As James reached for the door handle, Ben started to tense up. Living on much top of another person would make his life so much harder than it already was
James swung open the door unceremoniously and dumped his bag at the door on the way in. He lumbered over to a single bed on the left side of the surprisingly large bedroom. As Ben stepped into the room another bed revealed itself, sitting in the right-hand corner, new looking bedding carefully placed on top.
"The room doesn't bite. Come in. That bed's yours" James quipped, as he backed up to his bed. He then dropped his large frame onto the altogether too-small single bed.
The room was bright and airy, just as downstairs had been, and the huge room had windows on all sides. Was this the entire first floor? As Ben continued to look around the room he noticed a pillar in the middle of the room. A support beam? Had this space specifically designed just for James?
The bed in question was tucked away in an alcove, presumably created when the bathroom had been built. Ben was at least grateful for the almost privacy the space afforded him.
Walking over to the unoccupied bed, Ben couldn't help but notice that the room had a very unique smell. It was a fresh smell, as though the windows were always open, but there was something mixed in. Something distinctly "James". Ben couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't like it.
Living in the same room as James shouldn’t be too rough, right? James didn’t seem like the sort of person who would ask a million questions or invade people’s space. As long as Ben didn’t say anything to get his attention, things should be fine.
"So," James drawled. "The bathroom is behind that door there," He flicked his head towards a door next to the bedroom entry. "and the setup is fair game."
Ben's attention was drawn back to the middle of the room, where an entire entertainment area had been put together. A couch sat next to the centre pillar, a few metres from a large TV. Surrounding the TV, on a relatively small unit, sat a huge collection of gaming consoles.
"Thanks," Ben replied, "But I'm not much of a gamer." When James lifted his head from his pillow to give Ben a shocked expression Ben realised he had made a mistake. He could get out of this though, as long as he kept his answer short and simple.
"Mum and Dad always discouraged hobbies that waste time. They want me to focus on my studies."
"Shit, that’s rough!"
"I understand it, I guess. I'm the only one they can rely on when they get old, so I guess they trying to make sure I'm not too burdened"
Why? Why was he still talking? Shut up, Ben!
At this, James sat upright. "That's crazy. How do they expect you to live with that kind of pressure?"
"It's not like they’re forcing me," Ben said as he sat on his new bed. "They just don’t want to miss out on anything, you know? They're just excited to see me get married and give them grand babies while they can still enjoy them."
Shut. The. Fuck. Up.
What was happening? Why couldn’t Ben stop? Was this some voodoo magic?
Ben's parents were already in their late fifties, having been lucky to fall with Ben after years of trying to conceive. They often referred to Ben as their miracle baby, and the weight of all that it implied was not lost on him.
"Grand kids? Jesus, we're 17! Who's thinking of having kids at our age" James joked, seeming to need to lighten the mood.
"So," James continued, "Mum suggested some ground rules. Something about knowing each other's boundaries."
Ben liked Mrs Winton very much. She was a smart woman.
"Sounds like a good plan, what do I need to know?”
James gave Ben a quick rundown of what the week usually looked like in the Winton household. Ben made a point to remember as much as he could, including Saturday night's family movie night tradition; an event James assured him he would now be expected to participate in.
"Oh! And I'm supposed to warn you that I'm a toucher"
Hang on now.
"A what?” Ben asked, shock written all over his face. James simply stared at him for a second before seeming to realise what his warning had sounded like.
“No!" James giggled." I mean I'm a physically affectionate person" He laughed again "I'm not going to play grab arse with you. "
Oh. Well, now Ben felt a little stupid, jumping to conclusions like that
"Just let me know if I'm invading your bubble. The last thing I want is to make you feel uncomfortable. " James finished, a small smile sat on his face, but it didn't quite reach his big chocolate brown eyes. It was almost as if James had been scared that he'd upset Ben
"S'all good" Ben replied. "I guess I should probably warn you that I'm pretty quiet. Sometimes people take it as me not liking them, or being angry, but that isn't the case. " Ben could feel the beginnings of a blush creep up his neck. For someone so quiet, he sure had said a lot this afternoon.
“So, got plans this evening?” James asked “Wanna watch a movie?”
Without waiting for a reply, James bounced onto the couch and patted the seat next to him. Ben slowly made his way over to the couch while James started a movie that Ben had never heard of before.
The couch was comfortable, and the movie was pretty good, too. Ben didn’t even feel the need to pull away when James decided to use his shoulder as a pillow. This place felt calm and relaxing. It almost felt as if Ben was home.
*****
As predicted, Ben was expected at family movie night. James was surprised to see Ben so enthusiastic for what was bound to be a pretty lame movie that his parents would just flirt through, anyway. James asked about Ben’s enthusiasm as they walked down the stairs together and was simply told “It’s just not something my family does.”
