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Another successful night of Saturday Night Dead called for some friendly drinks and chatter at the bar. The bar was pretty full already, and the Pine Guard had taken a booth against the wall. Duck took the side with Aubrey, Aubrey forcing him to take the seat closest to the wall because she “always has to pee after drinking!”For about twenty minutes, everything is going swimmingly. Then the door to the bar swings opens and through it is the leader of the local renegades– the fit form of Hollis moves through the door frame, half shaven yellow hair tousled from the windy conditions. They’re grinning, their shoulders rolling from laughter from a joke the Pine Guard can’t hear, and then as if the presence of the biker gang wasn’t enough, someone that Ned hadn’t seen for a few weeks.Boyd Mosche clapped Hollis on the back as he walked in the bar, his salt and pepper hair equally as tousled from the weather conditions. His eyes were crescents from his grin, and Ned had to focus on his beer to not get caught up in them. He was wearing a leather jacket, a Hornet’s insignia on his shoulder.Duck and Aubrey didn’t seem to pay attention to their entrance, but they did notice the way Ned tensed. His shoulders became rigid and his tan skin a few shades paler than usual. When Ned acknowledge his friends were staring straight at him, heat crawled from his the back of his neck to his cheeks rapidly. “Whoa, Ned. You okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”Ned looked at the both of them with an exasperated expression before taking his beer and taking a long swig. His eyes couldn’t help but drift to Boyd who was moving over to the bar, grabbing a barstool and sitting as he waved his hand at the bartender. Aubrey followed his eyes with ease, nudged Duck and directed his gaze too.“Ooo, are you distracted by Mr. Tall Dark and handsome over there? He’s a little rough looking, which is weird because I always thought you’d be more into someone who…” Aubrey tried to think of the proper words. “Always saw Ned settlin’ with a twink myself…” Duck drawled out, sipping his own mug. Ned gave a loud guffaw of embarrassment, and then immediately lowered his voice. “You May like twinks, but I like my men with a little meat on their bones!” He announced in a whisper.Aubrey tilted her head, her eyebrows furrowing for a moment. Ned glanced to make sure Boyd didn’t notice him talking, and was relieved to find at the most he turned his head slightly to follow the sound and then was quickly absorbed into a conversation. “Why are you whispering? Wait, holy shit. Do you know that guy?” Aubrey couldn’t help the grin that crossed her face. She immediately pounced on the concept. “Ohhhh my God, Ned, you totally know him!!” “Aubrey, shhh! The last thing I need is for—“Aubrey continued to berate him with questions, and Duck cleared his throat for a moment and tapped his mug with his forefinger. “Uhhh, Ned, he’s lookin’ right at you, partner.” At once, both Ned and Aubrey’s gaze snapped to look at Boyd.Boyd’s eyes were half lidded and he was staring straight at Ned, sitting at the bar with his knees spread out and a glass of whiskey in his hand. He had a curious expression, and seemed entirely separate from the conversation around him with the other Hornets. Ned swallowed thickly, knowing as a younger man that having Boyd state at him so expectantly would’ve had him gliding across the room at lightning speed.Ned turned red and then focused on his beer. The cold of the mug cemented him in his seat, and he ignored any notion of interacting with Boyd Mosche even in the slightest. He sipped his alcohol nervously, feeling his dark eyes bearing into his soul.Aubrey leaned towards Duck, whispering. “Oh my god I feel like I could cut this tension with a knife. Is it a hate state or a seductive stare.” Duck took a swig of his beer before answering simply. “It’s both, Aubrey.” Ned shot them both a pointed look. “ I can hear you! You’re not helping!”What also wasn’t helping was the tap of shoes across the wooden floor. Ned could hear them get closer and closer until finally a shadow casted long over the booth. Aubrey tried to hide her excitement over a long sip of her drink.“Go away, Mosche.” Ned attempted, but two broad hands planted themselves on the table. Aubrey and Duck scooted their drinks to be away from the line of fire. “C’mon, Ned. I’m not here but to check in on an old friend, can’t I at least have that?”Duck looked immediately uncomfortable, as if weighing that now as a mortal man if he could tell Boyd to fuck off without getting his fleshy ass kicked. He wanted to be a good friend, really, but he was just a dude. On the other hand, Aubrey really wanted to interfere, but she was tipsy and this was the most exciting thing she’d seen all night. Sorry Ned.“Listen, Boyd.” Ned began, followed by a quick quip from the taller man. “Ooo, I get the honor of a first name now? Will you eventually be calling me darl—“ Ned immediately flushed. Aubrey sipped her drink and basked in the drama. “What do you want, Boyd?” Ned slid his beer away and looked at Boyd with a glare, his fingers rapping against the table.Boyd paused for a moment, as if considering his options. Then he flashed a smile, a less snarky smile, a smile that seemed strangely genuine smile that made Ned’s heart do a flip. “I wanted to ask you to have a drink with me.” Ned didn’t know if it was the alcohol, or the fifteen years of pining for a man that wasn’t there pushing him to agree, but he wrinkled his nose and looked at his hands for a moment before nodding. It was a small nod, stiff and awkward, but still a nod.Boyd grinned and offered his hand. Ned immediately noticed the ring. Ned allowed himself a smile, and took Boyd’s palm into his own.One drink wouldn’t hurt, right?
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
After receiving a few texts from Aubrey that there was an emergency Pine Guard meeting, he had hurriedly parked his van in the lot of the Lodge and moved quickly through the lot into through the Amnesty Lodge front door.
Immediately he was thrust into complete darkness, there was the sound of rustling and some muffled giggles. The giggles were immediately shushed by what sounded like a deep feminine country accent. “One… two…” Ned recognized this voice immediately, the light lilt of Aubrey’s voice piercing for the darkness.
