Just About Soccer

Okay, so here’s chapter 12. I know it took way too long, but… somehow I managed to loose track of things. Everyone who read until here – thanks you ^^
There will only be one more update to this coming very soon with last chapters. Yay, this story took me twice as long as I thought… hoped it would.

Thanks a lot to my beta Lukanicus who somehow managed to endure the wait. You’re awesome!

So here you go…

Nediar
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Just About Soccer

Chapter 12

Brian had not been able to sleep after his argument with Ray. Instead, he played videogames all night and morning through. In the afternoon, he had finally found some rest.

He almost fell out of bed when his mobile phone rang. Brian cracked one eye open and cursed to the god of time management. Why did people always call when you were sleeping? Where was this stupid thing, anyway? He let himself roll over the edge of the bed and crouched, sheets wrapped around his waist, through the room in search of the little annoying gadget. He found it on his desk. It was Ray.

‘Oh great.’

“Wha.” he murmured.

“Huh?” Ray answered. He did not know whether it was supposed to be a complete sentence.

“What’s up?” Brian managed to say.

“Did I wake you, Bri?”

“Yo…”

“I’m sorry…”

“Nah, never mind…”

“No I mean, I’m sorry… for… my stupid behaviour. You were right. With everything that you said, I was… very… influenced by my… by him.”

Now Brian was wide-awake.

“What happened, Ray?”

“How do you…“

“Your voice, it says everything.” Brian answered the unfinished question.

“Um… let me… tell you when we meet.” Ray’s voice sounded tensed.

“We meet? When did we settle that?”

“I am settling that now!”

“That’s very interesting.” Brian joked.

“Would you mind coming over and… staying with me?” the brunette whispered.

Some seconds of silence.

“The night?” Brian kept the excitement out of his voice. He was taken with the idea, of course. However, at the same time, something felt horribly wrong about the offer.

“The night, the week, the month. Whatever time it takes my mom to get divorced.”

Brian did not understand a word but he was positive about being told soon.

“Um… And what about…“

“We’ll talk later, okay? Hurry and get over here!"

“Okay.”

“And… Brian?”

“Right here.”

“I miss you. I just… I shouldn’t have run off without saying bye properly.”

“Right. But it’s okay.”

An uncertain silence hung between them until Brian said, “I love you. We meet in an hour.”

“Hurry!”


Brian had to take the bike and he needed an hour to get to Ray’s house. He was surprised to find the place empty.

'Sometimes I hate him.' he mused and turned towards his bike. ‘Well, maybe I don’t.’

Ray grinned up at him. He stood between his and Brian’s bike and expectantly looked at his younger boyfriend.

“Hey Brian.”

“Hey Ray.”

Why was this so awkward?

“I’m sorry, Brian!”

Were that tears? Brian could not believe his eyes. There was indeed a tear running down Ray’s cheek.

“I know. Everything’s fine. I’m not angry, I’ve never been!” That was not entirely true, because Brian had been angry. However, he had already almost forgotten about that.

“Thanks…”

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ll tell you in a second. Let’s just take the bikes to the back of the house."

Brian nodded and they silently walked next to each other.

“Ray?”

Ray looked up when they came to a halt in front of the shed. Brian leaned in and kissed the brunette’s cheek. His skin tasted salty from the tear. Brian was amazed. It really had only been one single tear. Ray mumbled something Brian could not understand.

“What was that?”

“Would you do that again, please?”

Brian smiled softly and kissed him again. “We should go inside, Ray. It’s getting colder.”

Ray frowned and then, silently and with no word wasted, captured the blond’s lips with his own in an intense kiss. It was not lustful or demanding. But, it was sinful. Brian was not able to think about that for long. The only thing on his mind in the next second was that he wanted Ray to touch him in many other ways than ‘just’ with a kiss. The taller one took his time, but when Brian put his hands on Ray’s neck and pulled him closer, he slid his tongue inside the younger one’s mouth and carefully explored. Brian thought he was going to burst with desire and a soft moan escaped his lips.

Ray stopped and smiled at him.

“You’re right. We should go inside.”

“Spoiled sport.”

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing, nothing…”


After Ray had finished telling Brian about what had happened (leaving out the tiny detail that his dad attacked him with a knife) the blond was shocked.

