A/N: So sorry everyone, this is pretty late! Just getting used to the new updating schedule, as those who follow me will know that since school has started I'll be updating every three days from now on!
---------------------------
They stepped into the warmth of Lucas' hallway, and Damien relaxed. He'd been tense on the walk over, Lucas had felt it, but he'd kept his fingers intertwined with Lucas' the entire way there, protected by the night sky above.
"Shit, Lucas, your house is nice." Damien said, turning in a slow circle to take in the carpeted hallway, the paintings hanging on the wall, the long mirror running down the wall towards the kitchen above a table that held a potted orchid, his mother's favourite. "You didn't mention you were rich."
"We're comfortable." Lucas said, slipping off his shoes at the door.
"That's what rich people say." Damien followed suit, kicking his own shoes off. "Not like I'm complaining, though. You can buy me lots of nice things." He was teasing, obviously, though he made a pretty good attempt at giving Lucas puppy dog eyes.
Lucas groaned, but he was grinning. "I'm just an ATM to you, am I?"
Damien came up behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist. "Well, maybe a little more than that." He leaned down, voice almost a whisper, and unconsciously Lucas found himself leaning into him, smiling as Damien moved in to kiss him.
"What the fuck."
Mark stood frozen in the hallway, half-eaten apple in hand, looking at the pair of them.
"Hi, Marcus." Damien didn't make a move to pull away, raising a hand to wave at Mark.
"You've got to be kidding me." Mark muttered, looking to Lucas for answers.
Lucas could only offer an apologetic shrug, though he did pull himself away from Damien. "He's staying the night."
"Seriously? He's in my house now, too? Lucas, we really need to have a talk about your, like, taste. He's so annoying, why does he have to come here?"
"I'm standing right here, y'know." Damien said, raising an eyebrow at Mark. "And I've got to say, you're not being a very good host right now. So rude."
"Oh, shut up." Mark snapped.
"Both of you, stop it." Lucas cut in, rubbing his temples. If he had to deal with this bickering every single time they were in the same room, he'd lose his mind. "Damien is staying the night. That's non-negotiable. It's been a really long evening, and I really don't want to deal with your whining. Please, Mark, just leave it."
Mark took a particularly savage bite of his apple, but conceded, disappearing up the stairs to his room. Damien looked very smug as he watched him go, until Lucas turned to face him.
"And try to be a little nicer to him. Or at least don't be such a dick."
"I'm not being a dick." Damien protested, the picture of innocence. "He isn't a very good host, I mean, really—"
"Damien."
Damien sighed dramatically. "Fine, fine. I personally think I'm being very funny, but I guess, if you really want me to, I'll stop."
"It'd just be easier if you got along with each other. I want to have you over all the time," Damien looked pleased, "and I don't want to have to deal with a pair of toddlers." Damien's smile turned into a pout, almost proving Lucas' point.
"Alright, only because it's important to you. I still think he's a bit full of himself."
"Pot, meet kettle." And before Damien could object, Lucas took his hand and pulled him towards the stairs.
Unfortunately, his dad chose that exact moment to step out of the kitchen, still wearing dishwashing gloves. It'd been his turn to wash up that night.
"Lucas, we didn't know if you'd be home for dinner so we saved you some..." He trailed off, glancing from Lucas, to Damien, to their clasped hands. "Oh. I, uh. Oh."
"Hello, sir." Damien said, and Lucas was so surprised at Damien's formality that he dropped his hand. With his now-free hand, Damien reached out for a handshake.
While he still looked a little stunned, Lucas' father shook Damien's hand slowly. "Hello...you? Please, call me Scott."
"I'm Damien." Damien smiled, his charming, toothpaste-commercial smile, the kind that'd make you believe he was the nicest young man you'd ever meet. Lucas almost laughed. "Lucas' boyfriend."
"Boyfriend." Lucas' father was still nodding. "One second, let me just get Lucas' mother."
Lucas glanced to Damien, worried. He was probably tired, and had just had a really awful conversation, the last thing he needed was his parents trying to talk to him. Awkwardness ran in the family. "Dad, not right—"
"It's fine." Damien murmured, still smiling. "I want to meet them."
