This is the sequel to "FĂștbol Is Life, But Love Is Love" but can be read independently.


"Dance with me!" Michael has to practically yell in Colin's ear to be heard over the music pulsing through the club's speakers, even though they're standing close enough to each other that Colin can feel Michael's breath against his cheek.

"Let's go!" Colin yells back, leaning even closer to Michael to steal a kiss before allowing himself to be pulled through the crowd until they find a space on the dance floor they can claim for themselves. It doesn't take long to find their rhythm, moving perfectly in sync to the beat of song after song, kissing as often as they want and as long as they want, right there in the middle of the dance floor. No one bats an eye at them.

Colin can't help but smile so wide that his cheeks ache. He hasn't been able to stop smiling all night. He's completely anonymous here. Sure, he's clocked plenty of men blatantly checking him out but none of those looks turned into the looks of recognition that he'd be risking if he were back home in Richmond. He doesn't have to hide under a hoodie or pretend he wound up in a gay club by accident tonight.

Nobody knows him here.

The freedom in anonymity is intoxicating in a way that he's never felt before. If Amsterdam was pure relief that he wasn't alone anymore, tonight is the sheer euphoria of belonging. For once, being gay isn't something he has to hide. This time it's the reason he belongs.

Here in this club, he's not Colin Hughes: Professional Footballer. Tonight he's just Colin Hughes: Michael's Boyfriend.

It's perfect.

He wants every second of tonight seared into his memory so he can hold on to this feeling forever. He wants to bottle it and save it for when he's back home and needs to remember that nights like this exist, to remind himself that one day he won't have to hide who he is from anyone.

Colin loses track of how long they dance, one song fading into the next. The only things he's thinking about are Michael's hands, whatever Michael's hands are doing to his body, and just how much PDA they'll be able to get away with in the middle of a crowd. (Quite a bit, it turns out. There's definitely gonna be at least one new hickey on his neck after tonight.)

Eventually, they need a break from dancing so they weave their way through the crowd back to the table that Michael's best friend David and Joshua, his new husband, have already claimed. David and Joshua are positively beaming in the way that only newlyweds can and they aren't even trying to keep their hands to themselves. They're wearing matching rainbow "just married" sashes that they definitely didn't have before they all got to the club tonight.

It's disgustingly adorable and Colin couldn't be happier for them. Besides, he's got no room to complain. He and Michael are just as bad tonight. They've even got the hickeys to prove it now, too.

Colin and Michael take their seats and immediately gulp down some water. "Maria and Gabby still dancing?" asks Michael, twisting his head toward the dance floor to see if he can somehow find them in the crowd.

Joshua shakes his head. "Went to the bar to get us a round of drinks."

"We'll get the next round then," offers Michael, gesturing between himself and Colin. Colin grins, more than happy with that plan. He's not exactly drunk but he's still feeling the alcohol and he'd like to keep his buzz going for as long as possible tonight. Colin leans in and kisses Michael again just because he can. They don't stop kissing until David and Joshua start coughing and clearing their throats.

"Are you two going to be making out all night?" David tries to look annoyed and it works for all of three seconds before everyone bursts out laughing. It's a ridiculous question. Nobody is keeping their hands to themselves tonight.

"Most likely," Michael manages to say, resting his hand on top of Colin's on the table between them. Colin doesn't even hesitate to twist his hand so he can lace his fingers through Michael's.

"Yes," Colin says at almost exactly the same time. He kisses Michael again, reveling in the fact that he can do that here without looking over his shoulder to make sure the coast is clear first.

"Please just get a room," David says, dramatically throwing his hand up to shield his eyes.

"We did. Unfortunately for you guys, It's right next to yours." Michael smirks and then kisses Colin again, just to annoy David this time.

"Thank fuck we don't have to share a wall with any of them tonight," Maria says to Gabby, the girls making it back to the table in time to hear the last bit of the conversation.

"Thanks," Colin says, accepting the beer Maria passes him.

"I really hope the wall between your rooms is soundproofed." Gabby makes a face at the guys but she and Maria break down laughing almost immediately.

