Toothpaste

Clyde had mouthed along to the car radio on their way to the store, reminding Kevin of someone from an old film, and the black-haired boy had spent their journey trying to work out whom. It hadn't taken them long to reach their destination, the roads were quiet, and Clyde drove too fast. It was already completely dark outside. They zipped up their jackets tightly at the cold chill.

They walked towards the Italian section and stopped in front of the mountain of jars.

"What's your favourite pasta sauce?" asked Clyde, turning to Kevin.

"It has to be tomato," replied Kevin. He hated creamy or cheesy sauces, after about three mouthfuls he always got fed up with them.

"I'm glad you said that." Clyde grinned as he pulled a jar down from a shelf up high. "It's my favourite too. I love pasta almost as much as tacos... almost."

Kevin blushed when Clyde had stretched up to grab the jar. He had been unable not to look at the boy's toned ass, the countless hours of basketball and running had made it into a work of art, a fact, a totally okay thing to be thinking.

Clyde rummaged the shelves looking for a bag of dry pasta. He spotted some shells on a low shelf and bent down to get them. As hard as he tried not to, once again Kevin found himself staring at the Jock's behind, unwanted thoughts running through his head. He felt really hot and his heart had sped up, resulting in an overwhelming flustered feeling. He quickly darted his eyes away when Clyde turned around, wishing he could unzip his jacket a little without looking strange, but it was very cold outside.

"Are you alright, dude? You look really flushed," asked Clyde as he looked Kevin up and down, passing him the pasta to hold.

"I'm fine, just thinking about something..." Kevin bit his lip.

Clyde raised his eyebrows. "Oh really, what?"

"Nothing, nothing," chimed Kevin quickly.

"You sound very suspicious," grumbled Clyde. He tried to fight the feeling of jealousy that was building in his stomach. The idea something had made Kevin blush that much, was not a nice one.

Clyde spun around. "I just need to go and get some toothpaste. We've nearly run out."

They walked silently towards the toiletries.

Everybody has little habits they carry out, usually subconsciously, in everyday life. Quite often people will count steps as they walk down them, or hold their breath and jump the last one. Some people chew the end of their pen whilst thinking. Clyde Donovan liked to smell things. Not in a weird way, but now and then when he picked up something, like a sandwich or a book, he'd find himself giving it a quick sniff, out of some barely conscious curiosity. So when he picked up the toothpaste tube, it was no surprise that he clicked open the top and brought it to his nose. What was a surprise was that he thought it would be a good idea to squeeze the tube. Or maybe that wasn't really a surprise either.

Kevin raised his eyebrows, but kept a composed face as Clyde's nose and cheeks became covered in minty white and blue paste. He decided it would be the perfect time to state the obvious, of course. "You have some stuff on your face, Clyde."

Clyde narrowed his eyes. "Thank you, Kevin. I completely wasn't aware of that."

Kevin reached in his pocket and pulled out a tissue, handing it, with a smirk, to Clyde. The brown-haired boy attempted to mop at his face. He became more desperate the longer it stayed there, flipping the tissue around desperately to find an area that hadn't been used.

"It's really starting to sting now, I feel like my face is on fire!"

Kevin laughed, clearly amused by the other boy's predicament. "Well they do say that toothpaste is a good spot cream, although you don't really have any spots."

"Oh what a fucking miracle, it must work," muttered Clyde. He straightened up. "Has it all gone?"

"You've still got a little bit just above your lip."

Clyde licked his lips. "Has it gone now?"

"No, I said above your lips." Kevin observed as Clyde hopelessly tried to get rid of the remaining speck. He sighed and leant forward, delicately stroking down Clyde's face until he reached above the lip. He rubbed slowly with his thumb, the white residue transferring onto it. He stared into Clyde's startled hazel eyes and felt, yet again, an intense flutter in his stomach. Clyde gazed back at him, mouth slightly ajar. He'd felt a shiver down his spine when Kevin had stroked his cheek. He raised his own hand to meet Kevin's and held it there as he found himself becoming lost in the wide oceans of the other's eyes.

