Apartment 4C

Alfie had never expected to be in this situation, especially not with Jake. The moment he’d picked up his phone to Elliot’s sad voice made him freeze, and he hadn’t hesitated to rush to his boss to ask for the time off. Sure, he didn’t know if he’d have a job when he got back, but this was more important right now. Far more important. And as soon as he’d seen Jake’s trembling figure hugging a suitcase outside their apartment building, Alfie knew he’d made the right choice. Without a word, he’d taken Jake’s suitcase and put it in the back of his car, before guiding his shaking boyfriend up to Alfie’s apartment, making him a cup of hot tea to drink while Alfie packed his own suitcase. By the time Alfie got them both in the car, Jake was crying silently, unable to choke out any more than a thank you. And it just broke Alfie’s heart.

That was 9 and a half hours ago. Thanks to the sat nav on his phone, Alfie was able to get down to Abilene, Kansas, with very little difficultly, only about ten minutes before he would have to wake Jake up for directions. Because that’s how Jake had been the entire journey after he cried himself to sleep. Jake had even slept through Alfie stopping for gas, even though Alfie tried to wake him up. To be honest, Alfie hadn’t been too mad about it, he knew Jake needed the time to let out his anguish before he saw his family, and it had given Alfie time to think too. Now he was just nervous about meeting Jake’s family, especially at this short notice, especially with this situation. Especially with how scary Jake’s older brothers Robert (28 years old), Thomas (30 years old) and Gregory (32 years old) sounded. Elliot had given him a brief run down via text of who to expect, including that they were all super-protective of Jake, which didn’t help the nerves. The only thing that really settled him down was that Jake had called his dad when they set off to let him know that Alfie was coming too, and apparently he was alright with it. Apparently.

Alfie didn’t know what was going to happen over the next few days, but what he did know was that he was going to be there for Jake however he needed him. He could do that, right?

They crossed the town line ten minutes later, like he thought, so Alfie gently shook Jake’s shoulder.

“Hey, hey baby, I need you to wake up now,” Alfie said calmly, but loud enough for Jake to hear.

Thankfully Jake awoke, albeit a bit groggily.

“Where are we?” he slurred.

“We’ve just entered Abilene. I need directions from here,” Alfie explained, smiling slightly.

Jake was kinda cute like this, all mussed up and dazed.

“You let me sleep the whole way,” Jake frowned.

“You needed it,” Alfie said simply.

Jake stiffened slightly but nodded, falling back into silence. Alfie just paid attention to the pointed directions Jake gave him, unable to even concept how Jake was feeling right now.

Eventually they pulled up outside a two story house, identical to every other house on the street, other than the fact it had a beautiful arrangement of flowers outside. Jake’s home. Jake’s childhood home. Alfie parked the car and cut the engine, before turning to Jake, waiting for the older guy to speak first.

“Thank you for being here. I know it’s probably overwhelming, but I really need you with me right now,” Jake said quietly.

Wow. The fact that Jake was able to speak this much, and this sincerely, was a little surprising. And Alfie didn’t know whether that was a good thing or not.

So Alfie smiled sadly, slipping his hand into his boyfriend’s to give it a gentle squeeze.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’d rather be by your side than worrying about you back in Chicago. As long your brothers don’t eat me alive, I’ll be fine,” Alfie mused.

Seriously. He’d met a lot of different people in his time, but never three older overprotective Southern Farmer brothers. He wasn’t sure what to expect exactly, to be honest.

Jake smiled weakly, allowing Alfie to press a soft short kiss to his lips, before they both got out the car. Alfie got their bags from the car, smiling encouragingly at Jake (fake confidence because, duh, about to meet the family), who just took a deep breath before heading up to the front door. To be fair, it was the first time Jake had seen his family face-to-face in a long time too.

It didn’t take long for the door to open after Jake knocked, revealing a tall, broad-shouldered man, who looked absolutely exhausted but still a little bit like Jake. This has to be Jake’s dad.

