Combat (10/15)
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"Ja-Jason," Kevin said again, still not able to form a more coherent thought.
Jason laughed, a little awkwardly. "Surprise," he said quietly.
"What - How - ?"
Jason stepped into the loft, closing the door behind him before taking Kevin’s arm and pulling him up against his body. "I know, I know. I would have called, but everything happened so fast." Jason sighed, leaning in and kissing Kevin briefly. "I’ve been traveling all night; I just got into town, and I came straight here. God, I’ve missed you."
Kevin stared at him and slowly began to smile. "I’ve missed you too," he said sincerely, reaching up to kiss Jason again.
***
Scotty slowly opened one eye, peering out from beneath his covers. He sighed and then shut his eye again, debating whether he should fall back asleep. Between his late-night visit to Kevin and his later-night cursing Kevin over a pint of ice cream and his even-later-night moaning of Kevin’s name as he came over his fist and stomach, he hadn’t slept much. But at some point, staying in bed became less about catching up on sleep and more about showing early signs of depression.
"Get up," he ordered himself.
But he didn’t move - at least not until his phone rang. Scotty sat upright, staring at his phone, and he swallowed. For the life of him, he couldn’t decide if he wanted it to be Kevin again or not. He thought about letting it go to voicemail but finally reached out and grabbed the phone.
"Hello?" he said warily.
"Hey man!"
"Justin," Scotty sighed, collapsing back onto his bed.
"Wow. Yeah, nice to talk to you, too."
"Sorry. I just thought you were someone else."
Scotty could hear the shrug in Justin’s voice as he continued. "Sorry to disappoint. So, Tyler and I are doing some initial wedding planning stuff, and we thought we’d invite you along for your opinion."
"Not all gay guys have good taste, Justin."
"Yeah, I know. I’ve seen some of the colors you’ve tried wearing together."
"Thanks. Look, ask your brother. He certainly has an opinion on what’s best for everyone."
"What?"
"Nothing. Never mind."
"I doubt I could get a hold of Kevin anyway. Kitty says that Jason called this morning from LAX. He probably is at Kevin’s right now, so I don’t expect to hear from Kev for at least the rest of the weekend, if you know what I mean."
Scotty closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again, turning his head to stare blankly at the wall.
"Scotty?"
He took a deep breath. "Sorry, Justin. I just don’t think this is a good day."
"Oh come on, we’re trying out caterers today. Stuffing our faces with lots of samples of free food and various desserts. How can you pass that up?"
Scotty paused. "What time?"
And Justin laughed. "Be at Mom’s at 2:00!"
***
Kevin pressed his eyelids closed, and he gasped as three of Jason’s fingers moved inside him. He clutched at Jason’s strong bicep, and he forced his mind to be completely blank of all thoughts except how good it felt and how much he had missed his boyfriend.
Jason leaned down and kissed him. He thrust his fingers deep again; Kevin moaned, and Jason smiled.
"You’re so tight," Jason observed breathlessly. "It’s clearly been way too long."
Eyes still closed, Kevin reached a hand down to guide Jason’s movement. "Stop talking. Just...take me already."
Jason chuckled. He removed his fingers, and Kevin groaned. Within seconds, Kevin felt the blunt tip of Jason’s erection pushing into him. He tried to relax, to let him in. He wrapped his arms around Jason tighter, spread his legs wider, and took deep breaths. Jason finally entered him and then held himself still, allowing Kevin to become used to his presence again.
"I love you so much," he murmured in Kevin’s ear. "I missed you."
He withdrew, preparing to start moving faster. But everything was wrong, all wrong.
"Stop."
Jason paused. "Kev? What is it? Am I hurting you?"
Kevin shook his head. "No, just...stop, please. Get off."
Jason pulled out completely, rolling to his side and staring at Kevin in concern. Kevin sat up, propping his elbows on his knees and digging the heels of his hands into his eyes. "Damn it," he muttered. "I’m sorry. I - "
Jason reached out, touching his arm lightly. "It’s OK, it’s fine. It’s been so long, things are bound to feel off. We’ll just slow down a bit."
