Chapter 30B

Four things happened as soon as we got to the underage club thirty minutes away from the house, which was located near a Dairy Queen and a pharmacy. First, Seth actually took off his hat when I asked him to and left it in the truck, easily pushing back long straight strands of hair that seemed to rest neatly on his head, as if he'd actually taken the time to make it look that way in the mirror. Second, Seth told me not to bother locking his doors because nothing in his truck was more expensive than the windows. Third, he held my hand as soon as we were out of the truck, and I actually noticed a group of guys who didn't seem to approve of that. I almost let go, but instead, I just held on tighter, deciding that what they thought didn't really matter, even if it scared the hell out of me. But Seth did tell me he was going to come back out and move his truck the first chance he got. And fourth, Dave did it for him as soon as that particular group had cleared.

"I don't know if I wanna be here anymore," I admitted as we headed towards the building, and Seth squeezed my hand a little tighter, just as Luke threw an arm around my shoulders.

"Fuck them, okay?" he said simply.

"I come here all the time, Rory," Angela insisted. "You aren't the first gay guy to walk through the doors, and I swear I've never seen a problem here before."

"It's okay," I told her. "I guess I'm just not used to that."

And I wasn't. I also didn't want to get used to feeling like I had in the parking lot--full of fear and an overwhelming self-consciousness; and if anything, it had planted some serious fear about what would happen if I did decide to come out to my friends back home. But I pushed the thought out of my mind and focused on relaxing, even if that was hard to do with music so loud that you couldn't even hear the lyrics, just a whole bunch of bass.

"Let's get a table," Seth said to me, leaning closer so I could hear him. Not only was the club dark and loud, it was crowded, too. Way worse than the bowling alley. I'd be surprised if we even managed to get a table, which seemed to suit everyone but Seth and me just fine because they were all on their way to dance.

I stuck close to Seth as we navigated our way under a series of flashing lights that quite frankly made me feel dizzy, and up a short stairway, past a bar serving sodas and through a group of girls where each of us were asked to dance several times before we were actually able to escape. The only quiet place to stand and wait for a table to open up was near the restrooms, and I was beginning to think that what had happened in the parking lot was only the first of things that was going to turn this into a worse night than I thought it would be.

But then, even as we stood near the bathrooms, things started to change, and I started to relax again. Seth and I looked over the dance floor together, pointing out our friends when we managed to catch a glimpse of them. Dave was actually managing to dance with Angela without fainting, and not far from them, Meg was slow dancing with Luke to a fast song. He looked entirely trapped. I began to consider rescuing him, especially as I thought about our earlier conversation.

"There you go, look," Seth said, draping an arm around me and pointing over my shoulder, and I looked in the direction to see two guys, maybe a little younger than us, dancing in their own corner. They seemed shy towards each other, leaving just enough room between their bodies for a third person. Somehow, seeing that made me feel a little better about being there with Seth. The next two guys he pointed out were simply talking, but holding hands under a table; then, he found three lesbian couples, one which had decided that the dance floor was a suitable place to make out.

"How do you pick them out like that?" I asked Seth.

"I don't know," he replied, looking genuinely confused with himself. "I think it just happens." I laughed and took his hand, and then pointed out something on my own.

"Table," I said, as I watched a group of girls leave a small booth just next to the top of the stairs, and Seth and I rushed to get it. It wasn't the cleanest thing in the world, but at least it was comfortable and in a perfect location to watch our friends.

"So you want something to drink?" Seth asked me as I slid into my seat. "I'm gonna get something."

"Sure," I replied. "I get to save the table."

"Don't move," he told me, grinning.

