kathierif_fic (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kathierif_fic) wrote2009-05-26 12:41 am
kathierif_fic) wrote2009-05-26 12:41 am
Fic: Hello Joe (Empire Records, Joe/Lucas, FRT-13)
Title: Hello Joe
Author: Kathie
Fandom : Empire Records
Pairing : Joe/Lucas
Rating: FRT-13
Word Count: 2966 Words
Disclaimer: Not mine. If Empire Records were mine, Joe would probably lure me into a dark alley and rob me, and then it wouldn’t be mine anymore anyways.
Summary: It’s Christmas, and the gang celebrates, while Joe remembers a few key events in his life with Lucas.
Author’s Notes: For the Sylum Clan List Secret Santa -
Prompt or situation : Either a first time fluffy romance/smut fic or something with baby!Lucas (ie Lucas between age 13 when he says Joe took him in and age 18)
The song used and quoted is “Hello Joe” by the Beatsteaks. It’s not mine either, but I own the CD…if anyone is interested, I can share it. Just let me know. (The song, not the CD).
Beta: Ginny. Add water, stir, instant beta. :)
**
“Hello Joe!”
“Joe!”
“Merry Christmas, Joe!”
Joe looked up from his desk at the voices flying through the room and lifted a hand for a short wave. Most of his attention was focused on the phone he was holding in his other hand, but he knew that the people who had just wandered in knew him and wouldn’t be angry at him for not jumping up now.
They would think he was sick if he did, he thought amusedly and smiled at the kid that barely could look over the edge of the desk. Her brown hair was in a neat ponytail, and while she was quiet, she was not going away. He knew she wouldn’t. She had her mother’s and father’s stubbornness.
“Josephine!”
AJ appeared in the door and smiled in apology at Joe. “Hey, Joe. How are you?” he asked while taking the kid’s hand. “Sorry, she was kind of excited to visit Uncle Joe.”
“I’m good,” Joe answered and put the phone down. “Unlike you guys, she knows how to behave,” he then said with another smile at the kid. She smiled back and went to climb into his lap.
“Hey, Joe!” Corey entered the office as well. “It’s so nice to see you again! How long has it been?”
“Almost a year,” AJ answered. “Since Josephine’s birthday.” He chuckled and slid an arm around her. “Have we thanked you for giving our daughter a drum kit, Joe?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
Joe laughed and bounced Josephine on his knees. “It’s my pleasure,” he said with a little grin. “After all you put me through?”
Corey laughed. “Joe, that was nine years ago,” she said, her voice warm with affection. “Oh, Gina called me, she’ll be a bit late. She has to work a late shift.”
“Should we wait?”
Joe let his goddaughter slide to the floor carefully. “What about the others?”
It was their traditional Christmas dinner, something they had started to do once AJ and Corey had moved to Boston and the Empire Records gang had slowly started to go their separate ways. While Lucas and Warren were still working for him, all of the others had found other purposes in their lives, too, just as it was meant to be.
“I think they all will be here,” AJ answered. “Unless Lucas went to Atlantic City again.”
Joe snorted. “Worst and best day of my life, all rolled into one,” he informed them. Corey nodded in agreement. She had similar sentiments about that particular day. She still remembered the embarrassment she’d felt for what she had done, but then, her friendship with both Debra and Gina had only become stronger, and she’d been with AJ ever since.
“Eddie is bringing dessert,” Joe said. “We’re all going to die of an overdose of sugar.”
“His brownies have gotten better since he started working at that bakery,” Corey answered with a smile. “You should’ve seen the cake he made for AJ’s birthday.”
“If it was anything like the one he made for Lucas’ birthday…” Joe shook his head and guided them out of the office and into the other room. For this occasion, they’d pushed the furniture towards the walls to clear a space in the middle of the room for the table. It had been a joined effort by Warren, Lucas and Joe, and it had taken them the better part of a night to figure out a way to do it.
Joe still couldn’t quite believe it. It all had started so harmlessly, so many years ago…
~*~*~many years ago~*~*~
Joe stared at the scrawny kid in front of him with narrowed eyes and his arms crossed over his chest.
The kid stared back with a look of stubbornness and defiance in his eyes. He subconsciously mirrored Joe’s stance, Joe noticed with a hint of grim amusement, but when Joe didn’t say anything after a few minutes, he began to fidget nervously and look everywhere but him.