Kevin shook his head, swallowing. "That’s not it."
"Talk to me. Tell me what the problem is."
Kevin finally faced Jason. "We can’t do this. I do love you, and I’m sorry..."
Jason stared at him for a beat. "But?"
Kevin exhaled, nodding. Then he began to explain.
***
"Wait...Jason’s back?" Tyler asked. She and the Walker women were sitting around the kitchen counter, drinking iced tea while Tyler waited for Justin and Scotty.
"Yep," Kitty said, nodding. "He called Robert early this morning."
"Oh. Oh, this is not good."
"No, it isn’t," Sarah agreed darkly.
"Why?" Nora asked. "Your brother’s boyfriend is home after almost a year away. How could this not be good?"
"Are you blind, Mother?"
"Sarah, what are you talking about?" Kitty asked in exasperation.
Sarah and Tyler looked at each other. Sarah put down her glass gently and leaned forward. "Kevin is no longer in love with Jason."
"What? How do you know? Did he tell you?" Nora asked in surprised concern. "He hasn’t said anything to me, and I’m his mother."
"No, no. The last time I talked to him about it, Kevin was very adamant about still loving Jason," Sarah said.
Kitty held up her hands in confusion. "OK, I know I’m out of the loop a bit with the campaign and everything, but you are making no sense."
"Kevin’s in denial."
Tyler nodded in agreement. "They both are."
"Wait - both who?"
"Kevin and Scotty!" Tyler and Sarah exclaimed in near unison.
"What?!"
Sarah opened her mouth to explain but was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening and closing.
"Anybody here?" called a voice from the foyer.
"In the kitchen, dear!"
Justin walked in. "Hi everyone." He walked up to Tyler, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her cheek. "Hi honey. What are you girls talking about?"
They all looked at each other. "Just...girl talk," Sarah said.
"A secret, huh?" Justin said, laughing.
Justin stepped away, walking over to the pitcher and pouring himself half a glass. "Scotty just called. He’s on his way."
"Oh good," Tyler said, slightly awkwardly. "I can’t wait to try this caterer. My friend Amber went to a wedding they did, and she said it was the best food."
The doorbell rang, and Justin quickly finished his drink before putting the glass in the sink. "That’s him. Ready?"
Tyler grabbed her purse. As Justin walked out of the kitchen, she turned back to the other women. "Keep me updated!"
***
The Walker women silently listened to the sound of voices as Justin and Tyler met Scotty at the front door. As soon as they were gone, however, Nora and Kitty turned to Sarah expectantly. She raised her eyebrows in mock confusion.
"What?"
"Spill!" Nora commanded.
Sarah grinned. "OK, first of all. Scotty’s gay."
"Fast-forward a bit," Kitty said.
Sarah laughed. "Sorry, sorry. OK, so apparently, Scotty had...some problem with the Army, and Kevin took on the case. He didn’t tell me much - you know Kevin and his attorney-client privilege thing, what’s that about?"
Kitty laughed. "It’s called professional ethics, Sarah."
"Oh, whatever, you’re a Republican. What do you know about ethics?"
Nora snorted, attempting to repress her laughter.
"Hey!"
"All I’m saying is, Kevin tells us everything, right? But this apparently was a big secret."
"Let it go!"
"Fine! So he showed up at my house really early a week or so ago and said they nearly did it."
"What?!"
"Uh-huh. And you guys didn’t see them after the ball last night. There was some serious tension going on there."
"Last night?"
"Uh-huh."
Nora shook her head. "Jason has the worst timing!"
Kitty and Sarah both started laughing in agreement but abruptly stopped when the kitchen door opened. Kevin walked inside, looking extraordinarily down.
"Hi," he said.
"We weren’t expecting to see you for a while," Kitty said leadingly.
