World Made Flesh

Chapter One: The Secrets We Keep

Summer was just starting to wane in Rosewood, and as Mike leaned against the tree a soft breeze ruffled the leaves overhead. His boyfriend, Toby, came up beside him. "Hey babe," he said, kissing Mike on the cheek. "Why'd you want to meet out here?"

They both gazed across the small clearing in the woods. "My parents are home, and I was getting a little bored of your place," Mike said with a seductive smile.

Toby cocked an eyebrow. "Is that how it's going to be?" He turned to face his boyfriend. "Interesting choice of scenery."

"You know what I like to see?" Mike slid a hand under the hem of Toby's shirt, pulling it up just enough to reveal the first few abs on his stomach. The older teen pushed Mike's hands down, then pressed him into the tree for a deep kiss.

Mike's phone buzzed in his pocket, and he tensed. Nervousness crept into him as he prayed that Toby wouldn't notice, or ask him to go ahead and check it. Toby had a habit of resting his head on his boyfriend's shoulder and watching him text – normally it was endearing and adorable, but lately Mike had been receiving some texts he knew Toby could never know about. He thought about what this message said, maybe something like, I need you now, or, How about last night? I didn't know you were that flexible. This was a secret he had been keeping for a little over a month, ever since the Fourth of July celebration at the fairgrounds.

Mercifully, Toby either took no notice or decided not to mention it, being too preoccupied with running his hands under Mike's shirt. "What place looks nice? Right here against the tree, maybe over there," he pointed to the center of the clearing, "where we can be out in the sun?"

Pushing his thoughts about the phone aside, Mike took in the incredible view of Toby stripping off his shirt, watching the muscles and sinew ripple beneath his skin. One hand slid down to his pants as Toby kicked off his shoes.

Mike bit his lip and tackled Toby to the ground as he bounced on one foot in an attempt to take off his jeans. They crashed to the grass in a confusion of limbs and flesh, Toby giggling as their mouths found each other again.

"I love you," Toby muttered into Mike's ear. This wasn't the first time he'd said it, but somehow it sounded more desperate than normal. Mike had never returned the phrase, but they had talked it over before and Toby knew he was just not as ready to be so free with his emotions.

"You take my breath away," Mike responded. It sounded cheesy and cliché, but he meant it. Deep down maybe he did love Toby, but something didn't fit exactly the way it should in his heart. Maybe that's why he still couldn't totally shake the feeling that maybe it was his text, waiting to be read in his pocket.

They searched the surrounding trees once more just to make sure they were completely alone. "Look up there," Mike said.

Toby craned his neck back and looked up to find a squirrel sitting on the edge of a branch, gawking down at them. "Well, I hope he likes the show," Toby said with a mischievous smile, and the two of them went back to groping and kissing.

Ezra shifted nervously from foot to foot. He watched Wren sit in an angry silence, dreading the conversation he knew was coming. Once again Wren was going to ask him to take their relationship public, and once again Ezra will put his foot down and say no. He understood that Wren wanted to be open with their feelings for each other, and he wanted the same thing, but what Wren did not understand is the reaction Ezra's mother would have to the news.

"But you've seen them around town, Ezra. Everyone loves them together." He was referring to Mike and Toby, spotted walking around town hand in hand. "And they're just teenagers," he added. "We're grown adults, we can live the life we choose."

"You know I can't just come out to my mother like that. You've never met her. This is a situation we have to handle delicately." The words felt robotic dropping from his mouth – not the first time Wren had taken this approach.

"I'd like to meet her."

"Yeah, let me call her up and say, 'Hey mom, please come out for brunch with me and the man I've been fucking.' She'd love that," Ezra said, his voice dripping sarcasm. He bent to pick up his briefcase from the couch. "I don't really have time for this right now, I have an interview to get to."

"It feels like you are pushing me away."

"That's not what I 'm doing," Ezra placed his hands on either side of Wren's face and gave him a quick kiss on his forehead. "I just can't think about that added stress when I still haven't been able to find a job. One problem at a time."

Wren rose to walk him to the door. "Can we maybe go on an actual date, at least?"

"Maybe we can head into the city sometime soon. We just have to keep a low profile for now. Trust me, it's for the best."

"Fine. Remember, I won't be here when you get back. I have the overnight shift at the hospital tonight."

"OK. Have a good night then," Ezra said and headed out the door. "And please remember to lock up when you leave."

Wren went back to the couch, wondering why he was sticking around in this relationship. He looked around Ezra's apartment, slowly taking in all the paraphernalia of his boyfriend's life. The reason was simple – he loved Ezra. Ezra made him happy in a way no one else had, not Spencer or Melissa, definitely. Being with him just seemed so much easier than all his past relationships, they fit together like jigsaw pieces.

His phone rang on the table. He knew this was coming, and had been dreading it all day. This call came every night he worked at the hospital, when the skeleton staff made certain things easier.

"Wesley," he said as a way of greeting. Pleasantries didn't apply to these talks.

"Hey buddy," came the dopey sounding voice on the other end of the phone. "I'm going to need a refill, and I was hoping for a little bit more this time."

"I can't keep doing this. You know I will get fired." He meant to take a stand, but it always fell through the cracks. While he had the same exchange about coming out with Ezra, he had another repetitive conversation with his younger brother.

"You know what will happen if you don't help me out. Ezra wants to keep the two of you a secret from our mother, and if you don't do this for me, I will leave a little note for her with your signature at the bottom. How do you think Ezra will take that?"

"Fine, but this is the last time, I swear."

"We'll see about that. Meet me at our spot, around seven tomorrow morning?"

Wren clicked off the phone and threw it at the couch. It might not seem like much, going behind Ezra's back to rat the two of them out to their mother, but Wren knew the implications would be, at the least, losing Ezra. He wasn't willing to lose what no one knew they had, especially when it was such a beautiful thing.

He gathered up his keys and other miscellany before heading to the door. If he didn't get Ezra to agree to go public with their relationship, Wesley would continue to blackmail him, and if that kept escalating at the rate they've been going, he and Ezra both would be out of a job. He needed to spend the night thinking about what he could possibly say to Ezra to get him to open up to his family. It was going to be a rough night.

Mike fell into bed exhausted. After the tumble in the grass with Toby, he came home to an empty house. Who knew what Aria was up to, and his dad had gone out on a date. He wasn't completely certain how he felt yet about his parent's divorce and their re-entry into the dating world, but he was starting to come around to the idea.

He closed his eyes and thought he heard a scratching at the window. Putting it off as a tree branch moved by the wind, he turned his back to the window and snuggled into his comforter.

When the window began sliding open, he threw back the covers and jumped up from the bed. A dark form was sliding across the sill and into the bedroom. "What the hell?" Mike shouted at it, reaching for his lacrosse stick by the door.

Just as he was raising it to attack, he heard Noel say, "Whoa dude, hold on!" His hands raised to protect his face.

"Noel?"

The older boy grabbed the lacrosse stick, pushing it to the side before wrenching it free from Mike's grasp, sending it clattering to the floor. He then proceeded to pick Mike off the floor and chucked him onto the bed, bouncing on top of him.

Mike, instantly aroused, gave into Noel's impressive biceps pinning him to the bed, and his lips pressing into his neck. He had ignored Noel's text earlier because he wanted to really be able to give himself fully to Toby, but here and now he was reminded why he was still unable to do it. Yeah, Noel can be a dick, but he was a much rougher lover than Toby allowed himself to be, and gave Mike deeper levels of exhilaration.

He settled into their old routine, simmering in a wave of ecstasy. He wanted the world to make sense to him, but found those thoughts floating along his periphery, completely lost in the moment.