"it's hard to be tough when you're falling in love" (doug stone)

[starandrea]

Back in March I posted a story about a phone conversation between RJ and Dom called Leadership. It was mostly them talking about Casey... so here is a story in which Casey and Lily talk about RJ. Because that seems fair.

Also, this is dedicated to starlit_purple, because she wandered by while I was writing it and, all unknowing, started to talk about RJ and Casey! Clearly a muse moment ~ luffles you! ♥


Evaluation

"Okay, so here's the problem," Casey said. "I like RJ."

"So not surprised by this," Lily replied, twitching her foot out of the way as he collapsed beside her on the couch. "Thanks for bringing me cake, by the way."

"Sure thing." He passed her a fork along with her plate, grinned at the kiss she blew him, and rested his own plate on his knee while he settled down.

"The first part of the problem," Casey said. "Are we sure he's gay?"

Lily scoffed. "Hello, have you met him?"

"Don't stereotype," Casey chided her. "Hearts have been broken over less."

"He's not going to break your heart," she said, around a mouthful of cake. "Although I think it was really cute of you to say that."

"The second part of the problem," Casey continued. "Is he single?"

Lily stared pointedly around the loft. "Signs point to yes, Casey."

Like RJ wasn't the kind of guy who could carry on a successful long-distance relationship for years without remembering to mention it to the people he lived with. "Okay," Casey told her, "for the sake of argument, I'll take your word on that."

"You should," she agreed, settling back. "I have sources."

"Oh, really?" He made as if to get up. "So I should just ask Fran?"

Lily smiled at her cake. "Only if you want to do it in front of RJ."

Casey made a face. "Yeah, so, I was thinking that's the fourth part of the problem, but I can skip ahead. He's our teacher."

"Oh, yeah," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "He looks ancient. Probably about to keel over any day now."

"And our boss," Casey said.

"Like that matters." Lily scraped some extra frosting off and redistributed it on the corner she was about to cut into with her fork. "He even made Theo take down the 'shoes and shirt' sign. I doubt he has a lot of rules about workplace fraternization."

"And our landlord," Casey finished.

"Oh, the horror," Lily teased. "You think RJ's going to evict you if you cancel on him?"

"We skipped problem three," Casey told her. "Does he even like me? If the answer to that's no, I don't really have to worry about the rest."

For the first time, Lily hesitated, which didn't reassure him at all. He tried to just eat his cake like he wasn't hanging on her every word. Like he'd sat down next to her so he wouldn't look too crazy for talking to himself, instead of sitting with her because if anyone on this team had answers--answers that were understandable--it was Lily.

"Casey," she said at last. "It's totally obvious to everyone except you that RJ thinks you're the best thing since calzones. Theo and I have a bet on about how long it takes one of you to... do something about it."

"You and Theo?" he repeated. "Not Fran?"

"Me and Fran have a bet about where you're going to be caught kissing first," Lily said matter-of-factly.

"Well, I'm glad I'm such a source of entertainment for you." He didn't know why it didn't make him feel better, actually: if everyone in the loft believed it, it must be true, right?

Except they'd been wrong before. They'd made mistakes, as Rangers and not. Individually and as a team. And this might be one of those things that was too important to leave to blind faith.

"Us too," Lily agreed. "Come on, Casey. You know we love you guys. We just want you to be happy."

"What if I can't make him happy?" Casey countered. "Who even knows anything about RJ? He and his dad don't get along; that's like, the most personal thing any of us know about him. Maybe he doesn't even date. Maybe he's alone on purpose; we don't know. It could be some mystical Pai Zhua master thing."

"Oh, I wish I was taping this," Lily said. "The first of many Casey freakouts over RJ. We're going to talk about this for years. Probably to reassure you during future freakouts that, yes, RJ will be RJ, but that doesn't mean he doesn't like you."

"I'm not freaking out," Casey informed her.

"You are completely freaking out," Lily said. "But don't worry--you do it in a weirdly calm way. You and RJ are perfect for each other."

"So, wait." Casey decided the best thing to do with that was to ignore it, but his brain was starting to catch up. "You're not surprised. I'm guessing Theo and Fran weren't surprised. Is it because I'm totally obvious?"

"No," Lily said.

"Because if it is, then why--" He'd already started to continue when he realized what she'd said. "What?" It was the job of a best friend to tell you things you didn't want to hear, and Lily had never had any trouble doing it before. "What do you mean, no?"

"I mean, you're not exactly holding up a sign," Lily told him. "You flirt with everyone and their brother. So the fact that you're all over RJ, adorable as it may be, isn't anywhere near as obvious as you think it is."

"I don't flirt with everyone," Casey protested. "I'm friendly!"

"I'm friendly," Lily said. "RJ's friendly. You flirt. Theo does, too. But he's not friendly."

"Wow," Casey said. "That must be some mysterious girl distinction that I don't know about." He scraped some frosting off the edge of his plate, wondering if she would enlighten him.

Lily just shrugged. "Among others," she said cheerfully.

It finally occurred to him where she was going with this. "You think RJ thinks I flirt with everyone?" he asked. "You think that's why he hasn't said anything?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, he hasn't said anything because he doesn't think there's anything to say. He figures you treat him the same way you treat everyone else, so why make a fuss? Plus, he's your boss and it would be weird."

"You just said it wouldn't be weird!" Casey exclaimed.

"Yeah, not if you say something," Lily said. "It's not cool for him to do it. And why would he? He doesn't have any reason to think you want him to."

"I totally want him to," Casey said. "If I'm so good at not showing it, why aren't you surprised?"

"Because RJ is falling over himself to do things for you," Lily informed him. "He's smart and cute and funny. He's like the nicest guy on the planet, and he has a huge crush on you. Who wouldn't like that?"

"You're saying he's totally obvious," Casey said.

"Yup," Lily agreed. "Transparent like water."

"Huh." Casey considered that. "So basically, it's up to me."

"I'm not allowed to actually encourage you," Lily told him. "That would invalidate my bet with Theo. But I think you summed up the situation pretty well."

"I'll tell him you were completely neutral," Casey promised. "Especially if you tell me what to do."

"Surprise him," Lily said. "You know RJ; he likes to talk. Tell him something he isn't expecting to hear."

Casey gave her a skeptical look. "I'm not sure it's possible to surprise RJ."

Lily was rescuing some of the sprinkles from the middle of her plate with leftover frosting, and she shrugged. "Try," she suggested.