Flaming in the Dorms

A/N: Hmmm... Been a while hasn't it? *blushes* Sorry about that guys. I really didn't mean to let it go so long. I was frustrated, tired, not happy w/ the story at that point, and just so damn busy! Either way, I re-read the entire story. Maaaaan was THAT a practice in humility. The early chapters were HORRIBLE!! lmao How'd you guys stand them?!! It was nice in a way too, though. I got to see how much I've learned as I went along. lol Guess I'm rambling right? Anywho, hopefully this story will get back onto a more normal schedule very soon. I have one kiddie back in school now and the youngest starts at the end of this week. Wish me luck!!

Big thanx to Lisa for proofing and shoutouts to everyone who reviewed last chapter.

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Chapter 35 Simmering

Scott peeked over to where Damien was sitting on his bed, trying not to be obvious about it. When Damien had caught him watching earlier, he’d bitten Scott’s head off. They were both trying to get some homework finished, or at least Scott was pretty sure that Damien was doing homework. Whatever he was doing, it was art related and Damien obviously didn’t want him to see it.

It was hard not to look, though. Between Dae’s sighing and grumbling to himself, Scott could barely concentrate on his own assignment. What really bugged Scott about it all was that Damien hadn’t made a single mark on the page.

Dae had been doing that a lot lately, sitting there on the bed, pencil in his hand and sketch book in his lap while he stared off into space. Once in a while, he’d move like he was going to sketch something, but then he’d pull back at the last second with a sigh. It worried Scott, but Damien kept telling him it was just something he had to work through, that Dr. Lieberman knew all about it and not to worry.

Still, it was impossible not to worry; especially when Damien seemed so frustrated over it. Maybe that’s why the beautiful blond hadn’t been as torn up about his argument with James or his best friend’s unexpected defection to Steve’s ‘posse of bottom boy rejects’, or at least that’s what Damien was calling the two now.

Instead of freaking out and worrying like he had before winter break, Damien had spent a lot of his free time focusing on…whatever he was supposed to be doing with that blank sketch pad in his lap. He’d hardly commented on James’ absence at all, short of shrugging it off and saying the little twink would come back when he was ready.

Scott was beginning to wonder if that was going to happen, though. In the past week, Scott had seen James and Steve hanging out more and more. The two ate breakfast and dinner together, hung out in the lounge together, and Scott had even seen them at the mall once when he’d gone to pick up a CD to help Damien study for the ACT.

At first, he’d thought that maybe James had a thing for the redhead, especially after James had laid a kiss on Steve not long ago. But the more he saw them together the less he believed that was the case. He just didn’t get that vibe from them. Either way, it was kind of a relief since Steve hadn’t been hanging around quite as much as before. That alone seemed to ease Damien’s nerves a little bit.

What didn’t make sense about the whole situation was that Damien had claimed James’ parents were at the root of their problems, that they’d ordered James not to hang out with Damien because he was gay. If that was the case, then why was James so damn willing to hang out with Steve now? Steve was gay too, although he wasn’t as obvious about it as Damien and didn’t play around that Scott knew of. Still, Scott couldn’t figure out how tossing Damien aside for Steve would help James’ problems. He was beginning to suspect something else was up, but he’d yet to figure out what that something might be.

Scott glanced at his lover again, suspicion oozing its way into his mind for the hundredth time in so many days. This time Damien seemed to notice and glanced back at him. Scott quickly diverted his eyes to the notebook in his lap before he got busted. Then he forced himself to focus on the numbers running down the page and started checking over the problem he’d been working on for what felt like the fifth time in a row.

No sooner had he managed to get into it again, another sigh floated across the room. It was quickly followed by a soft, frustrated moan. Again he glanced over to where his Dae was sitting and noticed that the sexy blonde was sitting with his face in one hand.

“You alright, babe?” he asked immediately, his concern completely overriding his sense of self-preservation as he crossed over to where Dae sat and placed a hand on his forehead. It was cool to the touch. No hint of fever.

The second Scott touched him, Damien stiffened and straightened as his eyes shot up to meet Scott’s worried gaze. “Yeah, I’m cool.”

Scott dropped his hand and studied his lover for a few seconds, not sure whether to believe him or not. He was a bit pale, even though he’d seemed fine at dinner earlier. “You sure?” he prodded again. “You don’t have a headache or anything?”

Damien gave him an ‘I’m fine so don’t fucking push it,’ kind of look. “I said I’m alright, Gorgeous. Just let it go, okay?”

