Ch. 18 – No-Fun April

Chapter Eighteen – No-Fun April

Jett let the booze on the table and went to find Zane, mostly because he was still too pissed at April, but also because he wanted to throw that unwanted guest out of the house. He walked into the living room, to find Zane with one arm slung around Dan's shoulders, and Dan with an almost terrified expression on his face. In one glance, he noticed Zane's thigh next to Dan's. Also, Dan was tapping the floor nervously with one foot. Maybe he would just let Zane deal with that fucking stalker, Jett thought.

Still, he needed to make things clear. "Listen here, buzz cut," he said. Dan's head snapped up and looked at him like a poor rabbit caught in the line of fire. "April is my boyfriend," Jett pointed at his chest, "and you have no business trying to get into his pants."

"I'm not doing that!" Dan protested. "I just thought he was in danger."

Jett's eyes narrowed to thin slits. "Why the fuck would he be in danger?"

"Because you're some kind of mafia," Dan blurted out. "I heard April talking to his friends. Do you even still have all your fingers?"

Jett stared at his own hands, a bit surprised, and then he shook his head. "The fuck you're talking about? I work security, asshole."

Dan didn't appear convinced. He was still seconds away from pissing himself, but at least Jett could give him points for standing his ground. That meant that Dan had, indeed, some feelings for April. Whatever, it was not like Jett would go out of the way to let this schmuck waltz in and steal April away.

"I won't give up on April," Dan replied. "I don't care what you do or what you are."

"Do you really want me to kick your ass?" Jett cracked his neck.

As usual, that did the trick. Dan's face looked like a white paste. "I don't care that you have a gun, either!"

"Do you have a gun?" Zane intervened in the conversation, although he had remained silent until that moment.

Jett grimaced. It looked like April's friends had some weird ideas about him. But as long as buzz cut boy was scared of him, anything worked. He had a hunch that messing Dan up wouldn't sit well with April, and right now, he wasn't in his boyfriend's graces, which was a total bummer. So he could solve this without unnecessary violence.

"Maybe you should hit the road," Jett said to Dan.

Zane tightened his hold on his prize, and Dan turned his head to stare at him. For a couple of seconds, Dan struggled silently to get away from Zane, but it appeared that he had not one chance to do so, which was funny seeing how big he was. Zane was having fun, the asshole.

"I'll just stick around and watch over April," Dan eventually said, to avoid admitting defeat. "I heard you're throwing some mad party."

Zane was now holding him with both arms and appeared very satisfied. "Can I have him, please?"

Jett frowned. "What do you want with this shmuck, Zane? He's not even your type."

Dan was still trying to get away from Zane, and Jett shook his head.

"He might not be, but hey, I'm suddenly in the mood for some vanilla goodness," Zane said as he stared at Dan from up close.

"Vanilla, what? Whatever, I don't want to know. Just keep an eye on him," Jett warned his friend.

"I won't have eyes for anyone else; I promise," Zane said with a huge grin. "This party is going to be so awesome."

"Could you please let go of me?" Dan demanded, but Zane just shook his head. "Hey," he called after Jett, "are you going to leave me alone with this weirdo?"

Jett didn't even spare him a glance as he walked out.

***

April woke up to the sound of booming music. He had no idea when he had managed to doze off, but, apparently, reading in bed had the effect of a sleeping pill, even if it was barely – he checked his phone – ten pm.

So the party started, and Jett didn't care about even coming around to check on Jay. April was trying to tell himself that he was pissed at Jett for being an irresponsible father, but there was something else nagging him. He was actually upset because Jett hadn't thought at all about talking to him about the party. It wasn't about asking his opinion, or permission, or whatever, because that would have been too much, but about just talking to him. He had obviously had the time to talk about the party with Zane, and even go shopping with him.

April sighed. He didn't know Jett at all, and aside from the great time they had in bed, there wasn't much they could share. Oh, they got all right when going to walks in the park, or taking care of Jay together. Also, they seemed to be somewhat in synch, how they walked around the house. And the day before, Jett had even put the plates in the dishwasher.

