And there wasn't really anything wrong with Rick. He was this nice Canadian guy who worked at MuchMusic, and he liked hockey, especially the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Florida Panthers, and he was really short, even moreso than Chris, and he'd gone to college, and he had the same fucked up sense of humour as Chris, and Justin actually really liked him.
So, really, the only problem was that Chris was dating him.
It got Chris out of the country a lot, maybe every few weekends, so he could fly to Toronto and see Rick. He usually booked a hotel room and stayed at Rick's apartment instead, which was downtown and apparently very nice. Rick took odd shifts at Much when Chris was there, opting for early mornings and afternoons, which Chris never understood, because they were mornings. They went to see Rick's parents sometimes, who were too clueless even to know who Chris was, but they lived in Woodbridge, which was suburbia at its finest, so no one took any notice when he was there anyway.
And that was kind of nice, because it meant Chris wouldn't be harassing Justin all the fucking time. Still, he was dating Rick.
They went down to the beach in Toronto a lot, apparently, because for days afterward, Chris complained about sand in his shoes and his underwear, and about how lake Ontario was too dirty and too cold to swim in.
Justin tried not to think about the implications of that, because it was Rick.
It was Rick's idea for the bikes, originally, Chris said. There was a coffee shop by the beach where the local biker gang hung out, and they were actually sort of decent in a creepy sort of way, rather than sort of creepy in an indecent sort of way. There were signs in the window about Harley parking, and there were always at least a dozen of them parked out fron. When he got back from Toronto, after that, he wouldn't shut up about it until Justin gave in and said they'd get their own fucking Harleys.
But Chris was still dating Rick.
They flirted a lot on air, when Chris was at Much, Justin noticed. It wasn't the sort of thing one noticed without looking for it, or knowing what to expect, but it still happened. Dani noticed, when she met Rick, but she knew they were dating anyway. The rest of the guys noticed, too, but at that point, it was hard not to. It was kind of cute, actually, knowing they hadn't really progressed beyond the still-falling-in-love stage of their relationship.
But the problem remained that Chris was dating Rick.
And then they got kind of serious, even though they were still playful and friendly and far too male to admit their relationship had changed. Chris told Justin, then, that he was looking at apartments in Toronto with Rick, so he could stop leeching whenever he came to visit. Justin was happy for them, too, because it was looking like Rick was the real deal for Chris, and not just some fucking around in a long distance relationship like with Dani.
And the only problem was that it was Rick.
When they found a place, something halfway between downtown and the beach, Justin came to visit. He didn't go to Toronto much, because it was cold and windy and Canadian, but it was looking like he'd have to get used to it, because Chris would be spending a lot of time there. And otherwise Justin might never get to see him, his best friend. They went to the biker coffee shop, and the beach, and wandered around downtown, and visited Woodbridge, and watched the NHL draft.
And it was really nice, because Chris and Rick didn't do couply things like hold hands or make stupid faces at each other or even kiss when Justin was around, though he figured they must at some point. They were just like really good friends, Justin thought, though he also figured they must have been having trouble keeping off each other, and it was just - cute.
But Rick was still dating Chris, and that was the problem.
But Rick was also still really nice, and friendly, and taught Justin how to play lacrosse, and Justin couldn't bring himself to hate him, though he should have been able to. Because Chris was dating him.
And that was only a problem because Chris should have been dating Justin.