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„Dude, this place is amazing! And like, four times the size of my parents’ house!” When Ricky glanced over, he could see Big Red’s mouth hanging open slightly as he took in the house that was the holiday home of EJ’s family. It was pretty impressive, and nearly as big as EJ’s actual house, but a lot more lavish with its big windows and surrounded by trees on all sides, framing the building.
“You have been to his house,” Kourtney interjected as she and Nini caught up with the rest of them. “I don’t know why you’re still surprised.”
The Spring Musical was rapidly approaching, and when Miss Jenn had suggested a weekend of rehearsals to polish all the scenes and songs, everyone had happily agreed. It was almost funny how easy it had been for Ricky to get used to the constant buzzing around him, the people breaking into random songs and quoting lines, which he almost always had an answer to these days. He’d never actually hated musicals, he’d just thought them to be a little weird, but now it seemed almost weird to him when things were too quiet.
“Doesn’t mean I can’t be impressed,” Big Red now replied, shrugging his shoulders. “Please tell me this thing has a Jacuzzi?”
With the school’s limited resources, they hadn’t really been given much choice as to where to go, but luckily EJ had offered to use the Caswell Holiday Residence. It was big enough for all of them, with a piano and a dance studio in the basement that would be perfect for rehearsals. With his father away on business and his mother already planning another charity event, they had barely acknowledged it when he had told them that they’d be heading there for the weekend.
“Yeah one’s in the backyard by the pool and the other’s on the upstairs balcony. Take your pick,” EJ now grinned, catching Ricky’s eye for a moment, “Come on, I’ll show you around,”
The entrance hall was bigger than most of their own houses already, and the big staircase on the right curved to the top, where most of the bedrooms were located.
“Now, I can’t control what you kids do at night, I do need my beauty sleep, but I am going to have to at least pretend to be a responsible adult in case anyone asks. So, no couples sharing rooms.” Miss Jenn gave them a wink as she dragged her suitcase up the stairs, following EJ.
“I know she’s not technically a real teacher, but wow.” Gina whispered, causing Nini to giggle ever so slightly as they all followed suit. “Wanna share a room?”
Ashlyn had her own room, considering she and her family had often shared the house with EJ’s family during the various holidays, in fact they had probably spent more time there than EJ’s parents, and with Nini and Gina sharing that left Kourtney to join her, while Ricky ended up with Carlos, next door to EJ and Seb. They had decided to give Big Red his own room, mainly because Ricky had refused to share with him and warned the rest of the guys about it, too. He loved his best friend, he really did, but there was no way any of them were sleeping if Big Red was in the room.
“Rehearsal meeting down in the kitchen in ten minutes!” Miss Jen’s voice rang through the corridor just as they had all found themselves in their rooms, unpacking after EJ had given them the grand tour. Every guest room had an ensuite, but there was also a big bathroom down the corridor, along with an office and a room that was half library, with the walls lined with shelves of books, and half gaming room, with a big pool table in the middle.
The downstairs area had big kitchen, which lead into a dining room, while the other side was almost entirely taken up by the living room and a small gym that both overlooked the backyard, which eventually faded into the forest. There was also another set of doors that lead down a path to the left, which then lead to the lake, which could be seen from the upstairs windows.
It was all so vastly different from what they were used to, and while it was absolutely something they could have all lived without, it was nice to have access to a place where they could rehearse in peace, without getting harassed or threatened to be thrown out. And well, this whole place was also probably less likely to burn down.
Carlos had already gone downstairs while Ricky finished unpacking his suitcase, when EJ’s voice caught his attention. “So, what do you think?” The other boy was leaning against the door frame, lips curved into a soft smile as he waited for an answer.
“Impressive,” Ricky nodded. “And...yet somehow...cozy?” It was still a big house, not too unlike EJ’s actual house, and yet there was something about it that felt almost like home.
“Yeah, probably because my parents didn’t pay an interior designer to do the decorating,” EJ continued, shrugging his shoulders. “Way back when they bought it, they let Ashlyn’s Mom pick most of the stuff, so it was less about appearance and more about feeling like you’d actually want to spend some time here.” He watched as Ricky finished packing away his things then, before wandering over, hands instinctively reaching for the hem of the other boy’s shirt to play with it.
“It’s nice,” Ricky confirmed, smiling still as he stepped a little closer. He could feel his heart skipping a beat, even after all these months of them dating, and it made his chest feel all warm and tingly.
Sometimes it was still a mystery to him how this had actually happened, and the both of them had been living in their own little bubble, just enjoying having the other around, and yet there was something looming over their relationship, something unspoken, something neither of them really knew how to approach.
EJ was going to college in less than six months, and that would mean a long-distance relationship, which clearly wasn’t something Ricky was good at. Neither of them had really said I love you either, and while it hadn’t been a huge deal up until now, with both of them not really being great at talking about their feelings, Ricky felt like there was an expiration date to their relationship somehow. He didn’t know how to actually bring the subject up though, so he had been ignoring it as best as possible.
