Backpedalling

"How is Everett doing?" Mrs. T asks Beau who jumps in surprise at her voice. He is currently behind the counter organizing a new shipment of books in alphabetical order and genre. The cart loaded with books he was tediously arranging jolted when his foot kicked it by accident from the scare.

He turns to look down at the frail old woman who is wearing a slight frown on her face. "Uh—he's fine, I guess?" Beau replies in a questioning tone. Mrs. T purses her lips at this, clearly not content with his non-answer.

"A little bird told me that he and Charlotte are getting a divorce. I've been waiting for you to bring it up, but you haven't said anything," Mrs. T offers nonchalantly. While her voice sounds casual, her demeanor seems almost accusatory. Beau knows that she wants a direct answer, but she isn't getting one from him. It's not his place to speak about what Everett is going through.

Crossing his arms over his chest, he replies, "I don't think it'd be cool of me to tell you about any of that. You're important to Everett, he'll want to talk to you about this himself." Beau has really enjoyed working for Mrs. T. She's an amazing woman who he admires and goes to for advice pretty often. With that being said, he's not compromising Everett's privacy just because she feels entitled to hearing about the divorce.

Mrs. T puts her hands on her hips and eyes him for a second. "I figured you'd be able to discuss the matter if you were a part of it as well," she retorts in a way that Beau is not used to being spoken to by her. Beau's ears start ringing and he feels his body go numb. What did she mean by that? Does she know something is going on between him and Everett? Does she think he broke up their marriage?

Clearing his throat and adjusting his stance, Beau decides to double down. He's not letting her accuse Everett of what he thinks she's accusing him of.

"I know that I came into all of this at a bad time, but I didn't do anything. Everett is going through a lot right now and I'm trying to help him out. I don't know what you're trying to get at here, but I'm not gonna let anyone attack the guy when he's done nothing wrong." Beau slowly regains feeling in his face as he tries to calmly respond to the old woman.

"Hm—alright, then." Mrs. T gazes thoughtfully at him. "Maybe I don't fully understand what is happening here. Just know that I don't tolerate infidelity in any marriage."

Beau feels hurt by what she's suggesting. He doesn't have a great track record with relationships in the past regarding when some started and others ended, but he knows better now. If Everett and Charlotte were still happily together, nothing would have ever happened between him and Everett. The same thing goes for their current relationship situation. Now that he and Everett are kind of dating, he wouldn't dream of trying to get with anyone else while they are seeing each other.

"Just because your first marriage ended because of that doesn't mean that's why Everett's did too. He'd be crushed if he heard what you're saying right now." Beau continues to try to keep his voice steady, but he can hear himself getting slightly louder as he speaks.

Mrs. T is a stubborn, proud woman and that shows in the way she keeps her chin held high throughout his response. Despite this, her eyes show uncertainty and guilt. Beau would maybe feel bad for her if he wasn't so upset by what she had suggested about him and Everett. Instead of comforting her, he wants to drag her home and make her apologize to Everett even though he has no clue that this conversation is currently happening.

Eventually, Mrs. T's proud chin drops as she turns her eyes to the floor. She avoids eye contact as she whispers, "Apologies—I overstepped. Divorce is a tricky topic for me and I tend to insert my own experiences when others are going through it as well." Beau is happy to hear her admit that she's in the wrong, but he still wants to shield Everett from having to talk to her ever again. He can't risk the fragile man being hurt by this woman that he thinks so highly of.

"I'm not sure I'm the one you need to apologize to, but I also don't want Everett knowing that you think he'd pull any of that bull." Beau tries to drive home the point that Everett would be incredibly hurt by this accusation. "I really like you, Mrs. T. You've been a sick boss, which I appreciate. Everett doesn't deserve any of this, though, and I'm not gonna sit around and let that shit fly." This is the first time he's let himself curse in front of the woman, but he can't find it in him to care about filtering himself when he feels this heated.

Mrs. T places her hand on Beau's forearm and finally makes eye contact with him. "Everett is a sweetheart. I'd never want to think negatively of him or you, Beau. You both are wonderful young men. I won't open my big trap again about any of this again. With that being said, if something did happen after the divorce was initiated—I will be open minded and available if you would like to discuss it at some point," she says the last part slowly, choosing her words carefully.

Beau understands that she somehow knows about him and Everett. He appreciates her apologies and the extended olive branch, but he's not saying shit until he talks to Everett. Even then, he will still be wary when it comes to opening up to her about their relationship.

"Thanks, Mrs. T. I'm gonna start getting these books on the shelves." Beau keeps it simple as he exits the conversation. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Mrs. T take her spot behind the cash register, still watching him as he disappears down an aisle.

Beau hates that he feels so uneasy around her now.

