Family Affairs (11/12)

[narya86]

Title: Family Affairs
Chapters: 11/12 ( 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 )
Authors: jumping_down & narya86
Pairing: Daniel Agger/Fernando Torres
Rating: Overall NC-17.
Disclaimer: This is all fiction, we don’t own the boys.
Summary: Fernando’s gaze involuntarily flickered up to where, right across from the table, the largest source of his irritation was sitting. His soon-to-be stepbrother.
A/N: The end's almost in reaching distance! Let's see how you guys like this chapter... ;)



Chapter 11

Their parents were gone for the weekend, and since Fernando and Dan had already known this for about a month they had made sure to declare a party to be thrown on Saturday night. They had casually invited whatever friends they had, knowing that they had to at least double the number to even have a vague idea of how many people would be there. But their penthouse was big and it was an Upper East Side party, so it was nothing they didn’t expect or couldn’t handle.

Of course Fernando hadn’t thought he’d be in the kind of mood he was in now when they had planned their party, thinking it would be fun. He hadn’t thought that he would have to evade Dan whenever possible just to keep up his own composure, because that certainly wasn’t fun. He just wanted this to be over already even though it had been barely two hours since the first guests had spilled out of the elevator.

The music was good, corresponding the general mood, and already there were people dancing among the chattering, drinking and laughing crowd as Fernando slowly made his way through it. He had barely done anything yet but stop and greet, and it wasn’t even so bad since it always gave him an excuse to get away when he saw Dan anywhere near him with the side effect of seeing a whole lot his friends.

Right now Fernando had just been on his way from the two Davids to Pepe who had just arrived with a dashing beauty on his arm, more alcohol and a gleeful grin on his face when he was tackled from behind, two arms flinging around his shoulders, and he almost stumbled. He didn’t quite need the joyful “Nando!” in his ear to recognise who it was as he steadied himself and looked back over his shoulder with a smile.

“Hey Enano. What happened to the traditional way of greeting?”

“You were looking like a zombie! I’ve been waving at you from across the room, and you didn’t even see me!” Cesc laughed.

“You did? I’m sorry,” Fernando said sheepishly but inevitably felt the smile stay on his face in Cesc’s presence. When the black-haired youth finally allowed him to turn he hugged his friend properly. “It’s good to see you. How are you?”

“Doing good! I haven’t seen you in so long! Still taking that MBA?”

“Almost done. How’s college for you? Didn’t you just start? God, I lost track of everyone this year.”

“College is great! I’m on the football team,” Cesc announced proudly.

“Yeah, I’m not surprised,” Fernando laughed, feeling pleasantly light-hearted for the moment. “Running circles around and through the other player’s legs, right?”

The Catalan laughed and shoved him gently. “I bet I could still do it with you. We haven’t played in so long, we really have to meet up again.” Without giving Fernando time to answer though he looked around. “By the way, where’s your stepbrother? I haven’t met him yet!”

And just like that, Fernando’s smile fell and he shrugged. “Don’t know, around.”

“Huh. Sergio and Xabi told me you guys weren’t getting along so well.”

“We have ups and downs I guess,” Fernando returned but didn’t really want to talk about this. He let his gaze stray over the mass of guests until he found a new face. “Hey Cesc, I’m gonna go and say hi to some more people. You have fun, okay?”

If Cesc found something fishy, he didn’t speak up about it. He just patted Fernando’s back and went on his way.

Fernando smiled and shook his head at two girls who wanted to wave him over to the dancers as he passed them, waved a few times to various people and finally stopped again as he came across the tall, black-haired guy he had seen earlier.

“Niño!” the guest called out, his face breaking out into a grin.

“Hey Iker,” Fernando smiled back. “I thought you’d be coming later? Good to see you though.”

“My shoot ended early,” Iker shrugged, a glass of whisky already in hand. Must have been a tough shoot then Fernando noted, the corners of his mouth twitching.

“That bad, huh? Do you know anything about Becks or Miki? I already saw D² back there.”

“I spotted Miki with Xabi a while earlier.” Iker coughed and tried to act nonchalant as he added, “And I haven’t really seen Becks yet.”

“I’m sure he’ll be here,” Fernando unsuccessfully tried not to grin too widely, watching how the faintest of blushes spread on his friend’s face, barely visible in the changing light. “After all you did say that you’d be here a little later.”

“Shut up, he wouldn’t be late just because I said I would be late,” Iker mumbled against the rim of his glass.

