A More Modern Romance 2/3
Title: A More Modern Romance
Author:lavenderpisha09
Pairings: Ian/Anthony
Rating: PG
Genre: Fluff
Summary: Anthony never asked for Ian to practically be the perfect boyfriend Anthony doesn't deserve. He goes and does it anyway.
Author's Notes: I really just wanted an excuse to write a series of domestic scenes. Oh, and I've been having a particularly vicious writer's block for the past month, so apologies if this fluff fic doesn't seem particularly well-written.
Disclaimer: I don't own Smosh. I don't make money from this.
Part one here.
Ian starts to sleep over at Anthony's apartment on weeknights and Anthony starts to sleep over at Ian's on weekends. To be fair, it's a logical move on their part-Anthony's apartment is much closer to the office than Ian's place, therefore guaranteeing Ian more time to laze about in bed before going to work during weekdays, and Ian's place is far away enough from the traffic and the noise pollution the city is full of, therefore giving Anthony a chance to actually relax. Don't get him wrong, Anthony does love the city, does love how the city seems to be constantly full of life, but he does get sick of it, sometimes, which is why he loves that he gets to spend two full days every week at Ian's quiet home.
It wasn't planned, at first. Ian just started staying at Anthony's during a week filled with back-to-back meetings, too tired to go home after late-night brainstorming sessions. In the mornings, Ian would wake up earlier than Anthony and slip out of the apartment, driving back to his house to take a shower and check up on Daisy before heading back to the office. After five consecutive days of having to do the exact same thing, Ian looked ready to puke at the thought of having to do the exact same thing over again, and had all but begged Anthony to let him stay at his apartment during weekdays. Anthony had said yes, of course, and Ian, in return, had invited him to stay at his house during weekends.
And so, here they are. After the initial week, Ian and Anthony had fallen into some sort of pattern. During Sunday evenings, Ian and Anthony would leave Ian's house with Daisy and Pip, and during Friday evenings, they would go back to Ian's place with their pets. It made sense, and as much as Anthony hates to admit it, he actually misses the company Ian and Daisy provide. Though Pip and Daisy initially didn't get along, now they do, and Anthony thinks Pip is also grateful that he has someone to play with during the day, when Anthony's not at home.
Despite Ian and Daisy's presence in his apartment on weekdays, Anthony doesn't actually feel like anything's changed. If anything, everything feels right, somehow-the fact that he doesn't have to come home to a quiet and empty apartment at night is something he's happy about. It feels just like back then, when he and Ian lived together in their house, though of course back there they had their own rooms and they didn't have Pip and Daisy.
It should probably feel weird. Scratch that, it should feel weird, but it doesn't. Anthony can't bring himself to feel weird about him and Ian sharing a bed together when Ian used to sleep on Anthony's small bed with him all the time back when they were still teenagers, especially now that Anthony has a much bigger-and comfier-bed. Besides, it's great to have someone else do the dishes or cook sometimes, even though having Daisy in his apartment means having to mop up more pee sometimes.
On weekends, Anthony sleeps on Ian's bed. It's the most comfortable mattress he has ever known, and he would really rather share that with Ian than go sleep in the guest room, on Ian's more than a little questionable mattress. Pip actually appreciates having a backyard to frolic around in, and Anthony appreciates being able to relax without hearing the constant honking of cars. Ian, to his credit, actually starts looking up vegan dishes to cook for Anthony, and though sometimes the results are less than satisfactory-during one particular night, Ian and Anthony actually had to say “fuck it” and go to a French restaurant downtown that served vegan dishes as well-sometimes, the results are actually good enough, and really, Anthony appreciates the effort.
Two weeks after starting this little thing of theirs, Anthony finds himself at the grocery store paying for a box of cereal he doesn't even like, but got anyway because he knows it's Ian's favorite. A week later, and Anthony finds himself buying various cuts of chicken with his usual tofu. A full month later, and Anthony finds himself buying dog food for Daisy. He would freak out, really, but there just doesn't seem to be any reason to do so. He knows he's just being a good friend, helping Ian out, just as Ian is helping him out. After all, Anthony has been noticing how there's almost always cat food at Ian's place, and how various vegan alternatives have been popping up in Ian's pantry lately. There's also the fact that Ian actually keeps a bottle of Anthony's detergent at his house for when Anthony has to wash his clothes there and bottles of Anthony's preferred shampoo and conditioner.
As much as Anthony would like to think that this kind of companionship would really have happened eventually, he knows that this only happened because of that night when he and Ian had sex at his house. He can't explain it fully, but he just knows. Having sex with Ian and being able to act normally the morning after was the sort of thing Ian and Anthony needed to be able to prove to themselves that they're comfortable with this kind of intimacy, he thinks.
Despite having sex together being the gateway to this new kind of intimacy, he and Ian actually continue not to talk about it. Well, until it happens again. And again. And again. It becomes a sort of common thing, actually, something that started when Ian had figured out what Anthony's favorite vegan dish was and cooked it for him. Anthony had been so startled that he had leaned in without thinking and started kissing Ian, quickly backing away when he realized what the fuck he was doing. He had started to apologize, of course, his heart falling to the bottom of his stomach when he figured out that that would probably be the last time Ian would stay at his place, when Ian suddenly leaned in and kissed Anthony back.
After that, well. Having sex seemed logical, considering the fact that having one another in their respective living spaces all the time hasn't really provided them with alone time, and being sexually frustrated for about a month is really not fun at all, so they quickly finished dinner and moved things along to Anthony's bedroom.
This-it's definitely weird, and it's not the sort of thing friends do for each other, no matter how close they may be, but Anthony doesn't care. He has a best friend who only slightly teases him for occasionally giving into his guilty pleasure and watching America's Next Top Model, and who occasionally has sex with him. Clearly, he has everything he might possibly want, and he would be stupid to look a gift horse in the mouth by questioning everything that's happening right now.
So he doesn't. Question it, that is. What he does do is go to the grocery store and stock up on lube and condoms.
It's a pretty wise move on his part.
-.-.-.-For some unknown reason, Anthony becomes Courtney’s go-to person to rant to about her love life. He doesn’t mind, really, since Courtney is pretty imaginative and her rants more often than not amuse him. Courtney, to her credit, is never spiteful, and her brand of humor when talking about her lack of a love life is more self-deprecating than insulting to the people she goes on dates with. During times when she nitpicks on her dates, she doesn’t bring up truly distressing things about them-things that may be too personal or too hurtful-only bringing up the most inconsequential of things.
This is why Anthony isn’t surprised when his phone rings one night and Courtney’s name appears on the caller ID.
“What’s up?” Anthony asks, one hand holding the phone and the other opening his pantry cabinet. Frowning at the lack of food, he takes a moment to mentally thank Ian for his foresight and for actually volunteering to be the one to go to Walmart.
“I had a bad date.”
Anthony smiles, closing the cabinet and heading to his refrigerator, neatly avoiding Daisy who, once again, is lying on the rug on the floor near the kitchen sink. “What happened this time?”
