![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
jess-d-10.livejournal.com) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
shelter_diner2011-10-31 02:30 pm
Fic: The House Guest
Title: The House Guest
Author: ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
jess_d_10
Fandom: Shelter
Rating: R
Pairing; Characters: Zach/Shaun; Gabe, Cody
Chapter: 8
Summary: Gabe needs help more than he ever has before, so Zach and Shaun step up to the plate.
Author's Note: Just a wee chapter this time. More soon! Also, a warning: this chapter contains het romance. If this offends you, please, refrain from reading. ;)
Previous Chapters:
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
New Chapter:
Gabe
Gabe lay awake, staring at the unfamiliar ceiling of his girlfriend’s bedroom. He and Sara had been dating for a month and a half, and finally, a little over an hour ago, they had had sex for the first time. Gabe had never, ever in his life, spent this much time getting to know a girl before spending the night with her. He hated to admit it, he really did, and he knew that his reputation as a player, a shameless ladies man who could make any girl drop her panties, would be completely ruined if anyone knew what he was ready to acknowledge, at least to himself: love was pretty sweet.
Shit, he thought, love? Is that what this is? In complete honesty, he couldn’t be entirely sure: he had never been in love. What he did know was that he thought Sara was great. When he had finally broken down and asked her out, she had responded with a glee that Gabe hadn’t seen before in other girls that he had propositioned in one way or another. Sure, he’d been flirted with plenty, had had girls throw themselves at him, and had mastered the art of making certain girls come home with him with just a few choice words, but this was completely different.
On their first date, Sara told him that she herself had been gearing up to ask him out, but he had beaten her to it. It had given Gabe pause to think about a girl asking him out: it had never happened to him before. That first date was a blast: an evening of drinks at one of Sara’s favorite bars in L.A., and then off to a club to check out one of her favorite D.J.s. Subsequent dates had been fun as well. They grabbed dogs from a truck then chilled on the beach while the sun set, they spent afternoons surfing, and, the ultimate classic, they enjoyed dinner and a movie. Gabe got a lot of satisfaction out of each date. He felt like he was working toward something, like he was earning something that he wanted, rather than just having it handed to him.
Gabe would be lying if he said he didn’t think about sleeping with her on every single one of those dates, and at many moments in between. He liked Sara as a person, of course, and truly wanted to get to know her, but he was obviously attracted to her physically as well. In the past, he had gotten used to instant gratification when it came to acting on his physical desires. An agreement they had made on their first date, though, had ensured that neither of them had rushed into anything that might get in the way of having a serious relationship. Gabe continued to be amazed by the fact that he had instigated this agreement.
Near the end of the night of their first date, they danced on the crowded floor of the club, allowing their inhibitions to leave them as they felt the music and each other. Yet, despite how excited, aroused, and completely into his date he was, when Sara leaned in close and whispered in his ear to invite him back to her place, Gabe had refused.
Sara pulled back when he said no, suddenly no longer grinding against him. It was loud and crowded on the dance floor, making conversation close to impossible, but with the look on her face, she communicated to him her confusion and disappointment.
Gabe took her hand, and said, “Come with me.”
They exited the club, into the lively, but slightly quieter street outside. “What’s wrong?” Sara said right away as they got outside. “I thought we were having a great time.”
“We are,” Gabe said, trying not to notice how incredible she looked in the silvery dress she was wearing. It made her look like some kind of a fairy, or like the mermaid tattooed on her arm. The magical effect was amplified by the make-up that made her eyes sparkle more than ever, and the way her red hair had been tamed into sleek waves that cascaded just past her shoulders. Of course, it also helped that the dress was short at the bottom, and low-cut at the neckline.
“So what’s the deal?” she demanded. “I’m giving you a ticket to ride, here, stoner, and I don’t just do that with every guy.”
It took a great amount of effort for Gabe to close his eyes and keep talking. “I know, Sara, but I don’t want to rush things here. I always rush things, and it never ends well. I’m trying to do things different. I’m trying to do things better.” He opened his eyes and looked at her.
The fire that had seemed to spark from her eyes was gone as she stared at him sizing him up. “Every time a guy says shit like that, I’m suspicious. It sounds like a line.”
“Uh … well, that was more than one line.”
Sara narrowed her eyes at him, and Gabe was sure that she had been supremely unimpressed by his attempt at honesty, until she burst into laughter. “OK,” she said, “I guess you’ve got me there. Still, what’s the deal? Most guys don’t say no to an offer like that.”
Gabe smiled. “I know, and in the past, I wouldn’t have either, but … I’ve been trying to change. I just got through a shitty time, and I’m trying to be a better guy. I really mean that.”
“Well, you’re going to have to prove it to me, you know. I’m not just going to take you at your word.”
