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Robby loved Jack. He loved Jack so much it hurt. He had loved him for years and years before they became a couple. Ever since they met, over two decades ago, he had loved him. His life was richer for having Jack in it, even before they were a couple. And now they were together, an actual couple. They lived together, took care of each other, had mindblowing sex and cuddled on the couch. He was the happiest he’d ever been, now that Jack called him his.
Robby reminded himself of all of this as he watched Jack pull out his wallet and paid for two adult tickets to Kennywood Amusement Park. Jack looked so happy, his hazel eyes sparkling as he thanked the young cashier. Robby just felt like he was heading towards his execution.
“This is going to be great,” Jack said with a grin.
Why did Robby have to fall in love with an adrenaline junkie? Why couldn’t he have fallen in love with a fellow couch potato who’s idea of a wild night was staying up past 10 pm? No, instead he had to fall in love with bargain bin Batman (complimentary). At least it wasn’t sky diving or bungee jumping. He had to count his blessings.
“Are you sure you’re allowed to go on the rides?” Robby attempted futilely. He knew Jack was allowed, they’d read over the park’s accessibility page together.
“Nice try,” Jack scoffed. “C’mon, you promised you’d try to have fun. And you get to choose next date.”
Yes, Robby had promised to try to have fun. In his defence, it had been in the afterglow of a blowjob that made him feel like he temporarily ascended to a higher plane of existence, he couldn’t really be held accountable for what he had said while in an altered state.
“We’ll start small, but I am riding the SwingShot and the Steel Curtain before we leave.”
Robby swallowed around the dryness in his mouth. He loved Jack, he reminded himself. He really, really loved Jack.
Their intention to start small, perhaps with a few of the rides that were labelled “mild”, was crushed when they realised that the people milling around the area for the calmer rides were almost exclusively families and pre-teens. They quickly changed their strategy. Robby’s desire to not be seen as a creep outweighed his desire to avoid the ominously named Steel Curtain for as long as possible.
Instead, Jack dragged him to the closest “moderate” ride, with a wicked grin and eyes shining of mischief. As they waited for the ride, Jack was practically bouncing. Robby was mentally planning his own eulogy for when he inevitably died of a cardiac arrest. Dana would probably give a nice speech…
They were strapped in next to each other, Jack still grinning and Robby going pale. With sweaty hands, he grabbed the bars and swallowed thickly. He glanced over at Jack, who opened his mouth to say something. But whatever it was, it was lost as the ride started.
Jack cackled like a hyena throughout the whole thing, head thrown back, whooping and hollering. Robby, meanwhile, was screaming at every drop and sharp turn, as if it was about to be the last thing he experienced on this earth.
It felt like it went on forever, until it finally returned to the starting position. Robby’s hands and forearms hurt from how hard he’d been holding onto the bars and sweat ran down his back. Jack had already bounced out of the cart, his hair messy and wild, his eyes wide and excited. Robby finally managed to regain control over his limbs and climbed out on shaky legs.
“Come on, I’ll buy you a drink,” Jack said as they walked away from the ride. Robby’s legs still felt like jelly.
Suddenly, Jack stepped in front of him. Robby raised his eyebrows but didn’t have time to ask before Jack put his hands on Robby’s face and pulled him down to press their lips together. It was a chaste kiss, just a quick press of their lips. But it made a pleasant shiver run from Robby’s scalp down to his toes.
They didn’t do PDA. Being born in the 70s, the AIDS crisis, DADT and America’s general attitude towards gay men, had left its trace. Their affection was kept between the two of them, in the safety of their home.
“Thank you for doing this with me,” Jack whispered, his breath warm against Robby’s lips. Then he let his hands drop and he stepped back, out of Robby’s personal space.
As Robby followed Jack towards somewhere that served alcohol, his knees felt even weaker. Though now it was probably due to how his lips still tingled after Jack kissed him.
“A mango margarita for my manliest man,” Jack declared as he put the drink down in front of Robby.
“Yeah yeah,” Robby rolled his eyes.
“You were very brave,” Jack said solemnly, taking a long sip of his own drink.
Robby’s legs had finally stopped shaking, but his lips were still tingling after the brief kiss. God, he was so weak for Jack. A simp. That was what the kids were calling to nowadays, right?
“Do you feel up for-”
Jack was interrupted in whatever he was about to ask as a trio passed by their table. A very, very familiar trio. Robby and Jack clocked them at the same time as they clocked them.
“Dr. Robby?” Whitaker said in shock, holding his own mango margarita. Santos almost walked right into him, holding a beer. She managed to stabilize herself and prevented herself from spilling the beer all over both her and Withaker. And next to them, Javadi. Who was holding her own drink.
