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Muscle University


muscleaddict

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17 hours ago, brawnygods said:

When the music finally stops, I predict these boys are gonna spend 3 days in bed together and wear the shine right off those matching pink posers!  They're gonna need that uber account to call in some food!

Plot twist: On day 3 Luke and Woody are lying on one of the dorm room bed's in nothing but their matching pink posers. There's a knock on the door. Woody jumps up, thinking it will be hilarious to answer the door to the food delivery guy wearing nothing but his shiny pink trunks when who should be standing there but a certain short arsed, twat faced MU student carrying out a work shift for his part time job! 

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2 hours ago, muscleaddict said:

Plot twist: On day 3 Luke and Woody are lying on one of the dorm room bed's in nothing but their matching pink posers. There's a knock on the door. Woody jumps up, thinking it will be hilarious to answer the door to the food delivery guy wearing nothing but his shiny pink trunks when who should be standing there but a certain short arsed, twat faced MU student carrying out a work shift for his part time job! 

🤣

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23 hours ago, muscleaddict said:

Plot twist: On day 3 Luke and Woody are lying on one of the dorm room bed's in nothing but their matching pink posers. There's a knock on the door. Woody jumps up, thinking it will be hilarious to answer the door to the food delivery guy wearing nothing but his shiny pink trunks when who should be standing there but a certain short arsed, twat faced MU student carrying out a work shift for his part time job! 

OMG! That would be a plot twist!

I love how the story is developing. Your writing is getting better and better. By the way guys, every chapter doesn’t have to end in a cliffhanger. After a while it can get predictable or even boring. @muscleaddict knows what he’s doing. After all, how good AJ & Noah was??? Keep on the good work mate!👍💪💪😘😛❤️😜

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1 hour ago, BrzNLA said:

OMG! That would be a plot twist!

I love how the story is developing. Your writing is getting better and better. By the way guys, every chapter doesn’t have to end in a cliffhanger. After a while it can get predictable or even boring. @muscleaddict knows what he’s doing. After all, how good AJ & Noah was??? Keep on the good work mate!👍💪💪😘😛❤️😜

Indeed - the author must adopt his own style, allowing of course for experimentation so as to hone his craft. And ooh, yes, how good was AJ & Noah? What is fascinating in this story, apart from the storyline being different, is seeing @muscleaddict developing a style that isn't predictable whilst at the same time obviously developing certain key aspects of his storytelling. As many have already noted the one to one dialogue in this story is more, hmm, realistic (not that it wasn't in AJ & Noah), the interplay between major characters is tighter and, to my mind, the feeling that you are "in" Woody's head is very well written. The fact that I can relate to his many feelings is a bonus. 

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23 hours ago, BrzNLA said:

OMG! That would be a plot twist!

I love how the story is developing. Your writing is getting better and better. By the way guys, every chapter doesn’t have to end in a cliffhanger. After a while it can get predictable or even boring. @muscleaddict knows what he’s doing. After all, how good AJ & Noah was??? Keep on the good work mate!👍💪💪😘😛❤️😜

Hehe! Well what actually happens is better! 🙊😜 Thanks for the lovely words, matie. I actually do like the idea of writing a story and leaving every chapter on a cliffhanger but that would take some planning!

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21 hours ago, WashburnDaddy said:

Indeed - the author must adopt his own style, allowing of course for experimentation so as to hone his craft. And ooh, yes, how good was AJ & Noah? What is fascinating in this story, apart from the storyline being different, is seeing @muscleaddict developing a style that isn't predictable whilst at the same time obviously developing certain key aspects of his storytelling. As many have already noted the one to one dialogue in this story is more, hmm, realistic (not that it wasn't in AJ & Noah), the interplay between major characters is tighter and, to my mind, the feeling that you are "in" Woody's head is very well written. The fact that I can relate to his many feelings is a bonus. 

Thanks for these lovely and thoughtful words @WashburnDaddy😊 I hope I'm improving with each story but perhaps certain things will be stronger in previous stories, while other aspects will improve. I think I agree on the dialogue front! That's stronger in this one. Woody's in particular is really fun to write. 