-

When he gets back home, Beau notices that Everett is nowhere to be found. A text on his phone lets him know that Everett is working overtime and won't be home until later. After replying to the text, Beau gathers some ingredients to make tacos. Well, white people tacos. You know—ground beef, taco seasoning from a packet, Ortega taco shells, Kraft shredded cheese, et cetera. Gathering these ingredients and the cooking itself only takes about a half hour.

"Honey, I'm home!" He hears Everett call from the basement as he walks up the stairs.

Seeing his smiling face appear in the kitchen settles an underlying anxiousness that has been simmering in Beau since he left the bookstore. "Hey, snook. How was your day?" He draws Everett in for a kiss before pulling away to let him place his bags on the ground and sit at the counter to watch Beau cook.

"It was fine. We got held up in that meeting I texted you about which was annoying, but I'm happy that the day's over. What about you? How was work?" Everett asks while undoing the top buttons of his dress shirt so he can be less restrained in the comfort of his home.

Beau starts to plate some tacos for the two of them, adding the toppings that he knows Everett will like without having to ask him. "Y'know—same shit, different day. There was something that happened, though...." Beau trails off nervously and puts Everett's plate in front of him on the counter. Everett doesn't touch it as he responds, "What happened? Something bad?"

"Well," Beau sighs as he leans forward against the counter across from where Everett is seated. "I think Mrs. T knows about us."

He waits for a response from Everett, expecting him to be just as freaked out as he is. It never comes, though, as he instead takes a bit of his taco and speaks with his mouth full. "Okay."

Furrowing his eyebrows at this, Beau repeats him in a questioning tone, "Okay? Aren't you, I don't know, worried about that?"

Everett shrugs at this as he takes a gulp of water and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. "Should I be? It's just Mrs. T—she's like a grandma to me," he reasons calmly.

Not wanting to tell him about the non-grandmotherly accusations that Mrs. T made about Everett earlier, he instead replies by saying, "No, but we said before that we weren't gonna tell anyone since you're going through your divorce and I'm new to all of this." 'This', of course, means new to all of this gay stuff.

"Well you didn't tell her. Did you?" Everett asks. Shaking his head no, Beau explains, "I didn't, but she didn't need me to confirm it. She just, like, knows...."

Staring at him for a long moment, Everett pushes his plate slightly away from him. "Are you having regrets about us?" Everett doesn't look mad or upset, but seems significantly more serious when he asks this. Beau's eyes go wide and he shakes his head again.

"No—of course not," Beau rushes to reassure him. "It's just.... I think I got used to us being in a bubble these last couple of days. Like, Mrs. T kept implying shit and it made me realize how real this is and I just—I think I'm nervous, but I don't want to stop or anything. I really like you, or whatever."

Everett laughs at this. "I like you too, or whatever. We don't have to tell anyone anything and we don't have to confirm anything with anyone—including Mrs. T. I don't want to scare you off, but if you get too overwhelmed at any point I want you to tell me rather than just ending this without warning."

"I wouldn't do that to you, swear to God," Beau tells him earnestly. Everett smiles at this and brings his plate closer to him again. "I know you wouldn't. Just want to make sure," he says before taking another bite of taco. He then gestures to the stool next to him indicating that Beau should take a seat to eat his own dinner.

Settling down beside him, Beau raises his taco and taps it against Everett's as if they were cheers-ing glasses of champagne. "Glad we got that figured out," Beau states before taking a huge bite of his taco. Everett laughs at the cheers and continues eating as well.

"At some point I would like to tell my parents, though," Everett mindlessly says aloud after a minute of silence. Beau tenses up at this, but attempts to relax his shoulders as he turns his head to look at Everett. Meeting his eyes, Beau asks, "How soon do you want to tell them?"

Pushing around a piece of lettuce on his plate, Everett shrugs looking unsure of himself. "I don't know.... I still haven't told them about the divorce, which is definitely something that I need to do soon. We're really close, I don't keep secrets from them," Everett informs him in a much less chipper voice than he spoke with previously.

"Uh—okay. We can do that. It's just-" Beau sighs, frustrated with himself. He can't figure out how to word this to Everett without sounding like an ass or making him sad. Everett looks at him, patiently waiting for him to continue his train of thought. "It's just.... I'm worried they're gonna think I broke up your marriage or something. Like, we met up the day that Charlotte left and then I immediately moved in. It looks kinda sus and I don't want your parents to hate me because of it or anything."

Despite confiding in him about his deepest worries, Everett seems to have loosened up and is now smiling at Beau. "You don't have to worry about that, they'll believe me when I tell them what happened. My parents have always trusted and supported me no matter how messy things get," Everett advises him.

