Chapter Text
Post season bound! Only the first step, sure, but they were post season bound. After missing the post season in 2023 this victory felt especially sweet.
Aaron surveyed the chaos from the edge of the room. Champagne and beer were still flowing, the floor(and everything else) was horrifically sticky and everyone was soaked. No matter how many times he'd been a part of this celebration he always felt bad for the poor people who would have to clean up after them when they eventually partied themselves out.
Watching Anthony might have been the highlight of the whole thing. The clear unfiltered joy on his face was infectious. Aaron and Tony had been here before, but Anthony never had.
"What d'you think?" Tony asked, grinning before he savored another mouthful of champagne, "this the year we get a ring?"
"Hell yeah." Aaron grinned and took a swig of tepid Budweiser. "We got this." He turned his attention back to Anthony, now being interviewed by Meredith, couldn't help but laugh as Jazz sprayed Anthony while yelling, "that's my shortstop!" Anthony giggled, fucking giggled, and Aaron forced himself to think unsexy thoughts. Tony slugged him in the shoulder. Aaron tore his gaze away from Anthony to meet Tony's eyes, brows furrowed.
"You need to learn some subtlety or everyone here is gonna know." Tony told him, keeping his voice low.
"What?" Tony's eyebrows rose and the right side of his mouth turned up in a half smile.
"Everyone can see you undressing him with your eyes."
"Oh, oh, like you're any better." Aaron huffed, trying to hide his mortification, as he hadn't realized he was being so obvious, and Tony laughed,
"I'm just saying, between that and the overwhelming fondness you'd have to be stupid not to realize you're both in love with him and fucking him." Tony downed the rest of his beer and grinned, "not anyone would blame you. God, he's adorable." He shook his head as he walked off and Aaron guzzled the rest of his beer.
-/-/-/-/-
"It's Anthony. Leave a message and I'll try to get back to you." *beep* "*unintelligible screaming* HOLY FUCK! POST SEASON BOUND! I'm so so so insanely proud of you Ant! I knew you guys could do it! Whoops, I woke up London. Shit. Um, call me tomorrow. I mean it. Have fun celebrating! You earned it! Love ya, Ant!"
————-
"It's Anthony. Leave a message and I'll try to get back to you." *beep* "hi honey! I know you're busy partying, as you should be, but we needed to call and congratulate you!" "Hey, kiddo! We're so proud of you!" "We love you so much! You've done such a good job this year!" "We can't wait to see what you do in October!" "Have fun celebrating and call when you get a minute! Bye honey!" "Love ya, kid!"
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"It's Anthony. Leave a message and I'll try to get back to you." *beep* "Anthony! Il mio ragazzo! Suo Nonno. Sono così orgoglioso. E anche tua nonna lo sarebbe! Goditi questa esperienza e mostra loro di cosa sei fatto! Congratulazioni e buona fortuna!"
-/-/-/-/-
Anthony sat on the edge of the bed listening to his voicemails and smiling as he did so. Tony stood by the window talking to his parents despite how early it was in Florida. Aaron watched them while he brushed his teeth. He stepped back into the bathroom to spit, then washed his face and pulled off his t-shirt which he dropped on top of his suitcase as he stepped out of the bathroom again. Anthony, done listening to his voicemails, started scrolling through all the texts from extended family, kicked his shoes off and scooted back until he could lean against the pillows, one arm behind his head, bicep flexed from the action. The urge to sink his teeth into it swept through Aaron, caught him by surprise. He'd never thought of himself as particularly possessive, but everything in him craved to suck bruises along the column of Anthony's neck where everyone could see.
"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Anthony asked as Aaron approached the bed.
"How much I love you." Color rose in Anthony's cheeks and he bit his lip as if stifling a laugh. "What are you thinking about?" Aaron asked, one eye brow raised.
"How I can see right up your nose."
"Wow." Anthony giggled and made a show of trying to hide it behind his hand, "I'm kinda sorry I asked now. I was being all sweet and romantic," maybe not entirely true given where his train of thought had been headed, "and you're looking up my nose." Aaron shook his head, smiling fondly anyways.
"Trust me it's not something I ever want to do, but the height difference makes it unavoidable." Anthony told him, still giggling.
"What's unavoidable?" Tony asked. He climbed onto the bed beside Anthony.
"Looking up my nose." Aaron told him. Anthony laughed harder, a clear sign of his exhaustion.
"Why is that funny?" Tony glanced between the two of them.
"It's not!" Anthony said between peels of laughter. Tony and Aaron shared amused looks before falling into fits of laughter themselves. Anthony tried to school his expression into something more neutral, still fighting back more giggles, "sorry."