It took every ounce of his self control to keep his voice calm as he returned to his seat on his own bed and replied, “I know what you said, but I also know how you are. If your head hurts then you should pay attention to it. You might be coming down with something, and now’s not the time for you to let yourself go, especially with your recent health problems. You have your ACT exams on Saturday, too.”

“Don’t remind me,” Damien groaned as he rolled his dark eyes dramatically and plopped over on his side. Then he propped his head on his hand before glaring down at the sketch pad beside him. “I’m gonna be so screwed. You should ask Granny if she’ll bribe the test dudes so I won’t flunk it.”

A big grin spread across Scott’s face and he shook his head in disbelief at Damien’s joke. At least, he hoped Damien was joking. At times it was hard to tell. “This is Grandmother Winthrop we’re talking about here. If you wanted her to dig up dirt on somebody, she’d probably be all over it. But bribing the ACT people? Sorry, but I don’t see it happening. You’d better feel privileged that she’s helping us narrow down schools.”

Damien snickered, his bad mood seeming to lighten as he looked over at Scott with a mischievous gleam dancing in his dark, dark eyes. “I really need to get some good blackmail material on that woman. It’s a shame I burned that file.”

Scott let out a little snort. “If you put as much effort into studying as you do trying to find an easy way out, you wouldn’t have to worry about the test.” The second the words were out, Scott wished he could pull them back. He’d always known that Dae didn’t take his education nearly as seriously as Scott did and he hadn’t meant to sound like a judgmental ass.

His lover didn’t seem to mind though. Damien just shrugged and gave him a crooked grin. “True, but that wouldn’t be as much fun now, would it?”

Scott let out a pitiful groan before picking up his pencil again. “If you say so,” he shot back in a teasing tone. “Now, let me get this finished. I’m behind because of all the weight training and shit. I have a Chinese test I need to study for too. If you still want to go check out that movie Sunday, I need to get that done before this weekend.”

Damien screwed up his adorable face at that thought. “Ummm...Yeah. I’ll let you get right on that. Just don’t ask me to help you this time, sexy. I’m hopeless when it comes to shit like that.”

An amused grin was Scott’s response. Damien was hopeless when it came to foreign languages. The poor guy’d barely passed his Spanish classes junior year, and he’d laughed at Scott during winter break when he’d suggested over the phone that Damien try Chinese this semester. When Damien reached for his sketching pencil, Scott started to go back to his math until he noticed that the hand Damien reached out was shaking.

His eyes immediately shot back to Damien’s face with concern. Now that he thought Scott wasn’t watching, he’d dropped his usual ‘I don’t really give a fuck’ expression. The poor guy looked a bit pinched around the eyes, like he was in pain, and he was still a little pale.

“Dae, if something’s wrong, you really need to tell me. I don’t want you to get sick again. It’s better to go see Nurse Tommy now than to let it turn into something worse.”

Damien’s expression immediately went blank, and then a blush spread across his cheeks as his eyes darted over to Scott. “Would you just chill the fuck out, already?” he shot back in a frustrated voice.

Scott couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at the sound of it as a frown turned down the corners of his lips. “You know, Dae? I really hope you can learn to trust me some day. As much as I trust you. You know you can talk to me about anything. I love you and I won’t judge you. Hell, if anything, I’m so fucking proud of what you’ve accomplished already. I’m not sure I could’ve handled it all.”

Damien immediately gave him an ‘I’m pitiful so don’t get pissed at me,’ look as he ran a hand through his pale hair. “I’m sorry,” he grumbled in apology. “It’s not that I don’t trust you and I’m not sick. This,” he grumbled, pointing at the blank sketch pad, “is just driving me crazy. We’re doing human anatomy in art class in a coupla weeks and I’m still having trouble even…I’m okay, it’s just…” An irritated huff escaped Damien as he snatched up his sketch pad and pencil and jumped up from the bed. “Forget it. Just…just let me do this. I can do this,” he mumbled as he sat down at the desk and pushed the keyboard out of the way. It seemed like Damien was trying to convince himself of that fact more than Scott.

Scott watched him for a few more seconds while Damien positioned his chair so that his back was to Scott. He wanted to go wrap the beautiful blonde in his arms and give him some kind of support, but he had the feeling it was something that wouldn’t be welcomed.

For whatever reason, Damien acted like he wanted to do this on his own. He rarely sketched in front of Scott and he’d never let Scott see one of the paintings he was working on. It was so tempting to just sneak and look at the one leaning against the wall while Damien was out, but that didn’t seem fair.

As hard as it was to do, Scott decided to give his boyfriend the space he seemed to need and went back to his own work. He hadn’t been kidding about being behind. He also had a big research paper due for his ancient history class in two weeks and a pretty big project due in business technology. As much as he worried about Damien’s health, his lover’s irritation seemed to be something else altogether and Scott didn’t want to smother his lover because of his own insecurities.