It would be amusing, maybe even satisfying, in any other situation, Joe thought darkly, but not for a man who had just been left by his wife. She’d told him that she’d fallen in love with another woman and then packed her stuff, leaving him with an apartment that was too big for one person and with a broken heart.
Okay, maybe not exactly a broken heart.
Of course, he had loved her, and maybe he still did, but to his great surprise, he didn’t hurt like he thought he would. Instead, he just felt…numb.
And he wasn’t in the mood to deal with this kid that had been lurking at the store for several days now. There hadn’t really been a choice, though, and so he’d caught him and had pulled him into the back room.
“What’s your name?” he finally asked.
The kid looked at him for a moment longer before answering.
“Lucas.”
“Lucas,” Joe repeated thoughtfully. “How old are you?”
Lucas shrugged. He was extremely skinny, Joe noticed, but he quickly pushed that thought aside again. It didn’t matter, anyways. He would tell Lucas to get lost and then he could try to get his own life back on track.
Find a new place to live, or something. Call a few old friends. Maybe do something constructive.
He’d always wanted to get back with the band, maybe go on tour once more. He missed the old days. And he was a free man again, and there was nothing to stop him from doing exactly that.
“Thirteen,” Lucas muttered, and Joe’s eyebrows shot up. The kid definitely looked younger than thirteen, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to believe him.
“Thirteen,” he repeated thoughtfully, and the kid’s head shot up from where he’d been studying the floor. Lucas didn’t say anything; he was just biting his lip sharply.
“Where are you from?” he asked casually and pointed to the couch behind Lucas. “Sit down.”
“Nowhere,” Lucas answered, but he allowed himself to fall back into the cushions of the old, battered couch.
Joe cursed under his breath. He didn’t want to be a responsible adult. Giving in to his first instinct now would mean giving up his dreams of a career in the music biz forever because, if he was doing this, there was no going back. Plus, he couldn’t even be sure that this was the right thing to do. Or if this was possible to do in the first place.
He shook his head and ran his hands through his hair.
What was he doing here?
“Okay,” he said again. “You stay right where you are, okay? I need to make a call.”
He stalked towards his office, more than aware of the eyes following his every move, and allowed himself the brief satisfaction of a slammed door. It didn’t help for long.
He still had to make that call. He needed a lawyer to get a divorce, and he needed to figure out what to do about Lucas.
One thing was for sure, though. He couldn’t let him go back to where he’d come from. Besides, the chances that he would be back were high enough, considering he’d seen the kid lurk at the store all week long now.
~*~*~
It wasn’t long until Deb, Mark and Berko appeared, and then Eddie, who was carefully balancing a huge, covered plate, joined them as well. Warren, who now was working as manager for Joe, brought the food, and Joe didn’t trust him to turn up until the younger man actually stood in front of him. He had his reasons to be suspicious, Joe thought while pretending to be annoyed about the eyeroll Warren didn’t even try to hide. The year before, they had ended up with a Christmas dinner of half-cold fast food because Warren had forgotten that he was supposed to take care of it.
He smiled a bit. Last Christmas, he’d still been with Jane, who thankfully hadn’t forced him to leave at gunpoint when she’d finally, after nine years, had broken up with him. It had been the most peaceful end of a relationship he’d ever experienced, and to his great surprise, it had hurt more than the others. At least it had initially.
Finally Gina entered, a wide smile on her face. She was still turning heads wherever she went, even if her choice of clothes wasn’t as provocative anymore as it once had been. “Joe,” she grinned and hugged him. “How are you? How is the business?”
“Going well,” Joe answered, and AJ and Deb chorused, “Unless Lucas ran off with the money again.”
“I have to admit, I was surprised that you made him manager when you set up that second store, Joe,” Gina said and brushed her hair out of her face. “I thought you said you’d never again trust him with money.”
“I know, I can’t believe it myself,” Joe answered. “And if Lucas doesn’t turn up within the next five minutes, I’ll make AJ find him and bring him here.” He checked his watch again. “Or call the cops.”
“That won’t be necessary,” AJ answered and nodded towards the door, where Lucas just had appeared. He was wearing the jacket Joe had given him as an early Christmas present, a few days back, the latest in a long line of presents Lucas had gotten over the years, ever since that one, fateful day.
~*~*~many years ago~*~*~
Lucas looked up when the door was pulled open again. Joe came back out and ran his hand through his hair again. He seemed stressed, Lucas thought quietly. Whenever his mother had looked like that, it had been for the best if he’d stayed as much out of her way as possible.
