Fic: Home (Ch. 32)

[unavez18.livejournal.com]

Title: Ch. 32
Characters: Zach, Shaun
Rating: PG13
Notes: Short

 

“Wow,” Zach said quietly, but his voice still echoed slightly in the empty space.

 

It wasn’t a very large house, but it seemed right.  Out of all the places they’d seen, this fit their needs most closely, as it was near enough to campus for the commute and in the same school zone so that Cody would not have to attend a different place in the fall.  Although he was still a fairly agreeable little boy, he had put his foot down, telling Shaun and Zach that they could move without him if he was forced to leave his friends behind.  If that meant that Cody had developed a strong sense of home, then they were willing to work within those restraints. 

Although it was supposedly a buyer’s market, that didn’t mean the buyer didn’t have to do a lot of legwork to get what it was they were looking for, and this was the tenth place they’d seen in almost as many days.  But as soon as they’d walked onto the hardwood floors and glimpsed the gated back yard Zach knew that this was the right place.

 

“You like it, don’t you,” Shaun grinned after the real estate agent had given them the brief tour and stepped outside.  “I knew you’d like it.  And, three bedrooms, so we can turn one into an office-studio place for us to work in,” he continued.

 

“But it’s more than the other places,” Zach said, tapping his shoes on the floor and gazing out into the backyard, thinking about how nice it would be when they could let Maxy out there rather than having to traipse up and down the apartment steps every time.

 

Shaun shrugged.  “Nah, not that much more.  We can afford it.”

 

“We?” Zach countered, even though he knew Shaun would jump on him the minute the word was out of his mouth.

 

“Yes, we,” Shaun said, walking over to Zach and tugging at the ring around his neck.  “Or don’t you get what this means?”

 

“I get it, I get it,” Zach said, playfully shoving Shaun away.  “But it’s still your money that you’re spending, and your name on the mortgage.”

 

Shaun grabbed Zach from behind and locked his arms around him.  “I know how you love things in writing,” he teased, “but you’re just gonna have to trust me on this one.  I can add your name to the deed after I actually get the place . . . but if we try to get a loan together right now it’ll make things more difficult.”  He finished his words with a kiss along Zach’s neck to distract him.

 

“Yeah, because I’m a broke college kid with no credit history,” Zach grimaced and yanked at Shaun’s arms, twisting them to release himself. 

 

Shaun was still smiling at him teasingly.  “You know you’re cute when you glare like that.”

 

“Shaun,” Zach said with a roll of his eyes. 

 

Shaun sighed and stopped the playful banter.  “Babe, I know you want to be a part of this, and you are.  Don’t worry about the money thing.”

 

“That’s easy for you to say, you’re actually making money.  And your next book is almost done.”

 

“I’m also older than you,” Shaun argued. 

 

Zach looked away.  “Whatever . . . I’m not sure it matters how old I get . . . most artists aren’t known for their high earning potential.”

 

Shaun grabbed Zach’s shoulders.  “Zach, your time will come.  You still have two years left of school.”

 

“Jeannie used to say that Cal Arts graduates just end up working at art stores . . . and probably a lot of them do,” Zach mumbled, somewhat embarrassed that her words still held a power over him.

 

“Uh, we are not taking words of wisdom from Jeannie,” Shaun retorted matter-of-factly.  “Besides, you already have earning potential.  I told you, they want you to do the cover art for my book.”

 

Zach shot Shaun a withering glare. 

 

“What!” Shaun laughed.  “It’s not like I told them ‘hey I’m fucking this guy, let him do the art for you’ . . . I showed them your portfolio.”

 

“Shaun!” Zach groaned.

 

“Oh, don’t even,” Shaun interrupted.  “Like your life doesn’t get better every time you actually share your art.  Or rather, every time I share your art,” he grinned.

 

Zach smiled ruefully.

 

“Take my advice, babe.  Keep showing your art to people, and good things will come.  And some of that good stuff might even be money.  But even if it’s not, I would want you to keep doing your art and keep sharing it . . . I’ll just write twice as fast to support us.”

 

Zach smiled at Shaun’s unwavering support.  He knew there wouldn’t be any sense in continuing to argue with him at this point.  For the time being he’d just have to trust in what they shared. 

“Alright, alright.  Well if I’m going to do the cover art, you’d better give me that draft of your book, and no more putting it off because it’s not edited.  I'd prefer to work with the raw material anyways.”

 

“Raw materials?  I can give you some raw materials to work with,” Shaun turned to him with an excited smile, grabbing his wrists and pulling Zach’s body up close so that their lips collided.

 

“Did you have any more quest-- oh, excuse me,” the real estate agent strode through the hallway, her cheeks flushing red as she walked in on them.  “Sorry, I’ll wait outside.”

 

Shaun laughed and pressed his lips against Zach’s again once she had hastily retreated.

“I have a feeling,” he said when they broke apart, “that this is going to be our new home.” 

Comments

[abaylor22.livejournal.com]

short and sweet! Happy to hear they may have found the perfect home. zach needs to stop second guessing so much and roll with it. He 2nd guessed a lot in this chapter. I hope we get a good visual of what the house looks like and how they style it. i know it has 3 bedrooms and backyard. It's always exciting to move into your own space and decorate it. with zach's artistic input, i'm sure it will be amazing and homey feeling. I hope zach feels it's his home too even if he can't contribute, yet.

[unavez18.livejournal.com]

:) BTW your Disney songs comment a few chaps back totally cracked me up

[lightvigil.livejournal.com]

you write them like canon, i'm in awe! more please XD

[figaro23.livejournal.com]

Adorable! I love them moving into their own home!

[ltklo.livejournal.com]

Love it! And Shaun is definitely a keeper :)

[girloftheburbs.livejournal.com]

Woohoo, another chapter! And how exciting that they found a great house! :) :)