When Trouble Comes Knocking

Beau had been laying on the couch watching TV while Everett made them dinner when he told him that he needed him to run to the store to get broccoli for their meal. Being the doting partner that he is, Beau promptly got up and left for the grocery store after receiving a kiss and short grocery list from the cook.

He ended up getting some other things as well to make the trip out to town more worth his while. Once he got back in the car, he decided to stop by the bakery down the road before heading home. The display case showed off several new cookie flavors so Beau asked to have a dozen boxed up. After paying up front, he turned around to head back to the car parked outside on the street. Instead of making his exit, however, he ends up running into an annoyed-looking man glaring at him with his arms crossed over his chest.

"So this is where you've been hiding out," Finn spits the accusatory words out at him.

Clutching onto the small, pink box full of cookies for his partner, Beau clears his throat before responding. "What are you doing here?" He asks his little brother who looks even more irate at the question.

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?" Finn shoots back at him.

"Uh.... getting cookies?" Beau replies in a questioning tone. He knows that wasn't what Finn meant, but he is trying to buy himself time to think of his next move in this interaction.

Finn scoffs at this. "No shit. What are you doing in Sinting? Why did I have to find out that you're alive from Ryan Hershey of all people? That guy's a douche, Beau."

Understanding dawns on him that his old friend must've went home to Columbus to tell Beau's family all about how they ran into each other at the golf course the other day. The piece of shit never could keep his mouth shut when he was given any piece of information. It makes sense that he'd want to spill this intel to his younger brother and mom who Beau had abandoned.

"Yeah, he is a douche. Um-" Beau is still struggling to gather his thoughts. "Did you need something? Or did you just want to confirm that I'm alive?" Beau uses his box of cookies as a pointer, lifting them up and down gesturing to himself as he continues to speak. "Because, obviously, I'm still breathing."

The employee behind the counter is clearly listening in on their conversation despite him trying to appear busy. Finn must notice this because he walks towards the exit and mumbles, "Let's do this outside." Beau follows after him hesitantly, he's not sure if his brother is going to start swinging at him as soon as they leave the building.

Finn has definitely gotten taller and more muscular, but he still looks small compared to Beau. If it came down to it, Beau could definitely take him in a fight if he needed to. He has a clean-shaven babyface with big brown eyes. His dark hair resembles Beau's, but is shorter than his own long waves. Recently, Beau told Everett that he wanted to get a haircut, but his partner had pouted and said that he liked the current length of his hair. He is no longer thinking about getting a haircut.

"You need to come home. It's an emergency," Finn eventually grunts out.

"Emergency? What happened? Is mom okay?" Beau suddenly feels panicked as he tries to get answers out of his brother.

Rolling his eyes while seeming highly annoyed by Beau's concern, Finn replies, "No. It's not mom."

"Well, then what is it?" Beau is beginning to feel irritated with the lack of information being provided to him. If his brother and mom aren't in immediate danger, then why does he need to run back to Columbus? He would much rather go back home and eat the fettuccini Alfredo that Everett has been preparing and have the bakery cookies for dessert.

"Do you really need all of the details right now?" Finn is still glaring at him but is now looking around the street nervously. "An emergency is an emergency. That should be enough of a reason for you to come back home."

Beau shakes his head at this. "If you and mom are fine, then it's not an emergency. I'm staying here."

The bravado Finn previously possessed cracks after he hears Beau's response. He visibly seems to deflate causing Beau to feel guilty about his stubbornness. Nevertheless, he plans on standing his ground until he is given further details that justify a visit back to Columbus.

Running a hand down his face similarly to how Beau usually does, Finn sighs and appears to try a different angle in the conversation. "Well, where are you staying right now? Ryan said you were hanging out with Everett Fowler when he saw you. Are you roommates or something?"

"Uh, yeah. I left Cleveland a couple months ago and was traveling through Sinting when I ran into Everett. I've been bunking at his place ever since," Beau explains vaguely.

"Great. We have some catching up to do and I need somewhere to stay tonight. I'll follow you back to Fowler's place," Finn says matter-of-factly.

Beau stares at him dumbly for a second. "Uh, lemme text Everett real quick," he mumbles while getting his phone out. The battery drains faster and faster everyday because of how old the model of phone it is. Thankfully, he has just enough power to shoot Everett a heads up that his little brother will be crashing at their place for the night.

To: Rett

Just ran into Finn and he's staying the night

Be home in 20

<3

Everett responds right away, probably since he expected him to have returned a while ago.

From: Rett

Oh shit thanks for letting me know

See you soon<3

"Alright, his place is about twenty minutes from here," Beau informs his little brother. "You can stay over, but only if you can keep up with me."

Finn scoffs at that and climbs into his truck (which is actually their dad's old truck) parked three cars down from Beau's. Of course, Beau isn't serious about his statement and instead makes sure to wait for his brother to pull up behind him. He drives at a reasonable speed back to the house.

