Avery's Desire

Rick was surprised when he woke to see his clothes lying on the nightstand beside his bed. They had been laundered and neatly folded then placed there while he was sleeping. He sat up, yawned, and then slowly began to dress himself. As soon as he stepped out of the room and into the hall he headed for the bathroom but paused as he approached the door. He could hear the shower running almost immediately and frowned. He had no idea how long he'd slept, but he'd had a hell of a lot to drink the night before and seriously needed to take a piss.

He really didn't want to go when Avery was in the bathroom, and Avery was known for taking notoriously long showers. Still, Rick was about to piss down his leg and didn't think he could hold it until Avery was done. "Fuck it." He grumped and knocked on the door.

"What?" Avery called from inside the room.

"Um...I really need to pee." Rick told him, "So I'm coming in, alright?"

"Yeah, whatever man, have at it." Avery had never been one to concern himself with modesty.

It wasn't unheard of for him to suddenly strip in front of his friends, band members, or even strangers. Once, Mikey had demanded that Avery wear a pair of spandex pants at their next gig, so Avery tried them on during rehearsal and absolutely hated them. He said they were hot and itchy and refused to wear them on stage, especially since Mikey wouldn't allow him to wear any underwear because he said you could see his underwear line through the pants. His underwear line wasn't all you could see which Rick figured, was probably why Mikey wanted Avery to wear them in the first place. After rehearsal though, Avery had stripped totally nude, tossed the pants at Mikey, and announced he would wear them on stage when Mikey agreed to wear a pink prom dress.

Rick pushed the door open and walked in. The heat and steam from the room nearly knocked him on his ass. "Damn Ave." he coughed and waved the steam away from his face. "Is it hot enough for you?"

"Not really."Avery retorted, "But any hotter and my skin would melt off."

Rick shook his head as he walked over to the toilet. He glanced towards the shower for a second, and then tried to turn so that his back was to the shower but it wasn't that easy since the toilet was so close to the tub. He could hear Avery laughing from behind the curtain. "What's so funny?" Rick asked him.

"You are," Avery giggled. "Trying to shield yourself from me, as if you think I'm going to peek."

"Well, obviously you can see me," Rick scowled in annoyance. "What do you expect me to do?"

"Yeah I can see you, but not enough to really SEE you. I can just tell where you're standing but it's way too steamy in here too see much else so you're safe."

"Yeah well, I'm not taking any chances. You may like to strut around naked for the entire world to see but I don't." Rick looked behind him, just to make sure the curtain remained closed, not that it was much of a privacy curtain anyway.

The thing was way too thin and while it was slightly frosted, it was still a faint off-white, and practically transparent. Through the fog and condensation, Rick could easily make out the shape of Avery's body from the smooth line of his slender neck to the curve of his back. Rick gave himself a good shake then zipped up and walked to the sink to wash his hands. He wiped the condensation off the mirror and looked at his reflection. His hair was a mess so he picked up one of Avery's brushes and ran it through his thick, auburn, mane. Behind him, Rick could see Avery's reflection in the mirror, only slightly obscured by the curtain. He had turned around so that his back was to the spout, his head titled backwards, allowing the water to run through the long, ebony, locks of hair that spilled over his shoulders and down his back.

Rick watched as Avery stretched his arms up and ran his fingers through his hair. His back was arched and he was standing with one leg bent at the knee creating a triangular shaped opening between his thighs. If Rick hadn't already known better, he would have sworn that he was staring at a woman, but he wasn't.

Still, despite the obvious lack of breasts, Avery had a beautifully, feminine figure. Rick was transfixed on the image in the mirror. He could imagine what Avery looked like behind the curtain. His soft, pale flesh, wet from the shower, beads of water rippling down his back and over the curve of his hips. Hard pink nipples covered in soapy bubbles, bubbles that trickled down, over his chest to the dip in his abdomen, just beneath his ribs. He pictured the water flowing over Avery's body as he rinsed himself, his hand sliding over slippery flesh, past his navel, all the way down to his...

Rick jumped when he heard the shower suddenly shut off. He lowered his gaze to the sink and stood there, frozen for the moment. 'What the hell is wrong with me?' He thought.

