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They fell into a dance of sorts over the passing weeks. A sort of routine they'd figured out for themselves. Triggered by a hard gaze or a nudge of a knee, the other boys needs translated in a matter of a second, the urgency to get off dealt with in a matter of minutes. Link bit his tongue over the words too many , too many times had his cheeks or Rhett's been tinged pink out of embarrassment or arousal or uncertainty. Too many times had he been left feeling used and unfulfilled. Too many times had he almost spilled the thoughts he'd been harbouring for weeks to his better half and too many times he swallowed the words down. Too many, too many, too many . He shook his head at himself where he sat on the sidelines of his soccer game, willing his thoughts to quieten as his teammates scowled at his sudden inability to kick a ball. Rhett hadn't been able to make it to this game tonight, and yes, it threw Link off as it always did when he missed his games. Though...it could have been the lingering memory of his last game and the events that followed it. It could have definitely been the words Rhett had uttered to him quietly at the end of the school day when he told him he couldn't make it . "I'll make it up to you, bo." Link felt a shiver down his spine as he sucked in a shaky breath, the soccer game ending without his contributions. Fortunately they won by a graze, though it hadn't stopped Link from averting his gaze from his teammates as he made his way off the field.
Each passing day seemed like another layer of anxiety that never seemed to dissipate. The fact of the matter was that, as frighteningly psychotic it seemed to be, Link freakin’ loved every second of it. He loved that the most troubling thing in his life right now was whether or not Rhett would help get him off that day. He loved that all he had to do was ask for Rhett's mouth on his dick and he would get it. He loved the illusion of power he held over Rhett in his most vulnerable moments. He loved watching Rhett fall apart beneath his hands and mouth and God he
loved
Rhett. Loved him.
Link had learned to stop flinching at those words. Because he'd always loved Rhett. He'd loved him in the scent of the forest and crayons and cornfields. In sleepovers and horror movies and junk food. Now he just loves him in the
"Oh, God, Rhett, fuck!"
kind of way, too. Which makes Link scratch his head in a moment of insanity where he parked his car outside of Rhett's house. It was late, he knew that, and Mama Di would send him off had he invited himself inside. Rhett's house was big, but not that big, he’d be able to sneak into Rhett’s window undetected as he had many times before.
Link pulled the key out of ignition as he stared up at the home that felt second to his own, the flickering of a television dancing on the curtains, a basketball ring by the post out the front. The house screamed innocence at Link as his years of memories and friendship lay in front of him. And he was...what, exactly? Going to climb into Rhett’s window and suck him off in the dark, unbeknownst to the family who were only ever good to him? He huffed a shaky breath before smirking and exiting his car. That’s exactly what I’m gonna do.
He memorised his way around Rhett’s families thicket of bushes, familiarised now with the alternative entrance. After some crawling and stepping over obstacles, he reached his destination and smiled at the image before him, peering through the curtains. Rhett was hunched over on his bed, unmistakably puzzled by an open book in front of him, typical of himself to cram the night before a pop quiz. Link giggled quietly, an ounce of weight lifted from him he didn’t realise was there since he’d last seen Rhett, before reaching out to knock quickly on the window. Rhett jumped in surprise, his head whipping toward the window in fear, the shocked look on his face quickly shaping into relief at the sight of Link. Link held his hand up in greeting, which Rhett responded to by walking over and opening his window for Link to climb inside.
“Link, buddy.” he smiled as Link attached himself to Rhett, hugging his middle tightly. “Hey.”
Link inhaled not so subtly before mumbling his hello to Rhett, which made the taller boy laugh.
“What’s going on? Is everything alright?” Rhett whispered, bringing a hand down rub soothing circles into the brunettes back, tension rippling away from both of them at the contact.
“Yeah,” Link finally said after a while, pulling back to look Rhett in the eye. “Missed you.”
Rhett blushed a little before shaking his head.
“I..uh, missed you too.” he smiled, glee obvious on his face. “Really, though? What’s wrong?”
Link moved away to pace Rhett’s room, thoughts whirring. He came here with a plan, didn’t he? But now he was here...with multiple options presented to him. He could ask for what he came for...or demand something more.
“We won,” Link said, exasperated. Rhett looked confused at first, unsure of what Link was referring to, but perked soon enough at this.
“I knew you would! Congrats, man!” he exclaimed, wailing his arms around excitedly.
Link sighed, planting his butt on Rhett’s bed and rubbing his eyes dramatically. He opened them to look at the taller boy who watched him expectedly, a rush of anxiety washing over him.
“Let me rephrase that,” he cleared his throat. “My team won, I was on the sidelines the entire game.”
