Social Norms (Synacky)

Chapter Twelve

“Let’s put together a demo.”

Great. Brian came out to Jimmy’s house, ready to teach Zacky and with high hopes of kissing him, and they were going to be working on playing together all afternoon. And since he wasn’t “part of the band,” he couldn’t be included.

He sighed, going to put his guitar back in his case, but Zacky stopped him, shy voice offering, “Um, you could stay, Brian, if you want… you know, to make sure I don’t mess up and stuff…”

Brian looked at Zacky, to see the blush that crept along his cheeks. He complied, throwing the guitar strap around his neck so he could stand and play easier.

As it turned out, Brian didn’t need to be there anyway. They decided that their most complete song was Forgotten Faces, and spent the rest of the afternoon playing it all together and working on staying on time with each other. So he moped in the corner, frowning at all the junk Jimmy’s family had piled back there. Every once in a while he’d glance over at Zacky, and as much as he hated to admit it, his eyes scanned the guitarist’s body once or twice.

After they finished, Zacky approached Brian, who was zipping up his guitar case. “Um, I was uh, wondering if maybe we could go to my house and you could teach me some more. I’d like to work on some shredding when you’re around to show me how. I’m writing a solo for Matt’s song, and he wants it to be perfect, so I just thought we could, you know, work on it a little bit…” he trailed off, tongue sweeping over his snakebites.

“Uh, yeah okay. Hey, why don’t we go over to mine? My family’s out so they won’t be around to piss us off and I’ve got an extra amp so we can both use one.”

“Oh, okay cool.” Zacky replied.

Zacky followed Brian to their car, and they said goodbye to the guys before heading to Brian’s house.

~*~

They went up to Brian’s room, hooking up their guitars to the amps Brian kept in his closet. He had Zacky show him what he had so far for the solo, and couldn’t help doing small things like brushing up against him when he passed the younger boy.

“Look, there’s a more efficient way to do that.” He told him, and stood behind Zacky, chest pressing against Zacky’s back as he placed his right hand over Zacky’s to help him position his fingers differently. He heard Zacky draw in a sharp breath and he nodded. “O-Okay, I got it.”

Brian was testing the waters, seeing how much contact he would be able to have before Zacky noticed something was up. He could tell, though, that the boy was beginning to notice the subtle things Brian would do, how close he was getting to him. He kept his mouth shut, but a rose colored blush dusted his cheeks, and seemed to become permanent as Brian continued to instruct him.

Brian needed to kiss Zacky. He was painfully reminded of that each time Zacky’s tongue poked out of his mouth, every time his teeth clacked against his snakebites when he spoke.

“Uh, hey, Zacky?” he asked nervously, and Zacky looked up from where he was sitting on the floor.

“What?”

“There’s um, there’s another technique I want to show you.” Brian sat next to him. His heart was pounding loud in his chest, and he hoped desperately that Zacky couldn’t hear it. He couldn’t back out now, just one taste, he was just going to try it…

“Sure.” Zacky replied, “What do I have to-“

Brian was right about kissing Zacky.

His lips were soft, plush and full against his own. They were warm, with cool snakebites adding a strange, exotic texture. It wasn’t at all like kissing a girl, but totally different from how he would have expected kissing a guy to be. Brian’s heart kicked into overdrive, and he was tempted to close his eyes, to get lost in the kiss…

But he couldn’t. He had to see Zacky’s expression, had to figure out his reaction. Brian pulled away, searching Zacky’s face nervously.

Zacky’s eyes were open wide, eyebrows arched in surprise as he looked up at Brian. He opened his mouth, then closed it again, trying to figure out something to say.

Brian didn’t know if that was good or bad, but he was starting to get the feeling it wasn’t so good. He began to grow worried, knowing he had screwed up. He was trying to think of an excuse, something to bury the incident and help it be forgotten, when Zacky finally managed to speak.

“I-I don’t think I got that technique. Can you show it to me again?”

The second kiss was even better.

This time, Brian dared to move his lips a little, to try and get some sort of reciprocation from Zacky. He was rewarded when Zacky’s lips moved timidly against his, shy and hesitant and oh so softly. It was too slow for Brian. This was all new and exciting, but he wanted more. He slid his tongue out over Zacky’s bottom lip, toying with those snakebites that had tempted him for so long, and Zacky gasped, hands clutching at the front of Brian’s shirt.

Brian had never experienced anything like this, never kissed someone as shy as Zacky. It wasn’t like kissing Michelle or any other girl he’d kissed before. Zacky was so tentative and everything was so slow and sensual and exciting. He knew he could never kiss anyone else ever again and get the same thrill.

Zacky pulled away after what seemed like much too short of a time for Brian, and they both paused, searching each other’s face.

“Why did you teach me that technique?” Zacky’s voice was a whisper. “When am I going to need it?”

“It’s something I’ve wanted to try for a while now.” Brian looked away, trying to keep the blush from creeping across his cheeks. “I think it worked out nicely. And you’ll probably need it for the next time I kiss you, as well as the times after that.”

Zacky set his guitar aside and looked at Brian in a strange way. Brian began to worry again. Did Zacky not like him? Was he going to rebuke him, tell him how it wasn’t going to work?

But Zacky didn’t say anything. He threw his arms around Brian and hugged him tight. Brian sighed in relief and reciprocated the embrace. “I want you to teach me, Zacky.” Brian whispered to him. “I’ll teach you to play guitar, if you teach me how to be the best boyfriend I could possibly be.”

“I don’t know how.” Zacky replied quietly. “I don’t know anything.”

Brian chuckled, “Well, we’ll learn together, okay?” he pressed a kiss to Zacky’s temple. “Do we have a deal? Will you be my boyfriend?”

“B-But Brian…” Zacky scoffed, “You’re not gay…”

“No, I’m not.” Brian agreed, holding Zacky tight. “I’m not gay, but I think I can make an exception for you. I want to, more than anything in the world. So, what do you say?”

Zacky was silent for a moment, face pressed into the side of Brian’s neck. Eventually, he nodded against his skin. “Okay.” He agreed, “Let’s give it a shot.”