Below the Mythical Surface (Completed)

Waiting it Out

"Wait, what? That's not possible," Rhett said, his mind reeling from so much information so fast. "You got a vasectomy. It - "

"Vasectomies don't always stick," Link mumbled, looking down at his hands. "She's going to the doctor on Monday to make sure, but in the meantime, I gotta be there for her. Maybe...I should head home and just drive over daily for the - "

"Don't be silly," Rhett said quickly. "Unless she asked you to leave, there's no reason to do all that back and forth when she's not able to find out anything til Monday anyway."

"She told me to stay here," Link admitted. "Just wanted me to know what was goin' on. I should've returned her calls. What the hell was I doin' that was so much more important than..."

Link blue eyes found an angry green looking back at him.

"Bo, I didn't mean it like that."

Rhett snorted with mirthless laughter, getting up suddenly.

"Really, Neal? Because now it really sounds like you meant that just the way it came across."

Link's frown turned ever fiercer, and he got up as well. They both grabbed at the scattered clothing on the floor and dressed in silence. Rhett could tell that Link wanted to try to talk it out some more, but he certainly didn't. Link was doing what he always did when a curve ball was thrown his way. Go into full panic mode without taking a second to really look at the situation.

"What if both things happened, Link?"

The smaller man paused in the middle of putting on his right sock. The tilt in his head screaming confusion at the question.

"I mean, what if you get your vasectomy checked and you're shootin' blanks, but she's still pregnant?"

The mood in the room turned amazingly and unnaturally tense. Rhett was touching a nerve that Link has hidden away, and both men could sense the danger in it. But Rhett was going to acknowledge the inevitabile follow up question, even if Link hated him for it.

"How do we even know if she is pregnant that it's - "

"Christy would never do that to me," Link snapped, face hard in defiance over such a question.

The hypocrisy was too much, and Rhett just like so often had to call Link out on it. It was a part of his personality that Link desperately needed although only realized in hindsight.

"Like we never thought that we could cheat on them either, Neal?"

Link stared back at him in bewilderment, his jaw hung slack and his eyes were wide. His posture was one of a kicked puppy, with slumped shoulders and he folded in as if he were trying to protect himself physically from Rhett's words. It didn't last long, the full weight settling in on his shoulders, leaving him pissed rather than hurt. His blue eyes took on an icy sharpness that Rhett hadn't previously seen in all of their years together.

"Fuck you, Rhett. Fuck you. When you climb down off'a that high horse you're ridin' around on, maybe you'll remember you aren't the only person in the world. I have other people that need me. I don't have time to stick around and coddle you."

There were so many things that Rhett wanted to say to him. Fuck you, too. Please don't leave. Get over yourself. I love you. But Link didn't give him time for any of that before he was turned on his heel and out the door with a slam.

Rhett couldn't bring himself to tear his eyes away from where Link had just stood, the carpet still warm from the pads of his feet. How had their day taken such a quick turn? Only moments ago they were wrapped up in each other with the promise of a relaxed nap, and now here they were, in opposite rooms and Rhett was positive that Link was hating him.