The Fire Down Below (Part 41/?)
Title: The Fire Down Below (Part 41/?)
Authors: wrestlemanix and eric_idle_rules
Pairings: Ted DiBiase Jr./Cody Runnels, John Cena/Randy Orton, Justin Gabriel/Wade Barrett, Evan Bourne/Chris Jericho, Joe Hennig/Windham Rotunda, Joe Hennig/Heath Slater
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Takes place at an English all boys boarding school during the Victorian Era in which prefects roam the halls and rugby and cricket are the sports of choice.
Word Count: 7654
A/N: While I don't know much about the Victorian Era, I do know that while everyone kept up appearances to the world, behind closed doors, it was a whole other story... Please review!
Disclaimer: Neither of us own the WWE.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25, Part 26, Part 27, Part 28, Part 29, Part 30, Part 31, Part 32, Part 33, Part 34, Part 35, Part 36, Part 37, Part 38, Part 39, Part 40
That had Windham’s head turning rather sharply in Joe’s direction. He wasn’t about to deny he’d imagined the same, but he didn’t think Joe would have too.
“I don’t see Windham being opposed to the idea,” Cody said, and then shrugged, “And one day you may be able to swap.”
“That day’s not here for you and Ted yet though, is it?” Windham said but Cody merely shrugged.
“Not yet but it will be,” he responded lightly.
Joe then realised something, “Wait… are you saying that Justin’s topped Wade?”
Even Windham’s jaw dropped at that.
Justin merely had an innocent smile.
“See?” Cody said brightly, “It’s a natural order of things overall.”
“But… Justin, you really…?” Windham asked, slightly dumbfounded.
“I’m not saying it’s happened often, but yes, it’s happened before. It’s a plus that Wade likes relinquishing that control once in a while… and that he does enjoy it. Like I said, not often, but enough to keep us both happy,” Justin answered.
“There, if Justin can fuck Wade, then I think anything’s possible,” Cody said. “I just think you need to get over your reservations and just… do it already. Teddy’s slept with another man before you two did, think about that one.”
“I can’t just… sleep with him,” Joe muttered.
“Why not? You’re not shy about talking about how many girls you’ve just slept with,” Cody reminded him.
“It’s different, though. Fuck,” Joe grumbled, wondering just how he managed to get himself stuck in this situation. He wanted Windham; he cared for Windham… but he did still care for Heath. On the same note, though, he didn’t know just how Heath truly felt in return. And he didn’t know if he was ready to take that final step with either of them just then.
“I don’t know what there is to think about,” Cody said, raising a brow.
“You wouldn’t,” Joe snapped, still uncomfortable with the way that his friends could still see through him so easily on occasion even though he knew it was only logical that they would be able to given how long they had all known one another.
“I’m not even going to ask you what you mean by that,” Cody replied.
Joe had the wherewithal to look a little sheepish.
“These things don’t need to be rushed,” Justin agreed, “But at the same time you shouldn’t let your fear hold you back. One day you’ll look back on all the time you spent afraid and you’ll curse each wasted moment,” he finished.
At times like this it was very easy to see just how being around an older, wiser man had rubbed off on Justin.
Joe gave a non-committal sound and shrugged, looking down at his shoes.
Cody sighed, standing up, “I’m going upstairs for a bit,” he said, “I want to read over my script.” He gave Ted a significant look that he was welcome to join him whenever he wanted, but for once he didn’t make a demand that Ted go with him. As it was the blonde seemed to dither, clearly unsure whether he would offend either whether he stayed or went.
In the end, Ted said, “I’ll be up soon.” Cody smiled at him before heading off, leaving Ted with their other friends. He then spoke to Joe, “Justin’s right, you know. I kept saying that I wanted to wait, until I finally wondered myself just what I was waiting for. I love Cody and that’s really all the reason needed.”
“Dammit, Teddy,” Joe mumbled. Two of his friends could always be counted on to be the voice of reason, those two being Justin and Ted. And there were both of them telling him that he and Windham should just go for it.
“What? You don’t agree?” he asked. “I don’t know if there was anyone more reluctant than me, but… I realized that it was worth letting go of all my reservations, because I just want to be with Cody.”
“I can’t just go and sleep with him, though. It’s not like the girls I’ve been with, since I only see them every now and then. I see Windham and Heath all the time.”
“So what? I know it’s nothing like the girls you’ve been with, since those were all one offs… you don’t want a one night stand with Windham, right?” Ted asked, and Joe shook his head. “Then… really, what are you waiting for?”
“I don’t know…” Joe finally said, uncomfortably aware of the fact that Windham was sitting right next to him. However, aside from his comments about not wanting to share him with Heath he really hadn’t said that much. He latched on with that idea and decided to run on it, “I’m not the only one with reluctance here.”
He indicated Windham with a nod of his head, “Windham’s not overly enthused about the idea either!” and of course he was drawing on that from how much bloody effort he had had to put in to get him to even let him give a blow-job before.
“Hey-“ Windham paused momentarily, realising that he couldn’t completely deny the allegation. Rubbing a hand over his cheek he huffed softly and then shrugged, “I guess I just don’t see…” he trailed off.
“Don’t see what?” Justin asked and Windham glanced at Joe before looking back to them, “I guess I just don’t see how it could feel good as opposed to just hurt.”
“It takes a bit of patience but it really is worth it,” Justin said immediately and Ted nodded, “Windham, Joe, I was as concerned about that as you two but really, Justin’s right… as long as you take your time with it you’ll be fine.”
“So now you’re telling me to take my time with it? Christ, what’s this world coming to; you’re actually agreeing with Cody,” Joe muttered.
“What? I’m just saying go slow and steady… Cody seemed to enjoy it,” Ted told them, watching as they scrunched up their noses.
“Please, you eat it up. Now, will you two please quit your worrying and just go fuck each other already? I mean, honestly, you’re knocking it before you even try it,” Justin said, rolling his eyes.
“Justin makes a valid point,” Ted agreed. “You’re just speculating about how it’ll be.”
“Look, I took a girl’s virginity once and it wasn’t pretty,” Joe said.
“Yeah, and you said that was your first time, too,” Justin reminded him. “Of course it’s not going to be pretty. I don’t think anyone here’s been with both guys and girls, have they?” he asked of the people around him, who all shook their heads.
“Heath has, though,” Joe told them. “Why?”
“Then he’s really the only one that can compare things. I mean, he said himself that the pain is absolutely worth it. And I have to agree with him,” Justin said. “Look, all of us are telling you to go fuck,” he added. “Even Ted and myself, and we’re the logical ones! What should that tell you?”
“It tells me that you all have far too much time on your hands,” Joe grumbled, cheeks still red. His hands went towards his pockets, undoubtedly seeking out his matches and cigarettes--- but as soon as they touched them they dropped again. Windham had taken everything off of him earlier.
”An incentive to help you quit,” he had called it. Joe hadn’t believed him at all.
A quick look to his lover also meant that he wouldn’t be getting them back.
“I’m going back to our room for a bit,” Joe stood up.
As he headed off Justin sent Windham a significant look and said, “Now would be the perfect time you know? Heath’s not here and you’d have the room to yourself.” Yes, he was nothing if not opportunistic, and he was damn well proud of it too.
“Shut up will you?” Windham said, though without much heat as opposed to the way Joe had been flaring up at most of their comments. Justin merely sighed.
“Some people you just can’t reason with!” he said with clear annoyance to Ted, the latter merely shrugging and giving him a look in turn.
He looked to Windham and added, “I’m just saying… ok? I’m not telling you that you need to, but… think about it. And think about just who it is that’s telling you that maybe you should really consider it.”
Windham nodded. They were both right, Cody, too, he had to admit with some reluctance. They weren’t exactly giving things a fair shake. Giving head wasn’t all that bad, so maybe sex wouldn’t be so bad, either. “I am, all right?”
“Well, I better go join Cody; he’s probably getting antsy,” Ted said, excusing himself.
Once Ted was upstairs, Justin and Windham were alone in the common room. Justin raised a brow at his friend and asked, “So, what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. This was all just sprung on me days ago, you know.”
“And how long did it take you to decide you wanted to be with… what’s her name?”
“That was just a little fling. This is different, so would you all please stop comparing the two situations?” he snapped.
“You care for him, though. And that shouldn’t change if you two sleep together,” Justin reasoned.
It shouldn’t yes, but Windham noticed that no one said explicitly that things wouldn’t change between them after the fact. Running a hand over the back of his neck Windham sighed, “I’ll think about it,” he said again.
Justin shrugged and nodded before sighing, “Well, I guess I should find some way to occupy myself for a bit… I mean, Cody and Ted won’t be done for a bit.” And he had little doubt in mind that something would be started some point.
“Can’t you go and see Wade?” Windham found himself asking the smaller male absently.
“I wish,” Justin lamented, “But I’ve been around him so much the past few days I’ll need to hold back for a bit.” So that it wouldn’t look suspicious to anyone.
Windham had to admire the tenacity Justin showed; it had to be difficult not to even really see his lover most of the time.
And that had him actually feeling a little sheepish reflecting on their conversation.
He and Joe had lots of time alone together, Justin didn’t get that.
“I’m going to go get my schoolbag before they get started… see you in a minute,” Justin quickly headed off.
When Justin reached the room, he saw that, as of now, Ted was actually helping Cody with his lines. “Seems like it’s coming along well,” Justin said as he began grabbing his books and shoving them into his bag.
“It is,” Cody answered. “It always helps when I have someone to run lines with,” he added.
“I’m sure. Look, I’m going back downstairs to do the rest of my work, so if you two are going to do… anything other than run lines, do keep that in mind you’ve got a somewhat limited time frame,” Justin told them.
