
Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/1854664.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Pacific_Rim_(2013)
  Relationship:
      Raleigh_Becket/Chuck_Hansen, Yancy_Becket_&_Tendo_Choi, Hercules_Hansen_&
      Stacker_Pentecost
  Character:
      Raleigh_Becket, Chuck_Hansen, Max_(Pacific_Rim), Yancy_Becket, Tendo
      Choi, Mako_Mori, Trevin_Gage, Bruce_Gage, Zeke_Amarok, Hercules_Hansen,
      Stacker_Pentecost
  Additional Tags:
      Cybersex, Chatting_&_Messaging, Webcam/Video_Chat_Sex, Hockey
  Stats:
      Published: 2014-06-27 Updated: 2017-08-02 Chapters: 7/? Words: 65116
****** Come Online ******
by jaeger_delta_(deltasierra), onlyoneday
Summary
     Raleigh and Chuck find each other on Chat Roulette and things turn
     hot and bothered pretty fast. As much as they can, with computer
     screens and the Pacific Ocean between them...
Notes
     Here's the naughty first chapter of the silly RP me and onlyoneday
     are working on. (Inspired by the cybersex in The_Constant_Beat_To_My
     Heart by SublimeDiscordance).
     These two horny dumbasses, right?
     Enjoy!
See the end of the work for more notes
***** Chapter 1 *****
It was never anything very serious. Just a bit of harmless fun to pass the
boring hours between finishing his school work and submitting to sleep. And
besides, it wasn't like he was hanging about with his cock out like most of the
people on Chat Roulette.
 
No, Chuck was always more of an opinion giver. The kind to set Max up on the
chair and train him to wear a pair of sunglasses and be cute while Chuck took
command of the keyboard and gave informed opinions on just how small someone's
cock was. Well, they were Max's opinions, really.
 
Sometimes he got a good reaction, twice he and someone dressed up as Spiderman
had a banter war that took up most of the night, but it was usually just random
time wasting. There was the odd exception but it was usually just something to
fill the hour or so before his mushy brain completely gave up.
 
That night was different only in that Max had earned a little Hawaiian shirt as
well. Sitting pretty and patiently for the little dog biscuits he knew he would
be fed if he sat there. For whatever reason his human seemed to love it, so who
was he to care.
 
Raleigh flipped open the lid of the laptop and double-clicked the webcam icon,
and soon enough he was staring back at his own face. Which, he felt, was quite
good-looking. He positioned the lid just so that the camera didn’t show his
face, but definitely showed his bare chest, and boxers.
 
He grinned and opened his browser.
 
It had started as a joke, really; Yance daring him to go chat with some total
strangers on the internet wearing nothing but underwear. His brother had been
all like, “c’mon, no-one’s gonna know it’s you, it’s hilarious, trust me”.
 
But Raleigh had gotten a lot of reactions. A lot of positive reactions, at
that. More than he’d ever gotten in high school. Okay, so maybe all the praise
was a little addictive, who cared? It was the internet. It was anonymous.
Nobody knew who he was, and if people didn’t want to see his bod, then they
shouldn’t be on Chat Roulette, where you saw genitals more often than not.
 
Raleigh logged in with his usual ID, ‘danger1998’, made sure the laptop was
sitting stable on the pillow on his bed, sat back, and pressed the ‘Start’
button at the top of the screen.
 
He was met with the usual handful of half hard dicks stroked in fluorescent
glow of a computer screen, a few group of girls with a sign reading "Show us
your dick!" in Swedish and English, a few almost immediate 'Nexts' from people
just browsing for girls and then finally the atmospherically lit bedroom of an
English bulldog in a Hawaiian shirt and RayBans.
 
Chuck had been surfing for a while and nearly hit the Next button, expecting to
see yet another cock pop up on screen but.. well. It would be a lie to say he
didn't linger for a moment. There was nothing wrong with admiring a nice set of
abs.
 
"What do you reckon, boy?" he asked. Max seemed uninterested and turned his
head to the side. There it was, then. He smirked and quickly typed into the
chat before the other moved on.
 
[Flex harder, mate]
 
Raleigh chuckled at the sight of the adorable dog, who apparently liked what he
(she?) was seeing, and happily obliged, tensing his abs and rolling his hips
forward a little.
 
[you like that, doggie? whats your name?]
 
Oh, Jesus. Chuck took a small breath, watching the body react, hips rolling,
muscles tensing.
 
He shouldn't care, it was just some random naked guy, but damn.
 
And maybe it wasthe anonymity that made it alright. Enough to not worry about
enjoying the gratuitous fanservice. Enough to not feel like a complete pervert.
 
[Max]
 
Which was true. He did ask about the dog.
 
[You?]
  
Raleigh hesitated. His real name was girlish enough as it was, so he should
just go by something else, right? People didn’t usually ask for his name, just
called him Danger. Which he liked, a lot, because it sounded badass. Well, he’d
started the whole name questions thing.
 
[Ray.]
  
Ray. Sounds like a mechanic. And as for Danger, Chuck wasn’t sure how badass it
really was, but sure. Whatever. That was the thing about being online, wasn’t
it? You could be anyone or anything you wanted.
 
[A/S/L?]
  
Raleigh bit his lip. He was, like… talking to a dog. Duh, there was a person
there somewhere actually typing, but… well, he was curious.
 
["22/m/Anchorage.]
[you, not your dog :)]
  
[I don’t know what you mean. I am a dog as you can plainly see.]
 
He typed automatically, then actually considered it. Sure. Why not.
 
[17/m/Sydney]
 
So far so good, Raleigh thought. Bulldogs didn’t live that long, or it’d have
to be really special immortal bulldog. So that was probably the real info. And
if he lived in Sydney… Raleigh didn’t have to worry about, like, getting
stalked or something. Or ‘Max’ being anyone he knew.
 
Maybe he could be a bit more forward, just to see what would happen.
 
[like what you see, Max?]
 
Chuck snorted out loud. Yeah, of course he did, why else would he have bothered
talking with an abdomen this long. But he could smell his ego all the way from
America.
 
Then again, American, so he really shouldn't have been surprised.
 
[and if I do?]
 
This was ridiculous, he thought. But also harmless. It reminded him a bit of
those websites where you pay to chat with a model on live feed but so what. He
was seventeen and this guy was hot (from what he could see) and Chuck Hansen
was his own man. Besides, it could be worse. He could be out huffing paint or
something. In the grand scheme of things this wasn’t all that bad at all.
 
Raleigh smiled.
 
[could show you more.]
 
Chuck glanced over at Max and whistled, tossing a dog biscuit onto the floor.
“Here boy, go get it.” The dog harumphed and jumped out of the chair to
retrieve his prize. It sent the glasses flying but neither of them cared. It
left the frame empty but they were still very much connected.
 
[go on, then.]
 
The dog jumped out of the frame, leaving Raleigh with only a vague impression
of a wall, a floor, and maybe something like a desk.
 
He considered asking Max to show himself, but decided against it. Maybe he
could… maybe Max would do it himself, eventually?
 
Raleigh paused. Just what was he doing here? He glanced at the webcam, at the
screen, the words in the chat.
 
He was getting kind of excited
 
If Yance found out he’d never hear the end of it. And… 17 was underage, right?
It was in America.
 
Why was he even thinking about that? Shit.
 
But his fingers flew over the keyboard, quickly opening a new tab and looking
up ‘age of consent in australia’.
 
17.
 
The fuck was he doing, really?
 
He frowned and stared at the monitor again. It was gonna be now or never or
something. This was anonymous anyway, just some random stranger on the
internet. As he kept telling himself. And he was really, really curious how
‘Max’ would respond…
 
Raleigh ran a hand down his chest and abs, over his thigh, then back up, and
hooked his thumb under the elastic band of his boxers.
 
["how’s this?]
 
Aw fuck. Chuck found himself letting out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been
holding, unconsciously wetting his lips as the other moved. It also took him a
moment to realize he’d moved ever so slightly closer to the screen.
 
[good]
He answered, brain knocking him back into reality. He’d lost himself in the
slow moving frames for a moment. Some small fantasy of licking the curve of
those abs taking up most of his concentration.
 
[take your pants down]
 
Quickly followed by,
 
[get hard for me]
 
You know. Just to see if he would.
 
Fuck. What the… what was this teenage brat thinking —
 
But those words on the screen sent a hot thrill down his spine and straight to
his dick. Raleigh shivered, shifted a little. Dammit. He was already getting
hard, and not even touching himself.
 
That just wasn’t playing fair.
 
[show me more of yourself first]
 
Chuck smirked. Oh, the game had just gotten very interesting.
 
[are you sure? I could be some old fat bastard]
 
Ah shit, he immediately thought. That would likely scare him off. He’d been
told in the past his sense of humor didn’t always translate over text. Or at
all. Bearing that in mind he slid from his seat to the spot was usually
reserved for Max during these adventures online - slouching back and throwing
an arm over the back of the chair.
 
His webcam wasn’t particularly great and the frames per second on Chat Roulette
wasn’t state of the art, but he was easy enough to make out, even in the less
than amazing light. He’d had the camera set up for Max and therefore pointed
downwards but what was his face, anyway. Keeping his face out of it felt safer,
anyway. The frame caught him neck to navel. Young but well muscled and wearing
a loose black singlet. Raleigh got a flash of baggy sleep trousers as he moved
over. Not that it mattered much. Not that Raleigh was wearing anything.
 
And to be honest Chuck preferred it this way. Giving the orders, reaping the
glee when they were followed. It didn’t really matter it was some random guy on
the other side of the planet.
 
In fact, that almost made it better.
 
[happy?]
 
Oh yes, Raleigh was happy. Veryhappy, considering the state of a certain body
part as Max revealed himself. Not a whole lot, but… pale skin, lean muscles…
and definitely not old or fat.
 
[yeah]
 
He still felt kinda unsure about taking his boxers off. He hadn’t actually,
really done this with anyone, ever. Not like he was a virgin or something, but
this was different. He didn’t even know who Max was, there was a whole Pacific
ocean between them. He thought that would make him feel safer, but… it only
made it riskier. Weirder. Hotter.
 
Raleigh ran his hand over his half-hard erection, wondering what Max would
think of its not inconsiderable size.
 
[see? definitely happy.]
 
Chuck couldn’t help but smile, shifting slightly in his seat, unable to hide
the little thrill that caused.
 
That’s right. Get hard for him.
 
He swallowed and wet his lips, a small gesture he often made when he was
thinking—not that Ray could see. Something in him was sending a warning. That
maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. That maybe his dad would barge in any
second and catch him stroking his dick on Chat Roulette but-
 
Well. But nothing. He was still sitting there. Still enjoying the show. Still
encouraging it.
 
[Like what you see, Ray?]
 
How own words back at him.
 
Raleigh was quickly losing his common sense. This was his own room, but shit,
Yance could walk in, or…
 
But he was still getting harder, and was now lazily stroking himself through
the fabric of his boxers.
 
[yeah. wanna see more of you.]
 
[do you? where’s my incentive?]
 
Not that he really needed one, but it was fun all the same. An experiment of
sorts. An experiment in getting hot guys out of their shorts. Chuck didn’t
consider himself a scientist, but he could on this occasion, and in the name of
science he knew what he had to do. Which is why he slowly dropped one hand and
slid it up his chest, dragging his shirt up to give a peek at the body he’d
earned on the rugby field.
 
Raleigh let out a low whistle at the revealed six pack. Max looked good.
Especially for a 17 year-old. Raleigh wondered if the kid had been lying about
his age, though he didn’t really see the point.
 
[looks good] 
 
He took a deep breath, and then pulled his boxers down just enough for his cock
to spring free.
 
There, he did it.
 
[this enough incentive? ;)]
 
Winky smiley.
 
“Nerd”, Chuck said aloud, but he had gotten what he wanted. So there was that.
 
And it was nice. This guy was nice. It wasn’t surprising he found himself with
his hand on his crotch, the blood in his body quickly reallocating to his
nether regions.
 
[yea]
 
Okay. He could do this. He just..needed to kick Max out and lock his bedroom
door first. Which he did quickly and returned to his seat, wiggling out of his
shirt slowly so that the frame rate wouldn’t ruin.
 
[is this what you want?]
 
Raleigh’s dick twitched at the sight of Max’ full naked upper body, looking
broader than he’d expected now that the black singlet was off. Big shoulders
and arms, defined pecs and abs running down into narrow hips —
 
It’s what he wanted to see, but it’s not all he wanted.
 
Raleigh was still slowly fisting himself, which was actually getting kind of
painful, and he wanted to get off. Maybe he should just close the laptop and
grab a few tissues. He’d usually watch porn to get this far, but hey, whatever
worked.
 
For some stupid reason he didn’t want to think about, he kept the laptop open,
chat window and webcam right there.
 
He sucked in his breath.
 
[want more.]
 
[greedy]
 
But that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, Chuck rather liked it. His
heart was hammering in his chest, adrenaline coursing through him. This wasn’t
a big deal, right? It was just some harmless fun. It didn’t meananything. The
fact this was the most action Chuck had gotten in a while had absolutely
nothing to do with it. The fact the guy was fucking beautiful was in no way
affecting his judgment. Neither was the way the guy spoke to him. Nope. Not at
all.
 
“Fuck me..” He mumbled, shifting again, leaning forward to pull the webcam down
slightly further so he could slouch in his seat and absently hook his thumb in
the waistband of his trackies. Playing there for a moment, letting his fingers
slide over the cut of his hip, the planes of his lower abdomen, before pushing
at the material.
 
But he was determined not to lose the upper hand. Was there an upper hand? This
wasn’t a contest or anything but..
 
[say please]
 
Raleigh figured Max couldn’t have missed how he bucked up into his own hand at
those words. Oh, fuck… he hadn’t known this would be such a turn-on.
 
He typed the word carefully with one hand, cursing the way every letter sent
another tiny shock through his body. He pressed ‘enter’.
 
And nothing happened.
 
“Shit, what the…” Raleigh mumbled, tapping the key again. And again, harder.
 
The page went blank.
 
“Fuck!!! Fuck, come on…”
 
On the lower left of the screen, there were zero bars on his internet
connection. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”
 
Then the bars went back up, and the chat screen was back.
 
But Max was gone.
 
Just like that.
 
And just like Raleigh, Chuck was screaming at the computer. He was just
starting to get into that and the guy moved on? What bullshit. It left him on
edge, all riled up and now he was left on his ass, hard and ready
and..completely lacking stimulation.
 
“Fucking asshole..” He grumbled and pushed back, erection tenting the fabric of
his trousers. The mental image of the guy’s body was now seared into his mind,
thanks a lot, and it seemed the only way of getting rid of it would be to
finish solo. Not really that huge a deal in the grand scheme of things but it
felt empty in the moment. Like he’d been let down. And so it was a sour,
grousing wank that ended the night and kept him away from Chat Roulette for a
solid week.
 
And by then it didn’t matter anymore. And his free time was once again devoted
to getting girls to flash their tits for his dog.
 
After Raleigh had suppressed his urge to throw the laptop across the room, he
fell back on the bed grumbling — and still hard.
 
“Down, boy,” he muttered, closing his eyes.
 
But the excitement that had been coursing through him when he was chatting with
Max, getting each other to undress, who knows what more… maybe he would’ve
jacked off on webcam, or see Max do it.
 
With a flush of shame on his cheeks, Raleigh’s hand crept downwards, wrapping
around his still achingly hard cock.
 
“You little bastard,” he said, even though it wasn’t like Max could hear him.
And fuck, it had been a totally random, anonymous encounter. Now he was jerking
off thinking of this cheeky Australian guy, the way he’d just ordered Raleigh
around — and how much he’d likedthat — and fuck, he was never going to find him
or talk to him again amongst the millions and millions of people that were on
the internet every day.
 
Somehow, that didn’t discourage him.
 
He found himself going onto the chat site every night, just in the hope of
catching a glimpse of a white-and-brown bulldog, possibly wearing clothes and
sunglasses. Raleigh kept his clothes on. He’d recognise the dog, wouldn’t he?
He no longer felt like letting anyone stare at him over the internet. Anyone
else, maybe.
 
By now he’d clicked the ‘next’ button so often, if he’d gotten five cents for
every click he’d be a damn millionaire.
 
“Rals!? You coming with us or what?” Yance called from the living room, just as
Raleigh made his one bazillionth click. Still no dog.
 
He should go out, shouldn’t he? Pizza was good, friends were good.
 
But what if the next click…
 
“RALS!!”
 
Raleigh sighed and shut the lid. “I’m coming!” he yelled back.
 
Yance was giving him the death glare when he managed to get out of his room
dressed and smelling like Axe.
 
“Dude, I am going to throw that laptop out the window,” Yance muttered. “You’re
turning into a nerd.”
 
“Shut up,” Raleigh mumbled. Even though Yance was totally right. Sigh.
 
They went out for pizza, Raleigh laughed and talked along... And the first
thing he did when he got home was dive into his room and crawl onto his bed,
grabbing the laptop.
 
Yance followed him close behind. “Seriously?” he said, opening the door to
Raleigh’s room. “What’s with you?”
 
“Just someone I wanna talk to,” Raleigh mumbled unthinkingly.
 
Yance’s face brightened. “Ooooh! Is that what’s going on? My baby bro has an
online special friend?” He barged in and climbed onto Raleigh’s bed. “So, who
is he? Do you have a picture? I bet he’s hot. C’mon, Rals, show meeee —”
 
The sound that came out of Raleigh might’ve been something of a snarlwhen he
protectively clutched the laptop in his arms before Yance could get to it.
“Just leave me alone, alright?”
 
Yancy laughed. “You’re blushing!? Oh my god, do you have, like, a crush on him?
You know all the guys you meet online are creepy hairy rapists right?”
 
Raleigh slumped forward. “This is all your fault anyway,” he said.
 
Yancy raised an eyebrow. “‘scuse me?”
 
“You were the one who dared me to —”
 
Yancy fell back laughing. “Oh, oh god, no way, that’swhat it is? Ahahaha, oh
wow, baby bro,” he grinned, nearly wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes.
“Please don’t tell me you showed anyone your wang.”
 
“Aaarghh, would you shut up!?” Raleigh exclaimed, pushing Yancy off the bed.
“It’s none of your business!”
 
Yancy pulled a face and stuck out his tongue. “A-ha , but you’re showing
yourbusiness to the nice gentlemen online — pffftt,” he snorted, and went into
a full-on laughing fit.
 
Raleigh shook his head and sat back, carefully putting the laptop down on the
floor. With his foot securely on it.
 
“Okay, so, maybe I met someone,” Raleigh eventually said, when most of Yancy’s
laughter died down. “But it was random. And now I can’t find him.”
 
Yancy sat up and sighed. “Oh. You’re serious, huh, kiddo.” He leaned forward
and ruffled Raleigh’s hair. “Listen, you can’t just lock yourself in your room
like this, dude. Plenty of guys out there. What made that one so special?”
 
Yeah, what made Max so special? Raleigh frowned. Maybe he had just gotten
caught up in the whole thing.
 
“I guess,” he replied.
 
“We’ll go out tomorrow night, all right? Me, you and Tendo,” Yancy said. “We’ll
be your wingmen. Hook you up with a real-life cutie. How’s that sound?”
 
Raleigh grinned. “Not so bad.”
 
Yancy smiled and patted Raleigh’s head for good measure. “There ya go. No more
flashing your dick at the webcam, you hear me?”
 
Raleigh affectionately threw a pillow at him. “Yeah, yeah.”
 
It had been weeks, maybe months, and Raleigh had forgotten all about that one
time he pulled his boxers down for some kid in Australia. He’d gone out a whole
bunch of times, dated someone, stopped dating someone.
 
On one summer night, he found himself clicking around on Chat Roulette again.
Just because. He really wasn’t looking for anyone in particular. He was just
bored, not wearing much more than shorts because it was hot even for Alaskan
standards.
 
He clicked, and was faced by a bulldog in a fancy outfit.
 
Raleigh froze, heart thumping loudly in his chest. It couldn’t be…
 
[Max?]
 
What were the chances? Out of all the people on the internet how many were on
this dumb website? Out of that number how many had a bulldog they liked to
dress up? The statistics of running into someone more than once on there were
slim to none but, hey, they did happen.
 
There would come a point when someone would have to eventually intervene in the
Hansen’s obsessive and slightly scary obsession with buying Max clothing, but
that day had not yet come. Tonight’s ensemble was very fancy, indeed. A little
police uniform with a small foam axe held in his mouth.
 
An obscure costume, but Chuck enjoyed it so what did it matter.
 
Their last screen finished and flashed to a new partner. Chuck was halfway
through writing a small comment when the chat pinged. Not ‘Hello’. Not ‘Hey
doggie’.
 
Max.
 
He looked at the user ID
 
No fuckin’ way.
 
The urge to push max out of the way was almost overwhelming, fingers tearing a
strand of abuse into the chat but he pulled back before sending. He could just
‘Next’ the asshole but…
 
Well, what were the chances.
 
So he took a moment to really consider and decided maybe starting with an
avalanche of abuse for being a Next-ing dickhead wasn’t the best start. To be
honest, he didn’t know why he really cared all that much. It was one near brush
one time months ago. How this guy even remembered him was a- well maybe not a
mystery, Chuck thought, glancing at Max who was still holding the axe, a line
of spit dripping from the side of his mouth. He guessed Max waspretty
distinctive.
 
[Ray?]
 
ohshitohshitohshit—
 
A thousand horror scenarios played out Raleigh’s mind, all of them exactly the
same. He didn’t know how ridiculous the odds were of finding Max again, but he
wasn’t going take anotherchance at it.
 
[danger1998@jaegermail.com]
[sorry about before]
[my connection went dead]
 
He reminded himself he had to breathe. Right. Okay.
 
Shit, now what? Max probably thought he was some kind of obsessive stalker or
creep. The fact that he even remembered the dog, and the guy’s name, and was
throwing his email address around. Well. No going back now, was there.
 
[seriously?]
Chuck asked before he could think otherwise.
 
[and here i thought you just got sick of me]
 
If that was true, maybe it was for the best he hadn’t jumped on him.
 
The sane part of his brain wondered why he cared but the hard done by horny
part remembered exactly why.
 
[no]
Raleigh replied. Paused to find the right words for a minute.
 
[i was having fun.]
 
Now there was a concept.
 
[me too.]
 
Chuck paused as well, scrubbing a hand over his face and glancing at Max. “Go
find dad. Go on,” he shooed and Max obeyed, leaving the frame empty to show as
Chuck got up and closed the door behind his dog. Somewhere, Herc was scratching
his head over just where Chuck had found a tiny plush axe. Not that he was
complaining.
 
But good, that business taken care of, he flicked the lock and sauntered back
to his desk, sitting back in the worn captain’s chair he’d liberated from his
neighbor’s yard sale the year before. He didn’t care, he’d find a way to bring
it with him to uni. Somehow.
 
He smiled, seeing that the guy was still connected, and let his right hand
aimlessly wander over his stomach. Oh...yes he remembered Ray, now. He
remembered exactly where they’d been, as well.
 
[miss me?]
 
Raleigh wasn’t sure if Max meant it or not. Maybe he was just asking some
shallow, flirty question.
 
But Raleigh hadmissed him, as much as it was possible to miss someone who you
barely knew, and hadn’t really seen their face, and… well, okay, maybe it
didn’t make much sense, but Raleigh had wanted to see Max again. Really, really
wanted to see him again. And that counted as missing him, right?
 
[yeah. a lot… actually]
 
It sure counted as something.
  
It was not at all what Chuck had been expecting. Instead of a simple yes or no,
or even something flirty he got...sincere. Somehow. And somehow he found
himself thinking something along the same line. Ohh. Dangerous territory, here.
 
[good to know]
 
He opened a new tab to email and added the guy to his contact list. Just in
case. Because apparently internet was shit in Alaska. Which made sense seeing
as they all lived in igloos or whatever.
 
[I’ve been thinking about you]
 
Maybe a little forward...possibly creepy, but Chuck wasn’t censoring himself
tonight. So they have each other on email now, big deal. It didn’t have to mean
anything. Right?
 
[I mean, what are the chances?]
 
Raleigh blushed when Max said he’d been thinking about Raleigh. It kind of made
him feel… happy. Which was silly. It’s not like he knew anything about the guy.
 
[yeah, i know.]
[I looked for you]
[sorry if thats weird.]
  
[in a good way]
came the reply. Because it was weird. But he liked it.
 
[you’re lucky you’re cute]
 
 Raleigh smiled. And decided, what the hell. They’d gotten this far. He pushed
the lid of the laptop back further to show his face and his biggest smile.
Which he knew from second-hand accounts was pretty enticing.
 
["I]
[my real name is Raleigh, btw. not Ray.]
  
Oh shit, Chuck bit his lip. He was hot. He was really hot.
 
“Raleigh...” He said aloud, working over the syllables. Wasn’t that a place? He
had no idea if he was saying it right, but it wasn’t like the guy could hear
him.
 
Ah, fuck it. He wasn’t a coward. Chuck wet his lips and pushed his camera up,
offering a small smile to parry Raleigh’s grin. It might have just been the
computer glow, but those were the bluest eyes Chuck had ever seen. Framed with
a shock of blonde hair and a face to match his body. It wasn’t fair.
 
[Max is my dog]
[my name is Chuck]
  
Holy fuck. Max — no, Chuck , what the hell — was handsome. Really,
reallyhandsome. One might say jaw-droppingly so. Strong jaw, glinting eyes
under a deep brow, and… dimples. Raleigh wasn’t sure how to deal with those
dimples, two small valleys in Chuck’s cheeks that somehow made his face softer
and sexier at the same time. Wow.
 
It all felt a little less weird, now that they saw each other’s faces and knew
each other’s names. Way better than an anonymous pair of dicks. Raleigh
chuckled.
 
[Hey, Chuck]
[You’re not so bad yourself ;)]
  
Chuck snorted, and shifted position a little under the praise, his little smile
widening. He didn’t know what it was about the smileys but they were just...
cheesy. Which seemed to suit Raleigh from the limited information he had
gathered. So what could he do but offer back an exaggerated winky smiley.
 
“You’re such a dork.” He found himself saying.
  
Raleigh saw Chuck’s lips move, and wondered what words they were forming. He
could hardly lip-read. And blinked. It’s not like his laptop came without a
microphone, right?
 
[Want to voice chat?]
  
Oh. Busted. But Chuck laughed and leaned forward to pull his keyboard into his
lap.
 
[Why not.]
[skype?]
  
Skype, right. That probably worked better than Chat Roulette, anyway. And
Raleigh was so incredibly done with the site, this was probably the last time
he’d ever visit it.
 
[yeah, okay. my skype is raleighssweater98.]
 
[I’m sensing a story, there.]
 
God, what was he doing. Chuck added, the familiar little boing of a new contact
request being sent pinging through the speakers. which was a good reminder to
scramble for his headphones.
 
[oi, oi]
 
Just to make sure he had the right contact. Not that there seemed to be many-
oh. Raleigh Becket.
 
Again, it seemed to suit him. Lyrical in the good ‘ol American sense.
 
‘Chuck Hansen is online’, a cheerful pop-up informed Raleigh. So much for
anonymity.
 
But… Chuck was cute. And interesting. So what the hell.
 
Raleigh switched on the microphone on the laptop and called Chuck. The familiar
dial tone jingled through the speakers, and then, silence.
 
This was soweird. It was kind of silly that in this day and age Raleigh had
never properly videochatted with anyone, but all his friends were at the UAA,
and if they wanted to see each other they drove to the uni bar.
 
“So uh… hey,” Raleigh eventually said nervously.
  
“Hey.” He answered, video feed whirring to life. Raleigh wasn’t the only one
nervous. Chuck wasn’t the most personable person on his best days. He liked
controlled environments where he knew what was expected of him. Where he knew
the rules and could thenbreak them. He didn’t like chance. He didn’t like the
unknown. And here was Raleigh Becket. A chance. An unknown.
 
He’d like to think the guy’s appearance had nothing to do with it but... that
would be a damn lie.
 
“What time is it over there?” A standard question, thick accent resting
somewhere in the upper half of his mouth. The trademark of his people.
 
Whoa. Raleigh was thankful for his crotch momentarily being out of the webcam’s
field of vision. He was pretty sure something stirred just hearing Chuck’s
accent. Which was… unmistakably Australian and then rendered twice as hot by
Chuck’s own deep, rumbling voice.
 
Raleigh glanced at the clock. It was pretty late, so… just how many hours ahead
was Sydney anyway?
 
“Two in the morning,” Raleigh answered. “And, uh, you? Like in the afternoon or
something?”
Chuck glanced at the clock.
  
“Just passed eight in the evening.” He drummed his fingers on the desk, chewing
on his lower lip. “Puts us..eighteen hours apart.”
 
A small smirk.
 
“Hello from the future.”
  
Crap, there were those dimples again. Raleigh smiled nervously. “Hey.” Was he
blushing? He felt like he was blushing. The thumbnail of his webcam feed didn’t
really show it, though.
 
“So, um. It’s nice to talk to you,” Raleigh ventured. If by nice you meant
almost painfully awkward, he thought.
 
This might be the one time someone was more awkward than Chuck. A feeling he
would gather up and cherish for later, inwardly musing about how smooth he had
thought Raleigh was on chat. It just goes to show.
 
“Well, we aim to please.”
 
Keep it light. Keep it easy, he thought. Don’t open your mouth and be a
spastic.
 
Pretty much his mantra these days.
 
“So.” A beat. “Raaleigh. Just how often were you thinkin’ of me?”
  
Raleigh had trouble keeping the smile off his face. Chuck was pretty good at
this sort of thing. In a bar or at a party, Raleigh had no trouble hitting
people up — it was almost unconscious, the way he’d pick up their body
language, their attitude, all the little tells that told him where to push and
pull.
 
But a laptop screen didn’t have any of that, and seeing video was somehow not
the same. He wasn’t sure why. Feeling like he’d lost his magical charm was a
bit annoying, but Chuck seemed to make up for it.
 
“It’s Rahleigh,” he corrected Chuck with a little smirk, though he definitely
liked the way Chuck rolled the R off his Australian tongue.
 
“I dunno… sometimes,” he said. Then chuckled and looked away. “‘kay, maybe a
lot, back then.”
 
Raleigh glanced back up at the camera, which was a weird way of making eye-
contact, because… well, because it wasn’t.
 
“Sorry I kinda left you hanging,” Raleigh said, giving Chuck the little grin he
made with his face whenever he typed a winking smiley.
 
“Implying I waited around for you,” Chuck answered almost immediately. Smug in
his words and stance. A small, open invitation of banter.
 
“But the least you can do is try to make it up to me ay, Ray.”
 
Chuck was pretty cocky, huh.
 
Raleigh kind of liked it. Most guys he dated were actually a bit too meek, but
Raleigh was a tall buff blonde dude, and he either attracted guys who thought
Raleigh could be their daddy, or guys who wanted to be Raleigh’s much older,
much hairier daddy. No thanks.
 
Chuck, on the other hand, was younger, not thathairy, and apparently not that
meek either.
 
Raleigh sat back and grinned. “And how do you figure I should do that?”
 
“Mm,” the other replied with a sing-song shrug. “You seem like a clever bloke.
I’m sure you can have a brainstorm. Maybe jott some thoughts down.”
 
He had half a mind to suggest picking up where they had left off, but... not
yet. It was a little strong to come on like that... slightly rapey. And
besides, Chuck liked banter. It would be a shame to cut one of his favorite
activities short. Especially with someone who seemed promisingly clever.
 
Huh. Raleigh had expected Chuck to be more forward, considering how things
ended before, but maybe it was the whole not being anonymous anymore thing.
 
“You want me to write stuff down?” Raleigh laughed. “All right.” He turned
around and glanced at his desk, searching for a pen and some paper, then
stretched out to grab it, nearly falling off the bed in the process. And, of
course, accidentally mostly on purpose showing off his other sides to the
camera.
 
He went back to sit cross-legged in front of the laptop, paper and pen in hand.
“Hmm,” Raleigh pondered, “Gotta brainstorm.” He grinned, and actually started
to think about what he could do, subconsciously starting to chew on the end of
the pen a little in the process. After a minute or so he scribbled down a 1,
followed by ‘stripping’, and a 2, followed by ‘flexing’. Hmmm…
 
Oh. So maybe his high hope of a banter partner was going to be dashed, after
all. Chuck was about to point out that, no, he didn’t want Raleigh to write
anything down he wantedRaleigh to get his dick out, but was quickly distracted
with the pen in his mouth. Oral fixation. Yes please.
 
“Don’t hurt yourself, mate.”
 
Raleigh looked up. He’d written down some more items on the list, ranging from
creative to daring — jacking off, fingering himself, and the things he could do
to Chuck… sure, they weren’t in the same room, but maybe he could talk Chuck
through stuff, like he was actually there. It was a long shot, but it also
seemed kinda hot if he could pull it off.
 
“‘m ready,” Raleigh said triumphantly. “Pick a number between one and ten.”
 
It would definitely be hot if they could pull it off. Neither of them had done
anything like this before. It was daring, and for all the unknown ahead that
Chuck really didn’t like... this was okay. So far so good. And really, if it
ever did get weird? All he had to do was sign off.
 
This could be a very stupid decision.
 
Well. He was always up for one of those.
 
“Eight.” He answered with a smirk. As though it were a challenge.
 
Raleigh looked at the notepad, and smirked right back.
 
“Eight is I give you a blowjob,” Raleigh said triumphantly.
 
Chuck’s eyebrows shot up, pinned high on his forehead. Logistics aside, he
couldn’t help the curl of desire tightening in his gut.
 
“And how, exactly, do you intend to do that?”
  
Raleigh smiled. “My voice and your imagination,” he replied.
 
“Oh...” Chuck’s response was almost breathy as he stared at the screen. He
couldn’t help but wonder, if this was eight, then what the hell was ten?
Something to look into, but for now he was focusing on the idea of those lips
around hiscock.
 
Those very... very pink, pouted lips. Jesus. Chuck would be sitting on the edge
of his bed, Raleigh kneeling on the floor, mouth open and moaning as Chuck took
fist-fulls of blonde hair and pulled him closer, deeper, swallowing him whole –
 
He swallowed, body suddenly very interested in this conversation. Cock
twitching, hand moving to absently palm himself.
 
“I have a very active imagination.”
 
A spark of heat traveled south as Raleigh caught the slight tremor in Chuck’s
voice. Hey, this was kind of familiar. He could do this sort of thing. Raleigh
found himself rapidly getting over this whole monitor-camera-person disconnect.
Maybe it wasn’t as different as he’d thought.
 
“That’s good,” Raleigh said, lowering the pitch of his voice. He noticed Chuck
was moving his arm a little, and though he could guess, Chuck’s hand was moving
around decidedly off-screen. He licked his lips. “Want to show me what I’m
working with, Chuck?” He paused. “If that’s okay with you,” he added.
 
Was it okay? The question was almost jarring. Was any of this okay? Was jerking
off on the internet with someone you didn’t know at allbut still gave your
personal information to alright in any real capacity? Probably not. For
whatever reason they’d jumped in with both feet. No teasing chat, no feisty
emails working up to something like this, just straight up face to face. With
voice. With video.
 
Fuck it. Go big or go home, right? That’s what his dad always said and- NO,
Chuck, don’t fucking think about you d-
 
“Yeah.” Jesus. He had to get out of his head. “Suppose you should know what
you’re getting into.” Onto. Ha.
 
It might have been summer in Alaska but that meant Australia was right in the
dead of winter. It was nowhere as cold as one might think, but it did mean that
Chuck had taken to being fully clothed. Or, rather, hadn’t undressed after
getting home. Which was fine. It just meant he had a bit more to play with.
Buttons to fiddle open and fabric to pull up and off.
 
It was then he remembered exactly where they had been when Raleigh’s internet
died. Chuck smiled and shrugged out of his shirt—a dark plaid button down—and
dropped it to the floor before tugging the first button of his jeans open.
 
“Say please.”
 
Raleigh’s heart kind of skipped a beat at the obvious reminder of where they’d
left off, and spared a glance at the bars on his internet connection. Don’t you
dare die on me this time.
 
Raleigh leaned his face closer to the lens, batted his eyelashes and licked his
lips with a tempting grin.
 
“Please.”
 
Wow. Just. Wow. Of course, Chuck didn’t know what else he was expecting, but
the way Raleigh looked into the camera, the way his voice rolled through
chuck’s ear buds like graveled velvet, it was impossible not to be affected.
How are you real?
 
It sent shocks of excitement through his limbs and goosebumps rose over his
arms as the hair stood on end. He didn’t know he could have such a reaction
just to someone on Skype but it made sense. He watched porn and this was was
better, so he wasn’t about to complain. Instead he smiled and uttered a little
“Good boy,” before pulling the other three buttons open and shifting to wiggle
free of his trousers. He wouldn’t think on why that was his response. Maybe too
many years of dodgy online content and the thrill of Raleigh doing what he’s
told. Maybe too many years of rigorously training Max.
 
But it didn’t really matter because there he was. Naked on the internet. Too
late now, there was no going back. Better to embrace it.
 
And so he did, lightly stroking himself before his hand settled at the base,
thumb applying the smallest bit of pressure to constrict blood flow. It felt
nice but it also made everything swell just that little extra bit. Nice and
thick. Chuck was by no means small, he liked to think he was slightly above
average, but he would take all the help he could get.
 
Holy fuck. Nobody had ever called Raleigh anything like that, and, well, he
wasn’t expecting the way his body reacted to being called a good boy. Fuck,
they were really doing this, weren’t they? Raleigh shivered, one hand gripping
the sheets hard.
 
And Chuck. Chuck’s dick. Raleigh licked his lips again, subconsciously. It
looked good. Hard. Thick. And not, like… not like what he remembered from their
first encounter. Not some random dick being flashed to him by some anonymous,
faceless dude. This was different.
 
He glanced at Chuck’s face on the video feed. How was he going to start this?
 
“Uh, so… close your eyes?” Raleigh said carefully. “Imagine I’m there with
you.”
  
Chuck processed that for a moment before nodding and doing as he was told,
laying back in his chair and closing his eyes, letting Raleigh’s voice over
take him.
 
“Okay.”
 
He had Raleigh right there with him. The fantasy had moved from the bed back to
his chair with this gorgeous piece of American pie between his legs. Breath hot
against the tip of his cock.
 
“You’re here. Right here, kneeling.”
  
Raleigh let out a long sigh. Wow, this was way, way hotter than he’d
anticipated when he’d written it down. Daring. And it felt a bit wrong, like,
you weren’t supposed to do this sort of thing — not with someone you barely
knew, not with someone who wasn’t there.
 
“Yeah,” Raleigh said, his voice definitely a lot breathier than a minute ago.
His cock throbbed against his thigh, slowly getting harder. “I’m there.” Chuck
looked gorgeous, laid back like that, almost… vulnerable. Raleigh was watching
him, but Chuck was no longer watching Raleigh. Like Raleigh had the control,
now.
 
“I slide my hands up your thighs,” Raleigh said. “Over your hips. I’m, uh…”
What was he gonna say next? He couldn’t just go ‘and now I swallow your cock’,
that was like, way too fast. He needed to build it up, right? The way he would
if Chuck was really here. Shit — now his own imagination was gearing up, too.
 
“Bracing my fingers on the rise of your hips,” Raleigh continued. “Looking up
at you. I kiss up along your inner thigh…”
 
Chuck sucked in a breath, hips unconsciously rising, legs parting as far as the
arms of his chair would allow. The muscles of his chest and stomach flexed as
he did and for a brief moment he thought maybe he could really feel someone
kissing him. It was almost… intimate. A blow job was one thing, but the little
touches, the little kisses, they were personal. He liked that. Feeling
personal.
 
“Your lips are warm,” he mumbled, still holding himself while his free hand
wandered across his left thigh.
  
“Mmm,” Raleigh hummed, his gaze gliding over Chuck, seeing his body shift and
move. Raleigh’s skin prickled hotly, thinking he was the one making Chuck move
like that, the way Chuck’s legs fell open for him…
 
“I… place a kiss at the base of your cock,” Raleigh said softly, blushing
fiercely at the last word, like saying out loud made it all real. “You’re so
hard for me, Chuck.” Raleigh stifled a groan and reached a hand down to rub
himself through his shorts. Fuck, he was real hard for this, too.
 
Hearing his name, hearing the tone in Raleigh’s voice prompted a small groan
from Chuck as well, eyes fluttering open briefly to look at the screen, another
roll of pleasure washing over him.
 
“You’re blushing.”
 
He closed his eyes again and smiled, adding that little piece of visual to
their constructed scene.
 
“Ngh’m so hard.” And it was true. Chuck opened his eyes again and briefly
leaned forward to pull open the drawer of his desk. It might be embarrassing
for someone else to know that’s where he kept a bottle of lube and a box of
tissues but right now he didn’t care. And Raleigh wasn’t really in a position
to judge him as he popped off the cap and drizzled a line of the clear gel
along the length of his cock, shivering as it fell over him.
 
One quick motion had the bottle capped and back in its spot. Another and he was
back in his, right hand spreading the lube over himself with smooth, twisted
motions, thumb rolling over the head a few times.
 
“Can you take it all?”
 
Raleigh groaned at the sight of Chuck slicking up his own cock and didn’t even
try to hide it. “Fuck, that’s so hot,” he mumbled. Raleigh fiercely wished he
was there with Chuck right now, for real, running his hands over that smooth,
wetted dick, working all sorts of sounds out of him —
 
Not being able to hold back any longer, Raleigh pushed his own shorts down and
licked a stripe up his palm before wrapping a hand around his cock. “Oh fuck,”
Raleigh gasped, and then kind of remembered Chuck had asked him a question.
 
“I’m gonna try,” Raleigh replied, getting back into the scene. “Kissing up your
cock, licking the tip… teasing you nice and slow.”
 
Which earned him a small whine. Chuck imagined a tongue circling his head, his
thumb carrying out the motion. He imagined wet and hot and slow… and just how
frustrating that would be after a while. How he would grab Raleigh by the hair
and urge him to take more.
 
