Title: When in Rome

Author/pseudonym: Caroline Crane

Fandom: Dead Man on Campus

Paring: Josh/Cooper

Rating: NC17

Status: new/complete

Archive: yes to list archives

Series/Sequel: Part 2 of the "Senior Year" AU series, follows "Eyes Wide Open". Other parts can be found on my site.

Disclaimers: don't own 'em, and all I ever hear about at home is all the time I spend not making money off them. I'm not kidding.

Notes: I never expected when I gave in and wrote my little DMoC AU that it would turn into a HUGE series that's between 25 and 40 pages per part. Now that it's taken over my life I'm not even that happy with it. But I'll try to steer it back in the right direction (read: away from the angst and Serious Subject Matter) in the next part. Somehow I get the feeling I'm fighting a losing battle.

Summary: Cooper and Nick take a road trip over Christmas break and Josh ends up dealing with the consequences.

Warnings: a different sort of first time, AU, coming out (sort of). They're both 17 so some people might consider that underage sex but personally I don't. They're over 16 and they're both still minors so...well you can make up your own minds on that subject.

When in Rome
by Caroline Crane

Cooper could barely sit still long enough to scroll through the list of numbers programmed into his cell phone, but when he found the one he was looking for a fond smile lit up his features. He pressed ‘send’ and listened as the number dialed, holding his breath as he dug the fingers of his free hand into his thigh.

"Dude, what did I say?" Nick said from the driver’s seat, his eyebrows raised as Cooper glanced over at him. "I swear on my grandmother’s grave if you give yourself a heart attack I am not doing CPR."

Cooper scowled and opened his mouth to say a few choice things about the reasons he didn’t want his cousin’s mouth anywhere near him no matter how close he was to death, but the line connecting on the other end of the phone interrupted him.

"Hello?"

"Josh," Cooper said, grinning into the darkness of the car as the sound of his boyfriend’s voice filled his ear. "What are you doing?"

"Hey, Cooper," Josh said, his tone instantly softening as he realized who was on the other end of the line. "Nothing, I was just watching TV. I was starting to fall asleep."

"Kinda early to be going to bed," Cooper said. "By yourself, anyway."

He could almost hear Josh’s smile over the line as Nick slowed down and pulled to a stop in front of a small house. "I didn’t say I was in bed," Josh answered. "I fell asleep on the couch watching some lame movie. What are you doing home on a Saturday night, anyway?"

"Who said I was home?" Cooper asked as he climbed out of the car and closed the door behind him. He joined Nick on the sidewalk, glancing up and down the dark street before he followed his cousin up the steps to the front door.

"Okay, I’ll bite. Where are you?" Josh asked.

"On my way to a friend’s house."

"Sounds like fun," Josh said, carefully keeping a sudden surge of jealousy out of his voice. He hated being jealous of Cooper’s friends, but the fact was that they got to see him and Josh hadn’t done more than listen to his voice over the phone since they said goodbye in the hotel lobby in New York. Not that he didn’t love listening to Cooper’s voice, but they still had so much more to learn about each other and Josh kept waiting for the day that Cooper decided he didn’t really want a long distance boyfriend after all.

"Fun’s definitely an understatement." Cooper leaned against the porch railing and glanced over at his cousin, but Nick was already staring off down the street as he lit a cigarette and inhaled. "What are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing," Josh admitted, stifling a sigh as he wondered what Cooper must think of him. Cooper and Nick went out practically every night; he was always calling right before he left to go out or right after he got home from some event that Josh really didn’t want to hear about. Meanwhile Josh spent most of his free time hanging out at home, trying not to wonder what Cooper was doing. Still, it beat hanging out with the guys from school and watching every single word that came out of his mouth for fear that one of them would guess what he was hiding. After he got back from New York he’d been so paranoid that people were going to be able to tell just by looking at him that he barely left the house except to go to school for almost two weeks.

"Where’s your mom?"

"She’s on nights again for awhile," Josh answered. "She won’t be home until like 1:00. Why?"

"Just asking." Cooper cleared his throat and glanced over at Nick, watching as his cousin finished his cigarette and flicked the remains off the porch and into the snow. Cooper glared at him but Nick just rolled his eyes and nodded impatiently in the direction of the door. "Listen, Josh, I gotta go. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?"

"Yeah, sure, Cooper. Bye." Josh hung up the phone and shook his head, wondering why he was acting so cryptic about his plans for the evening. Usually he was more than happy to fill Josh in on whatever he and Nick were up to, regardless of whether or not it bothered Josh to hear about all the parties he went to or the people he met. Not that Josh had ever actually mentioned that it bothered him, he wasn’t sure he had the right to and even if he did he had no idea if it would matter to Cooper.

He jumped and looked up when the doorbell rang, crossing the small living room as he wondered who would be ringing his doorbell at 9:00 on a Saturday night. When he reached the door he turned the lock, bracing himself against the inevitable blast of late December air. As soon as he opened the door his jaw dropped, and he forgot all about the cold as first Cooper and then Nick stepped into his house. "Cooper? What are you doing here?"

"This," Cooper answered as he pulled Josh forward and fused their lips together. Josh returned the kiss eagerly, oblivious to Nick’s presence or anything else that might distract him from the body pressed against his. He backed up, pulling Cooper along with him until he collided with the wall. He grunted against the force of the impact and wrapped his arms around Cooper’s waist, pressing their bodies as flush as he could as Cooper continued his assault on Josh’s mouth.

A low, steady murmur sounded from Cooper’s throat as he tore his lips away from Josh’s mouth to trail kisses down his neck. It took Josh a few minutes to realize that the vibrations were actually words, the sound muffled by his skin so he couldn’t make out what Cooper was saying. Finally he slid one hand onto the back of Cooper’s neck and pulled him away just enough to force Cooper to look up at him. "What?"

"I said," Cooper began, pausing to plant a soft kiss on Josh’s lips, "that I missed you. I missed being able to touch you, I missed us." He grinned and leaned forward again, kissing Josh more slowly this time. He didn’t care if Nick heard him, even though he knew he’d be stuck in a car with his cousin all the way back to New York. Nick could make fun of him and call him whipped all he wanted, as long as Cooper got to spend the next few days showing Josh exactly how much he missed him nothing Nick came up with would phase him.

When they came up for air again Josh was breathless, his mind racing as he tried to make sense of what was happening. He could barely get his mind around the fact that Cooper was actually in his house, let alone the fact that he’d just said that he missed Josh. The words made his heart skip a beat and he reached up to touch Cooper’s face, reassuring himself that the other boy was actually standing in front of him and he wasn’t having some crazy dream. "My…uh…my room’s up…upstairs," he said, swallowing convulsively when Cooper turned his face into Josh’s hand and kissed his palm.

"Hey, France," Nick called over his shoulder, reminding Josh that Cooper’s cousin was sitting in his living room flipping through the channels on the cable. He turned glazed eyes in the direction of the voice, not quite focusing on Nick.

"Yeah?"

"You got anything to eat? Fucking starving, Loverboy here was a total asshole about stopping."

Josh chuckled and glanced at Cooper again, but Cooper was too busy working Josh’s tee shirt up over his chest to worry about the conversation. "There’s…uh…there’s…" He trailed off as Cooper’s mouth landed on his chest, latching onto a nipple. "Fuck…in the fridge, whatever you want," he finally managed to choke out. "My mom left something…f-for dinner."

"He’ll be fine," Cooper snarled as he straightened up and yanked Josh’s shirt over his head, taking hold of Josh’s hips and backing him toward the stairs. "We need way more naked right now."

Josh nodded and somehow managed to get his legs to carry him up the stairs, only vaguely registering Nick’s parting shot about certain visuals ruining his appetite anyway. He pulled Cooper behind him into his bedroom, pausing long enough to shut the door before he found himself being pushed down onto the bed. A second later Cooper was on top of him, his hands fumbling with the zipper on Josh’s jeans as Josh pulled him down for another desperate kiss. They were both in a hurry and it was going to be over way too fast, but almost three months of anticipation and the sudden rush of having Cooper standing in his doorway was too much for Josh.

He lifted his hips off the bed long enough for Cooper to yank the rest of his clothes off, groaning as his steadily growing erection made contact with Cooper’s still denim-clad groin. His hands slid under Cooper’s shirt to urge it over his chest, forcing Cooper to pull away long enough to pull it over his head and toss it on the floor. Once his shirt was taken care of Cooper paused, digging in the pocket of his jeans with fingers made clumsy with impatience. Finally he retrieved a condom and a tube of lube, tossing both on the mattress next to Josh before he reached for the waistband of his jeans.

Josh swallowed hard as he watched Cooper push his jeans and boxers down his thighs, kicking off his shoes before he peeled off the rest of his clothes and tossed them on the floor. He wasn’t sure whether to be flattered or worried by Cooper’s urgency; part of him was in just as big a hurry to renew their connection, but he couldn’t quite ignore the nervous tension tempering the growing need in the pit of his stomach. There was no reason to be nervous, he knew Cooper and it wasn’t like they hadn’t been in contact since the last time they were together. Still, phone calls were one thing, having Cooper actually in his bedroom was completely different.

"Josh?" Cooper slid down on the mattress next to Josh, sliding one arm around his waist and turning Josh gently toward him. "What’s the matter?"

"Nothing," Josh answered, his face flushing as he realized he wasn’t doing a very good job of keeping his anxiousness to himself. He hadn’t intended to kill the mood, but now that Cooper was looking at him with that concerned expression he was even more nervous. "I just didn’t expect you, that’s all. I can’t believe you’re actually here."

Cooper groaned and closed his eyes, and Josh’s heart plummeted into the pit of his stomach. Everything in him was still aching for Cooper’s touch, but somehow he’d managed to say exactly the wrong thing and now everything was ruined. He started to pull away but as soon as he moved Cooper’s eyes opened again, and Josh froze as he registered his own misery mirrored back in Cooper’s expression. "And the first thing I do when I walk in the door is jump you. God, I’m such an asshole. I think not having sex for three months is making me crazy, because all I’ve thought about since October is the next time I get to touch you."

"That’s pretty much all I’ve been thinking about too," Josh admitted, a flood of relief hitting him when Cooper mentioned that he hadn’t had sex since the last time they were together. It was true that Josh had spent a lot of time thinking about the next time he and Cooper would be together, but he’d spent at least as much time wondering if there would be a next time. Most of Cooper’s phone calls consisted of telling Josh where he was going and who was going to be there, and he couldn’t help wondering if Cooper thought of them as exclusive or if Josh was just a passing interest for him. Not that he could really blame Cooper if he got bored and moved on, it wasn’t like they could just get together whenever they felt like it.

"It’s stupid," Josh added, suddenly embarrassed that they were even having this conversation. "It’s just weird that you’re actually in my house, you know? I mean I’m glad you’re here, don’t get me wrong."

Cooper grinned and trailed one hand up Josh’s back to rest against his neck, slowly drawing Josh toward him until they were nose to nose. "I’m glad I’m here too," he said just before he leaned forward a final inch and fused their mouths together again.

Josh groaned into Cooper’s mouth and pressed their hips together, swallowing a sob at the almost painful contact. Cooper was right, it had been way too long since they got a chance to do this. He knew how much he’d missed Cooper; it seemed crazy when they hardly even knew each other but that didn’t stop him from thinking about it pretty much every waking moment of the day. They rocked together as they kissed, legs hopelessly tangled and erections sliding more or less awkwardly together. Josh wouldn’t have been able to voice what he needed if he wanted to, all he knew was that he needed more. He thrust harder against Cooper, evoking a tortured groan from the body plastered against him.

As soon as Cooper reached between them and closed his hand around both of them Josh knew what it was he’d been looking for, and he thrust hard into the vice grip pressing their erections together and moaned his release into Cooper’s mouth. Cooper kept up a steady rhythm as Josh shuddered against him, releasing Josh’s mouth to suck hard on his neck. When the last spasm of pleasure subsided Cooper let Josh slip out of his grasp, wrapping a slick hand around his own aching cock and stroking as fast as he could. A few more thrusts was all it took, blunt teeth pressing into Josh’s skin as Cooper lost control.

When he finally stopped shaking Cooper collapsed back onto the mattress, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. He felt something warm and wet on his neck and forced his eyes open just in time to watch Josh slide down his chest, licking Cooper’s skin clean as he made his way to his stomach. Cooper lifted one boneless arm to run his fingers through Josh’s hair, silently encouraging him as the other boy reached his destination and tentatively ran his tongue up Cooper’s length. He sucked in a sharp breath as his spent cock twitched in response, his eyes rolling back as Josh closed his mouth around the tip and slid as far down Cooper’s length as he could.

