this is it, guys, the last chapter. thank you, everyone, for your support for this story. i also want to note that i've officially graduated college. i'll be taking a semester off before heading into graduate school (because i'm that much of a masochist, yes) so i hope to have more time for writing. that means updates for old fics and posting new ones.

hope you enjoy this early xmas gift from me to you, and everyone have a good holiday, regardless of your personal beliefs.

thursday, 23 december, 2010. 10:54 pm.

In the end, I scratched his ears until he fell asleep, allowing me to watch the rest of my movie without having to pretend to be attentive to anything but the television.

--- --- --- (chapter begins)

"Why is it…every time I come over here…we end up fucking?"

I squinted over my shoulder, hair limp on my forehead as I asked, "Complaining?"

His hands on my hips, I was bare from the waist down and bent over the back of the couch, every nerve alive because of the dick in my ass.

"Not complaining, just making an observation," he stated, and I grinned, rocking from his thrusts.

"I'm a stud, you can't deny me," I teased, and he made a noncommittal sound.

This continued for another fifteen or twenty minutes, breaths harsh and our quips light, until I finally groaned.

"Brand, my legs…."

And my stomach, the wood back of the couch digging in deeper every minute, its cloth covering only doing so much. He pulled out and I shuddered, especially when his hand ran up between my legs, one finger briefly replacing his cock before he stepped away completely. He walked around to the other side of the couch, sitting down and looking up at me, pleased when I took the time to nuzzle the side of his face before moving to join him.

I straddled his lap and he pushed at my shirt, helping me pull it off before he frowned at the red mark on my stomach.

"Nate…."

I shut him up with a kiss, letting him run his fingers through the hair on my chest before breaking off so I could reinstate our cock-to-ass situation. His hands gripped my ass, facilitating my movement before he left off so he could touch my legs, palms sliding down my thighs and over my calves as far as he could reach, petting the curls of hair there.

"You know, you asked me if I liked your ass, and I do, but I love your legs. I could touch them for hours," he admitted, and I huffed, lips pulling into a rueful grin.

"You have."

"Yeah."

His sigh was contented, and I laughed, grinding my hips down against him and swallowing his moan. After he took my dick in hand, teeth on my neck, it didn't take long before he had pearly trails of come down his fist, my body trembling as he watched me through half-lidded eyes.

I didn't mind that he wanted to keep fucking me after I'd come, enjoying the sharp snap of his hips against mine as I held myself still above him, watching his face twist up in effort. I planted light kisses to his already kiss-swollen lips, my fingers lightly scratching the back of his neck and head, and his breathing took on a keening tone, his hips slowing though still just as forceful while he came.

We necked a while as he came down from his high, until we got around to moving again.

He made a face as he pulled off the condom, and I knelt on the floor, between his legs as I carefully ran my tongue over the remnants of semen on his dick. Even with the previous orgasm and how sensitively sore his dick now was, it gave a feeble effort to harden until he pushed me away.

"You're going to get me all bothered again," he said sternly, and my lips curled into a smile.

"That's a bad thing?"

"I'm not seventeen," he said instead, and I made a face that made him chuckle. In the end, we showered together, nothing happening other than his fingers up my ass as he kissed the back of my neck, careful of any soreness I might have.

-

After dinner, Hatti called asking to come over to swim, and I allowed that she might if Ashton didn't have a problem with it.

"He's at the café. Mom said to call first in case Brand was over."

Penny has a rational head on her shoulders, to be sure.

-

When Penny dropped her off, she was already in a bathing suit, disappointed to see we weren't. Normally I'd go out with her in the water, but with Brand there it was different.

"Na-ate, come with me! Brand can come too."

Thus, he ended up in an older pair of my trunks, the three of us walking down to the dock with Ram in tow. Brand was initially stiff and cold, unused to Hatti's exuberance, but her good-natured play eventually softened him, enough to where he actually helped me pick her up and throw her, her shrieks making us laugh.

Watching him play with my niece like they'd known each other for years made me grin with self-realization. Waiting until Hatti calmed down, I finally sidled up behind him, arms wrapping around his waist.

He immediately leaned back against me, and I put my mouth to his ear, saying low, "I love you."

It took him a moment to realize what I'd said, twisting to look at me with that stare of his until I began to feel nervous, wondering if maybe it'd been too soon, or at the wrong time. It's not like I've had a lot of practice at this sort of thing.

"Ngh," he finally said, then looked disgusted with himself, as if he couldn't believe something so idiotic came out of his mouth at that particular moment. I grinned, and he mock-glared before dropping it for seriousness.

"Really?"

"Brand, in all our sweaty man-sex, have I ever said it before?"

