Chapter Text
Walking out of the third pub that night into Cardiff's cool, comforting air reinvigorated Colin to continue the impromptu pub crawl the team found themselves on that night.
Not only was he back in his hometown, but they had beat the shit out of Cardiff City. He would have felt bad about it a few years ago, but Colin was so intertwined with Richmond at this point that…well…he didn't want to be sappy when he was trying to get smashed out of his mind.
As they made their way over to the fourth pub, which Colin promised would be the last stop as he could see some of the lads starting to nod off while standing. There weren't many of them left at this point. Kent refused to join but gave a lovely speech about teamwork or something of the like. Lasso and Beard made it halfway through the second lap but tapped out before their third round of drinks.
At the third pub, half of the guys had left and headed back to the hotel. The only ones left were the stumbling bodies of Isaac, Dani, Jan, Sam, Jamie, and Zoreaux, along with a few other stragglers who Colin could tell was a push away from falling over.
"Here we are!" His cheerful words were met with an incoherent jumble of words, with some halfheartedly pumped fists. The only two who seemed unaffected by the odyssey they found themselves on were Jan and Sam. The latter of which had stopped drinking a few stops ago and decided to just stick to soda. Jan was, well, Colin was sure he had seen him drink every shot put in front of him, but the guy wasn't acting like it. Colin just summed it up to something to do with him being Dutch and shrugged it off.
It was funny that even if he hadn't been to this exact pub in a few years, he still remembered his way around. Luckily this area of Cardiff was a ways away from the stadium, so they didn't really have to worry about City fans giving them dirty looks.
As soon as they sat down, Jamie placed his head on the table, mumbling something about taking a nap. The rest of the guys looked like they were getting a second wind and began chatting excitedly about how amazing they had played.
Colin enjoyed the conversation, interjecting a few times with his own thoughts but mostly letting the others talk. To think that just a few years ago, this would have never happened, Jamie would have never passed the ball to Dani, and Colin would feel sick playing against what was once his old teammates. They honestly probably wouldn't have won.
But things were different now. Jamie was actually a decent human being, it turned out, and Colin learned that it's possible to have more than one home.
Even Jan was joining the conversation, only a slight slur to his words, but that was probably more due to the lack of sleep and waning adrenaline high than it did with him being tipsy. To Colin, Jan was an enigma, or like a cryptid. Basically, Colin really didn't know the man that well.
Which is why he was staring intently into the side of his face when Isaac clapped Colin on the shoulder, rudely interrupting him from his study,
"Do you mind getting us another round?" And could Colin say no to his best friend?
He made a big show of sighing and slowly getting up as the guys cheered him on, this was probably the last round for the night, and if it wasn't for everyone else, it sure was for Colin. If he stayed any longer and got any drunker, he would probably start saying stuff that would make everyone uncomfortable.
Not that he thought the lads were bigotted. It was just…he wasn't sure. And it's not like he had any mystery woman or man like Sam. It would just be a blur of hookups and one-night stands. Nothing permanent, nothing serious. The way he liked it.
Sometimes, Colin would dream about falling in love. Who wouldn't? But right now, it wasn't realistic, and he had a career to focus on. One that put him in a very public position, one that had people judging his every move. He couldn't make someone go through all of that.
And sometimes he thought about if it was one of his teammates, specifically, a tall, blonde teammate, one from the Netherlands perhaps, and always spoke his mind, never caring what others thought.
But that was a silly dream.
Finally, he arrived at the bar and ordered a round of pints for everyone and an extra shot for himself—just a little gift for playing so well.
God, he can't believe that a Yankee with a stupid accent was the reason they did so well. If it weren't for the gaffer's constant yapping about "teamwork" and "brotherhood," they would have never made it this far. Far maybe not in the sense of being the best soccer team in the world, but in the sense that the guys actually liked to hang out with each other, something that they probably wouldn't have said before Ted.
Colin idly tries to remember to slide the man an extra pint when a tap on the shoulder shakes him from his thoughts.
He's about to greet whoever it is with a warm smile until,
"I knew it, I'd recognize that ugly mug anywhere!" And Colin is met with three men covered head to toe in blue and white, fuck.
Lloyd, Glenn, and Drew, the three people he never really thought he would see again since he graduated secondary school. They were half the reason he was such a dick for the majority of his life. Dr. Fieldstone would say to take more accountability for his actions, and he really was trying, but these three were just awful,
"So, the prodigal son returns to Cardiff, how does it feel to be back home, dynan?" If it were coming from his parents, he wouldn't have minded the term of endearment, but coming from the mouth of Glenn, it felt like a lash to his skin.
Colin feels himself reverting to his teenage years, just wanting to fit in as much as possible so people wouldn't notice him, going along to get along.
But he was a strong and capable man, he was changed, he wasn't the pushover he used to be, "It's been great, but I've got to get back to the lads with their drinks…." He turns around, but apparently, he didn't do a good job at defusing the situation because he feels another hand on his shoulder forcing him back into the conversation,
Drew digs his nails into Colin's shoulder, and he really wishes he wouldn't he just bought this shirt, "Come off it Colin, we just wanna talk."
