WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER:
-(moderate) sexual content
MONDAY, DECEMBER 25TH
It was the best Christmas Bart had in years.
It started off with an awesome surprise breakfast all three Kents had prepared the previous night as a gift to them, then proceeded to become a day off. Mr. Kent played Christmas tunes on his old radio while everyone relaxed in the living room afterwards, engaging in an interesting conversation about peanut-butter and how it worked. After that, they decided to go outside, all geared up for winter, and played in the snow.
Yep. Played in the snow. They were fifteen through twenty-four years old, but they decided to play in the snow like a bunch of children. But Bart loved it. They split into two teams for a snowball fight. Cassie, Jaime, Roy, and Conner on the first team, while Tim, Bart, and Dick decided they could battle with only three members.
Bart smirked at the thought of perhaps finally getting the chance to win something. Jaime always won their wrestling matches- of course, because he was stronger. But Bart was faster. And Jaime would never be able to dodge the snowballs that he threw at him, and Bart would be able to evade nearly every one thrown at him. He hoped his teammates held the same skills.
Years of dodge-ball in elementary school have prepared him for this moment.
They took five minutes to build their wall and prepare snowballs, then it had begun.
The first few snowballs were barely thrown over each side, before the three decided to charge at different angles, Tim taking the right side, Dick taking the middle, and Bart taking the left side, each with many snowballs in their hands. They let out their battle cries, and Bart swooped behind the enemy lines, viciously throwing his snowballs as if they were ninja stars. Roy let out a cry of surprise as one made contact with his back, though Bart wasn't done.
Target acquired.
The snowball swiftly soared through the air and swiftly made impact upon Roy's face, knocking him back into the snow.
Bart barely managed to avoid the strong throw of Cassie, and some of his snowballs spilled out of his hands during the process of dodging it. He struck back, but she avoided as well, and threw one of her own. Bart was able to spin and dodge it, and during the process of spinning, grabbed his own snowball, turning back around, he threw it at Cassie, and it landed on her face as well. She stumbled backwards, dazed and confused. She couldn't attempt vengeance on Bart, however, because Tim was ambushing her, and Bart laughed at the sight. He then felt several hit his back, and he fell forward, dropping his snowballs in the process, and destroying them as he landed on them.
He stood up and turned around, but was greeted with a snowball to the face. He fell on his back this time, looking up into the sky. He could feel footsteps approaching him, and he quickly formed a snowball and hid it by his side before he could see his attacker.
"You." he hissed, teasingly.
"Me." Jaime acknowledged, holding a few more snowballs, "Ready to feel the rest of my wrath?"
"Never!"
Jaime threw one at his face again, and Bart coughed. He felt Jaime's weight on his waist, and he found himself staring into Jaime's eyes rather than the sky.
"Do you give in?" he asked, trying to keep a neutral face, though it was obvious he was cracking up.
"No!" Bart insisted, "Never give up, never surrender!" he took his snow ball and slammed it against Jaime's face, a yelp of surprise coming from the other teen. He had enough time to slip out from underneath him, and jumped on his back, and Jaime stood up, barely able to balance with the weight of Bart on him. Bart wrapped his legs around his waist and his arms around his neck, trying to pull him back. Dick took the opportunity to launch snowballs at Jaime, and he let out noises that sounded like a mix of cries and laughter as he was covered in snowballs. He finally fell over on his side, and Bart got off of him.
"I win." he whispered.
"I-I will get my revenge!" Jaime responded dramatically like they do in the movies, "This war is not over!"
"Seems like we already won, buddy." Dick commented casually, "The rest of your teammates already gave up."
"Aw, seriously?" Jaime asked, sitting up.
"Yeah."
"Damn."
"We're going inside for hot chocolate, come on, you abusive lovebirds." Dick responded, beginning to walk off. Bart helped Jaime up from the snow.
"'Abusive lovebirds'?" Jaime laughed as they walked.
"I dunno. I think it sounds kind of cool." Bart commented, "I reminds me of that one Rihanna song with Eminem from like seven years ago."
"What the fuck, Bart?" Jaime laughed, "Come on, I'll race you back."
"I'll win."
"I know."
"You still wanna race?"
"Totally."
