Page 42 of All That Remains
He meticulously picked each sprout out of the rice and scarfed down the rest.
"Arghhh..." Nate groaned. "I'm really gonna be sick, bois. Bechod!" He fired off a few farts, following which we all cursed and left the table.
“Fuck’s sake!” I cried, wildly fanning a takeout menu.
"Sickbastard!" Levi said, pulling his shirt up over his nose and collecting his leftovers to eat in the lounge. I fetched the air freshener.
"Don't kill him, bro!" Rome said, laughing when I created an ocean breeze force field around the culprit with the aerosol.
"He'll live, trust me.”
Nate choked and fell to the floor.
Later, with the help of Alex, I washed the few dishes we’d used and joined the others in the lounge to watchFinal Destination 5. Levi had seen it already in theaters and was itching to give spoilers, but each time he looked like he might, Alex slammed a hand over his mouth and everyone cracked up. I was sat next to Nathan who had been farting silently and hoped I couldn't tell. He really was sick. I grabbed him some digestive relief my mum bought for stomachaches and let him have the couch to himself.
I joined Rome on the floor where we lay on our stomachs, and soon he lay half atop my back, head propped on my shoulder. He grew heavier as he fell asleep, and the pressure of it was more satisfying than I could fathom. We were comfortable sleeping beside each other now; rarely ever drifting apart. Every night we were like magnets, colliding and clinging like our chemistry depended on it.
From where I lay, chin propped atop my folded arms, I could smell the carpet deodorizer and one of the boys' reeking feet. It wasn't Rome's. He never smelled. He was too self-conscious to ever smell bad. He took pains during his grooming—mainly with his breath. It finally dawned on me that it was Alex’s feet. They always smelled because he refused to wear socks and they sweated profusely. I buried my nose into the crook of my arm and lost interest in the movie.
Rome shifted a few times but only snuggled closer, awakened by loud sequences in the film. After the fourth time, he murmured against my shoulder and asked if I wanted to go to bed. Something about the familiarity in the question, the coziness in his tone, the promise of snuggles and secret kisses made me weak with anticipation.
Soon, he was on his feet and helping me to mine. We made excuses and left halfway through the film, barely managing to refrain from holding hands until we were out of sight. The minute we bent the corner, his fingers searched for mine in the gloom of the hall, interlocking them, and I could feel that he was quivering too.
After entering and shutting the door, we left the lights off and kissed until we grew weak. He pressed my back against the wall as I writhed beneath the pressure of his hands. I accidentally knocked a few things from the shelf adjacent to the door, but didn’t care. I couldn't worry whether anything had broken, not when he had begun to undress me.
He hadn’t done that before. I’d always undressed myself—and something about us kissing standing up felt deeply transgressive. He pulled my shirt over my head, and each time our mouths met, we were one step closer to going all the way, even though I had no idea what that might entail with a guy.
Since it was the first time we’d snogged standing up, we clawed at each other's bodies, savoring full access to the partsthat had gone unpetted. He unfastened my pants, pushing them and my briefs off my hips. Then he grabbed my bare ass so hard I panicked and broke the kiss. He snatched me back in, sucking on my tongue, caressing my ass so amorously I had premonitions of him being inside.Holy shit.
My semi flopped about, brushing his clothes, and the sensation raked my spine. Weren’t we in this together? Weren’t we equals? Why was he still clothed? This was strange new territory for us. Very adult and infatuated. Things were also imbalanced. And I couldn’t shake the feeling we were on the brink of something irrevocable.
Panting, he reluctantly slid his hands back up to my waist, sensing something was off. I covered my cock, hiding my face in the crook of his neck.
"You alright?"
"Yeah...I think so..." I whispered. "M’sorry."
"Too fast?" He stroked my naked belly.
I nodded, but he didn't force me to explain. Instead, he walked me over to the bed, sitting me atop.
“Better?”
“Mm-hm.”
"Sleep?"
"Please…" I said, kicking my pants all the way off and watching him undress.
I just needed a break from it all. A minute to reset. Things felt like they were moving differently between us now, and I didn't want to do something either of us would regret come morning. Something that might change the way we viewed ourselves forever.
We slept in nothing but our briefs, and he spooned me properly for the first time. The charm of his hard arms around me, of his chest against my back, his heart thumping against my shoulder blade—it was too wonderful to process. I wantedto bottle the feeling and save it for nights I’d be alone. More alone than normal, since I now knew what it was like to share an intimate space with someone you cared for, several nights in a row. The deprivation would be murderous.
I could barely catch my breath when he shifted, his bulge pressing into me. It was the sort of casual intimacy I’d always dreamt of, and now I shared it with him. WithRome. It still didn't seem real. I finally knew what it was like to be kissed deeply. To be held, to be undressed, to be wanted by a man—beyond logic, beyond reason, beyond my depth. And I never wanted to go back now. He held me like there was no tomorrow. Like we'd already been together for years. But as I opened my eyes and stared at the nothingness before me, I realized this was deluded at best. I had no idea what the future would hold, but something dark warned me he wouldn't be holding me like this in a decade's time.
***
One morning my mum visited and cooked us waffles and bacon, which was a welcome change since we had exhausted the McDonald's breakfast menu. Rome drank coffee and I finished what he couldn't of his waffles because he had a stomachache. He asked if my mum would be upset if he excused himself to take a nap, and I assured him she'd understand. He kissed her on the cheek as he made his way out of the kitchen, and she told me to take him ginger ale whenever he woke.
