The City of Rossford

When Mass was over, Fenn handed Dylan over to Tom and moved out of his seat to find his niece.

“Come with me.”

Layla thought about asking if it could wait, but Fenn had never brooked waiting, and suddenly Paul and Kirk were behind him, looking eager.

“Right now?” she said, looking at Will.

“Bring him too,” Fenn said non-chalantly. “But we have to go. Now.”

“Well, alright then.” Layla looked back at her mother, but Adele shrugged.

“We can take Todd’s car,” Fenn told her.

Todd drove. Neither Fenn nor Layla were used to cars. About them the streets which had been clear earlier were now white with blowing snow. Behind them traveled Paul and Kirk and Layla said, “Are we going home with them?”

“Well, sort of,” Fenn allowed.

Sure enough, five minutes driving brought them to the white house where Paul lived with Kirk, but the car moved on. It stopped in front of the unlit, seemingly empty house next door, and Fenn said, “Here we are.”

They climbed out of the car, Will coming out first and then rounding it to open the door of the Jeep for Layla. The two of them began heading toward Paul and Kirk’s house, but Paul said, “Nope. Nope.”

“Come on,” Fenn said a little impatiently. He was already going up the walk.

“What are you…?” Layla began.

And then Fenn put his key in the door, and to Layla’s surprise, he opened it.

“What the…?” she began.

But as she joined her uncle, and Todd walked in flipping on the light, Fenn said, “Merry Christmas? Will this be alright? You think?”

She looked at him. She looked to Will, and to Todd, and as she stepped into the house, peering around the walls in disbelief, she looked at Kirk and Paul who were entering the house.

“Are you serious?” she began, breathlessly. “Are you… for real?”

“What kind of uncle would I be if I didn’t do what I could for my niece?”

“Oh, Fenn…” Layla said, not looking at him, but touching his cheek. “Fenn.”

“We’ve been putting a little furniture in it,” Todd said. “Not a lot. That’s your job. Just enough so that… if you want to hang out here, you can. And it’s not a big house or anything. It’s just.”

Layla nodded her head. Her eyes were wide, and she didn’t trust herself to say anything.

“You should have something of your own,” her uncle said, simply.

“I think,” Kirk said, rising on the balls of his feet, and pressing his fist into his palm, “we should all go and let Layla enjoy her new home.”

“I’ll drive her back,” Will volunteered when Todd opened his mouth.

Smiling at Will and ushering Todd out, Fenn said, “That is a wonderful idea, William.”

Fenn kissed his dazzled niece on the cheek.

“Merry Christmas,” he said. “Don’t be late for dinner tomorrow. And, goodnight.”

And then they were gone.

Layla stood there, and then she looked at Will.

“We could… make coffee or… something,” Layla shook her head, trying to shake herself awake.

“Stay up all night?”

“In my house,” Layla said. Then she repeated. “In my house!”

As they were leaving church, Sheridan said, “And are you going to Casey’s?”

Chay looked at him.

“I don’t think Dad would like that. Either one of them. Noah’s getting really uneasy about everything.”

Sheridan nodded.

“Well, I’m a little uneasy myself,” he said.

“I can’t even believe you just said that,” Chay shook his head and chuckled. “Do you have any idea what you sounded like when you said that?”

“Come back with me. Stay the night,” Sheridan said. “Like when we were kids.”

“Alright,” Chay said. “Cool. Let me tell my folks.”

Sheridan waited while Chay threaded his way through the church, and Meredith came up to him, hugging him from the side.

“Merry Christmas, Sheridan.”

“Yeah, right? Can you believe it? With everything.”

“I’m going to the Netteson’s tomorrow,” Meredith began. Then, at the look on Sheridan’s face, she said, “Relax. I wasn’t trying to get you to come along. I was just saying.”

“That’s good of you, Meredith,” Sheridan said. “You’re a lot better than the rest of us.”

“I hate it when you make fun of me,” she said, though she smiled a little.

“No, Mare. No one’s making fun of you.”

Chay came back, his hair bouncing over the collar of his black suit.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

“Go where?”

“Slumber party. Boys night,” Chay said. “But it can be girls if you come along?”

“No,” Meredith shook her head and yawned. “It’s well past one. You all do… something guys night for me. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Merry Christmas, Mare,” Sheridan said after her, and then he looked at Chay and said, “Well, let’s go.”

Will was blinking, and his hair stood on end. He massaged his scalp and Layla yawned too, saying, “It’s time to call it a night.”

She got up and crossed the empty room to turn off the tinny little stereo Will had brought over. Their used coffee cups were on the floor along with a plate of cookies, and Will looked up and said:

“So now?”

“Now what?”

“What do we do?”

Layla looked down at Will, wonderingly. And then she sat on the little sofa, leaned across it, caught his face in her hands and kissed him.