“I… I had a bad feeling about your dad, but I never thought that he was that…“

“You see, I didn’t even have that bad feeling about him.”

“No one’s blaming you! It was you who put an end to this.” The blond now got an idea in which direction Ray’s feelings went.

“I’m blaming myself. I lived with that goddamn asshole and didn’t notice!”

“But he was nice when he was with you! He did a good job as far as his acting skills were concerned.”

“Very helpful. That just means…“

“Nothing, but that he knew you could end it. And you did! Be a little proud of yourself. You said your mom didn’t even want to file charges against him! You did very well there.”

“But it was too late.”

“They’re all alive and well, apart from some bruises and stuff.”

“But…“

“Oh boy, get a grip!”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Okay, baby…“

“That neither. That’s my name for you.”

“You’re just about to send me berserk. Okay then… Let me call you… right. If you don’t stop being depressed I will call you my little pathetic wreck.” Brian widely grinned.

“You’re bad at making up nick names.” Ray shook his head.

“I know.”

“So, if I stopped… being sad…” Ray began.

“Then you’d be…” Brian's features displayed a sudden delight, which Ray had never seen on him before.

“You’re my dream.”

“But I’m real.”

“But for me it’s easier to hold onto dreams, you see? Reality is a beast, but you aren’t, so in consequence there must be something really dream-like about you.”

“That's a strange kind of logic. But if you say so.”

“I do say so!”

“And what do you think will the dream and the dream’s baby do now?” Ray frowned.

“The dream’s baby has some good experience with watching TV.”

“Okay, let’s get something for dinner.” Ray grinned and vanished into the kitchen.

He came back with two plastic boxes.

“I got us sushi,” he explained. “That’s why I wasn’t here before you.”

“I love sushi! How did you know?” Brian happily exclaimed.

Ray made a mental note to thank Zach for his hint.

While watching TV the atmosphere still held some tension. Brian was sensitive enough to notice and felt uncomfortable. He shot Ray a careful sideways glance, some time after finishing his sushi. Maybe Ray would like to talk. Noticing, that the brunette's eyes were fixed on the screen with apparent fascination, he sadly looked away again. They had not touched since the mind-blowing kiss, not even a pat on the back or anything. Their conversation was just as miserable which consisted of comments about the movie and three short nods from Ray. They were watching an action movie. Woohoo, yeah.

Brian sighed heavily. The moment Ray called him he had known that their argument would have consequences. Add a family tragedy to it and you have the perfect gauche situation. Additionally, Ray was the kind of guy who had a really deep connection with his dad that was not to be criticised, even though the boy never forgave his old man taking him from the football club. To Brian, such natural bonds with family members were something unknown and new.

"I still trusted him, all three years through."

Brian had to ponder the sudden, almost inaudible words for some seconds until he understood them. Someone in the movie was screaming. Nevertheless, no one listened.

"Of course you did. He's your dad."

The blond was surprised he had spoken. He never had been one for big words, especially not soothing or helping words. Dealing with the emotional problems of other people was somehow like interfering with the plans of Satan himself. He had something bad in store for every human being and you had better take care of your own. But amazingly he went on.

"Don't blame yourself for what is not your fault!"

Ray smiled sadly. "He had been careful not to cross the line, you know? Now, that I know why, it makes sense. Why he would suddenly stop shouting when he noticed me getting too angry and stuff."

Brian sighed. ‘What now?’ Obviously, this was a dead end and Brian was not good at detours. He sighed again. He had heard enough.

"Damnit, Ray! I don't know what to tell you, okay? I don't know enough about you and your dad and I don't know much about your life, yet, either. All I do know is that I admire you kicking his ass, even though he's your dad. It showed that you are even more adult than your mother. And another thing I know is that I fucking hate to see you like this! So get a grip and tell me one single thing. What would you tell me if positions were reversed?"

Ray pondered the question for several seconds and finally whispered, "I would tell you, you did great and not to feel bad."

"There you go!"

"But…"

The brunette could not voice his objection because Brian attacked him, wrestled him down to the floor and kissed him vehemently. Ray's eyes went wide and suddenly something inside himself lifted a huge weight from his heart - which was probably the weight that now rested on his midsection. Ray smiled and could not help the chuckle.

"How does it feel to be topping, finally?" Ray asked.

