no_tags fic: Get By
Get By
Panic! at the Disco: Brendon/Spencer
~2,500 words
Also posted here at AO3.
Written for no_tags 2012. Muchas, muchas gracias to my two amazing betas: lilac_one and shihadchick.
Spencer’s got this. He is all over this. Really. Sure, it’ll probably be a little hectic trying to finish up school while owning his own business. But it’s not like he’s the first person to ever try and he can totally do it. And he dropped down to part-time student status, so it's all good.
It’s barely October when he starts to rethink that. It’s late October when he finally starts to admit that maybe, maybe, he needs a little bit of help. The problem is, he has no time to find it.
He's only been the owner of Excellent New & Used Music for two months. In June, Pete and Patrick (which, holy shit, Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump! How Spencer was lucky enough to land this part-time job when he got to LA, he has no idea) asked Spencer if he wanted to manage the store over his summer break. Pete's ex-wife (Ashlee Simpson!) was going on tour, so they wanted to take Bronx to Chicago for the summer.
In August, they called and said Fall Out Boy was going to reconvene and record a new album, so they really didn’t have time for the store anymore. Then they asked if Spencer wanted to buy it. For a dollar. It wasn’t like they needed the money or anything; it had just been something new to do, a nice experiment. Spencer hyperventilated, but only thought about it for maybe thirty seconds before deciding he really couldn’t turn down the offer. It was a dream come true.
And just like that, Spencer had gone from part-time employee and full-time student to full-time small business owner and part-time student. He was generally stubborn about finishing things he started, and since he was only four classes shy of a B.S. in business administration (with a concentration in entrepreneurship, naturally), he was damn well going to take those classes. The only break he cut himself was taking two more semesters instead of one.
For about a month, everything is great. The shop is still running smoothly and classes aren’t bad.
And then, towards the end of September, his part-timer Ricky comes to work drunk. Again. Spencer tells him to go home and not bother coming back. He’ll drop Ricky’s final paycheck in the mail.
A week later, Ryan decides to move in with his boyfriend Jon. This doesn’t directly affect Spencer since he doesn’t live with Ryan. It does affect Brendon though. Brendon and Ryan had been living together since they’d all gotten to LA. Spencer’s parents would only support his move and transfer from UNLV if he stayed in school and lived in the dorms for the first year they were out there, and then Spencer ended up moving into a studio apartment above the store. Thanks to Patrick, Brendon’s been working as a studio musician for a while, and doesn’t seem to be too panicky about Ryan moving out though, so Spencer figures he’s okay with it and doesn’t stress either. It’s mostly just inconvenient because Ryan and Jon move to Malibu, which, while not exactly far, is a bitch to get to with traffic. And it’s LA. There's always traffic.
A week and a half after that, Spencer’s assistant manager Dallon’s wife has an emergency C-section and their baby is a few weeks premature. Everything’s fine, but Dallon leaves the store indefinitely. He has another job that pays more and provides them with health insurance; he needs to stay there while trying to be home as much as possible. Spencer obviously understands and is cool with that, but it does mean that Spencer’s now essentially working in the store alone while trying to train his new part-timer, Ian.
Spencer is in his office (his office! Because he owns the store!) one night trying to finish up some paperwork to make sure he’s actually legally hired Ian, handle a couple of invoices that are almost past due, and trying to come up with some vague ideas for his Internet Marketing paper that’s due next week, so he doesn’t bother looking at the caller ID when his cell phone rings.
It’s Brendon. “Spencer! Come open the dooooor! I’m here to see you!” A very drunk Brendon.
Spencer heads out front and unlocks the door. Brendon falls inside and into Spencer’s arms. Okay, so it’s a wasted Brendon. “Spencer. Spencer, Spencer, Spencerrrrrrrr!”
“Yes, Brendon,” Spencer says with a laugh. He manages to work around Brendon to lock the door again. Brendon just clings to him. Not that Spencer minds. He’s okay with the clinging.
“Spencer, today is the worst day of my life,” Brendon says pitifully.
