DEMOLITION LOVERS

We're All in Love Tonight

Life is good, Ghoul thought as he woke next to Party in their old mattress back in the diner.

Hearing Grace laughing in the background. 

Feeling the sun burning his skin through the broken windows.

An old messy room, full boxes and sleeping bags. What used to be a kitchen in the good old days, and now was his home.

He heard party snorting next to him, and it was the sweetest sound on earth. His skin felt warm under him, and his arm was numb from Party sleeping on it, but he wouldn't change this for anything.

This was home.

He cuddled closer to him, hugging him from behind and leaving kisses on the back of his neck. 'I love you,' he whispered behind his ear, assuming the other man was asleep, and wouldn't hear him. So he kept kissing him until he heard Party mumbling some nonsense. 'What?'

'I love you, too, but let me sleep,' Party mumbled again.

'But I wanna fuck you so bad.'

'And that sounds yummy, but Grace is right there.' Ghoul turned to his left, where she was sitting with Jet, putting hair clips on his hair, and giggling. It hit him again how fast time flew by, and how big she was now. All the important things he must have missed while being gone. And he hated it. 'She's okay,' Party said, as if he was reading his mind. He always did. 'But she missed you a lot.'

Ghoul couldn't help feeling guilty. Because it had been his fault. His stupid plan to go with Korse so that he'd leave them alone, not caring about leaving Grace and Party Poison.

'Don't,' Party said, noticing the frown on his lover's face. 'We're not going to be sad anymore. We need to make up for all the lost time. Okay?'

'Okay,' Ghoul responded, immediately smiling. Even if it wasn't that simple, Party always managed to make it better, and he knew it'd take time, but he had his family with him now.

'We're going to look for more hair dye, and maybe stop by Dr. D's to check on him. But what about a date? Just you and me, naked under the desert sky?'

'I'm in.'

They were kissing, and making plans for their little date, when out of nowhere, something fell on them. More like someone. Someone with brown, curly hair who started giggling right away. 'I'm an airplane,' the girl said when Ghoul grabbed her and started tickling her. Party joined in, and then both men started giving her kisses, and Grace just cuddled with Ghoul, her tiny arms around his shoulders. 'I missed you, dadda.'

'I missed you, too, baby,' he said, trying not to cry, which was impossible now.

'Where were you? Why you left?'

'I –' He tried to think of something, an easy way to explain Battery City, and everything they did to him to a two-year-old. But there was no easy way. One day, she'd probably learn about BLI, and how they were trying to control everyone, and the revolution, and all of that. But she was too young, now. And all she needed to know was happiness. 'I had to fight some bad guys,' he said, hoping that was enough for the girl, who had no idea he still had nightmares sometimes, and just started to fall asleep in his arms, and everything was perfect.

***

'So – this is life in the desert, huh?' Citizen Danger asked, while he and Ghoul were lying on a pair of broken pool chairs, sunbathing.

Though, Ghoul was too busy looking at Party's ass, while he and Grace were starting their new mural on the wall behind the diner. 'Yup,' was all he said. 'Just remember not to stay out here too long, or the sun will kill you.'