Ridge street, nr. 61.
Sem checked the address Connor had given him for the millionth time. Yup, this was definitely the place. Connor had described his building as the tallest one adjacent to the hospital, can't miss it, and he was right.
Sem peered into the window at the entrance of the building, and quickly fixed his wind tousled hair. Then, he finally pressed the doorbell next to the number 61. There was an electronic ringing sound. Okay, deep breaths, don't panic.
He definitely should've asked for more information before stepping on his bike. Was this Connor's dorm room, or his parental house? If it was his parental house, would his parents be home? Was he supposed to have brought flowers or chocolates for Connor's mom? Well, too late to arrange it now, idiot. He was completely flying blind here, and that definitely had him on edge.
The intercom clicked.
"Hey Sem, come on up. I'm on the fifth floor," Connor's voice sounded through the small device, and the automatic door swung open.
"Hey! Gotcha. On my way."
Sem stepped inside the rather generic lobby, with mailboxes on one side, and a large notice board behind cracked glass on the other. He ignored the elevator, instead running up the first flight of stairs. Hopefully, a bit of movement on the way would help shake some of the nerves.
He and Connor had briefly touched on Connor not having siblings, but somehow, Sem had never got to asking about his parents. Oh God, if his parents were ridiculously gorgeous, quiet and super smart like Connor, he was going to shit bricks. He'd somehow screw up and they'd hate his guts, guaranteed. He was so much better at entertaining talkative and superficial people.
But then again, maybe this was only Connor's dorm. There was trash on the staircases; crumpled soda cans and food wrappers, there were unidentified stains on the floor, and the walls were chipping off in some corners. The state this building was in didn't give off a nice family home feeling.
Whatever the place was, dorm or parental house, the ten stairways he had to traverse were far too short. Before he knew it, Sem found himself standing in front of apartment number 61, and his stomach was churning. So much for taming those nerves.
The blue, and recently painted front door was suddenly very interesting. Had to be, as he spent about a minute staring at it. Sem was still mustering up courage to reach for the doorbell and get it over with, when the door suddenly opened.
Connor's face appeared in the door opening. He blinked in surprise when he found Sem already standing on the doorstep. "Oh, hey. I was about to go check where you were."
"Hi," Sem breathed, feeling not that much unlike a deer in the headlights, "Uh, I took the stairs. Might've taken me a bit longer, I practiced kicks this afternoon."
"Okay. Well... Welcome."
Connor stepped aside, and Sem entered the narrow hallway. He hung his jacket on the coat rack, while his eyes darted to the door he guessed lead to the living room.
"Is anyone else here?"
"No," Connor replied. "Mom is working the nightshift. She's a nurse."
Sem held back a sigh in relief. So this was his parental house after all, but he didn't have to worry about his lack of bringing chocolates.
"I see, what about your dad?"
Connor cleared his throat, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. "He doesn't live here. It's just me and my mom."
"Oh. Are your parents divorced?"
"Never married."
"Oh."
Connor seemed to find the blue door just as interesting as Sem did a moment ago. He wasn't volunteering any more information, and a sort of awkward silence ensued.
Parents screwing things up wasn't an unfamiliar concept to Sem. He didn't want Connor to feel awkward. These things happened. Parents sucked sometimes, and whatever his mom and dad did wasn't his fault. Sem wasn't going to have any of it.
"So..." He moved close to Connor, snaking his arms around him with a sly grin. "What you're saying is we're all alone here? That's daring of you, being all alone with me."
His mood-shifting approach proved incredibly effective. Connor smiled, and Sem felt strong hands on his back, pulling him even closer. "I'll take my chances."
Any remaining awkwardness dissolved when their lips met, moulded together perfectly. Connor's hands felt rough against the skin of his cheek and jaw, but his lips were soft. Sem loved every second of it, and every kiss, no matter how long it lasted, always seemed to end too soon.
Their fingers interlaced, and Connor guided Sem from the hallway into the living room.
The first thought that came to mind when Sem scanned the room, was that it was a good thing Connor's dad wasn't living here. The living room, like the hallway, was rather cramped and somewhat small even for two people.
Sem looked at Connor, who was also looking at him.
"I know it's not much..." he muttered, before trailing off, his shoulders raising in a shrug.
His movements had gone a little stiff again, and suddenly Sem understood why Connor had been so reluctant to meet up here.
It's not like he'd never noticed the small things, how Connor's clothes were usually simple no brand, if not a working uniform. He did own a car, but he'd gotten it from his boss as a gift and fixed it up himself. He always seemed to be working, at either the university or the garage. Always busy. Was this why?
Sem glanced down at his own expensive sneakers. It's not something he thought about much. It just went without saying that he had two parents, a large house, expensive clothes, and even some pocket money to party. Oh God, that restaurant he took Sem to must've cost Connor a fortune.
Pushing down the pang of guilt, Sem scanned the room again. "You like building furniture sometimes, right? Did you build anything in this house yourself?"
"Uh, yeah." Connor seemed momentarily thrown off by the question, but then pointed at the coffee table in-between the television and the couch. "That table."
Sem walked towards the coffee table, Connor following behind him, and he placed a hand on the sturdy, wooden surface. There were some bowls with snacks set on the table, and Sem casually took a handful of the crisps.
