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Objectively, Chris shouldn’t be surprised to wake up in Trevor’s bed. It’s where he’d fallen asleep, after all, and he’d certainly not moved during the night – Trevor’s embrace had been far too comfortable. Still, blinking his eyes open and seeing the sleeping face of his stage manager was a shock.
He’d never expected to sleep with Trevor the same way one never expected to get drenched, despite the gray clouds roiling on the horizon. It had probably been inevitable, all things considered. Chris was still somewhat amazed that a man like Trevor would be interested in him, but he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. He was willing to do a good deal of other things with it, though.
Chris pressed his knuckles against his eyes, trying to jolt his sleep-addled brain into gear. He’d slept with Trevor. That, alone, was excellent. The difficulty lay in trying to manage that with just how entwined their lives were. The first question, of course, was what were they? The second question was what were they going to tell the drama society?
After all the time Chris had spent futilely trying to smother his infatuation for Trevor, he certainly didn’t want to go back to their old dynamic now that he knew how he tasted, what he felt like. On the other hand, he’d pushed enough feelings down that if the stage manager disagreed, he was ready to comply. Repression was his middle name.
No matter what they became, however, if one of the CDS members sniffed out the shift in their relationship, there would be no end to it. Of course, Trevor had briefly gone out with Max after the frankly obscene kiss in Haversham, but they’d not spent the past decade building a friendship precariously balanced on animosity. It would be the hottest gossip in the society – and potentially in all of Cornley, given how actors liked to blab – if they were found out.
What Chris needed was an itemised list of pros and cons. And a coffee. And to get to the theatre as quickly as possible so he didn’t have to worry about running into any CDS members before he was ready. The fact that Chris was an actor had absolutely no bearing on how good he was at duping the people close to him, and they'd instantly know he was hiding something. He needed a moment to collect himself and plan on the safety of his office before he'd be able to face any of the cast.
Then Trevor stirred beside him and pried his eyes open, face scrunching in displeasure, and Chris’ rabbitting heart stilled. Trevor looked over at him and blinked languidly, one eye slightly out of sync with the other, before smiling warmly. And just like that, none of it really mattered, because Trevor was staring at him like they were the only two people in the world, and he found himself grinning back.
“What time is it?” Trevor asked, shifting so he was propped up on one elbow.
Chris reached blindly for his watch, which he’d placed on the upturned waste paper bin which served as a bedside table, and said, “Six thirty.”
“Six thirty?” Trevor repeated, falling back onto the mattress. “Piss off. I’m not getting up that early.” He then rolled over, pulled all the blankets off Chris, and curled in on himself with an indignant huff. It was reassuring that despite the new ground, Trevor hadn’t changed.
Chris had his routines, though, so he got up and padded to the kitchen to make a coffee before he fully let his nerves get the best of him.
As he moved around Trevor’s kitchen like it was his own, he wondered if anyone would even notice if they came in at the same time, Chris in yesterday’s clothes. It wouldn't be the first time he'd spent the night in Trevor’s flat, and no one had really commented on it before. Then again, he had and Trevor had never slept together before. Chris had no way of being sure there wasn't a sign that would give him away to the drama society.
“How kind of you,” Trevor said, suddenly appearing at Chris’ side and snatching the cup of coffee out of his hands.
“I thought you were sleeping in,” Chris commented. Trevor was leaning against him, his warmth seeping into Chris’ bones. They'd touched before, of course, but never with such ease. Trevor pressed against him as if it was as natural as breathing.
“I could hear the cogs in your brain turning from the other room,” he replied, handing the coffee back after he'd drunk most of it. How considerate. “What's on your mind?”
“The drama society.” Damn it, that’s not very romantic.
“What about it?”
“I don't want them to know about…” Chris paused, scrambling for a word that wouldn't make him want to walk into the sea. “Last night.”
“Oh, fuck no!” Trevor said. “Can you imagine? We'd have to fake our deaths.”
