Chapter Text
Rhett gripped the steering wheel tightly, staring at the torrent of water that seemed to be showering down on the windshield. The rain had been going for most of the day, but the past hour felt like a damn monsoon . They'd been lucky to go twenty miles per hour for the past forty minutes.
He was pretty sure he had some grey hair now.
Link was sitting next to him, looking unhappily out the window at their hotel. They'd have to get their bags out of the back and make it inside, and there was no way they'd manage without turning into drowned rats. Not a pleasant choice.
“It's not gonna let up,” Rhett pointed out. He didn't want to get drenched either, but he legs were cramped from sitting in the car so long. He might have felt a little better in the passenger seat, but there was no way he was letting link drive with the weather forecast. Which had been smart, albeit a bit painful.
Link sighed, heavy and drawn out. He tossed open his door without warning, and Rhett had to scramble to follow suit. He shoved the keys into his pocket and grabbed his duffle bag from the back. Link was already running for the hotel awning, and Rhett went after him, rain splashing his Jean's with each step.
The got to the doors at the same time, looking miserable. Link's glasses had droplets clinging to them, and once they were inside began to fog up.
Rhett left him a few steps back to check in. The woman at the front desk gave him a sorry look, and he was sure he was a sorry sight. Driving tired and soaked and definitely regretting this whole we'll just drive home, it'll be a great time to brainstorm!
They should have flown. For Christ's sake they should have flown!
"C'mon man," he said, glancing back at Link, who was still trying to dry his glasses and not smudge them. Rhett held up the keycard to their room, and Link followed him to the elevator and up. They were silent the whole time, which wasn't... wonderful.
They were tired, Rhett knew. Still.
He let them into their room, and Link tossed his duffle bag on the floor, taking his glasses off and setting them on the nightstand next to his bed. Rhett headed for the far side bed- always his spot- and pulled his phone from his pocket as he sat down. Jessie and the kids had gotten to North Carolina a few days before, and of course had driven in gorgeous weather. They had great pictures to show for it, stops along the way that Rhett had missed because he had wanted to squeeze in a few more days of work.
He sent her a text, letting her know they were finally at their hotel. He was starving, but he was exhausted as well, and knew if they wanted to stay on schedule he'd need to crash now to get up early.
He heard Link bustling around, looked over and saw his own phone laying on his bed. He'd probably texted Christy already. He was stripping his drenched sweater off, tossing it over the one plush chair in the room. His tshirt wasn't much dryer, clinging to him in what had to be an uncomfortable matter.
But a very attractive matter as well.
Rhett cleared his throat, gestured towards the bathroom door when Link looked at him, squinting because his glasses were still on his night stand. How the hell had he managed to compose a text? "I'm gonna hop in the shower."
"Okay."
Link headed back for the bed, sitting down heavily and going for his glasses. Rhett headed for the bathroom, closed himself inside and leaned against the door, rubbing his hands along his face. What the hell was this atmosphere anyway? Why had it been do ungodly weird all day? The first day of the trip had gone alright, had been like any long car ride with your best friend. Music, bad sing-alongs with open windows, shitty food he wouldn't admit to Jessie he'd ate...
And then this morning Link had been standoffish. And then the weather, traffic, and now just... this.
Rhett shook his head. His eyes were starting to hurt. He headed for the shower, turning the water on and stripping of his damp clothes. He'd have to try and hang them up over night and see if they'd dry enough to not soak everything else in his bag.
His shower was fast. He just wanted to warm up, get the rain water off. The hotel shampoo and soap smelled weak, but he lathered up anyway, if only to prolong standing under the warm water. When he was done he stood in the shower and toweled off his hair, before attempting to dry himself. He glanced at his wet clothes, before wrapping the towel around his waist and heading for the door. "Hop in if you wanna," he said, stepping barefoot out onto the well worn carpet. "Figure we can hang our clothes over the shower wall over night."
Link nodded, had his glasses back on and was thumbing through his phone. He glanced up, before he quickly jerked his head away. "Christ man," he said, "put some clothes on!"
Rhett furrowed his brows. Wasn't like he hadn't been naked around Link before. It had to just be that Link was in a bad mood.
"Sorry," Rhett muttered, heading for his bag to at least fish out some underwear. Link was off the bed in a flash, heading for the door. He threw back a I'm getting a snack, and was gone, the door slamming behind him rather hard. Rhett stared at it, a pair of boxer briefs clutched in one hand. What... the hell was that?
