Lee (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
randomling) wrote2008-01-19 03:48 pm
randomling) wrote2008-01-19 03:48 pm
Six Steps To Being A Better Stand-Up 5/6
The fifth part of my SeSa, reposted here for posterity.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
Summary: It's pretty hard to date a guy who thinks you're straight. Part 5 of 6.
Warnings: Boybands, RPF, and sex.
For![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dizmo.
Six Steps To Being A Better Stand-Up
Step Five: Intervention
December 14th
It was almost lunchtime, and Justin was washing his coffee cup and avoiding Chris. Still avoiding Chris, even though everyone, even Trace, had followed Alecia's lead and called him a total chickenshit. He'd expected coming out to Trace to be real hard, but after he'd spent five minutes stuttering out the words, Trace had said that, dude, he knew that already, and asked what the fuck else was new. He'd poured out the whole horrible situation with Chris, and it had been surprisingly like chewing over girl trouble in high school.
The general consensus – from Alecia, Trace, his mom, and even Lance, who by the way he had not asked – was that he should talk to Chris.
“Hey,” said JC's voice from behind him. “How you doing, cat?”
“Good,” said Justin automatically.
“Good. Hey, listen. What's up with you and Chris?”
Justin looked at him, surprised. “Nothing,” he said.
“It's something.” JC leaned past Justin to grab a clean cup. “You guys started out real tight, but this week you've barely talked at all.” Justin developed a little wry smile at that; it was amazing how you could screw things up with someone while barely talking to them. “Did you have a fight?”
“No,” said Justin. This, at least, was the truth.
“You should talk to him, man,” said JC, putting a friendly hand on Justin's shoulder. “Whatever it is, just talk to him, get things straight. Communication is the key. Friendship's based on trust, right?”
“Right,” said Justin.
“So,” said JC. Justin thought he was going to keep talking, but Lance's hands appeared on JC's waist, and JC turned, grinning. “Hi.”
“Hi,” said Lance, grinning too. “Put that away, I'm taking you out for lunch.” Obediently, JC put the cup down and let Lance take his hand. Lance led JC away, only turning back briefly to say, “See you later, Justin.”
Justin finished washing his cup and reluctantly headed back to his desk. By the time he got there, Chris was already heading out with Joey. Justin flung himself into his seat and grabbed his headset.
Talk to Chris. Right.
***
“Justin fucking Timberlake,” Chris said. He swigged back the last of his Coke, wishing there was some kind of alcohol in it. He had to be back at work in twenty minutes, so it probably wasn't a great idea. Opposite him, Joey was eating fries with his fingers and giving him a look.
“Shouldn't you maybe talk to him?” Joey asked. “I mean, the guy kissed you.”
“And then ran off. Fucking cocktease.” Chris rested his elbows on the tabletop and stole one of Joey's fries. “Fucking straight boys.” He glanced across the cafeteria; JC and Lance were in a booth by the window, doing a hell of a lot of giggling and holding hands. That wasn't helping. “Fucking kids,” he added for good measure.
Joey grinned. “So the problem would be you're not fucking anybody? Or that you're not fucking Justin?”
Chris shook his head, looking intently at his empty plate. “I actually like him,” he said. “Heh. God help me.”
“He's a good kid,” said Joey gently. “But, you know. He's eighteen. Give him a break, maybe he's still got stuff to figure out.”
He was taking his time about it; three fucking days, almost, and Justin hadn't said a word that wasn't directly work-related. Chris didn't even know where to begin. “I'm not gonna be his teenage foray into the gay experience,” he said. “You know, the one he tells his girlfriends about to make himself look cool. I did that already, it wasn't fun.”
Joey put a hand on his arm. “I know, man. Hey, I don't want you to get hurt, either, okay?”
“Yeah. I know.” He pulled his arm back and sat back in his seat. “I just,” he waved his hand in the air, grasping at what he wanted to say, “I'm sick of getting screwed around. He's so fucking back and forth, you know, he messes around with Alecia, then he gets all up in my face, and now he's backing off entirely. I don't get it.” Joey was looking at him sympathetically. He gave up, putting his head in his hands.
Joey didn't say anything, just pushed his plate, still half-full of fries, towards Chris. Typical Joe: when in doubt, offer food. Chris shook his head, then thought better of it and grabbed a generous handful, dumping them on his own plate. Joey grinned and grabbed the ketchup, which was a substance Joey was seriously going to drown in one day if he didn't watch out. “Take this as a promise to get you drunk at the party tonight,” Joey said, smiling.
Chris was in the middle of adding salt when Lance's voice said, “Hey.” He looked up: JC was just behind Lance. Chris smiled.
“Hey,” Joey said. “Fries? I have plenty.”
“No thanks, we just ate,” said Lance, sitting down next to Joey. JC took the seat next to Chris, and waved a dismissing hand when Joey pointed at his plate. “Please tell me you're planning to stop making me insane soon,” Lance said.
“Huh?” said Chris.
“You have. To talk. To Justin. Because the two of you, seriously. Either get it on or have a screaming match and kill one another. From a human resources standpoint I prefer the former, but really, at this point, whichever.” Lance folded his arms, speech made.
“Fine,” said Chris. Lance's eyebrows arched elegantly. “Really. Fine. I'll talk to him.”
“Today,” said Lance firmly.
Chris rolled his eyes. “Whatever, dude.”
***
In his defence, the afternoon was insanely busy, so even if he'd wanted to talk to Justin, Chris didn't have the chance. They were both on the phone all afternoon, taking last-minute booking after last-minute booking; Chris barely had time to look Justin's way, never mind say two words to him together. When they finally closed up at six, Chris was dying for a beer or three.
On Christmas party night, nobody was dumb enough to drive: the bar they went to was within walking distance, so Chris left his car in the lot at work, with vague plans in his head to get a cab home or, in an emergency, walk. In a real emergency, he guessed Joey would take him in.
This year, Lance had managed to rent the back room, so they had some space to themselves, not to mention a dance floor of sorts. Chris headed straight for the bar, already reaching for his wallet and hoping to avoid Lance for a little bit. He knew he probably wouldn't have much luck when JC appeared beside him. “Hey.”