He was surprised to find himself getting hard again already, but almost three months with nothing but his hand for company and twelve hours of anticipation during the drive to Indiana had definitely taken their toll. Not to mention the fact that this was the first time Josh had ever used that amazing mouth for something other than kissing, and he wasn’t about to let an opportunity like this pass him by. All the way from Buffalo all he’d been able to think about was burying himself as deep inside Josh as possible, but the minute he stopped long enough to see how nervous Josh was at his unexpected visit he’d resigned himself to a quick hand job and a little more patience. This still wasn’t quite the same as actually being inside Josh, but it was mind-blowing nevertheless.

It took him longer to come the second time but Josh seemed up to the challenge, sucking enthusiastically if not as skillfully as Cooper had ever experienced. The thought that this was the first time Josh had ever done this sent a rush of propriety through Cooper and he opened his eyes, groaning as he watched Josh’s lips sliding up and down his shaft. As soon as Josh looked up and their eyes met Cooper lost it, his second orgasm taking him by surprise. Josh gagged a little and pulled back, swallowing around Cooper’s length before he pulled away completely and collapsed against the mattress again.

If Cooper could have moved he probably would have returned the favor, but his entire body felt paralyzed. He shivered with each aftershock of pleasure, his eyes wide and unfocused as he waited for his body to work again. Not that he’d mind just lying there next to Josh for the rest of his life, he could think of much worse ways to die.

"Cooper?"

"Yeah?" he managed to say, the sound of his own voice foreign to him in the stillness of the room.

The body next to him shifted and he looked over to find Josh staring down at him, his head propped up on one elbow and his other hand hovering over Cooper’s chest for one uncertain moment before Cooper finally reached up and closed his own hand around it. He entwined their fingers together and pressed both hands to his chest, not even sure how he’d summoned that much energy except that he hated to see Josh looking so anxious.

"How long can you stay?" Josh finally asked.

"Nick’s mom made us promise to be back by Friday," Cooper answered, sighing at the thought of leaving so soon after he’d gotten there. "The whole family gets together for a huge New Year’s Eve thing every year, if Nick misses it because of me I’ll probably be grounded until college. So we’ve gotta be on the road sometime on Thursday."

Four days. It wasn’t as long as Josh had hoped, but it was more time than they’d had together so far. It was strange to think that they’d really only spent two days together, especially considering how much Cooper knew about him. The truth was that Cooper probably knew Josh better than anyone in his life, mainly because he was the only person Josh could be completely honest with. Cooper’s life was a lot different than his, though; he lived by a different set of rules, and as far as Josh knew he didn’t have to hide who he was from the people around him.

Thinking about Cooper’s life back in Buffalo always made Josh wonder why Cooper bothered with him, but so far the only explanation he’d been able to come up with was that Cooper was still charmed by Josh’s relative innocence. He tried not to think about it too much, though, because whenever he did he started wondering how much longer he had before Cooper got bored and moved on.

"Hey," Cooper said, tugging on the hand still gripped firmly in his. "Is it okay that we just showed up? Maybe I should have called, but I wanted to surprise you."

"No, I mean it’s fine, I’m glad you’re here," Josh said too quickly, panic setting in at the thought of Cooper getting up and leaving already. "I was just thinking about how four days is the longest we’ll have spent together so far."

"Pretty weird, huh?" Cooper laughed and let go of Josh’s hand, rolling onto his side to face the other boy. "Do you think your mom will mind if we crash here tonight? We could go get a room if it’s gonna freak her out to come home and find Nick on the couch. Or I could send him to a hotel, he’ll give me shit about making him go alone but I’d rather stay here. If it’s okay."

Josh smiled shyly, his heart skipping a beat at the thought of spending the night in Cooper’s arms. It was amazing how much he’d missed even that since he left New York; he’d only had two nights to get used to it but after almost three months he still remembered what it felt like to have Cooper’s arms around him every time he closed his eyes at night. "It’s fine, I’ll just call her and tell her so she doesn’t call the cops or something." He stretched and pushed himself into a sitting position, shivering as the cold air hit his bare skin. "Are you hungry?"

"Starving," Cooper admitted as he pushed himself off the mattress and dug through the pile of clothes on the floor for his boxers. "Nick’s right, I was a total asshole about stopping. Longest twelve hours of my life."

Josh laughed as he pulled his boxers back on and grabbed his jeans and a new tee shirt. "You know, maybe I’m glad I didn’t know you were coming after all. I would have been driving myself crazy waiting for you to show up." He turned back to Cooper and grabbed the front of the shirt he’d just pulled back on, hauling the other boy toward him for a hard kiss. "I gotta go clean up, I’ll be down in a few minutes."

Cooper nodded and kissed him again, reluctantly letting Josh pull out of his reach when they finally broke apart. He stood in the center of the bedroom for a long time after Josh headed for the bathroom, his heart pounding against his rib cage as it finally sank in that he was actually there. When he heard the shower start he shook his head and forced himself to go back downstairs, knowing that if he stood there any longer he was going to end up in the shower with Josh.

~

Josh turned off the shower and shook the water out of his hair, reaching for a towel and closing his eyes as he dried himself off. He still couldn’t believe that Cooper was actually in Indiana, let alone in his house eating his mother’s food. He got dressed slowly, suddenly nervous about going downstairs and facing the two boys watching TV in his living room. It was one thing seeing Cooper again; he at least wanted to be there. Nick, however, was a different story entirely, and Josh was starting to wonder if Cooper ever went anywhere without his cousin.

It wasn’t like Cooper had never threatened to just show up at his door, but Josh had never taken him seriously. He’d figured it was too far, that his parents would never go for Cooper driving twelve hours to southern Indiana to see some guy they’d never heard of. He wondered suddenly if Cooper had told his parents about Josh, if anyone knew about him. Josh had mentioned making a couple friends at the Mock United Nations when his mother asked, but he’d never told her much more than Cooper’s name. He hadn’t mentioned him to any of his friends at school; he’d wanted to believe it was so he wouldn’t have to lie about what Cooper meant to him, but deep down he knew it was because he was afraid the minute he started talking about Cooper they’d all be able to tell.

As much as that thought worried him it didn’t bother him half as much as the force of his own feelings, because the second Cooper smiled at him and pulled him forward into a kiss it all came rushing right back. He’d hoped that having a couple months to get over that first rush of infatuation would make it easier if he ever did see Cooper again, but he was as nervous now as he had been that first day in New York. He stared critically at his reflection in the mirror, fingering the fresh bruise forming on his neck as he realized that anyone that saw him with Cooper was probably going to know.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to go back downstairs, steeling himself against whatever insult Nick would most likely hurl at him the minute he walked into the living room. So he was shocked when Nick looked up from the plate of food on his lap and actually smiled almost pleasantly, and he stopped just short of pinching himself to make sure he really was awake.

"Hey, France. This is great chicken, even for a non-Italian. Props to your mom."

"Uh…thanks. I’ll tell her you liked it," Josh said, his forehead furrowed as he sank into a chair next to the couch. "Where’s Cooper?"

"Kitchen," Nick answered without looking up. "It’s cool of you to let us crash here tonight. Sure your mom’s not gonna flip?"

Josh shook his head and reached for the phone, dialing the number of the hospital where his mother worked. "No, she won’t care as long as we don’t wake her up in the morning," he said as he listened to the phone ring. "She’s on nights, she won’t be back until after 1:00."

He listened to the recording at the other end of the line and then punched in the extension that would connect him to the floor his mother worked on, glancing over his shoulder as the door to the kitchen swung open behind him. His heart skipped a beat as Cooper grinned at him and threw himself down on the couch next to Nick, watching Josh out of the corner of his eye as he finally got a person on the phone and asked to speak to his mother.

"Hey, Mom," Josh said, biting his bottom lip nervously as he stared at the floor. "You remember that guy I told you I met in New York? Well he and his cousin dropped by. Yes. Just for a couple days…yes, their parents know where they are. Mom, I just called to tell you that Nick’s going to sleep on the couch tonight, so don’t call the cops or anything when you come in and find him there. Okay. Alright. Bye, Mom."

He rolled his eyes and hung up the phone, not daring to look over at Cooper and Nick. He knew they were just waiting for him to look up so they could make some crack about how cute it was that his mom asked about their parents or make fun of him for needing to ask her permission to let them stay. He had no idea what their families were like, but he got the feeling things at their houses were a lot different than what passed for normal in Sandborn.

"You told your mom about me?"

Josh looked up sharply, forgetting his humiliation that they’d heard him talking to his mother when he caught the amused and slightly awed look on Cooper’s face. He swallowed hard as he realized what Cooper thought he’d told his mother, a hot blush creeping into his cheeks. "I just told her we hung out, she doesn’t know…" He trailed off and glanced over at Nick, clearing his throat and shifting uncomfortably in his chair.

"Oh." Cooper’s smile faltered for a second before he caught himself and forced himself to brighten again. "You sure we should stay tonight?"

Josh’s gaze shifted to Cooper just in time to see his smile waver, and he frowned as he wondered why Cooper would care what he’d told his mother. He’d expected at least Nick to make fun of him, but so far Nick hadn’t even looked at him and Cooper looked almost disappointed.

"Give him a break, man," Nick said suddenly, surprising Josh into looking over at him. The blonde stood up without looking at Josh, reaching in his coat pocket for his cigarettes. "He said it was cool if we stayed here. You’re lucky he didn’t slam the door in your face for not calling first. I told you to call."

Nick turned toward the front door and let himself out onto the porch, a cigarette hanging from his lips as he reached for his lighter with one hand and closed the door behind him with the other. As soon as the door clicked shut Josh snapped his jaw closed, his mind reeling as he wondered if he’d just imagined the last two minutes of his life. First Cooper looked practically giddy at the thought that Josh might have come out to his mom, and then Nick defended him when he admitted he hadn’t done it. Something was definitely weird here; maybe he’d slipped on the ice on the way home and he was in a coma, or maybe he’d gotten food poisoning from the questionable pizza he’d eaten at lunchtime and now he was delirious. Either way he had to be imagining things, because he couldn’t handle it if any of this was real.

He stood up and picked up Nick’s empty plate, carefully avoiding Cooper’s gaze as he crossed to the kitchen and pushed the door open. When he was alone again he let out a deep breath and set the plate in the sink, turning on the water and watching it run down the drain. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been standing there when the kitchen door opened again, but a minute later Cooper set his own plate down in the sink and shut the water off. Josh stifled a sigh as Cooper’s arms slid around his waist, and he turned to look into brown eyes full of questions he wasn’t sure he wanted to answer.

"I thought he hated me," Josh said, glancing over Cooper’s shoulder in the direction of the front porch.

Cooper laughed and pulled Josh a little closer, his fingers trailing through the other boy’s hair to land at the back of his neck. "Nah, he doesn’t mean 80 percent of what he says. And anyway he doesn’t like anyone at first, but after awhile you start to grow on him. Besides, who cares what he thinks. I like you."

Josh relaxed marginally as a nervous grin tugged at the corners of his mouth, his arms circling Cooper’s back as he felt himself being pulled forward for a lingering kiss. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever get used to kissing Cooper; the mere fact that he could do it was mind-blowing enough, but the knowledge that Cooper still wanted him after more than two months apart was what kept threatening to bring him to his knees. He’d expected winter break to be just two boring weeks away from school, most of it spent staring at his ceiling and wondering what Cooper was doing. Never in a million years would he have guessed that Cooper would be standing in his kitchen two days after Christmas, trailing kisses down his neck to suck on the side he hadn’t already marked.

He chuckled low in his throat as his fingers stroked Cooper’s hair, craning his neck a little to give the other boy better access. "At least it’s cold enough to wear turtlenecks now."

"No way," Cooper said, pulling back to look up at Josh. "Not while I’m here." He frowned and looked down at Josh’s neck, trailing his fingers across first the fresh mark and then its twin on the other side of Josh’s neck. "Josh…God, just…not while I’m here, okay?"

Josh swallowed convulsively, somehow wrestling his motor skills into submission long enough to nod. He knew he was going to be answering a lot of uncomfortable questions from not only his mother but probably kids from school if they ran into anyone he knew while Cooper was in town, but the way Cooper looked at him when he said not while I’m here made it worth it. Suddenly four days seemed like a long time, long enough to drag Josh out of the closet whether either of them intended for it to happen or not. He took a deep breath and reached for Cooper’s hand, pulling him out of the kitchen and past the couch where Nick was once again channel surfing.

"There’s a pillow and some blankets in the hall closet," he said, pausing long enough to look down at Nick. "The couch folds out."

