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Even with the heater on, the cold was almost unbearable. Reed had just finally gotten comfortable in bed, wrapped up tightly under a pile of blankets. He would’ve preferred Sue to be there with him, but she’d gone to a conference out of town, and wouldn’t be back until the next afternoon. No. This afternoon, since it was technically early morning now. He had been up all night working, and was now too exhausted to even fully close the curtains, leaving the room partially illuminated by city lights and moonbeams reflecting off the snow. Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, he felt someone grabbing his hand. His eyes snapped open, and he yelped at the sight of Johnny standing at his bedside.
“Johnny, what do you want?” he muttered, once his heart had stopped racing.
“Can I get in the bed with you and keep you warm?”
Was Johnny asking to sleep with him? He knew that Reed was in a relationship with Sue. Granted, it was an on-and-off thing. They were more like close friends who sometimes dated. But still. Johnny was an attractive guy and all, but sleeping with anyone other than Sue just felt wrong. Especially since Johnny was her brother.
“Please?”
Ugh. Johnny was giving him the puppy dog eyes again. He looked so sweet and vulnerable when he did that, and Reed often couldn’t help but give in to him.
Reed closed his eyes and didn’t reply. Maybe if he was quiet for long enough, Johnny would give up and leave him alone. But it didn’t work. Reed could feel Johnny squeezing his hand harder. He tried to turn away and pull himself out of Johnny’s grasp, but his arm just grew longer.
Right. Super stretching abilities.
Reed took a deep breath and prepared to be assertive. To tell Johnny to go away. But at that exact moment, the power decided to go out.
“Uh-oh.”
“How about now?”
Reed sighed. “What the hell? Climb in. You can be my heated blanket.”
“I will be the BEST heated blanket.”
It was too dark to see Johnny smiling, but Reed could practically hear the grin on his face. He felt himself smiling, too. Just a little bit.
Might as well let him be. After all, it’ll only be a short time. The power will be back on soon.
The short time felt like a long time. Reed had the most fantastic dreams about Johnny. Dreams that he would never tell anyone about, especially not Sue. Dreams he was embarrassed to even admit to himself. When he woke up, Johnny was on top of him.
Uh-oh. Had his dreams actually been reality?
Well, they weren’t naked, at least. So… maybe not. Hopefully not.
Reed wriggled his way out from under Johnny and scrunched up one of the blankets from the pile, trying to hide the evidence of his arousal.
Johnny also sat up. “What’s on your scientific mind?” he asked, smiling warmly.
Reed sat in silence. He couldn’t tell Johnny what was really on his mind. How much he loved him. There’s no way he feels the same. I’m too old and uncool.
“I’m just thinking about Sue,” he finally said. “I miss her.” And she’s gonna kill me if she finds me in bed with you.
“Yeah, me, too,” Johnny said. “But I think she’ll be home soon.”
Suddenly, they heard footsteps.
“Shit,” Reed muttered. “What time is it?”
Both men turned to look at the clock. They had slept past noon. Sue was home… and she was heading right towards them.