Loveland High 22/25 - You Brought Me to Life for hs_bingo
Title: You Brought Me to Life
Author: anyothergirl415
Prompt: party games
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/Characters: Christian/Chad, Jared/Jensen, Mike/Misha, Matt/Tom
Words: ~4,500
Warnings: AU - minor angst, mentions of past abuse, mostly schmoop
Summary: The boys throw a party for Mike and Misha, and Chad meets some new people.
Notes: For hs_bingo. All stories are linked; go to my card here to find the correct order. Thanks to cha for being her epically awesome self and helping along/making art.
It was the extra car in the driveway that had Chad slowing his steps. He'd just gone supply shopping with Jared and Jensen for the party - that he liked to call the mini-party only because eight or so people was more of a gathering. They'd offered him a ride home but Chad hadn't been walking as much since Christian took him to school so he declined.
Now he wished he hadn't because he had no idea who was at their house, and he kind of didn't want to find out. At least before he could have them drive off before anyone could notice him.
Chad considered turning and going somewhere else for a while but he was carrying a bag of already melting ice cream so his options were limited. Sighing softly, Chad braced himself and headed inside.
He was greeted by the sound of Christian's laughter and it eased some of the tension. Because surely Christian wouldn't be laughing at something bad.
Walking down the hall, Chad glanced in the living room and found no one. A few moments later he turned into the kitchen and stopped, eyes fixing on the man and woman he vaguely recognized from pictures.
"Hey, Chad. I was wondering when you'd turn up." Christian grinned over at him and crossed the kitchen, pulling Chad in for a soft kiss that left him reeling softly. “This is Aldis and Beth, guys, this is my boyfriend Chad.”
Alright. Not that Chad didn’t get a little thrill at being introduced as Christian’s boyfriend but man, he didn’t even know these people. And he certainly had no idea what they knew about him. “Uh, hi.”
“Hey man, nice to meet you, we’ve heard a lot about you.” Aldis grinned and stepped forward, holding out his hand.
Chad smiled politely and shook Aldis’ hand, scanning over the man’s features. He had a dark complexion, a strong jaw, and soft brown eyes. Really, he was gorgeous, and Chad secretly hoped that Beth was this guy’s girlfriend but he definitely didn’t want to find out Christian had once dated him. “Nice to meet you too. Sorry, didn’t know we were having company today.”
Chad shot Christian a pointed look as he shook Beth’s hand before carrying the ice cream to the fridge. Aldis laughed shook and shook his head. “Don’t give Chris too much shit, it was a surprise visit.”
“I have family in the area, so we thought we’d come by,” Beth said softly, flicking her long blond hair over her shoulder.
Chad thought her voice sort of sounded like bells but he didn’t mention it. Instead he closed the fridge and turned back to them, smiling softly. “That’s cool. Christian mentioned wanting to meet up with his Denver friends some time soon.”
“I did.” Christian nodded and stepped to Chad’s side, slipping his arm over Chad’s shoulders like he wanted to claim him or something. It was a side of Christian Chad hadn’t really seen before, and he found he didn’t really dislike it all that much. “See, I told you I’ve mentioned you guys.”
“Oh we didn’t doubt you Chris,” Beth insisted with a faint laugh, leaning into Aldis as the man slid up beside her.
“We just didn’t believe you,” Aldis offered with a wide grin and reached out with his free hand to take a drink from his soda.
Christian laughed once more and Chad really liked how carefree it sounded. Not that he didn’t see Christian get carefree and loose but this seemed a little more natural. “Come on, let’s go sit in the living room.”
Aldis and Beth led the way, suggesting they’d certainly been here before, and Chad let Christian hold him back, turning to smile softly up at him. “What’s up?”
“This okay? I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Christian frowned slightly, sliding his hand up to the back of Chad’s neck, squeezing softly.
“You didn’t know.” Chad shrugged and leaned into him. “They seem nice; I’d love to get to know your friends.”
Christian grinned and kissed him softly, scraping his nails over Chad’s scalp. “You’re amazing.”
“Mmhmm.” Chad hummed softly and laughed, pulling Christian back with him through the kitchen and down the hall to the living room.
He dropped down onto the couch, Christian pressing up close beside him, and looked over at Aldis and Beth on the loveseat together. “So how long have you two been together?” He asked softly, smiling when Christian’s hand settled on his thigh.
“Oh, years,” Beth shrugged dismissively, leaning absently into Aldis’ side.
“Two years, three months,” Aldis elaborated with a warm smile, stroking Beth’s hair tenderly.
