Work Text:
This is supposed to be a bit of fun. A goofy minute with both of them to get some votes. Tyler tried to remind himself of this fact but it was proving difficult when faced with Dylan O’Brien.
Dylan wore a smirk as he slung an arm around Tyler’s shoulder, cosying in close and addressing an invisible audience as he made himself comfortable, leg nudging against Tyler’s, slipping underneath his knee.
Tyler remembered he was supposed to be contributing and mumbled his lines but Dylan was off and running, saying all the things that needed to be said about the Teen Choice Awards, cajoling votes out of the fans. Tyler threw in his few cents worth but mostly he found himself distracted by the long finger tapping out the emphasis to Dylan’s statements on his thigh.
It was so stupid that Dylan could still get under his skin so easily. Tyler was a grown man and he knew, he knew all this was just for the fans. They’d been playing this whole ‘Sterek’ thing up recently and it’d been great for the show but after the cameras stopping flashing and the interviewers had turned off the microphones they were just actors playing a part.
Nothing else.
There was nothing more than a firm friendship between him and Dylan.
That said, it wasn’t as if Tyler hadn’t been interested in more. He was an equal opportunities kind of guy, after all. He was attracted to the person, not what was or wasn’t between their legs. So yes, he’d admitted that he found Dylan attractive and it wasn’t exactly difficult to see why.
Like Tyler, Dylan paid very little attention to personal space. He was funny as all hell whilst at the same time being thoughtful and sometimes intense, and all that would have been enough, but to top it all off Dylan had that combination of dark eyes and pale skin that melted underwear at a dozen paces.
You would have to be blind and deaf to miss how attractive the guy was.
But this was all information that Tyler had processed and filed away a long time ago; keeping it buried when they were together and only bringing it out when he was alone and could indulge.
Dylan had flirted with him, sure, but Dylan flirted with everyone. It didn’t mean he was interested in Tyler.
No. It was just a crush and Tyler owned it, but he hadn’t been about to let it get in the way of their friendship. More importantly, Dylan was a co-star and it was only right that Tyler consider him off limits.
Then Jeff had asked about them doing this video and Tyler had laughed at the idea and agreed at once because why not? Dylan had agreed too and it was just them playing parts after all.
It was just acting.
So when Dylan laid his leg over Tyler’s knee, his heart rate did not jump. And when the backs of Dylan’s knuckles brushed the top of his thigh, Tyler did not feel the heat of it like a brand, marking him through the denim.
Those reactions would have meant that the whole thing was something other than playing a part for him.
Oblivious to Tyler’s internal rationalising, Dylan kept talking, lines forgotten and their allotted time well and truly up. He was clearly enjoying himself and when Dylan was in ramble mode it took drastic measures to stop him.
Which is why Tyler decided to ad-lib, hand moving on autopilot to lay a finger over Dylan’s lips to quiet him.
The playful smile on Dylan’s face fell away; his voice trailing off and Tyler could feel the weight of Dylan’s gaze on him.
The tiny script they’d worked out between them hadn’t included this so Dylan hadn’t known to anticipate it. As a consequence his mouth was slightly open when Tyler moved, sending his fingertip brushing gently down Dylan’s upper lip to land softly on the plush cushion of the lower.
The silence seemed to drag on forever and Tyler knew should move – he should pull his hand back and laugh it off – but he was frozen, staring at the indentation his finger made in the flesh of Dylan’s lip and feeling the warm puffs of air slipping over his finger.
Dylan moved tentatively, lips parting a little more as he twisted his upper body towards Tyler, Tyler moving with him, shifting his weight onto his hip to press closer.
The finger on Dylan’s lip slipped away and again Tyler could have used it as an excuse to move. He just couldn’t. Instead he let his fingers drift gently over Dylan’s jaw to settle on his neck, thumb slowly rubbing small circles into the soft skin next to his ear.
Dylan leant into the pressure and bit his bottom lip for a second before freeing it with a sigh. Tyler tracked the movement, leaning forward a little to watch the blood rush to the surface and stain the skin.
The sigh sounded wistful, a weight to it that Tyler couldn’t process at that moment, especially not when the leg over Tyler’s knee shifted, dipping further between his legs. At the same time, the hand resting lightly next to his leg twitched, palm turning down, fingers spreading wide and smoothing down the slope of Tyler’s inner thigh.
The breath Tyler had been holding left him in a rush and the sudden shock of sensation jolted him into action. He moved his free hand down and slid his fingers between Dylan’s where they were splayed out over the inner seam of his jeans, a faint rolling wave of pressure driving him to distraction as Dylan pressed each of his fingertips in turn into the stitching.
It was almost too much until Tyler felt Dylan’s other hand moving, smoothing its warm weight across his shoulders and wrapping long fingers around the back of his neck, grounding him with a gentle tug on the short hair there.
Tearing his gaze away from Dylan’s lips, Tyler looked up.
And there it was.