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 31ST
The rest of the week passed by relatively quickly, and the elderly Kents were preparing to leave to go to their friend's New Year's Eve party.
"Roy," Mr. Kent turned to the redhead, "Dinah would really appreciate it if you'd-"
"No." Roy shook his head, "It's just too... I don't know. Seeing her will bring back too many memories."
Dick raised an eyebrow and frowned as well in the process, knowing all-to-well what happened to his friend five years ago. He lost his adoptive father, who married Dinah three years before his death. The loss of his dad made him decide he wanted to leave town, and he met the Kents, and they agreed to allow him to live with them in exchange for farm work. He had a phone during all of this time, but it was an old flip phone that he paid for monthly. He was seriously considering cancelling it, as anyone barely called or texted him. It wasn't until the night that he received a call from Dick's phone that he was glad he didn't.
"Dick?" he asked curiously. Occasionally, the stoner would call him super high, usually to invite him to come over and smoke. Sometimes, Roy would say yes and spend the night there as well. But that was only once every two-or-so months. "Look, I really can't smoke with you-"
"Tim." the voice on the other side confirmed, which sounded completely sober.
Roy knew Tim; he was Dick's little brother. Or, former foster brother, at least. The one who sometimes spent the night at Dick's place if he wasn't at his foster home. Dick told a few tales of him and his friends selling drugs on the streets, and one time, Roy, Dick, and Tim all got together and smoked and drank.
Oh, boy. That was fun.
"Roy. Are you here?" the now impatient voice of Tim asked.
"Oh, right. Sorry. I was daydreaming. What's up?" Roy asked.
"Look, my buddies and I have gotten into serious trouble. Dick said you lived on this farm place, and I was wondering if you could help us get there to be safe." Tim explained.
The request threw Roy off. He wasn't exactly sure if the Kents would be okay with that. He talked with Tim for some more time before deciding to end the call, and afterwards, engaged in a conversation with the two elderly Kents, explaining the whole situation, while their grandson, Conner, sat in the corner, watching intently, as if he were a cat on a hunt. He didn't exactly talk much, and barely acknowledged Roy's existence. Roy didn't really care, though, because he was able to do most of the farm work on his own.
"They're going to be willing to work, correct?" Mr. Kent asked.
"Yes." Roy nodded in confirmation.
"Well, I'm not exactly the type to take in criminals, but if selling drugs is the worst they've done, I'm not too worried. And we can always use extra help at the farm." Mr. Kent replied. Mrs. Kent nodded in agreement.
Once the conversation was over, Roy had rung up Tim once again.
"Hey, dude. Have you and your friends be ready by tomorrow morning. Where do you want me to pull up?"
x
"Look, Conner." Roy began to talk to the teenage boy who refused to look him in the eyes, "They're good people, I swear."
"This is my farm, not your's." Conner muttered, and folded his arms over his chest.
"But I live here, too." Roy countered, "Look," he repeated, "I'll pretend like I'm a guest and that I haven't visited in a while if that makes you happy. Just because they're drug dealers doesn't mean they're necessarily bad- I just want them to feel comfortable and welcome here. Can you do that for me? Causing more conflict won't help anybody."
Conner stared at the ground for a few moments, before silently nodding.
"Great. I have to go pick them up." Roy grabbed his keys off of the table, "Oh, and by the way, we might have to start sharing a room."
"Wait, what?" Conner looked back up at him, but Roy was already out of the door.
"Okay." Mr. Kent nodded in respect, "We'll see you guys later. Stay safe, please."
They exited through the front door.
"Time to turn up the fuckin' music!" Dick suddenly announced, breaking the quiet ambiance. He pulled out an old radio that was in the coat closet, and put a random C.D. in it. Roy left to grab the drinks.
"So, you guys. Any New Year's resolutions?" Tim asked as he approached Bart and Jaime, who were sitting on the couch.
"Nope." Jaime responded blandly, and Bart thought upon the question for a few moments.
"Nah. I got nothing either."
"Well, that makes three of us." Tim chuckled, sitting down next to them, looking at Cassie, who was talking to Dick and Conner about something, "Kents are gone. I'm hoping Cassie and I will get lucky tonight."
Jaime could feel the heat on the tip of his ears, and Bart let out an "Oh."
