Roommates

Chapter 18

A/N: I...this is an ending. It's a hot mess but...it's better than leaving it where it was, like I had sorta been planning to do. (I had posted this on AO3 a few months ago, but I had forgotten to update it here).

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*Nearly Three Years Later*

Connor patched things up with Jude pretty quickly. He was very understanding once Connor explained that Daria knew his dad. And Daria was good on her word, because as far as he knew, his dad hadn't found out. But—Connor hadn't heard from his dad in six months, so he had no way of knowing for sure. Maybe that's why he hadn't been talking to him.

Not that it mattered if that was true, because no matter what he still had Jude, and their relationship was as strong as ever. And his life was honestly incredible. He made the starting lineup for the UCLA baseball team in that very first year, and now, after three strong seasons, he was being scouted by MLB teams. Scouted!

Oh, and not to mention that right now, he and Jude were in Omaha, because UCLA was playing in the finals of the College World Series. Their series with Texas A&M was tied, one game apiece and the final game was tonight. All they had to do was win, and they'd be the NCAA Division I baseball champs.

"Jeez Connor, you look like you're gonna pass out—or throw up," Josh commented while they were sitting on their beds in their hotel room that afternoon. Josh was now a senior, and had been Connor's roomie on road trips since the very beginning (mostly because he didn't mind if Jude, who came along on all roadies, snuck in to snuggle with Connor overnight (and that was because Connor didn't mind if Josh did the same with Tyler (but they definitely had a rule against having sex in the room because—well, they were a close-knit group, but there were limits))).

"What? Oh, I'm fine," Connor replied distractedly.

"Yeah, this is nothing," Jude remarked, slipping into the room. "You should've seen him before the time I first watched him play."

"How was that more nerve-wracking than playing a win-or-go-home game in front of millions of people?" Josh inquired, and Tyler sat up and punched him in the shoulder.

"Shut the fuck up Josh, you're not helping him. Besides, how are you so calm? I'm already a nervous wreck and I'm not even playing!"

"I don't know," Josh shrugged. "But I'm not gonna question it."

"You'll be great Con, I know it," Jude murmured, putting his arm around Connor's shoulders to coax him to the head of the bed. "You always are."

"Thanks Jude," Connor sighed, breathing deeply as Jude ran his fingers through his hair.

"I can't believe that this is your last baseball game," he heard Tyler say quietly to Josh.

"Aww c'mon Tyler, you can't get emotional about this or I'm gonna start crying," Josh replied, pulling Tyler into a headlock.

"Alright, alright, I won't!" Tyler laughed, struggling feebly against Josh's strong arms.

"You two disgust me," Connor snorted, feeling Jude's chest bounce as he giggled up against him.

"Oh be quiet!" they both snapped at the same time.

"Everyone knows that you two are worse," Tyler quipped, tossing a pillow at them, which caused an impromptu pillow fight, going a long way to relieving some of Connor's tension.

Eventually they ran out of time, and everyone had to go their separate ways for the game, but Connor held Tyler back in the room for an extra moment, slipping something in his jacket pocket.