Curious Desire Pt. 08

*It's been almost two years since I set this story aside but it was always my intention to come back and finish the story according to the vision I have. This chapter is similar to chapter one in that it is simply meant to reintroduce the characters and further the romance between the two main characters. It's also to get me back into the minds of these characters. There is no sex in this chapter (just romance) but I promise there is more to come! There is another chapter already in production and will be published soon that will get back to the steamy sex scenes! Thanks for all the positive feedback over the last year and a half guys (and gals), I'm so happy that this story has some dedicated readers and I can only apologize for leaving yall hanging for so long! I hope I can give this story a reasonable conclusion that you guys will enjoy, there will likely be 3 more chapters after this but may be more depending!*

Alex Yates was sitting at lunch with the drama club seniors that had sort of adopted him into their friend group these last couple of days. Thomas Johnson was something of a ringleader for them, being an outgoing personality which contrasted with the rest of the more reserved drama club members. The table was rounded out with Tracy, Ethan and Kayla.

Alex was not a member of the drama club despite now sitting with them at lunch. It's not that Alex wouldn't have enjoyed being in drama club, he just had always been very weary of drawing any attention to himself and he figured standing on a stage at school productions wouldn't be conducive to his attempts to blend into the background of Washington High.

It was at this table a couple of days previously where Alex had been approached by Kelly Chamberlain, notorious mean girl and the ex girlfriend of star quarterback Jacob Andrews. He was immediately alarmed by this development for several reasons.

Firstly, Kelly was a popular girl that was known for being rather rude and mean, especially to students she believed to be of lower status than herself. The second reason was that Alex had only begun to come out of his shell in the previous month and he still found it jarring to be approached by other people for no apparent reason regardless of who it was. He'd kept to himself all of high school in an attempt to avoid the bullying he suffered in middle school and, for the most part, his endeavor had been successful.

The third reason was the biggest reason for his apprehension of all. Alex had been secretly seeing Kelly's now ex boyfriend Jacob. The time they'd been spending together had actually overlapped with Jacob's relationship with Kelly and Alex felt a certain amount of guilt for that fact.

From the outside looking in, nobody would have ever envisioned the two boys as any sort of match either as friends or otherwise. Jacob was a popular, tall and gifted athlete. He came from a prominent family of lawyers and the friends he had were of similar backgrounds. Alex, on the other hand, was a rather scrawny and reserved guy that had no real friends, though that was admittedly his own doing. Alex came from a broken home, his mother had passed when he was young and his father was a neglectful alcoholic.

Despite these differences, it was as if there was some magnetic force that drew the two boys together. Jacob had felt a pull towards Alex since the first time he'd ever seen him freshman year of high school. It almost mirrored the attention Alex received from bullies, it was like they could sense that he was an easy victim. The only difference for Jacob was that he felt a desire to protect him rather than pick on him. Despite this, he never pursued a friendship with Alex until earlier in their senior year when he asked Alex to partner with him for their science project.

Their connection was nearly instantaneous and their friendship quickly developed and evolved into something different that confused both boys at first. Ultimately, they came to accept that this was something very real and special between them. Jacob dumped Kelly just last week and asked Alex to be his boyfriend, a term that still made Jacob cringe to think about but he was still extremely happy. The boys had fallen quite quickly for eachother but were still very intent on keeping things secret, as Jacob was trying to get a scholarship for football and was worried about how him having a relationship with another guy would affect that. As for Alex, it sounded like a beautiful nightmare for the school to know he was dating the most popular guy at school so he was very much so on board with keeping things under wraps as well.

So, when Kelly had approached Alex and told him there were rumors he was gay and had an obsessive crush on Jacob, Alex was incredibly alarmed. Unbeknownst to the boys, it had been Kelly who started the rumors in the first place. She had been suspicious of the odd new friendship between them and her suspicions were confirmed when she spotted the boys kissing in Jacob's car when she went to return some things to Jacob post-breakup. As a result, she had put a plan in motion to ruin Jacob's reputation and out the boys to make their lives a living hell. The results had been underwhelming to this point but Kelly, vengeful as she was, patiently waited for things to slowly unfold.

