Stefan was in the kitchen when they arrived at the apartment. Hugo had asked Renee to take him home but halfway there he realised he didn't want to be alone. So instead, he asked Renee if he could go back to her place. She had to go out later that night to have dinner with her parents, but it didn't matter. Stefan would be there to keep him company.

Except the instant he walked through the door, he knew that wouldn't be the case. Stefan didn't look at either of them when they came in, instead slamming a pot down on the bench with a groan.

"Are you alright?" Renee asked, frowning at him.

Stefan grumbled something Hugo couldn't quite hear. "I'm fine," he said loudly. He wasn't, that much was obvious. "You two are back early."

It was almost time for dinner, but it was far earlier than they'd expected. The drive back had taken a while because they'd gotten stuck in city traffic. "Yeah, it wasn't that good," Renee replied. "I'm not going to be here for long, my parents wanted to have dinner tonight, remember?"

"Yeah."

"What are you doing?"

"Cleaning," Stefan replied angrily, grabbing the dish soap from the cupboard under the sink. "I didn't know Hugo was going to be here. And he likes it clean, so I'm bloody cleaning." The words were angrier than Hugo had ever heard. It reminded him of the first time they'd met, except much, much worse.

"What did I do?" he asked Renee when Stefan's back was turned, but the woman just shrugged in confusion. This was not what he wanted to come back to. He wanted to sit on the couch with his boyfriend and friend until he forgot about the events of the day. But it seemed he was not going to be that lucky.

Stefan slammed a pot into the sink and Hugo jumped at the noise. "We don't even have enough food to feed him tonight!" he exclaimed. Hugo tried to ignore the guilt that rose within him. He should have just gone home. "Or enough money to buy dinner!"

Renee looked between with her mouth what open, before she stormed into the kitchen and swatted Stefan upside the head. "What the hell is your problem?" she asked when he whirled around to look at her.

Hugo looked down at the floor and wrung his hands together. He didn't want to look at either of them. He just wanted to sleep and forget about the day. "I've had a busy day! Hell, a busy week. School is stressing me out and my boss is an arsehole. He treats everyone like shit and I'm sick of it! I'm just in a bad mood, okay?"

"We've had a bad day too! Don't take it out on us!"

Stefan took a step back then as Hugo looked up and met his eye. Water dripped from his hands and onto the tiles. Hugo couldn't take his eyes off it. "Whatever. I have a bunch of crap I need to finish for class," Stefan snapped, pushing past Renee and stalking towards his room. "You guys sort something out for dinner." His bedroom door closed with a bang, leaving the rest of the apartment in suffocating silence.

Barely a second passed before Renee was rushing to Hugo's side, hands on his shoulders. "Are you alright?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I'm fine, just tired and hungry." He was completely drained. He couldn't even feel upset anymore.

"You could come with me to my parents' place and have dinner there," Renee suggested. "He gets like this sometimes. I hate it. He's always had a bit of a temper. I should have told you, I'm sorry."

Hugo shook his head, furrowing his eyebrows at her. "It's not your fault, he should have told me, not you," he replied and sighed. "You go to your parents. I don't want to interrupt."

"No, no, it'll be fine, I promise they won't mind."

"I'll stay here and order a pizza or something. I want to make sure he's alright," he told her. He hadn't wanted to be alone, but now he was going to be until Stefan calmed down. If he calmed down.

Renee ran a hand over her shaved hair. "Alright. Send me a text when everything is okay," she said. "I brought you here to feel better. God fucking damn it, Stefan."

"He didn't know-"

"He still needs to learn not to take his anger out on other people. I love him, but he can be a dick sometimes." She checked the time on her phone. "I better go. See you later, Hugo." She pressed a soft kiss to his forehead and was gone in an instant.

The faint sounds of music drifted from Stefan's room as Hugo ordered online from the pizza place down the road. He washed up the rest of the dishes while he waited, the chore not as relaxing as it usually was. All he could feel was numbness and exhaustion, as if any minute he'd drop to the ground and sleep for a century. There was no worry or fear or sadness in him, just numbness. He hated it.

The pizza man came and went and still Hugo was numb. It was like all the other times his feelings had gotten the better of him; the first few months after his mother died, on days where his nightmares never let up, and whenever he and his father had their worst arguments. The combination of the convention and Stefan had been too much for him.

He got out two plates and dumped a couple of slices of pizza on each. He'd only been able to afford one pizza, but it would be enough to feed them both, or so he hoped. With a deep breath and a sigh, he grabbed one of the plates and knocked on Stefan's door.

