Unexpected Family Part 4
Disclaimer: It's lies, all lies I tell you
Alexandre wasn't sure he was really in the mood to be watching a movie right now. He just wanted to be left alone so he could pretend none of this was happening. That was he didn't have to deal with it, he could ignore all the calls he was getting from the team and the press. He just wanted it to all go away. His voicemail kept on calling him telling him he had messages but he didn't want to hear them. Philippe unfortunately noticed and gestured to his phone. "Someone's trying to get your attention."
"Nah, its voicemail."
"Which means someone was trying to get your attention and you ignored them."
He didn't want to have to deal with the Belgian giving him a hard time. "Spoken to your wife today?" he asked unkindly.
Philippe looked away and he felt a twinge of guilt that he stamped out ruthlessly. He hadn't invited the Belgian here, hadn't wanted company of any description so that didn't mean he had to be nice. If Philippe didn't like that then he could just go right ahead and leave again. "That was uncalled for."
He wasn't going to apologise, he wasn't, he didn't ask for any of this and that's all there was to it. If he wanted to be an asshole then he damn well would be, it had never been an issue before and just because he was injured didn't mean he should change the way he behaved for anyone. "If you don't like it you can leave."
"Is that what you want? For me to leave?" Philippe asked after a while.
The eyes watching him were watching him closely and he didn't appreciate the scrutiny. He wasn't here to be gawped at! "If you want to leave I'm not going to stop you."
There was silence that followed his words and now he did feel guilty. He tried to push it away, tried to push away the urge to take his words back and ask Philippe to stay instead. He was not going to be that pathetic now; he wasn't going to beg for company. Nobody wanted to come and see him and that was just fine with him!
After five minutes of silence the urge to break it was stronger but he was categorically not going to be apologising. No sir, he was not going to take back the words he said. They were deserved, he hadn't done anything wrong and if someone was going to be meddling in his affairs he reserved the right to tell them to butt out of them. He glanced across and Philippe and saw the Belgian looking at his hands. "So about this movie..." he said.
Philippe looked across at him and he hated that he was the reason that the pain was back in those eyes again. He might not have been responsible for it being there in the first place but he was responsible for it now. Earlier Philippe had been able to ignore it a little. It hadn't been the only thing he could think about and he had taken that away. Just because he was miserable didn't mean that everyone had to be, he supposed. "If you want me to leave I can do."
What he wanted was for Philippe never to sound like that again. The need was surprisingly strong and he wasn't quite sure where it had come from. "What I want is for you to get up off your ass and put a DVD in the player for me."
There was a moment when he thought Philippe might push the matter further but the Belgian seemed not to want to push the matter right now in case he changed his mind. He watched as Philippe crossed the room went to stand in front of his DVD collection. "What do you fancy?"
"I'm easy, you pick something."
Philippe turned his head to look at him and Alexandre saw the raised eyebrow. "You're easy? Since when?"
"Since it meant I wouldn't have to get up and go over there."
The Belgian turned back to the vast array of films and ran his finger over some of the boxes. Alexandre wondered if Philippe was always this cautious when it came to decisions of if it was because of recent events that he was taking so long. He watched his friend struggle for a few more moments and was tempted to get up and help. Then Philippe pulled out a box and turned the title in his direction. "This okay?"
"Fine."
He didn't pay any attention to the title, it really didn't matter what it was that they watched. To be honest, he wasn't really in the mood for anything but it would give him a couple of hours where Philippe couldn't nag him about what he was doing or not doing right now which would be a major bonus. He had to take advantage of things like that when he turned up else they were going to actually have a serious discussion about things he didn't want to recognise.
Disk in the player, Philippe turned on the television and came to sit down on the floor in front of him. He pushed at Philippe's head briefly and that made the Belgian turn to look at him. "Your head's in the way!"
"Well move!"
"You move!"
"I'm sitting on the floor!"
"There are plenty of other chairs available, you don't have to sit right in my way...”
"More entertaining that way."
Alexandre took that to mean he was forgiven for his harsh words. "Why are we friends again?"
"Because secretly you like my national champion jersey and you want to borrow it."
