Chapter Text
[In the small laundry room, while the two are emptying their load from the dryer and folding their clothes]
"Hey man what did you mean back there when you said everyone experiments in college? Like.. like did you?"
"Yeah Jack, of course. Didn't you?"
"No!" He said a bit too loud and defensively.
After a few moments of silence that were comfortable for Eric and not for Jack, he speaks back up, quieter this time.
"Well, why did you never tell me?"
"I don't know, Jack. I guess I wasn't sure how you would respond if I did. Or I probably knew you'd act all weird like you are now." Eric folded a few more socks. "Why does it even matter anyways if I did or not. It's college."
Eric walked out of the laundry room with their clothes neatly in their bin. Jack still frozen in his spot, trying to process everything he's just heard. It takes a minute for Eric to notice and when he does he walks back in the room and promptly drags Jack to the elevator with him, hand on bicep.
----
Back in the apartment, Eric sits Jack down on the couch before moving to put their clean clothes away in their respective rooms. Jack may pick his clothes out for him every morning but that doesn't mean Eric can't also help Jack out by doing small things like putting his clothes away.
When Eric comes back, Jack is no longer frozen but still silent.
"Jackie, is everything alright up there? Did you short circuit or something?"
"No yeah I'm good. Just didn't expect to hear that you actually… did stuff with a guy."
"Yeah well it was a college party and I just kinda went with it. The guy wasn't too bad looking so I thought why not! Wasn't a bad kisser either, I'll tell ya that."
At that Jack froze again. Eric, noticing, waved a hand in front of his face but to no avail.
"Oh come on, Jack. Don't tell me you're being homophobic about college experimenting. If you are I might just have to drop you as a best friend." Eric said jokingly, but actually worried just a smidge.
"No. No, I'm not homophobic. I'm from New York for Pete's sake, I've had my fair share of gay exposure."
"But no gay experimenting?"
"Uh, the opportunity never really presented itself?" He said, pitching the end up in confused question.
"Hmm.. well if it did in the near future you'd be up for it?"
"Well, it would have to be with someone who actually intrigues me. I'm not going for the next guy that offers, there has to be some sort of appeal there, y'know."
"Of course, of course. Well, wanna join me for this party next Friday?" Eric said with a raised eyebrow, both as a sort of challenge and tease. "I'm sure there's gonna be hottie hot hotties there. Both male and female." He kept that brow raised high.
And Jack, never backing down from a challenge, blindly agreed.
Then after a short pause.
"Wait, so then why did you freeze earlier, Jack?"
"Uh… I was just shocked is all. No other reason." A very obvious lie that either Eric bought or just decided to leave the matter alone.
"Alright! Well, what you do think we should have for dinner tonight, Jackie? I'm thinking pizza."
"No, Eric! You really need to start eating healthier or you're going to die by the age of 30."
"Aww, that's sweet. You want to keep me alive. What're you, my nurse?" Eric emphasizes his point by pinching Jack's cheek and cooing in his face, like some grandma.
-----
The Friday party has arrived and Jack doesn't know why he ever agreed to go. Sure there are hotties like Eric promised, but it is very obvious that there is no boy-girl action going on anywhere in here. Jack feels very out of place and is ready to just turn around and leave when Eric grabs his arm and pulls him towards the kitchen where the liquor is.
Jack is too busy looking around the room at the various people just openly making out or dancing intimately, that he doesn't realize Eric had already poured him a drink in a red solo cup. He was so deep in his daze that he didn't realize Eric was talking to him until he all but screamed in Jack's ear, maybe a centimeter from touching the skin.
"Aah! What are you doing so close to my ear, man?!" He exclaimed, hand covering said ear that now felt very tingly and warm as a result of having Eric basically breathe on him.
"You weren't listening to me! I thought maybe it was because of the loud music!!" Eric exclaimed back, although he was talk way louder than the music which wasn't even that loud to begin with, just your standard volume pop music. There was a theme to the song selection, however, music that sounded…. for lack of a better word, gay. A lot of Queen, ABBA, and Elton John. Jack wasn't complaining, just making an observation.
