Notes: I think the moment I realized the true extent of my obsession for Magnificent Seven was the moment a ‘plot bunny’ was hatched while channel surfing and hearing the quote below on an episode of The Brady Bunch. Insanity is tricky that way...

Warning: It's an angst-athon with a somewhat fragile Vin and a tired, cranky Chris.

Webmaster Note This story was previously hosted at another website and was moved to blackraptor in July 2012.

“When everybody leaves and nobody says good-bye, that ain’t love.”

~~ Bobby Brady, The Brady Bunch

Chris Larabee slowed his vehicle to a stop in the heavy snow that hid his driveway. Something between a groan and a curse accompanied his slamming the truck into park and, grabbing the packages beside him, he climbed out into the frigid air. Hurrying as much as he could, he made his way to the back door of his home. Opening the door, he was hit with a blast of over-heated air. That was the last straw.

It was Friday night after a painfully long week that had been the end of an incredibly long month. His team had put in more overtime in the past four weeks than they normally did in six months. He had sent the rest of his team home at five pm, threatening them with severe consequences if they dared to even think of work until Monday afternoon. It wasn’t enough time, he knew that, but it would have to do for now.

As for himself, he had stayed on for several hours after the others had left, wrapping up more paperwork. Vin had been the most difficult to get out the door, his young partner wanting to stay and help. But Vin needed the rest more than any of them; he had been injured twice, albeit not seriously, during the past few weeks. He still had headaches from a concussion, leaving him too often on the ragged edge emotionally.

Chris knew that Vin needed to be treated patiently right now. He knew his young lover tended to be cold-natured; was often cold when the rest of them were comfortable. Larabee knew this, but, right now he had his own headache, his own sense of exhaustion, and had just lost his grip on the end of his rope.

Dropping the packages to the counter as he passed through the kitchen, he stormed down the hallway. Stopping at the thermostat, he shoved the gauge back from 80 to 70, and continued toward the living room.

“Vin!”

Crossing the threshold into the room, he found the television playing – to his throbbing senses at any rate – too loudly. Even worse, Tanner was watching TVLand, which spit out the brain-candy of three or four decades ago. Grabbing up the remote on the coffee table, he hit ‘mute’ and turned to the couch. His lover lay curled up under an afghan, his face turned away from the room.

“Tanner, what the hell’s wrong with you? It’s like a fucking sauna in here! And can’t you watch something that at least attempts to program for people with a brain? Jesus, I swear I’m going to lock off the thermostat and block this damn channel.”

“Go ahead,” the whispered reply came from the depths of the cushions. The lean body unwrapped itself from the blankets and off the couch. Not even looking at the short tempered blond, Vin pushed past and hurriedly exited the room.

Chris stared after the other man, his anger still clouding his mind. Chest heaving from his out of proportion emotions, he shot a glare into the dark hallway. He stood for several moments, almost afraid to move. The rational part of his mind knew he was being ridiculous, but his own ragged emotions seemed to be in charge. With a growl, he stomped back down the hall and into the kitchen. The groceries he had picked up on the way home took the brunt of his need to blow off steam as he stored them away. Yanking a beer from the refrigerator, he popped the tab and proceeded to down its contents.

Tossing the can into the trash, he leaned his hands against the counter and dropped his head. Several deep breaths later, he cursed. “Shit.”

Straightening up, he moved back through the house once more, this time at a normal pace. Going to the bedroom he and Vin had shared for over six months, he found it empty. Checking the bathroom and returning to the living room, he still couldn’t locate the younger man. When he found the den empty as well, he knew that Vin had retreated to the guest room. The room he had used frequently in the months they had only admitted to being friends.

“Damn it.”

Knocking softly at the closed door, he cracked it open, calling softly, “Vin?”

“I’m tired, Chris. I’d like to go to sleep.”

“You’re in the wrong room,” he tried to make light of the situation.

“Not for tonight I ain’t.”

“Vin – “

“Night Chris.”

With a sigh, the blond closed the door, leaning his hands and forehead against the wood. Then, he moved through the house; turning off lights and locking doors, he finally retreated to the big master bedroom. It seemed a lot bigger as he slid beneath the cool sheets. Drifting to a restless sleep, he quickly found himself dreaming of the man who should have been curled up next to him.

He wasn’t certain what had wakened him, but he opened his eyes to find Vin standing next to the bed, dressed only in his boxers. He reached out a hand, but it wasn’t taken by the other man. “Vin – “

“Just wanted to come say I’m sorry,” the voice was soft, the emotions raw. “Didn’t mean to make you so mad. Look, I can’t sleep knowin’ I pissed you off.”

Chris pushed himself up on the bed, leaning against the headboard. Scrubbing a hand across his face, he said, “You didn’t Vin, I’m sorry. I guess... no, I know, I let being tired get the best of me. You didn’t deserve all that.”

“Just some of it.”

“Sure,” Chris tried to lighten the mood. “It goes without saying that you deserved some of it.” He watched the lean body as it seemed to deflate, “Hey, it was a joke.”

“Oh,” Tanner didn’t look up, his attention focused on the hardwood floor beneath him.

Reaching out, Chris grabbed the young man’s hand, tugging at it. “Would you please come here?” He asked when Vin still didn’t move.

Reluctantly coming to sit on the edge of the bed, Tanner continued to stare at the floor.

