59

Ryder is already settled in the seat when Winston arrives with Gary. He's not altogether sure how Gary got a seat here but Winston isn't about to look a gift-horse in the mouth; he merely holds on tight to Gary's hand and drags him along.

The stadium is bright, the lights hitting the court blinding, and there are a trio of gigantic screens hanging from the indoor stadium's ceiling. Winston sneaks a look at it, but it's merely displaying the sponsors' brands over and over again right now. He narrows his eyes, pulling his mouth into a pout and settling into his seat beside Ryder.

Gary, unlike him, plops down with nary a thought, leaning forth so he can be seen behind Winston. "Hey," he chirps to Ryder, holding out his hand in front of Winston. "I'm Gary, Win's best friend."

Ryder's expression doesn't change much, but he does grab Gary's hand and gives it a quick perfunctory shake. "Ryder Hill, Jason's brother," he announces, and brushes his hand over his pants once they've let go.

Gary tilts his head at that, but he doesn't say anything. Winston also tilts his head at that, but he does in fact say something. Namely; "I saw a picture of your hotel room. It's really fancy."

"It is," Ryder agrees with a subdued smile. "I get paid well for my work," and he doesn't say it likes he's bragging, but merely like it's fact. A foregone conclusion that of course he's well-paid and can afford to stay at fancy suites in fancy hotels.

Winston kind of envy him. He doesn't think he's ever known that kind of surety.

That kind of safety.

"That's cool," Gary says, breaking the awkward silence into itty--bitty pieces. Winston exhales, smiling. There's still some time until the game starts. The players haven't even entered the court yet, and the principal still needs to hold a speech. The cheer squad is going to perform, as well, and so there's still plenty of time to sit in awkward silence with his boyfriend's older brother.

"Did you listen to the new episode of Unholy Ground yet?" Winston asks Gary, leaning toward him a little.

Gary shakes his head, pouting. "No, I was helping Liam with his homework all morning, and yesterday I was tutoring all evening." He sighs, rolling his eyes. "Liam is such an annoying little brat, you have no idea."

Winston's lips twitch. Gary pouts again, and is forced to admit, "Okay, you have some idea. But he's like, bratty in an entirely different way when you're not around. He's more like, antagonistically bratty with you, and more like, sulky and stuff with me. Or does that not make sense?"

"No, I get what you're saying," Winston says, despite not doing any such thing.

Gary laughs. "It's cool if you don't, Liam is a complicated kid. He's got, like, layers and stuff."

Winston nods. Then he tries to steer the subject back to his original intention. "So do you want to listen to the new episode now? I think it should just about be done by the time the game starts?"

"You listened to it this morning, right? You cool doing it again so soon?"

"One-hundred percent," Winston declares. The episode was absolutely amazing, and he's aching to find out what Gary's gonna think of it, aching to watch his reaction in real time.

Gary smiles, resting his head on Winston's shoulder, and says, "Earphone me up."

Winston breathes out on a laugh, fingers bumbling with the small earphones and the the entangled cord. Ryder does him the favor of not watching him struggle, pulling out another book from his coat and eyebrows furrowing as he reads.

When the cord's finally untangled, Winston pops one of the earphones into Gary's ear and the other in his own, slumping in the chair as he pulls up the episode and plays it from the start.

His eyes shut, relaxing into the ominous music that rattles through his skull; the low-breathing of a monster and the haunting cello arrangement. There's not many people in the stands yet, luckily, or it'd be impossible to hear anything with the basic earphones.

The listen to the podcast all through the principal's speech, all through the other team's introduction, and all through the cheer squad's performance. Not that it's a bad one by any means, and Samantha does a great job with all her twisting in the air, but neither Winston nor Gary are especially interested in it.

Jason's team bursts onto the court to screaming, and there's no longer any use in pretending they can actually hear anything with the earphones. Gary and Winston pull them out at the same time, and Winston leans forward in his seat, gaze squarely stuck on Jason.