"Don't be sorry." Aaron said, "I love your laugh." Anthony's blush spread. Tony leaned closer and pressed his nose into Anthony's cheek.
"I love your blush." One of Tony's hands crept up Anthony's side under his shirt and Anthony fell into hysterical giggles again.
-/-/-/-/-
From Seattle they headed to Oakland for what would be their last ever series in Oakland Coliseum. Certainly made for a bittersweet series.
As he stood in the dugout watching Soto taking his at bat Anthony found himself thinking about German's perfect game. A fond memory of a field soon to be abandoned and one of the few highlights from the year before. It made him wonder what German was up to, hopefully doing better now.
Cole pitching nine incredible innings, only allowing one run in game one, Rodón pitching them to a 10-0 win with excellent help from the bullpen, Gil having a solid start and Weaver being a solid closer and on top of that excellent offense from them all left them on an adrenaline high as they swept the A's.
They headed home in high spirits to face the Orioles again.
-/-/-/-
Shocking no one the first two games versus the orioles didn't go very well. Although their four run ninth inning of the second game almost brought them back and at the very least made the loss a little more tolerable. But none of that mattered when they won 10-1 the next night securing the American League division. A victory made all the sweeter by taking it with a win over the Orioles.
Friday brought in the final team they'd face in the regular season. The Pirates. Boone opted to take these last three games and rest the every day guys. Much to the chagrin of most of them.
The second to last game of the season ended as a loss, but worse than that Tony got hit by a pitch and as a result had two fractured fingers. In a strange turn of events it seemed to bother Anthony more than Tony though. However as Tony pointed out, fingers would heal faster than an arm and they were already post season bound with the division clinched. Anthony supposed all that was true, but it sucked that Tony had gotten injured. Again. So soon after coming off the IL. He just couldn't seem to catch a break. No pun intended.
-/-/-/-
With much more fanfare than 2023 the regular season ended. A 6-4 win over the Pirates.
They had a nice five day stretch before the ALDS started. Anthony spent all of it jittery and anxious. This was a brand new experience for him. First career postseason. Fortunately all the guys who'd done this before were more than willing to offer advice and guidance.
-/-/-/-
Although they still did batting practice and fielding practice during the week leading up to their series with an as yet to be determined opponent Olivia forced, not that much force was really required, him to tag along while she and Lydia went shopping.
He happily took over pushing Gloria in her stroller while Olivia and Lydia browsed racks of clothes and aisles of home goods.
"I found the perfect dress for you." Olivia grinned in a mischievous way and held up an absolutely hideous bedazzled leopard print bodycon dress. Lydia pulled a face. Then laughed.
"It'll go great with those sequined silver cowboy boots I found earlier." Olivia laughed and put the dress back. "Ooh, ok, this one is actually cute." Lydia held up an olive green A line dress.
"Oh that's a great color on you." Olivia agreed. Lydia studied it a moment longer then put it back, found a bigger size and added it to their cart.
"So how's everything with you?" Lydia turned to look at Anthony, who'd been busying himself making faces at Gloria for which he received gummy baby smiles. "You've been awfully quiet today. Everything ok?"
"Everything's great." He assured her, "I just don't have any idea what colors you look good in." She rolled her eyes and he smiled. "We're headed to the post season, y'know?"
"Oh yeah, I know. Papa's been talking about it for days." Lydia said, resuming pushing dresses along the racks. "He's so proud of you." She turned to look at him again, "we all are."
"Hell yeah we are!" Olivia chimed in from the other side of the rack. Anthony couldn't stop the smile that crept across his face.
"How are your boys? That all worked out now?" Lydia asked as they left the clothes and headed for housewares.
"We're getting there." Anthony shrugged, "therapy's helping. But. . ." He trailed off and both Olivia and Lydia stopped and turned to give him their full attention.
"But what?" Olivia asked.
"Tony's not happy. And even though he says he's not ready to give up on our relationship Aaron and I both know it's just. . . not working for him anymore. He's definitely been trying to communicate better, but he's still distancing himself from us." He pulled a face for Gloria and she squealed happily, sticking her fingers in her mouth and drooling. "We don't want to lose him, but knowing he's staying even though he's unhappy just makes me feel guilty." He sighed, "honestly I'm starting to think he's just trying to wait until the seasons over before he leaves so he doesn't leave us heartbroken right as we hit the post season. And Aaron agrees."
"Have you talked to him about this?" Lydia asked. He gave her a sheepish look and she rolled her eyes as she turned to look at Olivia and said,
"Men." Olivia snickered and Anthony rolled his eyes. "You need to talk to him."
