19: fan fic { numb3rs } : "rebirthing [2/4]" [colby/charlie]
title. rebirthing [2/4]
author. nv
fandom. numb3rs
characters. colby granger, charlie eppes, david sinclair (colby/charlie, colby/david)
genre. angst/drama
rating. r
warnings. pre-slash, language
word count. 2671
spoilers. "the janus list," "trust metric"
summary. colby tries to move on from david.
previously. [ 1 ]
feedback. is the reason i do this
disclaimer. the characters and canon contained herein are the property of cheryl heuton and nicolas falacci, as well as any associated writers, producers, networks, and parent companies. the following was written by neur0 vanity. no copyright infringement is intended, and no profit is being made.
cross-posting. numb3rs_slash, red_gumballs, eppes_slash, savecolby, wolf_tickets
Colby wasn’t nearly as optimistic in the morning. The alarm on his cell phone went off to wake him, and he immediately felt an ache in his back from the crappy mattress. He rolled off the bed and put on one of the two suits he owned, making a note to himself that he’d have to buy more clothes for work along with everything he had to get for his apartment. Colby didn’t know how he was going to make ends meet.
On aching legs, Colby trudged into the bathroom and caught his reflection in the mirror. His hair had dried in an odd mess from last night’s shower at the gym. He turned on the sink’s faucet and ran his hand under the water, then wet his hair, smoothing it into something presentable. After brushing his teeth, Colby pocketed his cell phone, grabbed his briefcase and keys, and headed out.
He made a quick stop for coffee and a bagel and drove to the field office. Parking the reissued SUV and walking into the building, he felt trepidation again. It was his third day out of the hospital and his second day back at work. Don had insisted that he take more time off (Colby wasn’t sure if that was because Don was concerned about his recovery and mental state or because Don didn’t want him around), but Colby had relented. He had yet to work on a case, instead staying busy with paperwork while he waited to hear if he was being reassigned. Colby wanted to stay where he was - he loved working in the Violent Crimes division - but, on the other hand, he didn’t know if he could survive with his unit if Don, Megan, and David - oh, God, David - continued to be so cold to him.
Colby missed the excitement he used to feel in the morning coming to work. While he dreaded the atrocities he’d see, he had been able to look forward to joking with Don about the bad coffee, the sisterly snark from Megan, and the long hours working with his lover, boyfriend, soul mate.
Thoughts of David forced him to think about Charlie instead. He’d felt warmth and the comfort of possibility when he thought of the curly-haired genius last night. Colby sat down at his desk - devoid of all signs of him - and opened a file, and he pretended to be busy while he tried to calm himself with thoughts of Charlie, ignoring the possibility that it could be too soon to consider a new love interest after having been dumped so recently.
Colby wondered what it would be like to take Charlie on a date. Would he still talk about math and stumble through other subjects, or would Colby discover a wholly different side of Charlie? What would Charlie like to do? Colby already knew stargazing was on his list (and Colby again mentally reprimanded himself for knocking that interest on the phone last night). Would Charlie be “girly” and want to do sentimental things, or would he be a guy, drinking and watching sports and rough-housing, like David? Don’t think of David. Did Charlie like to cook a nice dinner at home, or would they end up going out to restaurants all the time? David had always liked cooking for Colby, and they would talk and laugh and fool around in the kitchen. God, don’t think of David.
Colby clenched his fists until he thought his fingernails would draw blood from his palms. Why did it have to be so damn hard?
He finally looked down at the paperwork in front of him and dove into it, hoping that it would eradicate his thoughts of anything else.
$$$
Lunch was occupied by the din of indecipherable conversation in a small restaurant. Colby ate half of his chicken and picked at his vegetables. His appetite was gone, replaced by this dull, gnawing sensation. There was a time when he’d clean up his entire plate and then order dessert, but now food made him think of cooking with David, and eating somehow seemed sacrilegious. I’ve got to stop thinking about David.
