Chapter Text
“Last term are-”
“Is.”
“Is are amorous.”
Robin was stood by the whiteboard, grinning, whilst Thomas stood awkwardly next to him.
“Amorous can be want for QPR-”
“Queerplatonic Relationship which we discussed earlier.” Thomas added.
“Not is non-amorous. Or can be called aplatonic,” Robin continued. “Much debate between which word to use, lotta connotations on both, lotta-” Robin stopped and sighed, looking as thought it physically pained him to say the next word. “‘discourse’ around it.” He stopped and thought again. “Me use ‘amorous’-”
“I!”
“And me ‘non-amorous’.” Robin finished, ignoring Thomas. “No desire for QPR. Can get squishes though.” He then spun on his heel toward Thomas. “Add?”
Thomas jumped at being addressed. Thomas very rarely wanted to talk about his aromanticism but since Robin joined them he had been brought into discussing that aspect of himself a bit more.
“Add?” Thomas gasped. He stopped and rubbed his arm. “I guess I am amorous, I would like a QPR.”
Robin nodded and turned back to face the room. “That everything.”
“Well done you two.” Pat said, clapping his hands together.
“Yes. Very well put together.” Cap said. It really was, coming from somebody who struggled with communicating and someone who didn’t want to speak about the subject.
Robin beamed and scurried over to the portable projector to helped Pat to turn it off and store it away.
Thomas took a seat and folded his arms, refusing to look at anyone. It was a little sad, Cap thought, he really hoped Robin being here would help Thomas come to terms with his orientation.
Once Pat and Robin came back Cap stood up to the front of the group.
“Now, it should be time to arrange for our trip to the beach this Saturday.” Cap said.
“Oh yes, I’m really looking forward to it!” Kitty chirped.
“Yes, I’m aware, Katherine, you’ve told me enough times.” Cap muttered. “Anyway,” Cap carried on. “Transport. I, thankfully, finally have my car back so I can take 4 others.”
“If I had my camper now I could take all of us together.” Pat said. “But I can 4 as well.”
“That leaves us one short.” Cap said.
“Two short.” Julian said.
“No, I don’t think so. There are 11 of us.” Cap said.
“One, two, three, four, five… Oh yes, there are aren’t they.” Kitty said happily.
“There’s going to be 12 of us.” Julian said, oh god he was smirking, why was he smirking? “I’ve invited Adam.”
289.
“Adam? As in the guy Cap has a crush on, Adam?” Alison asked.
“The very same.” Julian said.
“Why have you invited Adam? What possible reason do you have for inviting Adam?” Cap spluttered.
“Well firstly, he’s bi, so that’s all the reasoning I need.” Julian said. “Oh, and he’s riding in your car. I’ll happily let him have my seat.”
“My car?” Cap squawked.
“Yeah, I figured it’d help him get to know the others too.” Julian was smirking even more now.
“How did you find out he’s bi?” Thomas asked.
“I have my ways, you know.” Julian said.
“He be asking him.” Mary said. “Straight up.”
“So you just went up to him and asked him?” Fanny said. “How incredibly rude.”
“Nobody else has thought to help Cap.” Julian said. “I was just trying to move things along.”
“You went behind my back and betrayed me!” Cap snapped.
“Betrayed you? I introduced you.” Julian gasped. “When you and him are going at it you’re not going to be thinking that.”
At that the whole room erupted into chaos.
The Saturday was sunny.
Cap’s car was purring as he rolled in front of Julian’s house (as per Julian’s request despite not travelling up with him).
Julian was waiting for him outside his house next to- oh God, Adam. The pair were chattering away, without a care in the world.
Cap bristled. What was Julian playing at? He hadn’t even noticed him.
He wound down the window and lent across the front.
“Julian!”
It pleased Cap to see Julian jump slightly. He glared at Cap and made his way over to him.
“Hi, Cap, ready for your trip down to the beach?”
“Seeing as you’ve already agreed for me to, yes.” Cap muttered.
