This Means War: Resolution
Title: Resolution
Rating: NC-17
Pairings and Characters: FDR/Tuck, Nana, smidgens of FDR/Lauren and Katie/Tuck.
Word Count: 4567
Warnings: None
Summary: FDR finds himself in a jam once Heinrich has been dealt with and Lauren has made her decision. Lauren wasn't who he had been fighting for at all.
A/N: I cannot for the life of me remember if it is ever said when FDR and Tuck meet, so I made something up and then built a headcanon around it. There will likely be more from me in this same verse at some point in the future.
Also Archived At: DW
FDR slumped onto his couch and scrubbed his hands through his hair. His plan had a massive flaw that he had failed to realize until now, too caught up in trying to get Lauren the fuck away from Tuck. FDR groaned and stared at the ceiling, at his wits end, absolutely no idea what to do next. He sighed and fished his phone out of his pocket after a few moments and called Nana.
“I wonder what sort of tragedy could have you calling me, Franklin dear,” Nana answered, sounding cheery nonetheless.
“Hey, Nana. I seem to have dug myself into a bit of a hole, and I was hoping for some advice.” FDR winced preemptively, preparing for some sort of scathing reply.
“Oh, Franklin, what have you done now? Tell me what it is and I'll see if anything can be done to salvage the situation.”
“Ok,” FDR sighed, relieved. “Well, you remember how Tuck and I were, uh, fighting over Lauren?”
“My memory's not quite that bad yet, it's only been a few weeks.”
“Right. I, um, I was not actually fighting for Lauren at all.” FDR squirmed in his seat.
“Franklin, you cannot be serious. After all of these years?”
“Yeah. It sounds really stupid, I know-”
“You don't know the half of it.”
“But what do I do now?”
“I'm not sure what's got you up in knots. You do the glaringly obvious; tell Lauren why you did what you did and then go tell Tuck you're in mad, possessive love with him if Lauren doesn't castrate you first.”
“But what if he doesn't want me? And what if he's really pissed that I put him through all of this shit about Lauren for no reason? And then what if he and Lauren get back together? Nana, I can't do that!”
“Franklin, you haven't left yourself many options. Tuck seems ready to settle down with anyone who will give him the time of day. If you don't get yourself together and tell him you want to be that person, he's going to find himself someone else, and there is no way you could do what you did with Lauren again without either showing your hand or doing permanent damage to your and Tuck's friendship. Speaking of which, that was an extremely terrible thing to do to poor Tuck. What could have possessed you to think that that was a good idea?”
“When I started with Lauren I really didn't know she was going out with Tuck, I just thought she would be fun for a while. And then I found out she was trying to steal Tuck, and, well, Tuck is mine! I had to get her away from him somehow!”
“Franklin, you do realize this is your own fault for not making you feelings known to Tuck, don't you?”
“Yes, Nana, I know, I just... ugh,” FDR rubbed his eyes, “why did Tuck have to want to settle down? What was wrong with what we were doing before?”
“Most people have the urge to put down roots sooner or later. You're just on the later end of the scale, I suppose. At least, I hope. I could see you floating about aimlessly between one night stands for the rest of your life.”
“I've put down roots! I just put them down in Tuck and didn't ever tell him,” FDR mumbled.
“Right, now be a man and tell him about it.”
“Nana, he's going to be so mad at me.”
“He is. And with good reason. But he'll only get more angry the longer you keep him in the dark. He's your best friend, Franklin, and he's going to forgive you because he's a soft-hearted bastard. That doesn't mean he's not going to unleash a righteous fury on you beforehand, but he's going to forgive you.”
“I guess so,” FDR sighed. “Thanks for the talk, Nana.”
“Now, you are going to actually act upon the things we just talked about, aren't you?”
“Yes.”
“Before the year is out?”
“...Yes?”
“Franklin, you really can't leave it for long. It certainly isn't fair to Lauren to string her along, and I meant what I said about Tuck wanting to settle.”
“I know, I know. And I will. Soon. Really,” FDR insisted to Nana's skeptical silence.
“See that you do. I'm going to have to go, Franklin, I'm expecting a group of ladies to start arriving any minute now. I love you, dear, even when you're unbearably stupid sometimes.”
“I love you too, Nana. I'm sorry I'm stupid.”
“There's no use apologizing. You need to talk to Lauren today and tell her there's nothing there.”
“Ok.”
“Alright, goodbye. Try not to beat yourself up too much.”
“I'm sure there's not much danger of that. Bye, Nana. I'll see you the next brunch.”
“Good. I expect updates before then.”
“Ok.”
“I mean it. If I haven't heard anything else about this by then, I will take Tuck aside and tell him myself.”
“You wouldn't do that!” FDR sat up straight, aghast.
“You know I would.”
“Oh god.” FDR sank back into the cushions.
“Get to it, Frank. Now I really do have to go. I love you.”
“I love you too, Nana. Bye.”
“Goodbye, Franklin.”
Nana hung up and FDR dropped his phone onto the couch next to himself.
“I am really going to have to do this now,” he muttered. “I cannot believe it. Why did I do this to myself? Surely there was some other way. Oh god.”
FDR looked down at his phone, cursing as he noticed the time and getting up to hurry to work.
==
Tuck was nearly cheerful when FDR arrived at work.
“Something's got you in a good mood today,” FDR remarked as he sat down smiling a little nervously, Nana's words weighing heavy in his head.
“I think- I think me and Katie might be able to work things out between us,” Tuck smiled a little bashfully, fidgeting in his chair.
“Oh really?” FDR managed to keep the shock on his face down to an acceptable level, though he felt horrified.
“Yeah, I hope so. Now that she knows why I have to travel all over the world all of the time and all. That clears up a lot of the arguments between us.”
