A Tour To Treasure
Disclaimer: This is a total figment of my imagination and any resemblance to reality must is a mistake.
Celebrations were well under way when Fränk tried to sneak into the bar unnoticed. Fabian was at the bar ordering drinks surrounded by a handful of team-mates. Andy was busy practising his flirting with one of the locals. It would probably be advisable to knock before he headed to bed tonight. Fränk grabbed a bottle from the opposite side of the bar to his team before heading to the back of the room to hide. It was going quite successfully but for some reason that wasn’t as gratifying as it should’ve been. He tried to ignore the voice that said it was because he wanted Fabian to find him.
Fränk took a swig from his bottle and pulled a face when he realised the contents were warm. He lent back in the chair and sighed. Today hadn’t been a disaster but it could’ve been better. Perfect Fabian with his perfect hair and his perfect time-trialling ability.
He was pathetic, waiting around for Fabian to look in his direction and pretend yesterday hadn’t happened. Desperately hoping that Fabian will just suddenly decide that he made a mistake was not helping matters. When it came to romance his brother probably had the right idea. Monogamy was for idiots who wanted to be disappointed and get their hearts broken.
He took another drink from the bottle and wished his crush would just go away. Fränk looked over at where his brother was laying on the charm with what appeared to be great success. Maybe that’s what he needed, a temporary distraction to make him feel better.
His eyes started to scan the bar for a suitable candidate. An inadvisable drunken fling that he would prefer to forget in the morning was exactly what he wanted. He never handled sexual frustration well and now there was no reason to remain celibate. Not that he’d thought about it in those terms at the time, but now Fabian wasn’t an option he was acutely aware he hadn’t had sex in months.
Why hadn’t he thought of this sooner? Fränk’s evening brightened up suddenly at the possibilities now open to him. Before he could do anything about his decision however, Alberto came and sat in the chair opposite him. Fränk reflected that at least he had his team supporting him, unlike the man he was looking at.
Alberto forced a smile and Fränk wondered if he was a bad friend for being glad he wasn’t the only one having a shit time. “Fränk,” Alberto greeted.
“You did good today.”
He felt guilty for congratulating someone who was, in the Tour, a rival when he wouldn’t go over and do the same with Fabian. Fränk tried to push the feeling away, Alberto was a friend and Fabian had just rejected him, normal rules of common courtesy didn’t apply here. He looked across at where Fabian was telling some wild tale and Stuey was laughing at it. Maybe before he went to bed he’d manage to congratulate Fabian on the win.
“Thanks,” Alberto’s answer drew his attention back to the man before him. “You didn’t.... do that badly.”
Fränk laughed at the carefully chosen words. He supposed it made a change to someone pointing out he did badly at it. “Why does everybody think I’m completely useless at it?”
Alberto’s smile was more genuine this time. “Maybe because we’ve seen you try to time trial?”
“Fabian felt the need to point out a corner this morning, it was humiliating!”
Alberto’s smile deepened and Fränk let his gaze run over the man before him. Neat hair and impeccably dressed, he couldn’t deny that Alberto was attractive. His frame was similar to Fränk’s own and as opposite to Fabian as Fränk was likely to get. Maybe it would take their minds off their respective problems.
Before he could pursue that line of thought further Alberto stiffened and Fränk turned towards the door. Several members of the Astana team had just walked into the bar. His eyes flicked back across to his companion to see if there had been any change in the reaction. “How’s it going in Team Armstrong?” he queried.
“My stuff hasn’t been set on fire and I’m not in hospital,” Alberto replied.
“It’s only the first day, there’s plenty of time left for that.”
Fränk regretted the words when he saw his friend’s face drop. Obviously it was just his week for embarrassing himself. “Tomorrow could be an improvement,” he tried to make the situation better.
“Yeah, maybe Lance will crash,” Alberto said with not much hope.
He drank slowly while he pondered over the options. There was a way to solve all their problems, he supposed, but now the prospect of an inadvisable fling had become more of a reality he was reluctant to pursue it further. He could help Alberto out without it getting awkward which could be beneficial. “You could stay with us tonight,” Fränk offered.
Alberto’s face lit up. “Really?”
Fränk looked across at Andy briefly before returning his gaze. “Yeah, I don’t think Andy will be back tonight so you can have his bed.”
“Thank you!”
