Fake Fan Fiction ❯ Boarding School ❯ Propositions ( Chapter 23 )

***Hiya! Wow, this chapter really took off on it's own! I hadn't planned it this way, but I think it should be interesting. *bwahahahah!* ^o^

 

Disclaimer: I don't own Fake.

 

Ryo couldn't ever remember feeling so alone. Even after he had lost his parents, he had been taken in by his Aunt and Uncle and surrounded in their love, now he felt as if he was walking around and living with strangers. He'd taken for granted much he depended on Dee as the middle-man between him and the other students. Although he was friendly with Drake and Ted, he didn't know them well and the two boys were unusually quiet in the wake of Aaron's death; no one really knew what to say to each other. Drake asked Ryo how Dee was holding up and the blonde had to confess that they hadn't spoken since Dee's departure several days before, which dampened the conversation even further.

 

Berkley had offered his assistance to Ryo in any way possible and on many occasions, but things were strained between them as well. Ryo couldn't hide the fact that he and his lover had not parted on the best of terms and it wasn't long before Rose started to `console' the heartbroken boy. At first this only consisted of lending a shoulder to cry on, then it extended into `comforting' embraces that Ryo felt lasted just a little too long. He put up with it for a while, so lonely that he accepted even these overtures, but it quickly went too far. One night when Ryo had called the orphanage and Dee had refused to talk to him yet again, he completely broken down and Berkley wiped away his tears, held him close, and, before Ryo could react, kissed him deeply.

 

Immediately the boy struggled in his arms, finally succeeding in shoving him away and landed a slap hard across the taller blonde's face.

 

“Don't you EVER try to take advantage of my grief like that again!” Ryo had shouted.

 

“I-I'm sorry, Randy,” Berkley said in a pained voice. “I just couldn't bare to see that hurt look on your face.” Rose regretted letting himself get swept away in the moment and apologized again and again, but Ryo would have done of it. Within minutes he had grabbed a few things and was out the door.

 

For a time he leaned again the wall in the hallway, collecting himself and wondering where on earth he was going to stay that night. It was late already, nearly lights out. He didn't feel close enough to Drake or Ted to ask them to put him up for the night, but who else was there?

 

An image immediately came to mind of the one other person who missed Dee as much as he did…

 

JJ looked up from his studies as he heard a soft rapping at the door. To his surprise, he found Ryo standing there, clutching a few of his things and looking rather embarrassed.

 

“I'm sorry to bother you JJ,” he said as he shifted his weight nervously from one foot to the other, “but I had an argument with Rose and I didn't know where to go… do you think I could stay here, just for tonight?”

 

JJ crossed his arms and stood in the doorway, looking skeptical. In truth, he didn't mind letting him bunk with him that night. He'd been lonesome since Dee had left and horribly curious about the sudden rift between the couple. If he let Ryo stay he was sure to get some information out of him.

 

However, he didn't want Ryo to know this, so he remained silent for a short time just to make the boy squirm.

 

“Alright,” he said finally, stepping aside to let him in and sighing dramatically.

 

“Thank you JJ!” Ryo said so gratefully that the silver-haired boy almost felt guilty for his ulterior motives.

 

Almost.

 

“It's ok, Randy, I know Rose can be a prick sometimes.”

 

Ryo set his things on Dee's bed and a sharp ache spiraled through his heart at the sight of the empty bed, recalling the times they had lain there together, the intimacies they had shared. Sensing JJ watching him, the blonde swallowed his feelings and collected himself.

 

“I'm sorry, were you studying?” Ryo asked, seeing the open books covering the other boy's desk.

 

JJ shrugged, “Nothing important. I think I'll go wash up, so why don't you just settle in?”

 

Although JJ had wanted to ask Ryo a slew of questions, when he returned he found the boy very tight-lipped and couldn't find an opening for conversation. After a while he resigned himself to a fruitless evening and turned out the lights as they each climbed into their respective beds.

 

But the night wore on and neither could fall asleep; they lay quite and thoughtful until JJ, hearing Ryo's even breathing and knowing he was awake, couldn't bare the silence and asked bluntly, “Are you and Dee fighting?”

 

The abrupt question startled Ryo from his dazed, melancholy state.

 

“What do you mean?” he asked defensively.

 

“Well, I would have thought that you would have gone with Dee to Aaron's funeral, but you didn't and when I talked to Dee I could tell something was wrong between you two.”

 

“You spoke with Dee? When? How is he?” Ryo blurted out before he could stop himself.

 

“Tell me first what you were arguing about.”

 

There was a pause and then, “I can't JJ. I'm sorry, but I can't.”

 

Ryo heard a loud grumble from the darkness of the bed across from him.

 

“Fine,” JJ replied and for a moment Ryo thought he would refuse to answer his own questions. “I talked with Dee the other day and he sounded lousy.”

 

“Did he ask about me?”

 

“No.”

 

At this one simple word Ryo felt his heart collapse in on itself and he curled his body into a tight ball, knees to his chest, in defense against the pain.

 

“But I know he still loves you, Randy,” JJ offered, unexpectedly.

 

“How can you know that?” came Ryo's soft, choked reply.

 

“I can't put it into words, I just know, because I know Dee- he doesn't do things halfway, either he loves you or he doesn't.” There was a sad undertone to this statement; JJ knew personally just how unmovable Dee's mind and feelings could be- after all, he'd been trying for years to turn the boy's head, without success. “Whatever happened between you two won't change that,” he concluded.

