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Auston was at home on a rather quiet night. The night almost seemed too quiet as he sat in front of the television in his living room and sipped idly on a long since cold cup of coffee. He was watching a basketball game; the Washington Wizards were playing the Toronto Raptors. Though, if anybody asked him the score, he wasn’t sure he could tell them right away. He wasn’t entirely focused on the game because he felt anxious about something. Something felt like it was wrong but he couldn’t put his finger on what that was. He was so focused on this feeling of wrongness that he was barely able to give more than five consecutive seconds of focus to the basketball game.
His cellphone ringing made him startle a little because of how on edge he was feeling. When he saw that the caller ID belonged to his best friend, Jack, he relaxed a little. It would be nice to hear his voice because talking to him always made Auston feel better about anything that was bothering him. On top of that, they hadn’t talked for a few days. Auston had been on a road trip with the Leafs, Jack having stayed behind to nurse an injury. They hadn’t been able to make their schedules align long enough to talk through more text messages. Hearing Jack’s voice right now would definitely calm Auston down.
“Soupy, hi!” Auston said, his voice suddenly cheerful. “It’s been a few days. How are yuh–”
“Someone broke in and I think they have a gun,” Jack replied, his voice quiet. Auston could tell that he had been crying because of how strained his voice sounded. “Please help, Matts. I’m terrified.”
Auston felt muscles tense all over his body as his blood ran cold. He wouldn’t know what to do with himself if Jack was shot and injured… or worse. If Auston was being honest, he saw Jack as more than his best friend. He saw Jack as someone he wanted to settle down and start a life with. Someone he wanted to come home to at night. Someone he wanted to spoil on Valentine’s Day—and every day. Ultimately, he saw Jack as someone he was truly, madly, deeply in love with. And for Jack to call him while he was in this life-threatening situation… yeah. Auston didn’t have time to process what that could mean. Jack’s life was in danger. They could discuss it once Jack was safe and sound.
“I’ll be right over. Hang tight, Jack. And don’t try and be a hero.”
When Auston hung up the phone, he slammed his fist down against the armrest of the chair. He was beyond scared as he jumped out of his seat and rushed around the house, grabbing a jacket, a pair of shoes, and a baseball bat. He wasn’t entirely sure how well a baseball bat would hold up against a gun but he figured it was better than having only his bare hands.
The ten-minute drive to Jack’s house was a blur. The next thing he remembered was seeing the windchimes above Jack’s front door swinging back and forth in the wind through the open doorway. Auston took a deep breath, grabbed the bat, and stepped out of his car.
He walked into the house as cautiously and as quietly as he could. He didn’t want to alert the intruder that he was there, lest anything happen to him. The last thing he needed was to put both himself and Jack in danger. As he made his way around the house, Auston checked carefully in every room. He was trying to see if anyone was hiding out behind or under anything. There didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary but that was only on the first floor of the house.
When he made it upstairs, he saw that the door to Jack’s bedroom was open. Auston also saw a shadowy figure standing in the doorway. He tiptoed across the floor, not wanting to alert whoever it was to the fact that he was there.
When he got to the door, he saw that the shadow belonged to someone of about his stature and height. They were pointing the aforementioned gun at Jack. Jack was cowering on the bed with his hands up in a defensive posture. He was also chanting “ please don’t hurt me” while tears streamed down his cheeks.
Without warning, Auston swung the bat and hit the person with the gun in the side of the head. They crumpled to the floor with a pained groan as they dropped the gun and clutched their head.
They tilted their head a little to look up at Auston and then flitted their eyes in Jack’s direction.
“ Fuck….” The person on the floor groaned as they removed their hand from their head and looked at the blood. “Are you sure your boyfriend isn’t a baseball player?”
Auston twirled the bat in his hands. Glancing over at Jack, he saw him shake his head vigorously and give him a pleading expression. Auston nodded back, giving Jack a compassionate smile.
Auston took the bat and pointed it out into the hallway. “If you leave right now,” he looked menacingly at the person on the floor. They were now sitting up so Auston took the bat and put it under their chin to make them focus on him, “we won’t call the police. It’s also not our problem how you explain the head wound. You broke into our house and pointed a gun at my boyfriend. I protected him. You can come up with whatever fucking excuse you want, coward.”
“Alright, alright,” the person sighed as they got to their feet. They grabbed their gun and tucked it into their waistband before putting their shirt over the top of it. “I’ll get out of your hair.” They dabbed their head with their hand one last time, wiping the blood on their pants. “Sorry for the inconvenience.”
With one last glance at Auston and Jack, the intruder walked out of the room. Auston heard them walk down the stairs. A moment later, he heard the front door close with a resounding thud.
Auston rushed over to where Jack was on the bed, draping an arm around him. He cradled his head against his chest, allowing him to cry into his shoulder. Against his better judgment, he peppered the top of Jack’s head with soft kisses. He also mumbled soft words of encouragement and reassurance in an attempt to squash Jack’s nerves.
