Archive of Our Own ^beta

Moving this many boxes should not be such a tough problem, Rosie thinks to himself as he wipes sweat from his forehead with the back of his arm. He can feel his curls coming loose from where he set them back with gel earlier and he roughly tries to pat them back into place before bending down to pick up the first of his last four boxes. 

Totally regretting not accepting his friends’ help, Rosie starts the trek back up to the 2nd floor with his box of plates, cutlery and assorted glasses rattling around gently in his arms. Trying his best not to trip, Rosie takes each stair one step at a time, turning his head side to side to make sure he’s not in any danger of bumping into someone coming down the stairs. 

Rosie huffs quietly as he gets to his floor and he stumbles the last few steps to his door, trying his hardest to put the box down as gently as he can so he doesn’t accidentally smash his belongings. A pair of feet greet him as he looks up from his crouch and he drags his eyes up a pair of lean legs covered in grease stained overalls to a trim waist, lean shoulders and a riot of light brown curls. 

The man standing in front of him smiles and his whole face lights up, curls almost bouncing with the force of his grin. 

“Hi! I’m Ken but everyone calls me Kenny. You must be our new neighbour?”

Rosie tries not to wilt under the force of Kenny’s enthusiasm but he must falter somehow as Kenny’s beaming smile slips slightly. Rosie watches as Ken looks down and chews his bottom lip before he holds out a hand, patiently waiting until Rosie has grasped it before he speaks again, voice quieter this time around.  

“I’m Kenny. It’s nice to meet you. Do you need help moving anything else?”

Rosie feels his shoulders slump and he nods, deciding to swallow his pride and accept the help while it’s being offered. 

“Hi Kenny. I’m Robert but almost everyone calls me Rosie. And the help would be very much appreciated.”

Kenny smiles and pulls away first, turning on his heel to head back downstairs. 

“You have many more boxes?”

Rosie hurries to catch up on his tired feet, hiding his smile when Kenny automatically shortens his stride and slowly paces down the stairs. Ken looks across at him and it’s only after he gets a funny look does Rosie realise he’s waiting for a reply. 

“Oh! Erm I’ve only got three left.”

“Great!”

Ken thankfully stays quiet as they hit the ground floor, beelining for the only boxes sitting against the far wall - carefully placed out of the way of anyone coming into the building. Two men and a woman walk in as Rosie lets Ken pick a box first, all three of them calling a greeting to the younger man. 

“Hi folks!” Kenny replies happily. 

The woman comes over, her hair tied back from her smiling face and Rosie automatically holds a hand out in greeting. 

“Nice to meet you. I’m Rosie.”

“A pleasure. I’m Jean. This is Harry and Joe but most people call them Croz and Bubbles.”

Rosie waves at the two men, Croz’s face creased into a happy smile that makes all of them smile in response. The shorter of the two offers his own smile, a small blonde moustache moving with the motion. 

“Nice to meet ya, Rosie. I’m Bubbles. You need a hand?”

“Another pair of hands would be nice,” Kenny says, voice teasing as he nudges Rosie’s elbow with his own.

Rosie laughs and looks at his feet bashfully, starting to believe that something like fate stopped him from accepting his friend’s help so he could meet his new neighbours without the awkward introductions that usually come along with moving into a new place.

“Yes please, if you don’t mind?”

Croz steps forward to take the last box, whispering something to Kenny that Rosie doesn’t catch and he can’t help but let his eyes linger on the faint blush that covers Kenny’s cheeks. Shaking himself out of it, Rosie follows Jean and Bubbles up the stairs, making sure not to bump into either of them as he trails behind. 

Jean and Bubbles keep their conversation light and quiet as Rosie struggles up behind them, his arms trembling from lifting too many boxes. He wobbles slightly at the top of the stairs and has a brief moment to wonder if he’s about to topple backwards and squish Kenny and Harry behind him before Jean is reaching out to tug him towards her, righting his hold on his box easily enough. 

“Okay there, Rosie?” she asks, voice soft but her grip around his wrist firm and grounding. 

“Yes. Yes I think I’m okay. Thank you Jean.”

Kenny and Harry stop next to him and he finally gets his feet into motion, stopping outside his door with a little exhausted chuckle. 

“Well this is me.”

Harry places his box down gently and groans as he stretches his back, “damn Rosie. What do you have in there?”

“A dead body.” Rosie jokes, hoping that his joke lands and they don’t think he’s a weirdo.

