Sweaters & Cigarettes (7 page)

Gavin keeps his eyes on Theo for another
moment, as though observing him, before stepping away.

“Right, then,” he says, turning to Max.
“Have a seat.”

Max locks his arms behind his back for a bit,
stretching, rolling his neck and loosening up his joints and muscles, and Theo
just looks at him, confused. Then he remembers Max telling him that this will
take several hours, and he realizes that it’s probably so he won’t get too
stiff, sitting there for so long.

Gavin starts making preparations, and Theo
tentatively sits down on a nearby stool, while Max takes his shirt off. And as
Max does, Theo feels himself involuntarily tense up at the sight of it,
shifting slightly in his seat. He’s pretty sure that his jeans are doing a
decent job of hiding the fact that he’s suddenly getting hard, but it still
makes him fidget a bit.

It’s a complete surprise, honestly; he
can’t remember reacting so strongly and so suddenly to anyone but Max, before,
and it’s started happening more and more lately, even in public, like this.
That can’t be good.

He knows that it doesn’t show, but when
Max looks over at him, that teasing smirk on his face says that he
knows.
And
of course he does. He knows exactly what kind of effect he has on Theo, and he
likes it. He has made that abundantly clear.

Max turns to the chair, but rather than
sitting in it, he straddles it and leans his chest against the backrest,
leaving his bare back completely exposed, and Theo watches as Gavin preps the
already tattooed skin with disinfectant.

“Ready?” he says, and Max grunts in
confirmation.

“Just get it over with,” he says, and
Gavin chuckles, before getting started.

It’s rather fascinating to watch, Theo
realizes. The wings on Max's back are already in place, and all that’s left to
do is shade them, so that they look more like they have actual feathers.

Theo watches as the loudly buzzing needle
traces the skin, Gavin wiping away a mixture of blood and black ink every now
and then, with paper clutched in a white-gloved hand. It looks rather morbid,
not to mention painful, but Max's expression barely shifts, and when he catches
Theo looking at him, he frowns.

“What?” he asks, and Theo glances at his
back.

“Doesn’t it hurt?” he says, and Max cocks
his eyebrows.

“It does,” he admits casually. “A lot. But
it only lasts for so long, right?”

Gavin glances up at him, a small,
approving smile on his face.

“The pain’s worth it,” Max continues, and
Theo has to admit he has a point. It’s only temporary, after all, while the
artwork stays on forever.

It’s after an hour or so that the bell
above the door jingles, and they all look up, only to see a woman enter. She
looks to be in her late thirties, clean-cut and with a kind face, her auburn
hair pulled back into a loose bun.

“There you are,” she says, sounding
exasperated, and Gavin stills his hand to look at her. “Is your phone off, or
something? I’ve been trying to reach you.”

Gavin seems to consider that for a moment,
glancing away, an expression on his face that looks oddly soft and innocent,
for a man like him.

The woman by the door sighs.

“You left it at home again, didn’t you?”
she says, and Gavin looks back at her. The suddenly half-guilty look on his
face and slight shrug of his shoulder confirms it. And the woman rolls her
eyes.

“Never mind,” she says, and then notices
Theo and Max. Her blue-gray eyes fall on the latter.

“Hello, Max,” she says, and Max
half-raises his hand in greeting.

“Amanda,” he says simply, and the
woman―Amanda―turns her gaze back to Gavin.

“We have reservations for tonight,” she
says, sounding a bit edgy. “Did you forget?”

Gavin just looks at her, slight confusion
on his face.

“That’s tomorrow, love,” he says, an odd
softness to his raspy voice.

Amanda frowns then, deliberating. Then she
seems to remember, and she glances away, pursing her lips.

“Right,” she says, clearly reluctant to
admit it. “My mistake.”

She looks back at Gavin, who now has a
small, affectionate smile on his face.

“I’ll see you at home, then,” she says,
pushing open the door, her tone just a bit snappy. “And don’t forget to pick up
groceries on the way.”