Ted flushed bright red at the mere suggestion. Cody just grinned. “We’ll keep that in mind, thank you.”
With that, Justin turned and headed out the door, back downstairs where Windham was still sitting. “So, have you given any more thought to what we talked about?”
“I can’t stop thinking about it,” he admitted. “It’s not that I don’t want to, honestly, I just don’t want things to change between us… and Heath just completely throws a wrench into the situation. I like him, he’s my friend, but that doesn’t mean I want him sucking Joe off, or fucking Joe or getting fucked by Joe, as well…”
Perching himself with a subconscious precision that Windham was sure was inherent to Justin wanting to make sure that he never, ever showed Wade up, Justin placed his book-bag on the floor before responding.
“Well, why didn’t you say so to start with?” he had been curious about that he’d admit it.
The other boy gave a sigh before scrubbing his hand over the scruff he had growing on his chin and cheeks. It was one of the things that made Windham-Windham that he could never decide if he wanted a beard or not.
“Because…” he blushed, “Because I didn’t realise how much it’d bother me, and because I didn’t realise just how much I want Joe… and how much I want him to myself.”
Nodding pensively Justin said, “Well, if you talk to Heath I’m sure that something could be arranged, Win.”
Seeing the other’s expression he immediately chastised him, “No, Windham, you will need to talk to him about it. You said it yourself that you are friends and as his friend you owe him that much.” He laughed then, causing Windham to arch a brow inquiringly. Shaking his head slightly, Justin mused, “I was just thinking what if Heath challenged you to a duel for Joe?”
~~~
“Are you ever going to let that go?” Evan asked sheepishly, Chris laughing softly as he shook his head, “Evan, I’m not angry at you over it. I’m just glad that we managed to resolve the issue before too much time wound up lost.”
“You’re really not angry about it?” Evan asked, kneeling down and pulling his small box of sweets from underneath the bed, then standing up again once more.
“Of course not…” if anything he had been more hurt about the whole scenario, but he wasn’t about to tell him that.
The Canadian retrieved his own sweets then, seeing how much he wanted to keep and how much he would take along so as to not seem stingy.
“I’m really looking forward to Christmas now you know,” Chris admitted suddenly, glancing at the calendars on their desks.
“You are?” Evan asked.
“Yes, I am. Is that hard to believe?”
“I mean… no, I guess not. I’m rather looking forward to Christmas myself. It’ll be nice having you over. Won’t you miss not going home to your own family, though?”
“Well, travel from here back to Canada is rather expensive and, you know… takes a while by ship and all… so I would have been staying with my family that lives here, anyway. Not that I don’t want to see them,” Chris quickly added, “but I’d much rather spend time with you and meet your family.”
“I’m glad you’re going to come over. Auntie’s going to love you, I’m sure. I’d like to think my mum would like you, too,” he told Chris.
“I like to think that everyone likes me,” Chris replied, grinning, trying to keep the mood up since he knew it was hard for Evan to talk about his parents.
“Someone thinks rather highly of themselves,” Evan said. “C’mon, let’s go, they’re probably waiting for us.”
Chris heaved an exaggerated sigh, “Ok.”
They locked their room up behind them.
The walk towards John and Randy’s room didn’t take long, though by the time they got there it seemed as though the other two had started without them. Of course.
“Usually it’s custom to wait for your guests before beginning the evening,” Evan chastised his cousin lightly and Randy merely grinned before popping what appeared to be a mint humbug into his mouth and waving them in. Chris closed the door after them both, moving to take a seat beside Evan.
“No Phil?” he asked and John held up a hand, indicating for them to wait a moment since he was chewing on something himself. When he swallowed he answered.
“He’s coming along in a little bit,” John said, “He was just writing a letter to Beth when I went to see him… It’s so sweet it’s sickening.”
He was clearly only teasing though, he didn’t think there was out wrong with it. “He didn’t say he’d stay for long though.”
“Well, he’ll probably want to head back to his room and have a nice quickie with his right hand before going to bed,” Randy said.
“Probably,” John agreed, the smirk on his face matching Randy’s.
“You two are terrible,” Evan muttered.
“You love us,” Randy said to him, and Evan just rolled his eyes. “Anyway, you two have your sweets? Let’s see ‘em.”
Evan and Chris emptied out their little baggies for the other two to see as they browsed the piles before John and Randy respectively. As Evan reached out for something, the door opened and Phil announced, “I have arrived.”
“Thank you for that. Now close and lock the door behind you,” Randy said.
“Lock it, huh? Are you planning on holding me hostage for some weird big homosexual orgy?” he asked, eyeing Randy suspiciously.
“You’re not my type,” Randy responded almost immediately and Evan couldn’t resist the jibe of, “You actually have a type, Randal?”
Phil and Chris burst into laughter, John trying to smother chuckles after a few moments when he got over his shock.
“I forgot this one has a bit of a sharp tongue,” Phil clapped Evan’s shoulder, almost causing Evan to drop the sweet that he had been in the process of eating. Sending Phil a small nod he then glanced back to his cousin innocently.
“Well,” Randy said as he recovered, “I guess that proves with a wit like that that he is indeed from the same gene-pool as me.”
“That was brilliant,” Chris couldn’t help but commend, Evan blushing somewhat.
He didn’t make a habit of being nasty but sometimes it was a reflex.
“Let’s get the games started shall we?” John asked.
“I thought you said this wasn’t some freaky homo orgy?” Phil asked, eyes narrowing suspiciously.
“Shut the fuck up, Brooks,” John said. “’N where are your sweets?” he asked, seeing that Phil hadn’t contributed.
“I’ve got them. But, really, what sort of games are you intending to play? No one’s going to end up naked, are they?”
“For someone who seems to want to avoid a big homo orgy, you sure do seem to be talking about one quite a bit. Is someone a bit curious?” Randy teased.
“No. I just need to know what I’ve gotten myself into,” Phil said.
Randy rolled his eyes. “No, ok, no one’s getting naked. He is my cousin after all and as gorgeous as John and I are together, I wouldn’t necessarily want him to see that.”
“Thank you,” Evan muttered.
“Same goes for you, ya know. I may know about you and Chris, but I don’t actually need to see it.”
“You won’t be, I can assure you that much,” Evan said without a moment’s hesitation, much to John’s amusement.
“Someone’s a little territorial today aren’t they?” he teased, Evan throwing a piece of fudge at him in response.
“I would be too… I think you’d lose interest in Randy if you saw Evan,” Chris said, both teasing and playful all at once.
“Tch, please,” Randy scoffed, “I know we of the Orton branch are fantastic in genetics but Evan doesn’t surpass me. No offence Ev.” Evan arched a brow at him.
“None taken,” he said, popping a sweet into his mouth, chewing.
“So, no getting naked and no groping or snogging, right?” Phil asked suspiciously and John and Randy exchanged a look before Randy shifted, head resting on John’s stomach.
“Well, I can’t promise none of that will not occur,” Randy said as John’s free fingers began carding through his hair.
“For fuck sake…” Phil sighed.
“Maybe we shouldn’t, though. Philly might get jealous,” John mused, though he was still running his fingers through Randy’s hair.
Phil rolled his eyes. “Why did I even agree to come to this?” he asked.
“Because we all know that you actually love us despite you telling us otherwise,” John replied. “Plus, you wanted our sweets.”
“I think that was more likely,” Phil agreed, grabbing a chocolate and popping it into his mouth. “I don’t have any other vices; I may as well eat some sweets every now and again.”
“That’s your problem, you know,” Randy said. “You’re hardly even living.”
“What?”
“Well, you don’t smoke, you don’t drink, you don’t have sex and you have to rely on chocolate as your vice… That’s not much of a life now is it?” Randy asked, finding a piece of chocolate for himself.
“I cope just fine,” Phil said with great dignity, “Just because you’re contented to be a drunkard and a whore,” he then smirked.
“Hey, I resent that,” Randy said, jutting out his bottom lip in a deep pout.
“Which part did he get wrong, dear cousin?” Evan asked somewhat teasingly.
“Not much that’s what I’m annoyed about,” Randy joked, grabbing a chocolate that John liked and held it up for his lover to eat.
John took the chocolate, giving Randy’s fingertips a playful lick in the process, causing Phil to make a strangled sound low in his throat. “You two are so bloody demonstrative.”
“Point being?”
The banter continued as they gorged on sweets, John and Randy’s relaxed states slowly but surely rubbing off on the others in the room even though it was apparent that they weren’t quite as free about it.
It was after a little while that Randy noticed that Chris and Evan were hardly even touching one another. He was practically lying atop John, and there was no contact whatsoever between his cousin and his lover. “You do know that you can touch each other, right?” Randy asked.
“Hmm?”
“Maybe feed each other some sweets,” he suggested.
“Stop encouraging them. If they don’t want to, then they don’t want to,” Phil said. He really didn’t care about his friends and their relations amongst themselves, but he did enjoy giving them a hard time about it.
“Oh, they want to. At least I know Chris would admit to that,” Randy said. “Evan I’m sure does, too, but he’s too shy to admit it aloud.”
“Randy…” Evan muttered, the look on his face all Randy needed to let him know that he was right.
“It’s not like I’m saying you should fuck each other. But at least do something.”
“You really don’t have to,” Phil added.
Grinning, Chris picked up a piece of chocolate and held it up to Evan’s lips, who took a small bite, face bright red as he did so.
~~~
Windham paused a moment, quirked his head to the side, then let out a deep laugh, the kind that started right in his gut. “A duel?! That’s quite possibly the funniest thing I’ve heard in ages!”