The smile stayed on Gabe’s face. “Sure. I’ll prove it to you the best that I can.”
And so, he did. He took her out on many dates, but never tried to go home with her. Oh, they got up close and personal, that was for sure. They kissed, and touched, and teased themselves and each other to the point of torture, but Gabe was true to his word, and didn’t give in to his desires until he knew the moment was right.
Last night, the moment was right. At least, it seemed that way to Gabe: he wasn’t exactly experienced in these matters. Their date had been long, but simple. They spent the afternoon at the zoo, and then went for a walk in the surrounding neighborhood. Afterwards, they made their way back to Gabe’s car and made out for a while, as they usually did around the end of their dates. This time, though, when Sara pulled back and asked Gabe if he wanted to come have a drink at her apartment, he said yes.
Not a drop of liquid passed either of their lips after they entered the apartment Sara shared with two roommates. As soon as they shut the door behind them, they went to each other. Sara led them straight to her bedroom, and was just aware enough to shut the door behind them after they entered the room. And what happened next, well, Gabe hardly knew.
Oh, of course, some of it had been familiar. The softness of Sara’s skin as he touched as much of her as he could get his hands on, the way her breasts had bounced a little as Gabe had pulled the bra away from them, and the warmth he felt surround him as he entered her. A lot of it, though, had felt different than it ever had before: the sounds she made in a voice he knew well, but sounded so different, yet so wonderful in this context, the way her eyes constantly searched for his and when they met, he found that he couldn’t look away, and finally, the desire he had felt to utter those three infamous words, those words that meant so much, but were often so carelessly used, as he came into her. He held back, though, because he knew that if or when he spoke those words to Sara, he needed to mean them, and that she would never trust their sincerity when they were spoken at a moment like that one. So, after a few soft kisses, both of them had relaxed into the bed together, and by the sound of her breathing, Sara had soon fallen asleep.
Gabe was still awake, though. He was excited and happy, but uncertain. He was still convinced that sleeping with Sara at that moment had been the right choice: they had gotten to know each other, and their relationship had gotten to a point of seriousness that made the act about more than just sex. Gabe had never experienced this before.
Of course, Gabe realized, he had been through a lot of firsts lately. He had had his first real job, as in, his first job that he had acquired completely on his own, without the help of his father, and that he had not been able to cruise through with little work just because of the family he was from. Also, for the first time ever, he was trying to do well at school and, amazingly, he was actually succeeding. All in all, Gabe was realizing, even when things weren’t given to him, he was able to get things for himself. He was surprised to learn that receiving those blessings gave him so much more satisfaction when he knew that he had worked toward them himself.
Still, this relationship was, as people said, getting serious. This was truly unchartered territory for Gabe. What did he really feel? What was the right thing to do? He didn’t trust himself to find the answers to these questions himself.
Sometime during the night, he managed to fall asleep, and felt happy when he woke up next to the beautiful, naked, red-headed girl with whom he had just spent the night.
They had breakfast together, and then Gabe truthfully told her that he needed to get home to shower and change before his shift in two hours. When Gabe walked through the apartment door at eleven o’clock that Saturday morning, his best friend was lounging on the living room couch, reading a newspaper.
Zach quickly allowed the paper to drop to his chest as Gabe stepped into the room. “Well, well, mister, about time you came crawling back in here. It looks like you had quite the night.”
Gabe smiled. “I did, thank you very much, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.”
Zach grinned. “Did you two crazy kids finally spend the night together?”
“Yes, we did, and before you ask, yes it was worth the wait.”
“Good for you. I’m not surprised.”
A question Gabe had never thought to ask before suddenly occurred to him. “Hey, so, how long after you and Shaun start dating did you guys finally do the deed?”
Zach blinked at him, and his cheeks turned red. “Well, uh … define dating.”
Gabe rolled his eyes. “You know, man. Like, when you stopped hanging out like friends and started your relationship. I bet Shaun was all reasonable and mature about it and made you guys wait until he thought the moment was right.”
The blush deepened in Zach’s cheeks, but a smile was spreading across his face. And then, he was laughing.
Gabe frowned at him. “What? Am I right? I’m right, aren’t I?”
Zach was still laughing, but he shook his head. “No, actually, you’re way off. To be honest, our relationship actually started with us sleeping together and then …” Zach hesitated, but then chose to continue: “…and then pretty much all we did for the next two weeks was, you know, stay in bed together.”
Gabe smiled. “Oh, I get it.”
“Dude, you did the right thing with Sara, though. I’m actually pretty impressed with you, man. Shaun and I obviously don’t have your self-control.” He gave Gabe a friendly smile, as if to say that he was kind of joking around, but kind of serious about the comment.
