Lardo won't stop trying to stab people, Kent Parson has a thing about Mark Rothko, and Bitty's pretty sure Jack Zimmermann hates his guts.

When Bitty agreed to join a Robin Hood-esque gang of thieves, he's almost certain this isn't what he signed up for.

Did any of you want a sequel fic to my previous work, Ace Observation, where the OC punches that motherfucker Carl? Of course not! Are you getting it anyway? Absolutely!!

preview:

Tyler is sitting at a table in the back of the bar with Swoops when the Falconers win the Stanley Cup. Every TV in the place is turned to the after-game coverage, but he's more focused on explaining the use of musical leitmotif (whatever, he's a little bit of a nerd, so sue him) than on what the announcers are saying. So five minutes after the game ends, when Carly starts running his mouth, he's not sure at first what's going on.

10. not said to me

Nursey hears Dex before he sees him. He’s walking down the hall to their room when he hears Dex’s voice through the open door. He’s laughing. Nursey thinks this might be the first time he’s heard Dex sincerely laugh at something. It’s weird. Kind of off-putting. And it’s making something in his stomach twist uncomfortably. 

He hovers in the doorway, just out of Dex’s line of sight. Dex is sitting on the bed, phone pressed to one ear. He’s smiling and listening to the person on the other end, nodding every few seconds. He looks...young. Carefree. Happy. 

“Yeah, okay,” Dex says. He’s still not looking at Nursey. “Look, I have to go. Tell everyone I say hello? Yeah. Love you.” As he hangs up, he smiles. Then he looks up and sees Nursey, and wariness flickers across his face. “Hey,” he says.

Nursey walks in and sets his backpack down by the door. “What’s up?” He hesitates. “Talking to your girlfriend?” He has no idea why that question pops out, but it’s in the open now. He leans against the frame of the bunk bed and braces himself.

“My sister.” Dex scratches at the back of his neck. “I don’t, uh, I don’t have a girlfriend.”

Nursey nods. He doesn’t know why he’s slightly relieved. “Cool, dude. Me neither.”

Oh thank you anon!

30. too quick, mumbled into your scarf 

It’s a chilly January day, and Nursey is walking across the quad to his next class when he spots Dex across the way, hunched down into his jacket, phone pressed to his ear. Normally Nursey wouldn’t bother him, but Dex still has one of his textbooks, and he needs it back. So he hurries across the quad, feet crunching in the newly fallen snow.

As he approaches, Dex looks up from his phone conversation and gives him a terse nod. “Yeah, Dad,” he says into the phone, “yeah, I know.” His voice is tight and clipped. “Bye.” He sighs and puts the phone back in his pocket, then looks up at Nursey. “What’s up?”

Nursey hesitates. “You okay, man?” He shuffles his feet a few times. “Sounded a little, uh, tense there.”

Dex squints at him, and Nursey immediately backpedals. “Sorry, sorry, none of my business, I know.” He pauses again. “You have my Biochem textbook,” he blurts,

Dex raises one eyebrow. “What?”

“My textbook,” he says. “You have it. I need it to study for a test on Monday. Which reminds me, we’re still on for Tuesday night, yeah? Movie night?” Nursey’s aware of the fact that he’s talking too fast and moving his hands too much. It’s just that he really can’t stop.

“Dude. Chill,” Dex says, with a smirk. “Yeah, we’re still on, Nurse.” He pulls his coat collar higher up and frowns. It’s an old, battered coat, more fray than fabric at this point. 

Nursey’s unraveling his scarf from around his neck before he makes the conscious choice to do so. “Take this,” he says, and holds it out.

Dex eyes it, and Nursey can almost track the thoughts as they go through his brain. He’s not going to accept charity, and especially not from Nursey, while they’re dating. 

“You’ll get frostbite,” Nursey warns. “Come on. No strings attached. Promise.” He wiggles the scarf enticingly, and with a sigh, Dex snatches it and wraps it around his neck.

“Fine.” He burrows his face into the fabric and takes a deep breath. “Love you,” Dex mutters into the fabric. 

thank you anon!

31. in awe, the first time you realized it

Finally, despite Bitty’s best efforts to halt the passage of time, the weekend was over. It was Sunday night, and Jack had to catch the train back to Providence to make practice the next morning. Bitty bustled around the Haus kitchen, hands filled with tupperware. Jack sat at the table, duffle bag slung over one shoulder, looking on in amusement as Bitty tried to pack snacks last minute. 

“Didn’t think to start doing this a little earlier, eh?” He raised one eyebrow.

Bitty smiled. “Maybe I would have had time if somebody hadn’t been so insistent that I sleep in with him.”

“Oh, that’s cold.” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table, and his chin on his folded hands, grinning like the cat that got the canary. “Especially since it was you who kept me up so late last night.”

Bitty swatted at him with one hand. “Now, that’s enough out of you, Mr. Zimmermann.” He set down the tupperware on the table. “Here’s some homemade chocolate bars, which aren’t in your diet plan, I know, but take them anyway.” He pointed to the next one. “These are bran muffins with protein and very little butter. I had to restrain myself, but they are dietician approved.” Bitty looked up at Jack and smiled. “You can eat them before practice.” He frowned. Jack was looking at him with an odd expression of wonder and realization. “Honey? What’s wrong?”