"What are you guys, twelve?" Tim teased them and turned to them, a smirk plastered upon his face.
"No. It's just. Yeah, the Kents are gone." Jaime acknowledged, and he looked at Bart, a small smile creeping its way onto his face.
"Then quit acting so uptight about it, dude. Come on. It's time to party. Let's go get some drinks." Tim insisted, leading the other two to the kitchen, where Roy was.
x
"I call this game, 'How Far Can We Go Without Vaseline?'" Bart said as he closed the door behind him.
"I really want to fuck you, though." Jaime bluntly stated, half due to his raging hormones, the other half due to being tipsy.
"I know... you're acting as if I don't want that, Blue." Bart smirked. Jaime seemed to be setback, but nodded. Bart didn't know how (as they were just by the door a second ago), but he and Jaime suddenly fell onto the bed, and a making out session engaged.
Everything was blurry for Bart, and things seemed to be moving timelessly. He was already hard, trapped in a horny daze, and he didn't want to stop. Not while they had the chance right here.
He didn't even realize he was completely naked until he felt cold air wash over his body. Upon further inspection, he found out Jaime was naked as well. The cold disappeared as Jaime placed himself on top of Bart. The heat was comforting and reassuring, oddly relaxing.
Their breaths were ragged and quick, and it suddenly dawned upon Bart that they were about to have sex. Maybe not full-on penetrative sex, but sex. Holy shit. He and Jaime were about to have sex.
"So how far do you want to go?" Jaime asked, his voice husky.
"As far as possible. Please." Bart begged, though he knew he didn't need to.
"Hmm... third base sound good?" Jaime asked.
For a second, Bart wondered why Jaime was talking about baseball, then realize what he was really talking about. He nodded, and he could feel the sweat on his forehead, which was odd, because he was freezing just about a minute ago.
Things had gotten hot. Fast.
Bart didn't get much time to think about it, though, because Jaime had cut him off with a kiss.
x
"How was it?" Dick asked as they sat in the corner of the living room as he lit up his umpteenth joint. It would only be about thirty minutes before the new year, and Dick took the challenge to smoke as much weed before it as possible.
"How was what?" Jaime asked, taking the lighter after him.
"The sex." Dick said casually, taking a hit, then flicking his joint.
"The sex?" Jaime asks, and even in his drunken state, he began to panic, and his stomach dropped. "Ah, shit. We weren't loud, were we?"
"No, I just kind of figured." Dick admitted, "How far'd you go?"
"Uh..." Jaime shifted uncomfortably.
"Since when was Jaime Reyes a prude? Especially drunk Jaime?" Dick challenged.
Jaime was annoyed by Dick's questions, though he did calm down. "We had the... uh... you know... sucking and shit like that."
"Oh?" Dick asked, then dropped his joint in surprise, "Oh!" He stood up, "Oh... shit! Holy fuck!" he began to laugh, "Gimme five, dude!" and he held out his hand.
The rest of the household turned their heads looked at them with perplexed faces.
"Sorry. Ignore us." Dick apologized, and then proceeded to high-five with Jaime while the others went back to doing their own thing.
"You know, it'll only be about twenty-five minutes till next year." Dick said as he looked at the clock on the wall, "You and Bart should kiss at midnight; come out to everyone that way."
"God, no." Jaime shook his head, "I don't want anyone to find out."
A hint of disappointment shone upon Dick's face, though he said, "I mean, yeah. I guess I understand." he then smirked, "I'ma kiss Roy."
"What?" Jaime laughed, "Why?"
Dick shrugged, "To piss him off."
"Perfectly legitimate reasoning." Jaime rolled his eyes.
"In the world of Dick Grayson, that is perfectly legitimate reasoning." Dick responded.
Jaime couldn't help but laugh again.
MONDAY, JANUARY 1ST
Dick did as promised.
And Roy freaked out while the rest of the household burst into fits of laughter.
"Agh, Dick, you're so fucking gross!" Roy spat onto the floor, "Fuck you, man!"
Dick just snickered.
"God, you taste like weed." Roy mumbled.
"I'll take that as a compliment." Dick responded.
Roy mumbled again, "I'm going to bed."
