Ta da! A new chapter!🎉🎉 I know I know, I'm taking too long to update but I'm honestly going through the crappiest time ever! Neither do I have the time to write nor have the concentration. But I hate to keep you guys waiting. I'm sorry.😞 I really wish 2018 treats me better.😖

Also, after a friend asked me about it I realized that some of you may not know this but I do not have a beta. I write, proof read, correct the errors all by myself. So, every mistake is mine. 🙏🙏 (Truth is I like to do everything by myself 'cause I'm a glutton for punishment😒)

No more rant today. Hope all of you are doing well. I apologize if I missed replying anyone.🙏

Thank you so much for all your votes, comments and follows! You don't know how much your kind words heal me.💖

Hope you enjoy the read!

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Chapter-7

Timmy halted on his track and turned to where he thought Johnny was after the later auto locked his car.

“You’re locking your car? Why?”

Johnny was prepared for this, of course; therefore his reply was prompt, “I’ll be crashing with you tonight.”

Timmy’s jaw dropped comically, “You what?” Then his brows bunched up together that told Johnny a tsunami of protest was coming, “Are you serious? Because you can’t be that crazy! There is a limit of bothering people and you’ve crossed yours months ago!”

“What’s the bother?” JingYu yawned, “Friends stay over at each other’s places all the time. I’ll take you to mine whenever-“

“I don’t want to go to your house,” Timmy hissed, mindful of the time of the night, “Nor do I want you to go to mine. So, please get back to your car to go away!”

“You want me to drive for hours at this time of the night?”

“Don’t be melodramatic, Johnny. Just go already.”

“Why?”

“What why? Because I don’t want you in my home, that’s why!”

Even though Johnny knew he had to work hard in order to convince his friend, those few words still hurt a bit, just a tad bit. Or maybe he was indeed drunk and was feeling emotional.

“Am I that much of a nuisance to you?”

Damn! He did not mean to sound like a sobbing maiden but the way Timmy bit his lip and his death grip on the stick slackened Johnny knew it had worked. He grinned; his Timmy was so gullible sometimes.

“Okay,” this time deliberately making his voice sad, Johnny continued, “I’ll leave once you cross the road and make sure you lock the door-“

“Urgh! Why are you so insufferable?!” Timmy groaned, cutting Johnny’s whining short. “One fuss and I’ll kick you out right away.”

Timmy turned and started walking. With a winning smile, Johnny jogged after him and wrapped his right arm around Timmy’s neck.

“I knew you wouldn’t be cruel enough to let your best friend drive while he is drunk.”

“Who’s drunk? You are stone cold sober!” Timmy’s scowl was yet to fade away but that was all right because Johnny’s mission was accomplished.

“No no, I’m drunk. I’m druuuuu-ooow!”

The stick hit him like a whip.

XOXOXOX

Timmy’s flat was....immaculate. Seeing the pristine condition of the one bedroom apartment that was what came to Johnny’s mind. The neatness was almost geometric and Johnny was not sure why he was surprised because it fitted with Timmy’s obsessive compulsion of being precise perfectly.

But...

“Hope you’re taking your fill because this is the only chance you will get,” the man of the house grumbled while taking off his shoes and folding his stick. “And take off your shoes! I don’t want your paw prints all over my flat.”

Completely ignoring the empty threat because now that he had the entry pass not even Timmy’s landlord could kick him out, Johnny frowned. “Why does it look...feminine? You married or something?” And gave Timmy a suspicious sidelong glance. Suddenly the image of a girl coming out under the sofa rushed to his mind, souring his mood immediately. He scowled at the innocent, unsuspecting furniture.

“Feminine how?” Confused, Timmy stopped whatever he was doing.

“It’s too clean.”

Timmy’s frown deepened at first, “And that’s feminine to you?” And hearing Johnny’s answering hum he huffed, “I am not even surprised. You probably live in a pigsty.”

Timmy went to the dining table, steps steady and certain, took two glasses and started pouring water from a bottle. Timmy’s fingers felt up the glass as the water level inside rose, Johnny noted absently and thought back to this morning when he had unceremoniously kicked an empty noodle bowl under his bed because he was too lazy to carry it to the trash bin.

“Of course not! My flat is spick and span, only less feminine.”

“Stop calling it feminine,” Timmy coughed and grimaced, the water must have gone down the wrong pipe, then wiped his wet lips with the back of his hand.

Realizing he had been staring at Timmy’s lips Johnny quickly looked away and began to move around. He was not kidding when he said it was too clean. Not a single item was out of place here; although he had an idea why so. He turned to look at Timmy to see he was taking the throw pillows out of the sofa to make a bed, movements certain as someone with sight.

