The Hero's Son - Part V

Part V

Rip lingered in the shower longer than normal. This was the shower in the bathroom attached to his room, not the shower in the men's locker room, so he was somewhat assured of privacy. He felt like he desperately needed to calm down and figure out how to not blurt out everything that had happened the next time he saw R.J. He started banging his head on the wall.

“How could I be so stupid!” He muttered in anguish. He's going to think I'm a pervert and he's going to hate me!

The door opened, forcing Rip to abruptly stop creating a racket on the shower wall.

“What's that noise, and what's taking you so long? I've already eaten breakfast and gotten ready for morning sparring,” R.J. informed him.

“Oh just shoot me now!” Rip whispered so softly that R.J. had to mentally rewind the sentence a couple of times to figure out what was said. Suddenly, Rip gasped in sudden understanding. “Jenna!”

Of course! I should get more serious with Jenna! If I do, I'll forget all about R.J.!

“What about Jenna?” R.J. asked, using the toilet since he was in the bathroom and the sound of the water running made him have to go.

Rip peeked around the edge of the curtain. Images of what he had done last night entered his mind causing him to turn red and groan in longing. He forced himself to answer R.J.'s question.

“Jenna's waiting for me to spar with her. She's also been hinting that I should ask her out. I think I'm going to do that.”

“Why?” R.J. wondered curiously, flushing the toilet.

Rip hopped back to avoid the suddenly scalding water. “Because I like her and she's easy to get along with. I know she'll have my back in a fight and well... everyone thinks we've been going out for years anyway, so why not ask her out?”

R.J. was silent, he didn't know what to say. That was all true, but he had a feeling that Rip wasn't telling him everything. His most burning question erupted without warning. “Is there anyone else you like? More than Jenna, I mean.”

Rip decided to turn the water off so that he could avoid the question, but it only bought him a couple of seconds. “Uh... I'm gonna be late for sparring.”

“Yeah, okay,” R.J. replied in disappointment. He left the bathroom so that he could think. He was so confused right now, and normally talking to Rip helped clear his head, but Rip refused to actually talk to him about the confusing topic.

Rip exited the shower and got dressed in record time. He rushed off to find Jenna. Going out with her will fix me. I'll fall in love with her, and we'll eventually get married and have kids and...

Rip took a deep breath. And then I'll live with her instead of R.J., and I won't think about him like this anymore.

R.J. followed Rip at a normal pace. By the time he got to the sparring room, he saw Rip dragging Jenna towards the almost never used hallway. … The same hallway that turned into a corridor that led to the Prison. It was just 50 feet away that R.J.'s dad had been shot and killed in an attempt to hurt Rip.

Rip kissed Jenna urgently. This was the first time he had initiated a kiss, and Jenna was beside herself with happiness. She wrapped her arms around Rip's neck, and pressed her body into his.

R.J. watched them with a dark expression. It took him a minute to realize why it hurt so much to see them kissing. I'm jealous! Not jealous in a 'you're stealing my best friend' kind of way, but jealous in a 'that's mine!' way.

“Sorry to interrupt,” R.J. stated loudly so they would definitely hear him, “but I need Rip's help for a minute.”

“No problem,” Jenna replied. “Should I tell your mom that you two won't be at sparring?”

Rip shrugged but R.J. nodded. “Yeah, this might take a while.”

“Okay, see you later,” Jenna waved and left.

R.J. wanted to take Rip onto the roof where they likely wouldn't be interrupted, but realized that there were security cameras up there. Taking Rip to their room seemed like a bad idea, so he decided to bring him into a private conference room; dragging him by the hand. Once alone R.J. punched Rip across the jaw.

“You coward!”

Rip was confused and his expression clearly showed it as he rubbed his jaw.

R.J. continued. “I didn't realize that you were the type to run away when faced with a dilemma rather than stay and fight!”

“Wait... What are you talking about?!” Rip demanded.

