Chapter Seventeen

"Sven?" Amelia said and Sven realized her voice was louder than it'd been a moment ago, then he realized he'd been ignoring her to his complete horror. He wasn't even looking at her, his eyes were on Lance and Keith as they walked off toward the food from the bonfire. Lance's words about gutting him if he hurt Keith rolling around in Sven's head. He'd never, did people really say things like? He would, he knew he would but someone else, could anyone else understand the intensity of emotion that welled inside and how important loyalty was?

He and Lance McClain were nothing alike, yet Lance had looked him in the eye and told him he saw the same shining light in Keith. He'd asked Sven to hurt him if he hurt Keith, to follow through with the threat... It was what a friend did, make the threat, it was what happened. Sven understood as some unspoken social rule, especially for the special people in ones life. But that... Sven felt as if he'd met someone else special, someone else who had - not a light like Keith's but something special about him that made him an equal. Lance McClain was Keith's equal.

"Huh?" Sven said.

"Sven!" Amelia's voice shouted this time and she hit him in the arm.

He'd forgotten her again, he felt more horrified. Here he was thinking about special people, and love and loyalty and he was ignoring the most beautiful woman he'd laid eyes on. He turned toward her and smiled sheepishly. "I am sorry, Amelia, please forgive me. I was thinking about Lance McClain."

Amelia grinned and raised an eyebrow at him. "Sven, are you falling for the McClain charm?"

Sven shuddered, and he must have made quite a face because Amelia started laughing at him. "Why were you thinking about Lance?" she asked.

Sven shook his head. "No, no, you asked me to walk over here for privacy, to talk about something and I ended up ignoring you. I'm sorry, it's more important for you to tell me what you wanted to say," Sven said, hoping he could make up for his mistake. He hoped he could salvage what he may have screwed up, he hoped he hadn't ruined a moment by not noticing he had it. Dumb, he was so dumb about girls.

The laughing smile on Amelia's face fell instantly and she looked down, she toed at the sand with her big toe, having slipped off her sandals at some point. From the lights from the house and the bonfire, Sven watched her purple toe nail poke in and out of the sand a few times, before he looked back up at her face and caught her gaze.

"What is it, Amelia, is something wrong?"

"Not wrong, it's just...How much do you like me, Sven? Someone, a friend, of mine, not yours, but she's insightful...she told me you're in love with me and I... Are you?" Amelia stammered at first but then blurted it all out, then it looked as if she was holding her breathe, her blue eyes looked terrified as she waited for Sven to answer.

Sven swallowed, he had lump the size of a watermelon in his throat, he was sure of it, he couldn't breath. Only he was breathing, he felt shaky and thought maybe his knees might buckle but he cursed himself inwardly and stayed standing. "I do think, I love you, Amelia," he admitted looking her right in the eye.

~~.~~

Griffin stayed in the shadows, off in the darkness that surrounded the light of the little house. All the Garrets, at least two of Katie's sisters, plus Keith, someone else who had to be from the Garrison Academy with a blonde, who also carried herself like a soldier. Warriors for the future, Griffin thought the base at the back of his skull tingling. Telling him if he wanted too, if he focused, if he cleared his head he could have vision now.

Awake and clear headed. Like anyone would want to do that, Griffin though, only Riff would do such a thing he thought, crazy woman, wishing she had his gift. Gift, he huffed out a breath and he pulled out his flask and downed half it's contents in one fiery swallow of 100 proof grain alcohol.

He pinned his eyes on the man he'd come to see. Lance. He felt like a stalker, but waking up to that damn message that he'd written in some sleep-walking haze, it'd shaken Griffin. He didn't like to be shaken by what he saw. Not at all, hated it, made him feel unsteady, more unsteady than any drug, or any alcohol ever could. Lance was laughing, he was being joined by the other dark-haired solider with his blonde companion. They sat on the same side as him and Keith, across from them was a bigger guy, and kid.

The image stabbed at Griffin, the five of them with a long haired blonde, it wrapped around his skull and it pierced the skin at his temple like a knife, stabbing his brain causing pain and he drank down the rest of his bootleg whiskey before the vision-memory manifested. He wasn't here for that nebulous future. He was here about the now, about checking on Lance, on making sure that damn pretty boy Asian kid was worthy.

