dreamlikenewyork | "It's raining men."

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"It's raining men."

Who: Ethan Marshall, Eddie Bronson, Jace Turner and Jesse Hartley
What: Extended networks
Where: Surgical Unit, Mount Sinai
When: Thursday evening

Ethan had just finished a loooooooooong double shift. Emphasis on the long. He worked a day and an evening shift because someone else had called in sick and he was cool with filling in. He had been in LA for the past week on a conference for Neurology residents, something the hospital paid for so he had jumped at the chance to go. But it meant he missed the whole ordeal one of his closest mates, Jesse, had gone through. Not just his fit on the sidewalk in the middle of busy Manhattan (giving himself a concussion in the process) but also the exploding appendix. Ethan felt bad, but when he had looked in on Jesse earlier during his dinner break, Jesse had been out like a light, so he promised himself he would visit before he went home.

He was still in his scrubs and lab coat, but this wasn't his unit. He was definitely off the clock for now. If Jesse was awake, it would be likely Jace would be there with him. Arriving at the door of Jesse's private room, he knocked softly on the doorframe with a sympathetic smile. "What's this I hear about you going exploding internal organs in my absence?" he asked Jesse, who was still looking pretty worse for wear with yellowing bruises on his face and some visible sutures on the side of his forehead. Jace was sitting on the side of his bed holding his hand, but as soon as Ethan stepped into the room, he realised someone else was there standing by the side of the bed. Whoever it was had probably just arrived, maybe with Jace, and hadn't taken a seat yet.

It caught Ethan's attention and soon he and the stranger were locking gazes. Ethan had no idea who he was, so he just smiled. "If this is a bad time, I can come back?"

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This was the first time Eddie was meeting Jace's boyfriend, and he had to admit that he was a little nervous. But it was really cool to finally meet Jesse, even if the other guy wasn't really feeling the best at the moment. Eddie wanted nothing more than to rebuild his friendship with Jace and to get to know all of the people who were important to him now. It wasn't a matter of just knowing who Jesse was. He wanted to get to know the kid, and to have him know that Eddie cared a lot about Jace, and by default, about Jesse, too.

And he was just in the middle of the introductions with Jesse and Jace when a new face was walking into the room. A very new, and very handsome face, and he immediately caught Eddie's eye. There was sort of a stupid and completely inaccurate assumption about trans people that they changed genders because of wanting to be with a person of the opposite gender. But the truth was that gender and sexuality were not the same thing, and Eddie had always been a guy... He just happened to have always been a gay guy. It was different with Jace because they were best friends, and the thought had never crossed his mind that they would be anything but. And whoever the gorgeous guy in scrubs was, Eddie couldn't look away. Their gazes met, and held and Eddie was pretty sure that for a moment, he'd completely forgotten who he was altogether. He didn't say anything, leaving the decision on what to tell the guy up to Jace and Jesse. But he really did kind of hope they didn't make him leave, becasue he was gorgeous, and Eddie was never opposed to some eye candy... Especially eye candy with some of the warmest, kindest eyes he'd ever seen.

After Eddie showed up out of the blue and they chatted over tea and Oreos, Jace had asked if Eddie wanted to come back to the hospital with him to meet Jesse. He needed to take a shower and shave, but then he was going to head back to take Jesse some clean pyjamas, underwear, and his iPad so he wasn't bored. He knew it wouldn't be an ideal meeting or anything, because Jesse was recovering from surgery and he wasn't feeling good overall, but no one needed to put up airs and graces for any of this. They weren't that sort of people. Eddie was family, and Jace wanted him to meet Jesse. It was as simple as that.

They had arrived after the patients' meal time, but Jesse tray of jello, apple juice and chicken broth was untouched and pushed to the side. After giving Jesse a soft kiss, Jace had sat down close beside him, taking his hand, and asked him if he was feeling sick because he hadn't touched his meal... as unexciting as it was. Jesse had just given a 'Hn' sort of response and nodded before he saw Jace had company. They were just in the process of introductions when Ethan arrived, with Jace fussing over Jesse because he wasn't feeling much better and still had that pale 'green around the gills' look to him. He glanced over just in time to see Eddie and Ethan scoping each other out, which lasted all of a moment or two before he witnessed what could only be described as eye-fucking. That was eyesex! And he looked at Jesse to see if he noticed too, but his poor boyfriend just had his head rested back on his pillow quietly taking in the fact he had three visitors. "No, it's not a bad time. Come in, dude. You're one of Jesse's favourites, you can stay," he teased and strategically gestured to the two seats next to each other for visitors. "Take a seat... both of you."

