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Chapter Text

Colin had long since grown out of the bed he had been stewing in for the last 3 hours. Normally, dinner with his parents was the kind of thing that could shake him out of a mood, but tonight even the promise of comfort food and familiar voices wasn’t enough.

Isaac and Michael were both back in England. And sure he could in theory go to his sister but he didn't have the energy to do any explanations and it would make him feel more stupid than he already did.

He sighed, staring down at his phone. The screen open on the greyhounds group chat glared back up at him. He loved his team, he really did and now that he was finally out and proud, he didn't exactly have to keep his personal and private life separate anymore.

But old habits die slow. The instinct to keep things quiet, to play it safe, was so deeply ingrained it felt like muscle memory. Just writing the invite had taken all evening. Typing, deleting, rewriting. Picking emojis. Deleting those too.

He'd been trying to ask them to come to the parade for weeks now, hemming and hawing after trainings in the locker room to the point where Will had been sneaking extra water bottles and strepsils into his locker. He'd even managed to bring it up a few times but chickened out before actually extending the invitation.

The thing was, it was tomorrow so even if people were free they would have to drive all the way up to Wales. Though a part of him was convinced that they wouldn't want to anyway. He wanted to speak up but the old Colin, the one that still felt like he had to fit in to be accepted, kept cutting off his words. They took him serious on the pitch now but that was only because he played better. He hadn't suddenly become a cool person off the pitch. 

His phone dinged and Colin nearly dropped it on his face. It was an update from Michael.

Just a quick screenshot of train tickets going from Reading to Cardiff central and a "Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow night, cariad💖". Colin send back a mixture of hearts and exclamation marks. Michael had met his parents before but that was in England. This time it was home. His Welsh roots, his people, his place. He couldn’t wait to show him around. He had been hoping that Michael would be able to make it in time for the event but Michael’s job was international, meetings across time zones, too many moving parts to take a single bank holiday Friday off. But Colin understood. He always had.

Just like Michael had understood back when Colin couldn't be out yet and also never once complained about his match and training schedules or mostly strict meal plan.

Colin forwarded a screenshot of the tickets on to his family group chat, with a '🚗??⌚?' before switching back to the greyhounds chat, where his invite had been sitting unsent.

Before he could second guess himself further, he just hit send.

Even if nobody but Isaac came, Richmond was his family and he wanted them to be there with him and see the most authentic version of Colin that he was. The one that he was still getting used to himself.

Chapter Text

The 4.30am sky in Richmond Park was jet black, stars dimming and the air crisply biting. Not that Jamie noticed.

His mind was miles away as he did mountain-climbers under Roy's warm scrutiny and blazing headlamp. His routine had been thrown off last night and he still hadn't found back any equalness.

Normally he scrolled on his phone for a bit before bed to reply to the lads and stuff and then re-post whatever the PR team sent him but last night he'd seen Colin's invite on his lock screen and then just left everything unopened which meant now he had all those little green and red circles on his phone screen.

The invite shouldn't have scared him so much. And it wasn't that he had a problem or nothin cuz he weren't a hippocrite but he'd never been to a gay event before and he didn't want his first one to be like this. As an ally. If he went with the team, people would just assume he was there as a friend, and that didn't sit right.

It wasn't that he'd meant to hide anything from the team, just that he weren't ready at the time and now that a few months had passed and several other footballers in the prem had come out, it felt awkward.

"OI TARTT!"

Jamie's attention snapped upwards at Roy, who was scowling at him with his squiggly but oddly charming eyebrows. Jamie now well versed in reading Roy's expressions noted it as his questioning face.

"I dunno, I'm just thinking," he muttered, stopping to sprawl across the grass on his front. He kept his muscles tensed expecting a rebuke but none came. Huh, he must seem more out of it than he was aiming for if Roy was letting him get away with this.

Roy grunted, giving Jamie permission to start talking.