Courtney sighs. Anthony hears two distant thumps-those must be her precious black Converses hitting the floor as she carelessly removes them from her feet-and grins. “That bad, huh?”
Courtney groans. “Yes, it was that bad,” she says, frustration bleeding through her tone. “He didn’t bring me to a restaurant, which was great, because then that showed that he had some creativity, so when the date began, I was putting plus points in his tally.”
“Where’d he take you?” Anthony asks, bending down to look at the (sadly) few contents of his refrigerator. From her spot, Daisy raises her head to sneak a glance at the contents of the open refrigerator, before lowering her head again, apparently having sated her curiosity.
“The beach,” Courtney says simply. “It was nice. We bought gelato at this great place, then walked to the beach. Not the best place to wear Converses at, mind you, but I was really having fun. By that time, the sun was setting, so you know, the whole thing looked romantic.”
Anthony closes the refrigerator door. “But?”
Courtney sighs, and Anthony hears her walk, footsteps light on wooden floors. “But then he started talking about how he appreciated me because I didn’t look like one of those geeky girls who, in his words, pretend to like playing video games and reading comic books just so they can get guys to be attracted to them.”
Anthony raises his eyebrows. “Damn. Don’t let Mari hear what he said,” he says, stepping around Daisy and heading to his bedroom to grab his laptop. He already knows Courtney knows that she should do that-Mari’s rants about some of the haters who continue to say that she shouldn’t be part of the group since she’s a girl are legendary, after all-but he reminds her anyway, knowing that Courtney, Mari, and Olivia try to hang out when they can.
“I know that.” Courtney sighs again, and Anthony knows that she’s going to be marathoning How I Met Your Mother later. “Needless to say, the mood was ruined.”
Anthony holds the phone to his ear with one shoulder, what with both of his hands occupied with holding his laptop as he walks back to the dining table. Outside, the sky is dark blue and the lights are just a little bit blinding, the Los Angeles city seemingly more alive at night than in the morning. “I’m sorry. But hey, there are other dates, don’t worry.”
“God, just. I suck at this dating thing. Can I hear about your bad dating experiences? Any ridiculous love life anecdotes you want to share? Advice, maybe?”
Anthony laughs, carefully putting his laptop on the kitchen table. “You just want to hear about my failures in the dating scene,” he says, one hand coming up to hold his phone to his ear.
“Yeah,” Courtney admits, and Anthony laughs harder. “I just want to immerse myself in another person’s failures at dating.”
“Well then, sorry, you won’t be hearing anything from me. I haven’t been dating, remember?” Anthony sits down and opens his laptop. “Now, if you do want to hear about sad break up stories, I’m the guy you should talk to.”
Courtney chuckles, and Anthony smiles. He might not be able to do much, but hey, at least he’s making her smile.
Anthony hears the sound of keys jingling, and he looks behind him, smiling when he sees Daisy lift her head up. When the door opens, Daisy stands up and runs towards Ian, barking loudly all the while.
“Huh.”
“What?” Anthony asks, standing up and tucking his way too expensive iPhone between his ear and shoulder.
“I didn’t know you had a dog,” Courtney says, confused.
Anthony grabs some of the plastic bags in Ian’s hands, smiling at him when Ian mouths “thanks”. “I don’t. Anyway, I have to go cook dinner. Bye, Courtney.”
“Bye,” she says, but the confusion is still there. Anthony doesn’t pay any attention to it, though, choosing to hang up and put his phone in his pocket, before walking to the pantry and starting to put away the groceries. Ian closes the door and puts the plastic bags he’s carrying on the middle of the dining table, where it will be safe from Daisy, but not from Pip.
“Courtney?” Ian asks.
Anthony turns around and watches Ian try to shoo Pip away from the plastic bags of groceries. “Yeah,” he says, smiling. “Bad date.”
Ian’s in a gray button up shirt today, and when he turns around to look at Anthony and shoot him a smile, his eyes seem even bluer because of it.
“So what’s for dinner?” Ian asks, turning around again to remove the food from the plastic bags.
Anthony shrugs. “I don’t really know. We could order in? Unless you want to cook.”
“Too lazy,” Ian says, and Anthony laughs.
“Order in, it is.”
-.-.-.-Anthony groans. It’s a little pitiful, really, and he can just sense Pip’s judgmental look on him before he gets off Ian’s bed and stalks to the doorway, apparently having had enough of his being pathetic. Anthony would be worried about having raised a sassy, judgmental cat, but Pip’s acting normally enough for a cat that Anthony’s just not worried at all about him.
What he is worried about is himself. No matter how hard he tries to ignore the shivers running through his body, he can’t seem to fall asleep. Daisy is, as always, a silent knight, staying by Anthony’s side even though Ian says Daisy isn’t allowed on his bed.
Smiling, Anthony glances at Daisy and brings a hand up, fingers gently scratching her head.
“Feeling better?”
Anthony looks up from Daisy to see Ian with a small smile on his face and a bowl of soup in his hands. “Not really,” he says, though he smiles softly as he does so. “Daisy’s helping.”
Ian raises his eyebrows as he walks to the nightstand slowly, careful not to make the soup spill. “Moral support?”
“Yeah,” Anthony admits. He closes his eyes against the intense bout of headache, screwing his eyes further shut when he feels something that can only be described as a parade of elephants stomping on his skull or something like it attack him and his sanity. A pitiful groan makes its way out of his mouth, and he shifts his head a little bit to the side, trying to find a comfortable position on the too-hot pillow.
For all that Ian’s mattress feels a little like what heaven’s floor must be like, Anthony still feels a little bit like his skin’s too tight, still feels too hot and too cold at the same time.
“See, I told you not to go to work yesterday.” Anthony can hear the disapproval in Ian’s voice, try as Ian might not to actually say, “see, I told you so”.
Anthony opens his eyes. “I’ll get better, don’t worry,” Anthony says, right before he starts shivering under the covers again. Daisy lifts her head up, visibly alarmed, before standing up and rearranging herself when she sees what caused her to move. She lies back down and puts her head on top of Anthony’s thigh. Smiling, Anthony puts his hand back on her head, softly patting her fur as he ignores the desire to just curl up to trap as much body heat as possible.
Ian sits down beside Anthony, careful not to hit Daisy with his legs. “Come on, sit up. You need to eat something. And yes, before you ask, the soup is vegan. Come on, give me some credit.”
Anthony coughs. “I wasn’t going to ask,” he says when the lung-rattling cough is over. His head still hurts like the worst kind of hell, and he’s still a little weak. To be perfectly honest, he really doesn’t think he has the strength to sit up right now, and he suspects that if he does manage to sit up, he won’t be able to last long. “And, uh, can I take a rain check on that soup?”
Ian shakes his head. “You haven’t eaten anything. I’m not going to be the one who’s going to have to drag your dead ass from my house. Sit up, man.”
