New Fic: Lonely Ghosts 3/5
CaptnAmazing: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, do you know what time it is? Yes! It is the time where Jamie gets to come home from his stupid boarding school and be FREE for a whole week!
Avngerfan2119: The city is already quaking in its boots, lemme tell you. What time do you get in on Saturday?
CaptnAmazing: I’m in on Friday, dumbass. March 22. Have you been ignoring me all month?
Avngerfan2119: Wait, what? Friday? Are you sure?
Avngerfan2119: Oh, crap.
CaptnAmazing: You had better not have made plans, Billy.
Avngerfan2119: Crap, crap, crap.
CaptnAmazing: We have a tradition.
Avngerfan2119: Crap!
CaptnAmazing: Let me guess-Teddy?
Avngerfan2119: I am so, so sorry, Jamie. I got the days mixed up. I swear, I thought you were coming in on Saturday.
CaptnAmazing: Jerk.
Avngerfan2119: Yeah.
CaptnAmazing: Well. The way I see it, there is only one way you can save yourself from being the worst best friend of all time.
Avngerfan2119: What’s that? Seriously, anything.
CaptnAmazing: All three of us are going to have to hang out Friday.
Avngerfan2119: …no way, Jamie.
CaptnAmazing: Seriously. What’s his IM? I’ll tell him for you.
Avngerfan2119: Jamie! There is no way I am unleashing you on Teddy!
**
He had no idea how this had become his life.
“Crap crap crap, excuse me, crap crap crap,” Billy muttered, squeezing through a gaggle of tourists and running up the subway steps. The karaoke place wasn’t all that far from where he lived, but there had been a delay on the green line and everything had been held up and he’d been sitting there for what felt like forever, jittering and checking the time and trying not to imagine all the horrible and completely true things Jamie was saying about him.
This had been a stupid idea, a completely stupid idea, he told himself as he nearly bodychecked a girl coming through the turnstile, calling out a quick, “Sorry! Sorry!” as he rushed past. He should have cancelled his plans with Teddy. He and Jamie had a long-standing tradition to go out and do something stupid and dorkyfun on the night he got back from school. If Billy hadn’t been so weird and starry-eyed over Teddy, he probably would have remembered the exact date Jamie was getting in for break, and he never would have made plans, and he wouldn’t be running late to meet them, and they wouldn’t be alone in the same room for nearly, God, twenty minutes, and this would not be happening.
His phone buzzed against his thigh and Billy fished it out, nearly dropping it into the gutter as he waited for the light to change.
212-555-9078: where are u, loser? ps teddy rocks. can i marry him too?
He pressed the call button, zipping in front of an elderly man with a walker, nearly sprinting across the street.
“Hey!” Jamie said when he picked up. Billy could hear a pounding beat and muffled voices. “We’ve already claimed the booth-we’re in number 11 when you get here.”
“Do not say anything mortifying about me or I will kick your ASS,” he promised, weaving through people as he ran down the sidewalk. “I swear to God, I will.”
“What was that? You used to do what with your Thor doll?”
“Jamie!”
Jamie hung up.
He really needed to reassess their best friendship, Billy thought grimly, crossing one more street. He could just make out the karaoke bar half an avenue down, blue light flickering over the door. He shoved his phone into his pocket and practically slammed inside, offering the host a breathless smile. “Room…11…” he gasped, yanking at his scarf to pull it away from his neck, give him room to breathe. The man pointed toward the stairs and Billy scurried up, Japanese letters flashing over his skin from the blinking signs.
The main room was a bar, with a big screen and several mics that could be passed up and down the row. In the back were small rooms, somewhat soundproofed, with tables and private systems. He hurried down the line, glancing in through frosted glass at people singing their hearts out until he spotted 11. Billy made himself stop just outside the door, taking a deep, steady breath. Then he pushed inside, eyes casting around nervously.
The little room was dim and a bit musky. The television screen showed bizarre clips of deer bounding through the forest and a pretty Japanese girl chewing on a long piece of grass, staring out across what looked like a Colorado ranch. Jamie was standing, holding one of the mics, singing, “Just a smalltown girl, living in a lonely world; she took the midnight train going anywhere!” He gestured to Teddy, who was sprawled in the booth, holding his own mic like it was a snake.
“Uh, just a city boy, born and raised in-Billy, hey!”
He straightened, welcoming smile breaking across his face. Billy fought a flush, smiling back and giving a little, stupid wave. Teddy scooted over, rising to thrust the mic into Billy’s hands as he shut the door. “You take over,” Teddy said, “I stopped believing a long time ago.”
“Come on, Billy,” Jamie protested when Billy turned, off-balance. “Chorus time. Don’t stop believing! Hold on to the feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeling.”
Billy mumbled along, mostly out of reflex, but it didn’t take him very long to actually get into it. By the time the song ended and the next one had begun, he’d shucked out of his coat and was wailing along with Jamie while Teddy drummed out the beat on the table.
Jamie collapsed next to Teddy at the end of the third song, grinning and flushed. Billy slid next to Teddy’s other side, lightly elbowing his ribs. “Please tell me you guys just sang a few songs while you waited for me.”
Blond brows arched, and Teddy and Jamie shared a look that had pure terror racing through Billy’s blood. “Oh,” Teddy said, “there was maybe a song or two. Actually.” He reached for the huge, phonebook-sized list of songs and thumbed through, then entered a number into the keypad. “Jamie said I should absolutely request this one. Apparently it will change my world.”
Billy leaned over him and hissed, “You didn’t.”
Jamie leaned over too, smirking. “You adore me.”
“You snake.”
“Adore me!”
The music started. Teddy prodded his shoulder. “Come on. Change my world.”
And he was pretty sure he would die of mortification, but somewhere along the way it became fun, and the three of them began choosing increasingly ridiculous songs for the others to sing on dares. Teddy had an okay voice-not great, not bad-but it was hysterical to watch him try to get through the squeaky rap in Waterfalls while simultaneously trying not to crack up. Jamie had no shame, as usual, slithering on top of the table for his rendition of Teenage Dream, and it wasn’t until they’d had their Cokes refilled three times (water twice) that Billy began to wonder what time it was.
In the middle of an absolutely terrible duet of A Whole New World, Teddy’s phone began to ring. He passed the mic to Billy and slid out of the booth, digging into his coat. Billy watched him out of the corner of his eyes as he took up the song, flubbing a few lines as Teddy’s face grew tight and weirdly almost grim.
“Hey,” Teddy said, reaching for the door, slipping out into the hall. “What do you want? Look, I told you I had plans ton…” The rest was muffled by the door sliding shut.
Jamie immediately cupped his hand over the mic. “Do you think that’s Greg the Asshole?” he hissed, brows drawn together.
Billy bit his lip, staring at the door.
“Billy!”