Luckily, Kenny snorts and giggles and it sets everyone else off too, Jean hiding her smile behind her hand as she tilts into Bubbles’ side. Rosie feels he should be more curious about what is in front of his eyes but he finds himself too tired to think about it right now. Kenny puts his box down too as Bubbles, Jean and Harry turn to make their way up to the third and final floor of the building, waving goodbye as they go. 

Kenny waves them off but stays nearby, tucking his hands into his pockets with a little smile. 

“They live upstairs. Share a hallway with Bucky, his boyfriend Buck, Buck’s best friend Benny and his boyfriend Johnny. Oh, Crank lives upstairs in his own flat too!”

“Crank?”

“Yeah. His name is Cruikshank but everyone calls him Crank.”

Rosie simply blinks at Kenny’s little rush of words and Kenny laughs again, purposefully slowing his words so Rosie’s tired brain can catch up, “ah it’s okay. You’ll meet everyone soon enough. Me and Curt live on this floor, we’re number 4 by the way. And Dougie, Ham and Ev all live downstairs next to Jack and Chick.”

“Chick I’ve met,” Rosie replies, remembering the meeting with the tough looking man who helps to look after the building and the firm handshake he gave him. “Seems like a decent kinda guy.”

Kenny nods, “yeah he is. Always happy to lend a hand when you really need him.”

Rosie files that information away for later and roots around in his pockets for the key to his door. Kenny takes a small step closer. 

“You need help moving everything inside?”

Rosie glances down at his boxes and is just about to say “please” when Kenny’s phone starts ringing. Kenny offers a sad little smile and waves the phone in a little arc up to his face.

“Oh, sorry. I gotta take this. If I don’t see you later, have a nice night Rosie!”

Rosie nods and watches him leave, offering a wry smile to himself as he eventually gets around to unlocking his door and propping his jacket up against the bottom of it to try and hold it open. Spotting a chair by the kitchen island, Rosie grabs it and switches his jacket for it, pleased with how well it holds the door open. 

Huffing one final time, he gets to work dragging all his boxes inside, stripping off his shirt the longer he works. Pausing to crack open a window for some fresh air, Rosie gets it all done in a few hours, feeling quite pleased with himself when he finds he’s done before the sun has set. Peeking into the hallway at the sound of voices, Rosie spots two men walking up the stairs holding hands; one with dark curls much like his own and the other with blonde hair that’s slicked back away from his face. 

Wondering which couple from upstairs he’s seeing, Rosie makes another mental note to ask Kenny about them whenever he next sees him and ducks back inside, shutting his windows when the chill in the air hits his skin. He empties the box he’s got labelled as “bedroom” and pulls out the first pyjamas he gets his hands on - his pillow, sheet and duvet the only things he didn’t pack away so he could use them no matter the time of day. 

Setting an alarm for the morning as he finishes locking up, Rosie settles down onto his bed and wraps himself up, already planning on what he’ll start to unpack first after his usual early morning run. 

The next morning dawns cool but bright and Rosie feels invigorated as he steps out of the building and starts jogging, planning his route as he runs it. He spots a few people out and about; a couple walking a dog; a few kids off to school and a young woman on her way to work. Smiling at the thought that life just keeps going, Rosie finds his way back to his building and lets himself in, holding the door open for a tall, slim blonde in a bomber jacket as he walks out.  His “thanks man” is quiet but heavily accented and Rosie swears he sees a flash of gold teeth as the man speaks. Deciding he’ll add that to the list of questions to ask Kenny when he sees him again, Rosie takes the two flights of stairs to his flat quickly, eager to get changed into something clean.

He doesn’t spot anyone else on the way up and tries to keep his curiosity to himself as he lingers in the corridor in the hopes of spotting Kenny again. Rosie can’t even try to deny that he’s clearly curious about Kenny - he’s just grateful Nash and Pappy aren’t here to see this, they’d shamelessly call him out for being smitten with his new neighbour after only one meeting. 

Laughing to himself, Rosie slips into his flat and goes to wash up, already thinking about how best to tackle emptying as many of his boxes as he can before lunchtime. He works through 2 boxes filled with furnishings, 1 box full of his best jazz records and 1 box full of books before he looks up and realises it’s almost 1:30pm and his stomach growls almost on cue to remind him he needs to eat. 

