Disclaimer: As always my plot to get ownership has been foiled by the likes of Rage, JT and Zephyr... in addition to all those legal people. Maybe next time.

Rooftops

Chapter 4

Hotshot

His parents had both disappeared to work by the time he woke up the next morning. He could tell without even getting out of bed because of how deathly silent the house was. He rolled over onto his back and smiled up at the ceiling as he remembered the night before. Joan was going to have a field day with this when he told her at work tomorrow. Maybe it would get him a few extra nights off from work or at least get her off his back when he came in late.

He was going to lounge around until noon and then head over to the familiar apartment building this afternoon. He just had to wait for it to be late enough that Michael would be back from the gym.

He glanced over at his computer and smiled. Inspiration was definitely hitting him once again. He turned on the machine, heading downstairs to grab breakfast before he showered and got to work.

-

He knocked at Vic's door, wondering how often this summer he was going to find himself standing in this same spot.

Vic opened the door and for a moment Ben wondered what exactly Vic did for a living, because he always seemed to be home.

Vic blinked at him.

"Christ, why are you teenage boys always awake so early. I've hardly been up for an hour."

Ben shrugged, "I'm used to getting up early for work I guess. Is Michael around?"

"My dear nephew is in his bedroom," Vic told him, stepping aside and letting him into the apartment.

Ben stepped past him with a nod, though he stopped once he was inside. Sitting at the table was a man not much older than himself, one he recognized from The Works, the one Brandon fucked around with on a semi-regular basis.

The man stared back at him with a grin, "Hey Benny."

Ben didn't say a word, just shook his head and crossed the living room.

Behind him he could hear Vic sitting back down at the table and speaking to his fuck-buddy, "How do you know him?"

Ben almost laughed at how close everyone in the gay community around here was. He let himself into Michael's room without knocking and closed the door behind him to block out their further conversation. What he found was Michael stretched out on his back and staring at the ceiling. He didn't even glance in Ben's direction as he heard the door opening and closing, probably assuming it was Vic.

His next decision didn't even involve thought. Without any hesitation Ben climbed onto the large bed next to Michael, resting on his stomach and using his elbows to support himself.

"Morning," he greeted as Michael looked up and met his eyes.

Michael glanced at his clock, "Closer to afternoon actually."

Ben grinned, shifting on to his side, "Smartass."

He noted Michael's wet hair and ran a hand through it, "You just get back from the gym?"

Michael shook his head, "Didn't go."

Michael's short, clipped answers weren't typical. Ben directed Michael's face with his hand, making Michael look him in the eye, "What's up?"

"You never really answered my question last night?"

Ben sighed, he'd through his reaction had made his response to Michael's question obvious.

"It's hard to explain, Michael," he said.

"So, dumb it down for me." Michael had agonized over that first kiss for a few days, so while he was pretty sure that he knew the answer making Ben squirm was more fun.

Ben though for a moment, shifting his weight again and placing a hand on Michael's bicep, "Okay, let me make this simple. I like you. A lot. And though I'm not one hundred percent sure exactly why that is I would rather not ignore it. So I was thinking that, as long as you're in New York this summer, we should see what happens with this."

"You sure you wouldn't rather just mess around at Brandon's parties all summer?" Michael asked.

Ben looked at him. "What's wrong with you today, huh? You're not usually this pessimistic."

Michael was pretty sure that Ben had rarely seen his optimistic side since they had met but he deserved an answer, "You just… you remind me a lot of Brian. The way you talk, and act, and the way you were last night at the party… I just don't want to be the person that tries to hold you back if that's not what you want."

Ben really needed to meet this Brian character, get to know him to find how he had made Michael so worried about things like this.

"Let me tell you something, okay. Going out and partying is great, it really is, but it gets old. People get burned out of that lifestyle. Eventually the same thing is going to happen to Brian. I'd rather spend my time with just one person then get a random fuck once in a while."

Michael grinned a little bit, "That's a much more philosophical answer than I was expecting."

Ben couldn't help but smile shaking his head and shifting his position once again. This time he settled himself chest to chest with Michael, holding his weight up.

"I am never going to get a straight answer out of you, am I?"

Michael smiled up at him in a silent affirmation.

Ben just shook his head and leaned down to kiss Michael again. This time Michael didn't hesitate to kiss back. He wrapped his arms up around Ben's broad shoulders, pulling him down on top of him.

Adolescence was a wonderful time if only for the fact that they could lay there and make out all afternoon and no one would bother them, or would likely care.

Michael pulled his lips away from Ben's and went to work on Ben's neck. Ben groaned deep in his throat, digging his hand into Michael's arm. He turned his head kissing Michael's forehead, hair, whatever he could reach.

"Ahem."

The two boys jumped apart at the misplaced cough, both looking toward the door.

