180 Degrees [1/2] ;; NC17
Jun. 12th, 2010 03:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bootsonTitle: 180 Degrees - The FULL version
Pairing: Kristen Bell/Chris Pine/Zachary Quinto
Rating: NC-17 (overall, part 1 is mostly PG13)
Summary: Kris and Zach seduce Chris.
Warnings: Threesome. If that wasn’t obvious….uh…otherwise pretty standard.
Word Count: 10,766 (posted in two parts)
Disclaimer: I'm a pathological liar. Except that part about lying; that's true.
(LONG AN, Thank yous and fic behind the cuts)
AN: This was originally posted at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
trekrpfexchange as an “Abridged Version”...at CHRISTMAS (that tells you how long this has been sitting in mydocs collecting technological dust). The original post was literally only the last 4300 words of it because I had some weird tantrum, decided I just wasn't capable of the two scenes I needed to write to finish what is now known as the "HUGE UNNECESSARY PLOT OF DOOM," and took the easy way out. I’ve FINALLY gone back and finished the rest and wanted to post the whole thing for not only ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
edie22 but everyone else too. It really was MEANT to be PWP, wasn't, was again and now...isn't? Hopefully, this works.
The POV shifts (it’s clearly separated out though) and here’s the pattern: Kristen-Zach-Chris-Kristen-Zach-Chris.
Thanks: Huge, epic thanks and love tobabykid528 and xscribblings for reading this multiple times at the beginning and promising me I was just too close to see what it had turned into and was just having a fit over nothing. Also, chellealistic because she's always my favorite beta and never lets me down! There may have been and probably were several other people that I threw this at and said "WHAT IS MY LIFE???? WHAT IS THIS????" and to them, I give my whole-hearted thanks. Everyone who liked "The Abridged Version," I also adore you and that praise got me through the rest, no matter how late.
Also, Title taken from “3” by Britney Spears (because, well, it’s a threesome and I like Britney, I never claimed to have interesting titles).
One-Eighty Degrees
The first time Kristen met Chris was through Zach, of course. There was a party for…well, it was hard to remember what Zach’s parties were for after the fact. At any rate, there was a party and everyone Zach knew had apparently shown up. It wasn’t an epic meeting, no Hollywood-worthy meet-cute (not by a long shot) but Zach had called her name and she’d looked up into blue eyes that had trapped her for a solid six seconds, give or take.
“Kris, meet Chris,” Zach said and Kristen smiled indulgently because he thought he was wittier than he actually was. She grinned wider when she realized Chris was doing the same thing.
“I think I’ll call you Kristen. Keeps confusion to a minimum,” he’d laughed and held out his free hand.
Kristen grasped it and shook, offering up a shrug. “All right, Christopher, good to meet you. How do you know Zach?”
And they were off. Stories flew, laughs sounded, drinks flowed. Before she knew it, Kristen was actually sprawled across Chris and Zach’s laps, that’s how close they were sitting.
“Zachy! Baby, I think…I may be…a little…not…sober.” She spoke carefully, curling closer to Chris and running her fingers over his scars. They were just acne scars and shouldn’t have been this damn fascinating, but they gave him a look, the type you didn’t often see around L.A.
“Really?” He bumped Chris’ shoulder. “Lightweight. Told you.”
“She’s just little,” Chris laughed, hand tangling in her hair and she didn’t much care about whom else was around. She was staring, watching or waiting, and just about to lean in when Chris winked.
Kristen didn’t mean to behave like a preteen fangirl, but she couldn’t help it at this point. The alcohol - more than just a little bit, Zach, thanks! – was narrowing her perception and made giggling her best response.
“At least he likes me!” She accused, poking at Zach with the toe of her shoe. “You’ve been replaced. Sorry for your loss. Best of, moving on.” To drive her point home, Kristen stuck her tongue out.
“Real mature there, Kristen,” Zach rolled his eyes, trying to feign disinterest but grinning all the same.
A moment passed in which Kristen mapped out Chris’ smirk with her fingers and Zach’s head lulled onto the back of the sofa until his nose was pressed to Chris’ shoulder. The silence amongst the three (though there was music and chatter all around them) was broken by Chris declaring “I think you’re both drunk. And I’m fucking hot. Get off.”
The other two pouted, tried to look cute, and barely cut themselves off from whining. Kristen noticed this because she was watching Zach so closely and she couldn’t figure out why. Huffing, she wiggled around until she was efficiently off Chris and sandwiched between the men. Even sitting, she felt small, not that this was an entirely new thing for her.
