Chapter Text
Rena was allowed to go home on Saturday. Holding up his end of the bargain, Simon and Evie went to see her in the afternoon. Evie was silent the whole ride there, nibbling on her thumbnail and, most concerning of all, not objecting to Simon’s terrible music choice. He avoided asking if she was okay, because he knew the answer, so kept it quiet.
Simon loved driving, it was something he never thought he’d be able to do. Learning to drive with one arm was easier than he thought, his car was automatic and he had other mobility aids to make the whole thing possible. He loved watching the city go by as he drove and it gave him a feeling of independence that he’d been stripped of for most of his life.
“Is Rena going to be okay?” Evie’s voice cut through Sum-41 playing through the shitty speaker.
Simon swallowed, adjusting his hand on the steering wheel nervously.
“Yeah buddy, she will.”
When they arrived, Olesya greeted them with a small smile.
“Hey Evie,” she gave her a hug and squeezed her eyes shut, opening them to look at Simon, “Hey Si.”
“Hey.”
Rena was sat up in bed, eyes closed, breathing softly.
Simon looked down at Evie, her eyes were wide and she was nibbling her lip anxiously.
“You have visitors!” Oleysa’s soft voice carried into the room, startling Rena awake. She blinked and looked at the figures in the door, a smile spreading on her face.
“Evie!”
Evie lunged forwards to hug her, tears in her eyes. “I missed you!”
Olesya and Simon looked on, similar expressions on their faces.
“She’s going to be okay,” Olesya sighed, turning the kettle on, “It was just a small scare.”
Simon nodded and slid awkwardly onto one of the stools in their kitchen.
“Where’s Lisa?”
“At her mum’s. It’s been a hard week and she wanted to update her in person.” Olesya moved around the room robotically, eyes not fully focusing on anything. She poured two mugs of tea and two glasses of juice, passed one mug to Simon then took the glasses through to the girls. Simon opened his mouth to offer to help, but realised it would be pointless - you can’t stack full glasses.
The kitchen he sat in was very welcoming, pictures decorating the walls, spices lined up, dishes stacked next to the sink in organised chaos. Their fridge was covered in coloured magnets and pieces of paper- timetables, reminders, family pictures, take away menus. Simon couldn’t help but compare it to his own kitchen.
He’d done his best to make it comfortable and decorate it properly, but it felt performative, like everything placed there was staged. He didn’t know how to make a space feel lived in.
Olesya walked back in and picked up her tea, leaning against the counter with her eyes shut.
“How are you?” It was a stupid question and he felt stupid asking it, but he couldn’t let her dance around it. She didn’t open her eyes, instead scrunching them up, seemingly holding back tears.
“I was so scared..” she let out, after some time, “they weren’t sure whether she was going to make it. And- and now she’s home and I’m so scared something’s going to happen and I won’t be able to do anything.”
Simon said nothing, offering his hand out for her to hold. They stayed there for a second, her hand in his.
“Thank you,” she said eventually, “for everything.”
He smiled gently and squeezed her hand.
“We’re always here for you.”
The drive home was more lively, Evie laying out the plans her and Rena had made for when she was better.
“And next summer we’re going to go camping and swimming in a lake and roasting marshmallows!”
Simon smiled at her, no intention of bursting her bubble with talk of logistics. Or the possibility that Rena would get worse again before next summer. He shook that thought out of his head.
“Are you and Dr Grace friends?” she asked out of nowhere.
“Uh- uhm I’m not sure. I wouldn’t say we’re friends.”
“Ava was talking about you with him and then on the drive home she asked if you two were friends.”
“Oh,” he said in a low voice, “Uh, I guess we’re acquaintances. I know him better than any of your other teachers.”
“He asked if you and Ava were dating.” she said plainly.
“Oh! That’s funny, I bet she laughed at that.”
“She did!” she looked down at her phone, “I’d say you’re friends.”
“Alright kid,” He chuckled. If she said so.
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“It’s Saturday night. We’re going out.” Rocky said, leaning on Ryland’s counter wearing his favourite ‘going out’ shirt.
“I’m 36. I’m not ‘going out’.”
“You won’t get over her unless you do something about it.”
“Who said I’m not over her!” Ryland threw his hands up angrily. He could feel Adrian look up from their phone from the corner of the room.
