CARTER
I knew I shouldn't be doing this.
I'd literally just told Fraser that I didn't know what my feelings were and I didn't want to lead him on.
But the truth was, I'd grabbed his hand because every other time I'd done it I'd gotten butterflies and I liked the feeling. And, although I knew I could never tell anyone this, I did remember that kiss. Only now when he'd brought it up, but I remembered it. The feeling that I got from kissing him at the party that night was hard to ignore and I found myself thinking back on it frequently. And now the added memory of doing it again and feeling the fireworks again was resurging and I didn't want to ignore it or lose it, so I just had to do it one more time.
Even after all the bullshit, the fights, the broken wrist, the outbursts, the punch. After all of it, I realised although we made absolutely no sense we also made perfect sense and I didn't want to deny myself from it any longer.
It was all just so soon. I was in and out with Luke so quickly and it felt like everything since had been the most insane roller-coaster that was finally over. But by doing this with Fraser, I was strapping myself in for another crazy ride and I wasn't sure I wanted that just yet. I did know one thing, and that's that I wanted Fraser to myself and right now I had it. Call it taking advantage if you will, but I was being given what I wanted and I feel like for once I deserve to be happy, without all the consequences that seemed to come with it.
So I leaned in and I kissed him, right in the middle of the street where we were walking. It was freezing and his face was cold, but I burned on the inside with passion and desire. For Fraser McGill of all people.
When I pulled away, I was shivering so hard my teeth were chattering. He chuckled as he pressed one more peck to my lips.
"Come on, let's get back to my room before you freeze to death." I nodded and we continued our walk. We finally got back to Superblock and Fraser began leading the way to Pioneer.
"Wait, I need things"
"You can sleep in something of mine, if we go in there now, we might run into someone on the way out and I can imagine you'd rather not be seen by anyone we know right now"
"How did you-"
"I know you Carter, and I've figured out how your brain works. Come on, I'll put the radiator on as soon as we're in my room" I nodded and allowed him to keep leading me to Pioneer and up to his room.
Once we were inside, he immediately turned on the radiator and went to his drawers to get out some clothes. I was handed an Anaheim Ducks crewneck and a pair of black sweats.
"Here, you can get changed in the bathroom"
"I forgot you had your own bathroom, you lucky bastard" He smiled.
"Yeah, it's got its perks. Take your time, I'll quickly change out here" I nodded and locked myself in the bathroom and got changed into what he had given me. I knew this meant I would have to wear either these or my green Powerpuff Girls dress back to Centennial tomorrow, but I was grateful for the warmth and the fact they smelled like Fraser.
Oh my god, who was I getting so hung up on the way these boys smelled? Get it together Carter!
I dressed in the clothes and used the bathroom before opening the door, to find Fraser standing in a pair of gym shorts with no shirt on.
"Oh shit! I'm sorry" He laughed.
"Relax Pruitt, I'm not ashamed of my body. It's fine, I was just looking for a tank to wear to bed" I exited the bathroom as he pulled a Villa Park Spartans tank on.
"Is that the high school you went to?" He nodded.
"Yeah, lead the varsity hockey team to back-to-back state championships in my junior and senior year"
"That's pretty impressive Bubbles" He sighed.
"Is that my nickname now?"
"It's better than Peacock. Or Buzzkill"
"I guess so. Does that mean I should go back to calling you Skater?" I let my hand fly to my mouth.
"Oh my god I haven't skated in like a week"
"You should practice this week sometime. And let me watch you. I promise not to make you break any bones again" I shook my head with a smile as I yawned.
"Come on, let's go to bed." He said.
"I'm not ready to sleep"
"I didn't say let's sleep Pruitt, let's just climb in. We can keep talking"
"Good. Cause I like talking to you" He smiled.
"That makes two of us"
We climbed into his bed, me against the wall like last time. Although this time didn't feel awkward like it had once before. It was comfortable and I found myself nuzzling into Fraser naturally.
"You know, if you'd have told me at the start of the year that we would end up here like this, I'd have punched you a lot sooner" I said. His laugh vibrated my head and I smiled.