“What? Oh. Yeah, I don’t know. Yeah,” he admitted. “He, um. He calls sometimes. I think he likes to keep a pretty, you know, tight leash on Teddy.”
And fuck, he hated that. He hated that so much. Teddy always looked upset when he got those calls, and weirdly anxious, and sort of…guilty? But he always took them. And every once in awhile, Billy could catch snippets of him fighting with Greg or, even worse, agreeing to go over later. And the rest of their time together would be ruined, because all Billy could think about was him heading over to Greg’s later-undeniably handsome, asshole Greg.
Jamie leaned against him. “Do you think they’re…you know?”
“I don’t know,” Billy mumbled.
“But he almost kissed you. You said so. If he and Greg are…you know…then what’s he doing almost kissing you?”
“I don’t know.” He twisted the cord of the mic around his fingers, stomach churning, and not even the bright, ridiculous music could lift his spirits. Jamie dropped his mic and slid his arms around Billy’s shoulders, pressing his face against his hair and squeezing. Billy grabbed grateful handfuls of his shirt and hung on tight, feeling stupid for needing the comfort and yet still so grateful to have it at the same time.
“You’re worth ten of that asshole,” Jamie murmured against his hair. “Easy.”
Billy squeezed his eyes shut, dragging in an unsteady breath as the song ended and another began. There had never been anyone before Teddy. Having a crush on the Human Torch or Captain America or even random guys around the city was different-this was different. Because he actually knew Teddy, could call him up at any time of the night and make fun of his hair and send him texts and feel his arm drape around his shoulders, heavy and warm and so perfect it made his entire body drown in heat. Teddy was beautiful, and Teddy was funny, and Teddy was kind, kind in a way Billy still wasn’t used to sometimes.
And the way he had looked at him, in that secluded alcove, the light flickering over their faces…
“You good?” Jamie squeezed again, tight, and Billy lightly patted his arm.
“Yeah,” Billy said, opening his eyes, drawing in a deep breath. Whatever, so what if Greg the Asshole had called? Even if Teddy ended up ditching them later to go over to his place, he’d been there, been having fun with them, for hours. He’d given part of his time and his attention to Billy, and Billy didn’t have the right to ask for more…no matter how desperately he may have wanted to. “Come on, let’s skip to the end of this song and start with a new one,” he suggested, getting a better grip on his mic.
They were rounding in on their third song when the door opened again. Billy glanced over, out of the corners of his eyes, trying not to be too obvious about it. Teddy was backing in, holding the door with his hip, hands full.
“Hey,” he said, expression a strange blend of sheepish and mulish. “Hope you don’t mind.” He set the pitcher of beer and cups onto the table, and Billy managed to more or less keep his cool, but Jamie was, predictably, Jamie.
“Oh my God, you got us beer?” Jamie said, way too loudly, then quickly lowered his mic. “Dude, seriously? How did you swing that?”
Teddy shrugged a shoulder. “Old soul,” he said and, standing there with his piercings catching the dim light, head cocked defiantly, he looked older. “You don’t have to have any if you don’t want to.”
Jamie was already pouring three glasses. “No, this is great. You are great.”
Billy drifted closer to grab his plastic cup, using it as an excuse to lightly nudge Teddy’s shoulder, their eyes meeting, holding.
You okay? Billy wanted to telegraph, wanted it so bad he thought maybe, just maybe, Teddy managed to read it in his eyes.
Teddy cocked his head slightly and leaned into him for the briefest moment, hand moving to the small of Billy’s back, just…hovering there at the dip of his spine, warm, seeking warmth. No, the touch seemed to say, but thank you.
Then he straightened and lifted the glass, eyes closing as he swallowed once, twice, three times, downing the contents in a graceful pull.
Jamie’s brows popped up in shock, then waggled when Billy shot him a quelling look. Even though he usually wasn’t wild about beer-he didn’t like the taste-Billy drank the whole cupful in solidarity. Teddy was already on his second, though he was going slower with this one, probably out of deference to Billy and Jamie.
Don’t mind us, Billy thought, swallowing around the bad taste. We’re just your average run-of-the-mill utter nerds.
They sang a few more songs to shake free the lingering weirdness, and somewhere along the way the pitcher was refilled a few times and Billy forgot that he hated the taste of beer. By the time they paid up, they’d been there for hours and were all a little to the right of tipsy. Jamie was still singing as they made it to the street, throwing his arms out and spinning, then laughing when he almost lost his balance. Billy struggled into his coat, smirking, trying to find the stupid armhole. He was starting to realize he was failing with the fine motor skills and probably shouldn’t go home right away when Teddy stepped close behind him, hands on Billy’s hips.
“Here,” Teddy murmured, near his ear, and Billy bit his lip and nodded, not caring what he was agreeing to-agreeing to everything. Teddy caught his flailing wrist in one hand and dragged the other up his spine to catch the trailing end of his coat. He lifted it, bringing Billy’s arm back, helping him slide it into the sleeve before turning him and slowly, methodically, fastening the buttons.
He was standing close-so close-lashes casting dark shadows against his cheeks. A soft wind blew, making his colorful scarf lift and dance around them, like coils of smoke as his fingers slipped each button through its hole. He slid his hands down Billy’s chest when he was done, smoothing out the lapels, and Billy wanted nothing in the world more than to tip up his face and kiss him, soft and slow and sweet, until that lingering sadness went away.
“Wooo, I am so drunk!” Jamie said cheerfully, holding onto a post. He pressed his cheek against it, watching them with a wide, happy smile, and Billy reluctantly pulled back, breaking the perfect bell jar moment between them.
Billy slid his fingers through his hair, bemused by the way the world tilted just a little when he took a step. “We are so not going home like this,” he said.
“I’ve got somewhere we can go, if you want,” Teddy offered, and Jamie immediately replied, “Yes! Let’s go with Teddy; Teddy is awesome.”
Billy cocked his head. “If you’re sure you don’t need to be anywhere,” he said, hesitating.
Teddy shoved his hands into his pockets. “No,” he said shortly. “I don’t have anywhere I need to be. Come on, it’s just a few blocks that way.”
They weren’t too far from Grand Central-the Chrysler building helped orient Billy, even tipsy. It was good to know, he figured, and good practice for when he was older. He kept close to Teddy and Jamie, Teddy reaching out occasionally to snag the back of Jamie’s coat to keep him from veering into traffic, and there was something about the way he so easily embraced Billy’s admittedly weird childhood friend that made his insides glow. Well, that and the grim tone of Teddy’s voice when he said, I don’t have anywhere I need to be.
So. Take that, Greg the Asshole.
A few blocks turned out to be eight, which wasn’t very far but which felt like a marathon tonight. Finally, however, Teddy caught Jamie by the elbow and steered him to lean against a window, shaking his head wryly. “You did not drink that much,” he said, bemused, but Jamie just beamed at him, completely blissed out.