“Yes, dear,” Gavin says, and with that,
the bell above the door jingles again, as Amanda leaves.

Theo hears a quiet chuckle from Max, and
looks over at him.

“What?” Gavin says, and Max sighs.

“You are so whipped,” he says.

“Oi,” Gavin replies. “That’s my wife
you’re talking about.”

“See, that alone is just adorable.”

Gavin glares at the teenager, who just
smirks to himself, before settling down again and letting the artist resume his
work.

The whole thing does take several hours,
occasionally interrupted by breaks for coffee, snacks and cigarettes. Theo had
no idea how taxing something like this can be, but although his part in it
consists of just sitting there, watching, the three of them talking every now
and then, he doesn’t mind. He actually likes it. He likes spending more time
with Max that doesn’t involve making out (not that he minds that at all, but
still).

Gavin is apparently a friend of the
family; Max's father knows Amanda from college, and met Gavin through her. Over
the years, Gavin has been like an uncle to Max, and it was through him he
discovered his love of tattoos. He's also the reason Max gets a discount, hence
him having so many tattoos at such a young age. At least, that's part of the
reason; Max seems to be devoid of the usual fear of branding something very
permanent into your skin, despite being only a teenager.

Hours later, on the walk home from the
tattoo parlor, Theo can tell that Max is uncomfortable and in pain, at least
from the way he fidgets as the fabric of his clothes brushes against his sore
back. There’s a layer of plastic taped over the fresh tattoo, not to be removed
for several hours, but still.

“How’s it feel?” Theo asks, hands in his
pockets. It’s already dark outside, and it’s a bit chilly. Max shrugs,
flinching slightly as he does.

“A bit raw,” he says. “But pretty good.”

Theo nods, and Max looks at him. He
doesn’t say anything for a few moments, worrying at his pierced bottom lip.
Those black-lined eyes look just a bit less composed than usual.

“Thanks for coming with me,” he eventually
says. “I mean, you didn’t have to. But the company was nice.”

Theo feels slightly surprised at the sudden
softness in Max's rough voice, but doesn’t mention it. Instead, he just smiles
nervously.

“Yeah, well,” he says. “I would have held
your hand, but you’d probably just punch me in the face.”

He meant it as a joke, and he can tell
that Max knows that, so he’s not surprised at the small smirk he gets in
return.

He is surprised, however, when Max
suddenly stops walking, making Theo stop as well. Max then glances down and
slips his hand into Theo’s jacket pocket, taking his hand and pulling it out
into the chilly night air. Theo looks down and just stares, as Max slowly laces
their fingers together, before he reanimates and looks up.

“Okay,” Theo says unnecessarily, and Max
looks up at him, turning so that they're standing in front of each other,
face-to-face. He’s pretty much the same height as Theo, but still, the way he’s
looking up at him is something Theo hasn’t seen him do before.

“Dammit, Davis,” he says with a sigh,
shaking his head. “I actually kinda like you.”

Theo swallows again, nervously this time.

“Okay,” he repeats, his voice low and
weak. His heart is pounding, though, pounding against his ribcage so hard it’s
almost uncomfortable.

“I mean,” he adds, catching himself,
fumbling. “I― I kinda like you, too.”

He feels a blush creep up his neck,
reaching his face, but he’s hoping that Max can’t tell in the dim light of the
streetlamp they’re standing under.

But he does notice, of course he does. And
he smiles.

“You’re blushing,” Max says, with just a
hint of smugness, and Theo actually turns his head the other way, exhaling
slowly. He doesn’t need this right now. It’s enough that his pulse seems to be
going haywire and that he’s so acutely aware of Max's warm hand in his―he
doesn’t need to have it pointed out.

Max chuckles then, and Theo glances at the
ground instead.