It was just under 24 hours since Jesse's appendix burst and he had his operation. He was yet to have any sort of appetite so he was still stuck on a clear fluid diet, but mostly he was feeling sore, tired and nauseous. He just wanted to sleep, but the pain was waking him up. There had been one small, brief fit a couple of hours before when Jace had been at home, and since it happened, Jesse was feeling sick and looking at his guests, he really hoped he didn't need to puke in front of them. He would be okay with Jace, but he was the shy type and didn't want to hurl in front of Jace's friend or Ethan, despite Ethan being a doctor. He had enough of embarrassing himself this past week to last him a lifetime. He hadn't had the chance to tell Jace about the fit, but it could wait.

He remembered Jace talking about a BFF he grew up with but hadn't seen in awhile, though he said her name was Lou, so Jesse was a little confused, but he knew he would learn more once the introductions were out of the way. "Yeah, it's fine. You guys can stay, no big deal," he murmured and then gave Ethan a sheepish look. "I've been keeping all you doctors in your paychecks this week. I don't even know what day it is. You're already done in LA? This is Eddie. He and Jace grew up together. Eddie, this is Ethan. He's one of my closest friends here, and he's Christian's cousin. Christian is Evan's partner."

Ethan wasn't surprised when he heard Jesse and Jace were dating. They were seriously two of the sweetest people he had ever met. They suited each other, and complimented each other. Jesse was the quieter of the two, almost on the shy side, and Jace was open, breezy and free-spirited. Friendly to everyone, until they gave him reason not to. Jace invited him and Eddie to take a seat was just Jace's way, though as he sat, Ethan was watching Jesse to make sure he really was okay being invaded by visitors when maybe he just wanted to rest with Jace. Once he sat, he held his hand out in greeting to Eddie with a smile. "Pleasure to meet you. You guys grew up together? That's a strong friendship right there. What's brought you to New York?"

"All done in LA. I would say it was a lot of fun, but mostly it was just a lot of hard work and no sightseeing because I crashed out every night from brain overload. I nearly crapped myself when I got back and Ev told me what happened with you. Classic case of an established medical condition cockblocking a new problem, huh?" He stood again once he was seated, though and walked around the bed to get Jesse's meal tray. "Let me just take that away for you, J. If you're not feeling good, you don't need food sitting there in front of you." He took it out to the nurses station for them to remove and then came back to sit beside Eddie again, giving him another smile.

As directed, Eddie took the seat next to Ethan, who Jace was introducing, and then took his offered hand to give it a firm shake. "It's nice to meet you, too. Yeah, we did... In Chicago. Went to the same school, lived in the same neighborhood. We went through pretty much everything together back in those days. But I came to New York to go to school. I'm a little behind the curve, because I had some -- some stuff I needed to take care of back home, but now I'm all set, and I'm starting school here in the City. But even more than that, I chose New York for school so I could catch back up with Jace here. We were besties all the way through, so it was tough not having him close anymore. I decided to come and shove myself right back up in his business. Especially when I heard he had a sweetheart of a boyfriend that I needed to meet." He gave Jesse a warm smile before turning back to Ethan because it was extremely difficult not to look at him.

He was immediately stepping in to help Jesse, getting the food tray out of the way, and Eddie was struck by his kindness and the empathy he obviously felt toward people. He didn't want anyone having a hard time, apparently... at least not when it came to his friends. And that was really sweet... And Eddie couldn't, for the life of him, figure out why this guy had his brain going a million miles an hour so quickly. He wasn't usually the type to get hardcore serious crushes in a quick fashion, but then again, it was a little different when he was a friend of a friend, and a very attractive one at that, who obviously just oozed kindness. When he was seated next to Eddie again, the smile on Eddie's face was freaking huge, and his eyes just wouldn't quite look away. Fuck, he was being obvious here.

