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Chapter Text

David’s father had always described the area where he had often spent summers as a child as sleepy. But as David drove through mile upon mile of woods nestled between lakes, periodically coming upon small towns that were either deserted or hopelessly tourist-trappy, David found himself wishing that the entire region would stay asleep. Or else that he would wake up from whatever this nightmare was.

“Your father wants someone to pick out the house in person, and you have such an eye for these things, David,” his mother had insisted a few days previously. “It will be such a delightful surprise for his birthday!”

“And how is this a surprise if he literally already knows about it?” David had replied, rolling his eyes.

His mother had waved away his concerns. “It’s just a quick sojourn in the mountains. It will do you such good. You have a wan and pallid look about you from all the time in the city.”

David had wanted to snap back that his mother had never set foot in mountains outside a few trips to chalets where the “mountains” were at most a backdrop to a spa and some quality gossip, but he knew it wouldn’t do any good.

“And besides David, you do have the time.” His mother had stared at him reproachfully.

David had glared at her and stormed out of the room.

She hadn’t been wrong, that was the worst part. David did have plenty of time, and it was his own fault.

His gallery had been doing well, but, in a series of bad decisions following one of his most disastrous break-ups to date, David had sold the gallery and holed up in his apartment until a rare visit from Alexis had brought the attention of his family down on him, landing him back home until he figured out what to do next.

Which left him free to be roped into his mother’s (really his father’s) latest plan: finding a new vacation house in the lake region where his father had stayed as a child. His father was far more nostalgic than any of the rest of them, which David had never particularly paid attention to, but now that he was being thrown into the fire, David was more than a little bit annoyed about it.

But David had agreed, begrudgingly, as a favor. A four-hour drive into the woods. Two days looking at houses. Four hours home. Annoying, yes, but not the worst thing David had ever done on a Tuesday by any means.

So here he was, driving into the middle of nowhere to meet with some real estate agent and see some possible houses because his father didn’t trust pictures and his mother wanted an excuse to get him out of the house. Part of him wished he’d stayed wallowing in New York when Alexis had insisted he come home to regroup, but it was a little freeing to be away from the city, and the regular texts from friends asking if he would be back for this or that event made him feel wanted and could certainly ensure a positive reception for him when he finally returned.

As the road he was on again let out into a small town, this one on the less tourist-y side of things, looking more like a place where families would actually settle down and live rather than a location for a summer home, David’s phone alerted him to the close proximity of the real estate office where he was meeting the agent who was apparently going to show him around properties while he was here. David’s father had done all the communication with the realtor about houses so far, so all David had was a name, Patrick Brewer, and a meeting time, which David was already half an hour late for.

David was suitably annoyed by the time he pulled into the parking lot of a generic-looking strip mall with signs advertising a travel agency, photography studio, inexplicably a closet organization business, and, at the end, a real estate office.

David sighed as he got out of the car, stretching his legs and adjusting his sweater. Better get this over with.

He walked through the door into a very small office, a few mismatched chairs for a waiting room and two desks, partly obscured by cubicle walls, one empty but piled high with papers, and the other immaculately organized and occupied by a brown-haired man who looked up at David with wide eyes as he entered.

“Patrick Brewer?” David asked hesitantly.

The man’s face broke into a smile as he got up and walked around his desk to greet David. “That’s me. And you must be David Rose. Your dad said you’d be coming.”

“Uh huh,” David replied as he shook Patrick’s outstretched hand, wishing that the realtor hadn’t immediately started with David’s father, who David had spent the better part of his drive complaining about both mentally and out loud to the empty road.

But even his annoyance at the mention of Johnny Rose didn’t fully distract David from Patrick out from behind the desk, rolled up sleeves of a blue button-up showing off his forearms, and jeans that practically screamed not-designer working for him much better than they should have been. He was cute. In a regular, ordinary, small-town, straight guy living up out in the country probably with a wife and maybe a kid sort of way, of course. But cute nonetheless.

“How was the drive up?” Patrick asked politely, as he gestured for David to take the seat across from his at his desk.

“More trees than I think I ever needed to see in my lifetime, thanks,” David replied testily.

Patrick gave a quiet laugh at that, which he quickly tried to cover up behind his hand as David looked at him. “Yeah, it is a lot of trees. But it’s a beautiful area. Your family’s going to love spending time up here.”

David laughed mirthlessly. “You must not know anything about my family if you think we’d love spending time anywhere remotely like this.”

Patrick’s eyebrows raised, seeming a little less open than he’d been before.

David immediately felt bad for his harsh indictment of Patrick’s home. It wasn’t this poor realtor’s fault that David had been railroaded into this. “That says more about my family than it does about this area though,” he added trying to soften his words.

Patrick’s smile, which had disappeared for a moment, came back at that. “Well I suppose I’ll just have to learn some more about your family then. And maybe spending some time up here will help you see that there’s more to it than a lot of trees.”

“Hmm,” David responded noncommittally, though he couldn’t help but feel a little relieved that Patrick hadn’t been too offended.

Patrick’s smile flashed even wider for a moment before he turned down to a stack of papers in front of him. “So I talked to your dad about a few of these, and about price points, but he seemed content to leave it up to you.” He looked back up at David. “So what would you say you’re looking for exactly?”

David rattled off some quick specifications – square footage, number of bathrooms, lot size, Patrick nodding as he wrote it all down – but there was more to finding a house than just search filters, and that’s what David really had to express to Patrick.

“It needs to feel open, but not like a warehouse. Natural but not too close to nature. Some wood is okay. All wood paneling is incorrect.” David wrinkled his nose at the thought. “Private and secluded, but not like I’m going to get murdered if I open the front door. It needs to be beautiful, but the right kind of beautiful. Not superficial, but still imposing. Like you can’t help but stare at it, but it also feels welcoming. But not too welcoming. Oh, and it’s technically my dad’s birthday present, so it should probably somehow remind him of his childhood or something.”

David stopped there finally, allowing Patrick to finish his notes, his face almost seeming amused for some reason.

“Something funny?” David asked perhaps a touch snippier than he needed to be.

Patrick schooled his features into a mask of innocence, only his eyes glinting as he shook his head. “That’s quite a list, David. ‘Welcoming but not too welcoming.’ I’ll have to add that to my search terms.”

“Okay you’re very sure of yourself, and I don’t think I appreciate it.”

Patrick grinned at him for a moment before he returned to the listings in front of him, pulling out a few papers and handing them to David. “I figured we could start with these since they’re fairly local, and we can get a better sense of what you’re looking for.”

“Excuse me, I have a perfectly fine sense of what I’m looking for,” David replied, taking the papers from Patrick.

Patrick didn’t reply, but David thought he heard the smallest hint of a laugh, which he ignored entirely.

On paper, Patrick’s selections looked nice. Lakefront, large, correct in essentials. He’d just have to see in person if they felt right.

“Well these are… acceptable,” he settled on, finally looking up at Patrick again.

Patrick raised his eyebrows, clearly fighting back a smirk. “Acceptable? High praise, David. I can really feel the confidence.” Patrick stood up, gesturing to the door. “Shall we?”

David rolled his eyes but stood up and followed Patrick, who held the door open to let David out first.

It was quickly decided that David would ride with Patrick so he wouldn’t get lost (David had to work hard to ignore Patrick’s pointed comment about “all those trees” to get lost in), so David ended up in the passenger seat of an impossibly incorrect Subaru, though it was, fortunately, as immaculately clean as Patrick’s workspace had been.

They made idle chit chat on the way to the first house, Patrick pointing out local landmarks and giving more information about the area. David couldn’t see anything too exciting about this lake or that lake, but from the way Patrick spoke about all of it, David could tell that Patrick certainly thought there was something special about each little detail of the landscape.

“So did you grow up here?” David asked in response to Patrick’s almost loving description of a hiking trail on a mountain they could see in the distance.

“Sort of,” Patrick replied with a small smile. “I had cousins who lived near here, and I used to spend most of my summers with them. I only moved here myself a year ago. I needed to get out of my hometown, but I didn’t want to cut myself off from everyone, so the half hour from the couple of cousins that still live in the area is pretty perfect.” He shrugged. “And nothing beats the scenery.”

As though to punctuate his point, the woods momentarily opened up around them revealing the wide expanse of a lake, a mountain framed behind it like a postcard picture.

David felt himself staring a little bit. He hadn’t thought he would be impressed by much of anything up here, but this… he hadn’t expected a view like that.

“That’s my favorite lake around here, actually,” Patrick commented with a pleased smile that held the barest hint of smugness. “But the one we’re going to is a bit further on.”

David couldn’t help feeling a bit special for having learned this new information about Patrick.

He probably tells that to everyone, the voice in David’s head told him mockingly, but David ignored it in favor of listening to Patrick talk more about where they were going.

Eventually they arrived at a wide and expansive house that backed onto what Patrick explained was the largest lake in the area that ran nearly the entire way back to town where they’d started.

The house was gorgeous, naturally – wood floors, high ceilings, though certainly more antlers in the décor than David would have preferred (David’s preference was none, and the antler chandelier was a lot). David didn’t love the back deck or the too-small dock, but the small boathouse beside it was a nice touch.

David could practically feel Patrick beside him making notes in his head with every face David made and every detail he noted out loud.

Sometimes Patrick would laugh, but it was never mean. Nothing about Patrick was mean. Teasing, absolutely, but never mean.

He wasn’t David’s type at all, but here David was, paying as much attention to Patrick as he was to the actual house.

“It’s close,” David conceded as he looked around. “But I don’t think this is it.”

“Okay, David. I think you might like the next one a little more,” Patrick agreed with a smile as they finished, his eyes searching but eager, as though David and his lake house needs were a puzzle he was excited to solve.

It was the genuineness of Patrick that David was stuck on. He was actually excited to be working with David to find this house. He was more than happy to share his personal experiences and offer his own comments on location and construction and anything else David had asked his opinion on. He was real. More real than anyone David had ever known.

David, typically surrounded by all manner of friends and acquaintances who were certainly fun and talented, never knew when one of those fun and talented companions would turn around and stab him or anyone else in the back. David knew he had done it himself from time to time, though he could say with a good deal of certainty that he was on the receiving end of those kind of interactions far more than he initiated them.

But here was Patrick, and, yes, he was going to get a significant commission when David found the right house, but he had no customer service voice or apparent need to flatter David. He cared about this.

Something about Patrick was doing it for David, and he realized with a start as Patrick casually joked about local wildlife that David definitely already had a crush on Patrick.

Nothing serious, nothing major, but he was absolutely into whatever Patrick was putting out there. He could tell himself it was his forearms or how good he looked in his jeans (which was so good that it was almost upsetting), but David knew that more than anything it was the mix of kindness and casual teasing that seemed to define Patrick Brewer.

And David already knew this was less than ideal.

David had experienced his fair share of crushes on straight guys, but those typically formed in dark New York clubs where said “straight guys” sometimes really didn’t mind David’s attention, at least for the night. But Patrick, in the daytime, from a rural small town, cute but thousands of times nicer than anyone David had ever met, was different. And infinitely stupider for David to have a crush on.

But here he was.

The next house was an improvement in its outdoor amenities – the deck was spacious and comfortable, and the rocky edge of the lake was picturesque – but David didn’t love the interior floorplan.

Patrick’s searching gaze followed David everywhere, a wide smile, his voice teasing as David continued to complain about the cliché of cabins in the woods that insisted on featuring mountain animals in their décor because the carved bears flanking the fireplace were entirely too much.

“It’s just deer and bears, and I swear to God if there’s a moose in the next house I will fire you on the spot,” David complained gesturing wildly at the offensive statues.

Patrick laughed, his eyes wide and expressive and his smile open as though he had never been quite so amused by someone as he was by David.

David was beginning to recognize a few different Patrick smiles, but he appreciated each and every one of them. With every passing moment they spent laughing together like this, David liked Patrick even more.

The last house was similarly lovely, many of the same things David had liked about the other houses repeating in this one.

As David was closely investigating downstairs closets, Patrick slipped away to vaguely “check something,” and when he returned his eyes were twinkling and he was encouraging David to follow him to a back room in the basement.

“I know you said you’d fire me for a moose, but I’m afraid this might be worse,” Patrick said seriously as he approached a door, never losing the laughter behind his eyes.

He opened it wide for David revealing the largest collection of cat-related miscellany that David had ever seen – pictures and statues and stuffed animals – all crammed into a room that was little more than a crawl space.

“Oh my God.” David stared at the space. “This is so much worse than a moose.”

Patrick dissolved into laughter beside him, and David soon joined in. He was having fun with this. Against all odds, this was the best time he’d had in months.

The pair made their way back out of the basement to investigate the rest of the house, still making comments about the odd shrine they’d disturbed, the only outlier in the otherwise immaculate dwelling.

Eventually they ended up on the back porch, Patrick reassuring David that the current owners would definitely clean out that crawl space before the Roses would get anywhere near the place.

But cats aside, David told himself the house still didn’t feel right. As they stood out looking at the water, David sighed and turned to Patrick. “I know you’re going to make fun of me for this, but I kind of want more trees.”

Patrick’s face broke into a wide and unbelievably smug smile. “Oh David, I can show you so many more trees.”

David had been borderline flirting with Patrick for much of the afternoon, just casually, just because they were laughing together, but this was the first time that David felt like Patrick might actually be flirting back.

David felt his heart leap in his chest just a little bit, and he was grateful for the large clearing around this house that had allowed him to complain about the lack of trees.

He was going to get another day of house hunting with Patrick. Who might have just been flirting with him all along.

They spent the fifteen-minute drive back to the office discussing the different houses as Patrick gave him a rundown of a few properties he wanted them to see the next day, all much further away, closer to the mountains. David found himself minding this particular assignment from his parents much less than he had a few hours ago. He oddly trusted Patrick’s instincts and ideas for this more than he had ever trusted New York City realtors or even any of his gallery collaborators when he’d worked on exhibitions. Patrick was good at his job, and David thought to himself for a moment that even if Patrick hadn’t been adorable and sweet, he would still like him as a realtor (though fortunately Patrick was still both of those things and David’s feelings for him were similarly more than just respect for a smart man his dad had signed a contract with).

“So we’ll meet back here tomorrow and drive up together?” Patrick asked as he pulled back into the parking lot, gesturing for David to follow him back inside to get some information about the houses they would be seeing the next day.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” David agreed following Patrick inside, glad to have an excuse to spend just a little more time together.

