Chapter 9: The Boys are Back in Town / Chapter 10: Past vs. Present

Xander is paid a surprise visit by his childhood friends, who are currently in town in hopes of catching up. However, Hank can't help but feel a little jealous.

Chapter 9: The Boys are Back in Town:

All his life, Xander was known to approach almost every task with pure unbridled alacrity, but right now, he felt only fear regarding his current circumstances. For someone who seemed so optimistic and dripping with chutzpah on the outside, he could sometimes be rather skeptical in the face of the unknown. Unlike Hank, who had grown up surrounded by danger and thus was afraid of virtually nothing, he was unweathered by the world�"practically a child, in fact. He'd spent most of his life living relatively normally, and the lowest point in his almost forty years on earth had been a short span of time when he was unemployed and still living with his father. Practically nothing compared to swearing an oath to an organized crime syndicate.

Why was poor Xander so nervous? Today marked the first time he would work a shift as a server at Mary & Maxwell's. After Hank had proven himself to be a more than capable chef, it was decided that the two would take turns swapping between cooking and bussing. It was still early on in the shift, so he was given the chance to relax for a bit; if only he could bring himself to do that. Xander just stood there frozen by the serving window, scanning the room before him like it was a hundred-foot drop. He was overthinking and second guessing everything. Did the ink on his arms make him look too intimidating? Were there sweat stains on his Hawaiian shirt? Would people willingly eat food served to them by a guy with facial hair? Fortunately, he wouldn't have to ponder for answers any longer as he felt the cliff in front of him break off, plummeting into the abyss. It could only be a matter of time before he would be out of his misery.

It was only the sound of a dinging kitchen bell that brought him back to reality. He turned around to see Hank placing a couple of finished orders onto the sill. One appeared to be a footlong sandwich loaded with tender ribbons of broth-soaked steak, caramelized onions, mushrooms, and green peppers, topped with melted sakura cheese and served with curly sweet potato fries. The other looked like a standard cheeseburger, its patty looking juicier than the average burger, containing visible herbs and onions and being coated in a red glaze. A cup of gravy was served on the side, alongside some lightly seasoned blue potato waffle fries.

"Order up." Hank nodded, immediately turning around to get back to work.

Gulping once more, Xander quietly took it to the table whose number matched the one on the tray. Along the way, he spotted a few nearly empty water and soda glasses, which he subconsciously reminded himself to refill later, as well as a strawberry-blonde woman who briefly stopped by the maitre'd and looked around, before shrugging and exiting the building. He took a deep breath as he stopped by the desired table.

"Alrighty then, we have one gyudon cheesesteak, and one meatloaf burger," he said, his voice polite yet cheerful at the same time. "Enjoy!"

"Thank you, sir," the male customer replied as his girlfriend nodded.

Xander quietly sighed in relief as he turned away, pleased at how good of a job he was doing thus far. Maybe those quiet, nagging doubts had been all for nothing.

"Xander?"

He found himself frozen again at the sound of his name. It wasn't the voice of anyone he'd talked to recently, so why would they know what he went by? Had they read his server tag? It had to have been that, it just had to. Cautiously, he turned around to see three men his age smiling at him. The bespectacled one at the front of the pack had thick, curly black hair, including some on his lower face, a white yarmulka bobby-pinned on top of his head. A skinny Indian man stood nearby, sporting an open hoodie over a wife-beater, and hair gelled into spikes. Accompanying them both was a tall, chiseled man in a Denver Broncos jersey, with light brown hair and black hyphens painted under his eyes. Xander could've sworn he recognized all three of these guys; two of them from personal experiences, and the other from his appearances on TV.

"Er, Chris? Is that you?" he asked.

"Who else, dude?" the Jewish man replied, stepping over to hug him.

"And no question that's Sharif as well."

"The one and only," the Indian man chuckled, slapping a hand onto his back.