"Goodnight, honey." Dick teased. Roy flipped him the bird before going up the stairs, causing another roar of laughter from the household.
The rest of the night continued casually, until around one in the morning, Bart could see the headlights of Mr. Kent's car shine outside the window, and quickly, they stuffed all of the bottles under the couch and sprayed air freshener in an attempt to get rid of the smell of weed. The Kents entered the house, and ordered everyone off to bed within a minute.
"So it's a new year." Bart said as he burrowed himself into Jaime's chest.
"Yep." Jaime said, "But I don't think much is going to change."
"Yeah." Bart agreed, "I just can't believe it's a new year again. Time's going too fast, and I feel old."
"You're fifteen!" Jaime laughed.
"Oh, I guess I am." Bart chuckled, "Whatever. I just feel old. If I was a dog, I'd be old."
"But you're not a dog." Jaime chuckled.
"Yep, I guess you're right." Bart acknowledged, "It'd be cool to be a dog at least once, though. Like just imagine it."
"Go to bed, Bart." Jaime insisted, "I don't know what you smoked, but you need to go to bed."
"Alright." Bart laughed, "G'night, Jaime."
"'Night, Bart."
x
The hangovers that resulted from the previous night and the discovery of the hidden bottles were enough evidence to the elderly Kents that they had partied.
"Living here is a privilege." Mr. Kent reminded as he lectured the teens in which he sat them down on the couch, "If you're going to be messing around, then we have no point in keeping you guys around."
"Sorry." the voices of the younger people spoke in near unison.
Bart seemed to be fidgeting, however. His foot would not stop tapping against the floor, and Jaime had to place his hand on Bart's leg to make him realize he was doing it. Bart flinched somewhat at the unexpected contact, but then relaxed, slightly embarrassed.
"Is something bothering you, Bart?" Mrs. Kent asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Ijusthaveaquestion." he replied far too quickly for anybody to pick up on.
"Huh?" Mrs. Kent responded, raising her eyebrow even higher.
"I need to ask something." Bart replied once again.
"What is the question?"
"Well, I mean, you guys would never turn us in, right?" Bart asked, not sure if he wanted to hear an answer.
Mr. Kent shook his head. "No. Only boot you out. It's just if we do that, you'll have a higher chance of getting caught."
Of course. It was obvious.
"I want you all to reflect upon what you did." Mr. Kent continued to lecture, "We already established basic rules a long time ago. No drinking when not given permission," he looked over to Roy, "no smoking inside of the house," he looked over to Dick, "and no sexual activities, under any circumstance." his eyes lastly landed on Tim and Cassie, though Jaime and Bart shifted uncomfortably.
"We're sorry." Conner was the one to speak up this time, even though he didn't do much last night.
"I'll be having a special talk with you, Conner." Mr. Kent warned, and Conner nodded slightly. Roy smirked. "Don't think you're off the hook, Roy."
A few snickers were heard before Mr. Kent looked at all of them once again before finally speaking once again. "You all will be working outside tomorrow."
"But isn't it gonna like, blizzard or something?" Dick piped up.
"Blizzard? No. Snow severely, yes. But unlike your generation, kids in my day got punished when they did bad things." Mr. Kent insisted, "Now get to working on getting the Christmas decorations down."
They began to get off the couches, and Bart and Jaime decided to work on the decorations that were wrapped around the staircase railing while everybody else tackled things down the stairs.
"Not a good way to start off the new year, huh?" Bart commented as he removed the end of a ribbon and began unraveling it.
Jaime shrugged as he plucked off some ornaments, "Eh, new years are always shitty."
Bart thought about it for sometime as they worked in silence. The silence wasn't uncomfortable, more peaceful than anything. It was reassuring, knowing he could be around Jaime and not feel the need to constantly talk to him to fill an awkward void. But still, he thought about it. Last year, he was full of hope for the new year, but he wasn't exactly positive. So yeah. Last year's new year was way worse than this year's new year.
What do I even want this year? Bart thought. New Year's resolutions weren't an uncommon thing among people. Bart didn't exactly have one. All he really wanted was convenience. Things were great the way they were- he had Jaime, for starters. He had a house full of relatively cool people, even if working in the snow wasn't the most appealing thing in the world, it was hell of a lot better than taking one big exam at school that could determine whether or not you will have redo four months worth of work.
