Fake Fan Fiction ❯ FAKE In Love: Act XVIII, A Nice Buzz ❯ The Visit ( Chapter 2 )

Timeline: Just after Ryo tells his Aunt and Uncle that he's in love with Dee. I still don't own FAKE and I'm still not Sanami Matoh.

 

Ryo was nervous. What was he getting himself into? It was one thing to tell his aunt about his relationship with Dee, it was quite another to agree to bring his partner along for one of his annual visits.

He glanced over at his lover and Dee gave him a stunning smile. Ryo returned it weakly.

It wouldn't be too bad, he assured himself. It's not like he needed to worry about how Elena and Rick would react. He had told them already and they both had seemed fine with it. He winced a little and ran his fingers back through his hair.

“Problem?” Dee asked gently.

Ryo forced out a soft chuckle and shrugged.

“Nerves,” he answered simply.

“It'll be fine Ryo,” Bikky announced with open irritation from the backseat. “Stop worrying so much.”

Dee grinned. “What he said.”

Ryo gave them both another small smile and slunk down in his seat. Yes, it would be fine, he was sure of that…or at least mostly sure.

“What's the worst that could happen?” Dee said lightly.

“Nothing good has ever come from saying that,” Ryo groaned.

“I know,” Dee said happily.

Bikky roared with laughter and kicked lightly against the back of Ryo's seat. Ryo glanced over his shoulder with a quick frown and Bikky shrugged as he stilled again.

“Sorry.”

Ryo sighed and stared back out the windshield. He sighed again and Dee snorted quietly.

“Turn on the damn radio if you're going to keep doing that.”

 

“Ryo!”

Ryo smiled as he climbed out of the car, Elena and Rick waiting on the porch with wide smiles. Bikky was practically jumping out of the backseat, the big dog that constantly roamed around Elena's house now frantically bounding around him. Dee was a little slower, and Ryo noticed that for all Dee's confidence, his partner was moving a little nervously.

“Hi!” Ryo yelled and headed to the trunk for their bags. “We finally made it!”

“You're late,” Elena laughed, the porch steps creaking a little as she wandered to them. “We expected you hours ago.”

She hugged Ryo tightly.

“That him?” she whispered.

“Who else would it be?” he answered in the same low tone and lightly kissed her cheek.

She chuckled quietly and ruffled a hand through Bikky's hair.

“I see you brought the miscreant,” she teased and then swooped down to embrace him tightly. “Oh, you're so adorable Bikky! I wish Ryo would just leave you up here with me!”

“Hi Aunt Elena!” Bikky said happily.

Rick held out his hand and Ryo shook it firmly before they hugged, his uncle slapping him firmly on the back.

“Glad you could make it,” Rick said in his rumbling voice. “Ellie's been cooking since dawn.”

“I have some of your favorites,” Elena said in a sing song, and then turned to Dee. “And you must be Dee Laytner.”

Dee gave her a cock-eyed grin and nodded.

“Yes ma'am,” he answered.

Elena giggled.

“He is cute.”

Ryo blushed a violent shade of red and Dee couldn't help but laugh.

He was really starting to like Ryo's family.

 

“I think I know where Ryo got his cooking talents,” Dee said happily.

They were seated around the remnants of a wonderful meal, the food that remained enough to feed them all quite easily for the next two days. Elena beamed and Rick quietly chuckled as he slowly lit a pipe. The air was soon filled with the woodsy smell and companionable silence surrounded them. Bikky sighed loudly.

“Can I go outside?” he asked.

“Yes,” Ryo answered. “Don't get wet, and don't get lost.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Bikky said with a flippant wave. “I'll be good.”

“That'll be the day,” Dee muttered.

“Bite me,” Bikky answered, but held off on the usual insults he lobbed at Dee.

The door slammed behind him and Dee sipped at his coffee. It seemed that Bikky really was trying to behave, Ryo must be pleased.

“So, Dee,” Elena said with a quick smile. “What did you think of the drive up?”

“It was nice,” Dee said and nodded. “Lots of pretty country up here.”

“I hate it,” Elena said. “I want to move to the city, but Rick's determined to live a quiet country life.”

Rick chuckled softly and leaned forward to lightly kiss Elena's cheek.

“She's lying,” he said. “If I ever actually agreed to her little city plan, she'd make excuses and delays until we were both just too fed up with it to go through with it.”

Elena grinned.

“He's probably right.”

“How long have you been a cop?” Rick asked.

“Oh, a few years,” Dee said with a shrug. “I went to the academy right after high school and started at the 27th as soon as I graduated. I made detective four years ago.”

“Impressive,” Elena said. “Do you like New York?”

“Absolutely,” Dee said and grinned.

“Dee's a native New Yorker,” Ryo explained.

“Born and bred,” Dee chuckled.

