When It Counts [Sports Night - Dan/Casey - PG]
Title: When It Counts
Fandom: Sports Night
Pairing: Dan/Casey
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I am not these people and this never happened outside of my head.
Notes: Written for the It's Okay To Say 'I Love You' fest.
Dana barrels past Dan and heads straight for the kitchen. "I need a beer," she says.
"Please come in," Dan says to the empty front step. "Make yourself at home."
"Sorry, long day," Dana calls back as Dan shuts the door.
They regroup in the living room: Dana sits down on the couch beside Casey and Dan takes the recliner opposite them.
"What's new in the Wonderful World of Dana?"
Dana sighs. "Mike said he loves me last night."
"That's..." Casey trails off as he glances at Dan for confirmation. Dan gives a slight one-shouldered shrug. "...Good, right?"
"I guess."
Dan leans forward in his chair. "I thought you liked Mike."
"I do. I do a lot. I just don't know if I'm in love with him. And I don't know if I'm just not in love with him yet or if it'll never happen."
"These things take time and everyone figures it out at their own speed," Dan says.
"But in the mean time, he said it and I didn't and now it's out there and it's a whole Thing and--"
Casey jumps in. "And it's always weird when one person says 'I love you' long before the other's ready."
"Yeah. Which one of you said it first?" Dana asks.
"I did," Casey and Dan say in unison.
Dana watches as they frown at each other. "Oh, this is going to be good."
"I did, the first day we met," Casey says.
Dan rolls his eyes. "Oh, please."
"I was writing a piece about... who was I writing a piece about?"
"The Mets."
"I was writing a piece about the Mets and was looking for an old stat that I could compare their current season to and asked if anyone could help me out right at Dan was walking past my desk-"
"First day as an intern."
"And he stopped and rattled off a stream of stats from the past ten years with suggestions of which to use depending on whether I was trying to make a favorable comparison or not. I said 'I love you' and dragged him over to the editor's desk with me and asked that he get assigned to me."
"Doesn't count."
"Of course it counts. It established from day one that we would be the type of men who can say 'I love you' to each other."
"Except then we didn't," Dan points out.
"I said it a few more times in similar contexts before realizing that Dan always looked uncomfortable afterwards-"
"I had my reasons."
"And never said it back."
"I had my reasons."
"Which I didn't know about until how many years later?"
Dan ignores the question and addresses Dana. "If you mean 'I love you' like 'I'm in love with you', then I said it first. Remember that time Casey and I got stranded out in Denver and had to share a hotel room because the whole city was overbooked?"
"That's not fair," Casey says.
"I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to Dana. So we were in our beds, lights out, talking."
"It was really late, Danny."
"And Casey started asking me about why I didn't have a girlfriend and whether or not I wanted to settle down."
"We'd been working non-stop all day."
"Who's telling this story, you or me?"
"I'd come off a lot better if I was the one telling it," Casey says.
Dan grins. "That's why I'm telling it. So I decide, spur of the moment, to tell Casey everything right then and there. I tell him I'm gay, tell him I've been in love with him for the past however many years, everything."
Dana's eyes widen. "Wow. I never knew that. What'd you say?"
Casey looks down at his lap. "Nothing," he mumbles.
Dana slaps him on the arm.
"So he stays quiet and I think he's taking his time processing it all and I know that that's a lot to deal with so I just wait and wait."
"And?" Dana asks.
"And eventually I fall asleep. Next morning he acts like it never happened."
Dana slaps Casey on the arm again.
"Ok, ow."
"So I figure that no answer is Casey's answer and he's telling me that the only way we can remain friends and colleagues is to ignore everything."
"I have apologized for this a lot, by the way."
"About a week later, we're hanging out and Casey asks me why I don't have a girlfriend. He'd slept through everything I said."
"It was really late," Casey says again.
"What'd you do?" Dana asks.
Dan shrugs. "Made something up. I was relieved he wasn't refusing to acknowledge what I'd told him, but I wasn't about to go through it all again just then."
