My Favorite Game [4/?]
My Favorite Game [4/?]Pairing: Belldom
Rating: PG13 for now
Type: AU
Summary: Matt and Dom have a lot of history between them including a couple of countries and brushes with the law.
Feedback: Yes, I will really need it for this. I welcome the critical.
Disclaimer: None of this ever happened. The story belongs to me, but the real people do not. No defamation is intended.
A/N: The twisted tale continues and I hope you're not too disoriented yet...Thank you to the dames who keep this in check!
[[OCTOBER 2000]]
Dom squirmed on the couch as we wondered if he really needed to get up and go to the bathroom or if it was possible to return to the cocoon of sleep and deal with his bladder in a few hours. He moved again, and rolled, nearly falling off the sofa onto the floor. He caught himself with a hand on the coffee table and remembered he wasn’t asleep in his bed.
He blinked a few times and twisted to read the time on the microwave, 5:47a.m. Dom grumbled and decided to go to the bathroom after all. As he sleepily pissed, he wondered if he should just leave Matt’s now since he stayed over without an invitation. As he zipped his jeans he realized he would have no way to lock Matt’s door from the outside and decided he would go back to sleep and leave when Matt was up.
The blond padded back to the couch and stepped on all the creaky places in the floor along the way. He curled back up on the cushions and fell back into his deep sleep.
Toast and coffee woke him a few hours later as Matt quietly moved around his small kitchen.
Dom shook off the sleep and watched as Matt neatened up the kitchen and poured coffee. Shirtlessly. The blond swallowed hard and wondered why the heat was turned up so high, the room felt stuffy.
“Sorry for invading your couch. I’ll go,” Dom said as he pulled on his sneakers and zipped up his hoodie.
“Oh! You’re awake. Don’t go!” Matt hurried over and handed a plate of toast and a cup of coffee to Dom. “There’s breakfast.”
“Oh, okay then. Thank you,” Dom sheepishly accepted the food. He nibbled on his toast and thought about what he’d do for Matt. The brunet already bought him dinner three times and a few cups of coffee. He was embarrassed he didn’t have money to spare to return the favor.
“Sleep okay on the couch? It pulls out into a bed but I didn’t want to wake you.” Matt sat down next to Dom with his own plate of toast and coffee. Matt had already added the cream and sugar for Dom, to his perfect ratio. “I know you don’t really ever sleep but I hope the couch wasn’t too miserable.”
“It was pretty comfortable and I did sleep. Which is a weird feeling,” Dom replied. “Sorry again. I didn’t meant to overstay.”
“No, don’t even worry about it. I wouldn’t have invited you over if i didn’t like having you around,” Matt said with his mouth full of toast. “More coffee?”
“Er no, thanks. I’m good.” Even though Matt assured Dom his staying over wasn’t an issue, Dom still felt awkward and decided it would be best if he got out of the way. He hurried to finish his toast and down his coffee. “I need to get going.”
“Why?” Matt asked as he tilted his head. “It’s Saturday.”
Dom tried not to stare at Matt’s naked torso, especially not Matt’s dark pink nipples. “I’ve got homework.” The blond was certain he has some index cards to review and passages that needed highlighted. Plus a paper that needed outlined.
Matt snorted. “Leave it for tomorrow. Dom, you really, really work too hard.”
The blond impatiently huffed. “I have to get it done.”
“Stay and be lazy with me today. It will be fun; a nice break.” Matt pouted for extra effect. “I’ll get us dinner later.”
“Ugh,” Dom growled, and Matt was startled. “You see, that’s it. You’re incredibly nice to me. And I’ve...got nothing and I owe you.”
“I’m seriously confused here. Dom, you don’t owe me anything. I like when you’re around.” Matt set his coffee cup and empty plate on the coffee table. “So did you want to hang out?”
[[MAY 2007]]
Dom sat in the cafe again, in the final twenty pages of his book. He was able to set his pen down and focus on the home stretch. A shadow fell over his small table again.
“I’m nearly finished, Alessandro,” Dom said as he didn’t even peel his eyes from his paperback.
Alessandro said nothing as he set another cup of coffee down for Dom. He pulled out a chair and quietly waited for Dom to finish. Alessandro flipped through his newspaper and stole glances at the blond who was too deep in reading to notice.
Ten minutes passed and Dom closed the book and set it on the table top. He noticed that Alessandro had brought him another coffee. He added his cream and sugar. “Thank you.”
Alessandro nodded. “Was it good?” he asked, nodding toward to book.
“Yes, I enjoyed it,” Dom said as he took a sip of coffee. He looked back down at his book and studied the cover again to avoid Alessandro’s gaze.
