Desert Dropping - 17. Decision

If I wanted to be with him?

In this very moment, it was questionable. I wanted to tell Aaron to go fuck himself, and then go make sure Luke was okay; but, I also wanted to beg him not to do this. I guess the bottom line was, I liked Aaron. I wanted to get to know him. I wanted to see where this new relationship was leading--and I wanted him to be able to drive me home every once in a while. Because as much as I hated it at the moment, he had a point. Luke already knew about us, and I couldn’t expect him to be happy about it. If I really thought about it, it wasn’t fair to Aaron if I ran off after everyone that didn’t like the idea of us. It wasn’t fair that I couldn’t see him because I was afraid of people knowing that I was seeing him. It wasn’t fair to him that I couldn’t even stick up for him when someone, even Luke, referred to him as shithead. It wasn’t fair to him, that I was ashamed to be seen with him.

Holy shit, I was Eddie

.

It suddenly made sense to me, why the situation between Eddie and Jase made me uncomfortable. I was guilty of the same thing that Eddie was guilty of. Like father, like son, I guess. Someone kill me now. The way I handled my relationship with Aaron, was wrong. But, in some ways, I didn’t see any other alternatives. Maybe that just made me an asshole. Still, it also felt wrong not to go after Luke.

I pulled my hand from Aaron’s, suddenly feeling incredibly torn. I wished that I could just explain to him what I was feeling; make him understand. But, anything I had to say, didn’t seem right, either. He was asking to let him drive me home. To actually be with him. How the hell was I supposed to explain to him that I didn’t know how to do that?

"You know what?" Aaron said, frowning, when I didn’t say anything. "Just go, okay?"

"Aaron, come on, this is stupid," I insisted. "We already knew it would be hard to see each other, right? I mean, you’ve pointed it out. I live with these people. I can’t just..."

"It’s not like I’m asking you to tell everyone," he argued. "I’m asking you to let Luke be mad. He’s going to be, anyway, and it’s not like you can’t talk to him later. Why do I have to be the one to wait, Rory? Sometimes it seems like I’m the only one doing any of the work here; so, you came down here with Luke, but you wanted to see me, otherwise you’d still be over there with him. For just once, can you act like you actually want to be with me?"

I let out a breath, still not knowing what to do. I guess it was a matter of what was more important to me. Only, thinking of it like that made me feel like I had to choose between Aaron and Luke--and that wasn’t really something I knew how to do, either. I closed my eyes for a brief moment, deciding that for now, I was going to just have to go with my gut.

"I do want to be with you," I replied, taking another step away from Aaron. "And I still want to see you on Tuesday. But I live with Luke, Aaron. I can’t just let him be mad. I’m sorry."

"So it’s okay for you to ask me to stay away from my friend, but you can’t even tell yours that you’re with me?" he said somewhat heatedly.

"What?"

"Seth. That’s what you want, right? You want me to ditch him because the two of you can’t get along."

"That’s different. Luke isn’t telling me not to see you, Aaron."

"He might as well be, if he’s getting you to chase after him every time he gets pissed!"

"Aaron, I came here with him. I have to..."

"And when are you ever going to come here with me?" he cut me off.

"On Tuesday, we can..."

"It’s not enough. You’re here now, Rory. If you need to go talk to Luke, fine, then go talk to him. Make him feel better. But tell him that I’ll take you home."

Oh, so now I could go talk to Luke

? Was he actually trying to compromise with me? I guess compromise was better than nothing. I took a few moments, wondering what would happen if I told Luke that I was going home with Aaron. I didn’t see a good outcome in the scenario. But, at least that way I could talk to him. And, it would make Aaron happy. At least, it would be my way of showing him that I did want to be with him. Hell, maybe doing this would be like saying that we weren’t just experimenting with each other. Maybe it would be like saying that we had an actual relationship, that he was my boyfriend. Maybe that’s all he wanted. But what did I want? I guess for all intents and purposes, I just wanted to have my cake and eat it too.

"I’m going to go talk to Luke," I said after several long moments of staring at the unwavering expression on Aaron’s face.

"What are you going to tell him?"

"I don’t know."

"Are you coming back?"

"I don’t know." It was as honest as I could get.

What was I thinking? There was no way I could explain things to Luke. At least, I sure as hell didn’t want to with all his friends there. At least Seth and his truck had disappeared, along with Angela. But, that still left everyone else. Fuck Aaron for putting me in this position.

Honestly, I wanted to understand where he was coming from, and I guess in some ways, I could. But still, to ask me to do this--now--was a lot. I wasn’t exactly out to anyone except for Luke and Dave. And while maybe coming out wasn’t a huge deal there, it didn’t seem fair that I couldn’t do it on my own terms. I felt like coming out was exactly what I’d be doing, if I was forced to explain that I wanted to hang out with Aaron with everyone there to hear it. And then there was the fact that Aaron seemed to be asking me to go get my ass kicked that didn’t seem to sit well with me. I’d already experienced Dave’s reaction to me having anything to do with Aaron. I doubted that the rest of Luke’s friends would treat the situation any differently. I was seriously beginning to wonder if going out with Aaron Keslin was worth all this.

Luke was getting into his car with Dave by the time I reached them, and he didn’t exactly make things easier on me; in fact, he hardly looked at me as he spoke in my general direction.

"We’re going back to Dave’s now, Rory."

He probably expected me to get in. I didn’t move, I just stood there, staring at him through the window. I probably paled considerably in the process. I needed to talk to him; I knew that, I just hated that it was like this. I wished that he would have been more open to a conversation earlier. Maybe then, this moment wouldn’t have me feeling like such shit.

"Luke." My voice came out so softly that even I had trouble hearing it. "Luke," I tried again. This time he looked at me, but he definitely wasn’t smiling. I opened my mouth, to ask him if we could talk, but suddenly I seemed to be having trouble getting any words out at all. Instead of saying anything to him, I ended up avoiding his eyes; suddenly feeling guilty, but unable to determine what it was I felt guilty about. I mean, it wasn’t like there was anything I should feel guilty for. So Luke didn’t like who I was dating. Why should I feel sorry about that? It wasn’t like I was asking Luke to date Aaron. Why did he have to make me feel guilty? Why did any of them have to make me feel guilty? For a brief moment, I decided that they were both jerks, but the feeling faded when I abruptly realized that Luke was getting out of the jeep. For a moment I didn’t understand why he was getting out and defensively took a step back. Meeting his eyes stopped me again, however, as one look told me everything I needed to know. Luke knew we needed to talk, and apparently, we were going to. Luke’s hand on my shoulder as he led me away from the cars was relieving, and as I forced myself to face him it came to mind that I didn’t really care that everyone was watching us anymore.

"What’s wrong, Rory?" Luke asked, sounding a little impatient. For a moment, I could only stare in response. Was that a real question? What’s wrong? Was he asking me that? I didn’t stand there for too long, finding the question peculiar. As Luke seemed to become increasingly impatient I found myself trying to think, trying to figure out exactly what I wanted to say to him. "Look, if you’re worried about what I saw..."

"I am," I abruptly cut him off, and then took in a deep breath as I collected my thoughts and forced myself to look him in the eye. "I don’t just like Aaron. I’ve been seeing him." Luke openly frowned and placed his hands in his pockets as his shoulders seemed to stiffen, but I forced myself to continue. "I know you don’t like it..."

"Rory..."

"But you’re, like, the only friend I have here. I can’t choose between you. Please don’t make me."

"Can we just get in the car? Please? Dave..."

"Aaron wants to drive me home."

