Work Text:
Raleigh had been rummaging in the war zone that was their garage looking for a screw driver to repair his bike with when he found them. The little white cardboard box, with exactly five cigarettes left, was tucked in the shadowy far corner of a drawer. It was a tiny silent reminder of his Father. It was of course one of the nastier things, ironically, but it was a testament to how hard his mother had worked to marginalize his memory in their lives.
You really had to look hard to find any evidence of him in the Becket household as it was now, and it struck Raleigh as odd to think these had missed his Mom’s purges. But then again Dad had been reduced to smoking in secret, apparently keeping a stash in the garage, and Mom probably never even knew they were there.
Boy would she be pissed (for several reasons) to know where they were now- in Raleigh’s back pocket. He found the tool he needed, effected a temporary repair to make his bike rideable, and peddled himself off to Charlie’s house.
The bikes jury-rig almost held out, but failed again two blocks out from the Hansen’s. Raleigh didn’t care; the whole point was to make Chuck fix it anyway, his baby was so good at that kind of thing. As he walked his failed transportation up the driveway Max came waddling up to him, tongue lolling and whining excitedly.
“Hey there wrinkles,” he greeted, stopping to pat him. Max licked his fingers happily. “Ew.”
“Don’t ‘ew’ him!” Chuck chastised, coming out of the open garage.
Raleigh’s heart fluttered so hard it hurt. Every. Damn. Time. Only Charlie had ever elicited that response from him, and probably would forever. He was just so….
“What?” Chuck questioned, concerned that Raleigh’s sudden blank stare meant he was having a stroke, or that there was some sort of horrifying monster behind him he didn’t know about. Quick check-nope. Stroke it was.
“Nothing,” Raleigh slipped his free arm around Chuck’s slim waist and pulled him close, kissing him deeply, He didn’t give a shit who saw them. “Hi beautiful.” He grinned while letting his dog slobbery hand trail down the perfect curve of Chuck’s ass, surreptitiously wiping it off while coping a feel.
Charlie blushed, for whatever reason being called pet names always made him color. “Hi yourself.” The firm grip on his ass was definitely adding to the blush.
“Your Dad home?” was whispered against his lips.
“Nope, not for a while anyway.” Chuck shivered in anticipation. They rarely had alone time any more, Dad made damn sure of that.
Raleigh nuzzled Charlie’s freckled nose, “Good.”
Together (followed by Max) they walked his bike into the garage and Chuck got to work. Raleigh watched from his favorite perch leaning against Scott Hansen’s big black and blue motorcycle. The bike was in storage while Chuck’s Uncle was deployed overseas, and both boys enjoyed having access to it. Charlie lived for the day Uncle Scott came home and would teach him to drive it. Herc could, and occasionally would take him for rides, but flat out refused to teach him. Jerk.
Chuck’s dexterous fingers slipped and he pinched himself on the chain. Wincing he stuck his thumb in his mouth and looked up. Raleigh was leaned back against the saddle of the bike, both hands resting on the soft black leather, staring out the open door deep in thought. A small gasp escaped from somewhere deep down in the turmoil that was his stomach/heart/groin area.
Raleigh’s profile was stunning. His fire red dyed hair (done to match his Charlie) shone in the orange glow of the late afternoon sun, casting a pensive crimson aura around him. His dark makeup and tight black clothes against the chrome of the bike…ugh. He looked like he belonged to it. But luckily he belonged one hundred percent to Chuck. He was tired of looking, he needed to touch. Charlie heaved himself up off the cold concrete floor and moved silently to where Raleigh was still distractedly staring off.
The other boy didn’t hear him, or notice how close he was until he felt Chuck’s fingers entwine with his own on the sun warmed leather. The white hot contact pulled Raleigh from his reverie, and he smiled as Charlie pressed against him running his fingers up Raleigh’s forearms.
“Whatcha thinkin’ about?” Chuck asked, tugging on one of the leather and stud bands encircling his boyfriend’s thin wrist.
“You of course.” Not really. He had been thinking about his Father, which was a totally stupid thing to waste precious brain power on when something this sexy existed within a ten foot radius. Raleigh let his hands rest on Charlie’s hips. “It’s always you.”
Chuck cooed and gave him a soft kiss before giving him a little shove back onto the motorcycle. Raleigh sat down on the seat and there was a soft crinkling sound from underneath him. Charlie gave him a puzzled look. Oh right….
Raleigh rummaged the now even more dog-eared pack out of his pocket. He held them up for his companion to see.
“What are those?” he asked.
Raleigh rolled his eyes, “Oh my god Charlie, do you live under a rock? Their cigarettes.”
Chuck smacked him on the thigh- hard. “Shut up asshole I know that! Where did you get them?”
God, Raleigh loved when Charlie got excited – or in this case mad, and his accent came out. It was the most freaking adorable thing ever. Ever. “I found them in the garage…they were my Dad’s…I thought we could give them a try…” he shrugged and looked down, frustrated that even saying the word ‘Dad’ made him feel things he didn’t want too.
This had bad idea written all over it. Chuck took the package from Raleigh’s hand and inspected its slightly crushed contents. He had never even been in the presence of a lit one of these in his existence- it was forbidden in the Hansen household. If Dad ever found out, or caught a (literal) whiff of this he would be crucified. Charlie Hansen was a good boy, with a healthy respect for the boundaries that had been drawn in his life…but….he was curious…and what would the harm be in just trying it?
