Truth and Lies Chapter 2 (Common Law Fic)
Jan. 29th, 2015 03:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
asphaltcowgrrlTitle: Truth and Lies Chapter 2
Fandom: Common Law
Pairing: Travis Marks/Wes Mitchell
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2,875
Summary: After Travis’ return from visiting Dr. Ryan, Wes has some things of his own to talk about.
Author’s Note: What was started by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bm_shipper was encouraged and finished by c8h7n3o2. My two enablers this week.
“Are you going to tell me why you saw Dr. Ryan?” Wes opened the door of his car and slid in behind the wheel. It didn’t surprise him that Travis had gone off the reservation like that, but it had shocked him that he’d done it to see their former therapist.
Travis shrugged. “Just had some stuff to get off my chest and she seemed like the perfect person to dump on.”
That hadn’t come out quite how Travis had expected, judging by the look on his face. Wes smiled, it was reassuring to know that, no matter how much things changed between them, some things would always stay the same. Travis’ mouth being one of them. “What kind of stuff, or shouldn’t I ask?”
He kept his eyes glued to the road in front of him, but he could swear he felt Travis’ gaze boring into him. It was beginning to unnerve him and he chanced a peek to the side. Yep, he was being watched from the passenger seat. Should he say something?
“Just stuff,” Travis said, saving him from having to ask again. “Trying to make my life make sense now that everything’s so different.”
“Maybe you just need a date,” he said, wincing. Why the hell had he suggested that? Travis had stopped screwing everything that gave him a minute of their time lately and that was one thing he did not want to change, ever. Well, unless he was… no.
God, he was so over this.
“Nah,” Travis said in a startling twist of reality. “I’m kind of burned out on dating right now.”
“You’re lucky I didn’t just wreck the car,” he laughed. “Did you really just say you were tired of hooking up?” He could feel those Windex eyes burrowing into the side of his head again. It took everything he had to keep from looking over at Travis.
He shrugged again. “Yeah.”
“Any reason,” he asked, praying Travis would spill his guts, all the while terrified of what his response might be. “I mean, if you want to talk about it.”
“Actually, I do.”
Wes listened to Travis readjusting his position in the passenger seat. He found himself suddenly nervous, unsure of why Marks’ declaration had him so on edge. “Do I need to pull over?”
Travis chuckled, a warm and happy sound filling the car. “Naw, man. I’m not dying or anything. I’ve just found someone.” His voice trailed off, leaving a stifling silence between them.
“You have?” Wes gripped the steering wheel tighter, knuckles white and heart pounding. “Who is she? Do I know her?”
“Yeah, you do,” he said, a smile in his voice. “You know her pretty well.”
Something gripped his lungs tightly, strangling the breath from him. It had to be Jonelle, because Kendall hadn’t ever fallen victim to his partner’s charms. Or had she? Wes had no way of knowing, not for sure, but he was pretty positive she hadn’t. If it was Jonelle, that was a good thing. She was smart, beautiful, intelligent… and yet, she still wasn’t – no. “Are you going to give me a name or do I have to guess?”
Why can’t it be Wesley?
Again, laughter floated up from the passenger seat. “Not yet. Just know that I’ve found someone that’s worth taking my time for. Someone worth waiting on.”
“And this is what you talked to Dr. Ryan about?” He hoped he’d kept the despair out of his voice.
“Yep.” Travis was quiet for a moment. “You make a decision on which house you’re going to buy yet? Or has the lure of the lawn made your mind up for you?”
Wes’ tongue flicked out, traced his lower lip, and disappeared again. “You’re changing the subject,” he said, frowning. “I wanted to give them both another look before making my choice. I was kind of hoping you’d come along and give me your opinion if you have time.”
“Of course I have time, man. Can’t have you buying the wrong house, right?” He shook his head. “Lay it out for me, which one do you like best?”
He knew which house he wanted, it was the first one he’d looked at and had everything he’d been looking for. Three bedroom, two bath, a giant kitchen and a lovely back yard. It had wooden flooring and freshly painted walls. What he needed was for Travis to agree with his choice. It was insane, but he’d given in to that brand of crazy a month ago, exactly two days after he started looking for a new home.