That was a wish easier asked than received, Colby realized as he reentered the office and spotted David working at his desk. His lover - former lover - was deep in work. When David finally looked up and directly at Colby, Colby’s first reaction, his instinct, was to smile; it was what he had done day in and out for two years. But the cold steel of David’s eyes and the blank expression on his face reminded Colby again of how much things had changed.
David wasn’t his boyfriend.
David wasn’t his lover.
David wasn’t even really his partner anymore.
And Colby could sure as hell forget any notion that David was his soul mate.
There was betrayal and contempt in David’s eyes, and the man that had once loved Colby turned his gaze down and returned to his work. Colby didn’t exist to him.
Don exploded up from his chair as he hung up the phone, prompting Megan’s and David’s attention, and Colby still had that Pavlovian response to spring into action, every muscle tense and poised to react to whatever Don said. Then he remembered that he wasn’t a part of this anymore, and he stood frozen in his place between the elevators and cubicles.
Don’s team rushed past him, and Colby asked, “Anything I can do to help?”
Don was already in the elevator when he turned to say, “We’ll call you if we need you.”
Don’t call us; we’ll call you. It was a subtle “fuck you,” and Colby walked slowly back to his desk, feeling defeat and that dull, gnawing sensation in the pit of his stomach.
$$$
A few hours later, the team was back and with Charlie in tow. Colby smiled as Charlie walked by him on the way to the war room, and he smiled wider when Charlie started to blush with a shy yet impish grin back at him. Warmth flooded through him and left him with a sweet, butterfly feeling of lightheadedness.
Charlie was a nice guy with a big heart, and if they were together, Colby doubted they’d have any trust issues. If Charlie was still interested in him after the whole spy thing, that boded well for a future together.
Another hour passed, and Charlie was on his way out of the war room as Colby was gathering up his briefcase.
“Hey, Charlie…” Colby began, and Charlie turned to him with wide, expectant eyes. “You’re heading home?”
“Uh, yeah.” He held up a file in his hand. “Going to start working on the new case.”
“I’m leaving here for the day, too.” Colby pushed back his chair.
Charlie looked at him with confusion. “You’re not staying with the guys to work on the case?”
“Nah, I’m not on the case. Sort of on restricted duty,” Colby answered sheepishly.
“You’re being punished?”
Colby actually laughed. “Yes, but no; I’m waiting to hear back on what they’re going to do with me.”
“Don’s team?”
“The Powers That Be. CIA, NSA, FBI, whatever. I’ve been dabbling in so many groups, it’s hard to say where I’ll end up.” Colby lowered his head and fingered the stitching on his briefcase.
“Hey, maybe you’ll be a consultant like me. I mean, not on math but, you know, spy stuff, covert ops, that kind of thing.”
He looked back up with a soft, shy smile. “Maybe.” Charlie nodded his head and looked away as awkward silence descended. Colby took a deep breath and tried to ground himself. “Well, if you’ve got the time, maybe you’d like to grab a bite. It’s a little after 5:00. By the time we get somewhere and order, it’ll be time to eat.”
Charlie lifted his wrist to glance at his watch and, in doing so, spilled the contents of his file onto the floor. Colby sprung up from his chair and onto his knees as Charlie crouched down to pull the pages together, and their paper-grabbing hands brushed. A bolt of electricity shot through Colby. Their eyes locked, and Colby felt breathless. The urge to kiss Charlie right then and there was overpowering him, so he quickly broke their gaze and looked back down to the scattered papers on the floor.
He saw the gruesome photos amid the marked maps and personal records, and Colby’s stomach churned. “Oh, Charlie, you really shouldn’t be looking at these pictures,” he said, pulling them together.
Charlie snatched the small pile from Colby and stuffed them into the manila folder. “I’m not a kid, okay? I’m tired of everybody thinking that I can’t handle this. I’ve been working with you guys for four years now.”
“Relax, Charlie, I was just saying that they’re pretty awful.” Fuck, here we go again.
“Yeah, well, they help me to identify with the case. I can quantify the details of the killer better if I - Oh, forget it; you wouldn’t understand.”