Kevin didn’t say anything; he merely walked up to Nora, whimpered, and bent to rest his head on her shoulder.
"Oh, baby!" Nora said, reaching up to wrap her arms around him.
***
"Hello?" Tyler whispered quietly into her cell phone.
"It’s Sarah! How’s the tasting going?"
"This food is to die for. Justin’s attempting to haggle prices right now. It’s kind of cute. What’s new there?"
"Kevin showed up minutes after you guys left."
"Really?"
"Yep. He broke up with Jason."
Tyler turned to look at Justin and Scotty talking with the caterer. Scotty had put up a very good front during their excursion, but it was clear that he was upset. She tried to decide if this development was something she should drop "subtly" into conversation or if she should just hope Kevin could figure out how to fix things on his own.
"Great! I mean...not great, but..."
"Relax. I know what you meant. I feel the same way. Jason’s nice and all, but..."
"It’s kind of undeniable. I don’t know how Nora and Kitty - "
"Tell me about it!"
"OK, I gotta go. Thanks for letting me know."
"Bye, hon!"
Tyler hung up and tried not to squeal in excitement.
***
Scotty sighed as he dropped his keys into his coat pocket and then removed his coat. He shuffled over to his couch and collapsed onto it. It had been very hard to remain upbeat that day. Especially after the tasting, when Tyler kept making comments about Scotty finding someone, and how they’d have to be planning a wedding for him sooner rather than later.
There was nothing worse than being a single friend of an engaged couple.
And Justin hadn’t helped. When he wasn’t smirking at Scotty over Tyler’s enthusiasm, he kept reminding Scotty that he wasn’t even supposed to be thinking about that right now anyway. How could he not? How could he think about anything but the feel of Kevin’s lips on him mere hours ago? Kevin made him feel so...amazing. Not to mention safe and cared for, like he could just give himself entirely over to Kevin and not worry about anything and - And that’s when it finally hit Scotty. For him, right now, there was no feeling more dangerous in the world.
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"Ja-Jason," Kevin said again, still not able to form a more coherent thought.
Jason laughed, a little awkwardly. "Surprise," he said quietly.
"What - How - ?"
Jason stepped into the loft, closing the door behind him before taking Kevin’s arm and pulling him up against his body. "I know, I know. I would have called, but everything happened so fast." Jason sighed, leaning in and kissing Kevin briefly. "I’ve been traveling all night; I just got into town, and I came straight here. God, I’ve missed you."
Kevin stared at him and slowly began to smile. "I’ve missed you too," he said sincerely, reaching up to kiss Jason again.
***
Scotty slowly opened one eye, peering out from beneath his covers. He sighed and then shut his eye again, debating whether he should fall back asleep. Between his late-night visit to Kevin and his later-night cursing Kevin over a pint of ice cream and his even-later-night moaning of Kevin’s name as he came over his fist and stomach, he hadn’t slept much. But at some point, staying in bed became less about catching up on sleep and more about showing early signs of depression.
"Get up," he ordered himself.
But he didn’t move - at least not until his phone rang. Scotty sat upright, staring at his phone, and he swallowed. For the life of him, he couldn’t decide if he wanted it to be Kevin again or not. He thought about letting it go to voicemail but finally reached out and grabbed the phone.
"Hello?" he said warily.
"Hey man!"
"Justin," Scotty sighed, collapsing back onto his bed.
"Wow. Yeah, nice to talk to you, too."
"Sorry. I just thought you were someone else."
Scotty could hear the shrug in Justin’s voice as he continued. "Sorry to disappoint. So, Tyler and I are doing some initial wedding planning stuff, and we thought we’d invite you along for your opinion."
"Not all gay guys have good taste, Justin."
"Yeah, I know. I’ve seen some of the colors you’ve tried wearing together."
"Thanks. Look, ask your brother. He certainly has an opinion on what’s best for everyone."
"What?"
"Nothing. Never mind."
