Weekend at Bernie's

Everett smooths his thumb over his partner's freshly shaven jaw while he's distracted looking at the road in front of him.

"Why do you keep petting me?" Beau asks with a chuckle, not breaking eye contact with the highway that they are currently speeding down. Used to Beau's chaotic driving, Everett has learned to relax and not clutch onto the edges of his seat when there is a 55 MPH speed limit sign in their vicinity.

"I just can't believe you actually shaved. You seemed really attached to your facial hair," he explains while tracing a finger above Beau's naked upper-lip.

Beau pretends to bite his finger, causing Everett to finally retract his hand and playfully slap his shoulder.

"I wasn't attached to it, it was attached to me." He smirks at his own smart-ass response. Rolling his eyes at this, Everett sits back in his seat. "That was an awful dad joke," he declares while trying to suppress his own laughter. What can he say? He's a sucker for a dumb joke from a hot guy—he's only human, after all.

The day has been odd so far. They left not too long ago to make their way to Columbus where Finn and Mrs. Coleman reside. Beau has been trying to seem nonchalant all day, but he's definitely tense about the whole ordeal. Wanting to calm his partner's nerves, Everett has been doing his best to distract and uplift the anxious man.

"Better to have dad jokes than to have a joke of a dad," Beau deadpans, effectively bringing the mood right back down. The driver has his left elbow resting on the window of the car with his head leaned on it as he steers with his right hand. Even with sunglasses on, Everett can see how tired and stressed he looks.

Sighing, Everett responds, "You're not wrong there. Do you want to talk about the visit? We haven't spoken about it yet and I don't want you to bottle up your emotions before seeing him again."

"He's an ass."

"Beau."

"What else is there for me to talk about, snook? Everything I have to say about him is what you and Finn already heard the other day. He was a shitty father who fucked with my head and bullied Finn," Beau contends as he switches into the left lane, lays on the gas and moves back into the right lane to get ahead of a car that he seems to have deemed too slow.

Turning the volume on the radio down, Everett tries gently pressing the topic some more. "Do you know what you're going to say to him?"

There's a beat of silence.

Beau straightens his posture and puts both hands on the steering wheel. "I haven't stopped thinking about what I'm gonna say since I agreed to this shit show," he admits.

Everett grabs his right hand and squeezes it in an attempt to comfort him.

"I think it all depends on what he says. It pisses me off that he's still in control like this, but he's gonna be the one who decides if we're cool or not. I've played a million scenarios in my head and honestly anything can happen at this point."

"Just remember, your mom and brother will be right there with you the whole time. You're not alone," Everett consoles.

Squeezing Everett's hand, Beau looks at him before quietly asking, "And you?"

"And me."

-

After ten minutes of circling the blocks nearby, Beau finally finds a legal place to parallel park the car in a spot not too far away from the apartment. His arm is draped across Everett's shoulders as he guides him through a sketchy alleyway leading to the address of the apartment that Finn sent them the other day. The front door is locked, so Beau calls his brother to come let them into the building.

"Fowler! Nice to see you, man," Finn exclaims enthusiastically while dragging Everett into a bro hug. He pats Finn on the back as he returns the greeting.

"Fuck me, I guess," Beau mumbles grumpily. He's carrying Everett's backpack and shouldering a bigger overnight bag as well.

Smirking at his older brother, Finn slaps him on the back and finally acknowledges him. "Yeah, fuck you! It's nice to see you too, or whatever." Finn turns around and holds a door open for them that leads to a dim staircase.

"We're on the fifth floor and the elevator is broken, so we gotta walk. Sorry, boys." Finn has a wide smile on his face and doesn't look sorry at all when he sees Beau's annoyed expression.

Wanting to alleviate some of Beau's annoyance, Everett says, "Beau, why don't you give me one of the bags? I don't have anything to carry."

Finn is already halfway up the first flight of stairs. Beau just sighs and begins climbing up after him. "Nah, it's fine. Let's just get up there."

As soon as they walk through the door, Beau is nearly bulldozed over by his five foot nothing mother. The sheer force of the tiny woman's hug almost knocks her eldest son over. Thankfully, Beau catches himself before he can tip over. Once he is stable on his feet, he freezes for a moment and then hugs his mom back just as fiercely.

"You're safe. Thank God, you're safe." She sounds breathless as she get the words out.

