No Matter What [BoyxBoy]

Chapter 7

Trace tipsy much?

____________________________________________________________

LEVI'S POINT OF VIEW:

I could feel that we were keeping things from each other. I know I had my secrets, and it was obvious that Trace had his. I didn't want there to be anything between us. I wanted to tell him why I was there and what happened to my mother. Just... not yet. Sure, it would all be out in the open and I wouldn't be holding any more secrets back, but I had the feeling that instead of connecting us more it would make him try to distance us more. And I didn't want that. I needed him.

Once again Trace was out and I was at the apartment alone. This time it was strange because he was supposed to be home from work hours ago, and usually if he was going out alone he would at least come back to check on me and get ready first before leaving.

It was late and I was too tired to stay up any longer waiting for him to return, so I fell asleep on my bed that was the couch. What seemed like moments later I woke to the sound of someone entering the apartment and fumbling around the kitchen. I rubbed my eyes and sat up to look over the back of the couch.

Trace was bent over looking into the fridge, shuffling things around before closing it, empty handed. I noticed something was different right away. He stumbled over his own feet and caught his balance against the counter. He was drunk.

"Trace! Are you alright?"

He looked up at me with a dumb smile. "Oh, just dandy!"

I got up and walked over to the kitchen. "Where were you? How did you get home?"

"Questions, questions, too many questions!" he slurred back.

I sighed then asked again. "Where were you?"

In his slow speech, he mumbled, "Alright! I'll tell you! Who are you, my mother? It wasn't far away, just at a friend's place. I walked home. Ow!" He held up his hands to look at them. They were covered in scraps and were bleeding a little.

"I can tell. I'm guessing you fell down a lot along the way?"

He gave me a pouty face and I decided to get some bandages from the bathroom. When I came back he was holding a banana in each hand and making them talk to each other. I stood silently watching. "Knock knock," one said. "Who's there?" the other replied. "Banana." "Banana who?" "Knock knock!" "Who's there?!" "Banana!" "Banana who?!" "KNOCK KNOCK!" "WHO'S THERE?!" "Orange." "Orange? Orange who?" "Orange you glad I didn't say banana?"

I burst out laughing - I couldn't help myself. It was just too ridiculous! He noticed me and a look of pride came over him. It was like he was a little child who had finally told a joke right without giving away the ending. I led him over to a stool, and he somehow had difficulty trying to get it to stand still in order for him to sit on it. Finally he managed it and I took one of his hands in mine to clean the dirt and blood off his palm.

He winced. "Hey! That smarts! Ouch! That hurts!"

I raised an eyebrow at his strange remarks. Is he quoting Schoolhouse Rock...? "Calm down, it's not that bad," I replied. When both his hands were clean I started bandaging them up.

"You should seriously consider becoming a doctor," Trace slurred.

I smirked. "Yeah, sure, whatever you say."

When I was finished he took one of my hands in his and stroked it with his thumb. "Levi..." My heart lurched. "...Am I drunk?" I mentally facepalmed.

"Yes, Trace, you are. Very drunk, in fact." I sighed. "Let's get you to bed."

"But I don't WANT to!" he whined.

"Come on, let's go," I insisted.

He looked down at the floor, defeated, and tried sliding off of the stool. His legs weren't as steady as he'd thought and he stumbled, falling towards the floor. I jumped off my stool to try and catch him as he fell, but who was I kidding? He was twice my size and weight and he brought me down to the floor easily, me breaking his fall.

"UHHH!" I groaned and Trace rolled off of me. "This is going to be harder than I thought," I croaked, the wind still knocked out of me. I laid there for a moment before slowly sitting up. Trace was giggling idiotically on the floor. I stood and grabbed his arms, careful of his bandaged hands. "Come on, get up!"

He was practically limp as I tried unsuccessfully to pull him up. Hey, I never claimed to have great upper body strength. "You can help out a little you know!"

He groaned and slowly managed to stand up, leaning into me and almost knocking me over a second time. "Get a hold of yourself!" He moaned and let me lead him across the room to the hall.

"I'm so glad I have you here. I wouldn't've been able to get up without you!" he slurred dumbly. "I would still be on the floor!"

"Yeah, lucky you I was here." I smiled and took him to his door.

"You're not going to carry me over the threshold are you?" Trace joked.

"If I were ten times stronger I would." I smiled. I didn't want to forget the feeling of my arms around him the way they were now. Now we were in his room and he was flopping into his bed. "You'll be alright from here, won't you? Don't go falling out of bed now."

"Mmhmm," was his reply.

I reached my hand out to him - I couldn't help myself. I ran it across his chest, feeling the muscles underneath his shirt. I ran it up his neck to his face, caressing his check. "Mmmm," Trace murmured.

I slowly leaned down, paused when my face was an inch away from his, and then I pressed my lips against his. My heart quickened when I felt him start kissing me back. I couldn't believe it. I never wanted it to stop! But then I thought about whether or not he would remember any of this in the morning and I broke away. I left the room and went back to the couch. I laid down, nowhere near sleep. What have I done...?