"Otherwise things could get real awkward real fast," Maria continues between giggles.

Colin nods in agreement and drinks some of his beer. As much as he's pushing the PDA boundary tonight, he draws the line at kissing. Anything else is strictly between him and Michael in the privacy of their own room. And he has zero interest in finding out what other couples get up to in the privacy of their own rooms.

"Okay, that's enough of that. Moving on," says Joshua, bypassing subtlety altogether to change the subject. Colin's grateful for that. "Before anybody gets too drunk, David and I want to thank you lot for being here and supporting us today." Joshua reaches over to grab David's hand.

"You all dropped everything to be here to celebrate and you have no idea how much that means to us." David picks up right where Joshua left off.

"Turns out it's really hard to say no when your boyfriend sends you a text that says My best friend's eloping. Wanna go to a wedding in Barcelona next week?" Colin hadn't even hesitated to say yes. They'd booked their tickets and the hotel before Colin had even asked for permission to miss practice. In the end, it had taken a bit of lyingcreativity on his part but permission had been granted. So what if the coaches were under the impression that it was his childhood best friend getting married instead of Michael's?

"First time in Barcelona?" Maria asks.

Michael nods. "Wish we had more time to explore before we have to leave tomorrow though."

"We can come back this summer," Colin promises, instantly in love with the idea of coming back to explore the city with him. The fact that there won't be any reporters or paparazzi hounding them here just makes him love the idea more.

"Your first time here too, Colin?" Joshua asks.

"Oh uh no, not really. I've been here for work a few times but this is the first time I've been here just for fun." Colin immediately realizes his mistake. He's met Joshua and David a few times before but he's always managed to dodge their questions about what he does for a living.

"What do you do?" David crinkles his forehead and looks like he's trying to remember. So much for dodging questions tonight. He's practically inviting them this time.

"It's boring and hard to explain," Michael says quickly.

"Yeah, he practically falls asleep every time I talk about work," Colin adds. The worst part is that it's not even a lie. (The fact that they're already in bed whenever Colin tries to explain the finer points of football might have something to do with that though.)

"It's true. Haven't had any trouble sleeping since we started dating," Michael jokes, throwing his arm around Colin's shoulders and pulling him in close. "He's pretty great." The last part is just for Colin. It could be the alcohol that's suddenly making him feel all warm and fuzzy inside but he's pretty sure that's all Michael.

Michael easily steers the conversation away from work with a question about what he and Colin should do when they come back to Barcelona this summer and the girls immediately start making a list for them and offering to be their tour guides. Then Joshua and David jump into the conversation and somehow all six of them are planning a trip together and checking their calendars to see when everyone is free. It doesn't take long for them to forget that Colin never actually answered the original question. He's still just Colin Hughes: Michael's Boyfriend.

The conversation drifts and soon they're talking about a new movie that just came out and for some reason that makes Joshua and Gabby start bickering over who was responsible for denting the bumper on their dad's car when they were teenagers. Colin's drunk enough that he's not really sure how the conversation ended up here but Maria, David and Michael are all rolling their eyes, obviously familiar with this argument.

"You were the one who insisted on driving." Gabby jabs her finger in Joshua's direction. "You claimed you were the better driver."

"That's because I am the better driver! I at least know not to touch the wheel when someone else is driving," Joshua huffs.

"I never even touched the wheel!"

"But you were thinking about it!"

"Was not! What do you think, Colin?" Gabby turns, waiting expectantly for an answer. Michael tries to stifle his laughter and snorts in the process. Colin doesn't even bother holding back his own laughter. He's the last person anyone should ever ask about driving.

"I think it's time for another round of drinks." Colin quickly finishes what's left in his glass and jumps out of his chair. It's obvious he's avoiding the question but no one stops him.

"Smart man," Michael mutters in Colin's ear after standing up too. "I should go with you in case you need help with the drinks."

