Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/10600203.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Popslash
  Relationship:
      Nick_Carter/AJ_McLean
  Character:
      Nick_Carter, AJ_McLean
  Additional Tags:
      Alternate_Universe_-_High_School, UK_AU, (actually_6th_form_not_high-
      school), British_English
  Stats:
      Published: 2007-04-15 Words: 5376
****** A Sneaky Fag Behind the Bike Sheds ******
by Ephemera_pop_(Alex_Draven)
Summary
     "Nick!" AJ hissed, desperately. God, the boy was an idiot sometimes.
     Anyone with eyes had to be able to tell that people looking out of
     the windows in the maths block could see that side of the bike sheds.
     He beckoned energetically, trying to catch Nick's eye before Nick did
     something even more monumentally stupid like light up in front of the
     entire maths department. "Nick!"
     "Alex!" The smile that broke across Nick's face almost - almost -
     made up for the fact he was yelling AJ's name like they weren't both
     bunking off their double sociology lesson.
     "Come here, and shut up! You'll get us caught."
Notes
     Started for this_request at
     [http://l-stat.livejournal.net/img/community.gif?v=556?v=146.3]
fic_requests. Although when something hits 5k words, I have to admit, 'this is
not a ficlet anymore.' As always, props to Beta Team Alpha for their role in
making this extra shiny. Any non-shiny spots are my own responsibility.
See the end of the work for more notes
"Nick!" AJ hissed, desperately. God, the boy was an idiot sometimes. Anyone
with eyes had to be able to tell that people looking out of the windows in the
maths block could see that side of the bike sheds. He beckoned energetically,
trying to catch Nick's eye before Nick did something even more monumentally
stupid like light up in front of the entire maths department. "Nick!"
"Alex!" The smile that broke across Nick's face almost - almost - made up for
the fact he was yelling AJ's name like they weren't both bunking off their
double sociology lesson.
"Come here, and shut up! You'll get us caught."
"Oh, shit." Nick scurried across the walkway between the two long concrete
bicycle sheds, and slammed himself back-first against the end wall. "Sorry," he
muttered. AJ found himself patting Nick on the shoulder and telling him it was
okay.
He hadn't really expected Nick to show up. He'd kind of thrown down the
invitation as a challenge, expecting the other boy to back down. It wasn't like
Nick was a teacher's pet or anything, but he wasn't a troublemaker either, and
he'd never done anything that AJ knew about that made it seem likely he'd not
only skip a lesson, but also go off school premises – a detention offence – to
buy cigarettes with his lunch money, just 'cos AJ told him to. Only apparently,
Nick was okay with AJ giving him orders.
"Did you get them?" AJ pulled down his sunglasses to peer over the top of them.
Nick's blond hair was stuck up with some kind of gel, and he was wearing way
too much body spray – Lynx or something – the sort of thing only loosers used.
AJ used knock-off Calvin Klein from the market. Much cooler.
Nick fumbled in the pocket of his jacket. The sixth-form dress code specified
'business casual' clothing, and Nick was wearing a cheap charcoal-grey jacket
over his trousers and polo shirt. AJ had the sleeves of his denim shirt rolled
up, and the front unbuttoned to display the black t-shirt under it.
"Here." Nick offered the slightly crumpled packet of Rothmans. AJ accepted them
with a nod of the head.
"Thanks. I didn't think you'd follow through." Nick's cheeks coloured, and when
AJ's smile widened Nick looked away. "I'm kind of impressed."
Nick didn't say anything. AJ pocketed the fresh packet, and pried a half-empty
one out of his back jeans pocket. He wasn't meant to be wearing jeans either.
"Here." AJ tapped a cigarette part out of the box and offered it to Nick.
"I, um …." There was a pause. "Sure, thanks," Nick said in a rush, and if that
hadn't tipped AJ off, the clumsy way Nick handled the cig would have done.
"You don't smoke, do you?"
Something passed over Nick's face that AJ didn't understand, and then Nick
straightened his shoulders – he was taller than AJ had realised – and looked AJ
right in the eye.
"I do now. You got a lighter?"
AJ chuckled. "No, numbnuts – I was going to get you to go light them off a
Bunsen burner." He let himself flop back against the wall, arm brushing against
Nick's. "'Course I do."
