Chapter Thirty-One
JJ checked the printouts of his favorite
stroke stories, straightened the towels on his bed, and fiddled with the bottle
of K-Y Jelly on his nightstand. His insides were abuzz at the thought of
Travis's touch. But he was also conflicted.
What if I do something wrong? What if this is
a setup, and once I drop my guard, he'll take pictures of my junk and post them
to the school's WhatsApp account? What if we do this, and he decides he doesn't
want to be friends anymore? What if he was joking and freaks out when he sees
all this? What if...
"Ah!" he said when Travis's voice came over
the intercom. JJ told him he'd be right out. With a long sigh, he gave his bed
a final glance.
They exchanged their typical greeting of
"Sup," bumped fists, and one-arm hugged. JJ shot him furtive looks as they sat
on the couch and vegged out to YouTube videos.
"Something the matter?" Travis said, looking a
bit squirrelly.
JJ had two options: tell him nothing was wrong
or ask if they were going to jerk it together. Swallowing the lump in his
throat, JJ tugged at his right ear.
"You ready to be the masters of our domains?
he said, forcing a smile.
Travis paused, staring at him. "I mean if you
want to? It's cool with me."
It was an out, but when would JJ get another
chance like this? "It's cool with me if you don't want to. If you're scared, I
get it."
"Nonsense. Let's go."
Upon entering JJ's room, they kicked off their
shoes, chose a story, dropped their shorts, and got to it. JJ sneaked peeks at
Travis, longing to touch him. A few minutes passed before Travis huffed and
asked to borrow JJ's laptop so he could watch porn on it.
"Sure," he said, his voice husky. JJ stopped
reading and watched Travis load an MFM scene and spread out on the bed,
propping himself up with pillows. While JJ was no stranger to gay porn, he'd
never seen bi porn before and was curious.
Edging closer to get a better look, he rested
his knee against Travis's. "Those guys are totes hot and hella
hung."
"Yeah. The girl isn't too bad-looking
either. Pass the lube."
When their hands touched for the briefest of
moments, it took JJ's breath away. He watched a second, mesmerized by the
hypnotic movements of Travis's hand, the urge to touch him growing. Soon, all
thoughts of the porn left him and, more scared than any time in his life, he
grabbed Travis's erection.
Travis froze, looked at JJ wide-eyed, and
leaped from the bed.
"Hold up," JJ called to him as Travis dressed,
but it did no good. As soon as Travis was clothed, he teleported
away.
***
JJ tried texting and calling Travis, but they
went unanswered. For the next several days, Travis ignored JJ and refused his
invites to hang. JJ's worry ate him, and he didn't eat or sleep much, which Dr.
Dull brought up at their session.
"I think I fucked things up with Travis," he
said and explained the situation.
Dr. Dull tutted at him. "I know it's hard
dealing with your feelings, pun unintended, but it is paramount that you have
the other's affirmative consent before engaging in any sexual activity. You
broke Travis's boundaries and trust by not asking his permission. Don't do that
again, with him or any of your other partners. Understand?"
JJ's stomach roiled at the
thought of violating Travis like that. He would apologize to him and do
whatever it took to make it up to him.
They spent the rest of their session going
over what was and wasn't affirmative consent, and JJ left with several book
recommendations on the topic. Once home, he kicked Operation Romeo into high
gear. Seeing as how Travis might not be around to see his prom, JJ had decided
to throw him a prom for two, and he had been looking at prom boards on
Pinterest for inspiration. He made a list of everything he'd need and ordered
them. Then he set about contacting their principal, Mr. Malo, who was
sympathetic to his cause.
As the days passed, JJ finalized the setlist,
got his tux and their boutonnieres (white roses), and researched promposals. Unlike himself, he suspected Travis wouldn't be
into a huge public display, so he'd have to be lowkey about things.
The Fourth of July came and went without a
word from Travis, so JJ decided he'd have to restart things. He cornered Travis
in the kitchen at St. Michael's, blocking him from washing dishes until he
agreed to talk with him. Huffing, Travis nodded and told JJ he could come over
to his house after his shift ended.
JJ smiled. "Thanks. And so sorry for . .
. you know. Won't happen again."
A panicked look came over Travis's face.
"Yeah. Ask next time."
Hope swelled in JJ's chest. "There will be a
next time?"
Travis smirked. "Maybe. If you're a good boy."
"Ass," JJ said and moved aside.
***
JJ had asked Travis to teleport them to
Travis's house and was regretting it as he hurled into the trash can. Once it
passed and he'd washed out his mouth, and Travis had cleaned out the trash can,
they sat on his bed.
"About what happened," JJ began, "I'm sorry
for not getting your permission. It was wrong of me."
Travis stared at him hard. "Good. Honestly, I
liked what you did."
"Then why'd you leave and freeze me
out?"
"Generally, I don't like to be touched,
especially not somewhere that intimate. It was a shock, so I ran before my
powers got the better of me."
"How do you mean?"
Sighing and face going red, Travis said, "Ever
since . . . I've been having nocturnal emissions about us doing more stuff."
Smiling, JJ patted Travis's leg. "Ain't
nothing wrong with that, dude."
"You don't get it. When I explode, I explode.
I've caught my bedding on fire twice and now sleep with a fire extinguisher."
Realization dawned on JJ. "You've been
avoiding me this whole time cause you're afraid of us going further and hurting
me?"
Travis nodded. "I've been meditating more and
abstaining from onanism until I can get a handle on things."
"That's rough. I doubt I could go a day
without spanking it."
"Now do you understand why I had to cut
contact with you?"
"Look, we don't have to mess around. We can
just chill and play video games like before."
Travis growled. "It's not that simple. Every
time I see you, I want to . . . never mind."
JJ wanted to press Travis on what he was about
to say but let it slide. They gamed until Travis's parents arrived home and
told JJ he had to leave.
"Want me to teleport you home?"
No. I'll take an Uber.
***
With the end of summer fast approaching,
he got on Group Chat with the Squad and told them to spread the news he wasn't
throwing another party for a while. Henry, Lance, and Matt were a bit butthurt, but Brianna and Rachel understood once he told
them why later. They demanded to help him plan and set up the prom for
two.
The trio met up every day after JJ got home
from Travis's, and by the end of July, everything was ready. And not a moment
too late since Travis's condition worsened, requiring him to use oxygen at
night to ease the strain on his lungs and heart. His cough was near-constant
now, and JJ worried they didn't have much time left. It saddened him to think
of never seeing Travis's smirk or hearing him laugh again as they watched kaiju
movies.
A week before school started, JJ convinced
Travis to let him blindfold him and ride with him in a Lyft. He was cryptic,
only telling him to wear a suit, preferably a tux.
"Is this really necessary?" Travis asked as
they rode along.
"Yes," JJ said, slapping at Travis's hand as
he reached for the blindfold. "We're almost there."
"Meanie."
"You'll thank me later. I promise."
"We'll see about that."
The car arrived in front of AP Prep. JJ helped
Travis out and guided him to the gym, where they'd set everything up. "You can
take your blindfold off."
Travis looked around, his eyes wide, a smile
splitting his face. "What's all this?"
JJ hugged him tight. "Welcome to Prom."
Author's note: Next chapter, the boys have
their prom and grow closer.
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