Fic: Boys and Hungry Hearts (Know Just What They Want) (Hockey, Seguin/OMC, 72600, E) 1/7

[rsadelle]

Master Post


"So, um," Tyler says about a week into summer. Jesse moved in with his girl and isn't around all the time like he was last year, so it's just Tyler, Brownie, and Marshall this year. Marshall's sacked out on his favorite cushion in the living room, so it's just Tyler and Brownie sitting down to eggs at the counter in the kitchen. "I was kind of dating someone for a while last year. In Biel."

"Yeah? You didn't tell me that."

Tyler can feel Brownie looking at him, but he doesn't look up, just shrugs and takes another bite of eggs he doesn't taste.

"Was she hot? Are you going to do the long-distance thing now?"

"No, it's over." Tyler answers the easier question first. "We both knew it was just a thing while I was there." He sneaks a quick glance at Brownie before he says, "And, um, yeah, he was hot."

There's this horrible, awful, endless moment of silence.

"You- Really?"

"Yeah." Tyler puts his fork down because he feels kind of sick now. "And I wasn't just, you know, hooking up with him a lot. It was, like, we went on dates and stuff like that." He doesn't quite smile because it's not really funny, but he also says, "It was better than any of the times I dated girls."

"So you're," there's the barest hesitation, "gay?"

Tyler's whole body goes hot. He is, and he's kind of come to terms with the word as it applies to him, but he's not used to saying or hearing it out loud yet. It kind of sticks in his throat, but he says, "Yeah. I hooked up with a couple of girls when I was back in Boston, but," he shrugs, "it wasn't really good for me."

"Okay." Brownie bumps their shoulders together. "As long as you're happy and shit."

Tyler finally turns to look at him. He doesn't look like he's lying. "Is it going to be weird? The whole Facebook relationship, the wife thing."

Brownie puts his arm around Tyler's shoulders. "That's always been weird. We just don't care. But if some other dude wants you to be his wife, we're going to have to talk. I'm not divorcing you unless he's good enough for you."

Tyler leans into Brownie's side for a moment. It's so stupid that he never figured it out sooner when he's always liked this kind of thing. "Thanks."

"Dude, come on," Brownie says, "you're my best friend."

*

"We could go out for you," Brownie says when they get home one night, after Tyler has taken Marshall out for a walk.

They're not really drunk, mostly just a little buzzed, enough that Tyler feels good without feeling like he's going to be sick tomorrow. Enough that he doesn't really know what Brownie's talking about.

"We go out all the time."

"No," Brownie says. "I mean we could go out for you. If you want to pick up." He shrugs. "I don't know. There's probably a gay bar around here."

"It's Toronto," Tyler says. "There are a lot of gay bars." Then he catches up with what Brownie's saying and flushes from more than just the alcohol. "Uh."

Brownie shrugs again. "I don't know. That's how you met people when you were dating girls, so, we can if you want. Or not, or whatever. I don't know how you want to do things now."

"Yeah," Tyler says. "I met Noah, in Biel, at a bar."

"Okay," Brownie says. "Cool. We'll do that." He gives Tyler an affectionate shove in the direction of the stairs, and Tyler half stumbles up them and into bed.

The impact of what he sort of agreed to doesn't hit him until the next morning, when Brownie says on the way back from their morning workout, "Do you know anything about gay bars in Toronto?" He's looking down at his phone while Tyler drives.

"No. I've never- Can we even go to a gay bar? People know who I am, and I don't exactly want-" Tyler's hands are sweaty on the steering wheel, and he doesn't finish the sentence.

"I don't know, man," Brownie says. "If people give you shit, just bullshit them or ignore them or whatever."

Tyler takes his hands off the wheel, one at a time, and wipes them off on his pants.

"We don't have to," Brownie says, "but if you want to, I'm in."

Tyler takes a lot of deep breaths the rest of the way home, and after they eat, he takes his laptop up to his room, closes the door, and googles gay bars in Toronto. It's not as helpful as he hoped it would be, but at least most of the places are in the same area.

He doesn't bring it up again until they're on their way to work out on Friday morning, when he says, "Want to go out tonight?"

Brownie says, "Sure."

He could leave it there, but Brownie is being cool about all of this, so Tyler adds, "To a gay bar?"

"Oh, yeah," Brownie says. "Did you find one you want to go to?"

Tyler shrugs. "There are a bunch of them on Church Street. We can go wander around or whatever."

"Cool."

Brownie's not treating it like it's a big deal, and maybe it shouldn't be, but Tyler can't settle, and instead of lying down for a nap after they eat, he takes Marshall on a long, meandering walk that leaves them both exhausted enough to flop down - Tyler in his bed and Marshall on the couch because he thinks that's his bed - and sleep for a couple of hours.

The nap means he's a little more together for dinner, but then he has to go back up to his room and decide what to wear, and that's more daunting than it seems like it should be. Tyler flicks through everything in his closet twice, thinks about calling one of his sisters but discards the idea because then he'd have to tell her why he needs fashion advice, and ends up in the same thing he always wears out: tight jeans and a black v-neck.

"Dude," Brownie says when Tyler comes downstairs. He gets out the vodka and a shot glass, pours, and hands the glass to Tyler. "You need to relax. Drink it."

Tyler downs the shot.

Brownie holds out his hand. "Give me your keys."

"Why?"

"Because we're taking your car, but you're not driving."

Tyler hands over his keys. At least this way he can drink as much as he wants.

Brownie drives them down to Church Street and finds a parking place near where the bars are. "Where are we going?"

Tyler looks in both directions and picks the one that will take them closer to the places that seemed to be bigger based on what he read online.

"We should go there." Brownie nudges Tyler, and of course he's looking at a group of men going up a set of steps across the street. "Woody's," he says with a snicker.

It's as good as anywhere, so they cross the street and go into the place. Brownie steers them toward one of the bars. The place isn't quite packed, but there's a good-sized crowd, mostly men, a few women, a couple of people Tyler guesses are drag queens. If it weren't for the TVs, it might be any old bar. The TVs are all showing porn. It's kind of hot and kind of weird.

The bartender smiles at Brownie and says, "What can I get for you, handsome?"

Tyler turns his best grin on the bartender - Brownie's not the one here to get some play - and orders a pair of beers.

The bartender checks him out before he says, "Sure thing, gorgeous."

Tyler pays for their drinks in cash and another smile, and he and Brownie turn away from the bar to look at the place.

"So," Brownie says after a moment, tipping his beer bottle toward one of the TV screens, "that's what you like?"

Tyler looks, and he can feel himself blushing.

Brownie chuckles unhelpfully, and claps Tyler's shoulder. "I'm going to look around, check the place out."

Tyler shrugs. "Okay. Let's see what this place's got."

"Not you," Brownie says.

"You're just going to ditch me?"

"Half this place is checking you out. You won't be lonely for long."

Tyler doubts that's true, but he lets Brownie walk off without him. He's half scoping out the bar and half drinking his beer when someone leans on the bar next to him.