AJ tossed his lighter in his spare hand. No plastic crap for AJ: this was the
real thing, stainless steel and lighter fluid and a flint. He flipped the lid
and struck a flame with one casual fluid movement against his thigh, and held
it out. The way Nick's eyes widened, just a touch, gave AJ a kick. This was new
territory, but maybe having Nick around wouldn't be all bad.
Nick pursed his lips carefully around the cigarette butt, and leaned in. Nick
had big hands and a pretty, pretty mouth, AJ noticed.
Nick also had that total beginner's cluelessness which led to him hauling in a
great gulp of fresh burnt smoke, and then trying to hack up a lung. AJ lit his
own fag while Nick bent over coughing, returning both the packet and the
lighter to their respective pockets without any particular hurry, and then,
finally, sliding a hand between Nick's shoulder blades.
"Hey, partner. You're alright."
Nick's sharp in-breath interrupted the coughing fit, and he wiped a hand across
his mouth. His cheeks were flaming.

"You're okay. Just, you know, take it slow, okay?" AJ's hand slid from Nick's
back to his shoulder, and Nick didn't seem to mind.
Once they'd finished the cigarettes, AJ broke the companionable silence between
them. "What have you got this afternoon?"
"Um, my maths re-sit tutorial."
"Shit – all afternoon?"
Nick shook his head. "Just the first period. I'm meant to be in supervised prep
after."
"You want to come over to mine, instead?"
Nick nodded, eagerly.
"I'm off after afternoon registration, though. No way I'm subjecting myself to
Mrs Dawling's crap, even for a single. I'll meet you by the Summer's gate,
yeah?"
*****
Nick was nervy like a cat who'd seen the cap gun, but he was working hard to
cover it, and AJ always had had a soft spot for tryers. Plus he was wondering
just how far he could get Nick to go.
"Here we are." AJ unlocked the front door and gestured for Nick to go in first.
The house was quiet – AJ's mum was out at work, and the dogs were shut out in
the back garden. The first thing AJ did when he walked through to the kitchen
was put the radio on for background noise. Too much silence made him twitchy,
even without Nick looking around like a rubber-necked nosy parker.
"You want something to drink?" AJ asked, partly to get Nick to stop gawping. It
wasn't like Nick was one of the rich kids, so …
"Yeah, please."
AJ held up a choice of coke or lemonade, and then tossed Nick the lemonade.
Nick fumbled the catch, and had to scramble to pin the can against his stomach.
AJ smirked, and popped the tab on his own drink.
"C'mon – let's go up to my room."
"Okay."
Nick tagged along, and as the radio faded behind them AJ was aware of the sound
of Nick's breathing, the creak of the stairs under his smart school shoes, the
fact of his presence.
AJ threw his bag down as soon as he was in his own room, and sprawled backwards
on the bed, kicking off his trainers and reaching up to set his CD player
spinning. Nick cautiously let his own rucksack settle next to AJ's and then
leant against the wall by the door.
"Nice room," Nick offered after a minute of listening to Linkin Park.
"Thanks." AJ smiled to himself. Now they were up here, he didn't mind Nick
looking around so much. His room was pretty cool. "You going to come over here
any time soon?"
That flush on Nick's cheekbones shouldn't be anything but dorky, but the way
Nick blushed and looked down, all long blond eyelashes and freckles was just –
it made something flutter in AJ's stomach.
AJ held out a hand, and Nick crept across the room, between the piles of
clothes and comics and cds, to perch on the edge of the mattress, about level
with AJ's thighs.
"Christ, Nick, relax will you? I'm not going to bite you."
"Sorry," Nick muttered. He was fiddling with the can of lemonade, and not
looking at AJ.
"Shut up." AJ pushed at Nick's back, and then reached around to tug at Nick's
middle. Nick bit off a noise, but let himself be pulled closer so he was
leaning part against AJ and part against the wall behind the bed. Nick was
warm, and kind of wriggly. "And don't get your crappy shoes on my bed."
Nick obediently leant forward to unlace his shoes and then came back to settle
against AJ again, curled around so they were facing each other.
"So this is what you do when you're meant to be in lessons?" Nick asked.
"Pretty much. Listen to some music, play some games, " AJ waved a hand towards
the PS2 and TV across the room, and then watched Nick really carefully for the
reaction when he added, "whack off … it's all better than being in school."
