Nic slept for quite a while in my lap. Poor guy was so exhausted he didn’t wake up even to the loud noises coming from TV before I turned the volume down. I let him sleep and continued watching the movie since I was now trapped. Well, I didn’t pay enough attention to the movie to follow the plot, but it was entertaining enough. But mostly I just watched Nic. I couldn’t help it. The guy was hot.

I had a lot of time to think and relive memories. After one Gabriel had made me feel like complete shit, another one was now making me feel better about myself. Nic was so much different from the rest of his family. Although… Kenneth had been much younger. Just a stupid kid. Would he still say the same things about me now?

I didn’t fucking care. I couldn’t give a damn about the Gabriel family anymore, except for this one individual who snored lightly in my lap. The one who was sleeping here because he couldn’t sleep at home because of that family. 

My parents arrived at home thirty minutes later. Nic still wasn’t waking up, even though my dads were making a bit of noise. I could hear grocery bags full of cans and glass bottles and all the other loudest things anyone could buy from the store, but Nic kept snoozing away.

“Jax? You home?” Pops asked in a raised voice and stepped into the living room only a few seconds later.

I gestured for him to keep it down, and he gave me an apologetic grin.

“Sorry,” he whispered. “We’ll try to be quiet.”

Dad peered behind the corner as well. “Oh, you guys already ate. Do you still want dinner or…?”

“We can eat leftovers later,” I whispered back. 

“Sure. We’ll try to be quiet,” he promised as well, and they both sneaked into the kitchen.

I looked back at Nic, who was still completely out.

“You better wake up before I need to use the toilet,” I muttered to him, caressing his hair.

It wasn’t until another twenty minutes later when he finally started moving. I suppose the noises coming from the kitchen had been enough to pull him back from his slumber. For a moment, he was disoriented as he looked around, trying to understand what he was seeing.

“Morning,” I murmured, and he looked up at me.

He froze like he didn’t recognize me, but then smiled and stretched. “Sorry… I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you…”

“It’s fine,” I said. “You needed it.”

I could see a hint of his anxiety flashing in his eyes, but when I continued brushing his hair in a slow manner, it quickly vanished. His smile was smaller now, but warmer.

“What time is it?” he asked when he realized we weren’t alone.

“I don’t know. Seven? Half past seven, maybe?”

“I should get going…” he mumbled, trying to get up, but I didn’t let him.

“No. You promised to hang out with me,” I said sternly.

“So now you’re the boss of me?” he asked with a smirk.

“You knew where you were getting yourself into,” I said as the only reply.

He laughed lightly. Yeah, there was no fucking way I’d let him go home, where his family would ruin all my hard work. He was relaxed now. Relaxed and smiling.

“My parents are making dinner. You hungry?”

“No, no, no…” he said and chuckled. “I’m still full, don’t worry.”

“Okay,” I said, glancing at the TV. “Do you still want to watch the movie?”

“Are there other options available?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

I peered toward the kitchen.

“We can go to my room and… come up with options,” I suggested.

He flashed a smile at me and got up. We stopped by the kitchen so Nic could say hello to my dads, and then entered my room. Nic looked around for a bit, then turned to face me.

“So! What are the options?” he asked.

I smiled and stepped in front of him to give him a short kiss.

“Yes, let’s do that,” he said and grabbed me by my waist. 

I, too, liked the option of having his lips on mine. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders when he pulled me close and parted my lips when his tongue asked for entry. As always, the moment got very heated, very fast, and I enjoyed it to the fullest.

And so did he.

“Fuck…” he murmured after pulling back, pressing his head against mine while his hands had found a permanent resting place on my hips. He had to take a couple of deep breaths before he looked at me. “Why are you so…?”

There was something odd in his eyes when he stared at me, taking another couple of very deep breaths. He still held me tightly against himself.

“So what?” I asked, tilting my head.

Instead of replying to me, he pushed me against the wall, and his lips returned to mine. The way he kissed me was even hotter than before, and all I could really do was to hold on and try to keep my voice down. His hands on my body didn’t stop moving, and they quickly found their way under my clothes. I felt ravaged under his heat as he did what he wanted.