“Well he already is, isn’t he,” Fernando laughed and gently nudged his friend, enjoying the teasing but at the same time a bit envious. Just a little.

“Hey, Iker,” someone else sidled up to them, and they both turned to greet the newcomer. “Xabi! What’s up?”

Xabi shoved his hands into his jean pockets and smiled mischievously, “Guess who I saw, Nando?”

Fernando looked at him blankly. “A whole lot of people?”

Xabi shrugged teasingly, “Maybe.”

Fernando just raised an eyebrow, entirely unimpressed.

“Maybe someone you haven’t seen in a long time?”

“Will you spill it now or what?”

Xabi gazed at the irritated, confused expressions of his friends. But he couldn’t resist holding out a little bit more. “I really want you to guess.”

“Xabi!” Fernando groaned, rolling his eyes. “I’m gonna go look myself, I’m not gonna go through everyone I might have ever known for you to have your fun.”

“Okay,” Xabi said, batting his eyes innocently. Fernando shook his head and started walking away, looking for the ‘mystery guest’. The Basque called after him in a singsong tone, “Just a hint - in the hall!”

Fernando sighed, half amused and half exasperated by his friend’s antics. He gave Iker a short wave over his shoulder who in turn waved him off with a smile, turning to Xabi to undoubtedly get him to tell who the mysterious person was. He slowly weaved his way through the guests as his gaze fell on Dan who was watching him from the other side of the room. Immediately Fernando averted his eyes, quickening his steps. He still didn’t need Dan right now and he hated how it made him feel so on edge. He was supposed to have fun.

Swallowing down his irritation Fernando stepped into the hall and immediately froze, not even having to search the people there to wonder who Xabi had been talking about. His heart jumped up to his throat.

“Stevie?”

All those months backpacking around Europe and Asia had made Stevie scruffier. His hair was longer and unstyled, his jaw was covered with a layer of stubble and he was golden brown all over. But his smile was still gleaming and wide and it made his eyes crinkle the way they always did. “Fernando!” Stevie grinned back, his arms opening wide.

Before he had even given his feet the command to move they already did. It took Fernando only about two seconds to reach the other, and just a heartbeat to be enveloped in a crushing hug. His senses were assaulted all at once, the familiar scent, the well-known arms around him, the soft laugh in his ear, triggering a rush of memories, making him unable to say a single word.

“God, I missed you,” Stevie murmured. He kept hugging Fernando, it was almost stupid. But it had been too long. It almost felt surreal, feeling the warm, solid pressure of Fernando against his chest. It was like a blunt reminder that he was here. He was actually here.

Instinctively Fernando tightened his arms around Stevie, burying his face in the crook of his neck to inhale deeply two, three times. A small shudder ran down his spine as the tension just fell away from him, being replaced by everything will be alright. And with it he found his voice again.

“I’m so glad to see you…”

Stevie pulled away from him, but still kept him at arm’s length. “You don’t even look a day older!” he snickered.

“My hair’s different,” Fernando mumbled in defence even though he couldn’t help smiling. “And look at you, you’ve changed enough for the both of us,” he added, letting his gaze travel over the familiar features to find what was different and what had stayed the same. He just wanted to bury himself in the embrace again to forget all that had troubled him that day.

“You kept the freckles though,” Stevie murmured, running his thumb over Fernando’s cheek, entranced. “Just what I loved the most.”

“What you loved most about me were my freckles?” Fernando deadpanned, the corners of his mouth twitching.

“The most, okay,” Stevie laughed. “The rest of you isn’t so far behind.”

***

Dan was bored - Fernando was ignoring him, the wine was weak, the music was old… Fernando was ignoring him. So, to entertain himself, he did the next best thing. Annoy Sergio.

“Hey, gypsy,” Dan greeted as he walked up to the Sevillan by the bar. “Didn’t know you were invited.”

“Fuck off,” was the only thing Sergio offered as a reply, rolling his eyes and knocking back a shot before he stood up, obviously intent on not bothering with Dan at all.

“Aw, leaving so soon?” Dan asked, tagging along.

“What do you even want from me?” he could barely hear Sergio asking over the music since he didn’t even bother turning his head as he made his way through the crowd. “I’m not here for you.”

Dan quickened his pace so he could fall into step with Sergio. “Stalking my brother?” he hissed.

At that Sergio did turn sharply, his eyes dark as he hissed back, “Still sleeping with your brother?”

