#(put Colin Wilson in more fics 2k19)

[fanforthefics]

#40, either tyson/gabe or sid/geno would be lovely (all of your fics are so good with big conflict that ends with a happy ending)

exes meeting again after not speaking for years au

“Oh shit,” Tyson says, loudly, grabbing Colin’s arm. “Oh shit oh shit oh shit.” 

Colin looks down at Tyson’s sudden death grip on his forearm. Putting aside the fact that Tysons’ strong enough that it hurts, up until right now he’d thought Tyson was having a good time at this party. He’d been having a good time at the party--he likes house parties, like the easy, casual intimacy. Tyson likes house parties too, but Tyson likes all parties. 

“What’s up?” Colin asks. Tyson does not appear to have spilled his drink or injured himself, which is a minor miracle in itself. But his face is very white, in a way that makes Colin think this might actually be serious, not one of Tyson’s antics. “Are you okay?” 

“No.” Tyson takes a gulp of the brightly colored drink in his glass. “No, I’m--that.” He jerks his head across the room, at where a bunch of people are standing in conversation, including a tall blonde man. “That’s Gabe.” 

“Gabe?” Colin echoes. “Your Gabe?” 

Tyson’s face, always so expressive, twists. “Not my Gabe, but. That Gabe.” 

Colin manages to keep his mouth shut only by great effort of will. He wasn’t here for Gabe, but even though he met Tyson a good six months after Gabe broke up with Tyson and went back to Sweden,  he still feels like he was there for the aftermath. At least Nate said it was the aftermath--Tyson’s reckless rebounding, his throwing himself into relationship after relationship like he was trying to prove something, the way his laugh went too loud and thin. Even now, two years later, there are still times when Tyson gets drunk and starts muttering things about how could he just leave like that, without even thinking about whether their relationship was worth staying for. 

Colin is probably staring. “I thought he was in Sweden?” he asks. 

“So did fucking I,” Tyson spits. He takes another drink. “Fuck, we can--I can’t do this, Willy, why the fuck is he here?” 

“We’ll leave,” Colin decides. If Tyson can’t do this, they’ll go home. 

Except then-- “Tyson!” someone yells, and Tyson looks up to see who it is, and Colin can see Gabe jerk and turn too, and then he sees Gabe’s eyes widen sa he sees Tyson. 

“Who was--” 

“He’s coming over,” Colin warns, cutting Tyson off. Tyson goes even paler. 

“Fuck, he--of course he fucking is. How’s my hair? No, don’t tell me, I don’t want to know. I--” 

“Hi, Tyson.” Gabe’s voice is softer than Colin had expected, somehow. But he is just as handsome as Tyson said. Colin had always assumed Tyson was just exaggerating, as he tended to, when he waxed drunkenly on about him, but no, that was real. 

“Gabe.” Tyson nods. He’s clearly trying to sound dignified, but his voice is higher-pitched than normal. “Fancy seeing you here.” 

“Yeah, well. It is EJ’s party, so--” 

“I meant in North America,” Tyson snaps, cutting him off. “How long are you visiting for? A quick fly by just to remind all of us mere mortals that you’re still more handsome than anyone else and that we can’t dream of reaching those heights?”

A smile flickers on Gabe’s lips. He’s still staring at Tyson, and Colin would be wondering about that look a lot more if Tyson’s knuckles weren’t worryingly white on his cup. “Um, actually. I’ve moved back.” 

Tyson actually rocks back on his heels. Colin reaches out to steady him--knowing Tyson he’d manage to injure himself here. Gabe’s eyes dart down to Colin’s hand on Tyson’s arm. Colin doesn’t move it--Tyson needs someone in his corner. 

“You’ve moved back?” Tyson echoes. He’s getting louder. “You just--you moved back?” 

“Yeah.” Gabe nods. He glances at Colin again. “Are you going to introduce me?” he asks, teasing, a little chiding. Colin knows his friend well enough to know it’s the kind of thing Tyson would be into, if it wasn’t from this man. Or maybe especially because it’s this man. 

Tyson must know it too, because he leans a little closer to Colin. “Yes. Colin, this is Gabe. Gabe, this is Colin.” Tyson glances up at Colin, and he has that look in his eyes--the reckless, self-deprecating thing he gets when he does something entirely stupid with himself, because Tyson is careful with everyone but himself. “My boyfriend.” 

Gabe visibly startles. Colin hopes he doesn’t too, looking back at Tyson--Tyson just looks at him. It is undeniably a horrible idea. But--Colin likes to think he’s a good friend, and Tyson in the right mood is impossible to say no too. Nate calls it a super power, sometimes. And Colin really doesn’t like how startled Gabe looks, like he hadn’t considered that Tyson might find someone else. 

