For the most part, things between Craig and Damien remain uneventful in the following days after the park incident. At least, that's how Craig sees it. The incident had been pushed to the back of his mind by this point, as the conversations with Damien were pretty tame. Sometimes they'd talk during school lunches, and sometimes they'd talk after school for a while, until one of them took their leave.
Kenny though, seemed to be keeping his distance again. Although he'd give some kind of acknowledgement to Craig, he'd always seem to come up with some sort of excuse to avoid hanging out with them again—or Damien, Craig supposed. Damien didn't seem too bothered by it though, and thought it best to just let Kenny be for now.
"So tell me Craig, are you free after school tomorrow?" Damien asks.
"Uhhh, yeah?" Craig replies.
The two were currently sitting on a bench outside by the school.
"Great," Damien smiles.
"Why?"
"I was just going to ask if you wanted to come over is all."
"Oh, okay."
"I'm glad to hear that," Damien hums, "there's something I'd like to ask you then as well."
"What is it?"
"Oh no, not here, I'll ask you about it tomorrow."
"Why not now?"
"I don't think asking here would be the most appropriate place."
There's something behind Damien's smile after saying that, that only makes Craig wonder even more what he means. But he lets it be, figuring he'd find out the answer soon enough.
When the next day arrives, Craig finds himself having a familiar topic of conversation at lunch with his friends.
"So Craig, what's up with you and the gothic-vampire?" Clyde asks.
"Huh?" Craig replies, utterly confused.
"He's talking about Damien," Token clarifies.
"Oh, nothing much," Craig replies.
"Nothing much?" Clyde repeats.
"Yeah," Craig nods.
"So there's nothing going on between you two then?" Clyde asks.
"Between—no! We're just friends Clyde, goddamn."
"You two seem awfully close for 'just friends'," Clyde squints.
"Clyde," Craig deadpans.
"I'm just telling you my observations," Clyde says, then looks at Token, "I'm sure you can see it as well, right Token?"
"I'm not touching this subject," Token replies flatly.
"There, see?" Clyde says, as if he made some kind of point.
Craig sits in silence, looking at Clyde bask in all his prideful idiocy, before letting out a sigh and running a hand down his face.
"Clyde, just eat your food," Craig tells him.
"There's no use hiding it man, I got a sense for these things," Clyde says, seeming almost proud, before taking a bite of food.
Craig shakes his head and ignores him. He didn't know how or why Clyde came to this conclusion, but wasn't surprised either, since this was Clyde. He pushes the whole exchange to the side and changes the topic to something else.
The end of the day arrives and Craig meets up with Damien before walking to his place. The walk there is quiet for the most part, with only small talk here and there. It's not awkward or anything, although Craig does sense something a bit different in Damien's demeanor, compared to the previous day. However, when they arrive at Damien's, things seem to progress like usual and Craig thinks that it was probably nothing.
They sit in the living room, on the couch, and chat while Damien drinks some tea.
"Did I tell you that Kenneth came over the other day?" Damien asks.
"He did?" Craig asks, surprised.
"Yes, it went well, for the most part."
"For the most part?"
"Well, he knocked over some tea by accident onto me, and seemed rather upset by it."
"Oh…"
Craig pauses in thought. He'd wondered what caused Kenny to go over in the first place, especially since he seemed so against it before. Was the tea incident that happened during the visit the reason why he was avoiding Damien again? Surely not. Unless, there was something else being left out? He didn't know.
"By the way," Craig starts, his memory now recalling yesterday's conversation, "what did you want to ask me?"
"Hm?" Damien hums, taking a sip of tea.
"You know, that question you wanted to ask me, but couldn't because it wasn't the 'most appropriate place to' yesterday?"
"Oh that, it's nothing."
Craig looks at him, blankly.
"Nothing?" Craig repeats, "Wasn't it the whole reason why you wanted me here in the first place?"
"It was, yes. But I do not wish to ruin the nice atmosphere right now."
"Ruin? Is it something bad?"
"No, not particularly. Although I guess it could depend on how you see it."
Now Craig was really confused. Why did Damien even bring it up to begin with, if he wasn't going to ask him what the question was? All this talking around it made Craig aggravated, concerned and overly curious, just wanting the dumb thing to be asked.
Craig's eyes narrow in frustration at Damien.
"Do you really want to know that much?" Damien asks, seeming amused.
"I mean, I'm here aren't I? Just ask me whatever it is you want to, so we can move on already."
