Title: When do you know what you know
Word Count: 1,113
Challenge:
smallfandomfest round 8, Shelter: Gabe has suspected at different times about Zach figaro23
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Gabe and Tori, Zach/Shaun
Summary: Gabe comes back from College and sees Zach acting weird so he talked with Tori.
Author's Notes: So this is not the fic I planned on writing. I wanted to write a five times fic but Gabe didn’t want to go there so this is what I ended up writing.
Gabe had know Zach since they meet in the third grade, at first he was just one of a groups of friends but as the years passed most of the others fell away. Justin moved away, Steven fell out over something; even Billy who stayed around wasn’t as close as Zach. Somehow they clicked as friends, when given the choice it was always Zach he wanted over to hang out with, to learn to surf with, to talk about girls, and to sneak into Black Hawk Down since they weren’t 17 and neither of their parents thought they needed to see it but they thought they did. They had become best friends and it was always each other, background didn’t matter, they were like brothers, closer in some ways since Shaun was older, they shared everything, almost.
***
It started when he came home from college to find his brother acting odd, different. And then Zach in his shirt. That was why he called, why he had to talk with her. Next to him she was closest person to Zach after all.
“Tor,” Gabe half shouted as he grabbed Tori in a big hug and swung her around as she returned the hug, “It’s been too fucking long. You never called, I was hurt,” Gabe said mockingly.
“Like you’re any better? When was the last time we talked when Zach wasn’t right there?” Tori asked directly as she slid into the booth as Gabe took the opposite chair.
“Yeah, I guess we weren’t that close, not without Zach anyways…” Gabe started before drifting off, looking out the window.
“This is about him isn’t it? You’ve noticed haven’t you Gabe?” Tori asked as she looked start at Gabe, not blinking.
“Have I noticed Tor? Fuck yeah I’ve noticed! I’ve known Zach for 15 years, longer then you,” Gabe yelled at Tor as he slapped his fist on the table with a bang.
“Gabe!” Tor snapped back as she smiled at the other patrons in the dinner that had turned their way.
“Sorry, fuck. It’s just he’s my best bro and he’s not, he didn’t…” Gabe said again trailing off at a loss for words.
“I get it; I guess I’m not wrong then. I thought maybe I was but…I’m not, we’re not. How long have you known?” Tori asked curiosity.
“Junior Prom, it was Junior Prom.”
***
It was the day of the Prom, and it was going to be awesome. Betty Grace had said yes and he knew she’d be up for after the prom partying. Just like he knew Tori would be for Zach, now all they had to do was not blow it before the dance ended like those dudes in the movies.
“Dude this is going to be awesome,” he said as he looked at himself in the mirror of the tux shop.
“Yeah, dancing, do you even know how to dance?” Zach asked as he poked at his own black tux and frowned.
“It’s called faking it, and for pussy I will fake it with the best of them,” Gabe answered back as he pulled back his hair to try out different looks in the mirror.
““Faking it” yeah, I can do that,” Zach said as he looked at the first ads around them, adjusting his tux and posture to look like the different models.
“Come on, you don’t need to fake it, you and Tori are gold dude. You may be on to something only dating one chick…but then it’s only one chick,” Gabe told Zach.
“I don’t know, what if she’s not ready, I mean we’ve been together for a couple years but that doesn’t mean she’ll want to-“
“Zach man, were you at lunch yesterday? She said she has a condom in her bag She’s ready,” Gabe answered back as he grinned at Zach. “The only way you don’t get your dick wet is if you don’t want too, and you want to right.”
“Yeah right, of course I want it Gabe. It’s Prom, it’s all about going all the way right?” Zach answered back nervously.
“Cool then let’s check out their flower shit, Betty’s going to want some,” Gabe said as before given Zach an odd glance.
***
“I had to push him to do it that night.”
“I’m not surprised. I told myself his nervously was first time jitters and all that shit, you know. I was nervous as hell my first time. But damn was I excited too, it was pussy, you know? And Zach wasn’t and I knew it. I knew something was odd but…damn why didn’t he talk to me,” Gabe demanded again as he slammed his fist on the table again while the waitress walked up and dropped off Tori’s creamer and gave Gabe a sour look.
“I don’t think he knew, not then, he really tried being a good boyfriend. I don’t think he got what he was doing wrong, I didn’t. Not then,” Tori defended as she looked down at her coffee.
“So when was it? How’d you find out about…?” Gabe starts to say.
“Nothing specific just the way we made out, the few times we had-“
“No not Zach, Zach and Shaun. You’ve been around, I mean what happened? Zach’s straight, no fuck he just didn’t know and now he’s with Shaun, fucking Shaun, being fucked by Shaun?” Gabe said his voice growing more demanding with each word
“Gabe, stop being a prick, and calm down!” Tori chided Gabe before answering. “And I’m not sure. I mean the first time I saw Shaun on the beach with Zach. I didn’t even remember who he was at first but I saw the way he was looking at Zach, the way Zach looked back. I…I think that was when I first suspected, but then later when neither of them was ever around. When Zach acted all weird around Shaun later…when he said okay that we were done for good…” Tori trailed off quietly.
“Yeah, even knowing he’s with Shaun I still can’t fucking wrap my head around him not being with you, even when you two were off you were still Zach and Tor, you know?” Gabe said before taking a drink of his coffee.
“I thought I was going to marry him some day, I really did,” Tori said sadly as she drank the last of her coffee. “But he’s been happy the last couple weeks. I think he really likes Shaun, Gabe, maybe even loves him.”
“Maybe, but why can’t he just talk to me, we talk about everything,” Gabe said before falling into silence as Tori just looked on.
“We used to talk about everything…”
The End