“They’re both great with lots of space and amenities.”
“But which one has the better lawn?”
“You’re such an ass sometimes,” he said, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Am I that predictable?”
“I just know you too well,” Travis said.
It was true, too. Over the course of their partnership they’d become friends, then enemies. Eventually, they’d settled somewhere in the middle, in a place they were both comfortable with. Comfortable, but not content as far as Wes was concerned.
“I’ll never hear the end of this, but the place I’m leaning towards does have the bigger lawn,” he said, sneaking a covert glance at Travis. “But it also has three bedrooms so I can have an office and a guest room. You know, for those nights when you’re too plastered to make it home safely?”
There’d only been one of those to date, but it had stuck in his mind when he’d been looking for a new place. Even then, Travis had crashed – or passed out, rather – on the couch in Wes’ hotel room. In the morning, Wes had found him sprawled on the cushions, one leg half over the back, blanket exposing his lean, muscular chest. It had been a vision, one he had hoped to see again.
“Man, that never happens,” Travis said, making a disgusted face. “Well, other than that one time but…”
“…you were coming off a bad breakup,” Wes finished for him. That had been tough. Listening to Travis go on and on about this woman and how she’d dumped him before he’d gotten the chance to stand her up. It was ridiculous, but they’d actually had that exact conversation. “If I get this place, you can have more.”
“More bad breakups? Why would I want that?” Travis shook his head, a smile spreading across his face. “Take me to this place and tell me about the other one.”
Looking in his side view mirror, Wes made a lane change and got onto the freeway. “The place I want is bigger and nicer, but the other has its charms too. It has two bedrooms with lovely tile in the kitchen. Nice yard, but not as big as the other place. Central to several restaurants and not far from the station either.”
“And yet, you’re still partial to this other place? Why?”
Why indeed? “I don’t even know,” he said, taking a left once he got off the freeway. “I like the idea of having room to grow, in case I ever find someone again. I can build a life, have a family. Or…”
“Or?” Travis’ curiosity was piqued and that worried Wes.
“Or a lot of things.” He slowed as he turned onto a tree-lined street, wondering if he could ever scrape up enough guts to be honest with Travis. How he pictured the possibilities a place like this held. Of coming home and finding his partner waiting for him outside, or even inside, feet on the coffee table and sipping a beer. “Here. This is it.”
Travis looked up and scanned the front of the house, nodding. “Yeah, I think you’re right, this is definitely the place.”
“You think so?” He exited the car and shut the door behind him. Moving around the car, he waited for Travis to join him on the sidewalk.
“Absolutely. I can totally see you living here, your fancy ass car in the drive, soup bubbling on the stove. It’s a really nice place, Wes.”
“Thanks, Travis. Believe it or not, it was important that you liked this place.” He looked at the ground and kicked at a leaf stuck to the concrete. It was more than wanting Travis’ approval though, but he didn’t know how to say as much.
“Why on earth do I need to like it?”
There was an unidentifiable hitch in his partner’s voice that he couldn’t reconcile and it made him uncomfortable. “Because I hoped you’d come around more often if I wasn’t living in ‘that damn hotel’ any longer. We’d have more space to spread out files and if the case took us all night, you’d have your – have a place to crash.” He cringed at the fact he’d come so close to saying Travis would have his own room.
Travis’ eyes left the front of the house and found Wes’ face. “You want me to come around more often?” Wes nodded. “Just for case work or?”
“Or just because you have nothing else to do.” It was the hardest thing he’d ever said and it was killing him. “I was hoping you’d want to, Travis.”
Those pale blue eyes studied him for an eternity before blinking. “You want me to want to come visit you.”
It was a statement rather than a question, one that twisted his insides into knots and made him want to do something unseemly, like vomit on the perfectly trimmed grass at his feet. Anger flamed from his insecurity, covering it in a blaze of glory he knew he’d regret later. “Damn you, yes I want to you to want to be around me. You’re always telling me you know me so well and yet you miss this? Something that Jonelle pointed out to me as being so obvious not even an idiot could miss it?” He threw his hands in the air and turned away from Travis, muttering about the many kinds of fool he was.
