Till We Die - 1. Part 1

It was Saturday morning and the second I opened my eyes and felt Jesse's warm body lying beside me, I was happy. I couldn't help it, he was like a drug, so intoxicatingly wonderful. Last night was really special and I almost couldn't wrap my head around the fact that it was only the beginning. I wasn't even sure if I deserved him, but I knew that I'd never let him down. I was crazy about him and when I thought about our future together, it seemed to hold so much possibilities.

"What are you thinking about?" Jesse suddenly asked grinning and brought me back to reality.

"Hey, good morning."

"Good morning...lover." We both smiled.

"So, what was it?" he asked again.

"Oh, nothing."

"Tell me." he said impishly and tugged on my shirt a couple of times.

"I was thinking about how much I love you."

"And, how much do you love me?"

"Well, I'm so filled with love that I could burst and if I actually would burst, the explosion would probably destroy the whole planet." He giggled.

"Aww, it's so sweet when you make up stupid shit for me." I laughed.

"What about you? How much do you love me?"

"You know the saying 'I love you to the moon and back', don't you? Well, I love

you as far as one of my farts can reach and back. At least." I laughed.

"Wow, I haven't felt this touched since a dog sniffed my crotch a while ago." He giggled.

"You're a dog."

"If you don't dial back the flattery soon, I'm gonna blush."

"Hey, you know how I feel about you, I'm just not good at saying it."

"You had no trouble expressing how you feel last night."

"That was different, all the happiness went to my head." I frowned.

"So you didn't mean what you said?"

"No, of course I did, I was just too overwhelmed to be insecure."

"So you're scared to tell me how you feel, is that it?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Why?"

"Cause I'm afraid that if you get too sure of me, you'll stop being sweet."

"I've told you before, I'll never take you for granted. And I'll always be sweet, cause that's how I am, it's not against my nature, like it is for you." I said grinning, but he stayed serious, looked down and started to stroke my chest.

"I'm sorry." he said sadly and I frowned.

"Hey, I was joking."

"But it's true, I'm not very nice to you most of the time."

"You're sweet in your own way. If I were diabetic, I couldn't kiss you, cause I'd fall into a coma." He grinned a little.

"I love you...You're so perfect."

"You're right, I am perfect. I should really start a cult or something."

"Yeah, cause that's not totally moronic at all. You know, when you repeatedly say 'I'm Dom', it starts to sound like 'I'm dumb' after a while. Coincidence? I don't think so."

"And if you repeat your name enough times, a portal to hell opens." He laughed.

"That makes absolutely no sense."

"Maybe you just don't get it."

"For me not to get anything you say I'd have to sustain a serious amount of brain damage first."

"I once read that orgasms kill brain cells. Maybe I made you cum so hard that you're stupid now." He giggled.

"That's a myth doofus, like going blind from masturbating."

"Then where does the saying 'fucking someone's brains out' come from?"

"I don't know."

"See?"

"You haven't fucked me stupid, you asshole!" he said laughing and tried to push me out of the bed, but couldn't.

"Prove it, say something smart."

"Descedere ad infernos!" I raised my eyebrows.

"What does that mean?"

"It means 'go to hell' in Latin."

"You speak Latin?"

"Apparently."

"Say something else."

"Tu es amor vitae meae."

"Meaning?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"I can do a handstand and I could probably still manage to do a backflip."

"So?"

"I'm just saying, I have skills too."

"Sure, cause speaking Latin and doing a fucking handstand is practically the same thing."

"Can you do one?"

"Watch me!" he said challengingly and got up.

"Fine, you win, speaking Latin is harder. Don't try a handstand, alright?"

"I'm fucking doing it!"

He ran from one site of the room to the other, threw his arms down and kicked his legs up, but he had too much momentum, so he fell over and smashed into the wall so hard that his right foot punched a hole in it. I quickly got up too and walked over to him.

"Are you hurt?" I asked concerned.

"No." he answered sulkily.

"I'd say your handstand was a 'smash hit'." I said and laughed.