Jace's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "What are you doing at school?" he asked, realising that wasn't a topic they had gotten to in their chats back at the apartment. They had talked about a lot, but they also had a lot to catch up on. Plus, there had been the fact Jace back-tracked on a couple of things because his mind was still fuzzy after being sick recently himself. When he asked, he couldn't help but see that there was something going down between Eddie and Ethan. He knew Ethan was single, and it was because he had a tough time in the past with something that Jace wasn't privy to all the details yet. Jesse knew, but he had understandably kept Ethan's confidence. But it was plain as day for Jace... Eddie was checking Ethan out! Jace being Jace, he wanted to say something, but he would be discreet this time so he didn't embarrass anyone, but that didn't mean he wouldn't say something once he got Eddie alone again.

Then Jace was back to fussing over Jesse. Smoothing out his blankets gently, stroking his fingers through his hair, and then pulling his hand up to kiss the backs of his fingers. He really hoped Jesse and Eddie got along, but he knew he couldn't just expect it to happen automatically. Jesse hadn't seemed to mind Jace bringing Eddie along for a visit. "Jesse works in the ICU with Christian sometimes. He's an Emergency and Trauma nurse. And his own best friend from home is engaged to Liam, who went to med school with Ethan. They graduated together and both scored internships here. Liam's in Surgery, he operated on Jesse. There was also Beau, but Beau's sick with cancer. He was supposed to be doing his Oncology residency here."

"Thanks, buddy," Jesse said to Ethan when he got rid of the tray. He tried to shift in the bed a little, but the pain shot through his side and he gasped, holding his hand to the operation side. As much as he wanted to keep his shit together, he couldn't stop himself swearing harshly at the pain. It fucking hurt and he couldn't switch it off, as much as he wished he could. "Beau's Angel Shaw's brother-in-law. He's married to Angel's twin. Angel has worked with Damien, my best mate," he elaborated, voice strained as he waited out the wave of pain that had rudely hit him when he wanted to actually be involved with having visitors and not just be a lump in the bed.

He gave Jace's hand a soft reassuring squeeze when he saw the worry all over his boyfriend's face. "There's a lot of crazy connections, especially tied into this hospital. Everyone knows everyone. But it's cool. They're all like family. You'll love it here, people are really caring and don't judge. Plus, a lotta the folk have been through their own tough times, so they understand shit. Sometimes, it's just nice to have someone understand shit."

Ethan got up again when Jesse managed to impact on the pain in his belly. "You need to be careful, man, or you'll burst those sutures. Here, Jace, lift his arm up for me. Everyone close your eyes, he's probably sans undies under here," he joked. He grabbed one of the spare pillows from the cupboard in the room and put it in under Jesse's blankets tucked in against his side so his arm could rest on it. "That will help cushion the op site if you move. And yes, things are kind of crazily around this place. Which can have a downside on the grapevine of things, but people have your back. That wasn't something I had in the last place I worked..."

He paused, clearing his throat. That wasn't something to elaborate on in this particular conversation. He met Jesse's gaze briefly, the only person there who knew the extent of what Ethan had gone through. "Have you got somewhere to live? Because honestly, I have a spare room sitting there doing nothing. I pay an epic fuckton on rent for a place when I'm hardly ever there. It was close to the hospital, so I snapped it up, but I've had a mental few months of training, so I basically life here and take the occasional vacation at home. It's about a block from where Jace lives. Not to sound like a weird creeper or anything, but if you need a room, you're more than welcome."

This place was all so hugely tied in together that Eddie's head felt like it was spinning. "I swear you guys are going to have to draw me out a friendship map so I'll know what the hell is going on here. It's awesome that you have all those connections though... Makes it seem more like a family and less like a huge city where you're on your own. That's awesome. Honestly, that was one of my biggest fears moving here... That I wouldn't get to know many people. Back home, I had connections, but honestly, it sounds like I do here, and without even knowing it before I moved, which is kind of cool."

That was really out of the blue, but also extremely cool of Ethan to offer, and Eddie shook his head. "I mean, right now, I'm in a hotel. I figured I'd try and find a place soon. That's really cool of you to offer... And honestly, if you're serious about it, I may take you up on it." There was a naughty part of his brain asking if the only possible sleeping arrangements were in separate rooms, too, but he wasn't even sure where the fuck that had come from. Except that Ethan was gorgeous and sweet, and seemed to really be close to Jesse and by default, Jace. Eddie could definitely use friends around the place, and this guy was just offering to rent him a room straight out of the blue. "I mean, I could come by and look at it sometime, if you're really interested in renting it to me."

