Summary: Cisco gets drafted for the Corporate Challenge Bowling Team when one of the team members, who can actually bowl, breaks their arm. Dr. Wells thinks it'll be a great opportunity for Cisco and Hartley to bury the hatchet. Of course, the problem is that Cisco doesn't actually know the first thing about bowling.
Hartmon Fest 2019:
– Mar 12th - working together
– Feb 20th - no powers Aus
Notes: So... I've wanted to write a bowling fic since I wrote what was supposed to be a couple of throwaway comments about bowling instead of clubbing in (This Isn't) The Timeline You Were Looking For. However, much like Cisco at the start of this fic, I am not much of a bowler. Thank goodness for wikipedia.
Strike
Cisco was quite comfortable not participating in the Corporate Challenge this year. It was his first year at STAR Labs, he wasn't really into the whole rivalry with Mercury Labs yet, and... Cisco wasn't really a sporty person. Also, Hartley Rathaway was involved in several of the teams (basketball, soccer, relay races, and bowling), so... yeah, Cisco was happy to stay away from Hartley too.
But then Mitch Loeb broke his arm two weeks before the bowling section of the challenge was set to start and Hartley was left scrambling for someone to fill the empty slot on their team so STAR Labs wouldn't get disqualified.
"Come on, Ronnie, you're an amazing bowler," Hartley was begging as Cisco entered the lab that morning. "Absolutely brilliant."
"I've also got that week off work, Hartley," Ronnie reminded him, half amused and half annoyed. "Cait and I are taking a cruise. I'm going to propose to her. It's why I wasn't on the team to begin with, remember?"
"Have you actually filed your PTO for a change?" Hartley asked, backing off though not gracefully.
"I... think I did?" Ronnie scurried off to find his work computer to check.
"Dammit," Hartley muttered, leaning forward in his chair to face plant on the table in front of him. Then he turned to look at Cisco. "Ramon. I don't suppose you bowl?"
"Nope." Cisco shook his head, relieved to have dodged that bullet.
Or he was until a voice came from behind him. "I bet you can learn, though. You've got excellent hand-eye coordination for detailed work, I'm sure you can apply that to tossing a ball down a lane." Harrison Wells came up behind Cisco, smiling cheerfully.
"I don't know..."
"Honestly, at this point I will take someone who occasionally manages to knock down a pin. We just need our foot in the door on this one so that we beat Mercury Labs at the overall challenge. I mean," Hartley was sitting up again by now and his tone grew longing, "it'd be nice to wipe the floor with them at bowling too, but the overall Corporate Challenge is the important part."
"It'd also be a great opportunity for the two of you to get to know each other better. Wouldn't that be great?" Harrison smirked as the two of them gave him equally disbelieving stares. "Maybe you two will stop acting like you've got a major sibling rivalry going on," he added, giving them each an arch look of his own.
Both Hartley and Cisco looked away in faint embarrassment.
"So that's a yes, then? From both of you?"
It was a yes. Cisco found himself shamed into joining the bowling team.
"Okay, so do you know how to pick out a bowling ball that works for you?" Hartley asked, pulling his own bowling ball out of his travel bag, along with a pair of bowling shoes.
Cisco looked at the rental shoes he'd been given when they were assigned a lane at the desk and wrinkled his nose. "Not really," he said, not relishing the idea of sticking his feet into those shoes.
"Here."
Looking up, Cisco reacted on instinct to catch the bottle Hartley tossed him. "What?"
"Scented anti-septic spray. Might make you feel better about wearing those, though admittedly it's more of a placebo than anything. If you don't like bowling, then it probably won't be worth buying your own pair of bowling shoes." Hartley paused and gave the rental shoes a distrustful look of his own. "Though it won't really hurt to just stay in your sneakers. A lot of beginners do."
Cisco gave the shoes an experimental once over with the spray. They weren't any more appealing to wear, but at least they smelled nicer. "Is there an advantage to wearing the bowling shoes?"
"The soles of the shoes are more slippery, helps with sliding when you're releasing the ball to give it a smoother landing. Fewer variables to worry about when determining the balls path and curve. The heels are more rubbery to help you break the slide and not, well, fall on your butt. Which I've done." Hartley grinned, the expression surprisingly open compared to what Cisco was used to from him. "Bowling shoes can take a little getting used to, so you might walk around in them some first if you do put those shoes on."
Sighing, Cisco went ahead and put on the shoes. "So, how do I pick a bowling ball?"
"You want one that has a good weight to it. Heavy, but not uncomfortably so. Generally it's a good idea to start testing with a ball that's about 10% of your weight and then go down from there. Also, you'll need to check the positions of the holes. There's not a whole lot of diversity in the hole locations since the house balls are meant to be generic and thus really don't fit anyone quite right, but you'll want to make sure the grip is comfortable. So you'll want to pick it up and hold it like you're about to bowl in order to test the feel of it." Hartley stood up and waited for Cisco to get up too, then led the way over to the rack of house balls.
