Title: 23 Rolls of Film part 2
Fandom: Degrassi
Pairing: Sean/Craig Rating: R
Summary: What if Sean hadn't tried to talk Craig out of running away? What if Sean had said 'yes' when Craig asked him to come with him?
Mr. Morales pays Sean well, really well, so well in fact that Craig almost passes out when Sean comes home his first day. They're actually discussing the possibility of buying a small refrigerator and expanding the grocery list to include fresh meat on a regular basis.
Craig drops by the garage one day when Craig is working on a transmission and Sean only knows he's there once he sees the flash. Sean just laughs and reaches out towards Craig. He's covered up to his elbows in transmission fluid and Craig tries to run away but before he can Sean throws his arms around him and gives him a huge hug.
He keeps one arm thrown over Craig's shoulders as he introduces the rest of the guys in the garage. Craig just smiles, nods and shakes hands. He has a handprint on his face and Sean knows Craig's skin sometimes gets irritated easily so he pulls him into the employee's bathroom to clean it off.
While he's trying to wipe the handprint off Craig's cheek, one hand holding Craig's cheek the other scrubbing for all he's worth, Craig tells him the reason for coming down here. Apparently he's found a small refrigerator in a thrift store down the street from where they live. It's actually pretty cheap and Sean knows they can afford it (if they he works a few extra hours and they go back to just beans and tortillas for a little while) so he agrees
"All right!" Craig yells and does a little airpunch, Sean's still cleaning his cheek so it doesn't actually work out, "I thought we could afford it but I wasn't sure and you always seem to know this stuff... damn! We're gonna have our own fridge! We... I mean this is... this is important right? Like, this is an important step right?"
Craig looks down at Sean and the intensity is a little much for a second. Sean can feel Craig's almost manic hope, feel how much Craig wants this to be an important step, needs this to be something big, something better. Sean never lets Craig down.
He squeezes Craig's face, "Of course it is, I mean, this is something we could live without right?" at Craig's nod he continues, "So the fact that we are buying means we've moved beyond basic necessities. At this rate you might actually be getting a present for Christmas."
It could be a painful moment there, a taste of what they don't have now and an icy touch of what they left behind, but it isn't. It seems like something to look forward to, a Christmas with just the two of them. Sean scrubs particularly hard to get the last bit of fluid off and Craig winces.
"Big baby," Sean admonishes softly, rubbing his thumb over the offended skin.
When Sean gets home that night the tiny fridge is humming softly next to the kitchen sink. Craig shows him the milk and lunchmeat and fresh oranges that are inside. Craig's so happy and Sean knows they can afford it so he offers to make them sandwiches for dinner. They wash them down with milk, drunk straight from the carton, and in the morning the sheets smells a little like bologna, but Sean can't bring himself to care.
It doesn't take long or Sean to be promoted to being a full-time mechanic and the pay increase is considerable. They start buying ground beef and chicken and fresh vegetables and Sean enjoys learning how to make them into something resembling a meal. He's tired a lot but it's nice to come home and cook for them, moving around the kitchen and putting the food on real plates, he really starts to feel like home.
"So I was thinking," Craig says one day when his tips are particularly good, "since we don't need my tips for anything like... vital, maybe we could do something special with them." Craig's voice gives him away, he's trying to go for casual but he's trying so hard it becomes immediately obvious to Sean that Craig really wants something.
"Like what," Sean asks him, also trying for casualness, Craig knows him to well though so when their eyes meet it's intense.
"Let's get the film developed," Craig says in a rush, "We could use them to decorate the apartment. We can't be bringing people here if the place looks this bad." Sean knows that last part is a bunch of shit, Craig might want to spruce up the apartment but not because he wants to bring anyone here. Craig doesn't even know anyone that isn't Sean or his boss.
Sean's managed to make friends down at the garage but whenever Sean comes by Craig's work it seems like everyone hates Craig, like he has some disease that they might catch. So Craig doesn't want to invite anyone over, but he does want those pictures developed... badly.
"I don't see why not," Sean tells him, standing up to put his plate in the sink. Craig comes up behind him and hugs him, long and hard and Sean lets his head drop back onto Craig's shoulder for a second before pulling away.
"Thanks Sean," Craig says, moving to stand in front of the sink and beginning to wash the dishes.