He’d spent the better part of the last eighteen months convincing himself that Dylan wasn’t interested and now, faced with rich brown eyes, half-lidded and full of the same want he knew was written across his face, Tyler realised just how wrong he’d been.
They were close now, scant inches apart, breath ghosting across eachother’s mouths. It wouldn’t take much to close the distance. A tiny pull - barely even that really - just an increase in pressure from gentle fingers and it’d be over. They’d crash together and for a few minutes Tyler could have this -they could both have this. Right here and now, they could both give in to this thing between them and deal with the consequences later.
Dylan’s tongue passed over his lips again as he leant in. Tyler moved to meet Dylan halfway and-…
A sharp burst of laughter crashed through the bubble of tension that had built up around them, freezing them both solid.
“You guys,” the director was still chuckling and applauding somewhere off to the side.
Tyler mentally shook himself out of his daze and tried to focus on what she was saying, looking across at her, even if he didn’t seem able to physically pull away from Dylan just yet.
“As awesome as that was,” she continued. “I think we should probably keep it a little more PG-13. Let’s reset and go again and then you can get back inside for your panel.”
When he looked back, Dylan’s gaze has drifted down to stare at their hands in Tyler’s lap. He blinked a few times, swallowing hard before he looked up to meet Tyler’s eyes again.
Suddenly Tyler was petrified.
What if this had just been a moment of madness for Dylan? What if Tyler had gotten caught up and pulled Dylan along with him and everything he thought he’d seen in Dylan’s eyes and actions had been his own wishful thinking?
It was a bitter pill and Tyler felt his throat click as he tried to swallow it.
The worry must have been written all over his face because Dylan squeezed his fingers around Tyler’s where they were tangled together on his thigh and smiled a quiet smile, shaking his head once in answer to Tyler’s unspoken questions.
He got the message. It’s okay. I’m here too. It’s not just you.
Tyler dropped his head dramatically and huffed out a silent laugh of relief as the panic subsided.
He heard an echoing sound from Dylan and looked up to smile at him. Dylan gently pulled away and scrubbed the hand that had been drifting up Tyler’s neck through his slightly shaggy hair. His bright laugh was back, joining in with the others around them while the camera and sound guys fiddled with equipment getting ready for take two.
Tyler laughed properly then too, shifting back in his seat and straightening his shirt until his hands were steady again, the adrenaline rush slowly wearing off and his heart finally settling back to a regular rhythm.
If he was honest, he was relieved that nothing more happened on camera. Now that he knew he could have this, he wanted it all to himself.
Judging by the hot look Dylan threw at him when he caught his eye, Tyler wasn’t the only one that wanted to be a little selfish.
It took a few minutes for the director to bully everyone into silence but eventually she gestured at Dylan and Tyler who shuffled obediently back together, not quite as close as they had been for the first take, but lounging comfortably in eachothers space.
“Tyler,” The director said, waving a finger in the air. “Do that finger thing again. Dylan – no rambling. Just wind it up right after, okay?”
Tyler nodded and Dylan gave her a grin and a thumbs-up before he slumped to the side, his head falling heavily onto Tyler’s shoulder again, eyes closing and a cheeky smile lifting the corners of his mouth like he just couldn’t help himself.
Tyler rested his temple against Dylan’s hair and closed his eyes agreeing wholeheartedly with that sentiment.
***
This time when Tyler put a finger to Dylan’s lips there was force and playfulness behind it and Dylan gave it a loud, obnoxious kiss before they faked going back to sleep.
***
In the dark the little phone screen was so bright it made Tyler squint but he smiled as he scrolled through another browser page.
He knew the video would play well and it had.
The fans are happy. Jeff was happy. The rest of the cast might have spent the day mocking him and Dylan mercilessly but it was completely worth it because the video had gone viral at lightning speed.
It was everywhere.
Comic Con bloggers had it. Geeky news sites had it. TV forums had it. Pages and pages of the Teen Wolf tag over on Tumblr were filled with gifs and screen captures, fan fiction and doodles, not to mention the strings of comments underneath each proclaiming everything to be beautiful and right with the world.
Tyler laughed as one commenter wondered if there were any outtakes. There weren’t. Not anymore. He’d seen to that, paying off the camera man for the only copy of the first run-through.
He tapped the phone on his chin thoughtfully and smiled again.
Next to him Dylan snuffled into his pillow and a hand flailed out across Tyler’s stomach to paw at his waist. Dylan made a happy noise and pulled himself close, wriggling to get comfortable until his cheek rubbed softly against Tyler’s shoulder.
Sleepy dark eyes blinked up at him in the pale light of the phone.
“Whatcha doin’?” Tyler waved his phone at him in answer. Dylan frowned. “Too early for phones.” He said, grabbing it out of Tyler’s hand and tossing it over his shoulder into the gloom.
“Hey...” Tyler protested without much real conviction. “I need that to live.”
“Shhhh…Lets go back to sleep.” Dylan quoted from the video and Tyler laughed and laughed.