Obviously I knew this one had to be different but there are definitely similarities to AJ & Noah. That wasn't necessarily intentional. I didn't think "okay I have to have this and I have to do that" but yeah, I guess I'm developing certain aspects to my storytelling. I guess I'm finding what works for me and maybe what I'm good at but I'd never want my stuff to become predictable. I'd love to try and do something which was a bit darker for example and I've had a few ideas which tie into that.

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Not going to lie, I imagine seeing Luke buy Woody a Venom tee to wear around campus to rope him into his nerd culture. Initially trying to sell Woody on the fact that Venom is a muscular monster of a man/host. And quite a fitting shirt that would be on a physique like Woody's.

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10 hours ago, venomlover8 said:

Not going to lie, I imagine seeing Luke buy Woody a Venom tee to wear around campus to rope him into his nerd culture. Initially trying to sell Woody on the fact that Venom is a muscular monster of a man/host. And quite a fitting shirt that would be on a physique like Woody's.

Honestly, at this point I think Woody would wear any geeky t-shirt Luke gave to him! 😜

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Okay, guys, here's the rest of chapter 18...

 

As our train gets closer to Bristol, the nerves I felt this morning start to kick in again. I still don’t really know whether this whole thing is going to work. I have my friendship with Emily, and then I have my thing with Luke, both of which feel incredibly special to me. And now those two worlds are going to collide. 

I tell myself it will be fine. That Emily and Luke will get on great. That it will be a fun weekend. But by the time the train’s pulled in and me and Luke are walking along the platform, my stomach is in fucking knots. Jesus. What is wrong with me? I hardly ever get this nervous. It’s a familiar feeling I get when I’m backstage at a bodybuilding show, tanned up and shredded in shiny posers and waiting to go on the stage in front of an audience of hundreds of muscle loving spectators. 

I’m pretty sure I know the main cause of my nerves. I’m still scared that Emily will see that I have feelings for Luke. In theory, that shouldn’t be such a bad thing. I mean, she is my best friend after all. But I’m not sure I’m ready for Emily to see that side of me yet. I can’t explain it. The thought of telling her makes me feel exposed. Maybe even vulnerable? And I think that once the words are out there, that I have feelings for Luke, it will make the whole thing seem so much more real. 

When I spot Emily standing on the station platform behind the barriers my nerves ease a little. I usually get this feeling when I come to visit Emily in Bristol. Like, after weeks of being at Muscle University surrounded by the likes of Deano and Shaun and all of those other testosterone fuelled muscle lads and spending all of that time by myself in my dorm room, I can breathe all of a sudden. Like I suddenly feel safe again. But it’s funny, because I don’t feel that now. This time it feels different. And I know why. Because now my life at Muscle University is different. And that’s because of Luke. God - I think I’m starting to realise just how unhappy I was at Montgomery before he came along. And, I guess, if I’m being honest, how lonely I was too. I fucking hate admitting that. I mean, I’m Woody; cocky, handsome as shit, attention loving bodybuilder whose biceps everyone wants to feel. Guys like me aren’t supposed to feel depressed. And they’re definitely not meant to feel lonely. I mean, I have twelve thousand followers on Instagram for fuck’s sake. 

I feel this warm, happy twinge as I approach Emily’s smiling face. She says hey and gives me a hug as always. Judging by the surprised expression on Luke’s face, he clearly didn’t think I was the hugging type.

“This is the new roomie!” I tell Emily, my chest tightening. I’m nervous to introduce Luke, but I feel a surprising warmth with it. Fuck it - it’s almost a rush. I’m pretty sure I’d have been more nervous if I’d have introduced him by his name. By the way, is it me or does Luke have the cutest fucking name? Luke! Lovely, little Luke. My little Lukey. Christ, I need help!

“Hey!” Emily greets him. Then she moves forward and gives him a hug and seeing Emily embracing Luke so easily, I feel a sharp twist in my stomach. For fuck’s sake. Am I seriously getting jealous because my best friend just got to hug the boy I’m completely crazy about? 

Luke looks a little taken aback by the unexpected hug. We make eye contact and he shoots me a little smirk. I can tell he feels a little shy around Emily, but he doesn’t seem nervous or uncomfortable. I really like that about Luke. He’s shy but he’s confident. I have this feeling that the two of them are going to get on fine.