"So right like I'm bi," he started diving straight into it and pointedly not looking in Roy's direction "and like I'm pretty sure some of the team like already thinks I'm bent right? But I ain't out or noffin and if I go to the thing it'll be with the lads yeah?"

Jamie paused, resisting the urge to turn and look at Roy.

"But I ain't one of em. Not at this. I want to go. I've always wanted to go to one but as me, you know? As a wee sexy baby when I were proper terrified. And I don't want to make telling them a whole thing neither, cuz it was already so intense when Colin did it and I like attention but I don't think I would like that?" he trailed off.

He twisted his fingers into the damp grass and kept his eyes firmly on the rapidly lightening sky, voice caught in this neck.

"You're an idiot."

Jamie reeled and flipped over onto his back to glare at Roy, "Mate, the fuck, I just came out to you."

Roy rolled his eyes and huffed.

"Congrats on being bisexual Tartt. Was wondering if you were planning on being the last on the team to know." he drawled out. "Just go to the stupid thing wearing the damn flag. Nobody thinks you're straight for you to bother with a fuckin speech or some shit."

"Where am I meant to find a flag in the next few hours?"

""

"I've got a spare."

Jamie bolted upright to gape at Roy who was now wearing his nervous scowl.

"Holy shit mate what?"

"Fuck off Tartt, Phoebe made it for me." Jamie melted a bit inside and beamed at Roy. He ignored his burning need to ask questions; his burning need to know if Roy had been with guys before and what his type was and if his type could be Ja- He cut that thought off with prejudice. He couldn't go around making things weird. Roy were his gaffer and like the team all said they were fine with all the extra training and the nutritional dinners and stuff cuz nobody else wanted to be 'Roy's favourite' (Sam's words, not his but Jamie secretly loved it) but like training and dating were different and Roy didn't even like Jaime and holy shit had they just been sitting in silence this whole time should Jamie start speaking or would that be awkward?

The silence had been hanging in wait while Jamie and Roy both processed what they had revealed to each other. He considered saying something, giving the damp grass twined between his fingers a soft tug.

"Suicides Tartt." Roy cut in, voice surprisingly soft, meeting Jaime's eyes with his warm piercing gaze and Jamie got to his feet and got back too it, throwing out his thoughts for later and focusing on the burning in his legs.

Chapter Text

Will's closet was scattered across the floor of his room as Max & Noah watched on in sleepy bemusement. Will's heart thudded warmly and he did a little twirl for them, showing off the outfit he had put together. Noah gave a little clap and Max scrounged up a sleepy wolf whistle. Will had accidentally woken both of them up in the process of upending his wardrobe.

"Can I borrow some of your make-up Noah?", Will asked his boyfriend who was now sitting up and wrestling his binder back on.

"What do you need it for mon chéri?" Max cut in, staring at the bedside clock in horror. Will knew she was used to being up early for training, but not probably not this early. The only player Will knew that woke up before he did was Jaime.

"Oh one of the guys. You know Colin? Yeah he invited us up to this pride parade in Wales today so I figured I'd go in early and sort out transport and food and stuff."

"Aw, that's nice darlin! You didn't mention it earlier?" Noah was mildly puzzled but had gotten out of bed to grab his makeup pouch and manhandled Will in front of the mirror.

"Ah yeah" Will rubbed the back of his neck. "I only saw the invite like 40 minutes ago and Colin's sometimes a little disorganised so he sent it last night."

"Huh." intoned Noah, Max nodding along in agreement.

"Lets get you dolled up then," Noah winked, flustering Will and then got started.

By the time his makeup was done, his breakfast scarfed, his partners quickly kissed (which then spiralled into not so quick kisses at Max's come hither smirk), his lipstick reapplied and the bus boarded it was 6 a.m.

On the rather empty bus Will opened up the chat and so far the only message after the invite from Colin was from Jamie confirming his and Roy's attendance. He wanted to giggle at the message. Richmond was such a messy workplace and he loved it. Instances like this were probably why rest of the team thought the two were dating and Will was looking forward to the day they actually started so that he could win the betting pool.

