Fall Into Me 12
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The much awaited dinner date! Featuring flirting, food, and comfort. And some very minor shenanigans (cough Alejandro cough).
Warnings: Flirting, sweetness, seriously you might get cavities, nothing hurts everything is goodness, alcohol mention, playful flirting.
Word count: 1.8k
Eventual f!OC Rose x poly everyone
Rudy was not nervous, not really. He already knew dinner would go well - he’d done the shopping this morning to be sure he had all the ingredients, and Alejo knew to keep out of the kitchen. He knew they both got along well with Rose, he knew that Rose liked them both.
So there was nothing to be nervous about.
But he still found himself walking in to the coffee shop fifteen minutes early.
“Hi,” Rose greeted, grinning at him, warm and pleased. She finished up the last latte for a group of teens, handing it over with an easy smile and a wish for a good day. The girls clustered around one table, all of them on their phones, giggling and showing each other things.
“Hi.” Rudy stopped in front of the counter, giving her a quick once-over. Her hair was back in a low ponytail today, and she looked fine. Relaxed.
“Can I get you anything?” She leaned one hip against the bar, tipping her head up to him. “We could take some back to Alejandro, too, if you wanted.”
Warmth bloomed in his chest and he couldn’t help but smile. She was just too cute. “I’ll let you decide,” he said, watching her with undeniable fondness.
Rose tapped her fingers against the countertop before she nodded, grabbing two cups and starting to add coffee to them. Rudy was more than content to simply watch her, keeping one eye on the time. (Not that he was anxious to bring her home, not at all.)
The girls all trooped out of the shop, one of them calling back a thank you as she left. Rudy smiled a little to himself.
“So, what are we having for dinner?” Rose didn’t look up from making drinks, though he could see the smile tilting the corners of her lips.
“You’ll see.” Rudy grinned. He couldn’t help but tease her, just a little.
Rose snorted but didn’t actually push, just putting two cups on the counter in front of him. “I’ll give it a couple more minutes and then close up,” she said, raising one eyebrow at him.
“Take your time,” Rudy assured her, taking the two cups over to a table so he’d be out of the way. But he did watch as she worked on another cup, setting it aside before she started cleaning. She still looked tired, dark circles under her eyes, but she looked happier. And that was something he wanted to see more of, all the time. Because she deserved to be happy.
He was not a man to be startled by or scared of his own feelings. He knew himself and he was comfortable in his own skin. So he was not surprised by the affection in his heart just from watching her work.
He was eager to see her in the apartment he shared with Alejo. To see how she fit in. And he knew she would. She was too warm not to.
Rose finished cleaning and flipped the sign on the door to ‘closed’ before locking the doors. “I’ll just be another minute,” she said, only a touch anxious.
“No rush,” Rudy assured her. “Can I help?”
“Thanks, but I just have to grab my stuff and make sure everything is locked up in the back.” She smiled at him and ducked into the back, humming softly to herself even as the music turned off.
Rudy double checked that one door was locked tight before he gathered up the two coffees, eyeing the shop. He knew Alejo had some ideas, and Rudy could definitely help with at least one of them.
“Okay.” Rose reappeared from the back, adjusting her purse and flipping off the lights. “I’m ready.”
“Don’t forget your drink.” Rudy nodded to the cup she’d set aside earlier.
“Oh! Thank you, I would have forgotten.” She laughed, shaking her head. “Sometimes I swear I’d forget my head if it wasn’t attached.”
Rudy laughed quietly and held the door for her, waiting patiently while she locked up. “It is not a far walk,” he assured her, though he did eye the shopping bag slung over her shoulder.
“Not a problem, I like walking.” She flashed him a smile, keeping close and letting him lead. “So, how impatient was Alejandro yesterday?”
This laugh was startled out of him, and he shook his head. “You know him too well, bonita,” he murmured. “He was not visibly impatient.”
“Just privately,” Rose guessed, shaking her head. “Well, I suppose that’s fair - I’ve been a touch impatient today.”
“Oh?”
“Of course.” Though a blush rose to her cheeks, Rose still looked at him. “Don’t get me wrong, I love talking to you all in the shop, but it’s nice to see you outside of work, too.”
“I’m sure we will be doing more of this,” Rudy agreed, stopping at a light and taking a moment to look at her, only to find her already looking at him. Her blush deepened, spreading across her face, but she didn’t look away.
“I hope so,” she agreed. “Do you all live close enough to walk?”
Rudy shrugged. “Soap is the closest, then Gaz. They walk. Price sometimes drives, as does Ghost. It also depends on the needs of the day.”
