Snippet #2821749

“I-” Soren tried to say something to Robyn, but she was gone before he could say anything. He sighed, running a hand through his hair and draining what was left of his drink. Lauren really was being extraordinarily awful to everyone, it seemed, and he could only wonder what the hell she actually wanted from them, or if she had just come to prove that she still could ruin everyone’s lives. And if it was the latter, well then, she was doing a fantastic job of that.

He headed towards the kitchen with the intention of getting another drink; but stopped as he spotted a familiar figure. He hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to Declan at all yet. And what was better was that Dean didn’t seem to be anywhere in sight. So instead, he changed course, heading towards Declan.

“Hey,” Soren said. “Long time, no see.”

Declan was still a little shaken up about their interaction with Lauren, and he jumped when he heard Soren’s voice. He’d been so in his own head, he hadn’t even heard Soren coming.

“Oh, god,” They mumbled, “Hi. Wow. Sorry,” A chuckle, awkward as could be, and then they cleared their throat, “I didn’t- I was deep in thought there.” Declan smiled, then, put the thought of what Lauren had said to the back of his mind. “It has been a long time. Too long.” They punctuated the statement with a smile- soft but genuine. The two had kept in touch via social media, but their busy schedules made it hard for them to meet in person, even on the rare occasion that Soren was back in town.

“Thanks for inviting me tonight,” He said, taking a half step closer to Soren, “It’s been really nice to get out, do something social for a change.”

Soren laughs a little at Declan’s admission to being lost in thought. He was more than used to that after this long. He returned the smile as Declan stressed that it had been too long. It really had. When you were only in the city for a handful of days at a time, and you knew you’d probably end up spending half of those days asleep, it made it hard to make plans. They’d tried, of course, but it had never worked out.

Soren leaned one shoulder against the wall beside them, shaking his head with a smile as Declan said it was nice to be social. “Glad to help. You know I’m always happy to provide a distraction,” he said, with a wry smile. “So, they’re still working you far too hard in that hospital then?” He asked teasingly.

Declan nodded, weariness showing very clearly on their face. “Working hard with no end in sight. You have to get used to it at some point,” He smiled, nothing but genuine gladness and fatigue. He wasn’t bitter about the work he was doing, this was the life he’d chosen, and he was just happy he had the chance to chase it.

“How’d the last tour go?” Declan asked, slowly back to be a bit more out of the way. Maybe find a rare space with some seclusion. Soren was such a busy man, it was hard to get his attention all to himself, even when he wasn’t touring or working on albums.

This small talk, catching up, there was always a lot of it when Declan came back in contact with someone. Their back and forth always went about the same. “It’s been so long.” “It really has,” “Written any good songs lately?” “Nothing that’s ready for the world. Saved any lives lately?” “Not quite but I like to think I’m learning how.”

Declan bit their lower lip, a thoughtful little nibble that gave away the gears turning in his mind. “How long are you in town for?” Maybe, just maybe, if they actually had the time, they could have a proper… Date? Outing? What would they even call it? He wasn’t sure.

Soren recognised the tiredness in Dec’s expression. It wasn’t just from a rough shift or even a rough week, but constant ongoing exhaustion; and an exhaustion that you didn’t care about, because you were doing what you loved. It was hard not to smile a little at Dec’s clear passion for what they did.

Soren caught Declan’s slight movement backwards, and he mimicked it, pushing off the wall and taking a few steps towards the quiet and the relative privacy of the hallway. “It was good. Absolutely exhausting, I slept for a few days straight when I got back,” he said with a laugh. “But good to finish on a high note at least.”

He raised an eyebrow as a thoughtful expression crossed Declan’s face, wondering what they were thinking about. At their question, Soren smiled. “Back for a while. A couple of months at least. So… we might finally be able to make it out for those drinks we kept talking about?” Soren asked.

Dec nodded along to Soren’s sentiment about ending on a high note. That was always the goal, probably. Touring couldn’t be easy; always on the road, never getting any meaningful rest. He could understand some of that.