Quickly, she realized why Chris had been complaining. It was hot in the middle. Before she could help it, she started squirming, shifting until Zach was sighing and Chris was leaning away.
“Kristen…” She had no idea who said it, but she was up like a flash and stumbling through the slowly dwindling crowd before she could do something foolish like puke all over Zach’s immaculate carpet; he’d never let her live such a thing down.
Whispers that weren’t whispers followed her into the master bathroom where Zach only allowed the select few during his little events. Of course, she wasn’t thinking about that, just that no one would be in it. Nonetheless, she barely made it, kneeling down on the floor and retching in the most unbecoming way. Not that anyone was there to see it…until someone was.
“Kristen Bell.”
She recognized the half amusement behind the sigh from listening to it the better part of the night. Kristen was too busy holding onto the back of the toilet to do more than gulp for air and wave a hand in his general direction. Then she was heaving again and damn if that wasn’t the most embarrassing thing ever.
But there were hands holding her hair back and the music from the rest of the house started to fade behind the soft words being whispered in her ear. When she finally sat back, Chris sat with her and let her lean into him.
“Better?” He asked and she nodded against his chest before looking up and meeting his eyes that were slightly crinkled at the edges. Even through her alcohol rattled brain, Kristen realized she was a bit infatuated and slightly past fighting it at the moment.
“You’re sort of amazing,” she whispered reaching up to toy with his hair at the same time that she shifted in. Maybe she’d aimed for his lips, but she missed and hit his cheek when he turned his head.
She bit her lip and tried to glare but everything was just a bit blurry.
“No offense,” Chris whispered, his laugh different and a bit on edge. “But your breath, babe. Sorry.” At least she got the consolation prize of a kiss to her bare shoulder, another to the curve of her neck before he pulled away to look at her, eyebrows raised.
They both laughed then and Zach came to find them not long after, directing Kristen into his guest room and taking Chris with him when he left. She’d whined about it but they’d just tucked her in.
As far as a seduction attempt, well, it had been ill-timed and completely accidental. That was all right; there’d be other chances.
##########
On principle, Zach was a social person. He knew a lot of people didn’t believe this, but it was true. He didn’t like to go out and do just about anything on his own, hence Noah and the cell phone. This is why it wasn’t strange for him to call up a few people he knew whenever he wanted to do something. It just so happened that one night, this something became Uno at Chris’ with Kristen in tow. Kristen had taken up residence on one side of the coffee table to lean against the sofa; Chris was opposite her; Zach wound up at one end. It became apparent pretty quickly that Chris was the world’s worst Uno player.
“Have you ever actually played this game before?” Kristen giggled, throwing down a yellow two after Chris drew for the fourth turn in a row.
“It’s not my fault Zach shuffles for shit,” Chris whined. He tried to glare at Zach with his two cards and smug grin but failed. The self-satisfied expression started to slip, Zach could feel it, the way it usually did when Chris turned the pout on him.
It was those lips. Those fucking perfectly shaped, pouty lips that made Zach do anything and Chris, the fucker, had to know it. This type of musing left Zach missing his turn and drawing just for the sake of making a move. Chris threw his arms up triumphantly and laid down a yellow five.
“I’m making a comeback.”
“Please,” Kristen rolled her eyes. “You still have a hand full of rainbow nonsense over there. Hopefully, lacking a lot of green.” The wild card fell on the pile and Chris groaned as Zach tossed down a skip.
“I hate you. Both of you. Get out of my house.”
“Baby, don’t be that way,” Zach sort of coo’ed, mostly he laughed. Looking up through his eyelashes – who really did that? – Chris gave Zach a look. “We’ll pool resources.”
“Hey, wait. No fair! You’re not a charity case, Pine!”
“I am if I want to be, Bell!”
“Children, if you can’t play nice-“
“I quit.”
“Really, Kristen. Afraid we’ll beat you?”
“Hell yes, I am!”
“Oh my God, are you guys five?”
“New game!” Kristen declared and jumped up to start searching around the room. It looked more like she was trying to snoop since she’d never been there before, but Zach didn’t bring it up.
Instead, he half-crawled over to look at the Uno cards Chris had dropped on the table. “Wow. Sorry.”
“You lie,” Chris accused, but he leaned into Zach’s shoulder anyway.
Taking a moment just to soak up to heat emanating from Chris’ whole body, Zach sighed and leaned an arm behind Chris to push them closer together. “I think Kris is searching for all your deep, dark secrets.”
“That’s a waste of time,” he laughed and looked over from the corner of his eye to take in Zach’s expression.
