Chapter Text
It starts with a bet. It always starts with a bet.
"I bet a year's salary Kev ends up with a man," Allison had told Neil one night, far too drunk for her own good. "I'll even write it down."
"Deal," Neil had said in response, head tilted back in laughter against Allison's plush couch. "I'll have my lawyers draft up a contract."
Allison had thrown a paper cup at his head, which he dodged. "Your lawyers?!"
"Oh, I want this in writing," He'd said, typing quick on his phone.
Allison signed the contract the next morning, so hungover she could barely think. Now, she doesn't forget about the bet, but she stores it in the back of her mind for later — she's got her budding fashion career at stake, built after she'd retired from pro exy. She won her Olympic gold and got out, unlike her more indebted-to-the-mafia friends, invested most of it in the brand. She'd been building it since the end of senior year (with backing from her very guilty father) and it was very successful, at least according to her financial advisors. But back when the bet was made; when Allison was staying at one of her parents' apartments in the city, the space so large and lonely it made her teeth ache some nights, so lonely that she'd had an open door policy for any of the Foxes staying over — and an open door policy for any bets.
Neil stayed most often, still unused to the sedentary life, bouncing between her place and Andrew's, stocking her bathroom with his shitty 5-in-1 shampoo (which kept reappearing, no matter how many times she threw it out). He got the bedroom next to hers, a shelf for his photographs, a spot for his disgusting protein powders in her pantry. They'd gotten closer after college — mostly because they didn't ask questions the other didn't want to hear, pesky questions like 'Neil, how did you get that black eye?' or 'Allison, when did you plan on calling your mom?'
Regardless, Allison all but forgets the bet — she gives a half-hearted effort to question Thea about if she'd ever thought about anything else, had grilled Kevin for details about any hookups in the brief period he's not with Thea, but her heart isn't in it. She's got so much going on that, by the time she reaches her twenty-sixth birthday, she's barely paying attention to what Kevin is doing. He pulls her aside at her birthday party, one arm wrapped around her waist as she giggles a bit drunkenly and smiles up at him.
"Kev! Kevi, Kev," Allison mumbles, tapping on his chest with her pointer finger. "Youu… you have a stick up your ass. Get that frown off your face!"
Kevin lets out a huff through his nose, tugging her off to the side of the living room and sitting down in one of her plush armchairs, pulling her down to sit on the arm. "You invited a lot of people," he says as she drapes herself over him, one arm over his shoulders and her legs in his lap. "All friends of yours?"
"Mhm," Allison hums, head tilting down to rest on his temple and sweeping her eyes over the crowd. "Where's your girl, Kevi? I wanted to say hi."
"Thea's on her way," Kevin replies with notable stiffness, going as still as a prey animal in the gaze of a predator. Allison massages his shoulders lightly, giving a little wave to Nicky on the dance floor as he grinds on Seth. It's a little inappropriate for a birthday party, but Allison doesn't really mind.
"You told her to dress nice, right?" Alli asks, holding out a hand for a drink. One is brought to her almost immediately — the one and only rule of this party was that Allison had to have a drink with her at all times. "And you told her slutty-nice, not formal-nice?"
"Yes and yes," Kevin snaps, a little sarcastically. "You could tell her yourself, you know."
"Nah," she replies, taking a sip from her newly-acquired drink. "I think she's still upset about the last Olympics."
"You did tell us you were unavailable to play and then showed up to watch," Kevin grumbles, brows drawing together. Allison lets out a little laugh.
"Okay, but I was unavail to play," Allison protests, hitting him lightly on the side of the head. "I was supporting my friends."
"Sure," Kevin mutters, taking a sip of his own drink. "Sure. Yes, I told her to dress 'slutty-nice.'"
"Your 'slut' count for the night just went up," Allison remarks idly, twirling a strand of hair around her pointer finger. "Watch it."
"You said it first?" Kevin asks, disbelieving, as Allison begins to giggle. "Okay — Listen, Alli. Seriously."