Sighing, Anthony plants two hands onto the mattress and slowly sits up, grateful when Ian immediately grabs the pillows that were previously underneath his head and starts rearranging them. Eventually, Anthony does make it, his entire upper body leaning against the pillows which, in turn, are propped up against the smooth dark wood of the headboard. His vision swimming, Anthony closes his eyes for a few seconds to get a hold of his bearings, before slowly opening them and almost sighing in relief when everything looks steady. His mouth tastes a little bit like something died in there, and he knows that if he eats the soup, he won’t be able to taste anything.
He hates being sick.
“Here,” Ian says, holding the bowl of soup in his hand. “I’ll feed you.”
Anthony moans. “’M not a child.”
Ian shoots him a look. “Yeah, but I really don’t think you can hold this, and I’m sure you don’t want to get first-degree burns from spilling soup all over yourself.”
Grimacing, Anthony watches Ian spoon some soup. “I can at least hold the spoon,” he says, one hand coming up to rub his stuffed nose.
Ian sighs, but doesn’t argue, instead carefully handing Anthony the spoonful of soup. It goes like this a few more times, with the soup eventually helping Anthony breathe a little better through his nose and with Anthony gradually being able to avoid spilling soup onto Ian’s pristine white sheets. Outside, rain pitter-patters on the window, the sky looking gray and gloomy. At least the weather feels the same way Anthony does, he thinks as he dutifully takes another sip of the admittedly delicious soup.
“I’ll go get you some water,” Ian says when Anthony has finally finished the bowl of soup. He smiles at him softly, fondness shining in his eyes, before he walks out the door.
As much as Anthony would like to lie back down and try again to get some rest, he knows he has to drink his water and medicine, so he settles for turning his head and looking out the window. He’s a little thankful that the illness crept up on him this morning, when he was finally settled into Ian’s house again, because he knows that if he were in his apartment today, the constant blaring of horns that is unavoidable in Los Angeles traffic combined with the rain would give him even more of a headache.
This-this is nice. It’s quiet, and even though Anthony feels so sick he can hardly move, everything feels peaceful. He has Pip and Daisy to keep him company, and he has Ian to take care of him. By all accounts, he’s lucky to have stumbled into this weird little thing he and Ian have got going on.
“I’m back.”
Anthony turns his head and smiles when he sees Ian in his gray pajamas and a faded blue tee, a glass of water in one hand and a bottle of Tylenol in the other.
It’s not long before Anthony has drunk his medicine and his glass of water and is sliding down the bed once more, already feeling the Dayquil affecting him. As he slowly closes his eyes, however, he feels Daisy leave the bed, replaced by Ian lying down.
Anthony opens one eye. “Go away,” he mumbles, already halfway to dreamland, “you’re going to get sick.”
Ian chuckles. “You’re not going to kick me out of my own bed, Anthony. Go to sleep.”
Anthony does.
-.-.-.-It’s morning.
Anthony wakes up a hell of a lot better than he was yesterday. Last night, Ian had once again force-fed him soup until he finished the bowl, then proceeded to sleep next to him despite his protests, again. When he had slept, the rain had slowed down, and though the headache was still there, it wasn’t as bad as before.
Now, however, Anthony feels a lot better. He can breathe normally through his nose again, the headache has dulled into something faint and easily ignorable, and the sun is shining outside, judging from the way some streams of sunlight have managed to slip their way through the crack between Ian’s blinds. His mouth doesn’t feel like it’s stuffed with cotton balls, and he’s pretty sure that if he tries, he can sit up without much trouble now.
Smiling, Anthony turns on his side and watches Ian, peaceful in sleep. Giving into the urge, Anthony reaches with one hand and cards his fingers through Ian’s hair, rearranging the strands so they wouldn’t cover Ian’s closed eyes. He stops, frowning, when he feels Ian’s skin, fever-hot like his skin yesterday.
Sighing, Anthony gets out of bed and tucks the blanket, knowing that Ian will appreciate it later, when he’s awake and miserable.
Barefoot, Anthony makes his way out of the bedroom, taking great care to close the door behind him gently. Making his way down the wooden staircase, he smiles when he sees Pip and Daisy sharing Daisy’s doggy bed. They’re both awake-Daisy’s eyes light up when she sees him walking down the stairs, and Pip only looks at him with disinterest in his eyes-and Anthony nods, immediately heading to the door leading to the backyard. As expected, the moment Anthony opens the door, Daisy shoots out of her doggy bed and leaps to the door, with Pip following her at a much slower pace.
When they’re both out of the house, Anthony closes the door and heads to the kitchen, bending down to get the pot he needs to make Chicken Noodle soup. Halfway through cutting up onions, he hears Daisy scratching at the door, and he quickly walks towards it and opens it, sighing when Daisy immediately bounds for the staircase, no doubt eager to see Ian.
Another few minutes, and Anthony hears the bedroom door opening, as well as Ian’s raspy voice. “Anthony?”
“Down here!” Anthony calls out. He watches Pip stalk towards the living room couch for a few seconds, before he says, “I told you you’d get sick.”
He hears the steady thumps that tell him that Ian’s walking down the staircase. “I have great resistance. I don’t get sick often. I just slept with you in the same bed, and now I’m sick? We didn’t even share spoons or anything,” Ian says, sounding tired. Anthony looks up from the celery he’s chopping, frowning when he sees the bags under Ian’s eyes and the white, too-thin blanket around Ian’s shoulders.
“You should be in bed,” Anthony says, putting the knife aside and walking towards Ian. Reaching out with one hand, he arranges Ian’s hair so that it doesn’t cover his eyes, smiling at him softly as he does so. “Come on, I’m making Chicken Noodle Soup. Get some rest, Ian.”
“But you’re sick too,” Ian argues, swaying forward a little. Anthony immediately reaches out with both hands at the smallest indication that Ian’s going to pitch forward.
“I’m fine,” Anthony says. At Ian’s unimpressed look, he rolls his eyes. “Okay, mostly fine. Better than you, definitely. Go on. I’ll go up with your soup, okay?”
Sighing in defeat, Ian nods, before slowly making his way back up the stairs. Anthony takes the time to watch Ian climb the stairs, before walking back to the kitchen and resuming making the soup.
He doesn’t like cooking with non-vegan products, but, well.
Ian is worth it.
-.-.-.-“Hey, so you’ll never guess who I ran into.”
Anthony looks up from the papers in his hands, blinking. Courtney, in a plain black shirt, white shorts, and a pair of her trusty black Converses, is closing the door behind her, a grin that can be likened to a cat that ate the canary present on her face. Her eyes are gleaming with mischief, and Anthony spares a thought to be worried about himself before he forces himself to sit up and stop looking at the papers in his hands.
Anthony doesn’t even know why he’s worried, but he is. Still, he doesn’t let Courtney see the fear in his eyes, and he smiles at her a little indulgently. “Beyonce?”
“What?” Courtney shoots him an incredulous look. “No. Guess again.”
Anthony watches Courtney take a seat across him for a few seconds before he shrugs. “We both in LA. This guessing game might take a while.”
“All right.” She leans back, her smile becoming wickeder. “I ran into Ian.”
