastor duties call.” Says Joseph, retying his cardigan.
“I’m always here if you need to talk about anything, don’t hesitate”.

With that, he wishes Brian goodbye and struts back over to his house.

“He was nice” I say to Brian. I’ve got him to myself again. Good stuff.

“Joseph’s real nice, everyone is. Even Robert most of the time”.

Robert. I don’t know a Robert. I assume that’s the person living in the dark house but I wasn’t fortunate enough to crush, tackle or insult a Robert.

“I think I met everyone today, except for this Robert.”
I recount what happened to Brian. He finds my interaction with Hugo funny but seems concerned that I’ve been thrown around and whacked a few times today.

“Need me to check your head?” He asks. It gives me a slight case of fuzzy-brain since he cares so much already.

“I’m okay, don’t worry. It’s my back that hurts the most”. I don’t even realise that I’m sort of inviting Brian to look at my back, I’m just being honest.

Brian turns a slightly pinker colour after I say that, and once I’ve realised what I’ve implied, I feel mine go red.

“I can check your back too?” He asks, a little quieter this time.

I haven’t actually seen if there were lasting damages to my back. It feels like a few scratches at most, it’s not exactly something I can just look at. It’s now or never [Y/N].

“If you don’t mind… inside though?” I nervously ask. As much as you want him to check your back out, maybe not in the lawn.

Brian nods as I walk inside. From the sounds of things, it takes him a few seconds for him to start following me, like he’s thinking or watching.

We get inside and I feel the pain of the scratches on my back start up again. Maybe I’m being dramatic but they do hurt.

“Um, could you turn around?” Brian asks me. Okay, he’s about to get up close and personal with me. Don’t panic. Just arch your back a little and be natural.

I turn around and lift up my shirt, showing my back to Brian. I’m not sure if he’s looking or not, I would assume so. My body feels like it’s fizzing, first day here and I’m already nearly shirtless.

“Dying?” I manage to ask.

Brian makes a noise, as if he’s realised where he is.

“A few scratches. Not dying I don’t think.”
He softly says.

“One here and one here”
As he says this, he places the tips of his fingers on my back. I feel a lot of feelings. My spine shoots a chill right up to my brain and I can feel arousal starting to emerge below.

His fingers remain on my back, as he moves his fingers from one scratch to another. The motion of him stroking my back tickles in the best way.

“I think you’ll be okay. But I should probably clean it to be sure. Wait there”.

And he leaves me. Just like that. I know he’ll be back but still.

Am I being this needy for a reason? I’m not sure. I’ve had relationships before, and I think I’ve felt this way about other guys before, so why am I acting like this now? Getting annoyed if he hugs his friend, barely being able to speak half of the time. It’s stupid. I’ve known him for 2 hours and I’m instantly into clingy weirdo mode. It’s embarrassing to think about. I need to calm myself. I like this man, but it’s been a few hours, let’s not sign my life away to him just like that.

A couple of minutes go by, and I’m still standing in my living room. I go to pull my shirt down but the exposure to the air must’ve caused it to sting again so I leave it halfway up, like a crop top. My belly pokes out the other side.
Great, I look like a depressed Winnie the Pooh.

A couple more minutes go by. I’m watching the time. He said he’d be back right? I didn’t imagine that. He didn’t just turn and walk away once he saw my back.
My feelings of excitement and arousal have gone, being replaced by a weird solemn loneliness. Great. I’ve scared off a neighbour within 3 hours of being here.

I sigh and pull my shirt down. I don’t care if it hurts now, I’m annoyed. I lean against my kitchen island and fold my arms. Unpacking now seems like the worst thing in the world and I just feel pure disappointment. Not anger but I’m just disappointed in myself.

It’s true that the feeling of “not mad, just disappointed” hurts more. I’d rather be angry than disappointed in myself. I check the clock and 20 minutes have ebbed away since Brian left.

I check out of the window to see if there are any signs of life across the street. Nothing.

Whatever. Who cares. I’ll be fine. Sensitive? Me? Never. The pit in my stomach feels like it’s growing, it’s not fun to feel unlikeable. I check my phone. A message from my dad asking me how my house looks.

Like shit dad.

I go to respond as the front door swings open quickly. In bursts Brian, a first-aid kit in hand.

“We have reports of a patient in critical condition!” he dramatically yells. “Back wounds and cookie poisoning?” He seems very out of breath.

The pit has closed again, I still feel slightly annoyed though.

“Right here” I half-assedly join in, pointing at myself.

Brian laughs a little, I think he sensed my tone.

“I’m sorry I took so long. We’re out of rubbing alcohol, and then I realised you wouldn’t have any. Craig isn’t home, so I ran to the store. I thought I’d get two first aid kits so you have one and then-“
His breathlessness catches up with him.

It makes sense now. Actually the amount of work that he put in for what is effectively a graze is extremely sweet.
“It’s okay, thank you Brian.”

He catches his breath and rises.
“Sorry. Quickest I’ve ran in a long time” he chortles.

Even sweeter. I can’t help but smile at him.

“Lemme fix up your back.”

I oblige and return to the depressed Pooh bear form.

“Might sting” he warns.

I feel the cold sting of rubbing alcohol go across my back, and I grit my teeth. I make a sharp inhale noise through my teeth.

“Sorry.” He repeats. He takes hold of the back of my shirt to give himself some stability.

After some more stings, he finishes cleaning my back. I assume that’s that but Brian remains behind me, still gripping my shirt. What else is there?

I feel his fingers brush my back again. They’re not exactly soft. His fingers feel rough, he could do with a moisturising routine. I suppose a contractor is gonna be lackadaisical with skin care. Why is he rubbing my back again? To see if it still hurts? I’m not going to complain.

“Umm” I hear him mumble from behind me.

“Everything okay?” I ask. I personally wouldn’t be offended if he ripped my clothes off of me right now to be honest.

“Yeah… yeah. Yep!” His voice goes from sounding drowsy to enthusiastic. He lets go of my shirt and I pull it down again. It still stings but it’s clean now.

I turn around to look at him. He still looks red from his run but he’s as handsome as ever. His freckles seem more exaggerated while his face is redder.

“Thank you.” I say.

“Not at all.” He gives me a confident smile. “I say we get through these cookies and I’ll help you clean up. After that I gotta make some dinner, can’t leave Daze to starve”.

Sounds like a plan to me.

“I’m sure Joseph said they were MY cookies” I protest. Too late, the first cookie has disappeared in one bite.

“Bet I can eat more than you.” He laughs, mouth full of cookie.

Oh it’s on. I may not be great at a lot, but eating? Easy.

Chapter Text

My stomach hurts. I feel out of breath. Am I losing vision in my left eye?

“I count that… 26… to your… 24” I force out.

Why Joseph baked me 50 cookies, I’ll never know. I do know I’m the winner however.

Brian is leaning over the kitchen island. He has both hands on the counter and is bent over, possibly in pain. The cookie eating started fairly ordinary, but soon enough I think we both wanted the win and starting shovelling them in.

“Never want cookie again” Brian stutters. He sounds like he’s going to explode, so I let his weird broken English go. He lets out a sort of deep moan and rises up, placing a hand on his belly.

“I think I won…” I state. I think it’s important that despite being in a lot of pain, I am known as the true victor here. In hindsight, eating the full plate was a terrible idea, Joseph would probably be mortified.

It takes a while before either me or Brian are able to move or talk. I’m exhausted and I’ve still got a lot to do before I can just relax.
Eventually Brian is the first to move. “Guess it’ll be dusting first” he grumbles, hand still planted on his belly.

I feel a twinge of jealousy for that hand.

“Yeah…” I whine.

This is going to take a while. I’m not sure how I’ve wrangled Brian into helping me but it’s still good.
We come up with a plan together, I’ll dust and wipe things while he vacuums and mops, that way it’ll be clean faster. We get to work, idle chit-chat while we go at it.

After a few minutes of fighting to move, the stomach pain dies down. We discuss random things, a lot of it being about school work and Daisy’s accomplishments. “She’s definitely one of the smartest kids I’ve ever met, I’d love it if she was in my class”. I say.

Brian pauses and looks curious. Did I ever tell him I’m a teacher?

“Oh, I’m a teacher. I guess I never said. 2nd Grade this year”.

Brian laughs, I’m not sure what that response is supposed to mean.

“That’s great bud. Bet you got a lotta stuff to do”.
Not sure what was so funny but he isn’t wrong. I’ll have to prepare my classroom too over the summer as well as my whole house.

“Definitely. I want to finish the house first and then I’ll decorate my classroom.” I confirm.

Brian gives me an affirming nod, smiling all the same. He gets back to scrubbing and mopping my kitchen floor. I watch as his arms flex with each movement of the mop. He’s so hot, it’s crazy.

I use my phone to play music while we work, I let Brian have the music privileges however, assuring him I like everything. I think this’ll be a good way of sizing up tastes.

Lots of Dad-rock is playing, The Eagles and Billy Joel are frequenters. I can hear Brian quietly singing the words, as if to avoid me hearing him.
I don’t want to embarrass him so I don’t say anything about it.

Cleaning goes well, the house is more liveable now. And I only had to run out of the house twice while Brian removed the spiders. I feel a cringe go through my neck and back as Brian carelessly picks a spider up in his hand and takes it outside to be free. How anyone can touch spiders with their bare hands is crazy.

My house is finally clean. There’s still lots to do, unpacking and decorating, but I can at least stay here without inhaling dust. It was only cleaning and dusting, but doing it with Brian made it sort of fun.
Our idle chatting about Daisy’s schoolwork and his quiet singing were enough to make me power through.

“Right, onto unpacking!” He grins. He stretches his hands above his head. I hear a little pop come from his arms as he cracks them. Lifting up his arms has exposed his underbelly, I can see the curve of it poking out, naturally being covered in orange hair.

I need to stop gawking! But it looks so inviting, maybe I’d just be able to rub his belly for a little bit? Would that be too crazy?
He lowers his arms and my fantasies die with my hopes as the belly is back behind a vest.

Brian has been helping me all day, and I’m starting to feel like I’m taking advantage of his kindness. He didn’t have to do any of this for a person he’s just met. I decide that unfortunately, I cannot attach myself to him all day.

“Hey that’s okay, I’ve got the rest. You go back to Daisy.” I say to him. I try to sound as grateful as possible with my voice.

He looks at me. I think he understands that I feel bad but he has a twinge of disappointment in his eyes, or is that sadness?

“Um yeah, gotta fix up some dinner” he justifies to himself. “What are you gonna eat?”

I hadn’t actually thought about food. The cookies had filled me up but I suppose I better eat something that isn’t a baked good.

“Not sure, I’ll finish up and go shopping” I say.

“Won’t it be really late? You could always eat with us today? There’s always plenty at the Hardings!” He boasts.

Does he want me around as much as I want him around? Not that I mind but he seems to want me around a lot.

“I don’t mind getting my own food…”

“Not at all! Eat with us today and then tomorrow I can show you the store before the BBQ”.

Plans for tomorrow too?

“Oh, okay then, sure. As long as Daisy won’t mind.” In truth, I fear that Maxwell is the one that’ll take issue with me being there.

Brian laughs, “She won’t mind at all! Think I’ll do something with pasta” he says. Pasta is good so I smile at him, confirming the choice.

“I’ll shoot ya a message on DadBook when it’s ready” he says.

What is DadBook? I’ve literally never heard of that.

“DadBook?” I ask.

He laughs again and explains what DadBook is in the daddest way possible. Lots of trying to remember where to find things and how to get onto DadBook but eventually I get on and Sign In. We’re huddled around my phone, it feels nice to be standing so close to him. I’m confused why it’s called DadBook, I’m not a dad but I can use it still.

“There ya go! See ya later then” Brian says. He goes to the front door. “Hope the unpacking goes okay.”

He gives me a genuine smile, and I return one. He lingers for a second and then closes the door. I watch him stroll off down my yard and over the street into his house.
I look at the DadBook app again. It’s automatically made 7 new friends for me based on where I am.
There’s Brian, Mat, Hugo, Craig, Joseph, Damien and a man I don’t recognise. His name is Robert, the one Brian mentioned earlier.

The man looks sort of brooding and dark, fitting his house I suppose. His picture has him looking into the camera barely smiling, a glass of whiskey in one of his hands. He has some facial hair and has messy black hair. He looks rugged, but not in the same way as Brian.

I suppose I’ll get a judgement of him tomorrow, I was wrong about Damien so I’ll probably be wrong about Robert too. I can’t help but feel slightly intimidated by it all.

One thing is for certain though, every man on this cul-de-sac is a DILF. One DILF has peaked my interest for sure though.

I flick through the profiles of the Dads, half reading most of them but making sure I get every detail of Brian’s. He likes fishing, Daisy, Maxwell. Okay cool, I can move with that. I went fishing once when I was young, I was awful.

Romantic comedies? Not what I expected. I’m more of a horror guy but I do love a Rom-Com.

He thinks that Daisy is smarter than him? That makes me smile out of sympathy. He’s cute.

Ideal Date… deck building? Didn’t he mention building a deck with me earlier? He suggested it, not me. Does he want us to have a construction date? Decking and painting? I’m absolutely up for it even if I have no idea what I’m doing.

I build my own DadBook profile. I choose a photo of me that I think Brian would like. It’s of me at Pride, rainbows everywhere. I just feel like Brian would enjoy that.

What’s my ideal date? I have no idea. I put something about horror movies, red velvet cake and cocktails. I can’t really think of anything else.

Sure, that’s my profile done. I’m sure no one will read it and take it that seriously, it’s mainly for messaging right? I click back onto Brian’s profile. His photo shows him and Daisy smiling in front of a body of water. Daisy has a fishing hat on and Brian has a fishing rod. Wow I wonder if they were fishing that day?

I keep looking at the photo. The man is just so mesmerising to me. Even as a photo, he’s just gorgeous.

I think about messaging him, maybe just saying thank you for his help today. Yeah, that’s not weird is it? I type out my message. “Thanks for the help today, I really appreciate it x” it says. Is the “ x” too much? I feel like a teenager. I shouldn’t overthink these things at my age. I decide the x will stay, I send them to everyone so it doesn’t matter too much.

I hover over the send button. It’s taking me a second to press send for some stupid reason. “Message Sent!” DadBook proudly displays. Cool. Right, now I need to unpack. If I don’t do it now then I’ll never do it, I refuse to live out of my suitcase. Headphones go onto my head and my music is on. Time to smash this!

I spend a few hours unpacking. It would’ve probably gone a lot quicker if I wasn’t constantly checking my phone for a reply. Nothing. I guess he’s cooking, don’t be weird, is what I’m telling myself.

I’m starting to make a big dent in my pile of boxes and clothes. My pots and pans find a new home in a cupboard. My TV finds a spot in the living room with my consoles. Clothes find their way onto hangers and are organised (by colour of course). Some of my more… private items… are hidden away into my bedroom drawers. I make my bed. It takes a while to flip the mattress, and I can tell the bed is going to be lumpy. New mattress, that’s top of my list. Still nothing from Brian.

My bedroom is near-enough as good as it can be for now. I organise my books onto the shelves that came with the house. I would prefer to get some of my own but they’ll do. After an eternity, the house is in a liveable format.

I finish up by putting a throw over the couch. Couches are expensive so it could be a while before I can get a new one.

Brian still hasn’t said anything, and it’s starting to get dark outside. Is he flying to Italy for this pasta? I feel gross from the cleaning and unpacking. I decide that I’ll probably have time for a shower before Brian messages me, that way I don’t show up sweating and covered in dust. I strip off quickly and test out the new shower. It takes a while to get warm, so I’m just standing there completely naked while it heats up. Eventually I’m able to clean myself up and feel like a brand new man because of it. I wrap a towel around myself and make my way to my bedroom to get changed. I double check my phone. 3 Messages from Brian. Of course, it would be as soon as I’m in the shower. “Of course Bud! Any time” “Dinner will be ready in 5” “You there bud?” For fuck sakes. I’m late!

I message him back quickly, explaining myself. “I was in the shower, sorry. I’ll be over ASAP!” Quick grab some clothes that Brian will like. Some shorts? Better make them tighter shorts. A shirt too, why not? An open plaid shirt like Daisy was wearing aught to do. Eventually I’m ready. I throw some shoes on and leave the house.

The evening air feels good, my hair is still damp so it feels nice and refreshing. I make sure my hair is at least presentable before I walk onto Brian’s lawn. I think he was waiting for me because he opens the door as I’m still walking. “Hey bud! Ready ta eat?” He asks. He looks like he has flour dotted across his clothes. I can see some of it on his arms too. His massive, beefy arms. Why is my mouth getting dry again?

Brian brings me inside to his house. It’s spacious, with lots of furniture that Brian has presumably constructed himself. The house has a distinct cozy vibe to it. It’s spacious but makes me want to get a blanket and curl inti Brian’s arms. He even has a big log fire burner in the living room. “Can I getcha drink?” Brian asks. I need any kind of moisture in my mouth right now, my tongue feels a Dune worm. “Lemme show you what we’ve got”. Brian’s kitchen is just as impressive has the living room. It’s a separate room, so he has me beat there, and it reminds me of a restaurant kitchen. Lots of metallic silver and large equipment. The oven looks giant, with other utilities like a fryer, a grill, a stove and various cooking utensils nearly organised for maximum efficiency. Even his fridge is huge, it’s one of those I like to call a “double fridge” where there are two doors to get into it.