Clyde's hand twitched beside him, fingers unintentionally squeezing the toothpaste tube. Before he could stop it, Kevin's trousers were covered in it. He jumped up and threw the tube, which had caused nothing but trouble, back onto the shelf. "Shit, Kevin, I'm so sorry!" At the same time as guilt ran through his body, so did relief. He was sure that any longer staring into those deep blue eyes he would have done something the other boy would probably not have appreciated.

Kevin stood up in a daze, dabbing what he could of it off with a tissue. "It's okay. I'm starting to expect this kind of behaviour from you." He laughed at a thought it his head. "I don't know why the whole school sees you as such a smooth guy, you're a total klutz."

"I am not!"

"Yet you seem incapable of holding a simple tube of toothpaste without making a mess."

"It's a faulty tube."

"Yeah you're right, it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact the cap is off."

"Just shut up, grab that bag of pasta and get your ass to the check-out."

Both boys were only joking but there was the tone of desperation in their voices. Like something was now in the air between them that they couldn't talk about, but that would stay there until something broke it. The football Jocks did a good job of breaking the awkwardness, not that they intended to.

"Hey, Donovan," one of them called out, walking towards him and Kevin at the self checkout machines. There were three of them in total, all heavily built and tall, with shaved heads and vacant expressions.

Clyde inwardly groaned; he did not need this. "Hey, dude. How's it going?" he replied.

"Oh you know same old. Just looking for some quick grub, we're starved." One of the Jocks noticed Kevin, who was standing nearest to the machine trying to keep very quiet and buy the items. The Jock looked at Clyde in confusion. "What are you doing here with that fag?"

"What fag?" asked Clyde, privately cursing himself for using the derogatory word. He hoped Kevin wouldn't judge.

"Stoley."

Clyde's mouth went dry; he had no idea what to say. All he wanted to do was to tell the Jocks to stick it and not be such douche's, but he knew he couldn't do that. He also didn't want to tell them the real reason why he was there, because then they'd start questioning why he was so bothered about his grades, and they just wouldn't understand. He just stared at them with a blank expression on his face. "I ermm-"

Kevin calmly turned around. "If you can understand the meaning of the word, it's a coincidence. He just happened to be paying at the same time as me." Kevin grabbed his change out of the machine. "Do you really think I'd want to hang around with a sweaty Jock?" He payed one final glance to the three boys and walked out of the store.

Clyde stared after him in shock. Why had he lied? Was he trying to protect him some how? Or did Kevin really not want to hang around with a 'sweaty Jock'?

"Don't know why we thought for a second you'd be with that pathetic Nerd."

Clyde opened his mouth to retaliate but thought against it, instead he asked a question. "Why did you call him a fag?"

"Because he is one," grunted the blond Jock.

"Do you have like... proof?"

"No, but he acts like one. For his sake he better hope we don't get proof."

"Yeah," piped up another Jock, "fags are completely unnatural."

Clyde narrowed his eyes wishing he had the power to punch them all, but he didn't and getting into a confrontation about it would not be a good idea. Kevin was waiting after all. "Well I better go buy my ermm... toothpaste, can't brush without it!" He turned his back on the Jocks and paid at the till, thoughts of Kevin swirling in his head. He quickly rushed out to his car and unlocked the door.

"Get inside, dude. You must be freezing!" he yelled at Kevin, who had been waiting, perfectly still, beside the door.

Kevin nodded slowly, as he stared off into the distance.

Clyde switched the heating on, feeling guilty and concerned. "Look, Kevin. I'm sorry about that. Those football retards can be right jerks."

"It's fine."

"No it isn't."

"Look, they hardly said anything to me. I've been called a whole lot worse than fag, trust me."

"How can you be so casual about it?"

"Getting annoyed about it wouldn't achieve anything, can't let them think they're winning."

"I'm starting to see that no one could win against you if you didn't want them to." Clyde gripped the steering wheel. "Why did you lie to them?"

"To shut them up." Noticing Clyde's concerned face Kevin sighed. "And because I saw you deliberating what to say. It's okay; I don't want to dent your 'golden boy' reputation."

"That's not why I didn't reply! I was actually thinking about whether to tell them where to stick it or not."

This confused Kevin. "Why?"

"I've already told you, they were being jerks to you." Clyde looked at Kevin. "And I didn't want to get into the whole 'tutor' thing."