They were eating, they were drinking cheap beer, and all of them were laughing. Lance was touching Keith, a hand was always on him. Keith was doing the same, Griffin watched and he felt his heart pound and it felt like wanted leave his chest. Lance was a kid too, he tried to tell himself. A kid, a damn kid he let pick him up because he hot. He was funny, and had a reckless streak. He liked fast things and good sex.

Griffin wasn't supposed to make up patterns in his freckles, he wasn't supposed to tell him a hard and fast truth the night they met and have it end up a lie a month after their first fuck. He wasn't supposed to dream about him as often as he saw visions of him in some sad bleak future where Lance's smile seemed to be the only bright light.

Griffin padded down his pockets for his cigarettes, he pulled one out and lit. He kept watching Lance, the length of his neck, the height of his cheekbones, he could only hear his laugh drifting through the air.

He knew he was safe for now he'd stifled his paranoia. He could leave now, if he didn't he was a fucking stalker. Griffin sighed, he didn't leave, he watched.

~~.~~

Lance grabbed his beer, his stomach was full despite having left a piece of chicken smothered in Hunk's dad's famous blue ribbon winning barbecue sauce on his plate. Keith who had taken very little when they'd gone to get food was eyeing it however. Lance moved the plate in front of him. "I'm full, have it."

Keith grinned at him and took the chicken wing and devoured it, Lance watched with fascination as Keith bit into the meat and a glob of the sauce slid down Keith's chin and stayed there unbeknownst to Keith, who as he swallowed picked up a water bottle and swallowed down a gulp. "Thanks, that was just what I needed to fill me up."

"Fill you up!" Hunk yelled. "Well, hope not too full. There is still dessert!"

Lance grinned as Keith's gave him his wide eyed look, that made him look young and innocent, it was doubly so with barbecue sauce on his chin. "We'll have time to let the food we just eat settle, it's S'mores around the bonfire."

"Oh," Keith said.

Lance leaned forward, which made the space between him and Keith absolute zero and he shifted his position on the bench, so he was straddling it, facing Keith. Keith twisted toward him and he looked into his eyes, silently waiting to see what Lance was up to now. He cupped Keith's face, his hand on the side that was free of sauce. "You have sauce on your chin," he whispered.

Keith started to go for the napkin he had on his lap, but Lance shook his head and pushed his face back toward him, making Keith twist back so he was facing Lance more than anyone else. "No napkin needed," Lance said.

"But.." Keith started to argue.

Lance's mouth pressed against Keith's chin in an open mouthed kiss, his tongue swept out and he licked up the sauce, and pressed a few more kisses and a few more licks against Keith's chin and jaw and then his mouth. All to make sure he got all of the sauce off his face, as he pulled away from Keith's mouth a few minutes later, he smirked.

"Did you get it all," Keith asked, blushing a bit, his head shaking back and forth but he was smiling.

"No, don't think so. Will have to do a full body check, later I think," Lance said. "Hunk, you're sleeping in the den!" he yelled.

"Yeah, no problem, already figured that."

Keith moved closer to Lance and put his head down on his shoulder. "Must you embarrass me in public?"

"If you weren't so hot when your are... Maybe not?" Lance laughed.

Keith grabbed onto Lance's shirt collar and roughly pulled him closer, Lance felt the wind go out of him for second, Keith's mouth hung teasingly at his own, their lips grazing against each others and then Keith moved to whisper in his ear. "Gonna get you back for it."

Hard as rock, Lance stared at Keith, shook his head, then nodded his head and made a decision. "Already did. My turn again," Lance said. He stood up, dragging Keith with him and loudly announced. "We're going to go take a cold shower, together, which may just defeat it's purpose. See you all in about an hour."

Lance quickly then took off, hand locked in Keith's before Keith could process or really respond to what he said, because he had ever attention of following through on what he just said. They hurried up the stairs, through the kitchen and straight into the upstairs bathroom which Lance locked behind him. It was then he turned and faced Keith.

