18 comments/ 19584 views/ 30 favorites Not Weird By: singthegreys "Fuck." Jason gulped as he pulled up to the curb outside of the rented house he shared with his best friend Ryan. He'd been on edge all day. Today was the day that Ryan's little brother was moving in. Being a senior in high school, Nick still lived with his parents, but when a job prompted them to move back to the town that all three boys grew up in, Ryan suggested that Nick live with Jason and himself so he could finish up the semester without transferring. Jason was fine with the idea of Nick living with them. He'd always liked the kid. It was just that lately he was worried that he might like him a little too much... Jason and Ryan had been best friends since they were toddlers, before Nick was even born. So Ryan's little brother was the definition of off-limits-- and that was before you even consider the fact that he was five years younger than Jason and still in high school. And that was fine. Or at least it had been until Nick had been so unceremoniously pushed out of the little brother box in Jason's brain a few months back. Jason hadn't seen Nick since then and to be honest, he was kind of glad. The last thing he wanted was to do anything to mess up his relationship with Ryan and Jason had a feeling that lusting after Nick might fall somewhere in that category. But now, here was Nick, standing in the driveway, pulling boxes out of the back of a minivan. When Ryan brought up the idea of Nick moving in, Jason knew that his plan to simply avoid Nick until things cooled off needed amending, but seeing Nick actually moving in (and looking damn good while doing it) really hit home. Nick hadn't noticed Jason pull up and Jason took the opportunity to watch the boy momentarily. Nick was only a couple of inches shorter than Jason's own six feet. His brown, typical teenager skater-boy bangs clung to his forehead with sweat from the uncharacteristically warm late March weather. Jason felt his cock twitch as Nick lifted the bottom of his sleeveless t-shirt to wipe the sweat from his face, revealing the perfectly flat stomach and chest beneath. Jason drank in the nearly hairless torso, his eyes following the hint of a treasure trail down to where the waistband of Nick's boxers were visible above his basketball shorts. Nick let his shirt fall back into place and straightened visibly when he noticed Jason sitting in his car outside of the house. Jason tried rather unsuccessfully to look like he hadn't been staring. He quickly grabbed his jacket from the passenger seat and got out of the car. "Hey," Jason said, shutting the car door and walking toward the driveway. "How's it going?" Nick ran a hand through his hair, attempting to look less nervous than he felt. "Not too bad. I think my help ditched me, though." Jason almost breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Ryan call out from the side door that led from the kitchen to the driveway. "I didn't ditch you. I just needed a snack." He appeared in the doorway and punctuated his defense with an emphatic bite of sandwich. "Sure," Nick drawled, rolling his eyes. Ryan shoved Nick's shoulder and Nick mocked offense. "Jason, go put your stuff down and help us," Ryan said. "You're officially part of the Nick welcoming committee." He pushed a box of clothes into Jason's chest. Jason grabbed the box with a chuckle and headed inside. As he set the box down in Nick's new room, Jason gave a little sigh of relief. He wasn't quite sure why he had worked himself up so much. With Ryan around, it would be just like old times, Jason reassured himself. This wasn't going to be weird at all. Jason put his bag at the bottom of the stairs leading up to his room on the second floor and stepped back outside to find Nick and Ryan chatting while Ryan finished his snack. Ryan turned to Jason and said through his last mouthful of sandwich, "I was just saying that we should have a bit of a house-warming for Nick. Introduce him to our friends and stuff. The last time he was here was New Year's, wasn't it? And I don't think anyone has a real clear memory of that..." Ryan chuckled and turned his attention to the rest of Nick's belongings still in the car. Jason blanched as he was forcefully reminded of the admittedly quite hazy memories of New Years. His brain flooded with flashes of his tongue seeking entrance into Nick's mouth, his hands on the bare skin under Nick's shirt, and the uneasy look on Nick's face when he had pulled back to say something to Jason before walking away. Ryan had his back to Jason as he was trying to wrangle Nick's bike from the car, but Jason's