“Hey, Dad,” Jake said softly, offering a weak smile.

Jake’s dad just pulled Jake into a firm hug, and Alfie didn’t fail to spot the look of surprise on Jake’s face before he started crying into his dad’s chest. Alfie inhaled sharply and shut the door behind them, putting their bags down, waiting (only slightly) awkwardly for Jake to compose himself. It only took a minute or two for Jake to stop crying again, eyes red-rimmed and bloodshot, breaking Alfie’s heart all over again. Jake immediately stepped back and clung to Alfie’s hand, turning Jake’s dad’s attention to him for the first time. He looked Alfie up and down slowly, a blank expression on his face, before he stuck out his hand. Alfie didn’t hesitate to shake it, trying to be as confident as possible, keeping a smile on his face.

“It’s, uh, good to meet you, Sir,” Alfie said, nerves shaking a voice a little.

Damn it.

“So you’re Alfie, the boy that my son’s fallen for, huh?” he grunted.

Fuck, Jake’s Dad is intimidating.

“Do we have to do this now, Dad?” Jake winced.

Alfie smirked slightly, Jake’s dad’s eyes twinkling too.

“Might as well get it over and done with before your brothers meet him. They’ve gone home for the night so they’ll have to wait until tomorrow too,” his dad shrugged.

Well that was something?

“So where did you meet my son?”

Oh, they really were doing this then.

“We met in the laundry room of our building. I’d just moved into an apartment on the floor above and bumped into Jake, who showed me which dryers and washers to use,” Alfie said simply.

He could talk about Jake without stuttering – it was probably the only topic he could talk about.

“And how long did you wait until asking him out on a date?”

“Only a couple of days, Sir,” Alfie explained.

Jake flushed slightly. Well it wasn’t like he was going to tell Jake’s dad about how Jake had cancelled their initial date by text, was he?

“And when did you make it official?”

“Mid-March, Sir, after getting to know each other properly,”

All those dates, hanging out with Gabe and Elliot on a Friday night…Alfie couldn’t help but smile.

“And what are your intentions with him?”

“Dad!” Jake hissed.

Alfie just laughed, shrugging. “It’s fine, Jake,”

“No, it’s not. It’s late and I’m tired and there’s no need for this,” Jake pouted.

Jake’s dad just chuckled, letting Alfie relax slightly.

“We can continue the interrogation when you’ve had some sleep then. You seem alright,” Jake’s dad shrugged.

Oh thank fuck for that.

Jake breathed a sigh of relief – so that must be a good sign, right?

“So when can we see mom?” Jake asked, starting to lean into Alfie again.

How was Jake still tired? Fuck, this must’ve taken more out of him that Alfie thought.

“Visiting hours at the hospital are over now, seeing as it’s so late, but we can go first thing in the morning,” his dad said, “I’ve set up the spare room for your friend,”

Alfie tried not to laugh at Jake’s unamused face. The fact that Jake’s dad was letting him sleep in the house at first meeting was good enough for him.

“Thank you, Sir,” Alfie said politely.

“Please, call me Bill,” Jake’s dad said, smiling.

Score.

“We’ll talk about that tomorrow as well,” Jake grumbled, “Goodnight, Dad,”

“Night Jake. And night, Alfie,”

Alfie shook his hand again, grabbing their bags once more before following Jake upstairs, pausing on the landing. Jake immediately pressed his lips to Alfie’s, making Alfie inhale sharply but clutch at Jake as best he could. This probably wasn’t the best time or place to be kissing like this, but Alfie would never get enough of Jake’s lips, so he couldn’t complain.

“That went well,” Jake said, smiling softly once he pulled away.

“Now I’ve just got to get through your brothers and your momma,” Alfie mused.

Jake just groaned. Alfie laughed and kissed him again. “Are you going to show me to my bedroom or what?”