His Roommate's Friend

Stuart convinced me to take a warm shower to help relax me. The nightmare left me covered in sweat. He talked to me about talking to a grief counselor since he worried that I was about to snap. I’m not sure how long I was in the shower. I’d turned the temperature up and allowed the hot water to stream against my neck. I closed my eyes and thought of Andrew when I first opened the door. The two of us had showered together in this very shower. Would I have done anything differently had I know we’d be apart so soon?

I’m not sure how many times I’d washed my hair. Lather. Rinse. Repeat and Repeat and… I’d lathered up again and was rinsing the soap from my hair and face when Stuart burst into the bathroom screaming, “They found him. They found him. He’s alive, and they found him.”

I stepped out of the shower, soap still clinging to part of me. My mouth had dropped slightly open. “Is he OK? Where is he?”

“They’re taking him to the hospital to make sure he’s alright.”

I started to lose my balance; I sat on the bathroom floor and wept.

Andrew was kept in the hospital for four days. He had suffered from hypothermia and dehydration. His radius had a hairline fracture, so his arm was in a sling. Both he and Butters were considered heroes. The two of them had opened the emergency hatch as the bus slipped into the water. They helped the other guys get out of the bus. As the bus went under the water, Butters disappeared from view. No one saw Andy get out of the bus. He recalled being pushed back in as water poured in through the exit. When he was able to get out, he was caught in a current and carried downstream. He finally made it to the shoreline where he was found shivering and slightly delirious.

I wasn’t able to see him during his hospital stay. Four days can seem like four centuries when you want to see someone as badly as I did. I did get a note to him. I addressed it as though it were from Susy Granger, which was the name of the pretend girlfriend he had back home. I wrote my phone number down, and that night, I got a call.

“Hello.”

“Hello, Susy?”

“Yes, this is she. I’m sorry about my voice. I’m a little hoarse from crying my eyes out, worried about you.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” His voice had little inflection or emotion. Was he drugged?

“No, it’s not your fault. I’m glad you’re OK and getting better. I’ve missed you.”

“Same here. I might need some help catching up with homework when I get out. Plus I need to work on some job applications. My father’s been doing some research and given me a list of possibilities. Will you help me look them over?”

“Of course. I’d love to. I know that things are crazy at the hospital. They aren’t letting you have visitors so I haven’t come to see you. I figured that you’d prefer things that way.”

“Yeah, you get me, don’t you. Can I call you later, when everyone’s asleep? I mean, unless they drug me. They have been giving me something to relax me.”

“You can call me anytime you want. OK?”

“Thanks, uh, Susy. Bye now.”

“Later.” The phone clicked, and he was gone.

The next night, about two in the morning, my phone notified me that I’d received a text message. It was from Andrew.

“I’m hoping you’re still awake.”

“I am now,” I wrote. “Excited to hear from you.”

“Can’t talk; my dad’s asleep in the room.”

“OK. You OK?”

“Getting out tomorrow. Parents want to baby me. I want time with you to recharge my batteries.”

“I’d be glad to help you with your electronics.”

“No, not my laptop.”

There was a break in the messages, then Andrew wrote, “Oh, I get it.”

“I’m trying to write in code,” I replied.

“Sorry. I want you to duck me.”

“Are you writing in code?” I added a smiley face.

“It keeps changing f u c k to duck.”

“You can duck me, too.”

“LOL”

“We still have a box to use.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you going to class tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Leaving here early. I insisted.”

“What time are you done?”

“11:30. I don’t want to meet in the cafeteria. People will hound me.”

“What about my room at 12:30? Stuart has labs from 1:00 to 4:30.”

“What’s your favorite Chinese? I’ll order delivery for us.”

“I love Kung Pao Chicken.”

“You got it then. We should try to sleep.”

I wanted to write ‘I love you.’ but I wrote, “Can’t wait.” I fell asleep with a smile on my face. The horrors of the past few days melted away from my memory. I was on the path to happiness once more.

At 12:28, a delivery woman brought two large sacks of Chinese food to my dorm room door. Before I’d finished putting it on my desk, Andrew arrived with two cold six-packs of Pepsi. “I hope you like it,” he said. “They were the only cold ones.” He handed the woman a ten, closed the door, and turned to face me.

I practically ran to him, hugged him, and kissed him. “I’ve missed you so much.”

He smiled at me.

“I didn’t hurt your arm, did I?”

“No, Jojo, you didn’t. I just can’t put any pressure on it, so you know what that means.”

“No missionary.” I made a pouting face.

“You’re always thinking about fucking. I was going to say that it takes me longer to eat.” He laughed.

“You fucking liar. You’d already decided that you wouldn’t be able to do missionary with one hand.” I laughed, too.

“Can’t fool you. Let’s eat.”

“Should I start with Wun Hot Rod and Nuts?” I rubbed my hand on his crotch. He kissed me and explored my mouth with a passion I hadn’t noticed previously.

“I want to keep going with this Jojo. You’re all I’ve thought about for the past few days, but I am so hungry.”

I brushed his hair back. “You probably had jello and mashed potatoes in the hospital.”

“It seemed that way.”

I opened one of the bags. “Mmm. Home cooking.”

Andrew seemed more subdued, quiet. He said he was only on Advil and Tylenol, but he’d also been through something traumatic. Several of his teammates had perished, and I knew I had to be gentle. My trauma had been the fear of losing him, and his return took that away. My presence couldn’t take away his pain.