There was no reply, but the door was unlocked. The music grew louder the instant he opened the door and he wrinkled his nose at the heavy metal that blasted his ears. Stefan sat at his desk with his back to him, typing away at his laptop. Hugo had no idea what he was doing on it, but it looked important.

He dropped the plate on the desk and Stefan looked up with a jolt. The music silenced instantly. "I- I didn't know you were still here," he said, his voice quieter. "I thought Renee had taken you home."

Hugo said nothing, just turned away and left the room. He wasn't in the mood. He didn't want to listen to whatever excuses Stefan made. There'd been excuses when they'd first met. Long day, stressed out. Hugo didn't want to hear them again. Sometimes they were the truth and sometimes they were bullshit. Either way, he wasn't in the mood to hear it.

He sat on the couch with his plate of pizza and turned on the television. The music never turned back on again and Hugo continuously found his eyes drifting towards the closed bedroom door. But he never got up to check on him. All he wanted was food and sleep. He didn't know how he'd get home. Knowing his luck, he'd end up staying the night because Stefan would be too angry to drive.

He finished his dinner quickly and went up for seconds, making sure to leave a little for Stefan in case he came out. A little under an hour had passed since the pizza arrived when Stefan's bedroom door opened with a faint click.

He stepped out, a sheepish look in his eyes and gently placed his plate on the kitchen bench next to Hugo's. "Thank you for buying dinner," he muttered. Hugo said nothing. "Can I sit with you?"

He took a moment to think before he nodded and shifted so that there was enough room on the couch. Stefan sat and stared at him, teeth biting down on his lip. There was regret in his eyes. He turned away sharply and dropped his head into his hands, letting out a pained groan. Hugo knew then that any excuses he tried to make for his behaviour were the truth. He knew what stress was like.

He shifted again so that his legs took up the entire length of the couch and pulled Stefan towards him. "Hugo," the other man protested but shuffled towards him anyway, pressing together until his face was buried against his shoulder.

Hugo held him like that for a while. He didn't know what else to do. It was what he liked when he was feeling down so maybe Stefan was the same. He wrapped his arms around the other man's waist and pressed a kiss to his forehead. They didn't say anything for a while, just laid on the couch and watched whatever came on the tv.

"You pissed me off," Hugo signed during an ad break.

Stefan hissed in a breath. "I know. I'm sorry. I was in a bad mood," he said and sighed. "I shouldn't have taken it out on you and Renee."

"No, you shouldn't have." He wasn't angry, just disappointed and exhausted.

"My boss treats us like crap and I know I should quit but we need the money," Stefan said, one hand drifting down Hugo's side. "Work was just awful today and I have a lot of stuff to get done for school. I stressed myself out. And then Renee said you were coming by and the place was a mess and I- I'm so tired, Hugo."

"I know, so am I," he replied, looking over at the kitchen. "I don't mind if the place is a mess. I can clean it."

"You're the guest."

"I like cleaning."

"Weirdo."

Hugo let out a little huff of amusement. "If you're feeling stressed, you can text me, you know? I can try to help," he told him.

"You don't have to," Stefan replied, shaking his head against Hugo's shoulder.

He frowned. "You help me all the time. I want to do the same for you. That's a part of this whole boyfriend thing, isn't it? Looking after each other? It can't just be you looking after me. That doesn't seem fair."

There was a moment of silence before Stefan replied. "I guess that's true. Thank you for looking after me. I'm sorry I was an arse."

"It's alright. I forgive you," Hugo replied and pressed a second kiss to his forehead.

Stefan sighed and relaxed against him. "How was your day?"

"Awful."

"Oh," Stefan said. "Was that because of me?"

"No."

Stefan let out a grunt and moved to wrap his arms around him. "What happened at the convention?"

"Too many people, they were all dicks," he replied. He explained what happened at the convention as best he could, relishing in the feeling of Stefan's arms around him, holding him, looking after him like he'd wanted when he'd arrived.

He was quiet for a minute after he'd finished. "And then you came back here, and I was also being a dick."

"Yes."

"Fuck."

"Yes." Hugo's laughter came out in short, sharp pants.

Stefan sat up and kissed him slowly and deeply. "I'm sorry for being a jerk and I'm sorry you had a bad day," he said. "Are you at least feeling better now?"

Hugo nodded and kissed him again. "Yeah, I'm good now, I think. I'm still tired though," he replied. He could fall asleep right there if Stefan let him.

Stefan hummed in response and stood from the couch. "I know it's early, but I'm tired too. I finished all my work, so I don't need to worry about it," he said. "We can go to sleep if you want, cuddle and stuff."

"Yeah, that would be good," Hugo replied with a smile. He stood and followed Stefan into his room. The door closed behind them with a quiet click and the apartment fell into a comfortable silence.