Immediately, Zach was shaking his head and pressing their legs closer together from where they were stretched under the coffee table. “I know you better than that, Christopher, you have plenty of secrets.”
“Never said I didn’t,” he pointed out. When he leaned away to grab his beer, Zach couldn’t help the way his hand slipped to Chris’ waist. Nothing would make him admit it aloud, but it was just a subtle reminder that Zach was there and he needed to come back. “Just, if she wanted the dark details, she could ask you. You know all the interesting things.”
He most definitely didn’t blush like a kid with a bad crush, but Zach did bite down on his lip. How could he be expected to keep things easy and friendly when Chris said things like that? Carefully, he slipped his fingers under Chris’ shirt. The contact was light, but Chris still sighed and practically melted into Zach.
“Asking would be a waste of time,” Zach smiled.
Chris hummed, a questioning sound somehow. Shifting more, Zach let him tangle their legs a bit, throwing one over Zach’s. It made it almost difficult to remember they didn’t do anything more than this. Some platonic and meaningless cuddling was nothing, but Zach wasn’t even tipsy and he was left wanting more.
“If she asked. I wouldn’t tell her anything,” Zach promised. “Just so you know. I wouldn’t let go of your secrets like that.” Not that he was even remotely sure what secrets Chris had entrusted to him, but that wasn’t the point.
Chris turned a bit, hand grazing Zach’s leg when he probably meant to touch his own. “You’re accommodating that way.”
“I do what I can.” Even though Zach’s voice was barely a whisper, Chris chuckled softly. His breath brushed warm and wet against Zach’s cheek. All it would take was a strategic move, a couple little shifts and he’d know if those lips were as soft as they looked.
“Zach,” Chris started to say…something. He never finished the sentence.
He’d paused to lick his lips and that wasn’t even remotely fair, so Zach did what any sane person would do. He leaned in, just enough, and pressed his lips lightly to Chris’. When Chris didn’t pull away immediately, Zach turned to face him more fully. By the time Zach’s lips fell open in invitation, Chris had a hand in his hair and was pulling him closer.
A crash sounded through the space, driving them apart, gasping.
“Dammit,” Zach hissed and Chris looked like he concurred with the sentiment before they were shoving to their feet.
“Kristen, what the fuck?”
She was on the floor, surrounded by the contents of what Zach assumed had been the notorious junk drawer.
“I…um…was looking for cards.” She had the decency to look contrite; Kristen was, occasionally, decent like that. “I found them.”
“You couldn’t, I don’t know, ask?” But Chris was trying not to laugh as he took the cards from her outstretched hand and kneeled down to collect his things.
Zach, for his part, only watched as Chris ruffled her hair and Kristen shoved his shoulder playfully. He wondered if Chris knew what she’d really been doing. After all, they say you don’t really know someone until you see what they keep in their junk drawer. Hm. Fancy that.
##########
A common misconception was that Chris Pine was a bit of an idiot. He played the part well, granted, but he was actually a lot more observant than people gave him credit for. Sometimes, when he actually wanted to, Chris could read people fairly well. Such as when two of his friends were going out of their way to take care of him at every given opportunity.
It was actually sort of endearing.
Zach brought him coffee semi-frequently. At the very least, he asked Chris if he could come with him to get coffee when Zach was a creature of habit and generally refused to venture to other people's (read: Chris') favorite haunts. Kristen sent him these adorable text messages with proper punctuation because Chris was particular that way about his text messages.
Not to mention he’d kissed them both, basically. Not that it was a big deal; Chris kissed a lot of people for various reasons and it didn’t mean a damn thing. With both Kristen and Zach, however, there was this chemistry. There was a sort of sexual tension he should have been able to just ignore and would have pulled it off spectacularly if they weren’t constantly throwing it in his face.
Chris didn’t make it a rule not to sleep with his friends, it was a general guideline but not a rule of any sort. He just felt…well, this could get messy. That decision didn’t come about until he’d somehow been coerced out to the Santa Monica pier, which was completely Zach’s fault.
He’d gone down to help Joe with something or other and decided to stay a weekend. “Come on, Chris, you need some fresh air.”
“It’s Santa Monica not Montana,” Chris had grumbled.
“Well, it’s not L.A. Come out. Stay with me. I’m bored.” His tone was cautious but laced with enough pleading to throw Chris off. Everyone knew Chris had a bit of a weak spot for Zach when he asked for things.
He had plans, honestly. With Kristen, of all people. “I’m bringing Kris.”
“What?” Zach had nearly snapped. “Whatever, fine. If she can get away.”