Colby’s eyebrows knitted as he recoiled. “Hey, that’s not a very nice thing to say. I thought I was doing a really good job at picking up on what you tell us.”
Charlie took a deep breath and lowered his head. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m just…”
“Tired and hungry?” Colby let a small smirk pass over his face when Charlie looked up.
“Yeah,” he answered softly.
“I know this nice Indian place - belly dancers, good food, great wine, lots of cushiony places to sit, very cool atmosphere.” Colby remembered the last time he’d gone there. He and David had sat in the VIP area on cushions and pillows, surrounded by beaded curtains and thick tapestries and a mosaic table of inlaid glass in beautiful colors. Don’t think of David. Think of what a great time you’ll have with Charlie.
“That sounds really good.” Charlie stood up from the floor, his file held more protectively this time. “I just need to run to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay,” Colby answered, also rising.
Colby watched Charlie walk towards the bathroom, the hem of his sports jacket brushing against his cute little ass in blue jeans, and Colby smiled. The Whiz Kid was absolutely delightful to look at.
“You’ve really got a death wish, don’t you?”
Colby turned at the sound of David’s sharp voice, and he saw the agent standing in the space between Colby’s cubicle and the wall of conference rooms. His heart stopped beating for a moment. Every time he saw David, he hoped that his ex had come to his senses and was going to take him back into their life of quiet, domesticated bliss. But he knew David wasn’t there for that. “Excuse me?”
“It’s not enough that you got to piss Don off by betraying him; now you’re going after his brother. Is nothing sacred to you?”
“I’d ask you the same. Whatever happened to the word ‘unconditional’?” Colby fought back the urge to chew on his bottom lip, fought back the tears that were threatening to well in his eyes.
“That gets thrown out the window when you find out your partner’s a damn liar. I can’t trust that a word you told me was true.”
“David…”
“The time for reconciliation is over, Granger. The only reason I’m showing an interest now is because I don’t want Don taking shit out on me when he finds out you’re using his brother as a rebound.”
“It’s not a rebound, and this is just dinner.”
“Yeah, right. I dump you after a year, and right away, you’re diving into something new. That’s not a rebound?”
“Get over yourself, Sinclair.”
“Sure, man. Whenever you get over me, too.”
Colby clenched his jaw and fists and couldn’t find the words to say as David walked away. He needed a clever comeback. He couldn’t let David have the last word. But nothing came to him. David opened the door to the war room and walked back inside, and Colby had said nothing. His throat was tight, and he thought his knees were going to give out on him. What a bunch of low-blows. Colby squeezed his eyes shut, took a deep breath, and started counting to ten.
“Okay, I’m ready to - ” Colby heard Charlie begin. “Are you okay?”
Colby exhaled slowly and turned around, putting on a small smile. “Yeah. Just office politics. You’re ready?”
“Yeah, I’m ready, but…”
“Charlie, it’s fine.” He reached out a hand and squeezed the genius’s bicep. “Let’s go get some grub.”
$$$
The restaurant was everything Colby remembered. It was the last place he and David had gone to, the place that marked the end of their relationship, but, he thought hopefully, it would be the birthing place of a new relationship.
Colby slipped a handful of bills to the host, and they were seated in VIP with its beaded curtains and thick tapestries and colorful, mosaic tables. They sat down amid the silky pillows and looked over their menus.
“Have you had Indian food before?” Colby asked.
“Yeah, plenty of times with Amita.”
Amita. “What’s the story there, anyway?”
“Not much of a story. CalSci, math, sex.” Colby was surprised to hear that Charlie could be so blunt. “She’s good comfort. But she’s a friend. Friend with benefits, but a friend.”
“So you’re not gay…”
Charlie looked up from his menu. “I’m not really big on labels. But I’m bi.”
“Does she know?”
“Know what?”
“That you’re bi. That you sleep with men. That she’s just for sex.”
