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Tommy felt the cold air envelop his body as he stepped out into the night, felt the goosebumps forming on his skin, but most importantly, he felt Damien's hand in his, which proved to be the ultimate distraction above anything else.
"C'mon, Thomas," Damien mumbled, staying a few steps ahead of Tommy and pulling him along.
"Looks like I don't have a choice here," Tommy replied, giggling. He wasn't completely wasted, but the world kept sliding in and out of focus as he followed Damien, and he could feel heat pulsating in his face, neck, and chest.
Not all of that was due to drunkenness—normally, Tommy wouldn't try to think about it too hard, but then he squeezed Damien's hand and Damien glanced back at him, goofy smile on his face.
Tommy felt lighter all of a sudden, like he could float away at any second, and Damien was the only thing keeping him on the ground. And this wasn't the first time Tommy had felt like this.
Damien abruptly stopped in his tracks and Tommy nearly bumped into him.
"What? Why'd you stop?" Tommy blinked a few times, trying to clear his head a little.
Damien turned toward him, holding out his other hand. "Because I found your car." He opened and closed his fist a couple of times. "Keys, please."
"Oh. Duh."
Tommy fished around in his pocket for his keys while also making an effort to not let go of Damien's hand. Finally, his fingers scraped against metal, grabbing the keys and freeing them from their pocket-sized prison. He handed them over and listened as Damien fumbled around, trying to get the back hatch of the station wagon unlocked.
"Daaaamessss. Toooommyyyy."
Tommy looked up and saw Shayne wandering toward them with a content smile on his face.
"Shaaaayyyyne," Tommy answered back. "Is Spence alive?"
Shayne nodded enthusiastically. "He is alive and…mostly well. He seemed a little down, actually." The smile slowly left Shayne's face and was replaced by a slightly pensive frown.
Damien finally pulled the handle on the door and it opened with ease. "He's just like that sometimes."
Shayne shrugged. "Yeah, but…I don't know, it just felt worse than usual."
Tommy moved around Damien, reluctantly letting go of his hand and flexing his fingers as if they already ached from the emptiness. He sat in the back of his car and looked at Shayne, who still wore a worried look on his face.
"Sometimes Spencer thinks a little more than he should. Maybe he's just sad that the tour is over?"
Shayne nodded. "Maybe. But he said something about me getting tired of him…" His voice drifted away, along with his gaze. After a few seconds, he refocused, as if suddenly remembering that he was standing there with Tommy and Damien.
"Anyway. You guys good? If so, I'm gonna go crash."
Damien sat down next to Tommy, leaning into him slightly. "We're good. Go sleep it off, champ."
Shayne gave them a wave, turning back the way he came and walking away, albeit a bit unsteadily.
Tommy watched him go. "He's very sweet. But goddamn, he's got an uphill battle ahead of him."
Damien probably meant to nudge his shoulder, but it felt more like he was pressing that entire side of his body into Tommy, and it was very distracting.
"He's always been a sweet guy. But also, huh?"
"Never mind," Tommy said, laughing softly. "It's cold and I'm sleepy. C'mon." Tommy pushed back slightly against Damien and then climbed further into the back of the car, grabbing his sleeping bag and getting himself situated.
Damien did the same, then reached for the hatch door. As he stretched his arm upward, Tommy couldn't help but notice the bared skin on Damien's lower back as his shirt rode up. Part of him wanted to reach out and touch it, but instead, Tommy forced himself to look up at the roof of his car.
"You in?” Damien asked.
"Yeah, I'm good."
Damien closed the door and laid back. "I know you're good, silly."
"That's up for debate."
"You said it, not me."
Tommy turned towards Damien, rolling his eyes. "Okay, Dames."
It was a little hard to tell in the near darkness, but Tommy thought he could see Damien's cheeks flushing a bit. He didn't retort, instead choosing to stare at Tommy like he was hanging on his every word.
"Sorry, is that a Shayne-only nickname?"
"No," Damien replied, shaking his head.
Tommy smiled. "Well, for the record, I like it. It suits you."
They laid there together in the quiet, both of them fading into slumber until the sounds of Tommy's teeth chattering and his sleeping bag fidgeting brought them back from the edge of sleep.
