Ripped - 23. Chapter 23

--Bailey—

"Woohoo! Go! Go! Go!" Cameron practically yelled in his ear as the Heritage receiver took off down the field. Bailey had no idea who it was. He only remembered that Lachlan was the quarterback, and Declan was number 24. He hadn't had a chance to learn everyone's numbers or what position they played.

"Jeez, Cam, you just about broke my ear drum," Luke complained, rubbing his finger in his ear. Bailey chuckled as he yanked a few times at the collar of his shirt, trying to cool down in the unusually warm humid air, made worse by the crush of people around him.

The receiver had made it to the six yard line, so now everyone was chanting for a touchdown. Bailey's eyes were on the broad back of number 24, as it had most of the game. Yeah, he enjoyed watching the three touchdowns and two field goals Heritage had made, but he was focused on Declan—who had helped hold the Lancers to only two field goals.

At the beginning of the game, he'd felt a little pang of longing, wistfully wanting to be the one chasing down the Lancer's receiver. His team had been shocked when they'd learned he was going to the game and staying in the dorm. In the past, Justin and the guys had boycotted the football games on general 'Chris' principle, but tonight was different.

Things had changed.

The animosity between the teams had begun to dissipate when Declan had stood up for Bailey against Chris. And the fact that several of the guys had shown up to their gymnastics meet had solidified the tentative peace. So his team had joined him at the game, although Bailey suspected Justin had already been considering going after his connection with Ben on the bus. While Bailey had received several greetings from fellow classmates when he'd arrived at the game—many, again, of surprise—he didn't really know any them, he wasn't friends with them.

His team—they were his only friends. And now Declan. He'd been so alone since coming to Heritage, not wanting to let anyone in, shying away from everyone. Justin, Luke, Mateo, Cameron and Owen hadn't given up on him, even though he'd given them every reason to.

But it had taken Declan—the huge, obnoxious linebacker—to break his barriers down.

Now there was only a few minutes left in the game, and Bailey was anxious for it to be over.

The crowd around him surged to their feet in an uproar, and Bailey realized he'd missed the play that had earned them another touchdown. He absently clapped as they kicked the extra point. The last few minutes wound down on the clock as the Lancers struggled valiantly to score before time ran out. Declan and the defensive line didn't let them.

As the last cheers of victory died out, Bailey watched Declan whip off his helmet. He couldn't help the smile that came when he realized Declan was searching the stands, his hand raising when he spotted Bailey. Bailey rose with the rest of the crowd, hefting up his school backpack that he'd filled with a change of clothes instead of books, and slinging it over his shoulder before following Justin down to the field. Spectators filtered out the gates, several heading to their cars, others towards the dorms.

Several students descended on the football team, offering their congratulations. Bailey watched Justin find Ben as he himself hovered on the outskirts of the congratulatory crowd. Nick was praising Lachlan on his awesome first game as lead quarterback. Several others that Bailey recognized—Jose, Alex, Jaime—were also thumping the younger teen on the back.

"Hey."

Bailey jumped, startled to find Declan next to him, looking even bigger in his shoulder pads and uniform. Sweat dripped down his temples, and Bailey thought he shouldn't find that so alluring.

"Hey. Great game." Bailey smiled up at Declan, who just grinned back.

"Yeah, Lachlan did a great job."

"You all did a great job," Bailey corrected.

Declan laughed. "Yeah, it was definitely a different atmosphere in the locker room before the game tonight. There was nervousness, of course, especially for Lachlan, but really... it was just more relaxed. Nick is an awesome captain."

Bailey nodded shyly, unsure of what else to say.

"So," Declan finally broke the silence, "we have to head back to the locker room, of course. You know, to shower and change and listen to coach for a bit. You can just come with me and wait until we're done."

Bailey wrinkled his nose. "Yeah, no, I don't think so. I'll just wait outside the locker room."

Declan laughed. "Yeah, okay—"

A whistle cut the air, and they turned to see Coach Reed waving for the team to head in.

"Gotta go. See you in a few."

