Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kevin was used to his thoughts being consumed by exy, the Moriamaya’s and occasionally history. His mind was simple to understand in a very complex way. The subjects of his thoughts were easy enough to understand, but he had been told the way he churred over those thoughts were enough to make others get a headache. 

“Your tunnel vision is almost insulting.” Alison had quipped once, with an edge to her voice. 

Neil had been crushed by a Raven into the plexiglass, now in a hospital bed with a hairline fracture in his wrist. All Kevin had asked was if could play their game or not.  

“You really are a self centred asshole, Day.” Aaron had chuckled at the question. 

Apparently worrying about his team’s success was self-centred. 

He just learned to ask the question to Neil when the others weren't in the room.

Or when he would pull and all nighter to write a history essay. He knew he should be resting for practice the next day. A healthy sleep sequedual and all. But his fingers wouldn’t stop typing and his mind wouldn't stop making up new hypothesise, or points he could weave into that paragraph, or the journal entry of that person from that war into that evidence. 

His obsessing thoughts over the Moriyama’s were worse than the tiring essay writing ones, though. 

These thoughts caused panic attacks and relapses and locks on their 3rd floor dorm windows. 

Thoughts like; ‘They're in your phone.’ , ‘They're coming for you right now.’,  ‘Riko’s not dead and he's right behind you.’ 

So, Kevin didn’t think. He obsessed over. No thought in his head did not lead back to those three staples and if they didn’t then they were unimportant. 

If Kevin thought about things, they were obsessions. 

The optional history essay (about Achilles’s prophecy and what it says about human pride and greed) had kept Kevin up until dawn and no way was he making it through the day without coffee. 

It was the first day of a new school year, so the new freshmen were dotted everywhere. They looked excited. Jokes on them. 

Due to already being exhausted from schoolwork, Kevin made his way to an on campus coffee shop. He liked this one. It had such a nice aesthetic, leather booths and well kept plants (Ferns, elephant ears and Euphorbia’s) with a soft yellow light emanating from ceiling mounted lamps. 

Kevin pushed the door aside, taking in the smell of coffee grind and the smokey candles. There was also a gentle undertone of old books. 

These elements sent a shiver down Kevin's stiff spine. It was a comforting welcome back to the new year. 

There seemed to be a new freshman working the cash register. Kevin’s eyes were drawn to the patch pinned to their tweed vest, which told Kevin this new employee was non binary. Neil had shown him the flag when they had come out to the team after whatever happened in Baltimore last year and he quickly recognised it. 

They fit perfectly into the cafe’s atmosphere. Clothes neat, a tan and brown colour scheme. A soft looking, tan jumper that would soon be too hot to wear with a brown, tweed jacket. Their skin was slightly darker than Nicky’s with eyeliner smugged brown eyes and hair falling into their face from under a beanie. 

An all new shiver traveled Kevin’s body. 

“Hi, welcome.” Their teeth were a little crooked, front two overlapping a little with the ones beside them sharp and tilted out. They’re full lips pulled back over these teeth in a calm and gentle smile. “What can I get for you today?”

“Iced latte on unsweetened almond milk.” Kevin grabbed a fist full of notes from his bag and put it on the counter between them.  

“Yup,” Their pen, held with an abnormal grip, slaved across a small notepad in their hand. “And can I get a name for that one?” Kevin’s face must have scrunched up in confusion (he did that apparently, Nicky said it was endearing) because the person chuckled. “If you’re some on campus legend then you’ll have to forgive me. I’ve got my first class this afternoon.”

“Oh, no. That’s fine. Kevin. My name that is.” Kevin coughed. He told himself it was only because he was surprised that this person had not yet heard of him. 

“Well, nice to meet you Kevin.” 

“You?” Kevin felt his mouth move but didn’t know what he was saying until the words were out between them. 

“Huh?” Their head tilted and fluffy brows creased. 

“Name. I guess.” Kevin looked down at the scars on his hand, rubbing them. 

“ Link.” Link’s ears were dipped red. Andrew’s did that when Neil said something that made him blush. Does that mean Link was blushing. Because of him? “Like the video game character.” 

“Pardon?” Kevin’s hands began to sweat. Were they blushing because he had asked their name? Was that something that made people blush? He was doing that overthinking thing again. But if they blushed that would mean they were embarrassed. Did Kevin embarrass them? 

“Link, from like Legends Of Zelda ?”  

“I don’t…” Kevin felt like he screwed up as soon as their face fell. 

“That’s all good. It's a video game I played as a kid.” That’s why Kevin wasn’t familiar. He never had a childhood to play popular video games like every other kid. Instead, he had been a ten year old working himself to the bone to achieve his legacy. No time for video games when you had a birth right to fulfill.

Link moved away to the coffee maker, hidden behind it since they looked to be around Neil’s height.  

“You said you had your first class.” Kevin spoke up above the noises of the coffee grinding. “What are you studying?” 

“Oh!” Their head poked out from the top as they stood on their toes. “I’m doing ancient history! It’s Greek this semester! I even did the optional essay and everything, I’m just so excited!” Their eyes were wide over the machine, shining in the same way Kevin’s did when he talked about history or exy. 

“I did that essay too. It’s my next class, also.” Kevin’s small smile felt drowned out by the grin that spread over Link’s as they came around the machine with the finished product. A nice latte to keep Kevin alive. Although, this conversation had pepped him up plenty already. 

“No way!” Link clapped and grabbed Kevin’s right wrist. Kevin ignored the sparks under his skin. “If you wait for me then we can go together? My shift ends in 10.” 

His reply gets stuck in his throat, along with the breath he was taking in at the same time. He just nods. 

“Great! Thanks so much, Kevin.” He was now just releasing that Link had an accent. It seemed to peek through when they were excited. His name with that rolled pronunciation had that breath forced back out again. “If you go wait over in that booth, I’ll bring you a muffin.” 

Kevin nodded again. 

Kevin had just gotten his thoughts under control when Link presented him with a muffin. 

He hadn’t seen what they had been wearing aside from the top, since the bottom half was hidden under the counter that had separated them. But now, Kevin was sent straight (ha) back into the panicked state of mind. 

‘A boy wearing a skirt!’, his brain screamed at him. He called that his Raven Brain after he started seeing Bee. Intrusive thoughts, almost. What Tesuji or Riko would say to something. What had been drilled into him since day one. He was working on knowing that those thoughts weren’t him thinking and that he didn’t have to be guilty over them. 

Kevin knew, Link was not a boy and even so, there was no problem with them wearing a skirt. Boy or otherwise. Kevin was aware of these two facts. 

He still winced at his brain though. 

Link apparently saw that. They put the muffin down without saying anything and retreated, pulling the edges of the plaid, knee length material down as they went. With the skirt, knitted, white knee highs and platformed sandals. So without those shoes they’d probably be closer to the twins height. 

“Wait, thats not what you think.” Kevin reached after them. They stopped. Waiting for an explanation.  

“It isn’t?” They asked, eyebrow raised. 

“I was raised wrong. Sometimes I hear what they’d say. I was reacting to that, not you.” Kevin desperately wanted them to believe him. “I don’t care about the skirt, really!” Kevin felt his neck grow warm, rising out from under his collar. “It looks good - pretty.”

Link waited. 

The silence was killing him. 

Pretty ? Pretty! 

Who the hell was he to call them PRETTY? Nobody, that’s who. 

They wanted him to leave. 

He’d screwed up again. 

Screwed up what? Not going to think about it until later that night, probably. However, he still cared very deeply that he definitely screwed up big time. 

“Fine.” Link smirked. “But don’t think compliments will get you far.”

He hadn’t screwed up. That was a relief. 

Kevin was very aware of the eyes on him. He was also aware of the picture they painted. 

The Kevin Day, former Raven and known for being a strict exy know-it-all, walking side by side with a queer wearing a skirt. 

He told his thoughts to shut up over and over. 

It didn’t matter what they were thinking, what they were saying. 

But his skin itched. 

Link didn’t seem affected, probably dealing with these looks every day. Kevin wished he were that strong. He sincerely admired Link for that, being unapologetically themself in the face of sneering faces. 

“They keep looking at you.” Link notes, looking up at him. They were in fact much shorter than him, more than a foot or so. It was adorable, but he desperately couldn’t deal with that today. He’d tell Nicky about it later. The two of them had found comfort in conversations regarding their anti-gay upbringing and how that affected them. 

“Yeah…” Kevin murmured. 

“Is it because of me?” They asked.

“No. It’s me.” Kevin stared straight ahead with hard eyes. 

“Are you famous or something?” It was a joke, but Kevin’s shoulders tensed obviously. “Sorry.” 

“It’s fine.” Kevin forced a small press smile down to his accompaniment. “Lets go. If we hurry we can get good seats.” 

The rest of the walk consisted of conversations regarding history and classes. Link loved history since they’re mother was a history professor and they’re father an archaeologist. They loved ancient Greece ever since reading Song of Achilles. They planned to get their first tattoo of Achilles helmet. Kevin kept the comments about Jeremy from escaping. Instead he said he’d have to read it. Link had a strong interest in queer history. He talked about Prince Henry from a book they forgot to mention, and how he had sparked the interest. 

Kevin let Link talk, occasionally adding in a reply to a question or when he just wanted to. Because Link was listening. To him. 

In class, they were quiet with concentration. After, they said goodbye and exchanged numbers. 

“Kevin’s smiling.” Alison points a finger at him as soon as he comes through the door to the lounge. “And he’s late.” 

Matt slings an arm around his shoulder and pulls him into a friendly shoulder bump. Kevin was getting better at physical affection from the other foxes and so far he was progressing nicely, or so Bee was telling him. 

“Who's the unfortunate girl.” Matt ruffled his hair, just to be annoying. 

“Didn’t you just break up with Thea?” Neil asked, genuinely confused, from behind Andrew’s protective shoulder. Bless Neil’s demi-romantic view on life. 

“That was six months ago.” Kevin tells them. 

“Yeah, and?” Neil, still ever a demi-romantic, confused at how people can just go in and out of relationships. 

“I’m over it.” Kevin, still ever the disaster bisexual, falling for any smiley person who gave him the time of day. 

But the team didn’t know about that fact about Kevin. He was working on opening up to the team, he was, but this was going to need a little more time to figure out himself. Nicky only knew and Neil had somehow worked it out. Kevin was sure Andrew and Renee knew because why wouldn’t they.

“But really, Kev, introduce us. I wanna meet the lovely lady that made you less of an asshole.” Matt probed even more, knocking him lightly with a soft hip check. 

“Lets start practice.” Was Kevin’s only reply before pushing past into the mens changing rooms. Neil immediately following. Kevin randomly got an idea and Neil stepped foot behind him, his guard dogs following. “Neil, would you rather a gender neutral changing room?”

They all looked at Kevin. 

He’d never really been involved with Neil’s transition and any of the aftermath, as long as it didn’t affect the court then he didn’t care, that’s what the others thought. So Kevin randomly starting a conversation on the topic was almost abnormal. 

“Why?” Neil set their stuff down on the bench and took off their shirt. They were very proud of their top surgery scars, even if they got lost in the mess of other scars on his torso. Still, they showed them off with a pride Kevin wish he could muster. 

Jack chose that moment to speak up, “Didn’t know frankenstein was a tra-” 

Everyone gaped as Kevin’s fist struck home on Jack’s cheekbone so hard he crumpled to the floor. Kevin was surprised himself. He hadn’t even felt himself move, nor thought to do so in the first place. Yet, suddenly, he was standing above Jack with his knuckles throbbing. 

The two stared each other down, Jack with his eyes watering and Kevin with anger simmering just below the surface. 

Matt broke the dangerous silence with a laugh, clapping Kevin on the back. “Hell yeah, Kev.” he was saying through a laugh. 

“The hell was that for?” Jack got to his feet, baring his teeth at the people standing opposing him. 

“Don't say that word.” Kevin grabbed his stuff and went to change in the stalls. 

He was still seething on court but a t least that was an outlet for all the emotion. He played Raven style, violent and dangerous, pushing himself past the point of pain. His legs weren’t burning any more because just like his hand, they were numb. Dan was telling him to chill. He ran past her and failed a goal on Andrew. That only made him push harder. 

He had no idea why Jack’s comment had him this fired up, this furious. He knew it most definitely had something to do with Link, logically, deep down, but it wasn’t night and therefore, not the time to be thinking about this. He just needed to expel everything. Throw it onto court like he had done for everything until these holidays. 

Nicky caught his elbow on their way to the water bottles, “Lets talk about this later.” 

Kevin snatched his elbow back, guzzled water and returned to Neil who was on court, talking closely with Andrew. As soon as he was spotted, Neil switched into Exy mode and they began working on footwork, Kevin telling them they were doing it wrong when they both knew they weren’t. 

“What’s up, Kev?” Nicky hands him a non-alcoholic beer, holding one himself. Nicky was amazing, but Kevin did not want to talk about it. “Tell uncle Nicky,” 

Kevin groaned and slumped back further into the bean bag chair, the beer sliding down his throat. “I wish this was real,” He said when the bottle was empty. His body felt limp after pushing to far in practice, his body just wasn't used the intensity anymore. 

Neil and Andrew were busy on the roof so it was just the two, a safe space as Nicky liked to stress. Nicky who knew what it was like to be the exact thing your parents despised and had it beaten out of you, physically and mentally so they had made this space between them to talk about all things queer trauma. 

“It’s just a pretty barista at my favourite cafe.” Kevin murmured down the neck of his empty beer.

“Oh!” Nicky giggled excitedly. “What’s his name? What does he look like? Like pretty-cute or pretty-model or pretty-hottie?”

“They.” Kevin corrected after Nicky was out of breath. “They're like Neil, non binary.” 

“Oh Kev!” Nicky slapped his shoulder. “So thats the whole Jack thing?” 

“Their name’s Link.”

“Like the video game!” Nicky got the reference. 

“Yeah...the game.” Kevin would have to look up this game. “They have really dark brown wide eyes and hair, its kinda curly too. Their skins a bit darker than yours and they’ve got a few pimples but it looks very smooth. They wear tan sweaters and tweed vests. They wore a skirt. I really like it. Pretty.” Kevin felt his lips pull up a little as he described to his lap. The picture of Link still fresh in his mind. “Their teeth are a little crooked but they have a really nice smile. They like history. We’re in the same class. They wanna get an Achilles tattoo and love queer history.” 

The conversation he had had with them earlier, everything came out like word vomit. 

When he looked up to face Nicky, he looked a little somber. “They sound great, Kev.” 

“Yeah.” 

Kevin had always been fast to fall and fast to fall out of. Like with Thea. He loved her, he did. But after a year he was only really with her because they hadn’t broken up yet, so he wasn’t all the upset when she said she wanted to leave him for one of her teammates. 

But Link felt different.

They felt new and exciting. Old and familiar. 

They had so much in common and it felt easy to talk to them in person and through text. 

“You’re so whipped.” Nicky grinned. “So when do I meet them?”

“Chill.” 

“But Kev-”

“I’m watching the Trojans game.”

Chapter Text

Kevin was finding it very difficult to actually read the pages in front of him due to the person sitting on the edge of their seat, anxiously waiting for his review. 

It was a week after their first meeting, a week of iced almond milk lattes and muffins. Kevin was reading Link’s history essay that their professor wanted turned in within the class an hour away. Link had been working and had to rush it so Kevin offered to edit it for them, because Nicky was so very right. 

“Its terrible, isn’t it? The professors gonna hate me!” Link’s smooshed their face in their hands and flopped onto the table. Kevin wanted to squeeze the little tuft of hair they had tied back at the base of their neck. He didn’t. “One week in and I’m already failing.” 

“It’s just a practice essay. The professor just wants to see our writing skills so don’t stress.” Kevin would admit, the essay was clearly rushed and very poorly expanded on, but with the proper time and effort it could be made amazing. “You’ve got great points. You just need to explain the evidence and tie it back to your thesis.” 

“I can’t do that in an hour!” Link’s eyes were watery and glassed over when they peered up at him, red around the edges. 

“I’ll do it.” Kevin fixed it up and he knew the professor would know that right away because of Kevin’s style of nit-picking every fine detail and drabbling on about it. But as long as Link wouldn’t find out that, it would be fine. 

“You wrote this essay.” The professor pulled him aside at the end of class. 

“I just fixed it up.” Kevin scratched his neck. 

“Don’t make this a habit.” 

“Yes, sir.” 

They were in the library, finding books to use as evidence, when a girl comes up to Kevin. 

“Hi,” He says for lack of a better introduction. 

“I’m Marisa.” The girl said. Now that Kevin looked closer, he recognised her from the Vixens. Aaron had said her and Kaitlyn don’t get along because Marisa thought herself a goddess is human form. Like Alison, but actually self-centred enough to believe herself a different race. 

“I’m Kevi-” 

“I obviously know who you are.” She scoffs. “Give this to Neil.” She puts a piece of paper down on the table, covering his notes. 

“What is it?” Kevin removes it and puts it in his pocket. Link is looking absolutely bemused across from him. They moves their finger in a spiral beside their head, crazy. Kevin bit back a laugh. 

“My dorm number, duh.” People still say duh? At least Marisa did. 

“They have a boyfriend.” Kevin scrunched up the paper instead and shot it into the pin across the room. It fell in perfectly and he felt a spike of pride surge through him which was only ignited further when Link looked impressed. “Besides, they don’t like girls. Or anyone, I guess. They’ve rejected you three times already, isn’t it time to give up before you embarrass yourself?” 

“You mean Andrew?” She laughed. “Like that’ll last. He’s psycho, like an actual loony. And I’ll be here for Neil when Andrew goes all stalkery.” And she left. 

“Your friend a ladies person?” Link giggled behind their hand as they watched the entitled girl leave. 

“God no. I have no idea why she’s obsessed with them. They’re rude and reckless and don't talk to anyone unless its to verbally abuse them. I have no idea how they even scored the person they did, but at the same time I couldn't imagine a more perfect duo.” It’s true, the two were made for each other, all rough and jagged edges. 

“He an actual stalker?” Link asked, talking about Andrew. 

“No. He’s just got a reputation for pulling knives of people who piss him off. I got a scratch across here,” Kevin mostioned across his chest, starting from the shoulder and ending under his pec. Link winced. Probably not the best way to introduce Andrew but then again, he should stop pulling knives on people. “He’s chilled about a bit now though, ever since Niel put him on a leesh.” 

“I don’t think i wanna meet your friends.” Link laughed. 

“You’d like them, I think. Not Aaron, but i don’t think he’d like you either. Don’t take it personally, he’s just an asshole. But you’d like Nicky, and Renee and Matt would love you. He likes short people he can cause chaos with. Take Neil for example. The two of them are inseparable and terrifying.” 

“I like Matt.” Link decided. “So introduce me?” 

Kevin did not want to introduce them. 

1. He wanted to keep them separate. Kevin Day, son of Kaliegh Day, exy prodigy. Kevin Day, history major and drinker of Iced almond milk lattes. If Link knew who he really was then that would ruin this, sitting in a library studying and laughing and being friends. 

1. He could not imagine what the Foxs would say if Kevin introduced the reason for his moody attitude as a 5’1, half Indian/Korean, non binary, skirt wearing, barista with a smile that made him forget who he was.

Kevin was not ashamed to be seen with Link, that was not the problem. It was just his obsessive thinking grabbing ahold of peoples gazes and weaponizing them. And it was not the skirts, or the make ups fault, it was the Moriyama’s. 

He still heard his Raven brain, talking about Link’s outfits, or their more feminine appearance. He was doing pretty well at drowning it out, but he still heard it. 

But there was one thing worse than the Raven brain, and that was Link frowning, so Kevin put on a smile and said, “One day, sure.” 

Link

  Are you coming to the shop tomorrow?  

12:32am  

Kevin

  Yeah like always. 

1:01am

Link

  Good, can’t wait!

1:03

Kevin

  What are you doing still awake? 

1:07

Link

  No reason. What about you?

1:08

Kevin

 No reason. See you tomorrow. 

1:08

Link

  Yup! Sleep tight!

1:09

Night practice was not ‘no reason’ however, Kevin was way too exhausted to care. Instead, he fell asleep thinking of a crooked smile saying his name. 

