The first time Chris and James slept together, it was a little unexpected.
It was around one thirty in the morning, and Chris was in his bedroom, mouth hanging open in a seemingly deep sleep. The room was silent save for the whirring of his ceiling fan and the ever so faint late-night sounds bleeding through his closed window. He'd only been asleep for about half an hour (he'd blame it on too much homework, but the real cause was the old Gameboy he'd dug out of his closet and slapped fresh batteries in), but he was gifted with the ability to fall asleep not long after his head hit the pillow. As long as nothing went out of its way to wake him up, he'd be out cold until the sun came up.
Of course, and his shrilly ringing phone confirmed this, we can't always get what we want.
The now-awake Chris groaned in frustration and groped his side table until his hand landed on his obnoxiously loud, vibrating phone. He squinted at the too-bright screen, vaguely mumbling that he would kill Connor if he drunk-dialed him one more time, before sitting up, suddenly feeling more awake.
"James?" he asked through a yawn, holding the phone to his ear.
"Chris? Oh good, I was worried you wouldn't pick up and I'd have to chuck pebbles at your window."
Rubbing his eyes, Chris sat in a more comfortable, upright position and leaned over to flick on the lamp on his bedside table. "What are you talking about? Why are you calling me this late?" Or did it count as 'this early' at that point?
James shrugged, though Chris couldn't see it. "I kinda need a little bit of help, if you wouldn't mind. D'you think you could let me inside? It's a bit nippy out here."
"A bit nippy out where?" Chris asked, swinging his legs off the bed and getting to his feet. He walked over to his window and pulled the shade up and almost groaned. "James," he began - a little loudly - before continuing in a hushed voice for the sake of his still-asleep family, "what are you doing in my yard?"
"Setting up for the annual block party. C'mon, Chris, just let me inside and I'll explain."
Chris sighed, his eyelids feeling too heavy to deal with this. "Alright, go around back; I'll unlock the door."
"I owe you one," James said, before the two hung up.
"Better be a big one," Chris muttered dryly.
He took his time getting down to the back door, careful not to wake up his family with creaky stairs or too-heavy footfalls. James was waiting just outside the door, his breath billowing out in misty clouds in front of his face. Aside from his sneakers and his windbreaker, the flannel pajama pants suggested he'd left right from bed, Chris noticed.
Chris held one finger to his own mouth and took his boyfriend's hand in his, leading him back up to his bedroom silently. He nearly jumped when he thought he heard movement from his parents' room, but managed to get James safely inside his own room without waking anybody. The last thing he wanted to do was explain why he was smuggling his boyfriend of only a month into his bedroom at one thirty in the morning when he wasn't even sure why the other boy was there himself.
"So why are you here?" Chris asked, sitting cross-legged on his bed as James kicked off his shoes and unzipped his jacket. The fact that he was shirtless underneath didn't help with Chris's alertness.
"The usual," James began with, hanging his jacket on the back of Chris's desk chair. Chris was sure he was doing that on purpose. "They were screaming at each other and I couldn't get to sleep. I needed a place to crash."
Chris didn't need to ask who 'they' were. "How'd you get here? You live like, six miles away."
"I walked."
"You walked?" Chris repeated.
James nodded. "I left a little after midnight. At first I was just going to walk around a little bit, get some air, but then I ended up at your house and figured I should call you instead of just barging in."
"Gee, thanks for the consideration," Chris said sarcastically. James smiled and sat down next to him, and Chris leaned in and kissed him softly. "My parents are gonna freak in the morning."
"Why, they worried about their only son's boyfriend sneaking over in the middle of the night to have his way with their baby boy?" He walked his fingers up Chris's side until the other boy smiled and swatted them away.
"With the whole family in the house? Not likely," Chris replied. He lay back on his bed and pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes. "Now can we go to bed? I still haven't recovered from your wake-up call."
James nodded and moved to get up. "I'll just crash on the couch, yeah?" he asked, before Chris grabbed his hand and reeled him back towards the bed.
"And let my parents find you on their way to work? That's not happening," he said, punctuating his sentence with a deep yawn. "We'll explain this in the morning, and then we can drop by your place on the way to school to get your stuff. Your parents gonna be mad?"
Sliding in under the blanket next to Chris, James shook his head. "Nah, dad leaves for work around five and mom sleeps in until after I've left. They won't even notice."
The two boys fought to find a comfortable position on the twin bed, before settling with their bodies pressed flush together, James's chest on Chris's back (though Chris would never admit to being a little spoon). Silence filled the room once more after James awkwardly reached over Chris's body to turn off the lamp. He finally let himself relax, the adrenaline of sneaking out leaving him and letting his exhaustion return.
"Hey Chris?" he asked softly, met with nothing more than his boyfriend's slow, even breathing as a response. James smiled and protectively wrapped an arm around Chris's middle, pulling him just a tiny bit closer. "I love you, thanks."