Just To Make Things Worse -- Complete

So, here's the first chapter of the sequel to 'In Over My Head'. Curious about exactly what's up with David's background? Start reading. This story will center around two main points; David's history, and Anna's present. New character! Wee! I hope you love him, because I do.

Now, fair warning, this story is going to get pretty dark. I'm going way more graphic, and way more intense on this one. But I'm also keeping it a little fluffy in certain parts, because Lucas and David being cutesy with each other is just too awesome not to write. =)

Read, love, review, thanks!
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In general, Lucas had never really been fond of Christmas. He had spent the last two alone, and he couldn’t recall a good Christmas since before his mother died. But this year was different. This year he had David.

He went a little crazier about it then he’d meant to, and had spent a lot more money than he should’ve. He also procrastinated on the wrapping, so now, on Christmas Eve, he was sitting on the kitchen floor amidst piles of wrapping paper and presents, trying desperately to get it all done before bed. David was sitting at the kitchen table, smoking and going over his list of supplies for tomorrow’s dinner one last time, to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. To Lucas, the situation seemed so normal, so domestic, he could’ve either laughed or cried. He wasn’t sure which. He was sure he loved it, though.

“You really don’t mind at all?” David leaned his chair back onto two legs, watching Lucas, who was wrapping a fancy R.C. car for Anna’s little brother with bright blue wrapping papers covered in foil snowflakes. David had originally offered to help, but after they both realized David had no idea how to even cut wrapping paper, he just sat at the table and watched. “I mean, I know you kind of wanted it to be a little more personal.”

He caught the guilty look that flashed across Lucas face and was immediately on guard. “What did you do, Lucas?” Lucas mumbled something that sounded suspiciously to David like ‘invited Anna’. David scowled. “Goddamnit. One of these days, I swear to God I’m going to strangle you with your own hair.”

“Kinky.” Lucas quipped, and David threw the closest object on hand at him. Unfortunately, that was a dish towel, and it bounced harmlessly off the top of Lucas’s head. “Come on, David. What’s the big deal? We both did something stupid and invited people over without checking with each other first. Big deal, moving on. Besides…” he carefully taped the last flap of wrapping paper down and searched around for a tag and a bow. “I thought you and Anna were getting along.”

“We are getting along. It’s just…” he sighed. “Do you remember Thanksgiving? She got so drunk she took off most of her clothes and fell asleep in the bath tub?” Lucas cackled and nodded, slapping a huge blue bow on top of the box. He set it aside and started wrapping another present. “Do you really want her to make a giant ass of herself again?”

Lucas considered this. “Hide the booze?” he suggested, and David glared at him. “Okay, okay.” He sighed. “Look, her and her dad have been really at each other’s throats lately, and she doesn’t want to spend the entire day with him. I thought it would be nice.”

David opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, the doorbell rang. He rolled his eyes. “Coming!” he shouted, his chair hitting the floor on all its legs with a loud bang. Lucas jumped, startled, and David snickered. “Sissy.”

“Fag.” Lucas shot back. “Go around the table. If you step on anything-“

“Yea, yea, serious bodily harm.” David waved his hand at him and went around. How Lucas managed to destroy half the house just by wrapping presents was beyond him. The hallway floor was strewn with wrapping paper rolls and bags of bows, and there was a huge pile of already wrapped presents directly in the middle of the living room. Scowling, David opened the door.

Anna looked up at him, and he noticed two things he didn’t like immediately. The first was that it looked like she’d been crying, and pretty hard. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy, and there were streaks of mascara that she hadn’t managed to wipe off on her cheeks. The second was the overstuffed backpack over her shoulder.

“My dad kicked me out.” She told him.

Although David’s first reaction was to slam the door in her face, when she said that he felt sorry for her. “Come in.” he said, and stepped aside. He took the backpack from her and set it on the floor by the door.

“David, who is it?” Lucas shouted from the kitchen.

“It’s Anna!”