Will also confirmed his attendance in the group and then switched over to his chat with Sam, which mostly consisted of cute animal photos.

'U do groceries on Friday mornings right? Could you grab some stuff, if ur coming 2 Wales? I'm checking the coach w Kennith, if not then train tix for team w the Boss. Got drinks & protien bars @ club but nothing proper for a trip.' [6:15am]

The bus was starting to slow so he stuffed his phone into his nearly nonexistent back pocket and rushed to the front of the bus. Will got off the 493 with a little hop and a "Thanks!" to the bus driver and set off in the direction of the Stadium. Kennith's phone was going directly to voicemail and while he wasn't 100% sure he'd find the man at the stadium, Will was reasonably confident.

Will grinned at the familiar trees on the way there. He loved walking to the Club every day. Sure maybe it wasn't the most glamorous job and Aunt Deborah kept making comments about 'wasted potential' and 'already 25' but Will didn't give a fuck. His immediate family was warm and supportive, but he'd never felt a clear sense of direction in his life till he joined Richmond and became a Greyhound.

He hummed a bit under his breath, and took out his phone to send a selfie to Noah & Max, doing his best to also get his legs and shoes in the photo.

"Why do you look a bunch of pastel highlighters threw up on you?"

Will nearly jumped out of his skin and spun around to face Kennith who had materialised behind him.

"Oh um well.." he fumbled with his phone, opening the group chat and then waved his hand at the bus.

Chapter Text

Sam wandered down yet another asile, trolley skittering on the polished floors. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead faintly. He tugged at the hem of his crop top, trying not to regret it.

It was just a shorter top. Perfectly normal. Comfortable for the weather even but he still felt painfully exposed. There wasn't anyone around to even see him as he preferred the privacy of doing his shopping the the mornings.

Of course it was ok for guys to wear them but Sam was still uncofortably aware of the types of comments old teammates and classmates would have made of they saw him right now. He knew the comments the press might still make if he got papped in his current outfit. Or even types of things he may thought in his head a few years ago. The team always called him the nicest. And he tried, he really did. But sometimes on days like these his personality felt fake and brittle. It took energy to lead with kindness, to pause before judging. Some days, it left him tired in ways he didn’t have words for even though it should have been easy as breathing.

He tried to refocus and sped up a bit when he realised he had been left behind.

Simi was up now far ahead, grabing items off her list with ruthless efficency. She was amazing. Friday mornings is when they did groceries together before Sam had to go to train and Simi had to go prep at the restaurant for the lunch rush. He was so incredibly lucky to have found a best friend and co-owner like her.

Sam took out his phone to get started on his own grocery list. He wouldn't have time to drop off any at his own place so he'd get his usual groceries on the weekend or have them delivered but he would prefer to not waste money on having them delivered.

He considered his teammates with his notes app open. He should probably grab all the usual movie night snacks (Popcorn, Rolos, Barbecue Pringles, Skittles) but also some morning foods for those of his teammates that liked to sleep in and likely would have to skip breakfast to get to the club by 9.30am.

He added Crackers, Bread and pre boiled eggs to his list. Oh and Dani would want carrot sticks. If fact he probably should grab a few bags of those, and some other snackable vegtebales, fruits and a bunch of those little yogurts and granola pots plus spoons. Jan Maas would want hummus. Oh and paper napkins. He wondered if he could find any glitter here in the store and added it half-jokingly, then deleted it when he pictured Roy Kent walking onto a glitter coated bus.

By the time he and Simi had filled the trolley, Sam had 4 whole bags filled with a lot more stuff than he had intially planned on getting. Simi hadn't been any help and laughed loudly at him as he tried to balance them on the back of and to the handlebars of his bicycle.

"You sure you don't want a ride?" she asked, unlocking her car.

