Bitter Treats (BxB Romance, In Progress)

30: Sweet Together

While waiting for Robin to return from the bathroom, where he'd excused himself to clean up--since their intimate encounter had a messy conclusion--Tyler laid back on the bed. He pulled his hand through his hair, trying to contain the jittery excitement pulsing through his body. He'd waited so long to be able to express his desires, burying them deep down in fear. To suddenly allow himself to unabashedly let everything out was overwhelming his senses. Tyler had gone from closeted a few days ago to now being a sexually active gay man, in a budding relationship. And it was like the best thing ever. He wanted more. He wanted to explore all the pleasure-creating moves he could master and hear all the pleasure-filled sounds he could elicit from Robin.

The fact that he would still be expected to do mundane stuff, like going to class or having dinner with his family, was difficult to fathom. Why couldn't he and Robin just lock themselves in this room for a couple of weeks at least, enjoying each other in every way possible? However, they would probably have to get food delivered to nourish themselves because Tyler suspected extended time spent on such activities might make them ravenous.

Speaking of ravenous... Tyler could definitely go for a snack right now. He sat up to search the room for treats. Was that a box of Pop-Tarts by the toaster? He wouldn't mind nibbling on one of those while he waited.

All thoughts of snacks were wiped from Tyler's mind as another total snack, Robin, walked back into the room, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. His hair was tousled out if its usual neat part, his cheeks glowed as if he had just been working out, and his eyes bore a glint of confidence that Tyler didn't remember seeing before.

"Come." Tyler reached out his hand. It felt vital and urgent for their skin to touch again, right at that second.

Robin didn't protest with the demand, catching the outreached hand. After having pulled Robin down beside him on the ruffled sheets, Tyler turned his body sideways for optimal closeness. "Hey," he whispered, placing a soft kiss on Robin's cheek. "Did you... like that?"

"I loved it," Robin assured Tyler. He shifted on the sheets to place them face to face and tilted his jaw slightly upward to kiss Tyler's forehead. "It was... indescribable." He furrowed his brow as if searching for a fitting analogy. "Better than candy." Lips met lips, assuring the truthfulness in the words.

"Sweet..." Tyler mumbled, mightily pleased with his performance. It seemed he possessed talent in other fields than soccer. "Maybe I should go pro."

Upon seeing Robin's cute features freeze into an aghast expression, Tyler realized that musing hadn't quite landed right. "I-I," Robin stuttered. "I mean, if you want-"

Before Robin could bless his upcoming career in sex work, Tyler swiftly silenced quivering lips with a kiss. "I don't mean... like that," he clarified. "Only with you, cutie." He stroked some stray hairs away from Robin's eyes, so he could gaze into the mesmerizing blue sheen unobstructed. "I only want to... suck your dick, like a lot." Heat rose on his cheeks from putting naughty desires into words. He chuckled in an attempt to cover his self-consciousness. "I mean, I want to do other things as well. Not just that... but that too. Kissing, cuddling, whatever you want to do, really. I just want to be with you, Robby." A kiss concluded his ramblings.

Realizing they hadn't talked about any of this yet, and that the state of their relationship was still in flux, Tyler added nervously: "If you want to... be with me, of course."

His anxiousness was immediately chased away by an embrace of sweet lips. "I do," Robin assured Tyler. "I want all those things. Kisses, cuddles... other things." A fumbling hand on Tyler's hip pulled him closer. Closer and closer.

The hand inched lower, caressing Tyler's thigh on its way toward a certain destination. But before it could get there, a strobing pain from his thigh to his non-existing foot, caused Tyler's whole body to freeze up. Sometimes, even the lightest touch could trigger phantom pains. And with the pain, came flashbacks of needles, rubber gloves, and bandages.

"No," Tyler protested by reflex. The amount of poking and prodding that had occurred on his residual leg after the accident made it difficult for him to associate such touches with anything but discomfort. "Please don't..."