I eventually settle on a Pepsi with some ice. That’ll hopefully prevent any dry mouth chaos. It’s easy to assume Brian takes his cooking very seriously if this is his kitchen and I’m feeling hungry now, excited for whatever food concoction he’s prepared.

“Wasn’t sure what ya liked, so I hope meatballs are okay?” He asks. I definitely detect some panic in that voice. He clearly hasn’t learned that unless they are mystery fridge cookies, I’ll eat pretty much anything. Except mushrooms. God I hate mushrooms. “Sounds amazing.” I say to him.

He grins to himself and turns slightly pink. That was adorable, clearly a man who loves praise. I can absolutely work with that. “Be ready in a minute or two. Why don’t ya sit down?” He guides me into his dining room. The table has been set, with glasses and fancy silverware making three spots at the table. A bowl of salad sits on the table, and a candelabra acts as the centre piece to the table. It’s all very fancy isn’t it? Dinner for me is usually sitting on the floor and watching tv while I eat. Not at the Harding’s though, they do it professionally.

“Take a seat and I’ll get Daisy.” He says, giving me a pat on the back as he leaves. I take a seat with my Pepsi and wait eagerly. Brian’s heavy footsteps sound out above me and I hear another set of footsteps join him, must be Daisy. As they come down the stairs I hear Daisy say “Wait why are we eating in the dining room?” “[Y/N]’s having dinner with us” Brian replies.

Daisy lets out a quick laugh. “Okay Dad, I see.” Part of me wonders if he’s gone through all of this effort for me. I feel kinda bad if he has but at the same time, I’ve never had anyone light a candelabra for me before so that’s very flattering.

The first person (or dog) to enter is Maxwell who seems as pleased as ever to see me. And by that I mean he sniffs my hand and walks away. Daisy walks in next, carrying a plate of some kind of herby bread. She sets it down. “Hi [Y/N]!” She beams.

She has a pair of headphones around her neck. “Hey Daisy, what are you listening to?” I ask. Maybe we’ll have a similar music taste? I wouldn’t mind reading and listening to music with Daisy. “Oh um just musical soundtracks. They help me read the best I find.” She answers. I like musicals so yeah, I can talk to her about that. Not sure about reading to Cell Block Tango but that’s Daisy’s prerogative not mine.
“Any musical in particular? I love musicals”. She smiles again “Wicked at the moment. But I listen to a lot of different ones.” She goes to explain in some more detail but is cut off.

“Okaaay” Brian unintentionally interrupts, entering the room with two huge bowls. We watch as he sets the bowls down. “Thanks for carrying the bread pun’kin” he says to Daisy. Her face lights up as she smiles. It’s a very cute nickname and fitting considering the ginger hair.

“Dig in kiddo” he says. That doesn’t mean me does it? Daisy wastes no time, so I assume “kiddo” is her.

“You go before me bud.” He says to me. I see, I’m bud, she’s kiddo and pun’kin.

The food smells unreal. A large bowl of thick tomato-ey sauce full of big meatballs and a bowl of spaghetti cooked to perfection sits before me. It’s enough to make me forget about the man who cooked it, but only for a second. Did he hand-make all of this? “I used tomatoes from the yard for the sauce” Brian beams. I guess he did hand-make it!
Wow does that only make him more attractive.

“Did you make the pasta too?” I have to ask. It would explain the flour. “Aw yeah, pasta makin’ is second nature to me” Brain proudly says. I don’t think I’ve ever had food that’s this expertly crafted before. My uni days were full of whatever frozen form of chicken I could get my hands on and instant noodles, this is night and day compared to that. I can’t wait any longer, I make myself a plate of food and dig in.

The spaghetti is PERFECT and my god the meatballs. I would marry these meatballs if I could. Juicy and a little bit of a spice? Is there anything Brian cannot do? He is in the process of making his plate while me and Daisy enjoy our own food. Now, as fantastic as this food is, spaghetti has to be one of the most embarrassing foods to eat in front of someone else, especially someone you want to impress. With this horrific thought in mind and terrifying images of the Harding’s glaring at me like some spaghetti-inhaling monster, I try to eat slowly and politely.

The same cannot be said for Brian.

I’m not sure if the food actually touched his plate, but before I know it he’s going in for another plate. Not that I mind. Daisy manages 1 plate, some salad and a bit of bread but calls it quits after that. I manage 2 plates with the extra’s too, but I am on the verge of popping so I throw in the towel. Brian on the other hand easily demolishes 3 plates. He leans back in his seat and sighs, belly poking up.

“That was so good, thank you Brian” I say. “Thanks Dad” adds Daisy. He places a hand on his belly and smiles. “No problem, happy ta do it!”.

I decide that since I’ve been cooked an amazing meal and I’m still trying to impress this man, I’ll do what I can to tidy up for him. Daisy insists on helping but I say that I enjoy doing it, a massive lie but she’s been good to me today so I’m happy to bear the burden.

She returns to her room, and I start collecting plates and cups. “No, don’t worry bout that” Brian protests “I’ll do it”. “I’m happy to do it, it’s the least I can do after what you’ve done today” I demand.
I’m not budging on this Mr. Harding, I will do one thing for you today at least. “Well, I’m gonna help” he defiantly says.
He slowly rises out of his seat and helps me collect plates. We tidy up his kitchen and dining room together. He tells me about his favourite things to cook, a lot of it being cuts of meat or pasta dishes. “You gotta try my ribs, Daze loves them”. Sounds good to me.

Once the kitchen is tidy and clean, I feel a little better about the amount Brian has done for me today, I’ve at least washed some plates and he cleaned my house, disinfected my back and cooked me dinner. Basically the same thing… right?

I watch him put his pasta-maker away, he stretches up to do it, revealing that underbelly once again. It’s so tempting to just run my hand under his shirt, to feel that belly and those pecs but I won’t do that just yet.

Clean and tidy. Feels good to think I won’t have to clean for the rest of the day.

“Whatcha doing tonight then bud?” Brian suddenly asks.

I hadn’t really thought about it. Food and sleep was what I was planning. The events of the day are definitely catching up to me, and I can feel some strain in my eyes already, I definitely need to sleep soon.

“Oh um, I was planning on turning in early, busy day you know?” I reply.

“I gotcha. I was gonna see if you wanted to chillax with me and Daisy for a while”. He seems very proud of his use of the word chillax, so I’ll do my best to hide the chills that rippled through me upon hearing it.

As kind as his offer is, I feel like I’ve definitely overstayed my welcome today. He’s done everything for me and still wants to do more, which is incredibly sweet but I’ve got to draw the line somewhere… haven’t I?

“Oh that would be great but I’m starting to feel tired already Brian. I might head home if that’s okay?”
I’m not sure why I had to ask if it was okay if I could go to my own home.

“Course bud! Don’t have to ask me!” Brian chuckles. “I’ll take you to the store tomorrow, I could even show you all Maple Bay has to offer some-day!”

Through all the Italian food, I’d forgotten about our shopping plans. That’s something to look forward to!

“You got it.” I say.

Brian walks me to the door, as a polite host would. I feel the need to thank him again.

“Thanks for everything today, you’re great.” I say sincerely.

“Even the frisbee?” He chuckles.

That gets a laugh out of me too, hard to think my day with Brian started with Daisy launching a frisbee at me.

“Even the frisbee.” I confirm.

As I stand outside his front door, looking at Brian, I feel an urge, or demand to go in for a hug. He wouldn’t mind would he? Nothing serious.

He smiles at me again and opens his arms. I guess he had the same idea?
I waste no time! We wrap our arms around each other as I feel the butterflies in my stomach intensify.

We’re pressing into each other, belly to belly. It feels soft but also very muscular at the same time. He’s definitely strong, I can say that much. With my face pressed into his shoulder, I can smell the flour on Brian but also some sort of aftershave too. His beard tickles my ear a little too.

I could stay like this forever.

“Sleep well bud. You know where I am if ya need anything” he says quietly.

It’s almost enough to make me levitate. Sadly the hug ends.

We smile again and I make my way to my house. It looks quite creepy in the dark. Most other houses in the cul-de-sac have a few lights on, illuminating them in the darkness. Even Robert’s usually dark house has one light on.

When I get to my house, I realise Brian has watched me walk across the street. He gives me a little wave and closes the door.

What a crazy day. Dads, Italian food and assault, it’s enough to make you cry!

I get ready for bed, and throw most of my clothes off before snaking under the covers. The mattress is as lumpy as expected.

I lay there in the darkness, replaying moments from the day in my head. Some make me smile and a few are just embarrassing, but one thing is for certain, whenever I think about Brian I feel the butterflies rise again.

Is he being so kind to me for a specific reason? Is that just who he is or is he… interested? I don’t want to read into things too much but making plans with me, hugging and the whole rubbing my back thing, it just feels… different. And of course the big question remains, is Brian even gay? It would be darkly comedic if I was reading into all of these actions when he’s just a hetero dude.

But all of it can’t have been nothing.

Can it?

Chapter Text

It takes me a while to fall asleep, I think I’m just excited. I spend a lot of time imagining scenarios with Brian - kissing in the rain, cuddling, getting railed by him, you know the usual things. Eventually, I fall asleep.

It would be easy to assume that my dreams were also full of Brian related imagery, but no, you’d be wrong. The dream I had instead involved failing to sing a great song at the Coffee Spoon, and as a result being pelted by the hideous Cookie-Brick I found in my fridge.

I wake up at around 10am, later than I wanted but I supposed I needed the sleep. In my half-asleep stupor, I check my phone. A few notifications from DadBook!

Brian - 6:12am - Morning Bud! Feel free to message me when you want to go shopping! See ya later.

Craig - 7:06am - Bro! Awesome seeing you on DadBook. Sorry bout yesterday, seeing you at Joseph’s BBQ?

Hugo - 7:57am - Hello Dec! Lovely to see you on DadBook. How are you? Did you find much success with the books?

Joseph - 9:03am - Hiya! Just wanted to remind you about the BBQ, starts at 3pm pal.

The first thing I notice is that 6:12am is early. I reply to everyone in turn, making plans with Brian to meet at 11:30. That way I’ve got time to rot in bed for a while, I might even go to the Coffee Spoon for my morning caffeine boost.

After a while of laying there doing nothing, I decide that I need to be up and at em. I climb out of bed with all the grace of a house fire and stumble into the shower.

Two outfits for today, I decide. One for shopping with Brian and one for the BBQ. What is BBQ attire? No clue. I don’t want to overdress obviously. Maybe just looking smart enough but not a suit or anything.

For now I wear a hoodie and some shorts, and the fact that these shorts are tighter on me and show off my ass-et has nothing to do with my trip with Brian. Obviously.

I’m ready and decide to get some coffee. I make my way around to the Coffee Spoon. From the sounds of things, Brian is up to something contractor-related because the noise of power tools rings out from his lawn.

When I get there, I waltz through the door, I really feel on Cloud Nine today. Mat greets me, he isn’t any less cooler today, I guess he’s just a natural.

“Yo man, good to see you’re still here. Didn’t scare you off?” He laughs.

I don’t see Carmensita today so I guess he’s flying solo.

It’s good to chat to someone that I sort of know. I tell him about yesterday and what happened in all of the places he recommended. I think he’s shellshocked a little that so much could happen to one person. I also bring up Brian’s help and having dinner with him. Mat gives me a half-grin when I tell him.

“Gotta love B. He made my mailbox.” Mat says. “Never ate at his house though.”
That makes me feel good, it feels good to have that over someone Brian already knew. It’s not a competition, I keep telling myself.

“It was really good. He’s taking me shopping soon.” I say, sounding a little like a trophy wife.

“Oh is he now?” Mat remarks. I don’t like what you’re insinuating with that tone Mat, mainly because I wish it was absolutely true what you are suggesting.

“Few music stores in town, if that interests you.” It would interest me but Mat starts reeling off stores quicker than I can process what he’s saying, so I just sort of smile and say “Sounds good”.
I’ll get Brian or Mat to show me at some point, today it’s about food and survival.

“How are you with names?” Mat asks me, just as I’m about to go.

“I remember names pretty well I think, why do you ask Steve?”

Comedy King right here.

“Haha, nah, like naming things” he cooly says.
His voice is so smooth, I wish I could be a baritone god.

“What do you mean?” I ask. I’m genuinely confused. Naming what? A child? I’ve had those names picked out for as long as I can remember.

“Well, I wanna introduce these to the menu”. He pulls out a big focaccia-like bread thing. It looks good, full of herbs and flavours.

“It’s a tear and share focaccia, trying to get the Coffee Spoon to be about friends and sharing and chill stuff like that.”

I’m listening Mat. Will I be sampling this focaccia?

“And I like to name my food after musicians and bands. But I can’t think of anything that goes with focaccia”.
Sounds like a very obscure problem to have really. But I strangely want to get this right so I can point at the menu and say “I named that.”

He’s right, Focaccia doesn’t rhyme with much. And I can’t think of any bands with anything close in them.
Maybe I’m looking at the wrong words.

Tear and Share is what he called it to begin with. Hair and Share? No that’s gross.
Tear and Shade? No that’s bad.

Tear and Cher Focaccia.

I think that’s pretty good.

“Well what about Tear and Cher. Focaccia is a hard one to rhyme with. Use Cher instead of Share. You know…”

I then proceed to sing Believe by Cher in my best impression of her.

“DO YOU BELIEVE IN LIFE AFTER LOVE?”

Mat looks stunned. Does he hate it? Love it? I’m panicking now, I’ve done horribly. He hates it doesn’t he? Can I ever return to the Coffee Spoon?

“Pretty good man, I like it. Tear and Cher, yeah.” He laughs.
Thank fuck. I thought that was it, Mat hates me.

“Thanks, who says you need to be a dad to make puns?” I say back.
We laugh and think of various puns for a few minutes. Gotta love puns.

I say goodbye to Mat, well for a few hours anyways, and wander back home. He also confirms to me that Joseph has good BBQ’s so I’m getting increasingly more excited about it. A small part of me is nervous about meeting those I don’t know, Robert and whoever Joseph’s wife is.

I make it home and with a few minutes to spare. Eventually, I hear a heavy knock at the door. Imagine my elation when I open it and see the world’s most handsome bear standing in front of me.

“Hey bud!” Brian cheerily says.

“HI!” I shout back. Volume control may be an issue today it would seem.

“You ready to go?” He asks me. “I gotta get a screw while we’re out”

You could get a screw right here and now if you wanted to Brian, you’ve just got to ask first.

We get in his car together and I notice someone missing.

“No Daisy?” I ask.

“Nah, she’s reading in the garden. Craig’s keeping an eye on her. I can trust her, my Daisy-bear is mature.” He says proudly.

I suppose we’ll only be a few hours at most, and Daisy seems like a sensible kid. And plus if Craig’s there, I’ve seen how fast he is, it’ll be easy for him to get to her. How much trouble can someone get up to while reading?

On the way there, Brian points out a few places that we drive past. Things like a bar called Jim and Kim’s, a museum and the elementary school.

It’s weird that that place will be where I’ll spend most of my time in a few weeks. I better enjoy this free time while I’ve got it. I’m sure it’ll be great though, teaching kids to count and spell isn’t as hard as you’d think, it’s getting them to stop moving and getting them to listen that takes it out of you.

Eventually we pull up to a huge building. I’m not sure what it’s called because I can’t see a name but Brian just calls it “The store”. He grabs me a shopping cart, but refuses to let me push it.

“You’re gonna have enough to get, let me push it around and you throw what you need in”. He assures me. I’m not going to protest that’s for sure.

We make it inside and I feel like a kid in a candy store. The huge shop is lined with shelves, with everything I think I could ever need or want.

We start our march through the shop. I’m basically grabbing anything that looks good to me right now and throwing it into the shopping cart. Brian must think I’ve got cash to burn with the way I’m getting 4 different Oreo flavours. But this is all new to me, I didn’t have a huge shop like this near me when I was younger, I need to enjoy this feeling.

I try my best to show Brian that I’m actually sort of in-the-know with cooking. While he looks at some different spices that “Would be good for a dry rub” I eloquently ponder coffee beans.

“Hmm yes, these are good for coffee that has a subtle undertone of spice, where as the rich nuttiness of this coffee can be diverse and provide flavours in cakes and curries too.” I oh so majestically say.

“Coffee’s coffee to me bud” Brian laughs.

Right well that was a failure. I just grab some beans and go.

“Hmm, which pasta shape would you say retains its rigidity the best when cooked al dente? And also is able to hold the most sauce?” I try to ask Brian, showing that Italian food isn’t a foreign concept to me, and since he’s the pro at it I’m sure this’ll get me some points.

“Don’t buy the store pasta, I’ll make ya some instead, it’s better when it’s fresh.”

I want to hurl this box of pasta across the store, straight through the windows.

“Oh… thanks, sounds good” is all I say.

We keep moving. Impressing Brian has instead just been me making myself look like a moron. We make it to the final aisle, which holds the alcohol.
I decide that why not, I’ll get a couple of different bottles to have if I ever need a drink, can’t hurt can it?

“Beer guy myself” Brian says. “What’s ya poison?”

“Anything with alcohol in it” I reply. This gets a hearty laugh out of Brian. At least he finds me funny?

“You’re funny bud. Whatcha go for?”

I go for a few different things, a bottle of Rosè, some Lemon Gin, some kind of coconut rum that isn’t Malibu and a few coolers of various neon colours. That’ll do for a while. I don’t drink much but when I do, I usually like to go hard.

By the end, my shopping cart is stacked full of food, house items and alcohol. Brian still pushes the cart around like it’s no trouble at all. It’s very attractive to watch, the way he’s effortlessly walking with something that must weigh a ton.

