Work Text:
Two Unsuspecting Hearts
Moose Mason was, Kevin was thrilled to learn, an exceptionally good kisser.
He was okay at… other things. Learning fast, and enthusiastic - and enthusiastic about learning with Kevin, which was amazing.
The guy was so hot.
If he hadn’t propositioned Kevin, he would never have thought he was in his league, even aside from thinking he was straight. Then when their first night of passion was cut short by the cold water of Jason Blossom’s corpse, he’d thought that would be that.
He’d never been happier to be proved wrong.
~*~
It didn’t last, of course.
Moose wasn’t ready to come out, and Kevin wasn’t willing to deal with being Just Friends publicly if they were more than that privately.
It sucked, but life went on.
Stay Here Instead
Kevin took a deep breath and knocked on the door. To Moose’s hospital room. Because he’d been shot.
“Kevin!” Midge opened the door. She looked exhausted. He looked past her to where Moose lay. Probably rude, but, he thought understandable given the circumstances. “He’s been asleep for a while.”
Kevin nodded, and tore his eyes away from his unconscious not-really-ex to his current partner. “Are you holding up okay?”
“Yeah, great.” She gave a breathy laugh. “He protected me, you know. I didn’t even see the gun. We’re so lucky you were there, otherwise…”
Kevin didn’t like to think about what might have happened if he hadn’t been there. Would he be at Moose’s funeral right now, sharing awkward condolences with his family and forever pretending they never-
“You should get some rest.” He said, cutting off his own train of thought.
Midge looked at Moose in the bed, then back to Kevin. “Will you stay with him? I don’t want him to wake up alone.”
“Of course.”
“Thank you so much.”
He tamped down the jealous twinge he felt as Midge bent down and kissed Moose’s cheek, and put a smile on his face as she said goodbye and thanked him again.
He sat down, taking off his jacket and hanging it off the back of the chair.
“So, you come here often?” Silence. “Yeah, not my best line.”
He sat quietly for a while, watching the gentle rise and fall of Moose’s chest.
“Do you remember the first time we- I mean of course you do, it’s the night we found Jason.” He cleared his throat. “I guess at least it wasn’t one of us got shot that time, right? Not that Jason dying was good, just…” I don’t like seeing you like this.
He should just leave.
Yeah, he wasn’t just going to sit around waiting for Moose.
…not like that, either.
“Kevin…?”
Ah.
“Moose. Hey.”
“Kevin!” Moose’s face broke into his big stupid grin, and Kevin found himself smiling back despite himself. “You came to see me.”
“You’ve had plenty of visitors, you’re hardly an unpopular guy.”
“Yeah, but… you came to see me.”
Moose’s eyes met his, and neither spoke for a moment. Two.
“So, Midge…?”
Moose broke eye contact, moment successfully ruined. You charmer, Keller.
“Yeah… It just kind of happened.” he blushed a little. “She’s great, you’d really like her.”
He’s sure he would. He liked most people! And it’s not as if he had any legitimate right to be jealous.
And yet.
“I’m- I’m glad you’re happy.” Mostly.
“Thanks Kevin.” He smiled, almost sadly. I’m sorry you’re not left mercifully unsaid. Not sure he could stand pity from the guy with bullet wounds.
They sat quietly for a moment.
Moose took his hand.
“I should go.” Kevin said, not pulling away.
“Sure, of course.” Moose pulled his hand away. “I miss you though. We should hang out more, okay?”
Should they? They’d never really been friends before, they’d never really ‘hung out’. Was he happy being friends now? Not that he didn’t enjoy his company, of course, but probably not in an entirely appropriate way.
And then there was Midge.
It’d be too weird, surely.
“Sure Moose, I’d like that.” He said, instead.
Why Not Me?
The former Southside students transferred to Riverdale High. Kevin barely listened as introductions were made, until-
“Fogarty.” The handsome one looked straight at him. “Fangs.” He added with a flash of teeth.
“Kevin.” He answered.
“Keller, right? Joaquin talked about you.” Kevin felt a pang at the mention of his name. Of course, Serpents. He should have seen this coming.
“Bringing up my ex isn’t as charming as you’re maybe hoping.” Like, yes, the guy was hot, but, yikes.
