Chapter Text
The entire plane ride from Connecticut to California, Byron Pike wondered why he had agreed to come. The answer was obvious; Jeff asked and there is very little that Jeff would ask of him that Byron would say no to.
Still, spending a week during spring break in California with Jeff? Byron had made Jeff twist his arm a little to get him to agree. “C’mon Byron. It’s our last spring break of our lives. From here on out we’ll be working stiffs, spring break won’t mean a thing to us.” It was true. Byron’s options were to go to his parents’ home in Stoneybrook, stay by himself in his off-campus apartment at Southern Connecticut, or go to California with Jeff, whom he hadn’t seen since Christmas break.
Of course he chose to go with Jeff. It didn’t matter that long periods of time with Jeff were both torturous and fun all at once. Whenever possible, Byron would always choose to go where Jeff was.
Byron knew how stupid he was being. He felt like such a stereotype, or at least what the straights expected a stereotype to be, to have a crush on his straight best friend. Jeff didn’t care that he was gay, he never had, and had been kinder about it than Adam and Jordan had been when they found out.
Byron could never quite tell if Jeff knew. Byron came out to Jeff his senior year in high school and Jeff hadn’t flinched. He’d treated Byron exactly the same as he had before. That’s what made Jeff such an amazing friend. Twice when they’d gone on ski trips Byron overheard Jeff make a specific request to the hotel for a room with two beds. But Byron couldn’t figure out if that meant Jeff was wise to Byron’s true feelings. Maybe he just liked his space when he slept.
The distance between them was large with Byron at Southern Connecticut and Jeff at University of Texas in Austin (his choice of college, neither east coast nor west coast, was seen by some, and correctly so, as a big fuck you to his parents for forcing a bicoastal lifestyle on him) but Jeff and Byron were always so close as friends. Byron was closer to Jeff than he was to either of his two identical brothers, and they had kept in touch through constant phone calls, emails, and texts their whole college careers.
But the college careers were coming to an end soon, and Jeff would likely end up back in California and Byron would likely end up still on the east coast. Likely, but not positively. Byron was scared shitless to admit exactly how scared shitless he was at the prospect of having to start real adulthood. A job, rent, maybe a real relationship instead of a handful of guys he’d keep around for a week or a few weeks before they dissolved into nothing but friends with benefits. When he was being really honest with himself, Byron knew the more time he spent with Jeff, the less likely it was that he’d ever get over the hopeless crush, and the less likely it’d be that he’d ever find anyone to have a true relationship with.
________
“So we aren’t staying with your dad?” Byron asked Jeff as they made their way through the airport.
“Nah,” Jeff answered. “Not this time. Dawn and Basil just moved into a new apartment. It has two bedrooms and they’re offering us the second bedroom. It’ll be more fun that way, not having to make nice with Dad and Carol and Gracie. Plus, they have a foosball table.”
“Sure, I mean anything for foosball. Who’s Basil?”
“The boyfriend. He’s a pretty cool dude, definitely mellowed Dawn out a little. They just moved in together.”
“And they’re OK with us crashing there?”
“Totally.”
And it seemed like they were. Dawn greeted them happily, giving Byron an extra-long hug and pulling him into the living room to get the rundown of what was going on with the Pike family. Byron’s family was so big, it always took a while to get through everyone. After a half hour, the front door opened and Dawn’s boyfriend, Basil, walked in.
It would have been impossible for Byron not to notice how good-looking Basil was. A tall muscular man with dark skin and dreadlocks pulled back from his face with a rubber band, dangling halfway down his back. He had eyes that were so dark brown, they were nearly black, but with intriguing flecks of orange and green running through them. He smiled warmly as he was introduced to Byron.
Another reason Byron wasn’t thrilled about spring break in California? He’d never really gotten used to the beach. Even as a kid, he’d been terrified of the ocean. The waves in the Pacific were far different than in Sea City, so Byron spent that first evening at the beach sitting in the sand, reading a book and watching Jeff surf. Jeff never bothered Byron to get in the water, which Byron was grateful for, and even cut his surf short because he was afraid of boring Byron. (Byron actually was fascinated by watching Jeff, tan and shirtless, maneuver a surfboard. Not that he’d ever admit it to Jeff.)
That night, Byron and Jeff went to the guest room to crash, and Byron stalled for a moment. There was only one bed in the room, a full size double bed. “I can sleep on the couch,” Byron immediately offered.
“Why?” Jeff asked.
“I just thought... ” Byron drifted off. “It just might be more comfortable for both of us. I’m a little bit of a bed hog.”
Jeff raised his eyebrows. “And who’ve you been sharing a bed with who told you that you were hogging the bed?” he teased.
Byron blushed. “It’s not that. I don’t know, I just don’t want you to be uncomfortable.” He thought of the two times he’d heard Jeff pointedly ask for two beds.
Jeff smiled wryly at Byron. “I know I’m irresistible, but I think we’re good.” There was a hint of humor in his voice.
“Sure,” Byron mumbled as he rooted through his suitcase for a toothbrush. He was hiding his face from Jeff, so that Jeff couldn’t read his face. The truth is that ever since he was a kid, he woke up most mornings with morning wood, and he didn’t exactly want Jeff to see that and get the wrong idea. Byron climbed carefully into bed next to Jeff (the irony of finally getting what he’d always wanted wasn’t lost on him) and rolled over. He had this crush under control. Really.