Thursday, after midnight

     Daniel never liked to feel like a charity case. But the Sanders family had found a way to support him and his family in a way that felt different. It didn't feel like charity at all when they did it.

They had ways to wrap thing up in words and ways that made it feel like they considered it supporting 'a part of the family', as if Frey and him had already been dating for years.

Frey just insisted on spoiling him as his boyfriend, causing it to feel like he was just showing him he liked him a lot. He played it of as jokes, as spoiling, as normal to support him in any way possible.

Or he just told Daniel he wanted to stay the night with him because he felt better when Daniel was around, and he needed to feel good because he felt shitty due to the medication.

He played it of as if he was doing it for himself, while in reality Daniel knew Frey just wanted to help him with his mother.

It was sweet, and Daniel couldn't oppose to it in any way. He too wanted Frey to stay over for the night. Not to help with his mother, but just for the sake of being with him.

To hold him, kiss him goodnight, and watch him fall asleep in his arms. It was the best feeling ever. But it would be Frey's first time staying over, and Daniel didn't forget all the complaints Mitchel had about his lumpy matrass, or the fact it was cold in his attic room because it simply wasn't isolated well.

What if Frey would complain too? What if he would start realising what it would mean to date a poor guy like him?

What if Frey really was the condescending idiot Daniel had thought he was for so long?

He was nervous, and he was wondering why on earth he had agreed that Frey went back home with him after work. Maybe it was too early in their relationship for Frey to see just how poor they were? Downstairs it looked like a decent home. Sure, everything was second-handed and in poor condition, but it was complete.

A complete living room, a complete dining room, an almost complete kitchen. They had more pots and pans than Frey's father had anyway.

Hannah's room was pretty decent too, with a bed that Joyce's mother had paid for, a nice little desk for her to draw or do homework. A big pink closet full of clothes that people had given her. Plenty of toys—even if they were second-handed and old.

But looking past that, their bathroom had a leaking bathtub and a showerhead you had to hold up yourself. They did have an upstairs toilet, but it was broken and wouldn't flush, so they never really used it, unless Hannah or his mother had an emergency. The small window in the bathroom couldn't even close properly so there was a constant draft, and the mirror on the wall was blurry, broken and hardly usable.

His own room was the worst; besides a bed, there was one closet where he kept the few clothes he had. Besides that, there was a washing machine that had seen better days, a dryer that made an awful lot of noise—which was a reason not to use it a lot—and washing lines where they hung their wash to dry.

He basically slept in the laundry room, if he was being completely honest.

One lightbulb in the centre of the room was all there was when it came to lighting, and he had to walk in the dark with his arms stretched out to get to his bed. Daniel knew for sure, Frey would surely laugh at his poor room.

Which was probably why he kept biting his lip until it started to bleed.

Frey kept going on how great he thought it was Daniel had gotten a promotion, well, the promise of one as soon as he got 18, and how he deserved it. He also had informed Daniel that he didn't have to worry over his father's inheritance—or the lack thereof—because it would automatically get declined after two months.

That, Daniel had to admit, did make him feel less stressed out.

Daniel kept humming along, until they reached his house, and the nerves got worse again.

Daniel opened the door for them, and was almost instantly met with Annette, who already wore her coat.

"Hi Daniel. How was work?"

"Good, but I guess you're in a hurry?"

"Harold got a call from work so he has to leave as soon as possible. We'll catch up soon, okay honey?" She grabbed his chin in a loving way, and pecked a kiss on top of his head. "Your mother is okay, she's sound asleep."

"Oh, okay!" Daniel watched her hurry to the front door, past an amused looking Frey. "Thanks for helping me out!" he called out after her, and she waved a hand dismissively.

"Anytime hon!"

"Well, she was in a hurry." Frey chuckled, closing the front door after her.

"She has her own family to run." Daniel chuckled along with him, until he realised there was nothing keeping them downstairs.

Which meant Frey would see his room soon and know just how poor he was.

And that made his heart race, his nerves to get worse, and his body to shake because of those nerves.

"So, ehm. It's 1 at night..." Frey lolled his head. "I haven't been awake this late for a week now." He chuckled and looked up the stairs. "I'm normally asleep by nine or so."

"Is that a silent hint you want to go to bed?" Daniel shuffled nervously. Things would've been easier if Frey was a bit drunk and less caring; but he hadn't even touched an alcoholic drink.

"Yeah, I'm kinda tired." Frey shrugged, and Daniel nodded, again shuffling a foot.

"So, eh... about my room..."

"What about it?"

"It's not really a great bedroom..." Daniel started explaining, cut of by Frey who covered his mouth with a smirk on his face.

"I don't care. For all I know we'll sleep in the shed. As long as I'm with you, I'll be fine."

"It's a really shitty matrass..."

Frey shrugged carelessly and took his hand in his. "I really don't care."

"Well... okay." Daniel took in a deep breath, starting to lead Frey the way to his room.

