Kiss It Better [MxM]

Different Lives Lived

Late Sunday afternoon, Inho was deeply relieved to see his dad off. On top of his pushing about school, his dad's constantly bubbly nature was grating, and Inho missed Stephen.

He'd had to dodge around who had helped him pay for the hospital bills and cared for him, and Inho wasn't a good liar. It had made his heart beat fast every time it came up. He managed to avoid slipping though, and although he should've probably told his dad about Jamie...he just didn't feel up to the emotional fallout of walking through it all. He also didn't want to see his dad's disappointed puppy dog eyes when grandkids got pushed even further out.

Alone at last, he texted Stephen that he could come over, and flopped on his bed for a small nap to reset before he arrived.

An hour later, he gasped awake with a panicked yelp as something tickled the side of his neck.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Stephen asked from behind him, where he'd snuggled up to his back.

"I thought you were ants," Inho muttered, scrubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands.

"You thought what?" Stephen chirped back, bemused.

"There are ants in the kitchen for some reason. I keep finding them on me, I'm all jumpy."

"Ants? That's disgusting."

Inho sat up, still rubbing his face, "I don't mind the ants so much. It's the cockroaches in the bathroom that get me."

Stephen pulled a repulsed face, "Cockroaches? What is this, a third world country?"

"Pffft, don't overreact. There's cockroaches everywhere here, I asked Jasmine."

"That's so unsanitary! You should move."

Inho lowered his hands to stare at him, "Are you kidding? Why would I move over that? I love this place."

"What if there are rodents too? The building must be poorly managed."

"It's barely managed at all. I'll get traps, relax," Inho shook his head, "People don't just move over stuff like that. Do you know how much it would cost to break a lease?"

Stephen shrugged, "If you needed money to move, I could–"

Inho clapped a hand over Stephen's mouth, "Nope. Not this again, and I've got money for you for the hospital too."

Stephen nipped his finger, and Inho moved his hand so he could speak, "You can pay me when you get reimbursed by your insurance."

"Juuuuust take it. Let's not get into it again."

"Fine, but I don't know why you make it such a big deal. You can rely on me."

Inho frowned. Stephen was normally so smart, but he was oddly oblivious about this.

"It's not about relying on you. It makes me uncomfortable."

"Because you're broke?"

"Yes. That's part of it, but also, nobody likes to feel like a burden. Or like, you own me now."

Stephen was frowning now too, "That's a little dramatic."

Before Inho could respond his phone started ringing, "Hang on, it's my bike job."

"Alright, I'll go make some tea," Stephen said, then went to rummage in the kitchen cupboards, cautious of ants.

Inho had a short talk with the owner of the bike courier service he worked for, and hung up to stare at the wall in disbelief.

After a few minutes, Stephen came back in with two mugs of tea.

"What happened? Why are you upset?"

"Oh, I, uh, just got fired. They told me not to come in tomorrow...Not that I could anyway."

"What? They can't do that when you're injured. That's illegal," Stephen carefully walked over with the hot cups and put them on the side table.

"Yeah...they said I stole something," Inho flicked his eyes at Stephen, then away, he felt unfairly ashamed at the accusation.

"What?!"

"I–I, I didn't," Inho continued.

"Obviously." Stephen's confident answer made his tension melt just a little, and Inho looked up at him.

"They said they had proof that I stole a package, but that they wouldn't press charges since I'm not coming back anyway."

"That's ridiculous, they can't do that!" Stephen was outraged, "They just don't want to give you sick pay, those scummy bastards."

Inho pulled his knees up and hugged his legs to himself, "Well, they just did it." He put his face down on top, "Why can't I ever catch a break?" he asked his knees and the universe.

"Hey, hey, it's going to be alright," Stephen sat by him and rubbed his back, "What they did is against labor laws. You can fight this, you just need to talk to a lawyer. Come on, I'll help you, don't cry."

Inho lifted his face, "I'm not crying," he said flatly, "And I obviously can't afford a lawyer. Do you even think before you speak? Most people don't have money to fight things like this. They just have to accept it, and move on." He flopped over onto his side so he wouldn't have to look at Stephen. He was definitely taking his anger out on him now, but also...what the fuck?

Stephen hesitated, then softly snuggled up to him, "I'm sorry," he said quietly, "You must be stressed. It's been a lot lately."

Inho's anger faded. Stephen didn't deserve his anger any more than his dad did. He was just feeling sensitive and misunderstood.

Inho rolled over, and burrowed his head under Stephen's chin, "I'm sorry too, I didn't mean it like that. I'm grumpy and ... we're just in such different places. It feels like you just don't get how I'm feeling at all."

"You could explain it to me?"

Inho sighed, he could feel Stephen's heartbeat against his cheek, slow and steady. If he wanted things to work with Stephen he'd have to be more patient...and mature.

"I'll try," he mumbled, then blew a small petulant raspberry on Stephen's collarbone instead.

~~

Stephen, you dummy, you can't buy love.

Anyone seeing any hypocrisy in this chapter? Please vote and tell me what you think, Freshwater Otters!

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