Caring for Carers - Minizerk

Chapter 14

Josh barely has time to reciprocate before Simon pulls away, he's that shocked. He's also still pretty angry, I mean, you've got this hot guy having a go at you, saying you're not doing your job properly (when you've been in the business over 6 years, he's been here less than 6 months), and just when you're about to give him a piece of your mind, he snogs the fuck out of you.

"You can't just kiss me like that to get me to shut up each time I want to speak."

"Try me."

"You're a dick."

"So you've said. Look Josh, I'm sorry. Well, actually I'm not, I've wanted to do that for a while but Jesus Christ you were pissing me off. No doubt I could've handled it better, though."

"Yeah, you definitely could've. Scared the shit out of me, to be honest, getting shirty with me like that."

"Can we have an actual conversation about this?"

"I'd like that." Josh replies, the tense atmosphere in the room cooling, though he knows he'll still be a little het up, seeing as Simon kissed him completely out of nowhere, immediately after having a go at him. He doesn't know about Simon, but to him that's not the way you start these things off. "Talk to me."

"Right, I... okay, so I'll start by saying I probably wasn't in the best of moods anyway. School board got in contact with me about another kid, getting him fostered and such - which is something I've never dealt with before. So I'm stressed out about that, then Tobi calls me up, and tells me that you and Ethan are acting weirdly, that he won't leave you alone, and what looks like the beginnings of bruises are forming on your arms."

"I'm sorry, honestly I am. I should have followed protocol, but I wanted to make sure Ethan was settled. I didn't want him to experience that again. It was scary, seeing his eyes go like that." Josh's eyes have welled up slightly, and Simon feels like a bad person. The man in front of him cares. He cares so much, and Simon's made him feel like his love for the kid is a bad thing. Moving towards him, he wraps his arms around Josh's shoulders, head lightly atop his own arm. The other man's arms come to rest around his waist, head pressed against Simon's shoulder.

"No, no it's okay. If I'd been there, if I'd seen what you'd seen I'd've done the same. I wasn't thinking straight."

"When are you ever?" Simon slaps the back of his head lightly, for that comment. "Genuinely though, I'm sorry I made that comment about you being like all the other social workers. You're not, you're the best I've ever seen", Simon's heart squeezes, "I was just pissed off at you."

"You had every right to be, I came in here and insulted your work ethic. I do wish you hadn't fallen asleep though, it would have been easier for everyone if we'd managed to get the story out of you last night." Simon moves away slightly, his hand trailing over the bruise that is announcing its presence on Josh's arm. "Shall we get this all registered? I don't think Ethan or Vik are up yet."

Josh smiles, a quick hug symbolic of their forgiveness occurs before he turns away to find one of the forms. Simon feels kind of bad that he kissed him now. Josh deserves everything, every cheesy little moment a romance has, exactly like the movies tells you it's meant to go. Not some act of impulse to get him to shut up, mid-argument, although isn't that a bit of a trope in and of itself? Even so, it's not quite the nicest way he could've gone about it, fantasies of all the different places he could've kissed Josh running through his mind.

He thinks the one where they're stood in the pouring rain, Josh laughing against his mouth as cool water slides down their faces, 3pm greyness overhead is his favourite.

Maybe the warming up, so to speak, when they get home in this daydream helps make it his favourite, he's not really sure.

But kissing his boss in their workplace before 7 o'clock in the morning during an argument definitely wasn't part of the plan, but it's happened, it's done, and he's just got to move on from it.