“Well… do you think he’ll just… let you and Joe be together, even though you know he and Joe at least had something together?” Justin asked.
“I don’t know… It’s terribly naive of me to think that he will just give up being with Joe at all, so… no I don’t think that.”
“You’ve at least got to talk to him, though. You will, won’t you?”
“Yes. I’ll talk to Heath.” Windham shook his head slightly. “I don’t really want to, though. What if… Goddammit, I’ve never been more conflicted and confused about anything. This whole thing is nothing but one big mess, and it’s too late to go back and pretend none of this ever actually happened.”
“Are you saying that you’d much rather suppress your feelings for Joe?” Justin asked of him.
“I don’t know! Before this… I didn’t even realize I had feelings for him! I knew we were the best of friends, but I didn’t know that I felt for him exactly what I’m feeling now. If that makes sense,” he trailed off rather weakly.
“That makes sense,” Justin soothed, not wanting Windham to do himself some sort of injury panicking about the whole situation. “It wasn’t as though I knew I felt for Wade as I did right away.”
“You didn’t?” Windham asked curiously, forgetting his own panic for a moment. The way Justin was about Wade you’d thought he’d loved him since forever.
“Of course not, Windham,” Justin nodded, “I knew I cared deeply for him, and I knew I’d do anything for him, but, well, no one had ever really spoken to me about those kind of emotions before…” he trailed off slightly, smiling wanly at the way he had been so frustrated and upset back then in his confusion.
And then that kiss had happened and everything just seemed to… make sense. Suddenly he wasn’t confused anymore.
“So… It was that simple, huh?” Windham asked him pensively.
Again, Justin nodded, “It really was… and I think when you’re ready it will be for you two too.”
Well, that remained to be seen didn’t it? But, indeed, their friends had given him much to think about that day. It was still a terrifying prospect but was it really as big of a deal as they thought? He really didn’t know anymore.
“You think so?”
“Yes,” Justin answered. “I really do think so.”
“I’ve never seen Joe so… unsure of himself before,” Windham said.
“It’s all new for him, too. But are you this confused when you’ve been with one another? Not after you’re together, but when you’re together,” he asked, clarifying slightly, because he knew that confusion and frustration always seemed to come afterwards.
“When we’re together? I… I guess not,” he said. “I’m not really thinking about much else, honestly.”
“Well, that’s the moment that should clarify it for you. Those times when you’re together and forget about all your worries and just… go for it. Like I said, when Wade and I kissed for the first time, I knew what all those weird feelings I was feeling truly were. Was I nervous? Absolutely. But I was so happy and contented because now I knew,” Justin recalled.
“So… if it’s right you just know?” Windham said.
“Even Ted said so,” and that was saying something alright, even he could admit that much about it all.
“Right…” Windham said.
“Don’t overthink it,” Justin suggested, “Just… let the moment happen.”
Windham didn’t voice it but he knew full-well that they could do that… hadn’t the incident in the sports-kit store-room during the rain prove it? Only, he wasn’t sure that one of them wouldn’t clam up as soon as the situation seemed to progress any further.
“Justin…” Windham glanced around to make sure that indeed no one was looking at them, listening in. “About when you… you know,” he said, brows raising significantly. “What do you… do?” Obviously he got where he was supposed to stick his cock inside of Joe, but he just didn’t understand how to rectify the fact that you didn’t just stick it in, as it were.
“What do you… I thought you said you’d had sex before?!” Justin asked.
“Well, yeah,” Windham said, flushing red. “With a girl. It’s different, you know… it wasn’t like she was a virgin herself, or anything, so…”
“So you want to know what to do. I swear I’ve had this conversation quite a bit recently,” he muttered. “What would any of you do if I weren’t here?”
“Couldn’t tell ya,” Windham answered.
Justin rolled his eyes. “I’m sure you could figure things out for yourselves if you just… tried.”
“Well, why figure things out for ourselves when we can go straight to you and ask you what we can do to make it all the more enjoyable?” Windham asked.
“It’s part of the fun, you know. To just explore one another and find out what your partner likes,” Justin told him.
“I really don’t need to think about you and Barrett exploring one another,” Windham muttered.
“It’s not like I wanna think about you and Joe together, either, but to be fair, you were the one that came to me asking for advice.”
“If you don’t want to help me just say so,” Windham said, “I wasn’t asking for a step-by-step guide, just--!” he stopped, looking embarrassed once more.
“Just…?” Justin prompted and Windham sighed.
“I just want to know, specifically, what to do so it won’t hurt him as bad.”
“Oh!” the smaller nodded his head and said, “You should have just said so in the first place. Well, that part of the process requires some form of lubrication.”
At Windham’s look Justin rolled his eyes slightly in amusement, “Surely it’s not that shocking?”
“I guess it’s just hearing it… what sort of things can you use?” it would be pretty silly to assume that any liquid could be used he was sure.
“Well, saliva is a good one,” Justin said, and then reconsidered, “Though since it’s a first time I’d suggest you use something more substantial, just for that bit more.”
Windham shook his head slightly as he wondered wherein one would actually buy something like that without it looking suspicious.
“I have an unused container if you want some,” Justin said. Wade always had some for their needs so it’d been untouched since the day he’d dared buy it.
“Umm… I… really?” he asked.
“Yes, really,” he answered. “It’s yours if you want it.”
Windham could feel his face burning as he muttered, “At least with girls they create their own lubrication.”
“Yeah, well, guess what? He’s not a girl. So… do you want it, or not? Because you’re more than welcome to go get your own,” Justin told him.
“I’ll take it… yeah, ok, I’ll take it. Did you want me to pay you back for it?” he asked rather awkwardly.
“No, it’s fine. Consider it an early Christmas gift,” he joked.
“Oh, thank you… you are such a great friend. Giving out lubrication as Christmas gifts… I’m sure Cody would like that.”
“He probably would, in all honesty,” Justin agreed. “So… I can go grab it now if you’d like. Assuming Ted and Cody are still clothed, that is.”
“No, you don’t have to go now.”
Justin waited a moment, and then--- “Now’s fine actually.”
“I thought it would be,” Justin chuckled, clapping Windham on the shoulder as he passed him by, “One moment.”
When he reached the room and tried the door it was open, but he placed a hand over his eyes just in case, “Are you both still dressed?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Cody’s voice sounded and Justin lowered the hand, being met with Cody’s pout from where he was...
Straddled atop a rather startled, blushing, but apparently not protesting blonde. Justin waved a hand, moving to his bedside.
“I’ll only be a moment, don’t worry, just need to get something.”
Finding the container Justin then glanced at Cody when he asked, “What’s that?” and shrugged before answering, “Some lubricant for Windham.”
Cody blinked a couple times before he began laughing and actually fell forward onto Ted, hand over his mouth to try and stop himself from laughing too loudly (and doing a very poor job of it).
Ted wasn’t in a much better state. He had raised his head up just as Cody fell forward and their heads bounced off one another, but they really didn’t care at that point. He didn’t know if it was the words themselves or how Justin said it, but it had them both in hysterics.
“Tell him we send him our love and best wishes,” Cody choked out through his laughter, and Justin just barely made out the words.
“I will. Anyway, I’ll let you two… I’ll see you later.” Justin closed the door behind him, still able to hear the two of them laughing. Once he was back downstairs, he sat down right next to Windham again. “Ted and Cody send their love and best wishes,” he repeated with a grin.
Windham huffed. “Jesus… maybe I should just forget this whole thing, then,” he muttered.
“Win, please… you’re just too uptight about it.” He reached into his bag and passed the jar to his friend. “So go to your room and make good use of this,” he then said, patting Windham on the shoulder.
For a moment a look that could only be described as ‘abject terror’ appeared on Windham’s face as he looked first at Justin and then down at the pot in his hand. “Now?!” his voice came out squeaky.
“Why not?” Justin prompted, “You have the room to yourself and chances are Joe has been thinking about numerous scenarios that you two could be involved in together, and he could be aroused and needing…” he wheedled, though really he was speculating most determinedly.
Windham went quiet for a moment, some lingering terror in his eyes, prompting Justin to reiterate an earlier pointer he had given.
“Just go with the moment and see what happens,” he said, “There’s no pressure right away.”
Windham muttered a goodbye moments later and headed up the stairs towards his, Joe and Heath’s room and Justin settled back with his books. If only those two wouldn’t be so afraid they would see what the rest of them were raving about. Ah, naïveté… he grinned to himself.
The only issue they’d have, if Windham and Joe got anywhere, would be Heath turning up again. Well, Justin supposed that it would be down to him to run the necessary intervention to keep the peace.
Windham was in the room for a few minutes, sitting there in silence, continually looking over to Joe. “Is there something you want to say?” Joe asked after he couldn’t take the deafening silence anymore.
“Uh… well… Justin and I were talking.”
“Oh? About?”
“I’ll give you three guesses as to what we were talking about,” he said, rolling his eyes slightly.
“So… what about it?” he asked.
“He gave me something,” Windham told him.
“Like what? Jeez, you’re not telling me anything here.”
Standing up, Windham walked over to Joe’s bed and grabbed his hand. Once he flipped Joe’s hand so his palm was upwards, he placed the jar Justin gave to him right in the center of his hand. “That…”
Initially Joe was clearly non-plussed, “Yeah…?” but then when he realised what substance was in there, and recalled the content of the conversation he managed to put two and two together visibly.
He’d never claimed to be the fastest gun on the draw.
“Oh-Oh!” he blushed scarlet at the implication.
“Yeah,” Windham mumbled in return.
For a moment Joe found himself wondering -probably stupidly- why Justin kept such an item in his room since Wade never came to visit him--- and it wasn’t as though Justin ever ‘played away’ elsewhere.
