#thekentnet

The Aces all knew that their captain was moody and almost unbearable around after difficult losses, especially during away games. No one wanted to sit with him on the bus or the plane, but they all felt like they were obligated to at least try (but also because they cared too). So, they had been on a rotation schedule to make sure that their captain never had to sit alone.

At first, when Swoops joined the team, it had been “make the rookie do it because he didn’t know better”. The guys on the team figured they would get a month’s reprieve before Swoops would bitch, and they would be back to taking turns again. They were all surprised, however, when Swoops never said a word about Kent’s unpredictable moods. In fact, he almost seemed happy to sit with their captain, even when Kent was snarling and wanted to bite everyone’s heads off.

So, it became a thing that everyone accepted but never really acknowledged: Parse and Swoops sat together.

And if the rest of the guys noticed that Kent’s shoulders were looser and his fists weren’t clenched so tight when he was with Swoops, they kept it to themselves. Just like they pretended they missed the saccharine glances that Swoops gave their captain when he thought Kent wasn’t looking.

(It wasn’t matchmaking, they told themselves. It was a mission.)

It started with a few inconvenient, but wholly unoriginal pranks.

“Ha-ha, guys. Very funny. You hid all my clothes while I was in the shower. Now, give them back.”

“I think they’ve actually all left.”

“Swoops, you’re the only one here?”

“Yeah, I got held up. Hey, wanna borrow my clothes? I have extra.”

Then, they graduated onto more sophisticated plans (complete with secret diagrams drawn out on whiteboards).

“Hey, where are the rest of them?”

“Vinny said his baby got sick, Marsh and Dougie got last minute Cirque du Soleil tickets, and I actually really don’t know what happened to the rest of the guys.”

“So, it’s just you and me then?”

“I guess so.”

“Well, since we’re already here, we might as well eat.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever. Wait, I thought the reservation was for eight. Why are they taking us at a small table, and oh—it’s got candles on it too?”

It was for the good of the team, the guys told themselves, and it was good for the team.

Kent’s smiles grew soft, and he laughed more now (and it wasn’t the hollow, self-deprecating laugh from before either). Some days, he showed up at practice with an expression that could be described by Smithy as “head over dick in love” and an infectious energy that brought them all closer.

Life was pretty good.

Kent still took some losses hard on the road, but by the time he settled into his seat with Swoops beside him, it always turned into a tired contentedness.

And if any of the guys on the team caught their captain asleep and smiling with his head nestled on Swoops’ shoulder, none of them said anything.

“Bits.”

Bitty hums a little without taking his eyes off his phone. Kent shifts to rest his chin on Bitty’s collarbone and looks up at his face.  

“Bitty.”

He finally sets his phone aside, pressing his chin down to look Kent in the eyes.

“What’s up, babydoll?” Bitty says, leaning up and pushing his fingers into Kent’s hair. Kent doesn’t say anything yet. Bitty’s eyes are so brown they’re nearly black, and they look at him expectantly for what feels like a very long time before he can answer.

“I don’t know,” Kent turns his head and presses his cheek back where is was before on Bitty’s chest. “I don’t know how to say what I’m thinking.”

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” He closes his eyes and sucks in a deep breath, trying to focus on the places where his body presses into Bitty’s before letting it out. “Just overthinking, probably.”

“You know I’m listening if you figure out what you want to say, right?”

“I know.”

They go back to being quiet. Bitty doesn’t pick his phone up again, continuing to work his fingers through Kent’s hair instead. Kent focusses on the repetitive motion and purposefully doesn’t think about anything at all. They sit like that for a while, with Kent laying halfway on top of Bitty with his hands shoved under his shoulderblades. He’s nearly asleep when Bitty speaks up again.

“Why don’t you ever let your hair grow out?” he asks, having stopped the movement of his hands. They still rest against Kent’s scalp.

“Oh,” Kent moves to look up at him again. “It gets curly when it’s longer.”

“You should let it grow out sometime. I bet it’s cute.”

“It’s messy. And harder to take care of.”

“Well, I’ve decided that it’s also cute.” Bitty is smiling down at him, lightly scratching at his scalp, and Kent can’t help but to smile back. He scoots up a little.

“You know what I think is cute?”

“No, no idea.” Bitty says with laughter in his voice. Kent moves up more and presses his forehead to Bitty’s.

“None?” Bitty slides his hands down out of Kent’s hair to hold his face on both sides.

bitty likes to please others by disappearing and helping and being helpful and useful and invisible. he wants to give you what you needed before you even knew you needed it. he wants to figure people out and he wants to make them feel safe and listened to and understood and cared for. he’s supportive in one of the best ways, just doing his best for everyone because he doesn’t want anyone to ever feel alone the ways that he sometimes did growing up. but he also doesn’t want to draw too much attention to it and he gets embarrassed if you give him too much credit for how much he does for others. but he does so much.

kent wants to make himself pleasing. he likes crowds and he likes entertaining people and every second of his life he is trying to make sure everyone around him is having good time and feels cool and fun and funny. kent pays attention to you and remembers your major and gives you his full attention, always, because that makes people happy, and he wants people to be happy because they are around him. he wants you to feel amazing when you spend time with him, because then you will like him and you will like being around him. kent parson is great at parties.

and like. the thing is. people-pleasing is a trait usually adopted by socially anxious people who are really really really worried about being disliked. it’s a defense mechanism. it’s “i am afraid everyone hates me so i am going to do everything i can to be the most Likeable person possible so that maybe marginally fewer people will hate me.” it can be a great, lovely trait, but it’s also one that can be indicative of some deeper self-esteem issues. and bitty and kent absolutely both have those in spades.

which is one reason why i love bittyparse. because bitty and parse’s people-pleasing traits are so different but they actually complement each other so well. these two dudes are legitimately good for each other.

kent's version of people-pleasing makes the other person feel like they are cool and interesting and awesome, which is something bitty absolutely is but doesn’t quite believe he is. but kent parson is great at making people feel like they are great. being around him would make bitty feel sexy and fun and likeable, to the point that bitty would really start to believe it. i think being around kent would inspire bitty to some confidence he doesn’t quite have yet, which he really really deserves and needs. because bitty would try to deflect and say, “aw, thanks, but it’s no big deal,” and kent would stare him down and say, “no, it’s awesome, you’re awesome, i can’t believe how thoughtful you are.” kent parson would not let bitty disappear. he wouldn’t take for granted all that bitty does.

AND THEN KENT. kent needs someone to watch him and care about him and help. quietly. because if someone helps him too loudly kent is just gonna get embarrassed and shut down (at first; he gets better about it over time). but making a scene is not bitty’s style. instead, bitty is just. there. noticing and observing and helping. making kent feel like he is worth the effort and time and care. bitty would make kent feel like there is always someone noticing him and paying attention to him and. just. kent needs that. he needs to know that someone cares about him for him, because part of him is afraid that people only like him because he makes them feel good, that it’s all fake, that if he turns it off for one fucking moment everyone’s going to leave him. but bitty would never make him feel like that. bitty is just. steady. always, always steady.