They work their way across the dance floor again, which has only gotten busier throughout the night. There's a crowd in front of the bar by the time they get there but they don't mind waiting. Michael wraps his arms around Colin from behind and pulls him close and they sway back and forth, completely out of sync with the techno remix of some 90s pop song that's playing right now. And so help him, but Colin lets out an honest-to-god giggle when Michael starts kissing his neck. He can't help it. He's happy and it's all Michael's fault.

Michael nudges them closer to the bar and Colin takes the opportunity to twist around for a proper kiss. When they break apart, another laugh dies in the back of his throat because somehow Keeley Jones is standing in front of them, wide-eyed shock plastered all over her face.

"Colin?! Holy fucking shit!" Keeley's eyes dart between him and Michael. Colin can pinpoint the exact moment everything clicks for her because somehow her eyes get even wider than they were a second ago. There's no heterosexual way to explain why he just had his tongue in Michael's mouth. There's no way this could be anything other than exactly what it looks like.

Colin freezes. Blinks just in case the alcohol is making him hallucinate. That's the only logical explanation he can think of for why Keeley Jones is standing right in front of him in a gay bar in Barcelona of all places. (When he opens his eyes, she's still there. So. Not hallucinating then.)

He does the only thing he can think of. He runs. He's vaguely aware that Michael is close behind him as he pushes through the crowd. He gets a dirty look when, in his desperation to get out of there, he nearly crashes into a couple standing nearby. He mumbles a half-assed apology but doesn't stop moving. All he wants is to get outside so he can breathe again.

The first door he finds opens up to an alley behind the club. There are a few tables and chairs set up along the building and aside from a small group of people smoking cigarettes at the farthest table, he and Michael are alone out here. The other people are polite enough to pretend they don't notice him.

Colin leans into Michael the moment they get outside and Michael immediately wraps his arms around Colin's waist and holds on tight. Colin stays there, breathing in the familiar scent of Michael's cologne until his heart stops pounding in his ears.

"Fuck," he finally mumbles into Michael's neck.

"That was Keeley, right?" Michael asks when Colin lifts his head from Michael's shoulder.

Colin nods. Thank god it was Keeley and not anyone else connected with Richmond. It would be so much worse if anyone else caught him here.

"Can she keep a secret?"

"Yes," Colin says almost immediately, surprising himself with just how sure he is about that even though it shouldn't be a surprise at all. It's unexpectedly reassuring. Keeley's safe. She's got a girlfriend. At least if what he accidentally overheard Jamie and Roy saying last week is true, she does. "Keeley can keep a secret."

Michael looks about as relieved as Colin feels. Neither of them is prepared for the scrutiny that would come with their relationship going public. "Are you okay?" he asks.

"I will be." It's the closest he can get to saying yes without lying. Keeley seeing him with Michael is still far too new for him to be completely okay with everything but now that he's recovered from the initial shock, he can start thinking clearly again. His world isn't ending. Keeley's got his back and it's probably even a good thing she found out. Her PR firm can run interference for him if he ever needs it.

"Do you wanna call it a night and go back to the hotel?"

"Not yet. I wanna go back inside and keep celebrating." Colin wants to forget that he ever bumped into Keeley here. At least for now. They'll probably have to talk about it eventually, though. "Come on, everyone is probably wondering where we are with the drinks by now."

"Doubt it. Everyone definitely thinks we're hooking up right now," Michael says with a grin, resting his forehead against Colin's. "Are you sure you don't want to stay out here a little longer?"

"Yeah. Let's go back. You still owe me a dance." Colin turns and grabs Michael's hand to lead him back inside.

And for the second time that night, Colin finds himself face-to-face with Keeley Jones. Only this time she's got a drink in each hand and doesn't look all that surprised to see him.

"I thought I might find you out here," she says softly, like she's trying not to spook him.

Behind him, Michael stiffens and quickly takes a step back, putting too much space between himself and Colin. It's the most distance they've had between themselves all night and Colin hates it. They're not supposed to have to do that here, of all places. They're supposed to be safe here. They are safe here. He throws his hand back and grabs Michael's wrist, instinctively pulling him close again. He wants Michael with him. Michael quickly picks up on the cue and plasters himself to Colin's side, gripping Colin's hand tightly in his, just in case. Colin squeezes Michael's hand in appreciation.