When Declan leaned in and hugged him, Bailey nearly flinched back, shock and surprise stunning him to silence. Declan was halfway across the field before Bailey even fully realized what had happened. Bailey lifted his hand to his cheek, feeling the dampness of where Declan's head had brushed the side of his face.

It was a little gross, to be enamored of Declan's sweat clinging to him, but Bailey still felt a tiny smile forming as he wiped his jaw dry.

***

"What the hell are you doing out here?" a voice jerked his attention from the game Bailey had been playing on his phone.

Eddie had shoved his way out of the locker room along with his sidekick, Tripp. They were the first to emerge while Bailey sat waiting outside the locker room for Declan. Neither one had showered, apparently just planning on heading to their dorm room first.

"Come to gloat about Chris and Eric being gone?" Tripp added.

Bailey pushed himself to his feet from where he'd been sitting against the wall, not wanting to be caught at the significant disadvantage of being on the ground should the two become physically aggressive. "No, don't see that I'd need to do that. I think the team showed it's obvious they don't need Chris and his lapdog to rock it. You guys can win just fine without him. You had an awesome game."

Eddie opened and closed his mouth as if searching for some retort, but there really wasn't anything he could say to that. The team had done just fine without Chris Vasser leading it, and Bailey made sure to include Eddie and Tripp in his compliment—knowing it would catch them off guard. Before they could come up with anything else to say, the locker room door opened again and several team members spilled out into the hall, laughing and joking, still high from the win.

"Hey! Bailey!"

Bailey tore his eyes from Eddie at Jose's call.

"What a day, huh, man? Two wins for Heritage! Woohoo!"

"Two?" someone asked, but Bailey wasn't sure who.

Jose grinned and wrapped an arm around Bailey's shoulders. "Yeah. The gymnastics team crushed it today. You guys should have seen it."

"You crushed it," Bailey countered with a grin.

"Ben told me about that," someone else said. "I wish I'd known we could go."

"Next time," Jose promised.

A shout erupted, and Bailey turned to the doors as Lachlan emerged. "Oh! And here's the man of the hour!"

"Lachlan! Lachlan! Lachlan!" a chant went up.

The new quarterback flushed, ducking his head as his team cheered again. The guy was practically being shoved with pats on the back toward the exit.

Bailey noticed in the crush of football players streaming from the locker room, Eddie and Tripp had made their escape. Alec and Jaime stopped next to him as well.

"We're going to the student union. The coach had pizza delivered. You want to come?" Alec asked.

"Maybe. I'm, uh, waiting for Declan," Bailey explained. "I'm not sure if he's planning on going."

Jaime chuckled. "Oh, he's planning on going. That guy can put away some pizza."

"Then I guess I'll be there."

The flow of students from the locker room slowed to a trickle after the huge rush. He watched through the window as they made their way over to the student union for an after-game pizza party. With the dining hall closed, he supposed it made sense that the school would need to feed the team after a game.

"Hey, sorry I took so long."

Bailey turned to see Declan striding towards him, and Bailey smiled up at him. "No problem. I'm not going anywhere."

"You okay if we stop by the student union? They have some—"

"Pizza. I know." Bailey laughed, picking up his backpack. "I'm sure you're a little hungry."

Declan grinned. "I could use a slice or two."

***

--Declan—

"Okay, maybe I should have grabbed another slice," Declan grumbled.

Bailey rolled his eyes as he took the towel Declan handed him. "I told you we could have stayed longer. You didn't have to just grab a couple slices and run."

Declan flopped on his bed. He'd finished his real shower, having only done a quick rinse in the locker room, and he'd asked Bailey if he wanted to shower after spending the evening in the unusually warm air watching the game. Bailey was about to take him up on the offer and had pulled his pajamas and toothbrush from his backpack.

"I know, but I'm tired. And I just wanted to get back here and hang out, you know. Watch a movie or something."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Yo! Dec!" a voice sounded from the other side of the bathroom. "You done in here?"

Micah peeked his head in the room.

Declan yawned. "Bailey was going to take a shower."

