Burning Paper Houses

Chapter Twenty: Running With Scissors And Playing With String

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Two Weeks Later

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“Mom…” I stood kind of awkwardly in the kitchen doorway, unable to find a decent place for my hands and unsure of how to straighten my spine so I didn’t look so small to her, “I know it’s a bit late to bring this up, but he-” She flinched a little, “-only mentioned it to me today, and then his mom invited me over the phone when he had to…” I closed my mouth before I could go on, because telling her Javier had called because he got detention was not too smart, “…call her.”

My mom reached over the sink to turn off the flow of water, probably so she could hear my mumbling better. There was a silence for a few moments that I filled in my mind with panic and hope that she hadn’t really heard me, “What are you asking about then? Who invited you to do what, honey?”

“Oh, um, Javier’s mom invited me over to dinner…” I tried not to let my surprise from the pet name show, taking a step into the room that felt a little warmer now, “And I wanted to know if I was allowed to go, or not.”

“Javier.” I think that was what she said under her breath, something I wasn’t meant to hear but did anyway because she didn’t cover it up enough, “Will Elise be there?”

“I’m sure she will be, seeing as she does live in the same house and all. Does it matter if she will be there, or not? I’m pretty sure she’s not the one who wants me to come over.” I continued, voice a bit lower, “Javier is the one I’m seeing, you know?”

“I know that, River. I was simply asking a question.”

“And I know that, but you always do it. I mention something about Javier to you and you automatically change the subject to something about Elise. I hate when you do that.” I said quietly, “We hardly even say hello and goodbye to each other anymore.”

Leave it to her to twist the conversation into something it was never meant to be, “Whose fault is that?” She questioned, keeping her back to me as she walked over to the oven to pull the towel off the handle and wipe the water off of her hands, “She-”

“I never said it was a bad thing.” I told her, cutting her off and erasing the step I had taken into the room. Weeks now and she still wouldn’t even try to understand and deal with it. It was frustrating, and it pissed me off most of the time, but there was an underlying feeling of sadness that came with it, “Both of us -Elise and I- don’t care half as much as you do about it.”

“I’m just trying to be a good mother, River.” I wanted to laugh at the bullshit of the statement, but held it in because it would’ve made things worse, “I don’t want to see you ruin your life over some…boy.”

“Denying everything I try to tell you and not even attempting to accept me is not being a good mother. It’s the closet you’ve ever been to being a horrible one, really.”

“River-” She looked nothing short of shocked when she turned around, eyebrows higher up her forehead and skin a bit paler than it usually was. I merely blinked at her. How could she not have known it? “-I do accept you and whatever you think you need to go through.”

“I don’t think I need to go through anything. I know I’m gay, and you know I’m gay, but you don’t want to let the tiniest possibility that I could like Elise go by. I’m not going to.” I slipped further out of the room, “Or maybe this is all because you still just don’t fucking like him.”

She let out a breath, sounding somewhere between annoyed and tired, “I like the boy just fine-”

“Javier.” I said shortly, “You can’t say you like him if you can’t even say his name when you talk about him. Not that it matters much if you don’t, because I do and I’m not going to stop because you don’t want to be gay and you damn sure don’t want me to touch him with a hundred foot pole, let alone with my own hands.”

“Not many parents are comfortable with their children getting intimate with someone.” She replied too politely, not meeting my eyes (or looking anywhere near me), “So it is understandable that I don’t want you to-”

“Getting intimate.” I had to laugh at it while I swiped my hands over my eyes as they began to burn a bit, “I’m talking about doing anything. Holding hands isn’t intimate, or at least as much as you are trying to make touching seem, and you still wouldn’t want me to do that with him.” I sighed, “Just…can I go over there, or not?”

I was sure she was going to say no, because she always did, and an argument wasn’t going to make my chances any better. She didn’t answer for a few second, which I took as a no, moving back and turning to go lock myself in my room, “…you can.” She told me, flickering her eyes on me for a second.

“I-” I stopped, “Okay. Um…” Not having been prepared for the answer, I wasn’t sure what else to say to her before I ran the fuck out. There was an uncomfortable silence, “What time do you want me to be home then? I can call.” Awkward again. “When I get there.”

“Come home before nine.” She said it slowly, more like it wasn’t what she wanted to say but changed her words just in case, “Call if you can. You won’t get in trouble if you don’t.”