“Okay, why don’t we go sit down and you can tell me about it.” Spencer leads Brendon back to his office and helps him to the couch. Brendon is still clinging. “So, Bren. Why is today the worst day of your life?”
Brendon sits up a bit, pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket, and hands it over. Spencer unfolds it and reads, “Five Day Notice to Pay or Quit”.
“Oh, shit, Brendon. You’re being evicted?”
“Yup! Isn’t it awesome?”
“I’m guessing the reason you’re sitting here drunk on my couch is that you can’t afford to pay?”
“Yup! I’m fucked,” Brendon says definitively. “I don’t know what the fuck I’m gonna do, Spence.”
“I thought you were doing okay. Why didn’t you say something?” Spencer asks quietly.
Brendon sighs. “It’s not your problem. It’s mine. I just... I don’t know what I’m gonna do,” he repeats.
Spencer takes a deep breath. “Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do for right now. We’re going to go upstairs and you’re going to sleep while I do some more work and then we are going to figure this out tomorrow. Okay?”
Brendon nods. “I’m really tired.” Spencer hates that quiet voice. Brendon’s not supposed to be sad.
“I know,” Spencer says as he pulls Brendon closer into a hug. He can’t resist pressing a kiss to the top of Brendon’s head. “We’ll figure it out. I promise.”
Spencer grabs his laptop, a stack of papers, and Brendon and brings them all upstairs for the night.
He makes Brendon drink a bottle of water and take some Advil and then lets him lie down on the bed with a bucket next to him, just in case. Brendon’s asleep in seconds. Spencer sighs as he sits down at the kitchen table and gets to work. He finishes Ian’s paperwork, pays the bills, and then tries to figure out a solution to Brendon’s eviction problem.
====
The unfortunate thing about Brendon is that when he’s drunk, he snores. Loudly. And since Spencer wanted a real queen-size bed and can't fit a couch or anything in his apartment, he had no choice but to share a bed with him. Needless to say, Spencer doesn't sleep very well. So he basically sleepwalks over to the coffee maker and muscle memory takes it from there.
He’s sitting at the table, waiting for his laptop to boot up and the coffee to be done, when he hears a groan from the bed. He grabs a bottle of water from the fridge and brings it over.
“Hey, Bren,” he says quietly as he takes a seat on the edge of the bed.
Brendon grunts and puts his pillow over his head. “Well, I’ll leave the water here and there’s more ibuprofen if you need it. I’ll bring over coffee soon too. Whenever you’re ready, we can talk about my ideas for fixing this whole mess. Okay?” Spencer can tell Brendon’s nodding under his pillow. “Okay,” Spencer says, more to himself.
He looks over and the coffee is done, so he pours two mugs, adds sugar and creamer in just the right amounts to each, and takes one to the nightstand next to the bed. Brendon lifts the pillow and tries to sit up. He makes it about halfway there when his eyes go wide, he claps his hand over his mouth, practically falls off the bed, and runs to the bathroom. The door slams shut behind him but Spencer can still hear him retching.
Spencer just rolls his eyes and sits at the table with his coffee. He’s got an hour before he has to head downstairs to open the store. He checks his email and takes a quick look at the news before really settling in and checking his savings account balance. He’s got enough that he can lend Brendon at least some of what he needs.
He hears the shower turn off--not that he’d noticed it turn on--and a minute later, Brendon comes out wrapped in a towel. Spencer glances up and then quickly averts his eyes. This is not the time to be perving on Brendon, no matter how hot he is. He needs Spencer to be a friend, not a selfish dick who’s only thinking with, well, his dick.
“Spence, I’m gonna borrow some clothes, okay? Mine kind of smell like rum.”
“Yeah, sure,” Spencer answers, still not looking up. “Take what you want.”
“Thanks,” Brendon says. Spencer hears his drawers and closet opening and Brendon shuffling through his stuff. Finally, he comes and sits down across from Spencer. The shower seems to have done wonders for him; he’s a little pale and slightly shaky, but otherwise looks like himself. “Thanks, Spence,” he says again, softly.
Spencer looks at him, eyebrow raised. “For what?” he asks.
