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“Der, please?” Spencer whined.
“Spencer, the answer is no. I haven’t been to one of those things since I was a kid and I wouldn’t mind keeping it that way.” Derek grabbed the wrist that began rubbing up and down his chest and kept it just above his chest. Spencer wasn’t going to be able to bribe him.
“What’s going on in here?” Emily walked into the breakroom and poured herself a cup of coffee.
“Pretty boy here found out about a Christmas carnival that’s happening in Chicago around the time we’ll be there with my family, and he really wants to- HEY! You are not gonna go if you give me hickies.” Derek pulled Spencer off of his neck by his hair.
“Worth a try.” Spencer pulled off of Derek’s neck and moved from behind his chair to his lap.
The second Spencer and Derek arrived at the Morgan family house they were greeted by Mrs. Morgan saying, “Wanna go to a carnival?”
They drove up to the open patch of land that had now been occupied with dozens of tents and various kinds of games. Derek was hit with the smell of popcorn, fried foods, and odd for a carnival, peppermint. He remembered the times he went with his dad and ate as much as he pleased without thinking about the consequences of later, the memories riddled with hints throw up when he got home.
“C’mon! They have fried candy canes!” Spencer practically pulled Derek out of the car and ran to the tents.
Spencer, surprisingly won almost every rigged game they had. The only one he had trouble with was the ring toss because he kept getting distracted by the cotton candy Derek was holding. Fran shoved fried foods into Spencer’s mouth, complaining that he needed to be bulked up like Derek. They got their faces painted with ornaments and snowmen while they waited for their stomachs to settle before going on the ferris wheel.
“C’mon, admit you’re having fun.” Spencer smiled at the top of the ride.
Derek laughed at the cotton candy lingering on his chin.
On the ride home at about 8pm, Spencer and Derek sang their hearts out to the radio. When they got home they changed into the comfiest pajamas they owned (flannel pants and a hoodie for Spencer, boxers for Derek) and climbed into bed.
“So, uh, do you want to tell me why you weren’t, um, enthusiastic, about today?” Spencer said, tracing Derek’s abs with his fingers.
“Kid, you don’t need to hear about this right now.”
“Well someone needs to. You’re deflecting.”
“Don’t profile me.”
“I’m not!”
Derek sighed and played with Spencer’s curls as he spoke.
“You remember that guy that I had trouble with when I was a kid, Rodney Harris?” Spencer nodded, “Well, it was one of my first times at the fair after my dad died. First Christmas without him. Mom let me get corn dogs for the rest of us while Sarah got her face painted. I was in the back of the line when he and one of his buddies came up behind me. They dragged me to an area without any lights or people so no one would see. They knocked me out cold. They took my money and used it to buy practically every kind of food available and threw it on me. Most of it was fried, so I got burns in a couple of places. I hadn’t gone to a carnival since then.”
“I- I don’t know what to say, Derek. I’m sorry I asked if we could go. D-Did you at least find out why?”
“Nope. Rodney and his gang were just a couple of scumbags that picked on me.”
“I’m so sorry I asked you to go. If I knew-”
“It’s okay, Spencer, I don’t mind. Now I have a good memory to tie to Christmas carnivals.