A/N: Hello again everyone! :D
Before we get into the new chapter, I would like to thank everyone that read last chapter! I would also like to give a huge thank you to winterschild11, Guest, Side1ways, and RainbowDiamonds for reviewing!
I hope you all enjoy!
James isn't sure what the hell Kendall was going on about or why he was so mad, but he decides a half an hour after he stormed out that it doesn't matter. Kendall was clearly going through something and even though it seemed to have a lot to do with James, it also seemed to have nothing to do with James.
This seems like something he should just stay clear of.
Kendall will either be back or he won't; James doesn't have any control over that.
He reminds himself of this fact again when, ten to nine, he still hasn't come back.
"You worried about your drama king?" Dak props his hands on the broom, nodding towards the door.
James rolls his eyes. "No, actually. It doesn't really matter."
"It kind of matters." He disagrees. "You like him."
Heat flares in his gut. "No, I don't."
Dak throws his hands up then dives to catch the broom before it clatters to the floor. "You do, too! I don't know why you're being like this-"
"Like what?" He meant it to come out sharp, as a warning. Instead, it was a question.
Dak quirks an eyebrow. "Employee or friend?"
"Friend." He concedes.
"You're pretending like you don't care about him and you expect us to believe you because you normally don't care." He says.
James furrowed his brow. "I'm not doing that."
"You are, though." Dak shakes his head then sighs. "You're telling me you never felt this way about Kyle? Ever?"
Like usual, guilt replaces whatever he was feeling before as soon as Kyle's name is mentioned. He really, really wanted to care about Kyle.
"That's different."
"What about Jake? Or Luke?" All of his exes that had faced similar fates as Kyle.
James chews on his bottom lip. "This isn't like them. Kendall and I aren't...dating. We're not anything."
Dak snorts. "You're clearly something." He says. "I just don't know exactly what."
James thinks that's probably a common confusion.
"Are you really not going to admit to liking him?"
"It's just not like that." He explains. "I'm not into that. You know that about me."
Dak sighs and goes back to sweeping. While Stephanie starts wiping down the tables, James goes to finish cleaning the kitchen, and together, they all get the place ready for the morning.
Music plays from the stereo behind the counter, Stephanie's choice today, but other than that the team moves in silence. It's effortless and common, the same mundane work they do every day.
James can't stop thinking about Kendall.
Stephanie and Dak invite him to the bar and, as usual, he declines. James reminds them that they should really plan what they're doing for Carlos' birthday and the friends part when the restaurant is ready to close at half past nine.
He's about to lock the door when, through the window, James sees someone walking in the middle of the street.
He cracks the door open just a little bit, narrowing his eyes in the dark to focus on the long-legged person.
With a start, James realizes he recognizes the stumbling guy.
"Kendall?" He calls, slipping out of the door frame and crossing to the edge of the sidewalk.
Kendall's head snaps up. He grins, wide and easily. He throws his arms out and croons James' name.
He's a few feet away, but James thinks he can practically smell the booze off of him from there.
"You're drunk." James says slowly, furrowing his eyebrows. His face erupts in wrinkles as he watches Kendall try to walk towards him, legs crossing and his body swaying from one side to the other.
"No." Kendall says when he reaches him. His arms fly up and wrap around James' shoulders. He's still smiling.
James would be enthralled if he wasn't so concerned.
"What are you doing?" He puts one arm around Kendall's waist by instinct, trying to steady him.
Kendall's head lolls to the side as he considers. "Oh! Yes. I was walking home."
"Home?" James' heart hammers.
"The motel." Kendall corrects himself, but the words seem to get stuck on his tongue. "Going from bar to motel."
"Oh…" James deflates a little. "Well, let me walk you." He says as he turns them towards the diner. "I'll just get my keys."
"No." Kendall tries to shove away from him and James holds harder. "No, no, no."
"Come on, man." James shoves a little and they both get through the door in one piece. The bell goes off as the door slams behind them. "I can't in good conscience let you walk through the streets like this."
