Plus One S2 - Chapter 2: Home, bitter home

[deedee_sims]

Warnings: Rhett having sexual thoughts, Callum, fluff to compensate Callum, bad family dynamics, the boys being half naked for a whole scene



"I'm sorry," I whimper. Fuck, I'm the worst boyfriend ever. He literally just said that I shouldn't push Max, and I do the same to him.
"It's okay-"
"Please don't break up with me."



"What?" he asks confused, but then his eyes turn soft. "Look, it's okay, just... don't do it again."
"I won't!" I promise him.



He lets out a sigh, scoots closer, and takes my hand. It's warm against my skin.
"I know we're not very good at this communication thing, but we need to do this right. I'm sorry I got angry. I overreacted."



"It's okay, I deserved it."
"No, you just wanted to help." He smiles at me, reassuringly. "But you need to listen to me before you do something that affects me, okay?"
"I'm sorry," I repeat, pulling him closer.



We sit like this for a bit, and I promise myself again that I won't do something like this again.
Then my stomach lets out a loud rumble which makes Olls laugh.



"Um... what is your opinion on oriental food?"

***



"What's in that bag?"
"Huh?" He blinks, then looks at the thing. "I just bought chocolate for your mother and a bottle of wine for your father."



"I thought I'm getting that chocolate!" I complain, which earns me an eyeroll.



He reaches into the bag and gets out a candy bar. "This one is for you."



"Watcher, you're too nice," I state, my mind going to weird places. I lick my lips theatrically. "I'd do very filthy things with you if we weren't already dressed."
He blushes bright red, and turns away, arranging the contents of the bag.



"Are you nervous?"
"Of course, I am," he says. "They're your parents. I want to make a good impression."
"You couldn't make a bad impression, even if you tried, babe."



"I hope!" He laughs nervously.
There's really not much to hope here, he's way too good, probably too good for me, I realize with a start. He's kind, he's smart, he's polite and adorable. I'm pretty sure my parents would trade me for him, at any given time.



"Alright, I think I'm ready," he says finally and grabs the bag.



We meet Mom and Dad (and Callum, unfortunately) in front of our building. Olls makes his polite introductions (Mom seems to like him already), then we're off.

***



The ceremony goes as it goes; everyone gets on the podium, shakes some hands, gets off the podium. Very exciting.



At least I have this thing now, and that's something. What I'm going to do with it, or generally, with my life, I have absolutely zero clues. I know what I definitely don't want to do, and that's a start.
But still. Thinking about my future is not the most pleasant thing, I have to admit. I'm not good at anything. Ugh. I decide to stop thinking about it. For now.



"I had no idea, your middle name is Nathaniel," Olls says when I join him and my family after the ceremony.
"Thank Watcher! It's a shitty name, anyway."
Olls shrugs, confused. "I think it's a decent name?"



"Well, it's not," I say, which earns me a puzzled look. "Rhett, though, it's a nice name. It's easy, short, and sounds good. If you say Rhett, it's like, hey, I'm a charming person! But Nathaniel? It smells like old money and privileged bastards. You can't say, I'm a Nathaniel, without people thinking, oh, that rich asshole, I know them!"
At this point, Olls' eyebrows almost reach his hairline.



"I refuse to associate with such a name, and such a reputation." I finish expressing my opinion, firmly.
"Al...right." That's all he says, before getting gently shoved away by my own dear mother.



"Rhett, baby, can you stand here a bit? I want to take a couple of pictures!"



And what else can I do than stand here, with a forced smile, showcasing my useless degree?
Life's great, isn't it?



At least I have Olls, who's watching me with a small smile.
Mom notices that I'm not looking at the camera anymore.



"Come on, Oliver, stand there you too!"
"M-me?"
"Yes!"



Olls hums and comes here. We wrap our arms around each other. Mom suddenly looks much more satisfied with her photography.



"Aw, look at you two!" she coos.



Well, we look at each other. He blushes a bit, and I can't wipe the smile off my face.

***



Two people in fancy aprons serve our three-course dinner - I quickly tell Olls that no, we don't usually have people to serve our food, it's just a special occasion.
It's tasty anyway. Not as good as Olls' spicy chicken, but it's not bad.



Mom and Dad start making small talk with him, asking all kinds of stuff about him. Dad can really sugarcoat his interrogations, but I see right through him.
"And what do you study, Oliver?" Dad asks.



"Computer science. Programming, and stuff."



I know that certain look of my father, and I don't like it. "We always need developers."
"Dad! We didn't come here to recruit my boyfriend!"
"I know you're not interested in the family business, but he can be."



My stomach clenches. Here's that neatly packaged jab, that look, others are much more open to following the right path than you. You're the rogue one. But I really can't do anything else, when business stuff is just so fucking boring.