And mostly--Tyson’s hurting. Colin doesn’t like his friends to hurt. So, 

“Hi,” he says, holding out the hand not on Tyson’s arm to Gabe. “Colin Wilson. Nice to meet you.”  

“Gabe Landeskog.” Gabe holds out a hand, shakes. It’s...definitely more forceful a shake than someone meeting at a party would need to give. “So how long has this been going on?” he asks. He doesn’t say it was nice to meet Colin, Colin can’t help but tell. 

“I--” Colin starts, trying to figure out a believable lie, but Tyson takes over. 

“Don’t see how that’s any of your business,” he finishes, and defiantly leans against Colin’s shoulder. “You made it very clear that it wasn’t.” 

“Tys--” Gabe reaches out a hand, then stops it. Glances at Colin. “Tyson. That’s not what I--” 

“If you say anything along the lines of it wasn’t you, it was me, I’m going to start screaming,” Tyson warns. “I know that you like scenes, but you won’t like this one. You know how loudly I can scream.” 

Colin bites back his smile. Gabe’s face goes through a number of contortions between hurt and smiling. Tyson hears it, then shrugs and doesn’t react. 

Gabe lands on a weak smile. “Noted,” he says. He rocks onto his heels, then back. “I--it was good to see you, Tys. You’re looking good.” 

He says it earnestly, honestly. Tyson goes red, glances away. “Yes, you’re looking good too, you always somehow manage to look better, we know.” He’s hanging on to Colin for dear life now, and Colin wraps an arm around his shoulders. Gabe’s gaze narrows in on it. “Um. But you know, I’ve traded up with blonde bombshells, so.” 

Gabe’s offended face would be pretty funny in another circumstance. Colin would even feel flattered, in another circumstance. 

As it is, though, Gabe draws himself up. “Right,” he says, stiffly. “I, um. I’ll let you get back to it, then. You and your boyfriend.” He makes a motion at jerking his head in Colin’s direction, then gives Tyson a very different kind of smile, then backs away. 

As soon as he’s out of sight, Tyson slumps over. “Fuck,” he mutters into his hands. “Fuck, he fucking--he just came back? After giving up--fuck,” he says again, and lifts up his head. He’s biting hard at his lip. “I--thanks, bud. You’re a lifesaver, I know it’s such a move, but I couldn’t--you saw him, I needed something to win, and like, going out with you would be a winner move, so I made a play.” 

“It’s fine.” It wasn’t any skin off of Colin’s back. “But--do you want to leave?” 

“I don’t want him to drive me away,” Tyson retorts. “I--this is my friends’ party too. I should get to stay. I shouldn’t--god, I shouldn’t care so much, it’s been two years, I shouldn’t...” he shakes his head. “I don’t want to still be in love with him,” he mutters, still plaintive, too honest in the way Tyson can be, in the way that always makes Colin want to hug him. 

So he does, because Tyson looks like he needs a hug. He acts like it too, leaning into Colin’s arms. From over Tyson’s shoulder, Colin can see Gabe eying them, his brows furrowed. 

Finally, Tyson wiggles like he needs to be let go, because he loves physical contact until he doesn’t, and Colin does. Tyson’s eyes are a little red, but he looks okay. “Thanks,” he says, too his hands, because there are other things Tyson can’t be honest about. 

Colin shrugs. “Whatever you need, bud.” 

“Dangerous,” Tyson replies, with a weak try at his usual flirtatious grin. It fades quickly. “I--I need to call Nate. I’ll just be...” he gestures at the door out to the patio. Colin nods, and hugs him again quickly before letting him go. Being good friends with Tyson means accepting that Nate will always be better friends with him, but it’s fine. Him going means Colin doesn’t feel entirely guilty chatting with other friends, though he keeps an eye on the door Tyson went out of, where he can still see him on the phone, and one on Gabe, to make sure he doesn’t go out after him. 

Half an hour later, Colin needs another drink, and figures he should probably make sure Tyson’s okay. Getting him more drunk is probably the wrong choice, but he still goes to the kitchen to mix him another drink. 

He’s gotten himself a beer, and is surveying the alcohol to decide what to make Tyson, when behind him comes a very snippy, “Tyson doesn’t like tequila.” 

“Hm?” Colin turns. Gabe is standing in the doorway, his arms crossed over his slightly puffed-out chest. 

“Tyson doesn’t like tequila. He says he does but it gives him a headache. He’d rather have vodka.” 