Fränk was surprised at how eager his friend was to accept a temporary reprieve. Then again he hadn’t been stuck in a hotel with the same team dynamics Alberto had. “I take it you want to leave now?”
Alberto nodded, “If you don’t mind,” the other man added almost as an afterthought.
“There’s something I have to do first,” Fränk replied and got up from his seat.
Crossing the room towards Fabian was nerve-wracking. When he got closer he began to feel the tingle of anticipation and he wiped his sweaty palms on his clothes. This was ridiculous, he told himself, but felt the butterflies stir in his stomach regardless. Fabian caught sight of him and smiled warmly at him. Fränk wasn’t sure he liked the way it made his heart beat faster as he automatically mirrored the action.
When he got close enough an arm snaked around his waist and pulled him close. It was such a familiar action and so unfair of Fabian. Fränk put his drink down on the bar as his other spare hand slid up Fabian’s chest. It was embarrassing how easy he was and he tried to remind himself that this was a really bad idea.
“About time you got here,” Fabian remarked.
“I’ve been about,” Fränk felt the need to point out.
“Not here,” Fabian’s hands pressed into his back briefly bringing him closer to make it clear exactly what he meant.
Warm breath caressed his skin and Fränk turned his head away. That was not what he had been expecting Fabian to say and he wasn’t sure how to respond to it. “You did good,” he murmured instead.
“I win the first stage, claim the first yellow jersey of the Tour, and that’s all I get?”
He heard the challenge and turned his body so he could wrap his thin arms around Fabian’s well-proportioned body in a congratulatory hug. Fabian’s musky scent tempted him and he was unable to resist the pull as his forehead came to rest on the shoulder in front of him. Fabian’s other arm came around him and in that instant Fränk was lost.
The front of his body burned where it touched Fabian and the urge to obliterate the line between friendship and something more was strong. Fränk’s hand shifted up and his fingers pressed against Fabian’s neck. Hair tickled the back of his fingers and he itched to run his fingers through the soft dark hair. The rest of the world had long since disappeared and he moved back slightly. “Better?” he murmured against Fabian’s cheek before he pressed his lips there.
Before Fabian could reply someone bumped into him and Fränk stiffened as cold liquid soaked through his t-shirt. He was brought back to reality with a bump and he caught sight of Alberto. He was meant to be leaving and giving Alberto somewhere to crash not groping Fabian. He wanted to stay where he was but knew that he couldn’t.
He pushed gently at the firm chest and Fabian released him almost instantly. Fränk looked back across at Alberto as he stepped back and by the time he returned his gaze back Fabian’s expression was unreadable. “Don’t let me disrupt your evening,” Fabian stated coldly.
Fränk’s head was spinning and he couldn’t quite grasp what was going on. Fabian brushed him aside and turned away from Fränk. He shook his lust-clouded head but that didn’t seem to help. He reached out for Fabian almost automatically as though re-establishing contact would provide him with the explanations he needed. Fabian tensed at his touch and then silently moved away from him.
He needed to get out of here and see if that would help his state of mind. Fränk breathed in the cool night air and tried to work out exactly what had just happened. His mind ran over the scene that had just occurred. He cringed when he remembered just how eager he’d been to throw himself at Fabian. Hadn’t he learnt his lesson last time? It was stupid and ridiculous and... and... Fränk stopped suddenly as something occurred to him. It was utterly ridiculous that Fabian would be jealous of anyone, let alone of Alberto. It would also imply that he thought of Fränk as more than a friend when clearly that wasn’t true.
Fränk stumbled away as he attempted to make sense of his thoughts. There is no way Fabian would be jealous, the other man didn’t think of Fränk in that way. He was Fabian Cancellara, gorgeous, talented and without equal in the peloton. Why would he have doubts? Fränk could name at least five other riders who had a crush on the Swiss, two of which had on occasion twisted Fränk’s stomach into knots as he’d wondered if he’d wake to find them coming out of Fabian’s room. The hours of sleep he’d lost while he thought of them having the privilege to strip Fabian out of his clothes, to feel what it was like to have those powerful thighs wrapped around their waist and to know what it was like to be kissed by Fabian.
Fränk was dragged from his musings when Alberto put a hand on his arm apparently having followed him. “I didn’t realise it was going to cause trouble.”