The whine turned into a growl and he suddenly wished his chair had a higher
back so he could lay back properly and stop thinking about stupid things like
holding his head up.
 
“You’re making me crazy, blondie, hurry up.”
  
Raleigh grinned. “Yeah? Crazy like… maybe you’re running a hand into my hair,
pushing me down on your cock?” he breathed, feeling his dick throb in his hand
at imagining just that, Chuck making him take it.
 
“Exactly.” He breathed in return, willing himself to get over his verbal
hurdles and speak. Not hold on to anything and just let it flow through him. To
give Raleigh something to work with.
 
“I’d be soft at first, but you’re teasing me. Your hair is nice. If you keep
teasing me I’ll take a fistfull and pull you– pull you right down. Not t-to
choke. Unless you wanted.”
 
His fist was picking up momentum. “Some people like that. You’re just so hot I
can’t help myself.”
 
Raleigh whined. “Y-yeah,” he stammered. “I, I like that.” What the hell was he
saying? He’d never confessed that to anyone. Fuck, he was so hard— and so
goddamn close already. How was Chuck even doing this to him?
 
A kind of static, a haze, began to rise up in the back of his mind, and Raleigh
fell back against the pillows, bucking up in his own hand. “Feels so good,
tasting your dick, sliding into my throat, Chuck…”
  
“You’re amazin’.” He grit out in response, jaw clenching for a moment, lost in
the idea of Raleigh’s throat. “Got half a mind to flip you over and fuck you
right here on the floor.”
 
Everything was tingling.
 
“But I’ll fuck your face. Is that what you want?”
 
Raleigh’s fist tightened around the base of his cock. Shit, the words that were
coming out of Chuck’s mouth — “Fuck, yeah,” he groaned, clawing at the sheets.
“I’m so close, fuck…”
  
“Me too. Just. Keep going. I’ve got you by the hair and I’m fucking your face-”
Chuck had to stop mid thought, panting, hand moving furiously.
 
“I’m- I need-” What was he trying to say. He didn’t know, he had lost the plot
of wherever he was going, brows knit in concentration.
 
“Do you swallow?”
 
Raleigh whimpered. “Y-yeah, yeah, wanna taste y—”
 
There was a loud bang outside his room — the sound of someone slamming the
door, his preoccupied mind offered helpfully a second later — and then Yancy’s
voice. “Rals? You home?”
 
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck , not again! Had he locked the door to his bedroom? No,
because he was fucking home alone before and Yancy was gonna stay over at
Tendo’s, he’d said — goddammit.
 
Raleigh caught the visual of Chuck lying back, fucking into his own fist, even
the small slick sounds the lube made as Chuck’s cock moved through his fingers,
and just like that, Raleigh decided — fuck it. Yancy could walk in all he
wanted, whatever. They had a lifetime of catching each other doing embarrassing
shit, anyway.
 
“Wanna taste your come in my mouth, Chuck, come on,” Raleigh gasped, jacking
himself faster in quick, tight strokes. “Almost there.”
 
“Ngh,” Chuck grunted, working himself over good and hard. He was panting and
slightly shiny if Raleigh looked hard enough, sweat reflecting across his
temples and chest. Bangs beginning to wet across his brow.
 
“That’s right, swallow me. I want you to. I want you to take it a-- ahh fuuck-
!” That was all it had taken for him to push over the edge, cock spitting
ribbons against his chest as he came, fisting himself through it. A hard
shudder overtook and any words Chuck may had had stacked in his throat gave way
to a low, gasping moan. His entire body flexed and for a moment he was floating
in pure, raw pleasure. Hot and sticky and mindless.
 
Raleigh heard Chuck’s choked out curse, knew Chuck was coming, and he was so
close himself, so fucking close — “Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh ffff—” Raleigh hissed,
and felt the spasms start at the base of his cock, balls drawing up, and he
groaned loudly as pleasure rose up from the base to the tip, hot and aching and
so fucking good —
 
His mind blanked out for a split second, and when it came back, Raleigh
grinned, curling up contently on his bed.
 
There were three knocks on the door, and then it opened, Yancy’s head peering
through with the biggest, smuggest shit-eating grin Raleigh had ever seen on
his brother.
 
“You done, dude?”
 
Raleigh grabbed the nearest heavy object that wasn’t his laptop and threw it at
the door, his copy of Intermediate Microeconomicsthudding against the wood and
landing at Yancy’s feet. Yancy howled with laughter, closing the door in front
of him.
 
“Fuck off, Yance!” Raleigh shouted, hurrying to cover himself up. “Asshole.”
 
Only then he pulled his laptop back up from where it had kind of fallen over
with all the movement and thrusting, and checked to see if Chuck was still
there.
 
He was. Panicked, but still there. Raleigh had started shouting and it knocked
Chuck back to reality. Having no idea if Raleigh’s screen was visible, or
really what was going on, the first thing Chuck could think to do was hit the
ground. Get out of frame and grope for his clothes, using his boxers to mop
himself clean.
 
The frame was empty, but the call still connected. So there was that.
 
“Um, hey,” Raleigh mumbled, developing a slight headache at the way reality had
come busting through the door in the shape of his obnoxious sibling. “That was
my brother, sorry. You there?”
  
“Yeah.” Came the grumbled response as Chuck reemerged. First a hand as it grasp
the edge of the desk and pulled up a tousled, slightly sex-stupid Australian.
 
“You need to lock your door, mate.” He paused. “So you live at home?”
 
Raleigh grinned at Chuck reappearing, looking kinda satisfyingly… messy. “Naw,
me and him share an apartment,” Raleigh explained. “Starting to regret that
decision.”
 
Oh, and his come was splattered all over his sheets. Nice. Raleigh made a
mental note to do laundry first thing in the morning.
 
“So, uh…” Raleigh started. What was he gonna say? He was starting to feel
painfully sober. Don’t make it awkward, don’t make it awkward. “That was, um.
Nice. Good. Right?”
 
Ah, the crushing weight of reality. How… boring.
 
Chuck absently scratched his scalp and slid back into his chair, shirt buttoned
completely wrong.
 
“Yeah,” He smiled. And really, it was. “You..give amazin’ head.”
 
Raleigh couldn’t help stupidly grinning at that. He was feeling ridiculously
confident somehow. He’d gone and said what he wanted… even though it was kinda
weird and scary, and he barely even knew Chuck. It was exciting, intoxicating,
even. “You should feel the real thing,” he blurted out.
  
“Come for a visit down under and I will take you up on that.” Fancy that. An
actual- not that he hadn’t ever, of course he had- but Raleigh was..something
else entirely. And anywhere that thought may have gone was rudely interrupted
by a hard pounding on his door.
 
“Chuck, grub’s up. C’mon,” came the muffled command. Though not somuffled that
Chuck couldn’t clearly hear it through his headphones. He rolled his eyes,
barking “Yeah– okay gimme a sec ol’ man, yeah?”
 
He shot an apologetic smile towards the screen. “Guess I should let you go to
bed, ay.”
  
“Uh-huh,” Raleigh said, fake-yawning, “I’m sooooo tired, giving head takes it
right out of me.” He flashed Chuck another dumb grin.
  
It was infectious and Chuck found himself returning the smile. “You think
you’re tired now..” He glanced at the door and leaned in a little further, face
taking up most of the frame.
 
“You have no idea what I would do to you, blondie.”
 
“Chuck-”
 
“Okay! Jesus, Hold on for two fucking seconds! You won’t die-” He snapped
towards his door before turning back, yet again, to his computer.
 
“Think about it, yeah?” He said and winked. “I’ll talk you through it
tomorrow.”
 
Tomorrow? Shit, Raleigh felt his cock twinge at the thought. They were doing
this again? Fuck, yeah, they were doing this again. “Yeah,” Raleigh said,
grinning. He still had no idea how any of this had happened. Some very strange
odds and two horny guys, maybe. “‘Night.”
 
He sighed and closed the lid of the laptop, pulled up his shorts and began to
take the sheets off the bed.
 
And of course, Yance chose that moment to come bother him again.
 
“You say goodnight to your boyfriend?” Yancy chuckled.
 
“Haven’t you ever heard of privacy, dude?” Raleigh shot back. He glared. “Are
you here to help me with my laundry? Because if not, kindly fuck off.”
 
“Ew, no, thanks,” Yancy said, rolling his eyes. “Now what did I tell you about
showing your dong to online creeps?”
 
Raleigh shrugged. “This one’s not a creep.”
 
“Oh yeah? How do I know that?” Yancy said. “Maybe I should get my baseball bat
ready. To defend my dear little brother’s chastity.”
 
Raleigh snorted, piling the dirty sheets up on the floor. “That ship has
sailed, asshole.”
 
“What’s this?” Yancy replied, clearly intending to continue the obnoxious
conversation with his obnoxious presence. “My baby brother, sullied? Oh, dear
lord, no! Did you use protection? No — don’t tell me he knocked you up? You’re
too young to be a mother!”
 
“Wow, shut up,” Raleigh said, rolling his eyes. “You suck and your comedy
routine sucks.”
 
Yancy chuckled. “Whatever, bro,” he laughed. “I’m gonna get my shotgun ready
for your baby daddy—”
 
“I’m like point three seconds away from throwing my sheets in your face,”
Raleigh said with an evil grin.
 
“Duuuude, how about no,” Yancy grinned, jumped back three feet and closed the
door.
 
Raleigh laughed and hoisted the sheets into his dirty laundry basket along with
his filthy shorts. He’d shower in the morning, too. It was 3 am, and he was
getting pretty tired. At least Yancy had been cool about it. In his own jerkass
way. After everything they’d been through, mom dying, dad leaving, and Jaz
bailing out to study in Europe, they pretty much just had each other. And not a
whole lot they hid from each other, either.
 
He didn’t bother putting on fresh sheets, it was warm anyway, so he grabbed a
new pillow and finally collapsed back on the bed. Tucked the laptop under it,
and curled up, falling asleep quickly. Definitely not thinking about hot
Australian guys or anything.
  
And somewhere across the world there was definitely not an Australian guy
sitting awkwardly at dinner thinking about perfect, American lips.
  
It was any luck Chuck lasted through school the next day, tearing home as soon
as possible to turn his computer on and see if Raleigh was about. It would be a
decent hour in Alaska but there was always the chance he was at school or
working..he’d never asked.
 
Come to think of it Chuck didn’t know anythingabout the guy except his name and
that he and his brother shared a flat. And that he had an amazing body and
somehow possessed the ability to eyefuck someone through a camera but it didn’t
really matter. He wasn’t exactly concerned with Raleigh’s life goals and
ambitions.
 
[You about?]
  
Raleigh’s phone vibrated against his thigh. He took the phone out of his
pocket, laid it flat on the table and took a bite of his sandwich whilst
tapping at the screen.
 
Oh — it was Chuck. He couldn’t exactly voice chat or take his clothes off in
the library, but texting was fine, right?
 
[Yeah, here. Hey]
 
[How’s it goin’? been thinking about you]
 
[’m good. studying late. its like, afternoon there? what were you thinking
about me, huh]
  
[4pm. I could show you..]
  
[i’m on my phone, going home in half an hour. so why don’t you tell me?]
  
Ah. That did change things slightly.
 
[I want to know what else is on that list of yours.]
  
Raleigh grinned. He’d kept the list.
 
[then you should pick a number]
 
Chuck had picked a fairly high number to begin and wondered is sliding back to
the lower ones would be a good idea. He supposed he would have to, eventually.
Maybe it was better to hold himself back for a little while longer. Not go
right for the grand prize...whatever it might be.
 
[5]
 
He didn’t even have to look at the list; the items on it were seared into
Raleigh’s memory.
 
[5 is playing with a toy.]
  
Oh. Shit. So the numbers had nothing to do with varying degrees of severity.
Chuck had just assumed based on the night before but this... this was a hell of
a lot more.
 
[Haven’t got one. It’ll have to be you.]
 
The highest number on the list was definitely… the farthest they could go,
Raleigh knew. But the rest was all over the place. He wondered if Chuck had
deliberately chosen lower than the night before expecting things to be tamer.
 
[i got one, yeah. only if you’re cool with it. can always pick another number.
;)]
 
[No, I’m down. Chicken?]
 
A beat.
 
[;)]
 
God damn it. What was this guy doing to him.
  
[never]
Raleigh replied, then stuffed the phone back into his pocket and closed the
book he’d been pouring over, eating the last of his sandwich. He wasn’t going
to get any more studying done tonight. And walking across campus with a boner,
maybe not preferable.
 
Half an hour later he got home, catching Yancy and Tendo watching some dumb
action movie on the couch. Knowing them, it was probably the worst possible
movie they could find.
 
“Hey guys,” Raleigh said, walking straight past them to his room, and locking
the door behind him.
 
“Have fun jerking off on the internet!” Yancy called out, followed by a mumbled
question from Tendo. Eh. Asshole. And if Yancy was going to fuck with him or
their internet connection, Raleigh had many ways to take revenge. Yance wasn’t
going to risk it. Probably.
 
If they were gonna go for number fivethen Raleigh was gonna need a little prep,
so he got on his phone to send Chuck a quick text.
 
[will be on in 15 mins.]
 
Raleigh undressed, headed for the bathroom — and thank god they had two of
those and one of them was through his bedroom — and emerged ten minutes later
feeling a lot cleaner.
 
Raleigh sat down on the bed, wearing absolutely nothing. Because why bother
with any of that, stripping was number one, anyway. Flipped the laptop open and
logged into Skype.
 
[Hey, gorgeous ;)]
 
[You’re such a nerd.]
came the quick reply. Chuck had been on for a while and with a promise like
that he had been inclined to wait. Patiently. Mind racing with possibilities
while he idly scrolled through one of his more frequented selections of adult
entertainment.
 
[ok to call?]
 
Raleigh thought about it. Yancy and Tendo were out there, and he didn’t really
care about them hearing him — because he sure as hell had heard themmake plenty
of embarrassing noises he’d rather delete from his memory — but Chuck might not
be cool with that.
 
[gimme a sec.]
Raleigh responded, and got up to search his desk for his wireless headset.
 
He probably looked like a total dork with the gadget plastered on his ear, but
whatever.
 
[yeah, ready when you are]
 
Fantastic. Chuck hit the call button and took his last split second chance to
rearrange his hair. Not that it was styled, but there was always this one bit
that stuck out funny and- and Raleigh answered just as he managed to pat the
bastard back down against his scalp.
 
“Hello, beautiful.” He purred, unable to contain his smile, dimples flashing as
he willed himself to come across much smoother than he felt. Shit, this was
exciting. Probably the most exciting thing he had ever done. Of this nature,
anyway. Cliff jumping had been awesome but it wasn’t the same.
 
Though, to be fair, there were some adrenaline inducing moments he could draw
parallels between. Leaping into the unknown. Having no real safety net but
belief in himself that it would be okay.
 
Raleigh couldn’t contain his big smile as soon as Chuck’s face popped up on his
screen. There were those freaking dimples again. He wondered if Chuck knew the
effect they had on people, christ.
 
Should he ask Chuck about his day, stuff like that?
 
Seemed kind of superfluous, all things considering.
 
“So, um, I got these,” Raleigh started, and grabbed the three toys he’d chosen.
A great way to out himself as a huge pervert to Chuck, too. But he figured
Chuck might already have his suspicions.
 
One was a small, black plug, the second a bigger, purple one, and the third a
thick purple prostate massager. Raleigh especially liked that one.
 
“Which one do you, uh, want me to play with?” he said, definitely aware of how
fast and hard he was blushing.
  
Chuck blinked at the screen, suddenly feeling rather vanilla in his own life
experiences.
 
“What’s that last one?” Because, he knew what a butt plug was but. There was
literally only so much you could do with one, right?
 
He licked his lips unconsciously, glancing towards his door to make sure he’d
locked it. His dad wouldn’t be home from work for a while and Max was in the
back garden so he really was well and truly alone but he couldn’t help but want
to double check. Maybe he should remind Raleigh to do the same.
  
“It’s a prostate massager,” Raleigh explained. He hadn’t really considered that
being younger and still living at home, Chuck probably didn’t have the
knowledge that Raleigh had about sex. Come to think of it, he really didn’t
know just what the extent of Chuck’s experience was at all. What if he was
moving way too fast for the kid? Chuck was 17. Raleigh’s own sex life had been
a real hit-and-miss journey, with being bullied for being gay and being a
chubby, pimply kid, until he’d hit his 20s and started working out, his
metabolism finally getting its shit together. Then he caught up in like 2
years, dating and having sex with so many guys he might’ve lost count a little.
 
“Um, hey,” Raleigh started. “Are you, like…” A virgin? That sounded too
patronizing. Plus, Raleigh didn’t really believe in losing anything when you
had sex. Just gaining fun and experience. And STDs if you were a dumbass about
it. “I mean, I have a lot of experience with this stuff.”
  
Chuck could feel his neck burning from the question, caught off guard and
floundering slightly before he could slam up a front.
 
“I know what I’m doing.” He answered, going on the defensive. “Just haven’t got
one of those, Christ.”
 
He could play it off like that, right? He was just unfamiliar with that
particular toy? Chuck wasn’t a virgin, but he’d only ever had a handful of
encounters. Some with men, some with women. He hadn’t ever really sat down to
stick himself under a label. He just figured that he liked what and who he
liked and that was that.
 
Mako had said there was a name for it during one of their rare conversations
when she and her father were over for a visit, but the appeal of a label for
being labelless was more than lacking. He guessed, if anything, he was just a
slut. A slut who has had sex maybe seven times.
 
Whatever.
 
“All right,” Raleigh grinned. He brought the toy closer to the camera. “So do
you want the sex ed version of how it works, or… maybe I should just show you.”
  
Well, see? How hard was that?
 
Chuck swallowed and wet his lips again, shifting in his seat, trying
desperately to keep cool. Like this was no big deal at all. It was, in fact, a
very big deal.
 
He nodded, lightly chewing on his bottom lip.
 
“Yeah, I’m- I’m a better visual learner.”
  
Raleigh flashed a smile and sat back, grabbing the bottle of lube he kept
underneath his bed — it’s kind of where he kept a lot of things — and the towel
he’d brought from the bathroom. This time he wasn’t going to risk another mess
of sheets.
 
Somehow, after what he and Chuck did the night before, he didn’t feel so
nervous anymore. Like they’d crossed this boundary so it was okay now. And if
Chuck was comfortable with watching, Raleigh was comfortable with showing.
 
Raleigh positioned the laptop at the end of his bed, fidgeting with it to make
sure it was secure enough, eventually discarding the pillow underneath it and
substituting it with a stack of books for a flatter, more stable surface. Then
wobbled the lid back and forth until he was satisfied with the camera image,
showing most of his bed.
 
“Sorry, had to make sure you get the best view,” Raleigh said, giving Chuck a
wink, crawling back on the bed.
 
“I’m gonna get started now,” he added, his cheeks flushing a little. He wasn’t
hard yet, but he knew the toy, and that was gonna change quickly.
 
Raleigh turned his back towards the camera and flopped over on his stomach,
propping his ass up towards the laptop. That would… definitely give Chuck the
best view.
 
Raleigh popped the cap off the bottle of lube and slicked up the toy, arching
his head to look back at where Chuck was watching him. He licked his lips and
then brought his hands down to his ass, one holding the toy, the other
searching his hole with his fingers. Bringing the two together, he gently
pressed the tip of the massager against the tight ring of muscle, making sure
that the other inwardly curved nub of the toy was facing downwards, towards his
balls.
 
Raleigh took a deep breath and relaxed, remembering to take his time with this;
pushing the toy inside too fast would just hurt, and then it wouldn’t feel good
later on. Unlike fucking, where he could totally get off being pounded to the
point of pain.
 
He turned his head back to the foot of the bed again, trying to gauge Chuck’s
reaction.
 
Which was awe, mostly. A little shock, but mostly awe.
 
“Jesus..” It was almost a hiss. Was this really happening? He supposed it was
and resisted the urge to rub at his eyes. It was unbelievably hot. Never in his
life had someone put on a show for him. Never like this. Like, someone once did
a little sexy dance thing but this? With a toy and his ass right there.
 
“You’re so fuckin’ hot.”
 
What he wouldn’t give to be there right now. Get his face right there, touch
and lick and spread him open with his fingers, his cock, maybe-- maybe even
tongue. It was a goal. And the thought combined with the image in front of him
drained the blood from his head and reassigned it straight to his cock,
strained as it was against his jeans which would have to go soon.
 
Chuck’s voice was right there in his head, courtesy of the headset, and Raleigh
bit his lip, Chuck’s praise sending a shiver of excitement right down his
spine.
 
He twisted the toy a little, and pushed it up with a bit more force, then let
out a soft moan as the tip slipped inside.
 
The tip was the biggest; now he just had to slowly slide it further in…
 
“Aahh! Oh, oh fuck,” Raleigh cried out, trying to keep his voice down. He was
never quite prepared for the way that little massager got sucked in and brushed
right against his prostate. The sudden surge of pleasure went right into his
cock, hardening it against the rough fabric of the towel underneath.
 
“The, the way it works is,” Raleigh panted, trying to explain it to Chuck
anyway whilst he could still think, or say words and such, “it kind of moves on
its own when you clench, so — nghh!” He was clenching too tight and the head of
the toy dragged hard over the most sensitive spot in his body. “F-fuck…”
 
If Chuck was in shock before, he didn’t know what he was now. Raleigh’s
rasping, his cries going directly into his ear through his own ear buds. He
watched entranced as the other boy, no, man moved in front of him, turning
flushed and gasping to narrate. It was like a magic switch had been flipped.
Just like that.
 
Note to self, Chuck thought, buy one of these immediately.
 
Before he even knew what he was doing he had his trousers unbuttoned and tugged
down around his hips, his side drawer open, lube in hand, and then dick in
hand. Hard as a rock. He whimpered with the first firm stroke.
 
“Pretend I’m there,” he said, hoarse before clearing his throat. “Pretend
that’s me.”
 
Raleigh managed a small chuckle, then groaned as the action moved the toy
around again. “Feels so good, Chuck,” he gasped, and that was the last thing he
was able to say, the sensations of the massager rolling around quickly making
him lose his sanity.
 
He clenched his hole in slow, soft pulses, taking deep breaths to handle the
waves of pleasure that began to roll through his body, his jaw going slack to
let out all the moans and cries his body needed to make in response. He was
rock hard, starting to grind into the mattress with languid rolls of his hips,
whining and gasping.
 
The feeling was just about indescribable, the way the toy seemed to move on its
own, reacting to the movements of his body by pressing down, grinding back and
forth over his prostate, and it was totally possible to come untouched just by
building up the pleasure in the right way. Slow, steady, not too much at once —
that could actually hurt, overstimulate you, Raleigh knew from experience.
 
He clenched a bit tighter and faster and bit down hard on the pillow, stifling
his scream in the down and soft fabric. God, it felt so amazing, and he hoped
Chuck was watching this, enjoying this. He couldn’t possibly feel as blissed
out as Raleigh, though.
 
It was inspiring, beautiful to watch as Chuck fucked hard into his fist, eyes
wide, lips plushed and parted, a blush creeping up over his chest and neck and
cheeks. He was panting softly, Raleigh’s cries in his ears and worked himself
furiously, eyes glued to the screen.
 
Were he perhaps more suave he would have something dirty to whisper in
Raleigh’s ear, but he was hardly keeping focus much less thinking up
imaginative vocal prompts. Though—  one did spring to mind.
 
“Imagine I’ve got that in you and I’m sucking you off. Right like you are.”
 
In his own head that would be the only way to make this situation better. To be
with him in person, Raleigh’s cock down his throat, screaming from the double
sensation. Chuck had no idea what this toy of Raleigh’s was like but he could
make an educated guess based on the way he was grinding into the bed and crying
into his pillow.
 
A loud moan at Chuck’s words was all Raleigh could manage, writhing on his
sheets, his cock hard and leaking. He knew he could drag this on forever, just
by staying still until he calmed down and then clenching again, but finding any
kind of self control at this point was nearly impossible. Raleigh tightened his
hole once more, then relaxing, the movement making the toy grind against his
prostate in a firm, delicious circle. Just a few more of those and he was gonna
come.
 
Raleigh’s cries went up a pitch as he clawed at the sheets, thrusting his ass
up towards the camera. “‘m so close,” he whined.
 
“Don’t stop,” Chuck rasped, swallowing hard to wet his dry throat.
 
Raleigh whimpered and as if given permission, he let go, his hole grasping the
toy and then relaxing again, over and over, and he imagined Chuck’s mouth on
his dick, Chuck fucking him with the toy, Chuck pulling out the toy, replacing
it with his cock —
 
Raleigh let out a loud cry and slammed his hips into the mattress as he started
to come, biting hard into the pillow again as his own thrusts made the toy
smash into his prostate. “Fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck,” he hissed, trying to reach a
hand down to get the toy out, it was too much stimulation, he was going to —
“Aaaaahh! Fuuuck, oh god,” Raleigh cried, another jolt of pleasure bordering on
pain shooting through his body from the toy grinding and moving inside him. "Oh
yeah, fuck me, fuck me, fuuuuuck — "
  
It was beautiful. Jaw dropping and lewd as fuck, but beautiful. Raleigh moved
without control, raw and pure. The noises he made were muffled but still fed
right into Chuck’s ear and he couldn’t help but shiver and groan.
 
This was all for him.
 
Raleigh was doing this for him. A private show and front row seats and an all
access pass. It made his hair stand on end and watching him lose it completely,
hearing him curse as Chuck worked himself over pushed him right over the brink.
 
“S-shit- Raleigh- ” He wheezed, crushing his eyes closed as he lost focus on
the world around him as orgasm rose and slammed into the front of his brain as
he came. He didn’t bother to choke his own cry back, just shuddered and rode it
out with fuck me, fuck mein his ears. It was the second time he’d come to
Raleigh Becket. The second time he’d covered himself with ropes of his own cum
imagining that body around him, and he prayed to any deity that might (but
probably not) exist that there would be another after this. And another. And
another.
 
This could get addictive.
 
Oh well.
 
 
***** Chapter 2 *****
Chapter Summary
     [CYBERSEX INTENSIFIES]
Raleigh figured he must’ve gone through the motions in his post-orgasmic haze,
cleaning himself and the toy and saying goodbye to Chuck and then crashing in
bed.
 
He had dreamt. Really intense dreams, about Chuck being there, Chuck doing all
sorts of things to him…
 
So maybe he was thinking about Chuck a lot. That didn’t mean anything. And he
was on the other side of the world. They were just messing around, right?
Nothing serious. Getting off on webcam was really fucking hot, that was all.
 
He wondered if Chuck would be up for another… round, or something like that.
 
Somewhere during the morning he grabbed his phone and texted Chuck. Raleigh
still couldn’t get the hang of the time difference, but he figured Chuck would
answer him whenever he was awake or something.
 
[<Hey. Been thinking of you. You up for… tonight?>]
 
Chuck got the notification at half four in the morning, his phone pinging with
Skype notifications into the darkness. Alas, he didn’t hear it.
 
It did, however, make for a nice surprise when he woke up, and he smiled
lightly—rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He found he liked the idea of someone
thinking about him.
 
[<Hey>]
 
His cock twitched just thinking about it, the mental image of Raleigh and his
toy stirring his already present morning wood. Unfortunately, it wasn’t going
to happen. Not tonight in any case.
 
[<Sorry mate, I’ve got a game tonight. Tomorrow?>]
 
Early in the afternoon Raleigh finally received a text back, and stared at his
phone with a slight frown, a nagging sense of disappointment in his stomach.
He’d really hoped to see Chuck that evening. Oh well — it’s not like they
didn’t have a Real Life of their own. Yeah. But, a game? Chuck played sports?
Duh, where else would a 17-year-old get that kind of body, unless he was
obsessively working out at the gym. And there was a nice mental image — focus,
Rals.
 
[<Sure, that’s cool. What kind of game you playing? :)>]
 
[<Rugby>]
 
came the answer a minute later. A simple enough answer.
 
[<Shame skype doesn’t do picture messaging, having something nice to look at
before I get on the field would be nice.>]
 
Rugby, huh. Like American football without all the extra padding. The sport
wasn’t very popular up in Alaska — the proximity to lots of snow and ice and
Canada made the ice hockey league the state’s main sport. Of which he was in
the team. So.
 
[<nice,> Raleigh texted back. <I play hockey for the Aces.>]
 
At this point, Chuck could google him, right? If he didn’t know already,
Raleigh’s face in the hockey team would be the first hit in the search results.
 
[<could mail you a picture. or use another service. ;)>]
 
Chuck smiled and raised an eyebrow as he tugged his jeans on and rolled about
getting ready for school. Hockey, nice. True to prediction he did look up the
team and gave a low whistle. Sure enough, there he was. Raleigh Becket, number
11.
 
[<Minor league, colour me impressed. I feel like I’m getting a show from a
celebrity or something. Can you text long distance? May as well just give you
my number.>]
 
Was that a stupid idea? Probably. Did it stop him? No.
 
Raleigh caught Chuck’s message and kind of froze. Fuck — he hadn’t thought
about that. He was a fucking moron. What if this shit made the press? Sure, he
was out and proud and gay and supported by his teammates because this was the
goddamn 21st century, but wanking off with a teenager online was… shit. He was
kinda panicking.
 
[<shit, dude, i can trust you, right? don’t start blackmailing me or something.
im gonna come over and kick your ass.>]
 
[<first of all fuck you.>]
 
Chuck answered, huffing as he wedged himself into his boots and shouldered his
rucksack.
 
[<and second *no* I am not gonna blackmail you, chill out.>]
 
He hadn’t even considered it. Way to kill the mood. Way to assume he was the
kind of guy that would. But then again, Raleigh didn’t know him. For all he
knew he might be the kind to sell a story to the tabloids for a fistful of
pretend American Monopoly money.
 
[<You’re not *that* famous, love. Besides, that would kinda ruin the thing we
have going, huh?>]
 
Holy shit. Maybe ‘love’ was just some Australian expression, a casual pet name
or something, but Raleigh felt the word go from his head straight down his
spine to his dick, hot and fierce. Jesus. And Chuck seemed genuinely pissed
off. Smooth, Rals, real smooth.
 
[<yeah. k. sorry for that.> <you can add me on whatsapp. +1 907 555 9165>]
 
Well, that wasn’t so hard was it. Chuck smirked to himself and quickly added
the contact on his way out the door.
 
[<no drama, I get it. stranger danger, help I need an adult>]
 
And he did. It had been annoying at first but if he was being logical, and he
liked to think he was, it was made sense and he couldn’t really be mad.
Besides, he sort of liked the idea that Raleigh was a big deal. Like his fame
was somehow extra validating. Like Chuck was someone special because Raleigh
chose to talk to him.
 
Just to make sure there wasn’t any lingering drama he stopped in the hall,
pulled up his shirt and flexed for a picture. In the light of day Raleigh could
get a clear picture of his..extracurricular partner. Somewhere around six foot
and boyish but toned with a strong jaw and broad shoulders that tapered to a
narrow waist and hips. He wore a graphic tee but the image was impossible to
make out from the way he was tugged it up to expose his abs. A little dusting
of hair worked its way down and disappeared into his low-slung jeans, again,
black. The waistband of his boxes just peeked out and from the way he was
holding the camera Raleigh could see him smirking right down the barrel of the
lens—hair ruffled, dimples on full display, a fine smattering of freckles
across his nose and cheeks.
 
Jesus fucking Christ. He was going to need a moment. Or five. Raleigh stared at
the photo on his phone screen in awe. It should be illegal for anyone to look
that good. Especially with a crappy cellphone camera. That waist, those hips…
that trail of hair going down from Chuck’s belly button. Raleigh would love to
run his fingers and tongue down that trail, nudging his nose against Chuck’s
crotch, working those jeans down and taking in the scent of Chuck’s musk as his
cock hardened under Raleigh’s lips —
 
[<damn,> Raleigh texted. <you look good.> <want to get my tongue all over those
freckles.>]
 
[<good>]
 
 
came the reply. That was the answer Chuck had been hoping for.
 
[<I want you to>]
 
It was a lovely morning ego boost. He had the feeling having Raleigh in his
pocket was going to be very interesting. Distracting, but interesting. And
really, he could use a little distraction from the monotony of school. Being a
year ahead didn’t make it any less boring, just more anxious.
 
The drive was short and he parked in his usual spot, sauntering up to the
building a healthy fifteen minutes before his first class. There, waiting in
her usual spot, was Mako Mori. Her father was in town for a few months and she
was therefore dragged along. The stay hadn’t been short enough to get her out
of school so they had enrolled in the high school on base until Mr. Pentecost’s
business was taken care of and they left again. No big deal, these things
happened all the time. This was maybe her fifth time in as many years. She may
as well be an honorary Aussie.
 
“Mornin’, Maki.” Chuck whistled as he joined her. She crinkled her nose in
response and extended one of the two polystyrene coffee cups she was holding.
Chuck took one with a smile and a nod of thanks.
 
“Maki is food.” She said, hoping maybe after the hundredth time he might give
the nickname up.
 
“And you are delicious.”
 
Mako snorted and rolled her eyes, turning to walk with him inside.
 
“You are looking well.”
 
“Not so bad, yourself,” He answered, knowing it was deflection, but he didn’t
intend it that way. And what was a bit of casual flirting between friends. She
had known him long enough by now to know there was nothing behind it. They had
fooled around a little in the past but came to the mutual decision that they
were better off as friends. Their fathers seemed to be both mutually relieved
and slightly disappointed when they’d broken it off.
 
“Nah, I feel well. Good, I mean.” His mind automatically went to Raleigh and
the sight of him on all fours with a toy in his ass, quivering and crying out
his name—fuck. He took a sip of coffee to steady himself. It wasn’t goodcoffee,
but it was coffee all the same and Mako knew his secret weakness for sweet and
creamy.
 
Just like Raleigh.
 
Fuck.
 
“Good,” Mako said, interrupting his train of thought. “Today’s game is a big
one, right?”
 
“Yeah, we’re playing the Army brats. It’s gonna be intense.”
 
“Mmm...” Mako couldn’t say she cared that much for Rugby but it seemed to
surround her from all sides and as Chuck was her friend she wanted to support
him.
 
“You gonna come? Home game.”
 
“I will consider it. Are you still on the bench?” The smile she gave was
positively wolfish.
 
“Oi! It’s not my fault that asshole got in the way. I didn’t go anything and
got benched for no reason!”
 
“You punched him in the neck, Chuck.”
 
“Um, no, his neck hit me in the fist,” He corrected and opened his locker to
shove his books and rugby kit inside. He grabbed the stuff he needed for
Calculus and closed it again with a sharp clang. Okay, so maybe he was still a
little bitter from his last game. “Anyway, no, I’m not benched. You’re a pal,
Mako, cheers.”
 
The warning bell rang and she shrugged, backing down the hall and mimicking a
cheerleader.
 
“I’ll bring my pom-poms!” Sarcasm abounded.
 
“Whatever!” he answered, grinning and flipping the bird as she walked away.
 
Like he cared. Only he did. A lot. Mako was a good friend and he held a great
deal of respect for her. Moving around was never easy and she always managed to
keep on top of everything and then some. She also put up with all his shit, or
rather, totally didn’t put up with any of his shit. He couldn’t get away with
anything around her and while it was annoying, deep down he thanked her for it.
It was selfish, but he often wished they would just call it quits and settle
here. At least until Mako finished school. But they weren’t in charge of their
lives in that respect.
 
Still, he hauled himself to class and settled at his spot somewhere in the
middle, sticking his phone on silent and drawing it out to check WhatsApp for
any new messages.
 
[<Aren’t you going to send me one back?>]
 
Raleigh grinned at Chuck’s text message. He was getting home early today, so
there was plenty of opportunity to… come up with some creative photos.
 
But seeing as how Chuck was being impatient, Raleigh went into the men’s room,
into a stall, and halfway undressed. After all, dropping your pants in a stall
was totally normal behavior. He hitched his shirt up to his armpits, switched
on his phone’s front camera and waved it around in front of him until he was
satisfied with the view — no face, just his torso, all naked muscle from hours
and hours of training and practice, and then just barely a glimpse of his pubes
and the base of his cock. Because he could be a tease, if he tried, and all.
 
[<so impatient. here you go, babe>]
 
Raleigh texted, and attached the photo to his text.
 
Babe
 
The word sent a little shiver down his back and across his shoulders. Chuck
smiled to himself and tapped on the image for full size and ooft. Ooft. Now
they were talking. Somehow, math was no longer important in any capacity and
there was the burning need to get home or at least somewhere private.
 
[<You are so fuvking hot>]
[<fucking*>]
 
Idiot. God damn sausage fingers. He was too excited. Chuck had to take a breath
and scrubbed a hand through his hair.
 
“God damn it—”
 
“Excuse me, Chuck?”
 
He snapped back into reality and looked up. The teacher was looking back. Oh,
he realized. “No, Mrs. Treacher. I wasn’t raising my hand. Sorry.”
 
“No?”
 
“I just. Uh. Really hate parametric equations?” he answered looking sheepish,
hating to be called out when he didn’t know the answer to whatever it was she
was talking about, too distracted by Raleigh and the accompanying scenarios his
imagination was now supplying. She gave him a sharp look and one or two of his
classmates shared a small giggle. He sank lower in his desk.
 
“Right, as I was saying...”
 
God, he couldn’t wait to graduate. He was so done. So so very done.
 
[<I wanna taste every single inch of you>]
 
Raleigh was on his way home, going into the parking lot, when his phone
vibrated against his thigh. He grinned as he read the message. Fuck, this was
so hot. Suddenly his days didn’t seem so boring anymore — it felt like there
was a constant tension in his body, a thrill, like even the slightest brush on
his skin would cause him to shiver.
 
He tapped his car keys to unlock the car from a few feet away, then got in, and
was about to slide the keys into the ignition lock when he paused, and looked
around. The parking lot was kind of empty. And it would take him a little time
to get home, hoping Yance or Tendo wouldn’t be around to bother him…
 
His jeans were starting to feel a little tight.
 
Raleigh grabbed his phone again.
 
[<Yeah? I like that. Wanna lay back, feel your hands on me, feel your pretty
mouth on my cock.>]
 
Chuck vaguely wondered if that was a Deliverance reference but let it go before
he could even try to think about it.
 
[<Just relax,>]
 
He answered, setting a scene in his head. 
 
[<Let me take care of you. Take your clothes off, I’m going to taste you all
over.>]
 
He wondered if, in an attempts to keep it more true to life, he should confess
his lack of experience in this department. He had said he knew what he was
doing but “knew what he was doing” translated into reality as “watched a lot of
porn.” Sure, he’d been with a few people but he had always, for the most part,
devoted himself to his studies and sports. He’d had sex but only ever with
girls and as for guys... well. He’d thought about it a whole lot and had
received exactly one drunken blow job in the bathroom of a party earlier in the
year.
 
Admitting as much would make him vulnerable but it was already pretty clear
that Raleigh knew a hell of a lot more about... all of this stuff. Maybe he’d
like it? Maybe he’d pull the plug. Chuck wasn’t quite sure if he wanted to risk
it or not. Maybe were this a real situation but... nah. Better not to risk it.
 
[<You taste good. I want to hear you scream like you did last night. I want to
make you scream like that.>]
 
Raleigh smiled, and settled in, pushing the front seat chair back, relaxing.
Locked the car doors, took off his jacket and hung it in front of the window —
just in case. It didn’t really obscure much, but it helped. He undid the button
and zipper on his jeans and reached a hand down, rubbing his half-hard dick
through the fabric of his boxers. Yeah, this was going to be good. Though there
weren’t many things that could make him scream the way that little massager
did. Chuck was ambitious.
 
[<I’m taking off my clothes, nice and slow, for you. Want you to see
everything, I’m all yours.>]
 
Mine, Chuck thought and grinned to himself, glancing around quickly to make
sure he was on the right page of his textbook before sinking back into his
phone. Ohh, I am gonna eat you alive.
 
Somewhere deep down a curl of possession knotted in his gut. Tight. Insanely
so. Which was a little ridiculous given the nature of their... arrangement...
but true all the same. Oh god this was dangerous but he didn’t have the sense
to realize. Or if he did, he didn’t take any steps to stop himself.
 
[<All mine>]
 
It felt good to say. It felt good to type. Exciting. It burnt.
 
[<I’ll go slow, then. Make you whimper and beg. Kiss your neck, your shoulder.
Down your chest and lick your nipple.>]
 
This was so dirty. Jesus this was so dirty. He could get in so much shit for
this but he couldn’t stop, mind racing to put his words together in a
combination that would be sexy or pleasing. Chuck didn’t think of himself as
much of a writer but he supposed he would have to learn.
 
[<Can I bite? Just a little. I want to scrape my teeth on your skin, run my
nails up your side and down over your back and ass.>]
 
Raleigh groaned. Impatiently, he pushed his boxers down with his free hand,
freeing his cock, and gasped as he wrapped his hand around his aching length.
Fuck, just the thought of Chuck being all over him, lips and teeth and nails —
 
[<Yeah. Fuck yeah. Mark me, make me feel it.>]
[<I’m so hard for you right now.>]
 
Ah fuck, he really should not be doing this in class. Chuck shifted slightly in
his seat and shrugged out of his hoodie to place it on his lap. No big deal.
Nothing to see there, move along.
 
[<Patience, I’ll get there. I want you hard and aching. I want you to beg.>]
 
This was getting easier. At least a little bit. He could almost hear Raleigh’s
voice in his head, almost see his eyes through the screen, blue as ever, pink
lips pouted as he begged. Please, Chuck. Suck my cock.
 
He had to bite his cheek to suppress a groan.
 
[<God, you feel so good. I’m working you over, all the way down... grab you by
the hips and hold you down so I can suck you.>]
 
Chuck wasn’t sure exactly how to articulate that and hoped it would do. Again,
mental note to look this kind of stuff up.
 
Raleigh licked his lips, then brought his hand up to make it as wet with spit
as possible. Wished he had lube around, but he didn’t exactly have the habit of
just carrying lube wherever he went. He was promiscuous, but not thatmuch of a
slut. He liked to think, anyway.
 
