The Great Suburban Showdown

The Morning After.

The sharp blare of a constant ringing was what woke up the two men who were tucked uncomfortably on the couch. Obi-Wan's face was pressed into one of the back cushions and the fabric nubbles pressed onto his cheek. It made his skin itch though that wasn't the annoying thing he was focused on at the moment. As life came more into focus from the bleary daze of just waking up, he realized quite quickly that the ringing was Anakin's cell phone. Speaking of... the man was laid across Obi-Wan's lap and attempting to fight out of his half-awake state.

Obi-Wan fluttered his eyelashes to feign innocence before slowly rolling Anakin off his lap and right onto the floor. The taller man literally flopped onto the carpet and promptly started to wake up. Moaning all the way up, he rose to a sitting position where Obi-Wan gently rubbed his hand through his hair. "Your phone's been going." He smiled sweetly before kissing the boy's cheek and then slapping it gently. "Go on."

Anakin made a sound of displeasure before shaking out of Obi-Wan's light grip. He stood from the floor and strolled over to the last place he'd thrown the thing. He grabbed his cell phone just as it began to ring again.

Obi-Wan shook some of his sleepy state off which came with waves of memory from the past day. He slouched in a way that irritated his back but that slight pain was nothing compared with the awful feeling of guilt he was hit with. The morning sun was tracing the edge of his coffee table in gold and highlighted his own phone. He made a reach for it but before he could really go all for it, Anakin swiped it as he came round during his nervous pacing and handed it to him. He'd almost forgotten to listen in on Anakin's seemingly urgent phone-call. But with one look at the man's face he knew it was not going well.

All Obi-Wan wanted to do was comfort the man, make him coffee and tell him everything would be alright. But he couldn't do that and he shouldn't. Not only did he already have a problem with coddling Anakin but it was not wise to make promises to Anakin that he wasn't sure would go exactly the way the man wanted. Obi-Wan had faith, he always did, that this would not be the end of the world for them. But there was no doubt that with a mess like the one they'd made it would put a hard strain within their relationships.

The red-headed man blinked as the cushion next to him sunk with the body-weight he knew oh so well. Anakin carelessly plopped his phone onto the hard table and looked to his partner with wide eyes that read of dueling stress. "Padmé wants me to come over later today to...explain everything to the kids." Anakin looked as if the sentence alone had pained him. He even winced a little. He figured it was the use of the phrase 'come over' in reference to his own home.

Obi-Wan glanced outside where the end of summer was bleeding into a cool autumn. Colors were beginning to darken and the skies would soon be gray. The leaves gathered 'round the trees just like his memories gathered round Anakin and how this was the season he'd first realized he loved him. It felt like ages ago now. He blinked a few times and put on a reassuring look for the man he loved. "Well, that's something. I honestly wouldn't blame her if the chain was on her door but...Padmé's always been a great person." Greater than we deserve. Obi-Wan looked off, unintentionally reminding himself and Anakin of the issue at hand.

Anakin's eyes turned wider and filled with worry. "She wants me to come alone...but I don't um..." He licked his lips and paused which offered Obi-Wan the best opportunity to interrupt.

"You do understand that I can not come with you, don't you?" He tilted his chin down a little and his brow raised as if to counter it. Anakin was fighting the urge to roll his eyes like some pouting child. He desperately wanted to fight the other man on this but he risked making a fool of himself which he hated more than anything and Obi-Wan knew that.