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Detective Lorne stays with the girl in her hospital room, a kidnapping victim they’d found on accident while looking into an unrelated case. She’s shaken up and dehydrated, and her wrists are red from the rope burns. She’s Heather Parrish, ten years old. She’s awake, talking a little, and eating green Jello and macaroni and cheese while they wait for her family to arrive. They have her kidnapper in custody and Lorne’s still shaking with the need to punch something. He hates cases involving children; he’s glad he’s not going to be assigned to the case. He’s only here because he and his partner were the ones to find her, locked in the cellar and kicking at the door.
Evan glances at her every few minutes. Heather’s eyes are still too wide, but her hands have stopped shaking. One of the nurses washed her hair and brushed it back into a pony tail after her initial check up. Heather watches Evan as she eats, but Evan can tell that she’s slowly relaxing. Her father, David Parrish, was a couple hours out when Heather had been identified. Evan’s expecting him to arrive at any moment.
Almost on cue, there’s a knock on the door. Evan and Heather both look, and then a tall, lean man with messy brown hair and a crooked smile blows past Evan and straight to Heather’s bedside. “Daddy!” Heather cries gratefully, and her Jello goes flying as her arms wrap around her father’s neck.
Mr. Parrish gathers his daughter close, barely mindful of the IV that’s still hooked into her small arm. “Are you alright, Heather? Did they hurt you? I’m so glad you’re safe, I was so scared…” Parrish is babbling, his voice thick with emotion, face pressed into his daughter’s hair and his arms tight around her. “I’ve got you now, Peanut. I’ve got you.”
“I’m okay,” Heather answers, her own voice quavering again. “Detective Lorne saved me.”
Evan’s trying to give them the illusion of privacy, but when Heather says his name, he turns to look again. Mr. Parrish’s eyes are open and he’s looking at Evan over his daughter’s shoulder. “Thank you, Detective,” he whispers, tears sliding from bright blue eyes and down his cheeks, getting lost in his daughter’s hair.
Evan’s definitely noticed that Mr. Parrish is attractive, and under other circumstances he would be curious as to just how straight Parrish was. As it is, what Evan sees is a man who was scared out of his mind for his little girl, and now she’s back, safe and sound, and all Parrish has room for and thoughts of is relief and gratitude. Slowly, Evan stands and clears his throat. “We’ll have some more questions for Heather and for you, Mr. Parrish, but we don’t have to do that right now.”
Parrish takes a deep breath. “It’s ah, Doctor Parrish, actually. We live close to Berkley, that’s what took me so long to get here. It’s a long drive. And thank you. I’d like to take Heather home as soon as possible.”
Evan nods. “Of course, Doctor. They said they want to keep her here for a little longer so she can have more IV fluids, but physically she’s in pretty good shape. You may want to see about a psychiatrist for a while though.”
After that, Evan is able to take his leave. Heather insists on giving him a hug first, and Dr. Parrish says thank you a few more times, and Evan has to get out of there because he can feel this pull towards Parrish and he can’t, he doesn’t do shit like that. “Stay safe,” he tells them just before he ducks out the door. Heather and Dr. Parrish both watch him go.
---
He’s able to put it behind him, just as he does the other cases and other people. If Evan wasn’t able to let it go, he never would have lasted as a cop. It’s been a little over a month now and Evan’s long since closed up the case he’d been working at the time and he’s on other things now. So it comes as a bit of a surprise when he picks up his phone to take a transferred call and the voice on the other end is Dr. Parrish.
“Is this a bad time?” Parrish asks, voice hesitant.
Evan leans back in his chair. “No, doc, it’s fine. What’s up? Something wrong?”
“Oh, no, nothing’s wrong,” Parrish answers quickly. “I was, well, this is going to sound weird, but I was hoping you’d be interested in having dinner with us some time. Heather keeps talking about you and we would both like to see you again.”
