Author: bradley.scott19@yahoo.com
Perfection is Overrated - 11
Ted
Disclaimer:
Yada-yada-yada.
All that usual disclaimer crap, that apparently I'm not actually
obliged to do. Homosexual content... blah-blah-blah...
Should you, in any way, be offended by the
following material..... What the HELL are you doing on such a specific
link?
Enjoy.
I'm going for something here. Again, don't ask me what - I am sure, at
this point, but I hate spoilers, so I don't want to do that to anyone.
But you'll see. It's coming along now - the point is THERE. I just need
to get to it.
********************
Ted
"Please pass the salt." Ted asked nervously.
This was the single most
awkward and uncomfortable dinner Ted had ever had to sit through. And his parents
were catholic - he'd had to sit through a lot of awkward and uncomfortable dinners. They
had prayed before they ate - something Ted hadn't done since he's moved
out of his own parents' house. And then they'd gone quiet, focusing too
much on the food - and the awkward, palpable tension - to talk much.
Whitney
was sitting on the edge of her seat, trying to suppress a giddy grin.
She threw a furtive glance at her mother every now and then, who seemed
stiffer and even more determined to be polite than usual. Ted just
looked at his plate as much as possible. He'd look up every now and
then, to catch Whitney's brother staring at him, at which point he'd smile fiendishly
at Ted and look away.
Oh god. Whitney's brother Nick. Little Nicky. The cute, stoned and kind of slutty guy from Alexander's. Ted was reeling.
Whitney's father, however, was the only one who
seemed to be oblivious. He was the only one at the table who seemed to
be focused on dinner.
"Nicky, darling, please pass the salt to Ted."
"Mom,
don't call me that." Nick shot a nervous glance at Ted,
and passed him the salt, brushing his finger over the back of Ted's
hand as he passed it over.
"Oh, hush, Nicky. There we go Ted, and
please, have some more potatoes." Whitney's mother grabbed the dish and
served Ted two more potatoes, before he could refuse.
"Thank
you Mrs. Grove." Ted smiled awkwardly, eying the potatoes. More food
was the last thing he wanted. He just wanted to get out of the house as
quickly as possible.
"Oh,
you can call her Melanie." Whitney's father burst out. "And you can
call me John. None of this Mr. & Mrs. Grove business please. It's
what people call my father."
"Oh
well," Melanie sighed. "You're right dear. I suppose there's no point
in trying to maintain decent and polite habits when our daughter
randomly ups and announces to me that we're having company for dinner
tonight. It's not that we're not happy to have you over, Ted. It's
just.... if my daughter had any consideration at all, she'd at least
let me know the day before..."
"I didn't know the day before." Whitney gave her mom a dirty look. "And you always complain about how we waist your good food-"
"Sorry for trying to be civilized. I realize it's not an urge you suffer from."
Whitney rolled her eyes and scoffed.
"So, Ted?" She said, throwing a sly glance at her mom, and turning a bit in her seat. "Do you have a boyfriend?"
Melanie started coughing uncontrollably. John patted her on the back, until she was better.
"Um...." Whitney was staring at Ted. What the hell are you playing at, he wanted to ask her, you know I don't. "Um, no. No boyfriend."
Ted
looked up to see a huge smile flit across Nick's face. It was gone as
quickly as it came though, and he was avoiding eye contact with Ted
again.
There was a moment of awkward silence, which Ted could see Whitney was relishing.
"So, Ted." Mr. Grove said gruffly, clearing his throat to break through the silence. "What are you studying?"
"Um... applied mathematics."
"Ah, good degree. I take it you'll branch out into one of the more specialized career paths from that - say... engineering?"
"Um.... yeah, I was thinking about it. But I-"
"Okay, dinner's over. Come on Ted." Whitney stood up. "Let's-"
"Whitney!" Her mother was outraged.
"What?"
Her mother looked at her plate.
"Oh for the love of.... May I please be excused from the table?"
"Yes."
Her mother sniffed. "And Ted, you may be excused too. Put the dishes in the
dishwasher, Whitney. And remember to rinse them off first."