Jace had stood up when Ethan helped Jesse with the pillow, and there was a deep, worried and anxious frown on his face. Jesse was in so much pain, and had a knot in Jace's stomach because he wanted to ease it for him. Once Jesse was settled again, he moved and sat up beside him, putting an arm around him and pressing a soft kiss to Jesse's temple. "You won't need one. You just get used to it. All our friends, they're unforgettable. Once you hear their stories, you'll remember them. If I can remember them all, you can. They just... they make you proud to know them and glad you have a life." He didn't mean to get philosophical, but sometimes, he was really humbled to know what his friends were battling or had battled, and got through it to come out the other side wonderful people who would give you the shirt of their back if they thought you needed it.

"What the fuck? You're not staying in a hotel, you can stay with us. It's smallish, and Christian stays there a lot of the time too, but we have a sofa bed. Fuck a hotel. No way. See this. This is the cool I'm talking about. People are awesome, and the world still has great people left in it," he said emphatically, gesturing to Ethan with a nod. "I don't think he would just offer you a room to fuck with you. He's renting Beau's old apartment, and it's way cool. Awesome interior. Don't listen to him about his schedule either. He still has time to date... uh, if he feels the need." Subtle as a sledgehammer, Jace. But his point still stood. It was a fine point, someone had to make it, right?

"I already burst them earlier when I had a fit," Jesse revealed wryly, yet another reason why he was feeling sore and generally miserable. He did appreciate the help, though. He let his head rest on Jace's shoulder now he was up close beside him and closed his fingers around Jace's hand in an effort to cockblock his boyfriend freaking out at the news. "Don't freak, beautiful. It was just a little one, about thirty seconds. Liam stitched me back up. You're right, though. You do remember everyone. You can't not. When I heard how connected Damien was with all these amazing folk, I was jealous. Not in a bad way, just in a way that things had been real lonely for me and I wanted it too. Then I met Jace," he added with a faint smile and laced his fingers through Jace's.

His forehead creased as he listened to first Ethan offering up his spare bedroom, and then Jace countering that there was no way Eddie was staying in a hotel... followed by that faux par that had Jesse's eyes falling closed as he fought the urge to laugh at Jace's verbal diarrhoea. Laughing would be painful, it was the only thing that was stopping him. "Jace, babe, Ethan's not really looking for a date," he tried to cut in discreetly because he wasn't sure how much Ethan would want revealed. Poor Jace didn't know Ethan's history, so he was jumping the gun, but Jesse didn't want his friend feeling put on the spot.

Ethan let out a sympathetic sigh for his friend. Anesthetic could be harsh on an epileptic, but sometimes it was a necessary evil. A ruptured appendix would have been septic and killed Jesse if it wasn't removed immediately. It was a shame, because Jesse had been doing so well. Ethan had seen him have one seizure in the entire time he had known him and it was in the very early days. Ethan had still been renting a room off an older lady with four cats, and Jesse had been over because he had been upset the guy he was seeing at the time wasn't replying to his texts or phone calls. They were sitting out on the little balcony having a cup of tea and Jesse cut in on Ethan to warn him he was about to have a fit... right before he dropped his cup on the floor and the seizure hit. It was only a small one at the time too, but Jesse wasn't well after it at all. They had actually very briefly considered getting a place together, but just as soon as it was a consideration, Jesse had met Jace and everything changed. Ethan still got his own place, though, the decision made for him when Beau spontaneously married Austin and offered his apartment up to Ethan. "No wonder you look green. They were still trying to feed you after a fit?" Although, by this time, they would be trying to encourage Jesse to eat to get his inside functioning again. It was a Catch-22.

He gave a small wave of his hand and shook his head. And then he got up to close over Jesse's door so passers-by wouldn't hear what he said next. "It's okay, dude. We're all friends, right? I went through some shit about a year ago. I was sexually assaulted by my boss. She was high profile, it made the media, but I was only ever referred to as 'Mr. M' to protect my identity. It was all simultaneous to the Beaumont case, another cross to bear for the Beaumonts because she had endorsed their products and there were false rumours going around that maybe she orchestrated Julian's attack. Jesse and my cousins are the only people I spoke to at length about it, but I figure we're all friends here and we're all going to be connected, I don't want Jesse to feel he has to have secrets from Jace or anything like that. But I would just appreciate it kept on the down-low. It's not really something I want made common knowledge yet. I'm working on trying to be better with it all, though. That's all Jesse was meaning," he explained quietly. There, it was out there, and now he didn't need to feel guilty that Jesse was keeping things hush from Jace when Jace's brother was dating Ethan's cousin. Plus... he didn't really want Eddie to think he wasn't at least open to considering dating, in the right circumstances.

