A/N: Okay. So, um, I don't even know where to start with this one. Definately the strangest thing i've ever written fanfiction about, and I am fully prepared to be mocked for this. Basically, here's what happened-I was cleaning up my room and came across this old R.L. Stine book (aka Goosebumps author? yeah, him) that i stole from my English teacher's classroom in 7th grade. It was Halloween Party, part of the Fear Street 'verse, I guess. I flipped through it, as you do, nastalgia and whatnot, and it was pretty bad-or, you know, written for someone younger than me, like, as of course it would have been. But of course, being such a slash whore, I see boys who have a conflict and make up at the end, and I'm thinking, hey, I could like, work with that. So I churn out this 7-pager in about a day and a half, just to get it out of my system. Of course, I go back to read over it, thinking it was complete and utter crap and then...well. It was actually pretty damn good. Now, weeks later, I'm offering it up to you guys, take it or leave it. Reading the book will help you get the references and you'll actually know who these people are, but i think it's readable even if you haven't. Anyway, enjoy. :)

Consequences of Growing Up

"Alex!" Terry waved at him from across the parking lot of the school. The buses had just left, and Terry had an arm around Niki, talking to her before she had to run off to her dance class, when he'd spotted Alex moving down the sidewalk in the direction of his house.

The blonde looked up at the sound of his voice and grinned; Terry saw him veer off course and head over to where they were standing. "Hey." Alex gave them a broad grin.

"Hi Alex," Niki said, and her whole face lit up when she smiled at him. Terry felt an old rustle of jealous inside him but he quickly smothered it. After all, he knew for sure that Niki only liked Alex as a friend, nothing more. Still, it was a little difficult, especially when Alex flashed her his full wattage jock grin. "Merry Christmas."

"Yeah, you too," Alex said. "Either of you doing anything over the break?"

"My family's dragging me on a skiing trip." Niki made a face. "We're leaving tonight, even though it means I'll miss the last day of school. So I'll be spending the holiday trying not to break my neck." She turned her head toward Terry. "And I'll be missing you. I can't even call."

"I hear they get shitty reception up in the mountains anyway," Terry said. "Don't worry, I'll write."

"You'd better. And you!" Niki gave Alex a light punch on one of his huge muscled arms. "I better hear all about how spectacularly you two are getting along while I'm gone, okay?"

Alex caught Terry's eye. "Aren't you afraid I'll kill him with you away and not able to act as peace-keeper?" he said, joking. Still, the image brought grisly images up from last Halloween, when one of their friends, Les, really had been murdered. He pushed them away as well and shot back,

"C'mon Beale, you know I could take you if I had to, right?" Actually, he couldn't, and Alex knew that full well.

"You wish!"

Niki shook her head and rolled her eyes, but the corners of her mouth twitched and Terry knew she wasn't really mad. Especially since Niki was there that night Les died, and saw the way Alex and Terry treated each other afterward.

One traumatic experience wasn't enough to fix everything though. Going back to school that following week had made the whole incident seem surreal, like a bad nightmare. The jocks that hadn't been invited to the party but had all heard about it on the news had immediately crowded around Alex, thumping him on the back and congratulating him on surviving his near-death experience. Alex had looked at Terry maybe once that whole first day back, just a quick, furtive glance in the hallway; David, however, had called to him at lunch and introduced him to a bunch of his friends, all muscle clad athletes. They had seemed less than thrilled to meet him (a wimp, the old label still clung to him, ill-fitting and uncomfortable) but even they gradually warmed up to him. Later, a few of them even said hi to him and stopped to talk on the way to class. Zach and Jeff were like David, open and fun, but a couple of them, Murphy included, didn't take at all to the way Terry had suddenly infiltrated their group.

The first week of school passed without Alex saying one word to Terry. Finally, that Monday, Alex had come over to him and Niki and asked to speak to him alone for a minute. Terry remembers that Alex stuttered a lot, something he never did, but the gist of it was that he missed Terry, plain and simple.

"Finding-finding a replacement best friend isn't that easy," he'd said, and they'd both shared a laugh. And Terry had agreed.

