these gothic horrors

Gus’s impatient streak causes him to want to interrupt Jory multiple times but he fights the urge.  The more the other man speaks the less Gus is inclined to interrupt him and he’s reminded of just how comfortable he is around him.  It’s a comfort and a normalcy that can only come with knowing each other for as long as they have.  He listens intently to Jory’s words and really sits with them.  He can understand where he’s knowing from– how he feels there are two parts of him and he isn’t sure what is real.  Gus’s career is being built on playing a caricature of himself.  Every time he’s on stage he feels like another person.  

Jory was right though.  Gus fell in love with him off stage.  He saw the prince and the adventurer in him even when there was no beautiful backing track.  To Gus he was all those things all the time.  Gus nods, “I fell for you off stage.  I love your stubborn streak, and your ambition, and even the way your nose scrunches when you’re confused in the moment.  The tell tale sign you’re thinking too hard,” Gus laughs trying to push back any lingering tears so he could get his words out.  

He listens as Jory quells the fears he’d been carrying about why they wouldn’t work romantically.  Sure, ruining their friendship was at the top of the list but Gus truly did worry he wouldn’t be able to make him happy as a boyfriend.  Until right now when they’re forced to put all the cards on the table… again.  For the first time in a long time Gus is rendered speechless and instead acts on instinct, he closes the gap between them and presses their lips together in a kiss that Gus had only dreamt of.  His hands finds the back of Jory’s neck delicately letting his finger run through the edges of his hair, and as he pulls back he can feel his cheeks blush.  Gus’s heart is racing as they break the kiss and Gus rests his forehead again Jory’s just living in this moment knowing there’s no turning back this time.  

“I want to figure this out.  For real.  It’s supposed to be you and me, J.  I was gonna come in here tonight and tell you that, but saw Melodie and thought maybe I lost my chance.”  

Jory blushes at the admission and the gentle compliments and observations He is taken off guard by the kiss but immediately finds himself melting into it. His fingers knot into Gus’s hair as they kiss, just the way he always wanted. He had dreamed of curling his fingers into Gus’s hair while they kissed for so long, It was even better than he imagined. The feeling that he could just sink into it and it’d be okay, that he was safe to do so.

When Gus pulls away Jory almost chases after his lips before nuzzling his face against Gus’s as the other male rests his forehead against his. He presses his body close to Gus’s holding him ins his arms.

He’s known it deep down that Gus is right, that it’s supposed to be him and Gus, together. He’s just been afraid to push. Jory cups Gus’s cheek in his hand and strokes it gently with his thumb and whispers, “Never. You’re...You’re just it Gus. It could never be too late, not for you. I want this, with you.”

oliver was stressing, he was worried that he’d fuck up and say the wrong thing, he was worried that he real would loose her this time. he couldn’t go through it again, his heart couldn’t take it. he was still running through his speech as he enters the cafe, he sees her wtih jory and he can’t help but smile, they both look so cute together. jory seemed like such a sweet kid, oliver wondered about his father, who was he? he was a lucky man, that could’ve been oliver, if only he hadn’t copped out and ran away.

he smiles back at her, still feeling nervous, “yep! i’ve been doing it for a few years now” he tells her. “could i just get a black coffee. thanks” oliver pulls out his phone, paying for the drinks, hoping that would help things. popping his phone away, he looks at the other two, “i was an intern and i had my own little segment on the show, they liked it so much that when the previous presenter stepped down, they gave it to me” he shrugs, he knew that he was starting to ramble, but he hoped that she was interested

cathy nods listening as she rubs jory’s back gently and says, “i heard it a few times. it wasn’t awful,” she teases slightly kissing jory’s temple with a grin. “my husband was a big fan though,” she admits. “he’d always turn you on when we we’re driving somewhere. kind of annoying,” she jokes. cathy takes her coffee and takes a sip as they get a table and she begins to break up the madeline to feed pieces of the soft cookie to jory.

toby had been quite upset about the prospect of not seeing chris again, atticus had tried to talk to him about it, but the little boy had just stomped off, not saying a word to his mother. “you will? when i grow up, i wanna make people healthy, like you do” he says, toby’s favourite thing at the moment was doctors, atticus thought that was because of chris and what he did for work, she thought it was cute.