“She’s not just for sex. There’s a lot of conversation. And work. And partnership. But I think she knows it’s not going anywhere. Not really a topic we’ve discussed. And, no, she doesn’t know I’m bi. As for the third subject, it’s been a while.”
Colby’s eyebrows raised. “Been a while since you’ve slept with a man?”
“Yeah.” Charlie continued to look at his menu. “I get so busy with work that I don’t really have the time to go out and find somebody. I mean, I could just go out to a gay bar and find a one-night stand, but how self-belittling is that?”
Colby only nodded his head. He’d done the self-belittling thing plenty of times before David came along. Clearing his throat, he reiterated, “So you have had Indian before?”
“Yup.”
“Good. Then I won’t have to order for you and feel bad if you hate it.”
Charlie smiled. “Not possible. I’m a foodie. I’ll eat just about anything.”
“I’ll try anything once.”
“Here’s to that,” Charlie said and reached for a drink that wasn’t there. “Or not.”
Colby laughed and put up a hand. “We need wine. Stat.”
$$$
Colby was in a warm, bubbly trance as he walked through the department store, snatching up suits and ordering furniture. The date with Charlie had been wonderful. Sure, there’d been awkward moments of silence, but Charlie had proven himself to be rather adept at social comportment and conversation. Colby figured that all he needed to do was get Charlie out of the FBI office - where he was scrutinized and his work was integral to saving lives - to have him relax and open up.
They’d talked about their childhoods, Princeton and Afghanistan, favorite foods and music and movies, and what they liked to do outside of work. Charlie was an avid walker, taking hikes near the CalSci campus, and they’d made plans to do the trails together. Snatching up a decorative pillow that would go well with his plans for his living room and tossing it into the already full cart, Colby felt as though he was floating on air. When he was around Charlie, he could think of nothing else. There were no thoughts of work, of the team that had disowned him, of the longing for those happier times with David. The gnawing in the pit of his stomach was gone when he was with Charlie.
Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt.
to be continued...
like it? watch whereismytalent.
**NOTE: ANONYMOUS COMMENTING HAS BEEN ENABLED. COMMENT AWAY.
author. nv
fandom. numb3rs
characters. colby granger, charlie eppes, david sinclair (colby/charlie, colby/david)
genre. angst/drama
rating. r
warnings. pre-slash, language
word count. 2671
spoilers. "the janus list," "trust metric"
summary. colby tries to move on from david.
previously. [ 1 ]
feedback. is the reason i do this
disclaimer. the characters and canon contained herein are the property of cheryl heuton and nicolas falacci, as well as any associated writers, producers, networks, and parent companies. the following was written by neur0 vanity. no copyright infringement is intended, and no profit is being made.
cross-posting. numb3rs_slash, red_gumballs, eppes_slash, savecolby, wolf_tickets
Colby wasn’t nearly as optimistic in the morning. The alarm on his cell phone went off to wake him, and he immediately felt an ache in his back from the crappy mattress. He rolled off the bed and put on one of the two suits he owned, making a note to himself that he’d have to buy more clothes for work along with everything he had to get for his apartment. Colby didn’t know how he was going to make ends meet.
On aching legs, Colby trudged into the bathroom and caught his reflection in the mirror. His hair had dried in an odd mess from last night’s shower at the gym. He turned on the sink’s faucet and ran his hand under the water, then wet his hair, smoothing it into something presentable. After brushing his teeth, Colby pocketed his cell phone, grabbed his briefcase and keys, and headed out.
He made a quick stop for coffee and a bagel and drove to the field office. Parking the reissued SUV and walking into the building, he felt trepidation again. It was his third day out of the hospital and his second day back at work. Don had insisted that he take more time off (Colby wasn’t sure if that was because Don was concerned about his recovery and mental state or because Don didn’t want him around), but Colby had relented. He had yet to work on a case, instead staying busy with paperwork while he waited to hear if he was being reassigned. Colby wanted to stay where he was - he loved working in the Violent Crimes division - but, on the other hand, he didn’t know if he could survive with his unit if Don, Megan, and David - oh, God, David - continued to be so cold to him.