Something in his voice said he didn’t think she could, but Chris knew better. A phone call, three sets of texts and a few hours passed before they were on the road. Kristen giggled, all infectious laughter and bright eyes as she tried to hold her hat on because she insisted they keep the top down.
Chris was still making fun of her tangles when he pulled up in front of the hotel where Zach was waiting. His arms were crossed over his chest, hat pulled low and sunglasses pushed up farther than usual. Yeah, he was in a mood. Kristen picked up on it too, of course, considering she’d known Zach longer.
“You have good ideas, Zachy baby!” She exclaimed, tossing her hat to Chris before climbing out. Her arms were tossed around Zach’s waist before Chris was even on the sidewalk. Although Zach hugged her shoulders, he was looking at Chris.
“Still not Utah.”
“What happened to Montana?”
Chris shrugged and bumped Zach's shoulder when Kristen moved away. “I decided it was too plain.”
“Isn’t Utah big on polygamy or something?”
“Wow, Kristen, that wasn’t prejudiced, like, at all,” Zach laughed, slinging an arm around Kristen’s shoulders and seemingly in a brighter mood.
Chris fell back, knowing it was rude to walk three-wide down a sidewalk even if it was wide but Zach shot a hand back to grab his wrist. “Keep up, Christopher.”
“Yeah, Christopher, I’m the short one.” Kristen threw and arm out behind Zach to swat at Chris and missed. “If anyone makes us wait, it’s me.”
“You’re not allowed to play the short card,” Chris glared around Zach. “You said you’re fun sized, makes short good, not a crutch.”
Kristen huffed and muttered for a few seconds, the men generally smirking and refusing to acknowledge the whining.
Finally, she broke the rumblings when they reached the boardwalk. “Hey! Ferris wheel! Have you been on it?”
“Not since I was about seventeen,” Chris shrugged, looking at Zach.
“I don’t spend a lot of time out here.”
Two sets of shocked, wide, disbelieving eyes stared at him. Chris pulled him up short, Kristen stopping with them. He locked eyes with Kristen before looking back at Zach.
“No, really?”
“Yeah…” Zach ducked his head and suddenly found Chris’ shoes incredibly fascinating.
“This…is…”
“A tragedy!” Kristen declared.
“One that must be remedied immediately,” Chris answered in his most solemn voice. “As soon as it’s dark. You have to ride it at night.”
“Whatever. It’s a Ferris wheel.”
It was Chris gripping Zach’s wrist this time, pulling him along as Kristen skipped (literally, no joke) ahead and toward the set up. It was amazing the things you could find to do when you were killing time and didn't have any deadlines. Maybe that was why Chris was lulled into a false sense of security or it could have been his addiction to silly, carnival style games distracting him. Either way, before long, he started to realize that things were a bit off.
“Chris, Chris! Help me. I can’t shoot horses with water. This isn’t natural.”
“You have no aim,” Chris told her but obliged. He tried to ignore the press of her small frame against his back while she climbed onto the lower rung of the stool to watch over his shoulder.
Zach tugged him away a little while after, declaring it dark enough for a ridiculously cliche ride and pulling Chris into line with them. Kristen followed but Zach resolutely refused to relinquish his hold on Chris.
“I’ve never been. Let me have Chris for this,” he’d muttered, a glare coming into the mix.
Kristen matched his glare with twisted lips and furrowed eyebrows as Chris tried to edge into the seat without either of them. “Fine! But he rides again with me.”
But it didn’t happen. Zach clung, leaning into Chris and warming the entire left side of Chris’ body on the ride. When they got off, Zach declared a need for something "sweet, unhealthy, and possibly prepared in an unsavory atmosphere.” There was no fighting it, Chris was a sucker for greasy foods of any kind and Kristen knew well enough to leave it alone.
They stayed out most of the night, making it back to the hotel exhausted and giggling over nothing. When they filed into the room, no one mentioned the lone bed in the center, just collapsed in a heap. Chris didn’t remember kicking off his shoes or falling asleep in the center of the bed, it happened too quickly for his tired brain to process.
Later, at something like four in the morning, Chris went to shift around and realized he couldn’t. No, he was resolutely stuck. Maybe it should have irritated him more than it did, his trapped position, but he couldn’t be bothered by it. Not when he was so unbelievably comfortable, what with the way Zach wrapped around him and buried his face against Chris’ shoulder. The way Kristen fit perfectly against his chest, sharing his pillow and completely unbothered by having both Zach and Chris’ arms over her wasn’t bad either.
Still, Chris knew he was going to have to do something, impose some distance before things got awkward between some combination of them. A triad was, according to his Intro to Sociology professor at Berkeley, the most unstable of all group dynamics.