They both worked quietly for a few minutes. Damien’s sighing and other pitiful noises seemed to dry up too. A little while later, Scott heard the sound of Damien’s pencil scratching across the sketch pad and couldn’t help but glance over again.

Damien’s head was in his hand again, an elbow perched on the edge of the desk where he was slumped forward in the chair and his fingers tangled in his hair to hold it out of his face. The other hand was moving in short, rapid strokes. Whatever had been holding Damien back no longer seemed to be a problem, so with a gentle, approving smile, Scott turned his full attention back to his own work.

A few seconds later, Damien let out a groan and a softly gasped, “Oh, fuck!” Then he slid from the chair onto the floor and grabbed the trash can from beneath the desk as he let out a gut-wrenching heave and threw up.

A heartbeat later and Scott was off the bed, heart pounding almost painfully in his chest as he eased down beside Damien to pull his hair back out of the way. Damien shivered beneath his touch as he gasped for breath. Another stomach-turning heave and Damien threw up a second time, and then a third.

When there was nothing left, he dry heaved several times while Scott sat beside him, running a soothing hand up and down his lover’s back and trying to hide his rising panic. Seeing Damien that way made him feel helpless and useless, all at the same time. Oh, and worried. That freaked out kind of worried that made him feel like he was going crazy. He couldn’t let Damien get sick again. He just couldn’t.

When the muscles of Damien’s back began to relax beneath his hand, Scott pulled his small lover into his lap and cradled him in his arms as he rested his cheek on the top of Damien’s head. Poor Damien’s hair was damp with sweat and he was shaking a little bit. Scott reached up a hand to check Damien’s temperature again, but he felt cool - maybe a little on the chilled side.

“You alright? Want to go see Tommy now?” Scott asked softly as he leaned back to smooth the damp tendrils of hair from Damien’s forehead.

Damien shook his head almost violently and swallowed hard. “No, I promise I’m not sick,” he replied somewhat breathlessly, his voice rough from his recent bout of vomiting. “I just pushed too hard and panicked a little bit. No biggie.”

Scott felt like wringing his lover’s neck for being so nonchalant about the whole thing, but settled for a sigh instead. “What did you push too hard?” Scott asked in what he hoped was a patient tone.

Damien shrugged and glanced up at Scott with a bored look on his face, although it did nothing to hide the emotion swirling in his dark eyes. “It ain’t rocket science. You know why I gave this shit up before. I’m still having a few problems, but mostly just when I try to draw people. Hell, even parts of people; doesn’t even have to be the whole…Anyway, Dr. L. said to ease into it and I just pushed it, okay?”

“Please tell me,” Scott replied with a weary sigh. As much as he wanted to be there for his lover, Damien still refused to let him in on more than a basic level. “I’m starting to sound like a broken record here, but it might help if you talked to me…”

“I don’t really feel like talking about this shit right now.” That said, Damien looked down at the floor beside them with a petulant scowl on his face. It was clear by his body language that, in his mind at least, the subject was closed. It was like a smack in the face, but Scott refused to let his hurt show.

With a gentle squeeze, Scott pulled his Dae closer and dropped a kiss on his forehead. He wanted to be mad at his lover for pushing him away again, for not letting him help, but he just couldn’t find it in him to feel that way. The slight tremors still running through Damien’s small frame just wouldn’t allow it.

“Just promise me you’ll tell Dr. Lieberman about this, Dae,” he whispered against Damien’s cheek before pulling him even closer. Damien nodded and slipped his arms around Scott’s waist as he snuggled into the wide expanse of Scott’s chest. Damien’s half-assed response was enough to cause some of his carefully hidden frustration to boil over. Scott had to bite back a growl as he reached down to grab Damien’s chin and force his dark eyes up to meet his demanding gaze. “Promise me, Dae.”

Damien blinked up at him for a moment, like he didn’t know what to say. Then he nodded again. “I promise, Scott. I already said I would.”

With resignation, Scott moved on to more practical matters. Damien wasn’t ready to talk to him about it yet, that much was obvious. Maybe someday soon…“You think you can eat something in a little while? You need to replace the dinner you lost.”

Damien sat there quietly for a few minutes, the shaking slowly subsiding as he soaked in Scott’s comfort. Scott had nearly given up on an answer when Damien pulled away and smiled up at him, the puppy dog expression that Scott could never resist firmly in place. “The cafeteria’s closed. Any chance of getting a Big Mac?”