“Makes sense.” Rose stepped off the curb, and Rudy kept an eye out, because he always did. “How much of the area have you explored?”
That topic lasted them the rest of the walk, talking about parks and tiny corner stores and hole in the wall restaurants they’d each discovered. By the time he unlocked the apartment door, Rudy had a list of places he wanted to try.
“Make yourself at home,” he told Rose, toeing his shoes off and carrying the coffees over to the table. He was careful to give her a bit of space to look around, let her familiarize herself with the space. It was a decent sized apartment for the two of them, with two bedrooms. The kitchen and living space were not separated, and large windows dominated one wall of the living area, letting in plenty of natural light. They hadn’t changed much about the coloring of the apartment, all warm neutrals, but they had brought things from home to make it more personal.
It was still a bit odd, to be here, but… Well. Things had changed.
That was sometimes the way of the world.
“I love these windows,” Rose said softly, walking up to the nearest one to look outside. “What a view.”
“Alejo likes it, too,” Rudy told her with an easy smile. “It’s part of why we chose this building.”
She slanted a look at him, and he could see her thinking things through. But she didn’t ask. Didn’t push. Just smiled and padded over to the kitchen, socked feet quiet on the floor.
“So! Where do we start?”
Rudy both was and wasn’t surprised at how well they worked together in the kitchen. He was used to tight quarters, to giving orders, to making things work. But this? The two of them? There was no making it work. There was soft talking and laughter and casual nudges and smiles. Rose moved around him, never in the way but always within arms-reach, learning the layout and helping wherever she could.
She just… fit, in a way that he rarely found. In the way that he and Alejo did. In the way that Soap and Ghost had, back in Las Almas.
That afternoon only secured his conviction that she belonged with them, one way or another.
The front door opened and pulled both of their attention away briefly from food prep. “You’re late,” Rudy called.
“Sorry.” Alejo didn’t sound very sorry, but that was typical. “Hola, cariño.” He stepped into the kitchen to pull Rose into a hug.
At least until Rudy swatted him.
“Out of the kitchen,” Rudy scolded. “Shoo.”
Rose very nearly cackled at the exaggerated pout on Alejo’s face. “You heard the boss,” she teased with absolutely zero sympathy.
Alejo pouted all the way to the couch, where he promptly got involved in something on his tablet. Rudy left him to it.
Alejo did rouse himself to set the table, opening a bottle of wine for the three of them to share. Rose helped carry food to the table, eyeing the dishes like she wasn’t sure where to start.
Rudy made sure he caught her reaction to her first taste. Her eyes went wide, then half-lidded as a nearly-vulgar sound escaped her throat.
“Oh my god that’s so good,” she muttered, looking down at her plate. “Holy shit.”
Rudy chuckled softly. “You’re welcome to dinner any time,” he murmured, catching Alejo’s eyes. “We’re both happy to have you.”
“Tempting,” Rose murmured, gaze flitting between the two men. Her smile was a little shy but a lot pleased. “Just means I’ll have to bake more for you.”
“Now who’s tempting?” Alejo shot back with an easy smile.
Rose laughed quietly. “Mutual temptation, then.”
Rudy just smiled. He could get used to this, and he knew Alejo wanted to as well.
Dinner passed easily, bantering and teasing keeping the conversation lively. Rudy was determined to send her home with the leftovers, a sentiment he knew Alejo shared.
“Do you have time to stay for a movie?” Rudy asked as he gathered up plates.
Rose considered that, checking her phone. “Yeah,” she agreed. “I’ve got time.”
“Go, relax,” Alejo said, shooing them back out of the kitchen. “I’ll wash up.”
“We have a deal,” Rudy said, gently guiding her to the couch. He dropped down on one end, giving her space to decide where she wanted to sit. “Whoever cooks does not have to clean.”
“Alejandro cooks too?” Rose sat next to him slowly, as if waiting for a chastisement. When it didn’t come, she relaxed back into the couch.
“He does,” Rudy agreed, glancing at her in amusement. “His mama’s recipes, mostly.”
“You kicked him out earlier.”
“He is also a menace when I am trying to cook.”
Rose giggled, slapping one hand over her mouth. Rudy just smiled, pleased.
“I am not,” Alejo called from the kitchen, making Rose laugh harder.
Rose shook her head, grinning. “Dinner and entertainment,” she teased gently. “Definitely going to have to come over more often.”
“Any time.” Rudy meant that, and by the way her smile softened, he thought Rose knew that.
He would admit to being disappointed that she wouldn’t let either of them walk her home, but she did text them good night after she got home.
