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Betrayal/ Forgiveness
Rating: PG 13
Summary: Fifteen years ago, Bam met Ville. They had a whirlwind affair, and Bam left Ville alone and knocked up. Nine months later, Ville had twins. Fifteen years later, they are coming to West Chester.
Disclaimer: This is fiction, never happened, and I don't make money from writing it.
Authors Notes: Once again, thank you to my friend chelseatoddx, for helping me finish this.
“Hey Linde, after you're done with that, you can go ahead and take your lunch, okay?” Linde looked up at his boss as the older man called out to him. The blonde gave a thankful smile and nodded, his lunch was already thirty minutes late. After his boss nodded back, Linde turned his attention back to the customer he was talking to, a teenager who wanted to buy an amp. He quickly helped her, and once she was heading to the cash register, he made his way to the back room. He quickly clocked out using the machine on the wall, and grabbed his jacket from the small locker he had been given. He pulled it on as he headed to the front door.
He turned right once he left the shop, striding leisurely down the street. He walked walked to the end of the block, and then across the street to a small cafe. He had been eating at this cafe every day since he had started his job a month ago, as it was the only place within walking distance that served decent food. Pushing the door open, he quickly headed to the counter and ordered, making slight conversation with the now familiar cashier. Once he had paid, he thanked the cashier and took his food. The only empty table was a small one, in the very back of the building. Linde sat down, glad to finally be off his feet, even if only for his lunch hour.
Linde smiled to himself as he ate. In a few hours he'd be off. Then he'd pick up the kids from the skate park they go to after school, and Ville from his job, and go home and spend some time with his family. Since it was Friday, all four of them had the next two days off, and they were all looking forward to it. Ville had been working almost constantly since they had moved, and both the kids and Linde were beginning to feel the absence of the brunette.
Suddenly, his musing was interrupted by a warm voice. “Mind if I sit here?”
Linde quickly looked up. Meeting his gaze was a pair of bright blue eyes. The owner of the eyes was a man with shaggy, dirty blond hair and a scruffy beard. He wore a plain white t-shirt under a black jacket and a pair of stained jeans. As he saw Linde's blank stare, he elaborated, motioning to the rest of the cafe, “There’s no more tables left., and you looked kinda lonely.”
Linde nodded, motioning for the man to sit down, which he did with a grin. “I'm Ryan, by the way.”
“I am Linde,” The dread locked man offered quietly, unsure of what to say to the stranger. The other man simply nodded, acting as if he sat at random people's tables every day.
“Nice to meet you Linde. Are you from around here? You've got an accent...” Ryan trailed off, suddenly feeling stupid, as he realized that the other man was probably already aware of the fact that he had an accent. Thankfully though, Linde just smiled.
“No, I'm from Finland. Just moved here a month and a half ago,” he spoke a little more bravely, seeing as Ryan seemed to be friendly.
“Finland? That's cool, I've been there a couple of times with a buddy of mine. Cold as all get out, but nice. Why the hell did you move to this shithole?” Ryan laughed.
Linde shrugged slightly, “We needed the money and this is the only place Ville could find a job.”
“Oh... Is Ville your boyfriend?” Ryan asked curiously.
Linde shook his head quickly, explaining, “Oh, no. He's just a good friend. I live with him, though, to help him take care of his kids.”
Ryan nodded in understanding, and decided to change the subject before he accidentally insulted his new friend, “So why are you eating by yourself in a dinky cafe?”
“Lunch break,” Linde shrugged, then narrowed his eyes, “and I could ask you the same question.”
“Fair enough. A friend of mine was supposed to meet me, but he bailed and I was hungry.” Ryan laughed, eating more of his food to show his point. “Besides, for a dinky cafe, they've got good food. So where do you work?”
“The music store, down the road,” Linde motioned towards the store. “What about you?”
“I work at Exotic Customs, fixing up cars and shit,” Ryan smiled at him.
“Really? I don't know the first thing about cars,” Linde confessed, smiling back at him.
Ryan laughed, “Well, I don't know the first thing about music, so I guess we're even there. Cars are about the only thing I'm good at. I usually just fuck shit up.”
“I'm sure that's not true,” Linde said quickly, not wanting Ryan to put himself down.
“Yeah, it is. I almost got on a TV show with my buddy, just to fuck shit up. Decided I didn't want to be famous, though, and passed it up. Dumbest decision I ever made, now I'm stuck working on cars the rest of my life.” Ryan shrugged his shoulders, grinning to himself.