*~*~*~*~*

James dipped his fry in some ketchup and poked it into his mouth. One nice thing about hanging out with Steve was that the little guy liked to get out and run around once in a while.

Damien did too, but at the same time it’d been different. The whole time they were out, it was like Damien was itching to get back to the dorms in case Scott showed up. That had been before Damien and Scott had hooked up. It was even worse after that.

At odd moments, he almost felt guilty over tricking the bastard across from him, but then Steve would come off with some snarky comment about Damien or James would catch him drooling over Jock Boy Wonder and James’ resolve would snap back in place so fast it nearly gave him whiplash.

Outside of his sick fascination with all things Scott, ‘Grape Ape’ was a pretty normal person. He liked classic movies, the generic pop music on the radio, and read way too much for James’ peace of mind.

James had always been a pretty good student and made good grades, but Steve seemed to take it to a whole new level. That alone told him that the guy was just searching for an angle by approaching Scott for help with their history class.

“You going to eat that?” Steve asked, staring at James’ second cheeseburger like a coke whore staring at a baggie full of crack.

James grabbed it and tossed it over onto Steve’s tray. “Knock yourself out,” he replied with a shrug, just as his mind tacked on, ‘Pretty please?’.

It really wasn’t a big deal since James wasn’t all that hungry anyway. Still, the guy hadn’t given up until James agreed to go to McDonalds with him. They’d both already had dinner in the cafeteria, but Steve had been whining about being bored and kept bugging him. James had finally given in, even though he kind of resented having to fork over cash for another meal. His parents had cut his allowance again two weeks before when James had still failed to produce a new girlfriend.

“Thanks! I just love this place. My parents don’t believe in eating fast food so I only get it since I’ve moved here,” Steve chirped before snatching it up and pulling off the wrapper.

While Steve dug in, James snatched the wrapper back and ate off the cheese that had melted and stuck there. That was his favorite part. No need to waste it. While he did that, he took a second to think about how to bring up Sunday. Damien was counting on James to deliver Grape Ape and he didn’t want to let his best friend down. Finally he decided that the direct approach was the best way.

“What’re you doing this weekend?” James asked once he’d wadded up the wrapper and tossed it aside.

Steve’s big green eyes rounded on him, a glimmer of disgust flashing across his chibi face. “I don’t know. I was hoping the guys would go hang out at the mall or something. Terry, Ryan, and Trey seemed up for it, but then Scott said he was busy. Something about going with Damien while he took the ACT on Saturday and then taking him to a movie on Sunday. It’s a shame you and Damien fell out. We could’ve tagged along with them or something.”

Before he could stop himself, James rolled his eyes in disbelief and let out a snort. Like that would ever work out. Steve was really lucky that Damien hadn’t ripped his ass to shreds by now. James had seen the gorgeous blonde take down guys twice his size and walk away from it. Grape Ape had no idea who he was fucking with. Suddenly, James realized that the Grape Ape in question was eyeing him suspiciously, and quickly wracked his brain to cover his tracks.

“That’s probably the worst idea I’ve heard in centuries, Steve,” James quickly replied as he started fiddling with his ponytail. It was a nervous habit, and he couldn’t seem to break it. “You know Damien would just get pissed off and take a swing at you eventually, and I doubt he’d want to look at me right now. I really don’t want to look at him, either, for that matter,”

Steve raised a copper eyebrow at that, like he wasn’t buying it for a second. “I’ll never understand what you and Scott see in that guy. He’s such a slut and he’s kind of childish, if you ask me.”

A tic started to form at the corner of James’ eye, like it usually did when Steve starting cutting on Damien. It pissed him off to no end and made him want to reach over and strangle the asshole.

Still, he hid it as he shrugged and mumbled, “He’s no more a slut than the guys running after him, and I half-wish I hadn’t told you about having the hots for Damien.”

A disappointed look crossed Grape Ape’s face, like James’ words had suddenly taken the wind from his sails. The only reason James had told the little bastard about his crush on Damien was so that Steve would feel even sorrier for him the day he’d ‘fallen out’ with Damien. They’d also kind of hoped that, after letting Steve in on that little bit of info, the slippery little turd would go for the ‘let’s join forces and try to break up Scott and Damien’ angle.

It hadn’t worked out because Steve hadn’t taken the bait. If he had, James and Damien would’ve been able to expose the piece of shit to Scott for what he really was. Either way, the plan had changed slightly since then.