Billy tipped up his chin, studying the building’s façade. He’d expected a restaurant or a club or something. Maybe a coffee shop. Not this. “It’s a sports club?” he asked, confused.
“I’m friends with the owner.” He was unlocking the gate, then the door, holding it open for them. “Come on, hurry up so I can get the alarm.” Billy scurried in, stumbling a bit in the dark, as Teddy relocked the gate and door, moving purposefully in the darkness. There was a low beepbeepbeep, red light flashing, keypad illuminating when Teddy flipped up the faceplate. He punched a code, then enter, and the beeping stopped.
“The light’s by your elbow,” Teddy said, “but if you can manage in the dark, there’s more ambient light upstairs.”
Billy gripped Jamie’s shoulders. “Come on,” he said, gently pushing him toward the dim outline of steps. The three of them made their way up in silence-mostly because, well, it felt weird to be in a place like this after hours. The air smelled like sweat and leather and some kind of chemical. It was warmer than he’d expected, air heavy but not unpleasant.
Teddy led them up the steps and through a hallway, past swinging doors. The further they moved into the gym, the more light filtered in through high windows. Weights and exercise machines cast long shadows, and Billy caught sight of their reflection in a wall of mirrors-strange, unexpected shapes moving through the dim.
“This is awesome,” Jamie whispered.
“Why are you whispering?” Billy whispered back.
“Dunno!”
Teddy led them back through another short hallway, then held open a second set of swinging doors for them. Jamie’s indrawn breath didn’t prepare Billy for the surreal beauty of the empty room. It was large, three times bigger than the main workout floor, blue and green and white tile stretching across the floor and up the walls. Ghostly light licked across their faces, shifting and insubstantial as mist, the soft whoosh whoosh of water echoing up to the cavernous ceiling.
Billy stepped away from the others, breath drawn, caught somewhere deep in his chest. He tipped his face up to watch moonlight filter through the three huge skylights dotting the roof. Clouds moved distant and cold across the moon’s face, dappling the pool below.
There was something reckless about this. Something reckless and wild and out of someone else’s life. This wasn’t him, Billy thought dizzily. This wasn’t him standing here, head still whirling faintly, in this place, having this experience. The real him was home, curled up under his blankets reading, or laying on his back dreaming up adventures. Not having them.
He looked over at Teddy, lips parted to try to tell him how much it meant to him, the way Teddy pulled him out of his own life and into these dreamworlds. He’d met new people, been new places, saw old things with new eyes, and it was all Teddy, all of it.
Teddy tilted his head slightly, eyes locked with his.
And then he took off his coat.
It dropped to the tiles with a heavy thump, pooling black as a shadow at his feet. Teddy unwound his scarf, dropping it behind him, then began to toe off his shoes.
Billy stood frozen, watching Teddy shift to one foot to pull off a sock, then the other. His toes were perfect, too, which somehow didn’t surprise him, forming a clear arch from big to pinkie. Billy’s second toe was longer than his big toe-his brothers liked to call him Gorilla Man-and was he seriously fixating on Teddy’s toes while the other boy tugged his shirt out from his jeans?
“Awesome, a locker room,” Jamie said, voice coming from far away. “I’m going to find a bench and lay down for a bit, guys-call me if you need anything.” And then he was gone, door swinging shut behind him.
Teddy unbuttoned his blue overshirt, thumb pushing buttons through their holes, focusing as the shirt began to part around him. “Didn’t you want to swim?” he asked, voice low, propelling Billy into immediate action because yes, God yes, he wanted to be in that water, with Teddy, he wanted…
He struggled out of his coat and shoes, dropping onto his ass out of self-preservation when he began to wobble. Teddy’s overshirt floated down next to him, light as air, and Billy swallowed hard. He looked up through his lashes as he tugged off his socks, watching as Teddy grabbed the hem of his undershirt and pulled it over his head, shucking it off in one fluid motion.
Teddy’s body was a deep, gorgeous gold, practically gleaming in the dim green-blue light. His arms were thick with muscles, shadows forming and fading as they flexed with his movements. Even his back rippled with power, skin tight over muscle, long line of his spine a dark blur leading to the lean curve of his lower back, disappearing into his jeans. Billy’s mouth went dry, heart beating so loud in his throat he swore Teddy had to hear it, had to know what this was doing to him.
And then Teddy’s hands dropped to the button of his jeans and Billy had to close his eyes, overwhelmed with the surge of heat. But, God, he couldn’t keep his eyes shut, he had to see. To watch through his lashes, struggling desperately to conceal his panting breaths as Teddy popped open his fly and pushed down the zip. He hooked his thumbs into the waist, pushing them down long, muscular legs until they pooled there with the rest of his clothes, like a shed skin. His hands moved to the waist of his blue striped boxers and Billy thought his heart would explode. Then he paused, dropped his hands and contented himself with kicking free of his jeans.
“Meet you in the water,” Teddy said, voice low. He took five steady steps and dove in, graceful and effortless and so Goddamned beautiful Billy couldn’t take it. He watched as Teddy went deeper, making a dark shadow along the bottom of the pool as he glided toward the far end.
Then, all at once, Billy began ripping at his own clothes, struggling out of his shirt, arms getting tangled as he tried to unfasten his pants. He wanted to be in there, now-in the cool, glittering, otherworldly water, near Teddy, submerged and, and connected. He leaned back and kicked off his jeans, grateful his own boxers were a respectable green plaid and not, like, Thundercats or something.
He stumbled a little as he clambered to his feet, gooseflesh rising along his arms, nipples puckering in the chill. Teddy had resurfaced on the far end of the pool, hair plastered back from his face, piercings gleaming. He smiled at Billy and sort of almost reached for him, hand skimming across the surface of the water, sending ripples out in ever-widening circles.
Billy took a deep breath and jumped in, feet-first. He squeezed his eyes shut against the shock of cold and chlorinated water, going down down down until his toes touched the bottom. He bent his knees, then pushed off, rocketing up to the surface again.
He broke the surface with a deep gasp, droplets flinging from his uplifted face, catching the light. He could hear the steady strokes of Teddy swimming toward him, water lapping against his skin as he bobbed there, waiting, breathless.
“This is crazy,” Billy said, grabbing for the ledge. It was too deep for his feet to touch, and there was water in his eyes. He squeezed them, trying to rub them clear, laughing a little at the surge of pure joy. Teddy tred water just a short distance away, grinning with him, and all of it-his proximity, the moonlight on water, the green-blue hush of this place, the tracers of alcohol still burning through his system, the thrill of knowing Teddy had chosen to be here tonight, here instead of with Greg-was enough to override his common sense. Billy reached out, one hand sliding over Teddy’s slick, warm shoulder, and then Billy was floating forward and into his arms, twining his own about Teddy’s neck. He rested his cheek against his own bicep, lips a breath away from that warm skin he wanted so much.