Cisco nearly slipped twice before reaching the carpeted area, which gripped the soles of his shoes better. Hartley was watching with a frown. "When we go back, you might want to put your tennis shoe back on your off foot; whichever side you don't bowl with. It'll give you better traction while walking."
Nodding, Cisco walked up to the bowling balls and tried picking up a few. The first one was way too heavy and he nearly dropped it as he quickly put it back on the rack. The second one was better, but not quite right. The third one was too light. But the fourth one was just right. "Okay, so how am I supposed to hold this?"
Hartley came over and adjusted Cisco's grip and then had him bring up the ball towards his chest. "How's that?"
"Awkward," Cisco sighed. He'd only been bowling maybe a handful of times, all before college, and he'd never liked it. It had been just another thing that Dante did better than him and no one had ever really told him what to do.
Watch your brother, you'll get the hang of it, Paco.
Yeah, no, Cisco hadn't gotten the hang of it.
But Hartley was already being a better teacher than Dante or Cisco's parents had ever been. So... he'd keep going with this.
"Put your other hand on top of the ball and flip it over. I want to check your grip."
Cisco did as told and Hartley hummed softly as he looked at Cisco's hold on the holes.
"Really those are too close together for you. Let's see if I can find a better one..." Hartley wandered down the rack, twirling bowling balls around and then dismissing them until... "here, try this one."
Swapping out the balls, Cisco could feel the difference immediately. Still awkward, but less so than before. He told Hartley that and Hartley grinned again.
"Good to hear. Ready to play?"
"I... I guess so." Cisco shrugged, not exactly enthusiastic about it.
"You know, there's still time. If you hate this, I can find someone else even if it annoys Harrison. He won't really force you to play with the team." Hartley actually looked a little concerned now.
"It's not... I don't hate bowling. Just the memories associated with it." Cisco shrugged and then offered, "my brother is pretty good at bowling, but he's also a jerk. He liked the easy win against me when we were kids and wouldn't help me figure out what I was doing wrong. So I just started refusing to play."
"That sucks. Well, maybe this is your chance to get good at it and rub his nose in defeat?" Hartley offered, tone a little sly. "You also know that, unlike your brother, I want you to do well. For self serving, rub it in McCallister's face at Mercury Labs reasons."
Cisco couldn't help it. He smiled and laughed. "What's the deal with you and McCallister anyway?"
"He's a homophobic dick." Hartley kept pace with Cisco as they headed back to their lane, reaching out to steady him when he nearly slipped stepping back off the carpet. "So, I started at STAR Labs as an intern and joined the Corporate Challenge that first year. And I was our team's best basketball player; we were basically smoking the Mercury Labs team. He tries to get me disqualified mid-game for being an intern. The game stops and there's a long wait to review the rules and... basically I'm sitting there trying not cry and feeling humiliated because suddenly we might be disqualified from the basketball portion because I'd been playing and our backup player was out sick. Dude kept making it seem like I, personally, had done something wrong and terrible by joining the team. I seriously thought Harrison was going to punch him and Tess was going back and forth between telling Harrison to calm the fuck down - that's a quote, I remember being in shock that Tess cussed - and reassuring me it was all going to be okay.
"Anyway, the ruling comes back on our side. Interns being allowed depended on how we're classified. STAR Labs classifies interns as part time employees, not contractors, so I was good to go and the game could resume. McCallister did not take the ruling well at all. He called me a fag... which got him disqualified instead. No homophobic language allowed in the games. Dr. McGee came over afterwards and apologized to me personally. She was absolutely livid with McCasllister. But it was only his first offense, so he got mandatory sensitivity training and a two week suspension. Apparently he's been an exemplary employee ever since and goes out of his way to be polite to the rest of his co-workers regardless of their orientation or gender alignment, but he's still an utter shit to me every year at the Corporate Challenge, or really any time STAR Labs and Mercury Labs does anything jointly."
They were seated back at their lane by then. "So basically, he blames you for his own bad behavior."
"Pretty much." Hartley fiddled with the lane interface, setting up their first game. "Alright, so you're first up. Give it a go and then I can start giving you pointers."
Cisco switched his left shoe back to his sneaker like Hartley had recommended, then headed up to the lane to bowl. The ball seemed to be going straight down to the right of center at first, only to slowly veer off to the left until it hit the gutter right before reaching the pins.
"I've improved," Cisco said wryly, heading back to the seats and the ball return. "I don't immediately go into the gutter. It takes the whole lane to get there now."
"I can help fix that. Promise." Hartley joined Cisco in front of the lane this time. "Okay, so is alright if I reposition you some?"
"Uh, yeah, sure." Cisco felt Hartley's hands on his shoulders.
"First, relax a little, you're really stiff and that affects the swing of the ball. Slide your feet a little more apart... yeah, that's good. Now, when you do swing the ball, don't pull back quite so much with your arm," he had Cisco draw his arm back slowly, to demonstrate, "it's causing you to get shaky and you don't want to accidentally hit yourself with the ball. You were also releasing a little late; you want to let go of the ball when its closest to the ground so there's as little drop from your hand to the floor as possible." Hartley stepped back a ways and added, "give it another try. Don't be disappointed if this one goes in the gutter too, okay. I guarantee you it'll still be an improvement."
