Chapter 1
Orion Lancaster was a therapist. Originally. He had always wanted to be a therapist. It was his life's goal. But things had gone awry, like things often did, and now he was a bartender. He had spent eight years suffering away in college and yet, here he was. At the good ol' 'Site 107' bar in the middle of butt fuck nowhere. It was hard not to feel a little bitter. Plus, he was massively overstimulated right now, because Beatrix Klein had walked in an hour earlier and told him that he was closing tonight because god forbid she be late to her date with Gloria Alves. Admittedly, he was really quite jealous of Klein and Alves. They were happy together. They had cute pet names and owned the bar together. They were married and still went on dates everyweek. Yet he had to close the bar by himself, knowing that his apartment a block away was empty save for his cat. He watched the little hand on the clock next to him tick. It hit 12:30. Fucking Finally.
"Alright! Sorry gang, but we are officially closed. Love, can you escort people out?"
Nari Love nodded and grinned. She loved getting to kick customers out when the bar closed. Orion didn't really get the appeal, the being the massive people pleaser that he was, but Nari must have gotten some sort of power trio out of it or something. Eventually, she left along with the rest of the staff and the remaining people weening their vodka. Orion headed to the back to grab the cleaning supplies, and started at work on cleaning the bathrooms. He paused as he heard the sink running. Everyone was supposed to be gone.
"Hello?" He called.
No one answered, but the faucet turned off.
Either someone was still in there, probably wasted, or there was a ghost inhabiting Site 107.
Orion would rather it be a ghost.
"We closed 15 minutes ago." He warned.
A few mumbled swears echoed from the bathroom.
Orion sighed and pushed open the door, and felt his body freeze as he locked eyes with the most gorgeous man he had ever seen. His eyes were unfocused behind his glasses, and he was trembling a little. His hair was in a messy half-up half down style, and he had tight jeans and a sweater on. His cheeks were flushed pink over his warm skin. He sort of looked like coffee, from his silky brown skin to the small hints of white hair at his temples. Behind the gloss, his eyes were a dark, rich brown. Orion found himself staring into them.
What the fuck, he thought.
He walked towards the other man and put his hand on his shoulder, stabilizing him and staring at him with concern evident in his eyes. In turn, the man's knees buckled and Orion caught him, hauling him back up onto his feet.
"Whoa, okay. Hey, what's your name?"
"Edmund. I mean. Harley. I mea- " he hiccuped.
"Ooookay there! Edmund, yeah? Where do you live? I can drive you home. "
Wordlessly, Edmund handed him a small business card that read "Property of Ingrid Raddagher. If found please return to 504 Daisy lane, apartment number 5." Orion chuckled before rereading the tagline and shooting it a disappointed look. 'Ingrid Raddagher' was probably his girlfriend. He shouldn't have gotten his hopes up. Damn.
"My... My roommate makes me carry them. "
Orion raised an eyebrow.
"Roommate?"
"Yupppp. She has a date tonight and couldn't take me here, but she hates bars anyway so I don't know why I even expected she'd come in the first plac-"
Orion chuckled and wrapped an arm around Edmund's back to support his body weight.
"Okay Ed, you are absolutely wasted. Just.. come on. Come with me. I'll drive you home."
He couldn't help but smile to learn that Ingrid was not in fact his girlfriend, but quickly scolded himself.
"Sorry." Edmund murmured.
"Hey, uh. Don't be sorry. Just help me out here and walk with me to the car."
"M'kay."
Edmund suddenly latched onto Orion's outstretched hand. Orion shuddered. Edmund's hand was warm and soft and slightly sweaty but he guessed that was from the alcohol. His grip was gentle but tight, like if he let go he might disappear. Edmund fell forward and shoved his face into Orion's shoulder.
"Mmrghmgn."
He cocked his head.
"What?"
A beat.
"Hey Ed, I don't mind you holding on, but I can't understand what you just said."
"Mmm."
He smiled, despite his brain screaming at him.
"Okay."
He found himself smiling again.
He escorted Edmund to his car, locking the doors to the bar behind him. The bathroom certainly wasn't clean, but to be honest, Orion didn't really think drunk people would notice. He opened the door to the passenger seat, waiting so he could buckle Edmund in. The man was barely conscious. Infact, as Orion clambered into the driver's seat and turned the ignition on, he heard a soft snoring coming from the seat next to him. He found the urge to tuck one of Edmund's locs behind his ear unrestrainable. For a split second, his fingers swept across Edmund's cheek. His skin was soft, but had a noticeable bit of stubble that tickled Orion's finger.
He retracted his hand, shuddered, and started driving. Daisy lane was about 8 minutes from the bar, and Orion knew the way.