The hairs on the back of Everett’s neck stood on end. With Caleb drunk and Jayne still passed out on the floor, now was not the time to bring up Jayne’s evil ex-boyfriend, but to hear him mentioned made Everett want to share what had happened to him tonight. The creeping sensation that he was being watched returned. Everett looked over his shoulder to make sure he’d locked the door, and, seeing that he had, felt foolish for it.
Jayne’s ex was gone. Az hadn’t seen him come back. There was nothing to be afraid of.
But those sunken eyes stuck with Everett, and Caleb’s mention felt too coincidental to dismiss entirely.
The truth lurked in bits and pieces between their three minds, but Everett wouldn’t be able to assemble it until morning.
“You can hate him just as well from bed.” Everett struggled to keep his tone unaffected by his troublesome thoughts. “But before that, can you help me bring Jayne to his room? I’m sure that if Shep wakes up and finds he’s not there, he’s going to think the worst.”
“Fuckin’ Shep,” Caleb grumbled, a laugh hiding in his voice despite his surly attitude. “Fuckin’… fuckin’ little sass-master disrespecting me in my own kitchen. Try so hard to be nice and… ugh. Teenagers. My poor cutting board.”
Everett squinted. Had Caleb fallen asleep? The words coming out of his mouth made sense individually, but their broader message was more difficult to decipher.
“You can get revenge for your cutting boards tomorrow,” Everett assured him. He laid a hand on Caleb’s arm and stroked him reassuringly with his thumb. “For now, I need you to focus. Let’s work together to get Jayne to bed, okay?”
“’Kay.” Caleb smiled at Everett, and all the worry and dread that had once stuck to Everett’s ribs like tar vanished without a trace. Nothing was more touching than the simple joy and genuine love Caleb showed him in that moment. While sober, he often hid his emotions behind his humor, but while drunk, he broadcast them without a filter.
He loved Everett.
He loved him deeply.
And Everett, drunk, sober, or anywhere in between, loved him back with everything he had.
“You look so good all dressed up for work,” Caleb mumbled. He wrapped his arms around Everett’s neck and kissed him sweetly. Everett’s heart fluttered. He closed his eyes and kissed back. “… look so good in anything,” Caleb whispered against his lips. “Look so good naked, too. Love you, Ev’rhett. You’re so fuckin’ good for me.”
“I love you, too.” Everett indulged in one last sweet kiss before he forced himself to pull away. Caleb was drunk, and it wasn’t right to take advantage of him. “Will you help me bring Jayne to his bedroom?”
Caleb, left on his own, wobbled on the spot like a tree battered by the wind. “How?”
“I’ll lift him up. If you can grab him from the opposite side, then we can carry him to his bedroom. Sound okay?”
“S’long as I get to grab the side with his ass.” Caleb grinned.
Everett resisted the urge to cringe. Drunk Caleb could be sweet, but he lacked decorum. “No, babe, I mean I’m going to support him under his arms, so I’ll get one side, and you get the other. It’ll be the same way we carried him when we were leaving the alley outside Circuit Rush, okay?”
“He’s got a good ass.” Caleb rubbed his eyes with his arm, then yawned hugely. “Like… on a scale of good asses, he’s the one everyone else wants to beat. Just… just really nice. All of him is really nice. I don’t know why he’d ever think he couldn’t do better than a scumbag like Bastian. That’s the asshole’s name. Did you know that, Ev’rhett?”
Everett lowered himself to Jayne’s side and hoisted him up, careful to keep him supported. Jayne’s weight didn’t faze him, but Caleb’s help getting him to the bedroom would be appreciated. After a while, dead weight got heavy. “No, I didn’t.”
“Yeah. Bastian. I want to stab him in the eye.” Caleb stumbled his way over and supported Jayne from the other side. Jayne’s head hung forward, his chin rested on his chest. “Why can’t everyone not be dicks?”
With Caleb’s help, Everett carried Jayne from the living room down the hall. “I don’t know.”
“I wish… wish Jayne would’ve seen what an asshat loser he was before it got so bad.” Caleb sighed. There was a brief pause. Then, as they stepped into the kitchen, Caleb resumed the conversation. “Everett?”
“Yes?”
There was a moment of silence during which Caleb seemed to think of what he wanted to say. Then, in a determined voice, he declared, “I wanna date the shit out of him with you… show him not all guys are narca… narcka…fuck!Abusive dick curds.”
Everett smiled. “I wanna date the shit out of him with you, too.”
They’d made it partway across the kitchen and were well on their way to the bedroom when Caleb let loose with an abrupt, caw-like laugh that startled Everett into stopping. Caleb leaned against the kitchen island, only partially supporting Jayne, and looked from him to Everett.
“It just… it just hit me how crazy this is,” Caleb said. “Crazy good, you know? Both of you are so fine. So… fucking fine. How’d I get to be so lucky? It’s like…” Caleb gestured indistinctly, releasing Jayne in the process. When he was done, he slouched against the island and chuckled, then covered his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. “It’s like a fuckin’ miracle that my best friend is the hottest guy on the planet. You’re a fuckin’miracle.A miracle ofhotness.”
Drunken-Caleb wasn’t the smoothest Caleb, but his honesty was irresistible. Everett grinned. “You’re so drunk right now, babe, but I’ll take it.”
“Youare.” Caleb jabbed a finger in his direction, then slowly peeled himself off the island and returned to Jayne’s side. In a tremendous display of delicacy, Caleb draped Jayne’s arm around his shoulder and tucked himself against his side. He supported Jayne with his arm from behind. “Like, if I wasn’t already pretty sure I was bi when I hit puberty, I would’ve figured it out when I first started to notice you. Like… fuck.Fuuuuck!What excuse do you have being so goddamn hot? N’ smart. N’ funny. N’ your cock…”
