A/N: Well, here it is, the next chapter, coming in at a whopping 25 pages in Microsoft (27 if you add in this amazingly long note and all the other crapola). Not as long as the last one, but yeah, considering this one is mainly comprised of makeout scenes, pretty impressive, I think. And that was such a Yoda statement to make. Put the subject before the verb do you, fail this class you shall. Ahem. Anyway, moving merrily along...

DISCLAIMER: I still own no part of this movie or any of the characters or actors or anything. I also do not own the Lord of the Rings, which is mentioned in here, nor do I own the other book which I used quotes from. I refuse to say what book it is; whoever figures out what book the quotes come from WITHOUT LOOKING THEM UP gets the prize. No clue what that prize is, but you get it. This is also a good way of seeing who actually reads my damn author notes.

CLAIMER: I still own Freddy's parents and his mom's fab cooking skills & the breakfast she made. I'd say I own his house, but I realized today that I've based nearly everything about his house on the house of my best friend Mel, who I've known since I was five and she was three, so it all sorta belongs to her. Even the bathtub, which I love. She has this old Victorian marble tub with the high back and the little feet and GOD do I love that tub. Anyway, yeah, that's it, really.

DEDICATIONS:

Do a Reviewing Dance- I have no clue what your real name is, since you weren't signed in, but your review made me quite happy. Yeah, it was a bit of a writers block thing. I had the same scene written twice in this and the next chapter and I didn't want to do that, so I had to figure out how to mesh the two scenes; that's what took so long.

findingEMO- I say "awesome" too much, too. Love your name, by the by, and I'm glad you liked the wheelchair part...it came across better in my mind, I was kinda disappointed to the way it transferred to paper. So I'm glad you like it.

Chinsky- you always leave such amazing reviews, and your last one was probably the best ever. One of the best reviews I've ever gotten, no joke. Thanks so much!

Madison- hope I made your day w/ the little email notification! Enjoy!

More dedications to come in the future, I have a long list of people who'll be getting deds soon. I'd do 'em all now, but it'd take up too much room. In the meantime, some brief shout outs to YaoiBunny, hopelesslydevoted12, SweetTweet00, and driven to insanity...I still owe you all some deds, which I swear I'll get to. Sorry, I promise I WILL do it!

FICLET!

Freddy opened bleary eyes. His body felt dead, as though he couldn't move. Then he felt the aching of his wrists and figured out why as yesterday came back in a flash. I guess its only natural to feel tired…I probably lost a lot of blood. Then he realized that part of the heaviness of his body was due to the other body that was half sprawled across his.

Zack was sleeping in the most awkward position ever, half draped over Freddy's chest, lying horizontally across the bed, head resting on Freddy's stomach, fingers clenched in the blonde's shirt. His long hair was a mess, still thick with potatoes. Freddy shook his head, suppressing a grin. Dork. He lightly brushed some of the food out of Zack's hair, trying hard not to wake the sleeping brunette, but no such luck.

Zack yawned and stretched like a cat, arching his back, then curled up closer to Freddy, who laughed. "Good morning, sleepy head."

Zack slitted one eye open and peered up at Freddy. "……Freddy?"

"Um, yeah….who'd you expect?"

"…….you're awake before me?"

"I know, shocking, huh?" Freddy continued brushing food out of Zack's hair.

"What're you doing?" Zack asked sleepily, rubbing at his eyes.

"Getting the potatoes out of your hair, dear."

That seemed to finally wake Zack up. He sat up like a shot, hands flying to his hair. "OH NO! I totally forgot!"

Freddy grinned. "Obviously." Zack continued messing with his hair, trying to get the food out and totally failing. "Here…let me get it." Freddy reached over and grabbed his brush off his bedside table. "Come on."

Zack reluctantly scooted back over and sat in front of Freddy. The blonde began gently brushing out the long dark hair, very carefully combing out all the snarls and tossing all of the disgusting hardened potatoes into the trashcan beside his bed. Finally he got all the food out but he didn't tell Zack this, merely continued brushing the long dark hair.

"You have the nicest hair in the whole world," he murmured.

"I do not," Zack insisted. Freddy laughed.

"How does even that small compliment make you blush?" he asked.

"How do YOU know I'm blushing?"

"…..the back of your neck is bright red, Mooneyham."

That made Zack blush even more, the back of his neck flushing even redder. "Shut up."

"Then YOU just shut up and take the damn compliment. Your hair is gorgeous." Freddy allowed his free hand to wander, brushing the hair out of Zack's eyes and then back, running his fingers lightly along Zack's scalp. Zack sighed, leaning into Freddy. Freddy pressed a kiss to his temple. "Can I wash your hair?" he asked.

