Chapter Text
Part One - Too much love will kill you
Link let his eyes travel around the crowded room. Everywhere he looked was a face he knew, smiling and laughing, the music drowning out the conversations from even those closest to him.
They had worked so hard to get to where they were now. Tonight they were celebrating the official opening of their new studio space. Mythical Entertainment. The new building housing a number of recording studios, a small movie theatre, offices, meeting rooms and of course the gmm set. There were a number of entertainment spaces as well, including the room he was standing in now. It would allow them to create content on a level unprecedented. It was a large investment, but one they could make now with some level of certainty.
Despite the normal nerves and last minute rush the evening had started well. He had spent a lot of time earlier in the evening with Rhett, moving from group to group, making sure everyone had a chance to speak with him and his business partner before the duo had separated, each going to spend some time with their respective families.
There had been a lot of dancing and laughing, speeches and more toasts than he could count, but as the night wore on Link was feeling more and more confused and detached from everything and everyone around him rather than happy.
He'd had a few drinks at the beginning of the evening which had helped boost his mood and confidence, letting him forget about life for a while. He had danced with a lot of people, his wife laughing as she watched him, if it wasn't her in his arms. He'd felt full of energy, the culmination many years work finally passing off. The successes, and the failures they had learned from all leading to here.
But, he still felt alone. Needing something that he could never have no matter the accomplishments he achieved in other areas of his life. As time passed the realization of that truth lay heavier in his mind, tainting all other experiences.
He'd been dancing with a member of their crew, trying to make the best out of the night as he could, they were after all paying a lot of money to host it, when he had seen Rhett watching him from the bar and he'd suddenly felt ashamed. That by having fun he was doing something wrong.
He wasn't all up on his dance partner, they weren't touching one another, nothing remotely inappropriate about it. But Rhett held his gaze over the heads of the crowd. Not smiling, or frowning, or really giving away any emotion at all. But Link felt that if he wasn't offering a smile once they made eye contact he wasn't happy with what he was seeing for some reason.
He excused himself, slapping his colleague on the shoulder as he moved around him to try and track down Rhett. “I'll see you later, man.”
“Catch ya later, boss!” the other yelled over the music before turning to the nearest person and continuing to moving.
Link moved through the crowd, being stopped every few steps by someone wanting to either congratulate, hug or kiss him. And by more than a few people that wanted all three. He tried to keep an open happy demeanor to hide his building anxiety but became more abrupt with people as he got closer to where he thought he had last seen Rhett.
The more anxious he became, the more people there seemed to be, pushing into him, cutting off his oxygen and escape. He stopped and put his hands on his knees trying to calm his breathing and stop a full blown panic attack from taking over. After taking a few cleansing breaths he stood to his full height again and looked around slowly.
At 6'7” Rhett wasn't normally very hard to find in a crowd and Link, at 6 foot, was at least as tall if not slightly taller than most of their guests, but he still jumped in place hoping it would increase his chances of finding his best friend.
He nearly screamed aloud when arms suddenly closed firmly around his waist from behind. He was spun around quickly and pulled into a hug that took his breath away, his heart in his throat.
“Can you believe this man?” Rhett squeezed him tightly against his body. Link hugged him back, hoping that it looked at least kinda brotherly, smiling like a kid, relief flooding his body.
“You alright, Rhett?” he asked quickly while their heads were mere inches apart, hoping he was able to be heard over the music without having to yell.
“Yeah, of course. Just been watchin' ya sexy self.” the other man’s reply came with another quick squeeze. Rhett stepped back keeping his hands on Link’s shoulders. “Have you seen this?” he gestured around them. “This is all us, man. We did it.”
Link couldn't help but smile up at his friend. All anxiety from moments ago forgotten as he relaxed into his friend’s enthusiasm and praise.
“It sure is, Rhett.” He still had to pinch himself sometimes. It was all so unreal. Yet here they were.
But they had worked harder and sacrificed more than anyone would ever know.
“Hey, why don't you come dance with me?” he asked the taller man quickly, caught up in the party atmosphere, seeing immediately he had made a mistake.
“We can't really do that, man. And, I'm not much of a dancer.”