reaction did not go unnoticed by Nick. Nick's face flushed red and he suddenly became fascinated by a small scratch on the back of his hand. Jason's stomach flopped with regret and maybe a bit of disappointment. He hated to think that he'd pressured Nick into something he hadn't wanted. Jason quickly busied himself helping Ryan to avoid whatever Nick might say or do. Nick watched the two older boys pull his bike from the back of the minivan he'd borrowed from his mom. He could feel his eyes start to sting and a lump was forming in his throat. "I, um, I'll, er... be right back," he stuttered before rushing inside to the downstairs bathroom he would now be sharing with his older brother and locking the door behind him. Nick should have known better. He did know better. But knowing that Jason didn't feel the same way about their kiss and seeing him react so strongly to even being reminded of it were two different things entirely. Nick leaned against the counter and splashed cool water on his face. Nick had known this was going to be weird. Living in the same house as the object of his unrequited attraction with his older brother there as watchdog sounded worse and worse the more Nick thought about it. He'd fantasized about that night and come to the memory of Jason's lips on his own and Jason's fingertips tracing the top of his jeans more times than he could count. Nick groaned, replaying the scene in his head for the umpteenth time, as if this time he'd figure out what he'd done wrong. It was New Years Eve and Ryan had invited Nick to the party he and Jason were throwing. Everyone was more than decently inebriated- everyone but Nick, that was. He'd had a drink or two, but the fact that his obsessive mother was coming to pick him up at 12:30 kept him from getting visibly intoxicated. It was nearing midnight and Nick had by that point resigned himself to the role of the loner in the corner. That was until a very drunk Jason spotted Nick and took it upon himself to make sure Nick was having a good time. "You need to drink more!" Jason announced over the blaring music after making his way through the throng of people dancing in his living room. "I can't. I'm leaving soon." Nick said dolefully. "Noooo! Don't leave! Drink!" Jason produced a full shot glass from seemingly nowhere and pushed it towards Nick. "Really, Jase. My mom's gonna know if I'm drunk." "Oh, fuck your mom. She's always hated me anyway. If you're drunk, you can just blame it on me and my terrible gay influence!" Jason raised his eyebrows and looked expectantly at Nick. Nick giggled at Jason's logic and accepted the shot with a roll of his eyes and a shake of his head. He drained the glass quickly and set it down on the table next to him. He tried to hide his shudder and cough from Jason, but he could feel Jason's eyes burning into him more than the alcohol was burning his throat. Jason looked Nick over like he'd never really seen him before and scrutinized his every move. The general noise around them increased, alerting them that midnight was only a minute away. Jason leaned into Nick to be heard. "You're cute when you drink." Nick blushed, the feeling of Jason's breath on his skin making him suddenly aware of how close Jason's body was to his own. Jason looked down into Nick's eyes before leaning back in to speak again. "Kiss me." "What?" Nick nearly shouted back, dumbfounded. "At midnight. Kiss me." Before Nick had a chance to protest, the countdown had begun and Jason was shouting along with the crowd. He yelled "Happy New Years!" to the room before turning back to Nick and pressing his lips to Nick's. In that instant, Nick felt stone sober and totally drunk at the same time. His mind went into overdrive while not producing a single coherent thought. The fact that Jason- the subject of nearly every fantasy and wet dream Nick had had since puberty- was kissing him had Nick nearly unhinged. Jason pulled back and met Nick's eyes. Jason smirked and Nick's eyes instinctively focused on Jason's lopsided smile. Before he knew what he was doing, Nick leaned in and met Jason's lips again. The obvious approval emboldened Jason who responded by parting his lips and sucking Nick's bottom lip into his mouth. Nick moaned softly. Jason put his hands on Nick's hips and walked Nick a few steps backwards until Nick's back was against the wall. Jason eagerly began to explore the younger boy's mouth until their tongues were moving together with building intensity. Nick brought his hands up to Jason's shoulders. His fingers ran along the nape of Jason's neck before burying themselves in his hair. Jason's hands roamed Nick's