by TJ Klune
Alex looked thoughtful when Nate finished talking. “So… what? You think Peter’s in charge of some kind of cult?”
Nate shook his head. “I don’t—no. I don’t think he’s a cult leader. I just… Maybe I’m overthinking everything.” He glared at Art and Alex. “If I sound crazy, the fault rests on both of you.”
“What?” Art said, sounding outraged. “Why?”
“Because all I wanted to do was go sit and brood in my cabin in peace! But no, you two just had to choose to break into that one and then point a gun at me, like, twelve times.”
“Drama queen,” Alex muttered.
“Alex wouldn’t have really shot you,” Art told him. “Even back then he thought you were cute.”
Alex gaped at her.
She winked at him.
“That is beside the point,” Nate said, though he was going to kiss the hell out of Alex later when no prying eyes watched their every move. “I’m just—this place gives me the creeps, okay? And maybe it’s nothing. Maybe everything is fine. But it wouldn’t hurt to keep an eye open while we’re still here.”
Alex nodded slowly. “It’s… That’s a good idea. I’m sure it’s fine. But if it’s not, it’s better to be prepared. I’ll start carrying the gun again. Just to be safe. We trust you, Nate.”
Nate absolutely did not preen at that.
“Why are you blushing?” Art asked him. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen your face turn that red before.”
“Shut up.”
“Uh-huh.” She glanced between the two of them, a calculating look on her face.
Dinner that night was held once again in the front yard. The same lights were strung up in the trees. The same torches were lit. There were the same plates, the same tablecloths. It was again another stew, though the ingredients were different.
Hell, even Billie Holiday was caressing their ears again.
But still. It felt… different.
The air was charged somehow. Like an electrical storm was approaching.
The sky above was clear as the stars began to shine.
The comet looked huge, almost as bright as the moon.
The people of the farm were quiet. Peter had spoken a few words at the beginning of the meal, but it didn’t have the same gravitas as it’d had the night before. He looked distracted. His eyes were wide, and Nate swore he was barely blinking.
Nate didn’t eat.
When the meal was finished, everyone got up to dance again.
They didn’t speak. They clung to each other as they shuffled their feet in the grass.
Peter stayed for a single dance before he disappeared into the house.
“His mind is heavy tonight,” Dolores told Nate as she watched the screen door swing shut.
“Why?”
She looked up at the sky. “Because sometimes, our choices are laid out in front of us, waiting for a decision to be made.”
He’d barely dozed off when he felt a hand shaking his shoulder.
He opened his eyes.
Art was snoring next to him.
Alex was standing above him, staring down.
He sat up quickly. “What—”
Alex brought a finger to his lips.
Nate fell silent.
Alex jerked his head toward the stairs.
Nate nodded and stood slowly, careful not to jostle the mattress. Art smacked her lips and continued snoring.
He followed Alex down the stairs. He watched the play of muscles on Alex’s back under his shirt in the low light. His skin felt hot. His eyes were heavy.
Alex didn’t lead him to the window from the night before.
Instead, when they reached the barn floor, he took Nate by the hand, pulling him toward the rear of the barn. The moved around bales of hay until they were in a dark corner, out of sight from anyone who could enter. They were steeped in shadows. Nate could barely make out Alex in front of him as he turned, eyes glittering dully in the dark.
“What is it?” Nate asked.
Alex pushed him gently against the barn wall. The wood creaked under his back. A thick thigh was pressed between his legs, a foot kicking them farther apart. He gasped quietly as Alex applied pressure to his groin, heat pooling low in his stomach.
He tilted his head back against the side of the barn.
Lips and teeth trailed along his neck. Alex hadn’t shaved in a few days, and Art was going to figure things out sooner rather than later as his skin felt as if it were being scraped raw.
“You’re going to need to be quiet,” Alex whispered in his ear. “Do you think you can do that?”
“Why?” Nate asked. “What do you think you’re going to do?”
He felt Alex’s smile against his cheek. “What do you think?”
“Art—”
“Is sleeping. And will stay that way if you keep quiet.”
“Pretty goddamn sure of yourself,” Nate whispered, biting back a groan as the thigh on his cock and balls pressed even harder. “Fucking grunt, huh? Think you’re so goddamn good?”
Alex kissed him then, and it was more than it’d been the night before. At the window, under the stars, it’d been tentative. Unsure. Almost shy. It wasn’t like that now.
Now there was teeth and tongue and a big hand wrapped gently around his throat, holding his head in place as Alex worked his mouth over. Nate felt small and breakable, knowing Alex could most likely snap him in two if he wished. He didn’t resist when he felt pressure on his jaw from a thumb, Alex breaking the kiss as he turned Nate’s head, teeth finding the cords in Nate’s neck, biting down gently.
He couldn’t believe they were doing this now. Here, of all places. Surrounded by the weirdest people he’d ever met in his life. He didn’t know what had gotten into Alex.
