[FIC] (Figure Skating) Five Times Evan Dreamt He and Johnny were Different People
Title: Five Times Evan Dreamt He and Johnny were Different People
Rating: PG-13 to NC-17
Word Count: 8,660
Pairing/Characters: Evan Lysacek and Johnny Weir (Figure Skating)
Summary: Evan is having really weird dreams involving Johnny, who he hasn't seen in months.
Disclaimer: All characters and names belong to their rightful owners. The following is untrue and I am not profiting from this.
Notes: Sorry for butchering Shakespeare and insane tense change in each story. I don't even know why I did that. And props to myself for finally finishing/writing a 5things fic.
Notes 2: This is written for skategreat's Cliche Challenge #42 (Hallucinations / visions) with a side of #45 (five things) and #12 (high school AU)
1.
Evan found himself wearing clothes from not this era, or century even. He looked down and saw that he was wearing tights and point-toed shoes. At least he had a black blouse thingy on, with a gold rope tied to his waist. Luckily he didn’t have a cape on; at least he wasn’t a villain this time.
“Lysacek,” this grim ogre-looking thing said and bowed at him.
Evan dipped his head in recognition and walked by the man without a second thought. He took a goblet from one of the busboys, downed its content all in one go, and handed it back. The cold liquor went down smoothly as the temperature rose in the stuffy banquet hall.
He adjusted his tights as those damn things itched against this skin. As if the Lysaceks couldn’t afford tights that didn’t itch so much because he was sure they couldn’t worth that much.
Evan looked around trying to find Rosaline. He hoped to win her heart in this banquet, or would, if he could actually make his way through or around the crowd without being detected.
All thoughts of the girl he was infatuated with flew out of his mind as his eyes stopped at one of the sons of the Weirs. Evan had known about the existence of Johnny, but for some reason, had never seen or heard from him before. Usually boys at his age were out and about (not causing troubles on the streets), but Johnny, he stayed indoors most of the time with Lady Weir while (of course they were rumours) practicing dancing and painting and piano-playing - all the things Evan had no patience for and would not be caught doing.
Even though he was a long distance across the hall, he could still see Johnny’s outfit - a very long blouse, bordering on dress-length, in rich crimson red with gold trimming while donning a sparkling gold hair band on his head. His hands already yearned to touch Johnny’s pale skin, especially after the glimpses he saw of Johnny’s collarbone and shoulder blades. His eyes never strayed away from Johnny as he moved across the ballroom. He let out the sigh of relief when he saw the man (Count Something or Another) leaving Johnny’s side with a frown on his face.
The closer he got, the more beautiful Johnny was. He was intoxicated and drunk on the image before him. Finally he made it to his prize.
(Somewhere far away, Evan hears ringing but he ignores it.)
“Weir,” Evan said, slightly out of breath - both from maneuvering, the heat of the ballroom engulfing him, and the sight in front of him. “I’m -”
“Evan Lysacek. I know who you are,” Johnny replied in a guarded tone. “How did you get into my party?”
“I have my ways,” Evan laughed. Now that he was much closer, he could smell the perfume Johnny had worn for the night. He needed to so badly bury his head in the crook of Johnny’s neck. But a gentleman kept his hands to himself until he received the permission from the lady.
“How... resourceful of you,” Johnny smirked, then setting down his goblet onto the window ledge. He took Evan’s hand into his and led him out of the busy hall.
Evan had never been more lost as he trailed behind Johnny, so he didn’t dare to let go of the other man’s hand. He worried for a second if Johnny was taking him to a trap set up for him to be slain (their families were feuding after all). But after that second, Evan found himself distracted by the softness of Johnny’s hand and the urgency in the way Johnny’s hand gripped at his.
He almost bumped squarely into Johnny but stopped just in time - so he managed to cover his screw-up by encircling his long arms around the other man’s waist and pulling him in. Evan rested his head against Johnny’s shoulder, as the two looked out and onto a small garden.
“No one will find us here,” Johnny whispered, covering Evan’s hands with his.
Evan didn’t understand why the other man whispered when there was no one around. He wanted to say something in reply but he didn’t want to ruin the mood with something idiotic. Instead, he tightened his arms around Johnny’s waist and pressed a soft kiss against Johnny’s neck, and in his mind, vowing never to let go.
They watched the water from the giant water fountain fall peacefully as the moon shone down on them...
*
Evan swore his heart was ready to jump out of him with the way it was beating against his chest. He was pacing back and forth, waiting for Johnny to arrive. Friar Cowell (okay...) was already there with the Bible in his hand. The man had been more than happy to oblige when Evan asked if the friar could be the witness to Evan and Johnny’s union.
Now all that was missing was the bride himself. Johnny promised that he would be here, and Evan was not expecting the other man to go back against his words. What if Lady Weir, or worst, Weir himself found out their plan for elopement? This would not do.
So Evan continued to pace in the confine of the small church, waiting for his bride.
“My son, you must not worry. He will come,” Friar Cowell assured him, placing a strong hand on his shoulder. Evan tore his eyes off the ground and looked at the friar. He must put his trust in the man of faith because he severely lacked it right now.
(He hears his name being called but ignores it because he’s sure he’s hearing things considering there’s only him and Friar Cowell here.)
The two heads turned their attention towards the door as they heard rustling from the outside. Evan took a few steps to hide himself from the doorway and let out a big sigh of relief when he saw it was Johnny by himself and no one else to ruin their big day.
Johnny rushed to his side and took hold of his hands. “Sorry I’m late.”
“As long as you’re here,” Evan squeezed Johnny’s hands lightly and kissed Johnny lightly on the mouth.
Johnny led them to Friar Cowell. “We are ready,” he said softly, staring into Evan’s eyes with a soft smile on his face. Evan grinned back and returned the gaze with the same intensity.
“Evan Lysacek.”
Evan tore his eyes away from Johnny’s green eyes and wondered what the hold up was.
“Evan!”
He watched Friar Cowell talk, but no sound came out of the man’s mouth. He shook off the feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach.
(“Evan! C’mon!”
He tried his hardest to ignore his name being called from elsewhere because it was definitely a voice belonging to a female.
Evan slowly opened his eyes and yawned quietly. “Hmm?” He mumbled, trying to fall back asleep.
“We’re here, c’mon,” Anna tugged on his sleeve again. “Wake up sleepy head.”
Evan pouted; he just felt so tired and even though the airplane seats weren’t all that comfortable, it was better than getting out of it. But he knew he had to get up sooner or later, and he didn’t want to get on Anna’s bad side so early in the competition; not to mention he was the one dragging Anna across the country just so they could train. So he rubbed his eyes, shoving sleep to the side before grabbing his bags from the next seat.
After he and Anna got into the car for the hotel, he leaned against the passenger door, staring out into the darkness, trying to hold onto the fragments of the dream he just had. All he could remember were the ghost of light kisses and the brilliant green eyes staring right into him.)
2.
Evan tugs on the knot of his tie in frustration. After that horrendous failure of a meeting with the self-help book writer, he still has another meeting to go before his day is over.
(Nina, that’s her name - not only was she late to the meeting, she was also fully unprepared for the meeting, dressed in this ridiculous outfit and looking like she partied all night and just woke up. The only thing she brought was her manuscript, with ink smears all over the cover page.)
But Evan knows better than to dwell on it. It’s not his fault that the writers are unprepared. He is the one giving them an opportunity of a lifetime and they’re just wasting like by being stupid. No one gets anywhere without hard work and neither did he. He worked his ass off to get head editor of this publishing company. Not to mention Frank, his boss, rode his ass hard to prepare him for the job - night after night of staying at work and reading manuscripts while drinking awful coffee and trying to not half-ass editing the writing.
Without a word, his secretary sets down the dossier for his next meeting on his desk and leaves his office. Evan still has another forty-five minutes before the next potential client arrives, so he decides to take the folder with him and get out of the office for the remaining time. He needs stronger coffee than the pot offered at the office. And maybe a donut to go with it.
He orders a coffee (two milks, one sugar) and a boston creme donut before grabbing an empty seat as far away from the busy lobby as possible. As he takes a bit into the donut, he looks at his fingers and realizes that maybe it isn’t such a good idea to eat while reading since his fingers are sticky from the glaze. He leaves the dossier alone and polishes off the donut in quick succession, savoring the filling in the centre. He looks around and he is sure no one is looking, he licks his fingers clean before wiping them down with his napkin.
“That looked really good,” a voice around him says.
Evan looks up from the manuscript to find a man staring down at him. He frowns immediately and closes the manuscript. What the fuck?
“Oh, I don’t mean that,” the man takes the empty seat across from him. “I meant your donut. I wish I could have one, but my coach still has me under strict diet.”
“Um, okay?” Evan’s kind of lost for words because it’s only a donut. He doesn’t eat it that often, but often enough to satisfy his craving. (Not to mention the poor placement of a coffee shop at the lobby of his office building, so he passes by it too many times in a day.)
“If I get one, will you take half of it off my hands? I really want one now,” the man pouts.
Now that Evan is actually paying attention to the man across from his table, he bites down on his tongue to keep himself from snorting from laughter at the other man’s faux mullet. But he can’t say no to another half a donut. He’ll just make sure to skip the next scheduled donut time. “Sure,” he slides the chair back and gets up. “Don’t worry about it,” he says when the other man tries to get up and looks confused. “You can tell your coach that some man offered you half a donut and you were too nice to tell the man no.”
Evan comes back his purchase quickly, handing off the half-a-donut with a napkin to the stranger. He got a good look at the stranger from the counter as he waited for his order. While he knew he would never wear what the man was wearing (leather leggings with black boots and this cashmere top and nails painted black, not to mention the makeup), he had to admit the getup was quite interesting and stylish.
“Thank you,” the stranger says before taking a small bite into the donut. “By the way, I’m Johnny.”
“Evan,” he replies and is glad to finally have a name to the face. He checks for the time on his watch. He still has another twenty minutes, but he guesses he should head up soon.
“So what are you doing here?” Johnny asks after swallowing the bit of donut. He sure is taking his time with it because Evan is eating the last bit of the donut already.
“Just doing some light reading,” Evan chuckles. He wipes down his fingers and shoves the book draft back into the folder. Even though he knows that Johnny isn’t going to peer into it or run off with it, he rather be safe than sorry.
