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At first, when Race told him about David and Jack, he didn’t believe it.
After all, the guy had an heiress in his back pocket, and a gorgeous one too. David was good looking, but he looked pretty damn straight to Romeo.
When Race told him about the plan, he was even more stunned. But, somehow Specs had gotten roped into this whole mess as well, and who was Romeo to deny his best friend?
It started innocent- just collecting intel for the rest of the plan. After all, it would be a mess to try and bring two fellas together if neither of them were bent, so to say.
The first phase of the plan was Spec’s idea- to take Jack to a dingy little cathouse and see if he took any interest in the women there. Romeo hadn’t been in the Bowery much, and hadn’t seen a show in Medda’s theatre, but apparently Specs had been in a time or two with Jack, and the ladies onstage weren’t exactly wearing much. Jack was always in that theatre, so maybe he took a fancy to some of the girls? (Romeo privately thought from time to time that if he had free access to Medda’s shows, he’d be doing a lot of watching.)
He had mentioned that to Specs- Jack never seemed to come outta there with a girl, even though he had seen them smoking around Medda’s theatre eyeing up Jack with hungry looks in their eyes. But, as Specs suggested, maybe he’d prefer the girls with a little less on.
They hit the sleazy little bar near the brothel first- Jack could do with a little blue to serve as liquid courage, and Romeo didn’t mind seeing as the pretty thing serving drinks was footing the bill. (No doubt hoping from a little more from their eccentric bachelor than some empty glasses.) He amused himself laughing with Specs and admiring the way the flush that coloured his cheeks looked right at home on the older boy.
Everything about him was beautiful- his rich brown skin, his georgeous eyes, his smile, even those stupid little glasses he wore. He wondered if Specs had ever had a girl- Romeo sure hadn’t, despite him saying so. Luckily enough, the conversation soon turned to the topic of what Jack would be doing inside the cathouse.
‘Say, Specs?’ He started, fiddling with the rim of his glass.
‘Have you ever done anything with a girl?’
The older boy blinked in surprise, his blush extending across his face and reaching the top of his ears. Cute.
‘No.’ He admitted, looking into his whisky like it would tell him secrets.
‘Have you?’ He asked, those eyes Romeo loved so much staring back at him.
‘Ye-‘ He began to say, before being cut off by Jack, who up until this point had been nursing his bingo and soda-water like it owed him money.
‘Come offa it, Romeo, none of us have seen you with a skirt, even with all of ya talk. You run ya mouth about all you’ve done, but we never see you bring home a dame.’ The brunette boy scoffed.
‘Fine, I ain’t been with a girl. Happy now, Kelly? Ain’t my fault nobody wants someone that looks like me.’
‘And why’s that, eh?’
‘You’re looking at it, Kelly. Stupid much, Kelly? Ain’t nobody taught you people like us don’t get to take girls home?’
He gestured round at them- Jack was a lucky one, scoring an heiress. At least his brown skin was light enough that it could be mistaken for a darker tan in the summer months- neither Specs nor Romeo were lucky enough to have that privilege.
‘The fuck you mean, people like us?’ He hissed.
‘You know what I mean, Jack. You and Specs and me, we’re all colored. You may have been lucky enough to score yourself a knockout, but mark my words, Kelly, she’ll be gone by winter soon as she realised that ‘tan’ ain’t going nowhere.’
‘Me an’ Kath ain’t even together no more, so you can shut your mouth and keep it there, Romeo.’ He retorted.
‘Well no shit, pretty boy. We wouldn’t be taken you to a damn cathouse if we knew you were a committed man.’
‘What is this all even about, Romeo?’
‘Ain’t it obvious, Cowboy? We noticed youse has been a bit.. down since you an’ Kath split. It ain’t good for morale, ya hear me? And me and Specs.. we thought it would be good to take ya to a cathouse, get ya loosened up a bit. We pooled some jack- take it as a gift from us.’