Keith shoved him, Lance hit the door and was surprised when it didn't break against his weight but he had not time to ponder it. Keith was stripping of his shorts, then he fell to his knees. Lance groaned as Keith's mouth swallowed the tip of his dick. "Fuck, yes," Lance muttered, hands going into Keith's hair.

Keith's grip always bordered on being too much, to strong, to heavy handed but it never was. It held the threat though and that turned on Lance, as much as his tongue, his lips and the absolute suction of his throat as he went down and then swallowed up. The grip of his other hand on Lance's hip was too heavy, pressing, pushing and Lance thrust his hips anyway, towards Keith's mouth, thrusting in and Keith swallowed down, hands pressing against Keith's sclap, hands twisting his hair. Keith's hand was bruising the skin of his hip, possibly his hip bone - he didn't know if that was possible - he didn't care. Keith didn't care that Lance was fucking his face either, it was what Keith wanted.

"Yes, yes, swallow me, baby, God. You're so good, so good. Are you sure you aren't some secret cocksucking professional, cause god, Keith... oh, fuck, so fucking good. You're tongue, oh Jesus Christ!"

Keith moved off Lance's dick, stopping the rhythm, ruining the suction and stopping Lance moments before he might of come and Lance groaned. Keith ripped off his shirt, stood up and pushed the sleeve into Lance's mouth. "You just can never shut up, Hunk's parents are in the kitchen and you're loud!"

Lance winked, he wasn't ashamed, he didn't think he knew how to be. Keith shook his head, looking completely serious before he kissed Lance's jawline, down his neck, pushed up his shirt to under his armpits, this kissed his way down the treasure trail below Lance's bellybutton on his pale, freckled flat stomach. Lance moaned, groaned and managed to say, "Fuck," anyway and beg, with his hands and his hips for Keith to get to it and wrap his mouth around his dick again. Eventually, Keith seemed to tire of his treasure trail, and licked his balls, licked his shaft and swallowed him down - it took seconds for Lance to come down Keith's throat.

Lance spit out the shirt, grinned, pushed Keith further into the bathroom, opened a drawer and pulled out a condom. "My tongue's turn, then I'm fucking you against the shower wall."

Keith dropped his shorts and nodded.

~~.~~

He was kissing her. He was kissing Amelia. He, Sven was kissing Amelia.

She tasted like great barbecue, and S'mores, she smelled like fire and strawberries, he thought the strawberries must be the scent of her shampoo. She was kissing him back, she'd opened her mouth to his, allowed his tongue entrance. Sven felt like he was in a dream, he had never thought...

He really thought his chance with her had flitted by. Over and done, he'd only have her friendship and a rare smile from time to time, and her bizarre interest in his best friends love life.

He had to breathe, Sven hated oxygen now and forever. He broke away from her mouth, slowly and unwillingly, he tucked a stray hair of hers behind her ear. He felt the watermelon return to his mouth that had settled there when she asked him if he was in love her on the beach outside Lance McClain's house.

"I had fun tonight," Amelia said, looking at him with a smile, one he'd never seen before. He wanted to memorize it but thought she might think him staring at her for hours to do so strange.

"I too," he said feeling an idiot. "I..."

She put her fingers against his mouth. "Shh, we're together now, just enjoy it, Sven." She opened the door to her dormroom behind her and walked inside backward, then turned and closed to the door.

Together now. He didn't know how this had happened, he didn't know what friend of hers had told her about their take on his feelings, but he was amazed. He'd thought when he admitted he thought he loved her. He did, oh he loved her. She would turn him down. But she said she'd like to see where they could go, then kissed him on the cheek, took his hand and walked them to the table. She'd held his hand all through dinner. Made it hard to eat, but it'd been worth it.

She'd allowed him to kiss her and...

We're together now...

"Wow." Sven turned and walked back to his dorm, happy to know it would be empty. Keith had asked for clothes, he was spending another night at Lance's place. Wouldn't be back until tomorrow, weekdays it wouldn't be smart to spend at his boyfriends. Sven shook his head, thinking about Keith and Lance, they were like two people on a honeymoon all night. Touching, kissing, flirting, running off to have sex...

Sven really hoped he'd never have to gut Lance McClain.