My voice was low, my eyes glancing at Hatti, but she was entertaining herself.

"…No, you haven't."

I looked back at him, seeing doubt there, and I moved closer, taking his face in my hands.

"Then I guess that means that, right here, right now, I meant to say it because it's true."

I leaned in and teased his lips with mine until his hand reached up and held my wrist, separating us enough for him to look me in the eye as he whispered so low I saw it more than heard; "Love you."

I grinned; "Good."

He laughed then, kissing me and pulling me into an embrace grown so familiar.

"Ugh, hey, guys, really?"

Hatti sounded disgusted but there was hidden laughter in her voice, so I didn't mind taking a moment more from the kiss before relinquishing Brand.

Then, grinning good-naturedly at the girl, I swam over, teasingly squirting a handful of water at her face. She spluttered, but then demanded to get on my shoulders. I ducked under water and between her legs, standing up with the girl on my shoulders, her hands on my head for balance and my arms holding her ankles. She whooped, nearly listing off to the side before we caught each other with matching laughter.

We horsed around a bit, Brand laughing with us when we capsized twice, and she eventually settled down, still sitting on my shoulders as she ran her hands over my hair.

"Uncle Nate?"

"Hm?"

"You love me?"

I jiggled her leg; "'Course."

"And you love Brand?"

I glanced at him, seeing him blush, especially when I jiggled her other leg; "'Course."

She deliberately slipped off my shoulders, disappearing beneath the water before popping up, heading for the dock and pulling herself up and sitting on the end. I sloshed over, and she looked down at me.

"And Brand loves you?"

"That appears to be the consensus," I agreed, and she smiled a bit, looking at him with a shyness rare for her.

"Can I call him uncle, then?"

Surprised, I was at a loss, looking at him and seeing him swallow with some difficulty.

His voice, when he found it, was slightly rough; "You can call me whatever you want, Hatti."

She smiled, and its sweetness reminded me of how young she is, though she often seems so much older.

"Hey, Batti, how about some ice cream before we take you home?"

She lit up, jumping up and causing Ram to jump up as well, getting excited without having any clue why beyond hoping it meant something to eat might be coming his way soon.

"Right now?!"

I laughed, nodding, and she scampered back to the house to dry off, Ram at her heels. I pulled myself up onto the dock, turning to help Brand as well before we made our way into the house. If we'd been alone, we would have left our wet trunks downstairs; instead, we dripped all the way upstairs to my bedroom, stripping to change into dry clothing.

I pulled on a pair of deck shoes, but he didn't even bother, padding out barefoot behind me as we went out and found Hatti sitting on the couch, surfing channels on TV until she heard us. The speed at which she stood and made for the front door made me half-assed grumble about how fast she wanted to be rid of us, but I really didn't mind it.

-

We stopped at a seasonal ice cream shop in town, eating our cones at an outside table. It was full on dark by the time we dropped her off at my brother's house, and in a rare show of affection, she kissed my cheek before kissing Brand's, shocking him even as she jumped out of the van and ran for the front door, waving bye before disappearing inside.

He remained quiet all the way back to my house, and I knew better than to push or question him.

Like a repeat of that night after our first 'date', we took beers out to the end of the dock, sitting there in the dark and enjoying each others company.

"I've got two nephews," he finally said, and I nodded to show I was listening.

"Amy lives so far, we really never see each other, except maybe at Christmas."

When he didn't continue, I reached over and took his hand, first cupping it as friends, and then interlacing our fingers as lovers.

He looked over at me, a dark form, moonlight highlighting his eyes as he said, "I love you Nate Harper."

It wasn't a whisper this time, tone solid and real, and I grinned, giddy as I squeezed his hand. Without words being exchanged, he knew to scoot closer, my arm hooked around his neck as he settled in against my side.

-

We sat that way for nearly an hour before heading inside, locking up and going to bed, still half-dressed beneath the covers as we settled in to sleep.

I was already halfway into a doze when I heard clicking against the wood flooring, eyes open moments before Ram barreled his body onto the bed, settling into a large lump at our feet.

"…Nate."

"Yeah?"

"Get that demon off my legs or I'm going to sleep on the couch."

"Hatti was right. You might be cute but you can be so mean," I quipped, and his sleepy voice came from the dark.

"I take it back. You'll be sleeping on the couch."

I laughed, sitting up and telling Ram off the bed; he was stubborn, but I finally managed it, the dog slinking down and huffily laying on his bed against the wall.

"There, happy?"

I waited for an answer until realizing Brand was already asleep, lightly snorting even as I rolled onto my side, the smell of the lake coming through the open windows as we slept.

A/N: end.