Sweaters & Cigarettes (15 page)

"I like that, too," he
says, almost whispering. He looks relaxed now, put to ease by Theo's words, and
Theo does nothing to stop him, when he moves in and kisses him.

The kiss is slow and hungry, but
the heat is still there, the urgency. And Theo instinctively moves as close to
Max as he can, again, pressing their bodies together, hand smoothing over his
bare, soft skin, kissing him as though he's the most important thing in the
world. And he supposes that right now, he kind of is.

Theo is about to go back to what he
was doing before, when Max pushes him gently, making Theo lie down on his back,
and he watches as Max moves up to sit on top of him, slowly and deliberately.
Theo swallows, automatically moving his hands to Max's hips, as Max kisses him,
pierced tongue claiming his mouth.

Theo's head is spinning. He can't
believe how good this feels.

He's still nervous, though, he
can't help that, and he thinks about it as he touches Max. He smoothes his hand
down over Max's bare back, over those gorgeous wings he knows to be there,
wondering if Max can tell just how nervous he is, right now.

At least my hands aren't shaking
, Theo thinks, as one digs its fingers into that
black, messy hair, and the other makes its way down to the small of Max's back,
where Theo knows the tips of those wings are. Slowly, on some kind of instinct,
he slips his thumb underneath the hem of Max's boxers, tugging slightly, and he
hears Max moan against his lips. The sound is surprisingly satisfying.

Then Theo's thumb slips, though,
making the elastic of the underwear snap back against Max's skin with a
surprisingly loud sound, and Max flinches.

"Whoa," he says,
surprised, and he looks almost comically confused, as he glances over his
shoulder. Theo probably would have laughed, if he weren't so embarrassed.

"Shit," he mutters.
"Shit, I'm sorry."

Max only chuckles, eyebrows raised
as he looks back at Theo.

"Don't worry about it,"
he says, a small, surprised laugh in his voice. But Theo is shaking his head,
actually putting his hand over his eyes, humiliated.

"No," he says,
practically cringing. "No, I'm sorry, I just―"

"Hey," Max says, prying
away Theo's hand with his own, a chuckle lacing his words. "It's
fine."

Theo hesitantly looks up at him,
feeling the blush creep up his neck, wanting nothing more than to just vanish,
right now. He feels like
such
a
virgin.

Max only smiles, though, affection
and amusement clear in his blue eyes.

"Baby, come on," he says,
pushing back Theo's hair from his forehead in a surprisingly tender gesture.
"It's fine. Really."

He cocks his head.

"Kind of adorable,
actually."

Theo groans.

"Not helping," he says, and
Max laughs again. It makes Theo feel all warm inside; he's still not used to
hearing Max
laugh
, not like that, and he feels like he's never going to
get tired of it.

Max leans down and gives him a
chaste kiss.

"Sorry," he says, and
Theo just looks at him.

"I just―" Theo
starts, feeling utterly ridiculous. He sighs, dropping his voice to almost a
whisper. "I just
really
have no idea what I'm doing."

But Max just smirks, taking Theo's
hand and kissing it lightly, before moving it down along his body, so that it
can go back to tracing his skin, and Theo just looks at him, as he does it. He
still feels oddly embarrassed, but he can't help but smile a little, as Max
looks down at him. Max leans in closer, then, pressing his body down against
Theo's, and Theo automatically firms his hand against Max's back.

"You're doing just fine,"
Max murmurs, kissing him on the lips. "Trust me."

There's something about the way he
says it. Theo isn't sure what it is, exactly, but it spurs him on, and he pulls
Max back against him, as close as he possibly can, kissing him deeply. It only
takes a few seconds, before that heat is back, and he actually grabs Max's ass
and presses him downward, grinding roughly against him. And Max breathes
heavily, moaning deeply as he claims Theo's mouth with that wonderful, pierced
tongue.

"You're doing really
good," he breathes against Theo's lips. "So good."

The way Max is breathing, the way
he touches Theo as though he simply
needs
to touch
all
of him,
the way he kisses him as though his survival depends on it... It's all a bit
much. It's more than Theo is used to, and he's torn between how terrifying it
is in its intensity, and just how
amazing
it feels, as he tries to
remember how to breathe.