hips until they were pushing Nick's shirt over his stomach and touching every inch of exposed flesh they could. Jason kissed along Nick's jaw and nipped at his earlobe. His mouth lowered possessively onto Nick's neck. Nick moaned louder this time and Jason reveled in the feeling of the vibrations against his tongue. Jason wrapped his arms around the small of Nick's back, forcing their bodies into even more contact. Nick could feel Jason's erection as it pressed into his hip. Everything began to feel terribly surreal to Nick. That last shot was hitting him harder than he was expecting and Jason sucking on his neck still made no sense to him. He was pulled from his weird reverie when he heard Ryan call his name. Nick's eyes snapped open to find his brother standing a few feet from him, holding Nick's jacket and watching Nick with a bemused expression. Nick lowered his hands to Jason's chest and pushed just enough to break Jason's contact with his neck. "I'd tell you two to get a room, but I think that'll hafta wait for next time. Mom's here. And kind of cranky," Ryan informed Nick. "Shit. What time is it?" Nick checked his phone and found that it was already past 12:30. Where had all that time gone? He turned his attention to Jason who still had his arms around Nick's waist. He was suddenly very aware of how strange this entire situation was. "I, uh, gotta go. I'll see you around." Nick disentangled himself from Jason's arms and followed Ryan toward the front door. Nick glanced back at Jason leaning against the wall, watching him leave. Before opening the door, Ryan grabbed a random scarf off the row of hooks on the wall and handed it to Nick. Nick gave Ryan a confused look as he slipped on his jacket. "I didn't think you wanted to explain that massive hickey to Mom," Ryan clarified. Nick's hand shot up to his neck as his face flushed bright red. He put on the scarf. "Er, thanks. Sorry about, uh..." Ryan cut him off with a small laugh. "Happy New Years, Nick. Now go, before Mom decides that you're never allowed over here again." With that Ryan pushed Nick out the door and waved to his mother sitting impatiently in her idling car. And that was that. Nick hadn't actually talked to Jason since then until just a few minutes before in the driveway. He wondered if they were ever going to discuss the events of that night or if he should just forget it even happened, like Jason seemed more than willing to do. Nick was startled by a knock at the door, followed by Ryan's voice. "Nice try, dude. You can't just hide out in the bathroom while we finish moving you in." Nick hastily opened the door and rubbed at his slightly teary eyes. "Sorry, I just got something in my eye and I was trying to get it out." Ryan eyed his brother skeptically. "Everything alright?" he asked. Ryan felt guilty for talking about New Years. He hadn't spoken to Jason or Nick about it, but as soon as he'd said it, he'd known he shouldn't have brought it up with both of them there. Clearly, there was something there that Ryan was curious to find out more about. "Yeah, I'm fine," Nick huffed and walked past Ryan out to the driveway. Once the three boys finished bringing Nick's stuff into the house, Nick shut himself in his room to settle in and get some homework done. He needed time with his thoughts, away from Ryan giving him concerned looks and Jason stoically feigning ignorance. More than anything, he needed to figure out how he was going to make it through the next few months in that house... Not Weird Ch. 02 I want to say a quick thanks for all the response I got on the first chapter and sorry for the long delay in between these chapters. It's a story that's been in my head for a while and I just wanted to get some of it out of my brain and into the world. I started writing it all out of order and have been very slow in getting the pieces all connected how I want them. I'm hoping there won't be quite as much downtime between chapters from here on out... *** Over the next week, Ryan was becoming more and more concerned that he had made a terrible mistake having Nick move in. He loved his little brother and had genuinely been looking forward to spending more time with him, but Ryan couldn't help but notice how miserable Nick seemed. Nick spent most of his time at the house shut up in his room and he avoided Jason at all costs. And Jason was no better. He tiptoed around the house whenever he knew Nick was there. By Thursday morning, Ryan decided he needed to do something to relieve the tension. He sat at the kitchen table watching Nick silently pack his backpack for school. Jason was sitting on the