Daniel waved as Aaron headed back to their apartment. He briefly closed his eyes, trying to think about what he needed to pick up. He had pretty much lost all of his possessions just the day before. His heart squeezed at the thought of all the books and photos that had been destroyed.
He pushed his way into a store and began tossing necessities into a basket. He had called Jacob last night hoping that he had a property available for rent. He did not realize that he was going to be dragged to his best friend’s little brother’s front door first thing in the morning.
Aaron was not what he had expected at all. He and Jacob had met when they were in middle school and had been friends ever since. The only times he had seen Aaron had been when he was a small kid, and even then he always hiding behind Jacob. He never would have dreamed that he would end up living with the kid.
But then, who would have thought that the quiet tow-headed little kid would have grown up to be such a cutie? Daniel smiled a little as he grabbed a new razor. Aaron had looked like he’d just rolled out of bed when he opened the door that morning.
Taking a quick inventory of his basket, he made his way to the checkout counter. He hoped that he and Aaron would get along for the next few months.
His phone started vibrating as he stepped into the crisp fall air.
“Hi, Alex.”
“Daniel, are you okay?!” Daniel winced a little at the panic in his editor’s voice.
“Ya, I’m fine.”
“What about your work? Did you back it up? You didn’t lose your manuscript did you?” Daniel rolled his eyes.
“Don’t worry, my manuscript is fine.” Daniel adjusted the bags in his hands as he walked past the cafe he had eaten at with Aaron.
“So where are you staying? A hotel?”
“No, I’m going to stay with a friend until my apartment is fixed.”
“Friend? Really? You?” He could hear the humor in Alex’s voice.
“Haha. Very funny.” Daniel stopped in front of his new building, “Did you call for a reason?”
“Yes, I wanted to check on your progress. Your next chapter is due in a week.”
Daniel rolled his eyes again. Of course, Alex wouldn’t give him a break.
“I’ll have it in. Though it might be tight. You know. With my recent homelessness and all..”
“Ya, whatever, let me know if you have any issues!”
Daniel cursed under his breath as Alex hung up. He would definitely be pulling some late nights. Slipping his phone back into his pocket, he pushed through the front door and jogged up the stairs. Hearing voices, he slowed down.
Daniel shifted uncomfortably. He wasn’t sure if this was something he should see.
A dark-haired man was standing close to Aaron.
“C’mon Aaron, please?”
The man moved closer to Aaron, his hand coming up to touch his cheek.
Daniel’s eyes widened as Aaron slapped the man’s hand away.
“Go away, Shawn!”
“Seriously. I can’t believe you’re being like this. I apologized didn’t I?”
“Ya, thanks for the apology, it’s still over. Now leave.” Even from a distance, Aaron looked pale.
“Aaron, you know you don’t mean that,” the man grabbed Aaron’s wrist and pulled it up to his chest.
“Shawn. Come on. It’s over.” Aaron tried to tug out of the man’s grip, “Let me go.”
Daniel started to move forward as Aaron winced in pain.
“Hey, who are you?” Daniel pushed his way between the two men. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Aaron rubbing his wrist.
Daniel narrowed his eyes at the man in front of him. He was roughly the same height as Daniel with dark brown hair tidily styled.
“Who the fuck are you?” Shawn stepped closer to Daniel.
“That’s none of your concern,” Daniel growled back.
Shawn stared at Daniel for a moment before shaking his head, “Fuck. Whatever, man. He’s not worth it.”
Daniel watched as the man turned and stalked down the hall, before turning to Aaron.
The younger man’s face was beet red, his gaze was fixed to the ground.
Daniel rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably, “Listen, Aaron, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have interfered like that.”
“No, it's fine,” Aaron's voice was barely above a whisper as he walked through the door.
“So, was that your ex?” Daniel set his bags down on the couch.
Daniel silently cursed himself as Aaron’s eyes shot up and his face flushed an even darker shade of red.
“Uh-um ya,” Aaron chewed on his lip nervously, “h-hey, Daniel, can you not tell my brother about this?”
“Of course,” Daniel shifted nervously, “Hey, does he not know that you date guys?”
Aaron’s eyes finally left the floor. “He does, it’s just….he doesn’t know about Shawn…” his voice trailed off.
Daniel smiled gently, hoping to make Aaron feel a little more comfortable, “Jacob can be a little overprotective huh?”
Aaron snorted, “ya, you have no idea.”
“But that guy seemed like a major jerk,”
Aaron flushed again, “Ya he was.”
“Why were you even with a guy like that?” Daniel strolled into the kitchen and grabbed a glass, “I mean, you could do way better.”
Daniel glanced over at his roommate as he filled his glass with water.
Aaron was looking at the ground again, his lips pursed into a fine line.
“Thanks for your opinion, I have to work on a paper now.” Aaron fled to his room.
Daniel sighed as he rubbed a hand over his face. He had only lived in the apartment for a few hours and he had already interfered in his new roommate’s relationship and upset him. How would the next few months go?
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