Chad thought they kind of made a perfect couple, in a unique way. He liked that Beth didn’t seem all that gushy about things. And really it wasn’t that difficult to see why Christian had chosen them as friends.
“So how about you two? How long?” Aldis asked curiously and Chad wondered if his question sounded suspicious because Chad was clearly younger.
“Well,” Chad wet his lips, glancing over at Christian.
“Almost half a year,” Christian said before Chad could count up the months. “I’m not sure we have an official anniversary.”
“No, it just kind of happened.” Chad laughed softly and leaned a little more in Christian’s side. Aldis hummed quietly and Beth stared right at Chad until he cleared his throat waved toward them. “How long have you known Christian? I’d love to hear some stories.”
Christian groaned and shook his head. “Let’s really not go there.”
But Chad couldn’t think of better people to ask about it.
“So then, he snorts on his milk and it just flew everywhere.” Aldis’ hands gestured wide from side to side, displaying just how far Christian’s milk went flying.
Chad - who had been laughing for what felt like years - slumped against Christian and sucked in desperate breaths. He hadn’t anticipated Aldis having just as many stories as he did have from their time knowing each other. Even if Christian pretended to be annoyed, Chad could tell he was mostly amused.
“You just wish you could get the attention like I always have.” Christian huffed softly and shook his head, squeezing Chad’s shoulder. “We can’t all be so amazing Hodge.”
“Mmhmm.” Aldis nodded slowly and laughed. “I know you just wanted to be as badass as I am.”
“Right. And those longing looks at me were actually your undying affection shining through.” When it was only quiet afterward, Chad looked toward Aldis, really praying that Christian had just been making a joke. If not, well, awkward.
“Because I’ve clearly always liked you and all your manliness.” Aldis scoffed like the idea was one they’d joked and teased each other about for ages and the awkward tension Chad had worried was growing faded away.
In fact, Chad was having such a good time that when Aldis asked what he did, he answered without thought. "Oh I'm a student."
His mistake instantly had his eyes widening and his jaw snapping shut. Thankfully, Christian just laughed and went with it. "Chad goes to CSU. He's a bit in between jobs at the moment."
"Dating younger Chris?" Aldis laughed and Chad sank back in relief.
Even if Beth was looking at him oddly, like she suspected something more. Christian's friends would probably flip if they knew the truth about Chad’s age and the fact that he was Christian’s student. But thankfully once more Christian was on top of things, he swiftly directed the conversation away from Chad, pausing when Aldis was speaking and kissing Chad’s forehead.
It wasn’t so very hard to fit in with Christian’s friends, Chad was relieved to learn, because the more time that passed the easier it was to have a good time. And watching Christian relaxed and happy, even as he cooked them all steaks out back as Aldis threw the ball for Ickis and Chad sat beside Beth, it felt good. It wasn’t always easy to keep from thinking about the bad things, but at the moment Chad wasn’t having any problem with it at all.
He caught Christian’s eye, the man’s hair glistening in the sunshine, and Chad’s grin felt wide enough to make his whole body tingle. Life should always be this good.
The initial sting of pain had Chad jerking before his vision even cleared out. He was in his room, the plain white walls more threatening than usual if only because Chad couldn’t escape what it meant. Maybe some part of him knew this was a dream but he thought his other world was a dream, and this was the reality, and he didn’t know why he’d been foolish enough to think he could ever be so happy.
“Dreamin’ about your boyfriend you big faggot?” The alcohol slurred words shot through Chad, sending with them a ripple of fear that made his heart clench painfully.
Once more he was grasped by the arm, tugged up with enough force to make his joints pop. Chad was thrown up against the wall, his skull cracking hard on plaster as his vision blurred. If he could just beg and plead enough his father might stop. Of course, he always thought that there would be a limit, that eventually his Dad would realize that it was just too much.
Today wasn’t the day though.
His father pulled him back from the wall and slammed him back against it, over and over until all Chad could taste was blood, sharp and tangy across his tongue. Surely this would be the time, his cries were loud enough to make his chest ache, maybe his body would just give up because he couldn’t take anymore.
“Chad?” The voice was much softer and soothing - a stark contrast to the next blow across his face. “Chad, c’mon, wake up.”
Something pulled him from the pain, that voice circling around him and tugging gently until his eyes were snapping open. He panted heavily, blinking up at Christian. This was a dream, that was. It was just a nightmare.
“You with me?” Christian asked softly, brushing fingers along the side of Chad’s jaw.