He turned the front camera of his phone on again and positioned it low, in
front of his dick — like the view Chuck would have if he was between Raleigh’s
legs, ready to suck him off.
 
[<I’m trying to thrust my hips up, begging… want to be inside your mouth,
Chuck, please… want to feel your lips and tongue around my cock.>]
 
Raleigh added the photo and tapped the ‘send’ icon.
 
And receiving it was one of the single, sexiest moments of Chuck’s life. He had
been thinking that a lot lately, but each moment was hotter than the last.
Raleigh was making and then breaking his own records one after another and it
was starting to break Chuck’s brain. But even if it was sending him round the
bend he found he didn’t much care. He’d encourage it. He could be well and
truly fucked and still wouldn’t stop because this? Whatever this was? Was
totally worth it. He glanced around quickly to make sure no one had seen his
little present before answering. Part of him wanted to go to the toilet to
finish this in private but there was no real way to get there without someone
seeing his erection.
 
[<Alright>]
[<Since you asked so nicely>]
 
Chuck wet his lips before continuing on.
 
[<But slowly. I like to hear you moan. I’m swallowing you little by little and
even though you’re trying to thrust up I don’t let you because I’m holding you
down.]
[I’m taking my time, moving my tongue all around you.>]
 
Was this how you described a blow job? Shit. The learning curve here was huge
and it wasn’t really like he could draw on past experiences. Jenny Winters had
given him a blow job but she’s bitten him half way through by accident and he
pretty much stayed away from her mouth after that. She’d had braces and
forgotten to take her rubber bands out in their haste to do the deed before
they got caught. It had snapped and his vision went white and the world went
sideways as he screamed in pain. It was horrible. He still twitched whenever he
saw rubber bands and he and Jenny hadn’t been able to look each other in the
eye since. He didn’t really even know the guy he’d hooked up with at that
party. Ben? Maybe? It probably didn’t matter but now Chuck was kicking himself
that he hadn’t paid much attention to what the guy was doing, only that it had
felt amazing. Though how was he supposed to know he should have been taking
notes for sexting with a semi-pro American hockey player three months later.
 
[<I swallow you whole and slowly begin to bob. I’m still holding your hips with
one hand but the other I place right at the base of your cock, you know what I
mean.>]
 
Raleigh didn’t need a whole lot to know what Chuck meant. He’d wet his hand
with more spit, trying to get the feel of Chuck’s mouth on him, getting his
mind to take him to that scene. It felt so good, thinking about Chuck holding
him down, teasing him like that. Fuck, and he just wanted to…
 
[<Fuck, feels so good, Chuck… want more… I’m running my hands into your hair,
grasping tight… fuck, please, gimme more. Want to slide my dick all the way
inside your throat.>]
 
Chuck ran his hand through his hair, lightly curling it into a fist. Lightly
pulling. Just to see if he liked it. He did. He imagined being on his knees
with this Adonis laid out beneath him. He imagined that gorgeous, fat cock in
his mouth and what it might be like to take him all the way down. What it might
be like for Raleigh to fist his hair and cry out and fuck his throat good and
raw. The look on his face when he came and Chuck swallowed without hesitation.
The look he’d have when Chuck finally pulled back flushed and gasping. Maybe
Raleigh would kiss him. Maybe he could crawl the length of Raleigh’s body and
nestle in at his side and they would share mewling kisses, his cock pressed
against Raleigh’s thigh. Maybe Raleigh would take him in hand and smile and
then slide down to trade places. And Raleigh would know what he was doing.
Raleigh wouldn’t bite him and he would know exactly how to handle him. Chuck
knew without a doubt, without the slightest hesitation that Raleigh would give
amazing head. Amazing, life altering, religious experience kind of head.
 
[<Yeah, grab my hair.>]
 
He answered once he shook himself free of his little daydream, jeans now
painfully tight.
 
[<Pull me down, I want all of you... all the way to the end...>]
 
But what else to say. Perhaps showing a little bit of vulnerability wouldn’t be
such a bad thing.
 
[<You know, I’ve never done it like this before. If you’re gentle you can fuck
my throat. I trust you. I’ll take everything you give me.>]
 
Raleigh’s hand flew to the base of his cock, pinching hard. He was gonna come
at those words alone, otherwise. Just the mental image of Chuck sitting on his
knees in front of Raleigh, so eager to take care of him, asking him to be
gentle, trusting him.
 
And he would. He’d never just push Chuck’s head down and make him gag like
that’s how he was gonna learn to swallow cock. He’d guide him through it, inch
by inch, showing Chuck how to practice with his own fingers, how to gulp past
his gag reflex, how to breathe and relax his jaw and throat. All the tricks
Raleigh had picked up over the years. He’d teach Chuck to deep-throat him, take
his dick all the way, first slow, then rougher and harder as Chuck would get
used to doing it.
 
Fuckhe was going to come real soon. How fucking ridiculous was that? He was
lying back in his car jacking off and somehow words on a small phone screen
made his dick so hard he nearly wanted to cry. Raleigh’s hand tightened further
around the base, wanting to draw it out, wanting to hang on to that delicious
tension.
 
[<I’ll teach you,>]
 
Raleigh wrote, and thank fucking god he had a hands-free set so he could just
tap away at the screen without having to hold the phone in his hand, too.
 
 
[<Be gentle, slow. Show you to relax, take it deep. Just breathe, baby. That’s
it. ‘m stroking your hair. You’re so good to me. Taking care of me like that.
Letting me go all the way into your sweet mouth.]
[Relax, you’re doing great… you feel so fuckin good.>]
 
And just what were you supposed to say to that.
 
[<I think you’ll find I am an exceptional student.>]
 
 
Well, Chuck reasoned, it was true. But that didn’t give Raleigh much to work
with.
 
[<It does help to have a good teacher. It also helps I love your cock in my
mouth.>]
[<I love your hands in my hair like that>]
[<I don’t wanna move, I just wanna take you in and taste you>]
 
He just wanted to stay there, slowly bobbing, slowly learning and practicing
until he could take all of Raleigh down. He wanted to know what that was like.
What Raleigh really did taste like. Chuck rolled his tongue around inside his
mouth, jaw set firmly for fear a noise might escape his lips.
 
[<One of these days I’ll blow you until you think you’re going crazy...>]
[<And then I’ll let you fuck me.>]
 
Raleigh groaned loudly. Oh yeah, he’d love that. To press Chuck’s toned, but
still so young body down onto the mattress, to make him feel so good he’d lose
his mind.
 
[<Yeah, wanna taste you too… want to taste your cock, wanna taste your ass.
Lick you open with my tongue before I fuck you… would you like that?>]
 
“Fuck…” Chuck swore under his breath. Thankfully his teacher hadn’t heard but a
few of his classmates had and swapped glances. Chuck was was normally a little
less... about to have a seizure.
 
“Hey, man...” The guy to his right whispered, leaning over to swat at his arm.
“Are you okay? You’re like... bright red and breathing loud.”
 
“Shit, am I?” He asked back, keeping his voice low. Chuck hadn’t realized
before now but he was holding his phone with something close to a death grip.
He’d been alone in his own little world. Well, not alone but he sure as hell
wasn’t in math class. “I uh... sorry.” there wasn’t much he could say and gave
a small, vague hand gesture, still holding his phone. Mark, Chuck thought. He
hadn’t really spoken to him all that much but the guy seemed decent enough.
Cute, too.
 
“Just got, uh, bit of news. No drama. I’m good.”
 
Fuck you, Raleigh.
 
Chuck glanced at the wall clock and inwardly sighed seeing there wasn’t much
time left. It left him with the problem of just how, exactly, he was planning
on getting to his next class but he would cross that bridge when he got to it.
For now, there was a much more pressing question to answer.
 
[<You are filthy>]
[<I love it>]
 
Chuck smirked and continued after a moment because Christ, Raleigh you can’t
just bring rimming into the equation just like that. Right?
 
[<Yeah, I want you to. I want your tongue in my ass and your hand on my cock
and I want you to make me see God>]
 
For some reason, that made Raleigh laugh out loud. Yeah, he could make Chuck
see God, and every other deity he could possibly imagine. Just wasn’t sure God
would want to see them.
 
Raleigh spat on his hand again, giving himself a few long, tight strokes, and
groaned. So close.
 
[<Gonna come soon, babe,>]
[<Are you hard for me? I want to see you, wanna see your face when you come for
me.>]
 
[<Hard, yeah>]
 
Chuck answered after a moment, trying to remember what he looked like to other
people. He needed to calm down and soon.
 
[<I can’t take pictures right now, you’ll just have to use your imagination.
But I’m aching. I’m so hard and if the bell doesn’t ring in a minute I’m going
to scream.>]
 
He’d sent it before he had the chance to edit his brain and come up with
something a little less... frantic. Close to home.
 
Raleigh jumped up so fast he nearly hit his head on the car roof. Chuck was in
class? The whole freaking time!? He briefly felt guilty about all the filth
he’d sent Chuck’s way, before considering the picture that must be happening
somewhere in a highschool in Sydney — a flushed, breathy Chuck, trying
desperately to hide his full, almost painful erection from his classmates,
barely paying attention to class, checking his phone, maybe even risking having
it taken away. And then trying to get out of class when the bell rang, trying
to make it to the men’s room with a boner.
 
It was both hilarious and arousing.
 
Raleigh was still rock hard, still trying to keep himself on edge, a feeling
that was exquisite and mind-numbing by itself. He usually didn’t have the
patience for edging, but he wanted to wait, wanted to see Chuck come, like
maybe Chuck could send a photo or a video… hell, Raleigh would settle for just
the sound of Chuck’s sweet moans as he climaxed.
 
His hand wrapped tight around his shaft and balls again. Goddamn, so fucking
close for that kid.
 
[<So you’re in class? Naughty of you, texting all these dirty things with
nobody knowing…>]
[<Imagine I’m waiting for you outside class, in the back stall… you’re so hard,
you can’t let anyone see… you know i’m there, ready for you.]
[gonna push you against the wall, kiss you hard, stroke your cock, so fucking
hard for me. gonna bring you off with my name on your lips, Chuck.>]
 
The words thundered through his head as he read them and Chuck couldn’t quite
stop the short whine that escaped his clenched jaw. It would have been heard by
just about everyone were it not for the kindness of the universe that the bell
rang a split second before causing thirty five teenagers to stuff their books
into their bags and race out into the hall. Chuck moved a little slower in that
it was actually painful to navigate himself, but he gathered his things and
attempted to slyly tuck himself into his waistband as he stood.
 
[<bear with>]
 
He quickly typed and hauled out towards the nearest bathroom which, by merciful
chance, happened to be the single unit disabled toilet.
 
“Oh thank god,” He breathed and muscled his way through the sea of people,
slipping in and locking it behind him. He was gonna lose his mind. Raleigh
Becket was gonna drive him insane. Chuck barely waited to put his materials
down before he was tugging at his jeans, spitting into his hand and wrapping it
around his cock. He gave a whimper of release and leaned back against the wall,
eyes closed with his head back, furiously pumping himself.
 
Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck—
 
Somewhere in the back of his mind he was reminded that Raleigh was waiting on
him and he dug his phone out with his free hand, typing rapid without care for
his accuracy.
 
[<im in the toilet youre crushing me up against the wall and you feel so good>]
[<got 5>]
[<what do i do>]
 
He needed direction as he was rapidly losing the ability to make that decision
on his own but he did remember Raleigh asking to see his face.
 
[<you wanna se me?>]
 
Raleigh could practically hear the rush in Chuck’s voice as his eyes went over
the message. Boy was real close, too.
 
[<yeah. let me see you. photo, video. what you can manage. i’ll do the same.>]
 
Raleigh took the phone off the hands-free set and held it in front of him.
Maybe a little weird to take a picture just as he was coming, but he was sure
it was gonna be really hot.
 
Likewise, Chuck didn’t know how he felt about taking a picture of himself in
that position. He worried about having to pose or maybe dropping his phone and
slipping. The solution, came to him in the form of video and as luck would have
it the bathroom was host to a full length mirror. Chuck shoved his jeans down
around his hips and tugged his shirt up a little bit, moving to position
himself against the wall but in front of the mirror, and quickly toggled his
phone into video.
 
“H-hey babe,” he breathed, looking into the camera through his reflection,
already stroking himself, already so close to release. Flushed and panting, he
closed his eyes for a moment as though he were completely ready to let go,
swallowing hard and licking his dry lips. There was a logical part of him that
was screaming not to do this, but the time to listen had come and gone.
 
“You do this to me.” He panted, voice low so that no passersby might hear but
the phone could still clearly could. “Raleigh.” Needless to say he didn’t last
too long in his race against the clock, rolling his hips and biting back moans
of pleasure. He felt like a caged animal as he moved, motions hard and frantic
and he came into his hand with a cry.
 
Chuck crushed himself back against the wall, the cold tiles against his exposed
lower back bringing goosebumps to his flesh and he shivered through his throes
of orgasm. He dropped his hand down and the lens went dark as he rested the
device against his leg and caught his breath. There were a few more moments of
panting before the recording cut and only another before the file was sent.
 
Raleigh was betting on a blurry picture, at best. He hadn’t counted on seconds,
and seconds, and even more seconds of video, of Chuck looking back at him
through his reflection, so worked up and desperate, blaming Raleigh for it,
gasping his name.
 
He looked so fucking beautiful.
 
Raleigh wouldn’t be able to manage something of that quality in the cramped
space of his car, with less-than-optimal lighting and no big mirror. But he was
creative like that. He reached up, adjusted the rear view mirror so he could
just about see half of his phone’s screen if he held it up. Fidgeted with the
controls. They should really make some kind of remote control for these
gadgets. Or you could have sex like a normal person, the voice of reason
somewhere in his head offered, and he promptly shut that voice up. Hardly the
time.
 
He positioned the phone as well as he could, catching most of his face, torso
and — yeah, his rock hard dick, on the screen. And pressed the big round record
button. Pretty impressive for someone so insanely turned on as Raleigh was.
 
“You’re so fucking gorgeous,” Raleigh gasped, looking up at the phone’s camera,
hoping to shortly meet Chuck’s eyes there, on the other side of the world.
“Seeing you come like that is the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”
 
He licked a stripe up his left hand — and this was gonna be interesting,
because he was right-handed, though by now he doubted he needed that much
coordination to get off — and wrapped it around his cock again with a deep
sigh.
 
“I’m so close already… so… fucking hard for you — ngh,” Raleigh groaned, and he
slid his hand up to the tip, pumping faster. “Oh fuck, oh fuck yes…”
 
His hips bucked up into his hand, lifting his ass off the car seat, his body
stretched as long as it would go — feet pressing down on the car pedals, head
slamming against the headrest. Raleigh wasn’t sure what kind of noises he made
anymore as he finally came so blindingly hard after holding it in for what felt
like hours, sticky, hot ropes of come spurting out over his abs.
 
Raleigh’s chest heaved and he slumped down back into the chair, satisfied, and
quite impressed with himself for managing to keep the phone in his hand instead
of dropping it and possibly breaking it. He grinned up at the camera, which was
still recording. Then lifted a hand to his abdomen, scooped up a few drops of
semen and proceeded to bring it to his mouth, licking it off whilst keeping his
eyes fixed on the lens. Smiled. And stopped the recording, sending it to Chuck
a few seconds later.
 
And the sight it gave Chuck Hansen was spectacular. By the time it came through
he was already washed up and in the process to putting himself back together.
The warning bell had come and gone, but his next period was an elective and
Photography III wasn’t exactly back breaking. It would be easy enough to say he
was distracted by something beautiful and wanted to look at it for a while
before coming to class so he could compose a frame for it. His teacher loved
that kind of thing and it was partially true.
 
He tugged his jeans up after washing himself in the sink and tugged on his
hoodie, a warm rush of endorphins pumping through him. He’d never had a wank at
school before but he might have to consider having one more often. Especially
if Raleigh was going to be so easily accessible.
 
WhatsApp was both a blessing and a curse.
 
But in that particular moment is was definitely a blessing and he checked to
find he’d received a video back—the contents of which were unbelievable.x
 
Raleigh was basically a porn star. Stretched out in— is that a car!? He was in
a car. He was half naked and stretched out in his car jerking off to Chuck’s
video and then finishing off to a video for Chuck and oh dear god. If he hadn’t
just come he would again at the thought.
 
He watched transfixed, mapping every movement, memorizing every moan. There was
something about this which was so exposed and open and yet still extremely
intimate. This video was and would forever be for Chuck’s eyes only and that
was so hot.
 
A gasp echoed around the little room towards the end, an unconscious shiver
rolling down his spine at the sight of Raleigh eating his own semen.
 
“You dirty fuck...” he hissed, bringing touching two fingers to his lips. It
was mesmerizing. Gorgeous, famous, a genuinely nice guy and fucking filthy in
the bedroom to boot. It, he, Raleigh was addictive to an absurd extreme and
they were falling thick and fast into the game they had started by chance.
 
That could be you, a part of him said. Eating his cum. Being a dirty little
slut. Begging for it.
 
Chuck shivered again, his body was on overdrive these days. Everything was
exciting and he could barely control himself. Hell, a stiff breeze could give
him a boner but this- all of this was almost torture. And yet… and yet he
wanted it more than anything. He wanted to be on his knees sucking that
gorgeous dick. He wanted to be under him on his hands and knees and know what
it felt like, really felt like to be with someone. He watched the video again,
mind wandering to what Raleigh had said earlier about wanting to teach him.
About being gentle and caring. Those words had come from the same dirty bastard
he was watching and it almost didn’t add up. You’re so fucking gorgeous was
still ringing in his ears. No one had ever said that to him before. He wasn’t
quite sure how to process it. Raleigh certainly was a surprising individual. A
riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a nerdy emoticon using dork with a huge
dick and killer abs but Chuck wouldn’t really have it any other way.
 
It did, however, leave him with the predicament of just how in the hell he was
supposed to answer that. He took a deep breath, willing himself not to watch
the video a third time in case he started to get worked up again. He knew
exactly what he would be watching after his game tonight.
 
[<Did you seriously just have a wank in your car?>]
 
Out of every possible thing he could had said, that was the first that sprang
to mind.
 
Raleigh was halfway through cleaning up his belly with tissues he found in the
glove compartment when his phone bleeped up, and he laughed at the response.
 
[<Could’ve gone home,>]
[<Would’ve missed you getting all worked up in class, though. Shame.>]
 
[<No, we wouldn’t want that now would we. I won’t tell if you don’t.>]
 
 
Chuck answered and unlatched the bathroom lock, quietly sliding out and
slinking towards the Arts wing. He felt amazing and it was plain to see from
the swagger in his step and the smirk on his face. Life was good. Still, there
was that little ping of doubt nagging at the base of his skull. The insecurity
screaming he wasn’t good enough because of his age.
 
[<You don’t care I’m in school, do you? Is that going to be an issue? I
graduate this year.>]
 
Raleigh had just pulled the car out of the parking lot, finally on his way
home, when the familiar ping of a new message came from his phone. It’d have to
wait for a bit — texting and driving, especially when it was texting with
Chuck, was a bit too risky. He was a decent responsible adult that way. Though
what he and Chuck were doing was far from decent, and maybe not that
responsible, considering Chuck was still in highschool.
 
When he got home about fifteen minutes later, he was relieved to find the
apartment empty. He rapidly undressed, his shirt looking kinda gross with some
traces of spunk on it, and tossed his clothes in the laundry. Not before
fishing his phone out of his pocket, of course. He’d made that mistake exactly
once. Sauntering naked through his room, he scrolled through his notifications.
 
Chuck’s message made him smile. Between his moments of unabashed sexiness Chuck
let on he was insecure about some stuff, and Raleigh mostly found that
adorable, and kind of familiar. He hoped he hadn’t pushed too far today, being
so horny it might’ve made him extra stupid. He was hardly a grade-A student,
and he got knocked around in hockey a lot. So maybe he wasn’t all that smart,
but he made up for it in looks, Raleigh figured.
 
[<It’s fine,>]
[<I would’ve said something before, right? Don’t worry about it. ;)>]
 
The message came some handful of minutes later. Chuck was in the photolab’s
dark room and couldn’t answer as it would ruin his work, but got to it the
first chance he could and gave an almost audible sigh of relief. Waiting for
Raleigh’s answer had gotten him all wound up because why had he hesitated? But,
and this was logic poking her nose in, maybe Raleigh had been busy like Chuck
was then.
 
[<Good. It would be a shame to lose you over something totally stupid>]
 
The rest of the day seemed to blur by. Photography III, lunch, an off period to
thunder out a paper he should have been writing the night before followed by
History and then pre-game practice. It was just before going out on the field
that he snapped a picture and sent it to Raleigh who apparently didn’t mind the
idea Chuck was in school. Who didn’t seem to mind at all that he was younger.
Alright, he thought, I can work with this. I can make the student thing sexy.
There was tons of that on the internet. The schoolboy. The barely legal teen.
 
Which was why he sent a picture of himself looking every inch the schoolboy in
his rugby uniform. Navy shorts that rose high and tight on the thigh with sky
blue stripes down the side. Striped knee socks in the same colors and a close
fitting jersey which proudly read RAAF RICHMOND  RANGERS. He was standing in a
locker room  with his thumb hooked in the waistband of his shorts and the
mirror behind him just caught a glimpse of HANSEN, the air force logo on his
back and the number 7. Hair unruly as ever, his usual smirk firmly in place.
The picture was delivered with the caption,
 
[<Something to tide you over x>]
 
Raleigh was so, so glad he checked his phone just before he went to bed.
Because, holy fuck. Chuck looked like a teenage fantasy made reality, his
uniform impossibly tight — how was that even allowed in school? — the luscious
smirk on his face unmistakably meant for Raleigh. Jesus Christ. And the whole
RAAF thing didn’t help. So Chuck was an air force brat? Raleigh vaguely hoped
Chuck’s dad wasn’t going to like, fly over and kill his ass. Come to think of
it, maybe he would. Yikes.
 
Still, though. The picture of Chuck in his tight rugby uniform with messy hair
and that grin plastered on his face went straight to Raleigh’s dick. And maybe
he grabbed the lube and some tissues and jerked off to Chuck Hansen for the
second time that day. That kid was gonna wear him out at this rate.
 
[<Thanks for the nightcap, babe… much enjoyed you in your sexy outfit.>]
 
Raleigh bit his lip. Could he bring the filth up a notch? Surely he could.
 
[<Kinda want you to wear those knee high socks when I fuck you>]
 
Raleigh sent the message off with a chuckle and finally dug into his duvet,
falling asleep fast.
 
When he awoke there would be several messages from an enthusiastic Chuck who
liked that idea and had won his game. Victory apparently included sending
Raleigh a nice up and close picture of his cock in his fist, heavy and hard and
throbbing. A great image to wake up to, he figured.
 
The socks comment had shot a spark right through Chuck and after he’d gotten
home he’d watched that video from Raleigh a few more times, jerking off with
the name on his lips, the image of being spread on his hands and knees in
nothing but his rugby socks sending him over the edge.
 
[<Yeah? That turn you on?>]
 
That was also the night he ordered a prostate massager. It was a ballsy move
but his father was almost always at work and Chuck was a big boy. He was
capable of collecting his own mail without his dad asking what a little
unmarked cardboard box was and even if he did by some humiliating stroke of bad
luck? He would say it was a computer cable and that would be that.
 
The real problem was selecting what he thought would be the right massager and
after an a hour and a half he gave up and ordered the one he had first looked
at which was as similar to Raleigh’s as he could find. Because, well, when in
doubt about what to put in your butt, go with what you know. At least it was
local shipping and would likely come by the weekend.
 
Just before he crashed for the night he groped for his phone and added one last
message.
 
[<What’s 4 on the list?>]
 
Raleigh was out early for a run in the nice, breezy summer morning when his
running playlist was rudely disturbed by a loud beeping noise. He slowed down
his pace gradually to a walk and tugged the phone’s pouch off his arm. He
didn’t even really expect it to be anyone else but Chuck, because who the hell
else was sending him messages these days? There were a couple of guys on Grindr
he exchanged texts with but they were all boring, bland — nothing like Chuck.
There really wasn’t anyone quite like Chuck, not anyone he’d ever met.
 
Raleigh smiled and texted back.
 
[<fingering yourself on webcam.>]
 
At this rate, he was going to have to make a new list.
 
Raleigh took a swig from his water bottle and scrolled back up through their
message history, stupidly grinning at all the dirty talk they’d managed. He was
tempted to rewatch Chuck’s fucking sexy video, but running with a boner wasn’t
exactly comfortable. He’d take a look at it later. Saved it to his phone, just
in case, what with Anchorage’s data network coverage being as utterly shitty as
it was. Finally, he strapped the phone back on his arm and settled back into a
jog.
 
And it’s just as well he carried on because Chuck wouldn’t be up for a while,
yet. When he did wake, he was greeted to that lovely piece of information and,
to be honest, he wasn’t exactly sure how much he liked it. It was, however,
something he had done before (thank god) and at least knew what he was doing.
He thought. Given how much Raleigh knew he probably looked like a complete
novice and Chuck concluded that some research would have to be done before he
did anything. So maybe he was a little wary... but he did enjoy a challenge.
 
You are going to finger yourself on webcam for this guy and you are gonna make
it fucking awesome,Chuck concluded, tugging on his jeans and a shirt that was
probably clean.
 
[<Dibs>]
 
 
Chuck answered before he could change his mind as he dragged himself out of
bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and giving Max a good scratch. Chuck
stretched and grunted, rubbing a spot on his side where he’d taken an elbow
during the game. The time difference was a pain in the ass but at least he woke
up to exciting messages. It made leaving his warm, comfortable bed that little
bit easier. And Chuck really loved nothing more than being in his bed,
especially in winter.
 
[<When?>]
 
It wouldn’t hit him until much later what he was getting himself into. His
heart would jump into his throat and the blood would rush around his head,
nerves drawing tight as he began to second guess himself. But Hansens were men
of their word and if he said he was going to do something then he was going to
god damn do it. For now though, he was bleary and excited and pleasantly warm
from a rather explicit dream involving the very man he was texting now.
 
Chuck’s response came early in the afternoon for Raleigh, and was well
received. It’d be exciting to see Chuck do something like that on camera;
especially after the show Raleigh had given him last time, he was eager to see
what Chuck would do.
 
[<Tonight good?>]
 
Raleigh had gotten so frustrated in the past week that he’d downloaded a time
zone calculator app on his phone, and quickly tapped it, putting in 11 pm,
Anchorage, to Sydney.
 
[<5 pm your time?>]
 
[<Sure, reckon I can swing that>]
 
He’d be finished with school at half three and back home for four. That gave
him a bit of time to sort himself out and set up his room. Move his computer
over a little for a better view of his bed and clean himself up. He wasn’t sure
why dirty talk, masturbation, and video were all fine but fingering himself was
suddenly a fringe topic, but there was a notion of exhilaration in the act.
Maybe that would inspire him to really enjoy it. Gah! It was frustrating the
way he kept flip flopping. Raleigh was a nice guy and if Chuck wanted to back
out he had the feeling it wouldn’t be a problem... but he didn’t actually want
to back out. He just wanted to find a way to harness his nervousness and make
it really fucking good. And really, what was he so nervous about anyway? He’d
been talking the talk, even volunteering. It was time to walk the walk.
 
He was sure he could put on a show. He could put on a damn fine show if he
wanted. Probably.
 
[<However will you last the day?>]
 
Chuck asked as he left the house.
 
[<Tease,>]
 
Raleigh texted back right away. Sure, he was horny as fuck, but he could go a
few hours without sex. Mostly. Okay, maybe the way Chuck had him worked up
these days, it was gonna be trickier than he thought.
 
[<Nothing that video of you and a shower can’t fix. ;)>]
 
Later that evening, Raleigh suspected Chuck might have been talking about
Raleigh’s attention span rather than his sex drive. He’d been up at 6 am, and
now it was almost 11 whilst he was waiting for Chuck to get online. Time to
dive into Yance’s stash of caffeinated candy. Which was really Tendo’s, and
Yance kept it around to have his boyfriend be at least marginally awake after
pulling another all-nighter. Crazy Comp Science majors and their fucked up
sleeping patterns. At least tomorrow was a Friday, and Raleigh’s earliest class
started at 10. He could afford to stay up late.
 
After he’d located the stash in a kitchen cabinet — and not Yance’s bedroom,
thank god — he quickly popped a few caffeine-and-taurine-laden gummi bears. Who
even came up with this kind of food? Comp Science nerds, probably. Raleigh
grabbed a can of coke for good measure and then went back to his room, locked
the door, and got his laptop all set up. Chuck should be online any second now.
Not that he was counting or anything.
 
Raleigh wouldn’t be kept waiting too long. Chuck had spent the majority of his
free time that day researching and preparing his plan of attack. He was
thankful for his own deviancy in that this wasn’t completely new but the times
he’d gone there he had been in the shower, so finding a way to present himself
in his bedroom was new. He found focusing on the little details helped to keep
his nerves at bay. What towel he would put down, how he might kneel, making the
decision to do a little manscaping... He would definitely need to find his
gaming headset and make sure it still worked alright. He would need to gather
supplies and have them within easy reach.
 
11:00PM came and went for Raleigh and Chuck still hadn’t signed on. He was sat
at the edge of his bed lining everything up and once that was done he couldn’t
feasibly waste any more time faffing about. Nerves had him a little jumpy but
not enough to stop so he stood and shook himself out, taking a few deep
breaths.
 
“You can do this,” he said aloud. “It’s fine, you can do this. You can do
this.”
 
11:04 had crept up onto Raleigh’s clock when Chuck’s name popped up in the
lower right corner of the screen as he signed on. He didn’t bother to text
first, just called right away with video and took his very last moments to take
a deep breath and steel his nerves. He had decided to put a game face on and
slip into a character of sorts. Someone who did this all the time. Some
internet hussy cam whore who didn’t have the least bit of reservation. Someone
who wasn’t embarrassed what so ever, who loved it, even. Basically, he wanted
to pretend to be Raleigh. So when the call went through he was there, perched
on the edge of his bed in nothing but his bathrobe, headset and a smile trying
his best to purr into the microphone and not betray the violently conflicting
emotions fighting just beneath the surface.
 
“Hello gorgeous.”
 
Raleigh was wearing a tight singlet — the kind of shirt people called a
wifebeater, but he hated that word — and a pair of also-pretty-tight boxers,
and gave a broad smile to the webcam as Chuck’s face popped up. He couldn’t
deny the hot spark that lit up in his chest at seeing Chuck again, moving and
talking, the closest thing they could get to being face-to-face. “Hey, you.”
 
“Hey is for horses,” he shot back, smile turning to more of a smirk as he
shifted to lean on one hand. “Missed you. I had to actually pay attention in
class and everything.”
 
Raleigh licked his lips and maybe actually blushed a little when Chuck said
he’d missed him. He let out a soft chuckle. “Kinda missed you too,” he said
softly.
 
Why was he feeling all mushy all of a sudden? Maybe it was something in the
candy. Did he accidentally eat Tendo’s stash of party pills instead? Geez.
Raleigh straightened his back and coughed. “So…” he started, gazing up and down
Chuck’s body. Which looked amazing still, even when most of it was underneath
the bathrobe. “How are you feeling?” Argh, still too mushy, probably. “I’m
pretty excited about tonight.”
 
“Yeah?” Chuck asked, the wheels in his head started turning and he elected to
skip the first question. Raleigh’s blush hadn’t gone unseen and the need to
darken it rose up considerably.
 
“You sound like you’re gonna take me to prom or something. And here I thought—”
He continued, leaning in, smirk turning somewhat wolfish as he solidified into
his character for the night “—you just wanted to get off watchin’ me finger
myself. Do I get a corsage if I’m good?”
 
Raleigh laughed out loud, running a hand through his hair. Yeah, he had that
one coming. He bit his lip and made eye contact with Chuck through the webcam,
grinning. And dropped his voice by nearly an octave.
 
“Yeah babe, I’ll give you a corsage, if you want. Wrap it around your pretty
cock, how about that?”
 
He leaned back a little, his expression darkening as he slid a hand down to
brush over the bulge in his boxers.
 
“You all talk or you gonna show me something to get me hard for you?”
 
“Mate, I don’t have to show you shit. I see your hand down there.” Chuck smiled
again, licking his bottom lip and wiggling in his spot ever so slightly. He was
very pleased with himself. And with Raleigh. Oh hell, this was gonna be great.
 
“But since you have been waiting all day I think I can maybe give you
something.” Chuck continued, reaching for something just off screen and moving
as though he was getting dressed, though whatever he put on couldn’t be seen.
 
Chuck swung his legs up onto the bed and untied his robe, letting it fall off
his broad shoulders into a heap on toweling around him.
 
“You want me to show you something, baby?”
 
He shoved the robe onto the floor and crawled onto his knees, turning around
and spreading his stance wide but keeping his body close to the bed, exposing
himself properly as though on offer. It was then Raleigh could see he’d pulled
his striped socks on all the way to the knee.
 
“How’s that?” Chuck breathed into the headset, nerves jumping for a moment now
he was naked and spread. Just relax, he repeated in his head. You love this,
you filthy fuck. Though whether he meant Raleigh or himself he wasn’t quite
sure.
 
“Holy fuck,” Raleigh hissed, going hard so fast he was just about seeing stars.
Chuck was wearing the socks. He was wearing the fucking socks, jesus christ.
 
And Chuck’s ass. The way Chuck had so swiftly slipped off his robe and moved
into position, all smooth grace as he went on all fours and rolled his hips
back up towards the lens — just about presenting himself to Raleigh. And that
ass, fuck. Did playing rugby give you an ass like that? Raleigh had no idea. A
pair of lovely, sculpted globes, with just the right amount of softness where
they met Chuck’s thighs, so perfectly round all Raleigh wanted was to reach
through the screen and dig his hands into all that pale flesh, sink his teeth
in, spread them even wider — and there, right there in the middle, Chuck’s
tight little hole, washed pink and, and… Raleigh’s mouth was watering. Fuck,
how badly he wanted to run his tongue over that wrinkled ring, to taste Chuck,
taste his most sensitive, hidden place, work his tongue inside —
 
“Fuck,” Raleigh groaned. “You’re so goddamn sexy, you have no idea, fuck, I
wish I was there with you, wish I could taste you just like that.”
 
“Mmm...” Chuck hummed in response. “I wish you were, too. I’ve not let anyone.”
 
It was as though he were having an out of body experience. On the inside he was
nervous and slightly terrified and vulnerable but for whatever reason his body
seemed to know how to carry on. His mouth was saying all the right words and he
was pretty sure he thought he sounded calm. Good. He wanted to sound confident.
He wanted to be that sexy kitten on all fours on cam. It was just slightly mind
boggling that he seemed to be accomplishing that feat.
 
Chuck turned and moved forward for a moment to grab something from just off
camera and came back with the bottle of lube he usually kept in his desk
drawer, popping it open with his thumb and twisting back to look at the camera
as he poured the thick, clear liquid over the cleft of his ass. The bottle was
capped and in another swift movement he was rubbing it down and over his
entrance, slow and wide movements to cover more than he needed to. The
substance caught the light, though, and made him look glossy and oiled. Wet and
dripping and ready.
 
“How badly do you want me, Raleigh?” he growled, microphone close to his mouth,
first two fingers slick and slowly circling his hole.
 
Raleigh just let out a low moan at the sight of Chuck’s slicked-up hole,
Chuck’s fingers rubbing small circles over it. He wasn’t quite sure how to make
his mouth say words anymore. Clumsily, not tearing his eyes away from the video
feed, he pushed his boxers down, found the bottle of lube under his bed by
touch alone and lubed up his cock. Raleigh let out a long sigh of relief as he
slowly started to stroke himself.
 
Just the thought of being the first one to see Chuck like this — because that’s
what Chuck had meant, right? — it was driving Raleigh mad.
 
“Want you so bad,” Raleigh panted. “‘m so fucking hard, seeing you, making…
making your hole all wet for me…”
 
“I’m so wet.” he answered, gaze flicking between the camera and screen and his
rear end. “You’ll slide right in. But let me do this first.” What the fuck was
he saying. Did it make sense? He sure hoped so.
 
“I wanna be all open and ready for that monster cock of yours.” He looked up
again, breathing out as he finally pushed his fingers inside himself. It stung
a little at first in the way all things going into your ass do but he refused
to recognize that and instead gave a low whine, eyes connecting right to
Raleigh through the camera.
 
“You did promise to fuck me, didn’t you.”
 
Monster cock, huh? Raleigh wasn’t sure whether to blush at the praise or be
plain embarrassed. True enough, he was big — definitely bigger than average.
Maybe a lot. And maybe that’s why he topped as much as he bottomed. Sometimes
the prep just took ages, nearly killing the mood, and Raleigh didn’t like
hurting his partner. Could Chuck take him? Could Ch—
 
Was Chuck a virgin after all?
 
The realization completely blindsided him. He’d asked before, and Chuck had
said no, but… he said he hadn’t let anyone rim him. But that didn’t mean…
 
Geez, Rals, snap out of it. He wasn’t sure why he was doubting Chuck’s words
now, when he hadn’t before. They’d always been honest with each other, right?
They could trust each other. Raleigh was sure of that.
 
And just the thought of sliding right inside Chuck’s hole, wet and open for him
— Raleigh licked his lips and pumped himself a little faster, gripping the head
of his cock and twisting the palm of his hand around it, working up the
pleasure to a nearly painful place before sliding back down to the base.
 
And then Chuck’s fingers disappeared inside himself. Two at once, like, not
even taking it easy with one. Raleigh saw the slight twitch of pain in Chuck’s
features before Chuck’s expression softened again and he made a delicious
noise, glancing back at Raleigh.
 
“Yeah, babe,” Raleigh breathed. “Make your ass all soft for me… gonna fuck you
sweet and slow.”
 
“Yeah? You gonna make love to me, Ray?” Chuck answered in sing song. An honest
question as much as it was a taunt. He dropped his head for a moment, breathing
hard as he willed himself to relax. There were no half measures in the Hansen
household. Either you did it right or not at all and that very much applied to
now in Chuck’s mind as he worked himself slowly and to the best of his
abilities. This had been easier in the shower with one finger but two had felt
right in the here and now, regardless of the pinch. He was sure it would pass.
It would pass and go from uncomfortable to awesome just like it was supposed to
and then they would be in real business.
 
All he had to do was imagine Raleigh was really there. He braced on his elbow
and forearm, other hand buried deep in his ass, pretending it was Raleigh’s
cock. Pretending he was being fucked slow and sweet just like he promised.
Promised in that gorgeous deep voice with those gorgeous pink lips. The mental
picture made him moan, getting lost in the build up. He wasn’t sure when it
happened, but the motions had ceased to hurt but the flutter and scissoring of
fingers was starting to spark and join the rush of adrenaline already coursing
through him.
 
Chuck widened his legs even further, knees scuffling for a firm stance, his own
cock hanging heavy and swollen between his legs, just brushing the towel he’d
set himself up on. He moaned again, the tail end guttural and deep from his
chest.
 
“You feel good,” he said, panting lightly, face pressed against the arm he was
using to hold himself up.
 
Raleigh just stared, slack-jawed and in awe, as he witnessed the change
rippling through Chuck’s body. His own hand worked long, slow pumps over his
cock, almost absentmindedly, as he was so caught up in the display in front of
him. The way Chuck just… let go. One minute he was fingering himself, and then
it had all turned into something more, like Chuck was really aching to be
fucked by him, spreading his legs wide, and god, just the sight of those tight
balls, reddened and heavy between Chuck’s thighs…
 
“Yeah, I will,” Raleigh groaned, nearly growled. “Make love to you. Any way you
want. I’ll make it feel so good for you, baby.” He paused, tightening his grip
around his cock. Jesus, nobody else made him want to come as hard and fast as
Chuck did.
 
“I’m there with you now,” Raleigh went on, his voice hoarse. “My fingers moving
over yours. Made yourself so open for me already, I… I can’t wait to be inside
you, pull your hips back, just slide right in…”
 
The response was an immediate and quiet whine right into the headset followed
by a whispered “Jesus Christ...”
 
It had Chuck rocking back, fingers and ass slick, gliding as he fingered
himself.
 
“I can feel you,” He answered. “I want more. Shit—” He was panting and looked
up to find where that bottle of lube had gone. There was a small hesitation
while he thought about the best way to go about adding more without disrupting
his stance.
 
Chuck gave a small “erm—” before lowering himself from his elbow to his
shoulder and face so he could use his free hand to reach back and pour more of
the thick oil over himself. It dripped over his ass and down the back of his
thigh before he could coat himself again. Mission accomplished, he spread the
new addition and resumed his position—taking the opportunity and his newly
doubly slick fingers to tease in a third with a hard, choked exhale. “Fuck!” he
swore but didn’t stop, other hand fisting the sheets of his bed. “Ngggh fuck,
fuck fuck—”
 
Raleigh licked his lips, his chest heaving almost in sync with Chuck’s, so
enraptured by the boy’s cries and movements he was barely aware of being in his
own room anymore. He nearly felt Chuck’s pleasure as his own, his hole
twitching in response when Chuck slipped in a third finger, and Raleigh moaned.
 
“Chuck,” he said, raised his voice, trying to cut through the haze, “Press your
fingers down, towards your cock. Curving them back, towards… towards me.”
 
He didn’t know if Chuck had ever massaged his prostate, or had anyone else do
it. All Raleigh wished was he could be there in person, to see and hear it, to
feel the tremors in Chuck’s body and kiss him and swallow his deep moans as
Chuck worked himself into a frenzy.
 
“Trust me,” Raleigh added. “I’m here.”
 
“Hhh?” Towards him— “Hh’kay.” Chuck crushed his eyes closed and swallowed hard,
his throat suddenly dry as he followed the orders in his ear, fingers still
pawing, working into a nice, sturdy rhythm. He angled down, adjusting his
weight from knee to knee, fingers crooking back and— “OH—!” The jolt smacked
his square in the front of the brain, knees buckling and body moving forward.
“Oh my god—Fuck!”
 