“Please don’t tell my mom,” Javadi said, eyes wide and scared.
Jack snorted and hid his laughter by coughing. Robby just took a long drink of his margarita.
“Don’t worry, we won’t rat you out for underage drinking,” Jack said once he managed to get himself under control.
“So, uh, didn’t expect to see you guys here,” Santos cleared her throat.
“We do actually have lives outside of work,” Robby pointed out as he put down his drink. “Don’t mind us, go have fun.”
“Oh thank god,” Santos said, relief clear in her voice. “No offense, I just really don’t want to hang out with my boss on my time off.”
“Understandable, have a nice day,” Jack raised his glass.
After they finished their fruity drinks, Robby was, somewhat reluctantly, dragged along to ride more rides. At least Jack took a little pity on him and kept to the “moderate” rides, for Robby’s sake. Robby kept screaming himself hoarse, he had hoped the rides would stop affecting him as much after riding a few of them, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Jack, however, seemed to be less and less impressed by the rides as time went on. While he had hollered in delight for the first few, he started seeming almost bored after a while.
As Robby stumbled off another ride, his knees once again shaking like a newborn foal’s, Jack fixed him with his gaze. He was putting on his best puppy dog look and by god, Robby was weak for it.
“Can we please ride the Steel Curtain?” Jack said, eyes large and pleading, voice soft. “And then we can go.”
And that was how Robby found himself standing in line for the imposing looking rollercoaster. He was going to die. He was actually going to die. Hopefully, his heart would give out before they actually made it onto the ride. With how hard it was beating and the taste of metal in his mouth, Robby assumed it would be soon.
“I’m gonna make you scream in a different way when we get home,” Jack hissed sultry in his ear, probably sensing his nervousness. “As a reward.”
That did sound fun. But Robby doubted he would make it. He could barely get his legs to move as the queue inched forward. Nausea churned in his stomach and he couldn’t tell if it was fear or the two margaritas Jack had plied him with that made him dizzy. Then he saw something that made him lose the final ounce of hope he had left.
Just before them in the queue stood their intern and students. Santos had a tight grip on both Withaker’s and Javadi’s elbows. Those two seemed to be in the same boat as Robby. They were pale and sweat dotted Withaker’s forehead. Javadi looked even more like a spooked baby deer than she usually did.
His life truly was a circus and he was the main clown. He was never going to live this down. He was going to scream and probably pass out in front of his trainees. Robby had worked hard for his reputation as a stern authority figure, who ran his ED harshly but fairly. They would never take him seriously again.
If Jack had been talking to him while they were queuing, Robby hadn’t heard much of it. His ears were ringing and his legs were shaking prematurely as they were finally ushered onto the ride. Regrettably, he hadn’t gotten a heart attack to get out of it. And furthermore, the kids had spotted him. Santos was grinning, while Withaker and Javadi looked at him in solidarity. He gave them a solemn nod, finally reconciling with the inevitable.
“This is going to be great,” Jack said, in complete juxtaposition to Robby’s quiet panic.
“I’m going to die,” Robby croaked.
The ride jerked as other rides got on and before he could stop himself, Robby reached out and grabbed Jack’s hand, squeezing it hard. He regretted it almost immediately, expecting Jack to pull away. But he didn’t. Instead he intertwined their fingers, squeezing Robby’s hand back. Robby looked over at him.
“I’ve got you,” Jack said quietly but intensely. “I’ll never let anything happen to you.”
And then they were off.
“Oh fuck, oh christ,” Robby muttered as he threw himself off the ride. He was dizzy, his legs shook and his stomach was doing flips. He was also fairly certain he had almost broken Jack’s hand by how hard he had been squeezing it.
“Holy shit, that was great!” Jack exclaimed and slapped Robby on the back, almost sending him falling on his face.
Normally, Robby would be delighted in hearing the unadulterated joy in Jack’s voice, but he was fully focused on not puking all over the exit area of the ride.
“Looking a bit green there, boss,” Santos suddenly appeared next to them, Withaker and Javadi trailing behind, supporting each other.
Robby waved her off and kept swallowing down the saliva that flooded his mouth.
“Hey, deep breaths,” Jack said and rubbed his back, still grinning widely.
He did as he was told, taking deep, calm breaths. He almost had the nausea under control. Then someone walked past with a bunch of newly fried donuts. The smell hit him like a slap in the face. Jack barely had time to jump out of the way before Robby barfed all over the exit of the ride.