Colby missed the excitement he used to feel in the morning coming to work. While he dreaded the atrocities he’d see, he had been able to look forward to joking with Don about the bad coffee, the sisterly snark from Megan, and the long hours working with his lover, boyfriend, soul mate.
Thoughts of David forced him to think about Charlie instead. He’d felt warmth and the comfort of possibility when he thought of the curly-haired genius last night. Colby sat down at his desk - devoid of all signs of him - and opened a file, and he pretended to be busy while he tried to calm himself with thoughts of Charlie, ignoring the possibility that it could be too soon to consider a new love interest after having been dumped so recently.
Colby wondered what it would be like to take Charlie on a date. Would he still talk about math and stumble through other subjects, or would Colby discover a wholly different side of Charlie? What would Charlie like to do? Colby already knew stargazing was on his list (and Colby again mentally reprimanded himself for knocking that interest on the phone last night). Would Charlie be “girly” and want to do sentimental things, or would he be a guy, drinking and watching sports and rough-housing, like David? Don’t think of David. Did Charlie like to cook a nice dinner at home, or would they end up going out to restaurants all the time? David had always liked cooking for Colby, and they would talk and laugh and fool around in the kitchen. God, don’t think of David.
Colby clenched his fists until he thought his fingernails would draw blood from his palms. Why did it have to be so damn hard?
He finally looked down at the paperwork in front of him and dove into it, hoping that it would eradicate his thoughts of anything else.
$$$
Lunch was occupied by the din of indecipherable conversation in a small restaurant. Colby ate half of his chicken and picked at his vegetables. His appetite was gone, replaced by this dull, gnawing sensation. There was a time when he’d clean up his entire plate and then order dessert, but now food made him think of cooking with David, and eating somehow seemed sacrilegious. I’ve got to stop thinking about David.
That was a wish easier asked than received, Colby realized as he reentered the office and spotted David working at his desk. His lover - former lover - was deep in work. When David finally looked up and directly at Colby, Colby’s first reaction, his instinct, was to smile; it was what he had done day in and out for two years. But the cold steel of David’s eyes and the blank expression on his face reminded Colby again of how much things had changed.
David wasn’t his boyfriend.
David wasn’t his lover.
David wasn’t even really his partner anymore.
And Colby could sure as hell forget any notion that David was his soul mate.
There was betrayal and contempt in David’s eyes, and the man that had once loved Colby turned his gaze down and returned to his work. Colby didn’t exist to him.
Don exploded up from his chair as he hung up the phone, prompting Megan’s and David’s attention, and Colby still had that Pavlovian response to spring into action, every muscle tense and poised to react to whatever Don said. Then he remembered that he wasn’t a part of this anymore, and he stood frozen in his place between the elevators and cubicles.
Don’s team rushed past him, and Colby asked, “Anything I can do to help?”
Don was already in the elevator when he turned to say, “We’ll call you if we need you.”
Don’t call us; we’ll call you. It was a subtle “fuck you,” and Colby walked slowly back to his desk, feeling defeat and that dull, gnawing sensation in the pit of his stomach.
$$$
A few hours later, the team was back and with Charlie in tow. Colby smiled as Charlie walked by him on the way to the war room, and he smiled wider when Charlie started to blush with a shy yet impish grin back at him. Warmth flooded through him and left him with a sweet, butterfly feeling of lightheadedness.
Charlie was a nice guy with a big heart, and if they were together, Colby doubted they’d have any trust issues. If Charlie was still interested in him after the whole spy thing, that boded well for a future together.
Another hour passed, and Charlie was on his way out of the war room as Colby was gathering up his briefcase.
“Hey, Charlie…” Colby began, and Charlie turned to him with wide, expectant eyes. “You’re heading home?”
“Uh, yeah.” He held up a file in his hand. “Going to start working on the new case.”
“I’m leaving here for the day, too.” Colby pushed back his chair.
Charlie looked at him with confusion. “You’re not staying with the guys to work on the case?”