“Just gotta go to Housing now and we’re out of here” Brian says.

We make our way to the housing area of the store. There’s lots of tools and screws and objects that I have no idea what I’m doing with, but Brian identifies with ease.

“I got my first flathead when I was 6. Still have it to this day” he proudly tells me.
That’s a screwdriver right?

Eventually we come to the mini screw shelves.

“I needa couple of 4 inch screws. Galvanised. Don’t want them getting rusty.”

Don’t know what a lot of that means but I ask what they’re for.

“Building Daze a little reading corner in the garden, somewhere she can go whenever she wants”.

Not only is he just wonderful to me, Brian is clearly a really fantastic Dad. There’s kids that would be more than happy if their own dad was even a quarter of the Dad that Brian is. It just makes him that much more attractive.

“Don’t believe it. They got galvanised but they ain’t long enough. Stainless steel is gonna fall apart eventually.” He grimly says.

I can’t even help really, I have no idea what I’m doing with anything practical. I made a birdhouse in school, it wasn’t very good at all.

He lets out a big sigh and starts rifling through some of the other screw drawers.
Don’t be upset Brian, why don’t you just take off your shirt and relax, here I’ll help.

Eventually he finds some screws that he’s content with. They’re “used for decking but they’ll work” he mutters. I google “Galvanised screws” and understand that they just don’t rust as quickly. “Have you looked online for galvanised screws?” I ask, pretending I have any clue what I’m talking about. He responds with a sad nod.

We go to pay. My wallet is about to take a huge hit.
The cashier tells me my total and I feel my heart murmur for a moment.

“Yeah of course…” I fumble through my wallet for a second.

I feel as if Brian is watching me and has gauged how this has hit me. I think I went overboard but that’s my fault, I’ll just have to put off that mattress for a while.

“We’re gonna split it” Brian says to the cashier. He offers up his credit card and swipes half of my total away.

“What are you doing?” I ask, slightly harsher than I anticipated.

“Call it a welcome present” he grins. I pay for the other half and we walk to the car together.

I’m a jumble of emotions now. I think what he did was really sweet, and part of me is excited that we was willing to spend a lot of money on me after a day. But I also feel slightly annoyed, like he thinks I can’t take care of myself, like I’m also just a kid. Him looking after me like this wouldn’t start to grate on me as much if I was able to offer it back sometimes.

When we get to the car, he helps me unload the groceries into the back of his car. I think I have to explain how that made me feel, and I’ll give him the other half of what he paid for me, I don’t think I’ll be content otherwise.

We hop in the car and I brace myself for this conversation. I feel like a wreck, I’m going to ruin everything aren’t I? So quickly too.

“Brian, look what you did in there was so kind and thank you, honestly thank you, but I can’t accept that from you. It’s too much”.

He looks taken aback, he didn’t expect me to protest it, I don’t think. Does that make me feel worse? Like he assumes I’ll just take whatever I want and not care?

“Bud don’t worry, I don’t mind-“

“I know you don’t, and that’s really nice of you but…”

I guess I’ll be honest.

“I’m starting to feel like a bit of a mooch? Like I’m just taking all of this from you without anything in return. You’ve done so much for me already and all I’ve done for you is wash a few plates”.

I’m looking down at my own feet while I’m talking, twiddling my thumbs. I can feel Brian looking at me, but I can’t bring myself to look back, I don’t want to see his face if he’s angry with me. Is he going to get angry? And start to shout?
My usual Brian butterflies have been swallowed by the stomach pit. I’m scared that I’ve upset him.

He continues to look at me.

“Dec… I. I didn’t really think about it.” He says. Think about what? How it makes me feel?

“What do you mean?” I ask, still avoiding his gaze.

“I just thought… Sorry. I’ll stop” He quietly says. He sounds hurt, like I’ve told him off. I sit there quietly for a couple of seconds. It feels like hours that we sit there, unmoving in his car.

“Don’t be sorry.” I say. “Let me do something for you every now and then and I won’t mind. Bake you something or make you and Daisy dinner one day”. I try and sound a little bit more upbeat. I think I’ve upset him but I can’t ignore how I was feeling.

I pluck up the courage to look at him. To my surprise he isn’t angry, or sad or crying, he’s giving me a soft smile. His eyes half open. Like he’s accepted what I’ve said.

“You got it bud. I tend to get a little… competitive with these things” he says, still smiling.
“I think I like to do everything for people I like, even Daisy has a line”.

I’m still not sure how I feel, I don’t feel annoyed at him. I never did really, I just wanted to stop feeling like a mooch. I still think he’s a wonderful human. But I feel kinda bad for what I’ve said, even though I shouldn’t. But he said he likes me, and that makes me feel happy again. It’s a soft moment between us that I think I needed to happen.

“Hey, I’m not upset or anything, I promise” I say to him. “I just feel bad if I’m not being of any use”

He gives a little exhale of the nose and looks at me again. We look at each other for a while, and part of me thinks “just lean in, kiss him”. He smiles at me and I smile back. In the afternoon sun, his hair is a very bright orange colour, and I just want to run my hands through his hair and play with his beard.

Brian snaps back to reality and turns around to face the front of the car.
“If you wanna do something for me bud, I’ve got an idea.”

Curiosity peaked. Imagination is running wild.

“Wanna help me build this den for Daze? Won’t have time today but tomorrow? Then we can start on your house”.

Okay not quite as sexy as I expected but yes. I will definitely help you. And I will make you lunch too.

“I’ll even make you some lunch tomorrow too.” I say.

With that, things seem okay between us again. I’m glad I said what I said, I can’t expect him to just do everything for me like he has done already. I slyly poke a few dollars into his glovebox, he’s not getting away with paying for my groceries.
I think he sees because I hear his nose exhale again, like a small laugh.

When we’re back, it’s around 2pm, so I’ve got an hour to unpack my food and get ready. Brian offers to help unpack but smiles and says that he’s going to go and shower off and get ready for the BBQ.
I’d be happy to help him shower if he needed it.

I’m glad he took what I said seriously though, it’d be easy for him to just carry on being Wonder-Bear and doing everything for me.

He disappears into his house as I tidy my things away.

It feels very good to have a clean house with food and liveable conditions. I take a few minutes to take photos and send to people from the old home. I also make a list of things I want fixing, changing and spend a good half an hour aimlessly browsing unaffordable furniture.

Okay. Back to the day. BBQ clothes. What is a BBQ outfit?

Stripy T-shirt. Sure.

Horizontal or Vertical stripes? Horizontal. Vertical make me look weird.

Colour? Purple maybe?

Let’s tuck it in. Some black shorts? White trainers?

Sure. I think I look summer ready. Joseph did say not to bring anything right?
What if other people do? And I don’t?
Should I ask Brian if he’s bringing anything?

No, let Brian get ready.

Craig. Let’s ask Craig. He’ll know.

I get DadBook up on my phone.

[Y/N] - 2:32pm - Hey man, excited for the BBQ. Should I bring something with me? Joseph said not to but what if everyone else does?

I wait. Please reply Craig. Please, I have faith that you’re someone with fast typing abilities.

Craig - 2:34pm - Dude, don’t worry about bringing anything. When it’s your cookout then you’ll do everything. We take it in turns bro! Later!

Okay, so I’ll just do everything when it’s my turn, I see. That makes more sense. Also, MY TURN? That wasn’t included in the housing contract.

I spray myself with some aftershave, put on my sunglasses and take a look in the mirror. Yeah, I look summery. I’m sure no one will really care, but if Brian likes it then I’m happy. If not then I’ll assume he’s prefer me with no clothes on to make me feel better.

2:56pm. I’m sure I can stretch the walk to last 4 minutes.

I walk on over to Joseph’s house and knock on the door. Here goes nothing!

Chapter Text

I knock on the door. From the back garden I can hear a rumble of chatter, some music and various child noises ranging from a baby to what sounds like teenagers. Scary stuff.

A woman answers the door. She’s thin and is holding a glass of wine. I’m not sure what to say to her, who is she? Is this Joseph’s wife?

“Yes?” She asks, seeming very uninterested.

“Oh, hi. I got invited to a BBQ? I moved over there.”

I point to my house and look back at the woman. She smirks.
“Newbie huh?”

I smile and nod.

“Little young to be a dad aren’t you?” She says to me.

“I’m not a dad” I say. Little confused as to what she meant by that? There’s no rule saying you HAVE to be a dad to live here.
She smirks again.

“JOSEPH, there’s a child at the door.” She calls.

Me? Child? Lady what are you talking about? She seems abrasive and maybe slightly drunk but at the same time, all I can think is the word “slay”.
Joseph appears next to her.

“[Y/N]! Glad you could make it pal! This is my wonderful wife Mary!”
She smiles at me again. “Charmed” is all she says as she disappears into the house.

“Come on in, let me introduce you to everyone!”

I already know everyone Joseph, I think to myself.
He guides me through his house. It looks very fancy, and the decor makes me think of the word “Naval”. There are various photos around the house of Joseph with his family. Four kids, him and Mary. They look, sort of happy? Two of the kids are scaring me a little, they just stare ahead into the camera, eerie.

“So glad to have you here [Y/N]! I think you’ll love it at Maple Bay. Later on I’ll tell you about my boat!” Joseph cheers as we walk through his house. “Can I get you a drink? Anything you want!”

I’m not sure what to have, I assume other people will be drinking. And I remember that Mary had a glass of wine when I had my amazing interaction with her. “Do you have any wine?” I ask.

“Sure do, Red, White and Rosé!”

I opt for a glass of Rosé wine and let Joseph guide me onto the garden. His garden is huge, with lots of carefully looked after plants around the edges. Tables and chairs decorate the space, with various people I do and don’t know dotted around.

The first thing I notice is a certain duo’s absence. I guess Brian and Daisy haven’t gotten here yet.

“So, you already know Brian, he’s running a little late.” Joseph begins.
Hmm, I hope he’s okay.

“That over there is Craig and his daughters, there’s Mat and his daughter Carmensita, that’s Hugo, that’s Damien in the cape- CLOAK! and that over there is Robert.” He points to a brooding figure in the corner of the garden who is in a deep conversation with Mary and Damien.

I have neither the courage or willpower to butt into that conversation but I’ve got to meet Robert at some point so maybe I’ll go and say hi?

“Sorry to leave you pal, but I’ve gotta make sure everything is ready for the grill. Everyone is really friendly, definitely get in there. Let me know if I can help you with anything” He says.

Aaaand he’s wandered back inside.

Aaaaand I’m standing in the middle of the garden by myself.

Who shall I talk to? Robert, Mary and Damien seem to be getting along and laughing, should I talk to them?

Craig is chatting with Mat. From the way he’s swinging his arms, he’s possibly talking about his new PB.

Hugo doesn’t look all too happy, he’s discussing something with a smaller person wearing an orange hoodie. I can’t see this person’s face but Hugo looks annoyed, so I’ll leave them alone for now.

Damien’s mind seemingly wanders away from the conversation with Robert and Mary, and I think he’s noticed my presence. He gives me a wave and beckons me over to him.
Sure, I’d like to get to know Damien better, other than the meltdown, I’m sure he’s great.

“Ah [Y/N], wonderful to see you again.” He begins. He’s in another fabulous Victorian garb.

“Remarkable day for it isn’t it?” He asks.

“Oh yeah absolutely. How are you Damien?” I ask him, double checking he’s not still angry about the Edwardian Fiasco.

“I must admit, I feel rather happy today. Seeing everyone together, plus my Gelatin mould has gone down wonderfully.” He gleams.

I look over at a mound of jelly sitting on a table. It looks like it has been picked at a little, with a few chunks missing. I don’t want to go anywhere near that right now so I just act like I’m impressed with it, much to Damien’s delight.

“No real gelatine used of course. All plant based.” He continues.
Can we stop talking about gelatine please?

“I couldn’t help but notice that you have a particular fondness for horror cinema” Damien notes.

How did you know that? I don’t think I mentioned horror films to him yesterday?

“At least it says so on your DadBook profile. I took the pleasure of reading it, to see if we had anything in common. And alas we do!” Damien smiles.

“Oh yeah, I love horror movies!”. Now, I really love horror movies. I studied them, I analysed them and wrote about them in my final essay. I could really geek out right now, but what if Damien has only a passing interest?

Would that make me weird?

It then clicks that I’m talking to a man who loves all things Gothic, I think I could definitely nerd out.

“I did a comprehensive study on Horror cinema in the late 21st century as part of my university degree” I begin. “Lots of studies on sexuality and gender”.

I don’t think I could’ve said a more perfect sentence to Damien. We get to chatting about all things horror, what we like and don’t like, things I studied and identified. I explain that one day, I’d like to maybe take my love for film into my work and become a professor, but that’s just a dream I’ve got.

Damien seems really captivated by what I’m saying, lots of “How fascinating, tell me more” and “Yes, a perfect observation”. It feels good to be able to geek out about these things with someone. I don’t even realise that we’ve both sat down and continued to chat with our glasses of wine (his being red of course).

“Well that is amazing news, I have to say.” Damien says. “I wonder if you’ll do me the privilege of accompanying me to the cinema to watch a film one day? All platonic of course.”

“I would love that Damien” I say politely. I mean it though, horror movies with my Vampire friend? Hell yeah.
I did learn that Damien has a penchant for all things Vampire in the horror world, so I’m already planning on what Lost Boys merch I can buy for his birthday.

“I must go and find Lucien, he’ll be around somewhere.”

Damien disappears and a few seconds later, returns with a lanky teenager. My goodness, so many piercings. I feel like a Grandma.

“Lucien, this is [Y/N]. He’s our new neighbour.”

The teenager has hair covering one eye, it’s a purple-grey colour. He looks at me, and just says “Hey.”

“Hi, nice to meet you. I like your tattoo” I say to him. He sort of rolls his eyes at that comment but having 999 on your arm is… wait a second.

“Oh wait no I’m looking at it the wrong way. Still cool though?” I try to say to Lucien. I think both he and Damien are a little bit confused.

“What do you say Lucien?”

“Thanks man.” He says.

Smooth interaction there! Well done me.

“[Y/N] was telling me about how he studied horror films and his favourites” Damien says to Lucien.

It’s like Damien placed a spell on Lucien, his demeanour completely changes. Instead of discount Gerard Way, he acts a little more like his dad, friendly and receptive.

“Oh, which films did you study?” He asks.

Time for another geek out. I tell Lucien about my degree and the films and he explains his interest in horror film too. We spend some time chatting as a three before Lucien excuses himself to hang out with the boy with the orange hood. Damien bids me “farewell” for a few moments to go and talk to Hugo.

Okay, that went well. Where is Brian? It’s 3:45pm, is he usually late?

Robert is on his own in the corner, is now a good time to introduce myself?
He’s ruggedly handsome, a real lone-wolf. He’s wearing a leather jacket, he screams bad boy with a heart of gold.

He’s pondering a tin of beer he has in his hand.
It’s NOW OR NEVER!

“Robert!” A voice calls from behind me. I think it’s Joseph.

“Have you met our new neighbour?” He calls. He appears next to me with a big cheesy smile on his face.

My god man, do you have any shame? Everyone is looking at me. I give a very nervous wave to Robert who exhales from his nose. Joseph let me do this in my own time for gods sake.

“Let’s go over to him! I know Rob can look intimidating so I’ll come with you, as back up” he whispers and winks.

Now I really am starting to believe what Mary said, I feel like I’m 8 years old. Joseph guides me across the garden, where I assume Robert feels the exact same sense of oncoming dread that I do. We make it to him, and he just looks at me blankly. Neither of us want to be in this situation.

“Hey.” He says. His voice is deep and gruff, as to be expected.

“Hi. I moved-“

“Next to Damien, yeah.” He cuts me off. Okaaaaay hostility detected, Brian help. Joseph save me.

This is very awkward. I feel like me and Robert aren’t really going to get anywhere with Joseph grinning between us.

“Rob is a connoisseur of all things alcoholic, if you want to find a good drinking spot, Rob’s the guy to go to.” Joseph says.

“I’ve told you not to call me Rob.” RobERT very clearly says. Always call him Robert, lesson learned.

Joseph acts like this is normal behaviour, and laughs it off. Robert doesn’t seem to dislike Joseph’s presence, which makes me worry that my presence is the one that he dislikes.

I decide that maybe I’ll try again with Robert later, he seems to be done with me. I am literally about to walk away when Joseph says “Robert, why don’t you tell him about your whittling? He’s fantastic at it, he made the wheel in my living room.”

Is Joseph trying to make a friendships on the cul-de-sac or make me seem like a burden? It’s hard to tell. I assume he’s just being his Youth Pastor self and trying to unite us all together or whatever, but I don’t think he’s great at taking hints when one of us wants to leave and the other wants to be left alone.

“Yeah, I like to whittle.” Robert says.

“There we go.” Says Joseph. And then he WALKS AWAY!
I’m just standing here with my wine, with Robert who is looking at his can. What do I even say? Shall I just walk away? Will he even care?

“Van Helsing!” I hear Mary call across the garden.

Robert looks up and smiles at her, a happy smile I think. He doesn’t seem like his brooding self when he sees Mary coming over. She strolls across the garden, wine in one hand and what looks to be a glass of whiskey in the other.

“For you darling” she says to Robert.

“Why thank you Ma’m” he replies.

That’s kinda sweet, I’m glad he doesn’t hate everyone.

“I see you’ve met the new kid.” She says to Robert, which is obviously referring to me.