PART TWO
Pairing: Kristen Bell/Chris Pine/Zachary Quinto
Rating: NC-17 (overall, part 1 is mostly PG13)
Summary: Kris and Zach seduce Chris.
Warnings: Threesome. If that wasn’t obvious….uh…otherwise pretty standard.
Word Count: 10,766 (posted in two parts)
Disclaimer: I'm a pathological liar. Except that part about lying; that's true.
(LONG AN, Thank yous and fic behind the cuts)
AN: This was originally posted at
trekrpfexchange as an “Abridged Version”...at CHRISTMAS (that tells you how long this has been sitting in mydocs collecting technological dust). The original post was literally only the last 4300 words of it because I had some weird tantrum, decided I just wasn't capable of the two scenes I needed to write to finish what is now known as the "HUGE UNNECESSARY PLOT OF DOOM," and took the easy way out. I’ve FINALLY gone back and finished the rest and wanted to post the whole thing for not only edie22 but everyone else too. It really was MEANT to be PWP, wasn't, was again and now...isn't? Hopefully, this works.The POV shifts (it’s clearly separated out though) and here’s the pattern: Kristen-Zach-Chris-Kristen-Zach-Chris.
Thanks: Huge, epic thanks and love to
babykid528 and xscribblings for reading this multiple times at the beginning and promising me I was just too close to see what it had turned into and was just having a fit over nothing. Also, chellealistic because she's always my favorite beta and never lets me down! There may have been and probably were several other people that I threw this at and said "WHAT IS MY LIFE???? WHAT IS THIS????" and to them, I give my whole-hearted thanks. Everyone who liked "The Abridged Version," I also adore you and that praise got me through the rest, no matter how late.Also, Title taken from “3” by Britney Spears (because, well, it’s a threesome and I like Britney, I never claimed to have interesting titles).
The first time Kristen met Chris was through Zach, of course. There was a party for…well, it was hard to remember what Zach’s parties were for after the fact. At any rate, there was a party and everyone Zach knew had apparently shown up. It wasn’t an epic meeting, no Hollywood-worthy meet-cute (not by a long shot) but Zach had called her name and she’d looked up into blue eyes that had trapped her for a solid six seconds, give or take.
“Kris, meet Chris,” Zach said and Kristen smiled indulgently because he thought he was wittier than he actually was. She grinned wider when she realized Chris was doing the same thing.
“I think I’ll call you Kristen. Keeps confusion to a minimum,” he’d laughed and held out his free hand.
Kristen grasped it and shook, offering up a shrug. “All right, Christopher, good to meet you. How do you know Zach?”
And they were off. Stories flew, laughs sounded, drinks flowed. Before she knew it, Kristen was actually sprawled across Chris and Zach’s laps, that’s how close they were sitting.
“Zachy! Baby, I think…I may be…a little…not…sober.” She spoke carefully, curling closer to Chris and running her fingers over his scars. They were just acne scars and shouldn’t have been this damn fascinating, but they gave him a look, the type you didn’t often see around L.A.
“Really?” He bumped Chris’ shoulder. “Lightweight. Told you.”
“She’s just little,” Chris laughed, hand tangling in her hair and she didn’t much care about whom else was around. She was staring, watching or waiting, and just about to lean in when Chris winked.
Kristen didn’t mean to behave like a preteen fangirl, but she couldn’t help it at this point. The alcohol - more than just a little bit, Zach, thanks! – was narrowing her perception and made giggling her best response.
“At least he likes me!” She accused, poking at Zach with the toe of her shoe. “You’ve been replaced. Sorry for your loss. Best of, moving on.” To drive her point home, Kristen stuck her tongue out.
“Real mature there, Kristen,” Zach rolled his eyes, trying to feign disinterest but grinning all the same.
A moment passed in which Kristen mapped out Chris’ smirk with her fingers and Zach’s head lulled onto the back of the sofa until his nose was pressed to Chris’ shoulder. The silence amongst the three (though there was music and chatter all around them) was broken by Chris declaring “I think you’re both drunk. And I’m fucking hot. Get off.”
The other two pouted, tried to look cute, and barely cut themselves off from whining. Kristen noticed this because she was watching Zach so closely and she couldn’t figure out why. Huffing, she wiggled around until she was efficiently off Chris and sandwiched between the men. Even sitting, she felt small, not that this was an entirely new thing for her.
Quickly, she realized why Chris had been complaining. It was hot in the middle. Before she could help it, she started squirming, shifting until Zach was sighing and Chris was leaning away.
