You Complete Me - 6. Chapter 6 - Just Saying Thanks

Nic was fuming for the rest of the day. Though he gave away nothing, his family was used to his mercurial moods; they wisely avoided him and he went to bed that night with few words and still pissed. His wrist and knuckles ached from punching that fucker in the face, but his pride was more damaged than anything else. He’d have loved to get a few more hits in, even if it meant getting pummeled in the process.

Because of his history at his old school, Nic was no stranger to fighting. He had learned early on that if running wasn’t an option, strike first and as often as possible at the first sign of danger. Someone built like Neumann could probably knock him out with one swing. This strategy often got him in trouble, so the rational part of him was glad that Jake had intervened. Perhaps he could do more than just tolerate his cousin’s uptight friend from here on out.

As night fell, Nic was very tempted to sneak out and meet up with Arnie for some “stress relief,” but Luke’s earlier words to him gave him pause. Arnie didn’t deserve to be used – not then and certainly not now. He settled for texting his friend about his ordeal late into the night, which Arnie seemed to find funny.

By the next morning, Nic’s wrist was still hurting and he obviously didn’t want to tell his mom why, so he went to school early to visit the school nurse before class. She was a heavyset, taciturn older woman that looked at his hand this way and that and made him make a variety of gestures.

“Hm, it’s obviously not broken,” she finally surmised. “You’ve probably got a mild sprain. What happened?”

“Accident,” he grunted with a shrug, thinking he should work on his form next time.

She turned Nic’s hand over and frowned at his bruised knuckles. “I want you to wear a wrap for the next week or two and you should be fine as long as you don’t get into any more ‘accidents.’ You need anything for the pain?”

“It feels okay when it’s still.”

“That means yes, then,” she said sardonically, and made him take a pill. She wrapped his wrist tightly with an ACE bandage that Nic fully planned on taking off when he was home, then went to her desk to type something in her computer. “You’re good to go,” she said, when she noticed that Nic was still awkwardly hovering nearby with his backpack.

Nic hurried out of there, noticing that students were beginning to clamor in the hallways as first period approached. He didn’t want to be seen at the nurse’s office, worried that it would be seen as a sign of weakness if Bryan decided to make good on his threat.

On his way to biology, he spotted Luke, Jake, and Meg in a line forming outside one of the math classrooms. Jake and Meg appeared to be arguing about something and Luke was gazing in the opposite direction, looking bored with them. Nic battled with himself for a moment before he slowly approached the older trio and waited to be acknowledged.

“You shouldn’t have gotten involved,” he heard Meg say admonishingly to Jake, who rolled his eyes. “Everyone’s talking. And Bryan, again? He’s definitely not worth it.”

“It wasn’t really a fight,” Jake sighed, with a tone that suggested this wasn’t his first time insisting it. “But whatever, I’m done explaining myself to you.”

“Meg, he had it coming,” Luke agreed wearily. “And no one got in trouble, so what’s your deal?”

Their teacher unlocked the door at the front of the line, so Meg didn’t bother arguing. She pressed her lips into a thin line when she noticed Nic, then promptly turned on her heel to go to class. Nic narrowed his eyes at her retreating back, officially deciding then and there that he wasn’t a fan of her.

“I hope I’m not the trouble in paradise,” he said to Jake, trying to joke since the big guy still looked flustered.

Jake humored him with a small smile and Luke clapped his friend on the shoulder. “No, Jake’s just a little less whipped lately and she can’t handle it. See you later, Nic.” He joined the rest of the students entering the classroom, but Jake lingered for a moment.

He looked down, frowning. “Your wrist okay?”

Nic had let his long sleeves cover his hands to hide it, but the wrap still poked out from under it. He self-consciously placed his hand behind his back. “Yeah, yeah...just sprained it on his fucking chin of steel, but I’ll be fine. Lame, I know.”

Jake snickered. “You’ve got a pretty mean right hook.”

“So I’ve heard,” Nic said with a shrug. He cleared his throat. “Listen, thanks again for intervening yesterday. And I’m sorry for messing with you a bit last week.”

“Oh.” Jake’s brows went up; he clearly hadn’t expected an apology. Nic wasn’t the type to dole them out often. “It’s alright. It was kind of funny in hindsight, actually – I just wasn’t in a joking mood, I guess.”