"You made this? That's pretty damn awesome," Sem genuinely complimented Connor, and the latter's expression softened a little.
Sem wanted him entirely relaxed again though, he wanted all that tension gone. Connor needed to know that he didn't give a rat's ass about what his house looked like, or how rich he was, or that his dad wasn't here.
Reaching out, Sem took one of Connor's hands and ran his fingertips over the palm. "So you're really, ah, skilled with your hands," he teased.
Again, his methods to change the mood proved extremely successful. Connor chuckled at his remark, raising his free hand up to cover his reddening face. "That's so bad. You did not just say that."
"I think I did. What? We're alone, I can make all the cheesy, innuendo remarks I want. I can also do this."
Without any warning, Sem wrapped his arm's around Connor's torso, and let himself fall onto the soft couch, pulling Connor down with him. Chuckling at Connor's startled expression, Sem snuggled up to him, breathing in his scent.
"You're just going to keep surprising me, huh?" Connor gently stroked his hair, sending pleasant shivers down his spine. The tension was out of Connor's voice, and the tension was out of his movements. In turn, that also made Sem relax. This was more like it.
He tilted his head up, resting his chin on Connor's chest, and grinned. "Yup. If you're with me, you'll keep getting tackled and randomly kissed, oh, and lots of innuendos. Get used to it."
He already loved not having to hold back with his flirting, not having to worry about sitting too close, or someone walking in.
Letting out a sigh, he turned his head and rested his cheek on Connor's chest. "I'm so glad I'm here... I suppose these kind of visits are an advantage of being gay. No suspicion at all. Did you know my mom actually encouraged me going to your place? Yeah, I told her you're an acquaintance of Daniel's and that you go to Valsten, too. I think she hopes you'll be the good influence Daniel wasn't to me."
"Did you talk to Daniel at all?"
"Nah, complete radio silence. He moved on to the next stage, where he pretends like I don't even exist at all. Mom and dad haven't noticed yet, I think, considering I'm not home that much. I was out with my friends, and spend the morning running and the afternoon training kicks."
"Ah." Connor started touching his hair again, and Sem leaned into the touch. "How was it, with your friends?"
"Yeah, that didn't go so well."
"What happened?"
Sem raised his shoulders in a shrug. "Nothing important happened, really. I suppose it wasn't bad because of my guy friends. Just, girls, ugh." He pulled a face. "Doesn't matter. I'll smoothen things out again on Monday at school."
Hopefully, he would succeed in smoothening things out. He'd already decided he was going to leave Emma alone during the weekend, and try talking to her when he saw her at school. Though, secretly Sem was still kind of hoping she would suck it up, and act like nothing happened.
Whatever was gonna go down, he didn't want to think about it yet.
"But let's not talk about my friends, or Daniel, okay? I just want to have a fun night."
"Okay," Connor easily accepted his answer. He wasn't a prier like Sem himself could be, and Sem was grateful for it. "I have the Bond movie if you wanna watch. The newest."
Connor gave him a gentle push, and Sem reluctantly let him get up from the couch, instead sprawling himself on it, while he watched Connor grab his laptop.
"Sure I wanna watch. But that movie is still in the cinema, how?"
Connor crouched next to the television, plugged the laptop in, and smiled at him over his shoulder. "Hey, I go to a technology university. Some people there can get their hands on anything online. It's like magic."
"That's kind of cool I guess." Sem briefly wondered if Daniel could, but it's not like it mattered, because his brother would never help him with anything anyway.
With a few taps on his laptop, Connor had the movie playing on screen. He sat back on the couch, and Sem made himself comfortable, leaning against Connor, laying back to chest.
The movie opened up with an impressive and long action sequence, which was typical for Bond movies. Sem could appreciate it, the whole James Bond movie recipe. The extreme stunts, the gadgets, the cars, hell, even the Bond women and-- Connor's chest was calmly rising and falling, and Sem's was suddenly filled with a whole new bout of jitters.
This was a Bond movie. He knew Bond movies, and he knew what sooner or later happened in Bond movies. They were going to be watching sex on screen together, while all nice and snuggled up. Why did that thought suddenly make him so nervous? There was no reason to be nervous about that; it was no big deal. He'd seen plenty of movie sex scenes, even with his parents and Daniel on the couch next to him.
But he didn't want to sooner or later have sex with his parents or Daniel, like he did with Connor. They were so entirely, completely alone in the apartment. It was a thing, a very near future possibility; staying over, going further than kissing. His jitters weren't about that movie, they were about that movie reminding him of his actual real life situation.
He'd been so worried about what he'd do if Connor's parents were home, how to make a good impression, that he never considered what he'd do if they weren't. Did he want to go further? Hell, yeah he did. He might've jokingly talked about Connor's hands being skilled, but he did want to know how much truth there was to it.
Was Connor... thinking about it, too right now? Sem couldn't see his face, as the back of his head was resting on Connor's chest. But he didn't believe for one second that the thought had never ever crossed his mind, even if he did mention he was more of a slow-paced kind of guy.
Should he make a move during the movie? What would happen after the credits rolled, and they locked eyes again? Would they, wouldn't they?
Sem was still watching the screen, but he wasn't following the story anymore at all.