Perfect Can't Endure - 3. Monday

I woke up, feeling something touching my lips, and I relaxed as I realized it was Asher.

“I got to watch you go to sleep and wake you up,” Asher said, grinning. “Did you take sleeping pills?”

I laughed. “I was tired,” I said. “We did go three days’ worth of travel in one day.”

Asher grinned. “I was tired too,” he said, “But at least I woke up at eight.”

I looked around, confused, for a clock. “What time is it?” I asked.

“Nine thirty,” he told me, laughing at the look on my face.

“Wow,” I said. “I can’t believe I slept in that much.”

Asher smiled. “I would have let you sleep in more, but we have things to do today.”

I nodded, and we both got more serious. “Should we tell him right now?” I asked.

Asher nodded. “We hurried to get back for today, so why delay now?” he said.

We got dressed and walked upstairs to find Tommy. He wasn’t in the kitchen, so we yelled into his floor.

“Tommy?” I called.

No response.

“I guess he’s swimming, then,” I told Asher.

We walked to the beach, but he wasn’t there. We went to the boathouse, but he wasn’t there either, and neither was his jetski.

“Shit,” I said. “I guess we missed him.”

Asher nodded.

“I’ll text him,” I said, pulling out my phone.

“You’re not telling him over the phone, right?” Asher asked.

I grinned. “No,” I said. “I’m just telling him we have to talk to him.”

Asher nodded, and I sent the text.

When will you be home? It said.

Later today, Tommy replied. I’m visiting my friend. I’ll be back before dinner.

Ok, thanks, I said.

“We should get Fiona over,” Asher suggested. “She’d love it here.”

I nodded enthusiastically, and skyped her. She didn’t answer, so I texted her.

“Nope,” I told Asher. “She’s working.”

“Let’s go have lunch at the diner, then,” Asher said. “We can swim here until then.”

“Sounds good,” I said, grinning. “Let’s swim in our boxers!”

Asher laughed. “OK,” he said. “I’m not going to protest if I get to see you dripping wet and three-quarters naked.”
We took off our shirts and shorts, and then lowered the rope. I gestured for him to go first, not making any secret out of the fact that I wanted to look at his ass.

He blushed, but laughed, and swung out into the lake, diving off the rope at the peak of his swing. I followed him, and it was my turn to be self-conscious now as he watched me. We played around for a while, swinging, swimming, and diving, until we were ready for lunch. We put our clothes back on, both of us awkwardly trying to adjust our erections, and walked to the shed. I hated that I was uncomfortable with Asher watching me, but it made me feel better that he felt the same way. Neither of us had ever done anything like this before, so we didn’t know how to handle it. I felt hornier than I ever had, thanks to a few hours of watching Asher’s sexy body mostly naked, but I felt uncomfortable with doing anything more than kissing Asher. Sure, I imagined what it would be like to go further, and I loved the idea, but that didn’t stop me from freezing up when I seriously thought about it. I just wasn’t ready, and neither was Asher. I’d thought about Asher as untouchable for too long, I guess, and that had made it hard to believe that I could reach out and brush my fingers across his cheek when I wanted to now. I considered doing it, but it would feel too forced, and I didn’t want to make things awkward between us.

“What’re you thinking about?” Asher asked, seeing I wasn’t myself.

My first instinct was to lie, but I forced myself to face him. “Us,” I told him seriously.

He nodded, unsurprised. “Am I… holding you back?” he asked hesitantly. “If you really want, we can…”

I shook my head. “You’re not holding me back at all,” I told him truthfully. “Even if you were, I wouldn’t want to force you into anything. We can take this as slowly as we need to. I’m learning just as much as you are.”

Asher nodded, relieved. “It does seem nice, when I imagine it,” he admitted. “I hope we can get there soon.”

I laughed. “Yeah,” I agreed. “It doesn’t help that being with you this long has made me so damn horny I can’t think straight.”

He blushed, but nodded. “I know exactly what you mean,” he said, embarrassed to be talking about this with me but trying to get over it. “I really like seeing you in your boxers,” he told me, grinning. “It’s kind of been driving me crazy, being around you this long and not having the chance to… you know… relieve myself.”

I smiled, trying as hard as I could not to blush. We were dating now, and I had to get used to talking about things like this with him. If we couldn’t even talk about it, how could we ever actually… you know. It made me uncomfortable even to think about it, and I hated it.

Damn it Ben, don’t ruin this, I warned myself, fighting the blush valiantly. Asher’s making an effort, so I can too.

