Despite Darrin's concern, weeks went by with no repeat of the verbal attacks. In spite of the quiet, Mitch was more subdued than Darrin had ever seen him. He tried to get Mitch to talk about the incidents, but had been met with either evasion or stony silence. After several tries he decided to let it drop. Darrin was glad there hadn't been a repeat incident, but not knowing who was doing it was almost worse since he began distrusting almost everyone. Between the pressures of classes and teaching, as well as the continual looming threat of more personal attacks, both men were exhausted and on edge as the semester lumbered toward its conclusion.
The pressures were enough that they decided to spend the Thanksgiving break at home, catching up on work and trying to decompress. Adding to Darrin's stress level, he had noticed that Mitch was getting what seemed like a lot of phone calls that he took in private. Not that Darrin expected a breakdown of each phone call, but always before Mitch was pretty open about his phone conversations and didn't care if Darrin overheard him, but these calls were cloaked in silence. Darrin tried to put it out of his mind, hoping that it wasn't what he thought it was. In spite of everything, they did manage to unwind over the short Thanksgiving break and promised that Christmas would be more than turkey sandwiches and beer. As the long weekend drew to a rapid end, they readied themselves for the mad dash to the end of the semester.
The Monday after the break found Mitch and Darrin in their office, absorbed in the work in front of them. Both were oblivious to anything going on outside their door until they heard,
"Buttfuckers!"
Jumping up they ran to the door, but the hallway was empty. Mitch stalked up and down the hall, trying to find who had said it, but with no success. Darrin was still standing in their doorway when Mitch returned.
"Nothing. Fuckin' chicken shit!" said Mitch.
"I can't believe he disappeared so quick. It's gotta be another grad student that ducked into an office, but who!" said Darrin, grinding his teeth in frustration.
"Well, we'll just have to watch our backs. No telling what this fucker might try."
"Yeah, you're right," said Darrin. "Damnit!"
Mitch smiled, "Come on. Even the token gay grad students in the department need to finish their work."
Darrin gave him a thoughtful look, and then followed Mitch back into their office with a small sigh.
<><><><><>
That evening Mitch watched Darrin while he was cooking. They tried to divide up the work, but Mitch was more than willing to admit Darrin was the better cook, and Mitch loved to watch him as he did it. There had been times when Mitch had bribed Darrin into swapping chores so he didn't have to eat his own cooking. He smiled a little as Darrin chopped some greens to slip into the stew he was making. Darrin thought he was sneaking it past Mitch, and Mitch certainly wasn't going to admit that he actually didn't mind the addition.
As he watched, he drifted back to the incident today. Running through it over and over, he realized this was starting to wear on him. Darrin had tried to get him to talk about it a few times, but he really didn't know what to say about it. He'd always been very comfortable in his skin, and the people around him had responded positively. This blind hate was new, and he wasn't sure how to deal with it. He'd heard enough just from Darrin to realize that other people's experiences weren't as positive and that he had been pretty lucky until these recent months. Thinking it through he knew what he needed to do. He hated to admit it, and even smiled a little when he admitted it to himself, but he needed to see his momma.
The smile continued on his face as he walked over and leaned against the counter and watched Darrin. Mitch's smile broadened when Darrin looked up at him and waited for whatever was coming.
"Go ahead, spit it out," said Darrin.
Mitch chuckled, "You know me too well. I was wondering what you had planned for Christmas break."
Darrin shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno. It's not like I have anywhere to go. I thought I'd just stay here I guess. Why?"
"Let's go to my parent's place. I'd like to see them."
Mitch saw Darrin stiffen. He could almost see the disaster scenarios that were running through Darrin's head. He waited and eventually there was a small sigh.
"Sure. If that's what you want to do," said Darrin.
Mitch's face bloomed with a full-blown smile that covered his face.
"Fuckin' fantastic!"
Darrin chuckled and turned back to his cooking, thinking he had hid his doubts from Mitch. But then he felt Mitch move behind him and press his crotch against Darrin's butt. As the layers of denim slid over each other, Mitch ran his hands under Darrin's shirt and let his fingers explore the wonderful textures of his man. Darrin's breath caught as he pressed back against Mitch. Cocking his head he managed to get out,
"If you don't stop, dinner will burn."
"You need to relax," said Mitch as he turned off the burners. He then slowly ground his crotch against Darrin while his fingers gently tweaked the hard nipples he found buried in soft hair. Darrin braced himself against the counter, pressing back, his body throbbing as the foreplay created a primal rhythm in him. Darrin felt Mitch's fingers slowly slide down his torso, stopping just inside the waist of his pants and softly caressing his bush. Darrin always marveled at how Mitch played him like a fiddle. This was no exception since in a short time Mitch already had him moaning and bucking like a cheap whore. Grabbing Darrin's package, Mitch turned him around so that their crotches were grinding against each other. Mitch popped opened the neck of Darrin shirt, pressed his lips against the base of his neck and started sucking and biting. The animal in Mitch didn't recede until after he had left what was going to be a huge hickey. Bucking his crotch against Darrin, Mitch caressed Darrin's face and kissed him softly.
"That's my college boy, getting all relaxed. Lets see if we can't get you even more relaxed."