Anthony raises an eyebrow, a disbelieving smile twisting his lips. “So? I run into him all the time.” He shakes his head a little and leans forward. “We work together, remember?”
Courtney’s smile doesn’t slip from her face. If anything, it grows wider. “No, no. That’s not the special thing about it. I caught him on his run, so you know who else I saw?”
Anthony shrugs, not seeing where the whole conversation is going. “Beyonce?”
“Wrong.” Courtney doesn’t roll her eyes, but Anthony can clearly see that she wants to. “Ian was running with his dog.”
Anthony blinks. “Well, yeah, that’s generally how he runs. He usually brings Daisy with him for some exercise.” He knows this, because though they both love running, he’s more of a morning person than Ian and so goes on a morning run that starts much earlier than Ian’s. Usually, by the time he gets home, Ian and Daisy aren’t there yet, and so he has the luxury of staying a little longer in the shower, knowing that no one’s waiting to use it afterwards. He and Ian have gotten into the habit of leaving breakfast for the other, so usually, when Anthony’s home, there’s food kept inside the microwave so that Pip wouldn’t be able to eat it. Before leaving, Anthony always makes sure to cook something up for Ian as well, since it would be pretty rude not to do so.
“Okay, but you haven’t heard the best part yet.” Courtney looks so excited, Anthony’s actually pretty scared that she’s just going to spontaneously combust. “Ask me where he was headed.”
Anthony blinks. He feels so close to laughing, he can barely keep it in. “Did you stalk Ian?” he asks instead, choosing to tease Courtney a little more before eventually giving in to her wishes.
“Ask me where he was headed, Anthony,” Courtney says, ignoring Anthony’s question.
Anthony sighs. “All right, where was he headed?”
“To your apartment building,” Courtney says, looking proud of herself. “And I just happen to remember a certain conversation we had over the phone, the one in which I heard a dog bark. You said you didn’t have a dog, and I guess you’re right since Daisy isn’t your dog, but Ian’s.”
Anthony’s still confused. He’s guessing he shouldn’t be, but for the life of him, he can’t figure out where Courtney is going with this. “Okay, so…?”
Courtney smiles, bright and happy. “So, you and Ian are dating!”
Anthony blinks. He blinks again. Then, he blinks some more. “What?” he eventually asks, feeling a bit in over his head. His mouth feels dry. He swallows in an effort to make it feel less so. “What?”
Courtney shrugs. “You and Ian are dating.” She says it so simply, like it’s something that’s so natural to her, something that isn’t at all impossible.
“Uh, Courtney,” Anthony says when he’s finally gotten ahold of himself, “Ian and I are best friends.”
“So? Best friends can date.”
Anthony is absently aware of the fact that he and Courtney probably shouldn’t be talking about this kind of thing in this room, where their coworkers are bound to be headed for and where they might be heard by people who are extremely talented in the art of gossip, but still, he shakes his head and continues the conversation anyway, needing clarification. He’s still a little confused as to how Courtney came to that conclusion. “Yeah, but not me and Ian.”
Courtney’s smile fades. “Wait, so are you saying that you and Ian aren’t dating?” she asks, and Anthony’s a little stricken by the fact that Courtney found it much easier to assume and say that he and Ian were dating than the opposite.
Anthony shakes his head. “No.”
“So then why was Ian headed to your apartment?” Courtney asks, her eyebrows drawn together in suspicion.
“He’s staying at my place,” Anthony says nonchalantly, not seeing why he shouldn’t tell her the truth. He looks back down at the papers in his hands, sighing when he realizes there’s still a lot more he needs to read.
“Doesn’t he have a house?” Courtney asks, sounding confused.
“Yeah,” Anthony says, glancing at her before looking back down. “I stay there with him on weekends. Less traffic, less noise. Kind of peaceful, actually.”
“I knew it!” Courtney says, sounding proud of herself, her voice way louder than it should be. Anthony looks up and smiles when he sees Courtney’s expression-all that’s missing is a fist in the air, and she wouldn’t look out of place on an Olympics winners’ three-level podium.
“What? It still doesn’t mean anything. We’re still not dating.”
Courtney leans forward, looking more eager than ever. “You know, when I was asking you if you wanted me to introduce you to my friend, I knew you were telling the truth when you told me that you didn’t really want to date other people for a while. I just didn’t know what the whole truth was.”
Anthony feels more confused than ever. He feels like this conversation’s the verbal equivalent of being turned around and around while he has his eyes closed and having to open his eyes and somehow make it out of a maze even while his whole world’s spinning and unstable. “And the whole truth is…?” Anthony prompts, wanting to actually get some clear answers from Courtney.
“That you don’t want to date because you’re already in a committed relationship,” Courtney says, and it’s in that tone of voice again, the one that tells him just how natural it is to Courtney, kind of like how basic facts of life are usually said: the sky is blue, the Earth revolves around the sun, and Ian and Anthony are in a committed relationship.
At Anthony’s lost look, Courtney elaborates. “Come on, Anthony. You guys are staying at each other’s places. You know who does that? People in relationships. Ian bought you food and brought it here to you like it was nothing. You know who does that? Again, people in relationships.”
“Yeah, but best friends do that too,” Anthony points out.
Courtney gives him an indulging smile, the one that lets Anthony know that Courtney’s merely patronizing him. “Okay, so what are you saying? That you’re best friends who live together, but at the same time, don’t live together? What, are you roommates in different places?” Courtney shakes her head. “Your logic is flawed. Besides, people who stay at their best friend’s places generally don’t a.) stay for long, which looks like the case between you two seeing as you just casually told me you stayed at his place on weekends, plural, and b.) bring their pets with them,” she says, counting her reasons off on her fingers.
Anthony blinks. Courtney, to his dismay, has a point.
Has he really been dating Ian all this time? “We’re not dating,” he says, though the words come out weak.
Courtney gives him a soft smile, though she looks like she badly wants to roll her eyes at him instead. “You’re so oblivious, Anthony. Ian could propose to you later and you’d still come in here tomorrow with a ring on your finger and insist that the ring on your finger is just a friendship ring.”
Anthony ignores her, choosing to think about the previous days he spent with Ian. He’s snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of the door opening, and when he looks up, he doesn’t know if he’s glad or sad to see Ian entering the room in his giraffe shirt and a pair of jeans.
Ian smiles. “Hey guys,” he says, and Anthony knows that Ian doesn’t know that Courtney saw him this morning. Watching Ian walk towards the seat beside him, he tries to even out his breathing and not panic. When Ian takes a moment to look outside, Anthony feels Courtney’s hand on his, and he breathes out slowly, looking at her with pleading and panic in his eyes.
“Just think about it,” she mouths, and he nods as he tries to breathe in slowly, wanting to be calm before Ian notices that something’s going on.
Courtney shoots him an encouraging smile before leaning back and grabbing her phone from one of the pockets in her shorts. She has, for all intents and purposes, forgotten about him now.
He glances back down at the papers in his hand. He will think about what she said, he knows. Maybe not now, but later.
Ian sits down beside him, and he knows.