"It'll take a couple years until I graduate," Olls says, unaware of the storm inside my head, but soothing it anyway.



"It's alright. Studying is the most important thing. Rhett could find a use of a master's degree."
Dad shoots me a glance. Oh, here we are. "Callum will finish next year."



Callum just smirks at me mockingly. Suddenly I have trouble swallowing the next bite of my food.



"He's a great help at work too!" Dad continues casually. "I think he'll have a fruitful career at the company!"
Like I haven't heard enough times how amazing my dear brother is.
"Thanks, Dad, I'm trying my best!" Callum beams and I remind myself that I need to keep it together.
It's not like I haven't expected it to go down like this, but still. I'm about to excuse myself to the bathroom when Mom addresses me.



"And how are you doing, baby? You visit us so rarely!"



"I'm fine, Mom, busy with... relationship stuff." I look at Olls, who smiles back at me. "Busy admiring my wonderful boyfriend, and such."



"Aw, Rhett, you became awfully cheesy since you learned to stick it into only one hole," Callum smirks.
"Callum, watch your mouth!" Mom says.
I really try to keep myself from retorting, but-



"At least I stick it to other places, than my own hand."



"Boys, stop!"
This time, I manage to shut my mouth, and Callum stays quiet as well. Only his eyes shoot deadly sparks towards me.
Olls' hand squeezes my knee firmly under the table, and I suddenly feel something blooming in my chest.



I tear my gaze away from my brother to look at him, but he's looking at Callum, frowning.
And that's when it hits me: I have an ally.
Somewhere in my mind I just know that no matter what others say, he will be on my side. I haven't felt like this about anyone for a while now.



The rest of the dinner passes quietly, the tension still lingering around.



"Alright," I break the silence when I get up. "I'll show Oliver around."

***



I do as I say, showing Olls all the rooms, and places around the house. He seems puzzled when I show him the numerous living rooms. I assume he's never seen such a big house. And now I feel bad for taking it for granted for years. Ugh.



He stops in front of a picture of Mom.
"I didn't know your mother was a beauty queen?"



"What do you think, from where I inherited my prettiness!?" I wink at him. "But honestly, it's the most basic love story, they have. A model, slash, beauty queen, a young entrepreneur. They met at some charity event." I shrug.



He smiles up at me, putting his arm around my waist. "You don't need a fancy love story to be happy."
"Pouring your infinite wisdom, are you?" I smirk and pull him closer. "Does that mean... you're happy with me?"



"Yes," he whispers, his cheeks getting rosy.



I kiss him while my heart does weird things in my chest.



"Alright," he starts after we finally pull away. "Show me the rest of the house, because we won't finish today at this rate."
Oh, cheekiness looks very good on him. I find it hard to let him go from my embrace. "As you wish!"



"And this is yet another living room! This one has the piano, where Callum practices," I explain, stepping into the bright room. "We could call it a music room, but there isn’t any other music here, so. It could be the piano room, but it sounds weird as well."



"Can you play for me?"
Olls looks at me so fondly, I have no choice, but to surrender.



I sit down on the bench, in front of the piano.
"Sit here!" I pat the bench beside me. It’s tight, but I’m definitely not going to complain about him sitting his side fully pressed to me.
I play some random chords, just to warm up my fingers.



"You realize this is very sexy?" Olls tells me, with a slight red tint to his cheeks.
"Well, I do hope I don’t look like a complete fool!"



I take a deep breath, and I start playing the first song that comes to my mind, which is Clarity. First, I have to concentrate on hitting the right notes, but then it comes back to me like muscle memory. It somehow feels like coming home, the melody filling my ears as my fingers slide effortlessly on the keys. I’m not gonna admit it, but I kinda missed this.



I startle a bit, getting out of my haze, when Olls puts his hand on my thigh, looking properly mesmerized by the whole thing. I smirk and start singing.



"You are the piece of meaaaaat, I wish I didn’t eaaaaaat!"
"Um, I’m pretty sure that’s not the actual lyrics."
I stop playing, to look at Olls, who’s frowning very cutely. "You listen to Zedd?"



"What? No!" he says and starts blushing.
"Oh my Watcher, you listen to Zedd!"
"I don’t!"



"Olls! This is wonderful! You have some taste in music!"
"There’s nothing wrong with my taste in music!" he protests, red as a beet.
I can’t stop laughing.



"Alright," I say as I stand up (Olls looks devastated when he sees this). "Let's find our beloved dog!"

***



"Oh, my Watcher!" Olls squeaks and I can't stop myself from laughing at his expression once again.
Fluffy trots closer to us, first sniffing me, and demanding pats (of course, I surrender), then moving on to Olls.



"Hi!" he says to her and starts stroking her head. "Watcher, her fur is so soft!"
"That's why her name is Fluffy!"
"She's adorable!"