"Yeah, mom. I'm safe," Beau reassures her in a hoarse voice.

Mrs. Coleman continues to embrace her son and sways them back and forth until Beau eventually backs away from the hug. Still allowing her to hold onto his arms, Beau looks down with wet eyes. "I'm sorry for disappearing on you—I was just so lost and confused," he tries to explain to his mom.

"It was certainly one of the most difficult moments of my life. I'm just happy you're here now, sweetie." Mrs. Coleman offers a watery smile while looking up at Beau. She has dark hair just like her kids, but there are also streaks of gray starting to appear as well. Everett thinks she looks identical to how he remembers her, just as beautiful and strong as ever.

"Everett! So wonderful to see you again!" Mrs. Coleman exclaims, swiftly removing her arms from her son in favor of throwing them around the blonde man.

She embraces him tightly, which kind of surprises Everett. He didn't expect the woman to acknowledge him much considering her missing son had just been reintroduce into her life. There was also a part of him that was worried that she'd blame him for her son's disappearance since he had been living with Everett for a couple of months now.

Hugging her back, Everett smiles as he says, "Great to see you as well, Mrs. Coleman."

She backs away and beams at him as she corrects him. "Please—call me Melissa. You are no longer a kid and you have clearly taken wonderful care of my son."

Everett feels sheepish as he tries to brush off her comment. "He's been no trouble at all, missus—uh, Melissa. I've really enjoyed having Beau at the house."

"Can't say I'm not shocked to hear that! I'm glad my boy has been behaving for you, though," Melissa squeezes his arm one last time before walking further into the apartment.

She gives them a quick tour of the place. There are two bedrooms, a kitchen, family room and one bathroom. An air mattress is set up in the middle of the family room, which Beau insists that Everett take for the night. He hesitates when he sees how small the couch is—his partner will surely be cramped on it. However, he doesn't want to argue in front of the family that Beau is just now reuniting with.

"So there's a diner in Sinting that reminds us a lot of Bernie's, mom," Finn explains. "I told them that we should go there tonight since it's practically a historical landmark here in Rockwell and Fowler's never been before."

"I think that's a fantastic idea! Everett, Beau—why don't you take your car and Finn and I can drive separate. Usually after seven o'clock you can find parking spots closer to the building," Melissa informs them.

Nodding his head, Beau snatches the car keys from where he had previously placed them on the couch. "Hell yeah. We'll meet you guys there," he says, leading him and Everett out the door, down the stairs and to the car.

"Your mom is happy to see you again," Everett states in the passenger seat.

"I'm happy to see her again too," Beau gives a small smile before pulling out of the spot between two other cars and making his way to Bernie's.

-

"How many?"

"Four."

The hostess leads Beau and Everett to a table by a window. They had gotten there before Finn and Melissa so they decided to grab a table as they await their arrival.

Everett is not too observant in casual settings like this, so he doesn't notice the table next to them full of former football players from their time at Rockwell High. Beau, however, clocks them the minute they sit down. He is able to spot them out of the corner of his eye, whereas, Everett has no visibility of them since his back is to their table. As a result, Beau ducks his head down to be as discreet as possible.

After receiving a questioning look from Everett, Beau leans toward him and whispers, "There are a some guys from high school at the table next to us."

"Should I ask the hostess if we can move somewhere else?" Everett whispers back. His question is in vain since Finn chooses that moment to loudly make his entrance.

"WINNY, MARCO, DAWS! IS THAT YOU?" The younger brother shouts at Beau's former friends.

Beau is visibly tense and holds his breath as he waits for the shit show to unfold.

"Colesy Jr.! What's up, man?" One of the men yells back exuberantly.

Everett can sense the three men stand from the table behind him and sees them make their way over. He eyes Beau whose face has gone scarily neutral.

"Wait a goddamn fucking minute! Is that Colesy? Bud—where the absolute FUCK have you been?" Another man says louder than necessary when they approach the table. Beau makes eye contact with him as a fake smile slides onto his face.

"Daws, you look like hell. What happened?" Beau jokes as he follows Finn's lead and stands to dap up each of the men.

The three guys look like sharks with the deadly smiles on their faces. Everett vaguely remembers being intimidated by them in high school. They would never physically bully him, but they certainly didn't shy away from verbally abusing him. He recalls being called every gay slur under the sun by them. In fact, they were so creative with their insults that Everett had to break out Urban Dictionary to understand some of them.