The look I got from Luke after that announcement, suggested that I was about to get an argument. This made me nervous. Really nervous. But, after a moment of clenching and unclenching his jaw, he just shrugged.

"Fine. What are you going to tell Eddie and Jase?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don’t tell them Aaron brought you home," he replied, sounding annoyed now. "Do you have your phone?"

"Luke..."

"Do you have it?"

"No," I admitted. I really wasn’t very good at keeping track of that thing.

"Come here," Luke ordered, and turned back towards his jeep. I frowned and followed him, wondering what he was up to.

"What’s going on?" Dave asked from the passenger seat when Luke opened the door.

"Will you grab me a pen?" Luke asked him. "Look in the door next to you."

Dave, looking confused, did as he was asked, and a moment later he was handing Luke a pen, and Luke was startling me, roughly grabbing my wrist and scribbling a number on my forearm.

"Call me when you’re ready to go home," Luke stated. "I’ll meet you there, or if you need me to come get you, just call me."

I frowned again as he got in his car and closed the door.

"What’s going on?" Dave asked again, but he didn’t get a response and Luke turned towards my confused face again.

"Luke, wait..." I insisted, not feeling at all good about this.

"I’ll see you at home," he said shortly. And then, he was gone.

....................................

I found Aaron exactly where I’d left him; only now, he was sitting in the grass alone with his elbows on his knees, his back to me, looking none too happy. Well, fuck that. He’d better be happy, because I sure as hell wasn’t. True, things could have gone worse with Luke. A lot worse. And as strange as it might sound, I think it bothered me that things didn’t go worse. Luke was pissed. He didn’t have to say so for me to know it, either. But I think what bothered me, was that he didn’t say it. It was almost like he wanted to ignore it, and something about that didn’t sit right with me. Part of me knew that it was probably better this way, that he was making things easy. It wasn’t like an in-depth conversation with Luke would help anything. He wasn’t going to change his mind about Aaron, and he was never going to like that I was with Aaron. But, I still wished that he’d talk to me. That he’d say something.

I tried to push the thought of Luke out of my mind for the time being, as I took a seat next to Aaron, who actually looked surprised to see me when his eyes snapped in my direction. It surprised me, that he actually looked as glum as I felt. I didn’t understand that. After all, he’d gotten his way. This was what he wanted.

"You should have just gone with him," Aaron finally said, after minutes of uncomfortable silence. The look I flashed him for that was resentful at best.

"Well I didn’t," I retorted, unable to keep the hot tone from my voice. "So just... shut up and be happy about it."

Aaron narrowed his eyes at me, but didn’t shout back.

"I didn’t want you to be mad at me," he said calmly.

"Well what the fuck did you expect?" I demanded. "Look, I know it sucks only being able to see each other every other day, but if you wanted to talk about it you could have picked a better time. I came here with Luke; yes, I wanted to see you, but not so you could make me choose between you!"

"I’m not," Aaron said quickly.

"That’s what it feels like. Fuck, I thought you understood... I mean, it’s not exactly easy for me, either."

"I know that," he replied.

"Then why..."

"I don’t know!" he blurted. "I saw the look on your face when Luke saw us and I just didn’t want you to go, okay? Do you like him or something?"

Silence.

"What?" I demanded, when the question finally caught up to me.

"Do you like him?" Aaron repeated, very clearly. The question wasn’t that hard to miss. Unfortunately, it was the answer I was having trouble with.

"No," I finally managed to get out, after what seemed like an eternity of Aaron glaring at me. "We’re friends. We live together... I like you," I added for good measure.

This was not a conversation I’d expected to have today.

"I wouldn’t blame you if you did," Aaron replied. "I mean, I’ve been there, I see the appeal." Yeah, so? There was appeal. It wasn’t like I hadn’t noticed, but that didn’t mean anything. I was attracted to Luke. Who wouldn’t be? "I know what he’s like, Rory. He’d do anything to make his friends happy. People like him for a reason." True, true. Luke taking it upon himself to sleep on my bedroom floor that morning because he wanted to make sure I was going to be okay came to mind--and our walk last night. He was a good friend. A great friend. Maybe that’s why it bothered me so much, knowing that I was doing something that made him unhappy. "He’s got a lot more going for him than I do; and yeah, you live with him. He’s right there, all the time." Sometimes naked. "And it’s not like I don’t know what everyone you’re living with says about me. Lately I keep thinking that sooner or later it’s going to catch up to you. How do I compete with that?"

My thoughts abruptly turned from Luke to Aaron, and once again I found myself feeling guilty over how things were with him. Just like Eddie. Maybe I’d known that I was ashamed to be seen with Aaron before, all because everyone I knew had something bad to say about him, but now I knew that Aaron was feeling it. Just like Jase. And there I was, suddenly questioning the feelings I had for Luke, while Aaron was busy trying to tell me how he was feeling. I was ashamed alright. Of myself.

I took in a breath and turned towards Aaron, knowing that I was supposed to say... something. But, I started with reaching for his hand, an act that resulted in his eyes meeting mine. He still didn’t look happy. But, he did seem to relax as his fingers closed over mine.

"It’s not a competition, Aaron. Listen, it’s just... I have a hard enough time living in that house most of the time. I’ve got the rest of the summer to deal with, and I don’t want to add any more...."

"Drama?" he offered.

"Yeah. I mean, I get what happened between you and Luke is in the past--but not for him. Or Jase, or Eddie, apparently. It doesn’t exactly make it easy to tell them about..."

"I’m not asking you to tell them. I don’t even want you to, but with Luke..."

"He already knows, I know that. I’m sorry if I make you feel like I don’t want to be with you. I do, things are just... look, it doesn’t matter to me what anyone says about you. And, nothing’s going to catch up to me. Luke’s my friend, you’re... I like you. Shit, wasn’t it you who wanted to leave it at, I like you and you like me? It doesn’t really work if all we do is fight."

"We’re not fighting now," Aaron replied, pulling my hand into his lap as he shifted closer to me, anjd I regarded him skeptically. It sure felt like we were fighting. That’s what it meant if he accused me of liking another guy, right? But still, as he leaned towards me and placed a kiss over the corner of my mouth, I found myself leaning into him, more interested in the affection he was offering than continuing this conversation. Maybe whatever argument we were having was stupid, anyway. I was with Aaron. He knew that now. I stayed.

I closed my eyes, as his lips moved more efficiently over mine and fell into a familiar pattern of pressing my tongue back against his as it slid into my mouth. Kissing was good. Things were good when we were kissing. It was a good distraction from wondering why Aaron thought I was interested in Luke. I mean, did it seem obvious? No. It wouldn’t. I cared about Luke, but that was because he was my friend. That’s what we were, friends. It didn’t matter that I liked him, anyway, because nothing would happen between us. Okay, so maybe I did like him a little bit. But, I already knew that. I’d known it since my first night there. It really didn’t matter, though. We were just friends, and it would stay that way because it would be impossible to explore anything else. Not only was Luke not interested in me, it would only complicate our living arrangements. Besides, I was with Aaron, and I liked Aaron, too. I was attracted to him, and I liked kissing him; and when I wasn’t frustrated as hell with him I could actually talk to him, and he could, on occasion, make me smile. I made the right decision, staying, giving him the thing he asked for.

I was with Aaron

. Kissing him, and repeating that thought to myself seemed to send a small thrill through me. I really did like him. I found myself lifting a hand to cup the back of his neck, wanting to bring him closer to me. Unfortunately, when Aaron lifted his own hand to remove the ballcap from my head, obviously wanting it out of the way, his hand brushed over a sore spot on my face and I abruptly flinched away from him.

