fic hell

He inhaled deeply, sighing a little as he rolled onto his back on the hotel bed, one arm reaching to the other side of the bed, as was part of his usual morning routine at this point.

Except this time, instead of him patting an empty spot on the bed, his hand landed on another body, feeling the cool skin underneath his palm.

Brows furrowing Kip opened his eyes again, rolling onto his other side, locking tired eyes with Cassidy, who smiled sleepily back at him. A soft blush crept onto Kip’s cheeks at those blue eyes shining with some sleep still in them, even more so than Cassidy’s usual laid back demeanor had. The messy blond bedhead definitely didn’t help the case, or the fact that Kip’s hand was very casually laying on his bare chest.

“Morning.”

Kip could have sworn he saw a little smirk cross Cassidy’s lips at that greeting, but before he could reply, Cassidy was already turning towards him, leaning over to press a soft kiss on his lips. He pulled away before Kip could respond to that either, leaving him wondering how someone so slow and lazy was still functioning better while being sleepy in the early morning than he did.

“I thought you’d already be up,” Kip mumbled, quickly pulling his hand away from Cassidy’s chest. The blond hummed a little at him before reaching for Kip’s hand, pulling it back towards him. Kip didn’t resist, feeling his cheeks heating up some more as he watched Cassidy observing his hand a little bit before pulling it closer, pressing a little kiss on his knuckles.

“Thought about it,” Cassidy shrugged, Kip watching as he gently placed Kip’s hand back on his chest as he leaned his head back against the pillow. “Didn’t really feel like it.”

Kip looked at him, the words taking a moment to register in his mind. When they finally hit, his body moved faster than his brain, the hand reaching from Cassidy’s chest to his face, landing on his forehead. Cassidy chuckled at him quietly, gently brushing Kip’s hand away.

“I’m not sick,” he mumbled, watching Kip’s face redden at the statement. Kip retreated his hand back to himself, Cassidy humming a little again as he rolled to his side, getting face to face with Kip.

“I was thinking,” he started, pulling one arm under his head to prop himself up a little, the other one reaching for Kip, in turn pressing against his chest. Kip glanced down at it, watching Cassidy’s fingertips carefully curling against the canvas of his t-shirt before he slid his hand down Kip’s torso, low enough to get to the hem of the shirt and slipping underneath it. Biting his lower lip, Kip felt the fingers crawling up against his skin until Cassidy’s hand was back on his chest, fingertips drawing miscellaneous nonsense shapes against his bare skin underneath the shirt.

“We should order breakfast up here. I don’t really feel like going out today.”

Kip’s eyes narrowed slightly, but his face softened at the small smile on Cassidy’s lips and the fingers freely exploring his chest underneath the canvas of his shirt, a sensation Kip had a hard time pushing away from his mind.

“There’s a show tonight though.”

Cassidy looked like he thought about the statement for a moment, his fingers stopping momentarily to allow Kip some breathing room before he shrugged lazily. “I’m not booked tonight. I can call in.”

The thoughts immediately started swirling in Kip’s head how he wasn’t going to be given such a luxury with how the Patriarchy was going to require him to be backstage whether they actually needed him or not, but his mind suddenly drew a complete blank as Cassidy leaned closer, catching Kip off guard with a kiss on the lips. He remained there, moving his whole body closer to Kip, closing the gap between them as he pressed himself against Kip, lazy legs throwing themselves over Kip’s, effectively trapping him on the bed.

Not that he wanted to move really, not with that hand slipping from underneath Cassidy’s head to cup his cheek and then to the back of his head as Cassidy gently tucked his hair, making Kip moan quietly at the touch, giving Cassidy just enough of a room to deepen the kiss and slip a tongue into Kip’s mouth. There was no rush, the only heat in the moment being on Kip’s cheeks that felt and looked like they were on fire, his hands slowly regaining their control as he wrapped them around Cassidy’s waist, pulling him closer.

Cassidy broke the kiss slowly, listening to Kip whine quietly as he tried to chase after it. Cassidy chuckled, gently brushing a hand through Kip’s hair, watching him flutter his eyes shut, clearly content with the direction the morning was taking.

“Maybe I am a little sick today,” Cassidy smiled, the statement followed by a soft sigh. “Love sick for you.”