“I'm glad we're on the same page.” Chris looked at him, hair still messy from bed and so completely relaxed, and wondered if he was allowed to kiss him. This was something he really needed to sort out as soon as possible because, frankly, Trevor was an excellent kisser and he wouldn't mind spending the rest of his non-work hours doing nothing else.
“So we just… don't tell them, then,” Trevor said, stepping away to lean against the countertop. Chris immediately missed the contact. “And come up with some kind of plan for next time.” Beat. “Not that there has to be a next time, I’m just saying.”
“No I’d… I'd like that. A next time, that is. And then potentially more after that. Would be nice.” Excellently put, Chris, you sound like a maniac. But Trevor just smiled, uninhibited and beautiful, and nodded.
“I'd like that too.”
What are we? What is this? Chris wanted to ask, but the words got stuck in his throat. It felt too big to acknowledge now, so soon after waking up. He was happy to just have the knowledge they could do it again.
“Right, we just need to make sure they don't find out we fucked,” Trevor said easily, starting the water for his own cup of coffee – which was just greedy of him, given that he'd had most of Chris’. “How hard can that possibly be?”
“Someone got lucky last night,” Annie said, cornering Trevor backstage.
“I don't know what you're talking about,” he replied, trying to get past her. Despite being smaller than him, she'd positioned herself so as to block any hope of escape from this conversation.
“Don't play that, I know you too well,” she said. “Anyways, I’m happy for you! I thought you were still too hung up on Chris to get out there.”
She clapped him on the back, which was hopefully a convincing enough reason for him to start coughing and spluttering. When he’d finally recovered, Trevor croaked out, “Thanks, Anne,” before yet again attempting to flee. She didn’t let him.
“So, who was it?”
“Someone you don’t know,” Trevor said convincingly. At least, he thought it was.
“Right, sure.”
“Is there anything else you wanted?”
Annie cleared the space, shoving her hands deep into her pockets. “I just came to talk to my friend, is that not allowed?” Trevor narrowed his eyes at her. “But now that you mention it, I was just curious… Are you sure you’re over Chris?”
“What, why? I mean, of course.”
Trevor started ripping into the roll of gaffer tape in his hands, trying to look casual. He fully agreed with Chris that the drama society shouldn’t find out they’d had sex. Both because they were sure to freak out about it, and because Trevor would absolutely never survive the teasing he’d get from Annie. She’d been the one to convince him to join the society back in polytechnic and the one to sit him down and tell him very seriously that he had a crush on Chris and should do something about it before everyone else noticed it. That had been years ago. At least no one else had noticed.
“Just because he’s wearing the same rumpled clothes as yesterday and I have never seen his hair that much of a mess. I swear, like, three strands are displaced!”
“He could’ve spent the night at the theatre,” Trevor said, hopefully not defensively.
“But you’d know if he did,” Annie replied. “So, did he?”
“Ah, no, I saw him leave…” He was fairly certain Chris had intended to work well into the night and had instead invited him back to his flat to watch a movie and have dinner – which they’d done countless times before. They’d had a few drinks, gotten settled on Trevor’s sofa, and the next thing he knew they were kissing. So yes, he certainly saw Chris leave the theatre.
“Well it’s good you’ve moved on, then, because it seems Chris may also have had an exciting night.”
“In, uh… In what sense?”
Annie straightened her posture and cleared her throat before saying, in a terrible impression of Chris’ voice, “I suspect, my dear Trevor, that there was coitus involved.”
Feeling slightly delirious, Trevor burst out laughing. He’d felt mad since last night, and had been holding himself together with spike tape and a prayer, but Annie had always been able to break him. Really, Trevor had been having an insane couple of hours; what was a very typical movie night with Chris unexpectedly turned to kissing, then fucking, which they hadn’t really discussed at all, and now he had to act perfectly normal in front of all his friends.
“Care to comment on that?” Annie asked, somehow maintaining composure.