Declan's suitemate looked Bailey up and down briefly. "Evan went home, huh?"

"Yeah. Bailey's gonna hang out. His mom didn't want him walking back home in the dark, so I offered him Evan's bed."

"Evan's bed, right..." Micah winked with an evil grin. Declan flushed bright red, noticing that Bailey had bitten his lip and turned away to hide his own scarlet cheeks.

"You ass..." Declan snapped, throwing a pillow across the room that Micah easily dodged.

Micah just laughed before nudging Bailey's shoulder playfully. "Don't let him fool you. After all his mooning over you... Bailey this and Bailey that... you could totally join him and he wouldn't mind. You know, if you get cold or something."

Bailey ducked his head and stifled a laugh. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Micah!" Declan roared, diving across the room to tackle his suitemate, but the little golfer had already darted back through the bathroom to his own room, slamming the door on the other side. Declan could hear him and Logan laughing hysterically. "Bastards."

Declan stepped back into his own room, evading Bailey's gaze. "Hey, sorry about him, you know, just..."

Bailey's hand landed on his forearm. "It's okay. He's just joking around."

"Yeah, yeah, he's, well..." Declan was still stammering from embarrassment.

Bailey squeezed harder on Declan's arm. "Hey. How about I get that shower, then we watch the movie. Maybe you can even invite Micah and Logan over to join us."

Declan nodded, grateful Bailey had swept away the tension threatening to stifle their night. As much as Declan liked Bailey, he hadn't wanted Bailey to think that's why he wanted him to stay over. And now that Micah had opened his stupid mouth... well, he couldn't get that image out of his mind.

After Bailey stepped into the shower cubicle of the bathroom, Declan made his way to Logan and Micah's room. Surprisingly, Micah hadn't actually locked it to keep Declan from storming through.

"Hey guys..." He knocked once before opening it.

Declan saw Micah duck behind his much larger roommate, causing Logan to teeter as Micah grabbed him.

"You." Declan pointed at Micah, who just erupted into peals of laughter.

Logan crossed his arms, trying to look stern and not laugh, but wasn't being very successful.

"You're an ass," Declan declared.

"Oh, we already know that," Logan agreed.

They all heard the water turn on in the bathroom. Declan's attention flickered briefly to the open bathroom door before he let his shoulders sag. Damn he was tired. He didn't even have the energy to continue berating Micah.

"So Bailey's staying overnight, I hear," Logan said.

"Yeah." Declan raised his hand defensively. "Purely platonic. So he could enjoy the game and not have to walk home so late."

The quirked eyebrows and pursed lips on his suitemates told him they didn't believe him.

"Whatever." He waved a dismissive hand at them. They'd tease and joke no matter what he told them. "We do want to get to know each other and spend time together, but..." He shrugged. "No like that yet."

Of course, Micah picked up on the 'yet.' "Yet, huh? So soon?"

Declan only had the energy to flick him off.

"So we're going to watch Age of Ultron in a few minutes. Did you guys want to join us?" Declan finally offered.

"Oooh, well, wouldn't we be intruding on your cuddle time?" Micah apparently just couldn't let up.

Declan rolled his eyes, ignoring him as he stepped back towards the bathroom. "I guess that's a no."

"No! No! I want to see it!" Micah burst out from behind Logan. "I'm just teasin'."

"You're just an ass," Declan retorted.

"I think we've already covered that," Logan chuckled. "Knock when you're ready to start. We'll bring some popcorn."

Declan perked up at the mention of the snack. "Popcorn?"

"Yeah, my mom sent the good stuff in her last care package," Logan said, already digging around in a crate under his bed.

"Great. Thanks."

Declan stepped back through the bathroom. Hearing Bailey in the shower brought indecent images to his mind that he had to stamp down before his cock decided to show Bailey just how interested he was. Imagining the water and soapy bubbles sluicing down Bailey's firm muscles was not helping.

He looked down at the knee-length athletic shorts he had on for bed. Already he could see a bulge trying to thicken in his underwear. Normally, he wouldn't have even bothered with the underwear, but he knew Bailey's presence might incite a physical response and hoped the boxer briefs would help contain the evidence.