"Sorry," Aaron said quickly.

"It’s alright," I replied as he sheepishly held up the hat before gently placing it in my lap, and as I stared at the thing I’d been hiding under all day, I suddenly found myself shaking my head and smiling slightly.

"What?" Aaron asked, obviously not understanding why I was so amused.

"Nothing," I replied, leaning into him as he rested his hand on my knee and I gingerly touched the bruise over my eye. At least, it was nothing I needed to say out loud. I was just wondering how a stupid baseball cap could get in his way after dating Seth Fisher.

.................................................

There was something different about the time I spent with Aaron that day. As we sat in our own private area of the park for what felt like a few hours, he talked to me. I think it occurred to me then, that Aaron rarely ever talked to me, not since the first night I met him and we hit things off. I found myself wondering why that was. He knew just about everything that had happened to me since I’d been there, but I hardly knew anything about him--other than the things other people told me, or the few things I’d learned from just being around him. I wondered why that was. Of course, I couldn’t help thinking that Aaron liked making out more than talking, but I guess it also could have been because he was usually too busy dealing with me and what I had to say to tell me anything about himself. But regardless, I found myself listening to him as he spoke to me in the park, and enjoying it.

It started out when Aaron brought up Tuesday, asking if I still wanted to get together. When I couldn’t think of any reason to tell him no, he’d suggested that we could hang out at his house for a while, and then go back to the water park later if we felt like it. Of course, going back to Aaron’s house had brought up concerns about Cody, who I definitely wasn’t very fond off. Aaron seemed less concerned, suggesting that it wasn’t a big deal, and twenty bucks would buy us privacy. That didn’t sit well with me either, and I told him so. I also asked why he let the little shit get away with it, and I was surprised to discover that while Aaron would have preferred to not be blackmailed on a regular basis, he really didn’t see a problem with the way his brother treated him. He figured the way he got in a good gut shot once a week pretty much made them even. I was also surprised to learn, that despite Cody’s bratty attitude, they didn’t mind each other all that much. Cody held Aaron’s sexuality over his head, but Aaron insisted that his brother didn’t really have a problem with it, as long as he wasn’t watching it. His parents, Aaron explained, were a different story.

"It’s not like they’re seriously homophobic," he explained. "I mean, my dad has a gay supervisor at work, and he doesn’t mind it because the guy’s a good boss. He doesn’t care that he’s gay, but he wouldn’t want him over for dinner, you know what I mean?"

"No," I replied, frowning. I guess I was new to this sort of thing. The way I saw it, you either liked someone, or you didn’t, regardless of their sexuality.

Aaron sighed and shook his head.

"If I tell you something... I mean, I’ve never told anyone this before, not even Luke, and before we split, I pretty much told him everything, only this..."

I found myself leaning forward, suddenly interested. Sure, part of me understood that Aaron was asking me specifically not to repeat something to Luke, and that made me a little uncomfortable, but Luke didn’t want to talk about Aaron, anyway.

"What?" I asked.

"Well, when me and Luke were younger, my parents pretty much thought we were best friends, you know? And that was it. We were neighbors, but since my parents are always working, they never really got to know you guys’... family. My mom talked to Jase every once in a while when Luke and I got in trouble--or when I got us into trouble," Aaron said sheepishly. "She knew they were cousins, and my parents sort of thought Eddie was just another family member, not... well, you know."

"Okay..."

"Anyway, I didn’t tell them any differently. It made me sort of nervous, you know, and it was never an issue for Luke because he hardly talked to my parents, not even when he came over. He was pretty much just there for me. But then, about a month before that whole car thing happened, my dad sort of saw Eddie and Jase... together."

"Oh."

"He totally freaked out, said he didn’t want me over there anymore. He said as long as they kept it to themselves it was no big deal, but he didn’t want me in that environment, and he was pretty disgusted that they were raising Luke, you know? My mom wasn’t so bad. I mentioned Luke losing his mom to her, and she sort of had a soft spot for that, so she went to talk to Jase, to see if he needed any help. She figured it was okay for them to have Luke so long as, you know, they didn’t do anything around him. Little did she know what Luke and I were already doing. Anyway, when she talked to Jase, he sort of already knew about me and Luke. I guess he knew that I wasn’t out to my family, but he didn’t see why Luke wouldn’t be. I mean, Luke wasn’t out, but he didn’t exactly hide it from people he was close to, and since he was over at my place all the time, so..."

"Jase outed Luke to your mom?" I asked in disbelief.

"He didn’t know he was doing anything wrong," Aaron replied, shrugging. "My mom was even nice about it--to his face. But, when she came home and told my dad they both started ranting about how living with Jase and Eddie must have turned him that way, and they didn’t want me over there at all anymore--and, they told me to stay away from Luke, but, it’s not like I wasn’t good at breaking the rules already."

"How could Luke not know this?" I asked.

"I stopped inviting him over," Aaron responded, as if it were obvious. "I mean, he started to get weird about it at first, wondering what was up, but that was also about the time I started fucking around on him so he probably wasn’t as concerned with why I wasn’t inviting him over--or why I never let my parents see me with him. Fuck, when that whole car thing happened, I freaked out. I got in more trouble for being with Luke than being in a stolen vehicle."

"Did you steal it?" I suddenly asked. This was a topic Aaron hardly ever let me breech before. He always promised that we could talk about it, but I’d noticed that it never actually happened.

Aaron looked away momentarily and gave a little shrug that looked guilty to me, and while I think I’d always believed that he had, I found myself disappointed. "The guy who I was screwing around with..."

"Behind Luke’s back," I added, feeling annoyed, but flashed an apologetic look at him when he threw an accusing expression in my direction. I wasn’t supposed to judge him.

"This guy sort of did most of the work," Aaron responded. "But, I was there, and it doesn’t change what I did."

"So why don’t you change what you did?" I asked. It seemed like a fair question.

"What do you mean?" Aaron asked cautiously.

"I mean, tell the truth. Go to the cops or something and tell them what really happened."

"Right, and get arrested?" Aaron asked incredulously. "Do you have any idea how much that would fuck things up for me? My parents were totally pissed I was with Luke. They think he persuaded me to go with him; if I tell them that it was me they’re going to want to know why I was with the gay neighbor."

"So? He couldn’t just be your friend?"

"You don’t understand, Rory. That night, my parents spent hours asking me if Luke had ever touching me inappropriately, and then they started asking the same questions--only about Jase and Eddie. They even took me to a counselor who tried to convince me they did something to me."

"Are you fucking serious?" I asked, the situation suddenly becoming more frightening. Although, in the back of my mind I wondered what Aaron’s parents’ being crazy had to do with Aaron’s ability to clear Luke’s name. But, the thought passed, because I was more interested in what he was saying now.

"I mean, I convinced them that nothing happened. I bring a girl around every once in a while to keep them thinking I’m straight as an arrow. It works. But you know what sucks? I think without all that, I might have been able to tell them the truth one day. They probably wouldn’t have liked it, but they wouldn’t go straight to thinking a bunch of perverts made me this way. I think it’s the idea of gay men having kids that freaks them out. You know, if you ever meet them I couldn’t tell them you’re a part of that family."

"Yeah," I agreed, while I wondered what the hell made Aaron think I’d want to meet his parents.

"How come you never told Luke any of this?" I asked, and I got another small shrug from him.