“Really?” FDR couldn't seem to say anything else.
“Really. Seems kind of a waste, doesn't it? If all I ever had to do was tell her I was really a spy.” Tuck crinkled his nose ruefully. He looked adorable and hopeful and happy and all FDR wanted to do was scoop him up into his arms and kiss him breathless, kiss him until he forgot about everyone else.
“That's really a surprise,” is what FDR said instead, still trying not to look to entirely gobsmacked.
“You don't seem to happy about it, though.” Tuck sat up and leaned over his desk towards FDR.
“I'm, um, I guess I'm just surprised.” FDR really wished he could think of something better than that to say.
“Yeah, you said that.”
“And I might still be kind of angry that she ever broke up with you in the first place.” That was at least half true, as the part of FDR not rejoicing that Tuck was single again had been furious with Katie for breaking Tuck's heart.
“Well, you can't blame her for that,” Tuck sat back in his chair again. “We had a young child and I was gone half the time with no further explanation than “business.” She had good reason for doing that.”
Now Tuck looked all sad again, and FDR could have hit himself for ruining his happy mood of earlier.
“I guess she did,” FDR said lamely, trying to undo his earlier sentence. If anything he just made it worse, judging from Tuck's expression.
“I've got to finish this.” Tuck turned back towards his computer and FDR cursed under his breath. This settled it, then. He would go over to Lauren's tonight after work, and then he would confess everything to Tuck tomorrow. FDR could only pray that he hadn't already lost Tuck to Katie for a second time.
==
“You're still coming over tomorrow, right?” FDR asked as he and Tuck packed up at the end of the day.
“Yeah, 'course.”
“Great. I'll see you then.”
“Sure thing,” Tuck gave a flicker of a smile as he turned to leave before falling back into the hangdog expression he had been wearing for most of the day. FDR hated knowing he had caused that. He considered punching a wall on the way out, but he had broken his hand the last time he had tried that at headquarters and he really didn't need broken bones on top of everything else.
He called Lauren as soon as he was in his car.
“Hey, baby, how are you?” Lauren picked up.
“Hi, Lauren, can I come over? I really need to talk to you about something.” FDR intentionally made his voice as heavy as he could so she would be prepared for something bad to happen.
“Sure. What's wrong?” Lauren sounded apprehensive.
“It's- It's not really something I should tell you over the phone. I'll be there in a few minutes, I'm just leaving work.”
“Ok. Well, I just got back from work myself, I'll be here.”
“Ok. See you soon.”
“Love you, bye.”
“Bye.”
FDR hung up and sighed, thumping his head back on the headrest as he stopped at a light. This certainly wasn't going to be fun.
==
Lauren took the news as well as could be expected. She didn't knee him in the crotch or try to remove his eyes, so FDR counted it a success, even if he had a nice red print on his cheek as he climbed back into his car to head for home. She probably wouldn't be talking to him again, which was a real shame, as FDR had come to enjoy her company even if she was trying to steal his Tuck away from under his nose.
FDR called Nana when he got home and left her a message telling her that he had broken up with Lauren. That would make Nana happy, at least, knowing that Lauren was free to go date someone who actually wanted to date her. Now that FDR thought more about it, he was happy that he had done so as well. It certainly wasn't Lauren's fault that she found Tuck attractive and adorable and wanted a relationship with him. Except that she had tried to double time behind Tuck's back and then chosen someone else over him and broken his heart a little bit. Nevermind, Lauren deserved whatever she got. Maybe FDR should have been more flippant in telling her. Or maybe he shouldn't have told her at all and just let her find out later that FDR had started sleeping with Tuck. Tuck wouldn't approve, though.
Which brought up the horrifying fact that FDR was going to have to talk to him about everything tomorrow evening. Terrifying didn't even begin to cover it.
==
Tuck came over at six Saturday night in a very good mood after having spent the whole day with Joe. In a coincidence that proved God existed and answered prayer, Katie had been unexpectedly forced into a day of overtime at work. FDR couldn't be happier about that fact as he sat through dinner listening to Tuck talk and talk about his son, knowing that if Katie had been able to be there he would be talking about her just as much as about Joe, and FDR didn't know if he could handle that again. Not to mention that Tuck would probably be forever lost to Katie once again if he had spent an entire day with her.
Happily, though, FDR was able to enjoy Tuck's enthusiasm and his evident love for his son, speaking up as it was required to keep Tuck going.
They were finishing up the dishes together, and Tuck seemed to have said all he could say about the day's events, when FDR said, “Tuck, I have something important to tell you.”
“Alright,” Tuck said as he stood up from where he was putting detergent into the dishwasher, his forehead creased in concern. “What is it?”
“It's, um, I'm not really sure how to say this other than being incredibly direct. I love you, Tuck.” FDR braced himself for Tuck's reaction, which did not turn out to be quite what he was expecting.
“I know that,” Tuck wiped his hands on a dishrag, looking a little confused, “I love you too.”
“No, I mean, I'm in love with you. Like I want to take you to my bed and fuck you until you can't move and never let anyone touch you again.”
Tuck stood frozen in place, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly open in shock. And, well, that wasn't quite how FDR had planned to say it at all.
“I- you what?” Tuck managed after a moment.
“I'm in love with you,” FDR repeated lamely, unsure of what to say now.
“But, what about Lauren?”
Of course that was the first question he had to ask, FDR thought bitterly. “I was jealous,” FDR said out loud. “I've been in love with you for years now, I just haven't ever known how to tell you without ruining what we had. And then Lauren came along, and at first, I swear I didn't know she was going out with you, and then after I found out the only thing I could think of was getting her away from you. And I know that what I did probably wasn't the best way to go about that, but it was the only thing I could think of, and I'm sorry. I broke up with Lauren yesterday.”
