Title: Something to Sleep To
Pairing: Pauly D/Vinny
Rating: M
Summary: "He almost wants Deena to catch them, figure it out on her own so he doesn't have to keep hurting her by turning her down." Pauly should probably be careful what he wishes for.
Disclaimer: I don't own shit!
Author's Note: WHOOO! Somehow, I finished this just in time to post before I run off to work. I kind of feel like the ending might be a bit rushed. Hopefully it's really not. Either way, hope you enjoy! =D Takes place in Italy.
Warnings: None.
"Hey, Vinny. Want some chapstick?"
And Vinny's eyes slip open, slow and sleepy and still slightly drunk from earlier, meet Pauly's a moment later. Pauly feels his breath catch for a split second, especially when the younger smiles widely. Vinny's eyes, Pauly thinks, are incredible. He figures there's kind of always something that's drawn him in about Vinny's eyes. It's never more apparent than in moments like this, his boyfriend nodding and breathing a quick, "yea," in response to Pauly's question, their secret code. Pauly grins widely, too.
"Cool, cause I have way too much on my lips." he mutters, bracing himself with an arm on the other side of his shirtless boyfriend before dipping down and kissing him soundly.
Instantly, Vinny winds his arms around Pauly's neck, pulling him down so he's straddling the kid in the bed. He can feel Vinny smile against his lips, and yea, it's probably a bad idea to indulge right now, what with everyone being in the house and mostly wide awake, but for once, Pauly really doesn't care. He almost wants Deena to catch them, figure it out on her own so he doesn't have to keep hurting her by turning her down. He pushes the thoughts to the back of his mind, though, lets Vinny kiss him thoroughly instead, fingers winding into his blowout. He feels himself tense up on instinct, and Vinny breaks off in a laugh.
"Come on, man. It's just hair. Kiss me." the younger tells him, light smile on his face.
Once Vinny's eyes are fixed on his own, he can't even deny him, never can, muttering a soft, "yea, okay," before his lips are on Vinny's once more. Vinny sighs in something akin to relief, tugging on Pauly's locks a bit more roughly this time, and Pauly bites at Vinny's lower lip in retaliation. Vinny rolls his hips up, moaning softly when they come into contact with Pauly's. The older suddenly feels hands under his shirt, fingers running delicately up and down his abs just enough to send a shiver up his spine. Vinny pulls away, laughing, his eyes dark with lust, but playful as they meet Pauly's. He yanks carelessly at Pauly's expensive shirt.
"Hey, take this off." Vinny commands, trying to kiss him again at the same time.
As much as it sucks, Pauly forces himself to push Vinny back to the bed, hold him there by the shoulders for a moment.
"Vinny, baby, no. We can't. Everyone's-" Pauly attempts, but Vinny's not having it, yanking the older's shirt off anyway and throwing it to the side.
"I don't care! Want you." Vinny objects, something almost like a whine in his voice as he tries to pull Pauly back to him. He succeeds long enough to draw Pauly into another kiss, rolling his hips up once more. Vinny breaks off from there, trailing kisses up the older's jaw all the way to his ear. Pauly exhales slowly at the feeling of the boy's breath hot on his ear, teeth dragging across the lobe. Then, Vinny's speaking directly into his ear, "C'mon, Pauly...don't you wanna fuck me?"
Pauly almost loses it right there, taking the younger's face in his hands and pulling him away from his ear, gives him a dirty kiss instead. Vinny makes a sound of sheer contentment, wrapping his arms even tighter around Pauly's neck and dragging him ever closer as they kiss. Pauly can't even help but get lost in it, prop himself up enough to run a gentle hand under Vinny's shirt, ghost across his ribs much the way the boy had earlier. It draws the same sort of shiver from Vinny, too, and it makes Pauly smirk, grind his own hips down into his boyfriend's.
Finally, Pauly gives in, slides the younger's shirt up and off, throws it somewhere over his shoulder and onto the floor. Vinny instantly wraps his arms around Pauly's back, pulls their chests together roughly. It drags a low moan from both of them, one that Pauly swallows as he dives back in, kissing Vinny even deeper than before. Pauly grinds his hips down again, eliciting a light whimper from the boy. The next thing Pauly knows, Vinny's nails are digging into his back, dragging down either side of his spine, and Pauly almost cries out, his back arching towards his boyfriend sharply. He breaks off the kiss to inhale deeply, try and regain his composure. When he meets the younger's eyes, they're dark with lust, his lips wet and swollen. He's pretty sure his own face is a decent match. Before Vinny even has a chance to catch his breath, Pauly's leaning back in, stealing it away in another messy kiss.