“Hey,” Max says, putting his hand by his
face, making Theo look up at him again. Max lets his dark blue gaze wander
across his slightly freckle-dusted face for a few moments, taking it in. “I
like making you blush, remember?”

He catches Theo’s eye for a moment, before
looking at his mouth. And Theo doesn’t move a muscle when he leans in slightly
and kisses him, so softly it’s actually surprising. Surprising, because there’s
no urgency, this time, no greed or impatience.

Instead, it’s just… sweet. It's a kind of
kiss that Max hasn't really given him before.

So Theo relaxes into it, savors it and
kisses him back, and just for a little while, the night air doesn’t feel quite
as cold.

Chapter 6

Touch

It's not unusual for Theo's parents to be gone in the morning, when he
gets ready for school; they're not always gone early, but sometimes they are,
and this is one of those mornings.

Theo doesn't mind. It does, however, mean
that he's responsible for breakfast, and making sure his brother has some
before leaving for school.

"You don't have to do that, you
know," Riley says, sitting down at the kitchen table.

Theo is perfectly aware of the fact that
Riley is fourteen years old and completely capable of making his own breakfast,
and that he really doesn't need Theo's help. But he likes doing it; he has
always done it, when their parents are gone. It's a habit he's having a hard
time breaking.

"I'm making some for myself,
anyway," Theo replies. It's the truth, but it's also an excuse he has used
to cook for Riley, ever since they were kids.

He's standing by the kitchen stove, frying
up some eggs and bacon, and Riley sits at the table, watching his back.

"Fine," Riley says, skimming
through a book. Theo isn't surprised; Riley is really smart, especially for his
age, and he always seems to have a book or something in front of him.

The brothers don't talk for a little
while, the morning silence occasionally broken by the popping and sizzling of
the frying pan, until Riley closes his book and slides it into his bag.

"Hey," he says. "I saw that
goth kid yesterday."

Theo tries not to flinch. He's almost
entirely sure that Riley is talking about Max, and just the thought of Max
makes his heart skip a beat. And it makes him smile, too, as he's reminded of
the other night, when they walked home together from the tattoo parlor. When
Max held his hand and kissed him like that.

Theo is so wrapped up in his own thoughts,
that he's barely even surprised at Riley's mere mention of the guy, and he
slowly comes back to his senses.

"So?" Theo musters, trying to
sound casual. No one really knows that he and Max even know each other, and he
has gotten used to pretty much lying about it.

"Well, you're friends, right?"
Riley says, plainly.

The question is simple, innocent, but it
still makes Theo stiffen. After a moment, though, he reanimates and continues
to stir the bacon.

"What are you talking about?" he
asks, hoping that he sounds convincing.

"You and that guy," Riley
explains. "Max, or whatever. You're friends, aren't you?"

Theo hesitates. He's racking his brain to
figure out when, where and how, exactly, Riley might have come to that conclusion.
Not even his friends seem to know that he and Max hang out.

And if nothing else, he can't help but
react at the word
friends
. Are he and Max friends? Even disregarding the
whole physical part of their relationship, which actually came first, Theo has
started to feel like they're a whole lot more than just friends, at this point,
even the benefits-kind. But he doesn't know. He doesn't know what Max thinks.

"Dammit, Davis. I actually kinda like
you."

The words still echo in his mind. He can't
really shake them, and he can't shake the feeling of that kiss Max gave him,
just moments later. Because friends don't do that, right? Maybe making out,
hooking up, sure... But holding hands? Hanging out like they've been doing
lately, saying stuff like that, and kissing like they actually care about each
other?

As far as Theo knows, friends don't do
that. But again, who knows what Max thinks.

Theo flips the bacon in the frying pan,
clearing his throat slightly.

"Yeah, maybe," he finally says,
unsure what to reply. "What makes you say that?"

"Nothing," Riley says, and Theo
knows he's shrugging, even with his back turned. "You just seem to like
him, that's all."

Theo nearly drops the spatula, but saves
it in the last second.