Nic nodded. “I get it. You’re really not that bad, Abercrombie.”

His nose wrinkled slightly. “Don’t call me that.”

Nic’s eyebrow raised. “Why? You look like a model - it’s a compliment.”

He wasn’t trying to be flirtatious, but Jake reacted as if Nic had stripped naked right in front of him. He broke eye contact to look over Nic’s head and his ears blushed a deep red. “Whatever. I’ve, uh, got class. So don’t be a stranger, okay?” The words came out a bit jumbled as he abruptly walked away.

As Nic hurried to class himself, barely ahead of the late bell, something clicked about Jake’s behavior. He thought he had imagined Jake sneaking looks at him in the locker room yesterday, but now he wasn’t so sure. If it was true, it didn’t bother him – he’d casted a few curious looks of his own Jake’s way to confirm that he was big in more ways than one, but he didn’t expect his interest to be reciprocated. Nic daydreamed in class, wondering what to do with his suspicion.

***

That evening, Jake told his friends to go on to dinner without him after practice so he could stay behind with Coach Reynolds. Something had been on the back of his mind all day since he talked to Nic that morning, but he wasn’t sure how to address it until now. He headed to Coach’s small office attached to the gym, knocking on his open door to signal his arrival.

Reynolds was pouring over some permission forms, but waved Jake inside. “I hope this is about your starting forwards for the first game,” he grumbled.

Jake laughed. “It’s only the third practice this year! I have no clue yet. Everyone still sucks.” He dropped into the chair in front of Reynolds’ desk with familiarity. He hung out in Reynolds’ office a lot over the years. “Completely unrelated, actually.”

“I’m listening.”

Distantly, Jake felt his knee bobbing in uncertainty. “It’s about someone in my gym period. I don’t want to be a snitch, but I feel like I should say something.”

Reynolds put his pen down, nodding patiently.

“It’s Neumann. He’s been…harassing someone.” Jake felt weird even using that word.

“Who?”

“Neumann, the quarterback?”

Reynolds sighed impatiently. “No, Jake, who was he harassing?”

“Oh! I don’t want to say, but it was a junior, small guy.” There, that was vague enough. “Every class he’s f—picking on him, and yesterday there was an...altercation in the locker room.” Jake winced, realizing that he was starting to sound like he should be on the other side of that desk.

“You mean a fight?”

“Kind of, but not really. He slapped this guy—”

“He struck another student?”

“Yeah, but not on the face. On the – on the butt.” Jake still felt embarrassed over the entire ordeal on Nic’s behalf.

Reynolds interlocked his fingers in a very serious way. “So, what you’re telling me is that Neumann sexually assaulted this other student.”

Jake looked down. “I don’t think that was what he was trying to do, but I guess. Is there anything you can do about it?”

“That alone could get him suspended, but unless your friend—”

“He’s not my friend,” Jake interjected quickly.

“—This student decides to come forward, there’s not much I can do. But I can tell this deeply bothered you, Jake.”

“I don’t think Bryan’s done. He was pretty mad when N—when I pushed him off.” Reynolds looked confused, so Jake quickly explained himself: “It looked like they were going to fight, so I broke it up. Lots of people saw it.”

Reynolds had a thoughtful expression for a moment as Jake kept his eyes down and twiddled his thumbs. Finally, he straightened up. “Here’s what I can do. It’s still early in the semester, so I’ll take a look at his schedule and maybe have Bryan transferred to the other senior period.”

Jake snickered. “He won’t like that.” The other class was first thing in the morning. “Can you do it without mentioning me?”

“Of course.” Reynolds booted up his computer and checked a few things. “Looks like he’s open for that block. Don’t get too excited – he might not bite, but I’ll try to talk him into it.”

Jake shrugged. “Better than getting him suspended, I guess. Thanks, Coach.”

“If it doesn’t work out, I’d suggest you tell the other student to stay out of his way or avoid the locker room. And let me know immediately if anything else happens.”

“I will.” They chatted about lighter subjects for a few minutes before Jake left Reynolds to his work. He headed off to meet up with his teammates for food, patting himself on the back for doing a good deed. He didn’t want to be around Neumann, either.