“Thank you,” Billy murmured, hips bumping against Teddy’s, legs moving lazily to help keep them from drowning. Teddy made a low noise in return, reaching behind Billy to grasp the ledge, and somehow…somehow, that brought Billy’s back flush against the pool wall, Teddy’s arms over him, penning him in.
His big, broad, powerful body, more naked than not, penning him in.
Billy squeezed his eyes shut, fighting the gasp that wanted to break free. He’d had dreams like this, the kinds of dreams that ended with him waking hot and hard and arching. He had to struggle to keep from arching up now, entire body all at once shocked awake and trembling. Teddy’s skin felt so so good against him. So smooth and solid and perfect. He let the water buoy him up a little, thigh brushing against Teddy’s, and fuck, fuck. He bit his bottom lip hard, cock heavy, full and aching. He was shuddering with the painful-good surge of sexual awareness, fighting with everything he had to keep his hips tilted back, to keep Teddy from knowing.
“Billy,” Teddy murmured, chest vibrating. Billy tightened his arms around his neck, face scrunched up in embarrassment and need. One of Teddy’s hands dropped to his ribcage, high at his side, then slowly slid down, thumb pressing in on the careful stroke, following the curve of Billy’s body until it rested at the waist of his boxers, rubbing the skin just above the tight elastic. Billy fought back a strangled cry, hips jerking against his will, as Teddy slipped his thumb under the elastic, just a little. “Look at me, Billy, please.”
Billy swallowed hard, then slowly lifted his head, eyes blinking open, and there, there on Teddy’s face was what he’d thought he’d seen at the museum-hunger. Billy gasped in a breath, lips parting, and suddenly Teddy was right there, his mouth covering Billy’s as if he had to swallow that noise. His lips were smooth, soft, breath a gentle gust against Billy’s mouth. And then his tongue was stroking past Billy’s parted lips and deep inside.
Kissing him.
Billy surged against him with a strangled noise, legs thrashing, searching for purchase. Teddy’s groan vibrated through both of their chests as Teddy pressed forward, one strong thigh pushed between Billy’s legs, giving him something to-grind against-rest his weight on, nudging him back against the slick tiles again as he stroked his tongue deeper and deeper, devouring Billy’s mouth with a hungry groan.
Billy couldn’t keep his hips still, didn’t want to, arching against the hard strength of Teddy’s thigh as he desperately kissed back. Teddy was his first kiss, but he refused to be clumsy or embarrassed, too electrified to do anything but give Teddy absolutely everything he had. He stroked their tongues together, the slick glide sending liquid waves of heat through him, making even his fingers and toes tingle in response. He slid his hands over Teddy’s incredible shoulders, then down his chest, mapping out the play of muscles as Teddy’s tongue swirled against his, hot, so fucking hot he could hardly stand it. Billy swept his hands down low, then up again, gripping Teddy’s shoulders and digging his nails in as he pushed closer. He wrapped his lips around Teddy’s tongue and tugged a little, sucking eagerly, remembering those boys in the clip and how good it had looked.
The noise Teddy made-choked-off, sexual-caused the hairs along his arms to stand up and his cock to jerk. Billy was harder than he could ever remember being in his life, the heavy, weighted pain of it so good he wasn’t sure he could stand it. Teddy broke the kiss to drag in an unsteady breath, but then he was there again, kissing Billy hot and hard, and it was so easy for Billy to tilt his hips forward and press his cock against the muscles of Teddy’s thigh.
Teddy tore his mouth way, gasping. “Fuck,” he said, hands dropping to Billy’s waist, dragging him closer. Billy rocked forward, lightheaded, completely lost to the sensation, the need. It was coursing through him in aching, rhythmic waves, dictating the urgent arch of his hips, the frantic kisses he pressed along Teddy’s wet shoulders.
Teddy’s nails dug into his hips, lifting him-God, God, the way Teddy moved him around, positioned him, was driving him crazy-and then pulling him forward, urging his legs around Teddy’s trim waist. Billy went willingly, ankles locked at the small of Teddy’s back, but it wasn’t until Teddy shifted forward and their erections brushed together that Billy understood, and by then-“GOD, Teddy,” he moaned, arching tight, sobbing in a breath. The pleasure of it was almost too much, almost more than he could stand. It seemed like it was almost too much for Teddy, too. They kept sinking a little, bobbing down further into the water before Teddy grabbed for the ledge and pulled them up again, his body driving Billy back against the cold tiles, sending surges of wildfire through his limbs. He could come like this, Billy realized dizzily, and the knowledge was enough to have him turning his face to find Teddy’s mouth again, tongue sliding over his perfect bottom lip. Teddy grinned, hands on him, and Billy dragged his tongue over one of those maddening dimples, licking at the divit and shuddering, close, so close.
Distantly, he heard ringing and a door swinging open, but he was too wrapped up in endless yards of hot skin and Teddy’s tongue tangling with his, Teddy’s fingers sliding under the waistband of Billy’s boxers again, rubbing over the sharp jut of his hipbones and driving him insane.
And then Jamie’s voice, low and hissing, “I am so fucking sorry, you guys, but, um, Billy, it’s your mom.”
He turned his face away, gasping, not really processing the words but knowing they meant something important. “What?” he mumbled, limbs shuddering. Teddy’s thumbs slid out of his boxers and he gripped Billy’s hips, carefully lifting him up. Teddy’s muscles tightened, and suddenly Billy was breaking the water as Teddy lifted him out of the pool and sat him on the ledge. Billy’s drenched boxers clung to him, highlighting rather than hiding just how hard he was, even with Jamie standing there, one hand over the mouth of his phone, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else.
“It’s your mom,” he said again. “She tried to call your phone, but, um, you weren’t answering? She sounds pissed.”
There was a splash as Teddy slid into the water, pushing off against the wall and gliding along the bottom again, swimming away. Putting literal and figurative distance between them. Billy watched him go, chewing on his bottom lip, entire body still alive with heat and longing and shocky, tentative joy.
But. Right, no. His mother.
“What time is it?” he asked, standing and going to his clothes. He grabbed his jeans and held them in front of him, like a shield, trying to hide the eager tent of his boxers.
“Um, 2 a.m.,” Jamie said, and Billy hissed out a breath. He hadn’t realized how late it had been when they’d left the karaoke bar.
He held out a hand. “Okay, thanks, I’ll… We’ll be leaving in a few minutes-I’ll take this,” he said. He glanced across the pool once, toward where Teddy was swimming back and forth with a driven, hunted air, and his stomach slowly began to drop. Shit. He lifted the phone to his ear. “Um. Hi, Mom.”
