Lost & Found

by Ashley John

  It was Sarah's turn to choke on her ice cream.

  “Oh it's a guy?” she said.

  Shit, did I say him?

  Charlie looked about ready to faint as he clutched his visibly shaking hands onto the table.

  “Yeah, didn't I mention that?” Oliver said casually, furrowing his brow and burying his spoon in his ice cream.

  “Hey, we live in the modern age,” she said as if embarrassed at her own surprise, “gay pride, and all that good stuff.”

  Oliver wanted to laugh about how awkward she was being. He was almost expecting the whole 'I'm so cool with you being gay, but just don't touch my son' speech, but he knew Sarah was far too polite to mention that.

  “I'm not gay,” Oliver said, “I'm very open minded.”

  “What's gay?” Poppy asked as she smeared her ice cream covered hands through her hair.

  Sarah shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

  “It's when two men really love each other,” Sarah said.

  “Oh. Can I have more chocolate sauce?” she said as she reached across the table for the bottle.

  Why can't Charlie be more like you Poppy?

  When their ice cream bowls were empty and their stomachs full, Sarah and Poppy headed back to Aunt Evelyn's, but Charlie chose to hang back.

  “What were you playing at?” Charlie whispered aggressively, pushing him in the shoulder.

  “It just slipped out,” Oliver said defensively, “it wasn't a problem anyway.”

  “You might as well have just told her,” Charlie cried, causing a few customers in the ice cream parlor to look up from their frozen desserts.

  “Is that such a bad thing?”

  “If she's going to find out, it's going to be from me. Okay?”

  “If?”

  “You know what I mean,” Charlie snapped, “I just don't want her finding out about it through someone else. It's not right.”

  “What is there even to find out about?” Oliver muttered.

  “Us.”

  Oliver rolled his eyes when he noticed Charlie glancing to make sure nobody heard him. Fucking hell Charlie, this isn't the 1950s.

  “Is there an us?” Oliver said, “Because aside from a few kisses and you cumming in your pants, I don't know what 'us' is.”

  "Just stop with the questions!" Charlie cried.

  Oliver dropped down to one knee and clutched Charlie's hand. He was working on impulse, but from the shock and horror on Charlie's face, it got the exact reaction he wanted. He was too busy staring down at Oliver's face than bothering about the entire parlor of people that were whispering and raising eyebrows at them.

  “Charlie,” Oliver stared in his most serious voice, “will you do me the honor of...”

  “This better be a joke,” Charlie whispered.

  “...will you do me the honor of,” Oliver continued, “going on a date with me?”

  The sigh of relief that left Charlie's mouth echoed throughout the parlor. The color returned to his cheeks as Oliver smiled up at him and waited for his response.

  If you want normal, Charlie, I'll give you what you think is normal.

  “Yes,” Charlie mumbled quickly, “now get up, you're embarrassing yourself.”

  Oliver jumped up and put his arm around Charlie's waist and led him out of the parlor, leaning into his ear.

  “I think I embarrassed you more,” he teased, “and you should be flattered. I don't do dates.”

  Oh Charlie, you really do have me working hard for this.

  Chapter

  15

  Charlie wrapped his arms around his body. Not because he was cold, he was quite the opposite, anxiously waiting outside the new flat for Oliver to arrive with the paint. After almost forcing his mother to stay at Aunt Evelyn's, he was looking forward to the alone time with Oliver. After Oliver's performance in the parlor, he'd spent the entire night replaying the scene from start to finish.

  For Charlie, Oliver's public display of affection felt like the first time Charlie had truly begun to think that whatever he had with Oliver, was perfectly normal, even if he was still scared to commit.

  “Aren't you a sight for sore eyes in the morning,” Oliver teased as he hopped out of his car.

  “Nice to see you too,” Charlie's smile bubbled across his face.

  “Did I say sore eyes? I meant sore cock because you're just too fucking gorgeous,” Oliver said, walking towards him slowly.

  He bit the air between them, making Charlie's heart flutter.

  “You're just full of compliments today, aren't you?” Charlie said.

