WIP Amnesty: AGally/Prusty Gallys fake dating (2000 words, Teen)
I wanted a fake dating story where the people who were fake dating were not the end game pairing. Like so many things, I wrote bits of this into emails to lakeeffectgirl, but never wrote the parts in the middle.
Chucky and Gally come into the locker room together, which isn't that unusual, although the way they're pressed close together, Gally's arm around Chucky in a way that looks a lot softer than the way they usually rattle around each other, is.
Chucky shoves at Gally as soon as the door swings shut behind them. "Ugh, get off me. No one's looking."
"But Alex," Gally says, clinging tighter to Chucky, "I love you."
Chucky just shoves harder. "Off."
Gally makes kissy faces, and they're starting to draw a lot of attention.
Brandon goes over to check it out, slinging one arm around each of them. "Boys," he says, "you're making a scene."
Chucky snorts. "Like you're not always yelling in here."
Brandon shakes him with the hand wrapped around the ball of his shoulder. "What are you yelling about today?"
"It's great," Gally says.
Brandon turns his attention to Gally, and raises his eyebrows at the smile on his face.
Chucky punches Gally in the arm. "Don't tell him."
"Tell me what?" Brandon asks.
"Alex," Gally says, drawing out the word, clearly preparing to deliver an explanation.
Chucky jerks himself out from under Brandon's arm, and Brandon grabs at him in a fruitless attempt to keep him from going after Gally.
Gally just laughs, that thing he does that drives other teams crazy, and spits out, between Chucky's attempts to stop him, "He needed a boyfriend."
Chucky stops trying to fight Gally and just sits on him. His cheeks are turning bright red.
"A boyfriend?" Brandon asks, looking between them, Chucky's flush and refusal to look at anyone, Gally's bright grin verging into outright laughter.
"It's stupid," Chucky mutters.
"It's hilarious," Gally says. "He needed a boyfriend to introduce to his grandma." Gally spreads his arms out, as if to show himself off, despite being flat on his back on the floor. "And I love him enough to be that boyfriend."
"Would you stop?" Chucky protests. He shoves an elbow down into Gally's stomach, making him stop laughing long enough to oof out a breath.
Brandon doesn't even know what to think. None of this makes any sense, even for the Gallys, and he just keeps staring down at them.
P.K. joins him, nudging him with an elbow while they look at Chucky and Gally. "I'll ask," he says, "if no one else will. Why did you need a boyfriend to introduce to your grandma?"
"It's stupid," Chucky mutters.
"It's funny as hell," Gally says, oofing when Chucky elbows him again.
"Why did you need a boyfriend?" Brandon asks when Chucky doesn't offer an explanation. He doesn't know what's in his tone - he's a little pissed off, even though he has no reason to be, and maybe that's what it is - but it makes Chucky look up at him and answer the question.
"She won't stop asking if I'm dating. I thought if I introduced her to a boyfriend, she'd be upset about that and not ask me anymore." Chucky frowns. "But she likes him."
"Everyone likes me," Gally says brightly.
"I don't," Chucky says, which is a complete and total lie.
"You're both right," P.K. says. "It's stupid and funny as hell." He takes half a step forward, half in front of Brandon, and reaches out a hand to pull Chucky up. "Get your boyfriend off the floor and out onto the ice."
Chucky shoots a look at Brandon that Brandon's not quite sure how to read. He just shakes his head at Chucky and Gally both and goes to get his gear on.
*
[Things happen here.]
*
They're all a little drunk, but Alex is completely wasted. He usually knows his limits with beer or shots, but someone must have bought him some sort of sweet cocktail and now he's drunk on the sugar.
Brandon doesn't mean to have anything to do with him, means to let Gally take care of getting Alex into their room and making sure he doesn't die in the night, but Alex knocks into him, follows him into his room even when Brandon says, "Your room is that way."
"I know," Alex says. "I know, I know, Prusty." His whole face turns down into a frown, eyes wide and- and Brandon's not willing to accept that they're actually wet with the hint of tears. "Prusty," he says plaintively, "you're mad at me and I don't know what I did. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad."
Brandon feels like shit. He wraps his arms around Alex's shoulders and brings him in for a hug. "Ah, fuck, kid. I'm not. I'm not mad at you."
Alex tips his head down into Brandon's shoulder, his arms tight around Brandon's middle. "I'm not a kid," he mutters.
Brandon sighs. "Alex." He rubs Alex's back. "I'm sorry. I've been an asshole, but I'm not mad at you. I promise."