"Like what?" Kendall asks. He's no longer clinging to James, but he doesn't look any stronger either; he seems completely trashed.
"Kendall, you're so drunk." James sets him on a stool and then shoots his arm out to catch him when he starts sliding off. "Jeez, why didn't Carlos cut you off?"
"Carlos! The bartender, right?" Kendall nods to himself as if answering his own question. "He did, but he can't cut off other people!"
"You took other people's drinks?"
"No!" Kendall slaps his hand away lightly when he tries to steady him again. "They bought them for me."
"Oh," and James is definitely not feeling anything warm or pleasant in his stomach.
Kendall reaches out and taps his finger against James' throat. "No, no sad. Don't like them."
"Don't care if you do." James mumbles, wishing his stomach would stop flipping.
Kendall sighs, long and heavy. James struggles to keep his expression still.
"I'm going to get you a glass of water." He says. "Stay here."
Clumsily, Kendall salutes. "Aye, aye!"
James laughs, patting Kendall on the shoulder before heading to the kitchen. He fills up a glass as quickly as he can, shaking his head to himself. A few hours ago, he was getting yelled at by his weird, hot friend, and now he's drunk as hell in his restaurant.
Once the glass is full, he contemplates grabbing some sort of food to get into Kendall's stomach to soak up the alcohol. He decides against it for now in case it just makes him sick.
He heads back to where he left Kendall, stopping short when he sees that the restaurant is empty.
"Kendall?" He calls. There's no answer.
James quickly sets the glass down and looks around, going outside and checking across the street to see if he tried to make his way home.
He's halfway to running out and checking every motel in town since he's not sure which one Kendall is staying at when he hears a loud crash coming from upstairs.
Taking two steps at a time, James rushes upstairs. His door is already open and when he gets inside, he sees Kendall sitting cross-legged on the floor, holding the biggest piece of a broken lamp in his hands.
Kendall looks up, expression wrought and grim. "I killed it."
James could laugh. He swallows it and his relief down. He closes the door behind him and goes into his own kitchen, grabbing ibuprofen and a water bottle from the fridge.
He comes back, sitting next to Kendall on the floor, and hands him the water bottle, taking the lamp out of his hands.
He gently puts the broken lamp next to the rest of the pieces and shakes out two ibuprofen tablets, handing them to Kendall. "Swallow these."
Kendall frowns then brightens, wiggling his eyebrows. "There are other things I'd rather be swallowing."
He moves closer to James. James puts a hand on his chest, barely pressing, and Kendall flops back to his side.
"Take the medicine, Kendall." He's trying really, really hard not to laugh.
Kendall dutifully swallows the pills and downs half the water. Then he sets it down and sighs.
"Are you mad at me?"
"What?" James shakes his head. "No. Why?"
"I killed her." He gestures towards the lamp, frowning. "And you don't want to kiss me."
"You're drunk." James says gently as he can. "If you want to kiss me, do it sober."
"I want to kiss you now. I like kissing now."
James feels his blood rushing to his face. "I like kissing you, too. But the last time we saw each other, you were made at me. So drunk kissing until we sort that out."
"I was mean." Kendall throws himself to the ground, stretching across the carpet. His arms raise above his head and he yawns after the stretch. "I was so mean to you."
"It's okay."
"It's not! I overreacted." He struggles around the words, and James has to stop himself from smiling. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been mean to you. You're not using me."
James blinks. "Uh...no, I'm not."
"You care about people and it's none of my business anyway!" Kendall sits up, though it takes him a few tries. "I'm sorry I was mean."
"Dude, it's okay." James hesitates, then crosses the invisible border he created for them, placing his hand on Kendall's shoulder, squeezing gently. "We're friends."
Kendall's eyes widen and he cocks his head, a stray strand of hair falling in his face. "We are?"
James swallows. "Of course we are." He says. "So you can yell at me sometimes and I'll yell at you sometimes, and then we'll figure it out."
