Because - Part 4
blahblahblah
hi
more...fic.
I'm trying to FINISH IT
but it's like
idk
it wants to get LONG.
So I guess I'll make this my priority for a while.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
No one said anything for a solid ten minutes as they all ate their omelets, tension so thick a huff and a puff would blow the house down, so to speak. Nick shifted and took Joe’s hand under the table. Joe had kissed him in front of the others. True, Nick hadn’t left him with many options and let go of Joe’s hand, realizing why he’d snapped like that. He stood up and went to the refrigerator and grabbed the orange juice before taking a glass from the cabinet and pouring some in. He swallowed it all rather quickly, aware of everyone’s eyes on him.
“Blood sugar,” he said with a shrug and it seemed to break the tension. Everyone relaxed at how absolutely normal that was and he said, “Wanna play basketball? Two on two?” Joe flashed him a grateful smile for trying to act like they hadn’t just come out to their friends and Garbo shrugged.
“Yeah,” Jack said, finishing the last few bits of egg on his plate before getting up and dumping it in the sink. Garbo followed and Jack added, “Let me go change.”
“Ready whenever you are…” Garbo said and put his plate in the sink as well.
Nick rolled his eyes and moved them to the dishwasher as Joe came up behind him with the other two plates. Jack was gone and Garbo was looking in the fridge for something, avoiding looking at Joe and Nick. “I’ll get that…” Joe said.
“Nah. You cooked, I can clean.” He felt the press of Joe’s chest against his back, arms wrapping around his waist and lips against his cheek. “Mmm, hi…”
Jack walked in and shook his head at the scene in front of him, now wearing shorts and a tank top rather than pajamas. “Oh, right,” he turned to Garbo and held out his hand. “Pay up.”
Garbo rolled his eyes and reached into his pocket, pulled out a twenty and slapped it into Jack’s hand hard. “What were you two betting on?” Joe asked.
“You,” Jack said with a shrug. “I told him this would happen.” Nick blushed and put the dishes Joe had placed on the counter into the dishwasher before closing it and pulling out of Joe’s grasp.
~*~*~
The four of them were out in the driveway playing basketball, Joe and Nick against the other two. “Pass here!” Jack called and Nick tensed just as Garbo threw the ball. But Joe pulled a miraculous jump and swatted at the ball, making it swerve in Nick’s direction. He grabbed it and dribbled closer to the net, hesitating as Garbo closed in on his right. Jack was blocking Joe effectively and Nick couldn’t see another way out. He stopped, faked a pass and Garbo fell for it, lunging to get between the two siblings and Nick took a shot.
It hit the rim before bouncing against the backboard and falling in. “Oooh,” he taunted, “Nick J. for the epic three-pointer!” He smacked Joe’s hand and grinned when that same hand went down and slapped him on the ass, making something deep inside him ache with memory and he gasped, half in pain and half pleasure.
“Get a room,” Jack scoffed, and Nick shook both his head and the feeling off, passing the ball to Garbo.
“Your ball,” he said simply and Garbo went off to the side, passing it in to Jack.
“This isn’t a fair game,” Garbo complained as Jack passed the ball back to him and Nick pressed into Jack’s space, Joe attempting to steal the ball from Garbo.
“Yeah, you two shouldn’t be allowed to be on the same team, you practically read each other’s minds…”
“Hey…it’s not our fault we work well as a team,” Joe said, swiping and missing the ball and Garbo took off down the pavement towards the hoop, jumping and making a layup.
“I think it’s because,” he said, passing the ball to Nick who caught it with both hands. “They’ve known each other for so long.”
“Nah,” Jack said, “That’s not the only reason.” He shifted his shoulders and Nick heard a crack and Jack said, “Better. Your ball.”
Nick tossed it to Joe who was already out of bounds and got ready, watching Joe carefully. His older brother paused, taking off his t-shirt, sweat gleaming on his skin and Nick swallowed hard. It was hot out, and it felt good, but he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t wanted to take off his own shirt for at least the past half hour. It was drenched in sweat, anyway, and he felt pretty gross. Joe noticed him looking and smirked just before he threw the ball.