The one with the thinning, blonde hair slaps Beau on the back as he asks, "Where the hell have you been, man? I know your dumbass flunked out somehow, but you really managed to drop off the map."

Beau gives a forced smile as he responds, "I went into hiding as soon as I saw you were going bald. I don't want that shit to rub off on me and my flow, brother."

They all laugh heartily at the rebuttal before Finn insists that they pull up a seat at their table. Which is how their family dinner for four turns into an uncomfortable meal for seven.

"You thinking about going to the fifth year reunion? Stephanie Pinewell, that red head with the massive tits, fucked up around Christmas and had to postpone it until the summertime. I mean, you let women become class president and they screw everything up. That's why I think they should stay out of politics, am I right?" Marco jokes.

Everett notes that the two friends laugh along, Beau smiles disparagingly at them and Finn looks slightly uncomfortable. Melissa has taken to scrolling on her phone during this interaction, which leaves Everett to awkwardly observe.

"Considering I didn't graduate, I'll probably not be RSVP-ing," Beau replies lowly.

Marco frowns and looks like he's about to argue with Beau as he leans in with his elbows on the table before he is suddenly cut off. A pretty blonde approaches the table and seems to have her eyes set on Beau. She is clearly nervous since their table is a considerable size making for an active audience to whatever it is that she has to say.

"Hey there! I'm here with my friends," the woman gestures to two other girls at another table watching them and giggling, "and they convinced me to come over here to talk to you."

Beau pauses for a moment before offering her one of his classic flirtatious smirks. Everett is reminded of when Beau gave that same smile to Amelia, the waitress from the Sinting diner.

"Well—we're talking now, sweetheart," Beau winks at her. Surprised at his partners reply, Everett straightens up and tunes in more to the conversation. Finn is amused as he sips on his soda and watches the interaction along with the three men who have joined their table. Meanwhile, Mrs. Coleman maintains a calm and collected stature as she silently looks up from her phone to watch the conversation.

The woman appears to perk up at the clear reciprocated flirting. "I hate to interrupt your meal, but I know that I'd regret it if I didn't ask for your number."

Everett knows there's no chance that the man that he has opened up to and been living with for the last couple of months would actually give her his number. At least, that's what he thought for a full second before he watches with his own eyes as Beau reaches for the woman's phone and proceeds to type something into it.

"There ya go, darling," Beau hands her back the phone. "Please, wear it out."

The woman giggles once more before waving and hurrying back over to her friends who giddily pull her back into her seat.

"Mr. Smooth back at it!"

"You didn't miss a beat!"

"Back in town for ten minutes and he's already pulling!"

Everett feels numb as Beau's old friends shower him with praise. His face remains impartial as he watches everything unfold in front of him. Beau doesn't even look at him as he jokes with his buddies.

"You fuckin' losers have no game. You need me here to show you how it's done," he says arrogantly to the group of men at the table. They chortle loudly in response and the guy closest to Beau shoves at his shoulder jovially. The man on the other side of Beau slaps his back as they come down from their fits of laughter.

"Colesy, Colesy Jr., you two need to come out to the bar with us tonight. We were headed there before we ran into you shit-heads. Wanna bounce?" The guy with his arm slung around Finn asks.

"Fuck yeah!" Finn exclaims immediately.

Beau's eyes briefly meet Everett's. For a moment, Everett is hopeful that Beau will decline the offer and dismiss the group so they can go back to eating in peace. However, it seems that his hopes are the only thing being dismissed.

"Sure, why not," Beau says as he backs his chair away from the table and stands up.

Their friends continue to cheer as they join him in getting up. Finn turns to look at his mom guiltily. "Sorry, mom. Is it cool if we duck out early?"

Mrs. Coleman forces a tight-lipped smile at her youngest son. "That's fine. You three boys have fun," she says pointedly looking at Everett.

"Oh yeah. Fowler, do you wanna come with?" Finn asks him sincerely with wide eyes.

Flicking his own eyes over to Beau, Everett sees that his back is turned as he talks to one of the guys. Everett's ears are ringing and he feels as if he's watching himself have this conversation from an outsider's point of view. Looking back at Finn, he says, "I'm actually pretty tired. I'll probably head back with Mrs. Coleman," he turns to her, "if that alright with you, ma'am."