“Maybe we should call Fiona and cancel lunch,” I said.

Asher stiffened instantly, looking afraid.

“Not for that!” I protested, sounding strangled. “I think we should talk more, that’s all.”

Asher laughed, relieved. “I think we should talk too,” he said, trying to calm down, “But I don’t think we’ll live to get a chance if we cancel on Fiona now.”

I laughed. “You’re probably right,” I said. “She’ll want to hear everything we’ve been up to.”

“I don’t really mind it, though,” Asher said. “It’s nice having someone who we can be honest with.”

I nodded. “Yeah. Fiona’s a good friend.”

“As long as she’s not trying to get us to lick each other’s asses,” Asher said, blushing at the memory.

I blushed too. “She’s not usually like that,” I said. “I think she was trying to force the issue so she could see if the attraction between us was mutual.”

Asher laughed, relieved. “I still can’t believe we got as carried away as we did,” he said, grinning as he remembered it. “I actually kissed your ass! And then I did it again later!”

“What?” I said, pretending to be offended. “You didn’t like it?”

He laughed. “No, I loved it,” he said. “I’m just amazed that we weren’t uncomfortable with it.”

I nodded thoughtfully. “Maybe that’s what we need,” I said. “A mix of adrenaline and being horny, and it makes us spontaneous enough to go further than we usually could.”

Asher considered that. “Do you think we’ll need much sleep for tomorrow?” he asked, grinning mischievously. “Because I’d love to go on a sugar high after dinner and get frisky with my beautiful boyfriend."

I grinned back, just as excited. “I think that’ll be perfect,” I said. “If we buy some candy at the store and stay up late, we can go skinny dipping in the dark again and see what happens.”

We blushed just thinking about it, and I continued, more hesitantly. “But… no pressure, right? We don’t have to do anything. We can just have fun, and see where it takes us.”

Asher nodded. “Hopefully we can get a little past kissing,” he said, grinning. “I get that you’re not ready for… sex… yet, and neither am I, but I really want to be able to hold you without feeling like I’m doing something wrong.” He’d gotten uncomfortable halfway through that statement, and I decided that we’d pushed our boundaries enough for now.

“Yeah,” I agreed, kissing him on the cheek, “But for now let’s just go meet Fiona. We can deal with the rest as it comes up.”

Asher nodded, looking reassured, and we held hands as we approached the shed. We decided to take the dirt bike, and Asher drove us into town. I was more aware then ever of his body against mine, now that we were dating, and I moved my hand on his stomach a little bit, feeling his abs like I’d always wanted to and never had the guts to try. He swerved a little bit, and I decided to wait until we were on the road.

“Sorry,” Asher said over the wind, embarrassed. “You just startled me.”

“Are you OK with it?” I asked, wanting to be sure.

Asher really thought about it before nodding. “It made me a bit uncomfortable, but it felt nice,” he said. “I think I can handle it. It’s a good place to start.”

I kissed his cheek, and we pulled out onto the road, so I gave it another try. I felt Asher shiver a little bit against me, but I could see his flattered smile. Sometimes, me taking in interest in him seemed to make him realize that I really believed he was perfect, and he always seemed so touched. I knew exactly how he felt. He did it to me whenever he complimented me. Usually, I brushed compliments off, because they made me uncomfortable, but Asher wouldn’t let me. He would force me to accept the compliment, and it really made me feel better. I realized Asher was driving slowly, and that really made me realize that I was touching him, and he liked it. He didn’t want it to end. I was making Asher feel good, and neither of us were uncomfortable. I suddenly dreaded reaching town, since Asher felt so right in my arms in this moment. I really didn’t want this to end. Asher had melted against me, making futile efforts at focusing on the road, and it really drove in that I was making him happy. I was making Asher happy. I’d never thought that I had a self-esteem problem, but right now, I actually liked who I was, and I couldn’t remember ever feeling like this before. I didn’t dislike who I was, but I’d never really been happy with how I was. My parents loved me, and they’d always tried to make me appreciate myself, but I’d never truly believed that I could be special until now. I was making someone as perfect as Asher feel good, and that made me feel like I wasn’t just another face in the crowd. My mind was spinning almost as fast as the bike’s tires before I realized we were almost in the village, and I reluctantly stopped caressing Asher.
“That felt really good,” he said, his voice sounding different in a way that made a primal part of me want to rip off all his clothes and pleasure him until he exploded. “And I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all!”

