Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/195109.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      The_Brotherhood_2:_Young_Warlocks_(2001)
  Relationship:
      Harlan_Ratcliff/Marcus_Ratner
  Series:
      Part 3 of Aftermath
  Stats:
      Published: 2011-05-05 Words: 3301
****** Ride ******
by carolinecrane
Summary
     Marcus likes living dangerously.
Harlan hasn't looked at him since that day in the museum. They see each other
all the time – even if they didn't have classes together, it's not that big a
campus. But Harlan hasn't looked at him, and he's starting to think he imagined
it when Harlan said it wasn't over. Only he can still hear the words, over and
over in his head like a mantra, and he's starting to wonder if he's going
crazy.
It's not that he cares if Harlan wants him – he doesn't, because that was the
old Marcus, and the new Marcus doesn't care about anything. And they're not
going to be friends or anything, but he wouldn't say no to whatever Harlan
meant by 'this isn't over'. He's thought about it a lot, pictured all the
things Harlan could have meant and jerked off to more than a few of them.
All he has to do is remember Harlan's lips wrapped around him and he's hard
again, and if he catches sight of Harlan while he's hard it's even worse.
Because Harlan won't look at him, pretends he doesn't exist and it's even worse
than when Harlan hated him. For all he knows Harlan still hates him, and
sucking him off in the museum was just his twisted way of messing with Marcus'
mind.
It doesn't make sense if he thinks about it for too long, but nothing's made
sense since Luc showed up, so he doesn't try to figure it out. All he really
wants to do is go back to his room, maybe conjure up a new fantasy or two
before his roommate gets back from wrestling.
He's halfway across campus, absently rolling an unlit cigarette between his
fingers and trying not to picture Harlan naked until he's behind closed – and
locked – doors when a car pulls up alongside him. At the first flash of red his
cock stirs, and he stops just short of rolling his eyes at himself as he turns
to glance at Harlan. Harlan who's leaning across the passenger seat, strong arm
stretched across the headrest and Marcus imagines himself leaning back into
those fingers.
"Get in."
And that just figures – Harlan's been ignoring him for a whole week, and now he
snaps his fingers and expects Marcus to jump. "Why should I?"
Harlan rolls his eyes, smirk still firmly in place, and straightens up as
though he's not worried at all about Marcus turning him down. Being turned down
isn't something Harlan's probably used to, and just for a second Marcus thinks
about telling him no just for the novelty. Only if he does Harlan might not
ever look at him again, and there's a part of Marcus that really wants to get
in that car.
"Just get in."
He hesitates for another second before he tucks his cigarette behind his ear
and reaches for the door handle, glancing around to see if anyone's watching
before he slides into Harlan's car. He's not sure if he's hoping to be seen or
not, but when he feels the soft leather seat curve around him it doesn't matter
anymore. Nothing matters but the purring of the engine as Harlan slides into
gear, Harlan's fingers flexing against the gearshift and Marcus can practically
feel them on his skin already.
It's not the first time he's been in Harlan's car. The first time was with
Matt, when they stole it right out from under Harlan's nose and he was hard the
entire time just from the vibration of the engine. He's hard this time too, but
he has a feeling it's not just the engine this time. Then again, maybe it
wasn't the engine the first time either – maybe it was the danger, because
getting in Harlan's car while he's in it is just as dangerous as stealing it
was.
He glances over at Harlan, flushing a little when the other boy catches him
looking and smirks. In his fantasies Harlan would reach over, slide a hand up
his thigh and maybe tell him all the things he's going to do to Marcus, but
this is reality, so he just shakes his head a little and turns his attention
back to the road. Marcus is nervous, and he hates that, so he fumbles for the
cigarette still tucked behind his ear, reaching into his pocket with his other
hand to find his lighter.
"No smoking in my car."
Harlan's still not looking at him, but Marcus rolls his eyes anyway and tucks
the cigarette away again. He thinks about asking why, maybe lighting up anyway
just to see what Harlan will do, but he didn't have anything better to do this
afternoon and there's a part of him that wants to see how this plays out.