When he breathes, though, it gets
worse, because he's breathing in
Max
; his smell, his exhale, the taste
of his skin. It's all
Max.

He's not sure when his boxers come
off, but it somehow happens slowly. Max's fingers are diligent as they tug them
off, Theo helping, and before Theo realizes, his underwear has somehow ended up
on the floor. He swallows hard, as Max takes off his own, and it hits him; this
is the first time he's naked in bed like this, with someone else. Just another
thing on a long lists of firsts, it seems.

Theo clings to Max, somewhat
nervously, as Max slowly presses down against him, and just like that, there's
nothing between them. Nothing but warm hardness and hot skin, and just the
feeling of it makes Theo exhale sharply, digging his fingers into Max's dark,
messy hair.

"Is this okay?" Max
breathes, and Theo swallows hard, nodding jerkily. It is okay. It's
very
okay,
albeit completely new and unfamiliar, and he takes a deep breath. Max pulls
back for a second, just far enough to look into his eyes, as though making
sure, before leaning down and kissing him, slower than before. And Theo's head
is spinning again, his hands scrabbling for purchase all over Max's skin.

His eyes are closed, but he opens
them when he feels Max move, and he sees him leaning over toward his nightstand.
It takes a second, and for Theo to see him opening the small drawer, before he
realizes what he's reaching for.

"Um," he says, sounding
much more nervous than he intended, but Max soothes him with a look.

"It's okay," he says
softly. "It's not for that."

He gets a small bottle from the
nightstand, and closes the drawer.

"I mean," he adds,
"unless you want to."

Theo swallows, trying to decide if
he does want to or not, but Max seems to take his hesitation as confirmation of
what he already thinks.

"It's okay," he says
again, the smallest, comforting smile on his face, and he kisses him softly.
"I thought we might try something else."

Theo looks at him, and hesitates
for only a split second, before nodding. He trusts Max. He knows he won't push
him into anything.

Max gives him a small nod in
return, blue eyes soothing and kind. It still kind of baffles Theo, how someone
so snarky and sarcastic can look so incredibly sweet and understanding.

Theo is unsure where to look, as
Max squirts some lube from the bottle into his hand; it feels weird to look at
the ceiling, but it feels equally weird to look right at him.

He doesn't have to think about it
long, though, before Max puts the bottle away and moves his hand downward,
slowly and deliberately.

Max looks right at him, and Theo
swallows nervously. And then, those fingers wrap around him, and he actually
lets out a rather loud moan of surprised pleasure; it's a little cold, but he
had no idea that lube could make such a huge difference.

Max watches him intently, as he
starts stroking, before taking both of them in his hand, and Theo groans
slightly, as he feels Max's hardness against his own, moving just a little bit.

"If you wanna stop,
just―" Max breathes, but Theo cuts him off.

"Please, don't," he says,
his voice a desperate exhale. "Please, don't stop."

Max's blue eyes widen slightly, as
though surprised, but he doesn't deny Theo what he asks for. Instead, he starts
moving, thrusting, ever so slowly, and Theo presses his hands against that
tattooed back, pressing Max closer against him. It feels so good, the two of
them rubbing together, in a delicious mix of wet and friction, and Theo moans
deeply, in lack of anything else. He doesn't know how else to express this,
doesn't know what else to do. It just feels so good,
so good
.

"So good." He thinks it
out loud, and his words are barely a breath, and he's not sure Max even heard
them, but it doesn't matter. All that matters is the way Max's body feels,
weighing down on his, hot skin on skin, as he thrusts into the tight tunnel of
his fingers, rubbing the two of them together. The way Max moans against Theo's
skin, planting searing kisses along his throat, his arm actually shaking as it
holds him up. Theo gets it; his entire body seems to be vibrating, his skin on
fire.

"Shit," he hears Max
murmur against his ear, panting, still moving. He sounds completely wrecked.
"Oh, god."

Theo doesn't know what to make of
it, but the words sound about as desperate as he feels. So he clings tighter to
Max, clings to him as they move together, and when he pulls Max's face to his
and kisses him, it's like lighting up a powder-keg. Max groans, moving against
him with such deliberate determination, and it's only a matter of seconds,
before Theo's entire body suddenly tenses up, making him shudder and press his
lips against Max's as though his life depends on it.

