Reunion P. I

Everett sits in his car after parallel parking into a spot a block away from the Coleman's apartment. He's slouched in the drivers seat with his head tilted back as he stares silently ahead of him. His moment of quiet contemplation is suddenly interrupted by his phone buzzing, alerting him of a phone call.

Before answering, he sees that it's 1:00 PM on the dot—the time that he told Beau he'd be meeting him in Columbus.

"Hey, just checking to see if you're close by," Beau's voice sounds over the speakers of his phone.

Having been here for the last ten minutes, Everett decides to finally let his ex know that he has arrived. "Yeah, I just got here."

"Cool!" He can practically hear Beau's smile as he responds. "I'll walk out to you. Where are you parked?"

Everett tells him that he remembers how to get to the apartment, but Beau insists on meeting with him because the area is 'dangerous'. After giving him the description of where he is parked, Everett gets out of the car and stubbornly begins walking towards the apartment building.

They meet halfway and Beau drags him into his arms for a friendly hug. The embrace lasts a bit longer than what would normally be acceptable for two acquaintances, but Everett decides to not acknowledge that fact.

"You made it," Beau says as he pulls away with a pleased smile on his face.

He looks good. It is apparent that he has kept up with shaving his facial hair and he is also wearing decent clothes today rather than his usual sweatpants and t-shirt combination. He has slight eye bags, but his eyes themselves almost sparkle as he gazes down at Everett.

Clearing his throat, the shorter man takes another step back and echoes his statement. "I made it." Wanting to appear casual and friendly, Everett smiles back at him. "So what's the plan for today?"

Beau leads them in the direction of the apartment, but walks past it and turns down another block where more cars are parked.

"I was thinking we could go grab some lunch and figure things out as we go," he responds. They stop at a gray Nissan Pathfinder that looks to be an older model from the early two-thousand's.

"I could've driven us. We were just at my car," Everett points out as he watches Beau climb into the drivers seat. Beau grins at him and closes the door before rolling down the window. "Don't worry about it—I don't mind chauffeuring you around for the day. Get in."

Everett rolls his eyes and walks over to the passenger's side and takes a seat. The familiar feeling of sitting next to his ex makes him feel wistful for the way that things used to be. Shaking his head slightly, he fiddles with the radio to keep his hands busy.

They make small talk during the drive until they pull into a parking lot that they were in not too long ago. "Beau...." Everett sighs as he looks at the building.

"I feel bad that I made you have a bad experience last time," Beau admits ruefully. "We need to have a redo so you can, like, actually enjoy Bernie's."

While he appreciates the gesture, Everett was hoping to go somewhere further away from their hometown. Even if Beau feels regretful over how he acted the last time they were here, there's no guarantee that he'll handle seeing people they know any better this time around. Not wanting to start an argument over where they eat, Everett simply nods and gets out of the car.

He follows Beau's lead into the diner and scans the premises as the taller man talks to the hostess. The place is pretty busy considering it's lunchtime on a Saturday, but Everett thankfully doesn't recognize anyone right away. They are taken to their table and he keeps his head down the entire time until they are sat.

Scooting closer to wall in their booth, Everett picks up a menu and lowers his head to read it. His actions don't go unnoticed by the man across from him as a sad look passes over his face. Beau had clearly noticed him trying to make himself less visible to the people around them.

"So-" Beau starts off, trying to think of something else to say that won't make things more awkward than they already are. "How is everyone in Sinting doing?"

Everett continues to stare down at his menu as he replies, "Not too sure. A lot of people aren't talking to me anymore since news spread of my divorce"

He glances up and sees Beau's eyebrows knotted together in concern. Suddenly regretting his honesty, he decides to tell Beau about Mrs. T to bring some positivity to the discussion.

"I ran into Mrs. T a couple days ago at the grocery store, though. She looked like she was preparing to feed an army of dessert-fiends with all of the ingredients in her cart," Everett jokes. This successfully causes Beau's demeanor to relax ever so slightly.

"The people judging you for getting a divorce are idiots," Beau states bluntly. This makes an involuntary laugh escape Everett at the simple conclusion. A smile doesn't quite make its way onto Beau's lips, but his eyes seem to as he watches Everett's reaction.

Taming his grin, Everett then responds, "Thanks for your input—it really puts things into perspective."

Finally allowing himself to smile the slightest bit, Beau says, "No problem." There's another moment of silence where Beau looks to be contemplating something. Everett is about to change the subject when Beau asks, "Did Mrs. T say anything about me? Like—about when I stayed with her at her house?"

