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Malik was annoyed. Why didn't Robin just admit that her and Malik's marriage had been for publicity? Would it really have hurt her reputation all that much? Instead, she'd all but explicitly said that he was gay on national television, and now Malik's entire career was in jeopardy. There really was no coming back from an allegation like that, he'd seen this before. What would his teammates think? They'd changed in front of him all this time, and he knew they'd assume he was checking them out.He'd called his mom, hoping to get some advice since she was also his agent, but she'd just laughed at his predicament. Malik really felt all alone in this.Everyone had just left his party before the lasagna was done, and then as he was taking it out of the oven, Clay had hit on him. He'd always sort of thought that his teammate might be gay, but he hadn't wanted to assume. Now he was glad he didn't assume, because he was seeing firsthand how hurtful that was. He'd pretty much lost all his friends, and it seemed like his fans were going to leave him, as well.When Clay had come onto him, Malik had honestly been flattered, but had rejected him. He'd been harsher than was called for, unfortunately, but he didn't know how else to disspell these allegations and assumptions within the league. He'd still let Clay stay and eat the lasagna with him, but it had been awkward.Malik was laying in bed that afternoon, staring at the ceiling and just trying not to think about anything going on in his life at the moment. His TV turned on suddenly, showing what was in the sort of lobby that was just outside of his apartment. That meant that someone was here.He looked at the screen and saw Tee Tee. Malik grinned and buzzed him in, jumping up from his bed to go and meet him in the living room."Tee Tee!" He said when got to the living room and saw the smaller man. "Did you see how the media is massacring me?"Tee Tee nodded. "It looked rough. I hope me coming here doesn't spark any rumors or anything." he looked at the ground, seeming sort of ashamed.Malik shook his head. "I don't really care if it does, to be honest. People are gonna talk. It seems like the rest of the Sabers don't even really care whether or not I'm gay."Tee Tee smiled. "Well, hey, that's good news!" he and Malik shared a fistbump.The quarterback sighed, collapsing onto his couch, his arm resting over the back of it. "This day has been exhausting, Tee Tee."Tee Tee nodded again. "It sounds like it," he said, kicking off his shoes and joining Malik on the couch. He sat next to him, cuddling up against him and resting his head on his shoulder.Malik wrapped his arm around him tightly and closed his eyes. "If this doesn't blow over, I don't know what I'll do," he said softly.Tee Tee shrugged. "We could always go public? Depending on whether the league thinks that's good publicity, of course.""That might be a good idea, actually. Then I can stop faking impotence to get out of sleeping with women," Malik said, making Tee Tee chuckle. "I'm serious, Viagra keeps wanting to do a brand deal with me."He smiled. It was sort of a funny thing, but he didn't want his face associated with that forever. Malik opened his eyes and looked down at his boyfriend, who was looking up at him like he was the only person in the world.That was what he loved about Tee Tee. With everyone else he'd been with, they'd liked him only for the fame or for his proximity to the other football stars, but Tee Tee had been with him through all of it, having known him since Kindergarten, and he still looked at him the same. He'd even stayed and cheered Malik on during the awkward phase where nobody knew his name and it seemed like no team would want him. It sort of seemed inevitable, in retrospect, that they'd get together. They were pretty much soulmates, if you asked Malik.He leaned down and kissed Tee Tee. His boyfriend kissed back, smiling and wrapping his arms around Malik.When he pulled away, Tee Tee said, "I don't see why people think this is so wrong." He rested his head on Malik's chest, comforted by the feeling of his heart beating."They're stupid," Malik mumbled. "I think maybe, even if these allegations do blow over, we should go public with our relationship, if you're okay with it," he said. He wasn't sure whether Tee Tee wanted to be thrusted into the spotlight, but given how proud he'd been of being in two seconds of footage when Malik had punched that guy in the wheelchair, he probably wouldn't mind it.Malik's assumption was confirmed when Tee Tee nodded. "I'd like that," he said and kissed Malik again.