Finally Johnny finishes the donut and takes out a water bottle from his bag (that he placed on the empty seat he grabbed from a vacant table). Even his bag looks high-fashioned, wow.
“Thanks again for the donut. You’re a life saver. And I’m not kidding when I say that.”
Evan nods like he means it and finishes off the coffee. He grabs the throwaway napkins and puts it in the empty cup before putting the lid on. “Uh, I have to go. It was nice to meet you, Johnny.” Evan stands again, taking the dossier in one hand and the other reaching for the empty cup to throw away.
“Yeah you too,” Johnny replies with a soft smile. Evan catches Johnny’s gaze and okay wow his eyes are really green and his eyelashes are even longer than some of the women he’s dated.
Evan is glad to be in an empty lift by himself because he swears he’s blushing from the way Johnny’s gaze lingered on and even he couldn’t make himself walk away until he realizes he really needs to get back to his office to get ready for the meeting. He leans back against the lift and lets his head fall back and rest on the cool metal wall. He didn’t know how much Johnny affected him until he left the table. Now he can’t get the images of Johnny batting his eyelashes at him and the way he bites down on his lips when he thinks no one is looking. The elevator doors open and Evan straightens his suit (and himself) before stepping out and into the publishing firm.
His secretary glares at him when Evan walks past him, which just makes Evan rolls his eyes. He still has a few minutes to spare, so he takes a seat in his comfy leather chair and waits for the client. He trusts that it turns out well because he does not want this cheery mood to go sour so soon already. While he waits, he tries to finish off the notes and the manuscript that he never got around to downstairs. For a second time within an hour, Evan gets interrupted while reading.
“Mr. Weir is here,” the voice of his secretary comes through the phone.
“Send him in,” he replies and closes the draft up. He stands up, ready to greet the client. His desk is already uncluttered and straightened out, but he pushes the items around anyway to make sure it is perfect. First impressions are everything. (He can still hear Frank’s voice telling him that.)
But he guess he doesn’t need to make a first impression because he has a familiar pair of warm green eyes staring back at him, along with the soft smile that makes his stomach flutter.
(“You seem to be in a happy mood today,” Anna comments as she puts her hands on Evan’s hips to make them move. Evan doesn’t say anything in return, instead just grins at his partner.)
3.
Evan was going to make some toasts, breads already in the toaster, when he went to his fridge to get some Smucker’s awesome jam. He took out a jar of marmalade, unscrewed the cap, and frowned when there were less than enough scraps for both slices. He opened the fridge door again and stuck his head inside, hoping to find another jar of anything for his toasts. Alas, he was less than lucky today.
So he popped the two slices of bread out of the toaster, grabbed his keys and wallet, and headed out of his flat. At least there was a grocery store around the corner because his stomach was grumbling already.
When he got there, he headed straight for the jam section, ignoring all the distraction with the chips and the ice creams and even the baked goods. He stood in the aisles, staring at the truckload of variation on Smucker’s jams and jellies. He really like the taste of marmalade on his toast, but then all these other ones were screaming at him to take them home too. Not to mention all the fruits on the label made it all that more appealing.
Evan ended up grabbing five jars of jam and jelly (orange marmalade, strawberry, blueberry, mixed fruit, and currant), which was entirely stupid because he was trying to carry all of them in his arms, trying not to drop any of them as he trekked to the checkout, when he should have grabbed a basket when he came into the store. Duh. Or that he really should have chosen just one jar because how often was he home to eat toast?
At least the kid at the checkout register took pity on him and picked the jars out of his arms and placed him gently on the counter. Evan handed the kid his credit card, and he left happily with a bag of Smucker’s delicious jams and jellies.
Evan took out all five jars and placed them in a straight line on his kitchen counter. He starred at them for an equally long amount of time as he decided which flavour to use for his toast. His attention wavered when his toasts popped up from the toaster. He gingerly grabbed them and placed it on his plate, then grabbed a butter knife from the drawer.
“Evan!”
Evan whipped his head around to the voice, but he was sure no one was in his flat. So he pretended he didn’t hear the voice and instead looked at his Smucker’s jams instead.
“Lysacek!”
What? Evan mouthed as he gripped onto his butter knife a little tighter. He had to admit that he was a little spooked. He moved out of the kitchen to check every room in his not-really-that-big flat. (Bathroom? Nope. Bedroom? Nope. Den? Nope.)
“You’re getting colder and colder,” he heard the voice said again when he was looking out of his living room’s window. “Back in the kitchen!”
Great, now I’m hearing voices. Nonetheless, he slowly made his way back to his kitchen.
“Down here!” The voice hissed in annoyance when Evan’s eyes were darting in all directions, struggling to find a face to that voice. He looked down and found that his eyes landed on the row of jams he just purchased from the store.
“Uh,” Evan frowned. “I’m not crazy,” he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and opened his eyes again.
“No, you’re not crazy,” the voice said. “I’m the currant. Pick me up, pick me up already. The others are still unconscious because you kept knocking us around in the bag.”
“Um,” Evan stuttered and picked up the jar of currant. Now that he thought about it, the voice was really familiar for some reason.
“Okay, now you can stop manhandling me and put me down. Gently, if you please.”
“Johnny?” Evan asked hesitantly.
“Of course it’s me. Who else did you think it was? Seriously, Evan. Get a grip!”
“Get a grip?” Evan asked annoying, voice slightly hitched. “I’m like, the one who’s talking to a jar of jam here!”
“Yes well, at least you’re not the jam here. If you don’t keep your voice down, the others will wake up. I’m not sure Zhenya will be very happy to see that you’re the one who bought him and took him home.”
Evan’s face slightly paled at the mentioning of Plushenko. “Okay,” he said in a hushed voice. “What am I supposed to do with you guys? I just wanted to eat my toast with some marmalade. That’s all!”
“Yes well, all we wanted to do was sleep on those shelves. But look at us now, getting knocked out by a clumsy idiot. And who the hell buys five jars of jam at a time? Aren’t you still supposed to be on a diet?”
Evan whined like a puppy. “So do I not get any eat any of you guys?”
“No! What is wrong with you?”
All he wanted was toast! Now not only was he going to eat plain toast, but he had five jars of talking (Smucker’s) jam in his flat. This could not be happening. It had to be a dream of some sort. He pinched himself on the arm. “Ow! Fucking hurts.”
“Lysacek, did you just pinch yourself? Oh my god, you did, didn’t you?”
“Shut up!” He pouted, his hand soothing the sore spot on his arm. “Okay, this isn’t funny anymore.”
“Too bad for you Lysacek. Are you going to cry and run to your mommy?”
Oh god, that Russian-accented English.
(Evan wakes up to a pounding headache. He is supposed to be skating tonight, so he pops an Advil in his mouth and washes it down with a glass of water.
Later that night, he nearly trips on his skate getting onto the rink when he sees the giant light-up board of Smucker’s Stars on Ice on the other end.
At the end of his program, as he waited for the applauses and cheers at centre ice, he swears he sees five human-sized jars of Smucker’s jams and jellies skating across the ice in the corner of his eyes. He nearly scrambles off the ice.
He makes sure he has more than three hours of sleep that night.)
4.
Evan is sixteen or seventeen. He looks down in disgust at his too-thin body and gangly arms and legs. While he enjoys the growth spurt so he doesn’t end up being the shortest guy in his group, he does not enjoy how he’s not filling out his body and that he has to get new clothes because his jeans are too short now. (Not to mention now he sticks out like a sore thumb in his group of friends.)
His mom pats him lovingly when he tells her about it and she tells him that it’s all “part of growing up”. None of his sisters have to go through this. All they complain about is not keeping up with the fashion trends and want new clothes despite all their clothes are in perfect pristine condition.
And there’s nothing wrong with hoodies and sneakers, and occasionally some Bulls attire.
So why is the kid sitting next to him in physics class stare at him like he’s some alien from outer space? And Evan knows the kid is staring because he can see him from the corner of his eyes and really, the kid is not being subtle about it. He’s tempted to say something about it but he’s trying to listen to Mr. Post (everyone calls him Postal because the guy is crazy) and jot down notes at the same time. It’s distracting. Usually Jake shares his desk, but since he’s chasing some girl, he manages to switch desks with the kid.
Now that he thinks about it, his classmate looks familiar. They definitely don’t hang in the same circles of friends, or even friends of friends but he’s definitely seen the guy a few times in the hallways.
(It doesn’t help the fact that he’s horrible with names. The only ones he remembers are his friends and the teachers. And only after getting constantly glared from Jake as Evan stops using the made up nickname of Beanie for Walt, who really wears a beanie to school everyday. But now that he really thinks about it and going through all the names and mental images of his classmates, he thinks the guy’s last name is Weir, and somehow, it fits him perfectly.)
“Okay, you can stop staring now,” Evan hisses to Weir as soon as Mr. Post finishes his lesson and leaves them to their own work.
The kid scoffs, “Me? Glare at you? I have better taste than that, thank you very much.”
“Whatever,” Evan rolls his eyes and focuses his attention back to his physics homework. He pulls out the periodic chart from his textbook and starts drawing out the Bohr models in his notebook. He breezes through that section as it’s actually the easiest part of the assignment. But not before he swears that a pair of eyes is staring right at him again. Okay, seriously. He turns his head to find the Weir kid (ha) looking at his homework.
“Uh,” Evan starts, gripping tightly at his pencil. “Do you need any help?”
Again, Weir looks at him like Evan’s growing horns out of his head. Really, Evan’s just trying to be nice. He watches Weir go through all these different expressions which Evan assumes the poor guy is probably having some kind of internal debate before finally nodding slowly. “Usually Vanessa helps me out,” he says, “but since your friend over there has been hogging her, I have no idea what’s going on in class most of the time.”
Evan earns a genuine smile from Johnny before he pushes his textbook and his notebook to the middle of the table and shuffles his chair over.
Before they know it, Mr. Post dismisses his class after the bell sounds.
“Thanks, you know, for the help,” Weir says as he packs up his books. “Hopefully, I’ll get Vanessa back next class.”
“Yeah, of course,” Evan replies sheepishly, unused to being thanked. “Always happy to help.” He leaves the near-emptied room and takes his time in the busy hallway. His next block is free anyway.