Mrs. Coleman gives him a sad smile. "Of course, that's alright with me." Everett can't even muster his own forced smile back at her.

"Let's get out of here, boys!" Someone indistinguishable from the group shouts. They shuffle towards the front of the diner. Beau quickly glances at Everett over the heads surrounding him. There is concern in his eyes.

If he's really worried, he wouldn't leave me.

Everett can't help the bitter thought from infiltrating his mind.

-

"Hey, Fowler," Finn whispers as he stands above the air mattress.

Everett rubs his eyes and squints up at him. "Yeah?" He croaks out while sitting up to face the younger man. He sees Beau passed out on the couch next to him with his arm slung over his eyes and his mouth wide open as he snores loudly.

"Can we go for a walk or something? I want to talk to you about.... Stuff." He looks around the room nervously.

"Can it wait until tomorrow? It's the middle of the night," Everett mumbles tiredly. He checks his phone and sees that it's almost three in the morning.

Finn wrings his hands together and shuffles from foot-to-foot. "I really think we should talk now. I'm not sure if we'll be able to get a moment tomorrow before visiting dad."

Everett sighs and slowly gets to his feet. Stretching his arms above his head, he then throws on a sweatshirt that he had taken from Beau a while ago. "Alright, let's go for a walk," he says as he walks towards the door.

They end up at a nearby park.

"You and my brother seemed pretty close back your place in Sinting," Finn says conversationally.

"He's been staying at my house for a couple months now. We've gotten to know each other a little since then," Everett responds hesitantly. "Look—is that all you want to talk about? My friendship with Beau?"

Finn sits on a bench and Everett stands above him. He gestures for Everett to sit next to him so he finally does. Everett looks at him with raised eyebrows, wanting him to get on with it so he can go back to bed.

"Yeah, actually." Finn stares at him earnestly.

Everett slouches back against the cold park bench. "Well.... Go ahead, then," he urges the man to speak. Sighing when he's met with more silence, Everett is about to question Finn again when he finally decides to speak.

"The way he spoke about you to the boys tonight...." He drifts off, contemplating how to finish that thought. Everett suddenly feels himself wake up at the statement. With the way Beau ignored him at the diner, he figures his partner didn't suddenly feel like waxing poetics about him to his old football pals.

"I'm sure he had only positive things to say," Everett huffs out sarcastically. Looking down at the ground, he desperately wants Finn to rip the bandage off.

Finn scratches his head before continuing. "Look, Fowler. I think you're cool. You've been a saint to my douchebag brother and you also seem to really have your shit together-"

"Please just say it already," Everett cuts him off, begging Finn to get to the point.

"The guys were asking him why you're hanging around us. They called you a loser, or whatever. Y'know, dumb high school shit that they can't let go of. I was expecting Beau to defend you since you're pretty good friends now, but he just-" Finn doesn't finish his thought once again.

Still looking down at the ground, Everett simply nods his head. "He didn't defend my honor?" Everett asks and chokes out what's supposed to be a laugh, but sounds more like a sob.

"I'm sorry, Fowler. I don't mean to cause drama or to, like, tattle on my brother or anything. It's just—I needed to let you know that he isn't being as.... kind to you as you've been to him," Finn says gently.

"What did he say about me?" Everett looks up. He needs to know what his partner really thinks of him when he's not around.

Running a hand through his short hair that resembles Beau's dark wavy locks, Finn is noticeably distressed. Everett feels bad that he's putting the young man into such an odd situation, but he needs to know exactly what was said for his own peace of mind.

Finn throws his arms around the back of the bench and stares up at the dark, night sky. "He basically agreed that you're a loser. I was confused and didn't step in after he said that. It was when he tried to lie about his living situation that I set things straight." Everett stares at a swing gently swaying back and forth in the soft breeze.

"I asked him what he was talking about and said that he's bunking with you right now. The guys jeered at him for that. He was drunk and kept telling me to fuck off and that he only stayed on your couch for, like, a night or something. His words started to slur and he was getting really defensive. I honestly couldn't make out much more of what he said, but I think he was trying to say that he had an apartment in Cleveland or some shit."

Everett doesn't respond to this. He feels like he's in a trance as he stares at the squeaky swing in the distance.

"Are you gonna kick him out?" Finn whispers, clearly still on edge.