Kip chuckled, opening his eyes just in time as he felt Cassidy’s hand under his shirt pressing against his chest, forcing Kip to roll onto his back, the blond moving on top of him to straddle his midsection with ease. He smiled down at Kip, leaning down close until his lips barely brushed against Kip’s, making him shudder at the hot breath tickling against his skin.

“So… Breakfast?”

Kip nodded fast, Cassidy smiling at him as he pressed a quick peck on Kip’s lips before pulling away. He sat there for a moment, pondering, looking at Kip who was suddenly again very aware of the feeling of Cassidy’s hand against his chest underneath his shirt as his fingers slowly tapped against his bare skin.

“Maybe something more after that. We have all day.”

The voice was quiet, but the blond replied to it with a quiet hum, the rest of his reply drowning under the first, almost obscenely loud moan Chris let out as Zack’s lips connected with the skin on his hips, right where the bruises were slowly forming from their previous encounter of this nature. Zack’s smile was obvious against his skin, his lips taking care of the parts he had decorated for Chris moments earlier while the brunet had been begging Zack to give it to him harder and faster than he had probably ever begged in his life.

“You’re so beautiful,” Zack mumbled between the kisses, Chris barely registering the words over the almost nauseatingly euphoric sensation of pain shooting through him as Zack’s lips made contact with his fresh bruises, making him moan loudly. “Absolutely stunning. Gorgeous.”

New praise and word of love between every kiss, Chris felt his head already swimming. He had barely had time to come down from the previous high, already being pushed on the edge again by Zack. By his own request, obviously, this was absolutely what he wanted, craved, yearned for, but hearing it was still making his head spin, his heart beat just a little bit faster at every syllable.

He didn’t even notice his hands grabbing Zack’s hair, trying to guide his mouth just where he wanted it to be so desperately. Only after Zack stopped leaving soft, teasing kisses on his hips, slowly afterwards pulling up and pulling Chris into a real kiss on his lips, his awareness was back on the situation at hand.

“You look amazing all flustered up.”

If Chris could have blushed deeper, he would have, but he knew that task to be impossible. Eyes still closed, just enjoying the feeling of having Zack close, hovering above him, leaving little kisses on his face, his lips, the corner of his mouth. Knowing how obviously aware he was of Chris’ desperation over him was just making it so much harder to resist him.

“Just give me a bit more time to admire you. Everything in due time, darling.”

Darling.

Chris slowly fluttered his eyes open, that one word echoing in his mind as his hands tightened their grab in Zack’s hair, pulling him into another kiss. Deep, heated. Full of nothing but love and adoration for the man that had decided to show him the kind of love and respect Chris yearned so deeply that he could barely put into words.

Darling.

As they parted for air, Chris inhaled deeply, darkened lustful eyes landing on Zack as his lips turned into a craving smile.

But the truth was definitely more complicated than that. Not that Cassidy would admit it, but he wasn’t even nearly as tired as he was claiming to be. Or maybe he was, but it surely didn’t feel like it with the thoughts racing in his mind all day, and all night, honestly.

All he really wanted was to lay in the darkness, let the thoughts slip out of his mind in the shape of tears forcing their way out of him, not make Kip aware of the pain still pushing through in his chest.

It had been weeks. Months. And yet it felt like it was only yesterday when the Best Friends had fallen apart. Time moved in a haze in Cassidy’s mind, he saw the calendar pages change but it didn’t mean anything anymore; every day felt the same, whether it was going through the motions of a free day at home, traveling for work, being at work. The routine was a highly welcomed numbing sensation, but at the same time it hurt more than he cared to admit.

Cassidy could feel Kip’s arms slipping under his blanket, hand grabbing his, other arm sliding underneath him and around his waist. Kip didn’t care if he was asleep or not, he was going to get in as close and personal as possible, knowing the issues Cassidy still had sleeping alone. The blond felt himself being pulled against Kip’s chest, a soft little kiss being pressed to the back of his neck.

He shivered, unwillingly.

“…Hey.”

The soft whisper left Cassidy’s lips before he could stop himself. Something about Kip’s soft gestures despite thinking he was asleep got to him, temporarily lowering that wall he had built around himself when it came to letting anyone get too close again.

Somehow Kip always seemed to manage to crash through it, however.

“Mmhhmm?” Kip sounded sleepy, mumbling against the back of Cassidy’s neck, making the blond swallow thickly. He could feel Kip gently squeezing his hand, pressing another kiss against the exposed skin on his neck.