*
[More things happen.]
*
"Why?" Brandon asks.
"I told you," Alex says. "I'm around Gally all the time. It's easy for us to pretend."
"No," Brandon says. "Not why Gally. Why a pretend boyfriend at all? Did you really want your grandma to be upset with you?"
Alex is quiet, and Brandon thinks he's not going to answer the question.
"My parents and my sister know about me for a long time," Alex says. "But my grandparents don't. Didn't." He pauses. "I think they probably not hate me, but they not talk about him. My boyfriend. I think it will be easier if that happen when it's not real."
Easier meaning it wouldn't hurt him as much. Brandon puts his arm around Alex's shoulders and is secretly, desperately glad when Alex leans against him. "It's better that they're okay with it, right?"
"Yes," Alex says with a sigh. "But now they will be disappointed when I break up with him."
"You're going to have to," Brandon says. "Unless you want to end up married to him or whatever your grandparents expect."
Alex makes a heartfelt noise of disgust. "No. It is bad enough having him as a pretend boyfriend."
Brandon chuckles, feeling unaccountably relieved. "You'll find someone better."
"Anyone I actually want to kiss would be better," Alex grumbles, and Brandon makes the effort not to ask if Alex wants to kiss him.
*
[Things happen.]
*
Eventually the Gallys have a fight stemming mostly from being together so much. Somewhere public like the video game room at a hotel.
"It was your idea," Gally says, very loudly.
"Well it was a stupid idea," Alex yells back.
"Will it make it worse if I tell them not to go to bed angry?" Patch asks after Gally has stormed off and Alex has thrown himself down on one of the couches to sulk.
"Yeah, don't do that," P.K. says.
Brandon gives it a few minutes before he goes over to sit down next to Alex.
"I guess that means we're broken up now," Alex says.
Brandon scoots over so he can throw his arm over Alex's shoulders. "You wanted that to happen eventually anyway."
"Yeah," Alex says, "but not when it's time for a pre-game nap and we share a room." He sighs. "Maybe I can sleep here."
Brandon squeezes the back of his neck, which coincidentally lets him feel how soft Alex's hair is. "You can come up and sleep in the spare bed in my room if you want."
Alex relaxes, and Brandon can feel it under his hand as well as see it.
"Yeah? Thanks, Prusty."
Brandon preemptively flips Patch off behind Alex's back as they leave, doing his best to forestall comments on Alex leaving with someone other than Gally.
Brandon doesn't even regret extending the invitation when it means he's in a hotel room doing his best not to watch Alex stripping down to his underwear.
He regrets it more when they wake up and he has to throw Alex out.
"You're going to see him on the bus in twenty minutes anyway," Brandon says completely reasonably.
"Yeah, but I don't want to see him now," Alex grumbles.
"Well your suit's in your room, so you don't have a choice," Brandon says. He claps a hand onto Alex's shoulder. "You can do this, kid. I'll see you in twenty minutes."
Alex says, "I'm not a kid," but he also nods at Brandon. Twenty minutes later, he's in the lobby with the rest of them, looking perfectly calm in his suit with his earbuds in. Gally's across the lobby laughing at something P.K. is doing. Brandon doesn't know exactly what that means, but at least they've refrained from injuring each other this far.
Brandon goes over to stand next to Alex. Alex barely acknowledges him, sunk into his pre-game ritual. Brandon doesn't care; he's pathetic enough that just being next to Alex is enough for him.
*
[Maybe things happen here.]
*
Brandon thought it would be better once the Gallys weren't pretending to date anymore, but it turns out to be so much worse. Now he's not watching Alex halfheartedly fend off Gally hanging off of him even when it's not necessary. Now he's watching Alex flirt with guys in bars and restaurants and coffee shops. Alex is never too blatant about it, obvious to the guys he's flirting with but subtle enough that from the outside people who aren't looking for it might not notice it. At least when it was Gally Brandon knew it wasn't real.
The worst are the two times Brandon has to watch Alex leave with other guys. The first time he drinks too much and regrets everything in the morning. The second time he's mostly learned his lesson, and he bows out of the evening shortly after Alex does, later enough that he doesn't have to run into Alex and his hookup outside but not so late that he has to spend much more time with the other guys.
"How'd your grandma take the news about you and Gally?" Brandon asks Alex one night when they're having dinner at Brandon's place, plates of pasta and chicken in the living room while they watch boxing on TV.
