Paper Thin (muke)

21: firsts

"How can I afford it?" Michael laughed, grabbing the bag and carrying it for Luke as they left the store. "I've found some success with certain... stories." He shrugged, "I've been paid well for my writing in the past and have investments here and there, plus the money from my accident settlement..." Michael trailed off, letting the reality sink in between them that Michael was well off. At least, far better off than Luke could ever wish to be.

"I didn't realize your stories were so big." Luke saw their Uber waiting a couple cars down and guided Michael to it. "Maybe one day I can read them?"

Michael smiled, pressing a kiss to Luke's hand as they settled into the Uber to head back to their complex. "One day."

***

Michael had promised Luke he'd spend the night. Luke still wasn't comfortable sleeping alone in his apartment and since Michael didn't have an early meeting the next day he'd jumped at the opportunity to sleep over at Luke's.

They spent the afternoon eating Thai takeout from down the street and watching Seinfeld reruns on Luke's old laptop. By the time the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, Luke was antsy. He'd been curled up in Michael's lap all afternoon, the length of his torso pressed against the older boy's and his leg thrown over his waist. The warmth from their bodies was caccooning them in a blanket of sleepy, sensual energy and Luke found himself unintentionally pressing his hips further into Michael's side.

He let out a low hum of satisfaction as Michael turned to him, a smile on his face and leaned in for a kiss. The kiss was soft, nothing more than a gentle press of lips, but Luke wanted more. It was a taste of possibility, a taste of what could be if he just leaned in a bit harder, pressed his body a bit tighter against Michael's.

Michael groaned as Luke ran the tip of his tongue along the seam of his lips and pressed up onto his knees to straddle the older boy.

Luke pressed down, letting his weight fall into Michael's lap gently and hearing the hiss of an inhale beneath him.

"Fuck, Lu." Michael groaned, gripping his hips a bit tighter and kissing him a bit harder.

Michael tasted like summer. Like sunshine and warm rain and ice cold lemonade after a day outside. It was the most refreshing thing Luke had felt in a long time and he wanted more. Needed more.

"Luke," Michael whispered against his lips as Luke pressed down in his lap. "Luke," Michael's hands ran to Luke's shoulders, pressing slightly back as Luke began to rotate his hips. "Luke, hold on just a sec."

And that got Luke's attention, stilling his motion in Michael's lap.

"Is everything okay?" Luke bit his lip, dread filling his stomach at the thought of being rejected by Michael.

"It's fine, more than fine," Michael breathed, his hands squeezing Luke's hips, "but are you sure this is a good idea so soon?"

Luke's eyebrows furrowed. "I gave you a blowjob yesterday?"

"I know," Michael sighed, his gaze lowering to where his thumbs brushed across Luke's hip bones. "And I know we've talked about it before like it's no big deal, but now there's nothing getting in our way of going further and... well, you just went through a pretty traumatic physical assault. I don't mean to tell you how to feel, but are you sure you're ready for this type of intimacy so soon?"

Luke's heart clenched in his chest, stomach throbbing with both the painful reminder and considerate worry of his boyfriend. He grabbed one of Michael's hands, playing with the few rings garnishing his fingers.

"Look," He bit his lip, debating the best way to word his thoughts, "I know i'm just some hopeless romantic and I tend to dive right into relationships and that's gotten me into trouble in the past, but like, something about this feels different, don't you think?" He brought Michael's hand up, slotting his fingers between Michael's larger ones.