“Kristen…” She had no idea who said it, but she was up like a flash and stumbling through the slowly dwindling crowd before she could do something foolish like puke all over Zach’s immaculate carpet; he’d never let her live such a thing down.
Whispers that weren’t whispers followed her into the master bathroom where Zach only allowed the select few during his little events. Of course, she wasn’t thinking about that, just that no one would be in it. Nonetheless, she barely made it, kneeling down on the floor and retching in the most unbecoming way. Not that anyone was there to see it…until someone was.
“Kristen Bell.”
She recognized the half amusement behind the sigh from listening to it the better part of the night. Kristen was too busy holding onto the back of the toilet to do more than gulp for air and wave a hand in his general direction. Then she was heaving again and damn if that wasn’t the most embarrassing thing ever.
But there were hands holding her hair back and the music from the rest of the house started to fade behind the soft words being whispered in her ear. When she finally sat back, Chris sat with her and let her lean into him.
“Better?” He asked and she nodded against his chest before looking up and meeting his eyes that were slightly crinkled at the edges. Even through her alcohol rattled brain, Kristen realized she was a bit infatuated and slightly past fighting it at the moment.
“You’re sort of amazing,” she whispered reaching up to toy with his hair at the same time that she shifted in. Maybe she’d aimed for his lips, but she missed and hit his cheek when he turned his head.
She bit her lip and tried to glare but everything was just a bit blurry.
“No offense,” Chris whispered, his laugh different and a bit on edge. “But your breath, babe. Sorry.” At least she got the consolation prize of a kiss to her bare shoulder, another to the curve of her neck before he pulled away to look at her, eyebrows raised.
They both laughed then and Zach came to find them not long after, directing Kristen into his guest room and taking Chris with him when he left. She’d whined about it but they’d just tucked her in.
As far as a seduction attempt, well, it had been ill-timed and completely accidental. That was all right; there’d be other chances.
On principle, Zach was a social person. He knew a lot of people didn’t believe this, but it was true. He didn’t like to go out and do just about anything on his own, hence Noah and the cell phone. This is why it wasn’t strange for him to call up a few people he knew whenever he wanted to do something. It just so happened that one night, this something became Uno at Chris’ with Kristen in tow. Kristen had taken up residence on one side of the coffee table to lean against the sofa; Chris was opposite her; Zach wound up at one end. It became apparent pretty quickly that Chris was the world’s worst Uno player.
“Have you ever actually played this game before?” Kristen giggled, throwing down a yellow two after Chris drew for the fourth turn in a row.
“It’s not my fault Zach shuffles for shit,” Chris whined. He tried to glare at Zach with his two cards and smug grin but failed. The self-satisfied expression started to slip, Zach could feel it, the way it usually did when Chris turned the pout on him.
It was those lips. Those fucking perfectly shaped, pouty lips that made Zach do anything and Chris, the fucker, had to know it. This type of musing left Zach missing his turn and drawing just for the sake of making a move. Chris threw his arms up triumphantly and laid down a yellow five.
“I’m making a comeback.”
“Please,” Kristen rolled her eyes. “You still have a hand full of rainbow nonsense over there. Hopefully, lacking a lot of green.” The wild card fell on the pile and Chris groaned as Zach tossed down a skip.
“I hate you. Both of you. Get out of my house.”
“Baby, don’t be that way,” Zach sort of coo’ed, mostly he laughed. Looking up through his eyelashes – who really did that? – Chris gave Zach a look. “We’ll pool resources.”
“Hey, wait. No fair! You’re not a charity case, Pine!”
“I am if I want to be, Bell!”
“Children, if you can’t play nice-“
“I quit.”
“Really, Kristen. Afraid we’ll beat you?”
“Hell yes, I am!”
“Oh my God, are you guys five?”
“New game!” Kristen declared and jumped up to start searching around the room. It looked more like she was trying to snoop since she’d never been there before, but Zach didn’t bring it up.
Instead, he half-crawled over to look at the Uno cards Chris had dropped on the table. “Wow. Sorry.”
“You lie,” Chris accused, but he leaned into Zach’s shoulder anyway.
Taking a moment just to soak up to heat emanating from Chris’ whole body, Zach sighed and leaned an arm behind Chris to push them closer together. “I think Kris is searching for all your deep, dark secrets.”
“That’s a waste of time,” he laughed and looked over from the corner of his eye to take in Zach’s expression.
Immediately, Zach was shaking his head and pressing their legs closer together from where they were stretched under the coffee table. “I know you better than that, Christopher, you have plenty of secrets.”