"You okay?" Riley sounds
concerned, but knowing, in that annoying, precocious way of his.

"Yeah," Theo says, turning off
the stove and taking out a pair of plates. "Yeah, I'm fine."

He divides the eggs and the bacon between
the two plates (with a couple of extra slices for his brother, out of habit),
and gets out two forks, before setting the food down on the table. Riley looks
up at him as he sits down opposite him.

"It's okay, you know," he
suddenly says, but Theo doesn't look at him. Instead, he starts spearing some
bacon on his fork.

"What is?" he asks, a bit too
casually.

"That you like him." Riley
sounds calm and completely certain, and Theo slowly glances up at him. His hair
is darker than Theo's, and a little bit longer, his eyes hazel, rather than
green. Looks-wise, he takes after their father more than their mother, but
although Riley still has some childlike features, being in his early teens, he
does bear some resemblance to his big brother, and Theo guesses that the two of
them will look more alike when he's older. "I can tell."

Theo doesn't confirm nor deny, suddenly
very uncomfortable. But Riley notices how he wants to know
how
Riley can
tell, even if he's not saying anything.

"You've been smiling a lot,
lately," he says. "And you haven't been home as much, you've been
going out more."

Riley digs into his bacon, looking down.

"And it started when you met
him."

Theo swallows hard. He hasn't even spoken
to Max in front of other people, at school. How the hell does Riley know?

"How―" he starts, but
Riley cuts him off.

"You're my big brother, Theo,"
he says simply. "I've seen the way you look at him, at school. And I've
seen the way he looks at you."

He puts some bacon in his mouth and looks
at his brother.

"I don't know if anyone else can
tell," he says, with his mouth full. "But I can. And you like
him."

Theo doesn't say anything for several
seconds. Somehow, he's worried that Riley will react the way his friends would,
the way most people would, at him liking a guy like Max. But he doesn't.
Instead, Riley just half-smiles at him, like the happiest, most supportive
little brother in the world, who seems so much older than fourteen. And Theo
exhales slowly.

"Don't tell mom and dad, okay?"
he says, his voice slightly subdued, and Riley nods. Theo doesn't have to
explain why, because Riley is smart, and he knows exactly why. He knows how
most people would react to Theo and Max being together, especially their
parents, considering how Max isn't exactly conventional, and he knows that Theo
really doesn't need that.

Theo appreciates it. But he doesn't tell
Riley the other reason for his hesitation, that he simply doesn't really know
what, exactly, he and Max are. Because they're not just friends, not at this
point, not even the benefits-kind.

But he's too scared to think that they
just might be something more.

♦

It has been two days since Theo last saw Max. He hasn't seen him since
the tattoo session, and it's Tuesday by the time he actually runs into him
again.

They've kept in touch, though, since then.
They've texted a lot, more than Theo has probably ever texted anyone, just
talking about random crap that serves no other purpose than to make him smile.
He can't help but think that he must have made Max smile, too, with all those
stupid texts they've been sending back and forth.

It's at school that Theo sees him.

Theo is standing by his locker, none of
his friends in sight. There are students milling about in the hallway, but
Michael, Hannah and Ben have already gone to class, and Theo is just getting
some last minute stuff.

He tugs at his t-shirt uncomfortably; it's
a black one with the Batman logo on the front (in dark grey, rather than
yellow, though), with a dark green hoodie over it. He feels oddly restless,
like he can't focus properly, like he's in withdrawal, or something.

Theo is tense and restless, but when he
suddenly feels the slightest hint of a familiar scent right behind him, he
relaxes his shoulders a little.

"Hey, babe."

Theo can't help but smile stupidly; he
knows that scent, and he knows that voice. He'd know it anywhere.

"Hey," he says, as he turns
around. He doesn't even flinch at the use of the word
babe
, this time.

