Devil's House

Not on the Calendar

It was late in the workday, and Chester was counting down the minutes until he could go home. He'd been sitting in Talinda's office for the last hour, not doing the stack of work she'd left him when she needed to leave early for a doctor's appointment. He glared at the phone sitting on the far corner of her desk, thankful it had been silent. He was hoping it would stay that way until it was time to go home. His glare bounced from that to the desk calendar under his elbows and then the paperwork he'd been instructed to sift through and enter into the computer. It was all stuff he knew how to do, things he'd been trained on when he had to fill in for Talinda while she'd been on bedrest, but doing it now was more of an ask than he had energy for.

Chester put his head down on his arms, his eyes closing. I don't know why this has become my job to fill in for her when she's gone. It's not my fault her assistant quit. Forever ago. Forrest needs to hire her a new one.

He sucked his lip ring in, nursing on it as his mind left work, and drifted to things that hurt much worse. Between the failed FaceTime call with Ryan and Jason the other day, and then the nightmare that followed, Chester's nerves weren't in the best place. His insides had sunk to something low, and he was having trouble pulling himself out of that place he knew wasn't good for him. Ultimately, it boiled down to the fact that Ryan wasn't coming home. Not anytime soon, and the physical ache of being separated was really starting to hurt.

It was the same ache Chester and Ryan had both felt before, back when Jason and Ryan were still living in Seattle, and Mike and Chester were making regular trips up to see them. It had been getting harder and harder to leave Ryan each time they left to go back home to California. It was an ache that had completely disappeared once they'd moved into the L house, but it was back now, and Chester was struggling.

I know he is too. We've talked about it. It just hurts to be so far away from each other. Mike said he was sorry. Lots of times, why isn't that enough? We're going to start counseling, and we're not arguing or fighting. I know Jay's hurt by whatever Mike said to him, but hasn't it been long enough?

It was a pathetic whine in Chester's head as he curled his arm around his middle. His stomach hurt. He wanted to go home and snuggle up with Mike on the couch and give his love and attention to the twins. Despite the exhaustion they caused from simply being infants, they'd also been a tremendous comfort in the days and now almost two weeks that Ryan had been gone. On top of everything else, he hadn't gotten to talk to Ryan at all today. Even their text thread was silent, and Chester was trying not to read anything crazy into that. He knew Ryan would respond when he could, and until then, Chester would just have to wait until his friend found time for him.

Unbeknownst to Chester, out in the hallway, Ryan was only a few steps away. When Jason had come home the night before and told Ryan he should take Julien and go on home, and he'd follow in a few days, Ryan didn't argue. He'd packed his and Julien's things the very next morning, kissed his husband goodbye at the airport, and landed in L.A. a few hours later. He knew Chester would still be at work, and in hopes of giving his friend the biggest surprise ever, he'd kept his arrival a secret. Julien had been dropped off with Brad - a favor to give Ryan the chance to reunite with Chester with his full attention and energy. He was ready to whisk Chester away from the Creative Team and take him out to their favorite place to get ice cream. Ryan was ready to walk on the beach, holding hands, eating ice cream, and talking in between before picking Julien back up and heading home.

But that plan changed quickly when Elka had informed Ryan that Talinda had to leave early, and Chester was in her office, filling in. That meant Ryan wouldn't be able to steal Chester away from work early. It meant their reunion time would be spent at Score - not on the beach kissing and eating ice cream - but it was better than nothing. Ryan was thrilled to be home, and he still very much wanted to surprise Chester, who he'd been missing so much.