Alex gets a strange look on his face, and he follows Brandon into the kitchen to put their plates away. "Uh, pretty good," he says. "She told me about this guy she thought she loved before my grandpa."
Brandon turns around from the sink to look at Alex. "Really?"
"Yes," Alex says.
Brandon chuckles, and feels unreasonably good when it draws a reluctant smile out of Alex.
"But she told me so much about it," Alex says. It's a complaint, but there's still a sparkle in his eyes, and Brandon can't make himself look away from him.
They're quiet for a moment, and Alex looks so good in the middle of his kitchen, comfortable in his space, and Brandon can't take it anymore. Two steps and he's right up in front of Alex, invading his space. Alex doesn't back away from him, looks surprised but not unhappy about it, and Brandon kisses him.
Alex makes a surprised noise, and then he melts into it for a second before he turns aggressive, kissing Brandon hard and trying to take control. Like they do with everything else, they battle it out for a minute before Brandon wins.
"Prusty, what?" Alex asks him.
Brandon sighs and leans his forehead against Alex's. "Remember that time you were drunk and you thought I was mad at you?"
Alex frowns. "I don't like it when you're mad at me."
"I wasn't mad." Brandon nips at Alex's lips, ducks to mouth down along his jawline. "I was jealous," he confesses into the skin of Alex's neck. "So jealous of Gally getting to touch you and kiss you and," he sucks at Alex's skin, "be your boyfriend."
Alex puts his hands on Brandon's face, which is not where he wants them, and pulls his head up to look at him. "You were jealous. Of Gally?"
Brandon nods as best he can with Alex still holding his head in place. "Yes. You don't even want to know how I feel about those guys you've been leaving bars with."
Alex laughs, and then kisses Brandon, and it's bright somehow, making happiness bubble up in Brandon's chest.
"Does this mean I have a chance at being your boyfriend?"
Alex smirks at him. "You can have a chance to try."
"That's all I need," Brandon says. "You'll see. I'm going to be a better boyfriend than Gally."
Alex grins at him. "I want to kiss you, so you have to be better."
"Do you?" Brandon asks, suppressing a grin of his own.
"Shut up," Alex says with a laugh. "You know how you look."
"I do," Brandon says. "But I like hearing you say it."
Alex rolls his eyes. "You're so full of yourself," he accuses. But then he makes up for it by saying, "I want to kiss you," and following up on it by licking his way into Brandon's mouth.
Chucky and Gally come into the locker room together, which isn't that unusual, although the way they're pressed close together, Gally's arm around Chucky in a way that looks a lot softer than the way they usually rattle around each other, is.
Chucky shoves at Gally as soon as the door swings shut behind them. "Ugh, get off me. No one's looking."
"But Alex," Gally says, clinging tighter to Chucky, "I love you."
Chucky just shoves harder. "Off."
Gally makes kissy faces, and they're starting to draw a lot of attention.
Brandon goes over to check it out, slinging one arm around each of them. "Boys," he says, "you're making a scene."
Chucky snorts. "Like you're not always yelling in here."
Brandon shakes him with the hand wrapped around the ball of his shoulder. "What are you yelling about today?"
"It's great," Gally says.
Brandon turns his attention to Gally, and raises his eyebrows at the smile on his face.
Chucky punches Gally in the arm. "Don't tell him."
"Tell me what?" Brandon asks.
"Alex," Gally says, drawing out the word, clearly preparing to deliver an explanation.
Chucky jerks himself out from under Brandon's arm, and Brandon grabs at him in a fruitless attempt to keep him from going after Gally.
Gally just laughs, that thing he does that drives other teams crazy, and spits out, between Chucky's attempts to stop him, "He needed a boyfriend."
Chucky stops trying to fight Gally and just sits on him. His cheeks are turning bright red.
"A boyfriend?" Brandon asks, looking between them, Chucky's flush and refusal to look at anyone, Gally's bright grin verging into outright laughter.
"It's stupid," Chucky mutters.
"It's hilarious," Gally says. "He needed a boyfriend to introduce to his grandma." Gally spreads his arms out, as if to show himself off, despite being flat on his back on the floor. "And I love him enough to be that boyfriend."
"Would you stop?" Chucky protests. He shoves an elbow down into Gally's stomach, making him stop laughing long enough to oof out a breath.
Brandon doesn't even know what to think. None of this makes any sense, even for the Gallys, and he just keeps staring down at them.
P.K. joins him, nudging him with an elbow while they look at Chucky and Gally. "I'll ask," he says, "if no one else will. Why did you need a boyfriend to introduce to your grandma?"