Avery pulled the shower curtain back and stepped out. Rick turned his back to him. "I...I'm sorry. Let me get out of your hair."

"Hand me that towel before you go?" Rick looked around then remembered. He'd moved the towel from the toilet before he lifted the lid and set it on the counter by the sink.

"Yeah, sure thing Ave." He grabbed the towel and handed it to Avery behind his back.

"Thanks." Avery said as he took it.

"No problem." Rick made a hasty retreat as Avery dried off. He could hear Avery giggling as he shut the door. Rick rolled his eyes. "I'm glad you're amused." He muttered under his breath. "I don't really find it that funny though, kid."

The phone started ringing as Rick entered the living room. He looked down the hallway. Avery was still in the bathroom and probably would be for awhile. Rick didn't know if he should answer or not. He figured Avery wouldn't mind either way and it was probably just telemarketers anyway. He started to head for the kitchen then stopped. What if it was Trash checking up on him, or Mikey. Rick made a fist and glared at the phone. If it was Mikey, he'd kill him.

Rick walked over and picked up the receiver. "Hello?"

There was a pause on the other end and then he heard a male's voice. "Hello? To whom am I speaking?"

Rick tensed. He knew that voice, and he recognized the accent. He suddenly felt as if all the air had just been sucked out of the room. "Hello Brian." Rick said between clenched teeth. "This is Rick, Rick Meyers. I met you the night you came to Avery's place."

"Oh right." Brain hummed happily. "You're one of Avery's band mates, the red head, am I right?"

"Yep, that's me." Rick confirmed. "It's been awhile Brian, how have you been?"

"Busy..." Brian laughed. "My manager keeps me on a pretty tight schedule. In fact, I only have a few minutes to talk. I was hoping to get to speak to Avery, is he there?"

"He is, but he's in the shower right now. I can give him a message for you when he gets out though."

"Yeah, that would be good." Brian sounded disappointed. Rick smirked. "I'll have some free time later today about five your time. Could you have him call me? I'll give you the number to my direct line."

"Yeah one sec, let me get something to write on." Rick looked around for a pen and paper.

He found a small stack of post it notes on the desk in the corner of Avery's living room. He grabbed a pencil from the holder next to the post its and told Brian to go ahead. Rick jotted down the information that Brian gave him, and then promised to pass the message along to Avery when he was done with his shower. Brian thanked him and they hung up.

Rick tore the note off the top of the stack and held it in his hand, looking it over thoughtfully. Rick sighed. So, Brian was still interested in Avery after all. "Where were you though when Avery needed you, you Irish bastard?" Rick growled low under his breath. He folded the paper in half and then stuffed it into his pants pocket. "You really don't deserve him."

Avery wrapped a towel around his waist and walked to his bed room. Rick was surprised to see him actually cover himself for once, surprised and maybe slightly disappointed.

Avery was a good looking man, even Rick couldn't deny that. As effeminate as he was, he still had tons of girls throwing themselves at him. It was a major let down for them when they found out that Avery wasn't interested though. Avery claimed that he'd never even been with a woman but Rick found that hard to believe. He couldn't imagine any guy that wouldn't at least try it once. Then again, Avery was one vagina away from being a girl himself, so Rick figured it was possible.

Avery threw on a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt, pulled his hair back in a pony tail, then joined Rick in the living room. Rick watched as Avery plopped himself down on the couch and propped his bare feet up on the coffee table.

"Hey, thanks for washing my clothes." Rick told him.

Avery Shrugged as he lit a cigarette. "You're welcome. It was no big deal. I couldn't really sleep very well last night anyway."

Rick slouched down in his seat a bit, feeling kind of guilty. "Yeah...I'm sorry about that. I normally don't drink that much, I have no idea what I was thinking last night. It wasn't fair to inconvenience you though."

"Don't worry about it." Avery exhaled a cloud of smoke. "It's been a stressful couple of weeks for everyone."

Rick nodded in agreement. Things were tense and the band was suffering without a guitarist or a manager. Trash had a couple people in mind that he thought could replace Mikey but it would be hard to find a guy that could play as well as him. Avery didn't seem worried though, or if he was, he didn't show it. He was the youngest but in some ways he seemed the most sensible of the group.

"So, anyway, are you going to tell me just what the hell happened last night?" Avery turned and looked at Rick.