It was some kind of eureka moment and suddenly everything in the world made
complete fucking sense as he struck against his prostate with the tips of his
fingers. His hips released and dropped him to grind against the bed. Chuck
whined, voice pitching up into his higher register, lost in the moment, brain
awash with pure straight pleasure. He’d never gotten it quite right before.
Sure it had felt good once he’d gotten through the pain but he’d never realized
this was possible. Oh holy fuck he’d been wanking wrong his entire life.
 
Raleigh chuckled. Fuck, it was amazing to see Chuck completely lose himself to
pleasure. Raleigh knew just exactly how fucking fantastic a prostate massage
felt, and judging from Chuck’s reaction — yeah, this was the first time the kid
felt anything like it.
 
Weirdly enough, Raleigh had almost forgotten his own pleasure — he just wanted
to be there, with Chuck, experiencing it with him. His chest felt suddenly
tight, ached, at how they were separated by computer screens and ones and
zeroes and a whole huge Pacific Ocean.
 
“That’s it baby,” Raleigh whispered, his voice low and soothing. “Feels good,
doesn’t it?”
 
Words weren’t exactly at the top of Chuck’s priority list and he merely nodded
and gave a breathy noise in the affirmative. He dropped to his shoulder and
face again, pressing hard into his duvet to free his hand so that he could
grasp his aching cock. Moaning with relief, he stroked himself, fucking into
his fist as he drove into his stretched and slicked hole with his other hand,
foregoing that third finger in an effort to better position two and he cried
out again, a tremble rocking through him as his limbs gave out to another bolt
of pleasure when he hit that spot just right.
 
“S’fuh— ” Chuck attempted, “amazin’— ngh fuck me, Raleigh please. I’m gonna—”
 
There was, of course, only so much they could do given the circumstances but it
didn’t stop him from asking. That was all part of the fantasy, right? And he’d
long forgotten his reservations, throwing them to the wind and all but burning
them the moment Raleigh told him to crook his fingers.
 
He was close. So very very close, and almost non existent as he gave in to
every single feeling and noise that clawed its way out of him.
 
“I will,” Raleigh murmured, barely aware at how his fist had picked up speed,
frantically pumping his cock as he brought himself closer and closer to orgasm.
“When we meet, I’ll do it just like that, open you up, make you scream and cry
until you’re begging me. I’ll fuck you, make love to you, make you lose your
mind as I thrust inside you. But now I want you to come for me like this,
knowing you’re fingering yourself for me, knowing you’re rubbing that spot
inside, knowing how good it is. C’mon, baby. I’m here. Come.”
 
And perhaps it was Raleigh’s words, or the electric current that snapped
together in Chuck’s body as he gave the order, but he did. He came almost on
demand, fingers deep and grazing, body unable to control the fierce tremor or
loud cry and he bit into his duvet to smother the sound. He trembled hard and
succumbed to the most intense orgasm of his life—a blinding force that ripped
through him and set every nerve alight, turned his limbs and spine to jelly and
left him collapsed in a sticky, mindless heap on the bed. Unable to move.
Unable to think. Just a flushed, sweaty, panting heap.
 
Raleigh came mere seconds later, his body pulsing in time with Chuck’s,
responding to all the visual and audial stimuli without even having to think
about it. Like watching porn, but a thousand times hotter, because this was
Chuck, doing these things just for Raleigh, for the two of them alone. He let
out a wordless, loud cry as his hips thrust off the bed, his free hand
clutching the sheets. A stream of words followed and he was barely aware of how
much he was vocalizing his thoughts.
 
“You’re so beautiful, fuck, you’re unbelievable, I love seeing you like this, I
love y—”
 
What was left of Raleigh’s common sense hit the alarm button, shocking his full
consciousness back to life. “—your, how you, how gorgeous you are when you’re
coming for me,” Raleigh managed.
 
Nice save, he thought. Not.
 
And hoped that in his apparent state of total knock-out bliss, Chuck hadn’t
heard what Raleigh had almost said. But even if Chuck hadn’t, Raleigh had.
Right there in his head.
 
Well, fuck.
 
He’d fallen for the kid.
 
 
***** Chapter 3 *****
Chapter Notes
     i bet you thought we'd never post another chapter again
     WELL YOU WERE WRONG
     here it is, lovelies! <3
The night Chuck Hansen fingered himself live on the internet for Raleigh Becket
was the night he decided he was definitely at a turning point. Not in anything
specifically, but in general. In life. In who he was interested in, in what
kinds of things he was interested in, and what the future might hold for him.
 
They had finished up, exchanged a few minutes of sleepy, coy banter, and then
said good night.
 
He hadn’t heard anything from Raleigh since, and it was really starting to tick
him off. He’d sent a few messages. Not too many. He didn’t want to appear
needy.
 
But nothing, for a whole goddamn two weeks. And it’s not like he could just hop
over the pond and smack Raleigh upside the head. It was actually getting pretty
fucking depressing — their connection had felt so real, but now that Raleigh
was out of touch, it was painfully obvious how fragile it was.
 
Chuck resolved to shrug it off. Whatever. It had just been some online jacking
off to each other, right? It meant nothing. No big deal.
 
When he finally received a message from Raleigh after what was now almost three
weeks he just about threw his phone.
 
>> Hey. Sorry about the radio silence.
 
Raleigh swallowed hard as he pressed ‘send’. He’d been going on and off for
days trying to figure out what to do. Whether to even get back to Chuck, like,
at all.
 
He’d realized he was developing serious feelings for the kid and the next day
real life had come crashing down. Hard. Because he was a fucking idiot. Because
he was late for practice. Because he’d rushed packing and unpacking his shit in
the locker room. Because he’d lost his goddamn phone.
 
And his coach had found it.
 
He’d had to stand there and endure about an hour of yelling and trying to
explain that no, he wasn’t sexting a minor, no, this wasn’t going to come back
to the team, okay, maybe he was thinking with his dick rather than his brain
right before the season started and did he realize the bad press this could
generate —
 
And all the crap he’d been trying not to think about had started weighing on
him. What was he thinking, that he and Chuck could ever be… anything else than
some online fling? His schedule was freaking mental. Training, matches,
training, matches, more training. One hotel after the other, going from locker
room to ice and back until he lost the sense of days and weeks. His focus
turning into nothing but the ice, the puck, the goal, his body burning and
aching and that fucking fantastic feeling when you won. Where did Chuck fit in,
into any of that? Hell, the only reason he started this was because… it was a
good distraction, right? And it’s not like his summer classes really ever
panned out to anything. He just didn’t like feeling dumb. Like maybe if he
broke his leg or something he had other marketable skills. But more than
anything it was the sudden, crushing reality that made him turn off his phone
to Chuck’s messages: the realization that he slept around because that was all
he could do given the life he lead. And it was fine. Should be fine. Around
that point, he’d had a sudden, icy thought: what if Chuck was having feelings
for him, too?
 
He couldn’t do that to the kid. Raleigh already knew it was pointless. His
career left no room for romance. Chuck was young, Chuck was… way more sexy than
he had any right to be, and he’d find a local guy easy, right?
 
Raleigh had no right to ruin the kid’s life just to get his own rocks off.
That’s what he told himself. So after he’d come to a decision, he figured he
should at least let Chuck know.
 
He stared nervously at the screen of his phone. Maybe Chuck wouldn’t even
reply. Maybe he’d pissed the kid off enough already.
 
That’d certainly be an easier way out.
 
And as was the way with things like this, Chuck was relatively quick to answer.
In truth he’d wanted to message back immediately but Raleigh didn’t seem to
have a lot of time for him and being so quick on the draw felt..a little
pathetic. And so he waited. He waited and he played with Max. He waited and
scratched his balls for a while. He waited and rolled around on his bed and
rolled around some more making noises for another handful of minutes before he
just couldn’t take it anymore.
 
Twelve minutes. He made it twelve minutes.
 
Raleigh was just. Well he was amazing. In a lot of ways but he had always
answered and when those dried up Chuck got a pit in his stomach like something
was wrong. The silence lasted and he started getting angry and then told
himself he didn’t care. But people who didn’t care didn’t cyber-stalk the guys
they were camming with. Didn’t have their names on google alert. And didn’t
troll the internet looking for anything to do with him or his team.
 
“Fuck him.” Chuck said aloud, laying upside down on his bed, phone in hand with
his head hanging off the end. Max stood just under him and snuffled, tipping up
enough to sniff and slobber in his master’s hair. Chuck held the phone in front
of his face. Stared at it. Put it back down with a flump.
 
“Do you think he was just busy with work?” It was almost hopeful. “Or maybe
he’s bored of me.” What a fucking awful thought. Max snuffled more and then
sneezed.
 
“What does Mexico have to do with anything, he’s a hockey player, Max.”
 
And in truth it had absolutely nothing to do with anything, but private jokes
with a dog who didn’t care helped to soothe his crippling anxiety. And that’s
what this had turned into. Chuck sighed. He sighed and sat up, wobbling a
little with a “Bluuuh,” from headrush and rolled onto his stomach to read the
text again and an extra time before typing about ten different answers until he
finally settled on one.
 
<< Hey
 
Alright, maybe not the best so he continued with another brief line.
 
<< Sorta fell off the face of the world there, mate.
 
Raleigh had been staring at his phone for about fifteen minutes, tense and just
barely breathing. Had it been a bad idea to text Chuck? Maybe he shouldn’t
have? What was he even going to say? Maybe he should have let Chuck forget
about him, move on—
 
He fucking dropped the phone when it pinged loudly with the incoming message.
 
“Shit,” Raleigh mumbled, flopping on his bed on his stomach to reach the phone
which had slid under the bed.
 
Then he stared at the words on the screen for a good ten minutes more. This had
to be the slowest texting they’d ever done.
 
What was he going to reply? Some nonsense about being busy? Make up an excuse
that he lost his phone? Or… or he could tell Chuck the truth.
 
It’s not gonna work between us. Sorry if I led you on. Hockey season starting
soon, I won’t be around much. Take care.
 
He felt sick just thinking about it.
 
>> Training has been busy
 
Raleigh didn’t press send. He sighed and deleted the words, then stared at a
blank entry box again. Why was this so fucking hard.
 
>> Lost my phone
 
Bullshit. Delete.
 
>> Coach found my phone
 
Raleigh sighed. It was the truth. And it didn’t feel as stupid as the other
two. Somehow he suspected Chuck could see right through him. Right through the
damn screen. Smart ass kid.
 
>> Gave me an earful.
 
He bit his lip in thought. What else could he say that was at least somewhat
true?
 
>> Been hitting the ice hard. But thought of you.
 
Raleigh groaned. That was gonna give Chuck the wrong idea again. He deleted the
last sentence and glanced over his message again.
 
>> Coach found my phone. Gave me an earful. Been hitting the ice hard.
 
It’d have to do.
 
And it took Raleigh long enough to send back. Chuck was pretty certain he’d die
of old age before anything was resolved but when the answer did come… Well, he
wasn’t exactly sure he was glad to get one.
 
He read it a few times, dissecting it sentence for sentence. Okay, so he had
been at practice, that he could get behind. Raleigh was a professional or semi
professional, whatever, hockey player and that was his life. But it was the
bits before that really had Chuck worried. He didn’t wait long to answer this
time.
 
<< Are you in trouble?
 
Raleigh couldn’t help the flutter of relief in his chest when Chuck’s answer
came faster this time.
 
>> No. Just gotta show my focus, make it count.
 
Oh, fuck. It just occurred to Raleigh — Chuck might be worried about his own
privacy. Christ, why had he started with the truth? Because Raleigh himself
wasn’t sure how much his coach had seen on his phone. Way Serge talked it
seemed he’d only dug into texts, not pictures or videos, but…
 
>> ‘m sorry. it was pretty damn stupid of me.
 
<<Yeah, w2g genius. So you’re totally busted?
 
Chuck asked, sitting upright as he typed, legs crossed. This was pretty fucking
serious. He was pretty sure he was alright being halfway around the world and
everything but Raleigh could, like, get fired or something, right? Or
blackmailed or something? That’s what seemed to always happen in the sports
world. There’d been a point when Raleigh was cautious of Chuck having that same
advantage over him. Only Chuck didn’t want anything from Raleigh but his
attention.
 
<< And here I thought you just got bored of me.
 
A beat. All of this was rapidly being put into perspective and as bad as it
sounded he’d kinda way rather this over Raleigh just not wanting to talk to him
anymore.
 
<< Are you okay?
 
Raleigh drew in a deep breath. He hadn’t gotten bored of Chuck. Nowhere near it
even. Anything but.
 
But he’d been fucking lucky it’d been Serge who picked up his phone. He
protected them, protected the team. He’d tore Raleigh a new one, sure. And
Raleigh had been stuck doing goddamn double suicides for a whole week straight,
along with clean up duty. At least he’d sure as hell worked off his summer fat.
 
Raleigh really didn’t want to think about what could’ve happened if someone
else had found his phone. Like a janitor. Or worse, press. Thank fuck they
weren’t allowed in the locker rooms.
 
He’d deleted all pics and videos off his phone after. Better safe than sorry.
And put a passcode on the damn thing, as annoying as that was.
 
He really, really missed being able to go back and check Chuck’s pictures… and
that one insanely hot video from the highschool bathroom. Shit, he still had
wet dreams about that one.
 
Focus, Rals. Christ.
 
>> Yeah. How are you?
 
<< Alright. Bored mostly. There’s this guy I really like talking to but he
disappeared for three weeks so I’m sorta sore about that. Especially because I
bought something fun to show him. But otherwise nothing important has happened.
School is still easy. Uni apps are still stupid. My dog is still awesome. My
dad is still an asshole.
 
Was that passive aggressive? Maybe… Probably… Definitely. But fuck it. He’d
already sent it along with more personal information than he probably should
have. But truth be told? Things weren’t great. Chuck had felt, well, sorta
abandoned. And on top of that he had the sneaking suspicion that his dad was
seeing someone and hadn’t grown the nuts to tell him about it, yet. If at all.
And wasn’t that just a kick in the teeth.
 
<< Turns out the guy I was talking to is just a dumbass. I think I’ll forgive
him. Are you still allowed to talk to me?
 
Raleigh smiled. It was easy to get caught up in Chuck’s sharp wit, and — he
blinked, rereading the message he’d skipped over.
 
Bought something fun to show him?
 
Oh, shit.
 
>> He sounds pretty dumb, yeah. ;)
>> Sort of. Have to be careful. Keep my phone clean and such.
>> You… bought something?
 
<< Dumb but cute. At least he’s got that working for him.
<< Indeed, tho it sounds like I can’t tell you about it here.
 
Chuck couldn’t help it. It felt good to be talking to Raleigh again. Not that
they’d ever really just...talked? But having him around again sure was nice.
 
He wasn’t sure what that meant.
 
It might be validating all the confusing feelings he’d been having. But it
sounded like he had Raleigh’s attention again and that was a comfort.
 
<< Give you a hint, it’s plastic and I’d be grounded forever if my dad had
opened it.
 
No, that made him sound like a kid. He wasn’t trying to reinforce that fact.
Delete.
 
<< Give you a hint, you’ve got one.
 
Better.
 
Raleigh stared at the screen for a good minute. Hehad one? What did that mean?
He had lots of stuff. He had a whole suitcase full of — but oh shitChuck had
only seen one of his toys, hadn’t he?
 
Raleigh knew exactly what Chuck had bought.
 
Heat shot through his body just imagining Chuck playing with the prostate
massager, and he groaned, burying his face into the pillow. “Christ,” Raleigh
mumbled to himself. He really, really wanted to see and hear Chuck… use that
toy. But he couldn’t, right? He had to put a stop to this. Be the responsible
adult. He should… he really, really should. It was just past midnight… so it
was like, evening in Australia, right? Maybe…
 
You need to get your shit together, Becket. Don’t think I haven’t heard the
goddamn rumors. And your personal life is my personal fucking business if it
screws with your head. You need to decide what’s more important: your career or
yourdick. Get some fucking focus or I’m benching you for the whole season.
 
Raleigh’s grip on the phone tightened.
 
>> Sorry,
 
Raleigh gritted his teeth. It had been three weeks. They… they didn’t have to
keep this going. Chuck should find someone local. Raleigh needed to focus on
his sports career. It had been fun whilst it lasted… right? What was he
thinking, that he had feelings for the kid. That was just his dick talking.
There was no way. No way this could ever be anything.
 
>> I gotta get up early.
>> ‘night.
 
He sent the message and put his phone down on the nightstand, heading to the
bathroom for a cool shower before bed.
 
Son of a bitch.
 
Well, Chuck reasoned, fine. Maybe Raleigh did have to go to bed. It was late
there.. it made sense. He couldn’t help but feel his stomach drop a little.
That was supposed to get him interested not put him to sleep.
 
<< Didn’t mean tonight, another time?
 
He sent and waited. And waited. And waited.
 
<< Are you srsly asleep?
 
Nothing. An hour. Two hours. Three. He waited all night, fumed through dinner.
It shouldn’t be a big deal. It shouldn’t. Raleigh had just gone to bed, right?
People did that. Sleep was a thing that people needed. But Raleigh had always
answered him, even when he got the time wrong and messaged him in the middle of
the night. So what the fuck?
 
<< Trying not to get offended over here
<< Hell of a way to talk to a guy after blanking him for three weeks
 
Still nothing. He took his frustrations out via videogame but even after
slaughtering consistently for seven rounds he didn’t feel any better. And by
then it was time for himto sleep. He checked his phone again, read through the
messages. Tried to figure it out. Chuck knew this was starting to look needy.
He didn’t want to look needy but seriously what the actual fuck.
 
<< Don’t be a dick you can at least talk to me
 
He only sent one more before turning in for a night of grumbly, angry half
sleep that only succeeded in making him more anxious by morning.
 
Raleigh hadn't slept a goddamn wink, or it felt like he hadn't. He should've
turned his phone on quiet, really; but instead he'd turned the continued bleeps
of Chuck’s messages into a personal punishment. He didn't deserve rest. That's
what his sleep addled mind came up with. He had led Chuck on, corrupted the
kid, he hadn't thought about how it would affect their lives, how there was no
way anything could ever work out between them. He was an idiot. Sleep was for
decent people.
 
Only somewhere near morning his poor sleep had turned into erotic dreams and
somehow all involving Chuck—Chuck fucking him, sucking Chuck off, Chuck sitting
on top of him as Raleigh thrusted his hips up into the boy, tight and hot
around him--
 
An hour later he woke up properly, having slept right through his alarm. He
checked his messages. And paled.
 
He'd sent Chuck a string of I'm sorry's and I don't know's, followed by a dick
pic and an empathetic "I can't fucking stop thinking about you".
 
"Fucking idiot," Raleigh mumbled to himself.
 
You couldn't delete messages on whatsapp after being sent, right?
 
Nope, you couldn't.
 
And it left a guy confused on the other end. Like the apologies were nice and
the dick pic entertaining (because who sends pictures of a sleepy half hard
cock, Raleigh Becket apparently). But more than that it was the fact that Chuck
was on Raleigh's mind that made it a little better. Chuck had gotten the
messages but decided to teach him a lesson and ignored them well into the next
day.
 
<< You got a funny way of showing it
 
Chuck finally answered. Raleigh's sleep-texts had been half gibberish but he'd
gotten the gist of them.
 
<< You know, you're acting like I'm some dirty secret. I'm not aiming to get
you in trouble fyi what's your problem?
 
Better to address it head on. Don't ask, don't get.
 
No reply from Chuck. Figures. Raleigh had probably pissed the kid the hell off
with his hot and cold bullshit. Hell, he was acting like a chick or something.
So he tried to focus on training. Let the burn of his lungs and muscles tear
away all the doubts and frustration.
 
It's why he loved the ice. Things were simple on there. Head on. You knew where
you were going, what you had to do, and any problems you fixed by smacking into
em at full speed.
 
Serge still had them working off the summer dust, suicides followed by puck
maneuvers and goal shots followed by a bunch of knockdown runs. By the time
they hit three in the afternoon Raleigh was feeling a lot better. He'd missed
this.
 
Serge came up to him, slammed his hand down on Raleigh's shoulder. "Good to see
you back in the game, Becket. Keep it up."
 
Raleigh gave him an awkward smile. "Thanks, coach."
 
Duc's shoulder knocked into him as his teammate came to a stop next to him.
"Yeah, you weren't completely shit, Ray. Amazing."
 
Raleigh grinned, shaking his head. Serge rolled his eyes. "Go hit the showers,
boys."
 
Raleigh had learned his lesson; he kept his phone locked and stuffed into his
locker. Especially since he'd added another dick pic to the collection of
embarrassing shit on it.
 
"Ray! Dude, wake up!"
 
Raleigh looked up. Had he been that lost in thought? Chuck was really messing
with his head.
 
"Whaddaya want, Casey?" Raleigh smirked, well aware he probably missed the
first five times Adam had yelled his name.
 
"I said, you coming tonight? We're gonna haze the new scrubs."
 
Raleigh's face must've shown his complete lack of understanding.
 
"You got knocked on the head too hard? Shit man. New transfers. Two guys.
Twins, apparently. Bruce and Trevin Gage. Gonna take em out to Bruins and test
their alcohol tolerance. You coming or what?"
 
The Aces’ home bar shared a name with the nation’s top hockey team. It was an
irony thing. Or maybe they hoped the Bruins’ success would rub off on them by
virtue of the name. It was their own little in-joke.
 
A few more teammates pitched in. And Raleigh hadn't realized how out of it he'd
been during the summer. "Fuck yeah," he laughed. "Make em eat ice." Having
scrubs chew on ice cubes until they went white in the face was a thing.
Harmless, yet hilarious.
 
Duc grinned. "You know it."
 
It wasn't until dinner time Raleigh checked his messages. And his heart sank.
Fuck... Chuck sounded not just pissed off, but hurt. And he was being a huge
asshole, wasn't he?
 
>> I'm sorry about the shit messages,
 
Raleigh started.
 
>> Coach gave me crap to think about I guess. Not my strong suit.
>> just... season is picking up soon and I can't be...
 
Raleigh swallowed hard. His eyes were stinging. Fuck. He really was like a
chick, jesus.
 
>> I can't be there as much. No webcamming, you know, none of that
>> I guess there's gotta be plenty of hot guys in Sydney
>> and you're pretty fucking hot
>> you don't have to be some older dude's dirty secret
>> know what I mean?
 
Ha. Raleigh didn't even fucking know what he meant. Christ.
 
His phone bleeped a familiar tune at him. Yance. He answered.
 
"Hey. Yeah. No, going out with the team tonight. Some hazing stuff. Scrubs, you
know how it is." He paused, letting his brother ramble. "Sure, I'm up for early
pizza. See you at the house in ten? Kay man. Bye."
 
Raleigh sighed. Busy evening. Probably for the best. The less time he had free
to think about Chuck and the mess that was turning into, the better.
 
Some older dude’s dirty secret.
 
There it was in plain black and white like a fucking kick to the teeth. Raleigh
wasn’t just busy, he was trying to say good bye. Trying to break the whole
thing off. And as much as Chuck shouldn’t care, he does. And as much as he
should have known this would happen it still feels like a slap in the face. He
wasn’t good enough. Too young, too far, not interesting.
 
“Fuck you,” He spat, reading the lines again before throwing his phone down on
his desk. “Fucking prick, fuck off.”
 
<< Fuck you
 
He typed out, but somehow it didn’t carry the weight he wanted. Delete. He
thought there had been more, here. Not necessarily a friendship, but something.
Something that maybe could have been..
 
Chuck stared at the phone for a long time thinking about what he would say, if
he should say anything at all. He left it for a while, fuming.
 
<< Cunt
 
Angry, yes, but it still didn’t carry the right weight. He wanted something
that would really sting. Delete.
 
<< It must be exhausting getting bored of your toys so easily.
 
There we go, the perfect mix of passive anger, accusation, and guilt. Send.
 
This was a lesson learned the hard way. People like Raleigh? There was no way
they’d be interested in a guy like Chuck. This proved it. This was never, had
never been, anything more than surface level fucking around. He had other
things to be focusing on. He had school and his own sport and getting into Uni
to think about. He had friends, well, he had Mako and a few people he played
Rugby with. He had Max. He was fine. He didn’t need some hyped up halfwit
hockey player on the other side of the planet making him feel like shit.
Someone would be fucking lucky to have him. Someone who maybe actually likedhim
as opposed to keeping him as a secret, personal wank bank. He didn’t need
Raleigh fucking Becket.
 
So why did it hurt so bad?
 
Raleigh had just shoved a slice of pizza into his mouth, grinning at some story
Tendo was coming up with about one of the nerds in his class, pretending he had
a clue what it was about. Yancy was opening a few beer bottles. Allison and
Kennedy had come over — some kind of weird situation where they used to date
Yance and Tendo before either of them had climbed out of the closet, and
instead of it turning into some awkward clusterfuck, the five of them had
become some college-level gay dudes and their faghags real-life sitcom.
 
His phone piped up. He was stupid enough to check it.
 
His pizza suddenly tasted like crap and it’s like something cold and sharp had
wedged its way in between his ribs.
 
No. Fuck, no. That’s not what it was like —
 
But it was good if Chuck thought of it that way, right? Chuck was hurt. But…
he’d keep his distance. Move on. Forget about Raleigh, who was just some old
ass pervert at the other side of the world who had no real significance in
Chuck’s life. Shouldn’t have any. Chuck deserved better. He was going to ignore
the message. Ignore Chuck. It was for the best.
 
Yancy was staring at him. “You okay, Rals? Looking a little pale there.”
 
Raleigh looked up. “Yeah, it’s — it’s nothing.” He put his phone back in his
pocket, put the slice of pizza down and reached for the beer.
 
So he might have downed a few more beers. Cheaper before he got to Bruins. And
it was only a few blocks from his place. He could walk. Raleigh lazily
swaggered into the bar, where the party was already going by the sound of it.
 
“Raaals! Hey guys, look who decided to crawl out of his room!” Adam strutted up
to him, slung an arm around his shoulder and dragged him into the group. The
fact that he’d spent a lot of nights at home behind his laptop rather than
being out and partying as usual hadn’t gone past his teammates. Raleigh managed
a smile. It was time to rectify that.
 
He stubbornly tried to ignore the still-cold lump in his chest that the beer
hadn’t been able to wash away. That was fine. He just needed more beer.
 
Then his gaze fell upon two handsome guys sitting at a table across from one
another, a line of tequila shots and a bucket of ice cubes in between them.
Must be the new transfers. Raleigh walked up to them.
 
“Evenin’, scrubs,” he grinned, trying to get into the spirit of the event. “‘m
Raleigh Becket, number 11.”
 
They turned their heads towards him in sync.
 
Whoa — definitely not ugly. In fact… shit, the two of them were totally
Raleigh’s type. All jaws and dark messy hair and cocky smirks.
 
Raleigh swallowed hard and smacked the side of the bucket with the flat of his
hand. “Ice ‘n rise, gentlemen!”
 
A mouthful of ice cubes and a shot for every teammate that introduced
themselves — that was the start of it. They twins would be wasted by the time
they’d seen all twenty of them, though they were lucky enough that not all guys
were able to attend.
 
Raleigh himself stuck to beer, his head getting more swimmy and the temperature
in the room seemingly rising as more alcohol made its way into his blood. He
was trying very, very hard to not think of Chuck.
 
“Who’re you texting?”
 
Raleigh looked up blearily. One of the twins. “Bruce, right?” he mumbled.
 
“Trevin,” the guy replied.
 
“The hell do you tell you guys apart anyway,” Raleigh said, rolling his eyes.
 
Trevin smirked. “I could tell you, but then I’d have to show you.”
 
Raleigh squinted. “Uh, okay?”
 
Trevin got closer into his space. Raleigh looked around the bar. It seemed
like… actually, it seemed like most of the team were gone. What time was it? He
hadn’t really noticed. “Where is everyone?” he muttered.
 
Trevin shrugged. “Bruce threw up, like a pussy. Some of the guys are helping
him home. Some others got into a stupid argument over the Aces last season’s
playoffs —”
 
“Oh, that shit again,” Raleigh said. Duc had bodychecked one of the opposing
team’s guys hard enough to break something, probably a little rougher than he
should’ve, and it got pretty ugly — bad press for the Aces, which is why it was
surprising to have the Gages new on the team. Serge must’ve convinced the board
to throw money at the problem. And Raleigh could believe it to work. The Gages
were kinda charming, charismatic, the way they smiled and moved together. In
fact, it was pretty rare to see them apart. But it seemed Trevin could hold his
liquor better than his brother. Much like Yance on him, really.
 
He should be heading home. But home was… home was sobriety and a phone with
shit he didn’t want to read. He’d been staring at the screen. He wanted to text
Chuck back, at least… say somethingthat could convince the kid Raleigh wasn’t
such a huge asshole. But he was. But he didn’t fucking like feeling like he
was, or whatever…
 
Raleigh tried to stand up. “Whoa,” he mumbled, losing his balance.
 
“You’re as poor with liquor as Bruce,” Trevin grinned. He grabbed Raleigh’s arm
to steady him.
 
That little contact sent a weird jolt down Raleigh’s spine and he sought
Trevin’s eyes. Fuck, this guy was too handsome. And Raleigh was… too goddamn
smashed for this.
 
“Liquor?” He didn’t recall drinking anything but beer.
 
“Jesus, yes,” Trevin replied. “Halfway through the night you started babbling
about showing us how it was done and you shoved your head into the bucket
before downing three shots.”
 
“Huuuuh?” Raleigh brought a hand to his head. “Don’t fucking remember—”
 
“After that you mumbled something about texting and waddled off into the
corner,” Trevin went on.
 
“Pretty sure I didn’t waddle,” Raleigh complained. He kind of wanted to go
home. He was starting to feel sick. He kind of didn’t want to go home, too.
Trevin had stepped closer to him. Was pretty much supporting at least half of
Raleigh’s weight with his arm around Raleigh’s shoulder.
 
“You live around here, Raleigh?” Trevin went on.
 
“11th Avenue,” Raleigh replied. “‘cross the park, near East…”
 
Trevin flipped out his phone and checked the route. “Fifteen minute walk. Eh.”
He brought his face ever closer to Raleigh’s. “Y’know, I got a room in the
Hilton right on the corner. Pretty comfortable and toasty up there. Bar’s about
to close and all.”
 
Raleigh narrowed his eyes. He was drunk. Not a fucking idiot. Most of the time.
 
“That’s some dishonorable intentions there, Trev,” Raleigh said, but not
pushing the guy off. He felt nice and heavy around him. The bar was dark and
getting a little chilly. About to close. Right.
 
“Like you haven’t been checking out my ass all night, Ray,” Trevin shot back.
 
Geez. These California guys did not fuck around. Or they did fuck around.
Raleigh knew what it was like. Though generally — not as much action going on
within the team. He’d certainly tried to keep his dalliances outside of the
team and other fucking teams because really, if pics of a Australian almost-
minor on his phone were enough to get him into trouble, hooking up with a rival
player was a recipe for disaster.
 
“Gonna take advantage of your drunken teammate? Gotta say, Trev, I thought you
a man of morals,” Raleigh went on.
 
Trevin’s hand was on Raleigh’s phone, which Raleigh was still clutching during
this whole incredibly weird conversation. He was increasingly aware that Trevin
Gage here was trying to pick him up. He just hadn’t made up his mind on whether
he wanted to be picked up.
 
“And when you weren’t checking me out you’ve been staring at your phone like a
kicked puppy all night,” Trevin went on. “Whoever’s got your panties in a
twist,” Trevin hooked a thumb into Raleigh’s belt loop, “I can make it all
better.”
 
Jesus Christ.
 
Chuck’s words shot up from his chest into his mind like ice. Like Chuck was
there, saying them. He could hear the damn accent.
 
must be exhausting getting bored of your toys
 
It stung. It fucking stung, way more than it had any right to.
 
Trevin was here and being absolutely notnice, but also being big and warm and
strong and very very convincing —
 
“N-nah,” Raleigh mumbled. “I gotta… gotta head home… yeah?” He gave Trevin his
best puppy eyes. He wasn’t sure how much more of the guy’s pushing he could
handle. Giving in would be nice. It would be good and hot and maybe just that
perfect edge of painful — he could ask Trev to really give it to him, make his
head blissfully empty, and…
 
He was pushing Trevin off him, like an idiot. But a damn decent idiot.
Somewhere along the line Yancy hadn’t entirely failed in raising them,
apparently.
 
He dialed his emergency contact. “Yance, can you pick me up? Bruins, yeah. So
fucking wasted, man. Feels like I got three legs. … No, ‘m not talking about my
dick, jesus. Hurry up and shit.”
 
Raleigh met Trevin’s gaze again, which was an odd mix of disappointment and
bemusement.
 
“Hurry, huh?” Trevin said, a little ice to his tone. “I’m not gonna drag you
off to my man cave against your will, Ray. Settle down.” He let Raleigh go to
drag a chair from a nearby table and plopped him down on it. “See ya at
practice tomorrow.” And with that, Trevin grabbed his coat and spun off.
 
Raleigh slumped forward, elbows on his knees. So Trevin Gage was a giant jerk.
Good to know. Apparently didn’t give a shit about Raleigh if he couldn’t fuck
h—
 
“Shit,” Raleigh mumbled.
 
Must be kind of how Chuck might be feeling, or something.
 
He’d typed in and sent a string of badly spelled texts before what little sober
consciousness he had left somewhere could stop him.
 
>> s not like that
>> i likled you
>> not justa toy to me chukc
>> youre good
>> your different then them
>> please anser??
 
* * *
 
“You are very popular,” Mako said as Chuck’s phone made a steady stream of
noise over lunch. The cafeteria was noisy but the persistent ping, ping, ping,
of his phone was easily heard.  Chuck shrugged and grabbed it out of his pocket
to read through the notifications, brow furrowing as he read them.
 
Fuck this. He didn’t have time for this.
 
“It’s nothing,” He said, thumbing through them before laying the phone face
down on the table.
 
“I doubt that,” she persisted, moving to grab the phone but Chuck grabbed it
first.
 
“Fuck off, don’t!”
 
“Chassuuu, what are you hiding?!”
 
“Nothing!”
 
“Nothing would be passive. This is not nothing.”
 
If looks could kill she would be in the ground. Chuck turned the phone over in
his hand, scowling at the device.
 
“It’s nothing. I was kinda talking to someone and they’re being a prick about
everything.”
 
“A romantic someone?” Mako asked, nibbling the end of a crinkle cut fry. Chuck
was upset looking, sure, but past that he was also blushing something awful and
thatwas interesting. And her question only made him blush harder and look more
upset.
 
“It’s none of your business.”
 
“Ah, so it is. Who is it? Casey?”
 
“No, why would I date her?” Chuck shot back, shoulders holding a tension that
had been building since his phone went off.
 
“Mmm because she is desperate to go to the graduation ball with you?”
 
“Like I’d ask her. I’m not even going.“
 
Mako looked amused and ate the rest of her fry before picking up another,
reaching across to roll it in the mix of ketchup and mayonnaise Chuck always
concocted for the eating of potatoes.
 
“You’re not? Pity,” she said with a small shrug. “I was hoping to know someone
there.”
 
Chuck looked a cross between stressed and bemused. “You’re seriously thinking
about going.”
 
“I thought it would be a nice experience..”
 
“Prom. You want to go to prom. Mako, you do know that prom is a bunch of washed
up American bullshit.”
 
“You’re only saying that because you don’t have a date.”
 
“Fuck off I could have a date!”
 
“Mmhm.”
 
"I don't-" he sighed and grabbed a fry from her basket. "I don't wanna ask
someone unless it means something because then they'll think we're dating and I
don't want to deal with that. I'm not interested in anyone."
 
Mako made a soft humming sound and raised an eyebrow. "You are interested in
someone, though." She said and glanced at the phone.
 
"No one here. He- they," Chuck quickly corrected, flushing hard and glancing
around to make sure no one was close enough to overhear his slip up. "They're
in America. In Alaska. And it sucks."
 
Mako's eyebrows were pinned high on her forehead but she had the foresight to
know how vulnerable Chuck was making himself having told her this, and knew
making a comment would only make him shut down. And that wouldn't be any fun at
all. Instead, she leaned forward a little, silently prompting him to elaborate.
 
"It doesn't matter, anyways. Its nothing serious."
 
"But they are a prick.."
 
"Yeah." Chuck sighed, inwardly debating whether or not to fess up. In the end
Mako always won. She was, after all, his only friend. "Right. Okay. So we've
sorta been like, texting a lot? And sending videos and pictures-"
 
"Dirty pictures?" Mako asked.
 
"No!"
 
"Yes."
 
"Maybe. Whatever, okay? Shut up."
 
Mako snicked. "Continue."
 
"Well, so, I dunno? It wasn't supposed to be anything but it kinda feels like
it is and then out of the blue they just..stopped talking to me."
 
"That is prickish..." Mako nodded.
 
"That's not even the worst bit. Like I guess. Right, okay so they're a little
older? I guess and at Uni but also they play hockey. And I guess their coach
found their phone because the muppet left it out, idiot, and now he's totally
busted."
 
Mako winced at the revelation, hissing with a sharp intake of breath.
 
"Chassu, you could get in trouble for this..."
 
Chuck gave a half shrug, pushing the remains of his lunch around a little. "I
think I'm okay but now he won't even talk to me. Or when he does he gives me
whiplash with all the hot and cold." He kept his voice low but was obviously
getting upset. Or rather he was already upset and had been for quite some time
but this was really the first he'd said any of it out loud. And admitting this
kind of stuff was nothing short of terrifying. Once he said the words that was
it. They existed. It was real.
 
"He'll all be like trying to break it off but then apologizing and then blowing
me off again." Chuck said, picking his phone back up and scanning Raleigh's
onslaught of drunk apologies. "I don't like being jerked around."
 
"No, of course not," Mako said, brows lightly furrowed in thought. "May I see?"
 
Chuck looked at her for a long you better not fuck this up for mebefore
unlocking his screen and handing it over. Mako, to her credit, didn't say
anything embarrassing or even laugh at the dick pic from the other night. She
scanned over the most recent conversation and considered it for a moment. What
a mess.
 
"Raleigh. Hmmm...."
 
"See what I mean? I don't know what to say."
 
"Mmmhm. He is a prick, Chassu. But so are you. Would you want to keep talking
with him?"
 
"Oi-" Chuck began but gave up and simply shrugged, tugging a frustrated hand
through his hair. "Yeah, I guess. But not if, like-"
 
"No, I understand. You don't want to be used. May I write something?"
 
"Absolutely not gimmie-"
 
"Too late," Mako chirped, dodging Chuck's attempt to grab his phone and typing
something before handing the device over.
 
"Mako!!" Chuck snatched it and looked at the message. It had sent but, looking
at it, he probably couldn't have come up with anything better.
 
<< Prove it
 
Mako smiled as though she were perfectly innocent, nibbling another fry as she
watched Chuck reflect on what it was that just happened. His scowl turning into
a blush and then into some sense of resignation and even vague pleasure. Leave
it to Mako to know what to say.
 
"I have solved your problem for now, you must help me with mine."
 
"W-what." Chuck said, attention snapping back to Mako as he cradled his phone
against him. "What do you want."
 
"You know what I want."
 
"Aw..Mako no."
 
"Mako yes. I want you to go to prom with me."
 
Chuck groaned, pitching back in his seat before coming back. "Mako, I don't
wanna go-"
 
"You do. And I will be your beard. Its win win."
 
She had him cornered. They both knew it. And the only reason he didn't have to
agree was the sudden lunch bell obnoxiously screaming that it was time to get
to their next class. Chuck breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed his backpack,
rapping his knuckles against the table before snaking a handful of her fries
and stuffing them into his mouth as he made his escape.
 
"Sorry, Mako, I gotta go. Cheers for the help."
 
Mako had a free period after lunch and so stayed where she was- watching the
retreat with amusement- secure in the knowledge that she had already won.
 
Three hours of sleep, maybe. Four, at most. Raleigh’s head felt like someone
had filled it with concrete and tiny trolls were drilling into it with
jackhammers. And his alarm rang, loud and unforgiving, at 6:00 am. He plucked
his phone off the floor and poked at the screen with clumsy fingers trying to
make the annoying sound stop. And just as he’d succeeded at that task, his
message screen popped up.
 
He didn’t remember texting Chuck an array of sadly typed pleas, but it was the
kind of thing he’d probably do, given enough liquor and not enough common
sense. Usually someone would stop him. Usually. He vaguely recalled being
somewhat abandoned at the bar by that new guy. Gage. Trevor or Trevin or
whatever. Raleigh groaned. Trevin was a massive dick. Or had a massive dick?
Maybe both? Then Yancy showing up and dragging him home.
 
So, a thoroughly embarrassing night, then.
 
Raleigh glanced at his phone again, willing his eyes to focus despite the
droning pain in his head.
 
Prove it
 
Felt like a sharp spike went through his chest at those words. Halfway painful,
halfway desire. Weird. Prove it how?
 
Raleigh got up, producing a lot of pained noise, dragged himself into the
shower. Yancy had actually bothered to undress him and tuck him in. He should
probably make some kind of gesture to thank his big brother, for the billionth
time this happened. There wasn’t a whole lot else to do in Anchorage over the
summer.
 
Prove it how?
 
Raleigh brushed his teeth, knocked back some painkillers, tried to make himself
at least marginally presentable.
 
Prove it how?
 
For some reason his stomach felt tight when he walked into the locker room and
spotted the new guys. The one on the left was Trevin, right? Something about
the way he looked at Raleigh. Most certainly how he signaled Raleigh to stay
back with a nudge of his head whilst the rest of the guys went out onto the
ice. Raleigh gritted his teeth. He wasn’t entirely sure what had happened the
night before, but by the way his body was tensing up, it couldn’t be good.
 
“Hey,” Trevin started, walking up to him. “I wanted to apologize for last
night.”

Raleigh feigned knowing what exactly the guy was talking about, and folded his
arms across his chest. “Let’s hear it.”
 
Trevin pulled a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I said some inappropriate shit… I
kinda get that way when drunk. Let’s forget about it, all right?”
 
Raleigh raised an eyebrow. He was really curious now what kind of inappropriate
stuff had been said the night before. “Get what way? A huge jerk?” A random
guess, based on his gut feeling. He was a creature of sense, after all, and his
instincts were usually right. That’s what made him a good hockey player.
 