“Jenna! You're only with her because you are too scared to admit that you'd rather be with someone else!” R.J. explained emphatically.

Rip felt his heart stop. He pretended like he still had no idea what R.J. was talking about.“Who?”

R.J. roared in frustration, and then decided to just make it absolutely clear so that there was no misunderstanding. He took a deep breath, and then kissed Rip.

Rip was too stunned to do anything for a minute, but then his feelings for R.J. took over and he melted. He wrapped his arms around R.J. tightly, and backed him into the wall. He felt ravenous, and demanded a kiss so deep that he thought he might get lost in it.

R.J. felt his heart pound erratically. No wonder I've been silent and moody lately! I haven't wanted to admit to myself that watching Rip with Jenna made me angry! I wanted to kill her for touching him! He tugged on the back of Rip's shirt, trying to meld their bodies together so that they could never be separated again.

“Uh … Nevermind, I'll use a different room!” The door shut so quickly that it thundered as if it had been slammed.

“Oh my god!” Rip wailed, feeling as if he had just been shot, and was now dying. “My dad walked in on us!”

“What do we do?” R.J. asked.

“I don't know! Everything is happening so fast!” Rip exclaimed, sounding like he was about to cry. “Why did you kiss me anyway?”

R.J. got very quiet, and looked at his feet. “Because... Well... Why did you do what you did to me?”

Rip blushed redder than ever and stammered. The urge to cry got harder to fight, but he managed to hold back. “I, uh... I was drunk and...”

“Don't lie to me!” R.J. yelled angrily. “I know you've kissed me before!”

Rip finally lost it. He pressed his head to the wall to hide the tears streaming down his cheeks as he quietly begged. “Please don't hate me! I couldn't stop myself! I'm trying hard not to feel this way about you, but I...”

R.J. stroked Rip's hair, and then pulled him so that Rip's head was resting on his chest rather than the wall. “Hey... I'm not mad, and I don't hate you.”

It took him a moment to gather up the courage, but he finally forced himself to continue. “Rip... you're the only person in my life that I felt I could truly trust. You are the only one who has been there for me since the first day we met. I betrayed you and you forgave me! I would do anything for you...”

Rip slowly stopped crying; calmed by R.J.'s honesty. A frown pulled his brows together. “But … that sounds like … like … you're only trying to be nice to me. Like you're only trying to pay me back, or something.”

R.J. shook his head. “No! It's not like that at all! When I see you kissing Jenna, I want to jump in and start a fight!” He kissed Rip again to remind him that he was the one who had finally gathered the courage to do so just a few minutes ago.

Rip was completely relieved. “I was so afraid that you would hate me for being weird... perverted... dirty...”

R.J. shook his head.

“So...” Rip wondered. “What do we do now? I really don't want to tell everyone and then turn on the TV to find out that it's on the evening news.”

“I agree!” R.J. stated fervently. “Maybe we should just keep this to ourselves.”

“But what about Jenna?” Rip wondered.

“Of course we'll have to tell her,” R.J. replied, obviously jealous at the idea of Jenna kissing Rip ever again.

Rip squeezed R.J.'s hand with a smile. “Come on, let's go do that.”

They walked to the door, and then opened it just a crack so they could peek into the hall.

“Um, I wonder if we should go find my dad or avoid him for the rest of our lives?” Rip asked quietly.

As it turned out, Henry was waiting for them – leaning up against the wall next to the door – and heard the question. “I'd say avoiding me for the rest of your lives is probably going a bit too far.”

Rip jumped. He stifled a shout of surprise, and then pressed a hand to his rapidly beating heart. “Dad...”

Henry gestured for them to step back so that he could join them in the room. “I canceled the meeting I was going to have so that I could talk to you two.” He shut the door behind them, and then stared at them silently for a moment.

“Dad, I...”

Henry held up a hand. “You don't have to explain. I'm pretty sure I have a good idea of what's going on. I just want to let you know that I'm not upset. Shocked, yes, but not upset.”