Vic's latest trick was standing in the doorway, shit-eating grin across his face at having caught them in a compromising position. He opened the door a bit wider, stepping into the room and leaning against the doorframe. He was tall and typically built, with dark eyes and short curly hair. The way he stared was intimidating.

Finally he spoke, "You mother's on the phone."

"Fuck," Michael muttered, "Ben, let me up."

Ben rolled onto his side, raising an eyebrow as Michael's whole demeanor changed. He sat up stiffly, pushing himself off of the bed.

"I'll be right back," he said, nodding to Ben and slipping past the unfamiliar man at the door.

Ben settled back to the bed, leaning against the wall.

The guy, Sam was his name if Ben remembered correctly, took a few steps into the room.

"Isn't he a bit young for you, Benny?" he asked, leaning against the dresser.

"Isn't Vic a bit old for you?" Ben countered, raising an eyebrow.

"Touché," Sam smiled. "What can I say, the guy doesn't look half bad for his age. You're looking good to Ben, a year at school sure makes a big difference. Maybe I should start coming around Brandon's parties a bit more."

Ben watched him. His smile was more like a leer and Ben remembered how he had been at parties, one of those guys who liked to have the attention of the whole room.

"I'm not interested."

"Right," Sam glanced back toward the door, "The twerp."

-

Vic was rolling his eyes as Michael entered the living room, pacing around the room, phone in hand.

"Sis, will you calm down," he argued, "He's been trouble since the day he walked into Michael's life and I'm sure Michael didn't think-"

Michael sighed. He didn't even want to guess what Brian had done. Of course it was somehow going to be entirely his fault. He held out his hand for the phone.

"Here Deb, why don't you ask him yourself?"

Vic passed the phone off as though it had burned him, getting as far from Michael as he could. Michael just looked down at the phone for a moment before raising it to his ear.

"Hi Ma," he said.

"Don't you 'hi Ma' me," Debbie's voice was shrill, "What are you thinking letting Brian just come over like that?"

"Mom, he was fighting with his dad last night. You know how Mr. Kinney is. I told him that he could stay in my room if he needed to."

"Well, he did hell of a lot more than that."

Inwardly Michael groaned, "What did he do?"

Knowing Brian he wasn't going to appreciate it either.

"A young man, couldn't have been much younger than twenty-two, walked out my front door this morning," Debbie snapped, "A fucking trick in my house. Michael, I wouldn't even let you do that and you're my son. And then that cocky little shit just waltzed down the stairs and asked me what was for breakfast."

Part of Michael wanted to shake his head in annoyance but part of him wanted to laugh. In the end he just smirked, knowing his mother couldn't see it.

"I'll talk to him," He promised her, rubbing his forehead with his free hand.

"Talk? A lot of good that's going to do."

"Well, what do you want me to do? I'm not down there in Pittsburgh; I'm in New York."

"Yeah, well maybe we should rethink that arrangement. Maybe we should cut the trip short this year so you can come back and work on finding a job."

Michael clenched his jaw. A week ago he might have agreed to that, going home and spending his evenings hanging around with Brian would have sounded like a good idea. But now he had Ben sitting in his bedroom and that was definitely enough to make him want to stay.

Plus his mother was starting to get on his case about work already.

"I told you Ma, I have a job lined up when I get home."

"The Big Q? They're not going to pay you nearly enough. If you'd just worked a little harder this year you could have picked up an internship like Brian."

"I thought you weren't too fond of Brian this morning," he countered.

"Who I'm happy with is not the issue," she snapped, "The issue here is that your friend is setting himself up for success. That internship has got to be paying him twice what the Big Q is paying you and it's going to look a hell of a lot better on his college applications than 'comic book aficionado' is going to look on yours."

Michael frowned. Why was she all of a sudden getting on his case?

"Have you even started thinking about colleges you would like to look at Michael?"

"Brian said that I could come on a few visits with him."

"We can't afford the schools he's looking at Michael, and you're certainly not going to get the scholarships that he has."

"Christ Mother, I know," Michael snapped, "I'm only going to look at a few of the state schools."

"Don't you take that tone with me!"

"What tone?" Michael couldn't manage to stay quiet. He hadn't notice both Sam and Ben leave his bedroom, the latter pouring himself a cup of coffee in Vic's pristine kitchen.

"I am trying to explain to you that I am doing just fine. I want to stay in New York. This is probably the last summer I'm going to get to come up here so I plan to enjoy it."

It was a moment before she spoke, "You should start watching who you hang out with when you get back, sweetheart, you're starting to sound exactly like Brian."

"Good, maybe I'll start dragging tricks back from the clubs with me once I come home."

He couldn't help but get angry, and loud. There was something about his mother over the past few years. It had gotten worse, her nagging him about college and working, though he'd had a job almost since the day he'd turned fourteen, and had odd jobs long before that. It wasn't his fault that he wasn't as smart as Brian, that they didn't have the money for him to be tutored or go to a nice school as his best friend planned to.

