wl_fanfiction | Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Chap 16/18

Chapter 16

That Sunday, Colin made good on his panted promise and cooked up a storm. He would have liked to have said it was because he was good at it, or that he just really wanted to spoil Ryan but the truth of the matter was that he was nervous. Which in turn made him a little manic… so instead of three types of canapés, he’d made twelve. He’d also made an amuse bouche, two starters, two choices of main course, dessert and if he could, he would have grown the beans for the coffee himself too…

Ryan had watched it all with a quietly amused smile on his face. He’d offered to help out but when he’d seen the look of horror crossing Colin’s face, he’d shrugged his shoulders and sat back down again. “We’re not entertaining royalty you know?”

“I know…”

“So why are you running around like a frog in a blender?”

That had earned him a raised eyebrow from Colin. “Excuse me?”

“Well, look at you,” he waved his arms towards Colin, “you’re all over the place. We could feed a small third world nation from all the food you’ve prepared,”

Colin sighed, “ I know, I know… it’s just… it’s a big thing you know… and I suppose I’m just a little nervous about it. What if they still don’t like me?”

“I thought we’d discussed this already?”

“We didn’t actually, you just told me to trust you and then er…” he grinned a little at the memory, “you convinced me…”

“Come on Col, what do you want me to say? I love you, if they don’t like you, fuck ‘m I don’t need them.”

“But…”

“No… no buts… If they behave like assholes towards you, I’ll throw ‘m out myself… should that sauce be smoking like that?” And with that, their conversation on the matter had ended and Colin had gone back to focusing on the task in hand.

Their guests were expected at 7 that night and while Colin had been in the kitchen, Ryan had been working his magic around their flat. That was one thing about living with a janitor, Colin never had to worry about cleaning… Ryan was almost obsessive about it…

Colin was in the bedroom, pulling on a black button-down shirt when he heard the doorbell. He took a deep breath and wiped his suddenly sweaty palms. Time to face the music… He just hoped the evening wouldn’t be a total disaster.

He walked back into the living room just as he heard Wayne say, “Man, something smells good!”

“You can thank Col for that, he’s done the cooking” Ryan said, pride evident in his voice. “Ah, speak of the devil.”

“Hi…” Colin raised his hand in a greeting.

“Guys, Colin, Colin, the guys,” Ryan said, moving to Colin’s side and slinging and arm around him as he quickly did the introductions. Colin felt Ryan give his shoulder an encouraging squeeze, and he leaned into him just a little.

“If I had known you were such a good cook, I would have gotten to you first!” Brad said, with a wink and a smile that made Colin blush ever so slightly.

“Yes, well, your loss, he’s mine now,” Ryan said, as his hold on Colin tightened imperceptibly.

“Right…” Colin cleared his throat “Can I get anybody a drink?”

As the guys made themselves comfortable, Colin disappeared into the kitchen to get the drinks. The guys had seemed… nice. He felt himself relax a little…maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all…

When he re-entered, it was to sounds of laughter loud enough to wake the dead. He looked at Ryan who was nearly bent double in his laughing fit. He hadn’t heard what they’d been discussing, but it had been a long time since he had seen Ryan that amused and he was pleased he seemed to be having a good time.

He handed out the drinks and sat down on the sofa. He was a little disappointed Ryan had chosen the armchair, it would have been nice to at least sit next to him, he would have felt a little more secure. Now he was forced to share the sofa with Brad, who he found just a little intimidating.

“Thanks for inviting us to dinner, I wouldn’t have blamed you if you hadn’t you know,” Brad said to him, almost in a conspiratorial whisper. “We behaved very badly the first time we met you…”

“Who says I’m not plotting my revenge by serving you poisoned soup?” Colin whispered back, eyebrow slightly raised.

“Oh…” Brad looked at Colin, “You wouldn’t… would you?”

“Well, that’s for me to know and for you to find out…by the way….the crunchiness in the soup? That’s just peppercorns…” He looked at Brad who was actually looking a little worried. “I’m joking, I’m joking…”

“I knew that.”

