A Tour To Treasure
Disclaimer: This is a total figment of my imagination and any resemblance to reality must is a mistake.
Fabian woke up and reluctantly opened his eyes. The lack of extra warmth and the weight of Fränk’s body indicating he was now alone. His movements were slow, as though if he went slow enough he could put off turning around and discovering that he was all alone.
He felt out of sorts until he got down to where the team were having breakfast. Andy pushed him out of the way as he dashed past. “I’m getting to the food before you do!”
“Cheater!” Fränk yelled. “Get back here!”
Fränk paused as Andy grabbed food and sat at the table grinning wildly. Fränk pouted and crossed his arms in front of him. “That was a dirty trick getting Alberto to hold onto me.”
Andy laughed. “The benefits of great sex,” the younger Schleck stated.
Fabian walked behind Fränk and he reached up to let his fingers slide up the top of Fränk’s spine. He felt the other man shudder underneath the touch even as his hand dropped away. Their eyes met and he was drawn back towards the other man. His fingers reached out to brush against Fränk’s cheek.
Neither of them said anything and he wasn’t sure if he should. It was so difficult to know what to say however, he didn’t want to say that he’d enjoyed it if Fränk hadn’t because then that would be awkward. Fränk uncrossed his arms and reached up to keep his hand against his cheek. “Last night was... nice,” Fabian finally concluded lamely.
It sounded so bad now he’d said the words out loud. How could he have come up with something so bad? Obviously his skills at the morning after hadn’t got any better. Maybe if they’d had sex and it’d been a disaster it would’ve been easier. At least then they’d know not to pursue this any further. Alberto probably didn’t have these sorts of issues.
He was so busy beating himself up for his inadequacies he totally missed Fränk’s smile. He didn’t miss the way lips grazed his cheek but as much as he wanted to keep Fränk close his other arm just hung limply at his side. “Don’t you two look cute together,” Stuart said interrupting them.
Fabian snatched back his hand and stepped back. “I umm.... there’s nothing going on, you’re imagining it all. Fränk was just... he was just....”
He turned and walked agitatedly over to where the food was waiting. “Fabian!”
He heard Stuart call out but he ignored it. This was bad; it wasn’t as if he could deny what had happened last night since they shared a room. What was he going to do now? He swore when he dropped the plate of food. If he kept his distance today then everything would be all right. It would be all right, everything would be just fine.
It would be just fine, he repeated to himself as he stared at the plate on the floor. “It’s okay,” Fränk said gently.
A hand came out to touch his hand and it was only then that he realised they were shaking again. He really was pathetic and apparently he couldn’t hide it any more. He snatched his hands away even though it was the last thing he wanted to do. He headed back towards the stairs and took them two at a time as he dashed back up to his room.
Fränk caught up with him as he attempted to get the key in the lock. “Fabian!”
He dropped the keys and crouched down to pick them up again. When he reached out again his hand was taken in both of Fränk’s. He tried to pull his hand away but the grip on it was surprisingly strong. “Stop it,” Fränk ordered.
“Let go!”
His heart was racing and he tried again to get his hand free. “Stuey was just trying to be supportive. He didn’t want things to be weird after last night.”
This was bad, really bad, and he didn’t know how to make things go back to normal again. His breathing was starting to get uneven and the situation was starting to deteriorate rapidly. Fränk released his hand and took the key from him. “How about we get out of this hallway?”
He heard the door click shut behind him as he sat his bed and leant against the wall. After a while he felt the bed dip and a hand reach out to cover his again. Ivan would tell him to pull himself together and stop being such an idiot. There would’ve been kisses to help him relax again. Then again he’d never be having this problem if it weren’t for Ivan.
“Fabian?” Fränk asked quietly.
He looked down at his hands until Fränk’s arm reached across him to cup his face with a hand. He looked up as Fränk’s thumb began to caress his cheek. He bit his lip at the tender gesture and when he didn’t reject the touch Fränk shifted so he could press another kiss to his cheek.
Fabian knew he shouldn’t be getting used to them but he couldn’t help it. They were getting to be slightly addictive and he was starting to look forward to receiving the next one. Another kiss was pressed against his stubble-covered jaw.
