When The Right One Comes Along - Ch. 8 (Spark & Stone Side Story, Patreon Exclusive)

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Ch. 2 

Ch. 3 

Ch. 4 

Ch. 5 

Ch. 6 

Ch. 7   

Chapter Eight – My First ‘I Love You’

“And how did it taste?” Heath questioned him.

“What are you talking about?”

“The cake, obviously.”

“Are we on the same length here, or should I fiddle with the controls? Because you seem to me like you’re on another continent.”

“C’mon, Mikey, you blow things out of proportions. That means you have it bad for this guy.”

“I don’t!” Michael protested. “And it was good.”

“What?”

“The cake.”

“Ha, you tasted it.”

“I ate it all.”

At the other end, Heath was laughing his ass off.

“What? It was good,” Michael added. 

“And? Has he called you since that night?”

“Every day. I don’t pick up. I have a mind to block his number, but --”

“Just answer the damned phone once, Mikey. You didn’t listen to what he had to say,” Heath said.

“I don’t listen to cheaters and whatever they have to say.”

“Hey, maybe his ex had his coin collection or something.”

“I don’t care if his boyfriend kidnapped his mother and kept her for ransom.”

“Ugh, someone’s pissed, like really pissed. Maybe you should go easy on chocolate, Mikey.”

“Hey, I’m calling for advice, and you make fun of me.”

“I can’t help it. What you tell me is too entertaining. Sorry, I promise I’ll get all serious. Here it is. I’m all serious now. Mikey, let the guy tell you what he wanted to. Maybe he had a solid reason to talk to that rich asshole that night. Maybe they needed closure.”

“Heath, I don’t know what to say, man. Jess kept everything to himself. I can’t trust him.”

“No one says you have to get back with him. You deserve an explanation. You basically took care of Jess when he had no one to turn to. So listen to him and get this out of your system. Something tells me it will take you a while to get over him.”

“No,” Michael said shortly. “It wasn’t serious anyway. He was wrong for me.”

“Hmm, funny. I saw the way you looked at him. It made me think you finally met Mr. Right.”

“Jess was as far as he could be from being that,” Michael protested right away.

“If you say so,” Heath replied, but he didn’t appear convinced.

“He was a cheater and a liar.”

“I’d say just secretive and you don’t know if it’s true about the cheating part,” Heath pointed out.

Michael grimaced and then realized Heath could not tell through the phone he was making faces. “Well, I’m back to my old list. I need my boyfriend to be honest, on top of it all.”

“You’re right,” Heath said now in an appeasing voice. “Now that I’m in a relationship, I can see why that’s important. It’s just that I thought you really liked Jess, more than all your past boyfriends together. Sometimes I thought you were dating as an obligation.”

“Really? Am I that stiff and boring?”

“No. Just disinterested, but caring too much about this idea of having a relationship.”

“I’m just trying to be rational. A good match won’t simply materialize out of thin air. You must work for it. Falling in lust with some random guy choke full of secrets is not the way to what I want.”

“All right, Mikey,” Heath said with a sigh. “I hope you won’t come to regret this decision.”

“I won’t.”

“Take care, okay?”

It was annoying to hear Heath worried about him. It was usually the other way around. Heath was the one to fall in and out of lust with various guys. Only that wasn’t the case anymore since he had decided to go steady with Aidan. And Michael was envying his best friend so much now.

Maybe he needed to call Jess and hear his part of the story. Then he could move on and find a normal boyfriend, who looked normal, and did normal things. 

He noticed the envelope he had brought with him from the mailbox and left on the table. It appeared to have no sender and there was something in it. As he poured the content of the envelope into his palm, he sighed. It was a set of keys; in all that ruckus that night he had forgotten to ask Jess for it. 

He looked inside the envelope, but there was nothing else there. With steady motions, he folded it and threw it in the garbage bin. Then, he turned off his phone; he had no plans to call anyone today and he didn’t want to be bothered either.

It had been a week since that night and barely today he had gathered the guts to talk to Heath about what had happened. There was no point in calling Jess. An empty envelope was worth a thousand words.

***

Michael checked his phone and sighed. These days, he didn’t even find the energy to browse through the dating apps he had installed. How long had it been since he was single? Several weeks, maybe, but it felt longer. 