And god, Chad was, because there was nowhere else he’d rather be. His arms lifted to wrap around Christian and he pressed in close, flattening himself against his lover. “I can never tell, if I’m dreaming of if it’s real.”
“That will never be real again,” Christian murmured softly, stroking a hand up through Chad’s hair. “How do I make them go away?”
“They’re getting better.” Chad insisted quietly and turned into Christian’s hand, exhaling in a slow, almost labored way. “Just, when they’re bad, god they’re horrible. I can’t escape them. Sometimes I think if you weren’t here to wake me up I’d just keep living there.”
“Well then it’s a good thing I’ll always be here to wake you up.” Christian dipped down and brushed his lips over Chad’s, pressing forward to deepen the kiss.
It was good to feel the warmth of a soft touch after a nightmare that left him rattled and he was fairly certain that was part of the reason why Christian did it. He knew how much Chad needed the touch of lips, the warmth of a body, everything Christian could offer to keep him calm.
"What if it's too much some day?" Chad pushed up on his elbow and looked down at Christian, brows furrowed. "What if I never stop having nightmares and you just can't handle anymore?"
Christian frowned disapprovingly, the way he did in class when someone should know the answer to a question but didn't. "That will never happen."
"But what if it does? Or what if I turn out to be him? What if I start drinking and I hurt you? What if-"
"Chad." Christian grabbed Chad's arm, sitting up to keep Chad from moving away. "Listen to me. You will never be like that, you understand? Because I won't ever let you. I will stop you from going down that path, I promise."
Chad slumped against Christian, arms loosely wrapping around the man. Sometimes it felt like Christian was the only one who could ground him, who could keep him from completely losing it. He sighed and watched his hand slowly trail along Christian’s thigh, tracing familiar patterns on his skin. “Maybe I should go see someone.”
Part of him stiffened, expecting Christian to protest or laugh or something. Instead, Christian gently caressed the back of his head and pulled him in closer. “Maybe it would help. You know I’ll listen to you talk about anything, whenever, but I know you might feel compelled to hold some stuff back. So, maybe talking to someone who’s not so involved in your life would be better.”
Letting Christian pull him back down onto the mattress, Chad slowly nodded and turned into him. “I think that would be a good idea. Because… just the idea I could end up that way.” Chad shuddered with the words, shaking his head like he couldn’t even allow himself to process the words.
Really, he couldn’t. Ending up like his father would be the biggest catastrophe imaginable. “We’ll look it into it this next week, maybe see how we can cover the costs and everything.”
“Shouldn’t be too much of an issue, you know my mom gave me money.” Chad turned to press his lips to Christian’s collarbone, sighing softly. It was true; his mom had given him money from his dad’s life insurance policy. It was basically a payoff, a bunch of money for Chad’s silence about the truth of his mother’s callousness, so Chad had resisted touching it as much as he could.
Christian’s fingers hooked under Chad’s chin and tilted up, leaning in so their lips could gently meet once more. “We’ll figure out something, I promise,” Christian murmured, then yawned, arms wrapping loosely around Chad’s body.
Chad sank back down against Christian and relaxed once more. Any dream that tried to bother him now would have to compete with the warmth of Christian under him, and no matter how ridiculous that sounded, Chad smiled because of it.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Matt asked quietly, grasping Tom’s hand tightly to keep him from walking the rest of the way to the front door.
Tom paused for a moment and looked his way and Matt found the air catching in his lungs like it always did when Tom looked at him. Because the boy was gorgeous in that way that he wore so effortlessly. He didn’t go through any extra effort to make himself look so amazing and Matt almost envied that. But he quite possibly loved it a little more.
“Matt, I’ve known these boys my whole life, except Misha. And well, Mr. Kane, which could be weird,” Tom noted quietly, head tilting to the side as he considered this.
Matt laughed and shook his head. “And the point of that was?”
“Oh,” Tom laughed and shook his head. “You know, that I’ve always known these boys even if they don’t know me that well and so hanging around them isn’t such a big deal. Are you sure you want to do this? After all, Chad did warn us that it’s going to be very gay.”
“It’s an engagement party for two extremely sappy seventeen year olds, of course it’s going to be very gay.” Matt laughed and shook his head, releasing his tight grip on Tom’s hand and heading forward once more.
“In Mike’s defense, I think he’s actually eighteen now,” Tom pointed out with a shrug and wet his lips, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Do you think they all call him Christian? How weird would that be, calling your teacher by his first name?”
“Well, they’re probably used to it. After all, the Chad thing.” Matt shrugged, knowing more information wasn’t necessary. When Tom had filled Matt in on all the details he knew at that point about Chad and Mr. Kane’s relationship, Matt had wigged a little. Seriously, though, a teacher? The amount of laws being broken was absurd.