“Never said I didn’t,” he pointed out. When he leaned away to grab his beer, Zach couldn’t help the way his hand slipped to Chris’ waist. Nothing would make him admit it aloud, but it was just a subtle reminder that Zach was there and he needed to come back. “Just, if she wanted the dark details, she could ask you. You know all the interesting things.”
He most definitely didn’t blush like a kid with a bad crush, but Zach did bite down on his lip. How could he be expected to keep things easy and friendly when Chris said things like that? Carefully, he slipped his fingers under Chris’ shirt. The contact was light, but Chris still sighed and practically melted into Zach.
“Asking would be a waste of time,” Zach smiled.
Chris hummed, a questioning sound somehow. Shifting more, Zach let him tangle their legs a bit, throwing one over Zach’s. It made it almost difficult to remember they didn’t do anything more than this. Some platonic and meaningless cuddling was nothing, but Zach wasn’t even tipsy and he was left wanting more.
“If she asked. I wouldn’t tell her anything,” Zach promised. “Just so you know. I wouldn’t let go of your secrets like that.” Not that he was even remotely sure what secrets Chris had entrusted to him, but that wasn’t the point.
Chris turned a bit, hand grazing Zach’s leg when he probably meant to touch his own. “You’re accommodating that way.”
“I do what I can.” Even though Zach’s voice was barely a whisper, Chris chuckled softly. His breath brushed warm and wet against Zach’s cheek. All it would take was a strategic move, a couple little shifts and he’d know if those lips were as soft as they looked.
“Zach,” Chris started to say…something. He never finished the sentence.
He’d paused to lick his lips and that wasn’t even remotely fair, so Zach did what any sane person would do. He leaned in, just enough, and pressed his lips lightly to Chris’. When Chris didn’t pull away immediately, Zach turned to face him more fully. By the time Zach’s lips fell open in invitation, Chris had a hand in his hair and was pulling him closer.
A crash sounded through the space, driving them apart, gasping.
“Dammit,” Zach hissed and Chris looked like he concurred with the sentiment before they were shoving to their feet.
“Kristen, what the fuck?”
She was on the floor, surrounded by the contents of what Zach assumed had been the notorious junk drawer.
“I…um…was looking for cards.” She had the decency to look contrite; Kristen was, occasionally, decent like that. “I found them.”
“You couldn’t, I don’t know, ask?” But Chris was trying not to laugh as he took the cards from her outstretched hand and kneeled down to collect his things.
Zach, for his part, only watched as Chris ruffled her hair and Kristen shoved his shoulder playfully. He wondered if Chris knew what she’d really been doing. After all, they say you don’t really know someone until you see what they keep in their junk drawer. Hm. Fancy that.
A common misconception was that Chris Pine was a bit of an idiot. He played the part well, granted, but he was actually a lot more observant than people gave him credit for. Sometimes, when he actually wanted to, Chris could read people fairly well. Such as when two of his friends were going out of their way to take care of him at every given opportunity.
It was actually sort of endearing.
Zach brought him coffee semi-frequently. At the very least, he asked Chris if he could come with him to get coffee when Zach was a creature of habit and generally refused to venture to other people's (read: Chris') favorite haunts. Kristen sent him these adorable text messages with proper punctuation because Chris was particular that way about his text messages.
Not to mention he’d kissed them both, basically. Not that it was a big deal; Chris kissed a lot of people for various reasons and it didn’t mean a damn thing. With both Kristen and Zach, however, there was this chemistry. There was a sort of sexual tension he should have been able to just ignore and would have pulled it off spectacularly if they weren’t constantly throwing it in his face.
Chris didn’t make it a rule not to sleep with his friends, it was a general guideline but not a rule of any sort. He just felt…well, this could get messy. That decision didn’t come about until he’d somehow been coerced out to the Santa Monica pier, which was completely Zach’s fault.
He’d gone down to help Joe with something or other and decided to stay a weekend. “Come on, Chris, you need some fresh air.”
“It’s Santa Monica not Montana,” Chris had grumbled.
“Well, it’s not L.A. Come out. Stay with me. I’m bored.” His tone was cautious but laced with enough pleading to throw Chris off. Everyone knew Chris had a bit of a weak spot for Zach when he asked for things.
He had plans, honestly. With Kristen, of all people. “I’m bringing Kris.”
“What?” Zach had nearly snapped. “Whatever, fine. If she can get away.”
Something in his voice said he didn’t think she could, but Chris knew better. A phone call, three sets of texts and a few hours passed before they were on the road. Kristen giggled, all infectious laughter and bright eyes as she tried to hold her hat on because she insisted they keep the top down.