He shifted slightly, looking for an escape route. If he couldn’t stay with Joe, like Joe had promised him, he would run away and never come back.
Joe sighed.
Lucas froze.
“Do you really want to stay?”
The question was so unexpected that for a second, Lucas thought he had misheard, or that he was imagining things.
“Are you going to answer the question?” Joe asked quietly when he didn’t say anything. He seemed genuinely concerned; something Lucas still didn’t have much experience with, and he almost suspected a trap.
“Yes?” he offered, while hoping that it was the correct answer. He hated how his voice was shaking and clenched his hands into tight fists. There was no reason to be nervous. Really not. Joe wasn’t his mother. He would not do anything bad, right?
“Okay,” Joe said, his voice still oddly gentle. “We can work something out, then.”
“Really?” Again, he hated how his voice sounded – shaky, soft, hopeful, and not cool and unaffected.
“Yeah, really.” Joe smiled. “Ground rules.”
Lucas sat up eagerly.
Joe’s voice changed again. “Never touch the drum kit or the sticks. Ever. Even if it’s a life or death-situation. Is that understood?”
“Yes, Joe,” Lucas nodded. That was easy to remember. Even he could keep that in mind, he was sure. He was just thankful that Joe hadn’t outright tossed him out yet, even if he didn’t admit that to even himself.
“We’re good then,” Joe smiled and sat down next to him with a sigh.
“Is that all?” Lucas asked.
Joe shrugged. “More when I think of it,” he admitted. He knew that he should put down more ground rules, but he was too tired to deal with this now. He had just needed to make sure that his most sacred possession, the drums in his office, was safe.
It was all that he had left of his big dreams and hopes – his memories, and now he had the responsibility of dealing with a thirteen year old kid.
Great.
~*~*~
“Joe! You gained a few pounds!” Lucas shook his head slightly.
“Lucas! So did you!” Joe answered and grimaced. He didn’t like being reminded that he was getting old. It was horrible enough that his mirror was doing that, every morning when he looked at himself and discovered more and more grey strands of hair. It didn’t matter that Lucas greeted him like this every Christmas – he still didn’t like it.
“Uncle Lucas!”
Josephine wrapped her arms around her second favourite Uncle, and Lucas picked her up for a quick hug before greeting his friends.
He might have gained a few pounds, and he definitely didn’t have much in common anymore with the skinny, scared kid Joe had taken in. He was still a buckethead, that was for sure, but Joe didn’t care.
In fact, he was quite fond of this particular buckethead.
~*~*~a few months back~*~*~
“Hello Joe…”
Lucas stuck his head in Joe’s office with a sheepish expression.
“Lucas. What’s wrong?”
Joe leaned back in his chair with a sigh. It had been only weeks since Jane had broken up with him, and he still was trying to get used to the fact that he was living alone once more.
“It all went wrong but I know I’m not alone?” Lucas offered and carefully closed the door behind himself.
Joe felt like beating his head against the surface of the desk, repeatedly. “What did you do this time?” he asked while fighting the urge to check if the money was still in the safe.
“Are you ever going to let me live that down?” Lucas asked with a small shake of his head, and Joe’s eyebrows shot up.
“No,” he said and ran his fingertips over the drumstick in front of him.
“Okay then. Will you go out for dinner with me?”
The question hung between them for several long moments. Lucas was shifting nervously from foot to foot, but he didn’t look away from Joe’s face.
“Dinner?” Joe asked in confusion. “What?”
“Dinner,” Lucas repeated calmly, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. “Please?”
Joe didn’t know why he’d agreed, but a few hours later, he found himself seated at a small table at a restaurant, enjoying a nice dinner and a nice conversation about the newest trends on the music market with Lucas.
And, a few hours after that, he found himself in front of his horribly empty, horribly lonely apartment, pressed against the door with Lucas plastered against him and Lucas’ tongue in his mouth.
He tasted of wine and the chocolate cake he’d had for dinner, and Joe grabbed fistfuls of Lucas’ jacket and just clung tight. He vaguely remembered that he had wanted to push Lucas away, but somehow, his body didn’t obey his mind anymore, and instead of pushing him off, he was kissing him back just as fervently.
“Sorry, Joe,” Lucas gasped once their kiss ended. “I couldn’t…I had to…”
Joe grunted and wrapped one hand in the short hair at the back of Lucas’ head. He used his grip to pull him close again.
