Work Text:
Friday night:
A collective groan rumbles through the group while Keeley Jones whoops in victory and stands up on the tables. They had been meeting up for these team building nights for only a few weeks now. On the first night, they had done an escape room. The KJPR people were reluctant to loosen up and it had been a long, awkward evening. So, when Keeley had bemoaned this fact at girl talk brunch with Ted, he suggested a blended environment. From then on the Diamond Dogs, minus Roy and plus the newest dog Trent, had divided and conquered until Keeleys team were all finally relaxing and opening up. This particular night happened to be a high stakes pub quiz night, where Keeley and Higgins had just decimated every other team. Ted chalked up his loss to no one letting him team up with Beard, and his general gap in British-specific knowledge. As for the other group he considered a threat to their victory, Ted credited their loss to Trent's trivia partner who was a nervous man in a grey suit who knew plenty but was so timid when it came to speaking up that they missed out on several points.
"Thank you, thank you. It is an honour to be your queen tonight. Everyone tried their best, but there can only be one champion...me!" she says with an exaggerated performance of her genuine pride.
"That being said, as previously agreed, the champion team will be choosing the song list for next week's karaoke night. Some of you may be solo acts, but there will be duets. Higgins and I will be in touch with you by Thursday with your song and partner if applicable to give you a day to practice. Oh, this is gonna be so fun!"
She claps her hands together and beams at the group, then reaches out for a hand down. Being nearest to her, Beard and Trent both respond with helping her step down to rejoin everyone on the ground.
They stay for two more rounds before the barkeeper kindly but firmly kicks them out for the evening, and they go their own separate ways.
Tuesday morning:
"Aw come on, Higgy Smalls, just a little bit of a hint?" Ted pleads, elbows propped on his desk in a cartoonish display of puppy eyes. Higgins makes a choked noise. "Can you at least tell me if I've got a partner in crime or if I'm in a Jason Derulo situation?"
Higgins looks at Beard questioningly, and he clarifies. "Ridin' Solo."
"Ah. Well, I'm really sorry Ted. Keeley is adamant that she's choosing for you on her own. I couldn't tell you anything even if I knew."
"Well, I appreciate you anyhoo, Higgins. I'm just so jazzed up, I hope I get something good." Ted smiles warmly at the possibilities, but then they move on to talking about the team.
Thursday Morning:
"What the heck Keeley!"
"Good morning to you too, Ted."
"Yeah, yeah, good morning. What are you doing putting us on this song?"
"Yes, well, I've thought about it and I think you should go for it. I'm just giving you a little push is all."
"Look, I told you that in confidence. Doesn't this... meddlin'... go against some kind of girl talk code or somethin'?"
"I'll have you know that meddling is precisely how you know your friends care about you. You like him, and I think he likes you too. How long do you think you can keep circling around eachother and not do anything about it?"
Ted pauses and hides his face in his hand, which is silly considering she can't see him through the phone anyways.
"But what if he doesn't and I gotta stand up there for... Almost 4 minutes... singing about being in love with him and he's trying to get through it being as polite as possible but just feeling nothin but awkward."
As the words leave him, he feels an anxious pang like lightening and shakes his hands out..doc calls it 'self-stimulatory behavior' which he thinks makes it sound a lot dirtier than it is but she assures him is a normal and healthy way to unload the feelings of anxiety.
"Look, if you're really not ready, I can text him a new song and tell him I changed my mind. No pressure, babes. You know I just want you to be happy, yeah?"
"You already told him," Ted frowns, " what if he asks about why you changed the song, what if he thinks it's cause I don't want to sing with him?"
"But you don't want to sing with him."
"I... Didn't say that."
Ted is quiet for a long moment, weighing his options, and Keeley doesn't interrupt the silence.
"It's okay, I'll do it."
Just then, the door to his left opens and, through the glass separating the two offices, Ted can see Trent take off his messenger bag and pull out his omnipresent notebook. He watches as Trent pulls his glasses out from his pocket and slides them onto his face. Ted's come to expect the way his heart picks up at the sight of the man, in his element, much softer and less guarded than he was when they first met, but still as fierce and dedicated to his work. Still, he can't help the warmth in his cheeks when he catches himself staring.