“Now,” she said, “you take off your clothes.”

He blinked, coming back to life.

“Take off your clothes,” she said, already fidgeting with her gown, “and then you can help me take off mine. And we can christen this little house.”

Sheridan yawned, and then he turned out the light and lay out on the floor.

“I’ll take the pallet,” Chay said. “Then you can have the bed.”

“Don’t be silly,” Sheridan’s voice came from the floor.

“I invited you here. Why would you come to my house and then sleep on the floor.”

They were quiet a long time and then Sheridan said, “This is like the old days, you know?”

“Yeah,” Chay agreed.

“I’m glad Meredith didn’t come. I love Meredith, but… I’m glad it’s just us.”

“I invited her because she’s a friend,” Chay said. “I wanted it this way too. I think she knew that. She’s no dummy.”

There was a shifting on the ground and then Sheridan said, “Did I tell you I did what Robin asked me to do?”

“No.”

“I did it. I did it, and then she got up and killed herself. The night I came to tell you I found you with him. Casey. So I went to Shelley’s. But it wasn’t like you and Casey.”

“You watched?” Chay’s voice changed.

“Yeah. I came in the house. I saw. It wasn’t like me and Shell. I… kept trying to be with her, after I did it with Robin. I couldn’t even get it up. But then that night I went back to her, and it was just quick and hard and, you know, I came. I came real hard, but I knew it wasn’t what I wanted. I knew it never was.”

Chay sat in bed feeling cold and a little exposed. He didn’t know what to say.

“I’m so confused,” Sheridan lamented in the dark. “I’m so fucking confused, and I don’t know what I’m doing.

“I… I go to Casey to threaten him. To threaten him for being with you. But… what I end up doing is making him give me a job. Cause I’m alive when I’m there. I’m on fire and… a lot of the time I’m cold.”

“With Robin?”

“It was awful. And now she’s dead. And… I don’t want to talk about it.”

“What about with Shelley?”

Sheridan didn’t say anything.

“Sher?” Chay said.

“I’m thinking about it.”

“No, that’s not it.” Chay put his hand out from the bed. “Touch my hand.”

Sheridan’s hand was in his. It was larger. But it was long and thin and his grip wasn’t as strong as Chay imagined it would be.

“Don’t be on the floor. That’s stupid,” Chay said.

After a moment, Sheridan clambered onto the bed and he said: “I’m the one who’s supposed to protect you.”

“Well who made up that rule?”

Sheridan chuckled a little and said, “I think it was me.”

“You’re shaking.”

“Because I’m nervous.”

“Of me.”

“No,” Sheridan shook his head in the night. “Me. What I want. I want to be held.”

Chay’s arms went around him.

“No,” Sheridan said, weakly. “It’s no good. It’s not right.”

Chay didn’t say anything.

Sheridan’s eyes had been open in the darkness. He shut them tight now and pressed his back into Chay’s chest, feeling the other boy’s small arms tighten around him. It was like when he’d seen him with Casey, when Casey was giving himself. Sheridan had never given himself, not really. He couldn’t have this with Shelley.

He turned around slowly and Chay’s mouth was waiting for him. He kissed him for as long as his mind would let him, and then he said, “We have to stop.”

“Why?” Chay sounded like an irritated child, just asked to wake up.

“Why?” he said. “You did that to me before.”

“I know, I know,” Sheridan said, “And it was bullshit. I said it was a gift to you and that was bullshit.”

Chay kissed him this time, and Sheridan moaned, putting his hands into Chay’s hair, pressing his body against him.

“Mom and Dad would be so mad if they knew we were doing this,” Sheridan worried. It made Chay want to laugh, but only a little.

“I don’t wanna use you,” Sheridan said, his breath catching as he undressed Chay, as he struggled to pull off his pajama pants. “I don’t… I don’t want to ever hurt you.”

His heart was pumping so hard he thought it might explode and his mouth was all over Chay.

“I’m so sorry. I don’t want to…”

Sheridan pressed hard against Chay, ans moaned at the feel of Chay’s mouth on his throat.

“Oh… God. Oh, shit!” Sheridan murmured. His dick was so hard. Chay’s mouth was traveling down his throat, to his sternum. He didn’t dare ask, but he wanted his dick sucked so badly. He pushed his groin against Chay more and more fiercely.

“God!” his breath caught as Chay went down on him.

For a long time Chay was there and Sheridan’s neck arched up, his eyes open, his fist clenched on the pillow, breathing heavily.

Chay stopped. They were both quiet. Sheridan’s breath steadied, but he wanted Chay’s mouth on him again. Chay’s head lay on his stomach.

“I’m so tired,” Chay said, at last, his hand making Sheridan moan with pleasure as it caressed the other boy’s scrotum, “of people trying not to hurt me.”