The previously unoccupied desk was now very much occupied by a man who immediately bounded out of his seat and started talking to Patrick so quickly that David couldn’t follow the conversation. Something about closing on a house but also somehow about engagement photographs and kayak rentals…? David was lost.

“Hello, Ray Butani,” he said, turning to David mid-sentence and extending a hand.

David took it and introduced himself quickly.

“Yes, of course, you’re Patrick’s biggest client ever,” Ray commented airily. “I offered to take the account myself, but Patrick insisted.” He smiled at Patrick, oblivious to the embarrassment plain on Patrick’s face, before he bid them both goodbye and exited through a side door.

Neither of them spoke for a moment as quiet returned to the office.

“Your biggest client ever?” David asked, his eyebrows raised.

Patrick was still blushing slightly, but he returned to his desk so he didn’t have to look at David. “Um, yeah,” he said would-be-casually. “Normally I do local stuff, people actually coming to live here. Or just renting out summer cabins, that kind of thing.”

“So how’d you end up with us then?”

Patrick looked up at him sheepishly. “Your dad called looking for Ray, but he wasn’t in and when I mentioned I worked at Rose Video in high school your dad asked if I would be able to do this for you guys, and I said yes.”

David stared at him appraisingly. “Well, for what it’s worth, I’m glad I got to spend the afternoon with you rather than Ray. No offense.”

Patrick grinned at him. “I’m glad I got to spend the afternoon with you too, David.”

Something about Patrick’s words felt serious, and David had to look away. He needed to get a grip.

“So where are you staying while you’re in town?” Patrick asked after a moment.

David wrinkled his nose and pulled out his phone. “Some bed and breakfast? Apparently it was the only accommodations about here that wasn’t a motel.” He grimaced.

Patrick laughed at that. “Oh you must be staying at Stevie’s place then! I’m sure you’ll love it. It’s… interesting. Tell her I say hi!”

David narrowed his eyes at Patrick’s use of the word interesting. “Yeah, sure.”

“Here you go, then,” Patrick handed David some print outs about the houses on the agenda for the next day, his business card paperclipped on top. “Actually, wait.” He grabbed back the business card and flipped it over, quickly writing something on the back before he returned it to David. “My cell number. If you want to talk anything over tonight or tomorrow morning.”

David nodded and took the stack from Patrick. “See you tomorrow, then.”

Patrick grinned. “Tomorrow.”

Before David had even had the chance to think more about Patrick and the prospect of spending another day with him, he was already pulling up beside an old and rickety looking bed and breakfast, a weathered looking sign out front reading, horrifyingly, “Budd & Breakfast.” So this was what Patrick had meant by interesting.

He slowly made his way inside with his bags, the interior looking like it hadn’t been updated (or cleaned properly) in the last hundred years. A small desk stood empty in the foyer, and when David pressed the bell to ring for an attendant, it was broken.

“Um… hello?” David called out, looking around at the animal-themed décor, wishing momentarily that Patrick was there for him to complain to.

“Yes?” A dark-haired woman finally appeared through one of the doorways.

“Um, I’m David Rose. I’m supposed to be… staying here tonight.”

“Okay,” the woman replied, not moving.

“Are you Stevie?”

The woman stared at him harder and then walked over to the computer, not answering.

“I’m assuming that means you are Stevie? Patrick says hi.”

An amused smile appeared on Stevie’s face at Patrick’s name. “Oh, so you’re looking at houses up here then?”

“Lake houses,” David clarified. “Vacation homes.”

“Ah.” Stevie replied, her eyebrows raised. “And is Patrick being helpful?”

David couldn’t help the small smile that appeared on his face at Patrick’s name. “Mostly,” he replied perhaps more fondly than was warranted.

Stevie’s eyes lit up just a little bit. “Oh, I see.”

David narrowed his eyes at her, but she didn’t elaborate.

She handed him a key. “Room 7. Upstairs, then down the hall to your left. Breakfast is at 8 or whenever George feels like making it. I’d say you can ask me if you need anything, but I’d really prefer you didn’t.”

David stared at her. “This is your job, isn’t it?”

Stevie shrugged at him. “This is my bed and breakfast; I can do what I want.”

David fought back the urge to comment on the name and the décor, instead just nodding and starting up the steps. Halfway up the flight he stopped and turned to look at Stevie who was still standing there staring at him.

“Is there anywhere to get food around here?”

Stevie shrugged again. “I was going to order a pizza. As a friend of Patrick’s, you can have some if you ask nicely.”

“See, I wouldn’t say friend,” David commented defensively. “He’s my realtor?”

“Aren’t they all,” Stevie replied, her eyebrows moving up and down suggestively.

David turned away to keep walking up the steps, Stevie calling behind him that pizza would get there around 6:30 if he was interested.

He didn’t like what Stevie had insinuated about him and Patrick. David was going to spend literally one more afternoon with him and then basically never see him again.

Patrick had given him his number, but that was for realtor purposes, obviously. And Patrick was straight, for sure, probably a wife somewhere (David hadn’t seen a wedding ring, but that wasn’t a confirmation) or definitely at least a girlfriend. Good, wholesome, nice men like that didn’t not have girlfriends. And even if he didn’t have a girlfriend, nice guys like Patrick definitely don’t do one-time hookups with people like David.

Because David was going to see houses tomorrow, pick one of them, and then go home and that would be it. No more Patrick the cute and funny realtor.

And if that thought made him feel sad, it definitely wasn’t something he was going to think too hard about.

Chapter Text

Sharing fortunately not-terrible pizza with Stevie ended up not being too bad of an experience, especially compared to the prospect of spending time alone in Room 7 which David was half convinced someone had died in, and Stevie’s answers to his questions about it had not made him feel any better about it.

He learned that Stevie had inherited the bed and breakfast (and its unfortunate name) from her great aunt and that she’d lived in town all her life. She didn’t seem to hate it, but that was almost all the place seemed to have going for it.

Eventually David did end up back in his death motel room, feeling better for having eaten, but still appalled by the motel décor.

On impulse, he took a picture of the actual taxidermy squirrel that sat prominently on the dresser and texted it to Patrick with the simple caption: Why?

Patrick texted him back almost immediately. I’m assuming this is David. And now I’m worried that you might not like the rustic hunting lodge I’m showing you tomorrow.

Excuse me??? David replied indignantly, rifling through the papers Patrick had given him earlier.

Kidding ;) came Patrick’s response. I think I know you better than that.

David rolled his eyes but he felt himself smile a little bit. He liked that Patrick knew him, just a little bit.

I was thinking I should pick you up tomorrow. Stevie’s is on the way. Patrick texted again.

David replied his assent to the plan and a few more complaints about the Stevie’s great aunt’s decorating before Patrick bid him goodnight and said he would see him tomorrow.

David was already looking forward to it.

Of course what he hadn’t been looking forward to (or even thinking about) was Stevie’s face when she followed him out the door the next morning to say hi to Patrick, the pair trading a few comments at David’s expense before Patrick turned away to get back in the car, Stevie staring at David pointedly, her eyebrows raised.

David turned away and got in the car, grateful that he wouldn’t have to see her for more than a couple minutes when he checked out after he and Patrick got back.

Patrick was practically beaming as he asked David how his night was, and David finally was able to release all the criticisms he’d been saving up about everything from the taxidermy animals to the ancient wallpaper.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

“But David, you said you wanted some nature in your new lake house?” Patrick pointed out, his eyes glinting.

David shook his head immediately. “I said ‘natural but not too close to nature.’ Local taxidermy should not be involved.”

“No taxidermy, no hunting lodges, I’m assuming no log cabins?” Patrick listed off, amused.

“You’d be correct. They’re either old and gross or tacky.”

Patrick shrugged. “I should show you my aunt and uncle’s cabin back closer to where I’m from. You might change your mind.”

David raised his eyebrows at the insinuation that Patrick would take him back to his hometown, but Patrick didn’t seem to think anything of it, so David had to assume Patrick just meant pictures and not the overnight trip that David’s imagination was running with.

David asked Patrick about his family, and he learned a bit more about Patrick’s childhood hiking and swimming and kayaking and all those things that David had never really been partial to. Patrick, in turn, asked David about his family, and David told him about Alexis and his parents and his dad’s stories of childhood lake vacations that David wasn’t entirely sure weren’t made up.

He and Patrick fought about music when the only station Patrick’s radio would get was some bluegrass station that David dubbed “mountain man music,” fully offending Patrick who apparently played bluegrass music on occasion with a local group of musicians, though he did admit that some of them were mountain men and he preferred folk music to bluegrass when given the option.

It was fun, their lighthearted back and forth. David couldn’t fathom a world in which Patrick would be interested in him beyond a general curiosity, but he appreciated the little he was getting here. Trading lighthearted barbs with a friend was not a common occurrence in New York and certainly not back at his parents’ house. Patrick was different in this, as he was in everything else.

Forty-five minutes later, Patrick pulled up at the first of two houses they were looking at today. This one, as promised, had significantly more trees, too many in fact, and when David pointed that out to Patrick, Patrick had just grinned widely and commented that it was called a forest for a reason.

“Animals live in the trees, Patrick! I’m not ready to be eaten by a bear.”

“Someday, though,” Patrick replied with a solemn nod.

David tried to roll his eyes convincingly as a fought back a smile.

They headed back to the car, Patrick trying to get David to give an exact number of trees that would really be ideal, while David determinedly ignored him.

“The next one’s pretty nice,” Patrick said as they got closer, his voice sounding the least enthusiastic it had all day, to David’s confusion. “I think you’re really going to like it actually.” He seemed almost reluctant, which didn’t make any sense at all.

David didn’t comment on Patrick’s odd tone, but as they pulled up a driveway, he saw that Patrick was right. This was easily the closest thing to David’s imaginary ideal lake house.

“Oh it looks… really nice,” he said as they got out of the car and walked to the front porch. David was surprised to hear something like disappointment in his voice. He should have been excited. If he found a house, he could go back home and get away from the bed and breakfast and its judgey proprietor.

But he’s also be leaving Patrick, and that he was definitely less than thrilled about.

Their usual running commentary was a bit more subdued as they walked through the house. David pointed out a few design choices he wouldn’t have made, which brought a small smile to Patrick’s face, but also comments that technically David could fix anything he didn’t like before they brought in furniture. Patrick wasn’t wrong; the Rose family had enough money to throw at anything and make this almost perfect house perfect. The only thing money couldn’t fix was the view, and David found his heart sinking as they walked out on the back deck and found just the right amount of trees and a view second only to the first lake he and Patrick had driven by the day before.

“I knew you’d like this one,” Patrick said, his smile wistful now. “I can get in touch with the seller’s agent and start on the paperwork.”

David stared out at the lake for another moment, deciding. “Actually.” He turned around to Patrick who was staring at him, something like hope behind his eyes. “I’m not sure this is the right one. It’s close, but I think we should keep looking.”

Patrick’s eyebrows went up. “Really? This one won’t stay on the market for long. I would bet someone else will nab it if you don’t put in an offer by tomorrow.”

David shrugged. “Then let someone else get it. There will be other houses. It needs to be flawless, and this one’s not quite there.”

Patrick smiled again, but this one reached up into his eyes. He was pleased David hadn’t decided to make an offer on this house, and David was pleased too. The property was nearly perfect, but he was David Rose and he could hold out for perfection.

And if holding out for perfection meant spending more time with Patrick, then who was David to argue with that.

The pair drove back, both in high spirits as David revised his ideal lake house check list out loud for Patrick’s amusement and Patrick mentally ran through some more houses that he could show David the next day.

“You can stay until tomorrow, right?” Patrick asked quickly. “I know it was just supposed to be yesterday and today, but I would have some stuff to show you. If you want.”

David smiled over at him and nodded. “Yeah, I can stay. I don’t, um, actually have a lot going on right now.”

Patrick furrowed his brow at that, but left it alone. David had told him that he ran a gallery in New York, but he’d neglected to mention the selling of that gallery and subsequent lack of personal and professional direction. No need to ruin the at least semi-decent opinion of him that Patrick apparently held.

The bluegrass debate resumed on the way back, and as they pulled into the driveway of the bed and breakfast, David was still doing a very terrible impression of a blue grass banjo which Patrick was openly laughing at, his smile wide as he got out of the car too, just to keep up with David.

They were quickly interrupted by Stevie poking her head out the front door and calling to them from the porch. David was half convinced she was a witch of some kind, but he didn’t have any hard evidence.

“Hey Patrick! A last goodbye to David before he leaves us?” she asked pointedly.

Patrick grinned back. “No, I managed to get him to stay for another day. Lucky us!”

“See, this should be flattering, but I feel like I’m being made fun of, and I don’t care for it,” David commented with a glare directed more at Stevie than at Patrick, though the other man still got a share of David’s annoyance.

“Sorry, David,” Patrick apologized quickly and maybe 40% sincerely. “I am happy I’ll be seeing you tomorrow.” The sincerity level spiked severely, throwing David off his guard a bit.

“Oh. Well, it’ll be nice to see you too.”

“Aw!"

David shot an immediately glare at Stevie. “Significantly much less nice to see you though, thanks.”

Stevie beamed at him. “Join us for dinner, Patrick? George is actually going to cook us something.”

Patrick smiled but shook his head regretfully. “I have a bunch of stuff to get done tonight, including making a plan for us for tomorrow, so I’ll have to raincheck that dinner.” He flashed a quick smile at David. “I’ll text you details later, and I’ll pick you up here tomorrow morning?”

David nodded. “Preferably not before ten because I am not a morning person.”

Patrick shook his head almost fondly. “Why does that not surprise me?” He got back in the car, calling last goodbyes to both David and Stevie before he pulled away.

“So Patrick convinced you to stay an extra day, huh?” Stevie was on him as soon as David got to the porch. “Seems like you two are getting along pretty well.”

David rolled his eyes, trying to keep his expression as neutral as possible. “As I said yesterday, he’s my realtor. And it’s good if I get along well with him.”

“Uh huh.” Stevie stared at him reproachfully, unconvinced. “See, in the last year that I’ve known Patrick, I’ve never seen him smile quite like that at anyone. And in the last 24-hours that I’ve known you, the only person you’ve mentioned that has made you at all nice to be around is Patrick, so, I’m drawing my own conclusions.”

