A/N: I tried so hard to update this fast, but my friends thought I should do Chapter Three of Brotherly Love first. I posted it about half an hour ago (when I started this chapter), no matter how much I dislike BL#3, I'm hoping it will be liked so check that out and let me know. Now on to the story.
~DM~DM~DM~
I hate Saturdays. I really hate Saturdays. I, Dristan Merck, hate Saturdays. Normally, boring Saturdays would be filled with getting ready for the club, but I had promised Ja- Mr. Delaney that I wouldn't go again. So here I sit, on a Saturday night, alone, in my freaking apartment. I had only seen my Dad three times this week, and it was all passing moments. He isn't even in the state at the moment, having left to do business that I'm not privileged to know about. He'll be home Monday night. Plenty of time to go out and get drunk, I thought, but I wasn't going to break my promise. I'm watching mindless television now, but I've had enough. I switch it off, grab my keys, and walk out the door. I found a diner that I remembered, from my drive home from Jake's, which wasn't that far from my house. The diner was all but full when I got there, having every seat and every stool taken except one. I hurried to the table and waited patiently for the waitress. She was young, barely older than I was, and I knew she thought I was actually much older than her. I wanted to laugh at her flirtatious flips of her hair, but I politely ordered some food and drink. I was directly by the door, but I only had a complaint when the door was opened, usually for a minute as the would-be customer looked around for a table only to turn and leave when there was none, it sent a chilling wind through the room every time. I groaned, shivering, when it happened again. I looked up to the man that was no doubt looking pass all of the full tables until his bright eyes landed on me. That was when I noticed the familiar dark head of hair, the strong jaw, and gorgeous body hidden underneath a dark leather coat. "Ja- Mr. Delaney?" I asked, surprised. Honestly, I'm not sure why I'm surprised, but I was.
"Dristan." He said, smiling slightly. "Mind if I sit with you? I'm dying for some food." He looked around again for an empty table. I hated that he was trying to find another place to sit, because really, is it so bad to sit with me? I smiled a fake smile, convincing him at least, and waved to the other side of the table. He ordered some food when the waitress came by again and then tried to strike up conversation. "How is school going so far?"
"Good, my dad will be proud of my grades." I said.
"That's good. You're really well in my class, at least." He gave a small frown to the table and I returned the facial gesture. What was the supposed to mean? I'm fabulous at Literature! I knew it. I smirked inwardly. "You just seem distracted a lot." I have been distracted lately and the reason was sitting in front of me. "I assumed it was because of your-" Jake swallowed loudly. "-boyfriend." I couldn't help my snort a few moments later when I realized what he was referring to.
"Austin?" I laughed again when he nodded, a confused look on his face. "He isn't my boyfriend. Jo-" I stopped. "You can keep a secret, right?" He nodded again, still confused. I saw irony in confiding in him. "His step brother, Jonathan Chambers, likes him. Problem is he thinks he is straight. I had to find out, that's why you heard me asking him out. He even let slip that he likes someone that sounds suspiciously like Jon." I was still amused by it.
"So you aren't-" I knew what he was asking.
"Of course not. I don't date high school students." I couldn't stop the words that come out of my mouth next. "I prefer older men."
~JD~JD~JD~
I couldn't believe he just said that. I knew it was true, yes, but I didn't think he would put it so bluntly. I wanted groan loudly, the words bringing back more memories of the night he and I shared. I remember Dristan saying that before his third shot, if only I had known at the time. I shake my head, knowing I wouldn't have changed anything if I had known. I almost hate myself for thinking it, but I couldn't change the way I feel. "So, um-" I had to clear my throat twice in order to be able to be able to talk again. "What are you doing here tonight?" He laughed slightly.
"I promised I wouldn't go to a club or anything, so I didn't." He said like it wasn't anything.
"I didn't actually think you would listen." I admitted. Dristan shrugged.
We had eaten together and stayed talking for quite a while after we had finished. It wasn't until almost midnight that the waitress came over saying they were closing up. I surprised myself when I asked Dristan if he wanted to come back to my place, merely to keep talking of course, but I couldn't ignore that heartbeat that chose to skip at the moment he said 'Sure.', with a large smile. By time we made it to my car we had resumed our strange game of '20 Questions', even if we were sticking to safe topics like we had inside the diner. We both had silently agreed that it wasn't the right time for anything too deep. As soon as we were inside the loft, I knew that silent vow would be pointless. There wasn't anyone for us to hide from, except each other. Maybe I should have stalled; it's Dristan's turn.
"How did you think I was when you first saw me?" I wanted to cringe; I almost did, because I had been hoping to ignore that myself, much less telling him about it.
