drive.

nathan had to say he wasn’t expecting to be staying in some stranger’s house tonight - but it wouldn’t have been the first time that nathan decided that thinking logically wasn’t the right way to go about things. all he thought about was the warm house, a nice shower, and maybe a sofa to sleep on. way better than the cots that were provided at the local shelters that nathan swore were infested with bed bugs and lice. there was no way he was going to stay in a place like that, he’d rather be on the streets than to be itchy and bugged out for an entire night. but the guy seemed alright, and nathan was willing to do whatever he wanted in gratitude for his hospitality. after he got out of the shower and made his way into the living room, nathan laughed softly at his comment and said, “thanks, it takes a lot to look this good.” nathan replied with a cheeky little smile. 

“i’m nathan.” he said, taking the other’s hand in his own and giving it a firm shake before he took a seat on the sofa next to the guy. “well, for a bit i was staying with a friend, but i fucked that up when they walked in on me snorting up a line while their kid was in the next room. was there for about a month, but i guess once you do something like that there’s no comin’ back from it. so i’ve been out for a couple days now. and ain’t no way i’m goin’ down to the shelter, i’ll fuck old men to earn a buck for a hotel room before i fuckin’ do that. nasty fuckin’ places they are, man.” he said and shook his head. “you lived here long?” he asked as he grabbed his cigarette pack and grabbed a smoke from it, lighting and taking a long and needed drag from it.

•

“nate it is then,” river said after the man introduced himself, giving his hand a firm shake. maybe it was a little rude to just give the man a nickname out of his own laziness, but river doubted he would complain when he was being given free accomodation and hot water for the night. 

“oof, yeah, that is a real dumb move,” the man chuckled, “i mean, least go outside and do it.” but there was a smirk on river’s lips becase he knew better than most that the life of an addict didn’t include making rational decisions for the most part. “look, maybe... i dunno, give ‘em a week or so and then go back with some bullshit apology about how you won’t do it again. blah, blah, blah. everybody involved knows that it’s bullshit but they’ll be more inclined to let you back in when they ain’t so pissed.” he shrugged, exhaling a small cloud of smoke before stubbing the cigarette out in the dirty ash tray on the coffee table. “yeah, been there and fucked that, literally. not my thing though, y’know, turnin’ tricks. these cunts think ‘cause you’re offerin’ sex work that they can treat you like a piece of shit, just don’t sit right with me. like, they’re the ones payin’ for this shit so if anythin’, they should be givin’ you fuckin’ respect for actually fuckin’ their disgustin’ asses.” he knew he could have waffled on for ages about his feelings around that subject but he guessed his new friend probably didn’t want to hear about it. 

“about three months, so nah, not too long,” river then explained, “someone owed me a favour. i mean it’s a shit hole but it gets a roof over my head. before this i was either in jail or on the street. didn’t like those shelters either, always smelt like fuckin’ piss and the people that volunteer there don’t actually give a shit about you, they’re just in it because it makes ‘em look good on their fuckin’ resume.”

ramon considered this to be an incredible waste of time, her incessant pleading beginning to irk his nerves. his mind was made up long before she arrived at his doorstep; her brother knew exactly what he was entangling himself in and if he didn’t, then he should have known better. ramon was uninterested in any form of negotiation—that is, until she offered up herself.

ramon stopped in his tracks, his body shifting to allow his incredulous stare to look the woman up and down. “you?” the word spat from his lips, the look in his eyes equally as icy as his tone. “you have nothing to offer me.” was she so brazen to believe that he would fall for whatever this was? “i’ve got plans for devon here.” he strolled over to her brother, patting his shoulder menacingly. he looked over at her, dark brows furrowing. “why should i buy what you’re sellin’?"  

her heart was pounding against her chest as she watched the other’s demeanour shift, hoping that maybe her plan for saving devon could work. “yes, me.” she confirmed with a nod, knowing that there was nothing she could do to try and disguise the fear in her eyes. “i can offer you more than devon can,” phoebe then begun to explain, knowing that she was treading on very thin ice, her voice shaking as she continued. “are you just going to kill him, have your moment of satisfaction and then what? nothing. take me and i can... help you.” 

