by Tara Simon
Much like before, they went to sleep in each other’s arms that night.
Chapter 4: The Change
When Lee woke up the next morning, his face was only a couple of inches away from Kris’s, rather than having his head lying on his chest. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes, taking in the sight of his best friend sleeping. Lee had never really paid attention to the way Kris looked when he slept, and was suddenly struck by how young he looked. He knew his friend had been skinny when he was younger, from stories and old photos, but it seemed kind of unbelievable until then. Kris had a softness about him as he dozed, and even though he was still big and strong, Lee could also see a fragility within him that gave him the inexplicable desire to hold Kris close and never let go.
And then Kris blinked awake as well, a slow smile spreading across his face when he saw that Lee was watching him.
“Hey sleepyhead,” Lee said, voice still a little thick with sleep. He inched closer, until his nose was brushing against Kris’s in an Eskimo kiss.
Which was apparently not good enough. Kris closed the distance between their mouths and gave Lee a slow morning kiss.
“Not so sleepy anymore,” he laughed once he pulled away.
Lee grinned and rolled his eyes, pressing another quick kiss to his lips. “Now this is a good way to start the day.”
“I wholeheartedly agree.”
They moved to kiss again when Kris’s stomach gave a loud rumble, interrupting their moment.
“Hungry?” Lee teased.
Kris threw his head back with a groan. “Yeah… But I don’t wanna get out of bed just yet.”
His stomach rumbled again, which made Lee smirk at him. “Looks like you’re not getting much of a choice in the matter.”
It was far colder once they’d left the warmth of the bed, so Lee and Kris threw some hoodies on over their pajamas and headed downstairs. They were up a little earlier than the morning before, Winifred only just getting the ingredients for breakfast out of the fridge and pantry. She accepted their help, and they ended up cooking bacon and eggs while sipping their coffees, Winifred sitting back and relaxing for a little while before she went to wake up her husband and daughter.
* * *
After another lazy morning spent watching D-grade Christmas movies and listening to Buble, Rebecca insisted on taking Kris and Lee to the Bronx Burger House for lunch. Lee had been there a few times before with her, but it was Kris’s first time, and he spent far too long looking at the menu. Lee ended up choosing something for him, much to Rebecca’s amusement.
“What’s next? Is Lee gonna choose your clothes for you as well?” She joked, making Kris blush brightly.
“Don’t you recognize the jacket he’s wearing?” Lee grinned and slung his arm over Kris’s shoulder, pulling him in close. “It’s the only one I had that was big enough to fit across his damn shoulders.”
It was true. None of Kris’s jackets had matched his outfit, and he asked if Lee had one that would. Problem was that, despite being a similar size, Kris’s shoulders were so wide he usually had to wear larger shirts. FortuSamely, Lee had a jacket that could fit him and match the outfit.
Rebecca looked closer at the jacket, recognition flashing in her eyes a moment later. “Yeah, I remember you wearing it a lot last Christmas.” She turned to Kris with a sly grin. “I’m surprised it fits your dorito body.”
“My what?” Kris asked, eyebrows shooting up towards his hairline. Lee laughed. “Your dorito body, you know, like the corn chip?” Rebecca nodded. “Yeah, you have the shoulder-to-waist ratio of one.”
Kris’s eyebrows had yet to return to their normal position. “Is this something you two have discussed?”
“Yes.” They replied simultaneously.
“I actually had a long discussion with Samantha about it when we first met.” Lee added, absently glancing towards the kitchen to see if the waitress was ready with his food.
“Really?”
“Uh-huh. I’ve decided that your dorito body is something that both turns me on and makes me incredibly jealous.”
“Turns you on, does it?” Kris grinned slowly, a strange glint in his eyes, before pulling Lee into a hard but brief kiss.
“None of that please,” Rebecca groaned, but when she averted her eyes to over their shoulders, they suddenly narrowed. She leaned sideways to get a better view of whatever had caught her attention. “You got a problem?”
Kris and Lee turned around at the same time to see a middle-aged man giving them all a dirty look. His meal was already finished, so he balled up his napkin, threw some money on the table, then left.
“Good riddance,” Rebecca snarled once he was gone. “I may give you two a lot of shit for kissing and whatever, but I really do support you both. I’m glad you two have each other.”
“Thanks, Becca,” Lee replied. He really meant it, but a small part of him suddenly felt bad that he and Kris were faking the whole thing.
