#📖🧡.s/i [“And They Were Roommates” AU]

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Grocery Trip

Ship: Jack Torrance x Sweeney Warren ("And They Were Roommates" AU)

Word Count: 1505

Summary: Jack, Sweeney, and Danny go on a trip to the grocery store. CWs for mentions of divorce and custody, mentions of Jack's poor relationship with Wendy, mentions of food, mentions of alcoholism and alcohol, allusions to the incident that led to Jack's sobriety. (Accidentally breaking Danny's arm when he was three)

Tag List: @canongf @futurewife @rexscanonwife

Sweeney Warren and his relatively new boyfriend, Jack Torrance, had been going steady for about a year after Jack had become his new roommate. Before that, however, Jack had gone through a divorce with his now ex-wife, Wendy Nobbe, leading to discussions of custody and what was to be done with their young son, Danny. It was clear Wendy held little trust for Jack, no matter how hard he tried to better himself, but in his own self-loathing he agreed that he could only see Daniel on Fridays and Saturdays. Sweeney hadn’t quite grown used to it, having had no direct experience with children before Jack introduced him to Danny, but he tried his hardest to be polite and follow the young boy’s lead.

When Jack had brought Danny to their apartment one evening, Sweeney realized they were in desperate need of groceries.

“Shit. We didn’t go shopping for the kid,” he muttered to Jack in the hall while Danny set off for their living room.

“Welp. Guess we’re going shopping,” Jack shrugged before calling over Sweeney’s shoulder. “Don’t get settled in quite yet, Doc, we’ve got to run a quick errand.”

“But we just got to Sweeney’s apartment.”

“Yeah, I know, buddy, but you want to eat dinner, don’t you?”

“C’mon, I’ll get you a treat if you’re cooperative,” Sweeney added, turning to the boy. This seemed to persuade him, as he quickly went back to the door while Jack put on his boots and a leather jacket. Sweeney followed, slipping on his sneakers and grabbing a notepad and pen from the kitchen to jot down exactly what they needed.

“Everyone ready?” Jack prompted shortly after patting down his pockets to ensure he had his keys and wallet.

“Yep. Ready, Dan?”

Daniel nodded and the three set out into the night, stuffing into Jack’s Volkswagen beetle, once the colour of cherries but looking more rusty and faded nowadays. Sweeney never cared for the car and dreamed of investing in a secondhand hearse, but it wasn’t exactly a realistic goal for the time being. When Doves Cry played softly on the radio, prompting Sweeney to hum along as they passed tall streetlamps. Occasionally he glanced into the backseat, watching Danny watch the other cars on the road with vague curiosity. When they reached the grocery store, Jack wasted no time finding a cart.

“You want to help Sweeney with the list?” He prompted his son, who nodded determinedly. He looked to his boyfriend and smiled. “Lead the way, darling.”

“Alright Danny, the first thing on my list is milk.” They set off for the refrigerated aisle, making Sweeney shiver as Danny opened one of the doors for him.

“Here,” Jack said before he could reach for the milk jug, draping his leather jacket over his shoulders. “You always complain about being cold in stores, I don’t know why you don’t just bring a sweater or something… maybe it’s all a ploy to steal my jackets, now that I think about it.”

“Ah, you’ve caught me,” Sweeney placed a dramatic hand on his forehead and picked up the milk with the other. Out of the corner of his eye he caught Danny’s amused expression and smiled softly to himself. “Yes, tis I, Sweeney Warren, the great jacket thief.”

Jack gasped, matching his energy. “Doc, can you believe that? My boyfriend’s a criminal mastermind! I say we lock him up and throw away the key.”

Danny giggled, closing the refrigerator door.

“You’ll never catch me alive, copper,” Sweeney squeezed Jack’s hand playfully, “hey, Dan, if we move quickly on to the frozen aisle we might be able to leave him in the dust!”

He tapped the boy’s shoulder lightly and set off at a brisk walk to the next aisle with Danny bounding along behind him, still laughing.

“Oh, you think you’re clever, eh?” Jack called after them, pushing the cart along at a leisurely pace and grinning to himself. He was more than happy to see his son and his boyfriend getting along. After all, Sweeney was as much family as Wendy was, in Jack’s opinion. Without Jack’s help, Danny wouldn’t even have existed in the first place. He paused at the end of the aisle, gazing at a six-pack of beer. His battle with alcoholism was ongoing. After an accident involving Danny as a toddler, the incident that convinced Wendy he was a monster undeserving of forgiveness, Jack had determinedly cut back on his alcohol consumption. In fact, he considered himself practically sober. He had only broken his dry spell by drinking himself to sleep on the couch the night Wendy announced she wanted a divorce, and had split a beer with Sweeney when he first moved in…

What really tempted Jack when it came to alcohol was not only the feeling of freedom that came onto him when he drank, but the social aspect of it as well. He used to have drinking buddies. Friends. Friends that goaded him into drinking more. He hadn’t realized he had moved to open the fridge, picked up the six-pack, and dropped it in the cart, until he came around the corner and paused beside his boyfriend and son.

“There you are, I…” Sweeney trailed off, putting a frozen pizza and a box of waffles into the cart, glancing down at the beer. “Jack?”

“Hm?”

Sweeney stepped closer to him, caressing his cheek and speaking deliberately. “Is it a good choice for you to drink around your kid?”