"I'm serious," Allison replies, schooling her expression into something real. When Kevin says it's serious, you listen.
"I'm…" Kevin's voice drops to a whisper. "Listen, Alli, I want to propose to Thea."
Allison is yanked back to sobriety with a sudden crash. "Huh?"
"Like… I think it's time, y'know? We've been dating for like… over a decade," Kevin explains, taking a long drink. Allison stares at him in silence for a second before regaining the ability to speak.
"Yeah," she says, a bit lamely. "Um — do you want to get engaged?"
"I mean, yeah," Kevin replies haltingly, clearing his throat. "It's only natural, you know? The logical next step."
"Logical?" Allison echoes, cocking her head a little. "Getting married is usually based on love, not logic."
Kevin balks, opening his mouth to retort as Nicky appears from the throngs of people packed into Alli's penthouse. He reaches for Allison, laughing as he tugs her to standing and begins to lead her back to the dancefloor. Kevin looks a little upset to have her taken in the middle of their conversation, but Allison casts a glance back as him as the crowd swallows her up.
"We can talk later," She shouts over the music, gesturing vaguely with her hands. Kevin shrugs, and then Nicky and Alli are dancing to the music thrumming through the floors, and suddenly she loses track of time.
"What was that about?" Nicky shouts, hands resting on her hips as she dances against him, chest to her spine. She laughs, tilting her head back to rest on his shoulder and look at him.
Nicky's grown in the past five years — literally and figuratively. He's continued working out (they all have) and it shows, all lean muscle and strength. He's been good for Seth, good at undoing all the insane rhetoric drilled into him, good in ways Allison could never have been. It's okay — now they form their own little Seth Gordon protection squad along with Matt. Nicky had become one of her closest friends post-retirement; he'd been one of the few Foxes who hadn't gone pro, along with Seth, settling into life in New York without any real bravado. She had them over for dinner every week, trying some crazy recipe; they held movie nights on Saturdays.
"He's gonna propose," Allison says in a stage whisper, collapsing into a fit of giggles. She's held up only by Nicky's hand around her waist, holding her tight against him. Maybe the 'Alli always has a drink' rule had been a little much. "To Thea!"
Nicky's mouth drops open, hidding her shoulder lightly. "What? Allison Reynolds. You tell me everything right now."
"I don't know," Allison whines, turning to wrap her arms around his neck. She's a tad taller than him, especially in heels, so it's a little awkward, but they make it work. "I don't remember anything else."
"You bitch," Nicky hisses, but he's smiling. "Whatever. Happy birthday, Alli."
She laughs, kissing his cheek lightly, before she feels a tap on her shoulder. Seth is standing behind her, eyebrow raised and two drinks in his hands — one he offers to Nicky, the other to Allison.
"Trying to take my man, Reynolds?" Seth asks, and she's overcome with affection immediately. Being drunk does something to her — it makes her nicer, according to her friends.
"Ooh, Seth!" Allison coos, wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing him in a tight hug. "Thank you for coming."
"Wouldn't miss it," he mutters next to her ear, one arm wrapping around her waist protectively — old habits die hard. "How many drinks have you had?"
"Too many to count," she replies, leaning back to smile at him brightly. "Remember the rule?"
"Alli always has a drink," he recites, like he's reading off of a paper. "How many people are here?"
"Oh, twenty, thirty…" Allison waves a hand vaguely. "Who knows, really?"
"Okay, party girl, let's get you some water," Seth says, leading her off to get some water. She catches a glimpse of Thea through the crowd — tight black dress, silver chains decorating her body — and has the sudden thought of how beautiful she is, how much Kevin doesn't deserve her. It's the last thing she remembers when she wakes up the next morning with a raging hangover, a different beautiful woman in bed next to her.
