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Ah yes. His accessories, including his packers, dildos and other fun toys Frankie had once stumbled upon in his bathroom when looking for a spare toothbrush.
Diego turned away from Frankie to try and hide his blush. “If… you were uncomfortable in the smaller room, but still wanted to move in, I would of course be happy to take it.”
Frankie walked right up to Diego and stood a few inches in front of him like he had the night after graduation at the bus stop.
“You want me to move in with you that bad, cabbage?”
Diego rolled his eyes. Of course, the answer was yes, but Diego wasn’t stupid. He knew moving in with his soon-to-be business partner and best friend, who he wanted to be more than a friend, was risky. “I think Obie made some good points about how much easier it would be if we lived above the shop, so I think it would make sense for you to live here. But I would never want you to do something you didn’t want to do.”
Frankie looked around the room one more time and then, with a small huff, led the way back downstairs to meet Obie.
From there, things moved faster than Diego could have ever anticipated.
There was about a month of back and forth with the landowner, but they finally signed the lease at the end of April. Diego’s lease on his apartment was up in just under three months, and while he’d been planning on re-signing it, there was something about the cozy apartment above the cafe that called to him. He would probably have to sell a few pieces of furniture, but it seemed like a small price to pay. Frankie didn’t own any furniture, just the one-and-a-half suitcases worth of things he’d lugged to and from Europe as well as a few new kitchen items he’d acquired over the past year. Fortunately for him, this meant he would be able to move in at any time with pretty short notice. Still, Diego couldn’t get a straight answer if Frankie was going to move in. Since he was subleasing from Seth, who said he only needed a one-week notice at the most, everyone agreed it was fine if he took his time deciding.
They got access to the space the second week of May and spent the entire month and most of June cataloging all of the repairs the cafe and the apartment required. Diego focused most of his efforts on the apartment while Frankie, Obie, Seth, and Penelope spent their time on the cafe. They all had full-time jobs, and Diego and Frankie were working extra hours so they could begin paying their monthly installments to the landlord and the bank.
One sweltering day in July, they rounded up all their friends, bought a few cases of beers and ciders and enough pizza to feed an army, and moved Diego into the apartment. That night, while they lay sprawled out on Diego’s couch, Frankie declared it was time to put all their focus on the cafe. Diego looked around at the piles of boxes and trash bags he’d used to move, thought of the new budget he was trying to launch at the bar, the extra shifts he was picking up at the coffee shop… and grudgingly agreed.
For the next several weeks, Diego did his best to split his time between the bar, baristaing, and sprawling on the floor of their new cafe picking out paint colors and deciding on renovations with Frankie, and Obie when he dropped by.
Once Diego had fully unpacked the apartment, Frankie began to spend more and more time there as well. Depending on the night, Frankie could be found sitting at Diego’s feet while they both worked on documents on the coffee table, curled up on the couch with Diego while they talked, or bumping into each other in the small kitchen while he tried new recipes and Diego “helped.” Most of his assistance involved accidentally brushing his hand across Frankie’s back as he passed by, bumping hips, and exchanging sidelong glances at each other as they took turns sucking sweet jams off of spoons or licking crumbs from their fingers.
As the days flew by, Frankie ended up crashing on his couch one too many times, so by the end of September, Diego finally gave up and furnished the second bedroom with a daybed and a small dresser.
Frankie didn’t officially move in, but he started leaving spare clothes in the closet, and Diego began finding Frankie’s socks and t-shirts mixed in with his own laundry. Every time he found these items he let himself momentarily fantasize about what it would be like to have their clothes permanently mixed together, neither one of them caring where a sock or particular pair of shorts ended up because they would all make it back to their closet intheirapartment.
He didn’t push, though. Frankie hadn’t brought up moving in again and Diego didn’t know how to inquire about it without also asking him to move into his bed, which he couldn’t do, because they were business partners. Every second they spent together working in the cafe should have been professional, but instead every second felt warm, even intimate. If Diego were being honest, warm and intimate was how things had been with Frankie since he’d come back from Europe. It had truly been the best year and a half of Diego’s life. He woke up thinking of Frankie and went to bed every night looking forward to seeing him again the next day. Why, then, was he constantly finding himself wishing for more? He should just be happy with what he had and not risk losing this amazing man. His amazing friend.