Jake stayed out with friends late that night and returned to a predictably empty home. He dropped into bed, fully clothed, and regretted that decision when he groggily rolled out of bed the next morning, still smelling of old sweat from practice. By the time he got out of a much-needed shower, he was running late for school (again) and he had missed a call from his father.

Jake checked the time. It wasn’t even five AM on the west coast. Sounded about right. He considered ignoring it to spare himself from starting the day off in a bad mood, but Samwell would probably just bother Ellie about it. With a deep sigh, Jake called his father back as he backed out of the driveway.

“Jake,” his father answered breathlessly, sounding like he was fresh from a workout. “Glad you got back to me. How was your first week?”

“Like every other first week, Dad.”

“Oh, good,” he said smoothly, pretending not to notice the snark. “How’s your sister?”

“Sober, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Good, good.”

Jake waited so long he was about to ask if they could just have awkward small talk later, but Samwell finally started speaking again.

“Listen, son, I don’t have good news.”

He rarely called with good news, so Jake wasn’t surprised. “Yeah?”

“There have been a few hold-ups at work…”

Jake tuned out at that point, but he knew what was coming before Samwell meandered around to the bad news. He was going to have to stay in California for a few more weeks, which meant he was going to miss Jake’s opening game of the season. Again.

Samwell was a pretty successful advertising exec for a company that had an office on the west coast. He made good money, but as Jake and Ellie got older, his work dragged him to California more and more frequently. This trip had been the longest one yet.

His timing was interesting. Samwell never exactly expressed any disappointment in Jake for switching sports, but his lack of interest spoke volumes. He’d made it to most of Jake’s games when he played football, and for a semester after Jake quit he’d kept that same energy until finally tapering off. At this point, it was getting pretty hard not to take it personally.

“Maybe I can make it up to you with lunch when I get back,” Samwell told him. “Whatever you want.”

Can you even name my favorite restaurant? Jake wondered. “Sure,” he said, sullenly.

“You understand, don’t you? My hands are tied here.”

“No, I get it.” Jake had arrived at school and got out of the car.

Samwell heard the door slam. “Were you on the phone while driving? And you weren’t already at school?”

“Running late, gotta go, Dad.” Jake quickly hung up. “You’re lucky I like food too much to say no,” he grumbled to himself as he walked across the parking lot.

Classes dragged by slowly, especially since Jake was moody from that phone call until at least noon. Meg decided to sit with a different group of seniors at lunch and looked at Jake expectantly when he arrived on the courtyard. He avoided her gaze and briefly considered hanging out with Nic for lunch now that they were on good terms, but he saw that he was with that goth girl, Shiv, who frankly scared him a little. Eventually, he got flagged down by some of his rugby teammates. Jake was grateful to use them for refuge. The argument with Meg yesterday had made Jake feel like a child being chastised, and it left a bad taste in his mouth concerning her. It was going to be a long year of fake-dating.

During P.E. that day, it was group kickball again. Nic was exempt because of his bandaged wrist and just walked laps on the track, so that meant he and Neumann didn’t interact. Once they’d finished class, Jake took his time, wanting to avoid the locker room rush and the temptation of ogling Nic in the shower.

Luck wasn’t on his side, however, since when he finally walked through the gym on his way to the locker room a good twenty minutes after the period ended, he found Nic sitting alone on the bleachers, carefully scribbling onto a sketchbook with his injured hand.

Since they were the only two people in the giant gymnasium, Jake couldn’t think of a valid reason to not interact with him. “You know class is over, right?” he called out as he approached.

Nic hadn’t noticed Jake until he spoke, so he looked up sharply. “Oh, hey,” he said casually. “I just like privacy.”

He looked away as he said it, and Jake immediately understood. Nic was trying to avoid another confrontation with Neumann, and he felt a pang of sympathy that he was staying late just for that. “Well, I’m headed there now,” he said pointedly. “But I think most people are already gone.”

Nic studied him for a moment. “Yeah, probably.”

Jake bobbed his head once and continued on his way, smiling a little to himself when he heard Nic start following him from some distance away.

There were only a few boys still milling about in the locker room when Jake and Nic entered it, and Neumann & Co were nowhere to be seen. Jake shed his sweaty clothes and took a moment to decide between a private stall and the open shower. The water pressure was better in the open ones, and they appeared empty, so it was an easy choice.