As per usual when he got embarrassed he tried to mask it with some sort of crude-ish joke.
For once though Windham didn’t laugh…
But that could have been because he was too busy kissing Joe to pay much attention.
~~~
“You’re such a corrupting influence Orton,” Phil shook his head slightly, but supposed that Chris feeding Evan and Randy merely laying on John were better than some of the things he had no doubt that they could get up to… well, in John and Randy’s case anyway, he amended.
“You wouldn’t be so miserable if Beth was here,” John said.
“I am not miserable.”
John wasn’t wrong though; had Beth been there then he would have probably been a little more at ease. “I think she knows about you two you know,” he commented, and then paused, “And no, before you start I didn’t tell her.”
“How would she know then?” Randy asked, clearly unsure whether he should be overly concerned by this news or not. Phil merely shrugged.
“Apparently she could just tell, even though when she met you both you were meeting with Elizabeth and Samantha.”
“Always said she was too smart for you.”
“Aren’t you concerned?” Evan asked, recovering slightly from his bout of shyness.
“Nope,” John said simply, massaging the back of Randy’s neck, “Because we can trust that Beth won’t go being a gossip. She hates that.”
“That she does,” Phil agreed. “Although her engagement to me, I’ve heard, has been the cause of several rumours. Mainly ones about her being pregnant.”
“So we all know those are false,” Randy said.
“Yes, completely false,” Phil said with a nod. “She never liked gossip to begin with, and now she’s the subject of it, so she hates it even more. I’m sure if she was ever, for some reason or another, asked about you two, she would tell them that’s it’s none of her business, therefore, it’s none of their business.”
“She sound like a good person,” Evan said.
“She is.”
“I still can’t figure out why she said yes to him. Or how they even got hooked up in the first place,” Randy chimed in.
“Oh, piss off,” Phil laughed. “Really, though, I lucked out with her.”
“She sounds lovely,” Evan assured and Phil nodded, pride evident in his face that brought a smile to John’s; he was pleased that Phil was so happy, really.
They may tease him but they truly held nothing against his lifestyle and the fact he was remaining faithful to Beth before marriage.
“You’ll get to meet her soon, I’m sure,” Phil said.
And, if not outside of his wedding he would undoubtedly meet her first time at the ceremony. He would of course invite Evan since even though they weren’t considered firm friends they were close enough acquaintances… not that he and Beth would get much say on the matter, it would be all their parents’ decisions.
“You definitely could have done worse,” Randy said.
“Remember Katie-Lea?”
“Oh don’t… I’m still terrified she’s hiding under the bed when I go back to our room.”
“That name sounds familiar,” Evan chimed in.
“Burchill’s the surname,” John said, pulling Randy closer to him out of reflex.
“That name still sounds familiar, but I can’t place it,” Evan told them.
“Her brother Paul graduated last year,” Phil said.
“Ohhhh, ok.” Evan was finally able to put a face with the name. “His sister was that bad, then?” he asked.
“Yes,” John, Phil and Randy said at once.
“How bad could one girl be?” Chris asked, looking to the three who answered in the affirmative, then quirked a brow at Evan, who seemed to have missed out on all the drama.
“Pretty bad,” Phil told them. “She doesn’t really know about personal space and boundaries. At all.”
“Really?” Chris looked amused and they nodded.
“Why don’t I remember anything like this?” Evan asked, brow furrowing a little.
“You were doing all those extra-assignments and stuff and had no life.”
Evan stuck his tongue out as Chris once again prompted what she was supposed to have done to them all.
“Let’s just say some of those girls are a bit… obsessive.”
“That’s putting it nicely, John,” Randy muttered.
“When they latch onto a boy they do all they can to keep him,” Phil said. “I don’t know if you’ll remember… but a lad here was duped into marrying one because she claimed she was pregnant.”
Evan looked shocked, “And she wasn’t?” Phil shook his head, expression somber, “Last I heard they were still childless.” Chris whistled.
“Why was she so desperate to get married?” Evan asked.
“I have no idea,” Phil told him. “She’s not the first, though. To do something like that, I mean.”
“Isn’t that strange? Why should you have to fool someone into marrying you if you two love one another?”
“I guess the love was only one sided,” Randy said. “May as well just marry the person your parents hoped to arrange you with if that’s the case. Girls act like that over in Canada?” he asked.
“Not that I know of. But then again, I’ve never paid them much mind, truth be told,” Chris answered.
“It’s so much easier just fucking another man, I swear,” Randy said. “No one needs to worry about anyone getting pregnant or not fucking for a week because she’s menstruating or some such… Plus I like having the option of being on top or bottom,” he added.
“Charming,” Phil said wanly, referring to the menstrual comments more so than anything. The prospect of one day becoming a father didn’t bother him at all. It was something he knew would happen eventually, so why act like a dick about it? So he thought.
“You really don’t know what you’re missing out on,” Randy said.
“You all act as though you’re not going to have to get married yourselves one day,” he returned.
“We will,” John nodded, “But we’ll be honest; it’s hardly going to stop us being together.” He wasn’t trying to be disrespectful to the sanctity of marriage or anything, but his love for Randy outweighed it all.
Phil clucked his tongue a little but didn’t say anymore; he could hardly judge them for loving each other still.
Chris popped another sweet into his mouth, chancing resting his head on Evan’s shoulder, making him blush, but he didn’t tell him to move.
“Ooo, someone’s getting a little daring, aren’t they?” Randy asked when he saw what Chris was doing.
“You said yourself that there wasn’t enough touching going on between us,” Chris said in return.
“That I did.”
“Can I ask you something?” Evan then asked to Randy and John.
“Sure.”
“When you two do marry… are you going to tell your wives about one another? And that you, well… won’t be faithful to them? Because they’re bright girls and would probably figure it out eventually,” Evan reasoned.
“Honestly, I’ll probably tell Liz that she can be with whomever she wants. If that’s just me, fine, but if there are others, I’ll be ok with that,” he answered honestly.
“I’ll probably do the same thing,” Randy agreed. “It would be fair to not let them have their fun, right?”
Phil toasted them with a wrapped toffee, “You’re more open-minded than I ever would be,” he complimented.
“Thanks,” they responded.
Evan shook his head slightly, genuinely surprised; they really had given the event a lot of thought.
Seeing his cousin’s look Randy chuckled slightly and cocked his head, “Ev, we’ve all known we’re going to be getting married by the time we’re 20, if not sooner, since we were about fourteen… it’s not news to us.”
“I know, I didn’t mean to-“ they stopped him with reassuring looks.
“Besides, you’ve both gone through what we’ve gone through over the matter, right? So you understand.”
“I guess so.”
Personally though he didn’t know how he would handle the idea of sharing Chris even with one woman that he was completely aware of. He’d become so selfish.
“You’ll most likely have to do the same, Ev,” Randy then reminded him.
“Doesn’t mean I want to,” he muttered.
“You were far less resistant to the idea of marriage before Chrissie came along,” Randy teased.
“Well… that’s because… I guess… I didn’t know any better.”
“Hey, you hear that Phil? Evan didn’t know any better. But now he does, and you know why that is? Because he’s getting cock up his arse,” Randy said. “Unlike someone in this room.”
“I’m quite content not having another man’s cock in my arse.”
“Because you don’t know any better!” John told him.
“No, no, I like breasts far too much to consider giving those up.”
“Well, there are some boys who have-“ John started, smirking, but Phil cut him off almost immediately.
“That is disgusting on so many levels John.”
“It takes all sorts,” John mock sniffed, grinning when Randy pushed another sweet into his mouth, John licking his fingers again teasingly, causing Phil to groan somewhat, shaking his head.
“Honestly, how do you put up with them?” he asked Evan.
The smaller man shrugged, “You just learn to block it out,” he lamented.
“Oh please, you love me,” Randy said, “And you love John.”
“Not as much as he loves me though,” Chris couldn’t help inputting.
“Fair point,” John acknowledged once he’d finished his mouthful.
“Yeah, see, you just learn to block it out,” Evan repeated… and Randy chucked a piece of taffy at his head. “Ow, you bastard, my head’s not totally recovered from yesterday, you know.”
“Oh… sorry,” Randy said genuinely. He let yesterday’s events slip his mind because he simply didn’t want to think about what could have happened.
“Bastard,” Evan repeated before bending down and picking up the offending piece of taffy, deciding if he should eat it or throw it back at his cousin. In the end, he decided he’d much rather eat it, so he unwrapped it and popped it into his mouth.
“You’re feeling better, though, right?” Chris asked, gently running a hand through Evan’s hair.
“I am, yes.”
“You know I am sorry about that, right?”
“Of course,” Evan said, turning his smiling face to Chris, pressing a quick kiss to his lips, despite his embarrassment.
“Look at that! Those two began kissing before we did!” Randy exclaimed.
“John!” Randy pouted upside down at his lover from where he was settled against him, “Why did they get to kiss before we did?” John stroked his thumb over Randy’s cheek, shrugging, “We can rectify that situation right now if you like,” he smiled.
Immediately their lips pressed together, Chris and Evan both exchanging mildly amused (and shy in Evan’s case) looks before Evan then took stock of the fact that Phil had covered his eyes.
“Um, Phil?” he questioned lightly, the man lowering his hands in response to the query. When he cocked his head Evan asked, “Um… your hands?”
“The way you two kissed I can deal with,” he said bluntly, “But I’ve seen the way they kiss and… it’s more like they’re trying to eat each other.”
“That’s not the part of him that I like to eat best,” John said slyly, causing Phil to groan.
“Did you have to bring that incident up? I thought I’d blocked the damn thing out for good.”
“You loved it really.”
