Chapter Text
Grimmjow nurses his drink, leaning against the doorframe between the kitchen and living room of the Kurosaki's family home. The room is filled with sounds of conversation and laughter elevated above the thumping music. Rain hits the panes, and every so often, the rolling boom of thunder cuts through the noise of the party.
Grimmjow exhales slowly and rolls his shoulders, intentionally relaxing his stance. He hates these things. Too many people, loud music, and of course, the bane of his existence, Kurosaki fuckin Ichigo. Well, that's an exaggeration. He actually likes Kurosaki quite a lot, it's just…he can't stop thinking about the guy lately.
He'd known Kurosaki for ten years but it wasn't until half a year ago, shortly after Ichigo and his twin brother, Shiro, moved into the apartment across the hall from his, that he started thinking about the ginger *that way.*
The Kurosaki brothers are visiting their family over the weekend, with Grimmjow in tow, for a college graduation party to celebrate the younger pair of Kurosaki twins, Yuzu and Karin.
Even though Grimmjow has known the Kurosaki brothers since they were teenagers, he's never been in their childhood home. It's nice. A western-style living room adjoining the kitchen, separated by a long couch facing the TV. The massive framed picture of the Kurosaki's deceased mother might be marked as morbid by some, but Grimmjow finds it oddly cheering. A ray of sunshine smiling down on the friends and family gathered there. Ichigo has a smile like that, he thinks.
"Just had to go and get a crush on your best friend, didn't you, dumbass." That little voice in Grimmjow's head spouts meanly.
Grimmjow and Kurosaki are both gay, but Grimmjow knows he could never act on his feelings. Every single relationship he'd ever had ended badly. Even if it seemed to be going well and the other person didn't leave, he would self-destruct. He didn't want to drag Kurosaki into his mess. So, he suffers silently and takes another sip of his fireball while some chick talks his ear off about something completely inane.
Speaking of Kurosaki, Grimmjow catches sight of the ginger across the room, scowling at Ishida across the kitchen counter like he could kill the guy with a look, his brown eyes blazing with anger and frustration.
Kurosaki's been agitated all night and had even snapped at Grimmjow earlier - it's why Grimmjow's over here instead of beside the ginger. He's definitely not avoiding Kurosaki. He's not. It's just… This is different from Kurosaki's usual playful banter and it pisses Grimmjow off. He doesn't want to punch the guy, so he's standing over here. Yeah, that's it.
Grimmjow can see the tension in Kurosaki's stance from all the way across the room. He scowls.
Grimmjow watches as Yuzu puts a gentle hand on Ichigo's shoulder, trying to de-escalate the staring contest between the cousins.
Kurosaki swings around and snarls, and his sister shrinks a little before he realizes who it is and deflates immediately.
Grimmjow sees a shock of white hair fly into view from across the kitchen as Shiro grabs Ichigo's shoulder and pulls him off to a corner of the room where they huddle together.
Ichigo and Shiro are identical twins, both graceful and tall with lean, strong muscles and sharp, handsome features. But that's where the similarities end. They mirror each other like night and day. While Ichigo has a spiky mess of fiery sunset orange hair, brown eyes, and peach-pink lips, Shiro has a rare albinism condition that makes his skin pale and shoulder-length hair pure white. His eyes are naturally pale blue, almost lavender, but the guy wears contacts that make his sclera black and irises golden yellow.
Shiro's golden eyes glow now, narrowed with anger but also concern, as he holds Ichigo's shoulders and says something in a low voice. Ichigo nods, once, and Shiro's expression softens. Shiro takes Ichigo's hand and pulls him gently towards the hall leading to the rest of the house, pausing to speak briefly with Yuzu. Grimmjow can't see Ichigo's face from here, but his posture is tense and dejected. Guy looks like a kicked puppy.
As Shiro and Ichigo disappear down the hall, Grimmjow excuses himself from the boring chick and makes his way over to Yuzu. "Is everything alright?" He asks, concerned.
"Yes, Ichigo's not feeling well so Shiro's taking care of him," Yuzu responds. "This happens sometimes during thunderstorms, but he'll be okay."
Grimmjow smirks. "Kurosaki's afraid of thunder is he?"
"Don't make fun of him, Grimmjow. It's a trauma thing." Yuzu reprimands.