David placed his mug onto the nightstand as Ruben teased him. “Excuse you,” he said, raising a finger to clarify. “You’re the one who’s blessed. Parents love me, so they’ll be really upset when you end it. Don’t be surprised if they take my side.”

He repositioned himself next to his fake boyfriend, an arm lazily draped across Ruben’s waist. “I have terms and conditions, by the way.”

“oh don’t say that, then i’ll get an earful when we do break up and my mother will be telling me how i made a big mistake,” ruben groaned, but now wasn’t the time to be worrying about that. it was a problem for four weeks down the line when he’d end this, or maybe... a couple months, just to make it more believeable after all. “terms and conditions?” ruben raised a brow as he glanced down to the other, fingers gently tangled in the other’s shorts locks. “okay, okay, just... hit me with them all and we’ll come to an agreement, i’m sure.” the man teased, a small smirk upon his lips.

for all the worrying he’d done about the younger man, despite it not being his place to worry anymore, it was a relief to hear archie admit that there was still work to be done on healing himself before moving on. though he’d only moments ago wanted to sarcastically point out archie’s refusal to talk about his trauma, alastair realised that he really had no reason to expect anything of the sort from his ex-fiancé. archie didn’t owe him anything–– well, anything else than the knowledge that he was physically alright once again. which reminded ali of the fact that he still might be archie’s emergency contact. he had half the mind to ask, but decided against it. “aye, you have all the time in the world to focus on yourself and then find someone. besides, being single isn’t all bad,” ali thought out loud, his head resting happily against archie’s shoulder. it was all too familiar, far too nostalgic. it would be better to just take some distance, but ali couldn’t bring himself to do it. jus the thought of being cold again had him shivering. 

for a few seconds he’d naively hoped that arch would drop the subject of his imaginations. it’d been an embarrassing slip of the tongue, which quickly had his ears burning and cheeks turning a healthy pink. “get off it, arch!” alastair protested then, rather loudly, as he too took his distance, but kept a fist firmly balled in the other’s shirt. “what i meant was––” he glanced down, and licked his lips as he thought of how to word his thoughts without digging an even deeper hole for himself. “i mean, if i had to imagine it, this wouldn’t be the first thought to pop into my mind,” ali said with a slight frown, well aware that this wasn’t making his situation any better. “i mean, c’mon, how do two idiots get locked in a cellar together?” he couldn’t help the small grin brightening his expression–– admittedly, their situation was a bit funny. 

•

of course archie wasn’t going to drop the subject any time soon, he loved how easy it was to wind alistair up and to see those cheeks turnings pink (even in the dim light of the cellar). “so if you had to imagine it then,” archie started, flashing the other his signature cheeky grin, “what would you picture?” he asked. it wasn’t as if archie hadn’t thought about it before, not that he would mention that any time soon when the heat was currently on the other man. he’d be lying if he said he didn’t miss their intimacy, how alistair had learned every inch of his body and knew exactly what he liked, what he didn’t, they’d figured it out to perfection over their years of being together. nobody else had ever been able to compare because they simply didn’t understand archie like alistair did. he wondered if it would be the same after all this time or if even sex between them would be different now. 

“it’s typical, ain’t it? i mean, you know i’m not one to believe in any sort of... higher power, but it does seem coincidental, doesn’t it? out of anybody i’m trapped with, it’s you.” archie shrugged, lightly running his fingers down alistair’s back. “it’s like since you’ve been here, the universe is trying to get us together. maybe we got some unfinished business still.” he’d thought they’d made their peace at the hospital, alistair seemed to be moving on and archie finally let his guard down enough to explain why he’d pushed him away prior to their marriage. yet, here they were. trapped together. “i’m just sayin’ though, it’d definitely warm us up if we, y’know...” archie was joking (he really was) but he tried to keep a straight face as if he genuinely believed it to be an option for them. “might not be what you imagined, but it’d still be great, aye?”

David sat upright, folding his leg over his knee. “Makes sense? You’re going to have to start getting really into stranger-at-a-club roleplay,” he said, shaking his head.