Declan couldn’t hide the way their eyes lit up when Soren said he’d be in town for a while, this time. They nodded enthusiastically, said, “Absolutely,” And reached into their far-too-small-to-be-practical pocket for their phone. Immediately, Declan was sorting through his calendar, trying to figure out the most opportune time. “Sorry,” He smiled, almost sheepishly, “Busy, you know?” He got a text from Gabriella, and swiped it away. He’d check it in a minute. “How busy are you while you’re here?” Dec’s brows knit together, thinking about logistics and plotting out the best possible time.

Declan’s reaction made Soren smile, a reflex reaction he barely noticed. He didn’t even mind as they pulled out their phone, laughing a little at Declan’s explanation. “I get it.” At the question of how busy he was, he shrugged. “Not busy at all. I’ve got at least a month of zero commitments, so I’m flexible. Whenever works for you.” he said.

It felt like he and Declan were caught in an eternal state of “almost, but not quite,” and had been for a while, so the fact that they might actually be able to have plans they could both keep felt strange in a very good way. Part of Soren was trying to stay grounded, reminding himself that with Declan’s schedule, things could change at the last moment, while the other part was revelling in the delight of finally being able to make plans.

Declan nodded sagely, fighting the urge to pump their fist in victory. This was perfect. They could make real plans, Dec could insist on keeping them this time. He kept looking for dates. Maybe next Thursday. That wasn’t a weird day to meet for drinks, was it? Maybe the next Friday. That could work. “What do you think about-” But they couldn’t finish the thought before a familiar arm draped itself around their shoulder.

“What’s up, you two?” Dean. How was it he always materialized in moments like these?

“Dean, do you mind?”

“Not at all, big brother.” Dean smiled, as if to emphasise that he wasn’t going anywhere. Declan sighed, then Dean looked right at Soren and said, “Hey. Nice party. Didn’t expect to see Lauren here.”

Declan didn’t know what Dean’s angle was on this one, so he shot Soren an apologetic look. They’d continue their conversation as soon as Dean got bored and went away.

Soren had to bite back a curse as Dean materialised, seemingly from nowhere. Every. Goddamn. Time. He’d learned the hard way that telling Dean where he could shove it usually only made things worse, so the easiest thing to do was to just be nice and hoped he went away soon. He never did, though.

“Dean. Lovely to see you, as always,” Soren said, with zero effort at hiding his true feelings. “Neither did I, given she certainly wasn’t invited. Some people just have a knack of showing up where they’re not wanted, don’t they?” He said, raising an eyebrow. He returned Declan’s apologetic look with one of understanding. Soren would be damned if he let Dean’s interference ruin their almost-plans.

Dean nodded, a glimpse of something resembling relief glinting in his eye, “Some folks just can’t take a hint.” He shot Soren a knowing look, “Can they?”

The two had had many fights over the years, mostly about Soren and Declan’s relationship. Dean hated it, didn’t want the two of them to be close in any way, not as friends, certainly not as lovers. It had been suggested that Dean didn’t like how everyone he cared about liked Soren more than they liked him. That was silly. Declan just deserved better, was all.

“What do you want, Dean?” Declan interjected, and to Dean’s credit, he did a very convincing job of looking offended.

“Can’t a man want to spend some time with his only sibling?”

“You can spend time with me any day,”

“False. You’re so busy, this may very well be my only chance for weeks.”

Declan sighed, “Okay. Fine.”

Dean grinned, “Perfect. Have you had some of that strawberry stuff? It’s super fruity, you’d love it. Maybe Soren can fetch you some.”

Soren met Dean’s knowing look with one of scorn, still managing to bite his tongue for now. God, he wished that he and Erin had decided against inviting him now. He probably would have still shown up, but at least Soren would have had more authority to tell him to fuck off then.