“Do you take Ryo around to all the local hotspots?” Elena asked.

Dee grinned again. “He's not really into the club scene.”

Ryo blushed lightly and rolled his eyes.

“One time,” Ryo said and shook his head. “I wanted to leave ONE TIME, and now I'm branded for life.”

“Is there a story here?” Elena asked.

“No,” Ryo said firmly and shot Dee a warning look. “There is not.”

“I'll tell you later,” Dee said with a wink.

Ryo shook his head and Rick chuckled quietly.

“What do you think Ryo?” his uncle asked with a quiet smile. “Should we pull out the baby books and really make this a special visit?”

“Good God why did I agree to this?” Ryo moaned.

 

“So how does Bikky like him?” Elena asked softly.

They were standing on the porch, the night soft and dark around them as quiet insects buzzed in the growing warmth of spring. Dee was inside with Rick, both probably complaining about washing dishes as they forced Bikky to help them. Ryo smiled slightly.

“He likes him,” Ryo said. “A lot.”

“Good,” she said. “He seems like a good guy.”

Ryo nodded.

“He is.”

“Your uncle's dog likes him too,” Elena said with a sigh. “The beast is usually a good judge of character.”

Ryo laughed and shook his head.

“Has he named that thing yet?”

“No,” Elena said irritably. “I'm starting to think he never will. It's been eight years and nothing. And I feel like an idiot standing out here in the middle of nowhere and yelling `Dog!' whenever I want him.”

Ryo laughed and took a sip of his drink.

“Everything alright up here?”

“Yes,” Elena said. “We had a light leak in the darkroom last week, but Rick found it for me. We're probably going to fly out next month for a photo shoot in Africa.”

“What are you going to do with the beast?”

“Leave him with a neighbor…unless you want him?”

“I don't think he'd fit in my apartment,” Ryo laughed. “It's pretty crowded already.”

“Yes, with you and Bikky and Dee?”

Ryo glanced at her from the corner of his eye and she waited expectantly. A slight blush curled across his cheeks and he smiled.

“He stays over more nights than not,” Ryo confessed.

“Hmm,” Elena said with a knowing smile that made Ryo blush darker.

“Aunt Elena…”

“What?” she said with a devilish grin. “I'm not your mother, I'm allowed to tease you about things like this. It's an aunt's God given right.”

They were both silent a moment and then Elena sighed.

“Did you tell him about your parents?”

“He knows,” Ryo said and swirled the ice in his glass. “He's probably the reason I'm not in prison for murder right now…or dead in a gutter somewhere.”

“Ryo,” Elena said sadly.

“It's alright,” Ryo said simply.

She leaned against him and let out a long sigh.

“The first time I met your mother, she was drenched to the bone and cursing out your father in Japanese for locking them out of their car.”

Ryo laughed and Elena grinned.

“And right away I knew, knew, that they were going to be together forever. Partly because of the way she looked at him and partly because of how he looked back at her and mostly because I just could feel how in love they were.”

They were both silent a moment and then Elena gently squeezed his arm.

“I'm glad you found him,” Elena said softly.

Ryo smiled again and looked up at the stars.

“He found me.”

 

Ryo wrapped his arms around Dee and pulled him close, his partner smiling and lightly kissing the back of Ryo's arm. The little guest room they shared had once been Ryo's room, and looked out over a pond filled with moonlight and the reflections of bending trees.

“I think they like you,” Ryo said quietly.

“Yeah,” Dee said and then chuckled. “Your uncle gave me the talk.”

Ryo frowned. “The talk?”

“The `hurt my nephew and I'll break you' talk,” Dee said. “He was very convincing.”

Ryo buried his face against Dee's neck and groaned.

“Please tell me you're kidding.”

“God's honest truth,” Dee said. “I think they really love you.”

Ryo nodded and lightly kissed Dee's skin, a long sigh puffing over his partner before he shifted to throw one leg over Dee.

“You realize that you're part of the family now,” Ryo told him seriously.

“I wasn't before?”

“It's official now,” Ryo said. “They'll expect you to visit.”

“Are you going to come with?”

“I suppose.”

Dee snorted laughter and turned to face Ryo, the moonlight faintly curling around his partner's profile. He lifted one hand and brushed back Ryo's hair, his fingers lingering on the soft smile on his lover's face.

“Regrets?”

“No,” Ryo answered, his smile growing. “I love you Dee Laytner, more than anything.”

“Have I mentioned lately how much I love hearing that?”

“No,” Ryo answered and leaned forward for a slow kiss.

Dee grinned as they pulled apart, a mischevious light shining in his eyes.

“Just how soundproof are these walls?”

“You horndog.”

 

 

Oh my God. That was a fluff fest in the town of Fluffingtonville McFlufferson. It burns us, it burns us! And I can't believe I used the word “horndog.” Ouch.