“Fränk,” he pleaded.
He didn’t like how much of his distress was discernible in his tone because weakness was not something you revealed to another cyclist, even one on the same team. Another lingering kiss was placed on his cheek at this time Fränk pulled back just enough that they were no longer touching but not much further.
“It’s okay.”
Fabian so wanted to believe those words because he so wanted things to turn out all right. He was surprised by how much he wanted those words to be true, how he just wanted to push everything else aside and for that to be the truth. “I can’t,” he whispered.
As much as he might want to he never wanted the man beside him to see the truth that Ivan had. He heard Fränk sigh and then another gentle kiss pressed against his skin. “If that’s what you want.”
There had been no attempt to disguise the hurt and Fabian’s heart demanded he take the words back right this second just so it would go away. “I just can’t,” he hated himself as he repeated the words again.
“We can take it slowly if that’s what you’re worried about.”
The words made him pause and he began to consider them. No, it would end disastrously and then he would have nowhere to go. Fränk would find someone else and never needed to know. Ivan had been right when he’d called him a lousy lover and when it was all over Fränk wouldn’t be in his life any more. “This can go at the pace you want it to, I’m fine with that.”
There would be no Fränk and no Andy. The offer was tempting but eventually the thrill of the conquest would wear off. There was movement and then he was looking at Fränk. The hand on his cheek moved down so the fingers splayed against his neck. In that moment he almost gave in to the urge to say ‘yes’ regardless of the consequences that would follow.
He just about managed to force his mouth shut before he could say anything but he saw the change in Fränk’s expression. The other man licked his lips and Fabian began to wonder if he was about to have his argument for them not doing this torn to shreds.
Fränk settled in close again and Fabian thought that the way the other man was pressed up against him was a bit excessive. He angled his head away but Fränk applied a little pressure and he turned it back. The kisses now lingered longer as they moved along his cheek. He found himself turning his head as his resistance started to drain away. “Fabian,” the husky tone sent shivers down his spine.
“You play dirty,” he murmured even as he complied with the demand to shift closer.
“If that’s what I have to do to get you to admit how much you want this.”
The response was so confident whereas just moments ago Fränk had been making concessions. “What makes you so sure I do?”
The kisses stopped when they got close to his mouth and there’s more space between them. “You want to say yes if we take it slowly.”
“We can’t do this,” he reiterated his earlier position.
“What is it that’s stopping you?”
He was never going to answer that question; that information was not for sharing. “Is it something to do with what Tom said yesterday?”
He stubbornly refused to answer and so Fränk sat back to wait. There was silence for a while until he could stand it no longer. “Okay.”
Fränk sat up and shifted closer. “Why do you think this is such a bad idea?”
“I don’t, I’m agreeing with us giving this a shot.”
Instead of being happy about the whole thing Fränk looks angry instead. “Just like that you suddenly don’t have any objections?”
“Just like that,” he confirmed.
“Fine!”
Fränk got up off the bed and left the room. That hadn’t gone exactly how Fabian thought it was but that had been the only option. He was sure Fränk would get over it and when he was proved correct then he could be left alone. Fabian got up off the bed and headed back down the stairs to grab some breakfast quickly before they had to leave
Fränk barely spoke a word to him all day so it was a relief when a gap formed and he could ride away from the peloton on his own. They managed to avoid each other completely until he’d completed his obligations as yellow jersey wearer. The rest of the team appeared to see the argument coming if the way they all hurried to their seats was any indication. Fränk grabbed hold of Fabian and dragged him to the back of the bus. “What the hell was that?” Fränk demanded to know.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You get in the break, leave us behind and then make us work hard to close the gap!”
“You want me to do your job for you?” Fabian asked.
“You could’ve said something. You could’ve lost the jersey today if you’d had a mechanical.”
“I would’ve thought you’d be pleased about that.”
“Why would I be pleased?”
“It’s obvious you’d like to see someone else wearing it!”
“Fabian!”
“What?”
“We rode all day for you yesterday so you could keep the jersey and you think I don’t care if you still have it?”
“You didn’t, they did,” he said, raising an arm and pointing in the direction of the rest of the team. “You and Andy are too precious to be wasted on such a frivolous exploit as keeping me in yellow.”
