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When Jeremy decided to go along with Derek and Matt for a group Halloween costume, a prop and collar leash were not part of the plan. So when Matt shows up at his apartment so they can head to the party together with a collar around his neck and carrying the end of the leash, Jeremy's a little taken aback.
"You added to the costume," he says as he opens the door so Matt can come through.
"Yep," he replies, "Thought it could use an extra touch." He walks into Jeremy's apartment and flops down on his couch as if he's been here before to wait for Derek.
"Kinda fucked up you didn't get invited to do a group costume with Linus and Moa again," Matt says.
"It's fine," Jeremy says, "Not like they're doing a group costume without me, it's just them. What, you sad I'm the Bodie to your Gracie?" He sits on the couch next to him.
"No, of course not," Matt says, "I just thought that maybe you two... you three..."
"It's not really like that," Jeremy says. And it's really not. Sure, maybe Jeremy has a little crush on the two of them but it's not a big thing. He likes where their relationship is right now.
"Oh," Matt says, "I wasn't sure. But seriously this is a fun costume and I'm happy to be doing it with you and Derek."
"I can't wait until Charlie and Danielle see it," Jeremy says, "I'm sure it'll be a hit." There's a second of silence before there's a knock on the door and Derek is here.
"I'll get it," Matt says, using Jeremy's leg to push himself up. Jeremy looks at his leg a second before getting up himself.
---
When they get to the party, Jeremy is immediately on the hunt to find Charlie before doing anything else. He takes Matt and Derek's hands and drags them around the backyard until they find him. When they do, Jeremy approaches from the side and headbutts his arm. He almost barks at him, but thinks that might be too much.
"What--" Charlie says, turning around and seeing them. He looks at their costumes and bursts out laughing.
"Me and my dogs?" he laughs. "I'm flattered, I guess?" He pats Matt and Jeremy on their heads. "You even wrote their names on your onesies."
"Obviously," Matt says, "Can't have anyone getting confused."
"Why the hell is the jockstrap on the outside?" he asks Derek, who grins.
"Let me take a pic of you guys for Danielle," Charlie says. Matt kneels and pulls Jeremy down to kneel too, and Derek stands behind them, taking the leash out of Matt's hand and taking it in his own and placing his other hand on Jeremy's head. They all smile as Charlie gets a few angles.
"See you guys around," Charlie says.
Now that the important part is over, they have the whole night left.
"Drinks, first," Matt says, grabbing the shoulder of Jeremy's onesie and pulling him.
"You're not allowed to drink," Jeremy says, but let's himself be pulled along.
"Just look away, then," Matt says. "Take a shot with me and just close your eyes."
"Shots were never part of the plan," Jeremy says, but he knows his protest is futile.
They do indeed take shots, but Jeremy only does one. He doesn't actually care that Matt is drinking, who wasn't drinking at nineteen honestly, but he doesn't want to get super drunk himself so he does one shot and picks up a beer after. He loses Matt for a bit after that as he talks to other people, but a while later Matt finds him again and loops his arm around Jeremy's neck.
"Hey," he says, right against his cheek, "They have a photo booth."
"Should we find Derek?" Jeremy asks.
"Nah, not yet, doggies only this time," Matt says, and Jeremy is far from bothered by the idea. There's something about Matt and his big smile and easygoing high energy ways that recently have been... enticing to Jeremy and it's easy to ignore it, mostly, but it's a little harder when you're in matching costumes and he showed up with an unplanned leash and collar. Plus he can still remember how the muscle in Matt's thigh felt under his hand when they were all dressed up as Kens and one Barbie (and one Ariel) at the hospital. He doesn't know what compelled him to put his hand on his leg but it just felt right.
Matt directs them to the photo booth and no one is inside so they don't have to wait.
"I'm always terrible with choosing poses for these," Jeremy admits.
"I have faith in us to figure it out," Matt says. They get the photo booth going and Matt hands Jeremy the leash. Jeremy has no idea what to do with it but hopes he'll come up with something in the next few seconds.
For the first photo, Jeremy just wraps his arm around Matt's neck and smiles at the camera and can feel Matt do the same. For the second he thankfully doesn't have to think of anything because Matt grabs the side of his onesie to hold him there and right as the flash is about to go off he leans over and licks the side of his face. Jeremy is tempted to recoil, because ew, but he remembers that they're in dog costumes so he sticks out his tongue instead.
"Sorry," Matt says, laughing.
"It's fine," Jeremy says, "It's a dog thing, I get it."
For the third and fourth photos Jeremy bites the leash. Maybe not the most creative pose, but it works.
"Let's do one more set," Matt says, "But I'm giving you the collar."
"Why?" says Jeremy.
"Well, it's my prop so I decide who wears it. And I mean, why does only the person in the girl dog costume wear the collar? Seems like we should equalize that," Matt says.
"First you lick me and then you want me to wear a dog collar," says Jeremy, but there's no anger in it.
"Correct," Matt says as he takes off the collar, "And you love it."
"Sure," says Jeremy, because even though Matt is kinda right he isn't gonna let him know that. Matt steps close to him and loops the collar around his neck, clicking it closed behind them. Their chests are touching and Jeremy tries not to move or look at his face. He isn't going to make the first move here, even if it feels like every day they move into new territory with their relationship and his feelings. He's leaving it up to Matt entirely.
"Cool," Matt says, "Now I have to figure out a new set of poses... hmmm." He takes a few seconds and then presses the start button. In the first photo Matt does the same thing Jeremy did, biting the leash. Jeremy just bares his teeth at the camera.