“Yeah, consider yourself privileged,” Randy smirked.
Authors: wrestlemanix and eric_idle_rules
Pairings: Ted DiBiase Jr./Cody Runnels, John Cena/Randy Orton, Justin Gabriel/Wade Barrett, Evan Bourne/Chris Jericho, Joe Hennig/Windham Rotunda, Joe Hennig/Heath Slater
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Takes place at an English all boys boarding school during the Victorian Era in which prefects roam the halls and rugby and cricket are the sports of choice.
Word Count: 7654
A/N: While I don't know much about the Victorian Era, I do know that while everyone kept up appearances to the world, behind closed doors, it was a whole other story... Please review!
Disclaimer: Neither of us own the WWE.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25, Part 26, Part 27, Part 28, Part 29, Part 30, Part 31, Part 32, Part 33, Part 34, Part 35, Part 36, Part 37, Part 38, Part 39, Part 40
That had Windham’s head turning rather sharply in Joe’s direction. He wasn’t about to deny he’d imagined the same, but he didn’t think Joe would have too.
“I don’t see Windham being opposed to the idea,” Cody said, and then shrugged, “And one day you may be able to swap.”
“That day’s not here for you and Ted yet though, is it?” Windham said but Cody merely shrugged.
“Not yet but it will be,” he responded lightly.
Joe then realised something, “Wait… are you saying that Justin’s topped Wade?”
Even Windham’s jaw dropped at that.
Justin merely had an innocent smile.
“See?” Cody said brightly, “It’s a natural order of things overall.”
“But… Justin, you really…?” Windham asked, slightly dumbfounded.
“I’m not saying it’s happened often, but yes, it’s happened before. It’s a plus that Wade likes relinquishing that control once in a while… and that he does enjoy it. Like I said, not often, but enough to keep us both happy,” Justin answered.
“There, if Justin can fuck Wade, then I think anything’s possible,” Cody said. “I just think you need to get over your reservations and just… do it already. Teddy’s slept with another man before you two did, think about that one.”
“I can’t just… sleep with him,” Joe muttered.
“Why not? You’re not shy about talking about how many girls you’ve just slept with,” Cody reminded him.
“It’s different, though. Fuck,” Joe grumbled, wondering just how he managed to get himself stuck in this situation. He wanted Windham; he cared for Windham… but he did still care for Heath. On the same note, though, he didn’t know just how Heath truly felt in return. And he didn’t know if he was ready to take that final step with either of them just then.
“I don’t know what there is to think about,” Cody said, raising a brow.
“You wouldn’t,” Joe snapped, still uncomfortable with the way that his friends could still see through him so easily on occasion even though he knew it was only logical that they would be able to given how long they had all known one another.
“I’m not even going to ask you what you mean by that,” Cody replied.
Joe had the wherewithal to look a little sheepish.
“These things don’t need to be rushed,” Justin agreed, “But at the same time you shouldn’t let your fear hold you back. One day you’ll look back on all the time you spent afraid and you’ll curse each wasted moment,” he finished.
At times like this it was very easy to see just how being around an older, wiser man had rubbed off on Justin.
Joe gave a non-committal sound and shrugged, looking down at his shoes.
Cody sighed, standing up, “I’m going upstairs for a bit,” he said, “I want to read over my script.” He gave Ted a significant look that he was welcome to join him whenever he wanted, but for once he didn’t make a demand that Ted go with him. As it was the blonde seemed to dither, clearly unsure whether he would offend either whether he stayed or went.
In the end, Ted said, “I’ll be up soon.” Cody smiled at him before heading off, leaving Ted with their other friends. He then spoke to Joe, “Justin’s right, you know. I kept saying that I wanted to wait, until I finally wondered myself just what I was waiting for. I love Cody and that’s really all the reason needed.”
“Dammit, Teddy,” Joe mumbled. Two of his friends could always be counted on to be the voice of reason, those two being Justin and Ted. And there were both of them telling him that he and Windham should just go for it.
“What? You don’t agree?” he asked. “I don’t know if there was anyone more reluctant than me, but… I realized that it was worth letting go of all my reservations, because I just want to be with Cody.”
“I can’t just go and sleep with him, though. It’s not like the girls I’ve been with, since I only see them every now and then. I see Windham and Heath all the time.”
“So what? I know it’s nothing like the girls you’ve been with, since those were all one offs… you don’t want a one night stand with Windham, right?” Ted asked, and Joe shook his head. “Then… really, what are you waiting for?”
“I don’t know…” Joe finally said, uncomfortably aware of the fact that Windham was sitting right next to him. However, aside from his comments about not wanting to share him with Heath he really hadn’t said that much. He latched on with that idea and decided to run on it, “I’m not the only one with reluctance here.”
He indicated Windham with a nod of his head, “Windham’s not overly enthused about the idea either!” and of course he was drawing on that from how much bloody effort he had had to put in to get him to even let him give a blow-job before.
“Hey-“ Windham paused momentarily, realising that he couldn’t completely deny the allegation. Rubbing a hand over his cheek he huffed softly and then shrugged, “I guess I just don’t see…” he trailed off.
“Don’t see what?” Justin asked and Windham glanced at Joe before looking back to them, “I guess I just don’t see how it could feel good as opposed to just hurt.”
“It takes a bit of patience but it really is worth it,” Justin said immediately and Ted nodded, “Windham, Joe, I was as concerned about that as you two but really, Justin’s right… as long as you take your time with it you’ll be fine.”
“So now you’re telling me to take my time with it? Christ, what’s this world coming to; you’re actually agreeing with Cody,” Joe muttered.
“What? I’m just saying go slow and steady… Cody seemed to enjoy it,” Ted told them, watching as they scrunched up their noses.
“Please, you eat it up. Now, will you two please quit your worrying and just go fuck each other already? I mean, honestly, you’re knocking it before you even try it,” Justin said, rolling his eyes.
“Justin makes a valid point,” Ted agreed. “You’re just speculating about how it’ll be.”
“Look, I took a girl’s virginity once and it wasn’t pretty,” Joe said.
“Yeah, and you said that was your first time, too,” Justin reminded him. “Of course it’s not going to be pretty. I don’t think anyone here’s been with both guys and girls, have they?” he asked of the people around him, who all shook their heads.
“Heath has, though,” Joe told them. “Why?”
“Then he’s really the only one that can compare things. I mean, he said himself that the pain is absolutely worth it. And I have to agree with him,” Justin said. “Look, all of us are telling you to go fuck,” he added. “Even Ted and myself, and we’re the logical ones! What should that tell you?”
“It tells me that you all have far too much time on your hands,” Joe grumbled, cheeks still red. His hands went towards his pockets, undoubtedly seeking out his matches and cigarettes--- but as soon as they touched them they dropped again. Windham had taken everything off of him earlier.
”An incentive to help you quit,” he had called it. Joe hadn’t believed him at all.
A quick look to his lover also meant that he wouldn’t be getting them back.
“I’m going back to our room for a bit,” Joe stood up.
As he headed off Justin sent Windham a significant look and said, “Now would be the perfect time you know? Heath’s not here and you’d have the room to yourself.” Yes, he was nothing if not opportunistic, and he was damn well proud of it too.
“Shut up will you?” Windham said, though without much heat as opposed to the way Joe had been flaring up at most of their comments. Justin merely sighed.
“Some people you just can’t reason with!” he said with clear annoyance to Ted, the latter merely shrugging and giving him a look in turn.
He looked to Windham and added, “I’m just saying… ok? I’m not telling you that you need to, but… think about it. And think about just who it is that’s telling you that maybe you should really consider it.”
Windham nodded. They were both right, Cody, too, he had to admit with some reluctance. They weren’t exactly giving things a fair shake. Giving head wasn’t all that bad, so maybe sex wouldn’t be so bad, either. “I am, all right?”
“Well, I better go join Cody; he’s probably getting antsy,” Ted said, excusing himself.
Once Ted was upstairs, Justin and Windham were alone in the common room. Justin raised a brow at his friend and asked, “So, what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. This was all just sprung on me days ago, you know.”
“And how long did it take you to decide you wanted to be with… what’s her name?”
“That was just a little fling. This is different, so would you all please stop comparing the two situations?” he snapped.
“You care for him, though. And that shouldn’t change if you two sleep together,” Justin reasoned.
It shouldn’t yes, but Windham noticed that no one said explicitly that things wouldn’t change between them after the fact. Running a hand over the back of his neck Windham sighed, “I’ll think about it,” he said again.
Justin shrugged and nodded before sighing, “Well, I guess I should find some way to occupy myself for a bit… I mean, Cody and Ted won’t be done for a bit.” And he had little doubt in mind that something would be started some point.
“Can’t you go and see Wade?” Windham found himself asking the smaller male absently.
“I wish,” Justin lamented, “But I’ve been around him so much the past few days I’ll need to hold back for a bit.” So that it wouldn’t look suspicious to anyone.
Windham had to admire the tenacity Justin showed; it had to be difficult not to even really see his lover most of the time.
And that had him actually feeling a little sheepish reflecting on their conversation.
He and Joe had lots of time alone together, Justin didn’t get that.
“I’m going to go get my schoolbag before they get started… see you in a minute,” Justin quickly headed off.
When Justin reached the room, he saw that, as of now, Ted was actually helping Cody with his lines. “Seems like it’s coming along well,” Justin said as he began grabbing his books and shoving them into his bag.
“It is,” Cody answered. “It always helps when I have someone to run lines with,” he added.
“I’m sure. Look, I’m going back downstairs to do the rest of my work, so if you two are going to do… anything other than run lines, do keep that in mind you’ve got a somewhat limited time frame,” Justin told them.