"Even more than me?"
"Definitely," he says without thinking, moving on to scratch her ears. She rewards it with the most adoring expression she can muster.
"Traitor. Both of you."
But Olls doesn't care about me anymore.
"Who's a good girl? Who's the best girl? Yes, it's you!"



Miss Fluffy starts licking his face, and he bursts out laughing.



"She likes you!" I declare. "I mean who wouldn't like you?"
He doesn't look at me but turns a little pink on the cheeks.



"Wanna play with the ball?" I wave her toy in front of her, which earns her attention.
"Look at her tail!"



"Do you want to throw it?" I offer the ball to Olls.
"Oh no, me and balls don't get along."
I wiggle my eyebrows. "That's not what I noticed."
"You know what I mean!" he grunts.
"Please elaborate!"



"Ugh. Well, back in high school the P.A. teacher prohibited me from throwing anything after I hit several people including him with baseball one time."
"Oh my!" I burst out laughing. That's so him.
"I still have no idea how I passed P.A. He probably just rewarded my persistence or something."



A sudden affection towards him rushes through me and I pull him closer. "You're so cute!"
"Rhett."



"Baby." I place a kiss on his forehead.
That's when I notice that Fluffy is scratching my leg, clearly still waiting for the ball.



"Alright, there you go!"

***





Olls finally comes out of the bathroom, only wearing a towel. I throw my phone aside.
"Hey, sexy!"



He turns around confused. "M-me?"
"Of course you!" I laugh and reach for him.



He obediently sits on my lap, and I pull him closer into a kiss.
That he breaks earlier than I want him to.



"I want to talk about something before we do this."
I let out an involuntary whine. I can't believe my own boyfriend is cockblocking me. I continue kissing his neck.



"Rhett."
I sigh and give up on my current activity. His face is serious. Huh.



But now that he has the opportunity, he seems to be struggling with what he wants to say. I'm getting worried here, not gonna lie.
"Are they always like this?"



I'm confused. "What do you mean?"
"Your parents. They didn't even praise you once for getting a degree!"
Oh. "Don't mind them. It's just the bare minimum I could've done, really."



"It's not the bare minimum!" he says firmly. "They should be proud of you! I'm proud of you!"
"Baby. You already said that."
"It doesn't make me any less proud!"



I bury my face into his neck, because fuck, I don't think I can handle any more emotions right now. "You're too good for this world."
"It's the bare minimum I can do."
"Cheeky," I chuckle. "Can we move on to the woohoo part?"
"No."
"Ugh."



He touches my chin, feather-light. It feels like we're gazing into each other's eyes for eternity. He's so beautiful.
"You're not your brother, and don't even try to be him, because I'm glad you're not him."



Fuck. He's saying all these things, meanwhile, he has no idea. He doesn't know how many times I heard that I should be like Callum. How many times he was the perfect son, and I'm the... Whatever, I don't want to think about these things now while Olls is sitting on my lap all pretty, and almost naked.



"It's because he's straight as fuck?" I say it instead.
"No, because he seems like a stuck-up bootlicker."



I burst out laughing, I can't help myself. He smirks at me, and all I want to do is to kiss him, so I do.



And it's not like anything else matters when he's here, in my arms.



"Can we finally move on to the woohoo part?" I whine.
"Just one more thing."
"Ugh."
He bites his lip, and I can't stop my eyes from wandering here. His lips are a bit red, and I feel a desperate urge to kiss him again.



"You know you can talk to me?"
"That's what we're doing now, no?"
"No, I mean yes, but..." He shakes his head a bit, and I watch a loose red strand hitting his face. "Not like this, but you can talk to me. About other things. Stuff that's bothering you, or something."



I smile at him. "Nothing is bothering me, when you're here," I say, and I want to believe it's true.



"Rhett... It's okay if you don't want to talk about it right now, but... if you want to... I mean... talk about stuff you usually don't talk about. I'm here."
I sigh. I wish it was that easy to talk about things, but I guess I can try.

---
Me: trying to shove Zedd's Clarity into the playlist of every story I ever write

Anyway! I hope you enjoyed chapter two! As usual, we have a voting! See, Rhett's opening up, but he's not ready to talk about everything yet... so please choose and vote HERE! (I know this is a little lame, but I had to cut the chapter somewhere XD) I will close the voting in two weeks, on the 11th of September!

I admit I really like the fluffy scenes of this chapter! Especially Miss Fluffy! A very good girl, indeed! But also the talk scene... they talk! *throws confetti*

Turns out that I'll have to build some more sets for the next chapter, so again, dunno when it'll be up... But I'll be working on it when I can, of course!

Thank you for reading! Please leave your thoughts anywhere, I'd love to read them! :)