Dan came to an abrupt stop, and he recoiled, like he’d been slapped. Sergio just stared at him for another moment but when no answer came forth, he turned back and continued walking.

“What are you talking about?” Dan protested about five minutes too late. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He thought he heard Sergio snort, but before any answer was forthcoming the Sevillan suddenly froze right in front of him, nearly making them collide.

“What the fuck?” Dan grumbled, shoving Sergio away.

They were standing at the entrance of the hall, and when Sergio wasn’t in his line of sight anymore, not even protesting next to him, he saw what had made him stop: Fernando in the arms of some guy.

Dan couldn’t help grabbing Sergio and tugging him closer. “Who is that?” he demanded.

Sergio didn’t answer right away, just staring for a few seconds until his shoulders dropped with an almost inaudible sigh. “That’s his… that’s… Stevie.”

“Stevie?” Dan spat out. “Who is that?” he sneered condescendingly, but his stomach churned nervously. He didn’t like the looks of this at all.

He was a naturally possessive person. He didn’t like it when Sergio hung out with Fernando, or texted him or called him or visited him at home or generally breathed the same air as him.

He didn’t like it when Nick flirted with Fernando either. And Nick always flirted viciously. Always shady and pervy and always when he knew Dan was watching.

But this new boy - this looked different.

“Who is that?” Dan asked again.

He could see how Fernando and the guy finally parted from their embrace and got the first good look at him, saw the soft smile that was directed at his stepbrother, saw the way he drew his thumb over Fernando’s cheekbone.

“He…” Sergio sighed again, almost sounding a little defeated. “Not that easy to explain. They’ve known each other forever. Grew up with each other. They lost touch but reconnected the summer two years ago before Steven left for a long-ass trip across Europe and Asia. And they reconnected in a very… connecting way.”

Dan glared at Sergio sharply, “What do you mean, ‘connecting way’?”

Sergio just looked at him as if he was a little dense. Or, very dense. “He’s the first guy Fernando slept with.”

Dan’s jaw dropped. Not that he had thought Fernando had never slept with anyone else. He just didn’t expect the guy to be… threatening. Or even, here.

To mask his growing jealousy, Dan elbowed Sergio and accused, “How do you know these things? That’s just creepy, Sergio.”

“What the fuck? We’re friends, which means that we tell each other these things,” Sergio returned, and he could attribute it to his current state of mind, but to Dan it sounded just this side of spiteful.

“Yeah, friends,” Dan snapped. “And that’s all you’ll ever be.” And with that, he turned on his heel and walked away. He needed another drink.

***

Fernando was beginning to daydream, Stevie could see it. Maybe because it was his third flute of bubbly, and his smile had taken on a whimsical sparkle. Or maybe, like Stevie, Fernando hadn’t quite come to terms yet with the fact that they were both here. In a world that was theirs, in the living room that they had always camped in, surrounded by friends they had always known.

Carra was rambunctious - no doubt he had hogged that bucket of beer by himself. He was talking loudly about that pretty little lassie Stevie had left a couple of years ago. Alex Curran. Yeah, that was her name. Pepe was probably just as tipsy, as they made green jokes about the girls they had grown up with, their tits, their first kisses and last shags. They threw back their heads and laughed, slapping each other’s backs and hooting.

All this time, though, Fernando was quiet. Tuning out, nodding politely, his face a picture of contentment. Stevie caught his eye right after one daydream and just before he slipped into another.

“You okay?” Stevie asked him.

“Yes,” was Fernando’s immediate answer, accompanied by a wide smile. He was tugging on his own sleeve in a way that might have seemed nervous, but his gaze was never straying from Stevie’s, his chocolate eyes bright. “I mean… it’s still so strange, seeing you here. I constantly think it’s five years ago.”

“I could excuse myself. We could catch up?” Stevie spoke so unsurely, as if he were asking permission. “I’m sure I could leave my adoring public for a while.”

Fernando snorted, but a grin was curling around his lips. “I’m sure they can amuse themselves without you just fine. And you’ve been here for hours already and I don’t even know yet which countries you visited.”

“Oh, that’s a long list, honey.” Stevie smirked. “You got all night?”

Even before he had completely finished the sentence Stevie was already steered away by the blond who was gently pushing him through the crowd towards the glassy façade leading to the balconies. From right behind him Fernando was leaning in close, answering next to his ear, “For you? Always.”

“Oh, now you say that. But you were always playing hard-to-get back in high school.” Stevie taunted right back.

“I was never playing anything… well, not with you anyway,” Fernando answered and Stevie could clearly hear his pout.