“Alright. I will be able to call, most likely, unless someone is on the phone and even then I should be able to because I’ll have…four hours to do so. Okay. I’ll be going now then.”

I punctuated my words with several large steps towards the door. She didn’t turn to look at me, something I should’ve been happy about, but it didn’t make me feel any better.

“And don’t worry, okay?” I continued, “Nothing's going to happen.”

She nodded stiffly, twisting the knobs behind the sink to turn the water on again. It felt like a dismissal to me, “Goodbye, River. Have fun.”

“Yea…I’ll try to, I guess.” I didn’t bother saying goodbye to her as I stepped out and closed the door softly behind me, taking a huge breath of the chilly air that settled oddly in my lung before I let it out.

Just because I wasn’t going to let him go because she wanted it, didn’t make the fact that she didn’t any less painful. I wasn’t the kind of kid who was constantly looking for their parents' approval, or in my case just my mother’s, but I guess that was because I never had to before. She had always given it to me.

I hated how it felt when the one thing I could do to go back to that was one of the things I wasn’t willing to do. It was like her asking me not be Liz’s friend anymore. It just…wasn’t fucking possible.

I kicked a rock that was in my way when I realized I was half way down the street already. I was being stupid, I knew, just like I was when anything in my life fell off balance the wrong way. I wanted to stop. I was free for four hours, after all, and kissing wasn’t as fun when my mom crept into my mind.

Ten minutes went by slowly, filled with random topics in my mind to keep me distracted, so much that I had barely noticed any of the house I went by, or the people who were standing on the sidewalk, and my feet hit the front of their lawn before I knew it.

I didn’t have to knock, because Javier came out onto the porch a moment later, one hand shoved into the pocket of his jeans. He offered me a small smile as he pulled the cigarette from his mouth and tossed it on the ground, not able to stomp it out with his bare feet. I smiled back, sliding my hand through my hair as he continued to stare at me. It made me some kind of good uncomfortable, made my skin feel hypersensitive and my heart pound a little faster.

“Well.” He started, grin growing as I continued to stand in one spot like an idiot. I know I blushed a little, “Are you going to come inside, or are you going to eat outside in the cold?” With a grin over his shoulder as he turned around, he began to walk back in, words flowing back to me, “I promise we won’t make you. Eat outside, that is.”

“But you will make me do other things? I don’t know if I like what I know that implies…” I slid my feet forwards.

“If you seriously don’t, it’ll be a shame, and my sheets will be awfully cold.” His bare feet hit the floor softly, and I rushed just the tiniest bit to catch up, cracking a smile as two screamed versions of his name rang through. One of them sounded horrified, so I automatically knew who it was, the other one sounded mutely amused, and I knew that wouldn’t have been anyone but his mom.

By the time I replied, I was walking up the couple of small stairs to the porch, feet hitting the wood loudly, "I guess we wouldn't want that to happen..."

"Cold sheets aren't any fun to sleep on.” He replied just as I got to the open doorway. I studied him when he laid down on the couch, and when he reached out to pick something up off the floor, “Don't hover in the doorway like that. No one's going to stab you in the back if you put down your guard."

"My guard is down.” I said, “I only figured that walking into someone's house uninvited was kind of rude."

"I did invite you in, so hush. Would it make you feel better if my mom did it, since it is truly her house?” He waved his hand in her direction, towards the kitchen, before tossing me some affectionate look, “You are so fuc-"

"Come on in, River.” His mom cut his words short, peeking her head into the room and waving at me with flour covered hands, “You're a welcome guest here. I don't want you to feel otherwise." She then took her attention off of me and onto Javier, who hadn’t quite looked away from me yet. She pinned him with a playful glare, "Could you possibly teach him how to watch his mouth? I swear, I have never-"

He turned from me long enough to toss back her glare, "It's part of my charm, Mother.” There was a small shrug and a small cheerful sound from somewhere in his chest as he picked up the remote, “He cusses almost as much I do, anyway."

"I do not.” They both looked at me like they didn’t believe me. “I really don't.” I said firmly, making them both look like they wanted to fall out in laughter, “Fuck, I don't know."

"See?” It wasn’t a question, but it did make me realize what I had just said, “And half of the time he isn't even aware he's doing it until afterwards. Hence the flush. It does make you look damn adorable though, so feel free to do it again."

