Five times Ray wooed the crew with something expensive
((What’s this??? Part four???? In an actual timely fashion?????? WHAT IS THIS WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING. Anyways, Geoffray. The gift in this is a little outlandish, but also they’re presumably hitting banks and lots of bigger targets at this point, so… suspension of disbelief. Anyways, have two pages of Geoff crying and Ray being a sap. Also, I appreciate you always tagging this with awwww. I’m glad you find this stuff cute!))
The more time Ray spent with the Fake AH crew, the more convinced he became that he really had no idea what love meant.
He’d honestly thought he was in love with Michael. But then he started getting butterflies around Jack. And then he’d spent an entire six-hour plane ride staring at Gavin sleeping.
And now he was considering buying a year’s paycheck worth of something for Geoff. Although, it wasn’t exactly entirely for Geoff. It was for the whole crew to use.
But realistically, it was for Geoff. Geoff was in charge of the crew. Geoff would be the one with the keys to this. Geoff would be the one who decided which of them got to use Ray’s gift (although he gave Geoff a whole twenty-four hours before he started to let the others use it.)
So Ray had gone to the trouble of finding something nice. It was aesthetically pleasing, but not something that they’d ruin within twelve hours. It was sturdy, but still pretty. (Kind of like Michael, although Ray would take those kind of sappy thoughts to his grave.)
Regardless, everything was ready. Ray had double-checked that the locks had been changed from the previous owner, all the junk was cleared away, everything was all nice and clean and polished, and there was plenty of room to hide a body if necessary.
So Ray gave himself a pep talk. Geoff might be pretty, but he was not going to kiss Geoff after this. No romo here. Despite the way Ray felt almost weightless when Geoff ruffled his hair after a heist, this was a platonic gift only.
So when he approached Geoff with a tiny box with a single bow on it, Geoff just tilted his head at him quizzically. Ray had learned at this point not to try to wrap his presents, because it would only end in disaster. Geoff pulled the ribbon off and opened the box to have a small key fall into his palm.
“Now you’re going to… drive me to an undisclosed address, because if I blindfolded you I’d have to lead you through two metros and a bus.” Ray stated. Truth be told, he hadn’t quite thought this far into the plan, but Geoff just smiled.
“Lead the way.”
Ray tapped his fingers on the armrest as they pulled out of the driveway. Truth be told, he always felt naked whenever he went into public without his earbuds, but he couldn’t just sit in the car and tune out this time. Geoff needed him to navigate. Besides, he wasn’t really in public. It was just him and Geoff.
…The realization that it was just the two of them in a somewhat secluded area was not helped by the fact that Geoff covered Ray’s hand with tattooed fingers and asked playfully, “So where are you taking me?”
Ray swallowed. Not helpful at all. “Turn here,” he tried, mouth a little dry. Geoff complied, following the curve around out past Los Santos.
This was where all the fancy beach houses were. Ray felt a slight pang of guilt that he couldn’t afford something this nice, but that would ruin the idea of hiding out after a heist. Besides, they’d trash this place within four hours of getting it. Geoff drove on.
As they began driving up the mountain, Geoff graduated from holding Ray’s hand to slinging his arm around Ray’s shoulder. “This okay?” Ray nodded. What he really wanted to say was it made him want to just cling tightly to Geoff for a couple of hours, but he kept that thought to himself.
Ray directed Geoff slowly up the mountain path. It was nice, just the two of them. Usually there was Michael and Gavin and Jack with them, which Ray appreciated, but it was nice to just have some one-on-one alone time with Geoff.
They finally pulled in a small log cabin building. “It has running water, electricity, and internet, which is probably all that we realistically need in life,” Ray recited, but Geoff didn’t seem to be listening. He was staring open-mouthed at the cabin.
“This was something you guys pooled your money for, right?” Geoff asked, turning back to Ray.
“Um, sort of? Maybe? I mean, Gavin let me borrow twenty dollars last week for lunch money. And Michael gave me thirty dollars for gas because I can’t exactly walk to the heist. But-“
Ray didn’t really get to finish his thought, because a second later Geoff engulfed him in a hug. “You didn’t have to do this,” Geoff whispered. His voice broke on the second word. Oh god, Geoff was already blubbering.