It's business as usual after the party, and Allison slips back into her usual life of fashion shows and parties, an exy match here and there, locking herself in her office for hours while she designs. She puts out a new line of swimwear for women inspired by fashion from the 70's, with lots of wavy stripes and retro patterns. She even goes to watch the Sirens and Nationals match, sitting in the VIP box and meeting up with Kevin and Thea for dinner after. The bet slips from her mind, buried under bills and fabric and exy racquets, until Nicky calls her two months later.
"Did you hear?" He asks in lieu of a greeting. "Kevin's engaged."
"What?" Allison shouts into the reciever, setting down her glass of wine. She's mid-bath, laptop open on her little desk to the newest episode of Grey's Anatomy. "Kevi's engaged?"
"Yep," Nicky replies, popping the 'p' for emphasis. "He called Andrew a few hours ago."
"A few hours?" Allison shrieks, sitting up so fast some of the water spills over the side. "Oh, shit!"
"He just told me," Nicky defends himself, and Alli places the phone on speaker and pulls the drain. She steps out of the tub to mop up some of the puddle, wrapping herself in a towel and groaning. "What? It's not my fault he didn't tell me for ages."
"Well — I — who else knows?" She asks, placing her phone on the counter and reaching into her drawer for her eye masks. "If Matt already knows, I'll be pissed."
"I think Seth just told him," Nicky muses. Allison can hear as he sets the kettle to boil, pressing his phone between his ear and his shoulder. "Why are you so freaked, girl? It's just Kevin."
"I — ugh, I'm such an dumbass," Allison mutters, pressing the eye masks in place. "I made a bet with Neil like five years ago that Kevi would end up with a man."
Nicky's laughter makes her phone speakers crackle. "You what?"
"I was drunk, and… he had a contract signed up," she says, putting on little pimple patches over her blemishes. "So now I'm fucked."
"How much?" Seth's voice comes through the phone, and Allison realizes that Nicky must've put her on speaker.
"Ugh, I don't even want to think about it," Allison grumbles, pulling her hair out of her bun. She pulls her headband off as well, a silly pink thing with bear ears that Dan got her as a gag gift one Christmas. "A year's pay."
"Jesus," Nicky and Seth say at the same time, and the call switches to FaceTime within seconds. Allison picks up to see her two best friends staring at the screen, open-mouthed, before collapsing into laughter.
"You're such a dumb blonde," Nicky gets out between laughs, and Allison lets out a squawk of indignation. "What? I'm right! Why would you sign a contract?"
"I was hungover," she says, like it explains everything, and Seth rolls his eyes. "I'm so fucked!"
"You are so fucked," Seth chimes in, ever helpful, and she would hit him if she could. "Unless you can figure out something."
Allison hums. "Anyone throwing out ideas? Hold on — Dan and Renee need to be looped in," she replies, holding up a hand as she adds them to the call.
"What's up?" Renee asks in greeting, raising an eyebrow and putting her mug down. "Oh, everybody's here."
"Jesus, the whole gang's here," Dan says as she pops up, clearly already in bed. Matt peers over her shoulder, grinning, and waves.
"Emergency meeting," Allison starts, clearing her throat. "Listen, you all know I've made some poor decisions —"
"Freshman Halloween," Renee interjects.
"That one time with the fountain," Matt butts in.
"Sophmore spring," Dan muses.
"Roadtrip in '06," Seth shouts from the other room.
"Okay, yes, I get it," Alli snaps, glaring at her screen as she places it facing the ceiling. She sheds the towel to pull on her pajamas, settling down at her vanity and propping her phone up to see her friends. "I've made an even stupider decision."
"You're pregnant?" Matt shouts, and Dan shoots him a glare over her shoulder.
"She's not pregnant, dumbass," Seth pops back into frame, rolling his eyes. "How would that even work?"
"I mean… fuck if I know! Maybe they came up with some science thing?" Matt replies, looking a little bit disheartened.
"What? No, no, I'm not pregnant," Allison says, a little confused, putting down her moisterizer with a sigh. "I made a bet with Neil a few years back."
"About…" Renee leads, raising one pink eyebrow. She's changed her hair periodically every few months, and it's currently a shade of dark red with two pink streaks in the front.
