IT'S A FOCUS

he's been on edge. the council wasn't exactly happy with him or his family, and in his opinion, were looking at every opportunity to get rid of them. so when charles calls to him from a rooftop, chase nearly loses it, clearly rattled. relief floods through him as soon as he looks up, though, noticing it came from someone he could trust. a smile breaks out on his face. "yeah, i did. now get your ass down here. i don't feel like coming to you."

charles tilted their head at chase’s reaction, eyes narrowing like they were trying to figure out exactly what nerve they’d stepped on. “why you so fuckin’ jumpy?” but then chase was smiling, and charles matched the expression. they did as they were told, hopping down from the roof with no fanfare, boots hitting the ground before they wandered over with that sharp, easy grin. charles wasn’t usually the kind of person to hand out affection like it didn’t cost them something, but they really had missed chase, so they didn’t give themself time to overthink it before pulling him into a hug. “what, you got the big bad wolf comin’ after you or something?”

the laugh jude let out came out too real, too quick, and he had to hide the worst of it behind his glass, already annoyed by how easily charles had earned it. “noted. charles only. i’m attached to living, surprisingly.” they tipped their head, studying them with a lazy kind of interest the designer usually tried not to show this early. there was something almost relieving about finding someone in the room who wasn’t sanding themselves down for access and could look at all this money and taste and still call it boring. “and you’re right, by the way. the uber group chat is where all these cowards become revolutionaries. here, though? all nodding and champagne and pretending a beige t-shirt is philosophy.” his gaze shifted toward the runway again, mouth curling with open disdain before it shifted back to charles. “i’m jude. you can call me jude, or ‘that devastatingly correct asshole from the bar.’ either works.”

jude might not have liked showing his hand early, but charles had never really cared about things like that. if they liked someone, they let them know, and so far? they liked jude. they turned toward him fully, content to ignore everyone else in the room now that something more interesting had caught their attention. “well – that’s one of us.” he snickered, eyes bright with amusement. “someone has to stay attached to the land of the living, and i’m glad i won’t have that responsibility anymore. thank you. really.” another beat passed, and then charles was laughing all over again, easy and sharp and delighted. “oh? that devastatingly correct asshole from the bar, yeah?” they leaned in a little, grin spreading slow across their face. “gonna be a long one to moan, but i like a challenge.” flirting came naturally to them, like breathing. it was fun and stupid and never meant anything – except, maybe, that jude had earned their attention, and charles was more than happy to make that everyone else’s problem.

teagan's brows furrowed in confusion and how the other was looking at him right now. sure, there was something that seemed familiar and like teagan should trust them but..he's drawing a blank. this was the shitty side of what happened to him. people he should know are now strangers and it's frustrating. teagan doesn't show it though, instead his stands there confused as to why they seem so..offended that he doesn't remember. "uh, no. clearly not fucking with you." holding up his drink cup, he waves it a little. "also my first drink." there's a scoff that falls from his lips as he watched whatever show they're trying to put on for him. "you're holding your whole fuckin' hand up, so..5? like what the hell are you trying to do?" teagan can't hold back the small fit of laughter that was threatening to fall. "can you just like..tell me who the fuck you are already so i can get to enjoying my night or..?"

was he about to be a piece of shit? yes. absolutely. as soon as realization settled, charles’ grin turned wicked, all teeth and terrible intent. they took another step closer, looking at teagan like they’d just been handed the funniest possible version of the night, and then threw an arm around his shoulders with far too much familiarity. “wait – really? you aren’t fucking with me?” they patted teagan’s shoulder, snickering like they were trying and failing to contain themselves. “oh, baby, that sucks. the fuck happened to you?” because teagan was about to learn what it was like to interact with a charles hampton who didn’t fucking hate him. which, honestly, might have been worse. hatred was simple! familiar! but charles being friendly? charles being amused? charles leaning into his space with that cheshire grin like he’d decided they were going to make this everyone’s problem? that was a whole different kind of dangerous.