“Okay, wow. Unnecessarily harsh, I think?”

Stevie shrugged. “George is making us homemade lasagna for dinner tonight because I asked him to for you, so I really don’t feel bad.”

David glanced over at her. “Lasagna?”

Stevie laughed almost genuinely. “I knew it. Come on, David. Tell me about the houses you saw today.”

David had to begrudgingly admit that he liked Stevie as he told her about his afternoon over cheap wine and eventually very good lasagna. She reminded David of himself in a lot of ways, though without David’s polished New York persona that he felt slipping away even from himself the longer he stayed up here.

Of course, he didn’t like that smug grin she had on her face when Patrick’s name entered the conversation, but David did his best to steer the conversation in other directions. Except Stevie knew Patrick much better than he did, and David was more than a little bit curious about this man he was increasingly into.

“I’ve known one of his cousins since we were kids, so I met him pretty quick after he moved here,” Stevie commented casually, David trying his best to look indifferent and not like he was hanging on her every word. “He left behind some ex-fiancée back home, I think. But I haven’t seen him date anyone in town since he got here.”

David hummed neutrally. Single was good. But there was no confirmation or refutation of David’s initial assumption that Patrick was straight.

“I did mean what I said earlier though,” Stevie said, sounding more sincere than he’d ever heard her.

“About what?”

“Patrick seems happier than I’ve ever seen him when he’s with you.”

David shook his head and returned to his wine, ignoring how his heartbeat sped up, just a little bit, at Stevie’s words.

Patrick texted him later that night, after David had left Stevie to help George clean up the kitchen, telling David to be ready promptly at 10AM (David could practically see Patrick’s smirk) and providing links for David to look over.

David frowned slightly as he clicked through the three houses Patrick had arranged for them to see the next day. None of them seemed anywhere near as nice as the houses they’d looked at for the past two days.

But he trusted Patrick now, so he’d just have to see.

Patrick actually pulled up at 9:50 because of course he had to be that person, so when David made it downstairs at 9:59, grumpy despite the coffee and muffins that Stevie had incredibly kindly left on a tray in his room, he found Patrick chatting happily with Stevie, his smile growing wider when he caught sight of David on the staircase.

“Morning, sunshine!” Patrick called up to him, the teasing in his voice unfairly endearing.

“Patrick,” David greeted him with as much distain as he could muster (which wasn’t any at all with how bright Patrick’s smile was and how wide and deep his eyes were looking up at him; David would have defied anyone to be angry at that face).

“Anything to say to me, David?” Stevie asked pointedly.

David rolled his eyes. “Thank you for the coffee and baked goods, Stevie,” he recited, managing to make his words both sincere and annoyed.

Stevie smirked widely at him. “You two have fun today.”

“Oh, we will,” Patrick shot back with a wink that David knew shouldn’t have been cute, but was somehow the cutest thing he had ever seen.

Patrick had brought his own music for the car that day, so David was treated to acoustic folk music that he actually didn’t mind at all, especially because Patrick seemed so excited for David to like it.

Their conversation spanned widely as it had the day before. Patrick gave him some dirt on Stevie, and David complained about his parents (his father had texted him the night before asking about houses to which David had replied that there was no point in rushing perfection). It was comfortable. Every moment he spent with Patrick was comfortable. David had never felt quite like this before with anyone else.

The houses Patrick showed him when they finally arrived at their destination were as lackluster as David had thought looking at their pictures the night before, but Patrick merely shrugged in response to David’s raised eyebrows and added that it was harder to find stuff on such short notice.

But even if the houses weren’t perfect, David knew that any realtor who wanted David to find his dream home (not to mention earning their commission) would have highlighted every feature of these less-than-adequate homes and spun some of their flaws into benefits.

But not Patrick.

In fact, Patrick stopped really advertising the homes he was walking through with David at all, choosing instead to make comments on the décor or, increasingly, continue conversations about favorite movies and trashy tv shows that David swore by and that Patrick only knew in passing from Ray’s chatter.

David, for his part, stopped asking questions about the houses, even though that was literally his job as the client in this situation. Instead he asked Patrick about his best experiences showing houses (an outdoor cat had apparently made its way in Patrick’s car somehow, triggering his allergies and leading to a very public accusation of theft) and for Patrick’s second-hand assessment of a Real Housewives season finale Ray had laid out for him in excruciating detail (though not enough detail that Patrick actually had any idea of what had happened, much to David’s immense amusement).

They both tried to make a bit of an effort at the beginning of each house, but soon conversation would become much more important and their examinations would be limited to cursory glances at best and outright ignorance of entire rooms in favor of Patrick pointing out boats in the lake and David telling horror stories of yacht parties gone wrong.

Before long, they were done, David no closer to finding a lake house for his family, but also not feeling concerned about it in the slightest. Patrick had mentioned a really good ice cream shop in the nearby town they’d driven through on their way in, and David was far more focused on possibly getting Patrick to stop there on their way back to the bed and breakfast.

“You know you aren’t very subtle, David,” Patrick said, shaking his head with a fond exasperation as he pulled into a parking space along the main road. “We should really be getting lunch if we have to stop for anything.”

David shrugged. “It doesn’t matter if I’m subtle or not; I get results. And we can always get lunch later. Now, it’s time for ice cream.” He hopped out of the car to punctuate his point.

Patrick just laughed and followed David, directing him toward the shop down the street.

Soon, both men had dishes of ice cream, Patrick’s a simple chocolate while David had elected for a homemade chocolate chip peppermint stick flavor that he was already obsessed with.

“Come over this way,” Patrick nudged David to follow him across the street to what must have been some kind of park. “Even without your ice cream agenda, I was going to stop here on the way back anyway to show you this.”

David narrowed his eyes, unsure as he ate another spoonful of ice cream, but as they entered the park it was clear what Patrick was talking about.

Lining the pathways that crisscrossed the green space were art installations, some large, some small, some sculptures made of found objects and others carved out of wood or metal. Hand blown glass windchimes hung from the trees that grew over the pathways, and a wide mural decorated the pavilion that stood at the center of the park.

“It sounded like you were missing your art gallery when we were talking about it yesterday, and I thought you might like the sculpture garden,” Patrick said, shrugging, his eyes not quite meeting David’s. “It’s all local artists and artisans. There’s a few places that have art like this in the area, but this one’s my favorite. I thought it might make you feel a little more at home up here.”

David could only stare at Patrick. He’d brought David here to make him feel more comfortable. He’d brought David to one of his favorite places, a part of him that he wanted to share with David, because it mattered to him that David like this place that he was literally only coming to so he could find a vacation house no one would probably ever stay in. Patrick cared.

It took every ounce of willpower David had not to kiss Patrick right there.

“Patrick, this is beautiful,” David managed. “Thank you.”

Patrick looked up at him then, a brilliant smile spreading across his face. “Of course, David. I’m really glad you like it.”

The pair wandered through the paths as they finished their ice cream, David making comments about technique and style and making notes of things he wanted to look up later, Patrick hanging onto his every word.

“You have such a great eye for this, David,” Patrick said sincerely as they reemerged onto the sidewalk, both men tossing their dishes into a trash can.

David smiled in spite of himself. “I have spent the majority of my adult life, and a decent amount of my childhood, working on it. But thank you.”

Patrick looked like he wanted to say more, but he stopped himself.

David furrowed his brow. “What?”

Patrick shook his head. “I don’t want to pry.”

David sighed. “You’re wondering why I’m up here and not back in New York,” he said, not a question.

The other man nodded sheepishly. “Please don’t feel like you have to tell me,” Patrick said quickly, holding his hands up. “I just can see how much you love it and how much it suits you, that’s all.”

David shook his head. “It’s fine. There’s not much to tell. I had a bad breakup, and I lost all my inspiration. Nothing felt important or meaningful at the gallery anymore, so I sold it. And then I went to hole up in my apartment until I found the spark I was looking for, but my family found me first and got me out of the city and then they sent me here to get me out of the house, apparently.” David shrugged. “I just need to find my next thing, and then I’ll be back. But for now, I’m here.” He looked back into the sculpture garden wistfully. “It is nice to see some beautiful things again, though. Thank you, Patrick. Really.”

David moved to walk away, but Patrick’s hand grasping his arm stopped him.

He looked over at the other man, surprised.

Patrick’s face was as open and sincere as it had been since David had met him two days before. In Patrick’s eyes David could see gratitude for David’s openness, sadness at his story, and some kind of seriousness, a belief in David that David didn’t quite understand.

“You’re welcome,” was all that Patrick said before he took his hand back from David.

David could only nod.

Patrick then suggested lunch, all trace of their serious conversation gone except for an occasional extra glance or two between them.

Patrick led David down the street to a food stand selling fried fish and seafood, which David was immediately on board for. The men ate lunch looking out over the lake, David feeling a bit like he was on the best date of his life, despite the fact that he was actually with his realtor and they were technically not dating by any definition of the word. But he still stole french fries from Patrick when his ran out, and Patrick brought napkins for both of them when he went to pick up their food, and David decided not to feel guilty about pretending this was a date if only in his own head.

But before long they had to leave. Patrick had work to do, and David finally needed to go back to his parent’s house.

“Do you think you can make it back up here next week?” Patrick said casually as they neared the bed and breakfast. “There’s a few places coming on the market this weekend that I think could be really promising.”

David knew the prospect of another stay up here in the middle of nowhere where his cell reception was spotty at best and the woman who ran his lodgings was clearly out to embarrass him as much as possible, but he couldn’t help the thrill that went through him at Patrick’s words.

“Yeah, I could do next week,” David replied as casually as he could.

Patrick only glanced briefly at him, but David caught a momentary glance of a wide smile spreading across Patrick’s space before he started working out details.

Patrick parked the car in the bed and breakfast driveway. “So, I’ll see you Tuesday?”

David nodded. “Tuesday.”

Patrick smiled fully at him this time. “I’m looking forward to it.”

David smiled back. “Yeah, me too.”

David stared at Patrick for a moment too long, but then he shook his head and finally got out of the car with one last wave and a goodbye out the driver’s-side window from Patrick.

David fortunately didn’t meet Stevie on his way inside as he quickly gathered his things and made his way downstairs, but by the time he reached the ground floor she had reappeared in the lobby.

“So?” she asked expectantly.

“No luck today,” David answered. “I’ll be back on Tuesday. Should be just overnight.”

A smug and devious smile spread across Stevie’s face. “Oh, is that so? Well we’ll look forward to having you back. Patrick more than me, obviously.”

David rolled his eyes and shook his head, turning away. He couldn’t actually be mad at Stevie. All he could think of was Patrick showing him the park and buying him ice cream and how excited he had been when David had said he’d be back the next week.

David knew it wasn’t the best form to have a crush on his realtor, but if said realtor happened to return his feelings in any way then that just might be something different altogether.

Chapter Text

So David came back the following Tuesday. And the Wednesday the week after that. And again the next Saturday. And again. And again.

Patrick had new houses to show him, and David had unlimited free time, or that’s what David always told Patrick.

The reality was that David had plenty of requests for him to return to New York for parties and events and all manner of public occasions.

But every time Patrick texted David with house listings, David always said he was free.

His parents asked about his progress, but David just said he hadn’t found the right one yet. His mother had been both disappointed that David hadn’t found a house on his first trip and relieved that he was getting out of the house, but the more time he spent up in the woods, the more suspicious she got.

“Is there really nothing up in that place, David?” she asked after he returned from what must have been his fifth house hunting trip.

David shrugged. “A few had possibility, but I need something to match my vision. I thought that’s why you asked me to do this in the first place.”

“Why, of course, David,” his mother replied placatingly. “I just thought that perhaps we might speed up this procedure. Your father was anxious to spend some time by the lake in the summer, and the season has already arrived!”

“I’m just trying to find something perfect,” David replied, shaking his head. It wasn’t entirely a lie. While David wasn’t doing the best job of looking for perfect houses, he had found something else that was perfect: Patrick.

Patrick who had to be messing with him with an increasing number of wildly incorrect houses he showed David.

One was an actual hunting lodge complete with a locked room that David guessed was probably for torture or murder or something horrible that would now happen to him since he’d visited, while Patrick commented that it was just probably a bunch of guns (not that this assumption made David feel any better about it).

Another looked like it had been built in the 1800s and literally had an outhouse, prompting a lengthy thought experiment conducted by Patrick on whether or not David would have been able to survive in pioneer times. David’s answer was a resounding “absolutely fucking not” but Patrick insisted on running the gambit of teasing him, even bringing in Steve as they all ate pizza together back at the bed and breakfast that night.

“How would pioneer David do laundry?” Patrick asked, grinning widely.

“Oh, what about cooking? I’m pretty sure David’s never even used a modern oven before.” Stevie’s comments were always a little harsher, but David could usually give as good as he got (though having Patrick around tilted the scale in Stevie’s favor).

“Ha ha, very funny.” David rolled his eyes as Stevie got up to get more alcohol.

“You would look very cute in cowboy hat.”

Patrick’s comment was quiet, but his eyes flicked up to meet David’s as he said it.

David, of course, had just taken a large bite of pizza, and by the time he finished choking, Stevie was back and the two of them were considering the prospect of David without the internet, the only remnant of Patrick’s comment a slight blush on Patrick’s cheeks.

David wanted to ask Patrick if he’d really meant it, but as he and Patrick drove out to look at a few houses actually up in the mountains the next day, David wasn’t brave enough to broach the subject, and Patrick never mentioned it again.

One very eventful day Patrick took what he called a “scenic route” to a couple houses back on dirt roads through the deep woods where Patrick suddenly stopped the car and pointed through the windshield to where an actual moose was walking across the road in the distance.

“I recall threatening to fire you over the presence of a moose,” David commented in a low voice after a moment when the moose was out of sight and he could breathe again.

“I can promise no moose in the actual house?” Patrick replied, grinning over at David, his eyes wide with the excitement of spotting elusive wildlife.

David had to smile slightly himself. “I guess that’s acceptable.”

Still, most of the houses Patrick showed him were decent, and a few were actual possible contenders, but every time David was able to get out of making any kind of offer.

“I can’t stand that front porch,” David said once, shaking his head as Patrick smiled just a little bit from the stone walkway to the house.

“The house across the lake is hideous, and I couldn’t bare for that to be what I saw every time I walked outside,” was more of a reach, but it had the added bonus of eliciting an amused grin from Patrick.