Rip was honestly speechless. R.J. gave a small smile, fidgeting nervously. “Thanks... Mr. Plantagenet...

Henry gave him a puzzled look. “Haven't we gotten to the stage where you call me dad yet? Or at the very least Henry.” By this, he was referring the the fact that he and Renee had cared for and all but adopted R.J. for the last three and a half years.

R.J. chuckled, and nodded. “Thanks, Henry.”

“Come here,” Henry insisted, pulling both boys into a hug. “You two could never do anything to make me want to stop talking to you. So please don't feel like you have to avoid me just because you're going through an awkward and embarrassing time.”

He paused to chuckle. “Of course, that doesn't mean I want to hear all the little details that are better off remaining private!”

Rip and R.J laughed in agreement.

After that, Henry was back to business as usual. “Since you've already skipped morning sparring, you should both go gear up. Remember, you're scheduled to go on patrol with me in 20 minutes.”

Rip wanted to protest that they were old enough to go on patrol by themselves now, but Henry held up a hand with a knowing smirk.

“And before you can even argue, I should also let you know that you're going to be practicing your driving so that you can not only pass your driver's test, but the rigorous and demanding Heroes driving test too,” he informed his son.

Rip immediately grinned. “Yes sir!” He beckoned to R.J., and they ran off to the gear room together.

*******

That evening, when they returned from patrol, Jenna was waiting for Rip. She had been answering the phone all day, so they had talked from time to time, but they hadn't had a chance to actually talk. She practically ambushed Rip the moment he stepped out of the patrol car.

“Come with me!” She insisted, dragging him to where she had his hoverboard waiting for them. She hopped on, and then waited for him to comply. He took a deep breath – glancing back at R.J. and his dad – and then stepped onto the board in front of her.

“Where are we going?” He asked as she snuggled up to his back and wrapped her arms around his waist.

“To the park or anywhere really, I just don't want to be interrupted again like we were this morning,” she told him.

Rip flew them several feet up, and then in the general direction of the park. “Um, Jenna?”

“Yeah?” She asked almost breathlessly, certain that he was finally about to ask her out.

“I need to tell you something important.” He stopped them so that they were hovering over a tree and high enough up that no one could really hear them. Well, not unless they happen to fly by on their own hoverboard. He carefully turned around so that he was facing her.

She held onto him tightly so that she didn't wobble and knock them off balance. “Tell me what?”

“I think I'm in love... with someone else...” Rip confessed.

“What?” Jenna asked in confusion.

“Listen, I really like you, and I consider you one of my best friends, but I really think I love someone else. I figured I'd better tell you now before we went any further.”

“Who,” Jenna demanded, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Who is this other person that you love?”

“I don't want to tell you who,” Rip replied evasively.

Jenna huffed almost derisively. “You say I'm one of your best friends, but you won't even trust me to know who has stolen your heart!”

“It's not that! I just... I just don't know anything for sure yet. I only figured it out this morning...”

“This morning...” Jenna murmured. Her eyes got round, and she gaped in stunned realization. “R.J. …”

Rip nodded slowly in confirmation.

“Oh...” Jenna murmured softly. “I see that so clearly now. You two were always very close, and when we started hanging out more, R.J. seemed resentful. He's the one who interrupted us this morning because he was jealous. Why didn't I realize that sooner?”

Rip shrugged. “How could you have? We didn't realize it!”

“Please don't dump me on live TV!” Jenna begged. “I know it's selfish, but I'd rather let the city go on thinking we're together. We never were together, so nothing has to change, except... I guess I'll have to stop kissing you.”

“I don't want the entire city to know what's going on either!” Rip agreed. “But you're right; you can't kiss me anymore.”

Jenna was still crying, but now she buried her face in his chest. “I think I've loved you since I first saw you, but... looking back... You've always been more interested in R.J. than in me. I think somewhere deep inside, I half knew this was going to happen.”