"Hey, look, I gotta go. See ya tomorrow?"
Trent's head snaps up at the sound of his voice and they lock eyes, and Ted feels embarrassed as if he'd been caught looking, even though he knows Trent is none the wiser about his lingering looks and he was the one to announce his presence. He covers his embarrassment by cheerfully smiling and waving.
"Good morning, Trent! Whatcha workin on today?"
Trent stands up from his desk and walks over to lean in the doorway between the offices, what Ted has come to think of as Trent's spot.
"Going over my notes before the team arrives. Are you alright?"
"Right as rain, G.I.Jane!"
Trent raises an eyebrow at him in doubt, and purses his lips like he's considering his next words carefully.
"Glad to hear it. I thought you might have had some reservations about the selection Miss Jones made for karaoke tomorrow night."
"Me? Nope, nope, not a thing. Gotta love a Stevie Nicks classic. Although everything she does is so iconic. Outside the rain? Amazing. Crystal was always good, and then how they put it in Practical Magic? Rhiannon..."
He trails off when he realizes that Trents gaze hasn't shifted from his face the entire time, singularly focused on Ted.
"It's just a song, it doesn't mean anything. Why Miss Jones thought it was an appropriate choice, I couldn't hazard a guess, but we can survive the mortification of one karaoke duet."
Ted nods in agreement, even though he's feeling no less nervous about it.
"I guess there's just one thing to decide then.."
"What's that?"
"Who's gonna be Stevie?"
Trent raises his eyebrow again with a smirk.
"Yeah, no, I knew it as soon as I said it. Well I guess you can just call me Don Henley."
Friday night:
"Can I get a whiskey neat? Double and a single...a triple?"
The bartender, if he judges Ted at all, doesn't show it. He merely pours and slides Ted over his drink. Ted takes it with a grateful not and walks over to the group's tables near the stage. Beard performs first, singing Procol Harum's Whiter Shade of Pale, and everyone cheers for him when he finishes in a flourish. Next, Keeley sings a duet with her CFO, Amigas Cheetas by the Cheetah Girls. Barbara is more reluctant to get into the song, but by the end she gives up resisting and sings along with as much enthusiasm as Keeley. In that time, Ted downs and refills his glass, but the alcohol barely dulls the butterflies that are not just fluttering but throwing a full on rager in his belly. As Keeleys song finished, he tosses back the last of his second drink and stands to make his way up front.
The familiar guitar and bell chimes begin, and Ted looks at his singing partner as Trent sings the opening verse.
Is love so fragile and the heart so hollow?
Shatter with words, impossible to follow
You're saying I'm fragile, I try not to be
I search only for something I can't see
I have my own life
And I am stronger than you know
But I carry this feeling
When you walked into my house
That you won't be walking out the door
Still I carry this feeling
When you walked into my house
That you won't be walking out the door.
He's so mesmerized by the words and the man that he almost misses the cue to join in on the verse. Almost. His face is flushed, and his palms are a bit clammy, but he manages to hold his own, and their voices harmonize well on the chorus.
Lovers forever, face to face
My city, your mountains
Stay with me, stay
I need you to love me, I need you today
Give to me your leather
Take from me my lace
The moment he's been dreading the most comes next- looking into Trents face, singing these words. They're a confession that is both devastatingly real, and not at all. The sentiment he's harboured for all their time together is about to be laid bare but it would be immediately dismissed because this isn't a confession, it's just a performance on a night out with friends.
He takes a deep breath.
You in the moonlight
With your sleepy eyes
Would you ever love a man like me?
And you were right
When I walked into your house
I knew I'd never want to leave
Sometimes I'm a strong man
Sometimes cold and scared and sometimes I cry
But that time I saw you
I knew with you to light my nights
Somehow I would get by
The first time I saw you
I knew with you to light my nights
Somehow I would get by
His chest hurts, and his eyes prick with the threat of tears, but he keeps his voice steady, and relaxes minutely when Trent joins back in for the chorus.