Sam hesitated for a second, not wanting to impose on her.

"No no, it's okay -"

One of the bags gave a threatening crinkle.

"Actually, yes please. If you don't mind."

The journey was short and once there Simi helped him unload the bags. Sam couldn't see anyone else there yet so they set the stuff down outside the door of the bus and Sam settled down on the pavement.

"Thanks again, Simi."

"No worrries," Simi said. "You sure you don't want me to hold onto your bike till you get back?"

“It’s alright. It’s safe here.”

She nodded, hopped back into her car, and pulled away with a wave. Sam stayed seated for a moment longer, watching the sun climb higher over the training pitch. Over his years at Richmond he'd seen his teammates transform. Jamie being the most obvious example, but despite that it was Colin who had changed the most. He hadn't noticed it right away but the difference between the man he first met and the one he was friends with now was night and day, both on and off the pitch. A feeling of warm affection swelled up in his chest and he sqaured out his shoulders. If Colin didn't already know just how much the team loved and supported him, he would by the end of today. 

Chapter Text

Trent hummed to himself as he ironed his waistcoat. He'd felt hesitant to agree to the invitation considering he'd never been to a pride parade before (consequences of only realising your sexuality in your late 30s) but this morning Asha had come into his room, pulled him out of bed, flumped into his now vacant spot, turned over and gone right back to sleep.

His original plans for the day had involved playing driver for their Mother & Daughter spa day and while he was happy to do so, he was considerably more excited to spend a day with Colin and the greyhounds. If you asked or told him a year ago that he would be best friends with Roy Kent and some kind of gay mentor figure for a team of male footballers he wouldn't have believed it.

He flicked off the iron, also turning off the switch at the socket and held up the waistcoat in front of him, nodding at the reflection in the mirror. Navy blue linen, embroidered with little yellow daises. He paired it with a crisp white shirt, the sleeves rolled to his forearms with a rainbow pin over his chest, and (because he was finally dressing how he wanted to and not how he should) a pair of canary yellow trousers that rode the line between dashing and 'art teacher who owns too many scarves'. Socks? Rainbow stripes. Why not. He was going to Pride, after all and there wouldn't be a better time to wear them than that.

“Daddy, are you going to wear the hat?” came a voice from the doorway.

He turned. Bea, clutching her stuffed owl and squinting at him like a little judge.

“I wasn’t planning on it,” Trent said, but already turning toward the hall closet. “But now I suppose I must.”

The hat in question was a slightly ridiculous Richmond branded fedora in bright yellow with a blue band. It had been a end of season present from Colin last year. Bea adored it. Trent wanted to be able to say he didn't but he absolutely loved it too.

“You look nice,” Bea said, yawning as she padded toward the kitchen.

“Thank you. So do you.”

Bea grinned a toothy smile and giggled. “I'm still in my pyjamas!”

“Well you always look very nice.”, she bounced on her feet the same way Will did, grinning up at him and then dashing away.

He followed her into the kitchen at a slower pace, phone in hand, half-thinking he might finally ring Colin. He'd almost done it the night before, his thumb hovering over the call button at nearly midnight but it had felt... silly. Too sentimental. Colin would’ve been asleep anyway.

But as he unlocked his phone, a message pinged in the Greyhounds group chat:

Isaac: You heard Will! Club at 9:30 sharp. Wear sunscreen!

Jamie: Oi u cant make me🙁.

Colin: Just be on time, yeah? 💖

Trent blinked.

Roy: I can. Wear the fucking sunscreen Tartt!

Will: Bring water bottles and a change of clothes for tomorrow!

A moment later, a ping:

Sam: @Trent, you coming? 👀

Trent stared at it. At the little “@Trent” tag.

He smiled, soft and startled.

