Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Romeo stared, horrified at what he’d done. Cold, harsh rain pummelled against his face, mixing with the salty tears of despair that were running down his cheeks. Tybalt’s lifeless body lay before him, limp and pale as the corpse of his dear, murdered, friend, Mercutio.
The gun in Romeo’s hands shook as the ringing in his ears finally dissipated. He collapsed in a pathetic heap on the hard, cobblestone ground, his body quaking with the strength of his sobs. Somehow, through his heart-wrenching cries, he managed to drag himself to the corpse of his enemy, his lover. He draped himself over Tybalt’s dead body, holding him as close as he dared.

He didn’t know how long he stayed atop of the corpse of the man whose life he’d taken. He remembered the night of the party, their night of passion. He remembers that night well, and he just might regret (and treasure) that night for the rest of his days.

Chapter Text

 A costume-clad Romeo leaned against a wall, watching the fireworks explode as he drowned out the yelling of his rambunctious cousins and friends. His calm bliss was quickly disturbed, however, at the arrival of a bright red car rolling into the grove. The harsh, boisterous laughter of Mercutio, his closest friend, floated through the air and broke him from his trance. Mercutio strutted towards him with surprising speed for a man in heels, scandalously dressed in a white burlesque outfit, and reached under his skirt.

Romeo stared in frozen shock as his friend dug around for a moment, before he pulled a card from, well, somewhere within that skirt. His friends began to yell and sing louder, practically begging him to join them in crashing the party.

At first, he had refused, but he quickly gave in to the offer of ecstasy and a good time. Romeo didn't consider himself stupid, he knew that he would most certainly be recognized by any Capulet he’d previously quarreled with. He spoke his concerns to Mercutio, who, in turn, had handed him a metallic eye mask after calling him a coward. The first half of that night was a dizzy blur, a mix of the alcohol and ecstasy he’d consumed clouding his memory and his judgment. Eventually, the worse side of the drugs began to show itself, and he excused himself (snuck off) to the bathroom.

I am so going to kill Mercutio next time I see him, Romeo thought as he threw up inside an unlucky toilet. God, he felt like shit. Soon enough, he had nothing else inside his stomach to throw up, so he resorted to washing his mouth out with tap water until the taste of bile disappeared. He leaned over the sink, panting as he tried to catch his breath. As his breathing slowed and quietened, his ears picked up on a nearby sound. It sounded like… crying? He looked around the bathroom, seeing nothing out of the ordinary until he spotted a closed stall. He silently crept towards it and noticed the crying sound had stopped as he approached, turning into soft sniffles. Making sure his mask was secured to his face, he raised a fist to knock gently on the stall door. “Uhm, you good in there?”, He asked tentatively. A slightly scratchy, masculine voice answered him,

“...Fuck off.”

Jeez, someone's in a bad mood, Romeo thought, finding the situation both weirdly amusing and strange, though he had to admit that he found the voice vaguely attractive.

“I don’t think I will”, Romeo answered, ever the stubborn bastard.

The man in the stall let out a slight whine, “Fuck off, please?” And oh, that was a nice voice. Romeo didn't know what compelled him to stay in the bathroom that fateful night, maybe it was the thought of helping someone in need, maybe it was the hopeless romantic in him that was eager for love, or maybe he just felt like it. But for whatever reason, he refused to leave that bathroom until the man in the stall left too.

“Do you mind if I sit down? My legs are hurting like a motherfucker,” Romeo asked.

“Yes, I do-” Stall stranger began to answer him.“Perfect,” He interrupted, pretending to mishear the stranger as he took a seat on the surprisingly clean tiled floor, his back pressed against the front of the stall.

“...You’re such a dick,” Stall stranger told him, his sniffles had almost entirely disappeared at that point, the sadness in his voice giving way to annoyance.

“So I’m told,” Romeo laughed, “so anyways, what’s up with you?”

The stranger sighed, “Nothing is wrong. I’m fine,” He replied curtly.

Romeo snorted. “Sure you are, and I’m William fuckin' Shakespeare.” The man inside the stall scoffed, and he soon heard the sound of the stall door unlocking. Romeo looked up to see a rather handsome man dressed in a devil costume and matching eye mask step out and give him a dirty look.