As insulting as it sounds, there’s no malice in Mary’s voice when she calls me a kid. I think she’s just joking, and she probably just has a dry sense of humour. Yeah, that’s what I’ll tell myself. Don’t take it personally.

“That I have.” Robert says.

I’m not sure what to do yet again. I don’t wanna interrupt these two, they’re friends and I’m not wanting to be the third friend no one really likes.

“Hey, I’m not THAT young.” I try to joke.

Mary just grins and sips her wine, Robert looks at his whiskey. Awesome, I’m going to go and jump off a bridge now.

“Kid, I’ve got to talk to Smalls right now, but you seem okay enough for me. We’ll talk later. I’ll even let you talk to the Vampire Hunter over here.” Mary says.

Robert laughs at that and gives me a little nod. Okay. That’s good, a nod is a good thing isn’t it? And Mary thinks I’m okay. I take my cue and give Mary a smile which she returns.

I walk away from the two and stand by myself again in the centre of the garden. Is Brian still not here? Should I check on him, to make sure he’s okay?

I message him on DadBook quickly.

“You okay? X” is all I say. I don’t want to overburden him if he’s busy.

I decide to go to the bathroom quickly, before Brian gets here hopefully.
Joseph tells me where to go.
“Just upstairs pal, can’t miss it!”

I take note of the whittled wheel that Robert made, it is really impressive. Maybe he’d show me how to whittle or something? A whittling class with Robert doesn’t sound overly… good.

I go upstairs, it’s decorated in the same bluey-white theme.

…
…
…

Do you ever have the feeling that you’re being watched? When you feel a slight prickle on the back of your neck. And you just feel like you aren’t alone. Someone is with you, stalking you. That’s how I suddenly felt when I got upstairs.

Something isn’t right.

What’s going on? Why do I feel so uneasy all of a sudden? Did I drink too much already? One glass wouldn’t do this to me, would it?

I feel really on edge.

“Hello. Are you our new friend?” A pair of voices say.

Where did that come from?

“We so want a new friend.” They say again.

Where are these voices coming from?

I stand at the top of the stairs, and a long hallway extends to the right of me. I watch as two of the doors slowly swing open.

If horror movies have taught me anything, it’s stay quiet. Don’t be the idiot that says “Hello?”

“Hello?” I say, like said idiot.

A boy and a girl emerge from the rooms. They meet in the middle of the hallway and turn to look at me. No thought or emotion in their eyes. Just a slight smile as they stare at me. I recognise them from the photo on Joseph’s wall. They must be two of his kids. They both have Joseph’s bright blonde hair.

The pair continue to stare.
“Won’t you play with us?”

I know what they’re doing. I’ve seen the Shining. And I work with kids.
So why am I strangely scared?
These kids are good at the scary kid thing.

Do I buy into it for them? I think they’d probably like that. I could pretend to faint, or begin crying? What would make these strange but amusing children laugh the most?

I’ll play terrified victim, that’ll work.

“Please… don’t hurt me!” I say, in the highest register my voice can manage.

Their smiles grow bigger, not in a sinister way but like they’re having fun. I’m glad my plan is working, my skills are few but childcare is definitely one I’m strong with.

“We won’t hurt you. We just want to… plaaaaaay” they say in unison.
They must have a script because they’re very in-time with each other. It’s very impressive.

“No please!” I cry out.

They start to walk towards me in unison.
It might be the time to put the cherry on top of this cake that I call a performance.
Hopefully none of the dads hear this.

I let out the highest pitched squeal I can, and flee down the stairs.
I hear the two of them giggling like crazy at the top of the stairs as I stroll outside.

You can say whatever you want about me, but I’m good at what I do.

“Your kids are amazing performers” I say to Joseph. From the look on his face, he knows exactly what has happened to me and gives a nervous laugh.
“I see you’ve met Christian and Christie.”

That I have.
“Yeah, I was asked to “play” upstairs.” I tell Joseph, while laughing so he doesn’t think it offended me or anything.

“I don’t know where they get it from honestly!” He laughs back. I find it very sweet that he isn’t shutting their imagination down, a lot of parents would try and nip it in the bud but I don’t think they’re harming anyone.

“I think my performance as “terrified newcomer” was Oscar-worthy. They loved it” I giggle.
Joseph laughs again and offers me another glass of wine.
I find myself wondering where Brian is again. He hasn’t replied to me.
I ask Joseph if he knows what’s happened.

“Not sure pal, not like Brian to be late. He just said he had an emergency and would be over as soon as he could. He’s okay though, I double checked.”

Okay, I can feel relieved he hasn’t died or something major like that. That would be a slight downer on things.

“Thanks Joseph.” I say, referring to both the wine and the news. Brian still hasn’t responded to me. Is Daisy okay? Maxwell? Is he okay?

I wander back outside with Brian on my mind. He’ll turn up soon and it’ll just be something at home that isn’t that big of a deal. Yeah, it’ll be fine.

Damien and Hugo sit on the right, whispering to each other. They’re sitting very close to each other, Hugo’s hand sits on Damien’s knee. Damien looks fascinated by whatever it is Hugo is saying. I won’t interrupt their moment, although I do want to talk to Hugo.

Craig it is. He sits with two girls, telling them something that they don’t seem to be enjoying.
He has a baby strapped to his chest, not something you see every day but she’s absolutely adorable. That is one cute baby.

Great now I want one.

“Hazel you can’t kick Briar in the leg. And Briar if she does, that doesn’t mean you can bite your sister. Come on man you’re better than that.” He says to the girls.

Oh great more twins.

The girl on the left, who I believe Craig called Briar, has a cap on, but her sister, Hazel I think, has her cap on backwards. Any sort of clue will help me to remember, so the cool backwards hat girl is Hazel. Remember that.

The girls look remorseful. “Sorry dad.” They say in unison.
“I don’t want River growing to be a little fighter, not yet anyway. Don’t fight in front of her again, got it?” Craig says to them. He doesn’t sound angry, just sort of placid.

“Oh no… look what you’ve done!” He shouts. As he does this, he takes the baby’s hands and begins shadow-boxing with her arms. They all find this hilarious, including the cutest baby ever who is giggling and cackling.

Good lord that is THE cutest child. Craig has officially won Dad of the day, all three of his girls look like they’re loving life.

The girls eventually run off to presumably beat each other up again, and Craig notices me.

“Dude! How’s it going?”

“Hey man, I’m good, You?.” I say, totally cool, right?

“Never better bro. This is River” he says, pointing at the adorable bundle of baby hanging from his chest.
She has her hand in her mouth and makes a noise.

“UHHH”

“Nice to meet you too River, I’m [Y/N]” I say. Craig laughs at this, and I glare at him.

“Excuse me, we’re having a conversation here.” I grumble at him. “Could you mind your own business?”

“Damn, sure. Just be careful, River isn’t afraid to speak her mind.” He replies, chuckling to himself.

“Gwah” River eloquently speaks.

“I agree River, that is a real issue with society today. I must speak to your father now.”

Craig laughs and we sit down at a table near the house together. Robert and Mary are still at the end of the garden, Hugo and Damien at a wall and various children are running and playing in the garden, including both sets of twins.

Me and Craig talk about moving in. He was the newest on the cul-de-sac before I got here, but assures me how good everyone made him feel.

“Bro they included me in everything! It’s great, we’re like one big family.” He tells me.

I already had that vibe, I’m at a BBQ already for crying out loud. I think I’ll be very happy here, for many different reasons.

“How’s your back by the way?” He asks.

It didn’t really hurt today, I could feel the scratches still on my back but I guess the cleaning and some rest helped them recover a bit. I instinctively give my back a little rub with my hand.

“Oh I’m fine, don’t worry. We sorted it yesterday.” I tell Craig. I don’t want this to be the only thing we ever talk about so I’m going to get the whole tackling fiasco out of our conversations.

“We?” Is all he asks me.

I hadn’t mentioned that Brian had helped me, and I’m sure Craig wouldn’t care that Brian cleaned my back for me.

“Yeah, Brian was helping me unpack and cleaned my back with a first aid kit. It made me feel a lot better.”

With this, Craig’s slitted eyebrows raise a little. He then gives me a grin. I don’t like that grin. It says “I can see right through you” to my soul. Am I that obviously infatuated with Brian?
I feel myself getting embarrassed and my face heats up.

“I’m sure it did man.” Craig laughs.

What are you saying Craig? Are you insinuating something? I don’t really know what to say, he just grins. Nothing happened between us Craig, it was merely a platonic, slightly tense, back rub.

“Uhm, yeah. Did you mention swimming yesterday or was that a hallucination from the assault?” I ask. Let’s get Brian and tackling out his head.

His grin stays, but he moves on with the conversation. We make plans to do some “lanes” at the weekend. Swimming should be nice. So that’s three dads I’ve got plans with now, amazing, I’m basically the talk of the town. And it’ll feel good to do some form of exercise. Summer vacation for me usually consists of Oreos, Final Fantasy and an unfortunate amount of “me time.”

Me and Craig chat some more. River has started to doze off, so Craig turns her around so she can rest against his chest.

I get to know his workout routines and some stuff about his past.

He was in a frat, and was apparently what I would describe as “unhinged” in his college years. He tells me about a time he shotgunned a beer while doing a backflip into a pool. I tell him how I won a Smash Bros tournament once, both equally cool and impressive.

“I don’t really talk to the people I went to college with anymore. They’re all still threatened by my PK fire spamming ability.”

Craig clearly has no idea what I’m talking about but laughs anyway.

“You still talk to people from the frat?” I ask.
This seemingly strikes something in Craig, his confident and positive demeanour suddenly goes moody and evasive. I think I may have overstepped.

“I did… for a while” he begins.

Craig gets somber for a moment
He brings up a person he was friends with and I can see it’s something that upsets him a little.

“We lost contact.” He says, trying to hide his sadness. “Not sure why. He was my bro, you know?”

Whoever this person is, you have upset Craig and you must reunite with him or perish. It’s what Craig deserves.

“Maybe you’ll catch up soon?” Is all I can offer in terms of comfort.

“Nah, he had your house for a few months. Moved away with his daughter. Haven’t seen him since”. Craig looks remorseful about whatever has happened, as if he made a choice he regrets. I’m not close enough to him to find out what, I don’t want to pry.

So this person is the one who left the house in state of dusty chaos? And didn’t eat the Joseph cookies?

“Hey, it’ll be alright. We’re having a BBQ! Let’s be happy.” I try to use some of that Joseph enthusiasm to cheer him up, I figure if anything could cheer Craig up, it’s an embarrassing gym story.

“How about I get you a drink and I tell you about my short experience with weight-lifting” I say smugly.

He laughs a little and gives a more genuine smile, not like his grin from earlier at all. He looks content, but there’s definitely a lingering sadness.

“Sounds good bro.”

I’ll get him a beer. Oh wait no, we just talked about shotgunning beers, and that might bring up some memories. What about cocktail? That’s basically a smoothie with alcohol right?
But I’m not about to play Tom Cruise with Joseph’s spirit collection.

A vodka-coke should do? Nothing too strong. I’ll make it a Diet Coke for him, just to show I’m conscious of his health.

I get up and make my way into the kitchen. Joseph points out where I can find some vodka and some Diet Coke. He really does have everything.

He explains that it’s “Real kind” to make Craig a drink. Sure Joseph.

“I’m gonna start cooking soon, I’ve got the urge to grill! And you know what they say, can’t spell burger without urge!” he cheerily says. I watch as he ties his “#1 Youth Pastor” apron around himself and grabs a pair of tongs. He then marches outside, presumably ready to grill. I didn’t even process his pun.

I go to make Craig a drink. Some ice, a little bit of vodka and some Diet Coke. I’ll even throw some lime in there. Maybe I am Tom Cruise because not only does this look good, it’s even got a mini umbrella in it that I found on the kitchen counter.

“Impressive” I say to myself.

I don’t have time to react.

I hear a creak behind me.

A pair of big, cold and slightly damp hands clamp down over my eyes.

Chapter Text

TWO HOURS EARLIER - THE HARDING HOUSEHOLD.

“Ya gonna take a book with ya pun’kin?” I shout upstairs.
I hear some kinda rumbling noise from Daze’s room, better check if she’s okay.

I’m super Dad, running up these stairs like the Flash or something.
“Daze?”

I feel my heart sink. She’s been crying again.

I know I don’t have to say anything, but I still want to.

“S’gonna be okay Daisy-bear.” Is all I say before she throws herself into me, tears falling again. I wrap my arms around and she starts crying into me.

The hardest thing as a dad is seeing your kids in pain. Never gets any easier.

I don’t know whether to ask why she’s crying. I don’t wanna upset her more, but talking helps.

“What’s going on?”

Losing her mom started this all off. Happened a few years ago. Hurt me too, but I think I’m a new person now, and I’ve changed. Daze is finding it hard. They were close. We were close. Tight family unit for her. It’s left a hole in her life.

After that we changed. New people. Didn’t want to be around kids her age, kept to herself and her books. I think she likes being somewhere else in her head.

I have horrible feelings of freedom. Was never actually happy with my wife. I just thought I should be. Without her, I think I can be myself.

I told Daisy bout it of course, and she was happy for me. Even drew me some rainbows. I thought she might’ve got angry. I promised nothing would change between us, best dad and daughter ever.

I’ve tried to stay the same. Goofball Dad. Always up for fun. But when it gets like this it’s hard.

I should’ve asked Daze if I could bring him over. It’s probably upsetting her. She thinks I’m moving on too quickly. I’ve been all over him.

I won’t do anything she doesn’t want me to. She’s my world.

She has her head to the side against my belly. I give her head a little stroke. Her sobbing noises her getting quieter.

It hurts. To see and to hear. Makes me want to cry with her. But I gotta be her rock.

“What’s going on Daze?” I ask her, keepin my voice quiet.

Her room looks like a mess. Usually so tidy, but her books aren’t away. Her clothes are in piles.

Through her muffled sobs, she tells me why she’s upset. Part of it is what I expect, but she doesn’t know the other reason. Thinks it’s more than just her mom but she doesn’t know why.

I know what time it is. Where we’re planning on going. But I’m not gonna do that. She’s everything. No one is worth more than her. I let Joseph know that we’re gonna be late.

I let her talk for a while.

She lets her feelings out, and I think it helps. She doesn’t mention him.

“You know you can talk to me whenever you want honey.” I tell her. She knows that but it’s good to hear.

We spend a little bit of time, just hugging on her floor. I don’t wanna bring him up, it’s not what I’m thinking about but I want to know if he came as a shock.

She misses her mom. She feels like she’s on her own. She wishes she could excel and float under the radar at the same time. Lotta feelings for a 12 year old.

I just assure her, it’s okay. She’s got me. And Maxwell. She can do anything.

She smiles at me, through her red eyes I can see her calming down a little. Still too early to leave yet. We won’t go if she doesn’t want to.

“Still wanna go to the BBQ?” I ask, ready for a pizza night and a Disney movie if that’s what she wants.

Kinda surprised when she nods. She likes listening to music with Mat’s girl. She’s a good friend for Daisy. They click.

“Okay pun’kin. Whenever you’re ready.”

She releases me and we walk to the bathroom. I’ll get her a wet cloth, cool her down. Calm her down. She felt like she was overheating. I think I hear my phone make a DadBook noise.

She follows me in, and I sit on the tub. I’ll ask her if she wants me to stop hanging with him. It’s been so sudden. I don’t wanna hurt Daze.

He’s a good person. He likes me I think, and he’s honest. Don’t know how I feel about him. He smiles at me a lot. I don’t make food like that for the other guys? Why did I do it for him?

Why’d I buy his groceries? Didn’t need to do that. But I just felt like I had to, or he’d be disappointed.
Not a feelin I’ve had before. I think it’s a good feelin. I had fun yesterday and today. I wanna have more fun with him. But if Daze don’t want me to see him, I won’t.

I reach for the cold tap. Daze stands in front of me, nearly matching my height while I sit down. I’ll ask now, and she don’t have to answer.

“Is [Y/N] gonna be at the BBQ?” She asks. I’m surprised. Does she want him there?

“Yeah Daisybear. Think he’s there now.”

I feel relieved when she smiles.

“Good. He’s nice. He likes musicals dad.” She says.
Never was into musicals me, Daze and her mom liked them a lot. I’ll tell him, he’d understand.

I smile. “Didn’t know that. Did you talk last night-“

My hand pulls the tap straight off the wall. MEANT TO FIX THAT!

Water sprays straight into my face. Daisy screams.
It’s sprayed her too.
It’s a scream of laughter though.

I try and choke through the stream of water hitting me in the nose. My hair sags into my face too. Bet I look like an orangutan right now.

Daisy starts to laugh as I block the water with my hands.

“Grabba bucket!” I yell, laughing.

She runs off and comes back a minute later with my plaster bucket. Don’t want to use it for tap water but…

I am a knight that the bucket is my shield.

Daisy lugs my tools into the room as I defend us against the water monster.

Takes me a couple of seconds to think of what to use. Torque Wrench, that’ll do.

I slam the tap into place. Torque wrench activate.
The water stops slapping me and shoots into the bathtub.

Daisy shuts the water off without me saying anything. That’s ma girl.

I’m soaked. My beard feels 20x heavier and my vest is sticking to me.

Daisy is laughing hysterically. It’s good to hear that.

We clean ourselves up, I’m still damp but I’ll dry eventually. Daisy has changed her clothes, makes me feel happy that she’s gone for brighter colours.

