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The strobe lighting of the bar beamed down on him as he watched the chaos unfold in blatant amusement. He may or may not have planted a little seed in Nicky’s brain to get him to bring up Neil’s birthday, especially because the latter wasn’t there on account of one of Kevin Day’s famous football games.
“Seriously,” Dan said, breaking up the usual chaos they had fallen into, “what are we going to get him?”
“Andrew?” Renee asked, color swirled in her eyes as she watched his stoic expression. “What are you getting him?”
Andrew, who had been nursing the same drink all night probably would have glared if it wasn’t Renne who had asked him, but it was, so he didn’t. He just shrugged and mumbled something nobody asked him to repeat. They never did, Andrew always got the privilege of being unknowable, the privilege of privacy.
But when Aaron tried to hide something miniscule, the world was fucking ending and the others had no trouble demanding an explanation.
Just another difference between him and his brother.
“Well…we need to get him something .” Nicky said empathetically, Allison laughed.
“Andrew,” she said, schooling her face into a serious expression. “Does Neil like hiking?”
Andrew didn’t even look up, “I’m not going hiking.”
“Who said you’ll be going?” She asked wickedly. Andrew glared at her.
“The wedding ring on my finger.” He deadpanned and Aaron snickered. Him and Neil had come a long long way from hating each other, long enough that Aaron no longer adamantly denied that he and Neil were seen together in the same building.
Long enough that when Andrew had come to his home, wanting to propose to Neil and needing a ring, he helped him pick one out.
Long enough that Andrew had asked Aaron to be the witness when they had eloped together, and he had been misty eyed the whole time.
“Aaron? What are you getting Neil?” Nicky sounded, launching Aaron out of his thoughts. He shrugged and laughed as they struggled to come up with more ideas.
“Maybe we could just take a picture of all of us and give it to him?” Matt suggested while Dan groaned and buried her head in her arms.
Before they could tell Nicky no, the camera he held so tenderly in his arms goes off, and they are back to square one again.
“Seriously Nicky? You didn’t even get my good side, we’ve talked about this!” Allison shook her head when Nicky smiled sheepishly, then she lit up again, “Guys! Why don’t we make a bet off of this?” A wicked grin lit her face and he groaned.
“What kind of bet?” Nicky asked, already on board.
“Whoever gets Neil the best birthday gift gets $20 from each of us?” Matt suggested before Dan elbowed him.
“Ow!”
“$20 from each of us would be $120 in total.” He cut in from his place on the table before the couple could start bickering again.
“How would it be $120, wouldn’t it be $140?” Nicky asked, entirely too drunk for conversation.
“Allison, Dan, Matt, Renne, Andrew, me, and you would all put $20 in, but since one of us would win and get their own $20 back, it would be $120 instead of $140.”
He had to win, because if he didn’t, he didn’t get to stay in the safe white walls of his apartment. He needed enough money for his rent, and if he had to go back to lousy meals in order to save money…he was going to murder someone, intentionally this time.
But he couldn’t murder someone if the spread of creamy peanut butter on stale white bread didn’t kill him first.
He had vowed that he would never stoop so low again.
Even if they weren’t the worst thing he’d ever eaten-
“Ohhhh-“ Nicky giggled happily as the sound of guitar pierced the air, cutting through the clouds of his mind easily.
“I remember when we broke up the first time-“
“AHHHHH! This is my song!” Nicky got up and threw back a shot before he sang the lyrics with all of the confidence of a man who definitely didn’t have a fiancée in a different country.
“You literally have a fiancée, Nicky!” Matt called out.
Nicky was too wrapped up in dancing to care.
Still, the storm in his brain wouldn’t quiet for the rest of the night, not even when Andrew took his hand and rubbed a thumb over his knuckles as a small comfort from the terrors in his mind.
He had to find Neil the perfect birthday gift, his rent depended on it.
——
The idea comes to him when he’s in his pajamas, eating a bag of chips. He’s flicking through the TV channels, a blanket draped over his lap, keeping most of his body heat in. The chips keep his stomach mostly sated, and his mind goes blissfully blank.
It’s comfortable until it’s not.
Until Kevin fucking Day comes in and pollutes his screen.
And okay-his anger is probably misguided from being on the side of one too many football rants from Neil, but he already hears about Kevin from Neil’s mouth 24/7 and if he has to watch him too then he’s gonna-
Wait. Kevin Day. Neil has been talking about the asshole for years, if he could somehow convince Day to meet Neil.
Genius. He’s a genius.
——
He takes it back. He is not a genius. In fact, he is very very very stupid.
What he didn’t think about was how he was going to get Kevin fucking Day to meet Neil. A fucking celebrity, the best football player there is, the hottest-
Woah. Ok. Not going to go there.
The point is, he has no clue how to get Kevin to meet Neil, but he’s already committed so-
Stalking his social media is what he’ll resort to, if only not to see the worried furrow between his brother’s brows every time the dizziness in his head swirls the walls around, and his bones quake from hunger.