Evan raises his eyebrows, surprised. “Dinner?” he echoes. Before he really thinks about it though, he’s agreeing. “That’d be great, Doc. I’m free over the weekend, actually.”
“Perfect,” Parrish sounds relieved and Evan has to wonder about the undertones of this invitation. He knows what he hopes they are, even as he wrestles with himself about being professional. He never really was on their case to begin with, so maybe it would be okay if… Evan shakes his head. He’s probably over thinking it anyway.
They figure out a time and Parrish gives Evan directions to the apartment before there’s a slightly awkward pause. “Well, I guess we’ll see you on Saturday, detective,” Parrish finally says.
“You can call me Evan,” Evan tells him quickly.
“Then I’m David,” Evan can hear that he’s smiling. “None of this Dr. Parrish stuff, okay?”
“Sure,” Evan chuckles. “See you this weekend.”
“Date?” Stackhouse asks with a grin as he and Markham pause on their way to their own desks.
“I don’t know,” Evan answers honestly.
“Hope so,” Markham pokes his shoulder. “You need it.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Evan laughed, but Stackhouse and Markham had already moved on.
---
Evan brings wine and flowers to dinner. David opens the door and Evan swallows against his sudden nerves and smiles. “Hi.” David’s cheeks go a little red when he sees the flowers, but Evan chuckles. “I actually got them for Heather,” he shrugged. “The wine’s for us though.”
“Oh,” David smiles broadly and steps back from the door. “Come in. Heather, Detective Lorne is here,” he calls.
Heather rushes into the main room a few moments later. “Detective Lorne,” she says as she rushes forward and hugs him. Evan gives her a one armed hug in return.
“Hi, Heather,” Evan smiles. He presents the flowers to her when she takes a step back. “I brought these for you.”
Heather’s eyes light up as she looks at the flowers. “Zantedeschia aethiopica! Oh they’re beautiful, Detective Lorne!”
Evan blinks; this kid is ten years old and knows the scientific name of calla lilies? “You can call me Evan, instead of Detective Lorne.”
“Okay,” Heather gives Evan another bright smile as she takes the flowers from him. Evan watches as she hurries off to what he’s assuming is the kitchen.
“I’m a botanist,” David says before Evan can even ask. Evan follows David deeper into the living room and sits on the couch. “Heather’s grown up around plants her entire life.”
“Ah,” Evan chuckles. “She did surprise me with that.”
There’s a slightly awkward silence where Evan watches David out of the corner of his eye, wondering just what this was going to be. David stares at his hands, twisting his fingers nervously. “So I’m not sure how to say this,” David finally starts, “because I certainly don’t want you to…” He pauses and looks up at Evan. “I didn’t just invite you over as a thank you, though that’s certainly part of it.”
Evan’s heart thuds in his chest. “You didn’t?”
“Evan, come see what we made for dinner!” Heather calls from the kitchen, interrupting any further conversation.
Evan smiles and squeezes David’s shoulder as he gets up. There’s interest here, and Evan’s happy to know for sure. David looks up at him with a small, pleased smile before he stands as well and they make their way to the kitchen.
Dinner is spent talking about Heather’s school, her friends and how happy they are that she’s okay. She tells Evan that she’s doing really well and the nightmares have mostly stopped, which makes Evan’s heart hurt and his blood rise a little. Kids should be sacred, protected from harm at all costs. Evan shakes himself and veers away from those thoughts. They talk about David’s work, and what Heather wants to be when she grows up. She’s not sure, she loves botany, but she also loves horses.
“I used to have a horse when I was a kid,” Evan tells her.
“You did?” Heather asks excitedly. “What was it’s name?”
“Her name was Merta,” Evan smiles. “She was a retired race horse that my uncle didn’t want to sell. So he gave her to me for me to ride whenever I visited.”
“Where did you grow up?” David asks curiously.
“Oh I grew up in San Francisco with my mothers, but my uncle lived in the Redlands. I used to spend the summers with him.”