"Heh, how could I forget about my two childhood friends?" Xander laughed as well, feeling much more relaxed than at the start of his shift. "Only one of you I don't know personally is the jock over here."

"Oh, he's not that jock-ish. But yeah, he's my husband, Lucius Van Dyke," Chris replied as the buff man shook his friend's hand.

"You probably know me as the quarterback for the Broncos… assuming you're into sports," Lucius explained. "Still boggles my mind how Montana still doesn't have its own NFL team in twenty-f****n'-fifty."

"Oh yeah, right." Xander nodded. "But wow, Chris. You managed to get with a big-shot like him?"

"Hey now, he's a big-shot too. Nation-renowned lawyer, most known for working on behalf of Maria Giovanni's victims."

"Wha…?!" Soon as he heard that name, Hank quickly looked up from his precision-based task in the kitchen, miraculously not cutting himself whilst doing so. Stepping away from his station, he cautiously walked over to the serving window and watched the four guys chat.

"But yeah, the rest of us have been keeping in touch for decades now. Sharif got my number through our parents, and I met Lucius back in high school," Chris explained.

"Last we heard, you and your dad had moved up here to Burlington, so we thought we'd start searching here," Sharif added. "We were just stopping here for a bite, and we had no idea we'd find you here too."

"Huh, well I'm glad to see you all regardless." Xander smiled, now a lot more relaxed. "God knows how much catching up we have to do."

"Ahem," Hank cleared his throat as he power-walked over to the group. "Look, I hate to break up this touchin' reunion, but we got customers to serve here."

"Oh, um, my apologies, Hank. So, would you three like a table?"

"Sure thing, dude." Lucius nodded.

Hank said nothing more as he headed back to the kitchen, refilling some water and soda glasses in Xander's place along the way, while the latter busied himself seating his childhood friends in one of the booths.

"Feel free to join us upstairs after closing time, okay?" Xander said.

The three new guys just nodded in response.

---

That evening, chatter and laughter filled the Lloyds' apartment, which was significantly more rowdy than usual, even with two growing babies living there, no thanks to Chris, Lucius, and Sharif hanging out there for supper with the quasi-dysfunctional family. Monica seemingly had no problem with this surprise setup; she was always willing to meet new people, especially ones associated with the guys she slept with. Mary, on the other hand, wasn't too thrilled, but she allowed it anyway; she was just glad that they didn't share the building with anyone else, so they wouldn't have to worry about complaints from neighbors.

Amidst all the vocalizing, there was also a rhythm-less percussion coming from the clattering dinnerware in the kitchen and living room as everyone chowed down. Tonight's supper was made up of several platters piled high with banana and plantain chips; about half of them were topped with ropa vieja, while the rest were topped with piccadillo, but regardless, every last batch was finished off with manchego cheese sauce, pico de gallo, and fresh cilantro.

"…so then I got that phone call, saying I was about to be a dad, and the next thing I knew, I was running like Cold Blood was hunting me down," Xander wrapped up his story, glancing lovingly at the bouncing baby boy in his arms.

"Huh… well once again, congratulations," Chris replied. "I'm certainly happy for you."

"Not to mention the chick who was willing to give it up for you. She's practically a walking Viagra pill." Lucius briefly looked over at Monica, who was busy getting started on the dishes. He promptly received a nudge from his husband in response. "What? I already said we could have kids once I get too old to run the field."

"And when would that be, exactly?"

"I dunno, when do football players usually retire? It's gotta be pretty young, right?"

"Have to say, it's really nice to meet you guys," Monica chimed in, picking up some of the emptied platters.

"Yeah, we had no idea you guys could put so much away." Mary followed suit.

"Yeah, well blame the pro athlete," Sharif chuckled. "But seriously, these Cuban nachos are really good."

"Good to hear. Now how would you three like to polish off the last of 'em?"

"Depends. Are they the ones with the ground or shredded beef?" Lucius asked.

"Ground," Monica replied.