Glenn just has to chime in, "Yeah, it's not every day a traitor comes back home."
And he doesn't flinch, but he really wants to. Before he even gets a chance to retort, Lloyd cuts in,
"You get Cardiff relegated and then you think you can show up to our pub and party with your little mates? It's like you've forgotten your roots," He tuts at Colin like he's some sort of fucking child.
Drew sighs and tightens his grip, "Y mae dafad ddu ym mhob praidd."
Colin is in between wanting to defuse the situation and wanting to punch all three of them in the face. Before he gets a chance to decide, another voice cuts in, and luckily it's one that he actually doesn't mind hearing,
"Colin, what is taking so long? The others said that you might have 'fallen into the toilet?'" The dutchman was a breath of fresh air, which isn't really something Colin thought he would ever say about him.
Drew's hand was still digging into his shoulder, and Jan looked between Colin and the three others, "Has my teammate done something to offend you?"
The three laugh, and Drew finally lets go of his shoulder; Colin tries to hide the sigh of relief underneath the noise of the crowd.
Finally, they stop laughing, and Jan just stands there with his arms folded, like an impatient primary school teacher. Glenn speaks up,
"Of course he's done something to offend us! First, Lil' prick leaves us to join City, then blows it. Then he leaves the whole of Wales to go fuck off with you lot and then comes back to embarrass us."
Jan doesn't really look impressed, but when does he ever, "Is that all?"
"What the fuck do you mean?" Drew's starting to get red in the face, which means he's plastered, steaming mad, or both.
Jan, ever the expert of de-escalation, responds with, "Exactly what I said, can you not hear me clearly?"
Colin can feel the tension rising, and he cuts between the two, pushing Jan behind him. Even though Colin is only a few inches shorter, he feels small when standing in front of him. Like a bear hiding behind a twig.
"Listen we've all had a bit to drink why don't we go our separate ways and call it a night?"
Lloyd spits at the ground in front of Colin's feet, "You never did have a spine, dynan."
"What did you just say to him?" Jan was stepping from behind Colin, and this night was not going to be ending well.
"Oh, I'm sorry did you not hear me clearly, cachgi?" Lloyd attempted to stand toe to toe with Jan, but he was always the shortest of them all, so it looked more like a chihuahua and a St. Bernard. Which Colin would have spent a little longer thinking about, but he was busy pushing Jan out of the way of a nasty right hook coming from Glenn, the coward.
It had been a while since he'd been a fight, but it felt like slipping into a pair of old jeans. It was the kind that had a hole on the arse, and you never wore it outside except to do manual labor.
The three were drunk, and Colin had already started to sober up as soon as he saw their faces, so dodging them wasn't too hard. He even managed to get Drew knocked on his ass. There were still three of them, though, and they did manage to get a couple of hits in, but all it did was fuel Colin's rage.
It felt good until he felt someone's arms hook underneath him. He struggled for a bit until he recognized Isaac trying to talk to him,
"Colin what the fuck is going on?"
Colin looked up and saw Drew, Lloyd, and Glenn being restrained by Sam, Dani, and Zoreaux. In any other instance, he would have been embarrassed to be caught fighting, but right now, he was busy just trying to calm his heartbeat.
Jan spoke up and had explained the whole fiasco, which might have been embellished a little, but Colin didn't really mind.
The owner came over to kick them all out and threatened to call the police, giving the three instigators a furious look Colin was happy not to be at the end of.
It was probably best for the night to end here, honestly. So, everyone decided to go back to the hotel after loading Drew, Glenn, and Lloyd into a random taxi as they kicked and screamed. Colin stood a ways away, but it still felt good to hear their screaming get cut off by a forceful slamming of the door.
Everyone else piled into the Uber, but when Isaac motioned for Colin to climb in, he shook his head,
"I'm gonna walk back man, I need some fresh air." It was the truth, really, and it also wasn't like it was every day he could walk around Cardiff. He wanted to absorb as much of the city as he could before they inevitably had to leave tomorrow.
Isaac just narrowed his eyes and nodded, then looked past Colin's shoulder, "What about you?"
Colin didn't even notice that Jan was still there, "I think I will walk too."
It seemed nearly impossible, but Isaac narrowed his eyes even more, "If I hear you two got into another fight, I'm going to tell Coach."
The pair just nodded their heads, and Isaac finally closed the door after a very long and silent stare down.
As the car pulled away, Colin swept his arm out in a grand gesture, "Shall we?"
Jan just smiled, and it did not do anything to Colin.
The walk back, while rather long, was also relatively uneventful. The two found themselves in comfortable silence. Colin would point out a random building or street corner to Jan, every so often, recounting a story from his youth. Jan would nod along and ask some questions, and then the silence would return.
Every so often, he could see Jan staring at him from the corner of his eye, but that was probably because the shiner on his cheek was starting to bruise. Colin was not looking forward to tomorrow (today?) when he had to deal with the consequences of his actions.
Somehow, Colin is unsure of the logistics, they find themselves in front of his hotel room. He's pretty sure that Jan is on the floor below him.
"Well, here we are then."
