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[sup][@metanoia][@LovelyComplex][@Aces Away][/sup]
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[color=eee2d2][indent][indent]Rye looked at the pot in front of him on the stove, already half filled with ingredients and steaming. He should have had the thought that just crossed his mind about an hour ago when he started the process of making the soup, but he had been preoccupied with seeing his family again and spending time in their presence. It was getting pretty late, and Rye swayed back and forth to the music playing from the kitchen speaker as he tried to figure out what to do, but one hand was in the middle of pulling chicken from the bone and his other was soon to join it.

He absolutely hated phone calls. He knew it was a necessary part of life but reading text was just so much easier. His comprehension over a phone call was shit and he always had to ask people to repeat themselves. But alas, his hands were going to be busy and he [i]needed[/i] to ask Danny this question before he proceeded. 

He used his free hand to scroll through his phone and pick Danny’s contact, tapping the call option. He continued humming to the music as he waited for Danny to pick up but frowned when the call was answered, Danny's heavy breathing on the other side. [color=28e0af][i]Huh.[/i][/color]

[color=28e0af]“Yo, everything ok there bro? You're sounding like an asthmatic.”[/color]

More often than not Rye called when it was something important so the likelihood of Danny not picking up was unlikely because he knew how his best friend got with his anxiety. He was planning on calling him when he got back home but he didn’t expect things to get so heated. After kissing Marco’s neck and the back of his head, running his right hand through his lover’s hair, Danny listened to his phone go off. Subconsciously, the Italian boy reached for the phone and answered it, making sure to slip his right hand in front of Marco’s mouth, [color=005d9e]“Just… in bed, man. Just… sweating. I’m okay.”[/color] 

The curly haired man tried not to pout, knowing it would do no good with the video option turned off. Danny was a horrible liar. The way he spoke changed, the way he texted changed, the way he moved changed if you were actually looking at him. Danny was telling the truth right now, but he was keeping enough unsaid that his voice had dropped into liar territory.

[color=28e0af]"Just…sweating,"[/color] he repeated slowly, crinkling his nose. [color=28e0af]"My man, you sweat like daily on your runs. You have headlocked me into your sweaty armpit before,"[/color] he continued his task while trying not to think about how weird this behavior was for Danny, dropping the chicken pieces into the pot before going back to repeat the task once more. But, this was his best friend. Whatever Danny's reason, Rye would fall back and give the other man the benefit of the doubt. [color=28e0af]"Tell the truth, you're all gross and pale from being sick and you're embarrassed to show your face, even to lil' ol' me. I get it, I've seen you without your beauty sleep before and frankly it gave me nightmares. So I guess you're really protecting both of us here, you're always so thoughtful,"[/color] he rambled, hands keeping busy with the soup as words fell from his lips at a rapid pace. [color=28e0af]"Anyways, I realized I didn't know how many of you guys were sick and I'm making soup, I'm using the twelve quart pot but I can bump it up to the twenty quart if needed. I should've asked before I started but you know me. At least I always get extra ingredients too."[/color]

There was a light chuckle on the end, not coming from Danny, causing the Italian boy to pull away from his phone and hush something (someone). Going back to the phone, hoping Rye’s hearing disability would be in his favor, Danny gave a fake cough and breathed, [color=005d9e]“Just me, right now.”[/color] Yes, Danny was lying and part of him knew Rye was aware but telling his best friend at this moment that his family was falling apart and he went to give closure to his ex, which led to him being on top of him now was a handful to say. At the time he said he couldn’t pick Rye up, he had just left the house with Natalia and was heading over to the Castillo-Brady house. [color=005d9e]“I will eat all the soup though.”[/color] Danny reassured, his breathing was no longer heavy, which meant he was slowing down to focus on Rye.

Rye's stirring slowed down after the muffled noise that came before Danny's response, the suspicions he'd been trying to push away all but confirmed. He had no idea who Danny was with, but he was definitely not sweating because he was sick. Shaking his head, Rye covered the pot as if cutting off his own bubbling thoughts. 