“Mmhmm,” Stevie grunted disbelievingly because, honestly, what else could he say to that?

Fernando gestured for Stevie to follow him outside and the Scouser pushed open the heavy glass sliding door for Fernando to pass, before stepping out after him.

“Wow, you’ve renovated,” he said, pulling himself away from Fernando to walk around the wide expanse of the roof terrace. The small pool glistened invitingly under the moonlight and the lamps.

It was cool outside though thankfully not windy and therefore bearable as he took a few moments to take in the details of what was different from what he knew while Fernando was only slowly walking onto the terrace, watching him.

“My mum and Marcus decided to change a few things before moving in together… not that I’m sad about that or anything. I’ve always wanted a pool up here, small as it might be.”

Stevie sidled up to Fernando and nudged him with his elbow. “Yeah, I can imagine you working on your non-existent tan.”

“We can’t all walk around looking like you,” came back and Stevie could see how Fernando was examining him again out of the corner of his eye. “I don’t have the tan-gene, I only have the freckle-gene. As a Spaniard. Isn’t that sad?”

“It’s okay. I have low standards.”

Fernando’s mouth fell open and he stared at him incredulously. “You… jerk!”

Stevie burst out laughing and quickly enveloped Fernando into a hug. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding!”

It didn’t at all come as a surprise when Fernando relaxed against him, drawing his arms around Stevie’s waist, speaking against his shoulder. “You’re still a jerk. But I missed you so damn much.”

Stevie pulled away and said, “I was in Spain for a month and it kept reminding me of you. I will have you know that I visited your precious Vicente Calderón stadium.”

Fernando’s eyes widened and he gasped almost comically. “You did! How was it? Did you see a match? Tell me, tell me!”

Stevie shrugged modestly, “But of course, I did. Wouldn’t have been a complete experience without it, right? Colchi… colcho… how do you say it?”

Fernando laughed and hit Stevie playfully. “Los colchoneros! The mattress-makers.”

Stevie snapped his fingers. “There. I knew it was something odd like that.”

“It’s not odd, you genius, you just fail at languages,” Fernando stuck his tongue out at him but was grinning widely, already tugging on his hand just a second later. “Come on, let’s sit down, I want to hear everything.”

At the edge of the really very small pool he plopped down, slipping out of his shoes and socks, turning the trousers of his jeans up to his knees and letting his feet dangle down into the reflecting water.

Stevie hopped around on one foot as he tried to remove his sneakers and socks from the other. “I know I left pretty suddenly. But, if I had thought about it any longer, it wouldn’t have been a real road trip, would it? Sometimes you just have to up and leave, without a second thought. So, I just withdrew all my money from my bank account, took a plane to Amsterdam and started from there.”

“And from Amsterdam, you just took buses and trains?” Fernando asked, eyes wide and incredulous.

“Yeah!” Stevie said, beaming with pride. “Trust fund baby learned how to commute!” He bent over to roll up his chinos too, then joined the blonde by the pool. “You didn’t think I could do it, did you?”

Fernando looked down at the unnaturally blue-green water. “What? Commute or leave?”

Stevie turned to face Fernando, but the boy just stared down, busying himself with making waves around his legs. The Scouser reached for Fernando’s hand and turned it so the palm faced upwards. Fernando watched quietly. “Do you remember your high school geography?”

Fernando was suspicious. “A little. Why?”

“See, this is Amsterdam,” Stevie said, drawing a little circle on the tip of Fernando’s pinky. “I took a train from Holland to Germany…” he traced a small line and marked the base of Fernando’s ring finger. “Then on to Denmark in the North, with a ferry over to Sweden…” halfway up the middle finger, then over to the tip of the index finger and back down, “… from there down to Poland and the Czech Republic, which are somewhere around…” his fingers brushed along the palm, “Here. I think. Or maybe that’s Austria?”

Fernando giggled. “Austria’s further down south, I think.”

Stevie scratched his head. “I’d need your other hand to go on.”

For a moment Fernando didn’t move, just watching their hands, but then he looked up into Stevie’s eyes again and offered up his other hand in a gesture and with eyes so trusting that it tugged at Stevie’s heart. He was reminded all over of the small, freckled boy he had used to spend his days with playing, tussling, making up spooky stories, everything that had been good about his childhood. Meeting up with their friends to play football as teenagers, helping each other out in school - or mostly, Stevie helping two-year-younger Fernando out, gossiping about teachers and schoolmates and people they didn’t like.