After the conversation with Kelly, one of Jacob's teammates, David Grady, had confronted Alex about the rumors in their science class which quickly escalated to him calling Alex a gay slur and threatening him. This incensed Jacob to the point he almost got into a fight with David but he stormed out before things went any further.

After school, coach called Jacob to his office and said, in carefully chosen words, that he was aware of the rumors and that whatever was going on with Jacob should wait until state playoffs were over. He also expected Jacob to apologize to David.

Alex and Jacob discussed what to do about the rumors and they agreed that they should stop trying to hide that they were spending time together but they would not address any of the rumors just yet. As a result, Jacob had started to pick Alex up in the mornings. This was not a detail the rest of the school missed and only heightened the rumors swirling around them. They had not yet started hanging out much at school though and still had lunch separately.

So, while Alex sat with the drama club discussing the school's upcoming first stage production of the year, Jacob was sitting with his teammates across the cafeteria. He hadn't yet apologized to David despite it having been 2 days since their altercation. This meant that they haven't spoken a word to eachother despite being around eachother in school and at practice. David was the starting center, which made practices rather uncomfortable. They communicated the bare minimum at practice to avoid coach chewing them out but that was the only time they really acknowledged eachother.

Lunch the last couple of days at the jock table had been much more quiet than usual. Finally, wide receiver Sam Taylor was sick of it and spoke up.

"Yo yall gotta do something about this shit, we got our first playoff game next week and I'll be damned if yall make us lose because of some petty little argument," said Sam firmly, eyes darting back and forth to their faces.

Jacob took a bite of his sandwich as he considered what to say. David simply acted as if he hadn't heard a word Sam had said.

"Okay," started Jacob hesitantly, "Grady, I'm sorry for snapping at you. Even if I felt you were in the wrong, I crossed a line and I should have handled things differently," said Jacob, trying his best to sound genuine even though he didn't mean a word he said. In fact, he thought David should be thanking him for not beating his ass after the things he'd said to Alex.

David considered what Jacob said before finally looking at Jacob with a smirk on his face.

"Eh it's whatever dude, water under the bridge," said David with a non-chalance as if he never actually cared about the altercation. This wasn't really a surprise to Jacob, people never did seem to stay mad at him.

"I gotta ask though, what's going on with you and Yates?" asked David and Jacob noticed Sam sort of lean in to hear the answer himself. Jacob knew the question would come when this conversation finally happened and he had his answer ready. Jacob calmly recited the answer he'd rehearsed in his head.

"We've just been hanging out, he's actually pretty chill when you get to know him. He knows more about football than you'd expect man."

"I call bullshit, you mean to tell me Gaytes likes football? No way," sneered David.

Jacob felt the color rise in his face as his eyes narrowed. Sam flashed David a look of warning.

"Grady, stop that shit. Next time you say something like that, I'll personally slap the shit out of you," said Sam lightheartedly, trying to get his point across while trying to inject a little humor. He was smaller than David was and knew he wouldn't take the threat seriously like he would if Jacob snapped and threatened him again. That had to be avoided at all costs at this moment.

"Oh, are you joining the fan club too Taylor? What is this, a membership drive for the gay straight alliance?"

Jacob's fists clenched on top of the table and Sam knew this was going sideways fast.

"Goddamnit Grady, just shut the fuck up about it! At this point, you're just asking for it. You know Andrews doesn't like that shit, can you just keep your loud mouth shut long enough for us to win state?" Sam snapped, unable to hide his impatience with David.

"Alright alright! I'm sorry, damn. I feel like I'm at some sort of gay intervention, Jesus. I won't say anything else about it but I can't sit with yall right now. This is just too weird for me," said David before gathering up his things and leaving the cafeteria without another word.

Sam turned to Jacob, who was still glaring at the back of David's head as he walked away.