“Aw, look who just made a friend,” Jake coos, smacking Evan hard on his back. Evan nearly takes a stumble forward. Where the hell did Jake come from? “He’s cute isn’t he?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Evan mumbles.
“You’re blushing, that’s adorable. You two would make a cute couple.”
Evan shakes it off and rolls his eyes. “How’s it going with whatshername?”
Jake grins, showing off his pearly whites. “Vanessa? She’s warming up to me, one class at a time. Looks like you’re going to be stuck with Johnny from now on.”
So the guy’s first name is Johnny. Hm. Evan pushes his friend lightly and cringes when he doesn’t know his strength and Jake ends up at the lockers.
“Ass,” Jake smirks.
*
“It looks like it’s me and you again,” Johnny quips, twisting his head around at Jake and Vanessa’s table.
Evan sneaks a peek at the two also, before nodding. “Yeah, I guess.”
It’s distracting, really. He can tell Johnny isn’t remotely paying attention to what Mr. Post is writing on the chalkboard. Evan sneaks a peek at Johnny twirling his feathered pen in his hand.
It’s distracting, really. He can see Johnny biting his lips when he finally jogs something down in his notebook. He feels it when Johnny shuffles in his seat, finding a better position to sit in the uncomfortable plastic chairs and somehow manages to kick his long legs.
It’s distracting, really. He ends up watching Johnny doodle on the side of the paper’s margins for the rest of Mr. Post’s lecture. Afterwards, he looks at his own notes, and half of it is gibberish, the other half, he doesn’t even remember writing them down.
It’s distracting, really. At least Jake usually zones out when he’s not listening to Mr. Post.
*
“So what do you think about Johnny?” Jake asks, on a Friday during their lunch block in the cafeteria.
Evan knows what’s coming. He’s been baited with these kinds of questions before. But Jake doesn’t need to know that. “Uh, he’s okay?”
“Mhm,” Jake nods, probably thinking of his next move already. “So...”
“So, nothing,” Evan cuts his friend off before his friend gets any grand ideas.
“Okay, whatever you say.”
*
Evan is getting much better at blocking Johnny’s antics. He’s gone through a class of non-stop gum chewing, a half-a-class of pen tapping, and another class of drinking out of water bottle every few minutes. It seems Johnny’s noticed that Evan is blocking Johnny’s antics out and being productive again because no sooner than the next class, Johnny has new tricks up his sleeve.
After the pop quiz, the physics class settles back to its normal routine with Mr. Post at the front of the class teaching them a new chapter in the textbook. So of course Evan’s taking notes and making sure he gets all the points down.
Johnny scoots over to close the gap between the two of them, then shifts all his books over. Surprisingly, Johnny stops at that, but by then, Evan can feel Johnny’s leg touching his whenever Johnny shifts in his chair, which is quite often.
Evan doesn’t know what Johnny is trying to do. Okay, well he knows that Johnny is trying to irritate the shit out of him, that part is obvious. He even tries to drop hints at Jake that he needs his friend back as his desk partner. Jake just grins at him, which in turn, has his entire group of friends all smiling at him sweetly when the next time they see him. (Andrea looked like she was about to pinch his cheeks, but then she couldn’t reach him from her height.)
When the next class rolls by, Evan gets to class early and hopes to find another person to sit with. He catches Carmen without a partner for the class so he happily offers to sit beside her for the class.
Johnny spends the entire class sending daggers at him. Evan really doesn’t care what Johnny thinks because he’s actually hearing everything Mr. Post is saying and writing down good notes for the upcoming midterm exam.
*
“Evan,” Johnny says after he pulls Evan aside in the hallway. Evan looks to his left and his right to well, okay, he doesn’t know why he just did that.
“Hey,” Evan replies lamely.
“So there’s this midterm coming up and I still don’t get half the things Postal talks about in class. You seem to know what you’re doing, so can you help me with it?”
Evan swallows audibly. “Um,” he tries, thinking of a way to get out of it. “I guess?”
“Great!” Johnny beams, standing up straighter now. “Are you free after school today? I want to get started right away since it’ll probably take me a few tries just to get through one chapter. I’ll see you in front of school after classes, okay?”
“Okay,” Evan says meekly, kind of confused and not sure what he just got himself into. “I’ll see you after school then.”
“Great!” Johnny laughs, gives him a wave goodbye then happily walks away from Evan, leaving him standing there like an idiot. And yet that thought describe this situation with perfect precision.
Evan kept his mouth shut for the rest of the day. Jake and Ellen both gave him looks during their shared classes, then at lunch, and finally before the final bell rung for the day. Evan even went to the washroom to make sure he didn’t have “JOHNNY WEIR AND I ARE GOING TO HAVE A STUDY SESSION AT HIS HOUSE AFTER SCHOOL” on his forehead, not that it’d fit because his forehead wasn’t that big. But he tried to pat his hair down so there was less forehead showing.
Obviously.
Johnny found him in front of the school, standing out like a beanpole amongst his school mates.
Johnny, sneaking up from behind, surprised Evan by smacking him on his back. “Hey Big Friendly Giant. Ready to go?”
They walked in sync to each other even though Evan had no idea where Johnny’s house was. But he had heard of all the nicknames since his growth spurt, no thanks to his sisters. “Is Big Friendly Giant the best you can come up with? And I’m not that tall compared to you.”
“Well, I do have a list here,” Johnny pulled out one of his notebook that he was holding and flipped to a page filled with words. “Beanpole. How’s the weather up there? Skyscraper. Do you play basketball?”
“You must have spent a lot of time for it,” Evan said sarcastically.
“I could have had more if Bates would stop with the Shakespeare for a second. I get it, it’s tragic and they all die. Wait, I have a few more. Jolly Green Giant. Big Red, but then your hair isn’t red. But that can be fixed easily if I can get my hands on a bottle of hair dye.”
Subconsciously, Evan’s hand went up to touch his hair. “I don’t think I’ll look good with red. It’ll clash with my skin colour.”
“Yeah, your natural tan,” Johnny said with a laugh. “C’mon, it’s just a little further up ahead.”
They arrived at Johnny’s house rather quickly. Johnny motioned him to follow him upstairs. It seemed like the house was empty. Oh. Evan wanted to ask where everyone was but it would be kind of rude? He kept his mouth shut.
“Well, here’s my room.” Johnny dropped his bag next to his bed then pulled out his books. Evan mirrored his action because that was what they came here to do, right? Studying for the test.
Evan settled comfortably on the floor before taking in Johnny’s room. Everything was so... clean and tidy. Johnny already had his textbook and notebook opened, so Evan got back onto topic. “So, what parts don’t you get?”
“Uh, well, what do you think will be on the test for sure? As long as I understand some of it, I think I’ll do fine. I don’t even know why I’m in Physics in the first place. Biology I can do, but Physics is such a waste of time, no offense if you like it or anything.”
“None taken?” Evan replied cautiously. “Let’s start from the beginning and tell me what you know.”
As Johnny looked over his notes and made off-handed comments about the atoms and whatever, Evan wasn’t really listening. He was staring at the way Johnny’s hair curled in perfect loops and the way Johnny’s hand would absent-mindedly stuck the loose strand behind his ear. His eyes then wandered to Johnny’s lips and the way his mouth moved when he talked and back up to Johnny’s eyebrows when he scrunched up his face in frustration as he tried to understand the individual Bohr models from a few weeks back, and then more examples of Bohr models interacting with each other from this week’s class.
Evan tried his best explaining the concepts to Johnny in a way that he understood it from Mr. Postal. But Johnny was so into reading his own notes and comparing it to the textbook that he was just talking to himself and ignoring his study-buddy altogether.
So by then, he was full-blown staring at Johnny and the way his eyelashes curled and he wasn’t even aware that he was leaning in and that his notebook was casually placed to hide his erection.
“This has been a very productive study session,” Johnny said in between his own blabbering of his messy Physics notes, his eyes still downcast to his notebook.
Evan really wasn’t listening to Johnny telling him things he already knew, so he reverted back to his stoic stance and just bobbed his head in agreement.
“You’re not listening to me, are you?” Johnny asked crossly, but his tone was clearly teasing because he was on his knees and crawling towards Evan. Evan’s face was merely inches from Johnny; he could count number of eyelashes on Johnny’s eyes if he really concentrated. But he wasn’t here to count eyelashes, or teach Johnny physics, so he grabbed Johnny’s shirt and pulled Johnny into a kiss.
It was awkward at first, Evan tried to impress Johnny too much before Johnny took over and shoved Evan back until his back hit the wall. Now it was less teeth and more tongue and it was hotter than anything Evan had experienced before. His other hand placed behind Johnny’s neck pushed them closer together.
For Johnny, that wasn’t close enough as he pushed Evan down onto the carpet and pressed himself against Evan’s body. His hips were doing unspeakable things to Evan’s cock as it strained against his black jeans. Evan couldn’t keep track of what was what as Johnny took a definite interest in his mouth but definitely wasn’t giving a half-assed effort at the other end either.
Johnny managed to get a hand free and easily popped Evan’s button and pulled down his zipper. His hand easily found Evan’s...
(Evan jolts awake from his slumber and finds his hand curled around his hard cock, pre-come already leaking. He looks around in this unfamiliar and remembers that he is in a hotel room in Korea. The sunlight slowly creeps into his room, so he kicks off his cover and heads to the bathroom for a shower and more importantly, jerking off because his mind has to remind him he hasn’t had sex in a while with his skating tours and practices and PR-events.
He rests his head against the tile with his left hand on his cock while hot water came down from above. He struggles to ignore the way the dream affected him as he tugged at his cock faster and pretends that he didn’t just dream about who he thought he did, but the green eyes and that sultry smile weren’t something even he could dream up with his imagination.)
5.
It was Friday night. Friday night met going out and meeting people. Evan did not subscribe to that idea. His idea of a good Friday night was staying at home with a beer in his hand and watching the game. Or, if a game’s not on (though it’d be a tragedy because he was a fan of whatever Chicago teams that played), then a movie would suffice. And if he lucked out, he would be in a seat at the stadium watching it live and with a beer in hand.
Instead, James insisted on dragging him out to a pub on Friday night. (“I’m sure they have your glorious HD TV with plenty of beer. The first one’s on me.”)
Evan heard a honk from outside and looked down to find a cab waiting for him. He fixed his hair one last time, making sure it was styled correctly, before heading out and locking the door behind him.