He held his mug of tea and stared into it, thinking over the offer. Since he’d taken on more responsibilities at work he didn’t have the same amount of time to go out, at least not until he had a full team built out under him. The brunette lifted his eyes, meeting the irresistable puppy eyes of his best friend. What would change, even? “Okay,” he answered with a sigh. “Yeah. You got me.” 

“wait, you mean you’re down for giving it a go?” ruben’s eyes lit up, unable to stop himself from throwing his arms around david and giving him a tight squeeze. he was entirely grateful, knowing that finally he had a reason to get his parents off his back. plus, it would only be a temporary fixture. “it isn’t like anything is gonna change, anyway,” he explained as he settled back into the pillows on his bed, “i mean, we’ll have to do dates and stuff to make it seem real but we hang out whenever we can anyway. just, y’know, usually we fuck. and anyway, you should feel so blessed to be able to call me your fake boyfriend,” ruben then teased, flashing david a cheeky grin.

Leah nodded and grabbed the English version from the shelf instead of one of the other languages she had copies in. If he was looking for unsettling, he was in the right place. She didn’t usually read books like this but with what she’d heard, she had to give it a try. “Unsettling I would say is the right word,” Leah agreed as she stepped down from the latter. “Ah, so that explains it. I figured you might be a teacher.” Honestly, it wasn’t surprising at all given his mannerisms. Not that he was rude, he just had been rather.. Stiff. “You chose a great book then. I would say that’s a great book for the job. The way it makes the gears turn in your brain is what really got me. It does a really good way of showing you what real fear is, you know? Monsters and traditional horror only goes so far, you know?”  Leah remarked. Usually she wasn’t really one for anything scary, but when she got reviews she just couldn’t resist. “You must be one hell of a teacher.” 

“i don’t know if i should take that as a compliment, teachers can be very plain.” forrest mused, though for once there was a small smile upon his features, a sign of his gentle teasing. “that’s what i’m hoping for, something that leaves you wondering about it even after you’ve put the pages down. as much as i enjoy a good scare, it’s having your thoughts invaded by uncertainty that i think is very powerful.” forrest tucked the book beneath his arm once handed over, giving her a nod of thanks. “i suppose the kids i teach would be the true judge of my teaching ability,” he chuckled, “they may not agree. i like to challenge them though, give them something new and exciting and show them that reading doesn’t have to be boring. it isn’t all shakespeare, you know?”

the idea had been an absolute bizarre one the moment the words left reuben’s mouth, fake dating. what were they? 12? reuben had always been someone that juni was close with, especially after leaving her husband and getting a better out look on life. she kept good people around rather than the toxic ones that drug her down. she didn’t need that negativity in her life. “why can’t you just be honest with them? tell them that marriage is just like, i dunno, a ponzi scheme.” and that was coming from someone with experience. they’d been separated for a good two years, officially divorced a solid good year and juni was loving her life as a newly single woman. “i give you a month of me acting like your girlfriend and you’re gonna fall in love with me. you sure you’re ready to give this all up at the end of it?” she asked, wiggling her eyebrows in a playful manner. 

•

“juni, i have tried to tell them numerous times,” ruben pointed out, “and every single one ends with my mother saying, ‘well you haven’t even tried to date anybody so how would you know’. this is why it’ll be a good idea, i’ll get in a relatonship - with you - and then after a month we’ll have a shitty breakup and i can use that as my excuse.” really, it seemed like a foolproof plan. the man snorted with laughter however at her words, shaking his head, “i’m not gonna fall in love with anybody,” ruben said with a small smile, “if anybody is going to have their heart broken here then it will be you.”

“look, will you hear me out?” ruben toyed with his glasses in his hand, placing the tip of the temple between his teeth before a deep sigh escaped his lips. he looked to his best friend, the person whom he’d always considered to be his better half, as he explained, “i just... maybe we should pretend to be together. i need to get my parents off my back; they refuse to accept that i’m not wanting to go off and marry someone, so i figure if i play pretend for a while and then we do some dramatic breakup that they’ll finally believe that i am not someone destined to settle down.” he knew it sounded so crazy but it seemed like a last resort, giving the other those big ol’ puppy eyes as he pleaded with them. “it’ll be like a month maximum. c’mon, it makes sense, right?”