“I don’t make those sorts of decisions,” Fränk snapped.
“No, you don’t.”
Neither of them said anything for a while, they just watched each other warily. “If you’re not interested then tell me and we can just pretend this week hasn’t happened!”
This was what they were really arguing about, Fabian realised. “You didn’t like what I had to say before!”
“You think this is a bad idea but you won’t tell me why!”
“I’m bad at this, give it a month and you’ll be ready to move onto somebody else and then this will just be really awkward.”
“It’s nice to know what you think of me!”
“I have it on very good authority that I’m really bad at it so it really has nothing to do with my opinion of you.”
“You’re joking, right?”
When he didn’t reply Fränk just looked at him in shock. “This is the reason you’re keeping your distance? You were with Ivan for four years, I don’t believe the sex was that bad.”
“It was.”
Fränk finally came closer to him. “Oh Fabian, I don’t know what it was he said to you but it wasn’t true.”
The bus came to a stop outside the hotel and he brushed past Fränk as he got off of the bus. He hoped that maybe after a shower he’d feel better and then this could all just be forgotten. He hadn’t calculated on Fränk following him up to his room.
He tried his best to ignore the other man but it was difficult when Fränk kept on getting in his way deliberately. “What Ivan said to you wasn’t true.”
Fabian paused in what he was doing. “You’re so sure of this?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Fränk came closer and he watched cautiously. “Kiss me.”
“This is ridiculous,” he protested.
“Kiss me,” Fränk demanded again. “If it’s really that bad then this won’t go any further.”
Fabian wasn’t overly comfortable with the idea but he decided he had nothing to lose so he brought Fränk closer to him. There was an awkward pause before he bent his head and joined their mouths together.
At first the movements were clumsy but all of a sudden he just seemed to relax and things got a lot better after that. Fränk’s hands slid up his body and Fabian heard the other man moan appreciatively when they reached the slightly shaggy hair that could probably do with a trim.
He deepened the kiss and as he explored Fränk’s mouth with his tongue felt the other man grind against him. At that point things just seemed to explode and suddenly his hands were pulling at Fränk’s jersey. The kiss ended so Fabian could lock the hotel room door before resuming as their urgent fingers began to peel their clothes off.
They left a trail to the bed and they climbed onto the bed that thankfully was large enough for them both, unlike the one they’d slept in last night. Mouths followed the path their hands took but they regularly shifted back up to claim kisses from eager mouths.
Fränk’s body arched up and desperately tried to get closer. “I don’t have anything,” Fabian gasped.
“Just like this.”
Their mouths joined together in a heated kiss and he shifted slightly to a more comfortable position. Fabian’s hand slid between their bodies and wrapped around Fränk’s cock. He felt Fränk mirror his action as their hands began to move frantically.
Fränk cried out loudly as he spilled over Fabian’s hand and that was all it took to send Fabian over the edge.
After they’d wiped their hands on one of Fabian’s t-shirts that needed a wash Fränk wrapped his arms back around him. “I don’t care what Ivan said, the sex was spectacular.”
It made him uncomfortable to be talking about Ivan while he was lying naked next to Fränk. He went to move back so he could put some clothes on but the arms holding him wouldn’t allow him much movement. “Fränk don’t,” he protested.
He found himself released and he headed for the shower. A couple of minutes later he heard the door open and he turned to see Fränk hovering outside the shower. He felt the appreciative gaze and reached for his new lover.
“Fabian,” Fränk pleaded.
“Later,” he promised.
They could talk later, much later when they’d been forced to stop hiding away together. Right now he had more important things on his mind. It seemed to be enough of a reassurance because Fränk reached up to kiss him.
They snuck out of the hotel later that evening and took a walk. They found a secluded bench and he wiped his palms on his shirt before he sat down. He didn’t know what this was going to bring and to be honest he’d prefer not to be here right now. “What happened with Ivan, Fabian?”
“I wasn’t supportive when it all started, I was too busy worrying about my career.”
“That’s understandable.”
“We’d been together for years, I should have been concerned about how he was handling it.”
“Did you know?”