Jamie made a dozen different sympathetic faces before beating a hasty retreat as Billy tried to explain that no, he hadn’t realized what time it was, no he hadn’t meant to make her worry, yes he would hurry home right away, yes he knew how much trouble he was in. Two towels came flying through the swinging door and Billy dried off as he listened to her measured lecture-Rebecca Kaplan didn’t yell when a good battering with logic would do-aware of Teddy coming to join him, drying off and beginning to dress silently. Billy pulled on his jeans and, awkwardly thanks to the phone, his shirt, making appropriate responses when needed.
He glanced up once, but Teddy wasn’t meeting his eyes, face turned firmly away, body completely walled off. Billy’s heart sank even further as he mumbled promises, grabbing his coat and stuffing his feet into his shoes, the effortless beauty of the night gone.
His mother kept him on the phone all the way to the street, Teddy locking up behind them. By the time he hung up, the three of them were facing off in an awkward triangle. “My train’s this way,” Teddy said, jerking his thumb. “Are you two going to be okay?”
“We’re okay,” Jamie said, sliding a protective arm around Billy’s shoulders, reading the mood. “If I’m not grounded too, maybe I’ll see you before I have to go back to boarding school hell.”
“Yeah,” Teddy said, trying for a smile. It didn’t seem natural, and he wasn’t looking at Billy at all. “That would be cool. You have my number?”
Jamie patted his pocket. “Got it. Night, Teddy.” He nudged Billy with his hip, and Billy murmured, “Night, Teddy,” quietly.
“Good night you guys,” Teddy said, glancing once at him, that horrible sadness back in his blue eyes, making Billy want to howl. And then he was turning and striding away, hands in his pockets, shoulders hunched forward, rainbow-colored scarf curving out into the darkness with each gust of ice-cold wind, like a question mark.
**
CaptnAmazing: Hey, look at that, you’re alive! I was pretty sure your mother would eat your face.
CaptnAmazing: Is everything okay? Was she super-pissed? Are you grounded forever?
Avngerfan2119: Yes and no. I’m grounded-I’m losing computer privileges once I’ve finished talking to you (she says hi; she is standing right here) but she said you could come over if you wanted. Since you’ll be going back to school soon and all.
CaptnAmazing: Oh. Hi, Mrs. Kaplan. That face-eating thing was totally a joke.
CaptnAmazing: Sure, I’ll come over. I’ll be there in ten minutes, okay?
Avngerfan2119: Okay.
**
“They confiscated my computer and my phone,” Billy whispered, curling up around his pillow. They were in his room, door closed but very aware of his mother just across the hall. “I need you to…to talk to Teddy, or. Or, wait, don’t, no, don’t talk to Teddy. That would be… I just… Maybe I could borrow your phone and call- No, that would be weird, and just, argh!”
He buried his face in the pillow, shoulders hunching.
It was the worst feeling in the world, not knowing where things stood. Worse than all those years of wanting and not having. Because now he knew what it felt like to dig his fingers into Teddy’s shoulders. He knew what it felt like to have Teddy’s breath hot as a brand against his skin. He knew what it felt like to twine their tongues together. He knew all that, he’d had all that, but he had no way of knowing if he’d have it again.
“What do you think will happen? Is he, um. So are you two boyfriends?”
“I don’t know,” Billy muttered against the pillow. He turned his face, keeping his eyes shut, wallowing in misery and hope. “I don’t even know how it happened. It just…happened, and then it kept happening, and I have no idea how to make it happen again, or if he wants it to happen again, or, or anything.”
“Um,” Jamie said. “He looked pretty darn into it from what I unfortunately had to witness. I’m pretty sure you guys were-” He lowered his voice and leaned in. “Like. About to have sex.”
Billy lifted his head, flushed. “Don’t say that,” he hissed. “Oh my God, that just makes it worse.”
Sex. Sex with Teddy. Moving with him, feeling Teddy’s erection thrusting against his, grinding, holy fuck.
He buried his face again.
“It doesn’t matter anyway,” Billy muttered miserably. “Not right now. I can’t talk to him, I can’t see him. Oh my God, I feel so lame.” He sighed, and Jamie reached over to rub a soothing circle between Billy’s shoulder blades.
“Maybe your mom will relent and let you go out,” Jamie offered, though both of them knew there was no hope of that. It had been 2:45 a.m. by the time Billy had made it back, still-wet, reeling so hard from everything that had happened that his parents would have suspected alcohol even if he’d stuck to Cokes all night. “Maybe she’ll give you, like, a sex moratorium.”
Billy straightened and smacked Jamie across the face with his pillow.
“Hey!” Jamie squawked, but he was laughing, making a grab for the pillow. They wrestled over it, Jamie making kissy faces, Billy hissing, “I swear to God if you’re not going to be helpful you can go away,” as quietly as possible. Jamie’s foot lashed out, knocking over the lamp, and a glass fell off the bedside table, hitting the floor and rolling. Jamie yelped and twisted, stifling a laugh. “Oh my God, get off! Save it for Teeeeeddy!”
And then there was a sharp knock on the door and Billy thought his heart would explode. He clapped a hand over Jamie’s mouth, shooting him a quelling glare, before saying, “Yeah?” He let go, wiping his palm on his jeans. Jamie had licked him, gross.
His mother stuck her head inside, light from Billy’s open blinds catching on her glasses. “Jamie, will you be staying for dinner?”
“Depends!” Jamie said brightly, straightening. His hair was sticking up at all angles, and a few loose feathers from Billy’s pillow were drifting from his collar. “What’s for dessert?”
Billy’s mother arched a single dark brow and Jamie quickly backpedalled. “I mean, um, yes, thank you, I’ll, sure. Thank you.”
“I’ll set an extra space,” she said, closing the door. Before either of them could so much as twitch, she opened it again. “Oh, and Billy?”
“Yes ma’am?” His voice came out a little strangled.
“Please don’t smother your houseguests.”
Rebecca Kaplan shut the door with a quiet click. Billy and Jamie slowly turned to look at each other.
“So,” Jamie said, voice low. “Your mother is kind of awesomely terrifying. I think she just made a man out of me. Do you figure I could marry her someday? If your father dies in a tragic unrelated accident!” he added quickly, rolling out of the way when Billy grabbed for him.
Billy flung his pillow at Jamie’s retreating form. “What, argh, gross, Jamie!”
“I’d be a super-great stepfather! Hey! No smothering houseguests, remember?” he squawked as Billy launched himself off the bed, grabbing him around the middle and wrestling him down.
Billy shoved the nearest thing he could find-gym socks; ha!-into Jamie’s face, knees pinning his flailing arms, expression grimly satisfied. “I think my mother will find it in her heart to make an exception,” he said darkly.
**
212-555-9078: hey teddy, i got nominated to be courier. anything you wanna say to billy speak now
212-555-3129: Hi Jamie. Tell Billy I’m sorry I got him in trouble.