“You- god,” Tuck threw the rag into the sink and rubbed his hands over his face. “Why the fuck would you do something like that?”
“It was the only way I could think of to give myself a shot at having you.”
“Why didn't you just tell me how you felt instead of making it into this ridiculous contest over nothing?” Tuck's voice started to rise and FDR gritted his teeth.
“Because you don't love me and it would have ruined everything!” FDR clenched his fists.
“What do you mean I don't love you? I have loved you since I met you sophomore year!”
“You- wait, what?”
“Yes, I have been in love with you for forever! Because, yeah, it's true what you say about me, I do fall in love with every beautiful person I meet, and you have never left me the fuck alone long enough for it to go away!” Tuck was shouting now, and FDR couldn't get over the shock of this revelation even as Tuck crowded up into his personal space to glare up at him.
“Why didn't you tell me? You went and married Katie, for Christ's sake!”
“I thought you were straight! So I moved on because there's no use in pining for the rest of my life!”
“But you caught me kissing a guy, like, the year after Katie divorced you! Why didn't you tell me after that?”
“I did!”
“What? When?”
“In Bangladesh!”
“What? But we were both drunk off our asses in Bangladesh!”
“So I needed a little liquid courage, you're hardly the boldest man either!”
“Why didn't you say anything?”
“I did! I sucked you off and swallowed your come!” Tuck blushed as he said it, but he kept up furious eye contact.
“Well how am I supposed to know that that means anything?”
“Maybe if you weren't a slut you would be able to pick up on things like that instead of being ruined for it by whores who swallow everything you give them!”
“Why the fuck didn't you say something the morning after?” FDR shouted back in Tuck's face. “You didn't give me anything to let me know if you actually meant it or if it was just a drunken mistake!”
“What was I supposed to say?! You were over there buttoning up your cuffs and walking out the door when I woke up! I took that to mean you didn't want anything with me!”
“What would you have done if you had woken up first?!”
“I would have kissed you awake and asked if you wanted to eat crappy hotel breakfast or wait until we got to the airport!”
“Really?” FDR asked, slightly stunned.
“Yes!” Tuck's face was flaming and he looked away angrily.
FDR sighed and rubbed his mouth before speaking again. “I'm sorry, Tuck.”
The muscles in Tuck's jaw rippled as he clenched his teeth. “What are you sorry about?”
“Everything. Never telling you I'm in love with you. Walking out in Bangladesh. Lauren. All of it.”
Tuck took a deep breath and walked out of the kitchen to drop onto one of FDR's armchairs.
“I am really not sure what to say to you, FDR,” Tuck said after a few moments of silence, looking up at the ceiling. “I've just started to work things out with Katie, and it would be so much better for Joe if his parents were together.” Tuck took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he shut his eyes. “Thing is, Franklin, I do actually love her still. I don't know what to do.”
FDR slowly sat down on the edge of the couch next to Tuck.
“Tuck, do you- do you mind if I make a case?” FDR said slowly, not wanting to upset Tuck again.
“Might as well.” Tuck didn't open his eyes.
“Ok, so, has anything fundamental changed about your relationship with Katie? I mean, obviously she knows you're CIA now so she knows exactly why you have to travel all the time, but other than that, has anything changed? You're still going to have to be gone just as often, and she's still going to hate it, that's not going to change, even if she now knows the real reason why. And all of the other little things that annoyed her about you, and that annoyed you about her, they're still going to be just the same. Nothing is going to have gotten better, because nothing has actually changed about your relationship.” FDR cut himself off before he could trap himself in a repeating loop or say anything cruel about Katie.
Tuck bit his lips and opened his eyes before hunching over and burying his face in his hands. “That's just the thing, isn't it?” Tuck rasped. “You're right, I know you are, I just want so badly for her to want me back.” Tuck's voice cracked at the end, and for a horrifying moment, FDR thought Tuck was going to burst into tears in his living room.
Tuck took a few gulping breaths to steady himself before getting up and curling himself into FDR's lap. FDR stopped breathing as Tuck wrapped an arm around FDR and buried his face in the crook of FDR's neck. FDR tentatively wrapped his own arms around Tuck, hugging him even closer as he pressed a single kiss to Tuck's neck.
Tuck shivered slightly before stilling. They sat like that in silence for long minutes, FDR delighted and more than a little stunned to have Tuck relaxing farther into his chest as he rubbed his fingers slowly through Tuck's short hair.
Suddenly, Tuck let out a long sigh and went completely limp in FDR's arms.
“Um, Tuck, you're going to have to translate this one for me,” FDR said hesitantly.
“It means,” Tuck said slowly, “that I can make a decision a lot faster than Lauren can.”
“And?” FDR prompted, breathless with hope.
“And, I think she was onto something.”
“Tuck, you're going to have to put me out of my misery and be very explicit with me. What are you saying?”
Tuck pushed himself up on FDR's chest to look FDR in the eye, serious and a little shy. He licked his lips and hesitated before closing his eyes, leaning forward, and kissing FDR, soft and sweet.
FDR hardly dared to breathe as Tuck brought up a hand to cup FDR's jaw, tilting his head slightly to give himself more room but keeping the kiss shallow, just the slide of lips on lips with no pressure for anything more.
Tuck pulled away after a bit, eyes at half mast and licking his lips, and god, FDR just wanted to fuck him blind.
“Tuck,” FDR whispered, raising a hand to cradle the back of Tuck's head and keep him from moving away. Tuck smirked a little and blushed and FDR could no longer be held responsible for his actions. He lunged forwards, crashing his mouth into Tuck's and licking in between his teeth desperately.