“This paneling is just god-awful,” David said another time.

“You could always rip it out,” Patrick suggested with a slight frown.

David shuddered. “I’d always know it used to be there.”

Patrick’s poorly concealed laugh made everything worth it.

“This lake’s too small,” worked well, but when David had commented that the lake in front of the next house was too big, Patrick had, smirking widely, pointed out that it was actually the same lake.

Sometimes he pretended like the knew about non-aesthetic parts of home buying, asking questions about the ages of roofs and furnaces and shaking his head disappointedly if Patrick gave an answer that seemed even kind of old, Patrick never bothering to actually correct him if he wasn’t right. Other times David whined about “natural light,” which apparently encouraged Patrick to find a house that somehow had 20 skylights on the main floor just so he could ask David sarcastically if that was enough natural light (the answer was yes, but that many skylights is incorrect).

Stevie, for her part, seemed to enjoy David’s reasons not to buy a house as much as Patrick did. She always asked for details when they got back and seemed happy to watch David squirm as he tried to explain just what exactly he was looking for and why a house that did have all of those things wasn’t actually the right one.

And as David and Patrick looked at houses and David spent time with Stevie, little by little, he was getting to know the area, and he found himself liking it, just like Patrick had said he would on his first day in town.

Patrick took him to every small art installation or local craft shop that he knew about, and they’d made a habit of sampling ice cream from shops in little towns all over, though David’s favorite was always the place they’d gone the first time he’d come up. Anytime they were anywhere nearby, Patrick always stopped there and they would eat ice cream together in the little sculpture garden and David would forget a little bit more about New York and how he was supposed to be finding his next thing.

And even when he was back with his parents, dealing with his mother’s antics and sending oddly specific supplies to Alexis who David thought might be gearing up for a prison break somewhere in the Eastern hemisphere, texts from Patrick kept him going. They had started with just ones about new houses, but after weeks it had become second nature to David to tell Patrick about the amazing new Thai place that just opened near him or the layout for a charity gala his mother was hosting or, increasingly, New York and what he was missing, or, more accurately, not missing.

I tried to tell Ashlyn about the sculpture garden, but she just asked when I’d be back long-term to get her into the top floor of this one club in the city, David texted Patrick dejectedly one afternoon after a disappointing day trip into the city.

No offense to your friends, David, but they all sound kind of shitty, Patrick replied quickly.

Just I think you deserve better than them, he added a minute later when David didn’t reply right away.

David wished he was back up in Patrick’s car or across from him at a greasy tourist-trap restaurant where he could see Patrick’s face when he said something like that to him.

I’m sorry if I overstepped, came another reply a couple minutes later.

No, it’s okay, David replied quickly. You might be right.

We’ll get takeout when you’re here this week, and you can complain about those people all you want 

David smiled at Patrick’s offer. Thanks, Patrick. I’m sure Stevie will be up for that. 

Dots appeared letting David know that Patrick was replying, but it was several minutes before an actual text came through.

Right, with Stevie. Looking forward to it.

David narrowed his eyes. Patrick usually ended texts about doing something with David with exclamation points or even smiley faces. This more subdued Patrick was unusual.

But everything was normal when David made it up to Patrick’s office a few days later, and he gratefully unloaded his New York drama on Patrick and Stevie and felt more strongly than ever that he had friends.

Even if one of those friends was someone who David had to make a conscious effort not to kiss almost constantly.

David hadn’t gotten any further clarity on what Patrick’s personal preferences were, though he had gotten Patrick to talk about his ex-fiancée in passing a couple times. He’d gathered that she had Patrick had been together for a long time but that Patrick really didn’t miss her and was very happy to not be with her anymore. But beyond that, David (and Stevie, working on David’s behalf possibly because she actually liked him or more likely because she wanted to mess with him about it more) didn’t have any more information.

But that hadn’t stopped David from fixating on Patrick’s arms or his thighs or his smile and wishing that maybe, just maybe Patrick was keeping him around not because David amused him or because he was glad to have become David’s friend but because he liked David as much as David liked him.

An amount which was increasing day by day.

“So were you the kind of kid who climbed trees all the time?” David asked one afternoon as they looked out into the woods from a back porch of a house that David had already written off because the walkway down to the dock was too rocky (not one of David’s better excuses, but Patrick accepted it well enough).

Patrick grinned at him. “I was as a matter of fact. I’m going to hazard a guess that you’ve never climbed a tree in your life, is that right, David?”

David held his head up proudly. “You would be correct.”

Patrick’s eyes glinted, and David knew something was coming.

“Then what are we waiting for?” Patrick grabbed David’s hand and pulled him after him down the steps and over to the edge of the woods, Patrick’s focus now turned to the trees, clearly looking for something.

David was still trying to process Patrick’s hand in his and how perfectly right it felt there.

“Here we go!” Patrick let go of David’s hand to gesture at a large tree with a wide trunk and several low-hanging branches.

David unconsciously opened and closed his fingers, empty without Patrick’s hand around them, as he looked up at Patrick’s find.

“And this is?”

Patrick turned to him, his grin wide and excited. “This is the tree you’re going to climb for the first time.”

David took a step back. “Oh no no no. This,” he gestured at his sweater, “cannot get covered in dirt or sap or whatever else is on trees, and this,” he motioned around his head to refer to his hair, “will not be getting tangled in any leaves, thanks so much.”

Patrick took David’s arm and pushed him gently toward the tree, David following if only to maintain contact with Patrick. “Come on, David. It’s fun!”

Patrick turned and hopped up on a low branch, beaming. “Come on, just come up here. I promise I won’t make you climb any higher if you don’t want to.” He held out a hand to David.

David hesitated, but tentatively moved toward the tree and took Patrick’s hand. Patrick tried to help David clamber up, but either David’s body really didn’t want to or else Patrick had badly misjudged David’s ability to climb any kind of obstacle, so David fell back, bringing Patrick down with him, the pair ending up in a heap in a pile of dead leaves, dirt, and twigs at the bottom of the tree.

Patrick started laughing, looking down at David from where he’d ended up roughly over top of him.

David’s mind flashed through worries about his clothing and his hair before he really became conscious of his position. Patrick was lying on top of him, smiling down at David, his eyes as bright as they had ever been. David’s breath caught in his throat. Patrick was so close. All David had to do was reach his hand up to Patrick’s neck and bring him down to the ground with him and then they would be kissing. Kissing in the dirt (somewhere in the back of his mind David was still mindful of that reality), but kissing nonetheless.

Patrick’s laughter seemed to fade away, his eyes growing more serious as he stared down at David.

Leaves rustled somewhere in the distance, and David was suddenly fully conscious of the dirt and of Patrick and of wild animals in the woods.

“Was that a bear?” David asked turning to look into the forest.

Patrick shifted off of him at that, standing up and then reaching down to help David to his feet. “It wasn’t a bear, David,” Patrick replied with a fond smirk that was David’s favorite, though there was something almost like disappointment in his eyes.

Patrick lightly, almost casually squeezed David’s hand before he let go, turning to lead David back to the car, the tree forgotten behind him.

David stared down at his hand which had fit so perfectly in Patrick’s. All he could think of was catching up to Patrick and returning linking their hands together again, where they belonged.

This had gotten out of control. He was in way too deep.

“Shit,” he swore under his breath, but a call from Patrick for him to get moving sent him back into action.

Chapter Text

The following week spelled his situation out even more clearly.

Alexis had blown into town on a Friday afternoon in a whirlwind of yacht trips and party invitations where she immediately insisted that David come out with her. So somehow he ended up in New York City wandering from club to club with his sister who kept leaving to meet this person or that person, though she did somehow usually manage to find David again after she disappeared.

They ended up back at David’s neglected apartment at around 4AM, David was surprised that Alexis had actually stayed with him the whole time, but he didn’t question it. She’d had a lot to drink and collapsed in his guest bedroom the second they got there.

David slept late and Alexis slept later, but eventually they both got out of the house for a late lunch at a bistro down the street from David’s apartment that he used to frequent when he’d actually lived full time in the city.

Alexis filled some of the silence with inane chatter, but mostly neither of them spoke.

“What’s wrong with you, David?” she asked finally from across the table as Alexis picked at her salad and David ate a sandwich that was probably one of the things he missed most about the city.

“Excuse me?” David stared at his sister.

Alexis rolled her eyes. “Do you like even want to be in New York anymore? Mom wants you out of the house and back on your feet, but you like very clearly don’t want to be here.”

David’s eyes went wide. “Mom wants me out? And she asked you to get me to leave? How mature of her. God.” He gestured out his hands, waving away his mother and her inability to have a conversation with him.

“Um, she said she tried. And Dad can’t do it, so it all falls to me, again.”

David shook his head, entirely unable to believe what his sister was saying. “Excuse you, I do everything or have you forgotten that prison you were stuck in last month?”

Alexis waved David’s complaint away. “It was just one tiny little prison, no big deal, David. It’s happened literally hundreds of times. But you’re being weird. Mom thinks that you’re fixating on the lake house thing and dragging it out because you like to have a project since you threw out the last thing you did.”

David stood up. “Okay, I’m done with this, thanks. You can pay for lunch. And you can find your own way back wherever you came from.”

David stormed out of the bistro and down the street to the garage where his car was parked. He didn’t feel bad leaving Alexis without a ride; odds are she had at least a dozen offers of places to stay and rides to wherever she wanted to go.

But David didn’t know where he wanted to go.

Actually, he did. But it would be weird to show up unannounced.

He texted Patrick quickly. Hey, any chance we could look at houses tomorrow instead of Wednesday?

Patrick, as always, texted back right away. I have to do an open house tomorrow actually, but I can move things to Monday if you want.

And then a second text. Is everything okay? 

Patrick knew him. He did. Better than maybe anyone.

Monday would be great, David texted quickly.

Great, I’ll set it up, came Patrick’s reply. But really, are you okay?

David stared down at his phone for a minute. Just a bad conversation with Alexis, the usual.

If you need anything at all, I’m here, David.

David smiled at his phone. I know. Thank you, Patrick.

Anytime.

David sighed and pulled out the garage. Even if he couldn’t really see Patrick until Monday, he still didn’t want to go home.

So he drove out of the city and up towards the mountains instead.

“Um, you aren’t supposed to be here.”

Oddly enough that wasn’t the most hostile greeting David had ever gotten from Stevie.

David rolled his eyes and held out a bag of takeout he’d gotten from one of his favorite fried food places that he’d first gone to with Patrick a month or so ago. “I brought dinner?”

Stevie looked inside and then shrugged. “I guess you can stay.”

It didn’t take long for David to start complaining about his sister’s ambush and their bad conversation at the bistro.

“And then she accused me of dragging out the whole lake house thing because Mom thinks I have no idea what I want to do next after I gave up my gallery. I mean can you believe that?”

Stevie frowned slightly. “Well she does have a point.” Stevie held up her hand quickly to defend herself before David could jump on her. “I mean, I don’t think your mom and your sister have all the details here, but you and I both know you’re definitely dragging this lake house thing out, and I also think it’s because you don’t know what to do next. Only not with New York or the gallery or whatever.”

“Then with what?” David asked, staring hard at his friend, dreading the answer.

Stevie blinked at him. “Patrick, obviously.”

David stared at his friend. Stevie had joked about him and Patrick from the beginning, but she had never come out any said something like that before. “And what do you mean by that?”

Stevie sighed exasperatedly. “We all know you could have picked out a house ages ago, probably the first time you came up here. But you kept coming back here because of Patrick. But you can’t keep this up forever, David.”

“Who says I can’t?” The words came out of him automatically, like a petulant child trying to test the rules.

Stevie shook her head, her expression softening. “David.”

David threw his head back against his chair. “I know, Stevie,” he said finally. “I know.”

When Stevie spoke again her words were quiet. “So you know I don’t do sincerity, but I’m going to pretend for a second.” She took a breath, steeling herself. “Patrick really likes you. Like a lot. And this thing with you guys could go on for a while and you’d both be okay, but eventually you won’t be and it’s just going to destroy both of you. I mean… David, you’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

David’s eyes snapped up to meet Stevie’s. Love? David had never been in love. Not ever.

But Patrick… David thought about Patrick all the time. He missed him like crazy on the days they were apart, and he never stopped smiling every second they were together. Patrick had become a constant in his life, even the most important thing in his life.

Fuck. David was in love with him. He was absolutely, undeniably, head-over-heels in love with Patrick.

David nodded mutely and stared at the ground.

Stevie sucked in a breath. “Then you two need to figure this out. And, for what it’s worth, you guys are perfect for each other.”

David glanced up at that, but Stevie quickly stood up, her face shifting into a grimace. “Ew, that was horrible. Don’t ever make me have to do that again, David.”

David shook his head and let out a small laugh.

“I wish I could see him tomorrow, though,” David said after a moment, sighing.

Stevie looked thoughtful. “I’ll see what I can do.” Then she shrugged and started telling David about some crazy guy who’d stayed at the motel right after David had left the week before and things quickly became less serious.

The next morning, David was woken up by a folded-up newspaper thrown at his head.

“What?” David blinked groggily as he grabbed the offending newspaper and looked around for whoever had thrown it.

Stevie stared back at him. “Be ready by noon,” she said authoritatively, and then she left the room without any further explanation.

David rubbed his eyes and looked down at the newspaper, confused first of all about why newspapers still existed and second by why Stevie had decided to throw this one at him.

More accurately, it was a few pages from a newspaper. The Real Estate section. With one home listing circled. A small, two-bedroom house in one of the more residential neighborhoods of the town. That was, apparently, being shown today by Patrick Brewer.

A small smile spread across David’s face. If Patrick wasn’t going to come to David today, David could very well come to Patrick.

David, as requested, was ready to go by noon; he’d done his morning routine here in much less time anyway. He also devoted some of his energy to ignoring several texts from Alexis, a couple from his mother, and even one from his father. All of them were wondering where he was, his father kind and awkward, his mother with capital letters and exclamation points, and Alexis starting out annoyed but devolving into a more concerned, “Mom and Dad said you still aren’t home, and you never went back to the apartment. You’re okay, right?” in her most recent message.

David finally sighed and replied that yes, he was fine, and he’d be home in a day or two. Alexis would tell his parents, and he could ignore them all for the rest of the day in favor of spending time with Stevie and, most importantly, with Patrick.

