Synopsis: Two men work together for a very long time before one of them realizes, something needs to change. (AU where they’re not married.)
Rhett stepped into the office, then immediately stepped back out. He squinted his eyes and rubbed them hard to make sure they weren’t tricking him. He tilted his head, pursed his lips, then tried again. If anything, his expression only became more confused.
Link, well, he could only assume it was Link, was standing at their window, his back to him, and wearing a solid black outfit. Washington black. His hair was slicked back to a sweeping ‘v’ at the back of his long neck.
“Umm…”
He flinched backwards when Link turned around with a little smirk dancing at the corner of his lips. Dark shades covered his piercing blue eyes.
“Ah, you’ve arrived.”
Rhett tiptoed into the room, feeling like he was about to be pranked. He could never tell where Link was going with some of his odd jokes sometimes and as far as he could tell, this one seemed the oddest.
“Mr. McLaughlin, I’m going to have to ask you to put on your gear.” He held up his finger and thumb next to his face like a spy. “We’ve got a mission.”
Rhett frowned. “Link?”
“That’s Mr. Neal to you, Mr. McLaughlin-“
“Why are you calling me that?”
“Now I’m not going to tell you again. Put down that coffee and put on your suit. We’ve got places to be and not much time to be there.” He glanced at his watch and broke character. “Seriously dude, hurry up. We’re on a schedule.”
Rhett spread his arms wide, as if asking how he was supposed to know about a schedule Link made without him, but his friend just tapped the face of his watch. Rhett sighed, rolled his eyes, put down his coffee and the donut he’d so been looking forward to, and picked up the suit draped over their sofa. It was nearly identical to Link’s except it had a pink tie.
“Dude?” He asked, flapping the shining silk at his friend.
Link just shrugged, his eyes unreadable behind those dark shades.
He didn’t often do it, but he had to, he rolled his eyes to the heavens and went off to their bathroom to change his clothes.
“You do know that it’s hot outside, right?”
Link smacked some gum, a sure sign he was nervous about something. “We won’t be outside long,” he said, still trying to play it cool even though Rhett could see right through him. The guy was acting odd, even if you ignored the suit in the middle of the day and the weird spy routine he was apparently trying to get Rhett to act out.
“Where are we going anyway?” Rhett asked, adjusting his cufflinks and starting to feel nervous himself.
Instead of answering him, Link pulled out a phone and dialed a number. “Mr. McLaughlin is read.”
Rhett chuckled when he heard a long-suffering sigh on the other end of the line as the person acknowledged the information.
He followed Link out of their office and down the hall, a patient smile on his face. He wished he had his donut and coffee, but he was willing to indulge Link in whatever game he was playing.
His brows shot up though when a limo rolled up outside and Jen hopped out to open the door for the both of them.
“Aren’t we secret agents?” Rhett asked. “Why do we need a limo?”
No response from Link who just slid inside and Jen continued to hold the door open until Rhett folded his tall body in as well. When he sat on the seat and his knee pressed against Link’s, he shook his head.
“These things look bigger from the outside. I hope you didn’t pay a lot for this.”
Links’ fingers drummed nervously on his slacks. “I didn’t pay anything for it. Chase knew a guy.”
“How many people are in on this …this-“ he waved his hand around, realizing he didn’t have a name for the wave of strange events he was caught up in.
“Enough to make sure it goes the way I want,” he said around a bubble he’d just blown. When it retreated into his mouth, he tucked it away into a wad of paper and put it in a trash bucket hidden in one of the doors.
“Lin-“
“Rhett,” Link said, suddenly taking off his shades and turning toward his friend, his sharp blue eyes managing to halt Rhett’s tongue. “I’ve got a confession to make.”
Link chuckled, but quickly became serious again. “No, a legit confession. About the suits, the limo, everything.”
“You’re actually a real life secret agent and I somehow accidentally blew your cover and now you’re going to kill me?!” Rhett guessed.
“Dude-“
“Your hair is actually a wig.”
“Rhett,” he said in a warning tone.
“You’re a time traveler and now you’re about to take me with you on a grand adventure.”
Link glared at him as he continued to wildly speculate on the confession.
“Listen to me!” he snarled, cutting in and causing Rhett to jump.
Rhett folded his hands primly in his lap, looking embarrassed.
“Dang it. I want to today to be perfect,” Link muttered nearly under his breath. He shook his head, sighed, then collected himself. “Rhett,” he said, getting the older man’s attention. “Happy Birthday,” he said, holding up a finger to let Rhett know this wasn’t the big confession and that he needed him to wait until he spoke again.