"I haven't seen you in here before." The guy really obviously checks Tyler out, his eyes lingering on Tyler's arms for longer than necessary. "I'm sure I'd remember you."

Tyler gives the guy his own once-over. The guy is wearing a button-down with the top two buttons undone and the sleeves rolled halfway up his forearms, which shows off the dip of his collarbones and the lean muscle of his arms. He's hot by anyone's standards, and his hair is so good Tyler has to resist the urge to smooth his own back.

"First time in here."

The guy smiles, and, yeah, he's even hotter when he does. "What do you think?"

Tyler smiles, just a little, and says, "I like what I see." It's a pretty obvious line, but he's gotten away with worse, and if he strikes out, there's a whole bar of guys.

"I'm glad to hear it. I'm Logan."

"Tyler." Tyler gestures to the bar with his beer. "Can I get you something?"

Logan puts his hand over Tyler's on the bottle. "Want to get out of here instead?"

It's more direct than any come-on Tyler's ever gotten. He drinks from his beer, Logan's hand dropping away from his, to give himself a second to think about it. Logan's hot and doesn't have that look like he recognizes Tyler, Tyler hasn't gotten laid in a while, and they did come out to a gay bar so he could have the chance to pick up. He glances around and can't see Brownie anywhere.

He puts his beer down on the bar and pulls out his phone. "Sure. Just have to let my friend know I'm leaving." He sends Brownie a text and doesn't wait for an answer before he smiles at Logan. "Let's go."

Logan steers him out of the bar with a hand on his back, but he stops touching Tyler once they're outside. "My place?" he asks. "My car's this way."

Tyler turns with him, and they walk down the street. It's a little warm out, but mostly nice, and Logan's not crowding him so closely that he has to worry about what people will see when they look at them.

Tyler's phone buzzes, and he pulls it out to read a text from Brownie that says, Told you so. He holds in his laugh and locks his phone.

Logan leads him to a sleek black Mercedes just around the corner. Tyler runs his hand along the paint job before he gets in, and then settles back in the leather seats to watch Logan's hands on the steering wheel.

Logan seems perfectly comfortable to be watched, and he glances over at Tyler at the stoplights. He pulls into a garage below a highrise similar to Tyler's and leads him into the elevator.

The elevator doors are shiny enough for a slightly blurry reflection. They look like they could belong together. Like this isn't anything strange or weird or out of place.

Tyler rolls his shoulders back, and smiles at Logan when he catches him watching.

Logan's place is at the end of a hallway. Tyler's impression of it is mostly glass; there are windows everywhere, and there's probably a great view that he doesn't see because the moment the door is closed, Logan has his hands sliding up Tyler's sides, under his shirt.

"You going to take this off?" Logan asks. "Let me see you better?"

Tyler's never objected to that, so he strips off his shirt and doesn't bother holding in his grin at the look Logan gives his abs.

"You work out." Logan's hands wander, stroking over Tyler's skin just too firm to be ticklish. "Like a lot." His hands move down, to the waistband of Tyler's jeans.

"Athlete," Tyler admits. "Do I get to see you?" He doesn't wait for an answer before undoing the buttons of Logan's shirt. Logan isn't as ripped as Tyler, but he probably has some kind of job that doesn't rely on him being that way, and he's hot anyway. Hotter with his shirt hanging open. "You work out too." Tyler runs his hands over Logan's abs, up his sides.

"Not like you." Logan runs his hand up and down Tyler's whole body, over his chest and abs, ending on the button of his jeans. "I just want to rub my cock all over your abs."

Tyler can feel himself flushing. Noah could be direct when they were hooking up, but that was after they knew each other for a while. Logan's a lot more direct for a stranger than Tyler's used to. He goes with it, though, because he wanted to get laid. That was the whole reason they went out. Or a lot of it anyway.

"Do you have a bed in this place?" Tyler smiles and licks his lips; he knows what works on people who think he's hot. "Easier to do if I'm lying down."

Logan hooks his fingers under the edge of Tyler's waistband. "Right this way."

Tyler's sure Logan's place is nice, but he doesn't see much of it because Logan pulling him along by his jeans is pretty distracting.

Logan turns on a light when he pulls Tyler through the bedroom door. Tyler has a brief impression of a really big bed before Logan pushes him onto it. Logan clambers after him, and ends up straddling his chest.

Tyler puts his hands just above Logan's knees and runs them all the way up to his thighs. Logan has some muscle under his slacks.

"You look just as good from this angle," Logan says.

Tyler grins at him and takes the compliment as permission to get Logan's pants open. "I bet I feel just as good."

Logan puts his hands on Tyler and leans a little weight onto them as he touches. "You really do."

Tyler doesn't stop with Logan's pants. Once they're open, he pushes them, and Logan's boxer briefs, down and takes out his cock. It's already hard and heavy in Tyler's hand.

Logan moves his hands from Tyler's body to the bed on either side of him, pushes himself up on them, and comes down to rub his cock on Tyler's abs. It's hotter than Tyler thought it would be when Logan said it.

"Oh, God, this feels amazing," Logan says.

That kind of thing only makes Tyler harder.

"I thought maybe you could blow me," Logan goes on, "that mouth, but this feels so good."

"I want in on this too." Tyler puts his hands on Logan's hip to stop him. "Let me get my pants off."

Logan pushes back with a groan until he's just straddling Tyler again. There's a trail of wet from his cock on Tyler's stomach.

Logan undoes the button on Tyler's jeans with one hand while he yanks the zipper down with the other. Tyler lifts his hips so they can push his jeans and underwear out of the way. The moment he lets his hips drop back to the bed, Logan's on him again. It's better this time, and Tyler shifts them a little so Logan's thigh rubs against his cock every time Logan moves. It's a little rough, a little dry, but it's also good.

"Oh, fuck," Logan says. "Your body is amazing. I just want to ride it."

Tyler grabs Logan's ass and helps him do just that. The angle's a little strange, but he gets his mouth on Logan's neck and nips and sucks at his skin while they rub against each other.

"Fuck," Logan says, "oh, fuck, I'm going to come," and he sounds more like porn than anyone else Tyler's ever slept with, and it's still hot.

"Come on, baby," Tyler says into the skin of Logan's throat. He's pretty close too, and he just needs Logan to keep moving a little longer or move and let him touch himself.

Logan grinds hard into him, his dick a solid line of heat between them, and then he comes all over Tyler's stomach, and he draws back to stare at it. "Oh, fuck." His hand runs across Tyler's chest, the part that's still dry. "That's so hot."

Tyler arches his hips, trying to rub against whatever part of Logan he can, because he was so, so close, and he really wants to come. "I need to come so bad."

Logan sits back on his heels, still watching Tyler but not touching his dick, and then he puts his hand on Tyler and jerks him off in strong, sure strokes that have Tyler coming and adding to the mess on his stomach in no time at all.