"Eh, nevermind then."

"I know I've said this a lot today, but it's really nice to see you all again," Xander said. "But, uh, if I recall correctly, Sharif was never this chatty."

"Well, you can't exactly get through life saying nothing," Sharif replied. "I'd say the change happened right around high school, when I realized that staying quiet was getting me in trouble more often than not."

"Ah."

"Heh, and he had to learn his lesson twice." Chris sneered.

For the rest of the evening, everyone spent that time mostly chatting among themselves. Mary and Monica finished doing the dishes and took the time to better acquaint themselves with Xander's old friends. Leopold roamed around, sniffing for scraps and occasionally getting a petting from someone. Even Hank got into the conversation, not being so shy that he refused to meet new people; and he even willingly disclosed his backstory when asked, which quickly managed to spark more interest in him.

Sadly for him, he found it pretty hard to relate to them; he didn't think they were unlikable by any means, but it was certainly clear why they were Xander's friends. They were all easygoing, good-natured, ordinary people just like him, never having struggled at all and being blessed with perfectly normal backgrounds. Then again, maybe that's why they seemed so excited to learn about him and the miserable life he'd led up until he met Monica. It was all kind of sad, really. He knew he couldn't blame them for their good childhoods, but he also knew he couldn't blame himself for what had happened to him as a child. Nonetheless, finding someone else unrelatable was usually a huge obstacle when it came to becoming their friend.

It took until around ten, but eventually the old gang cleared out, leaving the apartment and the family living there more or less the same as they were before the visit. Hank couldn't complain, always happy to get some peace and quiet. Plus, even if these new people did turn out to be nice, having too many of them around did not help his anxiety. After helping the others clean up the last of the party's mess, he tucked Morty in without much trouble and crashed in his own bedroom, savoring the feeling of the silky covers engulfing his shirtless body.

But like just about everything else he'd experienced since moving in with the Lloyds, a small nagging part of him knew there would more to it than at face value.

*****

Chapter 10: Past vs. Present:

It wasn't every day when Monica was the first one to wake up, but today was one of those rare exceptions. Usually it would be Hank or Xander to get up before everyone else, whether it be due to the former's ingrained alertness and military-esque upbringing, or the latter's abject eagerness to greet every new day with a smile. And even more rarely, Mary would get up at the crack of dawn to take advantage of the early morning weather and go for a light jog. But this morning, the twins seemed to be a little more antsy than usual and woke up their mother. A predictable consequence of sharing a bedroom, but now was not the time to complain or play the victim.

Monica sat on the couch in the deserted living room, her half-ponytail untidy and her paisley-patterned pajama top unbuttoned as one of her sons each sucked on one n****e. She stared lovingly down at the both of them, still awestruck at the sight of the two beautiful little angels she'd conceived. Soon enough, she craned her head back up, shut her eyes and leaned back, relaxing as the twins had their lactose-laden breakfast… only to immediately tense up as she felt a sharp prick on one of her breasts, which had come from Scott.

"Yowch! I forgot they start teething at six months! From now on, we're switching to bottles, alright boys?" she said, before she heard a beeping sound from her phone, eliciting a series of deafening barks from Leopold. Checking it revealed footage from the security camera just outside the restaurant door downstairs, where three familiar men were standing around. "Ugh, now of all times? Least they could do is let me put on a bra first."

Despite her protests, she chose to let the guys in anyway. Placing the boys into their playpen, she tapped on the screen to unlock the door into the restaurant, buttoning her flannel top as she stood ready by the apartment door.

"Mornin'," Chris chirped as the three came in.

"Monica, was it?" Sharif asked.

"Correct." Monica nodded. "Now what brings you three here so early?"

"We apologize for waking you, but we wanted Xander to show us around town before it gets too hot out," Lucius explained.

"What's goin' on out here?" In came Hank, slouching his shoulders with a yawn. Even though he was an early riser, he loathed it when he couldn't wake up voluntarily.