Med-school put him in more debt than expected, and if he had to skip meals to save money for rent, then that’s what he’ll do.
The $120 would be nice though.
He clicks into the app and notifications flood his inbox, mostly from Nicky but a couple from Andrew about memes and gifts he’d thought he would like.
It warms him more than he’d care to admit.
He types Kevin’s name into the search bar and finds his verified profile easily enough. He clicks onto who Kevin follows, and he finds 3 names.
Jean_3
Jeremy :)
KD_2
Oh this is too simple.
He clicks onto the third name and is hit by a private account. He groans but goes and makes another social media profile using a bunch of beautiful photos of beautiful people. He only puts up one of his own.
It’s the only picture he has ever felt pretty in. He’s drenched from rain and he isn’t even looking at the camera, but he looks so completely happy that it’s his favorite picture anyway.
It’s his one speckle of truth in the lie that he’s created, one speckle of black in a little white lie.
Tilda taught him that, taught him that to make a lie convincing, you have to sprinkle in a little bit of truth too.
He tries not to think about what she used her own advice for.
He clicks follow onto the private account and waits.
——
Kevin lets him in not two days later. It’s a miracle he doesn’t want to think about.
The idiot doesn’t post a lot of pictures, and when he does post it’s just a silly comment pertaining to something historical, a side of Kevin Day that no one sees on his main account.
He wonders why Kevin let him in. Maybe a picture of someone caught his eye? That is why he uses pictures of pretty people, the person he’s looking at (read: stalking) looks at the pictures, they fall in love with one, and they let him in thinking that they have a chance.
His picture is never the one that catches their eye.
He doesn’t let the thought consume him though, he has things to do. Instead, he pays attention to the date and the fact that fate only left him 3 days in order to convince Kevin to meet Neil.
He has no back up plan, this is it.
He just hopes it unfolds correctly.
——
It does unfold, and it’s more spectacular than anything Aaron could ever imagine.
Ok- maybe that title went to that one class in high school he miraculously passed because he just crammed right before the final, but this is pretty damn spectacular.
Kevin is in his city, and going to a bar just a little over an hour away. He posted about it on his private account, a little picture that he recognizes because he took a picture (unwillingly) in the same booth a few nights ago.
It’s like fate itself designed it, but he doesn’t want to think about that because since when has fate ever been kind to him?
He doesn’t want hope clutching on now, he already has too much baggage to carry.
He shakes himself and goes to get ready, putting on his tightest pair of pants and a crop top to try and both entice and distract Kevin.
He would never normally wear these things out, but desperate times call for desperate measures and all of that. He looks over himself in the mirror again.
The crop top is emerald green (like Day’s eyes) and the pants are a deep obsidian (like Day’s hair).
So stalking his social media might have made him appreciate Kevin’s looks more, so what? It’s fine. His sexuality crisis can wait until after he gets his $120.
The thought doesn’t even occur to him that Kevin might not even like boys until he’s already out the door.
——
The whole drive up there is spent in trepidation, and he’s so nervous that he could mess something up that he doesn’t even knock back more than one shot. He just downs it and goes on his hunt for Kevin like a hunter hunting for a wild animal.
Except Kevin doesn’t exactly look wild just sitting and laughing with his friends.
Fuck it, he decides, downing another shot he impulsively took from a tray somewhere.
It’s safe. Probably.
He puts on a new, confident mask, and with a swing of his hips and a quirk of his lips, he’s ready.
He approaches the table with a confident stride, and Kevin’s eyes go wide with excitement and-
Recognition?
“Hello.” He plucks the lime off of Kevin’s drink, “if you don’t mind me taken’ this from you, I’ll be off.” He clicks his southern accent into place and he can tell by Kevin’s eyes that he’s gone.
And why has Neil never mentioned how pretty Kevin’s eyes were? They are so beautiful he wants to gaze into them forever, but he holds firm until Kevin beckons him back over.
He goes willingly and sits when Jeremy smiles and gestures too.
“Hello, and who might you be?” Jeremy asks, smiling this bright, trusting smile.
“I’m Aaron.” He doesn’t return the question. He already knows who they are, and he needs to get Kevin to agree fast or his landlord is going to murder him.
“And what are y’all doing up here? Taking a couple drinks before it’s back to practice?” He asks, a sweet purr to his voice that enchants them all immediately.
“You know about football?” Jean asks, looking at Kevin, a sharp glint in his eye.
“I do.” He says, like he knows everything about the stupid sport.
“Did you see our game on Friday? Against the-“
“Yes.” He interrupts, “I did, quite the shot you took at the end, Day.”
“You really-“
“As much as I would love to talk about football all night-I really need a favor from you.” He directs his attention to Kevin.
Kevin stares at him before shrugging, “shoot.”
“I need you to meet my friend. His name is Neil and he’s a huge fan. My friends and I have a bet going on who can get the best gift for him. It would mean a lot to me if you could come.”
Kevin and Jean exchange a glance that could mean a thousand words before Kevin nods with a determined but slightly nervous look painted on his face.
He gives him a smile, and it’s not fake like his press smile, it’s a real one. The real Kevin Day smile.