He sighed. “We spent enough time apart that I’d never know if he decided to...”
“It’s not your fault.”
“He was right to blame me, it was my fault.”
“You didn’t force him to start doping, that he did all by himself.”
“I made him feel inadequate!”
“He said that to you?”
He looked away until he felt Fränk take hold of his hand. “I betrayed him.”
Fränk said nothing, just watched him. This wasn’t how this conversation was meant to go, Fränk was meant to be appalled at how he’d behaved. “I was too good in a TT and I wasn’t good enough in bed. He told me he needed some space and that night I went out. I spent the night with Tom and I went back to my hotel room early the next morning to find Ivan waiting for me.”
“He blamed you?”
“I’m not very trustworthy,” he replied.
“He broke up with you,” Fränk pointed out.
“I didn’t want things to go this far with us. I didn’t want you to...” he faltered, unsure of what to say.
“Fabian I love to watch you in the TT if I can, you’re amazing at it. Our abilities are different which is good because we don’t have to worry about what happens if I beat you across the finish line.”
“I beat you in the Tour de Suisse.”
Fränk smiled at the comment. “The sex was amazing and I’d really like for there to be a lot more of it. We can take it slowly and just see what happens.”
“You would be okay with that?”
“On one condition.”
Fabian wasn’t sure he liked the sound of there being conditions. It meant Fränk wasn’t happy with things being that way and if that was the case then it would be easier never to let things start than to end them in a week or two. Fränk kissed his cheek and then moved back again. “That’s my condition.”
Fabian raised an eyebrow. Fränk smiled and kissed him on the cheek again. “If I can do that then I’ll be happy.”
He felt a smile spread over his face as he realised that it wasn’t so much a condition being asked of him as just permission to keep behaving as before. “Be happy then,” he murmured.
He lent closer still and waited to see if there was more of a reaction. “We’re not in the hotel,” Fränk pointed out.
“So?” he queried.
After a brief contemplation Fränk tilted his head up and he took his lover up on the invitation. “Fabian,” Fränk murmured.
He deepened this kiss and felt arms come around him. Fabian concluded that maybe when he looked back he’d see this as the Tour he treasured most.
Fabian woke up and reluctantly opened his eyes. The lack of extra warmth and the weight of Fränk’s body indicating he was now alone. His movements were slow, as though if he went slow enough he could put off turning around and discovering that he was all alone.
He felt out of sorts until he got down to where the team were having breakfast. Andy pushed him out of the way as he dashed past. “I’m getting to the food before you do!”
“Cheater!” Fränk yelled. “Get back here!”
Fränk paused as Andy grabbed food and sat at the table grinning wildly. Fränk pouted and crossed his arms in front of him. “That was a dirty trick getting Alberto to hold onto me.”
Andy laughed. “The benefits of great sex,” the younger Schleck stated.
Fabian walked behind Fränk and he reached up to let his fingers slide up the top of Fränk’s spine. He felt the other man shudder underneath the touch even as his hand dropped away. Their eyes met and he was drawn back towards the other man. His fingers reached out to brush against Fränk’s cheek.
Neither of them said anything and he wasn’t sure if he should. It was so difficult to know what to say however, he didn’t want to say that he’d enjoyed it if Fränk hadn’t because then that would be awkward. Fränk uncrossed his arms and reached up to keep his hand against his cheek. “Last night was... nice,” Fabian finally concluded lamely.
It sounded so bad now he’d said the words out loud. How could he have come up with something so bad? Obviously his skills at the morning after hadn’t got any better. Maybe if they’d had sex and it’d been a disaster it would’ve been easier. At least then they’d know not to pursue this any further. Alberto probably didn’t have these sorts of issues.
He was so busy beating himself up for his inadequacies he totally missed Fränk’s smile. He didn’t miss the way lips grazed his cheek but as much as he wanted to keep Fränk close his other arm just hung limply at his side. “Don’t you two look cute together,” Stuart said interrupting them.
Fabian snatched back his hand and stepped back. “I umm.... there’s nothing going on, you’re imagining it all. Fränk was just... he was just....”
He turned and walked agitatedly over to where the food was waiting. “Fabian!”