FDR felt Tuck's smile against his lips as Tuck shifted to straddle FDR's hips and kneel up over him. Tuck cradled FDR's face in both hands and gentled the kiss significantly, though he slid his tongue into FDR's mouth against FDR's own tongue.
They continued to kiss until they were both hard and Tuck was slowly rocking his hips into FDR's stomach, deftly reversing all of FDR's attempts to turn everything frantic. FDR tried once again to pull Tuck's hips down flush with his own to give himself some relief, and once again Tuck stayed right where he was, thoroughly enjoying himself if the smiled pressed against FDR's lips was any indication. And while that was all well and good, FDR was starting to feel positively desperate.
He slid one hand farther up Tuck's shirt to tease a nipple, hoping to provoke some action, but Tuck simply made a pleased noise into FDR's mouth and pressed into the contact. FDR slid his other hand down to his own crotch while he continued to play with Tuck's nipple, hoping that he would be distracted or otherwise uncaring, but Tuck caught FDR's hand before he had time to do more than press against his cock and relocated it rather carelessly to Tuck's ass.
FDR groaned disappointedly into Tuck's mouth, and Tuck had to break the kiss to grin widely, the corners of his eyes crinkling up with mirth.
“Tuck, you're killing me here,” FDR panted against Tuck's collarbone.
Tuck chuckled into FDR's hair, then climbed down between FDR's knees and got his mouth around FDR's cock before FDR had time to think. FDR dropped his head back and groaned long and filthy, scratching his fingers through Tuck's hair.
Tuck didn't give the most skilled blowjob FDR had ever had, but he more than made up for his obvious lack of experience with his enthusiasm, diving right back in every time he gagged, and his gorgeous, gorgeous lips. FDR probably could have come from the visual alone. Add to that that FDR had been lusting after Tuck for literally years, and FDR was coming embarrassingly quickly.
FDR tried to warn him, but Tuck simply sucked harder and FDR was coming in Tuck's mouth, Tuck swallowing it down. He continued licking and shallowly sucking FDR's cock until FDR was twitching with oversensitivity and hauling Tuck up onto his lap.
Tuck came easily, uncoordinated and shivering with arousal as he pressed himself against FDR, mouthing at his neck with swollen lips. FDR wormed a hand between their bodies and squeezed Tuck's crotch, causing Tuck's whole body to jerk against him. FDR encouraged Tuck to rock his hips into FDR's hand until Tuck let out a whimper against FDR's ear.
FDR kissed Tuck's neck and rolled to the side, sending Tuck sprawling lengthwise on the couch.
“Franklin,” Tuck started, a bit frantic, but FDR had his mouth over Tuck's before he could get anything else out.
“Shhh,” FDR soothed, stroking a hand up and down Tuck's side, “I've got you, Tuck, relax.”
Tuck shivered and clutched at FDR's shirt while FDR opened Tuck's pants and slid them off of, dropping them over the side of the couch before pulling off Tuck's shirt and flinging it across the room. FDR sat back to just look at Tuck, sliding his hands up Tuck's thighs and ghosting his fingers over Tuck's fat cock, then bending down to kiss up the center of Tuck's torso, running both hands up his thickly muscled sides. FDR pulled up to look at Tuck's face once he reached his collarbone, moving his hands to circle, or make an attempt to circle, Tuck's biceps.
Tuck was blushing furiously, looking up shyly at FDR through his long lashes and biting at his red, swollen lower lip. FDR groaned and leaned down to kiss his obscene mouth once again, pressing his still clothed thigh up against Tuck's cock and pulling back long enough to whisper, “go on, Tuck, get yourself off.”
Tuck whimpered and began to rut against FDR's leg, grabbing at FDR and pulling him into another kiss, sloppy and talentless. FDR smiled against Tuck's lips and pulled away, Tuck leaning up to follow FDR's lips. FDR chuckled and kissed Tuck's eyebrow before pushing him back down flat against the couch.
FDR slid a hand around Tuck's cock, and Tuck shuddered and bucked up against him, his whole body tensing up. FDR reached his other hand down to massage Tuck's balls while he leaned over to suck wetly on one of Tuck's nipples and Tuck was coming, snapping his hips up into FDR's fist and moaning quietly through his release.
Tuck sighed and seemed to melt into the couch after he finished, blinking slowly up at FDR, who was still on all fours, staring down at him in wonder. FDR slowly lowered himself down to kiss Tuck once again, Tuck reaching up with heavy fingers to cup the side of his face.
“So,” FDR said quietly when they broke apart, “what does this mean?”
“It means I want to be your boyfriend.” There was a smile tucked in the corner of Tuck's mouth, waiting for something until it broke out in full.
“Good,” FDR smirked, “I want you to be my boyfriend.”
“Good.” Tuck was grinning now, huge and sappy. He reached up and pulled FDR down on top of him. “You should take off your clothes now.”
“Can't argue with that.” FDR got up to strip off and quickly laid back down next to Tuck, pulling him flush with FDR's body and relishing the twitch he got from Tuck when his spent cock dragged against FDR's hip.
“I'm going to kiss you now,” FDR mumbled before devouring Tuck's mouth, ecstatic with the pleased little sigh Tuck gave as their lips connected again.
They spent the rest of the evening making out lazily on the couch without any purpose but to enjoy it. They stumbled up to FDR's room late, taking a quick shower that turned a lot longer when they ended up rubbing off against each other under the warm spray.
They fell into bed damp and without bothering to dress. FDR hugged Tuck close, tangling their legs together under the covers.
“I love you, Tuck,” he murmured into Tuck's hair after planting a kiss there.
“I love you, too, FDR,” Tuck mumbled, seconds away from passing out.
FDR grinned stupidly as Tuck began to snore quietly against his shoulder. The night had turned out better than he ever could have hoped for.
