[voice test]

[theprettymarine]

Billy didn't know how to name the feeling he had when Frank married Maria. He was happy for his friend, for both of them. He did everything a best man was supposed to do, and then some, because he would be damned if Frank didn't have a decent wedding, even if it was a rush job. Because Maria was pregnant. But Frank was happy and that was what mattered.

But something did shift in him as he watched his friend take his vows. No one sticks around. Maybe that wasn't totally fair - Frank was his brother, they were Marines, and they would share things that no one else did, and that was okay. He didn't need anything else from Frank. He didn't deserve anything else.

They had some leave before their first deployment, which was how Frank managed to get married at all. And after Frank resurfaced from his brief honeymoon, Billy was happy to meet him for drinks.

Comments

[theprettymarine]

Billy grinned over at Frank, sly and warm. "I was gonna pay you up front, but you had to go and put pants on."

He wet his lips and took a sip of coffee as he returned to counter next to Frank as the sausage cooked. God, he looked good. He reached over and brushed his thumb along Frank's hip, just over his jeans and beneath his shirt.

[onebatch_twobatch]

Frank finished up the meat and plated everything and turned off the stove, and lingered right there, next to Billy. The domesticity felt right, to just be here in Billy's space and not feel rushed. To feel like he fit here.

"We never would have had food if you'd done a down payment, baby," Frank teased. "Just would have stayed in bed and wasted away. And that would have been a fuckin' shame."