Colin honestly doesn’t remember that, but he doesn’t have any reason to think Gabe is wrong, other than the way Gabe’s glaring. It’s rather a lot. “Okay,” Colin agrees, and reaches for the vodka. 

“He likes vodka cranberries,” Gabe informs him. He sounds smug, like knowing that when Colin doesn’t means he won. “Or vodka tonics in a pinch, but he’d rather the cranberries. Not a coke.” 

“Okay,” Colin says again. He mixes a vodka cranberry, Gabe eying him the whole time. 

“And why isn’t he here?” Gabe demands. “Did you just leave him alone? He doesn’t like being alone.” 

“I know that,” Colin chuckles. He thinks everyone knows that. 

Gabe clearly doesn’t take the chuckle well. “Then why aren’t you outside with him?” he demands again. 

“Because he’s on the phone with Nate,” Colin tells Gabe. He can’t imagine that friendship was different before. And Gabe’s lips do twitch. “I know better than to try to get in between that.” 

“Good.” Gabe’s still glaring. Colin waits. He doesn’t owe Gabe anything. And the longer Gabe’s in here, the longer he’s not outside making Tyson go pale.

It takes a few minutes, but finally, Gabe takes a step forward. They’re about the same height, which Gabe doesn’t seem pleased by; he’s got the air of someone who’s good at talking down to people. Colin keeps waiting. 

Gabe lets out a sharp, angry breath. “You better treat him well,” he spits at him. “Not just well. You better keep him--incandescently happy.”

Colin raises his eyebrows. “I thought Tyson made it clear that you didn’t get a say in that,” he points out. 

“I don’t care. I know I don’t get a say, because I was an idiot two years ago and gave up the best thing--” he cuts himself off, but Colin has the time to see his face now. To see the pain across it, pain he recognizes, from too many nights of Tyson staring into a glass, seeing someone else. “But I still--if you fuck this up, if you fuck him up, I’m going to--I know I missed my chance, and that’s--it is what it is, but I’ll still fuck you up if he’s not happy.” 

Colin’s tolerance for dramatics has gone up since befriending Tyson, but it will never be that high. And this is stupid. 

“I’m not his boyfriend,” he says. Gabe freezes. A bright, painful looking hope flickers into his eyes. 

“You aren’t?” he asks, quiet. 

“No.” Colin shakes his head. “Now go say that to Tyson.” 

“What? But--” They’re too old for the three years between them to feel long, but Gabe looks young, in that moment. “I cant. I messed up, and I thought maybe--but he’s moved on, and--” 

“Go say that to Tyson,” Colin repeats. He’s a practical sort of guy, he likes to think. Gabe clearly hasn’t gotten over Tyson. Tyson definitely never got over Gabe. Maybe Gabe messed up, but Tyson still needs to hear this. “You’ll never know until you try.” 

“But--” 

“Next time, he really will be dating someone,” Colin points out. “Do you want to hear that?” 

That hardens Gabe’s jaw. “No,” he decides, and stalks out, towards the patio. 

Colin considers not following, but he thinks he deserves to hear some of this. And if he made the wrong call, Tyson might need him as backup. 

Tyson’s still alone on the patio, though he’s off the phone, and is just looking out into the backyard. He turns when he hears the door open, though--and his face clearly doesn’t know what to do to see Gabe there. 

“What are you doing, Gabe?” he asks, and this time he sounds tired. 

“I wanted to talk.” Gabe takes a step out onto the patio. 

“I don’t think my boyfriend will like that,” Tyson retorts, glancing over Gabe’s shoulder at Colin. 

Colin can hear the smile in Gabe’s voice. “I know you’re not dating.” 

“You know, how? I mean,” Tyson corrects quickly. “We are, you’re wrong.” 

“He told me.” 

“Seriously?” Tyson’s attention is momentarily diverted. “You couldn’t even hold out an hour, Willy? Some kind of friend you are, I’m trading you in.” 

Colin knows Tyson’s empty threats, and shrugs. “It was a ridiculous plan anyway.” 

“Yeah, it’s me, what did you expect?” 

“Tyson.” Gabe’s voice is rough, and all of Tyson’s attention clearly disappears to look at Gabe, who’s halfway out on the patio now, a few feet from Tyson. “Tys, I--can we talk?” 

