Work Text:
It’s kind of a complicated story as to how Rhett ended up here at this violin recital all by himself. He won the tickets because he entered a contest on facebook on a whim, thinking it’d be an easy date to take his boyfriend on. To his surprise, he actually did win them and his boyfriend was plenty excited for the date. That was two months ago. Fast forward to today and Rhett has been single for five weeks. Apparently, his boyfriend wasn’t excited enough to keep his hands out of another man’s pants, so here Rhett is, using his winning tickets out of spite, determined to have a good time even though he doesn’t really care about classical music. Hopefully, it will help him relax.
He’s on the younger end of this audience of stuffy people, so he’s contemplating leaving before it even starts. He didn’t pay anything for the tickets, after all. This guy must be really good, though, because the auditorium is packed. Rhett probably could have sold his tickets for a nice sum. He’s never experienced classical music like this, so he remains seated with a slipping hope that this will be a good experience. The lights go down and Rhett takes a deep breath, trying to get into the mindset of learning something.
Most of his inhibitions drop away when the violinist steps on stage. He has to be the most beautiful man Rhett has ever seen. His navy suit is tailored perfectly to his frame, drawing the eye over broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and long legs. He has dark hair streaked perfectly with grey and his expression manages to be kind and serious at the same time. Rhett fishes the program out of his pocket and strains his eyes to see the name of this gorgeous man. Charles Lincoln Neal III. The name and the instrument and the atmosphere are so pretentious and Rhett’s fully prepared to believe this guy is probably a pompous jerk when he looks back up at him and sees his eyes. They’re the perfect shade of blue, especially under the spotlight, with a sparkle of humor in them. Rhett thinks he sees the man’s lips lift in a slight smile before he places his bow on the strings. So, though he was very prepared to dislike him, Rhett finds himself extremely intrigued.
The first song is light and airy and goes on for too long. Rhett likes it enough, but it isn’t the experience he was hoping for, the experience he’s head classical enthusiasts talk about. The musician begins the next song and within the first few measures, Rhett’s mouth is hanging open. This song is much darker and more heavy. Maybe it’s because of his recent breakup, but Rhett almost feels the anger in the notes. It’s like Charles is shouting through the instrument, his face screwed up in concentration. Not even that takes away from his beauty. This song goes on exactly as long as it’s supposed to. Rhett’s heart swells and shrinks with the music. It leads him to focus on huge abstract ideas and then brings him all the way in to dwell on atoms. He’s out of breath and claps as loud as possible when the violinist plays the last note.
Rhett feels like the only person in the auditorium, music sinking into his skin and changing his mood with every stroke of Charles’ bow. His heart rate picks up and it’s like he’s flung into an action movie when the man starts a song faster than anything he’s played yet. Rhett’s afraid the strings of the violin are going to snap with how quickly he’s playing. Every note rings clear as anything. It’s during this song that Rhett focuses on the man himself. His lips are parted and eyes closed in concentration like he’s in a world of his own. The violin is more an extension of him than it is a separate object. Strings hang from the bow where they gave out, but he keeps playing, audience on the edge of their seats. His fingers on the neck of the instrument move quicker than Rhett would have thought possible and he can’t even imagine how Charles has every position memorized. When he draws his bow across the strings in one last flourish, the crowd breaks into thunderous applause as their heart rates slow down. The man is breathing hard, but he breaks into a genuine dazzling smile as he gives a little bow. That’s the moment Rhett realizes he's in love with this man. Maybe that’s an overstatement, but everything about him is intoxicating even though Rhett’s over 30 feet away.
Charles is brought a new bow and the next song is a sharp contrast to the last. It’s slow and sorrowful and it brings a wave of sadness over Rhett. He doesn’t even realize he’s crying until he tastes salt on his lips. There’s such deep, genuine pain on the musician’s face that Rhett could almost believe the notes weren’t already composed and he’s just playing how he feels.
When the song draws to a close, Rhett hastily dries his eyes. He did not expect to be affected in this way at all by the music and he feels inexplicably drawn to Charles.
He receives a standing ovation at the end and that breathtaking smile returns. Rhett claps and blinks away the tears in his eyes. He’s become way too emotional. While walking slowly out with the crowd, Rhett makes a spontaneous decision. He wants to meet Charles Neal more than anything right now, if only just to confirm he’s a nice guy. With a deep breath to make him feel more confident, he takes a left into a hallway that looks promising and resolves not to stop until he can’t politely go any further. He walks past a few people, but none of them say anything. He’s always believed confidence is key.
Finally, he comes to a door that looks right, but there’s a buff blonde guy standing next to it. “Evening. Looking for someone?” the guy asks.
“I’m looking for Charles Neal, actually. I’m… James. He should know me.” Rhett only falters a little. He figures Charles is more likely to know a James than a Rhett and would therefore be more likely to let him in.
“He didn’t tell me to expect anyone, but wait here one moment and I’ll ask him.”