So Cisco thought about everything Hartley'd just told him and then brought the ball up to his chest and then stepped and swung and released the ball and... it curved, nearly going into the gutter on the right before curving back and knocking down half the pins.
Turning around to face Hartley, Cisco lit up with a grin. That was a major improvement right there.
"Awesome!" Hartley grinned. "Now you have to be able to do that again. Shift more to the left side of the lane next time. Do you want to go again, or would you like me to take the next frame and you can watch how I do it?"
"You go," Cisco said. "Anything I should be watching for?"
"My feet. Your feet are still pretty stiff when you're taking that step to swing the ball. You want to sort of slide smoothly through the step. I think part of its you're still not used to the shoes."
"Putting my tennis shoe back on my left foot helped with that some," Cisco observed as Hartley picked up his ball.
"Ah, so, it's pretty loud in here. If you say something and you're behind me and I don't react, I'm not ignoring you, okay? I just might not be able to distinguish you from the noise." Hartley touched his ears and Cisco realized that... he'd kind of forgotten Hartley had hearing aids in.
"Got it," Cisco replied, offering a thumbs up.
Hartley beamed in relief, then went to bowl. And of course he got a strike first try. But... Hartley had a point about his feet. His movements were a lot more fluid than Cisco's.
"Ready to try again?" Hartley asked, dropping down beside Cisco as the pins were being set back up.
"Yeah. Here in a little bit you're going to have to explain the scoring system, because that guy over there with all the strikes is getting a really impressive amount of points." He gestured to the lane two down from them.
"Let's see what you figure out from our first few frames, okay?"
"Frames?" Cisco echoed blankly.
"One frame is one set of pins, basically. You have two deliveries per frame - they're more commonly just called balls, though, and be prepared for some awful innuendo about that, Carson Labs lead bowler gets ridiculous - but if you get a strike on the first ball then the frame ends there. The pins are reset and the next frame begins." Hartley waved Cisco of towards the lane. "Bowl, Cisco. Bowl."
Rolling his eyes, Cisco headed back up to the lane. He shifted to the left, adjusted his stance, stepped and swung... and released the ball a little late, he could feel the difference. He winced as he heard the ball drop heavily on the lane.
It curved again, but differently this time and wound up in the left gutter again.
"Alright," Hartley said, startling Cisco from behind, "what do you think went wrong there?"
"I released the ball too late."
"You also twisted your body a little to the left mid swing. I think maybe this time your stance is a touch too wide."
Cisco nodded, grabbed his ball from the return and tried again. This time the ball curved a lot more like his second attempt had and he got four pins. "Want to skip me and go again? The repetition might help you."
"Yeah, okay." Cisco took the next four deliveries in a row: 6, 2, 7, 0.
"That's pretty good, Cisco. You're getting pretty consistent there already. A heavier ball might help with that too, but that's something you have to work yourself up to."
"Speaking of which, my arm's getting kind of tired." Cisco sat down on the bench. "You go. Even if you strike I'll get to sit here half a frame."
"You can check out the scoring and then we can talk about how the point system works," Hartley said, standing and stretching before grabbing his ball and heading to the lane.
Another strike.
"So, how'd you get into bowling?" Cisco asked as he studied the scores.
"Corporate Challenge," Hartley laughed when Cisco shot him a look. "I was only on the basketball team first year, until Jamie - um, he quit right before you were hired - Jamie sprained his wrist. I got talked into joining and I was pretty awful. Had a lot of fun, though, so I kept up with it. I ended up joining an amateur league a few years ago. Though I... I quit last year." Hartley frowned, adding, "I was out of practice when the team came together. Almost didn't volunteer for it."
"Well you're clearly back in practice now," Cisco said when Hartley trailed off, looking slightly pensive.
"Yeah. Sure am." Hartley bumped shoulders with him. "So scoring. What do you think it is?"
"Number of pins knocked down per ball per frame. Unless its a strike, and then... the next frame is counted double?"
"Pretty close. A strike starts with ten points for ten pins. But it counts the points of the next two balls too. So if I got a double - two strikes in a row - followed by a six and a three, then the first frame is twenty-six points, the second frame nineteen, and the third frame is nine."
"So the points add up fast the more strikes you can do," Cisco concluded. "And I guess for team bowling all our personal scores are added up at the end for the total score?"
"That's right. You're actually pretty good at this for your first time bowling in forever."
"Really?"
"Really, really," Hartley responded, mock solemnly.
Cisco laughed again and rolled his eyes. "I'm going to bowl some more. See if I can get better at hitting the remaining pins after my first ball."
After that first evening practicing with just Hartley, Cisco met up with the whole team the following night. One of the other two team members - Kendra Saunders - bowled like Hartley. Strike after strike after strike. Jake Dorsey, the third guy on the team, was less consistent, more likely to total up between 8 and 10 points per frame with the occasional strike in between. Cisco got nervous all over again and his first couple of frames were an inconsistent mess, half his balls going into the gutter.