“So, Luke ... what’s it like sharing a room with Seb?” Emily asks as we walk from the station to her student house.

Luke looks at me with a knowing grin and I feel a pinch of excitement at hearing his response.

“Mmmm. It’s good!” He looks at me with this slightly bashful smirk and ARGH - I feel like my insides are melting. 

“Well … mostly!” he adds, looking at me again with a mischievous smirk.

I give him a wide eyed look. “What do you mean mostly? I’m a good roommate!” I protest. Luke continues to smirks and raises an eyebrow at me.

“Is he constantly reminding you of how sexy he is?” Emily asks.

“YES!” Luke exclaims.

Ha! I love it. I casually shrug. “Facts are facts!” Emily smiles at me and rolls her eyes.

“He’s always bouncing his pecs too!” Luke teases. 

“Oh God. He does that in front of me!” 

“Erm … are you two just gonna gang up on me the whole weekend?” I cry, even though I don’t really mind. Even thoughI actually kinda love it.

“Awww!” Emily says, with a teasing smile before linking her arm with mine. 

“How long have you two been friends?” Luke asks.

“Since we were four!” Emily replies.

“Oh wow! Does that mean you’ve got some embarrassing stories about him?”

“LOADS!” Emily exclaims, excited.

“Erm … shall I just go back to the train station now?!”

We order pizza when we get to Emily’s and hang out in the living room of her student house. Me and Emily on one sofa, Luke on another. The conversation’s been flowing. Luke seems fine with Emily. Things don’t feel weird or uncomfortable like I thought they might. I’m probably a little less relaxed than I’d normally be in front of Emily, but it’s actually really nice being with the both of them.

“So … when do I get to hear one of these embarrassing stories?” Luke asks Emily, before shooting me a cheeky smirk.

“Oh yeah!” Emily says, excited, practically jumping in her chair.

“Oooh. Erm. How about never?!” I cry.

Emily looks at me, biting her lip. Like she’s debating whether to relay whatever she’s got on her mind. “Okay … this one’s kind of embarrassing for both of us!”

I shoot her a confused look, intrigued and admittedly pretty excited at what she’s about to tell Luke. Because despite my protests, I really don’t mind her telling Luke embarrassing stories about me. In fact, I actually kinda love the idea.

Emily takes a deep breath and looks from me to Luke. “When we were in year eight, me and Woody formed a pop group!”

“Oh God! NO!” I cry.

Luke has this excited and surprised look on his face.

“Well it was more of a duo!” Emily explains, “we were called …”

“I can’t believe you’re telling him this!”

“Two The Same!” 

I put my hands over my face and groan. “Soooo cheesy!”

“So what did you guys do?” Luke asks, grinning.

“Basically just made up our own songs!” Emily explains.

“They were sooo bad!” I say, glaring at Luke and shaking my head.

“Can you still remember them?” he asks, with this hopeful grin on his face.

Oh God. Emily looks at me with this knowing smirk. We definitely still know the songs. We even sing some of them occasionally. Usually when we’re both pissed. She’s got this look in her eyes. Surely she wouldn’t subject herself (and me) to the embarrassment of letting Luke hear a song we made up when we were twelve years old? I shoot her a wide eyed look, almost begging her not to go on.

“I think Luke wants to hear one of our songs, Seb!” she says.

“Sorry! Can’t remember any of them!” I say, casually.

Emily shoots Luke a look. “He’s lying!”

“Come on, Seb!” Luke says, with this teasing grin. The little fucker. “I wanna hear Two The Same’s best song!” 

“Well that would be the Monday morning song!” Emily announces. 

Oh my GOD! 

“Come on ... let’s sing it!” she says, nudging my arm.

“Erm … let’s not!”

“Fine, I’ll sing it by myself!” she says.

“I’m seriously cutting off all contact with you after this weekend!”

Emily starts to sing.

“On Monday morning, I’m thinking ‘bout you ...”

Oh God. I put my hands over my face and curl up in a ball, groaning for effect.

“When Tuesday comes, my head is spinning ...”

Despite my embarrassment, I feel the same warmth of nostalgia I always do when I hear this song. And now I’m smiling behind my hands.

