After Before and After

Phase 4: Chapter 82

It was very late on Sunday night. It was so late that even most adults would be fast asleep by now, especially those who had to get up at seven o'clock in the morning to be in court before nine.

But still, there he was. A head of messy blond hair, an oversized pyjama t-shirt, and spiderman bottoms that flared at the ankles. Jack Merridew looked like he had been dragged out of bed in the middle of the night too, but his appearance was the only form of evidence to support that theory.

"C'mon" Jack mumbled as he grasped Ralph by his wrist and tried to pull him out the door.

"Whoa whoa, wait!" Ralph whispered harshly as he resisted Jack's forceful tug. "Jack, you're acting crazy... what are you even doing here, its the middle of the night. You're not drunk, are you?"

"No" Jack snapped back, "that's your M.O., remember? Just come on" he finished as he pulled at Ralph's arm again.

"Come where?" Ralph asked firmly and anxiously. "What the hell is going on, Jack?"

Jack rolled his eyes just enough to accurately express his current level of annoyance. He then abruptly grabbed both of Ralph's shoulders and pulled the brunette boy close enough to kiss him. And kiss him he did, and rather forcefully. It was the kind of passionate, urgent kiss that stems from longing and separation and harboured grief.

Jack pulled away after a second or two to capture the stunned to silence look on Ralph's face. He didn't necessarily need to look though, because he knew Ralph well enough to know what he looked like in that moment. Ralph was both afraid and mesmerized all at once, like he knew something was off but wanted this too much to question it.

"Now come on" Jack demanded a final time. He grabbed Ralph's wrist again and pulled him out of the doorway of his hotel room, forcing the door to swing shut behind them. This time, Ralph made no attempt to resist. He evidently had no idea what he was about to walk in to, but the larger part of his brain currently didn't care.

Jack pulled Ralph along until he stopped in front of room 521. Jack scanned his key card and unlocked the door, pushing it open. The bed Paige usually slept in was made up and vacant. Jack's own bed on the other side of hers looked slept in, or perhaps it just hadn't been made in the last twenty-four hours.

The door swung shut behind them, and as soon as it did, Jack pushed Ralph against it abruptly. The brunette boy's dark brown eyes were mooney and tainted with a mixture of shock and exhilaration. Jack didn't have to guess whether or not Ralph missed him. Even after over two years of being together mostly on but sometimes off, Ralph was still smitten by him like it was all brand new.

Jack's hands found their way to Ralph's waist, which he used to pull at the other forcefully to close the gap between them. He was aggressive in his every move; determined and confident to keep things moving along. Ralph had always been submissive to him in positions such as this, his logical mind turned all the way off and his aroused mind turned all the way on. Given how long it's been since they were together like this, it wasn't exactly surprising how quickly Ralph lost his head.

Jack didn't take his precious time moving from Ralph's lips to his neck. He pawed at the neckline of the younger boy's t-shirt in a desperate effort to get underneath it. He nearly ripped it trying to get it out of his way. But before he could, Ralph leaned back just enough to pull it over his head and drop it to the floor at his side. Jack kissed his neck and chest aggressively, almost animalistic. His hands wandered from Ralph's waist to his back and then up his chest. The younger boy was breathing heavily. Jack forgot how tantalizing that sound was; the sound of the younger boy surrendering control to him, willingly and completely. It was almost too easy, Jack considered.