Fuck, that was hot.

I was a complete virgin in this department. I’d kissed another person only once, and that had been a mere peck with a disastrous outcome, so I’d had no idea what to expect. I knew Nic’s reputation with girls. He was clearly experienced and knew enough tricks to turn me into a heated mess in seconds. 

But I was a fast learner. I, too, wanted to feel his skin, so I pushed my hands under his shirt to feel his broad back. He wasn’t muscular per se, but there was power in his body, and I could feel it against my fingers.  

When things started getting a little too heated, I turned my head away to catch my breath, but Nic continued kissing my neck instead. I let him, but only for a moment because we really needed to get a grip. I grabbed him by his hair and pulled his lips away from me, partly regretting that decision because I was a weak little bitch, but I managed to pry him off me.

“Let’s not get carried away,” I told him.

He let out a displeased grunt, but stepped back, straightening his clothes. I had to do the same as I walked past him and sat down behind my desk. 

“There’s something I’ve wanted to ask,” Nic said when he stopped next to my desk and picked up a mascara I’d forgotten to put away this morning. “Do you ever go out without wearing makeup?”

“Not really,” I said. “I’m mostly only using eyeliner though.”

“But you have a lot of makeup,” he said. “Do you know how to use it all?”

“I do, yeah. I watch a lot of tutorials,” I said slowly. I couldn’t help feeling wary of these questions. Yeah, he’d encouraged me to buy the skirt and all, but this society had taught me to be careful.

He sat down on the edge of my bed, still holding the mascara. “Do you think I’d look good in makeup?”

I forced my laugh to die away before it could escape my lips. It wasn’t the question itself that amused me. I was just surprised he was thinking about such things.

“I’d say so, yes,” I answered. “Your very masculine features would look interesting with feminine makeup.”

He smirked and gave me the mascara. “Maybe you can do my makeup one day?”

“Sure,” I said, tilting my head. “But why?”

He just shrugged. “Just out of curiosity. I want to try it. I want to try new things. I never try new things because I’m always afraid I’ll ruin my reputation, and it gets boring. But I don’t want to be boring. I want to…”

His smile was gone by the time he trailed off.

“Tired of being the golden boy, huh?” I guessed.

“I need to be the golden boy to get into Yale…” he muttered, looking down at his feet.

I leaned closer and put my hand under his chin, making him look up at me. “I won’t tell anyone if you want to try makeup. You don’t have to be the golden boy with me. When it’s just the two of us, you can be whatever you want to be, and your secrets stay with me.”

His smile returned, and he stole a kiss from me. “Thanks.”

“And I can teach you a thing or two about rebelling a little,” I added with a wink as I returned to my seat.

He chuckled at my words. “Would I look good in that skirt you want?”

Now I had to laugh. “I’m sure you’d look hot in it.”

“Not anywhere near as hot as you,” he said with a smirk. “But pretty hot.”

I took a good, long look at him. He had to be just joking around, but I could see him trying on a skirt just for the fun of it. It made me feel pretty good. Even if he wouldn’t actually do it, the fact that he was even saying such things eased my mind. I was not joking. I really wished I could wear skirts and dresses out in public without receiving odd looks or even hate, so knowing he wasn’t against that felt nice.

And because of that, I got up from my chair and went to search through my wardrobe.

“I should be able to fit in them…” I muttered as I searched for the black denim shorts. “Ah! Here they are…”

I grabbed the pair and unfolded them to show them to Nic. He wiggled his eyebrows with a smirk on his face.

“They are very small indeed,” he noted.

“I also have a crop top somewhere…”

Nic groaned, tossing his head back. “Even better.”

“If only I had stilettos…”

“Stooooop….” he begged and laughed lightly when I shot a questioning glance at him. “I love stilettos… So hot.”

“Oh…?” I purred, grabbed the clothes, and entered my bathroom. “Wait there.”