"I'm a closet Belgian?"
"Absolutely. You've got the hair for it," Philippe teased.
"You really want me to comment on your hair?"
Philippe decided at that moment to shut up and shift slightly so as not to be in the way. Alexandre felt oddly disappointed when he was forced to remove his hand. He missed Philippe being so close; it had been so long since someone had been that close to him. The opening titles for the movie came up but he didn't look away from Philippe even when the Belgian looked across at him. After a moment Philippe turned back to the film and eventually he turned his attention to what was going on in the movie.
When Alexandre woke up the room was quiet and he was alone. For a moment he couldn't work out what was going on and then he looked at the clocked. Damn it, he really needed to stop napping during the day, it wasn't helping his quest to sleep properly at night. Then again if he slept properly at night then he wouldn't be so tired during the day. Ugh, he always felt bad after a nap. He shifted just to gauge what his pain level was going to be and was surprised. Normally the sofa wasn't the best thing to be sleeping on but he obviously hadn't been asleep long enough for it to be an issue.
It took him a while but he eventually got himself up on his feet and he shuffled off in search of Philippe. It wasn't until he got to the kitchen that he realised there was a distinct lack of people in his house. It was strange, there was normally at least one other person making sure he didn't do anything stupid or burn down the house. He caught sight of Philippe sitting on the patio with a drink out of the kitchen window.
There was no reaction when he opened the door behind Philippe and swung himself out onto the patio. He should probably have shoes on but since there was nobody here to tell him off he decided he could get away with it this once. At least until he started to regret it when he stubbed his toe on one of the paving slabs or something. "You look thoughtful," he said as he eased himself down into a chair. At least they had cushions otherwise he'd be forced to stand.
Philippe didn't say anything, just sat there surveying what was left of his garden. He really was going to have to get out there and water it when he could get about a bit easier. He didn't want to look too closely before then otherwise he might start to fret about how many of his plants had died. Well he would have plenty of time to worry about that now so there was no real rush to start on it. "I tried to call Patricia but she didn't answer."
"I'm sorry."
"What if I never get to see Alan again?"
Alexandre didn't know what to say in response. He didn't think that was a likely outcome but if that's how things worked out then they would deal with it when they had to. They. He was probably being a little presumptuous given in a few days he'd most likely be on his own again. "I don't think that'll happen but if it does then you'll deal with it."
"I can't-"
He reached out and touched his friend's hand. "You can call her on my phone if you want."
"Don't think that would make me too popular."
"Oh?"
"She's not a big fan of how much time I've been spending here recently."
"You've not been here that much!"
Philippe looked at him and he felt as though his friend was searching for answers to questions that he didn't even realise had been raised. There was more to this than the Belgian was letting on but he wasn't sure if he was meant to be pushing for answers or just letting his friend tell him at his own pace.
Alexandre decided that maybe a change of topic was in mind and then he could decide what to do about that later. "Where is everybody?"
"Sent them home."
He was surprised but he wasn't sure if he should be objecting or not. "You know they're meant to be helping, right?"
"Looks like they're doing a great job!" Philippe said angrily.
"They're doing fine," Alexandre objected to the criticism. "If they weren't here then I would probably starve to death or burn the house down or something."
"If you're hungry you should have just said. I'm sure I can come up with something, though you haven't got a lot in."
"Shopping's been a bit difficult recently!" he snapped.
"It was a comment not a criticism, I'll go out later and restock your kitchen for you."
He felt odd about letting Philippe restock his kitchen for him but he couldn't work out why. It was a nice thing to do, it needed doing it and it wasn't as if he could let his guest go hungry either. Then he'd have to talk to the Belgian's agent again and he would prefer to put that off as long as possible. A hand on his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts momentarily as Philippe walked past. What the hell was going on with him? His life was in turmoil enough without him wanting to pick a fight with one of his closest friends.
Alexandre felt unsettled for the rest of the afternoon and it persisted despite his best efforts to make it go away. He hadn't thought anything of it last time Philippe had taken himself to the supermarket. Sure, it had been because he'd not had something Philippe had needed for the meal the Belgian was insisting on cooking but still, it wasn't much different from now.