"Sure," Zack murmured. "But won't your parents mind?"

"Pffft, who cares?" Freddy replied. Zack chuckled, pressing closer to Freddy.

"I guess as long as we're not showering together or anything they won't mind," Zack pondered aloud. Freddy snorted.

"What's the fun in that?"

Zack laughed. "Honestly, Freddy, you're such a perv!"

"Yeah? What's this, the pot calling the kettle black? Which one do you want to be, the pot or the kettle?"

"Hey!" Zack protested, laughing. "I'm neither! You're the only pervert here!"

"Pfft," Freddy scoffed, "I can't be both the pot AND the kettle! You have to choose one." He nipped teasingly at Zack's ear.

"Nope, I won't choose." Zack's back arched at the sensations of Freddy's close contact and those teasing little nips.

"Oh yeah?" It became much worse as Freddy began tickling Zack even as he continued nibbling on Zack's ear. Zack began to squirm like a mad thing, trying to escape Freddy's prodding fingers without stopping those lovely little nips.

"Freddy….Freddy, stop….FREDDY!" He giggled madly and, unable to fight anymore, collapsed back into Freddy's lap.

"Oh? And just what is Freddy doing that he has to stop?" came the voice of one very amused Jason Jones. Freddy glanced up just in time to see his father enter the room. Jason jumped back, making a big pretense out of shielding his eyes. Zack opened his eyes, a majorly delayed reaction due to his current breathless state.

"Oh, GOD, boys, can't you keep it in your pants for five minutes!"

Freddy laughed. "Nice try, dad…haven't you ever heard of 'tickling'?" Zack struggled to sit up, finding it incredibly difficult from his position in Freddy's lap.

Jason grinned. "Oh, so THAT'S what they're calling it these days!"

Freddy let out a long-suffering sigh. "Did you have a point in coming in here, dad? Or was it just to be a pain in the ass?"

Jason laughed. "Yes, I had a point. Your mother and I are going out to run a few errands. We should be back in about an hour and a half…there's crepes in the fridge for you."

"CREPES?" Freddy practically bellowed. It was a very rare thing for his mother to actually make crepes, but they were his absolute favorite. "Strawberry crepes?"

"Of course."

"With blueberry sauce?"

"You betcha."

Freddy rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Exxxxcellant."

"So you'll be okay until we get back?"

"Sure."

"Okay, then. See you in about….oh, let's say two hours, just to be safe."

"Okay, dad….bye!"

"Bye, Jason," Zack said, finally able to catch his breath. Jason smiled.

"Bye, boys…enjoy your breakfast." With a conspiratorial wink, he left the room. Moments later they heard the sound of the car pulling out of the driveway. Freddy slowly turned and regarded Zack with an evil grin. It took Zack a minute to turn his attention to Freddy, but when he did and saw the malicious smirk on Freddy's face, he jumped, taken aback.

"Whaaaat?" he asked self-consciously. Freddy's grin widened even more. Zack swallowed hard. "Freddy," he began, "I don't like that look in your eyes, Freddy." He crawled backwards towards the head of the bed. Freddy turned over and crawled slowly on all fours towards Zack.

"You…and I…are alone….for two hours….in the house…..with a shower…..strawberries…..whipped cream….and blueberry sauce…" By this time he reached Zack, who found himself back against the wall and nowhere to go. Freddy pounced without warning, pinning Zack to the bed. From his new position, mattress soft against his back, Zack stared up at Freddy with wide eyes. Freddy smiled. "Just think of all the fun we can have."

Zack couldn't help but mirror the smile. "Perv."

"Oh, you KNOW you want me naked with whipped cream and blueberry sauce," Freddy said, kissing Zack. Zack laughed.

"Well," he murmured, "now that you mention it, that does sound more appetizing than crepes…" He grabbed a handful of blonde hair and tugged hard, pulling Freddy down on top of him, bodies pressed together and limbs tangled as they kissed.

"Mmm," Freddy hummed, pulling back, hand beneath Zack's shirt and fingers tracing patterns over bare skin. "I'd say wash up first, but I think we're just going to get messier after the crepes..."

Zack chuckled. "Horny git."

"You know it," Freddy murmured. "So breakfast...and then a bath."

"Okay," Zack agreed. "Then I can get the rest of this shit out of my hair."

"……oh," Freddy said, "I was just using that as an excuse to see you naked."

Zack burst out laughing. "You are such a PERV, Freddy!"

"Hah, call me what you like, as long as you'll let me wash your hair….deal?" Freddy asked, fingers tracing across Zack's face.

Zack smiled. "Deal." And he sealed the bargain with a kiss.

