Sorry for the major delay in this chapter! It was a difficult one to write and it ended up being much longer than I originally intended. Thank you to everyone for their patience and I hope you enjoy reading it! :)
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Easter Sunday
Nick's week in California had been hell. He had to stay in his brother's apartment (which was old and gross), he'd gone without cell reception the entire time, the heat had been excruciating, but worst of all, there were no hot guys for Nick to pounce on. More specifically, there was no Francis. He had only gotten to message him through Facebook a few times when he was at his brother's place, but since he was using his brother's laptop, it meant there would be no hot video chats or time spent in front of a screen looking at each other's dirty pictures. Nick had been horny beyond belief.
That entire week, Francis had also been very horny. While Nick was still in California, Francis had satisfied himself through a variety of different methods: jerking off, porn, fingering himself, sex toys, porn, dirty stories (he never knew reading could be so fun), masturbating in different rooms of his house, porn, jerking off in public places, and some more porn. Some of it was even gay.
However, the gay porn and the fact he was fingering himself had gotten him concerned and really confused. Was he turning gay? Or was it just Francis discovering his bisexual side? Perhaps he was just really horny and willing to do anything. He wasn't sure what was going on and he was more frightened than ever, especially since Matt was too busy with his exams to text or call him back, and Nick's cell reception in California was non existent. And Nick had to be careful what he said to Francis over his brother's laptop.
Because of this, it meant that Francis had no one to really talk to about his sexuality, and he was sure his friends wouldn't be so thrilled to hear about his sudden revelation.
Francis needed some sex—but how would that leave things with Nick? He knew that the both of them hadn't set out any rules about fucking other people while Nick was away but despite that, Francis had had no desire to be with anyone else. Well, there were no chicks for him to hunt down and being with any other guy besides Nick felt like betrayal. At that point, even thinking about women felt strange to him. He wondered if Nick felt the same way—about guys, at least.
Things got worse for Francis later on that week. After his father had discovered a dildo in his room (Francis had been careless), his reputation was on the line and his dad had given him a long talk about homosexuality and sin. It was the worst conversation he'd ever had, and he suddenly hated his parents more than he ever thought possible. His dad had thrown out the dildo after they'd finished, and told him he'd kick him out of the house if he ever found another one. Francis had convinced him that he was just being extra kinky with a girl he'd had over, but in his father's eyes, it was a pathetic attempt at an excuse. He figured he had some time before his father would really get suspicious, so Francis tried to be more careful from then on, and thought about trying to get back to women again—at least until his father got off his case. Being anything other than straight terrified him, and he was sure no good things would come out of it if his parents were to ever find out.
But now, as Nick was on his way home, he was super excited to see Francis again. Being away for so long had really driven him to explore his feelings for the man—sentiments he may have hidden in fear of being rejected by Francis. But their conversations over the internet, and Francis constant interest in how his day was going, was a sign that maybe Francis saw them as more than just fuck-buddies, perhaps more than just friends.
Nick arrived in Houston on a hot afternoon. It was nearly 80 degrees Fahrenheit, which was unusually hot during the spring. People were sweltering, there was no breeze to cool their faces, and there was a shortage of air conditioners in stores. Nick fell asleep during the car ride home. Since their AC wasn't reliable, the heat made him sleepy.
As soon as he got home, he could hear the sprinklers on all the lawns, the screams of children as they frolicked beneath the water and the drone of cars as people drove lazily across the streets. Nick helped his parents take his things to his room, then he threw his phone aside and slumped into his bed, falling back asleep. His sleep cycle had been ruined by the time change and there was the fact that his brother insisted on taking him to late-night parties. Nick usually ended up going home early from those things.
That day, Nick slept on for hours at home, through the entire afternoon and well into the night. He didn't wake until he heard a noise at his window.
It was dark. Nick's curtains were wide open, but his windows were firmly shut. His parents had the AC on in the house which meant that not a single window was allowed to stay open. Nick was lying in bed with nothing on except a thin sheet and a short pair of Francis' old boxers. The door was locked, and his clothes were in a heap across the floor. It was nice and cool in his room when he woke, with the darkness of the clear night sky casting eerie an light across his face.
Nick's eyes opened at the noise, but he stayed in bed, wondering if the noise was just a tree branch scratching against his window. But it came again, and he heard a raspy voice follow. Nick groggily got up, wandering over to the window. He saw a shadowy figure in the corner of his lawn, throwing rocks at the glass. Nick stared down at the dark figure, a bit scared as to what was going on.
As he opened the window, the hot, humid night air made his skin crawl. It was far cooler inside than it was outside. He peered down at the shape, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes. "What are you doing here?" Nick asked Francis, the fear suddenly leaving him.
Francis smiled awkwardly at him. "I-is this a bad time? Are you with someone?"
Nick frowned at him. "No... I was asleep."
"Oh. Sorry."
"It's fine," Nick mumbled, wondering if that was a look of relief on Francis' face. Nick had to admit that seeing Francis made him feel a hundred times better, but he was still very nervous to see him. His stomach felt like it was doing jumping-jacks inside of him.
"Did you... want to come up?" Nick asked.
Francis smiled again, showing Nick his pearly white teeth. His green eyes glinted in the faint streetlight. "Yeah."
Nick kept the window open as Francis climbed up the tree, being careful not to snap any branches or make much noise. Nick's parents had a bedroom on the other side of the house, but he didn't want his parents seeing signs of a broken tree when they woke up the next day. It would raise a lot of suspicion.
"Be careful," Nick said to him.
"Yeah," he grunted. Francis snapped a few branches as he climbed upwards, struggling to get inside the window. Nick pulled him in, making sure he didn't land on the floor with a thud.
"Why are you all wet?" Nick laughed, looking at his soaked cotton trunks and wet sweatshirt sticking to his hairy muscles, which bulged bigger than usual.
"Your sprinklers are on," he muttered, suddenly looking up and down Nick as the teenager went back to bed, covering himself in the thin blanket. Francis had recognized his pair of boxers but refrained from commenting.
"Oh."
"How've you been, how was your trip?" Francis asked, pulling back his wet hair as he sat down on a nearby chair. He kept his voice to a low whisper, but the droning noise of the AC helped keep his presence unknown. He closed the window as Nick began to speak.
"It was fine. Got to see a lot of LA, but I also stayed on campus, looking at the buildings and stuff with my brother."
"Cool," he replied, giving Nick a charming smile. "Fuck some guys while you were in town?"
Nick turned pink. "N-no. I... wasn't really there for sex."
Francis looked a bit relieved, though he laughed nervously. "Haha, right. Have you been working out?"
"Uh, yeah. I have," Nick answered, a bit proud. At least his brother's apartment had been good for something—he had a bunch of weights piled up in different rooms.
"Yeah, I can tell. You look good."
Nick's face turned pinker. "Thanks," he mumbled, feeling embarrassed. "What brings you here?"
Francis looked up at him. "Well... I knew you were coming back today and I wanted to see you. Also... I texted you earlier and you didn't respond. I thought you were mad at me or something. So I just wanted to make sure things were alright between us," he said.
"Oh sorry," he began, "I fell asleep as soon as I got home. I had my phone on silent..." he said, feeling bad for having not seen them.
Francis nodded. "Oh okay, just wanted to make sure. So... you're not mad at me?"