The answer comes to him suddenly while he's trying to fix the leak in the bathroom. Those pictures are all of them. Sure, there are a few of the day labor camp children and a couple of people on the bus and a few landscape shots but mostly they just have something like seven rolls full of pictures of the two of them, separate and apart. They used to make a game of how they'd display them one day, when they had a place to live and enough money to get them developed. It's the story of their life, their new life together and Sean can't stop himself from grinning, even as the pipe he's tightening together bursts and covers him in water.
"Ass!" Craig yells from the kitchen, running in with towels and throwing them at Sean. While Sean's trying to sop up the mess and get his soaking wet shirt off he sees the flash of the camera. He chases Craig into the living room area and tackles him to the floor, wringing his shirt out over his head until Craig's as sopping wet as Sean is. Craig comes home a week later with seven envelopes full of pictures from the one hour photo lab next to the bodega.
They haven't decided where to put them yet when their next door neighbor gets robbed in the middle of the day while they're both at work. It isn't a hard decision to make, they make enough money now and they own stuff, a refrigerator and some pots and dishes. It would be a really big deal if they got robbed so they go looking for a new apartment.
They find one a few blocks over. It's closer to where both of them work and the neighborhood is nicer. Most importantly, the doors all have deadbolts on them and bars on all the windows. The only one they can afford (and it's a lot more expensive than the apartment they have now) is above a bodega and Sean knows they'll hear the bell over the door of the little shop ring at all hours of the night but Craig says he doesn't mind so they take it.
It's still only a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment but the kitchen is situated in more of a nook so it feels like they have more than one room with everything in it. The furniture it comes with is nicer also and Craig doesn't feel the need to scrub at the mattress to thoroughly before sleeping in it.
"Priss," Sean thinks to himself when Craig moves the mattress against the windows so it'll dry out in the sun. He stops himself though because really? Craig hasn't been prissy about anything in a really, really long time. Not since that last big blow up at the day labor camp near Sacramento. Craig really has grown up and it makes Sean sad to see just how much. Not enough that anyone who wasn't Sean would notice, but he is different, quieter and a lot more serious. It's why Sean really likes it when Craig gets photos developed, his whole face lights up and for a few minutes he's just like the old Craig.
They establish a new rhythm, working and cooking and just spending time together. Craig gets a new roll developed every week and everything feels like it's looking up. Sean really should know better but he gets his hopes up, thinks this is where there lives start, where they pick up and move on.
The new apartment, the safe new apartment with the deadbolt and the bars, gets broken into while Sean and Craig are at work. The fridge is stolen along with several of the pots and all the food. They buy a few more groceries and the necessary pots to cook it but they can't buy anything that will spoil and Sean can see in Craig's face how much he misses it. They eat quietly that night, subdued and a little sad. Sean's just glad Craig keeps the pictures under the mattress and they weren't taken as well. He knows Craig wouldn't be able to get over that.
Inspectors from the county come to the garage on a Monday and Mr. Morales gets Ricky, the head mechanic, to get him out of the garage the back way. "They do this all the time," Ricky tells Sean, "Cabrones... they don't give a damn about building codes and work environments, they're looking for illegal immigrants and kids. Like you bolio, we've got papers and stuff for the other guys, we'll get some for you one day, but for now it's damn obvious you're underage so you can't be here. It won't be forever, call here tomorrow and they should be gone."
The inspectors don't leave though. They stay the entire week and when they're finished they give Mr. Morales a list of things that need to be fixed and set up an appointment to check on the progress in a week and a half. They're careful to remind Mr. Morales that they can come back at any time though and Mr. Morales can't take the risk.
Sean uses the payphone downstairs outside the bodega every morning to ask Mr. Morales if he can go in to work. He always get's turned down but Mr. Morales always sounds so sincere when he says, "Desculpe mijo, no necessito su ayuda hoy," so Sean doesn't think he's been fired. Turns out some one down at the garage is looking to pick up some reward money for reporting Mr. Morales and it isn't safe for Sean to come back until they find out who it is.
Craig doesn't seem to mind being the sole breadwinner for the time being so they cut back on how much they eat ("tortillas and beans? You know there's something comforting about eating the same thing, day in and day out. Wait, did I say comforting? I meant annoying as all hell") and use the candles to light the apartment at night.
One week the register at the restaurant is short and the owner blames Craig. He calls Craig into her office three times in a single week and tries to get him to confess. She doesn't believe Craig when he says he didn't do it and it's no surprise to Sean when Craig's fired.
