Hangout

Louise has debate practice after school, which means either I'm walking or taking the bus home. The bus takes longer than just walking, because it makes a hundred stops before getting to my house, so I decide to walk. walking, however, means I have to pass by Greene's house which is in my neighborhood. And no doubt he'll be outside his garage, fixing his car, by the time I get there.

I finally get to my turn and sure enough, a few houses down I see Greene's car. As I get closer I see him standing by his front porch with...my brother?

When Andy sees me he waves frantically and runs down the drive towards me. "Hey, Alex! Guess what?"

When I don't reply he rolls his eyes, but excitedly says, "Greene says I can keep the games. He holds up the cardboard box to me, and I sigh.

"It's not about Greene letting you keep them, Andy. It's about how mom will literally murder both of us if she sees those. It's also about how you're eight years younger than you're supposed to be to play those games."

He frowns at me and sags down, angrily stomping back to Greene, who's been watching us the whole time. I slowly follow him and watch him hand the box back, mumbling something I can't hear.

Greene just smiles at him and ruffles his hair. "Tell you what," he takes the box from him. "I'll keep these, but their your's, aight? You can come on over and play on my PS whenever you want. How does that sound?"

I watch as Andy grins at him and my heart stings with what, jealousy?

He's never smiled at you like that. My conscience forces. I frown.

Greene looks up at me for a moment, noticing my expression. "But only, if your brother's okay with it." He adds.

What?

Andy looks back at me, hope in his big blue eyes. How do I say no to that?

"Fine," I say, glaring at Greene when Andy isn't looking. He jumps up and down and says to me, "race you home?"

"You go on ahead, I'll catch up."

He runs down the porch stairs and speeds down the road. Shaking my head, I glare at Greene.

"What?" He asks, smiling innocently at me.

"Why the fuck would you do that?"

"Do what?" He tilts his head to the side. Dick.

"You put me in a position where I couldn't say no." I cross my arms at him, making him sigh in exasperation.

"C'mon Alex. Kid just wants to play games. You probably played those when you were ten."

"No. Actually. I didn't."

He frowns at me for a moment, but his face lifts again as he says, "Did you see how happy he was though? He probably doesn't hate you now."

"He never hated me-"

"Do you wanna come in?"

I look up at him, caught off guard. He looks genuinely serious.

"I, um. I gotta go home."

He just smirks at me, crossing his arms and leaning against a beam. "Scared?"

"What? No, I-"

"Got a curfew?

"No."

"Got homework?"

"Yes."

"Come in and give me your notes from today. I wasn't at school, if you hadn't noticed."

I shuffle around and look down the road, where I can just about make out the palm tree in our front yard. The sun is setting, making the cloudless sky a bright orange. I look back at Greene, who's patiently waiting for my answer.

"You know why I'm hesitating, right?"

He nods once. "You're worried because of what happened in the car. I promise," he lifts a hand up, palm facing me, "I won't make a move on you. Not that you didn't like it-"

"Hey."

"-but I won't make a move. I promise."

I nod, walking up towards him and he opens the door for me.

"At least not yet," I hear him mutter under his breath as he closes the door behind us.

I'm screwed.

...

Although the layout of Greene's house is similar to mine, his looks much more homey.

While ours is modern with white walls, sleek, white cabinets and grey and black furniture, Greene's house is all warm browns, cream walls and mahogany tables. In his living room sits the most comfortable looking sofa I ever seen, facing the wall where a huge flat screen tv is perched. The room expands into the kitchen where a woman who I assume to be Greene's mother is, cooking something that smells delicious.

"Hey, ma. This is Alexander." He says my full name, but I don't have time to glare at him before I'm encompassed in a tight hug by his mother. I look at him in alarm and he shrugs as if to say, idk man, she's a hugger.

"Alexander, so nice to meet you!" She says with a slight Italian accent.

"Nice to meet you too, Mrs Romano."

"Please! Call me Francesca," the older woman smiles at me. She and Greene look just alike, with the same hazel, honey eyes, slightly olive complexion and jet black hair. She's tall and slender, while Greene is a few inches shorter with a stronger build. Greene's features are sharper, with a strong jawline and thicker eyebrows, but it is unmistakable that they're mother and son.

"Alex's just gonna give me some notes since I missed out on school today." Greene says, reaching into the fridge and pulling out two cans of coke. Mrs Romano frowns a bit before she glances at me and it disappears immediately. "Alright. I'll call you when its time for dinner."

"We'll be in my room."  Greene nudges me and I follow him up the stairs into his room.

Greene's room is nothing like I imagined it would be, white with one wall painted in an ombre from blue to red, resembling a sunset. His huge bed sits in the middle of the room, with fake palm trees on either side and a tv on the wall across the room. Blue neon lights run across the top of the walls, while red ones run across the bottom, making the room look purple. Most room is covered in different posters of comics, artists and movies while the wall above his desk has polaroids stuck on it. A Playstation console sits on the black table under the tv, and the room is further illuminated by lava lamps perched on every table in the room.