Eddie cringed just a little in sympathy for Jesse. He couldn't know what it was like to be epileptic, but he couldn't imagine having a situation arise where he couldn't control his body's movements... Especially in a situation like this one where Jesse had sutures from surgery, and had damaged his stitches from a fit. That was shitty, and Eddie looked over at Jesse, shaking his head just a little. "Fuck, dude. That has to be rough. No wonder you're sore, though. Ripped sutures... Sutures hurt enough when they're not ripped."

If ever there was a time Eddie wanted to bitchslap his BFF, it was probably right now. Was he seriously that obviously perving on Ethan that Jace had noticed it right away and felt the need to put that out into the universe? His eyes immediately cut to Jace sharply, and he almost audibly shushed him, though he stopped himself just in time. Jace's answer was quick, and had Eddie wondering what that was all about -- at least until Ethan began to explain. And then Eddie's heart was just breaking. This poor guy had been through utter hell, harrassed by his boss, and there was an unfamiliar twisting in Eddie's gut that he couldn't even begin to explain. There was just something overwhelmingly awful about the idea that anyone would harm someone who seemed as kind and good as Ethan. "That's... Jeez, how awful, man. How did you... I mean, I don't want to ask a lot of questions, because I know that can't be easy for you to share at all, but... What did you do to deal with that?"

Jace paled just hearing about Jesse's fit. There was one thing being aware that anesthetic could trigger aftermath seizures, but he had convinced himself Jesse was in good hands and maybe that meant it wouldn't happen. "Baby," he murmured, hand coming to rest tenderly on Jesse's belly. He wanted to look to see for himself Jesse's insides weren't going to fall out the hole, but he knew he would be all patched up with fresh dressings and Liam was apparently a wizard with his sews, according to his supervising physician. Jace actually had a couple of choked up moments where he felt like he was going to cry and he met Jesse's eyes, kissed his lips softly, and then his forehead, fingers tracking gently through Jesse's hair. He actually needed those moments to grab back his composure, and he realised all this was taking a lot out of him. It was really hard for him seeing Jesse sick and in pain, also a new set of emotions he had to face that he had never dealt with before. "Do you need me to go get a nurse for something more for the pain?" he asked, realising how choked his voice sounded.

Worrying over Jesse, he almost got side-tracked listening to what Ethan was saying, and when he did, his mouth was left hanging open and he wasn't sure he had words appropriate enough. He knew Ethan had gone through 'something', but never in a million years would he have guess it to be something like this. "I-I'm sorry," he stammered. And he was, both about what happened to Ethan and how he had been pretty forward a moment ago. Fuck, he hadn't meant to offended anyone or put his foot in it. He just knew they were both great guys, and he knew Ethan was single, but it dawned on him that he didn't know either way if Eddie was. For all he knew, there might be a long distance lover on the cards, and that too was going to hit him pretty hard how much time had lapsed between him and his best friend, and yep, he was going to actually tear up right now. Tears were coming, and he pressed his fingers into his eyes with a soft, "Fuck."

Jesse knew how strong Jace usually was. If he wasn't bright and upbeat, it was usually the biggest teller that he was sick or going to fall sick. Or, in this case, stressed. He was usually the sort who could hold up through a lot of stress, maybe from all his years of having to fight for a normal life with a brain injury but these past few weeks had been hard and even though Jace was happy to see his old friend and a moment ago he had been joking about Ethan dating, Jace wouldn't mean to offend someone. That right after hearing about Jesse's fit and trying to be all NBD that his old friend showed up out of the blue after years of no contact, he could only tough-out so much. "Aw, darlin'," Jesse said softly, patting Jace's arm. "Pass me the Kleenex, Eth."