Jake let out a satisfied sigh as he stood under the stream and planned on being here for a while. Just as he was starting to relax, though, he faintly heard someone walk in and immediately snapped to attention. His heart sank.

Nic turned the corner, and without sparing Jake so much as a glance, he chose a showerhead a respectful couple of spaces away. He stepped under the water and threw his head back languidly as if he were in a shampoo commerical. Why was he here? After what happened last time, Jake was surprised Nic didn’t want a private stall. Shrugging to himself, Jake returned to minding his own business.

That lasted only a few seconds. Jake’s eyes predictably started to wander, and this time he felt a little less guilt and shame from doing so, indignantly stifling those emotions. Nic barely looked like a guy and he was attractive; there was nothing gay about admiring him from afar. And even if it was a little gay, so what? It wasn’t like he wanted to bend him over and fuck him right then and there.

Although the thought wasn’t exactly the least arousing thing in the world, especially right now. As Jake observed, Nic was taking a bit more care than necessary to clean his groin area. His fingers grazed lazily between his thighs, and to Jake’s fascination, it was beginning to react. Nic was practically jerking himself off right in front of him, and Jake was having a hard time believing it was completely incidental. A very hard time. Jake felt himself getting excited and looked away again before he went full mast. Looking was one thing, getting hard while looking was another.

Jake got a solid minute of washing in and was rinsing off when he sensed a strange, skin crawling feeling. When he looked to his left this time, Nic was staring right back, his eyes so intense they were almost accusatory, a smirk playing at his lips. The water ran down his body and from the tip of his cock in a small stream, and Jake was so focused on that thread of water it took a second before it occurred to him that he had been officially caught. Not only that, he’d been caught and didn’t avert his gaze immediately.

There was no graceful way of pretending it didn’t happen – it was still happening. Jake felt his eyes widening, his skin heating with a deep flush. He looked away and down in shame, and to his horror he saw that he was even harder than Nic was. Fuck.

Without bothering to turn off the water or even finish rinsing, Jake abruptly headed for the exit. “Sorry,” he muttered in Nic’s general direction as he swept by.

He covered himself as he headed for the private stalls, leaving a trail of water in his wake, but no one looked his way. He slammed the door behind him as if he were being chased, but no one but his own anxieties were after him. Once again, he was stuck in a shower with an erection he didn’t want, and for the same reason. Jake leaned against the cold, tiled wall behind him and let out a shaky breath, running his hands through his hair.

There was no coming back from this. He wouldn’t have even stared at a girl that blatantly. Nic was going to laugh at him, tell his cousin about it, then Luke would know Jake was a creep, and then Meg would somehow find out because Meg knew everything about everyone, and then she would spread it around the school…

Someone knocked softly on the door, making him nearly jump out of his skin. “Occupied,” he called out.

“It’s Nic.”

“Still occupied.”

“Jake, it’s alright, seriously.”

He was speaking quietly, but Jake wondered what this must look like to anyone else that could be lingering the locker room. The balls on this kid – didn’t he have anywhere else to be? As Jake stood there in the safety of the stall, he realized that what he was doing was hiding. And the indignation he felt from that briefly chased away his embarrassment.

Jake cracked open the door, intending to tell Nic to fuck off more directly, or better yet, storm out without a word. But neither of those things happened. Nic was turned away from him, his back against the outside partition between the stalls. He looked over his shoulder at Jake, and his expression was neutral. He wasn’t messing with him.

Their eyes met, and when Jake didn’t say anything, Nic slipped inside.

They were face to face, so the only thing separating them was less than a foot and tension so thick he could touch it. Jake snapped out of it first and took a wide step back, but there was nowhere else to retreat to; his back just met the wall once again.

Nic’s lips twitched, like he was trying not to smile. Without breaking eye contact, Nic reached to his right and turned the faucet on. A weak stream drizzled between them, but the resulting noise seemed jarringly loud, which Jake realized distantly was exactly what Nic wanted. A sound barrier, flimsy as it was. His heart began to thud and his mouth went dry. The silence between them continued, with Jake trying not to pass out and Nic looking very amused about it.

“It’s okay to look, you know,” Nic said finally.

