If it wasn't for the bright pink streaks in the small blonde woman's hair catching his eye, Tyler never would have noticed her coming into the shop, and if he hadn't noticed her coming in, he he would never have seen her hand over the handwritten flyer to his boss when she was ordering her coffee and he certainly wouldn't have been curious enough to wander over to the noticeboard on the far side of the pastry cabinet once Dean had pinned it up.
Setting his tray down on the table he was ostensibly cleaning, he tucked an errant strand of hair behind his ear and leaned in for a closer look at the magic words...APARTMENT FOR RENT.
He quickly skimmed over the first few lines of the ad. The place was only a few streets away from work, rent was reasonable and best of all it was available immediately. It could not have suited him better if it had been designed just for him. The lease on Tyler's grotty little studio was about to expire and his landlord had already served notice that he would not be renewing as he was selling the entire building to a developer.
He'd been searching during all his free time between work and college for somewhere closer to the centre of things, but no matter how early he got up or how quickly he called after picking up the paper, someone always beat him to it. Punk and Dean had offered him their couch for a couple of weeks if he got stuck, but he really didn't want to have to take advantage of their generosity.
This could be his lucky shot.
He reached forward to pull the notice from the board and give himself a bit of a fighting chance of winning the apartment.
So caught up was he in the thought that his housing problems might be solved that he didn't even register the other person standing looking at the board, clearly thinking along the same lines, until their hands collided.
At the bump, they both turned to face each other.
"Oh...hi."
"Ah...you looking too?"
The man asking the question wasn't a stranger, not exactly. Xavier was a student like himself, and worked part time at the local comic book store.
While Tyler wouldn't exactly call him a friend, he was a fairly regular customer and they had exchanged the odd word or two in conversation from time to time when Xavier had called in for lunch, or set up camp at one of the tables with his laptop and books for an evening.
"I need that place. My lease is up next week and if I don't find anywhere soon I'm going to end up crashing on my boss's couch...my very loved up boss's couch."
"I know that pain...it's why I'm here after a hard day at work instead of chilling out in front of the tv with a beer and my video games."
"Sexiled?"
Xavier nodded sadly.
"Sexiled. My buddy who's letting me crash on his couch has his girlfriend over and for such a tiny lady she is loud. LOUD."
The shorter man sighed, then nodded towards the board.
"Look...you're in a bit of a situation and I'm in a bit of a situation...why don't we see if we can help each other out? It says it's a two bed and we probably know each other better than if we'd answered an ad for roommate on Craigslist…"
Tyler looked at him for a moment and considered his admittedly limited options. Xavier made a fair point. They weren't total strangers, plus the already reasonable rent would be even more manageable split two ways.
"Ok. I'm finished my shift in a hour…"
The blond tugged the notice from the board and folded it before tucking it in his apron pocket.
"...can you hang about until then so we can talk?"
"Dude, I'm going nowhere until I get word that April has left the building."
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Tyler's shift had finished a little over two hours ago and the two young men were still chatting, getting to know each other before they made a final decision about the apartment.
"So...what do you think?"
Tyler took a sip from his coffee, giving himself a moment before answering Xavier.
"Fuck it...let's do it. Here...do you want to call and see if it's still available?"
He passed the still folded paper across the table to the other man, his face falling as he opened it.
"Aw shit."
"What? Aw shit what?"
"Small print dude. Professional couples only."
"What? Let me see?"
Xavier passed the flyer back to Tyler and pointed to the wording of doom at the bottom of the page.
"Looks like I'll be sofa surfing with my boss after all then."
Xavier slammed his hand off the table, surprising Tyler enough to make him jump.
"NO! I am not giving up that easily!"
He leaned forward, a conspiratorial look on his face.
"I have an idea. Hear me out before you say anything, ok?"
"Ok."
"So, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that you're not exactly one hundred percent straight, right?"
Tyler nodded, but said nothing allowing Xavier to continue.
"Me either...and I'm guessing that if the landlord of this apartment is advertising on the notice board of a coffee shop with a rainbow flag hanging up over the door and the most well known queer rights activist on this side of the country as seat filler in residence, that their definition of couple is a little wider than John and Jane Smith…"
"Errrr...Xavier…"
"Look, I'm not saying we have to be a couple...we just have to look like one...we can do this. That apartment is OURS!"
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They were indeed a convincing couple.
The landlord had offered them the apartment straight away after he, it transpired the blonde woman was in fact another tenant in the building with her husband and had been doing him a favour, showed them round.
With a little help from their friends, and a special delivery of coffee and soup courtesy of Punk, they managed to get all their belongings moved in and piled up around the apartment a few days later after work.
The last of the help gone, Tyler flung himself down on one end of the sofa next to his new roommate.
"Ugh. so many boxes to unpack."
"Let's worry about it tomorrow. E left us a six pack and I can see the bottle opener from here. Why don't you order us a pizza while I set up the games."
"In a minute...I don't want to move just yet."
Xavier headed off towards his bedroom in search of his consoles, chuckling as he went.
A polite knock sounded at the door. Assuming it was one of their friends calling back for something they had forgotten, Tyler jumped up and crossed the room to answer it.
He was not expecting the sight that greeted him on the other side.
The landlord.
Brandishing a bottle of sparkling wine.
And just behind him, the blonde woman with the pink streaks and a fair haired man he had yet to encounter.
He stood back as the small party entered the apartment, all smiles as they passed him.
"Good evening, neighbour. We just wanted to stop by and welcome you and your young man to the building."
"Eh...thanks…Mr..."
"Call me William, dear boy...we don't stand on ceremony here."
"Did you say neighbour?"