Damn things weren't doing a very good job.

"Grandma. Church. The president. Stinky sweat socks," he mumbled to himself, trying to come up with other images to keep his libido under control.

The bed.

He could make up Evan's bed for Bailey, that might help. Declan headed to his closet to pull down an extra set of sheets. For some reason, his mom thought he needed three sets—two regular and one flannel—for when it got cold, she said. He thought Bailey might like the softer blue flannel, so he pulled that set down. The process of putting the bed together helped get his mind off other things. He finished about the time he heard Bailey turn off the water. A few minutes later, Bailey leaned out of the bathroom doorway.

"Hey, do you have some toothpaste I can use?"

Declan turned. "Uh, yeah sure." He moved into the bathroom to dig out his tube from his basket of toiletries, ignoring the fall of Bailey's sleep pants over his hips, glad that Bailey had decided to wear a t-shirt to bed. As he handed over the toothpaste, his stomach let out a loud rumble.

For a second they both just stared at Declan's stomach like an alien was about to claw its way out. Then they burst in to laughter. Declan rubbed his belly. "Sorry about that."

Still laughing, Bailey pointed at his book bag on the floor by Declan's desk. "I have a couple protein bars in the front pocket of my bag. Why don't you eat those?"

Declan's brows shot up into his hairline. "Really? Thanks. Logan said he'd bring over some popcorn, but a protein bar would be even better." As he lifted the backpack and put it on the desk, it occurred to him that he should have prepared better for company and bought some extra snacks. As it was, all he had was a bunch of bottles of water and three orange juice bottles in their tiny fridge.

There were actually three pockets on the front of the backpack, so he started with the smallest. After unzipping it, digging his hand in and scooping out the contents, it was obvious that wasn't the right pocket. The handful of school supplies—pens, pencils, a six-inch ruler, a tiny stapler, a protractor, a compass, erasers, even a tiny tape roll—got dumped on the desk.

"Damn, man, how many pens and pencils to you need?" Declan chuckled as he sorted through the different colors. He got a grunt from Bailey, who had a toothbrush in his mouth.

"...frong focket," came Bailey's mumbled response.

"And what the hell is this?" Declan held up the object, examining it. It had a slide lever on the side and he pushed it. As a sharp blade slid free of its casing, a memory tugged at his brain... another razor... somewhere... recently...

"Wrong pocket," Bailey repeated. "Don't think any of that would taste very good."

Bailey had finished rinsing and was staring at Declan from the bathroom doorway. For a second, Declan was sure he saw a flash of fear in Bailey's soft gray eyes.

"Why do you need this in your backpack?" Declan held it up, genuinely curious, even as something nagged at the back of his brain.

The look in Bailey's eyes disappeared almost instantly as he shrugged and smiled. "It came as part of the set of supplies my mom got, along with the compass, ruler, tape, stapler and stuff. I just dumped it all in there. Never know what you might need. Can't say I've ever needed the tape either."

"Huh." Declan huffed as Bailey came over and started repacking his school supplies. After they were put away, he unzipped the medium size pocket and pulled out five protein bars.

"Geez, what are you, a boy scout? Always be prepared?" Declan laughed at the number of bars Bailey held, different flavors too.

Bailey cocked a thin hip. "Fine, don't take 'em..." He started to drop them back in the bag.

"No! No, no," Declan cried out, dropping to his knees in front of Bailey, hands clasped together. "Please, sir, may I have more to eat?"

Bailey laughed, shaking his head at Declan's antics. He dropped all five bars on the desk, leaving them there for Declan to pick at them as he wanted. The pizza at the student union had been enough for him, since he'd also grabbed a hot dog during the game.

Declan climbed to his feet, laughing as well, before tearing into one of the protein bars—mint chocolate chip. Declan tore off a bite with his teeth before offering Bailey some water or juice from the fridge. Bailey took a bottle of water since he'd already brushed. They could smell the popcorn being prepared in the other room.