Jack finally took his drink from Eric and barely had a sip before Eric was dragging him around again. This time he was dragged to the "dance floor" aka the only open space in the room that was already packed with dozens of people. Queen's Break Free was playing and Jack just stood there as Eric performed a bunch of wacky dance moves that kind of just made him look like an embarrassing dad.
"Come on, Jack. Dance!" Eric took Jack's hands in his and now they both probably looked like embarrassing dads. Or Eric is still the embarrassing dad and Jack is his embarrassed daughter… This is their father-daughter dance.
Jack really needs to stop with these trains of thought that just further make him feel embarrassed. He changes the conversation to why they really came to this party.
"Eric, didn't we come here to do some college experimenting? I thought you had this whole plan for me." He asked, already exhausted with the plan before even hearing it.
"Oh, yeah! I completely forgot." Eric giggled. "I guess I was just having too much fun with you, Jackie." He says with a smirk while taking out a piece of paper from his back pocket.
"Okay, so the plan is: A) we find you a good looking guy, B) you go and do some kissing, maybe even more" Eric suggestively wiggles his eyebrows. "and uh yeah, I don't know much else for our plan….. So! Wanna get started?" Eric finished talking and claps his hands together like he's actually taking this very seriously.
He scans the area and then bumps Jack's shoulder. "What about him? Tall, dark and handsome?" The man in question has black hair that is similar in style to Eric's, but on the shorter side. He's wearing tight black clothing and has one ear pierced. And he's looking right at Jack.
Upon their eyes meeting, Jack immediately gets intimidated and unconsciously slides closer to Eric. "Uhh, I don't know, man. Maybe I'm not actually ready to do this experimenting thing. I'm not the type to just randomly make out with someone I just met anyways. That guy looks like he wants to eat me." That last part comes out in a whimper. Jack is almost completely behind Eric at this point and the guy seeing this immediately loses interest.
"Okay, no problem. We can just party at this party, no motives tonight. Who knows, maybe you'll accidentally get some experimenting done. The night is still young." Eyebrow raised once again.
They resume their dancing, although what Jack does can be classified less as dancing and more as swaying and trying to avoid Eric's erratic butt bumps. They continue drinking the cheap college liquor and by 11PM (they arrived at 9) the two are wasted. The party has died down a bit with most people sitting and the only music playing are slow songs.
Jack and Eric are sitting on the floor, side by side, crammed into the corner of the room. They are leaned towards each other, equally resting their weight on the other. Eric's head lays on Jack's as he tries to sing along with Sir Elton John. Jack starts giggling, both at Eric's drowsy singing and at what a bust their night was. No one approached the two and they spent the whole night next to each other.
"Eric… do you wanna call it a night? I don't think there's going to be any gay experimenting tonight." Jack chuckles thought the whole thing because it's such a ridiculous thing to say.
Eric agrees to turning in and heading back. The party wasn't too far from their apartment so they just walk the few blocks back, Jack carrying Eric with his arm around Eric's waist, slinging Eric's arm around his neck for a more secure grip. They swayed side to side on the pavement, their spirits still high and Eric still wanting to sing.
"I hope you don't mind! That I put down the words~ HOW WONDERFUL LIFE IS~ WHEN YOU'RE IN THE WORLD" Eric's head was tilted towards Jack's ear and he almost blew out his eardrums with that last line.
"ERIC! Dude! Stop screaming in my ear or I'll just leave you here and go home myself." Obviously, it was an empty threat which is why Eric giggled in response. That and he was drunk, so he pretty much giggled at anything.
"You don't mean that. I was just trying to tell you how much I appreciate you, Jackie. Look at you! Carrying your good friend home when you yourself are also intoxicated!"
Eric rubs his hand on Jack's belly to further show his appreciation, in a way.
"Such a strong man. A strong handsome man right here! It's a wonder why no one came up to you tonight to get some nice Jackie smooches." He finished the sentence by making kissy noises.