David left the bed and breakfast with Stevie just before twelve, stopping to get lunch along the way because David was only human, but soon they arrived at a cozy-looking brick house at the edge of an old neighborhood.

“Can we say you’re looking for a house?” David asked Stevie quickly before they got out of the car.

Stevie raised her eyebrows. “Why would I need a house? I live at the bed and breakfast.”

David shrugged helplessly. “You’re sick of it? You need your own space?”

“And you can’t tell Patrick the truth because…?”

“I don’t want it to be like I’m stalking him!” David flailed his hands desperately.

“I mean technically you are,” Stevie intoned.

David glared at her. “Um, technically you stalked him.”

Stevie waved away his accusation. “I’m not the one in love with him.”

“Shh! He could hear you!”

Stevie blinked at him skeptically. “From inside the house?”

David groaned. “Can you just do this for me? Does our friendship mean nothing to you?”

Stevie sighed and finally nodded. “Ugh, fine. I mean he’s gonna know anyway.”

“It’s the principle of the thing!” David argued indignantly.

Stevie rolled her eyes. “Right. Come on, then. This could be my new house!” She flashed David her fakest smile as he shook his head.

He knew this was a bad idea, but the prospect of seeing Patrick and getting to spend some time with him, even if it was under a bad pretense in the middle of an open house David had no business attending, was more than enough to get David to follow Stevie out of the car.

Stevie opened the door to the small one-story, David noting the lovely front door that was half hidden by a garish wreath bearing the slogan, “Home Sweet Home,” with a grimace.

The entryway had been staged well, though the kitschy middle-aged woman vibe continued inside.

He could hear voices in the next room, a laugh that was almost familiar, though stiffer and more forced than the one David usually heard from the man who produced it.

“Feel free to look around, I’ll be right back if you have any questions,” came Patrick’s voice, accompanied by footsteps coming toward the entryway.

David saw Patrick before Patrick saw him. His smile was warm, but his eyes weren’t as bright as David knew they could be and his smile wasn’t as deep. Patrick seemed perfectly content here, but this wasn’t the teasing, smirking, sparkling Patrick who David stole french fries from on a weekly basis.

“Good afternoon! Come on i-“ Patrick froze as he took in the sight of David. In an instant, Patrick’s smile grew so wide David was surprised it still fit on his face. His eyes were brighter, happier, thrilled even by David’s presence.

“You’re here,” Patrick breathed out.

David nodded. “I hope that’s okay.”

Patrick’s smile grew somehow wider. “Of course it’s okay. It’s more than okay.”

“David insisted on coming with me while I look at houses,” Stevie interrupted.

Patrick blinked at glanced over at Stevie as though he hadn’t realized she was there. “Oh. I, um, I didn’t know you were looking for a house. What with the bed and breakfast.”

Stevie shrugged. “Maybe it’s time for a change. Would you show us around?”

Patrick’s eyes flicked back over to David.

David shot him a small smile which Patrick returned in an instant.

“Of course,” Patrick said, gesturing for David and Stevie to follow him into the kitchen.

Across the counter, Patrick had laid out a small stack of business cards (without his cell number on the back, David was sure to check), another stack of spec sheets about the house, a sign-in sheet, and, most importantly, a tray of muffins that looked just imperfect enough to be homemade.

“Did you make these?” David asked as he quickly picked up a muffin, his eyes flicking between the baked good and Patrick.

Patrick grinned sheepishly. “I did. I actually handpicked the blueberries myself. Another benefit of living up here: fresh blueberries.”

David had to physically restrain himself from kissing Patrick, especially after he bit into the muffin. “Jesus, Patrick. This is amazing.” He sighed into the muffin, savoring the blueberries as he finished his last bite. “You’ve been holding out on me for all these months.”

Patrick flashed him that overly fond smile that David had never seen him give to anyone but him. “Glad to know I still have some secrets left to reveal to you.”

David sucked in a breath at that. Maybe Stevie was right and they both had secrets these needed to tell each other.

Stevie interrupted again with a question about the countertop, which Patrick answered easily, though his eyes rarely left David.

With an eyeroll, Stevie started wandering through the house, David following behind without paying too much attention, while Patrick stayed firmly at his side as though if he let David out of his sight, he would disappear.

Potential home-buyers filtered in and out, Patrick directing them to the kitchen for information and answering questions when necessary, but most of his attention was directed toward David who by the end of the open house found himself happily perched on a barstool, Stevie off playing solitaire or something on her phone in the living room, hidden behind a wall, and Patrick with David letting him vent about his family and making fun of whoever had decided to embroider “Home is where the heart is” on three separate throw pillows in the same room (thankfully not Patrick). David was happy. Just being around Patrick made him happy.

As the open house winded down, Patrick began to gather his things, still chatting with David, still smiling his smile that was only for David.

Stevie finally emerged from the other room, looking simultaneously like she was going to kill David for making her sit around for half the afternoon and like she was ready to scream “I told you so” from the rooftops. David wasn’t particularly interested in either option.

“So, we have houses to see tomorrow, but I was planning on going canoeing this afternoon,” Patrick began lightly, his eyes scanning over to David. “I know it’s not your thing, but it’s probably the least physically involved outdoor activity up here. I promise you won’t get wet, and I’ll do all the rowing?”

There was an inuendo in there somewhere, but David chose not to acknowledge it.

“I can’t make it this afternoon,” Stevie piped up quickly. “But David was telling me earlier that he didn’t have any plans until tomorrow.”

David flashed Stevie a glare, but when he turned back to Patrick, he couldn’t help but smile at the excitement in the other man’s eyes.

“So you’ll come with me?”

David sighed. “I guess I can handle a canoe.”

Patrick’s entire face lit up. “Great! I just have to drop some stuff off at the office and swing by my house for some supplies. Can I pick you up at the bed and breakfast in say an hour?”

David was torn between concern that an hour was far too little time for him to properly psych himself up to set foot in a canoe for the first time, let alone a canoe with Patrick who he was currently very much in love with (and falling harder by the second) and disappointment that he would actually have to wait a full hour before he got to see Patrick again.

He settled for a shrug. “I guess so.”

Patrick grazed David’s shoulder with his hand as he brushed past him, still grinning, to lock up the back door.

David shivered automatically under Patrick’s touch.

Soon, Patrick as ushering them out of the house with a cheery “see you in an hour,” to David and a wave at Stevie.

The pair had barely sat down in Stevie’s car when David sucked in a hard breath. “Well, shit.”

Stevie laughed almost maniacally.

Patrick actually showed up less than an hour later, though David still managed to fit two separate panics and three outfit changes in the ensuring 50 minutes. Patrick’s familiar Subaru was now dwarfed by the canoe on its roof, and the backseat contained a backpack and a small cooler, both presumably filled with supplies.

“You ready to go, David?” Patrick asked him, his eyes flashing.

David managed a smile as he got in the car, subtly flipping Stevie off behind him as she waved to them from the porch.

David fell into easy chatter with Patrick on the drive, talking about the open house and local events and how pretty the trees looked today (that was a comment from Patrick, but David’s small smile in response spoke volumes about how much he’d come to like being up here).

Soon, Patrick was pulling off the main road down a short dirt trail and into a small parking area next to a boat launch and a dock. He enlisted David to help him carry the canoe to the dock to tie it up, which David did with a certain amount of complaining, before they returned to the car to get the rest of their things.

Ever-prepared Boy Scout Patrick produced a medium-sized black bag that was apparently waterproof, asking David if he wanted to empty his pockets into it to make sure nothing would get wet while they were in the boat.

“Are you planning on throwing me into the water?” David asked him, wide-eyed. “You promised I wouldn’t get wet!”

Patrick tossed him an easy smile. “Sometimes water splashes into the boat, and I don’t want you to have to worry about your phone or anything.” Patrick stuck his own phone into a pocket of the bag, and dropped his wallet and keys to the bottom, along with a bottle of water and a small first aid kit before holding the bag out to David again.

David sighed dramatically, but stuck his phone next to Patrick’s and added his wallet and keys to the rest of the bag.

Launching the boat was easier than David would have anticipated, but he could still feel Patrick’s smirk behind him as David worried over every movement the boat made when Patrick untied them from the dock and set them out into the lake.

David kept himself very tense, concerned that a single motion from him would tip the canoe over, but Patrick behind him just commented on the scenery and waved at other boaters and made passive aggressive comments about David not rowing.

David did try eventually, and found it wasn’t as hard as he thought it would be. Patrick just snorted a laugh when David made that observation, so David resigned himself to holding the paddle as though he knew what he was doing and casually dipping it in the water from time to time.

“So how many houses have we seen here?” David asked as they made their way closer to the main portion of the lake, settling well into the rhythm of Patrick’s rowing.

“Um, none actually,” Patrick replied, sounding almost nervous for the first time. “But we drove by it on the first day we met. You’ll see in just a second.”

The boat rounded a grove of trees that jutted out into the water and revealed a large mountain that towered over the lake and the woods, a sight David remembered vividly as the first thing he had thought was beautiful out here (closely followed by the second thing: Patrick).

David let out a low gasp. “Your favorite lake.”

“You remembered.” David could hear the happiness and awe in Patrick’s voice.

David took a chance on turning around just to see the small smile that graced Patrick’s face, which David quickly returned.

“I think, subconsciously, I’ve been comparing every lake we ever saw to this one,” David mused as he turned back around to face the mountain. “Nothing was ever going to be this beautiful.”

Patrick made a small humming noise, but he didn’t seem entirely content. David found himself wishing they were in a rowboat or some other form of water transportation where he could actually see Patrick’s face. He missed his smile and his eyes and knowing roughly what Patrick was thinking and feeling all the time. He also regretted not having the opportunity to properly observe Patrick paddling the canoe, which he was sure was doing wonders for his upper body.

Patrick turned the boat slightly to glide along the shore on the opposite side to the mountain view.

David glanced up at the houses they were passing, a few small lakeside cabins, rustic with old-looking docks were replaced by some more regular looking houses, but just behind another grove of trees, in a small alcove of the water, hidden from its neighbors but looking straight on across the other bank and the hills behind it, sat a house that made David give up even any pretense of helping Patrick paddle.

“Look at that, Patrick,” David said softly. Half-hidden by the exact right number of trees stood a magnificent lake house, wide, a spacious porch with built in seating and a grand staircase that led down to a winding walkway, flanked by the perfect balance of landscaping and natural garden. The dock sat on the water, large and inviting, but the boathouse adjacent seemed more intimidating, like it belonged in a gated community rather than along this small lake with a public access dock. Maybe the rooms inside were tiny and cramped. Maybe the closets were filled with guns or taxidermized animals. David had no way of knowing if the actual house was nice or not, but staring up at it from Patrick’s canoe, David finally felt like he’d found the house he had been looking for.

“It’s perfect,” David said, his eyes wide. “Yesterday Alexis said that my mom thinks I’m spending so much time here because I’m trying to ignore everything that happened with my gallery, but really it’s this house. I’ll just have to keep coming up here until this house is on the market.” David nodded to himself, allowing a small smile to come across his lips. He’d just solved two problems at once: now he had an excuse to get his parents off his back, and he had a reason to keep coming back up here to see Patrick indefinitely.

A low, sad sigh came from behind David, and he suddenly realized that Patrick had also stopped rowing while David looked at the house.

“I’m sorry, David,” Patrick said softly.

David, his confusion and concern immediately overcoming his fears of the canoe, turned around as much as he could manage to look at Patrick. “For what?”

Patrick didn’t meet his eyes. “That house actually has been on the market for a couple weeks. I… I didn’t tell you because it’s the perfect house for you.”

“What?” David furrowed his brow, confused. “You didn’t want me to see it because it was too good?”

Patrick finally looked up at him. “I was selfish. I wanted to keep spending time with you, and I couldn’t bear for you to stop coming up here. But it wasn’t fair for me to do that. I’m your realtor. It’s literally my job to find this exact house for you.”

David just stared at Patrick in disbelief. “You know if you’d showed it to me, I just would have made up some reason why I didn’t like it,” he said softly. He paused, a passing speedboat the only noise aside from the hoot of a loon and the wind through the trees around them. “Coming up here stopped being about the houses a long time ago.” David fought the urge to turn back around at his admission.

Patrick stared back at him, his eyes deadly serious. “Then what was it about?”

David exhaled slowly. “You have to know.”

Something like hope filled Patrick’s eyes at David’s words, his mouth falling open slightly. “David,” he breathed out, reverently, like a prayer.

And David had to kiss him. At this moment. He was powerless to do otherwise.

So he sung his legs around and tried to move back to Patrick, just as a strong wake from the passing speedboat hit them, throwing the canoe, and subsequently David, off balance.

David threw out his arms to try to steady himself, but he could feel himself falling, and then Patrick was there trying to steady him, but it was too late, and both men careened over the side of the canoe with a large splash, soaking David’s entire person, from his designer shoes up to his hair that he had spent a significant amount of time perfecting this morning at the prospect of seeing Patrick.

“David? David, are you okay?” Patrick’s voice came from the other end of the canoe, but in a moment, Patrick spotted him, relief blooming on his face at the sight of David, wet and angry certainly, but unharmed.

“You promised I wouldn’t get wet!” David complained, clinging desperately to the right-side-up canoe. “My shoes are never going to dry, and my sweater’s always going to smell like lake water, and now you’ve seen me with my hair like this!” David threw his hands up in the air as he treaded water.

Patrick let out a full laugh, though David could tell he was trying to suppress it. “Oh David, I’m so sorry.”

David let out a humph.

“I don’t think I’ve ever fallen out of a canoe not on purpose,” Patrick added, swimming closer to David. “I really didn’t think that would happen.” Patrick was still grinning from ear to ear, his eyes sparkling.

“This isn’t funny, Patrick!” David complained.

Patrick nodded as solemnly as he could while actively stifling laughter. “Of course it’s not.”’

David groaned but found himself smiling just a little bit as he looked over at Patrick, short strands of hair plastered down to his forehead, his t-shirt tight against his chest, drops of water on his cheeks as he beamed at David.

He was beautiful and perfect, and he had done whatever he could to spend more time with David just like David had been doing with him.

He heard Stevie’s voice in his head telling him that he and Patrick needed to have a serious conversation about all of this, but David just stared at Patrick.

“Fuck it,” he let out, and before he could overthink anything, he closed the last distance between him and Patrick and brought their lips together.