"Does damn count?" I asked his mom, trying to get the focus off me now.

She seemed to sense it and took pity on me, flicking her hands in an effort of get him dirty even though he was too far away to reach, “I think it does. Feel free to find a way to shut him up.”

“I can think of a few way I wouldn’t mind…” The way he said it made it unable to be anything but dirty. My flush grew and I shifted my eyes to the ground, because god, this was not something I ever wanted to bring up in front of his mom. I had only really touched him in front of her once, and that still made me feel horrified to think about. At least she didn’t seem too freaked out about it.

“I walked right into that one, didn’t I?” Her laugh made me flinch a little, simply because I wasn’t expecting to hear it. She didn’t stop until both Javier and I were looking at her oddly, “Just…” There was a short laugh that she couldn’t keep in, “…make sure you both keep on your clothes.”

"I'll try, but I can't give you a guarantee. Whores like me have trouble keeping their clothes on..." He mumbled, more to himself than to us, fingers dancing along the bottom hem of his shirt and occasionally tugging at it.

The room went quiet for a few moment before his mom frowned, either at the obvious mood change or the way he was talking, or maybe about both, "Javier, don't start that-"

"What?” He raised a curious eyebrow at her before looking away, curling his fingers around the shirt this time. I had a feeling that it had come up quite a few times between them, judging by the way the situation seemed to feel familiar between them, “I can talk about myself, can't I? I don't see why not, if you guys can do it."

Her lips still didn‘t twist out of the frown, and mine soon twisted up into something bittersweet (just for him, because I didn’t like when he did it with me either) when she went on, "We're allowed to because we're being nice about it and not being bitter like the other person in the room."

"Fine, I'll be nice to myself.” He was quick to agree, but it didn’t feel like so much of a lie. When he continued it was playful, like he had already forgotten about the whole thing already, “But I really do have trouble keeping them on. I'd prefer to go without-"

"He really does..." I let slip out before I realized it and mentally chopped of my fucking tongue.

"What did you say, River?" Javier questioned, lifting an eyebrow and the corners of his mouth at the same time. It made me feel like he already knew, and a blush crawled up my neck, even as I smiled back because it always felt like this. I couldn’t say I didn’t like it, however much of an idiot it turned me into.

"Nothing.” I murmured, placing a hand over my face to shield it from their amused smiles, “Just...talking to myself. Ignore me because it's nothing too interesting to hear."

"I know I'd like to know.” He looked far too happy to be innocent as he looked at me and then over at his mom, “What about you, Mother? It must've been something horrible if it made him blush.” He knew me too well sometimes, “Did it involve birthday presents?"

The room got unnaturally hot while I forced my feet to lift themselves and bring me over to a chair. It wasn‘t good enough for hiding it, it was too small or I was too big, so I settled for pressing my face to back of it and trying to breathe normally, "...please don't ask about that one. I'm going to just sit down and hope this all ends soon."

"You embarrassed him.” His mom made it sound like it was something cute. It was not cute. More like something worth hiding under a couch for. If only I could fit…I didn’t get to finish the thought because I felt Javier slink up behind me, resting his hand (but it was more just his fingertips) against the back of my neck in a way that made me shiver and placing a kiss on top of my head.

I was too busy forcing myself not to melt back into him that his small laugh didn‘t make me blush like I knew it would -should- have, "I did not. If anything, he's horrified over it because you're in the room. And in that case, it's not my fault."

“Is that it? I guess I’ll have to leave then so he’ll crawl himself out of the chair and hopefully come eat.” She wasn’t wearing any shoes, I had noted that before, but I could hear her walk well enough, “Behave out here. You wouldn’t want your sister walking in on you.”

“You think that I-” He placed his hand on his chest to emphasize it, expression of mock-surprise, and then reached to pick up his one of I’m sure was many packs of cigarettes seconds afterwards, “-would do something inappropriate on the couch for everyone to see?” He paused to run his hand through my hair, “She shouldn’t know me that well.”

“Why not?” I allowed myself to melt, “She’s your mom, so I don’t see why she shouldn’t. Then again, you could just be playing with me and I’m just being an idiot who really isn’t hoping you’re being truthful because it makes me feel kind of perverted.” I let out a soft breath as I thought, “We really shouldn’t though, if Elise is here.”