“Are you looking good?” James said, trying to keep his chuckles down. “I especially like your gray shirt and black jeans. It’s very... you.”
“I’ll take it as a compliment.” Evan had known James long enough to know his friend was merely joking. And it wasn’t the first time any of them had mentioned his clothing choices.
The drive to the pub James picked out wasn’t far - not even a fifteen minute drive before the cab dropped them off. Evan followed James into the pub. Suddenly the noise enveloped him, as the chatters, the music, and the noise from the TVs all fought to be overheard.
James waved at the crowd at an occupied table while Evan’s eyes headed for the TVs. (The Bulls were playing tonight at United Center.) It seemed like they were the last to arrive as everyone shuffled closer together to make room for them.
Evan knew three of the four people at the table, or five if he included James as part of the table. So he waited for James for the introduction of the stranger, whose hairstyle looked more than interesting to say the least.
“Evan, you know my wife Bridget, and of course Brian and Joannie from school,” James laughed when everyone at the table rolled their eyes collectively. “And this is Johnny, Bridget’s co-worker, who’s also a teacher.”
Evan turned to Johnny, who sat at the other end of the booth. “Oh, what do you teach?”
“Kindergarten. It’s more like daycare than teaching,” Johnny laughed airily. “I’d call it a good day if I ended up without some sort of mess on me at the end of the day.”
Evan nodded. That was a reason why he stuck with the older kids.
“So drinks anyone?” James asked after seeing the lack of alcohol at the table. He tried waving down any waitresses that passed by, but of course they all passed by with trays of food and alcohol.
Johnny managed to catch the eye of a waitress and flashed a smile at her. She winked back at him, settled the food at the next table and came back with a pen and pad ready.
“Two pitchers and can we get the menu? I’m starving,” Johnny told the waitress.
“Of course,” the waitress nearly giggled before heading towards the bar. She came back almost immediately with a pitcher in each hand, and made another trip with 6 glasses and menus in toll.
Johnny helped her take the glasses off the tray, “Thank you, darling.” It earned him another smile from the waitress (Stacy, from the nametag). Evan was slightly jealous at the way Johnny interacted with the waitress - with such ease and charm that he never had with strangers.
“We should have you with us all the time,” Brian laughed, taking the pitcher and filling up the glasses with beer. The table murmured in agreement as everyone heartily took a glass full of beer.
“Cheers,” Brian raised his glasses and everyone followed suit.
Evan took a healthy gulp then snatched a menu from the pile. “I think I’m gonna get a burger and fries.” He looks up and sees everyone except from Johnny (who was looking at the menu with great interest) smiling in a way that Evan wasn’t sure he liked.
*
“I think they’re trying to set us up,” Johnny quipped with a killer smile on his face, like this didn’t faze him at all.
Evan hadn’t really thought about it. He took the offer to drink at a pub with a co-worker on a Friday night at face value. Because if James were to set him up, the guy would have told him to wear something nicer than a gray shirt and black jeans. “I haven’t really thought about it like that.”
“Well you should, they’re all sneaky bastards, but I love Bridget either way.”
“Have you known her for long?”
“She’s been working at my school ever since I started out there, so I guess it’s been awhile. Okay, so it’s been only two years, but who’s counting?” He laughed again.
Evan nodded, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Johnny headed for the jukebox after they polished off their meals. James and Bridget insisted that Evan tagged along to give his musical advice, even though Evan’s music would never overlap with Johnny’s.
But when Evan looked back at his booth, all his friends were half-leaning forward to get a better view of them at the jukebox. “I think you’re right,” he said, after catching them staring and seeing them doing a poor job at pretending they weren’t.
“I don’t mind. It’s been awhile since I’ve dated. Plus you’re not that bad.”
“Thanks,” Evan mutters, not sure if he should take that as a compliment or an insult.
“Ah, ha, found you!” Johnny put in a few quarters and keyed in his choices. “Too bad you can’t hear the awesomeness of the songs over all this noise.”
“The game’s almost over. They’ll probably mute the TVs after.”
“Hmm, thanks for telling me that after I put in my money.”
Evan was about head back to their booth when Johnny reined him back in. “They’ll probably find some other way to leave us alone,” Johnny explained, then took a step closer. “Let them wonder what we’re talking about.”
Johnny dropped his hand from Evan’s arm. “So tell me, you’re a teacher, right? What do you teach? No wait, let me guess. I like guessing. Hmm, you don’t look like the Fine Arts type,” Johnny laughed. “Math? Science? Or PE? No, don’t tell me yet. I’d peg you for a Science teacher. Tell me that I’m right.”
(“You two, by the way, are adorable,” Bridget said, as she passed by the two of them and headed for the washroom.)
Stunned speechless, Evan could only bob his head before getting control back of his tongue. Was he that obvious? James laughed at him the first time Evan introduced himself and told him what he was teaching. “Physics, so I guess you’re right.”
“Of course I’m right. Wait, don’t move.” Johnny pulled out his phone from his pocket and flipped it around. “Hold still,” he said and fitted himself against Evan before taking a picture. “There, now I have proof that I have been going on date. Lemme send this to Patti first.”
Okay, Evan thought, he didn’t really not like the feeling of Johnny against him, even if he really wanted to yank that hairband thing off Johnny’s head because it looked quite ridiculous.
“Who’s Patti?”
“My mom,” Johnny replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He continued typing on his Blackberry without sparing a glance at Evan.
“You call your mom by her name?”
“She’s awesome, so why not call her by her name? She’s like, my BFF.”
“Huh,” Evan replied, watching Bridget eyed them with the look of pure amusement on her face, now heading back to the booth. Evan could really use another beer right now.
*
By midnight, the six of them slowed down in drinking and talking. Evan could tell he was buzzed, if not a lot of tipsy, considering he was leaning against Johnny as they all filed out of the pub.
Of course, those who weren’t named Evan or Johnny filed into a cab right away, citing that Evan should taken Johnny home, and either way, the cab was full.
Even Evan could not fight that logic, considering they weren’t lying about the cab before full, so he let Johnny lead him towards whatever direction they were supposed to go because Evan was actually drunker than he thought and he still really liked the feeling of Johnny against him, especially with Johnny’s arms wrapped around his waist.
They managed to get back to Johnny’s apartment in one piece, with the walk to his place only a short distance from the pub. Evan didn’t even have to say anything as Johnny just pulled him into the building - not that he was sober enough to argue.
There was a lot of making out once they got into the elevator and they lucked out on it being late enough that no one was to crash their party. Evan was already unbuttoning his shirt as they stumbled out of the elevator. Johnny took advantage of this situation, steadying himself against Evan before swiping his tongue across Evan’s abs. His hands quickly unbuckled Evan’s belt and then his jeans.
“Oh, I like,” Johnny grinned after seeing Evan’s lightning bolt tattoo on his hip and licked that too.
Evan was sober enough (despite a long line of ohmygods going through his head) that he really didn’t want Johnny to blow him in the middle of a hallway, even though it was late but anyone could leave their apartment or elevator to find Johnny’s mouth wrapped nicely around his cock. He pulled Johnny up from the floor. “Keys. Inside.”
Johnny, too, sobered up to get them inside quickly. He shucked his clothes off in lightning speed and Evan took that as a sign that he should do so too. He followed Johnny into the bedroom and kicked the door close behind him. He licked his lips, liking what he saw from the other man as Johnny posed with that cheshire smile permanently tattooed on his face.
Evan closed the gap between himself and Johnny, his hands shaking against his sides. He hesitantly lifted his left hand, cupping Johnny’s face and leaning into kiss him. It was a change of pace from the franticness, even if his heart was pounding against his chest and his cock was yearning to be touched. But right there and then, Evan found Johnny to be gorgeous and breathtaking. It might have been the alcohol-induced hazy, or he was really that gorgeous. It was a quick moment, then it was gone. Johnny’s hands already on his ass and moaning into the kiss.
Fuck, it was hot the way Johnny lazily nibbled on Evan’s lips, then licked his way around in Evan’s mouth. Every time Evan tried to take control, Johnny smacked his ass. The anticipation burnt a hole in his stomach; his imagination running wilder than the lazy pace Johnny was setting for them.
Suddenly, Johnny turned him around and pushed him onto the bed. He dug around for a condom and lube and climbed onto the bed in cat-like speed. Evan wasn’t sure how long he could hold on as Johnny’s lubed finger traced his hole, but lazy as fuck again. Evan whined against the pillow and lifted his hip up, hoping that Johnny would hurry the fuck up.
Johnny probably pitied him as he slid one finger in, then soon two, working him quickly now. Evan was so out of it that he didn’t even notice his hands were yanking the covers out, so Johnny slapped his hands away and took his fingers out. “You’re messing up my bed.”
“C’mon, Johnny, c’mon,” Evan groaned in displeasure. It was entirely unreasonable since Evan was leaking against the sheets with his cock trapped between his stomach and the bed. Fucking hell. But he knew better than to voice his opinion and kept it to himself.
Johnny seemed to be satisfied and forgave Evan as he tore open the packet and rolled on the condom. Evan hissed and squeezed his eyes shut, breathing deeply when Johnny entered him and eased in slowly until Evan was ready and buckled his hips. Johnny took that as a green light. He rolled his hips, gripping onto Evan’s hips.
Evan gasped when Johnny found the spot and fuck Johnny knew what he was doing and angled himself to hit it every time he pounded against Evan and muttering these filthy things that shouldn’t be coming out of a teacher’s mouth.
It had been awhile for Evan as he came without even touching himself. The friction and Johnny were enough to get him over the edge. Johnny followed closely behind, now laying flat against Evan and breathing heavily against his back.
“That was,” Evan mumbled against the pillow; he was loss for words. Johnny was really, really good. Johnny gingerly got off Evan, headed to the bathroom and came back with a towel for Evan, who gladly accepted it and cleaned himself up.
“You can stay,” Johnny smiled, then climbed into bed next to Evan. Evan draped an arm over Johnny’s waist and pulled him in. He couldn’t help it if he was a little romantic. When he finally drifted off to sleep, he knew he wanted to see more of Johnny in the future.
(It has to be a sign. Evan reaches to his nightstand and picks up his phone. There is no way he can be dreaming of Johnny all the time when he hasn’t seen Johnny for months. Even if Johnny doesn’t answer, at least Evan tried, right?