  Oh god, does he think we're going to do 'it' upstairs?

  “Help me get the cans out of the trunk will you?” Oliver said, jabbing him playfully in the arm.

  When Oliver popped the trunk open, Charlie instantly knew that they weren't the 'old cans of paint collecting dust in the garage' like he had suggested. The metallic shine on the lids was far too bright for second hand paint.

  “Unless you kindly polished all of these cans, I'm pretty sure they weren't just 'lying around'?” Charlie asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Don't be silly,” Oliver laughed, running his hands through his hair, “grab that little one will you and I'll get the rest. Don't want you straining yourself again.”

  Oliver playfully winked at him, but Charlie could see through his lie.

  “If they're not new, then why is there a receipt here?” Charlie said, pulling a long piece of paper from in between two tins.

  “Erm, that's for something else,” he protested, trying to grab the paper from Charlie who was already scanning it.

  When Charlie's eyes fixed on the price on the bottom of the paper, his heart nearly stopped.

  “This is a joke right? $300? Are we painting the walls in liquid gold?” Charlie cried.

  “Does it matter?” Oliver said, snatching the receipt out of Charlie's hands and stuffing it in his jeans, “those walls are dark. I had to get the extra coverage stuff.”

  The corners of Oliver's mouth twitched and his eyes widened like a small adorable puppy,

  “You didn't have to do this,” Charlie sighed.

  “Your Mom was just so excited. I couldn't let her move into the darkest apartment in history.”

  “I'll pay you back,” Charlie protested as they lifted the heavy metal cans from the trunk, “every penny.”

  “Shut up,” Oliver laughed, “pay me back in $300 worth of amazing sex.”

  Oh no, he does think we are having sex today. Charlie tried to laugh it off, but too loudly to be believable. When they reached the top of the stairs and dumped the cans in the center of the room, Charlie realized it wasn't so bad. He spent the entire night convincing himself it was too small and dark, but his imagination had played tricks on him. With the furniture all cleaned down, it looked rather homely.

  “There's a lot of pink here,” Charlie said nervously as he examined the cans.

  “Well, I thought we could do the hall pink like Poppy wanted, and then use the rest on her bedroom,” Oliver said, “and yours obviously.”

  “Very funny,” Charlie teased, slightly relieved when he saw that the rest of the tins were white.

  “I do pay attention,” Oliver smiled.

  Along with the paint, Oliver had bought rollers, brushes, paint sheets and overalls. Oliver handed a white overall to Charlie, who had purposefully worn old clothes for that reason. When he tried to put up a fight about wearing one, Oliver stripped down to his very tight white boxers in front of him and climbed into the overalls, leaving one of the buttons at the shoulder undone so half of his perfectly toned and tanned body was on show.

  Just looking at him half exposing himself, Charlie could feel his cock starting to twitch and throb in his pants. He was praying that he wasn't going to have another repeat of the explosion from the day before. Joining Oliver and stripping down to his underwear, Charlie put one of his feet clumsily through the white overalls, sure that Oliver had picked the tightest and most rev
ealing ones he could find.

  “Need some help?” Oliver called as he started to lay the sheets over the dark brown carpet and furniture.

  “It's not a wet suit, I think I can manage.”

  “That's a shame. I wanted to put my hands all over that body of yours.”

  The heat quickly flushed to Charlie's cheeks as he pulled the overalls up to his chest, buttoning it up to the straps over his shoulder.

  “Do you actually like my body?” Charlie asked after he'd folded his clothes into one of the left over bags.

  “What sort of question is that?” Oliver whispered, “I can't get your body out of my head.”

  Damn you butterflies.

  “I wish I looked more like you though,” Charlie sighed, thinking of his own skinny and pale body.

  “Why? I love you just the way you are.”

  LOVE.

  Charlie's heart quickly started to race and he could feel the sweat collecting around his hairline. He searched Oliver's face to see if he was being serious, but he looked as relaxed and calm as ever. It's just a turn of phrase Charlie. Nothing more.

  “We should get started,” Charlie smiled, “there's so much to do.”

