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“Duke’s turn,” Julia declared, a wicked glint in her eyes, and Duke grinned, slow and clearly unworried.
“Dare,” he replied, confidence in his voice, and Nicki and Carla Rose both giggled, leaning into each other’s shoulders, so apparently, they were in on it, whatever ‘it’ was. Nathan took another sip of his soda, and mostly just tried to avoid drawing attention to himself; so far, everyone had been fairly content to ignore him, and he honestly preferred it that way. He wouldn’t even be there if his father wasn’t out of town- he was staying with Jeff and Bill for the week, and as it was their party, he couldn’t exactly escape without raising questions.
“Make out with one of the guys,” Julia instructed, and Jeff booed, throwing a handful of popcorn in Julia’s direction.
“No, come on, what the hell did the rest of us do to you?” he demanded, and Duke shot him a vaguely offended look, before he looked at Julia.
“Now that’s not entirely fair- it’s my dare, but you’re involving someone else,” he said, clearly comfortable enough with the entire game to attempt to rules-lawyer it, which... Well, Duke went to a lot more parties than Nathan did, he supposed a better understanding of the rules probably went along with that.
“Okay, what would be fair?” Julia asked, and Duke shrugged.
“Whoever I pick, they get a choice- yes or no. They decline, I get a free pass. They accept, they get three free passes,” he said, and Julia turned to confer with the other girls; there was a quick, hurried conversation, before a consensus was apparently reached.
“Fine, that’s fair,” Julia said. “Pick.”
“Nathan,” Duke said, and Nathan blinked as all eyes turned toward him. He blushed, color crawling up his cheeks, and blinked again, and why, why would Duke have picked him? They were barely even friends, hell, most of the time, Duke didn’t acknowledge Nathan unless he was ‘playfully’ shoving him into a wall.
“...Well?” Julia demanded, after a moment too long. “Yes or no, Nathan?”
...He wanted to say no, he honestly did. He didn’t want to be there in the first place, didn’t want to be playing in the first place-
-saying yes got him three passes, no consequences. People were mostly ignoring him anyway, but three extra passes meant he’d probably make it to the end of the game without having to actually do anything or say anything, and it wasn’t his dare, he wasn’t- he wasn’t admitting to anything, wasn’t the one being challenged...
“...O...kay?” he said, and Carla Rose and Nicki giggled again, and Meg gave him a vaguely sympathetic look, and Julia just looked surprised. Jeff muttered something that sounded like glad it’s not me, Ian looked uncomfortable, and Bill mostly just looked amused, but none of that was what actually worried Nathan.
What worried Nathan was the thoughtful, oddly intent look on Duke’s face, and the realization that he’d just agreed to let Duke kiss him. In front of people. ...At length, probably, given that the command had been make out.
Which would’ve been an issue worth worrying about even if Nathan had done... any of that, before.
Given that he hadn’t, the thought was abruptly terrifying.
Duke stood up, crossed the loose circle, apparently unbothered by the increased pitch of giggling from Carla Rose and Nicki, and the nervous laugh from Julia, who still looked surprised. He stopped in front of Nathan, and folded neatly down onto his knees. Nathan froze, unable to voice the frantic thought that he’d changed his mind, and Duke gave him a considering look, before he offered a brief, startlingly sincere smile.
“Relax,” he instructed, reaching out and catching Nathan’s jaw in one hand, tilting his head back. He leaned in, and Nathan hadn’t known what to expect, hadn’t had the faintest idea, but he was pretty sure it wasn’t what he got; the first brush of lips over his own was soft, a chaste, delicate drag of skin over skin and nothing more. It lingered, the contact gentle and slow, before Duke moved slightly, changed the angle, turned it from something barely there to something more substantial. Nathan didn’t immediately react, honestly too surprised to figure out what he was supposed to be doing, but it didn’t seem to bother Duke; he just kept teasing his lips over Nathan’s, before he used the movement of his own lips to coax Nathan’s apart, just slightly, and still, the contact was- careful, not rough or messy or sloppy, the way some of the kisses that had been exchanged already had seemed to be. Nathan made a startled noise when Duke nipped his lower lip, and someone laughed, but Nathan was too distracted to figure out who.
