Tongue-Tied (Boyxboy)

Chapter Nine

Authors Note:

This is a long one guys. Sorry about that. When I'm doing Jesse's perspective, the story tends to try and tell itself and sometimes it gets away from me. I hope you're enjoying it so far! Any queries and concerns, please don't hesitate to bring them up in the comments/message me :)

Question - I wasn't 100% sure about writing in first person, but I'm giving it a go. Do peeps prefer to read in third person or first? I probably won't change it now, but it would be useful to know in case I write another.

Thanks for reading! <3

xXxChrisisxXx

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Jesse's POV

I wandered through the pet food aisle at the supermarket, looking for something that would be suitable to feed Todd's new puppy. It was the least I could do - Todd asked for help and whether he still wanted it or not, he was getting it. I'm not sure exactly what it was that I said to him earlier to make him angry at me, but I am going to fix this by helping him care for his new... pet?

I grabbed a couple of bags of puppy feed and, after paying, headed home. Parking in my driveway, I was dismayed to see that Todd's car was gone. Sighing, I entered my own house and sat at the kitchen table, preparing to wait for Todd to return. I rested my head on my hand and stared out the kitchen table. Long minutes went past and I could feel my eyelids getting heavy. Shrugging, I closed my eyes.

A hand shaking my shoulder jolted me awake and my head shot up.

"Bit tired honey?" My mother asked, amused. I glanced at the clock and saw that four hours had passed, with it now being close to 7 o'clock in the evening. Todd should definitely be home by now. I got to my feet, giving mom a sheepish smile.

"Just a bit. I'm going to pop over to Todd's for a quick second, okay?" I said, heading for the door.

"Alright Sweetheart. I've picked up an extra shift tonight, and I won't be home until tomorrow morning. Cassandra was lovely enough to offer to watch Em for the night, so you have the night off. I've got to go get ready, I start in an hour." Mom said, and headed upstairs. I grabbed the puppy food and walked outside, grinning at Todd's car in his driveway.

Taking a deep breath, I knocked on his door. Hopefully this meeting will go better than the last. I waited a few minutes and then knocked again, a little louder. Todd yanked open the door and glared at me.

"What do you want?" He snapped. I frowned at him, he seemed a bit weird, almost like he was unsteady on his feet.

"I brought you a peace offering." I said, holding up the puppy food. Todd glared at the packets. I lifted it up for him to take and he grabbed the small satchels, chucking them over his shoulder into the house.

"Urr... You're welcome?" I said sarcastically. Todd continued glaring at me before taking an unsteady step forward. He swayed for a second and instinctively I pressed a hand into his chest to stop him from falling forward. Todd frowned down at my hand before looking back up at me and stepping forward again, pressing my hand harder into his chest. My nose twitched and I found myself leaning away from his breath.

"I don't like you, you know? Not like that." Todd said quietly, almost to himself. He swayed forward again and I found myself flexing my fingertips on his chest. I couldn't decide whether I should be cheering that I was getting in a chest grope, or concerned with the fact that from the smell of his breath, he seemed to steadily be making himself drunk.