"I guess I should have told you about Logan and the popcorn before you brushed. You could just brush again, if you want some..."

Bailey waved the bottle of water. "This is fine. I'm not really hungry. A little tired is all."

As Declan fiddled with the TV and DVD player, he noticed Bailey eyeing the two beds, wringing his water bottle in his hands. After he had the DVD ready, he turned to Bailey, wondering what was wrong.

"You okay?"

"Yeah... it's just..." Bailey trailed off with another look at Evan's bed. "Are you sure he said it was okay? I feel weird him not knowing I'm taking over his bed."

"Yeah, he'd be fine with it. But if it bothers you that much, you can take mine, and I'll sleep in Evan's," Declan suggested. Bailey visibly relaxed. It was obvious he'd been nervous imposing on Evan's things without hearing Evan's express permission himself.

"Yeah. That... that might be good. Thanks."

"No problem." Declan grinned. "Let me just..." he trailed off as he moved to yank the sheets off his own bed. He was suddenly glad to have that extra set of sheets waiting in the closet. Thank you, mom.

Bailey helped him, and as they finished making the bed, Logan and Micah tromped through the bathroom, wafting the buttery smell of popcorn with them.

"Movie ready?" Logan asked, tossing popcorn into his mouth.

"Yeah, just a min." Declan finished tucking the comforter in before grabbing the pillows from Evan's bed and propping all the pillows up against the wall.

"It'll be easier to see the screen from here," Declan told Bailey, indicating for him to climb on to the make-shift couch.

Micah was lugging a leather gaming chair into the room, placing it in front of Declan's bed and settling himself down on it. Logan just took Declan's desk chair and flipped it around, leaning on the back of it like he always did.

"Okay, here we go." Declan settled on the bed with Bailey and pressed play on the remote. There was over a foot of distance between them, but it wasn't awkward either—like they were trying to keep their distance. It was just how each had settled against the pillows.

The movie was more than half over before Declan realized that Bailey had moved. Bailey had shifted, curling his legs and leaning more to the side on the pillows—closer to Declan. Declan could almost feel wisps of Bailey's hair tickling his arm. He looked down to see Bailey's eyes drifting closed, like he was fighting to stay awake.

Declan smiled to himself before carefully pulling a pillow free and laying it over his leg. Then he wrapped an arm around Bailey, tugging, startling him for a moment, before indicating for Bailey to lay down. Bailey hesitated for only a moment before resting his head on Declan's thigh. Bailey wriggled a little, his hand tucking up to land on Declan's knee.

Declan sucked in a breath at the touch, so innocent and yet... not. He dropped his own hand to Bailey's shoulder, rubbing up and down. He leaned down, whispering. "Is this okay?"

"Mmmhmm." Bailey's response was muffled as Declan suspected he was drifting off to sleep already.

Sitting back, he grinned as a giddy warm spread through his body. His body and mind buzzed with excitement, fear, contentment, and trepidation, all vying for supremacy. As the movie wore on, Declan wasn't sure what was happening anymore. His thoughts strayed to one thing: did he now have a boyfriend and how did he feel about it?

While he wasn't certain about the answer to the first question, he was coming to realize that giddy happiness was beginning to trample his fear of being more out at school.

His fingers trailed over Bailey's soft skin.

And it was because of Bailey.

****

Declan jerked awake, unsure of what had awoken him. He stared around in the dark, confused by the different angle of the room. Then he remembered—he was in Evan's bed, and Bailey was nestled in his.

The bang and yell had him shooting upright.

"No! No, stop! Don't go!"

Bailey was scrabbling blinding at the wall with his hands, sometimes hitting it hard enough to cause a resounding thump on the wall. Declan jumped out of the bed, calling Bailey's name softly and shaking his shoulder, hoping to wake him before the loud knocks woke up Micah or Logan on the other side of the wall.

"Bailey, man, come on. Wake up. You're having a nightmare," Declan urged.

