Bring the Game

Chapter 6 - On the Rebound

Sasuke poured himself another glass of Heineken, filling it to the brim and thusly, emptying his third bottle for the night. He could down these things by the cases if he felt like it, he had a pretty good constitution and it took quite a bit before he even felt the beginnings of the light-headed buzzing, but tonight, he sorely wished that he could renounce his heavy-weight title and drink himself under the table because he didn’t have very much U.S. currency left in his pocket and he needed something to erase the memory of the humiliating confrontation that happened just a while ago.

“I know how to turn that frown upside-down.”

Sasuke growled inwardly and his lips curled back into a feral snarl at the lame pick-up line and of the three that he’d heard so far this night, that one was the worst.

Why won’t these people leave him alone? Couldn’t they see he wanted to be alone? But upon further retrospect, if he was seeking solitude then he probably shouldn’t have gone to a club in the first place.

“Get the fuck away from me,” he said in a very low, yet surprisingly calm, voice but it wasn’t hard to miss his threatening undertone. The stranger didn’t take the hint like the previous two did and was actually brave enough to extend one hand to brush away a few strands of the Uchiha’s hair but the young boy leaned away from him.

The predatory, dark-skinned man chuckled, obviously amused by his prey’s resistance. “Aww, don’t be like that, darling,” he cooed and reached out to touch his hair again but his voice caught in his throat and he yelled loudly when Sasuke shot out his arm and grabbed two of his thick fingers in his smaller hand and twisted them at an uncomfortable angle.

“I said ‘Get the fuck away from me’.”

“Hey, I don’t allow that kinda behavior at my bar,” castigated the kindly, yet stern bar-keep and he slammed both palms against the polished surface of his beloved bar. “If you guys wanna rough-house, take it outside…or else.”

Sasuke locked eyes with the equally dark, equally vehement pair of the man that he held prisoner. He could see the pained expression drawn into that ebony-colored face but the man was too proud to beg him to let go. He’d already embarrassed himself in one place, he didn’t need to abase himself further this night by being thrown out of this one.

The younger boy gave him a smug smirk and released the captive digits, but not before vindictively twisting them again, making him cry out and cradle his damaged hand in his other arm.

“You little bitch,” he spat, revealing luminescent white teeth that glowed in the dim lighting, evidence that he’d done some extensive bleaching.

“Leave him alone, he’s had a rough night,” the orange-haired barboy spoke up, coming to the dark-haired stranger’s defense. “But while that doesn’t excuse his behavior, he’s new and doesn’t know our house rules yet,” he added with a smile and a wink of one brown eye.

It wasn’t a good enough excuse for the burly man and he continued to give the Uchiha the third degree even though the pale-skinned youth was blatantly ignoring him and taking sips from his drink as if nothing had happened. He wanted to hurt him back and make him cry out until his throat was hoarse but that nosy barman was sure to call security and have him thrown out so, with his tail between his legs, he sulked back to his table of friends who collected their winnings on the failed bet.

“Hey, there you are. I’ve been looking all over for y-.”

Sasuke bristled when he felt a heavy hand clap down on his shoulders and before he could give his new suitor the chance to finish his line, he spun around in his chair, slipped to his feet and reared back a fist, completely disregarding the ‘No Fighting’ rule.

“Whoa! Easy there tiger,” the young blonde chuckled and raised both hands, shoulder height, in surrender.

The Uchiha dropped his arm. This boy wasn’t the enemy…well technically, he was. Sasuke remembered him as the one that played as Power Forward on the Balamb SeeDs. He was Dincht…something that began with a ‘Z’. Zach…Zed…

“Zell!”

Yeah, that was it.

“Dee!” he greeted with the same exuberance and leaned over the bar so they could kiss each other’s cheek.

“It’s been a long time baby-boy,” his friend smiled and reached beneath the counter to fetch a glass and give him a ‘complimentary’ drink.

“Didn’t I tell you the college championships were coming up?” he asked, climbing onto the stool next to Sasuke and pulling his drink to his chest. He was sure he’d mentioned it sometime in the past.

“You most certainly did not,” the other boy huffed taking slight offence to him questioning his impeccable memory.

“Sorry man. It must have slipped my mind.”

“Well, I suppose you were probably too busy with practice and shit to stop by for a visit,” the carrot-top sighed and filled a mug from the drink machine with a dark liquid that foamed and bubbled over at the brim before drinking from it himself.

“That’s right,” Zell confirmed with a nod before mimicking his friend and taking a gulp from his beverage as well.