"Bro, you're gonna have to find a way to relax and let it roll off your back. Grady's always been like this, you're the one who's acting different," said Sam reasonably. Jacob's glare snapped over to Sam, clearly agitated with what Sam had just said.

"Don't look at me like that dude, you know it's true! I don't care dude, honestly. You can be friends with Yates or whatever, doesn't bother me. But get it together man, you might have gotten the scholarship offer you wanted but some of us are still trying to get one and the playoffs are our last chance to impress scouts. We are depending on you Jake...I am depending on you," said Sam, looking a little awkward about speaking so frankly even though it was true.

This put things back into perspective for Jacob. He was the quarterback of this team and it was true that the team was depending on him. He hadn't even thought about how it went beyond this season, how his performance could determine the next 4 years for fringe-prospects on the team like Sam. There was alot riding on these playoffs. Jacob sighed.

"You're right man, I guess the pressure has just been getting to me lately but I'm gonna lock in from here on out," Jacob promised.

"That's what I wanted to hear man," said a relieved Sam, clapping Jacobs shoulder. "So why don't you and Yates hang out at school?"

It was a valid question. Jacob and Alex had decided they didn't have to necessarily hide the fact they had grown closer but beyond picking Alex up in the mornings, the school had no other knowledge of them actually spending time together. Jacob had actually thought of sitting with Alex and his new friends at lunch the last couple of days but he knew Alex didn't like attention and him sitting at the same table would definitely draw eyes and murmurs from others.

"I don't know man, I felt like I should be sitting with the team with playoffs coming up. I really haven't thought about it," lied Jacob.

"Well you should ask him to sit with us tomorrow then, maybe he'll have some ideas for next weeks game," he said with a bit of a ironic smirk before adding, "since it looks like Grady is gonna be pouting the next couple days anyway," suggested Sam.

Jacob looked over at Alex across the cafeteria and couldnt suppress a smile watching him conversate enthusiastically with his new friends. He quickly stopped smiling, hoping Sam didn't pick up on it. Sam did notice but showed no sign of it and said nothing. Sam may have been pretending like he didn't think anything of Jacobs new "friendship" with Alex but he wasn't dumb. Most of the school had started thinking there was something else going on there but nobody dared to really gossip about Jacob like that, at least not outside their own private social circles.

For what it was worth, Sam didn't care if Jacob was gay or bisexual or whatever the case may be. In all honesty, most people their age didn't really care these days beyond finding it mildly interesting that the star football player may like boys. Unbeknownst to Sam's friends, Sam's favorite uncle was gay and married to a really cool guy. He never talked about it because he knew that there were still guys like David out there but he also never really joined in on the gay jokes about other people but he wasn't perfect. He would throw gay slurs around at his friends as insults like most straight teenage boys but he knew he shouldn't. He'd made a point to work on that in the last few days after Jacob snapped on David for being homophobic.

Jacob considered what Sam said and he knew Sam was trying to show him some sort of support. Jacob appreciated it but he wondered if Alex would ever agree to sitting with Sam. As far as Alex was concerned, Sam was no better than his tormentors in middle school and it didn't really matter that Sam was more a spectator than an active participant.

"I'll ask him but I doubt he will, given...past experiences," said Jacob.

"Well, tell him I promise to play nice," said Sam with a smirk.

**********

After school, Jacob went to football practice and Alex rode the bus home to wait for Jacob to pick him up after practice as was their usual routine. He got to work on his homework and when he'd finished, he even started working on his Great Gatsby essay that wasn't due for another week. This was far from usual for Alex, who normally didn't do half his homework and would procrastinate until the last minute on essays and projects.

Alex did it because he knew he could. He could write a 6 page essay in a couple hours and scrape a B easy. He always aced his tests so he knew he could just not do certain homework assignments and still pass his classes with Bs and Cs. He'd actually had multiple teachers throughout high school sit him down and lecture him on how much potential he had if he'd just apply himself. If he could sleep in class, take zeros on assignments and still ace tests and write great essays then he could be a straight A student if he'd just try harder.