Chris was still making fun of her tangles when he pulled up in front of the hotel where Zach was waiting. His arms were crossed over his chest, hat pulled low and sunglasses pushed up farther than usual. Yeah, he was in a mood. Kristen picked up on it too, of course, considering she’d known Zach longer.
“You have good ideas, Zachy baby!” She exclaimed, tossing her hat to Chris before climbing out. Her arms were tossed around Zach’s waist before Chris was even on the sidewalk. Although Zach hugged her shoulders, he was looking at Chris.
“Still not Utah.”
“What happened to Montana?”
Chris shrugged and bumped Zach's shoulder when Kristen moved away. “I decided it was too plain.”
“Isn’t Utah big on polygamy or something?”
“Wow, Kristen, that wasn’t prejudiced, like, at all,” Zach laughed, slinging an arm around Kristen’s shoulders and seemingly in a brighter mood.
Chris fell back, knowing it was rude to walk three-wide down a sidewalk even if it was wide but Zach shot a hand back to grab his wrist. “Keep up, Christopher.”
“Yeah, Christopher, I’m the short one.” Kristen threw and arm out behind Zach to swat at Chris and missed. “If anyone makes us wait, it’s me.”
“You’re not allowed to play the short card,” Chris glared around Zach. “You said you’re fun sized, makes short good, not a crutch.”
Kristen huffed and muttered for a few seconds, the men generally smirking and refusing to acknowledge the whining.
Finally, she broke the rumblings when they reached the boardwalk. “Hey! Ferris wheel! Have you been on it?”
“Not since I was about seventeen,” Chris shrugged, looking at Zach.
“I don’t spend a lot of time out here.”
Two sets of shocked, wide, disbelieving eyes stared at him. Chris pulled him up short, Kristen stopping with them. He locked eyes with Kristen before looking back at Zach.
“No, really?”
“Yeah…” Zach ducked his head and suddenly found Chris’ shoes incredibly fascinating.
“This…is…”
“A tragedy!” Kristen declared.
“One that must be remedied immediately,” Chris answered in his most solemn voice. “As soon as it’s dark. You have to ride it at night.”
“Whatever. It’s a Ferris wheel.”
It was Chris gripping Zach’s wrist this time, pulling him along as Kristen skipped (literally, no joke) ahead and toward the set up. It was amazing the things you could find to do when you were killing time and didn't have any deadlines. Maybe that was why Chris was lulled into a false sense of security or it could have been his addiction to silly, carnival style games distracting him. Either way, before long, he started to realize that things were a bit off.
“Chris, Chris! Help me. I can’t shoot horses with water. This isn’t natural.”
“You have no aim,” Chris told her but obliged. He tried to ignore the press of her small frame against his back while she climbed onto the lower rung of the stool to watch over his shoulder.
Zach tugged him away a little while after, declaring it dark enough for a ridiculously cliche ride and pulling Chris into line with them. Kristen followed but Zach resolutely refused to relinquish his hold on Chris.
“I’ve never been. Let me have Chris for this,” he’d muttered, a glare coming into the mix.
Kristen matched his glare with twisted lips and furrowed eyebrows as Chris tried to edge into the seat without either of them. “Fine! But he rides again with me.”
But it didn’t happen. Zach clung, leaning into Chris and warming the entire left side of Chris’ body on the ride. When they got off, Zach declared a need for something "sweet, unhealthy, and possibly prepared in an unsavory atmosphere.” There was no fighting it, Chris was a sucker for greasy foods of any kind and Kristen knew well enough to leave it alone.
They stayed out most of the night, making it back to the hotel exhausted and giggling over nothing. When they filed into the room, no one mentioned the lone bed in the center, just collapsed in a heap. Chris didn’t remember kicking off his shoes or falling asleep in the center of the bed, it happened too quickly for his tired brain to process.
Later, at something like four in the morning, Chris went to shift around and realized he couldn’t. No, he was resolutely stuck. Maybe it should have irritated him more than it did, his trapped position, but he couldn’t be bothered by it. Not when he was so unbelievably comfortable, what with the way Zach wrapped around him and buried his face against Chris’ shoulder. The way Kristen fit perfectly against his chest, sharing his pillow and completely unbothered by having both Zach and Chris’ arms over her wasn’t bad either.
Still, Chris knew he was going to have to do something, impose some distance before things got awkward between some combination of them. A triad was, according to his Intro to Sociology professor at Berkeley, the most unstable of all group dynamics.
PART TWO
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