Rhett moved his homework to the floor to sit beside him, not saying anything, allowing Link to speak.
“I was...running around like an idiot, I tried to kick the ball and I tripped. I freakin’ tripped, man!”
Rhett laughed lightly before Link shot him a stern look, to which he pursed his lips and nodded knowingly.
“They sat me down, made me watch. Fair enough. But they might kick me out of the finals…” Link worried his lower lip between his teeth, that thought only just occurring to him now. This isn’t why he was here. He needed to get to the point.
“What happened out there?” Rhett pressed, leaning in, intrigued by Link’s sudden insecurity.
Link closed his eyes as he swam through his thoughts, the words too many and love and fear tingling irritably.
“I’m off my game...more often than not, these days. I..uh.” He cleared his throat. “I have a lot on my mind.”
Rhett hummed, a faux sense of understanding flooding him.
“Ah...you need me to…?”
“No, that’s not -” Link spluttered, immediate confusion taking over his mind. I mean, yes, obviously yes!
“That’s not why I came here,” he continued. Yes, yes it is!
Grey eyes examined him fitfully, just as confused as Link.
“Then...why?”
Link gulped, a slave to his own words, his own actions. His eyes darted to Rhett’s soft lips and back to his eyes, which were mirroring what his own were doing.
He leaned in gently, placing a careful hand on Rhett’s thigh, a familiar action in an unfamiliar setting. Rhett’s warm breath washed over his face, still as ever, waiting.
When their lips connected for the first time, it was followed with a warm hand at Link’s neck, which helped him melt further into the man in front of him, feeling quickly dizzily overwhelmed. They parted only to catch their breaths, before Rhett darted a tongue out and traced Link’s lips, which fell open wider to allow entrance. He groaned at the sensation of Rhett’s tongue against his own, gripping his hand on his thigh tightly.
“Rhett,” he whimpered as Rhett moved to kiss along Link’s jaw, mouthing down his neck. He felt his pulse quicken as his blood rushed south, and he panicked.
A firm hand shoved Rhett backward before he stood from the bed and begun retreating to where he’d entered.
“Link,” Rhett whispered. “I’m sorry...I didn’t…”
Link shook his head quickly to dismiss Rhett’s concerns, the taller man looking absurdly small on the bed Link had left him.
“No...I gotta…I’m sorry. I gotta go home. It’s late...I…it’s okay. I’m okay. I…” he moved swiftly to push open Rhett’s window.
“I…” he couldn’t finish his thought before a hand wrapped warmly around his wrist, anchoring him to the room. “Please don’t leave,” Rhett begged quietly.
Link didn’t move from where he stood, staring blankly out at the yard, unsure of what to do, how to react. He couldn’t even place why he was so freaked out…but this wasn’t right. It can’t be.
“Link?” Rhett urged, pulling him gently backward. He stepped forward to close the window, still holding Link close to him. Link refused to speak, despite the words he wanted to shout at the man keeping him trapped in a nightmare he had started.
“Shit, Link.” Rhett groaned, looking to his friend helplessly. Link turned his head to the man beside him, fear and anxiety painted as plainly on his face as it was on his own.
“I gotta go,” Link said calmly. “Mom’s...mom’s gonna be worried.” Despite his words, Link made no further movements toward the window.
“You can’t keep running from me, Link!” Rhett hissed sharply, his voice lowered for the sake of his family throughout the house.
The smaller of the two yanked his arm from Rhett’s grip at the venom in his words, suddenly angry. What right did Rhett have to dictate what he did? What right did Rhett have to even attempt to place a name to his actions?
“I’m not running,” Link spat. “I’m trying to make this right,”
The look on Rhett’s face transformed into one of anger himself.
“And you think comin’ all the way down here just to kiss me and leave is making this right ?”
A sudden bump from outside Rhett’s door startled both of them, and Link moved again to leave, no real answer for Rhett he could provide.
“We had an agreement,” Link reminded him. “No feelings.”
Rhett laughed humorlessly as he watched his friend open his window one last time.
“Come back when you’ve taken a damn good long look at yourself, Link.” Rhett resigned, a fire burning behind his eyes. Link didn’t think he had a plan to.
Link climbed out, not willing once to glance back into the room, into Rhett’s fiery eyes, and made for sprinting across the yard, stealth be damned.
He drove with a plan to get home before his Mom got really worried, but allowed himself to be taken where the road wanted him, unable to calm his beating heart, unable to quell his thoughts. He couldn’t grasp what had just transpired, and wasn’t sure if he wanted to. Wasn’t sure how to fix it.
Tomorrow was a new day.
He wondered if it would feel that way.