I sat back in my seat and redirected my attention to the dance floor, wondering if I had Seth's talent of picking out gay couples. It turned out, I didn't. But, I did spot one girl who looked like a guy. I made a mental note to point that out with him as soon as he came back, just in case he might find it interesting. And then I spotted Luke again. As always, he was being a good sport. In this case, he seemed to be doing everything he could to make Meg smile, and it seemed to be working. But, I couldn't help but wonder if Luke's smile was real. Earlier, he'd sounded so lonely, and I was beginning to feel guilty for being so happy with Seth around when Luke was stuck dancing with Meg, because apparently this crush of his had no interest. Unobtainable. That was the only clue Luke had given me when it came to who this person was, but it didn't exactly help any. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out who could be unobtainable and of interest to Luke. Maybe it was someone he worked with. He'd always talked about the best part of his job was working with a bunch of sweaty guys all day. I just hoped that it wasn't some old married guy who happened to be really hot. Luke would definitely have some sort of complex if that was the case. Maybe, I thought, he just needed to get out and meet more people. Maybe Seth could use his talents and find a nice gay guy who wasn't particularly attached to someone that I could mention to Luke. I wasn't sure he'd appreciate that, though. Luke struck me as the kind of guy who liked to deal with people on his own. Besides, I wasn't quite sure if the whole area was a sore subject for him. He'd brought it up with me, but if he was just venting, then I wanted to respect that. Of course, that didn't necessarily stop me from wanting to cheer him up, and when Meg left him on the dance floor to head towards the restrooms that Seth and I had just been standing in front of, all I wanted to do was go check up on him. But then I saw him move towards Dave and Angela, and Seth had returned.

"Hey," Seth said, sliding into the booth, so close to me that all I could do was lean into him. I smiled as he held a drink in front of my face, apparently waiting for something, so I sucked on the straw for a moment to taste something akin to raspberry lemonade. "Do you think it's kinda sour?" he asked me, placing the drink next to the second one that he'd placed on the table. When his eyes met mine again it was a moment before I had my hand on the back of his head, pulling him towards me so I could sneak my tongue into his mouth for a brief moment before pulling back.

"Not sour," I decided, and Seth rolled his eyes at me.

"You're corny," he remarked.

"So?"

"Good point," he responded, and I smiled as he tilted his head down, resting his forehead against mine in a way that had his hair falling against both of our faces, tickling my cheeks. I lifted both hands, tucking it behind his ears as he subtly brushed the tip of his nose over mine. "It's loud in here," Seth commented.

"Mm-hmm." I nodded against him as I found a place for my hand over his knee, and then slid it upwards, over his thigh until I felt Seth's hand move gently over mine, but lightly enough so that I could trace circular patters over the material of his jeans with my fingers, and the effect seemed to have Seth shifting a little in his seat, especially as I moved closer to the space where his thigh met his hip.

"I like sci-fi," he suddenly announced.

"Yeah?"

"I just thought you should know," he said conversationally. "You know, books, movies, television shows. I read a lot of books." I liked it when he started babbling like this. It's how most of our conversations started. He usually wasn't hooking his fingers into the bottom of my shirt, tugging me towards him when he did it, though.

"I don't read much," I responded. "Just my mom's diary lately. I can't sit still for that long."

"How is that going? I mean, the diary... Is that even an appropriate question?"

I smiled at him.

"It's... interesting. I'm glad I have it."

I felt Seth's fingers brush against my skin, just above the hem of my pants, and I slid my hand further up his leg as I tilted my head back, touching his lips with mine, just as my own fingers came up against the beginning of a firm bulge in his pants. The contact had been accidental, but made him jump, nonetheless, and we both chuckled at it as I moved my hand to a safer area. But just knowing it was there shot a warm sensation down my navel and up my thighs until I could feel tightening in my shorts; and as Seth slid a hand up my back and over my neck, pulling me towards him until my mouth was on his again and he was shyly meeting my tongue, not even the sound of someone clearing their throat directly in front of our table seemed to pull my focus away from kissing him. When the throat-clearing turned into a poor attempt at severe coughing, Seth broke the kiss, with my objections, and glanced over his shoulder where Meg was standing with her arms crossed, looking every bit annoyed with us.

"What?" I demanded, and Seth laughed at my tone.

"Do you wanna sit down?" he asked her, sliding over to make her room, and pushing me around the booth in the process.

"Thank you," Meg said, and then helped herself to one of our drinks.

"Where did Luke go?" I asked her curiously, glancing back down to where I'd last seen him.

"Over there," Meg pointed, and I spotted him not far from Angela and Dave, dancing with another girl. I recognized her immediately as Mary, the one that Angela had been complaining about the night before. Obviously, Angela no longer had a problem with her because I saw her wave in Mary's direction, but Luke looked like he was about to find the nearest window and retreat, the way that Mary was grinding against him. It probably wouldn't have looked so bad, I guess, if she wasn't entirely lacking rhythm.