The way Nick's breath caught was so worth it. Nick's teeth bit into those
pretty pretty lips, and his fingers skidded over the top of his still unopened
drink.
"You wouldn't rather be getting off, than sitting in a classroom listening to
someone drone on about the hypotenuse of a triangle?"
There was the blush, but Nick's chin came up, so he was looking AJ right in the
eyes.
"Is that …" Nick cleared his throat, and tried again. "Is that what you want?"
"You offering?"
"Are you?"
"Offering you the chance to blow me? Sure."
AJ was really glad he'd kept his sunglasses on, because he was almost certain
that he was maybe blushing too, a little.
"You …" Nick's bravado faltered, and the tension was palpable as Chester's
voice filled the silence.
"Come here," AJ relented, sliding one hand up Nick's arm, so that his
fingertips brushed Nick's neck. When Nick mirrored the movement, AJ repressed a
shiver, and tilted his head into Nick's touch. They were into new territory
here. Not that Nick needed to know that. "You've done this before, right?"
The way Nick's fingers jumped said everything AJ needed to know.
"It's okay," AJ said, reaching around to press his fingers into the back of
Nick's neck. "It ain't rocket science."
Nick's expression was so grateful AJ couldn't help but smile a little. "You
going to take that jacket off, then?" he prompted.
"Oh, um. Yeah." Nick scrambled free of the ugly jacket, and then, when AJ
tugged on the polo shirt, pulled that off too. He was pale, and his nipples
stood out like love bites, dark red, and right there. AJ licked his lips.
Nick's hand came to rest, hesitant but hot, on AJ's waist, and AJ took the
invitation, arching up to tug his own shirts off, looking forward to Nick's
reaction.
And there it was, while AJ's head was still buried in fabric. The sharp intake
of breath was instantly recognisable. AJ flexed his abs and wriggled the rest
of the way clear of his clothes. Nick's fingers were cool and tentative.
"It's okay," AJ assured him, stretching and preening under Nick's examination.
"Is it real?"
AJ snorted. "Muppet. Of course it's real."
Nick seemed to have lost some of his nerves in his fascination with AJ's ink,
tracing the curves of the 69 tattoo with both fingers and eyes.
"Did it hurt?"
AJ shrugged, all devil-may-care. It had hurt like hell, but that wasn't the
point.
"Man, that's …" Nick trailed off. "I can't believe you actually got a tattoo. I
thought that was just, you know, shit people say."
"Sometime's that shit's true," AJ smirked. "And sometimes it's just shit. I've
got two, actually."
"Really?"
AJ rolled his eyes. "Really. You want to see?"
Nick's expression was something else – hungry and eager and like he'd forgotten
to be self conscious. It kind of looked good on him. Nick's eyes followed AJ's
hands to the buckle of his belt, and AJ made a bit of a show of unfastening it,
opening the buttons of his jeans one by one, tucking his thumbs under the
waistband. He stopped there.
"Budge over, then."
Nick scooted back, so he was sitting on the edge of the bed, arms wrapped round
one knee to cover himself up a bit. AJ lifted his hips and tugged his jeans
lower, watching the way Nick was watching him, the hot, pink dab of his tongue
over his lips, the way his fingers tightened around each other. Oh yeah, Nick
was into this.
Once the jeans were down to mid thigh, AJ combined kicking them free with
turning over, showing Nick his back. He could almost feel Nick looking at him,
like his eyes were lasers or something, sweeping down AJ's spine, locking on to
the tendrils of black ink that AJ knew would be showing over the waistband of
his clingy jersey trunks.
He twisted his head back over his shoulder. Nick didn't even notice.
"You can touch, you know."
The mattress dipped, and then Nick's hand was huge and flat on AJ's back,
higher than AJ had expected Nick to land.
"Can I?" Nick's other hand was hovering near AJ's face and it took a moment for
him to work it out.
"Okay," he said, and hoped Nick couldn't hear the uncertainty in it. AJ closed
his eyes as Nick gently pulled his sunglasses free, setting them carefully on
the windowsill.
When he opened them again, Nick was watching him, and AJ had no idea what Nick
was thinking. AJ stretched his body under Nick's hand, hoping to distract him.