He heard Stuart call out but he ignored it. This was bad; it wasn’t as if he could deny what had happened last night since they shared a room. What was he going to do now? He swore when he dropped the plate of food. If he kept his distance today then everything would be all right. It would be all right, everything would be just fine.
It would be just fine, he repeated to himself as he stared at the plate on the floor. “It’s okay,” Fränk said gently.
A hand came out to touch his hand and it was only then that he realised they were shaking again. He really was pathetic and apparently he couldn’t hide it any more. He snatched his hands away even though it was the last thing he wanted to do. He headed back towards the stairs and took them two at a time as he dashed back up to his room.
Fränk caught up with him as he attempted to get the key in the lock. “Fabian!”
He dropped the keys and crouched down to pick them up again. When he reached out again his hand was taken in both of Fränk’s. He tried to pull his hand away but the grip on it was surprisingly strong. “Stop it,” Fränk ordered.
“Let go!”
His heart was racing and he tried again to get his hand free. “Stuey was just trying to be supportive. He didn’t want things to be weird after last night.”
This was bad, really bad, and he didn’t know how to make things go back to normal again. His breathing was starting to get uneven and the situation was starting to deteriorate rapidly. Fränk released his hand and took the key from him. “How about we get out of this hallway?”
He heard the door click shut behind him as he sat his bed and leant against the wall. After a while he felt the bed dip and a hand reach out to cover his again. Ivan would tell him to pull himself together and stop being such an idiot. There would’ve been kisses to help him relax again. Then again he’d never be having this problem if it weren’t for Ivan.
“Fabian?” Fränk asked quietly.
He looked down at his hands until Fränk’s arm reached across him to cup his face with a hand. He looked up as Fränk’s thumb began to caress his cheek. He bit his lip at the tender gesture and when he didn’t reject the touch Fränk shifted so he could press another kiss to his cheek.
Fabian knew he shouldn’t be getting used to them but he couldn’t help it. They were getting to be slightly addictive and he was starting to look forward to receiving the next one. Another kiss was pressed against his stubble-covered jaw.
“Fränk,” he pleaded.
He didn’t like how much of his distress was discernible in his tone because weakness was not something you revealed to another cyclist, even one on the same team. Another lingering kiss was placed on his cheek at this time Fränk pulled back just enough that they were no longer touching but not much further.
“It’s okay.”
Fabian so wanted to believe those words because he so wanted things to turn out all right. He was surprised by how much he wanted those words to be true, how he just wanted to push everything else aside and for that to be the truth. “I can’t,” he whispered.
As much as he might want to he never wanted the man beside him to see the truth that Ivan had. He heard Fränk sigh and then another gentle kiss pressed against his skin. “If that’s what you want.”
There had been no attempt to disguise the hurt and Fabian’s heart demanded he take the words back right this second just so it would go away. “I just can’t,” he hated himself as he repeated the words again.
“We can take it slowly if that’s what you’re worried about.”
The words made him pause and he began to consider them. No, it would end disastrously and then he would have nowhere to go. Fränk would find someone else and never needed to know. Ivan had been right when he’d called him a lousy lover and when it was all over Fränk wouldn’t be in his life any more. “This can go at the pace you want it to, I’m fine with that.”
There would be no Fränk and no Andy. The offer was tempting but eventually the thrill of the conquest would wear off. There was movement and then he was looking at Fränk. The hand on his cheek moved down so the fingers splayed against his neck. In that moment he almost gave in to the urge to say ‘yes’ regardless of the consequences that would follow.
He just about managed to force his mouth shut before he could say anything but he saw the change in Fränk’s expression. The other man licked his lips and Fabian began to wonder if he was about to have his argument for them not doing this torn to shreds.
Fränk settled in close again and Fabian thought that the way the other man was pressed up against him was a bit excessive. He angled his head away but Fränk applied a little pressure and he turned it back. The kisses now lingered longer as they moved along his cheek. He found himself turning his head as his resistance started to drain away. “Fabian,” the husky tone sent shivers down his spine.
“You play dirty,” he murmured even as he complied with the demand to shift closer.
“If that’s what I have to do to get you to admit how much you want this.”