Oh, they were still looking for that perfect moment to bring the bastard down but, in the meantime, Damien wasn’t happy with just sitting around and waiting for something to fall into their laps. James had been a little shocked at the gorgeous blonde’s viciousness when Damien had suggested a new and improved plan to fuck with Grape Ape. Apparently, he’d been talking to Liberty again and…

“James?” Steve chimed in, pulling James out of his thoughts like a kick in the teeth. “I’m sorry if I made you mad. I’ll try not to bring it up again, okay?”

The anxious look on the redhead’s face was enough to turn James’ stomach. It really bugged James that the guy was so worried about hurting his feelings. Still, avoiding conversations about Damien might lead to avoiding conversations about Scott, and that probably wouldn’t help their plans in the long run. Besides, James was beginning to have serious misgivings about his ability to go through with it either way.

With a shrug, James grinned over at Steve ruefully. “Nah, don’t worry about it, man. I mean, it doesn’t really matter at this point, right? Damien can kiss my ass. I’m through putting up with his shit.”

“Yeah, I don’t blame you,” Steve shot back with a curl of his pert little nose, like he’d caught a whiff of something nasty. “He’s kind of hot, I’ll give you that, but he’s a complete asshole. It’s hard to believe Scott puts up with him. The poor guy deserves someone better.”

“Somebody like you?” James asked, a little more forcefully than he’d intended. He tensed for half a second, thinking he’d given himself away but then shook it off. It’d be alright if James came off a little defensive where Damien was concerned, and Steve’s sudden turn in the conversation gave James hope that maybe they’d be able to back things up and go with the original plan after all. The new one was just too...

Steve looked over at him again, like he was trying to read James’ mind. Then he shrugged. “Sure, why not? I’m a good looking guy, and I’d treat Scott a hell of a lot better than Damien does.”

It just seemed to get better and better and James had to force down his excitement as he tossed out, “Then why don’t you try to break them up? That way you’d have Scott and I’d have another shot at Damien.”

“I’ve already tried. It’d never work,” Steve replied almost immediately. Then he froze in his seat at that suggestion as his green eyes snapped to James’ face. James thought he saw a touch of pity there. “So, you really are still in love with the guy. I knew it!”

James let the sadness he felt at hearing those words seep in his expression while he tried to hide his disappointment at Steve’s words. It would’ve been so much simpler that way. He wanted to push the issue, to force Steve to give in and save himself from Damien’s wrath. Instead, he gave the bastard a lopsided grin.

“What can I say? I’m pathetic that way.”

With a confused look at James, Steve shook his head. “Like I said before, I’ll never understand it. Not in a million years. You deserve better too, James, just like Scott. Damien’s too short tempered and controlling. It’s like Scott doesn’t have a say in anything. He can’t even pick his own friends.”

“I don’t know where in the world you came up with that idea,” James said as he turned his attention back to his fries.

After he’d shoved a couple more in, he looked back up at Steve as he tried to hide a smile of victory. The little fucker had just unwittingly given James the opening he’d been waiting for. He’d probably live to regret it, they all probably would, and James almost hoped he wouldn’t take the bait this time.

“Scott does what Scott wants and nobody tells him where to go or what to do,” James explained casually, like it was more a matter of fact than opinion. “If he gives in to Damien’s crap, it’s because he wants to. Don’t let his laidback attitude fool you. Scott wears the pants in that relationship. Besides, Scott’s not all he’s cracked up to be. The guy has some serious issues and I honestly can’t see him going out with a clean cut kid like you.”

A copper eyebrow shot up at that as Steve leaned forward. James knew without a word that Steve had taken the bait. “What kind of issues? I think I know Scott pretty well by now and I haven’t noticed anything…”

“There’s a good reason for that,” James cut in rudely as he crinkled up his fry container and tossed it over beside his other trash. “I probably shouldn’t say anything. I mean, even though me and Damien are on the outs, it doesn’t seem right to talk about his personal business. Let’s just say that Scott has some kinks that date back to his closet days. Damien plays along because he wants to keep Scott interested, but there’s no way I’d put up with some of that shit. No way in hell. Trust me on this one. If anyone deserves better, it’s probably Damien.”

“You’re so full of it,” Steve grumbled as he sank back against his chair with a frown. “You’re just pulling my leg, now. I mean, there’s no way Damien would put up with much. He’s too hot headed for that. I think you’re still so into the guy that you’re imagining things.”

James shrugged, like he didn’t give a damn, and stood up to pull his coat on. “Maybe I am. Maybe I was just fed up with watching Scott and Damien constantly grope each other and decided to make a clean break. But I can tell you straight up that that has nothing to do with what we’re talking about now. I’ll never be able to win Damien over with Scott in the picture, but Damien’s so hot for that freak that he’ll do almost anything. Kind of makes me sick. If there was a way to break those two up tomorrow, I’d do it in a heartbeat. But there’s not, so there’s no point getting all revved up because there’s nowhere to go, man.”