other side of the table reading the newspaper. Jason never read the newspaper beyond the comics, but Nick was standing at the counter shoving his books and lunch into his bag and so Jason was making a valiant effort to care about the sports section he held in front of him. Ryan sighed. "So Nick, you're on spring break next week, yeah?" Nick was startled by the sound of Ryan's voice. He had grown quite accustomed to the usual silence throughout the house while he was there. "Oh, uh, yeah. I was thinking I'll probably go spend it with Mom and Dad." "Really?" Ryan knew how excited Nick had been to be getting away from their parents a few months early, their mom especially. She meant well, but overbearing was a gross understatement and it ate Ryan up to see how much it hurt Nick that he couldn't come out to her. Years of not-so-subtle comments about Jason made it fairly clear that having a gay son was not something she would be okay with. "I mean, everyone's out of town so I might as well. I don't really have a whole lot to do here," Nick said, zipping up his bag and swinging it over his shoulder. "If that's what you want. Just don't leave before Saturday night. I'm sticking to my word on that house-warming party." Jason glanced up from his paper to shoot Ryan a look at the news that they would be throwing a party in less than 72 hours. Nick looked warily between his two roommates, very much hoping to not get in the middle of something between the two of them. Nick checked his phone and, despite his usual neuroses regarding punctuality, almost let out a sigh of relief when he saw that he was running late for school. "Sure, whatever. Sounds good," he called hastily while fleeing the house. He hopped on his bike and started pedaling off. "So we're having a party," Jason stated skeptically, eyeing Ryan while pushing a spoonful of milk and cheerios into his mouth. "You gotta problem with it, party boy?" Ryan responded with a smirk. "No, it's just a little last minute, don't you think?" Ryan shrugged. "You've met our friends. Free booze can change any plans they may already have." Jason gave a sidelong nod. "Fair enough." "Anyway, what are you doing up right now? It's like the middle of the night for you." While Ryan had a pretty normal 9-to-5 office job he was using to try to break into sports writing, Jason was slightly less high-achieving. He worked as a waiter on a schedule he had specifically designed to be able to stay in bed until at least noon on any given day. Being alive to the world at eight in the morning was a rarity to say the least. It was Jason's turn to shrug. "Couldn't sleep. Thought I'd go for a run in a bit." "Everything okay?" "Yeah, it's nothing. I've just been keeping weirder hours than usual." Jason picked up his now empty bowl of cereal and brought it to the sink. Jason hated lying to Ryan. He always had the distinct feeling that Ryan could see right through him but understood Jason's reasons for lying so played along with it anyway. It felt like lying just called more attention to whatever he was lying about, but neither would actually talk about it. The truth was Jason could sleep. He just didn't want to since every time he did, Nick was there. Over the course of the last week, Jason's dreams had become more and more Nick-centric. Nick curled up in Jason's lap watching a movie together. Nick shirtless and sweaty hefting moving boxes into the house. Nick in his underwear bent over the kitchen table working on his homework. Nick naked with his lips wrapped around Jason's cock. Nick on all fours writhing beneath Jason, moaning his name... It was that last dream that had woken Jason up this particular morning sweaty, sticky, and in need of a new set of sheets. Despite it being 7:30, Jason had gotten up and hopped into a quick, cold shower. When he was done, he threw on some sweats and a t-shirt, stripped the sheets, and headed downstairs from his loft bedroom to go start a load of laundry. He considered himself lucky that he didn't run into Ryan- or worse, Nick- on his way to the basement. He was acutely aware of how easily either would have been able to tell that Jason had had a wet dream by the distinct smell of his sheets and the very fact that he was up and washing them so early in the morning. "If you say so," Ryan said, picking up the dishes from his own breakfast and depositing them in the sink. "Anyway, I gotta go to work. If you're not doing anything, could you maybe start getting the word out about Saturday?" "Sure thing." "Cool. See you later." "Bye." Jason watched through the window above the sink as Ryan exited the side door and got into