The words shocked him into the present, making his hair stand on end. “Fuck… I-I’m sorry…”

“No, no, it’s okay. I’ll put it back. You’re okay.” Sweeney looked over his shoulder, “Danny, help your father find the cereal aisle, I’ll join you in a second.”

He tenderly bumped his forehead against his boyfriend’s and retrieved the six-pack from the cart, returning it to the refrigerator aisle. Jack watched him go, despite Danny’s nonverbal insistence that they do as instructed, gently tugging on the front of the cart. This is how he knew Sweeney was truly the one for him. He didn’t snap at him like Wendy might’ve, or suggested that he was devolving back to his old ways. He simply reminded Jack that he had choices, and his choices had outcomes. It was up to him to decide what outcome he wanted. And what he wanted was a nice night with his boyfriend and son. Sober.

“Dad…”

“I’m here, Doc. Cereal aisle, right?” Jack followed Danny through the rows of shelves until they reached it, soon joined by Sweeney.

“What kind of cereal does Wendy let him have? No, scratch that, hey, Danny, what kind of cereal do you like?”

Danny eagerly handed Sweeny a box of Cocoa Pebbles.

“Excellent choice. We won’t tell your mother,” Sweeney winked and placed it in the cart. “Do you like to watch The Flintstones?”

Danny nodded. “My favourite is Dino.”

“He’s funny, isn’t he? We need to pick up some coffee next, y’know you’re dad can’t function in the morning without it.”

Jack rolled his eyes, smiling. Once the cart was fully stocked up, they began to approach the registers.

“Do I get a treat?” Danny asked.

“I think so. You’ve done very well. Jack, what say you?”

Jack nodded. “I second that. Go ahead and pick out something nice, Doc. But no gum, alright?”

The young boy rushed forward to examine the shelves of candy just before check-out. Jack and Sweeney watched him, side-by-side.

“What’s it like, being a dad?” Sweeney asked.

“Hey, you’re getting your free trial right now,” Jack responded, wrapping his arm around his waist. “Well, it’s not this easy all the time but Wendy and I… ah, we got lucky with Danny. Sure, sometimes I think he’s a little spacey, but he’s a good kid. I’m proud that he’s mine. And hey, maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll get to call him yours, too.”

“You mean, you think he’ll call me ‘dad’ someday?”

“Or some equivalent. Why not? I don’t foresee us breaking up anytime soon… right?” He pressed his nose against his boyfriend’s.

“‘Course not…” Sweeney’s eyelids fluttered. As they were about to pull into a kiss, Danny tugged on Jack’s jacket, still settled on Sweeney’s shoulders. He held up a Snickers as the two men pulled away from each other.

“Add it to the cart,” Jack instructed patiently, smirking at the flush on Sweeney’s cheeks. Even though this particular trip to the grocery store had not been much of a hassle, it was a relief to get back into the car knowing they’d be returning home with food waiting to be cooked.

“You know, there’s a video rental place not far from our apartment. You want me to skip down there while the pizza’s cooking?” Jack asked lowly, hoping to surprise Danny with a fun movie.

“That sounds fantastic, Jack. I don’t really have the energy for games so anything that’ll maybe ease Dan into bed works for me.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too, Jack.”

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⬇️Information⬇️

Sweeney Warren: My s/i for an AU in which Jack is seeking a new place to reside after his divorce. He finds an ad placed by one Sweeney Warren and decides to check the place out. It's a decent-sized apartment with a tiny extra bedroom, and Sweeney himself seems like a perfect fit for Jack's own lifestyle; reserved but sharp-witted, and a fellow writer to boot. It's only after Jack moves in that he learns of Sweeney's side gig as a drag queen, and he begins to question if he's as straight as he always tried to believe he was.

Cider: My The Nightmare Before Christmas s/i. With his living body in a coma, Cider's soul ended up in Halloween Town, much before his time. After being taken under Jack Skellington's wing and falling in love with the skeleton, Cider finds he's happier in Halloween Town than he ever was in the world of the living.

[circusgoth-dotcom]

The Shining Self Insert AU Dump

🏨👻 | Main Timeline: Keaton Campbell (Later Keaton Torrance). Assigned to do the caretaking job with Jack, in my timeline Jack was already divorced/in the process of a divorce with Wendy when he took the job at The Overlook.

📖🧡 | "And They Were Roommates" AU: After divorcing Wendy, Jack needs a new place to stay. Luckily, a reclusive man named Sweeney Warren is looking for a roommate to fill the empty extra bedroom in his apartment and to help pay the rent. Upon discovering Sweeney is a drag queen, Jack begins struggling with something he's kept deep down for much of his life: he may not be as straight as he thinks he is.

🌳🥃 | Childhood Friends AU: Jack Torrance and Keaton Diamond were childhood best friends. They both had rough lives before they could move out, but they always had each other... until it was time to go their separate ways for college. Little did they know they would cross paths again several years later.

@canongf

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Credit to justhatipp on tiktok

Jack and Sweeney. In a sense

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Apartment for the "And They Were Roommates" AU I have with Jack :0)

Sweeney and Jack continue to sleep in separate beds even after they've begun dating, and especially whenever Danny comes to stay with them since they don't really know how to explain it to him (It's highly likely Danny already knows they're in a romantic relationship but Sweeney and Jack don't know that he knows)

Imagine that the folding chairs off to the side of the kitchen/dining room are folded up and leaned against the wall, there's two nice chairs for Jack and my s/i but I imagine we'd have the extra folding chairs for the rare occasion when guests come over