"Kevin. We made a bet, and I said he would end up marrying a man," Allison replies a little sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. Dan lets out a gasp, and Matt hoots, while Renee looks a little confused.
"Am I missing something?" She asks, blinking a few times.
"Kevin and Thea just got engaged," Seth shouts, cackling.
"Oh shit," Renee says, a little dumbly, leaning back and sighing. "Oh."
"And — and she signed a contract," Nicky chimes in, giggling a little, as he comes back with tea for Seth. "So it's serious."
"Allison Jamaica Reynolds," Dan scolds, sitting upright and glaring at her. "You did not."
Allison chews on her lip, looking down. "… I did."
"Oh my god." Mat says, laughing. "Alli… oh, you're so fucked."
"Okay, yes — but our lovely Seth Gordon came up with an idea," Allison says brightly.
"Do not rope me into this!" Seth calls from across the room.
"If I can figure something out — like, to break them up before the wedding, I could still win."
"You want to break them up?" Renee asks, sounding concerned. "Alli, isn't that a little too much?"
"No, listen — I know Kevin is gay." Allison leans in conspiratorially. "He told me he made out with Aaron during his senior year. He's not even into Thea anymore. I think he's just got too much internalized homophobic bullshit going on to act on it."
"And you didn't tell me?!" Nicky shouts, brows furrowing as he leans close to the screen. "Allison, I'm going to kill you!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Allison apologizes, holding up her hands as the call explodes into disgruntled shouting. "I didn't feel like it was my thing to tell until now!"
"Okay, okay," Dan proclaims once they noise has died down. "So… you're kind of doing her a favor?"
"Like, yeah!" Allison exclaims, clapping her hands before beginning to use a razor on her cheeks. "I'm like, doing Thea a huge favor. I'm saving her from a lifetime of unhappy marriage."
"Still fucked," Seth says after a second, scratching at his neck. "But you'd win the bet. And maybe make Thea happier in the long run, right?"
"Mhm," Allison hums, plucking at her eyebrows. "Could be huge."
"I guess when you put it that way," Renee mutters, chewing on her lip. "I mean… you're helping? I guess?"
"I guess…" Dan mumbles, brows furrowed.
"Listen, I know it's shitty. And I'll probably hate myself for it forever. But it's like… an eighty thousand dollar bet. And I'd be helping, kind of," Alli rationalizes, taking out her contacts and putting on her glasses. "I'm not saying I'd be in the right, and I know it's morally wrong."
"Why are you telling us?" Matt pipes up, brows furrowed as he peeks over Dan's shoulder. "This kind of feels like a 'do-it-yourself' scheme."
"Because… I don't really know how to do it," Alli admits, sighing as she reclines on her pillows. "Like, I don't have any ideas?"
"Are you serious?" Renee asks, letting out a shocked laugh. "Allison…"
"I'm sorry! I thought we could figure out, like, a ethical way to do this," she defends, holding up her hands. Allison winces as Dan laughs. Nicky and Seth stay silent — they were in on it from the beginning, so Alli figures they don't have any moral qualms with it. "I don't just want to fuck up Kevi's life, y'know?"
"Babe," Dan says, almost incredulous. "There is no way you don't fuck up his life. You're breaking up his marriage!"
"But — we can maybe make the fallout better?" Allison winces again, sighing as she turns off the light with a remote. "I don't know… is Aaron single?"
"Alli," Nicky says slowly, realization dawning, "You might be onto something there. I think he and Kate broke up — he told me that he realized he was gay. I joked that our whole family is gay."
"See!" Allison says, clapping. "We could make his life better."
"You want to set Aaron and Kev up?" Renee proposes, rubbing the back of her neck. "That… could work, I guess."
"How do we, though? You can't exactly get that close, man," Seth says, brows furrwed. "Unless you were like… directly involved with everything and had to be there. I feel like Kevin's too busy otherwise."