Chapter Text

Somewhere in the back of his mind, David was cognizant of the fact that he was sinking, but his legs could only manage a couple half-hearted kicks as his mind was fully occupied with the man he was fully in love with who he was kissing as if his life depended on it.

Patrick had kissed him back instantly, his arm reaching out to pull David closer as he slotted his lips against David’s.

David had responded by looping his arms around Patrick’s neck, needing to remove all space between them, but that had led to his current problem: David was sinking and he was apparently doing his best to bring Patrick down with him.

Patrick finally pulled back, though David did his best to follow him.

“David!” Patrick sputtered as his head dipped too low in the water. “You’re going to drag us both to the bottom of the lake if you keep doing that!” There was a smile and a laugh in his words, but also a creeping sense of urgency.

David finally shook himself out his Patrick-induced haze and pulled back, suddenly realizing how important his arms were to his ability to tread water.

“Sorry,” David apologized sheepishly, not quite daring to look Patrick in the eye.

He heard Patrick move in the water, and a hand stroked gently against his cheek.

David looked up at the contact to see Patrick staring at him breathlessly, a little awe-struck smile on his face. “You’re not allowed to apologize for the best kiss of my life.” He smiled a little bashfully himself. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

David reached up and caught Patrick’s hand, twining the fingers together. “If it’s anywhere as long as I have, then I think I have some idea.”

Patrick grinned at him and pulled David’s hand back to kiss it quickly. “I think we need to get back to dry land.”

“Please,” David insisted. “Emphasis on the dry.”

It was a struggle getting back into the canoe, Patrick managing it well and David practically flopping down into the floor of the canoe once Patrick finally hauled him back on board.

If Patrick had been attracted to him before, David felt certain that was gone after that awkward collapse, but when he looked up at his realtor who he’d just kissed, Patrick was beaming at him fondly and he squeezed his hand once David had seated himself properly, both of them understanding that kissing in a canoe was not something to be attempted a second time.

The trip back to the boat dock felt like it took forever, though David knew that rationally it was quicker than the trip out since he was actually helping this time and Patrick was focusing almost exclusively on paddling instead of pointing out sights for David across the water.

But eventually they made it back, David even helping to pull the canoe out of the water and reinstall it on the roof of Patrick’s car. Neither of them spoke much beyond Patrick telling David when to lift or set down the canoe, and David let Patrick focus on getting the canoe tied up before he finally turned to face David again.

“So we’re on dry land,” Patrick said deliberately.

David was on him in a second, his arms finally able to wrap around Patrick’s neck without either of them having to worry about ending up underwater, while Patrick clung tightly to his back, not allowing any space between them. David found himself running his fingers through Patrick’s hair, eliciting a moan from the other man that made David’s knees weak. In retaliation, Patrick maneuvered David back against the car, pressing into him somehow even closer.

A sickly squishing sound broke them apart.

Patrick had grabbed onto David’s upper arm, and the action had very audibly demonstrated just how much water was left in David’s sweater.

Patrick let out a laugh as he examined the sweater more closely. “Oh, this didn’t dry out at all.”

David shook his head and let it fall forward onto Patrick’s shoulder. “I don’t think it’s ever going to be the same.”

Patrick’s hands returned to David’s back, this time stroking gently, comforting, apparently ignoring how soaking wet his sweater was. “Don’t give up hope yet,” he said seriously, though David, so familiar with the various tones of the other man, could detect the smallest hint of a smirk beneath Patrick’s words.

David finally let out a laugh. “Patrick, we really do need to get changed.”

Patrick nodded and finally let go of David, lightly moving him to the side so he could get into the backseat of the car to pull out a couple towels that he kept there for emergencies, handing one to David with a quick kiss.

The drive back to the bed and breakfast was different than every other drive they’d taken together. David found himself entirely unable to stop smiling. Granted, that was how he had felt around Patrick almost since he’d met him, but now he knew what it felt like to kiss him, to be pressed up against him, and now when he glanced over shyly at Patrick, Patrick glanced back until he finally took David’s hand and held it across the center console.

As Patrick pulled into the bed and breakfast driveway, David was suddenly unsure, but Patrick seemed unconcerned, getting out of the car with David and grabbing his hand as soon as they met in front of the car.

“You go get changed and grab whatever you need,” Patrick said casually as they walked up the porch steps. “Just don’t take too long – I’d like to get home and put on dry clothes too.”

“So we’re getting dinner?” David asked hesitantly.

Patrick stopped just outside the front door, his eyes wide. “I guess I never actually asked. Um. I had a picnic for us in the cooler for after we got back to shore. I just figured we could do it back at my place, um if that’s okay?”

David smiled at Patrick’s worry. “That sounds more than okay.” He squeezed Patrick’s hand as they stepped into the foyer. “I’ll be quick.”

Luckily, Stevie seemed to actually have real plans so she wasn’t around, allowing David to take the fastest shower of his life just to get the lake water off of him before laying out his wet things to dry, throwing on new clothes, and tossing some more and a pile of skin and hair care products into an overnight bag, allowing himself to hope that dinner at Patrick’s place would eventually turn into something more than that. He messed with his hair, but a glance at his phone told him it had already been twenty minutes, so he gave it up mostly as a lost cause. Patrick had already seem him looking like a drowned rat in the middle of a lake and still thought he was cute enough to kiss, maybe David could trust that Patrick would still like him even if his hair wasn’t quite perfect.

Patrick teased him for taking so long as David walked down the stairs toward him, but his eyes were still sparkling as they flicked over David, lingering on the overnight bag slung over his shoulder, before he reached out for David’s hand, pulling him the rest of the way across the foyer and kissing him quickly.

“Come on, David,” Patrick said with a small smile as they separated. “I think water’s escaping from my shoes, and we need to get out of here before Stevie comes back.”

David laughed and followed Patrick out of the bed and breakfast, their hands still held fast together.

Patrick usually came to the bed and breakfast if they ever met up for dinner or drinks, so David didn’t have any idea where he lived, but they were soon pulling into the driveway of a small house just a few miles away, not far past the real estate office.

It was remarkably close to what David had assumed when he first met Patrick. Patrick’s garage held a kayak, some inner tubes, fishing rods, camp chairs, a tent, and all sorts of outdoorsman equipment, in addition to his canoe.

“You really were a Boy Scout,” David said looking around at everything.

Patrick just laughed and ushered David into the actual house, instructing David to make himself comfortable while he went to get changed.

The actual house was sparsely decorated, but it was nice in its own way. The kitchen was cute and any accents throughout the entire house were in varying shades of blue. It felt like Patrick, David realized with a small smile. It was like his desk in the office but on a much larger scale. Everything had its place.

David wandered around examining photographs, most of which featured an older man and woman who David assumed were Patrick’s parents, and many others featuring a varying number of brown-haired kids and adults who David gathered were Patrick’s many close cousins and their kids.

He made his way through the kitchen with a small attached dining room, living room, and ended up in the hallway where Patrick had disappeared. One door was closed, and David could hear running water and movement behind it, but the other was open, letting David into what was clearly Patrick’s home office. The desk was immaculate, just a stack of printouts and Patrick’s open laptop on the surface.

The screen was still lit up, so Patrick had evidently stopped in here before getting changed. David knew Patrick’s laptop, and he smiled for a moment at the familiar background image of a canoe out of a lake, realizing for the first time that it was actually taken at the lake he and Patrick had just been out on. As David leaned in closer to investigate the lake and determine if he could see that perfect house in the background, David noticed an open spreadsheet minimized at the bottom of the screen titled David Rose.

Unable to help himself, David clicked it open.

David had seen this spreadsheet before. Patrick had been keeping a log of all the houses they’d seen, apparently to keep track of what features David liked and disliked in a house.

David smiled as he scrolled down through the listings, but as he moved the spreadsheet over to see more information, he found a column that he definitely hadn’t seen the last time Patrick had showed him this spreadsheet.

It was labeled “Excuses.” David read quickly down the list. “Not enough trees.” “Too many trees.” “Not enough sunlight.” “Lake’s too small.” “Roof’s too old (note: roof is only 5 years old).” “It just doesn’t have good energy (note: ???).”

On and on. Every reason David had ever given for not buying a house.

David read the very last one, a reason he’d given less than a week before: “This doesn’t feel like the right end of this journey.” A very Alexis response that he’d pulled out of the air for the sole purpose of making Patrick laugh (which it had). But Patrick had made an additional note: “(I don’t want this journey to end either.)”

“Hey.”

David whirled around, startled. “Shit, Patrick!”

Patrick smirked at him as he walked over, now wearing dry clothes.

“Find anything interesting on my computer?” he asked, his eyebrows raised.

David shrugged sheepishly. “I was looking at your background picture, and I saw my name.”

“Of course.” Patrick’s eyes were flashing almost gleefully.

“I liked this column,” David added, pointing to the screen.

Patrick suddenly seemed less self-assured. “Oh. Yeah.”

“Every excuse I ever made to spend more time with you,” David said with a small smile.

Patrick looked up at him, his eyes lit up not with amusement but with affection. “That’s what I always hoped it was. But I… I never knew.”

David smiled at him, stepping into his space. “You know now, right?”

Patrick nodded quickly, wide-eyed. “Yeah.”

And then David closed the last of the distance between them, their lips connecting, hands drifting through still-damp hair, but no wet clothes to get in the way this time as Patrick steered them both out of the office and across the hallway.

“Is this okay?” Patrick asked as they broke apart mere feet from Patrick’s bed.

David grinned. “More than okay.”

Patrick’s eyes burned brighter as he crashed their mouths back together, the pair quickly falling into the bed in a tangle of limps, all soft touches and smiles and love, certainly love, though David could never say it. Perfect was how it felt. Like he’d been waiting a lifetime just for this. Just for Patrick.

Chapter Text

He woke up the next morning to a steady heat along his side. The room was quiet. Low light drifted in through a window. He could smell coffee from somewhere.

The clacking of a keyboard just behind his head finally made him shift.

There was Patrick, eyes focused on his laptop in front of him, a cup of coffee still steaming slighting from his nightstand.

At David’s movement, Patrick looked up, his eyes which had been focused as he worked on his computer turned soft as he looked down at David, a smile spreading across his face as though automatically.

“Good morning,” he said with a grin.

David sat up enough to be level with Patrick. “Good morning.” He reached out to bring Patrick in for a quick kiss.

The previous night had been perfect. Heated kisses turned slow and soft. A picnic blanket spread across Patrick’s dining room table with wine and supplies to make David’s favorite sandwiches, plus a gallon of David’s favorite ice cream in Patrick’s freezer, just in case they’d made it back here someday, Patrick had said. David would have fallen in love with him right there if he hadn’t been in love with him already.

They’d fallen back into bed together, and David felt happier than he had in a long time. Maybe ever.

And the morning was just as lovely. Patrick brought him coffee, and he had David help him make pancakes, David only messing up flipping them a little bit, Patrick rewarding him with small kisses to whichever part of him was nearest on every attempt.

David left to get ready with a quick kiss to Patrick’s lips that turned more heated as Patrick pulled him in.

“Don’t you have work to do?” David managed finally as they broke apart, though David certainly hadn’t let go of Patrick and he was grinning at him stupidly.

Patrick kissed David quickly this time, something slightly cloudy in his eyes, but buried deep underneath the soft joy that radiated out of him at the sight of David. “I do, but it’s hard when I finally have you here with me.”

David rested his forehead against Patrick’s briefly and then finally stepped away from him. “I’ll be right back.”

Patrick laughed. “We both know that isn’t quite true, David. I’ve waited for you to get ready in the morning before.”

David glared at him, but there was no malice in it and a smile quickly replaced the harsher line of his mouth.

By the time David had finished in the bathroom, Patrick was sitting at the desk in his office, typing quickly on his computer, a few printed pages sitting next to him.

He turned around as David walked in, the smile that appeared on his face somehow both genuine and forced, like he was truly happy to see David but also as though he was putting on a brave face for some reason.

He passed the pages to David. “We’re going to see the house today.” There was a forced cheeriness to his words that David spotted immediately.

David looked down and saw a few images of the beautiful property he’d spotted from the canoe the previous afternoon. A quick glance at the specs told him that on paper at least it was perfect. And he already knew the back was ideal. If the inside was just as good as the outside, David had found his house.

Oh.

Suddenly the reason for Patrick’s fake happiness came crashing down to him. If David finally picked out a house, he wouldn’t have a reason to come back here all the time. Sure, he could come back to supervise the decoration or claim he was taking a weekend off to spend in the mountains, but for months David’s sole task had been finding a house, and if it was done, he needed to find his next thing.

He had to go back to New York.

“Oh,” David finally said out loud.

Patrick nodded. “Yeah.”

David shook his head quickly. “Maybe it’s not even nice inside. I bet it’s terrible.”

Patrick offered him a sad smile. “Yeah, maybe.” He didn’t believe it, and David didn’t either.

But they went anyway. They talked in the car about nothing, people they passed on the sidewalk in town, what Ray was doing back in the office. Nothing about them, though David’s hand was still linked with Patrick’s between them; he wasn’t going to give that up.

They finally made it to the house and David found that the road side was just as perfect as the lake side. This was the lake house of his dreams. His mom would love how grand it was and how exclusive since the lake was small but the view was the best in the entire region, while his dad would appreciate the small touches that made it seem real and homey.

“The inside could still be terrible,” he mumbled to himself.

Patrick laughed sadly beside him.

But the inside was anything but terrible. Open, airy, tons of natural light but only a normal number of skylights. Paint colors had been chosen expertly; the touches of wood weren’t overbearing. David could already see what furniture he wanted in each room, what art he wanted on the walls. And out the back window was the view he’d loved since the first time he’d ever come up here. Patrick’s favorite lake, his favorite view.

David turned back to Patrick, his face a mix of regret and awe. He started to open his mouth to say something, he didn’t know what, but Patrick shook his head, a sad smile on his face.

 “I know it’s perfect, don’t even try to come up with an excuse. It’s everything you wanted.”

David shook his head. “Not everything.” He crossed the room to Patrick and pulled him into his arms.

“It’s okay, David,” Patrick said softly, his embrace warm and comforting around David. “We were always going to end up here eventually.”

David thought of his conversation with Stevie from the other night, a lifetime ago it felt like now. She’d warned him that they were both going to get hurt.

Patrick pulled back from him. “You should call your dad. I’ll get started on the paperwork so we can put an offer in.”