[color=28e0af]"Okay, I'll hold you to that. I'm coming over tomorrow morning bright and early. We can chat, catch up on everything I missed, I can kick your ass in a game of Mario Kart,"[/color] Rye took in a breath before continuing, [color=28e0af]"and of course you can tell me about this little friend of yours."[/color] Because he couldn't, he couldn't let Danny off entirely scott free, not without a little barb to remind the other man that he [i]isn't stupid[/i] and that he is only letting the incident slide in the present moment. [color=28e0af]"'Til then, get some rest. Good night. And goodnight to you're mysterious friend too."[/color]

The other side was silent. It was clear that Rye had stunned his best friend. Stuttering, Danny eventually spoke, [color=005d9e]“Y-yeah, okay.. See you t-then.”[/color] And then the line went dead. [/indent][/indent]
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[indent][indent]The following morning, Sunday morning, Danny feigned sickness so he could skip out of Sunday mass. His family didn’t care either way since each of them were heated/upset for obvious reasons. Plus, they all went to Italian mass for the babies’ baptism yesterday. He did his weekend duty. First, he visited his mother, Danny came out distraught but brought his head back in the game. Rye was coming over! While Marco was in his bedroom setting up Mario Kart because that was of the things Rye demanded, Danny was downstairs preparing a charcuterie board. He was no chef but he could at least cut fruit, meat, cheese, as well as place nuts, chocolate, crackers, and dips on a board. Nina taught him how to make it look aesthetically pleasing and absolutely to die for. 

After the phone call, Danny panicked. He dragged Marco out of the house and they went grocery shopping at Walmart, since that was still open late at night. He needed to give Rye the proper welcome back party for three. On top of snack foods, he decorated his bedroom with lavender, pink, and white streamers, lavender, silver, and gold balloons, and a glittery gold sign that said ‘welcome home’. The [url=https://aclassictwist.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/white-chocolate-rose-cake-3-480x480.jpg]marble cake[/url] might’ve been overkill but he got cake too. 

As swift as a cheetah, he rushed upstairs to put the charcuterie board on the small fold up table (with a lavender table cloth on it, of course) he placed by his window. He even went out of his way to adjust his whole room so there was more floor space. Danny’s bedroom was a combination of a sports maniac (focused on basketball mostly), a Jordans fanatic, with a burst of geekdom, which happened around junior year. Marco basically opened the gates for Danilo to get into Marvel and funko pops.Hearing the doorbell, Danny pulled Marco up from setting Mario Kart, pulling him in a deep kiss before rushing downstairs. In front of the entrance, straightening his posture, inhaling in, and then out, he opened the door. With a wide, childish grin, he greeted his best friend, [color=005d9e]“RYE! Hey, man!!!”[/color] 

Rye grinned at Danny, forearms supporting a large Tupperware container with enough soup for several servings. His earbuds were hung around his neck and there was a fast paced funk beat pouring from them now that they were out of his ears.

[color=28e0af]"Danny! I missed you so much dude, there was no one to tell me random sports facts that I'll never remember or remind me to take a breath during my rambling. Savta Miriam is great and all but she doesn't give off jock best friend vibes, y'know?"[/color] Rye greeted as he stumbled through the doorway after his friend, already feeling his shoulders relaxing in his presence.

