Caelum
Everything settled down again after Zane's mother left. The next week was quiet, everyone subdued. It was surprisingly Rich who thought up a way to break the tension. A party. After begging permission from Mom, we started to plan when and what this party would be. We agreed that it would be only the group of us and Rich's current girlfriend. We invited Lisa, but she declined saying she didn't want to hang out with the old fogies. The party was set for the weekend after midterms, giving us a much need celebration after the stress of writing exams. Drinks and food were provided by Mom and we all brought some form of entertainment. "This is fun," Jeff stated. We had moved past card games and had now started on the drinking ones. "Only cuz you keep winning and don't have to drink," Rich retorted. Everyone laughed as Rich took another drink. "Maybe we should play something else," Zane suggested, taking a sip of his own drink. "Like what?" It was the question on everyone's mind. "I Never," Ci decided. There were groans all around but no one declined to play. "Who wants to start?" No one answered and finally I spoke up. "I'll go first," I sighed. "I never kissed a boy." Laughing at the idiocy of my own turn I took a gulp of my drink. I watched as Zane drank, then Ci, Anthony shook his head and both Rick and Jeff drank. What surprised me was when Rich took a healthy chug of his drink. "Rich?" The shock in Jeff's voice rang through everyone. This was something that we didn't know about. "What? Who?" Beside him, Rich's girlfriend laughed as Jeff sputtered. "It was my brother. We look a lot alike and Rich wasn't quite awake and planted a big one on Marcus." Laughter rang out as colour flooded Rich's face. The game continued on, some statements were ridiculous, some were frightening but all was fun. "I've never had sex." This was from Anthony. I watched as Ci put her drink down and Zane blushed and looked away. The rest of us drank. "You're a virgin Zane?" Ci asked. He nodded his face red with embarrassment. Ci smiled. "Glad to know that I'm not the only one." The game seemed to deteriorate after that and I realized that it was nearly 4 am. "I'm heading to bed," I told everyone. "I'll see you later." As I headed toward the bedroom I heard Zane call out a quiet "night" and figured he was going to stay up for a while with the others. Sighing softy I began to strip and nearly jumped out of my skin when warm fingers traced the length of my spine. Spinning around I collided with Zane who was standing close to me. "Cae?" his voice was soft and uncertain. "Thought you were still playing games with the others," I replied to his unvoiced question. "Tired. Rather be with you anyway." One step had us pressed together and I brought my mouth down on his in a gentle kiss. "Rather have you here with me," I whispered against his mouth. "I sleep better when you're here." We changed and settled into the bed, cuddled together in our normal position. I ran my hands up and down his back, loving the feel of the play of muscles there. He shifted closer, bringing his erection in contact with my hip. Bringing our faces together I kissed him again, feeling the need grow between us. Breathing hard I pulled back. "I don't want to give them a show," I breathed against his neck. "We'll have to pick this up later." "Sounds good," he answered. We settled down and slowly slipped into sleep, happy to be together.
Zane
Later never came as overloads of homework and crazy shift schedules conspired to keep us apart. In the month since the party I had only seen Cae five times outside of school. It was annoying and I was beginning to wonder if Cae was avoiding me. "Hey Zane, Cae's not here, he got called into work," Ci smiled as she pulled me into the house. "He should be home in an hour if you want to stay for awhile." "Wanted to talk to you anyway, Ci." Her eyes zeroed in on my face, seeing the fear lurking there. Nodding she led the way downstairs and took a seat. Sitting across from her I wondered how to begin. "Is Cae avoiding me?" I asked deciding to just be blunt about it. "No, he's not," she sighed. "A couple people quit so they've needed him to work extra shifts. When he gets home he generally just falls in bed. I don't even know when he's getting his homework done." She stopped for a moment. "But he's not avoiding you. He was complaining the other day that he never gets to see you anymore. I think it's killing him." "What can I do, Ci? I miss him but he's never home, even at school he's distracted," I was starting to get angry. "Corner him and talk to him," she said. "He'll be home soon and it's still early. You can spend the night or go home late. It's up to you." "That can wait till after I've have a chance to speak with Cae. He might not want me to stay." Ci looked at me in sympathy before settling down to do homework. I pulled out the work I had brought with me and tried to get something done as I worried about how my talk with Cae was going to go. We both glanced up as we heard the front door open and we followed the sound of footsteps as Cae neared the basement door. I watched as he trudged down the stairs, exhaustion lining his face and bags darkening under his eyes. When he saw me his silver eyes flashed with something I couldn't name and I shivered with nerves. Ci gathered up her things and placed a soft kiss on Cae's cheek before heading back upstairs, telling us she was heading to Anthony's for awhile. I watched him as he dropped his bag and pulled his hair out of the thick braid reining it in. He seemed so tired and I felt bad about needed to ruin any rest he should have been getting. "Zane?" He was standing in front of me now. "Is something wrong?" "No, I just missed you," the admission was dragged from me. "Oh, baby, I missed you too." He dropped to his knees and pulled me into his arms. "I just convinced Gregory to let me have a couple of weeks off. I was going to call you and tell you tonight." "Really?" I couldn't help the hope that coloured my voice. "Yeah, really," he laughed, kissing me. "I was gong to ask you if you wanted to go to the movies or something, even just hang around here for the weekend. Just spend some time together." "I'll like that. Just the two of us?" I asked. "If you want." I kissed him, slipping my tongue along his lips. "I want," I whispered. "How much?" His hands traced my back, fingers drawing designs on my flesh. "Bed. Now." I stood, dragging him up with me and pulling him toward the bedroom. He stopped me, searching my face for signs. "Not everything, but I need..."
A/N: Okay, leaving it there for now. Anyone wants the sex, let me know. I'll write chapter 15 after you decided. Thanks to everyone who wrote to me about the story, feedback makes me write more. So keep it up.