“Do you… Do you think we’re going to be okay?”

Cassidy regretted the words as soon as he felt Kip moving, snuggling his head close so it rested on Cassidy’s shoulder, the Brit humming quietly in his ear.

“Why wouldn’t we be?”

He didn’t really know, but the feeling in his gut that Kip wasn’t going to like his answer grew up stronger with every passing silent second as Cassidy tried to form some sort of sensible order of words in his head.

“Clementine?”

“…Do you really love me?”

Kip’s arm disappeared from around his waist, his head leaving Cassidy’s shoulder as he sat up. The blond froze in place, not entirely sure how to react. He could feel Kip’s eyes on him, observing, studying him, trying to find the place where those questioning words came from.

“Of course I do. What… Did something happen?”

He thought about it for a moment, slowly shaking his head as Cassidy sat up as well. Even in the dark bedroom, it was impossible to hide the forming tears from Kip’s overly observant gaze, it taking no time for him to wrap his arms around Cassidy and pull him into a tight embrace.

He was going to hate how those tears stained the shoulder of his shirt, Cassidy knew that, but he just couldn’t pull away.

“I just… After everything…”

Kip gently hushed him at the first hiccup that cut him off, pressing a soft kiss to Cassidy’s temple. He let the tears flow freely, for the first time after what felt like days, maybe weeks, the shaky breaths ghosting down Kip’s chest.

“Of course I love you. You’re my sweet Clementine.”

Another kiss, into his hair. Cassidy hiccuped quietly.

Sweet Clementine.

“There’s nothing that could stop me from loving you.”

He cried maybe a little bit more than before, Cassidy honestly wasn’t sure anymore. The bedroom, the darkness, it all became a blur, he could feel nothing but Kip’s lips on him, Kip’s arms around him.

His soft heartbeat against Cassidy’s chest.

“I know it’s difficult to believe after everything… But I would never lie to you.”

Cassidy could feel Kip pulling away slightly, one hand slipping to his face. The thumb rubbing his cheek stained it with tears in a feeble attempt to wipe them away, but the smile Cassidy could barely see on Kip’s face through them was enough to calm his mind anyway.

“I love you. Forever.”

The floodgates were so close to being fully opened again.

“F… Forever?”

Kip smiled, letting out a soft chuckle before he leaned in for a soft kiss. It was warm, Cassidy could taste his tears in it, the saltiness still reminding him of Kip in a way. He almost wanted to laugh at the thought, feeling the lightness finally, slowly, returning to him. The darkness persisted, but only physically, the bedroom slowly morphing into something more comforting the longer Kip’s lips lingered on his, breathing comforting life back into him.

The Brit slowly pulled away, Cassidy letting out a shaky breath. Kip hummed at him, leaning his forehead against his, trying to match the blond’s breathing.

“Yeah. Forever.”

Cassidy sniffled, feeling Kip’s hand brushing against his cheek. This time the tears disappeared successfully. He wanted to laugh again.

Kip inhaled deeply, almost feeling the breath getting stuck in his throat as he was thinking through the events of the day. Cassidy had been mostly busy with work while Kip was just kind of there, and due to the differences in their current on screen stories they weren’t really allowed to be together that much, to not draw media’s attention or whatever. Which Kip understood, but he also definitely did mind it when his work didn’t allow him to efficiently spend time with his boyfriend. It sucked, and he absolutely hated it, when they were forced to be apart instead of Kip being able to pull Cassidy close and just hold him and his hand and kiss him whenever he wanted.

Closing his photo app, Kip quickly pulled up his texts, easily finding the top conversation with “Clementine”. He smiled a little at the quick confirmation text he had sent to Cassidy earlier in the day when asked if he was coming to breakfast, thinking back to one of the only times they had had time today to spend together. He sighed, typing up a message on his phone and hitting send before thinking twice about it.

‘I cant stop thinking about you. I really want to kiss you right now.’

As Kip lowered the phone from his hand, with another soft sigh he finally closed his eyes, snuggling his face against the pillow under his head. Only for a second later feeling the bed shifting next to him, feeling a lazy arm being thrown over his midsection, a soft kiss being pressed against the exposed back of his neck.

“Kip… I’m right here.”

