Avery's Desire Pt. 05

"Okay, answer one question for me." Avery turned to look at Rick, his expression serious and stern.

"Okay..." Rick agreed. "What question?"

"You say that you're in love with me. But your only attracted to females sexually. How do you think this would work?"

"Honestly, I don't know." Rick admitted. "What I do know is that I didn't fall in love with your gender. I fell in love with you, as a person. I would guess that, if you really love someone, gender wouldn't really matter."

"Well that sounds great in theory." Avery told him. "But would you feel the same way if we put that theory to the test?"

"Umm..." Rick dropped his gaze quickly and began to fidget some. He didn't expect Avery to ask him something so blunt and he really didn't know how to answer him.

"Oh for God's sake." Avery rolled his eyes. "I'm not saying I want to run back to my bedroom and screw, I'm just asking you hypothetically. I'm more or less trying to prove a point."

"What point?" Rick asked suddenly.

"That you're mistaking romantic love for something else. Something like— really strong feelings of friendship, or like brotherly love."

"No, I know what I'm feeling and it's not brotherly love or friendship. I'm not confused about that part. I know I'm in love with you. I've had a lot of time to really think about it. I've tried to make sense of it. I've tried to avoid thinking about you or just to think about you in a different way, but I can't. I finally just decided to accept it. I'm not even really sure when it happened, I just know that for a while now, I've been thinking about you all the time."

Rick carefully lifted his eyes so that he could see Avery staring back at him. Now Rick was the one that felt like crying. He didn't know how to explain to Avery how he felt so that Avery would believe him. There were so many things going through his mind now, so many emotions that he couldn't even put a label on. When he opened his mouth again it was as though someone had just opened a flood-gate and everything that he'd been keeping locked up inside came crashing to the surface, flowing over his lips and out in the open with no control or censor, he let everything just spill out, his heart be damned, he just couldn't hold it in anymore.

"I can't get you out of my mind, Avery. I want to be near you all the time. It's really been driving me crazy. It's like every time I'm anywhere close to you I forget how to speak, and breathe, and my brain shuts down. As bad as that sounds though, when I'm not near you, I'm miserable. I wake up in the morning and I swear, all I can think about is your face smiling back at me, and that one thought keeps me going all day long. I don't even know if you actually believe any of this but I'm telling you the truth, I love you."

Rick paused long enough to wipe a few stray tears from his eye and then continued. "I love you for who you are, how you think, how you act, the way you smile, and the way you blush and turn your head when your embarrassed. I love the way you laugh and I love you even more when you cry. Hell, I even love the funny little faces you make when you sneeze. There isn't one damn thing that I can think of that I don't love about; and yes, I even love your body. Male or female, it doesn't matter to me because I love you no matter who or what you are, I'm in love with you, that much I know without a doubt."

Avery sat motionless and listened, intently, as Rick poured his heart out to him. When he was done, Rick sat back and cupped his face in his hands. He was shaking again, exhausted from the out pour of emotions. It was real, at least in Rick's mind. Avery could see that now, Rick really was in love with him. It didn't make sense though. Rick could sit there and say that it didn't matter to him that Avery was a guy but in reality, he wondered, just how quickly Rick would run away if their relationship ever did became sexual. He honestly felt that when it came down to it, despite the love he claimed to have, Rick would never truly be comfortable with a man.

Avery didn't blame him in the least though. How could he? Avery knew himself well enough to know that he could never be with a woman, and he just assumed it was the same for Rick. To Avery's knowledge, Rick had never been with a guy before, so how could he possible know that he would be okay with it, in love or not? It was the ultimate question, how far was Rick willing to go for love? Avery considered it. There was really only way to know for sure, and Avery had to find out. He figured, once Rick realized that he couldn't do it, he would abandon his feelings for Avery, and things could go back to normal. It was worth the risk, so Avery decided turn theory into reality, and challenge Rick.

"Prove it." He told him, confident that Rick wouldn't be able to. "If you really are in love with me, then prove it."