Their second kiss was so much softer, surprising gentle, and filled with so many things they both couldn’t say because there were no appropriate words. Joe knew that he should freak out, at least a little, about Lucas kissing him. He’d practically raised the younger man. However, something in him knew that this was right, that it was okay.
Maybe they were meant to be.
He mentally rolled his eyes at his own sappy behaviour while trying to hold Lucas close to himself and fumbling with his keys.
Words weren’t needed. Lucas followed him inside, and to his bedroom, as if he’d done it a thousand times before, and there was no awkwardness between them when they slowly undressed each other, only stopping for more kisses and caresses.
Joe only stopped once – when Lucas was on his bed, naked, his legs spread wide, with Joe kneeling between them. His thumbs brushed gently against Lucas’ thighs.
“Are you sure you want this?” he asked, his voice low and gentle.
Lucas smiled and reached for him. “Joe, I haven’t wanted anything in my whole life as much as being with you,” he answered softly.
Their lips met the second Joe slowly pushed the first finger into him, and they only broke apart when Joe finished stretching him and positioned himself.
They didn’t talk. They didn’t need to. They knew each other well enough that every shift of their bodies against each other told them more than words could. Only when they curled up afterwards, one of Lucas’ legs thrown over Joe’s hip and with Lucas head pillowed on Joe’s shoulder, Lucas broke the silence.
“I’m never gonna let it go…” he whispered, and finally Joe realized that Lucas had been quoting lyrics of a song all evening long.
He ran his hand down Lucas’ back in a gentle caress. “Go to sleep, you,” he whispered fondly, and Lucas turned his head slightly to press a soft kiss against his throat.
The next morning, Joe had offered Lucas the job as the manage of the second store he’d opened, and after thinking about it for some time, Lucas had finally accepted.
~*~*~
It had been a strange year, Joe thought with a smile as he took his place at the head of the table, Lucas and AJ at his sides. There had been ups and downs, but, most importantly, they were all here again. His little surrogate family was happy and healthy, and that was the most important thing Joe could wish for.
Lucas leaned over to him and, brushing his lips against his cheek, whispered: “It’s not over, it’s just begun.”
And even if he wanted to slap him for quoting that song again, Joe had to agree that Lucas was right.
Another year had passed by, but life – especially life with Lucas again being the center of his world – had just started.
He planned on enjoying it.
The End.
Author: Kathie
Fandom : Empire Records
Pairing : Joe/Lucas
Rating: FRT-13
Word Count: 2966 Words
Disclaimer: Not mine. If Empire Records were mine, Joe would probably lure me into a dark alley and rob me, and then it wouldn’t be mine anymore anyways.
Summary: It’s Christmas, and the gang celebrates, while Joe remembers a few key events in his life with Lucas.
Author’s Notes: For the Sylum Clan List Secret Santa -
Prompt or situation : Either a first time fluffy romance/smut fic or something with baby!Lucas (ie Lucas between age 13 when he says Joe took him in and age 18)
The song used and quoted is “Hello Joe” by the Beatsteaks. It’s not mine either, but I own the CD…if anyone is interested, I can share it. Just let me know. (The song, not the CD).
Beta: Ginny. Add water, stir, instant beta. :)
**
“Hello Joe!”
“Joe!”
“Merry Christmas, Joe!”
Joe looked up from his desk at the voices flying through the room and lifted a hand for a short wave. Most of his attention was focused on the phone he was holding in his other hand, but he knew that the people who had just wandered in knew him and wouldn’t be angry at him for not jumping up now.
They would think he was sick if he did, he thought amusedly and smiled at the kid that barely could look over the edge of the desk. Her brown hair was in a neat ponytail, and while she was quiet, she was not going away. He knew she wouldn’t. She had her mother’s and father’s stubbornness.
“Josephine!”
AJ appeared in the door and smiled in apology at Joe. “Hey, Joe. How are you?” he asked while taking the kid’s hand. “Sorry, she was kind of excited to visit Uncle Joe.”
“I’m good,” Joe answered and put the phone down. “Unlike you guys, she knows how to behave,” he then said with another smile at the kid. She smiled back and went to climb into his lap.
“Hey, Joe!” Corey entered the office as well. “It’s so nice to see you again! How long has it been?”
“Almost a year,” AJ answered. “Since Josephine’s birthday.” He chuckled and slid an arm around her. “Have we thanked you for giving our daughter a drum kit, Joe?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
Joe laughed and bounced Josephine on his knees. “It’s my pleasure,” he said with a little grin. “After all you put me through?”