Unfortunately, Declan's touch only caused Bailey to get more violent and insistent about pounding through the wall. A couple more loud punches, and Declan instinctively threw himself around Bailey, pulling the thrashing arms into his body. Declan was practically spooned behind the smaller teen, holding him tight while offering shushing noises of comfort. It belatedly occurred to him that restraining someone in the throes of a nightmare could put him in danger of being hit himself, but Bailey was a lot smaller than he was so maybe it would be okay, as long as he didn't freak Bailey out.

"It's okay, Bailey. You're safe..."

"...nnnuh... nnuh... no! Dad!...no... no," Bailey's voice trailed off, becoming more of a sob as his struggles lessened.

"What the hell is going on?" Logan's sleepy voice asked from the bathroom door way. "You guys... you guys aren't having sex, are you?" he stammered as he apparently took in Declan laying next to Bailey.

"If you thought we were having sex, why the hell did you come in here?" Declan snapped irritably, glaring over his shoulder at his suitemate while Bailey's body slowly sagged under his.

Logan stared at him for a long moment, obviously not quite awake, before shrugging. "Good point. I guess I heard the banging... didn't know what was going on. And well... " He shrugged again, too tired to put more coherent thought into it. "Anyway, you guys okay?"

Declan sighed. "Yeah. Bailey was just having a nightmare. I was trying to hold him to keep him from continuing to hit the wall, get him to calm down." Declan felt Bailey shudder, and moved a hand to stroke over Bailey's hand. "We're good now, I think," he told Logan without looking at him. "Sorry it woke you."

Logan waved away the apology. "No problem. It happens. Just making sure everything was okay."

"Thanks. 'Night." Declan heard Logan leave, closing the connecting bathroom door behind him.

Declan focused on Bailey. "Bailey..." he whispered, loosening his grip now that Bailey was calmer, but Bailey didn't move, didn't fight to be free. "Bailey... are you okay? Are you awake?"

Slowly, Bailey's hand came out from where Declan hand tucked it against his body, and Declan felt Bailey's tentative touch on his forearm. "Declan?"

"Yeah," he sighed, relieved that Bailey was free of the wrath of his nightmare. "It's me. You... you were having a nightmare, banging on the walls. I... I wasn't sure what to do, so I kinda just held you to keep you from hurting yourself—and waking up the guys next door."

Bailey groaned, turning to bury his face in the pillow. "Oh God. I'm so sorry. Did I wake them? Did I hurt you?"

"No," Declan lied, started to pull away and give Bailey some room.

"No, don't." Bailey's hand caught his arm.

Declan froze, unsure of what Bailey meant. Don't what?

Bailey sniffled, and Declan realized he'd been crying. Based on what Declan had heard, he could guess Bailey's nightmare had to do with his father. And Declan could only imagine what Bailey must be feeling. Declan had never lost anyone close to him yet, so he had no idea what kind of pain Bailey must be dealing with every day, or how he even dealt with it to be so functional. Declan knew if he lost one of his parents he'd be devastated.

"Bailey?" The unasked question lingered tenuously between them.

"Don't go." Bailey's response was so soft Declan almost didn't hear him, but Bailey curled himself into the bed, dragging Declan's arm around him as he did. "Please. I need to feel something... other than... other than the ache of..."

"Shhhh...." Declan soothed, wrapping his arms tighter around the smaller body. If holding Bailey helped him to sleep, to feel something other than the deep void his father's loss had created, then Declan would do his best to absorb as much of Bailey pain as he could by holding him in his arm.

Bailey snuffled again, apparently trying to chase away the last visages of the nightmare, and settled into Declan's arms. Bailey wriggled a little, burrowing himself closer, seeking as much contact as possible. Declan felt Bailey's body slowly relaxing, evidently taking comfort in Declan's nearness.

"Thank you," Bailey whispered. "I... I hope it's... it's not too much to—"

"Shush." Declan hushed him, drawing the blanket Bailey had thrashed off to the side over both of them and settling himself down. "I'm exactly where I want to be. With you."

Bailey's fingers tightened on the hand that Bailey had pulled to his chest. "Me too."