Freddy walked into the kitchen, silent on fuzzy pink slippered feet. Zack, on the other hand, winced as cold tile connected with sensitive bare skin. It was hard to be bothered, though, watching Freddy shuffling along in those slippers. Zack shook his head in amusement. Who would have thought that the world's most punk-ass drummer would wear fuzzy pink slippers?

Freddy pulled the refrigerator open with so much force that the bottles and jars in the doorway clanked loudly together. "Oops." He shoved his head in the fridge, bent fully in half as he poked about, looking for...something. Zack didn't much care. His entire train of thought cut off right when Freddy bent over, and his gaze was now fixed firmly on Freddy's rather nice backside. God...so...completely...sexy.Zack's fingers itched to move. Want...to...touch...

Freddy, meanwhile, was completely oblivious, head still stuck in the fridge as he moved contents around, searching for the whipped cream that he knew was in there somewhere. Finally, shoving a Tupperware container full of leftover chicken parm to one side, he spotted it. "AHA! THERE you are!" He grabbed it, barely managing to balance it with everything else he was already holding. "Zack, I..." He never got to finish the sentence. Zack's hand had suddenly relocated itself into a new position on Freddy's ass. "HELL-O!" Freddy exclaimed, jumping nearly a foot in surprise. The whipped cream flew off the pile of food he was holding and crashed to the floor, rolling until it hit the wall. Freddy cast a surprised, curious, and yet oddly pleased sort of look at Zack. "What the heck was that?"

Zack shrugged. "You have an extremely nice bum."

Freddy laughed, walking over to the table and setting all the food down. "Which you randomly felt the need to fondle in the middle of my kitchen?"

"Yes," Zack answered, crossing the room and picking up the whipped cream before returning. Giving the can a good shake, he squirted a line of whipped cream along his index finger and licked it off. Zack smiled inwardly; it had been a long time since he had real whipped cream. His parents didn't really believe in junk food, so it was rarely in the house. He repeated the maneuver, more whipped cream this time. It took him a few minutes to realize Freddy was staring at him, too preoccupied was he with what he was doing. He looked up, finger nearly all the way in his mouth, and saw the blonde staring at him, far more flushed than usual and that look in his eyes...and realized that he himself, Zack Mooneyham, was fully responsible for it. He would have had the most evil smirk on his face, but it would have ruined the effect. Instead, he slowly drew his finger from his mouth, languidly sucking all the whipped cream off, eyes never once leaving Freddy's face. The blonde looked as though he was about to have an epileptic fit. Zack opened his mouth, about to make a snide remark, but suddenly found himself being rapidly relocated. Freddy's hands clenched in the collar of Zack's shirt and with one swift motion, he spun Zack about and practically tossed the brunette onto the kitchen table, plates skidding out of the way.

Zack winced as his back hit the hard wood of the table; the poor can of whipped cream slipped through his surprised fingers and clattered to the table beside him, but he didn't have long to think about it. Freddy clambered up on the table, tossing one leg over Zack's waist and sitting himself right on the brunette's stomach, straddling Zack's hips, one hand going to each of Zack's wrists and effectively pinning the poor guitarist to the table. Freddy leaned forwards, blonde hair hanging into his eyes, about two inches from Zack's face. "Since when did you become an expert at seduction?" he demanded.

Zack laughed breathlessly. "I don't know...I guess it's just a natural talent."

"S'gotta be," Freddy managed, still barely able to breathe himself. "Fuck...FUCK, that was hot, Zack!"

Zack laughed again. "You know what else is hot?"

"Hmm..." Freddy pretended to ponder it. "...your mom?"

Zack let out an undistinguishable noise of indignant rage (though the anger wasn't real, of course) and shoved Freddy hard, pushing the blonde off of him and reversing their positions, pinning a laughing Freddy to the table. "Bastard!"

Freddy laughed even harder. "Come on, Zack, you know it's true!"

"EWWW, that's DISGUSTING!"

"She's one foxy lady!"

"Shut UP!" Zack said, laughing himself.
"You know I'm right, you mom is so..." Freddy didn't get to finish. Zack grabbed the abandoned can of whipped cream and squirted it into Freddy's mouth and all over the blonde's face. Freddy swallowed, coughed, and blinked up at the brunette through eyes covered in cream. "God, Zack, you trying to kill me here or what?"

"Oh yes...death by whipped cream," Zack said dryly. "That was totally my nefarious scheme."

"Well, you nearly fucking blinded me, anyway," Freddy shot back, struggling to free his wrists. "Can you at least let me wipe the stuff out of my eyes?"