And Jack, liking the praise but getting embarrassed at the way Eric decided to show this praise said, "Okay, stop. I get it. You're sounding weirdly like my grandma."
"No, but seriously! How is it no one said hi? Last time I went to that party, I had loads of guys hitting on me… It can't be because you're not cute. I've definitely heard some of those guys talking about you."
"Well, it doesn't matter anymore, Eric. I probably wouldn't have been able to do anything anyways. I don't just randomly kiss people, I need maybe two dates before I can even lock lips with a girl!"
Their conversation came to an end as they finally walked up to their apartment building and went up the elevator. Eric had all the talk taken out of him as he was now borderline drooling on Jack's shoulder, just short of snoring. Jack allowed Eric to sleep on his shoulder for the few seconds it took for the elevator to get to their floor. Once the doors opened however, he shook Eric awake since he wasn't about to carry all his dead weight through the apartment, up the steps, and into his bedroom.
"Eric wake up, we're here."
"Five more minutes, Mommy." He murmured while trying to further snuggle into the space where Jack's shoulder and neck meet.
"No more minutes, sweetie. Get up." He says with disdain. Jack is too tired to baby Eric any longer.
It takes a while to open the door because Jack can't quite get the key lined up with the keyhole. And so Eric takes this opportunity to fall back asleep but this time is draped across Jack's back, basically enveloping the man in a back hug but it's like being hugged by a slug because there is no hug, just Eric's weight pressing on Jack, arms loosely wound across his belly to keep Eric from falling.
Honestly, if it weren't hard enough getting the key in before, it was definitely hard to do so now. Eric's warmth and Jack's drunk state makes it hard to concentrate on the task at hand. Eric's hands resting on the pit of Jack's belly, making him very aware of just how low his hands are. It takes everything in Jack's power to not hyperventilate and accidentally pop a boner.
With each passing second Jack gets more and more hyperaware of where he and Eric are touching. Eric's steady warm breath brushing against his neck, his chin digging into Jack's shoulder, and the small noise he makes when he realized they haven't moved in quite some time. Then his raspy, dehydrated voice saying, "Jack, why are we still out here?" His weight lifting off Jack's back, but not moving away. His arms finally wrapping around Jack's torso in an actual hug this time. He lets out a sigh of content, again right next to Jack's ear, who is still frozen in place. It takes Jack a few seconds to realize what's just happened and also realize that he's had the key stuck in the hole for who knows how long, all he had to do was turn it.
Their walk inside was very awkward because Eric refused to let go of Jack and so they had to coordinate their steps so as to not trip and fall. Jack insisted they both drink a full glass of water before going to bed and then they waddled to the bedrooms.
Eric still refused to let go and when Jack said he has to sleep in his own bed, Eric just retorted with, "But you're already so warm, Jack! Why can't I just sleep like this tonight?" He said it through a pout that Jack could even feel on his shoulder.
Tired for sleep and not having the energy to argue with Eric or fight that voice in his head that said this was a very bad idea, Jack relented and just let Eric lay down in his bed with him.
They did separate briefly, but only because they had to shed their party clothes and put on their comfortable PJs. That voice of panic came back when Eric resumed his bear hug position and Jack realized they both only wore shirts and boxers to bed. There was a lot more warmth now and a lot more touching.
Eric didn't seem to notice Jack freezing up again because he just hugged Jack tighter and let out another content sigh, this one longer than the last. "Goodnight, Jackie" he'd said before dozing off. Leaving Jack alone with his thoughts, which was never a good idea. He would have stayed in this crisis state for much longer, if he weren't so spent and Eric didn't make him feel so comfortable. Jack decided this could be a problem for future him, because current Jack just wants some well deserved sleep. He's dealt with enough already.
He settles into Eric's arms and let himself drift off.
-----
Since it was the weekend, Jack didn't have to wake up to some annoyingly loud alarm. He shifted in his sleep, not fully ready to open his eyes and take in the sunlight. He'd forgotten until just that moment that he wasn't in his own bed, and soon all the memories of last night came flooding back to his mind.