“Well, okay,” Julian stretched and stepped away from the car. “I guess I’d better go and pick everyone else up, Adam, I’ll see you later.” And with that he disappeared.
“He’s been acting a bit odd have you noticed?” Came Adam’s voice suddenly.
Cap himself jumped and snapped his head towards the still open window.
“He always acts a bit odd.” Cap said.
“And thank you for taking me, I have wanted to join for a while, work just kept getting in the way.” Adam said.
“Oh- no- no problem,” Cap stammered. “I’m glad you’ve been interested in me- us- the group.”
“Well, let me know how much I should put in for petrol.”
“Oh, no need. It’s fine.” Cap said. “Just call it a welcoming gift.”
Adam laughed and got in the car. As he buckled himself in Cap gripped hold of the steering wheel harder, turning to stare straight out of the window as his heartbeat started to speed up.
“So what music have you got?” Adam asked. “For our hour drive.”
“You can pick.” Cap said quietly. “I’d trust your choice.”
Adam laughed, flicking through the CD’s Cap had. “I’ll hold you to that.”
The drive down was surprisingly okay. Better than okay, it was great. Adam had picked some nice music and they had managed to hold a conversation which wasn’t awkward in the slightest, probably more due to Adam’s quick thinking conversational skills than it was Cap’s bad jokes.
They spent quite a lot of their time discussing their favourite foods, their favourite destinations, their favourite animals; Adam’s was a sheepdog. They both liked London and would like to travel there. Cap had hummed as he thought about that. Perhaps he could put on a trip to London?
They reached their destination well before the others and decided to hang around the railings by the sea.
Adam was staring out to sea, a beam on his face. Cap could have stared at him all day but was pulled from doing that as his phone came off driving mode and went absolutely insane.
Cap scowled and pulled it out of his pocket, dragging his eyes off Adam.
Of course they were all messages from Julian.
Oh, no wait, one was from Thomas.
‘Passing that Italian place.’ Was from Thomas. That was about 15 minutes ago. They should be here very soon.
Then Cap decided he might as well read Julian’s. They could have crashed for all he knew.
‘They didnt want to go in my car >:( ’
‘Finally on our way ’
‘Marys CDs are awful ’
‘I got kicked into the backseat ’
‘KITTY TOOK MY PLACE?! ’
‘Robin fell asleep on me this is why i dont like the backseat ’
‘APPARENTLY ROBIN HAS A SQUISH ON ME??????? ’
‘He still hasnt woken up for me to ask him cap im having a crisis ’
‘Humphrey just spilt like an entire bottle of water on himself ’
‘Nvm mary threatened to push me off a cliff if i told robin that she told me forget i said anything robin doesnt like people knowing stuff like that i believe her threat ’
‘Kittys singing this is why i wanted to go in my car the wind is so loud in the convertible ’
‘Why did i agree to come in this car??????? ’
‘Going by the italian place ’
That was the last of Julian’s text, the last on coming in about 5 minutes ago.
Well… that’s exactly what Julian deserved.
‘Don’t bother Robin about that, let it be, it’ll work itself out.’ Cap text back. ‘And we’ll keep a look out for you, what car are you in ?’
‘I told you to forget that i am just letting it be mary said robin doesnt like bringing that up and i dont need to discuss ’ then ‘ were in marys brothers car which mary can drive it took her a while to get permission to use it today. They really didnt want to go in mine >>>:((( ’
‘Why didn’t you just put the roof up? ’
It took Julian a while to answer, but then ‘Roofs broken ’
Cap bit back a laugh and pocketed his phone. He turned back to Adam who was grinning at him.
“Will the others be joining us?” He asked.
“They should be here soon.”
“And here I was hoping I could you to myself a little bit longer.” Adam said.
Cap felt himself blush and was spared anything further by Pat’s voice.
“Hi Cap, we’re here.”
The pair turned to see Pat, Thomas, Fanny, Alison and Mike walking over to them.
“Took me forever to find a parking space.” Pat said. “Where are the others, Julian not here yet?”
“They’re not coming in Julian’s car, Mary’s brother’s apparently.”