"I didn't find out about any of this until several years later."
"So I said it to Casey a long time before he ever said it to me and we still worked it out. I'm sure you and Mike will figure things out too."
"That can't possibly count," Casey says.
"Why not? I said it. I meant it. How can that not count?"
"Because I didn't know you told me. I didn't even have the chance to respond."
"Would you have said you loved me?"
"Then? No."
"See, so even if you'd been awake, I would have said it long before you."
"It still doesn't count because I didn't hear it. And hypothetical alternate histories definitely don't count."
"I'm with Casey on this one," Dana says. "Casey's an idiot for falling asleep through that, but it doesn't count."
"Thanks," Casey says. "Your support is always appreciated."
"Don't mention it. So when was the first time one of you said it and meant it and the other was aware that it'd been said?"
Dan and Casey stare at each other and frown.
"I have no idea. Do you?" Dan asks.
Casey shakes his head.
"What about that time when you were over at my apartment and you..." Dan makes a vague gesture in the air. "And we..." He raises an eyebrow.
Casey's cheek flush with the memory. "I'm pretty sure anything said that night was a lot cruder than 'I love you'."
Dan smirks. "Yeah, you're probably right."
They hold each other's gaze for a while longer before they both shrug and turn back to Dana.
"I don't know," Casey says.
"Yeah, I remember a lot of times early on when we said it, but I can't remember the very first time. Not even which of us said it," Dan adds.
"Who said 'I love you' most recently then?" Dana asks.
"Probably me," Casey says. "Or wait, did I make you coffee before or after you took out the trash for me?"
"All I know is I'm certainly not going to say it now because then Casey'll just say it right after so he can beat me and the whole thing will turn into a 'did not/did too' thing except with 'I love you's."
"Then I'm not saying it either because you'd do the same if I said it now," Casey says.
Dana laughs. "You guys are ridiculous; you know that, right? I love you both, but you're utterly ridiculous."
Dan and Casey grin at each other then at Dana. "We love you too, Dana," Dan says.
Fandom: Sports Night
Pairing: Dan/Casey
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I am not these people and this never happened outside of my head.
Notes: Written for the It's Okay To Say 'I Love You' fest.
Dana barrels past Dan and heads straight for the kitchen. "I need a beer," she says.
"Please come in," Dan says to the empty front step. "Make yourself at home."
"Sorry, long day," Dana calls back as Dan shuts the door.
They regroup in the living room: Dana sits down on the couch beside Casey and Dan takes the recliner opposite them.
"What's new in the Wonderful World of Dana?"
Dana sighs. "Mike said he loves me last night."
"That's..." Casey trails off as he glances at Dan for confirmation. Dan gives a slight one-shouldered shrug. "...Good, right?"
"I guess."
Dan leans forward in his chair. "I thought you liked Mike."
"I do. I do a lot. I just don't know if I'm in love with him. And I don't know if I'm just not in love with him yet or if it'll never happen."
"These things take time and everyone figures it out at their own speed," Dan says.
"But in the mean time, he said it and I didn't and now it's out there and it's a whole Thing and--"
Casey jumps in. "And it's always weird when one person says 'I love you' long before the other's ready."
"Yeah. Which one of you said it first?" Dana asks.
"I did," Casey and Dan say in unison.
Dana watches as they frown at each other. "Oh, this is going to be good."
"I did, the first day we met," Casey says.
Dan rolls his eyes. "Oh, please."
"I was writing a piece about... who was I writing a piece about?"
"The Mets."
"I was writing a piece about the Mets and was looking for an old stat that I could compare their current season to and asked if anyone could help me out right at Dan was walking past my desk-"
"First day as an intern."
"And he stopped and rattled off a stream of stats from the past ten years with suggestions of which to use depending on whether I was trying to make a favorable comparison or not. I said 'I love you' and dragged him over to the editor's desk with me and asked that he get assigned to me."
"Doesn't count."
"Of course it counts. It established from day one that we would be the type of men who can say 'I love you' to each other."