“So Dominic, can I take you to dinner?” Alessandro asked. He smiled warmly at the blond. He was in another stylishly messy outfit. It almost infuriated Dom how good he could look, with the idea he just rolled out of his bed and his hair tousled just so...He snapped back to attention when he realized Alessandro repeated his question a bit slower.
“Sorry,” Dom mumbled. “Sounds great,” he replied sheepishly.
“Great. What time can I pick you up?”
Dom swallowed hard. He was sure Alessandro was a nice guy but that didn’t change the fact he was living alone in a foreign country and someone he barely knew knowing where he slept put him at unease.
“Or I can meet you, if that is easier,” Alessandro offered to soothe the silence.
The blond managed to nod, embarrassed by his nerves.
“There’s a place about three streets over from here, nice and close. Notte’s. That okay?” Alessandro asked, eagerly waiting for Dom’s answer. “How about 7?”
“I think I can manage that. Notte’s? Three streets over?” Dom clarified as he fussed with his coffee on his saucer.
“Mmmhmm, see you then,” Alessandro winked at Dom and quickly left the cafe.
Dom went back to finishing his coffee. He nearly choked on a sip when he realized he was asked out on a date and he had agreed. His mind raced as he tried to remember what clothes were in his suitcase and if any of them would be passable for a date. When he had crammed clothes into his luggage, the last thing on his mind was having a few nice things to go out in. He felt like that would have been setting the trip up for a potential of even greater disaster.
He hurried back to his apartment to agonize over clothing options. Unable to decide on anything he hopped into the shower, an unpleasant lukewarm shower. He mumbled curses to himself about the old plumbing as he scrubbed shampoo out of his hair. The shower suddenly became hot and Dom yelped in surprised. He quickly finished his showered and dried off with the scratchy towels. He wrapped the terry around his waist and once again looked through his clothes. He rubbed the scruff on his chin as he decided and briefly wondered if he should shave.
“You’re being fucking ridiculous,” he mumbled to himself. Dom looked at the clock on the wall and chuckled to himself. He still two more hours before he needed to leave. Dom flopped onto his bed, still in his towel and stared at the ceiling.
[[OCTOBER 2000]]
The posting was simple enough: Painters Needed. Sharpie scribbled on an off-white sheet of paper with slips cut at the bottom to tear away the phone number. There were no real details and Matt knew most of these postings were for helping some lonely housewife redecorate. Though, he quickly learned they were the best to work for. A bit of flirting and a bonus was easily secured, usually in cash form so the husband wasn’t aware.
It was far from what he was going to school for but it helped pay the bills for Matt. A few times a month he would teach afternoon art classes at a nearby primary school. He would rarely admit it, but he had fun teaching the kids to paint. They were young and their imaginations still wild. For them, clouds could be purple and grass could be orange. The children saw everything with potential, to be even brighter and vivid.
Matt always knew somebody to get a job in a pinch. He picked up fish and potatoes for Boris on occasion. Boris would sometimes send Matt to pick up the supplies for the Paper Tiger, Dom’s new favorite Chinese place, since he was making the trip.
He called the number listed and left a message, assuming he’d never hear from the bloke ever again but he tried.
Dom had declined the offer to hang out and Matt had a free Saturday and nothing to do. He still wasn’t sure why Dom had left in such a hurry, he didn’t even finish his toast. He grabbed his jacket and tossed it on over his hoodie and dashed, leaving Matt in the middle of a drink of coffee.
To be fair, the coffee was terrible. He didn’t really ever drink the stuff. He picked up a French press the week before and figured it couldn’t be that complicated to make a cup of coffee. It was just hot water and magic dirt, more or less. He had made a few cups in the days prior to Dom’s visit and he thought he’d done an okay job. Matt knew he was still in the learning phase but was a bit excited when Dom accidentally ended up spending the night and he was able to take a cup of coffee and toast to Dom.
Matt finally paid attention to where his feet carried and he stopped when he realized he as at the door of Chris and Tom’s apartment. He knocked and wondered if they had even woken up yet. It was after 1 p.m. “Open up, it’s cold out here,” Matt wailed as he knocked again.
Frustrated he turned the knob to find it unlocked and he hurried into the warm dwelling.
Chris and Tom were embattled in another round of Goldeneye, their eyes had firmly attached video game blinders which apparently extended to affecting their hearing as well. Matt considered walking in front of the television but knew better. The last time he did that, even on accident, Tom chucked a controller at his head. Matt was still convinced it left a dent in his cranium and reminded Tom of this often.
Matt patiently waited for the game to finish before he sat between the two on the couch.
“Oh, there he is,” Tom said pointedly as he quickly scrolled through the menu to start up a new game.
Matt looked at Chris and then back to Tom. “What’s the supposed to mean?” Matt replied, confused.
“Last night? Friday. I had the night off. We were supposed to get beers and play billiards,” Tom huffed. “And not at the pub I work at. You never showed up.”