“I'm sorry,” Rip apologized, trying to comfort her with a hug.

“You know what?” Jenna asked suddenly, wiping the tears from her eyes. “My mom said something to me not too long ago that makes a lot of sense. She told me that I seemed to be slacking off as a Hero in training. When I was at home, rather than practice my skills, I'd lay on my bed thinking about you. She was worried that I was just pretending to be a Hero so that I could be near you.”

Jenna shook her head with a small laugh. “I got so angry at her for thinking that! But in a way, she was right. I was letting you distract me from what I really want in life. I've wanted to be a Hero since I was old enough to point a toy gun at an imaginary bad guy! Maybe this is my wake up call; telling me to focus on what I really want before I lose track of it completely.”

“That's an interesting way to look at it,” Rip said, impressed with how well she was taking the news.

“Can you bring me home now? I need to cry, eat a gallon of ice cream, and then take a hot bath,” Jenna informed him.

“O... kay,” Rip replied in concern. He guided them to her house, and then disengaged the gravity so that she could hop off.

“I'll see you tomorrow for sparring,” she stated with a small wave, and then ran all the way to her bedroom.

Rip floated home, not in a rush to get back. It's going to be bed time soon, and then what?

His mom was just setting dinner on the table. She pulled Rip into a hug. “Your dad told me what happened. I want you to know that I'm not disappointed, and I'm not going to love you any less if you decide that girls just aren't for you.”

“Thanks mom,” Rip sighed in relief, and then returned her hug with a tight squeeze.

She laughed. “Hey! We're Heroes! We spend most of our time defending good guys from bad guys, and the rest of the time we're defending the rights of all people to live freely. How could we turn our backs on everything we believe just because you're our son?”

Rip didn't say anything. He hadn't had any time to think about it at all, but if he had, he probably would have realized that his parents would be okay with it. The rest of the city, however... Well, even though it was supposedly acceptable to be gay, there was still harassment and judgment. Enough to be cautious about going public with the news.

They ate dinner in silence at first, and Rip felt awkward. Finally, Henry started telling jokes about their day. After that, it felt like a normal family meal, and Rip mentally sighed in relief. Even though they had said they were okay, it hadn't really felt like it.

Then – much too soon in Rip's highly nervous opinion – it was time for bed. Rip could see his parents notice the nervous tension that suddenly sprang up between him and R.J. Henry glanced at Renee, who shrugged, and then muttered in her husband's ear so that they couldn't hear her.

“It's not like we have an extra room for R.J. to stay in. I guess we just have to trust them to do what's right for them. Besides, it's probably already happened.”

Henry nodded in reluctant agreement, unable to argue any particular point. “Uh... good night boys.” He said and then gestured for his wife to follow him.

She smiled, and gave each of them a hug first. “Remember to set your alarm, you have early morning phone duty,” she reminded R.J.

He nodded.

“Good night,” she wished them, and then followed her husband to their room.

“I'll be damned if they're the only ones having fun tonight, Mrs. Plantagenet,” Henry whispered in her ear, making her giggle.

Meanwhile, Rip and R.J. were still in the dinning room, too nervous to go to their room.

“So... uh...” Rip finally managed to say. “What happens now?”

R.J. looked at his feet. “I won't actually be 16 for another month, and I was kinda thinking that we'd wait until then before doing anything serious. That way...” R.J. hesitated, not sure how to say this.

Rip smiled, already knowing what he was going to say. “That way we'll have had a month to get used to the idea of going out, and if we still want to do it then, we won't have any regrets.”

R.J. nodded in agreement. “Because if we just went ahead and did it tonight, and then felt weird in the morning... We could ruin our friendship.”

“That's exactly how I feel!” Rip felt like a weight had just been taken off his chest. “Now there's no pressure; we can just kiss and we both know that the other isn't expecting anything more.”

Their nervousness changed to excitement. Suddenly they couldn't wait to get to their bedroom! They smiled at each other as they walked. It seemed to take forever, but finally their door was closed and they were pretty much guaranteed privacy.

