Dear DoubleO

Suddenly, Everything is Ok

Surprisingly, not a lot was going through Doc's head on the drive back to his apartment. He didn't say anything. He didn't need to. It was just him and Ren, and the quiet hum of the radio in Bdubs's car.

He had confronted his father. That was something. Something big. And sure that probably didn't fix everything, but for now it did. For now he was ok. He was ok because he had his friends. And he had Ren. That was great.

After pulling into the driveway, Ren turned off the engine, but made no move to exit the car. For a usually chatty, energetic person, Ren was pretty quiet. When he did finally speak, he spoke calmly, a soft smile on his face.

"You know, I gotta hand it to you. You're handling all this really well ya know?"

"You think?"

"Yeah! I mean, that must have been pretty hard on you. You're brave." Doc chuckled.

"I wouldn't say brave. I had you. And everyone else." Ren rolled his eyes.

"Yeah but you stood your ground! Told that idiot what was what. I'm proud of you for that." Proud. That word struck a chord with Doc. It felt kind of silly, but he liked it. Someone was proud of him. He liked that.

"Thanks."

"Anytime dude!" Ren thought for a moment, "Hey remember when we went on that date?" Doc chuckled.

"Course I do. What about it?"

"Well, I told you if you ever needed anyone to talk to, I'd be here. I just want you to remember that. I'm here for you dude. It's ok to not be ok with all that stuff that just happened. No one will think any less of you for not being ok." Ren was there for him. What a nice thought.

"Thanks man. Thanks for being here. But actually, I think I'm weirdly ok? I mean, I have all these people who stand up for me and support me, and I have you. So I think I'm ok? Does that make sense?"

"Totally," Ren smiled and grabbed Doc's hands, "I'm glad you're alright. Now let's go inside, Iskall's probably 'Omega worried' as he would say."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Ren dropped Doc's hands and got out of the vehicle. He rounded the car and opened Doc's door for him. They walked to the porch together.

Suddenly Doc had an idea. Was it a good idea? He wasn't sure. But it was an idea. And idea that he either had to do, or not do.

And it was now or never.

"Ren?" Ren turned around from where he was about to grab the door handle.

"Yeah?"

"What time is it?"

"Oh uh," he pulled out his phone and checked the clock, "2:47." Doc took a breath. One minute. One minute of courage. If Ren thought he was brave, he could be brave for one minute to carry out this stupid idea.

Doc looked left, then right, then back at Ren. One minute of courage. That was all he needed.

Swiftly, he leaned over a bit and kissed Ren right on the cheek. He then grabbed the door handle and swung the door open, heading inside, leaving the very talkative man speechless. 2:48. Dumb idea was successful.

The minute Doc crossed the threshold, Iskall immediately started to mother him. He spoke almost as fast as he paced.

"Goodness I'm so glad you're ok. I was omega worried!" Doc snickered at the wording, realizing Ren had predicted it perfectly. He glazed back to see if the other had heard it, but Ren still looked a bit flustered and hadn't noticed.