his car. After Ryan had driven off, Jason turned and trudged back down to the laundry room to put his sheets in the dryer. Jason decided he really would go for that run. It would be good to clear his head out a bit, good to put some of his pent up energy into something productive, or at least good to get himself exhausted enough to be able to get some peacefully dreamless sleep. Through the first two miles of his run, Jason's mind was still hung up on the mildly horrifying thought that he had really fallen for Nick. He tried to rationalize with himself, to make the indefinable part of himself that was attracted to Nick understand why feeling that way was a really bad idea. They were in completely different places in their lives. Nick was still in high school, while Jason had graduated college nearly a year ago. By Jason's guess, Nick was probably still a virgin and sleeping together would mean something entirely different to him than it would to Jason. Casual wasn't really a likely option. Jason ran harder to try to silence the feeling in the pit of his stomach that was telling him he'd be okay with not casual, that he maybe even wanted not casual. And Jason didn't even want to start on the things that little feeling was telling him about getting to be the one to pop Nick's cherry... Somewhere in the third mile, Jason remembered how long it had been since he'd been for a run, but he kept going. He told himself it was weird. Nick was Ryan's little brother and Ryan was the closest thing Jason had to a brother. Jason tried to convince himself that by some transitive property having feelings for Nick was practically incestuous. He could remember the day that Nick was born; Ryan spent the day at Jason's and when they dropped Ryan off with his parents at the hospital Jason got to hold the tiny newborn. He could remember trying with Ryan to teach Nick to ride a bike and accidentally sending him face first into their neighbor's hedge. He could remember the way, just three years ago, Nick sat across from him, fidgeting in their diner booth, as he said aloud for the first time to anyone other than his mirror, "I'm gay." Jason kept running. His legs were starting to feel like jelly but his brain was continuing to torture him with real and imagined pictures of Nick. Childhood memories were interspersed with flashes of dreams of Nick's warm body pressed against his. But in his whirlwind of conflicting emotions, he kept coming back to one resounding thought: Nick wasn't interested. The brief memories he had of the kiss they shared on New Years made that much clear to Jason. It wasn't worth all of this agonizing and pining, because that's all that it was and all it would be. Jason pushed down the hurt he felt at that thought and did his best to convince himself it was just anger at himself for making this a big deal to begin with. However briefly it had lasted, they'd already been down that road and now Nick didn't even want to talk to him. Jason ran home, thoroughly exhausted and emotionally no better than when he had left. Once he'd lost all of his momentum, Jason's legs nearly gave out while he tried to get the key in the front door. He practically had to crawl up the stairs to his room. After sitting in the shower for some time, just letting the warm water run over his achy muscles, Jason decided he was done. Pining after Nick wasn't going to get him anywhere and it wasn't helping anything. When he stepped out of the shower, he would be done constantly thinking about Nick and dreaming about Nick. Nick wouldn't pop into his mind just as he bringing himself to climax. Jason was stronger than that, better than that. He prided himself on his ability to be in control of his emotions. He didn't do messy feelings. He did casual. Jason continued to steel himself against his own emotions before finally pulling himself off of the shower floor. He quickly washed his body and turned off the shower with a sigh. No more Nick. He towelled off and wrapped the towel around his waist while padding out of his bathroom and toward his bed. Jason grabbed his phone from where he'd left it on the nightstand, flopped onto his back on the bed, and started sending out a mass text that read: Saturday night rager at our house to welcome Ryan's little brother. Be there and be ready to party. Jason set an alarm on his phone and set it back on his nightstand then threw his towel on the floor, wrapped himself up in his comforter since his sheets were still in the dryer, and settled in for what would hopefully be a Nick-free nap. It wasn't. *** Nick was anxious. It was almost lunchtime and he knew that his