"I certainly did...I'm on the top floor. The penthouse, some might say and Nattie and TJ here are below you."
At the mention of her name, the woman stepped forward and handed Tyler the covered dish he hadn't realised she'd been carrying.
"Hope you like cherry pie. Moving can be so tiring, we thought you two might enjoy a little treat."
William looked around the living room.
"Where is your young man?"
"Oh he's in hi..the bedroom, looking for his video game stuff."
He rolled his eyes in what he hoped was an affectionately longsuffering manner.
"Xavi..honey! We have company!"
Hoping Xavier picked up on the petname as the cue it was meant to be, Tyler moved to the kitchenette to set down the pie and take a deep breath. He liked this place, he didn't want to have to leave it before he had even finished unpacking.
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Tyler needn't have worried. Xavier had played the part of devoted boyfriend perfectly that first night. He didn't let the story slip at all, not even when the wine and beer had all been drank and a slightly tipsy William had shepherded Nattie and TJ out of the apartment so that 'the two lovebirds can christen their new home properly'.
They kept up the charade the following morning when running into Nattie leaving her apartment as they were heading to the store for milk and to get their bearings in the neighbourhood meant a sudden attack of handholding as she escorted them all the way there.
Pretences were maintained the following week when William invited them both up to his apartment for dinner and to make sure they were settling in ok.
As far as the other inhabitants of their building were concerned, then, and all the other times they had any sort of interaction, Xavier was utterly head over heels with his Ty baby. His light touches as if merely reassuring himself that the other man was still there, the soft smiles he threw Tyler's way when he thought no one was looking, though of course he totally knew they were, that was the point, all helped to paint a very convincing picture.
Too convincing perhaps.
Tyler enjoyed his friendship with Xavier immensely. Having someone to talk to after a long day at work or at his studies was a joy. He loved having someone to bounce ideas off, having someone to share the movies, books, music he enjoyed and to share with him the the things they enjoyed too. He loved that when he was caught up with his studies, Xavier would make sure he had his headphones on, so the noise of his gaming wouldn't be a disruption and that he'd force Tyler to stop and take regular breaks.
After living on his own for a few years, company was nice. Xavier being that company was nicer still.
The nights when they put their game faces on and played the perfect couple role soon became a sweet torture for Tyler, nights he ended in bed alone, imagining that it was Xavier's hands on him, not his own, that the chaste kisses he received for the benefit of the audience were full of passion and for only for him, that instead of lying in separate beds that he was lying in Xavier's arms, tucked against his broad chest.
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"Keep moving sister...he's spoken for."
An arm slipped around Tyler's waist as Xavier glared at the woman attempting to hit on him until she made her way further along the bar. He pressed a kiss to Tyler's cheek, whispering a quick apology in his ear.
"Sorry Ty, Nattie looked over and saw that her looking like she wanted to eat you alive...I had no choice…"
Tyler smiled and bumped his hip against the other man's.
"It's ok, I get it...she wasn't going to get anywhere anyway, botoxed blondes aren't my type, I like my girls the same way I like my boys, smiling and dark. Now help me carry the drinks...honey."
"Yes dear."
On their return to the table, Tyler couldn't help but notice that Xavier was sitting a little closer than he normally did, that his faux besotted gaze lingered a little longer than usual.
It was William's birthday and they'd been invited out for drinks along with Nattie and TJ and a few of the older man's other friends. This was their third bar of the night and the conversation and booze were both flowing freely.
Eventually, the party began to break up, the older members of their little company declaring that three bars was their limit and that beds were calling. Nattie and TJ decided to call it a night too, taking William with them to ensure he got home in one piece.
Since neither of them had to work the next day, and the night was still young, Tyler and Xavier decided to stay on for a while longer.
Though their audience had now left, they still sat pressed close together, Xavier's arm draped across Tyler's shoulders, Tyler's hand resting on Xavier's knee. They stayed that way, watching the crowd in the bar, barely even exchanging a word.
Tyler revelled in the intimacy, fake as it was, even though he knew he would be facing a sleepless night, hopelessly pining over his friend and roommate.
"Shots! We need shots!"
Extricating himself from Xavier's embrace, Tyler sprang to his feet and made a beeline for the bar.
As he waited to catch the bartender's attention, he became aware of a presence looming in front of him and a hand stroking his arm with a touch that was not Xavier's, a touch that was wrong.
"Pretty thing aren't you...are you free tonight or is it gonna cost me?"
"Hey there pal...watch your mouth!"
Tyler felt a familiar warm hand land on the small of his back as Xavier appeared at his side once more.
"I'd rather watch pretty boy here's mouth...around my cock…"
Xavier stepped forward, placing himself between Tyler and his would be beau.
"Buddy. Get your creepy old ass the fuck away from my man."
He stood firm, not budging until the creep left.
"I could have dealt with him myself Xavi, but thanks."
"I know, but I didn't appreciate his tone. No one disrespects my boyfriend like that...calling you a hustler...what a dick…"
"Back up there a second...what did you just call me?"
"A hustler? No way! I said he implied you were a hus…"
"No. Not that...before that...you called me your boyfriend...you know everyone else has gone home don't you? You don't have to call me that anymore."
Xavier turned to face him fully, reaching out and taking hold of Tyler's hands in his own. He smiled shyly and looked him directly in the eye, the intensity of his gaze making Tyler feel as though his heart was about to beat right out of his chest.
"I know I don't have to Ty..."
He leaned in, capturing Tyler's lips in a brief, sweet kiss.
"...I don't have to...but I want to."
Shamelessly influenced by late 90s/ early 00s British cult comedy Spaced.