“I’d say it would be her fault if she walked in, since she knows you’re here. Right?” He tugged at my hair lightly so I tipped my head back, and brought his head down to whisper in my ear, lips brushing against it slightly, “If you’re not getting out of the chair, then let me sit down with you.”

I didn’t bother covering my expression that plainly told him that he was crazy for thinking both of us were going to fit, “I’m crowding the chair as it is. How are we going to share it without someone breaking something? I’d squish you and cut off your air supply or something.”

“You won’t. Now…” He used his other hand to tap my one the leg and jerk at the knee of my jeans a little, “Uncurl yourself and stop mumbling into the chair, because I can’t hear you all that well. Unless you don’t want to share with me. That’s it, isn’t it? Then I can-”

“No.” It was almost a yell that made him break out into a fit of laughter. It wasn’t very nice of him to play-tug at my stings, “Don’t mess with me, you…person. Just sit down.”

“I will in a moment. You need to relax, River.” He took it into his own hands to do it for me. Placing one of his hands on the arm of the chair, he used the other to pull my legs apart so that they hit the sides and then pushed my stomach a little so that I knew to stop slouching in the chair and actually sit up. I stared at him while he did it, moving along with it without a sound.

“Am I allowed to ask what you’re doing-” A dry swallow as his hand hit my inner thigh, “-or do I continue sitting here like I was never taught how to move?”

“Well, you’re keeping your pants on, or at least keeping them zipped, if that is what you were wondering. Even I don’t have the nerve to give you a blowjob when there are people in the house. Very sorry if that‘s what you were expecting.”

“No, no, no. That isn’t what I-” I gave up trying to think of putting it in the correct words without ending up saying something worse, “What are you trying to do then?”

He didn’t answer until his was done moving me to whatever position he wanted me to, which was with both my arms and legs spread out, with my back straight against the back, “I’m attempting to make myself a place to sit so neither of us get ‘squished’.”

“Oh.” I replied lamely, letting him sit down in the area he had made between my legs, “You’re too small to do that to me. I was only talking about breaking you.”

“I’ll have you know that I am completely capable to breaking someone who is bigger than me. But…I would never break you. Too much. Not in a physical manner, anyway.” He leaned his head back against my shoulder, “You have to hold me or I’m going to fall out of the chair, River.” He told me softly, scooting back as his point showed.

“Oh- yea. Shit. Sorry.” I rushed the apology, wrapping my arms around him (one around his stomach and one across his chest) and tugging so that his back was flush against my chest, “I wasn’t really paying attention to that. You’re really warm and putting your hand on my knee is really distracting.” A poor excuse, but I needed something, “It’s okay, though. You don’t have to move it if you don’t want to.”

“Wasn’t planning on it.”

He mumbled against the skin of my neck a few nonsense words before nipping at it rather hard in a way that should have hurt but did anything but. I sighed as he kissed the spot lightly and then moved on to another. It was nice -really fucking nice- even if there was a chance of getting caught by someone. It’s not like it would be a surprise…I nudged his head aside to bite him this time, somewhere on the crook of his neck that he seemed to like.

Nuzzling and the occasional touch of teeth got old soon, which he showed me by turning his head and touching his lips to the sound of my mouth, squeezing my knee when he got frustrated when I laughed soundlessly and twisted away just a fraction.

“Don’t play with me…” He said softly, contrasting with the hand that was close to leaving a half circle of bruises on my leg. I covered it with my own and pried it fingers away one at a time. Neither of us seemed to give curling them together any thought. It just happened. He squeezed mine now, “You don’t like it when I do it to you.”

“I’d have to say the same thing back.” I told him with a smile, but I gave in because he half turned himself between my legs and I didn’t have the slightest bit of a strong will to resist. I brushed his hair back, getting my fingers tangled in it. He wasn’t paying much attention to that, too busy looking at my lips to try, and I pulled him closer to me at an angle that I’m sure was going to make his neck ache if he stayed like that too long.

“Ouch.” He let out randomly with a grin before pressing his lips to mine, too hard and too soft, and I know he just wanted me to open my mouth for him. I did, listening to him breathe harshly as we both closed our eyes. I breathed into the kiss, some kind of laugh, because the two of us together always ended up acting like the two teenaged boys that we were.

He pinched me like he knew what I was thinking.

“Ouch.” It was my turn to whisper, and I would’ve squirmed away, but there wasn’t any room for me to do so. I settled for biting him harder than I usually would have.