It doesn't matter if Keeley sees them. Not anymore. She's already seen them all over each other and Colin meant it when he said he was going to be okay with Keeley knowing about them. He's not going to start hiding Michael now. Michael deserves so much better than that. This is going to be fine. It's gotta be.

"Keeley, you remember Michael, yeah?"

"Your 'wingman' from Sam's restaurant, right?" she asks.

Colin can hear the air quotes in her voice and he laughs. "Something like that, yeah." He leans in closer to Michael, who untangles their fingers and wraps his arm around Colin's waist instead.

"You two are sneaky hiding in plain sight. I like it." She nods in approval, setting the drinks down on the nearest table.

Colin's not surprised at all by Keeley's approval but he's relieved to have it anyway. One day he won't have to introduce Michael as his wingman anymore but that day is still a long way off. "We've uh, had some practice," Colin says, trying to downplay the whole thing with a joke.

"I suppose you have, haven't you?" Keeley sees right through him. He should have known she would. The way her smile falters speaks volumes. "Can we talk?" She gestures to the table and the drinks she sat down earlier.

Colin nods and pulls a few Euros out of his pocket and hands them to Michael. "Drinks are on me still. Meet you back inside in a little bit, yeah?"

"You sure?" Michael asks, leaning in close.

"Yeah. Keeley's safe, I trust her."

Michael seems satisfied with that answer and quickly kisses Colin on the forehead. "Love you."

"Loved you first," Colin responds automatically. Michael opens his mouth to protest like he always does but Colin cuts him off with a quick peck on the lips and pushes him back toward the club. "Go. I'll be okay."

"You two are good together," Keeley says once they're settled at the table. She gently nudges the bottle of beer closer toward Colin and he takes it, grateful to have something to keep his hands busy. "How long have you been together?"

Colin smiles shyly and ducks his head. "A little over a year and a half now."

"Holy shit!" Keeley yells loudly enough to startle the people at the far table. Colin can't decide if he's proud of himself for keeping their relationship a secret for so long or disappointed that he still has to hide it after all this time. He's also very glad that Keeley hadn't been taking a sip of her drink right then or he'd have cranberry juice sprayed all over his face. "You weren't joking when you said you had practice hiding in plain sight."

Colin shakes his head and then gets right to the point. "Can we keep this between us for now?" It doesn't matter how confident he is that she'll keep his secret, there's always the little voice in the back of his head asking him if this is the time he's wrong about a friend. He still needs to hear her say it. Just to make sure.

Keeley looks properly horrified at the mere possibility that she'd out him to anyone. "I promise. You get to choose where and when and who you come out to. I would never take that away from you," Keeley promises fiercely. Her voice is so strong, so resolute, that Colin almost misses it. He almost doesn't notice the sadness and regret that are there too.

And that's when he knows.

Keeley knows what it's like to have that choice taken from her. To have her autonomy ripped away when it matters most. "I'm sorry someone took that choice away from you," he says instead of asking her one of the dozen questions flying through his mind.

She looks him in the eye just long enough to acknowledge that his suspicions are correct. "It doesn't matter right now," she says, waving her hand to dismiss his apology. "We're talking about you tonight. Are you okay?" Colin lets her steer the conversation back to him for now but there's no way he believes that it doesn't matter.

"I'll be fine," Colin promises, sipping on his beer. An hour ago that would have been a lie. An hour ago, his life was crashing down around him and every worst-case scenario he could imagine was playing out in his head. But now he knows for certain that Keeley's safe. His secret is safe with her.

Keeley snorts trying to hold back a laugh. "You still kinda look like you're going to be sick. No offence."

"None taken. Apparently, that's just how I look when I run into someone unexpectedly in another country."

"I suppose that's fair. I wasn't expecting to see anybody I knew here tonight either," Keeley admits, taking a sip of her drink.

"Your secret's safe with me too. I won't tell anybody I saw you."