Rhett nods, but on the inside he deflates. There’s no way he’s going to let him in, he has no reason to. He has half a mind to walk away before the guy comes back, but he hangs onto a little sliver of hope and waits. Fidgeting with his empty hands, he feels like he should be holding a bouquet of roses or something.
When the blonde guy returns, he gives Rhett a thorough once over. “He said you can come in if you want or wait here.” He gives him a meaningful look. “I’m going to be right outside.”
Struggling to contain his surprise and not trusting his voice, Rhett nods in response and walks through the doorway before he can be stopped again.
He doesn’t know what he expected, but the violinist is so much more beautiful up close and Rhett can only see his back and part of his reflection. He’s standing in front of the dressing room mirror with bright lights that illuminate tan skin and salt and pepper hair. He has taken his suit jacket off, but he looks just as good in a button down and slacks. His violin is in his hands and he seems to be inspecting it. Those intense eyes that could convey emotion to an entire auditorium flick up to meet Rhett’s in the mirror. “So, who are you?”
There’s no accusation in his voice, just curiosity. It’s a valid question and Rhett has no answer. He didn’t think he’d get this far. What he really wants to do is ask questions like ‘Why the hell did you let me in here?’ and ‘How the hell did you make me cry?’ He rubs at the back of his neck, cheeks heating up. He’s leaning towards leaving without saying a word, but then he sees one side of Charles’ mouth lift in his reflection and that one little motion makes him relax enough to seize hold of this opportunity. “My name is Rhett. I gotta be honest with you, I did not think I’d get this far.”
Charles laughs as he places his instrument carefully in its case and turns around, assuming a casual posture leaning against the counter. “Well, I don’t know anyone named James or Rhett, but Josh said you were attractive, so I figured why not. Thought you might have a reason for talking your way into seeing me.”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
The man looks him up and down slowly, the way Rhett would imagine he examines a piece of music before playing it for the first time. “I’m not disappointed.”
Rhett blushes further, but he tries to make himself compose his thoughts enough to make actual conversation. “I’m not much of a classical music listener, but I won the tickets and decided to come. It blew my expectations out of the water. You’re incredible.”
He inclines his head and smiles, “Thank you. I love doing it.” He pushes himself off the counter and begins to unbutton his shirt, throwing Rhett for a major loop. “If you brought someone with you, they can come in too.”
“Oh, I didn’t. It didn’t work out, I guess.” Rhett exhales through his nose, watching Charles go over to a bag to get new clothes, shirt now fully unbuttoned to show off a toned torso and dark chest hair. Rhett did not expect for things to escalate like this at all. He bends over the bag and Rhett swallows as he takes in this view of the man’s waist, hips, and ass.
“Then I’m glad you came anyways. And I’m glad you made the decision to come find me.” He runs a hand through his hair and glances up at Rhett from his bent posture, catching him in the act of staring and smirking when Rhett goes red again.
“Me too. If you aren’t busy the rest of the night, can I buy you a drink? And should I call you Charles?” Rhett asks, still rooted to the spot he stopped at upon entering.
The musician shrugs his button down the rest of the way off and folds it carefully, unintentionally, or maybe fully intentionally, leaving Rhett reeling at the gorgeous definition of his back. Pulling on a star wars t-shirt, he says, “Call me Link. I’d love a drink. If you don’t mind though, I should go somewhere I can get a reasonable meal. I’m starved.”
“Great!” Rhett says quickly, “I’ll step out so you can finish changing.” He’s afraid if he stays in there any longer, this man will continue the process he’s started. Apparently, the job comes with no shame. And with the way Link looks, he’s afraid he won’t be able to keep his hands to himself much longer if he keeps removing clothes.
Josh silently assesses Rhett’s beet red face for a moment when he’s back outside and smirks before saying, “I should have warned you, he’s not your stereotypical classical performer.”
“I wouldn’t be taking him to dinner if he was,” Rhett admits. Josh nods as if he figured and they remain quiet until Link steps out.
They end up in some locally owned diner because Link was adamant they didn’t go anywhere fancier than that. He orders a cheeseburger with no tomatoes and makes a mess of it that Rhett teases him for. They click easily and Rhett decides he’d never guess this man’s occupation were he to meet him randomly.
Rhett spends the whole of dinner working up the courage to ask Link to come back to his place. He manages to say it when they’re standing in the parking lot and Link accepts the invitation without a thought. They talk a while longer before one of them makes a move. Both pretending they're more subtle than they are, they inch closer and closer on the couch, and surprising even himself, Rhett rests his hand on Link’s thigh first. It easily progresses into a kiss after that.
They spend the night making love with even more emotion than Link’s performance had. Rhett personally believes the sounds Link makes in bed are more beautiful than what he does with his violin. It’s so perfect and dream-like that Rhett is scared to open his eyes in the morning, but when he does, he gets a face full of salt and pepper hair. He pulls the man next to him closer and closes his eyes, violin music playing in his head.