Link took his sweet time locating the vending machine, as Rhett was in his sweats and a tshirt long before he came knocking back at the door, having left so fast he never grabbed his key.Rhett asked if Link was going to read all the calories on the snacks, and when it earned him a laugh he relaxed a little.
He was just reading into things too much. They were both tired.
**
Link stared into the dark of the hotel room. The rain hadn't let up, and despite the various moving air sounds in the room, it was still noticeable. The occasional rumble of thunder didn't help.
A few feet away, Rhett was passed out. He seemed to be taking up the entirety of his Queen bed, which would be absurd except that Link had seen him do it so many times that it was just normal .
This whole thing should be normal. But it felt like anything but .
Link closed his eyes, tried to focus on the bland smell of the hotel pillow. He'd count sheep if he had to, anything to just fall asleep.
And god, please , no dreams.
He'd had more dreams than he could count about Rhett throughout his life, and yeah, they weren't all exactly appropriate - but at least Rhett usually wasn't around when they happened.
Which was why he was so on edge. He'd woken up that morning a damn near minute from coming in his pajamas, with Rhett's name an almost spilled whine from his lips. He'd managed to run to the bathroom before Rhett woke up- but he didn't feel great about jerking off in the shower when his best friend- and the cause for his problem- was a thin wall away.
Link flopped to his back and reached up, pinched the bridge of his nose. His heard hurt. He was irritable . And, worse off, he was itching to shove a hand into his pants and really think about his dream. About all the little sounds his subconscious had decided Rhett could make, how Rhett's hand would feel instead of his own, fingers curled around his cock-
Link bit his lip, cursed himself. He reached down and palmed his dick, miserably half hard. Okay. Think about anything else.
Count to a hundred. Recite the alphabet ten times. Anything .
Link was about to hit forty when there was an exceptionally loud crack of thunder. He jerked, heard Rhett groan across the room.
“The...fuck…” he mumbled, not even opening his eyes. Link didn't respond, held his breath and waited. After a minute or two, when Rhett didn't make another noise aside of his breaths and a few little snores, Link tossed his blanket aside.
He got up and walked as quietly as he could to the bathroom. Slowly he closed the door, wincing at the little click it gave as the latch caught. He waited a moment, but couldn't hear anything from the other side. He sighed, flipped the lock, and turned to lean heavily against it.
He closed his eyes, tipped his head back, and let himself finally think about the dream. It had taken all his focus the whole day to keep his mind off it, that he felt flooded with all the little memories suddenly eating their way into his mind.
Rhett's mouth on his, too warm and yet just right, kissing hard in the sort of desperation Link felt himself. Hands in Link's hair, on his waist, pulling him in close, tight.
Link reached down, fingers fumbling with his sweats and underwear. He got the waistband down enough that his cock bobbed free. He wrapped a hand around himself, giving a firm stroke and shuddering.
Rhett's hand instead of his. Fingers that were familiar but in a different sort of intimacy. Link reached up, pressed his fist to his hand to keep from groaning. In his dream Rhett had been gentle at first, feeling him out, dragging these great sounds from him.
But he didn't have time . This was insane as it was- but god Link needed it. So instead he stroked quickly, hand twisting when he bumped his glans. Precum made the going smooth , and he focused on the image of Rhett sucking precum off a finger, groaning over Link's saltiness.
Link choked, a little sob disappearing into his fist. He squeezed his eyes shut and thought about Rhett kissing him desperately again, crowding him against the door and pulling him apart thread by thread.
He came with a grasp, the cum sliding along his knuckles, between his fingers. He was trembling, sucking in a painful deep breath from the sudden intensity. It took a moment to get his breathing back to normal, before Link was crossing the bathroom, cleaning himself up and washing his hands.
He was drying his hands when he noticed Rhett's clothes from the day before draped over the shower. Without much of a thought he reached out, plucked at Rhett's tshirt and pulled it off the shower rod.
It was still a little damp, heavier than usual. Link looked at it in the dark, having never turned the light on, and then carefully lifted it to his face.
It was chilled, but Link didn't mind. He nuzzled into it, inhaled slowly. Rain water and wet cotton, but joyously beneath that a hint of Rhett's cologne. It made his knees feel weak, like he was still a silly teenager.