Padding over to his fridge, he pulls it open and stares inside, dimly remembering that he didn’t do any shopping at all yesterday so his fridge is glaringly empty. Pouting in annoyance at himself, Rosie gathers his wallet, his jacket and a bag and slips his boots on by the door, patting his pockets for his keys as he shuts the door behind him. 

A quiet noise makes him look up just as he pulls his keys from his back pocket and the man in the denim jacket leaning against the wall laughs quietly when he spots the shiny keyring in the shape of a plane resting across Rosie’s knuckles. Rosie prays he doesn’t make a fool of himself in front of this very handsome man and he feels his cheeks heat as his eyes involuntarily check the man out. 

He gets a cheeky grin when he locks eyes with the stranger, his blue eyes lighting up with something more than mischief when he looks back at Rosie. Rosie blushes again and turns back to his door, locking up slowly to try and hide his flustered reaction. The man is still standing there with a smile on his face, his little upturned nose scrunched up cutely. 

He holds a hand out and waits for Rosie to take it before he speaks, his thick New York accent confusing Rosie’s tired brain for a minute. 

“I’m Curt. Kenny’s fella. He said he’d helped the new guy move boxes yesterday so I came to meet ya for myself. Nice to meet ya!”

Rosie finds himself unable to stop himself from comparing Curt’s grip to Kenny’s yesterday. It’s different - but a nice different - and Rosie tries to subtly shake himself out of his daydreaming before Curt starts speaking again. 

“He never said you were cute though. Can’t believe he didn’t tell me that.”

Rosie gapes at Curt but doesn’t let go of his hand, flabbergasted at how easily Curt had just flirted with him. Rosie tunes back in as Curt keeps talking. 

“You’ve got nice eyes too. Big and dark and expressive. Just how I like ‘em.”

Rosie knows he’s just standing there like a limp fish while Curt flirts with him but he doesn’t really know how to respond - he spent more than a few hours last night thinking about Kenny and now he’s mortified to find out he’s been thinking about someone else’s boyfriend?! He wants to crawl into a hole and die after that horrifying realisation and Curt must sense him withdrawing as he stops talking, giving Rosie a look that seems far too knowledgeable for Rosie’s liking. 

“Ah I’ve yapped enough. I should let you go, I’ve got work to get to anyway.”

Rosie finally finds his words as they turn to walk towards the stairs, his mind automatically cataloguing that Curt is shorter and stockier than himself and Kenny but not by much. 

“Erm. Yeah. Yeah I’m just going shopping. Food and whatnot. I erm….I forgot last night. Too busy unpacking and moving and I don’t start work again until next week and I should shut up now.”

Curt chuckles softly at his rambling and Rosie catches the edges of a soft smile on Curt’s lips from the corner of his eye. His blush returns full force and his cheeks feel like a beacon, calling out to anyone who sees him that he’s shy and flustered just from Curt’s presence.

“What do you do anyways?” Curt asks, voice quiet but clearly curious, his eyes equally as open and wondering as he glances across at Rosie. 

“I erm…. Lawyer. I’m a lawyer.”

“Huh. That’s fun. Not what I’d have said you do. Then again, no one seems to get my job right either so…..” Curt trails off with a shrug and another smile, gesturing for Rosie to go first as they get to the bottom of the stairs. 

Rosie turns to face Curt, properly looking at him from head to toe. He notes the faint scars across his nose and cheek, one little tiny one slicing through his eyebrow too. Rosie lets his eyes trail down to Curt’s hands and he realises that they’re slightly calloused and he weighs his two options before he answers, trying his hardest not to blush bright red when he looks back up and finds Curt already watching him.

“I’d hazard a guess you do something that means you have to work with your hands. You don’t seem like the kinda guy to sit behind a desk?”

Curt laughs and shakes his head, “guess again.”

Rosie frowns as he thinks, dragging his eyes back up and down Curt’s body as subtly as he can. 

“I got nothing. What do you do Curt?”

Curt gives Rosie a bright smile and pulls a card out from his wallet, holding it out for Rosie to take and look at. It’s a library card, Curt’s position as Assistant Librarian in big bold letters across the top of it and Rosie chews his lip to hide his smile. 

“Never would have guessed that,” Rosie confesses and hands the card back, going still when his fingers brush against Curt’s and he feels tingles travel up his arm and warm his whole body. 

Rosie knows now that he’s utterly screwed - he’s halfway to a full blown schoolboy crush on both his neighbours who just happen to be in a relationship with each other. 

