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\ Jeff found himself leaned against his truck in the parking lot of a gas station. What had happened really was a blur. The only thing he could think about at the moment was the ache in his stomach that made his head spin. It was as if someone had taken a wooden spoon and stirred the contents of his stomach together so fast it curdled like bad milk. He swallowed the hot bile that crawled up his throat. He regretted taking a reckless drive after getting the snot knocked out of his sinuses.
A heavy breath left him as he leaned against the side of his truck. He cradled an arm over his abdomen, feeling the heat hit him in waves now. This was misery, too bad he had no company to share it with. He’d have to stick this out on his own until his dad finally passed out on the couch or left the house to go see one of the mistresses he thought nobody knew about. Just the thought of that man made something inside of Jeff’s chest burn. His body endured another suffocating flash of heat before his gut twisted and he doubled over.
A loud gag left him as Jeff regurgitated what he had last eaten. Snot and spit spilled from his nose and mouth as his body desperately tried to get rid of that awful nausea he was feeling. Jeff didn’t even want to know what he looked like to the people who had been pumping their gas and buying whatever they needed from inside the gas station. He probably looked like some hobo in pajamas puking up alcohol. Jeff didn’t have time to think of a more humiliating description of himself before he started to throw up again. He clutched the door handle of his truck and gasped for air. Jeff drooled like a sick dog as he tried to pull himself back together.
He slowly pulled himself upright, spitting out the last of the sour bile from his mouth. Jeff opened the driver’s side door he had been leaning on. He fumbled around and grabbed a dirty rag from the glove box to wipe off his face. He let his head fall on top of the glove box once he had slammed it shut again. Jeff took in deep breaths as the AC vents gently blew cold air on him. He let his eyes fall shut and let himself lay there for a few moments. He just needed a moment to breathe, to think. Those were two things he couldn’t remember doing consciously today. The cold air allowed him to breathe easier and clearer. Jeff smacked his lips and wrinkled his nose at the sour taste of the bile. He wished he took his wallet with him when he had left the house, a drink would help a lot right now.
Jeff picked his head up after a few moments. He squinted as he looked up to listen. He could’ve sworn he heard somebody call his name. He looked around and spotted a head full of bright ginger curly hair. A deep sigh left Jeff as he sat up in the driver’s seat of his truck. He made sure he was upright as he turned to face the person who was approaching.
The ginger stopped in front of him. He had a grin across his face with his hands in the pockets of his pants. “Nice outfit,” he jabbed.
“Nice to see you too motherfucker,” Jeff breathed. He looked Randy up and down, keeping tension in his arm just in case.
Randy looked Jeff over. “You want a drink or something? You look pretty fucking shitty right now dude,” Randy dug into the plastic bag hanging off his arm and pulled out a bottled Dr. Pepper. He held it out towards Jeff.
“Aw, you got my favorite, how sweet,” Jeff drawled, taking the cold bottle of soda. “If you shook this I’m gon’ whoop your ass,” He glanced down at the soda. He took a moment to break the seal on the camp. He winced at the hiss of the carbonation escaping the bottle, but relaxed when he wasn’t attacked by Dr. Pepper. He brought the bottle to his lips and took a few long sips before sighing.
“So,” Randy pocketed his hands. “What the hell happened to you?” He looked at Jeff.
The young man paused for a moment. Jeff processed the question. He couldn’t get away with lying to Randy- he already knew the type of man Jeff’s father was. He took another sip of his drink. “I got in a fight with my dad. He got me good,” Jeff sniffed. “I’ll be fine though, ain’t in the hospital so,” he shrugged.
Randy stared at Jeff for a moment. Although he didn’t get along with the others the majority of the time, Randy didn’t think Jeff deserved to be treated like that. It was hard for Randy to fathom. Abuse. He had never been abused, maybe a bit emotionally neglected, but there wasn’t anything in his life he could compare to Jeff’s. Randy knew at times like these he needed to lay off, call a temporary truce. He hated Jeff’s attitude, not his entire being. Hell, he could recall sometimes they had gotten along better than Randy could with Keith and Troy. He swallowed and shoved those thoughts aside.