What pisses Sean off is the fact that Craig isn't given a paycheck for the last two weeks he worked at the restaurant. When he and Craig try to ask the owner for it though she threatens to call INS, CPS or both. She has just as much to lose from calling the authorities but Sean and Craig can't risk any one finding them so they let it drop.
Craig tries to apologize but Sean won't hear it, "don't Craig. You didn't do anything wrong, he did. It isn't you're fault she's a bitch." Craig seems to accept that because they don't talk about it again. They wake up early the next morning and Sean takes them down to the warehouse district.
It's as far away from the docks as he could find but he still worries about some one recognizing him. They're hired at the third place they show up at and they spend the rest of the day loading and unloading boxes. The work is incredibly tiring and they make almost nothing. They don't have the energy when they get home but strip and go to bed. They're up at 6:00 AM the next morning and after a call to Mr. Morales assures them that Sean isn't going to the shop today, they head back to the warehouse district.
They run out of flour on Wednesday, they eat what's left of the beans on Thursday morning. Rent is due in a little over a week and this becomes a bigger problem when they're mugged on their way home Thursday night. Sean's stomach is making noises by Friday afternoon and by Saturday morning Craig's is joining in. Sean didn't think they'd get hungry this fast but apparently when you cut back from eating almost nothing to nothing, the body protests.
It's Craig's idea to go to Church on Sunday. The warehouses aren't open and when Craig suggests it Sean stares at him like he's grown an extra head.
"C'mon Sean, we wake up in time to get to 5:00AM mass at Cristo Rey then head over to La Madre de Guadalupe at 6:00, hell there are ten Catholic churches within a thirty block radius from here and they all offer mass services from 5:00AM until 1:00PM, I say we hit one every hour," Craig says, looking sure of himself.
"Why the hell would you want to go to church?" Sean asks, bewilderment etched across his features.
"Haven't you ever been to Catholic mass, Sean?" Craig asks. When Sean shakes his head, Craig rolls his eyes, "the Eucharist, Sean. They give out bread and wine towards the end of the service. The way I see it, we're going to have Sunday breakfast courtesy of the Catholic Church." He grins then and Sean has to admit that it's a good plan, any plan that involves eating food is a good one at this point, so he agrees.
No one tries tp stop them and the little discs of unleavened bread aren't much of a meal, but it's the first food they've had in days so it tastes like heaven. ("I'm having a religious experience man") Sean should know better than to drink the wine (all the wine at every church) on an empty stomach, but it fills like water doesn't and it leaves him feeling better than he has in days.
He can feel the buzz of the alcohol in his bloodstream by 10:00 AM and by 1:00 PM, Sean's pretty sure they're both absolutely smashed. They stumble home and lay on the floor, looking at the pictures they had developed when they had more money.
It's warm outside and the wind blows hot air in through the windows. Some one has Spanish radio on and Mariachi music wafts in as well. Craig stands up and moves into the kitchen, tilting slightly. Sean hears the faucet run and when Craig reappears he has a glass of water in his hand.
The cup is made of cheap blue plastic and they found it for sale along with a matching set of silverware, plates and cups for $2.50 in a thrift store. He watches Craig's throat work as he swallows the water. His eyes follow a trail of water that escapes from Craig's mouth and down his jaw and across his neck. It disappears into his t-shirt and Sean blinks when he realizes how long he's been staring at Craig.
"C'mon Sean," Craig says to him, while reaching a hand down to haul Sean up, "I'm tired and we have to be up early tomorrow. Might as well sleep when we can." Sean nods and follows Craig behind the curtained off area that their bed is in. They're silent as they peel off their sweat damp clothing and slide under the sheets together.
"Sean?" Craig asks him, turning over to face him. Sean looks across at him and looks at him questioningly, "Umm, are you drunk?" Sean laughs, throwing an arm around Craig and pulling him closer. He wrestles Craig underneath him and lightly smacks him in the head.
"We are drunk, dork." Sean replies, emphasizing the we, "We drank all that wine on empty stomachs and now we are seriously smashed." Craig laughs at that, eyes closing and his smile directed straight at Sean. Sean gives in to it eventually and it isn't long before Sean's arms are threatening to give out on him he's laughing so hard.
Neither of them flinches when Craig reaches a hand up to cup the side of Sean's face, rubbing his thumb along Sean's cheek bone. Sean leans down and brushes his lips over Craig's and Craig lets out a soft sigh.