“Surprise!!” In the middle of the room, a cake was illuminated by fire on candles, sparking to life without anyone having to use a lighter. The words, “Happy Birthday Ned!” Were decorated across the top in colorful letters, and holding the cake was none other than a smiling Duck Newton, his face having an orange glow cast over it from the light of the birthday cake.
Someone in the back threw on the actual lights, and Ned’s entire demeanor changed. His shoulders went from stiff, his arms raised in a defensive position slouched and his brows raised. He blinked a few times before awkwardly stating. “It’s my
birthday?
”
“Duh! It’s the day you told me, remember?” Aubrey chimed, walking towards him briskly and taking his broad hands in her own. Her expression crinkled into a worried one. “Did you… did you forget?” Aubrey asked, and Ned immediately remedied it by laughing jovially. “What? Forgot? Of
course
not dear Aubrey, I remember! Was just pulling your leg, is all.” The answer satisfied her, and she pulled him towards the couch with Duck following closely behind.
The rest of the afternoon was full of merriment and laughter. Ned was able to relax, sharing stories about his youth ( the non traumatizing bits, of course ) with splendor. Yet the whole time he felt strangely out of place, as if this should be a party for somebody else besides himself.
He sat on the couch, each lodge member presenting him with colorfully wrapped presents. Some of them were simple gifts, like gift cards, but others were really considerate. Aubrey sat besides him and slung an arm around him as she showed off a tiny box. It was brightly wrapped, with a big stick on red glossy bow on top. Ned stares at it for a moment, his eyes scanning over it before shaking it slightly. Aubrey grinned, “You won’t figure out what it is that way! Cmon, open it!”
Ned never was a delicate man, but he gently removed the wrapping and bow with careful consideration. He managed to remove the wrapping with only slight tears, and was greeted by a small white box. He removed the top, and found a colorful bracelet with a pine tree charm. “Duck! Show him yours!” Duck, who was sitting in the recliner besides them raised his arm and showed off an equally colorful bracelet. Ned felt his heart tighten, then swell. His chest was fluttering with an emotion he hadn’t felt in a really long time.
He felt, for the first time that afternoon, that he was supposed to be to be there. He picked up the bracelet from the box and put it on his wrist. It felt like it was supposed to be there. It fit perfectly around his hand, and he raised his palm towards the light to get to see it better. “Do you like it?” Aubrey chirped happily. “Aubrey, I… I love it.” Ned’s voice had lost its volume, it came out as a soft whisper flooded with awe.
“Wonderful! It’s basically like, an ultimate friendship bracelet? Since we’re all basically best friends now, right?” The word stuck. Best friends. His stomach fluttered with excitement at the very words. “Yeah! Why, of course we are.” Aubrey couldn’t have looked happier at the response.
The drive home was easier than the drive there. He felt oddly happy, but in a strangely vulnerable kind of way. He clenched the wheel tightly as he pulled into the lot, ready to go home and process everything that had happened.
He walked to the door and opened it up, walking through the empty Cryptonomica in the same familiar way he did every time he came home. However, he heard the sound of a familiar, “Duuuuuck!” From upstairs which he followed towards his kitchenette.
He went up the stairs, a small smile on his face from Billy’s bleating. He walked to the kitchen, and was greeted by nothing. Just the countertop and an unopened bottle of wine on the countertop. Ned walked in, about to peek behind the countertop before Boyd, holding Billy steady under arm to prevent him from moving popped up from behind it. “Happy Birthday!” was mixed with “Pizza!”
Ned pauses for a moment, his expression surprised. The feeling that had been building inside his chest the whole day reached a breaking point, and Ned immediately felt tears brim in the corners of his eyes. His face heated up, and he immediately turned his face downwards, forcing a smile as he shakily said. “Wow!”
This, however, could not hide the trembling of his shoulders. It could hide the way his body shook as tears formed thick in his eyes and ran down down from his lashes all the way to his nose and dripped off from the tip. He covered his eyes in embarrassment, his throat tight and his chest constricted.
“Pizza?” Billy bleats curiously. Boyd noticed the posture of his husband and rushed to his side, grabbing him in his arms and holding him close. Ned continued to be hunched over, covering his watery eyes to try to hide his weeping with a rigid posture and keeping himself half folded. Boyd ran his hands over his trembling back, “Ned, Ned… why are you crying?”
Ned choked down a sob, “I’m not! It’s… it’s an illusion of the eye… I just need to go to bed, I’m
tired
.” Ned assured him, but his voice was crumbly. He gently pushed at Boyd to move away from him, but Boyd held him steady. “I’m here, it’s okay. What happened?” Boyd assured him, allowing Ned to stay bunched up in his arms as long as he could just hold him.
“The… the Lodge made me a party too.” Ned said softly, his arms slowly wrapping around Boyd. His voice was thick and his arms shook a little. “Didn’t… didn’t even remember today was my birthday. But they did. What… what the hell…” Ned’s voice got loud for a moment, as if he wanted to scream. But instead it just became one small whisper as he clutched his tear stained face. “… it just doesn’t feel like it should be real, you know? I mean seriously. Me?”
Boyd paused for a moment, his mouth agape as he stared at the vulnerable form of his husband. He grabbed onto Ned’s face, moving his hands from his eyes and taking his weepy tear covered cheeks in his hand. He kissed away his oncoming tears, and smiled in his sincere genuinely Boyd way. The same way that no matter what mood Ned was in, always made his heart skip a beat and the butterflies he thought he’d left behind in the crush phase come back as a whole flock. “Ned, you deserve this. You have to get that you do. We all love you, Ned.”
Ned looked at him with dark watery eyes and blinked away the last of his tears. A small smile crossed his lips, and he pressed his forehead against Boyd’s. “I… I love you too, Boyd.”