When we finished eating, which did take him longer, I cleared our stuff and put the leftovers in the mini-fridge. Andrew leaned back against the headboard with my favorite pillow stuffed under his back. I crawled over him with one knee on each side of his left knee. I kissed him gently on the lips, on his chin, on his neck. “What does Tigerman want to do?”

“I want to hold you next to me. I want to memorize how you feel, how you smell, how you sound when you’re breathing. I want to remember all these things for when I’m away from you.”

We moved down so my left shoulder was against his right armpit and I snuggled up to him. I pulled his right leg between mine so he pressed against my crotch. My right hand unbuttoned a few buttons of his shirt to allow me to touch his chest.

“I like how you touch me. You’re so gentle and kind. All I thought about as the river pushed me around is that I’d promised to see you again.”

“I was going crazy. Part of me told me you were still alive and part of me told me that you had been killed. I had nightmares that you were dead. And there was nothing I could do; maybe that was the worst part.”

“It’s over now except for the healing.”

I raised an eyebrow and looked toward Andrew’s face. I could hear my father saying, ‘Get over it.’

“My father said that to me in the hospital. It’s something Dads say, I guess.”

“To a five-year-old who fell and got a scratch,” I added. I unbuttoned a few more buttons on his shirt, exposing his belly. “You’re not going to get a dad bod, are you. I like this one.”

“You mean you won’t do me if I get all hairy with a big belly?”

“How could I? My dick’s not big enough.”

“You’d find a way, Jojo.”

“I’m going to start my search. Let’s get these pants off.”

“But I don’t have a belly yet.” He laughed.

I loosened his pants and pulled them down by the cuffs. I slid his underwear off. His semi-hard cock bounced for me. I grabbed it and licked the head. “Miss me, did you, fella?”

“You’re talking to my dick. He doesn’t talk.”

“He does if you listen.” I pinched the head gently in my fingers. I used a squeaky voice and said, “I missed you so much. Please suck me. I like it when you suck me. It’s so much better than when he shoves me into that dark tunnel.”

“Wait a minute, Mr. Dick,” said Andrew. I fuck better than he sucks.”

“Not according to Mr. Dick,” I replied.

Andrew reached for his cock, but I pushed his hand away. “You can get Mr. Weiner man to talk. I’m in charge of Mr. Dick.” I looked at Andrew’s erection. “Explain to us why you prefer my mouth to my ass.” I assumed the squeaky voice again. “Well, they both feel great, but when I’m in the dark tunnel, I have to wear clothes that are too tight, and the fuck juice makes it squishy inside; it’s much better when you swallow all that seed.”

“Well, he does have a point, Jojo. And he doesn’t know it, but part of my hospital test was for STDs. I’m completely clear. I guess he’s waiting on you now.”

“How about that, Mr. Dick! Did you know that Mr.Weiner caught a cold just before Halloween, and he got tested then? And he got tested back in January, too. He’s only had sex with Mr. Hand and your friend Mr. Asshole. I know that you’ve only had sex with Mr. Man-hole.”

“Hey, why am I ‘asshole’ and you’re ‘man-hole’?

“Same reason you’re also Mr. Arrogant Bastard and I’m Mr. Almost Virginal.”

“You’re gonna have to change that name,” Andrew snorted.

“Who’s fault is that?”

“Oh, it’s mine, huh? You spread those legs pretty fast, Mr. Slut.”

“That’s still your fault. If you weren’t so fucking sexy, I’d have never done it.”

“Now, that’s interesting. I’m Mr. Fucking Sexy when you want some.”

I started laughing.

Andrew chuckled and started to tickle me. “Who’s Mr. Fucking Sexy?”

“You are, you arrogant bastard.” I pushed my face into his, and we began to kiss. I pushed his shirt open and licked him from his belly button to his chin before kissing his dick and swallowing as much of it as I could.

I loved hearing Andy’s little squeals as I moved my mouth up and down his shaft. I continued until I heard him grab my hand. “Stop, oh, I’m close, stop.”

I pulled back and pouted. “But I wanted dessert.”

“And I want some cream pie.”

My lips went into an involuntary smile.

“Fuck me, Jojo.”

I reached behind him for the lube and greased up my cock. Precum had already started to drip. I leaned forward and pushed my dick against his hole. He offered less resistance than he did before. Was it because I wasn't wearing a condom? My dick seemed to slide into him so easily. I couldn’t believe the sensation.

“Oh, wow, Jojo, I can really feel you. Oh, fuck, man. Oh, that feels so good.”

I adjusted my position so I could continue to pump in and out as I kissed him. Fucking without a condom was the most incredible feeling. Or was it so incredible because I was fucking someone I was falling in love with? Or could I already be in love? It had to be that because I knew that I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life.

With my hands pushing his legs farther apart, I pushed myself more deeply inside him. I began to fuck him with more speed. I tried to will myself to slow down, but I couldn’t. I needed to fill him. He continued to moan, and he grabbed my lower lip with his teeth and held it. My breathing was so rapid that I thought my heart might explode. Instead, my dick exploded. I pumped four loads into Andrew’s belly.

“Don’t pull out, Jojo.”

“I won’t, Tigerman.” I felt his ass grip my dick. My seed slipped out and dripped onto the bed. Andy’s dick was stiff and straight. The head glistened from the precum that had oozed forth. As I stared into his eyes, I could only see happiness in our future.

This was when I should have told him that I loved him, but I didn’t, and I would pay for that.