"Well, I always wanted a hole in the wall right there, so fuck you." I laughed harder.

"I like it a lot, but I'm a fan of all of your holes, so I'm biased."

"You're a pig."

"I thought I'm a dog."

"Shut up."

I raised my finger, climbed on the edge of the bed and made a backflip off of it. I winked at him and smiled, but he just glared at me.

"Am I supposed to be impressed that you can do something so completely useless?"

"You're just jealous." I said grinning.

"Of you? A broke-ass knuckleheaded loser who looks like he overdosed on steroids? Don't make a laugh." I frowned.

"Why are you being a dick?"

"Cause you're an asshole! Now leave me alone, I wanna take a shower." he said and opened the closet to get fresh clothes.

"Try not to smash into any walls on your way to the bathroom, alright?" He gave me the finger and stormed off.

I got dressed and prepared breakfast for us in the living room. When he came out, he walked right up to me, sat down on my lap, hugged my neck and looked at me guiltily.

"You know, when I was a dick to you earlier, it was really all your fault." he said and I grinned.

"Wow, great apology."

"No, you're already physically superior to me and a better person and boyfriend than I'll ever be, so when you do things I can't do or say funnier and more clever things than me, it makes me feel pathetic and I get frustrated and then I'm letting it out on you."

"How the fuck did you get so insecure?" I asked frowning.

"I don't know." he said quietly and looked down.

"Is there anything I could do to help you?"

"Maybe you could try not to be such a great boyfriend all the time?"

"Yeah, how about I don't suppress farts anymore? Like this. Watch." I said and pretended to try and fart. He giggled.

"Nooo, stop it, that's not what I had in mind."

"Too late, my sphincter has already been unleashed, there's no turning back now."

"That's gross."

"I know. I will also start pissing standing up."

"You sit down for that?" he asked surprised.

"You don't?"

"That's none of your business." I grinned.

"Anyway, have fun cleaning up after me, cause I'm not doing that anymore. Talk about gross. The same goes for washing dishes, vacuuming...any chores really."

"Whatever, jerk."

"And we'll only watch what I want on TV from now on."

"It's my TV, so I decide."

"No, cause taking the remote from you is like stealing candy from a baby, you however couldn't pry open my hand with a crowbar, so, I decide." He looked at me unsurely and then lowered his head.

"Maybe it was a stupid thing to say that you shouldn’t be such a great boyfriend." he said quietly.

"You think?"

"Yeah, you shouldn't be less great, I just should be less shitty."

"You're not shitty, you make me very happy, remember? And besides, it's not a competition. Just stop worrying so much, alright?"

"Ok...Are you still gonna be a jerk?"

"Of course not."

"I love you."

"I love you too." I said and gave him a quick kiss, which made us both smile.

We had breakfast and afterwards Jesse wanted to go shopping, so we took the bus to the mall. We walked around for a while and finally entered a fancy clothing store.

"Do you have any muscle-shirts?" he asked while we were looking through the aisles.

"No, they're a little too 'white trash' for my taste."

"No they're not, it completely depends on who's wearing them and you're not 'white trash' at all or I would've already made tons of jokes about it. So come on, let's buy some."

"Even if I'd wanna wear them, this place is too expensive."

"Then I'll buy them for you. Please?"

"Why?"

"Cause I want everybody to see how ripped my boyfriend is...Pretty please?" he pleaded and looked at me expectantly.

"Fine, but just one."

"Ok, great...Do you have Speedos?"

"No and we're not getting any."

"We have to, cause what better place is there to show you off than the public pool?"

"But why does it have to be Speedos?"

"You know why." he said mischievously and giggled.

"I'm not comfortable wearing them."

"If you agree, I'll buy a thong for myself and wear it at home sometimes." he said teasingly. That gave me pause and when he saw my flustered expression, he laughed. "I'm assuming that's a 'yes'?" he asked grinning.

"Alright, but no Speedos, I want those 'swim briefs' at least or whatever they're called."

"Deal. We should go swimming on your next day off, but you'll always have to hold my hand or carry me around or just make out with me, so that everybody will know we're together."

