Best Friends (BxB)

Flirting

Chapter Fourteen: Age 17 Flirting

They drove home in their beat up truck. It was a gift, nominally for Jamie, from his grandparents; but really they just wanted to get rid of it. It was 25 years old, barely ran, but his grandfather reminded him that an old truck meant it was made of metal, not plastic and computer chips. And thus was far superior than anything new and flashy. And he guessed that really was true, because the truck was still running, even if it sounded like it was literally about to die.

It was the lodge truck for so many years, but these days, visitors might turn up their noses at the sight of an ancient machine, regardless of its impressive years of service. And after the fire, the lodge folks needed every bit of effort expended to impress guests. So it was given to Jamie when he got his driver's license. Not that it was given with love. His grandpa barely looked him in the eye these days. Since coming out, his family acted like he had some kind of illness that might be contagious. They didn't get too close and generally avoided almost all contact.

Jamie hadn't been surprised. Most of his family were very 'traditional' and conservative. His mom was the only one, and maybe a couple of his cousins, who considered themselves politically and socially liberal. She just happened to think for herself and questioned the way her family raised her. They weren't horrible people. And they didn't flat out reject Jamie or label him the black sheep. They just expressed their disapproval by ignoring him.

As grateful as he was for transportation, it didn't quite match his personal aesthetic. Blue, broken down, rusty, old. He was happy to let Noah have it; he drove Jamie everywhere he wanted to go anyway. It's not like he thought Noah would want his cast offs, but his friend actually liked the truck, could care less what it looked like, and was just happy to have a way to get around. The heater worked too, which was a huge plus. They'd spent tons of nights already, sitting out at night, star watching, cuddled in the front seat, warm and toasty listening to tunes on the ancient but also functional radio.

Because after the fire, Jamie welcomed being physically close again with Noah. It was so difficult to maintain his boundaries when he thought they might die; if the school got caught in the path of the fire, it wasn't impossible. People did die. And the boys realized that they weren't immune to catastrophe. Which made Jamie want more than anything to be close to his friend. To hold him for every second he could, because it legitimately might be their last chance to do so.

But, despite that, Jamie continued to browbeat himself with the fact that Noah was destined for a future with a woman. Even though she wasn't real, for the moment, Jamie loathed her, and clutched Noah tighter to him, unreasonably wanting to make Noah his. Because he knew that it could happen at any moment. Noah would meet someone. And leave him.

Noah was quiet on the ride back to his house. It was Friday and Jamie was spending the night at his friend's house. They'd only moved back home a few weeks ago, the fires out, people readjusting to normality as best as they could. They'd been lucky. Their homes were spared. The fires had come close, but not everyone was so fortunate.

After two weeks of living in the shelter and sleeping together every night, it had been uncomfortable for both of them to go back to sleeping alone. Jamie found himself tossing and turning every night. A few times, without asking his parents, he'd actually left the house, walked around the block in his pajamas, and scrambled through Noah's window, to sleep with him. The brown haired boy was thrilled to wake up with Jamie in his arms.

But tonight was official. Both their parents aware and ok with the sleepover. And they didn't bother with food, not interested in dinner, at least for the moment.  Dana was out for the night at a writer's workshop in Ashland.