“By Friday night, I’m going crazy …”

I take a peek at Luke and he’s biting his lip and grinning and I feel a pinch in my chest. Okay I’m embarrassed, but I also kind of love that Luke’s getting to hear this song. That he’s being let it on this part of mine and Emily’s childhood.

“‘And every day, I’m falling more in love with you.”

“Oh my GOD!” I groan loudly.

“That’s brilliant!” Luke exclaims.

“It’s soooo not!” I say to him, both of us smiling at each other. And now Emily’s looking at me, her eyes lingering on me with this suspicious expression and a slight, knowing smirk on her face and my stomach clenches.

“You know what the song really needs though?” I say. They both look at me confused. 

“Some dance moves!”

Emily’s looking at me, her eyebrows furrowed and smirking. I straighten up my back on the sofa. “Come on. Sing it again!” 

She looks at Luke and back at me. “Erm … okay!” 

As a baffled Emily sings the first line of the song, I look down at my chest and start bouncing my pecs up and down in time with the melody.

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” Emily cries, rolling her eyes and stopping the song. 

Luke’s beaming at me and shaking his head. “See what I have to put up with?” he says. 

“YES! I’ve been putting up with it for sixteen years!” Emily says, turning to me again and giving me a knowing grin.

“He’s soooo nice!” shes says to me enthusiastically once Luke has left the room to use the bathroom. This warm feeling washes over me.

I try and act as casually as I can. “He’s pretty cool!” I say, nodding. “Well ... apart from the fact he wears Harry Potter boxer shorts!”

“I was kinda surprised when you asked if it was okay for him to come and stay!”

Oh God. She’s got that look on her face again. Like she knows. And there goes my stomach clenching again.

“Well … it was kind of a spontaneous invite! And then I couldn’t really take it back!” I lie.

Emily nods, not looking completely convinced by my response. “You obviously like him enough to have invited him in the first place though!”

I just shrug, not saying anything. She can see straight through me. I know she can.

“He’s cute too!” she says, glaring at me wide eyed.

Oh God. Make it stop. I look anxiously at the door. Maybe in hope of Luke reappearing and saving me from the conversation I’ve been dreading all day. But I know there’s no escape. 

Emily lowers her voice. “Seb, is there something going on with you two?” she asks, with an excited smirk.

“NO!” I cry, but I’m failing to stop myself from smiling.

She doesn’t look convinced. “Has something happened?” she asks, still excited.

“Definitely not!”

“Okay! Just checking!” And now Emily’s just smirking at me, clearly not convinced that things are completely platonic between me and Luke. I roll my eyes and shake my head at her. But I’m smiling too.

Luke walks back in the room.

“I vote for Chinese!” I say, thinking on my feet. Emily looks confused, then realises that Luke’s re-appeared. “For tomorrow night!” I say to her, my chest clenching. Because, despite my protests, Emily clearly knows that something’s going on and it’s probably only a matter of time before she gets me to confess that I have feelings for Luke.

A few hours later and we’re all still hanging out in the living room watching something on TV. Emily leans her body into mine and rests her head against my shoulder. “I’m knackered!” 

Without thinking, I lift my arm up and wrap it round her shoulder. She leans into my side and wraps an arm around my waist and snuggles into me making an, “Mmmm!” sound.

And then I look over at Luke and he’s watching us and fuck - what is that expression on his face? He looks a little awkward. But there’s this kind of longing there too. Like maybe, and this might sound like a bit of a reach, Luke’s looking at us and thinking about how much he’d like to be where Emily is right now. Snugged into my body with my arm wrapped around him. Fuck. My heart starts beating faster. My insides are suddenly doing weird things.

“Seb, did you get bigger?! Jesus! You’re just like a mountain of muscle!” Emily says, squeezing my chest. I look over at Luke again. He still looks a little awkward, but his expression relaxes a little and he gives me a cute, knowing smirk.

“Wait ‘till I become the next Blaine Holton!” I say. “Luke’s gonna be as big as me soon too!”

Luke rolls his eyes, smirking still.

“I don’t know why you boys are so determined to get bigger. You’re both so cute already!”

Luke pulls a face and looks embarrassed. But I couldn’t agree with Emily more. At least on the Luke front. I really can’t imagine him getting any cuter.