Stevie looked down and gently took Fernando’s offered hand, guiding it to the other to make an extension of his imaginary map.

“There are so many different cultures in Europe, and I wanted to see as many as I could. So there were trips to the Alps, Italy, France, Spain.” With his index finger he crossed the Alps in form of the heel of Fernando’s right hand over onto his left. “Then back up to Calais, with a ferry over to England. London, Liverpool of course, and from Manchester I took a flight to Singapore for which, I fear, we’d need your feet and even more extensions than we have.”

Fernando smiled again, letting his hands slip down into his lap. So Stevie just went on recounting where he had been in his two-year-long absence, what he had done, telling interesting, funny or just curious tales about the people and cultures he had seen. Even though Fernando was watching the glittering lights on the pool most of the time Stevie knew that he was listening attentively over the soft swishing of the water and the dulled music from inside.

Once during his tale Stevie threw a glance back over his shoulder to watch the partygoers dancing and socialising inside only to find a guy he didn’t know leaning against the wall where it met the glass façade, watching them with an unreadable expression.

Stevie thought about asking Fernando about the stranger, but the Spaniard was so serene, he didn’t want to disturb him.

When he had finally run out of things to say it was silent between them for some time until Fernando raised his head again and swished his feet around in the water. “Wow. Sounds like enough experience to last you a whole lifetime.”

Stevie nodded and looked over into the horizon - the New York City skyline was still alive and bright in contrast to the murky night sky.

“Yeah,” he mused, “all those places, and sometimes, all you need is to come back home.”

“So you’re glad to be here again?” Fernando asked, carefully studying him from the side. “No place you found and discovered you love more?”

Stevie thought for a long time. He had really liked going back to Liverpool, of course. And Madrid was enchanting, haunting in its beauty. All the wonderful cities he had seen, Paris, Singapore, Munich, Prague… But New York was where they had been, and these had been his best days yet.

“Nah. All those miles and all I learned is that I shouldn’t have left to begin with.”

“Really?” Fernando asked with disbelief in his eyes. “You’d trade everything you got to see and do? All the experience?”

Stevie grinned. “Okay, maybe not all the experience.”

The two burst out laughing, and from the corner of his eye, Stevie caught a glance of the man again. He was still watching them closely, and at the rate he was chugging down his beer, he didn’t look all too happy.

“And with so much culture and excitement, a one week Bahamas trip suddenly seems pretty boring, right?” Fernando added with a small smile even though he didn’t look up.

For a moment, Stevie was confused, running through the long list of towns, cities and countries he had visited. Bahamas? When had he been… Suddenly though, he realised exactly what Fernando had said, and it clicked. “Bahamas!” Stevie snapped his fingers as it dawned on him again. “Oh, wow, yeah! How could I forget?”

“You forgot?” Fernando asked, scandalized, shocked even - and sounding just a little hurt. “Seriously?”

“No.” Stevie wrapped his arm around Fernando so he could rub his shoulders reassuringly. “You know me, I’m getting old. The noggin ain’t working as great as it once did.”

“Oh God, don’t say that,” the blond laughed just a little, leaning against him. “You’re not old. If you are I’ll be too in two years, and I don’t want to.”

“If anything, you don’t look a day over fifteen,” Stevie said. He ruffled the younger boy’s hair. “You’re just a little blonder now.”

“What?? I don’t look like fifteen!” Fernando bristled, pinching Stevie’s side. “And if I did and I’d be you I’d start worrying, because how old would I’ve looked two years ago, huh?”

Stevie blushed a bright, bright red. “Barely legal, really,” he mumbled, averting his gaze and biting back his laugh.

“Yeah right.” Fernando snorted. “You just go on and I’ll push you into the pool. I was nineteen!”

Stevie put on a shocked expression. “Nineteen?!” He whistled. “Damn. If I’d known you were that old, I wouldn’t have tapped that.”

Stevie barely knew what had hit him, but about a second later he made sudden, very wet and cold acquaintance with the pool.

“What the fuck!” Stevie exclaimed between gurgles, which probably wasn’t a good idea as he started swallowing gulps of chlorinated water.

Somewhere in between finding his footing and bobbing through the water and trying not to drown, he could see Fernando laughing his head off by the poolside. As Stevie paddled closer the blond was quickly scrambling away from the edge of the pool, probably in fear of being pulled down as well as he was in reaching distance. But his face was flushed with laughter and tears of mirth had gathered in the corners of his eyes.