"Nope." Zack managed to switch his grip on Freddy's wrists so that he was holding both wrists down with one hand, and gently wiped the cream out of Freddy's eyes. "Better, dear?"

"Better." Freddy shifted underneath Zack, still trying to free his hands. "Except the rest is going to dry and my face'll be all sticky."

Zack smiled. "That's what you think."

"Oh yeah? Why? What are you plotting in that evil little head of yours?"

Zack didn't answer. He leaned forwards, eyes sliding shut, and slowly dragged his tongue across Freddy's face, licking up all the whipped cream. Zack opened his eyes and came face to face with a surprised but pleased Freddy, less than an inch away. Zack smiled, the tiniest curving of his lips, and then closed the final distance, kissing Freddy gently. Freddy pressed upwards into Zack, a small, hungry sound escaping his throat as he nipped at Zack's lip. Zack pulled away gently, and released Freddy's wrists. "Shirt, off, now."

Freddy peered up at Zack, a vaguely amused look on his face. "Feeling a bit neanderthalic, Zack?" he asked, but he propped himself up just enough to tug his shirt up and off, tossing it to one side. "There," he panted, hair now a tousled mess. "...better?"

Zack's only response was to kiss Freddy again, fingers splayed possessively across the blonde's chest. Freddy, never breaking the kiss, reached to his right and fumbled for one of the dishes, managing with some difficulty to dip his fingers into the bowl of strawberries and coming away with a goopy handful. Without warning, he shoved the entire handful of strawberries into Zack's face. The kiss ended abruptly, Zack pulling free with a startled yelp. Freddy watched, wide grin on his face, as Zack sputtered and coughed, strawberry juice running down his face. Finally, he fixed his gaze steadfastly on Freddy. "That," he began clearly, "is fighting dirty, Jones." He was suddenly pinning Freddy's wrists down again, this time with one hand. "I may just have to retaliate."

Freddy tried to stifle a grin, but he was sure he failed miserably. "By all means, Mooneyham." He barely got the sentence out before a handful of blueberries hit him smack in the eye, spattering across his face and leaving him pretty much blind...again. He squinted his eyes tightly shut and made a show of coughing, hacking, and loudly smacking his lips. "Peh...geez, Zack, the eyes?"

"No worse than you did to me," Zack responded, somewhat absentminded as he grabbed another handful of blueberries and smeared it down Freddy's recently bared chest. He straddled Freddy's hips, seating himself firmly down as he continued painting, purple berry juice on pale soft skin. He traced a circle about Freddy's navel and then continued down, fingers slowing to a halt as they reached the very loose drawstring of Freddy's pants.

Very slowly, Zack lifted dark eyes, following the path he had drawn up Freddy's chest. His grip on Freddy's wrists finally releasing, he very gently wiped the blueberry out of Freddy's eyes. Two pairs of dark eyes locked; Zack stared down at Freddy, breath coming very quickly. His trembling fingers, still coated in blueberry sauce, traced lightly across Freddy's parted lips. Freddy kissed them, then took Zack's hand in his own and gently tugged it closer, kissing it more freely. Slowly, he ran his tongue across the palm of Zack's hand, eyes still firmly locked on Zack as if to make sure this was okay.

...Zack could barely breathe, and he wasn't about to make any sort of protest. "Freddy..." he managed, no more than the softest of harsh whispers. Freddy repeated the move down Zack's index finger, licking off all the blueberry sauce in much the same way Zack had done the whipped cream earlier. This led very obviously to the next step (or so Freddy saw it), and he took Zack's finger into his mouth, gently sucking the last traces of sauce off and then moving on to the next finger and repeating the process.

Zack felt as if his brain had melted, for it sure wasn't doing him any good at the moment. All he could think of was what Freddy was doing, and that wasn't so much thinking as it was a pure explosion of feeling substantial enough to rival any fireworks show. "Freddy!"

Freddy didn't respond, didn't even show any sign that he'd heard, merely continued what he was doing. If anything, he put more into it, tongue tracing briefly down each finger before taking it into his mouth, then afterwards, delving into each crevice between the fingers, taking his time about it and doing a painstakingly thorough job. He released the last finger very slowly, sucking languidly at it before allowing it to slip free, then raising his gaze to meet Zack's. Zack felt astonished to see the dazed heat in Freddy's eyes, to feel the blonde trembling beneath him; he hadn't even thought this might be affecting Freddy much the same way as it was him. He was struck suddenly with the knowledge of everything Freddy had done for him in the past few days and with an overwhelming desire to make it up to him, even though he knew Freddy wasn't expecting any sort of payback for this; he did it all out of pure love. And that affected Zack even more.

