Chapter Text
Peter Kowalski was about as happy as he ever got. He wasn't usually too excited about going to the carnival-- it was only fun the first fifty or so times. But even a whole evening had been fine with him, since he got to spend the entire time with Jimmy.
It had been weeks since he'd had his friend all to himself, and Pete was surprised when Jimmy had found him in the library earlier that day and suggested they go hang out. But then, Jimmy had been a lot nicer to him in the past week; it seemed like he was finally starting to appreciate Pete. So they had spent the past three hours throwing balls at things and hitting other things with mallets.
Now as they headed for the gates, Pete's arm was sore and he was almost broke, but he didn't care. It had been worth it.
"By the way, I'm sorry about Zoe." To be honest, Pete wasn't sorry in the least that Jimmy had caught Zoe kissing another guy in the industrial park.
"Eh, no big deal," Jimmy shrugged. "She's cute, but the novelty sort of wore off."
"After a week? I thought it was love," Pete couldn't keep from adding sarcastically.
Jimmy gave him a sideways look. "You don't know much about girls, do you? That's just what you say to them to impress them."
"Whatever." Pete shoved his hands in his pockets as they walked towards the carnival exit. He didn't want to talk about girls, especially not about Jimmy trying to impress them.
One of Russell's flunkies was leaning against the wall near the carnival gates, smoking. When he saw them approaching, he put out his cigarette and grinned in their direction.
"Hey, Jimmy."
"What's up, Trent?" Jimmy changed directions and walked over to the blonde boy, with Pete following unwillingly.
"I need to talk to you about somethin'," Trent said in what could only be described as a purr. "You got a moment?"
Jimmy glanced at Pete. "Yeah, okay. Wait here, okay, Pete?"
"Sure." Pete's good mood dissipated as he watched them walk over behind one of the tents. He didn't like the way Trent had looked at Jimmy, or the tone of his voice. Even though his conscience nagged at him for it, Pete sneaked after them.
He didn't even have to peek around the tent to know what was going on; Trent's moans were enough. His heart felt clenched in his chest as he made himself look anyway. Despite the rather exaggerated noises Trent was making, they were only kissing. Yeah, Pete thought bitterly, Jimmy's "only" kissing another boy. Even though he hadn't liked the idea of Jimmy making out with practically every girl on campus, Pete had accepted it. But to know that Jimmy would kiss boys too. . . . The only thing Pete could think was, He never tried to kiss me.
He ducked back behind the tent as Jimmy pulled away from Trent. "I have to go," he began. "Pete's waiting on me--"
"So what? I bet he doesn't kiss as good as I do!"
Pete didn't wait around to hear Jimmy's response. He went back to the carnival gates, half intending to leave without Jimmy. He wanted to; it was what Jimmy deserved for blowing him off to go make out with some blond dumbass. And yet, he couldn't do it. No matter what Jimmy did, Pete still wanted to spend every moment possible with him, even if it meant getting used and taken advantage of.
You're pathetic, Kowalski, he told himself as he bit his lip and willed the carnival lights not to blur before his eyes.
--
After he managed to get rid of Trent, Jimmy jogged over to the carnival gates, where Pete was waiting for him. Probably shouldn't have done that, Jimmy thought. But while Jimmy got plenty of chances to kiss girls, he was starting to prefer kissing boys, and the opportunities for that were slim. Might as well take advantage of the situation.
"Let's go," he muttered to Pete as he reached the gates. The other boy didn't say anything or even look at him as they left the carnival. It made Jimmy nervous-- but then if Pete had figured out what he and Trent were up to, he wouldn't have just waited around for Jimmy to get through, right?
Pete finally came back to life when he glanced at his watch and promptly started freaking out. "Oh no, it's after eleven," he fretted. "We're out past our curfew! We've got to hurry. . . ."
"Nah, I'm too tired to head all the way back to the dorm tonight." Jimmy yawned and started towards the beach. "C'mon, we can crash at the beach house I won off the preps."
"But-- that's even worse! Staying out all night?"
"No one will even notice we're gone." Jimmy hopped the fence at the edge of the road and dropped down to the beach below. "You think they actually care if we don't come home?"