There was a loud rustling sound and then a thump, and a moment later Lucas came out rubbing his knee. He’d obviously banged it on something trying to get up, and David snickered at him. “Anna? What’s the matter?” Lucas went over to her, seeing how miserable she looked, and put his arms around her. “What happened?”

“Her dad kicked her out.” David explained for her, because as soon as Lucas had hugged her, she’d burst into tears. Lucas rocked her back and forth a little, and looked up at David. He knew that look on Lucas’s face, and it made him want to punch him. He shook his head, gesturing wildly, and Lucas glared at him. He lifted one hand from Anna’s back and pointed at David, then himself, then upstairs. After a moment, he shook his head significantly. David sighed.

“Come on, Anna, I’ll show you the guest bedroom.” Anna dislodged herself from Lucas with a loud sniffle, and as David moved past Lucas to usher Anna down the hall, he whispered, “You’re a fucking jerk.”

Lucas patted him on the ass, smiling, and went back into the kitchen.

When David returned a few minutes later, he stomped right through Lucas’s piles of wrapping paper. Lucas glared at him. “I can’t believe you would actually deny me sex if I didn’t let her stay.” David grumbled. “You’re a manipulative, evil-“

“Yea, yea, yea.” Lucas waved his hand at David. “So, who’s this guy you invited over to spend Christmas with us?”

David wanted to argue, but Lucas was amazingly good at diffusing his anger before he could really get going. He decided it wasn’t even worth trying right now. “His name’s Riley. We were with the same foster parents for a few months, when I was fifteen. He found me online and we got to talking.” Lucas nodded to indicate that he was listening. “He, uh…” David cleared his throat. “He was my first.”

Lucas stopped moving entirely. The silence was so painful David wished he’d just kept his mouth shut. But they’d agreed on total honesty. He watched Lucas closely, expecting him to stand up and start screaming any minute.

“Does he know about me?” Lucas asked. David nodded. “Okay.” He finished the wrapping job he was doing and it aside. David gaped at him.

“That’s it?”

Lucas sighed. “What do you want me to say, David? Do you want me to start a huge fight because you invited an ex lover over for Christmas? I’m not going to. I trust you.” He stood up and dusted his hands off. “Although I’ll fucking murder him, slowly, if he tries anything.” He walked over and kissed David. “You’ll have to clean his corpse up with a sponge.” He turned and walked out of the room.

David wasn’t sure to be angry at Lucas or amused. Grumbling, he got up and went into the living room.
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Anna sighed and rested her head on Lucas’s chest, listening to the steady thump of his heart. “Thank you guys for letting me crash here.”

“No problem. It’s Christmas Ever, after all, you’re supposed to be extra nice.” He played with the tips of her hair, winding the pale blond strands around his fingers.

They were lying together on the guest bed, and Anna had just finished telling Lucas about the fight that got her kicked out. Apparently her father was unhappy about her interest in finding a job so she could afford to buy herself a car. Greg, Anna’s father, was the kind of guy who believed that his family should do exactly as he said, end of story. Anna and her father had always butted heads, but over the last few months it had been steadily reaching a breaking point. Anna said that he’d kicked her out to teach her a lesson, that if she was going to play at being a grown up and get a job, she should just move out and actually be a grown up. Lucas thought it was pretty extreme, but he also thought Greg was a total fucking jackass, so…

“So what’s the plan for tomorrow?” she asked.

“David’s going to cook dinner. We should eat around six. His friend should be here about four. We open presents after dinner.”

Anna frowned. “David invited someone over?” she asked curiously, and Lucas nodded. “Who?”

“One of his exes.”

“Are you okay with that?”

He sighed. “I guess so. I don’t think I’d be half as bothered if David hadn’t told me that this was the guy he’d lost his virginity to. I mean, that’s a pretty big deal, right? That makes that person special.”

Anna shrugged. “I don’t know, Lucas. I mean, the guy I lost my virginity to doesn’t even make me look twice now. It’s not like David would cheat on you, anyway. Still, it’s sort of weird.”

“They were in the same foster home together.” Lucas told her, and she nodded. “I guess that’s a bigger bond between them than the sex.”