"She said she was happy to hear that we are meeting up again," Everett answers. They stare at each other wordlessly. "And she, uh, misses you at the store." He hurriedly tries to add on so he doesn't make things weird with his first statement.

"I'm happy we met up again too." Beau's eyes look painfully earnest.

Everett is having a hard time remembering why they broke up suddenly. Knowing it was for a good reason, he spits out the first thing that comes to his head to change the direction of the conversation.

"The bakery had ten different flavors of macarons in the shop the other day. They were so good, I wanted to bring you some, but I accidentally ate all of them," Everett rambles.

He successfully steers the conversation to the topic of desserts. Beau doesn't even look upset with the subject change. He just smiles and laughs along to whatever nonsense is spilling out of Everett's mouth.

-

Beau ordered mozzarella sticks for the table and a milkshake for each of them. Admittedly, the Coleman brothers were right—Bernie's does these two things very well. Everett isn't even very hungry by the time his chicken sandwich is brought to the table.

He can't say the same thing for Beau, though, who devours his cheeseburger in a very short amount of time. Placing the burger down on his plate, Beau wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and takes another sip of his milkshake before making eye contact with Everett again.

"Did you know the class of '18 reunion is later today?" He asks nonchalantly.

Everett finishes chewing his bite of sandwich. "Is it?" He eventually responds in an uninterested tone.

"Do you want to go?" Beau questions.

"Huh?" Everett feels confused.

"Do you want to go to the reunion?" His ex reiterates his question.

Blinking a couple of times, Everett tilts his head puzzled by this. "Uh-" He stutters out. "I didn't RSVP for it."

"So?" Beau brushes off the excuse. He's no longer focused on his food, but instead on this event that Everett wasn't even aware was happening today. "It's just at a place down the street from the apartment. I'm sure they wouldn't care if we dropped by for a minute."

He wants to go to the reunion together?

"I don't think that's a good idea...." Everett replies hesitantly.

"Why not?"

Everett wonders if he's purposely playing dumb right now considering he should know why he has his doubts about the suggestion. Regardless, he doesn't want to have to explain himself so he says, "I don't want to go to that. High school wasn't a time in my life that I'd like to revisit."

"It might be fun if we go together, though," Beau counters.

Scrunching his eyebrows together in confusion, words slip out of Everett's mouth before he can stop himself. "If it's anything like our last hangout around former classmates, then I want nothing to do with it."

"It won't be!" Beau looks desperate as he assures him. "I'll stick by your side the entire time—we don't even have to stay long."

Not sure if he believes this, Everett still can't help his morbid curiosity from wondering whether or not Beau would follow through with his promise. Thinking it over for a moment, he eventually responds.

"Fine," he says. Seeing Beau's look of elation, he quickly adds on a stipulation. "We're driving separately, though. If you decide that you don't want to be around me again, then I'm going home."

Beau doesn't seem deterred by this condition. He still has a small smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes,

"Totally fine, but I'm gonna be your shadow the entire time so that won't be happening," he replies with a chuckle. Everett still has his doubts.

"I guess we'll see."

They move swiftly on to another discussion topic after that. Everett, however, can feel a creeping feeling of regret make an appearance in his chest. Not over agreeing to go to the reunion, but over ending things with Beau.

This regret has been haunting Everett since the day it happened. He has to continuously remind himself of why he did it in the first place which is seeming to become less and less valid every day. If Beau actually follows through with the two of them attending the reunion together, he's not sure how he'll be able to get the closure he needs to move on.

-

After finishing their redemption meal at Bernie's, Beau drives them back to the apartment. Everett is worried about speaking with Mrs. Coleman and Finn for very different reasons.

He hopes that Beau's mom doesn't resent him for kicking her son out of his house. While he's not sure what all Beau has told his family, Everett assumes that Mrs. Coleman suspects something happened that caused her oldest to move back in with her.

Beau's brother, on the other hand, knows that Everett and Beau were dating. Finn was the one who told Everett to end things with Beau in the first place. However, Everett doesn't know what he'll think of him continuing to talk with Beau after kicking him out. Will he judge Everett for not having enough self-respect to completely cut off the man who publicly humiliated him?

Needles to say, Everett feels on-edge as he follows Beau into the apartment on the fifth floor.

"Everett!" He hears as they enter. Arms wrap around him and he is squeezed in such a comforting way that only a mother could manage to do.

Hugging her back, Everett greets the enthusiastic woman. "Hi, Mrs. Coleman. How are you?"

"I'm doing well, thanks!"

She looks down at her watch with a glower before giving her guest an apologetic smile. "Unfortunately, I do need to leave now or I'll be late for my shift." She gently pats Everett's arm and says, "It was so great seeing you again."