Maybe he just should’ve lost fair and square. Sure, he didn’t really have the $1000 for her anyway, but he could’ve given it to her as soon as he did. And maybe blonde hair wouldn’t be so bad. Or maybe it would. Lee briefly entertained the whole idea of coming clean to Rebecca and his parents, but there were a couple of things stopping him. First and foremost, his parents, especially his mom, would be upset that he had lied to them just so he could win a stupid bet. They’d not only given Kris their blessing, but they were also really glad that he was Lee’s boyfriend. Actually, worse than upset, they’d be disappointed. Nothing could be worse.
But the other thing that was stopping him from coming clean? The fact that he enjoyed pretending to be Kris’s boyfriend so much. He enjoyed cuddling him, and kissing him. He enjoyed going to bed with Kris, and he enjoyed waking up with Kris. He enjoyed that they shared each other’s clothes. He simply enjoyed everything about Kris, which was why they were best friends in the first place.
So no, Lee would not come clean, even if he did feel a little bad.
* * *
Later that evening, after they’d had dinner and Lee’s parents had gone to bed, he was sitting in the backyard with Kris and Rebecca. There were Christmas lights on the back of the house as well, though not as many, but it was enough for them to see by. Kris and Lee were huddling close under a blanket on one of the lawn chairs, while Rebecca had one to herself. It was beautiful out there at night, especially with the added Christmas lights, but it was also freezing, so to fight off the cold they were drinking hot chocolate that Lee had spiked with Baileys.
“What did your friends say when you told them you guys were a thing?” Rebecca asked, sipping at her still-steaming mug. She was rugged up in a beanie and gloves, along with a huge jacket and blanket too.
Lee shrugged lightly, trying not the jostle Kris too much. “I don’t know. They were happy, I guess.”
“Just happy?” Rebecca raised an eyebrow, obviously believing there was more to the story. “Were they shocked? Or did they see it coming?”
“Sam probably saw it coming,” Kris said, giving Lee a knowing glance. “Not sure about the others.”
“They’ve just been teasing us a lot.” Lee added, finishing off his hot chocolate and placing the mug on the ground beside him.
Rebecca rolled her eyes. “Why? Just because you two were friends before this?”
“Well, yeah.” Lee laughed. “When Sam and Pete got together when we were seniors, I was an asshole and wouldn’t stop teasing them about it. I guess it’s payback.”
“That was an asshole thing to do,” Kris agreed.
Lee glared up at him. “Punk.”
“Jerk.”
“Are you two done?” Rebecca sighed, getting up from her chair. At their nods, she pointed to the mugs. “And with your drinks?”
“Oh, yeah.” Kris glanced down at his empty mug, and handed it to Rebecca when she held out her hand for it. She took Lee’s as well, then headed for the house.
“It’s too cold for me out he
re. I’m going to bed.”
They said goodnight then went silent, simply content to sit and cuddle. That is, they were content to do that until both started shivering from the ever increasing cold.
“Let’s head inside.” Kris suggested.
Lee nodded. “Yeah. But I’m not ready to go to bed yet.”
“Neither. Fireplace?”
“Fireplace.”
They discarded their shoes and coats by the backdoor once they were inside, and headed to the sitting room, where they found that the fire was still burning. Lee chucked another log in and stoked it, while Kris claimed the nearest armchair. He grabbed at Lee when he was done, and pulled him onto his lap.
“I don’t have the blanket anymore, so you’ve gotta keep me warm.” Kris told him with a smirk, winding his arms around Lee’s waist.
Lee smirked back, a playful glint in his eyes. “I think I can do that.” Then he ducked his head down and kissed him.
It was slow like almost all their other kisses, but far more intense, soon heating up as they pressed against each other. Lee carded his fingers through Kris’s hair as their tongues slid together, rolling his hips into Kris’s without thinking. Kris moaned, tilting his head to the side and deepening the kiss further. He clutched at Lee’s hips like he was holding on for dear life. And then it was if a switched had been flicked and something clicked into place within Lee. He pulled back for a moment to stare at Kris’s face, grinning when Kris whimpered at the loss of his lips and tried to chase them.
Lee said nothing, but kept looking at at his best friend. Saw the lust and the fondness that he too felt, and the confusion at why Lee had pulled away just to stare at him. Kris’s fingers dipped under his sweater to rub slow circles into his skin. Lee ground his hips down hard, watching as
Kris’s eyes flickered closed for a moment and his mouth fell open. Lee licked into it, and they resumed kissing and grinding their hips together.
There was nobody to pretend for at that moment. Just two friends who were losing themselves to passion and desire for one another. Neither of them could tell anyone why this was happening. Despite how close they were, they’d been platonic for as long as they’d known each other, but since the kissing started, something had shifted. A new dynamic. Being together like that felt good.