The response was so confident whereas just moments ago Fränk had been making concessions. “What makes you so sure I do?”
The kisses stopped when they got close to his mouth and there’s more space between them. “You want to say yes if we take it slowly.”
“We can’t do this,” he reiterated his earlier position.
“What is it that’s stopping you?”
He was never going to answer that question; that information was not for sharing. “Is it something to do with what Tom said yesterday?”
He stubbornly refused to answer and so Fränk sat back to wait. There was silence for a while until he could stand it no longer. “Okay.”
Fränk sat up and shifted closer. “Why do you think this is such a bad idea?”
“I don’t, I’m agreeing with us giving this a shot.”
Instead of being happy about the whole thing Fränk looks angry instead. “Just like that you suddenly don’t have any objections?”
“Just like that,” he confirmed.
“Fine!”
Fränk got up off the bed and left the room. That hadn’t gone exactly how Fabian thought it was but that had been the only option. He was sure Fränk would get over it and when he was proved correct then he could be left alone. Fabian got up off the bed and headed back down the stairs to grab some breakfast quickly before they had to leave
Fränk barely spoke a word to him all day so it was a relief when a gap formed and he could ride away from the peloton on his own. They managed to avoid each other completely until he’d completed his obligations as yellow jersey wearer. The rest of the team appeared to see the argument coming if the way they all hurried to their seats was any indication. Fränk grabbed hold of Fabian and dragged him to the back of the bus. “What the hell was that?” Fränk demanded to know.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You get in the break, leave us behind and then make us work hard to close the gap!”
“You want me to do your job for you?” Fabian asked.
“You could’ve said something. You could’ve lost the jersey today if you’d had a mechanical.”
“I would’ve thought you’d be pleased about that.”
“Why would I be pleased?”
“It’s obvious you’d like to see someone else wearing it!”
“Fabian!”
“What?”
“We rode all day for you yesterday so you could keep the jersey and you think I don’t care if you still have it?”
“You didn’t, they did,” he said, raising an arm and pointing in the direction of the rest of the team. “You and Andy are too precious to be wasted on such a frivolous exploit as keeping me in yellow.”
“I don’t make those sorts of decisions,” Fränk snapped.
“No, you don’t.”
Neither of them said anything for a while, they just watched each other warily. “If you’re not interested then tell me and we can just pretend this week hasn’t happened!”
This was what they were really arguing about, Fabian realised. “You didn’t like what I had to say before!”
“You think this is a bad idea but you won’t tell me why!”
“I’m bad at this, give it a month and you’ll be ready to move onto somebody else and then this will just be really awkward.”
“It’s nice to know what you think of me!”
“I have it on very good authority that I’m really bad at it so it really has nothing to do with my opinion of you.”
“You’re joking, right?”
When he didn’t reply Fränk just looked at him in shock. “This is the reason you’re keeping your distance? You were with Ivan for four years, I don’t believe the sex was that bad.”
“It was.”
Fränk finally came closer to him. “Oh Fabian, I don’t know what it was he said to you but it wasn’t true.”
The bus came to a stop outside the hotel and he brushed past Fränk as he got off of the bus. He hoped that maybe after a shower he’d feel better and then this could all just be forgotten. He hadn’t calculated on Fränk following him up to his room.
He tried his best to ignore the other man but it was difficult when Fränk kept on getting in his way deliberately. “What Ivan said to you wasn’t true.”
Fabian paused in what he was doing. “You’re so sure of this?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Fränk came closer and he watched cautiously. “Kiss me.”
“This is ridiculous,” he protested.
“Kiss me,” Fränk demanded again. “If it’s really that bad then this won’t go any further.”
Fabian wasn’t overly comfortable with the idea but he decided he had nothing to lose so he brought Fränk closer to him. There was an awkward pause before he bent his head and joined their mouths together.
At first the movements were clumsy but all of a sudden he just seemed to relax and things got a lot better after that. Fränk’s hands slid up his body and Fabian heard the other man moan appreciatively when they reached the slightly shaggy hair that could probably do with a trim.