It had been more than half a season since he'd stepped out of the Greyhounds’ orbit in any professional capacity. His book had been published. He’d made the rounds doing signings. He wrote freelance now, while teasing the idea of a new book. Asha like to tease him about being her trophy (ex) spouse sometimes. He'd had friends before and was still in contact with his colleagues from the Independent , but this? Still being included in the chat where grown men argued about fantasy football, the correct way to brew tea and why the patriarchy sucked?

Well. It meant more than he'd let on.

He glanced at the clock. 9:00. Exactly.

“Oh, shit,” he muttered, grabbing his satchel and dropping his phone straight into his tea mug. “No. No, no. Not today, Crimm.”

He pulled it out, shook it dry, and hoped for the best.

“Where are you going?” Bea asked, mouth full of toast.

“To go be loudly gay in public.”

“Cool.”

He kissed the top of her head, crooked the ridiculous hat at a rakish angle, and dashed out the door.

Chapter Text

The bus was a riotous explosion of noise and colour, music thumping from a speaker jammed in Sasha's cup holder, streamers dangling like vines and several feather boas and rainbow flags tossed over the backs of seats.

Richard who was the last to tumble onto the bus was tragically not prepared for any of it.

He flopped down into a window seat and dumped his armful of flag, glue, pins and beads into his lap. His hair was a mess, his Burbery shirt creased to hell and he was most embarrassingly wearing the same skinny jeans and trainers he'd worn to training the day before. He also smell faintly of someone else's perfume.

"Do you need help," Jan Maas said, sliding into the seat next to him and hooking his head onto Richard's shoulder, "or a therapist?"

Richard snorted, ignoring the teasing comment. Jan Maas had already bullied him into therapy months ago.

He lifted the flag in his lap (ignoring all the other stuff that went tumbling to the floor) as if it answered any questions. It was, in his opinion, magnificent. The beautiful French flag, with a lovingly stitched Welsh dragon across the centre. Colin was his ally in the fight against the English and this was a symbol of their quest. The flag itself was a gift from a former, brief, intensely enthusiastic hookup who had both exceptional tailoring skills and a disturbingly low threshold for emotional boundaries.

"Neither," Richard replied. "I need fashion tape and a miracle."

"Because you look shit," Jan added cheerfully, dragging a hand through Richards bed-hair. "Like more than usual."

Richard gave a sharp sigh, and gave Jan Maas a poke in the side to signal he didn't have any patience for the friendly ribbing. At least not until the sun stopped killing his eyes and his head stopped spinning.

From the front of the bus, Jamie Tartt was currently in the middle of what Richard could only describe as complicated foreplay with Roy Kent, leaning across the aisle to poke him. As if noticing the attention Jaime turned his head and looked right at Richard and his flag.

"Wait, bruv," Jamie said squinting. "Do you just.. carry that thing with you?"

"The flag?" Richard asked, fluffing it out proudly for the bus to look at. Isaac who had looked mostly asleep at the back nodded at him in approval. "Mais oui. It is an important symbol of cross-national appreciation and the fight against english oppression."

"He shagged someone welsh," Jan clarified to the bus.

"Oui. And she did very good embroidery," Richard shot back, with a wink.

Jamie cackled and tuned back to Roy, who looking increasingly like he was weighing the pros and cons of launching either Jaime or himself out of the emergency exit.

Richard sighed and turned to his capitan. "I need to make this appropriate for the parade as I do not have a rainbow flag." In a surprising and unusual abandonment, Isaac closed his eyes and went back to sleep, abandoning Richards conundrum.

"Need help?" came Nate's voice from the front row.

Richard blinked and nodded, already shoving Jan out of his seat. Jan shrugged and moved to the row behind, stretching out and peeling open a tub of hummus like a yoghurt pot. He pulled out a spoon from his pocket and took a mouthful.

Richard tried not to recoil in horror, already used to Jan's strange habits.

Nate settled in next to him, shifting the flag into his own lap.