"I can already hear the little kids screaming, pointing at us and having their eyes covered by their parents."

"That'll just draw more attention to us, which is exactly why we're there." I grinned and shook my head.

"I can't wait."

"Hey, you could pretend to be a dolphin and let me ride around on your back. I mean, you're almost as intelligent as one and you have a 'blowhole' too, so it's perfect." I laughed.

"And you could pretend to be dead and float face down on the water for me, that's one of my phantasies."

"Very funny."

We spend the next 20 minutes or so looking for a shirt and Jesse made me try on 5 different one's, probably just so he could watch me change, but I didn't mind. In the end he bought me two, even though I protested and then we went to another store to buy swimwear for me and of course a thong for him.

When we were done shopping, we had lunch and then it was time for me to go to work. I came home late, as usual, and when I entered the apartment, Jesse immediately got up and came to the door to greet me.

"Hi." I said smiling.

"Hi."

We gave each other a kiss.

"Oh, you got your hair cut. Looks great." I pretty much looked the same, except that it was a little shorter and more neat.

"Thanks."

"I know it sounds stupid, but I've missed you all day, I couldn't stop thinking about you."

"That's not stupid, it's sweet."

"Did you miss me too?"

"Well, my butt's a little sore, so I thought about you when I was taking a shit."

"How romantic."

"No, of course I've missed you."

"I'm sorry that you're sore." I said and looked at him guiltily.

"I'm not, it was worth it and it's not that bad."

"Still, I should've been more careful, I'm really sorry."

"Dom, listen to me, it's not your fault, trust me, I shouldn't even have mentioned it, ok?"

"Alright." I said quietly and looked down. He wrapped himself around me and stroked my back.

"I love you so much." he said.

"I love you too."

"Let's go to bed, I feel like I'm about to pass out."

"You didn't have to wait for me, you know?"

"I can't sleep without you anymore, feels wrong."

"I know what you mean. Warm up the bed for me, alright?"

"Sure."

On the way to our room I suddenly noticed that the right armrest of the couch was broken off.

"What happened to the couch?" I asked frowning.

"Nothing." he answered innocently.

I looked over to the wall opposite the couch and there was a new poster, hanging suspiciously low.

"Is there a hole under that poster?" I asked grinning.

"No, you see, I took off the armrest so I can sit on the couch sideways, cause that's good for your back and then I hung up the poster at eye level, so you can comfortably look at it from that position. Great, huh?"

"So it didn't break off when you tried to do a backflip off of it and there's not another hole in the wall from trying a handstand?"

"Of course not, why are you so obsessed with handstands and backflips?"

"I'm the one who's obsessed?"

"So if you're not, how about we never ever talk about this ever again, ever?" he said and looked at me all puppy-dog-eyed. I grinned.

"Promise me you're done with that, cause I don't wanna come home one day and find you lying on the floor with a broken neck."

"I promise."

"Alright, never again it is then." We both smiled.

I showered and joined Jesse in bed.

The next morning we woke up almost at the same time.

"Good morning, handsome devil." I said.

"Morning, sexy beast."

I leaned down to kiss him, but he frowned and held me back.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I don't feel so good. I think I've caught a cold or something."

"Shit. So I can't kiss you?"

"No, not if you don't want me to infect you."

"Oh, I can't get sick or I might lose my jobs, I'm sorry."

"Otherwise you wouldn't care and you'd kiss me anyway?" he asked incredulous.

"Yes, of course, I'd rather be sick too than not be able to kiss you for a week or so."

"I love you." he said and stroked my chest.

"And boy, do I love you. You can stay in bed, I'll make you a nice, healthy breakfast. You'll be as good as new in no time, you'll see."

"Ok. But I think I'll move to the couch, so I can watch TV."

"Alright."

He took a pillow and a blanket and made himself comfortable on the couch while I prepared his breakfast. I cut up some fruits and squeezed fresh orange juice, but when I brought it over to him, he frowned at me.