"It's not really a secret that I'm bi, I just haven't had the chance to tell Roy and Jamie that I'm with Jack now."

"And you want them to hear it from you?" Colin guesses. Honestly, he's a little scared of Roy and he's still gotta play on the same team with Jamie. He's not stupid. He knows better than to tell them anything just in case they feel like shooting the messenger.

"They should hear it from me," Keeley agrees.

They both go quiet for a bit. It's kind of nice sitting here and having a drink with Keeley. They hung out all the time back when she was dating Jamie but it's never been just the two of them before. This is probably the first time they've ever talked about anything real.

He hopes it's not the last.

"Do you have anybody to talk to about this?" Keeley asks softly, breaking the comfortable silence between them. "I know how lonely it can get sometimes."

"Yeah, it gets pretty lonely sometimes," he agrees. He always thought that things would get better when he met someone he could see himself settling down with, but in some ways, it's harder than ever now that he's with Michael. He's painfully aware of just how separate his personal and professional lives have to be, no matter how badly he wants to share every part of his life with Michael. "Talking to Dr. Sharon helped a lot last year."

"I hear she was pretty great."

"She was."

"And now?" Keeley prompts, waiting expectantly for an answer. They both know she was never asking about anybody he used to talk to. She wants to know who's got his back now. "And not Michael or anybody that was friends with him first, either. No offence to Michael, he seems quite lovely."

Colin laughs quietly, hardly offended. Keeley's just looking out for him. "Dani's actually known for months. He figured it out at Ola's almost immediately."

Keeley's eyes go wide and she claps her hand over her mouth. Colin can't tell whether it's to muffle her laughter or a gasp of surprise. "No way!"

"It's true. Dani might not be subtle but he is discrete. I trust him. And Trent knows too," Colin adds quickly, bracing himself for Keeley's reaction.

This time Keeley doesn't even try to hide her surprise. "Trent knows! How? Fucking hell! What were you thinking? He's a reporter."

"Former reporter," Colin reminds her. He wisely chooses not to tell Keeley exactly how Trent found out. He can already see her planning what to do if he's ever outed and she's gotta do damage control for the whole thing. Telling her that he was reckless enough to be seen making out with his boyfriend on a public street will not ease her mind. "He's not going to out me."

"You can't know that for sure. He broke the story about Ted's panic attacks. How do you know he won't put this in his book just to sell copies?"

"He won't. He could have outed me months ago and he didn't. I trust him. He's safe," Colin says, emphasizing his last point.

"Is he-?" Keeley starts to ask but cuts herself off.

"I trust him," Colin says again with absolute certainty. "We had a really good talk in Amsterdam. A lot like this one. He's a friend."

"Then I'm glad you've got a friend you can talk to who understands what it might be like to be in your position right now." Keeley visibly relaxes now that she's not gonna have to do any damage control anytime soon.

"Actually, I've got two." Colin gives her a pointed look and nudges her foot with his under the table.

"Damn right, you've got two." Keeley nudges his foot right back then stands up and marches around the table to pull him to his feet and give him a hug that nearly crushes his ribs. He hugs her back just as tightly.

Colin's a little surprised it took her this long to hug him. "Thanks. I think I needed that."

Keeley finally lets Colin go and they settle back in their chairs, both sipping their drinks.

"What about your family? Do they know?" Keeley asks tentatively like she doesn't want to risk bringing up a subject that could ruin the good mood they're both in right now.

"Yeah, they know. I finally worked up the courage to tell them a few months ago." Not too long after his conversation at Ola's with Dani, actually. The idea of his family finding out from anyone but him terrified him more than the idea of coming out to them so he managed to squeeze in a quick visit home to tell his family in person.

"How'd they take it?"

"Better than I expected, actually. My sisters didn't care at all. It was a bit of a let-down, really, after building the whole thing up in my head for so long."

"Well, that's just really quite rude of them," Keeley jokes. "The least they could have done was make a big deal about it not being a big deal."

"Exactly. I really don't think that's asking too much," agrees Colin, laughing along with Keeley.

"And what about your parents?"