Max is standing rather close to him, he
notices. He's close enough for Theo to really look at and take in the features
of that gorgeous face, but not close enough for it to look weird to anyone
else, and when he catches Theo's eye, his entire expression actually seems to
light up a little bit. It's an odd sight; Theo isn't used to seeing Max like
that, all dark and brooding as he generally is.

Not that he minds. His heart is kind of
doing a backflip, right now, anyway.

It's after the first few moments of just
general joy at seeing Max, though, that Theo realizes something else. This is
the first time Max has approached him like this, in plain sight of everyone
else, here at school. It's the first time, because, as far as Theo is
concerned, sneaking around and making out behind the school, talking in a
corner of the library, and occasionally looking at each other in the halls,
doesn't really count.

And Max actually seems to agree. At least,
judging from the way he seems just the tiniest bit hesitant about it, in a way
that most other people probably wouldn't even notice. He looks just the
slightest bit uncomfortable, and Theo is pretty sure he can tell simply because
he has spent so very much time looking at Max's face, by now.

"Batman?" Max eventually says,
even going so far as tugging lightly at the hem of Theo's shirt.
"Really?"

Theo can't help but smile a little bit, as
he glances down.

"What, you mind?" he retorts,
with just enough blatant confidence for Max to raise his eyebrows a bit,
impressed.

"Well, now you're just being
provocative," he says, but when Theo's small smile widens a little bit,
there's an obvious softness in those dark blue eyes, as though making Theo
smile actually makes him happy.

Theo sighs.

"I gotta go," he says, after a
few seconds of silent, mutual staring. This is just terrible timing, really. He
doesn't want to go, but he has class, and Max knows that.

Max nods and takes a step back.

"Yeah," he says. Theo may be
imagining it, but Max looks just the slightest bit disappointed.
"Sure."

Theo just looks at him, though, doesn't
say anything.

Max glances away for a split second, and
Theo just looks at that face, lets his gaze wander from those cheekbones to
those eyes, to that metal stud in the left eyebrow. He looks at that black,
messy hair and the eyeliner to match, down to the dark metal ring in Max's
bottom lip, the touch and feel of which he has become all too familiar with.
And suddenly, he's hit with an almost overwhelming urge to kiss him, right then
and there, to feel Max's lips against his own. Not because he wants to fool
around or anything, but just because he wants to kiss him. Because he
misses
it.

Theo doesn't kiss him, though. They're at
school, and despite Max coming up to him like this, in plain sight, Theo still
has no idea how Max actually defines their relationship, and he's afraid of
doing anything too obvious or out of line. So instead, he hesitates for a
moment, before straightening, and Max steps aside so that Theo can walk past
him.

Theo only makes it a few feet, though,
before he stops and turns around.

"Hey, Max," he says, actually
loudly enough for anyone else paying attention to hear him, and Max stops and
turns around, as well. Theo hesitates, before asking. "See you
later?"

There's some uncertainty and hesitation in
his voice, and Max just looks at him for a moment, clearly surprised but almost
succeeding in hiding it. Then, he puts his hands in his pockets, in an
unusually soft posture, and he actually smiles.

"Yeah," he says, and Theo smiles
back. He nods, suddenly feeling a bit awkward, but in a pretty good way, and
neither of them says anything else, before turning back around and going their
separate ways.

♦

Theo is never going to get tired of kissing Max. He has decided that.
He's never going to get tired of the way Max pulls his fingers through his
hair, as he tugs gently at his bottom lip with his teeth. He's never going to
get tired of the way Max touches him, mapping out his body with his hands.

They're in Max's bed, making out, and
although Theo doesn't mind, he can't help but absently think of how he would
like to be able to do this at his house. Not because he doesn't want to be in
Max's room (the privacy that comes with his parents pretty much constantly
being gone is nice, after all), but because he, weirdly enough, simply wants to
take Max home. He wants to take him home, and show him
his
room and
his
house. He wants him to meet Riley, and even his parents. Although, at least the
latter part feels like a bit of a pipe dream.