"Look, he didn't mean to offend anyone. You gotta admit that Jace is in the middle of all this, and he's probably worrying - on top of everything else - that everyone might not get along or like each other. I seriously doubt he meant you two should just jump into bed together tonight. He and I, we just know what it's like to be lonely and if there's anyone in this world who wouldn't want the people he cares about to be exactly that, it's Jace. I mean, he didn't know about Ethan's trauma, and he hasn't seen you, Eddie, in years, so just no bitchglares or making him feel guilty for just being Jace, alright? He's been through a lot these past few weeks, and if we're all gonna be mates, we need to know how to just roll with the shit. It's not his fault you two were just eyefucking each other." Once he had the tissues, he managed to coax Jace's hand away from his eyes and wiped away the tears for him. "How long have you been holding those tears back, huh?"

Ethan had tucked the Kleenex in close at Jesse's side so he could get them out of the box without hurting himself. "You guys give me two minutes. I'm ducking out to the vending machine to get us all some much-needed tea. Save for you, Jess. You're cool with that delicious IV fluid therapy on tap there." When he stood, he gave Jace's hand a gentle squeeze. "We're not offended, sweetheart. If you need a good cry, you go right ahead. We're all family here." Ethan was pretty sure if he was going through the stuff Jace and Jesse were, he'd be wanting to have a large and snotty cry himself. There was no one else waiting at the vending machine, so he pulled off three cups of tea with cream, shoved them into a cup holding and grabbed some little sachets of sugar in case anyone liked it.

He came back and handed the first cup to Eddie and then one to Jace. Poor Jace's eyes were red-rimmed, puffy and still a little teary. You could keep it together and be find, but once that final wind got knocked out of you, sometimes the best thing for you was your PJs and your bed. Ethan remembered after all his shit, he went to bed for over a week before he felt like getting up and facing the world again. He hadn't forgotten Eddie's question, though, and once he sat with his own cup of tea, he answered it. "I didn't really deal with it all. Not at first, anyway. Mostly I threw myself into the last year of college and tried to pretend it wasn't happening. Bearing in mind, it was dragged out a lot too with the court case. At first, I just let her do it, because she told me she would ruin me and my career if I told anyone because she knew people in the American medical industry. It was like some sort of out-of-body experience. I was watching me go through these motions and I knew it was fucked up, but I just kept letting it happen."

This was seriously all so full on, and Eddie couldn't blame Jace for crying. But at the same time, this was one of the most incredibly beautiful things he'd ever seen. Jace and Jesse just slotted right into taking care of one another, and it was the most gorgeous thing. Ethan just smiled faintly, even accepting the chastising from Jesse, who was obviously completely concerned about Jace and his well being right now, despite the fact that he himself had just had an internal organ removed. It was almost enough to bring on tears of his own seeing Jace so damn happy with someone who loved him so much after all the hard times that he'd been through along the way. Eddie watched them quietly for a moment or two, almost feeling as if he were observing something private and beautifully sacred. He wouldn't cop to the eyefucking just yet, but Jesse was right about one thing. This was just Jace being Jace, and Eddie had never intended to react with the bitchglare of doom. "I... um... I'm sorry. Ethan's right, though. If you gotta cry, dude, just do it. Let it out and don't hold back. That's what friends are for."

Eddie took the tea gratefully from Ethan, and gave him a warm smile in thanks. He took a sip of the hot liquid, grateful for the feeling of comfort that a nice hot tea always brought with it. Eddie reached out with his free hand to rest it on Jace's shoulder and give it a little squeeze, comforting his best friend the way they always had, even as kids. Sometimes things sucked, and words just didn't help, so there was always the quiet reminder that someone who cared about you was there, and that helped more than Eddie could totally explain. It had just always been a thing for them, especially in the wake of Jace's accident when he was trying to get back to normal, but normal would prove to be far too much to ask. He had a normal now, but it would never be the same as prior to his brain injury. "I'm glad you got away from her. Nobody deserves to go through something like that, hon. Ever. I hope she was punished for doing that to you. And in a serious kind of way." He shook his head, his hand still on Jace's shoulder, though Jesse had things well in hand, and Eddie offered them both a weak smile. They'd all gone through heavy things, obviously very different to each other but in some way, it had brought them all here. What a hell of a demonstration of the concept of kismet this was.