Rip placed a hand on R.J.'s jaw and neck. “Are you sure this is okay?”

R.J. nodded. They leaned into each other, their mouths joining as if made to be together. As soon as one kiss ended, another took it's place.

Rip tugged R.J.'s shirt off, and then let R.J. return the favor. They also removed their pants, but left their boxers on as a clear signal that they weren't going to go too far.

R.J. resumed their kiss, but now he was the demanding one. He backed them towards Rip's bed. Rip hadn't expected the bed, and they ended up tumbling onto it. Both laughed, shifting until they were cuddled up together.

“As much as I would love to kiss you all night, I do have to get up at 2AM for phone duty.” R.J. stated.

“At least you can go back to sleep when your done,” Rip pointed out with a wry smile. “I'm scheduled to go on patrol with dad at 8 AM. Which means I have to get up by 6 for breakfast and morning sparring, and then go straight to work. All I really want to do tomorrow is snuggle up in bed with you.”

“Me too,” R.J. murmured, kissing Rip again.

They held each other tight and kissed until R.J.'s alarm on his cellphone went off.

“Oh crap!” R.J. shouted in astonishment. “I've got to get ready for my shift!”

“Already?!” Rip asked incredulously. “I'm sorry, I should have let you sleep!”

“Don't be,” R.J. chuckled. He kissed Rip once more, tempted to linger in bed with him longer, but forced himself to get up.

“I feel like I should keep you company,” Rip admitted guiltily.

R.J. shook his head. “Don't. As you said, I can go back to bed later, but you need at least a little sleep before you go on patrol.”

Rip nodded as R.J. went to take a quick shower, spending a good half of it taking care of a need that had been building all night. As he got dressed, he noticed that Rip was fast asleep. He grinned, and lightly ruffled Rip's hair.

“Aww, you look like a cute little kid when you sleep... Richard,” he whispered. A quick little kiss later, R.J. left the room.

“Good thing I only have to go downstairs,” R.J. muttered to himself, certain that he'd probably not make it if he had to drive somewhere.

Jack just so happened to be the person already on phone duty. “Coffee?”

R.J. nodded fervently. “Yes, please!”

Jack laughed. “I thought teenagers had no problems staying up all night!”

“Ha!” R.J. snorted. “I'm usually too exhausted to stay up until midnight even. It's just, tonight, I didn't get any sleep at all, and now I really wish I had!”

Jack grinned suspiciously. “Oh really? What were you doing?”

R.J. blushed, took the mug of coffee from Jack, and turned to add sugar and cream to it. “Nothing.”

“Riiiight!” Jack stated, but then decided that he was too tired to heckle R.J. any further. “Well anyway, I'm gonna take off. I want to catch some Zs before my daughter wakes me up. … She's adamant about never missing a morning sparring session!”

“Go ahead and get some sleep. I've got this,” R.J. assured him.

Jack took off with a friendly wave.

Unfortunately, there weren't any calls to occupy R.J.'s attention until after 6AM, which meant that he had to exercise and drink an entire pot of coffee just to keep from dozing off.

Jack returned with his daughter Gracie just as Jenna arrived. They were both early for sparring, and R.J. wondered if they had even eaten breakfast. He checked his watch, and realized that Rip was more than likely just pouring cereal into a bowl at that very moment.

Jack whistled in mock disapproval. “Damn! You look terrible! Staying up all night really disagrees with you!”

“Ha ha,” R.J. replied sarcastically.

“If you want, I'll take over phone duty so you can get some sleep,” Jack offered.

“Nah, I've only got a little more than an hour left,” R.J. declined. “I think I can manage.”

“Want me to brew you another pot of coffee?” Jack asked.

R.J. shook his head. “I'm afraid that if I drink anymore, I'll be too wired to sleep!”

Jack laughed and then headed to the locker room. Gracie had long since ran off to get ready. This meant that Jenna was alone with R.J.