He doesn't get what he's doing here in the first place, because Harlan should
really hate him. He should be terrified of Harlan, because if anybody's got a
score to settle with Marcus it's him, and sucking Marcus' dick doesn't seem
much like a way to even the score. Then again, there's always the chance
Harlan's just trying to lull him into a false sense of security, get Marcus
alone with his guard down and then go in for the kill. Literally. And the worst
part is that Marcus isn't even sure he'll mind, as long as Harlan lets him come
first.
"Where are we going?" he asks once the school's behind them, a mile or so of
road between them and anyone who might recognize them.
"What's the matter, Ratner? You scared?"
"I told you already, I'm not afraid of you."
He expects Harlan to laugh at him, but all he gets is a little smile turning up
one corner of Harlan's mouth. "Good."
Harlan's got a really nice mouth, he decides, settling against the door to
watch as Harlan punches the gas a little harder. They hit a hill – just a
little curve in the road, but Marcus' stomach floats up into his throat anyway
and he laughs before he can stop himself. Harlan looks over at him then,
smiling that smile Marcus is pretty sure he can't trust. He grins back anyway,
and maybe he's going to regret this later, but for now it feels pretty good.
Way before Marcus is ready Harlan's slowing down, pulling off the main road
onto a service road that Marcus is pretty sure leads toward the lake a few
miles north of the school. The road ends in a small picnic area, and Harlan
pulls off to the side of a small clearing and shuts off the engine. He's out of
the car before Marcus can even ask what they're doing, keys in his pocket and
he's heading toward the woods without even looking back to see if Marcus is
following.
It's Harlan's confidence he can't resist, Marcus decides, pausing long enough
to light his smoke – inside the car – before he gets out and follows the other
boy. Confidence is what attracted him to Luc, and it's what makes him follow
Harlan past the small cluster of picnic tables and down a short path to a
clearing just above the lake. He stops when he reaches the edge of the
clearing, leaning against a thick pine and taking a drag off his cigarette.
"You know you could start a fire, smoking that thing out here."
"What, so you're Smokey the Bear now? Give me a break, man."
Harlan grins at that, pushes himself off the tree he's leaning against and
takes a few long steps forward. He stops when he's less than a foot away from
Marcus, leaning in and reaching up to pull the cigarette out of Marcus' hand.
He drops it on the ground between them, grinding it out with his heel before he
leans in even closer and braces one hand on the tree next to Marcus' shoulder.
"What are you doing here, Marcus?"
"You tell me," Marcus answers, more confident than he feels and he has to stop
himself from laughing nervously. "You're the one who dragged me out here."
"Yeah, but you got in the car. Why is that?"
And he might be a little slow sometimes, but it doesn't take him long to figure
out what Harlan's asking. He wants to hear Marcus say it, wants to hear him beg
maybe, and there's no way Marcus is going to give him the satisfaction. "Maybe
I have a death wish."
"You really are crazy, you know that?" Harlan says, studying Marcus for a long
moment, and it's all he can do not to reach out and touch. He wants to grab the
other boy and haul him forward – his fingers itch with the need to touch, so he
digs them into the tree trunk behind him and keeps his gaze locked on Harlan's
face. On his mouth, specifically, because Harlan's still grinning and Marcus is
starting to wonder if he's ever going to stop.
He doesn't have to wonder for long, though, because a few seconds later
Harlan's mouth is pressed hard against his, pushing his head back against the
tree and forcing his mouth open. The kiss is all teeth and tongues and
aggression, and when Marcus tastes blood he's not sure if it's his or Harlan's.
He doesn't care, either, because Harlan's hard and thrusting against him and it
makes Marcus want things he can't even name.
"I could kill you," Harlan murmurs against his jaw, mouth moving across his
skin to bite down on Marcus' earlobe. "I could kill you and toss you in the
lake and nobody would even know. You think anybody would care if you
disappeared?"
"You would," Marcus answers, and that, at least, he's positive of. He knows
he's right when Harlan laughs against his neck, pressing a surprisingly gentle
kiss to the skin just below his ear before he opens his mouth and starts to
suck. And there's something seriously fucked up about the fact that he kind of
gets off on the thought of Harlan planning this out, thinking about driving
Marcus out to the middle of nowhere and trying to decide whether he'd rather
fuck him or kill him.