Think my hair is frizzy, Daisy keeps grinning at me. I must look like a ball of orange fuzz.
I check DadBook quickly.

Joseph - 3:57pm - Hey B, could you bring some ice with you? We’re running low!

Sure, I’ve got a bag of ice.

I grab it and me and Daisy head over the cul-de-sac.
I’m still damp but warm air will help me.

The ice is resting in my arms, like when Daze was still a baby.

We get to Joseph’s and I see [Y/N] through the front window. He has his back to us, he’s on his own.

I hope he hasn’t been alone the whole time. I hope his back is okay, hopefully I helped when I cleaned it. Don’t think about his back right now. Feels like there’s something more, than just friendship I mean.

Daisy coughs, we’ve frozen in place on Joseph’s front lawn.

I think the jig is up.
“I’ll take the ice round back. Say hi for me, I’ll speak to him later” is all she says as she grabs the ice and runs around the back of the house.

Feels like her blessing to go further in a way.

I let myself in, I’m gonna scare him or something. Make him laugh.

I sneak up behind him. Ninja Dad.

He’s making a drink. Vodka Coke? Not my style but he’s put lime and a sparkly umbrella in there.

“Impressive” he whispers to himself. I can’t help but smile. That’s so darn cute.

The floorboards give me away, and I hear a creak just as I’m right behind him.

I panic and throw my hands over his eyes. Think my hands are still cold from the ice. His beard tickles my hands.

“Hey! Get off!” He shouts, trying to pry my hands away. He doesn’t sound happy.

What a stupid idea. I drop my hands and he spins around.

He has an annoyed look on his face, not too different from the one he had earlier today. He doesn’t look happy with me.

Takes him a second to clock me. I guess the frizzy ginger hair doesn’t help.

His face changes and he looks happy again.

“Oh it’s you!” He laughs.

We’re standing closer than I thought at first. I’ve kinda backed him against the counter. Fronts delicately brushing against each other.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare ya!” I laugh. I’m a liar. I definitely wanted to scare him.

“It’s fine. Are you okay? Where have you been?” he asks me.

Oh boy, where to even start.

Chapter Text

Although I’m not impressed that my face feels cold thanks to Brian’s hands, it’s really good to see him. I wasn’t sure who it wasn’t going to be at first, having someone’s hands over your eyes isn’t a common occurrence. I think I can let him off.

“Where have you been?” I ask him.

He looks… wet. Why are you looking so damp man, what have you been doing?

“Lot happened in the last few hours” he chuckles. “Got somethin to tell you later, if that’s okay?”

Colour me intrigued.

“Oh yeah, that’s fine. Where’s Daisy?”

“Out back. Has some ice for Joe. She said hi.”

“Ah okay. Are you alright” I ask. I response to the Daisy hi with a wave of my hand as if that is in anyway a decent response.

Brian sighs but then smiles at me, whatever happened clearly upset him to some degree. He might tell me later, but I won’t pry into his business.

He’s standing very close to me though, my back is against the counter, like he’s closed me in. Not that I mind.
I can sort of make out the details of his chest through his damp shirt. Some hair and I assume the water is cold because I can definitely see nipples. Stop staring!

I look back at his face and he just grins at me. I want to melt into that grin, his damp hair and beard do make him look very adorable really, like a big fuzzball. My leering stops suddenly when I realise I’ve left Craig hanging. I Can’t do that to him when he clearly had something on his mind.

“Wanna come outside? Everyone’s wondering where you are.” I ask.

“Yeah, okay.” He says that but doesn’t move straight away, like he wants the moment to linger a little longer. His hair is looking extremely fuzzy, I assume it’s because of the same reason his clothes are wet. His hair and beard being so fuzzy make his head look like a tumbleweed, round and orange. It’s cute.

“Hold on, let me try and fix your hair.” I say. He laughs and obliges.

Okay, being able to run my hand through his hair is something that is happening, don’t panic! Just make his hair less frizzy and we’ll be okay.

His hair feels really soft. It’s nice feeling it between my fingers. His beard is scratchier, the hairs feeling thicker and more coarse. No matter how much I try to flatter his hair, nothing is working. It looks more like I’m just stroking his head.
“If I was a cat, I’d be purring right now” he says.

“I’m sorry but I’ve done all I can.” I admit.

He looks less like a tumbleweed now but there’s still some noticeable frizz.

“You go see your friends, I’ll get you a drink” I tell him.

He goes to protest, saying he doesn’t mind getting one but I just give him a look, reminding him of the conversation earlier. He smiles instead.

He pats my shoulder quickly and makes his way outside. I’m sure he said he’s a beer guy. I grab whatever can of beer is closest, I think it’s the same brand as the one that Robert was mulling over, and then make my way outside with Craig and Brian’s drinks in hand.

Once outside I see a huddle of Dads. They all seem excited that Brian has arrived and are all saying hi. They’re like toddlers I think to myself. “OOH NEW PERSON!” is all I can imagine them saying. Makes me laugh. Brian seems well liked though, he assures them all he’s fine and waves at Daisy. She’s sitting with Carmensita, they’re talking about something.

I’ll leave Brian to see his friends, I’ll go say hi to Daisy for a bit. I hand Craig and Brian their drinks, letting both know that we can chat again later.

“Talk to you soon.” Says Brian.

“Yeah bro!” Says Craig.

I wave at Daisy who gives me a grin and smiles back, Carmensita also waves. I’m glad she remembers me from our not-so-flawless interaction yesterday.
“You okay girls?” I ask as I walk over.

“Yeah, we’re okay.” Carmensita informs me.

“We were talking about music, Carmensita knows more about music than me. I only really know about musicals.” Explains Daisy. I remember her mentioning musicals last night.

“Hey, nothing wrong with a massive musical knowledge. I was the musical kid at school so I know how you feel.” I say.

This resonates with her a lot, she smiles and opens up to me some more. The girls start talking about their favourite songs with me. Carmensita has a very impressive record with music, she likes pretty much every genre I can name and can prove it by naming songs. I guess that comes with having a cool musician dad.

It’s very sweet that Daisy has a little book that she is writing song recommendations into, so she can listen when she gets home. I suggest anything sang by Alex Brightman and a few ABBA songs not on the Mamma Mia soundtrack. That way it’s musical related and everyone on the planet must love ABBA, it’s the rule. Plus Alex Brightman is hot so…

She thanks me and scribbles them down. Should I ask her why they were so late?
“You and your dad okay Daisy?” I ask.

She raises her eyebrows a second.
“Yeah I wondered the same thing D” Carmensita says, “you’re usually here before us and we live closer”.

She thinks for a second and then starts to laugh. By the end of the story of Brian and the Tap monster, me and Carmensita are in hysterics.

“And then he looked at me and I couldn’t see his face, his hair was just everywhere” she cackles.

I’d have paid good money to see that unfold. Brian fighting for his life against a stream of water does sound great. And it explains the damp/fuzziness.
I look over at him, he’s talking to the other dads who are all standing in a big huddle together. He’s the one talking and the others are listening intently, laughing at his jokes and agreeing with whatever it is he’s talking about. He has his beer in his hand that I dropped off for him.

I just watch him for a while, while Daisy and Carmensita carry on their conversation. I don’t really react when Daisy says that they’re both going inside for a while.

“Okay” is all I can muster.

I just sit with my wine and watch him in his element. He’s loud, but so friendly, everyone is so in tune with what he’s saying. Even Robert is smiling and laughing. He’s just the full package. He doesn’t care what anyone else thinks, he is who he is. I don’t know if I’m feeling slightly jealous of his popularity, but I do feel content with the thought that he chose me to help yesterday and came to me before the others when he got here.

“Subtle.” A voice says, as someone sits next to me.

I look and see Mary, she’s joined me at the table. I guess I did look pretty lonely, sitting alone staring. Actually, I sound quite sinister by that description.

“Say again?” I ask.

“You, subtle. Can’t stare the whole time” she says, taking a deep sip of wine.

I think my subtlety went out the window a few hours ago Mary.

“I’m not staring, I was just listening”. I try and defend myself but Mary’s smirk says everything.

“Kid, you’re adorable.”

I’m not A KID! I think to myself, sounding a lot like a 6 year old.

“You gonna make a move?” She asks.

I’m starting to panic now. She clearly knows what’s going on doesn’t she? And I only met her a few hours ago. Is my leering that obvious?

“What do you mean?”

She drinks again, still smirking. I can see the cross necklace around her neck glistening. Makes sense that a religious woman would like wine so much I guess.

“Mario over there? Play your cards right and he’s yours” she informs me. With that she gets up and wanders into the house. My guess; for a refill.

Who is Mario? Not one of the dads look like Mario. But I assume we’re on the same page, and we’re talking about Brian.
It’s my second day here. It’s too soon to be all over him. I can’t just expect him to drop everything for this new stranger and for us to be together. But I like him a lot, and I want that to go further because he’s been nothing but kind and understanding so far. Other than maybe some slight competitiveness, I can’t see a red flag.

I drink my wine. Two glasses down. Better slow down before it hits me. I need some food. The BBQ is on the go, so hopefully I can eat soon.

Wait…

I can hear my name.
Someone said my name for sure.
I think it was Brian’s voice.

The dads all laugh together. Why are they laughing at something to do with me? Maybe I heard it wrong.

But then Hugo says my name in a string of sentences, and they laugh again.

I’m now watching, not to eye-fuck Brian but I’m now feeling conscious that I’m being laughed at. I’m sure they aren’t laughing at me right?

Mat looks over and smiles. He says something to the group.

I feel really awkward. Like really fucking awkward. Like I’m being heavily heavily judged. 7 men chatting about me and smiling while I’m in their presence? I hate this. I hate this. Why is Brian laughing?

Should I go home? Just leave?

“Hey! [Y/N]! C’mere a second!” Brian calls.

What do you want? Gonna laugh at me again?

I oblige. My morbid curiosity gets the better of me. I want to know what I’ve done that is so funny.

I make it to the group, feeling like a child. I go to stand next to Craig.

Brian immediately walks over to me, so he’s the one who’s next to me instead.

“I was just telling the guys how we met at the park!”

“Daisy’s got a killer throw man, trust me I know” Mat says.

Is that all they were laughing at? Just how I met Brian?

“And then I mentioned our shelving incident…” Hugo continues.

“Sounds like you didn’t have much luck yesterday!” Joseph chimes in.

Oh okay. So it’s just my general clumsiness and misfortune that has everyone in hysterics.

And that’s all it was.
Craig and Robert are the only ones not to bring up our encounters, I assume because me and Craig want to put it behind us and I met Robert like an hour ago.
I need to stop assuming the worst instantly. I would’ve maybe preferred to have been involved in the conversation from the start but we move.

But it’s nice that they included me at all. And Brian is standing next to me, wouldn’t it be nice to nuzzle into him right now? I can’t help but notice Hugo is standing awfully close to Damien.

I’m definitely getting hungry, how long is this food gonna be?

“Starved.” Is all Robert mutters. I guess he got his feelings across well enough as Joseph gives us a two minute heads up for grilled delights.

“Between us” Brian whispers in my ear, giving me slight goosebumps, “I’m the best grillmaster here, but Joe ain’t half bad.”

I whisper back “If your meatballs are anything to go by, then I believe that.”
Brian looks happy with my compliment.

“I’m a meat king. Trust me.” He whispers. I understand the secrecy, these dads must take grillmanship very seriously. I would hate to cause drama, at least that’s what I tell myself. Grill War would be funny to see.

“I’ll have to eat your meat sometime soon then.” I quickly whisper back into his ear. I don’t even realise what I’ve said until Brian pulls his head away and makes a strange shocked but amused face. Oh god.
“Fuck, I meant steaks and stuff!” I say in a panic. The dads look over at me, and Brian laughs.

Didn’t swear in front of a kid did I? The closest child is a blonde boy who sits at a table scribbling into some pages, but he didn’t hear anything so I’m in the clear.

Not that I wouldn’t be all over eating Brian’s meat, but maybe save that kind of talk for when he’s not in the presence of 6 friends and his daughter.

“Joseph, are there any of the plant-based patties that I provided cooking? Only you know that me and Lucien-“ Damien goes to say.

“Cooking inside as we speak Damien. Didn’t think I’d forget a thing like that did ya now?” Joseph comes back with.
Didn’t expect Damien of all people to be a veggie. Thought he’d be all over the rarest of meats.

“Come on the Grill-Daddy, I’m hungry.” Mat says to Joseph.

“I won’t make the mis-steak of rushing Mat.” Joseph expertly puns.
Oh god here they all go, it’s like their sleeper-agent code has been activated.
We stand around the BBQ as a group of 8. I brace myself for the pun storm.

“It would be foolish to brisket” - Brian.

“We should probably get out of Joseph’s grill” - Hugo

“Waiting is the wurst however” - Damien

“But then he’d have to wing it if he rushed” - Mat

“He’s gotta ketchup if he wants to keep the grillmaster crown” - Robert

“Whatever, all I know is I’m hungry enough to eat like I’m Four-man.” - Craig.

It was lightning fast from each them. Do they have them rehearsed and ready? Where does someone get pun skills? Does it come with being a Dad?

Why are they looking at me? What do they want?
For me to say a pun? What is this a cult? I don’t know what to even say! I can’t form a basic sentence with you all looking at me with your stupid DILF faces, never mind a pun. Brian stop grinning like that! I’m not good at this!

“Umm, that was grate” I squeak. I get a few murmurs. Mat has his hands behind his back, and mournfully looks to the ground. I think Craig makes a little “ooh” sound and Robert, well he just looks depressed.

“You know like, the grate on the grill”.
That gets a few “aah”s out of some of them. Brian just gives me a sympathetic smile and nods. I think at this point, just give me the Old Yeller treatment and put me down, it would be less shameful.

An absolutely awful feeling. I think that I should leave. Change my name and start new… again.

Joseph clears his throat and steps forwards.
“The um, foods ready” he says. Not an ounce of his usual enthusiasm, just pure disappointment.

The kids are the first to get their choice from Joseph’s cuts of various meats. It smells delicious, and I’m jealous that I don’t fit the definition of kids. By Mary’s definition I’m a kid so why can’t I be front of the queue?

There’s a few sides on a table, so I just start off lightly with a potato thing and some other non-meat things. They’re bleh. I want MEAT!!

I let some of the dad’s go first, out of politeness and also as an apology for my hideous pun earlier. I’ll go at the end, I tell myself, there’ll be plenty left.
A plate is thrust into my hands.

“Got you your plate” Brian beams at me.

In my hand is a plate of various steaks, skewers and burgers. There’s even a hot dog somewhere. It looks amazing.

“You didn’t have to do that!” I say to Brian. He really didn’t, but I do appreciate not having to wait.

“I know I didn’t. Wanna sit together?” He replies.
He gestures an empty table, and we go over swiftly to devour our food. And I mean devour with a capital D. Me and Brian don’t speak. The only noises coming from our mouths are various “Mmm” and “ohh” noises. If you were blind, a much different scenario could be mistaken for what we’re actually doing.

Now. I would never, ever, EVER tell Brian this. But… damn Joseph’s grilling skills are unbeatable. Every single piece of meat is cooked perfectly. They’re really giving last night’s meatballs a run for their money.

After some blissful, meat-filled minutes, my plate is empty, save some bare sticks. I’m sad. But I’m also extremely full, so it’s probably for the best. Two nights in a row I’ve eaten like a king, tomorrow needs to be just lettuce or something.

“Good huh?” Brian eventually says to me. Judging by his expression, he finished a while ago and has been playing with a skewer in the mean time.

Briar and Hazel have the same idea, and are sword fighting with some skewers. Craig can’t be over there quick enough. Daisy sits and laughs at the events with Carmensita. Me and Brian watch and chuckle too.

“It’s good to see her with other kids” Brian says softly.

“She looks like she’s having a good time over there”.

Brian ponders for a second before turning back to me.
“Can I tell ya somethin?”

I want to marry you too Brian!

“Yeah of course you can.” Is my actual response.

“Daisy really likes ya. Think she said you like musicals?”

That’s really flattering to hear. I’m glad me and Daisy getting on so far hasn’t just been surface level politeness. I want to get to know her better too, her and Brian are a package deal, and one that I’m more than happy to take on.

“Haha, yeah we spoke about it earlier. Gave her some recommendations.”

Brian smiles at me.
“I like ya too bud, thanks for looking out for her.”

Another positive. So far my package deal is going extremely well. Hopefully Brian will do more than like me eventually.

“Not at all. For what it’s worth, I think you’re both amazing.”

“Thanks bud. I needed that.” He gives me another warm smile and puts his hand on my shoulder, a frequent spot for that hand to be by now. He rubs my shoulder a little bit with his thumb.

Craig is fighting Hazel and Briar off with his own skewer by now, and the girls are all laughing. River gurgles in response to the combat.

“He looks like he’s having fun” Brian laughs. I should speak to Craig soon, if not today then sooner rather than later.

I go to talk to Mat as I haven’t been able to see him yet. Brian comes with me and proceeds to join many of my conversations. It’s nice to have him there as backup in case my foot ends up in my mouth.

Me and Mat talk about various music related things, favourite bands and songs, instruments we can play and some baking recipes that we both know and enjoy. Brian is talking to Robert nearby. I can hear Robert saying full sentences so he’s clearly capable of it, maybe it takes a while to get to that stage with him.

“So you’d bake for the Coffee Spoon? And come and play one day?” Mat asks.

Oh god I wasn’t listening, what have I agreed to? What did you say?

“Yeah of course, I can do that.” I say, I’m sure that just about covers whatever Mat asks. Baking? Yeah cool, I can do that.