[color=005d9e]“Yeah, it’s really good to see you. You have no idea how much I missed you.”[/color] It’s true even if Danny bailed on Rye the night prior. [color=005d9e]“Sorry about last night. I’ll explain… but first, let me take the soup from you. I’ll get some bowls ready. You can head upstairs. How’s that sound?”[/color] Without waiting for a response, Danny tugged the tupperware out of Rye’s hands, taking initiative so his dear friend could see the surprise he prepared in his bedroom as soon as possible. The air started smelling like smoke and soon after the oven started going off crazy. Danny came to realize he burnt the goddamn cookies. [color=005d9e]“Yeah, go upstairs. I’ll be there soon!”[/color] 

Rye laughed at Danny's plight as the larger man rushed away to the kitchen, following his orders and heading upstairs to his bedroom with a parting shot of, [color=28e0af]"This is why we can't have nice things, Belmonte!"[/color]

He was shaking his head fondly as he threw the door open, only to catch his breath at the setup in Danny's room. The other man had decked the place out in his favorite color, even going as far as to get a banner and his favorite cake as well, by the looks of it. He had no idea how early the Italian man had to wake up to get this all ready, but he felt a bit of vindictive pleasure at the thought of him scrambling madly to set this up.

[color=28e0af]"Okay, I see you Belmonte, you sentimental, cheesy son of a bitch. You're forgiven."[/color] He said to himself in a tight voice, eyes going a bit misty at his friend's efforts. He let his eyes wander across the rest of the decorations before his eyes landed on Danny's bed. Or rather, the person on Danny's bed.

[color=28e0af]"Oh, uh, hey man! M…Marco. It's, uh, been a long time,"[/color] Rye fumbled, suddenly off balance by the other presence. [color=28e0af]"Did you help with this? It's pretty dope dude."[/color]

When Danny ran off after giving him the best kiss since…the last time he kissed him like that, Marco had taken it upon himself to make sure everything was perfect. Mobility was limited for him and especially since he had been exhausted since last night, he made sure Mario Kart was set up on the Switch, the three controllers set up perfectly in front of the desk the TV rested on. As the upbeat sounds of the title screen played in the background and Marco heard footsteps come towards the room, he moved as fast as a crippled lion, and took a spot on the bed, sitting there as still as he could. When the door swung open with a reasonable amount of force, he smiled as Rye greeted him.

[color=b8860b]“Hola!”[/color] Marco said, flashing his pearly whites at Rye. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen him. It’s definitely been a hot minute. [color=b8860b]“Yeah, I helped with what I could. Danny, he, uh..asked if I could help him with the decorations. Oh and made sure I had Mario Kart all set up.”[/color] Marco gestured to the gaming area as the Mario Kart title screen lingered. [color=b8860b]“How’ve ya been?”[/color]

The fact that Marco was here, that he knew about the Mario Kart comment and was beaming in a way Rye hadn’t seen since highschool, finally clicked in Rye’s brain as he let out a surprised laugh. Looks like whatever happened with Danny last night really was going to be a good story. Marco was one of the last people Rye expected to be in Danny’s bedroom, but he couldn’t say he was exactly stressed over it either. Marco leveled Danny out back in highschool, Rye wasn’t blind to that no matter how much he pretended to be. When your best friend’s whole body language changes as he talks about his other friend and he suddenly starts acting more human than jock stereotype, a guy tends to take notice. But Danny had fears and those were valid no matter how much he had wished to drag his best friend out of the closet, so Rye always acted like he had no idea who Danny would sneak off to see back then. 

It looks like the days of turning a blind eye were about to be over.

[color=28e0af]“So it [i]was[/i] you,”[/color] Rye grinned, a teasing glint in his eye as he moved in a little closer. [color=28e0af]“It was about fucking time I mean holy shit. I’m never gonna stop roasting him. Over two fucking years,”[/color] He shook his head. [color=28e0af]“It’s good to see you around, buddy, you better prepare to get your ass beat in Mario Kart. Who do you main, Yoshi?”[/color]

[color=b8860b]“I’m not sure…”[/color] Marco was making an attempt to deny it, but seeing Rye’s face, hearing what he said, it became obvious to the sometimes oblivious son of a detective that there was no point to try and save face. It was out of the closet. [color=b8860b]“I’m not so sure about that. I’ve put in a lot of hours into it. And aren’t you rusty?”[/color] Marco teased back. Since the weight was off his shoulders, he could actually relax for a change. [color=b8860b]“Also Bowser. He has a castle, my ma’s maiden name means castle. So I rock the King of the Turtles with the castle.”[/color] Something that Rye probably didn’t know (only Danny) was he always went with Bowser because he had a castle and Lanie’s nickname for him was Castle. 

