Under the Westway

Chapter Seventeen

"I don't fucking understand, Dammo." Graham claws at his hair as he stares almost blankly at the piece of Spanish homework in front of him.

"Me voy a matar, me voy a fucking matar." He slams his pen down on the desk and rolls his chair away, spinning as he does so. He pushes the chair behind Damon, who has been using this Friday night to revise and talk about the future and his plans to become world famous.
"Come onnn." Graham whines while Damon swats him away to focus solely on the maths textbook that lists an equation for each day, and Damon wasn't very good at them.

"Please?" Graham wraps his arms around Damon's chest from behind him, leant over the back of the chair he sits on.

"You're so pretty when you study."

"I love your nose."

"I miss your face."

"Pay attention to me."

"You prefer Alex don't you."

"Baby."

Damon places his work down on the desk and pushes it away, turning to face Graham.

"You're hot when you speak spanish." Damon smirks and presses his lips against his boyfriend's.
"¿De verdad? ¿Por qué no lo demuestras?"
"I don't know what that means but it sounds fucking hot."
"Eres hermosa, te amo."

As their lips connect again, the door clicks from across the room. Jamie stands on the threshold, looking smug. His hair falls over his right eye and a cigarette hangs from his mouth.

"What the fuck do you want, Hewlett?" Damon groans and pinches the bridge of his nose.

"I just wondered if you wanted to go to the party tonight." His expression goes blank as he awaits a response. "Also I bought you coffee and some fags." He sways back and leaves the room, blowing smoke from the side of his mouth and flicking his ash onto the bedside table ashtray before leaving the pair together again in silence. The door swings shut on the latch, Damon remains staring at it. Graham sighs and leans back, his legs either side of Damon's.

Graham decides that they should go to the party, tearing Damon away from a surprising amount of work.

*

Jamie takes a drag of the burn in his hand, blowing smoke into the room full of dancing teenagers. He mocks them inside his own head, although wishing he had the confidence to take somebody's hand and dance with them. Graham stands next to him with a glass of vodka and something pink in his hand, watching Damon hold the waist of a girl they both hardly know. They've seemed to have switched places since the last party attended, it still makes the trio uneasy. Parties are a place to let go, right?

"Ok girls and boys," A short girl with messy blonde hair and ripped fishnets calls out. "Spin the bottle!" A chorus of cheers ripples across the bottom floor of the house, and the vast majority of attendees rush to sit down in a circle. Graham sits down next to Damon, taking a sip of a pint that is offered to him by the taller. It tastes of his dad's voice and his seventh birthday party. He doesn't like it like the others do.
"That's Candida." Damon whispers into Graham's ear, who is unfamiliar with all these people.

Candida sets an empty beer bottle on the cold wooden panels of the floor, spinning it while several people giggle about who they'd like it to land on. Graham feels like he's in primary school again playing kiss chase, and he's being closed in on.

It lands on Damon.

Of course.

Graham feels the sweat form on his palms.

"Ooh! Albarn!" Candida laughs with Jarvis, another new name, and pulls Damon to sit in the circle and setting the bottle to spin again. It travels at speed in a circle, passing Damon's empty space.

It lands on a girl with black bobbed hair, a red jumper and a short skirt matched with heavy boots and dark lipstick. When she grins she shows her teeth, and everybody in the room knows how happy she is about being chosen to be with Damon. Graham's stomach twists into a knot.

"Justine! This bottle knows what it's doing." Candida smirks and drags her into the centre to meet Damon. Silence spreads across the room like wildfire.

Justine holds his jaw and strokes along the edge with her thumb softly before kissing him. Damon's hands move to her lower back and he pulls her closer, making the kiss last longer, and their tongues intertwine more. Graham's knot feels tighter watching him kiss somebody else.
After what feels like a lifetime, Damon pulls away and wipes his mouth of Justine's lipstick. He smiles, and whispers something in her ear as they both recede to their places. Candida and Jarvis start the group cheering, declaring what a show they'd put on, and other things Graham doesn't want to hear anymore.

His head feels fuzzy for the rest of the game, he doesn't get picked on, they don't know who he is.