"Yes
mom..." Whitney rolled her eyes again. She grabbed Ted's plate and
motioned for him to follow her to the kitchen, where she walked right
past the sink, and dunked the dirty dishes unceremoniously in the
dishwasher. Ted wanted to say something, but was pretty sure it was
smarter just to keep quiet.
Whitney seemed to be over taunting her mom. Now she'd just want to go play a game or something.
Ted
knew he was trapped. He couldn't tell her about what had happened with
her brother. She didn't even know she knew gay people before him -
never mind the fact that she was related to one.
"Okay, Let's play Soul Calibur. Come on, all night tournament? Whaddaya say?"
"Um, with only two people, technically, it wouldn't really be a tournament."
"Oh,
you nerd. Do you want to play or not? Come on! At least you don't have
to go back and see... you know." She smiled sympathetically. "You can
even stay over, if you want. My parent's won't mind. Okay, my mom will,
but she'll be dreading bringing up your sexuality so much she won't say
a word."
Ted laughed.
"Okay, fine. I'll stay over.
Because I know it amuses you." It couldn't be that bad, Ted thought. He
did spend almost all of his time in Whitney's room. It's not like Nick
could pounce on him from some dark corner. It'll be fine, he told
himself.
*****
Whitney yawned.
Nick shot a nervous glance at Ted,
and passed him the salt, brushing his finger over the back of Ted's
hand as he passed it over it.
"Come
on Ted, give it up. It's 3 AM." Whitney was lying on the bed, her
head propped up on a pillow, her eyes getting heavy.
"No...
Just... to.... the end... of... the level! HA!" He gave himself a
mental pat on the back as he landed Lara Croft safely on the other side
of a complicated obstacle course.
"Whatever. Sweet Dreams." She buried her face in the pillow and lay very still.
Ted
kept playing for a while after that. The level was longer than he
thought. He got to the end, and saved his progress. When he
looked over at the bed, he saw that Whitney was fast asleep, and
snoring a bit.
He slowly got up, turned the X-box and TV off,
and stretched his cramping muscles. He needed a pee. He'd been holding
it in for that whole level. Tomb Raider really was awesome.
Quietly
opening Whitney's door, he slipped out into the corridor. There was a
big window at the end, and the sky was clear, so there was enough light
to see where he was going.
He made his way to the bathroom,
and turned the light on, wincing as the bright light hit his eyes. He
slipped inside quickly and closed the door.
It felt good to have
a pee when he needed it so badly. Ted finished up, a feeling of intense
relief washing through him. He flushed, and winced again at how loud
the toilet sounded in the calm, quiet night. He hoped he hadn't woken
anyone up.
The tap made a loud noise when he opened it, so he
turned it down to a slow trickle, which made him take forever to wash
his hands.
He slowly opened the door and stepped out into the
moonlit corridor, unable to make it out this time because his eyes had
adjusted to the extremely bright bathroom light.
Something
jumped out of the darkness and slammed him against the wall. His loud
exclamation of pain was muffled by something held over his mouth.
His eyes adjusted to the darkness.
Nick
stood there, a cheeky look on his face, pinning Ted against the wall.
He smiled, and slowly pulled his hand away once Ted stopped yelling
into it.
"OUCH!" Ted hissed. "Are you fucking INSANE?"
Nick chuckled quietly.
"Maybe." He pressed his lips against Ted's, and hummed. "Do you wanna find out?"
"I....uh....um..."
Nick
put his right leg between Ted's, and began grinding against his crotch.
He bent his head down and began nibbling and kissing at Ted's neck.
Ted felt himself get hard. And Nick felt it too.
"I'll take that as a yes." He smiled in a way that crept Ted out and turned him on at the same time.
"Um...."
*********************
Note
from Author:
Hi
fans. Sorry about the wait. Been really busy. Read my blog. =) Anyway,
here's the next chapter. Bear with me - I promise this relationship
with Nick has a point. You know the drill - email me if you wanna be on
the list for updates about new chapter releases. Or if you just really
like the story and want to make my day. Thanks for reading this far.
I'm also working on another story, but I'm not quite sure how I'll be
releasing this one. And I'll probably try and finish Perfection and
Another Day first. But anyway... (bradley.scott19@yahoo.com)
(And, I feel obliged to do this - Check out my other story: Another Day, and Personal Blog: Rainbows And Deathsteeds.)