For once, I didn’t stop to think what I was doing, or how much skin I was going to show. Wearing shorts wasn’t just a female thing, although this pair was far from something men would normally wear.

Nic had easily made me forget the public opinion and just… do what I wanted.

The shorts were indeed tiny, and I had to spend a moment stuffing myself in them. They really didn’t hide more than my underwear. Hell, I had boxers bigger than the shorts as they barely hid my ass. The red crop top, on the other hand, was big and loose, and had long sleeves to cover my arms. I had never worn it before, so I had to take a look in the mirror to see if it even fit me. It did, and so did the shorts.

I wasn’t going to pass as a girl though, not with my extremely flat body type. Maybe with fake boobs and hips, but that wasn’t really what I wanted.

Nic’s question about my gender popped into my head. Was I a dude? Or was I a girl? Did I feel weird in my body? No? I… No? The scars obviously bothered me, but was I unhappy with my gender? Nah, not really.

I just wanted to wear nice clothes, and girls had very nice clothes.

I stepped out of my bathroom, trying to move carefully not to get my balls squeezed in the tight pants. Nic’s eyes were immediately on me, and he smiled so widely I never even remembered he could see all my scars.

“You look so hot,” he said as he stood up, taking a better look at me. “They are very tiny indeed…”

“I have come to realize I could never wear these in public,” I told him, trying to adjust the tight fabric around my crotch.

“Because of the scars?” he asked, his smile fading.

“Because they’re so tight I can’t feel my dick anymore,” I said.

“Ah, yeah, that’s… not good,” he muttered, trying to stop himself from laughing. 

He looked at my outfit again, his eyes lingering on my naked skin here and there. He stepped right in front of me, still staring at my body, and placed his hands on my sides.

“You are hot,” he said, finally looking me in the eye. “And I know you’d look hot in that skirt. You’d have more room for your dick, too.”

I laughed at his words and kissed him. “I’ll buy the damn skirt.”

“Awesome,” he smiled, making me feel butterflies in my stomach.

How could one Gabriel utterly destroy me, and another one pick me back up so easily…?

Nic stayed for a few more hours after that. I had to get rid of the shorts because I actually did not feel my balls anymore, but I left the crop top on. Nic was a fan of that, and my bare stomach. Whenever I was within his reach, his hands were all over me.

I wished he’d stay for longer, but it was already nine in the evening, and he started getting anxious over unfinished homework, and he was getting tired again, so I had to let him go. He was yawning so hard I feared for his jaw.

“I swear to God, if you get yourself killed in a car crash…” I muttered threateningly after I’d walked him to the front door, but Nic only smiled.

“I won’t, I promise. I’m feeling much better now,” he said as he put on his shoes. “I’ll see you tomorrow at school?”

“I’ll be there,” I promised. “You’ll come with me to the mall after school when I go buy that skirt?”

He wiggled his eyebrows. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“Maybe I’ll make you try the skirt, too,” I said with a wink.

My only goal was to keep him away from his home, and if it meant I’d have to buy a skirt, then so be it.

“Goodnight,” he finally told me and kissed me goodbye.

“Goodnight,” I replied and watched him leave.

After he closed the door, I made my way back to my room, feeling happy and jittery and all that crap, but I didn’t have the time to actually step inside.

“Hey, kiddo…”

I stopped but didn’t look back. I could already tell I wouldn’t like what I’d hear next.

“Yeah?” I asked as I turned around and saw Pop standing by the kitchen entrance.

“There’s something your dad and I want to talk to you about,” he said, his expression sad.

“Great…” I muttered and sighed.

Dad gave me a small smile when I came to sit at the kitchen table. It was filled with papers and bills and documents.

“So…?”

“First, I want you to know we’ve spent months discussing this, and if there was any other way, we wouldn’t do it, but…” Pop trailed off, looking at his husband for help.

“We’re afraid we’ve run out of options,” Dad added quietly.

I shook my head and leaned back in my seat, letting out another sigh. I felt numb.

“You’re selling the house,” I murmured.