Anna made a humming sound. “I guess so.”

They were silent for a while, but eventually Lucas moved out from under her head. “Get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.” He kissed her forehead. “I’m sorry your father is a fucking prick.”

She smiled at him and curled up. “I love you, Lucas.”

“Love you too, sweetie.” He turned off the light as he left the room, and went downstairs to see David. Unfortunately, he was passed out in the recliner by the window. Lucas smiled. Sleep was one of the few times David didn’t look ready to kill someone at a moment’s notice. In sleep, his face was almost childish, although the particular shade of blue he’d chosen for his new hair color made him look a little too pale. Anna had promptly labeled it smurf blue when she saw it.

It took Lucas almost twenty minutes of coaxing and prodding to get David awake enough to shuffle into the bedroom. Lucas undressed him and pulled him into bed, curling his arms around him. David burrowed his head under Lucas’s chin, clacking his teeth together painfully. Then he started kicking at the blankets until his feet stuck out, and immediately began to snore.

Lucas sighed and tried to sleep.
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David started cooking around three on Christmas, and Anna helped Lucas clean up the house. They hadn’t bothered with a tree, one of the few Christmas traditions Lucas didn’t subscribe to this year, so they just piled the presents up by the big bay window in the living room. Anna made Lucas braid her hair, something which David would not stop teasing him about. Then she curled up on the couch with her DS and ignored the boys. David refused to let Lucas anywhere near the kitchen while he cooked, so Lucas sat in the recliner and stared out the window. He glanced at the clock from time to time. At four o’clock, as if on cue, a car stopped in front of the house. He got up and went to the door.

When Lucas let Riley in, he expected to politely greet the guy and show him, maybe take his coat. He did not expect to get almost knocked over by a huge black dog, then grabbed by the face. He got a quick glimpse of a cute, boyish face and huge deep brown eyes before Riley planted a wet, smacking kiss directly on his mouth.

“You must be Lucas!” he crowed, letting Lucas go. The dog barked loudly, making Lucas jump, and Riley laughed. “I’ve heard tons about you. Good God are you tall!”

Dazed, Lucas took a step back to inspect the guy. He was shorter than Lucas had expected him to be, perhaps not even five foot eleven. He had shaggy, bright red hair, freckles across his long, slightly crooked nose, and a huge, comfortable smile full of perfect white teeth. He was good looking, in a way, although Lucas decided he was definitely not his type. He had an old army jacket on over a black tee shirt so faded it was now gray, blue jeans, and a pair of dirty, scuffed hiking boots. He was carrying a backpack over his shoulder, and a guitar case in one hand.

David came out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a dish towel, his face split in half by his grin. He hugged Riley, allowing him to place a kiss on the corner of his mouth. Lucas saw it was quick and pretty chaste, so he let it slide. Anna peeked her head out from the living room, curious about all the noise. Riley spied her and beamed.

“Who’s she?” he asked loudly, and Anna walked over.

“I’m Anna.” He held out her hand, and he bypassed it entirely to kiss her exactly the same way he’d kissed Lucas. Her eyes were so huge when he let go of her that Lucas burst out laughing.

David clapped Riley on the back, still grinning. “Anna, Lucas, this is Riley McMahon and his big stupid mutt Giles.” The dog, who Lucas realized was some strange mix of Great Dane and boxer, barked and wagged its tail at the sound of his own name. Anna made a squealing noise and dropped to her knees, calling the dog over. He licked her face, making her laugh, and she scratched behind his ears.

“Well, that’s it. She touched his ears.” Riley moaned. “He’ll never listen to me now. Giles, come here!”

The dog ignored him in favor or Anna’s scratching fingers, and Riley gestured as if that proved his point. David shook his head. “Come on, there’s booze in the kitchen.” He said, and ushered Riley past Lucas. Riley immediately started talking, loudly, and David was laughing along pretty quickly.