“Hey!” said Chris, pleased. “You never come to stuff.”
“Yeah, well,” said JC, smiling. “I figured it was time. Christmas, and so on.”
“Plus, Lance?”
JC grinned hugely. “Plus, Lance. You want a beer?”
“Thanks.”
He sat at the bar with JC a while, drinking and chatting, which was cool: he didn't often get the chance to talk to JC. JC even seemed genuinely interested when, in attempt to keep the topic far away from Justin, he started talking about his stand-up. JC, it turned out, played guitar and sang in coffee houses sometimes, and Chris made the required noises about coming to see him play. He might even do it, he thought; he'd bet good money that sweet, intense JC wrote his own weird-ass songs.
While they were talking, Chris saw Justin coming in. Lance was with him, and looked like he was holding onto Justin tight to keep him from bolting. Chris caught JC's eye and nodded, and JC excused himself to bounce over to Lance, beaming. Chris watched JC and Lance kissing hello – they couldn't have been apart fifteen minutes – and tried to work out how long it had been since he'd had that kind of new-relationship enthusiasm. He didn't even come up with a figure by the time Lance appeared beside him, hanging onto a bewildered-looking Justin with one hand and JC with the other. As if choreographed, Alecia and Joey appeared on his other side. Joey put a heavy hand on his shoulder.
“Okay,” said Chris, perturbed, “what the hell is this?”
“This is an intervention,” Joey said.
“What?” said Justin. He met Chris's eyes, as if maybe Chris could get him out of this, and Chris gave him a helpless look back.
“Chris,” said Lance. “This is Justin. He has a crush on you.”
“Justin,” said Alecia, “this is Chris. He has a crush on you, too.”
“Okay?” said Lance. “Okay. Now please. Stop driving us all crazy and have sex, or something.”
Chris sighed. “Dude, thanks, but this is nothing we didn't already know, so it doesn't really help that much.”
He looked at Justin, who was still looking confused as all hell. Justin said, “You have a crush on me?”
“Um,” said Chris, flustered. “Um, yeah. But listen. I'm not gonna be your straight-boy experiment. Go get laid in a club. Still not helpful, Lance.”
He'd expected Justin to get all deflated and go away, but instead his face cleared and he beamed, hugely. Chris blinked: the thousand-watt Timberlake grin was quite something. “That's not a problem. I'm gay, dude. No interest in girls whatever.”
“Certified,” Alecia said.
Chris looked at her, and she nodded. Justin was still beaming on the edge of his vision. It was like someone had flipped a switch: suddenly nervous, diffident Justin was all poise and confidence. “But you said...”
Alecia thumped him on the shoulder, not gently. “It's called lying.”
“More helpful?” Lance asked, grinning. Chris tried to scowl at him, but was defeated by the fact that he was grinning too, and quite possibly turning bright red. Lance, thankfully, let go of Justin and tugged on JC's hand. “Okay, I think our work is done.” He led JC to the dance floor, and Alecia and Joey melted away too. All of a sudden it was just the two of them. Chris actually bit his lip, suddenly feeling jittery.
“So, uh,” he said, “you want a drink, or...”
“Screw that,” said Justin, and kissed him.
***
This time, Justin didn't break the kiss and run away after a second. Or at all. Chris had time to find out what Justin tasted like, what his mouth felt like, to run his hands up into Justin's curls, to pause for breath and come back at a different angle. Last time, it had been a moment's contact and it had left Chris aching with frustration. Now, he was almost shivering with pleasure. Justin's tongue in his mouth, Justin's hands warm and solid on his waist, Justin's body pulled flush against him: yeah, he could definitely get used to this.
They just stood there, making out at the bar, for a good couple of minutes, before Chris broke the kiss, putting one hand flat on Justin's chest to hold him off a minute. Justin frowned. “Something wrong?”
“No,” said Chris hastily. “I just wanted to check. Are you cool?”
Justin was still holding Chris close enough that he could feel it when Justin relaxed. He grinned. “I'm cool, man. I'm so cool.” He kissed Chris, quickly, but wetly. “This is awesome.”
“Yeah,” Chris breathed. They kissed a little more; Chris slid his hand up from Justin's chest to his throat, stroking gently with his thumb, and Justin shivered appreciatively as Chris pulled back again. “Why the hell didn't you just tell us? I mean, seriously, Nick is straight. And that's it.”
Justin smiled sheepishly and said, “I had no idea.” Chris scoffed. “It's true. Alecia had to tell me Lance was gay.”
They both turned to look at the dance floor, where Lance was bumping and grinding with JC, both of them smiling as they leaned in for a kiss. Chris started to laugh, and Justin joined him, leaning down to rest their foreheads together. Still laughing, Chris decided it would be a great idea to kiss Justin again, and slid his hand around to the back of Justin's neck to pull him down.
“God,” Justin said a little breathlessly when they came up for air. “I seriously thought if anyone found out, Lance would fire me.”
Chris stared. “Don't be an idiot,” he said. But Justin was actually shaking a little, so he reached up to put both arms around Justin's shoulders and kissed him on the cheek. Justin hugged him back. “You're fine, babe,” Chris murmured. “Nobody's firing you. We got you, okay?” He gave Justin a little squeeze and then shifted so that he could grab Justin's hand. “Okay,” he said. “Come on. You're dancing with me – in front of God and everybody.”
He dragged Justin by the hand. Justin started to follow, then froze behind him. “Shit,” he said. “Kevin's here.”
Chris looked, and sure enough, the MD was at the door, talking with Nick. “Bi,” said Chris, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Justin's eyebrows shoot up. “Yes, it's really everybody. Come on.”
Justin put up no further resistance.
***
An hour later, Chris broke for a piss and a drink. When he had beer, he leaned against a pillar to drink it and watch Justin and the others dance: Joey, Lance, and JC.
Justin and JC were dancing like they'd figured out some kind of routine, totally in step, rocking their hips from side to side in perfect time to the music. Nearby, Lance and Joey were all goofy hand gestures and jumping up and down and laughing. Chris had planned on taking his time to drink, maybe do a little mingling, but his resolve broke when Justin, grinning, pointed at him ostentatiously and beckoned. Chris took a hefty swig of his beer and put it on a table he passed on the way to the dance floor, where he took Justin in his arms.