(Prove it how??)
 
Trevin shrugged. “Yeah… I come on all aggressive, and… well, usually Bruce
pulls me out of it, but…”
 
Raleigh laughed. “Usually Yance prevents me from doing dumb shit, too.”
 
“Your brother?” Trevin inquired.
 
“Yeah,” Raleigh replied. He slapped Trevin on the shoulder. Maybe a little
rougher than he would otherwise. “Try to kick that habit, would ya? Don’t wanna
have to call the cops on you or some shit, dude.”
 
Trevin grimaced. “Yeah.” He started walking out of the locker room, but turned
around just before he got through the doorway, as if he’d suddenly thought of
something.
 
“I wasn’t completely full of shit though, Becket,” he grinned. “You’re a good-
looking guy.”
 
Raleigh was used to compliments like that. From people who weren’t his
teammates. His cheeks flushed, maybe out of second-hand embarrassment, because
seriously Trev.
 
“No dates with teammates,” Raleigh blurted out with a stupid grin.
 
Trevin raised an eyebrow at him and laughed before he vanished into the
hallway.
 
Raleigh frowned. What a pain in the ass. Not in the good way. He dug through
his locker, making sure his phone would be safe and secure. Tapped on the
screen and stared at it again.
 
Prove. it. HOW!?
 
He glanced at the clock. He was already late for practice, but he could blame
that on his hangover. All he needed was a few minutes. Raleigh ducked into the
bathroom, locked the door behind him, pulled his shirt up and his pants down as
far as he could with most of his gear on — which was about halfway his thighs.
Exposing his abs and his dick, which was mostly soft, but…
 
He didn’t really know what else to do. Did Chuck expect some sort of romantic
declaration of love? That’s not — Raleigh didn’t do that. Not when… they hadn’t
even met. But he wouldn’t be opposed to meeting. It’s just — this was what he
was able to give Chuck right now, what he’d always given Chuck. Maybe it didn’t
make sense. But this kind of shit, he hadn’t done with anyone else, either.
 
Raleigh took a snapshot of his abs and dick and tucked himself back in, shifted
his clothes back on, before sending the photo to Chuck.
 
>> Only for you
 
He tapped send, right before a part of his brain decided to stop hurting and
start waking up.
 
Hold on a fucking second. What the fuck is that supposed to mean? You were
supposed to break it off, not — fucking encourage him, you complete moron —
 
Once again, he found he couldn’t delete sent messages.
 
Raleigh thudded his head against the door in desperation. “Ow. Fuck.” Another
bad decision. Maybe he should give up on today. Clearly, he had the cognitive
ability of a toad.
 
When he slogged onto the ice five minutes later, Serge just about threw the
puck at his face. “BECKET. GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE. NOW.”
 
Everyone’s heads spun around to stare at Raleigh as he skated over to coach
like a kicked puppy. Fantastic.
 
“Coach, last night was—”
 
“I don’t want to fucking hear it,” Serge roared. He swept his arm towards the
team. “The whole team’s got a goddamn hangover and they strap their blades on
and get on the ice on time.” He brought his face closer to Raleigh’s. “You’re
scratched from the next fucking game, and if I find out you’ve been texting
your little boyfriend again on practice time I am fucking scratching you from
the whole goddamn season, Becket. Is. that. clear?”
 
Raleigh swallowed hard. “Yessir.” Fuck. Fuck.
 
“It fucking better be,” Serge hissed. “You’re running an extra hour of suicides
and laps after today’s practice.”
 
Raleigh’s face fell, but he didn’t argue. There went movie night. His own damn
fault. “Yes, sir.”
 
“Now get the fuck out there.” Serge crossed his arms and gave Raleigh another
death stare.
 
The ice felt colder than usual that day, and by the time he got home, his lungs
and legs burning, he slumped right past everyone on the couch and into bed.
When Yancy came knocking on his room a minute later, Raleigh groaned a sad
“hangoveeeer” before burrowing himself deep into the pillows and duvet.
 
He needed to get his shit together. He really, really needed to get his shit
together.





***** Chapter 4 *****
Chapter Summary
     Chuck and Raleigh grow further apart as they focus on their own
     lives.
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
Prove it.
 
The dare had hung over them from thousands of miles away. Through satellites
and wifi and 4G. What are you to me. What do you want to be to me. What is
this?
 
What are we doing?
 
And in the end Chuck wanted something real and got more of the same and yet
something completely and wholeheartedly unsettling. And in the end he shouldn't
really be surprised at all.
 
And it set a pit in the bottom of his stomach that refused to go away.
 
Because nothing would ever be simple, would it. Not even a bit of fun on
webcam. It had become real now. Feelings were involved (much to Chuck's
dismay). Raleigh could have said anything. He could have said no. He could have
said goodbye. But no, his glorious response was a hurried, flaccid dick pic and
three words that had managed to burrow down in Chuck's chest in a way he didn't
understand. And they hurt.
 
>> Only for you
 
What the fuck was that supposed to mean. How the fuck was he supposed to
respond to that? What did you say? Was it playful? Was he simply overthinking
it like he always did with everything that was deemed even remotely important?
And what did it mean that he considered this guy important at all.
 
In the end, Chuck found that he couldn’t think of anything good to say and the
amount of energy he was devoting to trying to think of one was just too much.
He only had so much life force and giving it all to Raleigh bloody big dick
Becket wasn’t the most vital one. He had to focus on school. Real life. His
life.
 
But it hurt.
 
It twisted and cut and dug deep in his chest, pulling on lungs and ribs,
keeping him up at night looking at chat icons and ‘last seen’ notifications.
 
Only for you. What kind of bullshit was that, anyway. And so he tried to put it
away. Considered uninstalling his messaging apps, changing his online stuff,
maybe even his email. Just delete himself from the world. But then, as the
voice in the back of his head loved to remind him, Raleigh wasn’t the one
chasing you. You were chasing him. He probably wouldn’t even notice if you did
all that and it would be such a pain in the ass.
 
The other half of him said to just carry on. Put his shoulders back and puff
out his chest and not give it a second thought because hell, he isa catch. And
who wants to be some random weirdo’s dirty secret. Not him, that’s for sure
(though the shame and allure of that were at constant odds).
 
A third, small part of him wondered how far he could push. If he could corner
the guy and lolita the fuck out of him. Schoolboy this, and barely legal that.
It wasn’t anything real, why not have a bit more dirty fun. This didn’t mean
anything. At all.
 
This doesn’t mean anything.
 
This doesn’t mean anything!
 
>> Only for you
 
What a bastard.
 
So he left it. He left it and buried it with other messages to other people.
Because that response wasn’t at all what he wanted. A sorry would have
sufficed. A sorry would have been good enough. And deep down he knew this is a
valuable life lesson and he should take what he could from it and run, but it
still came creeping back in the dead of night. It still struck him awkwardly in
the back at practice, catching a glimpse of himself in his uniform. It roused
all the burning questions and inadequacy worries all over again in the blink of
a sadistic eye. Too young, too far, could this have been something? Was there
anything here at all?
 
The toy he bought was shoved in the back of his closet. Unopened and unused. It
had lost its appeal.
 
There was something sour in the back of his throat, now. He briefly considered
trying to wash it out with someone else. Someone new, but Chat Roulette felt
dirty. He didn’t want to cam with strangers. He didn’t know anyone in reallife.
But that was something he could change. He could go out, right? Not really
considering he was underage. Did he know anyone who’d want to fool around? Not
really. His friends were limited to a few casual acquaintances and Mako and
he’d been there and done that and simply put he just wasn’t worthy of her
majesty Mako Mori. So he decided to approach it the way any sane seventeen year
old desperate for a distraction would. Pick a target. Zero in. Acquire target.
Success.
 
And while there weren’t many guys he knew he could approach, there was good ‘ol
Zeke.
 
Zeke Amarok. A senior. And if Chuck was comfortable saying a man was gorgeous,
he would gladly apply it to him. He played Lacrosse, was tall, strong, and…
okay. He was handsome. Chuck never made the connection between his Alaskan
(dickhead) Friend and Zeke’s Inuit heritage, but he might be horrified if he
had. Instead, he focused on the curve of his ass and his easy smile. Deep, dark
eyes and close cropped hair. But most of all he focused in on the fact that he
knew Zeke was a member of the Gay Straight Alliance and he’d never seen him
with a girl, ever. So chances were pretty high. He also knew that Zeke smoked,
and took his lunch break to sneak to the very farthest corner of the campus and
then go across the street where the school couldn’t touch him to hurry down a
cigarette with the few other rebels in the same situation.
 
Target acquired. Location acquired. All he had to do was secure. And really? It
was as easy as asking for a light. Get him alone, Chuck thought. After school,
on the corner at the edge of the grounds. Maybe walk with him a bit. Make nice.
Say...whatever, did it matter? And at the first convenient moment back him
somewhere private. Get in close. And say... nothing, god, why don’t you learn
already? This isn’t Raleigh! You can touch this guy, come on!
 
So touch he does. The palm of his hand pressed flat and wide on his chest, the
cigarette he’d stolen from his dad’s secret pack dropping to the ground
unsmoked. And they kissed. And for one blissful, head spinning moment the
bitterness in his mouth was gone. For one moment he thought it’s going to be
okay. And he kissed him again, holding for a beat to feel the pain fade from
his lungs. The weight he hadn’t realized was bearing down so hard fell away and
he gave a great sigh. Hands slid up into Zeke’s hair. Plush lips parted, teeth
nipped and tongues explored. And everything, for that moment, for the next
moment, and the next, was alright.


The Alaskan Aces’ opening match of the hockey season was in their hometown; a
stroke of luck for most of the team, who could delay packing up and saying
goodbyes for a few more days. Not for Raleigh, who had to sit this one out. He
straightened his shoulders as he walked to the bench right before the game was
about to start. This sucked. Half the town was in Sullivan Arena, most of whom
were only just catching on to the fact that Raleigh wasn’t playing. There were
three more locals on the team — Jessop, Casey and Flint — but Raleigh knew he
was the town’s favorite. Knew it now, more than ever, as he heard the muttering
of disapproval, felt their eyes on him as he plopped down on the bench.
 
He’d worked his ass off the past few weeks, showing up on time — hell, early —
every single practice, chasing the puck across the ice until his muscles burnt
and his bones hurt. It felt good. He felt good. It’s like he’d shaken off some
kind of haze he’d been in, hiding behind his laptop screen, all that shit he’d
done with Chuck… it had felt good at the time, but he’d been unfocused. Lazy.
Lost sight of what really mattered.
 
And looking at the guys on the ice going up against Cincinnati Cyclones — whose
asses they’d kicked during last season’s play-offs — shit, this was a game he
really wanted to be in on. Instead, he was sitting there doing fuck all.
 
Raleigh gritted his teeth. He wasn’t going to mope and feel sorry for himself;
it was his own damn fault.
 
Coach came up to him and clasped him on the shoulder. “Becket,” he smirked.
“You really stepped up this month. Good work, kiddo.”
 
Raleigh gave him a lopsided grin. He knew what Serg was trying to say — they'd
both rather see him out on the ice, but at the same time, the disciplinary
measure had done its work.
 
“I see you put Flint on point,” Raleigh answered. Right wing forward. His
position. “Dude’s gonna eat ice.” His way of saying he knew being missed from
the game was on him, and putting Flint in his place was less optimal.
 
Serg laughed. “Maybe.”
 
A whistle blew through the stadium. The game was about to start. Raleigh
spotted Yancy and Tendo across the rink and gave them a mock salute, two
fingers waving away from his forehead.
 
He recalled the conversation they’d had last night.
 
How’s your boyfriend, Rals? Haven’t heard much lately. Coming from your room, I
mean.
 
Who? Also, shut up.
 
That webcam kid? You know, when I walked in y—
 
Oh — again, shut up — yeah… you know. I gotta focus on hockey.
 
Glad to hear it, kid.
 
Everyone seemed to approve of his renewed vigor for the game, and why not?
Raleigh recalled the last text he’d sent Chuck — an embarrassing dick pic, of
all things — and he hadn’t heard anything back. Just as well. It’d been a
fucking stupid response, and just… he’d probably pissed Chuck off enough to
stay away from him. That was good. The kid could do better. An 18 hour time
difference was really impractical, too.
 
If he just kept telling himself that, eventually he’d get rid of the memories
he had of their… whatever the hell it had been. The way they’d watched each
other on camera, the filthy stuff they had done, the way Chuck had fingered
himself open, how Raleigh had shown Chuck his favorite toy, the way Chuck had
looked into the bathroom mirror as he jerked off just for him —
 
Forget about it. He should forget about it. It had been… immature, lewd
bullshit. Online. It didn’t mean anything. They hadn’t even met.
 
The noise from the crowd swelled up and Raleigh tried to focus on the match.
One of the Cyclones was getting whistled off for cross-checking one of the
Gages — which one? Left forward — Trevin.
 
Trevin was cool. He hadn’t hit on Raleigh, after that one night. Well, not
really. Perhaps some comments and looks, nothing more. But enough to tell
Raleigh that if he’d changed his mind, Trevin wouldn’t be averse to the idea,
either.
 
Focus. He had to focus. Hockey mattered. His sports career mattered. The puck,
the ice, the crowd, the team. That’s what he had to think about. That’s all.
Focus on what was real, what was there, what he could touch. For all he knew,
Chuck was… a figment of his imagination. Just memories.
 
The game ended a satisfying 4 to 3 for the Aces. Raleigh wouldn’t wish for his
team to lose just to prove a point about how essential he was — his ego wasn’t
that big — and he practically got yanked to the locker room by at least two
pairs of hands. Nobody seemed bitter about him sitting one out, and Raleigh was
more happy about that than he’d realized. He hated the idea of letting his team
down, and the win made sure nobody was gonna grill him for messing up earlier.
He got pulled into the crowd in the locker room, all shoves and friendly
shoulder punches and highfives.
 
“First win of the season!” “Hell yeah!” “Awesome moves there, Bruce—” “—you
still alive after that bodycheck, man—” “Rals, come here!” “You didn’t fall
asleep on the bench did you?” “We gotta celebrate, come on—” “Bruins or what?”
“Fucking Bruins, dude, all night!”
 
Raleigh laughed, the good cheer of his teammates infectious, and before he knew
it they were at the bar, doing shots and hanging out with a few local puck
bunnies. Well, the girls weren’t really puck bunnies — Kaori was Duc’s
girlfriend anyway, and Kate and Anne always hung out with them after the games.
Might as well be one of the guys the way they could handle themselves. Bruins
was a lot more crowded than usual, a lot of locals coming in to say their
goodbyes to the team. The season would take them all over the East Coast Hockey
League with not much time to see family and friends, and in addition to
celebrating the win the night was also a send-off party.
 
So it wasn’t very surprising he found himself hanging around Yance and Tendo,
wedging himself in between them, laughing and joking and as more beer went in
more exclamations of adoration came out — I love you bro, I really do, I’m
gonna miss you, Tendo my man, imma miss you too, lemme buy ya another
round…camera flashes went off, selfies and drunken pictures taken with
smartphones, new memories to last them through the season and play-offs. They
were packing up tomorrow and taking a flight to the next match in Orlando.
Other side of the freaking country.
 
The bar was crowded, but Raleigh’s eyes kept drifting towards Trevin Gage — and
it hadn’t escaped his notice that Trevin had been making eyes at him all night.
But, true to his promise, had kept his distance from Raleigh. Especially now
that Raleigh was losing track of how many beers he’d had, his head was feeling
comfortably fuzzy and the room just the right amount of spin to it.
 
Raleigh found himself brushing past Trevin. Grabbing his arm in passing,
hissing something. Meet me in the back? Raleigh couldn’t remember. Things were
considerably more blurry after that. More drinks, more beer, Trevin’s smile,
Trevin’s hands, the cold autumn air hitting him, looking up at the sky as they
made their way to the hotel room.
 
It happened like that, Raleigh figured, as he woke up with a massive headache
in an empty hotel bed. The toilet flushed and Raleigh sat up straight just as
Trevin walked out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel.
 
Raleigh pulled a hand down his face. “Did we—”
 
“Yeah,” Trevin said with a smile.
 
Raleigh avoided his gaze. “Did we at least use—”
 
“Condoms, yes.” Trevin finished his train of thought. He grinned, walked to the
mini-bar and took out a bottle of Gatorade, tossing it to Raleigh on the bed.
Raleigh didn’t bother to catch it, even though his throat was parched and his
lips and tongue dry.
 
“I, um… shit,” he mumbled.
 
Trevin let out a sigh, rolled his eyes, and took out a bottle for himself
before closing the small fridge door. “It was a drunk fuck, Rals. If you don’t
want it to be anything then let’s not make it anything, yeah?”
 
Raleigh finally met Trevin’s eyes. The man looked slightly worried, not mean or
amused at this point.
 
“Yeah,” Raleigh said. Something else occurred to him. “The guys… did anyone see
us leave?”
 
Trevin shrugged. “Not really, besides you pulling me away from the crowd at
some point.” He sighed again, walking towards the bed. “Listen. This happens.
We’re on the same team. No reason to make a big deal out of it. Besides,” and
now the smirk made a comeback, “Seems like you needed it.”
 
Raleigh looked away again. “Whatever.” He knew. He slept around before. Why was
this any different? It wasn’t. It shouldn’t be.
 
He crawled out of bed, well aware he was still naked, but at the moment he
didn’t give a damn. He just wanted to get into the hot shower and wash away
whatever he remembered of the past night. When he got out, Trevin had
thankfully left the room. Raleigh checked his phone; only a single text from
Yance.
 
saw you leave w/ the hot twin — score?
 
Raleigh raked a hand through his hair and sighed. Yeah, Yance. Score.
 
-
 
And so it went. Time moved forward. Neither Chuck nor Raleigh died of
heartbreak. The sun continued to rise and fall. That was just the way things
worked. Life went on and business continued as usual.
 
Games came and went. School continued and exams finished. And all of a sudden
it was the end of year ball and Chuck found himself standing outside his
father’s boss’ house in a suit holding a plastic box with two refrigerated
orchids nestled in some of the ugliest cellophane tinsel he’d ever seen.
 
Zeke had asked him about going. A few times actually, but Chuck knew Mako had
her heart on going and didn’t want to go alone. And for all her guts and glory
she didn’t seem willing to find a normal date like everyone else. He couldn’t
blame her, really. Most of the people at school sucked and she’d have another
year to figure it out after he graduated.
 
So there he was, with a rented limo and three other ‘couples’ waiting on her
door step. Zeke had said it was fine, that he didn’t care, but they’d been
fooling around for months now and Chuck knew there was something to it. He just
wasn’t quite so progressive that he wanted to show up to a ball with a man on
his arm. Maybe in a few years but now? No.. no he wasn’t quite there yet.
 
He took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. Expecting Mako to answer but
swallowing hard when he saw it wasn’t her at all.
 
“Mister Hansen.”
 
Chuck swallowed again and chanced a smile.
 
“Hi Marshal.”
 
“—That my boy?” A voice asked from inside and Stacker grunted a yes as he
turned and opened the door to let Chuck in.
 
“Seems to be. Sharp suit.”
 
“Dad?” Chuck asked, sounding a tad indignant as he came in his father sidled
out from what Chuck knew as the den.
 
“You didn’t think I wasn’t gonna see you off to prom, did you.” The grin on
Herc’s lips was positively wolfish, not even trying to contain his glee at
pulling a fast one. “Sneakin’ out like that. Risky business, boy.”
 
“I didn’t think you could move that fast, old man.” He shot back, a flush
crawling up the back of his neck.
 
Herc scowled and opened his mouth when the smallest clearing of a throat broke
the charge. All three of them turned towards the stairs where Mako had emerged.
Slim and strong in a floor length navy dress. Gathers ran vertically up through
the middle and split into a v which draped over her frame and joined at the
shoulders with two pieces of embroidery. They were embellished with sequins and
beads that joined across her back and held the back of the dress in a centered
drape. Modest but elegant. It was the nicest dress Chuck had ever seen. And in
that moment Mako was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. And if they were
an actual thing he might have fallen in love with her right then and there.
 
Her hair was perfectly combed with two blue pieces at the front to frame her
face. It was against school policy to have dyed hair and Chuck smirked at the
small rebellion. Mako smiled back and took in the faces of the three stunned
men standing below her before coming down the stairs, careful to keep from
slipping or catching the heel of her shoes in the jersey which pooled onto the
floor behind her.
 
“Hi, Chuck.”
 
“Ah, buhhhh…”
 
Mako laughed and stopped in front of him. She smiled again and looked at the
box he was holding. A subtle nod for him to snap out of it and shake back into
the real world.
 
“Uhh. You look amazing, Maki.”
 
“Thank you, Chassu.”
 
A soft joined laugh from their fathers made Chuck turn and glare before
fumbling the plastic carton open and removing the flower.
 
“I don’t.. Um. How do I?”
 
“Here,” Mako said and took the flower, admiring it for a moment before slipping
it’s elasticated band onto her wrist. Beside her corsage was another orchid
Chuck hadn’t realised wasn’t attached and watched as she took it and pinned it
to the lapel of his charcoal suit.
 
“There we go.”
 
Outside, the limo honked and Herc took out his phone.
 
“Right you two. Pretend you like each other,” he said and forced them into
pictures. Chuck looked determined not to blink and stared down the lense like a
serial killer. Mako smiled and took his arm. Their fathers consorted for a
moment as to whether or not these pictures were good enough before Stacker
pulled a proper camera from the hall cabinet and took several more.
 
The limo honked again.
 
“Alright, alright enough already! I’m blind!” Chuck protested and turned,
steering Mako towards the door. She grabbed her clutch and out they went, both
blinking spots out of their eyes from the flash.
 
“Don’t you touch a hair on her, Chuck.” Stacker warned as they made for the
car. He grimaced and waved without looking back. Knocking Mako up on prom night
wasn’t something he would have to worry about.
 
“Be smart!” Herc added. “Home by one!”
 
Chuck waved again. That wasn’t gonna happen.
 
“Angie woulda loved to’ve seen this,” Herc said softly, watching his boy try to
escort Mako into the car. Stacker gave a soft hum in response, set his camera
down and stood shoulder to shoulder as he sneaked a hand to rest on the small
of the other’s back.
 
Herc stiffened for a moment but the limo was pulling away and he relaxed.
 
“C’mon. We’ve got the whole night to ourselves.”
 
“Right... right.”
 
The End of Year Ball, as it turned out, wasn’t half bad. It was a ball. Chuck
guessed it was alright as far as those things went. They ate, they danced, he
ditched Mako half way through to make out with Zeke in a broom closet. It was
good.
 
The after party, though. That was when things really got going. Caitlin
Lightcap’s parents were away on deployment and their house was empty. She’d
already turned eighteen and so drinks weren’t a problem. The music was decent
and the house was packed door to door with drunk teenagers.
 
“Chuck, hey,” Zeke called over the music and muscled between the rest of the
rugby team to get to him. Already several pints back, Chuck looked up and gave
a lazy smile.
 
“Hay is fer horses,” He answered, tongue drawling along the words.
 
“I wanna talk. Come here a moment.”
 
“Mmmmgood right here, mate. What’s up?”
 
Zeke frowned, brows drawing for a moment before smirking and leaning in.
“Sure,” He whispered. “If you wanna suck my cock right here, Hansen. Whatever
floats your boat.”
 
Chuck blushed and snorted, easing up from where he had been perching on the arm
of a couch. “Ahh alright alright. Fine.”
 
Because who didn’t want to fool around a little. And, as it happened, Zeke had
a great cock. Not that Chuck had all that many to compare against? But he liked
it. And that’s what mattered. He stumbled a bit as they climbed the stairs and
began hunting for an empty room. It ended up being the ensuite toilet of the
master bedroom (which was off limits to the party), but it had a lock so they
were fine.
 
“You alright?” Chuck asked once they were alone, pressing up against Zeke. He
felt warm all over from the drink and began fumbling at the other’s fly.
 
“Yeah, I’m good. Your girlfriend know you’re up here with me?”
 
“She ain’t my girlfriend, you know that.”
 
“She’s your date.”
 
“Don’t mean she’s my girl.We’ve talked about this.”
 
Zeke grunted and guided Chuck’s mouth towards better uses. Chuck looked up and
then scowled, pushing back against his hand.
 
“Seriously? You’re sore I didn’t go as your date.”
 
“No, forget it. C’mon, blow me.”
 
“Forget it? Mmmphppth!” Chuck sputtered as the other took advantage of the
moment and nudged his cock against Chuck’s lips before he protested and swiped
at his hand.
 
“It’s fine. Come on.”
 
And Chuck gave in. Whether by obligation or lack of give a fuck he didn’t know.
But he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach something wasn’t quite right
between them. Maybe because nothing was established and then all of a sudden
Zeke was butthurt about being dates.. He didn’t know. He didn’t get the dating
thing at all. He had more important shit to do but Zeke was just so very good
at being distracting.
 
“Shit.. fuck that’s good.” Zeke hissed, threading his fingers into Chuck’s
unruly hair and tugging him closer. He hit the back of Chuck’s throat and he
coughed around his cock trying to pull back but Zeke didn’t let go and it took
a firm punch to his side to get free and fall back, heaving for breath.
 
“You— drunk asshole!”
 
“Ow, shit Chuck. What the fuck!?”
 
“I couldn’t breathe, you dickhead!”
 
“Don’t be such a pussy. Come here and finish what you started.”
 
“No, fuck off.”
 
“Seriously? You can’t leave me like this.”
 
“I can and I am. I said fuck off.”
 
“First you ditch me for a girl who isn’t your girlfriend, you won’t date me
proper, and now you won’t suck my cock?” Zeke exclaimed, drunken fury clogging
his blood. “What kind of fucking boyfriend are you?”
 
Chuck looked at him for a moment. Stunned. “I’m not your boyfriend—”
 
“Well what the fuck are you?! I’m not your fucking toy, Hansen!” A breath and
he stuffed himself back in his pants, tucking his shirt back in before storming
towards the door.
 
“You know what?” He turned, door already open. “You’re nothing. I bet you’re
not even gay, you’re just fucking around. I’m not gonna be your dirty secret!
Fuck you. Fuck you,” Zeke hissed and slammed the door behind him.
 
“Aw go fuck yourself!” Chuck shouted after him and got onto his knees, swaying
as his brain sloshed around in his head, the fluid in there having long since
turned into vodka. There was no way in hell he was going to go after him and he
groaned as he pulled himself up.
 
The bathroom was full of shit from the party.
 
“Off limits my ass,” He grunted as he spied a half empty bottle of raspberry
vodka in the bathtub. There were condom wrappers in the trash and someone’s
underwear hung over the showerhead. He snorted again and swiped the bottle,
tipping himself into the tub and settling down, unscrewing the cap and taking a
long swig.
 
“Ahh, ghad, tastes like shit..” Chuck grimaced as it went down but he shrugged
and took another long swallow.
 
“Fuck him,” he grumbled out loud, kicking the sides of the tub a few times in
protest before resigning himself to a night of camping in the bathroom. It
wasn’t long before his cell phone buzzed and he groped for it, sliding the
device from his pocket only to find it was just a google alert.   
 
Google Alert! Search term [Raleigh Becket] received one new result!
 
“Great..”
 
He clicked the article anyway. It was just another write up about his team with
his name being listed in the players breakdown. Something...something something
hockey blah blah special world tour blah blah, Chuck’s eyes were getting
unfocused and he found himself not caring enough to read yet anotherarticle
about just how great the Aces were doing.
 
Fucking Raleigh. Fuck that guy. Seriously, if it weren’t for him he would have
never hooked up with Zeke and whatever it was that just happened wouldn’t have.
 
I’m not your fucking toy, Hansen! I’m not gonna be your dirty secret!
 
The words were eerily close to some he’d thrown at Raleigh and a small chill
ran up his spine. the urge to turn the shower on and just lay there in
confused, crushing defeat was almost overwhelming. Instead, he held his phone
close to his face and opened his messenger, re reading his last few messages
with Raleigh from months ago.
 
“Fuck you,” Chuck growled, typing it out just for good measure. And then his
finger ‘slipped’ and it sent.
 
>>Fucj you
 
“Ah shit..” He laid his phone on his chest for a moment and took a deep breath
before picking it back up and taking another swig of vodka. And then several
more. Until the glow of the screen was the only thing he could concentrate on
and his face was numb.
 
>>your a cunr
>>you're such an asshole do you know thvat? are uyo actively aware of hxow
muvch of a dickhead you are? because you're ea fuckngc cunot, mate.
>>i'm in a bathtub right now and it's completely youwr faumlt
>>your tgeam sucks
>>i hope you brak ur akle
 
A repetitive beeping noise disrupted Raleigh’s sleep, and he opened his eyes to
the pitch-dark of his hotel room in Hong Kong. The Aces had lost the playoffs
by a hair the last season, but Raleigh had made ECHL’s top scorer, and somehow
this had resulted in him being part of an cross-league promotional world tour
to attract foreign players. Raleigh had lost track of where and when he was
with all the hopping from one country to the next, but somehow his insomnia had
decided play nice with whatever timezone he was in now, and he was actually
well on his way to catching some sleep when who the fuck ever had decided to
text him at — he glanced at the red digits on the alarm clock — 3 in the
morning. Probably Yancy who couldn’t figure out the freaking time of day. He
had enough trouble being on time in his own city, let alone the other side of
the world.
 
Raleigh reached for his phone on the nightstand and brought it to his face,
blinking as the screen lit up brightly. He rubbed his sleep-dusted eyes to
focus and then read the screen. Blinked, and rubbed his eyes again.
 
>> Fucj you
 
Chuck??
 
Raleigh’s brow knotted up in increasing states of confusion as the texts
scrolled by, and all the drunken spelling would be hilarious were it not for
Chuck calling him a variety of names.
 
How was Chuck being in a bathtub his fault?
 
Raleigh flicked on the room’s night light and sat up in bed. Judging from the
messages, Chuck was drunk off his ass. And blaming him for some reason. Raleigh
raked a hand through his hair and sighed. Well, maybe that reason wasn’t too
hard to come up with. But they hadn’t texted for months — Christ, almost a
year. He’d moved on. Threw all his energy and focus into the sport he loved.
Here he was, top scorer in hockey minor league, and not to mention he looked
ripped as hellnow. He was doing pretty awesome. Except for that whole dry spell
thing. Except for when he’d tried to hook up with Trev again the result had
been significantly less than awesome. They were a poor match sober and after a
third embarrassing encounter that had made Raleigh doubt his virility he’d just
given up and channeled the rest of his frustration into sports. It had worked,
if his rock-hard abs were anything to go by.
 
So he hadn’t gotten laid since November and Chuck was texting him drunk in the
middle of the night. It’s not like those two things were related.
 
Raleigh’s thumb hovered over the screen of his phone. What the hell was he
gonna say? Should he say anything? Maybe just ignore it? But then — what was
this talk about being in a bathtub, which just nagged at him —

“Shit,” Raleigh mumbled as it dawned on him. Chuck wasn’t, like, doing anything
crazy, was he? Something dangerous? Maybe he was sitting in a tub full of water
with his phone, shitfaced and ready to drown. Maybe he was crying his eyes out,
calling Raleigh an asshole, ready to drop a switched-on blowdryer into the
water. Something like that. He’d seen that shit on tv. Maybe people actually
did that. Maybe Chuck would — fuck. Fuck.
 
He’d pressed the Skype call button before his mind even processed the action.
If something bad, really bad was going on with Chuck, he had to call,
embarrassment and past shit be damned. If this was Chuck reaching out to him
like that… he owed it to Chuck to answer.
 
There was the familiar series of beeps before the call connected.
 
“Um. Chuck? It’s me.”
 
The reply on the other end came first in the form of a faint rustling. Fabric
and something glass hitting against something metal or maybe ceramic?
 
Chuck had been mid drink when the skype came through. Not expecting it, he
fumbled to answer but dropped the phone on his chest, reaching to clumsily put
the bottle back next to the tub. He could just about manage and shook his head
a few times with a soft “Pbbbbbtth” as he tried to ready himself to speak.
 
Truth be told he didn’t realize it was skype until he picked the phone back up
and looked at it. It was another moment before he realized it was Raleigh. That
Raleigh had calledhim. A chill would have gone down his spine if he were any
less drunk. But he wasn’t. He was pissed as a fart and licked his front teeth
with a grunt.
 
“Well. Lookis, Raleigh Becket!” he slurred, flapping his other hand as though
Raleigh could see him.
 
“wha’d you want. Raaleigh. Mis.. Cat’n America fuckin’..asshole.”
 
Raleigh swallowed hard. Chuck sounded absolutely smashed, the words thick and
slurred on his tongue, barely legible through his Aussie accent. Raleigh
ignored the insult, still worried about what state Chuck might be in.
 
“Are you okay? I mean — you’re not about to do anything stupid, are you?”
Raleigh made sure he was speaking slow, articulated and hopefully loud enough
for Chuck to hear him in his muddled state.
 
“Ay?” Chuck asked, still managing to mishear, momentarily distracted as he
rubbed an eye. “You’restupid.”
 
Raleigh groaned. Maybe it would help to ask about the very thing that was
bothering him. “You’re in a bathtub? Is there water?”
 
“Uhhhh. Water— no. Ther’s a pair of grundies, though. Who leaves their grundies
in the bath? Bettcha’ tenner someone’s leavin’ this party up the duff.”
 
Raleigh’s face scrunched up in the face of so much indecipherable Australian
slang. No water then? That was good. So maybe Chuck had just been texting him —
drunk, for the hell of it. Huh.
 
He felt a lot dumber for calling, suddenly. Here he was talking to this kid who
— way back when, on Chatroulette and Skype and all that other stuff, and the
pictures and videos, had fingered himself live on webcam for him, and just…
 
It barely seemed real now, a distant memory, like it had happened to someone
else.
 
And yet, Chuck’s voice was there on the other end. Somewhere in Sydney, Chuck
was laying nigh-plastered in a bathtub and had thought to text Raleigh of all
people.
 
Raleigh was somewhat familiar with drunken texts. With how you always ended up
texting that one person you couldn’t forget about. Yeah…
 
Small-talk, then? He could try small-talk.
 
“You’re at a party?”
 
“Uhhuh,” Chuck grunted, fumbling for that bottle again and giving a sour scowl
to see it was much emptier than he’d like.
 
“End’f year ball after party. You call it prom, yeah? Prom. fuckin’ stupid
word. Why’d— why’d you call me ‘nyway? Ngh? Shur’n got somethin’ better t’do.”
 
Prom? Raleigh paused. Ah… that meant Chuck had graduated.
 
He felt strange for missing it. Not — not sad or anything. That would be
ridiculous. Yeah.
 
“Hey. Congrats on graduating,” Raleigh said, not really wanting to answer
Chuck’s question.
 
He was answered with another grunt. The urge to let Raleigh know he’d made it
had been nearly overwhelming at the time but it hadn’t made any sense. He had
no obligation to tell Raleigh anything anymore. But speaking now came a little
more free and easy.
 
“Ceremony’s in a week…gotta make a speech. ‘n I’m eighteen in August. Jus’s
before I g’off t’uni.” Two months away. “Since we’re sharin’.”
 
Unlike Chuck at the moment, Raleigh had full clarity. He did awake or asleep;
drowsiness wasn’t his thing, if alcohol wasn’t involved.
 
If Chuck’s eighteenth birthday was in August… that meant when they’d started
talking, over a year ago —
 
He’d googled the age of consent in Australia back then. He really had. But that
was no use if the other party was straight up lying.
 
“Christ,” Raleigh mumbled to himself, almost thinking out loud. Not like Chuck
was hearing much of what he was saying anyway. “You were sixteen back then.”
 
“Ay? Whazit—” Chuck attempted to ask, forcing himself to sit up a bit in the
tub by kicking at the other end. Somehow he noticed he’d scuffed his shoe up
pretty bad and the cumburbund of his rented tux had disappeared. But Raleigh
was saying something in his stupid thinky voice and Chuck crushed one eye shut
in an attempt to listen. Sixteen.. back then. Back when?  Oh-
 
“Ah fuck.”
 
Raleigh bit his lip. “Er, yeah.”
 
Change the subject, change the fucking subj—
 
“So, erm, I’m in Hong Kong right now. ‘s pretty cool.”
 
Oh yeah, he was reallyawesome at this small talk stuff. Amazing. Pretty cool?
The vastness of it had overwhelmed him, endless skyscrapers full of people,
crawling through the city as millions upon millions of ants — before this,
they’d gone to Oslo, Kopenhagen, Moscow. Nothing as bizarrely huge and swarming
with humans the way Hong Kong was.
 
Raleigh had been holed up in his hotel room pretty much the whole time, wishing
he was back in Anchorage, in the small cabin he and Yance used to go ice-
fishing, thermos bottles full of tea and soup with them.
 
Come to think of it, he was kind of homesick. He was used to traveling, sure —
inside the US. Even when he was in Florida, he was still in America. Still
American. Something like that.
 
Chuck was pretty quiet on the other end. Raleigh hoped the kid hadn’t passed
out. Though that would be one way to end this awkward conversation.
 
“...Chuck?”
 
“Hnngh?” A snort and something like a tiny whine. “M’here. M’good. I’m
just..really..fuckin’ pissed. Aces really are flyin’ all over. Wh’s the food
like?”
 
“It’s not the Aces,” Raleigh explained. “Hockey league world promotion tour…
thing.” What was their next stop, anyway? “The food’s all right I gue—”
 
Raleigh dropped his phone. It landed softly on the duvet as Raleigh flew out of
bed, bolted to his bag and dug out the folded, crumpled piece of paper that had
their tour schedule.
 
They’d flown them all towards the East Coast, then onto Europe — then St
Petersburg, Moscow… then a long flight to Hong Kong…
 
Melbourne
Sydney
Tokyo
Los Angeles
 
Raleigh stared at the list for a good minute. It was right there. Why hadn’t he
noticed before — why hadn’t he thought of…
 
Sydney.
 
He was going to Sydney.
 
He dashed back to the bed, grabbing his phone. “Chuck? You still there?”
 
No answer. The call was still active but there wasn’t a whole lot of activity
past the faint sound of breathing and the occasional rustle. Somewhere, very
far off, there was the constant thump of music.


Chapter End Notes
     Mako is wearing this_lovely_prom_dress!
***** Chapter 5 *****
Chapter Summary
     Raleigh has a little help from Aleksis in taking away his worries.
     Chuck mostly regrets his drinking decisions, or, not.
Chapter Notes
     An enormous and profound thank you to the people who read this story
     and continue to encourage us. We’ve both had a crazy year (or two)
     and on top of it Onlyoneday has had writer’s block since the last
     chapter update and was ready to throw in the towel. You readers who
     continue to give kudos and more importantly comment are the
     inspiration to keep going. Find our voices again and move forward.
     Thank you.
     - jaeger_delta & onlyoneday
Raleigh plopped down on the bench in the Aces’ locker room in the Kowloon Bay
Hockey Arena. He took off his helmet and bent over to untie his skates, going
through the usual motions deep in thought, the usual talk and bustle of the
other guys a distant murmur in his consciousness. Since the night before his
mind had been occupied by a single question.
Should I tell Chuck I’m coming to Sydney? Should I tell him? What’ll happen if
I tell him? Should I?
He’d been weighing the pros and cons in circles. He didn’t want to lead Chuck
on anymore, not for a single second. The way things were going there was less
and less room in his life for any kind of relationship, not until he started
earning his keep. He hadn’t made the NHL draft when he was younger, had signed
with the Aces shortly after, and had been struggling since.
If he was honest with himself, it was Chuck who had made the difference, in a
way. He’d been confronted with his own poor attitude and behavior, not just
during but also before his online dalliance with Chuck.With the Australian kid
who was in high school and also a freaking minor what the fuck was I thinking,
his mind went on.
He’d pulled himself together. He’d worked harder than anyone else on the team,
he’d made ECHL top scorer, he was part of this promotional tour and maybe —
just maybe — he’d catch the eye of an NHL organization. When he’d started out,
maybe hockey had been a fun sport to him, something he happened to have more
than average talent in. Now though, he understood it. There was no such thing
as luck. It was pure fucking hard work, practicing until you breathed, ate,
drank, sweated, pissed, bled hockey. And there was no room in it for anything
else. He’d given up his summer classes, any other hobbies, his dating life. His
sex life consisted of hook-ups, a sort of disconnected mutual masturbation.
He didn’t want to think about how that made him feel too much.

