Archive of Our Own

In all honesty, it wasn't expected to get this far in the first place. Meeting up occasionally (more like often if they weren't kidding themselves) to fuck wasn't supposed to be more than something on a casual basis, anything less than innocent fun.

It first became painfully obvious that something was up when Louis found his partner much less invigorated in the sack. Usually, Vincent was super transparent so if something was on his mind, it was pretty damn easy to pick up on it and read. Which, this was annoying to Louis, but at least the jock was relatively easy to coax into talking when he wanted him to.

Both were stripped down to their underwear with Vincent buried in the blond's neck, hands on his hips as he's giving him a half-hearted hickey. Rolling his eyes, Louis pushed the boy off him and gathered up some of the blanket around him to cover himself while he sat upright.

"For God's sake, Vincent," Louis groaned. "This is the third time this week your mood has been rather lacking." The other two times, of course, he had also noticed but did his best to tastefully stay quiet about. Vincent never made eye contact with him and he huffed, deciding to change his demeanor. The look of irritation he wore changed into a look of teasing, sly playfulness with his eyes narrowed. "You aren't tired of me already, are you? If that's the case, I know a few things we can try to spice--"

Before he could even finish his thought, he was silenced by the waving of Vincent's hand and a defeated sigh. "No," he said quickly. "That's not... That's not it." Annoyed again, Louis crossed his arms.

"Then what?" He really didn't want to admit it, but his pride was sort of starting to be put on the line here. Louis Lindbeck was pretty fucking great in bed and was not about to let some closeted asswipe of a jock make him start to doubt this fact. Vincent was still doing his best to keep away from the intense stare of Louis, even going as far as to turn away from him; also much to his displeasure. "Okay, drama queen. Spill."

"But-"

Vincent barely got a chance to put a word in when Louis was on his back again. Literally. The blond draped himself over the other's side, leaning in to whisper in his ear with a wicked grin. "Something's on your mind and you're going to tell me before I get pissed off and kick you out." He paused briefly before adding, "...without your clothes."

At this point in their relationship, if that's what they could call it, Vincent knew this was most likely another one of his scare tactic bluffs since he knows how easily that works on him. Which it still does. The thought makes Vincent break out in a small sweat and he agrees to talk, sighing in defeat yet again.

In just a couple short weeks, the pair of best friends were going to be starting off their college careers together. He won't admit outwardly, but Vincent is still riding on the high of Teddy confessing his desire of wanting the two of them to attend the same college.

Before their graduation, the spent many days and nights brainstorming on possible choices in schools-- Teddy more keeping in mind places that would both be easier for Vincent to get into and make him most comfortable, while Vincent insisted he'd rather not hold Teddy back by making him feel forced to attend any schools that could possibly 'dumb him down.'

"Dumb me down? Vincent, please," Teddy had laughed aloud. "It doesn't really matter where I go so long as we're by each other's side."

They had decided on applying to a couple different local universities in the end (and a few community colleges upon Vincent's uncertain request), to which the two of them found they were both accepted into a university close to home. Vincent was accepted and able to ride for 3/4 years on a football scholarship, while Teddy got in with no problems for his grades. Both were very eager at the news and celebrated immediately. Come graduation, Vincent picked up a few more part-time jobs over the summer to give him some extra pocket money and for other expenses the scholarship alone may not be able to cover. Teddy offered a few times to help cover costs when he noticed Vincent was getting a bit overworked and stressed, but he kindly declined with a sheepish smile each time. Not that it was particularly surprising.

As summer wore on and the two were busy making all their preparations, it was actually revealed to them that they were going to be roommates for their first semester. Both were very pleased with this, although there was a lingering paranoia tugging at the back of Vincent's mind. While their classes were certainly not going to line up, there would most definitely be lots of off times between classes when they'd hang out. Not to mention that they were going to be living together, for God's sake! Vincent's mind was racing a mile a minute while the Bijapur boy sat across from him at one of the jock's part time jobs, chatting away about how excited he was about the whole turn of events.

"...Which is- ... Vincent?" Snapping back, Vincent noticed a concerned look has crossed his friend's face. He wasn't spaced out for that long, was he? He forced a smile and tried to ignore the burning sensation creeping up his neck.

"Y-yeah. I agree," Vincent fibbed, trying to act like he was paying attention. Teddy raised a brow.

"You agree with what?" Expression changing into being mildly puzzled, Teddy's fingers curled around his drink. "Is there something the matter? You've been acting out of it lately."

