Chapter 2 Past
The day was a miserable wash of gray; the sky wept a fine, icy drizzle that slicked the pavement.
A damp, earthy smell clung to everything, even inside.
Ry shivered on his way to lunch. He was meeting Lon and Brand, as usual.
Ry had befriended Brand last year, after he’d stood up to Ry’s anti-gay bullies.
Since then, the three of them—Lon, Brand, and Ry—ate lunch together.
Brand had recently befriended Alex through the fencing team.
Today, Alex approached them at lunch. Ry nearly choked, a cough wracking his chest. Alex seemed to glow brighter than the fluorescent lights; a warmth spread through Ry, a strange, electric feeling tingling his fingers.
Alex’s short-cropped dark hair sat atop a frame of solid muscle.
Even though it was cold, he wore a plain tee and jeans that hugged every curve.
“Hey,” he said, addressing Ry. These were the first words he’d spoken to him. Ever. “Mind if I join?”
“S-sure.” Ry couldn’t believe he’d even been able to speak.
Lon laughed, brushing his long blond hair out of his eyes. “Yeah, I’m not telling a mountain he can’t hang out with us.” He went back to fidgeting with his camera.
“Alexander,” Brand said, gesturing to the empty seat next to him. “Good to see you. Didn’t think you’d stop by.”
“Thanks for helping me out with that calculus problem.” Alex slid onto the bench, though he barely fit at the table.
“I’m glad I could help,” Brand said.
Ry’s face burned, a fiery blush creeping up his neck as his heart hammered a frantic rhythm against his ribs.
Ry had subjected Brand and Lon to a barrage of half-romantic, half-lustful thoughts fixating on “that junior guy,” now sitting at their table.
Relief washed over Ry that Brand sat opposite, not Alex.
Ry snapped back to himself, the shock receding.
He was a politician’s son; he could handle this. At least he should be able to.
“I’m Ry,” he said, holding out his hand. Alexander took it and shook it twice. He had a firm grip, and his hands, warm and dry, made Ry feel tingly.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Alex.” He gave Ry a dazzling smile of perfect white teeth that stole his breath. He could stare at that angular face and brilliant green eyes all day and be happy.
He heard a giggle next to him. Definitely Lon. Brand had more self-control than that, though Ry could see a twinkle of mirth in his eyes.
“Lon.” His skinny friend held out a hand to Alex. Lon’s checkerboard sweater knocked into Ry’s drink, but Alex deftly caught it before it fell over.
The can looked comically small in his large hands. As Alex passed over the soda, their fingers brushed, Alex’s lingering touch sparking a silent moment before they separated. Ry fidgeted with his utensils for a moment, concentrating on lunch. A nervous quiet settled over the group.
“You’re Royce’s kid, right?” Alex asked after devouring his food. “I’ve seen you around.”
“Yup, that’s my dad.” Ry sighed. Well, this was turning out just perfect. Already asked about his dad, a sore subject for any teen. “One reason I hang with these two. They don’t give a shit about him.”
“I never judge people by their parents.” Alex laughed. “Just on who they are as a person.” Then he winked at Ry. Cheeky bastard!
?
Over the next few weeks, Alex’s other teammates and friends joined them for lunch in ones and twos, until their table had become the popular kid’s table.
From social outcasts to the top of the pyramid gave Ry whiplash.
Not only were the other students nicer to him, but the teachers and faculty were too.
After a month, Alex even started hanging out with them after school.
Ry was the primary host: the biggest house and no parental oversight, with his dad away for work and his mom long since a memory.
Normally, Brand would drive the group around since he, Alex, and Lon lived relatively near each other.
But Alex had a car too, and tonight, he’d come separately.
Both Lon and Brand left to go home for dinner, but Alex lingered.
Ry didn’t give it much thought, but a knot twisted in his stomach.
A fresh wave of longing washed over him: the crush he had at the beginning of the year had only deepened.
Alex was not only attractive, intelligent, and charming, but most importantly, a decent human.
“So, I don’t have to be home for a while.” Alex picked up a book and thumbed through it. “Don’t really want to go home anyway.”
“Fight with dad?” Ry hesitated in the doorway, Alex’s scent of cedar and lemongrass lingering in the air.
“Yeah.” Alex sat on the desk chair, leaning his arms against the back. He watched Ry, his gaze a silent testament to his pain and fury.
Ry flopped onto his bed, trying to think of what to say. “Damn.”
“Change of subject: what do you want to do?” Alex fidgeted with the book in his hands. “Movie? TV? Music?”