Jack smiled, his eyes soft. “Nothing. It’s just-- I’m so in love with you.”

11. with a shuddering gasp (i picked nurseydex. are we surprised? of course not.)

The door is open when Nursey gets back from class. That, in and of itself, is out of the ordinary. Dex is borderline anal about privacy, and in a house full of guys who have no qualms about leaping into your bed completely naked (looking at you, Shitty), he kind of gets it. It’s an exercise in futility. Closing the door should keep the rest of the Haus out, but they’re inevitable.

He approaches the door cautiously, poking his head through the gap. Dex is sitting cross legged on the floor, his back to the entryway, head bowed.

Well. That’s a little concerning. Nursey opens the door farther and steps inside. “What’s going on, babe?” he asks warily. In the half light of the late afternoon, all he can make out is Dex’s profile as he turns and gets to his feet. He’s holding a sheet of paper in one hand.

“I got the job,” Dex says, and then he’s laughing and crying and grinning so hard Nursey thinks his face might split.

“That’s incredible,” Nursey exclaims, dropping his backback and moving to grab Dex’s hands. “Babe, I’m so proud of you.” He knows just how hard Dex has worked to get this job, staying up late to work on his applications and resume, then practicing for his interview and waiting for a week to get this letter. 

Dex grins again, and Nursey thinks of how far they’ve come since their disastrous freshman year. Who would have thought they’d end up here? He takes a shuddering breath. “I love you so much,” Nursey says, and pulls him in for a kiss.

33. on a post-it note

Jack is gone when Bitty wakes up. It’s not a surprise, since Jack had needed to get to practice early, but it’s something of a disappointment. Darn it all, he knows Jack’s busy with the pre-season, but he hates waking up alone.

He puts on a pair of sweatpants and one of Jack’s shirts and heads towards the kitchen. The apartment is silent and sunlight streams through the windows. Bitty yawns and runs a hand through his hair, reaching with his other hand for the refrigerator door handle. He stops short when he sees a yellow post it note stuck to the metal surface, then smiles. 

Eat more protein, it says, in Jack’s cramped handwriting. There’s a clumsy smiley face scrawled below the words.

6. on a sunny Tuesday afternoon, the late sunlight glowing in your hair

“No, screw you, Boba Fett is definitely more awesome.” Kent’s sitting at the kitchen table, beer bottle held loosely in his fingers. They’ve been doing this for hours, since Jeff realized that after nearly two years of dating, Kent still hasn’t watched Star Wars. So they’d spent the morning pressed up against each other on the bed, peering at the screen of Jeff’s (admittedly terrible) laptop.

“He was onscreen for two minutes and got killed by a giant plant monster. Obi Wan had style–”

“He wore a canvas sack cloak.” The late afternoon sunlight streams through the kitchen window, lighting up Kent’s hair and giving him an ethereal glow. The effect of it makes the heresy he’s spouting only slightly more bearable.

“–style, I’m telling you. And he’s a Jedi, which is cooler by default.” Jeff leans forward, resting his chin on his hands. 

Kent spreads his hands in a gesture of mock surrender. “Fine. Fine. Because I love you, I’m not going to fight you on this bullshit talk.”

Jeff groans. “You’re such an ass.”

He smirks. “You like it, though.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Jeff doesn’t bother to curb the smile spreading across his face. 

19. with no space between us

They come out on a Friday. By Saturday morning, Kent’s twitter feed is filled with a combination of supportive messages, intrusive questions, and flat out insults. The news is covering this like it’s some kind of natural disaster, and they haven’t left the house in order to avoid reporters. It’s getting a little much.

“You’d think we killed someone,” Kent remarks. They’re sitting on the couch, Kent pressed against his side, scrolling through his phone. “Oh. Jack wants to know if we want to do a couples brunch with him and Eric, really get the reporters frothing.” He looks up. “How’s Thursday?”

Jeff considers it and nods. “But like. We kind of did kill your reputation.”

Kent leans back and raises his eyebrows. “My what now?”

He makes a vague gesture with one hand. “You know, all the guys were like, ‘Oh yeah, Parser, he’s kind of a picky fucker, right?’” Jeff frowns. “There was totally a groupchat called Find Parser Love at some point.”

Kent leans back in, draping himself on Jeff’s shoulders, his weight a warm pressure. “How do you even know this?”

Jeff scratches at the back of his neck and grimaces. “I, uh, was in it? This was way back in rookie year.” He hesitates. “I kind of had a crush on you.”

He snorts. “Back in rookie year? Babe, that’s adorable.”

“We’re literally dating.” That sets Kent off, and suddenly he’s laughing so hard he collapses onto Jeff’s chest, his entire body shaking with the force of it. Jeff rests a hand on his shoulder. Finally the waves of laughter subside, and Kent lifts his head to rest his chin on Jeff’s collarbone.

“You’re such a dweeb,” he says, affection in his eyes. “Fuck, I love you.”

Jeff grins and wraps an arm around his waist. They’re going to be fine.