What was he thinking? He liked Jett. Or worse. Maybe he had exaggerated when yelling stupid things in front of the house earlier, but he was a bit, okay not much, maybe, a little, in love with Jett. He had always been, so there might have been some residual feelings and …

April groaned and buried his face into the pillow. Good thing Jay was such a heavy sleeper. Although the music was loud, he didn't stir. April had managed to give Jay his bath and his dinner without bumping into Jett at all. Good thing that there was another bathroom downstairs because April didn't want drunkards stumbling around and making a mess.

Maybe he was not all judgy. Maybe Jett's friends were cool people who didn't puke all over the place.

And maybe, by now, the place was swarming with all kinds of people, including girls who could charm Jett and steal him away. April turned and covered his face with the pillow. Great, now he was jealous, too. Had he any right to be, though? Yeah, apparently, he was Jett's boyfriend, but seeing how quickly Jett was usually moving from one relationship to another, it was clear as day that it wouldn't be far-fetched to believe that he had been a temporary solution, too.

April remained under the pillow, although it was almost impossible to breathe. All right, he wouldn't asphyxiate himself just because Jett was getting busy with his lady friends. He threw the pillow away. Maybe if he hadn't been such a stuck-up about the party … But hey, as far as Jay was concerned, he was right. The baby seemed to sleep like an angel, but what if things were getting really wild?

Someone needed to be the adult. April was okay with that. He was not much of a party person, anyway. Truth be told, he hadn't been that much of an adult when he had decided to borrow money from the wrong people. With that, he had put in motion a veritable domino effect, but without doing so, he would have never met Jett again.

If it wasn't to be, if Jett still found lady friends much more enticing than the prospect of playing house with April, he was okay with it.

No, no, he wasn't okay with it. How could he be? April sighed and turned on one side.

***

"Hey, Jett." A girl in tight jeans walked over to him and placed a small peck on his cheek. "I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

"Hey, Daisy," Jett replied, barely sparing the girl a look.

"Denise," the girl said, and she seemed a bit annoyed that he didn't remember.

"Yeah, right, whatever," Jett said and took the bottle from the table and walked away before Denise could squeeze in another word.

So far, this party was the pits. Yeah, sure, everyone was having fun, drinking, dancing, and getting freaky (he had had some trouble trying to make everyone steer clear of the rooms upstairs), only he felt like crap.

April hadn't cared about coming down and talking to him for hours. Probably he was still pissed, but Jett was pissed, too. He took another swig straight from the bottle. Not even booze had the effect he wanted.

That was it. He needed to go upstairs and sort April out. How exactly, he had no idea, and the thought that he didn't know how to deal with a pissed April – pissed for real – stopped him from taking another step.

What, was he a coward now? Without getting rid of the bottle, he began walking up the stairs.

"Hey, Jett, mind if I come up, too?" The girl from before hang from his arm.

Jett looked at her and frowned, searching for an excuse. Then he realized that he didn't need to invent one. "Look, babe, I have a boyfriend now."

"A boyfriend?" She seemed shocked.

"Yeah. And now, he's mighty pissed at me."

Denise, oh, yeah, that was her name, frowned a little. "What did you do?"

"Nothing!" Jett said, quite defensively.

"It's not nothing if he's pissed at you," Denise said. "Where is he?"

"Upstairs, watching over our son," Jett explained.

"Son?" Now Denise seemed to have the impression that Jett was totally pulling her leg. "Do you have a baby in the house?"

"Yeah," Jett said and shrugged.

"And you're throwing a party?"

Jett now stared at the girl, at the glitter covering her cleavage and cheekbones, and the revealing clothes. Really, now his own party people were judging him? "Yeah, he sleeps like a log," he explained.

Denise shook her head. "And your boyfriend takes care of the baby? Wait, who's baby is it?"

"Ours," Jett said in the most natural voice possible.

"Give me a break, Jett. I get it that you got yourself a boyfriend since Zane always threatened us the girls that one day you'd walk into the sunset with some dude, but I can't buy it that you got this dude knocked up."

"No, I didn't knock him up," Jett finally realized what he was saying, "April is just taking care of Jay. He's mine. The baby. And April. April is mine, too."