Nick tensed, Joe had thrown a little high and he had to jump to catch it, the rubber almost slipping from his grasp but he managed to hold on. Joe trotted back onto the driveway from the grass watching the opposition as Nick began to dribble. Just as he got close to Jack he bounced the ball down through his legs and heard Garbo curse when Joe must have caught it, and then Joe was a blur of skin and gray sweatpants as he took off down the driveway, stopping and tossing the ball toward the hoop.
The orange ball made the net swish in a way that made Nick a little envious but he shook it off, grabbing his water bottle from the ground and taking a long sip.
Nick tossed it back to the ground after securing the cap and got ready for another round, Jack tossing the ball in to Garbo. He stole the ball right out from Garbo’s hands and ran for it, ball bouncing strategically on the pavement.
He heard a car pull up to the side of the road and noticed it was Ryan, who would have parked in the driveway but he didn’t want to interrupt their game. “Hey!” Nick called, jumping a bit as he neared the hoop and nailing a layup. He caught the ball and said, “Okay. I’m done,” leaning over and breathing heavily, hands on his knees.
“Oh, come on, you guys are only up by…like…twenty?” Jack complained, but he, too was out of breath and sweaty. They all grabbed their water bottles from the side of their makeshift court and drank deeply before sitting on the steps at their front door. Ryan sat down with them and Jack asked, “How was your game?”
Ryan shrugged and said, “We lost, barely. The other team had a grand slam at the end.” They all cringed in understanding and Garbo patted Ryan on the shoulder sympathetically. Everyone aside from Ryan was a sweaty mess, because Ryan had probably showered in the locker room. “Is anyone else hungry?” he asked and they all made generic noises of consent.
“M’not cooking,” Joe said lazily, muffled because his mouth was pressed to Nick’s shoulder. Everyone laughed and he sat up, “I’m serious. Let’s order pizza or something.”
“Sure,” Jack said and got up, opening the door and grabbing the phone on his way to the living room.
Garbo yelled, “I call dibs on first shower,” which made the other three groan. Even though there was more than one shower in the house, if they ran more than one at a time neither shower would be very hot.
“Hold on,” Jack said into the receiver, “Second!” Nick smiled at the disgruntled look on Joe’s face and Jack added in their direction, “Sorry…didn’t wanna risk you two taking too long,” with a wink and Nick blushed as he realized Jack’s insinuation. Jack turned back to the receiver and ordered a large pie, extra cheese and gave his credit card number.
“Let me know when the pizza’s here!” Ryan said and headed for his own room. “Gonna check my email and go play WoW.” Ryan was a World of Warcraft geek and this meant that he’d spend a few seconds deleting junk mail before going online and be a Wizard for a while. Nick knew Joe liked to play DnD, and sometimes he’d played with Joe but neither ever got into online gaming. They heard the shower turn on near Joe’s room. They didn’t all have private bathrooms, Joe had just managed to get the master bedroom and therefore had his own, so Garbo was showering in the bathroom across from Joe’s room.
About five minutes later, Ryan came back into the living room, face white just as they heard the water turn off. He, Joe and Jack were all sitting on the couch watching TV and Ryan said, “Uh…” he looked at Nick and Joe specifically and then away. “I need to talk to you…” Joe stiffened and Nick got up slowly, pulling Joe up with him as they followed into Ryan’s room.
He looked uncomfortable even though it was his room and Nick didn’t realize Jack had followed until he spoke, “You okay, man?”
Ryan took a deep breath and said, “I might have to quit,” eyes wide and alarmed. The monitor of his desktop was dark and everyone kinda stared at him, waiting for more of an explanation. “I got this nasty email from my dad…asking me all sorts of weird questions like if I was gay, if the Jonas’ boys were bad influences. I know you two have always been,” he hesitated and Nick began to freak out. “Close,” he finished carefully. “I never said anything because you’re my friends and you’re awesome but…when my dad starts asking questions…He seemed honestly worried about me being around you two especially. And then he mentioned how he didn’t want me around fags and, guys,” he turned and faced honest eyes in Nick’s direction. “You’re my friends…you could have warned me before you made a sex tape.”
Nick’s jaw dropped and he said, “WHAT?” incredulously. Joe coughed and sat down on a chair by the door, eyes bulging and taking deep breaths.
hi
more...fic.
