atelophobia 🖤 lawrusso

- 15 -

Johnny woke up the next morning with his hair being played with and a pair of arms locked around his midsection. His eyes fluttered opened and he was looking up into a pair that mirrored his own exactly. He smiled a bit, and his mother smiled back, continuing to card her fingers through his hair just like she used to do all the time when he was younger. Next, Johnny looked at the owner of the arms that were holding him in place and saw a sleeping Daniel who was on the very edge of the couch, almost falling off.

Johnny grinned mischievously, and pushed him just that one extra inch, completely forgetting about the fact that Daniel had leverage on him as well. The second he started to fall, the brunette's eyes snapped opened and he gasped, tightening his grasp on Johnny and dragging him down as well. The blonde grunted, landing right on top of his boyfriend and squashing him into the ground. His mother was laughing from where she sat on the couch, watching their struggle with bright eyes.

"Get off of me, man!" Daniel flailed his arms dramatically, and Johnny was suddenly very glad they had moved the coffee table last night after he had almost broken it while throwing his partner around in a sloppy sparring match.

"No." Johnny let himself become dead weight, and Daniel started shoving at his chest in a weak attempt to push him away. The blonde wrapped his arms around Daniel and rolled over so that his boyfriend was the one above him now, although he didn't let him pull away.

"Lemme go!" Daniel insisted, squirming in Johnny's grasp. "I'll leave you here, I swear to God!"

"No!" Johnny let his arms fall slack. "He's escaped!" Daniel got up and landed a playful kick on his side.

"Damn right, I escaped. Now who's the boss?" He turned, and spotted Mrs. Lawrence sitting on the couch. His eyes grew wide and he clapped a hand over his mouth, face becoming bright red. But she just laughed, waving a hand in dismissal.

"Don't worry, Daniel. I hear enough curse words around here to be used to it at this point." Her voice was filled with warmth, and Daniel felt a little fuzzy inside as Johnny's hands brushed gently against his arms and began rubbing up and down. He felt welcome.

"You boys must be hungry," she said, getting up. Daniel glanced at Johnny, who shrugged.

"Yeah, I could eat," Daniel replied, smiling a little as he leaned back against the blonde boy. Mrs. Lawrence nodded, brushing off her shirt and beginning to pull the coffee table back to its rightful place.

"We have two options," she began, and Daniel hurried over to help her lift it. They put it down in front of the couch, and she sighed, pretending to wipe her forehead of sweat that wasn't there. "One, you boys can sit around and do whatever it is boys your age do in their free time while I make breakfast. Two, you can put on some decent clothes and we can go out to a restaurant for breakfast."

Daniel's eyes lit up. He had never had the chance to go to a fancy restaurant besides the ones his mother worked at, but those were usually just diners and didn't sell breakfast.

"I don't have any money," he stated, forcing his regret into the back of his head. "I couldn't pay for it if we went out." He glanced at Johnny, who was looking at him like he was crazy. He made a weird expression back, but Johnny just raised his eyebrows.

"Nonsense, Daniel. You aren't paying for anything. You are our guest!" She walked over and grabbed his arm. Her grip was surprisingly strong, and Johnny was grinning hugely as he tagged along in the background while Daniel was dragged up the stairs.

"Johnny, take this boy into your room and give him something he can wear." Mrs. Lawrence opened Johnny's bedroom door and pushed Daniel in, then pushed Johnny in after him, closing the door. "Don't come out until he's got something on that's acceptable for the chilly weather!"