Chapter 9

“What? What the fuck did she say?” Fred asked. Aaron had Fred’s phone to his ear and his eyes had grown wide.

“Shit, Freddie,” Aaron muttered. He pulled the phone away from his ear.

“What is it?” Fred hissed.

“She wanted to let you know ... that she might have given your phone number to someone in her prayer group and they ... might have shared it in their fucking church Facebook group,” Aaron said. Fred stared at Aaron.

“Are you serious?” he asked quietly. Aaron nodded.

“Do you want me to delete the message?” Aaron asked. Fred stared down at his lap.

“Did she say anything else?” Fred asked. Aaron winced and hesitated, turning his eyes away from Fred.

“She ... Freddie, I don’t ... I don’t want to tell you,” Aaron said just above a whisper. Fred balked.

“What the fuck did she say, Aaron? How the fuck did she sound? Did she even fucking apologize?!” Fred stood up, his voice rising as he did, he snatched his phone from Aaron’s hand.

“Watch it,” Aaron said as Fred’s nails scratched down his wrist, leaving angry red welts in their wake. A little bead of blood bloomed in the middle of one of the welts.

“How did she sound?! What did she fucking say?!” Fred yelled. Aaron rubbed at his wrist and felt tears spring to his eyes, that he willed away.

“Don’t yell at me Fred,” Aaron said. “I don’t want to say.”

Fred’s eyes blazed and shone at the same time. Aaron was torn between shoving him away and gathering him up into a hug.

“Why?” Fred demanded. Aaron sighed.

“She sounded...” Aaron pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I’ll just fucking listen to it,” Fred spat.

“No Freddie, don’t! I don’t think you should,” Aaron said. Fred tossed his phone on the coffee table with a loud clatter and pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes.

“Please, just tell me what she said, how she sounded Aaron,” Fred begged. Aaron sighed again his eyes focused on the floor. Fred dropped his hands and took a deep breath.

“I’m not going to tell you Fred and I don’t think you should listen to it.” Aaron finally brought his gaze up to Fred’s. Anger blazed wildly in his eyes made starker by the sheen of tears.

“I-” his voice cracked. “I need a fucking minute,” Fred said, snatching up his phone, and stomping back to the bedroom.

Aaron pulled in a shuddering breath and scraped both hands down his face. He looked down at his wrist. It wasn’t so bad; the little bloom of blood was already clotted and not actively bleeding.

It hadn’t been often that he was on the receiving side of Fred’s anger. He had seen it plenty of times in their youth, watched Fred beat the shit out of more than one person for some seemingly grievous wrong committed.

It was quiet in the bedroom right now and Aaron wondered if he should go back there and check on him. But Fred had made it pretty clear that he needed to be alone. So, Aaron went back to his work laying patiently on the dining table.

He tried not to dwell on their fight, on how Fred had shouted at him, his nails scratching over his wrist and him not even caring. Aaron tried to just focus on his work.

Fred came down the hall about thirty minutes later, a limp gym bag in hand, clad in a pair of loose gym shorts and a T-shirt. His eyes were bloodshot and tired, but his face was still a pale stoic mask of anger, roiling just beneath the surface.

“I’m going to the gym,” he said blandly. “I might stop by my place. I’ll be back in a couple hours.” Aaron’s mind flashed to Russell, and he wondered if it would be a good idea for Fred to go home.

“Freddie,” Aaron said as he approached the door. Fred turned, his hand on the doorknob. “Be careful OK? Call me if you ... well ... I’m here if you need me, Freddie.” Fred’s face softened just a little.

“OK,” he muttered. He hesitated for a moment, then went to Aaron and kissed the top of his head.

“I love you.” It was so quiet Aaron almost didn’t hear him. Aaron gripped his shirt holding him in place. Fred brought his eyes to Aaron’s.

“I love you, Freddie,” he said clearly. Fred kissed his forehead and Aaron released his shirt. He could tell Fred was still mad, but wasn’t sure if it was at him, at his mother, at the whole fucking situation. He was just angry.

Fred slipped out the door. Aaron sighed and again tried to direct his attention back to his work.