“Did they all get sick of his broken roof?” Mike asked.
“It’s broken? How do you know?” Alison asked.
“He was driving around with it down when it was like -10 degrees, I kinda guessed.” Mike said.
“Yes, it is broken.” Cap said. “They should be here soon though.”
“So how was your ride down, Cap?” Alison asked and- oh- she’s been taking smugness tips from Julian hasn’t she.
“It was perfectly satisfactory-” Cap tried to say but Adam interrupted him.
“It was a blast, I had a lot of fun.” Adam said smiling.
“Oh, that’s- I’m glad.” Cap said. “I’m glad you had fun.”
“Do we have to wait until the others arrive before we can go off?” Fanny asked, crossing her arms.
“Unfortunately.” Thomas sighed.
It was at that moment there was loud beeping from the road. The group turned to see a large, mud-splattered pick-up truck slowly passing them. The window was rolled down and Mary was sat by it, sunglasses adorning her face.
“Hi!” Kitty shouted from the passenger seat.
“We’ll wait for you here, parking is a nightmare.” Pat shouted back. Mary nodded and the pick-up started to drive off again.
The group milled around for another 10 minutes before the rest of the group came swanning over to them.
“We be parked.” Mary announced.
“We had such a fun time coming down.” Kitty said, beaming.
“Speak for yourself.” Humphrey muttered, his clothes still looking slightly damp.
“You can definitely say that again.” Julian said. He rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms. “That was an awful drive, I said we should have gone in my car.”
“Your car loud.” Robin mumbled, looking half-asleep.
“You ride a motorcycle, isn’t that loud all the time?”
Robin shrugged. “Wear good helmet.”
“It be loud.” Mary said, nodding. “It be very loud.” The she said. “If you put your roofs up, Julian, we could of gone in yours.”
“He can’t, the roof is broken.” Cap said.
“Ha, that’s what I guessed.” Humphrey said.
“Same!” Mike said. The pair tried to high-five but Humphrey missed and Mike had to grab him before Humphrey fell over.
“Okay, and at that, let’s get a move on.” Cap said.
“Yeah,” Pat chirped up. “First thing we’ve got planned is the arcades. So let’s go guys, lets see who can win some prizes.”
Surprisingly it was Thomas who was really good at the 2-penny arcades. He had only changed 50p and now Cap was pretty sure he had at least £3.00 in winnings.
“Cor, Thomas, you didn’t tell us you were good at this.” Pat said, fiddling with his glasses.
“Please someone take some, I want to stop.” Thomas groaned as more coins came crashing down.
Almost immediately several of the others scooped up coins.
“Thanks Thomas.” They all said in union and hurried off to other machines.
Adam nudged Cap and motioned for him to follow. They left Thomas and as they passed Julian he made a gesture with his hands which caused Cap to glare at him. Hard.
It served Julian right when Robin excitedly hit him in the stomach as he won some coins.
Adam led him to a claw machine at the other side of the arcade. “What do you want me to win for you?”
“You don’t have to-”
“No, I want to, if you won’t let me pay for petrol, let me win you something.”
Cap sighed and nodded. “You pick for me.”
Adam grinned and looked into the box. “I think I’ll try and go for Simba.”
Adam inserted a coin and slowly moved the claw.
“A little more, a little more…” Adam muttered.
Then he slammed his hand down on the button. The claw dropped down and grabbed hold of the Simba.
“Come on, come on, come on.” Adam muttered under his breath.
The claw grabbed Simba and actually lifted it up. It moved across the box and dropped it into the chute.
“Alright!” Adam cheered. He picked Simba up and handed it to Cap. “Here you go.”
Cap blushed and took the doll. “Thank you.”
“Come on, let’s get back to the others.” Adam said.
The others had gone through their coins and were now watching Kitty and Alison duke it out on air hockey. Alison was winning.
Thomas appeared by Cap’s side, having finally ran out of coins, holding a squishy pineapple keyring.
“I’m done.” Thomas said.