Rick shrugged. "Mikey showed up at Angie's and we got into it. It was no big deal though."

"Yeah, I figured as much but that's not what I was talking about."

"I don't..." Rick stopped as flashes of the previous night came back to him in foggy remnants of drunken stupidity. Rick sighed as he sat forward and rubbed the back of his neck. "I was being a grade-A jerk last night. I was hoping we could just forget what happened. I am sorry for the things I said. I was having a really bad night and I took it out on you when I shouldn't have."

"Fine, just don't ever treat me like that again Rick, you really upset me." Avery leaned over and kissed Rick lightly on the cheek. "You're my best friend. I'd be devastated if I lost you."

Avery stood up from the couch and smashed his cigarette out in the ash tray on the coffee table. "Anyway, I'm hungry. How about you?"

Rick shrugged. "I could eat." He said.

"Cool, I'll go fix us something." Avery sauntered out of the living room and into the kitchen.

Rick leaned his head back against the couch and closed his eyes. When Avery had kissed him, his heart had started pounding hard in his chest. The same thing had happened earlier in the bathroom while he was watching Avery through the shower curtain. It was like his heart suddenly skipped a beat and he couldn't breathe anymore. The last time he'd felt this way was when Lisa kerns had showed him her boobs in seventh grade.

It didn't make sense to him, Avery was his best friend, and he was like a little brother to Rick. Rick had never thought about Avery in a romantic way; so why was he suddenly getting so hot and bothered every time Avery entered the room? "Stupid." Rick looked up at the ceiling and sighed. Avery was head over heels for Brian Mueller. Even if Rick did have 'feelings' for Avery, what good would it do him? As long as Brian was in the picture, Rick was shit-outta- luck. Rick put his hand over the pocket with Brian's phone message. He supposed he had to tell Avery that Brian called, that would be the right thing to do, but...If Avery didn't call him back, would Brian give up?

"It's almost ready." Avery called from the kitchen.

"I'll be right there." Rick called back. He pushed himself up from the couch. Again his heart was pounding. If he chose not to give Avery the message, and Avery found out, he'd never forgive him. That would end their friendship right there, but was it worth the risk? 'Shit!' Rick wondered, 'what's the right answer?' He turned the corner and headed for the kitchen. Avery was standing at the stove, spatula in hand, and humming to himself while he turned the sausage links over in the skillet.

He'd set the table for two, and had a pitcher of orange juice, and a plate of fresh toast waiting. Once the links were done, Avery carefully scooped them out onto a plate next to a mound of steaming scrambled eggs, and then set the plate on the table. He looked up when he saw Rick. He smiled warmly. "Time to eat," He told Rick cheerfully.

Rick leaned his head against the door frame as he watched him. 'God he's cute.' Rick mused. He walked into the kitchen and sat across from Avery. Rick smiled and grabbed a slice of toast. "It looks good." He watched as Avery poured each of them a glass of juice and silently wondered, 'When exactly did I fall for him?'

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Trash pulled his shades off and tossed them carelessly on the dusty, metal shelf near the side entrance that he'd just come through. He rubbed the back of his neck as he looked around the warehouse, taking note of all the junk and debris that was piled up and left to rot. "What a fucking dump." He groaned. He walked around, surveying the area carefully. It was spacious enough but damn it needed a lot of work. Half of the shit scattered around would need to be taken out and thrown away which meant he needed to rent a dumpster. Then there were the repairs to think about.

The wiring was up to code and had ample voltage to meet their needs, but a few of the light fixtures needed replaced, the plumbing was junk, and there were at least two windows in the back that were broken and covered by plastic and duct tape. The front door was also chained closed because the lock was broken. On a positive note, the location was great; it was close to both his and Avery's place, and was in a low crime area of town. There were a couple of small factories located near the warehouse, but no residential buildings which was a plus.

The biggest obstacle to consider though was the price. The rent wasn't cheap and the cost of fixing the place up was going to run them at least four or five grand easy. The owner offered to give them the first two months for free if they handled the repairs themselves, but even then, Trash wasn't sure that it was in their budget. Still, he had a good feeling about the place, and it was the only place that he could find on such short notice that even remotely came close to what they needed.