"Wow, so possessive," Denise said. "Okay, tough boy, now go upstairs and apologize to your boyfriend. I'd say you should turn off the music and send everyone home, but it took me half an hour to get into these jeans, I can't sit down, so I need to dance. Tootles!"

She turned on her heels and left him there, wondering why the hell he had to apologize. Whatever, Jett thought and began walking up the stairs. April had to apologize for acting like a granny or something.

***

A sound startled April, who got on his feet and tiptoed to the door. Hadn't he been clear enough when asking Jett to keep the guests away from the rooms upstairs? Having to fight off some drunk people was not exactly on his list of priorities, especially since he expected to be somewhat on the losing side. If Jett's friends were as big and mean like him, April was in serious trouble.

The first reaction was to hold the door. Could that door be locked? Sure thing it could, but April didn't remember anything about a key. Now he didn't have time to look around since the knob was turning.

He propped himself against the door, and, for a couple of seconds, whoever was on the other side stopped.

"This room is already taken! We're fucking here!" April said out loud, hoping that sort of lie was enough to send the unwelcome visitors away.

The door pushed against him so hard and fast that he was almost sent flying across the bed. Just in time, he managed to preserve his dignity and managed to land on it, his arms and legs splayed.

"Who are you fucking?" A voice boomed from behind him.

April turned, feeling righteously angry. He stopped upon seeing Jett, who slammed the door shut behind him and began to search the room in a frenzy. "What are you doing? No one's fucking anyone," he said. Like on cue, Jay started crying. "Great." April stood up and went to the crib. "Do you see what you did? Slamming the door and shouting obscenities."

He took Jay in his arms and began shushing him gently. Jett appeared to have calmed down because he stopped his frenzied search and came behind him. "Why did you say you were fucking someone?" he whispered into April's ear.

"I just wanted whoever it was to go away," April whispered back. "And let's stop with the f-word in front of Jay. I'm afraid that would be part of his vocabulary from a too young age."

"You used it first," Jett hissed at him.

"Yeah, sorry, my bad. I panicked. Where the hell is the key to this room?"

Jett moved and grabbed the key from the top of a bookcase. He then went and locked the door. Then April noticed the alcohol bottle left on a chest of drawers. He returned to his job of calming Jay since he had no idea just yet what Jett could want, walking in there, with a bottle of booze, and clearly an attitude.

Jay seemed to calm down gradually, and April thanked heavens for having such a good-natured child in his care. He eased Jay slowly into his crib and whispered some endearing words for a while, and tried to sing a lullaby, despite having no apt voice for that kind of thing. All this time, Jett was silent, which was unnerving big time.

Finally, April had to move away from Jay's crib and face Jett. "So, how's the party?" he asked casually, in a low voice.

"It sucks," Jett replied with a shrug.

"Why?" April asked, looking at Jett, and wondering again why he had to be in love with such a wild man. His dad could have told him that such questions never had answers. People loved who they loved, and that was it.

"Because you're not there," Jett replied in a heartbeat.

April felt his jaw going slack. Also, something was melting, right in the middle of his chest. It had to be his righteous anger. The look in Jett's beautiful eyes was enough to melt an iceberg, let alone April's mild annoyance.

Yeah, mild. Half an hour ago, he was trying to suffocate himself with a pillow.

"Are you here to convince me to go party with you, then?" He tried to sound casual, and crossed his arms over his chest, in an effort to resist that ice-melting look in Jett's eyes. Smoldering eyes … April shook his head. He needed to be a little firm, though, smoldering eyes notwithstanding.

Jett nodded. "Yeah. Then the party won't suck no more."

April sighed. "I can't."

"You're no fun," Jett reproached.

April rolled his eyes and then stared at Jett. "Really? Jay was crying, like one minute ago. Are you that irresponsible?"

Jett frowned. "I'm not. He's okay now, isn't he?"

"Yeah. But it's because he knows he's cared for. I can't just abandon him and go party," April said.

"Because you're no fun, and you just like to exaggerate," Jett replied.

"And you're trying to piss me off for some reason. Okay, I'm no fun," April admitted. "Now that we established that, please, go back to your party."

"Not without you."

"Then sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not coming."

April plopped down on the bed and began playing with his phone. Jett came and lay next to him. He placed his head on April's shoulder, apparently very interested in how April was smashing little monsters on the screen.