Ted flushed bright red at the mere suggestion. Cody just grinned. “We’ll keep that in mind, thank you.”
With that, Justin turned and headed out the door, back downstairs where Windham was still sitting. “So, have you given any more thought to what we talked about?”
“I can’t stop thinking about it,” he admitted. “It’s not that I don’t want to, honestly, I just don’t want things to change between us… and Heath just completely throws a wrench into the situation. I like him, he’s my friend, but that doesn’t mean I want him sucking Joe off, or fucking Joe or getting fucked by Joe, as well…”
Perching himself with a subconscious precision that Windham was sure was inherent to Justin wanting to make sure that he never, ever showed Wade up, Justin placed his book-bag on the floor before responding.
“Well, why didn’t you say so to start with?” he had been curious about that he’d admit it.
The other boy gave a sigh before scrubbing his hand over the scruff he had growing on his chin and cheeks. It was one of the things that made Windham-Windham that he could never decide if he wanted a beard or not.
“Because…” he blushed, “Because I didn’t realise how much it’d bother me, and because I didn’t realise just how much I want Joe… and how much I want him to myself.”
Nodding pensively Justin said, “Well, if you talk to Heath I’m sure that something could be arranged, Win.”
Seeing the other’s expression he immediately chastised him, “No, Windham, you will need to talk to him about it. You said it yourself that you are friends and as his friend you owe him that much.” He laughed then, causing Windham to arch a brow inquiringly. Shaking his head slightly, Justin mused, “I was just thinking what if Heath challenged you to a duel for Joe?”
~~~
“Are you ever going to let that go?” Evan asked sheepishly, Chris laughing softly as he shook his head, “Evan, I’m not angry at you over it. I’m just glad that we managed to resolve the issue before too much time wound up lost.”
“You’re really not angry about it?” Evan asked, kneeling down and pulling his small box of sweets from underneath the bed, then standing up again once more.
“Of course not…” if anything he had been more hurt about the whole scenario, but he wasn’t about to tell him that.
The Canadian retrieved his own sweets then, seeing how much he wanted to keep and how much he would take along so as to not seem stingy.
“I’m really looking forward to Christmas now you know,” Chris admitted suddenly, glancing at the calendars on their desks.
“You are?” Evan asked.
“Yes, I am. Is that hard to believe?”
“I mean… no, I guess not. I’m rather looking forward to Christmas myself. It’ll be nice having you over. Won’t you miss not going home to your own family, though?”
“Well, travel from here back to Canada is rather expensive and, you know… takes a while by ship and all… so I would have been staying with my family that lives here, anyway. Not that I don’t want to see them,” Chris quickly added, “but I’d much rather spend time with you and meet your family.”
“I’m glad you’re going to come over. Auntie’s going to love you, I’m sure. I’d like to think my mum would like you, too,” he told Chris.
“I like to think that everyone likes me,” Chris replied, grinning, trying to keep the mood up since he knew it was hard for Evan to talk about his parents.
“Someone thinks rather highly of themselves,” Evan said. “C’mon, let’s go, they’re probably waiting for us.”
Chris heaved an exaggerated sigh, “Ok.”
They locked their room up behind them.
The walk towards John and Randy’s room didn’t take long, though by the time they got there it seemed as though the other two had started without them. Of course.
“Usually it’s custom to wait for your guests before beginning the evening,” Evan chastised his cousin lightly and Randy merely grinned before popping what appeared to be a mint humbug into his mouth and waving them in. Chris closed the door after them both, moving to take a seat beside Evan.
“No Phil?” he asked and John held up a hand, indicating for them to wait a moment since he was chewing on something himself. When he swallowed he answered.
“He’s coming along in a little bit,” John said, “He was just writing a letter to Beth when I went to see him… It’s so sweet it’s sickening.”
He was clearly only teasing though, he didn’t think there was out wrong with it. “He didn’t say he’d stay for long though.”
“Well, he’ll probably want to head back to his room and have a nice quickie with his right hand before going to bed,” Randy said.
“Probably,” John agreed, the smirk on his face matching Randy’s.
“You two are terrible,” Evan muttered.
“You love us,” Randy said to him, and Evan just rolled his eyes. “Anyway, you two have your sweets? Let’s see ‘em.”
Evan and Chris emptied out their little baggies for the other two to see as they browsed the piles before John and Randy respectively. As Evan reached out for something, the door opened and Phil announced, “I have arrived.”
“Thank you for that. Now close and lock the door behind you,” Randy said.
“Lock it, huh? Are you planning on holding me hostage for some weird big homosexual orgy?” he asked, eyeing Randy suspiciously.
“You’re not my type,” Randy responded almost immediately and Evan couldn’t resist the jibe of, “You actually have a type, Randal?”
Phil and Chris burst into laughter, John trying to smother chuckles after a few moments when he got over his shock.
“I forgot this one has a bit of a sharp tongue,” Phil clapped Evan’s shoulder, almost causing Evan to drop the sweet that he had been in the process of eating. Sending Phil a small nod he then glanced back to his cousin innocently.
“Well,” Randy said as he recovered, “I guess that proves with a wit like that that he is indeed from the same gene-pool as me.”
“That was brilliant,” Chris couldn’t help but commend, Evan blushing somewhat.
He didn’t make a habit of being nasty but sometimes it was a reflex.
“Let’s get the games started shall we?” John asked.
“I thought you said this wasn’t some freaky homo orgy?” Phil asked, eyes narrowing suspiciously.
“Shut the fuck up, Brooks,” John said. “’N where are your sweets?” he asked, seeing that Phil hadn’t contributed.
“I’ve got them. But, really, what sort of games are you intending to play? No one’s going to end up naked, are they?”
“For someone who seems to want to avoid a big homo orgy, you sure do seem to be talking about one quite a bit. Is someone a bit curious?” Randy teased.
“No. I just need to know what I’ve gotten myself into,” Phil said.
Randy rolled his eyes. “No, ok, no one’s getting naked. He is my cousin after all and as gorgeous as John and I are together, I wouldn’t necessarily want him to see that.”
“Thank you,” Evan muttered.
“Same goes for you, ya know. I may know about you and Chris, but I don’t actually need to see it.”
“You won’t be, I can assure you that much,” Evan said without a moment’s hesitation, much to John’s amusement.
“Someone’s a little territorial today aren’t they?” he teased, Evan throwing a piece of fudge at him in response.
“I would be too… I think you’d lose interest in Randy if you saw Evan,” Chris said, both teasing and playful all at once.
“Tch, please,” Randy scoffed, “I know we of the Orton branch are fantastic in genetics but Evan doesn’t surpass me. No offence Ev.” Evan arched a brow at him.
“None taken,” he said, popping a sweet into his mouth, chewing.
“So, no getting naked and no groping or snogging, right?” Phil asked suspiciously and John and Randy exchanged a look before Randy shifted, head resting on John’s stomach.
“Well, I can’t promise none of that will not occur,” Randy said as John’s free fingers began carding through his hair.
“For fuck sake…” Phil sighed.
“Maybe we shouldn’t, though. Philly might get jealous,” John mused, though he was still running his fingers through Randy’s hair.
Phil rolled his eyes. “Why did I even agree to come to this?” he asked.
“Because we all know that you actually love us despite you telling us otherwise,” John replied. “Plus, you wanted our sweets.”
“I think that was more likely,” Phil agreed, grabbing a chocolate and popping it into his mouth. “I don’t have any other vices; I may as well eat some sweets every now and again.”
“That’s your problem, you know,” Randy said. “You’re hardly even living.”
“What?”
“Well, you don’t smoke, you don’t drink, you don’t have sex and you have to rely on chocolate as your vice… That’s not much of a life now is it?” Randy asked, finding a piece of chocolate for himself.
“I cope just fine,” Phil said with great dignity, “Just because you’re contented to be a drunkard and a whore,” he then smirked.
“Hey, I resent that,” Randy said, jutting out his bottom lip in a deep pout.
“Which part did he get wrong, dear cousin?” Evan asked somewhat teasingly.
“Not much that’s what I’m annoyed about,” Randy joked, grabbing a chocolate that John liked and held it up for his lover to eat.
John took the chocolate, giving Randy’s fingertips a playful lick in the process, causing Phil to make a strangled sound low in his throat. “You two are so bloody demonstrative.”
“Point being?”
The banter continued as they gorged on sweets, John and Randy’s relaxed states slowly but surely rubbing off on the others in the room even though it was apparent that they weren’t quite as free about it.
It was after a little while that Randy noticed that Chris and Evan were hardly even touching one another. He was practically lying atop John, and there was no contact whatsoever between his cousin and his lover. “You do know that you can touch each other, right?” Randy asked.
“Hmm?”
“Maybe feed each other some sweets,” he suggested.
“Stop encouraging them. If they don’t want to, then they don’t want to,” Phil said. He really didn’t care about his friends and their relations amongst themselves, but he did enjoy giving them a hard time about it.
“Oh, they want to. At least I know Chris would admit to that,” Randy said. “Evan I’m sure does, too, but he’s too shy to admit it aloud.”
“Randy…” Evan muttered, the look on his face all Randy needed to let him know that he was right.
“It’s not like I’m saying you should fuck each other. But at least do something.”
“You really don’t have to,” Phil added.
Grinning, Chris picked up a piece of chocolate and held it up to Evan’s lips, who took a small bite, face bright red as he did so.
~~~
Windham paused a moment, quirked his head to the side, then let out a deep laugh, the kind that started right in his gut. “A duel?! That’s quite possibly the funniest thing I’ve heard in ages!”
“Well… do you think he’ll just… let you and Joe be together, even though you know he and Joe at least had something together?” Justin asked.