“I think I’m gonna have to go to bed soon!” Emily announces, still snuggled into me. “Sorry to be boring! You two can stay up if you want!”

I feel a jolt of excitement at the thought of being alone with Luke again but I don’t look over at him. “Oh, have you got a sleeping bag or something for Luke?”

She shakes her head. “No need. It’s all sorted!”

For some reason my stomach clenches. “What d’you mean?” I ask.

“Mmmm. Katie’s gone home for the weekend so I’m sleeping in her room!”

Oh fuck. I think I know what’s coming next. Holy fucking, fuckity … 

“You two can sleep in my bed!”

… fuuuuck! My stomach somersaults. Sharing a bed with Luke? Okay, I did NOT plan for that to happen. I didn’t even consider that it was a possibility!

I try and act casual, but for some reason, I can’t seem to look over at Luke right now. “Cool!” I say, nodding and looking sraight at the television, completely covering up the fact that my heartbeat’s going crazy and my head is spinning at the thought of sleeping in the same fucking bed as Luke. Next to each other. Barely clothed. For the whole night.

A little while later, Emily kisses us both on the cheek and goes to bed and I’m left alone with Luke. It feels a weird but nice being with him in a different setting to our dorm room. In an actual student house. Would we still hang out as much if we lived in a house like this? I’m guessing we would, we’d just have more rooms to choose from to sit in and watch Harry Potter films together.

“Emily’s really nice!” Luke says to me. I nod. Maybe I’m imagining it, but it feels like there’s this awkwardness between us, and I think I know why. It’s the fact we’re about to share a bed.

“Not sure why she’s friends with you!” he teases.

I smirk at him. “Probably for the same reasons you are!”

Maybe I should suggest that I sleep on the sofa and he can take Emily’s bed? But wouldn’t that be weird? We’re friends. Why the hell wouldn’t we share a bed? There’s nothing weird or awkward or strange about two friends doing that after all. 

“Is it too late to watch a Harry Potter film?” I joke.

He grins at me and then his expression turns serious and neither of us are saying anything. There’s that awkwardness again. What if I accidentally wrap an arm around Luke in the middle of the night? What if he does it to me? What if we wake up, our bodies wrapped around each other, faces close together?

“I’m pretty tired, actually!” Luke says. Fuck! He sounds a little nervous. He looks a little nervous too. Is it wrong that gives me this weird, excited feeling?

“Come on then!” I say, nonchalantly while getting up from the sofa. Luke’s face relaxes a little. And I spot the unmistakable hint of a grin on his face. You could even say he almost looks excited. 

Luke follows me up the stairs to Emily’s room. I’m acting casually, but my insides are exploding. I turn my head once to look back at him. “You better not be a duvet hogger!”

A little while later and I’m standing in the middle of Emily’s bedroom wearing just my blue and white checked boxers shorts and the usual white vest I sleep in. I look at the empty double bed (a bed I’ve slept in dozens of times before) and my stomach twists. Should I climb in bed and wait for Luke to get back from the bathroom? Would that make the whole thing less awkward?

Luke walks in. Fuck - too late for that. He gives me an awkward smile.

“What side do you want?” I ask him.

He shrugs. “I’m easy!”

“Going to bed wearing your jeans?” I tease. I don’t know why I just said that!

He smiles sheepishly and suddenly looks embarrassed as he starts to take them off. I take the plunge and climb under the duvet at the far side of the bed.

“I wonder what Emily would think of your new posing trunks?” I ask Luke as he pulls his sleeping vest over his head. His cute little calf muscles and modestly thick legs on display under a pair of Incredible Hulk (fucking seriously?!) boxer shorts. 

He looks over at me, the corner of his mouth curling into this cute grin. “Are you really gonna wear your pink posers for the end of term competition?” he asks.

I shrug and give him an ominous smirk. “Might do!”

Luke hovers by the bed looking awkward while I’m snuggled in. My huge arms are outside the duvet and folded. I can see his eyes scanning them. 

“Shall I, erm … turn the light off?”

I can’t help but smile at the awkward adorableness of it all. “That is what people usually do before they go to bed, Luke!” 

