Reid and Tyler were late, Caleb noticed, but they were always late. Or, at least, Reid was always late. When Caleb walked through the open slider-doors and onto the back porch he saw Pogue sliding his phone back into his pocket before picking up the tongs and laying the steaks on the grill. They sizzled and a small burst of steam and smoke lifted toward the evening sky.
"They're on their way." Pogue said, always calm and reached toward Caleb for the beer he'd gone into the kitchen to get. With a small smile his best friend handed over one of the two he'd grabbed. Even though Po had said he didn't want one, Caleb had known he would just end up drinking his instead. "Baby Boy said he's on for the beach this christmas. Better pick a spot and make some calls." Pogue said, nudging his chin skyward to the clouds as though Caleb weren't aware that it was cold out. It hadn't been his idea to barbaque but Pogue had insisted that there was no other way of cooking.
From the look of the grey sky and the sharp chill, it wouldn't surprise Caleb if it started snowing tonight. And once it started it would set in until spring. When he heard the front door open and close inside the house and the other two men talking on their way toward the back, he expected Reid to come out complaining about the cold. Despite his preference for layers of clothing, he had never been a fan of winter. Caleb wasn't even sure if his mood was a product of the holidays or the temperature but either way, they'd go someplace different this christmas and find out.
The blond came through the backdoors and onto the porch, hat, gloves and jacket still on and a sly smile on his face when he sidled up beside Caleb, muttering something half hearted about the weather and taking the newly opened beer from his hand. "It's not my fault we're late." Reid insisted.
Tyler blushed and nudged him as he passed on his way toward the barbaque and Pogue. "Shut up, Reid."
"What?" Reid smirked. "You drive slow." He said between sips, handing the bottle back to Caleb. "So where are we going this christmas? No where with lions."
Caleb couldn't help but smile. "Lions?"
"Yeah. Or crocs. I don't want to get eaten." Reid said casually enough.
Pogue snorted and flipped a piece of meat.
"Lets just pick an island." Tyler suggested, always the one for diplomacy and keeping them on subject.
"Without crocs." Reid reminded promptly.
"How about one of those places with the cabins out on the water."
"What about sharks?" Caleb asked, pointedly looking at Reid. "Are you going to veto all places with sharks?"
"Psh, I'm not afraid of a fish." He remarked with a little smirk and an upturned jaw. Their eyes met and Caleb wasn't sure he'd even see Reid look so, light. He smiled easily and the darkness was almost gone from those blue eyes.
"Fuck it's cold out here." Reid complained and looked away, glancing at his other friends. He took a step toward the barbaque and gave Pogue a little shove. "Learn another way to cook or let Cay do it next time. I'm not going to stand out here when it starts snowing."
Pogue gave him a look that involved scrunching half his face. "What are you talking about? It's barely even fall."
"The hell it is." Reid snapped playfully. "The meat's probably going to freeze as soon as you take it off the grill."
"Stop your bitchen or you'll be eating potato chips for dinner." Pogue replied, pointing the tongs at his younger friend.
Reid smiled and reached for Caleb's beer again, this time the eldest was already holding it out for him.
The discussion of island getaways became heated. All tropical islands in south america were being vetoed by Reid on the thin argument of crocodiles which was starting to make Tyler red in the face with irritation. Caleb occasionally offered up another suggestion only to hear the two bicker about it, Reid finding ways to shoot them down though the little smile in the corner of his mouth suggested he was doing it for sport at this point.
Tyler had started to suspect this as well, fists balled in frustration. He was just about to accuse the blond when Reid's expression changed, eyes losing focus and hand raising to point one thinly gloved finger at the sky. Large white flakes were slowly filling the darkening sky. "That's my queue." Reid said with a triumphant grin and turned on his heel for the door. "I'll get the PS3 warmed up for you guys."
He walked inside and slid the door shut behind himself.
Caleb smiled in his wake and Tyler huffed. "What the hell. I thought he wanted to go to a beach."
Pogue laughed. "Just pick whichever one you want, Baby Boy. He's just playin with you."
Caleb sighed at his empty hands, realizing that the blond had absconded with his beer. "I'm gonna get another one." He muttered before walking to the sliding door. Tyler and Pogue were already re-discussing the merits of cabins versus hotels. He closed the door behind him to keep the growing cold out.
Reid was in the kitchen in the midst of retrieving another beer for himself, he smiled when he saw Caleb, knowing that the beer he'd just finished was the one he'd take from the eldest. He pulled a second bottle from Pogue's fridge and put it on the counter. "You're afraid of crocodiles and lions?" Caleb asked, voice dark and uninterested as usual.
Reid rolled a shoulder and popped the top off his bottle. "As much as anyone else I guess. Who wants to get eaten?"
Caleb smiled wider. "Some people don't mind being eaten."
Reid frowned a little but it was accompanied by a lifted eyebrow. He turned, leaning back against the counter and looking through lashes at the taller dark haired man in front of him. He'd spent almost is whole life with Caleb. They were never as close as he and Tyler, never as comfortable as he and Pogue. "Is that why you've never made a move on me? I won't let you blow me.. won't blow you." His question was quiet, his voice low and his eyes unyielding.
Caleb smiled but it was thin and a little bitter. He hadn't picked up the beer from the counter. He slid forward in that space of tile, until he stood so close to the blond that he was almost cornered against the counter and yet he wasn't touching him at all. "You don't know what I like, Reid." Caleb said darkly, so close that a whisper was thunder. "And I did make a move."
