Title: Moving In
Author: Aeon Cole
Rating: G
Fandom: CSI Miami
Genre: Slash (implied)
Disclaimer: Jeff Beckman, Anthony Tornello, and Skylar Forsythe are mine. The rest are not.
Summary: The boys move in to their new house. Fluff and fun.
Author's Note: First story in the Friends and Family Series. Picks up where the First Year Series leaves off, post Triquetra.
888
Horatio dropped the box he was carrying on the floor. "That's the last one," he called over to Tim, who was busy in the kitchen. He did not receive an answer so he walked over to the kitchen and smiled at what he saw. Tim was busy putting things away and organizing his domain, oblivious to everything else. He had been determined to be able to cook his first meal in his new kitchen tonight. And at the rate he was going he probably would be able to do just that. Horatio decided to leave him be for the moment and went back out into the living room to consider his next move.
The new house was much bigger than the condo and even bigger than his old house. He had been able to get all of his furniture out of storage and fit it into the new place with room to spare. He looked to his left and eyed his old, leather recliner that he hadn't seen in almost a year. Tim's condo had been too small to fit any of his furniture, so it had all ended up in storage last year when he'd move in.
He was exhausted from carrying boxes all morning and decided to rest for a bit before beginning to unpack. He sat down in the recliner, put his feet up and was asleep in no time. A half hour later, Tim walked into the living room and saw Horatio sound asleep in the chair. He chuckled at his sleeping partner, but decided not to wake him. He quietly began going through some of the boxes, unpacking some things and setting others aside when the doorbell rang.
He glanced over at Horatio, who remained sound asleep, then made his way to the front door through a sea of boxes. He opened the door and greeted Jeff and Skylar, now his neighbors, with a smile.
"You know," Jeff said as he entered the foyer, "we haven't lived so close together since high school." They had bought a house in Coral Gables only two blocks from the boys.
Sky walked into the main part of the house and whistled. "Nice place," he exclaimed.
The house was a two-story with high vaulted ceilings in the living room and dining room areas. There was a large kitchen with all new appliances, a center island, and a breakfast bar. Toward the back of the first floor there were two bedrooms along with a full bathroom that they planned to turn into the guest area. To one side of the front entrance was a staircase leading to the second floor where the master suite was located. There was also another smaller bedroom that they planned to turn into a study.
The house had been a real find. Tim had seen the for sale sign as he and Eric had been driving to a crime scene. He'd made Eric stop on their way back to the lab so he could copy down the realtor's phone number.
"Come on," Tim said. "I'll give you the grand tour. Then you can start helping me unpack some of this stuff."
"Where's Horatio?" Sky asked.
Tim lead them to their first stop on the tour, the living room, where Sky got an answer to his question. "He passed out about an hour ago," Tim said quietly. "We've been up since four."
He lead them around the house. Most of their furniture had been delivered a couple of days ago. They had only kept what was absolutely necessary at the condo until this morning. They ended the tour out on the back deck. Jeff hopped off and wandered out into the yard.
He ended up standing between two trees. "Hey, Tim," he called. "You still got that old hammock?"
Tim reached down to a corner of the deck and picked something up. He walked out into the yard and said, "Way ahead of you."
He and Jeff strung the hammock between the two trees and Jeff hopped onto it. "Nice," he said.
"Yeah," Tim replied. "I think Horatio will like it too. Brings back memories, doesn't it," he said with a smirk and promptly flipped Jeff out of the hammock and hopped in himself.
"Hey, no fair," Jeff protested as he landed on the grass with a thud.
Skylar sat back in one of the deck chairs and watched the two old friends wrestle for control of the hammock. The glass door behind him slid open and Horatio stepped out. He looked out into the yard and shook his head. Sky looked back at him.
"They're putting on quite a show. We should probably stop them before someone gets hurt," he said.
Horatio put his fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly, getting their attention. "If you kids don't stop, I'll have to take that away," he admonished jokingly.
The two men were laughing uncontrollably. Jeff flipped the hammock sending Tim to the ground then he tried to take off running but Tim grabbed his leg causing him to fall forward. Horatio stood on the deck with his hands on his hips, shaking his head.