“We'll join a group of people. I just want ya movin next to me. Come on, Rhett. No one thought anything of me dancing with any of the people I have so far." Trying to lighten the mood he added. "Aside from Carl's wife. Did you see what she was tryin' to do to me? It was scary man!”
“Yeah, I saw Carl drag her off.” Both men laughed loudly.
“Please, Rhett. It's kinda more weird if we don't dance at least next to each other for a tune or two don't ya think? It's our party man.”
Rhett leaned in towards Link, pulling him closer again so he can speak in his ear. “I better bring Jessie with me. Is that alright?”
“Well. I guess from a marketing point of view.” refusing to meet the other man's gaze, Link took a step away from his best friend. “Come find me when ya wanna boogie. I'll make sure to ask Christy to join in too.”
He fell back into the crowd, working his way towards his wife and close friends. He knew he was being unfair. He was right, that they needed to be diligent and careful. But, it hurt him that their friendship suffered because of their whatever this was. Letting off steam?
But even as the thought came, Link dismissed it, tired of lying even to himself. He knew he was in love with Rhett, and their continued relationship was becoming more and more dysfunctional.
What had started as a relief between them, knowing that through all these years his best friend had felt the same as he had, had brought a lot of joy to both of their lives, despite the difficulties it created. But it had now turned into something Link wasn't sure he could live with. Or without.
A few drinks later, Link found himself again on the dance floor, he needed to keep moving. All he had been able to think about tonight was Rhett, and it was making him feel trapped and angry. So he had decided to dance with anyone who showed up, mostly dancing with himself regardless of who was moving beside him. Losing himself for a while in the alcohol and strong bass lines.
His body moved without him needing to give any thought to what he was doing, and he liked it that way. He imagined Rhett moving with him, matching the roll of his hips, Rhett's strong arms pinning him against his hard body. His eyes opened and met Rhett's who was sitting at a table near Link's current position.. The blond's hot gaze traveled over Link's body mentally undressing him. Lust plain on his face for anyone who was looking.
Link quickly looked away, his whole body feeling like it was on fire. He made his way off the dance floor as casually as possible, again pushing through a relentless crowd of bodies until he found himself in the large bathroom that had been recently installed. Five cubicles along one side of the room, a row of sinks and a couple of urinals along the back wall.
He'd only been in here once before, to look around and nod his approval to the builders. Their new studio space included a large area for entertaining, and after more meetings than Link thought was needed for any reason, it was agreed that there should be “public” restrooms.
The venue could easily hold a few hundred people if the outdoor area was taken into account, so they had ended up installing more toilets than Link thought would ever be needed, for any reason. He had complained to Rhett about there being a toilet for every hour of his life that had been wasted discussing how many toilets they needed. And that was just in the men's room.
He took off his glasses and splashed cold water onto his face, running his hands through his hair. He remembered Rhett's eyes on him and regardless of how he tried to fight it, felt himself responding. He looked up at the mirror for a long minute, trying to calm his growing arousal before sliding his glasses back on. He was too old to be behaving like this.
He was about to turn to leave when the bathroom door was opened again. Music swelling into the room before fading away again. He had only barely registered it was Rhett striding towards him, when the others hands roughly grabbed him by his upper arms and pushed him backwards into the nearest stall. The door banged loudly against the wall, covering Link's yelp of pain when his shoulder and elbow connected with the side of the cubicle.
“Rhett, what are..?”
He had no chance to finish his sentence before Rhett's mouth found his, his tongue invading his mouth, his body pushing both of them forcefully further into the small space. He turned them both towards the wall along the left side, Links body hitting with enough force to cause all the stalls to shudder violently before Rhett's body crashed against the length of him pinning him in place exactly as he had imagined earlier.
“Oh, gosh,” breathed Link immediately responding to Rhett's rough manhandling, as he always did.
“You look so fucking hot, Link. I want you so bad.” Rhett breathed into Link's neck. “Right now.”
Both men pulled at each others clothes and bodies trying to get closer. A frenzy of limbs and need.
“Dude, you could have broken my arm or something.” Link said, knowing that Rhett was not listening to him, too caught up in lust and need to hear.