A slow song came on, just at the right moment. They kissed, hard and deep, and then Chris laid his head on Justin's shoulder and they rocked gently to the rhythm of the music. When he opened his eyes briefly, he could see Lance and JC, just standing still and making out. Chris felt great, light-headed and blissed-out and horny all at the same time, and he was entertaining a nice fantasy of pushing Justin up against a wall somewhere and sucking his dick. Still, for now, dancing was great.
The music changed again, and Chris heard Joey let out a whoop over the opening of "Jump Around". He pulled away from Justin, and they ended up in a circle of five, shouting along to the lyrics and jumping enthusiastically in all the right places, punching the air. Even Lance jumped, grinning wildly and mussing his carefully gelled hair. They ended up falling all over each other as the music faded out, laughing and panting. As the next song started, Justin leaned into Chris, murmured that he needed a drink, and vanished.
Chris threw himself into dancing with Joey, missing the warmth of close body contact already. When he danced he always seemed to get lost in it, shaking his butt and not caring what he looked like or who was around him, so it wasn't that weird when Justin seemed to appear out of nowhere, sliding one hand across Chris's stomach, brushing his lips against Chris's ear and then his cheek, and pulling him close. Chris could feel Justin's hard-on pressed against his back. He put his hand over Justin's, then thought better of it and turned around, sliding his hand into the small of Justin's back. That way, Justin could feel that Chris was hard, too. He slid his other hand up Justin's body and tangled it in Justin's birdsnest of curls, guiding him down to kiss him.
They kissed until Justin finally broke away, panting. “Whoa,” he whispered, his breath tickling against Chris's ear. “Fuck.”
Chris smiled. “Having a good time?” he asked.
“Uh... a little too good,” Justin said, a note of embarrassment in his voice.
Chris's answer was to slide his hand down from the small of Justin's back to his ass, applying just a little bit of pressure. Justin's back stiffened, and he made a noise in his throat that might have been trying to be a word. Chris had to take a deep breath in to deal with the thrill that went through him.
He squeezed Justin's ass gently. “Wanna get out of here?”
***
Of course, Chris hadn't booked a taxi, and there were none to be found when he wanted one, which was frustrating as hell when you wanted to get your new boyfriend home as soon as possible. With Justin gripping his hand like that, he really didn't want to have to walk home: he didn't think they'd make it without some serious public indecency on the way. They'd made it back to work, though, and there were, really and truly, no cabs in the whole of downtown Orlando.
They almost walked straight past the parking lot before Chris realized that he was an idiot. He stopped, then tugged on Justin's hand, digging for his car keys. When he thumbed the button and the car unlocked, Justin stopped dead, still holding Chris's hand. “You've been drinking, dude.”
“We're not driving anywhere,” said Chris. Justin made a surprised face, which dissolved into a smile, and then a blush. “Back seat.”
“Uh, okay.”
“Um, if that's all right?”
Justin nodded, and pushed Chris up against the car, kissing him hard to show just how all right it was. Chris fumbled for the door handle and let Justin in first, then scrambled in after him.
While Chris was still closing the door, Justin grabbed Chris's other hand and eagerly sucked two fingers into his mouth. Chris slid the rest of himself towards Justin as soon as he could. They exchanged hungry kisses as Justin sprawled on the back seat and pulled Chris down on top of him. Chris smiled into the kisses: so young, so inexperienced, and already so imperious. He liked it, he thought, kissing down Justin's neck and nipping gently at the skin, which made Justin shudder and run both his hands down Chris's back. He hesitated a moment before slowly sliding just one hand over Chris's ass. Chris hummed his approval, kissing his way back up Justin's neck.
“So,” said Chris gently, “when you said you'd never had sex in a car, was that...?”
“That was true,” said Justin. Chris kissed and then licked under Justin's chin, feather-light, and Justin wriggled underneath him. “Um, wow.”
Chris grinned into Justin's throat. “You ain't seen nothin' yet,” he said. “You ready?”
“Uh huh,” said Justin, his voice a little shaky. Chris bent to nuzzle the top of his chest, then looked up again sharply and moved so that he could look at Justin's face.
“You really want this?” he asked.
Justin looked him right in the eye and said, “God, yes.”
Chris figured that was good enough for him.
***
Justin tipped his head back as Chris moved back to his throat, kissing and licking, moving downward deliciously slow. He strained up to watch what Chris was doing, feeling shivers run up and down his spine, multiplying. Chris was unbuttoning his shirt, button by button, mouth following hands, leaving a trail of tingling pleasure down Justin's chest. The warm weight of Chris's body shifted against his legs, holding him down even as he wriggled in frustration. He moved his hands against Chris's ass, but Chris said, “Mm, just let it happen. You first, babe.” Chris's breath tickled, moving down past his ribs now. Justin sank back against the car door.
Justin had had blow-jobs before, from a couple of high school girlfriends, and he'd always appreciated the favour; the physical side of it was great, even if the part where it was girls had put a damper on things. Now, though, he was dying from the anticipation. He'd been imagining Chris's mouth on his dick for weeks, and with Chris's mouth kissing below his belly button and the crotch of his jeans painfully tight, it was all he could do not to moan with frustration. He couldn't help panting, though, little gasps of excitement as Chris's mouth moved lower. And lower again. And then Chris was dipping two fingers under the waistband of Justin's boxers and extending his tongue underneath, almost to the top of Justin's erection. Justin whimpered and rocked his hips impatiently, and he felt Chris chuckle against him, and that felt pretty incredible too.
Slowly and carefully, Chris unbuttoned and unzipped Justin's fly. Some of the pressure was released, and this time Justin couldn't hold back a moan as Chris wrapped one hand around the base of Justin's cock. After a couple of quick teases with his tongue, making Justin squirm desperately, Chris slid his mouth around Justin's cock and after that Justin just had no chance of keeping quiet. He let out a soft, “Ah, ahhh,” and then he couldn't shut up as Chris worked his tongue, sliding up and down the shaft in a random pattern clearly designed to drive Justin crazy, and sucked. Justin's hands flailed a little, and then found Chris's head. Justin tangled his fingers in Chris's hair and tried not to rock his hips too hard.