It worked too, Nick's eyes dropping to where his hand was on AJ's side, feeling
the muscles flex – there were weights in the corner of the room, and AJ used
them most days – and from there it was easy for AJ to work Nick's attention
down his back.
"You want to, you know, get a clear view?"
"Uh huh." Nick's voice sounded lower than AJ was used to it being.
"Go on then."
Nick held his breath as he rubbed his fingers over the waistband of AJ's undies
and then, all in a rush, tugged them down, so they rested under AJ's cheeks. AJ
tightened his bum muscles reflexively, but the electric touch of Nick's fingers
came right at the base of his spine, where the abstract black sun was set.
Nick's breath was hot against AJ's shoulder, and the combination was starting
to get AJ's engine running.
"You like it?" he asked.
"Oh yeah." Nick's response was fervent, and when AJ started to roll onto his
back, Nick's hand closed over his hip bone, holding him still for a moment,
while Nick took a last look.
Fortunately, the way AJ's underwear was tented soon caught Nick's attention.
"You want me to …" Nick's voice trailed off again, and AJ flexed his abs,
tilted his pelvis. Nick swallowed.
"You want to, don't you?" AJ asked, injecting a note of challenge into his
voice. The idea of Nick chickening out now was too much to bear.
Nick nodded, and some of the tension in AJ's shoulders eased. "Then do it," he
instructed. His own voice was hoarser now. "You know what feels good to you,
don't you? Oh, and don't blow." Not that that wouldn't be one hell of a way to
go, but AJ didn't plan on this being his first and his last blowjob.
Nick hesitated, so AJ reached down and jerked his trunks lower, enough so that
his dick sprung free, and from there it was pure instinct to wrap his own hand
around it.
"Fuck," Nick whispered, and then Nick's hot hand was wrapped around AJ's. The
contact sent AJ flying, and he scrabbled his other hand free, so he could cling
onto Nick's side, just to stay grounded.
"'s good," AJ gasped. Nick's hand loosened enough for AJ to extract his own,
and then it was just Nick's fingers, Nick's wrist moving, Nick's broad back,
where he was leaning over, watching his hand, watching AJ's dick.
Nick was breathing so loud it was audible over the music, while AJ had to fight
to remember to breathe at all. Somehow imagining this was no preparation at all
for the real deal. For someone else's hand sliding over his cock, the movement
so smooth now where his cock was leaking already, for the imminent prospect of
someone else's mouth wrapped around him.
"You going to suck me?" AJ growled, and Nick's hand tightened, making AJ moan
again.
Nick's hand was speeding up along with AJ's heart rate, and it seemed like that
went on for forever until, all in a rush, Nick scooted down the bed and his
mouth was sudden, incredible, heat.
"Fuck!" AJ shuddered. He couldn't help but arch. Nick rode it out; hand, and
mouth, and the quicksilver flicker of his tongue sending AJ's nerves crazy.
God.
And then Nick was sucking.
AJ forced his eyes open. He had to see this. Nick's face was buried in AJ's
crotch, hidden by the fall of his own hair, pale shoulders working between AJ's
legs, and maybe he shouldn't have looked, because the visuals made his stomach
twist, his balls tighten, because – God.
He wasn't going to last long. He wasn't going to last at all, and he couldn't
even care, because he was going to die like this, with Nick Carter sucking on
his cock, and it would be worth it.
He wasn't even going to give the kid any warning, because he couldn't find his
voice when it hit, just sobbing breaths and muscle spasms which left him curled
on his side, face buried in the pillows, one hand digging into Nick's shoulder.
"Shit," AJ panted. "Shit."
Nick was watching him with wide blue eyes, and his mouth was red now, swollen
lips, and the flicker of tongue made AJ think that Nick had swallowed.
With clumsy hands, AJ tugged at Nick's shoulders, getting him to come up, come
closer, come where AJ could kiss him. He buried his hands in Nick's crispy,
gelled hair to hold him close while AJ's tongue hunted for the taste of himself
in Nick's mouth, because – damn.
Nick almost immediately relaxed into it, the weight of his body pinning AJ down
one side, Nick's hand high on AJ's chest, Nick's thumb stroking across AJ's
collar bone as they kissed, Nick's dick hard through his kakis against AJ's
leg.
Gradually their kisses slowed, interrupted by gulps of air, and eventually AJ
had to say something.