"That's it? Just stupid fucking fruits? I want something sweet." he said.

"Sugar destroys vitamins, so nothing sweet for you till you're well again."

"I won't eat this shit."

"Please Jesse, the faster you beat this, the sooner we can kiss each other again."

"Fine." he said annoyed, took the plate and started to shove pieces of fruit in his mouth. He barely chewed and a minute later everything was gone. Next he grabbed the orange juice and downed it in one go.

"Yack!" he said and contorted his face with disgust.

"You're like a fucking child." I said laughing.

"Fuck you. I just hate fruits. And why wouldn't I? I'm not a fucking monkey."

"You could learn a thing or two from a monkey." I said grinning and gently poked his belly. He giggled and pushed my hand away.

"Stop it or I'll eat a banana seductively, to drive you crazy." I laughed.

"I'd be fine with that, at least you'd eat something healthy."

"Are you saying that you wouldn't care, cause now that I'm sick, you're not attracted to me anymore?"

"No, of course I am. You could be all sweaty, pale and sniffly and you'd still be the most attractive guy in the world to me."

"Good. And you better be nice to me, cause this is your fault, you know?"

"How is this my fault?"

"I only got the haircut to look presentable for you. And my hair was still a little damp when I came out of there, so that's probably where I caught the fucking cold."

"I appreciate that and I'll take extra good care of you, I promise."

"I hope so."

We stayed on the couch the whole morning and watched TV. Around noon I made us a salad. He wasn't very happy about that, but he reluctantly ate it anyway. Afterwards I went to work and when I came back at night, there was a note on the door to our room that said 'I have a fever, so it might be better if you would sleep in the guest room. I made the bed and left you fresh clothes. Love. Jesse'. I showered and went to bed.

In the morning I checked on him first thing, but he was still asleep, so I waited for a while. He looked like shit, which worried me. When he finally woke up, his eyes were puffy, like he hadn't slept all night.

"Hey, how are you?" I asked concerned.

"I feel totally wretched. Like I had died and then was resuscitated after I had already started to decompose or something."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"I'm thirsty."

"I'll get you some fresh orange juice."

"No, water."

"Alright."

I brought him a glass of water and he drank it very slowly, like even swallowing was exhausting to him. When he was done, I took the glass from him and he laid his head back on the pillow. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily.

"Have you seen a doctor yet?" I asked.

"No, it was already too late when I started to feel really bad yesterday evening."

"Then you should go right after breakfast, I'll even come with you, if you want." He frowned.

"Are you fucking blind? Can't you see that I'm too fucking weak to go anywhere?" he said annoyed.

"I'll call your doctor then and ask him to come by later. Where do you keep his number?"

"In my cell, under 'Doc'."

"I don't know how to use that."

"Oh yeah, I forgot, if it's not something you can bench-press, you don't know what to do with it...Just bring me the fucking phone and I'll call him myself."

I brought him his cell and then went to the kitchen. I prepared a plate with cut fruits again and returned to our bedroom. When he saw me, he propped himself up on his elbows. I put down the plate in front of him on the bed and he immediately glared at me.

"I'm not eating this garbage. Get this shit out of here, right now." he snapped.

"Come on, it's good for you, just eat a few pieces, please?"

"Are you deaf or something?"

"Do you wanna get better or not?"

"Fuck you!" he said angrily, took the plate and threw it on the floor. I sighed, got on my knees and picked everything up. When I was done, I started to walk out of the room.

"Dom?" he suddenly said shakily. I turned around and he looked at me with the saddest expression. It broke my heart to see him like that. I quickly put down the plate, got on the bed and took him in my arms. He buried his face in my chest and started to cry.

"I'm so sorry." he whimpered through my shirt.

"It's alright, I know you feel like shit, it's not your fault. I'm here for you. I love you." That only made it worse, he cried for maybe half an hour and then he was so exhausted that he fell asleep right in my arms. I carefully put him down on the pillow and covered him up.