With Mikey gone, they lost the use of his basement and there was no way that any of the three remaining band members apartment buildings would allow them to practice there, so they were really out of options. If push came to shove he supposed he could ask Avery to front the cash but he really didn't want to do that. Avery lived on a tight budget; his only income, besides what he made singing in the band, came from his parents, whom he didn't get along with very well.

When it came to his family, Avery pretty much kept everyone in the dark. Trash knew that something had happened after Avery had graduated high school that caused he and his family to become estranged, he just didn't know what exactly, and Avery wasn't about to tell him. Mikey wasn't even privy to that information and Trash suspected that not even Rick knew for sure and he was the one that Avery confided in the most. Avery trusted Rick above anyone else. Rick was the first one that Avery let in, and over the past year, their bond had only grown stronger. Still, Trash knew that they couldn't swing this without Avery's help, but he wasn't the one to bring it up to him either.

He flipped his cell open and dialed Rick's number. If they were going to do this, they needed to do it as a group, so it was time to let the others in on his plan and go from there. With any luck, they could start renovations in a couple of weeks and move in by the middle of next month. For the time being Trash had a buddy who owned a small bar one town over who might be willing to let them practice there if they agreed to a few free shows. It was a small price to pay for the stage time and they could use the publicity anyway. Since Mikey had left, they weren't pulling in the business that they had before and it was killing them.

Trash was confident though that once they got everything in order, desire would be on top once again, and then it was only a matter of time before they were well known enough to get some big time record producer to accept their demo. After that, the sky was the limit. They just had to hurdle this one obstacle and then it was smooth sailing. Trash just had to get Rick and Avery onboard, otherwise, Desire was nothing more than a sinking ship, and they were all in danger of drowning.

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There was something odd in Rick's expression as he dried the dishes that Avery handed him. He'd never seen someone seem so happy just to be doing dishes, but at the same time Rick almost seemed like he was trying to avoid any and all contact with Avery. He barely looked in his direction and absolutely would not make eye contact. In the past, Rick would tease Avery, and horse around with him. Lately though, Rick seemed shy, even a little scared to touch Avery. It was kind of cute but also a little disconcerting. In fact, Rick's behavior over the past week had Avery slightly puzzled.

He'd always been protective of Avery, ever since they'd first met, so it was no surprise to him that Rick had gone after Mikey, but that wasn't what concerned Avery the most. It was how Rick had been acting towards him that bothered Avery. Rick seemed distant, apprehensive, and almost reluctant to be close to Avery. He wondered if he'd done or said something to upset Rick but if so, he had no idea what it was. There was something though that was slowly driving a wedge between them, Avery just couldn't put his finger on it.

Rick's cell phone rang. He quickly fished it out of his pocket and looked the screen. "It's trash." He said as he flipped it open. "I gotta take this."

"That's fine." Avery smiled. "I'm almost done here anyway."

Rick walked into the other room and flopped down in the dark blue recliner next to the window in the living room. "What up bro?" He greeted Trash in his usual up beat way. "Oh, really? Hey man that's awesome! Huh? How much is it? Oh shit, there's no way we can...what? Yeah...uh...I dunno about that. I guess, but why don't we all go take a look first. Yeah I'm still here. He's washing dishes. Sure, I'll ask him." Rick pulled the phone away from his ear and called out to Avery. "You got any plans today Ave?"

Avery stepped out of the kitchen and stood in the arched doorway between the living room and the hall. "Not that I can think of." He said.

"You feel like going for a ride? Trash has a place he wants us to check out. He thinks it would be perfect place for a studio to do recordings and have rehearsals."

Avery Shrugged. "Sounds good, I'll go put my shoes on."

Rick nodded then put the phone back to his ear. "Yeah trash, we're good to go. Come pick us up." He snapped the phone closed and put it back in his pocket.

Avery sat on the couch to put his tennis shoes on. "Hey Rick, by the way, who was it that called earlier while I was in the bathroom?"

Rick flinched. 'Damn it all to hell.' He thought. 'Why'd he have to ask me that?' Rick put his hand in his pocket and felt the post it concealed within. Once again he was faced with the dilemma of telling Avery that Brian had called, or not, and hoping that Brian suddenly fell off the face of the earth.