“Damn, sorry man,” Randy sighed. He scratched the back of his head, running his hands through his ringlet curls as he looked around.
“Don’t get sappy over it,” Jeff sighed, he glanced over. “You got smokes?” he asked.
Randy shook his head. “No, but I have weed back at my place if you wanna smoke that.”
“How the fuck you ain’t got no cigarettes but you got weed?” Jeff tilted his head.
“Do you wanna smoke or not we’re losing daylight,” Randy snapped.
“Yes goddammit!” Jeff shot back.
“Drive me then,” Randy crossed his arms.
Jeff groaned and smacked his forehead on the wheel. “You got a car!”
“I skateboarded here,” Randy held up the longboard he had previously tucked under his arm.
Jeff shook his head. “Get in,” he grumbled. He scooted into the driver’s side and pulled the door shut. He turned his head as Randy walked around and climbed into the passenger’s side. He glared when the ginger showed him that stupid grin.
“It is an honor to be your passenger princess,” Randy giggled.
“I will slap the fuck out you,” Jeff threatened.
Randy shook his head and laughed as he pulled the seatbelt over himself. He leaned back in the seat and got comfortable as Jeff put the truck into reverse to get out of the parking lot. The ride was mostly silent. Jeff was surprised that he could remember the route to Randy’s house. He’d been there a few times, for various reasons, but not enough to where it REALLY mattered to him what the other’s address was. He focused on the roads around. It was fall, and he could see the trees start to wither. He was thankful for that. Jeff couldn’t stand the summer heat of California. It was like being set out in the sun to shrivel up and dry every day he left for work after a few classes at the local community college.
As he got closer to Randy’s house the small suburbs began to turn into streets full of what Jeff could describe as small mansions. Some of the houses he couldn’t even try to fathom the prices of. Palm trees and nice cars added another nice touch to the already upscale neighborhood. He turned to the left, going to the back of the neighborhood. There was Randy’s house, right at the end of the street. Behind the large home was a thick forest and a man made lake. A lake that they never used, which irritated Jeff. If it was up to him, he’d have stocked it with fish to make it useful.
Jeff slowly pulled into the driveway, and put his truck in park before taking the keys out of the ignition. He exhaled and unbuckled himself. He looked around the yard and garage and raised a brow. He expected Randy’s parents to be at home by this time at least. It wasn’t like he wanted them there. The few times he had met Randy’s parents face to face he already knew everything he needed to know. Jeff could tell by the way they looked at him. He overheard the comments the couple had thought they murmured quietly. He wasn’t stupid enough to not catch onto their jokes either. If anything he was glad that Randy’s parents weren’t home.
“Your parents outta town?” Jeff hummed as he hopped out of his truck.
“Yeah. They’re at a business conference in Manhattan for the week. I got the place to myself,” Randy replied.
Jeff nodded as he locked his truck after both doors were shut. He walked alongside Randy into his house. He stopped after entering through the front door. This was a type of wealth he still couldn’t wrap his head around. It was so quiet. It didn’t smell like cigarettes. Jeff stepped forwards and followed behind Randy, his eyes lingered on the architecture, decor, and furniture. It made him bitter in a way. Randy was born into this, his parents set him up for everything, and Jeff was still spending his days fighting and working for everything he had. It was like torture living in a rich man’s world. California was a wealthy wild west full of the dirtiest money and the filthiest of the rich.
“You wanna go out and smoke by the bonfire? I don’t want my room to smell like weed,” Randy offered as he walked into his room. He knelt underneath his bed and grabbed a shoebox. Jeff watched him rummage around in it before grabbing a few blunts and a lighter.
Jeff squinted. “Yeah but I really don’t wanna sit in the woods covered in throw up.”
Randy looked over and held down a gag as he finally realized the front of Jeff’s shirt was covered in vomit. He should probably be more observant in the future. Randy looked around and hummed. “Just wear one of my shirts, keep it or whatever I don’t give a fuck.”