“I didn’t have to. But I wanted to. C’mon, I’ll show you around,” Ray stated, pulling Geoff towards the front door purely so he wouldn’t have to comfort a crying adult. Ray never knew what to say in these scenarios.
“So, uh, here’s the kitchen,” Ray stated, turning to the left and showing Geoff the open area. “There’s the fridge, and the stove, and the microwave is down there, and I put some pots in that cabinet… and there’s the sink,” he finished. God, why hadn’t he come up with some kind of script?
Geoff walked through the kitchen as though it was the first time he’d had his own house before. He opened all the cabinets, looked at the burners, and started crying again while he wasn’t even doing anything. He just sort of started sniffling while standing in the middle of the kitchen. “You went to all this trouble to fix this up for us. For me,” he said by way of explanation when Ray tugged on his sleeve to get him to move on from the kitchen.
“And here’s the living room. Comfiest sofa I could find,” stated Ray, taking a moment to sit down heavily and bounce up and down to demonstrate. “And of course, we need our entertainment system, so here’s the consoles,” Ray opened a door to a drawer full of glowing boxes and a mess of cords, “And there’s the PC for Ryan, plus I made sure to get Geometry Wars for Jack, Minecraft for B-team, all the Halos, all the Call of Dutys… so yeah.” He quickly got up and tugged Geoff into the other room before he started blubbering again.
“So, here’s the bathroom,” Ray stated, flicking on the light switch. “Shower, bath, the usual. But I got a nice big bathtub installed over here,” he stated, tapping it, “so if someone’s comfortable bathing together, we don’t have to draw straws and have the shortest straw run out of hot water.”
“And out that way,” Ray paused in his monologue to awkwardly pat Geoff’s shoulder as he tightly hugged Ray for what felt like the seventh time in half an hour, “is the hot tub. I couldn’t afford a place with a pool, so… this was my way of making up for it.”
Ray tugged Geoff back through the living room into the far room. “And here’s the bedroom,” he stated. “There’s only one bed, because we’re going to probably use this for a safe house, but it’s big enough for all of us.” He just realized the awkwardness of ending his tour in the bedroom. He tugged his sleeves down over his wrists, wishing he’d given himself a way out other than begging Geoff for a ride back.
Geoff was seemingly oblivious to Ray’s feelings of awkwardness. He was taking a moment to look at the photo Ray had left by the nightstand. It was just after their first heist. Gavin still looked slightly skittish being so close to Michael, Michael still looked sort of grumpy about being kept at Geoff’s penthouse after the heist was over, and the Vagabond was trying to walk left, out of the penthouse and out of the shot, but Jack was waving her hand from behind the camera, and behind the sofa, Geoff was attempting to hug all the lads from behind. His left hand was resting on Ray’s shoulder.
“This must’ve taken you weeks. You put all this together for me. For us. I just… I still can’t get over it,” Geoff mumbled, very gently setting the photo down as he turned back to Ray.
“Well, it really wasn’t that hard. All I really did was call up some people. And… it’s the anniversary of our first heist next week. Without you guys, Michael and I would still be deciding between ammo and lunch on a weekly basis. So, it’s a thank you gift. And an anniversary gift, kind of.” Ray finished. God, he was such a sap. Geoff was such a sap. Ray felt tears prickling the corners of his eyes.
“And… I love you guys.” Ray finished, letting the tears fall. He scrubbed them away with his hoodie sleeve. He felt Geoff’s arms around him, but he could already feel his shoulders shaking.
They stood like that for a moment, crying into each other’s shoulders before Ray felt his feet leave the floor.
Ray was tossed onto the bed, a moment before Geoff crawled on top of him. Geoff pressed his lips to Ray’s forehead, his cheek, his nose, and when Ray had been kissed all over he brought his lips to Ray’s.
Well, that resolution lasted about a whole hour. Not that Ray was complaining.
