I’m not like this cause I’m in Van Halen

Currently Watching: Animal Kingdom/Chicago PD

Currently Reading: The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie/Double Eagle by Dan Abnett

Currently Playing: (Way too much) Rimworld/Baldur's Gate 3

Currently Listening to: Revery because it's perfect

You had been friends with the Berzatto’s since you had been old enough to walk it felt like. Glued to Natalie since kindergarten meant that you also were forced to spend most of your childhood around Mikey and Richie just as much as Carmen and Fak. Not that you really had a lot to complain about. Having cool older friends had been a blessing more than a curse especially having a free older brother in Michael as an awkward teenager. 

When things started to change and the renovation started it meant that it was an all hands on deck emergency. You were more than happy to show up and help Nat out however you could, which was how you found yourself once again stuck to the mayhem that this family brought in with them. Which also meant that you were spending a lot more time with Richie again. 

Which was cool. Totally cool now that he was apparently single and constantly around being loud as fuck and dominating the space everytime he spoke. Tall and imposing and too funny for his own good. 

Why you had landed on the idea of a fight to be your go to move was beyond you at this point. It was hard to find an in when you had known a guy most of your life and small talk had really fallen off as an option. So now here you were a grown adult trying to pick a fight like a five year old boy with a crush. 

It was a slow day and they, either by luck or by chance, were the only ones actually in the restaurant this afternoon. Which was great and all except you were pointing out again that he wasn’t a good fighter he was just taller than everyone else and that gave him an edge. 

“Grow up” Richie said it with a sigh but there was a spark there that hadn’t been there when you had tried again to tease hom about it. 

“Come on Richard, what are you? Scared?” It was a weak attempt at goading him on your part and you both knew it. Richie had always been one of the first to be willing to square up in a fight.  

He wasn’t scared, more concerned about what it would look like with you pinned under him while you wrestled to get free. He was already on Nat’s shit list and he didn’t like the idea of solidifying that place when things were just starting to turn around. Despite it being true he didn’t want to look like an ass with the whole well she started it as an excuse if someone actually saw them wrestling. 

That being said it was more reflexive than anything when you slipped your arm through his trying to get control of him not thirty seconds later. Almost instantly he had you in front of him, arm pinned against his chest and his other arm around your shoulders as he hauled you kicking off the floor almost effortlessly. 

“Always have to push my fucking buttons, huh? Now what?”

The now what came when you finally managed to find purchase with your foot and kicked hard off of the doorframe. Between your weight making him a little top heavy and the sudden movement Richie lost balance. With next to no time to react he did have the presence of mind to not brace with an arm, 

The pair of you crashed to the floor with a painful thud. You doing most of the damage as he recovered from the impact and you knocking the wind out of him. Not that it kept you down for long enough. By the time he was able to take a solid breath you were already struggling with him trying to regain the upper hand and wriggle fully out of his grasp. 

Of course he’s not letting you actually win this, he has his own pride to think about and while it is just the two of you around he doesn’t need you gloating the second you see another living soul. So now you’re both on the floor, covered in constriction dust and who knows what other filth. 

Richie is obviously winning, he hasn’t actually let you get ground on him since you knocked him over and now he’s actually managed to pin you to the floor beneath him. He’s trying to keep it clean, especially since he’s got you face down on the ground. One hand holding you in place between your shoulder blades and the other bracing his weight on the floor by your head. 

Out of breath and a little more smug than he felt he should be, Richie was the one to speak first. “Happy now? Tell me I can’t fight.” 

That’s when the giggles started, you couldn’t help it. Here you were two grown adults rolling around on the floor like kids again, Richie half leaned over you, actually slowly skinning his weight more on top of you as he also fell into uncontrollable laughter. 

When he was damn near actually crushing you he let up, rolling instead to his back on the floor beside you, mostly recovered until he got a look at your dusk covered face and he collapsed back into laughter again. 

On one of his rare long weekends John had crashed at your apartment for the night, or rather the day. He had somehow managed to pass out on your living room floor just before you left for the morning to take care of errands and your own weekend business. How all your movement and the accidental dropping of keys hadn’t woken him was anyone’s guess.

“John!” No answer. A pause, a more insistent call of his name. A pillow thudded against the floor next to him.

The man-shaped lump under the sheet moved, a slow push to its elbows before the thin fabric slipped over his head. A very disheveled John did finally emerge from his napping spot in the middle of your living room. Blinking against the too bright afternoon sun that crept through a crack in the blinds.

“Did you throw a pillow at me?” He poked the offending cushion

“You weren’t getting up.” You said it with as straight of a face as you could manage. “And I am going to let you go back to sleep right away.”

“Did you have to wake me up then?” He flopped back onto the makeshift floor bed.

“I wanted to let you know not to worry if you wake up and I’m out. I want to get a run in before you actually get up for the night.”

“Another one? You went pretty hard yesterday didn’t you?”

