#like super quick

“A work party?” Rhett asked incredulously, mouth full of toast, eyebrows pulled together in confusion. Link crumpled down into the chair at the opposite end of the table. “I thought you said you weren’t ever going to bother going to any of ‘em, and now suddenly I have to go too?”

“I know, I know. I just, I kind of have to go now.” Link sighed, arms splayed over the table in front of him.

“But what’s that got to do with me then?”

Link dropped his head to the table between his outstretched arms.

“I dug myself into a hole and I need your help. Just this once”

Rhett paused, putting his toast down, staring hard at Link. Link wearily lifted his head, grimacing apologetically at his roommate and best friend of too many years to count, inhaling deeply in preparation for his monologue that he was sure was only going to piss Rhett off.

“I’ve told you about Caitlyn, yeah?”

Rhett nodded slowly, his face still twisted in confusion.

“How she’s been non-stop tryin’ to get me to go out to lunch together on break, inviting me out for drinks after work, constantly touching me when we talk, breathin’ down my neck any moment she can? Well, I… I told her I was gay?”

Rhett nearly choked on his orange juice.

“So you skip over telling her you’re not interested, and go straight to ‘I’m gay’?!”

Link shrugged, letting his arms drop heavily back onto the table in defeat.

“I panicked, okay?”

Rhett shook his head in disbelief, standing up from the table to put his plate in the sink.

“So what, you want me to accompany you to your work party to masquerade as your boyfriend so you--”

“Husband,” Link interrupted, muttering under his breath. He flinched as the plate was dropped hard into the sink. He turned in time to see Rhett slowly and menacingly turn around to face him.

“You’re kidding.”

Link shook his head, covering his face and his bright red blush of embarrassment with his hands.

“She apparently didn’t care that I was gay. ‘Gay,’” Link ephasized with finger quotes. “Or she didn’t believe me, I don’t know. Guess I don’t blame her. So I told her I was married to cover my ass. Of course then word got out and everyone was curious, and I became an enigma. Everyone wanted to know his name, why I didn’t have a wedding band, why I never talk about him, how long I’ve been gay, who wears the pants in the relationship, where we went for our honeymoon,”

Rhett carefully sat back down across from Link, his face frozen in bewilderment.

“So now everyone is dying to meet my husband who they’ve heard so much about.”

“That’s not a hole you dug yourself there, Brother. That’s a canyon.”

Link slouched back down onto the table, nodding in agreement. They sat in silence for a minute, processing it all. Link glanced up when Rhett shifted in his seat, clearing his throat.

“Okay. I’ll do it. But you owe me big time for this.”

Link’s solemn expression cracked, a faint glimmer of a hopeful smile peeking through.

“So I guess I should know a little more about myself then, right? What’s my name?”

Link paused, his eyes widening, the blush coming back with a vengeance.

“R-Rhett.”

Rhett rolled his eyes, leaning onto his elbows.

“I know my own name dumbnut, what’s my alias?”

Link sputtered, his fingers nervously rapping the table’s surface.

“It’s Rhett.”

Rhett leaned in further, his eyebrows furrowing.

“You named your fake husband after me?”

Link nodded into his hands. He was sure he was going to implode right then and there.

Rhett stood up and walked off towards his bedroom, feigning an irritated sigh, turning back before he was out of view.

“You really owe me big time for this.”

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

The ride to the venue that night was surprisingly not as tense as either of them had anticipated. They went back and forth quizzing each other on Rhett’s alias; They met 6 years ago in their senior year of college, married 2 years ago in a small courthouse ceremony. Their beliefs didn’t require wedding bands so they just didn’t bother. They honeymooned in Boulder, Colorado and it was very nice, thank you for asking. Don’t answer the pants question.

Link fidgeted with his blazer in the passenger seat, flipping open the visor to check his hair one too many times. Rhett glanced over, letting out a short chuckle.

“You look fine, babe.” Rhett said with almost not enough emphasis on the pet name. Link froze, slowly closing the visor as he turned his head towards Rhett in the driver’s seat. Rhett glanced over, laughing at Link’s sheepish expression.