They didn’t wait for an answer, in fact by the time Josh was done talking they were already halfway to the stairs. He let Cooper pull him up to the second floor and into his bedroom before he pulled his hand out of the other boy’s, closing the door before he pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it on the floor. Cooper’s own shirt hit the floor a moment later, followed by the jeans he’d pulled back on long enough to go downstairs and eat. He sat on the edge of the bed and watched as Josh mirrored his actions, reaching for the zipper of his jeans and sliding them to the floor.

Cooper leaned back and watched as Josh crossed the small room and knelt on the end of the mattress, his fingers splayed invitingly across his thighs as he waited for Cooper to make some kind of move. Cooper smiled and turned so he was facing Josh, taking the time to admire the angles of Josh’s shoulders and the red marks on either side of his neck. He knew he couldn’t explain to Josh why it mattered to him whether Josh covered them or not, he’d never been that good with words and he’d never be able to make Josh understand.

Maybe it wasn’t fair to ask Josh to walk around with the evidence of their relationship right there where everyone could see it, but he hated having to pretend they were just friends in public. He knew when he talked Nick into driving to Indiana that he wasn’t going to be able to touch Josh when they went out, that he couldn’t hold his hand or just kiss him in front of people that knew him. He couldn’t even tell Josh how beautiful he was or what it did to him to see that expanse of pale skin that he’d been dreaming about for the past three months. Finally he leaned forward, hoping to convey everything he couldn’t say with a single kiss.

Josh sighed into the kiss and pulled Cooper instinctively closer, his head spinning from the combination of the kiss and the knowledge that it mattered to Cooper that everyone Josh knew saw the marks on his neck. He knew from their first two days together that Cooper had a tendency to get a little carried away in that respect, but he’d managed to keep the last round of hickeys covered pretty well when he got back to Indiana. Still, it was kind of nice to see the reminder of his first time with Cooper on his skin for days after he got home. The knowledge that Cooper wanted people to know about them – that he wanted to drag Josh as far out of the closet as Josh would let him – was more than Josh had let himself hope for.

He’d thought about just coming out and dealing with the consequences more than once in the past, and after he met Cooper the urge to just get it over with was even stronger. Every time he got close something would happen, though, someone would make a joke or even just look at him funny and ask him what was wrong and he’d slam the door shut on his secret again. When he was with Cooper it seemed so easy, as though everyone should know the truth. He wanted to be able to tell his friends and his mom how happy he was whenever he was with Cooper, or even when he called just to ask what Josh was doing.

Slowly Cooper sank back onto the mattress, one hand behind Josh’s neck to pull the other boy on top of him without breaking the kiss. Josh’s stomach flipped as he settled between Cooper’s legs and a hand slid under the waistband of his boxers, instinctively grinding his hips into Cooper’s as his mouth left the other boy’s to trail down his neck. When he reached Cooper’s collarbone he latched on and sucked gently, his hips moving rhythmically as he left his own mark on Cooper’s skin.

Cooper groaned and fumbled in the sheets for the tube he’d dropped earlier, arching his back into Josh as he finally closed his hand around it. He got the top off and squeezed some lube onto his fingers, letting it warm up a little before he slid his hand under the waistband of Josh’s boxers and ghosted slick fingers over his opening. Josh gasped and thrust down to try to draw the teasing fingers inside him, but as soon as Cooper’s hand appeared it was gone. Before he had a chance to react he felt his boxers sliding down his hips, and he lifted himself up long enough to help Cooper wrestle them off before he rolled over onto his stomach.

He heard a sharp intake of breath and he looked over at Cooper in time to watch him peel off his own boxers. A hand trailed down his back to rest on his hip, urging him back onto his side. Cooper fused their lips together again and pulled Josh’s leg up over his hip before his hand dipped lower, one slick finger circling Josh’s entrance before it slid slowly inside. A low groan escaped Josh’s throat as he thrust back, ignoring the slight discomfort as he tried to get Cooper as far inside him as he could. This was what he’d been thinking about for the past three months, dreaming about it and fantasizing at the worst possible times.

All he had to do was picture Cooper and he remembered exactly what it felt like to be with him, and more often than not he’d end up hard and frustrated in the middle of class. He was still self-conscious about the fact that he was so much less experienced than Cooper, but when they were together it didn’t matter as much anymore. The combined sensations of Cooper’s mouth moving against his and Cooper’s finger stretching him threatened to fry what was left of his senses, and when he felt a second finger join the first he gasped and tore his lips away from Cooper’s.

"Josh? You wanna stop?" Cooper asked, stilling against the other boy as he watched Josh’s eyes fly open.

"No. God no," Josh managed to gasp. "I just…I didn’t even know how much I missed you."

Cooper smiled and leaned forward to press his lips to Josh’s again, pulling his hand away from Josh’s body long enough to fumble for the lube. He slipped the condom on with shaking fingers and quickly coated it with lube, his heart pounding against his ribcage the entire time. He’d spent so much time thinking about this moment that he wasn’t sure how long he’d last, but he needed to be inside Josh again. For the past three months he’d tried to convince himself that he’d imagined the connection between them, that he’d just developed an infatuation for a cute guy he didn’t really know. That had to be it, he’d remembered this amazing connection between them because they’d only had two days and he’d wished it was more.

He took hold of Josh’s hip and pushed him back onto his stomach, swallowing as Josh pushed himself up onto his knees and spread his legs apart. One hand landed on Josh’s hip to hold him steady as he sank slowly into velvet heat, closing his eyes and clenching his teeth as he struggled to keep himself from thrusting before Josh was ready. He ran a soothing hand over Josh’s back as he listened to the other boy’s breathing change, then slowly Josh relaxed and pushed back until Cooper was buried as deep as he could go. Cooper bit back a gasp as the feeling of completeness threatened to overwhelm him; he hadn’t been with that many people, but no one he’d ever been with had felt this right. It felt almost like he and Josh had known each other their whole lives, as though they’d been doing this for years.

Slowly he pulled out, struggling not to react to the loss of their connection before he plunged back in again. Josh groaned and thrust back to meet him, his whole body shaking as Cooper scraped over his prostate. Maybe it was crazy, he’d listened to Nick tell him for almost three months that it was crazy to think about Josh all the time when they didn’t even really know each other. He couldn’t help it, though, and he didn’t want to because when they were together nothing else mattered. Not their families, not what the world thought of them – all that mattered was that they were together, and Cooper wanted Josh more than he’d ever wanted anyone.

They rocked together in a steady rhythm, Josh shuddering and moaning low in his throat every time Cooper angled for his prostate. With every thrust Josh shook a little more, until finally Cooper pulled them both back onto his knees, wrapping his arms around Josh’s waist as Josh leaned back against his chest. His thrusts had less force in that position, but he didn’t want it to end too soon. He pressed his lips to Josh’s shoulder and closed one hand around the other boy’s length, stroking in time to each sharp thrust.

Josh rocked helplessly between Cooper’s hand and his lap, his lips parted and his breath coming in short gasps. He wasn’t even sure where he was anymore, all he knew was the amazing pleasure centered in the pit of his stomach. Then Cooper’s strokes got a little faster and his mouth opened on Josh’s shoulder, and Josh lost control and came with a gasp. He clamped down hard on Cooper, shuddering as each wave of pleasure wracked his body. He was vaguely aware of Cooper moaning his own release into Josh’s shoulder, blunt teeth scraping his skin as Cooper thrust deep and followed him over the edge.

Harsh panting was the only sound in the room as Josh slid off Cooper’s lap and collapsed on the mattress, forcing one eye open to watch Cooper drag himself off the bed long enough to dispose of the condom. When he felt Cooper’s weight hit the mattress again he groaned and forced his body to work with him long enough to move over, sighing at the welcome weight of Cooper’s body settling against him in the small bed. He knew he should insist that they both get dressed again, or at the very least put their boxers back on. He couldn’t bring himself to ask Cooper to do it, though, even though it meant risking his mother finding them tangled together in his narrow bed.

"Josh?" Cooper’s breath warmed his cheek as he spoke, and Josh turned his head slightly to nuzzle Cooper’s hair.

"Yeah?"

He heard the rustling of sheets as Cooper pushed himself up on the pillow to look down at him, one hand landing on Josh’s cheek to stroke his skin. "What do you think would happen if you told your mom about us? I mean if you came out to her. What do you think she'd say?"

Josh could hear the hesitation in Cooper’s voice, and he forced his eyes open to look up at the other boy. He wasn’t sure why it mattered so much to Cooper whether his mom knew about them or not, but obviously it bothered him since he’d brought it up twice on his first night in town. "I don’t know," he answered, figuring honesty was all he could offer. "I mean sometimes I wonder if she knows already. It’s not like I date that much, she’s gotta figure something’s up. But even if she was okay with it I don’t think she’d be that cool about us having sex under her roof."

"So you date girls," Cooper said, it wasn’t supposed to sound like an accusation but Josh couldn’t help flinching as he watched jealousy flash in Cooper’s eyes.

"Well, yeah, I mean I did." Josh paused and pushed himself up onto an elbow to face Cooper. "After everybody stopped going to school dances and stuff as a group it just sort of happened. That’s when I first started to realize I wasn’t that interested in girls. I mean I haven’t gone out with anybody since…I wouldn’t do that."

The raw vulnerability in Josh’s eyes made Cooper’s stomach twist, and he instantly regretted bringing up any subject that made Josh look that guilty. It wasn’t his fault Cooper didn’t understand how his life worked, it was one thing to hear about this stuff on the news but Cooper had never really dealt with it. His own parents more or less ignored his lifestyle, and the rest of his family was supportive, albeit sometimes grudgingly. Besides, he had Nick to watch his back, Josh didn’t have anybody.

"Me either," he finally said, pulling Josh back down onto the pillow with him and sliding one arm around the other boy’s waist. "I wasn’t sure I could do this whole long distance thing, you know? But it’s worth it."

Josh smiled into Cooper’s shoulder and closed his eyes again, focusing on the warmth radiating from Cooper’s skin and the way he felt pressed close to Josh. "So did you tell your parents about me?"

Cooper chuckled softly and tightened his grip on Josh’s waist, leaning forward to plant a soft kiss on his lips before he closed his eyes again. "Yeah, Josh. I tell everybody about you."

*

When Josh woke up Cooper was still snoring softly next to him, his arm draped across Josh’s chest and his breath warming Josh’s neck. Josh’s mouth turned up in a contented smile, but as soon as he realized what they must look like panic set in and he glanced instinctively toward his bedroom door. It was still closed, but there was no telling if his mother had looked in on them when she got home. Slowly he eased out from under Cooper’s arm, careful not to wake him up as he climbed out of bed and pulled his boxers back on.

He closed his bedroom door behind him as quietly as possible, not wanting to wake Cooper or his mother as he made his way to the bathroom for a quick shower. He was rinsing shampoo out of his hair when he heard the bathroom door open and then close again, and he pulled the shower curtain open just enough to watch Cooper glance over at him. He smiled nervously and let the curtain fall back into place, hurrying to finish before Cooper decided to get in the shower with him. His mother was in the next room and she wasn’t exactly a heavy sleeper, and no matter what he decided to tell her about Cooper he was pretty sure he didn’t want her catching them in the shower together.

"Can I borrow your toothbrush?" Cooper called over the sound of the shower, and Josh stifled a relieved sigh as he turned off the water and reached for his towel.

"Yeah, it’s the blue one," he answered, wrapping the towel around his waist and pushing the shower curtain open. He climbed out of the tub and leaned against the wall as he watched Cooper brush his teeth, his stomach flipping at the intimacy of the situation. It was one thing for them to fool around in a hotel room in New York, but this was the house where he’d grown up and Cooper was using his toothbrush. He smiled nervously when Cooper finished and turned around to face him, a mischievous grin lighting up his features.

"You look good wet," he said, raising one eyebrow as Josh blushed. "You look pretty good when you do that too." He crossed the small distance between them and leaned forward to press his lips to Josh’s, one hand landing on his damp chest and the other on his towel-clad hip. When they broke apart Cooper reached around Josh and turned the shower back on before he pulled back and grinned again. "Can I borrow your towel?"

"No," Josh answered automatically, his nervousness dissipating as Cooper pouted at him. He opened a cabinet and found a fresh towel, tossing it at Cooper before he made his way toward the door. "I’m gonna go downstairs and see if we’ve got anything for breakfast."

He pulled the bathroom door shut as quietly as possible, glancing in the direction of his mother’s bedroom as he waited for her to come out and ask him what he thought he was doing. When he was satisfied that she hadn’t woken up he crossed back to his bedroom and pulled on the first reasonably clean clothes he found, hurrying downstairs before Cooper got out of the shower and they let themselves get distracted again. As he made his way toward the kitchen he smelled something cooking, and he frowned as he wondered what Nick was doing.