"for starters, my wedding wouldn't be an unsophisticated networking event. it's so obvious this marriage is only happening because it's a business deal. he is following the mannings' footsteps, he wants to become the next michael strahan." a beat. she doubted charles knew or even cared about football, so she bit her tongue and stopped herself from repeating her mother's opinion about his affair. "it wouldn't happen here. italy, definitely. i'd keep it as private and intimate as possible. the fewer guests the better. i think... you don't need some tacky spectacle to prove how real your love is."

charlie was right – charles absolutely knew nothing about football. they didn’t really care about sports in general, but they nodded along anyway, smiling like they had any idea what she was talking about and snickering whenever it felt appropriate. she kept going, mentioning fewer guests being better, then italy, and something in charles softened before they could quite hide it. “yeah, can’t really imagine having that many fuckin’ people at my wedding.” as if they were gonna have one. as if that was something they let themself think about for more than half a second without making a joke out of it. still, he tilted their head, watching her with a little more interest than before. “who’s at the top of your guest list?” a beat passed, and their mouth tugged into something amused, softer at the edges. “my dad’s on mine, if he’s still around by the time i’m eighty.”

this party tonight was teagan's first real taste of freedom since he'd gotten cleared from his doctor and released from the hospital he'd been locked up in for the last few weeks. sure, he still wasn't 100%, but that wasn't going to stop him from having a good time and enjoying the rest of summer. hell, maybe being here would jog his memory a little. it was frustrating, not remembering things. people would visit him in the hospital and he'd have no idea who they were — teammates, old buddies he used to hang out with. he's lucky he's relatively okay side from that, considering the concussion he wound up with. the loud music blaring in his ear was already starting to make his head hurt, but he wanted to push through. this part of his life he did remember and he's grateful he never forgot. sipping from the red solo cup in hand, a voice teagan thinks he knows cuts through the crowd. "excuse me?" his brows furrow. "uh, do i know you?" there's something about them that feels familiar, but teagan can't remember them. "cause i just got invited by a buddy of mine."

charles wasn’t typically someone who showed their disbelief in a situation. they did their best to hide what they were really feeling most of the time, tucked it behind a grin or a sharp comment or whatever else was easiest. but they couldn’t do that. not now. not when the person who pissed them the fuck off was staring at them like they were a fucking stranger. their mouth dropped open, brows furrowing before they could stop it, and for a beat, all they could do was stare back. “are you fuckin’ with me?” they asked, incredulous. a beat passed, and then charles laughed, sharp and disbelieving. “or are you so fucked up you’re seeing three of me?” he held his palm up in front of his face, waving it back and forth like that was going to help. “quick, how many fingers am i holding up?” a snicker slipped out of him, mean around the edges but still amused. “i thought i was fucked up, but i guess you’re taking the crown from me."

Backstroke

"aw, baby," a wicked laugh, but charles's giggle pulls at his chest all the same. "you're always flirting." teddy's the jealous type. he always has been. but the way their smile tips soft, syrupy and so, so happy to see him, sort of eases a little bit of that. they melt a little more, and their hands slide. god, teddy loves them. loves the press of their hands to his hips, loves the way they laugh, the way they kiss him, the way they touch him – it all feels too good to be true all the time. but he's too drunk and too happy to question it tonight, and charles always pulls his pieces back together when he cracks. "we could–" a laugh, "but i'd rather be at home, where the booze is better and there's no fuckin' audience." he likes the way they sit in all this adoration. it makes his head buzz. so when charles tells him to lead the way, he's walking out through the crowd the way he came, satisfied little smirk painted across his feartures.

their nose crinkled in delight when teddy said they should go home, and if charles had been sober, they probably would’ve freaked out a little about that. even though they were the one who’d asked teddy to move in, even though they’d subsequently tweaked when teddy wasn’t ready to fully commit to it, the word home still had a way of getting its hands around something tender in them. but right now, everything was warm and floaty, and they just felt happy to be pulled along. the back of the car meant charles could be as obnoxious as they wanted, which apparently meant getting their hands all over teddy’s face, then in his hair, then back to his cheeks like they couldn’t decide what part of him they wanted most. after a few moments of that, they turned suddenly, eyes bright with some new, terrible idea. “hey,” they said, very seriously. “call your mom. wanna talk to your mom.”

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