Work Text:
Talkingâ€"
"Cole?"
"Hmm?"
"Why do we never ... talk about stuff?"
Colby looked over at Charlie, taking a moment before he answered. They were sitting on the bumper of Colby's car, sharing a bottle of Gatorade and some trail mix. They'd spent the morning hiking through Topanga State Park, getting here early enough to watch the sun rise. Charlie had been particularly pensive over the last hour and Colby had been waiting patiently for Charlie to work around to whatever it was that was bothering him. When it came, it was a doozy.
Colby shrugged, not pretending to misunderstand what Charlie was asking. "Maybe we're just ... not rock the boat kinda guys."
"But," Charlie said, "What if that means our boat never gets out of the harbor?"
Colby smiled at the way Charlie extended his metaphor, then said, "I think we're doing okay."
"I don't want to be just okay," Charlie said heatedly. "I want to be better than okay."
"Hey," Colby said, putting his hand on Charlie's arm. "I didn't mean it that way. I think we're doing great. We came out to my entire office and just had that party where we officially came out to your friends."
"Yeah," Charlie said with a faint smile, "That was fun but ..." He shifted uncomfortably. "I love you and I shouldn't be ... afraid to ask you anything."
Colby touched Charlie's cheek. "There are some things in my life that are pretty scary, but we don't need to start there. How about we start small?"
"Like what?"
"I don't know, ask me something."
Charlie looked at his feet for a moment. Colby wondered what Charlie was going to come up with. Charlie knew next to nothing about Colby's background - no one in LA did, and that's how Colby preferred it. But Charlie was right. Their boat was definitely stuck in the harbor. Don and Will had moved in together and gotten a cat in half the time that Colby and Charlie had been together.
"Umm," Charlie said finally, "Do you have any siblings?"
Colby smiled and nodded. "Good start. There are seven of us kids in my family."
"Seven?"
"Not a big family where I'm from."
"Oh."
"I've got three older sisters - Eve, Becky sorry Rebecca, and LeeAnn, then there's me, and then the twins - Tommy I mean Thomas and Tansy, then Mike."
"Eve, Rebecca, LeeAnn, Colby, Thomas, Tansy, and Mike," Charlie repeated slowly.
"See, that wasn't too bad."
"No, but it was hardlyâ€""
"It was a good start," Colby repeated. "It wasn't too scary to ask or answer."
Charlie shook his head, smiling.
Colby could see more questions in Charlie's eyes, but he took a deep breath and stood up. "Now, do we want to break out the sandwiches now or do we have another trail in us before lunch?"
Charlie accepted the end of the conversation, for now, and stood up himself. "How about we take the sandwiches with us and eat lunch wherever we are in an hour?"
"Sounds good," Colby said and opened the cooler. He packed his backpack full, but felt lighter himself. He'd worried that Charlie just didn't want to know about his uncertain past, and Colby was prepared to pretend his life had started when he had moved to LA. Certainly, coming to LA had been a whole new chapter in his life, and a good one. But maybe he and Charlie could make progress in small steps and then maybe, just maybe, Colby could eventually feel like he could share all of himself with his sheltered young lover.
He shifted the backpack onto his back and smiled over at Charlie. "Santa Inez Trail?"
"Yeah," Charlie said, then grinned. "You carry those supplies, and I'll carry the other ones."
"Whatâ€"" Colby started to ask then laughed when Charlie patted his back pocket where Charlie now regularly kept a pre-lubricated condom.
"Hmm," Colby said, slinging his arm around Charlie's slim shoulders. "Something makes me think we won't be bringing back either my supplies or yours."
"Nope," Charlie said, the concern lines gone from his face. "Talking is hungry work."