“I don’t know what you want me to say!” Trevor replied, attempting to pull himself. He ran a hand down his face, taking a deep breath. “I really don’t care what Chris was up to last night, Annie, and I have work to do. So do you, for that matter!”
She stared at him for a moment, before nodding and walking off without a word. God, Trevor was going to lose his mind.
He turned his attention to the roll of tape in his hand, trying to remember what the fuck he was even supposed to do with it, but his mind was all over the place. Which he thought was fair, actually, because the guy he’d been desperately into for years had come onto him the night before, and he wasn’t quite sure what to do about it! The only person he’d want to tell was Annie, and he most certainly didn’t want her finding out until he himself was more sure what was going on. Chris had said he’d want to do it again, which was excellent, and were it any other guy who’d been a good shag it would have been enough. Unfortunately, it was Chris Bean, which meant there were so many complications.
Physically shaking himself, Trevor centred his thoughts on work; he could think about Chris later. For now, he still needed to work out what he’d been about to do before Annie distracted him. Oh, right—
“Hey, Trevor?” Shit. He turned around to face Sandra. “Chris needs you in the costume room for something.”
“What? Why?” But the actress was already gone. Fine. Trevor set the tape down, giving up on that project for the moment, and headed off to the costume room. It was essentially just a room with a few racks of costumes, and innumerable piles of other costumes on the floor. In one corner was a sewing machine that spent most of its time broken. It was a shit room that Trevor spent the least amount of time possible in, and Trevor had no clue what Chris was doing in there.
Trevor opened the door to the room, startled to see the piles had somehow grown since the last time he’d been. Standing in one of the few patches of uncovered floor was Chris, looking distracted.
“What is it?” Trevor asked, letting the door shut behind him. “I have a job to do, you know.”
“Pardon?” Chris said.
“You asked me to come here, mate.”
“No I didn’t… Annie told me you wanted to see me here?”
“Fuck’s sake.” Trevor turned around to test the handle, fully ready for it to be locked. It was. He sighed and sat down carelessly on a pile that appeared to be from the Nativity.
“Sorry, what’s happening?”
“Annie’s trapped us in here.”
“Right. Why?”
“She seems to have worked out we both got laid last night, and expects me to… I dunno. Confess my undying love for you or something.”
“I’m not sure I follow.”
Trevor buried his face in his hands. This was potentially the worst day of his life. “Annie, in all wisdom, has either worked out we shagged, or thinks I’m going to get jealous about the fact that you did it with someone else.”
“Why would you be jealous?”
For a man so intelligent, he could sometimes be impossibly thick. “Because I’ve been into you forever, mate. And have, on occasion, complained to her about your other partners. Don’t look at me like that— I’m not proud of it.”
Trevor didn’t look up as Chris struggled through the mess on the floor to sit beside him. They sat in silence for a moment, surrounded by old costumes that gave the room an unearthly look.
“I asked if Annie would get you to join CPDS,” Chris eventually said, posture perfect and words stilted. “Because I’d seen you in a few of my classes and wanted to talk to you. And then you and Max dated after Haversham and… Well, you’re not the only one who’s been jealous, is what I’m saying.”
“All those complaints about ‘unprofessionalism’,” Trevor said, finally raising his head. “Those were because you were jealous?” Chris nodded, a little ashamed. “You’re such a twat, mate!”
“Right.”
“And yet I tolerate you.”
“Only tolerate?”
“Maybe a little bit more.”
Chris was smiling now, having relaxed slightly. Trevor bumped their shoulders together gently, and he felt like he could breathe again. The day had been insane – from waking up and seeing Chris lying beside him to getting locked in a room with him by an overzealous maniac – but just casually being in Chris’ space, it was enough to ease some of his madness.
“What, uh…” Chris started nervously. “What are we?”
That was a question Trevor had been trying very hard to ignore. If he never put a name to whatever had changed between him and Chris, he didn’t have to think about it too much, right? It’s not like he could screw up being ‘something nebulous’.
