Work Text:
”What are you staring at?”
Barger breaks Trey out of his reverie, waving the drinks he’s brought over for the two of them—some sort of spiked eggnog concoction.
Most of the team is packed into a local bar playing host to their team Christmas party. It’s bright and festive, not to mention loud.
“What even is this?” Trey gestures to the drink sitting in front of him.
“I don’t know man” Addison laughs. “You’re like fresh out of college, I thought you’d drink anything.”
“Yeah, yeah” Trey takes a big sip just to humour him. It’s surprisingly not awful.
“Sooo..” Addison probes. “Did my eyes deceive me or was somebody gazing longingly at Scherzer before I got here?”
“Shut it!” Trey slaps him on the arm trying his best to look offended, but he can feel the blush creeping up his cheeks. He had maybe been not so subtle about his schoolyard crush on Max since joining the team.
“Hey, I’m just saying this is like the perfect opportunity to catch him under the mistletoe” Addison shrugs.
Trey glares at him.
“Uh huh, sure in front of our whole team. You know Addy, I might be the youngest guy here but I am not a complete idiot.”
Barger raises his hands in surrender, “okay, okay my fault for trying to help a bro out I guess”.
Trey just shakes his head and downs the rest of his drink.
As the night wears on—and he finds himself getting progressively more drunk, Barger’s idea starts sounding better and better in his mind. Hell, he’s pretty sure he saw Davis and Ernie kissing under the mistletoe at one point, though he does think those two might actually have something going on.
Addison’s abandoned him for the dance floor by now, which leaves Trey sort of brooding and alone with an empty glass in his hand. He keeps stealing glances at Max, who seems to be very wrapped up in a conversation with Bassitt, and doesn’t look like he’s planning on going anywhere anytime soon.
Trey sighs and makes his way to the bathroom, only tripping over his feet once, thank you very much.
He’s not really paying attention as he swings open the door leading back into the bar and walks right into—
“Hey watch where you’re going kid.”
Face to face with Max, Trey goes red immediately. Max’s fingers are gripping his arm to keep him balanced, the warmth from his hand seeping through the thin material of Trey’s shirt.
“I’m so sorry—I totally wasn’t looking and um—“ Trey stammers.
Max is looking at him with a curious expression, a hint of a smile on his lips.
“Think you can get back to your table in one piece?” He teases, dropping his hand from Trey’s arm but not putting any distance between the two of them.
“Oh yeah I’m so fine—“
Trey notices something above Max’s head. Before the rational part of his brain catches up, he finds himself saying—
“Hey is that mistletoe?”
Max is momentarily distracted by his comment and Trey leans in to land a mostly sloppy kiss on the corner of Max’s mouth.
He pulls away and is instantly terrified, a million thoughts running through his head like “oh my god” and “what the fuck did I just do”.
Max just smiles and says “I think you’re right” before wrapping a hand around the back of Trey’s head and pulling him in to kiss him properly.
Trey feels like he’s melting on the spot. Max’s stubble rubs against his cheek as their lips brush and Trey can taste the alcohol on his breath.
It feels like an eternity but it must only be seconds before Max is pulling away, biting lightly at his lower lip as he goes, staring intently into Trey’s eyes. It makes Trey feel giddy seeing how wide his pupils are.
Max leans in close to whisper in Trey’s ear.
“Merry Christmas kid.”