He looked down at Skylar who said, "It's best to simply wait thing out when they get like this."
Horatio chuckled and sat down next to him to wait out the storm. "So you've seen them like this before?" he asked.
Sky nodded. "Not since David, though. I haven't seen Tim this happy in years."
Horatio looked out into the yard and realized that he hadn't really seen his lover this happy before either. He had definitely become more playful over the past few months. He smiled more, laughed more. It suddenly dawned on Horatio that the sullen, cynical Tim Speedle that he'd become used to over the past four years was just what Tim had turned into after David died. He smiled as he realized he was finally beginning to see the real Tim returning and he also realized he probably had his hands full.
Out in the yard, Tim stood up and held a hand out to Jeff. He helped his friend up and they headed back toward their companions. As they reached the deck, Jeff said, still a little breathless, "I think we're getting to old for this." He moved Sky's feet to the side and sat down at the end of the deck chair.
Tim chuckled and bent down to give Horatio a kiss. "You have a good nap?" he asked.
"Yeah. Thanks for letting me sleep." He held out his arms and Tim took a seat in his lap. "So, how long have we had a hammock?"
"I had it stored away. I found it while we were packing up the condo." He looked over at Jeff and said, "It's a relic from our childhood."
"Yeah," Jeff said. "Until your mother took it away."
Horatio looked at Tim. "Okay, that just begs me to ask. Why did your mother take the hammock away?"
Tim smirked and looked over at Jeff. Jeff said, "Well, when we were kids, we had this game. Tim's father hung the hammock in their backyard between an old oak tree and the stockade fence that surrounded the yard. The tree had some low branches that made it easy to climb."
Horatio shook his head. "Oh, don't tell me…"
Jeff continued, "Yep. We made a game out of jumping off the branches and landing in the hammock. In fact, if you hit it just right, you could get the hammock to spin around a couple of times." He paused for a moment, reflecting. "We were lucky we didn't break our necks," he said with a chuckle.
"Speak for yourself," Tim muttered. Horatio raised an eyebrow and Tim continued the story. "We were eleven. We'd been playing that game for a couple of years without incident. It was fun but we'd become complacent. I climbed up a couple of branches to take my turn but I didn't hit it right."
Jeff picked up the narration. "He hit the hammock off center and landed on the ground. He hit his head and knocked himself out and broke his arm. Man, was your mother furious."
Tim chuckled. "Yeah. And ticking off my mother was never a good idea. I spent two days in the hospital, ten weeks in a cast, and the rest of the summer grounded," he said. "She took the hammock down and stored it away in the basement."
They heard someone call from the front of the house and Tim yelled, "Backyard."
Tony came around the side of the house, took one look at Jeff and Tim and said, "Don't tell me they got into another wrestling match?" All four men nodded. Tony rolled his eyes and said, "I'm married to a big kid." Horatio laughed. "Don't laugh, you are too," he added. This sent Skylar into a fit of laughter.
Tony shook his head and held a hand out to Jeff. "Come on. We have to open the club in a couple of hours." He pulled Jeff to his feet and looked down at Sky. "You coming?" he asked.
"I'll catch up with you later," Sky answered.
The other two men said their goodbyes and left. Tim looked over at Sky and asked, "So, have you told them yet?"
"Yeah," he answered. "It's time for me to do this. They understand. Besides, it's not like I'm gonna be that far away."
Tim nodded and hopped off of Horatio's lap. "Come on, I'll get you the keys." As he headed into the house he asked, "Is the rent we talked about okay for you?"
Sky said, "Yep," and Tim handed the keys to his condo over to him. Sky smiled and gave Tim a hug. "Thanks again, Tim."
Tim smiled back at him and said, "Take good care of it. Keep the wild parties to a minimum."
Sky chuckled. "I better get going. I'm tending bar tonight," he said. He waived goodbye to Horatio and headed home.
Tim closed the door and turned to face Horatio. "He's really come a long way in the last few years," he said.
Horatio walked over and wrapped his arms around Tim. "He's not the only one," he said as he placed a soft kiss on Tim's lips. He pulled back and looked his lover in the eye. "Now, come on. We have a ton of boxes to unpack."
Fin