It wasn't perfect, not by far, and it seemed that the amount of time it was going to take to fix their friendship was tenfold what it had taken to break it. There were near misses, many of them, where Terry or Alex would say something out of line and the other would storm off before it was fixed. It would have been easy, very, very easy, to just let one stupid argument be the final straw. But one would always go back to the other before the day was out, and they'd talk, and they'd part a little better than before. And after two months, their friendship still wasn't just like it used to be again, but Terry was trying, and Alex was trying, and that's was mattered. That's what counted.

"Oh-I'm late!" exclaimed Niki, glancing down at her watch. She made to kiss Terry on the cheek, but he turned his head at the last second to catch her lips with his own. Even with his eyes closed, Terry could feel Alex watching them, at the same time trying not to. He broke the kiss considerably more quickly than he normally would have and there was a flash of understanding and gratitude in Niki's eyes when she pulled away.

"I'll see you soon, Funny Face," Terry said, bumping their foreheads together gently.

Niki smiled softly and nodded. "Soon. Write, like you promised, okay?"

"Okay."

She gave him one last peck and then turned to Alex, throwing her arms around him. He was stunned enough to take half a step backward before he hugged her back. Maybe a little tighter than Terry would have liked, but he kept his mouth shut. Because he was trying.

"See you when we get back," Niki said, detangling herself from Alex. "I really do have to go; otherwise Miss Brewer will have my head." She laughed, a pretty tinkling sound, and Terry was pretty sure that he loved her. She started across the parking lot, head bent from the icy wind that had made her nose looked pink and adorable, and looked back once to wave.

Terry lifted his hand and tried to memorize the sight of her, every shape and curve. He was probably being ridiculous; she'd only be gone a week or so, but still. He'd miss her.

When he turned to look at Alex he found him watching Niki, who was still waving at them. Alex had given her a smile in response, but it was one of his fake ones. They might not be best friends right now, but they had been once, and you don't grow up with a guy all your life and not know all of his expressions. Terry knew Alex was the kind of person who had a smile that, when he was really, truly happy, took up most of his face with gleaming white teeth and made his dark eyes shine like bits of onyx. This smile was almost a grimace, stretched unnaturally across his mouth, and Terry was relieved to see it drop away as soon as Niki had turned her back to them.

Niki's footsteps faded away and the two lapsed into an awkward silence. Terry cleared his throat.

"So, uh…" he started, before realizing he had no way of following it up.

"So, uh…" Alex mocked gently, the sarcasm softened by the warmth and amusement in his tone. Terry glared at him, not harshly, and Alex laughed, holding up his hands in defense.

A beat of silence, then, "So, you and Niki…getting pretty serious, huh?" Alex said, all traces of joviality gone now.

"Yeah," Terry said. He looked at the empty space Niki had been, so he wouldn't have to look at Alex's face. "Yeah, I…yeah. I like her. A lot."

"Good. Good, I'm happy for you guys." Terry could tell Alex was lying from the cold edge to his voice, but didn't say anything. The fell back into silence again.

"I'm heading home, if you want to come-" Terry started, just as Alex said, "Look, a bunch of the guys are getting together-" They stopped and shared an embarrassed laugh.

"Just, if you're not busy, if you wanted to come over, for a while," Terry said.

"Oh, I. I mean, I want to, but, um," Ever since their talk in the halls, Alex seemed to trip over his own words more and more. "Some-some of the guys-we're all going down to the park-Mace Park, off of Fear Street-to play a game of football. It's supposed to snow later and we-they wanted to get a game in, before… D'you, well. You could come too, because our teams are uneven, so we need an extra player anyway…"

Terry adjusted his backpack to a more comfortable spot on his shoulders. Had the straps always cut into his skin like that? "I wouldn't want to tag along or anything-"

"You wouldn't be! You wouldn't be at all. I-I'm inviting you anyway, so you're my guest," Alex said, a brief and brave attempt at humor. Terry had to grin.

"You make it sound like I'm you're date to a wedding or something." Alex broke out in a relieved grin, a real one this time, happy to be back on familiar ground.

"Well, sure, but you don't have to get half as dressed up for it," he said smoothly. "No, really, though, we need another player, you wouldn't be in the way, I swear."

