Perfect Timing 18/? FRMish maybe/FRAO overall
It was ridiculous, truly and utterly ridiculous to be this jealous over something so stupid, Bruce thought, watching as Trent danced with Molly Parkinson. It was stupid and juvenile and ridiculous and, wait, he'd said stupid, right? Bruce took a drink of punch, hiding behind the cup. Seriously, it was insane to be standing over on the side of the room seething about how Trent was dancing with Molly. It wasn't like Trent liked Molly or anything. Or that Molly liked Trent though the way her hand kept creeping ever closer to his ass may have been a subtle indication that wasn't exactly true. Bruce couldn't blame her though, it was a fantastic ass. He sighed, trying to lean back into the shadows. The worst part about this all was that it was his fault. It was totally and completely his fault that Trent was out there dancing with Molly instead of being back over there talking to Bruce. Talking, flirting, maybe sneaking out the back to make out. Bruce knocked his head off the wall. He was an idiot, plain and simple.
Bruce watched Trent spin Molly around, her hair flying around her and a huge grin on her face. It was insane to be angry that she was dancing with Trent, not him. Hell, even if Bruce did have the guts to do something about how he felt about Trent, it wasn't like they could be out there dancing. Yeah, sure, his parents were tolerant and all of that, Jim was his dad's best friend for fuck's sake, but dancing with another guy in public was probably pushing it too far. Hell, Jim and Phil didn't even hold hands or do anything to overtly show they were together. Bruce still hadn't figured out if that was because Jim wasn't huge on public displays of affection or because it wasn't exactly safe to be a gay cop. There were enough people gunning for Jim's head without adding that to it. So maybe dancing wouldn't be appropriate. He just wanted to be the one who had all of Trent's attention.
Bruce slid out the side door, walking aimlessly across the grounds. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know what to say, he didn't know how to handle this. It wasn't so bad knowing that he liked guys. He'd had at least an inkling that's what he wanted since he was thirteen. Kissing Philipa last year confirmed that girls weren't really what he wanted. So the whole guy thing was fine, it was. It was the being in love with his best friend thing that really sucked.
He made his way down to the fountain, shoving his hands in his pockets. It shouldn't be this hard. It shouldn't. He was pretty sure that Trent at least thought about guys sometimes. He'd watched Trent, not much, but some, and he was pretty sure he'd seen Trent looking at guys that way. But he'd never noticed Trent looking at him that way. There was no way that he could do something or say something or, God, make a move on Trent without knowing that it wouldn't result in things getting all weird between them. He'd rather not have to try to find a new roommate, not to mention best friend. He flopped down on a bench, laying back, his hands tucked under his head. He forgot sometimes how many stars you could see out here. It was nice at school but it wasn't like being here.
"You know, it's really not cool to ditch your own party." Bruce jerked up when he heard Trent's voice. "And it's incredibly not cool to leave me stuck up there with Molly. Did you know she has toy poodles? Three of them? And that she dresses them up in outfits to match hers? Because now I do. In detail. Move over." Trent kicked at his leg and Bruce sat up, scooting over to give Trent room to sit down.
"Sorry, I was," Bruce glanced over, shrugging a little. "It was getting stuffy in there."
Trent snorted. "Stuffy is right. What happened to the whole thing about you having like a couple of people over for pizza and cake? I liked that idea. Especially the cake part."
"Don't get me started. You know my mother, starts small and then it keeps going and going and going." Bruce smiled a little. "Admit that the elephant was awesome."
"Do I want to know where your mother found an elephant? Wait, no, no I do not." Trent bumped shoulders with him. "By the way, happy birthday."
"Thanks." Bruce leaned into Trent for a second, then pulled back. "Did you get sent to haul me back?"
"Nah, it's breaking up about now and you put in enough face time." Trent kicked his foot against Bruce's calf. "You want to tell me why you've been acting so weird the last few weeks?"
"I have not been acting weird, you're nuts." Bruce rolled his eyes. "Also, takes one to know one."
"That was mature. And you've totally been acting weird. You've been all moping around and not eating, which is so so wrong I cannot even tell you, and listening to Morrissey. You're totally acting weird." Trent said.
"Listening to Morrissey is not weird!" Bruce glared at him. "You have no taste is all."
"Oh I have taste, believe me. That's why I can say without any hesitation that you singing along is terrible." Trent nudged Bruce. "Come on, what's wrong? You're acting like a love sick girl."
Bruce felt his cheeks flush. "Fuck you, I am not."
"God, that's it isn't it!" Trent sounded delighted and Bruce felt the urge to punch him right in the face. "You're in love." Trent singsonged it and Bruce felt the urge to punch him grow stronger.
"I am not! Shut up!" Bruce pushed up, stalking to the other side of the fountain. "Why are you being such an ass?"
"Because you're trying to be all mystery man and be all secretive about it." Trent eyed him. "Hmm. Let's see, who is it? Not Philipa, she's still pissed at you for some reason." Trent snapped his fingers. "Oh right, because she chased after you and then you totally blew her off in front of everyone. Yeah, she's going to kill you in your sleep one night, you know that."