The sigh is like permission and when Sean presses in harder, Craig's mouth opens to him. He flicks his tongue in, tasting Craig and wine and it's been so long since Sean's even had a sexy thought that it tastes like the sexiest thing ever.
Craig's thighs part and Sean lowers himself between them so that Craig's supporting most of his weight. He keeps kissing Craig, lets his hands tangle in his thick, dark hair and he starts undulating his hips against Craig's.
Craig has his arms around Sean now, one on the back of his neck, pulling him in further and the other is on his hip, hand splayed across it and thumb rubbing at the bottom of Sean's belly. They stay like that for a while, Sean pressing Craig into the mattress and Craig pushing up against him.
Craig pulls away first and uses the hand on the back of Sean's neck to get enough leverage to roll Sean onto his side. Sean rolls Craig with him and before Craig can say anything, Sean reaches his hand inside Craig's boxers.
Craig feels hot in Sean's hand and when he moans and pushes back into Sean's hand Sean speeds up. Craig doesn't seem to know what to do so he wraps one of his legs around one of Sean's and just rocks himself forward into Sean's fist.
Sean thinks about how beautiful he looks for just a second, before pulling himself out and jerking off in time to his movements up and down Craig's cock. It's awkward to use two hands when they're this close, so Sean let's go of his own cock and slides in closer to Craig.
If he maneuvers himself just right he can wrap his fist around both of them and keep the perfect rhythm and pressure. He can feel the heat of Craig's cock as it slides next to his. It doesn't take long, with both of them gasping and thrusting and Sean's fist pumping them in synchronization. Craig comes first, shouting into Sean's mouth and pressing so hard against him Sean can feel his lips split. Sean comes as soon as he sees Craig slump against him, head on Sean's pillow as his tongue darts out and captures a small droplet of Sean's blood; and Craig smiles.
It isn't hard to fall asleep afterwards, despite the fact that the sun's still up and it's hot as hell in their cramped little bed. Craig curls up against Sean anyway.
It was easy to not make a big deal about it. With everything that was going on, it really wasn't that big a deal. They were still working in the warehouse district for next to nothing, it still wasn't safe for Sean to go back to work and he and Craig were still starving.
The only thing that was different was a slight change in their evening absolutions. Instead of just stripping off their clothes and falling asleep, they'd strip completely out of their clothes, have sex and then fall asleep.
It was never anything to strenuous, mostly just mutual masturbation and even that left them exhausted. Sean knew he was slowing down, knew that the lack of food was getting to him, but once he started feeling Craig's ribs jut into him while they slept curled together he knew he had to do something.
"So, he's going to let you come back?" Craig asked him when Sean came back from calling the garage. Mr. Morales had answered him the same as always and it didn't even surprise him anymore, but he nodded at Craig while dressing.
"I still can't work during the day, but he's going to let me come in after hours. I won't be making the same kind of money I was before, but every little bit helps right?" Sean replied, watching Craig dress out of the corner of his eye. It was even more jarring to see Craig's ribs in daylight, jutting out and disappearing under a shirt that used to be tight.
"So, you're going to work down in the district all day and then go to the garage afterwards?" Craig turned to look at him, eyes wide and slightly reproachful. It might have made Sean feel bad about lying, if Craig didn't look so exhausted.
"Yeah," Sean lied, looking Craig straight in the eye, "it's no big deal and this way we can afford food, so we won't get tired as easy as we are now." Sean turns away from him and hears Craig's zipper as it closes, not long after that they leave.
It isn't hard to find guys who are willing to pay for it, not as late at night as he goes out. He just stands against the wall and lets them come to him, twenties in hand. It's harder to do it now, now that he'll be going home to Craig and he almost gags several times. The only thing that stops him from doing it is the memory of Craig's concave stomach and the noises it makes at night when he's pressed up against him.
He won't let Craig touch him like that when he gets home. He showers and brushes his teeth and claims exhaustion and Craig believes him. He feels empty at night, laying next to Craig but not touching him, trying to keep his distance in case Craig can smell it over the soap and toothpaste.
Watching Craig eat in the mornings, eyes closed and mouth stretching up into a smile, makes it easier, but only easy enough for Sean to be able to go out and stand against the wall for another night. He feels guilty when Craig moves closer to him in his sleep and he feels dirty when Craig's curling into him.
"It won't be forever," Sean tells himself and tries to keep his arms from wrapping themselves around Craig.