It’s Brendon’s turn to stare at the table. “Yesterday. I know it was obnoxious to show up here wasted like that, out of the blue and--”
Spencer cuts him off. “You’re such a dumbass, Brendon. Where else would I want you to go? I just wish you had told me sooner so that I could have helped you before it got to this.” He takes a deep breath. “So... Tell me what happened?”
Brendon looks around the apartment, looks anywhere but at Spencer as he starts to talk. “Just before Ryan moved out, I put money down on some studio time to start playing around with recording my own stuff. It seemed like a good time, since I haven’t had as many sessions lined up lately. So I had some more time, you know? Between sharing the rent, the sessions I still had, and the lessons I was giving, I could afford it. But then Ryan moved out and the Weidermann twins stopped their piano lessons and so that’s two students whose parents paid well right there and with the fewer sessions, suddenly I didn’t really have enough anymore. And I paid all the other bills, which was stupid because why pay the electric bill if you’re not even going to live in the place anymore? I mean, it’s only two months’ rent, but I just...have nothing left,” Brendon trails off. He still won’t look at Spencer.
Spencer takes this all in. “All right. Here’s what I’m thinking. I can give you money for one month’s rent; that’s just all I can afford right now.”
“No, Spence, really. You don’t have to. I’m not taking your money. I’ll figure something out. It’s not your problem,” Brendon says somewhat desperately.
“Shut up, Brendon. If you actually do get kicked out, what are you going to do? Move in here? I love you and all, but it’s a studio. I’m pretty sure we’d kill each other in less than a day. We’re going to fix this together, okay? Besides, the rest of my idea helps me out just as much as it does you.”
Brendon rolls his eyes. “Fine. What’s your idea?”
“Like I said, I’ll give you a month’s rent. You can pay me back later if you want. I don’t care. And then I am going to hire you. Maybe if you take the money and, like, a letter or something saying that I’ve hired you, the landlord will let you stay,” Spencer says.
Brendon considers this for a moment. “You think so? But wait, didn’t you just hire that new kid?”
“Ian. Yeah, I did, but he’s part-time. With Dallon gone, I could really, really use an assistant manager. Or at least someone in the store more than part-time. Obviously, you can work it around your schedule, whenever you have sessions or lessons or your own studio time. But I kind of need the help and I have no time to find someone. What do you think? I can give you a little bit of an advance on your pay and then you could work that off when you’ve got everything else fixed. What do you think?” Spencer hadn’t realized how much he really wants Brendon to agree to this. First and foremost, he wants to help Brendon. But he can’t help thinking about what it would be like to have Brendon around more. Partly because of his, well, crush (such a stupid word, seriously; Spencer’s not twelve), but mostly because Brendon’s been around enough to know how things mostly work in the store. He can handle things just fine on his own. And maybe Spencer can do something like eat lunch for the first time in a week and a half. That would be pretty cool.
Brendon is still looking at the table, biting his lip (which kind of makes Spencer also want to bite it, and seriously? In the middle of all this, that’s what his brain comes up with?) and not saying anything.
Finally, he whispers, “Okay. Yeah, we can do that.”
Spencer lets out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank god! I think Ian will thank you too. I’m pretty sure he just thinks I’m crazy, since I’ve just been all over the place with a million things lately.”
Brendon is finally meeting Spencer’s gaze and even smiling. Spencer really hopes that Brendon gets that he’s saying that because it’s true, not because he wants Brendon to feel better about the deal.
And as they sit there making relieved, happy eyes at each other, Spencer realizes he has no idea what time it is and he should maybe open up his store. Which he is apparently supposed to do within the next ten minutes.
“Okay, Bren! Your first day! How about you go open the store while I take a shower?” Spencer asks.
Brendon laughs. “Yeah, okay, I guess I can do that.” When they stand up and Spencer turns towards the bathroom, Brendon grabs his arm. He pulls him in for a tight hug. “Thank you, Spencer. I really don’t know what I’d do without you,” he whispers.
Spencer smiles. "Yeah, well, I don't know what I would do without you either. So I guess we're even."