Rating: NC-17
Pairings and Characters: FDR/Tuck, Nana, smidgens of FDR/Lauren and Katie/Tuck.
Word Count: 4567
Warnings: None
Summary: FDR finds himself in a jam once Heinrich has been dealt with and Lauren has made her decision. Lauren wasn't who he had been fighting for at all.
A/N: I cannot for the life of me remember if it is ever said when FDR and Tuck meet, so I made something up and then built a headcanon around it. There will likely be more from me in this same verse at some point in the future.
Also Archived At: DW
FDR slumped onto his couch and scrubbed his hands through his hair. His plan had a massive flaw that he had failed to realize until now, too caught up in trying to get Lauren the fuck away from Tuck. FDR groaned and stared at the ceiling, at his wits end, absolutely no idea what to do next. He sighed and fished his phone out of his pocket after a few moments and called Nana.
“I wonder what sort of tragedy could have you calling me, Franklin dear,” Nana answered, sounding cheery nonetheless.
“Hey, Nana. I seem to have dug myself into a bit of a hole, and I was hoping for some advice.” FDR winced preemptively, preparing for some sort of scathing reply.
“Oh, Franklin, what have you done now? Tell me what it is and I'll see if anything can be done to salvage the situation.”
“Ok,” FDR sighed, relieved. “Well, you remember how Tuck and I were, uh, fighting over Lauren?”
“My memory's not quite that bad yet, it's only been a few weeks.”
“Right. I, um, I was not actually fighting for Lauren at all.” FDR squirmed in his seat.
“Franklin, you cannot be serious. After all of these years?”
“Yeah. It sounds really stupid, I know-”
“You don't know the half of it.”
“But what do I do now?”
“I'm not sure what's got you up in knots. You do the glaringly obvious; tell Lauren why you did what you did and then go tell Tuck you're in mad, possessive love with him if Lauren doesn't castrate you first.”
“But what if he doesn't want me? And what if he's really pissed that I put him through all of this shit about Lauren for no reason? And then what if he and Lauren get back together? Nana, I can't do that!”
“Franklin, you haven't left yourself many options. Tuck seems ready to settle down with anyone who will give him the time of day. If you don't get yourself together and tell him you want to be that person, he's going to find himself someone else, and there is no way you could do what you did with Lauren again without either showing your hand or doing permanent damage to your and Tuck's friendship. Speaking of which, that was an extremely terrible thing to do to poor Tuck. What could have possessed you to think that that was a good idea?”
“When I started with Lauren I really didn't know she was going out with Tuck, I just thought she would be fun for a while. And then I found out she was trying to steal Tuck, and, well, Tuck is mine! I had to get her away from him somehow!”
“Franklin, you do realize this is your own fault for not making you feelings known to Tuck, don't you?”
“Yes, Nana, I know, I just... ugh,” FDR rubbed his eyes, “why did Tuck have to want to settle down? What was wrong with what we were doing before?”
“Most people have the urge to put down roots sooner or later. You're just on the later end of the scale, I suppose. At least, I hope. I could see you floating about aimlessly between one night stands for the rest of your life.”
“I've put down roots! I just put them down in Tuck and didn't ever tell him,” FDR mumbled.
“Right, now be a man and tell him about it.”
“Nana, he's going to be so mad at me.”
“He is. And with good reason. But he'll only get more angry the longer you keep him in the dark. He's your best friend, Franklin, and he's going to forgive you because he's a soft-hearted bastard. That doesn't mean he's not going to unleash a righteous fury on you beforehand, but he's going to forgive you.”
“I guess so,” FDR sighed. “Thanks for the talk, Nana.”
“Now, you are going to actually act upon the things we just talked about, aren't you?”
“Yes.”
“Before the year is out?”
“...Yes?”
“Franklin, you really can't leave it for long. It certainly isn't fair to Lauren to string her along, and I meant what I said about Tuck wanting to settle.”
“I know, I know. And I will. Soon. Really,” FDR insisted to Nana's skeptical silence.
“See that you do. I'm going to have to go, Franklin, I'm expecting a group of ladies to start arriving any minute now. I love you, dear, even when you're unbearably stupid sometimes.”
“I love you too, Nana. I'm sorry I'm stupid.”
“There's no use apologizing. You need to talk to Lauren today and tell her there's nothing there.”
“Ok.”
“Alright, goodbye. Try not to beat yourself up too much.”
“I'm sure there's not much danger of that. Bye, Nana. I'll see you the next brunch.”
“Good. I expect updates before then.”
“Ok.”
“I mean it. If I haven't heard anything else about this by then, I will take Tuck aside and tell him myself.”
“You wouldn't do that!” FDR sat up straight, aghast.
“You know I would.”
“Oh god.” FDR sank back into the cushions.
“Get to it, Frank. Now I really do have to go. I love you.”
“I love you too, Nana. Bye.”
“Goodbye, Franklin.”
Nana hung up and FDR dropped his phone onto the couch next to himself.
“I am really going to have to do this now,” he muttered. “I cannot believe it. Why did I do this to myself? Surely there was some other way. Oh god.”
FDR looked down at his phone, cursing as he noticed the time and getting up to hurry to work.
==
Tuck was nearly cheerful when FDR arrived at work.
“Something's got you in a good mood today,” FDR remarked as he sat down smiling a little nervously, Nana's words weighing heavy in his head.
“I think- I think me and Katie might be able to work things out between us,” Tuck smiled a little bashfully, fidgeting in his chair.
“Oh really?” FDR managed to keep the shock on his face down to an acceptable level, though he felt horrified.
“Yeah, I hope so. Now that she knows why I have to travel all over the world all of the time and all. That clears up a lot of the arguments between us.”