Fränk had this sudden urge to laugh but the situation was definitely not funny. He needed more information before he could work out exactly what sort of trouble he was in. “You can go back to the team hotel if you want,” he snapped.
Alberto hesitated momentarily unsure whether to follow and he felt guilty. “Are you coming?” he asked.
Alberto followed him back to the hotel in silence. Once the door to his room was closed he lent against it. The past two days had been awful and definitely not how he would have pictured the start to his Tour de France. Things had to get better at some point, it just wasn’t possible for things to get any worse. “You two really need to get your acts together,” Alberto said.
The words were a painful reminder that he’d tried once and been rejected. Based on what happened tonight it apparently wasn’t enough. It had just felt so good to be that close to Fabian again he hadn’t been able to stop himself. He hadn’t wanted to resist when what he wished for most was Fabian’s arms around him and permission to touch as he desired. “Shut up!”
Not exactly the best thought out answer but he really didn’t want to think about it right now. Why had he listened to Andy? Everything would be perfectly fine if he hadn’t tried to push things. He’d be able to enjoy the flirting and the touching. Even if it was never enough he would still have something and he wouldn’t have to look in the mirror tomorrow morning knowing he’d made a complete idiot of himself.
He pushed off the door as he watched Alberto sit down on his brother’s bed. “I wish someone would look at me the way Fabian looked at you in the bar.”
Fränk felt the ache in his chest return and he tried to push it away. He grabbed his pyjamas and headed towards the bathroom. He had to hold it together, he just had to. The urge to call Andy was strong but his brother was otherwise occupied tonight. Instead he concentrated on taking deep slow breaths and attempting to distract himself. He tried not to think about the fact that he’d like to see Fabian look at him the way Alberto perceived it to have happened.
Eventually he had to leave the bathroom and he trudged over to the bed. He could feel Alberto’s eyes on him but he didn’t look over. For now things seemed bearable and that was a distinct improvement. “I really appreciate this Fränk.”
He nodded but still didn’t look over. “I’ll talk to Fabian about it, straighten this whole thing out.”
“There’s nothing to explain,” he murmured.
He got into bed and turned away from Alberto. He hoped tomorrow would be better but as he stared at the wall he knew that things wouldn’t be that simple.
Celebrations were well under way when Fränk tried to sneak into the bar unnoticed. Fabian was at the bar ordering drinks surrounded by a handful of team-mates. Andy was busy practising his flirting with one of the locals. It would probably be advisable to knock before he headed to bed tonight. Fränk grabbed a bottle from the opposite side of the bar to his team before heading to the back of the room to hide. It was going quite successfully but for some reason that wasn’t as gratifying as it should’ve been. He tried to ignore the voice that said it was because he wanted Fabian to find him.
Fränk took a swig from his bottle and pulled a face when he realised the contents were warm. He lent back in the chair and sighed. Today hadn’t been a disaster but it could’ve been better. Perfect Fabian with his perfect hair and his perfect time-trialling ability.
He was pathetic, waiting around for Fabian to look in his direction and pretend yesterday hadn’t happened. Desperately hoping that Fabian will just suddenly decide that he made a mistake was not helping matters. When it came to romance his brother probably had the right idea. Monogamy was for idiots who wanted to be disappointed and get their hearts broken.
He took another drink from the bottle and wished his crush would just go away. Fränk looked over at where his brother was laying on the charm with what appeared to be great success. Maybe that’s what he needed, a temporary distraction to make him feel better.
His eyes started to scan the bar for a suitable candidate. An inadvisable drunken fling that he would prefer to forget in the morning was exactly what he wanted. He never handled sexual frustration well and now there was no reason to remain celibate. Not that he’d thought about it in those terms at the time, but now Fabian wasn’t an option he was acutely aware he hadn’t had sex in months.
Why hadn’t he thought of this sooner? Fränk’s evening brightened up suddenly at the possibilities now open to him. Before he could do anything about his decision however, Alberto came and sat in the chair opposite him. Fränk reflected that at least he had his team supporting him, unlike the man he was looking at.
Alberto forced a smile and Fränk wondered if he was a bad friend for being glad he wasn’t the only one having a shit time. “Fränk,” Alberto greeted.
“You did good today.”