“Scott’s not a freak,” Steve growled defensively as he stood up, threw on his coat and scarf, and grabbed his own tray. “Maybe Damien’s just lying about whatever it is you won’t talk to me about. I mean, if anybody’s a freak here, it’s that little hoe bag.”

As his teeth clenched in irritation, James sent up a silent prayer of thanks that Steve was behind him and couldn’t see it. “Think what you want,” he finally tossed over his shoulder. “It’s not like you know Jock Boy Wonder as well as I do, and you’re obviously not going to listen to a word I say.”

Steve fell silent for a moment or two as they made their way out the door. Once they were outside, he paused and turned around to eye James warily. “You have any proof?” he asked after a few seconds and James had to fight back a grin as he nodded that ‘yes he did’.

“Meet me at the bus stop around two o’clock Sunday, and I’ll give you all the proof you need,” James replied with an exasperated sigh. “If Damien ever finds out, he’ll be pissed, but it’s not like things between us could get any worse at this point anyway. You breathe a word of it to anybody, though, and I kill you myself. The only reason I’m playing along with you is because I think you’re a good guy and I don’t want to see you mixed up in their shit.”

James nearly gagged on those words, but Steve didn’t seem to notice. He perked up immediately, although James could tell by his expression that he still thought he was being fed a load of garbage. “It’s a date, then. I’ll be there with bells on.”

“You two are dating now?” a deep voice asked from nearby. Seconds later, James whipped his head around to find Jock Boy Wonder standing there in a heavy coat and toboggan with a shocked expression on his face.

James floundered for a bit, not sure how much the big guy had heard. Finally, Steve stepped forward to lay a hand on Scott’s coat sleeve. “Hey, Scott. What a surprise to see you here,” he chirped, an annoyingly chipper grin spreading across his face. “We’re not really dating, just making plans to hang out this weekend. We were just kidding around.” James rolled his eyes behind Steve’s back and gave Scott a meaningful look. Naturally, Mr. Oblivious missed it.

Scott took a step back, all the same, discomfort written all over his face as he looked back and forth between James and Steve. “Well, I actually came to grab Damien a Big Mac. He was feeling bad earlier and got sick.”

“Is he okay? Please tell me he’s not coming down with something,” James gushed before he could stop himself. That drew both Scott and Steve’s attention as the two looked him over thoughtfully.

After an uncomfortable pause, Scott cleared his throat. “No, if he was sick, I wouldn’t be buying him greasy burgers. It just that he was trying to draw something and…” He suddenly stopped midsentence and glanced towards Steve who was hanging on his every word. Then he seemed to change his mind about whatever he’d almost said and shrugged as he looked back at James. “You know how it is.”

In all honesty, James didn’t know. Sure, he knew Damien had some hang-ups with the art class, but he’d thought that Damien was over that now. He’d been doing his assignments and hadn’t missed turning anything in since that first one. If anything, his skill was amazing and Mr. Banks was constantly gushing over the things that Damien brought in. He’d even tried to talk Damien into entering an art contest with the oil painting he’d done a couple of weeks before. Unable to hide his confusion, James stammered, “Uh…Yeah, sure,” and let the subject drop.

Scott just nodded and walked past them to the door. Then he paused once he had it open and turned back to James. “You know he misses you, right?”

The concern and compassion in Scott’s eyes was almost too much to take. It made guilt boil over in James’ stomach because he knew that Scott was really worried about both him and Damien.

It didn’t help matters that James and Damien had been sneaking around and chatting behind the big jock’s back all week. They’d even started having lunch in the storage closet where they used to meet for their ‘get togethers’. That way no one would see them and report back to Scott or Steve.

Still, James knew that keeping up their little act was important to Damien, so he pushed the guilt back down. In for a dime, in for a dollar and all that crap…

With a resigned sigh, James mumbled, “Yeah, I know,” before turning and walking away. They were only a few blocks from campus, but it seemed more like miles because now he felt kind of heavy and really tired.

Steve tagged along, quiet and seemingly caught up in his own thoughts until they reached the front door of their dorm. Then he grabbed James’ arm hesitantly to get him to stop, and looked up at him with something close to pity in his eyes.

“Are you alright?” he asked softly, like he was half-afraid to shatter the quiet that had been hanging so heavily between them.

James studied him for a few heartbeats and then shrugged. “What can I say? I still have a thing for the guy. He’s had a shitty year and I can’t help worrying about him.”