He pushed the door to the kitchen open and blinked as his gaze fell on Nick sitting at the kitchen table, carrying on an animated conversation with Josh’s mother. "Mom?" he said, shock clear in his expression as he watched his mother flip the French toast she was cooking. "Why are you awake?"

"I thought you boys would be hungry," she answered, glancing over her shoulder long enough to smile at him. "Sit down, breakfast is almost ready."

"Don’t you have to work tonight?" he asked, sinking into a chair as she turned back to the stove.

"Josh, stop worrying so much. I’ll take a nap when you and your friends head out to Nick’s aunt’s house."

Josh’s jaw dropped open and he glanced over at Nick, but before he managed to voice the question that was forming on his lips the kitchen door opened again and Cooper appeared. He stopped short as his eyes fell on Josh’s mother, and he glanced over at the table before pasting a bright smile on his face.

"Mom, this is Cooper," Josh said, his eyes glued to the bruise on Cooper’s neck. He felt his stomach sink as he realized with horror that his own neck had a matching mark on either side, and there was no way his mother wasn’t going to notice if she sat down for breakfast with them. "I…uh…I guess you’ve met Nick."

His mother turned away from the stove and set a plate piled high with French toast on the table next to a plate of bacon. She smiled at Cooper before she turned back to the stove again, picking up a frying pan and sliding a fried egg onto each of their plates. "You boys go ahead, I’m just going to finish up this French toast before I sit down."

Josh cleared his throat and set one elbow on the table, covering the side of his neck that was closest to his mother with a hand as he stared at the food in front of him. He couldn’t remember the last time his mother had gone through this much trouble, but it wasn’t exactly every day that they had company. Between her job and Josh’s school work they rarely saw each other, let alone had time to entertain. He felt something hit his arm and looked up in time to catch Nick’s glare. "You just gonna sit there all day?" Nick asked, his voice low as he leaned across the table. "Get a move on, we’ve gotta be at my aunt’s place by noon."

He grinned and reached for the French toast, placing a few pieces on Josh’s plate before he served Cooper and then helped himself. Josh shook himself and picked up his fork, stealing a glance at Cooper as he tried to figure out what was going on. Cooper was completely focused on his breakfast, though, either oblivious to Josh’s confusion or scared to look up for fear he’d react to the look on Josh’s face. Finally Josh sighed and reached for the syrup, deciding that if this was going to be his last day on earth he might as well enjoy his last meal. If his mother didn’t kill him keeping up with Cooper and Nick surely would, so he needed all the energy he could get.

When his mother finally sat down at the table Nick began talking again immediately, keeping up a steady stream of anecdotes about the aunt that Josh was almost sure he was making up. It was the most he’d ever heard Nick talk, in fact if he wasn’t seeing it with his own eyes he wouldn’t believe this was the same person that he’d met in New York. His mother was obviously crazy about him, she was always complaining about how impolite all of Josh’s friends from school were but Nick was being downright charming. He had to admit that it was nice to have the focus taken off him and Cooper, and as weird as it was to watch Nick chat with his mother like they were old friends he couldn’t help being grateful.

"…so we figured maybe Josh could just stay out there with us, since he’s on break and all. I mean my aunt’s got plenty of room and she likes the company. If you want I can call her and you can talk to her to make sure it’s okay." Josh swallowed and looked down at his breakfast, suddenly fascinated with the remnants of his eggs as he listened to Nick lie flawlessly.

He knew his mother was looking at him, he could feel her eyes boring into him as he stared at his plate. Finally he forced his expression to go blank and looked up at her, keeping his features carefully neutral as she stared back at him. "Usually I like to meet the parents of Josh’s friends before I let him stay out all night," she said.

Josh rolled his eyes and picked up his orange juice, swallowing the rest of the glass’s contents before he looked back at her again. "Mom, I’m seventeen. What’s the big deal?"

"My parents are the same way," Nick said, casting a warning glance at Josh before he turned back to his mother. "Believe me, it took me forever to talk them into letting me and Cooper drive all the way out here, and that was to visit family. I can call my aunt right now, she’d be happy to talk to you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, scrolling through the list of pre-programmed numbers until he found the one he was looking for.

For a long moment Josh’s mother held his gaze as though she was trying to decide whether to say whatever she was thinking. Her expression was a mixture of sadness and confusion, and it was all Josh could do to hold her gaze while she made up her mind. Finally her features softened into a smile and she turned back to Nick, reaching out to pat his hand. "That’s okay, Nick, I don’t think that’s necessary. Josh is right, sometimes we parents have a hard time remembering that you’re not little anymore. If Josh wants to go it’s fine with me."

"Thanks, Mom," Josh said, his heart in his throat as he imagined the conversation they were going to have when he came home from wherever Nick was taking them. "Thanks for making breakfast, if you want to go back to bed I’ll clean up before we leave."

She smiled and stood up, leaning over to kiss his cheek before she crossed to the door. "Nice meeting you boys."

Josh listened to Cooper and Nick thank her for breakfast, wondering how long it would take for Cooper to decide to break up with him after seeing his mother fuss over him like he was a little kid. He opened his mouth to ask why Nick had told his mother they were staying at his aunt’s, but before he got the words out Nick stood up and started clearing the table.

"Jesus, I thought you two were gonna sleep all day. Let’s get a move on, it’s almost noon."

"What are we doing?" Josh asked, glancing over at Cooper as he watched Nick fill the sink with water for the dishes.

Cooper smiled and leaned over to plant a quick kiss on Josh’s lips before he stood up and started clearing the table. "I don’t know, what do you do for fun around here?"

~

"Man, I can’t believe anybody could survive growing up in this town," Nick said, shaking his head as he pulled into the parking lot of a motel a few miles out of town.

Josh laughed as they climbed out of the car and took in the run-down row of doors leading to what he assumed were equally run-down rooms. "I told you there wasn’t much to do around here."

"There’s gotta be something going on," Nick muttered as he dropped his cigarette on the ground and crushed it with his heel. He glanced toward the motel’s tiny office and then back at the other two boys. "I’m gonna go check in."

Cooper nodded and turned back to Josh, his arms crossed over his chest as he looked the other boy up and down. "Guess this is still too close to town to touch you or anything, huh?"

A sigh escaped Josh’s throat as he met Cooper’s gaze, his stomach clenching with a mixture of guilt and regret. He didn’t want the few days they had together to be ruined by his fear of what would happen if anyone found out he was gay, especially not when Cooper was trying so hard to understand why he had to hide who he was. He leaned on the car next to Cooper, pressing their shoulders together as he stared down at the ground in front of them.

"It’s not just me not wanting people to know," Josh said, his heart beating too fast as he listened to himself make excuses for hiding Cooper from everyone he knew. "Some of the guys I go to school with, if they knew…"

"Yeah, I know," Cooper interrupted, reaching over to squeeze Josh’s hand. He planned to let go right away, but as soon as they touched Josh entwined their fingers and looked over at Cooper. "I’m sorry, Josh. I mean I’m outta here in four days, you’ve still gotta live here for another six months."

"Don’t remind me." Josh smiled sadly and turned to stare at the ground again. Six months was still a long time, and even when he left Indiana there was no guarantee that he’d see more of Cooper. Maybe once he got to college he could finally stop worrying about people finding out that he was gay, but he was still going to be in a different state than Cooper. The truth was that he had no idea what Cooper’s plans were for after high school, but he couldn’t imagine the other boy leaving the family he was obviously close to.

Neither of them said anything else until Nick came back from the office, tossing a key in Cooper’s direction and popping open the trunk to retrieve their bags. "You’re in number six. And don’t trash the place, it’s on Pop’s card."

Cooper laughed and let go of Josh’s hand, pushing himself off the car and reaching for his bag and the bag Josh had packed before they left his house. He steered Josh toward their room, unlocking the door and ushering the other boy inside. As soon as he’d closed the door behind them he dropped their bags and slid out of his coat, tossing it on the back of the only chair in the room. He turned just in time to watch Josh slide out of his own jacket and sink to the edge of the bed, his gaze locked with Cooper’s as he watched the other boy cross the room and stop in front of him.

When he reached the edge of the bed Cooper sank to his knees, his hands on Josh’s thighs as Josh reached out and ran a hand through Cooper’s hair. A crooked grin tugged at the corners of Cooper’s mouth as he slid a hand behind Josh’s neck to pull him forward, fusing their lips together in a soft kiss. His other hand slid up Josh’s thighs to grip his waist, their chests pressed together as he parted his lips to tease Josh’s mouth open.

"Cooper," Josh gasped when they finally came up for air, letting go of the other boy long enough to let Cooper push himself off the floor. He slid back onto the mattress and pulled Cooper down with him, fixing his gaze on the water-damaged ceiling as Cooper rested his head on Josh’s chest. "You never talk about the future. I mean after high school, are you planning to go to college?"

"My dad thinks it’s a waste of time," Cooper said, turning his face into the warmth of Josh’s neck. He breathed in the clean scent of warm fabric softener and shampoo and pressed his lips to the soft skin closest to him, memorizing the way Josh felt stretched out next to him. "If he has his way I’ll go right into the family business."

"Plumbing supplies?"

"Yeah." Cooper laughed and slid one hand under Josh’s shirt, drawing random patterns on the smooth surface of his stomach as he spoke. "He says I’m never serious about anything, I guess he’s right. Anyway he thinks I’ll just screw around at college and get kicked out anyway, so it would be a waste of money for me to go."

"I can’t really see you selling plumbing supplies." Josh bit his lip to hold back a gasp as Cooper’s fingers ghosted over a sensitive spot on his ribs, closing his eyes against the sudden surge of desire that shot through him. He distracted himself by conjuring up an image of Cooper in a jacket and tie, climbing the corporate ladder in the world of plungers and toilet paper. "Do you want to go to college?"

A soft sigh escaped Cooper’s throat as his hand moved further up Josh’s chest, his ear pressed against Josh’s heart as he listened to his pulse speed up. "I know I don’t want to sell toilets for the rest of my life," he finally answered. "The thing is I don’t really have a lot of choice, my parents didn’t have any other kids. My mom didn’t want any, but my dad needed a son to carry on the Frederickson name or whatever. Guess they got lucky when they got a boy on their first try, although I’m pretty sure I wasn’t exactly what my father had in mind."

"What do you mean?"

"Well for one thing I like boys, that didn’t go over so big when I first sprang it on them. I guess it didn’t help that I did it in front of half the family, but pretty much the only time I even see my mother is when there are people at the house and she has to entertain them. My dad didn’t really say anything but he pretty much stopped hassling me to get my act together after that, so I’m guessing that means he thinks I’m a lost cause." Cooper paused, his hand slowing to a stop on Josh’s chest as he pushed himself up to look down at the other boy. "You should tell your mom. I bet she’ll be cool about it, I can tell she’s crazy about you. I mean I don’t really blame her for that, and anyway I think she’s already kinda got an idea who I am."

Josh swallowed convulsively as he registered the sadness in Cooper’s eyes, his mind racing as he tried to imagine what it would be like to grow up with Cooper’s parents. He was right, Josh hadn’t grown up with money or acceptance from the people around him but he knew his mother would do anything for him. She probably did know exactly who Cooper was, it wasn’t that much of a leap for her to figure out why the only person Josh had even mentioned from his trip to New York had driven all the way to Indiana to visit him the day after Christmas. It was almost a relief to think that she knew already, she’d let him leave the house with Cooper and Nick so maybe that meant she’d understand. The rest of the town he was pretty sure would take it a lot differently than his mom, but at least he’d have one person in his corner.

He reached up and pulled Cooper down for another kiss, parting his lips automatically as Cooper kissed him back almost desperately. He swallowed the lump in his throat that was threatening to choke him and pulled Cooper closer, gasping against the other boy’s mouth as the hand that had been moving on his chest slid down to his waistband. The thought of Cooper stuck in Buffalo working for his father while Josh was in college a whole state away was nearly overwhelming, but as soon as he caught himself wondering about transferring to a school in Buffalo he pushed the thought out of his mind. Cooper hadn’t asked him to do that; he hadn’t even brought up what they were to each other, not really. Maybe Josh should have asked him before he let things get as far as they had, but it was too late now and he didn’t want to ruin the next few days by bringing it up.

Finally Cooper managed to get his jeans open and he thrust into the hand that slid under the denim, only vaguely registering a banging sound coming from somewhere in the room. When he felt Cooper tense against him he struggled against the fog settling in his brain, forcing his eyes back open as he tried to figure out what was going on. He heard the banging again and realized it was coming from the door, and when Cooper cursed and pulled away from him he groaned and covered his face with his hands.

"Jesus Christ, I leave you alone for fifteen minutes," Nick shouted from the other side of the door. "Get your asses up and let’s go already."