"I—I don't know what I'm going to do. I guess we'll need to talk about this...." Everett murmurs. His cheeks feel wet and he realizes that he's been silently crying.

He wipes at the tear tracks before standing up. Finn follows slowly after him. "Are you gonna tell him that I was the one who told you all of that?" Finn asks from behind him.

Turning to look at the younger man, Everett replies, "Probably. Do you, uh, not want me to?"

Finn looks sheepish as he runs a hand through his hair once more. "Not really. He's just gonna be pissed at me if he knows that I ratted him out about tonight."

"How do you suggest that I deal with this, then?" Everett asks irritatedly with a hand on his hip.

"I don't know. Do you really need a reason to kick him out? He doesn't deserve an explanation, just be like 'get the fuck outta here' and send him away with a swift kick to the ass," Finn says while making a kicking motion with his right leg.

Not amused by this, Everett crosses his arms over his chest and stares blankly at his partners little brother. "You could subtly suggest that he should start looking for apartments or a new roommate? I don't know, man." Finn also seems frustrated now.

"He's going to have questions. I can't tell him to leave without reason," Everett argues back.

Finn throws his arms up in frustration. "Sure you can! Why do you think you owe him reasoning? You're not married, for God's sake. You're just friends, and honestly, barely even that."

"It's complicated. Fine, whatever. Let's just get back to the apartment." Everett turns away from Finn and in the direction of the Coleman apartment.

"What do you mean 'it's complicated'? Dude, I haven't seen my brother in two years and you obviously seem to know more about him than me at this point. What is going on?" Finn questions in an annoyed tone. He grabs at Everett's shoulder, jolting him back adamantly. Everett nearly falls with the force that he's yanked back.

Glaring at Finn, the younger man removes his hand from his shoulder, but continues to look at him skeptically. "What the fuck, Finn? This is ridiculous. I promise I won't tell your brother anything you told me. Can we please leave now? I'm tired."

Finn doesn't move from where he stands, looking at Everett with furrowed brows. "I don't understand why you care so much. You and Beau have only been living together for a couple months now. Like, I guess he seemed nice to you at your house. He buys you sweets and does grocery runs whenever you ask and he has that weird nickname for you...." He trails off, squinting at Everett as if he's trying to read his mind. Everett feels uncomfortable all of a sudden and shifts from one foot to the other.

"I know I joked about you guys acting like our grandpa and nana, but are you-" Finn looks like he's trying to do rocket science in his head. "You're not, like, together? Right?" He laughs awkwardly.

Horrified by Finn drawing the correct conclusion, Everett just stares at him. His heart is racing and he feels like he's going to throw up.

This is all wrong. So supremely wrong.

Even when Everett thought that he and Beau were happy together, he knew Beau didn't want anyone knowing about them. Now it has become clear that Beau is even afraid of people thinking that the two of them are friends. Everett doesn't want to think about what Beau would say if he found out that his brother knows that they have a thing.

Everett feels like he's going to faint. Clearly, that comes across to Finn whose arms fall limp at his side. "You and Beau? Huh...." Finn appears to be taking in that information.

"Well, okay. Uh, obviously this is a little surprising to me," Finn eventually spits out.

Everett's voice cracks as he says, "Finn, please. It's not what you're thinking. I'm going to suggest to Beau that he finds a new place to stay. You can't tell him anything—any of this."

"Dude. Fowler. I don't know what to say here, man." Finn is at a loss for words.

Shaking from the cool air and anxiety, Everett hears himself mutter, "I'm going back to your apartment. I promise I'll leave as soon as I can. This—this has all been a giant disaster."

He doesn't let Finn get another word in this time. Instead, he speed walks back to the apartment and waits by the front door until Finn appears behind him and silently unlocks the door to the lobby where they take the stairs up to the fifth floor. They don't speak as Finn disappears into his bedroom and Everett sits back down on the air mattress.

Holding his head in his hands, Everett tries to steady his breathing.

Tomorrow, he needs to drop his partner off at prison where he will talk to his dying father. Then he will take him back to the house where he will tell him that he needs to find a new place to live.

At long last, Everett will be alone in his big house. It seems like that's what was meant to be all along. Everett will continue on with the divorce and then live out the rest of his lonely life.

He can't help but let out a broken laugh.

Once a loser, always a loser.