"He said what?!"

Adrian and Brody were walking together, back to his house to work on building the furniture Adrian's mom has ordered. On their way there Adrian told him about their private encounter back in the nurse's office.

"The guy has a nut bolt loose in his head or something." And with that Adrian's hatred for Caden reignited. Adrian was holding back the feud he had with Caden for the sake of him being Brody's teammate. But then suddenly being assaulting by him on the ice, Adrian wasn't going to take any of this on the chin - figuratively speaking.

They were now standing outside the driveway when Adrian pointed towards his house. Adrian lived in a suburban home, the wooden panels were light grey and the front porch was lined with lilies. The porch light flicked on as Adrian walked to the door, opening it with his keys.

Letting Brody in first, they got the smell of sandalwood and jasmine wafting though the air. Adrian gave him a tour around the small house, with their feet tapping against the oak floorboards.

The first room Adrian took him to was the dining room. There was a rustic dining table with 4 matching chairs to go with it. Fresh flowers and popery were on the table side, with wavy and cream coloured curtains draped over the windows, giving the room a homely vibe.

Into the tiled kitchen, there was an island made out of marble, with 2 stalls tucked besides it. All of the many wall mounted cabinets were the colour of fresh oak, with a crystal clear glass window that showed its contents. The biggest feature in the kitchen was an expensive looking fridge that was tucked into the corner. Brody always dreamed about owning one of those, to be able to get freshly dispensed ice on demand.

They circled back to the living room and Brody saw a comfy, dark grey corner couch that Brody wanted to collapse on. A plasma TV was mounted to the wall, and an oval tea table stood in the middle of the room. Numerous photo frames were hung on the wall, Brody took a look at each one and saw how Adrian grew within each one.

"You ready to show me your handy work?" Adrian asked as he dragged the boxes into the living room.

Brody counted 3 boxes that needed to be assembled, with 1 of them being massive.

"What are we building?"

Adrian looked for the picture on the boxes, "We have 2 drawer units, and a closet for upstairs."

~~~~~~~~~~

The first drawer unit was relatively quick for them to build. With Brody carefully reading the instructions out loud, Adrian paid attention to his directions and followed the steps.

However the second drawer unit, Adrian made it into a challenge, swearing he memorised the instructions and didn't need the manual to build it. Adrian was defiant when Brody tried to interject, confident he could proudly do it all by himself.

Brody was on the sidelines as he watched Adrian work. He admired the handy work of his boyfriend, working the material and installing the panels together, with the strength and focus of an actual builder. Brody was enjoying the masculine scene in front of him, and found it cute when Adrian stuck his tongue out in concentration.

Brody didn't point it out, but he noticed that Adrian was installing the drawers upside down. He was tempted to correct him, but Adrian was persistent he didn't need help into making the unit.

By the time he noticed, he ended up throwing the screws at a knowing, laughing Brody before rebuilding it again correctly.

~~~~~~~~~~

After pushing the newly built closet into his mom's room, Adrian saw that Brody was moving a little bit slower.

"Is it your sides again? I knew I should have been stricter and not make you do any more heavy lifting." Adrian was concerned as he moved to Brody's side.

Brody laughed it off as he clasped Adrian's hand that was holding Brody's side. "You're worrying too much Adrian, I'm fine."

Adrian nodded as he kept his lips shut tight. The gears inside his heads were turning when Brody interrupted it with a kiss.

Adrian was surprised by the action but he met it with equal enthusiasm. Kissing him back, Adrian sunk into it more as he was enjoying every second of it.

"You might want to remember what room we're in at the moment."

Adrian pulled back and looked around to remember he was in his mom's room. Recognising her floral bedding and the 'stolen' grey rabbit, Adrian laughed it off as they left her room.

Walking through the hallway, they heard the front door open so they went downstairs to see Adrian's mother return home.

"Adrian, come help me with the shopping." Sally called out loudly from the porch as she went out to gather more bags from the car.

Brody moved the bags by the door while Adrian went to help his mom at the car.

"Careful with that one, there's a vase in that one so don't smash it." Sally warned as she locked the car.

Sally looked at her son and finally saw the gash alongside his jaw. "Oh my god, what happened to your face?" Sally held her son's face with both of her hands carefully as she took a better look at it.

Squirming away from her hold, "Just a little scratch from practice mom." Adrian didn't like his mom worrying over him, even if it was a mother's job to worry about their children being hurt.

Sally kissed his cheek, hoping it would take the pain away, only like a mother's touch could. "My poor baby."

When they walked back into the kitchen together, they saw Brody who was already unloading the shopping as if he was already familiar with his surroundings.

"Brody? I didn't know you were here," She turned to Adrian as she then asked him, "How come you didn't tell me we had a guest over?"

Brody finished putting the frozen food in the freezer as he spoke for Adrian. "Adrian asked me to help build the furniture you ordered, he thought 2 pairs of hands were better than one."

"So you finally got round to building it," Sally chuckled as she recalled asking Adrian days ago to help her build it all. "I'm terrible with tools so when I asked Adrian to do it, I assumed he would handle it straight away."

"I was waiting for the right time to get Mr Muscles over there to help me with the free labour." Adrian joked.

Sally shoved her son's arm playfully, "That's no way to talk about our guest like that."

"Oww mom, my face is already injured, I don't need another bruise on my arm." Adrian quickly rubbed over the spot she hit, earning a laugh from Brody who was amused by the mother and son's antics.

Sally only pinched her son's cheek in retaliation. "Excuse my son, he can be so dramatic sometimes. I have to thank you for helping us today, how about I whip us up some dinner, as a thank you?"