“Yeah. I actually liked coming here, but we haven’t really been in a while. Sometimes Ashlyn and her family would take me, because my parents didn’t have the time. Or well,” He shrugged his shoulders, “I guess they didn’t really want to spend the weekend in such close proximity of each other without using work as an excuse to get away.”
“I’m sorry,” Ricky muttered, pulling him a little closer, but before EJ could reply, Kourtney was zooming past them in the corridor.
“Stop making out and get going boys, Carlos is already downstairs making rehearsal plans and you don’t want to get the awful spots, do you?” She was already halfway down the stairs by the time the sentence had finished, and Ricky chuckled, pulling back a little as he let go of EJ’s sweater.
“She’s probably right. I don’t want to go singing Be Our Guest at seven in the morning.” He then nodded, before stealing a quick kiss from his boyfriend and then following Kourtney towards the kitchen.
-
Carlos had already printed out individual schedules for everyone, with additional notes and color coding, and Ricky found that, while helpful to some degree, he had no idea how the other boy had managed to get all this done so quickly. They were all supposed to get together for a Yoga session to sharpen their senses and leave the stress of the day behind, but Ricky was really more focused on not falling flat on his face.
He caught EJ’s gaze midway through, and while the other boy was a little more graceful than him, or at least more flexible anyways, his smile almost knocked Ricky off balance once more.
Okay, so maybe he was in love, and maybe he should have told EJ that a long time ago, but with the clock seemingly ticking, he was aware that they would probably have to talk about all of this sometime soon anyway.
Hot tub later? EJ seemed to form with his lips then, and Ricky barely managed to nod before he finally lost his balance, toppling over onto the mat, very nearly taking down Big Red with him and sending the rest of the class into a laughing fit.
-
When they eventually managed to get out of what could be described as many things, but not a relaxing Yoga class, most of them scattered to their respective rooms, because dinner wouldn’t be until later that night. Miss Jenn would have insisted they eat healthy, but considering she wasn’t the best cook herself, he wasn’t going to complain about the pizzas that were stacked in the freezer, at least not tonight.
Once Ricky had changed into his swimming trunks, he headed down to the jacuzzi, where EJ was already waiting, arms dangling over the sides as he greeted his boyfriend with a smile. Slipping into the jacuzzi, and shortly after EJ’s lap, with ease, Ricky allowed himself a moment of simply enjoying the way the other boy’s arms wrapped around him to pull him close, sending a pleasant shiver down his spine as they kissed.
Still, his head was, for a lack of a better term, not really in the game, and EJ seemed to notice as he pulled back ever so slightly. “Everything alright?” Ricky could tell that he was trying to sound lighthearted, but now that they had spent so much time together EJ’s usually unreadable expression had become an open book for him.
“Yeah. I’m just...still admiring the house. I mean...I remember you telling me you’d have to rent a hotel room to sleep with me, and all the while you had like...this up your sleeve.” Ricky was clearly sabotaging himself here, but it was much easier to joke around and flirt than to actually sit down and have a serious conversation.
“True, I guess I wasn’t thinking straight at that time,” EJ chuckled, “Please note that there’s a pun in there, but...” His expression shifted again, the slight smile fading. “...that’s not what this is about, right?”
Sighing, Ricky climbed out of EJ’s lap before settling in back next to the other boy. “No. I mean...kinda, but not mainly.” He eventually muttered. “I just...” He still had no idea how to even start this conversation. He had stayed awaked entire nights, trying to come up with the best way to have this conversation, and what to say, but every time he so much as tried to bring it up, he suddenly found himself getting tongue tied.
“Hey, you can talk to me, alright?” EJ’s hand found his beneath the water, and Ricky suddenly felt his chest tighten. “I mean I know I’m not like...the most romantic person, or someone who talks about his feelings and all but...I care about you.” He was squeezing Ricky’s hand now, and suddenly it was becoming hard to breathe.
I care about you.
Was it just that? Or were they both playing a game of chicken, seeing who would give in first? Ricky couldn’t tell, and it was driving him crazy. “I just...” He eventually began, but was suddenly interrupted by Big Red’s voice, which came in the form of a “Incoming!” as he zoomed past the jacuzzi and dove headfirst into the pool.
“Sorry, I couldn’t keep him from doing it. It’s like he saw the pool and suddenly I became invisible,” Ashlyn chuckled as she stepped up to the Jacuzzi, and even though Ricky didn’t want to, he almost automatically pulled his hand from EJ’s. “Mind if we join you?”
Gina and Nini had stepped out onto the porch as well, both in their bathing suits as they approached.
“Yeah, of course. The more the merrier!” EJ quickly replied, avoiding Ricky’s gaze as he shifted, making room for the girls to join, which they promptly did. Soon they were all talking and laughing, going back over past rehearsals and the misguided attempt at a Yoga class, while Ricky eventually zoned out, trying to ignore the way his stomach was twisting at how EJ now seemed to have chosen to completely ignore him for the remainder of the evening.
You’re an idiot, A voice in the back of his mind reminded him.
I know, He thought, No surprise there.