Definitely later.
Part three here.
Author:lavenderpisha09
Pairings: Ian/Anthony
Rating: PG
Genre: Fluff
Summary: Anthony never asked for Ian to practically be the perfect boyfriend Anthony doesn't deserve. He goes and does it anyway.
Author's Notes: I really just wanted an excuse to write a series of domestic scenes. Oh, and I've been having a particularly vicious writer's block for the past month, so apologies if this fluff fic doesn't seem particularly well-written.
Disclaimer: I don't own Smosh. I don't make money from this.
Part one here.
Ian starts to sleep over at Anthony's apartment on weeknights and Anthony starts to sleep over at Ian's on weekends. To be fair, it's a logical move on their part-Anthony's apartment is much closer to the office than Ian's place, therefore guaranteeing Ian more time to laze about in bed before going to work during weekdays, and Ian's place is far away enough from the traffic and the noise pollution the city is full of, therefore giving Anthony a chance to actually relax. Don't get him wrong, Anthony does love the city, does love how the city seems to be constantly full of life, but he does get sick of it, sometimes, which is why he loves that he gets to spend two full days every week at Ian's quiet home.
It wasn't planned, at first. Ian just started staying at Anthony's during a week filled with back-to-back meetings, too tired to go home after late-night brainstorming sessions. In the mornings, Ian would wake up earlier than Anthony and slip out of the apartment, driving back to his house to take a shower and check up on Daisy before heading back to the office. After five consecutive days of having to do the exact same thing, Ian looked ready to puke at the thought of having to do the exact same thing over again, and had all but begged Anthony to let him stay at his apartment during weekdays. Anthony had said yes, of course, and Ian, in return, had invited him to stay at his house during weekends.
And so, here they are. After the initial week, Ian and Anthony had fallen into some sort of pattern. During Sunday evenings, Ian and Anthony would leave Ian's house with Daisy and Pip, and during Friday evenings, they would go back to Ian's place with their pets. It made sense, and as much as Anthony hates to admit it, he actually misses the company Ian and Daisy provide. Though Pip and Daisy initially didn't get along, now they do, and Anthony thinks Pip is also grateful that he has someone to play with during the day, when Anthony's not at home.
Despite Ian and Daisy's presence in his apartment on weekdays, Anthony doesn't actually feel like anything's changed. If anything, everything feels right, somehow-the fact that he doesn't have to come home to a quiet and empty apartment at night is something he's happy about. It feels just like back then, when he and Ian lived together in their house, though of course back there they had their own rooms and they didn't have Pip and Daisy.
It should probably feel weird. Scratch that, it should feel weird, but it doesn't. Anthony can't bring himself to feel weird about him and Ian sharing a bed together when Ian used to sleep on Anthony's small bed with him all the time back when they were still teenagers, especially now that Anthony has a much bigger-and comfier-bed. Besides, it's great to have someone else do the dishes or cook sometimes, even though having Daisy in his apartment means having to mop up more pee sometimes.
On weekends, Anthony sleeps on Ian's bed. It's the most comfortable mattress he has ever known, and he would really rather share that with Ian than go sleep in the guest room, on Ian's more than a little questionable mattress. Pip actually appreciates having a backyard to frolic around in, and Anthony appreciates being able to relax without hearing the constant honking of cars. Ian, to his credit, actually starts looking up vegan dishes to cook for Anthony, and though sometimes the results are less than satisfactory-during one particular night, Ian and Anthony actually had to say “fuck it” and go to a French restaurant downtown that served vegan dishes as well-sometimes, the results are actually good enough, and really, Anthony appreciates the effort.
Two weeks after starting this little thing of theirs, Anthony finds himself at the grocery store paying for a box of cereal he doesn't even like, but got anyway because he knows it's Ian's favorite. A week later, and Anthony finds himself buying various cuts of chicken with his usual tofu. A full month later, and Anthony finds himself buying dog food for Daisy. He would freak out, really, but there just doesn't seem to be any reason to do so. He knows he's just being a good friend, helping Ian out, just as Ian is helping him out. After all, Anthony has been noticing how there's almost always cat food at Ian's place, and how various vegan alternatives have been popping up in Ian's pantry lately. There's also the fact that Ian actually keeps a bottle of Anthony's detergent at his house for when Anthony has to wash his clothes there and bottles of Anthony's preferred shampoo and conditioner.
As much as Anthony would like to think that this kind of companionship would really have happened eventually, he knows that this only happened because of that night when he and Ian had sex at his house. He can't explain it fully, but he just knows. Having sex with Ian and being able to act normally the morning after was the sort of thing Ian and Anthony needed to be able to prove to themselves that they're comfortable with this kind of intimacy, he thinks.
Despite having sex together being the gateway to this new kind of intimacy, he and Ian actually continue not to talk about it. Well, until it happens again. And again. And again. It becomes a sort of common thing, actually, something that started when Ian had figured out what Anthony's favorite vegan dish was and cooked it for him. Anthony had been so startled that he had leaned in without thinking and started kissing Ian, quickly backing away when he realized what the fuck he was doing. He had started to apologize, of course, his heart falling to the bottom of his stomach when he figured out that that would probably be the last time Ian would stay at his place, when Ian suddenly leaned in and kissed Anthony back.
After that, well. Having sex seemed logical, considering the fact that having one another in their respective living spaces all the time hasn't really provided them with alone time, and being sexually frustrated for about a month is really not fun at all, so they quickly finished dinner and moved things along to Anthony's bedroom.
This-it's definitely weird, and it's not the sort of thing friends do for each other, no matter how close they may be, but Anthony doesn't care. He has a best friend who only slightly teases him for occasionally giving into his guilty pleasure and watching America's Next Top Model, and who occasionally has sex with him. Clearly, he has everything he might possibly want, and he would be stupid to look a gift horse in the mouth by questioning everything that's happening right now.
So he doesn't. Question it, that is. What he does do is go to the grocery store and stock up on lube and condoms.
It's a pretty wise move on his part.
-.-.-.-For some unknown reason, Anthony becomes Courtney’s go-to person to rant to about her love life. He doesn’t mind, really, since Courtney is pretty imaginative and her rants more often than not amuse him. Courtney, to her credit, is never spiteful, and her brand of humor when talking about her lack of a love life is more self-deprecating than insulting to the people she goes on dates with. During times when she nitpicks on her dates, she doesn’t bring up truly distressing things about them-things that may be too personal or too hurtful-only bringing up the most inconsequential of things.
This is why Anthony isn’t surprised when his phone rings one night and Courtney’s name appears on the caller ID.
“What’s up?” Anthony asks, one hand holding the phone and the other opening his pantry cabinet. Frowning at the lack of food, he takes a moment to mentally thank Ian for his foresight and for actually volunteering to be the one to go to Walmart.
“I had a bad date.”
Anthony smiles, closing the cabinet and heading to his refrigerator, neatly avoiding Daisy who, once again, is lying on the rug on the floor near the kitchen sink. “What happened this time?”