Fandom: Degrassi
Pairing: Sean/Craig Rating: R
Summary: What if Sean hadn't tried to talk Craig out of running away? What if Sean had said 'yes' when Craig asked him to come with him?
Mr. Morales pays Sean well, really well, so well in fact that Craig almost passes out when Sean comes home his first day. They're actually discussing the possibility of buying a small refrigerator and expanding the grocery list to include fresh meat on a regular basis.
Craig drops by the garage one day when Craig is working on a transmission and Sean only knows he's there once he sees the flash. Sean just laughs and reaches out towards Craig. He's covered up to his elbows in transmission fluid and Craig tries to run away but before he can Sean throws his arms around him and gives him a huge hug.
He keeps one arm thrown over Craig's shoulders as he introduces the rest of the guys in the garage. Craig just smiles, nods and shakes hands. He has a handprint on his face and Sean knows Craig's skin sometimes gets irritated easily so he pulls him into the employee's bathroom to clean it off.
While he's trying to wipe the handprint off Craig's cheek, one hand holding Craig's cheek the other scrubbing for all he's worth, Craig tells him the reason for coming down here. Apparently he's found a small refrigerator in a thrift store down the street from where they live. It's actually pretty cheap and Sean knows they can afford it (if they he works a few extra hours and they go back to just beans and tortillas for a little while) so he agrees
"All right!" Craig yells and does a little airpunch, Sean's still cleaning his cheek so it doesn't actually work out, "I thought we could afford it but I wasn't sure and you always seem to know this stuff... damn! We're gonna have our own fridge! We... I mean this is... this is important right? Like, this is an important step right?"
Craig looks down at Sean and the intensity is a little much for a second. Sean can feel Craig's almost manic hope, feel how much Craig wants this to be an important step, needs this to be something big, something better. Sean never lets Craig down.
He squeezes Craig's face, "Of course it is, I mean, this is something we could live without right?" at Craig's nod he continues, "So the fact that we are buying means we've moved beyond basic necessities. At this rate you might actually be getting a present for Christmas."
It could be a painful moment there, a taste of what they don't have now and an icy touch of what they left behind, but it isn't. It seems like something to look forward to, a Christmas with just the two of them. Sean scrubs particularly hard to get the last bit of fluid off and Craig winces.
"Big baby," Sean admonishes softly, rubbing his thumb over the offended skin.
When Sean gets home that night the tiny fridge is humming softly next to the kitchen sink. Craig shows him the milk and lunchmeat and fresh oranges that are inside. Craig's so happy and Sean knows they can afford it so he offers to make them sandwiches for dinner. They wash them down with milk, drunk straight from the carton, and in the morning the sheets smells a little like bologna, but Sean can't bring himself to care.
It doesn't take long or Sean to be promoted to being a full-time mechanic and the pay increase is considerable. They start buying ground beef and chicken and fresh vegetables and Sean enjoys learning how to make them into something resembling a meal. He's tired a lot but it's nice to come home and cook for them, moving around the kitchen and putting the food on real plates, he really starts to feel like home.
"So I was thinking," Craig says one day when his tips are particularly good, "since we don't need my tips for anything like... vital, maybe we could do something special with them." Craig's voice gives him away, he's trying to go for casual but he's trying so hard it becomes immediately obvious to Sean that Craig really wants something.
"Like what," Sean asks him, also trying for casualness, Craig knows him to well though so when their eyes meet it's intense.
"Let's get the film developed," Craig says in a rush, "We could use them to decorate the apartment. We can't be bringing people here if the place looks this bad." Sean knows that last part is a bunch of shit, Craig might want to spruce up the apartment but not because he wants to bring anyone here. Craig doesn't even know anyone that isn't Sean or his boss.
Sean's managed to make friends down at the garage but whenever Sean comes by Craig's work it seems like everyone hates Craig, like he has some disease that they might catch. So Craig doesn't want to invite anyone over, but he does want those pictures developed... badly.
"I don't see why not," Sean tells him, standing up to put his plate in the sink. Craig comes up behind him and hugs him, long and hard and Sean lets his head drop back onto Craig's shoulder for a second before pulling away.
"Thanks Sean," Craig says, moving to stand in front of the sink and beginning to wash the dishes.