"Do you have any sewing things?" he said, pitching his voice up for Bumbercatch who was sat next to Jan. Bumbercatch who was curled up in a rainbow blanket, and knitting a rainbow scarf, reached into his bag and drew out a little kit which he passed forward to Nate.

"What are you going to do?" Richard asked eagerly. "Will it have feathers?"

Nate snorted. "No. We're not savages. I'm going to stitch one of these small flags through the dragon's claws. It'll look purposeful."

"You are a gift l'entraîneur," Richard whispered reverently, fanning himself with a hand.

Nate smirked, already threading the needle. "Don't flatter me too much or I'll start charging"

Richard turned to look out the window at the cars whizzing by. Further forward in the bus, Babatunde was paining glitter onto Dani's face and Higgins was showing off his rainbow tie to Trent.

Will, bless him, wove through the aisle like a determined helicopter parent. "Richard," he said poking him in the shoulder, "have you eater anything today?"

Richard grinned rakishly thinking back on that morning but as if reading his mind Will cut him off. "I mean in terms of actual food."

Will handed him half a baguette and a bag of cherry tomatoes as if anticipating his response. "I've got eggs too if you want them" and before waiting for him to respond also pressed those onto Richard.

As Richard chewed dutifully he watched the team. Nate stitching next to him, the clack clack of Moe's needles behind him and Roy's third exclamation at Jamie threatening to throw him off the bus. A feeling crept into his chest. Warm and fizzy. Like champagne in the Sun.

Everything was loud. Messy. Bright. It was still to early. But everyone was here. Together.

He chewed a tomato. It was absolutely ridiculous and he felt like he was living in some kind of dream. If it was a dream he had no plans of ever waking up.

Chapter Text

The bus was nearly there. The highways had given way to green fields and then into the roads of Cardiff and Isaac still hadn't said a single word.

He was sat right at the back of the bus, shoulders squared, arms folded, dressed in mostly black from head to toe, like a man headed to court. The bus bounced and screeched; his team, a rainbow blur at the front, chattered away, yet Isaac stayed quiet, scowling in the corner.

Dani was the first to notice

"Ah looking good El Capitain!", he exclaimed, nodding at Isaac's monochrome serious fit. "Very minimal."

Isaac struggling to keep his face fixed gave a tight nod and a thumbs up.

In contrast to his own outfit Dani was in a glittery deep neck top over a pair of outrageous denim shorts and hair braided back in dutch braids. Will, behind him, looked like a walking pansexual flag in a skirt, mesh, and mismatched socks. But Isaac didn’t say anything.

Because Isaac was in hell.

(3 hours earlier)

Isaac had arrived at the club well before most of the team. Sam was already there loading up the snacks, which wasn't a huge surprise. He joined in, giving Sam a tired smile. While he loved Colin and was happy to wake up for this, he would never be a natural morning person like Sam was.

Sam was bounding in and out of the bus with a radiant grin though something was different. Isaac pondered on it a while, scanning Sam's posture before noticing his midriff. He titled his head. Sam, while not as unfashionable as Roy, wasn't exactly the type to venture out of the basics often.

He supposed it was quite hot so Sam was probably quite comfortable in the purple cropped shirt. He was glad the team was venturing into trying new fashions.

When he circled around the bus to help Sam grab the last of the grocery bags he noticed rainbow flags in the bus. Those were new. Huh it was probably to make Colin feel welcome. Maybe a quick nod to the teams stance on gay people. Yeah cool, it was a nice touch. He'd bring it up to the gaffer or Ms Welton next time they had a team branding meeting, as he'd made some notes on other things they could also be doing.

As the team continued to trickle in, Isaac felt more and more unsettled, like he was out on a joke or something.

Bumbercatch had a rainbow blanket.

Jamie bounding up in a pink tracksuit and a bisexual flag cape (He took a long look at that. He supposed that was one easy way for Jaime to confirm his sexuality.)

Isaac blinked, tilted his head and said nothing.