Corey laughed. “Joe, that was nine years ago,” she said, her voice warm with affection. “Oh, Gina called me, she’ll be a bit late. She has to work a late shift.”
“Should we wait?”
Joe let his goddaughter slide to the floor carefully. “What about the others?”
It was their traditional Christmas dinner, something they had started to do once AJ and Corey had moved to Boston and the Empire Records gang had slowly started to go their separate ways. While Lucas and Warren were still working for him, all of the others had found other purposes in their lives, too, just as it was meant to be.
“I think they all will be here,” AJ answered. “Unless Lucas went to Atlantic City again.”
Joe snorted. “Worst and best day of my life, all rolled into one,” he informed them. Corey nodded in agreement. She had similar sentiments about that particular day. She still remembered the embarrassment she’d felt for what she had done, but then, her friendship with both Debra and Gina had only become stronger, and she’d been with AJ ever since.
“Eddie is bringing dessert,” Joe said. “We’re all going to die of an overdose of sugar.”
“His brownies have gotten better since he started working at that bakery,” Corey answered with a smile. “You should’ve seen the cake he made for AJ’s birthday.”
“If it was anything like the one he made for Lucas’ birthday…” Joe shook his head and guided them out of the office and into the other room. For this occasion, they’d pushed the furniture towards the walls to clear a space in the middle of the room for the table. It had been a joined effort by Warren, Lucas and Joe, and it had taken them the better part of a night to figure out a way to do it.
Joe still couldn’t quite believe it. It all had started so harmlessly, so many years ago…
~*~*~many years ago~*~*~
Joe stared at the scrawny kid in front of him with narrowed eyes and his arms crossed over his chest.
The kid stared back with a look of stubbornness and defiance in his eyes. He subconsciously mirrored Joe’s stance, Joe noticed with a hint of grim amusement, but when Joe didn’t say anything after a few minutes, he began to fidget nervously and look everywhere but him.
It would be amusing, maybe even satisfying, in any other situation, Joe thought darkly, but not for a man who had just been left by his wife. She’d told him that she’d fallen in love with another woman and then packed her stuff, leaving him with an apartment that was too big for one person and with a broken heart.
Okay, maybe not exactly a broken heart.
Of course, he had loved her, and maybe he still did, but to his great surprise, he didn’t hurt like he thought he would. Instead, he just felt…numb.
And he wasn’t in the mood to deal with this kid that had been lurking at the store for several days now. There hadn’t really been a choice, though, and so he’d caught him and had pulled him into the back room.
“What’s your name?” he finally asked.
The kid looked at him for a moment longer before answering.
“Lucas.”
“Lucas,” Joe repeated thoughtfully. “How old are you?”
Lucas shrugged. He was extremely skinny, Joe noticed, but he quickly pushed that thought aside again. It didn’t matter, anyways. He would tell Lucas to get lost and then he could try to get his own life back on track.
Find a new place to live, or something. Call a few old friends. Maybe do something constructive.
He’d always wanted to get back with the band, maybe go on tour once more. He missed the old days. And he was a free man again, and there was nothing to stop him from doing exactly that.
“Thirteen,” Lucas muttered, and Joe’s eyebrows shot up. The kid definitely looked younger than thirteen, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to believe him.
“Thirteen,” he repeated thoughtfully, and the kid’s head shot up from where he’d been studying the floor. Lucas didn’t say anything; he was just biting his lip sharply.
“Where are you from?” he asked casually and pointed to the couch behind Lucas. “Sit down.”
“Nowhere,” Lucas answered, but he allowed himself to fall back into the cushions of the old, battered couch.
Joe cursed under his breath. He didn’t want to be a responsible adult. Giving in to his first instinct now would mean giving up his dreams of a career in the music biz forever because, if he was doing this, there was no going back. Plus, he couldn’t even be sure that this was the right thing to do. Or if this was possible to do in the first place.
He shook his head and ran his hands through his hair.
What was he doing here?
“Okay,” he said again. “You stay right where you are, okay? I need to make a call.”
He stalked towards his office, more than aware of the eyes following his every move, and allowed himself the brief satisfaction of a slammed door. It didn’t help for long.
He still had to make that call. He needed a lawyer to get a divorce, and he needed to figure out what to do about Lucas.