212-555-9078: lame! you can come up with a better message of hope than that
212-555-3129: Okay, well. I guess tell him New York just isn’t the same without him.
**
“It’s not the same without yoooou,” Jamie crooned softly, dodging Billy’s half-hearted kick. “Oh Billy, Billy, I am so sad and lonely wandering the mean city streets all by myself!”
“Shut up,” Billy hissed without any real heat, thumb brushing over the keypad. He wished he dared to text back, but he wasn’t sure he could handle the awkwardness of explaining hi, no, it was Billy, using Jamie’s phone, and he didn’t have anything to say, he just really wanted to talk to Teddy like an obsessed twelve-year-old girl, and barf.
But. Still. It was really good hearing from Teddy. He could picture Teddy, wandering through the city on one of his long walks, finding new places-places he’d show Billy, maybe, places they could go together.
Billy ducked his face and Jamie laughed. “Oh wow, do you want me to leave you two alone? You can make out with my phone all you like if you promise to Lysol it a-”
This time, Jamie didn’t dodge fast enough.
**
212-555-9078: picture? come on, t, if youre going to go all walking in memphis, we at least need pectoral evidence
212-555-9078: ha, text-correct for the win! my phone wants topless pics of you
212-555-3129: Your phone owes me dinner first, at the very least.
212-555-9078: youre stalling
212-555-3129: Okay, fine, here.
212-555-3129: 003131.jpg
**
Billy enlarged the image, then immediately turned his face against the arm of the couch, cracking up. Jamie was leaning over him, resting his full weight along its back, bare feet swinging.
“I don’t get it,” Jamie said, “but it’s still pretty awesome.”
The picture was an extreme close-up of Teddy, his features contorted into comic fright, eyes cutting left toward what had to be the weirdest sushi advertisement Billy had ever seen-a bright pink, smiling cartoon octopus wielding eight knives, little chef’s hat perched at a jaunty angle.
“H-he’s,” Billy tried, laughing, but he just… He couldn’t explain; how could he explain Teddy’s weird thing about marine life? “He, I just. Oh man.”
“Big fan of octopi? Octopuses? Octopies?”
Billy turned to look at the picture again, but Teddy’s exaggerated OH SHIT face sent him diving back against the arm of the couch, muffling peals of laughter.
“Hmm,” Jamie said, stealing the phone from him. “I guess I know what you’re getting Teddy for his birthday, then.”
**
212-555-5656: Hey, Jamie.
212-555-9078: Oh, good old landline. You know, I don’t actually have this number in my cell?
212-555-5656: Yeah, well, Mom still has my phone. Did you want to come over? Do you have any…um, messages?
212-555-9078: …you know, I’m starting to feel a little used over here.
212-555-5656: Come on, be serious.
212-555-9078: Yeah, I’ve got your package. Meet me at the corner of hallway and Billy’s room at 6. Bring the payment, and if it looks good, we’ll make the exchange.
**
Despite his protests, Jamie handed over his cell the minute he closed the door behind him, heading to Billy’s bookshelf to dig out some comics. Billy glanced over at him, making a guilty face, but… Well.
He moved to his bed and curled up at the foot, drawing up his legs. Billy rested his chin against his knee and flipped open Jamie’s phone, thumbing back to open his most recent messages.
212-555-3129: Tell Billy that Clarence has stopped talking to me. He says, and I quote, You dont have anything useful to say, Blondie. Youre here to look at. If you want conversation, bring the other one.
Billy grinned, ducking his head to hide his expression from Jamie (who was reading Young Justice; who was barely paying attention to him, but whatever), and scrolled to the next text.
212-555-3129: I just got hipster-shamed out of a store because I forgot my personal tote.
And,
212-555-3129: Okay, you cannot tell me that this is not one well-dressed mothereffer.
212-555-3129: 090021.jpg
Billy pressed a button to enlarge the image, snorting at the ridiculous-and, okay, fine, ridiculously well-dressed-bug-eyed puggle.
There were a few more-uniformly funny or wry or even a little insightful, but none of them were all that personal. It wasn’t that Billy wanted Teddy to be texting Jamie personal messages meant for him (even thinking it all out sort of made his head spin) but…he couldn’t help but feel that Teddy was creeping back ever more insistently into a safe zone, a friend zone. Like being out of contact with Billy had given him the opportunity to press reset on their friendship and send them all the way back to before the Museum of Sex, before the pool, before things had begun to change.
And as much as Billy liked having these glimpses of Teddy, he wanted more than that. He wanted to know that when he could finally see Teddy again, everything he wanted so desperately wouldn’t be impossibly far out of reach.
“Hey, Jamie?” Billy said before he could let himself think it through. “Why don’t you go to the bathroom for awhile?”
Jamie looked up, brows arching. “Um. Huh?”
Billy waved Jamie’s phone at him. “You really have to go use the bathroom. It may take a few minutes.”
“Are you kidding me?” Jamie was standing, though he didn’t look too thrilled about it. “Why can’t I at least go down to the kitchen, or go bug your brothers?”
“Mom might suspect something. Come on, Jamie. Please?” He felt guilty for asking-Jamie was right; he had sort of been using him as a means to communicate with Teddy-but not so guilty that he was willing to take it back. “Just a few minutes,” he said, “I promise.”
Jamie huffed out a breath and grabbed an armful of comics. “Fine,” he said. “But your favors are seriously stacking up, Kaplan.” He headed to the door, pushing it open. “Oh GOD, do I have to take a dump or WHAT? Hold your breath, guys, this is going to be a doozy,” he said in an obnoxiously loud voice, making one final face at Billy before shutting the door behind him.
Billy immediately dialed Teddy’s number.
He chewed on his thumbnail as the phone rang, and rang, and rang. He was starting to think maybe Teddy wouldn’t answer when, on the eleventh ring, there was a click and a blare of obnoxiously loud music. “Hello?”
Billy’s heart gave a pathetic lurch at the sound of Teddy’s voice. “Teddy!” he said in a whisper-shout. “Hey!”
There was a pause, then, “Hello? I can’t- Jamie? I can’t hear you.”
“No, it’s, hi, it’s Billy. Billy,” he tried again, a little louder.
“Hold on a minute-I’ll go outside.” There was a rustle and Billy heard faintly, barely audible, “Hey, Greg, I’m going to head outside and take this.” A pause, then, “Oh come on, you are not. I’ll be right back. Fine, yeah, you too.” There was a muffled rumble, as if Teddy had pressed the phone against his chest, as if he were laughing-laughing at something Greg had said.
Billy slowly drew up, going tighter and tighter, listening to the soft rasp of the phone against Teddy’s shirt, hearing the music change, go quieter. He wondered what club Greg had dragged Teddy to this time, then thought, dizzily, It doesn’t sound like Teddy had to be dragged much of anywhere. It sounds like he’s having a good time.
