It was dark outside and a silver fog had settled around Ben. The moon was out and shining brightly, illuminating the area before his feet. "Travis?" He called out. He had been searching for what had seemed like an hour, but according to his phone was only ten minutes. He made his way through the familiar territory, pushing through branches and hopping over streams. He finally arrived at a small clearing, a place where the two had met many times before.
It had been a while since he had met Travis in this particular spot. They had a lot of secret hideouts, their main one being the forest in between their houses. Ben had never told anybody about the meetings— partially because he feared being made fun of, and partially because he felt as if anybody else knew about them, they wouldn't be special anymore. It was like a secret pact they had always shared.
Ben strained his eyes, searching for his friend in the dark. He finally saw Travis propped up on a tree trunk about ten yards away. Ben broke into a run. "What the hell, dude? What happened to you!?"
Travis looked awful. He was covered in bruises and scratches, and had a black eye. His jeans were ripped at both knees, and he was holding a bottle in his left hand. That was definitely not a good sign. Ben squatted down beside him. Travis looked him right in the eye, gave him a goofy smile, and said "Sup."
"Fuck, man," Ben sputtered. "Seriously, what did you do?"
"That depends," Travis answered, his speech obviously slurred. "Do you want the truth, or the cool version?"
Ben sighed. "The truth."
"Please."
"PLEASE!"
"Thank you. So like, I got a text from this asshole, y'see? And he wanted to fight me, for some goddamn stupid reason I can't even remember. So I was like "Alright you dumb cock licker, let's take this outside." The next thing I was standing here and guess what? He brought friends." Travis took a swig from the bottle. "So they took me and shoved me around a bit, y'know, and then I was down on the ground and it was totally not fair. Well anyway after some time they left and I got real bored and mad. Which's soooo not a fun combination. So I took a trip down to good old Stonewood mall."
"Well in case you hadn't noticed, I'm 17. So, like, I'm not technically supposed to be getting hammered yet." He ended the sentence with a hiccup. "So I just take a walk down the street and walk right in to Beverage Club and grab a bottle of grey goose and the dude is all like "Lemme see some ID," and I just straight up tell him, "I don't have one." And he was so confused for a second that I just ran right out the door. He started chasing me and barely got into the woods before the dumb motherfucker ran outta breath and just gave up. Then I tripped over a branch, twisted my ankle, and here I am," Travis ended, in an almost amused tone of voice.
Ben stood there, baffled. "I'm your damsel in distress, Ben deary," Travis shouted. "You came here to rescue me, riiight?" He held out his hand.
Ben considered it for moment, then reluctantly took his hand and helped him up. If he was anybody else, he would just apologize and leave Travis to get himself together on his own. But he was a complete pushover, and when it so happens that your best friend who you're in love with is drunk off his ass and looking like he just escaped a mental institution, you are most definitely going to help.
"Alrighty, up we go," Ben grunted as he helped Travis up. The shorter boy lost his balance and Ben fumbled to catch him, ending up in a sort of French dipping position, which made Ben blush and Travis giggle. Man, was he drunk if he was giggling.
Ben draped Travis's arm over his shoulder, and they began the ten minute journey home. "You know tomorrow's gonna be horrible, right? First day of school, remember? You'll be majorly hung over."
"Who says I'm even going?" Travis raised his hand as if to take another swig, then realized that his bottle was gone, and looked incredibly disappointed.
"I do," Ben replied.
"What're you now, my MOM?" Travis barked. "I'm sleepin', baby. Nobody's makin' me go back to that shithole."
When they got to Travis's house, Ben tested the door handle. It was unlocked, surprisingly. Travis's family was one of the richest in town and were rather well-known. They had a lot of valuable posessions, and Travis was always giving gifts to his friends. He would always get extremely annoyed whenever someone refused them.
Ben opened the door, dragged Travis in, and very carefully closed it. Travis fell down and nearly hit his head on the first stair. "Whoa, okay. I don't trust you enough to take a shower. Come on, let's get up. We're taking a bath. I mean, um, you're taking a bath." Ben stammered. He once again grabbed Travis and they began the slow ascent upstairs.