Duke drew back, just a bit, just enough to shift forward so that he could speak just beside Nathan’s ear, voice low and rough and clearly not meant to carry.
“You know, you don’t kiss back, Julia’s not gonna count this,” he said, and there was more of that unexpected thoughtfulness in his tone. “Trying to keep you off the hook, here, Wuornos, work with me.”
Nathan made another vaguely startled sound, because of all the possible reasons he could’ve come up with for Duke picking him, the idea that Duke had specifically done it to give him the extra passes was... not one of them. It was kind, and Duke was not usually kind.
Still, when Duke shifted back, pressed their lips together, Nathan made a basic effort to respond. Which would’ve been easier if he’d had a clue what he was doing, but he tried. He let Duke coax his lips apart once more, and Duke deepened the kiss, slow and careful and sure, and Nathan could taste whiskey and cola carried on his tongue, and the sweet stickiness of red licorice. Very hesitantly, he reached up to mirror the hold Duke still had on his chin, and Duke made an approving sound, nipped at his lower lip again, his movements growing a little more aggressive, a little less delicate.
And for just a moment, Nathan kind of forgot that they were in a room full of people, forgot everything except taste and pressure and the soft fluttering warmth of Duke’s breath ghosting over his skin.
At least, until Duke pulled back, and Nicki whistled, and Carla Rose fanned herself, and Nathan kind of wanted to crawl into a corner and die of embarrassment.
“A little tame,” Julia commented, eyes narrowed, “but we’ll allow it.”
“You want a better show, assign me an interested partner,” Duke replied, shrugging easily, and turning to sit down, stretching out next to Nathan instead of moving back across the circle to his previous spot. And Nathan was- not entirely sure that was a fair assessment of his involvement in the process, actually, and he was definitely trying to keep the mounting panic out of his expression at that realization, and there was something in the way Ian was scowling that suggested that maybe there had been options for an interested partner, even in the assigned group, and that was a whole other thing he wasn’t prepared to actually think about just yet, and all of that was further confused by the fact that, in settling into his new spot, Duke had stretched out just enough that his knee was brushing the outside of Nathan’s thigh and Nathan was suddenly extremely aware of that tiny point of contact. “My turn to pick, yeah?”
“Yes,” Julia confirmed, and Duke narrowed his eyes.
“Nicki. Truth or dare?”
“Truth,” she said, and Duke grinned, and there was something wicked in it.
“Did you, or did you not, give Mark Wills a blowjob under the bleachers last week?”
Nicki made a high-pitched, entirely scandalized sound, eyes going round, and Jeff and Bill exchanged ribald hoots of amusement, and Meg gasped and reached out, smacking Nicki’s knee.
“You didn’t,” Meg hissed, and Nicki blushed.
“How the hell did you know that?” Nicki demanded, glaring at Duke, who looked entirely too amused.
“I have my sources,” he said, and there was something about it... Something like warning, something that suggested he knew a lot more than that, and Nicki should keep that in mind.
“Asshole,” Nicki said, though there was much less venom in it than Nathan would’ve expected. “Yes, and for the record? Not worth it.”
“Well, duh,” Meg said, shaking her head. “Nicki, honey. How many times did I tell you you were too good for him?”
“A dozen, and yes, I should’ve listened,” Nicki said, a note of complaint in her tone. “And I will remember that next time. Ugh. Jeff, truth or dare?”
“Dare,” Jeff said, and Nathan tried to pay attention, he honestly did, but he was too focused on the warmth of Duke next to him, and that, that was not good. He wasn’t- he liked girls, damnit, he did, and whatever bit of kindness Duke had been trying to show there, it wasn’t, it wasn’t anything to get worked up over, and it was just a stupid kiss. It didn’t mean anything.
They weren’t even really friends.
The game progressed, and Nathan got more and more anxious as it went, as the truths got more cutting and the dares got more ridiculous, but by and large, everyone was still overlooking him. He only had to use the two passes everyone had started with; his bonus three were still held in reserve, and it looked like he wasn’t going to need them. Jeff and Duke got into a back-and-forth attempt at one-upmanship, which ended with everyone headed outside despite the frosty October air while the two of them raced, naked, along the edge of the treeline toward the pond to much hooting and hollering and generally unsubtle noisemaking. Nathan kept an anxious eye on the house, certain that at any moment Mrs. McShaw was going to appear and they were all going to get into terrible trouble.