"Why aren't you dancing with him?" I asked Meg, almost accusingly.

"My ankle hurts," Meg complained, and furthered her point by bringing her foot up into her lap.

I sighed as I leaned back into Seth and he moved an arm around my waist, his hand resting over my stomach, but my eyes remained focused on Luke. I wished that he would have looked like he was having a better time. I mean, he was smiling, but... hell, maybe I was just reading too much into the situation because something he said earlier had gotten to me. I didn't like this feeling of feeling sorry for Luke. Luke did not seem like someone anyone would feel sorry for. At least, not in the middle of a club where he was getting so much attention that I'm sure he didn't know what to do with it all.

"Are you okay?" Seth asked, and I trembled slightly when I felt his teeth lightly scrape over my ear.

I nodded and turned my head to look at him. God, I was comfortable there. I didn't really want to leave for anything. Well, that wasn't entirely true. I'd leave with him in a second if we were going somewhere where I could go for the pants, as Luke simply put it. But, Luke wasn't just anything.

"Hey Seth," I said. "You know how I said I'd sit out with you?"

He raised an eyebrow and regarded me curiously for a moment.

"You want to dance, don't you?"

"Want isn't the right word," I admitted, and then nodded towards Luke. "He was kinda down earlier. I want to see if he's okay."

Seth looked surprised, but seemed to recover quickly, and shrugged.

"Yeah. Okay. I'll wait here for you."

"Thanks," I said. "I'll be right back." I slid out the other side of the booth, but not before taking nearly a full minute to kiss Seth again, pulling away only when Meg pretended to gag in a way that actually made us both laugh. "Right back," I promised again, and when Seth turned his dimple on me, I nearly changed my mind. But soon I was navigating my way through a crowd.

It had been a while since I danced anywhere. The last time it had been with Jason Cross's girlfriend at a school dance. It was after my mom had gotten sick, but one of the last times I could remember actually getting out on my own and having a really good time. Jason had refused to dance with the girl--Danielle--and she'd recruited me. Later, she'd named me her little freak, much to Jason's chagrin. I still had mixed feelings about that particular nickname, but it had been fun dancing with her--so much actually, that we'd been warned by one of the chaperones to 'cool it.'

I'd pretty much remembered how to find my rhythm with the music by the time I reached Luke and Mary, and smiled when they both looked at me.

"Do you mind?" I asked, and Mary turned towards me, grinning as she continued to do very odd things with her hips. She stopped smiling, though, when I moved past her and reached out to physically grab Luke's waist and pulled him towards me. He looked as surprised as Mary did, but laughed out loud and when I danced, he danced.

"What are you doing?" he finally asked as we learned to keep rhythm while also keeping a respectable distance between each other.

"Are you okay?" I asked, responding to his question with one of my own.

"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked as he suddenly turned, and I found Luke's ass up against my crotch. "Is this about earlier?"

"Yes, it's about earlier!" I responded, unable to keep from laughing at his antics as he turned back around as a slower song began to play and he moved his arms around my neck, as if I were supposed be leading. I wasn't much for slow dancing. For me it seemed awkward doing it with another guy.

"Sorry about that," Luke replied.

"You're sorry?"

"Yeah, I got bummed out over stupid stuff. Don't worry about it."

"It wasn't stupid," I insisted as I decided that my hands could rest comfortably on his waist, and then I smiled. "You know, Seth keeps pointing out gay guys here, maybe..."

Luke laughed.

"Maybe some other time."

"Yeah?"

"Maybe; thanks for dancing with me."

"Anytime," I replied, and leaned in to hug him back for a brief moment when he pulled me in, before placing his hands on my shoulders to push me back. "You should tell me who this guy is you like," I decided for him.

"Should I?" Luke responded, appearing mildly amused.

"I could talk, or kick some sense into him for you."

Luke chuckled. "You really are family, you know?"

I smiled at him.

"Yeah. Okay. So you're not gonna tell me."

"I could," he replied, sighing. "But if I did, the only person you'd want to talk sense into is me."

I cocked my head at him, and he shrugged.