“What a gentleman,” jeff said as he turned his back to Randy. He pulled his vomit-stained shirt over his head and tossed it in the nearby laundry hamper.
Randy looked over his shoulder. He decided that there was no harm in stealing a look. He just hoped he wouldn’t get caught. Jeff had to be one of the finest guys he laid eyes on. His arms were thick and he had a deep tanned skin tone that brought out all the muscles he had. His admiration stopped when he saw the welts. On Jeff’s back there were marks from a belt. They were nasty yellow, black, and blue in color. He could see the outside of the belt buckle Jeff’s father wore. Randy looked away completely now. He felt like he had seen way too much.
Now Jeff had pulled on one of Randy’s extra shirts. It was big on him- given that Randy was a head taller than him. He hadn’t noticed the other man’s staring. He adjusted the fabric of the shirts and tucked the loose trends of hair behind his ears. Jeff walked into Randy’s adjoined bathroom and looked at himself. He hissed in surprise. Randy was right, he really did look like fucking shit. Jeff turned on the sink and splashed his face with water, soothing the bruise on his right eye with a gentle touch. He patted his face dry with a towel, then glanced back up.
“How long are you gonna sit in there doing your make-up princess?” Randy smirked.
“Shut your bitchass up,” Jeff growled.
The shorter man reached down to grab the hair elastic that was at the end of his braided hair. Jeff liked his hair long. Now it was almost down to his tailbone. It was the one piece of his people he really knew about. It was one of the few things Jeff had control over. He carefully unraveled his hair. The thick black locks came undone with ease, falling down his shoulders. Jeff ran his hands through it to carefully comb out any tangles. He worked with his hands to create three separate sections, he tried to make them as even as possible. Jeff began to twist the three sections of hair to braid it back up. If he wanted to keep his hair the way it was, he’d have to protect it with a braid.
“There,” Jeff sighed as he tied the elastic back on the end. “I’m done, now let’s go outside I’ll get the chairs or whatever.”
“It only took you three centuries,” the ginger huffed.
“Please talk to me when you learn how to take care of the bird's nest on your head,” Jeff scoffed as he rolled his eyes.
Randy scrunched his face as he followed behind Jeff. Now he remembered why he didn’t like this little cunt. Jeff had serious short man syndrome.
It was a long walk towards the forest. Randy was paranoid about being caught smoking by the nosy neighbors next door. Sure, weed was perfectly legal in the state of California, but Randy would definitely get his head bitten off for having it. Although Randy did have a distinct memory of finding a suspicious white powder in his mother’s vanity once. He asked her about it and she was offended. He shrugged off the thought and kept walking until he and Jeff stopped at the bonfire pit.
As Jeff set down the chairs Randy took the liberty of starting up the fire. He doused the wood in lighter fluid before flicking the lighter on. He waited a few moments as the wood smoked and started to catch fire. Randy did his best to encourage the fire to get bigger before he went and sat in one of the fold-out chairs Jeff had placed.
Jeff took a seat. He had scooted his chair away from the fire. He looked towards Randy. “So are you gonna light that shit or what?”
“You’re so fucking impatient dude,” Randy mumbled as he grabbed one of the blunts. He struck the end of it with a lighter and took a long hit. For a few moments Randy held in the smoke and exhaled before handing it towards Jeff.
“Thank you,” Jeff huffed. He grabbed the blunt from Randy’s hand and took a puff off of it. He hadn't realized how badly he needed to get high until now. He hadn’t smoked with randy in a few weeks. That was mostly because they had suddenly decided to start hating each other again and couldn’t breathe the same air without starting a fight about it. Now they were cool again.
The pair passed the blunt back and forth until there was pretty much nothing left to smoke from it. About thirty minutes or so had passed and Jeff was starting to feel the high. A gentle smile spread across his lips as he stared at the fire. His eyes burned and he felt himself sink back into the chair he was in. Randy leaned towards Jeff, staring down at them with a smile as well. For a brief moment the pair made eye contact. They held their breaths. Laughter erupted from them after a few moments. Jeff leaned his head on Randy’ shoulder, having to force himself to gasp for air when his stomach began to ache.