It's not even the first time, and Marcus really is pretty stupid to fall for it
twice, because he's pretty sure Luc's not going to show up out of nowhere and
save him if Harlan decides he'd rather humiliate Marcus than suck him off
again. Only he doesn't have an audience this time, and Marcus is pretty sure if
he didn't have an audience that day in the locker room, things would have ended
a lot differently. His cock twitches at the thought, and he arches his whole
body against Harlan, hands clutching at solid arms as Harlan marks him.
Harlan Ratcliff is marking him. Him, Marcus, and if anybody saw him get into
Harlan's car the rumors will be all over the school by dinner. Only Marcus is
pretty sure no one was around to see, and there's a part of him that's a little
disappointed. Part of him wants people to know, wants to tell the whole school
that Harlan can't get enough just to shut them up. But there's another part
that knows exactly how that would go over, and he already gets enough weird
looks without worrying about people calling him a fag behind his back.
Not that it's not true, but that doesn't mean everybody in school needs to know
about it. None of those people matter, and this…this is between him and Harlan,
even if they're just settling unfinished business. His hand slides into
Harlan's hair, tugging hard until the other boy takes the hint and lets go,
tongue marking a wet stripe along what Marcus is sure is a dark red bruise
already forming on his neck.
His mouth moves restlessly along Marcus' jaw, stopping when he reaches Marcus'
mouth again and pushing his tongue inside. Marcus presses even harder against
him, hands pushing uselessly at Harlan's shirt and he's not sure if he's trying
to get it off or just trying to pull him closer. A second later it doesn't
matter, though, because Harlan's mouth leaves his and his hands are on Marcus,
and before Marcus knows it Harlan's spinning him around and pressing his back
into Marcus' chest.
"Now this feels familiar," Harlan murmurs, voice low and close to Marcus' ear
and he can't suppress a shudder. "You scared yet, Ratner?"
"No," Marcus lies. Only it's not really a lie, because 'scared' doesn't begin
to cover it. 'Terrified' is a little closer, but there's no way he's going to
admit that to Harlan.
"Liar," Harlan says, laughter in his voice and Marcus flashes to that afternoon
in the locker room, Randall and Alex holding him still while Harlan dropped to
his knees behind Marcus. And he really is pathetic, because even through the
fear the memory makes his already hard cock twitch painfully.
He doesn't realize he's shaking until Harlan's arm slides around his waist,
mouth on his neck to murmur something against his skin. It takes Marcus a few
seconds to make out what he's saying, but finally he hears the murmured relax
against his ear as Harlan's hand slides down his stomach to stroke his cock
through his uniform pants.
He's not sure what it says about him that he moans and thrusts into Harlan's
touch – he has a feeling he should be pulling away, telling Harlan to go to
hell and walking all the way back to campus. But he wants Harlan more than he
wants his pride, so he braces his hands against the tree in front of him and
lets Harlan slide his zipper down. And he's not sure how far he's willing to
let this go – Harlan's the first person who's ever touched him besides him, and
even though he's thought about Harlan fucking him he's not sure he's ready to
go through with it.
When Harlan pushes his pants down his thighs Marcus struggles not to tense,
fails miserably and his cheeks burn when Harlan laughs against his neck.
"Relax, I'm not gonna hurt you. Not unless you're into that."
Trusting Harlan is something he's not sure he'll ever be able to do, but he
forces himself to relax marginally when Harlan drops to his knees. He glances
over his shoulder, half expecting to see a magic marker in Harlan's hand, but
both his hands are resting firmly on either side of Marcus' ass. The sight of
Harlan kneeling behind him for the second time makes him shudder, and he
doesn't even mind when Harlan laughs this time.
"You ever thought about this before?"
Marcus nods even though he's not exactly sure what Harlan's talking about – he
has a few ideas about what the other boy has in mind, but so far he hasn't done
anything at all and Marcus is starting to think maybe this is all some
elaborate form of torture.