It lasted no time at all; way too soon, he felt himself start to lose it. He panted, “Chris... oh, God...” and had to hope that was enough of a warning, because the next thing he knew he was arching up into Chris's mouth, totally out of control, and shouting wordlessly as he let go. Everything went a bit blurry for a moment, and when the world came back, he was tingling all over, sticky with sweat, still breathless; Chris was chuckling into his stomach, sounding happy, and Justin let out a breath of deep, deep satisfaction.
“C'mere,” said Justin indistinctly, waving his hands. Chris, thankfully, took the hint and crawled up Justin's body until they could kiss, soft and very wet, Justin hunting for the hem of Chris's T-shirt with unco-ordinated hands.
***
Justin's hands found their way under Chris's shirt eventually. Still feeling a little dazed, he stroked up and down the curve of Chris's spine with the tips of his fingers. Chris wriggled on top of him and made a little grunting sound. Justin could feel Chris's cock pressing hard into his stomach, very hard indeed. He figured he should probably go down on Chris, return the favour. He felt a bit strange about it; those high school girlfriends hadn't acted like it was a whole lot of fun.
He shifted underneath Chris, sitting up a little, ran his right hand around to Chris's stomach and slid his left down to cup Chris's ass. Chris said, “Mmm,” and Justin kissed him experimentally. Chris put his hands on Justin's neck and kissed back. They kissed for a minute or two, Justin moving his hand slowly up and down Chris's belly until Chris shivered and said, “Fuck, Justin.”
Justin smiled against Chris's mouth and shifted his hand down to squeeze Chris's cock. Chris made a strangled noise, and Justin felt a little warm blush in the pit of his stomach in sympathy. He kissed Chris's mouth again, then under his chin, then the base of his throat. Experimentally, Justin scraped his teeth gently against Chris's neck. Chris moaned loudly, so Justin did it again, grazing his teeth against the skin as he slowly rubbed Chris's cock. “Mm,” he said into Chris's neck, and then he moved his hands long enough to slide Chris's T-shirt over the top of his head and fling it onto the front seat. “Hold on. Um.”
“Fucker,” said Chris, breathless, smiling. He nibbled at Justin's neck.
Justin put his hands on Chris's waist and guided him into a sitting position, back against the car door, then shifted himself so he was lying on his front. He put his hands on Chris's thighs, parting them, bent his head, and Chris said, “Oh, God, J.” Justin felt a little shiver go up his back.
He unzipped Chris's fly and dipped his head down, extending his tongue to lick Chris's cock. Chris made a noise low in his throat, so Justin did it again, this time licking all the way down, over the head and then swirling around and back up again. Chris's hips jerked, and he said, “Oh yeah,” so Justin put his hand around the base of Chris's cock and put his lips around the head.
Slowly, he took more of Chris into his mouth. Chris let out a long, low moan that hit Justin in the pit of the stomach and ran right up his spine and back down again. He had to put his free hand on Chris's hip to steady himself, breathing carefully through his nose, and by the time he'd gotten the angle right he was hard again. His unbuttoned jeans slid down over his hips, but he didn't care about that; he just wanted Chris to make that sound again.
He started out nervous and experimental, sliding his tongue up and down Chris's cock and sucking, gently at first, then applying a little more pressure as Chris whimpered and rocked his hips. When he figured he'd found a rhythm, he picked up the pace a little, and Chris sped up with him, starting to let out little grunts and moans that made Justin wish he had a free hand to touch himself. He kept going, squeezing Chris's hip, licking and sucking and getting used to the taste and smell of Chris's crotch, musky and warm and not at all unpleasant.
He glanced up to look at Chris's face through his eyelashes. Chris had his eyes closed, mouth hanging open, and was breathing loud and ragged in between moans, hands on his chest. Carefully, still moving his tongue, Justin lifted his hand from Chris's hip and grabbed for one of Chris's hands. He guided it slowly down to the top of his own head, wanting to feel the contact. Chris made an approving noise, moved the other hand to join it, and tangled his fingers in Justin's curls. Somehow that just made it right, and Justin concentrated on new experiments with his tongue and his free hand playing with Chris's balls.
The experiments obviously worked, because although Chris lasted a lot longer than Justin had, it still wasn't that long. Justin felt it building, and himself getting harder in anticipation, long before Chris panted, “Justin – I'm gonna,” and started to shake. Justin considered pulling away and letting Chris come on his bare chest, but between not being sure if he'd get the timing right and the mess, decided to just stay where he was. Chris pulled back a little right before he came, but Justin used both hands to hold onto Chris's hips, holding him in place, and the next second Chris let out a cry and came into Justin's mouth. It was really sudden, and Justin almost gagged on the hot fluid that was suddenly in his mouth, but then the initial shock was over and he found he could just swallow once and then slide his mouth off Chris's cock.
And, whoa. Doing that to Chris was just about the hottest thing ever.
Justin sat up, shirt open, cock rock-hard and poking out of his boxers, jeans around his ankles, breathing hard. He looked at Chris, who opened his eyes slowly, as if waking up.
“Yeah,” Chris breathed.
Justin smiled uncertainly. “Was that okay?”
“Okay? Duuude.” Chris's smile was blissful. “You are one talented guy.” He stretched out one hand, but couldn't reach, so he just waved it in the air. “Too far away, sexy boy.”
Justin crawled over and rested his head on Chris's chest. Chris put one hand around Justin's back and the other in his hair, stroking gently. “Hmmm,” said Justin happily.
“Mmm,” said Chris. Justin's dick was nestled between Chris's legs. Chris shifted a little, making Justin shudder. “Hey,” he said, moving his hand from Justin's hair down to his shoulder. Justin could hear the smile in his voice. “Somebody's having a good time.”
Chris shifted again, and Justin sighed with pleasure.
“I wanna make you come again,” said Chris. “I can do fast or slow, baby, just tell me what you want.” Justin had to smile at that as Chris's warm hands slid down his body. Just a few hours ago, that one sentence would have had him tied up in knots, knowing exactly but unable to say it.