Josh forced his eyes open again and looked up at Cooper, smiling in spite of his own frustration as he took in the other boy’s tousled hair and his kiss-swollen lips. Cooper was on his knees near the end of the bed, caught between a scowl and a frustrated pout as he watched Josh push himself into a sitting position.

"I swear to God I’m gonna make my parents pay for not getting me a car like everybody else I know," Cooper muttered. "If I had my own wheels I wouldn’t have had to drag his ass all the way here with me. Hell, if I’d known he was gonna want a babysitter I might have just taken a bus."

The thought of Cooper going anywhere on a bus made Josh smile, and he stood up and reached for the other boy’s hand to haul him off the bed. He caught Cooper just before he crashed into Josh’s chest, wrapping his arms around the other boy’s waist and pressing their lips together as he backed toward the door. "I don’t know where he thinks we’re gonna go anyway," Josh said when they reached the door. "There’s nothing to do here."

"I could think of a few things to do," Cooper said, chuckling at the look on Josh’s face as he pressed him against the door. His hands left Josh’s waist and landed on his stomach again, tugging his fly back together and zipping him up before he pulled away again.

"Thanks," Josh murmured, beyond being embarrassed that he’d forgotten all about his zipper. What he really wanted to do was ignore Nick and drag Cooper back to bed, but Nick had driven Cooper all the way from New York and gotten them a room. The least they could do was entertain him for a couple hours, although Josh was pretty sure that what passed for entertainment in Sandborn wouldn’t be exactly what Nick had in mind.

A few minutes later Josh found himself sitting at a rather sticky table in the back of a dark bar across the street from the motel, glancing around nervously at the nearly deserted room as he waited for someone to realize there were a bunch of teenagers in there and throw them out. He assumed that Nick at least had a fake ID considering he’d gotten two motel rooms with no questions asked, but they were still pretty close to town and the chances of someone recognizing Josh were high. "Are you sure this is such a good idea?" Josh asked, leaning toward Cooper as he watched Nick order a pitcher from the only waitress in the place.

"Relax," Cooper answered, but the grin he flashed at Josh only made the other boy even more nervous. "Trust me, nobody would question Nick’s ID. Or mine either, they’re practically legit except for the age thing. Our cousin knows somebody that works at the DMV in New York."

Josh did his best not to think about all the reasons he should be worried about Cooper’s family members and turned his attention back to the bar where Nick was still chatting up the waitress. "Is he actually flirting with her?" he asked. "She’s like 25. I know her sister, she graduated from my high school last year."

"You think she knows you?" Cooper asked, glancing over at the waitress long enough to assure himself that she was too interested in whatever line Nick was feeding her to pay attention to them.

Josh shook his head no, leaning back in his chair and tearing his gaze away from the scene at the bar. "I doubt it. I mean I only know who she is because she was a big deal on the gymnastics team when she was in high school. There’s a picture of her in the trophy case right in front of the office."

Cooper laughed and shook his head, leaning back and sliding an arm around the back of Josh’s chair. "Flexible, Nick’ll love that. Wait’ll you hear him talk to her, it’s the funniest goddamn thing. You can’t laugh until she’s out of earshot though or you’ll blow his cover and he’ll be seriously pissed."

"Why? What’s he telling her?" Josh asked, forgetting to be self-conscious long enough to settle back against Cooper’s arm.

"He likes to pretend he’s Italian. Like actually from Italy," Cooper explained as he watched Nick in action. "He’s probably telling her he’s in town making a documentary or some shit like that. His accent’s perfect, chicks fall all over themselves when he gets going."

"Have you ever done that?"

"What, pretended I was foreign to pick somebody up?" Cooper laughed and turned back to Josh, looking around to make sure nobody was watching them before he leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on Josh’s cheek. "No. For one thing, my accent’s terrible. I understand Italian and I can speak it, but I sure as hell don’t sound like I’m from Italy. Just another one of those things I never took seriously, according to my old man. I couldn’t be bothered to get the accent down."

A surge of anger welled up inside Josh at the thought of Cooper’s father spending his entire life telling him what a loser he was, but before he opened his mouth to say anything Nick sank into the chair across from them and set a pitcher of beer in the center of the table. He set a soda down in front of Josh, then poured himself and Cooper a beer before he leaned back in his chair and grinned. "Whoever said there wasn’t anything to do around here hasn’t been looking in the right places," he said, glancing over his shoulder in time to catch the waitress smiling shyly at the back of his head.

"It gets better," Cooper said, leaning forward and dropping his voice as he looked at his cousin. "She’s a gymnast, Josh knows her kid sister. Says she was some kind of star on the high school team."

"Damn." Nick picked up his glass and grinned again before draining half the contents and setting it back down on the table. "I told her we were here filming a documentary about teenagers in rural America. You should’ve seen her face when I hinted around about putting her in the movie. She thinks we’re interviewing Josh so try not to drool on him too much while we’re here."

Cooper scowled but pulled his arm off the back of Josh’s chair, resting his elbows on the table and wrapping one hand around his glass. "I’ll let that slide because you drove me all the way here," Cooper said. "We’re even now, though."

"I don’t know," Josh said, leaning forward and brushing his leg against Cooper’s under the table, "from what I’ve heard about your waitress I’m guessing you’re gonna owe Cooper for bringing you here."

For a second Nick just stared at him, but just as Josh began to get nervous the blonde’s features relaxed into an amused grin and he let out a soft laugh. "You’re alright, France," he said, shaking his head as Josh grinned back at him. "I haven’t closed the deal yet, though, so drink up."

Josh smiled and complied happily, taking a long sip of soda and then nearly spitting it back out again when a hand landed on his thigh and squeezed. Somehow he managed to swallow without choking, his leg pressing closer to Cooper’s as the hand on his thigh slid a little further up his leg. He forced himself to relax and prayed that it wouldn’t take Nick too long to persuade the waitress to go out with him, trying not to focus on what would happen when they got back to their room. Still, it was kind of nice to be with Cooper even if they couldn’t touch more overtly; just knowing that they were together made him braver than he would be under normal circumstances.

The dimly lit atmosphere of the bar helped too, and he reached under the table and closed his hand around Cooper’s. "So this is what you guys do for fun?"

"What fun?" Nick snorted and set his beer back down on the table, casting another glance in the direction of the bar to make sure the waitress couldn’t hear him speaking without an accent. "This is the first chance we’ve had to get out of Buffalo since October. Been trying to get to the city, but Cooper’s old man’s been on the warpath since he got his credit card bill."

"But you guys go out like every night," Josh said, casting a confused glance at Cooper before he turned back to Nick.

"We’re out every night, but we’re not clubbing or anything," Nick answered, shaking his head as he looked at his cousin. "We’re working. I am anyway, mostly Cooper’s just hanging around to avoid that hag that calls herself his mother."

A bitter laugh escaped Cooper’s throat as he picked up his beer and drained the rest of the glass. "I’ve never heard her admit to that."

"Forget it, man," Nick said, and judging from his expression Josh guessed he was sorry he’d brought up either of Cooper’s parents. "Point is even my folks keep me on a pretty tight leash. Goes with the territory, most of the time we’re running something from one cousin to another or driving one of my aunts around. Sometimes we hang out at my uncle’s bar, that’s okay. But the real action’s in the city, one of my brothers lives down there so he lets us crash with him."

Josh opened his mouth and then closed it again, whatever question he’d been about to ask dying on his lips. He’d spent so much time wondering about what Cooper did every night, dreaming up all kinds of scenarios that he really didn’t want to know about. It never occurred to him to just ask, that the truth might not be nearly as bad as what he could come up with. He hadn’t wanted to seem needy or possessive, though, and he wasn’t really sure what exactly the terms of their relationship were. Finding out that Cooper spent most of his time tagging along on family business with Nick was a relief, but at the same time it made him wonder even more where things between them were going.

The hand entwined with his squeezed gently and he looked over at Cooper, swallowing against a sudden rush of nerves when he found Cooper studying him curiously. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I just…I mean sure, I’m fine."

"It’s not really that big a deal," Cooper said, misinterpreting Josh’s nervous expression. "I mean it’s not like we’re really connected or anything, it’s just a big family." He ignored Nick’s amused snort and focused on Josh, suddenly worried that his family would be more than Josh could deal with. Nick being obnoxious was one thing, but the sheer numbers of Cooper’s family would overwhelm most people even if they weren’t involved in sometimes questionable business practices.

"The Scandinavian branch of the family likes to sugar coat it," Nick added, laughing even harder at the glare Cooper shot him. "Give me a break, Cooper, like you don’t know how deep your old man’s in. Plumbing supplies my ass."

"I know, Nick. I just don’t think we need to talk about it right now," Cooper hissed between clenched teeth, glancing meaningfully at Josh before he turned back to his cousin.

Nick rolled his eyes and reached for Josh’s empty glass. "Relax, man, he doesn’t care. He’s a smart guy, he probably already had it figured out anyway." He stood up and straightened his shirt before he turned back toward the bar. "I’m gonna go close this deal and then we’re outta here. I’m starving."

~

Nick stepped out of the car and took a long drag off his cigarette, shaking his head as he looked at the building in front of them. "Oh, man."

"There’s a diner a couple blocks over if you don’t wanna eat here," Josh offered as he watched Nick grind out his cigarette.

"It’s fine," Cooper said, stopping himself just before he put an arm around Josh’s shoulders. He stifled a sigh and shoved his hands in his pockets, taking a few steps toward the front door. "We have Dairy Queen in Buffalo."

"Yeah, but it doesn’t look like this," Nick said. "All this place is missing is car hops on roller skates."

Josh laughed and followed his friends inside, steering them toward a booth in the back and dropping onto the bench next to Cooper. "You have to go further south if you want car hops," he said. "At least that’s what I hear, I’ve never been down south."

"Went to Miami once," Nick said as he stretched out on the opposite side of the booth. "The women there…" He trailed off and glanced over at Josh and Cooper, rolling his eyes as he remembered who he was talking to. "Forget it, wrong crowd. I’m gonna go order…something."

Josh watched Nick walk over to the counter and lean against it, flirting with the girls behind the register. He smiled and shook his head, but as soon as he looked over at Cooper his smile faded again. He hadn’t said much since they left the bar, but Josh could tell that the conversation about his family had gotten to him. He wished he could touch Cooper, run his fingers through his hair or lean over and kiss him just to let him know that his family didn’t matter to Josh. There were some kids from his school sitting a few booths away, though, and he knew practically everyone that worked there.

Finally he settled for reaching under the table the same way Cooper had at the bar, letting his hand rest against Cooper’s thigh. "I don’t care about any of that stuff," he said, his heart skipping a beat when Cooper looked up at him. "Your family, I mean. It doesn’t matter."

For a second Cooper looked confused, then he smiled and shifted a little closer to Josh. "Nick likes to make it sound like a bigger deal than it is anyway. I mean he’s a lot more into all that than I am, I just go to get out of my mom’s hair."

"Are they really that bad?"

Cooper laughed and tore his gaze away from Josh’s, something like sadness flickering in his eyes for a second before he blinked and turned toward the other boy again. "Trust me, you don’t want to hear about my parents."

"Yeah, I do, Cooper," Josh said, his thumb stroking in small circles against Cooper’s jeans.

Cooper swallowed and leaned forward almost imperceptibly, and Josh froze as he realized Cooper was about to kiss him. He knew he should stop him, pull away or turn his head or something, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it when Cooper looked so vulnerable. He held his breath and waited for the familiar brush of lips against his, but a second later Cooper sighed and fell back against the bench.

"God, this sucks," Cooper moaned, squeezing his eyes shut as he willed his body back under control.

"I know," Josh said, his own misery clear in his voice. "I’m sorry."

"Don’t," Cooper said, forcing his eyes open to look over at Josh. "It’s not your fault, I’m the one that showed up here out of nowhere."

"I’m glad you’re here," Josh insisted, his grip on Cooper’s thigh tightening momentarily. He sighed and looked down at the table, blood pounding against his ears as he forced himself to go on. "I wasn’t sure, you know? I mean I didn’t really think I’d ever see you again."

"Are you kidding me?" Cooper whispered, the misery and regret in his voice surprising Josh into looking over at him. Cooper’s hands were clenched together on top of the table, his knuckles white as he struggled not to touch the other boy. Instantly Josh regretted saying it out loud, he’d known better than to bring it up in public anyway but somehow it had just slipped out. Nearly three months of insecurity about how Cooper felt about him came rushing back, and he swallowed hard and pulled his hand away from Cooper’s leg.

Before either of them said anything else Nick reappeared, setting a tray full of food down on the table before he slid back onto the bench across the booth. He reached for a soda and started unwrapping a straw, stopping halfway through to stare at the two boys across from him. "What?"