He sighed, before he forced himself to toss it back up over the shower. He'd pushed his luck already being in there this long. He was starting to feel tired now, orgasm leaving him relaxed, muscles soft.
Maybe he'd sleep this time.
**
Rhett was deep asleep when a loud noise broke into his sleeping subconscious. A crack of thunder and then the wail of a siren had him cracking his eyes open, staring into the dark.
At that moment, Link stepped out of the bathroom, looking alarmed at the sudden noise. Rhett groaned, pushed himself up and rubbed at his eyes.
“What was that?”
Link didn't answer, and Rhett moved his hands from his face, blinking the sleep away. Link looked like a deer caught in headlights.
Rhett rolled his shoulders, pushing his blanket away. “Guess it's a good thing it didn't happen before you went in there right?” He gave a cheesy grin, and Link gave a nervous smile. He headed for his bed, but only to get his glasses.
Rhett climbed out of bed, heading for the big curtains that kept the outside world, well, outside . He threw them open just to see what looked more like a waterfall than rain.
“Holy shit .” He kept his fists in the curtains, as Link walked up next to him, leaning around him to get a good look. “Guess we really didn't check the weather well enough.”
“At this rate the road's will be flooded.” Rhett groaned- Link was right. “What's that?”
Link pointed, and Rhett followed his finger. Flashing lights. “Ambulance?” He asked. “Maybe a cop? Can't tell from the light alone.”
Link was quiet for a moment, standing so close he could just lean against Rhett. Rhett was sleepy enough to want to ask him too. It'd be soothing enough to lull him back to sleep.
Instead he carefully slid away from Link, heading back to bed. He climbed back in, but Link stayed by the window for a while, watching the rain.
Rhett was drifting when Link finally crept back into bed.
***
“Is my toothbrush out there?” Rhett yelled through the open bathroom door. Link was trying to fix his hair in a little mirror pinned up weakly on the wall. He glanced behind him, and sure enough, Rhett's toothbrush was still sitting on his bed.
He grabbed it and walked into the bathroom, where Rhett was trying to fix his own hair. It never worked quite so well outside of home. He held it out and Rhett took it with a thanks and the sort of smile that still gave Link butterflies.
“I'm gonna run downstairs,” he said, as Rhett began brushing his teeth. “Make sure the roads are, you know, open.”
If Rhett thought that Link could just check that online by figuring out the local news site, he didn't say. And Link was glad. He headed out into the hallway, taking the elevator downstairs.
He headed for the lobby, but found it was swarming. He stopped and watched people moving around the room quickly- a mix of staff and folks in plain clothes.
He didn't even know who to ask. He headed into the crowd, trying to figure out if there was some sort of line to the front desk.
“It's awful, the closed off the whole highway!”
Link was tapping his foot anxiously when he heard that. He glances to his side, saw an older woman speaking to a much younger woman, who was holding the hand of a small child.
“Can't get on or off from town. I heard the flooding was awful. Hell, most of the roads are closed.”
Great . Link sighed and decided it wasn't worth waiting in the crowd. He managed to wade through them and back upstairs, letting himself into he and Rhett's room.
“You about ready?” Rhett asked, as he tucked away his clothes from yesterday.
“Yeah… about that.” Link paused, cleared his throat. “There's some flooding I guess. Roads are closed all over… even the highway.”
“You're shitting me .” Link shook his head, and Rhett tipped his head back, groaning.
Link rather liked that a bit too much.
“Okay. It can't take that long to get some sort of clear road. It's not even raining now.” Rhett gestured towards the open curtains. And while it wasn't raining, it was definitely not a pretty looking sky. “So we stay an extra day. We won't be that behind schedule. Let me just… call Jessie. And tell the desk.”
He pulled his cellphone from his pocket, and Link added, “It's crazy down there. Just so you know.” Rhett nodded, clicking on Jessie's Name and heading for the door. Link sat down on the bed, fishing out his own phone and trying Christy.
She picked up after a few rings. “Hey there.” Hearing her voice was soothing, and Link smiled to himself.
“Hi.”
“You guys back on the road?”
“Not… exactly. We're sort of stuck.” He shifted, folding his legs up on the bed. “There was some flooding last night and we can't leave yet. Probably tomorrow though.”
“Are you guys okay?”
“Oh… yeah.” Define okay .
Christy was quiet for a moment, before, “ Link .”