Courtney sighs. Anthony hears two distant thumps-those must be her precious black Converses hitting the floor as she carelessly removes them from her feet-and grins. “That bad, huh?”
Courtney groans. “Yes, it was that bad,” she says, frustration bleeding through her tone. “He didn’t bring me to a restaurant, which was great, because then that showed that he had some creativity, so when the date began, I was putting plus points in his tally.”
“Where’d he take you?” Anthony asks, bending down to look at the (sadly) few contents of his refrigerator. From her spot, Daisy raises her head to sneak a glance at the contents of the open refrigerator, before lowering her head again, apparently having sated her curiosity.
“The beach,” Courtney says simply. “It was nice. We bought gelato at this great place, then walked to the beach. Not the best place to wear Converses at, mind you, but I was really having fun. By that time, the sun was setting, so you know, the whole thing looked romantic.”
Anthony closes the refrigerator door. “But?”
Courtney sighs, and Anthony hears her walk, footsteps light on wooden floors. “But then he started talking about how he appreciated me because I didn’t look like one of those geeky girls who, in his words, pretend to like playing video games and reading comic books just so they can get guys to be attracted to them.”
Anthony raises his eyebrows. “Damn. Don’t let Mari hear what he said,” he says, stepping around Daisy and heading to his bedroom to grab his laptop. He already knows Courtney knows that she should do that-Mari’s rants about some of the haters who continue to say that she shouldn’t be part of the group since she’s a girl are legendary, after all-but he reminds her anyway, knowing that Courtney, Mari, and Olivia try to hang out when they can.
“I know that.” Courtney sighs again, and Anthony knows that she’s going to be marathoning How I Met Your Mother later. “Needless to say, the mood was ruined.”
Anthony holds the phone to his ear with one shoulder, what with both of his hands occupied with holding his laptop as he walks back to the dining table. Outside, the sky is dark blue and the lights are just a little bit blinding, the Los Angeles city seemingly more alive at night than in the morning. “I’m sorry. But hey, there are other dates, don’t worry.”
“God, just. I suck at this dating thing. Can I hear about your bad dating experiences? Any ridiculous love life anecdotes you want to share? Advice, maybe?”
Anthony laughs, carefully putting his laptop on the kitchen table. “You just want to hear about my failures in the dating scene,” he says, one hand coming up to hold his phone to his ear.
“Yeah,” Courtney admits, and Anthony laughs harder. “I just want to immerse myself in another person’s failures at dating.”
“Well then, sorry, you won’t be hearing anything from me. I haven’t been dating, remember?” Anthony sits down and opens his laptop. “Now, if you do want to hear about sad break up stories, I’m the guy you should talk to.”
Courtney chuckles, and Anthony smiles. He might not be able to do much, but hey, at least he’s making her smile.
Anthony hears the sound of keys jingling, and he looks behind him, smiling when he sees Daisy lift her head up. When the door opens, Daisy stands up and runs towards Ian, barking loudly all the while.
“Huh.”
“What?” Anthony asks, standing up and tucking his way too expensive iPhone between his ear and shoulder.
“I didn’t know you had a dog,” Courtney says, confused.
Anthony grabs some of the plastic bags in Ian’s hands, smiling at him when Ian mouths “thanks”. “I don’t. Anyway, I have to go cook dinner. Bye, Courtney.”
“Bye,” she says, but the confusion is still there. Anthony doesn’t pay any attention to it, though, choosing to hang up and put his phone in his pocket, before walking to the pantry and starting to put away the groceries. Ian closes the door and puts the plastic bags he’s carrying on the middle of the dining table, where it will be safe from Daisy, but not from Pip.
“Courtney?” Ian asks.
Anthony turns around and watches Ian try to shoo Pip away from the plastic bags of groceries. “Yeah,” he says, smiling. “Bad date.”
Ian’s in a gray button up shirt today, and when he turns around to look at Anthony and shoot him a smile, his eyes seem even bluer because of it.
“So what’s for dinner?” Ian asks, turning around again to remove the food from the plastic bags.
Anthony shrugs. “I don’t really know. We could order in? Unless you want to cook.”
“Too lazy,” Ian says, and Anthony laughs.
“Order in, it is.”
-.-.-.-Anthony groans. It’s a little pitiful, really, and he can just sense Pip’s judgmental look on him before he gets off Ian’s bed and stalks to the doorway, apparently having had enough of his being pathetic. Anthony would be worried about having raised a sassy, judgmental cat, but Pip’s acting normally enough for a cat that Anthony’s just not worried at all about him.
What he is worried about is himself. No matter how hard he tries to ignore the shivers running through his body, he can’t seem to fall asleep. Daisy is, as always, a silent knight, staying by Anthony’s side even though Ian says Daisy isn’t allowed on his bed.
Smiling, Anthony glances at Daisy and brings a hand up, fingers gently scratching her head.
“Feeling better?”
Anthony looks up from Daisy to see Ian with a small smile on his face and a bowl of soup in his hands. “Not really,” he says, though he smiles softly as he does so. “Daisy’s helping.”
Ian raises his eyebrows as he walks to the nightstand slowly, careful not to make the soup spill. “Moral support?”
“Yeah,” Anthony admits. He closes his eyes against the intense bout of headache, screwing his eyes further shut when he feels something that can only be described as a parade of elephants stomping on his skull or something like it attack him and his sanity. A pitiful groan makes its way out of his mouth, and he shifts his head a little bit to the side, trying to find a comfortable position on the too-hot pillow.
For all that Ian’s mattress feels a little like what heaven’s floor must be like, Anthony still feels a little bit like his skin’s too tight, still feels too hot and too cold at the same time.
“See, I told you not to go to work yesterday.” Anthony can hear the disapproval in Ian’s voice, try as Ian might not to actually say, “see, I told you so”.
Anthony opens his eyes. “I’ll get better, don’t worry,” Anthony says, right before he starts shivering under the covers again. Daisy lifts her head up, visibly alarmed, before standing up and rearranging herself when she sees what caused her to move. She lies back down and puts her head on top of Anthony’s thigh. Smiling, Anthony puts his hand back on her head, softly patting her fur as he ignores the desire to just curl up to trap as much body heat as possible.
Ian sits down beside Anthony, careful not to hit Daisy with his legs. “Come on, sit up. You need to eat something. And yes, before you ask, the soup is vegan. Come on, give me some credit.”
Anthony coughs. “I wasn’t going to ask,” he says when the lung-rattling cough is over. His head still hurts like the worst kind of hell, and he’s still a little weak. To be perfectly honest, he really doesn’t think he has the strength to sit up right now, and he suspects that if he does manage to sit up, he won’t be able to last long. “And, uh, can I take a rain check on that soup?”
Ian shakes his head. “You haven’t eaten anything. I’m not going to be the one who’s going to have to drag your dead ass from my house. Sit up, man.”