“I don’t know… It’s terribly naive of me to think that he will just give up being with Joe at all, so… no I don’t think that.”
“You’ve at least got to talk to him, though. You will, won’t you?”
“Yes. I’ll talk to Heath.” Windham shook his head slightly. “I don’t really want to, though. What if… Goddammit, I’ve never been more conflicted and confused about anything. This whole thing is nothing but one big mess, and it’s too late to go back and pretend none of this ever actually happened.”
“Are you saying that you’d much rather suppress your feelings for Joe?” Justin asked of him.
“I don’t know! Before this… I didn’t even realize I had feelings for him! I knew we were the best of friends, but I didn’t know that I felt for him exactly what I’m feeling now. If that makes sense,” he trailed off rather weakly.
“That makes sense,” Justin soothed, not wanting Windham to do himself some sort of injury panicking about the whole situation. “It wasn’t as though I knew I felt for Wade as I did right away.”
“You didn’t?” Windham asked curiously, forgetting his own panic for a moment. The way Justin was about Wade you’d thought he’d loved him since forever.
“Of course not, Windham,” Justin nodded, “I knew I cared deeply for him, and I knew I’d do anything for him, but, well, no one had ever really spoken to me about those kind of emotions before…” he trailed off slightly, smiling wanly at the way he had been so frustrated and upset back then in his confusion.
And then that kiss had happened and everything just seemed to… make sense. Suddenly he wasn’t confused anymore.
“So… It was that simple, huh?” Windham asked him pensively.
Again, Justin nodded, “It really was… and I think when you’re ready it will be for you two too.”
Well, that remained to be seen didn’t it? But, indeed, their friends had given him much to think about that day. It was still a terrifying prospect but was it really as big of a deal as they thought? He really didn’t know anymore.
“You think so?”
“Yes,” Justin answered. “I really do think so.”
“I’ve never seen Joe so… unsure of himself before,” Windham said.
“It’s all new for him, too. But are you this confused when you’ve been with one another? Not after you’re together, but when you’re together,” he asked, clarifying slightly, because he knew that confusion and frustration always seemed to come afterwards.
“When we’re together? I… I guess not,” he said. “I’m not really thinking about much else, honestly.”
“Well, that’s the moment that should clarify it for you. Those times when you’re together and forget about all your worries and just… go for it. Like I said, when Wade and I kissed for the first time, I knew what all those weird feelings I was feeling truly were. Was I nervous? Absolutely. But I was so happy and contented because now I knew,” Justin recalled.
“So… if it’s right you just know?” Windham said.
“Even Ted said so,” and that was saying something alright, even he could admit that much about it all.
“Right…” Windham said.
“Don’t overthink it,” Justin suggested, “Just… let the moment happen.”
Windham didn’t voice it but he knew full-well that they could do that… hadn’t the incident in the sports-kit store-room during the rain prove it? Only, he wasn’t sure that one of them wouldn’t clam up as soon as the situation seemed to progress any further.
“Justin…” Windham glanced around to make sure that indeed no one was looking at them, listening in. “About when you… you know,” he said, brows raising significantly. “What do you… do?” Obviously he got where he was supposed to stick his cock inside of Joe, but he just didn’t understand how to rectify the fact that you didn’t just stick it in, as it were.
“What do you… I thought you said you’d had sex before?!” Justin asked.
“Well, yeah,” Windham said, flushing red. “With a girl. It’s different, you know… it wasn’t like she was a virgin herself, or anything, so…”
“So you want to know what to do. I swear I’ve had this conversation quite a bit recently,” he muttered. “What would any of you do if I weren’t here?”
“Couldn’t tell ya,” Windham answered.
Justin rolled his eyes. “I’m sure you could figure things out for yourselves if you just… tried.”
“Well, why figure things out for ourselves when we can go straight to you and ask you what we can do to make it all the more enjoyable?” Windham asked.
“It’s part of the fun, you know. To just explore one another and find out what your partner likes,” Justin told him.
“I really don’t need to think about you and Barrett exploring one another,” Windham muttered.
“It’s not like I wanna think about you and Joe together, either, but to be fair, you were the one that came to me asking for advice.”
“If you don’t want to help me just say so,” Windham said, “I wasn’t asking for a step-by-step guide, just--!” he stopped, looking embarrassed once more.
“Just…?” Justin prompted and Windham sighed.
“I just want to know, specifically, what to do so it won’t hurt him as bad.”
“Oh!” the smaller nodded his head and said, “You should have just said so in the first place. Well, that part of the process requires some form of lubrication.”
At Windham’s look Justin rolled his eyes slightly in amusement, “Surely it’s not that shocking?”
“I guess it’s just hearing it… what sort of things can you use?” it would be pretty silly to assume that any liquid could be used he was sure.
“Well, saliva is a good one,” Justin said, and then reconsidered, “Though since it’s a first time I’d suggest you use something more substantial, just for that bit more.”
Windham shook his head slightly as he wondered wherein one would actually buy something like that without it looking suspicious.
“I have an unused container if you want some,” Justin said. Wade always had some for their needs so it’d been untouched since the day he’d dared buy it.
“Umm… I… really?” he asked.
“Yes, really,” he answered. “It’s yours if you want it.”
Windham could feel his face burning as he muttered, “At least with girls they create their own lubrication.”
“Yeah, well, guess what? He’s not a girl. So… do you want it, or not? Because you’re more than welcome to go get your own,” Justin told him.
“I’ll take it… yeah, ok, I’ll take it. Did you want me to pay you back for it?” he asked rather awkwardly.
“No, it’s fine. Consider it an early Christmas gift,” he joked.
“Oh, thank you… you are such a great friend. Giving out lubrication as Christmas gifts… I’m sure Cody would like that.”
“He probably would, in all honesty,” Justin agreed. “So… I can go grab it now if you’d like. Assuming Ted and Cody are still clothed, that is.”
“No, you don’t have to go now.”
Justin waited a moment, and then--- “Now’s fine actually.”
“I thought it would be,” Justin chuckled, clapping Windham on the shoulder as he passed him by, “One moment.”
When he reached the room and tried the door it was open, but he placed a hand over his eyes just in case, “Are you both still dressed?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Cody’s voice sounded and Justin lowered the hand, being met with Cody’s pout from where he was...
Straddled atop a rather startled, blushing, but apparently not protesting blonde. Justin waved a hand, moving to his bedside.
“I’ll only be a moment, don’t worry, just need to get something.”
Finding the container Justin then glanced at Cody when he asked, “What’s that?” and shrugged before answering, “Some lubricant for Windham.”
Cody blinked a couple times before he began laughing and actually fell forward onto Ted, hand over his mouth to try and stop himself from laughing too loudly (and doing a very poor job of it).
Ted wasn’t in a much better state. He had raised his head up just as Cody fell forward and their heads bounced off one another, but they really didn’t care at that point. He didn’t know if it was the words themselves or how Justin said it, but it had them both in hysterics.
“Tell him we send him our love and best wishes,” Cody choked out through his laughter, and Justin just barely made out the words.
“I will. Anyway, I’ll let you two… I’ll see you later.” Justin closed the door behind him, still able to hear the two of them laughing. Once he was back downstairs, he sat down right next to Windham again. “Ted and Cody send their love and best wishes,” he repeated with a grin.
Windham huffed. “Jesus… maybe I should just forget this whole thing, then,” he muttered.
“Win, please… you’re just too uptight about it.” He reached into his bag and passed the jar to his friend. “So go to your room and make good use of this,” he then said, patting Windham on the shoulder.
For a moment a look that could only be described as ‘abject terror’ appeared on Windham’s face as he looked first at Justin and then down at the pot in his hand. “Now?!” his voice came out squeaky.
“Why not?” Justin prompted, “You have the room to yourself and chances are Joe has been thinking about numerous scenarios that you two could be involved in together, and he could be aroused and needing…” he wheedled, though really he was speculating most determinedly.
Windham went quiet for a moment, some lingering terror in his eyes, prompting Justin to reiterate an earlier pointer he had given.
“Just go with the moment and see what happens,” he said, “There’s no pressure right away.”
Windham muttered a goodbye moments later and headed up the stairs towards his, Joe and Heath’s room and Justin settled back with his books. If only those two wouldn’t be so afraid they would see what the rest of them were raving about. Ah, naïveté… he grinned to himself.
The only issue they’d have, if Windham and Joe got anywhere, would be Heath turning up again. Well, Justin supposed that it would be down to him to run the necessary intervention to keep the peace.
Windham was in the room for a few minutes, sitting there in silence, continually looking over to Joe. “Is there something you want to say?” Joe asked after he couldn’t take the deafening silence anymore.
“Uh… well… Justin and I were talking.”
“Oh? About?”
“I’ll give you three guesses as to what we were talking about,” he said, rolling his eyes slightly.
“So… what about it?” he asked.
“He gave me something,” Windham told him.
“Like what? Jeez, you’re not telling me anything here.”
Standing up, Windham walked over to Joe’s bed and grabbed his hand. Once he flipped Joe’s hand so his palm was upwards, he placed the jar Justin gave to him right in the center of his hand. “That…”
Initially Joe was clearly non-plussed, “Yeah…?” but then when he realised what substance was in there, and recalled the content of the conversation he managed to put two and two together visibly.
He’d never claimed to be the fastest gun on the draw.
“Oh-Oh!” he blushed scarlet at the implication.
“Yeah,” Windham mumbled in return.
For a moment Joe found himself wondering -probably stupidly- why Justin kept such an item in his room since Wade never came to visit him--- and it wasn’t as though Justin ever ‘played away’ elsewhere.