Rye laughed, dropping down beside Marco and giving him his full attention. [color=28e0af]“Believe it or not, in between episodes of Judge Judy my Savta Miriam is a killer Princess Peach mainer. I’m a DK Jr. kind of guy but I’ve been known to dabble with Koopa Troopa. You should always be wary when someone can just switch it up. But I guess if I went Koopa that would technically make you my boss.”[/color]

[color=darkgoldenrod]“Guess I should say bow to the--”[/color]

Entering the room, with a tray holding three bowls of soup and a plate of burnt cookies, Danny’s smile was wide but full of anxiety. He was quick to place the tray on the side table. Once he was done, he made his way beside Marco and pulled him to his side, looking at Rye and then looking at his feet, [color=005d9e]“Gavriel, this is my… boyfriend.”[/color] It was clear Danny struggled saying this, but if he wanted to be the best man he could be for his boyfriend, he had to get used to it. [color=005d9e]“And don’t judge me, but I main Peach.”[/color] 

Rye grinned at Danny and Marco, happy to be there in the moment and to be trusted. [color=28e0af]“Of course he is you fucking dope, and I always knew you and savta got along too well when you talked on the face chats, now I know it’s because you were both Peach stans.”[/color] There was no judgment, nothing but acceptance and warmth in his eyes as he stared at his friend and his boyfriend. [color=28e0af]“Welcome out of the closet bro, how’s the fresh air?”[/color]

[color=005d9e]“Not fresh yet.”[/color] Danny rested his hand on his neck, his nervous tick, before taking a seat and grabbing a controller, [color=005d9e]“This is going to be a long full disclosure, but come on. I’ll kick both of your asses and tell you how my life is.”[/color]

[color=28e0af]“Yeah, you wish. I think you were just planning on poisoning me with those cookies if I didn’t take things well,”[/color] Rye replied, turning to grab a controller himself. [color=28e0af]“Let’s start off on Rainbow Road if you wanna talk so much shit, Belmonte.”[/color]

[color=005d9e]“You’d be surprised,”[/color] Danny chuckled, as he leaned in to kiss Marco on the cheek, [color=005d9e]“I’ve practiced.”[/color] 

[color=28e0af]“Oh, gag me, you two are gonna be all gross and cute.”[/color]

Sarcastically, Danny scoffed, [color=005d9e]“Says you! I’ve seen you go tongue deep in JP. I think it’s my time to show some PDA in front of [i]you[/i].”[/color]

[color=28e0af]“Oh so it’s revenge? Getting petty on me? It’s not a good color on you,”[/color] Rye goaded as the countdown began on the screen. [color=28e0af]“You should have been taking notes all those times, because the things that JP can do with his tongue I mean-”[/color]

[color=005d9e]“Has he gagged you yet? You know, since you said ‘gag me’.”[/color] Danny clapped back. 

[color=28e0af]“Oh yeah, things that man can do with rope is just amazing, I’m sure he’d be willing to give you some pointers.”[/color] Rye shot back with a wink, almost missing the que to take off. He concentrated on the game for a quick moment before returning to their banter. [color=28e0af]“If you have any questions make sure to come to us, it’s important to practice proper bdsm etiquette. For instance, you two should pick a safe word.”[/color]

Marco felt extremely out of place and was feeling borderline uncomfortable. He never saw this side of Danny before and surely didn’t know Rye well enough to know if this was normal behavior or not. [color=b8860b]“Uh…Danny is actually very…mindful. We..uh..haven’t needed a safe word..”[/color] Heat rushed all around his body and centered to his face as he felt his cheeks get hot.