"That was so good," Logan says.

Tyler kind of nods, but really, he just wants to lie here and enjoy it for a moment. He throws his arm over his eyes. His breath is still fast and hard, and fuck, it was good. He hasn't dared to hook up with a guy since he got back in fucking December, and that would have been hot even if he'd been hooking up every night.

Logan gets off him, and Tyler should probably pay more attention to that, but he likes it in the darkness behind his closed eyes, so he doesn't until Logan says, "You look so good it's a shame to clean you up, but that's going to be uncomfortable after a while."

Tyler moves his arm and opens his eyes to look at the mess of come on his skin. He guesses it's hot. He would probably think so if it were someone else's body.

He reaches for the washcloth in Logan's hand, but Logan pushes his hand away and says, "I've got it," so Tyler lets Logan clean him up, which comes with a lot of Logan feeling him up, but it's not like Tyler has a problem with people touching him.

He's thinking he should probably get out of there when Logan goes into the bathroom and comes out again, but Logan says, "I really did want you to blow me. Want to hang out for a while and go again later?"

Tyler looks at Logan's dick, and, yeah, he could suck on that. "Sure," he says with a lazy smile.

Logan's smile is less lazy and more hungry. "You want a drink? Snack?"

"A drink would be good. Whatever you've got."

Logan pulls up his boxer briefs and pants before he leaves the room. Tyler doesn't see the point, but Logan's ass does look great as he walks away.

Tyler kicks his jeans and underwear off and drops them and his socks onto the floor.

Logan stops in the doorway when he comes back, a beer in each hand. "You look like porn."

"Thanks, I guess."

Logan smiles. "Definitely a compliment." He gives Tyler a beer.

Tyler sits up enough that he can drink it. Logan sits down next to him and picks up a remote from the nightstand. He flips channels for a bit before settling on some kind of home improvement show.

"Okay?"

"Sure." It's not what Tyler would pick, but this is a hookup, not a date, so he doesn't care that much.

They sip their beers and watch some blonde woman talk about curtains and don't talk, and it's weird. It's weird because watching TV with people usually means talking, and it's weird because Tyler's naked, and it's weird because they're only watching TV because neither one of them can get it up again yet. It's weird because during the commercial breaks Logan's eyes slide over Tyler's body.

It gets a lot less weird after a while when Logan stops just looking and starts touching, and then Tyler does blow him, because it's hot when someone's that into him and he's done it before and knows he's pretty good at it, and then he stops thinking about anything but what they're doing when Logan blows him.

He lies there for a couple of minutes, letting himself come down, before he sits up - Logan's eyes on him the whole time, and Logan taking a breath loud enough for Tyler to hear when he sits up using just his abs - and drinks the last of his beer. It's a little warm, but it still tastes better than his mouth does.

"I'm gonna," he says, and he gets up and starts sorting out his clothes from the heap on the floor. It was good, but Logan doesn't seem to want him to stick around any more than he wants to stay. And isn't it supposed to be easier with guys anyway?

"Yeah, sure," Logan says. "Do you need a ride?"

"No, I'm good."

Logan watches Tyler get dressed, and pulls on his pants and walks Tyler out to the door where he watches Tyler pull on his shirt. "I had a good time."

"Yeah, me too," Tyler says.

"Maybe I'll see you around sometime."

"Yeah, maybe. Thanks for the beer."

"Sure." Logan opens the door for him, and Tyler's pretty sure Logan's checking out his ass as he walks down the hall, but it's not like he hasn't already had his hands all over it, so whatever. He can look.

Tyler walks up two blocks to a street busy enough for him to catch a cab home. The apartment is dark and quiet when he gets there, but Marshall jumps up and comes to nose at his knees when he turns on the light.

"Hey, buddy." Tyler scratches behind his ears, down to his haunches, and pats his sides, while Marshall sniffs at him. He sends Marshall back to his own bed, and goes into the kitchen for a glass of water.

He turns out the lights and drinks his water on the way upstairs. Brownie's door is closed, and there's no light coming from the bottom of it.

Tyler takes a quick shower to wash the smell of sex and sweat off of himself, and finishes his glass of water before he goes to bed. He hooked up with a dude he met in a bar. A dude who didn't seem to know who he was and only cared about his abs and his mouth.

His breath goes shaky for a minute, and he wishes he'd brought Marshall up to sleep with him. It'll be fine, though. No one was paying that much attention to him, or to him and Logan. It'll be fine, and that means he can do it again.

*

Brownie's in the kitchen making eggs when Tyler gets up in the morning, and he turns away from the stove to look Tyler over. "I didn't hear you come in last night."

"It was late." Tyler pays careful attention to making their protein shakes.

"I told you you wouldn't be alone for long. I didn't think it would be quite that fast, though."

Tyler blushes, because his skin is stupid like that. "Fuck off."

Brownie says, "Maybe you don't need one, but I'll still be your wingman if you want," and then he stops talking and puts bread in the toaster and divides the eggs onto two plates.

When they're settled at the counter and Tyler's pouring ketchup onto his eggs, he says, "Thanks."

Brownie pushes his shoulder into Tyler's. "Sure."

*

They go out a couple of days later with a bunch of other people, and Tyler gets hassled for being the only single guy not trying to pick up, enough that he flirts with a girl for a couple of minutes, fails to get her number, and goes back to the table.

"You strike out already?" Jesse asks. He has one arm thrown around his girl's shoulder, and she's leaning against him. Casual, like they don't have to think about it.

Tyler shrugs. "Not my night."

"You gotta try harder."

"Leave him alone," Brownie says. "Maybe it's not his crowd." He smirks a little at Tyler.

Tyler tenses, until Jesse says, "Yeah, maybe no one here's dumb enough to go home with him."

The tension snaps, and Tyler laughs and shoves him.

He doesn't forget about it, but he spends his time having fun instead of thinking about it, until the cab ride home. Brownie is texting with Julie, and Tyler's kind of wasted, so leans on the window and watches the lights pass by. It would have been nice to hook up, maybe, but that's not going to happen when he goes out like that, not anymore.

*

"If you want to hook up," Brownie says while they're making breakfast in the morning, "we can go out again."

Tyler whisks the eggs with a fork and carefully pours them into a pan. He means to agree to going out, but instead he says, "I think I'm going to tell Jesse."

"Okay," Brownie says after a second. "Cool."

Tyler makes a face at the eggs. "You think it'll be okay?"

"It's Jesse," Brownie says. "It'll be okay, or I'll kick his ass myself." He reaches around Tyler and takes the spatula away from him. He was overstirring the eggs. "I'll be there if you want."

Tyler gets out of the way and makes their protein shakes instead. "No. I can do it." The noise of the blender means he doesn't really have to talk about it for a minute.

"Jesse's cool," Brownie says. He nudges Tyler with an elbow. "Just remember I'm a better wingman."

Tyler laughs and his hands are steady when he pours their shakes into glasses.