The reason Link was awake at obscene times of the morning was not ‘no reason’ either. 

Kevin walked into the cafe to see Link seated in a booth instead of behind the register, nursing a mug of steaming black tea while reading a beaten up copy of the Song of Achilles. When Kevin sat down, noting how his usual order was already waiting for him, Link looked up with a grin. 

They then showed Kevin their forearm, wrapped in plastic wrap. 

“I feel like an adult.” They were absolutely beaming. Achilles’ helmet was inked into their skin, royal red and beautiful. “Isn’t it pretty?”

Kevin reached out, hesitating a little, to gently hold the forearm offered out to him. Even through the wrapping he was electrocuted with shocks at the touching of skin. The tattoo was indeed beautiful. Professionally done, line work fine but clear even against the agitated skin. 

“It’s really cool.” Kevin skimmed his finger over the design and Link shivered. Obviously that had hurt, why did he do that? “Why didn’t you ask me to come with you? Emotional support.”

“Like hell I was letting you watch me weep over a few needles.” Link laughed. They didn’t retract their arm which gave Kevin an excuse to keep touching them, even after fully examining the tattoo.  

“I cried when I got mine done.” He meant the 2, but Link wouldn't know about that.

“You don’t strike me as a face tattoo type of guy.” Link was watching him. Like really watching him. Knowing the type of person he was and committing it to memory. It made Kevin uneasy. Link sat across from him, arm the only point of contact with their chin perched on their hand. Watching and knowing him. 

“A stupid teenage mistake.” Kevin waved at it absently. It meant nothing in their little bubble of just the two of them. With Link, it could be a stupid teenage dare if he wanted it to be. Not his entire life being sold away, not him just being a number.

“Hmm,” Link hummed like they saw right through but knew not to question it. Kevin gave their arm back. “I’m not allowed to work until it heals, health hazards and all.”

“Where do you want to meet instead?” Kevin was not even going to entertain the idea of changing their meetup schedule one bit. 

“You’re a dorm student right?” Link worked on putting the book back into the leather satchel they carried with them everywhere. 

“Yeah...but my roommates aren’t too fond of people coming round.” Kevin coughed. 

“Right, but maybe when they’re out with classes or something?” Link seemed to really want this form of familiarity. 

“Maybe.” Kevin agreed. 

He had told them his dorm number and they hadn’t been shocked to find him to be a student athlete. They said they had guessed based on his body. Kevin tried not to think about if that meant Link was checking him out or not. Admiring his body? Even if that was the reason his occupation was outed, it definitely was not the reason why Kevin stayed later at the gym than usual. Okay, maybe he wanted a bit more width to his already large biceps, and okay, Link looking at those biceps was a thought he had had, but the two weren’t directly connected. 

He really needed to work on not lying to himself. 

Link showing up at his door a week later was not planned. 

Nicky was watching a movie in the girls room and planned to stay there all night drinking, they had just won a game. Neil and Andrew were up on the roof, also drinking and smoking and predictably making out. 

So Kevin was left to watch exy reruns on the tv alone. That was until there was a bashing on his door, not letting up, and violent. 

“Nicky I swear to- Link?” 

Link was a mess. Their face was a mess of tears and snot and rain and running eyeliner all mixed up together. Clothes, that looked to be pajamas, drenched from the down poor. They were hyperventilating, pacing back and forth in front of the door with their hair pulled between their fingers.  

“What?” But Link just crashed into him, almost taking off his feet but he caught the both of them on the door frame. “Hey, what happened?”

Link could barely even breath, let alone speak in their condition at that moment. They were clutched desperately onto Kevin like if they let go, they’d slip away. Kevin had no idea how to help in an emotional situation after not growing up with a single one aside from rage and fear. He kind of just let Link lean on him until their legs gave out. He caught them with exy trained reflexes and decided a bean bag chair would be more appropriate.

 He settled them down in the chair and thought water would be needed after crying that much, but had the leg of his pants grabbed before he could start for the kitchen. 

“Stay,” Link choked, voice ruined, “please.” 

Was Kevin supposed to just walk away after that? Was he supposed to not get down onto the bean bag and not let them curl up to his side, continuing to cry into his neck? And just go get water? 

No, he was not. 

His singlet was soaking up all of the fallen tears, plastering to his chest. Kevin didn’t mind at all because Link’s body was a furnace, a complete contrast to the basement like home he had lived in all his life. Link had somehow managed to crawl up onto Kevin’s lap like a baby, curling their body around his for comfort and warmth. Although Kevin was an athlete and generally generated a high body temperature, it was still freezing and Link was only wearing pajamas. So Kevin wrapped the both in a blanket sitting beside the, cocooning them together against the beanbag. 

After Link’s sobs had filtered into sniffles, Kevin spoke, voice barely above a whisper, “Wanna talk about it?” 

Link’s hands balled up in the material of his shirt, “They let my brother back.” Their voice was hoarse and scratching, grating right beside Kevin’s ear. “They knew what he did. They let him into the house.” 

Kevin feared the worst, hearing the whimpers leave them. What had their brother done? How had he hurt them? Kevin stroked back their tangled hair and he was sure Link could feel the rise in his heartbeat. 

He was afraid to ask, yet, “What...what did he do?” 

“After I came out,” Link’s voice was hollowed, almost like how Andrew sounded, “my brother, he hated me even when my parents accepted me wholeheartedly. We were so close, we’d always play video games together. But the moment I told him I was non binary and liked men, he just became a different person.” Kevin felt the tears on his shoulder and neck, but Link’s voice gave nothing away. “Then, he was acting like before, all of a sudden. I was so happy. I had my best friend back. On my birthday, he said that the present he bought me would piss off our parents and that I had to follow him to the park so he could give it to me. I was such an idiot. My birthday present was a trip to the ER after he let his friends beat me up in the middle of the park.” 

A humourless laugh pushed past their lips and Kevin couldn’t tell if it was that wrecking his body or the tears that flowed with it. 

“Happy fifteenth birthday!” They choked like they were trying to get Kevin to laugh, trying to make light of the situation. Kevin didn’t laugh, he only brought Link’s head down to his chest and hugged them tightly. That made them stop laughing and just melt into sobs once more. 

“And they, your parents, let him in again?” 

Link nodded, “He got evicted. Refused to work.”

Kevin felt rage bubbling at the surface, turning his knuckles white as they clenched on Link’s back. He knew all about shitty parents, he was part of the PSU Foxes for crying out loud, but nothing had infuriated him more than hearing this. 

Neil and Andrew opened the door an hour later to see somebody sleeping restlessly on Kevin Day’s lap in the middle of the living room. They couldn’t see Link since it was buried deep into Kevin’s neck, but could see the distinct outline of a person in his arms, under a blanket with Kevin stroking their hair. Kevin was drowsy, close enough to falling asleep that his mind wondered if the two standing at the door were dreams. He was trying to stay awake because Link was waking up from nightmares every so often and the panic attacks would start again until they’d fall back to sleep, exhausted from crying. 

Both of them looked amused. 

Andrew, unbothered, moved further into the room but Neil put a hand in front of him. 

“Lets go see if Matt has any beer we can steal.” 

Kevin was sure Neil was only saying this so he’d have to thank them at tomorrow’s practice.

Andrew, entertained by the idea, left in head for the girls room, Neil following suit.

Chapter Text

Kevin must have fallen asleep soon after because he woke up cold and alone in the living room. For a quick, sleep distorted moment, he thought Link had run away or maybe it had all been a sick dream, but then he heard the bathroom sink running quietly in the background. A glance at the front door showed no signs of Nicky’s shoes or Andrew and Neil’s matching coats, so Kevin safely assumed it was Link.  

Kevin picked himself up and rubbed at his sleep crusted eyes with a yawn. His neck was stiff from the awkward sleeping position and his right leg was still asleep. It was still dark so he guessed it would be around 5:00 in the morning, maybe a bit earlier. He stretched out his sleep-stiffened body and heard a few pops and creaks in his bones.

“Coffee.” He decided, getting two mugs out. This time it was him making coffee for them, not the other way round, it made him smile. Him making coffee for them in his dorm room where they were all alone. It felt so domestic and nice. Calm. Comfortable.  

The coffee was cooling down when Link finally made an appearance and Kevin wished he was given a warning beforehand to mentally prepare for first thing in the morning Link Harriass. Bed-head and make-up free, eyes bruised with deep black bags, pj’s ruffled from a nightmared sleep. Solemnly adorable. They weren’t wearing platform shoes so they only came up to Kevins collar bone, same as Andrew but somehow a whole lot better. Thea had never looked like this just woken up. She slept with her hair in a light bun and never wore make-up anyways, and she slept as still as a stone like all Raven’s eventually learnt. And besides, she was two inches taller than him which hadn’t bothered him at all, but seeing the top of Link’s head really sent a shiver through his body. 

“Morning.” Link smiled, almost like they were embarrassed by the situation as well, but also tired from last night's exhaustion. 

“Morning. I made you coffee, but don’t expect too much, it's only instant.” Kevin handed them the mug and their fingers brushed as he did so. Link quickly brought the cup to their chest and drank it in gulps. “Are you feeling better?” 

“Yeah,” Link looked down at their feet, “I’m sorry. I know you didn’t want me here, I just didn’t know where to go and I guess I wasn’t thinking clearly. I don't-” 

“It’s fine,” Kevin gave them a smile and put his hand on their shoulder, “don’t apologise. I always wanna be here to help you when you need it.” 

“Thanks Kev,” Link grinned up at him and next thing Kevin knew, his hand was in their hair. They had combed it in the bathroom just before, so his fingers went right through like a hot knife through butter. They both froze and just stared at each other for a second. He hadn’t even realised he’d moved his hand at all!

“Sorry.” Kevin coughed and turned away to hide his face, feeling heat rise from until the collar of his singlet. 

Kevin needed to be at the gym by 6:00 so he let Link wear a few of his clothes (a beige t-shirt and jacket, which they somehow turned into a stylish dress) and shower before saying goodbye until later that day in the coffee shop. 

He did end up saying thank you to Neil because they had somehow kept everyone out of their dorm until Kevin made himself noticed. When asked why, they only said that the two of them should get to choose when to tell the team. 

Andrew demanded answers, to make sure they were safe, but that would probably lead to an interrogation and that was the last thing Kevin wanted. Andrew had calmed down ever since he tied that leash around his neck, but if it meant keeping his possessions safe and alive, he was not above threatening at knife point. 

Kevin just told him that they were friends, which wasn’t a lie no matter what happened last night. Andrew did not seem convinced but he let it be to go off and lift two times his body weight on the machines. 

When Kevin got back to his bag, he found a few messages. 

Link

Hey Kev, I caught a cold from the rain last night so i have to stay home.

Could you pass along some notes from class

  7:12am

Kevin

Yeah. I can bring them round after class if you tell me the address?

  8:23am 

Link

No need. Don’t want a pro athlete getting a cold ;)

I should be alright for tomorrow so just bring them to the cafe!

Ttyl :) 

  8:40am 

So, that day Kevin skipped the routine of going to the coffee shop. He walked past it, peering in to see some other person working the till, greeting the customers and making the coffee. It made him feel strange for some reason. It was absurd that it made him feel anything at all, and it shouldn’t, but that was their space, their booths to drink coffee at and go over school work. Link moved through the space so easily that Kevin forgot they shared that space with other people. It wasn’t like he had never seen somebody else working there, it was just whenever they were he’d never taken notice because Link was with him so why would he?

That type of tunnel vision was dangerous when it came to Kevin. Soon Kevin would be obsessed with this little barista and that was terrifying. 

He did focus a lot more in class which was another thing he’d hadn’t realised had changed. He was almost disappointed in himself for getting distracted, but couldn’t find it in himself to be too mad about it, considering the reason. 

Kevin got the notes down and organised properly, highlighting the important information and adding footnotes. This was how he usually laid out his notes so he hoped that Link wouldn’t mind the change in format. 

Kevin was astonished to find just how off put he felt without Link’s presence. He almost felt like how he did arriving at PSU for the first time without the Raven partner system. But it wasn’t as sinister a feeling, more uneasy or lonely than anything. Knowing that he was this affected by Link’s presence already kind of scared Kevin. He didn’t want to admit it to himself but there was no really denying it when somebody called out his name. 

He turned in a flash, instantly being disappointed to see Alison. Then he felt bad for being disappointed. 

Alison approached with her usual confidence, walking through campus like it was a fashion show. She grabbed his arm and pulled him into a walk towards the dorms. 

“So why does Andrew get to find out who visited you last night before I do?” She says casually like she was discussing the weather and not Kevin’s private life that he wanted to keep private. 

Kevin spluttered and came to a startled halt. He gaped at her, wide eyed and obvious. 

“Oh don’t look at me like that, Kevin.” Alison chuckled, looking bemused at Kevin’s spluttering stupor. He was sure he was red in the face. “Neil may have fooled Nicky and the others but I know a secret hook up when I see one.”

“Hook up? No, no, no. We didn’t-”

“So somebody did come around last night. Alright spill.” She looked chuffed with herself  and that made Kevin all the more pissed off. Was he that easy to read? 

“Allison-”

“Kevin,” She looked up at him expectantly, “relax. We didn’t even have a bet going on you so I don’t benefit from telling the others anyways. So, what's their name?”

Kevin considered the situation for a moment. Did he have anything to lose by telling Alison about Link? No. He didn’t have anything to win either. He had never really been close to Alison anyways. She had no reason to know about his personal life as long as it didn’t affect his game, which it wasn’t. 

On the other hand, it would be nice to be known by more people. Really know about further than the Son of Exy.

“Link…’’ 

“Like the character?” Did everyone but him know this video game?

“Yeah.” 

“When’d you start dating?”

“We’re not-”

“But you like them.” That was not a question. That was a very accurate assumption. 

“That isn’t important-”

“Kevin, you didn’t even like Thea this much. It’s important.”She was staring at him like he was stupid. Maybe he was. “I’m not Renee, so forgive me if this doesn’t sound as lovely; but you deserve to have good things, Kevin. You’ve been wronged so many times, the world has treated you terribly, so you deserve someone that treats you like the royalty you are.”No doubt Renee had actually said something along the lines of that to her when Seth had been treating her like garbage before he died. “I say go for it. Ask them on a date. I’ll help you get ready.”

“They don’t even like me!” Kevin was completely flabbergasted by this whole conversation. He was tired after class so that didn’t help much either. It was giving him a headache, right behind his eye which he could tell was only going to escalate into a full blown migraine anytime now. 

“Kev, darling, who wouldn’t like these biceps of yours?” She groped his arm and squeezed before making her way over to her next class without a look back to him. Alison’s easy confidence was one he had always been secretly jealous of. He was confident on court, but off, he floundered about like a newborn lamb. A bitchy newborn lamb, but that's besides the point. 

Kevin had one more class, room enough to drop his stuff back to the dorm before he needed to be at practice. Neil wasn’t going to be there today since Andrew forced them to go see Bee after a really bad panic attack last week. Kevin wasn’t to sure what it was about, but they had been preparing to go out to Eden’s last friday and Andrew had chosen Neil’s outfit. It was a tight fitting black t-shirt and jeans, nothing special but as soon as Neil put on the shirt, they were freaking the fuck out. Pulling at the shirt and hyperventilating like they couldn’t breathe or something. Now, Andrew escorted them too and from Bee’s office every thursday. 

Neil wasn’t here, but their boyfriend was, and god did Andrew have a demand to make of Kevin. 

“Bring whoever it is to Edens friday.” Andrew had confronted him in the locker room after a productive practice after the others had left, either because he wanted to be respectful of Kevin’s wish not to tell the team (unlikely). Or because he didn’t want to stir shit up when he inevitably pulled out a knife at Kevin’s refusal (likely). 

“You are not drugging them to feed your fucking complex, Andrew.” Kevin was oh so very tired and did not have the energy to deal with short and angry blondes in this moment. And, like hell Kevin was letting Andrew within ten feet of Link, he’d be crazy to agree. If Andrew were to bring anyone to Edens outside the monsters, it was to get intel and make sure they weren’t connected to any mafia. He would not let that happen to Link. 

“Coach and Neil would bust my balls if I tried, and besides, I can’t give Roland any favours for spiking the drinks anymore.” Andrew had this bored sort of frustration that weighed his eyebrows down just a little bit. It was rather intimidating. 

“Too much information.”

“Shut up, Day.” There was a breathy sort of done-ness to his tone that told Kevin that Andrew was getting closer to that threatening with knives stage of this argument. “Bring them to Eden tomorrow night. Aaron has a stupid cheer thing to go too so theres a extra spot just for your little fascination.”

“My fascination? You’re the one wanting to bring them to Eden!” Kevin. Was. Not. Letting Link anywhere near the team, Andrew least of all. The monsters’ would terrify Link, undoubtedly and Kevin would be dead before allowing Andrew so much as the opportunity to hurt them in any way, shape or form. “Thea was literally a Raven and you didn’t care, but some nineteen-year-old barista?”

“You know I don’t like repeating myself.” Andrew took a step, and then another. “I am just interested. Nothing more.” 

“Nothing more?” Kevin didn’t believe it for a second.

“Have you known me to lie, or be any less than blunt when it comes to my intentions, Day?” Andrew didn't take the idea of being labeled a liar very well, the pressure on his eyebrows forcing them down harsher. 

“No.” Kevin’s blood rushed in his ears, bumped by his racing heart. It wasn’t too long ago that this very Minyard had strangled him on the floor of the Palmetto bus, almost killing him. For a split second he could feel the burn in his lungs again. “I just don’t...don’t hurt them Andrew. They're too innocent for us.” 

“There is no room for innocence in our world, Kevin. You should know the more than any of us.” Andrew’s parting words froze Kevin in his place. Of course Kevin knew that what he said was undoubtedly true, he grew up learning it first hand before he knew how to count to one hundred. But, it was like Allison had told him, he deserved a little innocence in his life, right? He deserved someone naive and kind. He deserved good things, he could have good things and oh, Link was so good. They were the best. And he deserved them.  

Kevin

Hey, are you feeling better?

  8:42pm 

Link

Yeah :)

Good as new  

  8:45pm 

Kevin

Great! Can i ask you a question?

  8:50pm 

Link

Sure…

Im kinda scared ngl lmao

Ttyl :) 

  8:50pm 

Kevin

 Dont worry, it’s nothing big!

  8:50pm

Link

 Okay

  8:50pm

Kevin 

 Just wondering if you’d want to come down to a club

With a few of my friends tomorrow night?

You don’t need to agree! They just want to meet you is all

  8:52pm 

Link

  OMG!!!!!!!!!!1!!!!!!!!!!!!

  A REaL CLUBBBBBBBBBB

  WITH YOUR FRIENDSSSSSSSS

  8:52pm

Kevin

 I’ll take that as a yes?

  8:53pm 

Link

 OMG YES!

 I want be able to sleep to night Kev! 

 I’ve never gone to a bar before

 It’s gonna be great! 

 Im soooooo excited!

  8:53pm

Link

 Is there a dress code!?!?!?!?!?

 OH GOD 

 What am i gonna wear!?!?!?!?!

   8:55pm

 KEVIN ANSWER ME PLS IM FREAKING OUT

 KEVINNNNNNNNNNNNNN

 KEVVVVVVVVVV

 K 

 E

 V

 I

 N

 Kevin

Kevin

Kevin

Kevin

Kevin

  8:59pm

Kevin

  Oh My God chill pls im in the car back from practice

  and aaron is looking over my shoulder 

    9:01pm

Link

 The asshole one?

 Aslo soz <3

  9:01

Kevin

 He didnt like that but yes, that one. 

 Anyway, it doesn’t matter what you wear

And ive got to go shower now but ttyl

 9:03pm 

Link

 Bye-bye <3

  9:03pm

“Love hearts, really?” Aaron peered over his shoulder with a disgusted frown. 

“No. Freaking. Way!” Nicky made to grab at his phone over Aaron’s lap but Andrew pulled a harsh turn into a parking space out front of Fox tower, sending all three of the backseat passengers lurching forward.

Walking up the stairs, Andrew blocked him off when the others walked past. 

“Drew?” Neil said.

“Roof.” 

“Okay.” Neil shrugged. “Goodnight.” 

