Page 70 of Ours
[Carl: Some people feel that you shouldn’t mix any kind of substance—alcohol, weed, or otherwise—with playtime. The idea being that when you are in a scene, the safest thing is for youboth to be totally sober. But I think if you were already an established couple, you’d probably be fine if you had a couple of beers. You already know each other’s limits, and you’d probably know how much alcohol you both can handle by then too. But, if you were still new to each other, you wouldn’t have that info. You’d still probably be too focused on figuring each other out, testing the boundaries, to make many good judgement calls.]
As Derek read through the giant walls of text—he wouldn’t question Carl’s ability to text again—his heart sank. He had really fucked up. Why hadn’t he seen this before?
[Derek: Thanks, man. That helps a lot.]
[Carl: No problem, Derek. Everything okay with you?]
[Derek: Yeah, all good here], he lied. [Thanks again. TTYL]
He tossed his phone onto the bed as he sat at his desk and started replaying everything that had happened since the first night of the cabin. Fuck. How could he have been so selfish? Cory was his best friend. Cory wasmorethan just his best friend. He was supposed to protect him. He was a monster.
Derek had to fix this. He just needed to figure out how.
Cory awoke slowly in the morning, the familiar pinging of his phone’s alarm rousing him from a deep slumber. He stretched his limbs out, running them against the cool sheets as he woke up. As his brain booted back up for the day, memories of the night before flashed into his mind. Nic.
Cory’s whole body felt sore but in a good way. He stretched his legs again, reaching down to squeeze his own thighs, the pressure on his sore muscles making him groan and causing his already hard cock (thanks, morning wood!) to twitch. Tentatively, he snaked a finger between them and under hisballs, rubbing his equally sore hole. Fuck. Last night was so fucking hot… The way Nic—
Cory suddenly looked to his left, though he already knew Nic was gone. The bed was cold. The sheets didn’t even look used. He had been gone a while. Sitting up, the only trace Cory could see of him even being there were the towels they used the night before and some of the slightly bloodied bandage Cory had wrapped his injured hand in. It had come off at some point and Cory had to rebandage it.
Cory reached for his phone and finally turned off the alarm before checking his notifications. Nothing from NicorDerek. Cory wasn’t sure he even wanted to talk to Derek right now, but he knew they needed to resolve what happened yesterday. But Nic… Where did he go? He fired off a quick text—just a “hey”—and waited a few moments for a response. Receiving none and pushing aside the thoughts of anxiety that started to bubble up, Cory clambered out of bed and headed toward his bathroom to start getting ready. It seemed he was getting himself to school today.
After brushing his teeth and taking care of a few other bathroom things, Cory walked to the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast. When he passed through the living room, he saw some of his mom’s things thrown over the back of the couch. She would have gotten in a couple of hours ago probably and was hopefully fast asleep. Maybe that’s why Nic left? He was worried about her finding them or asking questions. After the day he had yesterday, Cory wouldn’t exactly be surprised. Either way, they’d sort this out when he got to school and hopefully talk some about last night too.
Cory threw some Pop Tarts in the toaster and walked back to his room to get dressed. He made sure any offending items from last night were put away or thrown in the hamper—his mom never went snooping, but with the way things had been goinglately, it was better to be safe than sorry. He changed his clothes and picked up his backpack, grabbing his breakfast on the way out the door to the bus stop.
The bus ride was normal enough, at least at first. The closer Cory got to school, the more he found himself checking his phone. It started feeling like there was a knot in his stomach. He could feel his thumb itching to send another text, but he thought better of it. He’d see Nic in person soon enough. Eventually, the bus pulled onto campus, and the students onboard made their way off to start their own school days.
Cory wandered the school’s courtyard, looking for a sign of Nic or Derek anywhere. He came up empty outside, though he did notice a few strange looks from some of the students who ran in their circles—likely still whispering about the rumors that had Nic so upset. Cory was beyond caring about that right now, so he turned his search inside and headed to Nic’s locker.There he was!
“Hey!” Cory smiled as he walked over and stood to the side of the open locker.
“Oh, hey, Cor.” Nic looked over his shoulder as he greeted him before turning back to face his locker, pulling out a book. “What’s up?”
“That’s what I wanted to ask you.” Cory gave Nic a strange look.
“What do you mean?” Nic looked puzzled.
“You know… About last night?”
“Huh? Shit, did I show up at your place last night?” Nic looked like he was struggling to remember something. “I was so hammered, everything’s kinda fuzzy.”
“Yeah. You did.”Is he just fucking with me?“When I woke up, you were gone.”
“Oh, man, I’m sorry.” Nic gave Cory an apologetic look. “After getting drunk, I think I remember trying to talk to Amy, then wandering around for a while.”
“Y-yeah.” Cory’s voice stumbled.Does he really not remember?“You showed up pretty late. Your hand was hurt so I…” Cory gestured toward Nic’s freshly bandaged hand.
“Aww, that was you? Thanks, bro.” Nic gave Cory an innocuous smile as he lifted his hand. “I really gotta be more careful. I owe you one. See ya later, alright?”
“Oh. Yeah… See you later.” Cory did his best to stop his voice from wavering but fell short.
He turned around before Nic had a chance to see the hurt look on his face and made his way out of the hallway. He turned a corner and headed for the parking lot. His chest was pounding and his face was hot and he just needed to get out of—
“Cory!”Fuck.It was Derek. Nope, he wasnotdoing this right now. Dealing with one selfish jerk was enough. Cory turned and started walking the other way, doing his best to wipe his face—when did he start crying?
“Hey, Cory!” Derek jogged over. “I’ve been looking for you.”
“Go away, Derek,” Cory replied coldly and continued walking. “I don’t wanna talk to you right now.”