But no parental figures appeared, and everyone was laughing when they scrambled back down the stairs to the basement, where Jeff and Duke scrambled back into their clothes, cursing the chill night, Duke swearing a blue streak at Jeff for the dare.
“Oh, shut up, you won anyway,” Jeff said, rolling his eyes.
“It wasn’t even a real race,” Duke complained. “You just wanted to show off!”
“Oh, right, because you’re so shy,” Jeff said, shoving him, and Duke shoved back, and it took Bill, Ian, and Nathan to pull them apart while the girls yelled encouragement.
“Right, I think it’s time to do something a little less... energetic,” Julia decreed, casting a slightly wary look between Jeff- who Bill was holding back by main force- and Duke, who at least wasn’t making any effort to throw Nathan and Ian off, though he was still glaring. “Movies, what’ve we got?”
“Ooh, I brought a whole bunch!” Carla Rose said, scurrying off to retrieve her backpack, and Julia gave another pointed look between Jeff and Duke.
“We’re done, right?” she said, and there was a note of threat in her voice.
“...Yeah, of course. No problem here,” Duke said, taking a step back, and he did brush Ian and Nathan off, then, and Nathan wasn’t quite sure what to make of the single moment of... hesitation, when Duke caught his wrist to push his hand away. Of the not-quite-accidental way Duke slid his thumb over Nathan’s pulse point, before he let go.
Or maybe he was just really overthinking this. It was just a stupid kiss. It was a game. It didn’t mean anything.
He didn’t want it to mean anything.
Jeff looked mulish, but nodded, and Bill let him go, and Jeff went to go loiter around where Nicki and Carla Rose were poring over movies. Duke shook himself out, flicked a bright, sharp smile at all of them, and went to claim a corner of the couch.
***
Two movies later, and Julia and Meg had been collected by their mothers, and Nicki and Carla Rose and Ian had headed upstairs with Bill and Jeff to await their own rides. Nathan, already uncomfortable with the amount of time he’d spent surrounded by people, lingered downstairs, making a half-hearted effort to start cleaning up. He was focused on his self-appointed task, eyes down as he gathered discarded cups into a stack when a hand caught his wrist, and his pulse leaped at the contact- he was startled, was what it was, he hadn’t realized Duke hadn’t gone upstairs with everyone else, that was all.
Really it was.
Duke pulled the stack of cups out of his hand, dropped it aside without any concern, and stood in Nathan’s space, dark eyes fixed and intense. Nathan swallowed hard and backed up a step, trying to disguise the rapid flutter of his breathing, and Duke tilted his head and matched his step, backed Nathan up three more paces until he felt himself bump against the wall. He stopped, then, still entirely too close, and Nathan tried to square his shoulders.
“What,” he asked, trying to sound sharp, trying to sound- anything other than breathless, and not really sure he’d managed.
Duke considered for a second, that same thoughtful look from before stealing across his long face.
“Truth or dare,” he said, and Nathan blinked, looked around for a distraction, an escape, and came up empty.
“Duke-” he started, and Duke cut him off without a word, just leaned into his space, and Nathan flailed to a stop.
“Truth,” he repeated slowly, “or dare?”
“...Truth,” Nathan yielded, because it was safer, it had to be.
“Was that your first kiss?” Duke asked, and Nathan flushed red, embarrassed and unsettled, because it had been.
“Pass,” he bit out, lifting his chin, refusing to let the shame crawling under his skin or the... interest fluttering in his stomach bow his head. Duke’s eyes narrowed, and Nathan was pretty sure he’d figured out the answer without any trouble, but he just gave the faintest hint of a smile.
“Two left,” he said. “Truth or dare?”
“It’s not your turn,” Nathan said, scrambling. “It’s mine.”
“...Fair enough,” Duke said, looking surprised. “Truth.”
“Who says I’m asking you?” Nathan asked, and Duke laughed, low and real.