Allison taps her fingernail on her bottom lip, trying to think it through. "What if… if I could get some kind of job with the wedding? Maybe the dress?"
"Oh, I figured you would do that anyway," Dan says, shrugging. "Maybe something more like.. more general. I feel like you'd only get to be around Thea that way."
"And I don't want to explode his life," Allison murmurs, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I don't want to out him to Thea, y'know?"
"What about wedding planner?" Nicky asks, snapping his fingers. "You know all sorts of people, right? You could ask them to help out, and convince Kev that you can do it better. Maybe even call it your gift."
"Nick, I could kiss you right now," Allison exclaims, grinning at the camera. "That's absolutely perfect. I can reach out to some friends and set it up tonight, and then ask Kevi tomorrow morning."
"You're so smart," Seth says, grinning at Nicky before planting a kiss on his temple. Allison fake-gags. "Fuck off."
"Thank you, my loveliest of friends," Allison says, smiling wide. "I will plot this out and get back to you."
"Whatever, man," Dan giggles, waving at her phone and nudging Matt to do the same. "We love y'all."
"I love you," Allison sing-songs, wiggling her fingers as her friends echo the sentiment. She hangs up with a grin, tucking her legs under the covers and turning on the television to a random rom-com before tugging her laptop into her lap.
She opens her email without hesitation — it may be eleven at night, but she's sent later emails. She's quick to pull up her list of contacts and type it out in email form, adding Kevin and Thea as recipients. She won't send it, not yet, not until she's talked to him, but having it drafted means she can send it as soon as they hang up the phone. Allison's fingers hover over her keyboard before typing out a message to Kevin:
You, 11:01 PM: are you busy tomorrow? i have something important to talk to you about
You, 11:03 PM: nothing bad nobody is hurt or anything
You, 11:07 PM: just had an important convo
Kevin's typing bubble pops up immediately. He's still awake, which isn't exactly shocking, but she was almost certain he kept his phone on silent at night.
Kevi, 11:09 PM: Sure.
Kevi, 11:11 PM: Call me when you wake up.
Alli smiles at her phone without meaning to, setting her laptop aside and curling up to fall asleep with the television noise behind her.
You, 11:17 PM: okay, ttyl
She drifts off to sleep as the protagonist has her big confrontation with the male lead, arms wrapped around a satin pillow. She wakes up to her alarm tinkling on her nightstand, reaching across to turn it off. She goes through her morning routine quickly — workout, brush teeth, do hair, make smoothie, have breakfast — before calling Kevin. He picks up on the first ring.
"Allison," he says in lieu of greeting, "What?"
"A little birdie told me you're getting married," she says, taking a sip of her smoothie. "A little birdie not named Kevin, might I add."
"Are you angry?" Kevin asks, and she can hear the eyebrow raise through the phone.
"No, but you could make it up to me if I was," Allison leads, smirking, and Kevin lets out a sigh. "By letting me plan your wedding?"
"Pardon?" Kevin says after a moment of silence, sounding genuinely confused. "Why? I could just… hire someone?"
"Call it my wedding present to you," she hums, pressing taking a bite of yogurt. "I know so many people, Kevi. C'mon, let me plan it."
"Would you want to be compensated?" he asks slowly.
"God, you sound like a robot sometimes," Allison mutters. "No, babe, I'll just do it for the love of the game — and my friends, of course."
"Let me talk to Thea," Kevin says slowly. "But I'll text you."
"Perfect! Hey, I love you," Allison interjects before Kevin has the chance to hang up on her.
"Um… yeah, goodbye!" Kevin replies, hanging up before she has the chance to say it again. She's used to it, his avoidant nature, so she lets it slide after sending a few red hearts this way via text.
Her plan begins later that day, when Kevin texts her seven perfect words.
Kevi, 3:25 PM: Thea's okay with it. Send it over.
She's grinning as she clicks send on the email, typing rapidly on her phone.
To: OPERATION GAY KD
You, 3:26 PM: plan is a go.