Freddy's eyes widened in surprise because Zack was suddenly and passionately kissing him, much more forcefully than before, but not rough; there was still that aspect of gentleness to it that made it completely Zack and Freddy would have smiled, had his mouth not been otherwise engaged. Then Zack's tongue brushed roughly against his, such a soft and yet forceful caress that Freddy's head tipped back against the hard wood table and he moaned into Zack's mouth. Zack pulled roughly free, teeth tugging gently at Freddy's lip, just hard enough to hurt while still feeling oh-so fucking good. Then he was off, lips working their way to the smooth expanse of throat and down, tongue tracing along the harsh-jutting collar bone, teeth nipping at the soft flesh there. That skillful tongue continued its way down, drinking up the blueberry juice as it went, and Freddy thought he had lost all ability to speak anything but the name of this ebony haired angel of torment who was so cleverly torturing the ever-loving hell out of him. For that's all that he could get past his flushed lips, that single name like a mantra. "Zack," he managed, not even realizing how much he was repeating the name. "Zack..."

Zack kept moving down, thumbs tracing ever-changing patterns down Freddy's stomach, just where he knew the blonde was most ticklish. The sensuous and teasing sensations mixed together drove Freddy past the breaking point and back into more coherent speech. "FUCK, Zack!" ...slightly more coherent.

He felt guitar callused hands on him and couldn't bite back the shaky moan. Still he somehow managed to find words, though how he succeeded in propping himself up on his elbows he would never know. "Zack," he managed, barely able to get a breath in to continue.

Zack smiled. "Silly boy," he said softly, leaning forward to press a kiss to Freddy's temple, close enough for Freddy to smell the heady scent of Zack's cologne mixed with the tantalizing scent of fresh strawberries and the musky smoothness of pure sex. "...relax."

And then there was one final stroke of mellifluous-rough fingers before they vanished, replaced by lips as yet unscarred by abusive kisses, lips who knew nothing more then the tenderly rough kisses Freddy had lavished upon them. Freddy bit his lip hard enough to draw blood, eyes squeezing tightly shut and head falling back to the table with a harsh thunk. He somehow managed to remain propped up on his elbows, back arching at the teasing sensation of Zack's soft lips against the bare and sensitive skin of his stomach.

Zack let his hands travel up Freddy's arched back, blunt fingernails digging into the soft flesh, feeling all the muscles in Freddy's back contract as he dragged his hands downward, cutting thin harsh tracks down the smooth flesh. Freddy cried out in a mix of pleasure and pain, unable to even form words anymore.

Freddy's skin had a tantalizing taste that Zack couldn't quite put his finger on. Part of it was the blueberries, of course, but it was newer than that, fresher somehow. There was an air of calm about it, like a thick blue cloud of soft repose, but with a sharp thin current of electricity running jaggedly through the middle of it. The feeling of a calm before a storm. Rain, he realized. Freddy tasted of rain. That fresh clean feeling of new beginnings that were still older than time or space.

"And sometimes," he began, lips brushing against the taut skin of Freddy's stomach as he whispered, "I like to put my head back like this, and let the rain fall in my mouth."

"Huh?" Freddy managed, one eyebrow arching in puzzlement.

"It tastes just like wine," Zack continued.

"...Zack," Freddy began, small smile beginning to form.

"Have you ever tried it?" Zack interrupted, a smile beginning to form on his own face.

Freddy couldn't suppress the smile flooding his face. "You'd better run along to your appointment," he shot back. Zack laughed.

"I thought you might recognize that," he said.

"Pffft, of course I would. S'only my favorite book ever."

"What about Lord of the Rings?"

"...okay, one of my favorites, then."

Zack laughed, pressing another kiss to Freddy's belly. Freddy ran his fingers through Zack's hair.

"What made you think of that right now?" he asked, curious.

"You," Zack replied in between kisses. "You taste like rain."

"Oh, do I?" Freddy replied, obviously thinking it was a joke.

"Yes," Zack murmured, "you do. In all honesty, you do."

"Hmm...does that mean you find me...intoxicating?" Zack gave a sharp pat to the side of Freddy's face. "OW!"

"The bad pun was not at all necessary," Zack frowned up at Freddy. "I was being completely serious."

"Oh." Freddy gave an abashed smile and a slight shrug of the shoulders. "...sorry?"

"Bet you are."

"Oh, I totally am." He glanced at the clock. "Anyway, we'd probably better actually have some breakfast and get cleaned up; we only have about 45 minutes till my parents get home."

"Okay." Zack slid off of Freddy and, carefully tip-toeing around the fruit and whipped cream that littered the floor, managed to seat himself at the table. Freddy sat up and crawled across the table towards the chair Zack had chosen and slid easily into an Indian style position right there on the table. Zack sighed. "Where're your manners?"