Immediately, Robin pulled his hand back, as if he'd touched a hot iron. "I won't," he promised. His eyes betrayed fear about having done something wrong. "Sorry. I didn't mean to."

Tyler hid his fear behind a smile, not wanting to cause Robin fear as well. "It's just... you know. There are scars and stuff," he explained, not wanting to go into detail. His hand flapped over the empty space where a left leg should be. "I just wanted to see you and touch you. You don't have to... do anything in return. I'm fine."

In the back of his mind, Tyler remembered promising to tell Miss Horn about any flashback-related incidents. He didn't particularly feel like telling her about the trigger for this one, but he also did want to find a way to handle his trauma, so he supposed he would have to find a counselor-friendly way to talk about this.

Robin cupped his hands around Tyler's face and pulled him in for a kiss. Two kisses. Three kisses. All the kisses. Kisses on cheeks, chin, jaws, nose, and finally lips. "It's fine," he repeated between the kisses. Tyler realized he may have succeeded in hiding his fears as well as he intended and honestly, he was fine with that. He liked Robin consoling him.

"Can we just lay here?" he asked, feeling safe and snug in Robin's embrace. "I like it when you hold me." He smiled, this time without trying to cover fear. "I like to cuddle. Like a lot." He found Robin's lips for another kiss.

"Cuddle sounds good," Robin replied and curled his arms around Tyler's body. They ended up face to face. The perfect position for kissing. So that's what they did. They were becoming really good at it, perfectly matching each other's movements. Tyler wondered if there were kissing-Olympics, because they could totally win such a contest.

Rolling onto his back, Tyler pulled Robin with him, using him as a weighted blanket across his chest. He flicked his hand across the bare skin of Robin's back, letting his fingers play across the protruding vertebrates.

"So I guess we're like... gay," Tyler mumbled, kissing Robin's forehead. "Like together, I mean."

"Yeah... I think we are," Robin replied, his lips nudging Tyler's collarbone. "Gay... together." There was something dreamy in his tone upon saying the words as if he couldn't quite believe them to be true. Tyler shared his disbelief. Being gay had seemed so complicated in his mind, and while he knew there would probably be obstacles on the way, right now, it seemed so incredibly simple. Tyler had fallen for Robin and Robin had fallen for Tyler, and now they were descending together to a whole new world, where colors were brighter and the air easier to breathe.

Letting go of all tension and fear, Tyler felt drops running down his cheeks. He reached out his hand to catch a tear, surprised rather than embarrassed about his emotionalness.

"What's wrong?" Robin asked, immediately concerned about Tyler's well-being. He stroked his fingers underneath Tyler's eye, wiping away the remaining tears.

"Nothing," Tyler insisted. "That's the thing. Nothing is wrong. Everything is right. And I didn't think anything ever would be again. After my accident, you know." His hand found Robin's, clasping it tightly. "Everything was wrong. I could barely breathe or move. It wasn't just my leg that was injured, everything was twisted and weird."

Guiding Robin's hand across his body, Tyler shared reminders of his injuries. Tendons on his neck that still ached sometimes, scars on his shoulder and right ankle from repairs of broken bones, and indentions on his chest from tubes that drained his lungs of fluid. Listing them in that manner made Tyler kind of amazed himself that he was doing so well.

Once every injury was accounted for, Robin scooted up to place them face to face. "I wish had been there," he mumbled, stroking curls away from Tyler's cheeks to place kisses there instead."I wish... you didn't have to go through that."

"I'm alright now," Tyler assured him. "And in a way, I guess it led me to you. Everything got turned upside down but somehow, I came out on top anyway."

Author's Note: I'm starting to realize this story will turn quite long... it's at about 60k right now and we're only about halfway! Which is so much longer than SLB (I guess it makes sense with the flashbacks though). Honestly, there are probably scenes or whole chapters I could cut to make this tighter though but that'll be a problem if I ever revise this story. I hope it doesn't seem too meandering though.