And somehow at this point in the circle, his mind lingered on Chuck again. This
random, chance connection made through a computer screen, a fiery, dirty,
almost dangerous blip on the timeline of his life in the past few years. He
wanted that feeling back more than he was willing to admit to himself.
Should I tell Chuck I’m coming to Sydney?
His eyes registered a dramatic change in light and he focused enough to notice
Aleksis towering over him. The giant Russian had taken a quick liking to
Raleigh for whatever reason, and the team had compared it to a black bear
adopting a labrador puppy. To which Raleigh objected, because he was absolutely
nothing like a puppy, and he had never heard such a thing in his life,
definitely not from his brother and friends.
Aleksis ruffled his hair.
Raleigh sighed in defeat.
“You do lots of thinking,” Aleksis remarked in his thickly accented English.
“Yeah,” Raleigh mumbled, still not quite there, his mind running in circles.
Aleksis’ big hand tapped his cheek. “Wake up! Is good day, was good game. You
need focus.”
Raleigh looked up — and then up some more, ‘cause Aleksis was a goddamn giant —
and met his teammate’s gaze. He nodded. “Yeah, yeah. Just some stuff that’s on
my mind.”
Aleksis grabbed his shoulder and shook him back and forth. “I mean it. Game was
good, but you were bad.”
Raleigh winced; he knew Aleksis was right, he’d been a mess during the game,
 and luckily the rest of the team had their shit together. But he’d cost them
at least a point, which was bad enough. His heart hadn’t been in it, thinking
about last night, about Chuck, and that was a pretty familiar and shitty
feeling, too.
Why’d that kid have the power to screw with him so much?
“Damn it,” Raleigh mumbled. “Sorry man. You’re right. Thanks.”
Aleksis grinned. “You go out, drink. Get puck bunny, take worries away, yes?”
Raleigh gave him an awkward smile. There wasn’t a lot he could do with a girl
squirming on his lap, but he hadn’t really divulged that info to the team.
These were players from all over the world, and they might not react as
favorably as the Aces. Still, the Russian had a point. He could use a little
R&R to take his mind off of Chuck.
“Yeah,” Raleigh said. “I’ll do that.”
“Good, good!” Aleksis patted his cheek again and then turned away.
Raleigh took a deep breath, but the harder he tried to will away his thoughts,
the more they stuck in his consciousness.
Back in his hotel room, freshly showered, shaved and smelling nice, Raleigh sat
down on the bed and checked his phone.
Chuck hadn’t texted him anything since, leaving only the badly spelled evidence
of last night’s bender on his screen.
>> Fucj you
>> you’re such an asshole
He definitely was, clearly. There was not much okay with how he’d treated
Chuck. Especially now that he knew Chuck had been a minor which honestly, made
him feel a little ill. Raleigh frowned.
Should I tell him I’m coming to Sydney?
His chest felt heavy and tight, his thumb hovering over the bottom of the phone
screen.
One way or another, it seemed like Chuck hadn’t forgotten about him. And one
way or the other, Chuck still sent him reeling.
>> Hey Chuck. Not sure if you remember last night. Hope you’re ok. Just wanted
to tell you that I’m coming to Sydney
Raleigh paused and bit his lip. Why the fuck was this such a big deal.
Because if I tell him, I’m leading him on again.
“Fuck,” Raleigh mumbled, planting his head in the palm of his free hand.
He carefully deleted the last bit of his text.
>> Hey Chuck. Not sure if you remember last night. Hope you’re ok.
That was doable, right? Chuck could see his own text history. It might be weird
for Raleigh not to get back to him.
He really hoped Chuck wasn’t lying in a pool of his own vomit or something. He
still was a little worried.
Raleigh pressed his lips together and his frown deepened, thumb close to the
send button.
This was a bad idea. He should ignore Chuck again, forget about him, forget
about all of it. He really should.
His thumb made contact with the phone screen, and the text sent.
And it was just as well really. Chuck had opened their can of worms so why
shouldn’t Raleigh help tip it over onto the ground. That was his style after
all. In Chuck’s opinion anyway, but what the fuck did he really know about the
guy.
At this particular second he didn’t know much about anything. He knew vaguely
he had woken up and left the party after the bathroom door was all but kicked
down. He knew he somehow got home and along the way had managed to lose one of
his shoes... His nice shoes... The nice shoes he bought to wear to Important
Things like job interviews and tech conferences
and...other...important...things... Shut up.
He knew he had woken up in his own bed feeling like a jackhammer was drilling
between his eyes and he knew, now, after hours of puking his guts out and
wishing for death on the bathroom floor, that he hated high school with his
entire being and he couldn’t wait to never see any of those fuckwits again.
Least of all Zeke.
The mess came back in little bits and pieces the longer he laid and thought
about it. His dad didn’t seem to be home and if he was then he sure as shit
wasn’t letting Chuck know...or offering to help... And honestly Chuck wasn’t
sure if he was pleased or upset about that. It wasn’t like this was the first
time Chuck had been drunk but it was the first time he’d been drunk at a huge
party that wasn’t supposed to be happening. It’s the first time he’d dealt with
the consequences of a relationship- and who was he kidding he and Zeke were at
least that- and it was the first time ‘fixing a problem’ didn’t involve just...
Turning off Skype and never texting someone again.
But um... That didn’t go so well either, did it.
By late afternoon he’d showered and crawled back into bed. The house was silent
and he ventured to the kitchen for toast and tea and then it was right back
under the covers.
'The hell is dad? He kept thinking, but knowing what was good for him kept him
from sending any texts.
He spent some time going through his travesty of a text history and groaned low
and long when he saw the damage.
What the hell was he thinking.
He’d been doing so well.
And then he’d not done so well and in his moment of crisis he chose to not only
contact but abuse the guy who, arguably, was at fault for all of this. With his
great body and stupid beautiful eyes and all his stupid stupid caring!
“Fuck’s sake... ” Chuck murmured to himself as he scrolled through the texts.
One of them was new and the concern was... well, it was sure something. “I wish
I’d never met you.”
Something in him felt immediately guilty.
He liked to think he’d just stayed off the internet... Never gotten involved
with Raleigh Becket, he’d still be living happily and repressed and that would
be just fine. Just fucking fine, thank you very much. He didn’t need this. He
didn’t need a companion or a love interest or whatever, it was all just such a
waste of time.
And more than a waste of time it was painful. He’d gotten hurt. Over and over
again he’d gotten hurt.
And he never learned.
Maybe this was it. Maybe enough was really enough. He had hands, didn’t he.
What did he need a partner for anyway. And why was it whenever he thought he
needed or wanted something like that it was blonde and blue eyed and lived a
billion miles away to break his goddamn heart.
Finally he worked himself around to the concept of answering Raleigh’s text.
Raleigh who was so worried that he’d called him.
Raleigh who was excelling at his sport and being trotted all over the world
like some kind of demi-god.
Raleigh who... had lead him on but tried to ‘do the right thing’ and yet...
Here he still was giving a shit. Here they both were still giving a shit.
>>ngl feel like shit
Might as well answer honestly. What else did Chuck have left to lose?
Why not find out, right? Fuck it, yolo.
>>Sorry I had a go. It wasn’t actually about you.
Not entirely, anyway. Did that make it better or worse?
Raleigh didn't drink. He was an athlete, or trying to be. But it had been many
hours since he'd heard from Chuck and by now he was very worried the kid had
somehow choked on his own vomit and died somewhere. The more time went by the
worse Raleigh felt, and Aleksis kept pouring him drinks.
Raleigh vaguely recalled his hands on the hips of some puck bunny squirming in
his lap, doing absolutely nothing for him because he was gay as hell. More
drinks. Aleksis laughing. Somehow, he'd made it back to his hotel room.
Raleigh blinked slowly and rubbed his eyes. Something was off.
There was a noise next to him.
Raleigh turned his head (which, by the way, was giving him a constant dull
throb of pain, like a hammer being knocked against the front of his skull every
other second).
There was another person next to him. This person, upon further inspection, had
long hair and breasts.
“Uh,” Raleigh said.
He wasn't straight. Or bi. He would remember if he liked pussy, really. Raleigh
was starting to feel a little nauseated.
“Um,” Raleigh continued his vocalization of his emotions.
The woman next to him turned on her side, towards him, and then her eyes slowly
opened up.
Objectively, she was an attractive woman, Raleigh thought. Long dark hair, grey
eyes, full lips, ample breasts.
He was definitely nauseous.
“Hey baby,” she said with a smile and a thick accent.
“Er,” Raleigh stammered. He should probably try to form words at some point.
“Uh, this is...” He pulled a hand through his hair and discovered that the
follicles on his head also hurt.
She looked up at him expectantly.
Raleigh had a distinct feeling of déjà-vu. He closed his eyes for a second. His
memory slowly bubbled up from the depths of his consciousness and he groaned.
Raleigh should really do something about his habit to wake up in a hotel room
next to people he didn't want to sleep with during the day.
“Uh,” Raleigh started again, “Did we, er, you know...”
The woman sat up, the sheets sliding off her. There were naked breasts in front
of him. This situation was not getting any better.
She leaned forward, and Raleigh leaned backwards in response.
“You sleep,” she said. “But your friend pay, so I stay.”  
Raleigh mind went blank for the couple of seconds it took to process this new
information.
He wasn't in bed with a puck bunny. He was in bed with a hooker.
Okay then.
“OK, uh, you can leave now?” Raleigh mumbled. How did one generally do this? He
didn't know the etiquette for dealing with sex workers.
“Who is Chuck?” the woman asked.
Raleigh blinked. “What?”
“In sleep, you say, Chuck, no leave, Chuck, please,” the hooker continued.
Raleigh groaned. “Yeah, ok, uh.... Look, thank you and all,” he went on,
getting out of bed, and luckily he wasn't naked, because he wasn't sure he
could process being in bed naked with a professional who was also distinctly
not a dude. “I, uh, gotta shower and do stuff, so you can go...”
The hooker looked a little annoyed, but when Raleigh didn't say anything else
and kind of gestured towards the door, she sighed and pulled back the sheets —
dear god, those were definitely lady parts — and swiftly squeezed back into the
little dark red dress she'd left next to the bed. She put on impossibly high
heels, fixed up her hair, grabbed her purse, then went into the bathroom.
Raleigh wasn't sure he'd ever felt more uncomfortable in his life.
The toilet flushed and she came out, throwing him a last glance, and definitely
checking him out up and down.
“This Chuck,” she said, “Lucky girl.”
The hooker winked at him and thank god finally left his hotel room.
Raleigh sagged down on the mattress.
Jesus H. Christ, what the fuck.
Raleigh grabbed his phone, ready to text Aleksis - it HAD to have been Aleksis
- when he spotted the message from Chuck.
Oh.
Raleigh was pretty much done thinking things through at this point. His entire
morning seemed like a bizarre alternative reality. So why not. Why the hell
not.
<< Glad to hear from you
<< hangovers suck right
Chuck had said something wasn't about Raleigh but Raleigh wasn't sure he wanted
to open that can of worms. Best to just make small talk.
Still, though. If the past 24 hours were any indication it's that they couldn't
forget each other. Drunk and stupid. Raleigh swallowed. Fuck it, he thought.
Just... fuck it.
Glad though, was he really, Chuck wondered when he got the message. A surge of
something in his chest when the notification came and oh boy that was not good
news.
He shouldn’t be feeling that kind of shit anymore. Not for Raleigh. Not for
anyone if he had his way about it.
Raleigh was glad to hear from him.
Chuck reasoned he was maybe more relieved to hear from him... as messy as he’d
been.
>>Still alive
Everything hurt but there was that so....yay. Still, he couldn’t help but let
the chip on his shoulder do the talking.
>>You can forget I exist again. Sorry to ruin your night, cowboy.
Raleigh couldn't help but feel a little better when the message icon appeared
on his phone. Stupid, he thought. But... man, he'd tried. He ended up in bed
with a prostitute. And before that, Trevin. Just... no. He wanted this. Maybe
it was a really stupid idea all over again, but he wanted this.
<< I can't forget
<< I'm sorry
And it struck Chuck in a way he wasn’t prepared to process.
Downstairs he heard the front door close and the scampering of nails across the
hardwood floors. Ah, he thought. Dad’s taken Max for a walk. That made sense.
The tak-tak-tak of nails turned in the whump-whump-whump of Max bounding up the
stairs which turned into the snuff-huff-puff of their dog nosing his way into
Chuck’s room to jump up the shoeboxes his master had used to make a small
doggie staircase. Max nosed at his master’s arm and jumped up to get at his
face, electing a small groan from his fragile human who rolled over and grabbed
his dog up in a hug.
It was like Max knew Chuck’s heart was in his throat. Max always knew stuff
like that.
“C’mere handsome,” he cooed, smoothing his hands over Max’s tank of a body,
stopping only to clean a bit of gook out of the bulldog’s eye as he bathed in
the affection.
“You’re alive,” came from the doorway and Chuck looked up to see the utter
smugness on his father’s face. Arms crossed lightly over his chest.
“Can’t kill a Hansen,” Chuck answered and wrestled Max down to lay on his
chest.
“You sure about that?”
“What, you looking to use me as a guinea pig?”
“I never said that... ”
“No but that’s fucked, you get that-”
Herc rolled his eyes and turned to leave.
“Yeah, boy. I reckon a lot’ve what’s happened in the last day is fucked. Don’t
think fer a second we aren’t discussing the party at Caitlin’s house later.”
Ngh. Great.
“Dunno what you’re talking about,” Chuck answered defiantly.
Herc pressed his lips, restraining the smirk of watching himself as a teenager
in replay. Chuck was so much like him. Poor fucker.
“No... ” As he finally turned and headed back down the hall. “Course you don’t.
I must be mad.”
“Losing your marbles, old man!” Chuck called but knew he was in for it later.
How any of them thought a massive party would go undetected by the military’s
super efficient ring of hover parents was beyond any of them... he hadn’t even
thought about it.
Turning up wasted in the middle of the night probably didn’t help but he didn’t
remember getting home or what happened after so...he could only guess.
“Christ,” he grunted. Max looked at him and cocked his head to the side.
“You were in on this, weren’t you.”
A soft snuffle which Chuck interpreted as indignant and he picked his phone
back up. Jesus Raleigh... What was that supposed to even mean. How was he
supposed to answer that?
Two words came to mind and however long he thought about it nothing better
presented itself.
>>Prove it.
Ouch. A sharp pang shot through Raleigh's chest at being reminded of his past
fuck-up.
His thumb hovered over the digital keyboard.
Was he really going to do this?
Raleigh licked his lips, swallowed the lump in his throat.
Because he couldprove it, this time.
<< I will
<< I'm coming to Sydney.
<< Two weeks from now.
Pretty much the last thing chuck ever expected to read. He thought as best it
would be another dick pic or some beautiful, dirty words. At worst it would be
a jumbled apology and Raleigh would block his number.
This was... Well shit this was something else. It was almost...scary?
“Fuck off” Chuck said aloud with disbelief. Max looked at him.
“Not you, lovely.”
Oh. Okay.
He dragged a hand through his hair, palms threatening to clam up.
Raleigh was coming to Sydney. Soon. For real it was actually happening but-
But what would he actually even want from Chuck. To fuck him? Chuck had never—
And Raleigh was so experienced— And what did it mean and what would it mean
emotionally and he was just visiting anyway so what would that mean for the
future?
It was too many questions Chuck couldn’t answer. A lot he wasn’t sure he wanted
to answer. One thing was glaringly clear...this was going to end in tears. And
yet.... And yet it wasn’t enough to make him put the phone down. Instead he
thought it over for a moment, lips pressed against his knuckles.
>>Send me your itinerary.
Raleigh frowned. What did Chuck mean by that? Sure, he was going to go to the
same city. But Sydney was huge. He didn't feel much like sharing more details.
Hell, for all he knew Chuck was some kind of psycho obsessed with Raleigh
calling him in the middle of the night and he was going to stalk him and kill
him. Worst case scenario, anyway. Realistically... if he was honest with
himself, Raleigh didn't want to risk some kind of bad publicity. If he was
gonna see Chuck it wasn't gonna be anywhere near hockey.
<< we could meet up for a drink sometime then?
Raleigh rummaged through the drawer of the nightstand and fished out his
itinerary.
He was gonna fly in on the 25th, the game was on the 26th, and they'd fly out
on the 28th, essentially giving him a whole day free to be a tourist. Or meet
the jailbait Aussie who'd been yanking his chain this whole time.
<< I'm free on the 27th
That was good enough. Chuck thought for a moment maybe he’d jumped the gun but
Raleigh answered so... That was something.
Christ, were they really gonna do this?
>>So am I.
A beat.
>>Do you really want to meet me?
Raleigh's skin tingled, his heart beat speeding up ever so slightly.
Go big or go home, right?
<< Yeah.
<<  I wanna do more than just meet you.
Chuck bit the inside of his lower lip, feeling a curl of heat in his belly.
It felt like validation. Finally. Finally.
>>Like what?
Raleigh took a deep breath. A familiar warmth coursed through his body. This,
he knew. It's what he'd been craving so much. The pull of it, the excitement.
But this time, he'd be smarter about it. He knew better than to let this get
anywhere near or between his hockey. He wouldn't screw it up again.
<< I'd get you alone somewhere.
<< Kiss you, for starters. Taste you.
<< Pull your hips toward me and grind slowly, feel you get hard.
One part of his mind was still yelling that this was a bad idea.
Raleigh pressed send, anyway.
It was a vicious cycle with them. An addition of something exciting and
extraordinary. Enticing and just that little bit dangerous.
This felt so much better than Zeke. What that said about Chuck he didn't know.
>>I'd get hard against you
It felt so familiar to craft these messages. To build a beautiful fantasy. This
time... this time it might actually come true.
>>Take your jeans down. I wanna feel you.
Raleigh bit his lip and glanced towards the door. Before he was gonna do
anything else, he'd better make sure the hotel staff wasn't going to be part of
the audience. He put the ‘Do Not Disturb’ on the door handle outside and then
plopped back on the bed, propped up the pillows and laid back against them. In
the meantime, it seemed his headache had left the room along with the hooker.
He took another deep breath and cupped himself through his boxers.
“Fuck,” Raleigh hissed through his teeth.
<< I shove our jeans down, grind against you. You're so hot.
<< cup your ass and pull you closer.
Chuck smiled to himself and resettled in bed, easing  Max gently off of his
chest.
“Go find dad,” he says. Max eyes him for a second before jumping up and
trotting off. There's a good lad.
>>I like it when you're handsy. Like you want me bad.
<< I do.
<< I'm so hard for you right now, Chuck.
At which point chuck got up to close and lock his door, kicking his pj pants
off on the way back. There was a  brief consideration to the toy stuffed in the
back of his closet but he wasn't quite brave enough... maybe by the time
Raleigh got to Sydney.
God damn, Raleigh was coming to Sydney.
Feeling warm and fuzzy in the way only Raleigh could make him, he nestled down
and took himself in hand, typing one handed... which proved difficult but worth
the effort. It was especially good knowing Raleigh was right there waiting on
the other end.
>>Me too, love... press right up against you nice and warm. We kiss and I can
feel how hard and big you are. Skin on skin.
Admittedly he hadn't written this kind of stuff in a while.
>>What are you gonna do to me?
Fuck. Fuck. This fucking four-letter word that did way more to Raleigh than it
had any right to. And he knew that right now he was thinking with his boner but
Chuck calling him love was just... and Raleigh could imagine how it would sound
from Chuck’s lips, in that delicious Australian accent of his.
Raleigh yanked his boxers down and groaned when he wrapped his hand around his
cock. Fuck, he’d missed this.
<< Gonna tear those clothes off you, get us naked, lick and taste you all over
<< get my mouth on your nipples, your abs, your cock, your ass, I want to taste
every inch of you
And as long as Chuck had been watching Raleigh's lips on webcam... he could
almost feel them across his skin.
Fuck it, he couldn't type like this, breath hitched in his throat, cock prone
and hard, blood rushing in his ears. One press of his thumb and he was calling.
Raleigh hit the green accept call button so fast he nearly dropped his phone.
It automatically switched to front-cam video, so the first thing Chuck saw of
Raleigh was definitely his dick, before Raleigh steadied his grip on the phone
and brought it up to his face.
“H-hey,” Raleigh said, suddenly very self-conscious of how he must look,
terrible hair, fading hangover, still sleepy. He was kind of vain and it had
been a while since anyone had looked at him the way Chuck was looking at him
now. With those piercing eyes and those lips and jaw and god Chuck had only
grown to be more stunning.
Raleigh licked his lips, his flash of awareness being pushed aside by how
incredibly horny he was.
His hand waved the phone screen down again. He knew he had rock-hard abs from
all the training, the V of his hips more defined than ever, and his cock was
hard and leaking.
“Look what you did to me,” Raleigh said, before bringing the phone back up to
his face, eager for Chuck’s reaction.
Oh jesus god fuck
“Christ... ” Chuck answered, a little breathy, voice hitched in his throat. It
made sense, of course Raleigh worked out... but god damn.
He immediately put his hand through his hair, gently biting his lower lip, pink
and plush. A very similar flush of self-awareness passed through him but what
could he do, Raleigh had sprung the camera on him.  It was too late to not look
like shit.
Instead he cleared his throat. “Looks good.”
Lame, Chuck.
“You look good, Ray.”
Raleigh couldn’t suppress a grin. Apparently he didn’t look as bad as he
thought. And he knew that on a good day, he looked good. Puck bunnies were all
over him all the time, to the envy of the rest of the guys, and to their
frustration, because Raleigh never took them to his hotel room. The resulting
rumor was that he was a true gentleman, which was something he could live with.
But Chuck looked good too, from what he could see. He threw Chuck a heated gaze
and jerked his head upward a little bit in a come-hither gesture.
“You don’t look so bad yourself. Show me more.”
Chuck did not think this out.
“M’hung over, dickhead” he answered with a smirk, shifting in his spot a little
but holding the camera back further. Naked, flushed with a galaxy of freckles
across his shoulders and a gentle rug of ginger on his chest. He'd be a beast
when he was older, but for now he  was benefiting from looking older than he
was. He always has, really.
Panning the same way Raleigh had, Chuck flexed with all he had, free hand
squeezing the base of his cock for maximum effect.
“You been missin’ me, Ray?”
Raleigh groaned at seeing Chuck’s dick. It had been too long since he’d seen
one that wasn't his own, in particular Chuck’s, which was... a very nice-
looking cock by Raleigh’s standards, and fuck, he was so goddamn thirsty.
“Yeah,” Raleigh said, and he gave Chuck the most intense gaze he could muster,
glancing up at the little camera above the phone screen. “I have.”
He licked his lips.