“So Merta stayed up there and you saw her in the summers?” Heather bounces in her seat a little.
“Yeah,” Evan chuckles. “My family still has horses up there.”
“Maybe we could go see them sometime?” Heather looks so hopeful that Evan can’t bring himself to tell her no.
“Maybe sometime,” he shrugs.
After dinner, Heather gets a phone call and disappears into her room with the phone. “She’ll probably be in there the rest of the night,” David smiles fondly as he takes his wine into the living room. They sit and talk, and even though most of the conversation is inconsequential, Evan loses himself in it and the next he knows they’ve finished off the bottle and it’s nearly eleven thirty.
“I should probably go,” he finally says regretfully. David was… everything about David is interesting to Evan. He wants to stay, already wants to never leave, but he doesn’t want this to go somewhere they both might regret.
“Oh, yeah,” David answers, glancing at the clock.
Before anything else can be said, they hear Heather’s door open. “I’d love to, but I have to ask my dad. I haven’t gotten to do much since I came home, so I’m not sure if I’ll be able to,” Heather’s voice gets louder the closer she comes until she’s peering around the corner into the living room. “Dad? I’m not interrupting anything am I? Can I go over to Leah’s house this weekend? Her parents will be there the whole time and if we decide to see a movie or anything, I’ll make sure one of them can come with us. Please? I’ve barely gotten to see Leah at all. I promise we’ll be super careful.”
David glances at Evan before he looks back at his daughter. “Okay. You can go, but if you guys do go anywhere outside of the house, you have to call me, okay?”
Heather’s face lights up. “Thank you, dad!” She rushes in to give him a hug before hurrying back to her room, talking a mile a minute into the phone. “Dad said I could go!”
Evan knows an opportunity when he sees it. “Want to go out for dinner next weekend?”
David laughs as they get up from the couch and put their wine glasses in the kitchen. “I’d love that.”
Heather makes one quick reappearance to hug Evan goodbye. “I’m going to see you again, right?” she asks anxiously.
“Of course you will,” Evan agrees, and Heather bounces back to her room happily.
“So, I’ll call you,” Evan tells David as he shrugs on his coat. “Any preference on restaurants?”
“No, not really,” David answers quietly as he watches Evan. “I’m glad you could come over.”
“Me too,” Evan pauses for a minute, mentally debating with himself before he leans closer to David. He has to go up on his toes just a little to kiss him, but it’s worth it for the pleased hum before David kisses him back.
It’s a short kiss, but when Evan pulls away, David smiles widely at him. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Yeah,” Evan nods and opens the door. “See you.”
---
Evan can’t get David out of his head all week. He calls The Pegasus on Monday afternoon and makes reservations, means to call David right after, but gets caught by his partner, Larua Cadman, and ends up going over the latest case with her. By the time he actually gets a free minute, it’s after work, and he makes himself wait until he’s home before he dials David’s number.
He gets the machine. “Damn,” Evan mutters to himself as Heather’s recorded voice plays over the phone.
“You’ve reached the Parrish residence, we’re not in or are not available. Please leave a message after the tone, thanks!”
Evan leaves a brief message telling David what time he made the reservations for and he left his number just in case, though he doubted David had lost it. Afterwards, Evan putters around his apartment for a while. He tries drinking a beer and watching TV, but he can’t focus on The Antique Road Show and he can’t focus on a baseball game and nothing else is on, so he clicks off the TV and takes his beer back into the kitchen. He makes a sandwich for dinner and decides to go to bed early; he’s got a lot to do tomorrow and Cadman wants an early start anyway.
Evan’s drowsing when his mobile rings. “Lorne,” he answers, trying to clear the sleep from his voice. He had neglected to look at who was calling, so it could be Cadman or the station for all he knows.
“I’m sorry, were you sleeping?” David’s voice makes Evan smile.
“Almost. I’m glad you called though.”