Chapter Text

Tybalt stared at the knight-costumed man sitting on the floor in front of the stall he had hidden himself in. The man cranes his neck to look up at him. He gives Tybalt a cocky, shit-eating grin and began to speak. “Ah! The mystical stranger finally reveals himself.” 

Tybalt huffed and stepped over the costumed man on the floor, making his way over to the line of sinks. He lifted the edge of his mask so his eyes were uncovered before he cupped his hands underneath a stream of tap water and began to clean his red, puffy eyes with the cool water, attempting to lessen the feeling of the dried tears on his face. 

He placed his mask down over his eyes again and turned to the pretty boy still on the floor. He took some time to give the other masked man a look-over. Despite how annoying Tybalt found the man, he had to admit that he believed Pretty boy (or at least what he could see of him) to be quite attractive. Brownish-blonde strands of hair framed Pretty-boy’s face, shiny blue eyes stared at him from behind a metallic eye mask, and the dim light of the bathroom made him seem all that much prettier.

Tybalt walked over to the man on the floor and sat down next to him. “What are you still doing here? You’re allowed to leave, you know.” He said, slightly suspicious of the man's intentions. 

“What? Isn’t a man allowed to sit in the bathroom of some rich asshole for no reason?” Pretty boy replied, moving slightly closer to Tybalt. He rolled his eyes behind his mask with a scoff. 

Cocky bastard , Tybalt thought as his annoyance heightened. “You know what I mean, smartass,” He told the knight. “Seriously though, why are you still here? You finished throwing up ages ago and you seem sober enough.”

Pretty boy looked away and rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess I just wanted to make sure that you’re alright, what's with all this interrogating?”

“Well I’m fine now, so you’re free to leave,” Tybalt started, “And it's not an interrogation, I’m simply questioning you and your intentions.” That was a lie. It was most definitely an interrogation, but the other man didn’t need to know that. 

“That's like, the exact definition of interrogation,” Pretty boy said as he rolled his eyes, continuing to sit right where he was. Bastard.

Silence quickly fell upon the pair, and Tybalt let himself stew in his thoughts. He couldn't tell if he wanted the man’s company or if he wanted to be alone. He was still vaguely upset about his ‘conversation’ with his uncle, Lord Capulet, and he really didn’t want to join the celebrations and risk running into him again. His face had stopped hurting by now, but his ego was still very much bruised. Yeah, he was fine with staying right where he was, even if his only company was an annoyingly attractive knight. Tybalt sighed and tried to focus on something other than his vaguely attractive thoughts. He attempted to focus on many things, like how the lights buzzed slightly, the grout between the tiles, the way water dripped rhythmically from a leaky faucet, how close he and Pretty boy were to each other… wait, what? 

Tybalt looked down as subtly as he could (which really wasn't very subtle at all) and finally actually noticed just how close he was sitting to the other man. Their thighs were touching and Tybalt swore that he could feel the heat radiating off of the man. He felt his face begin to heat up, and he knew he was definitely blushing at that point. His flustered state quickly became worse as Pretty boy nudged impossibly closer to him, their thighs now being pressed together. Good lord, he was a mess.

Chapter Text

Romeo did his best to hide a chuckle as he felt the man next to him tense. Stall stranger was seemingly doing his best to keep from showing just how flustered he was, but Romeo knew better. He could see the pink dusting on the visible skin of the other man’s face and Romeo smiled to himself as he subtly pressed himself further to Stall stranger's side.

“What do you think you're doing?” Stall stranger blurted, turning to face him. With the change of angle, Romeo was able to see how much his not-so-sneaky silent flirting was affecting the man.

Romeo feigned innocence, “Whatever do you mean?” He asked, batting his eyelashes under his mask for added effect. He knew that the man couldn’t see that little detail, but it didn't matter.

Stall stranger stared at him incredulously, “Whatever do you mea- oh for fucks sake,” he took a deep breath, “What I mean is why are you getting so close to me?”

Romeo shrugged, “It’s cold, and you’re warm. What’s a guy to do?”