“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “What do you want to be?”
Chris looked at him like a deer in headlights before mumbling out some near-incomprehensible sentence that boiled down to “Whatever you want.” Which was unhelpful.
Trevor took a deep breath, shifting so he was looking at Chris head on. “I wouldn’t mind going on a date with you. And we can work it out from there, yeah?”
“That sounds lovely.”
“You can come over to my place? I’ll make dinner.”
“We’ve already done that,” Chris said with a sly smile.
“I certainly hope it wasn’t so boring you wouldn’t do it again.”
“Far from it!”
“Anything else you wouldn’t mind doing again?” Trevor leaned in a little, keeping his eyes locked on Chris’. He was blushing, which was an excellent look on him.
“I can think of a few,” he replied. “Though, uh, I think, since we’ve not—”
Trevor cut him off with a kiss, which sent an addicting rush of power coursing through him. Very few people could reliably shut Chris up. It helped that he was a stellar kisser, too. He broke off the kiss after a few moments, hands having moved to Chris’ hips, but didn’t feel the need to back away. It was marvellous, to be allowed up in the director’s space like this, when he was usually so standoffish.
“How about we get dinner somewhere?” Chris offered. “There are a few good restaurants in Cornley.”
“Sounds great,” Trevor said. “For tonight, though, I’ve got some leftover Chinese food that I won’t finish all by myself.”
“My, Mr. Watson, if I didn’t know better I’d think you had ulterior motives for inviting me over.” Laughing, Trevor used his hold on Chris’ hips to push him over.
“Shut up. Are you coming over or not?”
“It’s a date.”
“I guess it is,” Trevor leaned over Chris, still sprawled out on the costumes, and planted a quick kiss on his lips. It was astounding that kissing him was something he could just do, like that. It was a power he was certainly going to be abusing. “Now, I have some wires to tape, and I’m sure your actors need direction.”
He helped Chris up with a smile before reaching up to fix his hair. Annie was right, it was messier than usual. Trevor couldn’t help but find it unfairly attractive. He then took a step that put what he’d deem to be a solid ‘no homo’ amount of space between them and knocked on the door loudly. After a few moments, a passing Max opened it, and the pair split off to do their respective jobs. There was certainly no lingering look exchanged between them.
“Chris and Trev are dating,” Annie announced somberly to the gathered drama society members.
“How do you know?” Vanessa asked.
“Sandra and I locked them in a room together.”
“The classic,” Jonathan said.
“They’re definitely together, which is why I’ve called this meeting,” she continued. “We cannot let either of those idiots fuck this up for themselves. How long have we all watched them pine after each other? Too long!”
“Wait, why are we supporting their relationship?” Robert asked petulantly. He did everything petulantly, though. “It’s a disgrace! Chris shouldn’t be allowed to have favourites, he’ll get all the good roles!”
“Trevor doesn’t act,” Max pointed out. “He hates it.”
“And Chris has always had favourites,” Annie said. “The whole structure of the society is based on his favourites!”
“Exactly! So they can’t date!” Robert said.
“That doesn’t seem fair,” Max said. “Love is love!”
“Either way,” Sandra said, stepping in. “They are dating. And we’ve got to make sure they continue to do so, because a break-up would be cataclysmic for us all. We all remember the Nativity?”
“Wait, they’re dating?” Vanessa said. “I thought they were only…” She then made an awkward and crude gesture with her hands, which caused an uproar of disgusted exclamations in the room.
“I don’t want to hear about Chris Bean’s sex life!” Robert exclaimed.
“None of us do,” Sandra placated. “Which is why we’re not talking about it!”
“Vanessa brought it up!”
“I didn’t know it was off limits!” she argued.
“Obviously it is!”
“Wait,” Dennis interrupted, and the room fell silent. “Who’s sleeping with Chris?”
“Trevor!”