“Why? You said everything you needed to say,” Tyson informs him. HIs hands are wrapped around the alternate wrists now, clenching hard. “You said it two years ago, when you just--took that job without even thinking about me, without wanting to figure things out at all, and now you’re just back and so it clearly wasn’t the job it was just that I wasn’t enough and--”

“I was an idiot,” Gabe cuts Tyson off. He’s leaning in towards Tyson, like he’d be touching him if he could. “Two years ago I was an idiot and I thought that I should go back to Sweden because it was what I’d always planned to do and I couldn’t let a boy get in the way of that, and I shouldn’t have. I should have been flexible, but you know me.” He tries for a smile. “I’m not good at flexible. And by the time I realized why nothing in Sweden seemed as bright...you had blocked my number.“ 

Tyson swallows. “That’s what you do, when someone dumps you and you don’t want to risk pathetically drunk dialing them.” 

“Well it’s very inconvenient when someone wants to pathetically drunk dial you,” Gabe says, and Tyson shudders. Colin takes a drink. He should maybe go inside, but he’s still not 100% convinced this is ending well. 

“So, what,” Tyson asks, clearing his throat. He can’t quite look at Gabe. “You thought you’d come back and find me and we’d just--pick up where we left off, like you hadn’t dumped me?” 

“I--not that simple, but I hoped.” Gabe takes a step forward. “Or we could find a way to move forward.” 

Tyson’s breath catches, and he looks down at his hands. Colin is considering breaking this up when, “You broke my heart, Gabe,” Tyson says, quiet and sincere and heartbreaking in itself. 

Gabe’s face looks like someone stabbed him. “I broke mine too, if that helps.” 

Tyson smiles, real but like it hurts. “It sort of does, honestly.” He breathes in, rough. “But I just--I don’t know what to do with this.” 

“Give me a chance?” Gabe takes another careful step forward. His voice is soft, almost gentle. “I know I don’t deserve it, but--I want to try to.” 

Tyson is just staring, his eyes huge, his whole body tight. Everything’s right there on his face, like it always is, how he’s still so obviously in love with Gabe, all his self-preservation instincts. How much he wants and doesn’t trust, either Gabe or himself. 

His gaze flicks over Gabe’s shoulder, to Colin--and it’s panicked and a question, a plea. Colin--he’s not sure he trust Gabe, but he trusts that Tyson’s unhappy now and he’d be happier with Gabe. He trusts the ache in Gabe’s voice when he called Tyson the best thing that happened to him.  

And really, he trusts Tyson, even when Tyson doesn’t. 

He shrugs. Tyson makes a quick face, then looks back at Gabe, who’s still just waiting, and Colin can see when he starts to smile, his big unapologetic smile, and he sees Gabe light up. “Well, my boyfriend said it’s okay,” Tyson says, and Gabe spares a laugh before he jerks forward, catches himself. 

“Tys, can I--” 

“We’re taking it slow,” Tyson warns, but then, “But first, if you aren’t kissing me in the next ten seconds I’m going to--” he doesn’t get a chance to finish his sentence before Gabe’s kissing him, all desperate, aching need that has Tyson clinging back. 

Of course Tyson would be this dramatic, Colin thinks, sparing them a smile before he goes back inside. Maybe this will decrease the average level of drama, if--

“Where are you going?” Colin looks over ins surprise. Tyson’s appeared next to him, looking messy and shamelessly kissed. Gabe, next to him, his hand firmly around Tyson’s waist, doesn’t look any better. 

“I thought you would be busy,” Colin points out, giving Tyson’s hair a pointed look. “I was going to--” 

“Nah, we’ve got a party to enjoy, right Gabe?” Tyson asks, adding the last bit pointedly. In a voice that is definitely not a whisper, he adds, “Taking it slow means he has to wait. So. Party.” 

“I’m not the one who enjoys waiting,” Gabe observes, a little biting, which makes Tyson snicker, and flush.

“Well, learn to. We’re going to enjoy this party with Willy and you are going to play nice, and I am going to get drunk and probably make out with you a little, and then you are going to drive me home and be a gentleman and drop me off.” 

“Oh I am?” Gabe asks, grinning. He’s looking at Tyson fondly enough that it makes Colin a little uncomfortable, honestly. 

“You are,” Tyson confirms. “I’m going to hold this over you forever.” 

Gabe’s face lights up again, a sort of undisguised happiness that is as sweet as it is overwhelming to even catch the edges of it. Colin’s a little surprised that Tyson’s this into someone as full on as Gabe, but he guesses that maybe they’re well matched in that. “I can’t wait,” Gabe says, and Tyson makes a strangled noise. 

“Stop,” he mutters, then turns to Colin. “Okay. So I need a drink--Gabe, that’s you--and then we need to find EJ because I have a lot of shit to give him about his Instagram.” 

It’s nice to see Tyson like this, so brightly happy. “Sounds good,” Colin says, and means it.