Alexandre wasn't sure he was really in the mood to be watching a movie right now. He just wanted to be left alone so he could pretend none of this was happening. That was he didn't have to deal with it, he could ignore all the calls he was getting from the team and the press. He just wanted it to all go away. His voicemail kept on calling him telling him he had messages but he didn't want to hear them. Philippe unfortunately noticed and gestured to his phone. "Someone's trying to get your attention."
"Nah, its voicemail."
"Which means someone was trying to get your attention and you ignored them."
He didn't want to have to deal with the Belgian giving him a hard time. "Spoken to your wife today?" he asked unkindly.
Philippe looked away and he felt a twinge of guilt that he stamped out ruthlessly. He hadn't invited the Belgian here, hadn't wanted company of any description so that didn't mean he had to be nice. If Philippe didn't like that then he could just go right ahead and leave again. "That was uncalled for."
He wasn't going to apologise, he wasn't, he didn't ask for any of this and that's all there was to it. If he wanted to be an asshole then he damn well would be, it had never been an issue before and just because he was injured didn't mean he should change the way he behaved for anyone. "If you don't like it you can leave."
"Is that what you want? For me to leave?" Philippe asked after a while.
The eyes watching him were watching him closely and he didn't appreciate the scrutiny. He wasn't here to be gawped at! "If you want to leave I'm not going to stop you."
There was silence that followed his words and now he did feel guilty. He tried to push it away, tried to push away the urge to take his words back and ask Philippe to stay instead. He was not going to be that pathetic now; he wasn't going to beg for company. Nobody wanted to come and see him and that was just fine with him!
After five minutes of silence the urge to break it was stronger but he was categorically not going to be apologising. No sir, he was not going to take back the words he said. They were deserved, he hadn't done anything wrong and if someone was going to be meddling in his affairs he reserved the right to tell them to butt out of them. He glanced across and Philippe and saw the Belgian looking at his hands. "So about this movie..." he said.
Philippe looked across at him and he hated that he was the reason that the pain was back in those eyes again. He might not have been responsible for it being there in the first place but he was responsible for it now. Earlier Philippe had been able to ignore it a little. It hadn't been the only thing he could think about and he had taken that away. Just because he was miserable didn't mean that everyone had to be, he supposed. "If you want me to leave I can do."
What he wanted was for Philippe never to sound like that again. The need was surprisingly strong and he wasn't quite sure where it had come from. "What I want is for you to get up off your ass and put a DVD in the player for me."
There was a moment when he thought Philippe might push the matter further but the Belgian seemed not to want to push the matter right now in case he changed his mind. He watched as Philippe crossed the room went to stand in front of his DVD collection. "What do you fancy?"
"I'm easy, you pick something."
Philippe turned his head to look at him and Alexandre saw the raised eyebrow. "You're easy? Since when?"
"Since it meant I wouldn't have to get up and go over there."
The Belgian turned back to the vast array of films and ran his finger over some of the boxes. Alexandre wondered if Philippe was always this cautious when it came to decisions of if it was because of recent events that he was taking so long. He watched his friend struggle for a few more moments and was tempted to get up and help. Then Philippe pulled out a box and turned the title in his direction. "This okay?"
"Fine."
He didn't pay any attention to the title, it really didn't matter what it was that they watched. To be honest, he wasn't really in the mood for anything but it would give him a couple of hours where Philippe couldn't nag him about what he was doing or not doing right now which would be a major bonus. He had to take advantage of things like that when he turned up else they were going to actually have a serious discussion about things he didn't want to recognise.
Disk in the player, Philippe turned on the television and came to sit down on the floor in front of him. He pushed at Philippe's head briefly and that made the Belgian turn to look at him. "Your head's in the way!"
"Well move!"
"You move!"
"I'm sitting on the floor!"
"There are plenty of other chairs available, you don't have to sit right in my way...”
"More entertaining that way."
Alexandre took that to mean he was forgiven for his harsh words. "Why are we friends again?"
"Because secretly you like my national champion jersey and you want to borrow it."
"I'm a closet Belgian?"