I thought for a minute and then went to his computer and turned it on. It wasn't easy, but I eventually found what I was looking for, a recipe for chicken soup. I copied it on a piece of paper and shut down the computer. Next I went to the living room and called my bosses. It took some negotiating, but I managed to get 2 days off from both of my jobs. I checked on Jesse and then headed out to the store. When I came back, about 45 minutes later, he was still asleep, so I started to make the chicken soup. It was a lot of work and I put in as much vegetables as possible. After almost 1 hour of cutting shit up and constant stirring, it was finally done. I was very surprised when I tasted it, it was really fucking good. I was a little proud of myself, I mean, I had never cooked anything this elaborate before, so I was afraid I'd fuck it up, but I didn't. I just hoped that Jesse would like it too.

I watched TV for a while and around noon I decided to wake him up, so he could eat something. I took a bowl with hot soup, went to our room, sat down on the edge of the bed and gently shook him awake. When he opened his eyes, he looked at me guiltily, so I smiled at him reassuringly and he grinned back shyly.

"Hi. I made chicken soup. Please don't throw it on the floor." I said.

"I won't, but I'm not hungry."

"Just try some, please?"

"Ok."

He sat up, leaned against me and I handed him the bowl. He tasted a spoon full and frowned at me.

"What the fuck? You made this?"

"Yeah, I know, I'm a genius."

"I'd say so. I couldn't have made this any better myself. Where did you even get the recipe for this?"

"The internet."

"Get the fuck out. You are a genius. On which site did you find it?"

"Google."

"I know, but where did you go from there?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure it started with 'www', does that help ?" He giggled.

"Please don't make me laugh, it hurts when I do that."

"Alright, sorry. Hey, I managed to get 2 days off, so I can take care of you."

"Please don't make me wanna kiss you, it hurts when I can't do that." I laughed.

"I know exactly how you feel."

"I can't get this down, I'm sorry."

"Please try. If you'll finish the whole bowl, you might get a donut, with chocolate." I said the last part teasingly.

"I thought sugar destroys vitamins."

"That's why there has to be more soup than donut in your belly."

"Fine, I'll try."

He started to sluggishly eat the soup again. After he had finished half the bowl, he put it down.

"It's not worth it." he said weakly.

"I've bought multivitamin juice for you, if you drink half a bottle, you'll get the donut anyway."

"Maybe later, ok?"

"But you have to drink as much as possible."

"Fine, bring me the fucking bottle." he said, gave me the bowl and lay back down.

"When's the doctor coming?"

"Around 3."

"Good."

I brought him the bottle and he barely drank a quarter, but I didn't press it. He fell asleep shortly after, so I watched TV. Around 2 I heard him calling for me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"The doctor's coming soon and I'm all sweaty and gross." he said sadly.

"You're not gross, but how about you take a long, hot bath and I'll change the linen in the meantime?"

"Ok. Will you help me?"

"Of course."

"Do you still find me attractive?" he asked quietly, without looking at me.

"Totally, I fondled you earlier when you were asleep and it was arousing as hell."

"That's nice." he said grinning a little.

I let in the bath and when it was ready I took him in my arms, carried him to the bathroom and helped him out of his clothes and into the tub. I quickly changed the linen and then returned to the bathroom, where I sat down next to the tub and kept him company. Half an hour later he had fallen asleep, so I woke him, dried him off and carried him back to the bed. He was exhausted, so he fell back to sleep after a minute.

The doctor came by around 3, examined him and wrote him a prescription. I went to the pharmacy right away to get his medicine and when I came back, he was awake, but looked awful.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" I asked.

"What kind of stupid fucking question is that? I'm just dandy, can't you fucking tell?"

"You'll get through this. Just hang in there." I said reassuringly and reached out to touch him. He quickly grabbed my hand and pressed it against his chest.

"I missed you so much last night." he said sadly.

"I missed you too."

"I'm really sorry I'm like this, I don't handle being sick very well."

"There's no need to apologize, I understand. I just hate seeing you this miserable and not being able to do anything about it. And I wanna kiss you so badly, you have no idea."

"Really?"