Panic! at the Disco: Brendon/Spencer
~2,500 words
Also posted here at AO3.
Written for no_tags 2012. Muchas, muchas gracias to my two amazing betas: lilac_one and shihadchick.
Spencer’s got this. He is all over this. Really. Sure, it’ll probably be a little hectic trying to finish up school while owning his own business. But it’s not like he’s the first person to ever try and he can totally do it. And he dropped down to part-time student status, so it's all good.
It’s barely October when he starts to rethink that. It’s late October when he finally starts to admit that maybe, maybe, he needs a little bit of help. The problem is, he has no time to find it.
He's only been the owner of Excellent New & Used Music for two months. In June, Pete and Patrick (which, holy shit, Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump! How Spencer was lucky enough to land this part-time job when he got to LA, he has no idea) asked Spencer if he wanted to manage the store over his summer break. Pete's ex-wife (Ashlee Simpson!) was going on tour, so they wanted to take Bronx to Chicago for the summer.
In August, they called and said Fall Out Boy was going to reconvene and record a new album, so they really didn’t have time for the store anymore. Then they asked if Spencer wanted to buy it. For a dollar. It wasn’t like they needed the money or anything; it had just been something new to do, a nice experiment. Spencer hyperventilated, but only thought about it for maybe thirty seconds before deciding he really couldn’t turn down the offer. It was a dream come true.
And just like that, Spencer had gone from part-time employee and full-time student to full-time small business owner and part-time student. He was generally stubborn about finishing things he started, and since he was only four classes shy of a B.S. in business administration (with a concentration in entrepreneurship, naturally), he was damn well going to take those classes. The only break he cut himself was taking two more semesters instead of one.
For about a month, everything is great. The shop is still running smoothly and classes aren’t bad.
And then, towards the end of September, his part-timer Ricky comes to work drunk. Again. Spencer tells him to go home and not bother coming back. He’ll drop Ricky’s final paycheck in the mail.
A week later, Ryan decides to move in with his boyfriend Jon. This doesn’t directly affect Spencer since he doesn’t live with Ryan. It does affect Brendon though. Brendon and Ryan had been living together since they’d all gotten to LA. Spencer’s parents would only support his move and transfer from UNLV if he stayed in school and lived in the dorms for the first year they were out there, and then Spencer ended up moving into a studio apartment above the store. Thanks to Patrick, Brendon’s been working as a studio musician for a while, and doesn’t seem to be too panicky about Ryan moving out though, so Spencer figures he’s okay with it and doesn’t stress either. It’s mostly just inconvenient because Ryan and Jon move to Malibu, which, while not exactly far, is a bitch to get to with traffic. And it’s LA. There's always traffic.
A week and a half after that, Spencer’s assistant manager Dallon’s wife has an emergency C-section and their baby is a few weeks premature. Everything’s fine, but Dallon leaves the store indefinitely. He has another job that pays more and provides them with health insurance; he needs to stay there while trying to be home as much as possible. Spencer obviously understands and is cool with that, but it does mean that Spencer’s now essentially working in the store alone while trying to train his new part-timer, Ian.
Spencer is in his office (his office! Because he owns the store!) one night trying to finish up some paperwork to make sure he’s actually legally hired Ian, handle a couple of invoices that are almost past due, and trying to come up with some vague ideas for his Internet Marketing paper that’s due next week, so he doesn’t bother looking at the caller ID when his cell phone rings.
It’s Brendon. “Spencer! Come open the dooooor! I’m here to see you!” A very drunk Brendon.
Spencer heads out front and unlocks the door. Brendon falls inside and into Spencer’s arms. Okay, so it’s a wasted Brendon. “Spencer. Spencer, Spencer, Spencerrrrrrrr!”
“Yes, Brendon,” Spencer says with a laugh. He manages to work around Brendon to lock the door again. Brendon just clings to him. Not that Spencer minds. He’s okay with the clinging.
“Spencer, today is the worst day of my life,” Brendon says pitifully.