*

Jesse comes over to hang out while Brownie's off doing something that Tyler figures is mostly leaving him alone for this conversation. The first thing Jesse does is get on the floor and let Marshall lick him. Marshall's tail is wagging like crazy, and Jesse's smiling so much that if he had a tail it would be doing the same thing.

Tyler sits down on the floor too, even though it sends Marshall into an ecstasy of turning around because he can't decide who to give his attention to.

"You have the best fucking dog," Jesse says.

"I know." Tyler puts his arms around Marshall and rubs his back. "Don't I? Yes, you are the best fucking dog." He pats Marshall's sides and lets go so he can go back to Jesse, who scratches behind his ears. "If I tell you something, you can't tell anyone else."

Jesse glances at him for a second before focusing on Marshall. "Are you signing another multimillion dollar endorsement that's going to make us all jealous?"

"No." Tyler's hands fall to his lap. "I'm, um, I'm gay." It's the first time he's said those words to anyone else, and his heart feels like it's going to beat out of his chest.

Jesse's silent for too long. Marshall whines, and comes to nuzzle at Tyler's chin.

"Shhh." Tyler rubs the sides of Marshall's face. "It's okay."

"But you dated that model."

"Yeah, I know." Tyler doesn't look up. "And now I know why that didn't work out."

"Okay," Jesse says slowly. He runs his hand down Marshall's back. "Who else knows?"

"Brownie and the guy I was dating in Switzerland." And Logan, but that was just a hookup, and he didn't even know who Tyler was so it's not worth mentioning. "Some of the guys in Switzerland might have figured it out, but I didn't tell any of them." Marc probably figured it out, but he didn't say anything about it to Tyler.

"Huh," Jesse says. "No wonder you didn't pick up the other night."

"Yeah." Tyler looks up, and Jesse's looking at him, but he doesn't look like it's going to be a problem. "It really wasn't my crowd." He says it faintly, but it makes Jesse laugh anyway.

"Is there a place that is your crowd?"

Tyler shrugs. "There are some bars and clubs here. I've only been to one." His cheeks are still hot, and he doesn't look up from Marshall.

"Do you- I mean, I don't know anything about it, but I can-"

Tyler figures out what Jesse's trying to say and stops him before it gets any more awkward. "Brownie already said he's a better wingman." It has the benefit of being so true there's no way Jesse can dispute it.

Jesse reaches for Marshall, who goes to him when Tyler lets go. "Did he go with you to the place you went?"

"Uh, yeah, but I didn't really need his help to pick up." Tyler looks up in time to see Jesse roll his eyes.

"Of course you didn't."

Tyler shrugs. "Are we going to play some Call of Duty or what?"

Jesse pats Marshall and stands up. "You were the one who was all, 'I have something to tell you.'" He grabs the controllers and tosses one to Tyler, and they're still sitting next to each other on the couch when Brownie comes home.

*

"We're going out," Brownie says on Friday. "Are you coming?"

"No." Tyler keeps his eyes on the spaghetti sauce that doesn't really need stirring. "I thought I would go out, somewhere else on Church Street."

"Oh. You want me to come with? Be your wingman?"

"No." Tyler glances up. "I didn't need you last time, thought I would try on my own again."

Brownie shrugs. "Suit yourself."

They eat dinner together and don't talk about that, and Tyler waits for Brownie to take off before he goes upstairs to figure out what he's going to wear and where he's going to go. He ends up in pretty much the same outfit as last time, but with different jeans. The sex was good last time, but Woody's was a little much, even with Brownie there. There are a couple of other places he might go, and he ends up just heading down to Church Street and walking around a bit.

Tyler pays more attention this time, since it's just him and this is supposed to be his people or whatever. There are couples holding hands, two guys with their arms around each other giving each other sappy looks while they wait outside a restaurant. Everyone seems relaxed and chill. It's nice. A couple of guys check him out, but he's pretty sure they're just looking at him, not looking because they recognize him.

Tyler picks a place that looks pretty chill and has the Jays game on the TVs scattered around the room. There are a couple of empty stools at the bar; Tyler picks one with a good view of the game and orders a beer. He's paying attention to what's happening around him, so he notices when a guy sits down next to him.

The guy is also watching the game, and they both wince when a third strike ends the inning.

"Sucks," Tyler says.

"Yeah," the guy says, "and they had such a good streak going last month." They share the rueful look of fellow sports fans, and then the guy says, almost hesitantly, "You're Tyler Seguin, right?"

Tyler can feel his face freezing into the polite smile he often gives people who recognize him. Maybe choosing a bar showing the game was a bad idea. "Yes."

The guy looks him over, checking him out. Again, because he had to have done it once before he decided to sit next to him. "What are you doing here?"

Tyler shrugs and keeps the polite smile on his face. "Just looking for somewhere quiet to watch the game."

The guy looks disappointed. "Sorry to bother you."

Tyler shrugs again. "No worries, man."

The guy raises his beer in Tyler's direction and slides off his stool.

There isn't an inconspicuous way to watch where the guy's going, but he ends up at a table with a bunch of other guys just at the edge of Tyler's peripheral vision. Tyler can't relax, not when he can feel them looking at him. He finishes his beer while he watches part of the next inning, but when the bartender asks if he wants another, he shakes his head and abandons his bar stool and the bar.

That didn't work out as well as he wanted it to, but Tyler didn't get where he is by giving up after losses. There are plenty of other bars on Church Street, and just because this one didn't work out doesn't mean another one won't. He squares his shoulders and keeps going in the direction he was going when he hit this one. One more bar, and if he strikes out there, he's either going home or trying Woody's again.

Tyler crosses the street to try a place that looks a little dimmer than the place he was in before. The lights are lower, but there's more color, and more going on. And, he realizes when he goes to the bar and slides in next to someone in a dress, drag queens.

"Oh, honey," the one next to him says, turning to look at him as he tries to get the bartender's attention, "you are going to be a hit around here."

"Thanks?"

It gets his cheek patted. "Sugar, that's a very good thing. You trust Miss Dee on this one."

Tyler smiles, kind of.

Miss Dee turns to the bar and calls, "Johnny, come take this pretty boy's drink order."

It's better than being recognized, but it still makes Tyler's cheeks heat. At least it gets him a beer.

Miss Dee pats his cheek and says, "If only I were single and twenty years younger," with a sigh. "I'm going to leave you alone now and make space for one of the other pretty boys looking at your ass to talk to you." Miss Dee makes a show of leaning over to stare at Tyler's ass and winks at him.

Tyler gulps down some of his beer, and it's probably less than a minute before someone else takes the space next to him at the bar. It's too bad it took him so long to realize he's gay; this is way easier than trying to pick up girls.

"I figure," the guy says, "anyone who catches Miss Dee's attention is worth talking to." He holds out his hand. "Aiden."

Tyler shakes his hand. "Tyler."

"Tyler," Aiden says. "I'd offer to buy you a drink, but I see you already have one."

