Chapter Text
“Okay, people. We are gathered here to get our stories straight.” Allison said to the computer.
All the original foxes plus Jeremy and Jean were on the video chat in front of them. Kevin didn’t want to involve so many people in the disaster that caused all of this, but since all of them were already approached to talk about it by the press, they had to all be on the same page.
“We need to establish a timeline.” Allison continued.
“We can say that they were already together in college.” Nicky said from the screen.
“No, that won’t work.” Aaron replied. “Me and Kate broke up two years ago when she moved to another hospital. People at work would know it’s a lie. We can say that we got together shortly after that.”
There were murmurs of agreements, but Kevin saw the side eye Allison was throwing his way. He sighed and gathered his courage to say what needed to be said.
“We can’t. I broke up with the guy who is responsible for this whole fiasco only five months ago.”
There was silence for a few seconds and then everyone started talking all at once. Kevin had no idea what any one of them said, because they were all speaking over each other. Finally they settled down enough for Kevinn to be able to hear what came out of Matt’s mouth.
“Wait, so let me get this straight. This whole Joe Abbott was your boyfriend and he still says that you’re not bi.” Matt said, clearly pissed off on Kevin’s behalf.
“Well, he doesn’t really believe in the whole ‘bi thing’.” He said while doing air quotes.
“What?!” Jeremy exclaimed and looked ready to fight. “So not only is he a liar, but also a biphobe, great.”
“So why did you even date the guy if he didn’t believe in your existence?” Jean asked while trying to calm down his husband.
Kevin rubbed the back of his neck and said almost too quietly for people to hear him. “I kind of didn’t know I was bi when we started.” He saw the shocked faces of everyone on the call and rushed to explain. “I mean, I was kind of lonely and it was supposed to be just a hookup, but then it turned into a regular thing and next thing I knew I was dating the guy. We didn't really discuss labels.”
“Wait,” Jeremy’s voice interrupted him. “You didn’t know you were bi? Even when-” Jean stopped him by putting his hand on Jeremy’s mouth and motioned with his other one for Kevin to continue.
Kevin was glad. He didn’t really want the rest of his family to know about that particular night.
“It was all going great, but then Andrew and Neil came out and he started to nag me about coming out too so I broke things off.” Kevin finished and there was once again an outburst of voices.
He could vaguely hear the words ‘asshole’ and ‘that stupid fucker’ being used, but he couldn’t pin point anything else.
“Okay, people, focus.” Allison brought everyone’s attention back to the task at hand. “I know we are all pissed off at that dick, but we have more pressing matters to attend to.”
“Okay, so you broke up five months ago.” Aaron said and paused for a moment. He looked deep in thought before continuing. “You were in Seattle four months ago. Let’s say that I offered you support after your break up and we got together when you visited. Everyone else can say that we all knew you were bi in college, but never said anything, because we respected the fact that you didn’t want to come out.”
“That will work.” Kevin replied and after everyone else’s agreement they moved on to a casual catch up.
***
“We are here today with a freshly out as a proud bisexual man, our beloved striker Kevin Day.” The reporter said and Kevin felt himself cringe.
He put on his fake smile that was reserved for public appearances and nodded.
“Tell us Kevin, what took you so long?” The reporter asked and Kevin saw Allison rolling her eyes from the back stage.
“You see, Robert. Being out is not as easy as it seems. Sure, the world got better and more accepting, but it’s still tough out there. To be completely honest with you I wasn’t yet ready to come out, but people have forced my hand. I made one stupid comment that was directed at my friends who by no means thought I had malicious intent and it almost cost me my career.”
Robert’s fake smile dropped a little at Kevin’s words, but he completely brushed over them and put the smile back on before speaking next.
“Why didn’t you share the news about your boyfriend at the same time?” He asked and Kevin had to try really hard to not let his anger show.
“My boyfriend was not yet out to his coworkers and I didn’t want him to do that before he was ready. Although we have known each other for ten years, our relationship is fresh. We got together four months ago when I visited Seattle to start negotiations about me possibly playing for them.” Kevin said and saw the reporter’s eyes shine with delight about that new information.
Kevin had been given the green light to share that he would play for the Shadows next season and he was happy that it would take the attention from his new ‘relationship’.
“Are you changing teams?” The reporter asked.
Kevin’s smile was more real than it was at the beginning. “Yeah, I am. I will be playing for the Seattle Shadows next season.”
“If you can’t beat them, join them, huh?” The reporter said and the audience laughed.
“Oh, I still very much intend to beat them this season.” Kevin said with a smirk and felt more at ease now that they were discussing Exy.
***
The Denver Mountain Lions have beaten the Seattle Shadows in the finale this time around. Kevin scored the final goal that put them over by one point. Andrew didn’t look like he cared much about not blocking that goal, but Kevin knew that he was pissed off just a little bit.
Andrew didn’t care about Exy to this day, but there was almost nothing he liked more than annoying Kevin so he knew that Andrew didn’t just let him score, but genualie wasn’t able to block him.
Aaron was in the VIP lodge and was cheering louder than anyone else. He was wearing a Shadows cup, but his Jersey had Kevin Day written on it. Aaron wasn’t very happy about the fact that he was expected to root against his city’s team, but Allison convinced him it would be the best option to keep up their appearances.
They tried to sell their relationship as best as they could. They have tweeted about each other and managed to fish out some old pictures together to post on their social media. But they were yet to make a public appearance together.
They both had a busy schedule and this was the first time they saw each other since their ‘relationship’ started.