It makes his heart stutter.
“Ok,” Kevin says, his tone smooth, “but I want to add onto the price. I don’t just want you to talk about football with us, I want you to go on a date with me-“
The world comes to a halt.
Wait…What? He pinches himself, trying to see if this is a dream. How could he fall into a world where Kevin Day would want…him?
A date? He tries to tune back into the words falling from Kevin’s lips, but he doesn’t know how to. He never could have expected-
He bites his lip. He understands that Kevin’s been shooting him looks since he made his presence known, but he thought it was because of his outfit, not because he actually wanted to date him.
He’s kind of surprised the world hasn’t stopped spinning, that people haven’t stopped to stare because Kevin Fucking Day wants to go out with him.
He’s just Aaron. Just Aaron, but by the small upturn of his lips, that seems to be enough for him.
“You want to go on a date with me?” Aaron enunciates every vowel and consonant to be found, he wants it completely clear, wants to be sure-
“Yes.” Kevin smiles at him softly, and he can’t help but return it with a small one of his own.
“Ok.” Aaron says breathlessly, Kevin chuckles and takes his hand. Jean and Jeremy exchange a look before chuckling at them.
“You know.” Jeremy starts out of nowhere, “Kevin’s been hooked on you ever since he saw that picture of you in the rain, you should have seen how hard he freaked out when you walked in looking all- how did you put it Kev? All hot and wonderful-“
Kevin wacks him and Jean rolls his eyes fondly towards him, like he’s already a part of their group.
He finds that he doesn’t mind at all.
———
The party Neil has is amazing. It’s so over done and so Neil that the red-head tears up when he sees it. They all laugh and pretend not to notice the tears streaming down his face, all except Andrew, who wipes the tears away quietly.
“Cake or presents, Neil?” Dan asks with a kind smile, and she laughs when Neil immediately looks toward Andrew for an answer. He tilts his head for cake, ever the sugar fiend, but is out voted when Nicky bellows that he wants to see Neil open his gift or “the best gift.”
He highly doubts that, considering he has Kevin Day hiding outside in the bushes (and isn’t that an amusing picture?), but to each their own.
Nicky gives Neil a picture of all of them together, framed by a cute football themed picture frame. Guess he wasn’t joking. Neil laughs and hugs him quickly.
Allison gives him a whole new wardrobe punctuated by a look that says wear it, Dan and Matt had pitched in to get him season tickets to the football games in the area, Renee got him really nice running shoes, and Andrew got him a necklace shaped like a key with the word home written on it in bold lettering. They gazed at each other lovingly for a long time after that.
“Aaron? It’s your turn.” The sound of shifting money could already be heard, and he knows that they think that Andrew got Neil the best gift based on Neil’s sappy looks towards him, then again, Neil looks like that anyway.
Aaron did love to honor his word, and he vowed to himself he was going to win.
“Ok.” He answered with a sly grin. He pulls out his phone to signal to Kevin that they were ready.
To: Kevin
Aaron: You can come in now.
Kevin: Finally. I have leaves in my hair.
Aaron: You wanted to date me.
Kevin: Me dating you equals leaves in my hair???
Aaron: You chose this.
Kevin: And I don’t regret it.
He smiles as butterflies erupt in his stomach. He puts his phone away to meet Neil’s curious eyes. He gestures at the door and waits impatiently as they all turn to it.
Kevin Day emerges looking like a god.
Neil’s mouth drops open and he chokes on his own saliva.
Kevin looks straight at Neil, “I’m assuming you're Neil Josten?”
For once, Neil’s at a loss for words.
It’s beautiful the way everyone’s expression crumbles as they hand him the $120 as promised.
It’s beautiful the way everyone is so shocked they miss Kevin laughing quietly at all of their loud expressions.
It’s beautiful the way he can make his fucking rent this month. No more lousy sandwiches for him.
Kevin smiles at him as Neil drags him off to look at his wall of jerseys.
“Aaron! How on earth did you get Kevin Day to be here? It must have cost a fortune! What did you do?” Nicky shrieks at him, and by the way the others look at him, he can tell they want an explanation too.
“Simple. I agreed to go out on a date with him.”
They erupt in shockwaves, and it is truly a magnificent sight to behold.
They all look like fish, and he has them fucking hooked in a way that he has never had before.
He’s never been interesting enough for them to gossip about or bet on.
Oh how the tables have turned, he thinks, chuckling at Andrew’s gaping expression.
Kevin comes back into the room, an excited Neil trailing behind him. Day winks at him, so he takes a sip of his drink and rolls his eyes, ignoring the way his heart flutters at the way his warm hazel eyes meets regal emerald.
Kevin tilts his head in the direction of the door, and Aaron gets up to follow, ignoring the wolf whistles and Neil’s questions directed at him from behind.
He could get used to surprising everybody like this.
Maybe next time he’ll come back with a ring on his finger and a man to call his husband.
But for now, he lays his head on Kevin’s shoulder as they descend into the night together.
He could get used to this.