Vic grabbed the phone from his hand, stopping him from going on further. He glared at Michael as Debbie's voice could be heard screaming from the phone.

"You had better have a damned good apology ready the next time she calls," he told Michael calmly. He nodded toward Michael's room. He may not have said it but it was an order.

Michael turned on his heel and stormed into his room, slamming the door shut behind him and for the moment completely forgetting that Ben was supposed to be in there.

Ben meanwhile, was standing silently in the kitchen. He'd thought things with his parents were bad. It obviously couldn't have been that bad as he had yet to get into a shouting match with his father. And at least he had the option to storm out of the house. He'd gotten the idea from the way that Michael talked about his mother, that despite this constant argument they were too close and he could never do that to her.

He started back in the direction of Michael's bedroom.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Sam told him, nursing his own cup of coffee and watching closely as Vic tried to calm his sister down over the phone.

"Why's that?"

Sam gave him an incredulous look, "What, you think the kid isn't going to get punished for an outburst like that? What would happen in your house if you yelled at your mother like that? I'm telling you, the minute he hangs up that phone you're going to be gone and Michael's going to be grounded or on his way back to the Pitts."

Ben shrugged him off and headed back in the direction of Michael's room. That would be just his luck but Michel seemed intent on staying.

He opened the door just in time to see Michael turn and punch the wall. Hard.

"Fuck!" Michael snapped, immediately pulling his hand back and cradling it against his chest.

"Christ Baby, don't put a hole through the wall," Ben said, letting a small smile tug at his lips as he closed the door behind himself, "How are we gonna have any privacy if you do that?"

He wrapped an arm around Michael, the other one reaching down to cradle his hand. Michael didn't say a word, just leaned against Ben. That was one of the things that comforted him about this situation; Ben seemed to know exactly what he needed.

"Are you okay?"

Ben's words made Michael jump as they broke through the silence.

"I-I've never yelled at her like that," Michael stumbled over his words. "I just, she's going to be so mad at me."

"That was kind of crazy," Ben admitted. He certainly could never yell at his mother like that but it wasn't difficult to imagine such a yelling match between himself and his father over their current disagreement. "But I'm sure she knows that you're going through something hard. She's not going to hold it against you."

Michael looked up at him, "And you see, that makes it painfully obvious that you've never met my mother."

Ben let out a small chuckle. He could hardly imagine anyone's mother being quite that bad. Michael was surely exaggerating.

He raised a hand, dragging it back through Michael's hair as he pinned him between himself and the wall.

"I can't wait to meet her."

Michael shook his head and muttered, "Don't jinx yourself."

Ben smiled and just leaned in and kissed him. What could he say, teenager or not, it was easy to get distracted with Michael just standing there. And it wasn't as though Michael didn't respond; he wanted a distraction too.

Michael sighed against his lips, hands tangling in Ben's shirt.

For that second time that day the door burst open, but this time it was Vic who entered.

"Michael, I can't believe you went off on your mother like-" And then he stopped short, "Oh shit."

Ben stepped back but didn't take his hand off of Michael's hips.

Michael just stared back at his uncle. He wasn't quite sure what to say as usually the situation was reversed.

"I thought you said he was straight?"

Ben muffled a laugh.

"I was wrong," Michael replied, gripping Ben's shirt possessively and at the same time telling him that he wasn't helping.

Vic stared at him for a moment, "And when did this happen?"

"Last night," Ben answered for him.

Vic took a deep breath, putting a hand to his forehead, "Now I'm going to have to call your mother and convince her to let you stay the rest of the month."

"Uncle Vic?" Michael questioned.

"After that outburst she wants me to send you home," Vic muttered. He rubbed his hand over his face and continued, "As it is I'm going to have to come up with some kind of punishment and we," he motioned to the three of them, "are going to establish some ground rules if this is going to be going on under my roof."

He looked between the two of them, "Understood?"

Michael nodded.

"Yes Sir," Ben said.

Vic just looked at them again before sighing deeply and exiting the room.

"Do you think it makes a difference if it's going on on his roof?" Ben asked.

Michael laughed, pressing his face against Ben's shoulder.

-

Vic's rules were stricter than Ben had expected but as the three of them sat around snacking on Chinese takeout later that night he was pretty sure he knew why.

Michael wasn't his kid. He was the nephew that he probably spoiled rotten and the one he was trying to teach to be a man. He hadn't gone any deeper into finding out about Michael's father but Vic seemed to be the key influential male in Michael's life.

And the problem was he knew how gay men were, and he'd been there so he knew what the sneaking around and closed doors meant. That of course was why if the two of them were in Michael's room the door needed to remain open.

