Seth awoke some time later, confused and disoriented by his surroundings. He saw nothing but white when he opened his eyes, but after a moment he realized that he was curled up under a lofty down comforter of the same color that was completely covering his head. He yawned and pushed the covers back, and a shiver ran through him when the colder air met his skin.
"Hey now, you stay under there...your temperature isn't quite back up to normal yet," a voice said from across the room. Seth rubbed his eyes, still not entirely sure of where he was, but when his vision finally started to clear up he saw Roman in the doorway holding a tray of steaming hot tea. "I thought this might snap you out of it...I know how you love this smell," he said with a smile.
Seth rubbed his eyes and inhaled deeply. "Mmm, green tea...you remembered."
"Of course I did," Roman replied, setting the tray down and pouring a cup for each of them. "I know everything about you," he said, holding a fragrant mug out and motioning for Seth to take it.
Reaching out with shaky hands, Seth took it from him, being careful not to spill it. "But we haven't had a tea party since I was a little kid...and I thought you only did that because I wanted to," he said, smirking over the rim of the teacup.
"I did...at first," Roman answered, sitting down on the edge of the bed and tucking the covers around the younger boy a bit tighter. "But seeing you so happy made me happy...and, I don't know, after what happened, I guess I realized I can't take seeing you unhappy."
"After what- ...oh," Seth started to ask, but cut himself off when his memory came back to him with a jolt. His cheeks flushed and he looked away, ashamed. "I'm sorry. I'm so awful. I don't deserve this."
"Hey...shhh...stop it," Roman interrupted, shaking his finger at Seth in admonishment. "I'm here. You don't need to worry about anything." He leaned forward and wrapped Seth up in a warm hug, sighing in relief. "Just let me take care of whatever you need, ok?"
Seth gulped, his heart suddenly thumping loudly in his ears. "Uhm...ok."
Whoa. He's squeezing pretty hard.
Pulling back, Ro looked at Seth again, eyes zeroing in on his mouth. He tilted his chin up with a fingertip and leaned in close. "Oh- that reminds me...there's something I've been wanting to ask you," he said, his voice becoming hushed as his lips came even closer.
Wait...he's not gonna...
"What happened to your face?" Roman inquired, squinting and cocking his head to the side to examine the scrape on Seth's chin. "You didn't get that from being out in the cold. I noticed it before...when you were...uh...earlier," he said, silently cursing himself for bringing it up again.
Another jolt shot through Seth's body as he recalled the incident in question. There was no way he was going to tell Roman about D and the things he had been doing. And he definitely wasn't going to tell him the things D had been saying he wanted to do. The whole thing was beyond humiliating, and the last thing Seth wanted was for Roman to find out he was being relentlessly harassed because of his apparent lack of manliness.
"I'm fine. It's nothing," Seth replied, reflexively pushing Ro's hand away and taking another sip of tea.
Roman looked unconvinced. "How's school going? Everything ok there?" he asked, probing for more information.
"I said, it's fine. School's fine. Everything's just fine, alright? Jeez..." Seth snapped back at him, annoyed that he was so close to the truth so quickly. He was also shaking a bit more than before, but now more from nervousness than the temperature. "I think I'm gonna go back under here for a while, if that's ok," he said, pulling up on the edge of the comforter and setting his cup on the bedside table. "I'm still cold."
"Well, it's pretty late, and...uh...you're kinda in my bed, soooo..." Ro hinted vaguely.
Seth yanked the covers back over his head and said in a small voice, "Sooo...what?" His heart thrummed as he waited anxiously for a response.
Please don't get in here...Please don't get in here...Please get in here...
"So, you're still cold, and I've got plenty of body heat to spare. Shove over," Roman said, whipping his shirt off over his head and flinging it somewhere behind him, leaving himself clad only in a pair of loose sweatpants. He crawled under the covers, keeping the comforter up over their heads, and settled in next to Seth, who was curled up in a ball with his eyes squeezed shut.
"What's the matter? Hey, look at me," Ro said, running a hand through the other's wavy hair. "Are you ok with me being in here? I don't want you to feel uncomfortable."
"No, it's just that-" Seth began to respond, his eyes opening to see Roman leaning over him with a concerned look on his face. "I don't want to...well, you know...what happened before. You're gonna end up thinking I'm some kind of pervert."
Roman chuckled. "Why, just because you came in front of me?"
More like I came because of you...
Seth's face reddened. "Uhm...yeah. That. I'm so ashamed."
"Well...if that makes you a pervert, then I must be an even bigger pervert," Ro said, pulling Seth over onto his back and leaning in even closer. "Because I want to see it again." He brought his head down and kissed the younger boy languidly, running a large hand up underneath the t-shirt Seth was wearing and circling his finger over a small, pert nipple.
Whaa...oh my god, that's his tongue. It's in my mouth...
Ro pulled back slightly, planting a row of kisses up the side of Seth's neck. "But this time, I want it to be on purpose."