Just as things began to settle, Randy went quiet. Jeff soon settled himself after. He slowly looked towards Randy. The other stared into the trees with wide eyes and a tensed jaw. Jeff noticed that Randy’s hands were also clenched into fists.
“Do you hear that?..” Randy whispered. His voice was barely louder than the crackling of the bonfire.
“What?” Jeff mumbled, unsure as he tried to focus on what he was supposed to be hearing.
The woods were quiet. That made the hair on the back of Jeff’s neck stand up. His blood went cold and he suddenly became painfully aware of things. The faint sound of TV static made its way to his ears. It was almost drowned out by the rumbling of Jeff’s blood and the fast beating of his heart.
Randy tensed and suddenly raised himself from his chair. Jeff held his breath, reaching for his pocket. He internally cursed himself when he realized there was no switchblade in his pocket. He had left it back at his house. The silence was terrifying. Jeff knew the sounds of the wilderness, and the wild was never quiet. The only time silence fell over the forest was when something big was around, when something dangerous lurked in the trees.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jeff saw something. He didn’t know what it was. He could only describe it as something tall. It was hiding in the trees. It was a sickly pale color, with long libs. It had no face. This thing had no face and the sound of static started to overwhelm him. For the first time in years Jeff felt terror stab him in the chest and twist. His decision was settled when he saw what looked like tentacles flailing on the creature’s back.
Randy grabbed Jeff’s forearm and pulled him. Jeff tripped over his own feet before he caught up with Randy. He did his best to run with wide strides. Heclosed his eyes and winced as his ears rang. The pair fumbled, and Randy facelanted when his foot was caught in the root of a tree. Jef ran a few feet ahead but stumbled to a stop and beelined back towards randy. He used all of his strength to yank the other man to his feet before pulling him along. The static began to fade and soon the only noise was their heavy breathing and footsteps.
Randy threw the black door open and pulled Jeff in by the shirt collar. Jeff felt his legs slip out from underneath him as the door was slammed shut and locked.
The pair were now frozen in a panicked silence. Jeff’s entire body felt like it was made from gelatin. Randy was stiffer than concrete. There was a mutual feeling of ‘What the fuck was that?” and ‘I’m so fucking scared right now hold my hand’.
After a few moments on the floor, Jeff got the steadiness to bring himself to his feet. He reached out and quickly snatched Randy’s hand and held it in a vice grip. Randy returned the squeeze as they looked at one another. They had hurt each other, made each other mad, upset one another. Neither one could recognize the expression on the other man’s face. This was a new level of horror. Jeff still gasped for air, he felt like that static was suffocating him in the forest. His body was burning up and he felt sick to his stomach again. He swallowed hard.
“I-” Randy stuttered, he struggled to articulate his words. “To my room.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Jeff nodded as he walked up the stairs, still hand in hand with Randy.
When they returned to Randy's room, the door was shut and locked as soon as they got inside. Jeff still didn’t let go, and neither did Randy. Randy felt stinging in his waterline. He wanted to cry. He couldn’t though. If he started crying, he didn’t know what Jeff would think of him. He stood with the other and trembled as they held each other’s sweaty palms. Maybe it was just a bad high, Randy rationalized. Sometimes things like that can happen, and it was late. It was dark. It was probably just some dumb Halloween decoration meant to scare the kids wandering around raising hell. That’s what Randy told himself. It made his anxiety yield for the moment.
“I’m gonna turn on some South Park,” Randy said, sniffling as he let go of Jeff.
Jeff followed Randy towards his bed. He had never been in his bed before. It looked comfy. He slowly laid down on the comforter next to Randy. He now focused his attention on the TV screen. Randy turned on some random episode, Jeff didn’t care too much for the series but it was a good distraction from what had just happened. Silence fell over them again as they laid next to one another. Jeff was watching, but he also wasn’t. He crossed his arms over his chest and just stared into nothing.
“Please stay,” Randy croaked.
Jeff looked over. They locked eyes. Randy had never looked so desperate before. He was begging for Jeff to stay, and Jeff couldn’t find a good reason to leave.