“Hey,” Evan says quietly into the phone.)
Rating: PG-13 to NC-17
Word Count: 8,660
Pairing/Characters: Evan Lysacek and Johnny Weir (Figure Skating)
Summary: Evan is having really weird dreams involving Johnny, who he hasn't seen in months.
Disclaimer: All characters and names belong to their rightful owners. The following is untrue and I am not profiting from this.
Notes: Sorry for butchering Shakespeare and insane tense change in each story. I don't even know why I did that. And props to myself for finally finishing/writing a 5things fic.
Notes 2: This is written for skategreat's Cliche Challenge #42 (Hallucinations / visions) with a side of #45 (five things) and #12 (high school AU)
1.
Evan found himself wearing clothes from not this era, or century even. He looked down and saw that he was wearing tights and point-toed shoes. At least he had a black blouse thingy on, with a gold rope tied to his waist. Luckily he didn’t have a cape on; at least he wasn’t a villain this time.
“Lysacek,” this grim ogre-looking thing said and bowed at him.
Evan dipped his head in recognition and walked by the man without a second thought. He took a goblet from one of the busboys, downed its content all in one go, and handed it back. The cold liquor went down smoothly as the temperature rose in the stuffy banquet hall.
He adjusted his tights as those damn things itched against this skin. As if the Lysaceks couldn’t afford tights that didn’t itch so much because he was sure they couldn’t worth that much.
Evan looked around trying to find Rosaline. He hoped to win her heart in this banquet, or would, if he could actually make his way through or around the crowd without being detected.
All thoughts of the girl he was infatuated with flew out of his mind as his eyes stopped at one of the sons of the Weirs. Evan had known about the existence of Johnny, but for some reason, had never seen or heard from him before. Usually boys at his age were out and about (not causing troubles on the streets), but Johnny, he stayed indoors most of the time with Lady Weir while (of course they were rumours) practicing dancing and painting and piano-playing - all the things Evan had no patience for and would not be caught doing.
Even though he was a long distance across the hall, he could still see Johnny’s outfit - a very long blouse, bordering on dress-length, in rich crimson red with gold trimming while donning a sparkling gold hair band on his head. His hands already yearned to touch Johnny’s pale skin, especially after the glimpses he saw of Johnny’s collarbone and shoulder blades. His eyes never strayed away from Johnny as he moved across the ballroom. He let out the sigh of relief when he saw the man (Count Something or Another) leaving Johnny’s side with a frown on his face.
The closer he got, the more beautiful Johnny was. He was intoxicated and drunk on the image before him. Finally he made it to his prize.
(Somewhere far away, Evan hears ringing but he ignores it.)
“Weir,” Evan said, slightly out of breath - both from maneuvering, the heat of the ballroom engulfing him, and the sight in front of him. “I’m -”
“Evan Lysacek. I know who you are,” Johnny replied in a guarded tone. “How did you get into my party?”
“I have my ways,” Evan laughed. Now that he was much closer, he could smell the perfume Johnny had worn for the night. He needed to so badly bury his head in the crook of Johnny’s neck. But a gentleman kept his hands to himself until he received the permission from the lady.
“How... resourceful of you,” Johnny smirked, then setting down his goblet onto the window ledge. He took Evan’s hand into his and led him out of the busy hall.
Evan had never been more lost as he trailed behind Johnny, so he didn’t dare to let go of the other man’s hand. He worried for a second if Johnny was taking him to a trap set up for him to be slain (their families were feuding after all). But after that second, Evan found himself distracted by the softness of Johnny’s hand and the urgency in the way Johnny’s hand gripped at his.
He almost bumped squarely into Johnny but stopped just in time - so he managed to cover his screw-up by encircling his long arms around the other man’s waist and pulling him in. Evan rested his head against Johnny’s shoulder, as the two looked out and onto a small garden.
“No one will find us here,” Johnny whispered, covering Evan’s hands with his.
Evan didn’t understand why the other man whispered when there was no one around. He wanted to say something in reply but he didn’t want to ruin the mood with something idiotic. Instead, he tightened his arms around Johnny’s waist and pressed a soft kiss against Johnny’s neck, and in his mind, vowing never to let go.
They watched the water from the giant water fountain fall peacefully as the moon shone down on them...
*
Evan swore his heart was ready to jump out of him with the way it was beating against his chest. He was pacing back and forth, waiting for Johnny to arrive. Friar Cowell (okay...) was already there with the Bible in his hand. The man had been more than happy to oblige when Evan asked if the friar could be the witness to Evan and Johnny’s union.
Now all that was missing was the bride himself. Johnny promised that he would be here, and Evan was not expecting the other man to go back against his words. What if Lady Weir, or worst, Weir himself found out their plan for elopement? This would not do.
So Evan continued to pace in the confine of the small church, waiting for his bride.
“My son, you must not worry. He will come,” Friar Cowell assured him, placing a strong hand on his shoulder. Evan tore his eyes off the ground and looked at the friar. He must put his trust in the man of faith because he severely lacked it right now.
(He hears his name being called but ignores it because he’s sure he’s hearing things considering there’s only him and Friar Cowell here.)
The two heads turned their attention towards the door as they heard rustling from the outside. Evan took a few steps to hide himself from the doorway and let out a big sigh of relief when he saw it was Johnny by himself and no one else to ruin their big day.
Johnny rushed to his side and took hold of his hands. “Sorry I’m late.”
“As long as you’re here,” Evan squeezed Johnny’s hands lightly and kissed Johnny lightly on the mouth.
Johnny led them to Friar Cowell. “We are ready,” he said softly, staring into Evan’s eyes with a soft smile on his face. Evan grinned back and returned the gaze with the same intensity.
“Evan Lysacek.”
Evan tore his eyes away from Johnny’s green eyes and wondered what the hold up was.
“Evan!”
He watched Friar Cowell talk, but no sound came out of the man’s mouth. He shook off the feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach.
(“Evan! C’mon!”
He tried his hardest to ignore his name being called from elsewhere because it was definitely a voice belonging to a female.
Evan slowly opened his eyes and yawned quietly. “Hmm?” He mumbled, trying to fall back asleep.
“We’re here, c’mon,” Anna tugged on his sleeve again. “Wake up sleepy head.”
Evan pouted; he just felt so tired and even though the airplane seats weren’t all that comfortable, it was better than getting out of it. But he knew he had to get up sooner or later, and he didn’t want to get on Anna’s bad side so early in the competition; not to mention he was the one dragging Anna across the country just so they could train. So he rubbed his eyes, shoving sleep to the side before grabbing his bags from the next seat.
After he and Anna got into the car for the hotel, he leaned against the passenger door, staring out into the darkness, trying to hold onto the fragments of the dream he just had. All he could remember were the ghost of light kisses and the brilliant green eyes staring right into him.)
2.
Evan tugs on the knot of his tie in frustration. After that horrendous failure of a meeting with the self-help book writer, he still has another meeting to go before his day is over.
(Nina, that’s her name - not only was she late to the meeting, she was also fully unprepared for the meeting, dressed in this ridiculous outfit and looking like she partied all night and just woke up. The only thing she brought was her manuscript, with ink smears all over the cover page.)
But Evan knows better than to dwell on it. It’s not his fault that the writers are unprepared. He is the one giving them an opportunity of a lifetime and they’re just wasting like by being stupid. No one gets anywhere without hard work and neither did he. He worked his ass off to get head editor of this publishing company. Not to mention Frank, his boss, rode his ass hard to prepare him for the job - night after night of staying at work and reading manuscripts while drinking awful coffee and trying to not half-ass editing the writing.
Without a word, his secretary sets down the dossier for his next meeting on his desk and leaves his office. Evan still has another forty-five minutes before the next potential client arrives, so he decides to take the folder with him and get out of the office for the remaining time. He needs stronger coffee than the pot offered at the office. And maybe a donut to go with it.
He orders a coffee (two milks, one sugar) and a boston creme donut before grabbing an empty seat as far away from the busy lobby as possible. As he takes a bit into the donut, he looks at his fingers and realizes that maybe it isn’t such a good idea to eat while reading since his fingers are sticky from the glaze. He leaves the dossier alone and polishes off the donut in quick succession, savoring the filling in the centre. He looks around and he is sure no one is looking, he licks his fingers clean before wiping them down with his napkin.
“That looked really good,” a voice around him says.
Evan looks up from the manuscript to find a man staring down at him. He frowns immediately and closes the manuscript. What the fuck?
“Oh, I don’t mean that,” the man takes the empty seat across from him. “I meant your donut. I wish I could have one, but my coach still has me under strict diet.”
“Um, okay?” Evan’s kind of lost for words because it’s only a donut. He doesn’t eat it that often, but often enough to satisfy his craving. (Not to mention the poor placement of a coffee shop at the lobby of his office building, so he passes by it too many times in a day.)
“If I get one, will you take half of it off my hands? I really want one now,” the man pouts.
Now that Evan is actually paying attention to the man across from his table, he bites down on his tongue to keep himself from snorting from laughter at the other man’s faux mullet. But he can’t say no to another half a donut. He’ll just make sure to skip the next scheduled donut time. “Sure,” he slides the chair back and gets up. “Don’t worry about it,” he says when the other man tries to get up and looks confused. “You can tell your coach that some man offered you half a donut and you were too nice to tell the man no.”
Evan comes back his purchase quickly, handing off the half-a-donut with a napkin to the stranger. He got a good look at the stranger from the counter as he waited for his order. While he knew he would never wear what the man was wearing (leather leggings with black boots and this cashmere top and nails painted black, not to mention the makeup), he had to admit the getup was quite interesting and stylish.
“Thank you,” the stranger says before taking a small bite into the donut. “By the way, I’m Johnny.”
“Evan,” he replies and is glad to finally have a name to the face. He checks for the time on his watch. He still has another twenty minutes, but he guesses he should head up soon.
“So what are you doing here?” Johnny asks after swallowing the bit of donut. He sure is taking his time with it because Evan is eating the last bit of the donut already.
“Just doing some light reading,” Evan chuckles. He wipes down his fingers and shoves the book draft back into the folder. Even though he knows that Johnny isn’t going to peer into it or run off with it, he rather be safe than sorry.
