Chapter 4: The strange case of Danny Phantom and Marty McFly
Jamie woke up first, immediately feeling the warmth of Chris' heat all over his body. He eased into the muscled frame that proved to be soft enough for him to feel comfort as he listened along to the quiet little breaths the boy let out- the same ones that lured him to sleep the night before. All was well, despite the realization that he'd eventually have to face the truth.
Chris' light breaths were soon drowned out by Jamie's phone, ringing away from within the jeans he discarded last night. He carefully untangled himself from the boy's arms and rushed over, hoping not to wake him.
"Shit, Garrett." he thought as the screen lit up and he walked into the living room to drown out the noise. He'd forgotten he agreed to help Garrett and Lisa pack up and move out of their apartment- a favor made necessary since Marissa and Kevin were both out of town. He was already twenty minutes late to when he said he'd meet them.
"Yo, you on your way?" Garrett asked as Jamie paced through the room, hoping Chris' roommate really had been away this weekend.
"Uh yeah, just got a bit of a late start" he replied, wearing a pair of shorts that Chris had lent him while standing in the boy's living room that still had a nearly finished box of pizza and a couple beer bottles laying around.
Garrett paused for a second, followed by the sound of a signal light being used, "Ok that's fine. I just picked up the rental truck, so just come over as soon as you can. I got a fat breakfast burrito with your name on it."
Jamie faked a laugh, "Ha sweet. But yeah, I'll see you soon."
"Cool" Garrett said, before hanging up.
He slipped back into the room and started to gather his things. Jamie neatly folded the loose pair of shorts and set it on Chris' desk chair before slipping into his own clothes. He'd just put on his shirt when he walked over to Chris' sleeping frame and gave him a few nudges on his arm. The younger boy opened his eyes and proceeded to wipe the tiredness away. Jamie swore he'd never seen someone more adorable than Chris Woo waking up first thing in the morning. His motions while asleep had ruined the neat quiff he'd worn the night before, but Jamie liked the messy look, knowing his own locks were all over the place.
"Hey, wake up Chris, I gotta head out." He said as the boy blinked repeatedly.
Chris stretched, exposing that milky skin Jamie got to taste the night before. He too had only worn a pair of loose shorts to bed, which were concealed under the miles of bundled sheets he'd curled himself in. It looked a little too framed- the way the blankets rode so low down the boy's hips, paired with his legs sticking out and how the sunlight cast upon him. It was like a photographer was waiting in the next room to start their photoshoot.
"What time is it?" Chris asked, in a gravelly voice.
"Just after 9," Jamie slipped his phone back into his pocket, "I didn't wanna leave without saying anything."
Chris didn't hide the smile that swept across his face. "Most guys would have just split."
Jamie just shrugged his shoulders. He took another look at the smiling hunk he'd be leaving. He asked, "Talk to you later?" to which Chris nodded, excitedly. He turned and grabbed onto the doorknob, turning it slightly.
"Wait" Chris called out. The older boy turned around and walked, following the boy's finger that motioned back to him. He got to the edge of the bed and felt Chris' hand pull him into a kiss. He felt the boy's fingers on his jaw, examining his timid face.
"Thanks for making my night less shitty."
Jamie smiled and raised his eyebrow, "PEMDAS?" he asked.
Chris laughed, shaking his head, "PEMDAS is for order of operations, not cancelling things out."
"It still worked." Jamie said, before turning on his heels and leaving.
***
Jamie stepped off the bus and headed over to Garret and Lisa's old place which was tucked away on the edges of the Outer Richmond. Garrett nabbed the prime parking spot up front, managing to fit the rented oversized truck between two Toyota Priuses as they slowly loaded up every empty space in the back. He and Garrett worked their way through the living room, filling the truck bed with the duo's sofa, two nightstands, a coffee table and Garrett's bed. They looked around to see the sparsely decorated place, now stripped of Garrett's photography he had printed and little decorations Lisa and Kelly had put up to make the place feel more homey. They packed up the essentials with Garrett explaining that Lisa and her family would be over tomorrow to haul all the smaller stuff to their new place.
Jamie got a bit emotional as he got into the passenger seat with Garrett at the wheel, knowing that this apartment- like many aspects of his life here were gone.
A little while later, he was carrying stacks of boxes up the new second floor walk-up in Oakland. He nearly tipped everything over as he walked in to see what was clearly twice the size of their old place- complete with a parking spot and a little balcony with a view out to Lake Merritt.
Garrett leaned on his shoulder, reminding him, "It's cheaper too." before taking some of the load off.
"This place is massive dude! You definitely can't find space like this across the bridge."
"Nope" Garrett said as he took an Xacto to the tops of some boxes. "Lisa and I are already planning this Halloween house-warming party to break the place in." He started emptying the boxes and slowly filling up the empty cupboards. "We definitely gotta get everyone to come out too. Heather's making jello shots. I got Kev to bring his girl over from Sac. Lisa is inviting this dude she's been talking to from school. Hell, I'm even pushing Marissa to bring that guy she's apparently not dating."
Jamie couldn't believe how things had changed. He somehow still pictured everyone at Bitter End, drinking away over thoughts of how they'd all end up single by thirty. Garrett had just come out of this fling he had with one of their other friends, long before he and Heather became a thing, and slowly each of them got paired up like animals in queue to Noah's Ark. Even he was in this weird arrangement with Chris that was in desperate need of a definition. Regardless of what it was, he wasn't exactly single anymore.
"What about you, J? You're more than welcome to bring someone."
