Chris dangled his feet over the edge of the couch and brought the plastic wand to his lips, blowing softly and filling the air with bubbles. He smiled as he watched them float away, bursting quietly as they hit the table, the desk, the television, the bed...
"You shouldn't do that," said Joey, stepping out of the bathroom and scrubbing his hair with a towel as he watched the last of the bubbles drift away. "It gets things all sticky."
Chris just brought the wand to his lips again and let another batch of bubbles loose. "But look at them, Joe. They're so beautiful. All round and shiny and all different colours and then they pop with this tiny little explosion. It's so cool. Watch!" Yet another burst of soap bubbles wafted into the air of the hotel room.
Joey stared for a moment, then laughed. "You, my friend, are stoned off your ass," he said, shaking his head in amusement as he dropped the towel onto a chair and sat down at the end of the bed.
"Happiness is a thick joint in the morning," said Chris dreamily, reaching out and popping a bubble with his finger. He frowned and rubbed his thumb and index finger together, smearing the soap. "You're right, they're sticky. Damn."
"Told you," said Joey, leaning back onto the bed. The towel that he'd wrapped around his waist was suddenly stretched to its limit. "And it sounds like more than one. You take this 'time off' thing to heart, don't you?"
"Such a rare thing to have," he said, putting the bubble wand down on the coffee table. "You should join me. It's not too late."
Joey chuckled. "You know I'm not into that, Chris," he said. "I leave that to you and Justin. I was thinking about maybe going shopping this afternoon, actually."
"Maybe I should go find Justin then," pouted Chris. "He'd want to have fun with me. We can fill the whole room with bubbles."
"You do that," said Joey, his voice laced with amusement. "You might want to get dressed first, though. We don't need you flashing the hotel staff again; we almost got thrown out last time."
"Right," said Chris, clearly not remembering at all. He hadn't moved from his lounging position across the couch, though he was now bouncing his legs against the end of it. "You're not really going shopping are you?"
"I was thinking about it," said Joey honestly, sitting up again. "You're busy, Josh is sleeping, Lance is working and Justin...I don't know where the hell Justin is."
"I'm not busy," said Chris, suddenly sounding a little more alert than he had. "I was hoping...." he paused and sat up, placing his feet on the floor and leaning on his elbows. His body was now facing entirely away from Joey. "I was hoping maybe we could..."
Joey sighed. "Chris...you know we aren't..." He shook his head and stood up, moving around to sit next to him on the couch. This wasn't a conversation he wanted to be having with Chris' back. It wasn't a conversation he wanted to be having while Chris was stoned, either, but there wasn't much choice about that. "You know we aren't doing that anymore."
"Why not?" asked Chris. "What happened to us, Joe?" He turned his head to the side, and Joey could see the tears that were beginning to well.
Fuck, he thought. This is why I don't smoke pot. Damn mood swings. "We've talked about this so many times, Chris..." he began, running a nervous hand through his hair. "I didn't want it a secret...you didn't want to tell anyone...it just wasn't going to work anymore. And aren't we good friends now? Isn't it working out okay?"
"No," said Chris. "I still love you. I want more, Joey. I want us to be us again, and not this fake us that we've been pretending that we're okay with."
"I love you, Chris, but I can't be your dirty little secret again. I can't watch you pretend to be in love with someone else and only come to me at night. It hurts so bad, to hear the other guys talk about your perfect relationship with Danielle. And it hurts to know that they talk about me behind my back, saying I'm a flirt, I'm afraid of commitment, I'll never settle down. I'm none of those things, and only you know that right now. I can't do that again, Chris. I'm sorry." Joey reached out a hand and almost placed it on Chris' knee, then pulled it back again reluctantly.
Chris was the one who reached out, who took Joey's hand and laced their fingers together. "I'll do anything," he said quietly. "I'll do anything to have us back, Joey. I took us for granted, and then suddenly I didn't have you any more....and it's killing me...inside...where no one can see." Joey squeezed his hand, but didn't say anything. "I told Justin last night," he added. "About us. I needed someone to talk to so bad."
Joey turned his head and gave Chris a shocked look. "You told him? You talked about it?"
"Yeah," Chris said, a goofy grin spreading across his face. "It felt kinda good. I musta babbled for an hour about you, Joe. We surprised him, though. A lot. He's off somewhere today, sorting the whole thing out in his head. But he's cool, don't worry! He was totally supportive and everything. He was just surprised. And a little weirded, too, like he never thought about like that before, and--"
"Chris," said Joey, laughing.
"What?"
"You're babbling." Joey leaned over and kissed his lips softly, to quiet him. "You're sure?" he asked. "You're sure we're going to tell them?"
"Joey," said Chris, looking up at him as seriously as he could. His pupils were dilated and his eyes were glazed, but that just made the lust--love--more apparent. "Right now, if you asked me to shout it from the rooftops, I would. You're worth it."
Joey grinned and kissed him again. "You don't know how long I've been waiting to hear that," he said. "God, Chris, I've missed you so much..."
Chris looked at him hungrily, then deliberately pulled Joey's towel off and threw it to the side. "I want you," he said, licking Joey's cheek then moving further down his body.
Here we go with the mood swings again, thought Joey, but he had no intention of stopping him. Chris' lips danced down his chest slowly, touching all the places that drove him crazy. He was hard now--that sure as hell hadn't taken long--and was dying for Chris to take him into his mouth, to suck him and tongue him and make him come so hard he thought he would pass out. They way they used to.
Chris looked up at Joey as he licked the tip of his cock, his eyes wide and almost innocent. "God, just suck it," said Joey, though he hadn't meant to say anything at all, least of all something so crude. But the way things were going, he was going to come before he was even inside Chris' mouth. It had been so long...so damn LONG...since they'd done this...
Suddenly Chris engulfed him, entirely, swirling his tongue and sucking him hard. It was so hot, so wet, so sudden. "Fuck!" said Joey as he came into the back of Chris' throat. "Jesus, Chris!" He could see--feel--Chris swallow, then let Joey's cock slide out of his mouth.
"So, we're back together?" asked Chris, grinning a little shyly now.
"Yeah," laughed Joey, "we're back together now." He took Chris' hand again and helped them both to their feet. "Come over to the bed," he said. "We have a lot of catching up to do."