Finally Johnny finishes the donut and takes out a water bottle from his bag (that he placed on the empty seat he grabbed from a vacant table). Even his bag looks high-fashioned, wow.
“Thanks again for the donut. You’re a life saver. And I’m not kidding when I say that.”
Evan nods like he means it and finishes off the coffee. He grabs the throwaway napkins and puts it in the empty cup before putting the lid on. “Uh, I have to go. It was nice to meet you, Johnny.” Evan stands again, taking the dossier in one hand and the other reaching for the empty cup to throw away.
“Yeah you too,” Johnny replies with a soft smile. Evan catches Johnny’s gaze and okay wow his eyes are really green and his eyelashes are even longer than some of the women he’s dated.
Evan is glad to be in an empty lift by himself because he swears he’s blushing from the way Johnny’s gaze lingered on and even he couldn’t make himself walk away until he realizes he really needs to get back to his office to get ready for the meeting. He leans back against the lift and lets his head fall back and rest on the cool metal wall. He didn’t know how much Johnny affected him until he left the table. Now he can’t get the images of Johnny batting his eyelashes at him and the way he bites down on his lips when he thinks no one is looking. The elevator doors open and Evan straightens his suit (and himself) before stepping out and into the publishing firm.
His secretary glares at him when Evan walks past him, which just makes Evan rolls his eyes. He still has a few minutes to spare, so he takes a seat in his comfy leather chair and waits for the client. He trusts that it turns out well because he does not want this cheery mood to go sour so soon already. While he waits, he tries to finish off the notes and the manuscript that he never got around to downstairs. For a second time within an hour, Evan gets interrupted while reading.
“Mr. Weir is here,” the voice of his secretary comes through the phone.
“Send him in,” he replies and closes the draft up. He stands up, ready to greet the client. His desk is already uncluttered and straightened out, but he pushes the items around anyway to make sure it is perfect. First impressions are everything. (He can still hear Frank’s voice telling him that.)
But he guess he doesn’t need to make a first impression because he has a familiar pair of warm green eyes staring back at him, along with the soft smile that makes his stomach flutter.
(“You seem to be in a happy mood today,” Anna comments as she puts her hands on Evan’s hips to make them move. Evan doesn’t say anything in return, instead just grins at his partner.)
3.
Evan was going to make some toasts, breads already in the toaster, when he went to his fridge to get some Smucker’s awesome jam. He took out a jar of marmalade, unscrewed the cap, and frowned when there were less than enough scraps for both slices. He opened the fridge door again and stuck his head inside, hoping to find another jar of anything for his toasts. Alas, he was less than lucky today.
So he popped the two slices of bread out of the toaster, grabbed his keys and wallet, and headed out of his flat. At least there was a grocery store around the corner because his stomach was grumbling already.
When he got there, he headed straight for the jam section, ignoring all the distraction with the chips and the ice creams and even the baked goods. He stood in the aisles, staring at the truckload of variation on Smucker’s jams and jellies. He really like the taste of marmalade on his toast, but then all these other ones were screaming at him to take them home too. Not to mention all the fruits on the label made it all that more appealing.
Evan ended up grabbing five jars of jam and jelly (orange marmalade, strawberry, blueberry, mixed fruit, and currant), which was entirely stupid because he was trying to carry all of them in his arms, trying not to drop any of them as he trekked to the checkout, when he should have grabbed a basket when he came into the store. Duh. Or that he really should have chosen just one jar because how often was he home to eat toast?
At least the kid at the checkout register took pity on him and picked the jars out of his arms and placed him gently on the counter. Evan handed the kid his credit card, and he left happily with a bag of Smucker’s delicious jams and jellies.
Evan took out all five jars and placed them in a straight line on his kitchen counter. He starred at them for an equally long amount of time as he decided which flavour to use for his toast. His attention wavered when his toasts popped up from the toaster. He gingerly grabbed them and placed it on his plate, then grabbed a butter knife from the drawer.
“Evan!”
Evan whipped his head around to the voice, but he was sure no one was in his flat. So he pretended he didn’t hear the voice and instead looked at his Smucker’s jams instead.
“Lysacek!”
What? Evan mouthed as he gripped onto his butter knife a little tighter. He had to admit that he was a little spooked. He moved out of the kitchen to check every room in his not-really-that-big flat. (Bathroom? Nope. Bedroom? Nope. Den? Nope.)
“You’re getting colder and colder,” he heard the voice said again when he was looking out of his living room’s window. “Back in the kitchen!”
Great, now I’m hearing voices. Nonetheless, he slowly made his way back to his kitchen.
“Down here!” The voice hissed in annoyance when Evan’s eyes were darting in all directions, struggling to find a face to that voice. He looked down and found that his eyes landed on the row of jams he just purchased from the store.
“Uh,” Evan frowned. “I’m not crazy,” he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and opened his eyes again.
“No, you’re not crazy,” the voice said. “I’m the currant. Pick me up, pick me up already. The others are still unconscious because you kept knocking us around in the bag.”
“Um,” Evan stuttered and picked up the jar of currant. Now that he thought about it, the voice was really familiar for some reason.
“Okay, now you can stop manhandling me and put me down. Gently, if you please.”
“Johnny?” Evan asked hesitantly.
“Of course it’s me. Who else did you think it was? Seriously, Evan. Get a grip!”
“Get a grip?” Evan asked annoying, voice slightly hitched. “I’m like, the one who’s talking to a jar of jam here!”
“Yes well, at least you’re not the jam here. If you don’t keep your voice down, the others will wake up. I’m not sure Zhenya will be very happy to see that you’re the one who bought him and took him home.”
Evan’s face slightly paled at the mentioning of Plushenko. “Okay,” he said in a hushed voice. “What am I supposed to do with you guys? I just wanted to eat my toast with some marmalade. That’s all!”
“Yes well, all we wanted to do was sleep on those shelves. But look at us now, getting knocked out by a clumsy idiot. And who the hell buys five jars of jam at a time? Aren’t you still supposed to be on a diet?”
Evan whined like a puppy. “So do I not get any eat any of you guys?”
“No! What is wrong with you?”
All he wanted was toast! Now not only was he going to eat plain toast, but he had five jars of talking (Smucker’s) jam in his flat. This could not be happening. It had to be a dream of some sort. He pinched himself on the arm. “Ow! Fucking hurts.”
“Lysacek, did you just pinch yourself? Oh my god, you did, didn’t you?”
“Shut up!” He pouted, his hand soothing the sore spot on his arm. “Okay, this isn’t funny anymore.”
“Too bad for you Lysacek. Are you going to cry and run to your mommy?”
Oh god, that Russian-accented English.
(Evan wakes up to a pounding headache. He is supposed to be skating tonight, so he pops an Advil in his mouth and washes it down with a glass of water.
Later that night, he nearly trips on his skate getting onto the rink when he sees the giant light-up board of Smucker’s Stars on Ice on the other end.
At the end of his program, as he waited for the applauses and cheers at centre ice, he swears he sees five human-sized jars of Smucker’s jams and jellies skating across the ice in the corner of his eyes. He nearly scrambles off the ice.
He makes sure he has more than three hours of sleep that night.)
4.
Evan is sixteen or seventeen. He looks down in disgust at his too-thin body and gangly arms and legs. While he enjoys the growth spurt so he doesn’t end up being the shortest guy in his group, he does not enjoy how he’s not filling out his body and that he has to get new clothes because his jeans are too short now. (Not to mention now he sticks out like a sore thumb in his group of friends.)
His mom pats him lovingly when he tells her about it and she tells him that it’s all “part of growing up”. None of his sisters have to go through this. All they complain about is not keeping up with the fashion trends and want new clothes despite all their clothes are in perfect pristine condition.
And there’s nothing wrong with hoodies and sneakers, and occasionally some Bulls attire.
So why is the kid sitting next to him in physics class stare at him like he’s some alien from outer space? And Evan knows the kid is staring because he can see him from the corner of his eyes and really, the kid is not being subtle about it. He’s tempted to say something about it but he’s trying to listen to Mr. Post (everyone calls him Postal because the guy is crazy) and jot down notes at the same time. It’s distracting. Usually Jake shares his desk, but since he’s chasing some girl, he manages to switch desks with the kid.
Now that he thinks about it, his classmate looks familiar. They definitely don’t hang in the same circles of friends, or even friends of friends but he’s definitely seen the guy a few times in the hallways.
(It doesn’t help the fact that he’s horrible with names. The only ones he remembers are his friends and the teachers. And only after getting constantly glared from Jake as Evan stops using the made up nickname of Beanie for Walt, who really wears a beanie to school everyday. But now that he really thinks about it and going through all the names and mental images of his classmates, he thinks the guy’s last name is Weir, and somehow, it fits him perfectly.)
“Okay, you can stop staring now,” Evan hisses to Weir as soon as Mr. Post finishes his lesson and leaves them to their own work.
The kid scoffs, “Me? Glare at you? I have better taste than that, thank you very much.”
“Whatever,” Evan rolls his eyes and focuses his attention back to his physics homework. He pulls out the periodic chart from his textbook and starts drawing out the Bohr models in his notebook. He breezes through that section as it’s actually the easiest part of the assignment. But not before he swears that a pair of eyes is staring right at him again. Okay, seriously. He turns his head to find the Weir kid (ha) looking at his homework.
“Uh,” Evan starts, gripping tightly at his pencil. “Do you need any help?”
Again, Weir looks at him like Evan’s growing horns out of his head. Really, Evan’s just trying to be nice. He watches Weir go through all these different expressions which Evan assumes the poor guy is probably having some kind of internal debate before finally nodding slowly. “Usually Vanessa helps me out,” he says, “but since your friend over there has been hogging her, I have no idea what’s going on in class most of the time.”
Evan earns a genuine smile from Johnny before he pushes his textbook and his notebook to the middle of the table and shuffles his chair over.
Before they know it, Mr. Post dismisses his class after the bell sounds.
“Thanks, you know, for the help,” Weir says as he packs up his books. “Hopefully, I’ll get Vanessa back next class.”
“Yeah, of course,” Evan replies sheepishly, unused to being thanked. “Always happy to help.” He leaves the near-emptied room and takes his time in the busy hallway. His next block is free anyway.
“Aw, look who just made a friend,” Jake coos, smacking Evan hard on his back. Evan nearly takes a stumble forward. Where the hell did Jake come from? “He’s cute isn’t he?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Evan mumbles.