She regarded him silently for a couple of moments. Her eyes were slightly red, and R.J. realized that she must have been crying all night. She also looked like she was fighting the urge to kill him. Her entire demeanor had darkened the moment Jack had mentioned the R.J. had been up all night.

R.J. decided to say something before she exploded and started screaming for all to hear. “Jenna... You know how the media has assumed that you and Rip were going out for years?”

“Yeah,” she murmured quietly.

“Well, now you seem to be assuming something happened that hasn't. Rip and I are brand new, you know? We don't quite know how we feel yet,” R.J. tried to explain.

Jenna nodded. “I understand that, I do... I just can't help feeling like I'd like nothing better than to kick your ass!” She exclaimed quietly so that no one else would hear her.

“Okay,” R.J. agreed. “I get off phone duty at 8, just as sparring ends. We'll wait until the room clears out, and then we'll spar. Just you and me.”

Jenna smirked. “That's a great idea! I'll be waiting...” She walked away, certain that she would win the match.

R.J. got phone call after phone call, which made the end of his shift arrive surprisingly quickly. None of them were serious, but even so, he ended up talking on the phone until almost 8:15.

Renee took over the phones, since she always had phone duty after sparring. A call came in immediately – which she answered – a frown wrinkling her brow as she noticed R.J. follow Jenna into the sparring room.

Adrenaline raced through R.J.'s veins, making him feel wide awake. Jenna bounced lightly as he warmed up. She was already sweaty from the morning, and kept hitting her fists together in a boxing maneuver.

The moment R.J. signaled that he was ready, Jenna attacked him. At first, they planned to play by the rules of sparring, but the rules went out the window about a minute later. Jenna seriously wanted to kill R.J., and at the moment, he felt like he'd happily return the favor.

They were evenly matched, so they managed to block most of each other's blows, but since they weren't playing nice, when they did connect, it did damage. Both of them soon looked like they had been on the wrong end of a vicious gang brawl. After a half an hour, both were panting heavily from exertion, but neither was willing to call it quits.

Jenna found an opening, and threw R.J. to the ground. She landed on him, and then punched him in the face repeatedly.

R.J. had officially run out of energy, and welcomed the impending blackness of unconsciousness.

“Jenna!” Renee shouted in disbelief as she finally got a chance to come check on them. “Stop!”

It was hard, but Jenna forced herself follow orders. She rolled to the side, and lay panting as the rage faded. R.J. hadn't passed out yet, and seriously wished he had. Jenna unexpectedly started giggling.

“I guess I won!” She said.

R.J. laughed. “I guess you did.”

Their laughter got harder and harder, and Renee watch them in utter bafflement. They sounded fine, but they looked terrible! Squaring her shoulders, she decided that this was an excellent time to use her first aid skills.

To her relief, nothing was broken, but the bruises indicated that they were both going to be in serious pain for a couple of days. There might even be internal bleeding. She sighed, and pulled out her cellphone to call Jenna's parents.

“Hi, it's Renee... there's been a situation. It seems Jenna and R.J. had a disagreement and decided to settle it with their fists when no one was looking. I think it would be a good idea to bring her to the doctor just to be sure she's okay.”

Jenna's mom agreed to come get her right away, and Renee then called for someone to cover her phone shift so that she could bring R.J. in. Surprisingly, both were now asleep.

Two hours later, Renee chatted with Jenna's mom on the phone, and was relieved that neither of them was seriously injured. Just seriously bruised! They both looked worse than ever with swollen eyes and puffy lips; not to mention black and purple marks all over their body.

“Care to explain what that was all about?” Renee asked as she drove R.J. home. He was awake, but only because he was waiting to get into his bed.

He shrugged. “Just... we just had to fight and get it out of our system.”

“Do I have to keep you two separate from now on?” Renee wondered.

R.J. shook his head. “Nope. I think we'll be fine from now on.”