You could feel his eyes on you more than you could see him at this angle. You knew the look by now, the doctor look, the kind he saved for when he knew you were certainly not going to listen to him about this.

“I wanted to take advantage of the nice weather.” You were digging for your headphones now, brow furrowed.

“Don’t overdo it, easy does it you know?” Sleep was creeping back into his tone now.

“I’ll be good. I’ll see you when I’m home.” And with a quite click of the lock you left him to sleep

The problem was that you absolutely pushed yourself harder than you meant to. A familiar burning in your calf as you struggled up the steps was more than enough proof of that. The hiss of pain as you crossed the threshold also caught John’s attention immediately. Of course he was awake earlier than you hoped.

“You over did it, didn’t you?” There was that look you were expecting, not so much as I told you so but the idea that he really wanted to tell you he told you so.

“A little.” You winced again as you pushed the door shut. “Went further than I probably should have.”

A chair was dragged over and you were ushered to sit while he helped pull shoes off sore feet. You were close enough to see his jaw clench every time he saw you wince. That combined with the uncomfortable silence felt like more of a punishment than the actual pain.

When your shoes had been successfully removed he offered help in getting you into the shower and to take a look at what was hurting. It was in fact handy sometimes to have a doctor on hand to help diagnose things like this, it probably saved a fortune. Though it was a little more stressful when your doctor clearly wasn’t a fan of seeing how much something hurt when he tested it.

Still John was certain it was only a pulled muscle and nothing that would need anything serious, rest was most important right now and he was more than happy to get you set up for a lazy night together.

Satisfied with your ability to at least shower alone John only lingered for a moment before slipping out of the bathroom to leave you to shower in peace, confident enough that he would hear you if you needed him. And most importantly it gave him time to finish making himself a coffee for the night while you got cleaned up.

Once you were showered and dressed, a much less tense John helped you get settled on the couch, letting your legs rest properly with ice packs and proper elevation. It meant that you were taking up the full couch but he was a grown man who had just spent the better part of six hours sleeping on the floor.

“There, settled.” He muttered, more to himself than to you before making his way back out of sight and further into the apartment, soft footsteps padding over carpet out of sight. Before you could adjust enough to see what he was doing he had returned with a bottle of water and pain medication from the cabinet.

John slid easily down onto the floor beside you, warm eyes meeting your own as a hand settled on your arm. His expression was still a little serious as he scanned your features. When he seemed satisfied he settled, leaning more against the couch and began idly flicking through the streaming apps on the TV.

“What do you feel like? Nothing too Sci-Fi tonight, I get enough of that at work right now and I am happy to live in the distant past.” John’s head tilted back further to better meet your eyes.

“No robots.” You half laughed, mock shock on your expression.

“Zero robots. For now, I’ll get back to them soon enough, don't you worry about that.” The familiar warm smile had slid back across his features.

Scrolling through the apps it became clear that he was really letting you have your pick of shows this time, every suggestion was met with a sincere glance back and if you didn’t offer your legitimate enthusiasm he was moving on.

It led to you both agreeing on an old classic that he was outraged that you somehow hadn’t seen. Which wasn’t fair comparatively since you couldn’t be outraged about new movies he had missed since he would just fall back onto the doctor excuse. Or the night shift excuse, whatever made more sense really.

It was nice, his arm resting gently alongside your leg or reaching back for your hand when it was buried in his hair. The occasional kisses pressed into the back of your hand or along your wrist. The gentle familiarity of his presence was grounding, familiar and as warm as ever. It felt as normal as it always did when he had an off day and could actually spend part of his night with you.

Eventually, sometime after food had been ordered and the movie was finished passed the remote to you and agreed to sit with you through an episode or two of your newest obsession that you had been begging him to watch with you. If it wasn’t for the discomfort it would have almost been worth the injury to wind up here being papered by your hot doctor boyfriend.

Throughout the night John had been getting up to pull the ice pack and throw it back into the freezer, occasionally getting a new dry towel to use as padding for it as well. Each time he got up to change the pack he would kiss you.

On the temple, the top of your head, your cheeks, but mostly a fleeting peck on the lips. Always with that same happy go lucky smirk on his face when he stepped back into the dark of the apartment usually followed by a demand to pause the show for him.

Once it was decided that you, at least, should get to bed soon he was stretching before reaching down once again for a kiss. This time you pulled him in closer, forcing him to brace more steadily against the couch behind you.

Hands gripping his shirt collar to pull him in, to demand more than another fleeting moment. Something he happily obliged as his free hand reached to gently tilt your head back, giving him much better access for a real kiss. Lips parting to let him in and a chuckle in response.

Breaking away from the kiss, foreheads pressed together you murmured “I really should thank you for the excellent care doctor Shen.”

“That sounds exactly like the opposite of what you should be doing tonight.” He sighed, pressing another kiss to your cheek. “But I will happily take a raincheck.”