“Now look, you know as well as I do that I’ve got a short fuse. I’m not excusing what I did, I’m just stating a fact. But you’ve never taken one of my tantrums this hard before. Tell me what I can do to make it right.”

Shrugging, Vin said softly, “I don’t know, ‘cause I really ain’t certain what’s wrong.”

Chris ran his hand across the lean shoulders, feeling the tension in the well-honed muscles. “You got a headache?”

“A little one I reckon... ain’t bad though. I just... I feel...”

“Hey, come on... come here. Look, I know things have been rough the past few weeks, but I’d really like it if you’d talk to me.” The blond coaxed the young man onto the bed until he had him curled up against him. He knew Vin well enough to know that, when he got like this, comfort was the only thing that mattered. Pulling the blanket up over them both, he nuzzled the tousled curls and said, “Tell me what’s going on Vin.”

A long sigh, then, “You’re gonna think I’m crazy.”

“Well, I’d like to reserve comment on that –“ he stopped when the body in his arms tensed once more. “I’m sorry. Look, I know that if it’s bothering you this much, it’s damned important. Please, tell me what’s going on...let me try to help.”

“It was the Brady Bunch.”

“The Brady Bunch? The TV show?” Chris felt the head on his chest move, nodding. “How could that show get you this upset?”

“Told you... you already think I’m crazy.” Tanner pulled away from the other man’s embrace.

Tightening his hold enough to tell his partner he wasn’t going to release him just yet, Chris said, “No, I don’t. Just help me to understand.” He was surprised to feel hot tears on his chest.

“How can I, when I don’t understand!?” Vin curled up inside the strong arms, wishing he could just stay there forever.

Chris rubbed the taut back, then moved to stroke the long locks. When he felt his lover begin to relax, he said. “Tell me about the show.”

In a soft voice, the younger man said, “That littlest boy...Bobby? He got all shook up ‘cause he didn’t think nobody loved him anymore. He got to thinkin’ he was like Cinderella cause nobody seemed to be payin’ him no mind, leavin’ him behind and askin’ him to do the chores. That housekeeper of their’s... Alice... she tried to talk to him, to tell him he was wrong, that everybody loves him. He tells her, ‘when everybody leaves and nobody says good-bye, that ain’t love.’ And I don’t know why, but all I could think about was...”

“The people that have left you without saying good-bye.” Again the shaggy head nodded.

“But then, at the end...everything was all right. His mama and daddy, they got him to see that everybody loved him, and they were all huggin’ and smilin...” Vin broke off again.

“But real life isn’t like that. People leave without saying good-bye, like your mama.” Chris knew at least the general circumstances of his life partner’s past... the loss and abandonment he had suffered after his mother’s untimely death.

“She didn’t mean to leave... didn’t want to... I know that.”

“But when your five years old, all that matters is that she left and never said good-bye. And I’ll bet that it’s that five-year-old who saw that show... who heard those words.”

With puzzlement in his voice, Vin said, “it was?”

Stroking ta hand over his partner's head once again, Chris said, “Yeah, I think so. And I think it was that same little boy who watched them hugging and smiling at the end. And I’ll bet that little boy got damned angry at the soft and fuzzy ending he was expected to believe.”

“You don’t always have people to care if you come or go. Sometimes there ain’t anyone to give you a hug when you get scared... or feel alone... or...”

Chris felt the hot tears fall onto his chest more insistently. Rubbing a gentle thumb across the tear-streaked face, he said, “So the little boy leaves all these painful memories for you to deal with on top of everything else that’s happened lately. And then some idiot with a short temper comes in and starts bitching cause you’re not perfect. If that idiot had any sense, he would have realized that there was still a little boy lurking around in the shadows who needed this,” he tightened his arms around the slender body, stroking the chestnut hair. “And this,” he tilted the younger man’s face up and kissed him softly.

With a sigh, Tanner snuggled against his lover’s chest. “Wasn’t your fault, Chris, I know that you didn’t mean to hurt my feelin’s. I’m sorry I got all bent outta shape over somethin’ like that.”

“I didn’t hurt you intentionally, Vin, but I did hurt you. I’m very sorry. Can you forgive the short tempered idiot who loves you?”

Chuckling, Tanner said, “You might be short tempered, Cowboy, but you ain’t no idiot. Course I forgive you, and I love you, too.”

Kissing the top of his partner’s head, Larabee said, “I can’t promise you that I’ll be here forever Vin... I wish I could. But I can promise you that I’ll try to do better in being here for you when you need me. And I can promise to love you forever.”

As he relaxed in the older man’s embrace, Tanner said, “Even when I turn up the thermostat so high your teeth sweat?”

“Even then,” Chris laughed.

“Even when I watch marathons of Mr. Ed?”

Affecting a shudder, the blond said, “Yeah, even then.”

“How ‘bout when I put the toilet paper on the holder wrong?”

“You’re pushing it,” Larabee growled good-naturedly.

With a tired chuckle, the younger man said, “How ‘bout when I ask you for a kiss over the phone and you're in a meetin’ with Travis?”

“Might have to shoot you for that.”

The young man kissed the broad chest that pillowed him. For several minutes the two men were silent, hands gently stroking one another, kisses healing the pain of earlier.

With a relaxed yawn, Tanner said, “But what if I grab your butt while we’re walkin’ down the hall at work?”

“Vin!”

The End