The answer comes to him suddenly while he's trying to fix the leak in the bathroom. Those pictures are all of them. Sure, there are a few of the day labor camp children and a couple of people on the bus and a few landscape shots but mostly they just have something like seven rolls full of pictures of the two of them, separate and apart. They used to make a game of how they'd display them one day, when they had a place to live and enough money to get them developed. It's the story of their life, their new life together and Sean can't stop himself from grinning, even as the pipe he's tightening together bursts and covers him in water.
"Ass!" Craig yells from the kitchen, running in with towels and throwing them at Sean. While Sean's trying to sop up the mess and get his soaking wet shirt off he sees the flash of the camera. He chases Craig into the living room area and tackles him to the floor, wringing his shirt out over his head until Craig's as sopping wet as Sean is. Craig comes home a week later with seven envelopes full of pictures from the one hour photo lab next to the bodega.
They haven't decided where to put them yet when their next door neighbor gets robbed in the middle of the day while they're both at work. It isn't a hard decision to make, they make enough money now and they own stuff, a refrigerator and some pots and dishes. It would be a really big deal if they got robbed so they go looking for a new apartment.
They find one a few blocks over. It's closer to where both of them work and the neighborhood is nicer. Most importantly, the doors all have deadbolts on them and bars on all the windows. The only one they can afford (and it's a lot more expensive than the apartment they have now) is above a bodega and Sean knows they'll hear the bell over the door of the little shop ring at all hours of the night but Craig says he doesn't mind so they take it.
It's still only a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment but the kitchen is situated in more of a nook so it feels like they have more than one room with everything in it. The furniture it comes with is nicer also and Craig doesn't feel the need to scrub at the mattress to thoroughly before sleeping in it.
"Priss," Sean thinks to himself when Craig moves the mattress against the windows so it'll dry out in the sun. He stops himself though because really? Craig hasn't been prissy about anything in a really, really long time. Not since that last big blow up at the day labor camp near Sacramento. Craig really has grown up and it makes Sean sad to see just how much. Not enough that anyone who wasn't Sean would notice, but he is different, quieter and a lot more serious. It's why Sean really likes it when Craig gets photos developed, his whole face lights up and for a few minutes he's just like the old Craig.
They establish a new rhythm, working and cooking and just spending time together. Craig gets a new roll developed every week and everything feels like it's looking up. Sean really should know better but he gets his hopes up, thinks this is where there lives start, where they pick up and move on.
The new apartment, the safe new apartment with the deadbolt and the bars, gets broken into while Sean and Craig are at work. The fridge is stolen along with several of the pots and all the food. They buy a few more groceries and the necessary pots to cook it but they can't buy anything that will spoil and Sean can see in Craig's face how much he misses it. They eat quietly that night, subdued and a little sad. Sean's just glad Craig keeps the pictures under the mattress and they weren't taken as well. He knows Craig wouldn't be able to get over that.
Inspectors from the county come to the garage on a Monday and Mr. Morales gets Ricky, the head mechanic, to get him out of the garage the back way. "They do this all the time," Ricky tells Sean, "Cabrones... they don't give a damn about building codes and work environments, they're looking for illegal immigrants and kids. Like you bolio, we've got papers and stuff for the other guys, we'll get some for you one day, but for now it's damn obvious you're underage so you can't be here. It won't be forever, call here tomorrow and they should be gone."
The inspectors don't leave though. They stay the entire week and when they're finished they give Mr. Morales a list of things that need to be fixed and set up an appointment to check on the progress in a week and a half. They're careful to remind Mr. Morales that they can come back at any time though and Mr. Morales can't take the risk.
Sean uses the payphone downstairs outside the bodega every morning to ask Mr. Morales if he can go in to work. He always get's turned down but Mr. Morales always sounds so sincere when he says, "Desculpe mijo, no necessito su ayuda hoy," so Sean doesn't think he's been fired. Turns out some one down at the garage is looking to pick up some reward money for reporting Mr. Morales and it isn't safe for Sean to come back until they find out who it is.
Craig doesn't seem to mind being the sole breadwinner for the time being so they cut back on how much they eat ("tortillas and beans? You know there's something comforting about eating the same thing, day in and day out. Wait, did I say comforting? I meant annoying as all hell") and use the candles to light the apartment at night.
One week the register at the restaurant is short and the owner blames Craig. He calls Craig into her office three times in a single week and tries to get him to confess. She doesn't believe Craig when he says he didn't do it and it's no surprise to Sean when Craig's fired.
