It was closing in on noon when Jack got around to properly dragging himself upright and getting dressed. He was a groggy mess and was regretting not getting up when Kieran had accidentally awoken him.

Going through his bags, he settled on yesterday's jeans and a fresh, but slightly wrinkled, dark blue button-up. He missed his old wardrobe. Nothing fancy, nothing even remotely business casual, and nothing that required ironing. He was pretty sure Kieran would draw the line at hanging his shirts up in the shower, but the commitment of dedicated closet space was too much for his current state of mind.

He glared at the mess of sheets strewn across the couch as he buttoned up his shirt. Maybe he should ask for a blowup mattress in the study. He wasn't keen on folding sheets every morning. He might look put together on the surface with his new clothes, but his personal habits were far from it.

He bundled everything up in the fitted sheet and stashed it beside the couch with his bags. It would have to do until he could figure something else out. A slip of panic and paranoia creeped over him.

He'd moved in with Kieran all because of a threat from playing cards. How could he be so stupid? He should have moved in with Sam and Candace until Kieran figured his shit out. Was he always this stupid, or had Farragut set him up for failure? He would love to blame someone else for his shitty decisions.

Jack dropped onto the couch and bent over, hugging his stomach as his breath came in short rasps. How could he be so stupid? Again.

Letting Augie catch a sniff. Moving in with Kieran. He was nothing but bad decisions and mistakes.

His panic eased into self-pity, and he wallowed for a few minutes before calling Tara. He hoped she would tell him to run or embrace his situation. Both options scared the hell out of him.

"You're lucky. You caught me at lunch," Tara answered. "What's up?"

"I think I made a mistake." Jack rubbed his collar between his fingers, finding comfort in the texture.

"Yeah, I can see Augie being a mistake, but at least he's a hot mistake. Throw him my way when you're done."

"That's…" Jack broke off with a sigh. She wasn't completely wrong, but Augie was part of his overall problem. "I moved in with Kieran. Temporarily."

"Oh." Tara's confusion was audible. "That was quick. No more Augie?"

Jack took a breath and prepared himself for Tara's reaction. "He was using me to get to Kieran."

Tara laughed. "Damn! Talk about a plan backfiring."

The tightness in Jack's chest loosened, and he no longer felt the need to throw up. He wasn't at fault. Tara would never blame him for being an idiot. "Tell me about it. He tried to swing a threesome when I confronted him!"

"I warned you about those month names," she sang.

He relaxed a little more and let out a small laugh. His tone turned conspiratorial as he passed on what he'd pieced together. "I don't know exactly what happened between them, but I think Augie's into S&M, Kieran safe-worded out, and Augie didn't take it too well."

"What the fuck. How into it is Kieran?" Tara's amusement switched to concern with an underlying tone of threat. "He hasn't tried to tie you up or anything, right?"

"No. I'm just connecting dots here, so I might be wrong. He brought it up at lunch the other day. He kinda thought my scars mighta been related to some really heavy shit at first."

"And that what? Enticed him?" Tara's disbelieving disgust helped bolster Jack's own revulsion.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Not exactly. I think he's just willing to…" A soft rustling of fabric drew his attention to the side, and he swallowed as he slowly looked from Kieran's shoes to his face. The raised brow seemed to want him to dig his grave even further. He could resist for at least one minute. "Hi."

Kieran leaned down, smiling. "I'm willing to accommodate kinks to a certain extent, but I do have a threshold that I have learned to be adamant about maintaining."

Jack slowly slumped further into the couch, avoiding Kieran's eyes as Tara cackled in his ear. "You're back early," he mumbled.

"I've closed for lunch and thought you might want to join me."

"Eating in is cheaper. I've got leftovers." He still needed to go to the store and get easy meals for himself. That was a thing he needed to get done if he was planning to stay.

"Go get fed!" Tara said with delighted maliciousness. "It's the least he owes you for fucking up."

Creeping on each other deserved the penance of food? That was a new one. Jack wondered what everyone would think if they knew the full story about his breakup and past traumas. Would they still be anywhere near as supportive?

He settled on a flimsy argument. "I don't think that's how that works."

"That's exactly how it works," she insisted. "See, Shane's paying for a camping trip. Looked up the cabin. Real nice."

"Okay?" Jack's eyes followed Kieran's back as he walked down the hallway leading to his bedroom.

"What can I say? The man can do oral like you wouldn't believe, so I'm willing to give a second chance. For a week."

Too many images he absolutely did not need floating around his head. "Ugh! Goodbye!"

He hung up with a disgusted grimace, just in time for Kieran's return.

"Everything alright?" Kieran stopped by the back corner of the couch and leaned his hip against it.

Jack wished he could pull off casual curiosity like that. He shook his head as he stood. "It's all good. Tara's just gross." He recalled her wanting him to send Augie her way. "On so many levels. But I haven't lost my appetite, so I'm good to go."

Kieran nodded and shifted his weight. "You may wish to redo your buttons. Unless you're purposefully going for the 'just got up' look. I will admit, you pull it off rather nicely."

Jack looked down at himself and ran his hand over the buttons. Sure enough, he'd been off by one and hadn't even noticed. It wasn't even the first time it had happened, and now he was wondering if it happened more often, but everyone else was too polite to mention it. His stomach dropped at the thought that he was regularly running around like a total mess.

He looked up when Kieran moved to stand in front of him, an affectionate smile on his lips.

"May I?"

Jack swallowed, and nodded his head in a jerky movement. He didn't trust himself to speak and ruin everything with the wrong words. His heart beat loud and quick as Kieran made swift work of setting his shirt right. Hands settled on his shoulders, and Kieran leaned in, giving him a deep and lingering kiss. He squeaked as Kieran pulled away, lightly sucking on Jack's bottom lip as he went.

Warily, he raised his eyes to Kieran's and searched his face for any indication that things may go further. He was relieved when Kieran only smiled and lightly stroked his hair.

"Ready?"

"Okay. Lunch. Yeah, I'm ready." There was a delightful dip in his stomach as Kieran smirked.

"I betcha are, boyo," Kieran said as he traced a finger along Jack's neck.

"Oh, my God! Why?! And fuck you!" Jack replied between laughs as he shied away from Kieran's touch.

A quick kiss and Kieran turned away. "Not too much?"

Jack shrugged and rubbed his arms, confusion roiling low in his chest. "Yes? But not in a bad way?" He didn't feel like he needed to run away. "Uh, hey. Should I do something about the blankets? Other than, well, pile o' blankets?"

"I'm ignoring that part of the room to the best of my ability at the moment, so do as you wish," Kieran said as he headed to the door. He turned and held it open, looking expectantly at Jack.

One night, and he was already being a nuisance. Jack reached up to tug at hair that wasn't there and settled on fiddling with his earring. "How often do you go in the guestroom-study-place?"

Kieran shook his head, smiling. There was no hint of annoyance as he spoke and gestured down the hall. "I can avoid it if needed. Lindsey uses the computer the most between the two of us."

"I'll use that as storage. And maybe upgrade to a blowup mattress. Later. Much later," Jack said as he looked around for his coat.

"Planning to stay long enough for a much later?" asked Kieran, a hopeful look to his smile.

Jack froze, running back over his words. "I dunno."

image [https://i.imgur.com/eZY0YUq.png]