“Take off your shoes here, my dad will kill me if we track mud and water through the house,” Rigby said as he took off his shoes and set them on a rubber mat his dad always left by the door. Alfred quickly followed his lead and took off his shoes and set them on the mat. 

“I wouldn’t kill ya, however, you two look like good ol'Nessie sneezed on you.” Korey chuckled as he walked out of the kitchen holding a steaming mug, probably something to help his receding hangover. 

“G-god dad a little warning next time.” Rigby gasped a little as he jumped a little. He thought his dad would shout at them from the living room or wherever he was in the house like he usually did, he hadn’t expected him to come and greet them at the door.

 “I’ll keep that in mind for next time.” Korey chuckled as he looked at them. “Well seeing as you two decided to swim in a lake fully clothed I'll go get you some warm towels and a good drink.”  

Rigby sighed as his father walked off to get the towels. 

“By good drink does he mean alcohol?” Alfred asked a confused and amused smile plastered on his face. 

“Probably” Rigby shrugged as Alfred gave him a fascinated look. 

“My dad thinks anything can be fixed with rest, butter, and a good stiff drink,” Rigby explained as Alfred slicked back his wet hair. Rigby felt his face flush at the sight of Alfred, God even covered in mud and drenched to the bone he was still stunning. 

“Here we go!” Korey said as he walked back into the mudroom with warm towels, clean clothes, and a bottle of scotch.

 “Here ya go, I hope you don’t mind borrowin’ some of my clothes. I would have grabbed ya some o’ Redfords but what’s big on him is small on everyone else.” Korey chuckled as he handed them each a warm towel, and Alfred a stack of folded clothes. Rigby felt his face heat up with embarrassment, of course, his father wouldn’t miss out on a single opportunity to tease him. 

“I don’t mind thank you, sir,” Alfred said quickly flashing Korey a charming smile. Rigby covered his face with the towel his dad had given him. Just staring at Alfred’s smile made his heart race, his face was going too forever be red at this point.

 “Ah, no formality’s needed sport, just call me Korey. Now Redford will show you to the bathroom where you can change and I’ll get you two some good old-fashioned Irish hot cocoa.” Korey said as he waved the bottle of scotch and walked off into the kitchen. 

“Don’t mind him he’ll only put a small amount of scotch in it, if you don’t wanna drink it I completely understand,” Rigby said sheepishly as he led Alfred too the bathroom. 

“Eh, I don’t mind. It’ll be interesting too try it anyway.” Alfred chuckled as he walked into the bathroom. 

After Alfred had closed the door, Rigby quickly walked to his room. He shivered a little as he dried off and began to change out of his wet clothes that tried to stick to his skin. He could only hope his dad wouldn’t do anything too embarrassing, this was the first time he had ever had anyone over let alone a boy he had a crush on. Rigby quickly pulled a warm sweater over his head, he did have a crush on Alfred, he had tried denying it multiple times but at this point, there was no use. Rigby ran a hand through his now damp hair as he finished changing, he could only hope this stupid crush would go away before it ruined his only friendship. Rigby quickly walked out of his room and into the hall when he was met with the light chatter of friendly conversation coming from the living room. He quickly walked into the living room to find Alfred sitting on the couch in one of his dad’s old green sweaters and a mug of spiked hot chocolate in his hands as he talked to Rigby’s dad who sat opposite him in a gaudy yellow-green armchair. He had to hope his father hadn’t shared any embarrassing secrets with Alfred. 

“There he is, come and join us, Redford,” Korey said as he handed him a mug of hot chocolate and motioned for him to sit on the couch next to Alfred. 

“We were just discussing how a good bit o’drink can help warm your blood.” Korey chuckled with Alfred as Rigby sat down on the couch. Inside his head he rolled his eyes, why would he need alcohol to keep his blood warm when he had Alfred sitting right next to him. 

“So what do you do for work, Korey?” Alfred asked, taking a sip of his drink. 

“Well I work part-time at a law firm, I’m not a lawyer or anything like that, I organize papers and do the accounting when needed. However, ironically I’m also a bartender on weekends.” Korey chuckled as he poured some more scotch into his mug. 

“That’s pretty cool, I bet people love having an authentic Irishman as their bartender,” Alfred said, his eyes wide with interest. 

“Indeed people come for me and stay for a good ol’drink.” Korey smiled, his eyes trying to hide the hint of sadness as he cradled his mug in his hands. 