"Back then, Luke was always really sensitive; and, it’s not like I wasn’t enough of a jerk to him. I was also kind of embarrassed about the way my parents thought. After the car thing, it just seemed... unnecessary. My parents dropped the issue after a while, and it just seemed stupid to bring it back up."

I guess I could see that. I didn’t even want to imagine Jase and Eddie’s reactions if they ever found out that this had been going on. I hadn’t even had any involvement and I found the whole thing disturbing. It definitely made me think twice about ever going to Aaron’s house again. Hopefully he’d understand that when I worked up the nerve to tell him. I didn’t see why not, it wasn’t like he was very comfortable around my residence, either.

I tried asking Aaron if he’d ever consider telling Luke. It probably wouldn’t fix anything, but maybe it would give Luke a better idea of what had happened. But, Aaron seemed to be through with the topic by then, and changed the subject before I could think to persuade him not to. He brought up going to the water park again, and that brought us back to remembering our first encounter there. I found myself able to laugh at it now, as Aaron explained the various looks on my face when he’d surprised me that day, and as he talked, I found myself recalling more of the feelings that I’d had afterwards, the excitement of being kissed for the first time, the nervousness, and wondering if Aaron was what I needed to learn more about people like me. Things had definitely changed since then, but what hadn’t, I realized, as we spent another good half hour making out after our talk, was that I was still interested in exploring parts of this new world with Aaron.

...............................................................

Maybe it was because I’d woken up so late, but the day seemed to disappear, and before I knew it, the sun was setting and Aaron was saying that he needed to get home because he’d already skipped dinner and he should check in. He didn’t argue with me when I told him that I needed to call Luke before I went home, he even brought me to the nearest payphone and helped me make out the number on my arm because some of the ink had sweated off. I hardly got past Luke’s name before he cut me off and said he’d meet me at home in twenty minutes. He was definitely still pissed. I wondered if we’d talk about it when we got home, and thinking about it dampened my mood--that is, until Aaron took to kissing me again for five minutes before we left the park. I think it was his way of reassuring me that I’d made the right decision.

Dave was no longer with Luke when Aaron pulled up next to his jeep, just out of view from the house. I noticed Luke and Aaron exchange a look that I couldn’t read, and it didn’t make me feel comfortable in the least. Luke didn’t even wait for me to get out of the car. I was there, so he continued to drive until he he’d pulled into the garage.

After a quick goodbye to Aaron and a promise to call him later, I was walking to catch up to him. He didn’t say a word to me when we entered the house, but smiled genuinely when we found Eddie and Jase together in the living room. They weren’t doing anything gross, as Luke put it, but they did look comfortable on the sofa, close enough for their shoulders to be touching. I felt bad when they scolded Luke for keeping me out all day because Eddie was still worried about my concussion, but Luke didn’t seem to mind it, and after I convinced them I was feeling fine, they told us dinner was wrapped up in the refrigerator. Luke took his meal down to his room, only exchanging pleasantries with me when he asked if I could pass him a fork, and I ended up eating alone at the table, wondering how to approach Luke. I tried after I ate, but by the time I knocked on his door, he was on the phone with Dave, and pretty much kept the phone tied up for the rest of the night. I found my cell phone and attempted to call Aaron using it, but apparently, you’re supposed to keep those things charged if you want them to work properly. I passed out before I ever called him.

...........................................................................

Monday was a slow day. Everyone went to work, although Eddie nearly stayed home when he caught me taking an aspirin for a headache, but it was just a headache. The swelling around had gone down considerably overnight, and I was beginning to feel better about it. What I didn’t feel better about, was Luke, who I hadn’t even seen that morning. I made a note to myself to corner him later and try to talk to him. If there was anything I couldn’t stand, it was the sudden rift between us.

I called Aaron that morning to apologize for not calling him the night before, but he was occupied with Alex and didn’t even remember I was supposed to call. He asked if he should call before he came over the following day, but I saw no reason why he should have to and we agreed to meet around eleven in the morning before he hung up and I spent the rest of the day being as lazy as possible, except for when I let Chey out when she pawed at the door, and the thirty-minute swim I took later that afternoon. By the time it was time for Luke to come home, I was ready for him. At least, I was ready to ambush him and insist that we talk. But, I never got the chance to ambush Luke. I was surprised when he got home and actually sought me out. Only, it wasn’t to talk about Aaron.

I was about to go up the basement stairs in search of Luke after I heard the garage close, just as he came down the stairs with Chey on his heels, looking excited that he was home.

"Hey," Luke said, smiling at me. Smiling at me. It didn’t look like a fake smile, either. I stepped aside as he moved quickly down the stairs, pulling his dusty shirt off in the process. "Has Eddie or Jase been here yet?"

"No," I replied, but didn’t have much of a chance to say anything else as he passed by me. I found myself following quickly because he was still talking.

"I wonder if they’re going to be late," Luke continued as he unbuttoned his jeans and let them fall down his hips, revealing grey boxers that happened to be mine. I found myself regarding his underwear--my underwear--curiously as they clung to Luke’s butt while his pants continued to fall to his knees, at which point he stopped in front of me and bent over to continue untying his shoes. My eyes were obviously on his ass, where my underwear was. Why was he wearing my underwear? "This morning they were talking about going on a date or something--arguing, actually--Eddie’s worried that he’s not spending enough time with you."

"Huh?" I responded, lifting my eyes to his as he abruptly stepped out of his jeans and turned to face me. I wondered if I should ask him about my underwear. I decided against it. They probably got mixed up in the wash, and I decided that I didn’t mind him wearing them. It was as close as I’d ever get to touching Luke, anyway. I frowned and shook away the thought. It was probably thoughts like that, that made Aaron think I was interested in Luke.

"He feels guilty about hitting you," Luke replied, tapping his own eye to indicate my injury. "I think he’s under the impression that he’s supposed to be with you all the time until it goes away, but he hasn’t been doing that."

"I don’t want him doing that," I said quickly.

"I know," Luke responded, beginning to laugh as he hooked his fingers in the boxers and began to pull them down as he moved into his room. I got just a peek at the cleft of his ass before he stepped out of the hall and out of sight. I figured those boxers were coming off, so I stayed where I was. "It was actually kind of funny this morning," Luke explained from within his bedroom. " Eddie was complaining to Jase that he hadn’t even had you for a month and he already broke you; then, Jase had to explain that you weren’t a new toy and you were fine without Mother Eddie all over the place. Eddie didn’t like that. They’ve definitely made up, though, otherwise Jase wouldn’t be trying to get him to go on a date--I hope they go, you know?" Luke suddenly stepped out of his room, coming face to face with me, and of course, without a stitch of clothing on him. It wasn’t the first time, but now that we were both gay I found it more necessary than ever to keep my eyes on his face. Of course, that required control, something I never had much of, and as always, I found my eyes awkwardly glancing down his chest, which was covered with dust that had likely seeped through his t-shirt while he was outside sweating. I didn’t manage to meet his eyes again before mine met the golden curls beneath his abdomen, and by then my mouth had gone a little dry. Luke, as always, was unfazed and lost in his own thoughts. "I was hoping that if they went out tonight I could get the guys over here so we can make a list for Rick’s party. We haven’t done anything for it yet--hey, can you call Dave while I jump in the shower? My phone’s in my pocket," he explained, kicking at the discarded jeans on the floor as I moved against the wall so he could pass me. "You’ll find the number in there. Ask him to come over."

"Um... sure," I responded, glancing towards Luke again as he and his bare ass disappeared into the bathroom.