One thing was for sure, though. He couldn’t let him go back to where he’d come from. Besides, the chances that he would be back were high enough, considering he’d seen the kid lurk at the store all week long now.
~*~*~
It wasn’t long until Deb, Mark and Berko appeared, and then Eddie, who was carefully balancing a huge, covered plate, joined them as well. Warren, who now was working as manager for Joe, brought the food, and Joe didn’t trust him to turn up until the younger man actually stood in front of him. He had his reasons to be suspicious, Joe thought while pretending to be annoyed about the eyeroll Warren didn’t even try to hide. The year before, they had ended up with a Christmas dinner of half-cold fast food because Warren had forgotten that he was supposed to take care of it.
He smiled a bit. Last Christmas, he’d still been with Jane, who thankfully hadn’t forced him to leave at gunpoint when she’d finally, after nine years, had broken up with him. It had been the most peaceful end of a relationship he’d ever experienced, and to his great surprise, it had hurt more than the others. At least it had initially.
Finally Gina entered, a wide smile on her face. She was still turning heads wherever she went, even if her choice of clothes wasn’t as provocative anymore as it once had been. “Joe,” she grinned and hugged him. “How are you? How is the business?”
“Going well,” Joe answered, and AJ and Deb chorused, “Unless Lucas ran off with the money again.”
“I have to admit, I was surprised that you made him manager when you set up that second store, Joe,” Gina said and brushed her hair out of her face. “I thought you said you’d never again trust him with money.”
“I know, I can’t believe it myself,” Joe answered. “And if Lucas doesn’t turn up within the next five minutes, I’ll make AJ find him and bring him here.” He checked his watch again. “Or call the cops.”
“That won’t be necessary,” AJ answered and nodded towards the door, where Lucas just had appeared. He was wearing the jacket Joe had given him as an early Christmas present, a few days back, the latest in a long line of presents Lucas had gotten over the years, ever since that one, fateful day.
~*~*~many years ago~*~*~
Lucas looked up when the door was pulled open again. Joe came back out and ran his hand through his hair again. He seemed stressed, Lucas thought quietly. Whenever his mother had looked like that, it had been for the best if he’d stayed as much out of her way as possible.
He shifted slightly, looking for an escape route. If he couldn’t stay with Joe, like Joe had promised him, he would run away and never come back.
Joe sighed.
Lucas froze.
“Do you really want to stay?”
The question was so unexpected that for a second, Lucas thought he had misheard, or that he was imagining things.
“Are you going to answer the question?” Joe asked quietly when he didn’t say anything. He seemed genuinely concerned; something Lucas still didn’t have much experience with, and he almost suspected a trap.
“Yes?” he offered, while hoping that it was the correct answer. He hated how his voice was shaking and clenched his hands into tight fists. There was no reason to be nervous. Really not. Joe wasn’t his mother. He would not do anything bad, right?
“Okay,” Joe said, his voice still oddly gentle. “We can work something out, then.”
“Really?” Again, he hated how his voice sounded – shaky, soft, hopeful, and not cool and unaffected.
“Yeah, really.” Joe smiled. “Ground rules.”
Lucas sat up eagerly.
Joe’s voice changed again. “Never touch the drum kit or the sticks. Ever. Even if it’s a life or death-situation. Is that understood?”
“Yes, Joe,” Lucas nodded. That was easy to remember. Even he could keep that in mind, he was sure. He was just thankful that Joe hadn’t outright tossed him out yet, even if he didn’t admit that to even himself.
“We’re good then,” Joe smiled and sat down next to him with a sigh.
“Is that all?” Lucas asked.
Joe shrugged. “More when I think of it,” he admitted. He knew that he should put down more ground rules, but he was too tired to deal with this now. He had just needed to make sure that his most sacred possession, the drums in his office, was safe.
It was all that he had left of his big dreams and hopes – his memories, and now he had the responsibility of dealing with a thirteen year old kid.
Great.
~*~*~
“Joe! You gained a few pounds!” Lucas shook his head slightly.
“Lucas! So did you!” Joe answered and grimaced. He didn’t like being reminded that he was getting old. It was horrible enough that his mirror was doing that, every morning when he looked at himself and discovered more and more grey strands of hair. It didn’t matter that Lucas greeted him like this every Christmas – he still didn’t like it.
“Uncle Lucas!”
Josephine wrapped her arms around her second favourite Uncle, and Lucas picked her up for a quick hug before greeting his friends.