“Okay, why don’t we go sit down and you can tell me about it.” Spencer leads Brendon back to his office and helps him to the couch. Brendon is still clinging. “So, Bren. Why is today the worst day of your life?”
Brendon sits up a bit, pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket, and hands it over. Spencer unfolds it and reads, “Five Day Notice to Pay or Quit”.
“Oh, shit, Brendon. You’re being evicted?”
“Yup! Isn’t it awesome?”
“I’m guessing the reason you’re sitting here drunk on my couch is that you can’t afford to pay?”
“Yup! I’m fucked,” Brendon says definitively. “I don’t know what the fuck I’m gonna do, Spence.”
“I thought you were doing okay. Why didn’t you say something?” Spencer asks quietly.
Brendon sighs. “It’s not your problem. It’s mine. I just... I don’t know what I’m gonna do,” he repeats.
Spencer takes a deep breath. “Okay. Here’s what we’re going to do for right now. We’re going to go upstairs and you’re going to sleep while I do some more work and then we are going to figure this out tomorrow. Okay?”
Brendon nods. “I’m really tired.” Spencer hates that quiet voice. Brendon’s not supposed to be sad.
“I know,” Spencer says as he pulls Brendon closer into a hug. He can’t resist pressing a kiss to the top of Brendon’s head. “We’ll figure it out. I promise.”
Spencer grabs his laptop, a stack of papers, and Brendon and brings them all upstairs for the night.
He makes Brendon drink a bottle of water and take some Advil and then lets him lie down on the bed with a bucket next to him, just in case. Brendon’s asleep in seconds. Spencer sighs as he sits down at the kitchen table and gets to work. He finishes Ian’s paperwork, pays the bills, and then tries to figure out a solution to Brendon’s eviction problem.
====
The unfortunate thing about Brendon is that when he’s drunk, he snores. Loudly. And since Spencer wanted a real queen-size bed and can't fit a couch or anything in his apartment, he had no choice but to share a bed with him. Needless to say, Spencer doesn't sleep very well. So he basically sleepwalks over to the coffee maker and muscle memory takes it from there.
He’s sitting at the table, waiting for his laptop to boot up and the coffee to be done, when he hears a groan from the bed. He grabs a bottle of water from the fridge and brings it over.
“Hey, Bren,” he says quietly as he takes a seat on the edge of the bed.
Brendon grunts and puts his pillow over his head. “Well, I’ll leave the water here and there’s more ibuprofen if you need it. I’ll bring over coffee soon too. Whenever you’re ready, we can talk about my ideas for fixing this whole mess. Okay?” Spencer can tell Brendon’s nodding under his pillow. “Okay,” Spencer says, more to himself.
He looks over and the coffee is done, so he pours two mugs, adds sugar and creamer in just the right amounts to each, and takes one to the nightstand next to the bed. Brendon lifts the pillow and tries to sit up. He makes it about halfway there when his eyes go wide, he claps his hand over his mouth, practically falls off the bed, and runs to the bathroom. The door slams shut behind him but Spencer can still hear him retching.
Spencer just rolls his eyes and sits at the table with his coffee. He’s got an hour before he has to head downstairs to open the store. He checks his email and takes a quick look at the news before really settling in and checking his savings account balance. He’s got enough that he can lend Brendon at least some of what he needs.
He hears the shower turn off--not that he’d noticed it turn on--and a minute later, Brendon comes out wrapped in a towel. Spencer glances up and then quickly averts his eyes. This is not the time to be perving on Brendon, no matter how hot he is. He needs Spencer to be a friend, not a selfish dick who’s only thinking with, well, his dick.
“Spence, I’m gonna borrow some clothes, okay? Mine kind of smell like rum.”
“Yeah, sure,” Spencer answers, still not looking up. “Take what you want.”
“Thanks,” Brendon says. Spencer hears his drawers and closet opening and Brendon shuffling through his stuff. Finally, he comes and sits down across from Spencer. The shower seems to have done wonders for him; he’s a little pale and slightly shaky, but otherwise looks like himself. “Thanks, Spence,” he says again, softly.
Spencer looks at him, eyebrow raised. “For what?” he asks.