"I know. That's just easier said than done." Lydia rubbed his arm and offered him a reassuring smile. "Even though he's still not totally happy though things are definitely getting better." Even as he said he knew he didn't even believe it. They were losing Tony, had maybe already lost him. But if Tony wasn't ready to end things then there was no point dwelling on it. Olivia studied his face for a second and then said,
"I'm so annoyed by how nice your eyebrows are." That caused him to pause, face contorted in a mix of amusement and confusion. "Doesn't he have nice eyebrows? She asked Lydia.
"I mean, they definitely need a little help, but they've got great shape. Way better shape than mine." Lydia agreed.
"Right? I'd kill to have natural shape like that. Ooh, look at the fall decor!" She grabbed Lydia by the elbow and dragged her over to a display of pumpkins and leaf shaped dishes and other assorted fall themed paraphernalia. Anthony shook his head and huffed a laugh.
"Easily distracted, those two." He told Gloria who squealed happily. "Yeah. That's ok, I'm done talking about it anyway." He turned his mind back to the post season games to come and continued following Olivia and Lydia as they headed down through aisles of dishes and pots and pans.
-/-/-/-
Two days later was the first post season game versus the Royals. The electric atmosphere of the stadium as they took the field to start the game did nothing to soothe Anthony's anxiety, but as the game got underway it all melted away and he found his focus.
A win followed what could only be described as a wild first game of the ALDS.
-/-/-/-/-
The following night brought a loss and sent them to Kansas City. But spirits were high anyway. The series wasn't over and they could certainly come back.
And come back they did during their first game in Kansas. One win away from moving on to the ALCS.
Treating the following night like it was any other game proved easier said than done. Warm ups had been fine, but as game time crept closer Anthony couldn't shake his pregame jitters.
"Hey," tony gave his shoulder a squeeze, "relax. You got this." He offered an encouraging smile and Anthony forced himself to take a deep breath. "I know it doesn't seem like it, but it really is like any other game."
"I know." Anthony nodded. "I know." He blew out another breath and smiled, "we've got this."
"That, my friend, is a winning attitude. Go get 'em!" Tony clapped him on the shoulders and gave him a long, deep kiss then ushered him out of the clubhouse with the others.
-/-/-/-
In the bottom of the sixth things came to a halt for the most bizarre bench clearing Anthony had ever been involved in.
Now he could admit he got a little too rough with tag during the double play, but he was only trying to protect himself from injury. Of course it probably wouldn't have escalated if Jazz hadn't started yapping.
Maikel Garcia may have been bigger than him, but Anthony refused to let himself be intimidated. He'd done nothing wrong, no matter what Garcia thought. However , the second Garcia made a show of getting in his face the other's came to Anthony's defense. Cole stepped between them and when Aaron reached them he did the same. While the thing was ridiculous and unnecessary he took comfort in the knowledge that his team had his back.
But ultimately it didn't matter because they won. They were headed for the ALCS! There was s special kind thrill that came from accomplishing it in Kansas City, the same place 2023 had come to its depressing end.
-/-/-/-
Later that night, back at the hotel Aaron, Anthony and Tony came to an unspoken agreement to spend the night together, in need of their own celebration.
The second the door clicked shut Aaron pulled Anthony into his arms and cupped the back of his neck to encourage him to look up for a kiss.
"The way you stood up to Garcia was so hot." Aaron told him.
"God, yeah it was." Tony agreed, wrapping his arms around Anthony from behind. "You're so sexy, sweetheart." Tony placed a line of kisses across Anthony's shoulder and up his neck. "I love you."
"Mm, love you too." Anthony murmured, tilting his head to the left to give Tony better access. Aaron slid a hand up under Anthony's shirt, gripped his side, warm and firm. One of Tony's hands found its way up under his shirt too, only he went higher than Aaron to tweak a nipple. Anthony gasped and Tony grinned against his neck.
"I love you too." Aaron whispered, leaning down to connect their lips again, not hesitating to slip his tongue his into Anthony's mouth when he gasped as Tony tweaked his nipple again. Anthony's palms, splayed across Aaron's chest, clenched in the soft material of his t-shirt and he moaned into Aaron's mouth, could feel Aaron smile into the kiss.
They moved to the bed then and Aaron and Anthony agreed when Tony brought up the fact that it was late and with the adrenaline rush wearing off they were too tired for all the work it would take to have full blown sex, so instead they settled for trading hand jobs and many more kisses before cleaning up and flopping back into bed.
Tony fell asleep first, an arm thrown across Anthony's stomach, their legs tangled up together. Aaron fell asleep next, but Anthony took longer to come down from his adrenaline high. He laid awake for another hour mulling over their relationship and the games to come.