“What did they say?” Andrew looked pointedly down at the phone in Kevin’s hand. 

“They will come,” Andrew seemed satisfied so he made to leave, “but so help me Andrew, you hurt so much as a single fucking hair-”

“You’ll what, Day?” Andrew raised his eyebrow at being threatened. 

“I’ll tell Neil about the money.” Kevin was standing his ground. This was something he was not going to cower away from. “I will. Do not call my bluff. So you won't try anything tomorrow night.”

If Andrew was shocked, he did not show it. “Looks like the queen finally grew a spine. Don’t worry, I won’t play with your toys, Kevin. Just make sure to clean up when you’re done with them because I sure won’t.” Kevin was not about to thank Andrew for anything so he just pushed past the man on the steps, craving a shower now more than ever. 

Chapter Text

Before they had to leave for what promised to be a disastrous night at Eden, they had to win a game first. It was the first game of the season and against a lesser known team so nobody really played it any mind, aside from the passionate Foxes fans. They’d accumulated some sort of following after last year, which was always good to see in the stands. But with a following for the Foxes, that meant Kevin was back to being a campus legend. 

They won the game 10-0 since their defence was pretty good, but offence was more than lacking, Andrew didn’t even need to try and guard the goal. By that,he meant that Neil didn’t need to bargain for anything with Andrew to get a shut down. 

Kevin felt the eyes plastered onto him the whole game, Andrew’s thick glare almost having an affect on his game. It was like being pinned down. It was fucking pissing him off. 

“What is your problem?” Kevin yelled at Andrew as soon as they were in the locker room. The others stared at them. That’s right, they had no idea about the situation so they must be so confused.

“Just checking if it affected your playing.” Andrew moved past all the other men in the room to reach one of the shower stalls with his bag. “We’ll be leaving from here so you better have brought clothes.” He had told them to bring a set of clothes that morning, Kevin couldn’t remember if he listened or not though. 

Matt took his shoulder. “What would affect your game, man? Are you hurt?” 

Matt was always so nice that it kind of intimidated him, like Renee. Niceness in of itself was terrifying to him, let alone coming from someone as tall and bulky as Matt. The only person taller than Matt Kevin had ever met had been Jean, but his height was an unreasonable 6’7 so that barely counted. 

“I’m fine, Matt.” Kevin removed Matt’s hand from his shoulder with stiff fingers. His rage was bubbling just below the surface and he really didn’t want to take it out on Matt. That was another thing Bee had been teaching him, anger management. It was something that you were never taught in the nest, since anger was taken out on each other with fists and knives and even worse methods. But the Foxes had done nothing wrong, so therefore needed no punishment. 

“It’s between Andrew and I.” 

Kevin had brought an extra pair of clothes. He admittedly had asked Allison for some directive out of a self conscious state. He chose a plain route, scared to go outside his comfort zone. Black ripped jeans and muscle T seemed like a safe yet attractive way to go. He had tied a jacket around his waist since it was a bit cold outside this time of year. He was anxiously waiting in the backseat of the mercedes as they drove back to the dorms to pick up Link who would be waiting there. Kevin had offered to pick them up from their home but that was a quick, no. Apparently their parents would kill them if they knew where they were going tonight. It kind of shocked Kevin to remember that most parents were involved with their kids' lives. 

“So, how do they know our dorm address?” Nicky wiggled his eyes and Kevin as they pulled into the car park. 

“I texted it to them.” 

Link were standing under the lip of a verander as it was beginning to rain and Kevin forgot how to breathe. When he had told them it didn’t matter what they wore, he should have factored in the fact that Link was Link and Kevin’s brain always short circuited no matter what they wore because they looked amazing in everything. But today was not a shift at the coffee shop and then class, it was their first time clubbing so obviously, obviously they’d go extra. And. And. Oh. It honestly wasn’t much, just a little black dress that he’d seen Allison wear probably thousands of times. But Kevin’s brain didn’t know how to process it when it came to Link.

“Mouth off the floor, Day.” Nicky shoved him towards the door as they pulled up and gave him a wink. “Go say hi!” Kevin nodded even though he could think about how to even say that word. Still, he scrambled out of the car to the sound of Nicky laughing at him. 

Link had looked up when they heard their car pull up so Kevin got a hug as soon as he was close enough. “Hey, long time no see!” 

“Yeah,” had it been a long time? It was just yesterday morning, right? I guess that was a long time apart for the two of them. He will admit, it felt a lot longer than it had actually been. “You look...good.” 

Link laughed out loud in one short burst but still pulled the hem of their dress down their thigh. “Thanks, Kev. I’ve never really worn anything like this- will your friends think I’m weird? I mean, you didn’t really tell me what they’re like, I just kind of assumed that they’d be like you. Did I make a mistake?” They seemed suddenly very self conscious, looking back past Kevin to the car and back to their feet in quick flickers. He didn't know what “like you” meant in this case. Infatuated with them and their stylish array of skirts? Accepting? 

If it was the former, they were definitely wrong. Andrew didn’t seem to be the kind of guy interested in that kind of thing, and Neil wasn’t too comfortable in feminine clothing after being forced to wear it their whole childhood. Nicky, maybe, but only from a fashion standpoint. Nicky himself had a bit more to go in the healing process before he could let himself wear a skirt. And none of them would find Link to be their type, so all was good. 

If it was the latter, they’d be alright. Again, Andrew wouldn’t care as long as nobody got hurt. Neil probably would even notice it since clothes didn’t matter to them and Nicky would compliment it all night long. Kevin hoped he knew these three teammates well enough to be confident in those assumptions. 

He quickly grabbed their face, surprised by how cold it was even though it made perfect sense considering the weather. “Hey, don’t worry, okay. Nicky is going to love it, Andrew won’t care and Neil probably won’t even notice. And besides, who cares what anyone else thinks, alright. You look amazing and so, so stunning and that's all that really matters, y’hear me?”

Link’s eyes looked almost black due to how dark the parking lot was, but they shined up at him. “You’re amazing, Kev.” 

Andrew honked the car horn at them, telling them to hurry up because he was losing his patience. Kevin was really getting pissed off at him today. He just prayed that Andrew would try to be a little less than his usual asshole level, for Link’s sake. 

“We should go before Andrew gets all pissy.” Kevin smirks. He’d make a joke about the other man's short stature but he and Link were the same height and he wasn’t sure they’d take too kindly of the indirect mockery. 

“Wait Andrew?” Recognition flashes in Link's eyes and Kevin remembers their conversation in the library. They instantly looked nervous all over again. 

“Don’t worry,” Kevin sure hoped his smile was reassuring and not just as nervous, “he’ll just brood at the table the whole time. Forget about him.”

Kevin hopped in first so that Link had a shield against the three other strangers. Andrew changed gear and swung out of the parking lot in the second the door shut behind them. In the same second, Nicky was pouncing right into a conversation. 

“Hi, I’m Nicky, Kevin’s bestie, it’s great to finally meet you!” On ‘finally’, Nicky shot him a death glare that was all show before switching to a warm smile by the next word. “Love the dress by the way, Allison would love it too.” 

Although a little overwhelming, this upbeat and accepting introduction seemed to make Link feel welcomed into this space. Nicky had mastered that trick over the years, being an overworked buffer for his anti-social cousins. Kevin just relaxes when a genuine smile stretches up Link’s face. 

“Great to meet you too, I'm really excited.” 

There is no room for innocence in our world, Kevin

He might just kill Andrew by the end of the night, who knows. 

“Oh my GOD,” Nicky laughed, “you are just so cute!”

Link blushed a little and Kevin’s heart genuinely stuttered. Of course he agreed with Nicky, but he really needed to shut up sooner rather than later. 

“Anyways,” Nicky gestured to the front seats where Andrew is smoking and driving dangerously and Neil is on the Foxes group chat talking about what Kevin inferred from the pictures he saw over their shoulders, as which fox looked like which fox. For example, Renee looking like an arctic fox. “Forgive these two assholes, ones my cousin the other is his partner. Very anti-social. But Neil’s a sweetheart, aren’t you?”

A kick to the back of the redheads chair got a middle finger sent back to Nicky who just laughed. Neil just told him to check the group chat with a distracted sort of airiness. 

Link looked slightly amused, slightly intimidated. Maybe they thought that Neil and them could become easy friends over a common similarity and that dream was quickly being crushed by Neil's distasteful reaction to anyone outside of their beloved PSU Foxes. 

Nicky continued chatty about things like the other Foxes and Erik. They were almost to Eden’s by the time Nicky turned a sly grin on Kevin. 

“So,” Kevin regretted this whole situation instantly, “how’d you meet?”

Thankfully, Link didn’t seem to fully understand what Nicky was really asking, “He came into the cafe on my first day of work. After chatting a bit we found out we were taking the same class and I kind of forced him to walk me there since I had no idea where the room was.”

They shared a laugh which Kevin did not participate in. 

“How do we know you ain’t just tryna get with the hottest student athlete in the nation, hmm?” Nicky was teasing, obviously with his light tone of voice and sing-song ending. But Link still spluttered. 

“Nicky,” Kevin sighed, “they had no idea who I was until I gave them the dorm address. Lay off.” 

The two continued to chat until Link fell silent around the time they got out of the car. They seemed really nervous which made sense due to their fear of big crowds, but they assured him that they really were excited and they were fine. 

“You can, um,” Kevin took a deep breath, “you can hold my hand, er, only if you want. To like make you more comfortable, I guess.” Fucking good one, Kevin. Real fucking smooth. His palms were clammy and sweaty anyways, why’d anyone wanna hold hands with him? Especially Link? He was fucking stupid. 

But fingers laced in with his, despite his clammy palms as a sum of his naturally high body temperature and the compact environment of the club. Link looked up at him with a small little smile -it made Kevin smile too- and squeezed his hand gently. Kevin was sweating even more. This was terrible! He could feel the spirals of every fingertip pressed to the back of his hand. The thin, twine bracelet in non binary flag colours pressed to the veins in his wrist, tickling his skin. He was almost afraid that the thumping of his blood would be given away by the bracelet moving, jostled by the pulsing of the veins under his skin. 

They'd held hands before, casually. Kevin being pulled along when they were late for class even though he could run probably double the speed of Link. Link wanted to see the size difference in their hands -again, easily twice the size. Holding on in a small hallway just as three classes finished at once, making sure either of them -Link- didn’t get swept away by the current of tired college students. Kevin hadn’t had revolutionary pansexual panic over those times, okay maybe a small, microscopic pansexual panic. This was full on zoning out until he realised he was sitting with a drink already in front of him pansexual panic. 

Link was still underaged, not that it meant much to the group, but they appeared to have a coke in front of them. Kevin also had a soda, which could be lemonade or soda water. Depending on how much Andrew was willing to push the boundaries tonight. 

“Are you not drinking, Kev?” Link pointed at the class. Nicky had already thrown back two shots and Andrew was sipping on his whiskey. Neil had water, but they’ll probably have some alcohol later. So it was just the recovering alcoholic and 19 year old sitting out of the fun tonight. 

“Kevin’s an alcoholic.” Andrew said bluntly. If Kevin knew Andrew at all, this was some sort of sick test to find out some stupid irrelevent shit that he had convicenced himself mattered. 

“Give him some credit, Andrew.” Nicky interrupted. “He’s four months sober. We’re super proud of you bestie.”  He raised his next shot class up to clink against Kevin’s still full soda. Nicky gave him a dazzling grin which he paid back with a small ‘thank you’ smile. Honestly, if it had not been for Nicky, Kevin would not be able to be proud of his sobriety. But every week that passed, he always got told that he was strong and that Nicky was proud of him. Matt would give him a pat on the back every month and a ‘congrats’. Allison and him went out for brunch for his four months sober and her six months ‘recovery’ anniversary. All the Foxes had been great in supporting yet another road to recovery. 

Still, he hadn’t shared that fact with Link yet, and had completely forgotten that it would most definitely be brought up when he was mainly stressing over other things. They looked a little shocked when Kevin peered over, but not disgusted or anything. He hadn’t really expected a harsh reaction, but his brain was hardwired to imagine the worst. 

“Okay, I didn’t know.” Link squeezed their hands again in comfort when they saw the concerned look on his face. “We all have our own struggles, but it’s really cool that you’re recovering, Kev!” Again, how was he supposed to breathe? In, out? Out, in? Because, right now he was doing neither. “Also, Andrew right? Yeah, Andrew, please don’t tell me any more things like that about Kevin, okay? I’d prefer him to tell me at his own time and place, yeah?” 

That startled a laugh out of almost everyone at the table, even Neil. It had been a while since somebody had put the blonde into his place and nobody expected it to come from the happy and innocent person who seemed too timid to even think about doing such a thing. 

But Kevin knew them better than the other three, knew that Link was not afraid to speak up when they wanted their voice heard. They were small, and had a beautiful gentle smile, but they also knew that they deserved as much respect as anyone else. Like their first meeting, when Kevin had had a negative reaction to the skirt. They were fully prepared to ditch him in that seat and was not even going to pretend to be polite about it. 

Andrew didn’t bother to give a reaction to being told off by someone he probably didn’t like very much. 

Nicky grabbed Kevin’s wrist across the table, hands sticky from sweat and liquor. “Let’s dance! Baby Link here deserves a fun club experience, not your sad drinking under the weight of the world BS. Com'n!” 

Link was instantly excited by this, jumping out of their seat and tugging him out of his. He had half the mind to tell them to finish their drink first, just in case Andrew pulled some shit, but he stopped himself. Neil was there and they wouldn’t let him. Hopefully. 

Kevin hadn’t danced in a long time, definitely not once since he’s been sober, so when he gets pulled into the bundle of strangers it feels highly unnatural. But Link’s grin keeps him from being too uncomfortable, because how could he think about anything else with that smile? 

They weren’t too far out from the edge of the group, Kevin didn’t think Link was too into the idea of going any further into the claustrophobic hoard. Still, it was cramped and hot and somebody’s elbow kept jabbing into Kevin’s shoulder, and the floor was sticky from more sweat and more alcohol and it made his sneakers stick to the vinyl. Link was looking a little bewildered, distracted by the pulsing bodies around them, pushing and shoving to some semblance of a rhythm. The music was too loud to ask if they were okay, to say anything really. Kevin could say anything and he doubted Link would be able to hear him. 

To hopefully get Link into a comfortable state so they could have some fun, Kevin wrapped his arms around their shoulders -they were too short for him to be able to reach anywhere else. Link’s eyes blew up wide as they were pulled right up close to a brave feeling Kevin. He was bobbing to the beat of the music, bass reverberating through his body from the floor. They seemed to click what was happening and reached to Kevin’s waist. They didn’t hug -Kevin kind of wished they would- so they could bounce to the music as well. 

They looked really happy, excited to be in this knot of people thrumming to whatever this song was with Kevin’s body closer to theirs than it ever had been. They threw their head back, a wide, gleeful grin telling him that they were laughing underneath the music. Kevin was content enough to just watch them have the time of their life under the harsh strobe lights blaring down on them. Content to stay in this little bubble of the two of them pressed together, touching, smiling, laughing. 

Kevin ached to kiss them. 

It washed though his body like a tsunami, sudden and all encompassing. 

Sure, there had of course been many moments where Kevin had blindly ached to kiss them. Reading their essays, watching them make coffee, listening to them rant about books. It was a dull throb under his lungs, creating tension in his diaphragm and winding it up tight so he could barely breathe. It was often a soft though, one that warmed his blood up to a simmer, one that had him signing in wishful thinking. A gentle, ‘they’re so beautiful, I wish I could kiss them.’ thought flowing in and out of his mind. 

This, on the other hand, was a painful stab right through the heart. He could swear, with each second that passed in this quiet little bubble, the knife gauged deeper and deeper. He had no idea why this moment was different, perhaps it was the music or the push and pull of the crowd, the anger simmering in his chest towards Andrew. His blood boiled with this one. He swore he could feel the fire in his blood burning the walls of his veins. The key difference between now and before, Kevin thinks, is that before was a wish -a want- but this, this one was a need . He needed too and if he couldn’t, he thought his arteries might explode inside him. 

Kevin Day needed to kiss Link Harris or he might die.

Chapter Text

Kevin Day needed to kiss Link Harris or he might die.

So, there was no tact to the way Kevin stated, “I wanna kiss you.” 

He just so happened to say it in the lull between songs, still unbelievably loud from the shuffling and yelling of the crowd, but Link was pressed right up against him. So close. Right there. They heard. He knew they did, because they abruptly froze their dancing. 

The music came back, full force of a freight train and the club was back to breathing like a living creature, the dancers the blood and the music the heart pumping them to keep the space alive. Alive. Kevin was pretty sure he was dead. He wasn’t breathing, he wasn’t moving, not blinking. He was almost certain he was dead, aside from the fact that he could hear the raging tide of the the blood pounding in his veins.

Link hadn’t moved, closer or further away. 

What did that mean? 

He wanted to say it again, what if they hadn’t actually heard them? But no, they definitely had. 

It occurred to him to apologise, he had done something wrong. He had ruined this. He had ruined the iced lattes on unsweetened almond milk and muffins. Ruined the essay editing. Ruined the way he could sit and watch Link making coffees behind the counter with such comfort and ease. He ruined the book talks and the history arguments. He ruined them. 

He opened his mouth to beg for forgiveness but a hand clasped over it. Link’s other hand tugged his neck down to line up ear to mouth. Hot breath leaving condensation on his skin.

“The first time you kiss me, Kevin Day,” their voice is very stern, serious, “will not be in a packed club with some guys elbow sticking into my lower back.” 

Kevin still wasn’t breathing but he was most certainly alive. His veins were burning with pure fire, licking at his skin like wisps of flames. Excitement? Anticipation? Happiness? It was the same feeling he got in that moment, 30 seconds until the ending buzzing and his whole body was a haywire. All hairs on his arms on end, electrocuted with the current that was carried by each tiny nerve in his body. It was that feeling of an excruciating battle coming to a close, the peak of the mountain. The feeling of that last ball lighting up the goal bright, beautiful red. The feeling of winning. 

“O-okay,” Kevin felt the grin curling up his cheeks. He was overheating, the club, the blushing, all of it made his surface lava. 

The song playing now was slower. It was so cliche that Kevin wondered if it was actually some stupid dream he was having. But even if it was, he didn’t want to wake up. Kevin was too tall and Link was too short, but he was not below bending his whole body over to dance to whatever song this was. Link seemed to know it, humming it in his ear. 

He can feel their smile against his shoulder. 

Is this actually happening? It was all he could think about. Nicky would not shut up once he told him. But Link wants to kiss him just as much he wanted to kiss them and that definitely didn’t feel real. 

Eventually, the drinks he had had before caught up with him and he needed the bathroom. They found Nicky on the dancefloor with some random guy holding him at the hips. Typical. Link was gonna wait with them and Kevin would come back after the bathroom. What could go wrong? A lot with Nicky being left alone with them. He had a quick thought about all the embarrassing things drunk Nicky could betray him with and didn’t like the results he came up with. 

Link kissed his cheek before letting him go, effectively wipping his brain clear. To say the grin that dawned his face was anything less than dopey would be a flat out lie. 

Andrew stood in his way up the steps, effectively killing the buzz coursing through his nerves. 

“You heard what they said at the table,” Andrew did not attempt to be any louder than the music which meant Kevin had to rely on lip reading and straining his ears, “so are you gonna tell them about the Moriyama’s? Who you really are?”

Kevin really didn’t want to think about that right now. He wanted to have a fun night with the person who he liked (and who liked him back) before going back to the cousins house and finally, finally kissing them in what would unfortunately be Aaron’s old bedroom. He’d be pissed if he knew that two queers would be doing queer things on his bed. He’d probably set the whole room on fire. 

“Hop off my dick, Andrew.” Kevin pushed past him.

Andrew grabbed his wrist, nails long enough to create crescents in Kevin’s skin digging in. “You think they'll stay with you after finding out about all your baggage, huh, Kev?” 

That nickname sounded like acid on Andrew’s tongue and it shot a spike of rage up Kevin’s spine. He had no right.

“Even if they don’t I’ll be fine with it.” 

“Will you?”

“Yes.” Kevin ripped his arm back to his side and Andrew tried not to be obvious with the way his body was jerked forward with Kevin’s strength. “Now, back the fuck off.” 