"Yeah? You thought about this?" He leans in as he speaks, breath hot against
Marcus' skin as he uses his hands to spread Marcus open. Before Marcus has time
to panic Harlan's tongue slides against him, hot and wet and pressing just hard
enough to make Marcus gasp.
He feels himself nodding, a reflex he can't seem to stop even when Harlan pulls
away again.
"Who?" Harlan asks, and part of Marcus wants to scream because this is no time
to be asking stupid questions. But he's known Harlan for a long time, and he
knows they're not going any further until Harlan gets an answer.
"You," he manages to choke out, face burning with the word but it's the truth.
"Yeah?" And Harlan sounds genuinely surprised – a little smug, too, but Marcus
expected that much. "I thought you spent all your time mooning over that Luc
guy."
"Him too," Marcus answers, fingers flexing hard against tree bark and that's
going to hurt later. "Fuck, Harlan…"
Another chuckle, but a second later Harlan's tongue is pressing against him
again and Marcus swallows a sob when Harlan pushes inside. It feels…weird, but
better than he ever imagined it would, and he can't stop himself from pushing
back into the sensation. One of Harlan's hands comes up to hold him still, the
other sliding between his legs to squeeze his balls. He lets out a broken gasp
and spreads his legs a little further, eyes shut tight and back arched as he
struggles against the hand holding him still.
It's too much, but it's nowhere near enough, and when he hears himself babbling
he knows he's begging. He can't even make himself care, though, because
Harlan's hand finally leaves his balls to close around his cock, stroking in
time to the tiny thrusts of his tongue. And it's still not enough; he wants
Harlan inside him – his tongue, his fingers, his cock – anything, but he's
terrified to ask for it because he's afraid Harlan will do it. So he thrusts
even harder into Harlan's hand, grunting with each thrust and trying hard not
to think about what he must look like with his jacket and tie still on and his
pants down around his ankles.
When he comes it takes him by surprise, his whole body tensing and Harlan's
tongue still working him open until he finally stops shuddering. And even then
he doesn't want Harlan to stop – he never wants Harlan to stop, but all too
soon Harlan's hand leaves his cock and then he's standing up, gripping Marcus'
hips and pressing more hot kisses to the side of his neck.
Harlan's hand slides between them, working his own pants open and Marcus tenses
in anticipation of what he's sure Harlan has in mind. He feels Harlan's cock
pressing against him, closes his eyes and tries to relax, but Harlan doesn't
push inside him. Instead he thrusts against Marcus' ass, a little harder with
each stroke until he's gripping Marcus' hips hard and pressing frenzied kisses
to the back of Marcus' neck.
And it's hot, but Marcus can't help wondering what it would have felt like if
Harlan had decided to fuck him. He's pretty sure it would hurt, but there's a
part of him that wants to try it anyway. So maybe he is into pain, but he can
live with that. It wouldn't surprise him at all after everything he did for Luc
– he's capable of a lot of things he didn't think he'd ever be able to do, and
letting Harlan Ratcliff fuck him seems pretty tame in comparison to murder.
He thinks about asking if Harlan wants to fuck him – demanding it, even,
because he's pretty sure Harlan would get off on that. But before he gets the
words out Harlan's thrusting even harder, biting down on Marcus' shoulder and
coming against his back. He keeps moving restlessly against Marcus until his
orgasm subsides, their clothes sweaty and sticking to them and Marcus is sure
his uniform's a wreck.
It's worth it, though, and when Harlan turns him around again and grins at him,
Marcus forgets to worry about what he's going to do about his jacket. He lets
Harlan pull him forward for another hard kiss, laughing against Harlan's mouth
as the other boy pushes him back against the tree. Eventually they'll have to
pull themselves back together and get back in Harlan's car, drive the few miles
back to campus and go back to pretending they can't stand each other. He's not
even sure that's still not true, because as far as he knows this is still just
unfinished business.
And he's pretty sure Harlan will be right back to ignoring him tomorrow, but
this time it won't bother him, because he knows it isn't over yet.
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