‘This ain’t your idea.’ Jack realised suddenly, clicking his fingers.
‘Of course it was, Jack, whaddya talkin’ about?’ Romeo responded nervously.
‘It was Race, wasn’t it?’ They nodded sheepishly. But Jack only sighed.
‘Fine. Let’s go, gentleman, fore’ that pretty floozy in the front can get her hand down my pants.’
* * *
They sat outside the cathouse nervously, as they didn’t have the cash to get all of them in. (Secretly, Romeo was glad; he sure didn’t want to bed some random old hooker, and for some reason the thought of Specs coming outta a place like that all kiss-drunk and rumpled and ruined made him feel odd. He told himself it was just cause he didn’t want his friend catching something.)
They talked amiably, conversation soon drifting to what would happen when Jack exited the brothel. They decided on a plan- if Jack looked like he had enjoyed himself, they would assume he had liked it.
After a little while, he came out of the cathouse, looking.. normal?
‘Ay, Kelly!’ Romeo hollered. ‘Ya got some, finally?’
The boy looked up and blushed.
‘What’s it to you, Romeo? Anyway, I decided I ain’t in the business of catching diseases. I got the jack back, if you’re wondering.’
‘Yeah, yeah, we know you made it out alive, Kelly. Where’s the cash?’
‘Very funny, Romeo.’
* * * *
While they walked back, Romeo quietly chatted with Specs. They had to somehow drop Kelly before meeting up with Race and Albert, who had taken Dave to some sort of dingy club. Easier said than done, when the guy wouldn’t shut his gob.
However, neither Specs nor Romeo could stop themselves laughing when they bumped into Dave on the street (presumably on an errand for his Ma) upon which Jack immediately went dead silent before trying (and failing) to greet him with a casual wave. Jesus, how did he not realise he was head over heels? They dispatched him easily on the taller boy, and went to see Race.
* * * * *
‘Forced proximity.’ The blonde said sagely.
‘The fuck does that mean? Where did ya even learn that? Ain’t you thick?’ Romeo scoffed.
‘I ain’t!’ The blonde said indignantly. ‘Anyway, I learnt it from Dave. It means when you’re forced to be close to someone. If we put em together, they’re bound to crack. Neither of them seem all that interested in skirts, as we saw when we took them to see some old cats in action.’
‘How do we do it?’ Romeo asked.
‘We should.. that’s it! The roof! Ro, they’re always up there! We trap them out there, shut the window, and get someone to hide at the bottom of the ladder and watch them!’ Specs said, snapping his fingers.
‘Ain’t that a little.. creepy?’ Albert said suspiciously.
‘Ro?’ Romeo asked, blushing up a storm.
‘Yeah, I thought I would try something new.’
‘Well, they’ll thank us when they’re in each other’s pants.’ Race answered with a sleazy grin.
‘Ugh, gross, Race!’ Romeo hissed. ‘Wait.. what do we do if they..?’ He left the suggestion unsaid.
‘Just leave when they start tonguing, okay, Romeo? Unless you wanna watch..’ Race laughed.
‘Ew.’
* * * * * *
It was stage three of the plan- Romeo and Specs had just clambered out of the window unbeknownst to Jack and Dave, who were talking on the roof just out of Romeo’s eye-line. Luckily, he had Specs with him, to whittle away what might have been an incredibly boring hour watching the Mouth of Manhattan yap away.
While he leant against the ladder to the roof, he thought idly. What would it be like to be kissed by a guy? He hadn’t been kissed by a girl, so he wouldn’t be able to compare, but he imagined it would be different. With a girl, their lips would probably be soft, and pink. You would be pressed up against their chest, and it would probably be all gentle and mellow in a way that left a fellow unsatisfied- girls were like that, in Romeo’s experience, all prissy.