By the time Nate arrived in a soft velvet suit with a little trans flag cufflinks, Isaac started to feel a bit worried.

He pulled out his phone and opened the search engine. "LGBT+ holidays today?"

Nothing. No International pride days, no pride month or week or anything.

His stomach flipped.

He opened the group chat again

Colin: Looking forward to seeing you all in Wales!!! Bring flags boyos!!!

He looked up at Jaime, draped in his flag. His pride flag.

Something had gone wrong.

Isaac had assumed (with a decent amount of confidence) that they were going to a Welsh Independence demonstration. Colin had mentioned it quite a few times during the season, mid rant about Welsh language and his favourite places to visit and even when talking about his sisters.

Isaac had even made a banner: Cymru am Byth in big red letters. His nephews had helped him paint it. He'd been reading up on Wales for weeks.

It was fine he could ask Trent what was going on once he arrived.

Then Trent arrived.

Trent Crimm boarded the bus in a whole Outfit with a capital O, gave Isaac a little wave and sat down close to the front.

Isaac scrolled back frantically to the initial invite. There was no way he'd messed up this badly. Was there?

Colin: "Heya Greyhounds sorry for the short notice but like there's the thing outside the Senedd tomorrow from 1pm and I was wondering if any of u wanted to come? It'll be fun! You don't need to bring bannerz or anything but it would be nice to have others there!" [23:12]

The realisation hit him like a slow motion car crash. He lowered his phone and looked up. Jan Maas had glitter in his hair.

Oh, Isaac thought with horror. Oh no.

(Now)

Dani came to sit with him ten minutes out, a little pride flag tucked behind his ear like a pencil. Every time Isaac saw him, the outfit got louder.

"You are very quiet, amigo. Are you meditating?"

Isaac made a sound like a laugh and a groan merger together. "Yeah sure."

In reality he was hiding behind his bag, trying not to meet Dani's earnest eyes.

A big black rucksack, stuffed to the brim with pamphlets, flags, water bottles, spare masks and the homemade banner he'd wanted to surprise Colin with. The rainbow glitter bus made him feel like he was in a fever dream.

He considered texting Colin. A warning or a casual heads up. A "bro this bus is a bit gay now sorry" sort of message.

But then Richard, who earlier had given Isaac a fleeting moment of hope in his team turned over to display his new flag. Nate had done a brilliant job and in any other setting Colin would probably love it. "Is this gay enough? Do I also need to put glitter on my face to look supportive?"

Isaac stared, wide-eyed.

There was no way. No way all of them were wrong.

But as a feather from one of Dani's boas drifted into his open mouth Isaac decided to give up.

Let the world burn.

—

The bus pulled up alongside a river, the Sendd looming up to their right. He could see Colin running across the road to them and the noise on the bus doubled as everyone else noticed him too. The moment the doors opened, the greyhounds tumbled out of the bus like a popped champaign bottle.

"EVERYONE STAY TOGETHER", someone yelled. "DO WE HAVE THE SNACKS?!"

"WHO TOOK MY EYELINER?!"

"DO NOT LICK THE GLITTER!"

And then as Isaac finally got off the bus, shouldering past Roy, there was silence.

The team was stood in a huddle, collectively slow blinking at Colin.

Colin stood a few meters away in front of the steps of the Sendd, dressed in a red welsh hoodie and jeans, with a gobsmacked facial expression.

A few protesters holding signs who'd followed Colin also stopped dead at the sight of the team.

There was a tense standoff, the crowd on the stairs watching them in puzzlement.

Roy stepped off the bus. Started. Backtracked. "Oh, for F-"

"Heyyy boyo," Colin called out to Isaac, hands on hips. "What the hell???"

All heads turned.

He stepped out of the shade of the bus where he'd opened a small packet of popcorn (sue him, he'd had time to think about this on the bus ride) and walked forward calmly munching.

His boys watched with baited breath.