"Honey?" His father called over his shoulder. "Honey, Lucas' boyfriend is in the living room."
Lucas fought the urge to roll his eyes. He could hear quick footsteps approaching the kitchen, and in mere seconds, his mother had appeared, looking slightly dishevelled. She shook Damien's hand.
"Hello, hello!" She said brightly. "I'm Michelle, this is Scott, and we're so happy to have you here. Please, sit down, we can get you a drink. Soda water? Juice, maybe? Do we have any more of that nice cordial, the elderflower one?"
"Mom." Lucas said firmly, trying to cut this off before she overdid it. Her enthusiasm was well meant, but he knew that despite the face he was putting on, Damien was a little emotionally exhausted. "Tomorrow, okay? It's been a long day."
She stopped short, and even though she so clearly wanted to say more, she closed her mouth. "Oh, alright. Tomorrow, you two. We'll have coffee. Do you drink coffee?"
Damien nodded. "Yep."
"Wonderful. Brilliant. Amazing."
"Mom."
"Right, sorry. I'm just so excited. You've got a boyfriend. We didn't think that'd happen until...well, not for a while at least. But look at you!"
It was a little embarrassing, how excited they were. Surely it wasn't that surprising he had a boyfriend. And right in front of Damien, too.
Thankfully, Damien seemed to find amusing. "Well, it's nice to meet you." He said, and Lucas was relieved that he was good at this. His parents, too, seemed pleased, were nodding eagerly.
"Have fun, you two."
"But not too much fun." His mother added.
"Yes, we should probably discuss this. Maybe you should keep the door open? I'm sure there are some sort of rules parents have, maybe we need to establish some sort of guideline..."
Lucas could've disappeared right then and there. "Thank you." He said, and before they could embarrass him any further, he grabbed Damien by the arm and did his best to drag him up the stairs towards his room.
As soon as they were inside he shut the door behind them, pushing up his glasses to rub his eyes.
"Sorry, I didn't think they'd be that bad." He muttered. 'Not too much fun', why on earth had said that?
"I think it was sort of nice." Damien said, watching the closed door. "They seemed surprised."
"I know. Is it really so shocking that I'd have a boyfriend?"
"Yeah, because you're way out of my league. C'mon, tesoro. It was sweet. You worry too much."
"You don't worry enough." Lucas responded.
"Tragic, isn't it?" Damien said, sounding completely unperturbed as he collapsed down onto Lucas' bed. Just making himself at home, sprawled across his covers. "Well, I've always got you to worry for me."
"Assuming I worry about you." Lucas said, leaning against his desk.
There was something nice about just being able to look at Damien. Look at him as he laughed, head tilted back, eyes crinkling at the corners spread out across his blue bedsheets. Lucas knew he wasn't very funny, but he resolved to get better at it, if only he could make Damien laugh like that more often. There'd be some way you could study it. There always was.
"I'm optimistic, then." Damien reached out, beckoning Lucas over. "C'mon."
Lucas was more than happy to oblige, settling down beside Damien, who pulled him to his chest, wrapping an arm around his waist.
"I do worry about you, though." Lucas said, once he'd gotten comfortable. His head was tucked under Damien's chin, curled up against the length of his body. He worried about everyone he cared about.
He worried about Alex, and whether her show would go well, and how theatre was such a tough industry to succeed in but it was the perfect job for her, about Mona and how hard she worked herself, about how she'd make friends if he and Alex weren't around, about Mark and football scholarships and a career if it didn't work out for him and everything. And now Damien, because God knows he did enough stupid things for Lucas to worry about. Like that night, for example. It was okay now, because Damien was warm, and holding him close, and seemed to be feeling a little better, but Lucas had been scared. Mona had spoken to him once, about the theory of infinite parallel universes. For every choice you made there was another you, in another universe, who chose the other option. Creating universe upon universe like splitting the branches of some great, cosmic tree. Or something like that. Mona had understood it better. Lucas had understood just enough to wonder if somewhere, somehow, here was an alternate universe where he'd let Damien get on the bike.
He didn't want to think about what would've happened in that universe.
"Do you want to talk about it? We can. I can listen, or offer advice, or we can come up with a plan...?"
It was silent. He wondered if Damien had fallen asleep.