Jack peeked an eye open just to assess the situation and make sure Eric wasn't awake just yet. He found that Eric still had his hands slung over Jack's chest, pressing half his weight onto Jack's side. He was still asleep and had the most relaxed face on him that Jack had ever seen. He looked so serene, it was almost hard to believe this was the same person who was just screaming in his ear last night. His hair has fallen across his face and Jack had to fight back the urge to sweep the strands away. Then right next to his hair, Jack couldn't help but notice Eric's lips. They looked like they'd be soft, pillowy soft is all he could think of. Jack didn't realize he was staring until Eric shifted in his spot and pressed himself further into Jack's side.
Eric had a slightly bigger build than him, but that didn't seem to stop Eric from making himself seem like the smaller one. Burying his face into Jack's shoulder, curling his body towards Jack's, and just overall making himself look so utterly vulnerable in this state. That is until Jack hears the most monstrous rumble coming from Eric's stomach.
The man's eyes fly open and long gone are the delicate features Jack was so entranced with and soon came the energetic hell that was Eric Matthews.
"Jackie, wake up, let's eat breakfast!" He said in a hurry. Bringing his face right up to Jack's, mere inches from crashing their noses together, before realizing that Jack's eyes were already open and staring back at him.
Before Jack could try and fumble his way through explaining why he was staring at Eric, Eric just said, "Oh good, you're awake. Come on, I wanna eat eggs!" Again, yelling mere inches from Jack's face.
Still in a bit of daze and panic, Jack was slow to respond. Which meant that Eric had to drag him out of bed by the elbow and sit him down by the kitchen while he cooked.
He went on autopilot and didn't come to until Eric was taking his empty plate away and waving his hand in front of Jack's face.
"Hellooooo? Anyone in there?" He was about to knock on Jack's head until he finally shifted and met Eric's eyes.
"I never did my experimenting last night….." A pause.
"Uh… yeah? Is that really the big issue here, man?" Another pause.
"You wanna makeout?"
Jack doesn't know what possessed him to ask for upfront but he hasn't been able to get the image of Eric's sleeping face out of his mind.
"Y'know… I figured if I'm gonna be kissing a guy it might as well be someone I'm already comfortable with. Cuz uh, I don't think I can just kiss some random stranger, so …. Why not my good buddy Eric?" He cringed at that last part. Why did it have to sound so awkward? And really? Buddy?
"I mean.. Sure, yeah. If it's something you really want to do, Jack."
Oh, Jack definitely wanted to. He just had to keep making it seem nonchalant.
"Yeah, I don't want to graduate college not having experimented. What if I'm missing out?"
So they both went to the couch, both a little unsure of how to act.
"Um.. do you want to take the lead or should I?" Eric asked.
"Uhhhh, you can take it, man." Jack said in a gruff voice for some fucking reason, too tense to just act like himself.
"Okay, cool. So, I'll just uh-"
Eric leaned forward, about to cup Jack's jaw when a knock makes him stop and someone opens the door.
"Hey, guys sorry to interrupt. Do you have any-" Shawn walks through the door and cut himself off when he realized what's going on.
"Oooooohhhh~ I see what's going on here. Carry on, pretend I was never here. Hey, Jack," He hits Jack's shoulder. "Way to go, man! Fucking finally!!" He says to Jack with two thumbs up and proceeds to walk backwards out the door.
There's an awkward air between them as they process what just happened. And then,
"I'm rooting for you crazy kids!!" Shawn yells though the door.
After a few seconds they just laugh it off and the tense air that surrounded them before has dissipated. They're much more comfortable and are back to acting like they usually do with each other, just now with the implication of kissing.
A brief pause as they came down from their laughter. Then Eric looked up and
"Jack?"
"Yeah?"
Eric leaned forward and connected their lips. They really were as pillowy soft as Jack thought they'd be. They stuck with closed mouth kisses for a few minutes, just to get used to the sensation of kissing one another. And then Eric's hand slid down to Jack's shoulder, his tongue swiping Jack's bottom lip, asking for an invitation that Jack was more than happy to give.