“Right, sorry.” Fangs seemed suitably abashed at least, enough that Kevin felt bad, and threw him a smile, which was swiftly returned.
Okay, that was pretty charming.
“Guess I’ll see you all around.” Kevin addressed the group as he got his things together to head to class.
“Looking forward to it.” Fangs said softly as he passed, making him blush.
~*~
The problem with Moose wanting to hang out with Kevin is he was always busy with Midge. Of course. Kevin was trying not to feel bad about it, but sat across from them both in a booth at Pop’s, well, he didn’t much enjoy feeling like a third wheel.
Midge’s suggestion he ask out Fangs would solve that problem, he supposed. “He’s really hot.” She enthused, and Kevin couldn’t disagree.
“He really is gorgeous-” he tried his best to ignore the frown on Moose’s face, “but… his name is Fangs.”
Midge laughed, Kevin smiled, and Moose relaxed.
“Right? Weirdo.”
Says Moose.
He kept quiet.
“So how did you two become friends anyway?” Midge asked, looking between them both.
“We…” Kevin looked from Midge, innocently stirring the straw in her milkshake, to Moose, looking back wide-eyed.
“- were lab partners.” Moose finished for him.
“Right…” Kevin looked back to Midge. “And, well now here we are.”
Moose relaxed as Midge moved onto other things, then shuffled uncomfortably in his seat as Kevin shot a pointed look at him.
So much for ‘she knows all about us and is cool with it’. Kevin sighed internally. This is exactly why he’d ended their whole… thing. He didn’t like being someone’s dirty little secret. He’d thought maybe now he’d started to open up.
Oh well, shake it off, Keller. Forget about him.
~*~
Deep breath, Kevin.
“Fangs, wait up!”
He was with a whole group of other Serpents, and Kevin made a mental note to be extra nice to Toni as she led the others away.
“Hey Kevin, what’s up?” He exuded an easy confidence, but his fingers worried the zipper of his jacket, which calmed Kevin a little.
“If you’re not busy tonight, do you want to hang out?”
Fangs’ face broke into its handsome grin. “I’d love to.”
~*~
Kevin was collecting his things from his locker and the end of the day, looking forward to his plans that evening, when-
“I hear you’re going out with Fangs after all.”
Moose’s large frame leaned suddenly on the locker next to his.
Kevin huffed, annoyed, and didn’t turn. “Word travels fast.”
Toni must have told Midge. Extra niceness mentally rescinded.
“Really? Fangs?” He was incredulous.
“What, Moose? You don’t approve?”
“Well, not really, another Serpent?” He nearly spat. “It’s not even about that-”
“Then what is it about?” Kevin rounded on him, shutting his locker slightly harder than he intended.
Moose shrank slightly in front of Kevin’s combination crossed-arms and glare. He opened his mouth to answer, but seemingly chickened out, and closed it again, remaining silent.
“That’s what I thought. You want to be friends, you can’t do,” Kevin paused, gesturing vaguely between them, “this.”
He watched Moose’s face for a moment. Couldn’t decide if he looked sad or if Kevin just wanted him to look sad.
He walked away, and pushed all thoughts of Moose to the back of his mind.
~*~
They’d been to a movie, then to Pop’s, and now they were behind Pop’s, and Kevin was pressed against the wall, and Fangs’ hands were on his hips.
“Do you… wanna come back to my place?” Fangs’ breath was hot against his ear.
He pulled back enough so Kevin could look in his eyes. Part of Kevin really wanted to kiss that charming smile off his handsome face.
“I should get home…” he said instead. “Sorry.”
“It’s cool.” Fangs stepped away, hands lingering on Kevin’s waist for just a moment. “Next time maybe.”
“Yeah.” Kevin smiled, and kissed him goodnight.
~*~
But as Kevin showered later that night, it was Moose’s name on his lips.
Carrie
The musical was supposed to be a respite from boys and drama. Kevin had failed to anticipate the aforementioned boys and drama following him. So, he had to run the musical, placate Cheryl’s ego, handle Betty and Veronica’s latest falling out, and balance having Fangs and Moose and Midge around the entire time.
At least, Fangs was supposed to be around the entire time, having volunteered as his assistant, but he was, yet again, nowhere to be seen.