Ry glanced at Alex, swiveling back and forth on the desk chair. “Or we could play a video game or something?” At least with a game, he could forget about his crush being in the same room with him. Alone.
“You and Lon are the gamers. Not me.”
“Even Brand will jump in now and then,” Ry said, his attempt at persuasion feeble.
Alex shrugged. “How about a movie? Since you didn’t decide.”
“Okay,” Ry said, his palms sweating. “Um, then we gotta head back downstairs. My dad doesn’t think it’s a good thing to have a TV in one’s bedroom.”
Alex stood up. “So, let’s go.”
“Alright, alright.” Ry rolled over and stretched, trying to prolong the moment where he’d be hyperconscious of Alex.
“Too slow!” And then Alex swooped down, slung Ry over his shoulder, and carried him out of the room.
Ry squeaked and tried not to blush, but failed.
The only saving grace was that Alex couldn’t see him and Ry had a fantastic view of Alex’s rear.
Why didn’t I kick him out? This is gonna be the worst night ever.
“You know I have legs that work,” Ry said, repeating what he said every time Alex picked him up.
“Yeah, didn’t look like you were going to use them though, so I helped.”
“Helped?” Ry fell limp. “Well, I’m not gonna argue.” Even as he spoke, his mind whirled with thoughts and his heart raced. Alex set him down in the living room. The room smelled of stale popcorn from the last movie night.
“Since you were so indecisive about getting out of bed, you pick the movie.”
“Ugh,” Ry said, still disoriented. “Any direction on what genre?”
“Explosions? Fighting? Something cool?”
Ry surveyed the shelves in the back of the room. “You couldn’t have said foreign film? Those are all my dad watches.” Cool. Explosions. What kind of movie? Then he found something that they hadn’t already watched dozens of times.
“James Bond?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, those movies are cool.”
So Ry started the film, then sat at the far end of the couch, figuring it was the right move. Hanging out with Alex one-on-one left him feeling a nervous flutter in his chest.
“Hey what are you doing all the way over there? I mean, I get it when it’s all of us, but I swear I took a shower today.” Alex even sniffed to double-check.
“Uh, well, this is my usual seat, and that’s your usual seat.”
“So? How am I supposed to talk shit without talking over the movie?”
Ry awkwardly laughed. “Okay, okay.”
He settled beside Alex, the heat from his body a palpable wave. On the couch, the surrounding space emphasized their closeness, a stark difference from being crammed into the backseat of a car or squeezed into a diner booth.
As the movie played, Ry relaxed, the gentle rumble of the speakers lulling him as he rested his head on Alex’s shoulder. Which he’d also done a lot of, too. Ry felt Alex wanted him to just be himself, not a stressed-out mess. He had to try for Alex’s sake.
After a good twenty minutes in, Alex wiggled around and poked Ry a few times.
“Hey, scooch over. I wanna get comfy and lie down. Got the shoes off, don’t worry.” And then Alex’s legs were over Ry’s.
“Come on, lie down too.”
And Ry didn’t know why, but he knew if he lay down with his head at the other armrest, it would have been unacceptable.
So he lay on top of Alex, his head barely reaching Alex’s chest. He had to admit, it felt amazing.
He could feel Alex’s breath, could feel his body, rock hard under him, and tried to stop thinking about that.
But that was impossible.
Ry couldn’t pay attention to the movie no matter how much he wanted to or thought he should. It was noise that he tried to concentrate on, but Alex was right there, and by god he wanted to do so much right now. He briefly wondered if this might be the definition of torture.
“You sure you’re comfortable?” Ry mumbled. “I mean, I’m not that heavy, but I’m not that skinny.”
Alex grunted. “Yup. I’m fine.” And then Alex wrapped an arm around him.
There was absolutely nothing he could do about his boner. It just popped up. Right into Alex’s thigh, and it was super uncomfortable. Ry had to pull a stealth adjustment. There was no way that Alex couldn’t feel it unless his whole damn leg was numb.
Ry tried to will it away, but it remained, throbbing.
He turned beet red, thankful that Alex couldn’t see his face.
He opened his mouth twice, but the words caught in his throat, and the heat of his embarrassment made him falter.
Alex remained still and quiet, as if unaware.
Then, an explosion came on the screen, and Ry jumped.
“Scared?” Alex said.
“No, just startled.” Ry sat up, trying to move lower, using the jump as an excuse to extricate himself from the embarrassing situation.
“Where are you going?” Alex also sat up and stretched.
“I don’t know. It’s just weird?” Ry avoided looking at Alex.
“Weird?”
Ry’s face burned. “I mean, how could you not feel it?”
“Oh, that?” Alex laughed, waving away Ry’s concern. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”