Dirty Dishes

After a couple of weeks, the team was starting to look good. Even the Stolls were learning actual plays and not just improvising, all thanks to Jason. Speaking of which, I was beginning to think he might not be that bad. He still annoyed me beyond belief, especially when he got the Stolls to respect and obey him, but I, again, found myself thinking we might become friends.

We've certainly gotten on a lot better since we started working out together, even if he was a little pissed when he found out I benched about ten pounds more than him. The only weird thing, I caught him just like staring at me sometimes. I didn't mind, though. I was used to people staring at my body like I was a cow at an auction.

Coach finally introduced us to the senior players, and most of them were very welcoming. Luke, though he was happy to see me and the other 'Greeks' (Half-blood High's football team), didn't seem to welcome the 'Romans' (Jupiter High's football team) as much. One certain blonde was apparently on his hit list.

In all honesty, I expected it when Jason outplayed him for first string QB, but in the same breath, I felt kind of protective of Superman now, and I didn't particularly like it when Luke antagonised him. I was so stupid to think Luke would, of all people, actually care what I think of the guy. After practice, we all made our way back to the locker rooms, me falling into step next to Superman.

"Shit, I forgot my water bottle," I realised as we reached the door "Go on, I'll be right back." I vaguely heard Jason say 'sure' before I ran back to the field. When I got back to the locker rooms though, my blood boiled over.

Luke was beating on Jason as Chris, and some other guy held him by the arms. Other seniors were holding back the few junior guys that wanted to help, and the rest of the juniors just looked too scared to try. As Luke pulled back his arm to land another blow, he suddenly found himself pinned to the lockers.

"Perce? What the fuck, man?" he screeched as I secured my arm across his throat, making sure he wouldn't move an inch. I leaned in until my mouth was directly next to his ear.

"Looks like you missed dick so much you decided to become one," I hissed in a whisper, making sure no one else heard and he stilled.

"I don't know what the fuck you're talking about, Jackson," he said weakly as his eyes fell to the floor.

"Unless you want everybody to know how you use to beg me to fuck your ass, I suggest you apologise to Jason," I whispered back, and his head snapped back up with a horrified look in his eyes.

"You wouldn't," he said so softly it was more like he mouthed it.

"Try me," I said, my stare as challenging as ever. "And I would suggest being as nice as possible to Superman from now on," I added in a low tone. There was a silence where we sized each other up before I saw the defeat in his eyes. I let go of him, and he straightened himself with a shrug.

"Sorry, Grace," he muttered before he walked out the door, followed by Chris and a few other seniors. Silence reigned in the locker room. I went to help Jason up.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Of course I'm okay, Jackson. I didn't ask for your help," he said, shoving me off. I felt myself smile at that.

"You see the thing about friends is..." I started as I nudged his shoulder "...you never have to ask." I got both my and Jason's things and started walking to the door. "You coming?" I asked over my shoulder, and we left the locker room. It would have been impossible for me to stall anyway because I just knew everyone was going to be staring at me the entire time.

"Where are we going?" Jason asked as he took his stuff from me, wiping at his bruised jaw, ever trying to look respectable.

"Leo's making tacos tonight. It's his speciality, so why don't you just come over and chill?" Jason got quiet at that. "What's wrong?" I asked, stopping to look at the blonde.

"I just don't think Leo likes me that much," he said, looking at his shoes.

"You just don't know each other, dude; I'm sure that when you do, you'll be great friends," I said, pulling him along to the flat. When we stepped through the door, the smell of spices filled the flat, and Arctic Monkeys was asking us whether they wanted to know.

"Leo!" I called as I closed the door behind us. He stepped around the corner, and I burst out laughing. He was wearing a pink, frilly apron with 'kiss the cook' written across the front. I couldn't help but think it funny that the straight guy in the apartment wears something like that, while the gay guy comes home from football practice. Somehow I felt the roles should be reversed. When I calmed down, I found Leo eyeing Jason with confusion.

"Oh, um, we had a rough practice, so we're just going to shower and whatever here. Is it cool if Jase stays for taco night?" Leo shrugged and went back to the kitchen.

"Hurry up with the showers though; food's almost ready," he threw back over his shoulder. I smiled at Jason and went down the hall on the left and led him into my room on the right.

"You can shower first if you'd like," I told him as I closed the door behind us. Jason nodded and disappeared into the bathroom. I took out some sweats and a black V-neck shirt to wear after the shower before I started to undress.

Jason came out just as I pulled the tank top over my head. He only had a towel around his waist, droplets falling from his hair onto his chest. The very chest I just realised was very nicely defined and to my surprise, smooth as a baby's bottom.

"Okay, either you haven't gotten your chest hair yet," I started with a smirk, and I could see, rather than hear, him gulp. "Or you wax, dude," I finished, and his eyes dropped to the floor. I knew it was a little mean because both choices was a bit insulting to his manhood, but I just couldn't miss an opportunity to mess with him a little.