“Eh? Who’s gonna sleep here?”

Timmy did not even turn to him or stop his work before saying, “You obviously! Who else?”

Johnny slid closer, snickering silently when that sudden intimacy startled Timmy, and whispered, “But wouldn’t the bed be more convenient for cuddling?”

Timmy straightened up, gave a shove and smiled sweetly, “Keep pushing your luck all you want. I have no qualms of kicking you out any moment.” And headed to a room that Johnny supposed was the bedroom. He followed right away. No way in hell he would miss an opportunity to see Timmy’s bedroom!

But of course, he got caught.

“I hope you know I can hear you hopping behind me.”

“I don’t hop, I glide,” Johnny stated with a flourish. This back and forth bickering like an old couple was what he enjoyed the most.

“Then glide and perch on the sofa because this,” Timmy pointed to the room, “is off limits.” And got in, shutting the door behind.

Johnny chuckled. He was dead tired and to be honest, that sofa really looked inviting but he needed to get fresh first. He went to the door on his right which he predicted as the toilet.

After splashing water on his exhausted face, Johnny stood gripping the sink with both hands, eyes on the mirror.

“What am I doing here?” He shook his head to dislodge the water, “Barging into someone’s life, invading their home, being clingy.....this is not me.” He mapped the deep crease between his brows, the half opened lips, the fading freckles. He was the same yet a complete stranger altogether when it came to Timmy. “What have you done to me?”

His reflection stared back at him with huge empty eyes.

“Johnny?”

He had no idea how long he had been standing there but that muffled call pulled him out of his trance.

“In here,” he replied back.

When Timmy spoke next his voice was just outside the door, “You need anything? Extra towels are in the cabinet under the sink and there’s-“

“No, I’m okay,” Johnny ran his wet fingers through his hair, swept his eyes over the tiny bathroom- a glimpse of Timmy’s private life- and got out.

The sofa had now a bed sheet spread over it with a pillow and a blanket stacked on. Timmy was standing at the window, forehead touching the cold glass. Instead of going to him Johnny sat on the sofa, suddenly melancholic.

“Sorry for imposing on you like this. Should have gone home. It’s not really a long drive,” Johnny started, elbows resting on his knees, twisting the ring on his little finger.

Timmy fully turned to him, face surprised, eyes at the general direction of the makeshift bed. Maybe he did not expect Johnny to have any kind of guilty feeling?

“No....no, it’s all right. I shouldn’t have told you to drive that far this late.”

Johnny smiled, always the gentleman. Suppressing a sigh, he said with a forced chirp in his voice, “Don’t worry, I’ll be outta your hair the first thing in the morning and I promise I won’t steal anything!”

Timmy did not return his smile. He came and sat beside Johnny, every step so sure, even the distance he maintained from Johnny was calculated. It was truly a wonder to watch him in his own territory.

“Johnny...” his voice was soft, “I really don’t mind that you are here. In fact, I am glad that this flat has finally seen someone else other than my parents.” The soft laughter rang and faded away before he spoke again, “And tonight....it was great tonight.”

“Really?” One again, Johnny did not mean for his voice to sound so hopeful but damn his sudden bout of sadness.

Timmy’s face turned toward him, eyes lowered, “You are the one with eyes, can’t you see?”

At long last a genuine smile broke free of Johnny. He leaned a bit and murmured, “And I told you I wanted to see through your eyes.”

Timmy jumped and stood hastily, “You’re creepy!”

Johnny grinned.

“Go to sleep and if you need anything,” Timmy told the back of the sofa, “Don’t call me.”

After a beat they both burst out laughing.

Eyes crinkling at the corner, mouth forming the happiness, Timmy looked so young when he laughed like that. Johnny stared, mesmerized.

“Did you have fun tonight?” Even though Timmy had already said that he enjoyed the evening Johnny still needed to know, wanted to hear that he was the reason of this man’s happiness, even if it was for a small while. “I wanted you to have fun.”

Timmy’s face composed back to its usual calm state but a hint of smile still lingered on. And what he did next caught Johnny completely off guard.

Stretching his right hand Timmy ruffled Johnny’s damp hair lightly and shook his head, “You are crazy, Johnny. Crazier than I thought.”

A jolt of energy shot down Johnny’s scalp to his toes.

“Sleep now. Good night.”

Only when he heard the soft click of the bedroom door being closed, Johnny exhaled, “Good night.”

What have you done to me?

XOXOXOX

The sofa was the size of a fucking baby crib! Johnny twisted this way and that but all he could manage to fit in were his back and butt. With his six feet two inch frame, he never really expected to get something that would fit him properly but this fucking thing was smaller than a spoon! Frustrated, Johnny sat up rubbing at his tired face. That bastard was sleeping peacefully in his bed, while Johnny sat here in the dark like a mosquito, mentally whining.