Colin finally was able to look at Jan in the light, and he saw how flustered he looked, like he hadn't been able to quite catch his breath yet. Again, those few inches of height between them haunted Colin as the other man stood in front of him, crowding Colin into the small nook of the hotel door,
"Colin," Jan's breath ghosted over him, and Colin was sure he could feel the hair on his arms start to stand on edge.
"Yes?" He wishes his voice didn't sound so croaky, but he blames it on the fact that he had too much to drink tonight.
Jan gets ever so closer to him, which basically means they are face to face, centimeters apart, "May I kiss you?"
And Colin feels all the air leave his body, except this time what followed was not the hot sting of pain (like it had meant so many times during his teenage years), but rather the hot comfort of absolute want that crowded throughout his body, Colin slowly nodded his head and then leaned into Jan.
The slow start was to say nothing of how quickly they sped up.
Jan was gripping at the hair at the nape of his neck, and Colin's hands were finding their way underneath the warmth of Jan's jacket, quickly groping as much as he could. It felt as the two of them were trying to force themselves into one, pushing as much as the other until they inevitably became one person.
Colin finally was able to breathe as Jan moved away from attacking his mouth to biting at his neck. Least to say, Colin was in a bit of a head spin, feeling Jan rubbing against him, slowly, achingly moving his thigh between Colin's legs, forcing them apart inch by inch before Colin could comfortably grind down onto it. Needless to say, he wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to have sex with anyone else after this,
Then he remembered that they were outside and were about to have sex in the middle of the hall,
"Jan…Jan," Colin bites back a moan when Jan grazes his teeth passes by a particularly sensitive spot, "We should move this inside."
The other man huffs, the breath hitting a spot that he had been focusing most of his attention, Colin was pretty sure it was going to turn into a hickey.
Jan finally moves far enough away from Colin for him to fish the hotel key out of his wallet. By the time Colin finally gets the door open, he's crowding him onto the bed, slowly peeling off Colin's jacket and fingers ghosting his arms in the process, connecting their hands as Jan further pushes Colin onto the bed.
The weight of the slightly taller man on top of him honestly wasn't that uncomfortable, and it was undoubtedly helpful that said taller man was once again grinding into Colin and slowly moving them further up the bed till Colin is resting his back on the headboard and Jan is making deft work of his button-up, Colin decides to return the favor and begins to remove Jan's shirt, forcing them to once again part from another for a few agonizing seconds.
Things are about to move south when the door to the room beeps, and Sam walks in, right as Jan starts unbuttoning Colin's pants,
Everyone's frozen for a second. Sam finally breaks the spell,
"Carry on, I will find other lodging for tonight." The door starts to close but then quickly reopens, "Don't forget to use protection," and then the door finally closes.
And Colin can't help but burst into laughter, to the point where he can feel his ribs start to ache, and his lungs are begging for him to take a break. Jan just looks confused but also has a slight smile on his lips, like he can't quite understand what is going on but is glad to be along for the ride,
Colin finally calms down, "I don't think I've laughed like that in a while," He wipes a tear from his eye and looks at the state of the both of them, and sighs,
"What are we doing Jan?"
Jan just tilts his head to the side and smiles, "Well, I was hoping it was sex."
"I know but…is that it?" Colin knew it was a bit silly to have this kind of conversation while his shirt was halfway across the room and his pants were about to be around his ankles, but it was better to get it out of the way, so there was no awkwardness in the future. They might have passed that point, though.
Again Jan just smiles, furrowing his brows a bit, "What do you mean?"
"I mean…like…what happens after the sex…." And Colin is not twiddling his fingers. He is just…keeping himself occupied…
"We will sleep?" Jan tries to hide his growing smile, and Colin just rolls his eyes,
"Jan!" Aided with a slight slap to his shoulder, much nicer than the punch he received a few hours before.
Jan just laughs and throws up his hands, "I'm sorry you are very cute when you are angry."
Colin blushes, and Jan continues,
"If you are asking that if this is a one-time thing, it can be, but if things go well, I would like to do it again."
He hates how pathetic he sounds when he asks, "And that's it…just…sex?"
"I would also like to take you on a date, or you can take me one, I don't mind." Jan shrugs his shoulders, but Colin can see the slight furrow of his brow return, and maybe Jan is as nervous as Colin is.
"You should be the one to take me on a date, seeing as I was the one who got punched for your honor." Colin teases, pushing Jan onto his back and slowly climbing on top of him,
Jan still has a smirk on his face, and Colin wants to wipe it off, "I do not remember asking you to do that."
"Oh well then I guess it was someone else that I did that for," Colin makes a dramatic move of trying to get up, "Maybe Dani? Or Jamie? Maybe I should go see them?" He's trying to hide his smile as Jan tackles him and reverses their position, not that Colin minds,
"Don't even joke about that," Jan is inches away from him, hands on either side of his head, "It is killing my mood."
Colin just raises his eyebrows, and Jan sighs, "Fine, you are…my hero Colin Hughes, and I would like to take you on a date."
"Let's finish what we started first." Colin adds before leaning up to kiss Jan.
"Yes please."
Maybe this night didn't turn out exactly how Colin thought it would, but this morning looks absolutely brilliant.