“why have you got the same name?” toby asks curiously, of course he was still young, so his mouth had no filter. “it’s a nice name” he carries on, smiling big up at the male. atticus was glad to see the two of them getting on, as if nothing had happened. she smiles back at him, as chris picks him up toby begins to giggle, “yeah! i wanna be like the hulk!”.

chris nods and then says, “yeah. i always wanted to be a doctor too. i don’t think i ever wanted to be anything else. though there was a time when i wasn’t quite sure i’d get the chance to be a doctor, it’s quite hard, and i thought maybe i’d become a trapeze artist, like at a circus,” he laughs. it was a memory tainted with less than cheerful feelings, but it was kind of funny to think about. sure it’d been something that he would have been because he had no other choice but to make money had they not found doctor paul when his siblings and him escaped. it was ridiculous still to think of him and cathy actually going to work for a circus down in Florida as trapeze artists cause they had practiced swinging from the rafters of the attic. cathy might have been able to do it, but imagining himself doing it for real was laughable.

chris thinks about this and says, “i don’t know. i guess some dad’s like to name their sons after themselves, carry on the name. or maybe my mom wanted to name me after someone she loved and she loved him. i guess i looked like him even then too, so it was fitting.” he seemed to look more like his father every day. he remembers the way cathy looked stricken when she saw him for the first time in a long while. ‘god, christopher, it hurts to even look at you right now. you look so much like daddy,’ she’d said in obvious shock

“alright, doctor toby the hulk,” chris laughs and places the little boy in front of the sandwich before sitting down beside him and giving a ruffle of toby’s hair and gente smile towards atticus. 

“keep it.” manny stated. “like i said, i have so many pictures.” manny could say she took after her mom when it came to constantly having so many pictures of her kid. she couldn’t help that she was obsessed with noel and wanted to document as much as she could. “also the advancement of technology made it where i can save it on a cloud, whatever that means.” the woman shook her head. “and before you say anything, i am absolutely sure you can keep it. i’m sure you probably have a lot of questions to ask in regards to noel. he’s a good kid. i don’t think i could ask for anyone better.”

"thanks,” luke says and tucks the photo into his wallet carefully. he smiles a bit and says, “yeah, well you know me and technology, never been close friends. one thing about prison was i had more access to it than i ever had in my life.” he looks over at noel and says, “i can already see that. like i said, you’ve done a good job manny. i though about you both a lot the past three years. i really did get out and tried to get myself right as quick as i could so i could be worthy of being in his life.”

oliver was glad that she’d agreed to go to the coffee shop with him, he’d got it all planned out in his head, he knew exactly what he was going to say. of course oliver was going to start with sorry, he couldn’t say it enough. he still felt bad about what he did, even after all this time. oliver was glad that he had a second chance though, this time round he was going to try his hardest to make things work.

he finished up with his shopping, it didn’t take him that long, he was almost done when he bumped into her in the first place. oliver made a mental note to not buy any perishable food, as he had a feeling they’d be in that coffee shop for awhile. he got his shopping and dumped it into the boot of his car. he dropped his mother a text, telling her he’d be back in a little while. and he made his way over to the coffee shop.

he enters, now feeling all kinds of nervous, his mind going through the plan. but it all felt a little forced, it didn’t feel natural. god, he hated this, if only he’d been a good boyfriend in the first place and they wouldn’t be here. he spots cathy and jory, he makes his way over to them a smile stuck on his lips.

cathy decides sometime on the walk there that she’ll try to play nice. she often doesn’t, being nice is her brother chris’s thing. cathy is built of vengeance and anger and never forgiving. but perhaps becoming a mother has softened her a bit, her sole focus becoming jory and his happiness. it seemed more that it wasn’t so much becoming a mother that had softened her, but being jory’s mother. while carrying him she felt the anger and desire from revenge seep out of her slowly, and while she would never forgive her mother she was no longer so determined to destroy her. jory was so sweet and loved absolutely everyone, he reminded her of chris with his patience, but more than anything he reminded her of her brother cory with his quiet sweetness. so in some ways she tried to be more like them, though it certainly wasn’t easy.