Pete scrambled down from the embankment awkwardly and jogged across the sand to catch up. "But we have class tomorrow morning."
Jimmy started to point out that no one would miss them if they skipped class either, especially since it was summer. (He himself was in remedial chemistry, and God knew why Pete wanted to take honors English as a summer class. He really was a dork.) However, Jimmy decided the idea of playing hooky might be too much for Pete to handle on top of missing curfew. "I've got an alarm clock. I'll set it early so we have time to get back to school before class."
Pete fell silent again as they walked up the boardwalk to the beach house and went inside. Jimmy was pretty proud of the place, and he waited for Pete to make a big deal over how awesome it was-- but he didn't say a word.
Well, if anything would impress Pete, it would be video games. "Hey, I've got my own Future Racer cabinet-- want to play?"
"No thanks. I think I'll just go to bed."
Jimmy scowled. How was that for gratitude? "Fine," he grumbled. "Have fun. I'm going to stay up a while." He slumped down at the video game cabinet and watched out of the corner of his eye as Pete lay down on the bed. Jimmy played for a few minutes, but he was too tired to really focus on the game. He gave up and decided to go to sleep instead. Jimmy set the alarm clock for 8 am, then sat down on the edge of the bed, wondering if there was enough room for him and Pete both.
Apparently, Pete didn't think so. Jimmy had thought he was asleep, but his eyes flew open and he sat up indignantly.
"I am not sleeping in the same bed as you!" Jesus Christ, what was the matter with the kid?
"It's my place," Jimmy pointed out. "I'm not sleeping on the floor."
"Then I will!" Pete swung his legs off the bed and sat with his back to Jimmy, although he didn't actually get up.
"What's the big deal anyway, Pete? I'm not gonna mess with you or anything."
Pete folded his arms. "I don't know about that. You seem to like messing with boys. Especially Trent."
"So that's what all this is about! You were watching us, weren't you?" Jimmy growled.
Pete cringed but stood his ground. "S-so? He was making so much noise, I could have heard you two a mile away!"
"So what, now you have a problem with me because I kissed a guy?"
"N-no, it's not that."
"Oh yeah?" Jimmy didn't know why he felt so defensive, and that made him even more defensive. "You didn't have a problem when you saw me kissing girls!"
"That's different!" Pete's voice wavered slightly. "I knew you were a player, but now you're doing it with boys too?"
"I'm not doing it with anybody! I just kissed him. And I still don't see how it's different!" When Pete didn't answer, Jimmy sighed. He hated having to explain himself to anybody, especially someone as different from him as Pete. But the last thing he needed was for Pete to go around telling everyone what he had seen-- although deep down, Jimmy knew Pete would never talk about him behind his back. Really, he just didn't want Pete pissed at him.
"Look," Jimmy tried again. "You know me, I just want people on my side. And sometimes flirting is the best way to do it."
"Even with boys?"
Jimmy's patience was disappearing fast. "For God's sake, what is your problem? A few weeks ago he was sort of hitting on me, so I gave him some flowers. I didn't want him getting pissed and turning Russell against me. Trent's not my boyfriend or anything, but I want to keep on his good side. And he's not a bad kisser either," Jimmy added vindictively. If Pete were going to keep harping on it, then let's see how he liked that.
Pete was silent a minute, then he lay down again with his head cradled in his arm, his back still to Jimmy. "Whatever. It's your life."
"Damn straight." When Pete didn't answer, Jimmy added more quietly, "So which one of us is sleeping on the floor?"
"Forget it," Pete mumbled. "Just go to sleep."
Jimmy lay down next to him, fighting the urge to apologize. After all, what did he have to apologize for-- for getting some action when Pete wasn't? Yeah, maybe he should have waited until Pete wasn't around, but he hadn't kissed a guy in-- heck, it had to have been a couple of weeks now. Even if Trent was almost as dumb as Russell and as vain as a prep, he was still a great kisser. And the way he got into it. . . even Lola hadn't moaned like that when Jimmy kissed her.
Jimmy's memories of Trent's moans blurred into speculation on what Pete would sound like if Jimmy kissed him. Would he moan too, or would he be all but silent like Gord? What would he say if he knew his best friend was lying next to him, thinking about kissing him?