Kendra was sympathetic and Cisco couldn't stop blushing every time she smiled at him. Her overly possessive boyfriend who was sitting with them didn't help, as he glared daggers at anyone - even Hartley - who was more than distantly polite to Kendra. Which meant everyone because Kendra was nice to everyone and they were all nice in return.
Hartley took Cisco aside after the first half of the frames were complete. "Carter's an ass. Don't let him get to you, okay? I know you're nervous, but you've got a talent for bowling. If it helps, maybe just... pretend we're all doing this for fun, not practicing for the Challenge, okay? Like yesterday. That... that was fun, right?" Now Hartley seemed a touch nervous.
"Yeah. It was, Hartley. I had a lot of fun." Cisco felt himself relax some because it was true. He'd really enjoyed bowling with Hartley the night before. No caring about the scores, just... talking and bowling and occasionally pointers. "Thanks. I think I feel better about this now."
Cisco started getting a more consistent throw after that. And, weirdly, he was less flustered by Kendra too.
Later, Cisco told himself he hadn't really been looking back at Hartley for approval after every frame. But... he kind of had been.
On Thursday morning, Hartley dropped by Cisco's work space. "Hey, so I was wondering if you wanted to do some more bowling practice tonight. The team only meets up once more - next Tuesday - before the Challenge match, so I thought..." he trailed off, fidgeting nervously.
"Sure. Sounds fun. And I'm not gonna turn down the chance to practice with someone else. I feel weird about going to bowl alone."
"Yeah, it's definitely something more fun to do in groups." Hartley looked relieved. "Anyway. I've got a meeting, but, um... I guess we'll meet up around five, maybe have dinner first?"
"Works for me. If I don't see you before then, we should meet at your office."
Hartley bobbed his head in agreement, then hurried off to make his meeting on time.
Huh... dinner and bowling. That would make a nice date, wouldn't it?
Which it wasn't. Because they weren't. Cisco blushed and tried to change the subject of his thoughts, but... it would make a nice date, right?
Cisco sighed and ran his hands through his hair. Earlier this week he could only stand Hartley in small doses and now he's thinking 'oh, a date with Hartley, wouldn't that be nice'?
Maybe it was true. Reading too many belligerent UST fanfics really did rot the brain.
Friday evening, Cisco wound up at Caitlin and Ronnie's place. And he maybe waxed a little too lyrical about how much fun bowling with Hartley had turned out to be. Because they were giving him very careful looks. The sort of looks that asked when Cisco was replaced by pod-Cisco.
"I'm not a pod person," Cisco grumbled, pouting at them.
"We didn't say that," Caitlin responded.
"Your expressions did," Cisco countered.
Ronnie snickered. "Yeah, well, can you blame us? All you've ever done is complain about Hartley before. He's too demanding, he makes fun of your meme-shirts, he's so pretentious, he drinks frilly loose-leaf tea, it's so annoying how attractive he looks you just can't stop staring at his ass..."
"What? I don't stare at his ass!" When Caitlin made a disbelieving noise, Cisco insisted, "I don't... do I?"
"You do. He wears those skinny jeans around you on Fridays and you're just lost to anyone who isn't him," Caitlin told him. "Admittedly, I get it. He's very pretty."
"Oh god," Cisco muttered, hiding his face in his hands. "This is so embarrassing."
Ronnie was mock pouting at Caitlin now.
"Oh shush, you, you're prettier and you know it," Caitlin told Ronnie, poking him on the nose.
"You two are too sweet, I'm gonna get cavities." Cisco looked up and smiled when his friends stuck their tongues out at him.
"Speaking of sweets, I think its my turn to make a dessert run. Sonic blasts all around?"
"Butterfinger, please," Cisco requested while Ronnie asked for cookie-dough.
"I'll be back in a few," Caitlin promised, disappearing out the door.
Ronnie immediately jumped up and ducked into the bedroom, reappearing a few moments later with a small box. "Okay, so take a look. This will hopefully be on Cait's ring finger when we come back from vacation. It's a week away and I'm so damn nervous..." he handed the box over to Cisco.
"You did file the PTO, right?" Cisco asked absently, popping open the box. The ring was lovely. Instead of one large diamond, it was three small ones set into the band. Likely expensive, but not exorbitantly so. "I really don't want to know the cost of this, do I?" he muttered absently.
"Yes, Cisco. The PTO has been filed. You've reminded me three times, Hartley's reminded me twice, Harrison and Tess have each reminded me four times... and you don't want to know how many times Caitlin's asked. You forget to file PTO until the day before one time and suddenly everyone's a critic." Ronnie took the box back. "And the answer is expensive; very, very expensive. But it's similar to one Cait saw that she really liked the style of. That one was about two or three more verys for the expensive, though, so I went with something a little more in my budget range."
"She'll love it. And it was twice, Ronnie. Not once."
"You guys suck," Ronnie sighed, going to re-hide the ring. When he re-emerged from the bedroom, he said, "so, Hartley, huh? Are you considering maybe asking him out on an actual date and not bowling practice not-dates?"