“Really?” FDR couldn't seem to say anything else.
“Really. Seems kind of a waste, doesn't it? If all I ever had to do was tell her I was really a spy.” Tuck crinkled his nose ruefully. He looked adorable and hopeful and happy and all FDR wanted to do was scoop him up into his arms and kiss him breathless, kiss him until he forgot about everyone else.
“That's really a surprise,” is what FDR said instead, still trying not to look to entirely gobsmacked.
“You don't seem to happy about it, though.” Tuck sat up and leaned over his desk towards FDR.
“I'm, um, I guess I'm just surprised.” FDR really wished he could think of something better than that to say.
“Yeah, you said that.”
“And I might still be kind of angry that she ever broke up with you in the first place.” That was at least half true, as the part of FDR not rejoicing that Tuck was single again had been furious with Katie for breaking Tuck's heart.
“Well, you can't blame her for that,” Tuck sat back in his chair again. “We had a young child and I was gone half the time with no further explanation than “business.” She had good reason for doing that.”
Now Tuck looked all sad again, and FDR could have hit himself for ruining his happy mood of earlier.
“I guess she did,” FDR said lamely, trying to undo his earlier sentence. If anything he just made it worse, judging from Tuck's expression.
“I've got to finish this.” Tuck turned back towards his computer and FDR cursed under his breath. This settled it, then. He would go over to Lauren's tonight after work, and then he would confess everything to Tuck tomorrow. FDR could only pray that he hadn't already lost Tuck to Katie for a second time.
==
“You're still coming over tomorrow, right?” FDR asked as he and Tuck packed up at the end of the day.
“Yeah, 'course.”
“Great. I'll see you then.”
“Sure thing,” Tuck gave a flicker of a smile as he turned to leave before falling back into the hangdog expression he had been wearing for most of the day. FDR hated knowing he had caused that. He considered punching a wall on the way out, but he had broken his hand the last time he had tried that at headquarters and he really didn't need broken bones on top of everything else.
He called Lauren as soon as he was in his car.
“Hey, baby, how are you?” Lauren picked up.
“Hi, Lauren, can I come over? I really need to talk to you about something.” FDR intentionally made his voice as heavy as he could so she would be prepared for something bad to happen.
“Sure. What's wrong?” Lauren sounded apprehensive.
“It's- It's not really something I should tell you over the phone. I'll be there in a few minutes, I'm just leaving work.”
“Ok. Well, I just got back from work myself, I'll be here.”
“Ok. See you soon.”
“Love you, bye.”
“Bye.”
FDR hung up and sighed, thumping his head back on the headrest as he stopped at a light. This certainly wasn't going to be fun.
==
Lauren took the news as well as could be expected. She didn't knee him in the crotch or try to remove his eyes, so FDR counted it a success, even if he had a nice red print on his cheek as he climbed back into his car to head for home. She probably wouldn't be talking to him again, which was a real shame, as FDR had come to enjoy her company even if she was trying to steal his Tuck away from under his nose.
FDR called Nana when he got home and left her a message telling her that he had broken up with Lauren. That would make Nana happy, at least, knowing that Lauren was free to go date someone who actually wanted to date her. Now that FDR thought more about it, he was happy that he had done so as well. It certainly wasn't Lauren's fault that she found Tuck attractive and adorable and wanted a relationship with him. Except that she had tried to double time behind Tuck's back and then chosen someone else over him and broken his heart a little bit. Nevermind, Lauren deserved whatever she got. Maybe FDR should have been more flippant in telling her. Or maybe he shouldn't have told her at all and just let her find out later that FDR had started sleeping with Tuck. Tuck wouldn't approve, though.
Which brought up the horrifying fact that FDR was going to have to talk to him about everything tomorrow evening. Terrifying didn't even begin to cover it.
==
Tuck came over at six Saturday night in a very good mood after having spent the whole day with Joe. In a coincidence that proved God existed and answered prayer, Katie had been unexpectedly forced into a day of overtime at work. FDR couldn't be happier about that fact as he sat through dinner listening to Tuck talk and talk about his son, knowing that if Katie had been able to be there he would be talking about her just as much as about Joe, and FDR didn't know if he could handle that again. Not to mention that Tuck would probably be forever lost to Katie once again if he had spent an entire day with her.
Happily, though, FDR was able to enjoy Tuck's enthusiasm and his evident love for his son, speaking up as it was required to keep Tuck going.
They were finishing up the dishes together, and Tuck seemed to have said all he could say about the day's events, when FDR said, “Tuck, I have something important to tell you.”
“Alright,” Tuck said as he stood up from where he was putting detergent into the dishwasher, his forehead creased in concern. “What is it?”
“It's, um, I'm not really sure how to say this other than being incredibly direct. I love you, Tuck.” FDR braced himself for Tuck's reaction, which did not turn out to be quite what he was expecting.
“I know that,” Tuck wiped his hands on a dishrag, looking a little confused, “I love you too.”
“No, I mean, I'm in love with you. Like I want to take you to my bed and fuck you until you can't move and never let anyone touch you again.”
Tuck stood frozen in place, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly open in shock. And, well, that wasn't quite how FDR had planned to say it at all.
“I- you what?” Tuck managed after a moment.
“I'm in love with you,” FDR repeated lamely, unsure of what to say now.
“But, what about Lauren?”
Of course that was the first question he had to ask, FDR thought bitterly. “I was jealous,” FDR said out loud. “I've been in love with you for years now, I just haven't ever known how to tell you without ruining what we had. And then Lauren came along, and at first, I swear I didn't know she was going out with you, and then after I found out the only thing I could think of was getting her away from you. And I know that what I did probably wasn't the best way to go about that, but it was the only thing I could think of, and I'm sorry. I broke up with Lauren yesterday.”