“You've been driving me crazy man.” His fingers tangled in Link's tie, loosening it, undoing his shirt buttons quickly, needing to touch the other man's skin. “I was watching you dance.” His hands moving firmly across Link's bare chest, pushing his shirt open widely, holding him even harder against the cubicle wall.
Links shoulder pain was forgotten when he felt Rhett's cock pressing into his thigh already hard.
“Wishing my body was against you as you moved.” Rhett continued, moaning his need. “You all naked and sweaty.”
“Rhett, we can't do this now.” Link tried with no real conviction to push the larger man away all the while pressing his hips harder against his best friend.
“I can feel how much you want me right now too. We don't have time to argue.”
Link closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the wall behind him while Rhett deftly unbuckled his belt and pushed his pants and boxers towards the floor. Helping them the rest of the way by moving his legs against Link's, shifting the clothing to the floor while pressing his manhood against the other's waiting need.
They continued kissing, their bodies rubbing against one another, hands trying to give some relief. Rhett moved away from Link and began kneeling, pushing away the hands that tried to stop him.
“I need to taste you. I want your dick in my mouth.” Rhett trailed hot kisses down Link's heaving chest and stomach. Licking the length of him before settling on the floor as comfortably as he can. “Look at you.”
Link smiled holding Rhett's gaze. “Look at yourself.”
“We gotta be quick.” whispered Rhett, stroking Link's erection.
“We should not be doing this.”
“I'll stop when you come for me.” Rhett leaned forward and took Link into his waiting mouth.
The first touch of his tongue nearly sent Link over the edge.
It was so dirty and wrong, what they were doing right now. Rhett on his knees in a bathroom stall for god’s sake. The noises filling the room from both of them sounding like the last porno he'd watched. Rhett's mouth moved over his arousal with skilled abandon, slippery and messy. Slurping and occasional near choking noises filling the small room when he was a bit too enthusiastic merging with Link’s moans and ragged breathing.
Link could barely stand, his ankles were trapped in his pants that were bunched at his feet, his belt buckle tapping loudly against the tile floor in time with their movements, his hands pressed against the wall at his sides lost in sensations when a wave of growing sadness suddenly washed over him.
His breath caught in his throat, a mix of passion and pain, “Rhett, this hurts too much.”
Rhett stopped slowly, looking up at his friend. “Your arm? I'm sorry. Do you want me to...?”
Link cuts him off with a tortured moan, his hand reaching for Rhett, guiding the other man’s mouth back to his throbbing cock. “Loving you. Loving you, it's hurting too much.”
And then he's holding Rhett in place with one hand tangled in his hair, gripping onto the top of the stall's wall with the other, his knuckles turning white under the strain of trying to support his weight, adjusting his grip constantly to stop the edge of the wall that's digging into his palm from cutting his skin, trying to maintain his balance as he continued thrusting into the tight hot warmth. The designers had not had this in mind he guessed as he tried to lose himself.
“Come for me, Link.” Rhett moaned around Link as he blinked tears from his eyes. “I wanna make you feel good.”
Moments later Link cried out Rhett's name into the room, only just managing to keep his balance, grabbing onto Rhett's shoulders.
Rhett stood into his arms helping to hold Link in place, kissing his neck and collarbone, licking across his adam's apple, his hands traveling over the front of Link's body as Link's held him tightly around his neck until his breathing eventually slowed. Link's hand moved between their bodies but Rhett stopped him before he reached his goal, wiping his eyes and tear streaked face while Link was distracted and not looking up at him.
“We don't have time for what I need from you.” Rhett said, trying to keep the sorrow from his voice.
“But I wanna...”
“Sshhh Link. You need to recover a bit, and we need more time. I need you inside me. I need you.”
They continued moving against one another but with less urgency now. “I'll wait until I can. Tonight, tomorrow, next week. I need you to fuck me. I don't want anything else.”
“You'll wait?” Link felt stupid for how good this made him feel.
“As long as it takes.”
Their kissing finally wound down and it was all too soon that Link found himself alone in the stall, straightening his clothing as best he could with his trembling hands.
Without Rhett beside him he began questioning whether Rhett would wait. Link hung his head listening to his rational mind tell him he had no cause to be jealous or upset. That Rhett was in the same situation as he was. But his heart was not listening to the same old monologue. He could not keep doing this.