And just like that, almost taking
him by surprise, he feels it, feels that wonderful, amazing release. He's
vaguely aware of Max thrusting into his hand just a couple more times, before
having the exact same reaction, pressing his body down against Theo, and they
breathe together through the climax, for what feels like several seconds.

It's after a few moments of panting
and recuperating, afterwards, that either of them says or does anything, and
it's Max who does it.

"You're so amazing," he
murmurs, kissing Theo's throat, his jaw, his cheek. Theo's eyes are closed, but
he can hear the way Max says it as though he's mostly thinking out loud, an
almost desperate edge to his voice. "Fuck, you're so beautiful."

Theo swallows dryly, feeling as
though he might pass out, and he moves one hand up to card his fingers through
Max's black, sweat-damp hair.

"We should do that again,
sometime" he murmurs absently, to his own surprise, and Max chuckles
breathlessly against his neck. Theo just barely registers how he just made an
almost direct reference to what Max said that time, the first time they kissed,
behind the school.

"Sure thing," Max says,
moving up to kiss Theo on the mouth, and Theo finally opens his eyes, Max's
face flushed and his expression pleased, above him. "Anytime."

Theo smiles. He would like that.

Chapter 12

Covers

It's the feeling of being surprisingly cold that wakes
Theo up the next morning.

A slight chill sweeps over his arm,
and as he feels the skin prickle with goose bumps, he slowly opens his eyes,
automatically pulling his arm in underneath the cover. It's nice and warm under
here, and he closes his eyes again, snuggling into the sheets, face burrowing
into the pillow. It smells nice, and he inhales deeply. It smells familiar.

Theo opens his eyes again as he
realizes whose smell it is, and he groggily looks around. He's in Max's room;
he recognizes the posters and dark color of the walls, in the daylight. And the
sheets smell like him, warm and nice, enough to make Theo curl up slightly
underneath the cover, cocooning himself in its warmth. He closes his eyes. But
it's still cold.

The uncomfortable temperature makes
Theo wake up more properly, and when he opens his eyes for a third time, he
notices that the bed is empty, aside from him. He looks around again. No Max in
sight. And why is it so damn cold?

He looks up at the window, then,
the one above the headboard of Max's bed, and has his suspicions confirmed;
it's open, just the slightest bit. And Theo swears that there's the tiniest
scent of cigarette smoke sifting in through the crack, along with the cold air.

It's with tired reluctance that Theo
sits up in the bed, only to feel those goose bumps spread all over his skin,
and he immediately pulls the cover up to his shoulders, frowning slightly,
sleepy and annoyed. He ends up sloppily wrapping the cover around him, instead,
before getting up on his knees and leaning over the bed's headboard, pushing
the window open. The cold air hits him in the face, and he groans, squinting.

"Hey." Max's voice is
soft, as he notices him, and Theo turns to his right. Max is sitting there, on
the roof, back against the outer wall of the house and his knees pulled up.
He's fully dressed, a lit cigarette in his hand, and when he sees Theo's
disgruntled, tired expression, he chuckles.

"Sorry, babe," he says,
flicking some ashes off his cigarette. "Didn't mean to wake you."

Theo doesn't reply, simply lowers
his head and rests his chin against the windowsill. The cover is thick and
fluffy, wrapped around him all the way up to his neck, over his shoulders.

"What time is it?" he
murmurs, voice cracked with sleep, and his eyelids droop slightly, as he looks
straight ahead.

"About eight-thirty," Max
says, and Theo groans again, frowning.

"Why?"

Max chuckles, grinding out his
cigarette against the roof, before moving over to Theo.

"Because I woke up, dying for
a smoke," he says, crouching in front of him. "And last night was
amazing, and I didn't get a chance to have one, then."

Theo looks up at him questioningly,
chin still resting on the windowsill, and Max smiles, pierced eyebrow raised
pointedly.

"Nothing beats a post-orgasm
cigarette," he says, and Theo is reminded of what, in fact, happened last
night. Just the thought of it makes him blush and look down, and Max laughs
affectionately, moving his hand down to softly card his fingers through Theo's
bedhead.

"Don't tell me you're getting
all shy on me, now," he says, and Theo groans.

