chapter five
pairing: rusty ryan x ocean!reader
summary: you and rusty unknowingly have feelings for one another, but with your brothers recent arrest the line drawn between the both of you grows thinner by the second.
warnings: none for this chapter! but MDNI in general pls and thank u
masterlist
You never really thought that watching rich, dumb people constantly fail at playing poker could be as entertaining as it was, but you were having a time.
You and Rusty made it to the club in time, but took a while to enter said club because while you kept attempting to put your lip gloss back on, Rusty kept kissing you, using the excuse that he wanted some too. You both stepped out fifteen minutes after you arrived, and it took you another five minutes to even enter the club, as Rusty couldn't keep his hands to himself. But it was not like you put up much of a fight either; you gladly welcomed the affection, both of you trying to make up for lost time.
"This is my associate, she's going to sit in on the lesson." Rusty introduces you to Topher Grace, one of the poker trainees. Topher looks knowingly between the two of you, quirking his brow before shrugging.
"Fine by me. I always enjoy having a pretty face around." Topher replies, causing Rusty to stop in his steps, both you and Topher turning to Rusty to see the reasoning for the stop. Rusty blankly stares at Topher, your stomach fluttering at the clear sign of anger on Rusty's face.
"Hey, I mean, you're not so bad yourself." Topher jokes, patting Rusty's shoulder before walking away, not noticing that Rusty was not joking around. To ease the tension, you stepped closer and slung your arm around his.
"Easy, tiger." Rusty eased at your comment before turning his head to kiss your forehead.
That takes you back to where you guys were now. You were sitting in while Rusty actively taught the kids.
"Fellas, Fellas!" Topher calls out, grabbing everyone's attention. After getting everyone to look, Topher put down his cards. "All reds." You stifled a laugh as everyone cheered for Topher. The cards were indeed all reds, but did he even have a valid hand? Absolutely not. Turning to look at Rusty, you noticed his exasperated face, watching him rest his face on his glass. You sputtered out a laugh, Rusty turning to you with a tired look on his face. You shrugged in response, amused by the situation at hand.
---
Rusty stood behind you at the bar, both of you nursing a drink in hand. Neither of you has said much, relishing in each other's presence. It's almost as if after confessing to one another, everything else fell into place. No longer were you two toying on the line between friendship and romance; taking that step brought you two a comfort that you could only dream of.
"Longest hour of my life." Rusty groans near your ear before letting his head fall in the space between your neck and shoulder.
"I don't know, I'm having fun." You responded, much to Rusty's dismay.
"I'm glad you're having fun." Rusty grumbles over the loud music, causing you to smile before turning around to face Rusty. Even in the crappy lighting. of the bar, Rusty still took your breath away every time you laid eyes on him.
"Thank you for bringing me here, Rusty." The man in front of you tilted his head in confusion. "As much fun as I am having seeing you stressed out because of those rich degenerates, I really am happy to be here with you. Or spending time with you, I guess." Rusty stilled. He wasn't expecting a confession of that magnitude, hell, you weren't expecting it to you. For once, you had Rusty lost for words. Looking at your eyes and down to your lips, Rusty pulled you closer by the waist and pressed his mouth against yours with enough force as if he was trying to showcase all the emotions he felt through the kiss. You reciprocated, matching his pace.
Pulling away, Rusty grinned while trying to catch his breath.
"I would go to a thousand boring poker lessons if it meant you would be there every time." Rusty joked, kissing your forehead before letting his hands fall from your waist to grab your hand. "Anyways, got a job to do."
"I'm excited." You responded, wiggling your eyebrows in amusement.
Rusty led you through the crowd, and you had a view of his back the whole time, feeling a surge of affection at his care for you. Making your way to the back of the club, the music and people dimmed a bit, allowing you guys to rest your ears. Before entering, you let go of Rusty's hand to adjust your outfit, both you and Rusty making small conversation while walking back into the poker room. The two of you did not notice the extra member at the table until you heard a familiar voice.
"That's hard to do, switching from TV to film, right?" Both your and Rusty's ears quirked up, a clear face of shock at the guest at the table.
Danny? You took a step forward, ready to embrace your brother, but Topher spoke up.
"Oh, hey, Russ, we got another player...if that's cool with you." Rusty stared at Danny for a beat, shocked to see his best friend, who was supposed to be in jail, at the table.