"I just don't like hair, okay?" he murmured as he got his clothes out of his bag. Then he looked up as I removed my brace and got a mischievous gleam in his eyes. "If I'm not mistaken, Jackson, it seems you might dislike hair as well," he said, raising an eyebrow as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, but I'm gay," I said just before I slipped into the bathroom, closing the door on the utterly hilarious sight of Jason looking like a fish on dry land. I don't know why I just told him that, though. I was kind of panicked as I washed my hair and body.

I got out and slipped into the sweats and shirt I had brought with me. I stood before the door for a minute before I took a deep breath and opened it to find Jason sitting on my bed.

"Were you serious?" he asked in a low voice. His expression was unreadable, best I could do was, he looked scared.

"Yeah, but don't worry about it," I said, gathering my dirty clothes to go throw it in the wash. "It's not like I'm going to try and jump your bones or anything like that." 'Unless you want me too', my brain unhelpfully supplied. I heard Jason say something. He said it so softly, though, that I couldn't hear what it was.

"What was that?" I asked. He was looking down into his lap, his leg jumping like he had my ADHD.

"Me too," he said, never looking up, and silence fell in between us. I can't explain what I felt at that moment. For a second, I thought he meant he had ADHD too, but then I realised that was stupid unless Jason could read my mind. Then I realised that he meant he was also gay and my interest peaked. Honestly, I had thought about it. You can't blame me; I do have a thing for blondes with blue eyes.

Then I remembered all the times I caught him staring, and I had a thought. Had he thought about it too? I wanted to ask him, but Leo interrupted me, screaming down the hall that the food was done. So we awkwardly made our way to the living room where our plates were waiting for us.

Leo probably picked up on the awkwardness, because he was even more talkative than usual. After a bit of joking, everything was back to normal, and at about eleven all three of us were sprawled out on the floor in front of the TV, recovering from a laughing fit that left us breathless and teary-eyed.

"Well," Leo said as he stood up and dusted himself off. "I'm going to bed. Perce, you're on dishes tonight," he said in a stern voice, pointing his finger at me like he was my mother.

"Yeah, I know," I said, not moving to do anything of the sort. Leo rolled his eyes with one last chuckle.

"Night, Jase," he said as he disappeared down the hall. Jase was staring after him with a smile.

"Told you he'd like you," I said, and Jase rolled his eyes at me before he got up as well.

"We should probably get to work on the dishes," he said, starting to gather everything up.

"You don't have to do anything, Jase," I said as I made to stand as well. I heard a crack and a pain shot up my spine. I fell right back to the floor, and Jason almost dropped the dishes. He practically threw them onto the coffee table and fell down beside me, immediately starting to check me over with frantic hands.

"Jase, I'm fine," I said with a chuckle. "It happens," I said as I sat back up using the coffee table to help myself up.

"It happens?" he asked with disbelief on his face.

"Yeah," I said with a shrug as I picked up the dishes he dropped, only for it to be taken away by the blonde. He looked at me with a strange look, like he was sad or something.

"I don't like seeing you hurting, Perce," he mumbled as he started walking to the kitchen with all the dishes.

"It's not that bad." He raised an eyebrow at me "It was just a long day..." I said, scratching at the back of my neck. That's when I realised he was filling the sink and starting with the dishes. "There's no way I'm going to let you wash the dishes, dude," I stepped forward, but my hands were swatted away.

"Like you said you had a long day," he started, but he didn't quite get the chance to finish.

"Like you haven't?" I asked, crossing my arms and raising an eyebrow at him. I suddenly realised I had about an inch on the blonde. I could feel my lips twitch, itching to smirk, but it didn't go with the challenging look I had going, so I resisted the urge.

"I'll probably do it better than you would anyways," he continued with a smirk, completely ignoring my question. I tried to at least help, but I was swatted away again, this time by soapy hands, so I hopped onto the counter and watched old Superman wash up with his back to me. My head was in the gutter the entire time, though, my eyes glued to his ass. I just wanted to bend him over the counter.

"Perce?" I was so lost in my little fantasy; I didn't even realise he had finished. He was waving a hand in front of my face.

"Sorry, kind of spaced," I said, rubbing my neck, trying to hide the boner I was sporting. Jason chuckled, and fuck was it a sweet sound.

"I guess I should..." he never got the chance to finish that sentence though, because I swallowed it as I tackled him with a kiss, jumping off the counter. I spun us around and pushed him up against it. He finally recovered from the shock and started kissing me back, tangling his hands in my hair. I trailed kisses along his jaw and nipped at his earlobe, becoming harder every second.

"Or you could stay," I whispered in his ear. Hearing the huskiness of my own voice was a little shocking, but it worked because there was a shiver that ran through him.

"I...I t-t-thought you h-had a l-long day," he stuttered as I started sucking and biting his neck.

"Exactly," I said as I backed up to look at him, my hands slipping under his shirt and his breath hitched. "Perfect way to relax, wouldn't you agree?"