Chapter Text
It's been a week since him and Barkovitch had their little moment at the bar, and what an agonising fucking week it's been. Harkness had come to him the morning after, looking all dejected, admitting he hadn't gotten anything out of him. Collie tried to hide the worry on his face as the smaller man apologised. Stebbins had also given him another pointed look that day, but had not commented further. He debated asking Stebbins for advice, and eventually decided to day after.
—
Collie took the last of his stuff out of his gym locker, body slightly sore and mind annoyingly full. Stebbins had stepped out the shower, face still red from the steam. Collie stared at him for a bit, contemplating whether to even bring it up.
Sigh. "So,"
"This about Barkovitch?"
Collie couldn't tell if he'd been that visibly stressed or if it was just Stebbins doing his weird psychic thing. "Yeah, man." he sat on the locker room bench, waiting for the taller man finish dressing.
"You know what happened Saturday, how he ran off and shit, right?"
"Yeah, Rich told me about it. It seems like your guy is in a pretty shit mood."
Collie pinched his eyebrows as he kept looking down at his protein shaker. "I wasn't reading that shit wrong, right? Like he's definitely been, yknow—whatever he's been doing,"
"Man's been eyeing you since orientation, Parker." What?
"What?" Stebbins just shrugged.
Is he fucking with him? "Hey, don't shut up now, who told you that? Harkness?"
"Nah."
"So how the fuck do you know that?" He just shrugged again. Bastard.
He knew by now he wasn't getting anywhere by continuing that line of questioning. "Either way, what was that then? I know he has a fucking—I don't know, complex or some shit," Stebbins hums in agreement.
"Like the whole thing with Pete and Ray or whatever, shit even Harkness,"
"From SC, man," he heard Stebbins grumble as he pulled his shirt on.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, country hicks and whatever, but is it that deep?" Collie stared down at his shoes, deeply sighing. "Deep enough to just fuck off and leave, just like that? He went out in the freezing fucking cold, Billy."
Stebbins gave an indignant noise at that, slamming his locker shut.
Collie held his head in his hands, and releasing the loose ponytail he had in his hair. "I just don't get it,"
He looked up as he was nudged by a bottle, his friend standing next to him, bag in hand.
He pushed himself upwards, grabbing his gym bag and following behind Stebbins. "Maybe I'll give him a couple days."
Stebbins gave him one of those insufferable, indecipherable looks again. "Maybe."
—
The rest of the group seemed not to know everything, and with how Barkovitch quickly shut down any inquiries on what happened or where the fuck he ran off to, it was going to stay that way. Collie didn't mind that; it wasn't anyone's damn business. What he did mind was how the blonde fucker was showing off.
Barkovitch is ignoring him. Worse yet, he's aggravating him.
He seemed to be in a shit mood all week, moping around with that perpetually pissed look on his face every time Collie spotted him. He would have found it weirdly endearing under other circumstances, but it's far less sweet when it's directed towards him.
Parker had tried to talk to him directly a couple of days after that night, but was immediately curved, Gary running off the moment he spotted him. Collie had far too much pride to go after him, so he let it go.
Another day, he tried talking to him with the rest of the group, just prompting him to join in on the conversation. He was given nothing but a glare before Barkovitch went back to looking off and sulking. Collie didn't want to cause a scene, so he let it go.
They were all hanging out one afternoon, and someone offhandedly made a stupid joke toward Gary, and he almost immediately flipped his shit, and when Collie raised his voice, gearing to shut him up, Ray told him to drop it, so he did. He let it go.
That brings us to today. Parker didn't know what was in the goddamn air, but Barkovitch was acting like a total prick, even outside of his usual prickness. He'd already been real annoying about Pete's writing, which had Ray on edge and even Harkness was getting it today. All the jokes towards the (admittedly) nerd shit he was ranting about had far more bite than usual. It was weird. Barkovitch just kept yipping on and on, eyes flitting back to him, almost like he was trying to gauge his reaction. If this bitchy attitude of his was for him, there was no reason for it to be affecting everyone else.
The blonde barked out another stupid ass quip, and this time Harkness actually seemed kinda bummed, awkwardly adjusting his glasses. Collie decided that was enough.
"Hey fuck off, you jackass," he said, warning already lacing his words.
Barkovitch flinches at his voice. "Aye, no one was fucking talking to you,"
Collie wants to fucking shake him. "Excuse me?"
"Fuck off, man, I don't know why you always fucking put yourself in bullshit that doesn't concern you—" Collie yanks him by his sweater, bringing their faces together.
"Maybe if you didn't want to act like a whiny fucking asshole all the time, I wouldn't have to."
He saw something in the other man's face twitch before he tried shoving his hand away. When he wrangles Collie's hand out of his shirt, he turns around, trying to fucking run away like he always does. "Yeah, whatever. Fuck you, Parker—" Then he's flipping him off—no fucking shot is he letting this go.
Before he can get too far, he grabs Barkovitch by the nape of his neck, roughly guiding him away from the group. "I'm not playing this fucking game with you, " he says, right by Gary's ear, holding his head down as he brings them to an empty, more secluded area for them to talk. "You don't get to run off like you always do,"
Barkovitch had been oddly silent for this whole ordeal, the last sound that came out of him being the initial gasp at being grabbed. When Collie finally found somewhere he deemed suitable, an alley between two buildings, he shoved the blonde against the brick of the wall behind him, caging him in.
They stared at each other for a bit, waiting for the other to say something, but Collie wasn't really in the mood for patience today.
"What the fuck has been your problem?"
Gary was looking up at him, still taken aback from everything, but now with a bitchy scowl on his face.
"That's what you drag me here for? Cuz' I piss you off? Fuck's new?" he spat out, trying to keep eye contact.
"Nah, I dragged you here because ever since last Saturday, you've been acting like a pissy little bitch and making it everyone else's problem. If there's some bullshit you want to say, grow some balls and say it."
Gary scoffed and looked off to the side, with a stupid idignant smirk. "Not everything is about you—"
"Don't you fucking give me that." He wanted to fucking rip that look off his face.
"If it was just your usual sulking I'd fucking drop it, fuck if I care, but no. You've been a fucking dick this entire week and practically running off anytime I even look in your goddamn direction." Barkovitch was glaring hard at the floor now, not meeting his eyes.
"I know this is about me. You gonna call me an idiot, Barkovitch?" he grabbed his face to force him to stare back.
"Tell me I'm wrong?"
He watched as the blonde's eyes dashed between his features, clouded with thoughts and no response on his lips. "Well?"
The last thing he feels is an arm on his forearm, right where he was holding the man's face. He expects it to push him away, but instead, he's pulled forward,d and now Barkovitch is kissing him. It's more of a bite than anything, but still an honest-to-god kiss and Collie is happy he had caged him in, because Gary looked ready to run when he pulled back.
What the fuck?