"Fine then," said Kevin bluntly.

"It doesn't seem to be. I just want to make it clear that I'm not embarrassed to be seen with you, I'm embarrassed to admit I want help."

"Hey, those football Jocks need a whole lot more help than you do." Looking into Clyde's eyes, Kevin felt that maybe he'd been a little harsh. "Well, okay, if I'm being honest the true reason I didn't tell them the truth was because I didn't want to dent my reputation." He smiled innocently at Clyde, widening his eyes, but Clyde could tell he was just joking.

Clyde grinned relieved the air was clear again. "So am I really a sweaty Jock?" he asked playfully.

Kevin grinned. "Mmm, the sweatiest."

Kevin put on an old pair of Clyde's jeans when they got back to the house, they were a little too long in the leg but other than that they fit perfectly. He went back downstairs to find Clyde pouring pasta into a pan of boiling water and slowly heating the sauce in another, precariously balanced, pan.

"That smells nice," he commented, moving closer to Clyde.

"Yep, should be about ten minutes." Clyde looked down at Kevin's pants. "Ahhh I see they fit you then."

"Yeah, except for the leg length."

"Well I am taller than you."

"Only by about an inch."

"Still taller than you."

Kevin pouted. "Thank you for lending me them anyway."

"I'm the one who wrecked your other pants." Kevin smirked at the comment, his dirty mind momentarily taking over his brain. Clyde eyed him confusedly. He stretched out his hand. "Hand them here and I'll put them in the wash."

"You don't have to do that!"

"Yes I do." Clyde grabbed them out of Kevin's hands and made a dash for the washing machine.

Kevin chased after him, grasping him by the back of his red t-shirt. "I have a washing machine at home you know!"

Clyde smiled, hiding the glint in his eye. "Okay then, let go of me and I'll give you them back."

Kevin raised his eyebrows. "Do you really think I'm falling for that one?"

Clyde grinned and jabbed Kevin in the side, knowing his weak spot. As the other boy jumped back in laughter, he made a dash for the laundry room, on his way knocking into the handle of the pan.

Boiling hot tomato sauce flew into the air, seemingly debating where to go, and then, of course, landing directly onto Clyde's t-shirt. It soaked through the material in an instant, heating it up, just seconds from burning the delicate skin on his chest beneath. He just stood there in shock, as the hotness was seconds away from scalding pain.

"DON'T JUST STAND THERE!" screamed Kevin, hurtling over to him.

He clutched Clyde's shirt and yanked it over his head, using it to mop the tomato sauce that had seeped onto his chest, before it could burn the precious skin. He moved his eyes down and stared in shock at the toned abs for a few seconds, before fiercely locking eyes with the stunned boy before him. The intensity in those hazel eyes was enough to stop the blood flow to his brain, and overcome with shock, fear and relief he furiously grasped Clyde's hair and pulled their lips together. An exhilarating shudder ran down his spine as he felt the soft lips on his own. He moaned into Clyde's mouth, gasping breathlessly at the warmth.

Suddenly his senses kicked in and he withdrew his lips from Clyde's hastily, face flushed with embarrassment. "I-I I'm sorry, I don't know w-what came over me," he blurted.

With a pounding heart, Clyde grabbed Kevin around the waist and pulled him close, "I do." He desperately crushed their lips together once more. Kevin smiled into the kiss, draping his arms around Clyde's bare shoulders. He blushed furiously as he felt the heat beneath him. He easily forced Clyde's mouth open to deepen the kiss, lacing his hands into the other boy's brown hair. It felt so right.

The pasta bubbled over in the pan, water sizzling, completely forgotten about. It looked like they were never going to eat.

Kevin sat in bed, reading 'Frankenstein.' His mother was furiously scrubbing the bathroom tiles, the scent drifted down the hallway. Night time was when she cleaned. Everything had to be spotless, no dirt in the family, no exceptions.

"You'll find a nice girl one day, Kevin."

"But what if I don't want one."

"You will marry a nice girl and make this family proud."

Kevin tried to read more, until the smell of bleach from his mother attacking the bathroom tiles, forced him to lie down and pull the duvet over his head. He thought of kind hazel eyes as he drifted into sleep.