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“Colin, can I speak with you for a moment?”
Colin looked up from his phone to see Trent Crimm at the door to the locker room, a surprisingly gentle look on his face. What would Trent want to talk with him for? Colin looked to Isaac for support, which won him a raised brow and a shrug, before he let out a sigh and got up. He followed Trent out of the room, looking around at everyone as he did, right into Trent’s (Roy’s) office.
Colin stood there awkwardly for a moment as Trent seemed to be gathering his words. “So… what’s this about?” he asked quietly.
Trent took a breath, then locked his eyes with Colin seriously. This did not seem good.
“I saw you last night.”
Oh. Oh no. “Uhhh… of course you did, we were both at Sam’s restaurant.” It was believable if he played stupid, right? Everyone loved to remind him of how dumb he was.
“No… Colin,” Trent started again, running a hand through his hair and taking another breath.
Colin stayed silent. He couldn’t speak, he couldn’t risk giving Trent anything he might’ve not known (as much as he was positive that Trent completely saw him making out with his boyfriend). Not just that, he was just… stunned .
“I’d like to make it clear right now that I don’t plan on saying anything to anyone. And it will certainly not make it into my book, so don’t worry about that.”
Colin flitted through a multitude of emotions, face morphing as he did. That was definitely not what he was expecting to happen, not one bit. “Then… why pull me in here?”
“I just…” Trent paused for a moment, as if he was wondering the same thing for himself. “I wanted to let you know that I saw you. And that now… you have someone who knows, that you can speak to… who understands.”
Who… understands? It took Colin a firm few seconds before it clicked and his eyes widened a bit. “Ohhhhh… wow.” That was all he could manage to say about it. It was surprising to hear… and yet also not surprising at all? It was hard to explain.
Trent chuckled softly and nodded a bit. “Yes, well… people don’t look as closely at my life as they do at yours.”
Colin nodded a little, fiddling with the sleeves of his jacket before finally looking back at Trent. “Luckily, they don’t look as close at me as they do people like Jamie,” he replied softly, smiling a bit.
Trent nodded, leaning back against his desk. “Still… be careful. You’ve been spectacular so far at hiding it, but we both know how bad things could be if someone else had seen,” he offered gently.
Colin wanted to comment on getting lectured, but it really didn’t sound like a lecture. For the first time, it felt like Colin had a friend who was worried for him. At least, first time it was about his orientation. He let out a soft sigh and nodded. “I will. Thank you…”
Trent smiled a little wider and nodded again. “And if you need to talk,” he started, then awkwardly motioned around him, “you know where to find me.”
Colin gave a smile right back and nodded. “Thank you, Trent. For real.” He felt lighter, just knowing someone that was even remotely involved with Richmond knew. Knew and was okay with it. He took a deep breath, then went back out towards his locker.
Isaac appeared almost immediately at his side. “What was that about, then?”
Colin couldn’t help but smile, feeling the warmth of his best friend’s concern. “Just had some advice. Nothing serious,” he replied vaguely.
Isaac’s eyebrows squished together to accompany a frown, one of his signature faces. Clearly, he knew there was more to it. Isaac always knew. But as he was about to interrogate him further, Roy yelled for them all to get to the pitch, and the moment was thankfully interrupted.
Colin’s eyes locked with Trent’s again through the window and they shared one more nod before he headed out. Isaac might come back to the subject later, but at least for now, everything felt okay.