[color=28e0af]“Oh shit, dude,”[/color] Rye laughed, double taking at Marco’s flustered look. [color=28e0af]“We’re totally joking around, yanking each other’s chains, don’t stress!”[/color] 

Danny gave his best friend a quick glare that read ‘too fast', earning an apologetic quirk of the lips from the energetic man, and immediately afterwards brought his attention to Marco, [color=005d9e]“Sorry, Puppy. We’ll chill.”[/color] Bringing his gaze back to the screen, he went on racing with Princess Peach. He needed to focus if he was going to beat these two, [color=005d9e]“Anyways, long story short Rye, Charlie Decker’s diary is getting sent out to everybody in town, that’s kind of what brought me and Marco back together. My family is fucked. Vivia is sleeping with Reyrey. Tiff slept with Father Joe. Cat is drowning her issues with alcohol. Mom’s dying with cancer and that’s causing all my family to go crazy. But on the brightside! This has brought me and Natalia back together, sorta? And also I was able to tell Marco I loved him. So not all bad, right?”[/color]

Rye had stayed pretty steady against Danny’s stream of information, but the mention of momma Belmonte dying had his fingers stumbling, the lack of attention sending his Koopa right off the side of the bridge. Silvia was like a third mother to him, and it wasn’t at all easy to hear that her time in this world was far more limited than it had any right to be. As his character was set back down on the track, Rye took some deep breaths and registered the rest of what Danny had told him.

[color=28e0af]“Jesus, I leave town for one minute and shit starts falling apart at the seams,”[/color] He joked weakly, hitting Peach with a green shell and tearing into second place behind Bowser. [color=28e0af]“I’m glad you and Natalia are getting closer, I know she never liked me but I always hoped you guys would talk things through. And of course finally getting your head out of your ass with Marco is definitely a bonus.”[/color] He winked at said man just as he bumped into his cart on screen. [color=28e0af]“I finally have someone to actually compete with, for one.”[/color]

As Marco maintained first place (though Rye was hot on his ass, especially with him bumping the back of his cart), he glanced over at Rye for a quick second, once again getting flushed when he winked. [color=b8860b]“Says the guy currently in second place.”[/color] There was always a part of Marco that regretted maining Bowser because he wasn’t the fastest, but he was a battering ram. [color=b8860b]“Now if only you’d stop trying to fuck the poor king’s ass.”[/color] Uh oh, Mac Attack was coming out, which meant bad news for Rye.

[color=005d9e]“Yeah, only I can do that.”[/color] Danny muttered, as he was in last place. See the thing he learned about this game, it wasn’t about keeping first place. He would know. Danny tried so hard to be like Mike in high school, trying to stand high on a pedestal, to fly so he could touch the net. This feeling where he didn’t care if he won or lost, simply enjoying himself, was a feeling he lived for. Better than any game he won in the past. He was in a room with his boyfriend and best friend, finally, as himself. In the court, sure, he was good, but here, he was at his best. As if lady luck was on his side, Danny got a blue shell. Staying quiet, as the two boys he loved bickered with one another, he tossed it and went on overdrive, pushing his competition off until he was right on both of their tails. 

[color=28e0af]“A  proper servant is a man of many talents,”[/color] Rye retorted, sticking his tongue out to concentrate on getting Koopa around Marco only to cry out when both him and the light haired man spun out from the blue shell. [color=28e0af]“You heathen! It’s fucking on now, asshole, just you watch.”[/color]

[color=b8860b]“Noooo! Not the blue shell!”[/color] Marco cried out dramatically. Rainbow Road was a bitch and so was that blue shell. Marco loved it when he used it but hated it when it was used on him. [color=b8860b]“I’m coming for that peach. Boyfriend or not, you’ll understand why he’s called [i]BOW[/i]ser.”[/color] When the King of the Shell-People reappeared on screen, Marco was like a shark out for blood.

