Jared was completely M.I.A.

Normally it was Travis who was out doing reckless things that no one else knew about. Whereas Jared stayed in and worked on homework.

Travis didn't want to admit that he was worried but after spending all morning on the beach with his mom, he jogged passed both pools and the lobby and then sat in their room tapping his feet. No one had seen Jared all day.

After a while, he lounged in his bed, using his laptop and the shitty wifi the hotel offered, but when two more hours passed, his gut began to twist inexplicably.

Travis showed up for the dinner buffet, eyes scanning the room for Jared's form but the brunette was still no where in sight. Jared's dad waved Travis over, letting him cut into the line at the salad table.

"Have you seen Jared?" Travis asked.

Henry shook his head, brows raised.

"Still fighting?" he asked.

Travis shook his head, unable to play along.

"Seriously, we've both seen him try to swim, he's probably at the bottom of the ocean somewhere."

Henry grimaced.

"It's a big resort," he said. "He's probably at one of the sports bars. Or the hot tub."

Travis grunted noncomittally.

The others had a table already and Travis joined them with Henry. He ate in silence, eyes searching the room and catching anyone new to enter.

"Travis honey," his mom said, dragging his attention from the door. "Why don't you go track Jared down and apologize?"

Travis spluttered.

"I didn't do anything!"

"Uhuh," she said, unconvinced.

Jared's parents were both pointedly avoiding eye contact.

Travis ate the rest of his food in silence, scowling down at his plate and then went to his room without saying a word to any of them.

Every other night he'd gone to see one of the shows or to the bar for a few hours before bed. Today though Travis sat on the balcony, ears strained to hear in case the door to the room open. He didn't want to worry but he'd known Jared since they were eight years old and Jared never did things like this.

This wasn't because of yesterday. Travis didn't want to believe that.

As ten o'clock approached, Travis pushed to his feet, unable to take it any longer.

Okay, he just had to find him, that was all. He had to make sure that Jared hadn't fallen into the pool and drowned.

He swung by both pools first. The green lights lit the whole thing up in the dark but Jared wasn't anywhere in sight.

He relaxed a little but walked close enough to the beach to see the water, just in case.

When the coast was clear, Travis headed back to the hotel, choosing at the last minute to swing by one of the bars.

His breath of relief turned into complete annoyance as his eyes settled on Jared's back. He was sitting at the bar laughing at something Carlos, the bar tender was saying.

Travis wasn't really in the drinking mood but he marched up behind Jared anyway, throwing an arm around his waist.

The action surprised even him as he did it. Carlos raised a brow and Jared jerked in his half embrace, looking at him so quickly that their noses bumped.

"What—Travis, what are you doing?"

He tried to pull away and nearly swayed off of the seat.

Travis tightened his hold.

"I was looking for you."

Jared swallowed and Travis suddenly knew by the look in Jared's eyes, the way they flickered to the front of Travis' jeans nervously, what he was thinking about.

Travis' jaw slackened and he grit his teeth to stop the action as the truth weighed down on him.

"Have you been hiding from me?" he asked. Somehow the thought was infuriating.

Jared just frowned at him.

"Why? Because you think I'm going to make you do stuff again?"

Jared flushed and looked away.

"You said you weren't going to avoid me," Travis accused.

Jared glanced at him.

"No I didn't."

"So you two..."

They both looked up at Carlos, who was watching the exchange with far too much fascination.

Jared shook his head frantically.

"No," he said. "We're just friends."

He pushed up out of the stool and out of Travis' arms, shooting him a warning glare as he began to walk away but Travis was having none of that. He didn't like being brushed off and definitely not by Jared.

He slid up behind Jared's unsteady march, putting his arm back in its place around his waist. Jared wanted so badly for everyone to think they were just friends when Travis knew full well that he wanted more? That didn't make any sense to him. He should have been happy that he got some action, that Travis had been willing to give it to him.

Jared didn't stop walking, trying vainly to shrug him off and Travis did the first thing that came to mind. His tongue and teeth scrubbed lewdly up Jared's neck.

Jared spluttered and stumbled to a stop.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

If it weren't for their past few experiences Travis wouldn't have caught the masked arousal in Jared's eyes. He glanced down at Jared's cock, hidden by layers of fabric.

"Come back up to the room," he said. He didn't know what he was doing.

Jared shook his head frantically and without thinking Travis stepped up to him, cornering him into the wall. They were in the lobby now, brightly lit, staff and guests walking by.