“I didn’t either,” I told him, so happy I felt like I was glowing. Asher seemed to feel the same way, because I could see the edges of his mouth curve up in a silly grin. We drove into the town, and I felt like what we’d been doing was written all over us. Asher seemed to feel it too, and we were both more subdued, but I could tell he was still happy. Asher pulled up in front of the diner, but when I started to stand up he stopped me.

“Can we just stay sitting down for a few minutes?” He asked, obviously embarrassed.

I grinned at him, flattered that I’d had that much of an effect on him. “Sure,” I said, sitting back down. We sat in silence for a minute, and I noticed that Asher was avoiding looking at me. My grin became even wider, and I resisted the urge to tease him. That was really not what we needed when we were trying for more confidence in our relationship. Soon, Asher got himself under control, and we went in.

“So what were you guys doing on the ride here?” Fiona asked mischievously. “I doubt you were waiting outside because you didn’t want to see me.”

Asher and I both flushed, and we checked the room for other people, terrified someone would overhear.

“We’re empty right now,” Fiona said reassuringly. “You guys pick the weirdest times to eat.”

“We eat when we’re hungry,” I laughed.

“You sure look like you’re hungry,” Fiona said, grinning mischievously. “I don’t think what we serve here will satisfy your appetites, though.”

We blushed again, and Fiona led us to a table.

“Really, though,” she said, getting serious. “How are you guys?”

“We’re good,” we told her, grinning happily at each other.

“Anything new?” she asked, smiling lecherously.

“We did have some plans tonight,” I told her. “Nothing too serious. We just want to see how far we can go without being uncomfortable.”

“It might help if you just put it all in fast, instead of worrying about how far you’ve gone,” Fiona said, deliberately misinterpreting my statement. “You two look so cute when you both blush like that,” she laughed, looking at our reactions. “Don’t you think you should at least learn to talk about it without freaking out?”

We nodded. “We’ve been trying,” Asher said. “It’s just been hard.”

“That’s not surprising,” Fiona said. “Look at your boyfriend. I’d be more worried if ‘it’ wasn’t hard.”

She laughed at our blushes again, and I feebly tried to distract her.

“Shouldn’t you be taking our orders?” I asked, glaring at her jokingly.

“No,” she told us. “Those will be ready in a minute. I took the liberty of ordering for you, when I saw you pull up.”

“What’d you order?” we asked, curious.

She just grinned.

“Can you give us a hint?” Asher asked.

“It’s our best meal,” she said. “We can’t have a real celebration, since you’re both still closeted, so this will have to do.”

“About that,” Asher said, looking worried. “We’re going to tell Tommy.”

Fiona grinned, delighted. “Are you thinking about coming out to everyone anytime soon?” She asked.

We shook our heads. “Not in the foreseeable future,” I said. “I couldn’t deal with it getting out to my friends at home.”

“You should at least consider coming out here,” Fiona told us. “I’ll talk to everyone and try to sound out their feelings on it for you, and you can think about it more when you have a better idea of what their reactions will be,” she said. “I already know that you’d be safe telling Erik, so he’d be a good place to start.”

“How do you know?” I asked.

She laughed. “I’ll tell you once I get the food.”

She disappeared into the back, returning with two plates heaped with French toast and covered in syrup.

“Wow,” Asher exclaimed.

“There’s more,” Fiona laughed, setting them on the table and disappearing again. She came back into view with two giant shakes, and then sat down at the table with us. We happily began to eat as she told us the story, occasionally stealing sips of our shakes.

“Erik had a bit of an ‘incident’ involving a gay pride parade,” she told us, smiling secretively. “His parents are really uptight, and he got fed up with their shit while on vacation. He went a bit crazy, and he ended up in the middle of the parade. His face got in the newspaper, and his parents have never forgiven him for it. They haven’t tried to control him nearly as much anymore, though,” she laughed. “Any time they start, he makes sure they walk in on him Skyping with the friends he made during the parade, and they tone it down.”

We both laughed, and Fiona grinned.

“He’s straight as an arrow, but if anyone will be OK with it, it’d be him.”

We laughed as we finished the French toast, and Fiona took the plates.

“Shit,” I said, checking the time. “We should be leaving soon.”

Asher nodded, looking nervous.

“Do you guys want me to get you some mints, or do you want to taste syrup when you kiss each other?” she asked, grinning.

I looked at Asher, and he shrugged. “I’m fine with tasting syrup,” he said, blushing, and I nodded.

Fiona laughed. “Damn. I was going to make you share a mint.”

We both blushed even harder, thinking about it, and we glared at Fiona. “What?” She asked, pretending innocence. “Don’t act like you wouldn’t have done it.”