“We went out for dinner,” David explains. “I’m sorry I missed your call.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Evan can’t get the smile off his face. “So should I pick you up around six?”
“Six is good,” David agrees.
“Is Evan taking you on a date?” Evan hears Heather ask. “That is so cool! Is he going to be your boyfriend?”
“Heather,” David admonishes softly. “Sorry.”
“No, it’s fine,” Evan chuckles. “She’s right, anyway, it is a date, after all.”
“Yeah,” Evan can hear David’s smile over the phone. “I should go. I’ll see you on Friday night.”
“Okay,” Evan agrees. “Have a good night. Tell Heather I said hi.”
When they hang up, Evan no longer feels restless.
---
Evan resists calling David during the week, though he does start getting random texts from Heather. Every time he gets them he can’t help but smile. Usually they’re short updates on what she and David are doing that day, or quickly snapped photo messages. Evan’s favorite one comes on Wednesday night. Heather must have taken it without David knowing. He’s bent over a purple flowered plant in a greenhouse. The look of concentration on his face, his total focus on the plant, makes Evan wonder what it will be like when David’s full concentration is on him.
By Friday, Evan’s antsy, can’t wait until he can leave the station at five. Cadman picks up on it of course. “What’s up with you, Lorne? You’re checking your watch every five seconds,” she finally asks him around four.
“Think he’s got a date,” Markham jumps in from the next desk. “He had one last weekend too.”
Cadman’s eyebrows rise and she turns to look at Evan. “Oh, really? Who with? Second date, with you this anxious, you must really like him.”
“He wouldn’t say last week either,” Stackhouse pouts, and both he and Markham descend on Evan’s desk.
These three are some of Evan’s closest friends, but he’s hesitant to talk them about this thing with David yet; he’s still trying to work it out for himself. Before he can say anything to throw them off, his mobile buzzes.
PICTURE MESSAGE FROM HEATHER PARRISH the display says.
“Parrish?” Markham asks, reading upside down. “Why’s that name familiar?”
“As in Heather Parrish the kidnapped kid?” Stackhouse makes the connection. “You’re dating Heather Parrish’s father?”
“Oh man, be careful with that,” Cadman huffs.
Evan glances at her. “What does that mean?” he asks, defensive.
“She means, you saved his kid, Ev. Just because you weren’t on the case and you don’t have to worry about professional behavior doesn’t mean that he can’t have some hero worship going on,” Markham explains.
“What?” There’s a knot growing in Evan’s stomach at Markham’s words.
“You and Cadman found and saved his daughter,” Stackhouse reminded him. “That’s kinda a big deal.”
“Thanks,” Evan grumbles, “that really helps me feel better.”
“Come on, Evan, we’re just trying to help you. I don’t want you to get too deep with them before you know for sure what’s going on,” Cadman pats his shoulder consolingly.
“I know,” Evan sighs.
Markham and Stackhouse clear out and Cadman gets a call that has the two of them tearing their case wide open. The next thing Evan knows, Cadman’s poking his shoulder. “Five PM, Evan, don’t you have somewhere to be?”
Evan blinks up at her from his computer screen before her meaning sinks in. “Oh, crap.”
He’s up and has his jacket on before Cadman’s done laughing at him. “Tell me all about it on Monday,” she orders.
“Tell all of us all about it!” Markham chimes in.
“See you guys,” Evan calls over his shoulder. He has no intention of telling them anything.
Evan’s ten minutes early at David’s door and ends up sharing the space with a girl who Evan assumes is probably Leah and her mother. They nod to each other as they wait for the door to be answered. “Hi guys!” Heather says happily when she opens the door. “Dad! Evan’s here!”
Evan gets a hug from Heather right after David does. “Have fun,” Evan tells her.
Heather grins and shoulders her bag. “You too!” She calls as she follows Leah and her mother out the door.