He felt guilty for congratulating someone who was, in the Tour, a rival when he wouldn’t go over and do the same with Fabian. Fränk tried to push the feeling away, Alberto was a friend and Fabian had just rejected him, normal rules of common courtesy didn’t apply here. He looked across at where Fabian was telling some wild tale and Stuey was laughing at it. Maybe before he went to bed he’d manage to congratulate Fabian on the win.
“Thanks,” Alberto’s answer drew his attention back to the man before him. “You didn’t.... do that badly.”
Fränk laughed at the carefully chosen words. He supposed it made a change to someone pointing out he did badly at it. “Why does everybody think I’m completely useless at it?”
Alberto’s smile was more genuine this time. “Maybe because we’ve seen you try to time trial?”
“Fabian felt the need to point out a corner this morning, it was humiliating!”
Alberto’s smile deepened and Fränk let his gaze run over the man before him. Neat hair and impeccably dressed, he couldn’t deny that Alberto was attractive. His frame was similar to Fränk’s own and as opposite to Fabian as Fränk was likely to get. Maybe it would take their minds off their respective problems.
Before he could pursue that line of thought further Alberto stiffened and Fränk turned towards the door. Several members of the Astana team had just walked into the bar. His eyes flicked back across to his companion to see if there had been any change in the reaction. “How’s it going in Team Armstrong?” he queried.
“My stuff hasn’t been set on fire and I’m not in hospital,” Alberto replied.
“It’s only the first day, there’s plenty of time left for that.”
Fränk regretted the words when he saw his friend’s face drop. Obviously it was just his week for embarrassing himself. “Tomorrow could be an improvement,” he tried to make the situation better.
“Yeah, maybe Lance will crash,” Alberto said with not much hope.
He drank slowly while he pondered over the options. There was a way to solve all their problems, he supposed, but now the prospect of an inadvisable fling had become more of a reality he was reluctant to pursue it further. He could help Alberto out without it getting awkward which could be beneficial. “You could stay with us tonight,” Fränk offered.
Alberto’s face lit up. “Really?”
Fränk looked across at Andy briefly before returning his gaze. “Yeah, I don’t think Andy will be back tonight so you can have his bed.”
“Thank you!”
Fränk was surprised at how eager his friend was to accept a temporary reprieve. Then again he hadn’t been stuck in a hotel with the same team dynamics Alberto had. “I take it you want to leave now?”
Alberto nodded, “If you don’t mind,” the other man added almost as an afterthought.
“There’s something I have to do first,” Fränk replied and got up from his seat.
Crossing the room towards Fabian was nerve-wracking. When he got closer he began to feel the tingle of anticipation and he wiped his sweaty palms on his clothes. This was ridiculous, he told himself, but felt the butterflies stir in his stomach regardless. Fabian caught sight of him and smiled warmly at him. Fränk wasn’t sure he liked the way it made his heart beat faster as he automatically mirrored the action.
When he got close enough an arm snaked around his waist and pulled him close. It was such a familiar action and so unfair of Fabian. Fränk put his drink down on the bar as his other spare hand slid up Fabian’s chest. It was embarrassing how easy he was and he tried to remind himself that this was a really bad idea.
“About time you got here,” Fabian remarked.
“I’ve been about,” Fränk felt the need to point out.
“Not here,” Fabian’s hands pressed into his back briefly bringing him closer to make it clear exactly what he meant.
Warm breath caressed his skin and Fränk turned his head away. That was not what he had been expecting Fabian to say and he wasn’t sure how to respond to it. “You did good,” he murmured instead.
“I win the first stage, claim the first yellow jersey of the Tour, and that’s all I get?”
He heard the challenge and turned his body so he could wrap his thin arms around Fabian’s well-proportioned body in a congratulatory hug. Fabian’s musky scent tempted him and he was unable to resist the pull as his forehead came to rest on the shoulder in front of him. Fabian’s other arm came around him and in that instant Fränk was lost.
The front of his body burned where it touched Fabian and the urge to obliterate the line between friendship and something more was strong. Fränk’s hand shifted up and his fingers pressed against Fabian’s neck. Hair tickled the back of his fingers and he itched to run his fingers through the soft dark hair. The rest of the world had long since disappeared and he moved back slightly. “Better?” he murmured against Fabian’s cheek before he pressed his lips there.