-

Beau parks in his usual spot in the garage while Finn leaves the truck in the driveway. Finn meets him in the garage where he is then recruited to help carry grocery bags up to the kitchen.

Finn whistles lowly as he scans the kitchen and living room from where he stands at the top of the stairs. "Nice place you got yourself here," he says.

"Credit goes to Everett. This is his house, I've just been staying here." Beau places the grocery bags he carried up along with the box of cookies on the counter. Finn follows suit, dumping his own bags on the marble surface.

Looking around, Beau doesn't see his partner, but he does spot a pot of fettuccine Alfredo with chicken on the stove. He opts to start putting away the few groceries that he brought in while Finn goes to take a seat at the counter. "Where's Fowler?" Finn asks.

Before Beau can respond, Everett rounds the corner into the kitchen. "Sorry—I was just getting the guest room ready for you. How are you, Finn? Long time no see." Everett smiles at Beau's little brother. Finn gets up and gives him a bro hug which makes Beau chuckle to himself as he watches Everett fumble to return the gesture.

"I've been better. Y'know.... mixed emotions with the whole 'reuniting with my estranged brother' thing." Finn waves his hand in the air frivolously. "Thanks for letting me stay here for the night, though. I appreciate it, man."

Everett laughs awkwardly at that and quickly looks over at Beau who is glaring at his younger brother. Shuffling over to the stove, Everett decides to change the subject. "Well, dinner is basically done. Thanks for going out to get the broccoli, Beau. I'm just gonna steam it really quick and then we can sit down to eat."

He then sees that Finn is still wearing his backpack. "Beau, why don't you show Finn to the guest room so he can put his stuff down?"

"On it, boss." Beau salutes and grabs the back of Finn's bag and drags him toward the direction of the stairs that leads them to the upstairs bedrooms. Finn immediately shakes him off and huffs about being pushed around which makes Everett laugh to himself. The two brother haven't spoken in two years, but are acting just as they did in high school.

-

"You can leave your shit in here. It looks like Everett made your bed and put a towel out if you want to get a shower. You should take him up on that because you smell like dick," Beau says in a dry tone to the younger man.

Everett has two guest bedrooms and a primary bedroom. He assumed that Everett would want Finn to stay in the room that Beau had previously occupied before they got together. He clearly guessed correctly considering the blue and white floral and lace pattern room was seemingly prepped for Finn's stay by the time they arrived home.

"Fuck off, dude," is Finn's weak retort back.

Smirking at the failed attempt to fight him, Beau can't help but feel renewed confidence in his older brother role. "You should thank Everett again for setting all of this up for you. I didn't think he was gonna give you the first class treatment tonight considering you invited yourself over here last minute. He's being too nice to you," Beau states as he looks into the bathroom and sees all of the amenities he broke out for Finn. A new toothbrush still in its package, a tiny toothpaste, un-opened soap, et cetera.

"Clearly he has a charitable heart considering he brought you in off the streets and let's you stay in this nice-ass house," Finn quips back at him.

Beau glares at him as he gets ready to leave the room. "He happens to like me because I'm helpful and fun to be around. Can't say the same for you and the giant stick you've always have up your ass."

With that, he exits the room as Finn shouts one last, "Fuck you!" at him.

-

Knowing that Finn didn't follow him down the stairs right away, Beau puts his arms around Everett when he comes back into the kitchen and kisses his plush lips before backing away. "Thanks for setting all of that up last minute, snook," Beau says lowly so his brother can't hear.

"It's no problem at all. I'm happy to see Finn again after all these years." Everett smiles before taking the broccoli off of the stove and dumping them into the pot of Alfredo.

"That makes one of us," Beau mumbles as they hear Finn make his way downstairs.

Everett tells the two men to fix their own plates while he gets the garlic bread out of the oven. When they're all seated, Everett asks Finn what brought him to Sinting to which Finn explains Ryan telling him about their encounter at the golf course. He says that he had been driving around town pretty much all day asking around about Beau and trying to find him at one of the buildings. Beau notes that Finn doesn't bring up the supposed "emergency" around Everett which perplexes him.

"I stopped by the bakery and got some cookies for dessert, by the way. They had a shit ton of new flavors that we need to try," Beau tells Everett conversationally.

"That sounds great. Thanks, Beau," Everett beams back at him. It makes Beau uncomfortable all of a sudden. He clears his throat and looks away from the adoring look his partner is giving him. The look on his face, the sweet smile.... it's all too personal. He doesn't want his brother here to see him and Everett like this. He doesn't want anyone to see them like this.

Beau chances a glance over at his brother to see if he saw anything, but he looks to be going to town on the Alfredo. Sighing in relief, Beau takes a bite of his own dinner.

"What have you been up to, Finn?" Everett eventually asks to break the silence that crept up on the table.

Finn proceeds to tell the two of them about how he has been commuting to community college. He is about to complete his second semester and plans to return next fall to continue pursuing his Associate's degree in Health and Physical Education. Beau looks on as Finn explains that he hopes to then continue his education elsewhere to eventually get a Bachelor's in Sports Medicine.

