“Stop it now, Dutchy, befoah ya get even moah pathetic.”

Skittery’s harsh words betrayed his anger, only the fact that they were surrounded by other people made him keep his voice low as he glared at the blond boy sitting next to him.

“I told ya I didn’t want anythin’ serious! If ya can’t handle dat ya should go an’ find someone else!” he hissed, his dark eyes sparkling.

Dutchy hung his head, feeling the blood rise in his cheeks. He could sense the annoyed expression on Skittery’s face without even looking at him.

It took him awhile to realize that Skittery was waiting for an answer. Dutchy swallowed, but his voice wouldn’t obey him. At last he looked into Skittery’s eyes, pleading.

“Skit...”

Skittery roughly shoved away the chair he had been sitting on and threw some coins onto the table.

“Seeya later.” He grabbed his jacket and left the restaurant.

Dutchy stared blindly at the half eaten meal in front of him. Well, didn’t dat go really swell, he thought with bitterness.

“Hey Dutchy.” The calm voice made him flinch. He glanced up to see Kid Blink sit down beside him.

“Whadda ya want, Blink?” Dutchy asked wearily. He really wasn’t in the mood for a chat now.

“Skit givin’ ya a hard time?”

Dutchy’s hair bristled upon Blink’s seemingly casual question. He hadn’t forgotten that Skittery had been on a rebound for months after the blond boy had left him for Mush.

“What’s it ta you?” he snapped, unable to shake off the feeling that Blink was more interested in Skittery’s relationships than he let on.

Blink shrugged. “He’s acted dat grumpy quite often when we was tagetha. But he’s usually really sorry fer bein’ sich an asshole right afterwards, too. Jist thought ya should know dat.”

“Well, we ain’t tagetha,” Dutchy replied, sounding way too miserable for his own liking. An’ I shoulda known bettah an’ held my tongue instead a suggestin’ anythin’ like dat to Skit. But it was too late for regrets now.

Blink regarded him with raised eyebrows. Dutchy started to feel rather uncomfortable under the other boy’s curious gaze; the last thing he needed now was Blink’s pity. He quickly emptied his glass and put the remaining bread into his pocket.

“I’ll see ya later, Blink.”

