Work Text:
Rob woke up in a cold sweat. He’d been dreaming about something, but now that he was awake, he couldn’t quite remember what it was. Ariadna was still sound asleep beside him, so he climbed out of bed as softly and quietly as he could.
Out on the balcony, he breathed in the early morning air, lighting a cigarette to calm his nerves.
Maybe it was the heat getting to him. Maybe he had a few too many drinks last night before they performed. Maybe.
As he finished off his cigarette, he found himself remembering the strange fluttery feeling in his gut. Warren smiled at him. He smiled, singing that line about the ring on his finger, meaning every word of it.
No one else knew about their late night talks, or else, if they did, no one had brought it up. No one had brought up that they both lingered in the dressing room afterwards, either. Virgil and Reed had already gone home, and when Joel took his leave, Rob hardly acknowledged him, keeping his eyes on Warren downing another beer.
He was mesmerized by the way his Adam's apple moved with each swallow, and he wanted to reach out to touch it, but he thought it best to keep his hands to himself, slumping into a chair and watching him instead.
“Hand me one.” He fidgeted with his ring, looking up at him through a strand of hair that had fallen out of place.
“I think you’ve had enough for one night.” Warren laughed. He grabbed another beer and cracked it open for him. “Careful.”
Rob took a sip, savoring the coolness washing down his throat. It made his burning face feel a bit better. “You looked really good tonight. Performing, I mean.”
“You did, too.” Warren smiled at him-- the same smile that he was giving on stage-- and moved closer, setting his beer down on the table. “I think you were made for it.”
“You don’t mean that…” Rob felt his face get flushed, and he had to break eye contact or else he felt like he might melt into a puddle. Warren was so close.
He moved even closer, hovering above him with his hands on the armrests. His lips brushed Rob’s ear, and he let out a breathy laugh. It tickled. “I do. I mean every word.”
“Every one?”
“Every one.”
Warren pulled away, and Rob could see his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. He laughed, unsure how else he was meant to react, and he looked down at his ring. He was supposed to be going home now. He was supposed to be with his wife.
“I love you.”
It wasn’t something he wasn’t used to hearing from him. They all said it to each other. But after tonight, after the song they sang, after the shared glances, that phrase carried a different meaning.
Rob wanted to brush it off. Things had to be different now. They were both married, they were happy, and everything between them was a thing of the past. It had to be.
Warren brushed that strand of hair from Rob’s face, then dragged his fingers down to his chin, lifting it up. “I love you.” He ended the night with a kiss, pulling away and going home like nothing had happened.
Remembering it now made his cheeks flush red, and he was glad that no one was out here to see it. He wasn’t ready to go back inside yet, so he used the dying end of his first cigarette to light a new one, tossing the old one in an ashtray.
He’d have to see Warren again soon, no matter if both of them remembered what happened, or if they both forgot. In either case, Rob didn’t want to be the first one to bring anything up, so he’d keep quiet until it became an issue, if it became an issue at all.
By the time his second cigarette was spent, the sun was rising, so he called it quits and headed back inside. The house was still quiet, so he took light steps back upstairs, trying not to disturb the peace. He climbed back in bed next to his sleeping wife, pulled the covers over himself, and closed his eyes, trying to clear his mind in hopes that he could fall back asleep.
His mind was working against him, it seemed, since all he could think of was Warren, and his dopey smile, and his ‘I love you’s, and the look in his eyes. He tossed and turned, trying to shake these thoughts away before the sun fully came up, but by the time he finally felt like he was falling asleep, the sun poked it’s way through the curtains, giving him another obstacle to sleep.
“Fine.” He sighed, speaking under his breath. He got up, slowly, since he was still hungover, and gave up on sleep entirely.
The phone was downstairs, so he went back down, avoiding the creaky step, and dialed the only number on his mind. A part of him hoped he wouldn’t pick up, since this was ridiculous. He was being ridiculous. It was six in the morning, and they were both well hungover, and there was no way Warren would pick up, but he did.
“Hello?”
“Hi.” Rob paused. He knew what he wanted to say, but his mouth felt dry. He never got a response in the night before.
“What is it, Rob?”
He took a deep breath, then uttered the words slowly and quietly, not wanting to be overheard if by any chance someone would overhear him. “I love you, too.”
The excitement got to him, and he slammed the phone down on the receiver, inadvertently doing the same to Warren as he did to him last night. He shared with him his feelings, not wanting to wait around for a response.
The phone rang almost immediately after, and Rob jumped, picking up before it woke up his wife. “What?” He sounded more cross than he had meant to.
“I know.” He could almost hear him grinning on the other side of the phone.
Rob sighed, pinching the phone between his ear and his shoulder while he crosses his arms. “If you know, then why did you have to say it?”
“I just wanted to. That’s all.”
“Fine.” He couldn’t understand Warren sometimes. “I have to go, this hangover is killing me.”
“I told you to be careful.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Bye.” Warren hung up, so Rob put the phone back down.
Now the silence was eerie, though he found he sort of preferred it when his head was pounding like this. His chest was pounding, too. He thought he was over this sort of thing, but Warren had brought all those feelings back to life with just a few simple gestures and words, and now he didn’t know what to do with himself.
He could figure it out tomorrow. For now, he was making a nice big cup of coffee in hopes it would make him feel at least a little bit better.