Of course this of all things wasn't going to under his radar. Vincent stared down anxiously into his own cup seeking some sort of escape, melting ice cream offering him no solace. Yes, of course something is bothering me! is what he wanted to say. He wanted to jump across the table to grab Teddy by the shoulders and tell him he's been on edge for the better part of a year. Although, if he too busy wasn't lying to himself about it, his little rendezvous with Louis did quite a bit to take his mind off things from time to time.

"...Just tired," he sighed. Mentally he was kicking himself in the ass. It's been this long that they've gone with keeping last summer swept under the rug and God knows bringing it up now may actually mess things up for real. "Lots on my plate, y'know?" Teddy appeared to have bought it, nodding and taking a small sip of his coffee.

"No, I get it," he smiled. "You've been working so hard lately. We barely get to see each other anymore unless it's on a break like this." His gaze turned to the window. Outside, there was a light breeze pushing and pulling a few stray leaves around. If he looked closer, Vincent could swear his best friend almost looked a bit more in pain than thoughtful. "Dad's been asking about you, too." The brunet rubbed the back of his neck.

"Send him my regards when you head back to your place."

"I will." Teddy's eyes stayed focused on something outside the window. He took a slow breath, trying to carefully gather what he would say next. "Things have been...rather lonely so far this summer. What with you working constantly, and Penny and I having gone our separate ways before graduation... I've had," he paused, eyes filling with what could be read as uncertainty or dread. "...lots of time to think."

Honestly, he wasn't sure what to expect from the smaller boy sitting across from him at the table. His throat felt dry. "You can talk to me, dude." Vincent's words came off soft, calm. "...I'm your best friend." The last sentence almost seemed to catch Teddy off guard and he fidgeted in his seat, twisting around the scarf around his neck between his fingers.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, he allowed himself to meet Vincent's eyes. It was a bit more difficult to read his expression this time, but it felt like Teddy was giving off more of a vulnerable vibe.

"...You are," Teddy said quietly. "Which is why I need to talk to you, to clear a few things up. About...last summer."

Boy, Vincent sure was glad he was already sitting down for this.

"Which he just... He came out of left field and slammed me with all this, this..."

Vincent calmed down exponentially, aside from a lot of rambling and circling back and forth in trying to explain to Louis what exactly had happened. He held this look of disbelief, almost as if doubting any of this actually happened. But it did. Louis watched from beside him in bed. Well, if it wasn't before, his boner is definitely gone now.

"It's, like, the last thing I expected to come out of his mouth! That he actually wants to give us a try, and..." A hand ran through his messy hair and he let out a breathy, almost nervous laugh. But in that moment that he paused, frowning with an uncomfortable glance. He knew he could tell Louis anything and not have it spat back at him (too harshly) later on, but he just felt so terribly...awkward about what was to come next. "Which just makes this feel wrong. You and me..."

Knots began to twist inside the blond's stomach. Of course that's where this was going. It wouldn't make sense for it not to and he'd have to be stupid to try and think it wouldn't come down to this. After all, for all the time and patience Vincent had to suffer through over the last year, he sort of deserved to have his own happy ending.

Louis had quite a mouthful to say to this, mostly along the lines of jabbing Teddy for taking so long. He hadn't quite expected Teddy to ever come to his senses, no matter how obvious it was for every body else to see. Instead, he settled for rolling his eyes and shifting himself to lay on his side, resting his head on his arm while gazing up at Vincent.

"Wow, Fawkes. You never cease to amaze me sometimes." There was quite a bit of sarcasm laced in his voice, as well as something else Vincent was having a hard time placing. He wasn't sure which one was more prominent.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Louis clicked his tongue. "Believe it or not, I'm actually paying you a compliment, Romeo. You've finally managed to snag your Juliet without anyone even having to die in your wake." A bit thrown off by this, Vincent laughed.

"...Thank you," he said. Vincent half smiled, looking like he had something more he wanted to say. Louis rolled his eyes.

"Don't you dare," he warned the jock. He knew exactly what was coming. If there's one thing for sure here, it's that Louis Lindbeck did not do sappy shit and Vincent Fawkes was all about it.

The other boy tossed his hands up. "J-just hear me out!!" Although clearly annoyed, Louis settled back and held his tongue for Vincent to continue. "Really, what you and I have been doing these last few months have really been...Great and stuff." Barf. "You've just... really helped me out so much, too. If it wasn't for you, there would still be a lot of stuff I'd still be trying to deny and crap." In his fingers, he began to twist around Louis' blanket with a bashful, yet nervous smile. "I really owe you a lot."