It would be different with a guy. You would be pressed up against flat planes instead of breasts, and it would probably be more heated. More messy. Passionate. He wondered what Specs would kiss like. He was always so zealous usually, keen to talk about the things he liked, and Romeo loved to watch the little sparkle twinkle on in his eye whenever he shared whatever he was excited about on that day . He would probably kiss like that too, all careful and controlled but full of energy, and not as chaste as a kiss with a girl would be.
But then he saw Specs out of the corner of his eye, looking at him with concern, and he realised. Oh shit. He was having queer thoughts about his best friend. Fuck. Was Romeo.. a queer? After all, he liked girls. They were pretty, and he liked the idea of kissing one, and bedding her, and touching her, but… it sounded.. boring. They were all so reserved. He didn’t think he liked guys, but.. maybe he liked Specs? Now that he was thinking about it, he didn’t think fellas were supposed to think about kissing other fellas.
‘Ro.. you okay? You’re zoning out, here.’
‘Yeah, I’m okay, Speccy. Just.. it’s hot, I guess.’ He mumbled, refusing to meet his best friend’s eye.
‘Yeah, I feel you. It’s pretty sweltering up here, huh?’
Romeo avoided his eyes. God, those eyes would break him, and he would be forced to spill all of his secrets.
‘Romeo.’ The other boy spoke, suddenly sharp.
‘Why are you avoiding me?’
‘I’m not.’ He murmured.
‘You are.’
‘Am not.’ He retorted.
‘Are too.’
‘Am not.’
‘Are too.’
‘Am not!’
Before Romeo realised it, they were almost cheek to cheek, and he was looking directly at his best friend’s lips. And then, he noticed with a jolt, Specs was staring at his lips too. He bit his lip and leant in, fractionally. God, he wanted to kiss him so bad.
Suddenly, Specs closed the distance between them, and their lips met in a chaste little kiss. Romeo let the older boy set the pace, and soon they were properly kissing, lips moving against each-others in a way that was nothing short of intoxicating. He broke the kiss to press a line of messy kisses to the bare skin of Spec’s collar, going off of instinct and enjoying the noises the boy was making as he trailed his lips downwards.
They heard a little noise from the roof, and suddenly they were both sitting bolt upright away from each-other and blushing. Romeo put a finger to his lips and crawled over to the bottom of the ladder, inching his way up rung by rung until he was just out of sight and could peek his head over to see the roof.
He blushed. Jack and David were kissing, and it was rough. David looked positively broken, letting out whimpers and little broken noises as Jack’s mouth worked against his. It was.. not a new kiss. Those fuckers. No wonder Jack wasn’t too pleased at the thought of bedding a hooker if he was already bedding Dave.
He leant down and motioned downwards for Specs to join him on the ladder. Unfortunately, the other boy slipped, accidentally dragging Romeo down with a pained grunt as they landed on top of each other with a noise. Christ. They probably noticed… Romeo heard footsteps walking towards the ladder, and if Jack saw them spying, they were screwed.
He panicked and did the only thing he could think of, pulling Specs closer to him and kissing him passionately, hands trailing to take the boy’s cap off and run his hands through his hair.
He yelped as he looked up to see one slightly confused Jack Kelly, standing next to a bemused looking David Jacobs.
‘Since when…’ The Manhattan leader started, clearly at a loss for words.
‘Since… today.’ Romeo answered, blushing.
‘What.. but you…’ He gaped.
‘Jackie.’ Dave whispered, looking down at the other boy with a gaze full of love. ‘You didn’t realise?’
‘It was that obvious?’ Specs asked.
‘You.. you can’t say anything about this to nobody, yeah? We’ll get thrown in jail or some shit.’ Jack interjected.
‘No shit, Kelly.’ Specs and Romeo spoke in unison, beaming at each-other.
‘Race’ll want to know all about this..’ Jack smirked.
Specs and Romeo looked between them and chuckled. If only he knew…
‘What’s so funny?’ Jack asked suspiciously as they all climbed through the window.
They only laughed harder.