"I doubt I could get a hold of Kevin anyway. Kitty says that Jason called this morning from LAX. He probably is at Kevin’s right now, so I don’t expect to hear from Kev for at least the rest of the weekend, if you know what I mean."
Scotty closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again, turning his head to stare blankly at the wall.
"Scotty?"
He took a deep breath. "Sorry, Justin. I just don’t think this is a good day."
"Oh come on, we’re trying out caterers today. Stuffing our faces with lots of samples of free food and various desserts. How can you pass that up?"
Scotty paused. "What time?"
And Justin laughed. "Be at Mom’s at 2:00!"
***
Kevin pressed his eyelids closed, and he gasped as three of Jason’s fingers moved inside him. He clutched at Jason’s strong bicep, and he forced his mind to be completely blank of all thoughts except how good it felt and how much he had missed his boyfriend.
Jason leaned down and kissed him. He thrust his fingers deep again; Kevin moaned, and Jason smiled.
"You’re so tight," Jason observed breathlessly. "It’s clearly been way too long."
Eyes still closed, Kevin reached a hand down to guide Jason’s movement. "Stop talking. Just...take me already."
Jason chuckled. He removed his fingers, and Kevin groaned. Within seconds, Kevin felt the blunt tip of Jason’s erection pushing into him. He tried to relax, to let him in. He wrapped his arms around Jason tighter, spread his legs wider, and took deep breaths. Jason finally entered him and then held himself still, allowing Kevin to become used to his presence again.
"I love you so much," he murmured in Kevin’s ear. "I missed you."
He withdrew, preparing to start moving faster. But everything was wrong, all wrong.
"Stop."
Jason paused. "Kev? What is it? Am I hurting you?"
Kevin shook his head. "No, just...stop, please. Get off."
Jason pulled out completely, rolling to his side and staring at Kevin in concern. Kevin sat up, propping his elbows on his knees and digging the heels of his hands into his eyes. "Damn it," he muttered. "I’m sorry. I - "
Jason reached out, touching his arm lightly. "It’s OK, it’s fine. It’s been so long, things are bound to feel off. We’ll just slow down a bit."
Kevin shook his head, swallowing. "That’s not it."
"Talk to me. Tell me what the problem is."
Kevin finally faced Jason. "We can’t do this. I do love you, and I’m sorry..."
Jason stared at him for a beat. "But?"
Kevin exhaled, nodding. Then he began to explain.
***
"Wait...Jason’s back?" Tyler asked. She and the Walker women were sitting around the kitchen counter, drinking iced tea while Tyler waited for Justin and Scotty.
"Yep," Kitty said, nodding. "He called Robert early this morning."
"Oh. Oh, this is not good."
"No, it isn’t," Sarah agreed darkly.
"Why?" Nora asked. "Your brother’s boyfriend is home after almost a year away. How could this not be good?"
"Are you blind, Mother?"
"Sarah, what are you talking about?" Kitty asked in exasperation.
Sarah and Tyler looked at each other. Sarah put down her glass gently and leaned forward. "Kevin is no longer in love with Jason."
"What? How do you know? Did he tell you?" Nora asked in surprised concern. "He hasn’t said anything to me, and I’m his mother."
"No, no. The last time I talked to him about it, Kevin was very adamant about still loving Jason," Sarah said.
Kitty held up her hands in confusion. "OK, I know I’m out of the loop a bit with the campaign and everything, but you are making no sense."
"Kevin’s in denial."
Tyler nodded in agreement. "They both are."
"Wait - both who?"
"Kevin and Scotty!" Tyler and Sarah exclaimed in near unison.
"What?!"
Sarah opened her mouth to explain but was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening and closing.
"Anybody here?" called a voice from the foyer.
"In the kitchen, dear!"
Justin walked in. "Hi everyone." He walked up to Tyler, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her cheek. "Hi honey. What are you girls talking about?"
They all looked at each other. "Just...girl talk," Sarah said.