"You want to get off?"
Nick mumbled an affirmative into AJ's mouth.
"Touch yourself. Let me watch."
Nick froze. AJ lifted his head to kiss him again, a single swipe of his tongue,
and then nudged at Nick's shoulder, to get him to roll away a little.
"Nick? You're not chickening out on me, are you?"
Nick shook his head, but he didn't seem certain. AJ slid the flat of his hand
over Nick's exposed nipple. Nick shivered.
"I want to watch you."
Nick's eyes snapped wide, locked on AJ's even as Nick's hands went reluctantly
to his fly.
"That's right," AJ encouraged. "I want to see."
He wasn't altogether sure that he did, but it seemed like the right thing to
say, 'cos Nick was moving again, and this way AJ didn't have to do anything but
brush his fingers over Nick's nipple.
Nick was hard, and big. Big like AJ didn’t really have the brainpower left to
register that Nick was also wearing really ugly boxer shorts with superman
logos all over them. Instead he was focussing on the way Nick's cock curved,
full and heavy, and the flash of red at the head as Nick's hands closed around
it, one pressed around the base, the other sliding the loose skin up and down,
the head poking into view on every down stroke.
Damn.
Maybe he did want to watch.
Nick's busy hands, and the flush spreading across Nick's pale, soft, stomach.
Natural blond, AJ noted, and then buried his smile in Nick's hair, muttering
'fuck yeah' into Nick's ear.
Nick jolted, and AJ had to try again. "God," he whispered. "You look good."
Nick's hips moved, pushing up into his hands. AJ pinched at Nick's nipple, and
when Nick lifted his chin to gasp, AJ twisted his head to meet Nick's lips with
a sucking, clumsy kiss. The angle was bad, but Nick moaned appreciatively, and
his hands moved faster, beating desperately, his breath coming shorter and
harder against AJ's face, and then he was coming, frozen with the feeling, and
hot come all over AJ's thighs.
They lay there for a while, until Nick's breathing was normal, and AJ's thighs
felt cold and unpleasantly sticky.
Nick didn't seem like he was going to say anything.
"Okay, Nick?"
Nick nodded blearily, like he was half asleep.
"You've got to get dressed, man. My mum's going to be back soon."
*****
"Nick!" AJ called, waving. He wasn't waiting in his usual spot, but one row
over, right in the farthest corner of the bike sheds. The roof there had a
great big hole in it, so pretty much no one ever went down that far, but seeing
as it wasn't raining, that was exactly why AJ was staking it out.
"AJ!" Nick grinned, and lolloped down the aisle between the sheds. "There you
are!"
Nick's smile ….
AJ blinked and Nick was right there, pushing them both around the corner into
the lee of the wall, and leaning down to kiss him, Nick's hand wrapped around
the back of AJ's neck. AJ was never going to get used to this.
"Did you get them?" AJ asked when Nick pulled back.
Nick fumbled for the zip on his backpack while AJ tucked his sunglasses into
the pocket on his shirt, all the better to enjoy the view. The t-shirt Nick was
wearing under his open Oxford had been baggy on AJ but it fit Nick like a
second skin.
"Here." Nick offered the slightly crumpled box of condoms. AJ accepted them
with a grin, leaning in to give Nick a quick kiss.
"Cool."
The cellophane was slippery under his fingers, and it took AJ a couple of
attempts to work one black-painted nail under the tab and peel it off. He
didn't look up, in case Nick had noticed.
Once he got the box open, he slid one of the foil packets out, and held it out
to Nick.
"Here."
With his other hand AJ shoved the other two into the back pocket of his jeans.
"Um…" Nick was turning the white square over and over between his fingers.
"Nick?"
"I really can't miss my tutorial." The words sounded reluctant. AJ squeezed the
junction of Nick's neck and shoulder, and reminded Nick that he knew that,
numbnuts, and that it was okay.
"Can I come over later?"
The little packet vanished into Nick's jeans, and the movement made him stand
up tall, chest out, just in case AJ needed a reminder that Nick was tall and
broad and strong.
"I was counting on it," AJ admitted, with a half-smile.
AJ's hand slid from Nick's shoulder to rest on Nick's chest, right above Nick's
heart. Nick didn't seem to mind.