I stood there for a full minute before I knelt down to dig the phone out of his jeans, and once I had it, I went to sit in the living room with it; but I didn’t rush to figure out how the device worked, or find Dave’s number. Instead, I found myself trying to clear my head. I’d definitely been paying way too much attention to Luke’s body, and not enough attention to Luke. He was talking to me, smiling at me, treating me as if yesterday had never even happened. Maybe I should have been grateful for that, but instead it worried me. I wondered if it was all an act. What happened the day before had to have been bothering him. Only, if it was, I didn’t see it.

I’m not sure how long I sat there, wondering if I should approach the subject of Aaron myself, but it didn’t seem to be that long before Luke reemerged from the bathroom, this time dripping from his shower and holding a towel around his waist. He spotted me on the sofa and smiled again as he headed over. I looked for any signs that it might be forced, but found none.

"Did you find it?" he asked.

"Um, not yet... hey, Luke, I wanted to talk about..."

"That’s okay," he replied, still cheerily, as if he hadn’t heard my request to talk at all. "I’ll call him." He took the phone from me and I frowned as he turned and headed back towards his room to dress. "Hey, you should pick out a movie or something; if Jase and Eddie go out, I’ll get the guys over here and we can order pizza or something."

Jase and Eddie didn’t go out, but Luke got Dave, Brian, and Rick over to the house, anyway. Jase did order a pizza, and then chaos seemed to break out in the kitchen as Jase and Eddie continuously reminded everyone of their house rules while Rick insisted that he was old enough for strippers. Luke finally got him off the idea by insisting that any strippers would be male--something he got warning looks from both Jase and Eddie for--and everyone finally seemed to be able to contribute to a list of things such as food, drink, and music, which Eddie and Jase found appropriate. I heard Rick whispering to Luke about adding certain people to the invite list who would likely supply drinks of an entirely different kind, and was a little surprised when Luke didn’t object to that.

I didn’t contribute much to the party talk. I was too preoccupied with the fact that Luke was treating me just as he always did, and there was nothing fake about it. In fact, besides thinking that we still needed to talk, his small smiles in my direction and the way he asked for my opinions every now and then was putting me at ease. It almost had me believing that nothing at all was wrong. I wondered if that was how it was supposed to be. Maybe it was Luke’s way of saying that everything was fine between us. He didn’t like that I was with Aaron, but he could live with it--and things between us didn’t have to change. It was a nice thought, one I refused to dismiss.

Dave, on the other hand, was back to giving me strange looks. They were more curious than angry, though. Everyone else seemed completely oblivious. I guess they were. At some point during the night, I found Jase and Eddie on either side of me, telling me about every birthday party Luke had had since he’d been with them, from the time he had to run from a girl who tried to kiss him all night to the time he threw up on a clown after eating too much ice cream. Eddie insisted that the clown was asking for it, and Jase explained that the clown was actually a very nice man named Joe who worked part time as a janitor at his office. I found myself laughing with them a few times, noticing that things seemed relaxed in a way that I wasn’t exactly used to around here. I guess that meant that things were beginning to go back to normal since I’d first arrived. I didn’t tell them, but I liked it, and all and all, it wasn’t a terrible evening.

That night, I thought about talking to Luke about more serious issues again. But, when he asked if I wanted to watch a movie before bed, I found myself relaxing instead, accepting the fact that as far as he was concerned, the matter was closed, so I relaxed, and decided to let it go. I wondered if this peace with him would last.

............................

When Aaron showed up at the house on Tuesday, ten minutes before eleven, I was in a good mood. A really good mood, actually. I’m not really sure where it came from. Maybe it was the relaxed atmosphere from the night before, or that I’d convinced myself everything was, in fact, okay between Luke and me, or maybe it was just because ever since I’d woken up, the idea of spending the day out with Aaron was appealing to me. Of course, the last time we’d made plans to spend time together it had been appealing to me, too. If you took Seth out of the equation, I probably would have even had a good time. This time, things seemed promising. Any hostile feelings I might have had towards Aaron the day before seemed to be gone. I still didn’t like the position he’d placed me in, but all he’d wanted was an effort from me to be with him. He got it, and in return, he’d actually talked to me. I didn’t like everything I’d heard, but I was learning more about Aaron, and I hoped that there would be more of that today. It seemed promising when he showed up at the door wearing blue swim trunks with a fish print, a white t-shirt over them, flip-flops, a pair of dark sunglasses too big for his face, and a smile... which, happened to fade when he looked me over.

"I thought we were going to the water park," he said, lifting his sunglasses, probably so he could take a better look at my jean shorts, which his eyes were currently aimed at.

"We are," I replied, hooking my thumb into my pants to pull them down enough for him to see I was dressed appropriately beneath in trunks, not boxers. I smiled at him when I pushed Chey aside as she tried to get out the door, likely to maul Aaron, and I lifted a pile of towels. I decided that I wanted to be prepared today, and that meant I had my phone in my pocket, too. Aaron took the towels and led the way to his car after I managed to close Chey in the house. She’d just have to deal with being alone today.

"We’re not stopping anywhere first, are we?" I asked, remembering his suggestion to hang out at his house for a while.

"Not unless you get the munchies," he responded. "Are you hungry?"

"Not really, I just ate breakfast."

"Good, ‘cause I don’t feel like stopping," he said, smiling.

He didn’t stop, either, and the ride to the park actually felt relaxing. Aaron started asking me what rides and slides I’d been on the last time I was there and after telling him what I remembered he began to concoct a list of everything that I had to go on this time. It didn’t take long before I got the feeling Aaron frequented this particular park. He even had a list of things to go on before we did eat anything--if we didn’t want to be sorry later, that is.

Even in the summer, the park didn’t seem all that crowded on a Tuesday morning. Aaron and I hardly had to wait in lines and I discovered that just like running around the park with Luke, running around it with Aaron was a lot of fun, too. Before noon even hit he took me to a slide I hadn’t been on before. I wish I would have paid better attention when he told me to hold onto my shorts, because as soon as my body was launched into the pool, my shorts ended up at my knees. Aaron found this all very amusing, especially when he saw a woman my grandmother’s age trying to get a better look.

Aaron talked me into going on the same ride that he first kissed me on. He kissed me again. It was better this time, and I told him so, something that had him dragging me on the ride again so he could repeat it. Something else happened that day, too. I held his hand. He reached for mine walking from one ride to another, and I took it, without really thinking. I didn’t think about it until after the fact, but I didn’t notice any strange reactions from the people around us; in fact, I didn’t really care if there were any reactions. Aaron was right, I could be myself here, and I sort of liked it. I actually found myself laughing, imagining the looks on the faces of the people I knew back home--Jason or Nathan, or anyone for that matter--if they would have seen me today.

Around two thirty we made it to the lockers to collect our belongings and head back home. According to my phone, no one had tried to call me, and I’d still have plenty of time to get home before anyone came home from work and started to wonder where I was, which is why I didn’t complain when Aaron stopped off for hamburgers on the way. We decided to take them to go, and as he drove he opened his mouth and leaned towards me, indicating he was ready for another french fry, which I happily popped into his mouth, laughing when his teeth caught my fingers.

"We’ll have to do that again," I mused, thinking back over the day. "It was fun."

Aaron glanced over at me, a small smile playing on his lips.

"See, not everything you do with me has to be a disaster."

"I never said it was," I responded.

"You never had to say it; it’s just kinda been that way, you know?"

"Not all the time," I insisted, and then rethought that. "Most of the time, but not all the time."

Aaron looked over at me, seeming disappointed that I agreed with him, true or not, but the smile I cracked had his own lip curling up.