Right. Wasn't like he could lie to her. Her or Rhett. “I just… had a dream the other night.” He closed his eyes, adding, “about Rhett.”
“Oh.” Christy said it quietly. “Like…”
“Like exactly what you're thinking.”
She giggled at that, and if Link didn't like her laugh so much he'd be annoyed. But he did, so he wasn't. “ Honey .”
“He was in the same room, dammit!” Link flopped back, kicking his legs out. That hasn't happened since we were kids . Christ I thought maybe I was coming to terms.”
“Mhm.” She didn't sound convinced. “Maybe you should talk to him.”
“Christy. He's been my best friend for my my whole life. He's married . I can't just… come out like a nervous teenager. What would I even say? Pass him a note that says I like you , and ask him to check yes or no if he likes he back?”
“I know he has, which is why I think you should say something. It's Rhett . He's not going to be mad at you.” She paused, before adding, “And you're married too, mister. Yet here we are.”
Okay, she was right . Not shocking.
“What if it gets weird?” Because Link couldn't shake the thought that it would . Rhett wasn't into men- at least, he'd never showed much of a serious interest. Jokes were just that, jokes .
“Then it gets weird and you two work through it like adults .” Link could hear the kids in the background suddenly, as if they had breezed through the room quickly.
And, despite Link knowing the answer, he still asked, “You'd really be okay with that?”
Christy laughed, simply because of how many times Link had ever asked her that. “Yes. Still yes. It'll be a yes tomorrow too, by the way. There's plenty of you to go around- tell Rhett to please take you off my hands sometimes.”
Link laughed too, just as the door opened again. Rhett walked in, phoneless now. He mouthed sorry , as if he'd walked in on something private. Link waved him off. “I'll think about it,” he said, “Rhett's back, maybe we can try to get some
work done today. I'll update you later.”
“Okay. Love you. Tell Rhett I said hi.”
“Can do. Love you too- tell the kids for me.” Link hung up, sat up and felt the blood rush from his head. Rhett had walked across the room, was settling down by the little desk in the room.
Looked like he had run out to the car- he had the two laptop bags they'd stowed away just in case , in the trunk.
“Christy says hi,” Link said, getting up and walking over. He settled his arms on the back of the computer chair and leaned against it. “Jessie and the boys alright?”
“Yeah. Guess everyone is getting along fine without us.” Rhett opened the laptop and tipped his head back. It was a flattering angle, made him look sweet . “So, work?”
“On an empty stomach?” Rhett grinned, and Link felt himself melting a little.
“You read my mind.”
Rhett reached up, got his hand along the back of Link's hair, fingers just messing it up slightly. Link felt his heart jump, wanted to just lean down and kiss Rhett. Just once.
Instead he playfully shoved his hand away and left to find them something more like real food than what they ate the night before.
**
They did find a place open for dinner that night. They'd been cooped up too long anyway, and Rhett was sure they'd both lose their minds if they didn't go outside the hotel.
The rain had started back up, but it was just a drizzle. Tolerable. Especially inside during dinner. Whatever panic had seemed to start that morning already seemed to be calming down.
They'd be on the road in the morning, no problem.
Rhett stretched his legs as best as he could, the passenger seat pushed as far back as it would go. He was pleasantly full and wasn't upset about the prospect of getting to relax in a hotel room for a bit.
They paused at a stop light, when next to him Link squinted. “Is… that a deer?”
Rhett leaned forward and- yeah. Yeah it was. Just… walking down the middle of the street. “What the hell?”
The light changed, but Link was too distracted to move. After a moment the car behind them blared their horn then rushed around them. Rhett braced a hand on the dashboard, knowing the inevitable was coming- and sure enough, a swerve of tires, and the car skidded off the road. It smacked into a light pole, shaking it and blowing out the light.
The deer was still just standing there .
Rhett went for his phone, was about to call 911, when a few people came out of one of the nearby buildings, heading for the car, at least two with phones to their ears.
Rhett paused. He didn't want too many calls to give misinformation and delay emergency vehicles.
“Rhett.” Link's voice was strained. Rhett followed his stare, and noticed the deer was listing to the side, taking staggering steps towards the car. It… didn't look well.
Link undid his seatbelt, putting the car in park and opened his door. He was out before Rhett could say anything, walking slowly towards the confused animal.