"It's stupid," Chucky mutters.
"It's funny as hell," Gally says, oofing when Chucky elbows him again.
"Why did you need a boyfriend?" Brandon asks when Chucky doesn't offer an explanation. He doesn't know what's in his tone - he's a little pissed off, even though he has no reason to be, and maybe that's what it is - but it makes Chucky look up at him and answer the question.
"She won't stop asking if I'm dating. I thought if I introduced her to a boyfriend, she'd be upset about that and not ask me anymore." Chucky frowns. "But she likes him."
"Everyone likes me," Gally says brightly.
"I don't," Chucky says, which is a complete and total lie.
"You're both right," P.K. says. "It's stupid and funny as hell." He takes half a step forward, half in front of Brandon, and reaches out a hand to pull Chucky up. "Get your boyfriend off the floor and out onto the ice."
Chucky shoots a look at Brandon that Brandon's not quite sure how to read. He just shakes his head at Chucky and Gally both and goes to get his gear on.
*
[Things happen here.]
*
They're all a little drunk, but Alex is completely wasted. He usually knows his limits with beer or shots, but someone must have bought him some sort of sweet cocktail and now he's drunk on the sugar.
Brandon doesn't mean to have anything to do with him, means to let Gally take care of getting Alex into their room and making sure he doesn't die in the night, but Alex knocks into him, follows him into his room even when Brandon says, "Your room is that way."
"I know," Alex says. "I know, I know, Prusty." His whole face turns down into a frown, eyes wide and- and Brandon's not willing to accept that they're actually wet with the hint of tears. "Prusty," he says plaintively, "you're mad at me and I don't know what I did. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad."
Brandon feels like shit. He wraps his arms around Alex's shoulders and brings him in for a hug. "Ah, fuck, kid. I'm not. I'm not mad at you."
Alex tips his head down into Brandon's shoulder, his arms tight around Brandon's middle. "I'm not a kid," he mutters.
Brandon sighs. "Alex." He rubs Alex's back. "I'm sorry. I've been an asshole, but I'm not mad at you. I promise."
*
[More things happen.]
*
"Why?" Brandon asks.
"I told you," Alex says. "I'm around Gally all the time. It's easy for us to pretend."
"No," Brandon says. "Not why Gally. Why a pretend boyfriend at all? Did you really want your grandma to be upset with you?"
Alex is quiet, and Brandon thinks he's not going to answer the question.
"My parents and my sister know about me for a long time," Alex says. "But my grandparents don't. Didn't." He pauses. "I think they probably not hate me, but they not talk about him. My boyfriend. I think it will be easier if that happen when it's not real."
Easier meaning it wouldn't hurt him as much. Brandon puts his arm around Alex's shoulders and is secretly, desperately glad when Alex leans against him. "It's better that they're okay with it, right?"
"Yes," Alex says with a sigh. "But now they will be disappointed when I break up with him."
"You're going to have to," Brandon says. "Unless you want to end up married to him or whatever your grandparents expect."
Alex makes a heartfelt noise of disgust. "No. It is bad enough having him as a pretend boyfriend."
Brandon chuckles, feeling unaccountably relieved. "You'll find someone better."
"Anyone I actually want to kiss would be better," Alex grumbles, and Brandon makes the effort not to ask if Alex wants to kiss him.
*
[Things happen.]
*
Eventually the Gallys have a fight stemming mostly from being together so much. Somewhere public like the video game room at a hotel.
"It was your idea," Gally says, very loudly.
"Well it was a stupid idea," Alex yells back.
"Will it make it worse if I tell them not to go to bed angry?" Patch asks after Gally has stormed off and Alex has thrown himself down on one of the couches to sulk.
"Yeah, don't do that," P.K. says.
Brandon gives it a few minutes before he goes over to sit down next to Alex.
"I guess that means we're broken up now," Alex says.
Brandon scoots over so he can throw his arm over Alex's shoulders. "You wanted that to happen eventually anyway."
"Yeah," Alex says, "but not when it's time for a pre-game nap and we share a room." He sighs. "Maybe I can sleep here."
Brandon squeezes the back of his neck, which coincidentally lets him feel how soft Alex's hair is. "You can come up and sleep in the spare bed in my room if you want."
Alex relaxes, and Brandon can feel it under his hand as well as see it.
"Yeah? Thanks, Prusty."