“Wes, wait,” Travis said, reaching out and grabbing him by the arm. “Stop.”
He pulled his arm out of Travis’ grasp with a sharp tug. Although he stopped walking away, he refused to look his partner in the eye. Running both hands through his hair, he tried to regain his composure. “Why? Tell me one reason why I should stop and listen to you.”
“Because I want to, man.” Travis sighed, weary and fraught with something Wes couldn’t put a name to. Frustration, annoyance, despair, who knew? “You think you’re easy to read, but you’re not. I can only pick up on things when you’ve done them a million times. You’ve not had many emotional breakdowns since we’ve been partners.”
“If this is supposed to make me feel better, it’s not.” Although, Travis had said he’d wanted to. Wes held onto those words, hope building in his chest.
“This is why I went to see Dr. Ryan yesterday,” he said, admitting finally to the big mystery. “Because the idea of you getting a place of your own bugged me.”
Wes turned and looked at Travis’ sad face. “You’ve been telling me to move on for almost two years now. Why would my finally doing what you asked bug you so much?”
Travis shrugged – something he was becoming very adept at. “Because things were changing, Wes. You were changing, and let’s face it, you’re the most inflexible person I know.” He rubbed his jaw with the palm of his hand and gave a weak smile. “You started talking about having things to do, stuff to fix and my frustration only got worse every time you mentioned the move. She helped me understand that I was so upset because the one thing you didn’t add to your list of things to care for was me.”
He stood on the sidewalk, unable to speak. Travis’ confession had rocked him to his core and left him shaken. When he opened his mouth to respond, Marks continued talking.
“So yeah, I can see you living here because I can see me visiting you here. Parking my bike in the drive beside your car, leaving my helmet by the front door. I can even hear you yelling at me to wipe my feet before stepping on your pristine light colored carpet. Because only you would have light colored carpet, Wes.” He made a sound that was a cross between a laugh and a snort.
“Are you done yet?”
“Yeah, sorry.”
“Good, because you just sealed the deal. I’m getting this place tonight.” Lifting a finger, he shook it in Travis’ direction. “I didn’t think I’d ever have to tell you that I’d continue to take care of you, Travis. I mean, look at you, you’re a mess. I have to take care of you if I want to keep my partner. Training another is too much work anyway.”
Laughter bubbled up from Travis’ chest, filling the air around them. “You are too much, baby. But I like it.”
Wes allowed himself a small smile, still too unsure to let himself be happy. “Does this mean you like me?”
Travis frowned for a second before nodding. “Honey, I’d go so far as to say that I think I love your prickly self. But don’t quote me on that.”
“You might want to take me on a date before you start declaring your love for me,” Wes said, adding a dismissive hand wave at the end for good measure. “Or those words might come back to bit you in your perfect ass.”
“Because that’s never happened before, right?” Travis reached out and tugged at Wes’ arm again, drawing him nearer. “Can you show me the inside?”
“Not right now,” he said, looking from Travis’ face to the house he was about to make an offer on. “But we can come back tonight with the realtor. I’m going to call her as soon as we get back to the station. Would you come back with me tonight if I do that?”
“Are you kidding? Of course I’ll come back and help you buy our new place.” Travis released his grip on Wes’ arm and strode up the drive so he could peek in the windows.
“Wait, Travis? No, this is my place, not ours. At least, it’s not ours yet. Aren’t you jumping the gun a bit?” Panic filled him at the idea of Travis Marks moving in with him.
“You are so easy, blondie. I’m yanking your chain.” He made his way back down the drive and patted Wes’ face with one large hand. “I’ll move in next month. Until then, how about you feed me? I’m starving.”
“Well,” Wes said, unlocking the car. “I was going to offer to buy you dinner, but after this, you can buy your own damn dinner.
“Man, that’s not fair.” Travis climbed into the car and pulled his seatbelt on as Wes pulled away from the curb.
“You think that’s not fair? You wait until you get my list of rules for this new place.”