"I don't doubt that. I'm surprised you didn't back then, to be honest. I wasn't very nice to you"
"Yeah, but I didn't make it any easier on you either. I was a bitch"
"Well I won't deny it when you're the one admitting"
"You're an asshole"
"Maybe a little. Hey, maybe this week you could teach me some skating moves"
"You're dreaming McGill" He chuckled again.
"Worth a shot. But can I watch?"
"I guess so. I want to start competing again. I miss it" I yawned with the sentence and the lamp was turned off.
"Get some sleep Pruitt, you're no fun when you're tired"
"And you look better in the dark" Fraser shoved me as best he could while I was cuddling into him and I yawned again, closing my eyes and wanting to fall asleep. But Fraser wasn't going to allow me that reality any time soon so it seemed.
"Are you gonna come with us to Mankato in two weeks?"
"Fraser you just asked me tonight. I told you I'd think about it"
"And I want to know" I sighed.
"Maybe. I couldn't bear to be there if one of you gets hurt again"
"Now that Cooper's gotten over whatever his issue was, I think we're going to be great. We won last night, even without Bennett"
"It's two weeks away, why do you want me to say yes so soon?" I felt him shrug.
"I like having something to look forward to. Speaking of, are you gonna talk to your mom about staying in Dallas over thanksgiving?" I sighed.
"I don't know, she's weird. She'll go out of her way to make time at home awful for me but will also hate me going anywhere else"
"Okay, I'll ask Bennett at some point too but you don't have to have an answer straight away"
"Oh so you won't pressure me about that but I have to give you an answer for Mankato right away?"
"Yup. That's completely your decision so I won't wait"
"Fine, I'll go"
"Seriously?"
"If you want me to then yes, I'll come and watch you guys" I felt a pair of lips find my cheek in the dark and I felt myself beginning to blush. Thank god the light was off, or else I knew Fraser wouldn't hesitate to rip into me and tease.
"Good"
"So now what?"
"Now you let me kiss you one more time and then we sleep" I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn't see me. But I guess Fraser did know me better than I thought because soon he spoke.
"Did you just roll your eyes at me?"
"How did you know?"
"I could feel it. Now, kiss me and go to sleep"
"Yes sir" I leaned in and found his lips, pressing one last kiss to them. I felt him smile into it, and I couldn't help but smile myself.
"Okay we need to sleep now" I said once I'd pulled away.
"Boo, you're no fun"
"I agreed to come to Mankato"
"That's true. Okay goodnight Skater"
"Night Bubbles"
For the first time in ages, even being as drunk as I was, I fell asleep easily and fast only to wake up in the morning when Fraser unlatched himself from me and all but sprinted into the bathroom. The next thing I heard was the sound of him vomiting. When he walked back into the room, my eyes were barely opened and he sighed.
"Sorry, not the wakeup call I wanted to give you"
"I feel like shit" He chuckled and climbed back into the bed, pulling me into his arms.
"Me too. Not surprising considering how much we drank last night"
"Can we make a truce to never play beer pong together at another party for the rest of our lives?" He chuckled softly, pressing a kiss to my forehead.
"You wish Skater. We have got to beat Ripley before he graduates"
"I need Gatorade or something"
"Yeah me too. I should have bought some before the party so I'd have some up here. I'll go get us some"
"I can come too" He looked at me.
"Are you gonna come to Centennial in my clothes? Or the ones from last night? People will see you and the rumours will just fly around this place" I rolled my eyes. God, even that hurt my head.
"I can't live in your room forever Fraser. I'll go back and shower and get changed while you buy some Gatorade and stuff. Then we can come back here and hang out"
"You want to come back here to hang out?"
"Well yeah? Unless you were kidding about us getting over this hangover together last night" He grinned.
"Glad to see you remember last night, that's not like you" I shoved him as he laughed.