“Only two in this game,” he pointed out, looking around deliberately. “Truth.”
“...Why did you pick me?” Nathan asked, the words sticking in his throat, coming out thin.
“Because I wanted to,” Duke said, without hesitation. “Truth or dare?”
“That’s not a real answer,” Nathan objected, because obviously he wouldn’t have picked Nathan if he hadn’t wanted to, that- that was cheating, somehow.
“It’s the truth, and it answers the question,” Duke said, shrugging. “Ask better questions. Truth or dare?”
“Truth,” Nathan snapped, a thread of anger rising up, making it easier to hold his ground.
“Did you like it?” Duke asked, and Nathan felt the blush darken, knew he had to be tomato red, but he kept his head up, let his hands fold into fists.
“Pass,” he repeated, and he couldn’t read Duke’s expression at all, now. Didn’t know what he was thinking, behind those narrowed eyes. “Truth or dare?”
“One left,” Duke said, as though Nathan could have forgotten. “Make it count. Truth.”
“Is this some kind of- of prank, or joke, or- or setup?” Nathan asked, and he wasn’t sure why he bothered. If it was, Duke sure as hell wasn’t going to admit it, and if it wasn’t-
-if it wasn’t-
-he didn’t know what to do with that thought.
“No. Nathan, no, I’m not- I wouldn’t do that, not something like this,” Duke said, and he sounded stung, genuinely so. “There’re lines, dude, I wouldn’t cross that one.”
Nathan believed him; wasn’t entirely sure why, if it was the sincerity in his voice or the traces of hurt, of... fear, in his expression, but he believed that it wasn’t a joke. Believed that Duke wasn’t just setting him up to humiliate him, to use this against him somehow. And that was almost more frightening than if he had been, because that, Nathan could’ve handled just by walking away.
He didn’t know how to handle this.
Duke looked at him, eyes darting quickly back and forth, and relaxed, just slightly; whatever he saw, it was apparently enough to convince him that Nathan believed him.
“Truth or dare?” he asked again, the words softer, more intense than before, and Nathan tried to shift backwards, pressed himself into the wall. His stomach was tight, his hands trembling, and he wouldn’t have been surprised if the air between them sparked, there was so much pressure building.
“Truth,” he rasped, and Duke leaned closer, one arm resting on the wall beside Nathan’s head.
“Do you want to do it again?”
“...Dare,” Nathan said, shaking his head, because that was allowed, he was pretty sure, he was pretty sure he was allowed to switch, and he couldn’t answer that question, couldn’t-
“I dare you to let me kiss you again,” Duke said, the words just above a whisper, low and intense and so close Nathan could feel them pass over his skin. And he still had a pass, he could- he could still get out of this, could walk away from this, it didn’t have to be anything, didn’t have to go any further. He could pass, or laugh, or throw a punch even, anything to get clear of this, he should get clear of this, it was trouble he didn’t need and his father would kill him if he ever found out, but Duke was watching him, waiting, intense and focused and ever so slightly unsure, and Nathan nodded, a bare little trace of movement.
Duke’s lips came down on his with all the urgency of a storm breaking, the pressure between them giving in a rush- though for all the weight of it, it held all the same cautious coaxing as before. Duke was gentle with him, one hand curved along his jaw as he tilted Nathan’s head back, as he pressed in. Nathan’s eyes fell shut, a tremble rolling through him, a soft sound of want escaping- and it was an unexpected thrill, that Duke pressed closer in response. That his grip went just that much tighter where his fingers curled against Nathan’s skin.
Emboldened, Nathan reached out, rested a hand at Duke’s hip, the thin wool of Duke’s sweater bunching under his palm, his fingertips just barely finding skin beneath. Duke inhaled sharply, a sound Nathan felt more than heard, and coaxed Nathan’s lips apart with his own, skated teeth lightly across Nathan’s lower lip. Nathan jolted at the feel, rocked forward without meaning to, and the rough purr of denim dragging across denim made his stomach go tight. Duke whined, the sound soft and startled, and pulled back- Nathan opened his eyes, dismayed, but Duke hadn’t retreated far, was still so close Nathan could barely keep him in focus. His eyes were huge, his pupils dilated; his lips were still parted, his breathing rapid and shallow, and there was an entirely too-pretty flush crawling over his cheeks.