"That conversation was a lot harder," Colin admits. Hell, that conversation was downright terrifying. His hands were still shaking hours after it was over. "They were a lot more shocked than my sisters were and neither of them said anything right away. That was the worst part."

Keeley simply nods in understanding.

Colin doesn't need to explain the way his heart pounded or his hands shook. He doesn't need to explain that his parents' silence felt like an hour instead of a minute. He doesn't need to explain how nerve-wracking that silence was because Keeley's been there. She already knows.

"They didn't always say the right thing. Definitely said a few wrong things too. But the first thing they said was that they loved me no matter what. So at least they got the most important part right."

It was the only thing that Colin needed to hear them say.

"They still don't love the idea," Colin continues. "But they did ask to meet Michael sometime soon so it still went better than I ever imagined it would."

"I'm so proud of you!" Keeley squeals and practically launches herself around the table so she can hug Colin again. It's a little awkward this time since he's still sitting and she's leaning over him but he wraps his arms around her to return the hug anyway.

"You know what? I'm proud of me too."

"Fuck yeah, you are!" Keeley grins and they both start laughing again. "So, what are you doing in Barcelona, anyway?" she asks once they've both settled down again.

"Celebrating. Michael's best friend got married today."

"Oh! I love weddings!" Keeley practically squeals in excitement. "I cry at every single one, I swear."

"I think I'm a fan now too," Colin agrees. He's not even embarrassed that Michael noticed him tearing up a bit during the ceremony earlier. For most of his life he'd believed that marriage wouldn't ever be an option for him, not if he wanted to keep playing in the Premier League. But after seeing Joshua and David recite their vows to each other today, it's starting to feel like anything is possible. "They're a lot more fun when you finally get to bring a real date."

"I suppose they are, huh. I'm glad you and Michael found each other. You two really do seem good together. Can I meet him? Properly, I mean."

Colin nods, beaming when it hits him that this is the first time he'll actually be able to introduce Michael as his boyfriend. Not just as his friend or his wingman, but as his boyfriend. And he gets to do it so much sooner than he ever thought possible. Forget everything he thought before. This is the moment that he's going to hold on to. This is the moment he's going to keep as a reminder that he won't always have to hide part of himself from the people that matter most to him. "I would love to introduce you to my boyfriend. Call Jack and tell her to meet us at the bar. I want to meet her too."

Keeley shakes her head. "Jack's got an early meeting tomorrow and went back to the hotel already. She wasn't too happy when I told her I needed to stay to check on a friend."

It feels like there's more to the story but Keeley's not getting into it yet so he doesn't push. "Sounds like you definitely need another drink then." Colin stands up and offers his hand to Keeley, which she accepts. The least he can do is buy her that drink.

Just before they go back inside, Keeley suddenly reaches out and presses her fingers to his neck like she's checking for a pulse. It takes him a second to realize she's just noticed the hickey Michael gave him earlier. "I have a great concealer if you want to cover that up when you get back home."

"Nah." Colin winks conspiratorially. "Let the team think I shagged a bridesmaid." They will absolutely make a big deal out of the hickey but only Dani will ever suspect where it really came from.

Keeley nods in solidarity and pulls Colin into a side hug and he hugs her right back. "I'm glad you've got Michael."

"Me too," Colin quickly agrees. He knows how lucky he is to have Michael. What they have is rare and he's going to hold on to it and protect it for as long as possible.

"If you ever do want to go public, you let me know. I'll make sure you get to do it your way," Keeley promises just as fiercely as she did earlier when she swore she'd never out him.

"I know you will. And maybe someday I'll be ready, but I won't mind if someone else beats me to it. Let them be the spokesperson for gay athletes everywhere, you know?"

"No matter what, your secret is safe with me."

"I know it is." Colin hugs Keeley a little bit tighter and gives her a quick kiss on the top of her head. "Of all the gay bars in Barcelona, I'm glad we both walked into this one tonight."


Thank you for reading this! I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it. All comments are welcome if you feel so inclined.

Originally posted on AO3 under the same username