THREE
Darien’s back was to him, and for Noah, that was a relief. It gave him a moment to steel himself to the mere sight of him, which was intense enough, real and vivid enough, without having to also look deep into those beautiful, sky blue eyes and deal with that, too.
He was running late, and he shouldn’t have taken those few moments, but he needed them to pull himself together. He looked at the broad shoulders, hunched forward anxiously, the head lowered as he looked at something. His phone, Noah would guess, and then he felt his own vibrate in his pocket, and he pulled it out.
Okay, but where are you?
It wouldn’t be fair to make him wait longer, not when he’d been there, at this point, for over an hour. Noah settled his feet shoulder width apart and let himself sink into that stance, firmly planted, ready for anything.
He hoped.
“I’m right here, Darien,” Noah told him, and in the loudness of the busy airport, with all of the people around, he wondered if Darien would be able to hear him at all, or if he’d have to speak up.
Darien turned around right away, though, his face utterly astonished, and Noah’s heart throbbed in his chest, equally balanced between floating and falling, between pleasure and pain, as he laid eyes on this man who had once meant everything to him.
Who still meant everything to him, he amended, as he saw a wide smile form on those beautiful full lips of his. Darien’s eyes sparkled, and his whole face lit up, the sun coming out from behind the clouds of anxiety.
Who absolutely couldn’t mean everything to him, he reminded himself. But then why had he moved all of the way across the country, if not for this moment? Even he wasn’t sure, but he did know that he was going to have to watch his step.
Having his heart broken once was quite enough. He was here to get closure and then to continue on with his life. Maybe he and Darien could go back to being friends, though he knew he would have to watch his heart closely to make sure he didn’t start to care too much again.
That was the problem with Darien. Almost immediately, Noah had started to care for the bright, smart, vivacious, and incredibly gorgeous man. Darien’s cheer, his optimism, was so foreign to Noah and so irresistible. But he’d always been aware that he was the one falling, not Darien.
Darien was up in a second, and flinging himself at Noah, their arms wrapping against each other in a hug that was warm and comforting, even if it shouldn’t be. Safe, but also filling him with a flush of heat so that he was suddenly and acutely aware of his own body.
“I missed you,” Darien whispered in Noah’s ear, and Noah clung to him with everything in him, feeling the warmth of Darien’s body against his own, closing his eyes and just soaking it up, letting it soothe and comfort him.
The only thing was, that wasn’t all that it did. That heat roused something inside of him, and to his dismay, he felt the twitching, then the plumping up, of his cock. It shouldn’t have surprised him. He usually got aroused when he thought of Darien and had since long before the other man had left.
Somehow, he would have thought that this hold, this need, which had his entire body aching, his balls tight and his cock rapidly swelling to full arousal, this desire which made his nipples into tight little buds, sensitive and ready to be touched, just like his whole desperate body was.
Noah didn’t comment, but his arms did tighten, and he had to fight his treacherous body to try to keep his hips from tilting forward, to keep from rubbing against Darien right there in the crowded airport.
Two seconds back in Darien’s presence and Noah was set to go off like a firework. But then, Noah had never tried to claim, not even to himself, that he didn’t want Darien. He’d known how hopeless it would be to want him, but his body still pulsed and melted inside slowly, like beeswax in the hot summer sun of Darien’s beautiful body and brilliant grin.
Slightly uncomfortable, Noah shifted against him and then made a discovery which stunned him so much that, at first, he didn’t even believe it. It seemed like too much, like something out of one of his wildest fantasies, so when he brushed his hip just lightly against the front of Darien’s jeans and felt a bulge there, he couldn’t even believe that it was true.
But when he did move lightly against him, Darien’s body stiffened in a way that Noah couldn’t ignore, or write off. Darien’s arms, wrapped around Noah’s slender body, pulled him close, and their hips moved together more directly, and then there was no way for Noah to deny it.
Darien was hard. Just as hard as Noah was, and the knowledge did nothing to help with that state of affairs. Noah gasped and pulled back to look into Darien’s eyes, seeing a heat there that he had never thought he would be lucky enough to see. There was passion there, a passion that Noah was not used to seeing directed at himself.
“Darien,” Noah whispered, sure that his cheeks were pink, and knowing for a fact that he was staring, but he couldn’t look away. In the months that they’d been away from each other, something had changed, and he didn’t know all the details about that yet, but he did know that Darien was looking at him in an entirely new way.
“I want to …” Darien took a deep breath, obviously settling himself, though he didn’t pull away from the warmth of their embrace, either. “I want to show you around. You’ve never been to Los Angeles before, have you?”
Noah wordlessly shook his head, smiling just a tiny bit. While he retreated into the safety of silence, Darien went the other way and babbled, saying things which they already both knew the answer to. It was just different ways of dealing with confusion at the changes to their relationship. It had always been like this, Darien got brave and loud while Noah got shy and quiet.
Just one of many things that had made their friendship work so well. But would it work as well for a different type of relationship?
Noah could have kicked himself for the thought as soon as he had it. Hadn’t he been warning himself, over and over again, that he had to be careful with this? That he couldn’t let his heart rush into something with someone that he couldn’t trust, that wasn’t reliable?
Someone who, more than ever now, might just leave him for his career? Arousal or not, Noah couldn’t let himself forget, and he deliberately called into his mind how it had felt when Darien had left, when he’d actually done it, the pain and loneliness and near despair, which he’d only gotten over even as much as he had by throwing himself into his schoolwork.
He pulled those feelings around himself, an uncomfortable, prickly, cold blanket which scratched at him like a hair shirt. He forced himself to feel it all, and yet …
… The desire didn’t go away.
“Okay. I’ll show you around, then.” Darien was still babbling and probably had been the whole time that Noah had been dragging that protective layer back over his heart and soul. It was endearing, but Noah couldn’t afford to allow himself to feel it.