“Sorry we’re not celebrating on your actual birthday, but it took me a while to pull some stuff together.”
“We’ve reached our destination, sir,” Jen’s voice came through the intercom sounding relieved.
“Thank you, Jen,” Link said. He looked over at Rhett, suddenly appearing uncertain, so quickly threw on his shades again when Jen opened the door.
Rhett glanced around in confusion when he realized that they were at the beach.
“Suits… the beach… a limo?” He shook his head trying to make 8 plus 5 equal 2.
“Thanks, Jen,” Link said as she closed their doors and walked back around to the drivers side of the limo. Rhett gaped when she just drove away, leaving them on the sand.
Link pointed to a little wooden house knocked together a little further along the beach. “That’s our destination.”
Rhett dropped a hand on his shoulder. “What the heck is going on?”
“You’ll see when we get there,” the brunette said mysteriously. “You’ll see.”
But when they reached the little beach house, Rhett still did not see. The place was four shades away from being rundown on the outside and he felt like he should float rather than step on the boards of the little porch wrapping the front of the building.
Link searched the ground for a few minutes, lifted a rock, then inserted the key he found there into the lock.
“Could you tell me what’s going on? I feel like I’m in one of those horror movies where you realize the person you trusted was actually the serial killer all along. And I know how twisted you are, Link. If this is my last day on this earth, I’d really like to know it.”
Once they were both inside, Link closed the door behind him and they were shrouded in darkness.
Rhett wasn’t usually scared in situations like this, but the whole day had been pretty off-kilter and he never had gotten to eat his donut.
“Li-“
He felt a hand awkwardly graze his arm in the darkness, then brush down until it found his. Then he felt the other man closer to him, and closer still until their toes were touching. He heard a click, then music started playing from some area in the corner of the space and Link’s other arm was around his waist.
“Ummm, buddy?”
“Like I said in the car, I’ve got a confession. Sorry about the subterfuge, but I was really nervous if you can’t tell.”
Link was shaking like a leaf against Rhett.
“And it’s easier when I’m a character to be more honest with you, Mr. McLaughlin. Rhett…”
They moved slowly to the music like a pre-teen couple at a homecoming dance.
“Just in case you don’t like what I say or what I do next, I planned some other stuff for your birthday. I brought our longboards down a few days ago and booked some jet skis. That is…if you can still find a way to be my friend after this.”
Rhett patted his back with his hand. “B.F.F.’s fo lyfe!” he said, only half joking.
Link chuckled, mildly soothed. “Okay. Here goes.” Rhett felt him blow out a tense breath and swallow loudly. “Okay. Whooo. Okay.”
“Is that the confession, because, pretty lame to be honest.”
Link rolled his eyes and said quickly. “I’ve wanted to kiss you full on the lips ever since you made me do that stupid plexiglass kiss. Satisfied? Oh, and I’ve always wanted to see what it was like to really dance with you since I never got to a prom and now I’m doing that and it feels great, I love having my head against your chest. You’re my best friend, and I love you.”
He pressed his lips together when he was done and waited nervously with his forehead against Rhett’s chest, still shuffling his feet with Rhett’s to the music, waiting for a verdict.
Finally he heard a rumble. “You made me dress in a suit just to say all that?”
“Yeah,” Link said innocently. “And I also think you look great in a suit and you never wear them enough.” He pinched his lips together again.
Rhett laughed, wrapping both arms around Link and pulling him even closer, feeling the man’s sharp intake of breath. He kissed him loudly on each cheek and right on the forehead, mostly guessing where each landed because it was so dark. “Dang man. About time you came around. I’ve been flirting with you so hard these last few months and I thought you were never going to notice.”
“And you wanted to dance with me at prom?” he asked in confusion. “You’ve liked me since high school?”
Link shook his head. “No. I just wanted to finally dance with someone taller than me. See what that felt like.”
“Way to make a guy feel special.”
Link smiled, grasping his friend tight. “So we’re good?” he asked, hoping for a kiss and being rewarded with a light one that held promise of another.
In reply to trudygetouttahere and @mythical-rhink (because tumblr’s being stupid in a brand new way) I also see people apologizing about their artistic skill level, and that’s unnecessary, too! If your friend showed you a picture they had drawn, you would just be happy they were sharing with you, and we are friends here. I love seeing people bring their imagination to life in whatever way they are able, and I see every bit of art today as a gift.
