Wherefore Art Thou Romeo? ✓

seven

seven / fall 2017 [ unedited ]

THINGS WERE LOOKING up. At least, things with Rodney were looking up, but that was good enough for Romeo, who was warm and dizzy with infatuation; a pleasant heat from the inside that made him feel like the sun was always on his face, even as December's white body loomed beneath the hazy golden glow.

After an uncomfortable and exhausting week (the girls and their rumours, Adrienne's temper being worse than usual, more assignments than he was equipped to handle at once and Rodney's radio silence), Friday night was a tidal wave, swift and starry, to wash everything away.

Rodney picked him up an hour before the movie started, a half hour earlier than he was supposed to, because why wait? All they did was drive around and talk; Romeo studying Rodney, idle and fascinated, from the passenger seat; his hands firm on the gear shifter and easy on the wheel, his foot intentionally too heavy on the acceleration— which was no surprise— and eyes darting consistently over to Romeo; a relaxed smile on his face. He was one of those boys who was somehow made driving look attractive and Romeo figured that it was his element of control.

He always seemed like he was in control of everything around him, that he was pulling all the strings and making marionettes out of people and places like they were a stage show; his control was in his quicksilver tongue and his deep, blazing eyes and his beautiful, wicked hands, even in the way he smiled. When he smiled— smirked, really— you never wanted to see the delight or mirth of anyone else ever again. A terrible truth about Rodney was that his glee inspired such a deep, impassioned devotion in its maker that it made everyone else's glee ugly and worthless by comparison. There was sacrifice to be made in being considered worthy of his attention and it was that the rest of the world was tainted with vicious inferiority afterwards.

Their first hour together before the movie passed in minutes and Romeo was glad that Rodney had made the executive decision to pick him up early. When they were outside the movie theater, before getting out of the car, Rodney placed a hand on the back of Romeo's head and gently bit his earlobe, then placed a soft, warm kiss to the space on his neck where his jaw curved upwards. Then, in a second, he was opening the car door and getting out.

The movie itself sent Romeo on a rollercoaster. Actually, not the movie at all, but the matter of watching the movie with Rodney who whispered jokes about the actors, the characters, the script, the shots, some of them clean and some of them dirty, low into his ear, his mint breath fanning and deep, teasing laughter threaded through each word. When he moved back,  a satisfied grin on his face, Romeo laughed quietly into Rodney's shoulder, his heart full and his face bright, and Rodney would turn and laugh into Romeo's hair or kiss the top of his head.

It wasn't often that he would shut up because his attention span was terribly limited and he cared much more about entertaining Romeo than he did watching the movie, but Romeo didn't mind. He liked having all of Rodney's attention; his dark eyes never wandering unless it was to poke fun at someone else in the audience.

There was only one scene that caught his real, genuine interest and, of course, it was a sex scene, but there was an intimacy to it, a slow and desperate yearning, that was enough to keep him quiet. His arm was around Romeo's shoulder, the back of his fingers gently feathering against the silk skin of Romeo's neck. Romeo shuddered pleasantly and shifted in his seat, glancing hopelessly at Rodney who didn't look back at him until the scene had ended. The eye contact was so heavy that Romeo could feel himself being crushed beneath the weight of it, and the hummingbird in his heart almost tore him apart, but he didn't look away until Rodney, failing terribly to bite back a smile and glancing at his lap after his eyes flickered towards Romeo's lips, looked away first.