While much of Diego and Frankie’s social life had narrowed down to a close group of mutual friends, Diego still had a few friends who were justhisfriends and not Frankie’s, as well as his trusted sidekick from childhood, his cousin Sofia. He began asking their advice on what to do about his feelings for Frankie, alternating between anxiety, excitement, and fear. He’d never come to any of them for help in the past, so they all stepped up to be supportive and told him to trust his own judgment… which was absolutely not helpful in the slightest.
By the time the weather turned cold, and the local farmers market began selling gourds and farm fresh turkeys, all of the contracts for major renovations had been signed, and construction on the cafe had begun. Frankie was looking for secondhand furniture like it was his job, which it sort of was, and Diego had quit his job at the coffee shop. He was spending every waking moment that he wasn’t at the bar working on the business plan with Frankie. The current plan was to open the cafe by March, April at the latest, one year after they’d signed the lease. They’d start with a set menu and hope to expand to a rotating menu of treats and coffees from around the world.
Since Frankie already had existing relationships with several of the coffee bean vendors in the city, he was charged with wooing them, which he did effortlessly, and soon their menu was ready for opening day. Frankie didn’t stop there, though. He continued to build out their baked good recipes and compiled an impressive list of fancy sounding drinks.
“You do know we can’t sublease to someone else while you’re still pretending to live with us,” Seth said one night as they all sat sprawled out on a picnic blanket in the front room of the cafe. Work on the coffee bar had just begun, so that side of the cafe was walled off with painter's tarps. The little nook on the other side was packed full of mismatched chairs, tables, and decorations, but there was just enough space by the front door to set up a picnic and review the newest shipment of paint samples – with several bottles of wine.
At Seth’s teasing, Frankie blushed scarlet and began spluttering out apologies while Diego and Obie rolled their eyes. While it seemed like Frankie hadn’t picked up on it yet, Diego had noticed Seth was slowly nudging Frankie to get with Diego. His efforts ranged from casual comments about the lack of hookups filtering through their apartment these days, to noting how “handsome; stunning; and absolutely breathtaking” Diego looked in different outfits. Diego didn’t necessarily mind, so long as Frankie never figured out his best friend was meddling in his relationship with… well, his other best friend. Secretly, he’d begun to bargain with himself that if Frankie was the one to approach him for a relationship, or even just a casual hookup, he would consider it. Because that’s what good friends do, right? Consider each other’s propositions? Diego took a large gulp of wine to drown out his thoughts.
“No pressure if you’re not ready to pull the trigger. We’ve just noticed that you seem to be crashing here a lot – which as I said when you signed the lease – is very common the first year opening a business,” Obie commented, refilling first his then Seth’s glasses of wine.
“I sort of thought you would want me to slowly disappear, but keep paying rent,” Frankie said bashfully, holding out his glass for a refill.
Obie frowned as he poured him more wine. “Why would we want that? You’re a joy to have around, Frankie, but if you’re ready to move in with Diego, by all means, don’t let us, or some sort of financial obligation you feel you have towards us keep you from doing so.”
Frankie pointedly didn’t look at Diego as he mumbled something into his glass.
“¿Quéqué??” Diego asked nudging Frankie with his toes when he refused to respond.
“I said, it’s not up to me,” Frankie said. He downed half his glass of wine in one go.
Diego could have sworn he heard Seth whisper, “Oh my god” and Obie covered his face with his hand.
“Franklin, I’m sure you’re not implying that you’re waiting on a gilded invitation to move in. I said you were welcome when we did the tour—”
“Actually,” Frankie interrupted quietly, staring down into the ruby red liquid in his glass. “that’s not really what you said. You said you didn’t want me to do anything that made me uncomfortable, and moving in with you, if you don’tactuallywant me, makes me pretty fucking uncomfortable. I would never want to jeopardize our friendship or our business partnership by making you uncomfortable.” Frankie glanced up and there was heat behind his eyes, but then he just as quickly glanced away again.
Diego did his best not to sigh out loud, but Obie had no such qualms. He released an exaggerated sigh and dramatically poured himself more wine. “So yes, Diego. He’s waiting for a golden invitation.”