As much as James didn’t enjoy seeing it, he was happy to see his parents so happy. His mother, Emilia, was the nicest person in the world, and to think that she almost didn’t have that happiness almost broke James’ heart.
His Dad would often mention how happy his mum was in her marriage to James’ biological father, and how truly sad she had been when he passed away. “I’ll do my best to make sure your mum never has to be sad again!” he’d say. And he meant it.
Ben and James walked into the dark living room to the smell of freshly popped popcorn and the sounds of giggles. Emilia and Haruki were already cuddled up under a blanket, laughing at something on Emilia’s phone.
“Ah! There you are!” Emilia exclaimed when she noticed the boys, putting her phone on the coffee table and grabbing the remote.
As James and Ben got themselves comfy on the love seat that was vacant, Emilia started up a film that she and Haruki had picked earlier. James couldn’t quite find the right position, and Ben had clearly noticed it, giving him a quizzical look only visible thanks to the light of the TV. Without saying anything, James gave Ben a pleading look, and Ben responded with a small smile and a shrug. James smiled a quick thanks before turning his back to Ben and leaning against the other, smaller man.
The second the movie started, so did the flirting.
It’s quite difficult to sit and watch a film you aren’t interested in. It’s even harder when you can hear the whispers and giggles of your parents beside you. Both adults seemed completely oblivious to the awkward atmosphere in the room, and after an hour of silent suffering James finally decided to act.
He stood up and walked over to the coffee table, picking up the popcorn as loudly and obviously as possible. At the sudden movement, Haruki and Emilia seemed to come to their senses. They stared at each other for a second before standing up.
“We’re pretty tired. Mind if we leave you boys to it?” Emilia asked, with a tone that suggested it wasn’t really a question at all.
“We’re good. Night” James replied. Ben simply smiled in agreement.
“Night, boys.” Haruki said, as he snaked an arm around Emilia’s waist and started leading her into their bedroom.
“Papa!” James called out, causing Haruki to pause and look over his shoulder.
“頑張って!” James said with a smirk. Haruki’s cheeks went bright red and hurriedly guided Emilia out of the room, as she asked what had been said.
James and Haruki often spoke to each other in Haruki’s native language. Japanese was something that James picked up very quickly as a child, but Emilia hadn’t had such luck. For over 5 years Haruki had tried to teach her, but nothing ever stuck. A “No Japanese in front of non speakers” rule had been declared, but that simply encouraged Haruki and James to continue. The two had a similar sense of humour, and poor Emilia was usually the one caught up in their antics.
“What did you say?” Ben asked as they made their way out of the living room and back upstairs to their bedroom.
“Gan-Ba-Tte. It means “Do your best”.” James replied with a giggle.
As they reached the top of the stairs Ben asked “Are they always like that?”
“Like what?”
“All lovey-dovey.” Ben clarified, looking as though he’s just seen something completely abnormal.
Ben sat on his bed, and James followed suit.
“Yeah, pretty much. It’s kind of cute, don’t you think? Makes me think I might like a marriage like that one day, ne?”
Ben still looked freaked out.
“Surely you’ve imagined having a pretty, happy wife at some time or other?”
Ben slowly shook his head, looking… embarrassed?
“No hot husband?” James asked, tongue-in-cheek.
"What? of course not!" he practically yelled "I mean, N - not that there's anything wrong with being ...."
"Gay? " James offered
Ben's face somehow managed to become even redder, and the practical Joker in James began to awaken. The two maintained eye contact for a few more seconds before whatever trance Ben was in seemed to snap. His eyes shot down to the floor and his head nodded, but not a sound escaped his lips.
James wasn’t entirely sure why, but this was more than Ben had ever spoken to him in their entire lives. He wasn’t sure if he had simply not paid the other enough attention in the past, or if he had been gifted this unexpected conversation by some God or other. Either way, it made him feel special, somehow, as though he had managed to sneak a peek at the real Ben. He liked what he saw.
"Okay." James quipped in the perkiest voice he could manage, suddenly standing, but in no obvious rush to get away. Eventually he had sauntered over to the couch sitting with his back against the arm rest and his legs draped over the seat
From this angle he could see Ben, who was still staring at the ground, hands in lap.
He took it too far. Why did he always have to take the joke too far? James blamed his Papa, whom he took after quite a bit.
"Shit, Dude. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. It was just a joke. "
Ben slowly lifted his gaze to meet James'. What James saw in Ben's eyes shocked him. He looked so sad, and so scared! How could James cause such damage with a simple joke? Looking at Ben hurt James and he had to fix it. Standing abruptly, he all but ran to Ben's bed, dropping on his knees in front of the shorter boy and pulling him into a tight embrace.
Oh no. What was happening? Why was James suddenly squeezing Ben?
ne, roughly translates to “Right?”. It is used to encourage others to add their opinion.
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