He bit his lip, hearing the sudden blare of traffic, then Teddy’s voice, much clearer now, “Okay, Jamie, go ahead.”
Billy closed his eyes and rested his forehead against his knees. “Jamie?” Teddy said, then, “Hello? Jamie? Are you there?”
Billy pulled the phone away and dropped it to the bed, arms wrapping tight around his legs. He heard Teddy’s voice, gone tinny through the speakers, “Hello? Hello? Okay, then.”
And then, nothing.
**
212-555-9078: So I guess this is goodbye until the summer.
212-555-5656: Yeah.
212-555-9078: Are you going to totally miss me?
212-555-5656: Yeah.
212-555-9078: …wow, enthusiasm, Billy. Look it up.
212-555-5656: Sorry. I’m sorry. Yes, I’m totally going to miss you. I promise to pretend to stalk Sam at least once for you.
212-555-9078: Aww, now there’s my best friend.
**
Billy was halfway across the school’s lawn before he spotted Teddy. He skidded to a stop, sudden anxiety and pleasure twisting through him, making his heart pick up speed. He wet his lips, moving more slowly, arms clasped around his History textbook.
“Hey,” Billy said, stopping a few feet away.
Teddy looked up from his phone, expression breaking into a wide, warm, Teddy smile. “Hey,” he said. He shoved his phone into his pocket, straightening. “I know you’re still grounded, but I figured your mother couldn’t object to someone walking in the general direction of your house somewhat vaguely in your vicinity. And if he should happen to start talking to you about Alpha Flight, well… What can you do?”
God he loved this boy. Billy tried to swallow down the dizzying surge of feeling, but it must have shown on his face because Teddy looked away, a dark flush creeping up his cheeks.
“Uh, sure,” Billy said quickly, flushing too. “Okay, yeah. Here,” he added, shoving his book into Teddy’s hands. Teddy glanced back, brows raised, and Billy gave a little shrug. “If you’re going to walk me home, you’re going to carry my books. Those are the rules.”
“I’m not sure I saw a notarized list when I signed up for this gig,” Teddy protested, and for that, Billy slung off his bookbag and pushed it into Teddy’s arms as well. “I definitely didn’t check the box for beast of burden.”
Billy slid his hands into his pockets. “No refunds or exchanges. If you don’t like the terms of the agreement, take it up with Management.”
Teddy huffed a breath, but he shifted Billy’s bookbag so it was slung over his shoulder, his History text tucked under one arm. They started walking toward the subway, slower than usual. “So, how’s life in confinement treating you?”
“Oh, well, my mother is a psychiatrist, so she sees punishment as an educational opportunity.”
“That bad, huh?”
Billy made a face. “You have no idea. She let Jamie come over while he was still in town, though, so…that was good. I have a feeling that added an extra week or so to my house arrest, though.”
“An extra week? Crap, Billy. I’m-”
Don’t say sorry; please, please don’t. “No, whatever, it’s fine,” Billy said quickly. He couldn’t stand the thought of Teddy apologizing for what had happened between them. “I’ve been punishment-free for awhile, so I think she’s probably overreacting from lack of practice. Next time we stay out until the wee hours of the morning, it’ll probably be old hat to her.”
He couldn’t help the hint of a question he threw in there, glancing at Teddy out of the corner of his eyes. Teddy was looking straight again, expression frustratingly impossible to read. He didn’t say anything.
“So,” Billy tried again, breaking what was turning into a surprisingly awkward silence. “Um. I noticed you’re not wearing a scarf today.”
“Hm? Oh. Yeah, well, spring is springing.” Teddy drummed his fingers lightly against Billy’s book. “I haven’t packed away all my winter gear yet because it’s still early, but once April really gets going, I’ll start shedding skin like a snake.”
Billy wrinkled his nose. “Nice image. But seriously, I’m not sure I’ll recognize you without one of those things dangling around your neck. You should consider a light chiffon for the summer. Or, heeey, how about a cravat?”
“How about I push you into that sewer?” Teddy said good-naturedly, and they shared a quick grin that almost felt natural. There was still something a little…off about their exchange, Billy decided as they headed into the subway station. A faint hesitation between give-and-take that had never been there before. He wasn’t sure if he was glad about that (maybe it meant Teddy was thinking about what had happened between them; maybe it meant Teddy was thinking about him that way) or upset (maybe it meant Teddy was trying to find a delicate way to untangle himself; maybe Teddy had been drunk or mad or just…not himself that night and he was embarrassed). Billy silently argued both sides with himself until they reached his stop, carrying on a shallow conversation with Teddy with only half a mind.
“Well, I’d better let you go alone from here,” Teddy said when they reached Billy’s corner. He handed him the History book, then tugged off his backpack, offering Billy a strap. Billy slid into it, thrilling against his will at the way Teddy straightened the straps across his shoulders for him, fingertips casually brushing Billy’s jacket.
He fought a shiver, turning fast enough that he was caught in Teddy’s personal space before Teddy could pull completely away. Their bodies were close-too close-and Billy tipped his chin up, meeting Teddy’s eyes and wishing with all his might.
A slow flush spread over Teddy’s cheeks as he started to pull back. “I probably can’t come on Tuesday,” he said, “but I’ll try to see you next Thursday.”
“Teddy,” he said impulsively.
Teddy stopped, mid-retreat, looking at him with a frozen, anxious expression that made everything in Billy tip and rattle around. He grit his teeth, fighting the urge to say No, never mind, it’s nothing.
“Yeah?” Teddy said quietly. People were pushing past them, separating and converging around the little island their still forms made.
“Um,” Billy said, digging his nails into his textbook. “I, so, I was just. I wanted to- What happened. At the pool. I thought we should…”
Teddy looked away. “Not here,” he said quickly. “I, yeah, I mean, I know we should talk about that, but… Not here.”
“Not here,” Billy echoed, uncertain. That hadn’t been a complete denial. “Okay. Um. So, I’ll see you next Thursday?”
“Next Thursday.” Teddy turned, still not looking at him, and hurried back into the subway. Billy watched him go, confused and anxious and hoping.
Mostly…mostly hoping.
**
Celeb candids
IT’S OFFICIAL: THOR LIKES SHAKE SHACK TOO, Y’ALL!
Spotted at Madison Square Park chowing down on the real food
of the gods, Thor and guest enjoy a relaxing twenty minute break
from saving the world. New York natives can now expect the lines
to triple as the weather warms. Thanks, Thor.
SEE MORE PICTURES
**
Billy dragged his feet all the way home. It was a Wednesday, which sucked. Wednesdays just sucked in general now, because he still had two days of school left until the weekend, and it wasn’t a Teddy day, and he couldn’t go to the store to pick up his comics because he was still grounded, and he was pretty sure it was raining just to spite him. He huddled deeper into his coat, glowering up at the moody grey skies.