It took a few minutes, but Jack eventually stopped crying. He lifted his head and looked up at Auston as Auston looked down at him and brushed a stray piece of hair out of his eyes. Jack smiled, though it looked nervous and hesitant. He grabbed Auston’s wrist and directed it down to his lips. He looked up at him with hopeful eyes; Auston nodded as he took his other hand and brushed a different piece of hair out of Jack’s face. He smiled again before he placed a gentle kiss on the inside of Auston’s wrist. He ran his thumb along the outside, right over the bone. Auston took his other hand and cupped Jack’s face, leaning down and pressing a kiss to his forehead.
Auston sat on the bed next to Jack and turned to face him. He grabbed his face and guided it towards him. He saw Jack swallow as his eyes went wide and his cheeks slightly reddened. Auston smoothed his thumb along Jack’s cheekbone, humming in satisfaction as he did. Jack blushed deeper, bringing his hand up and running it along Auston’s wrist.
“Stop me if you don’t want this, alright?” Auston said.
“Alri–” Jack started to speak but Auston stopped him halfway by connecting their lips. Instead, he muffled the rest of the word into their connected mouths before he started moving his lips fluidly against Auston’s.
As they kissed, Auston felt Jack place his hand on his thighs. He ran them across the fabric of his pants before he moved his hands up to his hips. Jack curved his hands along with Auston’s hip bones, humming softly when Auston wiggled at the touch. In retaliation, Auston brought his hands up and circled his thumbs around Jack’s chest. Jack moaned, twitching on the bed.
“Uh… Aus? Soup?” Auston jumped at the sound of Mitch’s voice because he wasn’t sure where the hell he had come from or when the hell he had gotten there.
“Yeah, Marns?” Auston asked, standing up off the bed and smoothing out his clothes.
“How’d you get here so fast? Soup’s neighbour just called me when she saw some sketchy dude walk out the front door.”
“I called him first,” Jack piped up from behind Auston. Auston turned to look at him and noticed that his face was cotton candy pink and his hair was strewn all over the place. Auston swallowed thickly, knowing full well he had done that by kissing him.
Mitch scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Leave it to you to realize that you’re in love with someone when an intruder breaks into your house with a gun.”
“Fuck off,” Jack replied, though there was no heat behind his words. “As if you wouldn’t have called Johnny first if the same thing happened to you.”
Auston huffed a bemused breath when he saw the death glare Mitch gave Jack in response. Mitch looked at him sideways, though he also had no heat behind his intent. Auston chuckled bemusedly as he sat next to Jack on the bed again and put his head on Jack’s shoulder. Jack slung his arm around Auston, putting his hand on Auston’s upper arm and putting his other hand on Auston’s knee. Mitch’s face shifted from the glare of death to fondness as he looked at his best friends.
“You both appear to be alright,” Mitch said. “So I’ll go home now. Unless you want me to stay for a while?”
“No, it’s alright,” Auston replied, glancing up at Jack. Jack looked down at Auston and nodded before he pressed a kiss to Auston’s temple. “We’re fine here. I’m gonna spend the night to make sure Soup’s okay. We’ll call if we need anything, though.”
“Alright. Keep him safe. We both know he’s likely to panic and overthink, well, almost everything.”
“Yeah, I know Marns. But thank you for reminding me.”
Mitch gave a thumbs up and a soft smile before he walked out of the room. Auston heard him walk down the stairs, mill around in the foyer for a moment (presumably grabbing his jacket and shoes), and then open and close the front door. After waiting a moment to make sure Mitch wasn’t coming back, Auston lifted his head off of Jack’s shoulder and turned to look at him.
Jack took that opportunity to lean in, pressing his lips softly against Auston’s. Auston showed no sign of resistance so Jack kept going. Auston did, however, melt into the kiss, cupping Jack’s cheek. Auston loved this feeling of kissing Jack; he wished he never had to stop. He was enveloped in Jack’s cologne. It was a scent Auston didn’t know the name of but it smelled vaguely of the ocean. It was something that had always been very soothing to Auston because the beach had been a happy place for him growing up; seeing the waves crashing against the shore was very relaxing for him.
When the pair pulled back, Jack wrapped Auston in a hug and buried his head in the crook of Auston’s neck. They stayed like that for a moment, Jack sniffling softly into the crease between Auston’s shoulder and neck. When they pulled back, Jack looked Auston in the eyes. His eyes were slightly wet and his cheeks had small tear tracks on them.
“I thought you’d never do that.” Jack smiled, his teeth slightly showing. Auston thought it made him look beyond adorable.
Auston smiled back, a small blush creeping across his face. “I was just waiting for the right moment.” He replied as he wiped away the tear stains on Jack’s cheeks.
Jack smiled again, rubbing his thumb over Auston’s wrist. Auston blushed harder. Getting his feelings reciprocated was the best feeling in the world. It made him feel like a teenager that was just understanding what love was again. He also felt so alive, like he had finally discovered who he was and what he wanted. It was liberating.
“Hey, Soupy?” Auston grabbed Jack’s attention by tilting his face in his direction. Jack looked expectantly back at Auston, raising an eyebrow in anticipation. “How about I just never leave after I spend the night tonight? Somebody needs to protect the house while you’re—we’re—away. Felix does a good job of that at my house, so I don’t see why he can’t do it here too. And we’re, like, dating now, right? So…”
Jack smiled, wrapping Auston in a giant hug. He was smiling as he pulled back.
“Absolutely.”