"Don't have none," Freddy grinned and slid the plate of crepes over to Zack. "Dig in, monsieur."

Surprisingly enough, breakfast finished with no further "occurrences." Freddy let out a sigh of full contentment and flopped back, sprawling on the table. "THAT...was good."

"You're telling me," Zack managed, leaning back in his chair. "Your mom is amazing in the kitchen."

"Don't I know it."

Zack looked over his shoulder, craning his neck to read the clock. "We have to get going, though; we're running a bit late, now. Tell you what, why don't you go get things ready upstairs and I'll clean up the kitchen?"

"You sure, Zack?"

"Totally sure."

Freddy grinned. "Awesome. Thanks. See you upstairs in a few!" He slid off the table and was nearly out the door before Zack spoke up.

"Oh, and Freddy?"

Freddy paused in the doorway, sliding a bit on his fuzzy slippered feet and having to catch the doorframe to avoid falling. He turned back. "...yeah?"

Zack grinned. "Yes, I do find you intoxicating."

Freddy smiled a smug little smile. "Pffft, like there was ever any doubt about that." Tossing a wink at the dark haired guitarist, he spun about and ran from the room, leaving Zack alone in a room strewn with fruit, his laughter echoing through the entire house.

Zack stepped cautiously into the bathroom. "Freddy?" What greeted him was a room full of steam and no hyperactive blonde drummer anywhere. He sighed. "Freddy?"

Hands on his back suddenly, grabbing his shirt and pulling it up. "GAH!" The shirt was tugged over his head and off, deposited to the floor. Spinning about, he came face to face with one very smiley and very shirtless Freddy. "You dork! Warn me before you do a thing like that! You scared the bejeezus out of me!"

"Pfft, how surprised could you be?" Freddy scoffed. "There's no one else in the house, and even if there were, there's no one else who would randomly strip you like that!"

"Hah, that's where you're wrong, Jones."

Freddy arched an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? And just who else in my home do you think would actually want to see your scrawny butt naked?"

Zack rolled his eyes. "Come ON, Freddy! Your mom is so totally hot for me!"

With an indignant yelp, Freddy gave Zack a shove. The brunette went flying backwards, falling right into the tub, which was luckily (or perhaps unluckily) for him filled to the brim with boiling hot water. He hit the water with a terrific splash, soaking both him and Freddy. Moments later, he resurfaced, sputtering. The blonde laughed. "You look like a drowned rat, Mooneyham."

Zack sputtered even more, hair dripping into his eyes. Brushing the wet hair out of his eyes, he came face to face with Freddy. "Dork," he said, shaking his head at Freddy.

"Look who's all wet, Mooneyham," the blonde retorted. Walking over to the tub, he kicked off his slippers.

"What're you doing?" Zack asked curiously. Still wearing his baggy pajama pants, Freddy climbed into the tub, smile on his face.

"Getting in," he said. He stretched out, half crawling half floating over to Zack's end, arms going round the brunette. "Mmm," he sighed contentedly, pressing close to Zack, head resting on Zack's bare chest. "I love baths."

"Baths with me in them or just baths in general?" Zack teased. Freddy laughed.

"Just baths," he murmured, "though they're most definitely improved when you're involved." His fingers traced down Zack's stomach, halting when they reached the waistband of Zack's pants. "Though less clothing would definitely be nice."

"But then there wouldn't be a bath," Zack pointed out. "Just sex."

Freddy laughed. "I knew it."

"Knew what?" Zack asked, pressing kisses down Freddy's neck and shoulders.

"You sooo want to have sex with me."

Zack sighed. "Later, Freddy, later….possibly much much later."

Freddy laughed softly. "I know," he said. "I'm just teasing." His fingers stopped their worrying along the waistband of Zack's pants and traced slowly along Zack's chest and up until they were running through his hair. "Let me wash your hair."

"Said I would, didn't I?"

"Switch," Freddy said.

"Switch?"

"Switch spots…..if I'm washing your hair I have to be behind you."

"Oh…" It took a bit of maneuvering (not good in the close quarters of the tub, where every movement only pressed the two boys closer together, creating teasing friction in the too-warm water). By the time the places had been switched, Zack was almost wishing he hadn't turned down Freddy's offer of sex….almost.

Freddy hissed as he settled fully down into the water. "What is it?" Zack asked, alarmed.

Freddy shook his head. "It's nothing," he managed, but his back was unusually straight and stiff.