He took a very angry piss. 

Kevin returns to the table to see that Neil and Link had traded places. 

Link was sitting on a stool too high for them talking to Andrew over a glass of coke. They weren’t smiling, but didn’t look like any big news had been dropped on them which was a good sign. 

“Am I speaking out of my ass?” He interupts whatever they were talking about, coming up behind Link and grabbing a new soda from the middle of the table. 

Andrew didn’t reply. He just sipped on his drink. 

Link placed their hand on Kevin’s arm and that took hold of his attention straight away. He’d been so frustrated with Andrew that he momentarily forgot that Link wanted to kiss him. Link wanted to kiss him. Sorry, Andrew, but nothing could kill this buzz permanently. 

“Kev, he says it’s time to go home.” Link hopped off the stool and shrunk a whole foot. When the blonde followed it was funny to see them side by side. “Too that house you guys have down here?”

“Yeah, Nicky owns it.” It was his time to forget that the other man was sitting at the exact same table while he flirted with the person he liked. Pay back for the past year of third wheeling. 

“Go wait outside,” Andrew was not fond of being ignored, “I’ll get the idiots.” 

Kevin was all too eager to leave the packed club. He took Link’s hand and they pushed past drunk patrons and sober friends. The cold night air was a fatal shock after emerging from the stuffy club, he thought the sweat sliding down the back of his neck would instantly freeze on exposure. But at least he was mostly covered, Link was shivering to death in their small dress. 

It made their cheeks and nose rosy, like a heavy coat of blush and it was adorable. 

Kevin remembered the jacket Allison insisted that he wore, saying it might come in handy. He had thought she meant for himself which was strange because he had an abnormally high body temperature and a resistance to the cold thanks to the nest, but it was just then occurring to him that she had meant it about Link. 

She was truly an amazing woman. 

“Here,” he united it from his waist and handed it over. In return he got a smile. “It’s cold.” 

Way to go, captain obvious. Since when was he such a blathering idiot? 

“I guess athletes don’t get cold.” They pulled on the jacket and it did not fit with the aesthetic of their look, a bright orange PSU hoodie, but the fact they were wearing his number was strange. Good, but strange. He felt like the lead in some stupid Netfix romcom. 

“Were your parents cool with you staying out here for the night?” The sky was cloudy, promising rain within the next few hours. Turning the cold night to a freezing one. Kevin was distracted by the clouds so he jumped when a shivering body tucked itself under his arm. He stared, open mouthed and wide eyed and Link who was getting comfortable leaning against his side. 

“They don’t know.” They sounded mischievous. “Told them we were working on a history assignment.” 

“They’re very protective of you.” It kind of amazed him. He’d never experienced a parent’s protection himself and the closest thing he’d observed to it was Matt’s mother during his rehab which didn’t really count. Robin had overprotective parents, controlling ones, but not protective ones like Link seemed to have. They barely let Robin attend college, Wymack had to fight with them for months and even so that came with a promise of plenty of special arrangements. He guessed that’s what happens when your daughter gets abducted. 

Link’s parents just seemed to have forgotten that they were nineteen, not six. 

They had told him it was because they were bullied in school -rather extensively- and their parents never really grew out of that solving all their child’s problem phase. Not to mention Link’s older brother that was always rebellious which automatically put Link in the spot of favorite child.

“Yeah, it’s kind of embarrassing.” They were so warm, it was shocking. Not really warm, they were shivering, but their body up against his made him feel on fire. “If they knew I kissed a boy in the middle of a club -we’d be in body bags by the end of the night.”

“We haven’t kissed yet.” Kevin teased, reminding both of them. They really hadn’t -unless that peck on the cheek counted, which it didn’t- but it felt so simple to slide right into that closeness that they had both previously been too afraid to enter. A line they were tip toeing since the day they met, one that they were waiting to be crossed by the other. It was stupid, really now that he thought about it. It was obvious they were both into each other and he should have just gone for it earlier. They could have been doing this a whole lot sooner if he wasn’t such an idiot. 

Link shoved his shoulder with a huff, “Shut up. You know what I mean.” 

Nicky came barreling through the doors, all drunk clumsiness and excitement. He took a moment to look around for them -even though they were standing right there against the wall- before bounding over to Kevin.

“Keviiiiiiiinnnnn-” Nicky’s voice was slurred and high like his smile, “Kevin I’m so happy for you! Yay for Kevin!” Nicky tapped the bouncer on the shoulder, a friend from when they worked together. “Robby, guess -guess what!”

“Wha-” He tried to answer at least. 

“My friend Kevin here,” Nicky had cut him off and made the bouncer laugh, “he’s getting laid tonight!”

Kevin’s eyes bulged because - Oh my God Nicky, don’t scream shit like that in public !  

Everyone stared at him, mostly amused, as he lunged forward and grabbed Nicky with his hand over his mouth to stop him from spewing anymore rubbish. Nicky was drunkenly giggling and wiggling out of his grasp. 

“I’m really sorry, he’s drunk and says dumb -incorrect- things.” Kevin bowed his head to the bouncer and first few people in line, a bit in apology and a bit in embarrassment. Nicky licked his hand. “What the fuck! Nicky, gross!” 

Andrew appeared out of nowhere and started dragging Nicky in the direction where Kevin assumed the car was parked. 

“Quit making a fool of yourself and get your asses moving.”

Chapter Text

The anticipation on the drive home was unbearable. Kevin thought his heart would burst with how fast it was pumping. 

Trapped between Link and the door, he watched the familiar streets pass by. With each turn he became angstier and angstier. Link’s right there, thigh to thigh with him, talking to a blabbering Nicky about something that passed right through his ears.

But, they sat right there and in five or so minutes they’d be kissing on Aaron’s bed. And maybe Link will want to go a bit further than that. That made the angst in his body grow, excitement right? He was excited to do anything, he’d give Link all that they wanted.

This was so stupid. Adults did not antagonise over this shit like fifteen year olds. He was in his early twenties, he was supposed to be kissing people in gross clubs with others bashing into them. That was what people his age did. But Link was nineteen and deserved better than the ‘usual adult’ experience. It had just occurred to him that the ‘usual adult’ experience was sad and lonely. 

Even though he was watching his surroundings out the window, he had to take a moment before he realised the car had stopped outside the house. 

His hands were sweating. He rubbed them on his jean legs. 

The night did nothing to cool down his overhyped body. Was he overheating? But he couldn’t be, he wasn’t a robot or a car. Maybe he had a fever. Link likely wouldn’t want to kiss him if he had a fever, right? 

Kevin’s eyes were glued to his shoes as they made their way inside. He should probably be watching Link with a flirtatious gaze or whatever the shit guys did in these sort of situations, but he felt like eye contact would make him combust right now. 

“So,” Nicky sounded way too pleased with himself as he addressed the people in the living room, “considering I am the only one here without a friend tonight I think it would be good manners if y’all would refrain from getting your dicks out- Andrew come back here!” 

While following Andrew, Neil turns their head over their shoulder and says with a smirk, “Erik should be awake.”

“Oh Neil! A genius! So smart!” Nicky seemed genuinely astounded that this was a possibility. He struggled to fish his phone out of his pocket and walk up the stairs at the same time. “Kevin, use protection!” 

He wanted to yell out that they weren’t going to do anything like that but it struck him. He was finally alone with Link. 

“You gonna stop avoiding me now?” The person in question stepped into his field of view, looking very coy. Not to say he had forgotten how pretty they were, just that when they appeared in front of him, the air was almost knocked out of him at the reminder. He nodded, lips parted and as Renee would say, ‘catching flies’. His brain was almost foggy with anticipation. “Good. Now, be a gentleman and show me to our room.”

It took him until reaching the threshold of Aaron’s old room to realise that Link had been joking when handing him their hand like the Queen and that no, he wasn’t really supposed to take it and kiss their knuckles. He wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole. God he was making such a big deal out of this and embarrassing himself in the meantime. 

“This is such a straight guy room.” Link observed the Exy posters on the walls, the trophies, sports magazines, plaid bedspread and the lone cup that still sat on the bedside table that Kevin had never seen moved. “But hey, beats having an elbow in my lungs. “

You’re supposed to reply 

 Say something funny- 

Blink

He was standing.

Blink

He was sitting on the edge of Aaron’s bed -he really needed to stop thinking about that- and Link was right there. They had grabbed him and shoved him down before he could even think. He willed his brain to catch up with what was going on. It was moving too slow and Link was moving really fucking fast. 

They came to stand with him eye to eye. 

“You’re too tall.” They grumbled, pushing their hand into his hair. “It’s annoying.” 

“Sorry.” Oh my God, his face was on fire - like literally, this was a fire hazard. Link grinned at him, calling him cute which was something nobody had seriously called him before, and he was dangerously under equipped for being called cute by the person he wanted to kiss away all conscious thought with. 

He had never felt like this with Thea, not like his brain was fried and his mouth glued to the floor because-

Oh wow, Kevin apparently loved his scalp being scratched, huh

Link had long nails, ones that would violate Exy rules, and they were using them to scratch behind his ears like a cat. And maybe he was acting like one too, but still. 

“As adorable as this is,” Link left his hair and Kevin opened his eyes that he hadn’t even realised he had closed, “I think you promised me a kiss.” 

“Right.” 

Kevin came too. 

He wrapped his strong athlete arms around Link’s stomach and pulled them down to lay next to him. They make an oof sound as they collided with the mattress, bouncing a bit before settling in Kevin’s arms. 

“That was kinda hot, not gonna lie.” Link giggles and hides their face in his shoulder.

“I can’t kiss you if you’re hiding.” Kevin holds the back of their neck and rolls them over and Link’s face falls out of hiding. He notices their beat red cheeks, it seems that neither one of them was as confident as they were letting on. Their hair spread out on the pillow made them look angelic. “You’re beautiful.” 

Link shoved Kevin’s face away with his hands and let out an embarrassed whine. 

“Shut up, dork.” 

Kevin removed the hands smushing his face and put them on his shoulders. 

Finally he ducked down and caught a little gasp that left Link’s lips. 

It was nothing crazy, Kevin just put his lips on theirs and counted less then three seconds until he pulled away to laugh at the huge sigh they let out. He wasn’t so much as laughing at them, so much as with them because damn, that sigh was on fucking point. 

Link pulled him down again and this was for real. 

This wasn’t just three seconds. He didn’t bother counting but it could have been however long, he wouldn’t know.

He was soft, almost like he was afraid of hurting them which was stupid, yes, but they were just so much smaller than him. His palms, that hadn’t stopped sweating, were positioned on either cheek, enveloping their jaw where their pulse slammed under each fingertip. He thought it was stupid, but maybe his heart was pumping in time with their. Their knees knocked awkwardly as they shifted to be closer, uncoordinated yet like minded. Their mouths fitted together, like slotting in that final piece of the puzzle, and Kevin’s throat closed up. 

His world narrowed down to their lips sliding smoothly against each other, aided by vanilla lip gloss and saliva. Link’s arms around his shoulders, keeping him down 

Link, an average person with no athletic training, pulled back suddenly with winded breaths. They sounded like they’d just hiked up a mountain, air dipping before even reaching their lungs, wheezing. They took a moment to breathe, and Kevin took a moment to dip into the gumtree smelling curls on top of Link’s head. After that moment passed though, Link pulled him down and narrowly missed his lips before correcting.

They made a strangled noise as Kevin slide his tongue along their bottom lip, all too willing to open right up. Warmth blossomed up his spine, spurred on by the heat of their mouths. He was sure his pale Irish complexion was doing nothing to help hide the flush on his cheeks and ears.

It felt good. Better than good. Great. Amazing. Was earth shattering too cliche? He supposed things became cliche somehow, so maybe he wasn’t overreacting? But no matter what, this was good. Not okay like it had been with Thea. Not disgusting as it had been with those men and women Riko brought into their room. 

This was good. 

And he sure hoped he got to do this every day. He sure hoped these lips would still nestle gently next to his when Link knew who he was. But he kissed with everything he had just in case they wouldn’t.

Eventually, even trained stamina had to run out and Kevin slowly retracted.

It took a minute for him to open his eyes again. When he did, Link is starfished out bellow him with a dopey looking grin on his face.

“Was-” he took a breath, “was that good?”

“Shut up,” there was only mirth in their voice. “Where did you learn that?”

“Ex girlfriend.” Kevin thought you weren’t supposed to talk about exes, especially while making out but hey, his brain was running at 12fps.

“I’ll have to send her a fruit basket.” 

“Mmm,” Kevin hummed, amused. “Tired?” 

“Don’t insult me, Kevin Day.” Link grabbed his face either side and tugged him down.

They fit together more easily than before now that they had found a rhythm that worked and Kevin swallowed down the lump in his throat. Link moved up onto one elbow to shift closer and Kevin’s arms sagged. 

Their tongue and mouth was warm like the sun between classes, a comfortable blanket to curl up in. The nails on his scalp made his whole body weak and he was lucky he didn’t fall forward onto them. It was so easy to abandon himself into the feeling of kissing Link, to just melt until they were nothing but lips and fingers on skin.

For once he had faith in himself to remain sober, since this was even better at wiping his mind blank than any alcohol had been.

He pulled away for a quick breath, Link mindlessly following his lips with a whine, before diving back in for thirds. Forths? He didn’t care. 

Link did a thing with their teeth and Kevin made a noise with his throat. 

So good- 

It was so good, and Kevin did love it -he’d never stop if he could- and Link’s hands and mouth were so good. 

So he really did not understand the way everything halted around him when he felt a hand down the front of his pants. 

He obviously knew that it was Link’s hand, it wasn’t like a flashback came to ruin the mood. It was just simply a giant red stop sign behind his eyes. 

He pulled back, not just lips but body too. 

His skin felt like it was crawling over his bones, like it was just made out of forever exercising beetles running over his skeleton. 

He stared back at Link with just as much confusion in his eyes. 

“Sorry-”

“Don’t worry,” Link sat up too, hand to Kevin’s neck, “I should have asked first. Sorry.”

It didn’t feel bad when Link touched his neck. It must have just been a shock. Maybe it was a flashback sort of thing. 

“It’s fine,” Kevin shook his head. 

Even if it was a flashback, Kevin didn’t care. He wanted to continue, he’d push through. They could have sex tonight, if thats what Link wanted, he was fine with it. He couldn’t really imagine it, but soon he wouldn’t have to.

He pulled off his shirt, ready to plough on through. No amount of trauma was stopping him from making Link happy. 

Link caught his hands when they reached for his pants. 

“We don’t have too.” Link gave him that smile that reminded him of Renee, not pity but that's what his brain autocorrects it too. 

“I said it's fine.” He didn’t need to be worked around, he could do this. Even if he wasn’t really sure what this entailed. “I can do whatever you want.” 

“Kev,” Link kissed his collarbone, “you’re clearly uncomfortable. If you don’t want to, we don’t have to. I don’t mind, seriously.”

“I’m good.” Kevin huffed. He would give this to them, there was no reason why he couldn’t. He was a man, he could have sex. He was supposed to do this, make his partner happy, and he could -would- do it.  “You want it so I’m good.” 

“What if I don’t want it?” 

Kevin looked at them, blinking in pure confusion. “But you do?”

“I don’t want anything you don’t want.” Huh. That stumped him, visually too apparently because Link brought him to lay down with a chuckle. “If you have any consent things you want to go over-?”

“No, it’s not like that.” Kevin didn’t understand what was going on. He had wanted to kiss Link so badly not even a minute ago, and he still did, but -truthfully- thinking about what would happen after made him feel gross with himself. Which it shouldn’t because he thought Link was beautiful and stunning and he wanted to touch them, it’s not like their body repulsed him or anything. He’d had sex with Thea before, more than once too so he couldn’t figure out the problem. 

“Hey, it’s okay.You big baby.” To emphasize their taunt they piled his huge body into their thin arms and pulled him to their chest. It was truly ridiculous to have 6’1, Exy athlete cuddle up to a 5’1 twig, but they made it work awkwardly. “You didn’t hurt my feelings or anything.”

Kevin grunted and gave them a soft shove. 

“Wanna talk about it?” Link combed through his hair with their scratchy long nails and Kevin shivered. He pulled the blanket over them and got comfy before answering.

“Even if I did, I wouldn’t know what it was.” Kevin could have easily curled up and started purring like some overgrown cat with this treatment. Part of him yelled that he was the tall buff man which meant he should be the cuddler, but the majority of his brain was cloudy with the feeling of being looked after. He never had this, never had the fingers rubbing circles into his back, nails in his hair. Thea had never asked him about feelings with that soft little voice, had never held him and told him that what was feeling was okay.

Not to shit on Thea, but she had also been a Raven and they didn’t really have the best track record with emotional vulnerability. 

“Everything was great, you were -are- great, but it's just,” he let out a frustrated grunt, “I don’t know, it felt wrong. I felt wrong. I’m sorry-”

“Shh, don’t worry, I get that. Dysphoria makes me feel like that sometimes so I understand.” How were they being so nice about this? Kevin couldn’t understand why he wasn’t getting yelled at. That probably had something to do with his childhood, but still. Normally in a situation like this a bit of anger was warranted wasn’t it?

“I have an understanding that something has happened in the past,” Link kissed his temple and he doesn’t even have the brain capacity to panic over being figured out so easily, “I don’t know what and I’m not gonna ask until you’re ready to talk about it. But if it risks stepping over boundaries, I need to know where the lines are.” 

“It’s not like that.” Kevin lifted his head so Link could see his eyes and know that he wasn’t deflecting. “I just panicked. Sorry. I can do it-” 

“Kev, babe, you had a look of pure disgust on your face.” Link didn’t seem offended in the slightest, in fact they had a chuckle under their tone. Also, the term babe was not lost on him, he was certain his ears were glowing like christmas lights. 

“Not at you! I don’t know - it just felt wrong, like I said.”

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Okay.” Link didn’t seem bothered and that was what confused Kevin the most. This was something to be angry at wasn’t it? He had ruined something. Hadn’t he basically said the thought of having sex with them disgusted him? Why weren’t they mad? It was frustrating not to get it. 

“I don’t think clubbing is for me,” Link yawned widely, “too tiring.” 

“Yeah,” Kevin closed his eyes and focused on the touches on his body. They didn’t gross him out, hell he welcomed them like nothing before. He felt safe in this cocoon of blankets and arms. So what the hell was wrong with him?

Link pressed a kiss to his hair and sighed, “Goodnight, Kev.”

“Goodnight, Link.” 

Kevin didn’t sleep. 

Chapter Text

Waking up beside Link was extraordinary. 

He wakes up second, never a morning person. At first it was the soft exhales hitting his cheek that registered in his sleep foggy brain. Next, the fingers running through his hair just like last night and sending that now familiar shiver up his spine. Finally, the soft, barely there humming  to a song he didn’t know. 

Kevin would have assumed this was a dream,  if not for it being too good to be a thing conjured up by his mind. This wasn’t a nightmare, this was real. 

He scrunched his eyes before opening them. He’s staring right into Link’s beautiful, sun lit eyes. It had to be midday -or around- for the sun to be hitting their eyes through the window that perfectly. 

Perfect. 

He couldn’t believe that he - Kevin Day- got to wake up to something so perfect. Just two years ago he’d wake up to pain of fresh bruises and broken bones. What had happened to get him from those dark, depressing rooms to Link’s warm arms? Why hadn’t he done it sooner?

“G‘morin’, princess.” Link shifted forward a breath to press a soft kiss to his tattoo. They too sounded groggy and slurred, probably only having woken up less than a few minutes beforehand. 

Usually he hates people in the morning, but he didn’t have the mind to be anything less than happy at that moment. 

Him , Kevin Day, being happy. 

How Riko would be turning in his grave. 

Kevin grunts, feigning irritation to contradict the way he tightens his arms around them. 

“Y’sound like a cowboy.” He mutters, closing his eyes again. Link’s scratching his scalp still, he couldn’t help it.

“Yeehaw.”

Link is laughing hysterically even when Kevin shoved them away with an offended groan. 

“No!” But he’s laughing too, genuinely, and he snorts sometimes because he slept on his stomach. “It’s too early.”