He rolls his eyes and turns off the light. And then he comes over to the bed and fuck, my whole body is fucking buzzing as Luke climbs in and gets under the duvet next to me. We’re so close to each other. His legs and body next to mine. His cute head on the next pillow. I immediately get a hard on. Fuck. I don’t look over. I just carry on looking forward, my arms still folded and hanging out of the duvet. 

“I can’t believe you and Emily have been friends since you were four!” he says. I twist my head and see Luke lying next to me, all snuggled under the duvet in the dark and my chest flutters. 

“Mmmm!” I say, smiling. 

“Kinda cool that you both turned out to be gay!” he says.

“Emily thinks maybe that’s why we were drawn to each other? I mean, there’s no way we could have known at that age but … she thinks maybe we sort of sensed we were both a bit different?”

“You could say you were … Two The Same?”

I laugh. “Fuck off!” I twist my head and he’s looking back at me in the dark. I can see he’s grinning at me. His face so close to mine. Fuck. 

“Do your parents know you’re gay?” Luke asks me.

“Nah!” I reply. Wow. I kind of love this. Just lying in the dark next to Luke, talking to him.

“Mum would be fine with it!” I tell him. “She’s got gay friends. Quite a few actually! Most of them are, like, posh lovey dovey theatre types. Oooh darling. You look faaaabulous!”

Luke giggles next to me. “Some of them blatantly fancy me. Come to think of it, I think my mum might even be a bit of a fag hag!”

“What about your dad?”

“Pretty sure he’s not a fag hag.”

I twist my head and Luke’s looking at me, waiting for a serious answer.

I let out a little sigh. “I think he’d be okay? He’d probably just think, typical Woody - he has to be different! I can’t imagine him really talking to me about it either. Like, once I’d told him, he’d probably never mention it again!” 

Luke doesn’t say anything. I suddenly realise what I’m doing. I’m opening up to Luke. Telling him things about my family. Usually this kind of thing would make anxious. But, I dunno - for whatever reason, I don’t mind it. Maybe it’s because we’re both in the dark and not actually facing each other. Or maybe it’s just because it’s Luke.

“It would be much worse if it wasn’t for Elliot!” 

Luke sharply twists his head. “Who’s that?” 

“Older brother!” I explain.

“Didn’t know you had a brother?” I can see him smiling a little now.

“Mmmm!” I say, nodding. 

“What’s he like?”

I scoff. “He’s pretty much a golden boy! In other words, the complete opposite of me! He’s in his last year at Oxford.” 

“Oxford? Wow!”

“Cambridge is first on the league table though. As I remind him every time I see him!” I look at Luke and smirk. I can see him smiling back at me.

“Do you not get on?” Luke asks.

“Actually we do! Well ... now at least. We hated each other when we were kids. He used to wind me up so much. He’d push and push until I snapped and acted out. And then he’d go to mum and I’d be the one who ended up getting into trouble. Clever little prick! Then we got older and we just seemed to have a lot more in common. Mostly alcohol! Sometimes, I think he’s even …” I pause and change my mind about what I’m about to say next. “Doesn’t matter!” I say, shaking my head.

“What?” Luke asks.

“Forget it!”

“Tell me!” Luke gently orders.

I sigh. “It sounds kind of awful but … well, imagine if you had a brother and you were the golden child. Everyone thinks of you as the clever one. The well behaved one. Generally seen as the more handsome one, although … hmmm, that’s debatable. And then your baby brother goes to the local hardcore gym and becomes a bodybuilder. With a six pack and pecs. And biceps twice as big as yours. And he suddenly gets loads of attention and is in the local newspaper and has shit loads of Instagram followers telling him how awesome he looks flexing in his shiny posers?”

I look over at Luke and he’s smirking at me. “Are you saying your brother’s jealous of your shiny posers?”

I laugh. “Maybe not the posers! But I think, for a lot of guys, there’s a part of them, deep down, that would LOVE to be a bodybuilder. As huge and jacked as I am. Strutting around, bouncing their pecs and flexing their biceps. Shiny posers optional!”

“Hmmm. I dunno. I’d never wanna look like that!” Luke says, with a smirk.

I grin back and bite my lip and then turn away from him again. “But yeah, Elliot’s pretty much the perfect son. He’ll graduate uni and probably go travelling to loads of exotic countries. Then he’ll come back, get an amazing job and get married to some blonde model with a really pretentious name. And my dad won’t care that his other son is gay and spends his days stomping round bodybuilding stages in his shiny pink trunks. I guess it’s kinda fitting. I’ve always been the rebellious one.”

“So … your brother’s a bit like Prince William and you’re kinda like Prince Harry?”

I laugh. “I guess so! If Prince Harry had pecs. And abs. And shiny pink posing trunks!”

“What about you? Does your mum know?” I ask him. I’ve never really thought about it before, but suddenly I want to know. Suddenly I want to know everything about Luke.

I look over so I can see his face as he answers. “I told her last year. Well … she kind of asked me!”

I carry on looking at him. 

“It was after I split up with my boyfriend from the sixth form!”

I feel a slight twist in my stomach. Luke had a boyfriend. He told me that earlier today. But now I’m really thinking about it. Some guy got to kiss Luke. And cuddle up to him. And call him his boyfriend. Huh. I never thought it was possible to be envious of someone who I’ve never even met. And know next to nothing about.

“She asked me if we’d fallen out and I said yes. And then she said, ‘Luke I know he was your boyfriend and that you’re gay.’ And that was that.”

“Was this … after your dad?”

“Yeah! Mum said they never spoke about it, but … she had a feeling he knew!” 

I lie there looking at him. I don’t feel like I need to say anything. Just me being here listening is enough.

“And … she said he would have been fine with it. That he’d have just wanted me to be happy!”

Fuck. I feel my eyes start to sting. I carry on looking at Luke and he’s just looking back at me. “That’s really cool!” I say, giving him a smile. He smiles back and we just linger on each other's gazes. A definite Woody and Luke moment. What would he do if I rolled over on my side right now to face him? Would he do the same? Our bodies facing the other’s in the dark. Our faces close together. Me and Luke just inches away from each other in the dark.

“Do you have brothers and sisters?” I ask him gently.

“Yeah. A younger sister, Hayley!”

I nod. “So you’re like a cool big brother?” He gives me a cute grin. Somehow it feels right. I can see Luke as an older brother. Looking out for his little sis.

“Don't know ‘bout the cool part!” he says, still smiling. 

We stay silent for a little while. I look away and face out towards the room again. “Elliot and Sebastian!” Luke finally says after a while with a hint of amusement.

I turn my head to face him again. “What?!” I ask smiling.

“So terribly posh!” he teases.

I laugh. “It could be worse! We could be called … Cuthbert and Tarquin!”

“Are those your cousins?”

“Yep!” I say in a matter-of-fact tone. Luke giggles and I smile back at him.

We’re quiet again for a little while. I wonder if we’ll actually say goodnight or whether we’ll just stop talking and both drift off to sleep. I don’t care either way.

“On Monday morning …” Luke sings quietly.

“Fuck off!” I say, laughing.

Luke laughs. “What? It’s a good song!”

“I’m gonna kill Emily!” 

“Who knew you had so many talents? Woody the bodybuilder. Woody the illustrator. Woody the pop star!” 

I shake my head. I can’t stop smiling. “Do you want me to kick you?”

“I’m thinking ‘bout you …” Luke sings. “How does the rest of it go again?”

“Can’t remember! Sorry!”

“Come on!” Luke orders, giggling.

I groan. “When Tuesday comes, my head is spinning,” I say the words rather than sing them.

“That’s it! Keep going!”

“By Friday night, I’m going crazy.”

I feel a sharp twist in my stomach. For some reason, I can’t quite bring myself to say the last line.

“Go to sleep!” I order.

“Yes, boss!”

“And NO hogging the duvet!”

I don’t look at Luke again and he doesn’t speak either. I roll on my side, putting my back to him and close my eyes, a smile on my face and this warm buzz rushing through my body. At being here. In this bed. Lying next to Luke. Thinking about everything we just talked about. Thinking about all the things we’ve done that day. And all the time we’ve spent together over the past few weeks. And as I drift off to sleep, the last line of mine and Emily’s cringeworthy song goes through my head. The line I couldn’t bring myself to say out loud.

“And every day, I’m falling more in love with you.”

Edited by Jim
Edited to comply with mobile devices (removed formatting)
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