"Of course. When you're back on your feet again, I'm gonna eat you the fuck alive."

"I'd like that." he said and grinned a little.

"I've brought you your meds, you better take them right away."

"Ok."

I handed him the pills and the bottle of juice and he swallowed two of them.

"Could you stay with me for a while? I don't wanna be alone." he said.

"Sure. How about I get in bed with you? As long as you don't breathe directly at me, it should be fine."

"That would be nice."

I lay down next to him and he cuddled himself against me.

"Dom, in case I die, I want you to have my 'iTunes'-collection."

"You're not gonna die Jesse."

"I might. So listen, my account-name is 'JesseW0717' and my password is...'Penis69', with a capital 'P', ok? Can you remember that?" I laughed.

"'69', huh?"

"Focus!"

"Yeah, I can remember that. What does the 'W' stand for?"

"Warner, my last name."

"I didn't know that."

"What's yours?"

"Kirkland."

"When's your birthday?"

"July 30th. Yours is July 17th, right?"

"Yeah."

We just lay there in silence for a while and I gently stroked his back till he fell asleep again.

When he woke up a couple of hours later, he felt a little better and even ate almost an entire bowl of soup. Afterwards I helped him to the couch and we watched a movie together. He was too tired to finish it, so we both went to bed early.

The next morning I made oatmeal with banana-slices, like my mother used to make it for me and my brother when we were little. Jesse wasn't too pleased though.

"What the fuck is this? Did you swallow all the ingredients and then throw up into the pot?" he asked.

"Eat it you fucking brat, it's delicious." I said grinning.

"It's probably more 'delicious' coming back out of me than it is going in."

"Don't make me get the funnel."

"Abuse! Where's my Taser?" he said and quickly sat up, but immediately moaned, pressed his eyes shut and held his head.

"Take it easy. You can Taser me when you're feeling better."

He lay back down and sighed.

"I want coffee."

"Coffee dehydrates the body and you don't drink enough as it is. Just have some orange juice."

"Are you trying to make me more miserable than I already am? Cause it's working."

"You're gonna thank me in a few days. Now eat the fucking oatmeal"

"No, even the toilet wouldn't get this down."

"You know, if I wouldn't have a sense of humor, I would've murdered you by now."

"I thought that's what you're trying to do with this garbage."

"Alright, I give up, don't eat it, more for me." I took the bowl and headed out.

"Please stay." he said quietly and looked down.

"Sure." I sat back down on the bed.

"You're not mad, are you?" he asked unsurely.

"No, you're feeling bad, so it's fine."

"Really, really bad."

"I know."

I kept him company for a while and then watched TV while he was taking a nap.

I checked on him 2 hours later. He was awake and when he saw me, he smiled brightly.

"Hey, are you feeling better?" I asked surprised.

"Yeah, I took half the bottle of pills I got from the doc and now I feel all happy and warm inside."

"Are you fucking insane? That's dangerous." I said frowning deeply.

"Relax, I know what I'm doing."

"That's even worse. What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"I just wanted to feel good for a while, what's the big deal?"

"Do I really have to explain that to you?"

"Calm down, I googled how much I could take, it's perfectly safe."

"It's not fucking safe and even if it were, how do you think this makes me feel? You're choosing a couple of pills over me to comfort you. I mean, I'm doing the best I can here, but I guess that's not good enough for you. And it's not the first time you got high or drunk, what the fuck does that say about us?"

"No, Dom, it's not like that. I wasn't even thinking about it. It's just something I do. I didn't know it bothers you this much. I'll stop, I'll stay sober from now on, I swear." he said wide-eyed. I looked down and sighed. "Please, you have to believe me." he added.

"Alright."

"I'm sorry, ok?"

"It's fine."

"It's not, so what can I do to make it up to you?"

"You could eat and drink more." He picked up the of multivitamin juice that was standing by the bed and downed it in one go.

"There. Now where's that delicious mush you made earlier? I'm hungry." he said a little out of breath and smiled at me. I grinned, went to the kitchen and brought him a fresh bowl of oatmeal and a new bottle of multivitamin juice. He took the bowl and wolfed it down.