“Kev, babe, it’s noon.” Despite saying that, they rolled over to cuddle up to his side, head on his chest. He was still topless from the events of the night before. It reminds him of what happened and he instantly feels the panic well up again. The confusion too, because Link’s hand tracing his abs was fine but no more than a few inches down made him feel like throwing up. 

“So we’re just not gonna acknowledge my very smooth use of babe ? Okay, then.” They’re kidding, he knows it, but he’s just so tangled up in his head.

“Sorry,” he took their hand in his, “I just don’t understand what happened with me last night. I was supposed to be giving you this amazing time, but I - I just flipped the fuck out and it doesn’t make sense-”

“Hey,” Link swung around to sit on Kevin’s hips and leant down to kiss his nose, “it’s not just about giving me things, alright? If you’re not into it, I’m not into it and we stop, no matter what -No, Kev. I’m serious, I’m not going to do anything you don’t want, I don’t want to be that person.”

He hadn’t really thought about it like that. Mainly because the only thing he could think of was that he was broken, yet another symptom that came with the trauma of being a Raven. He was broken, not ‘fulfilling his role as a man’. He was broken, not feeling anything but disgust at the thought of having sex with the person he was supposedly infactuated with.

Broken, broken, broken.

“Hey, Kev?” Link brushes down his eyebrows with each thumb before kissing his forehead. He thought that they liked giving him forehead kisses since they were a shit ton shorter than him and it made them feel taller. He wasn’t opposed in the slightest. 

“Yeah, babe.” They both chuckle at that. It’s nice to be able to say something like that so freely. He could never have imagined calling someone babe and meaning it. 

“Have you heard about Asexuality?” 

It sounded familiar. 

“Neil said something about it when Nicky was bugging them one time.” Kevin remembered it was close to the time they went to the mountains after Baltimore, everyone had been shocked by the previously prudent Neil sleeping with Andrew. He couldn’t remember what it meant though since he remembered it as a background conversation to the one he was having with Dan about plays to use against the Ravens’. 

“Yeah?” They sounded hesitant. “Well, it's a sexuality. One where a person doesn’t feel sexual attraction. Or, they feel grossed out by sex and don’t want to have it.” 

Kevin’s initial reaction is anger. He felt like he was being accused of something, which he logically knew was wrong, but still he almost opened his mouth to say something defensive and rude. Link wasn’t saying anything mean to him, he knows but he feels offended. Old habits die hard, he supposed. 

“Before you say anything, I’m just saying that maybe talking about it to that lady, Bee, would be a good idea.” They’re just trying to help. It’s not their fault that the hypersexual atmosphere of the Nest fucked him up mentally. It was seriously a breeding ground for STD’s. His relationship with Thea was mostly physical since he wasn’t allowed out of Riko’s sight long enough for dates or anniversaries. Meaning the only time they could see each other was late at night. Riko was fine with sex, he found it amusing almost, so Kevin had been allowed to ‘let off some steam’ some nights. But he had been numb back then, he didn’t remember being grossed out by anything they did together. 

Now that he thought about it, he didn’t remember enjoying it either. 

Maybe that’s why they didn’t work out, the one thing they had together and Kevin couldn’t even care enough to be grossed out.

“Yeah, I’ll bring it up with her later. But for right now,” Kevin snatched their face up and brought them down for a morning-breath kiss. They had to wait for both of their grins to die down before settling into ease. 

Link relaxed and lay down on top of him. 

They fit nicely together, moving smoothly against each other's lips. It was still a bit awkward since they were both new to each other and hadn’t found their groove yet. But for right now it was beyond fine. 

The 12 o’clock sun warmed up the room. It made their hair warm when he tugged on it to bring them closer.

His limbs felt light, he recognized it as calm contentment.

His life was so strange. 

He was having a soft, sun lit make out session with his- 

“What are we?” Kevin spoke against their lips, not bothering to open his eyes when they moved down.

“I like you a shit ton, Kev.” They nosed at his jaw, then down his neck before coming back up with their mouth placing open mouthed kisses from his collarbone. Kevin was on fire. 

“Yeah- yeah, same.” God, they had his tongue in their mouth ten seconds ago but admitting his feelings still had him flustered and stuttering. 

“So, boyfriend or nah?” They sounded so pleased with themself.

“Quit try’na act all cool and collected,” Kevin ruffled their hair, “but yes, Link Harris, I’d love to be your boyfriend.” 

They didn’t sound as collected when they said, “C-cool.”

“But what do I call you?” He kissed the inside of their wrist and up to the elbow until he flopped back down against the pillows. “Partner doesn’t seem right for you.” 

“True, it’s way too adult-y for me.” They were right, partner was what Abby and Wymack called each other. He was not about to start copying them. “Gonna steal this from a book, y’know me. But what about, ‘Your Person’?” 

“My person, huh?” He liked the way his mouth moved around the letters. My person. He liked it, not in a possessive way of course. More in a comforted way, they were each other's only. That probably had something to do with his abandonment issues, but it was not the time.

“Yeah.” They seemed bashful, shy even though they suggested it. It was cute. Link was always cute, but that was besides the point. 

“Alright then,” Kevin flicked their nose, “ my person , I need coffee.” 

“Shut up!” 

As promised, Kevin went to Bee with the question.

He hadn’t want to drag it out and make it a big deal so as soon as he got settled on the couch with his coffee he says, “Link thinks I may be Asexual.”

She doesn’t blink in surprise and/or disgust nor laugh like he was worried she might. He knows she would never, but his anxiety doesn’t like facts very much. Unless they’re ones that could hurt him. Take the fact that there are 4,500 home invasions per day. Or, if the Moriyama’s decided they weren’t worth anything anymore they could most definitely get away with their murder.

“So, I’m assuming things with Link started.” They had talked about Link before, how they are a good influence on his life, what it means for him to like them, why he’s so terrified to like them. But still, this was not the point. 

“Yes, Edens.” Kevin smiled down at his fiddling fingers. It had been four days ago now, and they hadn’t really changed much -just a lot more kissing and hand holding. He was still struggling to convince himself this wasn’t a dream. He thought that if this was, it would be one of the worst nightmares yet. 

“Edens? That’s unexpected.” Bee scribbled something down on her pad and looked back up.

“It wasn’t willingly, I’ll say that much. But it turned out fine, he didn’t pull anything.” They both knew he meant Andrew, who had been uncharacteristically quiet since then. Leaving them both alone. 

“Well thats good.” She sips on her hot chocolate. He understood why Neil found her so intimidating, she was so kind. “But you say Link thinks you might be Asexual. Did something happen to cause this?”

Well obviously. 

He knows that's part of the whole thing, getting him to understand his feelings and talk about them, but still. How was he supposed to say, “They grabbed my dick and I freaked the fuck out” without dying of embarrassment. 

“Well, um,” He clears his throat. His eyes do not leave the rug on the floor, it’s honestly kind of ugly. God, this was uncomfortable. “We were, um, kissing on Aaron’s bed -don’t tell him that- and, well, it was good -like actually good- and I like, I do like kissing them, a lot and I want to. Keep kissing them, that is. Well, okay, so we were kissing and it -I was fine but then, then they, er, they, y’know,” He makes a god awful gesture to his crotch and instantly regrets it, “and I just cringed, I guess. Like it all of a sudden felt wrong and, and gross . Wait no, I felt wrong and gross. It had nothing to do with Link. But then we made out the next morning and that was fine again, but then, like, thinking about situations like that just-”

He cuts himself off because he didn’t take a breath that entire time.  He rambles when he's nervous, she knows this so she lets it slide. 

“Did you think about whether or not it may be a trauma response?” She’s written things down, what he didn’t know.

“Yeah but I don’t think so,” he shrugs, “I don’t think of the Nest or, um, Riko.” They are working through being able to say the names of the people who abused him, but it was still difficult. 

“You know, it doesn’t have to be conscious.”

“I know,” another shrug, “but it doesn’t feel like that. Normally even if it’s subconscious I can feel like my breathing and stuff, but this just felt like disgust.” 

“Explain, ‘disgust’ for me.” he holds in a groan.

“I don’t know,” he can feel a headache thumping behind his eyes, “like my skin crawls, just thinking about it now makes me feel...uncomfortable. Like, I can't see myself having sex or anything, but like thinking that I could -I just don’t want to be touched like that, gross thats how I can describe it. How you find something dead touching your foot, that kind of gross.”

She hums, doesn’t ask questions about the ‘dead thing’ comment. Doesn’t say anything at all for a few minutes, driving Kevin crazy with anxiety. 

“And how would you feel about being asexual, Kevin?” What sort of question was that?

“I dunno.” He knows he sounds frustrated. He knows Bee doesn’t deserve him being frustrated. “Not good, I guess.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, maybe because I can’t have sex with my person without feeling nauseous!” He didn’t mean to yell at her, but he’s just so angry. Mostly at himself, but he couldn’t drink that away anymore, nor overwork himself on court. “If I’m this fucking ace thing that means that Link and I can never -they can’t ever. They're a virgin, y’know, and I’m taking so much away from them because of course there has to be another thing wrong with me! When they realise that the thought of doing anymore than making out has me holding bile down, you think they’ll just stick around? Of course not! Because why stay with a broken toy that provides nothing?!”

Bee hadn’t flinched at his screaming even though the people waiting outside probably could have heard the whole thing.

He feels strangely close to crying.

It’s different from figuring out he’s pansexual, but theres still that internalised hatred eating down his mental barrier. 

“I’m a man, I’m supposed to be able to do this.” This is a whisper. He’d tired out his voice and his mental strength. He wanted to crawl in bed with a bottle of vodka and drown out all this, Riko, Evermore, the Moriyama’s, this fucking sexuality crisis. He was a man in his twenties having a sexuality crisis, how embarrassing. 

“There’s a lot to address there.” Bee doesn’t say it in an exacerbated way, purely factual. That almost annoys him more. “Let's start with the biggest problem. Just because you are a man does not mean you are broken for not wanting to have sex, Kevin. You being a man does not give you any prior responsibilities to be sex-positive, thats somebody who is sexual. Men being told that they are inherently sexual beings is a toxic stereotype that makes sex-repulsed people feel wrong, which isn’t the case. Being asexual is not something being wrong with you. You are not broken, Kevin.”

You are not broken. 

“Secondly, I firmly believe that Link will not leave based sorely on the fact of you being asexual.” Again, this is something that he is aware of. It’s something he knows because he knows Link and they aren’t shallow and selfish. But again, his anxiety would love to prove him wrong. “Purely because they advised you to find out and talk to me about it, I feel confident in saying that they don’t mind. Besides, Kevin, you’re not ‘taking anything from them’ okay. You have plenty more to provide than a sexual experience. I advise having a conversation about it with them.” 

Yeah, he probably should do that. He’s never been great at the whole communication thing, he’s working on it for sure but now that he’s in a relationship he’ll probably need to hurry that up a bit more. 

For the rest of the session they talk about how Kevin’s dealing with the new season now that Riko and Testuji are gone. He replies more mechanically than he knows he should but he really does not have the energy right now. He’s got practice after this so he can vent then. 

Finally the session ends and before closing the door between them Bee catches his wrist and says with a sickly sweet voice, “Kevin, I think I should say that I myself actually identify as an asexual aromatic. Just so you know that I understand what you’re feeling.”

The Foxes definitely realise that Kevin is off today. He’s being even more nit picky about things, more prone to yelling at Nicky to, “Keep up with Matt! Faster for the love of fuck Nicky, knees!” or “Neil, vice captain or not, how about actually play the game instead of flirting with the goalie?” 

He tried to lecture Allison once, “This isn’t a salon, your mark won't care if your hair isn’t done up in a nice messy bun.”

But she retorts, “hey, don’t get pressed just because you’re not getting laid.”

Which cuts his already thin line. 

“He died a year ago, Allison. Get over it and actually put in some effort on court.” Kevin internally winces. That was a dick move and he really didn’t mean it, but he was on his last fucking thread right now and it meant he didn’t have the energy to be sympathetic. 

Through the grate on her helmet, he sees Allison’s eyes go wide in a ‘did you really just say that to me?’ expression. 

Matt starts towards him, stick abandoned where he was supposed to be standing, with his fists balled up. If he reached Kevin there would be fists thrown, but Allison stops him with a hand. She approaches herself and he is a lot more terrified of her words than he is of Matt’s fists. 

She’s almost the same height as him, so their eyes were on par when she stood a breath away from him. 

“Look, there is quite obviously something up with you today and since we are friends, I’ll acknowledge that. However,” her finger is in his face and he tenses, “you and I both know I work my ass off just as much as everyone here and just because you’re Kevin Fucking Day does not mean you have the right to shit on any off us. Not to mention, we know the Ravens’ fucked you up in the head, we get that, but just because people around you can die without an empathetic tear from you and your game does not give the rest of us that luxury. So, shut the fuck up and go drink yourself into alcohol poisoning in the fucking bathroom again and watch none of us give a shit. ” 

That had been the day after Riko’s death. They were staying in a hotel but Neil and Andrew had escaped and he was all alone with the entire supply of alcohol left over from the victory party the night before and dark, dark thoughts. 

Nicky had come to check on him -being a good friend- to find him unresponsive on the bathroom floor, vomit and blood all around him. He had punched the mirror before using one of the shards to carve a two into his thigh with drunken hands. Apparently he had screamed for a hangover Erik, Matt and Wymack to hurry please, I think he’s dead -Oh my God, he’s dead Coach, coach he’s dead!  

He’d woken up in hospital a few days later and was taken straight into rehab the day after. At least Abby and Wymack brought the others to visit on christmas. 

Renee pulled Allison away from Kevin and stood between them. He could see Wymack in his peripheral vision. He’d probably flown in when seeing Matt step forward. 

“Allison, that was a bit harsh.” Renee says and then turns to Kevin. “Kevin, that was also a bit harsh.” 

Being scolded by Renee was terrible, it made you feel like a child. 

“Alright, practice is over.” Wymack grabs Kevin by the jersey and Allison by the grate of her helmet. “You too are going to sit in a room together until your best friends, y’hear? Shut it, I don’t care if blood is spilt, you’ll stay in there overnight if you must.” 

He’s not kidding. Wymack locks them in Abby’s clinic that has windows and is big enough not to give Kevin a panic attack. Allison sits down on the table and examines her nails -Wymack confiscated phones. Kevin starts organising the cupboards. 

They’re silent. They don’t acknowledge each other even when her tapping with her acrylics drives him crazy, and the thudding of his boxes drives her crazy. 

But they soon figure out that, yes, Wymack really did intend to keep them in overnight. The sun is setting so he turns on the lights which means walking past Allison. 

“What shit in your cereal this morning?” She snaps. 

“Nothing.”

“Bull.” She rolls her eyes. “Link break up with you or something?” 

He opens his mouth to snap something harsh at her before stopping himself. Breathe. Count to ten in English and then in French. Breathe.

“No, they didn’t.” But they might. 

“Okay then what? You got all pissy about the getting laid thing. So what, they blue balling you?” Breathe. 

“No. It’s not like that.” 

“But close, yes?” She pats the bed next to her, an invite. He takes it and the plastic squeaks underneath. “Y’know, I’m in love with Renee.”

“What-” 

He knew they had been really close and spent a lot of time together. He had noticed that Renee was the only one who could rule her in, but he just thought that was normal. She has that effect on people. 

“Shush,” were they having a bonding moment? “Anyway, yes, I am in love with resident sweetheart, Renee but I’m also not over Seth. She wants to date but we both understand that I need to move on before we can be together.”

“Huh,” He supposed that made sense but if it were him he’d use the current relationship to forget the old one. “I don’t really know what to say,”

“Just tell me what's up with you.” She nudges him with her elbow. 

He grimaced. Sharing with others was new, and he wasn’t really close with Allison. He’d told her about Link, she was still one of the only people to know and she hadn’t told anyone. 

“You weren’t too far off.” He sighs. He had nothing to lose anymore. “Link and I are a thing now, but, I don’t know.”

“Not as good as you thought?”

“God no!” He shoots up right again and she startles back. “No, no it’s great. It’s too great. But, yeah. We’re making out and it’s all good and I like it, right. But well, doing anything more grosses me out. Link thinks I’m ace but I don’t know, I don’t want to be. In the Nest, everyone was fucking everyone and thats what I grew up with, but now I’m different.” 

“Well now I feel like an asshole.” Allison takes his hand and he looks over at her but she understands, he can see it in her eyes. It’s not sympathy or pity, but empathy. He guesses that anyone who's ever had to question their sexuality could relate. 

They sat in silence for a while and he startled when she put her head on his shoulders. 

He didn’t tell her to move, so they sat next to each other in this quiet bubble and he felt accepted. He felt affection for her, which struck him as odd, but he wasn’t necessarily mad about it. He’d tell Bee and she’d be happy for him for making progress. Yeah, this was progress and it meant he was healing. 

He felt a small smile tug up his lips and yes, the thought of shoving it down did occur but he ignored it and let himself smile. 

Later, Wymack opened the door claiming he hadn’t heard any yelling so he was checking to see if they had killed each other. He was visibly shocked to see them leaning on each other and holding hands in silence. 

“I hope I don’t have to worry about you two getting together.” He flicks a disturbed look between them. “Don’t take this as an offence, but you two as a couple is my worst nightmare.” Allison laughed and shoved him aside, hopping off the bed to leave. Wymack stops her in the door, however. “Are you two friends now?”

“Nope.” She pops the ‘P’ and moves past coach to leave an awkward tension between father and son.

Chapter Text

Ever since that afternoon locked in Abby’s clinic, Allison and Kevin had developed an odd sort of friendship that involved a lot of bickering, insulting, fashion and casual touching. Kevin was not the only one who was taken aback and hesitant about this unlikely friendship, the other Foxes couldn’t seem to leave them alone. 

Matt had straight out asked if they were together, which made him splutter in surprise. He had honestly forgotten that the others don’t know about Link, and maybe he’d think about introducing them soon, since they were now official. 

Also now that they were official, Kevin was doing his usual thing and antagonising over small things that apparently weren’t that big of a deal. Such as; taking Link out for a date. It wasn’t that big of a deal, other couples did it all the time. Hell, even Neil and Andrew had their totally not-date dates. However, he didn’t think sitting on a roof chain smoking cigarettes for hours until they developed black lungs was Links cup of tea. 

Allison said to take them out to this fancy restaurant she knew of and then said she’d cover when Kevin reminded her that they were both broke college students. He turned down her offer on the basis that it was way too formal for either of them and would just be weird. 

Nicky said to go to a movie and then wiggled his eyebrows. Kevin didn’t know what that meant, but disagreed instantly. He wanted to be able to talk with them, not watch something in silence for hours. And, movie food was awfully unhealthy. The amount of butter on that popcorn would have him running extra laps to burn it off, which isn’t the best way to remember a first date. 

Neil said he was ‘overreacting’ and it ‘wasn’t that big of a deal’ and ‘why are you asking me?’ Eventually though, they said to invite them to their exy game on Friday. He thought about it and liked the idea, but maybe for another night. 

He didn’t waste his time asking Andrew.

His last resort was Robin. They were quiet and shy around him, he thought maybe he intimidated her by being so tall and broad. But they were dating some girl from their art class so he hoped she would know something. 

She was sitting in a bean bag chair doing some art theory work for class, headphones in and long hair tied up on top of their head messily so you could see the undercut Andrew had given her. He took a seat in the other bean bag and tried his best to draw their attention to him without startling them. He waved his hands in their peripheral vision and was successful. 

“Hey Kevin,” the smile she gave was a little tense but not at all fake. “Can I help you?”

“Um, yeah,” he hadn’t really thought this far. “You’re dating someone outside of the team right?”

“Yeah, Rose. In my art class. Why?”

“Well, so am I. They’re just a normal person who have no connection to any of this.” He gestured around them, not too sure himself what this exactly was. Exy, the Moriyama’s, all the Foxes troubled relationships. All of this. “But I don’t know how to be normal, I guess. So um, what I’m asking is, do you have any date ideas.” 

He cringed to himself. This was so stupid and embarrassing. He’s twenty-two asking for dating advice. He hadn’t gone on dates with Thea and now he was embarrassingly underprepared. 