He showed up eventually, with a smile and a wink and a hot cup of tea, as usual, and Kevin fought the internal battle of being annoyed and being charmed, and of trying to figure out which he actually wanted to win.
~*~
Kevin looked up from script annotating as Fangs and Midge approached his table, laughing at a joke he hadn’t heard.
“Here’s Midge.” Fangs announced.
“Thank you, Fangs.” Kevin smiled. “Can you take this to Betty?” he held up the amended script.
“No problem, boss.” Fangs winked.
Kevin didn’t miss Midge’s eyes following Fangs as he walked away. “Found yourself a hot assistant, didn’t you?”
“He certainly is that.” He agreed, allowing himself a moment to enjoy the view as well.
“Told you.” Midge teased. “You guys are cute together. How’s it going?”
“Yeah, good. He’s charming, and, um-” Would be great but I’m still kind of hung up on your boyfriend. “…he’s really funny.”
“He is that.” Midge laughed. “We’ve been talking backstage a bit.” She explained to Kevin’s raised eyebrow, defensive. “Um, I’d appreciate if you didn’t mention that to Moose though. He doesn’t really like Fangs. Bulldog-Serpent nonsense, you know.”
Kevin shuffled papers on his desk. Right, Fangs is a Serpent, that’s all. “Sure.” He swallowed. He couldn’t not ask. “How are things with Moose?”
“They’re great! He’s so sweet, and,” she leaned in, lowering her voice conspiratorially, “he’s a fantastic kisser.”
Kevin nearly choked on his tea. “Is that- is he really?” Whatever answer he’d wanted, that wasn’t it. Time to change the subject. “Anyway, I didn’t have Fangs fetch you just so we could gossip about boys - how do you feel about understudying Carrie?”
~*~
Kevin was talking to Veronica about some possible changes to choreography when Moose came over. Kevin glanced over, but he seemed happy to wait patiently, so he turned his attention back to dance moves.
When the conversation was over and they were alone, Kevin turned to him. “What’s up, Moose?”
“I just wanted to say thanks, for asking Midge to play Carrie.”
“To understudy, Moose. Cheryl is still playing Carrie, and Midge is a…” Kevin searched for the right term, “Like an alternate.”
“Right, I know. Still, it means a lot to her.” He looked Kevin in the eye. “It means a lot to me.”
Kevin blushed. God, he was pathetic. “While I’m glad you appreciate me being nice to your girlfriend,” he emphasised, “I didn’t do it for you or for her, I did it for Carrie.”
Moose thumbed through a script on Kevin’s desk. “You’re really passionate about this, huh?” He smiled. “It’s really-”
What it really was Kevin wouldn’t find out, as Fangs chose that moment to arrive with his tea, and Moose fell silent.
“Mm.” Kevin took the tea, drinking gratefully. “I needed this, thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Fangs placed his arm round Kevin. “’Sup Mason.”
“Fogarty.”
Moose’s eyes narrowed as he took in Fangs’ hand on Kevin’s waist, all trace of his previous warm smile gone.
Kevin knew he shouldn’t feel good about the cold look now on his face. It was unprofessional, and petty, and not fair to Fangs, but in this moment, he didn’t care.
Moose stalked away without another word.
“Eesh, something I said?”
Kevin watched Moose leave, and shrugged Fangs’ arm away.
~*~
Then opening night finally arrived, and the curtain rose to reveal Midge’s crucified body, and everything went to hell.
A Night We’ll Never Forget
He knew should be staying home, but waiting for people, waiting for Fangs, waiting for Moose, to answer their phones, or text him back, was driving him crazy with worry.
So instead of safe at home, he was out on the street, heading towards the sounds of destruction.
He finally found a group of Bulldogs, and felt relief wash over him when he spotted Moose among them.
“Moose!” he yelled, making him spin to look at him.
“Kevin?” he was surprised.
“I’ve been calling you! I’ve been worried.”
Moose’s face closed off. “I can’t do… this with you right now.” He said quietly, turning to follow his teammates.
“Hey!” Kevin grabbed his arm and stopped him, pulling him back to face him. He hesitated. Now he was here, he wasn’t sure what to say. “What the hell are you doing?”
“Going to find the scumbag who killed my girlfriend.” He hissed. “You know, your boyfriend.”
“He’s not-” Not important right now. “He’s innocent, Moose. Please don’t do this.”