It's just as the older lets his hands trail down, fingers beginning to work at Vinny's jeans, that they hear a loud gasp by the door.
"Oh my God!" Deena nearly yells, slamming the door behind her. She leans against it, eyes wide, as they separate, looking at her with wide eyes of their own.
"You okay, D?" Snooki's voice rings out from the other side of the door. The boys hold their breath.
"Yea. Pauly and Vinny just spread my underwears everywhere. No big deal." Deena chokes out, and they both sigh in relief, letting her continue to run off her friend.
Pauly sits up quickly, Vinny moving to pull the blanket over his bare chest. Pauly leans down, snatching his shirt up off the floor where the younger had dropped it and pulling it back over his head. He turns to face his boyfriend, gauge his reaction. Vinny's eyes are clouded with worry, and it makes Pauly frown deeply. He may have thought about Deena catching them, but he hadn't actually wanted it to happen, he thinks. He reaches over and grabs Vinny's hand, squeezes it lightly, and Vinny offers him the faintest of smiles. Unfortunately, it's all the consolation either of them gets before Deena is suddenly descending upon them, an almost angry expression on her face.
"What in the hell is going on here?" she hisses quietly, so the other housemates can't eavesdrop. She stops next to the bed and glares down at them, hands on her hips. "And don't you dare tell me it's not what it looks like."
"Well, see, what had happened was..." Pauly starts with a nervous laugh, trying to lighten the mood.
"Really, Pauly?" Deena snaps, and even Vinny has to cringe, looking at his boyfriend sheepishly.
"Pauly, seriously..." the younger whispers, and Pauly looks fully at him, nerves sinking in. Pauly doesn't want to voice he concerns out loud, instead meeting Vinny's eyes and asking the question as best he can with just them. Vinny gets it, though, somehow always does, and nods just enough for the older to notice it. Pauly takes a deep breath, sliding a hand under the blanket to grip Vinny's in honest-to-God fear as he looks into his friend's eyes once more.
"We're, uh. Vinny and I are i-in..." he trails off, can't seem to say it. Every single time he gets close, the words get stuck on the tip of his tongue. He swallows thickly, tries again. "Vin and I are together."
Deena's eyes are open wide, like she's in shock, despite that she totally just walked in on it. She opens her mouth like she's going to speak, but it gets stuck like that for a long moment. Eventually, she closes it, and doesn't open it again for several minutes, minutes that stretch on and on and make the boys more fearful at the same time. Finally, she manages to find her voice for a brief moment.
"Like, dating?" she asks.
"Yea. Li-like dating." Pauly reaffirms, squeezing Vinny's hand tightly. He smiles the slightest bit when he feels the younger squeeze back. Deena nods slowly, her eyes beginning to gather wetness.
"How long?" she questions, her voice cracking a bit.
Pauly feels like an asshole as he responds quietly, "About a month before we came here?"
Deena nods again, breaking their eye contact to stare at her lap. Then, she's rising, moving to the bed to gather her pillows and blankets. Pauly's eyes widen and he pushes himself from the bed, rushes to her side. He grabs her shoulders softly and turns her to face him. He hates himself when he sees the tears in her eyes.
"Deena, please, can't we talk about this?" he pleads, a note of desperation in his voice. He doesn't want to lose her over this. She shakes her head, though, sniffling and looking at the floor as she backs away from his grasp.
"Not right now, Pauly. M-maybe in the morning or something, but I just can't...not right now." she mutters, a waver in her voice that goes straight to the DJ's gut. With that, she turns, walking to the door and exiting the room entirely.
Pauly's heart sinks as the door shuts behind her. He turns with a sad expression to meet Vinny's eyes once more. The younger looks like he feels just as guilty. Pauly moves to his boyfriend's side, dropping down next to him on the bed again and wrapping an arm around him in a hug. Vinny relaxes into his grasp for a moment, resting his head on Pauly's shoulder. Pauly's just beginning to lose himself in all kinds of negative thoughts and fears when he feels Vinny's lips against his neck, hears the younger start to speak.
"What do we do now?" Vinny asks quietly, worry evident in his tone. Pauly can't let on that he's terrified, too, not with Vinny this nervous, so he pulls the boy even closer, rubs a hand up and down his arm.
"Well, now, we go to sleep and try to forget that this even happened right now. Then in the morning, I'll talk to Deena and figure out where we go from here." he responds, leaning back to look Vinny in his beautiful eyes (and he feels like such a girl for even thinking the word beautiful in reference to another dude, but it's Vinny, and he can't really help it). "Sound good?"