"Sorry for the biggest awkward moment ever," Jace mumbled sheepishly when Jesse was wiping his eyes. He was already managing to pull himself back together, and with a renewed reminder of how he was so fucking much in love with Jesse, because his boyfriend nailed it... he nailed it all. Jace really did want Eddie to get along with everyone. He wanted him and Jesse to like each other, and Eddie and Ethan to like each other because they were both two of Jace and Jesse's closest friends. Plus, there was the small fact he probably had been bottling a lot up lately, maybe because he didn't really know how to face it. "Probably since I was in hospital myself. My brain hasn't really caught up with anything, and I kinda hate those times I get reminded how fucked it is. Which I'm totally not meaning to steal Jesse's thunder here, or anyone's, but he's been kind of my rock and my other half, and having him out of action has really freaked me out because this is all the first time I've seen him have a seizure, then he just wasn't getting better. It was hard when he banged his head, and he was bleeding all over the place, and strangers had to help me because I was freaking out. And look at him, he's just sore, and he hurts, and I want to take it away for him, but I can't," he explain and his voice was breaking again with a small sob.

He put his hand over his eyes. "Oh my god, I'm not doing any good fixing the awkward," he chastised himself when he put the tea down on the bedside table until he could get himself back together. He took Jesse's hand to hold and with his other, gestured to Ethan. "How did you even... how can you just... Evan will never hurt you. He won't. He will take the best care of you as your boss, and he'll make sure you're doing well and if you're not, he'll help you. If you have days where it gets too much, you can come talk to us. I promise I won't cry all over you. She can't hurt you now, right? What happened? Did she go to jail?"

Jesse gave Eddie an apologetic smile for the chastising. He had just needed Jace's friend to get an extended appreciation for the fact that recently Jace had a relapse in his illness and things had gone down for them as a couple that was upsetting and stressful. Jesse knew Jace would shower his old friend with welcomes and encouragement that he was part of the family, but by mere default of coming back into Jace's life, he knew Eddie would want to know the enormity of Jace's battle at the moment. Sure, he was stressed and worried about Jesse, and Jesse had given him two big frights now with his fit, and now needing surgery, but before that, Jace had been pretty sick himself. "Everything attached to that brain is gorgeous, and if I could give you the biggest hug right now, I would. I'll make up for that as soon as I can." He gave a soft, fond laugh when Jace was choking up again and some more tears spilled over. Jesse caught them with the Kleenex, but was trying to coax Jace to have some of his tea.

He listened with a nod at Jace's emphatic reassurance for Ethan about Evan. Jesse knew it was true, and even though he was feeling like an epic thorn in poor Evan's side right now, everything Jace was saying was true. "And Summer and Christian. Summer's been my doctor too, and I work with Christian all the time. Evan seems like he wants people to know he's god's gift to the medical word, but he's really protective of his family and his staff."

"Hey, you two, keep it clean," Ethan joked with a laugh, lightening the mood a little. If anything, this was probably a good way for Eddie to catch up with where Jace's life was at the moment. It was a hospital room, but it was relaxed and no one was even near judging anyone else. He knew Jace wouldn't have anything to worry about on Eddie and Jesse getting along because it was right there as plain as day how much Jesse cared about Jace. He wasn't going to try and stop Eddie and Jace re-establishing their friendship. He sat forward and put some sugar in Jace's tea for him, giving it a stir with one of the stirrers. "Tea is almost as good as a hug. Except when it's herbal and has gingko, they're were aborting mission, ASAP."

He glanced at Eddie with a small smile and nodded. "I'd be lying if I tried to make light of it and said it was no big deal. It was. It nearly ruined my life... it nearly ruined me. But, as Jace can vouch, what doesn't kill you really does make you stronger and I had people fighting for me. They helped me get back on my feet and find some hope. I know there's this whole stigma thing of how can a woman rape a guy, but trust me, she knew what she was doing. Once I found the balls to come forward, albeit with the support of my family, other people she had done it to came forward to and now she'll be seeing the inside of a jail cell for years to come. She was convicted and sentenced, and I think by the time all was said and done encompassing all her victims, she got something like 15 years. It just happened that the high-up people she was trying to threaten me with were the Beaumonts, and Julian Beaumont was supposed to have married Maddie once upon a time, my cousin. I've known Julian for years and after he was hurt the same time last year, his father has a hell of a lot to try to stop this sort of thing happening again. Julian nearly died, and that sort of thing has a knock on effect. I know I'm safe here, and lucky that I got the job."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"It's raining men."

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