Lucas looked down at Anna and the dog and sighed. Well, there went a quiet Christmas.
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They ate dinner, drank a lot, and talked even more. Riley seemed genuinely interested in both Lucas and Anna, who had suddenly become the clumsiest person on the planet. She managed to break two glasses and a dinner plate, knocked over her wine three times, and nearly killed herself by tripping over the dog. Lucas had no idea what had gotten into her. She was relatively well balanced most of the time, and suddenly she was banging into door frames and breaking everything she touched.

“Are you drunk?” Lucas asked her after she broke the second glass, right after dessert. She flushed bright red and shot him a dirty look before bending to pick up the pieces.

“Shit!” she shrieked, cramming her finger in her mouth. Lucas cleaned up the broken glass while David took her in the bathroom to find a band-aid.

They went into the living room to open presents. David insisted that Anna go first, so she gave David a gift bag the color of his hair and motioned that the huge, red wrapped box by the window was his.

“How come he gets the giant one?” David whined, and Anna rolled her eyes at him. He threw the tissue paper from his bag at her, which she batted away. “Holy shit, Anna!” Lucas stopped in his unwrapping to watch David pull a leather jacket out of the bag. He smiled. They’d gone together to pick it up, and he’d known David would love it, even though Anna was apprehensive about the idea. David tackled her backwards onto the couch, hugging her so hard she squealed.

Grinning, Lucas ripped the paper off of his gift. It was an old film projector. He bit his lip, a little too close to crying than he wanted to be. He got up and joined the pile of limbs on the couch.

“No, no, no!” Anna screamed at the bottom, kicking her legs furiously and punching David in the back. “Get off, you fat bastards!” Lucas began tickling her, and she screamed so loud the dog began to bark and growl. They disentangled from each other, and Anna landed one more slap on the side of David’s head before he could get away.

Lucas went next, and when Anna unwrapped the silver and amethyst earrings she’d been sighing over since the summer, she burst into tears and threw herself on him. She nearly knocked the recliner over. She threw her arms around his neck and covered his face and neck with kisses. Laughing, he pried her off and looked at David.

“Do you like it?” Lucas asked.

David was staring down at the open square box in his hands. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, and Lucas couldn’t help but smile.

It was a polished silver pocket watch. The front was engraved with David’s favorite quote from his favorite novel. He looked up at Lucas, then walked over and yanked Anna off of his lap. “Step aside, woman.” He dropped himself onto Lucas’s legs and wrapped his arms around his neck.

Lucas hugged him back and took the pocket watch out of the box. “What does it say?” Anna asked.

Lucas read it, “Bird, bear, hare and fish, give my love his fondest wish.” He didn’t really understand it, he just wasn’t a Stephen King fan. But something about the words had always stuck with David, and he knew it would please him.

David nuzzled the side of Lucas’s face and licked his earlobe. “You. You, you, you.” He whispered. “Unfortunately, now we’re going to have to ruin Anna and Riley’s Christmas by fucking right here on the recliner.”

Lucas grabbed him by the wrists before he could get his hands down the front of Lucas’s pants. “I want my present.” He said, and David sniggered.

“I was trying to give it to you.” David bit at his neck, and tried to free his hands. Lucas grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked his head back. David hissed through his teeth, but he was still grinning. “Kinky.”

Lucas rolled his eyes. “Just give me my gift, you pervert.”

David slid off his lap and moved to pass out his presents. He had one for Riley, too, which seemed to surprise the red headed newcomer. He’d been sitting on the floor by the couch, Giles lying next to him, content to just watch the others. He took the gift, but didn’t unwrap it at first.

Anna got hers open pretty quickly. It was the necklace that went with the earrings. She looked at him, her eyes full of tears, and he pointed at her, scowling. “If you jump on my lap and kiss me, I’m taking it back.” He winked at her, and she laughed and wiped her eyes.

Lucas opened his next. It was a small black jewelry box, and the sight of it made his chest hurt. “Well?” David prompted. “Open it.”

“I don’t want to.” Lucas said. “I’m scared.”

“It’s not going to bite you.” David told him. “Come on, just open it.”