Colin rolled his eyes “Sure you did- my god, my colleagues must really be bastards to you guys. I apologize on their behalf,”

“Hm…. I think it bothers Wayne and Ryan more than me, you know. If somebody gets off on treating me as their slave well…good luck to them. I don’t care. So they had more education than I have had, big deal… doesn’t make ‘m a better person. My brother’s done a degree, I started one…dropped out after the first year…” And before Colin had noticed, he’d been engrossed in conversation with Brad for a good 15 minutes and it would have been longer if Ryan hadn’t interrupted them to ask if they’d like another drink.

“No, I’m fine… I’d better check on the food actually… please excuse me Brad,” Colin said as he got up to put the final touches on dinner. Ryan followed him into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around him as Colin was stirring in the pans.

“You enjoying it yet?”

“Hmm… well, maybe if you kiss that spot just below my ear…”

“I didn’t mean that, you dummy, I meant the company. You seem to get on well with Brad,”

“Yeah, he’s a nice guy actually…I didn’t realize he’d started university… hmm… yeah, right there…” Colin nearly purred as Ryan gave the spot in question a little lick.

“Hmpf. Don’t tell me I’ve got competition now...” Ryan huffed. He meant it as a joke but was surprised when it came out grumpier than he had intended.

“Of course, it keeps you on your toes. Now, go tell your friends dinner is served,”

Colin ended up sitting next to Brad again over dinner, but this time he didn’t mind so much. He had meant it when he’d told Ryan he liked him. Brad seemed to have a variety of interests and he was easy to talk to, something that appealed to Colin because he was often too shy to keep a conversation going.

Dinner was met with enthusiasm and Colin was showered with compliments, not in the least by Brad, who seemed to be eyeing him with something akin to hero worship in his eyes. “I can’t believe you made all this yourself…that was amazing!”

“Hm…well… I may have gone a little overboard…”

“No, it was fantastic… I wish I could cook like that,”

“I could give you a few easy recipes to try out if you want?”

“Would you? That’d be great! My family always complains when I don’t bring anything at Thanksgiving or Christmas,”

“Sure, no problem!” Colin was about to get up and deal with the dishes when he caught a bit of the conversation Ryan and Wayne had been having.

“You know your way around a car right? Mine has been giving me grief for a while, would you mind having a look at it?”

“I don’t know that much about cars…” Ryan sounded hesitant and Colin felt the need to reassure him.

“Sure you do, you fixed mine alright,”

“Yeah, but that was an easy fix…”

“You never know, Wayne’s might be too,”

“Alright, I’ll have a look at it tomorrow at work, ok?”

“I hate to put you out but, when I picked Brad up, it took me 10 minutes to get her started…”

“Ok…just let me clear up, ok?”

Suddenly Brad piped up, “Oh don’t worry, I’ll clean up, you go and check on Wayne’s car!”

“You sure?” Ryan sounded hesitant but Colin knew he preferred tinkering with cars over dealing with dirty dishes.

“Totally…go fix that heap of junk,” Brad replied, as he winked at Wayne who was about to protest that his car was certainly not a heap of junk.

“You mind?” Ryan looked at Colin questioningly.

“Not at all, go…We’ll clean up”

Colin followed Brad into the kitchen, pleasantly surprised by the man’s offer of help.

“That was very kind of you, Ryan hates washing up.”

“Oh, I don’t mind, plus, I get to spend more time with you,” Brad winked at him, which left Colin a little confused.

“Er…thank you…I think,”

“Well, you’re a nice guy…and well…You know…Ryan is my friend but…never mind.”

“What? He’s your friend but…?”

Brad sighed, “Look, I like you, you seem nice and you really went through a lot of effort to welcome us when we behaved like absolute dicks and…well, I’d hate for you to get hurt…”

“Hurt?” Colin was confused, “Why would I get hurt?”

“Ryan is a good friend but he sucks at relationships… He’s never stuck with them and when the going gets tough, he runs… Normally, that’s his business and I don’t interfere but you…” Brad reached out and stroked Colin’s cheek, which made Colin step back a few paces. “You’re different…you’re nice, and funny and…I like you…”

“We-ll….er…thank you for the warning but…er…I don’t think Ryan is going anywhere,”

“They never think that…until he’s gone.”

“Look, I don’t know why you’re telling me this. Ryan and I live together. He’s not going to do a runner.”