“You’re blushing, that’s adorable. You two would make a cute couple.”
Evan shakes it off and rolls his eyes. “How’s it going with whatshername?”
Jake grins, showing off his pearly whites. “Vanessa? She’s warming up to me, one class at a time. Looks like you’re going to be stuck with Johnny from now on.”
So the guy’s first name is Johnny. Hm. Evan pushes his friend lightly and cringes when he doesn’t know his strength and Jake ends up at the lockers.
“Ass,” Jake smirks.
*
“It looks like it’s me and you again,” Johnny quips, twisting his head around at Jake and Vanessa’s table.
Evan sneaks a peek at the two also, before nodding. “Yeah, I guess.”
It’s distracting, really. He can tell Johnny isn’t remotely paying attention to what Mr. Post is writing on the chalkboard. Evan sneaks a peek at Johnny twirling his feathered pen in his hand.
It’s distracting, really. He can see Johnny biting his lips when he finally jogs something down in his notebook. He feels it when Johnny shuffles in his seat, finding a better position to sit in the uncomfortable plastic chairs and somehow manages to kick his long legs.
It’s distracting, really. He ends up watching Johnny doodle on the side of the paper’s margins for the rest of Mr. Post’s lecture. Afterwards, he looks at his own notes, and half of it is gibberish, the other half, he doesn’t even remember writing them down.
It’s distracting, really. At least Jake usually zones out when he’s not listening to Mr. Post.
*
“So what do you think about Johnny?” Jake asks, on a Friday during their lunch block in the cafeteria.
Evan knows what’s coming. He’s been baited with these kinds of questions before. But Jake doesn’t need to know that. “Uh, he’s okay?”
“Mhm,” Jake nods, probably thinking of his next move already. “So...”
“So, nothing,” Evan cuts his friend off before his friend gets any grand ideas.
“Okay, whatever you say.”
*
Evan is getting much better at blocking Johnny’s antics. He’s gone through a class of non-stop gum chewing, a half-a-class of pen tapping, and another class of drinking out of water bottle every few minutes. It seems Johnny’s noticed that Evan is blocking Johnny’s antics out and being productive again because no sooner than the next class, Johnny has new tricks up his sleeve.
After the pop quiz, the physics class settles back to its normal routine with Mr. Post at the front of the class teaching them a new chapter in the textbook. So of course Evan’s taking notes and making sure he gets all the points down.
Johnny scoots over to close the gap between the two of them, then shifts all his books over. Surprisingly, Johnny stops at that, but by then, Evan can feel Johnny’s leg touching his whenever Johnny shifts in his chair, which is quite often.
Evan doesn’t know what Johnny is trying to do. Okay, well he knows that Johnny is trying to irritate the shit out of him, that part is obvious. He even tries to drop hints at Jake that he needs his friend back as his desk partner. Jake just grins at him, which in turn, has his entire group of friends all smiling at him sweetly when the next time they see him. (Andrea looked like she was about to pinch his cheeks, but then she couldn’t reach him from her height.)
When the next class rolls by, Evan gets to class early and hopes to find another person to sit with. He catches Carmen without a partner for the class so he happily offers to sit beside her for the class.
Johnny spends the entire class sending daggers at him. Evan really doesn’t care what Johnny thinks because he’s actually hearing everything Mr. Post is saying and writing down good notes for the upcoming midterm exam.
*
“Evan,” Johnny says after he pulls Evan aside in the hallway. Evan looks to his left and his right to well, okay, he doesn’t know why he just did that.
“Hey,” Evan replies lamely.
“So there’s this midterm coming up and I still don’t get half the things Postal talks about in class. You seem to know what you’re doing, so can you help me with it?”
Evan swallows audibly. “Um,” he tries, thinking of a way to get out of it. “I guess?”
“Great!” Johnny beams, standing up straighter now. “Are you free after school today? I want to get started right away since it’ll probably take me a few tries just to get through one chapter. I’ll see you in front of school after classes, okay?”
“Okay,” Evan says meekly, kind of confused and not sure what he just got himself into. “I’ll see you after school then.”
“Great!” Johnny laughs, gives him a wave goodbye then happily walks away from Evan, leaving him standing there like an idiot. And yet that thought describe this situation with perfect precision.
Evan kept his mouth shut for the rest of the day. Jake and Ellen both gave him looks during their shared classes, then at lunch, and finally before the final bell rung for the day. Evan even went to the washroom to make sure he didn’t have “JOHNNY WEIR AND I ARE GOING TO HAVE A STUDY SESSION AT HIS HOUSE AFTER SCHOOL” on his forehead, not that it’d fit because his forehead wasn’t that big. But he tried to pat his hair down so there was less forehead showing.
Obviously.
Johnny found him in front of the school, standing out like a beanpole amongst his school mates.
Johnny, sneaking up from behind, surprised Evan by smacking him on his back. “Hey Big Friendly Giant. Ready to go?”
They walked in sync to each other even though Evan had no idea where Johnny’s house was. But he had heard of all the nicknames since his growth spurt, no thanks to his sisters. “Is Big Friendly Giant the best you can come up with? And I’m not that tall compared to you.”
“Well, I do have a list here,” Johnny pulled out one of his notebook that he was holding and flipped to a page filled with words. “Beanpole. How’s the weather up there? Skyscraper. Do you play basketball?”
“You must have spent a lot of time for it,” Evan said sarcastically.
“I could have had more if Bates would stop with the Shakespeare for a second. I get it, it’s tragic and they all die. Wait, I have a few more. Jolly Green Giant. Big Red, but then your hair isn’t red. But that can be fixed easily if I can get my hands on a bottle of hair dye.”
Subconsciously, Evan’s hand went up to touch his hair. “I don’t think I’ll look good with red. It’ll clash with my skin colour.”
“Yeah, your natural tan,” Johnny said with a laugh. “C’mon, it’s just a little further up ahead.”
They arrived at Johnny’s house rather quickly. Johnny motioned him to follow him upstairs. It seemed like the house was empty. Oh. Evan wanted to ask where everyone was but it would be kind of rude? He kept his mouth shut.
“Well, here’s my room.” Johnny dropped his bag next to his bed then pulled out his books. Evan mirrored his action because that was what they came here to do, right? Studying for the test.
Evan settled comfortably on the floor before taking in Johnny’s room. Everything was so... clean and tidy. Johnny already had his textbook and notebook opened, so Evan got back onto topic. “So, what parts don’t you get?”
“Uh, well, what do you think will be on the test for sure? As long as I understand some of it, I think I’ll do fine. I don’t even know why I’m in Physics in the first place. Biology I can do, but Physics is such a waste of time, no offense if you like it or anything.”
“None taken?” Evan replied cautiously. “Let’s start from the beginning and tell me what you know.”
As Johnny looked over his notes and made off-handed comments about the atoms and whatever, Evan wasn’t really listening. He was staring at the way Johnny’s hair curled in perfect loops and the way Johnny’s hand would absent-mindedly stuck the loose strand behind his ear. His eyes then wandered to Johnny’s lips and the way his mouth moved when he talked and back up to Johnny’s eyebrows when he scrunched up his face in frustration as he tried to understand the individual Bohr models from a few weeks back, and then more examples of Bohr models interacting with each other from this week’s class.
Evan tried his best explaining the concepts to Johnny in a way that he understood it from Mr. Postal. But Johnny was so into reading his own notes and comparing it to the textbook that he was just talking to himself and ignoring his study-buddy altogether.
So by then, he was full-blown staring at Johnny and the way his eyelashes curled and he wasn’t even aware that he was leaning in and that his notebook was casually placed to hide his erection.
“This has been a very productive study session,” Johnny said in between his own blabbering of his messy Physics notes, his eyes still downcast to his notebook.
Evan really wasn’t listening to Johnny telling him things he already knew, so he reverted back to his stoic stance and just bobbed his head in agreement.
“You’re not listening to me, are you?” Johnny asked crossly, but his tone was clearly teasing because he was on his knees and crawling towards Evan. Evan’s face was merely inches from Johnny; he could count number of eyelashes on Johnny’s eyes if he really concentrated. But he wasn’t here to count eyelashes, or teach Johnny physics, so he grabbed Johnny’s shirt and pulled Johnny into a kiss.
It was awkward at first, Evan tried to impress Johnny too much before Johnny took over and shoved Evan back until his back hit the wall. Now it was less teeth and more tongue and it was hotter than anything Evan had experienced before. His other hand placed behind Johnny’s neck pushed them closer together.
For Johnny, that wasn’t close enough as he pushed Evan down onto the carpet and pressed himself against Evan’s body. His hips were doing unspeakable things to Evan’s cock as it strained against his black jeans. Evan couldn’t keep track of what was what as Johnny took a definite interest in his mouth but definitely wasn’t giving a half-assed effort at the other end either.
Johnny managed to get a hand free and easily popped Evan’s button and pulled down his zipper. His hand easily found Evan’s...
(Evan jolts awake from his slumber and finds his hand curled around his hard cock, pre-come already leaking. He looks around in this unfamiliar and remembers that he is in a hotel room in Korea. The sunlight slowly creeps into his room, so he kicks off his cover and heads to the bathroom for a shower and more importantly, jerking off because his mind has to remind him he hasn’t had sex in a while with his skating tours and practices and PR-events.
He rests his head against the tile with his left hand on his cock while hot water came down from above. He struggles to ignore the way the dream affected him as he tugged at his cock faster and pretends that he didn’t just dream about who he thought he did, but the green eyes and that sultry smile weren’t something even he could dream up with his imagination.)
5.
It was Friday night. Friday night met going out and meeting people. Evan did not subscribe to that idea. His idea of a good Friday night was staying at home with a beer in his hand and watching the game. Or, if a game’s not on (though it’d be a tragedy because he was a fan of whatever Chicago teams that played), then a movie would suffice. And if he lucked out, he would be in a seat at the stadium watching it live and with a beer in hand.
Instead, James insisted on dragging him out to a pub on Friday night. (“I’m sure they have your glorious HD TV with plenty of beer. The first one’s on me.”)
Evan heard a honk from outside and looked down to find a cab waiting for him. He fixed his hair one last time, making sure it was styled correctly, before heading out and locking the door behind him.
“Are you looking good?” James said, trying to keep his chuckles down. “I especially like your gray shirt and black jeans. It’s very... you.”