The banter between the two siblings was borderline entertaining, even if Declan was the one to back down, as he usually was. Dean’s attempt to get rid of Soren was unoriginal and not even a terribly good one. Soren shrugged. “Sorry, have no idea what one you mean,” he said. “Erin sorted the drinks, and I haven’t come across that yet. Tell you what, seeing as you know what you’re looking for, how about you go get the drinks, and me and Dec can finish our conversation?” He asked, his tone perhaps overly cheery.

Dean clicked his tongue, as if he was very disappointed in what he was about to say, “Oh, Sor,” He said, emphasizing the nickname, as he knew they weren’t anywhere near close enough for Dean to feel so comfortable being familiar with the other man, “You know I’d love to, but I really do need to have a word with my brother.”

“It can wait, Dean.” Declan insisted.

“It really can’t, Dec.”

“Yes. It can. Anything you have to say to me can wait, or you can say it to both of us.”

Dean shot a look at Soren, considering his options. “I suppose it’ll have to wait, then.” Dean shot Soren a dirty look, as if to say ”You win this time.”

“I have something I need to talk to you about, too,” Declan said, a bit of panic working its way into his voice, despite how he tried to quell it, “I’ll find you later.”

Dean raised an eyebrow. Something resembling genuine concern crossed his face, “Is everything okay, Declan?” He said, voice low enough that nobody besides the three of them would hope to pick it up.

Declan nodded, “I’m fine. Go away.” But Dean made no move to actually leave, which didn’t surprise Declan in the least.

Soren was sure that his eye twitched as Dean called him Sor. It wasn’t that he disliked the nickname; just about everyone he was friends with used it at some point or another. But the emphasis on that point was friends. The familiarity with which Dean used it was grating and deliberate.

As a result, Declan’s triumph over his brother felt all the sweeter. Soren’s smile was triumphant and vaguely smug. So often, Dean did get the upper hand, with Soren often conceding defeat for Declan’s sake. It wasn’t fair that he got caught in arguments so much, but it also wasn’t fair that Dean started them so much.

It was the panic in Declan’s voice that cut through the delight of triumph. Soren looked at him, looked back at Dean and Dean’s reaction, and bit back a sigh. This was something that probably was just between the two brothers. It still counted as a triumph, he told himself. And then he pulled out his phone and groaned, perhaps a tad overdramatically. “Shit. Just got a text from Erin, she needs me to go… help her with something.” This was a complete lie, and not a particularly good one. “I’ll… catch you up later, okay?” He told Declan, shooting him a small smile. And then he shot Dean a glare, before turning and walking away. As he did so, he texted Declan.

“Whatever time you were going to suggest, I’m down. And now you know where the apartment is if you ever want to drop by ;)”

Dean smiled and waved as Soren walked away. The Erin thing was an excuse. They all knew it. But Soren’s concern for Declan won out at the end of the day. It was sweet, really. Dean turned to Declan, “What’s wrong?”

It couldn’t be summed up, really. Not easily, not by Declan. They just wanted a nice, normal night. That was, evidently, too much to ask for. “Why do you have to try to ruin my life every chance you get?”

Dean had the decency not to act surprised, but lacked the decency not to lie about what he was up to. “Dec, I swear, I’m not-“ He reached out to touch Declan’s shoulder, as if he were going to comfort his one and only brother.

“Don’t touch me!” Declan snapped, “Everything that goes wrong in my life is because of you! Can’t you see that?” They were maybe being a bit too loud. A bit too dramatic. But now two things in his life had been messed up, and Declan could trace it all back to Dean.

“Dec, I just don’t think getting involved with Soren is-“

“God,” Declan cut him off, as if Dean weren’t just trying to look out for him, “Can’t you let it go?”

“I’m trying to help you.” Dean certainly sounded like he meant it.

“That’d be a first, wouldn’t it? You wanna help me? Talk to Lauren.” Declan rolled his eyes, “No, you just go along with whatever she tells you to do, don’t you?”

“Dec, what’s wrong?”

“Just go away, Dean.”

And, this time, he did.