Chapter Text
Brad was acting off.
Ever since he had gotten back from jail - actually, scratch that - ever since his brother had arrived last year, he hadn't been himself. A little nicer a little more often. A little more jittery than usual. A little less Brad.
David was sure Jo knew what had happened to make him that way. That night with the tests, when he'd convinced himself he was a wolf, she said something, something about a "Kate." Zack did too, back on Brad's birthday.
David opened the door to their shared office, and wandered over to his desk. After a couple seconds, he looked over to Brad. He didn't look up from his tablet, or seem to care about the fact David had come in at all. Figures.
Sitting down, David took a quick peek behind him, double checking Brad wasn't looking his way, before he pulled out a small file from his desk, and opened it. There were pages and red wool, and far too many highlights, all hand written and pieced together by him.
David had been sitting on the theory for a while now. Trying to get peeks at Jo and Brad, anything he could write down. They must have a secret, just between them. And Zack - he must be in on it, too. Maybe it was what Jo had laughed at, back when David asked Brad for help moving. No, actually, not maybe - it must be.
Brad has an ex-girlfriend, Kate, and she must have something on Brad. Maybe they got together again - obviously the reason why he was so nice to him, getting him the date with Linda, uh, wait, no, that's not her name- the widow isn't his mother, that's ridiculous.
"Ahm," David cleared his throat, feeling embarrassed he made the mistake again. Brad looked up from his desk.
"Are you sick?" Brad said in that higher-than-thou tone of his, raising his eyebrows. "Because if you're sick I don't want you near me."
"What? No, I, uh-" David looked down at his files, then back up at Brad. He squinted his eyes. "Just hangin'. No sick dudes here, not unless you count sick as in cool. Because I'm totally rad. Radical. Oh, but not radical as in-"
Brad raised his eyebrows again.
"Just shut your mouth, David," He said, staring judgmentally at David, "You speaking only serves to hurt my eardrums, and your dignity."
David let out an "uhhh" before he scrambled to rest his arm on the desk, in a cool way (well, he thought it was cool, anyway), but then second guessed himself. There was a pause, and then he raised a thumbs-up instead.
"Yessir. Yep."
Brad rolled his eyes and turned back to his tablet. David sighed relief, and then turned back to the file.
This Kate, whoever she is, must have told Zack and Jo what she has on Brad. Whatever it is, Jo finds it funny, and it's probably one of the things that broke apart Brad and Zack. All he needs to figure out what it was, and then it'll all come together.
But David knew there was no way to find out what it was, not without talking to Brad. Or Jo. He took a peek at Brad. Maybe if he mentioned Kate… he'd get a reaction. Something to break the case wide open.
David meandered his way over to Brad's desk, tapping his pants as he hummed. Brad didn't look up.
"Gonna be floating around today," David said, then paused, looking around their office. No reaction. "Helping people and whatnot."
David stole a glance at Brad. He didn't seem to even acknowledge David was there.
"Just… shootin' the breeze," David said, rocking on his feet. "You know how it is."
David took in a breath and waited. Brad simply tapped away at his tablet.
"Whatcha… whatcha working on there, bud?" David asked, tapping on his legs.
No dice.
"Hey, Brad?"
Silence.
"Brad."
Nothing.
Then,
"Is there something you want from me here, David?" Brad finally looked up at him.
David sent back a smile.
"Just chattin'."
There was a pause.
"Chatting," Brad repeated flatly. "Right."
David looked to the side, feeling like he was sweating out of his every pore all of the sudden. How exactly did he plan on getting Brad's secret again?
Brad leaned back in his chair, laying down his tablet as he crossed his arms. The table squeaked as he put his feet up on it. Brad looked David dead in the eye, analysing him.
"So…" David said cautiously, trailing off with the 'o'. He paused, and then in a voice that was way too high, "What's up, girlfriend?"
Dead quiet.
Then, Brad let out a laugh. David knew that laugh from years of mocking and being made fun of, but it was a little off. So, he laughed along.