David nodded. “Okay.”

So he called his dad and told him all about the perfect house he’d found and then his dad talked to Patrick and then they were driving back to Patrick’s office where Patrick drew up some paperwork and made an offer. Then they got lunch in another town, just to drag it out, to give themselves as much time together as possible. David kissed Patrick in his favorite sculpture garden by his favorite ice cream shop, and it would have been perfect if Patrick’s face hadn’t looked so sad. And within just a few hours they found out the offer had been accepted and the house was under contract and that was it.

David had done what he’d come here to do all those months ago.

“I should get you back to the motel,” Patrick said quietly as they sat across from each other in Patrick’s office, Ray thankfully elsewhere for the afternoon. “You need to get home and start picking out furniture and art and all that.”

“I’ll have to come back when we move everything in,” David commented, trying to keep the note of hope from his voice. “I can’t trust anyone else to do it right.”

Patrick smiled at him fondly. “I know.” He stood up, and David followed him out of the office to his car.

They drove back to the bed and breakfast in near silence, unsaid words between them threatening to come out but keeping to themselves for the moment.

Patrick parked out in front where he had dropped David off so many times before. He got David’s bag for him and met him outside the car.

It felt like an ending.

“Patrick,” David started, but Patrick raised his hand to stop him.

“Like I said, we both knew this was coming.” He sounded sad but resolute.

“But that doesn’t mean this has to end, right?” David gestured between them. “I’ll be back to show my parents when we sign the papers, and there’s the furniture, and with a real house I’ll have somewhere to stay that isn’t the motel. I’ve been coming up here every week for the last few months, who says that has to stop?”

But Patrick sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know if I can start something like this, only seeing each other once a week, living two entirely separate lives. You know I’m not cut out for New York.”

David’s lips quirked up at the thought. “It might be tough to find an apartment that can fit five kayaks.”

“Two kayaks, David. I have two kayaks, not five,” Patrick corrected with an affectionate exasperation. “But it’s a fair point. I wouldn’t fit in the city. But you do. And you have so much ahead of you. You told me the first time you were up here that this was giving you some breathing space before you found a new inspiration. I want you to do that. You’re ready.”

David reached out for Patrick’s hand and squeezed it tightly. “You don’t know that,” he replied in a small voice.

Patrick brought David’s hand up to his lips and kissed the back lightly. “Yes, I do.” He let their hands fall back between them, still joined but not as tightly. “And if you’re ever in town and you need a friend who isn’t Stevie, I’m around for lunch or ice cream, or maybe I could even show you how to use those kayaks. It’s really easy, and you’ll definitely want a few for the new house.”

David grimaced, and Patrick laughed, familiar even in this moment of uncertainty.

“Well, disregarding that horrible idea,” David replied, trying to keep his words light, “I’ll see you soon then. For the signing.”

Patrick nodded, his eyes tracing over David affectionately, almost adoringly. “I’m so glad I met you, David Rose,” he said softly. “And I can’t wait to see what you do next.”

David stepped into Patrick’s space and wrapped his arms around Patrick’s neck, pulling him into one last kiss.

“Goodbye, Patrick,” he said quietly.

Patrick pressed another kiss to his hand as he pulled away. “Goodbye, David.”

And then he got in his car and with one last glance drove away.

“Okay, I have so many questions,” Stevie’s voice came from the front porch. “But first, why did Patrick look like he was about to cry?”

David turned toward her, the beginnings of tears in his own eyes. “Because I bought a house today,” he said simply. “And now I’m going home.”

Chapter Text

David packed up his things slowly, Stevie hovering around behind him, clearly wanting to say something but unsure what. He’d passed her the spec sheet for the house as he’d walked inside, and he could tell from her intake of breath that she was impressed, but neither of them had said a word.

“So you’re not even going to try to make this work?” Stevie asked finally as David set his bags down in the lobby.

David turned to her, actual tears on his cheeks now. “I don’t live here, Stevie. This is Patrick’s world, your world, not mine. I need to move on, figure out what I’m doing next.” He wiped his eyes with a tissue. “This was always only ever an intermission for me. I was lucky it lasted as long as it did.”

“But you’re happy here,” Stevie argued back. “You like the little shops and the mountains and the trees even if you say you don’t. And you and Patrick love each other. That means something too doesn’t it?”

“He never actually said he loves me,” David mumbled.

Stevie rolled her eyes. “I was with you at the open house yesterday. And I know you spent the night with him. If Patrick isn’t entirely in love with you then I don’t know anything.”

David shrugged. “Still doesn’t change anything.”

Stevie stared hard at him. “Well it should. Because you both are going to be miserable.”

David sighed exasperatedly. “Yeah, and you’ll have to deal with us and it’ll suck for you, I’m so sorry.”

Stevie looked hurt. “You both are my friends, and I want you to be happy?” she countered, her eyes hard. “But it’s your life. I’ll see you around, David.”

She turned to walk away, but David reached out for her arm. “Stevie, I’m sorry,” he apologized quickly. “You’re a really good friend. I’m just… it’s a shitty day, okay?”

Stevie softened slightly and offered him a half smile.

“I’ll be back when we have to sign the papers in a month,” he added. “You can meet my dad at least. Maybe my mom will come too.”

Stevie’s face lit up at the prospect, and David laughed.

“I’ll miss you, you know?” David said quietly.

Stevie nodded. “You too.”

He hugged his friend briefly, and then he left.

Patrick’s car was sitting in the parking lot of the real estate office as David drove by. David felt himself start crying again.

But by the time he made it home, David was clean-faced and answering his parents’ questions about the new house with his usual detachment.

“Well thanks son,” his father said after hearing David’s report. “I can’t wait to see the place. It must be something special with how much trouble you took to find it.”

“It was nothing,” David replied quietly, his answer both true and not true. The house hunting itself had been very little trouble, but by no means was what had happened over the past few months nothing.

“Still, it means a lot.” David’s father clapped him on the back. “Now, I expect you’ll want to start your own real estate search. Find a new gallery back in the city, get a new show going.”

“Um, yeah. Yeah I guess.” That was what he’d planned on doing. Patrick had told him he was ready when they’d said goodbye. But now David couldn’t think of anything he wanted to do less.

But he drove back to the city the next day. Back to his apartment. Back to friends who claimed they needed him. Friends who looked like him, who dressed like him, who wanted to know about the new gallery that David certainly had planned now that he was back in New York for good.

David gave vague answers and spent his time picking out furniture for the new lake house, pieces that would match his aesthetic but still fit in with the trees and mountains, some even ordered from small shops he’d visited with Patrick that he’d kept in the back of his mind just in case.

This project often caused his mind to wander to Patrick, not that he needed much of an excuse, Patrick was always close in his mind.

David wondered if he’d ever look out from the deck of the new house and see Patrick paddling by in his canoe, a look of vague recognition in his eyes, perhaps offering David a nod as a few of his nicer exes and hookups had been wont to do over the years.

No, Patrick was better than that. He would wave. He’d call out a greeting. He might invite David to come out in the lake with him, his eyes glinting, teasing David for his disastrous last experience in a canoe. Patrick would ask how David liked the house. He’d smile wistfully and move on. Just as he should.

Patrick deserved a nice person who understood him and his life. Some ruggedly cute, ax-swinging mountain man wearing lots of plaid who climbed trees and had his own canoe. Not David. David belonged in New York society with a new gallery and his old life.

But every time David tried to lay down a vision for what his new gallery would look like, he came up empty. He’d liked what work he’d done in the past, and he liked what he saw in other city galleries he visited in search of inspiration, but he couldn’t find anything that really spoke to him.

“Come on, you have to like something,” Alexis commented on a visit to the city after David had expressed his frustration with figuring out what he wanted.

David shook his head. “That’s not it. I can’t get by on just liking something. Whatever it is, it has to be perfect.”

Alexis rolled her eyes unsympathetically. “Well what was the last thing you remember ‘speaking to you’ or whatever it is?”

“Ugh, I don’t know, Alexis!” David said exasperatedly, throwing his hands up in the air. It was true. He really couldn’t remember the last time he’d really felt any kind of deep emotion related to art. All his emotions lately had been reserved for a certain realtor which wasn’t helpful in the least.

But even as he and Alexis’s conversation moved on to other things, her question kept gnawing at him in the back of his mind. When was the last time any art had made him really feel something?

He texted Stevie sporadically, doing his best to keep his sadness locked away though his loneliness always managed to creep into their conversations. He complained about the city and his friends, she complained about guests and townspeople. Sometimes she offered a greeting from Patrick, though never more than that. David, for his part, texted with Patrick primarily about the house, but they did exchange how-are-you’s from time to time, though David suspected neither of them was being entirely truthful in his answers.

All too soon closing day for the house was upon them. David had had the date for the signing in his phone since Patrick had set it up, a little notification reminding David that he would get to see Patrick again, even if things were inevitably going to be awkward between them.

Usually their family would have had lawyers take care of the paperwork and maybe one of them would oversee furniture being delivered, but David had no such luck here. David’s father was so excited about the prospect of reliving his childhood that he wanted to come see the house, and David’s mother expressed a curiosity herself at what had taken David so long to accomplish, so David found himself driving up roads he knew well that had often made him feel comforted and relieved only now with his parents with him, the exact opposite of comfort. At least Alexis had elected not to join them; that would have made it unbearable. Not that it was very far from that.

Patrick had told David that he’d meet them at the lake house, so David made the drive down roads he’d only ever seen as a passenger. He spotted a café he’d regularly forced Patrick to stop for coffee at, houses with kitschy exteriors that he’d often made fun of, and, as they grew close, the boat launch where he and Patrick had gone canoeing. Patrick had kissed him up against his car right there in that parking lot.

“David, are you sure this is the right place?” came his mother’s voice from the back seat. “It’s all very arborous, isn’t it? So many trees.”

David almost smiled at the comment, but he felt sick instead as he remembered delivering that complaint himself to Patrick months before.

“I’m sure it’s alright, Moira,” replied his father placatingly, though David could hear the hesitation in his voice. “Though I do hope you didn’t go too rustic here, son. You know your mother wants… oh wow…” His words trailed off as the car went around a turn that revealed the mountain view that David had first fallen in love with. Patrick’s lake. Patrick’s view.

“Is our new abode anywhere as lovely as that?” asked his mother, her mouth open slightly.

David allowed himself a triumphant smile. “That’s actually exactly what you see off the deck,” he answered, nonchalantly turning into a gated driveway.

A familiar Subaru was parked in front of the house with an even more familiar man leaning up against the outside waving as David pulled in.

David’s parents left the car first, looking all around, impressed, finally, by something David had done.

David gave himself a moment to breathe. Patrick was here. He’d missed him so much.

He finally exited the car to see Patrick greeting his parents with a smile that David could see was part Realtor Patrick but mostly Real Patrick. He seemed a little taken aback by David’s mother in particular, but it quickly settled into a kind of fond amusement, but then his eyes fell on David and any concern he seemed to have had before vanished in David’s favorite smile, one that was only for him, before it pulled back and became more professional, reminding David that things weren’t like they used to be.

“It’s great to see you, David,” Patrick said, stepping over to him, meaning in every word even though David knew Patrick was trying to hold back.

David smiled back, suddenly feeling like he might cry. “It’s great to see you too, Patrick.”

Patrick reached out for a hug which David returned, short, brief, the embrace of a friend except for David’s almost undetectable sigh at the feeling of Patrick’s arms around him and Patrick’s hand tensing on his back in response.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go inside!”

David had rarely heard his father so excited.

Patrick, back to full professionalism that hesitated only when he turned to look at David, led the way through the front door and then through the rest of the house.

Both Rose parents were clearly pleased, and as David added comments about what pieces he would put where, his mother nodded along, genuinely listening and appreciating his ideas. Sometimes she would make a particularly eccentric comment, and Patrick would find David’s eyes and they’d share a grin that was just for them. David wished those moments would last forever.

Eventually, David’s parents decided to go out to the deck to see the lake and the view, but David and Patrick hung back.

“Your parents are something,” Patrick commented, and David snorted a laugh.

“That’s one word for it.”

“Has Stevie met them yet?”

David shook his head. “We’ll go over after we sign everything. We’re staying there tonight.”

Patrick grinned. “Stevie’s going to love them.”

David nodded his agreement as he watched his dad gesture excitedly about something to his mom out on the deck.

“They really like it, don’t they?” David said staring out at them, almost disbelieving. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen them so happy about something that they haven’t done themselves.”

“It’s all down to you, David,” Patrick replied softly.

David shook his head. “You knew about it first.”

Neither of them said anything, but their eyes landed on the stretch of the lake just off the dock, and David knew that they were both thinking of what had happened in a canoe in that exact spot. Their first kiss. The best afternoon of David’s life.

“It’s been quieter around here without you,” Patrick said after a moment.

David knew he could throw his arms around Patrick and tell him how much he missed him, and Patrick might be weak enough to kiss him back, but nothing had changed since the day David was last in town and Patrick didn’t deserve that. So David settled on their old teasing banter, returning to how they’d spent so much of their time together over months. “Really? I would have through you’d be spending more time with Ray who I don’t think anyone would ever call quiet.”

Patrick laughed, but David could hear an edge of sadness to it, knowing as well as David that everything had already been said between them.

“Patrick, do you have any suggestions about boats for a lake this size?” David’s father’s excited voice through the door brought David and Patrick out of the moment. They weren’t alone. They weren’t together.

“Oh, of course, Mr. Rose. I have a few good options for you.” And then Patrick was out on the deck and all David could do was follow him.

The drive back to the real estate office to sign the paperwork was different than the drive out. His parents were happy and already making plans for small, intimate gatherings with only their closest friends, his mother practically jumping from her seat at the exclusivity of it.

He looked out at the trees sadly as they drove back into town. Despite Patrick’s insistence that David go back to New York and move on, David couldn’t help thinking about making visits of his own back up here. His parents seemed to like it so much that it wouldn’t be weird for David to disappear up here fairly often. But it still wouldn’t be fair to Patrick for David to just keep pretending that he had a life up here, that he wasn’t running away from a future that scared him. Patrick deserved better. He deserved to move on himself without David hanging around and making it harder.

“That Patrick’s a good kid,” his dad commented. “Did you know he used to work at a Rose Video when he was a teenager? Feels almost like keeping it in the family.”