“He has to pay!” Moose shouted. “He took Midge from me. He took-” Moose paused, looked at Kevin, and swallowed. “He has to pay.”
“What he did was wrong, okay, yes, but he’s not a murderer, he doesn’t deserve this.” Kevin placed his hands on Moose’s shoulders and squeezed firmly, as if he could root him in place. I’m right here, he hasn’t taken me from you.
A moment passed between them. Kevin couldn’t tell what was going through Moose’s head. His eyes alternated between staring straight into Kevin’s, and darting around looking anywhere but. Please, he silently urged, please stay with me.
Then a loud crash from a street over broke the moment.
“I have to go, Kevin.” He said, rueful, and pulled himself free from Kevin’s grip, and walked away, leaving Kevin shouting at his retreating back.
~*~
Kevin leaned forward on his knees, sitting across from yet another hospital bed.
“You know I-” Moose and I- …Not the time. “I found Jason Blossom’s body last year. So, as gunshots go, I’ve seen worse.”
Too many, that’s for sure.
“Well, I’m glad to know I’m better looking than a corpse.” Fangs said with a wry smile.
“Hey, Jason Blossom was hot, you know.”
“As a corpse!” Fangs burst into laughter, then hissed in pain, clutching his stomach.
Kevin stood up immediately, one hand pressing down on Fangs’ chest, the other grabbing his hand. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah just… got shot, you know.” He laughed, softer this time.
Kevin sat back down, pulling his hand from Fangs’. He sat quietly for a moment, eyes settling on Fangs’ hands, wringing together.
“I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Yeah, me too!”
Kevin watched Fangs as he grinned at himself. He was charming, in the end, but he wasn’t what Kevin wanted. He wasn’t Moose.
He swallowed guiltily, feeling bad for thinking that now, and here, of all moments.
It couldn’t be helped. He guessed he’d always known, really.
“I should get going.” He stood up, ready to leave, still wearing his jacket. “I’ll hopefully see you at school soon, okay?”
Fangs’ smile faded just a touch. “Oh, sure. Yeah, I’ll see you around.”
Kevin paused at the door. He should say something, explain how he feels.
It’s not the time.
“I’m sorry.”
He left.
Epilogue
So Moose had kissed him in the restroom, but they hadn’t actually talked about it.
Kevin was trying not to fixate on it, but had so far been mostly unsuccessful.
He sighed as he closed his locker, and turned to find himself face to face with a familiar charming smile.
“Hey Kevin.” Fangs beamed at him.
“Fangs! Hey. Good to see you back.”
“Good to be back.” He grinned. “Mostly.” He added as some Bulldogs passed, glaring at him.
“Ignore them, there’ll soon be some new drama, and they’ll forget all about you.”
“I’m that easy to forget, huh?” Colour tinged Fangs’ cheeks.
“That’s not what I-”
“Back off, Fogarty.”
Moose was striding towards them. He clapped an arm round Kevin’s shoulder. A safe, casual, platonic arm.
Fangs at least had the good sense to quail under Moose’s glare, but remained somewhat defiant. “What’s it to you?”
Moose pulled his arm away, and Kevin was sure he was about to punch Fangs. He saw it happening in his mind. Kevin pulling him back, Fangs’ nose broken, blood, yelling.
None of that happened. Instead, Moose slipped his hand into Kevin’s, and their fingers interlocked. He was stunned. Moose’s strong, slightly sweaty, hand squeezing his.
“Gonna screw my boyfriend, too?” Moose barked.
Kevin’s heart leapt. People were looking.
Fangs looked down at their hands, up to Kevin’s face. Kevin had no idea what his face was doing. I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt you.
Fangs left.
Moose’s hand didn’t relax its grip, and the pair started walking down the hall together.
Kevin was the first to speak. “So, I guess you’re officially out now.”
“I guess so.” Moose’s voice was tight.
“Probably should have asked before announcing me as your boyfriend though…”
Moose stopped walking, and his hand broke away. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think, I just saw him there flirting with you and I just felt so jealous and-” he took a deep, steadying breath. His face was bright red. “Do you… want to?”
Kevin’s heart raced as he looked Moose in the eye, taking his hand back in his.
“Definitely.”
He was still a phenomenal kisser.