James thought he saw a nibble of guilt flash across Steve’s face but, before he could decide, it was long gone. In its place was a steely resolve as Steve replied, “If you want him that much, you should just go for it. Life’s too short to play games.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to tell the little bastard that he didn’t have any room to talk. The piece of shit had been playing games from day one. Instead, James opened the door and let Grape Ape through as he reluctantly admitted, “It’s complicated.”

Once they were inside, James and Steve said their goodnights and went their separate ways. On one hand, James was relieved that he’d managed to trick Steve into playing along with his and Damien’s plan. On the other, he felt tired from constantly having to guard every expression and be careful about what he said and how he said it.

He seemed to slip up constantly, but he’d lucked out because Steve seemed a bit desperate for somebody to hang out with. That’s the only reason James could come up with for the redhead looking over everything the way he did. Steve was a naïve guy and at times he made it almost too easy.

Not a minute too soon, James found himself in front of his door and immediately went inside. When he flipped on the lights, he was a bit startled to see Ryan sprawled out on the bed nearby. The guy threw a forearm up to cover his eyes as he jerked his shorts back up. There was a good-sized tent at his crotch and it was obvious the guy’d been exercising the bologna pony.

“Want me to come back in three minutes?” James asked sarcastically as he slipped off his coat and tossed it over a chair nearby. It was hard to hide the grin trying to break through, but somehow he managed.

Ryan snorted and pulled his arm down, blinking lazily as his eyes adjusted to the overhead light. “You wanna come over here and help me out?”

James’ eyes immediately shot over to Ryan’s face in surprise. The teasing grin he found there told him that his roomie was just kidding around. It kind of ticked him off.

“If you had any idea how hard up I am right now, you wouldn’t crack jokes like that. I might take advantage of you in your sleep,” James grumbled as he stalked over to his bed and flopped down on his back.

Ryan immediately sat up on his bed and glanced over at James with a weird look on his face. “What the hell, James?”

James snorted as he rolled over onto his side where he could relax and look at Ryan without breaking his neck. “What the hell, what?” he shot back. “You know I’m gay and you have to know you’re pretty hot. Don’t give me that shit, and don’t start with the freaked-out, ‘oh my God the fag wants to attack me’, act now. It’s a little late for that.”

After raising an eyebrow at James’ rant, Ryan stretched and chuckled like he thought James was stupid. “Wasn’t planning on it, really. You just caught me off guard, dude. Besides, it’s not like you’ve ever popped off with that kinda shit before. Give me some slack, Princess.”

“Fuck you,” James shot back with narrowed eyes. He hated it when Ryan called him that. He’d been doing it since Damien had kicked Gregg’s sorry ass at the art supply store.

Ryan yawned and then a slow grin spread across his face. “Sorry, wild man. My ass is exit only. You know how it is.”

“Then go find some tits to stare at like a good little het,” James grumbled as his eyes drifted shut. Talking about sex was something he did not want to do today. No way in hell. At this point, James would have almost been tempted to throw the bone to Grape Ape if it meant getting off.

Rather than take the hint that James was tired of talking about it, Ryan eased up from the bed and went over to grab one of James’ Playgirl magazines from the basket James kept under the desk and started flipping through it.

“Does it feel good?” Ryan asked after a minute or two. “Taking it up the ass, I mean. Seems like it’d hurt like a son of a bitch.”

James opened his eyes again and found Ryan’s curious gaze on him. It wasn’t like Ryan to worry about shit like that and James wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“Depends on who’s doing it and if they give a damn about whether you get off or not,” James replied honestly. “If you’re ready and the guy doing the fucking knows how to work it, then it’s way better than topping in my opinion.”

Ryan seemed to think that over as he snapped the magazine shut and tossed it onto the corner of the desk. James held back an impatient huff. Heaven forbid the guy actually put the damn thing back where he got it.

As Messy-Asshole-in-Question plopped back down onto his bed, he looked back over at James with a doubtful expression. “I’ll take your word for it.”

James couldn’t help but laugh at that. Ryan was pretty laidback, but apparently even he wasn’t too comfortable with the idea of gay sex, no matter how accepting of it he seemed.

“If you ask me,” James said, deciding to tease his normally imperturbable roommate, “I don’t see how it’s any different from a guy sticking his dick up a woman’s ass. It happens every day and nobody seems to think it’s wrong.”

Ryan rolled his eyes at that as he turned onto his side to face James. “You ever have sex with a chick?”

After thinking that over for a second, James shrugged. He’d never mentioned it to Damien, and tried his best not to think about that horrible experience. His dad had fixed him up with a girl while he was home for the holidays, and on their first date she’d wanted to play around.