Terry hesitated for a split second, and then shook his head. "Nah, you know I'm no good at football. No one would want me on their team."

"Well, you'd be on mine. I'm good enough for the both of us."

"No, that's alright, I've got stuff to do at home anyway." Like watch a lot of TV and eat a bunch of junk food. "I'll catch up with you later."

"You're sure?" Terry looked up to find Alex pleading with his eyes, enough to make him wonder if he made the right choice.

"Yeah. I'll see you around. Good luck though. With the game."

"Ok, sure. See you. And thanks." He waved his hand still in the pocket of his letterman jacket at Terry, who snorted. "Later." And he left.

Terry watched him go as far as the baseball field before going in the opposite direction toward his house.

His parent's were gone for the weekend, promising they'd be back in time for Christmas Eve and in turn eliciting a promise from him that he wouldn't have any wild house parties while they were gone. Ever since that time two months ago, when he was almost roasted alive, he just couldn't stomach parties anymore.

He also wasn't expecting anyone; even the mail had come already. And he'd thought the game would have lasted for hours. All these thoughts flashed through his head between the time he'd gotten up to answer the doorbell and when he'd found Alex on his porch.

It had started snowing lightly, barely a dusting and the small snowflakes sprinkled over Alec's hair and stood out sharply on the shoulders of his black jacket (he'd exchanged his letterman for an older sweat jacket that hung loosely on him and made him appear slimmer than his usual Herculean size).

"What happened to the game?" It had barely been forty-five minutes since he'd left Alex in the parking lot.

Alex shook his head, spraying water from the melted snow and giving his hair a damp ruffled look. Different from the way he always wore it at school now: slicked back and out of his face. "Not enough of the guys could make it, so we called for a rain check. Er, snow check, I guess." Alex shifted his weight from one foot to the other. First time Terry had ever seen him look so uncomfortable in his own skin, too. What was going on?

"So, uh, can I come in?"

Terry realized he was still standing in the doorway, staring. With a start, he said, "Yeah, sure, sorry." He stepped back, letting Alec squeeze by him. He remembers a time when he and Alex were the same size almost. The one day Terry realized that Alex's chest had grown broader, the muscles in his arms bigger. Terry himself had stayed quite scrawny, and was a good few inches shorter than Alex. And suddenly it seemed like Alex had a swagger to the way he walked, one Terry could never achieve.

He wasn't using it now, though. Terry led the way to the couch in the living room, the soft cushiony one he preferred over the lumpy one in the basement, and threw himself down at one end. He heard Alex snort.

"Stuff to do, huh?"

Terry grinned sheepishly. "I never said what kind of stuff." He gestured at the TV. "This is doing stuff."

Alex tilted his head at the TV. "Watching Wheel of Fortune is not stuff." As Terry fumbled with the remote and muttered that he was just flipping channels, Alec asked, "Got anything to drink?"

"Wha- oh, yeah. 'Course. Hang on a sec." Jeez, he hadn't even thought to ask. Some party host he'd make anyway. He checked the fridge. "Ok, water, soda…more soda, some weird pomegranate juice my sister drinks, lemonade-I think-milk, and some orange juice. Take your pick." He looked over the door to see Alex leaning in the doorway, arms folded over his chest. He was wearing the same sheepish look Terry had on before.

"I, uh, I actually meant do you, you know, have anything to drink?" He stressed the last word. Terry thought he was missing something, and opened his mouth to say so when it hit him. Oh. Alex wanted something to drink. Like, from the bottles in his parents' liquor cabinet. He felt absurdly foolish and young just then, like he wasn't a senior in high school and only a half a year under the legal age to drink. It wasn't as though he'd never had a drink before in his life either; he wasn't so naive that he didn't know how to tap the bottles off with water after he'd finished with them to make it seem like he hadn't had any.

"Right," He shut the fridge door. The picture of his parent's tacked to the front of it stared at him accusingly, like it knew what he was planning on doing. He ignored it and made for the cabinet in the dining room. His parents weren't huge drinkers, and it was mostly used for special occasions or if they needed a bottle in a pinch for some party. He swept his hand along the top of the cabinet and found the little gold key he needed to unlock it.