"Hey," he said, suddenly sounding a bit more serious. "I’ve been thinking--about yesterday." I instantly frowned, not really wanting to revisit anything that happened the day before. We were having a good time, and I’d have to forbid anything that threatened to ruin it. But, Aaron surprised me. "I shouldn’t have made you do that."

"Huh?"

"Don’t get me wrong," he said quickly. "I meant it. I wanted to see more from you, you know, but I shouldn’t have told you like that. I just... didn’t want you to leave, and when I started thinking about you and Luke... I don’t know, it was stupid."

"It’s done now," I replied. "I mean, just don’t worry about it. I’m not mad anymore."

"No?"

"No," I insisted, and he gave me a small smile.

"So did you?" he asked.

"Did I what?"

"Work things out with Luke? I’ve been thinking about that; like, I know you were worried about it, and I’m just wondering if..."

"I’m okay with Luke," I replied. It wasn’t a lie. That’s what I’d decided.

"Yeah?" Aaron asked, although I don’t think there was anything skeptical in his voice.

"Yeah."

After a moment, Aaron smiled at me again and reached for my hand. I let him have it, and then with my free one, pushed another french fry into his mouth when he leaned towards me, opened his mouth, and indicated he wanted it.

.......................................................

"What are we doing here?" The question came out harder than I intended it to, and immediately tried to recover. "I mean, I thought you were taking me home."

It wasn’t that I was opposed to spending a little extra time with Aaron. Things were, in fact, going well.

However

, showing up at his house was not part of the bargain. What he’d told me about his parents, hadn’t gone ignored. It bothered me. A lot. Maybe it was in the past, as Aaron liked to call such things, but the thought of anyone accusing Eddie and Jase of being bad guys had me feeling oddly defensive; sort of like how I felt towards Jase, when I couldn’t figure out why he was angry with Eddie. True, I was guilty of calling them bad guys, at least Eddie. But, that was completely different. The things Aaron’s parents presumably did and said, really bothered me. I didn’t feel comfortable around them and I hadn’t even met them. There was something wrong with that.

"I said home...meaning my home," Aaron replied, looking as confused as I did, and I caught him glancing at the clock before he turned off his vehicle. "I thought you still had time."

"I do, it’s just..." I momentarily paused, feeling a little uncomfortable about being honest here, but placed any reservations aside as I remembered how easily Aaron explained how he wasn’t comfortable at the house I lived in. "I don’t want to meet your parents," I admitted, and when Aaron raised his brow at that, I went on to explain. "It’s just, what you told me about them yesterday... I don’t think it would be a good idea."

Aaron nodded, studying me for a moment before his mouth turned upwards, into a smile.

"Okay."

"Okay?" I repeated, unsure of what he meant.

"I understand, Rory. You don’t have to meet them, either. They’re not even here."

"What about your brother?"

"I’ll take care of him," Aaron replied, patting the pocket his wallet was in. I’m not sure I’d ever like the idea of him paying off his brother. It must have showed. "Hey, it’s no big deal, okay? We’ll just be in my room. I can lock the door, you know. I sort of thought you might want to... hang out somewhere private for a while." There was no mistaking the suggestiveness in his expression. I swallowed. Aaron and I had done a lot of making out lately, but he hadn’t tried literally getting into my pants since that first and only time that had left me feeling like shit afterwards. It wasn’t that I wasn’t interested in another experience, it was remembering those awkward feelings that had me hesitating; not to mention the idea of going into Aaron’s house again. "Do you? Want to?" he asked.

I searched him for signs that said telling him no would start an argument. I didn’t see any. After yesterday, that surprised me, even if he had sorta-kinda apologized for how things happened.

"I have to go home soon," I replied. Why couldn’t I just tell him I didn’t want to go in?

"I know. I’ll get you there in time. Come on."

He got out of the car, and I released a breath before following. I guess the situation wasn’t so bad. His parents weren’t home, and hopefully, if I saw Cody at all, it would only be for a few seconds before I was in Aaron’s room. Aaron’s room. Alright, in all honesty, that could have been the very reason why I wasn’t flat out telling him no. The moment he’d mentioned being somewhere private, my imagination, and probably my hormones, too, went a little rampant. After the last time we’d been in his room, yeah, I was a little nervous about feeling like shit afterwards if we had a repeat of those events. But, those feelings I’d had before were based on a misunderstanding. If anything, I should have been embarrassed by my lack of participation in the whole thing. But, in my defense, all of this was new to me, and before, I had no idea what I was doing. It’s not like I’d woken up that morning knowing that Aaron’s hand would end up down my pants. Nervous or not, I wanted a second chance. Of course I wanted a second chance; it was sexual gratification we were talking about here. Of course, this time, I was more interested in Aaron’s than my own. I had to be, especially when he thought that last time I wasn’t interested in touching him. And there would be touching. The way that Aaron was suddenly glancing over at me every few moments from under lowered lashes told me that much. I found myself smiling back at him, until the first person we ran into upon entering his house was Cody, that is.

I found myself uncharacteristically puffing up my chest behind Aaron in an attempt to look intimidating, as he faced off with his brother, who happened to have his other, more acceptable brother, Alex, in his arms. Aaron smiled at Alex and pinched his nose, making him laugh, but his features went cold when he looked at Cody. I was finding it difficult to believe that these two liked each other at all.

"We’ll be in my room," Aaron said flatly. "Don’t bother us."

"Like I’d want to get anywhere near your room," Cody returned, looking every bit as cold as Aaron. Aaron moved past him and I followed, feeling a little surprised, and pleased, when there was no pay off this time. At least, until Cody called after us. "Just remember who gets your allowance on Friday!"

Aaron slid a hand behind his back and flipped Cody off without saying a word. I expected Aaron to be pissed when we reached his room and he closed the door. At least a little bit. I would have been. Hell, I was, not to mention uncomfortable. But, that all seemed to swim to the back of my eyes as Aaron turned; and then he was on me, his hands on my waist, drawing me towards him, and his mouth covering my lips, his tongue insistently pushing its way in before I could even catch up.

I moved my hands to hold onto his back. It seemed like my only option when he was suddenly pushing me backwards and I was at risk of losing my balance, especially with my feet getting tangled in the dirty clothes covering his floor. There were clothes on his bed, too, but that looked like clean, folded laundry. You couldn’t tell the difference, though, when Aaron and I fell sideways onto the mattress, facing each other, and the piles toppled over onto the floor. I found my arm trapped uncomfortably beneath my own weight and shifted closer to Aaron to rectify the problem as he suddenly tore his mouth from mine, only to latch onto my neck with it as his hand slipped up my shirt as if I weren’t even wearing one which caused me to jump when his thumb unexpectedly flicked over my nipple. He pulled back enough to smile at my reaction and then more gently leaned forward, assaulting my lips again until I opened for him and invited his tongue back into my mouth.