After celebrating with his team Kevin made his way to the stands at the same time as Aaron was making his way down. Aaron practically threw himself at Kevin. The striker caught him and picked him up to spin him around with a quiet laugh.
He dropped Aaron back down just as one of the reporters approached them.
“Congratulations on winning the game.” The reporter said and Kevin turned around so he could face him.
He hugged Aaron closer and plastered him against his side before speaking.
“Thank you. It was a good game. Shadows are amazing and I’m glad to be joining them next season.” Kevin said with a smile that he didn’t have to fake even though he was in front of a camera.
“I couldn’t help but notice that you didn’t kiss your boyfriend in celebration, why is that?” Asked the annoying reporter.
Kevin squeezed Aaron a little closer to himself, because he saw the man opening his mouth and whatever Aaron wanted to say was probably not very friendly and would end badly for them.
“I stand by what I said. Court is not for making out with people, no matter who it is.” He said while sending an annoyed look at Andrew and Neil.
His two opponents were kissing like they were trying to eat each other alive. They were not the PDA type and they hated the attention. They lost. Andrew probably didn’t care, but Kevin knew that Neil did. That meant that the only reason they were kissing was to piss Kevin off and they had accomplished their goal.
They must have heard him, because although they didn’t detach themselves from each other they both raised one of their hands and flipped Kevin off.
Kevin only rolled his eyes annoyed and went back to the interview.
***
Kevin didn’t really have time to think about his move to Seattle. Just as the national league season ended, the international season began.
He loved being on the national team. He could spend time with his favorite people who usually were scattered all around the world.
He loved playing with his old teammates again and loved that they could all win together instead of computing against each other.
The summer ended in a blink of an eye and suddenly Kevin was overwhelmed with things that needed to be done.
He had to find an apartment. He had to hire a moving crew. He knew that technically he could hire someone to take care of all of those things for him, but he didn’t want to.
He liked the freedom of doing things for himself. There was a time when everything besides playing Exy was being done for him and he hated that.
“Why don’t you just move in with Aaron?” Allison asked while on the phone with him.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Kevin replied while looking at apartments.
He had a flight tomorrow and the moving crew already took all of his stuff so he had to look them up on his phone instead of a computer. He hated the small screen.
“It’s a great idea. It makes your relationship more believable.” Allison insisted.
Truth be told, he agreed with Allison. The problem was that he was scared. The feelings he had been harbering for Aaron started to resurface and he was afraid that they would overflow once they would see each other more often. Add living together to the mix and Kevin wouldn’t stand a chance.
***
“Okay, so I have done some research.” Neil said while holding some kind of binder in his hand.
Next to Aaron his brother groaned and stood up from the couch they were sitting on.
“I can’t with the binder.” He muttered under his breath and left the living room.
“Don’t mind him, he just doesn't appreciate good research.” Neil said while waving his hand dismissively in Andrew’s direction. “Joe Abbott is moving to Seattle.
Aaron choked on the sandwich he was in the middle of eating and started coughing uncontrollable. Neil patted him on the back a couple of times until he got his breathing under control.
“What?” Aaron asked, breathlessly.
“Yeah, he must be crazier than we thought.” Neil said and sat down next to Aaron on the couch. “He will probably try to prove that your relationship is not real so we need to get out the big guns.”
Neil took out his phone and after dialing someone’s number put it on speaker.
“Allison, talk to us.” He said with a serious expression on his face.
“What is it, some kind of military operation?” Aaron asked, amused.
“Yes.” Allison and Neil replied in unison.
“Kevin is on his way. He’s on a plane and should land in two hours. Aaron, you should be there and greet him. I want a passionate reunion, you don’t have the excuse of being on the court, so I expect to see some heavy kissing.”
Aaron swallowed at that. He knew that sooner or later it was bound to happen. He and Kevin have talked about it. They both agreed that to maintain appearance they should not shy away from physical contact while in public.
Still, talking about it and actually doing it were two different things.
“With Joe here, you need to be on top of your game.” Allison continued. “I’m talking about romantic dates, living together, and pictures on socials.”
“Wait, back up.” Aaron interrupted. “Living together? I thought we agreed it was too soon.” He said desperately.
“Joe is going to be on your asses. He has written dozens of articles disregarding your relationship. Tomorrow you and Kev are going to look for some one bedroom apartments and-” Alliosn replied and Aaron’s brain short circuited.
“One bedroom? What do you think the guy is going to look through our windows?” Aaron asked with a laugh.
“Neil.” Allison said and Aaron focused his attention on the red head.
“He might do a steak out near you. If he sees that there are lights every evening in two rooms instead of one he might start digging even more.”
“Don’t you think you’re being a little paranoid?” Aaron asked Neil.
“That’s the point. I’m preparing you guys for every possible scenario.” Neil replied.
“Okay, so we have one bedroom, fine. We can still put two beds there, right?” Aaron said in a weak attempt to keep his sanity.
It was not like sharing a bed with a dude would be the end of the world. He grew out of his stupid homophobic beliefs back in college, he could share a bed with a guy without feeling weird.
The problem was Kevin. For a reason that Aaron didn’t really want to examine too closely he felt differently around Kevin than other men. He was afraid about what he was going to find out about himself if he shared a bed with him every night.
“No can do.” Neil replied with a shake of his head. “What if he breaks in and sees the two beds?”
“This is ridiculous.” Aaron said while throwing his hands in the air. “Andrew, tell your boyfriend he’s being ridiculous.” He yelled, but got no reply.
He was going to share a bed with Kevin Day while pretending to be madly in love ith him for an unforeseeable future, because of some fucking douchebag.
Just fantastic.