"So, my parents have this Fourth of July party every year," he said, "It's a lot of family, business associates of my dads, my mom's co-workers and a lot of friends of mine. It'd be great if you could come." He looked at Vic, "Both of you. I think my parents would find it comforting to see that a gay man can indeed make something of his life."

Vic let out a laugh, "Sure, I'll see what I can do."

Ben turned his head to look at Michael.

"They're going to want to meet you," he said, "my parents. And some of the guys from the party will be there. Not Terry."

"Who's Terry?" Vic asked.

The two of them exchanged looks and a laugh.

"No one," Michael told his uncle.

Vic raised an eyebrow at him, moving his gaze slowly to Ben, and back to him again. Realizing he wasn't going to get any further information from either of them he just sighed.

"Fine, I will let you boys enjoy your secrets for now," he relented, "I just hope you both realize the enormous debt you owe me for convincing your mother to let you stay."

"Thanks Uncle Vic," Michael said to him, "Really."

Vic shook his head, "You'd just better not go off on her over the phone again this summer."

Michael flushed, embarrassed.

"I won't," he promised.

Ben wasn't sure quite what kind of support to give Michael right then. Just talking about his mother seemed to get him worked up. That made him think of his own parents and he instinctively checked his watch. It was later than he'd thought.

"I should get going," he said aloud. "I've got to work in the morning and I need to catch my parents before they turn in."

Vic nodded and Michael gave him a small smile.

"Why don't you walk Ben out to the sidewalk?" Vic told Michael, "I'll take care of these dishes."

Ben gave Michael a crooked smile as he started toward the door and Michael arched an eyebrow in return. He shoved his feet into a pair of sneakers and slammed the apartment door shut behind them. Vic just smiled to himself as he went about loading the dishes into the dishwasher. This was going to make the summer far more interesting.

-

"What do you think he'll say to your mom when he calls her back?" Ben asked on the way down the stairs.

Michael shrugged.

"He's her younger brother. I don't know what he'll say but he's always had this way of getting around her, getting her to do what he wants."

"So, you're sure you're going to be staying?"

"I hope so," Michael nodded, "I really hope so."

"Me too," Ben agreed. "I mean, I don't see how she could force you to come home."

"My mother is at least as persuasive as my uncle."

Ben raised an eyebrow as they headed out the front door, "Did you inherit this power of persuasion?"

Michael smirked, "You'll see."

Ben smiled in response, "I have to work tomorrow, and I have some writing I want to do but I'll give you a call at Vic's, give you directions to my place."

"Okay," Michael nodded.

Ben leaned down and gave him a quick, sweet kiss, "Bye."

Michael waited until he had disappeared down the block before turning and walking back upstairs, a wide smile plastered across his face.

-

"Where have you been all day?" his father was sitting in the living room as he came in the front door.

"Spent the day with a friend." Ben replied as he hung up his keys and entered the room. He was wary of starting another argument with his father.

"You've been disappearing a lot lately." Mr. Bruckner was watching him.

"I have a life, Dad." Ben said, spreading his hands out to his sides, "It's the summer, I have friends in the city, quite a few actually."

"Your mother thinks you're seeing someone." He made it obvious that he didn't appreciate his son's smart tone.

Ben fell quiet. Well, this was certainly easier than he'd expected it to be.

Mr. Bruckner looked up over his newspaper. "Ben?"

"I invited him to the party later this week," Ben told his father. "His uhh… his name's Michael. He's staying with his uncle for the summer."

"His uncle?"

"He lives in Pittsburg with his mother, but he comes up to visit his uncle during the summer. He's a few years younger than I am but we've been spending a lot of time together. We decided to just give it a try and see where it goes."

"Just what you need, another distraction."

Ben sighed deeply, "Look, I've got some writing to do and I have to work in the morning so I'm going to go upstairs. You can tell Mom if you want. If you don't I will tomorrow but I am not having this conversation with you tonight."

He turned to leave the room.

"Ben." His father's voice stopped him. He stopped but didn't turn around.

"I'm sorry, I'm sure Michael's a nice boy. It's been a long day at work."

Ben started walking again, hurrying past his mother on his way up the stairs. He barely responded to her greeting and shut the door to his room securely behind him.

As he opened his latest writing project on his computer he cursed. His father had never liked any of his past flings, and he had a feeling that he wouldn't be too fond of Michael. It bothered him that he seemed to be doing everything wrong in his father's eyes.

A/N: I've got a lot of the next chapter of 'Call Me Hunter' done. I'm so glad that they're both going along and I'm still inspired. Anyway, hope you're enjoying this. I don't know how much writing I'm going to be able to do for a while. Classes end this week, my finals plan to kill me, and when I go home I have one day off and then work 48 hours a week until New Years. Writing time will be limited but I'll probably work on getting stuff down on my breaks.

Leave some love to let me know if you're enjoying it.

Megan