“Nah, I’m not on the case. Sort of on restricted duty,” Colby answered sheepishly.
“You’re being punished?”
Colby actually laughed. “Yes, but no; I’m waiting to hear back on what they’re going to do with me.”
“Don’s team?”
“The Powers That Be. CIA, NSA, FBI, whatever. I’ve been dabbling in so many groups, it’s hard to say where I’ll end up.” Colby lowered his head and fingered the stitching on his briefcase.
“Hey, maybe you’ll be a consultant like me. I mean, not on math but, you know, spy stuff, covert ops, that kind of thing.”
He looked back up with a soft, shy smile. “Maybe.” Charlie nodded his head and looked away as awkward silence descended. Colby took a deep breath and tried to ground himself. “Well, if you’ve got the time, maybe you’d like to grab a bite. It’s a little after 5:00. By the time we get somewhere and order, it’ll be time to eat.”
Charlie lifted his wrist to glance at his watch and, in doing so, spilled the contents of his file onto the floor. Colby sprung up from his chair and onto his knees as Charlie crouched down to pull the pages together, and their paper-grabbing hands brushed. A bolt of electricity shot through Colby. Their eyes locked, and Colby felt breathless. The urge to kiss Charlie right then and there was overpowering him, so he quickly broke their gaze and looked back down to the scattered papers on the floor.
He saw the gruesome photos amid the marked maps and personal records, and Colby’s stomach churned. “Oh, Charlie, you really shouldn’t be looking at these pictures,” he said, pulling them together.
Charlie snatched the small pile from Colby and stuffed them into the manila folder. “I’m not a kid, okay? I’m tired of everybody thinking that I can’t handle this. I’ve been working with you guys for four years now.”
“Relax, Charlie, I was just saying that they’re pretty awful.” Fuck, here we go again.
“Yeah, well, they help me to identify with the case. I can quantify the details of the killer better if I - Oh, forget it; you wouldn’t understand.”
Colby’s eyebrows knitted as he recoiled. “Hey, that’s not a very nice thing to say. I thought I was doing a really good job at picking up on what you tell us.”
Charlie took a deep breath and lowered his head. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m just…”
“Tired and hungry?” Colby let a small smirk pass over his face when Charlie looked up.
“Yeah,” he answered softly.
“I know this nice Indian place - belly dancers, good food, great wine, lots of cushiony places to sit, very cool atmosphere.” Colby remembered the last time he’d gone there. He and David had sat in the VIP area on cushions and pillows, surrounded by beaded curtains and thick tapestries and a mosaic table of inlaid glass in beautiful colors. Don’t think of David. Think of what a great time you’ll have with Charlie.
“That sounds really good.” Charlie stood up from the floor, his file held more protectively this time. “I just need to run to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”
“Okay,” Colby answered, also rising.
Colby watched Charlie walk towards the bathroom, the hem of his sports jacket brushing against his cute little ass in blue jeans, and Colby smiled. The Whiz Kid was absolutely delightful to look at.
“You’ve really got a death wish, don’t you?”
Colby turned at the sound of David’s sharp voice, and he saw the agent standing in the space between Colby’s cubicle and the wall of conference rooms. His heart stopped beating for a moment. Every time he saw David, he hoped that his ex had come to his senses and was going to take him back into their life of quiet, domesticated bliss. But he knew David wasn’t there for that. “Excuse me?”
“It’s not enough that you got to piss Don off by betraying him; now you’re going after his brother. Is nothing sacred to you?”
“I’d ask you the same. Whatever happened to the word ‘unconditional’?” Colby fought back the urge to chew on his bottom lip, fought back the tears that were threatening to well in his eyes.
“That gets thrown out the window when you find out your partner’s a damn liar. I can’t trust that a word you told me was true.”
“David…”
“The time for reconciliation is over, Granger. The only reason I’m showing an interest now is because I don’t want Don taking shit out on me when he finds out you’re using his brother as a rebound.”
