Pup

When he drove me home the car was silent.

I didn't know what to say anymore and Gavin seemed to be caught up in his own thoughts.

I wanted to ask him if he was thinking about this morning, when we'd both gotten up and gotten dressed without a word. Or the strained atmosphere that hung over us as we ate breakfast and forced ourselves to make small talk.

But I didn't.

I kept thinking about how I acted and hoping that I hadn't ruined.. whatever Gavin and I were.

We reached my house and he turned to me, expecting me to get out immediately I thought. But when I reached for the handle his large hand was on my thigh keeping me still.

"I'm not done with you yet, pup. Come here." He spoke with the same edge of command in his voice that left me unable to disobey. I leaned over the armrest and was surprised when he kissed me goodbye.

It wasn't a sweet kiss, and it wasn't tender.

It made my body heat up and made my head spin, but the hand he gently cupped my cheek with kept me grounded. It was his thumb that brushed my cheekbone that made my heart skip a beat. It made me hope that I hadn't completely messed up this morning.

When he pulled away I whimpered, because I didn't want to leave. Because I wanted him to continue.

"I'll be back to pick you up tomorrow. I want you to meet some close friends of mine. They've been hearing about you for a long time and have been bugging me to bring you over" He murmured, his hand still cupping my face and his thumb still gently trailing over my flushed cheek.

"Okay." My voice was breathy and distracted, I was too caught up in breathing in his exhales and feeling like I was getting high off being this close to him for an extended period of time. It was a crazy feeling, but I liked it.

Gavin just chuckled and finally pulled away, releasing me from whatever spell he put me under whenever he was in the vague vicinity of me.

"Go on, pup. I'll see you tomorrow." He smirked at me, but I noticed there was a dark satisfaction his gaze. Like he was pleased to see how I was still so easily affected by him.

I gathered my backpack and opened the door, but I couldn't resist leaning back over the armrest and kissing his cheek gently before practically sprinting back to the house not wanting to see how he reacted. Hopefully he didn't think I was weird,

which I was, but I didn't want him to think that.

If I had stayed, maybe I would've been able to see Gavin blush for the first time.

I went home and stopped in the foyer after closing the door behind me.

Did I really just kiss him on the cheek? After the kiss he gave me I must of seemed like a little kid..

Thoughts were racing through my head as I went to the kitchen where my mother was unsurprisingly still with Gavin's mother.

"Hi mom, Ms. Hunt." I greeted absently as I moved to rummage through the fridge to see what snacks I could grab and hide away in my room with. It had been this way since my dad died, my mom and I passing each other like casual strangers except when the need to be motherly struck her fancy.

Apparently today was a 'I'm going to pretend I'm actually your mother' day.

"Matt! Sweetie, how did it go with Gavin? Did you boys have fun playing together?" She asked, and I had to ignore the impulse to yell at her for still acting like I was twelve and going on play dates. She had the habit of babying me when she was in these moods, but I lived in her house still so I guess I could deal with it. I just nodded and continued gathering an armful of food, not wanting to have to come back downstairs for the rest of the day if possible.

"Yeah mom, I had fun." I almost blushed remembering all the things Gavin did to me and remembering how '

fun'

it was to cum all over myself, but I turned my thoughts elsewhere almost immediately.

"I'm surprised Gavin still gets along with you. He always did have problems behaving nicely with other people." Ms. Hunt was frowning as she looked at me as if not believing I got along with her son. Something about her comment irked me. There was something.. Odd about the way Gavin had left a couple years ago, and I wondered if it had anything to do with the 'problems' his mother was insinuating he had. Either way I didn't like her tone.

"He's a perfectly nice guy, he made me dinner and breakfast and was nice to me the whole time." I said defensively, closing the refrigerator door and headed to the stairs to go to my room wanting to be away from both of these so called mothers, calling over my shoulder, "I'll be in my room."

"Be careful Matt. My son has.. Issues." Ms. Hunt voice called out from the kitchen just as I reached the stairs and I clenched my jaw.

What was it about this woman and talking badly about Gavin?