As per usual when he got embarrassed he tried to mask it with some sort of crude-ish joke.
For once though Windham didn’t laugh…
But that could have been because he was too busy kissing Joe to pay much attention.
~~~
“You’re such a corrupting influence Orton,” Phil shook his head slightly, but supposed that Chris feeding Evan and Randy merely laying on John were better than some of the things he had no doubt that they could get up to… well, in John and Randy’s case anyway, he amended.
“You wouldn’t be so miserable if Beth was here,” John said.
“I am not miserable.”
John wasn’t wrong though; had Beth been there then he would have probably been a little more at ease. “I think she knows about you two you know,” he commented, and then paused, “And no, before you start I didn’t tell her.”
“How would she know then?” Randy asked, clearly unsure whether he should be overly concerned by this news or not. Phil merely shrugged.
“Apparently she could just tell, even though when she met you both you were meeting with Elizabeth and Samantha.”
“Always said she was too smart for you.”
“Aren’t you concerned?” Evan asked, recovering slightly from his bout of shyness.
“Nope,” John said simply, massaging the back of Randy’s neck, “Because we can trust that Beth won’t go being a gossip. She hates that.”
“That she does,” Phil agreed. “Although her engagement to me, I’ve heard, has been the cause of several rumours. Mainly ones about her being pregnant.”
“So we all know those are false,” Randy said.
“Yes, completely false,” Phil said with a nod. “She never liked gossip to begin with, and now she’s the subject of it, so she hates it even more. I’m sure if she was ever, for some reason or another, asked about you two, she would tell them that’s it’s none of her business, therefore, it’s none of their business.”
“She sound like a good person,” Evan said.
“She is.”
“I still can’t figure out why she said yes to him. Or how they even got hooked up in the first place,” Randy chimed in.
“Oh, piss off,” Phil laughed. “Really, though, I lucked out with her.”
“She sounds lovely,” Evan assured and Phil nodded, pride evident in his face that brought a smile to John’s; he was pleased that Phil was so happy, really.
They may tease him but they truly held nothing against his lifestyle and the fact he was remaining faithful to Beth before marriage.
“You’ll get to meet her soon, I’m sure,” Phil said.
And, if not outside of his wedding he would undoubtedly meet her first time at the ceremony. He would of course invite Evan since even though they weren’t considered firm friends they were close enough acquaintances… not that he and Beth would get much say on the matter, it would be all their parents’ decisions.
“You definitely could have done worse,” Randy said.
“Remember Katie-Lea?”
“Oh don’t… I’m still terrified she’s hiding under the bed when I go back to our room.”
“That name sounds familiar,” Evan chimed in.
“Burchill’s the surname,” John said, pulling Randy closer to him out of reflex.
“That name still sounds familiar, but I can’t place it,” Evan told them.
“Her brother Paul graduated last year,” Phil said.
“Ohhhh, ok.” Evan was finally able to put a face with the name. “His sister was that bad, then?” he asked.
“Yes,” John, Phil and Randy said at once.
“How bad could one girl be?” Chris asked, looking to the three who answered in the affirmative, then quirked a brow at Evan, who seemed to have missed out on all the drama.
“Pretty bad,” Phil told them. “She doesn’t really know about personal space and boundaries. At all.”
“Really?” Chris looked amused and they nodded.
“Why don’t I remember anything like this?” Evan asked, brow furrowing a little.
“You were doing all those extra-assignments and stuff and had no life.”
Evan stuck his tongue out as Chris once again prompted what she was supposed to have done to them all.
“Let’s just say some of those girls are a bit… obsessive.”
“That’s putting it nicely, John,” Randy muttered.
“When they latch onto a boy they do all they can to keep him,” Phil said. “I don’t know if you’ll remember… but a lad here was duped into marrying one because she claimed she was pregnant.”
Evan looked shocked, “And she wasn’t?” Phil shook his head, expression somber, “Last I heard they were still childless.” Chris whistled.
“Why was she so desperate to get married?” Evan asked.
“I have no idea,” Phil told him. “She’s not the first, though. To do something like that, I mean.”
“Isn’t that strange? Why should you have to fool someone into marrying you if you two love one another?”
“I guess the love was only one sided,” Randy said. “May as well just marry the person your parents hoped to arrange you with if that’s the case. Girls act like that over in Canada?” he asked.
“Not that I know of. But then again, I’ve never paid them much mind, truth be told,” Chris answered.
“It’s so much easier just fucking another man, I swear,” Randy said. “No one needs to worry about anyone getting pregnant or not fucking for a week because she’s menstruating or some such… Plus I like having the option of being on top or bottom,” he added.
“Charming,” Phil said wanly, referring to the menstrual comments more so than anything. The prospect of one day becoming a father didn’t bother him at all. It was something he knew would happen eventually, so why act like a dick about it? So he thought.
“You really don’t know what you’re missing out on,” Randy said.
“You all act as though you’re not going to have to get married yourselves one day,” he returned.
“We will,” John nodded, “But we’ll be honest; it’s hardly going to stop us being together.” He wasn’t trying to be disrespectful to the sanctity of marriage or anything, but his love for Randy outweighed it all.
Phil clucked his tongue a little but didn’t say anymore; he could hardly judge them for loving each other still.
Chris popped another sweet into his mouth, chancing resting his head on Evan’s shoulder, making him blush, but he didn’t tell him to move.
“Ooo, someone’s getting a little daring, aren’t they?” Randy asked when he saw what Chris was doing.
“You said yourself that there wasn’t enough touching going on between us,” Chris said in return.
“That I did.”
“Can I ask you something?” Evan then asked to Randy and John.
“Sure.”
“When you two do marry… are you going to tell your wives about one another? And that you, well… won’t be faithful to them? Because they’re bright girls and would probably figure it out eventually,” Evan reasoned.
“Honestly, I’ll probably tell Liz that she can be with whomever she wants. If that’s just me, fine, but if there are others, I’ll be ok with that,” he answered honestly.
“I’ll probably do the same thing,” Randy agreed. “It would be fair to not let them have their fun, right?”
Phil toasted them with a wrapped toffee, “You’re more open-minded than I ever would be,” he complimented.
“Thanks,” they responded.
Evan shook his head slightly, genuinely surprised; they really had given the event a lot of thought.
Seeing his cousin’s look Randy chuckled slightly and cocked his head, “Ev, we’ve all known we’re going to be getting married by the time we’re 20, if not sooner, since we were about fourteen… it’s not news to us.”
“I know, I didn’t mean to-“ they stopped him with reassuring looks.
“Besides, you’ve both gone through what we’ve gone through over the matter, right? So you understand.”
“I guess so.”
Personally though he didn’t know how he would handle the idea of sharing Chris even with one woman that he was completely aware of. He’d become so selfish.
“You’ll most likely have to do the same, Ev,” Randy then reminded him.
“Doesn’t mean I want to,” he muttered.
“You were far less resistant to the idea of marriage before Chrissie came along,” Randy teased.
“Well… that’s because… I guess… I didn’t know any better.”
“Hey, you hear that Phil? Evan didn’t know any better. But now he does, and you know why that is? Because he’s getting cock up his arse,” Randy said. “Unlike someone in this room.”
“I’m quite content not having another man’s cock in my arse.”
“Because you don’t know any better!” John told him.
“No, no, I like breasts far too much to consider giving those up.”
“Well, there are some boys who have-“ John started, smirking, but Phil cut him off almost immediately.
“That is disgusting on so many levels John.”
“It takes all sorts,” John mock sniffed, grinning when Randy pushed another sweet into his mouth, John licking his fingers again teasingly, causing Phil to groan somewhat, shaking his head.
“Honestly, how do you put up with them?” he asked Evan.
The smaller man shrugged, “You just learn to block it out,” he lamented.
“Oh please, you love me,” Randy said, “And you love John.”
“Not as much as he loves me though,” Chris couldn’t help inputting.
“Fair point,” John acknowledged once he’d finished his mouthful.
“Yeah, see, you just learn to block it out,” Evan repeated… and Randy chucked a piece of taffy at his head. “Ow, you bastard, my head’s not totally recovered from yesterday, you know.”
“Oh… sorry,” Randy said genuinely. He let yesterday’s events slip his mind because he simply didn’t want to think about what could have happened.
“Bastard,” Evan repeated before bending down and picking up the offending piece of taffy, deciding if he should eat it or throw it back at his cousin. In the end, he decided he’d much rather eat it, so he unwrapped it and popped it into his mouth.
“You’re feeling better, though, right?” Chris asked, gently running a hand through Evan’s hair.
“I am, yes.”
“You know I am sorry about that, right?”
“Of course,” Evan said, turning his smiling face to Chris, pressing a quick kiss to his lips, despite his embarrassment.
“Look at that! Those two began kissing before we did!” Randy exclaimed.
“John!” Randy pouted upside down at his lover from where he was settled against him, “Why did they get to kiss before we did?” John stroked his thumb over Randy’s cheek, shrugging, “We can rectify that situation right now if you like,” he smiled.
Immediately their lips pressed together, Chris and Evan both exchanging mildly amused (and shy in Evan’s case) looks before Evan then took stock of the fact that Phil had covered his eyes.
“Um, Phil?” he questioned lightly, the man lowering his hands in response to the query. When he cocked his head Evan asked, “Um… your hands?”
“The way you two kissed I can deal with,” he said bluntly, “But I’ve seen the way they kiss and… it’s more like they’re trying to eat each other.”
“That’s not the part of him that I like to eat best,” John said slyly, causing Phil to groan.
“Did you have to bring that incident up? I thought I’d blocked the damn thing out for good.”
“You loved it really.”
“Yeah, consider yourself privileged,” Randy smirked.