Those pep talks never illicited the response teachers hoped they would but this week, he'd resolved to start putting forth more effort in his schoolwork. With Jacob having received a scholarship, Alex started to think more about college and the future. He knew he needed to get down to business to have any chance of getting admitted to any of the schools Jacob was considering.

Soon, Alex got the text he was waiting for from Jacob and finally put his books and stuff back in his bag and waited on Jacob to pull up to his house. As soon as he saw Jacob pull in, he walked out and climbed into his car. Jacob immediately leaned in to kiss Alex and a smiling Alex grabbed his face on both cheeks as he kissed his boyfriend.

"That's a new technique baby, where'd you learn that one from? You learning new tricks from your other boyfriend?" asked Jacob teasingly, referring to Thomas who was openly gay.

"Oh stop it, I just missed youuu," said Alex, blushing slightly.

He grabbed Jacobs hand, gripping his large thumb with his own small hand. Alex often held Jacob's hand like this and Jacob found it incredibly endearing. He pulled out of the driveway and drove Alex back to his house.

"Mom?" Jacob called out as they made their way through the door.

"I'm in here boys!" came Mrs. Andrews' voice from the dining room. Alex smiled because she automatically knew Alex would be with Jacob at this point.

Mrs. Andrews had figured out the boys secret almost immediately and it was a relief to both that she was so accepting and supportive of them. She was so much like Jacob, having a magnetic personality that made it so easy to like her. She had further endeared herself to Alex by cooking manicotti for him, his favorite dish that his mom used to make for him.

"How was school today?" she asked as the boys walked into the dining room. She had many papers spread out around the table and was clicking away at a calculator. She had clearly been working on something complicated.

"Eh, I told Grady I was sorry for blowing up on him the other day. He said it was cool but then he kept saying shit that pissed me off," said Jacob with a shrug.

"Watch your language, Jacob," she replied calmly. "What was David saying?"

Jacob looked over at Alex, unsure if he should say in front of him. He didn't want to upset Alex and didn't think he really needed to hear the details. Alex just shrugged and rolled his eyes as if to say it's whatever at this point.

"Well, he called Alex 'Gaytes' again. I almost snapped but Sam told him to stop. Grady just said that it was weird and walked away like he couldn't be around us anymore."

"Well sweetheart, he's probably just confused and doesn't understand it. Just give him the time to process things and I'm sure things will be fine."

"It's whatever honestly, Mom, I don't even care at this point...what are you doing?" He added curiously.

"Just crunching some numbers dear, trying to figure out how me and your father can free up enough liquidity to get that condo your sister wants. You know your father, he prefers to pay for things in full. He hates financing because he thinks interest rates are nothing short of extortion," said Mrs. Andrews, rolling her eyes as if she thought it was a silly comparison.

"Why are yall gonna get her that condo? That's an insane thing to ask for as a little graduation gift," asked Jacob, incredulous.

"Graduating college is a big deal hun and you already know why. Your father swore he'd never make his kids struggle like his parents did to us when we started out. He always says what's the point of being financially successful if you're not going to use that money to give your kids a better life. Besides, you won't be complaining when it's your turn so hush," she said, comically giving her son a wide eyed stare, pursing her lips and tilting her head to the side as if to dare him to say something else.

Alex felt awkward as they talked so frankly about money as if they were discussing the weather. While he wasn't impoverished by any means, he definitely came from more humble means. While he and his father lived off a small fortune won in a settlement with the trucking company responsible for his mother's death, his father seemed to spend more on booze than he ever did on Alex.

Whether that was true or not, it was how Alex felt. His dad always made sure he had new clothes every school year, the newest gaming system at christmas and plenty of food but that was the only way his father really showed he cared at all. None of it meant anything to Alex, the way he saw it his dad only got him those things to keep him off his back while he went out and drank and neglected his most important duties as a father.

"Alex sweetie, how was your day?" She asked with a smile, snapping Alex out of his state of reflection.

"It was pretty good Mrs. A! The drama club was asking me to join their Thanksgiving play production, they have a small part open but I told them no," said Alex.