Work Text:
"Me and Jack are dating!"
There was a collective breath and four sets of eyes spun to stare at Bitty and Jack, who were looking back resolutely. The air crackled with the potential of the moment. No one moved. No one spoke. The way Bitty had simply thrown the words into the air like he was waiting to see if they would drift or cut held them all tight.
Shitty wasn't sure who would break first, but the chirps were coming. They would be well meaning, and interspersed with congratulations and well wishes, and just a hint of protectiveness for both Jack and Bitty, if that was even possible. Jack was more fragile than he wanted anyone to know, and Bitty thought he was more fragile than he really was. Both inspired a touch of protectiveness, even if it was unnecessary. It would just come out under the guise of chirping, because no matter how big the collective hearts of these boys, and Lardo, were, they were still ostensibly bros.
He expected no less when he and Lardo stopped hinting that they might be more than just best bros, confirming what he assumed they all suspected already.
The heat from Lardo against his side was grounding, despite how still she was, waiting to see which way the mood would fall. No one wanted to be the first to break the silence and tip the scale one way or the other. Schrodinger's Mood, only set when someone took a measure of where it already was.
There was a splinter in the wood of the table, cracked beneath Shitty's arm, and he was about to risk moving to make sure it didn't break the skin, when he spotted Bitty's hands. Twined through Jack's they looked sweet, until he saw the fine tremor running through them. The sort he usually associated with Jack when his anxiety was getting the better of him.
When he looked back up with that knowledge it was a little easier to see the way Jack's arm was tensed just slightly around Bitty's shoulders, as if he was holding Bitty together while they waited for the verdict, passed down by their friends.
He was struck suddenly with a very visceral image of Bitty coming out to him nearly two years ago. Pacing the sidewalk with a death grip on the flashcards he had made himself simply to be able to say he was gay. The way he had tensed, waiting to be judged, to be discarded. The way his shoulders had sagged in relief when it hadn't happened.
If he could keep Bitty from ever again feeling like he needed to pretend to be something he wasn't around his friends he would.
With that thought in mind, Shitty took a deep breath and did something he normally would never have done. He deflected.
"All right, so it looks like everyone owes Lards since it's before winter break. But Ransom..." He dug into the inner pocket of the sport coat he had purchased as camoflauge for law school and pulled out the little notebook he had been keeping track of everyone's bets in for the last month.
It worked. Lardo, perfect, wonderful, completely in tune with him Lardo, followed his lead easily. "Ransom, I owe you for Annie's, so you don't have to give me anything." He resisted the urge to kiss her, or scrub the shaved side of her hair and feel the fuzz of it that he loved beneath his fingers. He didn't want to take away from this moment for Jack and Bitty, just lighten the mood any until Bitty stopped looking like he was unsure how to breathe.
It wasn't entirely clear if Ransom and Holster went along because they could feel the tension around the table, too, or if they were simply always up for the sort of discussion that had the potential to end in an Excell spreadsheet. Shitty wasn't sure it mattered.
He was busy pointing out that he did in fact know his best friend a little bit, and that Holster owed him some money as well when he peeked at Jack and Bitty out of the corner of his eye. Bitty was smiling, laughing at their antics, but the way his hands clutched at Jack's chest still seemed a little desperate. The edge of nerves was still trickling through his laughter.
And then the miraculous happened. Jack simply slid his arm from around Bitty's shoulders to around his waist and squeezed. It was like his strings had been cut. Bitty simply slumped into Jack's side, tucking himself against his chest while Ransom waxed poetical about Jerry's coffee.
Jack, for his part, was smiling. It wasn't even his PR smile, and it made Shitty feel warm inside. He wanted to shout out how fucking proud he was of his two best friends, for letting themselves be happy. For not fighting this, for being willing to fight for this.
Instead he kicked Jack under the table, letting his knee knock into Lardo on the way.
And Jack, little shit that he was, smirked. It was his chirping smirk. The one he got before he dropped one of those dry, seemingly clueless remarks that left a burn for days. Wearing that smirk, he slowly leaned down and kissed the top of Bitty's head.
The table forgot how to talk again.
"Oh Lord," Bitty muttered, his face turning bright red.
"Duuuuude," Lardo drawled, an eyebrow up, her ankle pressed against Shitty's calf in a way that made him warm all over.
"Were we not clear enough?" Jack asked calmly, still smiling, letting Bitty bury his face in his neck.
"It's just a little different to see it, bro," Holster said, pouring Ransom a second cup of coffee and pushing the creamer towards him.
Shitty reached for the pot, eyeing Lardo's empty mug. She glared at him and he simply pushed the nearly empty pot of coffee towards her. "Bro," he said simply. She pressed her ankle a little harder against his leg and split what was left of the coffee with him.
"You look relaxed," Lardo added, picking up her coffee and draining it in one go.
"I think it's all the pie," Jack snorted.
"Nah, bro." Shitty shook his head. "You had access to all that pie goodness last year. I think it's the boning."
Bitty pressed his face harder into Jack, the tips of his ears bright red, but his shoulders were shaking and Shitty could hear little gasps of laughter coming out of him. "Oh my goodness, Shitty, stop," he hissed, not picking his head up.
"You've earned this chirping," Shitty replied loftily.
"Lardo?" Bitty implored.
"Gotta side with Shits on this one, man," she answered, grinning.
"Besides," Jack cut in, his tone far too casual. "It's not like he's wrong."
Ransom dropped his coffee cup spilling the dregs all over Holster.
Shitty reached around Lardo and squeezed Jack's shoulder. "I'm so proud of you, bro. And as soon as Bits recovers from his appoplexy I'll tell him how proud of him I am, too. And I'll even wait till you've gone back to Providence to harrass him for all the deets about the quality of your ass."
"You know more about his ass than I'd like, Mr. Knight, and you won't be getting any more from me!" Bitty huffed, finally picking his head up and grinning sheepishly at all of them. "But I will bake y'all a thank you pie later."
"Of course you will, Bits," Lardo smiled.
There would be time for chirping later. There would be time for heartfelt congratulatuons later. Right now Shitty was just glad that his two best friends were smiling.