It’s Brendon’s turn to stare at the table. “Yesterday. I know it was obnoxious to show up here wasted like that, out of the blue and--”
Spencer cuts him off. “You’re such a dumbass, Brendon. Where else would I want you to go? I just wish you had told me sooner so that I could have helped you before it got to this.” He takes a deep breath. “So... Tell me what happened?”
Brendon looks around the apartment, looks anywhere but at Spencer as he starts to talk. “Just before Ryan moved out, I put money down on some studio time to start playing around with recording my own stuff. It seemed like a good time, since I haven’t had as many sessions lined up lately. So I had some more time, you know? Between sharing the rent, the sessions I still had, and the lessons I was giving, I could afford it. But then Ryan moved out and the Weidermann twins stopped their piano lessons and so that’s two students whose parents paid well right there and with the fewer sessions, suddenly I didn’t really have enough anymore. And I paid all the other bills, which was stupid because why pay the electric bill if you’re not even going to live in the place anymore? I mean, it’s only two months’ rent, but I just...have nothing left,” Brendon trails off. He still won’t look at Spencer.
Spencer takes this all in. “All right. Here’s what I’m thinking. I can give you money for one month’s rent; that’s just all I can afford right now.”
“No, Spence, really. You don’t have to. I’m not taking your money. I’ll figure something out. It’s not your problem,” Brendon says somewhat desperately.
“Shut up, Brendon. If you actually do get kicked out, what are you going to do? Move in here? I love you and all, but it’s a studio. I’m pretty sure we’d kill each other in less than a day. We’re going to fix this together, okay? Besides, the rest of my idea helps me out just as much as it does you.”
Brendon rolls his eyes. “Fine. What’s your idea?”
“Like I said, I’ll give you a month’s rent. You can pay me back later if you want. I don’t care. And then I am going to hire you. Maybe if you take the money and, like, a letter or something saying that I’ve hired you, the landlord will let you stay,” Spencer says.
Brendon considers this for a moment. “You think so? But wait, didn’t you just hire that new kid?”
“Ian. Yeah, I did, but he’s part-time. With Dallon gone, I could really, really use an assistant manager. Or at least someone in the store more than part-time. Obviously, you can work it around your schedule, whenever you have sessions or lessons or your own studio time. But I kind of need the help and I have no time to find someone. What do you think? I can give you a little bit of an advance on your pay and then you could work that off when you’ve got everything else fixed. What do you think?” Spencer hadn’t realized how much he really wants Brendon to agree to this. First and foremost, he wants to help Brendon. But he can’t help thinking about what it would be like to have Brendon around more. Partly because of his, well, crush (such a stupid word, seriously; Spencer’s not twelve), but mostly because Brendon’s been around enough to know how things mostly work in the store. He can handle things just fine on his own. And maybe Spencer can do something like eat lunch for the first time in a week and a half. That would be pretty cool.
Brendon is still looking at the table, biting his lip (which kind of makes Spencer also want to bite it, and seriously? In the middle of all this, that’s what his brain comes up with?) and not saying anything.
Finally, he whispers, “Okay. Yeah, we can do that.”
Spencer lets out a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank god! I think Ian will thank you too. I’m pretty sure he just thinks I’m crazy, since I’ve just been all over the place with a million things lately.”
Brendon is finally meeting Spencer’s gaze and even smiling. Spencer really hopes that Brendon gets that he’s saying that because it’s true, not because he wants Brendon to feel better about the deal.
And as they sit there making relieved, happy eyes at each other, Spencer realizes he has no idea what time it is and he should maybe open up his store. Which he is apparently supposed to do within the next ten minutes.
“Okay, Bren! Your first day! How about you go open the store while I take a shower?” Spencer asks.
Brendon laughs. “Yeah, okay, I guess I can do that.” When they stand up and Spencer turns towards the bathroom, Brendon grabs his arm. He pulls him in for a tight hug. “Thank you, Spencer. I really don’t know what I’d do without you,” he whispers.
Spencer smiles. "Yeah, well, I don't know what I would do without you either. So I guess we're even."