Rhett fumbled with his belt, got out and didn't bother closing the door. He wanted to yell Link's name, but didn't want to startle the animal.
The deer paused, and Link did too. It was looking at the car as a teenager in the back climbed out, looking dazed and holder her shoulder from where it had smacked into the window.
The deer stumbled slightly, before it lowered it's head. It was a doe, but even without horns it was hefty-
Before Rhett could move, Link was sprinting. Rhett wasn't sure he'd really seen him run that fast before, but he caught the deer with his shoulder down within two feet of the girl. They both stumbled, the deer slamming its head into the back of the vehicle.
The cracking and thumping sounds were sickening. The deer went down limp, and Link tumbled to the pavement, shoulder first.
The girl shouted, falling back into the car, and now Rhett was running, long legs taking him to Link quickly.
Link had rolled onto his back. He groaned as Rhett dropped down on his knees, got a hand on his arm. “Link!” His voice was louder than he meant, and Link squinted open one eye.
“Don't yell man, I'm right here.” He moved to sit up and Rhett helped him, a hand on his back to keep him steady. Link rolled his neck, but winced when his shoulder moved. Hit tshirt was torn in the sleeve and towards the back, and Rhett could see red, angry skin beneath, little spots of blood from the road burn.
They heard sirens, and Rhett stood up, helping Link to his feet. They needed to move the car out of the intersection, and as much as Rhett wanted to do it, Link waved him off.
But he definitely walked slowly back to the car.
Instead Rhett turned and glanced at the deer. It looked sickly up close, bloated in the belly and discolored, matted fur. There were few growths on it, focused around it's gaping mouth, where it sported broken teeth and thick spit.
Rhett grimaced, but glanced around. With no one watching, he slipped his phone out and took a quick picture.
**
They didn't get back to their hotel for another two hours. The rain picked up while they waited to talk to the police. Link declined medical assistance-even though Rhett disagreed- and said they could stop at a drugstore. He'd be fine.
By the time they were allowed to leave and had done that , it was well passed dark and cold. Link bit back a shiver on the elevator ride up to the room, hands folded over his chest ashe tried not to hug himself. Rhett was carrying the small plastic shopping bag filled with probably more than they needed.
When they got inside Rhett paused to flip the little extra lock on their door. He hadn't done that last night. Link didn't comment on it, if only because he was a little shaken too.
“We've got one hell of a story to tell,” he said, forcing a smile. But Rhett didn't respond, just headed to the bathroom. Link's smile fell away and he followed.
There were clean towels stacked on the sink, at least. They had used most of them between Rhett's shower the night before and both of them having a real shower that morning. Rhett set the bag on the opposite side of the sink.
“Shirt off.”
Link quirked a brow, before he realized Rhett was serious. “I can handle this man,” he said, trying to sound calm.
Rhett folded his arms, nodded towards the closed toilet, and simply said, “Strip Neal.”
Link sighed, shoulders sagging a bit in defeat. He pulled his tshirt off, wincing as it peeled from his damaged skin. He tossed it on the floor and sat down, adjusting his glasses.
Rhett pushed at his arm, had him lean forward so he could get a good look at it. The skin had gotten redder, but it wasn't actively bleeding, at least.
Link stared at the empty shower as Rhett grabbed a washcloth and wet it under the sink. When it touched his skin it was quite warm, and the sting wasn't too bad.
“This isn't gonna feel great,” Rhett warned, sounding sorry. Link just nodded, knowing it wouldn't stay this nice. And when Rhett started scrubbing, as gently as possible but hard enough to clean the wound, it was anything but nice.
Link groaned and winced. He sat as still as he could, but for once when he squirmed a bit Rhett didn't chide him.
When he was finally done he tossed the cloth in the sink and grabbed another one to dry the skin. Gentle pats reminded Link of how he dealt with his kids skinning their knees. And the fact that Rhett could be that gentle with him too made his chest agonizingly tight.
“Doing alright?” Link nodded, hated when the cloth and Rhett's touch was gone. He heard him rustling in the bag- and why did the room seem to quiet? Why could Link hear his pulse hammering in his head? Why was he acutely aware of how they were each breathing? “This probably isn’t going to feel great.”
Link turned his head more, saw Rhett was holding a tube of Neosporin. He looked apologetic, and Link just shrugged his shoulder- which wasn’t the greatest thing to do, as it was definitely sore now.