"Is it okay if we don't talk about it?" He said, finally, and even though his tone was level and even there was something behind it that told Lucas he shouldn't press any further. "Not really in the mood."
"That's completely fine." Lucas said, trying to be as reassuring as he could. It was always so difficult to say the right thing in this situation, and although Alex would've said that there was no 'right answer' in a conversation, he knew there absolutely was. And chances are he'd get it wrong. "Want to watch a movie?"
Damien did want to watch a movie, though apparently not badly enough that he'd let go of Lucas when he tried to get up to get his laptop. Which lead to a ten minute struggle, in which Lucas had to physically roll himself out of bed and hit the floor with a thud, which made Damien laugh hard enough that he let go of his arm, which meant Lucas could finally get his laptop.
"Do you just like causing problems on purpose? Is that it?" Lucas griped as he settled back down beside him, opening up Netflix.
"Only for you, tesoro." Damien kissed him on the cheek, then just under his jaw, then down his neck.
"You're making it very hard to look for a movie, you know." Lucas said, though he tilted his head to one side to give Damien more room.
"Damn. What a shame." He didn't sound too concerned.
Probably because he was more focused on sucking another mark into Lucas' skin. Lucas' breath caught at the graze of teeth, fingers unsteady on the keyboard, and he could feel the ghost of Damien's laugh on his neck.
"Your hands are shaking."
"Well observed." Lucas muttered, and when Damien bit he let out a sort of squeak that he immediately regretted, because he could feel Damien's smile on his neck. "That's going to bruise."
"I know."
"That's the point?"
"So clever, Lucas."
And it wasn't like Lucas really minded. In fact, he didn't mind at all. The other ones had faded, but there was something undeniably nice about looking at himself, in the bathroom mirror in the morning or after a shower, and remembering Damien's lips on his skin. Lucas had just been about to suggest they forgo the movie altogether when Damien lifted his head
"Is that Legally Blonde in your 'Watch Again' section?"
Lucas paused. He had nothing to hide. "Is that a problem?"
Damien looked like he was trying not to laugh. "Nope. No way. Just...not very surprising."
"It's a good movie!" Lucas protested, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's about defying stereotypes, especially misogynist ones. And even though she originally only decides to go because of a boy, she's smart and she works hard and by the end of the film she's an amazing lawyer. So yes, I like a movie where the protagonist works hard to get into a law school, finds friends and a really good boyfriend who respects her for who she is even though people refuse to take her seriously because she's not 'conventionally academic', because..." He realised he'd been talking for what was probably a little too long. "...it's just a good movie."
Damien was resting his head on Lucas' shoulder, looking up at him. "Come on, keep going. I'm sure you've got a whole essay prepared."
"I do. Legally Blonde is inspirational."
"Wouldn't know, I've never seen it."
Lucas was genuinely a little horrified. "That's it. We're watching it. It's my duty as your boyfriend to educate you on this masterpiece."
"I don't know if I want to watch a lawyer mov—"
"Shut up. We're watching it. And it's so much more than a lawyer movie, it's—"
"About defying misogynist stereotypes."
"And so much more."
"Lucas, it's a chick flick, how much—"
"Shush. It's starting."
Despite his complaints, Damien fell silent as the opening credits began. It didn't last for long: he had a comment on everything, from the way Warner looked ("not hot enough to treat Elle like that") to the Bend and Snap ("y'know, Lucas, maybe if you'd tried this at the start we might've gotten together a little earlier", at which point Lucas put a hand over his mouth to shut him up).
Even though Lucas had seen it countless times, he was so engrossed in the movie that he only noticed Damien had fallen asleep when the credits rolled. But there he was, fast asleep, head on his shoulder and an arm thrown loosely over his chest. His breathing was steady and even, dark lashes fanned out against his cheeks. He looked so peaceful Lucas didn't dare move too suddenly, lest he wake him and ruin it. As slowly as he could, Lucas closed the laptop and placed it on the floor beside them. He would've liked to have gotten changed before bed, but that would've meant waking Damien, so instead he shimmied his jeans off as carefully as he could and kicked them away. A T-shirt and boxers was good enough, anyway. He fell asleep in minutes, Damien wrapped around him, warm and solid against his side.