"Nothing," Cooper said too quickly, reaching for the soda Nick had set in front of him. "Just eat your food. What’d you do, get one of everything?"

"Well I don’t know what the fuck he eats," Nick shot back, glaring at Josh for a second before he turned his attention back to his cousin. "What the hell is your deal, anyway?"

"Nothing, forget it," Cooper answered, sighing as he reached for a burger and unwrapped it. The last thing he felt like doing was eating, he just wanted to go back to their room where he and Josh could actually have a conversation without worrying who was listening. He had no idea what Josh was thinking, and that was what worried him most of all. Josh hadn’t even looked at him since Nick sat back down, and he was dying to find out what Josh meant when he said he didn’t think he’d ever see Cooper again. He’d told Josh in New York that he’d work it out; in fact he hadn’t thought about much else since they said goodbye in the hotel lobby. He’d never mentioned any of his plans to Josh, though, and he was starting to think that maybe that was a mistake.

He was distracted from his brooding by the sound of a throat clearing, and he looked up in time to see a group of teenagers stop next to their booth. "Hey, Miller," the boy closest to Josh said, "who are your friends?"

"Hey, Scott," Josh said, swallowing nervously as he met the other boy’s gaze. "This is…uh…Cooper Frederickson and Nick Cristiani. They’re friends of mine…from New York."

"Oh yeah? You guys live in the city?"

"No, Buffalo," Cooper answered, his hands curling into fists as he struggled against the urge to put his arm around Josh. He knew it was his imagination but something about the guy bothered him, maybe it was the sneer that was supposed to pass for a smile or the way Josh had flinched when he stopped next to their table. "It’s upstate."

"Yeah, I know." Scott shot him a sarcastic grin and Cooper stared back at him, keeping his expression carefully neutral. The last thing he wanted to do was make Josh’s life harder, and it wasn’t like he ever had to see these kids again. So what if their spokesperson was an asshole, he’d ignored worse from members of his own family.

"So you bringing these two to the party tomorrow?" Scott asked, casting a dismissive glance at Nick before he turned back to Josh.

"I don’t know," Josh said. It was true that he hadn’t really considered whether or not they’d want to go to a party with a bunch of his high school friends; he’d been too happy about Cooper actually being there in person to remember that there was a party at Randy’s house the next night. "I’m not sure what we’re doing."

Scott raised one eyebrow and glanced at Cooper again, but Josh told himself that he was just imagining the suspicion in the other boy’s eyes. "Yeah, well, whatever," Scott finally said. "Everybody’s gonna be there."

"Yeah, thanks," Josh said, although he wasn’t really sure what he was thanking the other boy for. He’d known about the party for weeks, it had been all over school. Nick would probably get a kick out of meeting some of the girls that went to his school, but the thought of dragging Cooper somewhere else that they couldn’t even touch was too depressing to think about. He sighed as his friends walked away, talking in hushed whispers as they sank into a booth on the other side of the restaurant.

"Party, huh?" Nick said, raising his eyebrows as he caught Josh’s eye.

Josh nodded and stole another glance over at his friends, his heart skipping a beat when he found a few of them watching him. "Yeah, I forgot all about it. It’s just gonna be the kids from my class, no big deal. We can go if you want."

Nick shrugged and drained the rest of his soda, crumpling his empty burger wrapper and tossing it back on the tray. "Nothing else to do," he said as he stood up and picked up the trash. "You guys ready?"

"Definitely," Cooper answered, practically shoving Josh out of the booth as they stood up and followed the blonde out to the car. As they made their way past the other booths Josh thought he heard one of the guys from school say his name, but when he glanced over at them none of them was looking in his direction. He shook his head and followed Cooper out the door, telling himself to stop being so paranoid.

*

When they pulled up outside of the motel the waitress from the bar was leaning against Nick’s door, and he grinned as he shut off the engine and shoved the keys in his pocket. "Ah, the lovely Linda, right on time. See you guys tomorrow," he said as he let himself out of the car and walked toward his room.

Josh smiled in spite of himself as he imagined Nick switching back to his Italian accent, but as soon as he stepped out of the car and looked at Cooper he forgot all about Nick and his waitress. He sighed and followed Cooper into their room, wishing all over again that he’d never said anything about his insecurities. Once they were inside Cooper crossed to his bag, not even stopping long enough to take off his coat before he started rifling through his belongings.

Once Josh had his own coat off he sank onto the edge of the mattress and watched Cooper, his heart in his throat as he prayed he hadn’t ruined the whole visit. Finally Cooper found what he was looking for and straightened up again, pausing long enough to take his coat off and toss it on the chair before he crossed the room and sat down next to Josh. "I got you something," he said, holding out a small leather case. "It’s not like a Christmas present or anything, I just thought this would make it easier…I mean I know we talk practically every day anyway but at least this way you can call me instead of waiting around for me to call you."

Josh only half-listened to Cooper’s babbling as he took the case, frowning as he opened it. He hadn’t gotten Cooper anything for Christmas, there was nothing he could get the other boy that Cooper didn’t already have and anyway he hadn’t expected him to just show up. Slowly he opened the case and slid out a small black cell phone, his forehead furrowing as he looked up at Cooper.

"I added you to my family plan," Cooper explained before Josh had a chance to say anything. "That way my dad won’t even notice he’s paying for an extra phone. So really it’s on the old man, not me. Cingular, free long distance, no roaming charges. So you can call, you know, if you want."

"Cooper," Josh said, his voice low as he stared down at the phone in his hand. "I didn’t…"

"I told you, it’s not a present," Cooper interrupted. "It’s more selfish than anything if you think about it. I mean you can call whoever you want on it, but this way I can always reach you too."

Josh smiled and looked up at Cooper, caught between wanting to kiss him and wanting to yell at him for spending more of his father’s money on Josh. "I don’t even know how to use this thing," he finally said, looking down at the expensive-looking phone again.

"There’s nothing to it," Cooper said, reaching over and taking the phone out of Josh’s hand. "See, you press this button to dial. Or you can press this button and a list of programmed numbers comes up. I already programmed my number in. I programmed your home number in too, you know, in case you need to call your mom or whatever." He grinned self-consciously and handed the phone back to Josh, venturing an almost timid glance at the other boy. "You push the red button to hang up, or you can just close it and it’ll end the call."

"Thanks." Josh slid the phone back into its case, leaning over to set it on the nightstand next to the bed before he turned back to Cooper. He wasn’t sure what to think about the phone, he hadn’t expected Cooper to give him anything and a cell phone seemed like an extravagant gift considering. He wasn’t sure if he’d have the courage to actually call Cooper anyway, but it was true that they did talk nearly every day and it was kind of nice to know that Cooper wanted him to call. "Are you sure your dad’s not gonna freak out?"

"Don’t worry about it," Cooper answered, turning so he was facing Josh and reaching out to slide one hand around his neck. He pulled Josh forward and brushed their lips together, sighing into the kiss as Josh moved closer to him and wrapped his arms around Cooper’s back. They took their time exploring one another’s mouths, hands roaming over clothes and skin without any real sense of purpose. It was enough that they were together and they didn’t have to worry about anyone seeing them, and suddenly Cooper wanted to take it slow and memorize as much of Josh as he could.

When they broke apart they slid back on the mattress, settling against the pillows in a tangle of limbs as Josh rested his head on Cooper’s arm. "I meant everything, you know," Cooper said, his fingers trailing through Josh’s hair as he stared at the ceiling. "What I said in New York, I meant all that. I really like you, Josh. All I’ve been thinking about since New York is when I can see you again."

"Yeah, I know," Josh said, turning his face into Cooper’s neck to breathe in the other boy’s scent. "I mean I wasn’t sure, but I know now."

A soft laugh escaped Cooper’s throat, and Josh frowned and pushed himself up to look down at the other boy. "What’s so funny?"

"You," Cooper answered, grinning as he pulled Josh back down next to him. "I called you practically every single day, what did you think I was doing? If I wasn’t crazy about you I wouldn’t have wasted my cell phone battery."

"So I’m an idiot," Josh said, an embarrassed grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Every time you called you told me about where you were going and who you were gonna see there, I thought…"

"You thought I was out partying every night," Cooper finished for him when Josh trailed off, tightening his grip on the other boy instinctively. "Why didn’t you just ask?"

Josh shrugged and slid his arm around Cooper’s waist, his fingers moving in a lazy pattern across the other boy’s stomach. "I don’t know, I guess I figured it wasn’t any of my business. It’s not like I’ve ever done this before."

"Me either." Cooper sighed and rolled onto his side, pulling Josh closer and pressing their bodies together in the center of the bed. "I’ve never tried the whole relationship thing, and I definitely never thought I’d be doing it long-distance. I can’t help it, though, Josh, I think about you all the time. I drive Nick crazy talking about you or calling you or wondering where you are when I don’t get an answer. But I like being able to say I have a boyfriend, as crazy as that sounds. I like when my family asks me what’s going on and I can tell them about the last time I talked to you. I think they know more about you than they do about their own kids."

The whole time he was talking Cooper kept his gaze firmly fixed on Josh’s chest, but as soon as he finished Josh slid his hand under Cooper’s chin and forced him to look up. "You really tell your family about me?"

Cooper rolled his eyes and smiled, stifling a relieved sigh when Josh didn’t tense or get up and announce suddenly that he had to go home. "What did I just say? Work with me here."

"Sorry." Josh grinned sheepishly and leaned forward, fusing their mouths together again. He groaned as Cooper slid his leg over Josh’s legs, bringing their hips flush as he rocked against the other boy. All the frustration of not being able to touch came rushing back, and he felt the steadily growing need in the pit of his stomach get even more urgent. "Cooper," he gasped when they finally parted, one of his hands leaving Cooper’s back to trace his kiss-swollen lips, "I…" He trailed off, his mind racing as he realized he didn’t even know what he was trying to say. All he knew was that he needed something, some kind of reassurance that they were on the same wavelength.

"I know," Cooper whispered, his hands working their way under Josh’s shirt as he feathered kisses down the column of Josh’s neck.

Josh sighed and closed his eyes, floating on a wave of pleasure as Cooper slowly undressed them both. He wasn’t sure he’d survive the torturous pace Cooper had set, but he was content to let the other boy lead as long as it meant they were together. He had a thousand more questions for Cooper, about his family and the future and where exactly Josh fit into that picture, but he pushed them all to the back of his mind and focused on the hands moving on his skin. There would be plenty of time for him to ask questions later, for now he just wanted to enjoy the fact that they could touch and kiss and do whatever they wanted without having to worry about what anyone else thought.

~

Nick let out a low whistle as they pulled up outside the sprawling ranch house on the outskirts of town, shifting the car into park and stepping out into the cold night air. "That’s some house."

Josh shrugged and closed the car door, glancing up at the two-story plantation-style house. He’d seen it so many times growing up that he didn’t really think anything of it one way or the other, but it was definitely huge and he knew Randy’s father was one of the wealthiest men in the area. He knew all that money couldn’t come from cattle ranching, but everyone in town just seemed to accept that that was the way things were so he didn’t waste too much time thinking about it.

"I guess," he said as they made their way to the front porch. "It’s a cattle ranch, I guess I notice the smell more than anything."

Nick and Cooper both laughed as they stopped at the front door, hesitating as they waited for Josh to either go in or ring the bell. He swallowed hard as he realized they were both waiting for him to lead the way, doing his best to ignore his nervousness as he reached for the door handle and pushed it open. They were greeted by a wave of heat and noise, loud rock music assaulting their eardrums as they stepped into the foyer and waited for their eyes to adjust to the dim light.

There were people everywhere, couples plastered together on the stairs and in the hallway, pressed up against walls as the kids that weren’t making out threaded their way around the couples. Josh took a deep breath and said a silent prayer that Nick would get bored before too long and want to leave, leading his way to the kitchen where Randy always set up the keg when his parents were out of town. He filled two cups and handed one to each of them before filling his own cup, swallowing half the contents in the vain hope that the beer would calm him enough to get through the night without having a nervous breakdown.

"You okay, man?" Nick asked as he dug in his pockets for his cigarettes.

"Yeah, why?" Josh asked, paling as he wondered if his nervousness was written all over his face.

Nick gestured in the direction of Josh’s cup, raising his eyebrows as he watched his friend pale. "Never figured you for much of a drinker is all," he said.

"Oh." Josh looked down at the beer in his hand, realizing belatedly that they’d never seen him drink before. He didn’t do it very often, usually he had to go home after a party and his mother could smell alcohol a mile away. She swore it was from being a nurse and seeing so many alcohol-related accidents in the ER over the years, but sometimes Josh wondered if she was just psychic. He sighed and set his half-empty cup down on the counter, deciding it was probably better to stay sober so he wouldn’t be tempted to do anything stupid.