“What?” Jake asked, with a small, forced laugh. He wasn’t just playing dumb – he suddenly forgot how to understand English.

Nic stared at him so hard, Jake wasn’t sure if he was about to punch him or kiss him. His sprained wrist ruled out the former, but Jake would have at least understood violence.

He didn’t bother repeating himself. “Wanna try something?” he asked.

“Like what?”

Nic adjusted the showerhead so the stream wasn’t in his way, then took a step closer. Jake reluctantly let his eyes rove over Nic, taking in his curly wet locks, lithe, damp body, nipples growing erect. At the same time, he was acutely aware of Nic doing the same, his eyes appreciatively taking in Jake’s well-developed chest and lingering on his very obvious arousal. Nic slowly reached out with his uninjured left hand, giving Jake plenty of time to react or push him away before he finished closing the gap.

His fingers made contact and closed around Jake’s cock in a firm grip that elicited a sharp inhale from Jake, who remained otherwise frozen in disbelief. Nic’s eyes fluttered up to Jake’s briefly as if asking for permission, and whatever he saw there led to him giving his cock a few slow, experimental tugs. Jake sucked in his own lower lip, biting back a small sound of pleasure coming from the back of his throat.

“Nic – ” Jake cut himself off, not sure what he was going to say. No part of him wanted Nic to stop; he was already aroused before Nic even touched him. If possible, his traitorous dick grew even harder in fingers that didn’t quite touch around his girth, but expertly slid up and down his length as Jake watched. He closed his eyes. “We can’t,” he said finally, with very little conviction.

Nic clearly didn’t believe him, since his hand didn’t move away. And Jake was oddly thankful for that. He brought his free pointer finger up to his lips in a “Shh” gesture, then slowly sank to his knees.

“What are you – ?” Before Jake finished the question, it was answered. The words died in his throat as Nic’s lips slid over the bulbous head of Jake’s cock.

The moan slipped out before Jake could stop it as his head automatically craned up towards the ceiling. Nic was very good; that much was immediately obvious. His tongue rhythmically swirled around the head as he provided the perfect amount of suction, and he used his good hand to stroke whatever remained of Jake’s length that he couldn’t fit. Not that Jake minded he couldn’t swallow it all – it felt amazing.

Any worry of being caught flew from Jake’s mind. That worry went wherever his memory of having a girlfriend disappeared to, or any certainty he had about his sexual orientation. All that mattered was the magic Nic could do with his mouth and how sexy he looked on his knees in front of him, providing an excellent view of his perfect ass from above. Jake was tempted to do something with his hands – for some reason touching Nic didn’t seem like a valid option – so he settled on letting them rest on the small of his own back.

A rising heat began to approach, and Jake tried to hold it back because it was embarrassingly too soon, but the feeling intensified with every suck. Reluctantly, he choked out a half-formed warning and started to back away, but Nic placed one hand on the back of his thigh. He glanced up at Jake, his furrowed eyebrows and grip clearly demanding he stay in place.

Jake didn’t really have time to insist. His orgasm came upon him suddenly and forcefully, and other than letting out a small grunt of surprise, Nic seemed content with taking it all. Jake’s cock certainly seemed willing to deliver, releasing more of his seed than Jake thought was possible. Jake completely relinquished what little control he had left, using his hips to pump his cock in and out of Nic’s mouth. For a moment, he didn’t think he would ever stop.

Nic kept sucking though the spasms, until only the dregs remained. Jake was at the brink of becoming oversensitive when Nic finally let his spent cock fall from his swollen lips. He sat back on his heels, licking cum off his fingers as he looked up at Jake, who was breathing as if he’d run a marathon. The sight of him doing that sent a small aftershock through Jake’s groin that made him wince and look away.

“Been a while?” Nic asked, his voice a little raspy.

Meg didn’t like giving blowjobs, so “a while” was a bit of an understatement. At the thought of his girlfriend, reality quickly sunk in. Jake didn’t answer. He pushed past Nic to open the door, stumbling a little into an empty locker room that was far too bright. He caught a last glimpse of Nic, still knelt on the ground with that irritating little smirk on his face, just before the door swung back in front of him.

Jake grabbed his clothes, dressed in record speed, and was running out of the locker room by the time he heard that stall door creak open again.