He pulled away and laid his head against my shoulder, making me unsure if it was because of my biting, or if he just wanted to get some air. He let me know a moment later as he took a deep breath, “You’re not very good with sharing your air, you know. It’s a mother fucking shame at times like now.”

“I am so sorry I don’t have enough air for the two of us. It really is kind of shameful…” I looked at him when he lifted his head back up, still breathing too quickly (and I felt it against my face before he dropped a kiss on my cheek) “But um…” I kissed his cheek softly, “If it really is a problem, I guess we don’t-”

“Hush. I was playing with you. Not being able to breathe isn’t so bad when I’m using my time to amuse myself other ways. Which we should get back to, if you’d stop being polite already. Don’t get me wrong-” He kissed my temple, “-I love when you get like this, but polite kissing and you, don’t fit together well, especially with me. I like it when you bite.”

“I hadn’t noticed.” I wasn’t sure he could hear me as I untwisted my tongue and aligned my lips with his again. I got to initiate the kiss this time, definitely too soft for him. His nails scratched the back of my neck and a shudder ran up my spine, too intense for me to try and hide.

There was a girl’s squeak and another girl’s laugh, who started to talk, “Okay now. I have my hand over my eyes in case there are body parts out that I’m not interested in seeing, so shove them back in and zip it up before I can’t look at either of you again.”

"God.” I tensed as we both turned our faces to look at them, Liz looking amused and Elise looking a little pale, “Fucking…shit.” Javier had decided that they were as interesting as tasting my neck was, which he soon got to. I muttered to him so they hopefully couldn’t hear, “You're not allowed to lick me when they -your sister, mostly- are in the room. I'm really sorry, but um…” I trailed off when my words didn’t change their expressions.

"Elise.” He cut in, saying her name just a tiny degree over icy. I guess things still weren’t close to decent between them, “Liz.” It mirrored her amusement.

"Hey, you two.” She said brightly with a little wave, obviously ignoring the coldness that Elise was giving off. Liz then motioned with her hands something I didn’t quite get, “I trust that everything is stuffed back in, no matter how tight I'm sure the fit is, right?”

"T- There was nothing out, for god's sake. We can control ourselves that much, I assure you.” It didn’t, showing as her annoyingly knowing grin was turned up a notch. I continued, “ We have no urge to...do that out here."

There had to have been a certain vibe Javier gave off before he said something I knew was to make Elise squirm, because I knew it (maybe by the way he seemed to tense, even though I was sure he didn’t let his face show it) before he had taken the breath and spoke, "Speak for yourself. I said I wasn't going to blow you, I never said-"

I drowned him out, "He's just messing around with you two. Really, he is.” A pause, “And I don't appreciate the look, Liz. What the hell are you doing here, anyway? I don't remember you ever mentioning to me that you were coming over too."

"She invited me." Liz replied with a shrug, as Javier slipped off of the chair. I automatically closed my legs, and he took a seat on top of them, lying his head against the back and tossing his feet over the arm. He laughed, like the position was funny. I guess we did look a little ridiculous.

"Which she are you talking about?” I asked, glancing at her because I couldn't really look with Elise standing there too, “Because there are two, you know."

"I know. The 'she' I'm talking about is the one who makes the food and feeds the children." Liz explained to me like I was a child and was asking her to explain herself after the tenth time of doing so. Flipping her off would’ve been my choice of response, but I kept my hands to myself (and a little on Javier) because I didn’t feel free enough to do it without getting a look and maybe a scold if his mom caught me.

"Okay.” It felt lame in comparison, but there wasn‘t anything I could do about it since I had said it already. “Then you're here for...?” I trailed off with a raised eyebrow.

She gave a shrug even when she did give an answer that wasn‘t ‘I don‘t know‘, "The food.” I blinked and waited for the truth. Liz didn’t appreciate it, “Well, obviously not for the person on your lap. I'd say that leaves two and I'm sure you're smart enough to figure out which."

"Oh.” I fought the urge to repeat myself when the answer hit me. It was surprising, since I hadn’t seen them do much other than snap at each other when they were within hearing distance of the other. It was just- “That’s…kind of odd."

"I can think of a few things that are more than 'kind of odd'." Elise finally decided to talk, more bitterness shining through her voice than needed. It was easy to figure out what she was talking about, and Javier mumbled something about her being jealous before settling closer to me.