“I’ll be here,” Jeff shuddered.
Jeff didn’t even push back when Randy shoved himself into his personal space. Instead he leaned into the contact and allowed Randy to wrap an arm around him. Jeff extended one of his own arms and gently placed it around Randy’s waist. The intensity faded as Jeff soaked in the heat of Randy’s body. If Randy had suggested this any other day Jeff would’ve called him the nastiest of slurs and spat at his face. Today he allowed this. Today he needed this. Jeff had always needed this. He clutched the fabric of Randy’s hoodie as his hands trembled.
Randy glanced down to the other as he felt a wetness on his neck. It took him a moment to process that he was seeing Jeffrey Woods cry in his arms. Previously Randy thought Jeff was incapable of any emotions besides anger and disinterest. Randy didn’t even think of the possibility that Jeff could in fact cry just like any other person. It was a surprise to see Jeff not be a brick wall.
Instead of talking, Randy curled himself around the other. He pulled Jeff flush against him and squeezed. He sighed in relief as he felt the other embrace him back. Something in his chest ached as Jeff let out a broken sob. An ache and sting filled Randy’s throat and eyes. He found himself sniffling as they cradled one another. Randy continued to hold Jeff as he sobbed. He patted his back and blinked bac tears as the smaller man shuddered in his arms. Comforting people wasn’t Randy’s strongsuit- in fact he did quite the opposite most of the time. Now here he was, letting his best enemy in the whole world cry like a baby in his arms as they cuddled.
“I’m sorry,” Jeff groaned. “I’m so fuckin’ sorry..”
“Shh, you’re fine man, you didn’t do anything wrong,” Randy assured. He squeezed Jeff for a brief moment. A small noise left the other as something in Jeff’s body popped.
That small interaction made the both of them start to chuckle. “Your body’s like a glowstick, it’s crackling,” Randy smiled.
“I’m not that stiff,” Jeff insisted as he wiped the tears off of his face. Randy snorted and the both of them rattled with another fit of laughter.
Jeff’s smile was so handsome. Randy felt his chest stir as his heart fluttered. His laugh was nice as well. It was a laugh that would make others laugh. Randy wanted to keep hearing that noise from Jeff. He thought he liked to see Jeff angry. The feeling he got from seeing the man in front of him genuinely happy brought out some odd feelings. Randy knew this wasn’t the time nor the place. Unfortunately his heart was figuratively much bigger than his brain was. Randy made the bold move and leaned forwards to catch Jeff’s lips on his own.
The laughter ceased as Jeff took in a quick breath. Their noses bumped into one another as they kissed. Jeff was stiff, yet he found that his hands held Randy right where he was. The kiss was sloppy, uncoordinated. Randy tilted his head to the side and held the side of Jeff's face in one hand. He didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop. Randy couldn’t get enough of the taste of cigarettes and weed on Jeff’s lips. The pair haphazardly moved around to untangle their limbs as Randy pushed Jeff down onto his back. The room suddenly became hot and they started to run out of breath.
Jeff was the first to pull back from the kiss. Randy left him breathless. The guilt and internalized homophobia had yet to register before the ginger started to snog him again. This time Randy pushed his tongue into Jeff’s mouth. Jeff could taste weed, as well as redbull in Randy’s spit. A huff left him as he finally started to put effort into the make-out session. Jeff hugged his arms around Randy again and let Randy start to paw at him. Jeff knew he would hate himself for this and regret it all later, but he wouldn’t stop himself from enjoying this. This was the first time in ages he was getting a real taste of euphoria.
Lack of oxygen forced them apart again. They laid with one another and panted hard. Jef wiped the saliva from his mouth and looked up at Randy with his grayish-blue eyes. Randy stared back down at him. Jeff felt himself start to burn up under the other’s gaze. Nobody had looked at him like how Randy looked down at him now.
“That was hot,” Randy sniffled. “Wanna do it again?”
“What do you think, dumbass?’ Jeff smirked.
Randy let out a small laugh before he kissed Jeff again.