"Yeah? Maybe I'm getting in my own head because my family is kind of the opposite of that. I don't even know what my mom and Finn would say if I told them about us." Beau's head is now thrown back and he's looking at the ceiling as he speaks.

"Well, if you ever do want to tell your mom and Finn about us, you know I'll be there for you. I'm not gonna let you deal with that on your own," he informs Beau who stares at him softly.

They are both sitting on stools at the counter and their knees touch from where Beau has been manspreading while they eat and talk. The warmth of that connection is taken away briefly when Beau turns in the stool to face Everett. He is about to ask what's wrong when Beau pulls Everett's stool toward him so they are face-to-face in their seats. Everett remains silent in confusion as Beau puts a hand on his cheek and closes the distance between them. Humming into the sweet kiss, Everett realizes he must've said the right thing about being there for Beau with his family to elicit this response. After a minute of languid movement of lips, Everett pulls back to breathe before pecking his lips once more.

Leaning back on the stool, Everett kicks his feet up so they rest on Beau's thighs. He then grabs his plate and continues eating his tacos with a smile on his face. "I guess I said the magic words there," he jokes lightly.

"Yeah, you did. You're the best." Beau smiles back at him as he grabs his own plate from the counter and eats as well. They are both facing each other and holding their plates so they can feast while looking at one another.

Before he takes another bite, Everett remembers something he's been meaning to tell Beau about. "Rodger Hackley and his family invited us over for dinner on Sunday. I introduced you to him before, remember? He's Sinting's mailman so you've probably seen him around," Everett says conversationally. Beau straightens up at this, no longer looking as relaxed as he previously was.

"I remember him, but why did he invite me? Do they normally have you over for dinner?" He questions the man in front of him. Everett sighs, seeing how wound up Beau is getting again.

"He knows that you've been staying with me and wanted to make sure to include you. The Hackley's have never invited me over for dinner before, I'm assuming they heard about the divorce and want to talk about it. They've always been friendly to me, so I don't want to decline if they're just trying to help," Everett explains. He can still see how visibly tense Beau is about this dinner invitation. "You don't have to go if you're not comfortable." He tries to give Beau an out to avoid the dinner if he'd like.

With a shake of his head, Beau puts on a mask of confidence before responding, "No—I'm gonna be there for you. We'll go get a free home cooked meal, talk about personal shit and then bounce." Everett still looks doubtful despite this, so Beau gets up, grabs him from his stool and carries him to the couch in the family room. Gasping in surprise from being picked up, Everett clings onto Beau and shouts, "HEY! What the fuck?"

He is unceremoniously dumped onto the couch where he is then trapped by the larger man who climbs on top of him, so he is hovering above him on his forearms. "The mailman might make me nervous, but nothing gives me butterflies like you, baby." This gets a laugh out of Everett just like he hoped it would.

"God, that was terrible." Everett smiles up at him with a twinkle in his eye.

"Nah—my jokes always land. Just like you when you fell from heaven." He can't help the smirk that works his way onto his face as he says this. "Get off of me." Everett's laugh continues to ring melodically in Beau's ears. Although Everett tells him to get off, he makes no move to push him away or gives any indication that he actually wants Beau out of his space. In fact, he has begun stroking a hand up and down Beau's chest while gazing up at him.

"Why would I move when I have the best seat in the house to see that pretty smile?" Beau's words cause Everett to go red and cover his face in embarrassment. Laughing at this reaction, Beau finally decides to ease up on the guy. "Alright, I'll stop," he chuckles as he sits upright but pulls the blushing man onto his lap. He removes Everett's hands from his face so he can get a better look cat him. "I like making you blush, it's a lot easier than I thought it'd be," Beau informs him while holding his hands.

Everett takes his hands out of Beau's and crosses his arms over his chest. "Yeah? Why'd you think it wouldn't be easy?" He asks. Beau wraps his arms around Everett's waist and continues to smile down at the man in his lap. "Because I was the stuttering idiot when we first got together. I thought you had your shit together when it came to this stuff, so it's nice to know that dumb lines get to you so easily," Beau replies and gently presses their foreheads together.

"Well, congratulations. It looks like you got me now," Everett huffs, not pulling away. "Yeah, I got you," Beau's smile widens ever so slightly. Everett hates that the way he is looking at him is making him so flustered. He shifts in Beau's lap and averts his gaze before regaining some confidence and staring him in the eye once more.

"I'll make you a stuttering mess again soon. When you least expect it, you're not gonna be able to string together a sentence just like when I had to break the news to you that you liked me," Everett says in a matter of fact tone. Beau throws his head back and laughs at this before staring at him fondly.

"Alright, snook. I'll be waiting." He gives his partner another sweet kiss.