Johnny scowled. This was not the way he imagined this night to go! Wait! How the hell he imagined this night to go? Cuddling together in Timmy’s bed? Bloody hell! He cursed and shook his head to reset his upside down brain.

What am I doing here?

The door to Timmy’s bedroom cricked open.

Startled, he sat there as a tow headed, bare chested, only boxer wearing, closed eyed Timmy appeared and disappeared into the bathroom, scratching his bum.

Johnny gaped like a fish.

In that semi darkened room Timmy’s porcelain skin looked paler, smoother and almost ethereal. His hair looked darker than the night. His legs were long and waist, damn....that slender waist...and there were dimples in the small of his-

WAIT A FUCKING MINUTE!

Johnny screech stopped his spiralling down thoughts and took a long deep breath.

“You are a homosapien, Johnny! Not a homosexual!”

And took another breath when his wicked mind cornered him.

What if you were not straight? If you were gay, what would you have done? Would you have admitted that yes, you were attracted to Timmy? That you found Timmy arousing? That sometimes you want to touch him just to feel his warmth under your palm? If you were honest to your own self, would you have admitted that you might be falling for-

Timmy got out of the bathroom. He did not switch on the lights, Johnny noticed.

He went to the dining table as if sleep walking and his hand found the water bottle exactly where it was. Johnny worried his lower lip. This guy seemed to have totally forgotten about another existence in the room. Should Johnny make himself known? Or should he just keep ogling that round butt? Well, he might just keep looking at- not he fucking might not!

“Erm..couldn’t sleep?”

Timmy choked and spattered water everywhere.

“Woah! Easy there!”

“Goddamnit! You almost gave me a heart attack!” Timmy coaxed out in between his coughs.

“Sorry.”  Johnny wanted to counter it with sarcasm but seeing the spilled water glistening on Timmy’s lips, tricking down his chin and chest, that apology kind of slipped out.

And it gave Timmy a pause in which he finally seemed to be aware of his semi naked state and folded his arms against his chest in a way as if to fend off cold.

“Oh, um, no, that’s...Did I wake you?”

Eyeing a single drop of crystal rolling down towards the hollow of the naval, Johnny shook his head, “I can’t sleep.”

The hollow sucked the droplet. Johnny’s eyes slid up to look at Timmy’s worried face.

“Do you need anything? Are you cold?”

Johnny felt warm, so warm. Why was it so hot in here? Why did he want to track down the treasure trail that disappeared behind Timmy’s boxer elastic that hung low on his waist? Would he cut his hand if touched the sharp hipbone that jutted out stubbornly? Would he be able to come back if he tried to delve deeper?

Without even meaning to he got up, advancing towards Timmy in a slow pace, the way a predator cornered its prey.

“I need a bigger surface to fit myself in.”

Timmy was still staring at the sofa and flinched when heard Johnny so close.

“Bigger? You mean-“

“Don’t you wish to see me, Timmy?” Johnny asked, voice hushed in the silence of the night. He was conscious of what he was doing but he was not at the same time. It was like seeing himself from outside.

“See?” Timmy’s question was equally hushed, unseeing eyes at Johnny’s chin.

Johnny’s hand rose, “The way you see,” and fingertips brushed the soft skin on Timmy’s wrist. Johnny felt Timmy’s shiver under his fingers.

They held their breaths.
Then Timmy jumped back, putting a good wide distance between two bodies, breaking the spell.

“I’m- sorry for-“ He stammered and grasped for words while Johnny stood there, suddenly bereft. The blind man back pedalled to his room’s direction, “S-sorry for the..the sofa...” Timmy turned then halted at the doorstep, as if there was something more he wanted to say and Johnny waited eagerly.

In the end no more words were said and the soft thud of the door shutting close reverberated in the quiet room.

Johnny was gone before the first ray of the Sun hit the small apartment, leaving behind a voicemail that said an urgent work had come up.

A lie but it was better than the truth which even he could not face at the time.

XOXOXOX

The awkwardness loomed large between them for two long days. There were a few texts and voice mails but the usual camaraderie was missing completely. Johnny was more confused than ashamed of how bizarrely he behaved and Timmy was.....quieter.

However, this weird standstill was broken when Johnny received the reply of a message he sent out to Timmy, asking if he would be free this weekend to accompany Johnny to the performance of a renowned Orchestra.

“I’m sorry, Johnny, but I sort of have a plan...............I have a date this Saturday.”

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Sooooo, what do you think is going on inside Timmy's head? Any thoughts?😶