He didn't know what he was doing, only knew that he hated the way Jared was lying.

Girls always made it obvious when they liked someone. With lingering looks, flirty comments, light touches. Jared never did any of those things but Travis still knew. He knew that Jared wanted him and it was beyond frustrating that the other boy was so good at hiding it. So good at lying.

"Come up to the room now, or this is happening right here."

He hadn't decided what "this" was but the threat seemed to work on Jared and he nodded at once, his eyes wide.

The walk to the room was silent and oddly calm. Jared wasn't stumbling as often and Travis let him walk alone. His thoughts were firing through the bus ride, the look in Jared's eyes on the balcony, the way his hand had massaged him with barely a fight, the way he gasped and turned away when looking was too much.

His heart was pounding by the time Jared slid the key card into the lock. Jared didn't look turned on but with a little prompting,maybe he would get as hard as Travis was.

He watched his friend walk into the room and slump defeated onto the foot of his bed, waiting.

It was funny. Travis had even less of reason to do this then the other times but he thought that maybe if he could get a blowjob out of this, it would still be okay.

He wasn't sure how to seduce a guy so he stood awkwardly for a moment in front of Jared and then finally settled on taking his clothes off.

Jared wasn't looking at him at first but the sound of Travis' shirt hitting the floor got his attention. Jared was just tipsy enough to watch in silence it seemed, his vibrant eyes racking Travis' body bit by bit as it was slowly exposed.

Finally, Travis was standing naked and hard before him and Jared still hadn't moved. What if he was wrong about this, after all?

"Do you want me?" Travis asked. The uncertainty was plain in his voice and he swallowed, suddenly compelled to stare at his discarded jeans, lying abandoned on the floor.

When he looked up again, Jared wasn't staring at his sculpted body anymore, but into his eyes. He waited until Travis looked at him squarely and then he nodded.

The relief that flooded Travis made him feel almost high.

"Are you trying to seduce me?" Jared asked. He grinned a little as though it was a silly assumption. "Or let me guess, this is another one of your games; see how far you can push Jared before he has a break down..."

Travis swallowed. He wasn't totally sure what Jared was talking about, so blamed it on the liquor.

"I just want you to stop pretending that you don't want me. I know you do. You want me."

Jared nodded like his arm was being twisted.

"Yeah," he said, his voice trembling. "I do. I want you. I want to touch you and fuck you and do a lot more than that."

Travis shook his head. This wasn't right. This wasn't how this was supposed to be happening. Jared wasn't supposed to be on the verge of tears, they weren't supposed to be talking.

He stepped up to Jared.

"You're fucking this all up," he said.

Jared fell silent, looking up at him with wounded eyes and Travis sighed.

He bent down and took both of Jared's hands in his own. He didn't want to force this. That was the whole point. He wanted Jared to just stop pretending this was such an ordeal for him and be honest about what he wanted.

"What do you think about?" he asked. "About touching."

Jared swallowed, dryly.

"What?"

"Tell me, damn it."

He was silent a moment longer, a bitter smile frosting his lips.

"Everything," he finally said.

The whispered word made Travis' cock twitch and he pressed Jared's hands to his naked abdomen.

"Do it," he said.

Jared just stared.

With a frustrated growl Travis yanked Jared up, forcing his hands to scrape against his flesh. And that was all the prompting Jared needed because suddenly his hands were everywhere. Caressing, Travis' neck, his nipples and then squeezing his ass hard, making him gasp. No one had ever really touched him like this, so hard and demanding and as much as he'd wanted to shoot his load into an eager recipient, he hadn't really expected this from Jared.

He'd expected soft gentle touches and Jared telling him how hot he was, how much he wanted him. Travis realized belatedly that he might be in this for an ego boost, but the thought was pushed away when a hot mouth closed around his nipple, teeth grazing it and making him twitch with pleasure.

It was like the top had popped off a bottle and Jared was unable to stop. With Travis' permission, his touch was insatiable.

Suddenly, Travis was pushed back onto the bed and he blinked up in confusion for a second wondering why the touching had stopped and then Jared was over him again, minus his shirt.

"You want me to touch you?" he breathed.

Travis nodded mutely, arching up as Jared's sure hand wrapped around him. He cried out as he was jerked hard-a little too hard-and then the hand was gone, leaving him a shuddering mess while Jared squeezed his ass hard, massaging it, pulling at the flesh.

Shit. It felt good but... shit. This was getting out of hand. All Travis wanted was a blow job and some admiration.