Reid resisted the urge to shiver, resisted the impulse to push his hips forward from where they leaned against linoleum to rub against Caleb's. They'd never made it past that first kiss so many years ago. It had taken so long to get to that point. He's been making out with Tyler for years and slept with Pogue before he ever even got to that kiss with Caleb. It still made his skin tingle to think about it and his eyes drifted to those lips. "You still whining about that busted lip?" He tried to smile around the joke, one of his biggest regrets wrapped in the bitter arms of his greatest shame.
He watched Caleb's mouth turn with that little smile. It was a mystery. He never knew if there was any joy in that smirk or if it was just for show. Honestly, Reid had never understood Caleb. Not even for a moment in all their lives. He had never apologized for punching him. He'd never even tried to explain. What would have been the point? He had told himself then that it would blow over, that Caleb would try again someday. He hadn't and out of the same stubbornness, neither had Reid. So there they stood, a breath a part, so close that they could hear each others pulses and yet neither could close that gap. It was a war and Reid wondered if they were both winning or losing.
The door to the backyard slid open, letting in a gust of wind and Pogue followed by Tyler. "Food's ready." The first declared.
Reid watched the slight smile in the corners of Caleb's mouth change, turning into something more casual as he turned away, picking up his beer from the other counter and whistling at the platter of meat. Reid lifted his own bottle to his lips and took a drink. Sometimes he was certain that whatever their war was, he was losing.
Reid was always the last to wake up. Being last was a habit of his, he supposed, but at least he wasn't the youngest. Tyler was downstairs, probably already attached to the PS3 or making breakfast and Caleb had gone to a class. Rubbing the back of his head and ruffling already messy hair, he walked into the bathroom. The sound of the running shower didn't stop him from entering.
Pogue poked his head around the half wall of tile to see who was standing at the sink before going back to the water and soap. "Good morning, sunshine." He said over the sound of water in the drain.
Reid leaned over the sink to look at himself in the mirror. He went through the motions, not entirely sure why he'd walked into the bathroom. His partial conversation with Caleb had been bothering him all night and remained in his thoughts even when he woke. "What's Cay into?" He heard himself ask before he really decided to. Caleb had said that Reid didn't even know what he liked. It was true. They had a first kiss and then Reid slugged him in the mouth.
He's put it away in the back of his thoughts for years but now he couldn't stop thinking about it.
The water turned off. "What do you mean?" Pogue asked, sounding cautiously casual but with a hint of curiosity. He walked into view in the mirror and Reid took a lecherous moment to smirk at that drenched sculpted body before he took the towel from the hook and started drying off.
Reid shrugged, leaning into the counter and still watching the other through the reflective glass rather than turning around and facing him. "I don't know.. kinky shit, you know? What's his deal?"
Pogue paused in his drying and then licked his lips before slinging the towel over his head and starting on his hair. "You could ask him." He muttered the suggestion.
Reid groaned and turned around, swaying for a moment before crossing his arms. "Never mind." He said and then started for the door. When he started to open it, it closed again, Pogue's hand flat against the wood and Reid could feel wet strands of his hair touching his naked neck. "Why do you want to know?" Pogue asked in that low patient voice that both maddened and soothed the smaller blond. "I'm not going to tell you stories about what he and I do." He said clearly, mouth close to Reid's ear then. "Do you know how many times Cay and Tyler have asked about your first time, wanting to hear that story?"
Reid turned around in that small space to look up at his friend with sharp blue eyes, widened by a fraction with fear he hadn't known he had in him. His first time on the bottom felt like a lifetime ago. It had been awkward at best. He hadn't been able to stop shaking and it had taken a lot of patience on Pogue's end- luckily Pogue had never had a shortage on patience when it came to his loved ones and Reid had been persistent that despite all his nerves, he wanted to do it. "What did you tell them?" Reid all but whispered, heart pounding in his chest. That had been an embarrassing weekend. He had cried for fucks sake.
Pogue smiled, soft and playful as usual again. "I told them that it was pretty much what they'd expect. You insisted you knew everything, rode me like a damn horse and then complained about the lack of food in my fridge."
Reid actually shivered in relief, rolling his eyes at his friend's need to cause him panic. "So that's your way of telling me you won't talk about what Cay likes in bed?"
"That's my way of telling you, that I won't tell you anything he wouldn't want you to know, so you might as well just ask him." He smirked and stood straight, letting go of the door.
"You're a dick." Reid spat with less irritation than he would have liked. "I just wanted to know if he.. You know, he's a tease."
Pogue laughed then and took those few steps away, deeper into the bathroom and toward the mirror. "A tease makes you think things they won't do... Caleb has never teased in his life."
Reid licked his lips and shifted from one foot to the other. What the fuck was he waiting for? What was it he wanted to know? If Caleb wasn't teasing, then he was interested in Reid, it still didn't change anything since neither of them would make that move.
"He doesn't like getting punched in the face for kissing you, turn out." Pogue jabbed with a smirk, picking up his toothbrush and putting the toothpaste on the bristles.
"Yeah, yeah. I got a class. I'll see you at Jacksons tonight?" It had taken them the first year of college to pick out a new bar but they'd finally settled on a dive off route 92.
"Hey, Reid." Pogue called to stop him halfway out the door. He seemed to hesitate for a second before curiosity had him asking. "Why did you punch him that time?"
Reid paused and for a moment considered telling him the truth. If he ever tried to explain it to anyone, it would have been Pogue. He shrugged instead and smiled lazily. "You know me." He said before leaving.
Pogue watched him go. He always knew when Reid was lying or hiding, unfortunately it was so often that he rarely tried to pry anymore. Reid wasn't the kind of guy you could push secrets out of. If he wanted to talk, he would. But, sadly, Reid had always been a creature of action over words.
So at this rate they might get to christmas by the time we do. Hope you guys like this bit. Thank you so much for the favs and comments! You're so supportive and inspiring!