Two Birds On A Wire

ch 51

"--ian, hey, Julian!"

Julian jolted out of his thoughts when he was shaken by the shoulder by Ryan.

"Dude, what's up with you? You sick or something?" Ryan asked in genuine concern as he felt his forehead for his temperature. Julian politely swatted his hand away and cleared his throat.

"What is it?" He himself didn't know why he sounded so annoyed.

"You have been staring at your hand for a long time now"

Julian looked up and saw his peers standing beside his table, all who nodded in unision, agreeing to what Ryan had said.

"What's that in your hand anyway?" Ryan asked and Julian stared back down at the hand he kept fondling all this while.

A portion on the back of his hand was as red as a cherry fruit and Julian suddenly felt the heat rise upto his face as he kept gazing at it.

Ivan had walked home with him the last day , just in case his dad would get mad for staying out late. Unlike what they had anticipated, Julian didn't find his dad's car on the porch and assumed he wasn't home and they had some time to say their goodbyes before Ivan sent him off inside his home.

Just when Julian bid him farewell and had started to walk away, Ivan had tugged at his arm, keeping him there longer. He had took Julian's hand in his and brought it to his mouth.

Julian had felt like a princess being greeted by her prince. It was way too embarrassing. He had tried pulling his arm back, only to wince when Ivan bit and sucked at a spot on the back of his hand.

"Jeez, what are you doing!?", he had whisper-yelled, his face turning red as he tried his best to push the other boy's face away from his hand.

Ivan had pulled away with a snicker, his hand still holding Julian's, an expression of victory adoring his face. "I was just leaving my mark on you, in case later you pretend none of this happened today"

"Tell them, Jules. Tell them what happened to your hand" Julian looked up from his spot to see Ivan towering over him, snickering as he moved the chair for him to sit.

Julian immediately wore a scowl and withdrew his hand from the table, snuggling it closer to his body. "A bug bit me", he muttered out, giving Ivan a side-eye.

"Eek, a bug!? You should see the physician if  the irritation is still there!" Some kid said and Julian's scowl deepened further. He hated how Ivan sat their with an amused face while he felt all flushed.

"Yeah, the bug is so annoying, indeed"

But I don't ever wanna get rid of it...

•••

"Nothing really changed between us" Julian observed as the both of them sat on the rooftop, eating lunch.

"We kissed" Ivan shrugged.

"Other than that, nothing really changed between us, don't you think so?" Julian was persistent on his theory and Ivan thought he might push him off the roof if he dared to disagree, so he just nodded his head, stuffing his mouth with more food.

"So, does that mean we are still friends?"

Ivan vaguely wondered if Julian hit his head somewhere on his way to school. He saw Julian's eyes widen and he wondered if he just saw something hideous.

"Does that mean we are friends with benefits now!?" Julian yelped out when Ivan whacked him on the head. "Where's your head at, Jules!? You were the one who said we should go out, which means we are now dating. We are boyfriends, for Christ's sakes!"

Boyfriends, Julian liked the sound of it.

"Right?" He stuffed his mouth with food and grinned up at Ivan.

"Jeez, what am I gonna do with you?" Ivan leaned in and planted a soft kiss on the side of Julian's neck and he giggled at the sensation.

"That tickles"

Ivan couldn't help but smile. Maybe this was the peace of mind he had been longing for his entire life.

Both of the boys were startled when they heard footsteps behind them, followed by a very familiar voice.

"So that's where you were!" The both of them turned their heads around to see Johann walk up to them. He plopped down beside Ivan and tapped on his shoulder, giving Julian a nod of acknowledgement.

"Am I interrupting your leisure time?"

Do you even have to ask...

"Nah, wassup?" Julian asked and Johann huffed.

"Finish your lunch first. We gotta go to the club room"

"Why?" Ivan tried hard to keep himself from rolling his eyes, but failed.

"As much as I know how disappointed you are, do you really have to wear it like a badge and hurt my feelings?" Johann made a hurt face and continued. "Ya gotta come help me write the club activity reports for this month. You can't refuse, 'cause even if you do, I am going to drag frail little Julian with me anyway. See if you can hang out all by yourself" ,the boy grinned at the scowl that made its way to Ivan's face.

"You actually write those!?" Ivan couldn't help but sound surprised.

"Oye, how else do you think I maintain the club? Oh how I managed to write about the club trips that we never even had in the first place, only I know"

"Jeez, you really are something, Barry" Ivan shook his head and got up from his spot. As much as he said he resended it, he actually loved spending time with the boy.

•••

"Johann, I thought we were doing this together" Julian gave Johann the most unimpressed look he could do as the boy piled up several papers infront of him and Ivan.

"Too bad I have class" Johann snickered and it would be an understatement to say he was getting on the other boys' nerves.

"Since when do you care!?" Ivan sounded devastated.

Johann threw his arms up in the air in defense, nevertheless, he still made his way to the door. "You don't have to do it in a hurry. We just gotta get it done by the end of the month. It will be easier if we start now, so we can come up with a genuine report instead of something that looks like it was rushed in the last minute. I can just go and tell one of your classmates that you guys are in here, so yeah, relax"

Ivan wondered if he was the only one who felt as if Johann seemed a bit strange. He looked at peace and relaxed.

"You are such a jerk, making newbies do all the work"

Johann shook his head as he halted by the door. "Come on guys, I'm simply giving you two some alone time" he stepped out and glanced back in once before leaving. "No one's gonna barge in here other than me". With that, Johann walked away to his class.

The door clicked shut and Julian glanced at Ivan, only to see him stare at the door with a look of stupidity etched on his face.

"Do you think.... He knows?" Julian asked and it took Ivan a brief moment to reply.

"Seems so"