David woke up alone. Davi didn’t seriously sneak out to go sleep on the couch, did he? He looked at the bed, the blankets had been pulled back, the space beside him was still warm. He placed his hand on the empty space, absorbing that warmth. Clearly if Davi snuck out it couldn’t have been terribly long ago. He inhaled softly, taking in the slight lavender scent on Davi’s pillow. He wondered where Davi might have wandered off to when he realized the shower was on. That made sense, Davi sometimes still had not quite dry hair in the mornings at school. He listened, curious if Davi was the type to sing in the shower or if he just focused on what he had to accomplish and got out. Or did he use it as an opportunity for privacy? Especially since David had crashed in his room last night.
How did he do it? Did he lean forward and press his head to the tile, or lean back and let his head rest? Or maybe it was neither, he’d spotted a bathtub, maybe he laid down as he did it. Did he use his left or right hand?
Why the hell was he thinking about this so much and why was it getting him harder?
David heard the shower turn off. Oh, right duh Davi probably didn’t want to spend the whole day in there. He rolled over onto his stomach, the last thing he needed was for Davi to see and get the wrong idea, morning wood just happened sometimes! It didn’t mean anything. Davi came in with a towel wrapped around his hips, damn he was just as bony as David figured he was. His scars were more vibrant from the hot water,
“Oh, you’re up,” Davi said.
He meant awake but David felt a wave of shame rush over him nonetheless, “Yeah I uh, just woke up, I can roll over while you get changed though.” Please God don’t make him get up, there would be no denying his state and explaining it in a normal way would be nearly impossible.
“Yeah if you wouldn’t mind. Sorry I was thinking you’d sleep in a bit more.” He looked apologetic, covering his chest with one hand as best he could.
“No worries man, I mean it's your room.” He glanced at his chest, “Also you don’t have to cover your scars around me unless you want to. I already told you I think they make you look badass.”
“You’re too nice, now turn around,” Davi said in a jokingly authoritative voice.
David complied with the order a little too willingly. He didn’t like the way Davi even jokingly ordering him around was so appealing. He stared at the wall and thought neutral thoughts. Math, snails, anything but naked women or Davi saying he was “up”. He didn’t have terribly long to get his biological impulses under control before Davi said he could turn back around,
“I’m decent.”
“Oh come on you’re at least a 7/10,” David joked as he turned around.
Davi blushed, he was wearing a tank top and jeans, “Hey…Listen not gonna lie it strokes my ego when you say stuff like that but.” He swallows, “If the other day is just gonna be a one off please don’t?”
“Oh, right yeah my bad.”
“Don’t beat yourself up too bad.” Davide sat on the edge of the bed.
“My dad usually does that for me.”
“David?” Davi looked at him with naked concern.
“A joke! A joke, um. Mind if I take a shower real quick?”
“Be my guest, even more than you already are.” The concern was very clearly still in Davi’s eyes. Thankfully it was enough to let David stand up without embarrassment. He made his way to the shower and washed all of yesterday’s confusion off as well as take care of the tail end of his “morning problem” he just let his mind wander to whatever it wanted to, he’d psychoanalyze himself later. He had to put the same clothes he’d slept in back on. It was fine, they more than passed the sniff test. He drew a little smiley face in the mist on the mirror.
Davi was waiting outside his bedroom,
“You want some breakfast leftovers?”
“Oh fuck yeah man!”
Davi nodded towards the kitchen and led him there. Nicolette and Martin were also eating what remained from the Chinese feast the night before.
“Do you think you’ll be staying tonight as well?” Martin asked.
“Oh no, I’ll probably leave after lunch,”
“Probably for the best, I don’t know if you’re a church family but we go every Sunday,” Nicolette said.
“Oh no we do too, I’m surprised we haven’t seen you at Mass.”
“Must go to a different church than us I guess.” Davi shrugged.
“I guess so, anyway thanks for letting me stay over, and for the leftovers. I’m gonna head out now.”
David walked out of the house, the car unlocked with a beep. He felt a light tap on his shoulder, he turned around and saw Davi standing behind him,
“Hey, you had a good time right?” Davi had that same shyness that just seemed so weird on him. David put his hands on his shoulders,
“Of course I did man, I would’ve gone home a helluva lot sooner if I didn’t.”
“Good I just, you know, wanted to make sure.”
David squeezed his narrow shoulders, “Well I had a great time man…we still on for this weekly movie thing?”
Davi blinked a few times, “I’d really like that, yeah.”
“Cool, see you Monday bro,” He clapped Davi’s shoulder and got into his car. He started the really not long drive at all back to his place. Most eventful thing was spotting a cat sitting on top of the neighbors fence as he pulled into the driveway. The garage door was closed this time so David parked outside, he’d have to move it later since dad left the house before he did but to be fair to him, his dad took his spot not the other way around! He parked his car and did the usual routine of taking his shoes off in the laundry room. He plopped his backpack in the living room and nodded at his parents on the sofa,
“Hey dad we’re gonna have to swap spo-”
“Where have you been?” His father interrupted,
“Sorry, must’ve lost track of time at Davi’s,'' he shrugged, it was only like noon, not super late.
“For two days? Without even asking?” Armand sounded skeptical.
David glanced at his father, and then at his mother sitting on the couch, “I texted Mom. She said it was okay…”
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Armand stepped in between David and his mother, “Your mother does not make the rules in this house, I do.”
“Armand, it was just a sleepover, honestly calm down,” Eunice said.
“You didn’t tell me where he was!” He turned to yell at her.
“You didn’t even ask,” She retorted.
David took their brief moment of distraction to slip upstairs to his room to put his stuff away. He had a new text from Davi,
“This weekend was fun! Hope u got home safe. See u monday!”