The energy in the arena only continues to build as the team waves up at the stands, Clyde doing a cartwheel in one corner because he's just like that.

Winston stands, too, the energy coursing through him. He bites his lip as he leans on the railing and looks down at Jason, imagining that Jason is looking right at him. It's too far to see exactly, but Winston's heart still beats a mile a minute and he still stares at Jason like they're making soulful eye-contact.

The screams around him only build up the energy inside, and his stomach flips up and down, a flutter in the very pit of it, and his eyes lower. Exhaling, he peeks back at Gary and gets a thumbs up in response.

He's not sure what he asked.

Nevertheless, he gives Gary a thumbs up as well.

Ryder joins him at the railing. They have premier seating in the stands, one of the best seating in the family section as well. Again, Winston's not really sure who Gary got in here, but he's not about to complain.

If Gary wasn't here with him, if he couldn't hold Gary's hand through this, he might actually self-combust.

"It's starting," Ryder says, and there's actually inflection in his voice. Winston glances at him, then stumbles back to fall into his chair. Gary snags his hand as soon as he sits, and Winston doesn't try to take it back. In fact, he rather likes it where it is.

"Yeah," Winston lamely says after Ryder has sat again, as well. Each of the screen's have splint into two sections, one showcasing Jason's team and one the other team, while the announcers launch into a detailed description of the players and their stats.

Winston has no idea what any of this means, and now's not a very good time to try to learn it, so he merely glosses right over this information.

Jason's shown on the screen as everyone gets ready, and Winston's heart is already in his throat. His grip on Gary's hand tightens, and he worries his bottom lip as he breathlessly waits.

The game begins.

There is an energy in the arena he's never felt before, the rise and swell of the game so close so unfamiliar, but it's still Jason out there and every other thought and worry becomes moot. Winston is dragged into the excitement by the people around him, gaze switching between watching the court and watching the screens for the close up views, unable to look away for even a second.

It's magnetic.

Jason is magnetic.

Every movement is powerful, controlled, every toss of the ball swift and accurate, and Winston breath is paralyzed in his lungs, his heart skipping so many beats he's halfway worried he's about to croak. He's sweating, he realizes at some point, and it doesn't even make any sense because all he's doing is watching.

It's neck and neck until the very last minute, Jason soaring through the air as he scores point after point. Clyde seems to saunter over the court the few times Winston spots, his eyes perpetually glued to Jason, and quite frankly Winston doesn't have any clue what the other people on Jason's team are doing.

But Jason's team wins.

"Fuck, yeah," Winston breathes, standing together with Gary and grinning bright as the sun. He feels like there's a sun inside him, exploding, and he can't even tell where his own feelings end and begin. Everything is vaguely luminescent, the beating of his heart a heavy thunder in his chest, lightning striking his lungs with every breath.

The noise around him is overpowering, all-consuming, and he's sure Gary's saying something but Winston can't hear a word. His eyes are stuck on Jason, rapidly approaching them, and Winston licks his lips. Leans forth over the railing and Jason, easily, jumps and grabs it, pulling himself up like he's actually going to climb over.

"Hey," Winston breathes, uncertain of what to say while Jason does in fact climb it and get over, his feet hitting the cement floor with a lackluster thud.

Jason grins, eyes brighter than anything Winston's has ever seen before, so full of joy and happiness that Winston might implode, his emotions a twirling storm inside him that he can't get under control. He's nearly vibrating with excitement, almost bouncing on his toes, and when Jason steps closer Winston can no longer contain himself.

He glomps onto Jason, attaching himself like a koala, hugging him so tight that he can feel the rapid pulse beating in Jason's neck. He smells like sweat, his hair plastered to his head, and Winston shuts his eyes, rejects the entire world, and wishes---aches, to stay with Jason forever.

Jason holds onto him just as tightly, breaths raspy to Winston's ears, and the sound is music.