Flash Photography

“Say something,” I laughed nervously, playing with Chace’s fingers. The guy had the hands of a rock climbing jazz pianist, and the usual calluses were absent from his fingertips. His nail beds also looked so pristine. Chace was so small and neat and adorable. Maybe that’s what made it so easy for me to fall for Chace – he was already pretty girly to begin with.

But if he turned out to be straight, this tour would be a hell of a lot more awkward than it already was.

“…Something,” Chace teased before pulling me down a bit more so he could kiss me. Oh, thank god.

I’ll admit, I ended up kissing some guys when I was drunk, but it was usually on the cheek. Chace was the first guy I’ve ever kissed this, uh, thoroughly. His lips were unnaturally soft and pliant against mine. The kiss started out endearingly slow. I had no idea what to do since I was kissing a guy. I had no idea what Chace was into, either. I put my arms around his slight frame when I felt his hands on my chest. They slid up to rest on my neck, though, so I took that as a sign to tighten my hold on him.

I must have been doing a good job, because Chace’s breathing grew labored as his fingers started to tangle themselves in my still slightly damp hair. I gently ran my tongue across the length of his bottom lip, asking for entrance to his mouth. Chace surprised me by parting my mouth with his own. Chace’s mouth was cold and minty fresh, but I didn’t care. What shocked me a bit was the distinct taste of metal that met my tongue. It startled me so much that I couldn’t help but break the kiss.

“Too much?” Chace asked with a nervous laugh in the same fashion that I did when he stopped me from kissing his neck. His eyes were bright, pupils dilated, his face was tinged an adorable pink, and his lips were all swollen and an even more adorable pink. I did all that…and I wanted to do more…

“No, it’s…your tongue is pierced,” I said breathlessly. Chace nodded and stuck his tongue out for me to see the piercing. “That’s fuckin’hot,” I muttered before I grabbed him by the hips and lifted him up onto the washing machine to kiss him more easily.

I think we carried on like that for a nice fifteen minutes, or however long until the washing machine finished. When it buzzed, Chace groaned against my lips, but broke the kiss and grudgingly untangled his legs from around my waist before pushing me away so he could get off and start doing more laundry. “Chace, you can’t do that to me,” I whined, hugging him from behind as he began to fold the dry clothes.

“Help me finish this and we can get back to that sooner,” he said promisingly, squirming out of my arms. He shuddered when I playfully nipped at his ear.

“Fine,” I sighed, shoving the wet laundry into the dryer and starting it before loading the last of the laundry into the washing machine.

“Hey…John?” Chace asked after a few minutes. I turned and smiled at him to show that I was giving him my full attention. “I thought… I thought you hated me?”

I sighed and rubbed my neck. “I’m sorry about that…that was me trying to fight my feelings for you and failing miserably.” Chace nodded understandingly, a blush blooming on his face again. “Hey, I like that. When you blush. When I make you blush, anyways.”

“Shut up,” Chace laughed softly, sorting the folded laundry once more, according to whom the articles of clothing belonged. “Now, come here and tell me which clothes go where…”

Chace didn’t object when I hugged him from behind this time. “That one’s mine,” I said when Chace held up my Tom Petty shirt. I was trying to distract him from doing laundry, so I started nibbling on his ear. His ears were pierced a lot, too. It was a sensitive spot for him. “Those are Garrett’s,” I told Chace when his hands hovered over some Ryan Adams shirts.

“John,” Chace choked out my name when I began to alternate between kissing and biting his ear. “Fuck! John, you need to stop that now.”

“But don’t you like it?” I asked as I ceased my ministrations on his ear, now kissing the soft skin just behind and beneath it. Another sensitive spot. Chace practically melted in my arms, especially when I started licking that spot in small circles. “I wanna know what you like, Chace. I wanna know how to make you feel good, just the way you want it,” I murmured, kissing along his neck, now that he was letting me.

“Stop. Turning. Me. On,” Chace demanded, and I bet it took every ounce of his will power to push me away this time. “John, what…what is this going to be?” he asked, vaguely gesturing to the little space between us.

“I-I was kind of hoping for it to be, like, dating? If that’s ok with you?” I asked, just to make sure. I didn’t know what to do in this kind of relationship. Like… I didn’t know if I was the “guy” or the “girl.” I hoped I was the “guy,” because I don’t really know how to play the “girl,” and… I don’t really want to. Not being a misogynist or anything, but to me, the “girl” in the relationship is the one that gets taken care of, that needs protecting, and I wanted to do that for Chace, so that makes me the “guy,” right…?

No, forget that. Asking who’s the guy and the girl in a gay relationship is like asking which chopstick is the left and the right one. “So we’re not talking about anything happening between us after the tour is over, right?” Chace asked, and his tone was indifferent with this question. Oh, shit.

“Well…Not yet,” I decided to say, leaving it open ended enough for the both of us. “This is all really new to me, so…”

“Yeah, me too,” Chace admitted with a nervous smile. “Let’s just…make it up as we go, yeah?”

“Sounds good…now, to more important matters – can I sleep with you tonight?”

Chace laughed at the complete seriousness with which I asked my question. “No, John, I promised Pat I’d share a bed with him, and, uh…can…can this be our little secret?”

“Yeah,” I agreed, glad that Chace had come to the same conclusion as me. If the guys knew, they wouldn’t give us any real trouble about it, but they sure would tease the fuck out of us. Chace was a delicate little thing, and I doubted he could handle that much teasing in such frequency…or maybe that was just my protective streak shining out again? “But you’re mine the next hotel we’re at, Chace.”

“Ok,” Chace acquiesced so submissively. It was insanely attractive.

I grinned and ruffled his hair. “Alright, well, I’m gonna get back to the hotel room before we’re seen together…secret boyfriend,” I teased, leaning down for one more quick kiss before leaving him in the laundry room.

When I got to our floor, I pulled out my room key, swiping it repeatedly to no avail for some reason. “I’m guessing it worked?” Tay asked with a smug smirk from her room across the hallway. “You’re looking nice and blissed out, John Ohh,” she laughed, patting my cheek when I just shot her a lazy grin. She was right. I was still too high off my amazing kisses with Chace to be irritated at anything right now. Tay flipped my card over and swiped it through, opening the door for me. “There you go.”

“G’night, Tay,” was all I bothered to say to her before getting into our room and shutting it. I got into the bathroom and stripped down to nothing for a nice cold shower, because the only things that were bluer than Chace’s eyes were my balls.