The more explicit version of this chapter is on Archiveofourown under the same username and title.
"Tim? Timmy? Carole is on the phone for you." A warm hand rubbed down Tim's side, and he let out a long breath before turned to cuddle into his boyfriend. "Tim? Phone."
"What?" he muttered, opening his eyes and yawning sleepily.
"Carole's on the phone for you. She sounds… upset…"
Tim sighed and wiggled across Gavin's body to grab the receiver from its position face down on the table. His lover made no attempt to get out the way, simply held Tim against his body.
"Hello?" Tim answered, settling into a comfortable position against Gavin's chest.
"Tim!" she yelped, probably having started daydreaming while waiting for him to wake up. "Tim, I am so sorry! I never thought of the time, it's just that when I got the letter from the postman – he's just been with the post for the centre – well, I couldn't believe it and the doctor's surgery isn't open yet so I don't know-"
"Carole, Carole…. Carole!" It took Tim several attempts to interrupt her verbal dribbling. "I don't know what you are talking about. Go from the start."
"The start?" She sounded a little puzzled, but then just sighed and went from the very beginning. "It started at Julie's party on New Year's Eve. Do you remember it?"
"Yes. I went as an explorer and Gavin was a cowboy. You were a … tiger?" it was months ago, he didn't really remember anymore.
"Yes, exactly! Well, we were still living in the house then, but there was no furniture so when I was at Julie's, I went for a lie down."
"Oh, that's understandable." He wondered what she had done with Ben over New Year's… he didn't remember her bringing him.
"Well, it was actually quite warm there, wasn't it? So I'd unfastened my outfit a little lower than I usually would."
It had been warm there because there had been so many people crammed into Julie's house, but Tim didn't interrupt; he just shut his eyes and listened to Carole talk while Gavin stroked gentle fingers through his hair.
"Well, I had had this wonderful dream about the rainforests. I was a tiger and had been tracking down these men who were planning to start cutting them down to make paper. Well, when I found them I gave this amazing roar… but I roared so loudly that I woke myself up. Anyway, I roared, this man roared back."
"What man?"
"One of the men at Julie's party. I don't know who it was. Just not you or Gavin, and Patrick and Mr Brittas are both married, so one of the others. Anyway, he came in, stripped off most of his outfit, pulled me out the rest of mine… Well, I tell you… Since Derek left me, no one has really looked at me, not in that kind of way… Well, except for Mr Wilson, but I'm sure he's just being friendly really. And, it was wonderful to be loved like that. He was strong, and confident, didn't say a word to me, he just made these noises-"
"You can stop there, Carole!" Tim said, his voice higher than he would have liked it as he panicked to get Carole to stop. "So, you had… sex…" He buried his face in Gavin's chest, well aware his face was burning. He always viewed Carole as a sort of mother. She fussed over him, checked he was eating well and that things were alright at home. He chatted with her, checked how Ben was and carefully avoided mentioning anything about her home. He supported her when she could no longer bury her problems and he went to her when he needed a shoulder to cry on.
"Yes."
"What happened next?"
"Well, I had that doctor's appointment, do you remember? Because I've been feeling a little ill recently."
"I remember. You've been waiting for the results."
"Well, I got them by post today."
"It's twenty past seven in the morning, Carole. What are you doing in already?"
There was a silence on the other end that made Tim suspicious.
"Carole?" He asked. Gavin shifted underneath him, sitting up and shifting him to the side. Tim moved silently for him, waiting for his friend to reply.
"It's just… well, that equipment cupboard, it was just dead space really. So I moved a few things about."
"You're living in the centre?" he asked, sitting up and watching Gavin head out the bedroom, pyjamas rumpled, hair all over the place. He was gorgeous…
"Well…yes. Oh, you won't tell Mr Brittas will you? But, you know what he's like about these things."
"I know Carole, I know."
"Well… the doctor thinks I'm pregnant again."
"Congratulations?" said Tim, uncertainly. She didn't sound exactly thrilled. "Is this good? Are you… happy?"
"Well… I don't know." She gave a puzzled little sigh. "Maybe? I don't know where I can put them all. And, it's just me. What if I get sick, or hurt?"
"Always a possibility when you spend that much time around Brittas." Fights did tend to break out around their boss. "But, you know Laura, or Patrick or even Mr Brittas would take the children home with them if you were in hospital or something."
"Or you and Gavin?"
"Well… if no one else could. I'm not very good with children. But, yes, I would."
"You're barely more than a child yourself." She answered, but her tone was teasing. She seemed to have cheered up.
"I'm not in until lunchtime, so I'll see you then."
"Yes. Thank you, Tim."
"Anytime." He hung up quickly, before she could find something else to talk about. "Gavin? You there?"
There was no answer, so Tim struggled to his feet. He'd pop to the loo and then catch some more sleep.
As Tim was settled back down in bed, Gavin slid back in with him.
"You ok?" he asked softly.
"Yeah." Gavin replied briefly, before rolling Tim over and kissing him.
It was nearly three weeks later, right at the end of March, that Tim really put much thought into Carole being pregnant again. It was when Mr Brittas decided that unmarried women could not work alone after dark, and could not be left alone with the men.