"A secret, huh?" Justin said, laughing.
Justin stepped away, walking over to the pitcher and pouring himself half a glass. "Scotty just called. He’s on his way."
"Oh good," Tyler said, slightly awkwardly. "I can’t wait to try this caterer. My friend Amber went to a wedding they did, and she said it was the best food."
The doorbell rang, and Justin quickly finished his drink before putting the glass in the sink. "That’s him. Ready?"
Tyler grabbed her purse. As Justin walked out of the kitchen, she turned back to the other women. "Keep me updated!"
***
The Walker women silently listened to the sound of voices as Justin and Tyler met Scotty at the front door. As soon as they were gone, however, Nora and Kitty turned to Sarah expectantly. She raised her eyebrows in mock confusion.
"What?"
"Spill!" Nora commanded.
Sarah grinned. "OK, first of all. Scotty’s gay."
"Fast-forward a bit," Kitty said.
Sarah laughed. "Sorry, sorry. OK, so apparently, Scotty had...some problem with the Army, and Kevin took on the case. He didn’t tell me much - you know Kevin and his attorney-client privilege thing, what’s that about?"
Kitty laughed. "It’s called professional ethics, Sarah."
"Oh, whatever, you’re a Republican. What do you know about ethics?"
Nora snorted, attempting to repress her laughter.
"Hey!"
"All I’m saying is, Kevin tells us everything, right? But this apparently was a big secret."
"Let it go!"
"Fine! So he showed up at my house really early a week or so ago and said they nearly did it."
"What?!"
"Uh-huh. And you guys didn’t see them after the ball last night. There was some serious tension going on there."
"Last night?"
"Uh-huh."
Nora shook her head. "Jason has the worst timing!"
Kitty and Sarah both started laughing in agreement but abruptly stopped when the kitchen door opened. Kevin walked inside, looking extraordinarily down.
"Hi," he said.
"We weren’t expecting to see you for a while," Kitty said leadingly.
Kevin didn’t say anything; he merely walked up to Nora, whimpered, and bent to rest his head on her shoulder.
"Oh, baby!" Nora said, reaching up to wrap her arms around him.
***
"Hello?" Tyler whispered quietly into her cell phone.
"It’s Sarah! How’s the tasting going?"
"This food is to die for. Justin’s attempting to haggle prices right now. It’s kind of cute. What’s new there?"
"Kevin showed up minutes after you guys left."
"Really?"
"Yep. He broke up with Jason."
Tyler turned to look at Justin and Scotty talking with the caterer. Scotty had put up a very good front during their excursion, but it was clear that he was upset. She tried to decide if this development was something she should drop "subtly" into conversation or if she should just hope Kevin could figure out how to fix things on his own.
"Great! I mean...not great, but..."
"Relax. I know what you meant. I feel the same way. Jason’s nice and all, but..."
"It’s kind of undeniable. I don’t know how Nora and Kitty - "
"Tell me about it!"
"OK, I gotta go. Thanks for letting me know."
"Bye, hon!"
Tyler hung up and tried not to squeal in excitement.
***
Scotty sighed as he dropped his keys into his coat pocket and then removed his coat. He shuffled over to his couch and collapsed onto it. It had been very hard to remain upbeat that day. Especially after the tasting, when Tyler kept making comments about Scotty finding someone, and how they’d have to be planning a wedding for him sooner rather than later.
There was nothing worse than being a single friend of an engaged couple.
And Justin hadn’t helped. When he wasn’t smirking at Scotty over Tyler’s enthusiasm, he kept reminding Scotty that he wasn’t even supposed to be thinking about that right now anyway. How could he not? How could he think about anything but the feel of Kevin’s lips on him mere hours ago? Kevin made him feel so...amazing. Not to mention safe and cared for, like he could just give himself entirely over to Kevin and not worry about anything and - And that’s when it finally hit Scotty. For him, right now, there was no feeling more dangerous in the world.
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