When it became clear, however, how important Chad’s respect and friendship was to Tom, Matt had bit his tongue on the matter. He didn’t want to fuck things up with Tom, not when everything was so precariously balanced. It was incredibly difficult to date a person that belonged to a family that would disown him if they knew the truth.
Tom rang the doorbell, effectively pulling Matt from his thoughts, and Matt reached out for Tom’s hand again just as the door was pulled open.
“Hey guys, glad you could make it.” Jensen answered the door with a grin and stepped back, allowing them room to come inside.
A big black dog came skidding around the corner, snuffling at the bag Tom carried before turning to sniff at Matt’s crotch - causing him to huff and jump back. “Wow, friendly dog.”
“Oh yeah, that’s Ickis. He’s taking after Chad,” Jensen said with a grin and flicked the door shut with the tips of his fingers before turning and heading down the hall. “Guys! Matt and Tom are here.”
Matt shared a look with his boyfriend before they stepped forward, only to stop a few minutes later when Jared and Misha suddenly appeared in the doorway of what appeared to be the living room.
“Hey! So glad you guys made it.” Jared was bouncing on the balls of his feet, clearly pleased if his big grin and excited words so easily declared.
“We wouldn’t have missed it for the world.” Tom offered out the bag he was carrying with a nervous smile. “For the happy couple.”
“Aw, sweet.” Misha beamed and stepped forward, hugging Tom then Matt. “Come on in, there’s punch and snacks. I’m gonna go track down my Mike.”
Matt and Tom followed Jared into the living room, dropping down onto the couch and looking around. Matt hadn’t really put a lot of thought into what a teacher’s home might look like but he certainly hadn’t Mr. Kane’s to look like this. It was so… domestic. And actually very homey. He wondered if Chad had much of a say in that, but it didn’t seem like it.
“So, punch?” Jared suggested, holding out two full cups. “We wanted to have something stronger but Christian was very adamant against it.”
Ah. At least that solved the Christian or Mr. Kane name issue. Hearing Jared say it so casually thought was a little unnerving. “Guess that’s a downfall to living with a teacher,” Matt mumbled, coughing when Tom elbowed his side.
They’d made a pack to be good during this dinner. Matt knew things were different for Tom. The popularity thing, for some reason Tom was very keen on the idea of having his own friends because he was cool or something, not because he was dating Matt. Matt didn’t really get it but he pretended too, to spare them both a rather pointless fight.
When Matt reached for the glass it sloshed slightly in his hand and spilled along his arm, causing him to wince and groan at the same time. “God, my bad. Just, tell me where the bathroom is so I can clean up after my klutziness.”
“Down the hall, first door on the left.” Jared laughed and shook his head, bending down to take the glass back.
Matt looked over at Tom to make sure he would be alright without himself and smiled softly, dipping over to gently kiss the boy before standing and heading down the hall. His steps faltered a few moments later, eyes landing on the two men in the kitchen. It was Chad and Mr… Christian. Chad was washing some dishes and Christian had slipped in beside him, arms wrapped around Chad’s body and swaying them gently back and forth.
Christian was humming softly and Chad was resting back against Christian as if he couldn’t imagine a place better to be. Matt had never seen Chad look like that, completely at ease and… content. Weirdly enough, any lingering doubts he had about the couple vanished. Because if Christian could make him look like that? No, Matt couldn’t ever deny someone that kind of love.
Before either could catch him staring, Matt continued down the hall to the bathroom. He resisted the urge to snoop around, deciding there were some things about his teacher’s private life that he really didn’t need to know.
“Let’s play a game!” Jared suggested cheerfully, tossing his paper plate into the garbage bag before walking over to join his boyfriend by the patio chair.
Chad groaned and shook his head, slumping back in his own chair. “Dude, we just barely finished eating. I am so not in the mood for games.”
“I’m not suggesting tackle football or something,” Jared snorted and dropped down onto Jensen’s lap, laughing when the boy huffed in surprise. “You know, like, party games.”
Jared watched as Chad looked over at Mike with arched brows before looking back. “Okay, I’ll bite, what party games?”
“I don’t know, what do people play at parties?” Jared tried not to pout but he was sitting on Jensen’s lap and his belly was fool with a delicious barbequed burger and thinking was too much to ask of him at the moment. “Truth or dare?”
The collective groan that followed had Jared laughing, holding up his arms in surrender. “Okay, okay, bad idea. People play truth or dare don’t they?”