He stole a glance at Cooper, instantly regretting it when he found the other boy staring back at him. The events of the night before came rushing back immediately and he felt his groin start to tighten, looking away quickly as he willed his body back under control. He’d never imagined that someone like Cooper could be so gentle, but they’d spent most of the night just touching and kissing and talking softly about everything and nothing. Finally they’d drifted to sleep around sunrise, neither of them stirring until Nick banged on their door sometime after noon.

In a million years he wouldn’t have pegged Cooper for a romantic, but after last night and all the things Cooper had said he was starting to rethink everything he’d ever thought about the other boy. He still hadn’t asked about the future or how they were going to work things out when he started college, but the things Cooper said to him made him wonder if the other boy hadn’t already begun working things out on his own. That was his style, obviously; he didn’t seem to see anything wrong with keeping Josh completely in the dark until the perfect moment to unveil whatever scheme he’d cooked up. His trip to Indiana was a perfect example; he’d had a dozen opportunities to tell Josh he was planning a trip but he’d never breathed a word of it because he didn’t want to spoil the surprise.

Josh smiled fondly and glanced over at Cooper again, his grin growing even wider when Cooper bit his lip and shoved his free hand in his pocket. He wanted to touch Cooper just as much as Cooper was probably dying to touch him, but he knew it was too much of a risk to try anything here. For one thing he was surrounded by his entire class, and for another the kitchen was the only room in the house that was fully lit. It was possible they could get away with holding hands or even a quick kiss in a dark corner somewhere, but the kitchen was the center of activity and he knew better than to take a risk like that.

"You wanna give me a tour?" Cooper asked, leaning close enough to make himself heard over the music without shouting. He smiled suggestively and Josh couldn’t help smiling back, catching himself just before he reached out and grabbed Cooper’s hand.

"Sure," he answered, pausing long enough to glance over at Nick. "Do you mind?"

"Go ahead," Nick said without bothering to look at either of them.

Josh followed his gaze, frowning as he recognized the girl Nick was staring at. "That’s Randy’s girlfriend," he said. "The guy who’s throwing the party."

"I’ll keep it in mind," Nick said. "See you guys later."

Josh watched Nick make his way through the crowded kitchen towards the dining room, praying that Cooper’s cousin had the common sense not to hit on somebody’s girlfriend. He was still staring when he felt a tug on his sleeve, and he glanced to his left to find Cooper still staring at him.

"Don’t worry about it," Cooper said. "Come on, I wanna see what’s upstairs."

They paused long enough to grab a couple beers out of the fridge before they made their way back through the crowd, climbing the stairs and pausing on the landing as Josh looked around. "This way," he finally said, gesturing toward a dark hallway. He led Cooper past a row of doors and finally stopped in front of a door near the end of the hall. He pushed the door open a few inches and listened, reaching for a light switch when he was satisfied that there was no one inside.

"It’s still early, otherwise there would be people in here already," Josh said as he looked around the guest room. "Not that I’ve spent a lot of time upstairs at these things."

"Good." Cooper grabbed the front of his shirt and hauled him forward, fusing their lips together as Josh took hold of his hips and began backing them toward the bed. When they broke apart again he set the beers he’d been holding down on the floor and let Josh push him back onto the mattress. "Because I don’t really want to think about you doing this with anybody else."

A soft chuckle escaped Josh’s throat as he leaned forward, trailing kisses up the side of Cooper’s neck. When he reached the soft skin under the other boy’s earlobe he opened his mouth and gently nipped the skin before he began to suck. Cooper’s fingers trailed through his hair, a soft moan escaping his throat as he craned his neck to give Josh better access.

When Josh pulled back he pushed himself up on his elbows, inspecting the fresh mark on Cooper’s neck before he looked back up at the other boy. "You’re the one that’s got the sordid past," Josh reminded him.

"Trust me, it’s not that interesting," Cooper murmured, pulling Josh down for another kiss. They both knew they shouldn’t be taking such a big risk, not with an unlocked door the only thing separating them from a houseful of Josh’s friends. They’d spent most of the day struggling not to touch, though, and now that they were alone neither one of them could bring themselves to stop.

Josh forgot to worry about what Nick was up to, he forgot about all the people downstairs and focused on the only person that meant anything to him at that moment. He was determined to make the few days they had together count, especially now that he was sure that Cooper was as determined to make their relationship work as he was. In fact Cooper seemed even more determined, he wouldn’t even entertain the idea that it might not be that easy to keep things going long distance. Josh still hadn’t asked what happened after high school, but he was pretty sure after last night that they’d figure it out.

He groaned as Cooper thrust up against him, but when he registered the sound of a door slamming down the hall he froze and forced himself to pull away. "Cooper," he whispered, his voice laced with regret as Cooper stared up at him with a slightly dazed expression. "We’ve gotta stop, if anybody finds us here…"

"Yeah, I know," Cooper interrupted as he pulled his hands free of the tangle he’d made of Josh’s shirt. He followed Josh into a sitting position, smiling in spite of his frustration as he smoothed the wrinkles out of the front of the shirt they’d bought in New York. "It’s your fault, you look amazing in this shirt."

Josh grinned and leaned forward for another quick kiss. "I’ll make it up to you later."

Cooper scowled and reached for the beers he’d set on the floor, opening the first one and handing it to Josh before he opened the second bottle and took a long drink. "I thought my parents sucked for pretty much ignoring me after I came out, but that’s nothing compared to what you put up with."

"Your parents do suck," Josh said before he could stop himself, wincing as soon as he realized he’d said it out loud. "Sorry."

Cooper nearly choked on a mouthful of beer as he laughed at the expression on Josh’s face, somehow managing to swallow without spitting beer all over both of them. "Don’t be sorry," he said when he caught his breath again. "Pretty much everybody in the family agrees with you. I mean I’m stuck with them so I don’t really think about it that much, you know? But if my dad wasn’t a blood relative they sure as hell wouldn’t put up with them, especially my mother."

"I can’t imagine that," Josh said. "I mean my dad took off and I haven’t heard from him since I was a little kid, but at least I’ve got my mom."

"Do you know where your dad is?"

Josh nodded and tipped his beer back again, swallowing before he answered. "Somewhere in California, last I heard. He took off with his girlfriend, married her as soon as his divorce from my mom was final. He’s got a couple kids with her, I’ve never even seen them though. It’s kinda weird to know I’ve got brothers I’ve never met."

"You ever think about looking them up?" Cooper asked, his voice soft as he reached out to cup Josh’s cheek.

"No. I mean he knows where I am, if he wanted me in his life he would have called." He shrugged and stood up, pulling Cooper off the bed as he backed toward the door. "Come on, if we’re lucky Nick’s found somebody to hook up with already."

"Yeah, but if he has it’s gonna be somebody you know," Cooper reminded him.

Josh stopped with his hand on the doorknob, his shoulders sagging as he realized that Cooper was right. The waitress from the bar was one thing, at least she didn’t seem to recognize Josh. Anybody at the party would either go to his school or know people that went to his school, though, which meant that no matter what happened people were going to be talking about him at school next week. He leaned against the door and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to steady his wildly beating heart. When he opened his eyes again he found Cooper staring at him, and his stomach clenched painfully as he registered the hurt in the other boy’s eyes.

He reached out and closed his fist around the front of Cooper’s shirt, pulling him forward for a hard kiss. Cooper groaned into the kiss and pressed Josh against the door, his fingers digging into the fabric covering the other boy’s hips as their tongues slid together. Josh’s fingers threaded through Cooper’s hair, pulling him closer as he tried to convey all the urgency he couldn’t put into words. They were so wrapped up in each other that neither of them heard footsteps in the hall until the doorknob turned and Josh felt the door push against his back.

"Shit," Cooper muttered as he pulled away. He knew there was no way out of there without whoever was on the other side of the door seeing them, and he knew it was his fault. It was his idea to go upstairs in the first place, if he’d just been patient and waited until they were back in their room everything would be fine. Sure, he’d have been bored for a couple hours but at least Josh would still be with him; now that he’d more or less forced him out of the closet Josh would probably never speak to him again.

"It’s okay," Josh said. He wasn’t sure if it would be okay; he knew just as well as Cooper did that there was no way they were walking out of there without someone seeing them. Coming out at a party wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind for his winter break either, but the more time he spent around Cooper the more he wanted to be able to just be himself no matter what happened at school.

"Josh…" Cooper trailed off and took a step forward, pressing Josh back into the door as he planted a hard kiss on his lips. "Are you sure? I think I could still get us out of this."

A nervous laugh escaped Josh’s throat at the hopeful look on Cooper’s face. "Yeah? How are you gonna do that?"

"I don’t know, I’ll climb out the window," Cooper said, glancing toward the window in question as he wondered how much damage he’d do if he fell two stories.

"You’d break a leg or something," Josh shot back, reaching out and catching Cooper’s hand to hold him in place when he realized the other boy was serious. A loud knock sounded near his ear and he glanced over his shoulder, watching as whoever was on the other side rattled the knob again.

"I could call Nick on his cell, maybe he could get rid of them."

For a second Josh actually considered whether or not that would work, but as soon as he realized what he was doing he shook his head and pushed himself off the door. "Come on," he said, sounding a lot more confident than he felt as he pulled the door open and stood aside to let whoever was knocking in.

"Miller? What the fuck are you…holy shit." Scott trailed off, his jaw dropping slightly as he looked from Josh to Cooper and back again. "I knew there was something weird about those two guys. Didn’t I tell you there was something weird about them?" He glanced over his shoulder at the meek-looking blonde behind him, not waiting for an answer before he turned back again. "Since when are you a fucking fag?"

Josh opened his mouth to say something, but he had no idea how to answer a question like that. He knew he was going to hear it more than a few times in the next few months, but he was pretty sure that no matter how many times he heard it he wasn’t going to come up with an answer Scott would understand. "The room’s all yours," he finally said. "We were just leaving."

He looked back long enough to make sure Cooper was behind him before he brushed past Scott and his girlfriend, bracing himself for a hand grabbing his arm or a sucker punch or Scott shoving him from behind. When he made it into the hallway without being stopped he let out the breath he’d been holding, glancing at Cooper and smiling at the other boy’s slightly awed expression. For a moment he thought maybe Scott was just going to let it go for tonight, and he started toward the stairs to look for Nick.

They were halfway down the stairs when Josh heard Scott’s voice behind him, and he took a deep breath and turned to watch the other boy hurry after them. "What the fuck, man, you can’t just show up at Randy’s house with a couple fags."

Josh felt Cooper tugging on his sleeve from a couple steps below him, but he ignored it and kept his attention focused on Scott. "Why? I’ve been coming to every party since we were kids and you never had a problem with it," he said, surprising even himself with the even quality of his voice. He knew he was probably shaking, but he held his ground for an agonizing moment before he turned back toward Cooper. "Let’s go," he said when his gaze locked with his boyfriend’s.

"Look at that," Scott said to nobody in particular as he followed Josh and Cooper down the stairs. "He walks in here with that shit all over his neck, it’s fucking sick."

He flinched but didn’t turn around, squaring his shoulders as he followed Cooper through the crowd at the bottom of the stairs. He knew people were starting to stare but he didn’t let himself look around as he followed Cooper out the front door. When he felt Cooper’s hand close around his arm he stopped walking, his eyebrows raised in question as Cooper dug in his pocket for his cell phone and dialed a number.

"What are you doing?" Josh asked, the thought crossing his mind that maybe Cooper was calling the cops.

Cooper held up his free hand as the line connected on the other end, looking out at the rows of cars in front of the house as he prayed they weren’t blocked in. "Where the fuck are you? No, we’re leaving, so either kick her ass out of the car or bring her with you." He hung up and dropped the phone back in his pocket, reaching for Josh’s hand and pulling him down the stairs. "Nick’s in the car already."

"Who’s in there with him?" Josh asked, smirking at the look Cooper shot him.

"I don’t know, probably that chick you warned him not to flirt with. Bet you never expected to be the one causing the scene in there," Cooper answered, squeezing Josh’s hand as they wove their way through the rows of cars. "That was amazing, Josh. Seriously, you were so cool. That guy didn’t know what the fuck to do."

Josh laughed in spite of the adrenaline still rushing through his veins, Cooper’s hand entwined with his the only thing stopping him from giving in to sheer panic. He had no idea what would happen when he got back to school, no one had ever come out at his school as far as he knew. It wasn’t like he’d had a choice, though; he’d gone up to that room with Cooper knowing anybody could catch them. "Well at least he’ll save me the trouble of telling everybody," Josh said as they stopped next to the car. He pulled the back door open and climbed into the car, pulling Cooper in behind him.

"Going home alone?" Cooper asked when Nick looked back at them, raising his eyebrows at the empty passenger seat.

