"Hey Michael!"
"Hi Gavin." Michael looked up briefly, flashing a smile at the skinny, blond boy who had entered the empty video game room before returning his attention back to his computer screen where he was editing his latest video.
"Michael, the boys were all going to hit up some pubs tonight. You should come," Gavin said as he fell into the chair beside Michael.
Michael had nothing planned and he would have said yes anyway because he loved hanging out with Gavin, but he wanted Gavin to work for it. "I don't know Gav, I gotta a lot of work I still need to do on some videos this week..."
Out of the corner of his eye, Michael could see a flash of disappointment cross Gavin's face.
"Michaeellll, you have to come. It's a lot more fun when you're there." Michael couldn't help but smile at the whiny tone of Gavin's voice.
Michael sighed and shook his head, smiling. "Yeah, yeah, alright Gavin, I'll come."
Gavin clapped his hands together, exclaiming "Oooo yes! That's my boy!" He swirled around in his chair and got up to leave. "We're leaving right after work today. Mind if I get a ride with you?"
"Yeah Gav, that's fine. Now leave me the fuck alone so I can finish this."
Michael could hear the smile in Gavin's voice as he said "Bye Michael. Don't work too hard."
"Honestly, I can't believe how stupid that guy is sometimes, god damn," Michael muttered to himself as Gavin left the room. Despite this, Gavin was his best friend, and more importantly, the boy Michael was falling for.
Gavin knew all of the right ways to push Michael's buttons to get him fired up and angry, and that was what was so intriguing. Not to mention Gavin wasn't hard to look at. Michael couldn't help but feel attracted to him. Gavin didn't know that of course, as he had not given Michael any real intentions of having a relationship. Sure, they acted stupid with each other, but Michael tried not to think too hard about it, not wanted to get any hopes up in case Gavin didn't feel the same way. It was easier to hide his feelings when he was yelling profanities at him.
Michael returned his focus to his work and didn't notice his friend Ray come in until he was already sitting in the chair on the other side of him.
"Heard you were going on a date with your boyfriend tonight."
"Ha ha, real fucking funny Ray," Michael said with a scowl. "Heard you were going on a date with another imaginary girlfriend."
Ray laughed and turned toward his computer, switching the monitor on. "In all seriousness though, you gotta tell him one day. Hiding it isn't gunna do anything for you."
"Just stay the fuck out of it. You weren't even supposed to know to begin with, so drop it."
"Hey, it's not my fault you can't keep your mouth shut when you're drunk," Ray said, smiling. "Be glad I was the only one coherent to hear you say it."
Michael had to admit, he was glad for that. At one of the parties at Geoff's house, everyone had gotten a lot more drunk then usual. Ray, being the non-drinker he was, came just to watch everyone trash themselves. Late into the night, Ray was sitting with Michael, asking him questions and laughing at all the stupid ass responses Michael gave. At one point Michael had leaned over towards Ray and not too quietly whispered "Damn, look at Gavin over there... jeeez man he is so cute."
Confused at first, Ray thought it might just have been the alcohol talking but he kept pressing Michael for more information. "Don't tell.. Ray or.. or any of the guys...don't tell anyone.. I like Gavin...shhh," Michael said with his finger to his lips before promptly passing out on the couch.
Out of all of the guys working there, Michael was glad it had been Ray that found out. At least he could be sure that Ray wouldn't go telling people, especially not Gavin. Michael shuddered at the thought that he had almost blown his cover at the party with Gavin so close to earshot.
"I said drop it," Michael hissed. He didn't want to make Ray mad but he also didn't want to talk about it here where so many people were around.
Ray took the hint and started working on some of his own videos. Besides a few comments made here and there, the two sat in silence until the end of the day.
"My little Michael, are you ready to go?" Michael looked up at Gavin standing at the door, surprised that the day had gone by so quickly. "Yeah Gav, one minute. Let me save this stuff."
Michael closed out of his work and went to follow Gavin out of the door. As he went to close it, he saw Ray turn and give him a thumbs up. Michael knew what he was suggesting but all he could do was shake his head. He didn't want to risk his friendship like that. He couldn't stand to think about losing Gavin because of his stupid feelings.
He closed the door and met Gavin around the corner. They went the parking lot and waved to everyone else that was leaving. They all called out to each other about which bars to go to and about seeing each other in a little while.
The car ride was pretty uneventful. Some stupid comments from Gavin, that resulted in a profanity filled response from Michael; normal conversation between the two that they both enjoyed.
However, in the break in conversations, Michael found himself glancing at Gavin. To Michael, the space between them seemed so small, and he felt a need to want to close it, to reach over and touch Gavin's face, or grab his hand. Michael silently cursed himself for thinking about that, to think about risking everything. So he'd steer the conversation someplace else, to distract himself.
Everyone arrived at the bar around the same time. Ready to get the party started, they all crowded in.