Tim supposed it was unfortunate for Laura and the few older, married women they had on the staff, because Mr Brittas had decided they were suitable to chaperone the younger women around. Tim supposed it wouldn't be a problem for too much longer as they were settling into spring and the nights were starting to lengthen out. He couldn't see Laura allowing this to continue through the summer and into the darker months of autumn and winter.
It wasn't until he'd finished listening to Brittas talking about not worshipping in each other's temples and then claimed that Carole wasn't young or attractive enough for 'hanky-panky' that Tim wondered who it was who decided that Carole was an acceptable partner… But as Colin was talking about the problems of not separating men and women, Tim realised that maybe someone didn't consider Carole attractive enough for that.
She said she had been sleeping in a bedroom, and that when he was leaving, he had said he'd meet her downstairs. What if it was one of the gate-crashers and when he saw her in the proper lights downstairs, he changed his mind?
As they headed out, Tim gave her a worried glance.
"You alright?" Gavin asked as he grabbed his badminton racquet.
"Just worried about Carole. I can't believe Julie though." He said, changing the subject with a grin.
"I can. It sounds just like her." Gavin grinned widely.
"As long as she didn't do it just to annoy Brittas, or we'll never hear the end of it."
"He's always complaining about something. I've got to get to my class, people actually turn up for this one."
"It's just to see you in your shorts." Tim replied, a cheeky grin spreading across his face. "I've got to go and check on the squash courts. To check no one has been in longer than their allotted 20 minutes."
"We've only been open half an hour." Laughed Gavin.
"Well, you never know." He turned and headed up the stairs, a grin stretched wide over his face. It really was ridiculous how bothered Brittas was that customers willing to pay for 40 minutes were taking up someone else might magically want. They had only ever had one complaint about someone being on a court too long.
The corridor was chilly when Tim got there though, a cold draft blowing through the open fire door. On the metal stairs just outside, Samantha leaning against the railings, a cigarette in her fingers.
"Hey." He smiled at her, refraining from commenting on how unhealthy smoking was.
"Hey." She gave him a weary smile and placed the fag between her lips.
"It won't be for long. Laura will talk him out of it." He said, trying to sound reassuring.
"I thought I'd left school." She sighed.
"He takes some getting used to." Sam was a new member of staff, it was not yet clear if she would last for long, but not many did.
She nodded her head, and Tim turned and headed back down to reception. He still had 40 minutes until his collection of OAPs came in for their fitness class. He probably ought to find Laura though. He wondered if she was looking after Carole, and he wanted to check.
He popped his head into the staffroom, but it was only Patrick sat in there, reading. The man told Tim she had gone to her office to get ready for her swimming class and the younger man jogged off to catch her before it started. However, he encountered Brittas in the reception. The man was carrying Gavin's hat.
"Oh, if you like, I can take Gavin's hat, Mr Brittas." He said, holding out a hand to take it.
"What?"
"Gavin's hat, I can give it to him if you want." Tim said, then wondered what he had said to cause the suspicious look on his boss's face.
"You know something about this hat, do you Tim?"
"Not really. Just that his name was coming off and he asked one of the girls to sew it back on for him." Tim would have done it himself, but Gavin had insisted he didn't want to bother him with something like this.
"One of the girls, eh?"
Tim nodded his confirmation.
"A quick word if I may, Tim…" Brittas wrapped an arm around Tim's shoulders, as though expecting him to run off, and led him towards the staff rest room. "Patrick, I need this room. Out, please. Tim, sit."
Tim sat in one of the plastic chairs and accepted Patrick's sympathetic glance as he left Tim alone with Brittas.
"You say a girl sewed the name on this hat, Tim. Now, which girl might that have been?" Brittas asked. Tim didn't understand the curiosity, but he decided to comply.
"I don't know. It could have been any of them." He grinned. He did rather enjoy it when he couldn't help Mr Brittas.
"I see. So, he doesn't have one particular girlfriend then?" Brittas sat quickly in his chair, clearly eager for answers.
"I don't think so." Tim replied, fighting to keep the grin that was spreading from getting too wide.
"More the type to play the field, is he?" Asked Brittas slyly, wiggling where he sat.
"You think Gavin's chasing girls?" laughed Tim, wondering how his boss could have gotten this so wrong.
"Believe me Tim, the woman who had this hat did a lot more for Gavin than sew his name back on."
"You reckon?" Tim sat forward, still with a grin on his face, but a niggling concern lit up in Tim's mind. Why hadn't he been allowed to sew the name back on? It wouldn't have taken terribly long. Why did Gavin had to take it to some unnamed girl?
"Whatever he does in his own home, Tim, is his business. I'm not usually one to interfere, but when he starts doing it in my centre…"
"He's doing it in the centre?" Tim cried, horror flooding him. But it made sense. They had been less active in the centre recently, what if this was the reason? What if Gavin had finally realised he could have someone so much better than Tim? A pain shot through his chest at the idea that Gavin might be cheating on him…
"Voice down, Tim. There's no need to wash our dirty linen in public, is there?"