*****
They were still kissing when the first song on the album came back around
again. Breathless, skin sticky-slick under each other's hands, aching, but
still kissing.
Every time AJ paused to breathe he could see the condoms sitting on the
windowsill beside the bed, and he'd dive back into Nick's mouth, or slide down
the bed enough to lick at Nick's neck, dragging his tongue over the rough start
of stubble in the corner of Nick's jaw, or further down still to tease his
tongue over Nick's nipples. Nick's nipples were something else – Nick was so
sensitive it always made him gasp and wriggle when AJ sucked on them, and AJ
was working on him, tying to get him to agree to a nipple ring.
It was kind of a one-sided conversation, 'cos Nick had left most of his words
behind ages ago, and was doing all his talking with his hips and his hands and
the way his breathing hitched and held. AJ'd already got Nick off once, before
they were even naked together, but the guy's prick was heavy and full again.
Because they'd been kissing forever.
Because AJ was too chicken shit to take things to the next level.
He'd mostly got over the whole other-guy's-dick thing. If the other guy was
Nick, and 'got over' meant 'kind of liked a lot'. He'd touched, he'd sucked,
but now there was this whole weight of expectation thing, and every time he
managed to reach down and around, to roll Nick's bollocks, to stroke a finger
or two behind them, AJ kind of froze up. None of his mum's magazines had said
anything about being too much of a spaz to even get to stage one of anal sex -
our top ten hints.
He'd promised Nick that he'd make it good, that he'd make Nick's first time
awesome. He'd kind of suggested this whole older guy scenario, all the while
insisting that guys didn't go into that kind of detail, so he hadn't actually
lied. Exactly. And now Nick was naked, and making these breathy noises, and
rolling his hips, just begging for AJ to turn him over and get on with it,
whilst AJ was getting a first hand lesson on the effects of anxiety on
adolescent male erectile function.
Fuck.
When Nick turned his head, AJ took the invitation to go back to kissing him,
hot and lewd and familiar.
Nick's hands curled around AJ's head, muting the outside sounds and amplifying
the thundering of his blood, and AJ closed his eyes, stroked his tongue over
Nick's. Nick pulled back a little. AJ tried to follow the movement, only to
find that Nick's hands were holding him still.
"Nick?" he asked, when it became apparent that Nick was trying to get his
attention.
"Alex," Nick answered, still kind of out of breath.
AJ moved back, so that he could focus on Nick's impossibly long, blond
eyelashes.
Nick's thumbs stroked AJ's cheekbones so gently, it made AJ want to shiver.
"Alex," Nick repeated.
"Yup – still my name." AJ tried to inject some of his usual swagger. It was
almost impossible to carry it off, lying naked on top of this kid who'd somehow
turned everything upside down in half a term. Nick shook his head a little, and
brushed one thumb across AJ's cheek again.
"It's okay," Nick said, earnestly.
AJ gave him the close-up version of his 'yeah? The fuck?' look. Nick responded
with a peck on the lips.
"I figured it out. And it's okay."
"What?"
AJ shook his head clear, and tried to push himself up and away, only to find
that Nick was holding on to his shoulders, and that Nick actually kind of was
as strong as he looked.
"AJ!" Nick protested, and AJ stopped struggling.
Instead he shifted his weight to the side, so he was lying sort of on one hip,
and forced himself to meet Nick's eyes. Nick looked – AJ couldn't work out what
Nick looked, only that the sex-flush was still there, making his freckles stand
out, and he was biting his lip.
AJ looked away, to the shadow of Nick's collar bone.
"It's okay if you haven't been the one, you know, doing it before – I still
want it to be you," Nick blurted out in a rush. "I mean, at least you know what
it feels like, right?"
AJ let his head drop so his forehead was resting on Nick's chest. The out he
needed was right there so why was he almost laughing?
"AJ?"
"Oh, Nick. Nick, Nick, Nick." AJ patted Nick's hip. He hoped he was being
reassuring. Only that edge to Nick's voice was making the laughter push that
bit harder at his chest, and if he didn't breathe soon AJ was going to pass
out.
"Did I … shit," Nick muttered to himself, and he twisted next to AJ, making
AJ's hand clamp down on Nick's hip, and that tipped AJ over the edge. It
sounded kind of weird, but he hoped that at least when he was looking at Nick,
Nick would realise that it was laughing, not AJ having a fit or something.