The door squeaks behind them as it opens and Rosie watches as Curt lights up, his smile doubling in its brightness as it’s aimed over Rosie’s shoulder. He pivots on his heel and feels an odd tightness appear in his chest as he finds Kenny beaming back at them both. 

“Curt! Rosie!”

“Hey, Kenny.” Curt’s voice is quiet but full of care. “What did you forget?”

Kenny’s blushes and gives Curt an oddly shy little look. 

“I might have forgotten my lunch.”

Curt snorts and shakes his head jokingly, “tut tut Kenny. And here I thought you’d just come back on your lunch break to see me and Rosie.”

Rosie startles silently as Curt casually includes him in this conversation and he flounders as they both turn to look at him with matching smiles. 

“Kenny works at the mechanics two blocks over,” Curt explains, body shifting as he hooks his thumbs into his belt loops and lounges back against the stair railing casually. “Though I wouldn’t put it past him to come back just to check on us. He’s done it to me before.”

Kenny blushes and shoots Rosie a look from under his lashes that he can’t really describe as it sends a little bolt of heat sliding down his spine. Rosie glances over to see Curt is giving him the same look and he blushes all over, shyly glancing down at his feet. Kenny giggles quietly and steps closer, scuffing his heel against the floor as he comes to stand right in front of Rosie, idly fiddling with his little heart shaped locket. 

“I did actually. Wanted to make sure you were settling in okay?”

Rosie gapes at him for a solid minute and then nods, furiously trying to fight the warm feeling in his chest at Kenny’s clear concern. Curt lingers at Kenny’s shoulder and then gently tugs him back, tucking the younger lad under his arm as they both wait for Rosie to centre himself. 

“Erm…yes, yes I am. Thank you Kenny.”

Kenny smiles shyly and tilts into Curt’s chest, his curls bobbing with the movement. Rosie suddenly wants to see if they’re as soft as they look and he forces himself to take a small step backwards to stop himself from just reaching out and touching. Curt hides a grin against Ken’s curls like he knows exactly what Rosie is thinking and it seems to break through the little confused state Rosie has slipped into and he looks at the both of them properly.

Curt tilts his chin down to whisper something into Kenny’s ear and he nods in reply, ducking his head down to catch Rosie’s eye again. 

“We were thinking we’d like to have you over for dinner sometime soon. Tonight even. If you want to?”

Rosie blinks in surprise, not expecting Kenny to ask him to dinner and Curt coughs quietly to bring Rosie’s attention back to the present. 

“Oh! Yes please! If you really don’t mind hosting me?”

They both shake their heads and Curt smiles, a small pleased thing that warms Rosie from the inside out. 

“Course not. Gives us a chance to get to know you better.”

The way Curt phrases it makes Rosie briefly think of spending more than one night with them - just chatting and laughing and hanging out - and he aches with the need to experience it just once. As if to remind him why he’s awkwardly standing in the middle of the entryway, Rosie’s stomach grumbles loud enough for both Kenny and Curt to hear it and Kenny goes a little wide-eyed. 

“Oh are we keeping you from getting food?! You should have said something!”

“No, it’s okay. I really don’t mind.” Rosie is telling the truth when he says that, hoping that both Curt and Kenny can hear the honesty in his voice. 

Curt must sense it somehow as he nods once, stepping forward to open the door for Rosie, waving him through. 

“We’ll come and knock sometime after 6. If that’s okay?”

Rosie hums and dares to touch his fingertips to Curt’s wrist where he holds the door open. Curt smiles and shifts his hand so he can curl his fingers against Rosie’s as he pulls back and they both giggle softly at the touch. Curt waves him away and Rosie goes with a spring in his step, whistling his favourite jazz tune to himself as he heads for the nearest little market shop. 

He’s oblivious to the way Curt steps back inside and tugs Kenny into his chest, kissing him hard and fast and full of feeling. Kenny giggles the whole time and curls into Curt’s chest, draping his arms over Curt’s shoulders for balance. 

“Ya think he likes us just as much as we like him?” Curt asks between kisses, ignoring the faint sound of footsteps coming down the main stairway. 

Kenny nods into their kiss and shuffles closer, humming happily when Curt’s arms band tight around his waist. Snickering from behind them pulls Curt’s attention away from Ken and he aims a glare over Kenny’s shoulder and doubles it when he sees who he’s glaring at. Bucky stands halfway up the first set of stairs and the grin he wears is bigger than anything Curt’s seen before. 