Brody looked at Adrian who seemed to approve the idea, "I would love too." Brody smiled back at Sally, who went to finish unloading the groceries.

~~~~~~~~~

Was it weird to be nervous at dinner?

Sitting across from him was a slightly damp Adrian at the dining room table. Adrian just came back from the shower and he chose not to dry his hair before dinner. So now Brody was staring at how his hair was all cute, tousled and covering his forehead which was rare enough for it to happen.

But the actual reason he was nervous was because of the person who was sitting in between them. This was the first dinner he has had with his boyfriend's mother, even if the mother didn't know they were dating yet.

Brody respected his choice not to come out to his mother just yet - at their own pace they agreed. Adrian had already showed how committed he was to their relationship, so he didn't feel the need to be worried about it.

But Brody wanted to make a good impression on Adrian's mother, heaven forbids that she would be against the pair dating, and Brody wouldn't know how to deal with it if that situation arose.

~~~~~~~~~~

"The food smells amazing." Brody praised the food that was placed out on the dining table.

Brody could smell the garlic bread that was in the basket, close to him and within reaching distance. Paired with it was the mixed vegetable salad that Brody helped prepare while Adrian was in the shower.

The food that gathered Brody's attention was the bubbling lasagna as the centrepiece for tonight's dinner. The cheese was oozing off the spatula as Adrian served his mother a piece on her plate, before handing one to Brody and one for himself.

"Oh please, you're too kind! If I knew you were coming, I would have prepared more for dinner."

They were all digging into their food when Sally asked Brody about the police investigation about his attack.

"Mom, I don't think now's a good time to talk about something like that." Adrian tried to change the conversation because he didn't want to make Brody feel uncomfortable.

Brody noticed that, he tapped his foot against Adrian's so he would look at him. Brody offered Adrian a reassuring smile, thanking him for his attentive effort. "It's still under investigation, they still don't recognise the attacker yet but I just have to have faith in the justice system."

Sally shook her head in disappointment as she took a sip from her wine glass. "I hope whoever did this to you rots in hell."

"Cheers to that." Adrian clinked his glass of water in the air before taking a drink.

Brody was taking a bite from his salad when Sally asked him if he had a girlfriend. "I have this regular and she has a lovely daughter that I met lots of times."

Adrian choked on his saliva after hearing his mother's offer to set Brody up with another girl. "Mom," Adrian croaked out, "What the hell?"

"I just want to get to know the boy, and Chloe really is such a sweet girl." Sally proclaimed as she laughed to herself. "And you told me you weren't interested in her before."

Adrian tried to think if he remembered Chloe while Brody laughed at the offer, "No I don't, I'm actually bisexual."

"Oh... Well do you have a boyfriend? Chloe has a brother too and I think he likes boys."

Brody could only grin in amusement as Adrian seemed to be completely dumbfounded by his mother's conversation topics. "Here mom, eat some more bread."

Adrian shoved more food onto her plate to get her to stop talking, offering a fake smile as well to cover the painful awkwardness.

"I actually have a boyfriend already."

Adrian stood up from his chair as he poured himself another drink. "Anyone else need a refill?"

Sally wanted to shush her son as she waved her hand at her son, dismissing his offer, "Aww that's lovely dear. If it's not too much to ask..." Her eyes hawked down at her son as if pretending to ask for his permission, before turning back to Brody, "How long have you been together?"

Brody craned his head as he tried to calculate the date. "A few weeks now."

Sally gushed at hearing that. "Oh how I remember young love, well I hope he treats you well my dear."

Brody assured Sally as he nodded, "He can be a bit of a handful sometimes," Brody joked as Sally laughed, "But yeah, he does." He told her sweetly.

~~~~~~~~~~

After helping Sally clean the dishes after dinner, Adrian took Brody upstairs, into his bedroom.

Adrian's room was a bit of a mess. Old clothes were piled by his hamper basket, not even inside of it. The towel on his bed was still wet, probably from his shower earlier. And there were books on his deck, seemingly placed randomly and some of them were even upside down.

"Do you always leave your room a mess like this?" Brody asked.

"I was late this morning and I was in a rush, I didn't have time to clean up after myself."

Brody nodded as he looked at all of the trophies and medals Adrian displayed in his room. Standing besides them was a picture of what appears to be Adrian's dad, judging by their likeness.

"This room is very, you. On occasion, an organised and proud mess." Brody laughed at the comparison in which Adrian only took a slight offence.

Sitting on the now cleaned bed, Adrian rubbed the back of his neck as he nervously laughed. "I'm sorry about my mom earlier, didn't mean for her to make the night weird for you."

Brody patted Adrian's leg so he would budge up and let him sit down next to him. "I had a blast, you should invite me over more for dinner, it really was delicious."

Adrian nodded as he gave Brody a quick peck, brushing his lips gently against Brody.

"Hey are you free tomorrow? Ashley just started this new job at a club." Brody explained, "Me and Adam thought we could make a night out of it."

Adrian had to decline the offer, aware that he was busy. "Sorry I can't make it, I'm working again tomorrow and then I have my volunteer work the morning after."

Brody was caught back by the volunteering news, it was something that Adrian hadn't brought up before.

"Coach said it was good for my résumé, plus I like helping out at the animal shelter a lot."

The corner of Brody's mouth curled up at hearing how his boyfriend liked looking after the animals. It explained why Adrian loved the petting zoo back at the carnival so much.

Brody couldn't help but see Adrian as even more delightfully charming after hearing that. He kissed the tip of Adrian's nose, making him feel shy all of the sudden. "I've got to go now, I'll see you tomorrow."

Brody gave Adrian a tender kiss before Adrian whipped his head back, and looked him in his eyes.

"5 more minutes..." Adrian said as he kissed him back again, eliciting a smile from the both of them.

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