Alex must have read something in his face, because he said, "Hey, look, never mind, man. Soda'll be-"

"You act like I've never done this before." Alex favors him with a short surprised laugh. "Here, pick one. One that's open already." Terry stands back to let Alex choose a bottle, debating whether or not he should go get glasses as Alex's deft fingers dance over the selections before plucking one up by the neck. It was a deep, blood red color. Terry wondered why he chose it.

He decides against the glasses and they take the bottle (just over three-quarters of the way full; Terry mentally marks the place it's filled up to so he knows for later) back to the couch and surf the channels, passing the bottle back and forth like a peace offering.

An hour later and the bottle was only one-quarter of the way full, maybe less, and Terry wondered fleetingly if his parents will notice the absence of this particular bottle, for it was now too low to fill with water. He, very surprisingly, was not worried.

The wine has made him warm and sleepy, a little giddy too. His mind was kind of fuzzy in a pleasant way, and his stomach was full with the bitter liquid and he was comfortable, lounging in a sprawled manner with Alex.

They'd started out on opposite ends of the, considerably long, couch, but after a few swallows it became too much of a pain to stretch and hand the bottle to each other, so they'd sat closer, a seat cushion separating them. A few more swallows and they stopped wiping the rim of the bottle after the other person drank and began to sink back into the couch. Now, completely relaxed, they had taken to slumping against one another, so that their shoulders and arms were touching, Terry's right with Alex's left. The conversation had taken a turn for the better as well; it no longer consisted of the occasional forced, inane comment. As the drinking loosened their tongues and calmed their nerves, Terry had found Alex surprisingly easy to talk to. He thought that they hadn't talked like this since they were best friends.

"Yeah," Terry found himself saying. "Yeah, exactly."

"Right?" Alex bent his head a bit to talk and Terry could smell the wine on his breath. "How could anyone think they look good with hair like that?"

The anchorwomen. Alex was talking about the anchorwoman with hair like a bee's nest. "I dunno. Hair should be, like, more…smaller. Like," He tried to find the words. "Like, shorter, scruffier, you know? Like…"

"Like yours," Alex said, reaching up a hand to ruffle Terry's hair. "Black and scruffy. Jus' the way I like it."

Terry grinned stupidly. It hadn't been like this in years, since before they went to high school and found out about cliques and how they belonged to different ones. He played with the remote for a second, trying to focus on it before he hit the channel up button. The anchorwoman blinked away and was replaced by an Iron Chef cook-off. Terry left it.

Alex groaned. "Oh, I forgot you like this crap!" He says it with half-laugh.

"S'not crap. S'good." One of the chef's was frying a piece of chicken breast in a sauce that looked really amazing right now. His mouth practically watered, wondering if he had any food in the house. He would get some later. If he ever got up, that is.

"Yeah, well," Alex snatched the remote from his limp fingers and switched the channel to a music video of some girl screeching about her problems. "It's gone now, so it's a moat-amount-amoo-there's no point in talking about it."

"Hey!" Terry made a grab at the remote, but Alex held it high over his head with one of his huge arms. "Giv'it back!"

"Uh-uh." Alex grinned wickedly.

Something-the wine, most likely; he's had way too much-made Terry do what he wouldn't have normally. He launched himself at Alex and started a full-out battle over the remote. They hit random channels accidentally, until one of them hit the power button and the screen faded to black. Still, they scuffled, toppling off the couch onto the floor-Alex hit the ground first, with a muffled 'oomfph' that made Terry laugh-and they rolled around on the carpet, somehow avoiding the coffee table and the bottle placed precariously on it.

Finally, Alex managed to pin Terry by throwing his body flat over him and gripping his wrists. The remote flew out of Terry's hand and bounced to a stop on the other side of the room. They watched it go and suddenly the whole thing was hysterical. Alex slumped boneless against Terry, giggling, still holding his wrists and Terry was laughing so hard he was choking, tears streaming down the side of his face. It was just too funny.

When they'd calmed down enough that Terry was only hiccupping slightly, he noticed that Alex's head was pressed into his neck. But more than that, Alex was nuzzling the side of his neck. With his face. Terry hiccupped and sighed, because Alex had a light stubble on his jaw and it was scratching him a little and it felt nice. Niki never had stubble, he thought.

