Matt came over pretty much first thing in the morning. "Oh Jeff," he said as soon as he got a really good look at the state of his little brother. He pulled Jeff into a hug. He stole a glance at Chris, who ready the older Hardy's expression like a book. Adam was going to have hell to pay for this.
"I'm sorry," Jeff whimpered. "I tried to get away but--"
"You have nothing to be sorry about Jeff," Chris interrupted. He had been trying to get that through Jeff's head all morning, but it wasn't really getting through. "The assholes who did this to you are the ones who need to be sorry."
Jeff stepped away from Matt and sat down on the couch. "But I should have known better than to trust Adam," he insisted. "I was stupid to think he was trying to change."
Chris hated hearing Jeff berate himself like this. "Hey," he said, dropping down to his knees and moving Jeff's face so he couldn't look away. "It's not your fault. He tricked you. He used your feelings against you just to hurt you. He's nothing but a no good bastard who's going to rot in hell. Okay?"
Jeff just stared at him with wide eyes. Chris was suddenly aware of how fast they were both breathing. He traced his thumb over the corner of Jeff's mouth. No, he shouldn't do this now. Jeff was still vulnerable from the rapes. He would be taking advantage of him…
Matt's phone went off at that moment. "Oh shit, I have to go pick up Shane before I go to work," he said. He looked at Jeff. "Do you want me to tell Daddy that you're staying here again?"
Jeff nodded. "Yeah."
"Okay. I'll stop by after work to check on you again." He looked at Chris. "Keep him safe, will you?"
Chris nodded. Of course he planned on keeping Jeff safe. Why in the world would he do anything else?
Matt left, leaving Chris and Jeff all alone. Chris stood up, not sure of what to do. "You want invite Shannon and Mickie over or something?" he asked. He wanted to keep Jeff busy so he wouldn't dwell on the previous night's attack. That would be a very bad thing for him to do.
Jeff stood and bit his lip. "Um…maybe later. First I want to…" He hesitated for a moment before kissing Chris.
Chris only managed to kiss back gently. He still wasn't sure if this was the right thing for him to be doing. Yes, he did love Jeff, but he wanted to make sure Jeff was ready for this. He didn't want Jeff to be doing anything he wasn't ready for.
"Chris," Jeff whispered. He broke away from the kiss and dropped down to his knees.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Chris said as he felt his pants being unbuckled. He took a step back and grabbed Jeff by the hands. "What are you doing?"
"You told me last night you loved me."
"I do love you."
"Then what's wrong? Don't you want me to make sure I deserve that love?"
Now Chris was completely confused. "What are you talking about?"
Jeff looked down. "It's just that if I don't do stuff with guys, they usually stop loving me. I don't want you to stop loving me Chris."
"You honestly think if you don't give me a blowjob, I'm going to stop loving you?"
"It doesn't have to be a blowjob. I'll do whatever you want me to do."
Chris pulled Jeff up to his feet. "Jeff, you don't have to do stuff to me just to keep me. I'm not going to make you do anything you're not ready to do."
Now it was Jeff's turn to look confused. "But…what about Monday? What are we going to do then? Are you going to go back to your friends and act like you're not friends with me?"
Chris shook his head. "No, I don't want to do that. I want to be with you. If my friends accept that, then great. If they don't, they can fuck off." He stopped to think for a second and then grinned. "Hey, that means I won't have to put up with Dave anymore. Sweet!"
Jeff grinned. "If you didn't like him, why have you been hanging out with him the past couple of years?"
"Because I can't tell him to go away in short enough sentences for him to understand."
That made Jeff laugh. "Yeah, he is pretty stupid." His eyes widened. "Hey, does your mom still have Skittles stashed all over the house?"
"Well yeah but--"
That was all Chris managed to get out. Jeff let out a whoop and immediately began a Skittles hunt. "She's going to blame me when she realizes she's gone!" Chris reminded him.
"I know! What's your point?"
Chris rolled his eyes. It was nice to see that some things never changed.