“We will be too in a minute.” Cap said as Alison scored again. “Pat, what’s next on our itinerary?”
“The beach!” Pat beamed.
As soon as the reached the beach the group immediately dispersed.
Half of them immediately bolted to the sea, Pat settled on the sand, Fanny sitting next to him.
“Cap, Cap, come watch me.” Kitty shouted as she waded into sea.
“Yes, Katherine, I’m watching.” Cap said, though he doubted he was loud enough for Kitty to hear.
She jumped around in the sea, splashing both Mary and Robin.
Alison and Mike were skipping stones whilst Thomas crouched on the sand looking out to sea.
Adam sat down on the sand and smiled up at Cap. Cap grinned back and sat down too.
The heat of the sun beat down on Cap and he rested back on his elbows, closing his eyes and basked in the sun.
When he opened them again he noticed Adam staring at him. He looked soft.
Cap blushed.
“Cap, Cap, you’re not watching!” Came Kitty’s voice.
“Yes, Catherine, I’m watching.”
“But you’re not looking!!”
Cap scowled and Adam laughed.
They left the beach after a few hours, Pat now in possession of a sunburnt nose.
Kitty, Mary and Robin were all soaking from the sea, shivering as they walked down the promenade.
“I am not looking forward to the ride back.” Julian muttered as the three kept trying to latch onto the others for their heat.
They managed to fit into a cafe and eat before deciding to call it a day.
Everyone seemed to be enjoying Adam’s company, chatting and joking with him throughout the meal. Cap was glad they liked him, this was the first time they had been around him for longer than an hour. Cap really hoped Adam started to come to more of their meetings. Despite the fact that Cap had still hung around the theatre hoping to see Adam, it was really only through Julian they had actually met.
This was really for the best as both Mike and Robin were starting to look dead on their feet through fatigue. Both of them had apparently been working throughout the night (Cap figured why Robin was but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out why Mike was working all night).
The group dispersed to their cars. Julian punched Cap in the arm.
“I’ll text you when we set off, don’t worry.” He said. “Hey, Alison, text Cap when you set off.”
“Okay, will do.” Alison called back, holding onto Mike’s hand as they walked down the street.
They all disappeared leaving Cap alone again with Adam.
“Come on then,” Adam said. “Time to head off. Are you sure you don’t want money for petrol?”
“No, really, I don’t want any.” Cap insisted.
Adam hummed and they as they reached the car Cap’s phone dinged.
‘We’ve set off :) ’ That was from Alison.
There was then another ding.
‘Weve gone ’ And that one was from Julian.
Cap sighed and put his phone away.
“Good news?” Adam asked.
Cap nodded and started the car.
Adam directed Cap directly to his house, “I can trust you.” Adam had said.
“Well, thanks, I had a ton of fun today.” Adam said. “I hope I get to come to more of your meetings, the others are nice, I’d like to get to know them more.” He paused. “And you too.”
Cap blushed, he had been doing that a lot today. “Well, I hope you manage to get out of work to come, I think that somebody else along with Patrick needs to help me keep that group in check.”
Adam laughed and reached into his pocket.
“Here.” He said, pulling out a folded piece of paper. “Have this just in case my work gets in the way of me coming.”
“Thank you.” Cap said, taking the paper, frowning slightly.
“Alright, well, I’ll see you later.” Adam said brightly. He got out of the car and waved back at Cap.
“Yes, I’ll see you later.” Cap murmured.
Once Adam had closed the door and gone Cap unfolded the piece of paper. Something dropped out of it but Cap ignored that in favour of reading what was on the note.
Just in case I can’t make your meetings, here’s my number - Adam, followed by a phone number.
Cap flushed bright red and closed his eyes. He took several deep breaths and opened them once he felt himself calm down.
He stowed the paper away and looked down to see what had dropped out. It was a £10 note.
Oh, after all that, Adam had given him petrol money after all.
Cap pocketed the note and started to drive off. Cap had Adam’s number and regrettably he had Julian to thank for that. Perhaps he should knock one of his Julian-Count for this.