Any guy he felt the slightest interest in lost his shine as soon as Michael wanted to contact him. Suddenly, the ordeal of going through all that dating entailed seemed like too much work.

Maybe Heath was right and he wasn’t over Jess at all. Still, at this point, calling him and talking to him was impossible. It was simply too late. And details, such as the fact that he still kept the card Jess had left on the table that night and read it from time to time didn’t matter. He was just a little bit sentimental and that was all.

He checked his mailbox and his heart did a small flip back like a trained gymnast when he saw a white envelope with no sender on it. Could it be that Jess ...

But now, he was getting ahead of himself. And why did it matter if Jess sent him another letter? Or a letter. Technically, the first hadn’t been a letter, and maybe now, in the off chance that the envelope was also from him, Jess just remembered of something else he needed to return.

There was something inside the envelope. Michael took out what looked like two tickets. “Swan Lake?” he wondered out loud.

This time, there was a small message inside, too. “I know I might be asking for too much, but I would like you to come see me dancing, really dancing. There are two tickets because I suppose a great guy like you can’t be still single.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Michael found himself talking out loud.

At least there weren’t any neighbors as unwanted witnesses to his lunacy. Of course, he would go see Jess on a real stage. The only thing that worried him was what he would wear.

***

The performance left him ecstatic, although Michael was sure he suddenly felt pretentious just because he had watched ballet. But there was no other word to describe seeing Jess on that stage, performing like the true artist he was. 

The place next to him had remained empty and Michael wondered more than once if Jess could notice that from the stage. It was not likely since he needed to focus on his performance.

The crowd was wearing thin now and Michael walked outside. Was there a possibility to see Jess and talk to him? If not for anything else, but to thank him for the tickets. The show had been exquisite.

He turned and went to talk to the usher. To his surprise, when he gave his name, the man called for someone else and then told him to wait.

“You came!” 

Michael turned and took in Jess as he hurried toward him. He looked good, his eyes were shining, and there was something in the way he walked that showed the signs of a confident young man, no longer those of someone troubled and on the run.

Gone were the skinny jeans and the dark hoodie, too. Jess was dressed stylishly in a casual sweater that brought out his eyes and the straight dark jeans and suede loafers completed his look.

He had trimmed his hair, too, but his curls were unruly as ever.

Michael accepted the short hug and the peck of the cheek as if they were old acquaintances. No one could suspect what had gone between them just by looking at them now. It was all in the past.

“Would you like to join me for a drink?” Michael asked. “If it’s not too late for you.”

Jess looked around him for a moment. “Are you alone?”

“Yes,” Michael replied and chose not to elaborate.

Jess said nothing and just wrapped his arm around his. “I’d love to join you for a drink.”

They remained silent as they walked down the street in search of a dive where they could have a little chat. It was like they both knew and understood each other in their need to do that, but not in the street, where it would feel too wide, too open, for a conversation that was best held in close quarters.

As they sat down at a table away from the noises of the street, Jess started. “I’m so glad you came, Michael.”

“And I’m glad I did. Your performance was outstanding tonight. You were made for this life.”

Jess smiled sheepishly. The waiter interrupted them that very moment, eager to take their order. They ordered without taking their eyes off each other.

“So, are you single or was your boyfriend indisposed?” Jess asked directly as soon as they were alone.

“That should be my question,” Michael said back.

“Touché,” Jess admitted. “About that night ... I mean, about everything. Can I tell you everything?” He leaned forward, and there was hope written all over his face.

“Preferably, yes.”

“I’m sorry I kept everything a secret. I was afraid you wouldn’t like me anymore. At least now there’s no pressure. I just want you to know everything because it’s fair. And I know you don’t like me anymore, at least, not that way,” Jess said, with a small shrug of the shoulders as if he was suddenly cold.

Michael felt a small pang in his chest. He had made it a habit for so long to avoid his exes altogether. Was this how it felt? This mix of phantom pain and nostalgia? No, he told himself. He still liked Jess. Maybe it was that why it hurt and made him happy, at the same time, to see him.

“Andrew was my first and only boyfriend, until you,” Jess began. He smoothed down invisible wrinkles on the table cloth. “We met when we were both eighteen, and he made quite an impression on me. He told me he liked me and I thought I liked him back, too.