What pisses Sean off is the fact that Craig isn't given a paycheck for the last two weeks he worked at the restaurant. When he and Craig try to ask the owner for it though she threatens to call INS, CPS or both. She has just as much to lose from calling the authorities but Sean and Craig can't risk any one finding them so they let it drop.
Craig tries to apologize but Sean won't hear it, "don't Craig. You didn't do anything wrong, he did. It isn't you're fault she's a bitch." Craig seems to accept that because they don't talk about it again. They wake up early the next morning and Sean takes them down to the warehouse district.
It's as far away from the docks as he could find but he still worries about some one recognizing him. They're hired at the third place they show up at and they spend the rest of the day loading and unloading boxes. The work is incredibly tiring and they make almost nothing. They don't have the energy when they get home but strip and go to bed. They're up at 6:00 AM the next morning and after a call to Mr. Morales assures them that Sean isn't going to the shop today, they head back to the warehouse district.
They run out of flour on Wednesday, they eat what's left of the beans on Thursday morning. Rent is due in a little over a week and this becomes a bigger problem when they're mugged on their way home Thursday night. Sean's stomach is making noises by Friday afternoon and by Saturday morning Craig's is joining in. Sean didn't think they'd get hungry this fast but apparently when you cut back from eating almost nothing to nothing, the body protests.
It's Craig's idea to go to Church on Sunday. The warehouses aren't open and when Craig suggests it Sean stares at him like he's grown an extra head.
"C'mon Sean, we wake up in time to get to 5:00AM mass at Cristo Rey then head over to La Madre de Guadalupe at 6:00, hell there are ten Catholic churches within a thirty block radius from here and they all offer mass services from 5:00AM until 1:00PM, I say we hit one every hour," Craig says, looking sure of himself.
"Why the hell would you want to go to church?" Sean asks, bewilderment etched across his features.
"Haven't you ever been to Catholic mass, Sean?" Craig asks. When Sean shakes his head, Craig rolls his eyes, "the Eucharist, Sean. They give out bread and wine towards the end of the service. The way I see it, we're going to have Sunday breakfast courtesy of the Catholic Church." He grins then and Sean has to admit that it's a good plan, any plan that involves eating food is a good one at this point, so he agrees.
No one tries tp stop them and the little discs of unleavened bread aren't much of a meal, but it's the first food they've had in days so it tastes like heaven. ("I'm having a religious experience man") Sean should know better than to drink the wine (all the wine at every church) on an empty stomach, but it fills like water doesn't and it leaves him feeling better than he has in days.
He can feel the buzz of the alcohol in his bloodstream by 10:00 AM and by 1:00 PM, Sean's pretty sure they're both absolutely smashed. They stumble home and lay on the floor, looking at the pictures they had developed when they had more money.
It's warm outside and the wind blows hot air in through the windows. Some one has Spanish radio on and Mariachi music wafts in as well. Craig stands up and moves into the kitchen, tilting slightly. Sean hears the faucet run and when Craig reappears he has a glass of water in his hand.
The cup is made of cheap blue plastic and they found it for sale along with a matching set of silverware, plates and cups for $2.50 in a thrift store. He watches Craig's throat work as he swallows the water. His eyes follow a trail of water that escapes from Craig's mouth and down his jaw and across his neck. It disappears into his t-shirt and Sean blinks when he realizes how long he's been staring at Craig.
"C'mon Sean," Craig says to him, while reaching a hand down to haul Sean up, "I'm tired and we have to be up early tomorrow. Might as well sleep when we can." Sean nods and follows Craig behind the curtained off area that their bed is in. They're silent as they peel off their sweat damp clothing and slide under the sheets together.
"Sean?" Craig asks him, turning over to face him. Sean looks across at him and looks at him questioningly, "Umm, are you drunk?" Sean laughs, throwing an arm around Craig and pulling him closer. He wrestles Craig underneath him and lightly smacks him in the head.
"We are drunk, dork." Sean replies, emphasizing the we, "We drank all that wine on empty stomachs and now we are seriously smashed." Craig laughs at that, eyes closing and his smile directed straight at Sean. Sean gives in to it eventually and it isn't long before Sean's arms are threatening to give out on him he's laughing so hard.
Neither of them flinches when Craig reaches a hand up to cup the side of Sean's face, rubbing his thumb along Sean's cheek bone. Sean leans down and brushes his lips over Craig's and Craig lets out a soft sigh.