The idea of Niki with a beard set him off again, and Alex lifted his head to see what was up.

"Lightweight,' Alex rumbled, and the sound reverberated through Terry's chest and he finally understood how Niki could feel the vibrations from music or very loud noises. The feeling and the sight of Alex's face, grinning mouth, eyes at half mast, combined to make Terry want Alex to speak again, to want Alex's mouth near his throat again.

"You are…you're crushing me," Terry muttered. Not that he minded. He asked, "You gonna get off any time soon?" because he had to know.

Alex shook his head, and Terry felt inexplicable happier.

"Do I get my hands back at least?"

Alex shook his head again, leaning in close to speak against the shell of Terry's ear. "Nope. I think I like you better like this. All tied up." He voice sent waves of vibration into Terry, and when Alex pulled back, face still very much too close, Terry lifted his head up off the ground and pushed his mouth into Alex's.

It wasn't a very good kiss; it was too wet for one thing. And the angle was all off, and Terry's neck hurt from arching his head up like that. But when Alex pressed back, mirroring Terry's steady pressure, it suddenly became the best thing in the world. He never wanted it to end.

Alex drew back first, just as Niki had, hours ago. Terry let his head fall with a thud, everything that had felt good in him vanishing at the drop of a hat, like a light switch being flicked to off.

Oh, god, he thought. Oh, god. Oh damn. He just kissed Alex. Alex, who likes girls. Alex, quarterback of the football team. Alex, who he had been just starting to get along with fine and then he had to go and kiss him. Shit. He doesn't know what to say, doesn't even know where to start. I'm sorry I just kissed you? I promise I won't do it again? All he knows is the terror creeping into his heart as his mind played out the next few scenes. Alex getting up and running out the door. Alex telling everyone at school that Terry came on to him. The label changing from wimp to queer. David, not speaking to him, ashamed of ever talking to him. Niki dumping him and going out with Alex. He suddenly felt way too sober to deal with this.

And then Alex started laughing, still on top of him, fingers curved around the bones of his wrists. Terry could only stare at him, feeling as though he couldn't breathe, partially because Alex was still lying across his lungs. He felt his face and neck grow hot and he tried to turn his head away.

It took Alex a full two minutes to calm down, and Terry was convinced the whole time that his life as he knew it was over. What had he been thinking, anyway? He didn't swing that way and neither did Alex. So why…

"The look-on-your-face," Alex choked out, almost wheezing. "You looked-man, you had to see yourself. Priceless." Alex's chuckles faded until there was a loud silence between them.

"Terry?" Alex's fingers, rough and calloused, took hold of Terry's chin, forgetting his wrists. He turned Terry's head towards him. Here it comes, Terry thought. "You're beet red, you know that? It wasn't that bad. You're pretty decent at it actually. Figured you had to be, to be going out with Niki. "

Alex was saying something else, but Terry couldn't hear him. Shock muffled any sound. Was Alec serious? How could he be so nonchalant about it? Terry thought the world was ending and Alex was having a good laugh.

He took his freed hands and shoved Alex hard.

"Woah, hey." Alex frowned at him, rolling off and sitting up. Terry sat up and made to stand before Alex caught his arm; he flinched and tried to shake him off, but Alex just held on tighter. "Hey, wait a second, where-"

"If you're just going to turn this into one big joke-" Terry tried to pry the hand off. It wouldn't budge.

"A joke? What the hell, did you have more to drink than I thought? You starting to go delusional on me?" Alex waved his free hand in front of Terry's face with a weak smile.

"It's not funny, Alex! Do you realize what we just-what I-" Terry looked away, at the floor, at the couch, anywhere but Alex.

"Terry-"

"Just let me go, Alex, please? Please just let go." His voice got caught in his throat. If he could just get Alex to leave… Maybe his parent's would let him switch schools. Or maybe they'd move. College was only half a year away, so maybe-

"No. Terry, look at me." Terry glanced at him briefly, and saw that Alex's jaw was set. "I won't tell anyone, if that's what you're worried about."