Sasuke hadn’t returned to his seat yet but he figured he might as well. He wasn’t ready to go back to the hotel yet but he was on his last ten dollars and he’d probably need it for taxi fare so it wouldn’t be prudent to spend it on more drinks, besides, he wasn’t the type of person to eavesdrop on other people’s conversations.

“Hey, where ya goin’?” Dee asked of his retreating back after licking the foamy, brown mustache from his upper lip while holding up another Heineken bottle in temptation. “Stay with me for a little while longer, huh?”

Sasuke turned to face them and when he saw the amused smirk on the other boy’s face he frowned. “What the hell are you looking at?”

“You!” was Zell’s catty reply.

The Uchiha fought the urge to roll his eyes and reclaimed his seat and the remainder of his drink. “Did you follow me here?” he asked, without looking over at him, his attention glued to his reflection in the mirror behind the bar and he winced when he noticed the dark-blue shiner on his cheek.

“Sure did.”

“Why?”

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay, you know, make sure you didn’t turn up missing too.”

“You guys know each other?” and the eldest of the three wagged a curious finger between them.

“You could say that,” Zell started before fishing a smooth piece of ice from his chilled drink. “He’s one of the players from the other team that made it to the finals.”

Sasuke pulled away in surprise, almost falling out of his chair when he felt the sharp sting of the cold ice against his tender bruise.

“Shh,” coaxed the other boy and he continued to paint the dark area with the rapidly melting block.

“So, who came out on top?” Dee grinned before taking another sip from his drink and Zell smiled at his double entendre.

“That should be pretty obvious, don’t you think.”

The orange-haired youth nodded twice and watched as the brunette bristled at the reminder of his team’s humiliating defeat. “Sorry, babe. Better luck next time.”

Sasuke swatted angrily at Zell’s lightly bronzed hand, knocking the ice to the floor. “Did you just follow me to rub that in,” he glowered.

Zell rolled slightly annoyed, blue eyes before cupping his glass with his now free hands. “I heard what happened inside the diner and I saw when Squall and Naruto walked out but when you stormed off by yourself I figured it would be best to keep an eye on you, so that at least someone would know where you were.”

“Hn! I don’t need a baby-sitter.”

“S’funny, ‘cuz you’ve been acting like nothing more than a spoiled child the moment I laid eyes on you.”

“Ooooh!” Dee tittered, very interested in where this was going.

Sasuke’s ire flared. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Zell raised one hand and began counting off the points on each finger. “During the prelims you and that Naruto guy have been at each other’s throats. You decked my friend in the fourth quarter, sulked through the remaining of the game then you insulted the poor guy by calling him a ‘fucking faggot’ in front of friends and strangers.”

“Pfft, hypocrite!” Dee muttered under his breath, upsetting the foam in his drink on his sharp exhale.

Sasuke heard his terse remark and he redirected his anger towards the bartender. “And what do you mean by that?”

The boy raised a disgusted eyebrow. “You have the gall to call someone a fag when you’re a fudge-packer yourself.”

“I’m.not.gay,” he ground out in response, punctuating each word with a vicious snarl.

“Riiight,” Dee replied in a patronizing tone-of-voice. “And I suppose you just happened to wander into a gay club by accident.”

He had him there. Sasuke knew very well that this was a gay club, even the name boldly hinted at its homoerotic nature.

Sasuke also knew that he was gay.

He’d been fighting it for quite some time now, especially since that day Naruto started dating that emo kid but he had been in denial from the very first moment he had doubts about his heterosexuality until tonight. He just didn’t expect that anyone he knew would find him here…or that anyone would find out his secret.

“So…what if I am?” he scoffed, shrugging his shoulder in an immature manner and hiding his slightly flushed cheeks by taking another sip from his almost empty glass.

“You know, I was just about to bring that up,” Zell said, tracing the rim of his decanter with a long finger.

“There’s nothing to ‘bring up’. I’m gay, big fucking deal,” the brunette murmured nastily.

Zell scratched the side of his head. “It’s not that big a deal actually,” he agreed, “it’s just kinda mean that you keep abusing the guy you’re crushing on.”

Sasuke almost choked on his drink and his nostrils burned when the potent beverage regurgitated at the back of his throat. “The guy I’m crushing on?” he coughed, feigning ignorance.

“My grandmother used to say: ‘People throw stones where their heart lies’ and now that I remember everything that’s happened, it does explain why you’ve been acting that way towards Naruto.”