"You play without sound," Jett pointed out.

"For the umpteenth time, baby in the room," April said, pretending not to be taken with Jett's smell, cigarette and alcohol, and other things that were bad for him.

Jett moved away and went near the crib. April observed him from the corner of one eye. There was a small smile on Jett's face and fondness, too. "Do you love Jay more than you love me?"

The question caught him by surprise. "Yeah, of course, I do love him more."

It was mostly to tease Jett, but the reply that came was even more surprising. "That's the right answer, April Summer."

"Really?" April put his phone aside. "Aren't you going to throw a tantrum because you're not number one?"

Jett smiled as he looked at him. "No, because that means you just admitted that you love me, too."

It could be all right to be a little pissed at being tricked like that. But instead, he smiled. "So you're pretty sharp, huh? And you just pretend to be a big oaf when it suits you."

"Big oaf." Jett snickered. "You can just call me an asshole, you know? You don't have to try to be so correct all the time."

"Hey, I'm no-fun April." He shrugged like it was nothing. But it had been on his mind sometimes how maybe he wasn't that much of a fun guy, at least not as much as other people his age.

"Oh, that." Jett moved slowly toward the bed.

There was a dip in the coverlet as Jett climbed on it. April stared and felt a little vulnerable. Jett kept his eyes on him, and suddenly, it was like the sound of the party downstairs was far away.

"I think you're plenty fun, dweeb," Jett said as he reached him and caught his lips in a short but sweet kiss. "It's just that's not on the surface like it's with other people."

"Does imbibing usually do this to you? You're suddenly almost polite and considerate," April teased him.

"I'm trying to be romantic, you sexy fool," Jett replied.

"I had no idea you had it in you."

"I hadn't, either."

Jett had a way of kissing that made April leaned into like he needed more contact. His bottom lip was caught and tortured. Jett was lying on top of him, and April was holding onto his phone because he was afraid, so very much afraid that if he let go of it, it would cut the only link he had with reality.

Jett withdrew with a sigh. April held the phone up, like a shield, but then he lowered it. "You know you're heavy, right?"

Jett just smiled. It wasn't a grin, there was no smugness there, and April could feel himself melting into the bed, dropping a few inches in, just because Jett stared and smiled at him like that.

"I'm pretty sure you can handle everything."

April bit his lips. "Thanks for the confidence, I guess."

"You may look like a dweeb, but you're stronger than what you're letting on."

"Does booze bring out the psychoanalyst in you?"

Jett let his eyelids droop, and the smiled now did seem just a tiny bit smug. "Don't knock it until you try it."

"I don't get what you're hinting at," April said in a small voice.

"You know, I have a confession to make."

April could feel his ears pricking like a dog catching the sound of hooves in the distance. "Really?" His voice was as tiny as his heart now.

Jett nodded. He rested his chin on the back of his hands and pressed onto April's chest with them. "Taking care of Jay, getting in touch with this crazy idea, you know, that I'm a dad, I couldn't have done it without you."

"We met by accident. Don't say that. Then I should be the one saying that you're stronger than you think."

Jett laughed softly. "You're cutting me a lot of slack, April Summer. You know how you are to me?"

April finally let go of his phone. He was disarmed, that was what he was now. He shook his head slowly.

"It's like this weird thing inside," Jett began. "It's all shiny and perfect on the outside. But there's a crack, you know?"

A crack? April blinked a few times. He didn't know if he could bear for Jett to go back to that. He never visited that place if he could help it.

"There's this crack," Jett continued, "and you're like putty, the kind that people who build houses use to fill up all the cracks, and you're the good kind, you know?"

April could hardly breathe now. "I'm putty. Okay. Not what I was expecting." Tried as he might, there was no way he could make light of the situation. Jett was slightly drunk; that was all that was to it.

"You fill that crack. You make that thing inside whole and perfect," Jett concluded, ignoring his little attempt to jab.

"Glad to be of help," April mumbled, although he almost felt like crying.

"So, you see, you can be as no fun as you want." Jett moved only enough so that he could free one hand and touch April's cheek slowly. "It's not about fun. Hell, I could live with no booze and cigarettes forever."

