Angelo & John | Monday Morning

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'Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get. Your life, on the other hand, is like this box of active grenades!' -Stewie Griffin-

After a day and a half spent lounging around at airports - goddamn layovers - John was glad to be home again. He unlocked the door and dragged his luggage into the dimly lit apartment.

"Hey, Joy Toy." As always, trust the dog to be the first to greet him. But it was early. Far too early for Angelo to be awake yet. He slid his coat off and stretched his arms, yawning before giving Joyita a good scratch around the neck area. "Miss me, huh? You been a good girl?" John gave her a final scratch around the ears before correcting the time on his watch to three in the morning as he headed towards Angelo's room, dog in tow. He smirked when he noticed the lone figure sleeping in bed.

"That you Ange?" Last time he made a running leap for Angelo's bed, he ended up getting punched in the face by Alejandra. Obviously, John had learned his lesson.

The response was a sleepy mumble in a familiar male voice that could be taken as affirmative. Clearly, though, Angelo wasn't even close to awake yet.

John went over and sat on the bed and let out a contented sigh. "Man, it's good to be home." He pushed the covers and lay back, resting his head on the spare pillow. "Let me tell you something, Ange. I slept on a mat in a tent made out of bamboo and leaves. When it started raining one night, I woke up drenched with mud clinging to my skin. ... I had a really bad hair day that morning."

Angelo blinked and tipped his head to look at him. "You did manage to find a shower since then, right?"

"Do you think if I hadn't, I would have made it past security check?" John lit a cigarette and smoked it. "Caked in mud... you gotta be kidding me. ... My last shower was over thirty hours ago."

"An' you're in my bed", Angelo said dryly. "Thanks, buddy."

"Hey, don't you worry. I'll get back to my own bed. After I take a shower." For now, John was just going to get some shut eye first. He was exhausted as hell. "Anything new at the office?"

"Not really on the work front." He gave his friend an innocent grin. "Did have a nice chat with Amara the other day."

"Yeah? What about?"

"Mostly how she was missin' you."

"... Yeah. You're funny." John cleared his throat and flattened his pillow before laying back down.

"Seriously! She was all spaced out, I was worried about her. That's what she told me."

"Right. Next, you're going to tell me that Monet's missed me so much too that she's decided to share her secret stash of coffee beans next time she sees me," John chuckled. "... I did take her out though. Amara. Not Monet." He didn't think he would have survived a date with Monet St. Croix. The girl would have probably dangled him by the balls over a rooftop. It was scary to even think about.

"I know you did", Angelo said casually. "I read your text messages before you left. An' she told me, too, not that the whole office didn't notice you two starin' at each other in debriefs."

John was going to have to remember to change the password on his cellphone. Angelo obviously had no clue about privacy whatsoever. Not that John hadn't done it before. There was that one time he sent Alejandra those dirty text messages from Angelo's phone. That had been hilarious as hell.

"Oh, come on. She's hot. I'm not the only one guilty of staring at her." John stubbed his cigarette out and started toying with his lighter. "But she's nice." And smart. And sexy. And definitely way too good for him. "We're just--" Oddly enough... "--taking the time to get to know each other. That's all."

"It's all cool", Angelo assured him. "I know I said she was out of your league, but you know I was kiddin', right? If she likes you, I'm all for it."

"I don't know, Ange. One minute I was telling Jean-Paul that there's no fucking way I'd ever bother with the whole relationship thing and the next thing I know I'm taking Amara out on a date. She just... does this to me. I don't think when I'm with her which is real fucking bad. Every thought, every doubt of mine flies out the freaking window and I don't even notice. I mean, fuck, Ange. What the hell am I even doing? Do you really see me as the kind of guy who could get himself involved in something resembling a commitment?" He shook his head. "I don't do this. I never do this."

Angelo looked over at him sympathetically. "That's how it happens sometimes, man. Someone comes along and knocks you sideways an' you never see it comin'. Would it really be that bad to give it a try?"

John had no idea but at that moment, he thought he should get some shut eye. He turned over and mumbled something about needing sleep. He would head over to the mansion later to see Amara. Right now, he just didn't want to think about it too much.

Angelo poked him in the shoulder. "You wake me up at 3 in the mornin' an' you need sleep? I should kick you out to your own bed for that."

"You should have picked me up at the airport."

"At 1am? The only person I get up for at that hour without it bein' an emergency is my mother."

"Maybe I should have called your mother." John was only kidding of course. He would never. "Or Bobby. I bet good ol' Bobby would have picked me up because you know we're at that stage where he's trying to be all, 'Hey, John. Let's be friends again. It'll be like the good ol' days.' and I'm all 'Fuck you, Drake. Fetch me my coffee.'"

Angelo snorted. "One of these days I'm goin' to lock you two in a room an' see how long it takes you to burn the door down."

"Or flood the office. Ice melts you know."

"...scratch that. Never lettin' you two be alone together, one of you might not walk away." And the loser probably wouldn't be John.

There was a nod and a mumbled response to that; something about killing Bobby and then taking Amara out for breakfast tomorrow.

"What, on the same day?" Angelo asked wryly, fairly certain he wouldn't get any kind of sensible response, and let his head drop back on his own pillow. Maybe he could still get back to sleep.