  As he watched Oliver pour the paint into a tray he tried to understand why hearing him say the 'L word' made him feel so uneasy.

  I don't love Oliver. I can't. Can I?

  ***

  Oliver fixated his eyes on the paint as he let the words echo throughout his mind.

  'I love you just the way you are'

  You're an idiot Oliver. You're going to scare him off.

  As he dunked his roller in the paint and rolled it against the plastic tray, he tried to convince himself Charlie hadn't noticed. It was just a slip of the tongue, but it had felt so natural when he said it.

  He knew he had strong feelings for Charlie, he'd come to terms with that. It had been a while since he'd looked at Charlie and just seen 'virgin I want to fuck', but he didn't know what it had been replaced with. Virgin he wanted to fuck and then spoon and take out for dates?

  Just the date thing alone had surprised Oliver. Oliver didn't do dates. Oliver 'hung out' and 'watched movies', which ultimately always ended up with some fooling around, if not sex.

  As Charlie dunked his roller in the paint, Oliver watched him and tried to summon the first emotion that would come to mind. When he felt his mouth water and his heartbeat speed up, he could almost imagine the pink haze taking over his brain.

  Oh shit, is this love?

  “It's covering nicely,” Charlie said as the dark green paper turned bright white.

  “It is,” Oliver said casually.

  It's too soon to feel love, isn't it?

  “I think it's going to look quite nice when it's finished.”

  Oh god, he's making small talk. He heard me say it.

  “What are we?” Oliver asked bluntly.

  Charlie took a side step to continue covering the wall in the bright white.

  “What do you mean?” Charlie laughed, “We're painting?”

  Rolling his eyes, Oliver wished that he wouldn't dance around answering questions so much

  “I mean, what are we? What are we to each other? Are we dating? Are we together? Are we exclusive? Boyfriends?”

  Charlie dropped the roller and it landed on the white sheet below and Oliver could clearly see his hand shaking as he bent down to pick it up.

  “Erm,” Charlie stuttered.

  Oliver wasn't the type to label anything. Usually, he'd just go along with it and if something was a little more than 'just sex', it'd always fizzle out before it got to the labeling stage.

  With Charlie though, he wanted to know.

  I need to know.

  “C'mon,” Oliver said, trying to sound friendly, “what am I to you?”

  “An irritation,” Charlie laughed.

  “No seriously, I want to know,” Oliver asked forcefully.

  “Does it matter? I thought we were taking it slow,” Charlie said, furiously running the roller over the same spot.

  “It does to me,” Oliver sighed.

  They painted in silence for a second and the sound of a police siren speeding down the street traveled up the stairs and echoed around the apartment.

  “I don't know. I have no idea what to call this, it's all new to me.”

  “I'm a person Charlie, not a dog. I'm not another species, how different is it? Just because I don't have a pussy or tits? You've never even had sex with a woman, so why does it matter?”

  Oliver could have hit himself. He didn't intend for it to come out like he was shaming him for his virginity.

  “You're acting like a dog now,” Charlie snapped, “why does it need a title?”

  “Because I want you to be mine, that is why. Not in a possessive way, but because I want to know I'm not wasting my time and you're not going to run off with the first piece of skirt that shows you a bit of attention,” Oliver said in the most calm voice he could summon.

  From the beetroot shade of Charlie's usual pasty complexion he could sense that he was pushing the ticking time bomb too far. Oliver was half expecting Charlie to dump his roller in the tray and storm out into the street.

  “I'm yours,” Charlie snapped, “is that okay?”

  He did slam his roller into the tray, but he didn't leave. Instead, he took a large step towards Oliver who quickly joined him, and dumped the roller next to Charlie's, splashing white paint everywhere. Thank god for the paint sheets.

  “That's all I needed to hear,” Oliver whispered, “because I'm starting to feel some serious things for you boy. Even if you are sometimes a snappy bitch.”

  Despite the insult, a reluctant smile spread across Charlie's face, which only further made Oliver's heart beat fast. He could feel it trying to pound out of his chest.

  “Likewise,” Charlie said.

  “This is the part where you come and kiss me,” Oliver whispered.