You stood there in shock, looking at Danny as if you had seen a ghost. Danny looked at you with a ghost of a smile, quirking his brow at you as if he was gesturing you to snap out of it. When Rusty moved, that’s when you snapped out of it, only averting your glare to the blond as soon as he moved in front of you. Rusty turned to you with a smile and a shrug, totally nonchalant. At Rusty's touch, you eased a little bit, moving to lean against the wall.
Looking at the sight before you, you had no idea what to do. On one hand, you were excited to see your brother again, and on the other hand, you were nervous. You knew for a fact that Danny would not take kindly to the fact that while he was in jail, his best friend decided to make a move he hadn't dared to do before his imprisonment.
"Mr. Ocean, what do you do for a living?" Danny and Rusty played poker with the other actors, but halfway through, you began to notice the glances they would give each other, catching on to the fact that their first con after four years was taking place. You scoffed in disbelief, shaking your head at the two.
"That much money, this early in the game...I'm saying he's holding nothing but face cards." Rusty "teaches" the other players at the table. You noticed Danny looked down to hide the smile on his face, and your heart warmed instantly at the sight. Danny was back, and you were just happy to have your brother back.
At Rusty's lesson, all the actors put their money in the pile, going all in. You bit your lip to hide the smile that was threatening to break out. Danny puts his cards down, revealing four nines and an ace. Every actor at the table groaned at the sight, oddly enough, finally understanding the rules of the game at their loss. Pushing yourself off the wall, you shook your head at Danny, who just smiled back at you with a shrug.
---
After their first con in four years, Danny and Rusty were finally able to have a conversation between the two of them without the presence of prison guards or annoyingly rich nepotism babies. Walking to Rusty's car, where you awaited Rusty and Danny began talking.
"How's (y/n) been, Rusty?" Danny asks, hands in pockets. Rusty scratches his neck and looks over at his friend, trying to be subtle in every way.
"She's been good. Obviously, she struggled at first, but I've been keeping her company." Rusty instantly internally cringes inside; that last comment was anything but subtle.
"I hope that's all you've been doing," Danny says with a smirk, but Rusty knows that Danny was as serious as a heart attack.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rusty chuckles, trying to appear nonchalant. Danny throws his friend a knowing look before scoffing. Rusty couldn't even probe anymore because they had finally reached his car. He almost tripped over himself when he saw you leaning against the car. It's almost as if you take his breath away every time, he thinks. Rusty thinks he covered himself up fine, but the look Danny is throwing him proves otherwise.
Seeing your brother and your secret boyfriend arrive, you instantly stood up straight. Danny smiles widely, and you mimic him before giving your brother a big hug. Danny lets out an 'oof' before hugging you back with as much feeling.
"When did you get out?" You asked once you let go
"Yesterday, Frank told me where you guys were." Danny then pauses before speaking again. "Actually, he told me where Rusty was at; it's funny that I caught you two here."
'Caught' was a very interesting word to use because of the small comment you froze before quickly recovering.
"Oh, Rusty just invited me over, you know, to hang out for my birthday." I mean, it wasn't a lie, really, you guys were hanging out for your birthday.
"Oh, that reminds me." Danny then fishes something out of his suit jacket, and at the gesture, you believe that you successfully conned the thief. "Here, got this in New Jersey." He dangles a keychain in front of you, and you let out a laugh at the cheesiness of it all.
"Thank you, I was really looking forward to a prison keychain, this is a bit better though."
Lost in the moment, you fail to realize the blond man next to your brother, leaning against the car, just staring at you like you hung the moon and stars. Remembering that Rusty is there, you look back at him, but you had to do a double-take because of his lovestruck stare. Your brother, distracted by his receipt slipping from his jacket, fails to notice you hitting Rusty's shoulder lightly. Rusty raises his hands in defence as if he were saying, 'I can't help it.'
"Shall we get going?" Danny speaks up, causing you and Rusty to snap back to reality.
"Where are we going?"
---
"You want to knock over a casino?" You quipped, half in amusement and half in shock at the fact that after four years, your brother didn't want to get a cheeseburger, but he wanted to rob a Vegas casino.
Danny shakes his head before lifting three fingers. Both you and Rusty did a double-take, caught off guard by the fact that your brother, not even two days out of a four-year stint in prison, wants to rob three banks. You let out a choke of a laugh, suddenly feeling a burst of energy. Rusty mimics your laugh before taking a sip of his coffee.