Ben flicked on the light switch to Travis's bathroom. "I'm just gonna get the water started, okay?" He assured. "You can, uh, you know, do the rest yourself."
However, Travis did not look very capable of doing anything himself currently. "Ben," he whined. "I hurt all over."
"Okay, alright, I'll fix you up," Ben assured him. He noted the sudden change in mood once more. What is wrong with him lately...? "Just sit down. Um," Ben whispered. "I kind of have no idea what I'm doing..."
Travis just looked up at Ben, puppy eyes in full effect. "Just make me better," he pleaded, in a tone so sweet it melted Ben's heart.
"Okay, okay, I'll try, I promise. Ummm... so... disinfectant. Yeah. That." Ben rummaged around in the medicine cabinet and found a small yellow tube that he had seen before. He really hoped it was the right stuff. He squeezed a blob of the liquidy substance on his finger and started rubbing it on Travis's cuts.
"Ow! Dammit! It huuurts!" Travis yelped.
"Stop squirming, you're gonna make me mess up."
After a few more minutes of Ben disinfecting and Travis whining, Ben told him, "I have no idea what to do about your ankle. So um, just take that bath now. Uh, call me if you need help."
Travis just continued to stare into his eyes. "What?" Ben asked, a little irritated and a little anxious.
"Help me get in?"
"I..." Ben could feel himself begin to blush. He panicked. It felt like the end of the world. This incredibly attractive boy he had a huge crush on was now asking him to strip him naked, and continue touching him while naked, and his brain was going haywire and making him say things like "Alright." Wait. No. Had he really just said that?
Crap.
He knew he shouldn't be, but he was grateful that Travis was drunk right now- he probably wouldn't even remember this whole ordeal, so what did Ben have to lose?
"I can uh, close my eyes if you want?" Ben tentatively asked. Travis did not respond. "Okay, uh... lift your arms up. Oh come on dude, you're not that helpless. Okay, thank you." Ben pulled Travis's shirt off of his battered body. He had seen Travis shirtless countless times, but he still felt that familiar pang deep in his stomach, and the urge to stare. And stare he did. He admired every inch of the older boy's pale, coffee-colored skin, every scar, and every freckle. There was something indescribably cute about freckles, and the fact that Travis had them made it even more attractive.
"Pants." Travis said, still looking up at him with that odd expression.
No no no no no no. Shirt he could do, but taking off his pants? That was a whole other story. "Are you sure you can't do this by yourself?" Ben implored. Travis vigorously shook his head.
Fuck. He undid the button on Travis's pants, then the zipper. This feels like a fucking porno scene, Ben thought to himself. Then a smaller voice inside him said, I wish it was.
He grabbed Travis's hand and pulled him up into a standing position. He ended up a lot closer than he had intended, and the two were mere centimetres apart. Ben stared into Travis's deep brown eyes, entranced. He felt Travis's warm breath on his lips and began to feel a bit dizzy. The top of his boxers were peeking out from his jeans and he had that distinctive Travis scent about him and he was gazing into his eyes and Ben wasn't sure if it was just his imagination but Travis was getting closer, and closer, and he was just about to close his eyes and lean in for that magical, wonderful Thing he had been mentally preparing himself for since he was fifteen years old, when Travis took a step back and tumbled headfirst backwards into the bathtub.
"Whoa! H-hey! Are you okay..?" Ben panicked and ran over to the tub. Travis didn't answer and for a second Ben was terrified that he had broken his neck or something horrible. He was about to flip out when Travis gave him a weak thumbs-up sign. Ben sighed in relief. Travis's jeans had come off in the process of falling, so all that was left was his underwear. Still displaying an annoying amount of red on his cheeks, Ben bent over, concentrated on a particularly interesting spot on on the wall, tugged his friend's boxers off and flung them into the opposite corner. Marveling at his own self-control and still staring down the same exact wall-spot, he turned the water on and adjusted the temperature to hot. Ben quickly turned around to leave. "Please don't drown," he muttered. I was so close.