Now, though, it was the easiest answer in the world. Justin lifted his head to nuzzle Chris's neck and said, “You.”
Part 6
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
Summary: It's pretty hard to date a guy who thinks you're straight. Part 5 of 6.
Warnings: Boybands, RPF, and sex.
For
dizmo.Six Steps To Being A Better Stand-Up
Step Five: Intervention
December 14th
It was almost lunchtime, and Justin was washing his coffee cup and avoiding Chris. Still avoiding Chris, even though everyone, even Trace, had followed Alecia's lead and called him a total chickenshit. He'd expected coming out to Trace to be real hard, but after he'd spent five minutes stuttering out the words, Trace had said that, dude, he knew that already, and asked what the fuck else was new. He'd poured out the whole horrible situation with Chris, and it had been surprisingly like chewing over girl trouble in high school.
The general consensus – from Alecia, Trace, his mom, and even Lance, who by the way he had not asked – was that he should talk to Chris.
“Hey,” said JC's voice from behind him. “How you doing, cat?”
“Good,” said Justin automatically.
“Good. Hey, listen. What's up with you and Chris?”
Justin looked at him, surprised. “Nothing,” he said.
“It's something.” JC leaned past Justin to grab a clean cup. “You guys started out real tight, but this week you've barely talked at all.” Justin developed a little wry smile at that; it was amazing how you could screw things up with someone while barely talking to them. “Did you have a fight?”
“No,” said Justin. This, at least, was the truth.
“You should talk to him, man,” said JC, putting a friendly hand on Justin's shoulder. “Whatever it is, just talk to him, get things straight. Communication is the key. Friendship's based on trust, right?”
“Right,” said Justin.
“So,” said JC. Justin thought he was going to keep talking, but Lance's hands appeared on JC's waist, and JC turned, grinning. “Hi.”
“Hi,” said Lance, grinning too. “Put that away, I'm taking you out for lunch.” Obediently, JC put the cup down and let Lance take his hand. Lance led JC away, only turning back briefly to say, “See you later, Justin.”
Justin finished washing his cup and reluctantly headed back to his desk. By the time he got there, Chris was already heading out with Joey. Justin flung himself into his seat and grabbed his headset.
Talk to Chris. Right.
***
“Justin fucking Timberlake,” Chris said. He swigged back the last of his Coke, wishing there was some kind of alcohol in it. He had to be back at work in twenty minutes, so it probably wasn't a great idea. Opposite him, Joey was eating fries with his fingers and giving him a look.
“Shouldn't you maybe talk to him?” Joey asked. “I mean, the guy kissed you.”
“And then ran off. Fucking cocktease.” Chris rested his elbows on the tabletop and stole one of Joey's fries. “Fucking straight boys.” He glanced across the cafeteria; JC and Lance were in a booth by the window, doing a hell of a lot of giggling and holding hands. That wasn't helping. “Fucking kids,” he added for good measure.
Joey grinned. “So the problem would be you're not fucking anybody? Or that you're not fucking Justin?”
Chris shook his head, looking intently at his empty plate. “I actually like him,” he said. “Heh. God help me.”
“He's a good kid,” said Joey gently. “But, you know. He's eighteen. Give him a break, maybe he's still got stuff to figure out.”
He was taking his time about it; three fucking days, almost, and Justin hadn't said a word that wasn't directly work-related. Chris didn't even know where to begin. “I'm not gonna be his teenage foray into the gay experience,” he said. “You know, the one he tells his girlfriends about to make himself look cool. I did that already, it wasn't fun.”
Joey put a hand on his arm. “I know, man. Hey, I don't want you to get hurt, either, okay?”
“Yeah. I know.” He pulled his arm back and sat back in his seat. “I just,” he waved his hand in the air, grasping at what he wanted to say, “I'm sick of getting screwed around. He's so fucking back and forth, you know, he messes around with Alecia, then he gets all up in my face, and now he's backing off entirely. I don't get it.” Joey was looking at him sympathetically. He gave up, putting his head in his hands.
Joey didn't say anything, just pushed his plate, still half-full of fries, towards Chris. Typical Joe: when in doubt, offer food. Chris shook his head, then thought better of it and grabbed a generous handful, dumping them on his own plate. Joey grinned and grabbed the ketchup, which was a substance Joey was seriously going to drown in one day if he didn't watch out. “Take this as a promise to get you drunk at the party tonight,” Joey said, smiling.
Chris was in the middle of adding salt when Lance's voice said, “Hey.” He looked up: JC was just behind Lance. Chris smiled.
“Hey,” Joey said. “Fries? I have plenty.”
“No thanks, we just ate,” said Lance, sitting down next to Joey. JC took the seat next to Chris, and waved a dismissing hand when Joey pointed at his plate. “Please tell me you're planning to stop making me insane soon,” Lance said.
“Huh?” said Chris.
“You have. To talk. To Justin. Because the two of you, seriously. Either get it on or have a screaming match and kill one another. From a human resources standpoint I prefer the former, but really, at this point, whichever.” Lance folded his arms, speech made.
“Fine,” said Chris. Lance's eyebrows arched elegantly. “Really. Fine. I'll talk to him.”
“Today,” said Lance firmly.
Chris rolled his eyes. “Whatever, dude.”
***
In his defence, the afternoon was insanely busy, so even if he'd wanted to talk to Justin, Chris didn't have the chance. They were both on the phone all afternoon, taking last-minute booking after last-minute booking; Chris barely had time to look Justin's way, never mind say two words to him together. When they finally closed up at six, Chris was dying for a beer or three.
On Christmas party night, nobody was dumb enough to drive: the bar they went to was within walking distance, so Chris left his car in the lot at work, with vague plans in his head to get a cab home or, in an emergency, walk. In a real emergency, he guessed Joey would take him in.
This year, Lance had managed to rent the back room, so they had some space to themselves, not to mention a dance floor of sorts. Chris headed straight for the bar, already reaching for his wallet and hoping to avoid Lance for a little bit. He knew he probably wouldn't have much luck when JC appeared beside him. “Hey.”
“Hey!” said Chris, pleased. “You never come to stuff.”
“Yeah, well,” said JC, smiling. “I figured it was time. Christmas, and so on.”