“Andrew comes from money and I could not help being fascinated. I was a stupid kid back then. He was also possessive and manifested neurotically on occasion, and I thought it was love.” 

Michael remained silent. He barely noticed the waiter putting down their drinks on the table.

“I ended up joining his crowd, a pack of rich kids bored with life and in constant search of new sensations. Again, I thought it was so cool that they had that much disregard of anything. I didn’t realize, at that time, how empty they were on the inside.

“They did such mean things on occasion. Sometimes they picked some bystanders and made them do their bidding in exchange for cash. Let’s just say that those parties were pretty damned weird. But I pretended to enjoy them, because I wanted to be cool and be like them. 

“With Andrew, things changed. It happened slowly, you know? Like that thing with the frog that sits in water and doesn’t realize that it’s getting hotter and hotter until it boils and it’s too late.”

“Were you the frog?” Michael asked.

Jess nodded. “Spread out and ready for experiments. First, it started like small pranks, such as going to some kid and giving him a peck on the cheek or the lips when we were out, clubbing. Andrew and his crew laughed when I came back from such errands, clearly enjoying the effect I had on those people. ‘Oh, Jess is so hot he could charm the pope if he wanted,’ they used to say.

“And I was stupidly happy when they talked that way. It made me feel powerful, like I had something that people wanted and I could behave like those rich kids, throwing crumbles of what I had in abundance to people who thought they didn’t have it.

“From innocent pecks on the lips, Andrew’s ideas for pranks evolved to sensuous dancing and full-blown kisses. I guess I should have known that wasn’t normal. But usually we had expensive drinks in our system by the time we started our little pranks.”

Michael nodded and took a sip from his drink. Jess didn’t touch his.

“Andrew got bored easily, so our bedroom life evolved, too. Once he was over what he called his poetic phase when he would read me badly written poems at the light of burning candles, he moved on to something else.”

Jess’s eyes became unfocused and his hands lay in the table, his fingers flexing slightly.

“If it’s too hard --” Michael started.

“No, it’s fine.” Jess shook his head. “We had our BDSM period, and thank heavens, it didn’t last long. Obviously, he was the so-called dom,” he said with a wince, and rubbed his wrists in an absent-minded manner. “But then, he got this idea that it would serve us to have an open relationship. I didn’t want that and I told him. He seemed to forget about it for a while, and behaved. Until he got bored and began talking about it, too.

“Eventually, I said that it was fine, that he could go fuck other people, but I didn’t want to do the same. On the inside, I was glad we had always used condoms and hadn’t decided to go bareback despite being in a relationship and all.

“But, of course, he wasn’t happy. He began telling me how much he would love to see me with someone else, being loved and worshipped by another. I could just say that he was very persuasive, but I’m not the kind to delegate responsibility. Part of me was fed up with hearing him talk about the same thing all the time. Another part, I admit it, felt curious about being with other people. I was probably falling out of love with him already.

“And so, Andrew got what he wanted. Sometimes, he just wanted me to seduce other men; and he watched. Then he started telling me that I should understand what a powerful thing sex could be, especially when yielded by someone like me.”

“Drop dead gorgeous,” Michael interjected. 

“Right,” Jess said with a sigh. “From that, it progressed to trying to get things from strangers, money, favors ... It wasn’t like Andrew needed them, but he told me I should be rewarded for giving those people ... Myself. 

“At that point, I started feeling worse and worse. At first, I tried to tell myself that we were young and just having fun. No one was getting hurt, I lied to myself over and over. But while I tricked my mind, I didn’t seem to do a good job with my body. I felt so ill once in a while that I had to visit the emergency room.

“During one of those visits, I met one of the guys I had seduced at one point, per Andrew’s instructions. He was a doctor, a well-off one, and an excellent specialist in his field. I didn’t recognize him, but he recognized me. First, he asked me why and where I disappeared after spending a fantastic weekend together. His words, not mine. I was doubling over in pain because my stomach hurt so badly that I blurted out something like I had a boyfriend.

“He wasn’t surprised. He was just upset that I disappeared without saying a word. For him, he told me, it had been something special; he told me that being in his fifties, he knew well that someone like me would sleep with him for only a few reasons and none of them flattering for him.