Colin's face was twitching between sternness and amusement, a puzzled set of his eyebrows.

Isaac shrugged off the bag, pulled out the banner and handed it to him.

Colin unrolled it, the hand painted dragon on the back catching int the sunlight and the dawning realisation the the team exploded into noise.

"WAIT WHAT-"

"YOU KNEW??"

"ISAAC YOU BASTARD"

"YOU LET ME SEW ON A RAINBOW TO MY FLAG FOR NO REASON???"

Richard was already 3 boas less and was trying to scrub the glitter off his face (but just smearing it onto his hands). Sam was looking down at his own crop top which now made more sense and Dani hadn't moved yet, looking like a kicked puppy.

Before chaos proper could descend, Colin doubled over laughing.

Full shacking laughs, hands on knees, teas in his eyes.

"You absolute idiots," he said fondly. "I- ok. Okay. This is… somehow perfect."

He looked around at the bright mess of his teammates, accidental activists and rainbow-clad fools. All here for the wrong reason yet, still every single one of them was here.

"You're staying," he said, gesturing behind them to the other protesters who were nodding along.

There were no objections. Richard gave up on the glitter and put the boas back on and Jamie bounded up the stairs into the main crowd, dragging Roy behind him. Dani had already found someone who was painting a dragon onto his cheek for him.

The team all filtered towards the main protest, taking pamphlets and asking questions and trading welsh flags for rainbow ones with the other protesters.

Colin walked up to Isaac with a grin, and bumped shoulders with him.

"You're going to tell me about this later, yeah?" and Isaac grunted in agreement. Colin was glowing in the sun so Isaac tucked him under an arm and led them towards his team to join them.

The hotel lobby had finally gone quiet.

Most of the lads had stumbled upstairs in fits of yawns, with leftover snack packs, still shedding glitter like some kind of sparkly plague. They had waved off the bus like it was a noble soldier going to war. Someone (probably Dani) saluted. Bumbercatch had cried.

Now, much later, Isaac sat now in the front passenger seat of a Ford, the world soft around the edges. The streetlights flickered past and the air smelled like pine-scented car freshener and glitter, if glitter could have a smell.

Colin sat at the back vibrating with a strange mix of excitement and low-level panic. He kept checking his hair on his phone and patting nonexistent glitter off his hoodie (all the glitter was in his jeans and on his neck).

Mr. Hughes (call me Tad) was giving amused looks at his son in the rear view mirror.

They pulled into the train station just in time as a rush of people were exiting the barriers and Colin was already out of the car and racing forwards. Michael stepped through the gate and dropped his bag just in time to grab the backs of Colin's legs and they both went tumbling to the ground. Something soft fluttered in Isaac's gut as he grinned at them. It was like a proper rom com.

Tad was chucking and honked the horn at them, catching their attention from where they were absorbed in each other. Grabbing a bag each, they made their way over.

The both clambered into the back, Colin directly behind him and Michael diagonal. 

Once in the car Michael clocked them immediately.

"Why are you both covered in glitter?" he asked.

Colin who had been mentally rehearsing his welcome to Wales speech for a full car ride froze like a deer in headlights.

"I - we -nightclub," he blurted out. "Went to a nightclub…"

Michael narrowed his eyes. "You went to a nightclub after the protest?"

Colin nodded, voice going higher. "Yup. Big.. rainbow.. techno nightclub. Whole team. It was very underground."

Silence.

Michael blinked slowly, turning to Isaac, not sure what to make of Colin's tone, and in solidarity with his best mate he gave a solemn nod.

Bros before Boyfriends. Even if his best mate was being a bit of an idiot.

Michael shrugged and turned back to Colin, where they absorbed themselves into whispered conversation and Isaac exchanged a dry glance with Tad, who was clearly holding back a grin.

As the car pulled away from the station, Colin gave his jeans another unsuccessful swipe. The glitter refused to be removed, shining defiantly under the streetlights.