The sigh is like permission and when Sean presses in harder, Craig's mouth opens to him. He flicks his tongue in, tasting Craig and wine and it's been so long since Sean's even had a sexy thought that it tastes like the sexiest thing ever.
Craig's thighs part and Sean lowers himself between them so that Craig's supporting most of his weight. He keeps kissing Craig, lets his hands tangle in his thick, dark hair and he starts undulating his hips against Craig's.
Craig has his arms around Sean now, one on the back of his neck, pulling him in further and the other is on his hip, hand splayed across it and thumb rubbing at the bottom of Sean's belly. They stay like that for a while, Sean pressing Craig into the mattress and Craig pushing up against him.
Craig pulls away first and uses the hand on the back of Sean's neck to get enough leverage to roll Sean onto his side. Sean rolls Craig with him and before Craig can say anything, Sean reaches his hand inside Craig's boxers.
Craig feels hot in Sean's hand and when he moans and pushes back into Sean's hand Sean speeds up. Craig doesn't seem to know what to do so he wraps one of his legs around one of Sean's and just rocks himself forward into Sean's fist.
Sean thinks about how beautiful he looks for just a second, before pulling himself out and jerking off in time to his movements up and down Craig's cock. It's awkward to use two hands when they're this close, so Sean let's go of his own cock and slides in closer to Craig.
If he maneuvers himself just right he can wrap his fist around both of them and keep the perfect rhythm and pressure. He can feel the heat of Craig's cock as it slides next to his. It doesn't take long, with both of them gasping and thrusting and Sean's fist pumping them in synchronization. Craig comes first, shouting into Sean's mouth and pressing so hard against him Sean can feel his lips split. Sean comes as soon as he sees Craig slump against him, head on Sean's pillow as his tongue darts out and captures a small droplet of Sean's blood; and Craig smiles.
It isn't hard to fall asleep afterwards, despite the fact that the sun's still up and it's hot as hell in their cramped little bed. Craig curls up against Sean anyway.
It was easy to not make a big deal about it. With everything that was going on, it really wasn't that big a deal. They were still working in the warehouse district for next to nothing, it still wasn't safe for Sean to go back to work and he and Craig were still starving.
The only thing that was different was a slight change in their evening absolutions. Instead of just stripping off their clothes and falling asleep, they'd strip completely out of their clothes, have sex and then fall asleep.
It was never anything to strenuous, mostly just mutual masturbation and even that left them exhausted. Sean knew he was slowing down, knew that the lack of food was getting to him, but once he started feeling Craig's ribs jut into him while they slept curled together he knew he had to do something.
"So, he's going to let you come back?" Craig asked him when Sean came back from calling the garage. Mr. Morales had answered him the same as always and it didn't even surprise him anymore, but he nodded at Craig while dressing.
"I still can't work during the day, but he's going to let me come in after hours. I won't be making the same kind of money I was before, but every little bit helps right?" Sean replied, watching Craig dress out of the corner of his eye. It was even more jarring to see Craig's ribs in daylight, jutting out and disappearing under a shirt that used to be tight.
"So, you're going to work down in the district all day and then go to the garage afterwards?" Craig turned to look at him, eyes wide and slightly reproachful. It might have made Sean feel bad about lying, if Craig didn't look so exhausted.
"Yeah," Sean lied, looking Craig straight in the eye, "it's no big deal and this way we can afford food, so we won't get tired as easy as we are now." Sean turns away from him and hears Craig's zipper as it closes, not long after that they leave.
It isn't hard to find guys who are willing to pay for it, not as late at night as he goes out. He just stands against the wall and lets them come to him, twenties in hand. It's harder to do it now, now that he'll be going home to Craig and he almost gags several times. The only thing that stops him from doing it is the memory of Craig's concave stomach and the noises it makes at night when he's pressed up against him.
He won't let Craig touch him like that when he gets home. He showers and brushes his teeth and claims exhaustion and Craig believes him. He feels empty at night, laying next to Craig but not touching him, trying to keep his distance in case Craig can smell it over the soap and toothpaste.
Watching Craig eat in the mornings, eyes closed and mouth stretching up into a smile, makes it easier, but only easy enough for Sean to be able to go out and stand against the wall for another night. He feels guilty when Craig moves closer to him in his sleep and he feels dirty when Craig's curling into him.
"It won't be forever," Sean tells himself and tries to keep his arms from wrapping themselves around Craig.