The Name Wrapped Around my Throat: Chapter 4
Author's note: So here I am with another chapter. First off, I had a reviewer mention that we haven't gotten to the whole 'Gansey thinks Ronan likes Blue' situation yet, so I wanted to address that. As I'm estimating now (having not mapped out my plot points into exact chapters yet) I think some hints of that will take place in chapter 6 or so? Maybe 7? Since chapters are short-ish it will take me a little while to get there. But it is coming and hopefully it'll be worth the wait.
And since I mentioned that, I should also mention I don't have a great estimate as for how long this story is going to be. I'd say 10+ chapters. I'd be really happy if I could finish within 15 but I am a long-winded author, so we'll see.
Anyway, thank you to those who have reviewed! I appreciate it a lot!
When it began getting late, Blue was the one who mentioned she needed to get home to finish her homework.
"Would you like me to drive you?" Gansey asked as the group stood up. "Or will Ronan be kidnapping you again?"
"You take her, I've had too much Maggot today," Ronan said casually.
"Please, at this point I'd get in a vehicle with a kidnapper before I got back in yours," Blue countered.
Ronan only stared at her in response, causing her to glare in return. Only Gansey walking in between them broke their eye contact.
When they got to the parking lot the group split, Gansey, Blue, and Noah going to the pig while Adam followed Ronan to the BMW, Chainsaw already waiting on the hood. Gansey had taken Adam to Monmouth from school, but apparently he didn't want Gansey to have to take both him and Blue home.
The ride to Adam's was comfortably quiet. Adam's head was leaned back against the headrest, his eyes closed, and the long line of his throat pale in the Virginia moonlight coming in through the window. The sight was enough to keep Ronan quiet, as well as make him risk crashing the car to sneak peeks at it.
When they arrived Ronan didn't turn off the car and Adam didn't get out.
"You aren't coming up?" Adam asked.
Ronan shrugged.
He usually stayed at Adam's at least a couple of nights a week. He got his best sleep there. At Adam's he didn't have to worry much about what he dreamed. He didn't have to worry about accidently bringing something tiny like a bee out of his head. He figured even if he brought something dangerous out, Cabeswater would protect Adam.
But he didn't think he would bring something dangerous out of his dreams while he was at Adam's. He typically had good dreams when Adam was around because Adam made him think good things.
"The night's young," Ronan finally said.
What he really thought was that staying at Adam's would be pushing his luck. He felt guilty about the name on his neck. When he looked at Adam he had to keep reminding himself that he hadn't done anything wrong. It hadn't been a bad dream. He'd only talked to dream Adam, let him draw on him. Nothing sexual. Nothing to be guilty about.
Just Adam's name wrapped around his throat.
Adam shrugged back. "Don't change your mind later. I'm going to study for a while and then go to bed. I have to work a couple of hours before school tomorrow."
Ronan nodded even as Adam was getting out of the car and heading toward the entrance leading to his tiny room.
Ronan stayed in his spot thinking even after Adam was out of sight. He needed to get Adam's name off of his neck. Maybe he'd dream better if he was at Adam's.
Maybe he just wanted to be at Adam's.
Either way he finally punched the wheel and turned off the car.
Chainsaw perched on his shoulder as he made the walk to Adam's room. When he knocked on the door Adam answered quickly, not looking at all surprised that Ronan had changed his mind.
"The night not as young as you thought?" Adam asked as he went back to the book on his bed.
"Turned out the night looked a lot like Mallory," Ronan replied as he and Chainsaw made themselves at home.
"I've got today's homework for you," Adam said as he took a couple of sheets out of the front cover of his book. "Gansey has Monday's. He wanted you to have the opportunity to do some of it no matter where you stayed."
"How fucking thoughtful," Ronan sneered as he looked at the assignments, not reaching to take them from Adam's hand.
Adam merely dropped them in front of him along with a one subject notebook that only had a few sheets of paper left.
Ronan sighed dramatically before plopping down on the floor beside Adam's bed and grabbing his calculus worksheet.
They worked in silence, Adam studying diligently and Ronan occasionally jotting things down while using one of the few sheets of paper in Adam's notebook to make Chainsaw paper balls to play with.
By the time Adam was done studying, Ronan had a half finished calculus worksheet and a half-assed analysis of the themes in 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.' Chainsaw, more interestingly if you asked Ronan, had a stack of paper balls and a pencil that was deemed too short to write with.
Adam yawned as he shoved his school things into his bag. "I'm gonna go brush my teeth," Adam announced, his Henrietta accent slipping out of his tired mouth.
Ronan loved the accidents made by that tired mouth.
"Yeah, make sure you brush for a full two minutes, Parrish. Wouldn't want you selling a kidney to pay for a filling," Ronan said attempting to even out his pleasant thoughts of Adam's mouth with not so pleasant ones.