Aaron worked for another hour before he couldn’t keep his mind focused anymore. He turned his phone on and prepared for the flood of notifications. It wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. Most of the messages were from friends wanting confirmation of what they had heard. There was a message from his mom asking if he knew Madison was telling everyone about him and Fred. He supposed he should have given her a heads up.

He called his parents and talked to them a bit, updating them on what had been going on, but leaving out the fight he and Fred were currently in the middle of. After getting off the phone with them, he texted Mark about what was going on. Mark called him immediately and they chatted for a little while.

Mark didn’t pry too much, but Aaron did tell him what the message from Fred’s mother had said. Outside of letting Fred know she’d just given out his phone number like it didn’t fucking matter, she had said she didn’t have an interest in hearing from him anymore.

“What?” Mark asked when Aaron told him. Aaron sighed.

“She said she was going to give him until the end of the day to contact her and tell her he wasn’t going to see me again. Not even as friends, how we used to be. She said she had no interest in having a fag for a son, and that he was welcome home once he put these quote sinful ways behind him,” Aaron croaked. “Was I wrong? Should I have told him?” Aaron asked. Mark blew out a breath.

“Fuck man, I have no idea,” Mark said. “Sorry, I know that’s not helpful.”

“I don’t know. Maybe I should have told him. There was a deadline, I guess it was shitty of me to keep that to myself. But it was so cruel ... I guess I could have lightened the blow, phrased it differently,” Aaron said.

“I guess so. But would it have lightened the blow? It’s still his mother telling him to stay out of her life. No matter how you phrase it, it’s a ... I mean you’re right it’s so cruel,” Mark said.

“He should be back soon. I mean I hope so. He said he might stop at his apartment. I’m worried Russell might show up while he’s home,” Aaron said.

“Oh. Shit,” Mark said.

“If he’s still as angry as he was when he left, he might...” Aaron sighed deeply. “I mean you remember how he would get when we were kids. The fights.” Mark made a noise of confirmation.

“He put that one kid in the hospital,” Mark muttered. “He was so lucky his parents didn’t press charges.” Aaron groaned.

“Should I go look for him?” Aaron asked. Mark paused.

“No. I’d like to think he’s grown up since he was seventeen.” Again, Mark paused. “Want me to drive by his place, see if his car is there? See if Russell’s car is there?”

It would only be a short drive. But as Aaron pondered, he heard the spare key he’d given Fred in the lock.

“Oh, I think he’s back. I’ll talk to you later Mark,” Aaron said.

“Alright man, let me know if you guys need anything,” Mark said. Aaron said he would and hung up as Fred came into the house. Aaron studied him as he came in.

Fred glanced at Aaron and his cheeks went a little pink. He looked better than when he left. His gym bag bulged, and he let it fall to the floor. His hair was damp, and he smelled like the gym’s complimentary soap.

“Hey,” he said timidly. Aaron put his phone on the table and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. He cradled his chin in one hand.

“Hey,” Aaron replied. Fred rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat.

“Can I sit with you?” he asked. Aaron gestured to the empty chair next to him. “Thanks,” Fred muttered. He sat with a sigh, and his cheeks flushed a bit more as he dragged his eyes up to Aaron’s.

“I listened to the message,” Fred said. Aaron sighed.

“Oh Freddie,” he began. But Fred held up his hand.

“You were right, I shouldn’t have listened to it. But you should have told me. She gave me a deadline, a fucking ultimatum. You should have told me about that,” Fred said.

Aaron dropped his eyes and folded both hands together on top of the table. Fred tentatively reached out a hand to grasp one of his. He turned it over and looked at the small faded pink welts, the little scab on Aaron’s wrist.

“You should have told me, but this is not OK,” he continued. Fred brought his eyes to Aaron’s. “I never should have yelled at you like that and this,” he ran a thumb over the welts. “It’s unacceptable.”

“It was an accident,” Aaron said very quietly.

“Fuck that,” Fred said softly. “That’s no excuse. I ... I love you and you don’t yell at someone you love like that.” Aaron wasn’t sure what to say because he certainly agreed, but he didn’t know if saying it out loud would be productive. Fred took a deep breath and continued.