Unbeknownst to the boys, the family was returning from church. Most of Danny’s siblings had their own houses (or did things after church) so the only people that returned were his father and little sister. The boys were deep in their race when the door abruptly opened, [color=887b6e]“DANILO BELMONTE WHAT IS GOING--”[/color] Taz had slammed the door open causing the jock to jump up, drop his controller, and stand at ease. 

When the man of the house noticed his son was having a hangout with his friends and noticed Rye back, especially taking note of all the atrocious colored decor, Taz apologized, [color=887b6e]“Oh, sorry. Sorry. Didn’t know my son was having people over.”[/color] Taz had already forgotten of Danny’s white lie of being sick to get out of church. [color=887b6e]“Good to see you two. It’s been awhile! Welcome, welcome.”[/color] The Italian man went from pleasant to stern in a heartbeat, [color=887b6e]“Danny keep it down, your mother is sleeping. We don’t need a repeat of last night, you hear?”[/color]

[color=005d9e]“Yes, father.”[/color]

[color=887b6e]“Make sure you clean this up when they leave. Gavriel, welcome home, say hi to your mothers, and Marco, let us know when your family is hosting the next event.”[/color] And with that, Taz closed the door behind him. All three boys lost the game. Danny fell back on his bed covering his face with his arm from the stress. 
 
[color=28e0af]“Jesus, bit of a close one there. I didn’t even hear the front door,”[/color] Rye puffed out, falling backwards next to Danny. [color=28e0af]“Your dad just  gave me a heart attack and whiplash in less than ten seconds,”[/color] the controller that had flown out of Rye’s hand upon Taz’s entrance was left abandoned on the floor as he stared up at the ceiling. [color=28e0af]“How ‘bout you, Marco, all good?”[/color]

Because he wasn’t an asshole, and if Taz had sent his heart jack-rabbiting like his own father used to when he yelled then he was damn well going to check on the person sensitive enough to help Danny develop his current personality.

Marco was no stranger to suddenly loud voices. His parents were…passionate in how they spoke sometimes and when they thought he couldn’t hear them they went ham, but he did. Even still, what literally just happened was somehow different. He had completely froze in place. And when Taz left, the third controller joined the floor and all Marco could think about, all of whatever energy he could spare, was fixated on his boyfriend. He laid opposite of him, hands caressing Danny’s shoulder in an almost soothing, comforting way. [color=b8860b]“I’ll be fine…”[/color] He said in response to Rye, though clearly his main priority right now was trying to help his boyfriend feel better in whatever way he could.

[color=b8860b]“Babe, it’s okay he’s gone…”[/color] Marco whispered to his love.

Danny couldn’t respond right now. All he knew was he still needed a lot of courage to build up before he came clean to his entire family, especially his father. Instead of responding, he adjusted his position so his arms were wrapped around both his boyfriend and best friend. Turning his head first to Marco, he smiled and tenderly kissed his lover’s lips, assuring him he’d be fine. His heart was still racing and not out of love but out of fear. He needed to face the beast one day and he hoped with these two at his side, he could. 

When he pulled away from Marco, he looked into his eyes and whispered back, [color=005d9e]“I love you,”[/color] in hopes to show that he wasn’t going to back down from this fight. He would fight for Marco because that’s what Marco deserved. After they continued to look at one another with fondness, warmth, and devotion in their eyes, Danny turned to Rye and kissed his best friend on the forehead, [color=005d9e]“Welcome home, Rye. I really did miss you.”[/color]

[color=28e0af]“Of course you did, I shine so bright it leaves a black hole in your life when I’m gone. It’s the consequence of loving real star material,”[/color] Rye snarked quietly, knocking his head against Danny’s shoulder as he curled into his side. [color=28e0af]“But I’m really happy to be back, too.”[/color][/indent][/indent][/color]