Rhett nodded and popped it open, pouring a generous amount onto his fingers. Link looked away, a little too aware of previous thoughts, dreams, fantasies , where Rhett was liberally pouring another substance onto his fingers. At least they were a different consistency.
It was cold, and when it touched Link’s skin he gasped. Rhett gently rubbed it along the red skin, over the little abrasions. It stung a bit, but Link was focused more on the fact that Rhett’s fingers were warm , and he was still cold.
His arms had goosebumps.
Rhett used probably too much of the ointment, but Link didn’t complain. He didn’t want an infection , but mostly he just didn’t want Rhett to stop touching him. When Rhett did stop Link bit at his cheek, told himself to not make a little noise over the lose.
Rhett wiped his fingers on one of the little washcloths, studying Link’s shoulder. Link waited a minute, before finally saying, “Don’t tell me i’m growing a shoulder antler.”
Rhett snorted, shook his head, and reached out, pushing playfully at the back of Link’s head. “Just trying to figure out the best way to cover this.” He rummaged around in the plastic bag, and Link turned to face him. They’d bought large strips of gauze, actual bandaids, medical tape.
“Just cover it with gauze and tape it up,” Link said, knowing it wasn’t going to be pretty, but it was probably the only way to get the whole thing covered. Rhett nodded, and Link turned away again, left him to his work.
When Rhett was done and Link got up to check it out in the mirror, he had to laugh . The tape was haphazardly applied, as if Rhett had been afraid the gauze would fall off it it wasn’t secure with a whole roll of tape.
“Jesus man,” Link said, still laughing. He glanced up at Rhett, who was just… looking at him. Looking at him with this weird softness in his eyes and it just…
Link couldn’t put a word to the look, but it made his belly burst into a buzzing swarm of honeybees.
“What?” Link asked, his voice cracking a little. Rhett swallowed, looked away and decidedly busied himself with shoving things back into the plastic shopping bag.
“Good to hear you laugh,” he mumbled, and Link just… stared at him. Didn’t know what to say. They were quiet for a minute, until Rhett had tidied up the sink area. When he was done he glanced at Link, and instead of continuing his thought, asked, “You cold brother?”
Link glanced down at his arms, covered in goosebumps, and- yeah. Yeah, he still was , his hair was still damp and his jeans were too, yet he had forgotten.
What the hell did Rhett mean it was good to hear him laugh?
“C’mon.” Rhett grabbed him by the wrist gently, guiding him to the bathroom door. Link wondered if Rhett could feel his hammering pulse, and god, he was so close to just grabbing his hand.
Rhett let go at Link’s bed, continued on to his own. He rummaged around in his bag for a moment, before he pulled a hoodie out and tossed it to Link. Link caught it against his bare chest, glanced down at it, before looking back at Rhett.
“You brought all sweaters,” he said, as if he needed an excuse. “It’s… warmer.”
Was it?
Link wasn’t going to argue. He gave a quiet thanks and put it on, not bothering with a shirt underneath. He zipped it up two thirds of the way, and when Rhett looked away rubbed his hands along his arms, enjoying the cozy, well worn feel. He’d seen it countless times during filming, maroon fabric that was now well worn but still looked nice.
When he looked back up Rhett was watching him, but quickly jerked his head away. He gathered up the same tshirt and sweats he’d worn the night before and headed for the bathroom, saying something about changing.
Link held his breath until the door shut, then exhaled long and hard. Jesus, what was all that? Why did Rhett keep looking at him?
He told himself it was nothing , because he couldn’t get his hopes up. They’d been dashed down so many times over the course of his life when his affections for Rhett were involved, and he just couldn’t handle it happening again and again. Best to just… ignore it.
He reached down and popped the button on his jeans. THey felt heavy as he kicked his shoes off and then stripped them away. Not bothering with pants, he crawled into his bed, under the covers, and sighed because he was going to be warm in minutes. Laying on his shoulder hurt, but he ignored it and pressed his face into his arms, inhaling the scent of Rhett’s cologne. It was much stronger than it had been on his wet, discarded tshirt the previous night.
Link sighed, feeling his body relax. He didn’t move much when he heard the bathroom door open. He did hear Rhett pause after a few steps- but only to hear him backtrack and the light to suddenly go out.
Link wasn’t going to complain about that. It meant Rhett couldn’t see the way he was snuggling into his hoodie.