"He probably wouldn't be interested. He's just being nice because he wants to kick McCallister's ass at Corporate Challenge."
Ronnie muttered something rude about McCallister under his breath. "Trust me, Cisco. Every time he's in the same room as you and you're bent over a lab table? He's suddenly flustered and trying not to stare at you and failing badly."
"No."
"Yes."
"No... no way."
"He kept confusing his words last time. Remember, last week, he kept getting the names of the parts in the scanner mixed up?" Ronnie smirked evilly. "Then you stood up and turned around and he was fine again."
"He... was a little red in the face," Cisco allowed, his brain trying to decide whether or not to short circuit over this information.
"Blushing, Cisco," Ronnie said dryly. "It's called blushing. And he had trouble meeting your eyes too, because he was probably worried you'd caught him staring."
"Holy shit..." Cisco breathed out. It fit. It really fit. "But... okay, so even if he does find me physically attractive, that doesn't mean he wants to date me."
"But you're considering the idea, aren't you?"
"Shut up."
Ronnie laughed at him some more, but took pity on Cisco and turned on Netflix, picking The Good Place off the queue.
Saturday, Cisco met Hartley for another bowling not-date. They went in the morning while the lanes weren't so busy so Hartley could hear better.
"So," Cisco asked after they'd each done a couple of frames, "why'd you stop playing?" When Hartley looked confused, Cisco elaborated with, "the first time we played, you said you'd been out of practice before joining the STAR Labs team. You seem to really like bowling, so why'd you stop?"
"Oh... that." Hartley bit his lower lip - a sure nervous tell with him - and used getting up to bowl as an excuse to consider his answer. Not a strike this time, though. Nine pins. Hartley sat down by Cisco as he waited for the ball to be returned. "I... I met my last boyfriend through my bowling league. When we broke up... he got the team. I... didn't. He'd been on the team longer, everyone liked him more... I haven't heard from any of them, and that's even with calling on my part. Like I'm off the team, so I don't exist anymore. Then to find out that not even a week after we broke up, Chip was dating one of our... his other teammates. I guess that explains why Justin wouldn't return my calls, but Becky? So much for those friends." Grabbing his ball, Hartley screwed up the release, sending it straight into the gutter. Cisco could barely hear the quiet "fuck" over the sound of the lane being used a few rows down from them.
"Sorry," Cisco said quietly when Hartley was sitting beside him again. "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."
"It's not your fault." Hartley plucked at his sleeve absently. "I'd just found about Chip and Justin the day you started at STAR. I was an utter shit to you, and everyone else, that day. But it was your first day and you especially didn't deserve my attitude. I know I've apologized before, but... I just want to be sure you know I really mean it."
Cisco breathed out, startled surprise. He... had thought Hartley had apologized to be polite or because Dr. Wells and Dr. Morgan pushed for it, not because he'd meant it. Seemed Cisco had misjudged Hartley there. He felt bad about it now.
"I sort of know how you feel there," Cisco offered. "I'd just gotten out of a long term relationship too, when I was hired."
"Oh, really?" Hartley perked up, looking interested. "Well, fair's fair. What happened?"
"It was... I don't know, it was a lot of little things. We talked past each other sometimes. She was straight and didn't really understand why the assumptions made about us as a couple made me feel like my being pan was being erased sometimes. We wanted really different things in life. At first, we thought we'd find ways to compromise and make things work. We were really in love and... everyone says love conquers all, right? But... it really doesn't.
"She was very adamant that she was never, ever getting married. She hated the institution and the historical baggage and I didn't really get it, but I accepted that if I wanted to stay with her then marriage was basically off the table... but, I don't know, it was pretty big disappointment to me because... I've always wanted that. Marriage, house with a yard, a couple of kids, dog, cat, maybe a caged rodent or two." Cisco shrugged. "She wanted to travel and never marry and no kids - biological or adopted - and the only pet she'd agree on was the rodent."
Hartley snorted softly. "Sorry, just, the way you keep saying rodent is... kind of funny."
Cisco smiled because that was why he'd phrased it that way. "I was willing to give up on marriage and compromise on the traveling, as long as she was willing to settle down eventually, but... kids. That's... you can't compromise on something like that. You either have a child or you don't. So we eventually admitted that we weren't working out and broke up. Afterwards, I... I needed a change of pace. I didn't feel like Rain Labs was really challenging me at work anymore, so I tried my luck putting my resume in at STAR Labs. Turned out to be exactly what I needed."
"Well, I'm glad you joined us," Hartley said, voice warm as he reached over and squeezed Cisco's shoulder.
Standing up to bowl his frame, Cisco felt suddenly like he was in the zone. He lined up on the left side of the lane, swung the ball, and... strike.
"Holy shit," Cisco breathed out, whirling around and grinning widely. "Did you see that?!" He giggled. "I actually did it."
The bright smile on Hartley's face made Cisco feel all light and airy.
The following week passed too quickly. Aside from practice on Tuesday, Cisco bowled with Hartley again on Friday, but they were both tired from the long week and so their conversation was fairly subdued.
