Below the Mythical Surface (Completed)

Pulsepoint

The mood in the car on the way back to their homes was, if anything, more awkward than the morning trip to work. The silence this time was crackling with electricity that neither man could fully understand, but completely respected. Link glanced over at Rhett's profile any time the knots in his stomach would become agony, and even though the hazel eyes refused to look into his own, the feeling in his gut would loosen just enough to allow him to breathe.

"Thanks for still taking me home," Link said, head tilted towards the passenger window. "That means a lot."

Rhett nodded but that was it. No words. No jokes. No comment about the fact that he knew that Link had been grumbling at the hour and a half wait for an Uber ride. The traffic was always bad in LA but with nothing to distract the ride seemed decades longer today.

"Since I have you trapped, can we try to talk about what happened again?"

Silence.

"Rhett...this isn't how I want things to be. This isn't us. We talk to each other. We yell at each other..and call each other silly and stupid names. We don't do...this."

The slight shuffle in Rhett's seat had Link hopeful, but with a drop of his heart the radio was turned on. The volume just loud enough to make a clear statement. They were not talking about anything else today. Maybe never.

Link sigh met the air around them, and Rhett sighed as well. Their passing breaths cut through the static of the radio and the beating of their own hearts. The car slowed down at a red light, and again, Link took a chance to see the bearded profile. Only this time Rhett was looking back at him, and this time really looking at his features. The hazel eyes mapped every faded freckle and faded scar. It was so much worse than undressing Link. There was an edge of frustrated longing in each flicker, and Link could feel like he was staring into an emotional mirror.

"I thought that you wanted to just get passed this," Rhett said softly. "So let's get passed it. Forget that it happened. Forget what I said yesterday."

The light turned green and they were moving again, with Link's vision only seeing the taller man in profile. It wasn't as simple as either one of them wanted, and Link was still feeling the affects of what Rhett had told him. The delicate speech that was held together with a sincerity and devotion that Link didn't know could be for someone like himself. The way Rhett's lips had been forming the phrases like bubbles of warm and inviting whispers. Opening up his chest rib by rib and displaying his heart for only Link to see. Link had seen Rhett's heart before, but never like that, and he was terrified to look away, and even more desperate to touch each every vein and curve. See if it would be faster once they could taste each other's lips.

Something stronger than himself grabbed at the large hand and squeezed. The shocked noise from Rhett's mouth wasn't unexpected, but still Link jumped slightly out of surprise. His smaller hand was hanging on for dear life, and waiting for some reaction. Rhett turned onto a small side street and stopped the car.

"What the hell, man?"

The harsh tone was prepared for, but Link didn't let it push him away. Instead he squeezed the larger hand again, and this time he could feel the faint sensation of his own fingers being squeezed back.

"You don't feel anything from this?"

The determination for an answer was etched in every part of Link's face, but Rhett's own expression again was a mirror. The smaller man had another question aimed at Rhett's emotional wall, but Rhett already launched a kill shot.

"Do you?"

Link's brow furrowed. No, that wasn't what this was about. This was about getting Rhett to come to terms with the strangeness of the last 36 hours, not Link. Link didn't have anything to think about, not really. Maybe, maybe there was a moment during filming of the dating segment where his fingers had lingered a bit too long. Maybe, maybe once they'd began filming again and Rhett had called him baby a few more times Link's stomach had come undone in the form of fluttering and an icy coolness. But it was only nerves. It was only his body's way of telling him to make up with his best friend. Not let this wedge drive them further apart.