“Good!”

R.J. was asleep the moment he hit his bed, and hoped to stay that way until tomorrow morning. However, Rip woke him up shortly after his patrol ended at 2PM.

“Oh my god! Are you okay? What happened?” Rip demanded, shaking R.J. awake.

“Ask your mom,” R.J. slurred sleepily.

Rip shook his head, and snuggled up to R.J. “I'll ask her later. Right now, I need a nap!”

R.J. nodded his head, mumbling in agreement.

Shortly before dinner, Renee and Henry decided to check on R.J. to see if he felt like eating. They stood in the doorway staring at the sleeping boys.

“Aww...” Renee purred at the sight of them cuddled up, asleep. “How adorable!” She pulled out her cellphone, and snapped a quick picture.

Henry chuckled. “That's going to be blackmail later, isn't it?”

“Oh yeah!” Renee agreed.

She sat on the edge of the bed, and gently shook them awake. “Rip... It's almost time for dinner. R.J., do you think you'll be able to eat?”

Rip moaned because he was damn near starving. “Food!”

R.J. moaned because he hurt, a lot. “Pain...”

“I tell you what, I'll get you some pain killers, and then I'll have Rip bring some food after they've had a chance to kick in,” Renee suggested.

“Sounds good,” R.J. agreed.

Rip sat up and then rubbed his eyes. With red cheeks, he subtly checked to make sure he was still fully clothed, and then slid off the bed.

“So, mom, R.J. said you'd tell me why he looks like he lost a fight with a champion boxer.”

Renee shrugged, leading Rip out of the room. “All I know is that he and Jenna beat each other up. She looks as bad as he does, but thankfully they'll both be fine in a couple of days.”

“He fought with Jenna?” Rip asked incredulously. “Why would he do that?”

Henry chuckled, following them. “I can think of one reason.”

Rip rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Idiots...”

*******

For R.J.'s birthday, he asked for a small party. He didn't really want to invite anyone other than Rip and his parents, but Renee insisted that – if they were going to throw a party anyway – that they invite all the Heroes. This meant that R.J.'s party was about a 1/3 the size of Rip's. R.J. had never wanted to make a big deal out of his birthday, usually wanting to simply go see a movie, but this big little party seemed easy enough to handle.

Once again, Henry and Renee gave permission for a smaller after party for just the guys, but both Rip and R.J had learned their lesson the first time. They wisely drank only a little bit here and there. By midnight, the guys were all ready to pass out, but Rip and R.J were actually sobering up.

R.J. cast Rip a curious look, and Rip nodded. Rip took off while R.J. thanked everyone for the party. Guys kept trying to delay his departure by pressing more drinks into his hands, but he set them all down and insisted that he was exhausted. Finally, the two boys were alone in their room.

Rip decided to speak first. “You said we should wait until your birthday to be sure that we really wanted to do this... I'm sure... Are you?”

R.J. nodded, deciding not to say anything at all. Instead, he simply kissed Rip, and kept on kissing him until their natural hesitation melted away.

Afterwards, they lay in a heap, holding hands. Rip bit his lip in confusion, and looked into R.J.'s eyes.

“Hey... why do you call me Richard when you're cumming?”

R.J. blushed. “Uh... Well, everyone else calls you Rip, and so – in a way – Richard is a special name.”

Rip laughed. “That's true! Even though the media uses my full name from time to time, they have actually caught onto my nickname too. … I like it when you call out my name,” he finished in a sensual murmur.

“Can you...” R.J. hesitated, inexplicably embarrassed. “Just when we're alone... Can you call me by name. My real name I mean.”

Rip smiled, giving him a little kiss as a reward. “Sure... Randy...”

R.J. could not believe how happy he was just then. He squeezed Rip tight and then blurted out, “I think I love you!”

Rip laughed. “Then we're even, because I think I love you too.”

“Let's do it again!” R.J. suggested eagerly.

“I was hoping you'd say that!”

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