"God, Nick – Wha .. I mean, wh …" He couldn't find any words, and what with
having to try and keep Nick still he couldn't even wave his hands around to try
and fill in the gaps.
Nick tilted his head.
"You mean…?"
AJ wasn't sure what conclusion Nick had jumped to now, so he shrugged. Nick's
fingers were back on his face. Despite the heat, Nick's fingers felt good.
"So." Nick's voice as slow and careful, quiet under the music. "Either I'm just
about to screw up again and you're going to be pissed off, or I'm totally off
base, but... Your first too, huh?"
AJ froze. Apparently his silence answered for him.
"No! No way!" Sometimes, just sometimes, Nick was a third year girl. "Shit –
you are. I mean… AJ! You fucker! You could have said!"
AJ could just feel his cheeks burning.
"AJ!" Nick shoved at AJ's shoulder, rocking him on the bed, and then Nick's arm
was sliding around him, pinning his own arms to his sides, and Nick was right
there, kissing him. Kissing seemed like a good plan.
He squirmed against Nick, pushing with one leg so that he was back on top, all
the time pushing into Nick's mouth, sucking on Nick's tongue, straddling one of
Nick's thighs, and Nick's hands went with him, short nails scratching ice-fire
lines up AJ's back. It was like a bolt of electricity, from embarrassed to
desperate in nought-point-three seconds or something, because the pressure and
the heat and the drag of Nick's leg hair was just incredible, and AJ's hips
were moving without him asking, and it just felt so fucking good, like an
hour's-worth of kissing and touching, all at once.
"Oh, fuck! Nick!" His own voice sounded strangled, because he was going to make
a dick out of himself, coming all over Nick, and Nick's finger tips were
digging into his bum, pulling him tighter, and Jesus fuck!
Jesus fucking fuck!
In the moments afterwards, all AJ could hear over the sound of his own
breathing was the refrain somewhere I belong from the cd player. And then
Nick's fingers slid over his shoulders, urging him to relax, to let go. Nick's
arms were folded over him, sweat pricking between their chests. And Nick's lips
were pushed against his hair, and Nick was saying little bits of nothing, and
AJ didn't have the brain cells left to figure it out.
*****
AJ took his envelope from the secretary, and ducked out of the front doors –
the staff-only doors – before any of the surrounding throng could ask him how
he'd done. He didn't even open it, just checked over his shoulder that no one
was looking as he ducked through a weak spot in the hedge between the visitors'
car park and the slope that led down to the bike sheds.
Nick was waiting for him in faded jeans and a sky blue t-shirt that was already
darkening around the neck. Nick must have walked in to pick up his results. He
looked delicious.
"So, here's my reward," AJ growled as he got closer, reaching up to slide his
fingers over the damp nape of Nick's neck and take a kiss. Nick's kiss was
distracted, and he tasted of really fresh gum.
"Did you – what did you get?"
"I didn’t open them yet. You?"
"Me either." Nick was chewing at his bottom lip again. AJ stroked his fingers
up and down the pale skin on the inside of Nick's forearm, coming to rest with
his fingers resting in the tangle of jelly bracelets Nick was wearing.
Bracelets he'd nicked from AJ's room.
AJ could hear the traffic all the way over on the main road, despite the still
summer air.
"Okay. It ain't going to change anything if we don't open them. If I've failed,
it's already done, so – you going to do this with me?"
AJ brandished the slim brown envelope. Nick took a deep breath and nodded.
"You're right. One, two – three."
Both of them fumbled with the sealed flaps, tearing their way in. AJ scanned
the columns quickly. A B? A B in AS Sociology? Shit! B,C, E!
"I didn't fail!" "I got a B" Their voices overlapped, and Nick's grin was
infectious.
"I got a B in maths!" Nick repeated, clearly surprised.
"Cool - I knew you'd do it this time!" AJ threw his arms around Nick's
shoulders and squeezed. When Nick picked him up and spun him around, AJ let
himself go with it. He hadn't fucking failed! Nick hadn't failed! This summer
was going to rule!
** end **
End Notes
     Warning for under-age given as per AO3 guidance, but, for the record,
     they're both above the age of consent in the UK in this.
Please drop_by_the_archive_and_comment to let the author know if you enjoyed
their work!