"You…won't?" He narrowed his eyes. "Why not?"

"Because we're both pretty wasted. Besides, then I'd have to admit I kissed you back, right?" Terry had almost forgotten that. Still…Alex could leave that part out. He knew Alex could see he didn't believe him, because he sighed.

"Terry?"

Terry raised his eyes, his attention caught by something in Alex's voice. Startled, he found Alex's face inches from his own, dark eyes boring right into his.

"How can I convince you?" Alex muttered, almost to himself.

"I…" Terry had barely opened his mouth when Alex grinned disarmingly, and he lost his train of thought. Alex leaned forward, placing a wide hand on the back of Terry's head; Terry let him, holding perfectly still, petrified.

"Alex," Terry breathed, afraid to speak any louder. "What're-" Alex kissed him firmly. Startled, he made a small surprised noise in the back on his throat and started to pull back, but Alex had his arm, and his head, and was intent on holding him in place. Terry brought his hands up to Alex's shoulders again, determined to push him off, when Alex's tongue slipped into his mouth, quick and deft like his fingers, running over his tongue. Terry felt his eyes shutter closed, and instead of pushing away, his hands curled over Alex's shoulders, fingertips pressing against the worn fabric of his coat.

Alex gripped his hair now, running his fingers over Terry's scalp in a way that had him shivering, and his hand slid off Terry's arm to hook his fingers in the belt loop of Terry's jeans, giving them a tug. Terry automatically slid closer. Every time he got close to forming a thought, Alex would do something, like brush against the skin just under the hem of his shirt, or his thumb would pass over a sensitive spot on his head, and he'd have to start over.

Eventually, Alex broke the kiss. He still cradled the back of Terry's skull, keeping their foreheads together. His breath was hot on Terry's skin. It was a while before either of them spoke.

"Guess I drank more than I thought," Alex said softly, with a slight laugh. Terry said nothing, shifting so he could look at the carpet. A rough palm ran over the side of his jaw. "Terry. Hey, do you believe me yet, or do I need to prove it to you some more?"

"You're just messing-messing around," Terry whispered. "Right? It's just some game, right? I don't want to play, Alex."

He felt Alex shake his head in disbelief. "I forgot how long it took to convince you of something, too."

He looked Alex in the eye and gave him a shaky smile that he didn't feel. "That's 'cause you always lied to me when we were little, remember?" Terry remembered, remembered listening rapt to Alex recount stories of spaceships he'd seen, when he learned his dog could fly. Once he told Terry that the next door neighbor was a witch and the only way to make sure she left you alone was to break into her house and steal the glass eye she kept near her cauldron. "I stopped believing you after a while."

"Nah, I could always convince you in the end." Alex slipped an arm around Terry's waist, tentatively. "One way or another." He pulled Terry closer until he was practically in his lap. "I just had to work long-" Alex flashed a grin and moved his mouth to Terry's collarbone. "-and hard-" He ground their hips together, once, slowly, and Terry swallowed a moan. "-I was pretty persuasive when I wanted to be, huh? I should have been the one on the debate team."

"I got in trouble…listening to you, some-ahh-sometimes." Alex ran the edge of his teeth across Terry skin. He bit there, lightly-playfully-and then sucked just on the pulse point. This time Terry did moan, dropping his head back a little to give Alex better access.

"Oh, you liked that? Good to know." Terry could feel him smiling. Alex's hands where everywhere, on the small of his back, holding his arms, petting his hair, being gentle. He gave Alex's longer blonde hair a jerk to remind him that he wasn't a girl, and to stop treating him like one. Alex laughed, and the movements grew rougher. He bit down on Terry's neck hard enough to leave teeth marks. "Mm, we did get in a lot of trouble, didn't we?" Alex said, falling back into their earlier conversation. "But it was worth it, no matter how bad it got after. It was worth it. Every time."

Alex turned his head so that he could rest it somewhere between Terry's neck and shoulder, high on his chest, his hair brushing Terry's chin. He was playing with the hem of Terry's shirt, just above the zipper on his jeans, but he wasn't going any further. Terry realized that Alex was waiting for some kind of confirmation from him before he did anything else. The idea that Alex was going to do something else, wanted to do something else, was as staggering to his mind as the wine had been. Terry took a deep breath. He was going to do something stupid, and he wanted to be at least a little prepared.