“I tried to tell him that it had been special for me, too, but it’s pretty difficult to lie when you feel like vomiting every five minutes. I was wondering why he was insisting when I was obviously in pain.

“And then he told me about the blackmail. Apparently, Andrew had no qualms about using my sexcapades to gain some advantages himself. He had pictures and everything. I have no idea how he took them, but it was hard to believe for any outsider that I wasn’t part of it. The doctor had been married and had children, but he wasn’t prepared to be out yet. So he told me these words: ‘It’s easy to be cruel when you’re young and beautiful.’

“I went to Andrew and asked him about it all. He didn’t deny it. Worse, he laughed and told me people should pay for their vices. I told him that I wanted out of a scheme that I hadn’t agreed on anyway. Also, that I wanted out of our so-called relationship.”

“May I ask you something?” Michael intervened.

“Sure.”

“All this time, Andrew was sleeping with other people, too?”

“No. I mean, it looked like he was too engrossed in whatever adventures he had planned for me that he couldn’t have that much time to do that. I even asked him about it, and he bluntly told me that he could only get it up when I recounted my sex encounters to him.”

“A bit too young for that sort of problems,” Michael commented.

“You’re telling me?” Jess rubbed his hands together and Michael noticed their light trembling. “Sometimes, he watched. Those were the weirdest times. Right after, he was horny like a dog. Just so you know, Michael. When he asked me to go raw with him or strangers, I refused.”

“It was a wise thing to do, given the circumstances,” Michael said. “I bet he didn’t react too well when you told him you were leaving.”

“First, he begged. Then, he threatened. And if his begging didn’t move me, the moment he started to blackmail me, that was when I realized what mess I had gotten myself into. You see, he had all sorts of little movies, an entire collection, really. And while he could use those to blackmail different people, he could just as well use them to do the same to me.

“At first, I was shocked. Then I realized I needed to be clever if I wanted to get away from him. First, I tried to be a little less available. I complained about my health, and he let me be. In the meantime, I planned my escape. Ballet was everything I knew, so I asked for a transfer here. I told Andrew, because I didn’t want to give him reasons to suspect me and also because I knew he could always check on me.

“Only that I gave him the wrong timeline and I pretty much ran away. I wanted out so badly that just his simple touch was making my skin crawl. My plan was to contact his father, as I knew he was the only person in the world Andrew feared. My bad luck was that he was abroad on business and I couldn’t contact him.”

“That was the thing you said you needed to solve that time,” Michael said.

“Yes. I didn’t want to stay with Andrew anymore and I knew I was risking a lot running away from him, but I had to put a distance between us. So, I needed to find work and that was how I ended up dancing in your club.”

“Did you talk to Andrew’s father?”

“Yes. That night I went with Andrew because I knew his father would be home soon. I didn’t sleep with him. I just waited for a few days, locked in a room, away from him. He thought I was just playing. But then I had him confront his father and now, let’s just say, no one should fear Andrew could blackmail them anymore. His father packed him off to some country with a lot of sun and beaches, and told him he would have to earn his keep from now on, in an honest way. Well, they’re loaded, and most probably Andrew just needs to show off to some boardroom once a week, but what’s important is that he can’t hurt anyone anymore.”

“And can you trust him on this one?”

“His father had him sign some papers, in front of me, even. It was the first time in my life I saw Andrew scared. It was ... liberating.”

Michael remained silent. Jess took a sip from his drink. 

“Is it true?” Michael suddenly asked.

Jess looked up. “I know it’s a lot to take in, and I don’t blame you if you never want to speak to me again. As much as I want to point the finger at Andrew and say that he’s the only one responsible --”

“I’m not talking about your ex.”

Jess cocked his head and stared at him. “What are you talking about?”

“About that message, the one you left with the cake that night.”

Jess blinked and then he blushed. His eyes cast down right away and he withdrew his hands from the table. “Yes, it is,” he said in a quiet voice. “I wanted you to read that in front of me because I wanted to see your reaction.”

“Check, please,” Michael called over his shoulder, taking by surprise the other people in the bar.

That wasn’t exactly the type of place where one said that out loud. The waiter came, walking hurriedly and with a concerned expression on his face. Michael paid and stood up. Jess followed him with his eyes without saying anything.