Lovers forever, face to face
My city, your mountains
Stay with me, stay
I need you to love me, I need you today
Give to me your leather
Take from me my lace
Lovers forever, face to face
My city, your mountains
Stay with me, stay
Well, I need you to love me, I need you today
To give to me your leather
Take from me my lace
Take from me my lace
Take from me my lace
The song finishes and he knows he should leave but he's frozen, staring into Trents face, which is mirroring his own. It's enough to make Ted consider for a moment that maybe he wasn't alone in his feelings. The moment is short-lived as his thoughts are replaced by self doubt and guilt for projecting his feelings onto Trent.
The spell is broken by the sound of someone clearing their throat. He shoves the mic into Trents hands, mumbled out a quick "bathroom break..be right back" before shoving his hands into his pockets and pushing through the crowd and the restroom door to find an empty stall to have a breakdown in. It doesn't feel like a panic attack. He isn't scared, he's just overwhelmingly sad. He hadn't yet allowed himself to feel the depths of how far in love he'd fallen, how hopelessly gone he is, or considered exactly what he wouldn't be able to have when those feelings couldn't be reciprocated. Singing the words while looking at Trent's face had invited him to imagine, to consider.
Hot tears flow freely and he shakes with the effort of keeping quiet. Since the dam has cracked, he lets himself feel it all and mourns for everything that's never gonna happen, until he's nearly cried it all out.
That's when he hears the outer door open and close, by the brief increase in outside noise, and then a moment later a soft knock on the stall.
"Ted, are you in there?"
Trent had come to check on him. Ted's torn between ignoring him and confessing everything. Instead he opts to split the difference, and swings the door open while remaining seated with his head in his hands. He is numbly aware that he's embarrassed to be caught mid-pityparty, but he can't move to push him away or play it off like he'a fine so he does neither.
Trent crouches down so their faces are level, and gently pulls Ted's hands away from his face.
"Can you tell me what's wrong?"
He asks, but Ted can't think of anything to say so he just shakes his head.
Trent cups his face with one hand, and uses his thumb to brush away the tears on his face.
"You don't have to tell me, but can I stay here with you?"
He nods.
Trent doesn't say anything more, only presses their foreheads together and holds his hands. The sound of his breathing calms Ted and he closes his eyes.
"Thanks"
Ted manages to croak out after several long minutes.
"Of course, Ted. Thank you for letting me be there for you," Trent says, and then groans stiffly, " although I will need your help to stand. I fear my knees have not fared as well as the rest of me."
Ted manages to huff out a shaky laugh at that and stands to pull Trent up. When he is once again up on his feet, he wobbles and collapses into Ted momentarily. They lock eyes, and Ted is unable to hold the words in any longer.
"I love you."
It's small, and breathy, but it echoes between them as loud as thunder.
Trent chuckles with a smile, pats him on the chest and collects his feet under himself again with a shake of his head. And then his face changes as the words sink in, first dropping into a puzzled look, then considering, and then finally realization.
"Oh... OH!"
Ted panics, realizing what he just said.
"Shit sorry, I didn't mean to s... I shouldn't have... Look it's okay you don't have to... I won't -"
Ted stops babbling mid-sentence because Trent is kissing him. Ted's thoughts briefly vanish as he recalibrates this new development, before they come back online, bouncing all over. If it weren't for the yellow-green fluorescent lights and the stink of urinal cakes, Ted would have been sure he'd died and gone to heaven. Although, considering his experience with church thus far, he wasn't sure there'd be nearly as much man on man kissing if he was in heaven. He thinks about how Trent kisses like he writes...passionately and with his entire soul. It feels like it lasts for an eternity and then it feels like it's over far too soon, and then they're pulling apart.
"I hope that clarifies my position on the matter. Would you like to rejoin our friends or would you like to go home, Don Henley?"
"Home, please."