“You- god,” Tuck threw the rag into the sink and rubbed his hands over his face. “Why the fuck would you do something like that?”
“It was the only way I could think of to give myself a shot at having you.”
“Why didn't you just tell me how you felt instead of making it into this ridiculous contest over nothing?” Tuck's voice started to rise and FDR gritted his teeth.
“Because you don't love me and it would have ruined everything!” FDR clenched his fists.
“What do you mean I don't love you? I have loved you since I met you sophomore year!”
“You- wait, what?”
“Yes, I have been in love with you for forever! Because, yeah, it's true what you say about me, I do fall in love with every beautiful person I meet, and you have never left me the fuck alone long enough for it to go away!” Tuck was shouting now, and FDR couldn't get over the shock of this revelation even as Tuck crowded up into his personal space to glare up at him.
“Why didn't you tell me? You went and married Katie, for Christ's sake!”
“I thought you were straight! So I moved on because there's no use in pining for the rest of my life!”
“But you caught me kissing a guy, like, the year after Katie divorced you! Why didn't you tell me after that?”
“I did!”
“What? When?”
“In Bangladesh!”
“What? But we were both drunk off our asses in Bangladesh!”
“So I needed a little liquid courage, you're hardly the boldest man either!”
“Why didn't you say anything?”
“I did! I sucked you off and swallowed your come!” Tuck blushed as he said it, but he kept up furious eye contact.
“Well how am I supposed to know that that means anything?”
“Maybe if you weren't a slut you would be able to pick up on things like that instead of being ruined for it by whores who swallow everything you give them!”
“Why the fuck didn't you say something the morning after?” FDR shouted back in Tuck's face. “You didn't give me anything to let me know if you actually meant it or if it was just a drunken mistake!”
“What was I supposed to say?! You were over there buttoning up your cuffs and walking out the door when I woke up! I took that to mean you didn't want anything with me!”
“What would you have done if you had woken up first?!”
“I would have kissed you awake and asked if you wanted to eat crappy hotel breakfast or wait until we got to the airport!”
“Really?” FDR asked, slightly stunned.
“Yes!” Tuck's face was flaming and he looked away angrily.
FDR sighed and rubbed his mouth before speaking again. “I'm sorry, Tuck.”
The muscles in Tuck's jaw rippled as he clenched his teeth. “What are you sorry about?”
“Everything. Never telling you I'm in love with you. Walking out in Bangladesh. Lauren. All of it.”
Tuck took a deep breath and walked out of the kitchen to drop onto one of FDR's armchairs.
“I am really not sure what to say to you, FDR,” Tuck said after a few moments of silence, looking up at the ceiling. “I've just started to work things out with Katie, and it would be so much better for Joe if his parents were together.” Tuck took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he shut his eyes. “Thing is, Franklin, I do actually love her still. I don't know what to do.”
FDR slowly sat down on the edge of the couch next to Tuck.
“Tuck, do you- do you mind if I make a case?” FDR said slowly, not wanting to upset Tuck again.
“Might as well.” Tuck didn't open his eyes.
“Ok, so, has anything fundamental changed about your relationship with Katie? I mean, obviously she knows you're CIA now so she knows exactly why you have to travel all the time, but other than that, has anything changed? You're still going to have to be gone just as often, and she's still going to hate it, that's not going to change, even if she now knows the real reason why. And all of the other little things that annoyed her about you, and that annoyed you about her, they're still going to be just the same. Nothing is going to have gotten better, because nothing has actually changed about your relationship.” FDR cut himself off before he could trap himself in a repeating loop or say anything cruel about Katie.
Tuck bit his lips and opened his eyes before hunching over and burying his face in his hands. “That's just the thing, isn't it?” Tuck rasped. “You're right, I know you are, I just want so badly for her to want me back.” Tuck's voice cracked at the end, and for a horrifying moment, FDR thought Tuck was going to burst into tears in his living room.
Tuck took a few gulping breaths to steady himself before getting up and curling himself into FDR's lap. FDR stopped breathing as Tuck wrapped an arm around FDR and buried his face in the crook of FDR's neck. FDR tentatively wrapped his own arms around Tuck, hugging him even closer as he pressed a single kiss to Tuck's neck.
Tuck shivered slightly before stilling. They sat like that in silence for long minutes, FDR delighted and more than a little stunned to have Tuck relaxing farther into his chest as he rubbed his fingers slowly through Tuck's short hair.
Suddenly, Tuck let out a long sigh and went completely limp in FDR's arms.
“Um, Tuck, you're going to have to translate this one for me,” FDR said hesitantly.
“It means,” Tuck said slowly, “that I can make a decision a lot faster than Lauren can.”
“And?” FDR prompted, breathless with hope.
“And, I think she was onto something.”
“Tuck, you're going to have to put me out of my misery and be very explicit with me. What are you saying?”
Tuck pushed himself up on FDR's chest to look FDR in the eye, serious and a little shy. He licked his lips and hesitated before closing his eyes, leaning forward, and kissing FDR, soft and sweet.
FDR hardly dared to breathe as Tuck brought up a hand to cup FDR's jaw, tilting his head slightly to give himself more room but keeping the kiss shallow, just the slide of lips on lips with no pressure for anything more.
Tuck pulled away after a bit, eyes at half mast and licking his lips, and god, FDR just wanted to fuck him blind.
“Tuck,” FDR whispered, raising a hand to cradle the back of Tuck's head and keep him from moving away. Tuck smirked a little and blushed and FDR could no longer be held responsible for his actions. He lunged forwards, crashing his mouth into Tuck's and licking in between his teeth desperately.