Me and Brian wander over to Damien and Hugo at one point, who are chatting to each other at a very close proximity. We join their conversation. In my head, it feels kinda like a double date. Me and Brian and Hugo and Damien. It feels sort of right.

“I’ve been thinking…” begins Hugo.

“Uh oh” Brian interrupts. Classic Dad joke. Not fun to be on the receiving end of but still funny.

“-that our next game falls on my birthday. As a result, I would like to be the DM.” Hugo finishes.

Damien smiles and folds his arms while Brian huffs. Game date?
Craig and Mat join the conversation.

“Are you positively sure you can handle that responsibility Hugo? It takes a lot of planning and-“
Damien says.

“Yes, I’m aware. It’ll be the best campaign we’ve ever played.”

Mat nods while Craig and Brian share a look with each other. This is clearly something I am completely unfamiliar with and not a part of. Robert and Joseph have also joined the conversation, with talks of campaigns seemingly drawing Robert’s focus mainly.

“Yeah well if you actually plan for Robert to break out of things this time, then that would be great”. Robert says.

Why is he referring to himself in the third person? I hate that. Please don’t be a regular thing.

“[Y/N]! You must be very confused right now!” Damien says. Thank god someone picked up on it.

“[Y/N], are you familiar tabletop RPG’s?” he asks.

Oh like D&D?

“I’m more of a turn based RPG guy myself. You mean something like Dungeons and Dragons?”

I think Damien and Hugo are impressed that I know what RPG means, which I assume most of the other dads did not.

“Similar yes, but different. The game we play is different. Invented by Merv Myers at the turn of the 80’s…”

“He doesn’t need to know the history yet. It’s like D&D yes, but we all get together to play a campaign every few months, we even have our own characters.” Hugo tells me.

“My character, also called Robert, was brought up by the Black Handkerchiefs” Robert proudly says “I can deal with all sorts of subterfuge and lockpicking. If Hugo would incorporate that into the story that is.”

The third person made sense now.

“You should join us next time, it’ll be fun to add a new party member. We have some serious… shall we say weaknesses in our current state.” Based on the looks I’m seeing, I would assume that these weaknesses actually translate to being Craig and Brian. I can’t see Brian ever going near D&D so I’m surprised he even knows what he’s doing with it.

“I’m a bear-barian. I show up and punch things, what else is there to do?” Brian defends himself.

Craig instead just says to me “If I do anything wrong I just blame it on elf magic.”

This gets a few laughs. Damien is taking this very seriously. “We need to create you a character!”

I look around. Everyone is standing around in this conversation, I’m not sure I want to come up with a character to play as right now.

“Maybe some other time Damien, we’ve got a few weeks yet.” Hugo reminds him.

“Of course. I’ll help you decide a character and then we can inform Hugo so that it is properly incorporated into the campaign.”

Sure cool, whatever.

We carry on chatting as an 8 for a while. Robert seems to be saying more to me as the night goes on, I guess he just needed some time. Mary keeps handing me glasses of wine, which eventually leaves me with a buzz in my head and I slight wobble.

Night falls eventually. Kids are getting tired. Lucien and the kid in the orange hood disappear from the garden first. Then Craig as he needs to put River to bed and he’s had a few to many twin arguments to clear up.

Mat leaves next, singing on his way out. Damien and Hugo leave together for a nighttime wander around Damien’s garden. Robert and Mary have gone to a bar, leaving us with the Christiansen family.

I ask Joseph if he wants help tidying up but he assures he enjoys doing it and that I’m okay. Don’t have to tell me twice.

“About ready to go?” Brian asks me.

A very sleepy Daisy wanders up to us rubbing her eye.

“I think I’m tired” she murmurs.

Brian smiles and guides her towards the exit. He goes to lift her up and carry her but she wriggles free from his grasp, insisting she can walk and that she won’t pass out on the way home. We wish Joseph a big thanks and leave. I’m still full but the buzz in my head hasn’t gone. Thanks Mary.

We walk to the middle of the cul-de-sac. Daisy wishes me goodnight. “See you tomorrow [Y/N]” she says as she walks over to her house.

Me and Brian stand alone under the moon. “Thanks for bein good to Daisy” he says again.

“No problem at all, you’ve got a very cool daughter” I reply.

He likes that comment a lot because he has what I like to call the “genuine grin” on his face. He looks so handsome like that. The light from the moon makes his face shine. He’s been granted the best genes. His hair has still got some frizz but it’s messy in a very attractive way. I want to play with his hair again, stroke it and just make him happy.

He places his hand on my arm and rubs it.

“Thanks for that bud. She-“

He stops himself mid sentence. She what?

“She likes it when you talk to her I think, bout musicals and stuff”.

I don’t know if that’s what he was going to say originally and it’s something he’s already said today but I think I’m still flattered to hear it.

“Thanks, I like talking to her too. She can always talk to me if she wants.”

Brian starts to turn a little bit pink. “I um really like your shirt, you look nice in stripes”

Is this… flirting? Is he flirting with me? Am I going to melt? Yes, I think so. I think my face is also getting pink.

“You look good too, just always, all the time, haha.” Okay, bit of an overshare. Not as nuanced as Brian but I’ll blame the wine.

He laughs. “Thanks bud.”

His hand is still on my arm.

A million voices in my head are saying kiss him. To just throw myself at him here and now. But there’s one niggling little voice telling me to slow down. It’s day 2. Don’t rush it and ruin it. And that’s the voice I think I’m going to ultimately listen to. I don’t want to throw away a good thing by rushing in too quickly. I don’t think I’ve found my footing in Maple Bay yet, I need to slow down.

The buzz is still in my head. Brian is still smiling at me, perfect face glowing.

“I’m… going to go now. I’m kinda tired.” I say finally.

He nods, his smile faltering a little. “Okay…”

He suddenly pulls me into a big bear hug. My head is pressed into his neck. I wrap my arms around him.

“Thanks for my beer.”

I don't even remember getting him a beer. But it’s fine if this is what I get in return.

“Daisy. Den building. Tomorrow. Yeah?” He asks, chuckling. I can feel his belly and chest moving while he laughs.

I forgot I agreed to that, I can’t back out now.

“Of course. Looking forwards to it. I’m a master of carpentry” I say, heavy on the sarcasm so he knows I’m joking.

“I’ll show ya what to do” he says while laughing. We release each other on that.

Letting go from a hug feels worse today.

We eventually part from each other. “Goodnight, see you tomorrow” we say.

I make it to my house, and quickly dart inside. So much going on right now. First of all, I think the bear hug and being able to smell Brian has led to some tightness of the shorts. I’m gonna have to deal with that in a second.

I’m not imagining things. He was flirting with me. Compliments, rubbing my arm, hugs. That’s not nothing.

I think he’s interested too. He has to be. He wouldn’t be doing all of this if he wasn’t would he? I feel nerves and excitement build within me at this thought. He likes me doesn’t he? We like each other.

I’m still going to take it slow. But it’s good to have that thought in my head. I still don’t actually know if he is gay though.

Everything is telling me, yes he is a big gay bear. But part of me wonders, who is Daisy’s mom? He clearly had to be with a woman if Daisy exists. Could be bisexual? Pansexual?

A lot of thoughts for one day. Is this how every day is going to end from now? A bundle of emotions and thoughts racing around my head? Not sure if that’s something I can cope with in the long-run.

I get myself ready for bed. Another shower and some of that good old fashioned me-time. A lot of it spent imagining Brian and the various positions I would love him to destroy me in.

There we go, I can sleep and be ready for my building-date tomorrow.

I lay in bed, eyes about to close when I hear my phone ping.

DadBook? At this hour?

It’s not from Brian.

Hugo - 11:47pm - Don’t dilly dally next time and kiss him.

Oh my god he saw us.

Chapter Text

I wake up strangely early the next day. It’s a Thursday. The names of the days have started to matter less and less, but I suppose since I’m making plans for “the weekend” I better start paying attention.

It’s around 7am, I don’t think I slept too well. A few dreams, none of any relevance or sense but I was in and out of sleep all night. Meh, what can you do about it.

I slap my hand onto my phone. I spent a few minutes last night messaging Hugo. I read back through the small chat we had last night.

Hugo - 11:47pm - You and Brian seem close. I’m happy for you both.

Me - 11:48pm - What do you mean?

Hugo - 11:49pm - We’ve seen the way you look at each other. Me and Damien think you would be perfect for each other!

Me - 11:54pm - Is it that obvious? Does everyone know?

Hugo - 11:56pm - To me and Damien it is. We won’t say anything to the others. But if you like Brian, then I think a wonderful relationship may blossom. He didn’t stop talking about you yesterday.

Me - 11:58pm - okay. Can you keep it between us?

The conversation reminded me a whole lot being in school. “THIS PERSON LIKES YOU!” and all that. But I don’t know, being told by someone else that the person you’re lusting over is doing the same back? It’s a good feeling.

I’ve come to the decision that, if Brian wants me then he can make the first move. He’s got a lot more going on in his life, with Daisy and work and friends I don’t want to intrude on anything. .

It does worry me what the others might think. Damien and Hugo are my supportive friends, but what would someone like Robert think? Someone like Joseph? Would the age-gap be weird to them? He’s not that much older than me really. Over 10 years but who cares at our age. I lay in bed, thinking about things. Life in general. Work anxiety creeps in when I think about my new class. I don’t miss home, which I think is a good thing?

DadBook notification!

Brian - 7:05am - Mornin’ bud! Let me know when you want to get your morning wood on!

Excuse me? Did I read that correctly?

Brian - 7:05am - as in building. Not morning wood.

I think I can feel him panicking from across the street. Bit of a Freudian slip there. I keep my hands on my phone and keep rereading the message. All this talk of morning wood is very much having that effect on my right now.

Me - 7:07am - Yeah. I’ve just woken up so let me get ready and I’ll come over, that okay?

I decide that getting to Brian is more important than my morning wood situation, so I’ll leave that and deal with it another time. Quick shower, because I’m definitely going to feel gross later, and then it’s the task of deciding what a “construction outfit” is.

Do I go practical? Or something that would maybe… impress him a little bit? Or would thinking about the building and going practical be the hottest thing to Brian? Hmm.

Maybe just a flannel shirt then? So I can roll my sleeves up per se. Sure. I’ll even leave the top two buttons undone to show a bit of chest. It’s not as hairy as Brian’s but there’s hair there for sure.

I look as ready as I’m ever going to be. I remember that I promised to make him lunch. Now I’ve got a whole new wave of things to do.

What can I make? I got so much food yesterday, surely I’ve got food to spare .

I decide to make a mini picnic of sorts. Bits of everything so that the three (4 because I’ve included some meat for Maxwell as a peace offering) of us can all have plenty.

I make some sandwiches, pastries and all of that other good picnic stuff. Various fillings and flavours so that everyone is covered.

Just as I’m about to finish up the last sandwich, I hear a knock at the door. The heaviness of the knock implies that I’ve got a small mouse at the door.

I’m very delighted to see Daisy standing on the other side, alone however.

“Hi [Y/N]! Are you okay?” She asks, full of her usual positivity.

“I’m all good Daisy, you? What can I do for you?” I ask back.

I invite her inside as she explains why she’s come over. “Dad mentioned that you said I could borrow some books? I won’t need them for very long.”

Of course you won’t, speed reader.

“Oh yeah of course. Take a look at my shelves and take whatever you want” I say. I pray she doesn’t want The Hobbit, surely she’s read it.

She goes over to my shelves and inspects the books that I have. I have some that are maybe a bit mature for Daisy so I steer her away from those.

“What’s Haunted?” She asks.

Takes a lot to steer her away from that one.

“Ooh, is that The Hobbit? I’ve always been meaning to read Tolkien” she says.

My worst fears are coming true. I love that book more than I love anything in this world. Please please don’t do this.

“Could I borrow this first please?” She asks.

My internal conflict has reached peak level. It is only a book, she won’t hurt it, she’s trustworthy. But it’s MY BOOK.

What if she bends the spine? Or what if she’s one of those inhuman MONSTERS that folds page corners instead of a bookmark? Surely she’s got a bookmark…

Fine. She can borrow it but if I see any scratches or spine-creases then I’ll never recover. And I may take one her books and throw it.

“It’s a first edition Daze, so just be careful if that’s okay.” I warn. I try and hide how serious I am by smiling but it maybe just comes off a sinister.

“Yeah of course. I’d never hurt a book.” She assures me. I’m sure she won’t, it’s not like Daisy is a bad kid or anything. I’m sure it’ll be fine.

“Just the one book or any others?”

“This’ll do for now, I’ll be done by tomorrow I think” she tells me.

Right okay, that’s fine. Not like it took me ages to get through The Hobbit when I was 12 or anything, no not at all. I’m not going to fall for your competitiveness Daisy. You are no better than your dad.

“I’ll bring you some more books later, I’m helping your dad today” I tell her.

From her reaction, she didn’t know that. She smiles at me and does a little fist pump. I didn’t realise I was so popular.

“Thanks! See you later!” She excitedly says. I watch her run across the street back to her house. I decide that if she’s reading The Hobbit then the Lord of the Rings trilogy can be next. And then maybe after that she could read the original Wizard of Oz. If she likes Wicked then I’m sure this is something she’ll want on her backlog.

With lunch ready for later and Daisy’s books prepared, I make it time for some wood building and manual labour. Everything is in the fridge ready to go.

I wander over to Brian’s house, books in hand. It’s hot today, I can already feel myself getting sweaty. If Brian liked how I looked before, then today will probably change that. Visions of myself covered in sweat and looking like I’ve been in a battle with a

I knock on the door and am immediately in awe. Brian answers, he isn’t in his usual Hawaiian shirt, instead he’s got a sleeveless T-shirt on, I assume it’s a shirt he doesn’t mind doing work in.

Arms. Big arms. Big hairy tree trunk arms. I knew he was muscular but damn, his arms are beefy. Seeing the whole arm for the first time has me leering like a cartoon wolf. I can see some tufts of orange hair poking out from his arm-pit. He looks really really good. I just want to fall into his arms, let him carry me around, he could do it for sure. I wonder if he’d let me feel his bicep? And if-

“You okay bud?” Brian asks me. Have I just been standing and staring at him the whole time? I didn’t even say hi, I just stood there!

“Yeah! I’m fine, sorry, little tired today.” I come up with.

“We don’t have to build today if you’re not feeling it, I don’t-“

“Hell no. I’m ready. No one has ever been more ready to build a deck than me!”. I am full of enthusiasm.

“Well that’s good. Not building a deck though remember, it’s a den.” He laughs. Enthusiasm killed.

STUPID. Of course not. Why did my mind go to building a deck? I’m sure that’s something Brian has talked about before. Where have I seen him mention deck building?

“Yeah well tomato tomato” I say.

Brian huffs and invites me inside and through to his back garden. I lay the pile of books onto the counter for Daisy and make my way onto the back garden.

It’s a real carpenter’s dream. There’s shed, full of tools and work benches. It seems to be expertly carved and maintained, with a dark wood exterior. If I squint my eyes hard enough, I think I can see a wooden H screwed into the door. The garden is bordered with fences and bushes, all constructed and maintained to an expert degree, the bush doesn’t have a single leaf out of line. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a garden so perfectly maintained, even the grass is that perfect shade of green usually seen in advertisements and David Lynch’s Blue Velvet. Despite the neat bushes and vibrant grass, tools and scrap pieces of wood dot the garden, holding it back from that perfect grade. I do like the flowers I can see though, lots of different colours that add a much needed pop to the garden.

I assume that Daisy’s den is going to be built towards the end of the garden so she can have some peace. A small-ish space, perfect for a small shed-like structure sits there, right next to a large tree.

“So, here’s what I’m thinking-“ Brian begins. He shows me a rough sketch of some sort of den that he thinks Daisy will like. There’s lot of talk of supports, screws and what finish he wants to put on the den afterwards. I just smile and nod, I have no creative control here, just tell me what to do and I’ll attempt to succeed with it.

“So what should we start with do you think?” He asks me. Oh god is this a test? I have no idea.

“I think… you build the outline first.” Surely you need a border to do the rest?

Brian laughs. “Close. Gotta start with the floor and foundations, so it doesn’t blow away.”

That would make sense wouldn’t it. I had it in my head that there would just be a wooden box that you plonk on the garden somewhere and boom done. It’s never that easy.

Maxwell wanders outside to greet the new person, realises it’s me and then just sniffs my leg for a while. Bite me or something so I can just watch instead, I think to myself. I give him a scratch on the ear and he is surprisingly receptive. Bridges are being built! It’s a shame that dens are not.

Brian spends some time showing me how to put the foundations into the ground. He clears the patch at the back of the garden and starts hammering things into the ground. I watch as he uses the hammer, his big muscular arms swinging the tools around.

He’s kneeling down, showing off his equally tree-trunk sized legs. I have some muscle there of course but mine haven’t endured the Contractor Workout. He grunts ever so slightly as he hits the foundations into place, it’s all very attractive.

He hands me a hammer and a piece of wood. Had this wood been sharper, I’d be a regular Van Helsing. I look at Brian with an expression of “What do you want me to do with this?”

“Could you start on the other side? This’s the worst part of any job.” He grumbles.

I watch what he wants me to do and give it my best go. I hit the wood into the ground with the hammer. I’m getting really hot, so I roll my sleeves up. I feel Brian’s eyes on me as I work. The wood is in the ground, I think that’s what he wanted me to do?

“Good job bud!” He exclaims.

