Three Couples, Six People, Many Songs(#3)
Song #3 - Chained to You, Savage Garden
"May?" Gary poked his head into his sister's room tentatively. He'd long learned to knock at least three times before venturing forth, unless he wanted to be flashed by her. Which, being gay and her brother, he did not want. Discovering no young woman in the room, he frowned. Where could she be? Not that he cared, just his mother wanted her for something. "She's not here!" He informed his mother, walking back to his room. Later, he would likely get another lecture about yelling in the house. Did he care? Nope. He was sixteen, and he damned well did as he pleased. Within limits, of course.
Safely within his room, Gary leaned against his door and smiled, thinking fondly of last Saturday. He felt a strange warm, tingly sensation, and his heart started to tighten a bit. Gary blinked, then shook his head. What was this? /I'm not a silly little twelve year old girl. Stop this./ He ran one hand through his dark brown, messy hair, and then flopped onto his bed. Curling up against the black comforter, he allowed his mind to wander to that night. It had been Minor's Night, one of the few times Gary could get into the club without having to worry too much about the much older men that tried to prey on much younger boys.
Normally, Gary just sat at the bar and watched other people dance. The permanent glare on his face tended to warn people not to bother him, and when someone did speak to him, he just darkened his glare, and they left. He was simply there to watch. Dancing just did not appeal to Gary all that much.
But this night, this night proved to be so much different. Maybe the fact that Gary had drunk half a glass of beer helped. That and his low alcohol tolerance, the very reason he stayed away from it. This night, Gary actually danced. At first he had promised himself just one song. But one song turned into two, and two into five.
/Is that...Ash?/ Blinking, Gary stared at the fifteen year old boy dancing a few feet away from him. What was Ash doing in a club? And not just any club, a gay club! Ash was not... but then, why else would he be there? Before Gary could decide whether to talk to the boy from his school, Ash walked over. The slight redness to his cheeks suggested he had been drinking too, but Gary had no time to scold the younger boy.
"Dance with me." It was not a question, more of an order. An order that Gary could not find it within himself to disobey. The music, the alcohol, the darkness and the flashing nights. The fact that Ash was just a few inches away from him...
Halfway through the song their eyes met and did not move away. They both kept staring at each other while they danced, and Ash smiled. Not his usual 'Look at me! I'm cute and silly!" smile, more of a 'I'm drunk but attracted to you' type smile. Slowly, Gary started to smile back.
"Damn beer..." Gary sighed and pulled one of his pillows over to rest his head on. "I'm never drinking again. Only gets me into trouble." Hearing something at his door, Gary sat up and listened more carefully. "Skif." He got up and opened his door, closing it behind the prize winning border collie. Lying on his bed again, he allowed the dog to jump up and snuggle against him.
"Dumb dog." Gary said fondly, petting the black and white canine. "You don't care that I'm gay, do you?"
Skif looked at Gary. Then he licked Gary's nose.
"Heh, love you too Skif." Gary rolled onto his back, one arm still draped over the dog. "Love... Hn."
At the end of the dance, Gary decided it was time for him to go home. It was ten o'clock, and his parents would start worrying about him in half an hour.
"Wait." Ash grabbed Gary's arm, preventing him from leaving the dance floor. "You going?"
"Yeah, parents are gonna worry." Gary frowned. Ash was younger than him... "Why're you still out?"
"My mother thinks I'm still on a trip. I found what I wanted already." Ash smiled again, a somewhat feral smile. "I'm onto bigger and better things now."
Gary blushed, feeling very much displaced for he was not used to being hit on. "Um, yeah... Well, I gotta go."
"Wait!" Ash repeated, this time putting his hand on Gary's shoulder. For a moment, he seemed to hesitate, possibly going sober for a split second. And then he kissed Gary. A quick, clumsy brush of his lips against the other boy's, but a kiss nonetheless. "Bye."
Gary watched as Ash disappeared back into the club, and then he left the club.
"Y'know what Skif? I don't think Ash should drink anymore either." He scratched behind the dog's ears. "I mean... that wasn't Ash back in the club. He just doesn't act like that." Gary frowned. "Acting like a twelve year old girl again."
He sat up and looked around his room. "I'm going to check on the other dogs. Tournaments are soon..."
Skif gazed at Gary, chocolate brown eyes not comprehending much more than the tone of his owner's voice. The dog made a noise that could only be described as a 'snuffle', and then got up to follow Gary.
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Returning to his room an hour later, Gary noted much to his dismay that he smelt like a dog. Although that was to be expected after spending such a long time with multiple dogs...
He tugged off his green shirt and wandered over to his window, sitting down on the ledge and staring out. His mind definitely kept wandering back to Saturday night. /It was three days ago... Why am I still thinking about it?/ Gary let out a frustrated growl, lightly punching against the window. This feeling scared him, it threatened his solitude. He also did not need a silly crush distracting him. And on that little brat Ash too!
/Ugh, trust Fate to do this to me. Cruel and unusual punishment, that's what this is./ Gary got up and sat down on his bed, staring at a band poster. /That little kid of all people. Everyone knows him as the baby that tags along with those other two. Misty and... Brock. Yeah, those are their names. That red haired girl in my Physics class. She's always PMSing or something, so goddamned moody. And that Brock guy! Could he be anymore straight? He'd go after one of my dogs if she appealed to him enough./ Gary shook his head, lying down on his bed once again. /Those are the people Ash hangs out with... Heh, I think we actually used to play together at one time, when we were really little. He was such a whiny little kid. And he still is./ Gary sighed. /So what was up with him that night? That was not Ash, someone had taken over his body. Gary did not doubt the possibility of Ash being gay, it was just the whole attitude change. The way Ash had been so assertive and, well... sexual. It seemed so wrong to see Ash rather drunk, though seemingly still thinking. And it seemed so wrong to now be attracted to the immature boy./
A knock on the door. "Gary, Mom wants you." May's voice.
Gary sat up, debating taking a quick shower or at least changing before going downstairs. He opted for option two, and threw on a new shirt and a pair or black jeans. His mother would hate it if he 'had the nerve to take a shower right after she had demanded his presence'. Parents. Gary would never understand them. And he'd never be one, so he guessed he never would.
With as much mental force as he could gather, Gary pushed all thoughts of Ash away and put back his normal guise of an average, pissed off teenage boy. Which really, in some ways, he truly was. Lots of stuff pissed him off. Like his crush on Ash.
Damn thoughts resurfacing. Gary sighed once more. This was going to be hard.
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