“What do you want?” Curt snaps, annoyed that his best friend has interrupted his kissing time with Kenny. 

John grins brighter and wiggles his eyebrows at Curt. 

“Nothing! But you’re both down bad for the new guy huh?”

Kenny tucks his face against Curt’s neck and muffles his embarrassed giggle as best he can, suddenly very aware that they’ve been flirting right where anyone could hear and see them if they so much as stuck their heads out over the stair railings. 

Curt grumbles and glares harder, not willing to say it out loud just yet to anyone but Kenny how smitten he actually is. John laughs quietly and walks down to stand on Curt’s other side. 

“On the upside, you wouldn’t be the only ones in a weird little threesome in this building. Crosby, Bubbles and Jean seem to work well. Fuck knows what Ev, Dougie and Ham are doing but you three can’t be any worse, right?”

Curt wordlessly snarls at Bucky and Kenny laughs when Bucky shuffles away with his palms up, backing away towards the door like he’s expecting Curt to follow and tackle him. Curt contemplates it but decides he’s comfier standing wrapped around Kenny so he stays put, simply glaring at Bucky before the door blocks his view, Bucky ambling off in the direction of the park to go and meet Gale on the way home from work. 

Kenny giggles again and nudges his nose against Curt’s forehead, leaning in to whisper into his ear. 

“Guess we’ll just have to wait and see. You’d better think about what we’re gonna cook tonight too. We can’t get away with our usual pizza rolls can we?”

Curt sighs and pulls away, tugging Kenny’s overalls back into place from their cuddling. 

“Yeah. I’ll text you when I’ve had a look through some recipe books at the library for some ideas.”

Kenny nods at the sensible idea and tugs Curt closer for one last kiss. 

“We’ll make this work. I’m sure of it.” Curt promises quietly as they pull apart, Kenny reluctantly dragging himself up the stairs as Curt turns to leave to get to his job at the library.

~~~

A knock at the door disturbs Rosie from his nervous organising in the living room and he waits a moment before he answers it, not wanting to seem too eager. Kenny stands on the other side of the door with a bright grin in place and if Rosie was any less worried about first impressions he’d see that Kenny is also nervously swinging his arms at his sides. 

Nodding to himself, Rosie grabs his keys and steps out into the hallway, locking up and following Kenny two doors down. 

“We’re almost ready with our food. Is there anything you can’t have?” Kenny asks as he pulls his keys out and opens the door, gesturing for Rosie to go first. 

“Not much. Just pork. And a few bits of seafood. Where’s Curt?”

Kenny nods in reply to Rosie’s statement as he points in the direction of the kitchen, their flat laid out in the same way Rosie’s is and he doesn’t need any more prompting to go and find Curt. Curt stands on the other side of the island, sleeves rolled up to his elbows as he focuses on whisking whatever is in the bowl he’s currently holding. He looks up as Rosie leans against the counter and smiles at both him and Kenny, scrunching his nose cutely when Kenny bounces around the island and kisses him quickly. 

Rosie tries not to let his eyes linger as Curt leans in for another kiss, suddenly filled with the urge to walk round and kiss them both for himself and he chews his bottom lip to stop himself from acting on it. He vaguely hears them speaking quietly but he doesn’t bother listening closely, too busy trying to rein his urges back in. 

He’s startled out of his thoughts when Curt puts the bowl onto the island and comes to stand in front of him. Rosie just blinks at him, waiting for Curt to say something. 

“Feel free to tell me if I’m overstepping or if we’ve got the wrong idea, but Kenny thinks you want to kiss me. So kiss me.”

Rosie swallows and blurts the first thing he can think of.

“Both of you. I want to kiss both of you.”

Curt blinks at him and then smiles, turning to aim a look over his shoulder at Kenny. Kenny blushes and beams back at him, shuffling closer until he’s leaning against Rosie’s side, a lean wall of heat from his shoulder to his knee. Rosie flicks his eyes between Curt and Kenny, blushing under the force of both of their gazes focused on him, Curt’s eyes bright and compelling under the kitchen lights. 

Rosie shivers and dares to slide his hands around Curt’s waist, smiling as he feels Curt slide his own arms around his neck and push up onto his toes to brush his lips against Rosie’s gently. Curt hums and presses in harder, sneaking a hand up to slide his fingers through the back of Rosie’s hair and tug. Rosie groans softly and goes pliant under Curt’s touch, forgetting all about whatever Curt was making as Curt licks into his mouth and thoroughly distracts him.