Michael and Gavin took seats at the bar and ordered drinks for themselves. They arrived and the two sat there talking. Every so often, one of the guys of the office would come up and they'd all laugh and joke for a little bit, but as soon as they were alone, the conversation would pick right back up from before they had been interrupted.
Michael loved times like this. When the two of them could sit there and be assholes to each other and get drunk. Nothing seemed easier to Michael than to be with Gavin.
"Hey..hey Gav, you know, I was wondering if-"
"Dan! Dan, what are you doing here you bloody idiot?!" Gavin was suddenly gone from Michael's side and running towards at man who had been walking towards the bar.
Gavin ran into Dan's outstretched arms and was pulled into a hug that lifted him off of the ground. After being placed back onto the ground, Gavin stayed in his arms, beaming into the other man's face.
Across the room, Michael was still at the bar, watching the scene with the feeling of having been punched in the stomach.
Gavin seemed to remember who he was at the bar with and reached down to grab Dan's hand and dragged him to where Michael was seated.
"Michael look! Dan's back!"
"I'm not fucking blind Gavin, I can see that," Michael's mood had completely shifted now and he didn't want to see this or be there.
"Well, uh, Dan invited me back to his place for the night so I think I'll be going there..do you want to come?"
"Nah. I was just about to leave anyway. I have a lot of work to do tomorrow, remember?"
"Oh okay, if you're sure. Were you about to ask me something before Dan showed up?"
"It wasn't important anyway Gavin. Have fun with Dan." At this Michael spun around in his seat, got off, and walked out of the bar.
Wow, you are a real fucking idiot aren't you Michael? You actually thought you had a chance against Dan the man? How did you possibly forget about him? Michael hated himself for almost letting himself ask Gavin out. He drove home, cursing at himself and Gavin and Dan the whole way there.
It took a long time before Michael could clear his mind enough to finally pass out. All too soon his alarm was going off. He wasn't exactly excited about having to see Gavin at work, but he had to go. He couldn't act like anything was wrong.
Gavin seemed, impossible as it was, even more cheerful than usual. This filled Michael with a sinking feeling, finding it hard to breathe or concentrate. He ignored any attempts Gavin made to get his attention and said less than 5 words to him the whole morning.
Eventually Michael couldn't stand to be in the room. "I'm going to go get some coffee." He stood up and walked quickly from the room, seeking the comfort of the empty coffee room to sit down and think. He wasn't in there for long before the door opened and Gavin walked in.
"Michael what's wrong with you today? You've been a smeggy little smeg all day."
"Nothing Gavin, leave me alone."
Gavin crossed his arms and stepped towards Michael, "Michael, I don't know why you're minged off at me. I didn't do anything."
Michael looked down at the table and sighed,"I'm not mad at you asshole. I just.. you're with Dan and..I like you."
Gavin's mouth dropped open. "You..you..what? But I thought you were.. you always gave the impression..what about Lindsay? I thought you guys were a thing."
Michael looked up at Gavin, "Lindsay and I haven't been a thing for a long time. We realized we weren't really each others 'type' I guess. She's been dating Barbara for a while now."
"Oh Michael.. my little Michael..I'm sorry." Gavin reached out for Michael's hand on the table.
"I don't need you to feel sorry for me," Michael said, yanking his hand out of Gavin's grasp and getting up. As he went to walk past Gavin to leave, Gavin reached out for his hand again, grabbed it and turned Michael towards him.
"I'm not saying sorry for that, I'm saying sorry for making you think that I didn't like you too."
Michael stopped struggling against Gavin's grip. "What about Dan?"
"Dan and I have been friends for a long time Michael. Last night he invited me to his house to tell me about his engagement with someone he met while he was away."
Michael couldn't help it. He smiled. He'd worried so much for nothing. The smile wasn't on his face for long for suddenly his face was against Gavin's and they were kissing. Gavin's lips were softer than Michael thought they'd be and it contrasted nicely with the slight roughness of Gavin's stubble.
Michael wrapped his arms around Gavin's waist and pulled him close. Gavin moved his hands through Michael's curly hair, causing shivers to go down Michael's back.
They remained in this position for several minutes, allowing them to explore each others mouths and bodies. They would have remained there forever if they could have if a loud throat-clearing hadn't been made in the doorway behind them, forcing them to break apart. Ray stood in the doorway, leaning against the door-frame with a smug look on his face.
"Those videos aren't going to edit themselves, you know."
"Ray, you are an asshole, you know that?"
Ray laughed, "So I've been told." Ray turned in the doorway and made his way back to the other office.
Michael and Gavin stood looking at each other with small smiles on their their faces. Knowing Ray would come back looking for them if they were too long, they went in for a short, but deep kiss. After a moment, Gavin broke the kiss and leaned his forehead onto Michael's.
"My little Michael," he said softly.
Michael smiled and with that he took Gavin's hand and they made their way back to the office.