"I should hold you to that," April said. "How much did you have to drink, anyway?"

Jett didn't answer. His lips tasted like bad good things, or good bad things, as he closed the distance between them and kissed April again.

April knew he was getting all confused in his mind, too. But it didn't matter. That had had to be a gigantic leap of faith for Jett to cover. He had done it in his own peculiar way, but April understood it. At thirteen, at twenty, and he was sure at ninety-nine, too, he would still understand it. The link between them had to be so strong that it was bound for them to happen.

"Jett," he whispered softly. "Maybe --"

Someone rapped on the door hard. "Man, are you in there?"

Jett pushed himself up and went to open the door. "What the fuck you want, Zane?"

"Condoms, obviously."

"Fuck you," Jett said simply. "Wait, are you --"

April couldn't see Zane, but it had to be something that the guy was doing or whispering that Jett sighed in annoyance and went out the door.

Was it a good idea to tell Jett everything? It felt like something that would break the spell. Jett could say anything he wanted. The thing was that it didn't matter. April would love him either way.

He was a bit startled when Jett came back. This time, he was grinning year to year.

"What are you so satisfied about?"

Jett plopped down on the bed and took him by the shoulders. "I think your stalker will get his cherry popped."

It took April a few seconds to understand what Jett was saying. "Oh, no. Jett, that's not a good idea."

"Why?"

"Because Dan isn't even out, and come on, it's like, Zane just met him today, right?"

"And?" Jett seemed genuinely confused.

"Dan must be vulnerable!"

Jett burst into laughter. April hushed him. It was a miracle Jay could sleep through all that.

"That dude? Vulnerable? Which inch of his six feet and a half is that?"

April huffed. "He's not that tall!"

He climbed out of bed. "Where are they?"

"April, dude, don't be the cockblock police."

"I can't let him make such a mistake!"

Jett frowned. "Do you have feelings for this dude?"

"No! Not that kind of feelings! It's just, I'm responsible! If it weren't for me, he wouldn't be here."

"Well, trust me, a guy as big as that could get away from Zane if he wanted. My guess is he doesn't want to get away."

"But --" April tried to insist.

Jett continued to frown. "You go there, you tell them to stop, and that asshole will think you're feeling for him. For real. And then, he'll be my pain in the butt. Do you know what I do about pains in the butt?"

"Apply ointment?"

Jett's smirk was almost feral. "If you want me to put that dude in his place, go ahead and cockblock him and Zane. But the next thing I do, I'll make sure he understands he's not to come within one mile of your ass."

"We go to the same college. That would be tricky."

"I have a solution. If he ends up in the hospital, he won't have to go to school."

"Jett, you're an ass," April replied. "And I can't believe you! Are you serious?"

Jett stood up. "If you're willing to test me …"

April put his hands up and crossed his arms, forming a defense. "I will not be bullied."

Jett caught his arms and put them down. "All right, fine. Buzzcut boy won't get a beating from me. But you don't go around, making decisions for him. You're some bully yourself if you do that."

April opened his mouth but found no words of rebuttal. Jett was right, after all. He had no right to interfere. Dan was old enough to look after himself. "Wait, what if he's drunk or something?"

Jett sighed. "Zane likes his partners sober enough and willing. He won't fuck some unconscious dude. He's my friend, and I vouch for him."

April could feel his shoulders dropping. "All right. I trust you. But if you do me wrong --"

"I'll go and check on them, okay?" Jett said. "If buzz cut boy is too gone to know what he's doing, Zane will put his dick back into his pants. Okay?"

"Okay." April nodded shortly.

***

Jett wanted to strangle Zane for his weird taste in dudes. Now he wouldn't disappoint April, and he would check on those two. Good thing he knew all the places Zane would pick for fucking.

After checking three of them, he finally headed for the basement. It was easy to tell by the smooching sounds coming from down below that he had hit the jackpot. Usually, seeing how Zane was already at it, he would back away and not ruin the fun. But he had a promise to honor to April, so that left no room for negotiations.

All right, so maybe he wasn't keen on letting Zane do the nasty with buzzcut boy all over his bench press where they were currently sitting.