"Except then we didn't," Dan points out.
"I said it a few more times in similar contexts before realizing that Dan always looked uncomfortable afterwards-"
"I had my reasons."
"And never said it back."
"I had my reasons."
"Which I didn't know about until how many years later?"
Dan ignores the question and addresses Dana. "If you mean 'I love you' like 'I'm in love with you', then I said it first. Remember that time Casey and I got stranded out in Denver and had to share a hotel room because the whole city was overbooked?"
"That's not fair," Casey says.
"I'm not talking to you, I'm talking to Dana. So we were in our beds, lights out, talking."
"It was really late, Danny."
"And Casey started asking me about why I didn't have a girlfriend and whether or not I wanted to settle down."
"We'd been working non-stop all day."
"Who's telling this story, you or me?"
"I'd come off a lot better if I was the one telling it," Casey says.
Dan grins. "That's why I'm telling it. So I decide, spur of the moment, to tell Casey everything right then and there. I tell him I'm gay, tell him I've been in love with him for the past however many years, everything."
Dana's eyes widen. "Wow. I never knew that. What'd you say?"
Casey looks down at his lap. "Nothing," he mumbles.
Dana slaps him on the arm.
"So he stays quiet and I think he's taking his time processing it all and I know that that's a lot to deal with so I just wait and wait."
"And?" Dana asks.
"And eventually I fall asleep. Next morning he acts like it never happened."
Dana slaps Casey on the arm again.
"Ok, ow."
"So I figure that no answer is Casey's answer and he's telling me that the only way we can remain friends and colleagues is to ignore everything."
"I have apologized for this a lot, by the way."
"About a week later, we're hanging out and Casey asks me why I don't have a girlfriend. He'd slept through everything I said."
"It was really late," Casey says again.
"What'd you do?" Dana asks.
Dan shrugs. "Made something up. I was relieved he wasn't refusing to acknowledge what I'd told him, but I wasn't about to go through it all again just then."
"I didn't find out about any of this until several years later."
"So I said it to Casey a long time before he ever said it to me and we still worked it out. I'm sure you and Mike will figure things out too."
"That can't possibly count," Casey says.
"Why not? I said it. I meant it. How can that not count?"
"Because I didn't know you told me. I didn't even have the chance to respond."
"Would you have said you loved me?"
"Then? No."
"See, so even if you'd been awake, I would have said it long before you."
"It still doesn't count because I didn't hear it. And hypothetical alternate histories definitely don't count."
"I'm with Casey on this one," Dana says. "Casey's an idiot for falling asleep through that, but it doesn't count."
"Thanks," Casey says. "Your support is always appreciated."
"Don't mention it. So when was the first time one of you said it and meant it and the other was aware that it'd been said?"
Dan and Casey stare at each other and frown.
"I have no idea. Do you?" Dan asks.
Casey shakes his head.
"What about that time when you were over at my apartment and you..." Dan makes a vague gesture in the air. "And we..." He raises an eyebrow.
Casey's cheek flush with the memory. "I'm pretty sure anything said that night was a lot cruder than 'I love you'."
Dan smirks. "Yeah, you're probably right."
They hold each other's gaze for a while longer before they both shrug and turn back to Dana.
"I don't know," Casey says.
"Yeah, I remember a lot of times early on when we said it, but I can't remember the very first time. Not even which of us said it," Dan adds.
"Who said 'I love you' most recently then?" Dana asks.
"Probably me," Casey says. "Or wait, did I make you coffee before or after you took out the trash for me?"
"All I know is I'm certainly not going to say it now because then Casey'll just say it right after so he can beat me and the whole thing will turn into a 'did not/did too' thing except with 'I love you's."
"Then I'm not saying it either because you'd do the same if I said it now," Casey says.
Dana laughs. "You guys are ridiculous; you know that, right? I love you both, but you're utterly ridiculous."
Dan and Casey grin at each other then at Dana. "We love you too, Dana," Dan says.