The two continued to talk on for a while, making idle conversation and getting to know one another. Once they had both finished eating, Linde had to go back to work. Ryan immediately offered to walk him back. The two of them headed down the road, walking slower than they needed to in a comfortable silence.
“So, don't take this wrong way or anything, but... are you gay?” Ryan asked suddenly, keeping his gaze focused on the road ahead of him, even when Linde looked at him in shock.
Linde swallowed, suddenly uncomfortable, but he managed an answer, “Yeah... I am.”
Ryan smiled slightly, “That's cool.”
They lapsed back into silence until they got to the store, where they both stopped a few feet away from the doorway. They looked at each other for a long moment, before Ryan once again broke the silence.
“So... could I maybe get your number? Just in case I have a music emergency?” he grinned at his own joke.
“Um... sure, okay,” Linde blushed brightly, fumbling over his words. Ryan just grinned and pulled out an expensive looking cell phone. Linde gave his number and Ryan punched it into his phone quickly.
“Awesome, thank you. I guess you need to get back to work, so I'll leave you alone. I'll call you later, okay?” Ryan slipped his phone back into his pocket as he turned away, shooting the Finn one last grin.
“Yeah, goodbye.” Linde said softly, realizing only after he said it that Ryan was already out of earshot. He stared after the blond in wonder for a few moments, before he slowly turned and headed inside the store.
“That doesn't even make since!” Anja complained loudly, staring down at her algebra book in frustration. Lauri nodded in agreement, his own book in front of him, with nothing written on his homework. Ville let out a loud sigh, and started to explain once again.
Linde held back a laugh, watching them from where he sat on the couch, playing his guitar idly. The three sat around the coffee table, working on the twin's homework. Ville had decided to take everyone to Philadelphia on Sunday, so here they were, wasting a beautiful Saturday morning on homework.
Ville had tried to get Linde to help him with the algebra lessons. Unfortunately, the blond didn't understand any more of it than the twins did, and he had been excused so that Ville didn't have to teach three people algebra. So now he simply strummed his guitar and watched, trying to keep his laughter to a minimum so he didn't get kicked out.
A frown crossed his face as he hit a bad note. He struck the string again, and twisted the tuning knob on the head of his guitar. He hit the string again, twisted a little more, and it was perfect. He went back to his random playing, satisfied that his guitar was in tune.
He was soon interrupted again, this time by the ringing of his cell phone. Grabbing it, he sat his guitar on the floor and headed out of the room so he wouldn't disturb the math lesson. He walked up the stairs towards his room, answering the phone as he went. “Hello?”
“Um, hi. Is this Linde?” An unfamiliar voice answered Linde, causing a small frown to cross his face as he tried to place it. He entered his room and sat on his bed, crossing one leg underneath him as the other hung off the bed.
“Yes, who is this?”
“This is Ryan. Ryan Dunn. From the cafe yesterday?” Linde's eyes widened slightly, a slight blush covering his cheeks automatically.
“Oh! Hi Ryan...” His voice trailed off, trying to think of what to say. Oh, how he hated phones. Not being able to see the person you were talking to sucked.
“Yeah, how are you doing today?” Ryan's voice was calm, but sounded happy, and slightly too high, like he was nervous.
“I'm good, how're you?” Linde asked back politely.
“I'm great... Um, listen I was wondering... Well, I really liked talking to you yesterday, so I was kinda wondering if you'd maybe like to go out to dinner with me next Friday?” Ryan spoke quickly, not giving himself a chance to back out.
Linde couldn't help the blush that deepened on his cheeks, even though he knew Ryan couldn't see him. “Um... I'd love to, Ryan.”
“Really? I mean... That's great! Um... I'll pick you up at seven or so? Or do you want to meet me there...” Ryan trailed off, trying to stop his babbling.
Linde chuckled softly at the other man, “You can pick me up, that's fine.”
“Well, I'll need your address then” Ryan said happily.
Linde smiled slightly, telling him the address. Ryan quickly wrote it down, smirking happily. For a few minutes more, they talked about random things. Suddenly though, Linde heard a crash and some yelling from Ryan's end of the phone.
“Oh shit! Um, I'm sorry Linde, but I need to go... I'll pick you up at seven, next Friday, okay? Don't forget!” Ryan chuckled into the phone. Linde agreed quickly, and the next second he was listening to the dial tone, letting him know that Ryan had hung up.
Linde fell back, lying on his bed, trying to keep a goofy smile off of his face. “Maybe moving here was a good idea...”