With blue lips and chattering teeth, the boys poured back into Robin's room. Kissing in the waves had been wonderful, but neither of them had considered how cold the journey home in wet clothes would be.

"You need a warm shower," Robin told Tyler as they sat down on the bed. He rummaged around and found a blanket to wrap around Ty's shoulders. It was the same cat blanket he'd wrapped his boyfriend in a few nights earlier, when the rain poured down outside. Before Tyler had been his boyfriend.

Everything in Robin's life seemed to be defined as before or after that night. That's how cataclysmic the event had been. Like a volcanic eruption that parted land from ocean.

"So do you, Robby," Ty replied and held out a corner of the blanket to tuck it around Robin. Huddled together their bodies shared what little heat remained between them.

"You can go first," Robin mumbled with jaws that would barely cooperate with him as they kept clanking together.

Showering together didn't seem like an option, as it would expose Tyler's leg and make him uncomfortable. So Robin figured it was better if Ty showered first and then he could jump in afterward. If it meant Ty was safe and warm, he could stand freezing for a while longer. Robin would even go sit in a snow pile right now if it meant Ty was taken care of.

"I... I can't really stand in a shower," Ty admitted while hiding his face in the fluffy blanket. "It gets so slippery. I have a stupid shower chair back home."

"I could have driven you home instead."

"I didn't want to go home. I wanted to be here with you."

In the cover of the blanket, cold numb lips met briefly. Robin could barely feel the touch but he still enjoyed it.

"I have a bathtub, you can use that, right?" he suggested. "I'll fill it up for you with a lot of bubbles. Des left a bottle of bubble bath here a few weeks ago. Her room doesn't have a tub so she likes to borrow mine. I can shower when you're done."

"I don't want you to be cold while you wait, Robby." Tyler wrapped his hands around Robin's to rub them. The touch felt surprisingly warm. Since Robin had been behind the steering wheel when driving home, he'd been unable to warm his extremities and could by now barely sense his hands and feet. "Maybe we could... both get in there. If we have a lot of bubbles you wouldn't... see anything."

It sounded like Tyler had pondered this suggestion for a while. Perhaps he'd planned it during the journey home as a way to test his boundaries when it came to closeness.

"That would be nice," Robin said as chills went through his body. A warm bath did sound heavenly for his frozen limbs. And having Ty in there sounded enticing for other parts of his body. Parts that despite the cold started to tingle at the mere thought. "If it's fine with you, Ty."

"Can't let my boyfriend freeze." Ty got up from the bed. Standing precariously on his one leg, he reached his hand toward Robin. "Let's get warm, cutie."

***

Hot steam and a strong scent of strawberries welcomed Robin when he walked into the bathroom. With bubbles up to his shoulders, Tyler waited for him in the tub. To make sure that his boyfriend felt comfortable, Robin had waited outside while Tyler got into the foamy water.

The bubbles appeared to be about to take over the room. Foam climbed over the side of the tub and up on the walls. It was like a wild bubble jungle. Perhaps they had used too much of the bubble bath liquid. After all, neither of them had used such a product before, so they weren't sure how much to dispense. Des would probably scold them when she discovered her bottle was empty.

Quickly, Robin shed his wet sweatpants and t-shirt. As he prepared to pull his underwear off as well, he threw a cautious glance at Tyler. His self-esteem, as well as certain parts down below, had shrunk from the cold.

"I've seen you naked before, Robby," Tyler encouraged him.

"I know... but the cold..."

Tyler chuckled lightly and reach a foam-covered hand out to tug at the lining of Robin's boxers. "The cold hasn't made you any less cute, Robby." Carefully, he tucked his hand into the side of the boxers and traced Robin's hip with his damp hand which made bursts of heat flicker across numb skin, waking it back to life again. "And I have the same parts as you. I know how they react to cold."

With newfound resolve, Robin slid his underwear off and exposed every part of himself to Tyler's admiring gaze. And, as it turned out, he hadn't needed to worry about the shrinkage issue. Because as he stepped over the side of the tub, his mind started to imagine Tyler's naked body underneath all those bubbles. Which made a certain organ below Robin's belt grow sizably.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled while he stepped into the warm water. It burned against his skin and made it tingle, almost as much as Tyler's touch.

"Nothing to be sorry about," Ty said with a cheeky smile as he seemed to enjoy the view. "I know that happens, like a lot."

Imagining the same thing happening to Tyler underneath those bubbles did nothing to alleviate the situation for Robin. But the bubbles covered it at least, as Robin lowered himself into the steaming hot water. Soon mountains of bubbles covered him up to the tip of his chin as he curled up opposite Ty.

Fog filled the room. Bubbles wrapped Robin in softness. Hot water warmed his body. And Tyler's presence warmed his mind.

"Can I... put my leg here?" He wondered as he tried to figure out the leg logistics of the seating arrangements. Fitting two--almost grown--men into a bathtub turned out to not be the easiest task. And Robin wanted to ensure that he didn't nudge against the area on the left side that his boyfriend was sensitive about.