best friend Alison was about to give him the third degree. The only class they had together on Thursdays was first period and from the look she gave him from across the room when he slipped into class late, she knew something was up. She always knew. She also happened to always know when Nick was lying. Always. As expected, Alison nearly accosted Nick as he made his way to his locker. "Okay, spill," she announced as she grabbed Nick by the arm. Alison thrived on gossip. She didn't want to spread rumors or anything like that. She just wanted to know everything about everyone, Nick especially. "Hello to you, too," Nick droned, opening his locker, depositing his books into it, and pulling out his lunch. "Hi," she clipped. She narrowed her eyes at Nick as though she could telepathically force him into telling her. She eventually gave up with a sigh, telling Nick, "You're no fun, you know that?" "I think you've told me that before," he said with chuckle as the two left the building and headed towards the bench they usually ate at. They sat down, Nick facing forward and Alison with her legs tucked under her, facing Nick. The two began eating their lunches in silence while Alison closely scrutinized Nick's conflicted expression. "Sooo...?" Alison drawled. Nick sighed and tipped his head back to look at the few clouds roaming the sky. "Jason?" Nick nodded. "What now?" "It's nothing really," Nick said, avoiding Alison's prying eyes. "Well, nothing new anyway." "Still haven't talked to him?" Alison asked. Nick could hear her voice drop into a slightly lower register that he referred to as her "mom voice." It was her way of telling him that it wasn't about gossip anymore, that she was genuinely concerned. He appreciated it, even though it had a way of making him feel like a little kid. "No. But now Ryan's throwing this stupid party on Saturday and I can't stop wondering about what if something happens between me and Jason," Nick said in the least whiny voice he could muster. "Like if you get in a fight?" Alison asked despite sincerely doubting that to be a likely scenario. "Yeah, I guess. Or what if he hooks up with someone else?" Nick let his insecurities rush forward. "What if that's just what he does? He makes out with guys at parties and it doesn't mean anything to him. What if he just kissed me because he was bored and now he won't talk to me because he regrets it so much?" "I don't really know what to tell you about that," Alison started, "but I do think you might be being a little overly dramatic." "I know," Nick pouted. "Just tell me what I should do." "Oh good," Alison said as she straightened up, preparing to play her favorite role of Nick's life coach. "Okay. Option one: Don't go. My family's leaving Saturday morning but I can give you a spare key and--" "Can't," Nick interjected. "The party's for me." Alison's brow furrowed momentarily. "Well then, option two: Avoid him like the plague. It's not super classy, but it gets the job done. And if you're the guest of honor, you can be plenty busy." "And option three?" Nick ventured, though he felt he might just bank on option two. "He'll be drunk, you'll be drunk. Conversation shouldn't be too hard. Just happen to run into him at some point and ask him how his night's going. You don't have to bring anything up, just talk." "I guess I could do that," Nick conceded. "Do I get any more options? Perhaps running away and joining the circus before Saturday night?" Alison laughed. "Well I do have one more option..." "Go on." "It's kind of an alternative to option three..." Alison began hesitantly. "If he's drunk enough, and you're drunk enough, just go for it." "Go for it?" Nick asked warily. "Yeah. Just go for the Hail Mary pass." "I'm glad you think so highly of my chances with him," Nick joked. Alison sighed. "I'm serious. Even if he was just bored, he wouldn't have given you a hickey the size of my fist if he wasn't at least a little attracted to you. And what's it gonna hurt? If he says no, it's a little awkward, but it's not like it'll really change things from where they are now. And if he goes for it, at the very least you get to hook up with him again, and who knows? It might actually get you two to start talking again." The bell rang signaling the end of lunch. Nick and Alison packed up the remnants of their lunches and went back into the school. Just as they were parting ways to go to their separate classes, Alison caught Nick's arm and looked him square in the eyes. "Seriously, Nick. Think about it." "I will," Nick said. In fact, he was fairly positive he wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it...