"Honestly?" He nodded. 'You're stalling again, Jake.' A voice inside my head told me. Maybe I'm going crazy. I could always blame getting him drunk and bringing him home on insanity. "Like seventeen, maybe eighteen." I said, quietly. "I didn't think you'd go to Kingsley, I mean I hadn't ever met you before, I thought I could have been wrong. It's happened before." Dristan looked like he had been slapped.
~DM~DM~DM~
"It's happened before?" I asked in a small voice. So I wasn't the only he's brought into his home. I look around the loft as if I expected faceless, nameless bodies to pop out at me. "I see." Jake looked at me confused.
"What do you mean?" I shake my head.
"Nothing, it's your turn." I could see he wanted to protest, to find out exactly what I meant, but it wasn't any of my business, I shouldn't be feeling this jealousy warring in my heart. He shook his head, moving into his kitchen.
"Are you thirsty?" He asked.
"Unless you're offering something stronger than Cola, then no." I said, laughing. I heard an answering laugh from just beyond my line of sight. He came back holding up a couple of coke cans in one hand before producing Jack Daniels from behind his back. I raised an eyebrow but didn't dare question it.
"Your turn." He said, smirking. I shook my head defiantly after what he meant registered in my head.
"That was not your question."
"It was a question, was it not?"
"That's not fair." I said instead, ignoring his reasoning. I stuck out my bottom lip, pouting in a way I knew no one could resist. As I knew he would, he relented.
"Fine, fine, fine!" He said before sitting back in the couch further, thinking. He looked good in his devilishly constricting jeans and skin-tight black t-shirt. I was staring at his face by time he turned with what I'm sure was a new question on the tip of his tongue until he saw me watching him. I looked down, blushing, as I took a sip of my Jack & Coke. Favorite drink in the world, this. I smiled at my glass before snapping my attention back to Jake. "What did you think when you saw me in class that first day?" My eyes widened. What was I supposed to say to that? The truth, I guess.
"The only thing I could really think about was staying calm." I admitted, causing him to look at me strangely, so I elaborated. "I knew you'd lose your job, maybe even go to jail, so I had to pretend like it was a normal first day." He looked confused then.
"Why were you scared?" He asked.
"Who said I was scared?" I scoffed.
"Your eyes say everything before your mouth knows the words."
"Touché." I said before taking a deep breath. "I guess I was scared a little. I mean. If I was afraid at all, it would probably be of you."
"Me?" I saw a flash of pain in his eyes before he looked away.
"I knew you'd be mad." I saw him wince, probably remembering his angry yelling during our free period the same as I was.
"I'm sorry." He said, putting his cup on the coffee table and turning to me. "I shouldn't have screamed at you. What you did was.. foolish.. but that doesn't change anything. I knew when I saw you that I should go over to you, but then you came to me and I couldn't tell you no. Hell, I couldn't even tell myself no."
"You wanted to come dance with me?" I knew I shouldn't have asked that, knowing it would only lead me to get my hopes up and then the crush of heart ache again, but I asked and I can't take it back now. Jake nodded.
I had only had a small cup but was already dizzy. I knew I couldn't walk home, knew Jake couldn't drive me, but I didn't want to call a taxi. I wanted to stay, and for once, I wasn't going to let him convince me otherwise. "You mind if I crash here?" I asked, fear welling up in my throat.
"Of course not!" He beamed, his smile brighter than I've seen all night, which is bad because he has been smiling the majority of the time and I felt proud of that. After a second, I realized he probably had drunk more alcohol than I had previously thought. "It's your q-question." He said, hiccupping.
"Okay. Er, why are you so nervous?"
"Who said I'm nervous?"
"The half empty bottle." I said smartly. He ran his hand through his hair roughly.
"I just don't know if I should have brought you here." I ignored that pain in my chest. "I mean, I couldn't control myself last time, I probably won't be able to this time. I mean you're just so damn gorgeous." He gestured widely to me. I stood up, walked to him, and crouched down in front of the chair, kneeling on the floor. I grabbed his shirt, sharply pulling his lips to mine. He kissed me back, sloppily, for a minute, before I pulled away, smirking at the 'hmph' of disappointment.
"Tomorrow. If you want me to do that again tomorrow, I will, but I'm not going to when you're drunk. I know how I feel, but I can't know about you until you're sober. Talk to me tomorrow." And I meant every word.
"Tomorrow." He repeated, nodding.
"Tomorrow." I said one more time before I made my way back to the couch, pulling the afghan from the back and wrapping it around myself. With my eyes closed, I listened to him sigh and go to walk past me to his room. I'm not sure, because I was well on my way to dreaming, but I think I felt his lips touch my forehead lightly before sleep took me.
A/N: So, I finally got this out there. I had some writing issues for this one, as well as some Internet issues, but I finally got it. It wasn't easy either, so you should thank me with numerous comments, votes, fans, and anything else you can think of. Yes, I am accepting cookies. :D