“I- was that- that wasn’t... too much?” Duke asked, voice shaking, and Nathan blinked, still trying to figure out what he’d done to make Duke pull away.
“...Not your turn,” he said, after a moment, needing the excuse. “Quit trying to skip me.”
Duke didn’t quite laugh, just gave a startled huff of sound, but he did smile, sudden and startling and bright, and Nathan didn’t think he’d seen Duke smile like that before, without walls around it.
“Sorry,” he said, still smiling. “Dare.”
“I dare you to do that again,” Nathan said, and he’d barely gotten the words out before Duke’s mouth was on his, muffling the sound and stealing Nathan’s breath away. It was not nearly so cautious a kiss this time; Duke crowded back against him, his hand sliding up from Nathan’s jaw to curl into his hair, to cup the back of his neck and keep him close. His other hand came up to mirror Nathan’s unsteady touch, resting at Nathan’s waist, and Nathan could hear his pulse pounding in his ears at the realization that Duke’s hand was shaking.
Nerves, or desire, or both, whatever it was, Duke was just as affected as Nathan. Whatever it was, this was real.
Nathan keened out an eager little sound, pulled against Duke’s hip. Duke rocked forward under his touch with a sound of his own, and Nathan saw stars at the feel of hard heat shifting against his thigh, a shivering rush of want that left him aching. Duke gasped at the contact, like he hadn’t expected it, hadn’t intended it, and pulled back again, and Nathan sagged back against the wall with a groan and a half-hearted glare.
“Why do you keep stopping?” he asked, the words slipping out, and Duke blinked at him, brow furrowing, expression startled and- wary, Nathan thought, which didn’t make any sense at all to Nathan.
“...Now who’s skipping turns?” Duke asked, after a moment, dragging in rough breaths and flashing another smile, still slightly more uncertain than Nathan thought he should be. “Truth or dare?”
Nathan made an impatient sound and tugged at Duke’s hip.
“Dare,” he said, and Duke’s expression flickered, rapid and subtle- and Nathan wasn’t entirely sure, but he thought Duke looked disappointed, for just an instant, before he settled back on thoughtful. He tilted his head, drifted just a little closer, and Nathan leaned forward, waiting.
“Okay. I dare you... to let me take you out.”
“...What?” Nathan blinked, taken entirely off-guard, and Duke ducked his head, then squared his shoulders and looked back up at Nathan with challenge in his expression.
“I dare you to let me take you out. On a- a date.”
“...A date,” Nathan repeated, trying to make sense of that. Trying to make it anything other than entirely out of place. Duke didn’t date; he messed around, he had fun, but Nathan didn’t think he’d ever heard anyone talk about Duke dating anyone. Thought he’d heard Jeff tease him about that, once or twice, and Duke had laughed about it like it was something to be proud of.
He certainly wasn’t laughing now; his expression had shifted, gone closed off in a way that Nathan didn’t like at all. And he hadn’t moved, hadn’t pulled back, but Nathan could still feel an awful sort of distance welling up in the inches between them- he knew, sudden and sure, that if his next words weren’t the right ones, it’d be permanent.
The thought was more upsetting than it should be, all things considered.
“...Where to?” Nathan asked, voice shaking, and Duke frowned, brows drawing down.
“What?”
“Not going anywhere my- my dad might see,” Nathan said, and Duke’s expression relaxed, tension slipping away, and the sense of distance vanished with it.
“Picnic lunch,” Duke drawled, with a smile that wasn’t quite easy, but had lost the wary edge. “I know a place.”
“...Yeah, okay,” Nathan said, feeling his stomach twist in a not-unpleasant way. “I- yeah.”
“You sure?” Duke asked, the question soft and... sincere, and Nathan swayed forward, closed the space between them.
“I’m sure,” Nathan said, because he wouldn’t have said yes if he hadn’t been. He still- he hadn’t expected this, still wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, but he knew that whatever it was, he wanted it, and he wasn’t going to pretend otherwise.
“...Good,” Duke said, leaning in close. “I’m gonna kiss you again.”
“Good,” Nathan said, and let him.