“You are obsessive, you know that? You don’t even own this place yet and you’re already yelling at me for getting mud on the tile.”
“It doesn’t have tile, it has wood floors. Do you not ever listen to me?”
“I listened when you had your little breakdown back there on the sidewalk because you didn’t think I wanted to spend time with you.”
“Oh just shut up!” Wes pulled to a stop at the red light, glaring at Travis in the passenger’s seat. The sight of his partner’s eyes lit up with mirth was almost his undoing. “You’re just fucking with me, aren’t you? Because you can?”
“Guilty.”
“God, I hate you right now,” Wes said, focusing back on the road, waiting for the light to turn green.
“No you don’t, you love me,” Travis said, drawing out the word ‘love’.
Wes contemplated running the car off the road and smashing into the nearest wall, but thought better of it. Even though he’d never admit it to anyone, this was another of those things he was happy hadn’t changed between the two of them. This continual back and forth verbal sparring had become a stress reliever for them both. It made the job so much easier when you could tell your partner to go to hell and know he’d still have your back an hour later when you needed him.
He glanced at Travis in the passenger’s seat. He was tapping his fingers on the dash, humming along with a song on the radio. Wes did agree though that while things sometimes had to change, he was both anticipating and dreading the upcoming modification to their relationship. But he’d never backed down from a challenge and dating Travis Marks was the trial of a lifetime.
Reaching over the center console, he held out his hand, palm up. Travis looked at it in confusion before grinning and taking Wes’ hand into his own. Yeah, they could do this. It wouldn’t be easy, but they’d find a way. And if they crashed and burned? He was still positive they could salvage their friendship and make it work through the awkwardness. They had to.
Fandom: Common Law
Pairing: Travis Marks/Wes Mitchell
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2,875
Summary: After Travis’ return from visiting Dr. Ryan, Wes has some things of his own to talk about.
Author’s Note: What was started by
bm_shipper was encouraged and finished by c8h7n3o2. My two enablers this week.“Are you going to tell me why you saw Dr. Ryan?” Wes opened the door of his car and slid in behind the wheel. It didn’t surprise him that Travis had gone off the reservation like that, but it had shocked him that he’d done it to see their former therapist.
Travis shrugged. “Just had some stuff to get off my chest and she seemed like the perfect person to dump on.”
That hadn’t come out quite how Travis had expected, judging by the look on his face. Wes smiled, it was reassuring to know that, no matter how much things changed between them, some things would always stay the same. Travis’ mouth being one of them. “What kind of stuff, or shouldn’t I ask?”
He kept his eyes glued to the road in front of him, but he could swear he felt Travis’ gaze boring into him. It was beginning to unnerve him and he chanced a peek to the side. Yep, he was being watched from the passenger seat. Should he say something?
“Just stuff,” Travis said, saving him from having to ask again. “Trying to make my life make sense now that everything’s so different.”
“Maybe you just need a date,” he said, wincing. Why the hell had he suggested that? Travis had stopped screwing everything that gave him a minute of their time lately and that was one thing he did not want to change, ever. Well, unless he was… no.
God, he was so over this.
“Nah,” Travis said in a startling twist of reality. “I’m kind of burned out on dating right now.”
“You’re lucky I didn’t just wreck the car,” he laughed. “Did you really just say you were tired of hooking up?” He could feel those Windex eyes burrowing into the side of his head again. It took everything he had to keep from looking over at Travis.
He shrugged again. “Yeah.”
“Any reason,” he asked, praying Travis would spill his guts, all the while terrified of what his response might be. “I mean, if you want to talk about it.”
“Actually, I do.”
Wes listened to Travis readjusting his position in the passenger seat. He found himself suddenly nervous, unsure of why Marks’ declaration had him so on edge. “Do I need to pull over?”
Travis chuckled, a warm and happy sound filling the car. “Naw, man. I’m not dying or anything. I’ve just found someone.” His voice trailed off, leaving a stifling silence between them.
“You have?” Wes gripped the steering wheel tighter, knuckles white and heart pounding. “Who is she? Do I know her?”