“Hey, Billy,” Sam said as she passed by on the way to her own house. She had one of those bubble umbrellas arching up and around her like a clear plastic spaceship. Even that annoyed him today.
“Hey,” he mumbled. She smiled over her shoulder before hurrying across the street, vaulting gracefully over a puddle.
Stupid puddles. Stupid rain. Stupid day.
Rationally, he knew he was being, well. Irrational. But it was such a grey, miserable, depressing day that he felt a certain right to be irrational. Billy trudged down his street and up the stairs to his brownstone. He shrugged out of his coat and boots at the door, but only to keep his mother from yelling about tracking mud onto the Persian rugs. Billy dropped his bookbag next to his brothers’ and headed dully up the stairs, ignoring the bright back-and-forth of conversation coming from the kitchen.
“Billy?” his mother called.
Billy paused, seriously considering pretending he hadn’t heard her.
“I know you can hear me.”
Damn it.
“Come into the kitchen, please?”
Billy sighed and turned around, slouching down the steps, through the dining room and into the clean, efficient and relentlessly modern kitchen. His father was sitting at the small kitchen table, reading an academic journal and making faces at his plain black coffee. He arched his brows a little when Billy paused in the doorway, gaze dropping to the sodden, disgusting hem of Billy’s jeans.
“‘Good Lord, Miss Elizabeth. Did you walk here?’” he asked gravely.
“It’s wet out,” Billy muttered. He hated work-from-home days.
His father turned in his chair to look up at his wife. “‘My goodness, did you see her hem? Six inches deep in mud. She looked positively mediaeval.’”
Usually Billy would have at least pretended he found his father’s stupid literary jokes amusing, but he was wet and he was bored and it was Wednesday with no comic books and no Teddy and no one was impressed over memorizing lines from Pride and Prejudice anyway, God.
Rebecca patted her husband’s shoulder. “Can I assume from your general air of malaise that you’ve sufficiently learned your lesson?” she asked.
Billy straightened immediately, practically at parade attention. “Yes ma’am,” he said quickly. “I have definitely learned my lesson.”
“And we can trust you to stick to your agreed curfew from now on?”
“Definitely,” he said. “I will definitely make curfew from now on.”
She crossed her arms. “And if you happen to be running late thanks to an error in judgment coupled with a missed train or unforeseen mechanical trouble, you will…?”
“Go to the nearest brightly lit, widely populated spot and call you to let you know I am taking a taxi,” Billy filled in.
“Mm. What do you think?” she asked, looking down at her husband. “Should we set him free?”
“‘She better liked to see him free and happy, even than to have him near her, because she loved him better than herself,’” his father said gravely, turning back to his journal.
His mother arched a brow. “Well,” she said. “You heard your father. Go be free. And don’t track in any mud!” she called as Billy turned and raced out of the kitchen. He made it all the way to the stairs before pausing, turning, and running back. “Thanks!” Billy said, poking his head into the kitchen. He waited for her fond wave of dismissal then sprinted out again. He thundered up the stairs, grin already starting to bloom across his face as he tore into his mother’s office. He flung himself into her chair, pulling open the top-left-hand drawer and there. There was his cellphone. Billy flipped it open and powered it on, loving his mother more than he had in years when he realized she’d even kept it charged, waiting for this moment.
He had the best mother. Scary, efficient, and always thinking of everything.
His father was pretty cool, too, Billy mused, speed-dialing Teddy. He spun himself around in the expensive ergonomic chair once as he listened to it ring, bare feet dragging along the glossy wood floor.
Teddy picked up.
“Billy!” he said, and there was real pleasure in his voice, enough to make Billy’s heart lurch. His face hurt, he was grinning so hard, and he carefully spun to face away from the door, just in case his parents (or one of his brothers, blech) walked by and spotted him. “Hey! So, I take it you’re a freed man?”
“‘I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered! My life is my own,’” Billy quoted serenely.
There was a faint rustle, then the clacking of keys.
“Oh come on,” he protested. “Teddy, you do not have to look that up. Seriously? ‘I am not a number! I am a person!’”
“Not all of us can dedicate the same amount of scary brainspace to arcane geekdom as you do,” Teddy said. “I am not a… Oh, okay, The Prisoner. Very clever.”
Billy rolled his eyes, but he was still grinning. “You sound just like my mom when my dad decides it is Lewis Carroll day,” he said, and huh, that was actually…kind of a scary thought. Was he just like his dad? “Except…it’s cool, right? The scary brainspace dedicated to arcane geek culture?”
He heard the soft click of Teddy closing his laptop. “Yes, dear,” Teddy said dryly, somehow managing to sound just like Billy’s mother again, even though he’d never met her. “That’s very impressive.”
Billy groaned and swiveled to drop his forehead against the desk. “Remind me to never bring you home,” he said. “I don’t need two of you in my life. Oh, hey,” he added, straightening. “Speaking of lives, I, um, I’ve got mine back. Do you want to come to the city and celebrate? I’d come to Brooklyn, but I’m not going to take any chances with my curfew for at least the next few weeks.”
He wanted to see Teddy. He wanted to see Teddy desperately. The fifteen or so minutes they’d managed to steal together every other Tuesday or Thursday just hadn’t been enough, and he wanted… Well. He wanted to try to get Teddy to talk about that thing they hadn’t been talking about, that thing they knew they had to talk about.
Teddy hesitated, and it was as if he could read Billy’s mind.
“I…wish I could,” he said slowly. “I’m glad you’ve been sprung from Arkham and all, but. I sort of made plans for tonight already. I’m sorry,” Teddy added as Billy began to deflate. “I’m really, really sorry, but I’ve been cancelling plans with, um, with these guys a lot over the last few months and I’m only just managing to make it up to them.”
“Oh, no, it’s okay,” Billy said. He jabbed desolately at the shiny brass lock on his mother’s desk, staring at the beige wall. “It’s wet and gross out anyway. You said you couldn’t come after school tomorrow?”
“Right. I’m finishing up a project for a grade, so I actually have to stick around for class instead of going off and getting inspired.”
He’d never noticed how bland his mother’s space was. Clean and orderly, yeah, but there was hardly any color. Not like at Teddy’s house. “Saturday?”
“We should definitely celebrate your freedom on Saturday. It’s supposed to be pretty nice-do you want to meet at Coney Island? I think Luna Park is open until 8:00 p.m. on the weekends now.”
“Yeah,” Billy said immediately. “Okay, that sounds good. I’ll meet you there around…12:00?”
“We can do Nathan’s,” Teddy agreed. “And check out the scary arcades. It’ll be great.”
“It’ll be great,” Billy echoed, no longer really feeling it.
Outside, the clouds parted to let through streamers of fitful light, but he was pretty sure that was just to spite him too.
Part Four