Allen was glad to finally be home. He had been on the verge of going home for the night when he finally figured out what was wrong with the initial sketch for the house he had been instructed to design. Now it was nearing 8:30 at night and he told his boyfriend and their roommates that he would be home by 7. As he was driving home he felt guilty for being out so late, but now, standing on their front porch, he’s just relieved to be at home.

“I’m home!” He takes his shoes off and discards his jacket as he makes the others aware of his presence.

He immediately receives a response. “Allen get in here!” The voice is high pitched with a nervous tone and he instantly recognizes it as his sister’s.

“Ev? What’s wrong?”

“Just get- AHHH!”

At the sound of Evelyn’s high pitched scream, Allen immediately rushes into the living room, fearing the worst.

His fear turns in the direction of confusion as he makes it to the entryway of said living room. What he sees is slightly unexpected.

To his right he sees Moira balancing precariously on one of their armchairs, Evelyn clutching onto her waist from behind with her head hidden behind Moira’s back. Moira herself is staring with a mix of apprehension and fear at something on the floor.

To his left he sees his boyfriend crouched on the floor in front of the doorway that connects the kitchen to the living room, staring right at him with a smile on his face. In the kitchen is Willow who appears to be cooking something. She seems intently focused on what she’s doing despite the chaotic scene in the opposite room.

“Welcome home Allen,” Ian says with a smile. “Is everything ok at work?”

“Hey Ian,” Allen responds. “What is going on here?”

“Do you not see it?” The bewilderment in Moira’s voice makes Allen return his attention to her and Evelyn’s position on the armchair.

“See what?”

Reaching out from behind her makeshift hiding place at Moira’s back, Evelyn points her finger in Ian’s direction. Allen looks back at his boyfriend, whose attention has now shifted to something slightly in front of him.

Allen turns his gaze towards the object of Ian’s attention… and suddenly he completely understands what he’s walked into.

There was a spider in the living room.

This wasn’t unusual. The five of them lived in a house in the suburbs, so finding a spider around the house now and then wasn’t unusual. Ian would usually just put the spider in a cup and toss it outside, no matter how many times Moira tried to convince him it would be better to just kill the spiders outright.

Not this one.

This spider looked as though it was as big as Allen’s hand. Allen could see the spiders many eyes from where he stood at least five feet away.

Shit.

“Isn’t it cool?” Ian seemed genuinely excited. “I’ve never seen a spider so big!”

Allen adores his boyfriend’s interest in nature, so he couldn’t help but smile just a little bit at the twinkle in his eyes, despite how he felt his blood run cold.

Allen wasn’t usually scared of spiders because he understood that most house spiders weren’t big enough to actually bite a human. That being said, he would not put it past this spider to not only bite him, but to also leave a mark.

“I want to return it to it’s home,” Ian continued, “but it’s too fast. Every time I try to trap it under a vase, it just runs away. Look.”

Ian pulls out a vase from behind his back and attempts to place it over the spider, but the spider begins to move once it realizes what’s happening. It makes a dash right towards Allen.

Allen’s fight or flight instincts kick in at the sight of this massive spider coming towards him and he makes a dash down the hallway, using the other entrance to join Willow in the kitchen.

Ian doesn’t even flinch as he turns around and makes eye contact with Allen again. “A bit scary, isn’t it?”

“Tell me about it,” Allen mutters. “So, if you can’t trap it under the vase, how are we going to get it out of the house?”

Before he can get an answer, Evelyn speaks up.

“Guys. Where did it go?”

Allen’s eyes widen in fear as he realizes he can’t see the spider in the area where he himself was just standing, as he assumed that was where the spider would be.

He didn’t have to wonder for long, because suddenly he was being shoved out of the way by Willow, who was making a mad dash for the front door.

“Hey what-“ Allen begins, puzzled as to why Willow would do that. Then he looked behind him.

The spider had followed him and was now making its way into the kitchen.

Allen followed Willows lead and ran for the door, not even realizing Moira and Evelyn had left until he then outside standing with Willow.

“Oh my god, that thing is scary,” Moira said, voicing the thought running through all of their heads.

“Yeah that’s what we think but Ian-“ Willow cut herself off, a shocked look on her face.

Allen took a moment to mentally prepare himself before turning around, already having a feeling as to what he would see.

Standing behind him was Ian with the spider resting in his cupped hands.

“It’s friendly!” He exclaims, a grin on his face.

Everyone remains silent as Ian walks towards some nearby bushes, places the spider down, then turns right around and envelops Allen in a hug.

Allen stands there, shocked, as Ian asks “what took you so long at work?”

Allen’s heart swells with affection for the boy that he loves. Instead of answering his question, Allen wraps his arms around Ian and simply says “I love you so much.”