He knew his dad loved being a bartender but because he had to pay for his school and the rent he couldn’t do it full time like he wanted. Maybe one day he would be able to repay his dad and make it so he could have his own bar. 

“So what did you little scamps get up to today?” Korey asked, shooting a quick teasing look at Rigby which made his cheeks heat up. 

“Nothing too interesting, we went to school which was boring, as usual, then we went down to the soccer field and played a few games, which I won,” Rigby said smugly as Alfred rolled his eyes. 

“Enjoy it while you can, there are so many other things I’ll end up beating you at.” Alfred chuckled playfully, nudging Rigby’s shoulder. Korey playfully smirked into his mug as he watched then, Rigby could see the teasing sparkle in his eyes. 

“Oh, I bet you will, especially in pillow fights or wrestling,” Korey said as Rigby tried not to choke on his drink, of course, his dad went right to that. 

“Actually I already beat him in wrestling at the field,” Alfred said smugly as Rigby’s face turned bright red as he remembered the field. Now it was Korey’s turn to choke on his drink. 

“Did you now?” Korey asked, trying to recover from choking. “Absolutely, I had him pinned to the ground by the end of our tumble,” Alfred said, smirking over at Rigby. He felt his face explode with blush as their eyes locked. WHY WAS HE SO HOT! 

“Impressive, so are you two working on a special project today?” Korey said with a slightly teasing tone. Rigby was mortified, he couldn’t believe his father was so blatantly referring to them being a couple. Either Alfred didn’t notice or was just playing along to make a good impression. 

“Yeah, we’re working on a project for Mr. Matthews’s class,” Alfred said as he adjusted how he was sitting, Rigby blushed as he realized how close they were now. 

“Oh? how is good ol’Elias?” Korey asked a slight blush to his cheeks as he tried to hide it by taking a sip of his drink. 

“He’s doing fine, as far as I know, however today he was hungover worse than a college freshman after their first frat party.” Alfred chuckled as Korey smiled. 

“Aww poor, wee babe.” Korey chuckled as he stared off, obviously remembering a fond memory. 

“So are you two close friends?” Korey asked, quickly jumping back into teasing them after being distracted by his own lover. 

“I’d say we are, aren’t we Rigs?” Alfred said smugly as Rigby meekly nodded his head and tried to hide his face without making it obvious. 

“Rig’s?” Korey smiled as he stared at Rigby, a giddy smile plastered on his face. He was mortified he couldn’t believe this was happening. 

“Yeah, It’s a nickname I gave to Rigby,” Alfred said proudly as Korey was staring Rigby down, his eyes full of mischief. He shot his dad a quick glare to let him know he was not amused himself. 

“Dad, can I talk to you in the kitchen for a sec?” Rigby asked as he quickly jumped up from the couch and grabbed his dad’s hand and dragged him to the kitchen. 

“Be right back, make yourself comfortable,” Korey said to Alfred as Rigby dragged him into the kitchen. 

“You know he’s way better looking than you described him, are you sure he’s a high school student?” Korey asked, glancing back at the living room. 

“Dad! My God! H-he’s n-not that hot, and b-besides the nickname is purely a friendship thing and ONLY FRIENDSHIP. S-so get all the naughty ideas out of your head.” Rigby said as he felt his face turn pink again. He needed to find a way to stop getting so embarrassed. 

“For now,” Korey said with a knowing smile.

 “What do you mean for now?” Rigby asked, what in the almighty fucked up Irish philosophy was his father going to tell him now? 

“Always remember that hindsight is the best insight to foresight. I see how that boy looks at you, Redford, it’s only a matter of time.” Korey chuckled as he grabbed another bottle of scotch out of the fridge. 

“Now it’s best not to keep our guest waiting and I believe the both of you have a project you need to be doing.” Korey smirked as he led Rigby back to the living room. 

“Everything ok?” Alfred asked, looking at Rigby, his eyes flickering with concern. Rigby swallowed, what had his dad meant? 

“Y-yeah it’s fine. However, we should get to work on the project before we run out of time.” Rigby said as Alfred nodded his head and set his empty cup on the coffee table. 

“Right, I’ll leave you, boys, to it. Work hard!” Korey said as Alfred got up from the couch and followed Rigby to his room.  

Rigby paused outside his door, he was actually letting Alfred into his room, god he was bringing his crush into his room. He took a deep breath as he took hold of the handle, welp here goes nothing, Rigby thought as he twisted the knob.