Gabe smiled back and nodded. “Well, thanks, man,” he said in the most casual voice he could muster, and then went into his room. He tried to figure out why he suddenly felt so shitty. He had gotten home feeling as if he was doing the right thing, that he and Sara were on their way toward having a mature relationship. Yet, he had just realized that the relationship he admired the most had started out being all sex. At the same time, he was sure that it hadn’t been all about sex.
Would the same have been true for Sara and him? If they had slept together right away, would he have gotten bored with her, as he had feared he would, or would he have just been more intrigued to know her better, to get closer to her? Gabe had no idea how to answer that question.
Instead, he distracted himself by opening up his laptop. He had forwarded Larry his midterm grades in an attempt to show his father that he wasn’t wasting his time by living with his brother for a few months. Gabe was surprised to see that his father had actually written back. Gabe opened the email and read:
Gabriel,
I have to say, I am truly impressed by what I see in your current grades. Clearly, you have been working hard over the past months, and I appreciate that. I hope you know how truthful I am being when I say that, because I really am speaking with complete honesty.
Gabriel, I know that I was harsh with you when I found out about your recent transgressions, but I do not regret it. You truly disappointed me, son, and I really believe that I should expect better from you. If you were hurt by my reaction, that is unfortunate, but I hope the pain has served its purpose. From the way your grades look right now, I believe it has, so hopefully we can both agree that the unpleasantness was worth it.
Here is the good news, though. Son, if you can continue to keep these grades at the level they are now, and not get yourself into any further trouble, I am prepared to completely forgive what happened in December. You will officially be back in my good graces, and you may return to UCSB to carry on the studies you started there, with my full support. You have already shown me that you are capable of being a better man than I recently saw. Proving to me that you are one is as simple as sending me a final report card that is as good as this midterm one.
I wish you all the best, son.
Sincerely,
Dad
Gabe reread the email several times before shutting his laptop, and putting it down on his bed. He walked down the hall to the bathroom, went in, and shut the door behind him. Once he had gotten his shower started and he was relaxed under its hot spray, he thought about the message his father had just sent him.
The formal tone of the email did not surprise him in the least. Larry had never been the touchy-feely type, and the serious voice that had emanated from this message had been perfectly in-character. What had surprised him was actually how forgiving it was. Larry McTavish was not an easy guy to impress, and Gabe had suspected that it would take more than a few decent midterm grades to get back in his father’s good graces. Apparently, though, that had been enough to earn him back all the privileges he had lived with throughout his life, but had so quickly lost just a few months ago.
Larry hadn’t even needed to hear about how he had a job he was doing really amazing at, or how he spent most of his nights relaxing at home, doing homework, rather than going out partying. He hadn’t needed to tell his father that he was dating a girl and had only just spent the night with her after more than a month of courtship. For a moment, Gabe thought despairingly that maybe all of it had been futile.
Still, the question still remained: had he done all of this to get back into Larry’s good books, or had it been to better himself? The answer wasn’t obvious to him, especially when he was being offered back all of the privileges of the life he had always known.
He tried not to give the whole situation with Larry too much thought as he continued through the rest of the week. With or without Larry’s deal, he was still going to try to get the best grades possible in his classes. He was also still going to try to be a good employee at his job, and a good boyfriend to his Sara.
Two days later, they spent the night together again. This time, it was equally as enjoyable, but Gabe had felt less elated after the fact. He felt more like his old self: happy that he had just had sex, but nothing beyond that. He suspected that this was normal. He figured that once that first time had come and gone, after all the build-up to it, he couldn’t exactly expect to feel the same way after subsequent sexual encounters.
Gabe had confidence in this conclusion after the third, fourth, and fifth times he and Sara had sex. Each time was just great, never even the slightest bit boring, but it never held the same magic of that first time. He was past letting that bother him, though. At least, he thought he was until Sara had to work one night when he didn’t, and he spent the evening at the apartment with Zach. Gabe relished the time he spent with Sara, but he had to admit, a night off was kind of nice. It gave him time to himself, time to relax and not obsess about whether or not he was doing the right thing at every second.
Zach, he realized, was not the happy new self that Gabe had moved in with just a little while ago. During the past couple of weeks that Shaun had been away, Zach had been strained, un-talkative, and always worrying out loud about this or that thing that he needed to do.
Gabe had never been the sentimental type, but he was also never afraid to bring his friends’ problems out into the open, especially when he felt they needed to talk about them. So, that night, as they washed dishes together, Gabe said, “So dude, are you doing OK?”
Zach gave him a sidelong glance. “What are you talking about?”
“I mean, with Shaun being away and all, I know it’s tough. How’re you holding up?”
Zach looked back at the pot he was scrubbing and shrugged. “Of course I’m OK. It’s just a month, man. We can handle a month apart.”
Gabe nodded. “OK, it’s cool, man. I’m just saying, it’d be understandable if you were a little more stressed out without him here.”