Frey allowed his eyes to take in the room shortly, before he walked over to the bed and sat down.

Daniel was still standing in the door opening, unable to decide on how to act. Seeing Frey in such a shabby room was weird. The boy came from a rich family, wealth was all he probably knew. His expensive clothes were a sharp contrast to the cheapness of the room. It didn't fit at all.

Still, Frey didn't even comment on one thing. He just started to undress until he was in his underwear, and crawled in bed, waiting for Daniel to join him.

He really kept surprising Daniel every day.

And Daniel kinda liked it.

     The next morning, Frey was still sound asleep—and it proved practically impossible to wake him up—when the doorbell rang, waking up Hannah, who then called for him to come down.

He was only half dressed, but hurried downstairs nonetheless, taking a shirt with him to put on halfway down the stairs.

Hannah stood in the door opening to her room, staring at him with sleepy eyes.

"They rang the bell twice already, and mom woke up because of it."

"Right, go get dressed, I'll handle whoever is waking mom up, okay?" He ruffled up her hair when he passed her, hurrying down the second stairs to see who was waking their mother up while she needed to rest.

He shouldn't feel as surprised as he did when he opened the door and found Mitchel standing in front of it.

"Hey cutie. I brought breakfast." He held up a bag that contained—so Daniel thought by the smell of it—freshly baked bread buns.

"Wh—wha—Mitch..." Daniel sighed. "I told you we were just friends..."

"Yeah but friends can do nice things too, right? Didn't Frey do the same?"

"Yeah... but Frey and I were dating..."

"Were?" Mitchel's eyes widened, his smile got bigger. "Not anymore?"

"Well, I wouldn't call it dating anymore. More like a relationship..." Daniel smirked, mostly because as soon as he mentioned a relationship, Mitchel's smile disappeared like snow melted in the sun.

"You're in a... relationship...?" Mitchel whispered in disbelief, in the same time as footsteps came down the stairs, and Daniel felt arms slide around his waist from behind.

Frey leaned his chin on his shoulder, still looking a bit sleepy. "What're you doing here?" He asked Mitchel.

"I... eh..." Mitchel looked down to the bag he was holding, and back up to Frey, visibly feeling awkward.

"Oh, you brought breakfast?" Frey asked, leaning beside Daniel to snatch the bag from Mitchel's hold. "Thanks, consider this a payback for stealing my dinner." He kicked the door closed in front of a fuming Mitchel, casually walking to the kitchen with the bag.

Daniel couldn't hold back a laugh, before he shook his head and followed Frey to the kitchen.

"I don't think he's coming back after that."

"I sure hope so." Frey muttered, putting the bag on the table. "Your mom went back asleep. She's fine."

"Wait, you checked in on her?"

"I heard Hannah say she was awake, and since you were dealing with Mitch, I thought I could check in..." Frey yawned. "So, breakfast?"

"Really, that's it?" Daniel frowned. The least he would've expected was for Frey to complain about a bad night of sleep on his shitty matrass, or being cold constantly. Not for him to check in on his sick mother, and then talk about breakfast.

"Yeah, what else?" Frey turned his head to watch Daniel, before his eyes grew wide; as if he just realized what Daniel talked about. "Oh... right." He walked to Daniel, pulled him in his arms and pecked a kiss on his lips. "Morning handsome."

Daniel laughed again, mostly because Frey flashed him a goofy smile.

"I expected a bit of complaining about a cold night, or a shitty matrass..." Daniel admitted with a shrug. "Sorry I have a shitty bed..."

"No apologies, remember." Frey grumbled, grabbing the plastic plates from a cabinet. "Can we agree on something?"

"Depends on what?"

"Every time you apologize for something you can't help, I get to buy you something small. Like plates." He waved a plastic plate in Daniel's face. "That way you'll feel punished because I know you hate people treating you like charity."

"You're not buying us plates. Hannah will drop them again and I just... It's a waste."

"In that case, a new matrass..." Frey shrugged. "In return for five unnecessary apologies."

"Only five?" Daniel laughed out a bit, and this time, he was the one who hugged Frey from behind, pecking a kiss on his cheek. "I just have to get used to the fact I don't have a mentally abusing boyfriend anymore."

"And that this boyfriend doesn't mind any of the things of which you feel like you should apologize. I like you for you, okay?" Frey mumbled and turned around in his arms, cupping Daniel's face with both his hands. "You're perfect to me." Frey whispered, leaning in to kiss Daniel.

Daniel felt warm and loved just because Frey acted so damn sweet, and he couldn't help himself when he turned a simple kiss into a make-out session in their kitchen.

That was until Hannah cleared her throat behind him and he shot away from Frey as if he was on fire.

Well, their kiss was heated enough to reach the same temperatures as a fire.

"I'm too young to see this." She gestured towards Frey and giggled. "But I do like this one more than Mitchie."

"Good, because this one is staying." Daniel winked, and pulled Frey into a hug. Yeah, he definitely wanted Frey to stay.

Words: +/- 2038

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