Rick looked up. His eyes were wide, and his face a mask of confusion and frustration. "How the hell am I supposed to prove it?" Rick was practically sobbing as he stared at Avery in disbelief. What the hell was Avery playing at? Rick had just broken down and shared his most personal thoughts and feelings with him, wasn't that proof enough? What did he want now, a public declaration? Rick sighed, feeling defeated. There was no way that he was going to get Avery to believe him. It seemed that his profession of love had been in vain. He seriously felt like crawling under rock, but running away now just seemed cowardly. "I don't know what you expect me to do." Rick whispered. "I bared my soul to you. What more do you want?"

"A kiss..." Avery said simply.

"A kiss? That's it? Just a kiss?"

Avery nodded. "Kiss me, and I'll know if you're really in love with me or not. But not some quick, and friendly, little peck on the cheek; a real kiss. I want you to kiss me the way you would kiss your lover."

Rick understood then. Avery was testing him. He wanted to see if Rick could 'rise' to the occasion, so to speak. Rick grinned. "You think you're pretty clever don't you?"

"We'll see." Avery slid closer till he was only a couple of inches from Rick's face. He wasn't going to make the first move, that would defeat the purpose of his little test, but he was definitely trying to entice Rick. He licked his lips. A mischievous little smirk played across his face as he tilted his head slightly to the side. "What are you waiting for?" He asked, in soft, hushed tones.

Rick touched the side of Avery's face, his thumb brushing over his cheek. His skin was soft, warm, and flawless. Rick traced the line of Avery's jaw with his thumb, then over his chin, eventually finding his delicate, pink, lips. Avery opened his mouth. His breath was hot and smelled of cloves. "So beautiful." Rick whispered. "It's a shame I never noticed before."

Rick was rousing Avery's desire, he could tell by the rosy blush of his face, and the quickening of his breath. He wondered if Avery's heart was pounding as fierce and wildly as his was in that moment. 'You think I can't honestly love you.' Rick mused to himself. 'Well, I'll prove to you that I can, and will. I'll love you with every fiber of my being, and I'll make you love me in return.' Rick moved his hand to the back of Avery's head. He pulled out the band that held his hair back, letting his long sable locks fall, cascading over his shoulders, and down his back, like an ebony waterfall.

He swept his fingers through Avery's hair, letting each strand spill over his hand in a shadowy torrent of night. Rick couldn't wait any longer. He pulled Avery too him, pressing their lips together in a tender kiss. Avery closed his eyes. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around Rick's neck and pushed their bodies even closer together, closing the distance between them.

Avery's lips parted as he kissed Rick back. The kiss was soft at first; small, and gentle. But then, it became more passionate and intense. Avery had never felt a more passionate kiss. He was drowning in emotion. The feel of Rick's mouth on his was so tantalizing; the taste of his lips and the scent of his cologne were bewitching.

Rick timidly traced his tongue across the bottom of Avery's lip before pushing it into his open mouth. Their tongues danced together like two lovers, twirling and spinning to music that only they could hear.

Avery melted against Rick, and Rick wrapped his arms protectively around him. For a moment, Avery felt as though his heart would explode. A fire burned between them. Avery could feel its intensity; it started when their lips met and then exploded throughout his body, coursing from his chest down through his arms and bursting from his finger tips. The fire raged on, igniting somewhere deep within his stomach before finally settling in his loins. 'Why did I never feel this sensation when Brian kissed me?' He silently wondered. 'And, why am I only feeling it now with Rick?'

The longer the kiss lasted the more feverish and dizzy Avery became. The entire world seemed like it was spinning out of control. All the oxygen had been sucked out of the air, leaving him breathless. Gravity no longer existed. Rick was now the only thing keeping him from drifting away. Rick was the only thing that gave him breath. He was the only thing that gave him life and in that moment, he was the only thing that mattered.

The kiss ended and Rick drew back. He held onto Avery's arms to steady him. Avery was panting, and his entire body trembled. He put his hand to his mouth and gasped. They locked eyes and Rick gently touched Avery's face then smiled. "Do you believe me now?" He asked him.

All that Avery could do was nod. He was speechless.

"Good." Rick leaned forward and took Avery into his arms once again; and the two dissolved into another passionate embrace.