"I'm sure I can handle him, Ms. Hunt. Thank you." I knew my sarcasm was clear and my tone was frosty, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I don't know what her problem was but my dislike of her was instant. She'd been slightly uptight when Gavin and I were kids but now she was just down right bitchy.

No wonder she and Mr. Judekias split up.

I suddenly remembered the way Gavin had tensed when his mother had mentioned splitting up and I wondered how hard it had been for him. I spent the rest of the day waiting for Ms. Hunt to leave and thinking about Gavin.

The next morning I woke up to a text from Gavin, and I tried to ignore the way my heart sped up just from seeing his name on my screen.

8:47 am

Gavin:

Get the fuck up and be ready by 10.

Sure he wasn't the most kindly worded person I'd ever met, but he was still somehow managed to make me do stupid girly things.

Like sighing over his text message, rereading it about fifty times, then spend the next half hour trying to find something to wear- worrying about whether his friends will like me or not.

If this was what it meant to like someone, I had it bad.

I was ready and waiting on the porch by 9:55. I didn't have to wait long surprisingly, Gavin pulled up in the driveway at exactly 9:59. I tried not to rush over to the car like a puppy eager to see it's master- but apparently I couldn't help myself.

Gavin just smirked at me when I ran to the car, and murmured in a gently mocking tone. "Someone's eager this morning. Did you miss me, pup?"

I blushed and tried to reply smoothly, but my words came out stammered, unsteady. "No... I just wanted to get out of the house." The lie was a weak one at best and Gavin only raised a brow at me. I couldn't hold his gaze for more than a few moments as my face heated up.

"If you lie to me pup, I take you over my knee. Remember? That's a rule between us that won't change. Got it?" His voice was casual, but firm, as he pulled out of the driveway and started heading back to his apartment. His eyes were on the road and I was left gawking at his handsome profile.

"Rules?" My voice was shaky and I knew it, it felt like I was knocked off balance all over again.

Why did the thought of Gavin giving me rules make me feel.. Warm? Safe?

"Yes, pup. Rules. We're gonna stick to the simple stuff until you're ready for anything more, okay? Relax." He rolled his eyes like it was no big deal, but there was an uncertainty in his tone.

Like he wasn't sure how I'd react.

"Okay Gavin. What other rules are there?" The shyly spoken words were out of my mouth before I could over think it and I immediately wanted to take them back.

Why was I so.. Calm about this? Why wasn't I panicking or yelling at him for trying to give me rules like I was a child?

Why am I okay with almost everything Gavin says or does to me?

Gavin visibly relaxed at my response and shot me cheeky grin before turning his attention back to the road, reaching his apartment parking lot in only a few minutes. "We'll talk about that later. Come on."

I got out of the car and hesitated, a sudden bout of nerves fluttering around in my stomach as I thought about all the possibilities of how this could go. His friends might take one look at me, the scrawny, curly haired, nerdy looking 19 year old and laugh.

Standing next to Gavin I stuck out like a geeky stray puppy he adopted. Not the best first impression one could give.

Gavin noticed I wasn't following him to the door and walked back over to me, looking over me curiously. "What's wrong? You shy?" His tone was teasing but there was an underlying seriousness in his question.

"What if they don't like me?" The question sounded childish and stupid to me ears and I wanted to kick myself.

What was I? I little kid on their first day of school?

But Gavin didn't laugh or role his eyes, his dark eyes watched me seriously.

"They already like you. They know all about you. So relax, pup. Trust me, okay?" His voice gentled and I felt like I was going to swoon.

In a completely non-schoolgirl way, of course.

He took my hand and that distracted me so much I didn't get to ask him how his friends knew about me. The whole way up I was trying to focus on the warmth of his hand holding mine, and not the nervousness that was trying to take over me.

When we got upstairs he opened the door carelessly and strolled in confidently, tugging me along behind him. His friends were already inside waiting for us. Every pair of eyes turned to us as soon as the door opened.

His couch, bed, and chair-

the comfy one that I'd claimed as mine damn it-

were occupied.