Liz was the one to set her straight, turning to Elise with a glare and a wave of the arm that could‘ve knocked someone out, “Oh, would you leave them alone? It has been weeks, get the fuck over it already. He’s not going to come crawling to you when Javier forgets to comb his hair, okay? For fuck’s sake.” She huffed and Elise glared, turning on unstable heels and clicking her way out of the room. I couldn’t explain the expression on Liz’s face as she watched and kept talking, “You’d think she would have let it go already, but no, we can’t go five minutes without her complaining about the two of you. I want to fucking strangle her sometimes.”

“It is a lovely fantasy, isn’t it? If only to ruin her vocal cords a little.” Javier added, “So none of us would have to listen to her angry nonsense whenever she opened her mouth. Hmm, but who knows.” He shook his head against my shoulder, “Maybe she’ll learn to let it go.”

“Maybe.” Liz turned awkward, unsure, as she ran her hand over her hair and gave us a smile, “But it doesn’t really matter. Your mom said…” She changed the subject, “…that dinner was going to be ready in a minute so we should 'all go sit down and act like civilized adults'. Her words; definitely not mine. I know you guys could never do that. So, yea, you should do that. I’m going to follow her and laugh if she’s crying again.”

“Do I want to know anything about that, or am I better off not knowing?” I questioned, staring at the space where they had exited, confused like fucking hell, “I vote for the second one.”

“I’d say that would be the better choice.” He shifted, moving his feet quickly from side to side and not looking like it was making him feel too well, “Are your legs numb yet? Mine are starting to tingle and it feels really weird. I should get up.”

I poked his foot, not giving him a yes or no because I didn’t really want him to get up, although we did have to do it anyway, “Yea, sort of.” Was my mumbled response, “I guess we should just get up to go eat now…at least we’d get our own chairs then. If you’d like.”

“We’ll go in a moment. I want to talk to you about something before we do. We need to talk, in any case, and now is as nice of time as any other time will be, don’t you agree?”

“I hope that isn’t some sort of trick question, because I’m sure I’d screw myself into the ground by answering. So then.” I couldn't help the speeding of my heart. He had never asked to ‘talk’ and I wasn’t sure what it meant. “What do we have to talk about? I didn’t do anything wrong, did I? Something bad? Because if I did, I am-”

“Hush, River.” He pressed his hand over my mouth so I would stop babbling. I stared down at it, and struggled to get it off, but his hand just tightened. Licking him wasn’t going to work, so I glowered at it until he let his hand slip down to my neck, “You’ve done absolutely nothing wrong. It’s something good. Something really late.”

“You’ve lost me know.” I said shortly, licking my lips and swallowing. He said it was something good, but I couldn't get the panic to vanish so quickly, “Late?”

“Something that both of us has had over a month and a half to bring up, but haven’t. I know my reasons behind that. I’m curious to hear yours.” He told me, getting out of my lap and resting with a wince onto his knees, balancing on the back of his feet.

I frowned while he rested his chin on my leg, “And I’ll give it to you if you tell me what the hell you’re talking about…”

“What do you think I’m talking about? Something late that we should have done quite a while ago. Changes something between the two of us.” He smiled when I merely blinked and shook my head at him. I wasn’t getting any ideas from what he was saying. He noted that, of course (because he seemed to note everything about me) and wrapped one of his hands around my ankle as much as it would go in an awkward gesture, “Will you be my labeled boyfriend?”

"I thought I already was your boyfriend.” I couldn’t come up with anything smarter than that. It wasn’t really because I was surprised, even if I was, but more because I wasn’t ready or expecting it, “Or something like it, anyway."

"You are, but then again, you aren't. That's what I meant before when I said neither of us brought it up.” He stopped talking long enough to pull his hand away. I would’ve taken it as a bad sign, but he didn’t lift his head and his hand touched mine a second later, “Like...you can't just call someone your husband without asking them first."

"Being a husband and being a boyfriend are on freakishly different levels." I said, eyes kind of wide and palms kind of sweaty. I always overreacted at the best times.

"It's still nice to ask." He said softly, pushing himself up off the ground and onto shaky legs. I wasn’t able to read him, didn’t know if something was wrong, so I did the next thing I could think of. I jumped up too, ending up too close to him and almost knocking the two of us to the ground. The only thing that stopped up was him leaning back to me, canceling out my push.