“Oh alright.” The tense edges to her lips flattened out and now they looked genuinely happy to help. He let out a relieved sigh. “Don’t worry, Bee had to help me with this sort of thing before. It’s really difficult for people like us,” they waved a hand between them and he thought they meant for people who were imprisoned for most of their lives, “to figure out those ‘normal’ life experiences, hey?” 

“Yeah,” he agreed. He was still stuck thinking about the way they likened their experiences. They had been kidnapped by a man as a child and held in a room, tormented and tortured. They had been kidnapped but she was also saying that the two of them were alike. He guessed he had been kidnapped, in the loosest sense of the words, by Tesuji. It was strange to think about. 

“The way I learned was at first to ask her what she wanted.” 

“I want it to be a surprise.” he said. 

“Oh, okay.” She seemed to think about that for a minute before saying, “figure out what they like. What they talk about, their interests. Like Rose, she likes ceramics so we went to a pottery class, it was all very lesiban. Tell me, what do they like?” 

“Video games, books. Coffee, they drink way too much, it’s very unhealthy.” Last night they facetimed before Kevin went to night practice and Link was working on homework for another class. It was almost 10pm and over their 1 hour call they had three cups of coffee. Granted, the last cup had been out of spite since Kevin had been complaining the whole time. Not seriously complaining though, how could he genuinely scold them when they were ready for bed in his team hoodie? Impossible. 

“There you go,” she said like it was obvious. It was not obvious. “Take them to a cafe, then a bookstore -buy them a book, they’ll love it. Maybe an arcade if you feel like it.” If you can handle it. He could already say that the arcade was being scratched. Too noisy, both in sound and light. He’d probably have a panic attack and that would not be fun for either of them.

But the other parts were great ideas. He felt kind of useless having not thought of them himself, but it was quickly overcast with excitement. 

“Thanks, Robin.” He checked his phone and saw he had half an hour until he needed to be at Link’s cafe. “It was a big help.” 

“No problem, anytime, Kevin.” Again, he could tell that she actually meant it. 

He waved them goodbye and headed out while pulling on his jacket. 

Kevin all but ran across campus to the cafe where Link was finishing up their shift with an iced almond milk latte and a muffin. They stood up on their toes and grinned over the coffee grinder as he rattled the bell on the front door. 

“Please take a seat, I’ll be with you in a moment.” They giggled. When there were other customers sitting down, Link found it funny to treat him like one too. Kevin took a seat in their usual booth and pulled out his laptop to add a few finishing touches to the bibliography due in today's lesson. He just needed to sort them into alphabetical order, since the time he’d usually had done that was taken up with a facetime call and then practice. He found it slightly concerning, slightly funny that Link was now a priority over history. He was almost afraid to find out if that would be the case for exy as well, but he doubted it. He could have both on equal podiums. 

He got brought out of his work when somebody tapped his shoulder. 

He looked up with a smile, expecting it to be Link, but instead it was a girl he’d never seen before. 

“Um, hi.” He said, looking past her to see another girl at a table filming. He fought the urge to groan, ignore her or just yell at them to get that fucking camera out of his face. He dispided cameras, and the people behind them. Always watching for a slip up, a story, something to post online for likes and views. They could almost be blamed for a lot that went wrong in his life, albeit indirectly. 

“Hi, you’re Kevin Day, right.” You already know that, why else would you be here with that phone?

“Yeah.” The camera facing him was like a gun, stop smiling and it’ll shoot. 

“Okay,” she looked over her shoulder quickly for encouragement, “well, I’m a big fan and I’ve always thought you were really handsome. And at your last game when you smiled at me and waved after you won, I guess, I was just wondering if you wanted to go out sometime.” 

He blinked. 

Blinked again.

He didn’t even know this girl's name -wait, smiled and waved at her? He may have been ectatic from their win last Friday, but not enough to smile and wave at some random girl. He tried hard to remember her face in the crowd. Scanned his memory, but came up blank. Until he remembered a mop of fuzzy red hair. She had been sitting in front of a camera, one broadcasting the game live. He had gotten a text right before the game. 

Link

 Have a great game!

I’ll be watching <3

  6:01

The smile and wave had been for Link, watching in their room on their laptop, not for this girl. 

“Sorry, I didn’t-”

He was cut off by his order being placed before him and Link stepping between them. 

“Hey, bestie.” They had this false happy voice on. Kevin didn’t know whether or not to be amused or terrified. “I know you probably read a lot of Kevin Day x Reader fics, but that isn’t escaping your ao4 history and this certainly isn’t a coffee shop AU, so get going so before his latte gets cold.”

Nothing about what Link just said made any sense to him, but the girl blushed uncontrollably and stuttered out a denial. She apologised and scuttled back over to her friend, flustered and quiet. The two girls left even before Link could sit down. 

“What’s a Kevin Day x Reader fic?” He asked and the previously sour look on Link’s face cracked open into a burst of laughter. He was missing a joke here but he didn’t really mind since they were laughing so uncontrollably. 

“Nothing, babe.” They grinned, reaching across the table to squeeze his hand. They had talked about how Kevin needed to keep this a secret, for his exy and they had agreed to keep everything on the down low, but they still made room for these little public touches. A hand on their back, feet kicked up on his lap, knuckles brushing. 

“Hey, anyways, big news.” They closed the lid to Kevin’s laptop and took hold of all of his attention. “Guess what?”

“What?” 

“I am moving out and into my own crappy apartment. It’s closer to campus, its fucking tiny and it’s all mine.” They were grinning. They always liked these milestones, the ones that meant they were an adult since their parents treated them like a kid. Getting a job, going to college, getting a boyfriend, now getting an apartment. “My brother’s temporary stay to get back on his feet turned into a permanent mooching hell, so I’m moving out. I’m not fifteen anymore, I don’t have to put up with it.” 

“That’s great, Link.” He was smiling too. He wished he could kiss them, but he was the one who put that boundary in place. Still, he ached with it again. He wanted to hold them and kiss them slowly for hours. 

“It really is. I can get a cat, you can stay over, and I don’t need to sit next to that creepy man on the bus everyday.”

“Creepy man?” 

“First, way to ignore what I said about you coming over-” 

“You’re welcome-” 

“Hush,” Kevin chuckled, “and yes, creepy man. He carries this 1800’s porcelain doll around with him on his lap everywhere. Creepy.” 

He grimaced. He just imagined Link incredibly uncomfortable as the man next to him combed back the doll's hair. Not a fun image. Very gross. 

“I’ll help you move in.” He offered. He ripped the muffin in half and placed the one in front of Link and the other was split between his mouth and a napkin to save it for after practice when he needed a boost. 

“Perfect, I knew those biceps were good for something.” Kevin blushed and focused on not choking on the cake in his mouth. “Then maybe you can stay the night.” 

It took Kevin a moment to realise they weren’t hinting about sex. They just wanted to spend a night together. He was still teaching his brain things, and then realising that he had even more things he needed to retrain. When he finally stops beating himself up over being pansexual, he starts the musical all over again with asexuality.

Kevin hadn’t yet outright told them that he was -pretty sure, maybe- ace but he hadn’t denied it either. Link hadn’t been making any hints towards it anyways, giving him space to figure it out without pressure. On one hand, he’s grateful for not having that pressure on him to figure it out, on the other it's very nerve wracking to have to bring it up himself. Eventually.

“Yeah, of course.” Ask them out. Allison’s voice was not welcomed right now, but he knew it was probably right. This is the perfect opportunity. Be casual, cool. “Then the day after we can go out, maybe get some breakfast. There's this local bookshop-cafe that opened recently.”

Link’s face lit up, an excited grin pulling up their lips. “Yeah, that sounds great. I won’t be able to sleep until then, now.” 

“You sleep already?” 

“Shut up, night practice.” 

“That's different.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Kevin was smiling and Link was too, sitting across from each other with their ankles pressed together. “I’m improving my game.”

“So am I.” Link huffs. They’d had this discussion before, in Kevin’s opinion as an athlete and heir to a sport, e-gaming was not a sport. 

“Playing that slime farmer game isn’t a sport.” He rolled his eyes, almost choking on his latte with a churtle when Link’s face is overcome with horror.

“It’s called Slime Rancher, you uncultured bitch!” They huffed and it was just too adorable for Kevin not to grin at. “And I bet you couldn’t get a 20 minute speed run in exy.” 

“Wanna bet?” Kevin was all for a challenge, competitiveness being bred into his blood. He could never, and would never back down from a chance to prove himself on court. “I bet I can get 200 goals in ten minutes.” 

“Prove it.”

Kevin thought for a moment. He weighed the pros and cons, came up with more cons and spoke, 

“Come to practice with me after class.”

Chapter Text

When Kevin says he regrets inviting Link to the stadium, he means it in the nicest way possible. He’d felt brave in their booth, in their little bubble. Since leaving, that courage had quickly evaporated. 

“Babe,” Link squeezed his hand and got him to stop just short of the stadium door. They were late -late to exy practice!- since Kevin had been trying to walk extra slow, and Link entertained him by letting him stall. They hadn’t started holding hands until the car park, so he was also trying to savour that, the giddy adrenaline he got from such a mundane, common, couple-y thing helped to distract him a bit. “Kev, your hands are all sweaty.”

Kevin flushed, embarrassed. He pulls his hand out of theirs and wipes them down on his jeans desperately. “Sorry, high body temp. Athlete thing.”

“No, I mean like, you’re nervous.” 

“Sorry,” Kevin shook his head to try and untangle the anxious knot of thoughts. He felt so stupid. He was the one making a big deal out of this. It’s not like the Foxes would treat him badly for showing up with Link. There would be comments, he knew, but those would come from the unimportant members of the Foxes. And the upperclassmen would be all over them, probably with affection. No, definitely with affection. Allison is going to be thrilled. It’s going to be so overwhelming . 

“Do they know about you?” Link took his hand and Kevin shook his head. “Okay. If you really feel uncomfortable-”

“No, it's okay.” Kevin squared out his shoulders and grabbed the door handle. He hesitated a moment before pushing it open slightly. Now that the door was open, he had already started putting the plan into motion and it seemed a little less foreboding. He could do this. “It needed to happen sooner or later. Now I have you here as well.” He shot them a smile over his shoulder and he hoped it looked more confident than he felt. They gave him one back.

Right before the door into the lounge, Kevin stopped to just take a moment for himself. 

After so many years of being conditioned by Riko and the Raven, his whole life being taught that being queer was a punishment. To have to sit there as Jean is passed around like a steak because Riko found it funny. Found it hilarious to use Jean’s sexuality as a toture technique. So, so many years being shown and told that the only relationships he’s allowed to have were sexually ones since he was not worth anything more than the points he scored on court. The 16 times he didn’t stand up for Jean, the countless beatings from Riko, the seventeen years of media training -of being told a quiet wife second to his career was the only way. All of it, and he’s here about to walk into a room full of the most important people in his life -his father- and finally be honest about himself with them. 

If only Riko could see him now. 

And what a powerful thought that was. 

Link put a hand on his cheek and brought him down for a kiss, gentle and soft on his lips. They lingered together, a moment that was solely theirs, not one interrupted by things that sort to destroy it. The calm before the storm. 

“You are brave, Kevin.” If only he could tell them how wrong they really were, how much of a coward their Kevin Day was behind all the exy gear and ego. 

When Kevin entered, Wymack was cursing his name. 

“That fucking asshole just has to be late for the first time today of all days.” He’s checking his watch and tapping the tip of a ballpoint pen against a clipboard. 

“Do you think something happened with the Moriya-” 

“Kevin!” Nicky cuts Allison’s concerned question off by shooting up out of his seat with his arms outstretched. If he had to guess, Nicky was covering his ass, making sure Link couldn’t hear that name. For the love of god, Kevin hoped they would never have to hear that name. “And our sweetheart, Linky! Look at you, adorable. Kevin has been keeping you all to himself, how rude.”

“Hey, Nicky.” Link waved but Nicky was having none of that. He pulled them in for a dramatic hug, swaying them while also asking Kevin if he was alright over their shoulder so nobody else in the room could see. He just nodded with a little smile and Nicky seemed to get what was happening, his coming out to the team. Lets just say, Nicky went from 100 to 200 real quick. 

“Kevin,” Renee stood up, casting a look at his hand intertwined with Links, “who is this?” She asks sweetly. She’s just asking for an introduction. 

Kevin looks at Wymack, he’s his father after all, to gauge his reaction. Out of everyone here, David’s opinion would matter the most. Good or bad, it would affect Kevin drastically. 

He sees no obvious disappointment in Wymack’s face, honestly he had this crease between his eyebrows like he was confused. All the Foxes, except the Monster’s and Allison, looked confused. Allison was looking smug. Sounds about right. 

Link squeezed his hand when he hadn’t said anything for a few beats. He took a deep breath in and let it out, but it did literally nothing to quench the anxiety in his chest. 

They aren’t the Ravens. Hell most of them are queer too. 

“This is Link,” Kevin sees them give a smile and a little wave, they were so cute. “They’re, um, the person I’m dating. Yeah.”

“Hi,” Link adds, not quivering at the sight of a room full of athletes. 

They all just look at Kevin without saying anything. The freshmen are giving him various looks from Jack’s horrified face - Kevin was sure he was thinking about how his idol is one of ‘those queers’ - to Robin nodding with a little grin that said they were proud. But he didn’t care what they thought, they could start screaming slurs at him right now and he wouldn’t care, they were just his teammates. It was his friends’ quietness that was excruciating. 

This wasn’t flamboyant Nicky coming out, he had never hidden it in the first place, hadn’t tried to pretend with them. Have me as I am or not at all.

This wasn’t casual Neil, whose coming out was overshadowed by literally getting kidnapped and tortured, both their Christmas with Riko and night with the Butcher. 

The wasn’t isolated Andrew, where they had the opportunity to not care at all. 

This was their stingy, bossy, serious Kevin Day who had said “it’s easier to remain heterosexual”, the same who had never given a single hint to having been anything outside of a straight cis man. 

This was a mistake. 

He goes to take a step out of the room, to run away and have a panic attack on the bathroom floor. Link holds him still. They won't let him hide from this, for which he is grateful.

“Well,” Allison elegantly slides over to Link and bends down to inspect their face, “it is a pleasure to finally meet the person Kevin wont shut up about. Also you’re welcome, I’m the one styling most of his outfits, btw. Allison Reynolds.” 

Allison’s reaction promptly puts the room into motion. Dan and Renee are quick to hop next in line to say their hellos with differing levels of enthusiasm. 

“I’m Dan, nice to meet you. Oh my god, I cannot believe Kevin is dating a boy this cute! Kevin what the hell?” She shoved him in the arm, grinning ear to ear. 

“Um, I’m actually non-binary, so They/Them please.” Link welcomes Renee’s hug while still speaking to Dan. 

“Right, sorry.” Dan says right away. She turns to the room that has erupted into chaos behind them. Jack and Neil slinging curse words at each other because he had probably said something and they just wanted an excuse to verbally assault him. Matt switching between trying to hold Neil back from maiming Jack and looking at Kevin with one of his dad grins. Wymack’s kind of just standing there like he doesn’t know what to do. Robin and Andrew are speaking to the backing track of Nicky trying to get Aaron excited to no avail. Not to mention the Freshmens arguing. “Hey everyone, look here for a sec, yeah? Jack, Neil look here! Alright, Foxes, Link over here uses They/them, so lets be respectful. Alright, continue.” The arguing commences full force. She turns back to Link who is trying to not let their uncomfortableness shine through. “Sorry about that, they’re just like a bunch of preschoolers so you need to treat them like it. Oh, and if Jack says anything you just flip him off and tell him to shut up.”

“Okay,” they nod. Their hand is tightening in Kevin’s as the noise level increases. He was worried about this. The Foxes would be overwhelming to just about anyone with their angst and yelling, especially for Link who wasn’t the biggest fan of loud noises. 

“We’ve got practice guys,” Kevin yells out into the crowd. There is a series of groans and laughs because count on Kevin Day to only care about Exy, even after dropping a bomb like this. 

Wymack chooses that moment to come out of his silence, “He’s right everyone, get your asses into the locker rooms.” Without much pushback they all effectively filed into their respective rooms with either congratulations or glares. “Kevin, can we talk?” 

Kevin grimaced. He should have introduced them separately, shouldn’t he? That's what you do when you’re dating someone, you introduce them to your dad. Shit. He definitely should have given this more thought instead of impulsively walking into the room. He should have asked them both to dinner, right? That's what they do in movies? They were both trying to figure this father/son thing out, but Kevin was letting him down.

“Yeah coach.” 

“Please, kid,” he sighed, running a hand through his salt and pepper hair, “don’t call me coach right now.” 

“Yeah,” Kevin coughed, “dad.” 

Link let out a little gasp beside him. He hadn’t really told them Coach was his dad, mainly because he was still reminding himself that they were father and son. He was making so many mistakes today. He wished he could go back in time just five minutes.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you first-”

“Kevin, shut up.” Wymack comes to stand closer, really looking at Link for the first time. He makes them squirm a little and he couldn’t imagine what Wymack must look like from Link’s perspective with his intimidating scruffiness. “I don’t care that you didn’t tell me first or whatever. I just thought -You know I’m not good at this kid. I just thought, away from the team, I should say something, y’know?” 

“Right.” Kevin was pretty sure this was the first emotional conversation they’d had since Kevin got out of rehab and was staying on his couch. That conversation started with Wymack saying that he would always be there for Kevin, as his coach or as his father, whichever Kevin was comfortable with. And it ended with a hug after Kevin said that he wanted to try being a real son for Wymack. 

“I’m happy for you, and proud. I hope I’m not, y’know, overstepping or something, but I know yer mum would be proud to.” Wymack looked very awkward having to say such emotional things with Link standing right there, but he got through it, for the sake of his son. A silent understanding passed between the two men, one where they both knew Wymack hadn’t meant anything about Exy. He was proud of Kevin. Not his career. Proud of what walking into this room hand in hand with somebody he was dating meant, of what it all meant. I’m proud of you for having healed and grown into yourself.

Kevin felt dangerously close to crying. “Thanks, David.” He just hoped it didn’t show in his voice. 

“Now,” Wymack slipped easily back into coach mode after a moment passed and pointed to the boys locker, “get your ass out there and practice or else I’m signing you up for every marathon in the next three years.” 

“Yes, coach.” He turned to Link who had this look in their eyes, like they somehow understood the deeper meaning behind Wymack’s congratulations as well. Perhaps they had, and if so it just meant that they knew Kevin very well which all at once terrified and elated him. “Coach will bring you into the stadium. I won't be long.”

Link looked to Wymack again, “Do I have to call you ‘coach’ too? Or maybe ‘Kevin’s dad’?”

Wymack let out a chuckle and shrugged. “Call me David, it’ll piss them all off.” 

“Alright then, David.” Link kissed Kevin’s cheek like it was nothing, just like that in front of Wymack without a hint of hesitation, and moved towards the hallway to the outer court like they owned the place. It brought a little tilt to Kevin’s mouth. 

Kevin, with a stupid little grin on his face, took a step in the direction of the locker room before being stopped with one hand by Wymack. 

“We do need to have a serious talk though.” He says, voice low to keep Link out of the conversation. Kevin’s first thought was ‘ the Moriyama’s’ but was relieved when the next words that were spoken were, “Interviewer’s are planning on swarming this Friday since it’s the Raven’s. Keep on alert, okay?” 

“Yeah.” 

The whole practice Kevin was getting teased by his teammates. 

He should have expected this more than anything. They now had something personal to poke fun at, and they were not going to stop milking it for everything it's worth. But this was still practice and they were in the middle of the season, facing the Raven’s on friday and Jack still couldn’t keep up, Matt still was missing shots, Andrew still wasn’t trying. 

“Nicky, knees!” Kevin scolded while weaving through the cousin and Matt towards goal, taking a shot on Robin and scoring. It lit up red and that thick satisfaction swelled in his chest. “Remember, keep your eyes on my elbows, not the ball.”

Robin nodded, taking the criticism in full stride. He appreciated her for this, her ability to see the errors and be willing to correct them. If only everyone else was like that. 

“Kevin!” Matt sing-songed as they walked back to their marks for another round. “Guess who's watching!”