"Hey, uh, Hank was it?" Sharif gave a hesitant wave.

"Who wants to know?"

"Well, we wanted Xander to-" Lucius was cut off by his husband.

"Don't repeat yourself. But yeah, we just wanted to see Xander again," Chris explained.

"Now could you please go get him, for me?" Monica gave her baby-daddy a patronizing look.

"Fine," Hank grunted as he crept up the stairs.

---

Fortunately, his mood did manage to improve as the day went on. Soon after sending Xander out to show his childhood friends around, he managed to squeeze in another couple hours of sleep and get some breakfast into his system, making sure it included a lot of calcium in order to assist his spine. It also helped that the other guys were exploring Burlington pretty much all day, and had even taken Scott out with them, allowing him a rare day of peace and quiet.

Things only went sour once the afternoon rolled around. Mary & Maxwell's had just ended its breakfast shift and wouldn't reopen until later in the evening, which meant everyone was now free to rest up and goof off for a few hours. Monica opened the dishwasher, caught by surprise as the steam fogged up her glasses, before fumbling around to empty it. Mary power-napped in her room once again, while Hank sat on the couch, staring glumly at the paused television.

"Hank, you've been staring at that screen for almost an hour. What's the deal?" Monica spoke up, wiping some remaining condensation off a baby bottle.

"Eh, not much. It's just that Xander and I usually like to sit 'ere an' make fun a'telenovelas around this time," Hank explained. "Neither of us know a lotta Spanish, so we like to ad-lib the characters' lines an' assume we know what they're sayin'."

"Oh, I take it you're upset that Xander's out with his friends?"

Hank nodded.

"Well as much as I'd love to sympathize with you, I'm afraid you need to cut him some slack. These are close friends of his that he hasn't seen in decades; it's perfectly understandable that he'd be excited to see them again. Especially since they're only staying up here for a few days."

"If ya' say so…"

"Whew! Welp, we're back!" Xander chirped, abruptly barging into the apartment with baby in hand. "Hope you guys didn't miss me too much!"

"Frankly, I almost forgot you were gone," Monica snarked.

"Ah, you. Well guys, it's been a fun day, but I need a breather. Responsibilities at home, y'know?"

"Eh, it's cool." Sharif shrugged, he and the others having followed him upstairs.

"The rest of us are a little tired ourselves," Lucius added.

"But boy was it worth it," Chris butt in excitedly. "We toured the town, bought a few souvenirs, went to The Spin-Off, and we even managed to win some tickets to the Lake Monsters' game!"

"Oh yeah, we did. Guess we can head there tonight then?" Xander queried, reentering the room after changing his son.

"Ohhhh no, you're not!" Mary barked back, coming into the living room as well. "Today's your turn to work the night shift, remember? Hank, you too."

"Aw man, that's right."

"It's okay. The game's actually tomorrow night," Sharif corrected him.

"Cool. I wouldn't mind comin' along too," Hank interjected from the couch.

"Ooh sorry… but, uh, we only got four."

"And we intended to spend our last night together before we all leave," Lucius said.

"Tell you what? The game ends relatively early, so once it's over, we'll swing on by and pick you up so we can eat out together," Xander suggested.

"Fine," Hank simply replied, not in the mood to kick off a shouting match.

---

Unfortunately for him, his fellow co-parent failed to uphold his end of the bargain. He knew Xander could be rather absentminded at times, but at least his heart was always in the correct position. But this? This seemed so unlike him. Hank seriously doubted he'd just forgotten his promise. No, he believed he was actively and intentionally screwing with him, not wanting to share the air with him because of his vastly superior friend group.

Speaking of whom, after the game, they headed out to a sports bar without sparing Hank a shred of a thought, huddled together in a rounded booth as they ate like savages, chatting and laughing amongst themselves and occasionally glancing at that night's postgame coverage on the flatscreen above the nearby bar.