Damien puts his drink down onto the table then.
"Alright then, since you want to know that much," Damien says and faces Craig, "although, it's not so much a question, as it is a request."
"A request?" Craig repeats, arching a brow.
"Yes."
"Well, what is it?" Craig asks. There's a pause as Damien's eyes close. Silence begins to linger, "Damien?"
"I want you to…" Damien starts, his eyes slowly opening, "kiss me."
The words don't fully process in Craig's mind right away. At least, not until they've replayed a few times. Only then, is he able to grasp them.
"Oh I get it. You're just messing with me," Craig says.
It's the only thing that he could think of it being. Because there was no possible way that—
"No Craig. I can assure you that I am far from 'messing' with you about this."
Craig is ready to retort back, but the expression on Damien's face causes him to stop. It's only then does it really start to sink in, and suddenly there's a hot flare burning across his face.
"Wait—what!? W-why do you want—" Craig tries to speak, but the words get caught in his throat.
"I'm curious, you could say."
"Curious?"
"Yes. Curious to know if whether you've really improved or not."
The flare spreads to Craig's ears.
"Damien, that was—we're not—things have changed! We can't just—"
"It's alright if you're too afraid to."
"I'm not afraid," Craig replies, a bit too quickly.
"Oh really?"
"Yes. It's just that…"
"Just what?"
"We just can't—"
"Why not?"
"Well we're…"
"Hmmm?"
"I…"
Craig's gaze drops, his words getting lost in the rising heat of his face. He didn't know how to respond.
"My, so much overexertion over a kiss," Damien chuckles, "if it causes you this much stress, we don't have to do it. Like I said before, it was only a request. I won't force you to do something you don't want to Craig. Nor expect you to answer, as much as I'd like to hear one," Damien faces away and grabs his drink once again. Craig keeps his gaze elsewhere and remains silent however. "Seems the atmosphere is ruined now," Damien sighs. He glances over at Craig when there's no response from him for a good minute or so, "Craig?"
"Just one?" Craig murmurs.
"Hm?"
"Just one kiss?" Craig asks and looks at him.
Damien seems surprised by this as he puts his drink back down.
"If that's all you want," Damien replies, with a small smirk.
He faces towards Craig again and starts to lean in closer, causing Craig to quickly glance away. Craig hadn't really guessed what possessed him to say that, but also couldn't find a real reason to say no either, as Damien had pointed out to him. It's not like he or Damien were currently seeing anyone, and it was only a kiss. What harm could it do? Besides, if it quelled Damien's curiosity, so that he wouldn't ask about it again, Craig figured he could just get this done and over it.
"Fine," Craig finally says and looks back.
His heart nearly stops when realizing just how close Damien is to him now.
"Well?" Damien asks, "Whenever you're ready."
The flare spreads across Craig's body in an instant then, and a beating fills his eardrums. The sound of his racing heartbeat turns into the only thing that he can focus on. His nerves take over, and because of it—he doesn't fully register his lips making contact with Damien's, until the other lets out a small muffled laugh.
"Wh-what!" Craig stammers.
"Nothing, nothing. Just that was so quick and fast, that," Damien starts to laugh.
"Why are you laughing!" Craig exclaims, his face getting more heated.
"I'm sorry, but it was just, really adorable."
" What! " Craig yells, sounding mildly-offended.
"I'm sorry," Damien says again, calming down, "but it seems like there hasn't been any improvement at all, if this is the case."
"What—no! I want a redo!"
"Oh?" Damien says, arching a brow.
"That—that isn't how I actually kiss now!"
"Oh, it's not?" Damien asks, "So are you implying it was quick because I made you that nervous?"
"No…" Craig murmurs.
"Then please, show me how you kiss now," Damien says and leans in a bit.
Truth be told, Craig had no idea why he was having such a hard time with this. He'd kissed plenty of other guys before with no problem, so he couldn't understand why this was so hard for him. Sure, there were a few times that he got nervous for them, but none of them ever got this bad—or sweaty for that matter. Even compared to back then… It wasn't this bad. So what the hell was going on!
Slowly, Craig leans towards Damien, but stops a couple inches away from him. He lingers there, his eyes not fully closed yet, unlike Damien's. There's something filling the gap between them, something that was causing his heart to race and the flare to burn intensely under his skin. It's thick, and reminds Craig of two opposing ends of magnets in a way. Like he really has to push through whatever this strange barrier is. He could just be overthinking it, but the moment his bottom lip makes the briefest of contact with Damien's, he recognizes what it is.