He just smiled when Michael offered him his hand. Together, they almost ran into the street.

“Are you not mad? About me? My past?”

“I should have let you explain it earlier,” Michael said. 

“I was wrong to hold on to it for so long. And after, when I tried, you weren’t picking up. I gave up eventually because I didn’t want to bother you.”

“Bother me? The Jess I know would bother me if I were the president and had to give the State of the Nation speech live.”

Jess began laughing. “I thought you hated my pestering you all the time.”

“Not really,” Michael said. “And I was a bit of a stubborn mule. I got it into my head that you were wrong for me and just waited for the slightest sign to confirm my fears.”

“And now? Don’t you think I’m wrong for you?”

Michael shook his head as he hailed a cab. “No. What I think is that people should just keep their eyes peeled when the right one comes along.”

***

They walked inside Michael’s apartment, hand in hand. Jess was silent, but they were not uncomfortable like that.

“I believe I should offer some apologies, too,” Michael said. “That night, instead of owning up to my relationship with you, I just told your ex I was your boss. I just withdrew to what I thought safe and well known. I reacted as if I didn’t want any complications.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Jess replied and moved closer.

They could feel each other’s breath. 

“I missed you,” Michael blurted out. “I’ve never been like this.”

Jess smiled and cocked his head to one side. “Like this?”

Michael caressed Jess’s cheek lovingly. “Like I need to do things completely out of character for me. Of course, my friend Heath would tell me something stupid like this is my real nature and I shouldn’t deny it. I didn’t know whether I was in lust with you or something else.”

“What do you think now?” Jess asked. 

“Now,” Michael buried his fingers in Jess’s curls, “I think it’s nothing wrong with being a little stupid when you meet the one meant for you.”

“Do you think that? That I’m meant for you?” The question was asked timidly, as if Jess were afraid to learn the answer.

“You’re the first guy to tell me first that he loves me.”

“I can hardly believe that.”

“Are you calling me a liar?” Michael asked, feeling a little playful and giddy on the inside.

“Hey, I was complimenting you!”

“Ah, and I just thought you wanted to rattle my cage.”

“What cage?” Jess seemed intrigued.

“I don’t know. It’s been a bit too damned quiet around here. And at work. No one to challenge my views on how I do things.”

“Don’t tell me you missed that?” Jess was staring at him with incredulous eyes.

“Why not? This quiet, well behaved Jess makes me nervous.”

Jess snickered. “All right, in that case ... Where did you get this sweater? The Salvation Army?”

“Seriously? I spent hours finding something to wear. Casual, but not too casual. Smart, not too smart. Appropriate, but ... Why are you laughing?”

“There’s nothing wrong with your sweater, Michael. I just didn’t know what to say.”

“Hmm, so I’m perfect or something?”

“Perfect for me,” Jess agreed and pulled him close for a kiss.

Michael closed his eyes. So it was that easy. The times before didn’t matter, and all the other guys he had ever dated seemed suddenly like extras in a movie that was supposed to have him as the lead.

A movie where there was room for only two protagonists. Jess kissed him gently, at first, but began putting more behind with each jab of the tongue.

Michael pushed him slowly toward the bedroom. It was high time that room of the house finally saw some action. For the last weeks, it had been like nothing sort of a monk’s room.

They managed somehow to get rid of all their clothes until they landed on the bed. Jess was the first to get up and search for what they needed. 

“We don’t need that,” he said, as he saw the condom in Jess’s hand.

“I want to do everything right with you. So, until that’s clear, with tests and everything, I will be a good boy.”

“A good boy?” Michael snickered. “The look in your eyes tells me you’re the opposite of that.”

Jess laughed and climbed the bed. Michael didn’t mind the hot mouth on his cock, rolling down the condom with efficiency. Everything else had been nothing but repetitions for the role he played now. 

Jess straddled him. “I missed you like crazy.”

“Just come here,” Michael asked him and pulled him close.

Jess began moving on top of him with artful abandon. He was trembling slightly and Michael gathered him close in his arms to stop that shivering. 

“I’m good. I’m okay,” Jess said as he breathed in and let his mouth covered by Michael’s lips.