Kip hummed a little in response, but turned to his other side on his spot, eyes still closed as he carefully snuggled closer to Cassidy’s chest with a content sigh. He could feel the blond roll his eyes at him, but Cassidy pressed a little kiss on the top of his head nonetheless.

“I just can’t stop thinking about kissing you,” Kip mumbled into his chest, hearing Cassidy chuckle at him quietly, clearly tired from today’s activities himself. One of his arms wrapped around Kip’s midsection, the other carefully cupping his face, lifting it up just enough so he was face to face with the blond, spotting the soft smile on his lips as Kip finally opened his eyes again.

“Well, I’m here. Go for it. Get it out of your head.”

Kip smiled a little, hands digging out from underneath the blanket to cup Cassidy’s face, pulling him into a kiss. It was slow, sensual, no rush in sight despite Kip having dreamed of doing this all day. The tingling taste of citrus from his lips almost made Kip laugh at the irony of it all, the thought being brushed aside as he felt a soft, almost shy lick of a tongue against his lips, requesting a deeper kiss, which Kip allowed. Cassidy’s arm tightened around his midsection as he pulled Kip closer, both of them getting lost in tasting each other in the tired, hazy kiss.

Cassidy slowly pulled away a moment later, watching Kip’s eyes being pushed shut again as he was trying to collect himself, quietly gasping for air. Cassidy pressed a quick little peck on his lips with a smile.

“Better?”

Kip nodded, feeling Cassidy pull him back against his chest. Kip focused on his heartbeat, feeling surprisingly calmed by it despite the fact that it was racing just as fast as his heart was at the moment.

Seeing the soft smile tuck in the corner of Cassidy's lips Kip couldn't help himself. He had tried all day to make him laugh, trying anything from goofy faces to silly voices and accents, and finally the stupid dad jokes he had texted to Claudio for help were breaking through to the blond.

Kip's hands reached for him faster than the man could think about it, gently cupping Cassidy's face and pulling him closer for a kiss. Pressing their lips together, Kip could feel Cassidy almost instantly melt against the touch, arms lazily draping over his shoulders, fingertips dancing along his neck. Kip's hands slipped up into his hair, brushing through it, hearing Cassidy quietly moaning against his lips before Kip pulled away slightly, getting back a soft glare from the blond as he didn't take the advantage to deepen the kiss.

“You better not stop there,” Cassidy mumbled at him quietly, listening to Kip respond with a soft laugh.

“Don't worry,” he smiled, leaning closer to press a quick peck on Cassidy's lips. “There's more where that came from, I promise.”

He sighed, more annoyed than anything else. Kip shouldn’t be here, and he knew it. He shouldn’t be under this roof, inside these walls, in this house, on this bed. He shouldn’t be related to any of those things, and yet.

And yet.

He was annoyed. No, scratch that, he was angry. At himself mostly, for allowing this to happen, for letting things go on for so long that he ended up here. For not being able to stand on his own two feet, physically or mentally, so that Kip was forced to let someone else do the dirty work for him.

So that Kip was forced under the care of Cassidy.

A quiet groan escaped from him before Kip could stop it, eyes closing as he felt a wave of unwanted emotions washing over him. He couldn’t exactly place them, give them names, recognize them, but it felt like everything at the same time; anger, sadness, sorrow, hope? He really wasn’t sure. The only thing he could for sure pinpoint down in the darkness of the bedroom was that these were all feelings brought to his mind but just the mere thought of his self-proclaimed arch rival.

And yet he didn’t want to feel any of them.

His body did its best to resist him as Kip tried to roll onto his side, fighting back every inch of the way to the point where it wasn’t even worth it. This wasn’t the first time his mind and body disagreed on the actions he should take, making it painful to even try to move, the pain leaving Kip almost paralyzed just laying on his back on the bed, staring at nothing. The feeling came and went as it pleased, but most often it showed up as an inconvenience when he wanted one thing but was handed another.

It all frustrated him. Angered him. Disappointed him, leaving Kip unable to do anything, left dealing with these feelings in his already loud head all by himself, all alone.

Well…

He could feel the shadows creeping on the edge of his vision, on the edge of his consciousness. It wasn’t anything unusual at this point, but Kip was tired of it. Having to listen to those whispers, calling him names, assigning words to him about how they felt about him. Telling him how fucked up this was, how fucked up he was, how it was his fault. All his fault, how they got here, how he ended up in this situation, how he messed it all up. All his fault.

