#bychandy

Meanwhile, Will... has different suspicions. He and Andy have hesitant interactions now that Will has begun to spend so much time with Chance--they cross paths fairly often, and there's an undercurrent of awkwardness there that Will can't exactly understand. It's not like the other jocks. He feels like he senses those stares Chance has mentioned, but he has the impression they're not malicious... and in the privacy of his brain he allows himself to consider the absurd possibility of: sometimes it looks like Andy is checking him out. But that's ridiculous, of course. He doesn't even mention it to Chance because it's obviously not what is happening, and in the remote chance that it was, that is clearly something Andy needs to figure out for himself.

The problem begins to arise when. Hm. Will... kind of likes those looks? He feels so insanely guilty over it. He is in love and happy with his boyfriend and even considering something else makes him feel greedy and disloyal and gross. But. When he is just jerking off to his favorite fantasy of being with Chance in the locker room after practice, he does once imagine Andy coming in and holy shit. That's nice. Chance can manhandle him easily, Chance and Andy at the same time would be... Wow. That would be something.

(He feels so guilty he later confesses it to Robin near tears and she's like. Byers. Fantasizing about a threesome is not infidelity. Every straight man you know has done it. You're fine.)

Will is able to understand that she's right. This is just fantasy. It's as likely to happen as him having a threesome with Chance and Han Solo (and the second Will thinks that he's filing up that image for later, too). It does make even the small interactions he has with Andy even more awkward than they previously were, but still. It's not an issue.

Exceeept. One day, Will and Chance are sneaking out in an empty classroom--not even making out, just flirting and giggling and risking a kiss--and the door opens and before they can pull away from each other they see that it's Andy, coming back to pick up a notebook he forgot or something.

Cue PANIC. Will is so pale he can't speak. Chance thinks he is going to either piss his pants or pass out and Andy does not look much better. He probably runs away and Chance has to chase him to be get a sense of whether Andy will be a friend or possibly get them both killed. When he does talk to him, Andy seems to barely be able to hear anything he's saying--looks like he's the one that just got caught kissing a boy, for how much he's shaking. But he manages to get it together long enough to promise Chance he won't tell anyone.

Chance Does Not Buy This. Not entirely. Because the days pass, and although Andy doesn't act like he now hates Chance and Will, he also does not act normally. Chance has no clue if he's being hateful or homophobic but he does know he's being really fucking weird. He cannot look at him and Will without blushing. He's distracted as fuck during practice. And Chance is worried--he does care about his friendship with Andy, and also, most importantly, he needs to know for sure that Andy won't break his promise and tell anyone.

So Chance takes the plunge and confronts Andy, in the locker room, when they're alone. He's like, "if you don't want to be friends with me anymore that's fine. But I need to be sure you can keep this secret." And he inhales sharply and goes: "I don't even care if you want to gather the guys and kick my ass. But I need you to promise me you'll leave Will alone."

But Andy kind of snaps: "I'm not gonna fucking do that." Pause. "Kick your ass, I mean." The mood lightens a bit, and Chance is a little more comforted by the awareness that Andy won't retreat to his old ways. Chance adds: "I know it may seem weird, but--" "It's not." "What?" "It's not weird. I mean. I dunno." Andy shrugs. "It's--lucky that you guys found each other."

And Chance is just standing in the middle of the locker room unable to process what this might mean. They fall into silence as they gather their things. Then, before they leave, Andy turns to him and goes: "Uh... what do you guys, like, do? Together?"

Chance is like. What. And in a moment Andy seems to realize what he's asking and he goes, "fuck, okay, forget it, that was fucking weird." Chance opens his mouth to say something and Andy is like "forget it, I don't know what the fuck came over me I should never have asked that."

This interaction is super weird but at least Chance now feels like Andy won't rat him and Will out so. That's something? He tells Will that, later--not the part about Andy asking, because that feels like something Chance maybe shouldn't tell? But he tells him they're good. And they're chilling and having a good time, kind of laughing in relief at the absurdity of Andy joining the ranks of their allies, when Will guiltily says he needs to confess something. And he tells Chance about his locker room fantasy. He's like. "hahaha isn't this crazy. isn't this the dumbest thing you've ever heard."

But it's not. It's--pretty fucking hot, actually, and now Chance's brain is taken by how overwhelmed Will could look in between him and Andy and the engines are also turning re: that bizarre conversation he had with Andy in the locker room, and hm. He looks at Will and goes "I mean..." And he finally tells him about his full talk with Andy, and Will's face is dawning with realization and they're both looking at each other like. This is the craziest thought in the world but also. I think I know what you're thinking and I think you might be right.