Kendall nods, fast. "Yeah. Okay."
He yawns again.
James wants to know more, but figures that it's not a good time. "Listen, you can stay here if you want. Just to sleep." He adds when Kendall starts to grin wolfishly.
It falls to a pout immediately. James chuckles.
"Come on." He pushes himself up and holds a hand out to Kendall. Kendall takes it with both of his hands and James pulls him up. Kendall goes to the couch and throws himself onto it face down.
James goes to the closet and grabs a blanket. When he comes back to the living room, Kendall's snoring loudly. James shakes his head and drapes the blanket over his friend, retrieving the half empty water bottle and putting it on the coffee table.
Without thinking, he brushes a few stray strands of hair away from Kendall's face. When he realizes what he's doing, he pulls his hand away hard like it burned him.
"Night." He says to the unconscious body.
Kendall snores back at him.
James locks the diner's door, sweeps up the broken glass and sets a timer on his coffee pot, dresses in his pajamas, and brushes his teeth. He lies in bed and tries hard, very hard, not to think about the man lying just a few feet away in the other room.
He's thought it before and he's sure he'll think it again, but once more, James finds himself circling around one, lone thought: he's so, so screwed.
XxX
The next morning comes quickly. James feels content, a happy sleepiness heavy inside his body. Especially considering how long it took James to actually fall asleep.
He smells the coffee from the kitchen, wafting in through his cracked bedroom door.
He stretches, rolling over. He freezes when his body presses against something hard.
James slowly cracks open one eye and then the other.
There, just a few inches away from his face, lies Kendall.
Kendall's mouth is parted, his breathing coming out in short, whining huffs.
He doesn't remember Kendall coming to his room to his room or climbing into his bed. A quick glance down reassures James that they're both still dressed and therefore didn't do anything too bad, which is good.
As carefully as he can, James untangles himself from Kendall's legs and the blankets, crawling out of bed.
He slips out of his bedroom. The blanket he'd left for Kendall is tangled into a ball on the floor, but at least the water bottle seems empty. Hopefully the bit of water will keep Kendall's hangover from being too bad.
He wonders when Kendall came to his room, why he did that, and if that was the reason he feels so rested. He'd shared beds with partners before-not that he was Kendall were partners, of course, but still-but usually, he just ended up annoyed having to share his space like that.
He didn't mind it was much with Kendall, even when it happened without his knowledge. He thinks he would quite like falling asleep with Kendall as much as he liked waking up to him.
James quickly pushes that thought from his head and goes to the kitchen.
He pours himself a generous cup of coffee, adding a bit of sugar and cream, and drinks the whole thing hot and fast. He pours himself a second cup and leaves it to cool while he starts breakfast.
Pancakes, he decides, will be good for Kendall's stomach. He'll use his mom's recipe, of course, the one with a splash of vanilla and just a teensy bit of brandy. They're his favorite and he thinks that Kendall will like them, with his sweet tooth.
Well, James doesn't know that Kendall has a sweet tooth. It's just a hunch, since the guy is a baker, but he's pretty confident about it.
James thinks that his reaction to the pancakes will prove the hypothesis.
He finishes the batter quickly, used to making them. He worked hard when he was a kid to learn this recipe in particular, because making breakfast for his mom was an absolute must-do on any sort of holiday.
He finishes his coffee and pours the rest of the pot into his mug. He restarts a pot in case Kendall likes coffee in the morning. He doesn't know that either.
Since Kendall is still asleep and the pancake batter is chilling, James pulls out a bag of potatoes. He carefully sneaks down to the restaurants kitchen and grabs an onion and green pepper, carrying his own contraband back upstairs as quietly as he can. He chops them and throws them in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil and spices. Then he starts on the pancakes.
The coffee pot has just gurgled to a stop when he hears the unmistakable sound of his bedroom door creaking open.
His muscles stiffen immediately, but James focuses hard on not reacting. He finishes the pancakes and pulls out the hash browns from the oven, testing one of the potatoes. He tosses it in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully with his mouth slightly open to alleviate the heat.