It occurred to me, that I never knew what to do with my hands in these situations. Aaron didn’t seem to have the same problem, the way he boldly had one hand moving over my chest, his fingers tracing my nipples in a way that had me shivering before he moved his palm downwards, below my belly button, slowly but effectively bringing my cock to full attention, tenting my shorts. His other hand was on my neck, lightly rubbing as he kissed me. I found myself simply holding onto his arms, trying to keep up with the way he was stimulating my body in various places. I needed to do more than that. I wanted to, but something about touching him seemed so intimidating. I couldn’t even stop my hand from shaking as I removed it from his arm and felt his chest through his t-shirt, letting my fingers roll over the firm contours in a deliberate yet hesitant way. Aaron leaned into my hand, welcoming the touch, which seemed to make it easier. I allowed myself to venture lower, feeling the way his abdomen flexed beneath my palm. Faster than expected, I came to the elastic band of the swim trunks he was still wearing, and found myself stopping there, unsure of how to proceed. Aaron, of course, didn’t hesitate as he suddenly pulled his hand from my chest and placed it over mine, and in a second’s time he’d pulled my hand deliberately, and directly, over the bulge in his shorts, the material thin enough that I could feel his shaft twitch against my fingers. For a moment I just sat there, with my hand over him, feeling frozen as I tried to figure out if he was advancing on me or if I was the one making the advance because it was my hand on his dick. I guess it didn’t matter, and when Aaron’s hand pressed mine more firmly against his shaft, I decided to take a hint and allowed my fingers to wrap around the head of the erect organ and as a result he released my hand and returned his to its work beneath my shirt as he lifted his hips towards me, pressing his cock pointedly into my hand. I squeezed lightly and Aaron’s hip lifted off the bed again and for a moment I could feel his body stiffen against mine; but it was a good reaction that had my own erection responding as a small jolt of excitement hit me.

As Aaron deepened the kiss, I found myself getting braver, moving my fingers upwards to hook in his shorts and I slowly navigated them down, over the head of his cock, until I could feel the hard, smooth head of his cock and took it against my hand, rubbing lightly and slightly wetting my palm with his small drips of pre-come. Aaron sighed, gripping the back of my neck to pull me closer, and overcame my more hesitant movements as I realized that I wanted to touch him in a way that felt good, and that part, I decided, shouldn’t be so hard to figure out, considering I already knew what I liked. I couldn’t be that hard to figure out what Aaron liked.

I pulled his boxers lower and slid my hand from the head of his erection, down his shaft, the soft skin following my fingertips downwards until I wrapped my hand around the base, feeling the coarse hair covering his balls brush against my small finger before I deliberately stroked upwards and then repeated the action, causing Aaron’s knee to lift, almost as if he intended to grant me better access. I continued the motion, rotating my fist every other stroke, lightening the pressure I was placing over his cock and then tightening my grip again, trying to figure out what he liked more. He was definitely more interested in a stronger grip, I decided when he began to thrust his hips lightly towards me, matching the movement of my hand.

I was enjoying this. Having a cock in my hand that wasn’t mine: definitely a turn on. I began to notice the differences. He had a little more in length than I did, and my ego hoped that was because I was a year younger. But, his shaft wasn’t quite as thick as mine, while the head was rounder, definitely thicker, and when Aaron was turned on, his cock seemed to provide a lot more lubricant. He was practically dripping and the substance was becoming sticky against my hand. But most of all, I think I enjoyed that he was enjoying it, and I decided that I was efficiently making up for the last time. That’s why I didn’t understand it when he suddenly pulled away from me.

"Okay," he said, as if he’d made a sudden decision, and I frowned, wondering if I’d gotten too carried away in my enjoyment to see that I’d done something he didn’t like. Aaron moved to his knees next to me and I lifted myself onto my elbows, staring at him curiously.

"What’s wrong?" I asked, a little afraid of the answer.

"Nothing," Aaron responded, and his smile reassured me, as did the way he suddenly pushed his shorts down and my eyes went directly to the thing I’d just been touching, long and hard and reddish in color, standing erect against his abdomen, nearly reaching his bellybutton and surrounded by a nest of curls, which were a shade darker than the hair on his head, I noticed. I felt my cock jumping just looking at him as he lifted his shirt so I could see more of his defined stomach, muscles flexing as his cock twitched. I watched as he wrapped his hand around the base of his own member and aimed it towards me. I took it as another hint and reached for him, moving my fingers over the head, but Aaron continued to advance, leaning forward until I realized that the engorged member I’d been admiring was coming right for my face.

I pulled my hand away and pushed myself up a little more, feeling alarmed by this sudden development. It’s not that I didn’t know what was happening, or what he meant to do. It was pretty easy to figure out because within moments the head of his cock was pressing against my lips. It wasn’t even that the idea of what was happening seemed unappealing to me. In fact, it was just another turn on. The problem was, that I had no idea what I was doing, and Aaron’s erection suddenly seemed bigger than it had a few moments ago, and a hell of a lot more intimidating.

Aaron was still smiling at me, his eyes having taken on a somewhat glossy look, and I found myself staring right back as his hand made its way to the back of my head, urging me forward. Feeling blindsided, but curious and turned on all the same, I parted my lips until I could feel that round, smooth head between them. I could taste the saltiness of him, and I was suddenly inhaling what could only be described as Aaron, and chlorine from the water park. It wasn’t unpleasant. I liked Aaron, and I liked swimming. He pressed forward more, and I lowered my jaw to accommodate, my eyes suddenly trained upwards on his as his erection moved into my mouth only an inch or so, coming up against my tongue as I looked to Aaron to make sure I was doing this right. There didn’t seem to be any complaints coming from him as he simply held his cock in my mouth until I finally made a move, deciding it was best to keep my teeth covered as I experimentally swirled my tongue around the round head currently in my mouth. But, I’m not sure why I bothered with experimenting at all. Aaron seemed to know exactly what he wanted, and as soon as my teeth were covered, he pressed further in before pulling out, and then repeating the process, slowly thrusting, but never moving in much further than the head.

I quickly became accustomed to the movement, and found myself sucking when he thrust forward, discovering that he liked it when I used my tongue. The second time I deliberately swirled it around the head, Aaron unexpectedly thrust harder, sliding halfway into my mouth. I gagged. I couldn’t help it. But, he didn’t seem to mind, and to my surprise, he continued thrusting, his hand on my head, holding me there. I gagged again and forced myself off my elbows to take hold of his bare, narrow hips, finding that I had better leverage and more control this way, and after a few moments of growing accustomed to more of him, it seemed easier. Aaron tried to push deeper again, but this time I held him back, not quite ready for it. Instead, I moved my hand forward, around the base of his cock and used it to compensate for what I couldn’t take into my mouth, allowing my hand to follow my mouth as I began a pattern of taking him in and then using my tongue as he pulled out. Aaron seemed satisfied enough with this and his fingers began to massage my head as I heard his breathing becoming more ragged above me, and every once in a while when I glanced upwards he’d mumble words of encouragement, and once, praise, even.

I was comfortable with the rhythm we developed, and just as it happened when my hand was on him, I found that I enjoyed this new experience, too. Between the taste, and his smell, and the way he rhythmically filled my mouth--but not to the point of gagging; the air I took through my nostrils became deeper, and when I looked up at Aaron and saw his eyes had rolled back and his teeth were practically piercing a hole in his bottom lip, I had the sudden urge to reach for myself, my own erection making its presence known as it throbbed beneath my shorts.

I risked taking my hand from his hip, and found that I still had leverage with my other hand being on his cock, so I moved my free hand to my jeans, urgently unsnapping the button and reaching in until I felt the head of my cock, or rather, the head of my cock felt my hand and twitched. I wrapped my fingers around myself and found that my hand moved most easily over my cock in the rhythm that Aaron was thrusting into my mouth. When he looked down and saw what I was doing I felt a moment of self-consciousness, but forgot all about it when he grinned at me.