All his fault.

It had been almost a daily occurrence now. He hadn’t been able to sleep, leaving him vulnerable, open to all of this. The shadows laughed at him, telling him he only needed them, secluding himself was a good thing no matter how much Cassidy tried to keep some sort of a connection with him. Help? Fuck no, he didn’t need help. Kip was much better off without any of that, especially from someone like him.

From someone like Cassidy, who was the cause of all of this. Well, after Kip had managed to fuck it up first, of course. He was the one to ultimately be blamed for everything, after all.

“Pathetic.”

Kip was almost violently ripped out of the serenity of the dark thoughts in his mind, the voice piercing enough to force his eyes open, focusing back on the blank ceiling. He couldn’t see anything else, nothing was moving. The voice, while distant, distorted, almost dark, had a tint of familiarity to it that he didn’t want to acknowledge.

The way it echoed against the inside of his skull made him come face to face with the reality that it was his own, without Kip saying those words out loud, without thinking them to himself.

“You’re disgusting, you know that?”

Kip didn’t reply, but he could feel a new wave of emotions crashing over him. Shame. Guilt. Disgust. The breath he took in was so much shakier than he expected, the loudness of it almost scaring him out of his own skin.

“So disappointing. Get up.”

He wanted to tell it to stop, but Kip just couldn’t. Instead, he felt his body working against his mind, pushing itself up to its limits, sitting up on the bed for the first time in what felt like days. His head was already spinning, the darkness around him hugging him so tightly Kip almost wasn’t sure if this was his bedroom anymore. The soft kisses it left on his skin burned, making him want to scream, both out of pain and the pleasure of feeling something other than nothing, but no sound came out of him. Kip just sat there, trying to find his breath again, eyes looking at the nothing in front of him.

The nothing shaped like himself, smiling back at him, the darkness so wicked in him it was impossible to look away, even if Kip knew he wasn’t real. That it wasn’t real.

“Was this what you wanted?”

Kip wanted to tell him no, it really wasn’t, he never intended it to be like this. He never knew it was going to be like this. If he had even the slightest idea, maybe he wouldn’t have done it. Done anything. He never wanted to even entertain the thought of succumbing to the darkness, to any extent.

Kip never wanted this, and yet there were no words he could say that would make that clear.

“You’re so pitiful. I don’t understand what he sees in you.”

He inhaled sharply, without intending to do so. Kip could almost see the darkness wearing his smirk, laughing at him. Making a mockery out of him, knowing he was way beyond the help. That these thoughts truly were his own, not just something the cursed world was trying to shove into his head anymore.

“He’s given up. You’re a fool for thinking otherwise.”

A fool. Beyond help, so much so that the one person who promised to help him had left him alone. It felt like he hadn’t seen Cassidy in ages. Maybe he was alone in this room, in this house, being left behind with nothing but broken promises, words that ultimately meant nothing. Nothing but lies that he wouldn’t give up. Lies like so many Kip had told to others, only to break them because he felt like it, because they were hazards on his way to everything he eventually lost.

And now here Kip was, abandoned like all his friends by him, lost like everything he had once had.

“All you need to do is give in.”

The voice was like a hot whisper against his ear, making Kip shiver, knowing how wrong all this was. It wasn’t supposed to go like this, it never was.

“Let yourself go. Allow yourself to be done with this.”

The offer was tempting. Kip could feel the expecting eyes on him, forcing him to turn away, as if he was thinking about this. Maybe on some level he was, contemplating if it was worth it. Worth it to keep trying, especially if he was alone. Abandoned. When there was no hope in the horizon. He could be done with all of it, just let the darkness swallow him, allowing him to decay, to rot away, mostly in peace. Maybe even without pain, if he asked kindly enough.

“I…” His voice was hoarse, drifting off into the empty corners of the bedroom, without Kip having no idea how to continue that sentence. He wasn’t sure what he wanted, what he needed. If there was someone, or something, that could give him that. To give him anything. Everything was so fragmented, so cracked, unorganized in his mind that it was impossible to put into words. Of course he only needed actions, to simply allow himself to be taken over, but somehow even that felt more difficult than usual.

Maybe somewhere in there, under all the filth inside of him, was still just the smallest light of hope. How or why, Kip wasn’t sure, but something in him told him that he was able to feel it. Despite everything.