"That's fine," Tyler confirmed. "You can even... come closer." The allure in his gaze, together with the wet curls framing his pretty face, was impossible to resist.

Encouraged by a hand wrapping around his neck, Robin scooted closer to Ty until they were face to face in the sea of bubbles. His legs ended up draped around Tyler's waist and their groins rested dangerously close. He scooped up a handful of bubbles and placed them on Tyler's hair. The white foam matched the blonde curls.

"I'll smell like a strawberry for days after this," Ty said in a fake-disgruntled tone.

"Nothing wrong with that." Robin leaned in for a kiss. "I like strawberries." The embrace of lips tasted, predictably, like strawberries. Warm and soft strawberries. So basically, strawberry pie.

Soon, a pile of bubbles was put on top of Robin's head and massaged into his hair and scalp. Tingles wandered up to his neck and toward the top of his head from the gentle touch. He closed his eyes and savored the sensation. A light moan escaped his throat from the caretaking. A kiss stole the sound from his lips.

They lathered each other from head to toe until they were both soaked in the scent of strawberries. Hair was shampooed before being rinsed out and limbs were scrubbed thoroughly with a sponge. No patch on their bodies remained frozen. And no patch on their lips remained unkissed.

Remarkably, they refrained from scrubbing below the belt, despite certain parts floating dangerously close. Robin wanted Tyler to trust him not to go there unless his boyfriend had told him it was approved.

After an hour or so of lathering, scrubbing, and kissing, the water was cold and their skin was wrinkled.

"We should get up," Robin suggested and started to climb over the side of the tub. The air around him was steamy and the mirror had fogged up. "I'll just grab a towel and go out to dry off. Then you can get out without me watching."

Ty gave him a grateful look but seemed to ponder something. "Or you could stay," he said after a moment. "It's so foggy in here anyway. You wouldn't see much. It's fine. And I might need your help to get up."

His eyes betrayed conflicting emotions. He wasn't quite sure. But he wanted so badly to be sure. He wanted so badly to be close.

Robin nodded while wrapping a towel around his waist. "How do you want to do this?" he stuttered, unsure of how to best assist his boyfriend.

"Just... put a towel on the side of the tub," Tyler replied. "I will try to get there myself ."

Robin obliged and placed the fluffiest towel he could find against the cold porcelain. Then he turned around and looked into the wall, while he heard Tyler shuffling around behind him.

A clonking sound and a splash echoed between the tiles. "Fuck," Ty cursed. "I think you'll have to help me, Robby."

Robin turned back toward Tyler, who once again had sunk into the bubbles with a defeated expression on his face. "What should I do?" Robin asked.

"Just let me put my arms on your shoulders," Tyler replied.

Once again, Robin obliged. He bent down and felt soapy hands grab around his neck. He met frightened eyes and soft lips.

From the corner of his eye, Robin could glance at the injured leg. But he tried not to look at it, out of fear of making Ty uncomfortable. Although perhaps his attempts to not look at it had the same effect. His heart raced from anxiety. He just wished he was doing the right thing.

With a communal effort, they rose from the masses of bubbles. Tyler sat down on the spread-out towel and swung his legs over to the other side, while Robin averted his eyes.

"You can look now, Robby," Tyler said and Robin opened his eyes to see his boyfriend having wrapped the towel around his waist, covering everything down to his knees. With the help of the towel rack on the wall, he rose on one leg and greeted Robin with a kiss that tempered his anxiety about looking the wrong way. Everything was fine. Everything was awesome.

"And you can feel," Tyler mumbled. "I want you to feel all of me."

With a nervous sigh and determination in his eyes, Ty looked down toward his leg and parted the towel slightly, revealing what was underneath. He caught Robin's hand with his own and put it on the scarred skin.

"A metal rod was pressed against here." Tyler guided Robin's hand first across a long scar that trailed toward the hip and still seemed sore to the touch. "And this is where they had to cut." He let Robin's hand touch the sensitive skin below the knee that was crisscrossed by smaller marks.

During the whole journey, Robin kept his eyes locked on Ty's green eyes, not wanting to ruin the moment by peaking down to visually examine the wounds. A stray tear ran down a strawberry-scented cheek as their hands ventured downward. Robin kissed the salty droplet away.

Another strawberry kiss. Sweet, soft, and fleeting. But with a tinge of something else. A sharp taste of lust.

The next moment, Tyler guided their hands upward again, over the softer skin on the inside of the thigh. Toward an area previously unexplored.

"I want you to feel me," Tyler mumbled and placed Robin's hand on a very hard and warm body part. "I want you to feel how much I want you."

Lips met again. They crashed together, ready to devour each other. The sharp taste of lust was all they wanted to taste. Sweet and sharp like strawberry liquor.

Carefully, Robin let his hand stroke the length in his hand. From the base to the top. The moan that escaped from Tyler's lips was intoxicating. More strokes and more moans. Faster and deeper every time.