We couldn’t help laughing. It’s not like she was wrong.

Asher pulled out his wallet, trying to change the subject so she’d stop making us blush, but Fiona shook her head.
“I’ve got this one,” she said. “I can’t make you pay for your own celebration.”

I grinned. “We’ll make it up to you,” I told her.

“You will,” she agreed, grinning back. “Now get out of here. I promise I’ll leave you guys alone tonight, so you can get as freaky as you want.”

It was just like Fiona to make us blush one last time as we left. I gave her the finger, and she waved cheerfully back as we got on the dirt bike. I drove this time, and we went to the general store to check out what they had. We left with enough Dr. Pepper and chips to supply a small party, and headed back to the cottage. Asher tried reciprocating what I’d done to him on the way in, but we felt too uncomfortable and stopped. Don’t get me wrong, it felt good, but we couldn’t stop feeling self-conscious long enough to make it work. Asher ended up just hugging me, and I had to satisfy myself with that. It was exactly what I needed when I remembered why we were going home, though. I started to feel nervous, and I felt Asher’s arms tighten around me. I thought Tommy would be OK with it, and I couldn’t imagine him getting angry or anything, but it scared me that he might be disappointed, or think less of us. Asher had to go back to holding me normally when we got close to the cottage, though, and I realized how much of a difference he’d been making. I’d been worrying while he’d hugged me, but now I felt panicked. Asher began rubbing small circles on my stomach with his thumb, trying to calm me down without being seen by Tommy in the cottage. Surprisingly, even that little gesture helped, and neither of us were uncomfortable with it, possibly because it wasn’t intended to be sexual. As we got closer to the house, we saw Tommy in the living room, looking out over the bay. We put the dirt bike away and walked into the house nervously.

“Hey,” Tommy called. “Why’d you guys come back early?”

“We kind of have to talk to you,” I said, swallowing nervously. Asher gently brushed his hand against mine, making it look like an accident as he closed the door. It helped me, and I walked into the living room, Asher following close behind. We sat down together, not as close as we would have alone, but closer than we usually would around other people.

“About what?” Tommy asked, turning his full attention to us.

“Asher and I…” I tried to continue, but I had to swallow and try again. “Asher and I are kind of…”

Asher took my hand. “Ben and I are dating,” he said, and I admired his courage.

Tommy looked at us, confused. “I thought…” he said, pausing.

He laughed. “Oh.” He said. “I thought you two had been dating for a while now. I guess this makes a bit more sense. I was a bit disappointed that you hadn’t said anything to me.”

“What?!” I asked, feeling scandalized. We’d been so worried about telling him this, and he’d known before we had?

Asher had the same expression on his face that I did, and Tommy laughed again. “I guess you guys worried about telling me?” he asked, grinning.

“Yeah,” Asher admitted. He was taking this better than I was. Asher squeezed my hand, and I shook myself.

“Sorry,” I said. “I just can’t believe you thought we were dating before. Imagine what would have happened if you’d said something!”

We all laughed over how awkward that would have been, and maybe Asher and I laughed harder than we normally would have. We’d just told someone our biggest secret for the first time, and it hadn’t changed anything. I don’t think either of us could really believe that.

“Why are you OK with it?” I asked suddenly, knowing I sounded dumb.

Tommy shrugged. “It’s not a big deal,” he said. “I don’t think you guys have to worry so much. Sure, some people don’t like it, but most people don’t really care. Besides, it’s a huge world. If some people don’t like you, fuck them. There’s billions of other people out there who would like you, so you can just go find them.”

Asher and I looked at him, surprised, and Tommy looked apologetic.

“Uhh… sorry, I forgot I’m the ‘mature adult’ here. I meant to say ‘respect other people’s opinions.’”

We laughed, but Tommy got serious again quickly. “I don’t want to have to talk to you guys about this, but if you’re going to be… getting intimate… you need to be responsible."

We both blushed furiously, and Tommy didn’t look like this was any easier for him.

“I don’t have a problem with it, since it’ll probably happen whether or not I allow it, so I’ll just try to make sure you’re prepared. You’re both going to have to go through STI tests.”

I think my entire body had turned red by this point. “Umm… we’re not really at that stage in our relationship yet,” I said awkwardly.

Tommy shook his head. “I remember what being a teenager is like,” he said. “I actually already bought two home testing kits, since I was planning to talk to you two about it soon if you didn’t come to me. Don’t worry, they’re just urine tests, but you guys are going to need to take them. I don’t want any nasty surprises because I wasn’t being responsible, and since pregnancy seems out of the question there’s only this.”