Exiting through the door, she looks over her shoulder and shouts, "Don't be a stranger—come over for dinner one night!"

"Have a good shift, Mrs. Coleman!" Everett calls back, not wanting to agree to anymore future plans with this family at the moment.

"She really wanted to call off work so she could catch up with you," Beau informs him as they walk into the kitchen. He sits at the table while his ex gets out a beer for both of them.

Beau pops the cap off and hands the bottle over to Everett who gives him a nod of thanks before taking a sip. He places the bottle down and replies, "There's no need to do that. I'm glad I got to see her before she left, though."

"Do I hear Fowler out there?" A voice echoes through the apartment. Finn joins them in the kitchen with a wide smile on his face. Seeing the positive look on the younger brother's face assures Everett that he is not disappointed to see him again, fortunately.

"Hey, Finn," Everett responds as he stands to give Finn a bro-hug. The cheery man slaps him on the back and goes to the fridge to grab his own beer and sits at the table with them.

Everett notes that Beau doesn't seem annoyed by his presence, which he finds interesting considering he usually is when his little brother is around. In fact, the two clink their bottles and take a swig of their respective drinks. Maybe living together again has reignited their brotherly relationship?

"What have you guys been up to?" Finn asks, leaning back in his chair in a relaxed manner.

"We went out to eat," Everett tells him.

Taking another gulp of his beer, Finn follow up with another question. "Where at?"

"Bernie's," he elaborates further on their whereabouts.

"Oh, really?" Finn directs at Beau with a lifted eyebrow, but he doesn't seem too surprised. "How was it the second time around?"

"The food was very good. What have you been up to, Finn?" Everett switches things up by asking the younger man about his life instead.

The three men catch up on each other's lives. Finn tells them about school coming up, Beau discusses his newest job and Everett informs them on happenings in Sinting. Everett finds himself loosening up the longer they talk. He feels at ease and genuinely enjoys being around the Coleman boys, much to his delight.

"So then I did the return for her like I normally would," Beau tells the other two who are leaning towards him listening with rapt attention. A member of the library had apparently almost gotten him fired from his new job and Beau is hilariously irked retelling what had happened. "She literally ran out of the store once the books were scanned and I was like, 'what the fuck' because that was fucking weird. I'm about to put the books back on the shelf, but I flip through one of them for some reason and saw that she marked it all up."

His eyebrows are scrunched together as he explains the situation, clearly still perplexed by this woman's antics. Everett finds himself smiling as he watches the expressive facial expressions of the man across from him. A fluttery feeling starts up in his stomach.

"I went through all five of the books she returned and she put her stupid comments in every-fucking-one of them," Beau exclaims with his hands outstretched and an incredulous look on his face.

Finn chortles at the retelling of the situation. "What did she comment? Was it, like, some insightful shit at least?"

"Depends—do you think 'this makes me so horny' is insightful commentary on sex scenes from her fairy porn book?" Beau still looks stern and frustrated as he offers his retort.

Howling with laughter, Finn gasps for air as he fights to speak again. "What did your boss say?"

Beau rolls his eyes at this and dumps the rest of his beer in his mouth. Slamming the bottle back on the table he says, "She was so pissed." He looks like he's just as pissed as he's describing his boss to be. "She was all 'why didn't you check this before she left' and 'we can't lend anyone else this shit'. I really thought I was about to get fired, but she just told me not to let it happen again."

He lets out a grunt before checking his phone and suddenly looks back at Everett with a softer expression on his face. "Not to rush us out of here, but the reunion started a half hour ago. Do you want to leave soon?"

"Uh-" Everett was having such a good time that he forgot about their evening plans. "Sure. Let me go to the bathroom really quick and then we can head out."

When he emerges from the restroom, the two brothers seem to be whispering to each other in the kitchen. Everett didn't catch anything they said, but he has a feeling they were talking about him, which makes him feel self-conscious all of a sudden.

"Ready to go?" He asks Beau.

"Yeah! See ya, Finny." Beau slaps his brother on the back and grabs his car keys from the counter.

Finn waves at them with a small smile on his face. "Bye, you two! Have fun!"

Beau walks him to his car and Everett doesn't even try to tell him not to.

"I'll meet you there," Everett says outside of his car.

Beau stares at him, looking like a little kid despite his towering height and stature.

"I'll see you there," he responds, but doesn't walk away. "I'm serious, by the way."

Everett doesn't say anything. He simply stares at the man in front of him.

"I'm gonna stick with you the entire time. Okay?" Beau promises him.

"Okay," Everett whispers back.