"…and so I captioned it, 'When your mom's giving you the sex talk, but you're a closeted homosexual so more than half of what she's saying doesn't apply'," Chris laughed along with his buddies.

"Heh, classic! But yeah, hanging out with you guys has been great," Xander said, taking a sip of his beer. "Makes me wonder why we ever stopped."

"Don't you remember? It all happened shortly after Eli died. That's when things started to go awry," Sharif explained.

"Yeah, cause my family moved to Kicksburg shortly after middle school ended." Chris nodded.

"…which is where you met me." Lucius smirked.

"Indeed. And if I recall correctly, you moved to Burlington alongside your dad two years after that."

"How's he doing, by the way?" Sharif replied.

"Eh, he's alright. Good shape, good health, and all that, but he doesn't have infinite wealth. So I moved out after he retired, so he could live comfortably," Xander explained. "Thank god I managed to f**k my way into Monica's life, otherwise I'd be completely lost."

"Then again, who wouldn't wanna go to bed with her?"

"But apparently you weren't the only one who did that," Chris added.

"Yeah, what about that other guy? Hank, was it?" Lucius chimed in.

"Yeah, Hank- wait a minute! Oh s**t, I forgot!" Xander suddenly freaked out, checking his watch. "Damn it, I'm so stupid! I promised him I'd let him join us for dinner!"

"What a bummer. I wouldn't have minded getting to know him better."

"I-I gotta go!"

Soon after he bolted out of the restaurant, the other guys just blinked in his wake.

"Er… last I checked, he's the designated driver tonight," Chris said.

"Let's just hope he didn't take the car," Sharif replied calmly, only to abruptly stand up. "…I'd better check the lot, just to be sure."

---

Little did he know that his friend had chosen to run all the way home, not caring that it was raining heavily outside, and not stopping no matter how short of breath he became, nor how much his legs ached. He only slowed to a jog when he finally came across a street he was familiar with, and then to a brisk stroll once Mary & Maxwell's entered his peripheral vision. When he got there, he found the lights in the dining area dimmed. There were no customers present, but he did notice Mary roaming around, refilling the last of the salt and pepper shakers on the tables. Hesitantly, he opened the door, immediately drawing a look of abject scorn from her.

"Hope you're happy, Xander," she grunted with a shake of the head.

"Huh?" Xander gasped back, in mid-pant.

"You just up and broke poor Hank's heart. He was looking forward to spending the evening with you and your friends, but your amnesiac a*s forgot to bring him along!"

"I'm sorry, Ms. Lloyd! Really, I-"

"Save it. I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." Mary finished her task and started walking over to the light switch. "He's upstairs, and he's currently asleep. Probably not wise to wake him right now."

---

Xander nodded and slumped up the two flights of stairs, relieved that nobody else was up to talk down to him. He already knew he'd screwed up pretty badly, so it wasn't necessary to have everyone around him tell him things he'd already figured out. Turning on the lamp in his room so he could see while getting ready for bed, the first thing he noticed was a folded-up note on his nightstand. He cautiously stepped over to open it, and began to read it.

Dear Xander,

I know I should be chewing you out right now because of your failure to keep your promise, but I got tired of waiting up for you, and I don't want to overdo it with the sass due to not getting enough sleep. Plus, I know you're not the most responsible person out there, so I figured I'd cut you just a teeny bit of slack. I should be used to these mistakes of yours, by now.

So instead, I just want you to know that you're off the hook for now… but there will be payback at some point. Nothing that'll hurt you, but it will certainly feel like payback.

Sincerely,

Hank Russo.

Xander sighed to himself, relieved that his friend wouldn't give him hell for his mistakes, but the thought of him getting back at him did little to soothe his nerves. He tried to tune it out as he finished his nighttime routine and climbed into bed, but the thought of a delayed reprimanding was enough to keep him metaphorically on his toes for the rest of the night.