Vinny nods, muttering an affirmation before tipping his head up just enough to capture his boyfriend's lips. Pauly tries as best he can to kiss as much of the hurt away as possible, holding Vinny's face delicately to do so. It appears to work, Vinny relaxing even further into his grip, losing himself in the kisses for a little while. Eventually, though, they have to separate, if only far enough to rest their foreheads against one another's. Pauly takes a deep breath.
"It'll be alright." he whispers, and Vinny nods slowly.
"I know." he replies.
Pauly kisses him on the forehead, bidding him a soft goodnight that gets returned, before standing and making his way over to his own bed, getting ready to go to sleep. No sense in risking getting them into further trouble tonight. Who knows what excuse Deena gave the girls for sleeping in there all upset. Deep down, he knows that she wouldn't rat them out. Still, the girls will suspect something, and most definitely be mad about it. Whatever, he thinks, I'll deal with it in the morning. And either way, I still have Vinny. He lets his eyes drift over his boyfriend one last time, finally reassured, before fading off to sleep.
III
The next morning, Pauly finds Deena on the back patio smoking a cigarette before anyone else has a chance to say anything to him. He's not sure he's ever been awake this early. He's sure he looks ridiculous, having fallen asleep with his hair product still in and everything the night before. Still, his appearance is the last thing he cares about for once, too desperate to try and at least salvage his friendship with one of the best people he knows. He knocks timidly on the doorframe leading outside, meeting her gaze slowly.
"Hey." he greets her.
"Hi." she returns quietly.
"C-can we. Can we talk?" he asks, voice low.
It feels like forever before she nods, scooting over on the couch and patting the seat next to her. He wastes no time, practically skipping over to her and planting himself as close as he can without making either of them uncomfortable. Pauly's been batting things around in his head all night, ways to start this conversation, but suddenly, he's completely devoid of thought. Finally, he says the first thing that comes to mind, before he can lose his nerve completely.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?" she immediately fires back. "Not for being with him, I hope."
Pauly meets her eyes with a flustered expression of his own.
"What? No way! Not ever." he objects. He could never be sorry for that.
"What are you sorry for, then?" she asks, her tone serious.
Pauly shrugs. He answers honestly, "I dunno. Hurting you, I guess."
"Do you even know why I'm hurt, Pauly?" she demands, turning to face him fully with an almost angry look in her eyes.
Pauly stops, actually thinks about it. He's not entirely sure. There's a number of reasons why she could be hurt right now. But if he's honest, he doesn't know which one it really is. Thankfully, she does explain herself.
"I'm hurt because you didn't tell me. I'm hurt because you made out with me, and led me on, but couldn't trust me enough to tell me you're dating a guy. That you're with Vinny, Pauly! I mean, it's not like the topic hasn't come up before, even. But you lied to me." she tells him, and Pauly feels worse with every word. "That's why I'm hurt."
"Oh," he finally manages. "I'm sorry, D. I really, really am. I never intended to lead you on, and I never meant to hurt you, I just...we didn't really know how to tell you. To tell anyone."
"Why? Do you really think I wouldn't have accepted you? Me, of all people? Pauly, come on." she says, a smile working its way across her face.
"Wait, so you don't care?" Pauly tries to reaffirm, stunned.
"Not about that, silly." Deena tells him softly, smile becoming fond. She leans in closer. "Honestly, I think it's kinda hot. You guys mind if I watch sometime?"
Pauly feels himself blush red hot, shuffling away from her on the couch as she laughs out loud.
"Come on, D! Seriously?" he exclaims, trying to calm himself down.
"If you could see the look on your face right now!" Deema manages through her laughter. Eventually, she calms herself, looking into his eyes once more. "Seriously, though. You should know you can trust me with anything, Pauly. You're my best friend."
"I do, now." he agrees with a nod. "Deena, you have no idea how much I appreciate that, too."
She puts her cigarette out, pulling him close into a tight hug.
"Anytime, Pauly. You know I love you guys." she says. Then, she leans back just enough to lock gazes with him, eyes serious. "And you don't have to worry. I won't tell anyone until you guys are ready. I promise. Your secret's safe with me."
Pauly doesn't even have words to express his gratitude, simply hugs her close again, managing a soft 'thank you'. Pauly honestly couldn't be happier to have friends like this, people he can actually trust for once with everything. He never dreamed he'd find them in places like this, either, experiences like the ones he's had lately. He especially never imagined he'd grow so much just from being with another guy. Suddenly, Deena makes another joke about watching them, sending him sprawling across the couch in embarassment once more, but he's laughing this time. For once, he can't wait to see what happens next. Whatever it is, he's grateful that he at least has people like Vinny and Deena by his side.