Evan and David stare at each other in the suddenly silent apartment. “I’m a little early,” Evan starts. “If you had things to do first, that’s fine, I can wait.”
David shakes his head. “No, we don’t want to tempt traffic.”
Evan laughs and watches as David gets his coat from the closet and shrugs it on. He looks good, dressed in a loose dress shirt and dark corduroy pants that leave Evan fighting the urge to slide his hands up the seams and back across David’s ass. David’s outfit is made even more adorable when Evan notices the dirt smudge under David’s jaw. “Were you doing something with a plant just before I got here?” Evan asks, smiling.
David gives him a curious look. “I was, actually, why?”
Evan doesn’t stop himself from reaching out and running his finger across the dirt. “You’ve got a dirt smudge here,” he chuckles. “It’s very you.”
David blushes, but he’s smiling. “I’d gotten all ready before I remembered that I had a few things that needed taking care of. The apartment has three bedrooms, so I converted the third one into the plant room.”
“You’ll have to show me that when we get back,” Evan tells him, genuinely curious.
“Yeah,” David nods, “I’ll do that.”
---
Traffic actually does cooperate for once and Evan parks outside the Pegasus right on time. Mr. Ford, the owner of the Pegasus and a close personal friend of Evan’s, greets them and shows them to their table personally. “I told Ronon you were bringing someone special tonight and to make extra sure that everything’s perfect,” Aiden tells them as they sit down.
Evan grins, “I’m surprised you survived,” he jokes dryly.
Aiden chuckles, “he just grunted at me and cut vegetables faster. I definitely offended him. Anyway, enjoy your meals.”
David and Evan study their menus for a few minutes while their server brings them water and then wine. The food is amazing, as usual, and the company as well, Evan thinks. He knows he’s being a little on the quiet side, but he’s got David talking about his work and plants and quite honestly Evan thinks David could go on forever about it and Evan wouldn’t mind one little bit. David’s so passionate and animated as he talks about them, and it’s good really because it’s not like Evan can talk about his work all that much. Thinking of his own work reminds him of Cadman’s warning again. Evan really doesn’t believe that this is any case of hero worship, but he supposes that anything is possible.
The only way he’s going to know for sure is if he asks David about it. He’s almost as scared of offending David as he is of potentially finding out that Cadman was right. “…talking about it too much, aren’t I?” David’s voice cuts into Evan’s thoughts. Evan looks up to find David’s expression worried. “Evan?”
“Oh,” Evan figures it out, “no, you’re not talking about it too much. I like hearing about the plants,” he reassures. “I just,” he pauses and takes a deep breath. He has to know. “My partner brought up a concern today. About us.”
David raises his eyebrow, “okay, what’d she say?”
“Well, she was concerned that…” Evan sighs and switches tactics. “Why do you want to go out with me?”
“Because I like you,” David answers promptly. “Because you’re attractive and interested in me and interesting and good. Because I could listen to you read the phone book-” It’s Evan’s turn to blush at that but David isn’t finished. “-Because something about you just clicks with me. Because Heather really likes you.” David shrugs.
Evan feels relief roll through him. “Cadman was worried it might be because she and I found Heather,” he admits.
David shakes his head, smiling softly. “I’m forever in your debt for that, but it’s not why I’m dating you.”
“Good,” Evan smiles widely and signals for their check. “I’m glad we got that sorted out.”
---
David unlocks the door to his apartment and Evan follows him inside. While David is taking his jacket off, Evan takes their leftovers to the kitchen and puts them in the fridge before he takes his own coat off. “So, want to show me the plants?” Evan asks.
“No,” David replies, stepping into Evan’s space slightly. “I mean, I do, but no, not right this second.”
Evan doesn’t have to be a genius to understand David’s intentions. He can feel his cock taking notice as David steps forward again and then leans in to kiss Evan softly. Evan groans happily and wraps his arms around David, pulling them closer together and deepening the kiss. David’s hands feel like they’re everywhere; one cupping the back of Evan’s head and neck and the other slipping low on Evan’s back. They slowly back up until Evan’s leaning against the wall and David just melts into him.