For the second photo, Jeremy is about to ask Matt what they should do but he doesn't have to because Matt jumps on his back. Jeremy lurches for a second but manages to keep his balance and he grabs onto Matt's legs to keep them both steady. Matt lifts up the ears of Jeremy's onesie for this photo and Jeremy just smiles at the camera. The third photo it seems like Matt is going to stay on his back but Jeremy has other plans, and as the camera is about to take the shot Jeremy pushes one of his shoulders down, causing Matt to fall off of him. Matt squeaks a little and Jeremy laughs as he makes sure that he doesn't land on the ground or anything that could hurt him. The camera goes off in the middle of this whole thing and Jeremy really hopes the photo is hilarious. Finally, for the last photo Jeremy takes the leash and wraps it around Matt's shoulders. They pose like that, and then wait for the photos to print.
"If I had landed weird when you made me fall, everyone would have been mad at you," Matt says.
"I wasn't ever going to let that happen," Jeremy says. The pictures have all been printed now and Jeremy takes them from the printer before Matt can. The whole first set and the first, second, and last photos of the second are cute but pretty normal, but the third one... Matt is pretty blurry as he's recovering from the fall but Jeremy has one arm around his waist and the look in his eyes is unmistakably very fond. He's a little scared to hand over the photos, but maybe Matt won't notice?
"Cute!" Matt says, after taking the photo strips and looking at them. He doesn't say anything about that one photo, but Jeremy didn't expect him to, he's still anxious about his internal reaction. "Back we go," Matt says.
"Hold on," Jeremy says, taking the collar off and putting it back on Matt. "Okay, we can leave." They leave the photo booth and Jeremy's about to head back to the main part of the party but Matt touches his shoulder so he stops moving.
"Follow me," Matt says, and Jeremy looks at him confused but nods. Matt turns away from the party in the backyard and starts heading to the side of the house. Jeremy knows it's Halloween but has no idea what Matt is planning here. But there's no point in not following him even if he's super confused about it. He follows Matt until they're pretty much in the middle of the side of the house.
"Okay, so what brings us here?" Jeremy asks. "It's Halloween, are you trying to scare me like we're in a horror movie or something?"
"No," Matt says, in an uncharacteristically soft voice, and Jeremy can feel his heart beat faster, "Listen, I..." He makes a weird sound in his throat and fists his hands in the front of Jeremy's onesie, and kisses him.
"Thank god, it wasn't just me" Jeremy thinks, and he kisses Matt back. He immediately pushes back the hood of Matt's onesie off his head and gets his hands in his hair, tugging lightly. Matt, eager as ever, moans against Jeremy's lips and the sound is fucking beautiful. He wraps his arms around Jeremy's waist, pulling him as close as possible, and Jeremy nips at his lip before needing to pull away to catch his breath.
"Wow," he says, resting their foreheads together.
"I would have been real embarrassed if you had pulled away there," Matt says, his breath warming Jeremy's face.
"I wouldn't," Jeremy replies. "I wanted this, but I needed you to initiate it, just in case."
"Don't wanna corrupt the rookie, huh?" Matt smiles.
"Oh I can corrupt you," Jeremy says, and he feels Matt shiver, "But I wanted it to be in your hands."
"I want you to be in my hands," Matt says, and Jeremy laughs.
"You have me," Jeremy says. "But just kissing for now, we have a party to get back to."
"For now," Matt says. "Fuck, ever since that stupid Barbie costume and your hand on my knee, Jeremy. All it took was that."
"I'll have to wear a dress more often," Jeremy says. "For the record, all it took for me was your pretty face. And the collar helped."
"Oh, you like a boy in a collar, huh?" Matt says, smiling. Jeremy doesn't respond with words but slides his fingers under the front of the collar around Matt's neck and lightly pulls him backwards until Jeremy's back is against the wall of the house and Matt is pressed right up against him. They hold eye contact for a second before Jeremy pulls their lips together with the collar. Matt kisses him with the same passion he has for everything in life and Jeremy's happy that it's directed at him. Matt's handsy, touching Jeremy's hair, his neck, his sides, and Jeremy wraps his arms around Matt's waist at first before sliding a hand down to squeeze his ass. Matt hums and pushes his hips forward. Jeremy would grind their hips together if they had more time, but in the interest of sticking to kissing he doesn't, not this time. But he does tug at the collar around Matt's neck again, loving the sound Matt makes in response. Matt pulls their lips apart but moves down to Jeremy's neck, getting his lips underneath the neck of the onesie to press kisses to the skin there. Jeremy groans, twisting a hand back in Matt's hair. The kisses feel so good but they could lead down a dangerous path so soon he has to pull Matt's head up.
"This is fucking perfect," Jeremy says, out of breath, "But I think we gotta resume this another time later."
"I don't put out on the first date anyway," Matt says, laughing.
"I would," Jeremy says, "But we should get back to the party."
"Promise this won't be the only time?" Matt says, and he sounds serious about it.
"Promise," Jeremy says, leaning forward to kiss Matt briefly to confirm the promise.
"Okay," Matt says, and he takes Jeremy's hand, squeezes it, and starts walking them back towards the party.
"Wanna wear a collar next time, too?" Jeremy asks.
"You wish," Matt replies, "But I mean... maybe. I'll keep you guessing." They're back at the edge of the party, now, so Jeremy gives Matt's hand one more squeeze before letting go.
"If we get separated," Jeremy says, "Text me after, okay?"
"You got it," Matt says. "Listen, Jer... thanks. Tonight has been really fun."
"It has," Jeremy says, "And it's not over yet." Matt smiles at him, one of his big ones with all his teeth, and Jeremy's really excited for their future.