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It was meant to be one word, a single sound: “Oh.” But Auggie’s mouth broke it into two syllables, the second sliding lower. He was breathing like he was running. Running faster and faster because he couldn’t slow down. He rocked his hips, Theo’s hand there comforting him, following his rhythm. A race. Yes. He was racing his own body, racing toward the thing that was gathering in his toes, in his fingertips, in his belly. Theo licked the inside of Auggie’s ear, and he made a choked noise as his body stuttered against Theo’s.
Then he couldn’t even manage words. He wanted to say, Touch me. He wanted to say, Not like this, but of course, he knew this was what Theo wanted, and giving Theo what he wanted—knowing Theo would be proud of him for giving it to him—was what made it so intense. He humped against Theo’s belly. He was distantly aware of his hands clutching the headboard, of fighting the urge to reach down and bring himself off. He rocked, bucked, moaned. Theo bit his neck and sucked hard and whispered, “Give it to me. Right now.”
The orgasm broke Auggie open. He couldn’t have said if it felt good or if it hurt; it was so intense that it went beyond that categorization. He was conscious of it only in the aftermath, like catching a glimpse of it out of the corner of his eyes. At some point, his body had given up on supporting him, and he lay draped over Theo now, shaking. Theo had one hand between their bodies, moving furiously, and then he grunted. Heat splashed against Auggie’s belly, and the tension in Theo’s muscles slackened.
At first, the tears were barely a trickle, but then something unhinged inside Auggie, and he began to sob. He shook as he cried harder. Theo held him until the worst of the storm passed. Then, slowly, he eased them apart and helped Auggie lie down. He stroked Auggie’s hair.
“Oh my God,” Auggie muttered when he finally felt capable of speech. He dried his eyes on the pillow. “That’s not my fault; you broke my brain.”
Theo smiled, but he said, “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine,” Auggie said. “Embarrassed. Alive. Temporarily satisfied.”
That earned a chuckle, but Theo kept stroking his hair, kept watching him with those delicate blue eyes.
“I promise,” Auggie said. “I’m fine.” He tried to lighten his voice. “It’s been a long time since I had a total breakdown after sex, right?”
“Lots of feelings,” Theo said. “Lots of hormones. Crying after sex is perfectly normal.”
“I don’t know about normal, but I know, I know, please don’t give me that look. I’d make a joke about you dadding out, but you know, it feels a little weird after you just hosed me down.”
“Auggie,” Theo said with what sounded like despair.
“Lots of feelings. You got that right.”
Theo was quiet, his fingers whispering against the bristles of Auggie’s short hair. Then he said, “I did get the impression you might be feeling some feelings when you tried to rip my hair out.”
Groaning, Auggie pulled the pillow over his face.
“Do you want to talk some more? I know—I know there’s still a lot to talk about.”
“No, Theo. I do not want to talk right now. I want to lie here and be pleasantly sticky, and I want you to hold me, and I do not want to deal with the psychosexual ramifications of the fact that I tried to scalp you when you were giving me head. How does that sound to you?”
“I always forget that you’re bratty after sex too. I think it must be like how moms forget how difficult childbirth was. I always convince myself a good fuck will take the edge off.”
“Theo! Cuddles! Now!”
Laughing softly, Theo lay down, wrapped an arm around Auggie, and pulled him against his chest. The last thing Auggie knew before sleep claimed him was an awareness that Theo’s breathing had settled almost instantly into sleep, and he felt weirdly victorious about that fact.
28
The next day, Auggie and Theo took Lana back home. Theo wasn’t sure how Auggie had managed it, but he’d gotten three contractors to take a look at their house, and all three had assured them that the house was livable—although it would smell like smoke for a while. Theo had made sure to thank Emery and John-Henry for the place to stay, but he wasn’t sure he’d been able to hide his relief. The Hazard and Somerset household was currently at max capacity, and Theo wasn’t going to miss the jack-in-the-box, I-just-popped-in-to-argue-about-split-infinitives experience of living with Emery Hazard. He also wasn’t going to miss sleeping on the floor, although, of course, it hadn’t bothered Auggie, who still slept like he was sixteen.
They spent most of the day cleaning and moving Lana’s bed down to the living room since, as soon as a contractor was available, the front of the house was going to be off limits while the fire damage was being repaired. By the time evening came around, neither of them wanted to cook, so Theo picked up takeout from Taco Amigo. Lana must have still been exhausted from all the transitions, not to mention playing with Evie, Shaw, and Tean, and she actually fell asleep with a taco still in one hand.
Auggie cleaned her up and put her to bed. Then he and Theo retreated to the bedroom.
“I guess we’re going to be spending a lot of time in here,” Theo said.
Auggie waggled his eyebrows. He was, of course, already halfway naked. And he was down to his trunks by the time Theo finished that thought.
“I’d love to,” Theo said with a low laugh, “but I’ve got to get ready for tomorrow.”
“God,” Auggie said, tossing himself down on the bed, “real life is the worst.”
That made Theo laugh again.
He was vaguely aware that Auggie was working—which, because this was Auggie, looked a lot like Auggie scrolling mindlessly through social media—while he got his laptop set up. He began reading through the sub reports from the days he’d missed at school, checked his planner, tried to consider how to move things around. Some activities he could cut, and some he could compress, but the days he’d been out had still put him behind, and he’d be playing catchup for the foreseeable future. Especially, Theo realized, once he saw the email chain from the other Language Arts teachers.