Adam's head poked out of the bathroom, toothbrush in hand. "Hypothetically do you know where I could sell one of my kidneys?"
Ronan plucked a paper ball from Chainsaw's pile, much to her chagrin, and threw it toward Adam. Adam dodged it, ducking back into the small bathroom, laughing.
"No selling body parts, Parrish. It's Gansey's one rule," Ronan scolded as he moved Chainsaw's pile of paper to a cardboard box sitting near the window.
"I'm pretty sure Gansey has more than one rule," Adam said, mouth speaking around his toothbrush.
"Yeah, but this is the only fuckin' one I'll back him up on. So it's the only one that counts," Ronan declared as he slid out of his jacket and shirt carefully. The last thing he needed to do was wipe off his makeup. He then quickly laid his shirt out as a mock nest, which Chainsaw immediately claimed as her own.
"I dare you to tell him that," Adam muttered after spitting into the sink.
"You dare me, huh?" Ronan asked as he folded his jacket into a pillow for himself. He didn't have to look to see Adam roll his eyes. Sometimes he could just feel him doing it.
"Okay, Parrish. I will next time I see him. And you know I don't lie," Ronan said as he grabbed the sheet off of Adam's bed, leaving him with a thicker quilt. He then fell gracefully to the floor, lying his head back on his jacket.
"Looking forward to it, Lynch," Adam said as he exited the bathroom, shutting the light off behind him.
Adam crossed the room to flip off the light switch by the door, turning off the only other light in his small apartment. He then made the journey to his mattress in the dark with an easy confidence that came from knowing that there were no obstacles, because everything in his room was in its rightful place. At some point Ronan had become one of those things. Adam had stopped tripping over Ronan's body on his way back to his bed, having learned where he'd lie. Ronan felt a disgusting sense of want at the idea of being Adam's. He so desperately wanted to be Adam's.
Ronan pushed down the thought, ignoring the way Adam's name seemed to burn against his skin.
"Night," Adam said from the mattress beside Ronan. Ronan could hear him sliding his pants off as he said it.
"Goodnight, Parrish," Ronan said as he rolled away from Adam. He suddenly knew that he wouldn't be dreaming his cure with Adam sleeping within arm's length of him. If anything he'd probably end up dreaming something even more incriminating.
So instead he tried not to sleep at all. And when Adam's alarm went off at 3:30 a.m. he realized that he'd succeeded.
Ronan heard rather than saw Adam slam his hand down on the annoying alarm clock. He then heard Adam groan before rolling out of bed.
"I don't know how you function without sleep," Adam muttered as he passed Ronan, heading toward the shower.
"Just one of my many talents," Ronan said, only marginally surprised that Adam knew he was awake.
Once Ronan heard the shower running he quickly got up and looked around for a way to examine himself, more specifically his neck. When the window didn't offer a reflective enough surface he pulled out his phone and turned on the camera option, flipping it so that he could look at his neck.
The makeup wasn't smudged badly, but there was still a spot where the black could be seen. Ronan instantly decided it wasn't worth the risk of Adam seeing it. Normally on days like these he'd take Adam to work, drop Chainsaw off at Monmouth, get dressed, and then head to a diner near where Adam worked to enjoy a greasy breakfast. Then he'd pick Adam up, pawning off a piece of unfinished toast or sausage links he'd taken to go with him, before taking them both to school.
Today Adam would be on his own.
Ronan picked up his jacket from the floor and quickly threw it on, knowing Adam was a master of five minute showers. Once it was on, he zipped it up to his neck, knowing the collar wasn't quite high enough to hide Adam's name. He badly wished he has something more covering. He probably should have grabbed a hooded jacket instead. A hood would have offered more coverage.
It was when he walked over to get Chainsaw that he noticed Adam's green hooded jacket resting on a wooden chair, the only real furniture in the room.
Ronan only hesitated a second before sliding out of his jacket and sliding into Adams. The fit was maybe a hair snug and the inside was itchy, but Ronan didn't have time to care. He pulled the hood up before taking out his phone again and using the camera function to look at himself.
Ronan almost sighed in relief when he saw that the jacket hid the stubborn 'd' in Adam's name that kept showing through his makeup.
Ronan quickly decided he and Adam would be swapping jackets for the day. It wasn't that cold out. Parrish probably wouldn't even need to wear a jacket. And even if he did Ronan's was warmer so Ronan figured it shouldn't be an issue.
Decision made, Ronan motioned for Chainsaw and once she was on his shoulder he headed to the door, leaving his school work with Adam's.
"I'm heading out, Parrish!" Ronan called.
"Lock the door behind you!" Adam yelled as the water shut off.
In his hurry Ronan ignored him. Ronan figured if a nun did happen to walk in on a naked Adam Parrish it would be a blessing bestowed to her by God.