"No, no. Of course not." He said weakly, shrinking down into his seat.
"Good man." Said Brittas, before tapping his finger to his lips and heading out.
Tim didn't move though. Tears welled up in his eyes. If he was doing it in the centre, other people must have noticed. Brittas had to be one of the last people to realise because he tended to be decidedly dense about these things… other people knew, and hadn't told him.
Someone in this centre not only knew, but was his accomplice… a tear escaped his eyelid and dripped down his cheek, following the contours down to his lips. He didn't move to wipe it away. His fingers were clenched, digging into his thighs. His whole mouth was trembling and his body was incredibly tense.
He wasn't enough for Gavin anymore. He took a jerky, shuddering breath in and felt another tear fall. Not only that, but everyone else had been keeping it from him. Brittas had only told him because he didn't know Gavin was with Tim… His breath exhaled in short puffs.
His mother had said they were moving too quickly. They hadn't even been dating a full year when they got the flat together. Now, less than a year after getting the flat, it was all falling apart.
He let out a small noise and then, folding his arms on the table, he buried his face in them and sobbed.
"Tim? What's the matter?" A familiar scent engulfed him and two strong arms pulled him out the chair.
Tim couldn't look Gavin in the eyes though. The pain in his chest was renewed and he yanked himself out of his grip.
"Nothing's the matter." He snapped.
"Oh… I'll leave it for now then. I finish before you today, right? Want me to hang around an extra hour and we can head back together?" Gavin's hands were gently rubbing up and down Tim's upper arms, but it wasn't relaxing.
"Oh, you'll stick with me until other things get sorted, will you?" he said, knowing his tone was harsh and really quite nasty. Gavin deserved it though. He could at least be honest…
"What? What are you talking about?"
"Shall I just carry on like normal; pretend you aren't keeping secrets?" he snarled, before standing up and marching out the room. It wasn't like he needed any extra equipment for the OAPs anyway. He'd head there now and be a few minutes early.
He ended up being horrible to Gavin on their shared break too. He'd been sat trying to read when Gavin had come in. The man had smiled nervously at him and asked about supper. He'd snapped about asking one of his girlfriends. He had made the mistake of looking at Gavin when he had said it though, and now couldn't forget the devastated look on the other's face.
Showering after his afternoon trampoline class, Tim wondered if maybe he hadn't overreacted. He had trusted Brittas to be right about something rather than asking his boyfriend.
He'd been a bit foolish really. While he may not be perfect, Tim couldn't remember one incident where Gavin had actually lied to him. Okay, so the man occasionally omitted details, but otherwise Gavin was an honest person.
While he couldn't really see the attraction Gavin found in him, he could at least trust that it was there. He trusted Gavin.
Of course, when he came out into the staff rest room to see Linda with her arm around him and a large, blue polo shirt on, Tim's fears resurfaced and he stormed back out again, marching straight off to do his pool duty.
Sitting in the lifeguard's chair, he wondered why Linda had been in a different shirt at all. It had been far too big for her and it wasn't the leisure centre logo.
What if it was Linda? What if Brittas had had a point and Linda and Gavin were closer than they should be? He shut his eyes, trying to not start crying again. It gave him a terrible headache and he hadn't brought any painkillers with him… he hadn't even remembered his drink.
The last 2 hours of his shift dragged by. He was unable to get the idea of Linda and Gavin out of his head, and yet the idea that Linda and Gavin would actually do anything was preposterous. Not only was Linda his friend, but he had already decided he trusted Gavin.
The constant debate gave Tim a bad headache which was worsened when he was unable to fully fight back all his tears, and once he had finished the necessary cleaning and tidying, it was painful to keep his eyes open under the bright lights. He staggered through to the staff rest room and stumbled straight into Gavin's arms.
"You look terrible, Timmy. Headache?" Gavin's arms came up around him and his face was pressed into Gavin's solid chest. "Here."
Two ibuprofen were put into his hand and Tim pulled back enough to take them. He accepted a sip of water from his lover's bottle and buried his face back into Gavin.
They sat on the hard floor of the staff room for some time. Several people came in and went back out quietly, but Tim supposed Gavin must have shushed them, because no one spoke a word. Eventually, Tim pulled back and stood up, he even offered a hand and helped pull Gavin to his feet.
"Brittas said about how you'd been doing… things in the centre." He said softly, trying to convince himself that this was the right thing to do. He stared at the floor and forced the words out. "He kept saying about how you have girlfriends and I said you didn't, but… I'm not always… very much, so-"
His babble cut off when Gavin put a finger under his chin so he could meet Tim's eyes and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.
"I love you, Tim. I happen to find you perfect for me."
"I'm not perfect." He scoffed, glaring at Gavin.
"No. You aren't perfect, but neither am I. You are perfect for me though. I don't want or need anyone else."
Somehow, the simple declaration wiped away Tim's fears. He gave his boyfriend a weak smile and pressed close into an embrace. Exhaustion was beginning to seep into his limbs as relief flooded through him.
"I love you too." He said in a whisper.
"Let's go home." Gavin kept one arm around Tim as they headed out the centre, heading back to the flat they shared together.