Brandon preemptively flips Patch off behind Alex's back as they leave, doing his best to forestall comments on Alex leaving with someone other than Gally.
Brandon doesn't even regret extending the invitation when it means he's in a hotel room doing his best not to watch Alex stripping down to his underwear.
He regrets it more when they wake up and he has to throw Alex out.
"You're going to see him on the bus in twenty minutes anyway," Brandon says completely reasonably.
"Yeah, but I don't want to see him now," Alex grumbles.
"Well your suit's in your room, so you don't have a choice," Brandon says. He claps a hand onto Alex's shoulder. "You can do this, kid. I'll see you in twenty minutes."
Alex says, "I'm not a kid," but he also nods at Brandon. Twenty minutes later, he's in the lobby with the rest of them, looking perfectly calm in his suit with his earbuds in. Gally's across the lobby laughing at something P.K. is doing. Brandon doesn't know exactly what that means, but at least they've refrained from injuring each other this far.
Brandon goes over to stand next to Alex. Alex barely acknowledges him, sunk into his pre-game ritual. Brandon doesn't care; he's pathetic enough that just being next to Alex is enough for him.
*
[Maybe things happen here.]
*
Brandon thought it would be better once the Gallys weren't pretending to date anymore, but it turns out to be so much worse. Now he's not watching Alex halfheartedly fend off Gally hanging off of him even when it's not necessary. Now he's watching Alex flirt with guys in bars and restaurants and coffee shops. Alex is never too blatant about it, obvious to the guys he's flirting with but subtle enough that from the outside people who aren't looking for it might not notice it. At least when it was Gally Brandon knew it wasn't real.
The worst are the two times Brandon has to watch Alex leave with other guys. The first time he drinks too much and regrets everything in the morning. The second time he's mostly learned his lesson, and he bows out of the evening shortly after Alex does, later enough that he doesn't have to run into Alex and his hookup outside but not so late that he has to spend much more time with the other guys.
"How'd your grandma take the news about you and Gally?" Brandon asks Alex one night when they're having dinner at Brandon's place, plates of pasta and chicken in the living room while they watch boxing on TV.
Alex gets a strange look on his face, and he follows Brandon into the kitchen to put their plates away. "Uh, pretty good," he says. "She told me about this guy she thought she loved before my grandpa."
Brandon turns around from the sink to look at Alex. "Really?"
"Yes," Alex says.
Brandon chuckles, and feels unreasonably good when it draws a reluctant smile out of Alex.
"But she told me so much about it," Alex says. It's a complaint, but there's still a sparkle in his eyes, and Brandon can't make himself look away from him.
They're quiet for a moment, and Alex looks so good in the middle of his kitchen, comfortable in his space, and Brandon can't take it anymore. Two steps and he's right up in front of Alex, invading his space. Alex doesn't back away from him, looks surprised but not unhappy about it, and Brandon kisses him.
Alex makes a surprised noise, and then he melts into it for a second before he turns aggressive, kissing Brandon hard and trying to take control. Like they do with everything else, they battle it out for a minute before Brandon wins.
"Prusty, what?" Alex asks him.
Brandon sighs and leans his forehead against Alex's. "Remember that time you were drunk and you thought I was mad at you?"
Alex frowns. "I don't like it when you're mad at me."
"I wasn't mad." Brandon nips at Alex's lips, ducks to mouth down along his jawline. "I was jealous," he confesses into the skin of Alex's neck. "So jealous of Gally getting to touch you and kiss you and," he sucks at Alex's skin, "be your boyfriend."
Alex puts his hands on Brandon's face, which is not where he wants them, and pulls his head up to look at him. "You were jealous. Of Gally?"
Brandon nods as best he can with Alex still holding his head in place. "Yes. You don't even want to know how I feel about those guys you've been leaving bars with."
Alex laughs, and then kisses Brandon, and it's bright somehow, making happiness bubble up in Brandon's chest.
"Does this mean I have a chance at being your boyfriend?"
Alex smirks at him. "You can have a chance to try."
"That's all I need," Brandon says. "You'll see. I'm going to be a better boyfriend than Gally."
Alex grins at him. "I want to kiss you, so you have to be better."
"Do you?" Brandon asks, suppressing a grin of his own.
"Shut up," Alex says with a laugh. "You know how you look."
"I do," Brandon says. "But I like hearing you say it."
Alex rolls his eyes. "You're so full of yourself," he accuses. But then he makes up for it by saying, "I want to kiss you," and following up on it by licking his way into Brandon's mouth.