Thank you shop teacher! I have a very strange sense of pride building, I have to impress Brian today. That compliment has made my year.

As we continue to whack various things with hammers, Brian tells me about some of the things he and Daisy like to do. He tells me about his last camping trip with Daisy and Maxwell, and how Daisy doesn’t like fishing so he ends up alone on the bait most of the time. “It’s quiet when it’s me n’ Maxwell. Kinda like it though, you know?” He tells me.

“I went fishing once” I tell him. “I ended up standing on the box of bait and sending it into the water. The fish were happy that day.”

Brian chuckles.
“Did ya catch anything?”

“Other than one fish and a cold, no.” I reply.

He laughs again.
“Didn’t have the best teacher, I’ll show you one day.” He says, whacking something into place, grin on his pink, freckly face.

“I’d like that.” A lie as I have no intentions of ever being a fisherman but if it’s an interest of his then I guess I’ll take an interest for his sake. My only experience of fishing was with my dad when I was around 7 years old. I didn’t want to be there, and I think he knew that but I was there anyway. I was only 7 years old but I remember the day being really stressful. He tried to show me how to hook bait and unhook fish, all of which I hated. I didn't want the hook to hurt the worms, and I didn’t want the hook to hurt the fish. My dad didn’t care. I had to be a man. At 7 years old, apparently. Whatever.

“Shoulda seen it! Was bigger than my head.” He laughs, still hammering the foundations of the house. I snap back to whatever Brian was saying, I assume he got a big fish. I just smile and nod.

After a while of repeated hammer time, Brian tells me we can move onto the next part. I don’t even want to guess what vile things I’ll have to do next but I feel like I’m boiling. I can feel myself sweating on my head and pretty much everywhere else. I probably look gross. Brian is looking red, and I think the heat is hitting him hard too.

“Wanna get a drink?” I ask him.

“I do. Yes.

We head into the kitchen. Brian’s assortment of cold cans is quite possibly the most gorgeous sight ever.

This is gonna need to be an hourly thing if he’s expecting the den to be done today, I am not built for manual labour. I will simply die if not. I settle on whatever can is coldest, a Fanta I think. I go to drink it in one go but end up watching as Brian takes a cold can from the fridge and rubs it on his neck to cool himself down.

“It’s a little warm today.” I remark.

“You can say that again.”

“It’s a little warm today.” I remark.

This makes him chuckle, his body bouncing while he laughs. I watch him try hold the can to the back of his neck, while he tries to open a different one with his free hand. His arm being up gives me an open view of his armpit. Few poses are sexier than the armpit-showoff, I can’t take my eyes off of him.

“Let me hold that, you’re stressing me out.” I say, taking the can out of his hand. I hold it against his neck with my free hand, allowing him some relief.

“Oh… thanks bud.”

We’re in an awkward pose where we both are inhaling soda while I hold a can to Brian’s neck. Poses like these are usually saved for renaissance paintings but I’m getting a good view of the armpit and he’s enjoying the cold can.

“I have lunch ready for later” I gasp, that drink started to burn my throat a little.

“I’m lookin forward to it, I’m expectin Michelin star quality food.” He laughs.

“I don’t know about that but I did try my best to make it good for the four of us. You got any picnic blankets?”

“Think Daisy has it in her room, I’ll ask in a sec.” He replies.

Cool, I can make us a nice little garden picnic. I’m sure that’ll go down well.

Brian cranes his neck into the can a little more, inadvertently letting my brush his neck with my fingers. His neck feels slightly prickly, like the hair there has been shaved. He’d basically be an orangutang if he didn’t trim. if h

He lets out a little hum as he finishes his soda.

“Right. Let’s get back to it.” I command, seeing him finish. He looks sad, he was definitely enjoying the can-to-neck.

“Okay.” He grumbles like a resistant teenager.

“How about you go and get whatever is next ready, and I’ll go ask Daisy about the picnic blanket?”

“Fiiiiine” he grumbles again.

“And I don’t like that tone.” I sternly say.

He makes a scoffing noise that makes me laugh and skulks out onto the garden in a fake teenage rage.

“See you outside. Don’t keep me waiting!” He says to me.

“I won’t, I’ll only be a few minutes.” I reply.

I make my way upstairs, various photos of Brian and Daisy decorate the wall. They’re in various poses, one has them both pulling faces in what looks like a Photo Booth. At the top of the stairs is a photo of Brian, Daisy and a woman I don’t know. Daisy looks to be about 5 in the photo, she has two pigtails and is grinning widely along with Brian. They have the same smile. The woman is also smiling. I assume that is Daisy’s mom.

I look at the photo for an unknown amount of time.

Why does seeing this slightly upset me? I don’t know the details of Daisy’s mom. I didn’t even know what she looked like before now. She looks nice?

“That’s my mom.” I hear a voice say from behind me.

It’s Daisy. Her voice is flat. It’s something I haven’t heard from her before. I turn around to see her standing with her hands by her sides. Her eyes are looking away from me and she has a small frown on her face.

I don’t say anything, I’m not sure what to say to be honest. Daisy still stands there.

“She was great.” She quietly says, voice breaking.

Was. Such a fucking miserable word. I don’t need to ask what happened. I don’t think I want to know what happened.

“Do you want to talk about her Daisy?” I quietly ask. I know it can help to talk about things, but I’ll give her the choice.

“Um, maybe some other time. I don’t think I can today.” She tells me.
Emotionally, Daisy is really mature. Knowing her limits and when to talk about things or if that will cause her more pain. She didn't say much about her mom, but she’s clearly going through a lot. I would never have guessed that she was struggling, she seems so positive and happy.

I know kids that have gone through grief, and they all deal in different ways. I’ll let Daisy know I’m here and if she wants to come to me, she can.

I hope I’m not bringing these feelings on by coming into her life so suddenly.

“I understand. Here if you need me.” It feels a little awkward to bring up the picnic blanket right now. How do you transition from grief to blankets?

She thanks me and goes to return to her room. I have a sudden realisation.
“Hey Daze, don't listen to the Beetlejuice soundtrack right now please.”
I worry it wouldn’t have the desired effect of enjoyment on her.

She smiles at me.
“Aw but I thought Alex Brightman was the best?”

“Hey, he may be the man of my dreams but I think it’s maybe something we could listen to together.” I think that should stall it for a while, if she’s sensitive about her mom then Beetlejuice may not be the best since you know, there’s a whole song called “Dead Mom”.

She giggles at that and folds her arms.
“I’m gonna go back to Long Haul Paranormal Ice Road Ghost Truckers. Did you need me for anything?”
She still doesn’t sound like herself but her spirits sound lifted.

“Oh, do you have a picnic blanket? I’ve made us lunch, so I can come and get you when it’s ready and we can eat outside.”

She nods vigorously, like a bobble head. I assume that’s good news to Daisy. She begins questioning what I’ve prepared and if there’s anything she can do but I assure her she’ll just wait and see when it’s all done. I hope a sandwich isn’t a disappointment now.

She gives me the blanket and I leave her to her show with the long name. She very nearly opened up to me there, but I think I’ve got a good thing going with her, so I’ll let her go at her own speed and if she wants to talk to me about anything then she can. I care about her and I care about Brian, and I hope they know that.

I drag the blanket down stairs and see Brian standing in the garden. He’s stretching his arms up revealing those fucking PITS! My man, I will not be able to control myself if you continue to stand in such attractive poses.
I regain my composure and bring the blanket outside.

“Oh there you are! Thought you’d ran away”

“Me? Run away? Never. I’m having too much fun here to do that.” I laugh. He scoffs and turns to the base of the den. He begins to wave his arms around as he explains the next part of our process.

He’s passionate for sure. I wish I could say the same, about the den that is. I know he loves building decks and things like that but…

Wait.

Wasn’t deck building on his DadBook profile? What did he say about it on there?

It’s coming back to me. I definitely read something about deck building!

“Well the next part will be better, I promise, we’re gonna be doing some-“

I am only half listening to him as I pull my phone out and go onto DadBook.

“But if we fit the back panels first then we can-“ Brian continues, making a rectangle with his fingers.

AHA! I KNEW IT!
Under ideal date, Brian has written the two simple words.
deck building

I’m not thrilled about the missing capital letter, but still! Isn’t that what I’m effectively doing with him now? Are we dating? My mind starts to race with thoughts of Brian and I dating, imagining his awe and love for my incredible deck building skills. He’s absolutely star-struck with my ability to fasten a latch to a door in under 4 seconds. I am the deck building king. I must make this thought a reality.

“Deck building, fuck yeah” I practice in my head.

Enthusiasm. Passion. Galvanised screws. Enthusiasm. Passion. Galvanised Screws.

I can do this. I’m a builder, and I love wood!
I love wood indeed.

“Whatever we’ve got to do, I’m ready!” I triumphantly cheer. I flex my arms into a muscleman pose.
Brian turns around with an eyebrow raised. He looks at me with his eyebrow in the air.

What, is this not what you want from me?

“Well… I’m glad you’re excited.” He says, starting to smile.

“More than excited. Give me those… galvanised screws.” I say, slinking down the garden towards him.

He watches me wander towards the base of the den, screws in hand. I have no idea what I’m doing with these screws. It’s going too far. Stop me before I ruin everything.

“We should get the base into place first. Then we can do the panelling.” He corrects me.

“YES! Exactly that. Let’s do this thing!” I cheer again. I raise my hand for a high five.

My enthusiasm is obviously contagious. Brian laughs and slaps my hand. Ow, his hand is heavy.

“Whad’ya say you get the panels, hand em to me and I’ll put em in place.”

On it. I do exactly as Brian says, and I’m doing it quickly.

I’m flying. I’m on cloud nine. This is easy. I can do this. He’s so impressed isn’t he? He thinks this is the best date ever. Does he even think this is a date? Whatever, it’s a date to me. Gotta get my panelling on. He’s loving this.

“Woah woah!” He suddenly says.
I break out of my daydream to see that I’m basically throwing pieces of wood in his direction. He’s barely able to get the pieces into place before I’ve hurled another in his direction.

I stop myself and start picking up wooden rectangles that have been hurled his way. I crouch down and start shamefully collecting wood while he finishes with the piece he’s inserting.

“Sorry, I got carried away. I was having a good time you know…” I say, slightly embarrassed.

“It’s fine bud. Good to see ya so eager. You know I timed myself once, built a shed in 47 minutes flat.” He boasts.

Once I’ve got all the rogue wood back to where it started, I’m able to show some interest in Brian’s shed building skills.

“They don’t take long if you know what you’re doing. But decks? Three weeks, minimum to landscape the whole garden.”

Shows how much I know, I thought it’d take an afternoon and some elbow grease.

“I hate shows that make everything look easy. My old man worked hard to build Maple Bay. Some shows would make you think it could’ve been done in 20 minutes or something” he grumbles, slotting pieces of wood into place.

Again, I can’t say deck building tv is a personal favourite of mine, I’m more Sci-fi. But it’s good to listen to him explain his preferences. Never show Brian construction reality tv.

Eventually after I slow my pace down, the flooring is completed.
I assume it’s walls next?

“Okay, walls.” Says Brian, climbing to his feet.

Fuck yeah I’m good.

“Knew it. Where do you want me?” I ask.

Brian hesitates for a second, looking sort of shocked.

“Eager ain’t ya?” He grins.

“You know it. This den will be my magnum opus Brian. Nobody has ever cared about a den more than me!” I cry out.

His eyebrows flings up his forehead again. “Curious Brian” are the only words now coming to mind.

“Didn’t know ya liked to build so much?” He says.

Oh I don’t, in fact I think I’ve got 4 splinters already, but I’m doing what I can to impress you here Mr. Harding.

“Love it. Always loved Lego.” I reply.

Something about his face after I say that makes me think he doesn’t fully believe me. Time to crank this construction up a notch.
I am asked if I will hand Brian the panels so he can hammer them into place on the frame of the den.

“I could always do the hammering?” I say. Very brave words [Y/N]. Be careful now.

“Um, you sure?” He asks, voice lacking any confidence.

“Yeah. I think I can do that.”

Brian shows me how to do one panel first and then gives me the reigns. Time to impress.

He lifts up a large panel of wood effortlessly, and puts it in front of me. He then sort of stands over me and watches my next move.
Fuck I didn’t expect to have an audience. At least Maxwell is asleep in the shade, so I won’t have his judgemental eyes on me too.

I look up at Brian, I’m on my knees holding the hammer, wood ready to be hit with nails. Oh god.
My eyeline. It’s in line with his groin. Jesus don’t stand there! I can’t concentrate. Don’t stare. Don’t stare. If I rotated to the side a little I’d be in the perfect position for a quick blow-

No STOP! I need to hit these nails. I look at Brian’s face. He’s smiling down at me. I return a nervous grin back, taking a mental image of the underside of his belly that I can see down here. Time to get to work.

To my surprise, I hit the first nail into place perfectly. Effortlessly even. Easy!
The second nail goes the same.

“Way to go!” Brian cheers me on.
“Have to say, I wasn’t convinced you were a hammering man but I’m happy to say I was wrong.”

Glad you have confidence in me Brian.

I keep going with the perfect nail hammering. Loud bangs ring out as I hit the nails spot on. This is the easiest thing I’ve ever done. Is this all it takes to be a contractor? Pfft, easy. I’m flying once again.

Panels are going up, the wall looks great. Confidence has never been so high.

“Think I could do this in my sleep” I say, chuckling to myself.

Brian huffs. I was expecting to see him grinning or something but he’s got a sort of glossed-over gaze. He’s moving things around mindlessly, not really here in the garden with me. Is he okay? Have I annoyed him?

“You okay?” I ask.

“Huh? Oh yeah” he smiles at me. Must’ve been in thought. He looks at me sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. He stretches his arms above his head, showing off those glorious flame-hair dotted arm pits. I can’t keep my eyes off of him as I go to hammer in the next nail. His knuckles crack as he intertwines his fingers and he gives a grunt as he stretches. His shirt rides up a little, showing the bottom of his belly. Wow he’s just incredible. My hammer-arm swings.

I don’t hear the usual bang of the nail. Instead I hear a sort of crunch. A heavy throbbing pain instantly envelopes my ring and middle fingers.
I drop the hammer, sending it clattering onto the den floor.

“AHHHH!”

Maybe my scream was dramatic in hindsight but OW. My fingers are in a lot of pain.

Brian instantly drops to his knees.

“Fuck! It’s broken. OW!” I repeatedly mutter.

“It’s not broken.” Brian assures me. “I won’t ask if it hurts.”

”Oh fuck, they’re broken, I’m dying”

“Hi dying, I’m-“

“BRIAN!”

“Sorry sorry. Let me get the kit”.

He jogs inside. I think he was slightly grinning as he went. Not in a malicious way though, which gives me some comfort. Why I cannot go 24 hours without injury is beyond me. He must think I’m a moron.

My fingers have gone a strange purple colour and are throbbing like crazy. Can’t bend them.

“Fucking Jesus hell that hurts” I waffle on. Various other exclamations pour out of my mouth, mostly about my fingers hurting and various words that I’m glad Daisy isn’t hearing.

I hold my hand, kneeling at the end of the garden. I look so pathetic.

Brian runs back outside to me. It gives me Deja-vu to when he run up to me when we first met. Why is my life flashing before my eyes? I AM DYING!

I can’t help but feel immensely embarrassed. I wanted to impress him and instead he’s playing nurse again. My face burns along with my fingers.

“Okay. Ice it. Bandage it when the swelling goes down.” He tells himself.

He wraps an ice pack around my fingers for me. His hand feels as rough as usual but he holds my wrist, and it makes me feel better to have him there. I don’t want to look in case he’s annoyed.

“I’m sorry.” I mutter.

“Why are you sorry?” He asks me. He doesn’t sound annoyed, he sounds strangely cheerful.
I look and he’s concentrating on wrapping up my finger. His beard and hair shine in the sun. His face is a slight pink hue.

I’ve never noticed his eyebrows until today, very bushy. I can see some chest hair poking up from his collar as usual. I feel my eyebrows soften from their furrow, my eyes lazily glued to his face.

“I ruined the den. You’ve gotta be the nurse again. I’m sorry” I grumble to him.

“You haven’t ruined anything. Stop with the sorry. I can get your hand fixed up and I’ll finish the den up. Don’t ya worry”. He says, a grin grows on his face. It’s making me smile too. The ice feels good on my fingers.

“What are you smiling about?” I ask, amused.

“Are you always this accident prone?” He laughs, looking at me.
“It’s fine if you are! Just so I know to stock up on bandages and gauze”.

“Oh go away. I was perfectly fine until someone got their daughter to throw a frisbee at me. Ever since then I’ve been all over the place.” I retort.

“I think you actually fell before you met me.” He hits back.

Fine. You win. I’m smiling too much to care.

“Well, that’s not the point! The point is it’s been 3 days and I’ve been to the Harding Hospital twice already.” I say, scratching my beard with my non-destroyed hand.

“Don’t mind. Happy to help.”

The ice pack is on my finger now and is helping. It still throbs but it doesn’t hurt as bad as before. Brian gets his bandages ready.

He hasn’t actually looked at my face yet. I’m not sure why that’s coming to mind but he hasn’t. The whole time he was focused on my fingers. For a guy with big hands, he’s intricate and delicate with them when he needs to be. He didn’t hurt me or man handle me once when he was fixing me up.

“I ever tell you about when I got knocked out by a fish?” He asks me.

You most certainly have not. Tell me more.