Sighing, Anthony plants two hands onto the mattress and slowly sits up, grateful when Ian immediately grabs the pillows that were previously underneath his head and starts rearranging them. Eventually, Anthony does make it, his entire upper body leaning against the pillows which, in turn, are propped up against the smooth dark wood of the headboard. His vision swimming, Anthony closes his eyes for a few seconds to get a hold of his bearings, before slowly opening them and almost sighing in relief when everything looks steady. His mouth tastes a little bit like something died in there, and he knows that if he eats the soup, he won’t be able to taste anything.
He hates being sick.
“Here,” Ian says, holding the bowl of soup in his hand. “I’ll feed you.”
Anthony moans. “’M not a child.”
Ian shoots him a look. “Yeah, but I really don’t think you can hold this, and I’m sure you don’t want to get first-degree burns from spilling soup all over yourself.”
Grimacing, Anthony watches Ian spoon some soup. “I can at least hold the spoon,” he says, one hand coming up to rub his stuffed nose.
Ian sighs, but doesn’t argue, instead carefully handing Anthony the spoonful of soup. It goes like this a few more times, with the soup eventually helping Anthony breathe a little better through his nose and with Anthony gradually being able to avoid spilling soup onto Ian’s pristine white sheets. Outside, rain pitter-patters on the window, the sky looking gray and gloomy. At least the weather feels the same way Anthony does, he thinks as he dutifully takes another sip of the admittedly delicious soup.
“I’ll go get you some water,” Ian says when Anthony has finally finished the bowl of soup. He smiles at him softly, fondness shining in his eyes, before he walks out the door.
As much as Anthony would like to lie back down and try again to get some rest, he knows he has to drink his water and medicine, so he settles for turning his head and looking out the window. He’s a little thankful that the illness crept up on him this morning, when he was finally settled into Ian’s house again, because he knows that if he were in his apartment today, the constant blaring of horns that is unavoidable in Los Angeles traffic combined with the rain would give him even more of a headache.
This-this is nice. It’s quiet, and even though Anthony feels so sick he can hardly move, everything feels peaceful. He has Pip and Daisy to keep him company, and he has Ian to take care of him. By all accounts, he’s lucky to have stumbled into this weird little thing he and Ian have got going on.
“I’m back.”
Anthony turns his head and smiles when he sees Ian in his gray pajamas and a faded blue tee, a glass of water in one hand and a bottle of Tylenol in the other.
It’s not long before Anthony has drunk his medicine and his glass of water and is sliding down the bed once more, already feeling the Dayquil affecting him. As he slowly closes his eyes, however, he feels Daisy leave the bed, replaced by Ian lying down.
Anthony opens one eye. “Go away,” he mumbles, already halfway to dreamland, “you’re going to get sick.”
Ian chuckles. “You’re not going to kick me out of my own bed, Anthony. Go to sleep.”
Anthony does.
-.-.-.-It’s morning.
Anthony wakes up a hell of a lot better than he was yesterday. Last night, Ian had once again force-fed him soup until he finished the bowl, then proceeded to sleep next to him despite his protests, again. When he had slept, the rain had slowed down, and though the headache was still there, it wasn’t as bad as before.
Now, however, Anthony feels a lot better. He can breathe normally through his nose again, the headache has dulled into something faint and easily ignorable, and the sun is shining outside, judging from the way some streams of sunlight have managed to slip their way through the crack between Ian’s blinds. His mouth doesn’t feel like it’s stuffed with cotton balls, and he’s pretty sure that if he tries, he can sit up without much trouble now.
Smiling, Anthony turns on his side and watches Ian, peaceful in sleep. Giving into the urge, Anthony reaches with one hand and cards his fingers through Ian’s hair, rearranging the strands so they wouldn’t cover Ian’s closed eyes. He stops, frowning, when he feels Ian’s skin, fever-hot like his skin yesterday.
Sighing, Anthony gets out of bed and tucks the blanket, knowing that Ian will appreciate it later, when he’s awake and miserable.
Barefoot, Anthony makes his way out of the bedroom, taking great care to close the door behind him gently. Making his way down the wooden staircase, he smiles when he sees Pip and Daisy sharing Daisy’s doggy bed. They’re both awake-Daisy’s eyes light up when she sees him walking down the stairs, and Pip only looks at him with disinterest in his eyes-and Anthony nods, immediately heading to the door leading to the backyard. As expected, the moment Anthony opens the door, Daisy shoots out of her doggy bed and leaps to the door, with Pip following her at a much slower pace.
When they’re both out of the house, Anthony closes the door and heads to the kitchen, bending down to get the pot he needs to make Chicken Noodle soup. Halfway through cutting up onions, he hears Daisy scratching at the door, and he quickly walks towards it and opens it, sighing when Daisy immediately bounds for the staircase, no doubt eager to see Ian.
Another few minutes, and Anthony hears the bedroom door opening, as well as Ian’s raspy voice. “Anthony?”
“Down here!” Anthony calls out. He watches Pip stalk towards the living room couch for a few seconds, before he says, “I told you you’d get sick.”
He hears the steady thumps that tell him that Ian’s walking down the staircase. “I have great resistance. I don’t get sick often. I just slept with you in the same bed, and now I’m sick? We didn’t even share spoons or anything,” Ian says, sounding tired. Anthony looks up from the celery he’s chopping, frowning when he sees the bags under Ian’s eyes and the white, too-thin blanket around Ian’s shoulders.
“You should be in bed,” Anthony says, putting the knife aside and walking towards Ian. Reaching out with one hand, he arranges Ian’s hair so that it doesn’t cover his eyes, smiling at him softly as he does so. “Come on, I’m making Chicken Noodle Soup. Get some rest, Ian.”
“But you’re sick too,” Ian argues, swaying forward a little. Anthony immediately reaches out with both hands at the smallest indication that Ian’s going to pitch forward.
“I’m fine,” Anthony says. At Ian’s unimpressed look, he rolls his eyes. “Okay, mostly fine. Better than you, definitely. Go on. I’ll go up with your soup, okay?”
Sighing in defeat, Ian nods, before slowly making his way back up the stairs. Anthony takes the time to watch Ian climb the stairs, before walking back to the kitchen and resuming making the soup.
He doesn’t like cooking with non-vegan products, but, well.
Ian is worth it.
-.-.-.-“Hey, so you’ll never guess who I ran into.”
Anthony looks up from the papers in his hands, blinking. Courtney, in a plain black shirt, white shorts, and a pair of her trusty black Converses, is closing the door behind her, a grin that can be likened to a cat that ate the canary present on her face. Her eyes are gleaming with mischief, and Anthony spares a thought to be worried about himself before he forces himself to sit up and stop looking at the papers in his hands.
Anthony doesn’t even know why he’s worried, but he is. Still, he doesn’t let Courtney see the fear in his eyes, and he smiles at her a little indulgently. “Beyonce?”
“What?” Courtney shoots him an incredulous look. “No. Guess again.”
Anthony watches Courtney take a seat across him for a few seconds before he shrugs. “We both in LA. This guessing game might take a while.”
“All right.” She leans back, her smile becoming wickeder. “I ran into Ian.”