Damn. That girl's disappointment cuts like a knife in the gut, Grimmjow thinks. Suddenly he remembers exactly what trauma that must refer to, and visibly winces. Ichigo had watched his mom die horribly during a thunderstorm when he was a kid. "Sorry." Grimmjow mumbles. Yuzu pats his shoulder and smiles kindly.
Grimmjow grabs the fireball from the counter and tops off his drink, wandering back over to his doorframe. Boring chick makes a beeline back toward him and picks up the very one-sided conversation where it left off, giggling and batting her long eyelashes up at him. He scoffs quietly. Can't she tell he's gay? He's not exactly subtle about it. Cropped jacket, bright blue hair to match his eyes? Teal eyeliner?! hello?!?
Not wanting to be rude, he makes polite conversation until irritation outweighs social acceptability. He lasts about 15 minutes before hitting his limit. "Gotta piss," he interrupts bluntly and stumbles off towards the hall to find the bathroom. "The door on the left," he mumbles under his breath, vaguely recalling the brief tour from earlier that day. He pulls it open and steps inside with a sigh of relief.
And then he freezes. This is not the bathroom. Through the haze of his fireball buzz, he recognizes the Kurosaki brother's childhood bedroom. It's a small room with bunk beds on the left wall - it's one of those full-over-queen ones. The walls are covered in thick tapestries and posters, and a couple guitars stand next to a small desk littered with vinyls, a turntable, pedals, and a recording mic. The curtains are pulled closed and soft light comes from a lamp on the nightstand. The turntable plays Frank Ocean's melodic tunes just loudly enough to drown out the sounds of the party down the hall.
But what immediately catches Grimmjow's attention and makes his heart leap up into his throat is the sight of Ichigo and Shiro together on the bottom bunk.
.
.
.
Shiro is fully laying on top of Ichigo, with his elbows next to Ichigo's head and hands holding his cheeks gently stroking with his thumbs. Ichigo is in what Grimmjow recognizes as deep subspace, melting into the mattress with his hands on Shiro's hips under his shirt, slowly rubbing small circles on Shiro's skin, hazy heavy-lidded eyes gazing up at his brother as they kiss slowly, languidly, full of emotion and love.
They didn't hear Grimmjow come in, but after a few seconds, Shiro must have sensed his presence because he freezes, then turns his head to look behind him. Lavender eyes snap to Grimmjow's blue. Absently, Grimmjow notes that he's never seen Shiro without his contacts.
Shiro snarls and lifts his upper body, pulling his knee up next to Ichigo's hip to twist to face Grimmjow. Ichigo tenses up and starts hyperventilating and whimpering in distress when he sees Grimmjow's shocked expression.
Grimmjow holds up his hands and backs towards the door. "Fuck! Sorry! Wrong room!"
As he reaches for the door and starts to turn, Shiro barks, "Don't you dare leave, Grimmjow!"
"But…" Grimmjow sputters, "but Kurosaki is clearly dropping - I'll only make things worse!"
"That's not true. Don't you fuckin' abandon him," Shiro responds, quietly, expression darkening. "If you leave, I will gut you."
Grimmjow pauses and then snarls through his teeth, "Fine. But I'm staying for Kurosaki, not because you threatened me." He scowls as he closes and locks the door. He turns back towards the twins with a pained expression. Grimmjow's best friend-slash-secret-crush is dropping, because of him. Fuck.
Shiro turns to Ichigo and drops his weight back down. Shiro buries his fingers in Ichigo's hair while holding his cheek with his left hand, forcing Ichigo to focus on Shiro's face. "Look at me, King. I'm here, yer safe. Grimm is here for ya too - we're not leaving". He reaches behind him and gestures for Grimmjow to sit on the bed next to them.
Grimmjow doesn't hesitate and sits with his left leg bent on the bed and his right hanging off, facing Ichigo. He glances at Shiro - "Can I touch him?" Shiro nods, and Grimmjow puts a hand on Ichigo's shoulder, comforting with a solid presence. "I'm here, Kurosaki. Breathe with me." Grimmjow leads Ichigo through slow breathing patterns while Shiro runs his fingers through his brother's hair until Ichigo stops hyperventilating and can focus on Grimmjow's face.
Grimmjow starts talking, gruff but sincerely, "I know this is supposed to be taboo or whatever but I don't give a fuck. You two are sweet together and clearly love each other a lot. And…I have my own shit too, so who am I to judge? I don't think any less of either of you."