"Ay, Bar-" Jaime began, but cut himself off. Bart raised an eyebrow, curious as to what Jaime wanted, and why he stopped himself mid-sentence.
He seemed to be looking up the stairs, and Bart looked up in that direction, but he couldn't see anything. He looked back at Jaime, who had dilated eyes and a dropped jaw.
"Jaime?" Bart asked, concern flooding him.
Jaime didn't respond to Bart, he just started to cry. Bart stood frozen like a statue, unsure of how to react. He was simply scared. People didn't just start breaking out crying like that.
"Jaime, are you okay?" Roy asked as he passed nearby, but Jaime didn't respond, and just sat on the stairs, continuing to cry. Roy watched, raising an eyebrow, reflecting the same concerned look that Bart held. Bart knelt down to try and comfort Jaime.
"Hey." he said soothingly, "Let's go upstairs and talk about it, okay?"
"Y-you wouldn't understand." Jaime stuttered.
"Let's go upstairs." Bart repeated, helping him up and then guiding him upwards as if he were an elderly man.
They finally got to the door of their room, and Bart opened it, in which it let out a small squeak. He flickered on the lights, all while tears rolled down Jaime's face.
Right in the center of the room sat a fishing pole, snapped in half.
x
"Can you tell me what's going on?" Bart was starting to get annoyed now. And though he very much loved his boyfriend, Jaime was shaking and mumbling incoherent things in response to questions. They sat on the edge of Jaime's bed, and Jaime couldn't stop staring at the broken fishing pole. Jaime pretty much collapsed at the sight of it, which confused Bart even more. Sure, it was strange, and he was pretty sure the pole was mounted on the wall, but there was no reason to break down crying.
"I haven't told you everything." Jaime admitted.
Bart didn't know how to respond.
How was that even possible by now?
"What?" was the only word he could manage to speak.
Jaime spilled, and explained everything. How he used to see Black Beetle, how he sometimes saw his deceased father, and the whole thing with the fishing pole. "I saw him on the stairs." he finally got to the most recent part, "He was talking to me."
"What did he say?" Bart asked, making soothing circular motion's on Jaime's back.
"I don't wanna talk about it." he muttered.
Bart frowned, "Cm'on, I can't help you if you're not gonna say anything."
"Later, please?" was the question out of Jaime's mouth.
Seeing that he made that request often, Bart nodded in understanding,
"Later."
x
"Whoa, uh, feeling kind of cuddly today, Blue?" Bart asked as he felt Jaime begin to cuddle him. Usually he wouldn't reject the offer to be cuddled, but he was in the middle of a good book that Mrs. Kent had suggested for him to read, and the interruption was unwanted.
Jaime didn't respond, but instead, wrapped his legs around Bart's lap and his arms around his rib cage. The weight on Bart's back caused them to fall backwards on the bed, though Bart didn't really mind it, and continued reading. Jaime looked over his shoulder, reading the words with him.
They sat there for a few minutes before Jaime spoke, and the sudden noise startled Bart.
"I love you."
Bart grinned, "'Course you do. I love you, too."
"No, like. I really love you. Like, really, really love you."
"Ooookay. Same here."
"I'm serious, Bart. I really, really, really love-"
"Jaime, what's going on?" Bart interrupted, getting off of him to sit up.
"I-" Jaime began, then sat up as well, and discontinued to speak.
"Are you going to tell me about what that Black Beetle dude said?" Bart asked.
"I don't know if I want to." Jaime admitted.
"Come on, please." Bart whined like a small child, "It's gonna bug me all night if you don't tell me."
"Fine." Jaime gave in, and took a deep breath, "This is what he told me."
What Jaime said next made Bart's heart sink.
"'Count your blessings, Jaime Reyes. The clock is ticking.'"
A/N: Hiatus! Sorry, but I'm releasing chapters faster than I can write them.
I'm still actively working on this story. I need to do a lot of stuff to chapter 14 and finish chapter 15, but I can't be consistent with uploads unless I have the rest of the story completed. I can't garuntee when I'll start releasing weekly chapters again, but the entire story should be finished and uploaded before the year ends.