Mornings and Courtings

Once Marty left, the entire atmosphere in the room changed. All romance fled the air like birds moving south for the winter. As for the others in the party, they were unable to hear what the argument was about but knew their was commotion. It was the second time Lucas had gotten into an all out brawl with Marty and nobody was particularly shocked that the dark haired boy came in and disturbed everyone.

Lucas sat down wordlessly on the bed, his face perfectly masking his emotions.

"Are you alright Lucas? I'm really sorry that happened.. we shouldn't have... I shouldn't have..." Vincent wrapped his arms loosely around the boy, and patted his hair in a comforting manner.

"It is not your fault. I don't want you to think that was your fault at all. That was Marty's fault. I didn't.. I didn't expect him to be so immature. I'm sorry it happened." Lucas explained.

"It isn't your fault either. You don't have to apologize either." Vincent chuckled.

"I do though. I'm sorry you had to see me like that, I'm sorry you had to hear me swear... I didn't want.. that's exactly what I wanted to avoid." Lucas smiled sheepishly, and took Vincent's hand in his own.

"It's okay to be upset and express how you're feeling. You really shouldn't try and hold it in around me." Vincent sighed.

"Thank you." Lucas' mask melted to reveal how truly drained he was from the argument. "I don't know how we move on from this... I don't know how I can stay friends with him. With any of them. He's just another snobbish rich kid. I'm so sick of them."

"Rich kid?"

"Yeah... just like all of them. I'm so done with it."

"Marty isn't rich." Vincent's brows furrowed. "You thought he was rich?"

"Yeah?" Lucas' face betrayed confusion. "He isn't?"

"No, Marty lives back the bridge. He lives in a trailer home with his mother and sister cause his dad left." Vincent explained.

"I guess I just thought with him having such a fancy car and hanging out with all the other rich kids he was.. I didn't realize he was struggling... and then I went and called him a spoiled brat." Lucas let his hand fall into his lap. "Now I feel like a total jerk."

"How could you have known? We had lots of kids from his neighborhood at our school, but I don't think they were really keen to talk about it." Vincent shrugged, remembering the long bus line from that district. Many catholic school students lived at or below the poverty line and used education as a way to break the cycle. Marty was probably the first in his family to go to college, and his family probably made a lot of sacrifices to provide him with that opportunity.

"I know.... But he's my friend, I should have known." Lucas shook his head. "But I still don't think that excuses his actions..."

"No," Vincent agreed. "I really just don't understand his issue with me."

"I don't either. He never liked you, even back when we were in high school." Lucas ran his hand over his face again. "I'm still sorry. I'm sorry I was friends with a person who would treat you like that, rich or poor."

"It's okay, Lucas."

"From now on you matter most to me. I can't have anyone in my life who doesn't understand that." Lucas' voice slowed in exhaustion.

....

Vincent awoke wrapped comfortably in Lucas' arms the next morning. At some point the night prior they had fallen asleep together, still in the bed and still in their clothes.

The last time Lucas had a party they'd ended up in the same position and Vincent smiled at the memory.

Lucas drifted awake and smiled groggily, tugging Vincent deeper under the covers and closer into him.

"I have to keep reminding myself that this isn't just another dream. You're really here. And we're really together. It's amazing." Lucas whispered.

"Did you dream about me?"

"Every night." Lucas kissed Vincent's shoulder gently. "Though sometimes they were more like nightmares."

"Nightmares?"

"They were... sometimes we weren't together... sometimes I was left alone, but I always loved the ones where we got to be together in the end."

"And if it is a dream?"

"It's worth it."

Lucas and Vincent lay together in bed, letting the sun stream in through the large windows. The sky outside was pretty and blue, promising a better day than the prior one.

"I should get up." Lucas mumbled.

It was Vincent's turn to groggily object.

"I'm sure a bunch of people slept over and the place is a mess." Lucas explained.

"So?"

"So I've got to get up and clean it." Lucas detached himself from Vincent and swung his legs to the floor before grabbing a change of clothes and heading out of the room. "You can wake up whenever you're ready, if you want to wait for everyone to leave, I totally understand. I'll try to be back sooner, then."

Vincent rolled over in the sheets and inhaled deeply; they smelled wonderfully like Lucas. With the sun shining warmly on his face, the thick white covers, and the knowledge that Lucas would soon return to join him, Vincent could have remained in that bed all day, but he knew he really ought to go help the boy.

Alone in the bedroom Vincent selected a forest green tee shirt to wear as well as a pair of oversized shorts. He was going to need to start bringing clothes to Lucas' if he wanted to stay over so often. The shirts he could live with, but the pants were just awkward.

Outside in the main room Sarah, Ryan, Megs, and Jacob had slept over as well as a few other people he didn't know. Hailey and Dustin had planned to split an Uber home, as well as back the next day to grab their cars, so he wasn't surprised to not see them.

"Good morning, sleepyhead. I didn't think I'd see you so soon, but I'm glad." Lucas smiled brightly upon seeing Vincent. He was going around and straightening furniture as well as picking up solo cups.

Vincent decided he ought to fix Lucas breakfast in return for the two times Lucas had gotten him breakfast. Lucas had fresh eggs, so Vincent pulled out a frying pan and began to scramble them. Once he had enough he poured them into a bowl and started frying up some sausage he'd discovered in the freezer.

It was a relatively simple breakfast, but good enough for a tired morning. Vincent carried one plate per hand and set them down on the glass table. It wasn't big enough for all the people, so they'd have to grab and go. Speaking of, Vincent grabbed paper plates and plastic forks from the kitchen, hoping to avoid having to do as many dishes as possible.