Stevie held up his hands. “Fine, fine! I deserved it!” Fernando just continued laughing, practically laying back on the terrace. Stevie swam to the edge of the pool and pulled himself up with great effort. His jeans and his shirt and jacket were thick and heavy and clinging to his skin. Fernando shrieked as Stevie dripped all over him, rolling over and trying to get away.

“I come in peace!” Stevie laughed, offering his hand to pull Fernando to his feet. Wiping the tears from his eyes, Fernando sat up then took Stevie’s hand.

In a flash, Stevie yanked him forwards and crushed him into a big, slimy, wet and cold embrace. “HA!” Stevie yelled victoriously, trying to get Fernando as drenched as possible by the contact. “HAHAHAHA!”

At first Fernando shrieked and struggled, trying to get away, but as Stevie didn’t let go he quickly gave up, still breathless with laughter. “Okay… okay I guess I deserve that too,” he admitted, clenching his fingers in Stevie’s drenched jacket. It took just a slight breeze of air to get him shivering though since he didn’t have a jacket, just his long-sleeved shirt.

“You cold?” Stevie asked quietly. The whole terrace was surprisingly quiet now, after all their yelling earlier. Even the party atmosphere seemed to have dissipated.

“Yeah… and my feet are freezing,” Fernando nodded, drawing away from Stevie. “Come on, let’s go up and get something to change. Oh!” he interrupted himself, bouncing with excitement, “And you haven’t even seen the pictures yet we took two years ago!”

Stevie’s face lit up. “Yes! You still have the photos?”

Fernando immediately stopped his bouncing and snorted. “What, you think I’d throw them away?”

Stevie shrugged. “I assume the worst.”

“You should know me better,” Fernando just commented before grabbing his sleeve and dragging Stevie back towards the terrace door.

***

Just to have Stevie’s presence next to him again was calming, reassuring and relieving. Over two years Fernando had shoved how much he had missed his friend into a tiny corner inside him to forget about it as often as possible since he hadn’t known when he’d be back, if ever. And now it was all breaking out again, and he was so easily falling back into the feeling of familiarity, his cheeks still flushed with joy.

Fernando hadn’t lied though when he had said that his feet were freezing, and since his damp clothes weren’t actually making him feel comfortable either he was glad to go back inside, leaving only their shoes, socks and Stevie’s soggy jacket next to the pool.

When the glass doors slid open, warm air and music hit them like a wall, and even though Fernando would have liked to just sneak upstairs, or course that was impossible. Barely five steps into the room laughter rang from their right and Jamie exclaimed, “Oh wow, Stevie, what did you do?!”

Stevie sighed and pretended to tut disapprovingly. “El Niño fell into the pool. I had to go and fish the boy out.”

“Ah, yes,” Pepe, who had sidled up to them, nodded knowingly and sipped at his beer. “That must be why you’re dripping wet and he’s slightly damp.”

Stevie shrugged. “I don’t understand it either, really.”

“Laws of Fernando,” Fernando shrugged with a grin, tugging on Stevie’s shirt again. He practically felt Daniel’s gaze burning on the back of his neck, and he really wanted to escape it.

“Let’s go up?” Stevie asked.

Pepe exclaimed, “Excuse me?”

But they both ignored him, weaselling away through the crowd, and when they had reached the stairs they were both laughing again. Damn, how he had missed this…

Fernando led Stevie up the stairs, but the Scouser lagged a step or two. He took in everything - he stopped to look at the new paintings, he ran his fingers over the Ming vase, he looked into the new bedrooms that were added since the Aggers joined their family.

“This used to be a den, right?” Stevie asked, nodding to Daniel’s room.

“Err... kinda,” Fernando shrugged, trying to look casual at the sight of the room he had already spent so many nights in but not sure if he was succeeding. At least he could prevent himself from fidgeting from foot to foot. “Come on, we have plenty of time for a tour later.”

If Stevie found his behaviour odd, he didn’t show it. He just nodded almost nervously. “Lead the way.”

“My room is still where it was before,” Fernando smiled wryly but turned and walked up to his own door, knowing that Stevie would follow him. “So… welcome back, I guess?”

It was rare for the Scouser to blush, but at this moment, Fernando thought he did, even briefly. Tentatively, Stevie pushed open the door, tense and practically holding his breath, but Fernando just laughed and pushed him inside. “Come on, you’re dripping all over my floor. I’ll see if you can find anything that might fit you…” he muttered and already walked over to his closet, proceeding to rummage through it.