"Mmh, so good. I can't wait for lunch." he said smiling and I laughed.

"There's still some left, you know?" He turned serious and raised his eyebrows.

"Oh...How much?...Cause I'll eat all of it, no problem." he said hesitantly and I laughed.

"Don't worry, I'm just fucking with you." He sighed in relief.

"Thank god, cause I would've thrown up for sure...Not that your oatmeal isn't great, it's so great, I'm just full, you know?"

"I know."

"Are you still upset with me?"

"I guess not."

"I wanna be close to you, please?"

"Of course." I got in bed with him and he cuddled himself against me.

"Dom?"

"Yes?"

"You make me happier than I ever thought I could be, ok?"

"Really?"

"Yes and I'm sorry that you thought you're not enough for me. You're all I'll ever need, I swear."

"I feel the same way about you. And I'm sorry too that I was so hard on you before, I guess you're not the only one who gets insecure sometimes." He giggled.

"You said 'hard-on'."

"What the fuck did the doctor prescribe you?"

"Painkillers, the good kind."

"But now you don't have enough pills left."

"I still have regular one's, I'll just take two at a time of those instead."

"If you say so."

We stayed quiet for a while. He was stroking my chest and I his back.

"Dom, are you frustrated that we can't have sex?" he suddenly asked.

"No, in a way I'm even kind of glad." He frowned.

"Why?"

"I thought it was very special what we did last time, so I'm happy to wait for it to happen again for as long as it takes, cause it's worth it. I mean, you're not frustrated that it's only Christmas once a year, right? And the anticipation is part of the fun, at least in my opinion."

"Well, if you put it like that...then I'm glad too."

"See?"

"I love you, you know?"

"Me too, fluffy puff." He giggled.

"Fluffy puff? What the fuck?"

"You don't like it? It's your new nickname."

"No, I don't."

"Well, you'll get used to it." He giggled again.

"Dom!"

"Yes, fluffy puff?"

"Stop it or I'll start calling you 'Poopsy'."

"Knock yourself out."

"You know, when I'll get my gun, defying me like that won't fly anymore, so you better start learning how to stitch up bullet wounds."

"I'd say I'll visit you in prison, but you're gonna be too busy getting gang raped." He giggled.

"That's really fucking crude Dom, even by my standards."

"I've learned from the best, or more accurately, from the worst."

"Hey, I'm not that bad."

"Compared to Hitler maybe."

"Why are you so mean to me today? Is it getting harder to suppress the 'roid rage'?"

"No, I just thought I should stop treating you with kid gloves, cause it only makes you feel more fragile."

"That actually makes sense."

"Don't sound so surprised, I'm not that dumb."

"Yes, you are, I'm still impressed when you manage to tie your own shoes."

"Only because you've never learned how to do that yourself, I mean, why would you? You don't need shoes, when you wanna go outside, you just turn into a bat." He laughed.

"I'm not too weak to punch you in the junk, you know?"

"I bet even on your best day your punches would feel like a butterfly is kissing me."

"You're a dick. You could probably kill me with your flat hand."

"Don't put ideas into my head." He giggled and then there was a pause.

"Dom?" he asked after a minute or 2.

"Yes?"

"Thank you for staying home with me." he said sincerely.

"There's no place I'd rather be...Well, maybe the zoo." He giggled.

"You can't go to the zoo. They'd think you're an escaped animal and shoot you."

"I'd say that's more likely to happen when I'm with you."

"No, you just have to obey my every command and you'll be fine."

"Sounds reasonable."

"Sounds reasonable, sir!" I laughed.

"I wonder if I could tickle the evil out of you."

"No! Help! Police!" he yelled at the top of his lungs and then coughed.

"Shut up, the neighbors might hear you." I said laughing.

"That's the idea."

"And what would you tell the cops if they'd show up? That your boyfriend threatened to tickle you?" He giggled.