David felt a pang of pride and sadness at his father’s words.

“He certainly has been a veritable font of helpful information. And you seem to have gotten along rather well with sweet Pat as well, David,” intoned his mother from the backseat.

It was all David could do to give a weak nod.. “Yeah. He was nice to work with. Really helpful.” Understatement of the year.

The meeting in the real estate office was unfortunately also attended by Ray who, as usual, had a lot to say about everything, barely even letting David’s father get a word in edgewise. David said little, but he and Patrick exchanged amused glances over paperwork as Ray tried to sell David’s parents on closet organization.

“When will you be moving in?” Ray asked, finally moving the conversation back to the actual reason they were sitting in his office.

“Tomorrow,” David answered this time, his eyes flashing over to Patrick quickly. “At least that’s when we’re having most of the furniture delivered. A few pieces will take longer, but you can’t rush perfection.”

David swore he heard Patrick laugh at that, but by the time David glanced back at him he was only covering up a cough.

David’s father then made a comment about staff for the house, which sent Ray rushing out of the room to get some kind of brochure, leaving Patrick to quickly put in a suggestion about outdoor maintenance including a few phone numbers.

“We’re certainly lucky to have found you, Patrick,” David’s father said with a smile and a nod as he took the information from Patrick. “A Rose Video man. We couldn’t have gotten luckier.”

Patrick’s eyes flicked over to David who had to look away. Lucky, that’s what he’d been. Just for a few months he’d been lucky. But not anymore.

“And you’ve taken such good care of our David,” David’s mom added.

David’s eyes widened and quickly flashed over to Patrick who looked a little taken aback, but more subtly than David.

“He’s spent so much time up here,” David’s mother continued airily. “I’m sure you’re happy to finally have him off your hands.”

David stared hard at the desk in front of him. Patrick and Stevie had joked about the same thing before, but David had never believed they really meant it. But his mother certainly did mean that she thought he was difficult.

“Oh no, Mrs. Rose,” came Patrick’s voice, filled with sincerity, no realtor politeness covering up anything. “While I am glad we finally found the perfect house for you, I’m going to miss having David around. He always had such great observations about properties-”

David held back a laugh that was almost a sob thinking about Patrick’s “Excuses” column in his David Rose spreadsheet.

“-and he’s taught me so much about design and art. I don’t know when I’ve enjoyed working with a client more.” Patrick’s words were deep and weighty. This wasn’t just something he was saying; he meant every word.

David understood that was all Patrick could say in company but even that was enough to make David want to kiss him, to hide out here for another month pretending New York didn’t exist while he just kissed Patrick and ate local ice cream.

But all David could do was look up at Patrick, his eyes sad and mouth a silence “thank you” that Patrick returned with a nod.

As they finally got up to leave, a brochure-laden Ray distracting David’s parents by trying to sell them a variety of unrelated services, David finally found himself alone with Patrick one last time.

“Are you sure, Patrick?” David asked simply, not needing to say more.

Patrick just nodded. “You need to follow your life, David. I’ll miss you, I do already. But you have to do this. I know you do.”

“Will you come over tomorrow?”

Patrick shrugged but David knew that was a no. His heart sank.

“We should have had more time,” he said finally, regret in his voice.

Patrick laughed and hugged David quickly, the same sort of friendly hug as earlier, only now Patrick was breathing into him as though taking him in for the last time. “I’ll see you around, David. Let me know where you end up; I can’t wait to see.”

David held on tighter for just a moment and then let go. “I’ll text you when I’m in town again. We could get lunch with Stevie or something.”

Patrick smiled that sad smile he had first seen the day they said their goodbyes the previous month.

David missed Patrick’s happy, breathless, only-for-David smile.

His parents said their goodbyes to Patrick and Ray, clearly trying to get away from the latter as quickly as possible.

“Have a good night at the bed and breakfast,” Patrick added with a wink to David.

David felt grateful for the moment that at least he had seeing Stevie to look forward to.

Stevie met them out on the front porch when they arrived and immediately pulled David into an unexpected hug.

“Did you miss me or something?” David asked, grinning in spite of himself.

Stevie punched his arm. “Shut up.” But she couldn’t hide her grin either.

David quickly introduced her to his parents before Stevie led them all inside and escorted David’s parents to their room next to David’s usual one with his familiar taxidermized animals. Stevie was clearly enjoying herself at the expense of his parents who seemed more than a little bit taken aback by the décor and at the expense of David who she gladly fell back into teasing almost immediately. All-in-all it was exactly what David had expected. He just wished Patrick had been there too; he would have loved this, and his kind and perfect smile would have made David entirely impervious to the barbs from his parents and his friend.

Eventually his parents returned upstairs to go to bed, albeit a little hesitantly, David’s mother commenting on how “quaint” and “unique” the wallpaper was as they went upstairs, and then asking her husband in a quieter voice which still carried enough for David and Stevie to hear how likely it was that they would be murdered during the night.

David and Stevie laughed like old times, watching movies and eating popcorn, catching up and talking about nothing.

But as the conversation lulled, movie credits rolling, the hour late enough that Stevie at least needed to get to bed so she could be up to work the next morning, Stevie finally addressed the elephant in the room.

“Are we not going to talk about Patrick?”

David sighed. “There’s nothing to talk about, Stevie. It can’t work.”

Stevie groaned and let her head fall back onto the couch. “You guys are both so stupid. You’re gonna let this go just like that? And you hardly even talked about it.”

“Stevie, we hooked up once. We can’t both drop everything just for that.”

Stevie stared hard at him and shook her head. “Okay, I’m done. If you both want to be miserable for the rest of your lives, go ahead. Because that’s what you’re risking, you know? No matter how successful or fulfilled or whatever bullshit you both tell yourselves, there is no future where you both don’t regret this, where you aren’t happier without each other than together.”

“It’s Patrick’s choice, not mine,” David replied in a small voice.

“Bullshit.” Stevie stood up, wrinkling her nose in disgust. “I’m going to bed.”

David was left by himself, feeling just as miserable as Stevie had said he would feel.

The next morning, Stevie was back to normal and didn’t mention Patrick at all, which David was incredibly grateful for. She came over to help with the move, which was to say that she came over to heckle David as he directed movers to put various pieces of furniture around the house.

David’s mother helped out with some suggestions and a few more dramatic episodes, while his father spoke with a newly hired housekeeper who would get things up and running while the rest of the house came together in the coming weeks.

Patrick, as suspected, didn’t show up, but there was one moment when David was in the main living area that he saw a man in a canoe out in the lake through the windows, a man whose silhouette seemed achingly familiar, but he had quickly been distracted by movers asking for instructions and by the time he looked back the canoe was gone.

By mid-afternoon, the house was all set up, and David said another goodbye to Stevie, though with a promise that he’d be back in a few weeks at least to hang some art, especially now that he had a good bed and a taxidermy-free bedroom.

His parents spent half the drive home planning their official opening of the house in a month once all the art and furniture had arrived and once David’s father had purchased a new boat or two. David wasn’t sure if he would technically be on the guest list for such an occasion, but he already knew that he would manage to be there regardless.

Patrick was right that David needed to move on, but that wasn’t going to make David stop thinking about Patrick, and even just being in the same town as him, the slight possibility that he might look out the window and see him rowing by, that was enough to make David want to come back as soon and as often as he could.

He didn’t imagine that Stevie would have anything nice to say about such a plan, but David didn’t care. If he was going to be miserable, then he would very well be miserable on his own terms, thank you very much.

Chapter Text

And miserable was really the word for it.

David decided not to go back to his apartment, choosing to stay with his parents for a while. He’d always loved the excitement of the city, but he found himself more and more craving some peace and quiet, and his parents’ house was the closest thing he could get.

He did start making lists of potential gallery locations and little by little ideas were coming together for themes and artists to showcase. It would all make for a perfectly acceptable gallery, even if David’s heart wasn’t in it. He just hoped that if he worked at it enough, he’d eventually start feeling the excitement that art used to bring him. It was worth a shot at least.

Just over a week after he’d left the lake house, David broke down and finally contacted a New York realtor about a gallery property. Talking to a realtor who wasn’t Patrick felt almost dishonest, but, worse, it felt final, like he was actually giving up and moving on like he knew he should. The woman sounded nice (fake nice, realtor nice) on the phone, and they’d made plans to see a few properties the following day, none that David was particularly excited about, but he thought it was very likely he’d pick one of them anyway. No reason to drag it out. Not again.

After writing down the appointments in his phone, David made his way downstairs to the dining room for lunch, finding his parents actually home and eating with him for once.

His father was just going through the mail, and he held up two identical card envelopes as David sat down.

“These must be from Patrick,” David’s father commented fondly.

David looked up at the name of the man who was currently occupying his thoughts. “Patrick?”

David’s father nodded and passed a card over to him. “Yep, one for your mother and I and one for you. That’s nice of him.”

“Yeah,” David trailed off as his hand closed around the envelope. He recognized Patrick’s even handwriting on his name and address, a printed label in the corner for the return address reading Butani Realty.

David opened his slowly as his father pulled out his own card.

“Oh this is nice, Moira, listen,” David’s father commented as he began to read the letter, “Dear Mr. and Mrs. Rose, It was a pleasure to work with your family to find you the perfect lake house. I think David picked a beautiful home, and I’m sure you all will have plenty of wonderful times there for years to come. Don’t hesitate to reach out for recommendations on food or things to do up my way; or you can always ask David, he’s practically a local now. Best wishes to your family, Patrick Brewer”

“He is rather sweet isn’t he, John? And it seems David really didn’t offend him too much by spending so much time in his quest.”

David managed an eyeroll at his mother as he finally opened up his card, Patrick’s words his father had just read outechoing in his mind. David, practically a local. And it wasn’t too much of an exaggeration.

Inside the generic-looking thank you card, David found much more than the few sentences Patrick had written to his father. David inhaled quickly and began to read.

Dear David,

This is supposed to be a form letter thanking you for working with me and wishing you well in your new house, but that doesn’t even begin to cover what I need to say to you. It was the best experience of my life being your realtor, and I’m beyond grateful to count you still as a friend. I’ll treasure every lunch, every thinly veiled attempt at making us stop for ice cream, every bad house I showed you just to see your reaction and every terrible excuse you gave to give us more time together. The last day we spent together – capsizing the canoe, our picnic on my kitchen table, even going to see our very last house knowing that it was the end even if we pretended we didn’t know – I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world. You changed my life, David, just by being you. I have never felt so lucky as I have these past few months, and though I wish things were different, I don’t regret a single moment of it. If I had to do it again, maybe I would have kissed you sooner, but then again I probably wouldn’t have gotten you to fall out of a canoe so that was probably worth any wait.

I wish you all the happiness in the world. Keep in touch.

Make something beautiful, David. I know you will.  

Patrick

David stared at the card, his own feelings echoing so clearly in Patrick’s words. He felt keenly the injustice of being separated from the first person who really cared about him like this. He and Patrick had made each other happy, but they were living near parallel lives that had only intersected in this rarest of circumstance. David wished things were different too.

His eyes were drawn particularly to the last line, Patrick’s instruction to David to make something beautiful, with the affirmation that Patrick had no doubt in David’s ability to do so.

David wished he could say he was making something beautiful with the beginnings of his new gallery, but he knew it wasn’t right. Parts of owning a gallery were difficult, but the design and the art themselves weren’t what David should have to force.

Again Alexis’s question drifted back to him, when was the last time any art had made him really feel something?

Staring down at Patrick’s letter, the answer came to him in a blinding flash of clarity. He and Patrick stood together in a garden surrounded by installations of metal and glass, painted murals flanked pavilions, carved statues of wood and stone lined paths, windchimes clinked melodically in the breeze. He felt as if he were part of something, a community, a different world, one where anyone was welcome. He could see a wide-open room with walls of glass overlooking trees and streams as though it were part of nature itself. He could see landscape photographs and folk art coexisting, parts of this same world.

It was the gallery of his dreams. A gallery that existed in Patrick’s world, a place where David had not belonged but had only been visiting.

But Patrick had called him a local.

Patrick had taken up to different small galleries and installations in the area, many verging on tourist trappy, but a few showing some real promise. David had liked them. He’d felt almost at home.

Maybe this was what he’d been looking for all along. Maybe he belonged somewhere else after all.

David stood up abruptly, startling his parents.

“Is something wrong, David?” his father asked.

David just shook his head, a small smiling growing on his face as he clutched Patrick’s card tightly in his hand. “No, no, I think everything’s finally okay. I have to go.”

Within fifteen minutes, David had haphazardly packed a bag and was driving back down a familiar road feeling freer than he had in a long time.

The gallery began to form in his mind, a list of artists and artisans to approach already coming together as though David’s subconscious had been working on it without his knowledge.

There was just one piece left. The most important one.

After a trip that seemed both too short and too long, David pulled into the parking lot of a strip mall, the nervousness in his stomach giving way for just a moment to a pang of happiness at the sight of a familiar Subaru in the parking lot.

David got out of his car and took a deep breath before he opened the door to the office on the end.

He heard noises behind the partial cubicle wall.

“I’m just getting the copies together, Ray,” came David’s favorite voice in the world.

“Actually, I’m looking to set up a gallery somewhere in the area, and I thought you might be able to help me find a good space.”

David heard the sound of a stack of papers cascading to the floor as Patrick appeared from behind the wall.

“David? What… what are you doing here?”

David shrugged. “Well, um, I’ve been having a lot of trouble finding any inspiration in New York. And the last time anything inspired me was up here. So, I figured I’d come back. To stay, maybe? If you’ll have me?”

“If I’ll have you?” Patrick repeated incredulously, stepping out fully from behind his desk. “David, you’re leaving everything behind. I can’t ask you to do that.”

David shook his head. “You didn’t ask me. This is my choice, Patrick. It turned out that I’d already left everything that really mattered behind when I went back to New York. I think I might belong here now, or at least I want to belong here. With you.”

Patrick closed the distance between them. “With me?”

“Just you.”

“Oh thank God.” And then Patrick’s arms were around his waist pulling David in to kiss him fiercely.

David responded immediately, wrapping his arms around Patrick’s neck, finally feeling right for the first time in more than a month.

He smiled into the kiss and pulled back for a moment. “Okay, but I do really need to find some gallery space.”

Patrick looked up at him, his eyes shining, nothing but happiness radiating from his face. He shrugged. “I know a guy.”