“I-I… I don’t know…”

He felt the darkness pressing tighter against him, forcing the air out of his lungs. Hands on his arms. Hands on his chest. Hands on his neck. Hands on his face.

The scream that escaped him wasn’t audible, being drowned under the voice that boomed in his head loudly enough to make it throb for days to come.

“You don’t know?! Don’t you understand?! You’re nothing! Nothing! Nothing but a pitiful excuse of a weak, pathetic failure! Nobody wants you, nobody needs you! You mean nothing!”

Kip couldn’t reply to it, the headache becoming unbearably too much. He struggled to catch air back into his lungs, every breath burning, making him want to throw up. The spots the hands of the dark had been holding onto him burned, they felt vile, almost violated. He could trace the cold fingertips against his skin perfectly if someone asked, remembering every mark being left on him, the words imprinted into the inside of his brain with every word that had been spoken to him.

He didn’t want this. It was all too much, the feeling pouring out of him in an incomprehensible sob as Kip couldn’t hold the floodgates shut, being too exhausted and in pain to hold it back anymore.

Only as he could feel a soft pair of hands landing on his aching, exposed arm Kip’s head snapped up, eyes barely focusing on the concerned looking face of a familiar blond looking back at him.

“What happened? Are you okay?”

Cassidy’s voice sounded so distant Kip wasn’t even sure if he was sitting in front of him on the bed or not. It felt unrealistic that after everything he would be there. Kip wanted to reach out, so desperately, to make sure he was there, touch him, his face, make sure he felt him breathe. Feel that he had a heartbeat. But he couldn’t move, holding onto the little bit of solace that Cassidy’s hands on his arm gave to him. At least it felt real, even if it would end up not being so.

“I heard you scream. I-it’s okay. I’m here.”

Kip just looked at him, finally feeling the stinging of the tears in his eyes. His senses were slowly returning into the room, him into his own head, making at least a little bit of sense again. Cassidy’s hands on him, squeezing his arm slightly, making sure he was there. The tears staining Kip’s face, the salty taste on his lips actually making sense to him. His hands that he didn’t even realize had been squeezing the bed sheets so hard this entire time.

“I’m trying to help you, Kip.”

Hearing his name leaving Cassidy’s lips cracked something in him. Kip wasn’t entirely sure what it was, but it made him swallow thickly, feeling the lump that had formed in his throat.

“If you can tell me what happened, I--”

“Please.”

Kip’s voice was barely above a whisper, followed by a sob he wasn’t able to hold back. Cassidy looked at him, clearly alarmed, not expecting this from Kip, the tear stained face twisting into some combination of pleading and comforted as Kip finally reached a hand towards him, fingertips barely gracing Cassidy’s cheek in a weak attempt to touch him.

“He… Help me. Please.”

Cassidy’s face softened into an understanding smile, him nodding his head just barely before Kip leaned closer, basically collapsing against him. Cassidy pulled him against his chest, one arm holding him close tightly as the other hand rubbed his back, gently hushing him as Kip broke down in sobs in his arms.

It wasn’t difficult at all to seek him out later in the evening. They had all stayed around until the end of the main event, everyone wanted to give Sting that one big sendoff together, and Swerve had spied Hangman in the crowd among the rest of the roster in the building tonight, easily. To say that the man looked uneasy and disappointed was an understatement, no matter how much he tried to hide it beneath the mask of a celebration in the moment.

Even past the mass of people between them, Swerve could see that those eyes still weren’t quite right, as they hadn’t been for some time now.

He didn’t even bother to knock on the locker room door, thinking the worst that he could do was catch Hangman changing. It wasn’t like they hadn’t shared a locker room before, like he hadn’t seen almost everything this man had to offer, nothing that could faze him.

It wasn’t like they didn’t share an unspeakable bond created by a spur of a moment that they had to live with separately together with forever. A bond that was much more intimate than anything a naked eye could see.

A smirk tucked the corners of his lips as Swerve watched the confusion quickly take over the entire face of the blond, though the obvious anger quickly rose back on Hangman’s features. Maybe Swerve was able to see even a slight bit of embarrassment radiating from him, if he focused carefully enough.

“What the hell do you want?”