“But…why are you with him? You can do better… Look at how he deserted you tonight? You did all the cooking and instead of helping you, he goes off to do something he wants…I like you Colin, and I wouldn’t mind getting to know you better,”

“Wha-...what!?!” Colin couldn’t believe his ears. Brad was coming on to him? What the hell kind of twilight zone had he entered?

“You telling me you never thought about seeing someone else? Come on, Ryan’s not the best looking guy and what sort of prospects does he have? I’ve been thinking about going back to university and after our talk tonight, I think I will. I want to improve myself you know…You inspired me to be better…Ryan will never amount to anything more than a janitor and…oompf!” suddenly Brad found himself pinned against the kitchen wall by what he previously thought was a mild-mannered scientist. Now, however, the man seemed furious.

“Don’t you dare talk about Ryan like that! You clearly don’t know the first thing about him! You call yourself a friend?! Is this what friends do, huh? Trying to ruin relationships?!”

“But…” Brad tried to interrupt but Colin just tightened his grip.

“No! I don’t want to hear it! I’m not interested in you. I’m not interested in anybody except the person I am currently with and if, if, he decides to call it quits, that’s up to him. Not you, not anybody! How dare you come to our home and talk about him like that!” Colin was incensed at Brad’s nerve. “Do you honestly think I care what he does for a living?! How shallow do you think I am? And as for me being able to do better well, not that it is any of your business but I rather think it is the other way around!”

“I’m sorry… I just… you know… wanted to look after you…” Brad tried in vain.

“I don’t need you to look after me. I want you to leave as soon as Wayne comes back. You make sure the excuse is plausible or I will tell Ryan exactly what happened here! And if I find out that you try and betray him like that again, I will make sure you regret it!” Colin growled. Just then, he heard Ryan’s keys in the lock. He let Brad go and straightened his shirt.

“Look,” Brad tried again, “let me explain-”

“Save it!” he snapped. “I’m not interested,” He took a deep breath and schooled his face into a neutral expression as he walked out to welcome Ryan and Wayne back in.

“You managed to fix it?” The question was aimed at Ryan but Wayne answered.

“He did! Just stuck that arm right into the engine and sorted it out!” Wayne sounded jubilant.

“It was an easy fix, really…” Ryan scratched his head, a little embarrassed by the praise.

“Nonsense, you need to learn to take the credit every now and then, you know,” Colin walked over to Ryan’s side and looped his arm around his waist, resting a little against his shoulder. “You’re far too modest.”

“Well, so are you… Wayne hasn’t shut up about your food, you know,” Ryan whispered in his ear, nuzzling it a little. They had both subconsciously toned down their physical contact in the presence of Wayne and Brad and Ryan had missed it. “Sorry to have left you with the dishes, I’ll try and make it up to you later...”

“Hmm….” Colin was about to ask exactly how Ryan would make it up to him when Brad came in from the kitchen, looking a little sheepish.

“Sorry guys…just had a phone call…I need to go and help out my mom,”

“She ok dude?” Wayne sounded concerned.

“Yeah, yeah… she’s fine but…getting older, you know…sorry for running out like this and dragging Wayne away, too…Thanks for having us over man,” he said, clapping Ryan on the shoulder.

“No problem, we should do it again, soon,” Ryan said, whilst Colin kept very quiet.

“Yeah, that’d be great…”

“Thanks for the food, Colin,” Brad tried, but Colin just nodded, leaning into Ryan more.

“Hey, you okay?” Ryan asked once their guests had left.

“Yeah, why?”

“You spent most of the night talking to Brad but you barely said goodbye to him when he left. Did something happen?”

“No, no, it’s fine, don’t worry about it…” He yawned. “I know it’s early but I think I’m going to turn in…tired, you know.”

“Hm…yeah, me too… I think I’ll join you.”

Once they were in bed, Colin tucked himself into Ryan’s side, softly stroking the chest pillowing his head. “You’re happy here, right?”

“What? Where did that come from?” Ryan sounded puzzled, “Of course I’m happy!”

“And you would tell me if you change your mind about us, wouldn’t you?”

“Not that I will, but yes…seriously Col, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing…Just checking…”

“Hm…you sure?”

“Yeah…” but Ryan had held him a little tighter, for which he’d been grateful.