We were all blushing, and Asher and I agreed quickly so we could leave. Tommy wasn’t being unreasonable or anything, just incredibly embarrassing. We made our getaway, and Tommy seemed as relieved as we did.

“Well,” Asher said. “That went pretty nicely, all things considered.”

I laughed. “Can we just try to forget about that for now?” I begged.

Asher nodded, blushing again just remembering it. “That kind of killed the mood,” He said, obviously unhappy. “I think we should save our ‘experiment’ for tomorrow.”

I nodded, just as unhappy about it, but agreeing fully. “I don’t think I’d be able to relax after going through that,” I said. “We should just return your grandparent’s things and then get lots of sleep so we can stay up late tomorrow.”

Asher nodded, and we headed over to Martha and Bernie’s place. They seemed delighted to see us, and they didn’t really seem to care about getting their supplies back yet.

“Welcome back!” they said.

“Did you have fun?” Martha asked, grinning widely.

We nodded. “Lots,” Asher answered.

Martha and Bernie both grinned at that, and they didn’t even seem to mind when we just wanted to return the gear and go back. We hurried, wondering how long they’d be this accommodating for, and we were ready to go again pretty quickly.

“Thanks for letting us borrow everything,” Asher said.

“No problem,” Bernie said. “We don’t use it anymore, so you boys can take it any time you want.”

“Thanks,” We said, and got on the dirt bike in front of the house.

“Bye!” Asher called, and they waved.

“Bye Martha! Bye Bernie! Thanks again!” I called, and they grinned.

“Feel free to call us Grandma and Grandpa, dear,” Martha called back.

We drove away, confused, and stopped the dirt bike in the shed.

“I wonder why they want me to call them that,” I said, considering.

“They know!” Asher said, looking scared and relieved at the same time. “And they’re OK with it!”

The more I thought, the more I agreed with him. “Shit,” I swore appreciatively, shaking my head. “You really can’t hide anything from those two. They wanted us together from the start. That’s why they were pissed when I said we were friends last time!”

Asher laughed. “They always did pressure my mom for more grandkids,” he said. “I guess this is their way of guaranteeing they have one they like.”

I shook my head again, still not believing this. “They knew from the start,” I said. “The first thing Bernie said to me was ‘I have a grandson your age. He’s coming up tomorrow. Maybe you two will be friends?’

“Then Martha said pretty much the exact same thing, without knowing Bernie had already said it. They knew we were both gay, and they wanted us to meet.”

Asher laughed even harder. “That sounds like them,” he agreed. “They always try to manipulate you into doing what’s best for you.”

“Well we have a pretty good track record, so far,” I joked. “Four people know about us, and all four support us.”

Asher laughed. “The only problem is now we have to get married,” he joked. “If my grandparents want us together, we’d be in front of a minister saying ‘I do’ even if we hated each other.”

“It’s a good thing we get along so well, then,” I said, grinning. “I’d hate to make them have to push us.”

Asher laughed. “Maybe we can save thinking about that until we can hug each other without feeling uncomfortable,” he suggested sarcastically.

I laughed too. “I don’t want to think about that either,” I said. “I really like you, but I don’t think I’m ready for marriage just yet. We should probably wait until we’re out of high school."

Asher grinned. “Let’s not think about marriage until it’s us that want it,” he said.

I nodded. “That sounds good,” I said, grinning back. We went inside, and found Tommy waiting with the two STI tests. We did the tests, with no small amount of blushing, and Tommy sent them in to the lab, which promised the results in three to five days. With one day of shipping, we’d know in four to six days. We hurried off to our floor, where we’d locked Bear this morning before going into town. He was delighted to see us, and we spend the rest of the day playing with him as an apology for locking him up. We went to bed early, wanting to be rested for tomorrow, and we lay close together under the covers, dressed only in our boxers.

“Goodnight,” Asher said sleepily, and kissed me.

“Goodnight,” I told him back, giving him a kiss in return. He smiled, and it was the adorable smile that he did when he was sleepy. “You’re even more beautiful than usual when you’re tired,” I told him, snuggling closer.

He blushed, and didn’t respond, but I knew that it was because he didn’t know what to say. He was almost as bad at taking compliments as me. “Go to sleep,” I told him, giving him another kiss. He happily obeyed, and his slow breaths soon calmed me down too. I felt myself drifting under, and I wondered how I of all people ended up dating this angel.