I'm trying to FINISH IT
but it's like
idk
it wants to get LONG.
So I guess I'll make this my priority for a while.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
No one said anything for a solid ten minutes as they all ate their omelets, tension so thick a huff and a puff would blow the house down, so to speak. Nick shifted and took Joe’s hand under the table. Joe had kissed him in front of the others. True, Nick hadn’t left him with many options and let go of Joe’s hand, realizing why he’d snapped like that. He stood up and went to the refrigerator and grabbed the orange juice before taking a glass from the cabinet and pouring some in. He swallowed it all rather quickly, aware of everyone’s eyes on him.
“Blood sugar,” he said with a shrug and it seemed to break the tension. Everyone relaxed at how absolutely normal that was and he said, “Wanna play basketball? Two on two?” Joe flashed him a grateful smile for trying to act like they hadn’t just come out to their friends and Garbo shrugged.
“Yeah,” Jack said, finishing the last few bits of egg on his plate before getting up and dumping it in the sink. Garbo followed and Jack added, “Let me go change.”
“Ready whenever you are…” Garbo said and put his plate in the sink as well.
Nick rolled his eyes and moved them to the dishwasher as Joe came up behind him with the other two plates. Jack was gone and Garbo was looking in the fridge for something, avoiding looking at Joe and Nick. “I’ll get that…” Joe said.
“Nah. You cooked, I can clean.” He felt the press of Joe’s chest against his back, arms wrapping around his waist and lips against his cheek. “Mmm, hi…”
Jack walked in and shook his head at the scene in front of him, now wearing shorts and a tank top rather than pajamas. “Oh, right,” he turned to Garbo and held out his hand. “Pay up.”
Garbo rolled his eyes and reached into his pocket, pulled out a twenty and slapped it into Jack’s hand hard. “What were you two betting on?” Joe asked.
“You,” Jack said with a shrug. “I told him this would happen.” Nick blushed and put the dishes Joe had placed on the counter into the dishwasher before closing it and pulling out of Joe’s grasp.
~*~*~
The four of them were out in the driveway playing basketball, Joe and Nick against the other two. “Pass here!” Jack called and Nick tensed just as Garbo threw the ball. But Joe pulled a miraculous jump and swatted at the ball, making it swerve in Nick’s direction. He grabbed it and dribbled closer to the net, hesitating as Garbo closed in on his right. Jack was blocking Joe effectively and Nick couldn’t see another way out. He stopped, faked a pass and Garbo fell for it, lunging to get between the two siblings and Nick took a shot.
It hit the rim before bouncing against the backboard and falling in. “Oooh,” he taunted, “Nick J. for the epic three-pointer!” He smacked Joe’s hand and grinned when that same hand went down and slapped him on the ass, making something deep inside him ache with memory and he gasped, half in pain and half pleasure.
“Get a room,” Jack scoffed, and Nick shook both his head and the feeling off, passing the ball to Garbo.
“Your ball,” he said simply and Garbo went off to the side, passing it in to Jack.
“This isn’t a fair game,” Garbo complained as Jack passed the ball back to him and Nick pressed into Jack’s space, Joe attempting to steal the ball from Garbo.
“Yeah, you two shouldn’t be allowed to be on the same team, you practically read each other’s minds…”
“Hey…it’s not our fault we work well as a team,” Joe said, swiping and missing the ball and Garbo took off down the pavement towards the hoop, jumping and making a layup.
“I think it’s because,” he said, passing the ball to Nick who caught it with both hands. “They’ve known each other for so long.”
“Nah,” Jack said, “That’s not the only reason.” He shifted his shoulders and Nick heard a crack and Jack said, “Better. Your ball.”
Nick tossed it to Joe who was already out of bounds and got ready, watching Joe carefully. His older brother paused, taking off his t-shirt, sweat gleaming on his skin and Nick swallowed hard. It was hot out, and it felt good, but he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t wanted to take off his own shirt for at least the past half hour. It was drenched in sweat, anyway, and he felt pretty gross. Joe noticed him looking and smirked just before he threw the ball.