FDR felt Tuck's smile against his lips as Tuck shifted to straddle FDR's hips and kneel up over him. Tuck cradled FDR's face in both hands and gentled the kiss significantly, though he slid his tongue into FDR's mouth against FDR's own tongue.
They continued to kiss until they were both hard and Tuck was slowly rocking his hips into FDR's stomach, deftly reversing all of FDR's attempts to turn everything frantic. FDR tried once again to pull Tuck's hips down flush with his own to give himself some relief, and once again Tuck stayed right where he was, thoroughly enjoying himself if the smiled pressed against FDR's lips was any indication. And while that was all well and good, FDR was starting to feel positively desperate.
He slid one hand farther up Tuck's shirt to tease a nipple, hoping to provoke some action, but Tuck simply made a pleased noise into FDR's mouth and pressed into the contact. FDR slid his other hand down to his own crotch while he continued to play with Tuck's nipple, hoping that he would be distracted or otherwise uncaring, but Tuck caught FDR's hand before he had time to do more than press against his cock and relocated it rather carelessly to Tuck's ass.
FDR groaned disappointedly into Tuck's mouth, and Tuck had to break the kiss to grin widely, the corners of his eyes crinkling up with mirth.
“Tuck, you're killing me here,” FDR panted against Tuck's collarbone.
Tuck chuckled into FDR's hair, then climbed down between FDR's knees and got his mouth around FDR's cock before FDR had time to think. FDR dropped his head back and groaned long and filthy, scratching his fingers through Tuck's hair.
Tuck didn't give the most skilled blowjob FDR had ever had, but he more than made up for his obvious lack of experience with his enthusiasm, diving right back in every time he gagged, and his gorgeous, gorgeous lips. FDR probably could have come from the visual alone. Add to that that FDR had been lusting after Tuck for literally years, and FDR was coming embarrassingly quickly.
FDR tried to warn him, but Tuck simply sucked harder and FDR was coming in Tuck's mouth, Tuck swallowing it down. He continued licking and shallowly sucking FDR's cock until FDR was twitching with oversensitivity and hauling Tuck up onto his lap.
Tuck came easily, uncoordinated and shivering with arousal as he pressed himself against FDR, mouthing at his neck with swollen lips. FDR wormed a hand between their bodies and squeezed Tuck's crotch, causing Tuck's whole body to jerk against him. FDR encouraged Tuck to rock his hips into FDR's hand until Tuck let out a whimper against FDR's ear.
FDR kissed Tuck's neck and rolled to the side, sending Tuck sprawling lengthwise on the couch.
“Franklin,” Tuck started, a bit frantic, but FDR had his mouth over Tuck's before he could get anything else out.
“Shhh,” FDR soothed, stroking a hand up and down Tuck's side, “I've got you, Tuck, relax.”
Tuck shivered and clutched at FDR's shirt while FDR opened Tuck's pants and slid them off of, dropping them over the side of the couch before pulling off Tuck's shirt and flinging it across the room. FDR sat back to just look at Tuck, sliding his hands up Tuck's thighs and ghosting his fingers over Tuck's fat cock, then bending down to kiss up the center of Tuck's torso, running both hands up his thickly muscled sides. FDR pulled up to look at Tuck's face once he reached his collarbone, moving his hands to circle, or make an attempt to circle, Tuck's biceps.
Tuck was blushing furiously, looking up shyly at FDR through his long lashes and biting at his red, swollen lower lip. FDR groaned and leaned down to kiss his obscene mouth once again, pressing his still clothed thigh up against Tuck's cock and pulling back long enough to whisper, “go on, Tuck, get yourself off.”
Tuck whimpered and began to rut against FDR's leg, grabbing at FDR and pulling him into another kiss, sloppy and talentless. FDR smiled against Tuck's lips and pulled away, Tuck leaning up to follow FDR's lips. FDR chuckled and kissed Tuck's eyebrow before pushing him back down flat against the couch.
FDR slid a hand around Tuck's cock, and Tuck shuddered and bucked up against him, his whole body tensing up. FDR reached his other hand down to massage Tuck's balls while he leaned over to suck wetly on one of Tuck's nipples and Tuck was coming, snapping his hips up into FDR's fist and moaning quietly through his release.
Tuck sighed and seemed to melt into the couch after he finished, blinking slowly up at FDR, who was still on all fours, staring down at him in wonder. FDR slowly lowered himself down to kiss Tuck once again, Tuck reaching up with heavy fingers to cup the side of his face.
“So,” FDR said quietly when they broke apart, “what does this mean?”
“It means I want to be your boyfriend.” There was a smile tucked in the corner of Tuck's mouth, waiting for something until it broke out in full.
“Good,” FDR smirked, “I want you to be my boyfriend.”
“Good.” Tuck was grinning now, huge and sappy. He reached up and pulled FDR down on top of him. “You should take off your clothes now.”
“Can't argue with that.” FDR got up to strip off and quickly laid back down next to Tuck, pulling him flush with FDR's body and relishing the twitch he got from Tuck when his spent cock dragged against FDR's hip.
“I'm going to kiss you now,” FDR mumbled before devouring Tuck's mouth, ecstatic with the pleased little sigh Tuck gave as their lips connected again.
They spent the rest of the evening making out lazily on the couch without any purpose but to enjoy it. They stumbled up to FDR's room late, taking a quick shower that turned a lot longer when they ended up rubbing off against each other under the warm spray.
They fell into bed damp and without bothering to dress. FDR hugged Tuck close, tangling their legs together under the covers.
“I love you, Tuck,” he murmured into Tuck's hair after planting a kiss there.
“I love you, too, FDR,” Tuck mumbled, seconds away from passing out.
FDR grinned stupidly as Tuck began to snore quietly against his shoulder. The night had turned out better than he ever could have hoped for.