“Like I said, it’s no big deal.”
If Zach’s tone had not been so defensive, Gabe might have believed him. His friend’s reaction, though, only confirmed his suspicions: Zach felt like shit while Shaun was away. He let a few beats of silence go by, though, before he finally said, “But you do miss him, don’t you?”
Zach let out a heavy sigh and Gabe saw his shoulders slump. “Yeah, I do. I miss him like crazy.”
“Dude, it’s OK, you know. It’s totally understandable.”
Zach shook his head. “Man, I knew I’d miss him, but I didn’t think it would feel this bad. I don’t know when I became so codependent, but it’s like I can’t even function without him here. It’s pathetic.”
Gabe was slightly taken aback by the stream of words that had just poured out of Zach’s mouth. He had gone from clammed up and defensive to pouring his heart out in seconds. Gabe realized that Zach was taking this separation even harder than he thought. He couldn’t help wondering, would he ever feel that way about Sara? Would the prospect of a month away from her put him in a state that was anything like what he was seeing in his best friend now? “Zach,” Gabe said, “it isn’t pathetic. And you’re obviously not codependent. If you were, you wouldn’t be as good as you are at getting so much done without anyone’s help. You guys are just crazy about each other, and that’s pretty awesome, in my opinion. Think how happy you’ll be when he gets home.”
Finally, Zach smiled. “Yeah, I know.”
“And hey,” Gabe added, giving him a friendly punch, “in the meantime, at least you’ve still got me.”
Zach laughed and punched him back. “That’s a real comfort.”
“Just don’t expect me to do all the things that Shaun normally does for you, if you know what I mean. I have to draw the line somewhere.”
He winked at Zach, and they both burst out laughing, both of their good moods temporarily restored.
A few days later, he invited Sara to the apartment when he knew no one else would be there. He had rehearsed what he was going to say to her over and over in his mind, but when she walked into the apartment and sat down beside him on the couch, he forgot every word. Still, he knew that he needed to do this. “We need to talk.”
Sara met his eyes. “Yeah, I know.”
Gabe raised an eyebrow. “You do?”
“Well, yeah, Gabe, I’m not an idiot. I’m sure we both realize the same thing.”
“Which is?”
She shook her head. “Oh no, you’re not getting off that easy. You asked me here, you can say the words.”
He attempted to search her with his eyes, wondering if she really was thinking the same thing he was. He decided to take the plunge: “I don’t think this is working out.”
Sara nodded. “I know.”
Gabe let out a huge sigh of relief, not just over the fact that this was going to be easier than he had feared, but also that he wasn’t making a huge mistake, that he had not misread what had been happening (or, rather, failing to happen) between them. “I’m really sorry, Sara. I wanted this to work.”
She shrugged. “Me too, but you can’t force something that isn’t there.”
“I still think you’re really cool. You’re amazing, actually. I just … between us … there isn’t—”
“A spark. We get along well, but there’s no spark between us.”
Gabe nodded. “Exactly.”
Sara stood up and opened her arms. “Well, it was fun while it lasted.”
Gabe stood up and hugged her. While he was still holding her, he said, “So that’s it? It’s done, just like that?”
Sara pulled back and looked at him. “Did you want to drag this out longer than necessary?”
“No.”
“Then good. Haven’t you ever broken up with someone before?”
Gabe thought for a moment. Certainly he had chosen not to call girls back, and he had induced tears from girls he told he wasn’t interested in seeing anymore, but broken up with someone? Actually ended a relationship that had some meaning? “No,” he said.
“Well, then, I’ll warn you: this is the easiest break-up you’ll ever have. Feel free to write me in a few years to thank me.”
Gabe laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
They walked to the door of the apartment together. “I guess this is goodbye,” Gabe said.
Sara rolled her eyes. “Of course it isn’t. We’re working together on Friday.”
“Oh … right. Is this going to be awkward?”
“Oh, were you planning on making this awkward? Because I wasn’t.”
Gabe shrugged and laughed again. “I guess not.”
They hugged again, and then Gabe shut the door behind her. He felt like he was in a bit of a daze, but somehow, he was happy. In fact, he felt happier than he had in ages. It was a beautiful day outside, so he opened up a beer, went out to the back porch, and sat down to watch the activity on the street below. He felt excited about something, but he wasn’t sure what it was. Maybe it was just the fact that the break-up had gone so smoothly, but that didn’t seem quite right. Maybe it was the sunshine and the fact that he had the day off, but this felt like something more. Maybe it was the prospect of future Saras, and though not all of them would work out, he suddenly felt surer than ever that he would find one who would make his life as full as his brother and his best friend made each other’s.
no subject
no subject
and I loved Zach and Gabe's talk
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject