![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hackthis_archive*Previous sections available here.*
Telegraph Avenue IV: Caught by the River
Over the next few weeks Seth found himself shifting his schedule around to spend more time with Jamie, because it felt like the right thing to do.
He stayed up to the wee hours reading Of Mice and Men so they could spend the day at D King’s art gallery looking at 60’s concert bills from the Fillmore. He woke up extremely early one Tuesday morning to write an Abnormal Psych paper so they could go to the Act I & II for the midnight showing of Jaws; and he made a concerted effort to get his homework done ahead of time so that they could go clubbing at 1015 and to see Paul Weller at Bimbo’s.
Seth even finished his write-up for his Physics lab early, which was completely unheard of. So when Jamie found him at the library, and asked him to come to the huge Guitar Center in Albany to go shopping for new guitar strings, he was more than available.
The entire store gathered around when Jamie sang an acoustic version of ‘All Apologies’ on the Taylor Classic he told Seth he was saving up to buy. Even for somebody from Newport, Seth thought $3500 was a lot of money to spend on a guitar; and if Jamie noticed the bystanders, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he stared at Seth as though giving him a private concert. When he was done, everyone clapped, and Jamie colored shyly.
If it was a strange reaction for a performer to have, Seth didn’t notice. All he saw was Jamie smiling at him. Just him.
On the walk back to the BART station, Seth dragged Jamie behind a furniture dumpster and kissed him senseless. They made out until someone came out the backdoor of the store, and then ran to the train station to get back to campus in time for Seth to make his Creative Writing seminar.
At some point, Seth became so focused on completing his studies to spend time with Jamie, that he wound up spending time at home doing actual *home* *work*. This was such a huge anomaly that even Ryan couldn't help but notice.
On more than one occasion Seth looked up from highlighting an entire paperback or making notes for Physics to find Ryan smiling down at him. On these occasions Ryan’s face would light up, and he would clear off space on the sofa and read whatever comic books were around, while Seth rambled to him aimlessly about migration patterns for orange pickers and why being an English major proved Seth was a masochist.
The more Seth saw of Jamie, the more he saw of Ryan as well, and he couldn’t figure out if he was more in sync with Ryan’s schedule now that he wasn’t always around, or if Ryan’s schedule had magically become more accommodating to *him*.
Seth didn’t dwell on it too much, instead choosing to enjoy himself as much as possible, since obviously that’s what his parents were paying for. When Ryan began suggesting places they could go: Peet’s Coffee on Arch, Slim’s, the IMAX feature on sailing, Seth happily shifted his schedule to accommodate him as well.
At one point Seth realized he was doing a hell of a lot of accommodating, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to complain. Spending time with Jamie was like being with Summer, except male, and older and blonde, and being with Ryan was… well, it was *Ryan*.
The hitch was that Seth still hadn’t told Ryan about Jamie, and every time he tried to, something completely unrelated would come out instead: a joke about his Physics professor’s comb-over or a comment on the latest edition of The Flash.
But it wasn’t as though Seth never talked about Ryan to Jamie. He told Jamie all about how Ryan came to be a Cohen and the first time Ryan had taken a punch on Seth’s behalf. He told Jamie about Tijuana and Summer, and the first time he’d tried to teach Ryan to skateboard. Except whenever Jamie suggested that he introduce them, Seth balked; maybe because *he* was the one that wasn’t ready yet.
The first time Ryan mentioned that ‘somebody named Jamie’ had left Seth a voicemail, Seth nearly passed out. Ryan, however, didn't seem particular interested in the whos and whys. If he noticed Seth’s stammering he didn't say anything, something else Seth noted with marginal disappointment. Despite all of Ryan’s perceptiveness, he didn’t seem particularly interested in what Seth did when they weren’t together, and that hurt.
Seth wanted to tell Ryan about how amazing Jamie was when he played the guitar, and how he could rant about Dark Horse comics for hours on end. Seth wanted to tell Ryan how Jamie couldn’t do his own laundry to save his life so he walked his neighbor’s dog in trade for her doing his laundry.
Of course Seth wanted a lot of things, but that didn’t necessarily mean they were going to happen.
For example, Seth had a major Abnormal Psychology exam the day before his birthday, which he hoped, prayed, and all but sacrificed a live chicken to get out of it. With zero success.
So, while he waited for the five bucks worth of pennies he’d thrown in the fountain by the Washington Mutual to grant him his wish, he studied himself to the point of insanity. He even turned down an invitation from Tom to go drinking at the Albatross to ease the stress.
The morning of the exam, Seth’s head was swimming with DSM-IV information, and over breakfast, he demanded that Ryan test him on the 126 flash cards he’d made. Through mouthfuls of Cap'n Crunch, Seth babbled endlessly about schizophrenia and bi-polar disorders until he began to think he was diagnosing himself.
The exam itself was indeed hell: multiple choice, true and false, and three essay questions that Seth attacked until his hand cramped up, and he forgot his own name. He even wound up signing his blue books with his Social Security Number, something that Rusty pointed out with great amusement when he turned them in at the end of the class.
Staggering out into the chilly October afternoon along with several of his classmates, Seth had every intention of seeing how fast he could procure cheap alcohol and a place to crash.
All thoughts of Old English malt beer and acetone-smelling vodka fled his mind when he saw Jamie leaning against a tree outside Tolman Hall. He was wearing a faded blue shirt, jeans with a small hole in the left knee and a corduroy jacket with a fleece collar. He looked very warm and comfortable, and Seth’s first instinct was to drag him someplace to molest him. But after Seth had had a nap. And a drink.
For all the making out they’d done, they hadn’t progressed very far in terms of sex, which Seth was pretty fucking sure was not normal for college-aged boys. Of course it had only been three weeks, and every time Jamie had tried to get Seth to stay the night he’d insisted on going home. Except Seth had never been that attached to his virginity the first time around, so he couldn’t really explain his reluctance where Jamie was concerned.
But that wasn’t the point.
Sleep was the point, as was booze, and Jamie. Not necessarily in that order.
Seth offered Jamie a tired smile as he stumbled down the steps of the building and made his way over to the large oak.
“That bad, huh?”
Seth rolled his eyes so hard they almost got stuck. “No, forgetting you have a meeting with your professor is bad. Running into your ex is bad. *That* was fucking awful.”
Jamie snorted at Seth’s theatrics. “I’m sure you did better than you think.”
“I *think* I failed, so anything beyond that is an improvement.” Seth sighed and shifted his bag to his other shoulder as Jamie eyed him.
“Do you want me to talk to Rusty, because I’m sure –“
Seth cut him off before Jamie could finish whatever he was going to say. “Don’t make him any offers he can’t refuse.”
Jamie chuckled. “Are you sure, Don Corleone?”
“Absolutely. If I fail, I fail on my own merits and stupidity.”
“You’re not stupid, Seth.” Jamie’s tone was surprisingly sharp, which caught Seth off-guard.
The Jamie Seth knew was sarcastic and witty and mellow; he’d never seen him angry or annoyed. Or even upset.
“No, I just do stupid shit,” Seth mocked.
He rocked back and forth while Jamie considered him for several seconds. “I was going to see if you wanted to go to Amoeba, but now I think you need to unwind instead.”
Seth shook his head. “You have no idea.”
“All right. Come home with me and tell me all about it.”
Seth blinked. It wasn’t a question as much as a directive. “Okay.”
*
Jamie had a cozy studio in a motel-style apartment building off of Euclid Avenue, but calling it ‘cozy’ was just another way of saying it was the size of a matchbox. Seth thought his mom’s walk-in closet might have been bigger, but at least Jamie had a place to call his own.
The main piece of furniture in the apartment was a sofa/futon against the back wall, which once unfolded, almost ate up the entire room. There was a television, which sat on the large windowsill in the front of the room, and a microwave, which lived on top of the mini-refrigerator in one corner. The bathroom was in the opposing corner.
The only closet in the apartment served as clothes closet, coat closet, comics closet and pantry, and the only real selling point was the tiny balcony in the back. All in all, it took five steps to get from the front door to the balcony door, and living there should have been awful, but unlike Seth, Jamie was good about keeping his place tidy.
His shoes were always in the closet, not hibernating next to the sofa and waiting for be tripped over. He hung his guitars on hooks fastened into the wall, and the black and white photographs of his family in New York and framed movie posters for The Usual Suspects and 28 Days Later, always made Seth think that he and Ryan should have put some effort into decorating their living room.
On this particular afternoon, with Seth stretched out on the sofa, there was still room for Jamie to move around, carefully dodging stacks of paperbacks and CDs as he opened up the refrigerator and pulled out two beers.
The bottle opener was attached to the refrigerator door handle by a long industrial chain, which Jamie said was the result of hard college learning; and Seth eagerly accepted the cool Heineken as Jamie dropped down next to him on the futon. The remote control for the television was between them, but Seth couldn’t even be bothered to lift it. Instead he slumped into the back of the sofa and took several swallows of beer before letting out an enormous belch.
“Nice one.” Jamie poked him in the stomach pointedly.
“Sorry,” Seth parroted.
He closed his eyes and nursed his beer contentedly. Even if he had completely bombed his test, he wouldn’t know it until the next class, which meant after his birthday, tomorrow. Not that he had any big plans for his birthday or anything, but he didn’t really want the dark cloud of impending failure to be hanging over his head all the same.
As far as his birthday went, he hadn’t even really mentioned it to anyone. Of course his parents, Summer and Ryan knew, but that was pretty much a given. He might have mentioned it to Jamie in passing, but he couldn’t remember.
Seth wasn’t big on celebrations anyway. They’d never gone well when he was small, and he was impossibly jaded at this point. The kids in his class had only come to his birthday parties because their parents had made them, and their parents only made them because of *his* parents. The whole thing had left a sour taste in Seth’s mouth since the age of eleven.
A soft tug on his shirt pulled Seth out of his unbirthday reverie.
“What?” he asked, opening his eyes fractionally. He felt, rather than saw, Jamie shifting next to him.
“Portishead or Jeff Buckley?”
Seth took another sip of beer, surprised by how empty the bottle felt in his hand. Beer never seemed to last long around him. “Portishead.”
“Jeff is it,” Jamie said, slipping off the sofa.
Seth’s eyes opened wider as he watched Jamie move away from him. He was tired, not dead, and Jamie had a really nice ass. “Overruled, again,” he lamented as Jamie dug through a stack of CDs.
“On this, yes.”
“So then you asked my opinion, because what?”
“I’ve heard it’s important to humor those in ill-humor.”
“You philosophy majors are all the same.”
“Oh, really?” Jamie’s CD player whirred to life as he inserted the disc. “How many philosophy majors have you been humoring lately?” he asked crawling back to the sofa and climbing up next to Seth. He picked up his beer from next to the sofa and took a long pull, before setting it back down on the floor.
“Just one, but, dude, he’s way opinionated.”
Jamie laughed softly as Seth curled up next to him and closed his eyes, again. He made a soft murmuring noise as Jamie’s fingers began combing through his hair, and the opening strains of ‘Mojo Pin’ wrapped around him like a fog. This was good: being there with Jamie. Seth could definitely see doing a lot of this in his future.
“Feeling better?”
Seth made a noise.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
Seth made another noise.
“There is another relaxation technique I could try. If you wanted,” Jamie offered, his voice soft and luxurious in Seth’s ear.
Seth’s eyes snapped open. He didn’t always know a seduction when it was happening to him, but he felt pretty good about the odds on this one.
He pushed himself up until he was eye to eye with Jamie, who was watching him curiously. “Yes, Mr. Cohen?” Jamie inquired.
“Yes. Yes yes yes and again, yes.”
Jamie laughed. “Yes, what?”
“Yes, to whatever you’re offering.”
“If you don’t know what I’m offering then why are you saying yes?”
Seth sputtered. “*Because*.”
“Because what?”
Seth took a deep breath. “You’re not going to make this easy on me, are you?”
“Make *what* easy on you?” Jamie teased.
“What you were talking about,” Seth retorted.
“I could’ve been talking about going for coffee,” Jamie pointed out.
Seth groaned.
“Why don’t you tell me what you thought I was going to offer?” Jamie prompted.
Seth groaned again and banged his head on the back of the futon. Jamie laughed. “Is it really so hard for you to say it?”
Seth lifted his beer up to his lips, only to be truly dismayed upon finding it empty. Jamie pulled the bottle away, and it clanked when he dropped it on the hardwood floor. He leaned forward until his lips brushed against Seth’s ear. “I want you to say it.”
Seth turned slowly. Jamie’s eyes were bright, and his lips were twitching with amusement. Seth wanted to kiss him. He also wanted Jamie to blow him. Badly. The idea of seeing Jamie’s lips wrapped around his cock made him shudder in anticipation. His dick twitched in excitement, and his heart began to beat faster than when Rusty had given them the thirty minute warning during the exam.
“Suck me,” he said, his voice low and raspy. “Please.”
Jamie blinked. “So, you *can* say it.”
“Yes, I can say it, jackass, now lets see if you can do it,” Seth retorted.
“Just remember you asked for it.”
“And I said ‘please’.”
Seth fell backwards with a laugh as Jamie pushed him down on the futon and leisurely crawled on top of him. Rather than going straight for the main event, Jamie rubbed himself against Seth’s slowly, bracing his hands on either side of Seth’s head. When Seth reached out to pull him closer, Jamie pulled away. “No touching allowed,” he smirked, pushing Seth’s hands away.
Seth groaned and scrunched up his nose. “No looking cute, either,” Jamie directed, kissing Seth lightly before pulling away.
Seth bit his lip and grabbed fruitlessly at the futon as Jamie rubbed against him like a homeless cat looking for a new owner.
He ground out Jamie’s name as his lips traveled along Seth’s jaw to the soft spot behind his ear, and soft blonde hair tickled Seth’s nose, which he found disturbingly erotic. At that point, however, Seth might’ve found dust mites erotic.
He was tired, beer happy, very horny and being used as a scratching post. He couldn’t help feeling easy.
Jamie’s lips brushed against Seth’s ear, and he thrust upwards reflexively, only to let out a string of expletives when Jamie nipped his earlobe.
“Please.” Seth’s plea had no specific directive.
“Please what?” Jamie’s voice was low and seductive as his lips explored the column of Seth’s neck. He pressed his hips down, his cock rubbing against Seth’s through two pairs of jeans.
Inside his sneakers, Seth’s toes curled until they cramped.
“I’m already stressed, please, don’t do this to me,” Seth babbled.
Jamie pushed himself up onto his elbows and looked down at Seth quizzically. “You want me to stop?”
“No! No, no, no.”
“But you said don’t do it,” Jamie teased.
Seth closed his eyes and tried to count to 100. He opened his eyes when he got to five. “Stop fucking around, and blow me,” he begged.
The wry look on Jamie’s face shifted into an smug grin. “That’s what I like to hear,” he said. “Begging.”
Seth groaned. “I wasn’t begging; I was pleading. There is a difference in point of view. It’s like the difference between half-full and half-empty.”
Jamie cocked an eyebrow, but let it go. He shifted to straddle Seth’s right leg, and then thrust upwards, his hips rubbing against Seth’s entirely too-sensitive cock over and over again.
Seth scrabbled at the futon, again, desperate to find something to grab onto. He moaned appreciatively as Jamie leaned down and nipped at his neck.
“How’s your point of view on this?” Jamie said between tiny kisses.
Seth made a strangled noise in the back of his throat as Jamie slid down the futon. Then there were hands pushing Seth’s shirt up and other hands unbuttoning Seth’s jeans, and it had been entirely too long since the last time this had happened.
Summer wasn’t the kind of girl to smudge her lipstick unless stock tips were involved.
Seth closed his eyes and lifted his hips as Jamie tugged on his jeans purposefully. His sneakers made a dull thud as they landed on the floor, and his toes wiggled happily when Jamie pulled his socks off as well. The air in the apartment seemed very dry to Seth as he tried to breathe when his boxers went the same route as his jeans.
“Seth.”
Seth’s eyes popped open to focus on Jamie hovering over him. Under Seth’s awestruck gaze, Jamie licked his lips and climbed between Seth’s legs, pushing them apart pointedly.
Seth took several shuddering breaths as Jamie’s eyes traveled the length of his body, and he stroked the inside of Seth’s thigh. Seth’s dick slapped against his stomach wetly, and he felt very sure that his brain was going to short out at any minute.
“Okay?”
Seth nodded mutely.
“You sure?”
Seth nodded again. His “yes,” was so faint it sounded like it came from someone several apartments down.
“I want you to watch,” Jamie said, licking his lips again before he lowered his head to Seth’s groin slowly.
Seth made something very close to a whine as his cock slid between Jamie’s pink lips. Yes, he’d been thinking about this, but seeing it and feeling it was an entirely different matter. Little spots appeared before Seth’s eyes and when his cock slid from Jamie’s lips, Seth’s entire world went white.
Seconds later a wet tongue brushed over his balls, and Seth’s world went from white to black. He felt sure he had died, and could not have been happier.
He moaned as Jamie licked at the crease between his thigh and his hip and cried out incomprehensibly when Jamie’s mouth closed around his dick again.
Jamie’s hands gripped Seth’s hips to keep him from thrusting erratically, and there was a minute rip of fabric tearing as Seth gripped at the futon. He would’ve sworn that Jamie grinned as he sucked his cock.
Whether from stress or anticipation or sheer over-excitement, Seth came rather quickly and without a lot of warning. “Shit” was about all he got out before he came.
Rather than dwelling on the matter, Jamie’s cheeks hollowed out as he swallowed, and Seth’s eyes rolled in his head at the white-hot pleasure of the entire experience.
No offense to Summer, but it had never been like that with her.
Jamie’s lips brushed against Seth’s collarbone as he crawled back up and kissed Seth softly. “Okay?”
Seth grunted.
“Something besides Neanderthal would be good,” Jamie pointed out.
“Okay. Brilliant. Amazing. Can I touch you now?” Seth inquired, wrapping his legs and arms around Jamie without actually waiting for an answer.
Jamie kissed Seth’s forehead as Seth’s hands traveled along the back of the well-worn cotton shirt. “I like this shirt,” he said as his hands curved around Jamie’s ass pulling him closer. Seth was slightly startled to feel Jamie still hard against his bare thigh.
Obviously juniors had better longevity than sophomores.
“I could take care of that, if you wanted,” he offered as Jamie shifted carefully. “I think I could,” he amended. “I’ve never done it before, but…”
“The day isn’t over yet,” Jamie finished.
Seth’s hand slipped between them and cupped Jamie through his jeans. He crowed internally as Jamie thrust into his hand.
“To think I was going to waste the rest of the day getting drunk,” Seth smirked. “This is way better, by like a factor of ten.”
*
Seth wandered through the front door of his apartment building at 2:16 am on his birthday. He was sticky and smelly, the bag full of books dangling from his shoulder was threatening to fall off at any second, and his boxers felt as though they were on the wrong way. Moreover, they probably were.
His lips were swollen, and he’d spent the better part of a day *and* night making out with a boy and watching I Love the 90’s on VH1. They’d even made plans to do it *again* tomorrow. Seth wasn’t hungry or stressed. He didn’t feel guilt or concern. As far as he could tell life was great, and everybody was cool. At that moment in time, Seth would have made an excellent hippie.
Nobody ran him over when he opened the door, and his shoes didn’t stick to the stairs as he made his way up to his second floor apartment. The key seemed to slide into place effortlessly as he slipped it into the cylinder, and the doorknob was cool in his palm. When he pushed the door open, however, Seth was slightly surprised to find all the lights on.
He was even more surprised at the pile of presents waiting for him on the coffee table and his blanket-cocooned roommate stretched out on the sofa. There were cards on the table and balloons hovering by the only window in the room. The apartment itself smelled faintly of Chinese food, and Seth’s eyes opened up wider and wider as he realized what was going on.
He attempted to shut the door quietly, but it creaked loudly when he fastened the deadbolt.
Seth could feel Ryan’s eyes on him long before he said anything. “Hey.”
Seth turned back around feeling very exposed. “Hey.”
Ryan struggled out of his swath of blankets sleepily. “Happy Birthday, man,” he said as his smile morphed into a yawn.
Seth tried to swallow around the huge golf ball suddenly lodged in his throat. He managed a simple “Thanks,” before heading straight for his room.
He didn’t just shut and lock the door behind him, he also leaned against it desperately, grabbed the doorframe, and prayed to random Top Ten gods that Ryan wouldn’t follow him. Or want to talk. Or do any of the things that Ryan never did anyway.
Time passed, Seth’s muscles cramped from the tension, and when he finally heard the faint creaking of Ryan’s door closing, he sighed in relief.
Cowardice as a lifestyle was interesting. Perhaps he would have to explore it further.
-On to part five-
Notes: D King's art gallery specializes in 60's rock memorabilia.
Title song: Doves ‘Caught by the River’. I think they are the shit. I know I always say this, but only because it’s true.
Thanks as always to K & H for beta duty, with extra adoration for H because she has mad Jamie love and came up with the 'I Love the 90's' idea.
I’d also like to send a shout-out to my three ex-crushes. I think if you get together with my other exes, you can start a union.
Edited to note: Sorry about the repost action, I realised I had posted the wrong version. Chock full o'errors.
Over the next few weeks Seth found himself shifting his schedule around to spend more time with Jamie, because it felt like the right thing to do.
He stayed up to the wee hours reading Of Mice and Men so they could spend the day at D King’s art gallery looking at 60’s concert bills from the Fillmore. He woke up extremely early one Tuesday morning to write an Abnormal Psych paper so they could go to the Act I & II for the midnight showing of Jaws; and he made a concerted effort to get his homework done ahead of time so that they could go clubbing at 1015 and to see Paul Weller at Bimbo’s.
Seth even finished his write-up for his Physics lab early, which was completely unheard of. So when Jamie found him at the library, and asked him to come to the huge Guitar Center in Albany to go shopping for new guitar strings, he was more than available.
The entire store gathered around when Jamie sang an acoustic version of ‘All Apologies’ on the Taylor Classic he told Seth he was saving up to buy. Even for somebody from Newport, Seth thought $3500 was a lot of money to spend on a guitar; and if Jamie noticed the bystanders, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he stared at Seth as though giving him a private concert. When he was done, everyone clapped, and Jamie colored shyly.
If it was a strange reaction for a performer to have, Seth didn’t notice. All he saw was Jamie smiling at him. Just him.
On the walk back to the BART station, Seth dragged Jamie behind a furniture dumpster and kissed him senseless. They made out until someone came out the backdoor of the store, and then ran to the train station to get back to campus in time for Seth to make his Creative Writing seminar.
At some point, Seth became so focused on completing his studies to spend time with Jamie, that he wound up spending time at home doing actual *home* *work*. This was such a huge anomaly that even Ryan couldn't help but notice.
On more than one occasion Seth looked up from highlighting an entire paperback or making notes for Physics to find Ryan smiling down at him. On these occasions Ryan’s face would light up, and he would clear off space on the sofa and read whatever comic books were around, while Seth rambled to him aimlessly about migration patterns for orange pickers and why being an English major proved Seth was a masochist.
The more Seth saw of Jamie, the more he saw of Ryan as well, and he couldn’t figure out if he was more in sync with Ryan’s schedule now that he wasn’t always around, or if Ryan’s schedule had magically become more accommodating to *him*.
Seth didn’t dwell on it too much, instead choosing to enjoy himself as much as possible, since obviously that’s what his parents were paying for. When Ryan began suggesting places they could go: Peet’s Coffee on Arch, Slim’s, the IMAX feature on sailing, Seth happily shifted his schedule to accommodate him as well.
At one point Seth realized he was doing a hell of a lot of accommodating, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to complain. Spending time with Jamie was like being with Summer, except male, and older and blonde, and being with Ryan was… well, it was *Ryan*.
The hitch was that Seth still hadn’t told Ryan about Jamie, and every time he tried to, something completely unrelated would come out instead: a joke about his Physics professor’s comb-over or a comment on the latest edition of The Flash.
But it wasn’t as though Seth never talked about Ryan to Jamie. He told Jamie all about how Ryan came to be a Cohen and the first time Ryan had taken a punch on Seth’s behalf. He told Jamie about Tijuana and Summer, and the first time he’d tried to teach Ryan to skateboard. Except whenever Jamie suggested that he introduce them, Seth balked; maybe because *he* was the one that wasn’t ready yet.
The first time Ryan mentioned that ‘somebody named Jamie’ had left Seth a voicemail, Seth nearly passed out. Ryan, however, didn't seem particular interested in the whos and whys. If he noticed Seth’s stammering he didn't say anything, something else Seth noted with marginal disappointment. Despite all of Ryan’s perceptiveness, he didn’t seem particularly interested in what Seth did when they weren’t together, and that hurt.
Seth wanted to tell Ryan about how amazing Jamie was when he played the guitar, and how he could rant about Dark Horse comics for hours on end. Seth wanted to tell Ryan how Jamie couldn’t do his own laundry to save his life so he walked his neighbor’s dog in trade for her doing his laundry.
Of course Seth wanted a lot of things, but that didn’t necessarily mean they were going to happen.
For example, Seth had a major Abnormal Psychology exam the day before his birthday, which he hoped, prayed, and all but sacrificed a live chicken to get out of it. With zero success.
So, while he waited for the five bucks worth of pennies he’d thrown in the fountain by the Washington Mutual to grant him his wish, he studied himself to the point of insanity. He even turned down an invitation from Tom to go drinking at the Albatross to ease the stress.
The morning of the exam, Seth’s head was swimming with DSM-IV information, and over breakfast, he demanded that Ryan test him on the 126 flash cards he’d made. Through mouthfuls of Cap'n Crunch, Seth babbled endlessly about schizophrenia and bi-polar disorders until he began to think he was diagnosing himself.
The exam itself was indeed hell: multiple choice, true and false, and three essay questions that Seth attacked until his hand cramped up, and he forgot his own name. He even wound up signing his blue books with his Social Security Number, something that Rusty pointed out with great amusement when he turned them in at the end of the class.
Staggering out into the chilly October afternoon along with several of his classmates, Seth had every intention of seeing how fast he could procure cheap alcohol and a place to crash.
All thoughts of Old English malt beer and acetone-smelling vodka fled his mind when he saw Jamie leaning against a tree outside Tolman Hall. He was wearing a faded blue shirt, jeans with a small hole in the left knee and a corduroy jacket with a fleece collar. He looked very warm and comfortable, and Seth’s first instinct was to drag him someplace to molest him. But after Seth had had a nap. And a drink.
For all the making out they’d done, they hadn’t progressed very far in terms of sex, which Seth was pretty fucking sure was not normal for college-aged boys. Of course it had only been three weeks, and every time Jamie had tried to get Seth to stay the night he’d insisted on going home. Except Seth had never been that attached to his virginity the first time around, so he couldn’t really explain his reluctance where Jamie was concerned.
But that wasn’t the point.
Sleep was the point, as was booze, and Jamie. Not necessarily in that order.
Seth offered Jamie a tired smile as he stumbled down the steps of the building and made his way over to the large oak.
“That bad, huh?”
Seth rolled his eyes so hard they almost got stuck. “No, forgetting you have a meeting with your professor is bad. Running into your ex is bad. *That* was fucking awful.”
Jamie snorted at Seth’s theatrics. “I’m sure you did better than you think.”
“I *think* I failed, so anything beyond that is an improvement.” Seth sighed and shifted his bag to his other shoulder as Jamie eyed him.
“Do you want me to talk to Rusty, because I’m sure –“
Seth cut him off before Jamie could finish whatever he was going to say. “Don’t make him any offers he can’t refuse.”
Jamie chuckled. “Are you sure, Don Corleone?”
“Absolutely. If I fail, I fail on my own merits and stupidity.”
“You’re not stupid, Seth.” Jamie’s tone was surprisingly sharp, which caught Seth off-guard.
The Jamie Seth knew was sarcastic and witty and mellow; he’d never seen him angry or annoyed. Or even upset.
“No, I just do stupid shit,” Seth mocked.
He rocked back and forth while Jamie considered him for several seconds. “I was going to see if you wanted to go to Amoeba, but now I think you need to unwind instead.”
Seth shook his head. “You have no idea.”
“All right. Come home with me and tell me all about it.”
Seth blinked. It wasn’t a question as much as a directive. “Okay.”
Jamie had a cozy studio in a motel-style apartment building off of Euclid Avenue, but calling it ‘cozy’ was just another way of saying it was the size of a matchbox. Seth thought his mom’s walk-in closet might have been bigger, but at least Jamie had a place to call his own.
The main piece of furniture in the apartment was a sofa/futon against the back wall, which once unfolded, almost ate up the entire room. There was a television, which sat on the large windowsill in the front of the room, and a microwave, which lived on top of the mini-refrigerator in one corner. The bathroom was in the opposing corner.
The only closet in the apartment served as clothes closet, coat closet, comics closet and pantry, and the only real selling point was the tiny balcony in the back. All in all, it took five steps to get from the front door to the balcony door, and living there should have been awful, but unlike Seth, Jamie was good about keeping his place tidy.
His shoes were always in the closet, not hibernating next to the sofa and waiting for be tripped over. He hung his guitars on hooks fastened into the wall, and the black and white photographs of his family in New York and framed movie posters for The Usual Suspects and 28 Days Later, always made Seth think that he and Ryan should have put some effort into decorating their living room.
On this particular afternoon, with Seth stretched out on the sofa, there was still room for Jamie to move around, carefully dodging stacks of paperbacks and CDs as he opened up the refrigerator and pulled out two beers.
The bottle opener was attached to the refrigerator door handle by a long industrial chain, which Jamie said was the result of hard college learning; and Seth eagerly accepted the cool Heineken as Jamie dropped down next to him on the futon. The remote control for the television was between them, but Seth couldn’t even be bothered to lift it. Instead he slumped into the back of the sofa and took several swallows of beer before letting out an enormous belch.
“Nice one.” Jamie poked him in the stomach pointedly.
“Sorry,” Seth parroted.
He closed his eyes and nursed his beer contentedly. Even if he had completely bombed his test, he wouldn’t know it until the next class, which meant after his birthday, tomorrow. Not that he had any big plans for his birthday or anything, but he didn’t really want the dark cloud of impending failure to be hanging over his head all the same.
As far as his birthday went, he hadn’t even really mentioned it to anyone. Of course his parents, Summer and Ryan knew, but that was pretty much a given. He might have mentioned it to Jamie in passing, but he couldn’t remember.
Seth wasn’t big on celebrations anyway. They’d never gone well when he was small, and he was impossibly jaded at this point. The kids in his class had only come to his birthday parties because their parents had made them, and their parents only made them because of *his* parents. The whole thing had left a sour taste in Seth’s mouth since the age of eleven.
A soft tug on his shirt pulled Seth out of his unbirthday reverie.
“What?” he asked, opening his eyes fractionally. He felt, rather than saw, Jamie shifting next to him.
“Portishead or Jeff Buckley?”
Seth took another sip of beer, surprised by how empty the bottle felt in his hand. Beer never seemed to last long around him. “Portishead.”
“Jeff is it,” Jamie said, slipping off the sofa.
Seth’s eyes opened wider as he watched Jamie move away from him. He was tired, not dead, and Jamie had a really nice ass. “Overruled, again,” he lamented as Jamie dug through a stack of CDs.
“On this, yes.”
“So then you asked my opinion, because what?”
“I’ve heard it’s important to humor those in ill-humor.”
“You philosophy majors are all the same.”
“Oh, really?” Jamie’s CD player whirred to life as he inserted the disc. “How many philosophy majors have you been humoring lately?” he asked crawling back to the sofa and climbing up next to Seth. He picked up his beer from next to the sofa and took a long pull, before setting it back down on the floor.
“Just one, but, dude, he’s way opinionated.”
Jamie laughed softly as Seth curled up next to him and closed his eyes, again. He made a soft murmuring noise as Jamie’s fingers began combing through his hair, and the opening strains of ‘Mojo Pin’ wrapped around him like a fog. This was good: being there with Jamie. Seth could definitely see doing a lot of this in his future.
“Feeling better?”
Seth made a noise.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
Seth made another noise.
“There is another relaxation technique I could try. If you wanted,” Jamie offered, his voice soft and luxurious in Seth’s ear.
Seth’s eyes snapped open. He didn’t always know a seduction when it was happening to him, but he felt pretty good about the odds on this one.
He pushed himself up until he was eye to eye with Jamie, who was watching him curiously. “Yes, Mr. Cohen?” Jamie inquired.
“Yes. Yes yes yes and again, yes.”
Jamie laughed. “Yes, what?”
“Yes, to whatever you’re offering.”
“If you don’t know what I’m offering then why are you saying yes?”
Seth sputtered. “*Because*.”
“Because what?”
Seth took a deep breath. “You’re not going to make this easy on me, are you?”
“Make *what* easy on you?” Jamie teased.
“What you were talking about,” Seth retorted.
“I could’ve been talking about going for coffee,” Jamie pointed out.
Seth groaned.
“Why don’t you tell me what you thought I was going to offer?” Jamie prompted.
Seth groaned again and banged his head on the back of the futon. Jamie laughed. “Is it really so hard for you to say it?”
Seth lifted his beer up to his lips, only to be truly dismayed upon finding it empty. Jamie pulled the bottle away, and it clanked when he dropped it on the hardwood floor. He leaned forward until his lips brushed against Seth’s ear. “I want you to say it.”
Seth turned slowly. Jamie’s eyes were bright, and his lips were twitching with amusement. Seth wanted to kiss him. He also wanted Jamie to blow him. Badly. The idea of seeing Jamie’s lips wrapped around his cock made him shudder in anticipation. His dick twitched in excitement, and his heart began to beat faster than when Rusty had given them the thirty minute warning during the exam.
“Suck me,” he said, his voice low and raspy. “Please.”
Jamie blinked. “So, you *can* say it.”
“Yes, I can say it, jackass, now lets see if you can do it,” Seth retorted.
“Just remember you asked for it.”
“And I said ‘please’.”
Seth fell backwards with a laugh as Jamie pushed him down on the futon and leisurely crawled on top of him. Rather than going straight for the main event, Jamie rubbed himself against Seth’s slowly, bracing his hands on either side of Seth’s head. When Seth reached out to pull him closer, Jamie pulled away. “No touching allowed,” he smirked, pushing Seth’s hands away.
Seth groaned and scrunched up his nose. “No looking cute, either,” Jamie directed, kissing Seth lightly before pulling away.
Seth bit his lip and grabbed fruitlessly at the futon as Jamie rubbed against him like a homeless cat looking for a new owner.
He ground out Jamie’s name as his lips traveled along Seth’s jaw to the soft spot behind his ear, and soft blonde hair tickled Seth’s nose, which he found disturbingly erotic. At that point, however, Seth might’ve found dust mites erotic.
He was tired, beer happy, very horny and being used as a scratching post. He couldn’t help feeling easy.
Jamie’s lips brushed against Seth’s ear, and he thrust upwards reflexively, only to let out a string of expletives when Jamie nipped his earlobe.
“Please.” Seth’s plea had no specific directive.
“Please what?” Jamie’s voice was low and seductive as his lips explored the column of Seth’s neck. He pressed his hips down, his cock rubbing against Seth’s through two pairs of jeans.
Inside his sneakers, Seth’s toes curled until they cramped.
“I’m already stressed, please, don’t do this to me,” Seth babbled.
Jamie pushed himself up onto his elbows and looked down at Seth quizzically. “You want me to stop?”
“No! No, no, no.”
“But you said don’t do it,” Jamie teased.
Seth closed his eyes and tried to count to 100. He opened his eyes when he got to five. “Stop fucking around, and blow me,” he begged.
The wry look on Jamie’s face shifted into an smug grin. “That’s what I like to hear,” he said. “Begging.”
Seth groaned. “I wasn’t begging; I was pleading. There is a difference in point of view. It’s like the difference between half-full and half-empty.”
Jamie cocked an eyebrow, but let it go. He shifted to straddle Seth’s right leg, and then thrust upwards, his hips rubbing against Seth’s entirely too-sensitive cock over and over again.
Seth scrabbled at the futon, again, desperate to find something to grab onto. He moaned appreciatively as Jamie leaned down and nipped at his neck.
“How’s your point of view on this?” Jamie said between tiny kisses.
Seth made a strangled noise in the back of his throat as Jamie slid down the futon. Then there were hands pushing Seth’s shirt up and other hands unbuttoning Seth’s jeans, and it had been entirely too long since the last time this had happened.
Summer wasn’t the kind of girl to smudge her lipstick unless stock tips were involved.
Seth closed his eyes and lifted his hips as Jamie tugged on his jeans purposefully. His sneakers made a dull thud as they landed on the floor, and his toes wiggled happily when Jamie pulled his socks off as well. The air in the apartment seemed very dry to Seth as he tried to breathe when his boxers went the same route as his jeans.
“Seth.”
Seth’s eyes popped open to focus on Jamie hovering over him. Under Seth’s awestruck gaze, Jamie licked his lips and climbed between Seth’s legs, pushing them apart pointedly.
Seth took several shuddering breaths as Jamie’s eyes traveled the length of his body, and he stroked the inside of Seth’s thigh. Seth’s dick slapped against his stomach wetly, and he felt very sure that his brain was going to short out at any minute.
“Okay?”
Seth nodded mutely.
“You sure?”
Seth nodded again. His “yes,” was so faint it sounded like it came from someone several apartments down.
“I want you to watch,” Jamie said, licking his lips again before he lowered his head to Seth’s groin slowly.
Seth made something very close to a whine as his cock slid between Jamie’s pink lips. Yes, he’d been thinking about this, but seeing it and feeling it was an entirely different matter. Little spots appeared before Seth’s eyes and when his cock slid from Jamie’s lips, Seth’s entire world went white.
Seconds later a wet tongue brushed over his balls, and Seth’s world went from white to black. He felt sure he had died, and could not have been happier.
He moaned as Jamie licked at the crease between his thigh and his hip and cried out incomprehensibly when Jamie’s mouth closed around his dick again.
Jamie’s hands gripped Seth’s hips to keep him from thrusting erratically, and there was a minute rip of fabric tearing as Seth gripped at the futon. He would’ve sworn that Jamie grinned as he sucked his cock.
Whether from stress or anticipation or sheer over-excitement, Seth came rather quickly and without a lot of warning. “Shit” was about all he got out before he came.
Rather than dwelling on the matter, Jamie’s cheeks hollowed out as he swallowed, and Seth’s eyes rolled in his head at the white-hot pleasure of the entire experience.
No offense to Summer, but it had never been like that with her.
Jamie’s lips brushed against Seth’s collarbone as he crawled back up and kissed Seth softly. “Okay?”
Seth grunted.
“Something besides Neanderthal would be good,” Jamie pointed out.
“Okay. Brilliant. Amazing. Can I touch you now?” Seth inquired, wrapping his legs and arms around Jamie without actually waiting for an answer.
Jamie kissed Seth’s forehead as Seth’s hands traveled along the back of the well-worn cotton shirt. “I like this shirt,” he said as his hands curved around Jamie’s ass pulling him closer. Seth was slightly startled to feel Jamie still hard against his bare thigh.
Obviously juniors had better longevity than sophomores.
“I could take care of that, if you wanted,” he offered as Jamie shifted carefully. “I think I could,” he amended. “I’ve never done it before, but…”
“The day isn’t over yet,” Jamie finished.
Seth’s hand slipped between them and cupped Jamie through his jeans. He crowed internally as Jamie thrust into his hand.
“To think I was going to waste the rest of the day getting drunk,” Seth smirked. “This is way better, by like a factor of ten.”
Seth wandered through the front door of his apartment building at 2:16 am on his birthday. He was sticky and smelly, the bag full of books dangling from his shoulder was threatening to fall off at any second, and his boxers felt as though they were on the wrong way. Moreover, they probably were.
His lips were swollen, and he’d spent the better part of a day *and* night making out with a boy and watching I Love the 90’s on VH1. They’d even made plans to do it *again* tomorrow. Seth wasn’t hungry or stressed. He didn’t feel guilt or concern. As far as he could tell life was great, and everybody was cool. At that moment in time, Seth would have made an excellent hippie.
Nobody ran him over when he opened the door, and his shoes didn’t stick to the stairs as he made his way up to his second floor apartment. The key seemed to slide into place effortlessly as he slipped it into the cylinder, and the doorknob was cool in his palm. When he pushed the door open, however, Seth was slightly surprised to find all the lights on.
He was even more surprised at the pile of presents waiting for him on the coffee table and his blanket-cocooned roommate stretched out on the sofa. There were cards on the table and balloons hovering by the only window in the room. The apartment itself smelled faintly of Chinese food, and Seth’s eyes opened up wider and wider as he realized what was going on.
He attempted to shut the door quietly, but it creaked loudly when he fastened the deadbolt.
Seth could feel Ryan’s eyes on him long before he said anything. “Hey.”
Seth turned back around feeling very exposed. “Hey.”
Ryan struggled out of his swath of blankets sleepily. “Happy Birthday, man,” he said as his smile morphed into a yawn.
Seth tried to swallow around the huge golf ball suddenly lodged in his throat. He managed a simple “Thanks,” before heading straight for his room.
He didn’t just shut and lock the door behind him, he also leaned against it desperately, grabbed the doorframe, and prayed to random Top Ten gods that Ryan wouldn’t follow him. Or want to talk. Or do any of the things that Ryan never did anyway.
Time passed, Seth’s muscles cramped from the tension, and when he finally heard the faint creaking of Ryan’s door closing, he sighed in relief.
Cowardice as a lifestyle was interesting. Perhaps he would have to explore it further.
-On to part five-
Notes: D King's art gallery specializes in 60's rock memorabilia.
Title song: Doves ‘Caught by the River’. I think they are the shit. I know I always say this, but only because it’s true.
Thanks as always to K & H for beta duty, with extra adoration for H because she has mad Jamie love and came up with the 'I Love the 90's' idea.
I’d also like to send a shout-out to my three ex-crushes. I think if you get together with my other exes, you can start a union.
Edited to note: Sorry about the repost action, I realised I had posted the wrong version. Chock full o'errors.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 09:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-17 10:39 am (UTC)Feel the Jamie love! *dances around throwing confetti*
no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 09:49 am (UTC)I really have nothing coherent or constructive to add, but, well, yes.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-17 10:40 am (UTC)I really have nothing coherent or constructive to add, but, well, yes.
Constructive pfft. I'm glad you're enjoying the story.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 09:51 am (UTC)i love this story. and ryan gosling, i'm so glad someone else appreciates him and used him in a story. i heart jamie. and seth. obviously.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-17 10:42 am (UTC)i love this story. and ryan gosling, i'm so glad someone else appreciates him and used him in a story. i heart jamie. and seth. obviously.
Yes, feel the Jamie love! *tosses more confetti*
no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 10:03 am (UTC)And now I seem to have developed a bit of a problem: see, you made me love Jamie, evil author that you are, and now I spend every second fearing that he's gonna get hurt in this whole shebang. Mostly 'cause every time Seth and Ryan are together I'm somehow positive that they belong together. Or maybe I'm wrong. In which case it feels like RYAN'S the one getting hurt. I can't win. I have this evil forboding feeling that it's all gonna explode in Seth's face any day now....*slaps self*....get your mind out of the gutter, Kelly. I think you get what I mean.
Basically, this is probably my all-time favorite O.C. fic so far, and I would love, loVE, LOVE it if you updated like, really soon. Pleeeeeeaaaase? With a cherry on the top? *g*
no subject
Date: 2003-10-17 10:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 10:10 am (UTC)That should show you how much I love you and this series.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-17 10:46 am (UTC)That should show you how much I love you and this series.
We (Jamie, Seth, Ryan & I) all the feel the love. *hugs*
no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 10:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-17 10:48 am (UTC)*laughs* I'd like to think they can sing in tune. There are two albums and one collection of B-Sides. I recommend The Last Broadcast which is the second album, I think it's an absolutely amazing collection of songs. I started off having a few favorite songs, but the whole album has grown on me that I can't imagine disliking any part of it.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 10:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-17 10:49 am (UTC)I Love the 90's was all
no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 10:49 am (UTC)*chocolate covered...now that's a thought*
no subject
Date: 2003-10-17 10:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 10:50 am (UTC)I can't wait for more even though it's complete and utter torture. I love the Seth/Jamie dynamic as much as I love the Seth/Ryan one. Someone is going to get hurt, someone always gets hurt, and I'm going to weep like a sad little fangirl when it happens.
*stocks up on tissues*
And did you have to go and make Ryan so.damn.sweet. at the end? Did I mention I'm going to weep?
no subject
Date: 2003-10-17 10:53 am (UTC)I can't wait for more even though it's complete and utter torture. I love the Seth/Jamie dynamic as much as I love the Seth/Ryan one. Someone is going to get hurt, someone always gets hurt, and I'm going to weep like a sad little fangirl when it happens.
You know people are always mentioning this work thing, and I'm just like huh? (Don't tell my boss I said that though.) I'm so glad you're enjoying the story so much, I think it's better than little numbers too. Thank you for commenting.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 11:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-17 11:32 am (UTC)*pets pretty* I don't think I can abandon him completely; we can share.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 11:16 am (UTC)We are not worthy... :)
no subject
Date: 2003-10-17 11:33 am (UTC)I'm glad you're enjoying it.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 11:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-17 11:33 am (UTC)I'll be pretty sad too, I must say.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 11:45 am (UTC)Thanks for giving us a visual with your icon. *g*
no subject
Date: 2003-10-17 11:34 am (UTC)Thanks for giving us a visual with your icon. *g*
*pets icon* He's very pretty isn't he?
no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 11:52 am (UTC)First off, your Seth is so...*Seth* (eloquent, no?) that it makes me point at the screen and say "Ohmygod!" repeatedly as I read your OC stories, and here's no exception. I've really been enjoying this series, and one of the things I like most about it are the subtle differences in your Seth-of-the-Future. He's grown up a little - enough to be noticeable, and it works. I like it.
Secondly, Jaime. Can I have a boyfriend like Jaime? Please? I mean, except for the gay thing. He's interesting, and he's sweet and you - amazingly - have me rooting for him, even though Seth and Ryan are as married in my mind as Mulder and Scully.
Thirdly, Ryan. I love Ryan. I love that Ryan's all about "Must work all the time. Must prove self. Must pull weight. Must work." *sighs and hugs Ryan tightly, groping as she goes*
And I think that now I'm going to stop with the verbose fawnage.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-17 11:36 am (UTC)I know a Lex *racks brain* He's currently recovering from the vacation I sent him on though. *winks*
As for your brilliant feedback, thank you. Oh behalf of myself and my cadre of boys, it means a lot to me that you're enjoying the story and that the characterization works for you.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 12:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-17 11:37 am (UTC)I prefer to see this as a future-fic rather than an AU, but I'm pleased that you're enjoying it so much. Thank you for commenting.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 01:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-17 11:38 am (UTC)I want to make sure and finish the story in a timely matter, since I tend to get a bit crazed when people don't finish their WIPs once they start them. I'm glad you're enjoying the story, thanks for commenting!
no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 02:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-17 11:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 03:15 pm (UTC)So, basically, I will blame you when the whole office starts predicting my breakdown. You and Jamie and adorable Seth, who may or may not be falling in lurve, and Ryan, who works too hard to see that his would-be boyfriend is cheating on him.
What? Feedback? Obviously, I dig your stuff big time. You give great Seth. I also really noticed in this one that you're good at scene-setting and description of environment and stuff like that. I'd elaborate but clearly I can't engage in gratuitous but therapeutic run-on sentences and bad grammar and then give intelligent feedback a few lines later. It's like a juxtaposition or something.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-17 11:41 am (UTC)*dies laughing* I'm sorry for your break-up, but if I can bring you a little enjoyment before people think you've lost your mind, I'm very pleased. Thank you so much for all your amusing feedback (I laughed quite a bit).
no subject
Date: 2003-10-17 11:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 05:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-17 11:43 am (UTC)I'm glad I could entertain you for a bit while you were suffering through the drudgery that is studying. Good luck with that research paper!
Amazing
Date: 2003-10-15 05:38 pm (UTC)I am so confused I like Jamie but Ryan getting hurt is making me sad. I have no Idea what will happen and who Seth will choose but either way I need more story and more hot porn! You Rock!!!!!
no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 06:22 pm (UTC)I think part of me is desperately looking for something wrong with Jamie so that Ryan won't be left all alone, because for a moment in the middle there I was all uneasy like, "Hm, is Jamie as good as he seems?" but then I apparently have a high tendency towards paranoia. And I like Jamie. So I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt.
*still wants that orgy*
no subject
Date: 2003-10-17 11:44 am (UTC)*pets Jamie*
(no subject)
From:kira here.
Date: 2003-10-15 07:40 pm (UTC)MAN O MAN! that was just way tooooooo cooool!!
Awesome JOB!!!
http://unwanted-memories.port5.com
Re: kira here.
Date: 2003-10-17 11:45 am (UTC)Reading from Berkeley again...
Date: 2003-10-15 08:11 pm (UTC)Still, Ryan's my boy, and I was very, very upset for him at the end. The worst part is he doesn't even know what's going on yet. I'm very worried. (And I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for *two* Sleepy Ryan scenes now. I love Sleepy Ryan.)
You are doing such an incredible job at setting the scenes in this story. At first I thought it was just because I know Berkeley, so it was easy for me, but even the purely fictional environments feel so tangible. And the emotions are absolutely real.
The end was the best part. I loved this bit: "...and prayed to random Top Ten gods that Ryan wouldn’t follow him. Or want to talk. Or do any of the things that Ryan never did anyway." That made my heart hurt.
-e
Re: Reading from Berkeley again...
Date: 2003-10-17 11:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-15 08:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-17 11:47 am (UTC)