Lucas pried the top open, his hands shaking. Relief washed over him when he saw it wasn’t a ring. It was a key. He lifted it out of the box, confused. David was grinning. “I don’t get it.” Lucas told him, and David burst out laughing. He turned his attention to Riley, who still hadn’t opened the gift he was holding. Lucas glanced at Anna, who had the biggest, smuggest smile on her face. She shrugged at her curious look and wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“You, too, Riley.” David sat down beside him on the floor and scratched the dog behind his ears.

Riley unwrapped his gift and immediately burst out laughing. “Why the fuck do you have this?” he asked, holding the picture frame out as though it was dirty. “Oh, God, look at your hair, Davie!”

Lucas cringed. Davie? Anna leaned over to look at the picture and cackled hysterically. “You had a dreads, David?”

David nodded, laughing. “That was right before Riley and I stopped living together.”

Riley nodded. “My sixteenth birthday. You left the day after.” His smiled faded a little. “You got arrested for beating up that kid in the park.”

David nodded, his smile gone as well. “John Farber. I knocked his teeth out, remember?”

Riley nodded. “I love this. Thank you.” He leaned forward and kissed David on the mouth, and Lucas felt his teeth clench.

Davdi got up and looked at Lucas. “Hey, you want to do me a favor, Lucas? Run out to the garage and grab the other case of beer. I left it in the truck.” He was grinning again.

Lucas got up and headed outside, so pissed off at David he could kill him. Lucas kicked the side door open with his boot and flicked the light on. He stopped dead in his tracks.

Where the truck should’ve been sitting, beside the covered bulk of David’s Toronado, there was a dark blue convertible. It was brand new. He looked down at the key in his hand and forgot entirely why he was mad at David. He walked towards the car on wobbling legs and saw it was exactly the car he’d told Anna he wanted, the Audi he’d been looking at for weeks.

David saw Lucas come in empty handed from the garage and ignored the shell shocked look on his face. “Hey, where’s my beer?” he asked him, holding his hands out.

Lucas walked over to him, grabbed him by the front of the shirt, and crushed his mouth under his own. David put his arms around Lucas’s waist, opening his mouth to let Lucas’s tongue inside, and Anna looked away, half embarrassed and half pleased by Lucas’s reaction.

Lucas broke the kiss, leaving David panting lightly. “You…” he licked his lips. “…are fantastic.”

“You’re damn right I am.” David rubbed his nose against Lucas’s and grinned. “I take it you like it?”

“Can you come out there and look at it with me?” Lucas asked, smiling in a way that made David a little light headed. “I think you and I need to figure out how spacious it is.”

“Looked a little cramped when I brought it home.” David told him.

Lucas rolled his eyes. “I’ll put the top down.”

David burst out laughing.

Anna stood up and cleared her throat. “Hey, you two, I’m sure getting in each other’s pants is top priority for you, but the house is wrecked and you have a guest. Let’s clean up before you ditch me and Riley, hmm?”

Riley laughed from his seat beside the couch. “Oh, let them go be weird in the garage for a while, Anna. It’s Christmas.” He winked at David. “Go nail your boyfriend in his new car.”

Riley watched the two of literally run for the back door. “Lucas seems great.” He said to Anna, who had started moving around the room picking up wrapping paper. He stood and began to help her.

“You’re a guest, Riley, sit down.” Anna told him. “And yes, Lucas is wonderful.”

Riley heard the wistful tone in her voice, and it piqued his interest. “Aren’t you a guest too?”

She shrugged. “I’m kind of crashing here, actually. My dad kicked me out of the house last night.” She made a huge ball out of the wrapping paper and stood up straight. “If you insist on helping, come and help with the dishes.”

He laughed and nodded. “Fair enough. But how about I do the dishes and you just straighten up the rest of the kitchen? You seem to be breaking a lot of things today.”

Anna agreed.
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So! What did you think so far? The next chapter will have lots of character development on Riley's part, just so you know.

Leave me reviews! They're awesome! I'll start replying to them, too, because I'm so happy you guys are into my characters, and interaction is a good thing!