“Wish I could get my mouth on your cock right now.”
Chuck smiled. God he'd missed this.
“Yeah?” Chuck purred, letting the camera linger as he stroked himself.
“Soon, baby. Then I'm all yours.”
Raleigh’s heart skipped a beat or two. Yeah. Two weeks from now, he could
actually get his mouth on Chuck. Jesus, that was real. It could be real. If he
didn’t fuck it up, anyway.
Raleigh began to pump himself faster, eyes fixed on the screen, watching Chuck
do the same. Right now he just felt raw desire, not only for the image and the
very very attractive young man’s body he was looking at but for Chuck, for that
mouthy Australian kid who’d called him drunk in the middle of the night giving
him shit, who dressed up his dog on Chatroulette, and Raleigh remembered all
too well how Chuck had fingered himself for him on camera, those sweet moans,
the flush on his face and shoulders that made his freckles stand out just as
they did now. All the memories he’d tried to shove into a box in his mind
somewhere and try to forget about flooded his consciousness and he physically
ached to see and touch Chuck. His cock throbbed in his hand and Raleigh’s
breaths became labored.
“Fuck... I can’t wait to see you,” Raleigh husked. “I couldn’t stop thinking of
you, you’re so fucking hot.”
He was stripping his cock faster now, babbling.
“That tight little ass of yours, can’t wait to taste it, eat you out until you
can’t take it anymore, and I wanna take your cock — nngh, Chuck...”
His hips began to thrust upwards into his fist as Raleigh got closer. “Tell
me,” Raleigh gasped, “Tell me what you want to do to me.”
“I'm gonna fuck you through the mattress,” Chuck answered, battling to keep
focused enough to form words and still play with himself. Hearing Raleigh
breathe that kind of dirty shit made Chuck shiver. It was so much better than
how people in porn did it. This was tailor made for him, and Chuck only wanted
the best.
“N’- hh- you can eat my ass if you want but you're gonna swallow this cock
first. Get my hands in yer hair,” his accent slipped a little into the lazy
drawl he tried so hard not to replicate, not wanting to sound like his dad.
Like some bogan yokel. Still, sometimes he couldn't help it and luckily he
didn't think Raleigh could really tell the difference. Not that Chuck was doing
much thinking just then.
“Get yer lips at the base'a my cock, Ray, m’gonna fuck yer throat, yeah.”
“Yeah, that's it, make me take it,” Raleigh gasped. His abdomen flexed with the
effort of fucking into his fist and he had trouble keeping the phone steady.
He wanted to give Chuck more dirty talk but his mind blanked out, caught up in
the pleasure of touching himself in front of someone else, and Raleigh ached
with the need to come.
“So close,” Raleigh groaned. He hoped Chuck was enjoying the view.
And of course he was. When his own eyes weren't closed with bliss. He was close
as well, but getting Raleigh off always made getting himself off so much
better.
“Come for me, Ray,” Chuck managed. “I'll take it all, swallow every drop,
baby.”
Fuck.Just the thought of Chuck swallowing his come, the idea of pearly-white
drops on those beautiful lips — Raleigh stifled a moan and then he was coming,
hips stuttering upwards, hot liquid splashing all over his abs and chest. He
kept pumping until he was empty, his mind blissfully gone from the momentary
pleasure.
He basked in it, the glowy feel of the orgasm staying with him. He hadn't felt
this good since — well, the last time they did this.
Raleigh’s grin was big and genuine when he brought the phone back up to his
face.
“That was so fucking good,” he panted. And the sight of Chuck on the edge of
his own climax was something to behold.
He'd gotten used to holding the phone while they did this kind of thing and
Chuck kept the camera towards his face for now, smiling slowly into it,
shoulders moving, one arm finishing, he was so close and seeing Raleigh come,
seeing the look on his face, oh it was beautiful. Raleigh was beautiful. What
Chuck did to Raleigh was beautiful. It felt valid. Worthy. Like he was special.
Following not far behind, Chuck came with a soft gasp, eyes closing, lips
parted, brows drawn and a bead of sweat at his temple. His father was home and
he needed to be quiet, which he largely to his own great relief. Mind dizzy
with bliss he tilted the camera down and around, cock in fist and covered in
seed as he pumped slowly in his last remnants of bliss.
“Look what you do t’me,” Chuck rasped, wetting his lips. He felt amazing.
Comfortable and edgy at the same time. God he'd missed this. And maybe it was
relief or the surge of confidence but he drew the camera back to his face as
well as his sticky hand, considered it for a moment and locked eyes down the
lens as he licked the back of his come covered hand from the tip of his thumb
to the tip of his pointer finger in one long, messy drag.
“Jesus Christ,” Raleigh mumbled, his half-hard and softening cock giving a
feeble throb against his thigh.
He didn’t know why he’d even fucked this up. Well, hockey, yes. But for fuck’s
sake, look at that kid, he thought. He wondered if Chuck even had the slightest
clue on how attractive he was. Raleigh couldn’t take his eyes off him. Two
weeks? He was gonna count down the days.
“That’s... fuck,” Raleigh attempted, his mind not really good at assembling
words right now in his post-orgasmic haze. “You’re so sexy.”
Then Raleigh just about dropped his phone when there was a loud knock on the
door, followed by several more, like someone was trying to break the goddamn
door down. That could only be—
“RALEIGH! IS AFTERNOON! TIME FOR AWAKE AND FOOD!” Aleksis’ voice thundered from
the hallway.
“Shiiiiit,” Raleigh hissed, scrambling to pick the phone back up. “Chuck,
sorry, I gotta go,” he said, putting the phone back up to his face.
Raleigh paused even as Aleksis’ knocking and motivational speech continued.
“That was good,” Raleigh said. “I missed it.”
Come on, get the words out, asshole.
“Missed you.”
Panicking over the mere second of vulnerability, Raleigh quickly ended the
call.
But it felt good. Chuck stayed still during the commotion and wiped the come in
his mouth back onto his hand. Raleigh hung up too fast for him to say anything
but Chuck would have been speechless anyway. Tongue numb from his own seed,
heart clenched with the words out of Raleigh's mouth. And it felt so good. So
so good.
Chuck pawed for his boxers to wipe himself clean and laid back, feeling
satisfied, really satisfied, for the first time in way too long. He'd text
later but first a nap.
Ten minutes later Raleigh stepped out of the shower more refreshed than he’d
felt in weeks, maybe even months. Like a huge weight had fallen off his
shoulders. He didn’t want to think too much about what that meant, but he
couldn’t help it; he was stupidly excited about meeting Chuck, being able to
really touch him, kiss him, and more. There was a weird nervousness in his
belly that wouldn’t go away.
He quickly got dressed and made his way to the hotel lounge downstairs where
the rest of the team was having lunch, and of course Aleksis had saved him a
seat and was gesturing for him to come sit.
Aleksis pulled him in with an arm that could just be made of steel and covered
his mouth with his hand to whisper.
“So how was night, huh? I think good because long sleep, yes?”
Raleigh paled. This wasn’t the right moment to tell Aleksis what the fuck were
you thinking putting a prostitute in my bed and certainly not the right time to
tell him btw I actually like dudes.
Something that was kind of the truth might work to tell lies, though.
“Uh, no,” Raleigh mumbled. “I passed out and she left in the morning.”
Aleksis’ expression turned to one of disappointment. “What!!! I tell her to
stay! I get money back!”
“Dude, dude!” Raleigh protested, waving his hands up to calm Aleksis down.
Their teammates were starting to stare, very interested in their argument
because there wasn’t a lot else going on. And drama was always exciting. “It’s
fine, okay, thanks, but it’s fine.”
“Hmph,” Aleksis muttered. He let Raleigh go and Raleigh was thankful he could
properly breathe again.
Their teammates looked a little disappointed that the discussion had fizzled
out, and went back to their lunch.
Raleigh quickly checked his phone, but no message from Chuck. He hoped the kid
wasn’t mad for Raleigh hanging up on him so fast.
Two weeks, huh, Raleigh mused as he shoved the Hong Kong mac & ham soup into
his mouth along with the scrambled eggs on the side. Melbourne first, then
Sydney. Then Chuck. Just two weeks.
***** Chapter 6 *****
Chapter Summary
     Chuck and his family 'celebrate' his graduation with a dinner, and
     Chuck celebrates being reconnected with Raleigh with a... special
     toy.
Chapter Notes
     OMG ANOTHER CHAPTER!
     We love all the love our long-neglected fic is getting from y'all and
     we're already busy writing the next chapter! Keep reading and
     commenting, awesome readers like you guys make writing porn even more
     worth it.
     xoxoxo jaeger_delta and onlyoneday
The third week of June couldn’t come fast enough.
He’d reconnected with Raleigh. Chuck had survived prom and was just about
surviving his father’s wrath for the after party.
It was the 15th now and two days after the ball. A Monday. The last official
day of school, and Chuck couldn’t wait to pack his locker.
It was eerily quiet in the halls as he did it, not needing to attend classes
except to say goodbye to teachers if he wanted. Half the seniors didn’t even
show up and Chuck felt a sort of longing for the good times he’d had over the
last four years. All in all, he guessed, it wasn’t really that bad.
He’d done well with his grades and well in sports. They won their last game of
the year, his application to the Australian Defense Force Academy had been
accepted through its partnership with the University of New South Wales, and
everything was looking good.
“Have you spoken to Zeke?” A voice asked from Chuck’s side. He hadn’t even
heard Mako approach.
Chuck shook his head. Way to be direct. “I’m not sure I want to.”
“You didn’t want to talk about it on the way home and I won’t pry but Chassu...
you were a mess and if he’s done something horrible...”
“Nah, Maki. It’s fine, yeah? We’re just not gonna work out. It was the
raspberry vodka that fucked me, not him.” Chuck said and roughly thumbed his
nose before shoving another book into his rucksack. It felt weird to discuss
boys but then again Mako knew everything about him... more or less. She had
listened to his questioning and confusion and helped him navigate through some
uncharted, scary realisations both in person and abroad. It would be Mako’s
support... and now meeting Raleigh, that would eventually convince him to be
proud of who he was and not care who knew about it, as dangerous as that could
be in the military. He considered it for a moment and turned, leaning on the
frame of his locker and looking at his friend. His dearest friend.
“Being honest?” Chuck replied, voice softening a little. “It’s for the best. We
got into it over something stupid and we're about to go away to uni so it’s
better it’s over.” He shrugged lightly.
“You don’t seem very torn up about it,” Mako observed.
“Guess I’m not...” Not with Raleigh coming back into his life.
Chuck had sent Zeke one single, damning text before blocking his number.
>> You don’t get to treat me like you did. Saw your true colors and don’t like
them. We’re over.
“How are you gonna survive without me next year?” Chuck asked instead, turning
to focus to Mako. She noticed the shift and mirrored his half shrug.
“That is assuming we will still be here. We’ve already extended twice. I am not
sure what Sensei is working on but he is reluctant to leave.”
Chuck pressed his lips thin for a beat as he thought. “Well. Whatever it is...
it’s keeping both our dads outta our hair. Maybe you’ll stay out here for
another year or two? Come join me at ADFA?”
“I have already applied,” Mako answered. “If I finish accelerated senior
studies early over the break I can join into the second half of the first
year.”
“Christ... No kidding.” But Chuck couldn’t help but be a little proud. He’d
skipped a year because he was smart as hell and not moving around. Mako didn’t
have much of a choice and even though she was smart as a god damn whip all the
moving had kept her back in her actual grade. By all accounts she should be
walking the stage with Chuck this weekend but... She wasn’t. They were both a
little sore about that.
“So I’m not gonna see you all winter am I?” Lovely rainy and cool until school
started again in September and began to head towards the scorching Aussie
summer months.
Mako shook her head. “I will try my best. But my goal is to see you at school.”
“Fair enough. If I can help lemme know, yeah,” Chuck said.
“Always... Have you chosen a pathway yet?” Because that was how it all worked.
You got in, you specified, you specified a little more, and then you joined the
service as an officer.
Chuck gave a verbal shrug. “Engineering obviously, but then I’m thinking ARMO?”
Mako scoffed and rolled her eyes, folding her arms lightly over her chest. It
was her off period. She didn’t have anything better to do. “Of course you would
pick Armament. Who did I think I was talking to?”
“Keep up, Mori. Obviously I’m gonna be a pilot but I want the background and
the money ain’t bad either. Plus... they’ve got a global exchange so... Maybe I
could travel a little. It sounds fun.”
“Ah... Chassu, you really want to go into active duty?” That took her back a
bit.
“Well...” A beat. “Yeah. Course I do. I wanna get out there. Do something.” He
was aching for it, actually. Aching to make a difference. Save lives. Prove
himself.
“Oh...” She pursed her lips and looked like she had something to say but
didn’t, abruptly pulling her phone out to check it instead. “I’d better go or
I’ll be late. Text me later Chassu.” But she didn’t even look at him as she
pushed off to walk away, free hand curled into a tight fist.
“Yeah...” He answered absently, not quite grasping what just happened. “What—
Yeah... okay Maki...”
He hadn’t even had a chance to tell her about his big news, and he wouldn’t get
a chance to either. Time flew with all the graduation preparations. Rugby team
parties, fighting with his dad about attending said parties, behaving like a
good boy for his grandparents and estranged uncle who came for the ceremony. It
was all a great big blur. Until he found himself graduated well and truly.
And so far Zeke hadn’t shown up at Chuck’s place or tried or corner him at all.
Any time they’d crossed paths Chuck blanked him so hard the guy didn’t even
stand a chance. Sure, he was nervous Zeke would go looking for some kind of
revenge but... They were graduated now. What was the point?
Chuck had texted Raleigh the day after they’d reconnected just to say he’d had
a good time, but they were both busy as hell and exhausted so his next text was
simply a selfie in his graduation cap and gown over his school’s para-military
dress blues, a graduation uniform reserved for those continuing immediately on
to the Defense Academy. A parting gift or sorts, one he had to pay for, but one
he’d wear on his first day of University. Brightly colored cords hung over his
shoulders to signify achievements in sport and academics and behind him stood
the unmistakable silhouette of the opera house where the ceremony was being
held. He smiled wide in the picture before sending a second picture soon after
with Max in his arms wearing his cap.
This time it felt good to share his achievement with Raleigh. It felt valid.
Real. He liked that Raleigh made him feel that way. It reignited all the what
ifs?and maybe this could be somethings but also made suffering everything else
so much easier.
Raleigh was in the locker room after their junior promo game when he checked
his phone, the other team mates not paying him much attention. When Raleigh saw
Chuck’s photo he let out a low whistle. As silly as those gowns looked, Chuck
looked good in them — although maybe Chuck would look good in anything — and
Raleigh could see a bit of his dress blues underneath. God, it’s like a uniform
added +100 sexy points. And there were several cords over his shoulders; Chuck
had excelled in school. It made Raleigh smile. They still didn’t really know
that much about each other and this told him a bit more. That he worked hard,
and was proud to show it. Then the pic of Max, and Raleigh chuckled. The dog
that started it all. He wanted to meet Max, too.
>> You look good.
>> Congratulations babe :)
He wanted to know more, like what are your plans now and what’s with the
uniform? Raleigh couldn’t quite remember if Chuck had said something about it.
He felt a little guilty that he hadn’t really paid attention to much else than
Chuck’s body and all the sex. He wanted to get to know Chuck better this time.
Raleigh quickly put away his phone when Aleksis approached him. The Russian was
impossible to get away from, sticking to his side like some kind of mother bear
to a cub.
“Raleigh! Good game today!” Aleksis sat down on the bench next to him with the
force of a small planet.
“Yeah,” Raleigh replied, and he couldn’t suppress a smile. Not because of the
game or Aleksis, but because of Chuck, and how things were OK again, and they
were going to meet, and how damn cute he looked in his gown, and...
Aleksis was trying to show him something. Raleigh blinked and focused. In front
of him was Aleksis’ phone and on it was an image of a strong-jawed blonde woman
with too much make-up.
“This is Tascha,” Aleksis said. “She is good woman! Strong. Beautiful.”
“Uh—” Raleigh began.
“She like to cook! And hunt food! Is good for you. Make lots of children!”
Raleigh took a few seconds to process this new situation. “Uh, thank you,
but... I’m not...”
Aleksis swiped to the next picture. A brunette showed up. “This is Katarina!
Very nice. She like music, painting. Wide hips is good for babies! Big
breasts!” Aleksis gestured the curve of Katarina’s breasts with his hands.
Raleigh grimaced. Did he hurt his head during the game or something? Or was
this Aleksis’ way of trying to make him feel better?
He was saved by the bell, their coach entering the locker room just as Aleksis
was about to show Raleigh another possible date with breasts, which he really
wasn’t interested in. At all. Ever. Raleigh breathed a sigh of relief.
He dawdled a little, though, waiting until everyone else had left, even urging
Aleksis to go on ahead. Then he took off his shirt and put his armor pads back
on. Least he could do was send Chuck a nice selfie back, right? He blasted his
phone camera with his full smile as he let his fingers linger on his waistband.
>> a small graduation gift... for now ;)
It was bloody lovely. As if Chuck wasn’t already having a great day, that just
put a cherry on top. He wet his lips and fired a quick text before he put his
phone away lest any prying eyes catch a glimpse. He would be spending some
quality time with that picture later tonight.
<< Lucky me ;) You still want me to bring my rugby socks next week?
It wasn’t until Raleigh got back to his hotel room to change that he saw
Chuck’s text.
>> Fuck yes
>> haven’t forgotten that I want to fuck you with those socks on
A convenient conversation to continue at the dinner table surrounded by Chuck’s
family, Mako and Stacker. But it was like an addiction and he carefully read
the message with his screen brightness all the way down.
<< Do you still have that list?
Raleigh grinned as he recalled the list of creative sexy things to do with
Chuck. A silly thing that had actually been pretty useful. He might still have
it... at home, in Alaska, somewhere at the bottom of all the junk on his desk.
Right...
>> nah but I can make a new one.
>> #1 is kissing you until you can't stand up
Chuck smiled to himself, lighting up, cheeks turning a little pink as he
imagined it a kiss so powerful it made him weak in the knees. Mako noticed and
raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Interesting.
<<You're adorable if you think you can sweep me off my feet just like that,
sweetheart.
Raleigh glanced at the tiny clock numbers on the screen; he still had about
fifteen minutes before he had to go back downstairs for the next activity, a
series training exercises with kids. The junior hockey players were adorable
and enthusiastic and it was fun to see them inspired by their international
team.
Raleigh plopped onto the bed, lying on his stomach, phone in front of him.
Sweeping Chuck off his feet? Sounded like a challenge. One he was totally
willing to go for.
>> #2 is kissing down your neck and sucking a bruise into your skin that lasts
for days
>> grabbing your ass to hold you upright
<< Yeah? You gonna mark me? Is that your claim on me?
It was getting heavy and fast. This time with emotion. It raced through Chuck's
blood in a way he wasn't really ready for. Talking about romance and claiming
was a damn far cry from their playful sexy banter last year. It felt like
they'd skipped a lot of things. Important things. But this wasn't a
relationship...was it?  Surely not. This might be the only time they ever met
and it wasn't fair to put feelings on it.
But it was hard not to. Raleigh meant a great many things to Chuck. So much so
that he was eager to talk to him again. Barely mad at all over their... break?
Break up? Whatever. But their weird level of intimacy and pet names made the
lines blur. They were strangers in so many ways, and lovers in so many others.
“Chuck,” Herc cleared his throat. Chuck looked up like he'd been caught red-
handed.
“Sorry what?”
“Put down yer damn phone n’answer yer nanna.”
Oh this was going to be a long night.
“Sorry Nanna, what was it?”
Nanna Pierce, his mother's mother, tried not to look annoyed and fluffed her
perfectly set hair, the style of which hadn't changed since Farrah Fawcett made
it popular several decades ago.
“I asked,” she said slowly, accent crisp and posh. “Whether you had plans for
the break. A job perhaps? An internship?”
She and her husband were a very different breed from the Hansens. It was always
tense but it could sometimes be entertaining to see them try to stand each
other. Even in his dress blues as he was now, well-groomed and freshly shaved
Herc had never been and would never be good enough for their daughter. They
blamed him for her death and they hardly found him fit to raise their grandson
who was following in his father's footsteps in every way imaginable.
“Uh, well...” Chuck answered, not quite sure.
“I just think you should be broadening yourself before you go away to shoot
innocent people.”
Chuck tensed. Herc tensed. Everyone else at the table tensed.
“Your grandfather could place you an internship easy as that. You could pick up
some real business skills.”
“Or,” Herc's mother 'don't call me Nanna call me Tess’ interjected with an edge
in her voice, accent thick and broad. She was ginger as they came and wore her
hair cropped short and wild, decorated with a thin hand painted piece of silk
tied like a headband. You couldn’t bribe a judge to say Herc wasn’t her’s. “You
could make yer own mind up and have fun before you start your uni. Your very
impressive, very important uni.”
“There's nothing impressive about signing up to die,” Nanna Pierce scoffed.
Herc swallowed hard, twisting the onyx signet ring on his finger. “Please
don't—” but she didn't hear or didn't care to hear.
Stacker kept his composure only because he knew if he didn't Mako would join in
the assault. Scott looked amused and raised an eyebrow at Chuck, who furrowed
his—feeling awkward and caught in a crossfire. His grandfathers both wisely
kept their traps shut and focused on their beer.
“Oh that is utter bullshit, Cheryl.” Tess snapped and rolled her eyes. “And
anyway Chazza’s more’n welcome to come to the farm n’ he knows that.”
Chuck cringed.
“I doubt Charles wants to spend his winter on your farm.”
Chuck cringed harder. Why was this happening. It was humiliating and he could
barely even open his mouth to defend himself. Why did this always happen?!
He took it back. It was never ever entertaining to watch them try to suffer
each other.
“Well maybe I do!” He finally cut in, voice a little shrill for his liking. “I
haven't made a decision yet, maybe I wanna go to the farm or maybe I wanna stay
in the city and have a bit of fun! Maybe I wanna slut around for a couple
months ay, it's not your life! That's my goddamn decision ain't it?!”
“Chuck,” came an obligatory, snapped warning from his father; but it meant
nothing. He was kind of proud, actually. Cheryl looked horrified.
“Well I never! I am not being spoken to by my ungrateful grandson how dare
you—”
Chuck groaned and rubbed his temples.
“—have half a mind to leave! This is outrageous—”
He wished for the ground to open and swallow him whole. His gran was a pain in
the ass but they held the same vacant hole in their chests where Angela had
been. It kept them together. Plus the wad of cash his grandad had slipped him
was a very appreciated graduation gift.
“Nanna Pierce please, I'm sorry,” he groaned. They were in a nice restaurant.
People were starting to stare.
“Go if you like, Cheryl,” Tess said. She'd never ever liked the woman. Really,
it wasn't Chuck who had to worry about misbehaving at gatherings like this.
Their main food hadn't even come yet and they were all already drinking and
sharpening their claws. Mako nudged Chuck's foot under the table and gave him a
sympathetic look. He made a face and half shrugged, reaching for the pint of
beer he'd been gifted for surviving high school.
Raleigh had sent Chuck a reply—
>> I’ll claim every inch of your body if you let me
—but had received nothing back after a while, Chuck no longer showing as
currently online. So he took a quick shower, put on some fresh underwear and a
casual outfit and headed back downstairs to the team. The rest of the afternoon
he had no opportunity to check his phone, and it was only dinner time when he
could see if Chuck replied.
And he had. Sneaking a text or two to Raleigh was one of the things that kept
Chuck sane during dinner. That and beer. Because the more his family drank the
more outrageous they became, grandmothers arguing over anything and everything
from brands of tea to the Prime Minister.
Nanna and Grandpa Pierce were okay but Chuck found that he naturally enjoyed
the company of his dad’s parents more. They were hard working honest ‘folk of
the land’ types and their pros largely outweighed their cons but their visits
weren’t without stress and always went down the same way.
Everything was lovely and fine at first until Tess started stirring the pot for
fun. If Scott was there she’d stir something between her boys until Herc got
embarrassed and upset. Scott by large just found his brother pretentious for
staying in the force like he was better than him, so there was always something
to get a rise between them. As a rule Scott and Herc were rarely everin the
same room and no, Herc didn’t want to talk about it.
Chuck’s grandad Don would eventually get the boys to simmer down, and by then
Tess would have finished a bottle of wine by herself. She’d ask the same series
of questions she always asked, how was Herc’s job. Was he seeing anyone. Was he
still friends with that nice black man. Herc would immediately get defensive,
Tess would immediately call him a drama queen, and Herc would huff outside for
air and a cigarette he didn’t think Chuck knew he smoked.
If Stacker was present, like he was tonight, it was a time bomb until either
Tess or Don (likely Tess) said something casually racist and ruined it. Then
the Pierce’s would try to prove how not racist and middle class they were by
saying something equally as racist and it would all kick off.
And when it finally did happen, and everyone knew it would, Herc turned scarlet
and launched into a scathing lecture. Stacker, to his credit, took it all armed
with the knowledge that Herc’s parents might explode if they knew just what
exactly he did with their baby boy. Chuck excused himself almost immediately to
go outside and Mako followed.
“Can’t take them fucking anywhere,” he murmured and shook his head. “I’m sorry
Mako, they’re so...”
“Racist?” She answered.
“Yup.” A sigh. It was humiliating. “This was an awful idea.”
“Family can be awful.” Mako nodded, uncomfortable. She had a whole library of
things to say to racists but it was difficult in a situation like this. At
school it was easy to deal with. Everyone knew Mako Mori had a mean right hook
and if you called her the wrong thing then you’d deserve every thrashing she
gave you. But family... Chuck’s family... it made standing up for herself or
Sensei almost crippling. She hated the feeling. She knew Stacker felt the same,
more or less. Chuck was good, though. Chuck and Herc. She knew Herc was
fighting their corner even as she and Chuck spoke, which was comforting and
also humiliating. They were supposed to be having a nice night.
“Hey... so,” Chuck changed the topic. “You remember that guy I was talking to?
In the States?”
“Mm...” It worked. A little. “The dickhead?”
Chuck snorted and nodded. “Yeah, him.”
“...yes?”
“Well... so we started talking a little bit,” Chuck went on.
Mako raised an eyebrow. “Is that who you’ve been texting?”
Chuck nodded. “I guess we’re okay again. He um... He’s coming to town next
week. I’m gonna see him.”
“Chassu!” Mako exclaimed and lightly punched his arm. Chuck gave a soft grunt
and looked at Mako like what the hell?
“This is why you don’t care about Zeke. You are talking to your internet crush
again!”
Busted. Chuck shrugged and tried to play it cool. “Yeah, so what. I’m allowed
to go on a date. And don’t say internet like that, you say it like it’s weird.”
Mako frowned. “I am happy for you. I think. But he was cruel to you, why would
you go through that again?”
“It’s not like that. We just...” Chuck flailed his hand in a vague gesture. Ah,
fuck it. “I dunno. But he’s coming and this might be my only chance to actually
meet him so... I’ve gotta do it.”
“Of course you do... But do you want back up?”
“No,” Immediately. “You just wanna watch, you freak.”
“If that is an invitation...” Mako smiled but the look in her eye betrayed a
fury. If this guy hurt her friend she would find him. And trap him. And Liam
Neeson him.
Chuck snorted but opened his phone and showed her the picture, enjoying the
scarlet flush that crept over Mako’s cheeks, hand over her mouth. She muttered
something Chuck barely caught and laughed again, pocketing his phone.
Chuck grinned. “I know.”
By the time Chuck got home that night he was absolutely exhausted. A little
drunk. A lot embarrassed by his family. Tess and Don were staying the night
before driving back out to their farm in the bush and the Hansen boys dutifully
put them to sleep before going their separate ways. Herc and Scott shared a
rare moment together out back with a spliff and Chuck climbed into bed none the
wiser. All he wanted was sleep, and Raleigh. Who should be in Melbourne or
somewhere close by now. He couldn’t believe it and reread their last few
messages.
Raleigh would claim him.
Even if it was just sexy talk it still gave him the warm and fuzzies.
<< Only if you say pretty please
A coy answer.
<< Sorry for the silence, at a grad dinner and my family is insane.
He wasn’t sure how much about his real life Raleigh actually cared to know but
it was an explanation all the same.
<< Their favourite thing is getting wasted and ripping each other to pieces,
lovely night for everyone involved. But it’s over now and that’s what matters.
Raleigh was in the middle of packing his bags for the nightly flight to
Melbourne when Chuck's next text came in.
>> Family huh
>> sucks that they're giving you trouble.
Raleigh paused. Chuck was telling him more about himself so Raleigh should open
up a little too, right? But his family story wasn't exactly the stuff of light
conversation.
>> it's just me and my brother Yancy in Anchorage
He bit his lip and pressed send before he could have second thoughts. But Chuck
answered quickly this time. They were both online at the same time. This was
his favorite.
<< I’m an only child. I always thought it would be nice to have a brother.
“Yancy,” Chuck mused aloud. “Yancy and Raleigh. Who the hell named you.”
<< Great names your fam goes for ;P x
Raleigh chuckled. Yancy and him got shit for their girly names in primary
school and junior high—Sally Raleigh and Yancy Pansy, he recalled—but beating
the crap out of bullies ended that after a while. Eventually word got around
that you didn't mess with the Becket brothers.
>> our mom settled on the names for daughters and they just kinda stuck. :D
>> maybe that's why we both like dudes?
Chuck laughed aloud to himself but couldn’t help but be a touch envious. He
reckoned if he had a gay brother then crossing that bridge with their dad would
be a hell of a lot easier when they got there. Safety in numbers and all.
<< Is that why you went into hockey? You’ve got a girl’s name but you’re ripped
af so it evens out?
That gave Raleigh some pause. He went into hockey because his dad fucking left
themand he'd just shut down. He didn't even remember much about that time. But
at some point he'd found himself on the ice. Uncle Vic used to play hockey, not
even professionally, just college level. But he'd figured the sport would be
good for his depressed nephew. Well, they weren't actually related, he'd been a
close friend of the family along with his brother Gunnar. When mom died when
Yancy wasn't old enough to be their guardian yet, Uncle Vic had taken that role
upon himself for two years. He wasn't quite a father figure, but the closest
thing to it Yance and Raleigh had.
Raleigh sighed. This wasn't the most pleasant walk down memory lane. He pulled
a hand through his hair. He didn't feel like telling Chuck all that. Not yet,
anyway. If Chuck found out how messed up his family history was he might not
want to meet Raleigh at all anymore.
>> something like that.
Raleigh tried to steer the conversation to a lighter note.
>> I am pretty ripped. ;)
Fair enough, Chuck reasoned.
<< If it makes you feel any better my dad’s name is Hercules.
Not a girl’s name but a stupid one nonetheless.
<< My family has a weird mythos naming tradition idk.
Hercules? Raleigh wasn't sure whether that was funny or terrifying. He hadn't
really thought about it before, but what if he ever met Chuck's dad? Hi, I'm
the guy who had cam sex with your underage son.To a guy named Hercules. Raleigh
was getting a little worried. Wasn't Chuck's dad military, too?
Shit, he was a dead man walking.
Raleigh swallowed hard. He'd cross that bridge when he got to it. It might be
not so much crossing as running for his life, but okay.
>> so which god is called Chuck exactly? lol
<< The god of cam sex
<< Sorry babe but if I told you my middle name I’d probably have to kill you.
<< Rough break  
At that, Raleigh definitely laughed out loud. This was weird. Good weird. Chuck
was funny and smart, and attractive. Raleigh mostly figured he, himself, was
only the latter. He still wasn't sure how Chuck continued to be hung up on him
when he'd been such a massive dick.
Maybe it washis massive dick?
Raleigh shook his head with another laugh.
>> You are divine on camera
>> wanna show me?
<< What, show you my middle name? God that’s got me so fucking hot.
Chuck grinned to himself. Ah, why not.
<< Yeah go on then, blondie. Come online.
>> Smartass.
That night Raleigh only had a few hours of sleep, but it was worth it, because
goddamn jacking off together online was hot. He nearly passed out right after
the intense orgasm and had to hurry packing the rest of his stuff to make it to
the team’s travel bus in time.
The flight to Melbourne was 9.5 hours non-stop. What was worse, there was no
wi-fi on board. He’d have to amuse himself, and Raleigh mostly did this asleep,
where he had some kind of weird dream that Chuck was on the flight and they’d
tried to sneak off to score a membership to the Mile High Club.
When he woke up with an hour to go, Aleksis was sitting next to him. Looking
very serious.
“Uh, hi,” Raleigh muttered, rubbing his eyes. “What’s up?”
Aleksis leaned in a bit closer. Which was impressive, because the economy seats
were far too small for a man his size, and he was the only one they ever bumped
up to business class because he just didn’t fit otherwise.
“Who is Chuck,” Aleksis boomed.
Raleigh paled. Uh-oh.
“Erm,” Raleigh mumbled. “Uh, my pet... fish... Back home? I really miss the
little dude.”
Aleksis didn't believe him for a second.
It took Raleigh a few seconds to understand why, and then he turned several
shades of beet red and scrambled to cover up his boner. Goddammit.
“Unless you like sex with fish, Chuck not fish,” Aleksis remarked.
Raleigh was too mortified to speak, so Aleksis waited and then continued.
“Chuck is name of man, yes?”
Raleigh wondered if every Russian was as blunt and tactless as Aleksis. Raleigh
was also pretty bad at lying.
“... Yeah,” Raleigh mumbled, barely audible. He hoped nobody was catching on to
the topic of their conversation. Aleksis to his credit had actually lowered the
volume of his voice.
Aleksis’ face shone and he burst into laughter.
Raleigh awkwardly grimaced. At least Aleksis wasn't angry with him?
“I send you woman... Hahaha!” Aleksis’ hands smacked his thighs with enough
force to rattle his chair  which was already dealing with too much Russian.
Aleksis wiped the tears out of the corners of his eyes and pulled Raleigh in
for some approximation of a noogie.
“I go back now,” Aleksis said, and he got up, still grinning like a madman.
“Maybe if Chuck go bad, I send you picture of Sergei, yes?”
Raleigh groaned, but was actually a little happy with how Aleksis had
responded. He was starting to feel like maybe he'd made a real friend. Between
this and Chuck and his career, things were really looking up.
His schedule in Melbourne was crazy, and even though he was now almost in the
same time zone as Chuck, Raleigh could only get a few texts in. By the time
he'd arrived at the hotel he was so beat it was all he could do not to pass out
with his clothes on.
The week flew by, and it was his last evening in Melbourne when Raleigh finally
had the time and energy to get in touch. Never mind that he was one day away
from arriving in Sydney. When Raleigh thought about what that meant too much
his stomach felt funny. But despite feeling a bit anxious, he still wanted to
talk to Chuck.
>> Hey. Still awake?
Chuck was and the answer came almost immediately, already up as he watched yet
another vlog about good gay sex.
<< Hey, yeah I’m here.
>> Wanna call?
Chuck smiled to himself and closed the YouTube tab. He didn’t bother to give
Raleigh an affirmative before pressing the call button and purring a low “Mmm,
hello gorgeous,” when it was answered.  
“Hey babe,” Raleigh said, not missing the tone of Chuck’s voice, which sent a
shiver through him. He licked his lips. He was feeling oddly self-conscious and
shifted on the bed.
“So uh. I'm flying into Sydney tomorrow, the 25th.”
“Yeah?” Like Chuck wasn’t acutely aware Raleigh was due in tomorrow. Like he
hadn’t spent the last week preparing himself mentally and physically. Hours of
thinking. Hours of researching. Exploring his own body, practicing technique...
but nothing would beat experience and that... he still didn’t have any when it
came to anal sex with men.
And as much as Raleigh figured he'd want to drag Chuck right to bed (or wall,
floor, bathroom), he'd given this some thought, too. Chuck was younger, Raleigh
kind of suspected he didn't have a lot of experience besides the stuff they had
done on webcam. He wanted to be a somewhat decent guy. He'd dated people
before. Hell, even one night stands had some etiquette. You met for drinks,
checked each other out, and if it was match you hooked up. No staying over or
at least leave before the other party woke up. No complications.
But Chuck provided plenty of complications.
“We're arriving in the morning but there's stuff scheduled all day and in the
evening,” Raleigh started. “And the promotional game is on the 26th with more
marketing things and junior training around it...”
He wasn't sure what he was trying to say. Like maybe he wanted to see Chuck as
soon as possible but he didn't want to pressure him. And Raleigh didn't want to
disappoint him. He didn't want to be tired from traveling and a busy day when
meeting Chuck. But he also didn't want to totally fail on the 27th from all the
pressure or string Chuck along when they were already in the same city.
Raleigh scratched his head. He was driving himself nuts. Really, what did he
want to do? More than anything else?
“I, uh, thought that maybe we could meet tomorrow? Like, just drinks at the
hotel bar or something,” Raleigh finally said. “It could get pretty late
though.”
Close to midnight on a weekday. He almost added that, but didn't want to remind
Chuck of the age gap between them or any parents that might be interested in
punching Raleigh in the face for doing indecent things with their son.
“That doesn’t matter,” Chuck answered, quick on the draw. The suggestion was a
pleasant surprise and now that he thought about it... easing into their meeting
did take some of the pressure off. He had a lot riding on the 27th. What if he
was nervous and couldn’t perform? What if Raleigh didn’t like him once they
met? What if there wasn’t a spark at all? What if there was a spark? What
then?!
Chuck swallowed. His questions and fears were valid, but there was only one way
to settle them.
“I’ll meet you. Where, um. Where are you staying?”
Raleigh smiled, relieved that Chuck went along with his suggestion.
“The Westin hotel,” Raleigh answered.
“The Westin... downtown? Lemme just...” A note of pause while Chuck pulled his
phone back enough to google the place and still be able to hear Raleigh speak.
He gave a low whistle. “Oh... Damn... yeah I know this place.”
It was fancy as hell is what Chuck knew about it. The kind of grand old
building he appreciated when he passed but never studied because he never had
any reason to. It wasn’t like he could afford to stay there. He guessed Raleigh
was used to being touted around the nicest hotels in the world. A little curl
of excitement bubbled in his belly. He was gonna get a drink. With Raleigh. At
The Westin. How was this even real life?
“S-so uuh.” Chuck put the pictures away and the receiver back to his ear.
“Should I just turn up at like ten or do you wanna text me or what? I live on
the Airbase so I’ll have to drive in... it isn’t far,  I just need time.”
It was over an hour but he knew in his gut if he said so then Raleigh would
back out. He would need to find an alibi as well. A reason to stay overnight in
Sydney. Or at least be out very very late... Half of him thought maybe Herc
wouldn’t notice but—yeah, nah. Herc would absolutely notice.
“Did... did I tell you I was Air Force?”
No, he hadn’t, Raleigh thought. But it explained the bit of uniform he’d saw.
And that could only mean one thing... that Chuck’s father was Air Force. How
else would a teen end up living on a base? So not only was Chuck’s old man
called Hercules, he was also military. This did not bode well for Raleigh’s
future health.
“Ah, no, you didn’t,” Raleigh replied. He didn’t want to inform Chuck of his
mounting apprehension; that just wasn’t cool or sexy. “...bet you look really
hot in a uniform.”
Raleigh coughed. “And yeah, around ten sounds good, just head to the hotel bar?
I’ll meet you there.”
There was a tight feeling in his chest. They were actually going to do this,
holy shit.
“Sure... okay.” It felt a little weird, Chuck thought. Tense. Maybe Raleigh was
as anxious as he was.
“N’ for the record? I look sexy as hell in a uniform.” But he was sure as hell
not gonna wear it. That uniform in particular would immediately identify him as
a student. Chuck wondered if it was normal to be this nervous. But after
everything they'd done together they had to at least have some chemistry...
right?
“Sooo I was thinking...” Chuck continued. “If um. I dunno, if we get there and
you don't like me or...” What are you trying to say, get it out. “Shall we just
agree no hard feelings now?” He was scared. He was trying to be prepared but he
was scared as hell and it showed in his nerves and his willingness to give
Raleigh an easy out. He tried to present it nonchalantly but he was invested in
this and it was betraying him. Maybe he was too young. Maybe he was just wet
behind the ears. He'd never know unless he went for it but showing the
vulnerability now was both unintentional and terrifying.
Chuck’s nervousness actually made Raleigh feel a little better. That’s right,
he wasn’t the only one feeling anxious about this. It was weird for both of
them. Sure, he’d had online hookups before through Tinder or Grindr, but this
was different. They’d been talking for a year already, and then not talking,
and talking again, and there was just something there that they couldn’t let go
of. But what if it was all just imaginary and wishful thinking?
Raleigh scratched his jaw, a little stubble forming after the day. “Yeah,” he
answered after a while. “No hard feelings.” Then a smile. “Or when I do like
you, very hard feelings.”
In the beat it took Raleigh to answer Chuck held his breath, giving a soft
exhale that turned into a laugh. “I bloody hope so!” The smile in his voice was
audible. Raleigh could almost hear Chuck's dimples presenting themselves. “And
you should be so lucky,” Chuck reminded him. “I don't go around meeting just
anyone in hotel bars.”
“Very lucky,” Raleigh agreed. “And, uh, same for you,” he added. “Like, no
pressure.”
Raleigh bit his lip. He was kind of horny and wanted to cam with Chuck, but he
also didn’t want to make things even more awkward tomorrow. Ugh, things were
already awkward, really. “So, uh... how was your day?” Raleigh ventured.
“Umm...” Chuck considered. “Yeah, good. To be totally honest...” Careful now,
don't be honest to the point of being pathetic. “Had you on my mind most of
it.”
That sounded better to him then I've been masturbating with my hand in my ass
all day because I'm terrified of fucking up in bed with you. He could maybe
admit some of it but his lack of experience and lack of real toys made any
particular details embarrassing, makeshift and amateurish.
“Is it really bad you're like trying to have a real conversation with me but
your voice’s got me totally turned on?” Like some kind of Pavlovian response...
Christ.
Raleigh chuckled. “Yeah?” He shifted on the bed and licked his lips. “So what
are you gonna do about that?”
“Weeellll... I could go take a cold shower... but, I was thinking maybe I could
show you that thing I bought finally? It's still in its box. I haven't...” had
the nerve. Had the reason. Had you.
Raleigh perked up by several hundred points, or whatever the unit  of
measurement for perkiness was. A thing Chuck bought? A sex toy? Forget
awkwardness, he was really interested in thatright now. The heat was audible in
his voice, dropping an octave in tone. “What thingis that, babe?”
It made Chuck shiver and close his eyes, a rush of excitement tingling through
his lower half. Raleigh didn't remember and Chuck tried not to be disappointed,
seeing this instead as an opportunity.
“Well, it's silicone... and, you've got one.” he reminded playfully. “I think
it's gonna make me scream and I want your voice in my ear the whole time.”
Silicone and something Raleigh had? That didn’t really narrow the selection.
Raleigh had a lot of stuff. Which was all back in Alaska, sadly. He’d mostly
been getting by on jacking off and missed his toys. He wasn’t going to risk
bringing a dildo on this trip, though. Jesus fuck no. Either way, he was
totally up for whatever Chuck was proposing.
“Fuck yes,” Raleigh purred. He palmed himself, getting excited by the mere
thought of hearing Chuck go wild. Seeing would be even better, though. “I wanna
talk you through it, hear your sweet voice cry out.” He paused. “Think you can
manage showing me, too? I really want to see what this toy looks like going
inside you.”
Something about what Chuck had said made Raleigh suspect it wasn’t a stroker.
“Yeah... I wanna show you. Do you have your laptop with you or phone only?”
Chuck asked as he got up to rummage through his closet. He wasn't giving
himself a lot of prep time but who was he kidding, he'd been prepping all damn
day. He turned the sleek, black, unmarked box in his hands as he held the phone
with his shoulder. He'd been too intimidated until now to even consider using
the damn thing. But now that he had Raleigh's interest and his body was about
as ready as it'd ever be... why not?
“Phone only,” Raleigh replied. “I have headphones though.” He put the phone
down for a minute to grab them off his nightstand. Headphones were one of the
few things keeping him sane during flights. He’d never realized how loud planes
were from the inside. Headphones on, he held the phone in front of his face and
pressed the video call button.
“Fair enough,” Chuck said and answered the request to add video, smiling and
raking a hand through his hair.
“Bear with love, I'm not ready yet.” He kept the call live but quietly crept
out into the hall to snag a new towel from the bathroom, listening for a moment
to hear Herc but the TV was on and playing... some kind of sport. He reckoned
he was safe and went back, closing and locking the door behind him before
fishing for his own headphones.
“How am I supposed to do this on a phone...” he murmured, looking around. Aha.
He went over to his desk and rustled through a drawer, flipping the video to
back camera so Raleigh could follow. When he found what he was looking for in
what seemed to be a drawer full of metal bits, soldering irons and computer
chips, Chuck held up the long tool. It had a strong clamp on one end and a
phone sized clamp on the other, connected by a sturdy, posable cable. “Gotcha.”
He flipped back to front facing and set to constructing his scene, clamping the
phone holder to the frame of the end of his bed and bending the cable so that
it would hold his phone nice and sturdy just above blanket level. Best seat in
the house. He slipped his phone in and adjusted it.
“How's that?”
Hands free, he put the towel down and sat back a foot or so, already naked.
He’d been naked all day. A bottle of lube clearly visible on his bedside table,
a small black box to the side of his right knee. He put in his wireless
earbuds, a brand new pair of Jaybirds he'd bought with the cash from his
grandad.
“Holy shit,” Raleigh mumbled. This view was... he remembered this view from
last year. Chuck hadn’t even started yet and he was already so turned on. He
bit his lip, pupils dilated, gaze almost hungry. Not that Chuck could tell
seeing as he was sitting a few feet away. “I can’t wait,” he husked. “Show me,
baby.”
“I can put it on back camera if the resolution goes shit, just tell me,” The
other answered before picking up the sleek box and sliding it open. Chuck bit
his lips before wetting them and picked up the toy, coming a little closer so
Raleigh could see. It wasn't a cheap prostate massager, either. It was the real
deal, best he could find and it looked almost exactly like the one Raleigh had
used. With his earphones in there was an extra layer of vulnerability but at
the same time it felt more...safe? Exciting?
“What’d you reckon?”
Raleigh burst into a wide grin. “That one looks familiar,” he said. “Can’t wait
to see what it does to you.” His eyes glinted up at the camera so Chuck would
catch his gaze.
It was the sort of look Chuck imagined Raleigh would give him right before he
gave a blowjob. He hoped to confirm that in the next few days. He smiled and
bit his lower lip again in a move he felt was seductive, reaching back for the
bottle of lube he’d been steadily emptying that week.
Chuck turned, ass to the camera, watching over his shoulder to make sure he was
in frame and shifted until he was. He wanted Raleigh to see him slick himself.
His freckled ass and hips, the little pink hole he’d gone through the enormous
personal effort to tidy to porn star standards. He wanted Raleigh to watch as
he poured the clear gel and massaged it over his skin, knees spread wide and
stable, cock twitching back to attention between his legs. He wanted Raleigh to
see the careful movements as he tucked the tip of his right pointer finger in,
then further, then another, and wanted him to hear the little moan he stifled
behind locked teeth. He’d done this part all day and had been very productive.
 
Slowly, rolling his hips in time, Chuck fingered himself for the personal
pleasure of Raleigh Becket.
The device itself was black, velvet touch silicone with six inches of
insertable, curved, dildo-esque length and girth with a crescent shaped
stopper-come-handle at the end that curved and sloped to stimulate his perineum
externally in a sort of sexy two part double team. At the end of the handle was
a little silver button which controlled the internal vibrator. He didn’t dare
tell Raleigh about the household objects he’d been using in the wake of not
having a dildo, but now that Chuck looked at the toy he realised he should have
been playing with this all along.
When Chuck felt like he’d played with himself enough he drew his fingers back
to drizzle himself and the toy with far more lube than he rightly needed and
positioned it, glancing over his shoulder at his phone.
“I’m gonna pretend this is you,” he murmured, hoping the little microphone on
his earbuds would pick it up, breathy as he nudged the head in, willing himself
to keep his hips and ass high and presented. After everything else he’d stuffed
in his ass that week in the name of sexual education, it wasn’t nearly as
foreign as he thought it might be. And having fingered himself for Raleigh
before, the sensation of being watched wasn’t scary but exhilarating. Compared
to the last time it got thishot and heavy between them he’d advanced his
knowledge by leaps and bounds.
“C’mon love, talk to me.”
“Fuck,” Raleigh hissed. All the blood was rushing to his cock in record speed
and he wasted no time yanking his slacks and boxers down, sighing when he
wrapped his hand around his hard-on. “You are so unbelievably sexy. Showing me
all this, your gorgeous tight ass up in the air... the way that toy slides
in... how does it feel? Do you like it?” He was already babbling. “Yeah,
pretend that’s me, filling you up...” Just the sight of the vibrator slipping
inside of Chuck’s beautiful pink asshole made him dizzy with want. He was going
to have real difficulty not dragging him straight back to his hotel room
tomorrow, fuck.
Not that Chuck would really object if they rubbed each other the right way.
Har de har.
Listening to Raleigh purr in his ears made it all worthwhile and Chuck slowly
sunk the silicone in. It was softer than the things he’d been playing with and
naturally curved with his body, which felt so much better. It curved towards
his his belly button and he could already feel the tingling in his skin bloom
into something so much more.
“You gonna f-fuck me like this?” He gasped, pushing until he felt the end
nestle between his balls exactly where it should and drew his hand away. It
felt nice. It felt so nice. Clenching once or twice he recalled the
instructions and memories of watching Raleigh. He didn’t need to move the toy
with his hand, he could do it all on his own internally, and the girth of the
thing made it a lot easier to hit his target which he did on the second clench
and release, giving a guttural cry of surprise and grabbing immediately for his
pillow to muffle the noises he realised he was absolutely going to make.
Raleigh’s cock twitched in his hand at Chuck’s cry. Jesus, at this rate he was
going to come before Chuck did. “Yeah baby,” he encouraged Chuck. “Just like
that, slow, deep, so you can feel every inch of me.”
Chuck breathed out low and long, centering himself, focusing on the sound of
Raleigh’s voice.
“Every inch, baby,” he echoed. “I’ll come off your cock alone.”
And with that kindof hardware inside him it was entirely possible, rolling and
clenching and letting his own muscles guide the toy.
“‘m gonna turn it on,” Chuck murmured and reached behind himself to press the
button. Just once. And the button brought the thing to life; it began to buzz
and hum deep inside and brought a whole other level to the experience, slamming
into him like a punch on the nose. Chuck’s posture immediately changed, knees
sliding wider, hips rolling faster as he gave up on the lack of friction
against his cock and rutted against the towel he was on, fingers scrambling for
purchase in his sheets as he cried out into his pillow—frantic and hungry and
needy. “Fu—fuhh—” Words were forgotten and he stammered, control over his body
given over to the device completely as it circled and nudged against his
prostate, purring away happily.
“Fuh—fuck. Fuck, Fuck!”
Raleigh groaned in response. It was almost like he could feel the toy himself
and watching Chuck lose himself to the sensations that were new to him was
intoxicating. He tightened his hand around the base of his cock, not wanting to
give in to his own pleasure when he was so taken with Chuck’s experience of
his, he didn’t want to miss a second of it. “Baby, you’re so good,” Raleigh
murmured. “Look at you, so goddamn beautiful, being fucked like this. Just for
me alone.”
Just for him alone. Just him. Only him. It made Chuck whimper which tailed into
a low groan. This was way more than he was expecting and he wouldn't last long
under the assault. He was lost. Absolutely lost. Swimming in bliss and
Raleigh’s voice was like graveled velvet as he led him through.
“I—” Chuck gasped. Words. He couldn't. “Fuck, Raleigh—” He was gonna come
already. He wasn’t prepared for this next level shit. Muscles tight, thighs
trembling, mind absolutely gone as hot release blushed across him, cock
spitting sticky ribbons between his knees—all over the towel and up across his
tight, braced abs.
Just for me alone.
Wave after wave hit him when the toy didn't stop and struck him from the inside
more insistently as he clenched through his orgasm, forgetting the mechanics of
how it worked and then suddenly it was too much and Chuck pawed frantically to
get it out. The massager hit the bed leaving Chuck's perfect, twitching, lube
drooling gape on full display.
Raleigh couldn't hold out much longer. Chuck was the god of cam sex. No porn
he’d ever seen compared to this. The need to come was incredibly urgent and he
started brutally stripping his cock, babbling nonsense about Chuck being sexy
and hot with his amazing, opened, wet little ass and whatever filth he could
think of. Finally the pressure built up in his balls, heavy and insistent, and
Raleigh’s body, tensed as a bow, gasped for air until his pleasure hit its peak
and he came with a long, deep groan, hot seed spilling over his hand and
abdomen.
He basked in it for a while before he was able to articulate words.
“Shit, that was so fucking good,” Raleigh sighed, feeling content, stretching
out across the bed like a cat. He reached for the towel he'd dropped next to
the bed after his shower and wiped the mess off his hand and belly.
He held the phone back up to his face, where Chuck's ass just started to move
to sit up, and Raleigh bemoaned the loss of this great view.
“Mmf,” Chuck grunted in spent response. “That... fuuh. Yeah it was.”
He moved slowly as he came back to the world, groping for the towel beneath him
and sliding off his bed to quickly clean his belly and thighs and ass before
reappearing. Crawling back on to face his companion and lay on his side, Chuck
smiled, blinking slowly like a cat. Sated. Sleepy. Warm.
“Mm, dunno why I waited so long.” But that was a lie. He knew exactly why he'd
waited and it had everything to do with the man on the other end of the phone.
The man he'd be face to face with tomorrow night. And that made him feel all
kinds of ways.
Raleigh didn’t exactly want to be reminded of how he’d messed up, so he opted
not to reply to that statement. He licked his lips and glanced up at the camera
again. “You won’t have to wait much longer for the real thing.”
It’s just as well Raleigh didn’t comment. That wasn’t how Chuck had meant it.
He wanted to say he could barely wait as it was but that felt...young. Eager.
Needy. He didn’t want to come across that way. Instead he stretched out a
little, laid on his belly and propped his face up in his hand, ass moving
slowly from side to side. He felt sexy as hell. If the military didn’t pan out
he might think about this camming stuff more seriously. Wouldn’t that be a way
to make daddy proud of him.
“Ten pm,” he answered. “At the Westin bar. I’ll be there.”
***** Chapter 7 *****
Chapter Summary
     Chuck and Raleigh finally meet each other in real life and things get
     steamy.
Chapter Notes
     Worth the wait, right? ;) -- Delta
     U r welcum --OOD
Chuck couldn’t sleep.

As tired as he was from the fun he’d had on the phone with Raleigh, his mind
was spinning at a million miles an hour. He needed an alibi to get into town
for one or two nights and, still in trouble with his dad for Caitlin's party,
that wasn’t going to be an easy feat.

Despite their constant clashing, the Hansens operated on a policy of truth and
loyalty. There was extended family, sure, but they ran on a twisted thread of
You and Me Against the World.Sometimes that was successful. Sometimes not so
much. But they had each other and no matter how much they fought or what about,
they would eventually recenter... If only to care for Max.

It meant that no matter how angry Chuck was with his father for what happened
with his mum he still respected him. He didn’t want to lie to him. But as he
got older Chuck saw that sometimes these things were necessary to get what he
wanted. And right now he wanted to go on a date. In the city. Very late at
night with an older man.

Herc couldn’t know. No fucking way could Herc know.

So come morning Chuck pulled himself together, hid his sins from the night
before and started plotting. Sydney always had a million things going on at any
given time and Chuck poured through the countless activity notices online.
Concerts, sports events, community projects... But he needed something that
would keep him there and it was proving difficult.

2pm, frustrated and stir crazy he tossed himself onto his back and grumbled at
the walls for being so unhelpful.

By 3pm he was starting to panic.

By 4pm he had managed to cobble together something resembling a reason to be in
the city and by 5pm he’d streamlined it into the most beautiful series of
waterfall lies you’d ever seen.

It all started with a dog show. They occasionally talked about how good an
example of his breed Max was so why not? Chuck just wanted to check it out and
then go on to an evening job-fair and socializing event. He could look for a
job, right? Nothing suspicious at all. That might go on quite late so then he’d
get some dinner and then catch the-wait for it- midnight release of the newest
superhero film. That was going to go pretty late so he’d crash with a ‘friend’
and the next day he’d attend the second half of the job-fair which was probably
going to go all day what with all its seminars. It was free to register and he
did. His lie was complete. Better yet it was bulletproof. It was a beauty if
he’d ever seen one.

Herc got home at half past five which seemed a strange time but Chuck didn’t
complain. He hopped up from his bed, grabbed the registration from his printer
and trotted downstairs to spin his web over his father who looked tired as he
rummaged around for something in his home office.

“So dad,” he started.

Herc didn’t even give him a chance.

“I’m only back for a minute. Things’r kickin’ off and I need to get back.”

It took the wind from Chuck’s sails. “Shit... everything okay?”

“I reckon so, but it ain’t makin’ my life any easier.”

“Do I need to get in a bomb shelter or something?”

Herc snorted and shook his head. “It’s fine.” He found the papers and a USB
stick he’d been looking for and stuffed them into his worn briefcase.

“You’ll have to sort yerself supper. This might be an all-nighter for me,
yeah.”

Chuck opened his mouth to say something before shutting it with a click and
nodding.

“What’s that?” Chuck had forgotten he was even holding anything when his father
asked and he looked at the papers in his hand.

“O-oh... um. Job-fair thing. I was—”

“—sounds good. Put Max out back if yer off, yeah?”

Chuck nodded again and Herc was out the door. His beautiful, brilliant lie
would go untold. Herc was going to be gone for at least a day… maybe days... He
waited until the front door closed before breaking out into a relieved laugh.
Max stared at him from across the room and Chuck crossed to come pet him.

“Ay boy, if that wasn’t a sign, I don’t know what is.”

It was an enormous, blinking neon one. Like someone wanted him to go on this
date. He was meantto. If he believed in that kind of thing he would consider,
just for a moment, maybe it was his mother.

It was lucky either way and Chuck raced with glee to get ready. He walked Max,
showered, prepared his body… just, you know, in case. He shaved and ate, taking
considerable time and care in every part of his multistep execution of
Operation Get Some. He agonized over what to wear before finally settling on
his nicest pair of jeans and a thin black tee with a low V neck. Black
motorcycle boots he bought because they made him feel like a badass and his
trusty vintage leather jacket. He needed all the confidence he could get.

<< Need a favour Maki
He’d left this part of his plan to just before 8pm.

<< I’m on a date tonight and Dad’s working an all nighter. Will you bring Max
in later and then back out tomorrow morning if I’m not back?

>> You’re staying overnight?!

<< Maybe. If this goes late I don’t want to be driving back at ass crack just
to turn around and drive back tomorrow.

>> Chassu this is serious, you don’t know him

<< Please. I’ll be safe, don’t worry.
<< please?!

Waiting for her answer was agony.

>> You owe me.

<< THANK YOU!!

He owed her big time.

Last checks and a quick stop off at the general store on base for condoms and a
few packets of lube (for good luck, just in case you see) and he was off to
Sydney.

Chuck tried not to be nervous as he drove. He tried to not think about it too
much and instead told himself that he was just going to meet an old friend.
Someone he hadn’t seen in a long… long time. It helped a little but as he
parked and wandered into the hotel lobby the nerves were back in an instant.

The Westin Sydney was a beautiful old building. It’s lobby was an enormous
glass atrium with statues and art all over. Chairs and tables were scattered
throughout with vases of very expensive flowers refreshed every week by one of
the top florists in the city. The bar was just through the other side of the
lobby and was much cozier. The Westin boasted an enormous, antique clock tower
and borrowed its decor imagery from that but unlike the lobby itself, the bar
was darker and intimate with a sort of modern 60’s theme. It was very swanky
and very posh and Chuck had never been in a place like it. He looked at the
roaring fireplace for a minute before scanning the area for Raleigh.

“Can I help?”

“Ay? Sorry—” He shook his head to the hostess—pretty, young, dark hair and dark
skin and striking grey eyes—and willed her not to card him. She didn’t for a
moment think about his age. He was on miracle number 2 today.

“I’m just looking for someone. I must be early.”

“No worries, mate. Take a seat where you like n’I’ll be over in a bit. Can I
get you something to start?”

“Uh... sure. Pint of Lager. I’ll let you surprise me.”

She smiled and he nodded and eased into the place for a spot. The bar wasn’t
packed but he wanted a seat where he could see the door — finally settling in
an alcove against the opposite wall. This was nerve wracking and Raleigh wasn’t
even there yet.

Raleigh was pacing back and forth in his hotel room. The clock was creeping
closer to ten and he was freaking out. He wasn’t sure why this was such a big
deal. He’d been nervous all day, to the point where even his teammates were
starting to notice. He could barely get any food into his stomach whilst
usually before and after hockey he felt like stuffing his face with anything
edible he could find — though he had to cut back on junk food, wanting to
actually keep his abs visible and all.

He’d showered, shaved, had tried to make up his mind about putting on
aftershave or not for like ten minutes until putting on a little bit, had
changed into three different casual outfits until he realized that he didn’t
really bring that many different outfits, combed his hair into five different
styles before going back to the first, and almost called Yancy.

What the fuck was going on? He’d been on countless dates before. He’d dated
people. Raleigh Becket was good at dating people. He’d appear, all dashing and
charming and oozing sex appeal. He knew how to pull a guy.

But Chuck Hansen had him acting like a teenage girl.

He was trying to remember the kind of nonsense a team captain would say to get
them going, some inspirational psyching up motto thing, but even on that his
mind blanked.

With a minute to ten, Raleigh gave up. He was going to head downstairs and
just… see what happened. Maybe he would totally bomb, but at least he couldn’t
blame himself for not trying.

He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, cheeks flushing, as he
approached the hotel bar. Not cool at all, Rals, he thought. This is so uncool.
Where’s my swagger. Shit. How am I going to impress Chuck like this?

He came into the bar from the side, and that’s when he stopped in his tracks.

It was him. It was Chuck. Sitting like, right there. Leather jacket, jeans,
black boots, reddish hair. It was unmistakable. Raleigh tried to remind himself
that barely 24 hours ago Chuck had masturbated for him live on phone cam,
calling out Raleigh’s name, and Raleigh had thrown all sorts of filth his way.

A crazy rush went up through his body, like a heat wave, his skin prickling. It
felt like he was almost  panicking.

Stay cool. Be cool. I am the coolest.

He could use his Aces captain’s speech right about now, but Steve was nowhere
near Sydney. He would have to wing it on his own.

So Raleigh straightened his shoulders, ran a hand through his hair, and started
walking towards Chuck.

It took a minute to clock him. Chuck had spent most of his time staring down
the door but the hostess had brought him a pint and he was using it to calm his
nerves. Stop the internal voice suggesting he might just not come. Crisp
bubbles in his throat. He was gonna show. Cold glass in his hand. Raleigh was
just a little late, that's all. The music in the place was audible but not so
loud that it hindered conversation. If things went badly Chuck had already
mapped his three best chances of exit but hoped he wouldn’t have to use any of
them.

He just. He really wanted this to be good.