 

It was difficult to take comfort in these words, since Ryo knew so much that JJ didn't, but he was glad that JJ would make the effort.

 

The blonde didn't have much time to feel sorry for himself, though, as JJ's next comment rattled him badly.

 

“Randy, what's it like to be kissed by Dee? I've only had one and that wasn't enough.”

 

“What?” Ryo cried, bolting up in bed, “When the hell did you two kiss?”

 

JJ, still calm, told him with satisfaction, “Just before Dee left.”

 

Ryo's heart must have stopped beating for a time, because his body turned shockingly cold, his mind immediately jumping to conclusions. How could he? How could Dee so swiftly betray him? Is that all it had taken to push Dee into someone else's arms?

 

Even in the dim light, JJ could see the stricken look on the other boy's face and decided it would be cruel to let him assume Dee had cheated on him.

 

“Relax, Randy! It was only a peck on the cheek and the only reason he did it was to get me out of the room so you guys could have that night alone together. I had refused to leave unless he kissed me, but all I got was that stupid peck!”

 

The blood returned to Ryo's veins and he let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding.

 

He was still returning to his senses when JJ pushed on, asking him again, “So, tell me what its like to /really/ get kissed by Dee!”

 

JJ was now sitting up, perched eagerly on the edge of the mattress and Ryo, shy as he was about such matters, blushed furiously and bunched up the blanket in his lap.

 

“I can't talk about things like that!” he protested.

 

“Fine,” JJ said, walking over to him, “Then show me.”

 

Ryo was waiting for the punch line, but it never came. “You're not serious!” he bellowed, shrinking back into the sheets.

 

“Why not?”

 

“B-because we can't!”

 

But JJ merely continued to stand before him, hands on his hips. “What's the big deal? It's not like anyone else has to know!”

 

Ryo shook his head and stared up at the other boy with wide eyes.

 

A grin of realization spread across the silver-haired boy's features. “You're just shy because you probably never kissed anyone but Dee!”

 

Ryo went scarlet from his neck all the way to the roots of his hair. “Y-you don't know that!”

 

Bending down, JJ smirked in the boy's face. “Then prove it! If you're such a playboy then kissing me won't be a big deal at all!”

 

Although his argument didn't seem logical, Ryo still felt like he was loosing face and he twisted the sheets in his fingers in indecision. “You won't tell Dee?”

 

JJ shook his head and smiled. “I swear it,” he told him, then leaned closer. “Come on,” he coaxed, “Think of it as payment for me letting you stay here tonight. After all, I /could/ just send you back to Berkley.”

 

Ryo's eyes looked troubled at this prospect.

 

Kneeling now, JJ looked up pleadingly, “Please? Show me what it's like to be kissed by Dee…”

 

Ryo closed his eyes, imagining Dee, and felt a sharp loneliness envelop him. Looking down, he saw the same pain reflected in JJ's soft lavender eyes and was seized with a deep empathy for the boy.

 

Gathering his courage, he pictured what his lover would do in his mind's eye and mimicked the movements. His hands came up to frame JJ's face and, steeling his resolve, Ryo kissed him.

 

JJ let his eyes fall shut and filled his mind with images of the emerald-eyed greaser, trying to trick his mind into believing the person whose lips were now moving so purposefully over his own was none other than his longtime crush.

 

Ryo put all his own yearning and desire into the kiss, envisioning just the way Dee would tease his mouth open with the tip of his tongue, sliding it within his heated cavern to twine their tongues together.

 

Both boys were quickly becoming lost to their inner fantasies, their breathing coming out in gasps as JJ pulled the blonde closer and Ryo smothered the other boy's mouth again and again in frenzied succession. They were being swept away on dreams of would-be lovers, escaping into each other's embrace to soothe the mutual ache in their hearts.

 

But the vision burst as JJ whispered Dee's name with plaintive urgency, bringing Ryo out from the depths of his reverie.

 

He pulled away and watched as JJ opened his eyes, blinking like an owl in the moonlight and looking rather dazed and surprised to see that it was in fact Ryo before him.

 

“I'm sorry,” Ryo said, for no other reason than he was embarrassed by the situation and felt the need to say /something/.

 

JJ, coming back to reality, tried to appear nonplussed.

 

“That's not how Dee would kiss,” he said defiantly, ignoring that fact his cheeks were flushed and when he stood his knees were none too steady.

 

Neither of them said a word the rest of the night, even though it took them both a long time before sleep claimed them. JJ was too busy running the kiss over in his mind, only replacing Ryo with Dee and continuing the scenario and Ryo was too troubled over the absurdities he was capable of sinking to in order to avoid the pain of his heartbreak. He wondered where Dee was that night, if he was consoling himself with someone else in his bed. Ryo squeezed his eyes shut to fight his tears and berated himself for thinking that the greaser would be entertaining himself in such a manner when he was still mourning the death of his closest friend.

 

Wrapping the blanket tight against his body in a mock embrace, Ryo somehow willed himself to sleep. But his dreams were troubled by images of his lover turning his back toward him and walking away, deaf to his cries as Ryo stood with feet that would not move to follow him…

 

 

***Reviews welcome! ^_-