"Absolutely. You've got the hair for it," Philippe teased.
"You really want me to comment on your hair?"
Philippe decided at that moment to shut up and shift slightly so as not to be in the way. Alexandre felt oddly disappointed when he was forced to remove his hand. He missed Philippe being so close; it had been so long since someone had been that close to him. The opening titles for the movie came up but he didn't look away from Philippe even when the Belgian looked across at him. After a moment Philippe turned back to the film and eventually he turned his attention to what was going on in the movie.
When Alexandre woke up the room was quiet and he was alone. For a moment he couldn't work out what was going on and then he looked at the clocked. Damn it, he really needed to stop napping during the day, it wasn't helping his quest to sleep properly at night. Then again if he slept properly at night then he wouldn't be so tired during the day. Ugh, he always felt bad after a nap. He shifted just to gauge what his pain level was going to be and was surprised. Normally the sofa wasn't the best thing to be sleeping on but he obviously hadn't been asleep long enough for it to be an issue.
It took him a while but he eventually got himself up on his feet and he shuffled off in search of Philippe. It wasn't until he got to the kitchen that he realised there was a distinct lack of people in his house. It was strange, there was normally at least one other person making sure he didn't do anything stupid or burn down the house. He caught sight of Philippe sitting on the patio with a drink out of the kitchen window.
There was no reaction when he opened the door behind Philippe and swung himself out onto the patio. He should probably have shoes on but since there was nobody here to tell him off he decided he could get away with it this once. At least until he started to regret it when he stubbed his toe on one of the paving slabs or something. "You look thoughtful," he said as he eased himself down into a chair. At least they had cushions otherwise he'd be forced to stand.
Philippe didn't say anything, just sat there surveying what was left of his garden. He really was going to have to get out there and water it when he could get about a bit easier. He didn't want to look too closely before then otherwise he might start to fret about how many of his plants had died. Well he would have plenty of time to worry about that now so there was no real rush to start on it. "I tried to call Patricia but she didn't answer."
"I'm sorry."
"What if I never get to see Alan again?"
Alexandre didn't know what to say in response. He didn't think that was a likely outcome but if that's how things worked out then they would deal with it when they had to. They. He was probably being a little presumptuous given in a few days he'd most likely be on his own again. "I don't think that'll happen but if it does then you'll deal with it."
"I can't-"
He reached out and touched his friend's hand. "You can call her on my phone if you want."
"Don't think that would make me too popular."
"Oh?"
"She's not a big fan of how much time I've been spending here recently."
"You've not been here that much!"
Philippe looked at him and he felt as though his friend was searching for answers to questions that he didn't even realise had been raised. There was more to this than the Belgian was letting on but he wasn't sure if he was meant to be pushing for answers or just letting his friend tell him at his own pace.
Alexandre decided that maybe a change of topic was in mind and then he could decide what to do about that later. "Where is everybody?"
"Sent them home."
He was surprised but he wasn't sure if he should be objecting or not. "You know they're meant to be helping, right?"
"Looks like they're doing a great job!" Philippe said angrily.
"They're doing fine," Alexandre objected to the criticism. "If they weren't here then I would probably starve to death or burn the house down or something."
"If you're hungry you should have just said. I'm sure I can come up with something, though you haven't got a lot in."
"Shopping's been a bit difficult recently!" he snapped.
"It was a comment not a criticism, I'll go out later and restock your kitchen for you."
He felt odd about letting Philippe restock his kitchen for him but he couldn't work out why. It was a nice thing to do, it needed doing it and it wasn't as if he could let his guest go hungry either. Then he'd have to talk to the Belgian's agent again and he would prefer to put that off as long as possible. A hand on his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts momentarily as Philippe walked past. What the hell was going on with him? His life was in turmoil enough without him wanting to pick a fight with one of his closest friends.
Alexandre felt unsettled for the rest of the afternoon and it persisted despite his best efforts to make it go away. He hadn't thought anything of it last time Philippe had taken himself to the supermarket. Sure, it had been because he'd not had something Philippe had needed for the meal the Belgian was insisting on cooking but still, it wasn't much different from now.