"Thank you so much for the reminder, I'd forgotten about that." Bruce kicked some gravel. "It's nothing, let it go."
"Nope, can't do that." Trent shoved up, stalking over towards Bruce. "How about Padma? She's smart enough and not exactly ugly."
"That's a nice thing to say." Bruce shot back. "Not exactly ugly, wow, you've got a silver tongue there."
"Oh, I'm supposed to say, hey, she's hot and has nice tits?" Trent ducked the gravel Bruce kicked at him. "Exactly. She's dating Paul though. I cannot understand what she sees in him, he's as dumb as a rock."
"I know, he's an idiot, I mean, sure he's hot and everything, but the hot doesn't make up for the stupid." Bruce's eyes went wide when he realized what he said. He hoped that maybe, possibly, if there was a God, that Trent wouldn't notice it.
Trent looked at him evenly and Bruce fought to meet his gaze. "Yeah. Paul is hot. Funny, though, I didn't think that was something you would notice." There was an odd note to Trent's voice that he couldn't place.
Bruce bit his lip, trying to think of something to say. "Well, it's not like it's not obvious. I mean, even old ladies seem to like him." There, that seemed safe enough.
"Old ladies. Right." Trent took a few steps closer, still looking at Bruce. "You know, I thought you got mad because I was dancing with Molly."
"What, no, why would I get mad," Bruce stepped back, trying to keep some space between them. "That's stupid."
"No, what's stupid is thinking that you were upset because Molly was dancing with me, not because I was dancing with Molly." Trent reached out, grabbing Bruce's wrist and pulling him close.
"I don't, that's not, I didn't." Bruce closed his eyes. "It's not like that."
"Are you sure?" Trent let go of Bruce's wrist, then took his hand, tangling their fingers together. "Because I was hoping that it would make you jealous and I'd hate to hear that it didn't work."
Bruce's eyes flew open at that and he stared at Trent, mouth falling open. He tried to focus but he was distracted by the way Trent was smiling at him. "Really?"
"Yeah, really. You know, I still can't figure out how you can be all Sherlock Holmes about everyone else and be totally clueless about yourself." Trent shook his head. "It's kind of sad."
"Shut up." Bruce squeezed Trent's hand. "You wanted me to be jealous?"
"Of course I did." Trent pulled Bruce flush against him. "Do you get it now?"
"Well, I hope," Bruce grinned and Trent laughed. He was still laughing when he leaned down and kissed Bruce. Bruce grabbed onto Trent's back, holding tight as Trent licked into his mouth. This, now this was what kissing should be like. He held on as they stumbled backwards, Trent's hand running up under Bruce's shirt. Bruce felt a bench hit the back of his legs and he just managed to keep them from falling over. Trent laughed into his mouth and Bruce grinned.
"Maybe we should go somewhere else?" Bruce kissed Trent, lips lingering against his. "Somewhere we won't fall over and have to try to explain what happened?"
"Where do you think we can go?" Trent pulled Bruce's shirt out from his pants. "There's a ton of people up there."
"I thought you said it was breaking up." Bruce tugged at Trent's shirt.
"Yeah, I kind of lied a lot." Trent kissed him again and Bruce forgot whatever retort it was that he was going to say. They stumbled back again and this time Bruce let them tumble down to the ground. There was a rock digging into his back and he was pretty sure that he'd ripped a hole in his jacket but he didn't care. Trent was kissing him and Trent's hands were on him and it was even better than he'd imagined.
Bruce wasn't sure how long they'd been kissing when he heard Alfred's voice calling from just up the hill. "I do believe that Master Bruce is in the kitchen.." They pulled apart, Bruce scrambling to his feet. He tried to brush away the dirt and grass, hoping against hope that he didn't look as trashed as he knew he must be.
"We're so busted," Trent said mournfully. Bruce glanced over, then cracked up.
"There's twigs in your hair." He reached out, pulling a few out and tossing them away.
"You've got," Trent brushed his fingers against Bruce's cheek. Bruce shivered. "Dirt."
"That's sexy," Bruce said dryly, gratified when Trent cracked up. "You realize Alfred is never going to let us live this down."
"No, of course not." Trent grabbed Bruce's hand, pulling him in for a fast kiss. "You think he'll blow the whistle or will he give us the rope to hang ourselves?"
"Oh the rope, totally the rope, you know how he is." Bruce ran a hand through Trent's hair. "So, you still want to stay over tonight?"
A slow grin spread across Trent's face. "Why Bruce Wayne, are you propositioning me?"
"God, yes." Bruce grinned.
"Then I accept. After all, you're the birthday boy and you should get nice presents." Trent said, nodding firmly.
"I like how your mind works." Bruce started back up towards the house. "I say we sneak in the back."
"Good thinking. So, you're parents can't hear anything from your room, right?" Trent skimmed a hand down Bruce's side.
"More importantly, I can't hear anything from theirs." Bruce looked over his shoulder. "Should I be worried that you're asking that?"
"Worried, no. Anxious, yes." Trent smirked. "I've been waiting for you to get a clue for a long time. I'm going to make up for that tonight."
Bruce stumbled and Trent laughed. He was still laughing when Bruce dragged him into the house.