Guardian Angels ✔

29 - Two-way Traffic

Juice's glance slid away from Shane's eyes and moved to his hand. His own hand was underneath it. Shane's fingers were soft and slim and for a moment he wondered how it would feel when they glided down his chest, his stomach, further down... Just to feel something else than the emptiness, the burning guilt.

His cheeks flushed as he looked up, his eyes meeting those of Shane. Did he know what thoughts had crossed his mind? He had the feeling that Shane could always look right into his soul. Right before they had left Arizona and rode back to Charming, he had intended to push away every inappropriate thought about Shane as far as he could, but it was clear that it was a hopeless task.

He was disgusted with his feelings. Firstly, because the prospect to have sex with a man was just repulsive ‒ although he had already discovered that the thought of Shane kissing or even blowing him did turn him on ‒ but also because Shane was his best friend.

Today he had been proven that one more time and he was still having a hard time realizing what the prospect had done for him. Juice had almost betrayed his brothers, and Shane had helped him to cover it up.

Shane, who was always fearless. Who didn't even mention the fact that he was shivved, who didn't even blink an eye when he held a gun against his head and pulled the trigger. He wished he had been more like his younger friend. He knew for sure Roosevelt wouldn't have succeeded in blackmailing him.

The boy pulled his hand away from him and kicked his foot. "Why don't you roll a joint for us? Did Tara give you medication or can I get you a whiskey too?"

"She gave me nothing too heavy."

He lifted the corner of his mouth. "Good." He stood up and walked to the kitchen. Juice caught himself looking at Shane's ass, even though the jeans he was wearing were too wide to show the curves he had seen during Halloween. Sighing deeply, he wished once more that Shane had been a girl. He would have known what to do then...

Groaning, he helped himself on his feet, a bit stiff because of the pain. Smoking pot wasn't a bad idea at all, maybe it would help to shut down all those thoughts. Whether it was Roosevelt what he was thinking about, or Miles, or the things he wanted to do with Shane... He wanted to think about none of them.

. . .

Alex was still worried about Juice. He was quiet, lost in his own little world. His muscles almost seemed to snap because he was so stressed and Alex had no idea what more she could do. Giving him a massage, probably. But that's weird, right? Can you see Happy or Opie giving him a massage?

The thought made her smirk as she took a bottle from the cabinet and poured two glasses. The outer door was already opened. She sat down on the bench next to Juice, at the exact same spot where she had smoked her first pot.

"How was Arizona?" she asked, pushing a glass in his hand.

He heaved a sigh as he took a long drag from the joint before handing it to her. Leaning back, he closed his eyes for a moment. "Too much drama. These days everything seems to become dramatic." He sighed again. "SAMTAZ was apparently dealing drugs to earn some money. We found out the vote for that hadn't been carried out in an honest way, with blackmailing and murder. Was some serious shit."

"Jeez." Shane pulled the smoke straight into her longs. Already after a minute, the memories about tonight were less sharp. "That drugs crap is always makin' things messy."

Juice sighed, leaning with his head against the edge of the bench. "Yeah. But for now, we're in it over our fucking heads."

For a while they just sat side by side in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. The quiet was comfortable. It was just nice to have him around again. From the corner of her eyes, she looked at him. He had closed his eyes, his face looked more relaxed than before. The sight of it turned her lips into a smile – the first one since yesterday. They had finished the smoke and the glasses were empty as well.