“It’s not a rebound, and this is just dinner.”
“Yeah, right. I dump you after a year, and right away, you’re diving into something new. That’s not a rebound?”
“Get over yourself, Sinclair.”
“Sure, man. Whenever you get over me, too.”
Colby clenched his jaw and fists and couldn’t find the words to say as David walked away. He needed a clever comeback. He couldn’t let David have the last word. But nothing came to him. David opened the door to the war room and walked back inside, and Colby had said nothing. His throat was tight, and he thought his knees were going to give out on him. What a bunch of low-blows. Colby squeezed his eyes shut, took a deep breath, and started counting to ten.
“Okay, I’m ready to - ” Colby heard Charlie begin. “Are you okay?”
Colby exhaled slowly and turned around, putting on a small smile. “Yeah. Just office politics. You’re ready?”
“Yeah, I’m ready, but…”
“Charlie, it’s fine.” He reached out a hand and squeezed the genius’s bicep. “Let’s go get some grub.”
$$$
The restaurant was everything Colby remembered. It was the last place he and David had gone to, the place that marked the end of their relationship, but, he thought hopefully, it would be the birthing place of a new relationship.
Colby slipped a handful of bills to the host, and they were seated in VIP with its beaded curtains and thick tapestries and colorful, mosaic tables. They sat down amid the silky pillows and looked over their menus.
“Have you had Indian food before?” Colby asked.
“Yeah, plenty of times with Amita.”
Amita. “What’s the story there, anyway?”
“Not much of a story. CalSci, math, sex.” Colby was surprised to hear that Charlie could be so blunt. “She’s good comfort. But she’s a friend. Friend with benefits, but a friend.”
“So you’re not gay…”
Charlie looked up from his menu. “I’m not really big on labels. But I’m bi.”
“Does she know?”
“Know what?”
“That you’re bi. That you sleep with men. That she’s just for sex.”
“She’s not just for sex. There’s a lot of conversation. And work. And partnership. But I think she knows it’s not going anywhere. Not really a topic we’ve discussed. And, no, she doesn’t know I’m bi. As for the third subject, it’s been a while.”
Colby’s eyebrows raised. “Been a while since you’ve slept with a man?”
“Yeah.” Charlie continued to look at his menu. “I get so busy with work that I don’t really have the time to go out and find somebody. I mean, I could just go out to a gay bar and find a one-night stand, but how self-belittling is that?”
Colby only nodded his head. He’d done the self-belittling thing plenty of times before David came along. Clearing his throat, he reiterated, “So you have had Indian before?”
“Yup.”
“Good. Then I won’t have to order for you and feel bad if you hate it.”
Charlie smiled. “Not possible. I’m a foodie. I’ll eat just about anything.”
“I’ll try anything once.”
“Here’s to that,” Charlie said and reached for a drink that wasn’t there. “Or not.”
Colby laughed and put up a hand. “We need wine. Stat.”
$$$
Colby was in a warm, bubbly trance as he walked through the department store, snatching up suits and ordering furniture. The date with Charlie had been wonderful. Sure, there’d been awkward moments of silence, but Charlie had proven himself to be rather adept at social comportment and conversation. Colby figured that all he needed to do was get Charlie out of the FBI office - where he was scrutinized and his work was integral to saving lives - to have him relax and open up.
They’d talked about their childhoods, Princeton and Afghanistan, favorite foods and music and movies, and what they liked to do outside of work. Charlie was an avid walker, taking hikes near the CalSci campus, and they’d made plans to do the trails together. Snatching up a decorative pillow that would go well with his plans for his living room and tossing it into the already full cart, Colby felt as though he was floating on air. When he was around Charlie, he could think of nothing else. There were no thoughts of work, of the team that had disowned him, of the longing for those happier times with David. The gnawing in the pit of his stomach was gone when he was with Charlie.
Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt.
to be continued...
like it? watch whereismytalent.
**NOTE: ANONYMOUS COMMENTING HAS BEEN ENABLED. COMMENT AWAY.