More importantly, it felt right.
Soon enough, Lee’s sweater was on the floor beside them and Kris’s hands were exploring his bare torso. When they traveled low, towards the hem of his jeans, Lee growled low in his throat and tugged at Kris’s shirt, who pulled away long enough for Lee to pull it off. Kris claimed his lips again, wrapping one arm around Lee’s shoulders and the other around his waist.
These kisses were unhurried, simply happy to taste and feel each other. But if anything, it turned Lee on more than ever, and he couldn’t stop his growing arousal. He pressed harder into Kris’s body, hips and chest flush, their erections pressing against each other. Kris’s breath hitched and Lee moaned, circling his hips on instinct.
“We should go to the bedroom,” Kris suggest a moment later, lips red and slick and sounding a little breathless.
Lee nodded quickly. “Yes, definitely.”
They hopped off the armchair, with Kris pulling Lee in for another hungry kiss before Lee broke it off. He bent down to pick their shirts up off the ground, then they headed upstairs to the bedroom without any more interruptions.
Once the door was firmly closed behind them, Kris claimed Lee’s lips again, kissing him with all that he had. Because something had clicked into place for Kris too, when Lee had been staring down at him as if he was the only thing that mattered. The only thing that existed. He backed Lee towards the bed, both of them falling into it with Kris on top. He braced himself over Lee, one hand traveling down to the button of his jeans. He paused there.
“Don’t stop,” Lee all but begged, the neediness in his voice spurring Kris on. He undid his jeans and pushed them down, letting Lee remove them and his underwear completely while Kris removed his own.
Once they were both naked, they paused, drinking the sight of each other. They’d shared a bed many times, and they’d gotten changed in front of each other many times, but Kris couldn’t recall a time when he’d actually seen Lee naked. And if Lee thought he might’ve once, it definitely wasn’t while Kris was hard. Hard for him.
“Come ‘ere.”
He dragged Kris down and left wet kisses along his jaw, then rolled his hips up, brushing his erection against Kris’s. Kris groaned, mimicking the action, before taking over. He ground down against Lee, sucking at the skin of his neck, knowing he was going to leave a mark but not caring. Lee didn’t seem to care either, by the sounds he was making, and with the way he was clutching at Kris’s shoulders so tightly, he knew he’d have marks too. Kris pulled back a little, keeping his face close to stare at Lee while their cocks slid together, a little slick with precome. He sped up his pace as he watched Lee, reveling in the way Lee gasped and moaned but still remained eye contact.
Lee came first, biting down on his lips to muffle his cry as his orgasm washed over him. Kris slowed down for a moment, reaching his hand down to stroke him through it. Seeing Lee fall apart like that, just from the slide of his dick over his own, brought Kris close to the edge. Once Lee came back to himself, he seemed to realize this, and quickly started stroking at Kris’s cock too. He didn’t take long to reach his climax after that, falling on top of Lee afterwards, not caring that their stomachs were sticky with a mess of cum.
They laid like that for a few moments, Lee idly drawing circles onto Kris’s back and sighing.
“We should get cleaned up.”
Kris grinned into Lee’s shoulder. “Good idea.”
He rolled to the side, letting Lee quickly climb off the bed. He grabbed the closest thing he could find, which just happened to be a shirt, and used it to wipe up the mess from their stomachs. Once done, he threw it on top of the pile of dirty clothes they’d amassed in the few days they’d been there. He figured it was about time they did some laundry anyway.
“How’re you feelin’?” Kris asked once Lee was back in bed. They instantly curled around each other like every other night.
“Amazing.” Lee smiled up at Kris, leaning forward to kiss him. “I don’t know what this is, Kris, but I like it. A lot.”
“Me too,” Kris agreed, snuggling closer. “It feels good with you.”
“I don’t want to stop doing this when we get back home.” Lee admitted.
Kris felt a swell of happiness in his chest. “Neither do I.” Even after what they just did, he still had it in him to blush.
“Good.” Lee grinned.
They kissed again, and again, and again, until they eventually fell asleep in the embrace.
Chapter 5: The Declaration
It was a cloudy, wet morning that Christmas Eve, so everyone spent their time just idling about the house. Winifred was in the sitting room with the fire going, Buble on in the background while she read an old novel. George was watching some reruns of an old show while Rebecca, Lee, and Kris were building a gingerbread house at the dining table. Kris, being the artist he was, took it upon himself to decorate all the pieces. He wouldn’t let Rebecca or Lee help with it, insisting that he could manage, which was really his polite way of saying they had no artistic ability whatsoever and would fuck it up. So the two siblings helped put the pieces together instead.