"No, I'd tell them that you're a drug dealer and that you have 2 pounds of heroin stashed in your butt. A thorough cavity search should teach you not to fuck with me."

"That's just lovely. I can't say it enough, I'm a lucky, lucky guy." He raised his head and looked at me.

"You know I'm kidding, don't you? The neighbors moved out a couple of days ago."

"Aww, no cavity search? Bummer." He giggled.

"I'd offer to do it for you, but I'm not going anywhere near your back door, it's probably really big and hairy and just totally nasty."

"It is, if you'd grow a beard and then pucker your lips, your mouth would be the mirror image of my asshole." He laughed.

"Eww, now I'll have nightmares."

"That's nothing compared to the horrors I witness at night, like when you fart me awake and I see you hovering a couple of feet above the bed, mumbling stuff backwards." He laughed really hard.

"That's enough out of you, my stomach is starting to hurt from all the laughing."

"As you wish, sir."

"There you go. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks."

"Woof!" He giggled.

"Dom, stop trying to be funny!"

"I can't help it, I'm a hoot."

"No, you're a brute and I wish you were mute."

"And you're cute, including a nice poop chute and a beautiful meat flute." He giggled.

"You always have to one-up me, don't you?"

"If I wouldn't keep cutting you down a little, you'd become so full of yourself that you'd start referring to yourself in the third person."

"And why wouldn't Jesse? Compared to you, Jesse is like a hot Albert Einstein." I laughed.

"More like a hot 'Chucky the murderdoll'." He laughed.

"Fuck you...Well, at least we both agree that I'm hot."

"Sizzling."

"Can we please be serious now?"

"Alright, what do you wanna talk about?"

"I don't care as long as it doesn't make me laugh."

"Are you looking forward to the new semester?"

"Not really, I'll probably be bored most of the time, cause I'm already way ahead of the curriculum."

"I didn't know you study so much."

"What did you think I'm doing while you're at work?"

"Longingly staring at my picture and playing with yourself?" He laughed.

"No, I only look at your picture when I get tired and then say to myself 'that could be you if you don't study', that always scares me so much that I go right back to work." I didn't respond and after a few seconds he lifted his head and looked at me guiltily. "That was a stupid thing to say, I'm sorry." he said.

"Don't sweat it, it was funny."

"I actually do look at your picture to motivate me."

"That's...great." I said a little annoyed.

"No, listen, I look at it and then I picture all the stuff I wanna buy for you. Like a home gym for example, where you're only allowed to work out in your underwear. Or a bicycle that you're only allowed to ride in extremely tight cycling shorts."

"That's sweet. And I'm kind of jealous, cause I'll have to completely rely on my wits to con you into getting undressed. There'll probably be a lot of break ins while you're in the shower and for some strange reason only your clothes will get stolen." He giggled.

"But I always take a pair of fresh clothes with me to the bathroom and even if I'd forget to bring any, why couldn't I just wear something of yours? Also, why wouldn't you just join me in the shower, so you could see me naked?"

"So much for relying on my wits."

"Yeah, you're screwed."

"Well, maybe the heater will break and it'll be so hot that you'll have to walk around in your underwear."

"You'd have to break the air conditioner too and that could get pretty expensive to repair, so that's not a great plan either."

"Sleeping pills, they don't cost a lot and I could slip you some and then, when you're asleep, I'll undress you and prop you up on the couch. I like you better when you're unconscious anyway and the only down side would be that I couldn't see your eyes, but I could just tape them open."

"Now you're thinking." We both laughed.

We kept joking around for maybe 2 hours, but then the painkillers wore off and Jesse crashed. I woke him up regularly to eat or drink and later that day he joined me on the couch again, to watch TV.

Thankfully he already felt much better in the morning and assured me that he'd be fine taking care of himself while I was gone, so I didn't feel too guilty when I had to leave for work.

Over the next few days I held him in my arms a lot, we talked and just enjoyed each other's company without having to make out constantly. It was a nice chance of pace and it proved that what we had was more than just physical attraction. We were actually good friends and that gave me hope that we'd be together for a very long time.