The kiss is a statement of intentions, searing and languid and wet. Evan discovers very quickly that he and David seem to be perfectly matched. When they finally part, Evan takes a deep breath and presses his hips forward slightly. David shudders against him. “Bedroom?” Evan asks, his voice low.
“Oh yes,” David sighs, slowly stepping back from Evan.
Evan and David lose their clothes as soon as they get into the bedroom. Evan pauses for a moment, just taking in the long lean lines of David’s body. He’s well built, but not extremely muscled. He’s definitely not the hairiest guy Evan’s been with, but he’s got enough on his chest for Evan to enjoy. His cock is beautiful; long and lean like the rest of him, Evan can’t wait to get it in his mouth, to taste it and learn it. He can’t wait for David to fuck him, to have that cock pressing in and in and making Evan fall completely apart.
Evan looks long enough that David blushes a little. “Hey,” Evan says softly, moving closer to slowly slide his hands around David’s hips. “Don’t worry, I definitely like what I see.”
David chuckles and kisses Evan again. “Me too,” he huffs against Evan’s temple.
They’re on the bed a moment later, hands and mouths and skin everywhere. Evan manages to pin David down long enough to run his nose through David’s chest hair and lick and nip at a nipple. Under him, David groans and arches up. “That’s,” David starts, but he can’t finish as Evan bends his head and goes for the other nipple.
“Yeah,” Evan groans when he pulls back again. He works his way down David’s stomach and licks along one hip. “Want to suck you, David. Want you to fuck me.”
“Okay,” David answers. “Just… if you want me to fuck you, you can’t stay down there very long.”
Evan understands. He’s so hard it hurts and his own dick has hardly been touched yet. David’s cock is dark and very, very hard as Evan slowly wraps his lips around the head. “Evan!” David groans loudly as Evan works his way down. David’s almost too long for Evan to be able to deep throat, but not quite. Evan pulls up again, pleased with himself, and tongues the head.
He works David’s cock for a while, alternately sucking, then licking as David gets more and more restless under him. “Please,” David finally croaks. “Evan, please, I can’t…”
Evan doesn’t want to risk David coming yet. “Yeah,” Evan answers as he pulls off. “Where’s, do you have?” Evan finds that his ability to form whole sentences or thoughts has fallen right out of his head.
“In the…” David manages motioning toward the nightstand.
Evan gets the drawer open, finds condoms, lube, and sits back, messing with the condoms. David takes it from him. “If you do it, I might lose it,” he tells Evan with a chuckle. Evan watches hungrily as David rolls the condom on.
Kneeling back across David’s legs, Evan pops the cap of the lube and spreads some on his own fingers. There’s a strangled sound from David as Evan reaches back, breaches his own ass. “Fuck,” Evan hisses. It’s been a while since he had sex, but he doesn’t want to take the extra time to go slow. He’s got two fingers inside and scissors them apart roughly, arching back and moaning at the burn. When he looks back down at David, his eyes are wide and nearly black. He’s panting and he stares up at Evan.
“Come on, please,” David begs, and Evan can’t wait any longer. He lubes his hand again, quickly slicks David’s condom covered dick, and rises up.
He tries to hold David’s gaze as he lowers himself down, but then David’s opening him up and Evan’s so full. His eyes flutter closed and he lets his head drop back as he grinds down into the cradle of David’s hips. “Oh god,” Evan moans. “Fuck, you feel so good, David.”
David’s panting, holding Evan still with vice like hands on his hips. They stay frozen for a few breaths while Evan acclimates, then David urges him to move and Evan lifts up a little before dropping back down. “Evan,” David groans.