“I’ll take it as a compliment.” Evan had known James long enough to know his friend was merely joking. And it wasn’t the first time any of them had mentioned his clothing choices.
The drive to the pub James picked out wasn’t far - not even a fifteen minute drive before the cab dropped them off. Evan followed James into the pub. Suddenly the noise enveloped him, as the chatters, the music, and the noise from the TVs all fought to be overheard.
James waved at the crowd at an occupied table while Evan’s eyes headed for the TVs. (The Bulls were playing tonight at United Center.) It seemed like they were the last to arrive as everyone shuffled closer together to make room for them.
Evan knew three of the four people at the table, or five if he included James as part of the table. So he waited for James for the introduction of the stranger, whose hairstyle looked more than interesting to say the least.
“Evan, you know my wife Bridget, and of course Brian and Joannie from school,” James laughed when everyone at the table rolled their eyes collectively. “And this is Johnny, Bridget’s co-worker, who’s also a teacher.”
Evan turned to Johnny, who sat at the other end of the booth. “Oh, what do you teach?”
“Kindergarten. It’s more like daycare than teaching,” Johnny laughed airily. “I’d call it a good day if I ended up without some sort of mess on me at the end of the day.”
Evan nodded. That was a reason why he stuck with the older kids.
“So drinks anyone?” James asked after seeing the lack of alcohol at the table. He tried waving down any waitresses that passed by, but of course they all passed by with trays of food and alcohol.
Johnny managed to catch the eye of a waitress and flashed a smile at her. She winked back at him, settled the food at the next table and came back with a pen and pad ready.
“Two pitchers and can we get the menu? I’m starving,” Johnny told the waitress.
“Of course,” the waitress nearly giggled before heading towards the bar. She came back almost immediately with a pitcher in each hand, and made another trip with 6 glasses and menus in toll.
Johnny helped her take the glasses off the tray, “Thank you, darling.” It earned him another smile from the waitress (Stacy, from the nametag). Evan was slightly jealous at the way Johnny interacted with the waitress - with such ease and charm that he never had with strangers.
“We should have you with us all the time,” Brian laughed, taking the pitcher and filling up the glasses with beer. The table murmured in agreement as everyone heartily took a glass full of beer.
“Cheers,” Brian raised his glasses and everyone followed suit.
Evan took a healthy gulp then snatched a menu from the pile. “I think I’m gonna get a burger and fries.” He looks up and sees everyone except from Johnny (who was looking at the menu with great interest) smiling in a way that Evan wasn’t sure he liked.
*
“I think they’re trying to set us up,” Johnny quipped with a killer smile on his face, like this didn’t faze him at all.
Evan hadn’t really thought about it. He took the offer to drink at a pub with a co-worker on a Friday night at face value. Because if James were to set him up, the guy would have told him to wear something nicer than a gray shirt and black jeans. “I haven’t really thought about it like that.”
“Well you should, they’re all sneaky bastards, but I love Bridget either way.”
“Have you known her for long?”
“She’s been working at my school ever since I started out there, so I guess it’s been awhile. Okay, so it’s been only two years, but who’s counting?” He laughed again.
Evan nodded, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Johnny headed for the jukebox after they polished off their meals. James and Bridget insisted that Evan tagged along to give his musical advice, even though Evan’s music would never overlap with Johnny’s.
But when Evan looked back at his booth, all his friends were half-leaning forward to get a better view of them at the jukebox. “I think you’re right,” he said, after catching them staring and seeing them doing a poor job at pretending they weren’t.
“I don’t mind. It’s been awhile since I’ve dated. Plus you’re not that bad.”
“Thanks,” Evan mutters, not sure if he should take that as a compliment or an insult.
“Ah, ha, found you!” Johnny put in a few quarters and keyed in his choices. “Too bad you can’t hear the awesomeness of the songs over all this noise.”
“The game’s almost over. They’ll probably mute the TVs after.”
“Hmm, thanks for telling me that after I put in my money.”
Evan was about head back to their booth when Johnny reined him back in. “They’ll probably find some other way to leave us alone,” Johnny explained, then took a step closer. “Let them wonder what we’re talking about.”
Johnny dropped his hand from Evan’s arm. “So tell me, you’re a teacher, right? What do you teach? No wait, let me guess. I like guessing. Hmm, you don’t look like the Fine Arts type,” Johnny laughed. “Math? Science? Or PE? No, don’t tell me yet. I’d peg you for a Science teacher. Tell me that I’m right.”
(“You two, by the way, are adorable,” Bridget said, as she passed by the two of them and headed for the washroom.)
Stunned speechless, Evan could only bob his head before getting control back of his tongue. Was he that obvious? James laughed at him the first time Evan introduced himself and told him what he was teaching. “Physics, so I guess you’re right.”
“Of course I’m right. Wait, don’t move.” Johnny pulled out his phone from his pocket and flipped it around. “Hold still,” he said and fitted himself against Evan before taking a picture. “There, now I have proof that I have been going on date. Lemme send this to Patti first.”
Okay, Evan thought, he didn’t really not like the feeling of Johnny against him, even if he really wanted to yank that hairband thing off Johnny’s head because it looked quite ridiculous.
“Who’s Patti?”
“My mom,” Johnny replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He continued typing on his Blackberry without sparing a glance at Evan.
“You call your mom by her name?”
“She’s awesome, so why not call her by her name? She’s like, my BFF.”
“Huh,” Evan replied, watching Bridget eyed them with the look of pure amusement on her face, now heading back to the booth. Evan could really use another beer right now.
*
By midnight, the six of them slowed down in drinking and talking. Evan could tell he was buzzed, if not a lot of tipsy, considering he was leaning against Johnny as they all filed out of the pub.
Of course, those who weren’t named Evan or Johnny filed into a cab right away, citing that Evan should taken Johnny home, and either way, the cab was full.
Even Evan could not fight that logic, considering they weren’t lying about the cab before full, so he let Johnny lead him towards whatever direction they were supposed to go because Evan was actually drunker than he thought and he still really liked the feeling of Johnny against him, especially with Johnny’s arms wrapped around his waist.
They managed to get back to Johnny’s apartment in one piece, with the walk to his place only a short distance from the pub. Evan didn’t even have to say anything as Johnny just pulled him into the building - not that he was sober enough to argue.
There was a lot of making out once they got into the elevator and they lucked out on it being late enough that no one was to crash their party. Evan was already unbuttoning his shirt as they stumbled out of the elevator. Johnny took advantage of this situation, steadying himself against Evan before swiping his tongue across Evan’s abs. His hands quickly unbuckled Evan’s belt and then his jeans.
“Oh, I like,” Johnny grinned after seeing Evan’s lightning bolt tattoo on his hip and licked that too.
Evan was sober enough (despite a long line of ohmygods going through his head) that he really didn’t want Johnny to blow him in the middle of a hallway, even though it was late but anyone could leave their apartment or elevator to find Johnny’s mouth wrapped nicely around his cock. He pulled Johnny up from the floor. “Keys. Inside.”
Johnny, too, sobered up to get them inside quickly. He shucked his clothes off in lightning speed and Evan took that as a sign that he should do so too. He followed Johnny into the bedroom and kicked the door close behind him. He licked his lips, liking what he saw from the other man as Johnny posed with that cheshire smile permanently tattooed on his face.
Evan closed the gap between himself and Johnny, his hands shaking against his sides. He hesitantly lifted his left hand, cupping Johnny’s face and leaning into kiss him. It was a change of pace from the franticness, even if his heart was pounding against his chest and his cock was yearning to be touched. But right there and then, Evan found Johnny to be gorgeous and breathtaking. It might have been the alcohol-induced hazy, or he was really that gorgeous. It was a quick moment, then it was gone. Johnny’s hands already on his ass and moaning into the kiss.
Fuck, it was hot the way Johnny lazily nibbled on Evan’s lips, then licked his way around in Evan’s mouth. Every time Evan tried to take control, Johnny smacked his ass. The anticipation burnt a hole in his stomach; his imagination running wilder than the lazy pace Johnny was setting for them.
Suddenly, Johnny turned him around and pushed him onto the bed. He dug around for a condom and lube and climbed onto the bed in cat-like speed. Evan wasn’t sure how long he could hold on as Johnny’s lubed finger traced his hole, but lazy as fuck again. Evan whined against the pillow and lifted his hip up, hoping that Johnny would hurry the fuck up.
Johnny probably pitied him as he slid one finger in, then soon two, working him quickly now. Evan was so out of it that he didn’t even notice his hands were yanking the covers out, so Johnny slapped his hands away and took his fingers out. “You’re messing up my bed.”
“C’mon, Johnny, c’mon,” Evan groaned in displeasure. It was entirely unreasonable since Evan was leaking against the sheets with his cock trapped between his stomach and the bed. Fucking hell. But he knew better than to voice his opinion and kept it to himself.
Johnny seemed to be satisfied and forgave Evan as he tore open the packet and rolled on the condom. Evan hissed and squeezed his eyes shut, breathing deeply when Johnny entered him and eased in slowly until Evan was ready and buckled his hips. Johnny took that as a green light. He rolled his hips, gripping onto Evan’s hips.
Evan gasped when Johnny found the spot and fuck Johnny knew what he was doing and angled himself to hit it every time he pounded against Evan and muttering these filthy things that shouldn’t be coming out of a teacher’s mouth.
It had been awhile for Evan as he came without even touching himself. The friction and Johnny were enough to get him over the edge. Johnny followed closely behind, now laying flat against Evan and breathing heavily against his back.
“That was,” Evan mumbled against the pillow; he was loss for words. Johnny was really, really good. Johnny gingerly got off Evan, headed to the bathroom and came back with a towel for Evan, who gladly accepted it and cleaned himself up.
“You can stay,” Johnny smiled, then climbed into bed next to Evan. Evan draped an arm over Johnny’s waist and pulled him in. He couldn’t help it if he was a little romantic. When he finally drifted off to sleep, he knew he wanted to see more of Johnny in the future.
(It has to be a sign. Evan reaches to his nightstand and picks up his phone. There is no way he can be dreaming of Johnny all the time when he hasn’t seen Johnny for months. Even if Johnny doesn’t answer, at least Evan tried, right?
“Hey,” Evan says quietly into the phone.)