Then, Monday arrived and with it the Bowling Tournament for the Corporate Challenge. And the capitalizations were definitely necessary, according to Hartley.
There were three nights of bowling. Half the teams played Monday - STAR Labs included. The other half played Wednesday. The top three teams from each night then played on Friday.
Cisco was excited and he got multiple texts from Caitlin and Ronnie throughout the day, wishing him well and demanding he keep them updated on how he did that afternoon.
At twelve o'clock, Harrison and Tess rounded up the bowling team and treated them all to lunch before taking them to the bowling alley and checking the team in.
"You okay?" Cisco asked Hartley the third time he winced at the sound. Most of the teams were early and playing warm up rounds before the official tournament began. Jake was setting them up for one of those too.
"Yeah, just, they stick us all together on one side of the bowling alley and it gets pretty loud. I forgot just how loud." He sighed and said, "I'm going to have a lot harder time hearing you, or anyone else, so would you help me make sure if someone tries to talk to me they're facing me? I might not be able to hear exactly what they're saying, but what I do hear plus lipreading usually gets me pretty close."
"You got it," Cisco promised. And he held up to that promise too. When Jake got huffy over Hartley 'ignoring' him, Cisco reminded him to get Hartley's attention first, face him, and enunciate clearly. Kendra forgot a few times too, though she corrected herself quickly. Harrison and Tess, though, they never forgot. They might not be bowling, but they were there for moral support. Their very own sit-in cheer-leading squad.
Hartley looked ridiculously pleased as they finished up their practice round. He and Kendra were on a roll like normal, Jake seemed to be doing more strikes than usual, and Cisco was averaging eight pins every frame.
And then the tournament began. Carson Labs' team had to swap in an alternate halfway through when the team leader was disqualified for making some really stupid innuendo to the ladies about frames, lanes, and balls. STAR Labs wasn't the best team, but they were doing pretty well and Hartley was certain they were going to place second.
When the final scores were announced, Greyson Industries came in first, followed by STAR Labs and Pendleton Corp.
As they were in the car headed back to STAR Labs, Cisco heard Hartley and Tess talking in the back seat.
"I wasn't sure if you knew this, Hartley, but Rathaway Industries has a team in the bowling tournament this year. They were a last minute addition, so they were added to the Wednesday play off, but..."
"It means my parents might be there on Friday," Hartley filled in. "If their team does well enough and they actually care enough to show up." He sounded uncomfortable and tense and Cisco wanted nothing more than to reach back and take his hand.
Instead, when they were all back at the lab, Cisco dragged Hartley off for coffee in the break room and convinced him to take turns with Cisco regaling the interns with tales of their win. (He also texted Ronnie and Caitlin; lots of emojis were involved.) Hartley seemed a lot cheerier after that, the interns seemed terrified by the idea that Hartley and Cisco were actually getting along, and Harrison dropped in at one point to chime in with an observer's perspective. (Dr. Wells was also very, very smug about how friendly Cisco and Hartley were now.)
Wednesday, Hartley was a mess of nerves all afternoon. So Cisco convinced him that the team ought to go have drinks together. One last bonding event before the final game.
So they ended up at a brew pub, Carter in tow and surly as ever. While Kendra was distracted by her boyfriend and Jake was off getting another beer at the bar, Cisco asked Hartley what it was that was winding him up so badly.
"Um... so... you heard Tess on the drive back on Monday, right? About Rathaway Industries having a bowling team?"
Cisco nodded.
"Right, so... my parents haven't acknowledged my existence since they disowned me. They, uh, weren't thrilled to find out I'm gay." Hartley ran a hand through his hair, eyes distant. "They come to the Corporate Challenge sometimes. But usually STAR Labs and Rathaway Industries don't end up competing against each other, even if they're in the same challenges, simply because one or both of our teams gets eliminated before the rounds where we might encounter each other. And I know my parents never bother coming to the relay races, which is about the only reason I let the team keep talking me into joining each year. But the idea that my parents might be there on Friday and just... ignore me? It hurts. You'd think it wouldn't, after all this time, but it still does."
Reaching out a bit tentatively, Cisco took Hartley's hand in his. "I wish I could make it hurt less," he offered quietly.
"You know what, Cisco? You're doing a really good job of that already." Hartley sighed and pulled out his phone with his free hand. "I'm going to check the rankings from today's game." He held tightly to Cisco as he read out, "first place was Palmer Tech, followed by Mercury Labs and Rathaway Industries." He slid the phone over to Cisco, showing him a picture of the Rathaway Industry's team. "So the stern looking couple in the background. They're my parents. And if they were there today, then..."
Then odds were they'd be there Friday too.
"McCallister and my parents, all in the same day," Hartley sighed, slumping in his chair. "This is going to suck."
Friday at noon, Harrison and Tess rounded up the bowling team again and treated them to lunch once more. Then they went back to the bowling alley and set up at their lane.
Mercury Labs was at the opposite end of the allotted bowling lanes for the tournament from their team, so Cisco only briefly glimpsed the infamous McCallister before being seated at their lane. Rathaway Industries, however, was sharing the seating area with the STAR Labs team. Mr. and Mrs. Rathaway, thankfully, were nowhere to be seen.