I probably only got in three strokes with my own erection before both of Aaron’s hands suddenly gripped my head and pulled me forward. With my hand in my pants, any control I had was lost and I was forced to control my gag reflex as more of him slipped in. A moment later, I realized what was happening as more of his taste became potent against my tongue and he released himself into my mouth. I was mildly surprised by this at first. It was sort of like the same feeling I had when I saw his erection coming towards my face. I wasn’t at all disgusted--more curious and surprised. After a short moment of debating what to do, I swallowed, deciding that this part didn’t really come with options, his cock still being in my mouth. He slipped out a moment later, breathing heavily, and before I knew what was happening, I was on my back again, Aaron’s mouth on my face, over my cheeks, my chin, and then barely grazing my lips as he suddenly dislodged my own hand from my shorts and took over, his hand moving roughly around my cock in a way that made me gasp and grip his shoulders, and a few strokes later I was involuntarily lifting my knees as I spent myself into his hand.

I took a moment to catch my breath. My head felt like it was swimming, the way it always did after I came, but the process of coming back down seemed slower with Aaron’s weight over me. I moved my hands comfortably to his back and turned my head to meet his lips, but again, he only lightly brushed them with his own before kissing my forehead and moving off of me.

"Ready to go home now?" he asked.

The question took me off guard, and I found myself looking over at him, a little fearful that he was going to become detached, the way he had the last time.

"My parents will be home soon," he explained, and the explanation was enough to calm my rising nerves. So did the way he smiled at me and took my hand as I nodded, indicating that I was ready to go.

............................

I noticed two things as we left Aaron’s house and he took me home. The first, was that after he got off, it seemed that he didn’t like to fool around with any sort of cuddling. Before we left his room, when I touched his back, indicating that I was interested in some sort of closeness, I got a pat on the shoulder before he moved away from me. The second thing I realized, was that kissing was out, too. At least, kissing on the mouth. He did kiss my cheek a few times before we left his bedroom, and when he dropped me off at home, where I tried to wonder what the lack of intimacy meant. If it wasn’t for his upbeat attitude, the constant smiles, and his asking if I would call him later, I might have gotten the idea that he found something lacking in me, the way I had last time. The mixed signals confused me, and in all honesty, I was a little disappointed. I didn’t think I’d done that bad for my first blow job. I’d even say that I thought I could do better the next time. I looked forward to doing better the next time, and I wanted to be proud of myself. That was a little hard, though, when Aaron refused to kiss me. I decided to ignore it for now. Maybe he had reservations about kissing me because of where my mouth had just been. I guess I could understand that, only, it disappointed me again, making me wonder if Aaron had any interest in going down on me. I think it was a fair question. I’d done it for him, and it wasn’t like it was a chore or anything. And, I was a little curious about how it felt. What he did with his hand was good, but like any teenager with hormones, I wanted more than that. I wondered if that made me selfish. I decided that it didn’t. But, I also decided not to bring up any of these thoughts with Aaron just yet. I think the whole thing was new to us, and it would probably get better as we continued. Maybe next time, he’d even kiss me afterwards. I suppose I could hope.

In the meantime, I would just be happy about the experience. In fact, after he dropped me off and asked me to call him, and then made me promise, I felt kinda giddy, and found myself wondering how I could be better next time. For one, I figured that getting his whole dick in my mouth would be a start. As I showered, washing away the day’s activities, I idly wondered if there was anything in the refrigerator I could practice on. Then, I wondered if that would be weird. I wished that I could ask someone, someone like Luke. Luke, I decided, had to have some experience in this area. I mean, he was Luke. And, I sure as hell wasn’t going to bring it up with Jase or Eddie. Luke was definitely the one I’d be more comfortable with. Unfortunately, I knew that I couldn’t. If I started asking Luke and questions about the topic, it wouldn’t take much for him to figure out why I was asking, and if I was going to follow his lead, then that meant not giving him any information about Aaron and me, other than what was necessary.

I left the shower with a towel around my waist and checked the clock. Everyone would start getting home from work, I suspected. I began to wonder what I should do to occupy myself while waiting, and when I opened my drawer for some boxers and pulled out swim trunks instead, I made my shower void, deciding to go for a swim. I called Chey out with me, and as I did my laps, she circled the pool, barking every once in a while as if letting me know that she was there. I let my thoughts drift for a while, thinking about what we were having for dinner, and wondering if it would feel as relaxed as the night before. I wondered if anyone would ask what I did today. Probably, because Eddie always asked how my day went. I wondered what I’d tell him this time. I wondered if Luke planned on going out with his friends tonight. If he did, I’d probably be invited. He always asked me if I wanted to go. But, I sort of hoped he’d hang around the house. I kind of liked just hanging out in the basement with him. I wondered if I should wait for tonight to call Aaron, or if I should do it before anyone got home. That particular question only left me with one option when a flash of blond hair caught my eye, and the next thing I knew, Luke was cannonballing into the pool, and I was shielding myself with an arm as the water came splashing over me, and then smiling when he surfaced, laughing at my reaction.

"Fuck, you scared me," I remarked as he swam closer to me. "When did you get home?"

"Just now," he responded with a wide smile, splashing at me.

I glanced over to the side of the pool, where Luke had left his clothes in a pile and Chey was sniffing at them. I guess that meant he was swimming in his boxers this time.

"You’re in a good mood," I commented, and then smiled when he splashed playfully at me again.

"I know," he replied. "Ask me why."

"Why?" I half-laughed.

"Got a raise today," he explained happily. "Didn’t even see it coming, but I guess the whole trial period’s over, which means I’ve got a job for the rest of the summer."

"Congratulations," I responded, understanding that this seemed to be a big deal for him.

"Oh, and it means I can ask for a little more time off if I want it. Eddie and Jase kept talking about vacations, but I didn’t know if I could go; now, it’s like no problem." He splashed at me again and this time I splashed back, causing him to laugh.

"Good," I replied. "Any vacation would suck without you, anyway." And I totally meant that.

"Yeah, probably," he responded, looking a little self-satisfied, and I laughed at him as he splashed at me again, and again, I splashed back.

A moment later, plenty of water was being kicked up between us as Luke started a little war, but I got my feet up and drenched him to the point that he had to duck under the water. I fully expected more splashing when he came back. He surfaced right next to me, so close that all I had to do to prevent more of his splashing was get a good grip on his head and dunk him, and I probably would have, too, if it wasn’t for the sudden, steady flow of words coming out of his mouth.

"Okay; you’re better than him. He’s a jerk, and I don’t like that you’re with him," Luke said, and my smile instantly faded. I knew what he was talking about, I just hadn’t expected it. Hell, I hadn’t even brought it up, and I didn’t think in a million years that he would.

"Okay..." I said slowly, making my surprise over the abrupt subject change known.

"Maybe he’s different now, I don’t know. But, what I do know, is that when it comes down to it, Aaron only cares about himself, and I don’t want to see you get burned." I opened my mouth, feeling like I should say something, but Luke pushed a few wet curls off his forehead and continued before I could. "There. That’s me. That’s what I think, and it’s probably what I’ll always think. That doesn’t change anything between us, though, okay?" He paused, looking at me expectantly, but instead of saying anything, I found myself nodding. "But, if he does fuck with you, it’s probably going to give me the best reason I’ve had to kick his ass all year, so don’t get pissed when I do it."

My eyes went a little wide at Luke’s threat, but before I could respond at all, he’d slipped back under the water, leaving me feeling not only surprised, but completely confused, too. What he had to say wasn’t exactly what I wanted to hear, but I guess it was better than nothing. It didn’t change anything between us. That was the part I needed. And, I believed him, which is why when he came back up, splashing at me again, I smiled, lunged forward and dunked him, considering the matter closed.