"Not worth having to drive all the way back to town in the morning," Nick said. "What a bunch of losers. Everything okay?" he added, glancing in the rearview mirror at Cooper.

Cooper shrugged and turned to look at Josh, but his head was back against the seat rest and his eyes were closed. "I’ll tell you later. Let’s go."

When they got back to the motel Cooper ushered Josh into their room and over to the bed, pushing the other boy down onto the edge of the mattress and pushing his coat off his shoulders.

"Cooper, I’m fine," Josh said as Cooper pulled his coat off and tossed it in the general direction of the chair. "You don’t have to take care of me."

"After what you said to that asshole I’d pretty much do anything you asked me to." He paused long enough to take his own jacket off before he straddled Josh’s legs and started working on the buttons on his shirt. "That was so hot."

"I didn’t even do anything." Josh laughed nervously but let Cooper undress him, wondering what exactly Cooper thought was so hot about one of his so-called friends catching them together.

The hands on his chest stilled and Josh looked up to find Cooper staring at him, his eyes wide and slightly unfocused. "Are you kidding? What you did was huge, Josh." He leaned forward and pressed their lips together, then pulled away just as quickly. "Holy shit, what you did was huge. They’re gonna kill you, aren’t they?"

"No," Josh answered immediately, but as soon as the word escaped his lips he realized that it wasn’t that far-fetched of an idea. Some of them probably would want to kill him, or at the very least pound the crap out of him for bringing Cooper to one of their parties. Maybe some of them would be okay with it, but he knew it wasn’t going to be easy to go back to school after break. He didn’t want to think about that now, though, not when he still had two days left with Cooper. "It’ll be okay, at least I think it will. And hey, my mom works at the hospital, at least if they try to kill me I have good insurance."

"It’s not funny, Josh," Cooper said. "I’m serious, it happens all the time."

"I’ll be fine." He reached for the waistband of Cooper’s shirt, pushing it up his chest until Cooper finally took the hint and yanked it over his head. He ran his hands down Cooper’s chest as he leaned forward and fused their lips together again, pulling Cooper down on top of him as he fell back against the pillows.

"Josh," Cooper gasped when he tore his lips away from the other boy’s, "I want you to do me."

As soon as he said the words Josh stilled against him, his eyes snapping open to stare wide-eyed at Cooper. "Are you serious?"

"Of course," Cooper answered, reaching for the last few buttons on Josh’s shirt with renewed enthusiasm. "I mean you don’t have to, no pressure."

"I want to," Josh said too quickly, blood pounding against his eardrums as he let Cooper push his shirt down his arms. He sat up long enough to pull it all the way off before he reached for the waistband of Cooper’s jeans, working the zipper down as Cooper kicked off his shoes. Cooper barely had time to blink before he found himself stripped naked and flat on the mattress, the corners of his mouth turned up in an amused grin as he watched Josh pull the rest of his clothes off.

"If I’d known you were gonna be this enthusiastic I would have suggested this a long time ago," Cooper said. "We gotta work on you telling me what you want."

Josh paused long enough to reach for the lube they’d left on the nightstand before he crawled back over Cooper and opened the tube. "I guess I never really thought of you as the bottom type," he said as he squeezed some lube onto his fingers and dropped the tube on the mattress.

"Hey, I’m an equal opportunity kind of guy," Cooper teased as he drew his knees up and spread his legs. He always felt completely exposed in that position, but somehow with Josh he didn’t mind so much. Maybe it was the fact that Josh always looked at him with awe and the shyness he hadn’t managed to shake yet, or else it was the fact that he actually trusted the other boy. He stopped trying to figure it out when he felt slick fingers circle the entrance to his body, then he stopped thinking altogether when one finger slid slowly inside.

Josh bit back a groan as he watched his finger disappear inside Cooper, positive he wasn’t going to last even as long as it took to prepare the other boy. Just the sight of his finger moving in and out of the willing body beneath him was enough to bring him to the brink of losing control, and he had to focus on Cooper’s face so he wouldn’t lose it and end things before they even got started. The thought that Cooper might actually want to do this with him had never even crossed his mind, and knowing that he could have just asked made him want to laugh and cry at the same time.

He reached for the discarded lube and squeezed a little more onto his fingers, a second finger slowly joining the first as Cooper thrust up against him. He mirrored Cooper’s technique as he slowly stretched the other boy, pushing his fingers in as deep as they would go as he felt around for the spot he knew would reduce Cooper to a quivering puddle. Finally he found it, brushing his fingers over it and gasping when Cooper shivered and clamped down on his fingers involuntarily. He waited until the other boy relaxed again before he added a third finger, brushing across the spot and achieving the same results each time.

When Cooper reached between his legs and began stroking in time to Josh’s tiny thrusts Josh groaned, pulling his hand away and reaching for the lube and a condom. He quickly prepared himself and crawled back over the other boy, capturing Cooper’s lips in a hard kiss as he pushed Cooper’s hand out of the way and lined himself up with the other boy’s body. Slowly he slid in halfway, stopping when he felt Cooper tense and tearing his mouth away from Cooper’s to bite down hard on his own lip. Somehow he managed not to come on the spot, summoning up every ounce of will power he had just so he wouldn’t embarrass himself by losing control before they really started. He knew he wasn’t going to last long, though, and when Cooper relaxed and he felt himself slide in as deep as he could go he reached between them and began stroking the other boy again.

"Fuck," Cooper gasped as Josh’s hand closed around him, thrusting convulsively into the firm grip. "You really are a fast learner."

Josh grinned and pulled out almost all the way, pausing for a moment before he buried himself deep inside Cooper again. He swallowed a sob of sheer pleasure and began slowly thrusting, wondering how Cooper managed to angle for the spot that made him see stars every time they did this. It was all Josh could do not to come too soon, he wasn’t sure if he could actually aim for a particular direction. As soon as the thought occurred to him Cooper rolled his hips, though, and Josh felt the tip of his cock scrape across a nub of flesh a split second before Cooper gasped and clenched his muscles.

All Josh could do was close his eyes and wait for Cooper to relax, his hand keeping up a steady stroking pattern as he began to move his hips again. The next time he thrust hard into the other boy he aimed for the spot again, twisting his wrist and tightening his grip just a little as he found his mark. Cooper moaned and thrust convulsively into Josh’s grip, his whole body tensing as he lost control. A moment later Josh followed him over the edge, gasping something that sounded suspiciously like Cooper’s name as he collapsed against the sweat-slicked body beneath him.

He wasn’t sure how long it took for him to come back to reality, but the next thing he registered was the feeling of hands rubbing soothing circles into his back as his breathing slowly evened out. He summoned the last of his energy and slid off the other boy, forcing himself to sit up long enough to discard the condom the way he’d watched Cooper do. Finally he slid back down into the warmth of Cooper’s body heat, planting soft kisses on the other boy’s shoulder blade as Cooper pressed his back into Josh’s chest.

"Cooper?" he whispered into the stillness of the room, not bothering to open his eyes long enough to see if the other boy was still awake.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks," Josh said, smiling into Cooper’s shoulder as the other boy’s hand came up to cover Josh’s where it rested on his stomach. He didn’t know if Cooper had any idea what Josh was thanking him for, but specifics didn’t matter at that moment. Maybe sometime he’d even explain to Cooper how grateful he was that he’d more or less coerced Josh out of the closet, even if it meant the last few months of his high school career were going to be hell. He still had Cooper, and as long as he had that nothing the guys at school said or did could make a difference.

~

"So what now?" Cooper asked, his hands closing around the front of Josh’s shirt as the other boy pulled him backwards toward the couch.

Josh sighed and sank down onto the arm of the sofa, trapping Cooper between his legs and letting his hands come to rest on his hips. "I guess I start by telling my mom the truth. Not that it’s going to come as a big shock or anything. It’s not like she didn’t notice my neck when I came home from New York, she had to put two and two together when she saw the same thing the morning after you got here."

Cooper grinned and fingered the marks on Josh’s neck, swallowing the urge to offer him an insincere apology. "Well at least she already has a clue."

"Yeah, I think she’ll be alright," Josh said, pulling the other boy a little closer as he spoke. "Will you call me when you get there?"

"I’ll call you when I get there, on the way there, probably about ten minutes after we pull away from the curb," Cooper answered, trying and failing to look hurt when Josh laughed at him. "What? Like I’m kidding."

"I know you’re not kidding, that’s why I’m laughing," Josh said. His smile faded as he looked up and met Cooper’s gaze, his grip tightening convulsively on the other boy’s waist. "I’m really gonna miss you. Does that sound totally lame?"

"Sounds pretty good to me." Cooper leaned forward and pressed his lips to Josh’s, stifling a frustrated sigh as he focused on leaving Josh with a kiss he’d remember for weeks to come. Finally he pulled back and reached up to trace Josh’s mouth, committing it to memory all over again. "I’m gonna miss you too, you know."

Josh nodded mutely, swallowing against the lump in his throat as he willed himself not to cry. He wasn’t going to start acting like a baby, not while Cooper was still standing there at least. Their last two days together had been pretty much perfect; they hadn’t had to worry about anyone seeing them and thinking they were a couple, which had made the few times they actually ventured out of their motel room a lot easier. For the most part they just stayed in bed, though, and Nick was either understanding enough or too preoccupied to bother interrupting them. Josh knew how hard it was going to be to go back to his usual routine, but the memories of the past four days would definitely help him get through the next few months.

"When’s your spring break?" Cooper asked quietly, sliding his hand under Josh’s chin to force the other boy to look up at him.

"Last week in March," Josh answered, his eyes lighting up at the prospect of seeing Cooper again. "Oh, but I’m supposed to go to France with the French club. We spent two years raising the money, if I don’t go my mom’ll have a cow."

Cooper swallowed a rush of disappointment and forced himself to smile, leaning forward and planting a reassuring kiss on Josh’s lips. "You should go, that’s a big deal," he said. "I’ll just figure out a way to come see you again. Maybe Nick will want to hook up with his gymnast again, who knows. Film the sequel to his documentary or something."

Josh laughed and let Cooper pull away, stifling a sigh as reality came crashing back down around them. "Well tell Nick bye for me. And tell him thanks," Josh said as he stood up and followed Cooper to the front door.

"No problem," Cooper answered as he leaned forward and fused their lips together again, his hands in Josh’s hair as he urged the other boy closer. When they broke apart again they were both panting and slightly dazed, and Cooper knew if he didn’t leave right away he’d never get out of there. "I’ll call you later," he said as he pulled the door open and stepped out onto the porch.

Josh nodded and leaned against the doorframe, a crooked half-smile lighting up his features as he watched Cooper take a few steps away from him and then stop and turn around. They met at the center of the porch, Josh’s hand landing on the back of Cooper’s neck as their lips brushed one last time. When Cooper pulled away Josh let him go reluctantly, biting the insides of his cheeks to keep himself from saying the words on the tip of his tongue. He watched until Cooper opened the car door, waving as the other boy turned and looked back at him.

"Happy now?" Nick asked as he watched Cooper slide into the passenger seat.

"Oh yeah," Cooper answered, his smile a mile wide as he drummed his fingers against his thigh. He didn’t care that Nick was probably rolling his eyes or that he was going to accuse him of being a wuss any second now, all he cared about was that he and Josh had held it together for this long. They could keep things going until the summer, and after that they could finally be together for real. "Hey, Nick?"

"What?"

"You ever been in love?"

"Oh, man, don’t even start with me," Nick said, rolling his eyes as he glanced over at his cousin. He stared at Cooper’s profile for a long moment, watching his cousin’s far-off, slightly dazed expression. Finally he shook his head and reached for his cigarettes, tapping one out of the pack and pushing the cigarette lighter in. "Fucking typical, I do you one lousy favor and you go getting all weird on me. Have I ever been in love…what do you think?"

He lit his cigarette and rolled down the window, turning his head so Cooper wouldn’t see him smile. When his cousin first told him that he and Josh were going to try to keep things going long distance he hadn’t believed it; he’d never seen Cooper serious about anything before and he figured it wouldn’t take him long to get bored and move on. The idea that his cousin could actually fall for this guy didn’t seem so far-fetched anymore, though. He almost hadn’t believed it when Cooper told him how Josh had stood up to his friends, and even though he’d never admit it to Cooper he worried about leaving the kid by himself to cope with the fallout of their visit. Still, he had a feeling Josh was stronger than he came off, and it was obvious that Cooper wasn’t getting bored any time soon.

Finally his cousin turned to look at him, his happiness tempered by a hint of mischief. "Yeah, well, maybe you should try it sometime."

"Fuck you, Cooper. Like you know so much about love," Nick said, but this time he didn’t bother to check the urge to smile back at the other boy.

The End