But he sure as shit wasn’t complaining, especially when the pressure eased between them slightly, enough for Alex to reach his free hand down between them. He palmed Nate’s dick through his jeans, the ache of it almost too much to bear. Nate groaned again, Alex hissing in his ear that he needed to be quiet. Nate was about to snark something back, to tell him to fuck off and get on with it, but there were two fingers in his mouth then and a voice telling him to suck.
He did. Alex’s skin tasted slightly salty as Nate rolled his tongue against the fingers. Alex had the digits pressed almost to the back of this throat, and Nate’s eyes rolled slightly. Alex snapped open his jeans, and there was a hot hand down the front, groping him roughly. He tried to speak around Alex’s fingers, wanting to tell him it was okay, that he could take it, that he could go harder, but all he managed to do was drool on his chin.
Alex shoved Nate’s jeans down his thighs, effectively trapping his legs. He pressed up against Nate again, still fully clothed, his fingers in Nate’s mouth pressing down against his tongue. He rolled his hips against Nate. The slide of skin against denim made Nate feel like he was burning up.
Nate bit down gently, teeth sinking into Alex’s skin.
Alex grunted near his ear. “Don’t have anything,” he muttered. “Nothing that could work and not hurt you. But we’re gonna do something. You trust me?”
Nate nodded, babbling incoherently around Alex’s fingers.
“Good,” he said. “I’m going to take my fingers out of your mouth. I want you to get my hand as wet as you can. You do that for me, and I promise I’ll make it worth your while. You like the sound of that?”
Yes, Nate said with his eyes, wide and wet. Yes. Yes. Yes.
Alex pulled his fingers out of his mouth with a wet pop. He held the hand in front of Nate’s face. “Do it, then.”
Nate gathered spit in his mouth and spit on Alex’s hand before licking his palm, spreading his saliva around as best he could. Alex groaned quietly, reaching up to twist Nate’s nipple through his shirt. Nate’s hips jerked at the bright flare of pleasurepain that bowled through him. “You like that, huh?” Alex whispered. He did it again. Nate
moaned against Alex’s hand. “Yeah. You really do, don’t you? I’m not wet enough. More.”
Nate did.
It only took another minute before Alex pulled his hand away and took a step back. Nate’s heated skin felt sharply cold. He watched as Alex unbuttoned his own jeans and pushed them down around his hips. He used his dry hand to pull his own dick out. Nate could barely make it out in the dark, but he could see the head through Alex’s fist. He watched as Alex hooked a finger under his shirt and rucked it up under his armpits, exposing his hairy torso. Alex spit down. It landed on his dick. He used the hand that Nate had gotten wet to spread their saliva around, coating the length.
“Turn around,” he grunted.
Nate did. He turned his head, cheek pressing against the rough wall of the barn.
“Press your ass out.”
Nate felt a bright flash of shame, or something close to it. He felt exposed, more so than he’d ever been before. He did as Alex told him to do. He felt fingers trace along the crack of his ass, brushing along his hole. He pushed his ass back into the touch. The fingers continued down between his legs until they came to his balls. Alex tugged on them, first one and then the other. It went on for a long minute, Alex pulling, stretching his nuts. Nate was sweating, and harder than he’d ever been in his life.
“Pull your balls forward,” Alex told him.
He did. His thumb pressed against the base of his dick, and he grabbed his balls, pulling them forward.
“Squeeze your thighs together. Hold them tight.”
He got it now. He was on board with this, yes, sir. He pressed his thighs together, letting his balls drop on the front of his legs. His dick bobbed in front of him, the tip hitting the wall. He pushed his hips back a little more. He didn’t need a fucking splinter.
He felt the press of Alex’s dick against the back of his thighs. There was a brief moment of resistance, but then the length of his cock was between his legs, trapped between Nate’s thighs. His cockhead bumped the back of Nate’s balls.
They both groaned at the sensation. Alex gave an experimental thrust, and then another one, and the hairs on Nate’s legs were pulled, little needle pricks that caused his eyes to roll back in his head. He felt Alex pull out almost completely and heard him spit again. It hit the crack of his ass, dripping down. A finger rubbed against it until it pressed between his thighs above Alex’s dick, making it wetter.
“There it is,” Alex breathed as he pressed back in until his hips met Nate’s ass. “Right there.” He pulled back and pushed in again, dick rubbing along the length of Nate’s taint.
He squeezed his thighs tighter, hearing Alex grunt behind him. Nate’s hands were pressed flat against the wall of the barn, and it was all he could do to just hold on. Alex gripped his hips, the sound of bare skin slapping along with sharp exhalations.
Alex reached around and pressed a hand against his stomach before he was pulled against Alex’s chest. To keep the angle just right, Nate was standing on his tiptoes. He rested his head on Alex’s shoulder as Alex sucked on his neck. He closed his eyes when Alex’s hand wrapped around his dick and began jacking him off in time with each thrust.
Nate reached up behind him and wrapped an arm around the back of Alex’s neck, letting him take the weight.
Alex bit down the moment he came, a warm splash against the back of his balls.
His hips stilled as he panted against Nate’s neck, his orgasm causing him to tremble.
“Please,” Nate managed to say. “Please.”