He tells me a story about a time when he was fishing with some friends in Hawaii. On the last night he spent an hour trying to reel in a big fish by himself.

“Man vs nature” he affirms. “I managed to get it out the water. It flies up and then guess what.”

“What?” I’m so invested in this story. I almost forget about my fingers.

“Damn thing smacks me in the face with its tail. Knocks me out. I woke up hours later and it’s gone. Never felt dumber.” He laughs.

I laugh a little too. Hard to imagine such a beefy guy getting taken down by a tuna.

He takes the ice pack off of my fingers after he tells me the story.
“Shoulda stopped the swelling.” He tells me.

He bandages my fingers, making them stick together. I’m gonna be bandaged for a few days now. Wonderful. Just perfect.

Brian finishes up the bandaging.

“You’re very prepared for this kind of situation,” I tell him.

“Gotta be. Daisy got skates once. I got through so many band-aids that week.”

I snicker a little, thinking about a tiny Daisy on skates is cute. I had skates once and I think I lasted a day before going home in tears. I assume Daisy had a similar skill set to me. I make a mental picture of the small Daisy I saw in the photo upstairs in roller-skates, flying around the streets. I can imagine they must be very bittersweet memories. “Thank you for helping me. Sorry again.”

“Stop saying sorry! You’re good. Long as you’re okay.”

He looks at me now, making eye contact. We’re both kneeling down, eyes level with each other. We look into each others eyes. Green. His are green, and a fantastic green at that.

“I’m more than okay. Thank you” I say back, slightly quieter.

“Good. That’s really good.”

He offers a small smile. He glances down at my lips for a split second.

Are we leaning in? I think I am. I think he is.
Our faces are getting closer. I can feel explosions going off in my stomach. This is it.

Our faces are inches away from each other.

“DAD! IS HE OKAY?” Daisy bellows.

We snap away from each other as Daisy walks outside. GOD DAMN IT! DAISY!
I feel an immense wave of disappointment and annoyance wash over me. It’s gonna be difficult to mask. Fuck… did she see us? I couldn’t stop myself. I’m annoyed that we were interrupted, so why am I also feeling a weird sense of relief?

“Daisy! Daze!” Brian composes himself. “Yeah, I think so!”

“I’m okay Daisy. Can’t be trusted with a hammer is all.” I joke. Humour is the best deflection after all.

“Oh good.” She says.

She comes over and has a look at my hand. I don’t think she did see us, we hid just in time

“Did you ice it first?” She asks Brian.

“Yes pun’kin.”

“Did you make sure the bandages were tight?”

“Yes pun’kin”

“But not too tight right?”

“No pun’kin”

“Good, just checking.”
She offers me a very sympathetic look. I feel like a wounded animal.

“I don’t think you should use the hammer anymore.” Brian affirms.

“I agree.” Daisy nods.

“That… is probably a good idea.” I say back.

Using my non-injured hand, I check my phone. It’s about to reach 1pm. I imagine we’ll want to eat soon.

I climb to my feet, holding my hand in front of me so I don’t hurt it further.
The den is around halfway done I would say, we managed to get a few walls up before I ruined it all. I guess it’s the roof and whatever goes inside left.

“Shall I get the wood and you take over the hammering?” I ask Brian.

He looks shocked, like I’m insane to ask such a question.

“No, go and relax and I’ll finish up here. I don’t want you hurt any more.” He tells me. Almost commanding. Hmm yes sir, tell me what to do.

“But don’t you…”

“No, I’m fine, I’ll be fast.” He confirms.

I hobble away like the wounded man I am, with Daisy coming with me to make sure I sit down. It’s literally two fingers that are hurt guys, I don’t need euthanising.

Brian gets on with the den, he’s quick to get the last wall up. He attaches the door and gets started on the roof. I was definitely slowing him down.

All the while he builds, he checks on me to make sure I’m not dying.

“I’m fine, it was just my fingers.” I say each time. I don’t think this makes him feel better though.

“Sure you don’t want to go to hospital?” He asks.

My god man, it was a hammer not a car. It’s incredibly sweet that he cares so much about what is effectively gonna be a bruise.
While he builds, I keep replaying our moment together in my head. We were going to kiss weren’t we? I’m sure we were. I wonder if he’s thinking about it too. I really felt like I had no control over myself in the moment, would Daisy have been upset? Would a relationship with her dad make her feel worse?

Brian is circling the den now, hammering in nails and drilling in screws.

I can’t just sit and watch the whole time he builds, as much as I could admire it for hours on end. He’s a pro with everything. The wood is slotted into place easily, hinges are screwed on almost instantly and hammers are only connecting with nails, not fingers.
5 more minutes of watching him and then I’ll prepare lunch.

Daisy has stayed on the garden with her book, sitting next to me on the decking. She’s made a start on the Hobbit. She seems to be enjoying it but I almost choked when she turned a page and nearly folded a corner by accident.

I watch Brian again, who is laying some kind of tarp down over the roof of the den. It looks really good now it’s nearly built. It’s what I’d call cozy. A little door to get in and the inside is spacious and has room for a chair. It’s even got plugs so Daisy can have a tv or fridge in there with her. Damn, I want one too.

“I didn’t even ask him to build me a den you know? I’m happy in my room.” She tells me.
“But he’s always on the garden”.

I guess he just wants to be closer with her, keep an eye on her and other Dad stuff like that. Can’t say reading with power-tools blaring in the background is my ideal method of relaxation but I assume that’s Brian’s heaven.

“Not that I don’t love that I get my own den” she laughs. “He said I can paint it if I want to. I was thinking blue, white and yellow”

I can see the vision, the colour scheme almost reminds me of a daisy, so I see why she’s going for that.

“Happy to help, I’m better at painting than I am hammering.” I joke.
She laughs and looks at me for a second. I give her a smile. “Dad really likes you being here you know.”

I’m caught off guard by that comment, I didn’t expect Daisy to say it.

“Really?” I ask.

“Yeah, not just anyone would be allowed near the power-tools. Even I’m off limits, you must be special.”

She’s smiling while she says this, her face holding an air of sincerity. She seems happy for Brian, and for me.

“I’m glad you moved here. Maxwell likes you too, you’re popular at our house.” She nods.

“I’m not so sure Maxwell likes me.” I say, half laughing, half deadly serious. Maxwell looks up when he hears his name, wandering over to Daisy and plopping down next to her.

She laughs and rubs his belly as he rolls onto his back. “Well, me and dad like you.”

It’s strange, this sort of feels like Daisy giving me her blessing. I still won’t rush into things, but constantly thinking about how sad her mom is making her won’t help anyone. The best I can do is be there for her with her dad, if that’s what she wants.

“Well I like you guys a lot too. You’re pretty cool Daze.”

Cool, hell yeah. Nothing gets a kids self esteem up more than being called cool. She shoots me a finger gun and gets back to reading.

I’m hungry now, Brian looks to be nearly done for the day.

“Wanna help me prep lunch?” I ask Daisy.
“It’s basically done but you can set things out and make drinks if you wanna”.

“Sure!” She beams. She’s about to return to her room to put MY book back.

“And what are you two up to?” Brian calls.

“Lunch. Food. Hungry.” Daisy lists off to him. I just laugh. She disappears into the house.

“Oh yeah. I’m nearly done anyway.” He comments to us. I hope he’s hungry for the 400 sandwiches I think I’ve made.

I walk over to him as he’s hammering some nails into the tarp on the roof, I assume to keep it in place.

“Hey. I just want to say thank you. For looking after my fingers and dealing with someone who has no idea what they’re doing.” I say sincerely. I do feel bad about derailing the den building, but I mainly feel bad that I am again the one who did nothing to help and instead got looked after once again.

“Hey you were doing a good job until… you know” he gestures to my fingers.

“Yeah, Hammers and me now have a rocky relationship.”

Brian does a big laugh and looks at me again. “Think ya weren’t paying attention, that was the main issue, you were doing good before.”

I won’t mention what was catching my attention.

“Yeah maybe. Think I was watching Maxwell chase his tail or something.” A lie. A big lie.

He laughs again, and goes to scruff Maxwell’s fur up. Maxwell loves every second.

He pauses for a second.

“Feel bad I got you hurt.”

Huh?

“You didn’t get me hurt? What are you talking about?”

“I asked you to come over and build with me. I could’ve just left you to read or something but-“ he grimly explains. I will not tolerate him being so self deprecating.

“1. Cheer up. 2. Calm down. 3. I wanted to help you out, if I didn’t I would’ve said so. It’s not your fault Brian.” He has to know that me being stupid is what got me hurt.

He smiles glumly at me. It’s not a nice sight. He looks like a sad puppy. Just a big one.

“Hey. Stop.” I find myself saying. Before I know it, my good hand is on the side of his face.

His face feels warm. His beard bristles against my palm.

I can’t believe I just did that. It’s only my hand on his face but it feels so… intimate. Like something I’d do to a husband, not a man I’ve know for 3 days. But it works, his face lightens and he looks at me again.

“I’m the moron who hurt myself, stop.”

He smiles and sort of leans his head into my hand.

My stomach interrupts the moment with a growl.

“Hungry?” Brian asks.

“Starved. Won’t be a sec”

I move my hand down from Brian’s face. Me and Daisy make our way to my house to collect trays and plates of different foods.

Daisy and I do a fine job of setting out the picnic. She looks ecstatic at all the food, I love being the host, it’s a sense of pride that is unmatched. We sit on the blanket and get started on devouring all the food.

“Think there’s enough here for 40 people” I whisper under my breath.

“Good thing we’re hungry” says Brian.

“That is one the BEST sandwiches I’ve ever had!” Daisy beams.

They must not have good sandwiches in Maple Bay because all I did was slap some things between bread and call it a day.

“What’s this?” Brian asks me.

“Cornish Pasty” I reply. “Big in England”.

Brian inhales the pastry, I think he likes it. Hard to tell, he looks slightly like a hamster.

“Slow down Dad!” Daisy tells him.

A big swallow later and Brian is happy. “It was too good to not eat in one go honey. Had to be done.”

I give Maxwell his treats. He scarfs them down, kinda similarly to Brian but I think this wins him over. He spends the rest of the afternoon sitting next to me, panting in my face and licking my hand. I’m glad that if I’ve managed to build anything today, it’s a friendship with Maxwell.

Brian lays on his back after lunch and rests his hands behind his head. I’d love to just lay next to him. Pits are once again on show, if this continues I will not be able to control myself.

“That was good. That was really good.” Brian mutters.

“Thank you [Y/N]!” Daisy says.

“Yeah, thank you bud.” Brian says. He puts his hand on my knee and rubs it. It makes my leg wiggle backwards and forwards.

I notice that there’s still some grapes left from the feast. I grab one, throw it into the air and catch it in my mouth. Always good at that.

“Woah!” Daisy says.

She gives it a go, and the grape lands on her nose instead, bouncing down the garden.

Brain chuckles to himself, watching from his laid position. I laugh too.

“Well how did you do it?” She asks me.

“Easy, watch.”

I repeat the trick and land it in my mouth again.

“I’m the best at the grape throw trick.” I boast. I’m enjoying her awe at something I find so simple, it makes me feel exceptionally talented.

These were some very poorly chosen words because the second I say I’m the best at something, Brian rises up to meet my gaze.

“Second best maybe.” He says.

With that he throws a grape into the air and catches it. Oh, this is how you want to play?

“No. Best.”

I throw my grape higher and catch it, with a flourish I bow in front of him. Daisy gives me a round of applause.

“Please don’t choke.” She warns.

Brian grabs another grape, stands up and throws it high into the air. I swear the grape goes higher than Brian’s house. He catches it.

Daisy claps again. Maxwell is watching.

I will not have my grape throwing skills questioned or attacked. I must win. I will win.

The grape throwing competition goes on for a long time. Daisy has to go inside to get another bunch because we run out of grapes to throw. Neither of us have missed one and an unspoken rule dictates that the first person to miss, loses.

“Dad can’t we just finish there? I think-“

“Kiddo. This is important” he cuts her off, deadly serious.

I’m running out of grape-catching stamina. Brian is doing fine, not even close to missing. I was close to losing when a grape hit my tooth, but I just managed.

I feel a sense of fiery competitiveness burning in my chest. If I lose I’ll truly never live it down. I don’t care how bad he wants this, I have to beat him.

Daisy looses focus, you can only be excited about grapes for so long I guess. She goes inside to get my book.

Damn he’s so good at this. We’re both on our knees in front of each other. We’re still on the blanket.

I need to act. I need to act now. Brian isn’t going to lose this without some form of interruption. What can I do to throw him off his game?

I catch my next grape. It’s his turn next. What can I do to throw him off his game from where we’re kneeling. His arm moves in slow motion.

The small green grape enters the air. His mouth opens ready to catch the grape. I can think of only one thing to do to win this. I lunge forwards. Brian has been thrown onto his back before the grape can make it into his mouth. He wasn’t expecting it that’s for sure. He grunts as I land on top of him.

I feel the grape land on my back.

Brian starts to make a funny noise and begins to chuckle. I kinda just lay there, resting on his chest, I laugh too. Part of me was worried he’d get annoyed.

“Had I known tackling was a rule, I would’ve won easy” he says through laughter.

“Oh so you would’ve tackled me? That’s cheating.” I say, with fake offence permeating my voice.

“You have the nerve to talk about me being a cheat?” He continues to laugh. I feel him stop laughing, his chest rising and falling with his breathing.

I can feel our bare legs rubbing against each other. My hand is on his chest, I can feel his pecs against my palm. My other hand holds most of my weight so I don’t completely crush the man. My fingers hurt from the tackle. It’s nice to be laid here, but something is holding me back in my head. Something doesn’t want me to fully enjoy this. The same part of my brain that was relieved we didn’t kiss today.

He lays with his face pointing to the sky, looking at the clouds above us. I want to stay here forever. Laying on him, and just relaxing. It’s perfect.

I tell myself what I decided this morning; let him make the move. I don’t want to make him uncomfortable. Stop trying so hard. If it’s going to happen, then it will happen. Don’t force it.

I watch him for a few more seconds, looking at the clouds, his green eyes shining brightly in the sun. We better not do anything with Daisy having the potential to return any second.

“Think you can finish the den in 20 minutes?”

A challenge. Brian’s biggest foe. He is on his feet in no time at all. I count him in and he gets to work.

Brian finishes the shed with seconds to spare while I tidy away the picnic.

It looks good, and Daisy absolutely loves it. She gets to work bringing books and cushions inside straight away. Decoration, a girl after my own heart.

“Thank you Dad.” She says, giving him a hug. They’re cute.

“Love ya pun’kin” he says in return.

I think that’s it but she comes up to me and hugs me for the second time that day. “Thank you [Y/N]. I love it. Sorry about your hand.” I hug her back. “It’s okay. I hope you read all the books in there.”

With that done, I decide that it’s time for me to take my leave. Brian needs to varnish the den or something and Daisy wants to decorate. I feel like I’d be in the way and my social battery is low. Final Fantasy and ice cream by myself is my the way I think I want my evening to go.

“Do you wanna hang out for a bit?” Brian asks.

I do. Yes. But I also think I’ve not had a moment to myself for a while. I think I need a day to get my head fully into the Maple Bay mindset.

“I’d love to, but I think I might call it a day. Whacking your hand can be tiring you know? Is that okay?”

Of course it’s okay, why am I asking?

He looks disappointed but nods. “Course. See ya soon then bud. Thank ya for today. Means a lot to me.”

Well my attempts at building went horribly Brian so I’m not sure what you’re thanking me for.

“Not at all.”

We give each other our usual hug of “see you next time.” He smells like fresh wood, which is a fitting odour for the man. He also smells a little… sweaty. I can’t say I’m not into it.

With that, I bid him farewell and go back home. The rest of the day is uneventful, which I think I needed. I play some games, make some food and just spend time with myself. A fairly nice Thursday.

Having some time by myself actually helped. I spent a lot of time thinking while trying to get Vivi to jump rope 1000 times in Final Fantasy IX. I do like Brian, a lot, that’s for sure.

But.

Am I completely risking things. Rushing things even? I can’t help but feel that doubt niggling in my mind. I haven’t been here long, I haven’t even started at work yet. Can I really afford to throw myself into a relationship? Brian doesn’t just come alone, Daisy and Maxwell are as much a part of him as his beard and big arms. Can I really be someone for Daisy to look up to?

I want to, truthfully I do. I like her, she’s got a weird maturity to her and even though I teach, once kids get past like 12 years old, it’s hard to communicate with them.

I don’t think I’m ready for all of this… not just yet anyway. Logic is telling me that, while he’s indeed a very attractive man who would probably murder a family for me, inserting myself into his life like this is too fast. Too much.

And I want him to know that. If there’s one thing failed relationships teach a man, it’s that communication is what you need. If this is someone I respect and care about, I need to be honest and explain it to him. He’s been receptive before and I’m sure he will be again. At least I tell myself that to stop the nerves in my chest from spiking.

Bed. Go to bed. Before you do something bad. Don’t do that. Don’t let yourself think about it. Think about something else. Orcs. Yeah orcs are cool. Halsin is also cool. So is the Simpsons. Think about your favourite Simpsons moment. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Don’t do that to yourself. You said you wouldn’t do that again.

I’m suddenly aware that it’s dark. I’m sitting, staring at nothing in my dark living room. Creepy. Why does my face feel damp?

I go to my bed and slump under the covers. I don’t even brush my teeth. I just lay under the covers, mind somehow blank and racing.

Just talk to Brian. It won’t go as badly as you think. Nothing ever does.