"Thank god you're back, Danny. I was becoming too much of a proper citizen." You say with a grin. "
"Do you have the plans?" Rusty asks, interrupting you by accident.
"Nope, but I know a place." Rusty nods before Danny stands up. "Just give me a sec, okay." Danny then scoots out of the booth you two were in. Rusty waits for the coast to be clear before grabbing your hand.
"Come here." Rusty mumbles, leaning over the table to give you a quick smooch. Your cheeks instantly bloomed. Glancing around frantically, you looked back at Rusty.
"Rusty? He could be anywhere." You chastised the man infant of you, but the smile on your face completely gave away at the glee you felt from the small kiss.
"couldn't help myself." Rusty grinned, causing you to roll your eyes. Looking to your left, you see Danny come back, instantly pulling your hand away. Rusty chuckled at your panic before leaning back in his seat, not taking his eyes off you. Before Danny had a chance to slip in beside you, you kicked Rusty's leg under the table to stop him from staring. Rusty, though, ignored your attempts to stop him.
"Should we head out? The night is not getting any younger." Danny speaks up as soon as he arrives back at your guys' table. You and Rusty glanced at each other before looking back at Danny with a nod.
Rusty took the initiative to pay while you and Danny left the diner. Brushing some stray crumbs from your shirt, Danny looked at you quizically.
"So...you and Rusty." You froze instantly, not even being subtle with how shocked you were by the comment.
"What about me and Rusty?" you nervously laughed out.
"I don't know, you tell me. You guys seem closer." Danny points out amusingly.
"Well, I mean, we are closer now." That wasn't a lie. "He's been making sure I've been doing okay over the past year since he moved to L.A." Also not a lie.
"That's good to hear," Danny comments reassuringly before looking down at his shoes. "You know, Tess always thought you guys would get together at one point." You blinked twice before glancing inside the diner to look at Rusty. You smiled softly, this not missed by your older brother.
"Speaking of Tess, have you heard from her?" Danny chuckles dryly, putting his hands in his pockets.
"She sent divorce papers if that's what you're asking."
"Did you sign them?"
"Nope." You let out a laugh at the small comment, and Danny joins in.
"She's going to hunt you down, you know?" You warned Danny jokingly.
"Oh, I'm hoping for it."
"Sir? How would you like to pay?" From inside the Diner, Rusty was lost in a trance, looking at you laugh. Turning back to the waitress, Rusty gave an apologetic look before mumbling, 'cash.' Telling the waitress to keep the change as he walked towards the exit, he really couldn't stand not being there while you laughed and smiled; he needed to hear it, or he would go insane.
"Sorry for taking so long." Rusty was about to reach a hand to your lower back, but pulled his hand back in time, clenching it twice to calm himself down. You smiled back at him, Rusty immediately melting on the spot. Maybe it was the fact he was absolutely tired, maybe it was the fact you looked absolutely breathtaking even under the crappy light the diner sign offered, or maybe it was everything combined, but Rusty realized then he would rather die than not have you in his life.
You shivered slightly, the night breeze slowly getting to you. Rusty, noticing, instantly took his suit jacket off and handed it to you.
"Here." You blinked, glancing between Rusty and the jacket. You opened your mouth to protest, a blush coating your cheeks. But Rusty shook his head while draping the jacket over your shoulders. "No ifs or buts." You smiled softly and thanked your man quietly.
"Okay, lovebirds, let's get a move on." Completely forgetting your brother was there, you quickly glanced over to see that your brother had a small smirk after making the comment. Rusty shrugged while you stood there half in shock and half in embarrassment.
Not even three hours after seeing your brother were you and Rusty were about to be found out. Hell, you had an inkling your brother already knew about you and Rusty from his small questions and comments. Yet, you felt no shame; rather, you felt happy knowing that these comments weren't made with anger, but rather, Danny was nonchalant.
Rusty noticed it as well, but if you asked him, he could honestly give less of a fuck. He was too in love with you to pretend he wasn't. Being anywhere near you, Rusty couldn't stop doting on or looking at you. He's yours now; he can't go back to pretending he isn't.
Danny, on the other hand, definitely knew you guys were together, but he was just waiting for you two to tell him. He's not going to pry, but he will tease the two of you into confessing your relationship to him. At first, was he angry that his best friend made a move on his sister when he was eating shitty prison food? Yes. But was this also a long time coming and something he was rooting for? Also yes. Right now, Danny would play the fool and watch the two of you fail at hiding your feelings for each other.