He might have gained a few pounds, and he definitely didn’t have much in common anymore with the skinny, scared kid Joe had taken in. He was still a buckethead, that was for sure, but Joe didn’t care.
In fact, he was quite fond of this particular buckethead.
~*~*~a few months back~*~*~
“Hello Joe…”
Lucas stuck his head in Joe’s office with a sheepish expression.
“Lucas. What’s wrong?”
Joe leaned back in his chair with a sigh. It had been only weeks since Jane had broken up with him, and he still was trying to get used to the fact that he was living alone once more.
“It all went wrong but I know I’m not alone?” Lucas offered and carefully closed the door behind himself.
Joe felt like beating his head against the surface of the desk, repeatedly. “What did you do this time?” he asked while fighting the urge to check if the money was still in the safe.
“Are you ever going to let me live that down?” Lucas asked with a small shake of his head, and Joe’s eyebrows shot up.
“No,” he said and ran his fingertips over the drumstick in front of him.
“Okay then. Will you go out for dinner with me?”
The question hung between them for several long moments. Lucas was shifting nervously from foot to foot, but he didn’t look away from Joe’s face.
“Dinner?” Joe asked in confusion. “What?”
“Dinner,” Lucas repeated calmly, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. “Please?”
Joe didn’t know why he’d agreed, but a few hours later, he found himself seated at a small table at a restaurant, enjoying a nice dinner and a nice conversation about the newest trends on the music market with Lucas.
And, a few hours after that, he found himself in front of his horribly empty, horribly lonely apartment, pressed against the door with Lucas plastered against him and Lucas’ tongue in his mouth.
He tasted of wine and the chocolate cake he’d had for dinner, and Joe grabbed fistfuls of Lucas’ jacket and just clung tight. He vaguely remembered that he had wanted to push Lucas away, but somehow, his body didn’t obey his mind anymore, and instead of pushing him off, he was kissing him back just as fervently.
“Sorry, Joe,” Lucas gasped once their kiss ended. “I couldn’t…I had to…”
Joe grunted and wrapped one hand in the short hair at the back of Lucas’ head. He used his grip to pull him close again.
Their second kiss was so much softer, surprising gentle, and filled with so many things they both couldn’t say because there were no appropriate words. Joe knew that he should freak out, at least a little, about Lucas kissing him. He’d practically raised the younger man. However, something in him knew that this was right, that it was okay.
Maybe they were meant to be.
He mentally rolled his eyes at his own sappy behaviour while trying to hold Lucas close to himself and fumbling with his keys.
Words weren’t needed. Lucas followed him inside, and to his bedroom, as if he’d done it a thousand times before, and there was no awkwardness between them when they slowly undressed each other, only stopping for more kisses and caresses.
Joe only stopped once – when Lucas was on his bed, naked, his legs spread wide, with Joe kneeling between them. His thumbs brushed gently against Lucas’ thighs.
“Are you sure you want this?” he asked, his voice low and gentle.
Lucas smiled and reached for him. “Joe, I haven’t wanted anything in my whole life as much as being with you,” he answered softly.
Their lips met the second Joe slowly pushed the first finger into him, and they only broke apart when Joe finished stretching him and positioned himself.
They didn’t talk. They didn’t need to. They knew each other well enough that every shift of their bodies against each other told them more than words could. Only when they curled up afterwards, one of Lucas’ legs thrown over Joe’s hip and with Lucas head pillowed on Joe’s shoulder, Lucas broke the silence.
“I’m never gonna let it go…” he whispered, and finally Joe realized that Lucas had been quoting lyrics of a song all evening long.
He ran his hand down Lucas’ back in a gentle caress. “Go to sleep, you,” he whispered fondly, and Lucas turned his head slightly to press a soft kiss against his throat.
The next morning, Joe had offered Lucas the job as the manage of the second store he’d opened, and after thinking about it for some time, Lucas had finally accepted.
~*~*~
It had been a strange year, Joe thought with a smile as he took his place at the head of the table, Lucas and AJ at his sides. There had been ups and downs, but, most importantly, they were all here again. His little surrogate family was happy and healthy, and that was the most important thing Joe could wish for.
Lucas leaned over to him and, brushing his lips against his cheek, whispered: “It’s not over, it’s just begun.”
And even if he wanted to slap him for quoting that song again, Joe had to agree that Lucas was right.
Another year had passed by, but life – especially life with Lucas again being the center of his world – had just started.
He planned on enjoying it.
The End.