The Eye of the Beholder [boyxboy]

Chapter VIII

~Saturday 28th May 2016~

Gray woke with a smile on his face, wondering if the expression had been stuck to his face all night. It wouldn't surprise him, he was one to talk in his sleep too, sometimes even walk. Smiling would be nothing. Then again, he did feel like a bit of a fool, and he would feel even worse if River saw him. The boy would probably tease him, he was childish like that, in a pleasant way of course. Gray didn't resent him, he liked River's immaturity, it was amusing to him. It made him feel young.

Maybe that was a bad thing, and maybe that would be a reason for River to resent him, but he couldn't help it. How could anyone not feel that way around River? He was just so... so amazing. And that made Gray feel awful. River had his whole life ahead of him, Gray was already settled in his own. Was it really fair of him to keep the boy around? To lead him on when he knew the connection between them wasn't sustainable? The boy was a cam girl, for God sake, he wasn't exactly a reliable source of pleasure for Gray?

"You're really gonna walk out on me again?" then again, how could Gray let River walk away when he had the most perfect ass? Gray would just have to follow, he couldn't stop himself, he couldn't distance himself. He was addicted. River was his drug, he was hooked, and he had no intention of trying to stop.

"Don't say it like that, it makes me feel guilty," River turned around, holding his t-shirt in his hand, a gentle smile creasing his lips. He looked as beautiful as ever, if not more, even with his silvery hair sticking out at odd angles and fatigue streaking across his expression. Somehow, even with that 'I just got out of bed' look, River still managed it, he managed to look so damn gorgeous.

"How else do you want me to say it, baby? That's what you're doing, you're walking out," Gray rolled onto his side, stretching an arm out over the tepid side of the bed beside him. A few more minutes and River would have been gone, he would have disappeared once again, leaving the man to wonder whether it was all just a vivid dream. Whether any feelings were even reciprocated.

"Let's call it... avoiding a nasty goodbye," Gray frowned, no longer finding the conversation in any way amusing.

"Goodbye?" he hoped his voice didn't sound too weak, or at least not as weak as he felt. He didn't want River to know how his heart sank at the thought of him leaving, or how a sickness spread through his stomach, or how it left an empty pit within him. River didn't need to know that, he would just think Gray was being clingy.

"You know, the awkward, I'll call you situation. And then breakfast and-" Gray rolled his eyes, drawing back the covers on the bed and patting the mattress in front of him.

"Get back in bed," River arched an eyebrow, his turn to portray the confusion for a brief second. After that, he shook his head, a subtle blush staining onto his cheeks.

"Gray, seriously, you don't need to do this, I don't mind-" Gray wasn't having it. He wasn't going to sit there and let River walk out on him, not if he could do something about it. And he was damn well going to do something about it.

"Riv, get your ass back in this bed before I tie you to it," Gray growled, staring at the boy until River finally sighed, dropping his shirt and stepping closer, "take your pants off too, I'm not having you wearing jeans whilst I'm naked. That just wouldn't be fair," River giggled then, stripping down to his boxers and laying down next to Gray. The man cocked an eyebrow, waiting a few seconds more whilst River fidgeted around, then finally smirking when the boy produced the pair of boxers he had been wearing, tossing them onto the floor behind him.

"You're a terrible influence, daddy, what if I had school?" River moved closer, tangling his legs in with Gray's whilst the man traced around one of the tattoos on his chest. It was an owl, and Gray wondered what it might have symbolized. It wasn't taking flight, or trying to leave, simply content to sit there over River's heart, those wide brown eyes staring blankly outward toward the man. Gray wanted to ask about every one of River's tattoos, he wanted to sit there and listen to all the stories that had meant so much to him that he wanted to remember them forever. He wanted to know everything about him, about his soul and his mind, not just his body.