Chapter Text
Bill couldn’t believe what Frank had done.
He’d invited strangers- interlopers- into their private sanctuary. It didn’t matter if this woman on the radio seemed nice or trustworthy, people were liars! Frank was too kind for his own good, and it was left to Bill to be the voice of reason. Who knows what kind of danger they were going to bring with them? They were strangers and they couldn’t be trusted.
But all his warnings fell on deaf ears because here he was, watching from a safe but shootable distance as Frank let the strangers through the gate.
A man and a woman.
They were both armed, average-to-tall height, and seemed like they could hold their own in a fight. The woman was smiling as she greeted Frank, but that could easily be a ruse. The man beside her kept a neutral expression, his eyes hard and unreadable. Bill couldn’t tell if they were a couple or not. It didn’t matter, not really, but he liked to know what he was dealing with in a given situation. Before he could say otherwise, Frank was guiding them over, filling their ears with some welcoming nonsense.
“And this is my partner, Bill,” his partner finished, gesturing at him with a wide smile. Bill just scowled at them all, but the woman reached out her hand anyway.
“It’s great to meet you, you’ve got a truly wonderful place here,” she said, her blue-gray eyes sparkling, “I’m sure Frank told you, but my name is Tess. And this is Joel.”
He didn’t move to take her hand, he just stared suspiciously at her, and then at her partner.
Frank gave him a disapproving look, but Bill just shrugged his shoulders. He was exasperated with his partner and overwhelmed with the idea that something dangerous would envelop the haven they’d carefully constructed, and Frank was taking it so damn lightly.
The woman dropped her hand and glanced back at Frank for an explanation.
“He’s touchy around new folks-”
“I’m not touchy! And we shouldn’t even be meeting new folks these days-”
His words died in his mouth at Frank’s fallen expression. He looked so disappointed.
Damn him.
“Sorry- I uh…” he tried clearing his throat, and then shuffled his feet awkwardly, “This is new for me. You understand…”
The strangers watched him fidget– the woman wore a mildly curious expression, while the man remained stone faced, his eyes narrowing just slightly as he eyed Bill up and down.
Finally, the woman spoke again. “It’s new for all of us,” she said graciously, keeping her tone light, “I appreciate you letting us in. I think we have a great opportunity here.”
“Yes, we do,” Frank added, jumping back in. He stepped between Bill and the others, resting a hand on his shoulder when he got close, “Let’s head over to our place so we can have a proper chat.”
He gave Bill’s shoulder a final squeeze and turned to lead them down the street to their yard. Bill eyed the pair warily as they fell in behind Frank. They moved in tandem and stood close together, but not too close. They hadn’t touched each other once, yet they seemed constantly aware of each other’s presence. He deduced that even if they weren't together romantically, they'd been working together for a while. The thought made Bill even more wary, because it meant that he wasn't dealing with greenhorns here: they were an experienced team.
“I’m still finishing up lunch,” Frank said, leading them across the lawn, “Would you two like to shower before we eat? I’m not sure how things are in the Boston quarantine zone, but we have plenty of hot water here.”
“That would be amazing-” the woman started, earning a pointed look from her partner. It was the first time he’d shown any real emotion since their arrival, and he looked disgruntled.
“Tess-”
“- but only if you’re sure. We don’t want to put you out.”
“I insist. Trust me, I remember what it was like in the Baltimore QZ, we were lucky to get it lukewarm once a week.”
“You sure?” the man asked, turning away from the woman to address Frank directly. Now he looked slightly uncomfortable, but the promise of a hot shower seemed to be wearing him down. Bill could see a flicker of hope in the man’s eyes, even though he was trying to hide it.
Bill cleared his throat.
“Actually, I think it’d be best if you-” but no one was listening to him. His partner rested a hand on his upper arm again and gave a single squeeze that translated to please, Bill, please.
To the pair in front of them, Frank just nodded and gave another winning smile.
“We’re positive. Please, we have more shampoo than we’d need in two lifetimes. Follow me.”
“Thank you,” the woman said sincerely, already gathering up her bag to follow Frank, “This is more than we were expecting, but we’re not gonna say no.”
“It’s no trouble at all, follow me,” Frank said, giving the pair a warm smile. He met Bill’s eyes as he turned toward the house and Bill tried to convey a warning of you better not leave them alone in there, but Frank just winked at him and pulled away.
He waved the woman towards their front door, already chattering on about the bottles of shower gel they still had, even after all these years. The man was slower to move, but he gathered his backpack and moved to follow Frank and the woman inside. Before turning his back, he met Bill’s suspicious gaze again.