Tyler raises his beer in acknowledgment. Aiden's hands are empty so he asks, "How about I buy you one instead?"

Aiden smiles at him, and it lights up his face. Miss Dee really did mean pretty boys. "Sure thing. Whatever you're having."

Tyler leans into the bar to catch the bartender's attention and orders Aiden a beer.

"Thank you." Aiden raises his beer and touches it to Tyler's.

Tyler smiles at him and drinks.

"So," Aiden says, "how about those Jays?"

Tyler makes a face. "I was watching part of the game earlier," he says. "It was painful."

Aiden laughs, louder than that comment really calls for. "Wow," he says after a moment, "I didn't expect to get a real answer out of that one." He waves a hand. "This place isn't usually crawling with sports fans."

"You did ask," Tyler says.

"That I did," Aiden says. "It makes me wonder what else I could ask and get an answer to."

Tyler leans against the bar and gives Aiden a half-smile that almost always worked on girls. "Why don't you try it and see?"

The sound level in the bar isn't enough to keep them from being able to hear each other, but Aiden leans in anyway. "Okay," he says, "let's start with an easy one. Are you from Toronto?"

"Yes. Technically the suburbs, but I went to high school in Toronto for a while." He could hold his own in the press of people on his other side, but it makes for a good excuse to shift closer to Aiden. "How about you?"

"Vancouver," Aiden says. "Came here for U of T and stuck around for an internship this summer. It's tough not seeing my family and friends back home during summer vacation, but there are other things here to make up for it."

Tyler watches Aiden's throat move as he sips his beer. "I hear that."

Aiden's smile turns his lips into a gentle curve. "How about something a little tougher? Favorite TV show?"

It's on the tip of Tyler's tongue to say that's not that tough, except no one ever expects him to like the things he likes. He could lie, but it doesn't seem worth it for a guy trying to pick him up in a bar. "Uh, right now, it's probably Pretty Little Liars."

Aiden laughs, but he doesn't seem to be being mean about it. "Really?"

Tyler can feel his cheeks turning bright red. It's probably not dark enough to hide it completely. "I like it," he says, "and my sisters watch it, so we can talk about it."

Aiden holds up his hands. "Hey, I can respect that. Are your sisters older or younger?"

"Younger." Tyler's sisters are great, but he doesn't really want to talk about them with a guy he just met. "I told you mine, so your turn. What's your favorite show?"

"I guess that's fair," Aiden says. "I'm a total cliche. A friend loaned me a couple of seasons of Queer as Folk, the US version, and I've just been watching them back-to-back after work."

"I haven't seen it," Tyler says, and he probably can't have something called that at his place anyway if he doesn't want way more people asking questions about him. "Is it good?"

"It's so good," Aiden says. "And it was filmed here, so it all looks familiar. You should check it out."

"Maybe I will." Maybe he can download it from iTunes or something. "What do you do when you're not watching episodes back-to-back?"

Aiden shrugs. "Oh, you know, usual things like hanging out with friends, playing video games. Trying to pick up hot guys in bars."

"You're doing pretty good on that last one," Tyler says.

"Yeah? You think so?"

"Oh, yeah." The place has gotten busier while they've been talking, so Tyler shifts a little closer. "You want to get out of here? Maybe go somewhere quieter?"

Aiden gulps the last of his beer and reaches across Tyler to put it on the bar. "Yeah, let's go."

Tyler puts the rest of his beer on the bar and then puts his hand low on Aiden's back. Aiden flashes him a look that promises good things, and doesn't move away from Tyler's touch. Tyler keeps his hand there until they get out onto the street.

"What did you have in mind?" Aiden asks.

Tyler weighs his options. They could go get a drink somewhere quieter, or food or something. Aiden hasn't offered his place, so that's probably out. Aiden seems nice, but Tyler's not really looking for a date here. It's a risk, but he takes a breath and says, "You want to come to my place?"

Aiden looks him up and down, taking just long enough that Tyler shifts on his feet. Maybe that was the wrong option.

Aiden shakes his head and laughs. "I'm just messing with you. Yes, absolutely, let's go to your place."

"Not cool, man," Tyler says, but he starts walking toward his car and Aiden falls into step next to him.

"I couldn't resist," Aiden says. "You're just so." He waves a hand up and down in Tyler's direction, like Vanna White. "You know. You don't look like you get rejected much."

Tyler copies the gesture. "Neither do you."

Aiden shrugs. "I do all right, but I'm not quite in the same league as you."

"And yet here we are."

"Here we are. I guess my luck is on an upswing."

"Something like that." They're not actually that far from his car, and Tyler clicks his keychain to unlock it as they get close.

"Nice," Aiden says with a low whistle. Tyler can see him reach out to touch the side before he splits away to get in the driver's side.

"Thanks." Tyler turns the key. The stereo blasts to life with Drake, and Tyler turns it down quickly. "Sorry."

"It's cool." Aiden leans back in his seat. "Not exactly my jam, but whatever."

Tyler gestures at the stereo. "You can change it."

Aiden seems to consider it. "How far are we going?"

"Not far. Ten minutes."

"Not annoying enough to change," Aiden says. "No offense."

Tyler shrugs. It's nothing compared to the chirping he and some of the guys have exchanged on the subject of music.

"All right," Aiden says, "new question: Taylor Swift or Lady Gaga?"

Tyler's laugh bursts out of him. "Can you really compare them? They're totally different."

"You can compare anything," Aiden says. "Pick one."

"Okay," Tyler says, "Lady Gaga."

"So you're a party boy," Aiden says, "not a romantic."

"This is why you can't compare them," Tyler says. "It's not like I never listen to Taylor Swift."

"You're really easy to wind up," Aiden says. When Tyler looks over, Aiden's grinning at him. "But, come on, the people who pick Lady Gaga over Taylor Swift aren't the romantics."

"Okay," Tyler says, "so which one do you pick?"

"Lady Gaga," Aiden says. There's laughter in his voice. "But I know I'm not a romantic."

Tyler doesn't know what to say to that - he's not really thinking about romance, here - so he doesn't say anything, and Aiden twitches the volume a little louder when the song changes.

"Nice neighborhood," Aiden says when Tyler pulls into the garage.

"Yeah," Tyler says. "I like it. Good for walking the dog."

Aiden laughs and follows him into the elevator. "You look like that and you have a dog. I bet you never get rejected."

Tyler shrugs, because he hasn't tried enough with guys to really have any idea, and his experience with girls probably doesn't count.

"Well," Aiden says, leaning one hip on the railing, "I'm certainly not rejecting you."

Tyler's not quite dumb enough to take him up on the implied invitation in an elevator that's sure to have security cameras, but he does let himself look at Aiden, trying to be obvious enough about it that Aiden will get it. It works, if Aiden's look back is anything to go by.

Tyler lets them into the apartment to a jingle of tags and happy, if quiet, noises from Marshall.