I looked down at my palms flat against his shoulder blades, probably making the skin underneath his thin t-shirt uncomfortably warm, "Well, yea, I guess you're right about that. So, I should say...yes?"

I felt him move his head in a way that could‘ve been a nod or a shake of his head. I still wasn‘t sure about it when he responded, "If that's what you want to say."

"It is.” I nodded, and pulled him closer to me so that we were hugging and not pressed together because neither of us could find balance. I cleared my throat, nudging his head with mine, “Yea.” We stood around for a few moment before I ruined the silence by clearing it again, “This is incredibly awkward."

"I agree. We should go eat now, and then we can find some horribly obvious place to kiss." He pulled back a bit, just so I had to slip my hand away. They were hanging uncertainly near him until he grabbed and held both of them between his, tugging me away from the chair.

"Like in your bedroom?" I asked as we walked slowly towards the kitchen and the voices that were spilling from it.

His lips quirked into a smirk and he breathed out a laugh, bringing our hands up to his expression from me. I was stronger, so it was easy to tug them away, "It's a nice choice, but hardly public enough. Perhaps if we kept my door open and made exaggerated noises."

"Okay." I replied, not caring whether or not he was telling the truth because either way we were going to end up doing it. A laugh bubbled in my chest, something ridiculous and girly, and I covered it by placing a kiss on his hair.

"Hmm, what was that for?"

"Does it matter?” I grinned at him, dropping another kiss and getting another sigh for it, “Is kissing you illegal now?"

"Hardly. Nothing is, in a sense… unless it's something strange.” His shoulders shook as he said it and I knocked him with my shoulder, because he (of course) had to make a moment something perverted, “Then you might want to warn me beforehand.”

"I'm hardly like that. Groping you…” He raised an eyebrow and I couldn’t cover my blush when he still wouldn’t give my hands back. I finished the sentence because it wasn’t quite something I wanted to take back. It was fun, after all, “…is enough for me."

A flicker of something hopeful, "For now?"

It was enough for me to tug him into a hug that ended up hurting my ribs and pushing the air from his lungs. He chuckled breathlessly and I closed my eyes, a dull throb on my side that was nothing compared to the fingertips that pushed my hair back and the tainted breath that tickled my skin, "Yea, for now."

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THE END.

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A/N: Hmm, well, I am happy as fuck now. My first complete (long) story. Go me. This chapter was half as long as the last one, but twice as long as I thought it was going to be. I purposely didn't wrap up every situation because I didn't find it realistic. Um...well, I might carry the characters into one-shots, drabbles, so on...but I won't be doing a sequel (in a chaptered story sense.) Hope you guys enjoyed the story. (feel free to contact me if you have questions.)

Love to Arigazi for dealing with me through the whole story. Also, thank you Elise (Digital Dream) for the fanart. You're fucking awesome, MPB. (remember what that stands for?)

Much adoration to: Digital Dream (more love. you lucky whore.), Clare Greenleaf, Cybeleflame, Genuine, K. T. Wood, SugarCoatedWalnut (I do read them all, by the way), Sises, sicksteen, Naomi Shemer, Faithless Seraph, xanthofile, Mis, Kakiryu, rainbowskye, aurora borealis, myepiphany, Jaded Breeze, Lanku, Edainme/Muffin, Inu-ChuChu, BloodFlower, chinotto, Tal Car, Comodin, Hitori-Hoshi, Spawn of Hell, Ishy, NeverEverTown, Blutiger Tod, , ElliKat, emerald raven, Deadly Beautiful, VampireOfDeath113, swordgirl-amy, blackn'bluebunny, Graphiti Skies, slowlydancingtothestars, MooseDeEvita, paledaisy78, jladotcom, treana, Natasha, lostwoods, PirateGrrl/Sammy McC, StolenSoul4818, Jeoal/AJ, bright realities, Starlite Nightfall, Fritzi Glamore (I have to say you confused me a bit), Neechi, Dirty-Angel-Toes, Shesherezade, Alyssa Moore, and spacebunny (YOU'RE ALIVE.) Just...thank you.

Please review, because it is the last chapter, after all. Last chance to tell me what you thought...

EDIT: To all of those who are catching this late, I have a ficlet story up that is all BPH. Thought you'd like to know if you wanted to see more of them.