Reality

                                    

                                          
Chester paused in the doorway, looking at Mike in his soft black t-shirt and striped boxers, his hair a fluffy mess as he leaned back against the headboard of their bed, legs outstretched and ankles crossed, brows furrowed as he sorted through some papers. "Bourdie's got breakfast ready," he offered quietly.
                          
Mike looked up from what he was reading, his furrowed eyebrows relaxing into a soft smile. "Okay."
                          
"What are you reading?" Chester gestured toward the papers.
                          
The smile faded as Mike glanced at the papers in his hand, tapping them into a neat stack and setting them aside as he stood up. "It's the temporary support and custody orders. I'm supposed to be deciding what I want to offer in settlement and I was looking at these as a guide." He reached to rub some of the tension from his neck but found Chester beside him in a heartbeat, his cool thumbs stroking down his neck in just the right places with perfect pressure. Almost instantly Mike felt the stress in his neck and shoulders begin to melt away. He always knows exactly how to touch me to make everything better.
                          
Mike felt a light kiss at the nape of his neck and Chester asked, "do you want to talk about it?"
                          
"Nah, let's go eat before it gets cold. You can share all your wisdom with me later," he winked at Chester, then continued hopefully, "there's bacon, right?"
                          
"Of course there's bacon, my love," Chester replied, squeezing Mike's sides in a ticklish hug as they started for the kitchen. 
                          
Even after three weeks of crashing at Rob's house, their drummer was still waking up and making them breakfast, despite Chester's repeated offers to cook. Rob had brushed them off with some story about how it had been a while since he'd had anyone to cook for, and that he really didn't mind as it allowed him to try out some new recipes he'd been wanting to make. This morning was a breakfast quiche with bacon inside, but Rob had dutifully fried up two additional slices for Mike, who was leaning against the bar already halfway through the first piece. 
                          
Chester was pouring water over his freshly ground coffee beans of preference, savoring the scent of fresh coffee, when Rob glanced at Mike and his bacon. "Morning. What's in your plans for today?"
                          
Mike shrugged, picking up the second piece of bacon. "No ideas yet. I've got some stuff from the lawyer to look over, decide what I want to offer as a settlement... I really just want to get everything decided so we can get out of your hair. You're awesome for letting us stay here, Bourdie."
                          
"Well, we couldn't have one-third of Linkin Park sleeping on the streets of LA, could we?" Rob's soft eyes twinkled in amusement. "You know any of the guys would have let you stay, it's just easier when you don't have a mess of kids running around."
                          
Chester snorted as he pushed coffee cups across the bar at his bandmates. "It is nice and relaxing without all that noise, maybe we'll just stay here."
                          
Mike looked over at Chester skeptically. "Whatever, Ches, you know you love the chaos of kids and animals."
                          
It was the wrong thing to say. Chester's face fell immediately as he thought of his children, his beloved pets, and Mike instantly wished he could take the words back. Neither of them had spent substantial time with their families since returning from tour. It almost felt as though they were still on tour, as disconnected from their homes lives as they both found themselves. 
                          
Understandably, neither of their wives had wanted them back in their houses, but only Talinda had given her husband warning. Chester had already made plans to stay with Rob for the six weeks between tours, with the intent of finding a permanent place after they concluded the cycle in Japan. Mike had arrived on the doorstep of his home to be met with Anna and someone he didn't know, a large envelope with his name on it, and the stranger asking him if he was Michael Kenji Shinoda before serving him with his copy of the petition for divorce Anna had already filed. The stranger was gone before he could even draw in a breath, and he had looked at Anna despairingly.