"Come on, you shower and I'll go back to Centennial and do the same. I'll meet you at the store"
"Yes ma'am"
As we climbed out of the bed, I immediately flushed as I realised I'd kicked Fraser's sweats off in the middle of the night. He also began to blush and I quickly retrieved them as he turned away. I was kind of confused. The last time I woke up without pants on, Luke ogled me and slapped my butt. I was also kind of flattered? I began to feel bad for judging him so quickly, he was clearly more of a gentleman than I realised at first. I quickly pulled the pants back on.
"Okay I'm decent" Fraser turned around.
"How do you feel?"
"Like I just got run over by a fucking truck" He grinned.
"Same here. Alright, I'll go shower. Unless you want me to walk you back to your dorm?"
"No offence, but I'm less likely to fuel rumours about us if you're not there"
"Fair call, I'll see you in Centennial in about fifteen minutes"
I gathered up the rest of my things and made my way out of Pioneer. Thankfully it was around 10 am, and most people from the party were more than likely still in bed, if not vomiting in the bathrooms, so I was pretty safe and managed to make it back unseen. Well, almost.
But of course, as soon as I unlocked my door, Luke's opened.
"Hey Pruitt" I froze completely, very aware of the bright orange Ducks jersey I was currently wearing, as well as a pair of sweats that were clearly too big. Luke wasn't an idiot either, he knew that Fraser supported the Ducks and knew I wouldn't be caught dead in anything that wasn't Rangers.
"Hey Bennett"
"End up in his room huh?" I braved turning around and saw Luke leaning against his doorframe with a smile on his face.
"It's not like that"
"Oh don't worry, I'm not mad"
"You're not?" He shook his head and shrugged.
"I mean, I kinda am because you know that I have feelings for you. But I know he does too. And I saw you two holding hands last night"
"I promise it's nothing like what you're thinking"
"I would tell you I don't care again, but you seem to want to justify yourself so go ahead" I took a deep breath.
"Luke, I don't know how I feel about anyone. You and I happened so fast, but that doesn't mean I got over you easily either. I'm not saying I like you like that, and I'm not saying I like Fraser like that. I'm confused and I told him that too. I stayed in his room because I felt like I was going to have a nightmare and those fuck with me regularly enough without the added bonus of being drunk. So I slept and I slept well"
"I didn't realise you had nightmares"
"Because I don't when I'm sleeping next to someone I trust. That's why I never had one with you. And I'm not surprised you didn't know, hell Fraser didn't even know until-" I began, cutting myself off. I hadn't told anyone about the night of that party when I was shut off from everyone and Luke knocked on my door.
"Until the last time you spent the night there?"
"Please, I'm telling you Luke it's not like that. Not then and not now"
"But you did spend the night with him before? When?"
"That night you came home drunk and knocked on my door. When I hadn't spoken to anyone in two weeks" He sighed.
"How did you have a nightmare then?"
"I was in his bed, he was on the floor. Apparently, the same room isn't enough, it has to be the same bed"
"Wait, so you weren't interested in him?" I laughed.
"Oh god no. I hated his guts. Until that night at least. He changed himself and I noticed so I gave him a chance as friends. I've done the same thing with you, many times" Luke smiled.
"I guess you have. Are you hanging out with him today?" I nodded gingerly as Luke smiled bigger.
"You don't need to tell me nothing's going on again but I promise Carter, I'm not mad. I may have gotten a little action myself last night." My eyes grew wide.
"You did? Is she still in there?"
"Oh god no, I kicked her as soon as we finished. Staying in my room is only an option for the special ones." I smiled.
"Okay, I'm glad you had a fun night. I never want to hear the details and I'm gonna go shower now"
"Are you sure you don't want to hear about her suck-" I slammed my door shut with me in my room so fast, I heard Luke burst into hysterical laughter on the other side.
"You're an asshole!" I called.
"Takes one to know one sweet cheeks!" I opened my door one last time to look at him.
"Hey Luke?"
"Yeah?"
"Please don't tell anyone anything" He mimed zipping his lips.
"Wouldn't dream of it Pruitt" I smiled.
"Thanks, you're a pretty good best friend"
"Takes one to know one" He repeated, going back into his room as I went back into mine.