-/-/-/-/-
Back home the next evening, Tony holed up in the guest room to talk with Dr. Sharp in the phone. Aaron and Anthony busied themselves with a game of FIFA and Anthony couldn't help wondering is Aaron was anxious as he was about the outcome of Tony's phone call. When Tony emerged from the guest room a little less than an hour later he said the six words no one in a relationship ever wants to hear,
"I think we need to talk."
Aaron paused their game and he and Anthony both turned their attention to Tony, who sighed and dropped into the recliner which made a harsh squeaking sound that did nothing to cut the tension.
"Can I say something first?" Anthony asked, voice soft and uncertain. He tugged the sleeves of his hoodie, actually Tony's, down over her hands.
"Yeah, go ahead." Tony replied. Anthony glanced at Aaron then said,
"I-we know where this is going, but maybe-it's not-" he blinked hard and Tony realized he was trying not to cry. "I'm sorry." He dropped his face into his hands.
“No! No, no, no. Sweetheart, it’s not your fault. I promise.” Tony leaned forward and grabbed Anthony’s hand. Anthony shook his head, tried to wipe away the tears that wouldn’t stop. Aaron wrapped an arm around Anthony’s shoulders and rubbed his arm.
“I’m sorry too.” Aaron said, “I’m sorry you’re not happy, I’m sorry for all the promises I broke.” Tony opened his mouth to interrupt, but Aaron plowed on, “We can-we can press pause, take some time to clear our heads and get some space if you want, but please, please, don't let this be it."
“I hate this. Look at you two, I don’t want to keep doing this to you.” Tony sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I'm the one causing all the problems. I'm the mess. You shouldn't have to put up with that."
"You aren't the one causing all the problems.” Anthony whispered. His eyes were red and puffy from crying, “We've all contributed equally. And maybe you feel like a mess right know, but neither of us see you that way.” Aaron nodded in agreement, still rubbing Anthony’s arm.
“Just take some time.” Aaron suggested, “Think about it. Be sure of your decision. We're not ready to say goodbye, but if you really can't see a way forward anymore we can learn to live with that. We want you to be happy. And if this isn't doing that for you anymore that's ok."
"You're some of the most important people in my life. Maybe the most important and I know I can't need you like you need each other, but I do still love you. And I just-I don’t know what to do anymore.”
“Walking away won’t fix anything. Let’s talk, find a solution. Please don’t run away again.” Aaron pleaded, “please.”
-/-/-
Half an hour later they’d all cried at least twice and Anthony had curled up in the corner of the couch with a pillow in his lap doing his best to avoid eye contact with either of them.
“Maybe you don’t need us like we need each other, but that’s ok.” Aaron told Tony, “you mean the world to me-to us, and I know you don’t appreciate me trying to take care of you like I do Anthony, but haven’t-haven’t I been taking care of you in the way you want? And if not why didn’t you say anything? I want to do right by you and I know haven’t always, especially recently, but I’m not a mind reader.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. And you have. I love the little ways you take care of me. I just-doesn’t it make more sense for you two to do this without since you seem to be so perfect for each other?”
“Do you not want to be with us anymore?” Anthony asked, unable to keep the sharp edge out of his voice. “Is that it? Because that’s what it’s starting to feel like.”
“Anthony, that’s not-” Tony started, but Anthony kept talking.
“Really? Because we’ve been sitting here trying to convince you we still love you and want to be with you and you keep coming up with new excuses. And I don’t how much clearer we can make it that we love you and don’t wanna lose you.” He clenched his fingers in the throw pillow still in his lap. “Stop sabotaging our relationship and let us love you and take care of you. Please!” Tony swallowed hard and glanced between Aaron and Anthony.
“I’m sorry.” Tony whispered. “I need to stop letting insecurities get the better of me and dictating how I view our relationship. And I-” he cut himself off and rubbed his hands over his face, “I can’t shake this fear that I might have a relapse and I couldn’t bear to put you two through that. It nearly killed my parents and watching them watch me suffer and fear that I might die was-I can’t do that to you.”
“In sickness and in health, till death do us part.” Aaron said, “nobody ever said you can’t make that promise outside of marriage vows. We love you. No matter what comes. You can’t know what’s going to happen in the future. Any one of us could wake up one day with cancer or something just as awful and if that happens we’ll deal with it, together. Because that’s what you do for the people you love.” Tony was crying again. “You can’t decide for us if we love you or want to be with you or not. You can fight it, fight us, all you want, but we’ll just hold on tighter and keep reminding you that we love you and we won’t let you run away.”