“Plus, Lance?”
JC grinned hugely. “Plus, Lance. You want a beer?”
“Thanks.”
He sat at the bar with JC a while, drinking and chatting, which was cool: he didn't often get the chance to talk to JC. JC even seemed genuinely interested when, in attempt to keep the topic far away from Justin, he started talking about his stand-up. JC, it turned out, played guitar and sang in coffee houses sometimes, and Chris made the required noises about coming to see him play. He might even do it, he thought; he'd bet good money that sweet, intense JC wrote his own weird-ass songs.
While they were talking, Chris saw Justin coming in. Lance was with him, and looked like he was holding onto Justin tight to keep him from bolting. Chris caught JC's eye and nodded, and JC excused himself to bounce over to Lance, beaming. Chris watched JC and Lance kissing hello – they couldn't have been apart fifteen minutes – and tried to work out how long it had been since he'd had that kind of new-relationship enthusiasm. He didn't even come up with a figure by the time Lance appeared beside him, hanging onto a bewildered-looking Justin with one hand and JC with the other. As if choreographed, Alecia and Joey appeared on his other side. Joey put a heavy hand on his shoulder.
“Okay,” said Chris, perturbed, “what the hell is this?”
“This is an intervention,” Joey said.
“What?” said Justin. He met Chris's eyes, as if maybe Chris could get him out of this, and Chris gave him a helpless look back.
“Chris,” said Lance. “This is Justin. He has a crush on you.”
“Justin,” said Alecia, “this is Chris. He has a crush on you, too.”
“Okay?” said Lance. “Okay. Now please. Stop driving us all crazy and have sex, or something.”
Chris sighed. “Dude, thanks, but this is nothing we didn't already know, so it doesn't really help that much.”
He looked at Justin, who was still looking confused as all hell. Justin said, “You have a crush on me?”
“Um,” said Chris, flustered. “Um, yeah. But listen. I'm not gonna be your straight-boy experiment. Go get laid in a club. Still not helpful, Lance.”
He'd expected Justin to get all deflated and go away, but instead his face cleared and he beamed, hugely. Chris blinked: the thousand-watt Timberlake grin was quite something. “That's not a problem. I'm gay, dude. No interest in girls whatever.”
“Certified,” Alecia said.
Chris looked at her, and she nodded. Justin was still beaming on the edge of his vision. It was like someone had flipped a switch: suddenly nervous, diffident Justin was all poise and confidence. “But you said...”
Alecia thumped him on the shoulder, not gently. “It's called lying.”
“More helpful?” Lance asked, grinning. Chris tried to scowl at him, but was defeated by the fact that he was grinning too, and quite possibly turning bright red. Lance, thankfully, let go of Justin and tugged on JC's hand. “Okay, I think our work is done.” He led JC to the dance floor, and Alecia and Joey melted away too. All of a sudden it was just the two of them. Chris actually bit his lip, suddenly feeling jittery.
“So, uh,” he said, “you want a drink, or...”
“Screw that,” said Justin, and kissed him.
***
This time, Justin didn't break the kiss and run away after a second. Or at all. Chris had time to find out what Justin tasted like, what his mouth felt like, to run his hands up into Justin's curls, to pause for breath and come back at a different angle. Last time, it had been a moment's contact and it had left Chris aching with frustration. Now, he was almost shivering with pleasure. Justin's tongue in his mouth, Justin's hands warm and solid on his waist, Justin's body pulled flush against him: yeah, he could definitely get used to this.
They just stood there, making out at the bar, for a good couple of minutes, before Chris broke the kiss, putting one hand flat on Justin's chest to hold him off a minute. Justin frowned. “Something wrong?”
“No,” said Chris hastily. “I just wanted to check. Are you cool?”
Justin was still holding Chris close enough that he could feel it when Justin relaxed. He grinned. “I'm cool, man. I'm so cool.” He kissed Chris, quickly, but wetly. “This is awesome.”
“Yeah,” Chris breathed. They kissed a little more; Chris slid his hand up from Justin's chest to his throat, stroking gently with his thumb, and Justin shivered appreciatively as Chris pulled back again. “Why the hell didn't you just tell us? I mean, seriously, Nick is straight. And that's it.”
Justin smiled sheepishly and said, “I had no idea.” Chris scoffed. “It's true. Alecia had to tell me Lance was gay.”
They both turned to look at the dance floor, where Lance was bumping and grinding with JC, both of them smiling as they leaned in for a kiss. Chris started to laugh, and Justin joined him, leaning down to rest their foreheads together. Still laughing, Chris decided it would be a great idea to kiss Justin again, and slid his hand around to the back of Justin's neck to pull him down.
“God,” Justin said a little breathlessly when they came up for air. “I seriously thought if anyone found out, Lance would fire me.”
Chris stared. “Don't be an idiot,” he said. But Justin was actually shaking a little, so he reached up to put both arms around Justin's shoulders and kissed him on the cheek. Justin hugged him back. “You're fine, babe,” Chris murmured. “Nobody's firing you. We got you, okay?” He gave Justin a little squeeze and then shifted so that he could grab Justin's hand. “Okay,” he said. “Come on. You're dancing with me – in front of God and everybody.”
He dragged Justin by the hand. Justin started to follow, then froze behind him. “Shit,” he said. “Kevin's here.”
Chris looked, and sure enough, the MD was at the door, talking with Nick. “Bi,” said Chris, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Justin's eyebrows shoot up. “Yes, it's really everybody. Come on.”
Justin put up no further resistance.
***
An hour later, Chris broke for a piss and a drink. When he had beer, he leaned against a pillar to drink it and watch Justin and the others dance: Joey, Lance, and JC.
Justin and JC were dancing like they'd figured out some kind of routine, totally in step, rocking their hips from side to side in perfect time to the music. Nearby, Lance and Joey were all goofy hand gestures and jumping up and down and laughing. Chris had planned on taking his time to drink, maybe do a little mingling, but his resolve broke when Justin, grinning, pointed at him ostentatiously and beckoned. Chris took a hefty swig of his beer and put it on a table he passed on the way to the dance floor, where he took Justin in his arms.