Link was indeed sitting next to Renee and Wymack on the bench outside, talking animatedly but never once taking their eyes off him and always waving when he’d look over. He flushed a bit, thankfully it was hidden well by his face guard. 

“Yeah, they are watching me get through your block every time.” Kevin took his stance and gripped his racket tightly, desperately trying to keep his eyes trained on centre court where the ball is being served instead of the pretty person watching from a few metres away. He was not about to prove Matt’s teasing right. “Keep up.” 

And they were running after the ball.

Allison throws it and it whizzes past Kevin’s ear. He turns on his feet with the ball and chases it down court again. He sinks the net of his racket around the moving ball and twists with it around Nicky who stumbles in his wake all in the same step. Matt suddenly pops up in his peripheral vision, running fast enough to stay in foot with him. They grin at each other. 

While still holding eye contact with Matt and counting number 13, he shoots the ball to the wall on his left, briefly realising it to be the wall directly in front of home bench. The ball rebounds and Neil effectively scoops it up, running full speed at their friend in goal. They duck under Matt’s racket and sidestep Nicky’s hip check, coming right up to the goal box line. Both Matt and Nicky are coming at them from either side, ready to steal the ball on the next shot. 

But Neil doesn’t aim for goal. 

They rebound it off the plexiglass above it. 

It comes shooting back at Kevin like a bullet, trajectory a little off since Neil’s strong suit was more speed then aim. Kevin lunges to the side, feels his arms jolt with the velocity of the ball hitting the netting and aims. Neil ducks down just in time for Nicky and Matt to trip over them, all three ending up in a pile of gear and grunts. But Kevin shoots the ball over them and it sinks into the top left corner where Robin has left unguarded. 

Red fills his vision and he flushes with pride. 

He couldn’t wait to pull that move on the Raven’s, show them that he was still the same Kevin Day who defined the Perfect Court. 

Matt, Neil and Nicky untangled themselves from their pile and weren’t looking too happy. 

“Look,” Nicky grunts as he pops his neck, “I get that you wanna show off to Linky and all, but please refrain from killing us.” 

“Oi!” Wymack bangs on this plexiglass. He installed a speaker system connected to a little mic so he could yell at them from the bench. “Day, Josten. The fuck was that? You trying to put yourselves in hospital right before a game? Don’t let me see you pull that shit again, you hear Josten?” 

“Yes coach.” Neil rolls their eyes. 

Coach can’t hear them but still says, “‘Yes, coach’ my fucking ass, Josten. Robin, Allison, Neil, Nicky, swap out.”

Renee and three freshmen replaced them on court. One of those three being Jack. It was Kevin’s responsibility to be training Jack, but he was stubborn and whiny. Kevin had a theory that Jack and Neil hated each other so much because they were two sides of the same coin. Very similar, but complete opposites. 

“You’re boyfriends so fucking chatty.” Jack complains to him as they get ready for another scrimmage. 

“Grow the fuck up,” Kevin pointed the end of his racket at him in warning, “misgender them again and you’ll be cleaning up after every practice alone, including nights. Now improve on court to be worth my time or fuck off.”

Kevin knew that he was the only person on the whole team who’s opinion mattered to Jack, being idolised by him since Jack was barely a teenager. So Jack remained quiet the rest of practice. It ends on a high with Kevin’s team winning and they leave court feeling thoroughly exhausted and confident. 

Everyone goes straight to the changing rooms to shower but Link regains all Kevin’s attention. 

“That shot you made with Neil was so cool!” They looked at him in awe. This boosted his ego more than any fan could. He grinned stupidly as they continued to gush while standing on the bench to be a head taller. Their hands did this and that, flailing around like a cheerleader with pom-poms “I have absolutely no care for this sport or any others, but I might just have to watch every game you’re in from here on out. Do you even realise how hot you look? Like, fuck! Why the hell are you with me and not Beyonce? And David! Please tell me you’ll get older like that, too. An absolute DILF!”

“Please do not call him a DILF.” Kevin asked in horror. 

“Okay,” Link giggled. They shoved a hand into his hair to inspect it. “But when do you think you’ll start going grey, hm? You’d look real good salt and pepper.”

Kevin laughed and knocked their hand away. He wrapped his arms around them and looked up. They had fake freckles painted on next to the real ones, beautiful chocolate eyes framed by impossibly long eyelashes and clear lip gloss. 

“Also, Beyonce isn’t my type.” 

Link shoves his face away but giggles. “I’m pretty sure Beyonce is everyone’s type.”

“Nah,” he loops their arms around his neck and extends his neck a bit to kiss them on the mouth. Link leans in and down a bit, letting him in with a little breathy sigh. This was the first real time they were alone, being that they usually met in public places with risky chased kisses being stolen. Here everyone was showering and changing. Here they were alone. 

Kevin savoured the feeling of the inside of their mouth, the slide of lips and warmth of breath. Link tried to grab his armour but it was too bulky so they settled on pulling him closer by the hair. Kevin groaned, well aware that his hair was just as sensitive as his mouth, and reached out to somehow get closer. 

This was that frustration that had been building up since that night after Edens, from the quick touches and stealthy kisses. He let all those times where he stopped himself from filling out their mouth fuel his movements. 

“You are beautiful.” He murmured into their neck, kissing generously over their darker skin. “I like you. ” 

“Shut up,” they giggled a little out of breath. Link grabbed his cheeks and brought his face out of their neck. “I like you too.” They leant down and kissed him once more but with a lot less vigour. He felt a jolt as their tongue hesitantly moved over his, warm and soft. He let himself be kissed silly by Link. They do this thing with their teeth on his lip and he jumps with a little gasp, but it’s good. 

They never try to push forward, content to stay here with mouths on mouths. He’d never kissed just to kiss before, it was always about setting the mood for the end result, but now he felt like he could spend all day like this, kissing to be kissed. 

His wound muscles relaxed and as did the walls around him. 

He let Link hear the sounds they made him release with their nails on his scalp and soft lips on his. 

When they pulled apart, that cherry lip gloss was everywhere but Kevin didn’t mind. 

“Sorry,” they giggled, using the end of their knitted sweater sleeve to rub it off Kevin’s mouth. He wiped it off from around their mouth and placed a short kiss once before stepping away. 

“I have to go shower.” he motioned at his sweaty self with a sort of grimace that was more to get a laugh out of them than actual disgust. “You can wait here and I’ll come get you or face the hoard?” 

They rolled their eyes and brushed the hair out of his eyes, “You’re more dramatic than me. Besides, I need to find out all the embarrassing stories about you while you’re not around.” 

“Oh, yeah?” He raised a offended eyebrow.

“Yup.” They nodded and hopped down off the bench, back to being a whole foot shorter than him. “Run along, sweaty man before you start smelling.” 

Kevin gaped at them. They smacked the padding over his ass as they left him to stand alone in the court. 

Chapter Text

When Link had said that the apartment was crappy, they hadn’t been exaggerating. It was a small hole in the wall, probably built in the seventies and likey hadn’t had intensive work done on it since. Link was ecstatic with the whole thing. 

Kevin walked fifteen minutes from the dorms to the address they had sent him via text. When he arrived he had to take a moment to laugh at how out of place they looked against the backdrop of the complex. They’re small and young, beautifully sat waiting on a throne of boxes and suitcases. They’re scrolling through their phone, dressed comfortably in grey tracksuit pants and one of Kevin’s palmetto hoodies. They looked so cozy and soft, absolutely swimming in fabric. 

The complex behind them on the other hand was probably red brick when it had been built, but now boasted a faded brown colour all around with patches of what he was hoping was moss -it was definitely mould- around gutters and pipes. On the outside was a fire escape, again it had probably been painted black decades ago but the bare, rusted metal led Kevin to believe that it was more a safety hazard than any fire. There were french doors spaced evenly out facing the street, and the smallest balcony. Someone had placed plants on their balcony, their neighbour had stacks of beer cans threatening to fall down and make a victim out of anyone walking underneath. 

“Hey,” Kevin made himself known because no doubt they were too engrossed in their screen to realise he’d shown up. 

Link looked up and grinned. The phone was slipped into their pocket as they stood up to give him a huge hug. 

“Babe, look, my apartment!” He didn’t think he’d even heard them so excited but he could hear the shit-eating grin in their voice. Kevin leant down to briefly kiss them, even though they were only fifteen minutes from campus, they were so happy and it made him feel brave. “I even watched your game last night on my kitchen floor.”

“I know, you sent me so many videos.” He had saved all of them since they were all effective at putting a dopey grin on his face. 

Their happiness was contagious. Their excitement and childishness was like an antidote for all the anxiety and stress in his world. The way Link jumped around, showing him every empty cupboard and esque floor board, never failed to smoothen out the creases etched into his face like no moisturizer or anti-aging cream could. Their genuine joy made him youthful and carefree, a young man with a person he adored, surviving college just to graduate into adulthood and a golden dream. 

That dream, the one that was less an aspiration and more an accessory that came along with his last name, was slowly changing and transforming into a thing he’d lay awake at night thinking about with anticipation and excitement.

The dream he was supposed to have was playing court, the Olympics, beside Jean, Nathaniel and Riko, the Perfect Court. But now Riko was dead, Nathaniel was Neil and Jean needed a lot of time before he could face Kevin again. In the past months he’d come to accept a life only lived on court, either with or against the people he’d met in a life solely lived on court, and a minimalist style apartment wherever he ends up, alone and quiet. 

Now though? Now this dream was a full painting. Not just the sketch, the lineart he was expected to fill himself. Link had taken a paint brush in full stride and began to colour in all the empty white with vibrant, extravagant pigments. A pallet Kevin would never have picked himself, but one that was so uniquely them that he couldn’t deny how perfect it was. 

This paint brush took the small, one person apartment and transformed it into a modest family home. It took the minimalist, empty rooms and filled them with life, of drawings on the fridge and laughter directed by hallways. When he only ever imagined owning a car to get from home to the stadium, groceries and gym, he was now imaging family road trips. He was imagining a family. 

He knew it was entirely too early to be thinking such things, especially things he’d never thought he wanted in the first place. But it felt good to fall asleep imagining things he never dreamed he’d be able to imagine. 

“Kevin, I know I’m pretty but you have to blink once and awhile.” He does blink, finally realising that Link’s trying to get his attention back, waving a hand in front of his face. Of course he’d zoned out thinking about the stupid future. 

“Sorry, I got lost in thought.” He coughs and gestures at the pile of boxes and furniture. There's only a mattress actually, no couch or benches or tables. He supposed they couldn’t fit it all in their dad’s car. Link said they were going to go thrifting for most of the furniture because apparently most of it was expensive as hell. He wouldn’t know, he’d only ever bought sheets for his dorm bed . “We should get these up off the street.” 

Kevin grabbed a box labeled ‘Kitchen’ and held it over his shoulder with one of the many clothes bags tucked under his arm. Link took a moment to just appreciate what years of gym work had done before slowly dragging their eyes back up to meet his. 

“I knew there was a reason I was dating you.” They say with a chuckle. They grab a crate of mugs and leads him upstairs to unlock the door. The next couple of hours followed Kevin painstakingly hoisting boxes up three flights of stairs because this building didn’t have a working elevator. Link did little work, grabbing some of the lighter boxes and keeping Kevin hydrated with cups of water every few trips. 

“Why am I getting the feeling this was all just a ploy to check me out?” He grunts at Link who is obviously staring at his ass as he puts a box down in the living room corner of the apartment. They don’t even try to hide it, nor act embarrassed at being caught. 

“Yes Kevin,” even though they roll their eyes, they come over to reach up and kiss him, “I moved out of home, bought my own shitty apartment and had you help me move in all to stare at your ass and biceps. I’m so ashamed you found me out, please forgive me.” 

“You’re forgiven.” Kevin drapes his sweaty arms over their shoulders and pulls them in close. Even though he’s gross and exhausted, they rest their head on his chest and hug him back. “Besides, it's a great ass, be a shame if nobody appreciates it.”

Link slaps said ass hard and quickly pulls away. 

Kevin stares at them, a little shocked to be honest, before grinning. He says, playfully of course, “You’re gonna regret that.” 

They grin back at him, catching on immediately and making a run for it. Now, this apartment was cheap, meaning small, so there wasn’t really anywhere to run that was far enough away. But, in the spirit of fun, Kevin went easy on them as they darted around boxes and bags. Their little body meant it was easy for them to duck under Kevin’s outstretched arms or even once between the legs, but he was Kevin Day.

He caught them in the bedroom where he had dumped the unmade mattress in the middle of the room. He tackled them down like he was a Rugby athlete, not Exy. They land safely on the mattress and bounce a few times, laughing. Kevin calmed down first which gave him the opportunity to watch them. 

“I’ll never get over how pretty you are.” He says and it seems to sober Link up enough to stop giggling and instead just grin up at him. “You’re the best thing to ever happen to me.” 

“Oh, come on! quit exaggerating!” 

“I’m not, Link. It is no exaggeration just how much better everything is now that I have you. I’m not ready to talk about it just yet, but I’m so close to being there and when I am I hope you’ll still have me.”

“Don’t worry babe, you’re not getting rid of me that easily.” He kisses them because he can. He can lay here and stay here and be here. He is allowed to. Allowed to move on from Riko into a better, brighter life. He’s allowed all of it, the freedom, the joy, the discovery. 

This is my healing, acceptance and embracing every part of myself. 

“I am Ace.” He says, because he’s allowed to. “I talked about it with Bee, and I have been the past two session. It’s difficult for me to...I don’t know, admit it. I grew up in a very sexual environment, where sex was more acceptable than friendship. I guess back then I was numb- desensitized to it. It didn’t gross me out back when I’d do it because I was just so numb. I guess, y’know, as I heal and get out of that mindset it hit me. And I’m not broken or less than, or whatever. I’m still a man, I’m still whole, not missing a piece. I still adore you and have feelings -amazing, strong feelings- for you. You’re not at fault and neither am I, it’s just the way it is.”

Link’s grin has turned more into a soft, reserved smile and their eyes are full and wide and shiny, they’re proud of him and it almost makes him cry .  They knew, of course, and they were letting  him have the power to say it himself and they were proud of him. Not angry, or frustrated, but happy and supportive. It made them happy to see Kevin accepting this as a part of himself, just like his Exy was a part of him. It made them both proud to hear Kevin say all those words and mean every single one of them. 

“I’m sorry.” He lets a tear fall because, guess what, he’s allowed to cry and he’s allowed to be asexual and he’s allowed to be held and it didn’t make him weak, and he wasn’t less of a man. And he wasn’t crying because he was sad, no, he was crying because he had never imagined he could be so happy.  “I’m sorry that I gave it to her and not you. If I could, I would, but I can’t. I can’t because I’m asexual.” 

He’s never felt so much relief. Okay, maybe there have been moments that were bigger in the grand scheme of things, but this was as big a milestone as covering his tattoo or every month that passed without a drop of alcohol in his system. 

“Kevin, I am pretty sure I love you.” They beam and yeah, it all makes sense. 

“Good thing you said it first or I’d have gone on a huge monologue again.” Love. He was definitely in love.

“God forbid.”  They tease. 

“But, Link Harris, I’m pretty sure I love you, too.”

Chapter Text

The two of them had taken a nap on the mattress after the one sided day of hard work. Link had insisted, and who was Kevin to say no? Just to be annoying, he had collapsed his huge body on top of them until they complained they couldn’t breathe. Then he rolled off and coddled Link up in his arms, them sprawling out and halfway laying on him this time, legs tangled together and head tucked under Kevin’s chin. He fell quickly to sleep like this, a comforting pressure lulling him much faster than he would have expected. He remembered thinking that he could get used to this -all of this- before dozing off. 

When he woke, it was to a harsh, relentless knocking on the front door. 

Kevin took a moment to clear the disorientation he felt at waking in an unfamiliar environment, and the spike of anxiety that came with it. The sun was still high in the sky, streaming in like a river of liquid gold through the window and warming them both. Link had shuffled in their sleep -which he was shocked at because he would have usually woken up at the slightest movement- and now had their back pressed to his side, clutching the arm wrapped under them. He took a moment to appreciate their sleeping form, lips parted and slightly drooling all over the pillow. They had only woken up beside each other once before -that time at Columbia- but Kevin had been second to wake up, losing those few moments of creepily watching them sleep adorably. 

The knocking pierced through his soft thoughts once again and he groaned. 

“Babe,” he shook them lamely, “Link, wake up.”

They pushed his face away, not even bothering to open their eyes. “Fuck off,” Link grunts and curles in closer to their own body. They’re awake, albeit barely, but still awake enough to get up.

“Somebody at the door,” He tried once more to softly wake them. They roll away once again. 

He chuckled when he got a mischievous idea. Leaning into their ear and he whispered, “Sweetheart.”

Link’s eyes shot open instantly and it takes all of Kevin to not burst out laughing. Link blinks a couple times to get their bearings before realising what they had just done, and then an adorable, sleepy scowl is turned on him. Kevin does laugh at that. 

“Fuck you.” They huff, but then they seem to realise that there are in fact unresting, angry knocks on the door. “What the hell?”

“Maybe it’s a neighbour?” He offered optimistically. Even if it was a neighbour, the knocking would be a rude welcome.

They shrug and crawl off the bed, shaking their legs to wake them up. Kevin reluctantly follows, pulling on a hoodie on the way out since he wasn’t hiking boxes up stairs anymore and it was chilly. By the time he’s got his head popped out Link’s already at the door. When they swing it open, one of the would have been knocks stretches a little too far and barely misses their face. 

It’s a young man, not far off from Kevin’s age but just a few inches shorter. He’s similar to Link in the colour of his skin, although he was darker by a couple shades. There's a box labeled ‘Cat’ next to his shoes, dropped thoughtlessly on it’s side with its contents spilling out onto the cheap carpeted floor. He’s dressed just as uncaringly. Stained t-shirt and oversized, sloppy tracksuit shorts. Hair overgrown, ends dead. Acne scars and blemishes that could be easily fixed with moisturizer. 

When he says, “Oopsie,” Kevin catches a glimpse of smokers teeth. He should take a photo to show Andrew, passive aggressive threatening, maybe something along the lines of ‘really think Neil will let you kiss them with teeth like this?’. 

“What do you want, Dylan?” Link’s shoulders instinctively tense and they take a defensive stance against the unwelcomed man. 

“Can’t I just visit my favourite little fag brother?” He kicks the box into the room and follows it in, pushing past Link’s protective barrier to poison the soft atmosphere that had previously hung nicely in the apartment. 

So this was Link’s brother. The one that made them turn up on his doorstep drenched and crying. He was scrawny and malnourished, if Kevin punched him he looked like he would crumple in on himself like a paper moon. 

“You don’t care enough to do that.” Link accuses.

“Correct.” Dylan throws a sleazy, yellow toothed grin back at Link who hadn’t moved. They were putting up a very good front, but Kevin could see how they were shattering behind it, the reddening around the eyes, the too tightness of their mouth. He wanted to throw Dylan out by his collar within the second, to protect them. “I really don’t care about you, brother. But, Kevin Day being in your living room is something I definitely care about.” 

“I’m helping them move in.” He steels up, puffing out like a puffer fish to intimidate this walking corpse of a man. He doesn’t seem phased though. 

He clicks his tongue, shaking his head mockingly back at Link. “Was wonderin’ why you finally gave a shit ‘bout Exy,” he motioned to the hoodie they were wearing and they cross their arms in front of the name printed on the front, “thought maybe it was some dumbass fucking boyfriend who liked the sissy, but its even betta. You’re banging the fucking Queen herself! Hilarious!”

“Is misgendering people a hobby of yours then?” Kevin hisses. 

Dylan performs a one shoulder shrug with a level of energy Andrew could admire. “Guess they don’t call you the ‘Queen’ for nothing, huh? Not only will you always be second, but you a homo ‘s’well! Wait until ma and baba find out, precious little Oliver slutting it up with the man who betrayed the Raven’s. I could post it all over Twitter, wanna play a game to see how fast I can end your whole career? I’ll bet everything Riko built up for you will crumble within an hour. One last betrayal for the man that gave you everything!” 

“Dylan, shut up-” Link tries but their disgusting brother is on a roll. 