Anthony raises an eyebrow, a disbelieving smile twisting his lips. “So? I run into him all the time.” He shakes his head a little and leans forward. “We work together, remember?”
Courtney’s smile doesn’t slip from her face. If anything, it grows wider. “No, no. That’s not the special thing about it. I caught him on his run, so you know who else I saw?”
Anthony shrugs, not seeing where the whole conversation is going. “Beyonce?”
“Wrong.” Courtney doesn’t roll her eyes, but Anthony can clearly see that she wants to. “Ian was running with his dog.”
Anthony blinks. “Well, yeah, that’s generally how he runs. He usually brings Daisy with him for some exercise.” He knows this, because though they both love running, he’s more of a morning person than Ian and so goes on a morning run that starts much earlier than Ian’s. Usually, by the time he gets home, Ian and Daisy aren’t there yet, and so he has the luxury of staying a little longer in the shower, knowing that no one’s waiting to use it afterwards. He and Ian have gotten into the habit of leaving breakfast for the other, so usually, when Anthony’s home, there’s food kept inside the microwave so that Pip wouldn’t be able to eat it. Before leaving, Anthony always makes sure to cook something up for Ian as well, since it would be pretty rude not to do so.
“Okay, but you haven’t heard the best part yet.” Courtney looks so excited, Anthony’s actually pretty scared that she’s just going to spontaneously combust. “Ask me where he was headed.”
Anthony blinks. He feels so close to laughing, he can barely keep it in. “Did you stalk Ian?” he asks instead, choosing to tease Courtney a little more before eventually giving in to her wishes.
“Ask me where he was headed, Anthony,” Courtney says, ignoring Anthony’s question.
Anthony sighs. “All right, where was he headed?”
“To your apartment building,” Courtney says, looking proud of herself. “And I just happen to remember a certain conversation we had over the phone, the one in which I heard a dog bark. You said you didn’t have a dog, and I guess you’re right since Daisy isn’t your dog, but Ian’s.”
Anthony’s still confused. He’s guessing he shouldn’t be, but for the life of him, he can’t figure out where Courtney is going with this. “Okay, so…?”
Courtney smiles, bright and happy. “So, you and Ian are dating!”
Anthony blinks. He blinks again. Then, he blinks some more. “What?” he eventually asks, feeling a bit in over his head. His mouth feels dry. He swallows in an effort to make it feel less so. “What?”
Courtney shrugs. “You and Ian are dating.” She says it so simply, like it’s something that’s so natural to her, something that isn’t at all impossible.
“Uh, Courtney,” Anthony says when he’s finally gotten ahold of himself, “Ian and I are best friends.”
“So? Best friends can date.”
Anthony is absently aware of the fact that he and Courtney probably shouldn’t be talking about this kind of thing in this room, where their coworkers are bound to be headed for and where they might be heard by people who are extremely talented in the art of gossip, but still, he shakes his head and continues the conversation anyway, needing clarification. He’s still a little confused as to how Courtney came to that conclusion. “Yeah, but not me and Ian.”
Courtney’s smile fades. “Wait, so are you saying that you and Ian aren’t dating?” she asks, and Anthony’s a little stricken by the fact that Courtney found it much easier to assume and say that he and Ian were dating than the opposite.
Anthony shakes his head. “No.”
“So then why was Ian headed to your apartment?” Courtney asks, her eyebrows drawn together in suspicion.
“He’s staying at my place,” Anthony says nonchalantly, not seeing why he shouldn’t tell her the truth. He looks back down at the papers in his hands, sighing when he realizes there’s still a lot more he needs to read.
“Doesn’t he have a house?” Courtney asks, sounding confused.
“Yeah,” Anthony says, glancing at her before looking back down. “I stay there with him on weekends. Less traffic, less noise. Kind of peaceful, actually.”
“I knew it!” Courtney says, sounding proud of herself, her voice way louder than it should be. Anthony looks up and smiles when he sees Courtney’s expression-all that’s missing is a fist in the air, and she wouldn’t look out of place on an Olympics winners’ three-level podium.
“What? It still doesn’t mean anything. We’re still not dating.”
Courtney leans forward, looking more eager than ever. “You know, when I was asking you if you wanted me to introduce you to my friend, I knew you were telling the truth when you told me that you didn’t really want to date other people for a while. I just didn’t know what the whole truth was.”
Anthony feels more confused than ever. He feels like this conversation’s the verbal equivalent of being turned around and around while he has his eyes closed and having to open his eyes and somehow make it out of a maze even while his whole world’s spinning and unstable. “And the whole truth is…?” Anthony prompts, wanting to actually get some clear answers from Courtney.
“That you don’t want to date because you’re already in a committed relationship,” Courtney says, and it’s in that tone of voice again, the one that tells him just how natural it is to Courtney, kind of like how basic facts of life are usually said: the sky is blue, the Earth revolves around the sun, and Ian and Anthony are in a committed relationship.
At Anthony’s lost look, Courtney elaborates. “Come on, Anthony. You guys are staying at each other’s places. You know who does that? People in relationships. Ian bought you food and brought it here to you like it was nothing. You know who does that? Again, people in relationships.”
“Yeah, but best friends do that too,” Anthony points out.
Courtney gives him an indulging smile, the one that lets Anthony know that Courtney’s merely patronizing him. “Okay, so what are you saying? That you’re best friends who live together, but at the same time, don’t live together? What, are you roommates in different places?” Courtney shakes her head. “Your logic is flawed. Besides, people who stay at their best friend’s places generally don’t a.) stay for long, which looks like the case between you two seeing as you just casually told me you stayed at his place on weekends, plural, and b.) bring their pets with them,” she says, counting her reasons off on her fingers.
Anthony blinks. Courtney, to his dismay, has a point.
Has he really been dating Ian all this time? “We’re not dating,” he says, though the words come out weak.
Courtney gives him a soft smile, though she looks like she badly wants to roll her eyes at him instead. “You’re so oblivious, Anthony. Ian could propose to you later and you’d still come in here tomorrow with a ring on your finger and insist that the ring on your finger is just a friendship ring.”
Anthony ignores her, choosing to think about the previous days he spent with Ian. He’s snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of the door opening, and when he looks up, he doesn’t know if he’s glad or sad to see Ian entering the room in his giraffe shirt and a pair of jeans.
Ian smiles. “Hey guys,” he says, and Anthony knows that Ian doesn’t know that Courtney saw him this morning. Watching Ian walk towards the seat beside him, he tries to even out his breathing and not panic. When Ian takes a moment to look outside, Anthony feels Courtney’s hand on his, and he breathes out slowly, looking at her with pleading and panic in his eyes.
“Just think about it,” she mouths, and he nods as he tries to breathe in slowly, wanting to be calm before Ian notices that something’s going on.
Courtney shoots him an encouraging smile before leaning back and grabbing her phone from one of the pockets in her shorts. She has, for all intents and purposes, forgotten about him now.
He glances back down at the papers in his hand. He will think about what she said, he knows. Maybe not now, but later.
Ian sits down beside him, and he knows.
Definitely later.
Part three here.