After another moment of looking around Stevie got rid of his soggy shirt, followed him to the closet and reached around Fernando to rifle through the hangers. “Coats and ties? You’ve outgrown your vintage shirts?” he asked incredulously.

Fernando shrugged meekly. “I still have them. I just…” He trailed off, realising maybe for the first time that he had actually taken to adapt parts of the clothing style of his university and model friends. Biting the inside of his lower lip he remained silent while Stevie was still inspecting his things from behind him, hair tousled and wet and shirtless.

“Yeah?” Stevie asked, just a notch above a whisper. He must have realised how close they were too. Fernando just stared at his lips.

“I… uhm…”

When the sound of his door opening reached his ears, Fernando actually didn’t know if it was a good or a bad thing. That said, the door wasn’t just pushed open though, it was practically thrown open. Fernando whirled around in surprise, and his shock only doubled when he saw who the newcomer was.

Daniel had barged in, his face contorted in repressed anger, confusion and disappointment, and the sight made Fernando’s heart beat right up to his throat. For a short moment they just stared at each other until he was able to channel his shock into narrowed eyes and a frown. “Ever heard of knocking?”

Daniel didn’t even acknowledge Fernando. He turned his steely gaze to Stevie and asked coldly, “What are you doing here?”

Stevie had barely even flinched since Daniel had come in. He just stood there as if it was just him and Fernando in the room. “Who are you?” he answered Dan, absolutely bored.

“Okay, stop,” Fernando interrupted them resolutely, turning to Stevie and gently pushing him a step back. “You stay out of this.” Without waiting for a reply he turned back and planted himself in front of Dan, drawing himself up to his full height, expression stormy. “What do you want?”

Dan opened and closed his mouth, spluttering insensibly, before he finally spat out, “Who the fuck is he? Why did you bring him here?”

“For a fucking change of clothes. And it’s not your business!” Fernando shot back, feeling irritation bubbling up inside of him.

“Oh, yeah, right!” Dan laughed sardonically. “You were all over him this entire night!”

“And it’s still none of your business! You don’t even know anything so stop being such a fucking queen about it if you have no clue what’s going on!”

“You know, I would try to understand what your issue is, if you could only stop acting like such a victim for a second and talk to me properly.” Dan shook his head in disbelief.

“Oh so now you wanna talk again!” Fernando threw his hands in the air, heart racing furiously in his chest.

Dan scoffed. “Not anymore.” He turned to Stevie. Gesturing to his brother, he sneered, “Enjoy.” Then, he stomped out of the room, banging the door behind him.

Fernando didn’t even know whether to laugh, cry or scream. He was so upset he felt his clenched fists trembling, itching to punch something, but there was nothing in his reach. So instead he settled for a heartfelt, “Fuck!!”

Right afterwards though he threw his hands up to his face, burying it in them, angry and hurt and not knowing what to do with it all, and this time it was barely a whisper. “Fuck you, Danny.”

***

Stevie stood still, unable to say a word. His eyes darted from the door to Fernando, to the door and finally back to the boy again. He drew closer, then tentatively reached out to wrap his arm around the Spaniard’s shoulders.

“Hey,” Stevie whispered. He didn’t know how else to continue.

For a moment the blond stood still, then slowly turned his body around so that he could lean into Stevie and wordlessly bury his face on his shoulder.

“Shh,” Stevie said, rubbing Fernando’s back. In his head he was just chanting, ‘Don’t cry, don’t cry, please don’t cry.’ He never did well with people who cried.

But thankfully, he didn’t feel any moisture against the skin of his shoulder, and after a few more moments he felt Fernando taking a deep, slightly shaky breath. Then he drew away from Stevie, evading his gaze.

“Sorry…”

Stevie smiled. “No biggie. I always knew you were a big wuss even when we were kids.”

Before Fernando could even make a face, Stevie laughed and apologetically crushed the boy into an even tighter hug.

“Want to tell me about it?”

Fernando sighed against his neck but still drew his arms around Stevie’s waist. “That was… well, technically, that was my stepbrother.”

Stevie almost pulled away from Fernando. “What?” he exclaimed. “But you were… weren’t you both…? Talking about…? I thought…”

Fernando was grimacing, biting his lower lip and carefully looking at him. “… it’s complicated?”

Stevie snorted. “Sounds like it.”

“Yeah.” Fernando sighed and turned towards his bed. “Let’s sit down.”