Cisco didn't know if they just didn't have time to come along the way they had Wednesday or they were actively avoiding Hartley or what. But he didn't care what the answer was, so long as Hartley was okay.
And Hartley did not seem okay. At all. He was tense, nervous, snappish... when one of the Rathaway team members had asked curiously about Hartley's last name, he nearly bit the guy's head off. His head wasn't in the game at all and warm ups were not going well.
Finally, when it seemed that Harrison and Tess were having no luck helping Hartley settle down, Cisco grabbed him and dragged him off to get a soda.
Away from the crowd and the noise, Cisco impulsively hugged Hartley. "I know this is really hard on you right now," he said, feeling Hartley tense a moment before hugging him back fiercely. "But we've got your back. All of us. And if it helps, maybe pretend its just the two of us having fun. The Corporate Challenge doesn't matter, okay? You matter."
Hartley pulled away and took off his glasses, wiping at his eyes. "Thanks, Cisco. I... I really needed that."
They got sodas for everyone, went back to the seating, and Hartley apologized to the guy he'd snapped at, simply stating that yes, he was their bosses son and it was awkward and he'd rather not talk about it. The Rathaway Industry guy had the decency to apologize as well, though, for sticking his nose where it didn't belong. Hartley's warm ups improved. Not quite his usual standards, but still an impressive number of strikes.
Cisco was just trying to contain the bubbly warmth in his chest because he. Hugged. Hartley.
Apparently being giddy over hugging Hartley was good for Cisco's game because suddenly he was getting nines and tens on his frames. And a strike. He got a strike, it was awesome. But it was also warm up, which lasted longer today than on Monday because someone was quibbling over the eligibility of Pendleton Corps' team members.
Hartley rolled his eyes. "Ten bucks says it McCallister making trouble again."
"Sucker's bet," said one of the Rathaway team members, making them all laugh.
Finally the warm ups were canceled and all the teams were ready to begin.
Hartley, it seemed, had his groove back. And he kept grinning at Cisco like... like...
Like Cisco was the only person in the room. Or at least the only person in the room who mattered.
Fourth frame, Cisco got a strike. And then again seventh frame. Then they were on the tenth frame and they were six points behind Mercury Labs. Cisco was the last to bowl and as he got up to bowl he noticed... Mr. and Mrs. Rathaway in the back of the room, behind the ball racks, watching Hartley with unreadable expressions.
Something inside Cisco tensed for a moment because he really, really wanted Hartley to have this. For them to beat Mercury Labs and not have to deal with his parents and just... have every reason to wear the biggest, most beautiful smile.
"No pressure," Hartley said, not seeing his parents standing there behind him. "You've been doing great Cisco. These last six points? Totally in the bag."
He reached over and put a hand on Cisco's shoulder, squeezing lightly and brushing Cisco's hair away from his face.
Yeah, sure, no pressure. But, for all that his chest felt all fluttery and tight all at once... that feeling was back from Saturday. He grabbed his ball, went down to the lane and... strike.
The ball came back and, since it was a strike on the last frame he got two more balls. They wouldn't count on their own, but would count towards the points on the final frame.
He lined up again, the pins reset, and he still felt that lightness and certainty and... another strike.
The pins had to reset again and Cisco felt like his heart was pounding louder than all the noise in the alley. But he lined up again, stepped and swung and slid his foot and released the ball... another perfect strike.
"Holy crap," Cisco breathed out. He spun around and just beamed at Hartley and found himself being enveloped in a hug from the other man before Jake and Kendra were hugging him too. Because thirty points. Thirty points meant they didn't just beat Mercury Labs. It meant they came in third place, beating out Rathaway Industries by five points.
It was awesome. There were little bronze medals for the team members - Cisco wasn't sure he'd do with his when he got home, but they were all wearing them for now. And a little bronze bowling themed trophy that was handed off to Harrison and Tess, who took selfies with it before passing it around to the team for everyone to take pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. Cisco was getting a little dazed from all the camera flashes by the time they were done. But it was oh, so very rewarding.
He texted a bunch of pictures to Ronnie and Caitlin along with the words 'incoherent screeching' and a couple of snaps of his final score and all the points from his frames.
And then Mr. and Mrs. Rathaway walked up. Cisco didn't see them approach the team, but he saw the way Hartley froze up at the sight of them, the color and happiness draining from his face.
"Mother, Father..." Hartley greeted stiffly.
"Congratulations," Osgood Rathaway offered, voice clipped.
"Hartley..." Rachel Rathaway sounded sad as she said her son's name. "If... if you would be willing, could we have a moment of your time?"
Tess put her hand on Hartley's shoulder and gave him a questioning look while Harrison glowered at the Rathaways. But Hartley agreed to speak with his parents anyway and the three of them moved a little ways away for privacy. Hartley wasn't gone for long and when he got back he seemed full of nervous energy.