"Hi, buddy." Tyler crouches down to rub behind Marshall's ears. "Yeah, you were home alone for a while. Was it too long?" He kind of forgets about Aiden for a second, but remembers when Aiden steps close enough that he's in Tyler's eyeline and Marshall goes to sniff his legs.

"This is Marshall," Tyler says to Aiden.

"Hi, Marshall." Aiden holds his hand out to Marshall and waits for Marshall to smell him and decide he's okay before he pets him. "Nice," he says to Tyler.

"Yeah. He's an awesome dog. Aren't you?"

Aiden stops petting Marshall and steps right into Tyler's space. "Now I really can't imagine you getting rejected." He kisses Tyler before he can come up with an answer. It's good. Aiden's got his hands on Tyler, tipping his face down to just the right angle, and he's going kind of slow.

They make out like that for a little bit, long enough that Marshall loses interest in them, but it's only when Aiden's hands start to wander that Tyler pulls away and says, "We should- I have a roommate. We should go up to my room."

"Sure." Aiden doesn't stop right away; he kisses Tyler a few more times, and his hands knead Tyler's shoulders, and then he steps away and slides his hand down Tyler's arm and into Tyler's.

Tyler hasn't held hands with anyone in a long time; it's not something he and Noah did. It takes him a second to get used to it, and then he takes Aiden up the stairs to his room and locks the door behind them. He doesn't think Brownie will try to come in, but it's better not to chance it.

Aiden doesn't even say anything about his room before he pulls Tyler close and kisses him. Since they're not in the living room anymore, Tyler feels a little better about doing more than just kissing. He lets himself touch Aiden's hair and his neck and his back. He wants to put his hands on Aiden's ass, but they're still just kissing and Aiden's not even trying to get under his shirt yet. But. But Aiden came home with him, and Aiden came upstairs with him, and every time Aiden brushes against him, Tyler can tell he's getting hard.

Tyler keeps one hand higher, but puts one on Aiden's ass. Aiden makes a little mmm noise into his mouth and doesn't stop him, so it must be okay.

Aiden's the one to press forward, a couple of minutes later, and bring their hips together. He's definitely hard, and so is Tyler. Aiden's hands still aren't wandering as far as they could, but the hard-on pressing into Tyler's thigh is a pretty clear signal.

"Hey," Tyler asks, "can I blow you?"

Aiden stares at him for a second, but he's not going anywhere. "You're like a wet dream come true," he finally says, and he rubs his thumb over Tyler's bottom lip. "Yes, you can blow me. Like anyone would turn that down."

Tyler unbuttons and unzips Aiden's jeans while they're still standing so close his hands brush his own stomach as much as Aiden's. He goes to his knees as he pushes them and Aiden's underwear down, and Aiden mutters, "Jesus Christ," barely loud enough for Tyler to hear.

Tyler smiles up at him, and licks his lips, and Aiden pushes his hand through Tyler's hair.

"Show-off."

Tyler laughs and leans in to lick at Aiden's cock. It's a nice cock, and years of locker rooms mean Tyler's seen his fair share. It's full, but not too big to fit in his mouth. He licks for a while first, tasting it and getting a feel for the shape of it, and for what Aiden likes. Aiden's polite enough not to pull Tyler's hair, at least not yet, but he makes enough noise that there's no mystery about what he likes.

There's more Tyler could do, tease him or use his hands or lick his balls, but he really does want to blow Aiden, so after only a little while of that, he takes the tip of Aiden's cock into his mouth.

Aiden says, "Oh, fuck," and Tyler looks up to see that Aiden's staring at him with wide eyes, and his hands are flexing at his sides.

Tyler pulls back, even though he likes having Aiden's cock in his mouth, and says, "Don't pull my hair, but you can touch me. If you want."

"If I want," Aiden mutters, and he touches Tyler when Tyler sucks his cock in again. His hands keep moving, on Tyler's hair, his cheek, down to his shoulders. When they come back up over his face, Tyler uses his tongue to press Aiden's cock against his cheek so Aiden can feel it.

Aiden makes a noise like a strangled moan, and keeps his hand there for a minute. "Fuck, Tyler," he says. "You're like every wet dream I've ever had come true."

Tyler does his best to smile, and then he takes Aiden deeper and swallows. He likes sucking cock, and Aiden is an appreciative audience. He keeps touching Tyler, but he doesn't pull his hair, which is nice of him and shows pretty good self-control.

Tyler bobs on his cock, uses his tongue to get all the places that make Aiden moan. He thinks about touching himself, but he's hoping Aiden will blow him after, so he puts his hands on Aiden instead, and touches his balls and the base of his cock.

"Fuck, Tyler," Aiden says after a while, "I'm going to," and he tugs Tyler back a little.

Tyler lets Aiden's cock slip out of his mouth and jerks him off the rest of the way. He stays there for a little bit after that, until he thinks he can let go of Aiden without him falling over, and then he goes across the room and wipes his hand off with a tissue.

"I'll totally do you," Aiden says. "Just give me a second to catch my breath." He kisses Tyler when Tyler gets closer to him, and doesn't seem to mind that Tyler's mouth tastes like his cock. "That was an excellent blowjob." He really is leaning on Tyler a little. "I think we're going to have to use the bed so I don't fall over."

"That's cool with me." Tyler sits on the edge of the bed.

Aiden looks down at him. "No," he says, "lie down," and he half tugs at Tyler until Tyler's stretched out on his bed, head propped up on a pillow so he can still see what Aiden's doing. "Damn, you look good." Aiden leans over and kisses him, and then he draws away and unbuttons and unzips Tyler's jeans.

Tyler's ready to lift his hips to let Aiden get his pants off, but Aiden just draws his cock out without bothering with it. Aiden doesn't go slow the way Tyler did. He wraps his hand around the base of Tyler's cock and holds it there while he goes down on him. He's good at it, sucks a lot, tongues the head of Tyler's cock when he pulls back. He doesn't touch Tyler anywhere else, though, so Tyler stretches one hand over his head and runs the other over his chest. It'd probably be better without his shirt, but he's not going for anything more than a little extra sensation, so he doesn't bother taking it off. Besides, he doesn't want to interrupt Aiden's concentration.

He doesn't close his eyes, because Aiden's a pretty hot guy and Tyler likes seeing his lips wrapped around his cock.

Aiden totally knows what he's doing. Tyler rubs his hand over his stomach and brushes it over his nipples. The fabric of his shirt doesn't so much dull the feeling as it makes it a little rougher. He doesn't really need it, though. Aiden's good enough that he could get Tyler off with just his mouth.

Tyler doesn't thrust the way he wants to because he's more polite than that, but he moves a little, and Aiden jerks him off with his hand on the part of Tyler's cock he's not sucking.

Tyler doesn't forget about Aiden, exactly, but when he gets closer, he's pretty much just thinking about his cock and how good it feels. He barely remembers to warn Aiden that he's going to come, and Aiden barely touches him after he stops sucking him before he comes.