Stall stranger muttered something under his breath, before quickly snapping his mouth shut, and Romeo felt curiosity, along with something else he couldn't name bloom in his chest. Oh, this is gonna be fun, He thought as he bit back a grin. “I’m sorry, what was that? I don’t believe I caught what you said,” Romeo spoke smugly, a tease disguised as a simple question. Stall stranger looked away, his face even redder. “Oh, c’monn. Don’t leave me hanging.”

Stall stranger cleared his throat, “I-I can think of a few things to keep us warm,” He muttered, still refusing to make eye contact with Romeo.

Romeo allowed the grin he was fighting to appear on his face, “Oh really? Care to enlighten me?” He spoke, leaning closer to the man in front of him. Stall stranger swallowed, and Romeo took the time to get a closer look at Stall stranger’s face. The man was still blushing, and Romeo noticed the way his eyes seemed to glitter in the stupid bathroom’s dim lighting. He noted the man’s goatee and slight mustache and absently wondered what it might feel like scratching against his skin. He was so caught up in studying the other man’s face that he failed to notice the hand Stall stranger had raised, breaking him out of his trance as he felt that previously unnoticed hand cup the back of his head, gently burying its fingers in his hair. Romeo glanced back up at the man’s eyes, realizing with a warm feeling in his chest that Stall stranger was actually making eye contact with him.

The hand in on his head gently pulled him closer to the man, and Romeo raised his own arms to curl them around Stall stranger’s shoulders. The absent sounds of the bathroom seemed far away, and all Romeo could hear now was the sound of their combined breathing. Stall stranger leaned in closer, and Romeo followed suit, their lips meeting in a gentle embrace. Romeo felt himself melting into the kiss, eagerly upping the pace and intensity. Stall stranger groaned into his mouth, tightening the grip he had in Romeo’s hair as he snaked his other arm around his waist, practically pulling Romeo into his lap. While the change in his position had originally slightly startled him, Romeo was very much on board with how things were playing out. His previous musings of how the other man’s facial hair would feel scraping against his skin were now answered (and it was a rather pleasant feeling if he did say so himself,), and he was very much satisfied with his current situation. Their masks rubbed together in a way that was vaguely irritating, but it was easy to tell neither man cared very much, both too caught up in their kiss to risk ruining the moment in any way, annoying masks be damned.

Despite his immense enjoyment over his current predicament, he knew that a badly lit, vaguely dirty bathroom really wasn't the most ideal place to get laid. If he was getting lucky tonight, he was getting lucky in an actual goddamn bedroom, thank you very much. With a great deal of effort, Romeo pulled away from the handsome stranger’s face. Stall stranger looked up at him, still panting, his face expressing his confusion at the sudden lack of action.
Romeo grinned at the man he was previously getting hot with, “Wanna take this somewhere else?” He asked, trying to catch his breath as his eyes roamed over the body he was perched on.

Stall stranger blinked at him, his cheeks still heavily flushed. He looked Romeo up and down, before returning his grin and standing up, causing Romeo to fall to the floor.“I think I might know a place,” He said breathily, extending a hand to help Romeo up, “C’mon.”

With a satisfied laugh, Romeo took the hand offered to him, letting Stall stranger lead him out of the bathroom and into the party. A minute or so of wading through very not-sober party-goers later, the two men arrived at a room. It was large, well-furnished, and stupidly fancy. It practically screamed Capulet. “So… who’s the lucky bastard whose room we’re gonna be fucking in?” Romeo asked with a grin.

Stall stranger’s face turned pink from underneath his mask, flustered by Romeo’s language. He spluttered slightly in indignation, before quickly regaining his composure. “It’s a spare room,” he explained, “It was the only unoccupied room near us, and, well… I wanted this to happen somewhere nice.” Romeo nodded in understanding, despite the fact that he wasn’t really listening to the man, too focused on the fact that he was gonna bone a guy in some Capulet's fancy-dance bedroom, and that guy just so happened to be super fucking hot.

Romeo was pulled out of his musings by a hand grabbing his as Stall stranger led him out of the doorway and into the bedroom. Romeo let the man drag him into the room, closing and locking the door behind them as they moved closer to the bed, doing his best to keep his excitement for his current situation contained.
Stall stranger stopped next to the bed, letting go of Romeo’s hand and sitting down on the admittedly comfortable-looking covers. The man spread his legs, patting the space between them in an invitation that Romeo eagerly took.