Jared kicked out of his pants, falling on the bed and landing with a little bounce on top of Travis, completely naked, their heaving bodies pressed together.

He didn't want to get fucked. He definitely didn't want to get fucked. He just wanted a blow job, damn it. Travis fought desperately to think of the words that would get that and only that without making Jared leave or get pissed off but none came to mind.

Jared lifted up suddenly, gazing down at Travis with that hungry look that had come to make Travis' dick jerk every time he thought of it. He leaned in and at the last second Travis realized what he was trying to do and turned his face away.

Jared's hot, open mouth met his jaw and instead of complaining, he kissed up to Travis' ear, running his tongue along his lobe, while his hands continued their almost violent exploration.

He wanted this to be okay because all of the naked skin, rubbing together felt incredible but this wasn't how he had expected this to go.

"Tell me how much you want me," Travis said. It was a last ditch effort at having some control, knowing that this was happening because he was letting it get this far but then a hand closed around him again and he gasped. He felt the smile that touched Jared's lips.

"I want you," Jared moaned.

Suddenly something else was rubbing against his cock. Hard, and hot, rubbing up and down his length.

Travis looked down. He had never even seen Jared's dick before and the sight of it now, moving against his own made a thrill of panic shoot through him.

"Stop," he said.

He tried to push Jared away.

Jared stopped moving at once, shifting so that he was balanced above Travis. They were looking at each other.

How did Jared ever manage to look so secure and in control? Did that mean Travis was the one who was losing it?

"It's okay," Jared said soothingly. He stroked a hand along Travis' side and began to press quick chaste kisses along his neck.

"It's okay," he repeated. He slid a hand in between them and grasped them both loosely in a fist, cocks pressed together. He rubbed his thumb over their tips. Travis wasn't sure if the wetness there was from his own precum or Jared's but god it felt nice. If he ignored the alarming fact that it was another cock against him, the whole sensation was actually really good.

His hips twitched up a little and Jared clearly took that as invitation, moving his hips again, grinding against him like Travis was a fucking girl. Despite that, he couldn't help dropping his head back with a throaty moan.

"You're so hot," Jared gasped. "You're so fucking hot."

Travis moaned and arched up, his hands scrabbling and grasping onto Jared's hips, moving, thrusting with him. It looked wrong, so wrong the way that Jared was moving on top of him, like he was being fucked.

Jared's face fell into his neck, groaning and biting down and Travis couldn't take it anymore. His hips jerked forward, spastically twitching into Jared's fist and his cock. He came to the mantra "I want you, I want this, I want you..." as Jared repeated it over and over.

Jared strained against him as the last of Travis' orgasm shuddered through him, and his words changed. The I into you, the you into me.

"You want me too," he was saying. "You want this."

He came hard, splattering Travis' taut stomach, mingling his own cum with Travis'.

The words rang in his ear, louder than the gasped breathing as they fought for air. Travis wanted to deny it, to do something to prove it wasn't true but all he did was lay there.

Jared lifted up finally, looking down at Travis with a soft, tender smile, before he bent down and kissed him.

It took a long time for his brain to catch up with his body and for a while Travis just stayed still, letting Jared kiss him while he stared up at the ceiling. His fingers twitched and he realized that they were still dug into Jared's soft flesh, cradling his hip bones and without thinking, he shoved Jared off of him.

The brunette tumbled off of the bed with a yelp and scrabbled back up while Travis sat up. He hadn't meant to push that hard but he didn't care at this point.

Jared's cheeks were flushed as he watched Travis get out of bed.

"What are you doing?" he said it like he was ordering a response but his voice was filled with fear.

Travis thought of leaving but he didn't know where to go and he just felt so tired. Wordlessly, he climbed into his own bed, pulling the covers up around him, not even wiping the jizz off his body. He turned his back to Jared.

There was a long silence, too long for Jared to be still standing and staring at him, but finally he heard the other bed creak with Jared's weight sinking into it.

"Are you really doing this now?" his friend asked softly.

All the drunkenness had long since disappeared but Travis wished desperately that Jared wouldn't remember any of this.

He shut his eyes until finally, Jared turned off the lights, and then opened them and stared at the dark wall.

He didn't want to think. Not thinking was his technique for not caring. He stared at the wall for a long time, feeling hallow and incredibly confused. Jared's words rang in his ears. They weren't true. Travis could have told him. Should have told him. He wondered if it was too late now. Would it make it seem like a lie because Travis was clearly obsessing?

You want me...

Why wouldn't sleep come?