"You made breakfast?" Lucas smiled, eyes bright with adoration. "Thank you."

The room was mostly straightened and the strange collection of people began to slowly wake up, each with their own respective headaches.

"Ugh.. I feel like shit." Sarah mumbled. "Did you make breakfast for us, Lucas?"

"Nah, actually Vincent did."

"Thank you Vincent." Sarah smiled kindly. Vincent didn't particularly care for her, but she was nice to him, and had she known he and Lucas were together, he wagered she'd have stopped her quest. If he and Lucas were out nobody would ask Vincent to set them up with his boyfriend, but Vincent thought Sarah might stop altogether while the other girls would simply move their conquest to incognito mode.

"You guys are way too perky for the night we had." Megs mumbled.

"Naw. My man Lucas was dry as the desert yesterday." Ryan piped in. "In more way than one he chuckled.

Vincent smiled secretly to himself.

"My head is pounding!" Jacob whined. "You'd think I'd be able to hold my alcohol better by now, but no."

"Wow, breakfast? It's like a hotel in here." Ryan chuckled.

"Well don't get too comfortable. You've got an early check out." Lucas rolled his eyes.

"We'll be out." Ryan held up his hands in surrender.

Not much more conversation was had by the group during breakfast as to not further harm the heads of the hungover people. True to Ryan's word everyone had left the house by two in the afternoon, driving home not long after Lucas would have liked them to be gone. Vincent also noticed when he went to check that both Hailey and Dustin's cars were missing, which meant they'd come to pick them up.

Once the last person left, Lucas tackled Vincent onto the couch, landing on top of him, with the smaller boy boxed in by his arms.

"Finally we're alone."

"Thank God." Vincent chuckled.

"I'm gonna grab a shower."

"You're leaving me already?"

"Who said I'm leaving?" Lucas smiled smugly. "Aren't you coming with me?"

"I.. uh.." Vincent flushed red.

"I'm just messing with you." Lucas tousled Vincent's hair and rolled off him to stand up. "I'll use the guest bathroom, so you can use the master?"

"Sure." Vincent nodded in agreement. Lucas gave Vincent one last kiss, then disappeared into the second bedroom. Vincent made his way into the room where they'd spent the night and grabbed his jeans from the night before. He could wear those again, but he didn't want to dirty another one of Lucas' shirts, so he kept the tee. That left the problem of underwear.

It felt kind of unsanitary to wear the same underwear again, but he didn't quite feel comfortable wearing a pair of Lucas'. He gingerly opened the last of Lucas' dresser drawers and sure enough was met with underwear. Lucas had a few pairs of boxers and lots of briefs.

At first Vincent was surprised that Lucas hadn't adopted boxers as he grew up, but upon further reflection, Vincent decided it made sense. It was strange, how even though on the exterior Lucas was a fully reformed jock, it was only skin deep, and he was still really the nerdy little kid Vincent knew. Holding on to a different type of underwear than was popular, despite becoming popular himself was very Lucas; the same where you couldn't easily see it.

Vincent grabbed a pair and moved to the bathroom. A nice hot shower proved to be the perfect remedy for a long night of fighting and drinking, even if Vincent was only nominally involved in both.

Out of the shower, he wiped the steam off the mirror, swished mouth wash and flossed in the absence of a toothbrush, and changed into his clothes for the day. The shirt still hung too baggy, but Vincent found he didn't mind it so much when it was tucked into his pants.

Vincent ran his hands through his hair a final time before exiting the bathroom. In the bedroom he was met with Lucas examining himself in the mirror. His hair was still wet from his shower, but he had gotten on a pair of sweat pants, though he had yet to put on a shirt.

Vincent swallowed roughly. Lucas' back was defined with muscles and his arms showed even more.

Lucas turned around and smiled, pointing to his neck. There under the chain of the crucifix that had been a calculated Catholic gift from Vincent's mother, Vincent had left a trail of bruises that speckled his upper chest and jaw. Lucas ran his hands over them gingerly.

"You bruised me." Lucas looked back.

"I'm sorry." Vincent came to Lucas' side in the mirror. His own bruises seemed to match Lucas as they were speckled across their necks.

"You know something? I like it too." Lucas grinned with pride. "Everybody knows we've each been with someone, they just don't know we were with each other."

Lucas turned back from the mirror, face still betraying joy. Then he pulled a teal tee shirt on to compliment his light gray joggers. It did little to hide the marks, and Vincent wondered if it was perhaps purposeful.

"I don't think I've ever been happier in my life." Lucas whispered, taking Vincent's hands into his own. Lucas wore a little jewelry, and Vincent decided he quite liked the look of it. Lucas wore a few rings on his fingers, mostly simple black bands, and a black rope style bracelet. Vincent spun one that stood out around Lucas' finger. "It's funny that you picked that one, because I started wearing it for you."

"You did?"

"Hmm." Lucas sounded. "To remind myself that I was taken... it seems awfully silly now, but then..." Lucas trailed off. The ring in question was smaller than the other, a thin silver band. "I meant what I said when we were kids, Vincent." Lucas looked up from his hands to make eye contact, and in the light from the window the slight stubble on his chin from forgetting to shave the past few days glowed like golden straw, a perfect accent to his sharp jawline.

"What?"

"I don't make promises I can't keep. I intended to marry you then... and I still do."

"Lucas, we were just children..." Vincent frowned.

"Not to me... that's what I meant when I said this is real for me. This is the end."

"That's very kind of you."

"Are you still alright with everything? That doesn't scare you off?" Lucas huffed sheepishly.

"No. I think... I know I want that too."