They get a rhythm going between them, David thrusting up to meet Evan as he sinks, and Evan knows he can’t take much more. He shifts a little, and then white fire blinds him as David’s cock hits and slides along Evan’s prostate. Groaning, David reaches for Evan’s cock, taking it firmly in hand and stroking in time to their movements. “Shit, David, I’m gonna, I can’t…” Evan’s babbling, but David nods.
“Do it,” he gasps, giving a particularly hard upward thrust, and Evan loses it. He comes hard, shuddering and clamping down around David, and a moment later David groans loudly and thrusts up sharply, hips hunching as he empties himself into the condom.
Evan manages to lever himself off David before he sinks into the bed stretching a little as David deals with the condom. He feels amazing; tired and fucked out, and all he wants to do is snuggle close to David under the cool sheets. David’s on the same page, because after bringing back a towel to clean themselves up with, he pulls back the blanket and sheet and encourages Evan to crawl in next to him. Evan does so, wrapping himself around David and resting his head on David’s sweaty chest.
“So why plants,” Evan asks a little while later, after they’ve both caught their breath. “Why not dogs, or cats, or something that can show affection?”
David laughs. “It’s not about affection, really. One, I find them fascinating; how some are so hardy and others aren’t. I’m interested in their evolution, how they got to be the way they are, and why. Plus, caring for them is very relaxing. It helps me think.” David’s hand is absently stroking Evan’s hair while he talks. Evan kind of wants to purr. “These plants, they’re taken out of the wild and bred to be what people want. In the wild, they need no one, are completely capable of taking care of themselves, but you put them inside and they need you for everything. It’s not just science, it’s love, you know?” David laughs, “am I making any sense?”
Evan twists enough to kiss David’s chest. “Yeah, I think I get it.”
They’re silent for a while after that, until Evan’s watch beeps midnight. David’s arms tighten around Evan a little. “Can you stay? The weekend could be all ours. Heather isn’t back until Sunday evening.”
Evan smiles into David’s skin. “I’m on call this weekend, but that doesn’t mean I can’t stay here. I’d like that. Also, next weekend we should take Heather somewhere.”
Evan feels David press his face into Evan’s hair. “Yeah,” he whispers, voice warm.
Evan feels his chest tightening at David’s pleasure. He wonders how many times the men and women that David’s dated had just ignored Heather completely. Evan has no intention of that. Heather is David’s daughter, and if Evan wants David, that means he wants Heather too, for better or for worse.
Evan’s always liked kids, but it hasn’t ever been something he thought would actually happen. He can see it now, with this, with David and Heather, and he wants it, he wants it so much. This is a glimpse of family, of people to come home to. It’s only been a few days, and Evan knows it’s fast, but he can already see it and it makes his chest tight. He’s looking forward to seeing Heather on Sunday night; already he’s thinking about taking the two of them out somewhere to dinner that night, back early enough that Heather doesn’t have to rush right off to bed because there’s school the next day.
Beside him, David humms quietly and shifts, pulling Evan a little closer against him. “What are you thinking about?” he asks softly.
“Us,” Evan answers honestly. “The three of us. Maybe dinner on Sunday night. Cadman and I are in what looks like maybe the final steps of wrapping up a case, so I don’t know how much I’ll be around this week, but maybe after school one day we could do something fun.”
David pulls away enough to look at Evan. He’s smiling; Evan can see the corners of his eyes crinkle thanks to the streetlights shining through the window. “You’re really serious about this, aren’t you?” he asks, voice warm.
Evan nods. Part of him is worried about saying things like this so soon, but Evan’s always tried to be as honest and upfront in relationships as he can be. If it’s too much and it pushes David away, then maybe it wasn’t going to work out anyway. “Yeah, I am. If the two of you will have me.”
David pulls Evan up and kisses him, mouths sliding together like they never wanted to be apart. “Heather’s done nothing but talk about you all week. Of course we’ll have you,” David whispers when they pull back.
Evan smiles, his heart thudding in his chest, and rests his head back on David’s shoulder.