Nick tensed, Joe had thrown a little high and he had to jump to catch it, the rubber almost slipping from his grasp but he managed to hold on. Joe trotted back onto the driveway from the grass watching the opposition as Nick began to dribble. Just as he got close to Jack he bounced the ball down through his legs and heard Garbo curse when Joe must have caught it, and then Joe was a blur of skin and gray sweatpants as he took off down the driveway, stopping and tossing the ball toward the hoop.
The orange ball made the net swish in a way that made Nick a little envious but he shook it off, grabbing his water bottle from the ground and taking a long sip.
Nick tossed it back to the ground after securing the cap and got ready for another round, Jack tossing the ball in to Garbo. He stole the ball right out from Garbo’s hands and ran for it, ball bouncing strategically on the pavement.
He heard a car pull up to the side of the road and noticed it was Ryan, who would have parked in the driveway but he didn’t want to interrupt their game. “Hey!” Nick called, jumping a bit as he neared the hoop and nailing a layup. He caught the ball and said, “Okay. I’m done,” leaning over and breathing heavily, hands on his knees.
“Oh, come on, you guys are only up by…like…twenty?” Jack complained, but he, too was out of breath and sweaty. They all grabbed their water bottles from the side of their makeshift court and drank deeply before sitting on the steps at their front door. Ryan sat down with them and Jack asked, “How was your game?”
Ryan shrugged and said, “We lost, barely. The other team had a grand slam at the end.” They all cringed in understanding and Garbo patted Ryan on the shoulder sympathetically. Everyone aside from Ryan was a sweaty mess, because Ryan had probably showered in the locker room. “Is anyone else hungry?” he asked and they all made generic noises of consent.
“M’not cooking,” Joe said lazily, muffled because his mouth was pressed to Nick’s shoulder. Everyone laughed and he sat up, “I’m serious. Let’s order pizza or something.”
“Sure,” Jack said and got up, opening the door and grabbing the phone on his way to the living room.
Garbo yelled, “I call dibs on first shower,” which made the other three groan. Even though there was more than one shower in the house, if they ran more than one at a time neither shower would be very hot.
“Hold on,” Jack said into the receiver, “Second!” Nick smiled at the disgruntled look on Joe’s face and Jack added in their direction, “Sorry…didn’t wanna risk you two taking too long,” with a wink and Nick blushed as he realized Jack’s insinuation. Jack turned back to the receiver and ordered a large pie, extra cheese and gave his credit card number.
“Let me know when the pizza’s here!” Ryan said and headed for his own room. “Gonna check my email and go play WoW.” Ryan was a World of Warcraft geek and this meant that he’d spend a few seconds deleting junk mail before going online and be a Wizard for a while. Nick knew Joe liked to play DnD, and sometimes he’d played with Joe but neither ever got into online gaming. They heard the shower turn on near Joe’s room. They didn’t all have private bathrooms, Joe had just managed to get the master bedroom and therefore had his own, so Garbo was showering in the bathroom across from Joe’s room.
About five minutes later, Ryan came back into the living room, face white just as they heard the water turn off. He, Joe and Jack were all sitting on the couch watching TV and Ryan said, “Uh…” he looked at Nick and Joe specifically and then away. “I need to talk to you…” Joe stiffened and Nick got up slowly, pulling Joe up with him as they followed into Ryan’s room.
He looked uncomfortable even though it was his room and Nick didn’t realize Jack had followed until he spoke, “You okay, man?”
Ryan took a deep breath and said, “I might have to quit,” eyes wide and alarmed. The monitor of his desktop was dark and everyone kinda stared at him, waiting for more of an explanation. “I got this nasty email from my dad…asking me all sorts of weird questions like if I was gay, if the Jonas’ boys were bad influences. I know you two have always been,” he hesitated and Nick began to freak out. “Close,” he finished carefully. “I never said anything because you’re my friends and you’re awesome but…when my dad starts asking questions…He seemed honestly worried about me being around you two especially. And then he mentioned how he didn’t want me around fags and, guys,” he turned and faced honest eyes in Nick’s direction. “You’re my friends…you could have warned me before you made a sex tape.”
Nick’s jaw dropped and he said, “WHAT?” incredulously. Joe coughed and sat down on a chair by the door, eyes bulging and taking deep breaths.