The two stopped.
"What is this, D-man?" Brad asked, raising a pointer finger at David and gesturing in a circle. "Did you get put up to this? Did Jo want to test you to see if you were right for the new creative director?"
"What?" David exclaimed, a tad off his game by the laugh, "No…?"
"So it was," Brad said, crossing his arms again.
"No!" David said, a little too loud, and Brad raised his eyebrows.
David squirmed, trying to figure out what to do to save face. He hummed and took in a breath, then stopped, then hummed again.
Brad stared. Oh god, David thought in a panic.
“What - what’s so funny?” David breathily asked. “I - what were we laughing at before? Something funny I did, right?”
Brad frowned.
“Why did you laugh with me if you didn’t know why I was laughing in the first place?” He asked, voice breezily controlling the conversation (and David’s heart rate*) as usual.
*Oh - not in, no, not in the gay way. David wasn’t gay. Brad had his secret girlfriend Kate, he had a wife - well, ex-wife - and Brad just had a way with words that made David panic a lot. Obviously.
“Well - we’re buds, obviously! Buds who tell each other stuff. Like their cool dates. And their love lives. Buds who help eachother out and listen, obviously, you know,” David rambled, “Like buds do.”
Brad closed his eyes and nodded softly, as if piecing everything together. David felt his heart rate quicken - was he going to talk about Kate?
“Mm, I see now,” Brad said, taking his feet off of his table and leaning forward. He looked David in the eye. “You got a date, and you came here so you could talk all about how you got it without any help from me.”
“Wait-” David’s expression widened in surprise. “No, I was - that’s - uh-”
“I hate to break it to you, David,” Brad replied coolly, “But I don’t care about your love life. That dating profile thing was a one-off, a challenge. And I already completed it, so I have no reason to care about any further dates you go on.”
“Uh, well, first of all, that’s harsh,” David stumbled over his words.
Brad shrugged, smug as his mouth curved into a faux smile (or maybe a real one? David never really could tell how evil Brad was).
“And, uh, second of all-” David started.
Brad stared at him, waiting for him to finish. But David realised his opportunity. Brad had completely read him wrong - something very, very unlike Brad to do - and David had almost told him that straight away. But this gave him the opportunity to go along with it. There couldn’t be a better opportunity for snooping.
“I’m gonna talk about her anyway,” David said quickly.
Brad sighed, uninterested, and rolled his eyes.
“I won’t be listening,” He chipped, and then leant back over his tablet, tapping away.
This was a better chance than ever. David cleared his throat and looked away,
“Her name is Kate,” he said.
A pause. And then a peek to look at Brad, who had slowed tapping, but not looked up.
David looked around again, clearing his throat and gathering what to say next as he rolled on the balls of his feet.
“She’s, um-” he fumbled, “Very nice. Our age - well, you know, your age, really-”
Another peek.
Brad was definitely listening, but didn’t look up. Shit, what could David say to crack him? Was there a word he could mention, someone -
That was it!
David beamed, smug as ever to have figured out what to say to solve his case. He looked around the room.
“You know, Zack introduced me to her, actually,” David announced.
He waited a few seconds before peeking this time.
Brad had frozen.
“Uh - Brad?” David said tentatively, “It’s, uh, um, it’s cool, you know, if, uh, there’s anything-”
Brad looked David dead in the eye. David could swear his heart stopped, because he jumped at the suddenness.
Weirdly enough, Brad didn’t look angry. Or like he did any of the times Jo and he had shared those looks, talked about who must have surely been Kate. He looked… sad. Scared. Like a little kid who’d just got told off by his parents.
“I’m gonna-” Brad got up, looking away from David and to the ground as he clumsily gathered a few loose papers and his tablet, “I’ve got work to do, you know, very busy, can’t listen to your dating life all day, so-”
And without another word, he pushed past David, and out of their office.
Well, he hadn’t been expecting that.