There was hardly anything that could be described as an artistic performance that followed. They were a bit too strung, the both of them, so they came fast, Jess all over him, and Michael in the rubber, only minutes from their feverish start.

“You know what, Jess?” Michael said, as he caressed his lover’s sweaty shoulder.

“Hmm? Should we get up for a shower?”

“Not yet. I just wanted to say ‘I love you’, and that it feels like it’s the first time I really mean it.”

“It’s the same for me, too,” Jess replied. “You truly helped him through some hard times. Will you keep me?”

“Do you need to ask? I’m not letting you go ever.”

“Nice. How do you feel about my bringing over my cockatoo?”

“Do you have a parakeet? I had no idea you were the type to keep a poor bird in a cage.”

“I’m not. And I was just testing limits here. Plus, cockatoos are not exactly the same thing as parakeets.”

“They are,” Michael protested.

“No, they aren’t,” Jess said stubbornly. “Fight me?”

“Sure. Let’s bring up Google.”

“That’s more like it. I thought you were rusty or something.”

“Testing me again?”

“You know I will. So better get used to it.”

“I definitely will. Can I spank you when you don’t agree with me?”

“Only if you’re right.”

“Great. Let’s just ask Google about cockatoos. And I should get warmed up.”

Jess snickered. “I don’t see you moving.”

“I don’t plan to. It’s too good here with you in my arms.”

Several months later

“So, do weddings make you horny?” Jess whispered into his ear.

“Why? Am I pitching a tent or something?”

“No, but I want to ask you something, and I need you to have your mind fogged by desire.”

“Fogged by desire.” Michael turned to take a look at his boyfriend. “What’s with the lame poetry? Did Heath’s discourse make you suddenly feel like you could strike a rhyme or two?”

Jess made a face like he sucked on a lemon. “No. But I feel like it’s the best time to pop the question.”

“What question?” Michael asked, now a bit intrigued. Then it dawned on him. “Oh, that question! Wait, that question?”

“Sure thing. Will you marry me?”

“That’s not very poetic. You just spring the question on a guy like this, he might feel a little slighted.”

“And? Do you feel slighted?” Jess asked.

“Are you kidding me? How many kids do you want?”

“How many kids do I ... Wait, is this an interview?”

“Just some standard questions,” Michael confirmed.

“Three.”

“Great, the number is correct.”

“Correct? I thought it was an interview, not Jeopardy.”

“Jeopardy is not like that.”

“Of course not, this is worse. Next question.”

“How many boys or girls?”

“Two girls, one boy,” Jess justified the answer.

“Explain the answer, please,” Michael continued, barely keeping from laughing.

“I have better chances to convince girls to follow in my footsteps and take in ballet.”

“That’s a fair reason. But why not three girls?”

“Are you kidding me? I lived with three sisters. Trust me. Two girls are enough.”

“Then you passed the interview.”

“Oh, great! Where is my prize?”

“I thought we established this wasn’t Jeopardy.”

“Then I think I settle for this prize,” Jess said and took him by the hand.

“Where are you taking me?” Michael asked. 

“Home so that we can start hunting down names for our children.”

“Hunting down?”

“You have no idea how competitive the market is. You don’t want your kids to have names that are already out of fashion.”

“Who am I marrying?” Michael complained.

“Hey, you told me I was the right one. So I have all the rights.”

“All right. Then let’s hunt down those names.”

“Great. Do you see how easy it is to consider I’m right all the time?”

“Don’t get it to your head,” Michael warned. “I know you didn’t wash the dishes yesterday.”

“Neat freak.” Jess laughed and shook his head. “Hey, did you say ‘yes’? I don’t remember.”

“Here is your ‘yes’,” Michael said and bent Jess in a tango pose. “Yes, I will marry you, you stubborn, arrogant danseur that you are.”

Jess laughed and kissed him. Well, it wasn’t like Michael could say otherwise. Never before had he been asked that question. It was nice for a change. And Jess was simply the one. No other questions asked.

THE END

Author's note: This was all about Michael and Jess! Next week, I will have ready the bonus story with Heath and Aidan which I hope you will enjoy. Sometimes next month, after I publish the extra content for Fist to the Heart, too, a new series will start, as well. It will be something light and funny, and I hope you will like it! Thank you for all your support!