“I grew up with someone who screamed at me and tossed me around and...” he paused and cleared his throat. “And hit me and told me it was because she loved me. I know that’s not ... that’s not what love looks like,” Fred said. “I was so fucking angry, and I wasn’t even sure who or what I was mad at. But it wasn’t you.” Aaron felt a hot lump in his throat, and he tried to swallow it down.

“I’m sorry Aaron. I’m so sorry, this never should have happened,” Fred paused and glanced to the side before looking back and holding Aaron’s eye contact again. “You should kick me to the fucking curb for this. There’s no fucking excuse.” Aaron barked out a small laugh. “I’m fucking serious Aaron.” Aaron brought a hand to Fred’s face.

“Freddie...” he said.

“I called my dad,” Fred continued. “I told him the whole thing. The message, the fight we had, what I did to you. I told him it was an accident. He wasn’t having that though. I’m going to get therapy, baby. I know you said you’ve got me, you support me, but I’m ... I’ve got some bigger shit to work through. It’s not fair to ask you to do that work for me.” Aaron felt a dropping in his stomach and his hands fell limp in his lap.

“What are you saying Freddie?” he asked fearfully. Fred stared at him for a minute. Then a look of dawning appeared on his face.

“Oh fuck, no, no, no. I’m not trying to break up with you baby!” Fred exclaimed. “Holy shit, no. Aaron, I’m just telling you I really fucked up and I’m super fucked up and I’m going to try to fix it. I want to be better for you.” Aaron put a hand to his chest.

“Jesus Christ, Freddie!” Aaron squeaked. “I thought for sure you were trying to end this.”

“God, no,” Fred pulled Aaron into a hug, holding him tight. Aaron burrowed into the hug wrapping his arms tightly around his boyfriend’s torso.

“You make me want to be better,” Fred muttered. He kissed his neck as they clutched at each other. “I’m so fucking sorry.”

“I know you are. I forgive you Freddie. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you everything in the message I should have,” Aaron said. He planted a kiss on Fred’s neck. Fred loosened his arms and brought his hands to Aaron’s face.

“You were trying to protect me,” Fred whispered. He kissed Aaron tenderly and he accepted the kiss, parting his lips slightly. Fred’s tongue slipped between them into his mouth, gently twining around Aaron’s. He pulled his chair closer as the two continued their slow kissing.

One hand came to rest on Aaron’s chest feeling his heartbeat as it gradually increased the longer Fred’s tongue wound into his mouth. A small moan sounded in Aaron’s throat. Fred moved his hand slowly down Aaron’s chest and slipped it under his shirt. He ran his fingers over the muscles there as Aaron’s breathing caught in his throat. He sighed out a breath as Fred brought his mouth to the crook of his neck and lightly sucked.

Slowly and deliberately Fred’s fingers pushed past the waistband of the sweatpants Aaron wore. They crept under his boxer shorts and skimmed along his hardening shaft. So softly and so gently Fred stroked his fingertips along Aaron’s cock. He moaned again and leaned back in his chair, widening his knees as Fred moved his chair even closer.

Fred’s cock dripped as his fingers wrapped around Aaron’s stiffening shaft. He brought his hand up and down the length of it causing precum to flow out of the tip. He swished his fingers around the tip of Aaron’s cock and slid his hand down rapidly.

“Ugh, god, Freddie,” Aaron groaned. Fred continued to lick and kiss at Aaron’s neck as he stroked his cock. Aaron reached out to Fred’s hugely erect dick. He slid his hand up the loose leg of his gym shorts and grasped at his boyfriend’s rock-hard cock. Fred let out a gasp and a groan as Aaron began to move his hand up and down.

“Ah, fuck, baby,” Fred muttered. His cock dripped profusely as Aaron worked his hand up and down. The two men sat at the table stroking each other, kissing, licking, letting the feelings of desire and pleasure build ever so slowly.

Fred started moving his hand faster and faster up and down Aaron’s hard shaft. He began panting and moaning. The stroking of Fred’s cock became more uneven and stuttering as Aaron neared his release, but Fred didn’t mind. Watching his lover’s face contort as he rode that wave of pleasure was enough. Aaron felt his balls tighten and his cock undulate as Fred’s hand gripped him tightly.