"Nooo, stay here," Travis whined. Ben, still facing the door, sighed and sat down on the toilet seat. "Fine."
Minute after minute passed by where there was nothing but tense, awkward silence. Then Travis seemed to have gotten himself together, and started washing himself. "Why do you want me to stay here if you're not gonna talk to me?" Ben asked.
"Cause I like it when you're around me," Travis answered. Ben felt a little spark of happiness. He'd never heard anything like that from him. Travis was not the talky type when it came to emotions. If he liked you, he'd show you with a "bro hug", or a slap on the back, or a brilliant smile, and if you were of the female gender, something else entirely.
When Travis was finished, Ben threw him a towel, and after the older boy left the room, Ben got up and drained the bathtub, deep in thought. He pulled out his phone to text Charlotte.
"At Trav's house. He's drunk. As in, shitfaced. Had to rescue him. The Thing almost happened. Please advise."
Only thirty seconds later came her reply:
"Fucking tap that!"
Ben sighed, and sent back,
"That'd be wrong. That'd be taking advantage of him. I'm not like that."
Another minute passed by, then:
"You're right, sorry. But I really don't know what to tell you. Take care of him, I guess, but you probably already have, like the good boyfriend you are. Will be. Maybe. Anyway, its almost 3. Go home, and get some sleep so you aren't dead tomorrow. Night. Xoxo"
Thanks, Char. That really helped, Ben thought to himself. He put his phone away and made his way to Travis's room.
Travis was sprawled out on his bed, groaning. "Heeelp."
He flipped Travis over and straightened him out, pulling the covers over him. Travis lay there, his eyes closed, looking discontented.
"Am I done being your slave now?" Ben crossed his arms. He could feel his eyes getting heavier and heavier with sleep. He was about to call it a night and head home— the sooner, the better, and he was already going to have to run on four hours of sleep during the first day of school. Travis mumbled something inaudible.
"What?"
Travis opened his eyes, looked at him, and patted the space on the bed next to him. Ben sat down there and awaited further instruction.
"Sleep here." He demanded.
"Are you serious? Or is this a joke...?" Ben tentatively asked. He was used to spontaneous sleepovers with his best friend, but none of them had ever turned out like this.
"Yes!" Travis exclaimed. "I'm lonely and need companionship!"
"Why do I always do everything for you?" Ben accidentally wondered out loud.
"Because you love me," Travis joked.
If only he knew.
Ben was amazed at how Travis's mood had shifted from spastic and loopy to sweet to agitated all in the span of one hour. It was strange, even for him. Ben laid down and sighed, staring at the ceiling. He was never going to get any sleep.
"Thanks," Travis muttered into his pillow, already drifting off.
Ben closed his eyes. He counted the seconds that passed, hoping it would help him fall asleep quicker.
He counted to three hundred and seventy eight before he felt Travis move right up behind him. He must have been half-asleep, because he took Ben's arms and pulled them over to him, snuggling into them.
Ben, shocked, laid there for a few minutes. Finally, he turned his head towards Travis to look and see what he wanted. But he was now fast asleep, a tiny hint of a smile on his face.
Ben faced his whole body towards Travis. He studied the boy for a while. Just looking at him was a favorite hobby of his. Normally he would have considered this creepy, but at this point he didn't even care, because a. he was too tired to and b. Travis was asleep. He studied his messy hair, his long black eyelashes, the slope of his nose, the texture of his lips. He had Travis's every feature memorized from twelve long years of knowing him, and yet he was always noticing new things, like the freckle next to his left ear he had just spotted. His body was a canvas of perfection, and Ben fell asleep thinking about how God had spent extra time making Travis the living embodiment of everything right in this world, just to torment him.
He dreamed of a better place, where Travis did not have to drink to willingly fall asleep in his arms.
Okay, so I lied. I uploaded the second chapter in the same day xD I'm being generous. So tell me, better? Worse? Review please! I'd rather have a lot of constructive criticism than a bunch of people liking it and not saying anything. Besides, if you took time out of your day to read this, you are a true sir/lady. :) Third chapter tomorrow! Love ya. -Amy