He deepened the kiss and as he explored Fränk’s mouth with his tongue felt the other man grind against him. At that point things just seemed to explode and suddenly his hands were pulling at Fränk’s jersey. The kiss ended so Fabian could lock the hotel room door before resuming as their urgent fingers began to peel their clothes off.
They left a trail to the bed and they climbed onto the bed that thankfully was large enough for them both, unlike the one they’d slept in last night. Mouths followed the path their hands took but they regularly shifted back up to claim kisses from eager mouths.
Fränk’s body arched up and desperately tried to get closer. “I don’t have anything,” Fabian gasped.
“Just like this.”
Their mouths joined together in a heated kiss and he shifted slightly to a more comfortable position. Fabian’s hand slid between their bodies and wrapped around Fränk’s cock. He felt Fränk mirror his action as their hands began to move frantically.
Fränk cried out loudly as he spilled over Fabian’s hand and that was all it took to send Fabian over the edge.
After they’d wiped their hands on one of Fabian’s t-shirts that needed a wash Fränk wrapped his arms back around him. “I don’t care what Ivan said, the sex was spectacular.”
It made him uncomfortable to be talking about Ivan while he was lying naked next to Fränk. He went to move back so he could put some clothes on but the arms holding him wouldn’t allow him much movement. “Fränk don’t,” he protested.
He found himself released and he headed for the shower. A couple of minutes later he heard the door open and he turned to see Fränk hovering outside the shower. He felt the appreciative gaze and reached for his new lover.
“Fabian,” Fränk pleaded.
“Later,” he promised.
They could talk later, much later when they’d been forced to stop hiding away together. Right now he had more important things on his mind. It seemed to be enough of a reassurance because Fränk reached up to kiss him.
They snuck out of the hotel later that evening and took a walk. They found a secluded bench and he wiped his palms on his shirt before he sat down. He didn’t know what this was going to bring and to be honest he’d prefer not to be here right now. “What happened with Ivan, Fabian?”
“I wasn’t supportive when it all started, I was too busy worrying about my career.”
“That’s understandable.”
“We’d been together for years, I should have been concerned about how he was handling it.”
“Did you know?”
He sighed. “We spent enough time apart that I’d never know if he decided to...”
“It’s not your fault.”
“He was right to blame me, it was my fault.”
“You didn’t force him to start doping, that he did all by himself.”
“I made him feel inadequate!”
“He said that to you?”
He looked away until he felt Fränk take hold of his hand. “I betrayed him.”
Fränk said nothing, just watched him. This wasn’t how this conversation was meant to go, Fränk was meant to be appalled at how he’d behaved. “I was too good in a TT and I wasn’t good enough in bed. He told me he needed some space and that night I went out. I spent the night with Tom and I went back to my hotel room early the next morning to find Ivan waiting for me.”
“He blamed you?”
“I’m not very trustworthy,” he replied.
“He broke up with you,” Fränk pointed out.
“I didn’t want things to go this far with us. I didn’t want you to...” he faltered, unsure of what to say.
“Fabian I love to watch you in the TT if I can, you’re amazing at it. Our abilities are different which is good because we don’t have to worry about what happens if I beat you across the finish line.”
“I beat you in the Tour de Suisse.”
Fränk smiled at the comment. “The sex was amazing and I’d really like for there to be a lot more of it. We can take it slowly and just see what happens.”
“You would be okay with that?”
“On one condition.”
Fabian wasn’t sure he liked the sound of there being conditions. It meant Fränk wasn’t happy with things being that way and if that was the case then it would be easier never to let things start than to end them in a week or two. Fränk kissed his cheek and then moved back again. “That’s my condition.”
Fabian raised an eyebrow. Fränk smiled and kissed him on the cheek again. “If I can do that then I’ll be happy.”
He felt a smile spread over his face as he realised that it wasn’t so much a condition being asked of him as just permission to keep behaving as before. “Be happy then,” he murmured.
He lent closer still and waited to see if there was more of a reaction. “We’re not in the hotel,” Fränk pointed out.
“So?” he queried.
After a brief contemplation Fränk tilted his head up and he took his lover up on the invitation. “Fabian,” Fränk murmured.
He deepened this kiss and felt arms come around him. Fabian concluded that maybe when he looked back he’d see this as the Tour he treasured most.