So he waited and hoped, scanning the room again and ah — there.Raleigh had
materialised. And Chuck was positiveit was Raleigh. It hit him in the gut and
he swallowed, standing out of instinct on weak knees to greet him. He was so
much hotter in person. And taller. Way taller.

Say something Chuck, you're staring.

What the hell was he supposed to say.

C’mon you idiot, think! What do you always say to him?! Ah— right.

He wet his lips and smiled. Begging himself to not be awkward.

“Hello gorgeous.”

Some basal instinct kicked in with Raleigh, probably from all those dates he
had. Despite nervousness sizzling under the surface, he burst into a wide
smile. “Hey, you.”

His mind raced. Holy shit. He looks — so much younger in real life — shorter?
But you can see he’s going to bulk up, he has that kind of build — could be a
hockey player — it’s rugby though. Wait how old was he again — 18 right? No,
17. Wait, shit? What the fuck am I doing here? Rals, he looks young, way young.
I mean. But look at those fucking shoulders—look at those eyes. Those lips.
That jaw. Jesus, give him a couple of years and you can cut diamonds on that
jaw—

It was maybe a minute of outright staring ‘till Raleigh snapped out of it.
“You look good,” Raleigh said, his eyes glinting. There was no way he could not
notice how good Chuck looked.

Which was nice but when you spent that long staring at someone it was bound to
make them uncomfortable. Which Chuck was beginning to get.

“Yeah?” Confirmation finally came and Chuck relaxed off the anxiety that had
built up in such a short space. He wasn't quite sure what to do. Did they
shake? Did they kiss? He — shit, he wasn't sure if he was ready to kiss blokes
in public. Definitely not sober.

“You're, um. Not so bad yourself. Taller’n I thought you'd be.” Which was
ridiculous because Chuck knew from Raleigh’s player stats that he was 6’1 and
it wasn't like Chuck had never seen a bloke over 6 foot before… but it was a
hell of a reminder that he hadn't hit his last growth spurt and his broad 5’10
was just another point of insecurity.

Raleigh couldn’t really stop himself from smiling. He probably looked like a
complete idiot. He licked his lips and stuck out his hand. “Well, it’s good to
meet you… finally, Chuck.”

“Likewise,” he answered and shook the other's hand — strong and warm and solid.
You could tell a lot about a man from his handshake and Raleigh's told a story
Chuck liked. They were finally skin and it was electric.

Chuck had words ready and stacked in his throat, small talk and pleasantries
prepared in advance but they all fell away in that moment, looking Raleigh in
the eye and not wanting to let go. Hearing his name on those lips in person.
The vibration of his voice in the air and his body as it sang through him. Wow,
just—

Raleigh didn’t realize he was holding his breath until his lungs complained.
His mind had blanked — again — the second Chuck’s hand slid into his grip, his
eyes locked with Chuck’s. His nerves had somehow crystallized into desire the
second their skin touched.

Shit. Shit. Holy shit.

He wondered if Chuck was feeling everything he felt. This was weird as hell. At
some point they should probably let go, he figured. Now? Was now good? He
didn’t want to let go. He wanted to pull Chuck closer.

Some sense of public awareness got the best of him and he let Chuck’s hand go.

“Um,” Raleigh said, and he threw a glance behind Chuck, spotting the nearly-
empty glass of beer. “Let’s sit down?”

“Right. Yeah...” Sit down. That thing. Chuck nodded dumbly and moved back,
sitting at an angle in the alcove to engage his companion. Just… look at him.
Study him. A living, breathing human. It seemed weird to feel weird about that
or thinking that way but they only knew each other from behind the protection
of computer screens.

Chuck wet his lips. “S’table service... she'll be over.”

He tapped his fingers over the wooden table in front of them. “Busy day, ay?”

Raleigh licked his lips too and ran a hand through his hair. His mouth was dry.
He hoped the waitress would come soon. He hoped she’d never come. He hoped the
rest of the world would fall away and it would just be Chuck and him. The way
Chuck’s physical presence in his immediate vicinity was affecting him was
unreal. He’d never felt this, not even with his hottest Grindr date. (Anchorage
didn’t have much of a gay scene, so finding a guy was up to dating apps. Most
of what Raleigh had been able to find were hook-ups, though.)

Right, Chuck had asked him something.

“Er, yeah,” Raleigh said. “We flew in this morning, then photo-shoots and
training this afternoon. They’re kinda showing us off, I guess. And a dinner
with sponsors tonight.” Hockey wasn’t very big in Australia, it barely even
snowed in this place, so it puzzled Raleigh why they were even bothering flying
here. Seeing the sponsors though, he had a suspicion it was about more than
just the sports. But he didn’t care much about the politics or the money.
Whatever the reason, it meant that he was able to come here, to Sydney, and see
Chuck.

Who was right there, breathing and everything, giving him the most intense
gaze. It was almost hard to meet that stare, but trying to shift his focus just
led to looking at more of Chuck’s body, and…

Raleigh leaned back a little against the red fabric of the alcove sofa,
slinging one leg over the knee of the other. “And uh, how was your day?”

Yes Chuck. What didyou do today.

“Um... nothing much I guess. It's the first time in ages I haven't had anything
to do so I've just been hanging out.” Which was true but sounded lame to his
own ears once he's said it and was hugely grateful to the waitress when she
appeared to take their drink orders.  

“Did you want to start a tab sir?” she asked Chuck, who floundered with a
“Buh—”

Raleigh gave her his winning smile. “Just put it on my room, miss,” he said.
“Number 2025. I’m with the IIHF team.”

She nodded and took down the number. Chuck turned to object. “You don't have to
do that...” Having someone pay for him, even when he didn't have a ton of cash,
felt really weird.

“Don't worry about it,” Raleigh said. “The hockey federation pays for it
anyway.” He was more than proud of himself. He'd worked hard enough to get this
far and if he worked even harder he might make it into the NHL. But that was
for later.

“I'll have a beer as well,” Raleigh said. He was about to ask Chuck if he
wanted another when he realized that Chuck shouldn't even be allowed to drink
alcohol. Great, I'm corrupting him even more.And something told him that
bringing up Chuck’s legal drinking age was decidedly uncool and would not get
him laid.

That's… what he wanted, right? His eyes scanned down Chuck's body and back up
to his stunningly handsome face. Yep, that's what he wanted.

“Do you want another one?” Raleigh asked.

“Uh, yeah. Cheers love. Same as before please,” Chuck answered. Busting him to
the waitress would absolutely not get Raleigh laid. And after all, he'd been
invited for a drink. Like hell he was going to sit there sipping on a Shirley
Temple like a child because he was two months shy of 18.

But when she left to get their drinks a silence followed and brought them back
to awkward smalltalk. Chuck didn't have much patience for it but this was…
really different.  

“Must be cool to expense everything. I'd be having parties all the time.” Which
was more or less a lie. He'd sure think about it but if he were a serious
athlete like Raleigh there was no way in hell he'd fanny about.

“That’s what most of the other guys are doing,” Raleigh said. “Living it up and
all.”

“And here you are with me, instead. You don't party much, do you Ray.” Not that
it was a bad thing.

When you see an opening, you go for it. Don’t think. GO.

“I’d much rather be here with you than at some party,” Raleigh said, not
missing a beat.

It made Chuck smile, dimples pulling deep. The warm and fuzzy spread across his
insides and made him bold. They were interrupted for a brief second as their
pints were delivered and Chuck glanced around the bar before leaning forward a
little — daring his hand to brush across Raleigh's knee and linger.

“Me too,” he answered, watching Raleigh's every movement to gauge his reaction.

The brush of Chuck’s hand against his knee sent a warm shiver through Raleigh’s
body from where Chuck had touched him. A sharp intake of breath, his eyes
meeting Chuck’s again.

Raleigh didn’t feel like drinking a beer. He felt like grabbing Chuck’s hand,
pulling Chuck towards him and kissing him until they forgot how to breathe.

Could he see the same in Chuck’s eyes? He wasn’t sure. But it was like the
temperature in the alcove rose several degrees, the way the air feels during a
thunderstorm, heavy and tense.

Raleigh covered Chuck’s hand on his knee with his own, not breaking eye
contact. He licked his lips again. Tensed his fingers to stroke over Chuck’s.

It felt nice... Intimate. That wasn't a word Chuck applied to many things in
his life. They were being intimate. The silence stretched between them and it
was okay as the thunder built, waiting to break. One of them had to make the
move.

Chuck mirrored Raleigh and wet his lips, letting them part a little, nice and
plush. Waiting. Watching. This was it, wasn't it. Mutual attraction. A spark?
Raleigh's hand across his was like lightning. It felt good. It had to be good,
he thought. But hearing it aloud would mean so much more. Be all the more
validating. But how to ask? And how long could the silence go on for before it
got weird?!

The space between Chuck’s lips was nearly too much for Raleigh. He wanted to
lean forward and capture that bottom lip between his teeth and lick it.

Instead, a little dazed from the force of their attraction, he reached out his
other hand and pressed his thumb to that beautiful bottom lip. He couldn’t not.
Was he being too forward? Raleigh no longer cared.

“Chuck, I… do you… I mean,” Raleigh mumbled, apparently his higher brain
functions shutting down at this point. Focus.Raleigh coughed and tried again.

“Maybe we should… go some place we can be alone. If that’s okay with you.”

“Yes,” Chuck answered, barely letting Raleigh speak. It vibrated against the
finger at his lip and crawled up his spine to coo and purr and radiate out into
his every nerve. Lightning had struck. It smelled like ozone. Raleigh Becket
made the first move  and Chuck found himself practically motionless but
yearning to fling himself forward for their long awaited kiss. He neededit.

“Let's go,” tongue darting against the other's thumb.

Sensing the wetness of Chuck’s tongue against his digit almost had Raleigh
undone. He let out a shaky breath and slowly got up from the sofa, just about
pulling Chuck up along with him.

“Follow me,” Raleigh said, like Chuck would do anything else. He turned around
and began to walk towards the hotel elevators.

The hotel had stairs. And his room was on the second floor. But an elevator had
a door. That would close behind them. Raleigh was practically buzzing out of
his skin with the need to kiss Chuck, now.

And he wasn't alone in that feeling, though Chuck did have an urge to knock
back his drink before they went. He was Australian. You didn’t waste beer.
Especially if you weren’t allowed to drink yet and one was presented to you.
But there wasn’t time, Raleigh pulling at him with mind and body, the promise
of what would happen like a force of gravity they could only obey. The pressure
mounted in his chest as they made it to the elevator and when the doors opened
with nobody inside they stumbled into the small space, their hands colliding on
the close-doors button. They didn’t move until the elevator doors closed and
the second they slid shut Chuck turned and grabbed fistfuls of Raleigh's shirt
front, pulling Raleigh down towards him and crashing their mouths together.

Raleigh had made the first move, but now that they were somewhere more private,
he could make the second.

Raleigh teeth almost scraped against Chuck’s with the force of the kiss, and
Raleigh’s hands went up to Chuck’s face, instinctively taking charge and
pulling Chuck’s head just a little back so he could get at those plush lips,
sucking them in between his own and then letting his tongue run over them
before claiming all of Chuck’s mouth.

Heat coursed through his body, pooling in his groin, and he brought a hand to
the small of Chuck’s back to bring them closer together. Groaning into the
kiss, deepened through the additional contact between them, Raleigh’s mind was
nothing but blissful static.

God, he’d wanted to do this the second he’d laid eyes on Chuck.

Their fears of non-attraction were short-lived and Chuck sank into the kiss
with a low moan. Raleigh's lips were exactly how he'd imagined if not better.
His strength was intoxicating and the way he just knewhow to hold Chuck made
him weak.

And it was a weakness he wasn't scared of, no, maybe weakness wasn't the word.
He innately trusted his partner. Raleigh kissed him like he meant it and
touched him like he caredand all too soon the elevator doors swung open with a
cheerful ding.

It left Chuck breathless as they parted and he immediately pushed at Raleigh to
get out. Get out and get to his room now.Head swimming, cock throbbing in his
jeans. It was a novel idea, getting a drink, but they should have known as they
tumbled through the hall towards Raleigh's room that it just wasn't their
style.

Raleigh scrambled to shove the access card into the room’s lock and as soon as
the door opened he yanked Chuck inside by his shirt and slammed him against the
wall, putting his mouth back where it should be; on top of Chuck's.

Raleigh's hands roved over Chuck’s body, tugging at his jacket and shirt. Too
many clothes between them.

Get them off, get them off!Up against the wall Chuck was dizzier than ever. It
had never been like this with Zeke or any of the other's he'd been with. They'd
never kissed him with the force of a hurricane or tore at their clothes like
they were suffocating, lips warring  and tasting, only breaking to pull shirts
off over their heads- a moment it breathe as the fabric was cast to the floor
and they were back at it. He couldn't think as he fumbled with Raleigh's fly,
shoving fabric off cut, muscular hips. Hips he knew. Hips he needed to know
better. Hips he met with his own in a hard, needy grind.

Raleigh hadn't made much noise until now — unlike Chuck's sweet, sweet moans —
but the second he felt Chuck's hard-on against his own he let out a long groan.

“Fuck,” Raleigh panted, hips rolling into Chuck's. His mouth parted from
Chuck's lips and made its way to his jaw, his neck, nipping and sucking at the
skin. “God, you feel so good.”

Chuck was shorter than him but stockier; he didn't have all the raw bulk
Raleigh had but Chuck was lean, his teenage softness replaced by muscle through
training and sports. It was one thing to see that amazing body on camera, but
to actually feel Chuck, touch him, smell him…

It was intoxicating. They were intoxicated. Wrapped up in kisses and heavy
petting, Chuck couldn't remember which was was up. He just wanted more. More
kissing. More tasting. More exploration.

He moved his hands upwards to thread into Raleigh's short, wild hair, curling
experimentally tighter as they kissed.

Raleigh shuddered when Chuck’s grasp on his hair tightened. He liked being
manhandled, he was a big guy, he played hockey. Soft petting wasn’t his thing.
He liked the kind of sex where you still felt it the next day, if not see it in
the mirror. And if Chuck’s body language was anything to go by he was into
that, too; hell, it’s not like Raleigh hadn’t seen the way Chuck handled
himself. And now the real thing was grinding up against him desperately.

Still, too many clothes.

With a show of force Raleigh grabbed Chuck’s ass and lifted him up off the wall
and towards the bed. Chuck was hardly lightweight, but Raleigh was used to
bench pressing around three quarters of his own 200-something pounds. The sort
of thing an average NHL player should be able to do.

A few big steps towards the king-sized bed and Raleigh plopped Chuck down on
his back, getting to work at Chuck’s jeans, undoing the button and zipper and
hooking his fingers under the waistband to yank them down.

Chuck arched his hips upwards, breathless and reeling a little. From the
kisses, from being picked up like that. From Raleigh’s appetite and pace.
Just... everything. It felt so good and he was so excited but —

Isn't this going just a little too fast?

Chuck couldn't help the little voice in the back of his head. He could try to
ignore it and push it back, but it was still there as he spread out under
Raleigh's fingers, cock hard and aching for attention, lips kiss stung and
swollen.

No, no. This is good. This is perfect. We're gonna have sex this is awesome—

—But isn't this moving a little too fast?

Raleigh pulled Chuck’s jeans all the way down, off his feet, socks right along
with them, then did the same to his own wardrobe. He was wearing dark grey
boxers himself, and Chuck was wearing the same in black. Dick just as hard as
Raleigh’s. Raleigh had to take a second to admire Chuck’s body. Not only
beautiful in musculature but also covered in freckles and the dusting of ginger
hair, a far too appealing trail leading from his bellybutton to his cock;
Raleigh had seen the last part on webcam, but not the freckles. Those didn’t
translate on the screen. They were myriad, countless, and he wanted to taste
them all.

Unable to tolerate being separated from Chuck any longer Raleigh crawled on top
of him, underwear still on, but as far as he was concerned that was only a
matter of seconds. He just really wanted to hear and feel Chuck’s reaction when
Raleigh got his hand on Chuck’s dick. His hand skimmed down Chuck’s abs, going
right for the prize.

And Chuck wanted it. In that moment he'd never wanted anything more, but a sort
of cold panic bubbled up in his stomach.

I'm exposed.

That's all it said at first. He gasped into Raleigh's mouth as they kissed and
Raleigh's hand grabbed him. Warm and strong and heavy on top of him. Chuck
could hear the blood rushing in his ears.

I'm exposed this is really serious!

Chuck arched his hips up into the hand palming him through his boxers. Calm
down. Calm down. It's okay. He was gonna be okay. It was moving a little too
fast but he could cope. He would cope. He could deal with someone being
forward. Zeke had been handsy and Chuck was okay with it until he'd been
toohandsy.

He didn't think Raleigh would do that. Then again he didn't really know the
guy. They'd never talked about Zeke. They hadn't set any boundaries so it
wasn't really fair to tell Raleigh he'd crossed one when they weren't agreed in
the first place. Don't be so fucking lame, Chuck thought to himself. Just
relax. He tightened his grip in Raleigh's hair, pulling for kisses. Nosing for
slow ones that didn't fit at all with their fast paced heavy petting. But he
could get control. He could slow them down, he thought.

Raleigh couldn’t believe this was even real — Chuck felt so good underneath
him, smelled amazing, and he loved all the gasps and twitches he gave, arching
into him. He groaned when Chuck’s grip in his hair tightened again and answered
Chuck’s passion with his own, kissing him deep and hard.

His hand slid up again, only to finally dip into Chuck’s boxers, and Raleigh
wrapped his hand around Chuck’s hot, hard length.

“So hard for me, baby,” Raleigh whispered against Chuck’s lips.

It sent a twist of bliss through Chuck so fast it made his head spin, but
following behind it like thunder follows lightening came a boom of the panic
that was already spreading through him.

Say something, Chuck!

But he was so wrapped up in Raleigh’s strength. He tried kissing him slowly
instead. He’d never felt weird like this on the phone… but... He’d always had
the safety of separation. And he and Zeke had gotten about as far as this but
it was awkward teenage fumbling and this… this was… not.

“Shhh,” Chuck mumbled. It was the best he found he was able to get out as he
kissed slowly and willed Raleigh the ability to read his mind. Slow down, slow
down please—

“What’s that baby?” Raleigh murmured, breaking off their kisses to mouth at
Chuck’s neck. He pumped him slow and firm, twisting his hand over the head,
spreading out the precum Chuck was leaking. His other hand was trailing at
Chuck’s hip, trying to find its way to that wonderful little ass. Raleigh
recalled very vividly how Chuck had reacted to the vibrator and he really
wanted to see how Chuck would react to Raleigh’s fingers, Raleigh’s tongue
even. Arousal was thrumming in his veins and he began to shift their positions
so he’d have a better angle to get his hand on Chuck’s behind.

Chuck tensed a little as they moved. Raleigh's hand on his cock was incredible.
Mouth on his skin, other hand groping for his ass, muscular and round and
immaculate.

“Slow,” he gasped. “Ray please,” because he wanted it. He really did. He just
felt so… weird. Was he getting cold feet? He didn't think so... but should he
have stalled? Waited a little more? Talked a little more? Shame made its
presence known, joining the cacophony of anxieties in Chuck's head. Why was he
being scared? What had gone wrong, had he done something? Was he wrong for
feeling weird about this? He felt bad for feeling bad and all the while Raleigh
worked him over and it sent such conflicting emotions through Chuck that he
felt paralysed.

Raleigh slowed his motions, keeping his hands where they were, but not moving
any further. Something about the tone of Chuck’s voice made coldness creep into
the warm haze of lust that ran through him and he leaned back a bit to make eye
contact.

Raleigh was horny as hell, but he wasn’t a complete tool; Chuck didn’t look
excited, he looked scared. The coldness he’d felt turned into a bucket of ice
water.

“Shit,” Raleigh mumbled, and he let go of Chuck, sitting back on his haunches.
No, it’d probably be better to get all the way off him—

A litany of self-chastizing thoughts had come along with the bucket of ice
water. You fucked up, you fucked up, you practically assaulted him, he’s
fucking 17 Rals, jesus, what were you thinking, no you weren’t, you were
thinking with your dick asshole, he’s going to run out of here, his dad is
going to kill you, you’ll never see him again, you goddamn fucked up—

Raleigh pulled a hand over his face. “Shit, I’m sorry, Chuck.”

“No no, hey—” Chuck protested, rolling as if to follow him. Shit! Shit, Chuck
you idiot! “Hey now—”

Raleigh stepped back a little, a look of concern on his face. Now what? Should
they get dressed or something? This was new to him. Practically all of his
dates had been smooth sailing and not just thanks to plenty of lube. It’s not
that he hadn’t messed up now and then. His first time had been mostly drunk
fumbling with his high school crush who ‘wanted to try a dude’ and that was
shit and he’d gotten over that and onto better men with bigger dicks. Mostly
through dating apps, sometimes lasting a few months, nothing long term. But
that straight-up fearful look from Chuck, he hadn’t seen anything like it
before. Or maybe it got to him because Chuck got to him. For the more
experienced party here, Raleigh suddenly felt very out of his depth. He should
know how to handle this. He had to handle this. Then he had an actually helpful
idea. How would Yance handle this?

Raleigh licked his lips and stepped a little closer to Chuck again, holding out
his hand. “You okay?”

Chuck took it immediately, looking for connection. That it was okay, that this
wasn't falling apart. Fearful and panicking that he was ruining this as fast as
he could.

“I'm—yeah. Sorry... sorry I dunno what—” he shook his head, this was crashing
and burning and it was all his fault.

What would Yancy do. Raleigh needed to get that tattooed somewhere. Or like, on
a bracelet or something.

“It’s alright,” Raleigh said, carefully pulling Chuck up and forward and into a
hug. Hugs were okay right? Raleigh liked hugs.

Hugs were good.

“Could we...” Chuck tried, shifting to curl into Raleigh's arms. They fell into
place like puzzle pieces and Chuck was terrified Raleigh would get up and leave
at any moment.

“Sorry... Could we just slow down a little?”

Raleigh smiled, tightening his arms around Chuck. Wow, this felt nice. Nothing
like the roaring desire he'd felt earlier, but just as warm. Weird.

“Yeah. Yeah, of course,” Raleigh said.

They stood like that for a good minute until Raleigh let go. He scratched his
head. “Sorry if I went too fast. It's just, you're reallyattractive in real
life,” he said. “Even more than online.”

Chuck smiled, relaxing a hair. That was nice to hear.

“So are you. I'm sorry,” he shook his head, burning with embarrassment.  Now
would have been a good time for the earth to swallow him whole.

“So um,” Raleigh began, “Do you… want to go back downstairs, or…”

“No,” again Chuck shook his head, shifting his weight into one foot and
crossing his arms lightly over his chest out of insecurity. “I like it better
up here. We could... I mean, we could lay back down.”

A beat. He dragged a hand through his hair before scrubbing it.

“Shit, I've fucked this, ay.”

Raleigh raised an eyebrow. Chuck was blaming himself? If anyone here screwed up
it was Raleigh. He was the older, wiser one. Or supposed to be. But, well. They
could stand here blaming themselves until aliens crawled out of the Pacific to
eat them all, or he could go back to touching Chuck, which he was totally on
board with even if nothing else happened. Which was also kinda new for him.

“Sure, we can lay down,” Raleigh replied, putting a knee up on the bed and
reaching out to Chuck. “I'd like that.”

Chuck nearly apologised again as he moved to join Raleigh on the bed, taking
his hand and then shifting so that he could slot in perfectly to the space
along Raleigh's form. He skimmed a hand up Raleigh's side and looked up at him,
realising that... well. He'd tried to say something and even though it was
difficult to get out... Raleigh still heard him. And respected it. He was
nothing like Zeke. This was so much better.

“I don't wanna kill the mood,” Chuck murmured, nosing for a kiss. A sweet one
to start, slow and gentle. Tasting. Savouring.

“Mood’s still here,” Raleigh said with a smile. From now on, he’d be careful,
follow Chuck’s pace instead. He felt a bit strange, like his chest ached, but
not in a bad way. He recognised Chuck’s gesture for what it was and leaned
forward, kissing Chuck on the lips, rather than trying to claim his mouth.

The kiss made his hands and feet tingle. This was nothing like what he was used
to, but it was good. Just going slow like this, feeling Chuck in his arms. Even
so, he could sense how this was already stirring him up, desire crackling to
life in his body. But he would control himself this time, he didn’t want to
freak Chuck out again. Raleigh closed his eyes and kissed Chuck again, sighing
into the kiss.

This was so much better for Chuck. Less pressure. Less haste. He'd never
considered himself the go slow, old fashioned type but he knew himself well
enough not to ignore that screaming in his head. And it had worked out in the
end so… nothing to be upset about. Just lovely, lovely bliss as they kissed
slowly.

It made his body sing. It made him tingle all over the way Raleigh had started
to handle him. This was good. This was so much better. Slow, slow, hands
skimming over warm skin and hard muscle.

“Feel so good,” he breathed. There wasn't a lack of getting riled back up on
either side, Chuck just needed to get there one step at a time. He ran his
fingers down over Raleigh's flank and across his hip before working back up
over hard abs and chest, thumb rolling over his pebbled nipple.

Raleigh let out a shakybreath when Chuck's thumb found his nipple. Letting
Chuck take charge for a bit was definitely a great idea. Chuck's hesitant but
curious touches had heat rising up through Raleigh's body and he sensed his
erection making a comeback.

He let his own hand wander across Chuck’s side, nails sliding over the skin of
his back without scratching. Raleigh found himself unable to stop smiling. This
was so… intimate. And he thought it might have been weird when meeting Chuck
for the first time, and it had been a little bit, but it was like their bodies
already knew each other, as familiar as if they'd spent a lifetime together.

He wet his lips and leaned in for another kiss, caught by Chuck who lapped
gently before capturing Raleigh's bottom lip and nipping it with his teeth.

It felt meant. Like they weren't strangers at all. Like their bodies were in
dialogue and the conversation rapture. There was no rush to the finish line but
rather the joy was the journey to get there and finally, finally, Chuck dropped
his hand back down between Raleigh's legs. To his huge, hard cock which he
wrapped his hand around just to feel. Just to touch his cock and balls and
soft, inner thigh.

“Nnngh,” Raleigh groaned, hips involuntarily twitching into Chuck’s grasp.
Yes.Chuck taking charge? Excellent. Awesome idea. Raleigh bit his lip and just
basked in the pleasurable sensation of having Chuck's hand on his cock. His
fingers twitched at Chuck's hip, but he didn't make a move yet.

Let me do it, Chuck's body said with every movement. Raleigh obeyed and it made
him braver, moving on from their sweet kisses to trail his lips along jaw and
neck and shoulder where he gently dragged his teeth over Raleigh's skin, laving
at the spot with his tongue before going back to kissing Raleigh's neck with
his hand working in sync. It was so nice to smell him. Taste him. His
aftershave was nice but not too strong. Raleigh felt like strength and lust
against him and Chuck could hardly take it but he wouldn't stop.

Raleigh bit back a moan when Chuck's teeth scraped over his skin. “Chuck,” he
husked. “Feels really good.”

“Yeah?” Breathy. It was nice to hear, reacting well to encouragement. Chuck was
a verbal communicator. The feedback was vital for him to assess where they were
and what was going on. “Taste good,” he answered. He wanted to taste every
single inch of Raleigh's skin. Taste the power in him. The affection.

Chuck nudged Raleigh to lay flat on his back so he could climb up on top,
kissing his lips before trailing back down again to work over his body. He
wrapped his hand more steadily around Raleigh's length, endeavouring not to be
intimidated by its size, and pumped it—thumb rolling over the head through
beading precome.

“Jesus,” Raleigh hissed, and he let his head fall back, bucking up into Chuck's
touch. He still wasn't exactly sure how much experience Chuck did or didn't
have, but he clearly knew what he was doing with Raleigh's dick.

Raleigh kept in contact with Chuck, one hand on Chuck's shoulder, the other
weaving into his hair.

“You ok?” Chuck asked, binging his lips back from Raleigh’s nipple to look up
at him with bright eyes. His hand slowed but didn't stop.

“Mmm, yeah,” Raleigh said, lifting his head a little to look up at Chuck.
Raleigh's cheeks were flushed, a happy grin on his face. He gave Chuck's
shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “You're doing great, baby.”

Chuck smiled, closing his eyes for a second and leaning into the hand Raleigh
had in his hair before dropping back down. Good. He'd needed that and he went
back to his task, hand picking up as he played, finding the best way to handle
Raleigh's body.

He liked being in control. It felt safe. Chuck gave a small hum of pleasure as
he shifted, angling to slip between Raleigh's knees. Glancing up again for a
moment, he smiled and placed his free hand at the other's hip before sinking
down to press kisses along Raleigh's inner thigh. Breathing him in, Chuck felt
a flood of pleasure. He was throbbing with it and worked his lips to the base
of Raleigh's shaft where he held it with his hand and licked a long, hot stripe
up his cock with the flat of his tongue.

Raleigh couldn't bite back the moan this time. Holy shit.When he'd let Chuck
take charge he hadn't expected it to turn into a blow job. This guy was full of
surprises.

He grabbed one of the pillows beside him to perch himself up more. He wanted to
have a good view of Chuck's mouth on his dick. He kept his hand in Chuck's
hair, careful to not apply any pressure.

Chuck was here for this, he really was, and heating the noises coming out of
Raleigh made him burn with pleasure. He liked the control. He liked the
satisfaction of knowing hewas the one responsible for the noises coming out of
his partner’s mouth. Nobody else, not over the phone, but him. Right here right
now.

Chuck grinned, watching Raleigh shift and position before he sank down, taking
the head of his cock in his mouth and rolling his tongue around it with a low
moan. Chuck liked giving head, he just didn't like being rushed about it.
Raleigh wasn't rushing him and so he set to slowly suck him off, taking as much
as he could in his mouth without choking and making up the rest of the length
with his hand.

“Fuuuuck,” Raleigh groaned. The wetness and heat of Chuck's mouth felt
incredible. Not to mention the sight of his cock sliding into Chuck's mouth,
jesus. If Chuck's father was going to kill him, it would have been worth it,
just for this. Chuck was beautiful with Raleigh's dick between his lips,
really, and he couldn't help affectionately thumbing at Chuck's cheekbone.
Their eyes met and Chuck's gaze was sexy as hell, pupils blown wide from
arousal, and so clearly enjoying himself. A far cry from the scared look he'd
had earlier.

It just went to show what difference a little bit of communication could make.
Chuck leaned into Raleigh's hand a little as he worked, keeping eye contact,
watching the effects he was having on the other's body.

Raleigh's arousal was mounting, and he had a difficult time not increasing the
pace, his hands twitching in frustration. At the same time, the slowness, the
teasing, just made it so much more intense. His hips were starting to jerk up
into Chuck's mouth despite his efforts to hold back. It was just too good.

“Chuck, I'm… —god that feels amazing, love the feel of your mouth—…ngh, fuck—”

Chuck gave a hum in response, vibrations traveling from his body to the member
in his mouth. With him in control he felt a lot better about increasing the
pace. Raleigh losing his mind under Chuck's lips was rewarding and
intoxicating. He pulled back at the first sign that he might gag but they had a
good rhythm going, building as they fell into sync with each other. He held
Raleigh's hip tightly for a while before moving that hand down to join,
slipping under Raleigh's balls to press just the gentlest amount of pressure up
under them against his taint.

Raleigh squirmed and moaned under Chuck's ministrations. His legs fell open,
instinctively wanting to give Chuck more access. He was getting closer and
closer to coming. Chuck was goodat this.

He was a natural talent, edged on by just how vocal and responsive Raleigh was.
Chuck felt like he was about to burst but he wanted to finish what he'd started
before thinking about himself. The immediate question that came to mind was
what was he gonna do when Raleigh came? Because he'd have to decide real fast
if he was going to swallow or not and he wasn't sure what Raleigh was
expecting.

It wasn't like he could ask, either. Oh c'mon you wuss, just do it,he thought.
Raleigh wasn't gonna make him do something one way or the other right now, it
was up to him. Ah fuck it... go big or go home.

He decided all of this while sucking Raleigh off like he was starving, moaning
low, hands working in time with his mouth.

“Chuck, I'm so close,” Raleigh gasped, and he looked down. Surely Chuck could
figure what happened next? But Chuck looked determined and then doubled his
efforts and Raleigh was gone. His hips bucked up faster, pleasure building up
throughout his body in waves, and then they crested, giving him the release he
craved as he came with a gasp. For a few moments, everything was pure white and
bliss, warmth pulsing through him.

The warning, Chuck thought absently, had been considerate of Raleigh. The spike
of delight at watching him figure out that Chuck knewand he wasn't going to
pull away was totally worth it. He swallowed every drop before pulling back and
licking his lips. His mouth went a little numb from Raleigh’s seed and Chuck
decided that it really wasn't so bad at all. He liked it, even. Licking his
lips again, Chuck pitched forward to crawl the length of Raleigh's body and
settle, his own need pressing into the blond’s hip as he came looking for
kisses.

Raleigh couldn't possibly have a bigger smile plastered on his face. He felt
totally awesome, and welcomed Chuck, pulling him in tight and kissing him,
licking his own taste off Chuck's lips.

Chuck was grinding into him and Raleigh trailed a hand to Chuck’s hip, but
didn't continue. Clearly Chuck responded to being in control for now and
Raleigh could work with that. He was feeling very thankful though, and wouldn't
mind showing Chuck how deephis gratitude went.

He placed a kiss on the corner of Chuck's mouth. “What would you like me to do,
baby?” Raleigh said. “I'd love to make you feel good.” Raleigh was all about
reciprocation, all the more if it meant Chuck's dick in his mouth. Or, in other
places. He was very flexible.

“I'd like that,” Chuck answered, nosing Raleigh's cheek. Go on, Chuck. What do
you want him to do... So… so many things came to mind.

Take it slow, Hansen, he reminded himself. This is only night one. Tomorrow, he
reasoned, would be a little more physical.  

He raised a hand back up to card through Raleigh's hair, short nails over his
scalp. “I think you should show me what you can really do with these lips,”
Chuck purred and lapped at the other's mouth.

“I can do that,” Raleigh murmured in between kisses. He was pretty good with
his mouth, he knew. There hadn’t been an official survey, but he’d gotten
plenty of positive feedback.

For starters, he was going to show Chuck just how good of a kisser he was — not
just the frantic deep ones they’d had first, and not these slow ones, either.

Raleigh moved to take control a little bit, placing a hand on Chuck’s jaw
whilst bringing the other to the small of his back, gentle but firm this time.
He tilted Chuck’s head at the angle he wanted and then softly kissed Chuck’s
bottom lip, then the top one. Raleigh licked into Chuck’s mouth and his tongue
lapped at Chuck’s, sensually, teasing him to answer in kind.

Meanwhile, Raleigh trailed his other hand down Chuck’s stomach, well aware what
the result of this action was earlier. His fingers wrapped tentatively around
Chuck’s shaft, leaving the sensitive head alone for now.

It was the kind of kiss that made a man twist up on the inside. The kind of
kiss that meant something more than a lusty snog. It made Chuck warm and dizzy
and emotional, arching his body against Raleigh before rolling back to give him
access to what was between them and ohhe was glad he did.

This was good. This was so much better than their clumsy, rowdy start. He
didn't feel exposed this time, gasping softly through their kiss, cock aching
for attention.

Raleigh smiled against Chuck's lips, happy that what he was doing was working.
He thumbed the head of Chuck’s cock, spreading out the slick precum, smoothing
his movements over the sensitive skin.

Then, he began to kiss down Chuck's neck, his shoulders, his chest, and
attached his mouth to one of Chuck's nipples to suck hard, tongue swirling
around the nub. Raleigh glanced up to see if Chuck was still on board with
where he was going.

It was tender and consuming and made Chuck's head spin as he gasped and arched.
He kept one hand in Raleigh's hair, the other at his shoulder. It was good, it
was so good.

“Don't stop,” he gasped. “Fuck, don't stop—”

Raleigh smiled and kissed his way further down Chuck’s torso until finally, he
placed a kiss on top of Chuck’s cock. His eyes met Chuck’s again, and Raleigh’s
eyes sparkled. He couldn’t wait to see how Chuck would react next.

Raleigh licked his lips and then sucked Chuck’s cock into his mouth hard, took
it in even further, swallowing past his gag reflex until his nose was buried in
Chuck’s red pubes and Chuck’s dick was nudging at his throat.

Chuck keened, arching up, fingers tightening their grip. Chuck had gotten head
before but this— so deep, god, it was something else. It made his head spin,
caught between wanting to crush his eyes closed with bliss and not being able
to look away.

In the end he watched, committing the sight to memory.

How many times had they illustrated this scenario between them. How many times
had he purred about fucking Raleigh's throat, and here they were. And it was
almost without Chuck's direction that he slid his hand further down Raleigh's
scalp to cup the base of his head. Go on, go on.

Raleigh swallowed around Chuck’s cock and then slowly let it slide out of his
mouth, releasing it with a vulgar wet sound. Chuck was looking at him
enraptured. Raleigh placed his hand on top of Chuck’s on the back of his head
and smiled. “You can be rough if you want,” he said, not sure if Chuck wanted
to go for it. He was beginning to learn communication was kind of important,
apparently.

With that, he sucked Chuck’s dick back into his mouth and swallowed it in
deeper, bobbing his head up and down in time with Chuck thrusting his hips
forward — carefully at first, then speeding up when he realized Raleigh was
doing fine.

Raleigh couldn’t meet Chuck’s gaze now that his eyes were tearing up from his
efforts, and he hoped Chuck was enjoying this as much as he was.

If Chuck's reaction was anything to judge by though Raleigh was doing just
fine. He moans and arched and thrust down Raleigh's throat, grasp tightening,
movements becoming braver. He was scared to be too rough or put Raleigh in a
situation like the one Zeke had got him into… but everything seemed okay. It
felt incredible and Raleigh's daring and skill sent Chuck reeling with bliss, a
gasp catching in his throat, body tightening when he was close.

“Ray—” it was ragged. He was so close.

If only Raleigh could tell Chuck that it was alright, to let go, to trust him —
but he was far too happy with Chuck thrusting up into his face to consider
pulling off. So he communicated the way he did best, anyway. He ran his hands
up Chuck’s thighs, thumbs rubbing slow circles into the muscles of his hips and
lower abdomen, and hummed, closing his eyes and taking Chuck down as deep as he
could.

And oh jesus if that wasn't an answer Chuck didn't know what was. With a
hitched breath he came, fighters tight in Raleigh's hair, seed spilling hot
down his throat.

Raleigh shuddered, loving the feel of Chuck’s load sliding down his throat, so
far back he couldn’t even get the taste of it — maybe that was a shame, he
figured — but the way Chuck was pulling his hair and gasping it was totally
worth it. And he completely sucked Chuck dry, only letting off when he could
tell by the little shocks in Chuck’s body that he was getting oversensitive.

Raleigh licked his lips and looked up at Chuck with his typical big smile.
Still — he’d like to hear it. Dirty talk was a thing of his. “So that’s one of
the things I can do with my lips,” Raleigh said. “You liked that, baby?”

Chuck laughed softly, reaching down to cup his empty, sensitive balls as he
rode out the little shocks of pleasure in his system.

He smiled, gesturing for Raleigh to come back up and join him. “Mm, mmhm.
You're aces, love. C'mere.”

Chuck was happy, and Raleigh was happy that Chuck was happy. This was awesome.
He felt awesome.

Raleigh crawled up to Chuck and kissed him, sloppily and lazy because he was
worn out — a content kind of worn out, what with all the orgasms. Then he
flopped to the side and pulled Chuck in to cuddle. So he was a cuddler,
whatever.

Only out of the corner of his eye he caught the alarm clock. It really had no
business being way past midnight. He had to be up at 7am for pre-game training.
Raleigh groaned a little, not really wanting to let go of Chuck or have the
night end or anything.

“So, um,” Raleigh started. “I have a game tomorrow morning and I gotta get up
early, so—”

Oh.

Chuck had just settled into the cuddle when Raleigh spoke. He could put it
together and yawned, looking up at Raleigh over his shoulder.

“You want me to go?”

“Uh,” Raleigh mumbled. He leaned his head forward against Chuck’s shoulder.
“No. But, you should probably not stay out all night? Or… I mean, can you?”

Chuck almost rolled his eyes. Almost. Raleigh was being considerate, or trying
to kick Chuck out without looking like an asshole, or both. But damn it made
him sound like he was a child.

“Could if you wanted me to,” he answered. “There's some crisis on base’s got
everyone working through the night for a couple'a days. Timing’s good... but I
know you have to work so I'm not insulted if you need your space.”

That was the adult way to handle it, right?

“Even if you cast me out into the dark,” Chuck added playfully.

Space? Raleigh had been spending weeks alone at night in a hotel room. He'd had
space. Too much of it.

He wrapped his arms tighter around Chuck. “Just don't want you to feel like you
have to stay,” Raleigh said. If Chuck felt pressured to stay or do anything
just because they were meeting in real life and not because he wanted to
Raleigh would never forgive himself. He wouldn't blame Chuck for bailing out
now. Raleigh sure as heck didn't sleep over with his hookups. Chuck was
different to him, but maybe he was no different to Chuck.

Which was sweet to wonder about when it was the opposite in reality.

“Nah... didn't want you to think I was clingin’ is all.” One of those nightmare
dates where you bang and then don't leave for three days.

“Well,” Raleigh began, and he kissed the corner of Chuck's mouth. “Then I have
a hotel bed big enough for two people to spend the night.”

Chuck laughed softly and brushed noses. “Mm, n’ I'm right here, baby.”

Raleigh noticed his eyes starting to feel heavy. Not fair, he thought. He
wanted to spend at least five more hours making out with Chuck. But he'd had a
long day already, and exchanging blowjobs had sapped the last of his energy.

Raleigh curled into Chuck’s chest, even if it felt a bit silly, Chuck being
smaller than him. This was nice, Raleigh thought. He could definitely get used
to this kind of thing. Chuck said something, but Raleigh wasn’t able to resist
the pull of sleep any longer, and drifted off.


End Notes
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