“What? If you really want Caitlyn to hop off your dick, it needs to be convincing, right? I’m not gonna mack on you for the sake of saving you from your own lies, so we need something to make it seem real.”

Link nodded, turning back into his seat. His cheeks flushed as his lips silently echoed the term of endearment to himself.

Link was sure that one way or another, this night was going to be the death of him.

They strode into the quaint, dimly lit banquet hall and took in their surroundings. Balloons and crepe paper lined the walls and upbeat pop music played from ceiling-mounted speakers at a modest volume. Small groups of colleagues huddled together, cheerily conversing and laughing over unknown beverages in red solo cups. A few couples mingled on the small wooden dance floor in the middle of the room, bobbing their heads as they engaged in small talk. Rhett’s eyes scanned across the modest crowd, suddenly catching those of a young blonde female. Her eyes flitted between the two of them for a moment before her face lit up in excitement. Before Rhett could ask Link if that was his not so secret admirer, she was already jogging over. Link stiffened up when the woman neared, his hand racing to grab onto Rhett’s in the most awkward, rushed fashion.

“Charles! You’ve finally decided to be part of the team for once!” the woman quipped, her hand brushing along the collar of Link’s blazer. Rhett quickly concluded this was the girl in question. Link side-stepped closer to Rhett, his hand gripping tighter, his fingers trembling.

“Ha ha, funny. Anyway, Caitlyn,” Link said with the slightest emphasis for Rhett’s sake, “this is my, uh. My husband, Rhett. Rhett, this is my coworker, Caitlyn.”

Caitlyn smirked, her eyes scanning Rhett up and down as if inspecting the quality of a new appliance.

“Well well, he does exist after all. Nice to finally meet you, Rhett. You sure are a lucky man for finding Charles when you did.” Caitlyn said with a wink directly aimed towards Link.

Rhett felt an immediate twinge of offense and possession. He wrapped his arm around Link’s waist, pulling him into his side a little harder than he initially intended.

“Sure am.” Rhett beamed, aiming for a polite smile but achieving more of a shit-eating grin.

“You know, Charles just would not shut up about you! Once he finally opened up, it was like the floodgates burst open. You should see his face when he talks about you, oh I’ve never seen someone so smitten--”

“Rhett, honey, we should introduce you to everyone else before they run off!” Link loudly interrupted, his feet scuffing the floor as he leaned his weight into Rhett, shuffling them off and away from Caitlyn’s rambling as fast as he could. Rhett looked down at Caitlyn’s surprised face as he was pushed away, his proud grin still plastered on his face. Rhett chuckled, drinking in Link’s flustered face as he leaned into him, prompting him to keep walking.

“You talk about me a lot, huh?” Rhett said down towards Link with an air of arrogance, earning him a slap to his upper arm.

“Don’t drown in your ego.”

“Oh, come on Linkster. I’m just giving you a hard time.”

“I did it for the act, Rhett. Talkin’ about you just… It came easier to me. It was easier to pretend I was in love with you and not some imaginary person because, I mean...” Link said, his voice dropping low. Rhett could almost make out a hint of pain in his tone. Rhett planted his feet and stopped them in place, turning to face Link.

“Is it, though?” Rhett asked, craning his neck down to catch Link’s eyes with his own. Link blinked back in confusion, his face flushing pink with the close proximity.

“Is it really all just an act?” Rhett clarified, his voice soft, a reassuring smile peeking out from under his beard. Link’s eyes flicked between Rhett’s, a deluge of emotions present in one single, long gaze. Link shut his eyes tight and dove into Rhett’s chest, wrapping his arms tightly around his chest, burying his face tight into Rhett’s shirt.