Cisco reached over and brushed the back of Hartley's closest hand with his fingers, offering comfort if Hartley wanted it. Which he seemed to, given how he immediately latched on tightly to Cisco's hand. They stayed hand in hand all the way back to the van and then sat together in the back seat, Hartley staring out the window blankly while holding tightly to Cisco like a life line.
Once back at STAR Labs, Hartley attempted to disappear. Easier said than done, though, because Cisco just followed along quietly until they were alone in Hartley's office and the other man had clearly given up on trying to politely ditch Cisco. If taking the most ridiculously long route as possible to Hartley's office didn't work, then Hartley must've realized Cisco was serious about the whole silent moral support thing.
Hartley didn't go sit at his desk once they were inside, though. He sat down against the wall, pulled his knees up under his chin, and just looked very lost. So Cisco sat down beside him and very carefully put an arm around Hartley's shoulder. Sighing quietly, Hartley leaned into Cisco's touch while Cisco started running his hand up and down Hartley's arm in hopes that the motion would be soothing.
"So... I bet you're wondering what my parents said to me," Hartley finally said.
"I am curious. If you want to share, I'm a good listener," Cisco responded.
"Yeah... you really are." Hartley snuggled closer. "They want to see me. Sunday afternoon, for lunch. Years that they haven't spoken to me, haven't returned my calls, have actually told people that they don't have a son... and now they want to see me."
"What did you tell them?"
"I'm busy. Which I'm not but, quite frankly, screw them for thinking I'd just jump at the chance for... whatever they think they're offering." Hartley sounded exhausted. "I told them I'd call and let them know when I'm not too busy to meet them for lunch, though, because mother looked..." he trailed off. "Harrison and Tess are going to want to come with me when I tell them."
"I want to go with you," Cisco muttered.
Hartley tensed and then sat up, drawing away some in order to better look at Cisco. "You do?"
"You're," my massive crush, "my friend. I'd like to support you and... your parents will have each other to lean on for this meeting. You should have someone there with you who is firmly in your corner and supporting your choices."
A slow, shy smile lit up Hartley's face. "Thank you, Cisco." He leaned over and hugged Cisco.
Which was when the door opened and Harrison peeked in.
"Oh, sorry for interrupting. Don't forget to update HR with your relationship status, though." The door shut. Both men were staring up at the door in shock.
"Uh... I'm sorry. I'll just..." Hartley stood up. "I'll set Harrison straight..."
"Or... maybe we could prove him right? I... I mean, its fine if you aren't interested, but I do really like you, Hartley..." Cisco was blushing as he, too, stood up.
"Are you asking me out?" Hartley looked stunned.
"Well... if you were on a date with me on Sunday then it would retroactively make what you told your parents about being busy that day true..." Cisco paused a beat, then added, "but really, I mean, if you're not interested..."
"I'm interested, just... surprised you are." Hartley's face lit up with a shy smile Cisco hadn't seen before. He thought he might like this smile best. "I would love to go on a date with you Sunday. Anything in particular you want to do?"
"Anything but bowling," Cisco declared and they both laughed. "Though, I enjoy that a lot more than I used to, because of you."
Hartley came out of Dr. Well's office muttering something in Latin that did not sound polite. Tess started laughing.
"What did Harrison do this time?" she asked.
"Your husband is a troll," Hartley told her, glaring over his shoulder, but otherwise refusing to elaborate.
Tess just snickered some more. "Pretty sure we all already knew that, Hartley."
"Are you ready to head out to the 'we won, we won, we beat Mercury Labs at bowling' party now?" Cisco asked.
"Yeah," Hartley grinned at Cisco and reached out to take his hand. "Let's go."
"Hold on," Cisco said as his phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out and then laughed with joy and announced loudly, "Caitlin said yes," to cheers all around. He texted back, 'everyone says congrats' and 'so I'm dating Hartley now'.
Epilogue
"Did you see the look on his face after I bowled that first frame and got nine pins?" Cisco asked, giggling and, perhaps, a little tipsy.
"I may have just met him, but I'm pretty sure that was his 'well shit' expression," Hartley agreed, snickering at the memory as he shut and locked the door. "I had fun meeting your brother and I think - once Dante got over the shock of you not only bowling, but being good at it and having fun while doing so - he and his girlfriend had fun too."
"It was a pretty fun game," Cisco agreed. "Too bad I couldn't pull off another turkey at the end there."
"Eh, that might've been rubbing in our win a little too much. Next time we might have to take pity on them and have a handicap or something. More importantly, though, you played better than Dante did, which was the point," Hartley said, reaching out to reel Cisco in for a kiss. "We make a good team, you and I."
"Yeah, we do," Cisco agreed before capturing Hartley's mouth for another kiss. "We really do."
Notes: If you suspect Harrison of playing matchmaker... you're not wrong.
The thing with Ronnie and the PTO basically comes from my wondering if the reason Hartley didn't know Ronnie and Caitlin were going on vacation in the flashback to Cisco's first day at STAR Labs was because Ronnie forgot to file for PTO. And then wondering, from there, if that were the case would anyone let Ronnie live it down? The answer, of course, is no. No one would let him live it down.