"Oh my God," Aiden says, and he grabs at the tissues while he crawls up over Tyler. "That was so hot."

Tyler's not really ready to be kissed - he needs to breathe - but he doesn't stop Aiden and it gets good again after a few minutes.

"I wish I could get it up again," Aiden says. "I would totally get off on how hot that was."

"Yeah," Tyler says. "It was good." He kisses Aiden for a while. The making out is good too. "You could jerk off to it later."

Aiden grins at him. "I'm definitely doing that."

Tyler grins back at him. "Me too." It was even better than the time with Logan, and he's already jerked off to that a couple of times.

Aiden kisses him again, and keeps kissing him. It's a good kind of making out, lazy and calm, and Aiden backs off a little when his jeans brushing against Tyler's cock is too much. They both tuck themselves back in, and then Aiden stretches out over him and they make out again.

Aiden's great, but Tyler doesn't really want to fuck around with him any more than they already have, and his lips are starting to get kind of sore from the blowjob and all the kissing.

This is the part he was never that good at with girls either that doesn't seem any easier with guys.

He tries not to look too relieved when Aiden slows down their making out and pulls away.

"I should get going," Aiden says.

"Sure." Tyler sits up. "You want a ride home?"

"Nah." Aiden waves at him. "I'm fine, and you look comfortable."

Tyler gets up after Aiden does. "I'll walk you to the door at least." He does, follows Aiden down the stairs, holds the door, and points him in the direction of the elevator.

"This was fun," Aiden says. "I'm out on Church most Friday nights. Maybe I'll see you around."

"Yeah," Tyler says, "maybe." He might, and it was good enough that Tyler would hook up with him again, but he's probably not going to go looking for Aiden specifically.

Marshall's asleep on his doggie bed in the corner. Tyler thinks about waking him up and taking him upstairs, but he leaves Marshall where he is and goes upstairs to fall into bed alone.

*

Saturday morning is awkward. Brownie's in the kitchen when Tyler gets up, making eggs and talking to Marshall. That part isn't awkward. What is awkward is the way Brownie looks at him with raised eyebrows and says, "I wasn't out that late last night."

"Uh, yeah?" Tyler knows his cheeks are turning red, and he crouches down to rub behind Marshall's ears instead of trying to look Brownie in the face.

"I didn't need to know that much about your sex life."

Tyler does stand then, and Brownie's mostly just smirking at him, but Tyler still says, "Fuck you, like I've never had to listen to you get laid." The walls in their place aren't that thick, and this isn't the first summer they've spent here.

Brownie laughs and turns away from him to stir the eggs on the stove. "Yeah, but you didn't know what I was doing. I didn't need to know you were that good at sucking cock."

Tyler's cheeks are definitely red now, and probably the rest of him too. "Fuck you."

"Dude," Brownie says, "chill. I don't care if that's what you're into. I'm just chirping you." He smirks. "And trying to figure out what I should say if I ever meet a guy I can set you up with."

Tyler looks up sharply. "Just because I told Jesse doesn't mean you can tell people."

"Relax," Brownie says. "I'm not going to out you."

Out him. There's another thing he doesn't think about. Tries not to think about.

"Someone recognized me." Tyler looks at Marshall as he says it, so he only hears Brownie's silence instead of seeing it.

"What did you do?"

"Told him I was just looking for a quiet place to watch the game and left during the next inning."

"And you still picked up," Brownie says.

Tyler shrugs. "Yeah." Then he asks, "Do you think that was a bad idea?"

"You gotta do what you gotta do," Brownie says. His foot comes into view and he kicks Tyler's ankle. "Eggs are almost done. Stop staring at the dog and make some toast."

Tyler turns away from Marshall and throws some bread in the toaster. When he looks over at Brownie, Brownie isn't even looking at him.

*

Tyler picks up a few more times over the next couple of weeks, and only gets recognized twice more. That he knows of, anyway. They don't even say anything to him, just look at him and do the double-take that people who know who he is do before they decide if they're going to ask him for an autograph or a picture. But recognition is recognition, even if they don't approach him, and he has no way of knowing if there are people noticing him that he doesn't see. Brownie's promise not to out him keeps echoing in his head, and he knows someone's going to do it if he's not careful.

It's with that in mind that Tyler ducks out of going out with the guys on a Friday night and goes over to his mom's for dinner instead. She's alone in the kitchen when he lets himself in, and she smiles at him and comes over to hug him.

"Hi, honey. How are you?"

"Good." Tyler hangs on to the hug for just a little longer than he normally would, which is probably what makes Mom look at him carefully when he lets go.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." Tyler tries to smile at her, but it doesn't quite work. "I just need to tell you something."

"Okay, just a second." She goes over and turns something down on the stove. Then she leans on the counter and says, "All right, honey, what is it?"

"I'm, um." This is a lot harder than telling Brownie or Jesse. "I'm gay."

There's one of those horrible moments of silence that he keeps getting when he tells people, and then Mom is hugging him again.

"Okay, honey," she says.

Tyler buries his face in her neck.

"It's okay." She kisses his temple. "I love you."

Tyler holds on tighter. "Thanks, Mom." He's probably dripping tears onto her, but she doesn't let go of him.

"Of course, honey."

"Ty? Mom? What's going on?" Tyler looks up to see Cassidy hovering just inside the kitchen, and then she frowns and leans out of the kitchen to yell, "Candace! Get down here!" She flings herself across the room after she does it and wraps her arms around Tyler.

Tyler shifts his hug more to her than to Mom, and Candace comes clattering down the stairs and into the kitchen a minute later, and then she's piling into the hug too, and the noise must have alerted Jeff because he comes into the kitchen but stays near the door. He's going to have to know, but Tyler picked a weekend when the other girls are at their mom's for a reason.

"What is it?" Cassidy asks. She's looking up at Tyler and her eyes are wide and her cheeks pale.

"It's-" Tyler swallows back the lump in his throat, because he's not going to cry anymore. "It's okay. I was just telling Mom," he still has to hesitate a moment before he finishes the sentence, "that I'm gay."

Cassidy stares at him for a second, and then she pulls back and hits him in the arm.

"Ow!" She hits hard.

"You jerk! You scared me." Cassidy hugs him again and presses her face into his chest. "I thought it was something awful."

Candace hugs him too, and says, "Don't freak us out like that again."

"I promise not to come out to you again," Tyler says, trying hard to joke about it. But it's not really a joke, so he also says, "I told Brownie and Jesse, and I'm going to tell Dad tomorrow, but don't tell people, okay?"

"Duh," Candace says, and Cassidy nods.

"Of course not," Mom says. "Not until you're ready."

"I won't either," Jeff says, and he comes across the room and Tyler has to half let go of the girls so he can accept Jeff's handshake and the squeeze to his shoulder.

"So," Cassidy says after a moment while they all stand there and Tyler blinks away the very last of his tears, "does this mean you have a boyfriend?"