“Bully love, huh?” Dee cut in with an understanding nod of his head. “That’s classic.”

“I don’t pick on Naruto because I like him,” sputtered the brunette. “I pick on him because-.”

“You’re jealous he’s dating Squall and not you.”

Zell hit the nail on the head and the suddenly pale complexion on his already alabaster face confirmed it.

They were both right again. He had liked Naruto a lot at one point but he had been too ashamed, embarrassed and uncertain about his feelings to confess to the other boy. He already knew Naruto was gay so it wasn’t a matter of him being turned down out of disgust, but what if Naruto rejected him for another reason?

He was too afraid to face rejection, was too scared to hear him say ‘No!’ but his fear kept him a prisoner of his torrid emotions towards his school mate and Sasuke spent many sleepless nights and restless days fantasizing about him.

It was easy to become friends with him. Naruto was a very patient, very considerate individual and even though they became close, Sasuke wanted them to be closer.

It was his own fault that things turned out the way they were. He should have put his reservations aside and let the blonde know exactly how he felt. He shouldn’t have hesitated, he should have followed his heart, no matter how corny it sounded to him. He shouldn’t have bullied Naruto just because he’d moved on because if he’d made the first move then Naruto wouldn’t have needed to seek out a relationship with another man in the first place. He shouldn’t have hit Squall, it just made him look like an even bigger jerk in Naruto’s eyes and he shouldn’t have insulted him in the diner just now.

If Naruto’s and Squall’s long-distance relationship didn’t work out he may have had an opportunity to make his move but he’d ruined his image and lost any other chances he would have had of getting together with him in the future.

“Unrequited love, eh?” Dee sighed dramatically, leaning over the table and resting his head in his hands and he waggled his eyebrows at his friend before adding, “now where have I heard a story that sounds so similar?”

A deep blush suddenly appeared on his tanned face. “Sh-shut up,” Zell stammered.

“Zell had a humongous crush on this guy one time, you know,” the meddling barkeep continued, ignoring his friend’s plea. “But he was too chicken to tell him how he felt…”

“Dee, shut up!”

“What?” he barked out a laugh, shrugging an uncaring shoulder. “I just think it’s funny that the guys that you two had the hots for somehow managed to find each other. Pretty small world huh?” he added with a shake of his head and when he saw the realization dawn upon the brunette he confirmed his presumptions by stating, “That’s right! Zell likes Squall, who just happens to be the guy that your crush is dating so you two are in the same boat.”

Squall turned to look at Zell who was fuming and glaring daggers at the callous, titian-haired boy, his lips drawn into a tight, thin line.

Dee saw it and clicked his tongue before washing his mug and wiping his hands in his apron. “Enjoy your cruise,” he purred in a seductive voice before winking at them both and heading over to pry his nose into another customer’s business.

“He’s right, you know,” Zell finally said in a low voice but the distance of the bar from the speakers made it possible for Sasuke to hear him while preventing anyone, not within a foot of them, to hear his confession. “I…I had a huge thing for Squall and…I still do.”

The raven-haired boy was silent for a moment and he lowered his head to the bottom of his empty glass. He contemplated filling it again with the unopened bottle Dee had left for him earlier but Zell spoke up before he had a chance to reach for it.

“Sasuke.”

The Uchiha turned to look at the boy who’d called him by name and realized that his head was just as low as his and his eyes were shielded by half-closed lids. “Hm?”

“This is…I know this is presumptuous of me but-,” he took a deep breath and he closed his eyes completely as he made his request. “Would it be okay if we had a one-night stand? I mean…not as the two of us but just so we could pretend that I’m Naruto and you’re Squall?”

He would have said ‘No!’ even if he didn’t have to pretend to be the man he hated with so much fervor but if he pretended Zell was Naruto then maybe he’d be able to find some kind of closure.

Sasuke stood from his seat and took his bottle of beer in one hand while extending the other to Zell and allowed him to lead him out of the club.

He’d dreamed of the many ways he could be intimate with him and tonight would be the only opportunity he’d have to make his fantasies come true since this was probably the closest he’d ever come to having sex with Naruto.

‘Besides,’ Sasuke mused as he stepped out of the claustrophobic environment and into the crisp night air. ‘One tattooed, blue-eyed blonde was just as good as the other.’

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I like this chapter, I really do. I’ve been playing this over and over again in my mind and it was only when I started typing it that I decided to add Dee and you know what…he worked out a lot better than just having Zell and Sasuke talking by themselves.