Despite his own hangups, George couldn't stop thinking about how the massage made him feel, about how
Raymond
made him feel. Jerry's words,
moves as a result of contact,
fluttered through his brain over and over, a wasp circling his every thought, stinging and stinging and stinging. Raymond's large, soft hands, slick with oil, rubbing circles into his skin, inching closer and closer to... no.
No.
He wasn't going to think about it. He wasn't going to think about Raymond's deep blue eyes, fixed on George as he took off his pants, rooting him to the spot as he circled the massage table, edging closer and closer, towering over him, slick hands reaching out and...
NO.
But because he couldn't stop thinking about it, and because of what Jerry said and his fantasies and, and, and... He found himself here. In front of the physical therapist's office. Hand on the door, willing himself to go inside. He's alone this time, no Elaine, no Jerry, no one to look at him and point out his flushed cheeks and judge him for his curiosity. He is curious, has been since he saw Raymond looking down at him, asking if he was ready for his first massage. He wants to see Raymond again. He wants to feel his heavy stare as he unbuckles his belt, he wants to feel those hands on him again, he wants to know if the way he feels is real.
George took a deep breath and pushed open the door. The receptionist smiled at him and asked, "George? One o'clock appointment?" to which he timidly nodded, taking a seat when she gestures to the tiny waiting area with its uncomfortable, backless stools. He perched, slightly hunched, visibly uncomfortable as he waited for Raymond to appear. Two minutes passed by and it felt like an eternity in which he questioned every single decision that led him to this exact moment in life, and just before his self-destructive thoughts forced him to flee from the office, a shadow appeared over him. It's Raymond. George looked up, unable to stop himself from gaping. The sunlight that streamed through the door to the clinic cast Raymond in a gentle glow and he looked like an angel descended from Heaven with the sole purpose of making George question every single thing that he ever knew about himself.
"It's good to see you again, George," he said, smiling like he really meant it. "Shall we?" He gestured with his left hand towards his room, waiting for George to stand before moving so that they stood close, close enough for their chests to nearly touch, the hair's breadth between them crackling with electricity for mere moments before Raymond stepped out of George's space. He didn't go far, in fact he placed his hand firmly in the centre of George's back, guiding his feet forward for him, into his massage room, closing the door behind them with a click that resonated in the thick silence.
Raymond busied himself with his oils as George watched in silence. He turned and gestured to the table when he noticed George was still fixed to the floor by the door, the exact place that Raymond took his hand off of his back, no longer propelling him onward. George obediently stripped off his shirt, placing it on the chair next to the table. He made to climb up when- "Wait," Raymond interrupted him. "Take your pants off too."
"Wha- What?" George stumbled over the word, looking at Raymond like a deer caught in the middle of the highway, seconds from disaster.
"Your hamstring is still bothering you, right? It will be easier for us both if you take your pants off now, instead of interrupting the session." Raymond smiled, probably trying to calm George down, but his heart sped up,
what if it's my heart again, what if I'm having a heart attack for real this time?
and he chuckled nervously.
"Right. Right, I'll just..." He opened his belt with trembling hands and dropped his trousers, gingerly stepping out of them, folding them, and placing them on the chair with his shirt.
"Perfect." That smile again, warm and welcoming and sending George's mind into overdrive. Raymond gestured again, "Climb on up now." and George obeyed, lying on his front, hugging the cylindrical pillow to his chest in a vain attempt to mask his nervous shaking. "Alright," Raymond said, stepping up to the table. "Ready?"
George took a deep breath, trying to steady his voice, his heart, his dick,
anything
, and failing. "I'm ready," he weakly said, hands clutching the pillow.
Raymond was, truly, a professional. His hands were soft and slippery as he started to rub George's back. He was firm, applying pressure to his muscles in ways that George knew would be relaxing to anyone who wasn't as high strung as he was. Still, they persisted in trying to work through the knots and tension that riddled his entire body, unfortunately only serving to work George up even further. He shook like a leaf on the table, hyper-aware of the subtle stirring occuring in his underwear.
The massage continued, Raymond talked aimlessly and George stumbled through answering, barely paying attention to anything apart from the intense sensation of another man's hands on his body. Those hands which steadily shifted lower and lower as the massage progressed, until Raymond's thumbs were circling the small of George's back in motions that felt almost sensual as they scorched his skin.
"-eorge. George?" Raymond's voice cut through the panicked screaming in his head.
"Y-yes?" he replied, trying to brush aside his inattentiveness caused by the definite
motion
in his underwear that he could no longer deny wasn't caused by his
contact
with Raymond.
"You're very tense, George, worse than before. Is everything alright?" The concern! The soft crease of worry around his eyes when George turned to face him! He simply couldn't take it anymore.
"No! Everything's not alright!" He cried, turning away ashamedly from Raymond's shocked expression. "I'm confused, I'm scared, I don't know what to do and it's all your fault!" George buried his face in the pillow, not caring that his glasses were pressed uncomfortably against his face.
"George... I'm afraid I don't know what you mean, what's the matter?" He was simply too kind, George couldn't take it a single second longer. He turned onto his front, too worked up to be embarrassed anymore.
"This!" he exclaimed, voice high pitched with panic and shame and manic energy as he gestured at the tent his erection was pitching in his loose boxers. "This is the matter, Raymond! I thought I was straight and now I'm here, like this, because of you!"
The tension flooding the room was thicker than mud. The silence hung between them, George's panicked breaths the only thing to be heard.
"Is that all?"
Huh?
"Huh?" George was shocked straight out of the panic attack he was having and he lay there dumbfounded. "Wh-what do you mean?"
"I mean, is that all? I can see that you're... upset, George, but this doesn't have to be a big deal."
"I've been straight my whole life," George said, his voice small. "All of this is- is
new!
and scary!" He glanced up at Raymond and found his gaze locked into his sympathetic stare.