Rhett smiled sweetly as he held Link close. His feelings for Link were always there, but never dwelled upon for long. But now, they were finally justified. It was a quick, unextraordinary spark from a life-long fuse, a simple and calm justification of his feelings after years of tamping them below the surface. He loved Link. He’d always loved Link, but he was never sure if the feelings were completely mutual and never worked up the courage to test the theory in fear of damaging what they already had. Sure, they’d shared a bed before. There were many nights they’d share a blanket during a movie, pressed closer together than what would normally be considered “platonic male friend” friendly. They’ve undressed in the same room, bared their deepest emotions with each other, have held gazes longer than socially appropriate. But Rhett never had an official verification.

Until today. Rhett felt sure of it. It was all too personalized to be an act on Link’s part. Link could have easily come up with a completely different human and have him play the part. Instead, he spoke of Rhett utterly as he was, and he did it truthfully and with passion. This moment of justification may not have been filled with a dramatic swelling of violins and a choir of angels as he’d imagined something like this may have been, but it made Rhett no less ecstatic.

After a long minute Link slowly released his tight grip, his eyes slowly trailing up to Rhett’s, shinier than before with the slightest pool of tears gathered on his lower lid. His smile was modest, but he was still absolutely beaming as he looked up to Rhett. His expression was radiating love and hope and relief and bliss. All the same feelings Rhett was experiencing. He hoped it showed through just as much in his smile. Rhett gave Link a final squeeze before taking hold of his hand, leading them back into the throng, both with a pep in their step that wasn’t there before.

They nearly made it to the wet bar when a small group of colleagues called Link over, unsurprisingly inquiring about Rhett. Rhett stood tall next to Link, a hand held tight to his narrow waist after shaking hands with the group. He nodded and added a few words here and there, confirming Link’s generated backstory for the both of them. They stood closer now, unafraid of crossing any imaginary boundaries now that the dam had broke loose. Rhett was truly enjoying himself at this point. Most of the credit as owed to the way Link unabashedly gushed about how wonderful their relationship was to save face, the stories coming easier now as if they had actually happened and weren’t just daydreams. Rhett’s mind floated off to the possibilities of making these charades into actual memories as Link continued to chat with his coworkers.

It wasn’t long before Rhett’s attention was quickly pulled back to reality when he felt a hand clap him on his shoulder, excited shouts of “Go! Go!” and excited faces beaming at him from Link’s colleagues. Rhett’s eyes settled down onto Link’s coy expression as he raised his eyebrows in question. Link nodded his head towards the dancefloor.

“It’s a slow song, for a couple’s dance.” Link answered shyly, his smile growing wider.

Rhett’s expression softened as he took Link’s hand, giving a nod to the group as they walked off towards the middle of the venue. A small handful of couples were already swaying together to the sweet tune as they stepped onto the smooth wooden floor. 

Rhett turned towards Link, first placing his hands on his shoulders, then slowly pulling him in, his arms draping over Link’s back. Link wrapped his hands around Rhett’s waist, his body flush with Rhett’s. They gazed at each other, lost in the endorphin rush that never left from the moment they silently admitted their feelings, wide smiles unable to be dulled if they tried.

“Husbands, huh?” Rhett joked softly, his head cocking to the side as he smiled sweetly down at Link. “I think this is a new record for fastest relationship.”

Link giggled softly, pressing his forehead to Rhett’s chest for a moment, inhaling his scent.

“We were basically an old married couple anyway,” Link quipped, looking back up at Rhett. “But really Rhett. I mean, I’m not saying we have to, especially if you don’t want to or change your mind down the line. I mean I don’t even fully know what’s happening right now, like what we are or what we’re going to be from here on but, gosh. I don’t know. I think we need to earn that title, you know? Work up to it? Is that okay? Did I just ruin the moment?”

Link was stopped in his tracks when he felt a hand cup his cheek and soft lips pressed to his own. He instantly melted into the kiss, his hold on Rhett tightening as he closed his eyes, sinking into the wonderful, new feeling. He blinked back to reality as Rhett pulled away, pure love pouring out of his expression.

“You’re not getting rid of me if you try, Link. I’ve been yours since the day I met you, and I’ll wait as long as you need. A slip of paper and a piece of metal won’t change nothin’ about how I feel about you.”