Tension.
Very thick tension. For the moment his upper lip makes contact as well, it's like the push is suddenly shifted to pull and Craig finds himself pressing hard against his lips. The kiss quickly turns heated once Damien starts to kiss back. Breaths are exchanged, lips are bitten and Craig's arms quickly find themselves wrapping around Damien's neck and pulling him closer. His hands find their way through Damien's hair, as Damien's own hands slide up his thighs. Craig moans into his mouth as they slide under his shirt, and up his sides. The scent and taste of tea fills Craig's senses as Damien presses harder against him. Warm , Craig finds. Damien felt so warm. But a much different kind of warmth then what he'd felt back at the park.
Damien's hands grip Craig's hips then and Craig quickly finds himself lying on his back on the couch and Damien now on top of him. Damien manages to maneuver himself between Craig's legs at some point and the sudden friction of heat starts to swell there. The kiss deepens and Craig now finds himself moaning around Damien's tongue. Their bodies pressing against one another in back and forth motions, creating such an intense heat for Craig that he can't help but want to moan because of it. His body was on fire. Especially between his thighs, where Damien's body lies.
A tight hot coil begins to form in his lower abdomen and it makes him push his hips up against Damien's, who in turn presses down harder against him. Damien's hands grip Craig's hips again as he adjusts himself. This time Craig now found his hips elevated onto Damien's thighs and something hard pressed against his ass. It starts to grind against it as Damien's hands slide back under his shirt, causing Craig to shudder from the nails trailing along his sides.
Everything is hot, so very hot, enough to almost make Craig feel as though he may melt. His groin especially was hot and he thought it could erupt at any moment. Damien's hands then move down Craig's sides, leaving behind a trailblaze sensation as they do. His fingers reach the top of Craig's pants and lightly his nails drag across Craig's abdomen, causing Craig to shudder immensely and release a sharp moan. However, when they hook under the button of Craig's jeans and pop it free, Craig's eyes shoot open and he pushes Damien's shoulders away.
"Wa-wait!" Craig pants, "This—I think things are moving way too fast right now. We should probably stop before things, um… escalate more."
Damien pushes away from him a bit and looks at him. It's only then does Craig feel a rush of cold air hitting his skin when realizing that his shirt had been pushed all the way up, fully exposing his entire torso. There's a look in Damien's eyes as he watches him, that makes his heart race. Even more so as his eyes slowly travel down his body. They fall onto his groin and Craig feels a very noticeable twitch against his ass, before they flick back up to his face. For a few seconds, Craig doesn't think Damien will actually listen and just keep going, causing his insides to swirl.
"Yes…" Damien finally says, and moves off of him, "I think you're right. Stopping here would be best."
Damien faces his tea again and picks it up.
"I should uh, probably get going," Craig says, and picks up his hat that got discarded in the whole thing.
"Yes. I think that would be best." Damien agrees, taking a sip.
His eyes glance back over at Craig again, still filled with that same look. They travel to Craig's abdomen and lower, causing Craig to quickly button his pants back up and fix his clothes.
"I'll uh, be going then," Craig mumbles and gets up.
"Oh, and by the way Craig," Damien says, stopping Craig just as he readies to exit the room. "You're right, things have changed. You've certainly improved quite a bit since then."
There's a smile that plays along Damien's lips and something in Craig burns. He quickly looks away again and rushes out of the room. He doesn't even put his jacket or boots on properly, just throws them on as fast as possible, with his bag, before rushing out of the house and making his way home.
Images of what happened flood his mind well into the night. He'd never experienced such a thing like that before—even with previous partners, none of it came close to what he'd just gone through with Damien. Craig isn't sure what to feel, or think… This had been the first in a very long time, since there was something this new and uncharted in his life.
The distant words Damien had said to him on that cold park day start to resurface while he shuffles through his thoughts. A slow creeping realization comes up when going over the events that happened. His insides swirl. Damien most likely meant it that way when he had asked him to come over back then.
There's a pause as he reaches for the bottom of his shirt, recalling what happened the last time. His heart races a bit, when he finds light red scratches and crescent shapes scattered about his torso under it.
"He left marks again…" he mumbles to himself.
His eyes fix onto the scratches and crescents left around his lower abdomen area. They make his insides dance into a coil and he quickly pulls his shirt back down.
He didn't need to take down a second tent.