He didn't make a lot of noise as he went down the stairs, but now he needed to draw the attention of those two love birds. He cleared his throat once, then twice.

"Seriously, dudes? Can an army walk on you, and you don't give a fuck?"

The smooching finally stopped. Zane turned toward him with murder in his eyes. Buzzcut boy looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Jett studied him carefully. He looked a little flushed.

"What the fuck, Jett?" Zane complained.

"Just one thing, and then, I let you two fuck. Although you could use a blanket or something. Buzzcut, how much did you drink?"

Dan looked terrified as he looked at him. "One beer and a half. Why? Are you going to charge me or something?"

Jett waved. "All right. So would you say you're perfectly capable of pushing this guy away if he tries to stick it into your butt, and you don't like it?"

Dan blushed so hard, Jett was almost sure he would soon see steam going out of his ears. "Is this a fucking prank or something?" He stood up, ignoring Zane, who was trying to stop him.

Jett put one hand on his shoulder. "I just need to know that you can agree to sex."

Dan pushed him away. "I don't know what April sees in you. You're just a fucking bully."

"That's rich, coming from you," Jett pointed out.

"What the hell, man?" Zane jumped to his feet, too. "Since when do you know me to fuck passed out guys or something?"

Jett put his hands up. "Sorry, man. It's just that April was worried buzz cut boy here might not be capable of saying 'yes'."

Zane looked pissed as hell as he walked over to him. "He said 'yes'. Like twenty times or so. Tell him, Dan."

Dan was moving backward toward the stairs. "You guys are a bunch of freaks. Just leave me the fuck alone. I'm getting out of here." He was about to climb up when he turned. "Is April really worried about me?"

Jett cursed under his breath. Just what he expected. Damn April and his righteousness.

"Dan," Zane called after him. "Come on, man. It was just getting good."

Dan turned back on his heels. "Whatever. April likes me!" He threw quickly over one shoulder as he hurried out.

Zane pushed Jett away so hard that he stumbled back a step or two. But he didn't go after Dan. "Seriously, man? Cockblocking me? What's gotten into you?"

"April is just worried."

"And? Couldn't you tell him to let us enjoy ourselves?"

Jett shrugged. "Better I cockblock you than him."

"He likes Dan or something?"

"No! Of course not."

"Then what's his deal?"

"He just thought Dan was vulnerable or something. You know, not being out and all that which I don't know about," Jett explained.

Zane exhaled. "All right. I would punch you so much right now. But it's all right."

"You're taking it well."

"I got his number." Zane grinned as he looked at him.

Jett grinned, too. "So, are you going to chase his dude a little?"

"Yeah, why not? It's better that way. But tell April he owes me big time for making me let that juicy perfect piece of ass go like that."

"Sure," Jett agreed.

"You know I'm talking about your boyfriend."

Jett pushed one finger into Zane's shoulder. "And you know that, too. So stick to asking him to cook your favorites this week or something. No funny business or I'll whoop your ass."

"Okay, boss. But April will work hard to help me hook up with Dan, for real."

"Be my guest," Jett said in an amused voice.

"All right, man. I'll keep you to that."

***

Jett snuck back into the room and took in April as he lay on the bed. He supported his head with one stretched arm, and he was snoring softly. Jett had been away for a little while as he had had to appease Zane by drinking a few shots with him.

He kissed April softly as he lay next to him. April moved and put his head on Jett's shoulder. "How is Dan?" he asked in the drowsy voice sleepy people used.

"His cherry is intact, so don't worry. Although he wasn't drunk or anything. By the way, Zane will send you a list to your phone."

"What list?"

"His favorite foods. You know, payment for cockblocking him."

"I can live with that."

"You must also help him with Dan. Zane likes that asshole."

"Okay. It's fair."

Jett smiled. It was so like April to be so cool. Maybe he needed to rattle the cage a little. "I know someone else's cherry that won't be intact for long, though."

As sleepy as he was, April stiffened a little. "Yeah, I know."

Jett kissed April's forehead. "Good. I don't want you to forget."

April wrapped a leg around him. "I could never."

Jett sighed, this time in satisfaction. Well, it would be hell to sleep like that since his dick got hard as soon as April was close, but he could live with that, too.

TBC