“We really appreciate it,” he said, his Texan drawl growing stronger as he tried to perform the polite niceties of the Old World, “We’ll shower together. Save you the hot water.”
Ah, so a romantic couple then. Interesting.
Somehow, Bill was able to restrain himself from commenting further. It took every bit of his self-control, but he managed to not charge upstairs and sit outside the bathroom, gun loaded and ready, until the pair emerged. It broke every one of his instincts to allow the intruders out of his sight– in his own home no less!
But then he thought of Frank, and how much this meant to him, and that was enough to get him to take a deep breath, holster his gun, and head inside to the kitchen to work on the salad that Frank had suggested he make.
The woman came downstairs first, her light brown hair still damp from the shower, and offered to help carry some of the food or the table settings outside to the patio. Bill grimaced at the thought of her getting close to a knife while his back was turned. He was about to snap at her, but Frank swooped in to save the moment once again, gently guiding her away to help “pick out the wine”, as if he and Bill hadn’t already discussed what bottle they’d be pairing with the meal.
Before he knew it, all four of them were seated outside at a patio table, trying to remember how to behave in new company, and acting as if eating al fresco in the middle of a well-maintained garden was something they did all the time. The man kept staring at him from across the table, and Bill wasn’t sure if it was because he was trying to size him up for a fight or if he was just as confused as himself by this whole charade and was hoping to find an answer on Bill’s face.
Well, the fucker was out of luck in either case. Bill could easily take him in a fight, and he could offer no easy answer as to why his partner thought this was a good idea.
“Can I just say, gun aside- which I get by the way- how nice this is, to have a civilized meal in such a beautiful place?” the woman, Tess, said. She sounded genuine, but of course she’d be grateful for a fresh, home cooked meal– it didn’t mean that she and her partner wouldn’t stab them in the back the first moment they got, “I want to thank you, even if we don’t end up working together.”
“We are working together,” Frank responded immediately, lifting his wine glass to toast with the woman, “We are.”
Bill just shook his head and grimaced. His better half was too trusting, too fast. And as much as their “guests” claimed to be cautious people themselves, and that they understand Bill’s concern, they seemed pretty quick to trust him and Frank. They’d survived the apocalypse this long, but Bill wasn’t sure how. What were their jobs before the Old World fell? They seemed young. The man was probably only 10 years his junior, somewhere in his mid-forties probably, but the woman seemed another 10 years younger than her partner, likely upper 30’s. They clearly weren’t kids, but Bill felt like he was playing the part of the disapproving father who wouldn’t allow the children to have a sleepover even after they’d promised to be good.
As if picking up on his thoughts, Frank doubled down and suddenly looked back at Tess with a giddy expression, “You know what? Let’s go back inside, Tess, I want to show you something!”
Bill almost choked on his wine. “No, not inside again. No- Frank!”
It was too late. His happy partner was already leading the young woman away, leaving Bill face to face with her more sullen partner.
The man, Joel, didn’t seem pleased to be left alone with Bill either. He didn’t seem nervous or threatened by the situation, or by Bill. He also didn’t appear openly hostile, even with his more civil partner out of ear shot. He mostly seemed uncomfortable with the whole situation.
“I understand,” he said, breaking the silence that Bill had been willing to let linger until their partners returned. He glanced up at Bill, dark brown eyes holding his own for just a moment before glancing back down at his food.
“If my uh…” he paused, chewing another bite as he struggled to find the word he wanted, “if mine brought strangers into our situation, I wouldn’t be happy either.”
Apparently there was no room for sentimental words in his world. He was unable or unwilling to define his relationship with the woman, Tess. Clearly they had a physical relationship, hence the shower, and a trusting partnership if they’d been working together for a few years, but Joel didn’t seem capable of defining their emotional relationship.
So it was complicated. Bill could respect that. What the other man failed to realize was that saying mine was enough for Bill to understand. He pitied them a little, but he understood. Not everyone was lucky enough to find a Frank in these apocalyptic times. Someone so full of kindness and love that of course you’d want to scream 'he’s my loving partner, I love him and for some reason he loves me', at anyone who passed by.
But at the end of the day, it wasn’t his problem whether these two strangers admitted their feelings or not. There were much bigger things to worry about.
He scowled and met Joel’s questioning gaze.
“Maybe you are decent people, maybe you’re not. Doesn’t matter. We’re self-sufficient here. I don’t need you, or your friend, complicating our lives. Is that clear?”
***
Apparently it wasn’t clear because, unfortunately, Joel and Tess kept coming back for the next decade of their lives.