He could just make out Rhett moving to his own bed and climbing in. He stretched out and unlocked his phone. tHe light cast a bit of a blue hue to him, and Link silently watched him, as the minutes stretched on.
He was sleepy, content, not quite out because he hadn’t taken his glasses off, when Rhett said, albeit softly, “Come look at this.”
Link sighed, didn’t lift his head. “Not wearing pants man.”
Rhett laughed. “Just get over here.”
Link hummed to himself. They went back and forth about not caring and caring too much when the other was lacking clothes, but somehow it just seemed… he didn’t even know . Rhett didn’t care?
Alright, okay, fine.
Link shoved his blanket off, missing the heat instantly, and stood up. He padded over, shoved his hands into the pocket of Rhett’s hoodie, standing at the side of the bed for a moment.
When Rhett didn’t offer up his phone and whatever he was looking at, Link said, “So…?”
Rhett turned his head, then pressed his phone to his chest, hiding the screen, and actually shifted over, making a space. Link felt his heart jump up into his throat, but when Rhett didn’t say anything else, he took the silent invitation. Slowly, he lay down next to him, having to lay on his side, so he could face him, and the hidden phone.
They were so close that Link could feel Rhett’s body heat. He was still chilled from being in the drizzling rain, and he wanted to press right up to him, soak it all in.
Rhett turned his phone over, held it out, and Link took it in one hand, thumbing down through some article. He wasn’t taking much of it in, but he saw the words zombie deer , and actually snorted a laugh.
“What the hell is this man?” He asked, shoving the phone back at Rhett. “Don’t tell me you think I tackled an undead deer .”
“I didn’t say that,” Rhett said, taking the phone back. “It’s not dead . It’s a disease, CWD. Chronic Wasting Disease.” He glanced back at his phone, closing the article. “It’s a real thing, it makes them seem zombie like.”
“Okay.”
“Did you… look at it…?” Link lifted his head, and Rhett gesturing into the dark with his free hand. “The deer.”
“I was a little too distracted to check out who it was wearing,” Link pointed out, and Rhett turned the phone then. On the screen was a close up of the deer’s face- growths around it’s mouth and eyes, gaping mouth with broken teeth and frothy saliva. “You took a picture ?”
“So I could look up what the hell was wrong with it!” Rhett looked back at his phone.
“Do not tell me this is going to be your latest obsession. Zombie deer. Do you hear how ridiculous that is?”
“We could write a song about it.”
Link laughed at that, turning his face and burying it into a pillow. It was a mistake, because it smelled like Rhett.
He was still giggling when Rhett added, much more serious, “I just had to make sure you’d be alright.”
That shut Link up.
Link turned his head, just so he could glance at Rhett. He was staring up at the ceiling. Link wanted to push at him, but after a moment it was clear he didn’t need to.
Because Rhett kept talking.
“LIke, what if it had been sick with something you could catch? What if it was rabid?”
“It didn’t bite me, Rhett.”
“I know but still .” Rhett turned his head, stared at Link, into him . “It freaked me out man.”
Link bit his lip, before he reached out, touched Rhett’s arm with his fingertips. “I’m not going to turn into a zombie deer. Swear.”
“Better not,” Rhett mumbled, and Link chuckled. He stayed with his fingers just touching Rhett;s arm for a moment, before he figured he should remove himself, get back into his bed. Moment over, best to enjoy what it was and not push it.
Except that Rhett reached out blindly and set his phone aside, before shifting his legs around to get them under the blankets. He moved and almost smacked Link with the arm he tried to lift, and Link was about to give him a smartass retort about it-
Except that he realized Rhett had opened up an even more inviting space for him. Right up against him. And was he… was he asking him to stay?
When Link didn’t move or say anything, Rhett said, “I figure you’ll have nightmares about deer now, so we may as well save the trouble of you crawling in here scared later and just get it over with.”
Link gave a pfft , shaking his head. “Asshole,” he said, but didn’t argue. He laid back down, Rhett’s arm settling around him, and rested one hand on his chest. Carefully, Rhett reached over and gently plucked Link’s glasses off, setting them on his nightstand with his phone. “I wouldn’t have a nightmare,” Link muttered, pressing himself up against Rhett under the blankets, and telling himself he must have fallen asleep while Rhett was changing, and he was dreaming.
“I know,” Rhett admitted, “but now I might.”