It was all a bit too much. Jack didn't know what to expect when he made the proposal earlier but he definitely didn't think through how he'd have all his senses revolving around Eric. Smell, taste, touch, sound. He was lucky he didn't have to open his eyes because he doesn't know what would become of him if he had to see what Eric looked like right now.
Eric's tongue was doing things Jack never experienced before, usually because he's the one taking the lead when making out with girls. Jack didn't realize until he nearly fell over that he was leaning back and Eric was climbing over his body to follow his lips.
They continued like this, Eric exploring his mouth and Jack laying like a plank, unsure of what to do with his hands. He wasn't unresponsive though, his mouth fully expressing his interest in everything Eric was doing. One particularly hard suck drew out a moan that neither Jack not Eric expected to happen.
They separated for air, both breathing heavily. Eric took his hand off Jack shoulder and went to grab Jack's hand on the couch. "Why didn't you move, I know you enjoyed it." He said as he played with Jack's fingers in both hands, emphasis on the 'know'.
Jack, with his eyes still closed because he just can't look at Eric right now, said "I don't know what to do with my hands! I'm usually the one holding the girl's shoulder." He emphasizes his frustration by shrugging his shoulders and lifting his other hand, the one not being held by Eric.
"Well… for starters you could just have them on the person's back" Eric illustrates by bringing Jack's hand to his back. "Oooor… in the person's hair, that's always a good one." Again, illustrating his point by bringing Jack's hand to his hair.
This makes Jack finally open his eyes. The texture of Eric's hair being too much to just feel by his hands. And instantly, Jack regrets looking. Because Eric looks too good and Jack realized this isn't just college experimenting… Because now that he's seen Eric like this he won't be able to get it out of his mind. His hair tousled, his face red and lips swollen and shiny with spit, and his eyes dilated so much Jack can't look away from them. Jack can hear his heartbeat in his ears and wishes he could just blame it on the lack of oxygen in his lungs but he knows that's not the real reason. Eric isn't supposed to be hot! He's supposed to be annoying and loud and...
"I bet I kiss way better than you." Eric said with a cocky smirk that he knew would get a rise out of Jack.
It did, and Jack immediately flipped their positions so that he was on top now. Eric let out a small exclamation at his surprise.
"Let's just see about that." Jack said before he could process what'd just happened. He swooped down and started roughly kissing Eric, intent to make him feel how he made Jack feel.
Thankful that Jack can close his eyes again and not have to think about how actually hot Eric is, he does his best to make Eric react to his maneuvers. It's a bit difficult, however, with Eric's hands sliding under his shirt. Feeling his calloused hands on Jack's skin was definitely something he wasn't used to. But the competitive edge in him made sure he stayed focused on the task at hand and decided to retort those hands by putting his own hands in Eric's hair, like he'd mentioned earlier. Giving the strands a tug every now and again when he felt all too ticklish by Eric's hands on his back.
Jack bit Eric's bottom lip a few times and that seemed to do it. He let out a moan just like Jack did, which was expected. What was unexpected though was that he bucked up and grazed his erection against Jack's thigh.
Their mouths separated as they'd realized what happened. Jack, blinded by his "victory" only said,
"Hah! See? I'm the better kisser here! Dude, did you really just get a boner from just making out?"
Eric, embarrassed, just said, "Oh! Don't act like it's never happened to you before. I refuse to let you have that title, I'm obviously the better kisser you barely did anything!"
"Tell that to your little buddy down there, he seems to disagree." Jack said, still snickering in his glory.
"Oh shut up! A little physiological response means nothing." Eric yelled out as he walked away towards the bathroom. Then before entering the small room, he said in a small voice, "And I'll have you know it wasn't because of the kisses… it was the hair pulling."
That made Jack's throat go dry as he'd finally realized what had just happened. The glory of his victory soon forgotten as he soon found it hard to breath, the situation replaying in his head. The sensation of Eric's dick pressing on his thigh still lingering.
How the hell did he think making out with Eric was a good idea?!