"What smells amazing and why am I dying?"
James turns around just in time to see Kendall heave himself on the doorframe, hands clenched around the molding to hold himself up.
He looks terrible. James grabs a mug and starts pouring coffee. "I made breakfast. Sit down."
Kendall complies easily, sliding into one of James' kitchen chairs.
"When did I get here?" Kendall accepts the coffee and starts drinking immediately. James turns and grabs plates and forks from the cabinets, setting them on the table.
"You showed up after close last night." James reaches into the fridge and grabs syrup and butter, setting them in the middle of the table.
"Did we get fucking plastered?" Kendall lets his head fall into his hands, wincing. "God, too loud."
James fills both their coffee cups and then starts dishing food onto the plates. "You did, but that was before you showed up. Here."
Kendall takes the plate from James. "Thanks." He mutters. "So we just…" He gestures between them with one hand, using the other to grab a fork.
James shakes his head and sits in his own chair. "No." He says quickly. "I just put you to bed on the couch."
Kendall raises an eyebrow. "I woke up in your room."
James shrugs and takes a bit of the pancakes. "Not my fault. I woke up to that as a surprise."
Kendall looks down at his plate, frowning. He opens his mouth as if to say something, but seems to change his mind, taking a bite of his pancakes.
He chews it and then lets out a low groan. "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, this is good."
James tries very hard not to preen. "Thanks."
Kendall hums a you're welcome from around another mouthful. He eats quickly and doesn't even bother with the syrup or butter, just eating the pancakes plain. When he finishes, he moves on to the potatoes.
James can't help but watch him. He eats his own food slowly, focused mostly on the way that Kendall looks when he eats his food.
"Stop staring at me." Kendall mutters, shoving the last of his potatoes in his mouth.
James laughs. "Sorry."
"Are not." Kendall looks up, smiling a little, before wiping it off his face and leaning back. "God, my head."
"Yeah." James nods, shrugging. "You were really drunk."
Kendall winces. "Was I an ass?"
James jokingly contemplates before shaking his head. "No, you were very nice."
Kendall rolls his eyes. "Sure."
James considers it for only half a second before asking. "Yesterday when you...when you were in the restaurant and upset-"
Kendall holds up a hand. "Can we not?"
James wants to say no, we can't not. He knew better than to push when Kendall was drunk and he meant it when he said it was okay because they were friends. He isn't upset with Kendall. But he doesn't get it. And he doesn't want to upset him that badly again.
But Kendall's looking at him, just shy of pleadingly, and James doesn't have it in him to push.
"Okay." He concedes. "But if it happens again, you have to explain."
"Deal." Kendall agrees quickly.
James finishes his breakfast. It's quiet and they're both pretending like they're not just looking at each other, but Kendall has bedhead and his shirt is all wrinkled and James likes him in his apartment. In this part of his life. It...works.
He stands up to grab the dishes when Kendall breaks the silence.
"Thanks." Kendall says, holding his coffee cup up to his mouth. "For letting me stay here. And, like, breakfast."
James smiles. He hopes it comes off as polite instead of fond. "It's nothing."
"It's not." Kendall stands up and grabs the syrup and the butter. "Breakfast is the the most important meal of the day."
He puts the syrup and butter away and James does the dishes.
And if they kiss softly without thinking about it when James walks him downstairs, needing to open the restaurant, then they'll just blame it on the niceness of the early morning.
And if James spends the rest of the day with his heart beating just in time and his smile effortlessly present, well, that probably doesn't have anything to do with Kendall anyway.
He keeps telling himself that and he thinks, maybe, if he says it enough, he'll believe it.
Done! So, it seems that Kames have reconciled. Well, kind of... :P
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the chapter, as well as if you happened to have a favorite part/moment!
Again, I hope you all enjoyed! I'm not quite sure when the next chapter will be up, but it will definitely be up by this weekend!
Until then!
-Epically Obsessed
