fandomweekly | [#177] That You May Be My Problem Not My Love (Original)

Theme Prompt: #177 - Nemesis
Title: That You May Be My Problem Not My Love
Fandom: Original
Rating/Warnings: PG-13
Bonus: Yes.
Word Count: 995
Summary: Robbie runs into a surprise contestant at local Trivia Night.

Robbie and his squad roll into Trivia Night at the Leaky Tap, comfortable in their continued sweep of the main event. It’s not as though he’s had any actual competition in years. No offense to the regulars at the Tap, but their idea of Trivia, nine times out of ten, is an excuse to drink more beer and eat nachos. Their choice, but Robbie always plays to win. And the few teams that try to compete, unfortunately for them, can’t keep up.

Not since …

“Is that Travis?” Wendy asks, and Robbie feels himself freeze. His eyes turn towards where she’s looking. Sure enough, tucked in comfortably next to the rest of the Ravagers, is Travis Collins. The kid who got out. The one who left this two-horse town behind to seek his fortune elsewhere, and Robbie can already feel himself getting flustered.

“What’s he doing here?” Robbie asks, and before Wendy can answer, Tina, the head of the Ravagers, takes notice of their arrival.

“Robbie! Look who visited for the holidays.” She tucks one arm into Travis’s and drags him up to the other man. “He’s been gracious enough to join us for trivia tonight. Isn’t that great.” He can tell by the way she holds out that last word that she means for herself, not for Robbie. Robbie can feel his heart pounding in his throat, and swallows hard.

“Travis. Good to see you.”

“Good to see you too, man. Damn, I’m surprised you’re still here.”

“Yeah, things got…complicated.” If Robbie would have had any choice in the matter, he probably would have stayed gone once he graduated. But his dad got sick, and his mom needed help, so being the dutiful son, he came back and got … stuck. And he can tell from the look on Tina’s face, she’s prepared to rip the only joy he has left right out from under him in the name of seeing him suffer rather than gloat, and yeah he might deserve it.

But of all people, he didn’t want Travis to see him like this. They’ve competed for everything since they were children—every academic achievement, every scholarly award. He doesn’t need to be reminded of the life he could have had if things were different. He also isn’t entirely sure how to fake it, but before he could divert the conversation, the MC interrupts with the microphone.

“All right, Trivia contestants. Let’s head back to your teams and get this ball rolling.”

“You’re going down, Robbie,” Tina sneers, before dragging Travis back to their table. Travis looks confused and shouts back:

“We’ll talk later?”

Robbie shrugs as he retreats to his table and, for the first time in a long time, hopes that Lady Luck is on his side.

* * * * *

The main portion of the competition, for the first time in a long time, ends in a tie between the Ravagers and Robbie’s team, the Librarians. Because things end in a tie, one member from each of the teams are summoned up for a sudden death round. The first team to get one wrong loses.

“Relax,” Wendy tells him as she nudges him towards the stage, watching with dread as Travis takes the opposite chair. “You’ve won all the games before—you can do it in your sleep now. You got this.”

Robbie does not feel like he’s got this. But he’s doing his best to keep that under wraps.

“Looks like it’s just you and me,” Travis says with a smile, and Robbie can already feel himself sweating. Not like his record isn’t on the line or anything. And he can’t just let them win. Tina would never let him hear the end. No, he must win.

Even if he doesn’t think he can.

The questions volley back and forth, going from one contestant to the other, and soon the rhythm of the answers becomes something else entirely. Soon all that matters is the two of them together on stage, doing what they do best, and the smile that stretches across Travis’s face. Robbie can’t help but feel exhilarated in return, smiling as well. But then the questions get harder and he almost stumbles on one of them. Then the fun drains out of his face, the realization that he might lose slipping in. He swallows hard, hoping no one else saw it, but there’s something in Travis’s eyes as he listens to the next question.

… And then he gets it wrong.

Tina lets out a wail of frustration, but Robbie can’t even think about the fact that his streak is intact right now. He’s too busy looking at Travis’s face, and seeing the truth in it: he absolutely threw that question. Robbie knows he threw that question.

Travis slips away from the table in the commotion, and Robbie follows him, catching Travis halfway into the parking lot. “Why did you do that?”

“Do what?” Travis frowns.

“You threw the question. Why?”

Travis shrugs. “Because I didn’t need it. You seemed like you did.”

“Need what? Your charity?”

“Charity? It’s barstool trivia, but it’s clearly important to you.”

“Look, if I’m going to win, I want to win fair and square. Not because you took pity on me.”

“Robbie—”

“I’m not pitiful, okay? I’m fine. Everything is fine. I don’t need you to swan in from your big city job and just—”

Before Robbie can finish that sentence, Travis steps forward and suddenly his lips are on his. Travis kisses him like he’s been aching to do so, and Robbie doesn’t know what to do with any of it. And when he steps back, he tosses him a smile before climbing into the car.

“That help clear things up?”

Robbie stands there, dumbfounded, as Travis gets into his car and drives away. When the headlights disappear onto the main road, he says, into the darkness:

“What the hell am I supposed to do with that?”