Disclaimer: I don't own "The Conjuring" franchise or any of its characters, wishful thinking aside.
Authors Note #1: This is another late addition to my "(Human) Connections" series. When this is published, it will be the seventh part of the series.
Warnings: set post "The Conjuring," period typical attitudes, period typical homophobia, sexual tension, romantic tension, drama, angst, romance, emotional constipation, friends to lovers, making out, mild sexual content, frottage.
Be the thing (that buries me)
"I don't know, man. Call it the algebra of the paranormal. Dunno what it is or what it does, but you know it's there. Real. ...God, I hated math class," Drew commented, trailing off with a frown like he was back in high school. Absolutely hating his life.
He hadn't been paying attention for the last five minutes at least. Maybe more. Mind stuck on the unspoken thing he'd started by kissing the piss out of him in that shitty hotel. Drew had nearly got himself pounded by that drunk bigot at the bar and he'd- well, he'd just reacted.
He'd never kissed a man before.
In truth, he'd skipped that part completely.
It had been about Drew more than anything.
They hadn't done much since. And that was mostly on him. Drew was letting it ride. Not quite treating him with kid gloves, but close to it. Normally, it would have rubbed him the wrong way. But the truth was, he was barely keeping his head above water.
He should have been running for the next county as fast as his feet could carry him. He should have said something. That he'd been drunk or maybe someone had gone and roofied him. Anything to explain why he'd grabbed Drew by the scruff of his neck and kissed him so stupid it'd come back on him like a god damned virus.
But it wouldn't have been the truth.
Instead, he was in the ninth shitty hotel since the Perron farm. Helping the three of them whenever he could. Only difference was, this room had an adjoining door to Drew's and he'd only been in his long enough to drop his suitcase on the bed and secure his firearm.
Because Drew was a magnet like that.
And he couldn't help himself.
It was ironic. Drew was dressed in an old t-shirt and sweatpants. Hair ruffled as he sat cross-legged on the bed and he was still fucking rapt. Thinking about the moment Drew had gotten on his knees for him in a hotel just like this one and-
'Don't let your small head do the thinking, Hamilton,' he cautioned. Trying to get a hold of himself as Drew chattered about some gadget he was working on for the next job.
Because the thing of it was, he wanted.
He wanted this, whatever it was.
He wanted Drew. Maybe just Drew.
But he didn't know how to ask.
Not for something like this.
He didn't know what he was doing.
And worse, he was afraid to try.
Drew didn't seem to have that problem though.
He made all of it look easy.
And he couldn't stop himself from lookin'.
The springs under his ass pinged as he shifted. The mattress was old and had probably been used for worse things than carrying his dead weight. But he wasn't moving.
Is this was it felt like? Falling in love?
Because he figured he'd done it once or twice, but it hadn't felt anything like this. This was a terrifying, amazing, insane, soft- thing that only seemed to get bigger the longer things went on.
He'd never considered himself a coward. But here he was, scared to death about what it all meant. Scared to reach for what he wanted. Scared to ask. Just- scared. Frankly, all this time in his head was making him second guess things.
Things like, what the hell was he doing?
Why?
And how the fuck did he think this wouldn't end in tears or worse?
"Are you freaking out?" Drew broke in. Neatly slicing the hamstring out of his spiraling thoughts.
He shot him a look, then shot off his mouth for good measure.
"About algebra?"
Drew smirked, a full-on corner of the lip thing he liked immediately. But not as much as he liked how it looked when Drew slid off the mattress and stood in the gap between the double beds. Just lookin' at him.
"You know, you think a lot for a cop," Drew told him, eyes wicked as he took a step, then another. Closer and closer until they were brushing knees.
He leaned back, but only to meet his eyes.
"That so?" he murmured. Flashing back to the first time they met. Drew had called him the 'new cop.' Giving him the impression it was him that had to prove his salt rather than the other way around.
"Uhuh," Drew returned as he climbed into his lap. Straddling him.
His hands settled on the kid's hips without having to think about it. Swallowing his second thoughts so quick his head spun. Or maybe it was the direction his blood was flowin', considering his dick had more than taken an interest.
"It doesn't have to be algebra," Drew told him. Hands settling flat on his chest. Leaving him more vulnerable than if he'd kissed him again. Painfully aware that Drew could probably feel how fast his heart was beating as he kept his hands there. Palms to heart.
He swallowed. Not hard, but close enough.
"I don't know what I want," he tried, braving it out. But just as quickly he shook his head. Knowing it was a lie. "No, I know what I want. I just-"
He used to think himself pretty decent with words. He sure could sweet talk a gal in the past. But this? It had him more than tongue tied.
Drew looked down at him. Like he was really thinking this time. Not just thinking of a smart remark. It made him nervous. But he didn't break the quiet.
"Do you want to just watch tv?"
His fingers tightened automatically around the kid's hips. More of a no than if he'd cussed him out.
Drew's smile crinkled his eyes.
"No?"
He tipped his chin up. So relieved he could cry when Drew leaned down and kissed him. Making it easy to surge up and steal his share. One hand grounded on Drew's hip, the other tight around the back of his neck. Keeping him there and even grinding up a little as the sweet burst of friction threatened to make him cross-eyed.
Hell. It was so good.
"I get it, you know," Drew finally breathed, feeling it against his lips. "At least I came into this knowing what I liked and sometimes it wasn't always a girl. You know? The rest of the world doesn't make it easy, but things are getting better all the time. There are places I could take you, any big city has them. You have no idea. It's like another world. Places you can just be. No judgements. No anything."
His cock was so hard it almost hurt when Drew ground down on him.
It was hard to think like this, but he heard enough to know Drew had him pegged.
Because it was true. This was a lot. It was an entirely new learning curve.
He liked women. He'd always liked women. Figured he still did, in fact.
Only now there was Drew and this whole confusing thing they had going on.
But that didn't mean he wanted it to stop. Maybe ever.
His hips jumped. Surging. Greedy. He wasn't that kind of naïve. He knew there were other things they could be doing than mackin' on each other like this. Things they hadn't tried. Even if it terrified him, it didn't stop him from wanting.
That was the difference, he figured.
It was a little like this whole paranormal business.
He was scared shitless half the time, but he didn't want to walk away neither.
It was up to him to figure out how to handle it.
The waist band of Drew's shorts were loose. Drawing his eye. Making it easy for his index finger pluck at it. Curling under the band just to feel warm skin and crinkled black hair.
"Never was good at math," he breathed, watching Drew watch him as that brave finger brushed back and forth. Getting up the courage to do something about the fact that they were both hard and it felt like this moment could go somewhere good.
"Good thing this isn't math," Drew shot back, kissing him again. Grabbing at the collar of his shirt and messing with the buttons. Wanting him in a way that made every nerve in his body want to holler in excited, terrified glee.
And yeah, he wasn't wrong about that.
He liked this, for starters.
He liked it a lot.
Which was more than he could say about fucking algebra.
A/N: Thank you for reading, please let me know what you think. – This story is now complete.