The Stars That Night [boyxboy]

The Stars That Night {11}

                My phone buzzed and I picked it up. "Jack? You still alive?"

                "Oh, I'm doing peachy, pal," he said, and I could hear the grin in his voice. "Dad's not in a good mood, but he said he'll knock Ray off his high horse. Where are you?"

                "Akira's," I said, wondering if it was actually a good idea for Mr. Waymire to knock Ray off his high horse. Ray was right; Jack's dad wouldn't always be around to bail him out of trouble.

                "I'll be over in a few minutes," Jack said. "Dad bought me some snappers. Oh, how I missed having them!"

                "Oh god," I said. "Please don't throw them at my feet every time I piss you off."

                "He got snappers?" Akira said in horror.

                "You're scaring Akira, and you're not even here yet," I said.

                "If he's scared now, just wait until I do get there. See you in a few!" Jack hung up and I sighed, slipping my phone back into my pocket.

                "He's on his way," I said.

                "I already told my dad you two would be staying for dinner. He said he'd get pizza," Akira said, checking his phone. "Are you spending the night here?"

                "Not sure yet," I said, stretching a little. "If I do sleepover, I'm hogging half your bed, though."

                "You and Jack can fight that out," Akira said.

                "Jack has snappers."

                "Bed's all yours, Garrett."

                I grinned. "That's what I thought."

                "Hey, Gar, are you and Roan good?" he asked. "You haven't slept over there in a while, have you?"

                "I did not too long ago," I said. "Roan complains that I kick him when we share his bed, though. Besides, my mom doesn't like me sleeping over his house a lot. Or at all, really. Guzzling Garrett, remember?"

                I'd had the unfortunate luck of my parents finding out about the rumor. Someone had written it on my locker, so the principal had called my parents in to address my issue with bullying. They had sat me down that night, talking to me about my relationship with Roan. I'd assured them the rumors were false, but guiltily admitted I'd had sex with Roan. They'd given me a safe sex talk, and mom had become a lot stricter about letting us have sleepovers.

                "You just don't seem as happy with him," Akira said.

                "Oh, no, I am!" I said hastily. "I am happy with Roan. We just have our fights. All couples do."

                "I wasn't accusing you or anything. Just making sure you and him are all good," Akira said with a shrug.

                "We are," I said, nodding. "We bicker like old men, but we're fine."

                We'd certainly been bickering a lot more lately, but we'd also been dating for a while. We were just at that stage where certain habits weren't charming anymore, and it was just something we had to work through together. Me kicking Roan when we shared a bed wasn't funny anymore, just a pain for him. It happened as relationships progressed. My parents had warned me. But I was sure Roan and I could get through it if we just communicated.