in the hands of fate (a love by chance, tincan, story)

chapter 4: it's just a question of time

There was no sign of Tin when practice ended, and they all trooped down into the changing rooms so Can took his time showering. Standing under the hot water with his eyes closed after practice felt like the only solitude he got even though there could be ten other guys in the communal shower with him, they weren't there demanding his time and energy. He didn't have much left to give. Correction, he had nothing left to give, he was running on empty.

When the water started to run cold he finally turned the shower off, grabbed his towel and headed for the changing room. Everyone had left except No who was sitting fully dressed on one of the benches staring blankly ahead.

Can dried himself off and started to pull on his clothes. "No, you alright?"

His senior did not respond. Can did up his shirt without bothering to tuck it in. Grabbing his shoes, he sat down next to No to pull them on. He gently elbowed him. "No?"

Finally, No seemed to notice he was there, turning cloudy eyes on Can. "Sorry, little monkey. Is something wrong?"

"I should be the one asking you that. You were totally zoned out."

No scratched the back of his head. "I've just got a few things on my mind that's all." He searched Can's face. "How about you?"

Can shrugged. "I'm fine." It wasn't a total lie. He was coping, wasn't he? There was a lot to be thankful for.

"Okay, I'll buy that for now," No said in a voice that made it clear he didn't believe it at all. He stood up and Can followed. "I'll always be here if you want to talk. I'm your senior, I need to take care of my junior."

Can nodded and No pulled him into a hug.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Can pulled out of the hug and found Tin in the doorway wearing his all too familiar ice-cold expression.

No snorted. "I'll see you tomorrow, Can," he said as he patted Can on the shoulder and left. Tin's attention did not divert from Can even as No passed him.

Can walked nearer to Tin, ignoring the discomfort of being on the receiving end of Tin's disdain. "Thanks for having Ren. I can take her now."

"It's raining," Tin said, arm going around Ren, who was safe in the sling, as if to protect her from Can. "I'll drop you home."

"It's fine, we can get the bus. Ren can't travel in a car without a seat."

"I bought a seat yesterday, they fitted it at the store."

Can's eyes widened in surprise. How could Tin look at him with such contempt ninety percent of the time then go and do something like this? You know what though? Can was tired. Waiting in the rain for the bus with a baby that would need feeding very soon was not an appealing prospect. At all. "Where are you parked?"

The seat Tin had had installed was a top of the range rear-facing one and next to it was a mirror that would enable the driver of the car to see the baby in the rear-view mirror. Seeing it made Can's heart crack a little. If Tin could be this caring about a baby that had nothing to do with him, imagine he he had a child of his own? Tin would make a great father one day and his chosen partner would be the luckiest person alive. Tin had had such an awful time with his own family that Can had no doubt that when he finally fell in love, he would give that person his everything and would shower his children with the love he never had.

"Are you going to buckle your seatbelt, or do I have to do it?"

"What? Right, sorry." Can reached for the seatbelt and buckled himself in. Tin started the car and Can turned his attention outside the window.