"I think Seth's waiting for you," he said, nodding in the direction, and I glanced over my shoulder. He certainly was waiting, still in the booth and watching Luke and me intently, even with Meg talking his ear off. I sent him a small wave and then looked at Luke again. "Are you okay if we take off a little early?" I asked, and Luke's smile turned mischievous.

"You have other plans?"

"I don't know yet," I admitted.

"Go ahead. I'll see you later?"

"Yeah."

I parted with Luke, but he wasn't alone for long. A moment later, Angela was cutting in. He probably wasted no time in asking her why Mary was dancing with Dave now and she wasn't, but to be honest, I could care less about that situation at this point. At least Luke seemed a little better than he'd been before, and plus, Seth was waiting for me. I was pleasantly surprised when he pulled me right into the booth, directly against his side, as soon as I got there and wasted no time kissing me, his mouth spreading my lips in a way that granted his tongue immediate access, while all I could do was recover from my surprise and take it. I'm sure I was blushing by the time he pulled back.

"Everything okay?" he asked, and I managed to nod before he was kissing me again, and Meg was mumbling about how rude we were as she left the booth.

Despite wanting to get out of there with Seth, we didn't leave until eight o'clock. Instead, we talked between kisses while people came and went from our table. Angela showed up with Dave for a while, and they didn't seem to mind us ignoring them. Dave was carrying on an actual conversation with her, and even I was proud of him when I heard him pay her two compliments within thirty minutes. Meg came back a few times, mostly to tell us that she was dancing with other guys, and if either of us happened to see Rick anytime soon, we should feel free to repeat the fact to him. Luke showed up once to ask everyone at the table to help him convince some girl that he was, in fact, gay; and then a little later I noticed him talking to one of the gay couples that Seth had pointed out before--the two that had been holding hands under the table. Luke was smiling again. That was also around the time that Seth finally asked me if I wanted to get out of there.

I felt surprisingly relaxed when Seth and I left the club. The sun was beginning to set and the warm air and even the sound of traffic coming from the main road behind the building was a welcome exchange from the loud music and flashing lights that still had my head swimming. For ten minutes Seth and I wandered the parking lot trying to figure out where Dave had parked Seth's truck. But, it felt more like a nature walk across asphalt than a stressful search for our ride out of there.

Once in his truck, all it took was one look from Seth for me to slide across the seat to get closer to him as he pushed his hair back, the lightest strands shining under the street light we were parked under before he covered it with his hat.

"We can go back to my house," he said, moving his hand between my legs to rest on my inner thigh.

"Okay."

"But... if we wait an hour, my sister will be in bed and my parents probably won't notice us."

I smiled at those odds. "Okay."

"Do you wanna go to dinner or something?" he asked, and I nodded.

As we headed away from the club, we talked about where we wanted to eat. Seth finally just told me to pick a place, and since one of the streets looked familiar, I directed him towards a restaurant that Eddie took me to a lot. Seth said it sounded good until he discovered fish on the menu. I pointed out that there was only one thing on the menu that had fish in it, so he was fairly safe. He liked his chicken, and the pool table in the corner. We played a game as I told him how Eddie and Jase had met in the same restaurant; and as we left, I pointed out the fire hydrant that I'd hit my first time driving. He teased me over that all the way to his house.

I looked around Seth's room, feeling a little lost. The only available light came from the short hallway leading to his bathroom and the glow from the television, and Seth wasn't there. It had been mostly dark when we'd silently climbed his stairs, but obviously his dad had heard us come in because as soon as we were on the other side of Seth's door he'd called for Seth. Which is why Seth wasn't there with me now. He'd told me to get comfortable and that he'd be right back. Get comfortable? Honestly, I don't think those words had ever carried so much pressure with them before. If there was any such thing as foreplay, Seth and I had been having it all day; and while it hadn't actually been discussed, it was pretty clear that we both had the same idea when it came to why we didn't want his parents to know I was there. But even so, I didn't want to get too far ahead of myself. I think the problem was that Seth had way too many places to get comfortable in his room. If this was any other situation, I'd just take a seat on the sofa and stare at the muted television while I waited. But when I sat on the sofa to wait, I found myself staring at his bed, instead, wondering if I should just go over there and wait for him.