Before Fabian could reply someone bumped into him and Fränk stiffened as cold liquid soaked through his t-shirt. He was brought back to reality with a bump and he caught sight of Alberto. He was meant to be leaving and giving Alberto somewhere to crash not groping Fabian. He wanted to stay where he was but knew that he couldn’t.
He pushed gently at the firm chest and Fabian released him almost instantly. Fränk looked back across at Alberto as he stepped back and by the time he returned his gaze back Fabian’s expression was unreadable. “Don’t let me disrupt your evening,” Fabian stated coldly.
Fränk’s head was spinning and he couldn’t quite grasp what was going on. Fabian brushed him aside and turned away from Fränk. He shook his lust-clouded head but that didn’t seem to help. He reached out for Fabian almost automatically as though re-establishing contact would provide him with the explanations he needed. Fabian tensed at his touch and then silently moved away from him.
He needed to get out of here and see if that would help his state of mind. Fränk breathed in the cool night air and tried to work out exactly what had just happened. His mind ran over the scene that had just occurred. He cringed when he remembered just how eager he’d been to throw himself at Fabian. Hadn’t he learnt his lesson last time? It was stupid and ridiculous and... and... Fränk stopped suddenly as something occurred to him. It was utterly ridiculous that Fabian would be jealous of anyone, let alone of Alberto. It would also imply that he thought of Fränk as more than a friend when clearly that wasn’t true.
Fränk stumbled away as he attempted to make sense of his thoughts. There is no way Fabian would be jealous, the other man didn’t think of Fränk in that way. He was Fabian Cancellara, gorgeous, talented and without equal in the peloton. Why would he have doubts? Fränk could name at least five other riders who had a crush on the Swiss, two of which had on occasion twisted Fränk’s stomach into knots as he’d wondered if he’d wake to find them coming out of Fabian’s room. The hours of sleep he’d lost while he thought of them having the privilege to strip Fabian out of his clothes, to feel what it was like to have those powerful thighs wrapped around their waist and to know what it was like to be kissed by Fabian.
Fränk was dragged from his musings when Alberto put a hand on his arm apparently having followed him. “I didn’t realise it was going to cause trouble.”
Fränk had this sudden urge to laugh but the situation was definitely not funny. He needed more information before he could work out exactly what sort of trouble he was in. “You can go back to the team hotel if you want,” he snapped.
Alberto hesitated momentarily unsure whether to follow and he felt guilty. “Are you coming?” he asked.
Alberto followed him back to the hotel in silence. Once the door to his room was closed he lent against it. The past two days had been awful and definitely not how he would have pictured the start to his Tour de France. Things had to get better at some point, it just wasn’t possible for things to get any worse. “You two really need to get your acts together,” Alberto said.
The words were a painful reminder that he’d tried once and been rejected. Based on what happened tonight it apparently wasn’t enough. It had just felt so good to be that close to Fabian again he hadn’t been able to stop himself. He hadn’t wanted to resist when what he wished for most was Fabian’s arms around him and permission to touch as he desired. “Shut up!”
Not exactly the best thought out answer but he really didn’t want to think about it right now. Why had he listened to Andy? Everything would be perfectly fine if he hadn’t tried to push things. He’d be able to enjoy the flirting and the touching. Even if it was never enough he would still have something and he wouldn’t have to look in the mirror tomorrow morning knowing he’d made a complete idiot of himself.
He pushed off the door as he watched Alberto sit down on his brother’s bed. “I wish someone would look at me the way Fabian looked at you in the bar.”
Fränk felt the ache in his chest return and he tried to push it away. He grabbed his pyjamas and headed towards the bathroom. He had to hold it together, he just had to. The urge to call Andy was strong but his brother was otherwise occupied tonight. Instead he concentrated on taking deep slow breaths and attempting to distract himself. He tried not to think about the fact that he’d like to see Fabian look at him the way Alberto perceived it to have happened.
Eventually he had to leave the bathroom and he trudged over to the bed. He could feel Alberto’s eyes on him but he didn’t look over. For now things seemed bearable and that was a distinct improvement. “I really appreciate this Fränk.”
He nodded but still didn’t look over. “I’ll talk to Fabian about it, straighten this whole thing out.”
“There’s nothing to explain,” he murmured.
He got into bed and turned away from Alberto. He hoped tomorrow would be better but as he stared at the wall he knew that things wouldn’t be that simple.