"It is not nothing," Zack growled. He grabbed Freddy's shoulder and tugged roughly, twisting the blonde so he could get a good look at his back. Trailing down Freddy's skin were ten long, thin cuts, tracing from his shoulders all the way down his back; ten rivulets of blood staining the water crimson. He realized with shock that the cuts were from him, given while he was...he brushed the thought aside, comprehending Freddy's discomfort as he realized how hot the water was. That must burn like all get-out. "God, I'm so sorry, Freddy."

"Don't be," Freddy said, smiling at him. "I can stand a little pain. Hell, I'd rather have it than not."

"Okay," Zack said dubiously. Freddy's smile widened.

"Masochist, Zack, remember?"

Zack laughed. "Yeah...I keep forgetting that." He released Freddy's shoulder and the blonde settled back against the high marble back of the tub.

"Come on," he said, beckoning. "Sit back and let me wash your damn hair."

Seconds later, Zack thought he was in heaven. Freddy was apparently good at more than drumming and making out; he also seemed to have a bit of massage therapy under his belt. Soapy hands running through Zack's long hair, teasing along the brunette's scalp, working in gentle massaging motions that felt so good Zack thought he would pass out from an overdose of pure sensation.

"Mmmm, Freddy," he moaned, head tilting back. "Good thing you didn't ask me to have sex with you now."

"…..why's that?" Freddy asked distractedly, too focused on worshipping every strand of soft brown hair. Reaching over the side of the tub, he picked up the pitcher he had brought into the bathroom that day for this very purpose. Filling it with hot water from the tub, he gently poured water over Zack's hair to rinse out all the shampoo, very careful not to get any in the brunette's eyes. "Why's that?" he repeated, paying more attention now.

"Cause I totally would have said yes," Zack murmured, not even fully aware what he was saying but somehow knowing it to be true. There was a slight hitch as Freddy paused.

"………………………..um………" He paused again, contemplating. A slightly hopeful, mainly evil sort of grin. "…..wanna have sex?"

Zack bit back a moan, turning to face Freddy. "Do not even tempt me, Jones, do not tempt me." He kissed Freddy, nipping roughly at Freddy's lip and eliciting a gasp from the blonde. "I am this close to saying yes," Zack said breathlessly, hips rubbing against Freddy's. "Stop me."

Barely able to breathe, Freddy paused, caught in a dilemma. He wanted Zack more than anything, but he also knew that even though Zack may want sex now, he would most definitely regret it later. "Okay," he said softly. "Okay. I take it back."

"…..really?" Zack was surprised.

Biting his lip, Freddy nodded. "I don't want you to do something you'll regret later."

Zack stared, his eyes wide and surprised. Then he leaned forward and kissed Freddy. "That makes me want to have sex with you even more," he whispered, "that you'd do that for me."

Freddy laughed, but his heart was pounding. "No sex for you, Mooneyham, you deviant! Not today, anyway. Now behave yourself!"

Zack only kissed him again, hands moving to the catches on Freddy's pants. "Why? Why do I have to behave myself?" he whispered. Freddy tried hard to take a deep breath and found he couldn't breathe at all.

"Zack…" he managed. Then Zack's hands were down his pants and all progress he had made towards being able to breathe vanished completely. "FUCK."

"Yeah? I thought you said not today," Zack teased. Freddy bit back a moan, trying to get some semblance of rational thought into his brain before he just utterly lost and took complete advantage of Zack. He firmly removed Zack's hands from his pants. The brunette looked at him in confusion.

"Zack….Zack? Zack, you know I love you and this is so incredibly beyond hot, but you gotta stop now because you are making it so incredibly difficult for me to stop myself from just fucking you right now."

Zack stared at him. "…..but I want you to."

Freddy clenched his eyes shut tight and took a deep breath. "NO, no you don't, Zack. You want it but you want it to be sometime and some place where it'll have some real meaning to it. You don't want it here, you don't want it now, you don't want it to be meaningless sex. And I don't want that either. Because I know what meaningless sex is like and I don't want that from you. I love you, Zack, and no matter how much I may want to have sex with you, when it happens I want it to be special."

Zack stared at Freddy, looking shocked and so incredibly touched. Leaning forward, he kissed Freddy. "Thank you," he whispered. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too," Freddy said, his breath coming more naturally now. "Now….maybe…we should get out of this bathtub….and get some clothes on."

"Okay," Zack agreed, hands still running through Freddy's hair. He was staring at the blonde in wonder as though he'd never seen him before.

"…what?" Freddy asked self-consciously.

"I just….I can't believe you did that for me," Zack said wondrously. "I can't believe you'd…" he trailed off. "….save me like that."

Freddy laughed. "That's me, your bonafide knight in shining armor." Zack laughed with him.

"Yeah, you really fucking are."