After paying for his meal at the counter he quickly left the restaurant.

~~~~~

Dutchy’s plan to try and avoid Skittery that evening was thwarted by Skittery approaching him directly the minute he stepped into the lodging house.

“Um, Dutchy, I’d like ta talk to ya.”

Dutchy couldn’t bring himself to look into Skittery’s face, the embarrassment of Skittery’s rejection earlier that day was still painfully fresh.

“Okay,” he mumbled, trying to brace himself for anything the other boy might say. Skittery looked around the room, apparently not pleased by the number of newsies being able to overhear their conversation.

“Let’s go upstairs.”

Not waiting for an answer he made for the stairs, expecting Dutchy to follow him. Dutchy trudged behind, a little surprised when Skittery didn’t stop at the second floor where the bunk rooms lay but climbed another flight of stairs, finally halting when he had reached the lodging house’s attic.

Dutchy looked around curiously, never having been up there before. After adjusting themselves to the dim light his eyes wandered over several broken bunks, a half-blind mirror and other worthless junk that generations of newsboys had discarded here. A forlorn pair of socks hung on a clothesline.

The sound of Skittery clearing his throat made him turn around again. The other boy had sat down on a rugged carpet next to an abandoned bunk bed and looked at Dutchy with a mixture of impatience and amusement in his eyes.

“Could we talk now? Only if yer done admirin’ de surroundings, a course.”

Dutchy slowly walked over to the bunk and sat down next to him. Skittery looked the fair haired boy straight in the eyes, his face impossible to read, and Dutchy felt himself blush. He had been impressed by Skittery’s eyes from the first time they had met. Everytime Skittery looked at him like that he was gone, helplessly drowning in those pools of darkness.

“I wanted ta apologize fer bein’ such a joik taday at Tibby’s.”

Dutchy snapped out of his brief reverie with a small jolt, forcing the image of Skittery’s eyes out of his mind.

“Ya caught me by surprise wid dat question. I mean, yer really a great guy, Dutchy, but I...” Skittery groped for the right words. He didn’t want to hurt the other boy, however grim he appeared on the outside.

“Bein’ wid ya is fun. An’ Christmas Eve was... well, I liked it a lot. But when I said I don’t want anythin’ serious right now, I meant exactly dat.”

Dutchy sighed. “I know.”

Yet just sitting next to Skittery, being able to feel the heat his body radiated against the cold January air made Dutchy’s stomach flutter. Almost against his will he lifted his hand and softly touched the other boy’s neck. Although the light was getting darker by the minute Dutchy could clearly make out Skittery’s completely baffled face.

“Dutch, did ya listen to a woid of what I just said?”

Dutchy nodded, his throat suddenly gone dry, but he didn’t stop his gentle caress. Skittery arched his eyebrows.

“And?!?”

He sounded so bewildered Dutchy almost couldn’t suppress a smile before he found his voice again.

“I... I think I can handle dat, Skit. Bein’ just friends, I mean. But...,” he had to wet his lips before he could continue, “It’s really cold in heah, ain’t it?”

Skittery raised his eyebrows. “Well,” he said slowly, “I guess I could hold ya a little, just so ya get warm. Friends do dat sometimes.”

Without waiting for an answer he put an arm around Dutchy’s shoulder, pulling him close.

Dutchy felt Skittery’s scent wash over him, deep and strong, somewhat musky. In an instant a tingly feeling swept through his whole body, and his mouth started to water at the memories this smell brought back to his mind. Christmas. Candle light. Chocolate pudding sprawled all over him, and Skittery slowly licking it off, tasting every inch of Dutchy’s skin with his soft yet demanding tongue.

The sweet rembrance made his groin start to ache with desire. No one had ever held him like Skittery. Dutchy had dreamt of the dark haired boy almost every night after their unexpected encounter, each time being awakened by the awkward stickiness of his wet underpants, with the faint illusion of Skittery’s taste still in his mouth.

And yet he’d had to act with forced nonchalance in front of everyone since Skittery had told him without much ado that he was not interested in a permanent relationship.

It was one thing to pretend being just friends would not be a problem for him, but Dutchy was quite aware that he was merely keeping up a show, the dreadful threat of Skittery leaving for good always looming over him.

Skittery slightly shifted Dutchy’s weight on his chest, his thigh suddenly coming into close contact with the blonde’s awakening erection. Mildly surprised he looked into Dutchy’s eyes, dazzled by the longing shining in them.

Their lips slowly drew together and Dutchy closed his eyes in anticipation of Skittery’s soft mouth, but before they touched Skittery backed away, frowning.

“Ya know dat dis ain’t gonna change anythin’.”

It was not meant as a question but to give Dutchy a last chance to stop before going any further. Dutchy nodded silently, knowing the tremor in his voice would give away his feelings. He reached out and pulled Skittery’s head towards him.

...just hold me, I don’t give a damn about everything else, I need you now, just be with me, hold me tight, make me feel like I belong to you...

In Skittery’s strong arms Dutchy had no trouble at all imagining that their embrace would last infinitely. Their lips touched and drew apart again without any haste. Skittery’s fingers ran through the other boy’s fair hair, traced the line of Dutchy’s jawbone, opened each and every button on his clothing, seemingly all at once.

Dutchy had long given up the effort to think straight. Coherent thought had left his mind the second Skittery’s tongue had met his own, gingerly exploring his warm mouth. He neither felt the cold air softly caressing their naked bodies nor the rough carpet beneath him as he pressed against his lover, feeling both their hard members throb with need.

One of Skittery’s hands suddenly engulfed him completely, squeezing and pumping with skilled ease. Dutchy cried out, then moved against the tightness, dimly aware of the other boy sucking his neck, leaving a deeply red mark almost invisible in the darkness when he pulled away again.

As Skittery slightly increased the speed of his movements Dutchy felt a finger slip into his mouth, and he sucked on it greedily in a feeble attempt to divert himself from the flaring heat in his groin. Replacing the finger with his mouth Skittery let go of him, his tongue demanding Dutchy’s whole attention. All the bigger was Dutchy’s surprise when the slickened finger slowly began to enter him, reaching out for the prostate and aiming for it when Dutchy bucked up against the touch. A deep moan escaped his throat as a second and a third finger slowly stretched him, and he started to writhe helplessly while the small gland’s stimulation continued.

Without any warning Skittery ceased his caress, removing his fingers. He began to cover the blonde’s face with kisses, leaving Dutchy close to tears with unfulfillment.

“Please... need you now...,” Dutchy whimpered, frightened by his own voice as soon as the words left his mouth. Skittery didn’t appear to mind.

“Shhhh. Soon, pudding. Soon,” he whispered into Dutchy’s ear before resuming to kiss him again. The blond felt Skittery guide his head gently downwards and he took up the cue, anxious to please while at the same time desperately hoping not to appear that way.

Taking little nips of Skittery’s well-pronounced chest Dutchy slowly kissed down the other boys’ body. His tongue trailed a circle around Skittery’s navel, then followed the thin line of hair down to the pulsating erection. As he lowered his mouth onto the tip, tasting the first little drops’ promise of what was to come later, Dutchy heard Skittery moan softly and then felt his lovers’ hands tangled with his hair, slightly pushing him down. He gave in to the pressure and took Skittery’s dick as far into his mouth as he could, starting to suck and swallow while at the same time slowly massaging the taut sac.

Skittery’s muffled sounds of delight told Dutchy that he was close to coming now, and after a short while Skittery pulled Dutchy’s head back up to him, kissing him deeply before turning him over onto his knees.

Dutchy opened his legs willingly, his own erection weeping painfully at the prospect of feeling his lover in him again soon. Skittery didn’t waste any time. He slid up behind Dutchy and began to enter him, slow enough not to hurt the blond boy too much, yet impatiently at the same time. Building up a fast rhythm, getting rapidly closer to his release Skittery thrust into Dutchy, one hand holding his hip, the other stroking Dutchy’s hard cock with strong movements.

As Skittery’s plunging increased in speed Dutchy felt close to blacking out, Skittery’s length filling him completely, hitting against his prostate over and over again while at the same time his knowing hands drove Dutchy into deeper recesses of pleasure by the second.

Finally Skittery let out a strangled cry, climaxing almost the very second Dutchy went over the edge and collapsed onto the blond boy, then rolled over while slipping out of him, pulling Dutchy away from the wet spot that had formed beneath them and into his arms.

Trying to catch their breath again the two lay beside each other, neither of them knowing what to say. The silence stretched uncomfortably, and after a few minutes Skittery started to get up and collected his clothes, putting them on blindly in the darkness.

Dutchy slowly rose from the carpet and tried to find his shirt somewhere in the dark, his skin suddenly shivering with the cold night air. Skittery cleared his throat.

“So...” he started, but didn’t go on right away. Just as Dutchy was sure he wouldn’t say anything else Skittery spoke up again.

“See ya downstairs den.”

Dutchy swallowed. “Yeah,” he mumbled hoarsely and listened to Skittery’s retreating footsteps.

When he was sure the dark-haired boy was out of hearing range Dutchy let himself fall back onto the carpet, still damp and sticky from their recent encounter, and didn’t bother to hold back the tears burning in his throat any longer.

fin.