Stevie looked down at himself and smiled sheepishly, “Can I get out of my wet clothes first?”

“Oh! Yes, of course…” Fernando hurried to exclaim, already back at his closet. Just a few seconds later he pulled out a pair of jeans and a shirt. “Here, try these… they’re just a little too big on me, so maybe they’ll fit? And, umm…” Hastily he turned back to a different section of the closet, coming up with a large, fluffy white towel.

Stevie wrapped the towel around his waist and started taking off his wet jeans and boxer briefs from under it. As he hopped around on one foot, he could hear Fernando snickering behind him. Stevie grunted, “Don’t you laugh, I was doing you a favour and covering up my modesty!”

“Really? I don’t remember it being that bad,” he heard from behind him in a now again clearly amused voice. “Or did you get into any trouble in China and they castrated you?”

Stevie scoffed, like any man whose manhood was insulted. “Why, you want to check?” he teased, pretending to undo the knot on his towel.

Fernando opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but no word came out. Instead he just stared at Stevie, his whole face blushing a deep red.

“Pfft, you prude,” Stevie laughed, pulling on Fernando’s jeans under the towel. “There, happy? I’ll even put on a shirt for you.”

True to his word he pulled on Fernando’s worn-out band shirt. It was a little tight across his chest, but the fabric was soft and smelled like good old laundry detergent. “Am I modest enough now to join you on your bed? No angry stepbrother will barge in and hang me?” Stevie joked.

“I don’t think you can ever be sure of that,” Fernando, seemingly having found his voice again, returned with a roll of his eyes. But he did turn and plopped down on his bed, messing up the sheets, waiting for Stevie to join.

Stevie sat down beside the younger boy, comfortably sinking into the soft mattress. “So, how should we begin?”

“Well… how much can you guess?” Fernando gave the question back, uncomfortably shifting where he was lying on his back and staring at the ceiling.

Stevie laughed shakily. “Well, how exactly are you involved with this guy?”

Before Fernando could respond, Stevie interrupted, still disbelieving, “And no way, is he really your stepbrother? Like, the son of the man your mother married? And you live with him?”

“Is going to marry,” the blond corrected. “The wedding’s in a week, actually. I hereby invite you.” He fell silent after that and for a few moments they just lay next to each other, Fernando visibly searching for words.

“At the beginning we were at each other’s throats day and night because we’re… different. He’s a daredevil, really. Reckless, brash, does whatever he feels like doing. But we… to be completely honest we were drunk and had sex -”

“That’s where everything starts,” Stevie snickered.

“Shut up,” Fernando countered before he continued, “and we didn’t stop after that because it was good and fun and… I don’t know. The thing is - I got to see all those other sides of him.”

Stevie coughed unsurely. “You mean… you’ve begun to like him.”

It took Fernando about ten seconds to answer. “Yes.”

“But? I mean, what was all that screaming about?”

Fernando sighed and threw one arm over his eyes. “I was just trying to find out how he sees all this. The only thing I got was a fight and the knowledge that he’s a jealous and uncommitting jerk. I… I’m in love with him, but he’s never going to tell me whatever it is he feels.” His voice quieted a little. “Except maybe that he likes fucking me.”

Stevie was quiet for a long time, and he just watched Fernando glare at the ceiling, lost in the storm of thoughts in his head.

“Maybe he wasn’t ready to talk about it.”

Fernando opened his mouth to speak, but Stevie talked over him.

“He didn’t really seem like the emotional type, you know? And if this whole situation of yours is already fucking with your head, what more his? Sure, he seems like an asshole, but… sometimes you have to give the benefit of the doubt?”

He watched the blond chewing on his lower lip before sighing again, sounding defeated. “I just wanted to know before I’m past the point of being able to make myself fall out of love again.”

Stevie reached out and ran his hand through Fernando’s hair. He knew that always soothed him, and sure enough, the boy sighed, closed his eyes and purred like a cat.

“For what it’s worth, I think he’s really crazy about you.”

At that Fernando turned his head to look at him for the first time since they had lain down on the bed. “You think?”

“He wanted to murder me. So, yes, he’s probably crazy about you.” Stevie smiled, and it took barely a second until he received one in return. When Fernando spoke again it was only a murmur.

“Don’t leave again? Please?”

Stevie’s heart ached - Fernando looked like he was fifteen again and nervous about starting his first football match in high school.

“I’m back, okay?” Stevie promised. “And I’m staying.”

~ TBC in Chapter 12 ~