Externalizing [mxm]

Chapter 18

"So she's not going to think of me as the guy that turned you or something?" Brendan chuckled unsurely.

"No. I made it clear it had always been that way for me, and that I had been trying to cover it up. Just that you're pulling me out of my shell a bit more," Marc explained. "And after I told her about my dad, I... mentioned the camps you went to, so she knows it's a lot more than just... yeah."

"Where's she staying anyways?" Brendan decided to move on from that. "here?"

"No, with her parents. She's still living in Ireland right now, but she might consider coming back to be more with Ariel. If that's okay?"

"Don't ask me if that's okay. Of course it's okay. She's Ariel's mom," Brendan rolled his eyes. "Ariel just gets three adults trying to give her attention. Lucky girl." Brendan meandered his way over, pulling Marc into a tight hug. "And sorry for being weird about things. I guess the only thing to really help is to meet her, huh?"

"Well, she'll be there tomorrow," Marc assured him. "And yeah, I get it being weird, I just don't want it to be too weird at Ariel's party, you know? She's really excited to have both of you there."

"You say that, until she opens my present. Then you won't want me there," Brendan snickered mischievously.

"What did you get her?" Marc tried not to sound too scared.

"The only real present. Scented markers. Be ready for colored noses as she tries to sniff them, and prepares herself for sniffing sharpies later on in life," Brendan teased, his breath up close on Marc's ear.

Marc swore under his breath, caught between laughing and carrying this out further or the fact that Brendan had still yet to really let go of him. Brendan started a slow kiss then, taking up Marc's mouth in his lips. Marc pulled Brendan closer by his waist and let his arms drape around Brendan's hips.

Brendan was the one that led the way upstairs with Marc trying to stumble after him. Part of Marc was far too distracted to pay attention to stairs, while another part of him was trying to keep his nerves down.

Brendan start up their kissing again in the bedroom, and he was obviously taking the slow and cautious route with it until Marc relaxed more. Only then did Brendan go for the removal of their shirts and dragged Marc down onto the bed with him.

Marc let his hands wander a bit, feeling over Brendan's skin. He could feel the barely-there ridges and bumps between Brendan's tattooed skin and his plain skin. It made him slightly curious as to which ones were actually scars, but it wasn't the moment to ask.

He could feel Brendan grinding against him, but Brendan didn't push it any further on his own. Marc took some of the control for himself then, showing Brendan he was willing to go a little further as he undid both of their pants.

It was the first time Marc had ever seen another guy like this, and it was hard for him to get it into his head that it was happening. Brendan was hard of course, with his erection weeping against the flat of his stomach. Marc testily ran his hand up the exposed underside before trying to play how he knew he liked it.

He fisted the head at the top and rotated his hand around as he pumped, watching Brendan curve into the bed and let out a breathy moan. Brendan spared a hand and went searching for Marc's erection as well before taking it up in his hand.

Marc placed gentle kisses up and down Brendan's chest and neck as they both worked at each other. It was a long and tedious process—the more it went on, the more Marc just wanted to hit that peak; but using hands was a slow burn towards the desired end.

It still felt great, though. Each stroke was a little better than the one before until his muscles were tightening and he let out a strangled grunt as Brendan finally worked him to completion. He was a little nervous about having done it first, but he made sure Brendan was quickly behind him.

Brendan was a little more lively, rocking his hips and swearing quietly to himself until Marc had milked out the last drop. Brendan chuckled to himself and propped himself up on his elbows with a sloppy grin then. "Not bad, first-timer."

"I know how to use a hand," Marc grumbled with a roll of his eyes.

Brendan only laughed and gave him another kiss. "But we should also get to bed. I have a feeling someone will be waking us up at the ass-crack of dawn. Should I sleep in the guest room?"

"No, you're fine in here," Marc said. It had him a little embarrassed to think of Ariel coming in to wake them up in the morning, but then they would just wear clothes to bed. She used to crawl in with him and Whitney when she was younger, so what was the difference with Brendan? She already knew what was going on since Brendan first kissed him anyways.

They cleaned up and both put on bottoms before crawling into bed. Brendan stayed to one side and gave Marc a sheepish grin. "You're not offended if I don't sleep well while cuddling, are you?" he asked. "I like to roll freely without worrying about waking you up."

"Fine," Marc chuckled. He'd never really thought about it, but maybe he would sneak something in the night—an arm over Brendan or something.

Marc turned out the lights but still couldn't fall asleep. He was hyper aware of Brendan at the other side, and too riled up about where things were going. It wasn't a bad thing, he just didn't know where to go from there.

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