“Or should I leave it? Play a different game, bet on how long it’ll take you to stab baby Oliver here in the back? Since that appears to be a hobby of yours , yes? Let’s see how long it’ll take you to get what you need from him, and then leave for a shitty excuse of a replacement! I won't stop you, just give me a call when you’ve run away like a pussy so I can come to collect my debt, yes?”

Kevin stays quiet, somehow feeling exposed by this sorry man. He felt like Dylan saw right through him and put him -the real him- on full display. Was he really that well known by the public? He thought he gave a pretty impressive act to the cameras. Could he really not hide the useless coward he actually was? 

“Has the Queen got nothing to say?” Dylan barks out a croaky laugh, mocking, mocking, mocking. “Riko gave you everything! Without him, you’d be nothing, y’hear! You’re nothing without him! He made you who you are and you abandon him! Coward!” he’s all of a sudden hysterical, screaming at him with a peeling finger in his face. Dylan’s eyes are blown extraordinarily wide, the pupils almost over taking the natural brown, he imagined that they might spread into the whites soon. His breath smells toxic as it’s projected into his face when Dylan continues to yell and yell and scream. “Jean and you are ungrateful bastards! Riko gives you power and you spit on his grave? You run away to the pathetic Foxes and that whore Jean goes to join the Trojans ? He’s probably over there sucking Knox’s dick, the fucking slag!” 

Kevin’s breathing is accelerating, he can’t control it. He’s been yelled at by Raven’s fans plenty over the past two years, he was almost used to it. But this was different because Link was here, hearing all of it. His palms were sweating, heart hammering so hard he could feel it in his ears, deafening him. He could see Dylan’s mouth moving, still yelling his head off about Kevin’s betrayal, but he couldn’t hear a word. 

“You’re high!” Link’s voice is closer than he remembered it being. “Get out, get out.” 

Dylan leans in so their faces are almost pressed together and he’s saying something, Kevin can feel it against his cheek but all he could smell was the cheap beer clinging to the scent wafting out of the rotting crevice that was his mouth. He could almost taste the foul liquid on his own tongue, more a memory than anything. But saliva flooded in anyways, reminding him of past panic attacks that ended with empty bottles and vomit slicked bathrooms. That ended with quiet. 

He feels himself moving but he can’t quite place how or where, he’s too dizzy for any sense of direction. He doesn’t think he’s moving by himself. 

“Kevin, open your eyes for me, babe.” He’s stuck under the water's surface so when he follows Link’s voice by opening his scrunched up eyes it feels like he just breached, gasping and coughing for air. The world came back in fragments, the biggest and most important being Link knelt in front of him, stroking his face while theirs was drowning with concern. They’ve sat him down on the ground and propped him against the kitchen cupboards, then finally he notes the lack of yelling. 

“Hey,” Link pushed his hair back even though it falls right back over his forehead everytime. It was getting long, by next month he would probably be able to tie it back. He focused on Link’s smile, however forced it was, to keep him grounded like an anchor. “I got him out. Dad asked him to drop off a box I forgot but he was drunk and high and- he’s gone now.” 

“I’m sorry,” Kevin chokes. I’m sorry you had to see me like this. I’m sorry I couldn’t be the one to protect you. I’m sorry I’m weak.

Link shakes their head, “Don’t apologies, Kev. It’s all his fault. He shouldn’t have said any of that to you.”

“What about what he said to you?”

“I’m used to it-”

“You shouldn’t have to be!” 

“Please don’t yell.” They whimpered and he was washed with guilt.

They may have been used to it, but that did not mean they were immune to it. Even if Kevin had been the main target of the whole situation, Dylan was still the foul man who had hurt Link and continued to hurt them. Just him being in the room probably wrecked them and Kevin bet that if he was not the one having a panic attack at that moment, they would be. They were, he could tell, but they were silent. They were shaking, trying to keep it together for his sake but he could see the tears barely hanging on. They had been misgendered and deadnamed and mocked by the one person who could hurt them of course they were in pain. 

He reached forward and wrapped them up tight as they instantly started to sob. The two times he had seen them cry had both been caused by that sore excuse for a man, it filled him with anger. That anger and concern pushed down the remaining anxiety, effectively distracting him enough to provide support. 

“I feel s...so embarrassed,” it’s strangled by a sob, “that you heard that...that name.” 

In all honesty, Kevin could barely remember what name they were talking about. Everything was clouded in a haze of anxiety. But he thought that probably wasn’t the best answer for the situation at hand. 

“It doesn’t change anything for me, alright? It means nothing, it’s just another name. You’re Link, my Link and that doesn’t change because of your asshole brother.” They’re rocking back and forth, taking Kevin with them. He knows how to handle panic attacks, from first hand experience, but he’s pretty sure this isn’t a panic attack. Or not a full one at least. This had something to do with their gender. He doesn’t know what they need him to do. 

“What do you need? What should I do?” He whispers. 

“Call me pretty.” They’re embarrassed, quiet and flustered. “Make me not feel like a boy.” 

He spent the next hour whispering to them, telling them that they were pretty and that he loved them. He softly asked, please wear a skirt tomorrow when we go on our date; you’re so beautiful when you do. And he said more things that he’d cringe at if it wasn’t him saying the words to them. He’d always hated complements, giving them and receiving them, except for those few times sentences had just slipped out when Link was utterly beautiful. But he’d always cringe and be awkward, out of practice from years of insults and abuse, but comforting them then was so easy. Saying all the things he had ever thought, letting them know that who they were before meant nothing to him. He was not in love with a boy named Oliver, he was in love with a person named Link. 

Eventually, they’ve both calmed down and Kevin suggests going back to bed to which they give a little nod to. So, he picked them up bridal style which startled a giggle out of them and returned them to the comfortable mattress. 

Link’s sitting on his lap, playing with the longer strands of hair behind his ears. 

“I didn’t know you were that Kevin Day.” They mutter. It was strange having them so quiet since they were usually the playful one and it broke his heart. He wanted to hurt Dylan in so many ways. “Everyone else in my family loves the Ravens, but we both know I never gave a shit about Exy so I didn’t pay attention. Then, one day at breakfast my dad just, like, slams his newspaper down on the table. He was calling Dylan and mum in, I thought something really, really bad had happened so I stayed. Then he just said ‘Kevin Day is transferring to PSU Foxes!’ and zoned out from then on because ‘who the fuck is Kevin Day, why should I care?’.” Link provided a very half-assed impression of their father’s disapprovement. “Anyways, they didn't stop talking about it for, like, a month and I really didn’t pay attention, only catching snippets when I was in the same room. I heard about your hand, about your transfer. They said you ‘betrayed’ whoever the hell it was. Then the subject died down until sometime at the end of last school year something happened which had them furious. So I knew, second hand, but It didn’t really connect to me that you were ‘ Kevin Day’ Kevin Day , y’know?”

He nods, rubbing the scars on his hand out of habit. He was a public figure, it was only a matter of time before they found out a few things. But he still wasn’t ready to talk about it, even if some of it was public knowledge. He needed time.

“You can google-”

“No,” they shut him up with a chase kiss, “what I said to Andrew at Eden’s still applies. Everything I find out about you, comes from you. Just because you’re famous or whatever doesn’t matter.” 

“I didn’t...betray the Ravens. I did run away, but it was survival, not abandonment. I won't abandon you.”

“I won't let you.” They tease, cracking a small smile even if it wobbles a little at either side. “Let's just relax now, I'm exhausted." Kevin understood perfectly, his limbs ached and his brain was slow. Neither of them were fine after what had just happened, and they weren't going to be for a while so the best they could do was rest. "I don’t want this to affect our fun date tomorrow. Wanna watch a show?” Kevin noded, splaying his hands out on their hips to hold them close, their warmth and weight did wonders for that shadow of anxiety creepy at the corners. “Wanna watch Young Royal’s? Gay prince drama.” 

“You and your gay princes.” He rolls his eyes. “But yes, of course. Go get your laptop.” 

Six episodes, a box of tissues and multiple angry rants later, Kevin understood the whole gay princes thing. 

Chapter Text

The next morning still held a tense aura. Kevin hadn’t been expecting any different after what had happened the night before. He woke up to an empty bed, which at first struck him full of fear. He was in an unfamiliar environment, topless and in a bed that still radiated with the heat of another person. Then, when he reminded himself of his surroundings, came the panic of Link being gone. He knew logically, the bed was still warm where they had been so they hadn’t abandoned him, but anxiety wasn’t logical. 

He sat up, sheets falling around his hips. It was midmorning, sunny but in the way that was still fully crowning above the horizon. Shadows were being pushed back into corners and there was a bird chirping on the fire escape railing outside.

He’s about to kick his legs over the edge when Link pushes the door open with they’re shoulder, two cups of steaming coffee in their hands. One’s in a Pikachu mug and the other a Palmetto state mug. Kevin gets the latter placed into his hands. Link doesn’t say anything as they somehow manage to get under the covers, between Kevin’s thighs and seated comfortably against his chest. 

“Morning, babe.” Kevin pressed a kiss to the back of their ear, soft brown hair tickling his nose. It's poking every which way from tossing and turning all night, it’s honestly kind of adorable. Link turned their face to kiss his cheek and snuggled closer. They’re so soft without all the makeup and clothes, just rugged up in one of his shirts and smelling of linen and coffee. 

“We have a reservation at ten,” he throws a peek over at an alarm clock sitting abandoned on the floor next to a box, “We have two hours.” 

“Better start getting ready.” They sigh. 

“What? We can get ready in like an hour and a half?” Kevin felt the way Link’s body froze. He knew he fucked up. With what, he didn’t know, but there had to be something. 

They turn, “Half an hour to get ready for our first date? It only takes you half an hour?”

Usually getting ready for him could be a ten minute journey between his bed and the front door of his dorm. Thirty minutes was a lot of time for him. Long showers weren’t allowed in the nest, nor was tardiness. Riko would abruptly wake him up and expect him to be on court within five minutes. He’d let himself relax by slowing it down to a ten minutes routine. 

“What about skin care? Hair? What are you wearing?” 

And just like that Kevin was swirled up into a hurricane of Link’s morning routine. He had several creams and patches applied to his face and hands while Link combed hair products through his locks. It was very therapeutic and Kevin almost fell asleep again to the feeling of their nails against his scalp. But he was thrown in the shower with three different types of body wash that had to be applied in a specific order. 

Link follows with the same treatment, but is taking significantly longer. The water isn’t running, but he knocks anyway. 

“Come in!” They yell from the other side. 

Kevin opens the door to a display he’s only ever seen Allison in the middle of. Their hair is pushed out of their face by a fluffy headband with ears while they’re poking at their eye with a short black pencil. Link seemed to be in extreme concentration, dragging the pencil along their bottom eyelashes. He didn’t want to distract them; he made sure he was quiet while he brushed his teeth. 

Their outfit for the day was spread out over the toilet seat and Kevin smiled to himself when he saw a skirt he recognised sitting on top. It was the one they had been wearing the day they met, it felt like yesterday and forever ago all at once. It was a nice brown plaid, falling to the knees if he remembered correctly. 

He wasn’t worried at all about his outfit since Allison had nagged him about it all Friday night, forcing him into different variations of what he thought was the exact same outfit. Ultimately she had decided that simple was best, even if that meant a soft tan jumper tucked into his best pair of black jean’s with an abundance of silver jewelry. He was certainly not a jewelry man, but he knew it would be appreciated on Link’s end. 

When they were fully ready, half an hour to spare, Link made them take photos in their mirror. Kevin had lost count of all the photos but he didn’t really mind since Link was all over him to fit into the cramped mirror. Arm around their shoulder and chin on head, another flash of the camera went off. He knew Link wanted to post these pictures all over social media, show him off like a trophy husband, caption them with snarky comments and have people see them together like this. He felt immensely guilty. Because of him Link couldn’t be a normal twenty year old and post their relationship all over Instagram, instead they had to hide it everywhere. Yeah, they were going on a date today, but they couldn’t hold hands through the aisles of a bookshop, or kiss over the coffee table. 

 “God, we look so good together. People wish they were us.” Link was grinning ear to ear at their phone, busy putting filters over the pair of them. “Thank fuck you put up with me, look just how photogenic we are!” 

The screen is shoved in his face but he sees through layers of filters and he can’t help but smile too because they were a really good looking couple. A young, Instagram worthy, aesthetic couple. 

Kevin leans down and kisses them softly, gently holding their face. He hoped he wasn’t mucking up their make-up too much, he had just wanted one last moment of this before his career forced them to hide. 

He had been correct when saying it’s easier to remain heterosexual, it was so much easier, but he didn’t want to be. 

“I love you,” he kissed it into their lips, pinching the rounded blouse collar poking out from under a knitted brown vest. 

“Love you too, babe.” They take his hand along with their purse and drag him out the door. “Now stop being sappy and hurry up, Exy star.”

The uber driver didn’t so much as speak to them on the ride, but Link was chattering away, absently playing with the rings on each of Kevin’s fingers. The makeup was good, natural and simple, but he could still see the dark shadows under their eyes no matter how animated their babbling. He supposed they hadn’t slept much last night, most likely staying awake for hours while Kevin was deep in sleep. 

He wanted to lean forward and sooth the out darkness, kiss they’re eyes and nose and mouth and restore them to full health but bringing attention to it was probably not the way to go. 

The cafe/bookshop/whatever was perfect.

Link was enthralled with the shelves stacked with new and old books. They had sat down long enough to order their coffee before springing up to interrogate the selection while Kevin watched from their table. He slowly drank his coffee, mainly preoccupied with the skirt. Link never failed to look amazing in them, the skimming on the skin of they’re dark thighs. As they reached up to grab a book from the top shelf, he wanted to layer kisses all over the expanses of their skin, feel their legs hooked over his back to hold him safe. Just imagining it washed him with a sense of security and softness in his chest that shocked him awake from his daydream and back to the small room. 

The place really was small, but the area was well used. Books were stacked anywhere they could be, behind, on top of, under, wherever they fit. The coffee scent mixed in well with the one of paper, it almost smelt like the shop Link worked in. Kevin wasn’t much into books unless they were on history so he sipped his cappuccino in peace. 

He watches them take books of shelves and read the blurbs on the back or in the inside cover. He watches them flick through novels around 300 pages to ones easily 1000. As they weigh each one in their hands, feel their spines and pages, inspect the font and smell. He falls in love all over again, watching them soak up every last drop of this thing they loved. The soft smile tugging at their lips when the book in their hand sounded particularly intriguing. There was also the skirt they were wearing, that too was captivating. 

But ultimately they came back empty handed. 

“No stack?” He quips, raising an eyebrow. 

“I don’t think I have to remind you that I just bought an apartment.” Link pouted, sipping their straw adorably. They hook their ankles together under the table, subtly rubbing up and down his shin. It seemed as though they were doing it subconsciously. “Anyways, thanks for today, it's the best! Weird though since it's in a different coffee shop. But whatever, I love it. And the books! Let's come back again, Kev. Y’know, when I have money.” 

“Yeah, alright, sounds great.” He wanted to say anything you want but that idea scared him. This whole ‘letting people in’ thing scared him, but he was done being a traumatised Exy asshole with an alcohol dependancy. This was his time to gain independence away from the Ravens, discover who he was outside of number two. His time to figure out what types of people he wanted as friends, partners . His chance to have a father. He wasn’t letting it go.

Kevin’s phone screen lit up on the table with a text from Nicky caught his attention. After opening and reading it, he turns his gaze up on Link. “Andrew wants to go down to Eden’s again next Friday, with the whole team this time. Interested?” 

Link’s face lit up with that innocent glee that hadn’t yet made an appearance today. “Can we make out in Aaron’s bed again?” 

He flushed at the mention of the night that both made him swoon and cringe at the same time. Aaron still -miraculously- hadn’t found out for which he was grateful. Not exactly embarrassed about making out in his bed, but certainly secretive about it, Kevin had sworn Nicky to silence.

“Probably not.” Kevin snorted, however. “He’s bringing his girlfriend down. I usually crash on Nicky’s floor or the living room couch.”

They look comically deflated with the disappointing news, but sighed an agreement out anyways. Kevin shot off a text to Nicky letting him know they’d both be going before taking the final sip of his coffee. 

“Hey,” Link’s hand fell over his. His only thought was the people around them, watching and seeing Kevin Day holding hands with somebody in public. He told his anxiety to shut up but the events of the day before had stirred up these thoughts again, it was no use. They poked at him like spears, relentless and ruining. 

“There is a park around here with a lake, wanna grab a coffee to go? I need to get out of here before I spend money I don’t have”

“Yeah, sure.” He squeezed they’re hand gently with a smile. “I’ll go buy, you wait outside.” 

It was the perfect opportunity to take Robin’s advice and buy them a book. He wasn’t exactly rich, but being Kevin Day came with a few perks. 

He grabs one they had spent a while admiring, it's rather thin with probably around 250 pages and Kevin swore the title was long enough to take up a quarter of that word count. The red chevy on the front caught him off guard, Link didn’t seem to be a person interested in the types of stories that featured red 80’s chevy’s in the middle of a desert. Then again, he had no idea what the book was about. 

It comes to a total of $30 with two take away coffees and Kevin whips out the team spending card. Wymack hadn’t asked why he was borrowing it, most likely just assuming he was buying another racket. Who had Kevin become over these past few months with Link? 

He hid the book in his bag and walked out to Link petting a dog. 

They took a moment to spring up, distracted by the lab's belly. 

“Thank you, Grace.” They say to the owner, a teenage girl with a blush just as red as the hair on her head. He felt a twinge of jealousy in his gut, which was quickly extinguished with a bounty of pride. “And thank you, Hero. Best boy ever.” 

The dog seems just as infatuated with Link as the owner, panting and wagging its tail in excitement. Link seemed to sense his presence behind them and turned that beautiful full grin on Kevin.

“Well maybe second best boy ever, this one brings me coffee.” They took the latte from him, claiming Kevin’s now free hand with their own. Link brings his hand up to kiss his knuckles with a giggle. “Thanks, babe. Just what I needed.” 

Kevin’s entire system had shut down. Anxiety battled with affection. One half of his brain screamed because holy shit we’re out in public and the other half screamed equally as loud holy shit pda was validating as fuck. 

After a quick goodbye, Link swiftly pulled him away with that bright grin instantly dimming as soon as they’re backs were turned. “I get it, I’m beautiful, but people need to stop falling in love with me at first sight in coffee shops. It’s getting seriously exhausting.” The teasing grin they showed him did nothing to stop him from blubbering and spluttering. “It’s alright babe, you can admit it, we all know. Good thing you have those shoulders and cute face, huh?”

“Why didn’t you do anything?” Kevin asked, exacerbated. “If you knew then why wait?” 

Link giggled, way too pleased with themself, as they pulled him down a street. The gates to the park were visible at the end. “I’m a precious young maiden, Kevin. But mostly it was just too cute to watch you gay panic everytime I complimented you. Although, if you had taken any longer I most probably would have kissed you over the counter the moment you walked into my shop.” 

“Oh my god,” If there was an emotion passed embarrassed he was felt it at that moment. 

They found a pretty hidden spot under a tree, out of the way from most of the people walking through the gardens. Link sits first, back up against the trunk of the tree. Kevin fished the novel from his bag as he took his place beside them. 

They’re face turned bright as the sun when he hands it over to grabbing hands. “OMG, Kevin! Thank you!” They jumped forward and kissed all over his face while repeating gratitude over and over. He calmed them down with a slow kiss on the lips, bringing their energy down enough to form coherent sentences about how they had wanted this book for ages and how they loved him so much. 

“I don’t deserve you.” They kissed into his cheek. 

“We deserve each other.” Kevin repeated what Bee had been teaching him in their sessions together. “Read to me. Please?” 

And of course Link agreed. 

Kevin made himself comfortable, head on their lap as they stroked his hair with one hand and used the other to hold to book up. He watched them read, smile as the words formed in their mouth. He fell in love with them while they fell in love with the words on the page. 

Soon he closed his eyes, Link’s soothing voice recount character’s pool encounters to a soft playlist of park life. Leaves skidded and rustled while kids played in the playground a handful of metres away. Link’s hand in his hair and words in his ears and smell in his nose. He loved all of it desperately, all this peace and joy. All of it. 

“Thank you for today,” They said to him between chapters. 

“Thank you for all of it.” He said a few chapters after.