Alex chuckled darkly before swiping his thumb over Nate’s cockhead. He squeezed Nate’s dick and started jacking him again, his grip tight. Nate fucked Alex’s fist until his thighs were trembling. He grunted as he came, streaks hitting the barn wall in front of him.
They stood there, Nate held tightly against Alex. Nate turned his head until his lips found Alex’s jaw. The angle was awkward, but Alex met him partway.
“Fuck,” Nate muttered as he broke the kiss. “Jesus Christ. Where the hell did you learn to do that?”
“You make do when you need to,” Alex said, smiling against the side of Nate’s head. “And I needed to.”
“Yeah. You did.” Nate kissed him again.
They cleaned up as best they could. There was a rain barrel outside in front of the barn. They splashed water on themselves, getting rid of the evidence. It wasn’t ideal, but it’d have to do for now until Nate could shower later. The farmhouse had surprisingly good water pressure, though Nate hadn’t spent long in it that morning, not wanting to waste the hot water when there were so many people living on the farm.
Before he could go back into the barn, Alex stopped him.
He looked back.
Alex said, “I… Thank you.”
Nate arched an eyebrow. “I feel like I should be thanking you.”
Alex shook his head. “Not… for that. But yes, that too, I guess. I mean for… everything. I don’t know what we would have done without you.”
Nate smiled. He reached up and cupped the back of Alex’s neck. “You would have been just fine.”
Alex leaned down, pressing his forehead against Nate’s. “Maybe. But this—it’s better. This way. With you.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Because I’m pretty sure you’re stuck with me.”
Something complicated crossed Alex’s face as he pulled back, but Nate was getting better at reading him. It was disbelief warring with hope. “This is going to get difficult.”
Nate knew what he meant. They were approaching the end. Or at least an ending. Whatever came after was still in the great beyond. It was nebulous, this future, though there would be a point when it would need to be made clear. “We’ll figure it out.”
Alex nodded, his brow furrowed. “There are people who could take us in. After. While we figure out what to do next.”
“People?”
He looked away. “Friends. Contacts. And I think the story needs to be told. Of Art. Of the Mountain. So everyone knows. And I think you need to be the one to tell it.”
Nate was shocked. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah. It might be our only chance. Know someone who’ll listen?”
He thought of Ruth, a cigarette dangling from her lips. “I might.”
“Good. We’ll worry about that then. It’ll take time before we can speak. Maybe a long time. And it might make us a bigger target, but there are ways to disappear when you need to.” He sighed and turned his face skyward. Then, “Would you look at that.”
Nate looked up.
Above him, the comet was blazing, brighter than anything else in the sky.
“Wow,” Nate whispered in awe. “That’s—that crazy guy. Steven Cooper. He said tomorrow is going to be the brightest the comet will ever be before it starts its sling away.”
“He’s not wrong.”
“Makes you wonder if he knows other things we don’t.”
Alex snorted. “Maybe. We should get some sleep. Tomorrow we need to figure out where to go next.”
“Okay.”
He let Alex lead him back inside by the hand and back up the stairs. Art hadn’t moved, hair spread out around her on Alex’s rolled-up jacket. Alex squatted beside her, running a hand across her forehead. She leaned into it but continued snoring.
It was there, plain as day.
How much he loved her.
Nate didn’t know why Peter couldn’t see it.
Maybe it had started as transference. But it was beyond that now.
Heartbreak up close. Yeah. No matter what, it was going to happen.
Nate settled down on the mattress. Alex did the same on the other side. Art sighed in her sleep, turning toward Nate. Alex and Nate watched each other over her head.
“Good night,” Nate whispered.
Alex smiled.
And then they slept.
He awoke when a hand pressed tightly
over his mouth.
His eyes flashed open.
It was dark.
People were standing above him.
He tried to shout, but it came out muffled.
Something flared to life in his head, a string connecting him to the two people lying next to him. Images flew, coated in anger and fear. He heard the snarl of electricity, and Art was screaming between them and—
A pinprick in his right arm.
Instantly, the world began to melt around him.
He couldn’t move his arms.
His legs.
“Shh,” Oren Schraeder/Peter Williams whispered above him. “It’s time, Nate. It’s time. It’s time for us to leave this world and take our place amongst the stars.”
Nate struggled to keep his eyes open even as Alex shouted weakly somewhere off to his left.
But it was no use.
Everything bled together until he was gone, gone, gone.
chapter seventeen
Nate.
He was standing on a street in a nice suburb. The lawns were mown, and the hedges were freshly trimmed. Flowers bloomed, and people walked on sidewalks. They waved at each other as their dogs tugged on their leashes, as children shouted around them from their bikes.
One house in particular caught his eye.
It was made of brick. It had a large porch with two rocking chairs. The mailbox was green with ladybugs painted on it.
He knew this house.
He’d grown up here.
This was his home before—
Nate.
He looked up.
There, next to the sun, was a comet.
He looked back at the house.
Gone was the summer’s day. The sky was cloudy and gray above him. The hedges were thin and dead. The flowers were gone. The air was cold. There were little patches of dirty snow along the sidewalks. The grass was brown. The streets were empty.