Shiro looks up at Grimmjow with wide eyes. "Grimm..." Shiro breathes. "Thank you."
Ichigo pulls his arm forward to place his hand on top of Grimmjow's and squeezes with a watery smile.
Ichigo then buries his face in Shiro's shoulder and breathes deeply. They sit together quietly for a long while until Ichigo is fully calm and melted again. The sounds of the party have subsided, and Grimmjow can hear the twin girls shoving the guests out the door. The turntable had stopped a while ago, and the sound of rain patter against the window creates a soothing rhythm in the background. Low thunder continues to rumble but even that is quieter and infrequent.
"You did good, Grimm," Shiro breaks the silence. "With King. How did ya know what to do?"
Grimmjow starts hesitantly, deciding to be vulnerable but clearly still uncomfortable. "I've dropped once before. I know how fucking awful it is. I just did what I wished my partner would do for me."
Grimmjow leaves unsaid that his dom had abandoned him to go through a drop alone, but Shiro must have understood the implication because he flinches and holds his brother closer, pale eyes never leaving Grimmjow's face.
"I also walked a sub through a drop a couple times. I never want someone to experience what I did." Grimmjow finishes darkly.
Ichigo squeezes Grimmjow's hand again, this time to comfort him. Grimmjow looks back at him. "You okay Kurosaki? You're unusually quiet."
Ichigo nods and Shiro explains, "He goes nonverbal when he's overwhelmed. It's why we came in here to begin with. Even after he feels safe again, sometimes he just feels more comfortable being silent."
Grimmjow accepts the explanation and smiles at Ichigo. "I'm glad you've got Shiro to take care of you." Ichigo smiles warmly and looks up at his twin, who caresses Ichigo's cheek again.
.
.
.
A moment later there is a soft knock at the door. "Ichi? Shiro? The guests have gone. They said to say goodbye and they hope you feel better," Yuzu's muffled voice carries through the door.
"Thanks, Yuzu," Shiro calls. "He's okay, just nonverbal right now."
"Good! There's still some food out here if you are hungry."
Shiro glances at Ichigo who shakes his head, then at Grimmjow who does the same. "No thanks, Yuzu, we're good."
"Okay, I'll clean up then. Do you know where Grimmjow is? I brought his bag back out to the living room and set up the futon, but haven't seen him in a while."
"Yeah, he's in here with us."
"Oh! Let me know if you need anything!"
"Thanks, Yuzu, " Grimmjow calls gruffly.
"Don't stay up too late! Goodnight."
"Night," Shiro replies.
Shiro looks back down into Ichigo's eyes. "You ready to sleep?"
Ichigo tightens his hold on Grimmjow's hand and looks over at him with wide eyes. Shiro follows his gaze. "Do ya want to sleep here with us, Grimm? King doesn't want ya to leave."
Grimmjow's eyes grow wide. "S…sure, the top bunk okay, or should I pull the futon in here?"
Ichigo whines and Shiro grins, "Nah, you can sleep in this bed with us. It'll be a tight fit but we'll make it work. "
"You sure that's okay?"
Shiro nods. "If it's okay with you. I know King will be more settled if he can feel ya."
"...Okay," Grimmjow decides. Ichigo visibly relaxes again and smiles.
"Good. We're both ready for bed - King usually falls asleep under me so we planned ahead. Go wash up in the bathroom - it's the next door over - and then bring yer bag in here."
Grimmjow bristles a little at the command but obeys anyway, quickly brushing his teeth and changing into sweats and a loose tee.
When he returns, the twins have moved closer to the wall to make room, with Ichigo in the middle, curled up against his twin's side. Grimmjow switches off the lamp and crawls back into the bottom bunk under the covers. Ichigo stirs and breathes deeply, shuffling a little until his back is pressed against Grimmjow's arm. Shiro reaches around his twin to gently squeeze Grimmjow's shoulder. "Thanks fer stayin'," he whispers. "Night, Grimm."
"Night, Shiro, Ichi," Grimmjow smiles softly in the dark. Sleep evades Grimmjow for a while, listening to the soft breathing of the twins, feeling the warmth radiating from the body next to his. In bed with Kurosaki. Never saw that coming, he muses.