“Yeah, you do,” he said, a smile in his voice. “You know her pretty well.”
Something gripped his lungs tightly, strangling the breath from him. It had to be Jonelle, because Kendall hadn’t ever fallen victim to his partner’s charms. Or had she? Wes had no way of knowing, not for sure, but he was pretty positive she hadn’t. If it was Jonelle, that was a good thing. She was smart, beautiful, intelligent… and yet, she still wasn’t – no. “Are you going to give me a name or do I have to guess?”
Why can’t it be Wesley?
Again, laughter floated up from the passenger seat. “Not yet. Just know that I’ve found someone that’s worth taking my time for. Someone worth waiting on.”
“And this is what you talked to Dr. Ryan about?” He hoped he’d kept the despair out of his voice.
“Yep.” Travis was quiet for a moment. “You make a decision on which house you’re going to buy yet? Or has the lure of the lawn made your mind up for you?”
Wes’ tongue flicked out, traced his lower lip, and disappeared again. “You’re changing the subject,” he said, frowning. “I wanted to give them both another look before making my choice. I was kind of hoping you’d come along and give me your opinion if you have time.”
“Of course I have time, man. Can’t have you buying the wrong house, right?” He shook his head. “Lay it out for me, which one do you like best?”
He knew which house he wanted, it was the first one he’d looked at and had everything he’d been looking for. Three bedroom, two bath, a giant kitchen and a lovely back yard. It had wooden flooring and freshly painted walls. What he needed was for Travis to agree with his choice. It was insane, but he’d given in to that brand of crazy a month ago, exactly two days after he started looking for a new home.
“They’re both great with lots of space and amenities.”
“But which one has the better lawn?”
“You’re such an ass sometimes,” he said, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Am I that predictable?”
“I just know you too well,” Travis said.
It was true, too. Over the course of their partnership they’d become friends, then enemies. Eventually, they’d settled somewhere in the middle, in a place they were both comfortable with. Comfortable, but not content as far as Wes was concerned.
“I’ll never hear the end of this, but the place I’m leaning towards does have the bigger lawn,” he said, sneaking a covert glance at Travis. “But it also has three bedrooms so I can have an office and a guest room. You know, for those nights when you’re too plastered to make it home safely?”
There’d only been one of those to date, but it had stuck in his mind when he’d been looking for a new place. Even then, Travis had crashed – or passed out, rather – on the couch in Wes’ hotel room. In the morning, Wes had found him sprawled on the cushions, one leg half over the back, blanket exposing his lean, muscular chest. It had been a vision, one he had hoped to see again.
“Man, that never happens,” Travis said, making a disgusted face. “Well, other than that one time but…”
“…you were coming off a bad breakup,” Wes finished for him. That had been tough. Listening to Travis go on and on about this woman and how she’d dumped him before he’d gotten the chance to stand her up. It was ridiculous, but they’d actually had that exact conversation. “If I get this place, you can have more.”
“More bad breakups? Why would I want that?” Travis shook his head, a smile spreading across his face. “Take me to this place and tell me about the other one.”
Looking in his side view mirror, Wes made a lane change and got onto the freeway. “The place I want is bigger and nicer, but the other has its charms too. It has two bedrooms with lovely tile in the kitchen. Nice yard, but not as big as the other place. Central to several restaurants and not far from the station either.”
“And yet, you’re still partial to this other place? Why?”
Why indeed? “I don’t even know,” he said, taking a left once he got off the freeway. “I like the idea of having room to grow, in case I ever find someone again. I can build a life, have a family. Or…”
“Or?” Travis’ curiosity was piqued and that worried Wes.
“Or a lot of things.” He slowed as he turned onto a tree-lined street, wondering if he could ever scrape up enough guts to be honest with Travis. How he pictured the possibilities a place like this held. Of coming home and finding his partner waiting for him outside, or even inside, feet on the coffee table and sipping a beer. “Here. This is it.”
Travis looked up and scanned the front of the house, nodding. “Yeah, I think you’re right, this is definitely the place.”
“You think so?” He exited the car and shut the door behind him. Moving around the car, he waited for Travis to join him on the sidewalk.