A slow song came on, just at the right moment. They kissed, hard and deep, and then Chris laid his head on Justin's shoulder and they rocked gently to the rhythm of the music. When he opened his eyes briefly, he could see Lance and JC, just standing still and making out. Chris felt great, light-headed and blissed-out and horny all at the same time, and he was entertaining a nice fantasy of pushing Justin up against a wall somewhere and sucking his dick. Still, for now, dancing was great.
The music changed again, and Chris heard Joey let out a whoop over the opening of "Jump Around". He pulled away from Justin, and they ended up in a circle of five, shouting along to the lyrics and jumping enthusiastically in all the right places, punching the air. Even Lance jumped, grinning wildly and mussing his carefully gelled hair. They ended up falling all over each other as the music faded out, laughing and panting. As the next song started, Justin leaned into Chris, murmured that he needed a drink, and vanished.
Chris threw himself into dancing with Joey, missing the warmth of close body contact already. When he danced he always seemed to get lost in it, shaking his butt and not caring what he looked like or who was around him, so it wasn't that weird when Justin seemed to appear out of nowhere, sliding one hand across Chris's stomach, brushing his lips against Chris's ear and then his cheek, and pulling him close. Chris could feel Justin's hard-on pressed against his back. He put his hand over Justin's, then thought better of it and turned around, sliding his hand into the small of Justin's back. That way, Justin could feel that Chris was hard, too. He slid his other hand up Justin's body and tangled it in Justin's birdsnest of curls, guiding him down to kiss him.
They kissed until Justin finally broke away, panting. “Whoa,” he whispered, his breath tickling against Chris's ear. “Fuck.”
Chris smiled. “Having a good time?” he asked.
“Uh... a little too good,” Justin said, a note of embarrassment in his voice.
Chris's answer was to slide his hand down from the small of Justin's back to his ass, applying just a little bit of pressure. Justin's back stiffened, and he made a noise in his throat that might have been trying to be a word. Chris had to take a deep breath in to deal with the thrill that went through him.
He squeezed Justin's ass gently. “Wanna get out of here?”
***
Of course, Chris hadn't booked a taxi, and there were none to be found when he wanted one, which was frustrating as hell when you wanted to get your new boyfriend home as soon as possible. With Justin gripping his hand like that, he really didn't want to have to walk home: he didn't think they'd make it without some serious public indecency on the way. They'd made it back to work, though, and there were, really and truly, no cabs in the whole of downtown Orlando.
They almost walked straight past the parking lot before Chris realized that he was an idiot. He stopped, then tugged on Justin's hand, digging for his car keys. When he thumbed the button and the car unlocked, Justin stopped dead, still holding Chris's hand. “You've been drinking, dude.”
“We're not driving anywhere,” said Chris. Justin made a surprised face, which dissolved into a smile, and then a blush. “Back seat.”
“Uh, okay.”
“Um, if that's all right?”
Justin nodded, and pushed Chris up against the car, kissing him hard to show just how all right it was. Chris fumbled for the door handle and let Justin in first, then scrambled in after him.
While Chris was still closing the door, Justin grabbed Chris's other hand and eagerly sucked two fingers into his mouth. Chris slid the rest of himself towards Justin as soon as he could. They exchanged hungry kisses as Justin sprawled on the back seat and pulled Chris down on top of him. Chris smiled into the kisses: so young, so inexperienced, and already so imperious. He liked it, he thought, kissing down Justin's neck and nipping gently at the skin, which made Justin shudder and run both his hands down Chris's back. He hesitated a moment before slowly sliding just one hand over Chris's ass. Chris hummed his approval, kissing his way back up Justin's neck.
“So,” said Chris gently, “when you said you'd never had sex in a car, was that...?”
“That was true,” said Justin. Chris kissed and then licked under Justin's chin, feather-light, and Justin wriggled underneath him. “Um, wow.”
Chris grinned into Justin's throat. “You ain't seen nothin' yet,” he said. “You ready?”
“Uh huh,” said Justin, his voice a little shaky. Chris bent to nuzzle the top of his chest, then looked up again sharply and moved so that he could look at Justin's face.
“You really want this?” he asked.
Justin looked him right in the eye and said, “God, yes.”
Chris figured that was good enough for him.
***
Justin tipped his head back as Chris moved back to his throat, kissing and licking, moving downward deliciously slow. He strained up to watch what Chris was doing, feeling shivers run up and down his spine, multiplying. Chris was unbuttoning his shirt, button by button, mouth following hands, leaving a trail of tingling pleasure down Justin's chest. The warm weight of Chris's body shifted against his legs, holding him down even as he wriggled in frustration. He moved his hands against Chris's ass, but Chris said, “Mm, just let it happen. You first, babe.” Chris's breath tickled, moving down past his ribs now. Justin sank back against the car door.
Justin had had blow-jobs before, from a couple of high school girlfriends, and he'd always appreciated the favour; the physical side of it was great, even if the part where it was girls had put a damper on things. Now, though, he was dying from the anticipation. He'd been imagining Chris's mouth on his dick for weeks, and with Chris's mouth kissing below his belly button and the crotch of his jeans painfully tight, it was all he could do not to moan with frustration. He couldn't help panting, though, little gasps of excitement as Chris's mouth moved lower. And lower again. And then Chris was dipping two fingers under the waistband of Justin's boxers and extending his tongue underneath, almost to the top of Justin's erection. Justin whimpered and rocked his hips impatiently, and he felt Chris chuckle against him, and that felt pretty incredible too.
Slowly and carefully, Chris unbuttoned and unzipped Justin's fly. Some of the pressure was released, and this time Justin couldn't hold back a moan as Chris wrapped one hand around the base of Justin's cock. After a couple of quick teases with his tongue, making Justin squirm desperately, Chris slid his mouth around Justin's cock and after that Justin just had no chance of keeping quiet. He let out a soft, “Ah, ahhh,” and then he couldn't shut up as Chris worked his tongue, sliding up and down the shaft in a random pattern clearly designed to drive Justin crazy, and sucked. Justin's hands flailed a little, and then found Chris's head. Justin tangled his fingers in Chris's hair and tried not to rock his hips too hard.