  Without even hesitating, Charlie pounced on Oliver, clutching his face in both hands, quickly pressing their lips together. Stumbling backwards into the kitchen counter, Charlie pressed him up against it, running his hands against the exposed part of his smooth chest.

  Oliver's cock quickly sprang to attention at the aggressiveness of the otherwise shy Charlie.

  Oh boy, I could get used to this.

  Charlie's fingers fumbled with the remaining button, and when he finally ripped it open, the overalls slid down his torso, and caught on his tenting erection. Returning the gesture, Oliver unbuttoned Charlie's overalls, with much more ease than Charlie had managed. In one drop, they fell to the ground and they instantly pressed their firm bodies against each other.

  One handed, Oliver yanked his briefs off, lifting his knees so that he didn't have to leave Charlie's lips. I could stay on these lips all day.

  “Did you lock the door?” Charlie panted.

  “No,” Oliver laughed as he tore Charlie's briefs to his ankles.

  Gripping his slender hips, he spun him round and pressed his buttocks against the old, white marble counter.

  “Sit on the counter,” Oliver whispered.

  Obeying, Charlie quickly jumped up on the counter, with a look of lust in his eyes. Under his touch, Oliver could feel Charlie's skin shaking.

  Pulling his body forward slightly, Oliver knelt down so that he was face to face with Charlie's crotch. Oliver blew cold air down the inside of Charlie's thighs, making him shiver and tense, before seductively running his tongue tantalizingly close to Charlie's cock. With each lick, a small gasp escaped Charlie's mouth and he clutched tighter to the counters edge.

  “Are you ready?” Oliver whispered, licking his lips and looking up into Charlie's nervous eyes.

  Charlie didn't say anything, instead he nodded his head. With the biggest smile on his face, and hunger in eyes, Oliver started to gently kiss the tip of Charlie's head, which twitched in reaction. Already, he could hear the short breaths of Charlie turn to whimpers as his body sta
rted to tense.

  Oliver ran his tongue up Charlie's shaft, impressed at its length. Charlie's fingers ran through Oliver's hair, grasping and caressing. One by one, he wrapped his fingers around Charlie's manhood, before taking it in his mouth and flicking his tongue gently across the head, to the sound of delighted gasps. Glancing up quickly, before expertly taking his full length to the back of his throat, Oliver couldn't help but be impressed by his own technique.

  Charlie's panting grew louder and whether through ecstasy or lust, grabbed the back of his head, forcing him to speed up his rhythm to Charlie's desire. When he felt Charlie's shaft start to twitch and bounce against his palette, he knew the impromptu blowjob was about to reach its satisfying climax. Charlie's fist let go of Oliver's hair and gripped the cold edge of the marble.

  The panting quickly stopped when Oliver stopped sucking and surfaced. Disappointment quickly spread across Charlie's face as he stared down at Oliver who was smirking up at him.

  “Do you want me to fuck you?” Oliver growled deeply, feeling his own cock tighten at the thought of his balls slamming against Charlie's.

  He didn't respond. Instead, his hand gripped the back of Oliver's hair and slammed his head back down on his erection, right down to the base of the shaft. Surprised by his new lovers sudden dominance, Oliver gagged and his eyes began to water as both of Charlie's hands clenched onto his hair and his hips started to thrust forwards, pounding down his throat as he tried his best to make sure his teeth were out of the way.

  Blinking through the tears, he felt Charlie's body tense up, and as his hands tightened into a fist, gripping chunks of his hair painfully, Oliver couldn't escape the fact he'd never felt more turned on in his entire life.

  A deep moan escaped Charlie's throat as lashing of warm and salty liquid made its way down Oliver's throat, which he swallowed instantly. The hands clutching his hair quickly loosened and the cock slid out of his mouth. Oliver stared at the still twitching cock in front of him and when he noticed the last few drops running down the side of the shaft, he leaned in and licked them up.

  Rocking back on his ankles, Oliver rose so that he leveled with Charlie's eyes. He leaned in between his open legs and wrapping his hands around his back, cupped the top of his buttocks.