Swerve’s hands shot up, in both a defensive and calming manner, eyes never leaving Hangman and his obvious distress. “Calm down. I’m not here to wage more wars if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Yeah?” Swerve watched silently as Hangman stood up from his chair, staring daggers at him. “Well I’m not done with you, or afraid to kick your ass if I have to!”

“And fail at that task again? I doubt it.”

His calm demeanor was clearly agitating Hangman further, but the joy Swerve took in just watching his struggle to keep his emotions in check and his words coherent was immeasurable. Just seeing the small visual cues of Hangman’s eyes wandering as he tried to collect himself, hands squeezing into fists and opening up again, the way he almost, just almost wanted to start pacing the small room to calm himself down.

It was all almost too much, too good to be true. Too good to be a real thing he was witnessing with his own eyes, let alone causing.

“Well,” Swerve chuckled quietly, his low voice softly rumbling off the empty walls of the room around them. His hands dropped down again, finding comfort in the pockets of his jacket. “At least I’m not the one who lost that match out there. I think that gives me room to speak.”

That was the right button to push clearly, as Hangman’s eyes shot towards him again, narrowing almost dangerously as he closed the gap between the two men with just a few quick strides, both hands grabbing the front of Swerve’s jacket. He didn’t even flinch, just watched with a smirk as Hangman shook him slightly, his eyes burning with clear anger and frustration.

“Listen here, you little shit!” He wasn’t even trying to control the level of his voice anymore, the frustrations of the entire night pouring over in one fell swoop, manifesting out with a string of incoherent curses and hands trying to wildly shake the other man, whether to intimidate him or bring him to his senses, Swerve wasn’t sure. All he knew was that neither of those ideal options was working.

All Swerve needed to do, was to lean just a tiny bit closer to his face, to freeze Hangman on his tracks, quieting down, the sudden realization of how close they were washing over him. His eyes fixated on Swerve, who quite honestly looked like he was anything but hating this whole ordeal that he had once again managed to cause. Hands on him, his jacket, holding, pulling him close.

His first reaction was to look away, but Hangman clearly wasn’t done with him yet as the hands remained in their place, he just needed to collect himself to figure out how to proceed from here. Seeing his opening though, Swerve didn’t give him much time to think, soon a hand reaching for Hangman’s face, almost forcefully gripping his jaw, turning him back forward.

A soft blush dusted over the blond’s features. Just as Swerve had thought he briefly saw.

“What’s the matter?” His voice was taunting, clearly trying to push it even further than things had already advanced to. “I thought you said you weren’t done with me yet, cowboy.”

Hangman clearly struggled for words, mouth opening and closing without anything going in or coming out of it. His hands still had a tight grip of Swerve’s jacket, keeping him close even if neither would have wanted that, almost as if he was aware that if he let go, the situation would likewise disappear, slip away from his grip.

Swerve could see Hangman’s eyes wandering on his face, glancing down to his lips as Swerve licked them, almost as if giving him visual clues. Giving him ideas he wasn’t sure if he was supposed to act on them, to chase them, to realize them.

Thankfully there were two of them in the situation, as Swerve quickly closed the gap, pressing their lips together. Hangman let out almost a surprised gasp at the sudden touch, but it didn’t take a lot of persuading to pull him deeper into the feeling that he wasn’t going to admit that he had longed to feel for a while now. The blond’s grip almost tightened on Swerve’s jacket, just holding him close, holding his breath as he felt the pair of soft lips against his,  first just as a peck, slowly going for something deeper, more meaningful.

As the curious tongue slipped into the mix to lick over his lips, any thoughts of resistance were officially gone from Hangman’s mind as he gave into the temptation, the soft, deep kiss of a cursed rival.

Hangman still held him close by the front of his jacket, afraid of letting go, of potentially wasting this opportunity.  Opportunity to do what exactly, that he wasn’t so sure about. Swerve’s hand slipped from his jaw, up along it to brush a coil of rogue hair behind Hangman’s ear, finally slipping up his neck into his hair. He balled a good amount of his coils, giving it a firm, almost commanding tuck.

Hangman could feel Swerve smiling against his lips as he moaned quietly.

And almost as fast as the moment had begun, it was already over. Swerve pulled away with ease, leaving Hangman breathing heavily and chasing after those lips he wanted back onto him, but all he got back was a chuckle. The hand slipped away from his hair, grabbing a hold of his hand, still somewhat gently ripping it off from his jacket.