It lasted no time at all; way too soon, he felt himself start to lose it. He panted, “Chris... oh, God...” and had to hope that was enough of a warning, because the next thing he knew he was arching up into Chris's mouth, totally out of control, and shouting wordlessly as he let go. Everything went a bit blurry for a moment, and when the world came back, he was tingling all over, sticky with sweat, still breathless; Chris was chuckling into his stomach, sounding happy, and Justin let out a breath of deep, deep satisfaction.
“C'mere,” said Justin indistinctly, waving his hands. Chris, thankfully, took the hint and crawled up Justin's body until they could kiss, soft and very wet, Justin hunting for the hem of Chris's T-shirt with unco-ordinated hands.
***
Justin's hands found their way under Chris's shirt eventually. Still feeling a little dazed, he stroked up and down the curve of Chris's spine with the tips of his fingers. Chris wriggled on top of him and made a little grunting sound. Justin could feel Chris's cock pressing hard into his stomach, very hard indeed. He figured he should probably go down on Chris, return the favour. He felt a bit strange about it; those high school girlfriends hadn't acted like it was a whole lot of fun.
He shifted underneath Chris, sitting up a little, ran his right hand around to Chris's stomach and slid his left down to cup Chris's ass. Chris said, “Mmm,” and Justin kissed him experimentally. Chris put his hands on Justin's neck and kissed back. They kissed for a minute or two, Justin moving his hand slowly up and down Chris's belly until Chris shivered and said, “Fuck, Justin.”
Justin smiled against Chris's mouth and shifted his hand down to squeeze Chris's cock. Chris made a strangled noise, and Justin felt a little warm blush in the pit of his stomach in sympathy. He kissed Chris's mouth again, then under his chin, then the base of his throat. Experimentally, Justin scraped his teeth gently against Chris's neck. Chris moaned loudly, so Justin did it again, grazing his teeth against the skin as he slowly rubbed Chris's cock. “Mm,” he said into Chris's neck, and then he moved his hands long enough to slide Chris's T-shirt over the top of his head and fling it onto the front seat. “Hold on. Um.”
“Fucker,” said Chris, breathless, smiling. He nibbled at Justin's neck.
Justin put his hands on Chris's waist and guided him into a sitting position, back against the car door, then shifted himself so he was lying on his front. He put his hands on Chris's thighs, parting them, bent his head, and Chris said, “Oh, God, J.” Justin felt a little shiver go up his back.
He unzipped Chris's fly and dipped his head down, extending his tongue to lick Chris's cock. Chris made a noise low in his throat, so Justin did it again, this time licking all the way down, over the head and then swirling around and back up again. Chris's hips jerked, and he said, “Oh yeah,” so Justin put his hand around the base of Chris's cock and put his lips around the head.
Slowly, he took more of Chris into his mouth. Chris let out a long, low moan that hit Justin in the pit of the stomach and ran right up his spine and back down again. He had to put his free hand on Chris's hip to steady himself, breathing carefully through his nose, and by the time he'd gotten the angle right he was hard again. His unbuttoned jeans slid down over his hips, but he didn't care about that; he just wanted Chris to make that sound again.
He started out nervous and experimental, sliding his tongue up and down Chris's cock and sucking, gently at first, then applying a little more pressure as Chris whimpered and rocked his hips. When he figured he'd found a rhythm, he picked up the pace a little, and Chris sped up with him, starting to let out little grunts and moans that made Justin wish he had a free hand to touch himself. He kept going, squeezing Chris's hip, licking and sucking and getting used to the taste and smell of Chris's crotch, musky and warm and not at all unpleasant.
He glanced up to look at Chris's face through his eyelashes. Chris had his eyes closed, mouth hanging open, and was breathing loud and ragged in between moans, hands on his chest. Carefully, still moving his tongue, Justin lifted his hand from Chris's hip and grabbed for one of Chris's hands. He guided it slowly down to the top of his own head, wanting to feel the contact. Chris made an approving noise, moved the other hand to join it, and tangled his fingers in Justin's curls. Somehow that just made it right, and Justin concentrated on new experiments with his tongue and his free hand playing with Chris's balls.
The experiments obviously worked, because although Chris lasted a lot longer than Justin had, it still wasn't that long. Justin felt it building, and himself getting harder in anticipation, long before Chris panted, “Justin – I'm gonna,” and started to shake. Justin considered pulling away and letting Chris come on his bare chest, but between not being sure if he'd get the timing right and the mess, decided to just stay where he was. Chris pulled back a little right before he came, but Justin used both hands to hold onto Chris's hips, holding him in place, and the next second Chris let out a cry and came into Justin's mouth. It was really sudden, and Justin almost gagged on the hot fluid that was suddenly in his mouth, but then the initial shock was over and he found he could just swallow once and then slide his mouth off Chris's cock.
And, whoa. Doing that to Chris was just about the hottest thing ever.
Justin sat up, shirt open, cock rock-hard and poking out of his boxers, jeans around his ankles, breathing hard. He looked at Chris, who opened his eyes slowly, as if waking up.
“Yeah,” Chris breathed.
Justin smiled uncertainly. “Was that okay?”
“Okay? Duuude.” Chris's smile was blissful. “You are one talented guy.” He stretched out one hand, but couldn't reach, so he just waved it in the air. “Too far away, sexy boy.”
Justin crawled over and rested his head on Chris's chest. Chris put one hand around Justin's back and the other in his hair, stroking gently. “Hmmm,” said Justin happily.
“Mmm,” said Chris. Justin's dick was nestled between Chris's legs. Chris shifted a little, making Justin shudder. “Hey,” he said, moving his hand from Justin's hair down to his shoulder. Justin could hear the smile in his voice. “Somebody's having a good time.”
Chris shifted again, and Justin sighed with pleasure.
“I wanna make you come again,” said Chris. “I can do fast or slow, baby, just tell me what you want.” Justin had to smile at that as Chris's warm hands slid down his body. Just a few hours ago, that one sentence would have had him tied up in knots, knowing exactly but unable to say it.
Now, though, it was the easiest answer in the world. Justin lifted his head to nuzzle Chris's neck and said, “You.”
Part 6