when oliver entered she smiles softly and gets in line to order with him holding jory on her hip. she sighs and says, “so you’re a radio host now.” she states it like a fact and shifts on her feet to soothe jory with movement. “just regular latte with three sugars and a madeleine, thanks” cathy orders from the person behind the counter.

toby was very excited to show off his new teddy, “uh - huh. he was a treat, for doing well at school” he tells the male, as he brings the soft toy to him. “really? you should come round more often, i’m sure mummy wouldn’t mind” toby would love to see chris more often, he couldn’t quite grasp why he’d stopped coming round recently. he holds out the teddy towards chris and smiles proudly, “his name is chris”.

atticus finishes up with toby’s lunch, making her way back into the living room with it, a smile coming across her lips at the scene in front of her. “tobes, i’ve got a sandwhich here for you” she says, “it’s your favourite”.

chris smiled at toby and said, “we’ll talk about it. i’ve just been a little busy at the hospital. lots of people to take care of make sure they’re as happy and healthy as you.” he’d never let any of the blame rest on atticus, he knew how important a boys relationship with their mother could be. he knew how he used to worship his mother, thought she could do no wrong, he was the reason him and his siblings had stayed in their terrible position for so long, cause he wanted to believe the best in her, he still blamed himself over that, had he given up on her sooner maybe his little brother would still be alive. he still struggled to hate her, a mother who he loved so much even though she’d hurt him in worst possible ways. regardless he’d always protect that relationship between toby and his own mother at his own expense.

chris smiled at the teddy’s name and said, “chris huh? quite a name. you know my father’s name was chris too? it’s quite the name to live up to chris the bear,” he tells him. when atticus calls to toby, chris turns and smiles at her gently before picking up toby. “come on tobes, it’s lunchtime, you gotta stay big and strong right?” he asks bouncing the little boy in his arms.

Ford couldn’t help the small chuckle that surpassed his lips in response to Jory’s words about the pity glass of wine. “I don’t blame you for keeping the wine to yourself. I most likely would have done the same thing,” he stated as he ran his fingers through his hair before hearing his stomach growl slightly. “I will definitely share that crab cake after my shower though,” the male said as he peered at the other male. Ford hadn’t eaten since his lunch time about eight hours ago, so he was pretty hungry, to say the least. “I will take a quick shower, and then we can eat,” he explained as he smiled over at him before making his way to the bedroom where the master bathroom was located. The homme was looking forward to taking a hot shower to ease his muscles as the shift he had just finished was a bit strenuous and was needing to loosen up a bit. Ford took a quick shower and changed into some boxers and pajama pants before making his way back to the kitchen. “And I’m back,” he exclaimed with a smile.

looking as far ahead as marriage seems like a lot  —  oskar wouldn’t say he was the type of have such blind faith that he’d believe all his relationships would live forever. he knew sometimes people grew apart or things got in the way and that was simply life. he didn’t like to think things had an expiry date from the get-go, though. the thought of dating jory seriously for it to fizzle out in a few months time when the other male couldn’t put the time into him that he needed wasn’t a thought that settled well. he didn’t want to feel like a burden to his own relationship. it was the kind of thing that would perhaps make the both of them resentful and that was the last thing he wanted to come out of this. he stayed relatively quiet, taking in jory’s words and trying to order things in his own mind. “well…” he murmurs, pursing his lips slightly. he tucks his hands into his pockets, trying to figure out the most sensitive way in putting it all. “if you want me and i want you, and we both want this to work then  — i don’t see what’s stopping us trying. i’m not expecting things to run perfectly, they never do. it’s how relationships are, there’s no one to blame for it if we both try.”

jory laid across dante’s bed sideways his fingers thumbing through the flashcards he’d been given. he’d been told in no uncertain terms that he was to do nothing but quiz dante for the upcoming test, no other chatter, nothing. but jory was used to ground rules with dante and found them somewhat amusing, mostly because jory had a habit of breaking them and just smiling as dante yells at him.

he grins slightly as he peers over the cards at dante and says, “you ready cause you know apart from being an excellent dancing partner my other expertise is as a study partner. i’m an excellent quizzer,” jory grins.