"How about one last blowjob for the road?" Louis barely got the request out when he was playfully shoved by Vincent, who was blushing furiously. Yeah. That would have been too easy. "Sheesh. I'm just kidding, you barbarian!"

As he fixed himself back into an seated position, Vincent sighed. "Really though, I have no idea what I can do for you, man. Like, really. I feel kinda bad." Louis studied his expression as he took a moment to consider what he was going to say.

"You can get out of here for starters," he suggested. The statement came out of his mouth rather flat and when Vincent stared at him in confusion, Louis got annoyed and took the initiative to shove him out of his bed. "Are you deaf?! Like, I'm sure your husband-to-be is probably just dying to hang out with you, right? You really wanna slum around with me right now instead of him?"

Those words took Vincent by surprise, stunned into a momentary silence with his jaw dropped. For a guy who supposedly held no emotional attachment and had such big talk, he was able to pull through and move him quite deeply at times. Vincent had grown to admire that about him, if he were to be honest about it. It didn't happen often, but when it did, it always gave him a warm pit in his stomach.

With the rich blond looking rather impatient at the growing silence between the two of them, Vincent smiled. "...You're probably right. Thank you, Louis." Quickly, he leaned in to place a short, but gentle kiss to Louis' cheek before turning to go through the bedroom door. While the view was nothing short of sexy, something quickly dawned on him.

"HEY!" As he turned around, Vincent was met with a wad of balled up clothing to the face. He didn't seriously fail to notice that he was about to march out of the room naked, did he? Obviously he did because once what happened really hit him, his face burned a deep pink and he struggled to dress himself properly.

"Sh-shit," he breathed, doing his best to pull his shirt over his head. It turned out to be inside out, but he didn't appear to be too put off by it or he just didn't notice. Luckily, he had a lot more success when it came to putting his pants on, aside from almost knocking down a rather expensive looking lamp. Twice. From the bed, Louis was massaging at his temples to try and ward away an impending headache as he slowly remembered why he used to find this guy so insufferable. Charming, but insufferable.

"If you're through trashing around like a goddamn monkey... You've got better crap to be doing and, quite frankly, so do I." He glanced over at a large and also expensive looking bong sitting in the corner of his bedroom. Understanding, Vincent nodded, although he looked a little strained. Louis scowled and cursed in his mind, but for Vincent he offered a sharp grin as well as his middle finger, waving it. "Now scram."

Vincent, smiling back and looking less forced, returned the obscene gesture. "Yeah, okay. See you...later." With those last words hesitantly leaving his lips, he slipped out of the bedroom and made his way down the stairs, making his leave from the house.

All that filled the air now was silence. If he wasn't trying to fool himself, Louis knew this would most likely be the last time he'll ever see Vincent for a long, long time. He was about to move on to college, after all, and with Teddy fucking Bijapur nonetheless. Yeah. This was definitely the last time he'd see the jock for a good while. Did he actually mind? Of course he does. The two of them just spent the better part of half a year sleeping together on a regular basis. It's not like Louis didn't have other toys he was messing around with since he definitely did, but he usually grew bored of them after a few weeks of fooling--a month at most. So why did this feel different? What was so special about Vincent Fawkes?

It definitely isn't love. Fuck that. Louis doesn't have the time or patience in bullshit like that. As the child of a failed marriage, he has absolutely zero interest in wasting his time in something he doesn't believe to exist for him in this lifetime.

But no matter how much he tried, he couldn't deny that there was a certain tugging at his chest that made him feel pretty uncomfortable and weak. Jealousy is immediately crossed off the list of possibilities because it doesn't suit him at all. "Dammit," he groaned, running a hand through his not so perfectly done up hair. This feeling in his gut was heavy and starting to really piss him off.

Louis flopped himself down onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. Without a doubt, he knew he could be pretty childish and bratty at times, but he was feeling like the King Bitch at the moment and it ultimately made him feel worse.

Knowing what would make him feel better though, he turned over onto his side and groped around on his beside table until he found what it was that he was looking for-- a blunt and his lighter. He sat up and gingerly brought the blunt to his lips, lighting up an taking a large hit right off the bat. The smoke filling his lungs was already sending a familiar and comforting buzz of warmth throughout his body and he exhaled slowly. While he waited for the drugs to do their thing, he reached for a pillow and clutched it to his chest, eyes absently glued to a random portrait of himself on the wall. From the floor and escaping his immediate attention, his phone flashed and chimed to let him know he had received a text, most likely someone he recently met a party and was hoping to hook up.