They’d fumbled around and failed miserably. Even when she’d tried to help James along, he’d still only managed to embarrass himself. No matter how many times his dad tried to fix him up in the future, the experience was something he didn’t plan to repeat anytime soon.

“Nah, I tried over winter break,” James said with a blush, not sure why he felt the need to let Ryan in on the secret. “I thought maybe I’d like it enough to get by and lots of gay guys fake it. I even tried pretending she was a guy, but I couldn’t get it up.”

“Ouch, equipment failure,” was Ryan’s immediate response as he made a pained face and shook his head. “I’m so glad it was you and not me. Did she figure it out?”

James let out a snort of disgust when he remembered the look on Amy’s face when she’d started to suspect. “Who knows, man,” he replied evasively, although he was pretty sure the girl had known exactly what was going on. After all, what straight teenage boy would’ve had that problem? Maybe he’d have shot off before he got to home plate, but he sure as hell wouldn’t have failed to rise to the occasion.

“You ever topped a guy?” Ryan asked out of the blue and James’ gaze quickly snapped back to his friend as the blush on his cheeks darkened.

“I thought you already knew about Damien and I? I’m sure Scott mentioned it, since he was so pissed when he walked in on us that time.”

“No shit?” Ryan crowed as his interest spiked and he leaned up onto his elbow to look over at James in disbelief. “He actually caught you guys surfing the Hershey highway and you lived to tell about it?”

After shooting Ryan a less-than-amused glare, James let out a snicker. “Yeah, it was kind of scary. You haven’t seen Jock Boy Wonder pissed until you let him walk in on you fucking Damien.”

Ryan’s eyebrow shot up at that. “Quit snarking on my bud, Princess. You’re just pissed cause…”

“Whatever,” James cut in, not wanting to hear it. Ryan didn’t know half of what went on between James and Damien, and James figured he had a right to be a bit ‘snarky’ if he wanted to. “All I know is that it was ugly. Thought for sure I was a goner that day.”

Ryan burst out laughing as he stared up at the ceiling, most likely trying to picture the whole scene in his head. Then he sobered up again and looked back over at James. “How’s it feel? I’d ask you if it’s as good as doing a chick, but…”

A wry grin spread across James’ face at that and he couldn’t help asking, “Bi-curious?”

“As if,” Ryan shot back with a snort. “Just asking. Seems like half my close buds are into it. Can’t help wondering what all the fuss is about.”

“Don’t knock it till ya try it,” James shot back with a naughty little grin. “My gay ass even tried it with a girl before I made up my mind one hundred percent. If it’s any consolation, I’ve heard it’s a lot like banging a chick, only tighter. Also less cushion for the pushin’.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow at that before shaking his head and chuckling, that lazy grin of his spreading across his face again. “When did you turn into such a perv, James?”

“It’s a secret. Don’t tell anybody or you’ll blow my cover. Then I’ll make you blow something else to make up for it,” James teased as he sat up and started pulling his shirt off.

“Right now? Come on, dude,” Ryan shot back as he watched James undress. “I haven’t said a word yet. At least wait until I’ve spread it around school before you start hitting me up for paybacks.”

James threw his shirt across the room and smacked his roommate upside the head with it. “I’m getting ready for bed if that’s okay with you, stupid.”

Ryan pulled the shirt off his head and tossed it on the floor as he placed a hand over his heart and made a pained face. “Aww, you’ve broke my poor little breeder heart, dude. Guess I’ll have to live with the rejection.”

Ryan was so full of shit that James couldn’t help laughing at him. “Tell you what, Ry. Since you’re kinda hot for a het, I’ll make you a deal. You ever decide to surf the Hershey highway and I’ll give you a good ride. No strings attached.”

James was only half joking. He really was hard up and Ryan was kinda sexy. Ryan took it in the spirit it was given and laughed along with him before winking and climbing under his blanket. “You got a deal man. If I ever decide to jump the fence, you’ll be the first one to know.”

A roll of his eyes was James’ only response as he thought ‘I wish,’ and climbed under the covers himself. After turning over, he said, “Night, Ryan,” and settled in for a little sleep.

“Night, Princess,” Ryan called back with another chuckle before climbing back out of the bed and crossing the room to flip off the lights.


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Welp. Hope you all got a kick out of the update. Looking forward to hearing from you guys! Later Tators! *hugs*

This story has been stolen and posted on another site word for word w/ only name changes. This makes me very angry. If anyone runs across this in the future, please let me know. There's no excuse for plagiarizing someone else's work. It's totally unacceptable. Thank you -- Pesterme2