“C’mooon! Come for one drink !” Rocky whined.
Ryland scrubbed his hand over his face and thought about the other options. He could order pizza and watch Taskmaster until he fell asleep on the sofa. Or he could drink with his friends and make awkward small talk with girls he had no interest in sleeping with. He knew what he wanted to do, but it had been a long week and a beer didn’t sound too bad.
Wearing a suitable jacket, shirt and jeans, Ryland traipsed behind Rocky and Adrian, dragging his feet. They were caught in domestic conversation about something or other. The three walked down the street, passing much younger versions of their group running and shouting on their way to the same bars. Before Grace could realise where they were, they turned down a side street and ended up outside ‘The Hail Mary.’
“Waait hey noone told me we were going here?” Grace stopped in his tracks.
“Yeah why not? It’s a good bar. Cheap.” Rocky responded with a shrug.
“Simon works here. Evie’s uncle?”
Rocky and Adrian shared a look. “So?”
Grace opened his mouth to say something but shut it instantly. Why did that matter? They were sort of friends now. Ish. He’d helped him out with his cut, they’d shared small talk, it’s not like he followed him to the bar, he just knew he worked here.
“It’s just weird seeing student’s guardians out in the world I guess.” he resorted to.
“Eh, a bit.” Rocky responded, pushing the door open.
“You don’t even teach her.” Grace muttered under his breath.
A pit opened in his stomach as he stepped into the bar. He had no idea what to say to Simon. ‘Hi I promise I’m not stalking you, thanks for the note, I missed you this week. I hope you're okay!’ he shook it out of his head. He hadn’t missed Simon that week. He’d just noticed his absence.
His eyes immediately darted to the bartenders lining the bar. He struggled a bit, the bar was packed and they were hidden behind a wall of patrons. He could make out a young looking guy wearing a beanie, a tall girl with black hair and a blond guy turned to mix a drink.
“He’s not even here!” Rocky shouted over the music in Grace’s direction. The pit in his stomach didn’t go away. Why wasn’t he here?
Rocky ordered drinks for them and after an age they sat down at a booth. Grace had peered into the back of the bar surreptitiously, trying to spot Simon, but only saw two girls sitting there on their phones.
“So what’s the plan?” Rocky asked, after a long chug of beer.
“The plan?” Grace responded, eyebrows raised.
“Yeah! Some flirting? Or are we going to a club after this?”
Adrian rolled their eyes. “A. You’ve seen Ry flirt, why would you think that would be a good idea? B. We are too old for the club.”
They all chuckled and Rocky looked mock-offended. Grace didn’t even attempt it, he knew he was bad at flirting, he just made awkward jokes in someone's direction and hoped for the best.
They chatted for a bit, Adrian eventually pulling out UNO and dealing out cards for the three of them. The bar was heaving so a lot of people were crowded quite close to their booth, one of these people noticed the UNO cards.
“No way! Are you playing UNO? I love that!” A girl shouted. She was quite short, with long blonde hair and a wonky fringe. “Could we join you?”
Rocky spoke for the three, “Of course!”
The girl squeezed next to Adrian while her friend sat down next to Ryland.
“I’m Rocky, this is my partner Adrian and our friend Ryland.” He gestured to each of them, giving Ryland a small smirk in the direction of the girl next to him. He rolled his eyes in response.
“I’m Leah, that’s Gracie.” the blonde girl said with a smile, pointing at her friend.
“No way!” Rocky’s eyes lit up, “Ryland’s surname is Grace, that’s what we call him at school!”
Gracie nodded politely, clearly not as amazed by this as him. Ryland smiled awkwardly.
“School? Are you guys teachers?” Leah asked.
They made small talk for a while, playing UNO and Ryland ignoring Rocky’s facial hints to flirt with Gracie while he put away several pints and a few shots. She was pretty, with short brown hair, round glasses and wearing a t-shirt of a band that only Ryland had recognised. (He was sure Rocky knew them too, but was pretending not to for his sake. Rocky prided himself on being a good wingman.)
“I’m going outside for a cig, do you want to come?” She asked him.
“Sorry I don’t smoke,” He responded instinctively, then looked at Rocky’s face. Oh. “But it is hot in here! I’ll come outside anyway.”