“Absolutely. I can totally see you living here, your fancy ass car in the drive, soup bubbling on the stove. It’s a really nice place, Wes.”
“Thanks, Travis. Believe it or not, it was important that you liked this place.” He looked at the ground and kicked at a leaf stuck to the concrete. It was more than wanting Travis’ approval though, but he didn’t know how to say as much.
“Why on earth do I need to like it?”
There was an unidentifiable hitch in his partner’s voice that he couldn’t reconcile and it made him uncomfortable. “Because I hoped you’d come around more often if I wasn’t living in ‘that damn hotel’ any longer. We’d have more space to spread out files and if the case took us all night, you’d have your – have a place to crash.” He cringed at the fact he’d come so close to saying Travis would have his own room.
Travis’ eyes left the front of the house and found Wes’ face. “You want me to come around more often?” Wes nodded. “Just for case work or?”
“Or just because you have nothing else to do.” It was the hardest thing he’d ever said and it was killing him. “I was hoping you’d want to, Travis.”
Those pale blue eyes studied him for an eternity before blinking. “You want me to want to come visit you.”
It was a statement rather than a question, one that twisted his insides into knots and made him want to do something unseemly, like vomit on the perfectly trimmed grass at his feet. Anger flamed from his insecurity, covering it in a blaze of glory he knew he’d regret later. “Damn you, yes I want to you to want to be around me. You’re always telling me you know me so well and yet you miss this? Something that Jonelle pointed out to me as being so obvious not even an idiot could miss it?” He threw his hands in the air and turned away from Travis, muttering about the many kinds of fool he was.
“Wes, wait,” Travis said, reaching out and grabbing him by the arm. “Stop.”
He pulled his arm out of Travis’ grasp with a sharp tug. Although he stopped walking away, he refused to look his partner in the eye. Running both hands through his hair, he tried to regain his composure. “Why? Tell me one reason why I should stop and listen to you.”
“Because I want to, man.” Travis sighed, weary and fraught with something Wes couldn’t put a name to. Frustration, annoyance, despair, who knew? “You think you’re easy to read, but you’re not. I can only pick up on things when you’ve done them a million times. You’ve not had many emotional breakdowns since we’ve been partners.”
“If this is supposed to make me feel better, it’s not.” Although, Travis had said he’d wanted to. Wes held onto those words, hope building in his chest.
“This is why I went to see Dr. Ryan yesterday,” he said, admitting finally to the big mystery. “Because the idea of you getting a place of your own bugged me.”
Wes turned and looked at Travis’ sad face. “You’ve been telling me to move on for almost two years now. Why would my finally doing what you asked bug you so much?”
Travis shrugged – something he was becoming very adept at. “Because things were changing, Wes. You were changing, and let’s face it, you’re the most inflexible person I know.” He rubbed his jaw with the palm of his hand and gave a weak smile. “You started talking about having things to do, stuff to fix and my frustration only got worse every time you mentioned the move. She helped me understand that I was so upset because the one thing you didn’t add to your list of things to care for was me.”
He stood on the sidewalk, unable to speak. Travis’ confession had rocked him to his core and left him shaken. When he opened his mouth to respond, Marks continued talking.
“So yeah, I can see you living here because I can see me visiting you here. Parking my bike in the drive beside your car, leaving my helmet by the front door. I can even hear you yelling at me to wipe my feet before stepping on your pristine light colored carpet. Because only you would have light colored carpet, Wes.” He made a sound that was a cross between a laugh and a snort.
“Are you done yet?”
“Yeah, sorry.”
“Good, because you just sealed the deal. I’m getting this place tonight.” Lifting a finger, he shook it in Travis’ direction. “I didn’t think I’d ever have to tell you that I’d continue to take care of you, Travis. I mean, look at you, you’re a mess. I have to take care of you if I want to keep my partner. Training another is too much work anyway.”
Laughter bubbled up from Travis’ chest, filling the air around them. “You are too much, baby. But I like it.”
Wes allowed himself a small smile, still too unsure to let himself be happy. “Does this mean you like me?”