“I’m game, we just can’t do it here….”
Raleigh was surprised he agreed, and so quickly too. “Right. Let’s take Max for a walk….go to our spot.”
“Oooh, good idea.” Max was called back from wherever he was snuffling about, Charlie grabbed the lighter Dad used to light his deathtrap of a grill, and they were ready to go be rebels.
They walked the two blocks to the edge of the ‘woods’ holding hands and chatting, it was a beautiful evening and perfect for mischief. The little strip of windbreak trees and untamed underbrush encircling the subdivision the local kids called ‘the woods’ was a classic hang out and the ideal locale for delinquency like Raleigh and Charlie had planned. This was not the first time it had been the scene of a ‘crime’ or a tryst. It wasn’t even the first time it was witness to the teenage antics of these two.
Dragging Max away from the constant trail of delicious squirrel smells, they settled into the little greenery cave they had made for themselves several weeks ago. It was cozy and gave them a private little area for experimentation….of all sorts.
And like all of their previous experiments, neither of the boys had any idea what they were doing. Raleigh couldn’t get the lighter to stay lit for the life of him, and Chuck couldn’t figure out which end they were supposed to light anyway.
“Oh my god, Google this shit!” Raleigh whined.
Chuck waved his phone around until he found some bars and they consulted the great wide interwebs. They swapped jobs, Chuck worked the lighter and Raleigh held out the nonfilter end for him to ignite. Success! The repeated the process and now had two lit cigarettes.
“Okay….Now what?” Chuck looked dubiously at the slightly smoking roll of burning paper and vegetation held delicately between his finger and thumb.
“I dunno…smoke it I guess?” Raleigh shrugged.
Charlie’s eyeroll was as spectacular as always, “I know that! But like…how?”
Raleigh put his to his lips and gave it an experimental puff. He was just relying on the memories of watching his Father. They were just little glimpses; Dad had never really smoked in front of them that Raleigh could directly remember. Mom had long banished that habit to outside. But Raleigh could distinctly remember how towards the end Dad had retreated at a rapidly increasing rate out in the garage, filling it with acrid smoke for hours at a time. It was his escape, but it was also a point of contention that lead to more fighting….
Chuck took a big inhale on his and instead of it going back out his nose on the exhale it went straight into his lungs. His chest suddenly felt like it was on fire…fuck! His violent coughing brought Raleigh back to the here and now. “Easy there killer,” he thumped Chuck on the back unhelpfully.
Charlie glared at him through watering eyes. “Jesus that hurt….so bad….” He gasped.
“Maybe if you did it right,” Raleigh smirked and inhaled on his to a slightly less disastrous but still not great outcome.
There was a lot of coughing and giggling at their inability to figure out a simple thing that apparently every upperclassmen and movie star seemed to have down pat. Honestly Chuck was feeling queasy so he ground out the remaining glow on a tree root and spit a gob of gross tasting contaminated saliva into the bushes.
“Yeah so, one is enough for me….I don’t think this is my thing.” He leaned back against Raleigh.
Raleigh dispatched of his smoldering cancer stick, and flicked it off into the forest. “Yeah, it’s not at all what I thought it would be.” He slipped his arm around Charlie’s waist and held him close.
“I don’t get why everyone thinks it’s cool….it’s just gross.” It really was too. Ugh. Dad was right about that one too. Not that Chuck would/could ever tell him.
“Mhmmm…” Raleigh purred against Charlie’s neck while leaving gentle kisses on his warm, soft skin. God he loved how he tasted….
Chuck reached up and pulled Raleigh’s lips to his own by a handful of sandy-blonde hair. That was better…..ugh…Charlie drew away and made a face. “Ugh, you taste like smoke. I want to brush my teeth so bad right now…..”
Raleigh was offended for half a seconded then started to crack up. “Fine Princess, let’s go home. Your Dad’s probably back anyway….”
Shit! That was right! They buried the evidence of their failed research and walked at a good clip home, but they had dawdled too long in the woods. Herc’s car was pulled up in the driveway and the man himself was sitting on the stoop. Max spotted him and barked happily; Chuck let his leash go and he trundled off to Daddy.
“Evening boys,” Herc greeted. It was fairly even toned but it chilled Raleigh’s blood anyway. He always felt like Herc knew whenever he had touched Charlie, and was going to murder him. Like now; he was feeling that now.
Charlie stood in front of Herc with his hands in his pockets, one hip cocked casually. “….we took Max for a walk. Do you think you can help me with the chain on Rals’ bike? I couldn’t quite get it the right tension again.”
“Sure, let’s have a look.” Herc stood up and dusted off the seat of his pants. The boys had perfect timing as always. Another ten minutes and he was going to go down to the woods himself and ferret them out. Yes, he knew about their little ‘secret’ love nest. He wasn’t stupid. He had been a teenager once…eons ago (as Chuck loved to point out), he knew the game.
He let the boys lead him into the garage. There was an air of guilt around them, but then again there always was…they were sixteen and in love; they always had something to be nervous about. It was kind of strange though, when Chuck randomly doubled over in a violent coughing fit and Raleigh over reacted. It really made Herc wonder what they got up too when he wasn’t home. As there was no permanent damage to kids or property he didn’t figure it was worth worrying about; but something did smell a little burnt….