I still can't believe I'm here. I had planned to ignore this boy for the rest of my life after what happened on Saturday, but here I am, talking to him, meeting his mom, sitting on his bed. All less than three days later.

I quickly reach into my bag and pull out my notebooks. "Well, um. Here. We didn't do much learning today. You gotta give these back tomorrow, though, I need to study and finals are next week-"

"Relax, Alexander," he chuckles, grabbing his remote control and switching on the tv.

"Let's hang out for a bit." He takes two controllers  and hands one to me, along with a case containing his games. I flip through the case, pulling out a racing game and handing it to him.

I watch as he stretches forward to put the CD into the playstation. His tshirt rides up, exposing part of his back. I can't help but stare at him, transfixed on the part of his back exposed to me. Finally he sits back up next to me, pushing his hair back.

"You play a lot of games," I say nodding towards his case with at least fifty games in it.

"Yeah. Helps me keep my mind off...stuff."

I notice his frown and decide not to question further. He then starts telling me how to play the play the game while I text Mom, telling her I'll be a little late.

We play for about an hour, telling jokes and laughing. We try to make each other lose by nudging at each other while we play, and one time Greene shoves me so hard I fall off the bed, both of us laughing hysterically. Time flies by and soon it's 7pm, already dark outside. Already I'm feeling sleepy. I let out a loud yawn, triggering Greene to do the same. Just then, his mother shouts something in Italian from downstairs, which I assume means dinner is ready.

"Well, I guess you'd better get home." Greene stands up, picking up my bag for me and reaching out to hand it to me. As I walk towards him I nearly trip over the corner of his bed, but he drops the bag and grabs me just in time. I become very aware of his strong hands holding me, I look up to him, and his honey eyes glimmer in the dimly lit room. We straighten up, his hands still holding my sides. He doesn't let go.

Instead, he gently pushes me back onto the bed, and I let him.

I let him, because despite everything I've said about avoiding him, that kiss on Saturday hasn't stopped replaying in my head. And I've dreamt of doing it again, and again.

"You know what?" He whispers as he lays me down, lying on top of me. "I couldn't stop thinking about you after Saturday, Alex." He kisses my neck, just below my jaw. "You're stuck in my head, like a fucking commercial jingle," he laughs humorously, kissing the other side of my neck.

"I'm trying to be patient with you. Trying to make you figure out what you want, since you say you're not gay. But you're not pushing away from me, are you?" He traces kisses along my jawline. "You want this. Hm?"

I don't respond, soley focused on how warm his lips are on me, on how much I'm enjoying this.

"Tell me you want this."

"I want this," the words escape my lips before I have time to think about it. I find myself craning my head to the side to give him more access. He takes the invitation, kissing and sucking along my neck. My hands have a mind of their own, trailing under his shirt and running up and down his six pack making him groan and laugh darkly. "Look at you. I bet you're-" he grabs me through my jeans, "-hard. Fuck." He starts rubbing up and down along the bulge in my jeans, making me groan.

"Greene."

"Tell me to stop, Alex. I dare you." He looks down at his hand that's on me, swearing in Italian. Of course I can't tell him to stop. I don't want him to. Suddenly he lets go and his lips fall onto mine.

We're all hands and tongue and breaths as we kiss. Of course I know how to kiss, but this is all so new and different to me. New and different, but I'd be lying if I said I don't like it. I take the opportunity to grab his dick through his sweatpants and sure enough he's turned on. I'm just about to start moving my hand when Greene's mom shouts something again in Italian from downstairs. Greene pulls away from me abruptly, breathing heavily. "Fucking hell." He walks into the bathroom for a moment, leaving me to adjust my jeans, trying to make my hardon less noticable.

"Fuck." He swears again, looking at my crotch as he walks back in. "Let's go. Ma's waiting."

I follow him downstairs to see his mom sitting by the kitchen counter with a man. He looks to be in his late fifties, with black hair and sharp facial features, like Greene. His dad?

"Uncle Bobby. What're you doing here?" Greene smiles widely and they bro hug briefly.

"Came to see your ma here. Also, I have news." His face slowly changes as the older man frowns. I glance to Greene's mom who is frowning as well. She looks like she might cry.

"Okay, um, let me just just walk Alex out. This is Alex, by the way."

I wave at him, and he greets me with a tight smile on his face.

When we're out the door, Greene stops me. "I might not come to school again tomorrow. You'll have to stop by to get your notes after school." He now looks very serious.

"Um, okay. " I shuffle from from foot to foot. "Can't I stop by in the morning?"

"No." He says a little to quickly. "Sorry it's... Just come after school, okay?"

"Okay." I shrug, ignoring how suspicious he's being. "See you tomorrow, then."

He nods and I walk off down the driveway and into the road, trying not to look back or think about what we've just done.

...