Travis frowned for a second before nodding. “Honey, I’d go so far as to say that I think I love your prickly self. But don’t quote me on that.”
“You might want to take me on a date before you start declaring your love for me,” Wes said, adding a dismissive hand wave at the end for good measure. “Or those words might come back to bit you in your perfect ass.”
“Because that’s never happened before, right?” Travis reached out and tugged at Wes’ arm again, drawing him nearer. “Can you show me the inside?”
“Not right now,” he said, looking from Travis’ face to the house he was about to make an offer on. “But we can come back tonight with the realtor. I’m going to call her as soon as we get back to the station. Would you come back with me tonight if I do that?”
“Are you kidding? Of course I’ll come back and help you buy our new place.” Travis released his grip on Wes’ arm and strode up the drive so he could peek in the windows.
“Wait, Travis? No, this is my place, not ours. At least, it’s not ours yet. Aren’t you jumping the gun a bit?” Panic filled him at the idea of Travis Marks moving in with him.
“You are so easy, blondie. I’m yanking your chain.” He made his way back down the drive and patted Wes’ face with one large hand. “I’ll move in next month. Until then, how about you feed me? I’m starving.”
“Well,” Wes said, unlocking the car. “I was going to offer to buy you dinner, but after this, you can buy your own damn dinner.
“Man, that’s not fair.” Travis climbed into the car and pulled his seatbelt on as Wes pulled away from the curb.
“You think that’s not fair? You wait until you get my list of rules for this new place.”
“You are obsessive, you know that? You don’t even own this place yet and you’re already yelling at me for getting mud on the tile.”
“It doesn’t have tile, it has wood floors. Do you not ever listen to me?”
“I listened when you had your little breakdown back there on the sidewalk because you didn’t think I wanted to spend time with you.”
“Oh just shut up!” Wes pulled to a stop at the red light, glaring at Travis in the passenger’s seat. The sight of his partner’s eyes lit up with mirth was almost his undoing. “You’re just fucking with me, aren’t you? Because you can?”
“Guilty.”
“God, I hate you right now,” Wes said, focusing back on the road, waiting for the light to turn green.
“No you don’t, you love me,” Travis said, drawing out the word ‘love’.
Wes contemplated running the car off the road and smashing into the nearest wall, but thought better of it. Even though he’d never admit it to anyone, this was another of those things he was happy hadn’t changed between the two of them. This continual back and forth verbal sparring had become a stress reliever for them both. It made the job so much easier when you could tell your partner to go to hell and know he’d still have your back an hour later when you needed him.
He glanced at Travis in the passenger’s seat. He was tapping his fingers on the dash, humming along with a song on the radio. Wes did agree though that while things sometimes had to change, he was both anticipating and dreading the upcoming modification to their relationship. But he’d never backed down from a challenge and dating Travis Marks was the trial of a lifetime.
Reaching over the center console, he held out his hand, palm up. Travis looked at it in confusion before grinning and taking Wes’ hand into his own. Yeah, they could do this. It wouldn’t be easy, but they’d find a way. And if they crashed and burned? He was still positive they could salvage their friendship and make it work through the awkwardness. They had to.
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Date: 2015-01-30 10:05 am (UTC)That was so cute.
And perfect.
And I think pretty much in character. I could totally imagine all of it.
How awkward would a first date be with neither of them knowing what to do? I could totally see it being strange, maybe even their first kiss, like bumping heads before their lips touch because they are so awkward.
Great job!!!
no subject
Date: 2015-01-30 07:13 pm (UTC)That's good to know - with the show being gone for so long, I have a tendency to make them my own. Whooops. :)
I love writing first dates for these two for that reason. Travis is so confident in himself and his abilities and Wes is so not. And then, of course, Travis knows Wes hasn't dated in forever and tries to make it easier on him, and that's where everything gets awkward. But I love that idea - I can totally see that happen, too.
Thanks again!
no subject
Date: 2015-02-06 12:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-02-06 05:47 pm (UTC)I think this is as daring as Wes gets, but that's okay, because Travis can be quite an adventure, eh? :)