While he knows how incredible it is that his little brother is achieving such accomplishments in his journey of higher education, Beau can't help but to feel jealous and bitter. He had looked forward to getting a football scholarship and living up the college experience. At the end of the day, he knows that it was his own fault that he failed to succeed in school. His lack of high school diploma backs up this fact.

Beau flinches when he feels something hit his leg. Looking up, he sees Everett staring at him. He must've kicked him when he saw him not responding to Finn's life update. Everett looks worried, like he knows what Beau is thinking about. He probably does. Over the last couple of months, his partner has learned to read his various facial expressions. Whenever Beau starts to feel himself slip into a depressive state, Everett immediately picks up on it and provides him with words of reassurance until he feels like he can breathe again.

Obviously, he can't do that for Beau at the moment while Finn is here. So Beau shakes off the feeling of dread creeping up on him and tries his best to be a supportive older brother despite his selfish thoughts.

"I'm proud of you, Finn," he says and finds himself not having to fake sincerity the way that he thought he'd have to. A tiny, genuine smile appears on his brothers face at his words. Beau has felt too many emotions at this dinner—he desperately wants to shower and fall asleep with Everett in his arms and no more thoughts in his head.

Apparently not wanting the atmosphere to get too friendly, Finn chooses that moment to ask about their living arrangements. "So, Everett. Why did you take my brother in anyway? Were you getting lonely in this big 'ole house all by yourself?"

Everett hesitates, not knowing how honest Beau wants him to be. He decides to explain his situation while leaving out the details of his and Beau's relationship. "My wife and I lived here, but we are currently going through a divorce. I actually happened to run into Beau the same day that she left."

"Fuck, man. That sucks," Finn replies in a way that rivals his brothers lack of eloquence. However, his eyes are blown wide and he does look like he's being genuine.

With a shrug, Everett continues to tell his and Beau's story. "It's fine. After she left, I went to the bar in town and saw Beau there. We went to the diner to catch up and he didn't have a place to stay at the time, so I invited him over since I didn't want to be alone. Luckily, we get along really well and have just continued this arrangement."

"You better not be mooching off of this guy, Beau. Don't think I won't tell mom if you are using Fowler for his house." Finn crosses his arms and looks ready to fight on his behalf which makes Everett laugh.

"I wouldn't do that, you bitch." Beau glares at his brother. "I told Everett from the start that I didn't want to mooch off of him. I'm working at a bookstore and try to pay for most of our groceries. It's not much, but I am contributing something."

Everett wants to pat his partners leg placatingly, but resists the temptation. Instead, he smiles and chimes in, "Beau isn't mooching off of me. Him buying the groceries is honestly very helpful. He has also been cooking a lot more too. I'm trying to get him to clean more as well, so I guess that's something that we do need to work on, actually."

"You guys are really domestic," Finn observes while staring at the two of them.

Laughing nervously, Everett responds, "I guess so. Anyways, not to rush you out, but what time do you think you'll be leaving tomorrow, Finn?"

Beau is grateful for the change of topic.

"There's no rush at all, Fowler. I don't have a check out time yet." He raises one eyebrow at Everett in challenge, almost daring him to kick him out. Everett, of course, would never do that and nods his head in acknowledgement.

"You must be a busy guy, I think you should head out tomorrow morning," Beau suggests dryly. Everett doesn't move a muscle as the two brother stare each other down.

Finn tilts his head to the side as he responds, "I've got all the time in the world, B."

Beau stands irritably and mumbles something about doing the dishes. He collects their plates from the table and heads deeper into the kitchen so he can wash up. Everett still doesn't move a muscle as he sits at the table. He doesn't want to leave their guest alone, but he definitely feels awkward and unsure of what to say after that.

Looking over at Finn, he notices how dejected he now appears. It's a major switch up from the confident stature he previously had while battling back and forth with Beau.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Everett asks gently.

"You can't tell Beau," Finn says quietly. Everett is immediately nervous hearing those words come out of his mouth. He doesn't think lying to his partner is a good thing to do so early in their relationship, but he wants to help Finn out too.

In the end, Everett decides to agree to his terms. "O-okay." Butterflies are throwing a rave in his stomach with how uneasy he feels at the moment.

"Beau needs to come back home, but he's refusing. I don't know how to convince him to come back." Finn picks at the skin around his fingernails nervously as he explains the situation to Everett.

With furrowed eyebrows, Everett asks, "Why is he refusing?"

Lowering his voice even more to ensure that Beau can't hear them, Finn says, "I told him it's an emergency, but not what the emergency is. Since it doesn't have to do with me or mom, he doesn't think it's important enough to come back for."

"Why don't you just tell him what the emergency is?" Everett points out the obvious.

"Because," Finn mutters, "I need him to come back home to talk to our dad."

Everett sits in silence for a couple of seconds before replying. "Why does he need to talk to your dad? Isn't he in jail?"

"Our dad is dying, Everett," Finn whispers so quietly that Everett can barely hear him.