She smiled at this and slid out of the booth, Leah winking as she left. He pretended he didn’t see it and followed her out. He staggered slightly, the alcohol hitting him all at once. They stepped out to the front of the bar and Gracie pulled out a pack of cigarettes. She took one out for herself then offered it to him.
“No, thank you I really don’t smoke.”
She shrugged, “Each to their own.”
“So you work in a cafe?” he asked after a beat.
“At the moment,” she sighed, taking a drag, “but I’d like to write films.”
“Oh wow, that’s really cool!”
“Yeah I guess, isn’t going very well though.” She looked at her feet.
“If you had to remake any film, which would it be?”
Gracie looked taken aback. “That’s a good question, people usually just ask what my favourite film is.”
Ryland chuckled, “I think this tells you more about someone.”
She thought for a second then replied “The Mask. The original comic was soo gory and weird, the film is too sanitised.”
He smiled, “That’s a good answer. Horror fan I guess?”
“Big time. You?”
“A bit. I love the original Alien a lot.”
Her mouth dropped open. Without saying anything she lifted the sleeve of her t-shirt up to reveal a xenomorph tattoo.
“No way! That’s so awesome!”
“And! Feel,” she grabbed his hand and put it on her shoulder, “It healed slightly weird so it’s textured like a xenomorph.”
Awkwardly, he ran his finger down the lines on her shoulder. It was quite strange, but she was right, it did feel like a xenomorph looked. He lingered on her shoulder, moving his gaze to her face. His heart started pounding and his head was cloudy from booze. He leaned in to kiss her and she met him in the middle. Her lips moved against his and he bought his hand up to her cheek to bring her closer. After a few seconds he pulled away, smiling at her. His smile dropped when he saw a figure pushing open the door beside them. “Simon?”
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Simon had meant to take the full day off work, putting Libby and Tyler in charge and instead spending the day with Evie. Around 11pm, however, he got a call from Tyler saying that one of the toilets had flooded and none of them could figure out how to fix it. He’d come in reluctantly, bringing his tools and fixing it within the hour.
He pushed past the crowd on his way out, making eye contact with a man who looked a lot like Grace’s friend. It probably wasn’t. Through the window he could see a couple making out next to the door. Classy. He pushed the door open with his back, hand holding his toolbox, aiming to avoid the pair.
“Simon?” it was Grace’s voice. Ryland Grace. He looked guilty, like a kid caught awake past their bedtime.
Simon cleared his throat. “Ryland.”
“I- I didn’t see you, I didn’t think you were working today.” He sounded really guilty.
“Toilet broke. I was fixing it.” His gaze shifted from Ryland to the girl he was standing next to.
“Uh sorry, this is Gracie. Gracie, this is Simon. A friend of mine.” He was swaying slightly and had gone quite pale.
“Nice to meet you,” Gracie waved awkwardly. Simon nodded in response.
“I need to-”
“Thank you for the note.” Ryland blurted out, interrupting him. Simon stood in stunned silence for a second.
“You’re welcome.” He muttered eventually. “Thank you for the plaster.”
“I’m glad you’re okay.” Ryland made eye contact with him for the first time in the whole exchange, his sunken blue eyes looking into Simon’s soul. Simon didn’t say anything.
“It’s cold out here,” Simon’s gaze moved to the girl now leaning on Ryland’s arm, “I’m gonna go inside.”
His eyes went back to Ryland, who didn’t move.
“I should go too.”
This snapped him out of it. “Nice to see you Simon.”
‘A friend of mine’? Is that what Simon was? Was Evie right? He mulled it over on his walk home, swinging the toolbox haphazardly. He guessed Evie was right, they’d moved from guardian/teacher to something a bit more… friendly.
He wasn’t sure why it hurt seeing Ryland kissing a girl. He wasn’t sure if hurt was what he felt. Maybe it was the lingering effects of being called ‘handsome’ all those weeks ago, when they’d first met in the bar. But Ryland didn’t know he’d heard that, and if he did he probably didn’t even remember saying it the morning after. Simon didn’t like Ryland, he just liked that he’d been appreciated. He liked seeing him at pick up, dumb jokes and awkward smiles, he liked that he took care of his hand and was good with Evie. And he sent him that note to show that. To a teacher. To a teacher who was funny and looked after him and his kid and was decently good looking and kind and was making out with someone that wasn’t him outside of his bar.
Fuck.