“Oh, yesss, Freddie! AH, ffffuuuu...” Aaron moaned out as his cock spurt, creating a huge wet spot on his sweatpants. He panted as Fred continued to slowly stroke his cock, slick with his cum. Aaron rode the aftershocks of his climax as he brought his own hand quickly up and down Fred’s granite dick.

“Fuck, fuck, baby, ugh, fuck, yeah...” Fred’s hips thrust forward as Aaron milked his cock roughly, lightly dragging his nails against the skin. It burst with a cry from Fred, one hand gripped Aaron’s shirt sleeve into a tight fist, his other hand wrapped tightly around Aaron’s softening dick. Aaron hissed in a breath as Fred gripped him, but his cock leaked a little more cum.

“Ah fuck,” Fred sighed out as Aaron brought his hand up and down once more. The two men let each other go and kissed again wiping their hands on their shirts.

Aaron caught his breath and glanced over to the gym bag Fred had dropped by the door.

“Did you stop by your place?” Aaron asked. Fred leaned back in his chair as his breathing evened out again.

“Oh, yeah. Just grabbed some stuff for next week,” Fred paused. “If you don’t mind me staying longer. There was no sign of Russell, so I could probably stay at my place if you know ... if you’d prefer that or...” Fred trailed off.

“You can stay here Freddie. As long as you want,” Aaron said. Fred smiled and looked down at his hands in his lap.

“I don’t want to overstay my welcome,” he said bringing his eyes back up to Aaron’s.

“You could never,” Aaron said. “I want you around all the time.”

“All the time, huh? You don’t think you’d get tired of me?” Fred asked.

“No. I don’t really see that happening. You could stay forever, and I wouldn’t get tired of you.” The words were out of his mouth before Aaron even realized what he was saying. His face flushed as Fred studied him.

“Are you ... are you being serious right now?” Fred asked. Aaron considered playing it off as a joke, but he realized he didn’t want to do that. He had meant the words he’d said. He truly did want Fred here all the time.

“I am serious,” Aaron said quietly. “Do you ... You could ... You could move in, with me, if you wanted to.” Aaron’s eyes didn’t drop to his lap, and he didn’t fidget, he just held Fred’s eye contact. He saw something light up in Fred and he grinned a little.

“People will say it’s too fast,” Fred said. Aaron still held his gaze.

“Fuck ‘em. They’re not in this.” Aaron shrugged. “We are.” Then he had a thought.

“Do you think it’s too fast?” Aaron asked. Fred grinned again.

“No, I don’t,” Fred said.

“Really?” Aaron asked, tilting his head to one side.

“Baby, I’ve wanted to move in with you since our first shower together in Vegas. I want to be around you all the time,” Fred admitted.

“Except when you don’t,” Aaron joked leaning forward. Fred put a hand to Aaron’s face.

“Yeah, except then,” Fred said. He kissed Aaron, who happily kissed him back.

One Month Later

It was a Friday afternoon and Fred was in his kitchen packing one of his cupboards into a box. Paul had flown in from California to help with the move. Aaron’s parents had hired a moving company, and they had been in and out all day. Fred was frantically finishing his packing. He was supposed to have had it all packed by now, but work had been insane for him this last month. It seemed all too often to work out that way. When you really needed to get something done in your personal life work suddenly demanded just as much attention.

Mark had taken the day off and helped Fred with his packing. He and Paul had taken the movers out to lunch, but Fred had opted to skip it in an effort to get the last bit of packing done.

Aaron was finishing his last day in court and said he would come by when they adjourned. Fred had told him not to, to just go home, relax, and not worry about the move. But Aaron had insisted, so Fred was trying really hard to make sure there was nothing too strenuous for him to do when he arrived. Aaron was sure to be absolutely exhausted by the end of his day.

The front door creaked open and shut again, surprising Fred. Paul, Mark and the two moving guys had only been gone for about ten minutes. It was the fastest lunch of all time. But when he turned, he saw Aaron standing there. His professional attire was absent, replaced with scruffy clothes for a moving day.