Freddy smiled. "Come on….let's get out of these wet clothes and go get dressed." He rose to his feet with some difficulty due to the sopping wet pants, then offered a hand to Zack, pulling the brunette up as well. Freddy undid his pants.

"What're you doing?"

"No point in getting the floor all wet, is there?" Freddy responded. Without a hint of embarrassment, he slid both pants and boxers off, wet material sliding easily against slippery skin. Zack stared. Technically Freddy had seen him naked before due to their little liaison the other night…but he hadn't seen Freddy naked. Now, so blatantly greeted with the rather delectable sight of Freddy completely naked, he couldn't help but stare appreciatively.

Freddy glanced at Zack with some amusement. "….you looking for something Mooneyham, or are you just looking?"

Zack didn't blush, refused to blush. Technically they were dating now, and blatantly checking out his boyfriend's….umm…."package"…was nothing at all to be ashamed of. "Just looking, I guess."

Freddy grinned. "Yeah? See anything you like?"

Zack decided he was going to have some fun messing with Freddy's head. He was going to make the unflusterable Freddy Jones blush. Slowly, he allowed his gaze to settle on Freddy's groin, staring for a good few minutes, staring until Freddy squirmed awkwardly under the attention. "….well?" the blonde demanded at last.

Zack lifted his gaze, looking Freddy in the eye, then slowly shook his head. "Nope."

Freddy's blush faded as quickly as it had come. "WHAT!" He laughed aloud. "Oh, that's a laugh, Zack, that's why you desperately wanted me to fuck you five minutes ago!"

Zack flushed now, shaking his head at the memory. "Thank God you saved me."

Freddy grinned. "Well, I AM your knight in shining armor, after all."

"So…as my knight in shining armor, what exactly is your job?" Zack asked, undoing his own pants.

"….why….saving you from doing perverse sexual acts which you would regret in the morning, of course!" Freddy said, as though it should be obvious. Zack cringed, dropping his pants, an action which did not at all go unnoticed by Freddy.

"God," Zack winced, stepping out of the bathtub and taking the towel offered by Freddy. "Why did I act like that? What made me such a horny little fuck?"

"WELL," Freddy began, sly grin on his face, "no one can really blame you. After all, most people would react the same way if they had a go at a body like mine!"

Zack laughed. "Oh yeah, Freddy, you're so foxy!"

"Pfft, YEAH I am."

Zack finished toweling off and swatted Freddy's bare backside with the wet towel. "Stuck up git."

"OW!" Freddy jumped at the stinging wet towel hitting his rear end. "That really fucking hurts, Mooneyham!"

"Aww, I thought you liked pain!" Zack teased. Freddy rubbed his ass.

"Well, I do….but I'm more into the kind of pain which involves your teeth on my throat."

"Hmmm…..like this?" And Zack nipped harshly at Freddy's throat. Freddy sighed, relaxing back into Zack, who wrapped his arms about the blonde.

"Mmm….yeah." Freddy's eyes slid shut as he just gave into feeling the stinging pain of Zack's teeth on his skin, a sharp contrast to the softness of the brunette's lips brushing gently against his throat. "God," he murmured. "Never stop doing that."

Zack chuckled. "I think that could get a little awkward, Frederick."

"Oh, you think so, Zackary?" Freddy asked somewhat sarcastically. He shook his head. "I don't care. Awkwardness I can deal with."

"Oh, indeed? Like the awkwardness there'll be if your parents come home and find us stark naked and dripping wet?"

"………………………yes," Freddy said at last, and very decisively. Zack waited for more, but when nothing else came, he laughed.

"Yes what?"

"Yes….I can deal with that awkwardness."

"Really? Too bad. I don't think I'm ready for that level of awkwardness yet," Zack said, tying a towel about his waist. Going into the closet, he pulled out another towel and wrapped it about Freddy's waist, tying it securely.

"Awkwardness I can live with," Freddy continued as Zack knotted the towel. "You, on the other hand…you I cannot live without."

Zack froze, looking up at Freddy with wide eyes. Freddy smiled softly back at him. "Thank you," Zack whispered, unable to speak any louder.

"You're welcome," Freddy replied. "I meant it."

Zack nodded, a swift jerky movement. "I know…..I…." He took a slow, ragged breath, dark eyes still locked on Freddy's. "….I feel the same way."

Freddy nodded. "I know." There was a long silence. The situation had become slightly awkward, though in a good way. Freddy chuckled inwardly; he had never realized there was a good kind of awkward. But then again, he had never been in this situation before: confessing absolute love to someone who immediately gave it right back. He took a deep breath, then let it out in a long sigh. "Well..." his eyes locked with Zack's and he shrugged. "...Playstation?"

tbc