Tyler shoves her away. "Oh my God, no. I just wanted you to know."

"Do you want me to set you up?" Candace asks. "I might know somebody."

"How do you-" Tyler decides he doesn't really want the answer to that and cuts off the question. "No, I don't want you to set me up."

Candace just shrugs. "Your loss. Tell me if you change your mind." Tyler has obviously lost her interest, because she says it on her way out of the kitchen.

"I'm not going to change my mind," Tyler calls after her.

"No yelling in the house," Mom says. She goes to the stove and turns it back up. "If you do start dating someone seriously, we expect to meet him."

"Mom!"

She turns and pins him with a look. "We expect the same thing of the girls. It doesn't matter that you're a hockey superstar." She says that with a straight face, which Tyler can't tell if it's better or worse than when his family teases him about being called a superstar. "In this family, you're still my son, and I expect to meet anyone you're serious about."

"Okay," Tyler says. His cheeks are too hot and his hands are too cold. "It's not going to happen anytime soon, but okay."

*

Things going well with the rest of the family makes it easier for Tyler to meet his dad for a round of golf in the morning. Their tee time is a little early for a Saturday morning, but it's worth it to be on the course nearly alone.

Tyler doesn't say much for the first couple of holes. They have coffee, but he's not a morning person and he's still waking up.

He ends up way over par on the fourth, because knowing he's going to tell Dad and not doing it makes him nervous, so on their way to the fifth, he says, "I wanted to talk to you while we're out here."

There are other people on the course by now, but no one too close to them.

"Sure," Dad says. "What's up?"

It's a lot harder to tell him than it was to tell Mom and the girls, and it takes Tyler a minute before he can open his mouth and say, "I'm gay."

Dad stops walking, so Tyler stops too, and he looks down at the grass between their feet.

"Look at me."

Tyler looks up, and meets Dad's eyes. He doesn't look mad, exactly, but he looks at Tyler for long enough that it's uncomfortable.

"Okay, son," he says, and he hugs Tyler quickly.

Tyler starts walking again, and Dad falls into step with him.

"You know," Dad says after a minute, "there isn't anything wrong with it, but it's going to be a media shitstorm if people find out."

"I know." Tyler didn't tell Mom and the girls he came out to them so they would already know if someone who's seen him out says something, and he doesn't tell Dad either. "I'm being careful." This is almost as bad as one of Dad's don't get anyone pregnant talks. "I've only told you, Mom, Jeff, and the girls - just Cassidy and Candace - and Tyler and Jesse."

They've had enough don't get anyone pregnant talks that Dad can probably figure out that Tyler's hooking up with people, but he doesn't say anything about that. All he says is, "Keep being careful," and then, when he's teeing up, "I'm glad you told me," and, "You're a good man."

Tyler has to blink and look away so Dad doesn't see his eyes tearing up.

*

Brownie was out when Tyler got home last night and still asleep when he left this morning, so Tyler doesn't see him until after his post-golf brunch with his dad.

Tyler crouches down to rub behind Marshall's ears when he gets home and then goes into the kitchen where Brownie's standing over the stove.

"You want some? I can throw some more eggs in."

"No." Tyler sits down at the counter. "I already ate."

Brownie rubs a hand over his face. "What were you doing up this morning?"

"Golf and brunch with my dad." Tyler traces meaningless patterns on the counter. "I told him. And my mom and sisters last night." He looks up when Brownie doesn't say anything; Brownie's just staring at him blank-faced. "That I'm gay," Tyler says.

Brownie blinks. "Oh. Oh! How'd it go?"

"Good. I guess." Tyler shrugs. "Everyone was pretty chill about it. Candace offered to set me up."

Brownie laughs. "For real?"

Tyler grins. "Yeah. I told her no."

Brownie grins. "You should go for it. I want to see who she picks for you."

Tyler makes a face. "No way." After Brownie turns to stir the eggs, he says, "My dad said it would be a shitstorm if the media finds out." He can't tell what Brownie thinks from his back, and by the time he turns around, his face is mostly neutral.

"Are you thinking about that?"

"No," Tyler says quickly. "Not really. Not telling people anyway. But we're in Toronto and a couple of people have recognized me."

"I thought it was just the one guy."

"Only one guy who's talked to me," Tyler says.

Brownie dumps his eggs onto a plate and sits next to Tyler. "I don't know, dude. Just be careful, I guess."

"I'm trying." Tyler leans his shoulder against Brownie's for a minute. He's a good best friend.

*

It's not like saying the words gets any easier, but Tyler gets a little less nervous about it, which is why he tells Fred without meaning to.

Fred's over because he wormed a promise of pizza and beer out of Tyler, and Jesse's also over because somehow he got word of it and decided that since his girl had plans with some of her girls, it was the perfect excuse for a guys' night in. He doesn't really follow up on it, so it doesn't become a big thing. Just Tyler, Brownie, Jesse, and Fred hanging out on the couch with pizza, beer, a couple of action movies, and Marshall running around trying to get them to feed him pieces of pepperoni.

"I don't know if you're allowed to have this," Fred says, holding a piece of pepperoni out of Marshall's reach. "But I'm a lot nicer than Tyler, so I'm going to give it to you."

"Stop feeding him," Tyler says. "You're going to spoil him."

Fred ignores him, and Jesse turns to look at him.

"There's no way he can spoil him more than you do."

"I don't spoil him." Tyler calls Marshall over. "I don't spoil you. You know you're not supposed to beg for people food." He rubs behind Marshall's ears. "You can have a treat later, but no more pepperoni." He levels a look at Fred. "No more pepperoni."

Jesse snorts. "You're promising him a treat, and you think he isn't spoiled?"

"He isn't." Tyler pats Marshall and lets go of him. "He gets treats when he's been good, and he's being good."

"I just got a really disturbing picture of what you're going to be like as a dad," Fred says.

"Yeah," Tyler says, "I don't think that's happening."

"Why not? You're famous, you can find some hot chick to marry you and have your kids."

"Um, no," Tyler says. "I'm gay."

"Yeah, right," Fred says. "Stop making excuses. That's totally what's going to happen to you."

Jesse and Brownie don't say anything, but they both look at Tyler.

"Not making excuses," Tyler says. "I really am gay."

Fred stares at him for a second, looks between Jesse and Brownie, and says, "Huh," and then, "You can still have kids. You can't use that as an excuse not to," and then, "You never wanted to get with me, did you?"

"Fuck off." Tyler shoves him. "You wish I wanted to hook up with you."

"He really is a catch," Brownie says with a totally straight face. "I left him alone in a gay bar and five minutes later he left with someone."

Fred lets out a low whistle. "Boy's got some game."

Tyler can feel his cheeks getting red. "Can we please not talk about my game?"

"No," Fred says. "What kind of dudes are you pulling? Do you have to take your shirt off to get them?"

"Oh my God, shut up." Tyler shoves at Fred again, but he has no support because Jesse and Brownie are both laughing at him.

Part 2