"You okay?" Damien whispered.
"Cold, but I'll be fine." Tommy shifted around, trying to find the warmest configuration for his body to lie in.
"C'mere."
Tommy froze in place. "What?"
Damien pulled his arms out of his sleeping bag, tentatively pushing one hand underneath Tommy and wrapping his arm around Tommy's upper back. His other arm rested on Tommy's hip, hand firmly pressed against Tommy's lower back. Then Damien paused, giving Tommy the opportunity to refuse.
Tommy stayed silent. He wondered if he'd already fallen asleep and this was his dream.
Damien slowly pulled Tommy towards him, one arm staying around his waist, and the other moving up around Tommy's shoulders, his hand sliding up Tommy's neck until his fingers were threaded in Tommy's hair.
"Damien, you don't have to—"
"What if I want to, Thomas?"
Something in the low, gravelly tone of Damien's voice made Tommy turn off his brain and nuzzle into Damien's chest.
Maybe they wouldn't remember this in the morning. Maybe they would. Right now, Tommy didn't really care. Damien's body was warm and solid and real, and this was a scenario he'd thought about for far too long.
Developing a crush on one of his best friends from high school had been a turn of events that Tommy never anticipated. Especially when he was fairly certain that crush was straight.
So what was this, then? They had always been a little extra touchy-feely with each other, but actual cuddling had never happened before, not even on the nights leading up to this one.
They were both exhausted and slightly inebriated. Tommy told himself that's all it was. Nothing else.
God, he really hoped Shayne and Spencer didn't find them like this in the morning. They'd never live it down.
"Better?"
The rumble of Damien's voice pulled Tommy out of his head. "Much better. Thank you," he whispered.
He felt Damien's fingers gently moving through his hair, a repetitive and unfocused motion. The warmth and the comfort and the undeniable peace of this moment was something Tommy wanted to revel in forever, but he felt his eyes fluttering shut anyway.
"Can I tell you something?" Damien asked, his voice wavering slightly.
Tommy untucked his head from Damien's chest and looked up at him. "You can tell me anything."
Damien glanced down at him, blinking a few times before looking back up.
"I wouldn't be laying here in the back of your car, after finishing an insane five-day tour with a band that's made up of people who are so important to me, playing music because it's all I've ever wanted to do…I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."
Tommy felt his chest tighten, his mind suddenly clearer than it had been in hours. He was fairly certain he knew where this was going, but still longed to hear Damien say the words regardless.
"What do you mean, Damien?"
Damien took a shaky breath. "You found me. You took a chance on the weird new kid. That's how any of this came to be. And I'm just so fucking grateful for that."
Tommy still remembered that day clearly, how he'd plopped down without hesitation in the seat next to Damien, the newcomer in the baritone section of the school choir.
"I told you that I liked the Chansey patch on your book bag," Tommy murmured.
Damien hummed. "You did. That's how I already knew you were awesome—you recognized the best Pokemon."
It felt like the right thing to do, so Tommy maneuvered his arms until they were outside of his sleeping bag, shifting upwards a little so he was more face-to-face with Damien, and then wrapped his arms around him.
"Best decision of my life," Tommy said, looking into Damien's eyes, faintly illuminated by a nearby streetlight. The sentiment settled over them as they held each other.
"Tommy, I—" Damien began.
But Tommy shook his head and gently squeezed Damien's body in a hug. He was so tired, and if he was going to remember the feeling of being in Damien's arms, he wanted the experience to at least end on a good note.
"Tell me later. Let's try to get some sleep, okay? Tomorrow's gonna be a long day."
Damien nodded. "Want me to move?"
Tommy's breath hitched in his chest. "No. Not unless you want to."
"I don't want to."
The next morning, Shayne found them with their arms tangled around each other. He didn't say anything about it, which Tommy was extremely grateful for.
And it hadn't been a dream. Tommy remembered it all, and the look he kept catching in Damien's eyes told him that Damien remembered it too.
But they drove home, sang all their favorite songs, argued about the usual things, and when Damien called him Thomas with mischief in his eyes, Tommy grinned and let him do it.