"Yes," he murmurs into
the cover. But Max just chuckles quietly, before tugging softly on Theo's hair.

"Come on," he says.
"Let's get back inside."

"I am inside," Theo says,
looking up as Max straightens slightly.

"Yeah, well, I'm not,"
Max retorts. "And it's freezing out here."

Theo narrows his eyes at him, and
Max makes a little shooing motion with his hands.

"Come on," he says.
"Move it, sleepyhead."

Theo groans for the hundredth time,
but obligingly backs away, so that Max can climb in through the window. As soon
as he's inside, he closes it, and he gets off the bed. Theo practically falls
over onto the mattress, still exhausted, cover still wrapped around him like a
cocoon, and he watches as Max takes his long sleeved t-shirt off, followed by a
pair of black sweatpants. Pretty soon, he's wearing nothing but boxers.

"Alright," he says,
climbing into bed. "Move over."

Theo groans indignantly, pulling
his cover-cocoon tighter around him.

"No," he mumbles, and Max
tilts his head at him.

"Share?" he says, and
Theo burrows down deeper, only his head poking out, as he lies there on the
bed.

"Get your own," he says,
and Max snorts.

"I have my own," he says.
"You're just hogging it."

Theo doesn't reply, and Max leans
down and kisses his forehead.

"Please?" he says, mock
innocence and mischief in his voice. He kisses Theo again, closer to his mouth.
"Theo?"

He kisses him on the mouth then,
properly, warmly, and Theo squints at him as he pulls away.

"Pretty please?"

The sweetness is so obviously a
ruse, but Theo still relents, and rolls out of his cover-cocoon, just enough
for Max to be able to slip in underneath the cover with him, a smug smile on his
face. And although his tattooed skin is cold against Theo's sleep-warmed body,
he moves in closer, and Theo doesn't mind, wrapping his arms around his form.
Max sighs contentedly, burrowing his nose against the hollow of Theo's throat.

"Now, this is an awesome way
to wake up," he murmurs, and Theo hums in agreement. He's still pretty
tired, eyes closed, and he could easily fall asleep right now, if he wanted to.

"I mean," Max says,
"I've already woken up, but I'm willing to forget about that and pretend
this is my first wake-up today."

Theo laughs tiredly, eyes closed.

"You do that," he
murmurs, and sighs as he feels Max press a soft kiss against his collarbone.
Neither of them speaks for a few seconds.

"I mean it," Max
eventually says, softly. "Can't remember the last time I felt this happy
about waking up."

Theo opens his eyes, unsure of how
to reply to that. It's almost as if Max's words are a physical thing, seeping
in through his skin and into his bones, warming him up from the inside, and he
has no idea how to convey that feeling.

So he just pulls Max closer and
cards his fingers through his hair, planting a kiss against his temple.

"Me, too," he says,
hoping Max can hear just how sincere that reply is, and judging from the way he
presses himself against him, he can.

Another few seconds of comfortable
silence follow, before Theo sighs.

"Maybe we should get up,"
he suggests, and to his surprise, Max is the one who groans, this time.

"No," he says, nuzzling
closer against his boyfriend, and Theo looks down at that messy black hair.

"You've already been up,"
he points out. "You've even been outside."

"True," Max murmurs
against his skin. "But then I came back to bed, and realized what a bad
idea that was."

He sighs.

"I've got everything I need,
right here," he continues. "I have no reason to get up."

The way Theo's entire body suddenly
feels like it's made from warm liquid is unexpected and unfamiliar, as though
Max's words have some profound kind of effect on him. But it makes him smile
like an idiot, all the same.

"Well, what about
breakfast?" he asks, but Max just grabs the edge of the cover and pulls it
up over his head.

"I'm willing to make that
sacrifice," he says, voice muffled underneath the fabric and stuffing, and
Theo actually chuckles.

"What about coffee?" he
tries, and for a second, Max doesn't answer, as though deliberating. Then, when
the answer doesn't come, Theo crawls in underneath the cover with him, so that
they're both hidden underneath it, face to face. Max narrows his blue, makeup-free
eyes at Theo's prompt, as though suspicious.

"You drive a hard
bargain," he finally says, and Theo sighs, a small smile on his face.

"If it's any
consolation," he says, "I don't want to get up, either."