“Oh shit,” Matt winced. “I must have gotten my days mixed up.”
“You did that last Friday too, Matt! Where were you?” Tom asked as he chucked the controller onto the floor.
“Tom, do not break another controller. You broke two last month,” Chris warned.
“Whatever, I replaced them,” Tom said as he waved off Chris. “So where were you? The last two Fridays?”
Matt shrugged. “Well, you saw me when I came in for pizza and beer. But you were working.”
“Yeah? And who were you with?” Tom huffed as he picked up the controlled and inspected it for damage.
“Tom!” Chris cut in. “What the hell is your problem?” He picked up the remote and clicked off the television so Tom couldn’t start a new game.
“I was hanging out with Dom. New kid. Pretty cool,” was all Matt said. He was still a bit confused as to why Tom was up in arms. He did feel like shit he blanked on last night. Matt had eagerly swung by the library to meet Dom and head back to his apartment and order in Chinese from the Paper Tiger.
“Who is Dom?” Chris asked as Tom continued to pout.
“Ran into him in the library one day. He’s fucking brilliant. Pulling a double with museum sciences and history. But he’s shy about it,” Matt said. He smiled to himself, thinking of yesterday when he went to take Dom his coffee before dinner. He found Dom with five books open at once as he read about Vincent Van Gogh. Matt asked what assignment it was for and Dom shrugged and said he decided to take a break for twenty minutes and read up on Van Gogh.
“Bet he’s shit with a sniper rifle,” Tom grumbled as he stared at the still-off telly.
“Err, right. I’ve got laundry to do. Bye.” Matt dug himself out of the deep sofa and zipped up his jacket before he opened the door. “I’ll see you guys later,” he frowned as he left the apartment.
Chris smacked Tom in the back of the head.
“Ow! What was that for?” Tom yelped. He considered retaliating but knew against Chris’ size it was useless and would result in more injuries.
“Quit acting like a jealous boyfriend,” Chris snarled. He set down his controller and stomped to the kitchen for another bowl of Froot Loops.
“Am not!” Tom retorted as he turned the television back on. “He’s probably still shit with a sniper rifle,” he muttered.
[[JANUARY 2005]]
“As your lawyer...” Morgan began. “Tell me what the fuck you were thinking?” He clicked his pen and stared down at his notepad. He shifted in his seat and undid his tie as he looked at Matt.
“Well, I wasn’t thinking I was getting tangled up with the mob,” Matt sighed. “Or that I’d be on call to forge paintings.”
“The mob? Are you fucking shitting me? Jesus.” Morgan clicked his pen again and tossed it onto the table and sat back in his chair. “The mob is...brand new information.”
“Well, perhaps we should keep them out of it then,” Matt said pointedly. “Morgan, I’m sorry. If you don’t want to do this, I understand----.”
“Matt, I’ll do what I can, okay?” Morgan reassured his client. “It’s just...going to be tough. Let’s start at the top, yeah?”
[[DECEMBER 2004]]
Chris sat on the bed next to Dom. Emotional exhaustion finally sucked the blond into a sense of sleep around the time the peachy light of morning started to bleed through the curtains. He tiptoed out to the living room to find Tom stretched out on the couch snoozing.
The man sighed and stretched out in the recliner and kicked his feet up.
“Dom asleep?” Tom whispered as he wiggled on the couch.
“Yeah,” Chris sighed. He didn’t even know where to begin. “I told him about the ring. I showed it to him actually.”
Tom sat up and turned to talk to Chris. “You did?” His face knitted in concern. He pulled the blanket off the back of the sofa and wrapped it around his shoulders. He heard the clock ticking on the wall in the kitchen. It felt loud, each tick felt like a prod.
Chris nodded. “He needed to know. I don’t know if it made him feel better or worse, but he didn’t deserve any more secrets,” Chris said. “None of us do. Did you....?”
“No. Not at all,” Tom said as he shivered in the apartment. He stood to go turn up the heat. “Why...why aren’t police here and why aren’t we being questioned?” Tom asked nervously. He was scared to say the words out loud.
“That’s all that has been rolling through my mind the past few hours and I have no idea... I’m glad we could take Dom home. But he doesn’t want to be here,” Chris said. He thought of how confused and awkwardly Dom moved to get under the blankets of the bed he normally shared with Matt. Dom climbed in and stared at the ceiling and then rolled over, and asked Chris to turn off the bedside lamp. Something that Matt has done for the past few years. It was an earthquake of interruption in their domestic habits.
“Well, we don’t know anything. Dom certainly doesn’t,” Tom said as he pulled at the fringe of the afghan. “What happens now?”
“We make sure Dom knows we still love him,” Chris said as he rounded up the empty tea mugs and took them to the kitchen sink.
this is what Alessandro looks like...