“Fourteen year old girls maybe,” Tom said through a laugh, shaking his head.
There was a brief pause while most of the group tried to adjust to the idea of Tom actually having some wit and humor, than everyone was laughing again. “We could always play light as a feather, stiff as a board,” Christian suggested, sending everyone off into laughter all over again.
Jared was fairly certain so much laughing on a full belly was a really bad idea but oh well, he just slumped further back against Jensen, hiccupping softly as Jensen’s hand settled on the small of his back and tucked under his shirt. “You guys suck,” he finally managed to get out, wiping at the tears under his eyes. “Seriously. I was just trying to be a good party host.”
“Isn’t Chad supposed to be the host? It’s his house after all.” Mike grinned over at Chad, reaching out to punch his arm.
“Hey if we follow that logic, Christian is the host and he should pick out the game we play,” Chad smirked over at his boyfriend, eyebrows arching once more.
The group fell silently as they considered the man who was absently picking at a piece of lettuce on his plate. When he looked up at the lingering silence, he laughed and shook his head. “Oh no, I’m more here as, a protector. You know, to make sure none of you try and steal Chad away.”
Jared laughed so hard at this his stomach churned. For a few beats he felt bad about laughing at the very idea of being with Chad but considering how much everyone else was laughing - even Chad - he got over it pretty quickly.
"Well I for one suggest we bust out Rock Band." Jensen said once they'd managed to calm down again.
"As long as Christian agrees only to play instruments. He's too good at the singing," Mike insisted, pushing up out of his chair and gathering a handful of empty plates.
"Yes, Dad," Christian say with a smirk, standing as well to help clean up.
They all began moving and Jared slipped off Jensen's lap, albeit a little reluctantly. It was worth it though to follow them all inside and watch everyone work together to clean up and help set up the game.
Jared had been a little uncertain about inviting Matt and Tom to the party in the beginning. Mainly because he thought the group had a good atmosphere already and he wasn't sure if the new people would throw that off.
It didn't seem to be the case though. Matt and Tom fit in seamlessly and Jared was relieved. He hung back as Matt, Tom, and Misha took up different remotes to play the game. Jensen sat beside Christian on the couch, laughing at something the man said and Jared couldn’t help smiling as his arms wrapped over his chest.
“This is one great party,” Mike said beside him, smiling when Jared looked over at him. “Thanks for doing this. I know how hard you and Jensen and Chad worked.”
“It wasn’t such a big deal,” Chad insisted, taking up a place on the other side of Jared and looking around him. “You deserve it.”
“Probably not.” Mike laughed softly and shook his head. “We appreciate it though.”
Jared grinned and hooked his arm over Mike’s shoulders, dragging him in for a quick hug. “You’re awesome, both of you, and I’m absolutely positive you two will make the most awesome parents for Calli.”
“Of course we will,” Mike said through a small huffed and hugged Jared back for a moment before detaching and stepping away. “I’m gonna go make sure my fiancé doesn’t ruin my good score.”
Jared laughed as he watched Mike hurry over to help Misha. When he looked to his left again Chad was still there and Jared smiled softly at him, wetting his lips. “You good?”
“Yup.” Chad nodded, scratching over his arm. After a few moments of silence Chad sighed and looked over at Jared. “You’ve got worried face, knock it off.”
“Hey man, you’ve just looked more tired than usual. I just wanted to see…” Jared trailed off, shrugging his shoulders.
Chad frowned and reached out, squeezing Jared’s arm. “It’s okay. I’m okay. I’ve been having some weird dreams but it’ll be alright. Christian, you know, he helps me out. And we’ve considered me talking to someone, getting some help. Sometimes it’s important to talk about these things.”
Jared automatically cringed at the idea of a therapist but then, he hadn’t gone through anything like Chad had so he wouldn’t know how important one might be. If Chad agreed and Christian went along with it, then Jared would agree too. “Good. You know, if you want to talk, I’m here.”
Chad laughed softly and shook his head, smacking Jared’s arm. “Yeah yeah, you big sap. Man, it is a wonder we don’t all have a million cavities around here.”
“Hey, don’t knock my boyfriend,” Jensen called over his shoulder, grinning at him. “Don’t touch him either.”
Chad threw his arms around Jared and made a series of kissy faces that had Jared laughing and pushing away, only for Jensen to leap over the couch and push Chad away. What resulted was a rather insane amount of wrestling and Jared was laughing so hard it was almost painful.
But completely, totally worth it.
Taffy Stuck and Tongue Tied
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