Hangman almost jumped as Swerve leaned back closer, lips brushing against his ear. A hot breath sent shivers down his spine.

“Maybe next time,” Swerve whispered to him, clear amusement in his voice over the state he had managed to put the other man in, “You actually try if you want to go for the gold.”

Hangman didn’t get a word out of his mouth, just watched, still stunned over the events that had transpired as Swerve finally fully pulled away, ripping himself away from the blond’s grip. Hands finding their way back into his pockets like before, Swerve just turned on his heels, heading out of the locker room without another word, without getting any resistance back.

“Kiiii-iiip.” He could hear the voice whispering into his ear, soft and quiet, barely above a whisper. Kip recognized it immediately, only responding with a little incoherent murmur, feeling a soft kiss being pressed against his cheek. “Good morning.”

Kip let out a sound somewhat resembling the same words, but he kept his eyes closed, just enjoying feeling Cassidy close by, pressing a soft kiss on his lips. Kip lazily replied back to it, feeling Cassidy’s lips move around his face, leaving little tired kisses all over, finally trekking down to his jaw and along it onto his neck.

The quiet whine Kip let out against the touch immediately put him back to last night, reminding him exactly why he was feeling so sore against Cassidy’s soft shows of affection. Cassidy just chuckled at him quietly, pressing another soft kiss against the bruise on his neck to gather another whiny sound from Kip.

“Sorry.” Kip knew he didn’t mean that, his hot breath against his sore neck sending shivers down Kip’s spine. But he didn’t mind, just cautiously bit his lower lip as he felt Cassidy leaving a trail of kisses along his collarbone, feeling the tingling on his sore skin with every kiss. Kip was thankful Cassidy wasn’t pushing it on spots where he was already feeling overwhelmed, but at the same time something about it felt like he was just making him agonizingly wait until Cassidy reached a spot where he hadn’t been the night before.

Kip’s hand carefully reached for him, Cassidy stopping briefly as he felt Kip first cupping his cheek, slowly lifting his hand up into his hair. The blond didn’t stop him, feeling Kip direct him, just allowing the barely coherent Brit to move his head down, to his side.

“Here.” Kip’s voice was quiet, his hand running down to Cassidy’s neck, fingertips drawing soft circles against his skin, feeling the small goosebumps rising up there. “Please.”

He felt the soft kiss being pressed against the exposed skin of the side of his rib cage, the contact drawing a quiet whimper out of him, Kip feeling his breath catching up in his throat as Cassidy dug a little deeper, gently sinking his teeth into his skin. Kip’s hand carefully balled up in his hair, trying to steady his breathing to ease some of the delightful pain Cassidy was inflicting on his skin.

As his head lifted up, breaking the contact with his skin, Kip carefully moved his head a little bit lower, letting out the breath he had been holding.

“M-more.” He could feel Cassidy’s head turning in his hold, Kip just nodding his head a little to confirm to him that he did want this. “More. Please.”

Cassidy complied without a word, his lips back on his skin, drawing a soft moan out of Kip. He tried to keep it quiet, feeling Cassidy’s efforts of trying to keep things easy on him, to not push the boundaries too much. He was aware Kip was still barely awake, understanding what was happening and asking for them, but Cassidy was making sure he was as comfortable as possible, especially after what Cassidy had put him through the night before, just more softly continuing now where they had left off.

“Please.” The moan slipped out of him before Kip could stop him, feeling Cassidy’s teeth sink just a little bit deeper than he expected. The blond stopped for a moment, but feeling Kip’s hand in his head pushing him lower, asking him to continue, soon enough the sweet sensation of soft pain continued, drawing a whimper out of Kip.

Eventually pleased with his handiwork and the sounds that Kip was making, Cassidy lifted his head up, against Kip’s clear wishes of him continuing as the hand in his hair tried to push him back down, the blond carefully grabbed it, pulling it closer to press a little kiss on the back of it.

“Babe, if I keep going you won’t be able to move today. We still have to fly home.”

Kip whined something incoherent back to him, Cassidy leaning over to give him a quick peck on the lips.

“I promise you we can keep going when we get back. Can you be good until then?”

Kip finally fluttered his eyes open, looking at him with a soft blush dusted on his cheeks, nodding his head the best he could. Cassidy smiled back at him, leaning over for a much more passionate, deeper kiss, leaving Kip chasing after it as he pulled away again.