"Then, why suggest it?"
Max growls, kissing him on the mouth. Theo tries to ignore the way his whole
body tenses up at that.

"Because I'm really
hungry," he replies against Max's mouth, between kisses. "And we
can't just stay in bed all day."

"Yes, we can," Max purrs,
sliding his hand over Theo's bare back. "It's Saturday."

Theo takes a deep breath. God, it's
ridiculous how amazing and enticing it sounds to just stay here, all day. But
then his stomach rumbles, and the romance kind of dies.

"How about we eat," he
suggests, fighting every other fiber in his being that just wants to stay put,
"and then we can get back to this?"

Max hums in thought, before pulling
way a little bit.

"Fine," he says, with a
dramatic sigh. "I suppose I can make that compromise."

They end up having cold leftover pizza
for breakfast, and Theo watches as Max makes some coffee, while he leans
against the fridge, chewing down a pizza slice. They're both dressed, mostly
due to the fact that they're still tired and the morning air is still a bit too
chilly, even inside. Max didn't bother putting on a shirt, though, which leaves
him wearing only the same pair of sweatpants he wore earlier, when he sat on
the roof.

He looks tired, Theo observes,
pulling his fingers through his black hair, blinking sleepily. It seems that whatever
energy he got from getting up and sitting outside in the cold morning air for
ten minutes, has completely vanished, and Theo can't help but smile at the
sight of him, standing there, staring at the coffee maker.

Theo finishes his pizza, and makes his
way over there, moving up behind Max, who stands with his palms leaning against
the kitchen counter. The way he completely relaxes as Theo wraps his arms
around him from behind, and then sighs, is immensely satisfying.

"I could really get used to
this," Max murmurs, and Theo hums as he presses a kiss against his bare,
partly tattooed shoulder.

"To what?" he asks, and
Max leans his head back slightly.

"This," he says, moving
his hands up to Theo's lower arms, draped over his stomach. He smoothes over
the skin slowly with his fingers, and the way it makes Theo sigh contentedly is
clarification enough of what, exactly, Max means.

"Oh, that," he murmurs
against Max's skin, and Max chuckles.

"You can play innocent with me
all you like, Davis," he says, "but you know exactly what you're
doing."

Theo smiles against his skin.

"I really don't," he
says. "You just make it easy."

He nuzzles into Max's black, messy
hair and closes his eyes as he inhales, breathing in the warm, familiar scent
of him.

"When it comes to you,"
he murmurs, without thinking, "all of this is just... easy."

He can't find a better way of
putting it. Sure, Max makes him nervous and a bit scared, but at the same time,
he makes him so brave. Theo is fully aware of how he would have never dared to
do half the things he does with Max, with anyone else, that even though Max
makes him nervous, he also wants Theo. He wants him to move closer, wants him
to touch him, and when Theo does, he's always kind of surprised at just how
much Max seems to enjoy it.

But Max
wants
Theo to talk
to him, to be with him, and it makes Theo brave enough to do those things,
because he wants it, too.

It just makes it... easy.

Max sighs contentedly, and slowly turns
around in Theo's arms, so that they face each other, and Theo's hands are at
his back, instead. And he just looks at him, with those dark blue eyes that
Theo still isn't quite used to seeing without the black framing of eyeliner, as
he moves one hand up to Theo's face, slowly smoothing over his cheekbone with
his thumb.

For a few moments, Max looks like
he's going to say something, but he seems to decide against it. Instead, he
just leans in and plants a kiss on Theo's mouth, and Theo closes his eyes as he
kisses him back. It's not until several seconds later that they pull apart, and
Max smiles. Actually, it's more of a smirk.

"I think I'd like to go back
to bed, now," he says, and Theo can't help but think that that sounds like
a great idea.

They do go back to bed, after very briefly considering
doing something else, and then deciding against it. What else would they do,
anyway? Watch a movie? Study? Just the thought of getting anything at all done
is laughable, seeing as how they seem to have a hard time tearing their
attention away from each other for more than ten seconds.

So, bed it is, in lack of any
better ideas.

Although, curling up underneath the
covers in Max's bed, with nothing but warm skin and soft touches and deep
kisses to keep them occupied, is pretty much the greatest idea either of them
can think of.