He smiled and texted him back, “Yea just got home I had a gr8 time, see u monday :)”
“David? Get your ass down here!” Dad called from downstairs.
David sighed and put his phone away, he knew he couldn’t avoid the fallout forever but he’d hoped for at least five minutes of respite. He padded down the stairs. His Dad had his arms crossed over his chest and was sitting next to Mom on the couch, Mother had refilled her wine while David was upstairs,
“That’s not your shirt,” It was not a question.
Oh shit, David had completely forgotten about that. He glanced down at the shirt, it was one of Davi’s edgy bands. No way he could pass it off as his own and Dad clearly wouldn’t have believed him about it anyway.
“Davi lent it to me,” He explained.
“Before or after he screwed you like a girl?”
David’s jaw dropped, “What the hell? Dad, we didn’t that’s disgusting!”
“Then why are you wearing his shirt?”
“Because since I didn’t plan on staying over I didn’t bring extra clothes! Would you rather I’d slept shirtless?”
A vein started bulging in his father’s neck, “Did you sleep in the same bed as that pervert?”
Yes. “No, I slept on the couch like a normal person Dad!”
“You’re a bit old for sleepovers, aren’t you? Did you even actually sleep?”
“Stop, we are not fucking doing this,” He did not often get terse with his father, and he sure as shit never swore at him. But Jesus Christ he did not want to hear whatever vile shit his father was about to spew about Davi. He was a good guy and didn’t deserve that, even if he would never hear it himself.
“Don’t you swear at me you little shit! Tell me the goddamn truth did you fuck that little faggot?”
“No, I did not fuck my friend because I am not gay Dad, and neither is Davi,” Not a lie! Davi said he liked girls too! Checkmate Dad!
“Did he fuck you? Or make a pass at you?”
“No, he didn’t because he’s normal and we’re friends!” He snapped, “But God Dad how do you think I would feel if my friend had actually molested me and then you started shouting at me about it?”
“That you’d man up and tell me the truth.”
“Armand that is quite enough!” Eunice got to her feet, her cheeks flushed either with alcohol or indignation, “I am not going to stand here and listen to you eviscerate our son over a simple sleepover I said he could go on. You’re making a mountain out of a molehill and frankly, I don’t like you speculating on the sexuality of a child we’ve met a grand total of one time.”
“Teenagers fuck darling, you of all people should know that,” He sneered.
“Not the point.”
David did the math a while ago, his dad was eighteen when he met his mother, who would have been fourteen at the oldest. He tried his best not to think about the implications but it was a bit hard when she’d had him a few weeks after her eighteenth birthday. Armand squinted at him,
“Go do your damn homework. And you’re not getting out of church this sunday so don’t even think about it!”
David almost made a snide remark on how he was a lot more likely to get fondled by a priest than by his best friend but he held his tongue. He turned around and went back up to his room. He took Davi’s shirt off and tossed it aside, putting one of his own on without even doing a sniff test. His homework situation really wasn’t that intense, but he stayed in his room till it was time for dinner anyway, just seemed like the safer bet.
Dinner was tense and quiet, but that was the usual. The only sound was occasionally Eunice topping off her wine or Armand chewing a bit too loud.
“So David, anything interesting going on at school?” Eunice asked.
“Shirley has a big track meet coming up, we’re gonna go to Leroy’s afterwards the four of us.” David said, this was safe territory, Shirley? Sports? Burgers? All normal teenage boy discussion topics. He’d apparently let his guard down too much,
“Four of you? Its always been a trio, you Shirley and the dweeb.”
“Well yeah, Davide is invited too, him and Shirley are mad tight.” Maybe if he emphasized Davi’s connection to Shirley Dad wouldn’t freak as bad.
“I don’t know if I’m a huge fan of this Davide fellow. He seems a bit gay,” His father said as he poured himself a glass of wine. Goddamnit he couldn’t catch a break.
David felt the pins and needles you get from your foot falling asleep throughout his entire body. Pain all over, he had to stop this topic. He had to stop picturing Davide’s mouth on his. It was an experiment, a one-time thing. It didn’t mean anything,
“He’s not though, we’ve been over this. I wouldn’t be friends with him if he was,” He said quickly.
“He just seems to like you a bit too much for it to be normal.”
“He’s never had real friends before. Makes sense he’d go a little overboard,” David said, praying his dad would take the bait.
“That’s a bit pathetic, isn’t it? Sixteen-year-old boy, who’s never made a friend before?” He quirked an eyebrow at him.
“I mean, they moved like every year and he was homeschooled…it makes sense,” David felt himself withering under his father’s scrutiny.
“You seem quick to defend him,”
“Because he’s my friend? And a really good one at that?”
His father stared at him for a moment. David knew he couldn’t possibly know but he still couldn’t shake the feeling that he did anyway. How the hell could he spin it? Davide hadn’t even been the one to initiate it so he couldn’t blame it on that. Fuck.
“Just don’t let him confuse you,” He said firmly.
Well too fucking late on that front but thank you for playing our game Dad!
“How about we invite them over for dinner? We can all get a chance to get to know the whole family better,” Mother volunteered.
David and Armand were both so shocked at Eunice’s suggestion they were silenced.
“Way I see it darling you’re getting a bit, intense because you don’t know this boy like we know David’s other friends. Well, why don’t we fix it instead of getting into fights over the dinner table? Behave like civilized people for once?” Her thin toothy smile was as tense as always. David wasn’t sure he had ever seen a relaxed smile from his mother in his entire life.
Armand sighed, “Fine, we’ll invite the fag and his parents for dinner. Happy?”
“Yes, in fact, I am dear,” Eunice sipped her wine.