Brian stared at him angrily. "Don't you dare making fun of me while I'm trying to get your mind off your problems!"

"You did a good job, so…"

Ray moved upward, forcing Brian to lean back and finally fall over. Then he straddled the blond's lap. "I think I will take back my position, baby."

"Forget about the dream, maybe I'll call you nightmare."

"You like bad dreams, right? I never knew you were that dirty, baby."

"Stop that wannabe talking dirty. You're not good at it." Brian joked.

"But you are?"

"Sure."

"Prove it!"

"Not now." Brian said, moved his hands underneath Ray's shirt and pulled him down into a kiss. His tongue explored Ray's mouth fervently. Nevertheless, in the end he had to submit to the brunette's desires. Okay, he was the baby and it was Ray topping. Not that he minded though. Being seduced by such a talented kisser did not wake the wish inside him to reverse positions.

"Thanks for everything, Bri. I love you."

"I love you, too."

After some time, Brian added with a low whisper, "Seduce me, dream."

And the dream did so, of course.


When Brian was just about to pull off Ray's pants, the telephone rang. They both groaned in anger and Ray struggled to get to his feet. Brian noticed him walking a little shakily.

Ray came back from the phone with a confused grin.

“My mom said she’d talked to professor Birnbom. He said there was an opening at university because another applicant declined it. And if I said yes by tomorrow and submitted my application within the next week, he could persuade the admission staff to give me the spot. My mom said that he’d told her that they wouldn’t let me go once they saw my good grades…”

“That’s great, Ray! But don’t you already have an application written?”

“Yes, I had sent some to other universities. But if I could study here that would be even better!”

“And they’d take you without an interview?”

“Well, I would still have to have the interview; but, it would just be a formality. Due to my good exam results, the Professor said that complications were unlikely...”

Brian smiled up at Ray, then got up from the floor and slowly closed the distance between them. Ray stood motionless and awaited the smaller beauty to come over. When the blond finally laid his arms around him, he could smell the sweet hair shampoo mingled with a scent that was pure Brian. It was something between chocolate and fresh coffee. Ray did not like the taste of coffee but the aroma was wonderful.

“It means you can stay here,” the younger boy whispered with hardly concealed relief.

Aware of his tone, Ray felt pleased at once. Somehow, he felt that this relationship was much more serious than he had thought at first, and much more serious than any he had had before.

When his younger lover pulled back slightly and looked up at him with big, loving eyes Ray lifted his hands, softly laid them on the younger one’s neck and pulled him into a provocative kiss. This time the blond made no attempt to gain dominance; he just let himself be taken away by the light touches of hands on his neck and the rhythm of the tongue in his mouth. Brian slid his arms around Ray’s hips. With soft determination, he pulled him back to the sofa. Ray smiled quietly and followed.

However, in the middle of their touching the brunette got up to clean some dishes, or so he said. Brian had not even gotten as far as undressing his lover.

The blond laid on the sofa for some minutes before he angrily went upstairs to have a shower.

While the water ran down his spine and cooled down his unfulfilled desires, he was trying to figure out what he might have done wrong. They had eaten from plastic take-away boxes, which you just threw away and did not tidy up after eating. This made Brian seriously worry about Ray’s behaviour. Why was he so distant all of a sudden? He did not find an answer to it.

The blond tried to chase away the doubts about Ray’s seriousness for this relationship. Was the older one really in love? After all, until a few days ago, he had not even been convinced of his own sexuality. Was Ray gay or was he bi? He probably was bi. It sent a jolt of distrust through Brian. He would have to compete with boys and girls! Why should Ray be serious about this relationship when he had not had much experience in loving boys? On the other hand, was it fair really to think like that?

When Brian turned off the water and wrapped a towel around his hips, he heard Ray coming up the stairs. He left the bathroom and they met in the hallway.

“Hey, Ray. You got everything cleaned up?”

“Cleaned up? … Oh! Yes, sure! Um… I just…” Ray put his right hand on the back of his head and blushed in embarrassment. “You can go to bed, baby. I’ll just have a quick shower.”

Brian smiled at him. “Alright, hurry.” Then he went into the bedroom.

Ray stared at the door to his room for some time before going to the bathroom. He hoped the blond would fall asleep soon.


tbc...