"Every time," he agreed, and yanked Alex's head back up to kiss him, hard, teeth catching on his bottom lip for a moment, using one hand to guide Alex's under his shirt.

The blinds in the living room were drawn shut, but they thought they could hear the soft patter of snow on the roof, and the blackness bleeding in around the edges told Terry that it was night, and had been for a while. In a few hours it would be morning, and Terry would have a hangover that would make his throat dry and his head throb.

Oh well, Terry thought drowsily, shifting his head to get more comfortable. It was well worth it. They had moved to the couch, lying vertically. It was a little tight, but Terry fit neatly alongside Alex, if the top half of his body is draped over Alex's chest. He knew it was old, and overused, and painfully cliché, but if he concentrated, he could hear Alex's heartbeat through the thin layer of cotton. The jacket had been discarded hours ago, and now lay in a crumpled pile on the floor next to the remote.

"S'late," Alex rumbles, absentmindedly playing with Terry's hair, alternately scratching his blunt nails over his scalp and smoothing it down with a flat palm.

"Mmm-hmm. Too late for you to go home?" Terry tried to make it an offhand question, but hopefulness crept in at the end.

"Well…it is dark, and I'd be insane to risk my neck in this snow storm." He's smiling his real smile, Terry's sure of it.

"Are your parents going to wonder where you are?"

"They haven't called the police by now, at least I don't think so, and I told them I was stopping by here. They'll probably just assume I lost track of time or fell asleep here, or something."

'All of which are true."

"Perfectly true."

They lapsed back into an easy silence. Terry was inches from sleep, lulled there by the steady rhythm of Alex's breathing and the soothing motions in his hair, when Alex spoke.

"Hey, you still up?" His voice is soft, like if Terry wasn't, he wouldn't want to wake him. Terry nodded into his chest. "I was just thinking…this'll be one thing I won't be putting in my letter to Niki."

Terry grinned, feeling a chuckle edge its way into his throat. It was too early to worry about what all this meant, and where Niki fit in. He would worry about it tomorrow. Or when Niki came home. "Yeah…she did say she wanted to know how we were getting along, though."

They're both laughing now; the noise echoes in the empty house. Terry thinks that they have all the time in the world.

"Somehow," Alex said. "I don't think this is what she had in mind!"

David called him up the next day, after Alex had gone home.

"Hey man, could've used you at the game yesterday," David said.

"Game?" Terry was still groggy, and his stomach was in various sized knots. He was definitely not drinking again for a while.

"Yeah, the football game. At Mace Park. You shoulda come!"

"You know I'm no good at football," Terry said, before David's statement works itself out in his head. "Wait, the football game? I thought that was cancelled."

"Cancelled? No, we played for a couple hours before the snow got too bad. Good thing we stopped when we did too, we were getting crushed."

"Alex said-"

"You talked to Alex? Man, the next time I see that guy, I'm gonna wail on him for ditching us at the game. With him, we would've killed-"

"Wait, wait-so there was a game yesterday? And Alex didn't show?"

"Oh, he showed all right. He stopped by to tell us he couldn't play. Said he had stuff to do. Hey, you talked to him; did he say what he was doing?"

Terry sat up and caught sight of himself in the mirror. He had a ridiculously goofy grin that he couldn't get rid of on his face. "No, man. I have no idea."

Drop a review, if you have the time. :) Oh! And before all my Lost Boy people think I've abandoned them (that is, if they care, seeing as how they've probably lost all respect for me after this fic), fear not! I'm just taking a little break (I got into bandslash, wth; but no, seriously, it's AMAZING. Go, right now, read MCR (and FOB and PATD) and tell me Frank Iero is not the hottest person alive-even more so when Gerard Way is sticking his tongue down Frank's throat) from the Lost Boys, but I've every intention of coming back soon. in fact, I've got this like EPIC Sam/Marko, David/Michael, Paul/Dwayne with cameos by Star and Laddie thing in the works right now, and I want it completely done before I begin posting it up here. So, soon, I promise!