A big guy, who looked like a lumberjack crossed with a biker -based on the flannel shirt over a white tee shirt that stretched across his broad chest, dark trimmed beard, and a leather jacket thrown over the back of the couch next to him- was sprawled out comfortably. His face was hard and stoic- and combined with his large stature it made him pretty intimidating, but his grey eyes were kind. He nodded at me but didn't say anything. Like he was observing first before he made any judgements. He seemed like a quiet, thoughtful person, and I found I liked him best so far. He was quiet, like me, and the fact that he was friends with Gavin made me feel better about how mismatched Gavin and I were.

There was an androgynous looking person in the comfy chair who sat up curiously as we walked in. Surprisingly when they spoke, their voice revealed they were a man with a really deep voice. His eyes were rimmed with dark eyeliner that made his hazel eyes look mysterious and mesmerizing. He seemed like the type of person you'd find on the more slightly occult side of the hipster part of town.

"Is this him then? You didn't say he was this adorable." His lip, nose and brow were pierced, but it was his delicate bone structure that was enough to blur the line between a masculine and feminine appearance. His voice was rich and low, and would've been attractive- if I wasn't biased towards Gavin's rough, husky voice.

One the bed was a unfairly handsome man, stretched out comfortably like he belonged there. He was large, muscled, had a chiseled jaw and startling blue eyes. His lips were full and his hair was dark and disheveled. He was just a very handsome man, and I felt like there was no way he and Gavin were friends without something happening. Maybe that was why something about having him on the bed I'd shared with Gavin made me uncomfortable. Gavin must have noticed the way my grip tightened on his hand and the way I couldn't look away from the man on the bed. I expected him to brush it off, but he didn't.

"Get the fuck of the bed, Mal." His voice was stern as he looked at the man, Mal. Mal just smirked and didn't move.

"Why should I? I like being in your bed Gav." His voice was provocative and smooth.

"Shut the fuck up and get off the bed Mal, before I beat your ass. That's where I sleep. With people I actually give a fuck about beyond a random screw that happened years ago." Gavin's seriously spoken words took me off guard and I looked up at him in surprise. He only slept with people he cared about? I didn't want to get my hopes up but I was already feeling my heart melt at the idea.

Gavin cares about me.

It was a nice feeling.

"Drama queen. Fine I won't make your little boyfriend uncomfortable." Mal got up and stretched before coming over to stop in front of me. I didn't realize how tall he was, taller even than Gavin who was 6' to my 5'7, and I hid behind Gavin without thinking. I didn't like people in my personal space, a side effect of being cornered too many times in high school, and this handsome, intimidating guy was way too close.

"Come on

pup

, don't be shy." His voice was slightly mocking, and I scowled at him. Something came over me when he called me pup and I stepped forward boldly, glaring at him.

"You don't get to call me that. Ever." My voice was firm and steady, nothing like my usual shy, quiet voice. I felt Gavin's eyes on my but I was not going to be the first one to look away from Mal.

After a moment Mal broke our little staring contest and smirked at Gavin. "I like him. Keep him around." He chuckled and wandered off to the kitchen as if he hadn't just acted like a complete jackass.

"When I said 'be on your best behavior when I bring him over' this is not what I had in mind." Gavin muttered loud enough for Mal to hear before turning back to me. "Besides the asshole over there who likes to piss people off for fun, that's Charlie and George."

The big guy, Charlie gave me a slight smile- like he was proud of the way I'd stood up for myself. "Hey Matt. Welcome." I liked Charlie.

He didn't need many words when his gentle eyes spoke volumes.

George stood up and held out his hand to me. "Matt, huh. Gavin won't shut up about you." He smirked at the glare Gavin sent him and shook my hand.

I didn't know what to make of what George said,

Gavin talked about me? To his friends? Did I matter that much even when he was gone?

"It's nice to meet you." I said quietly a small smile on my lips at the thought that Gavin really thought about me enough to talk to me about his friends.

That had to mean something right?

"Go on pup, you take the bed." Gavin murmured gently in my ear before heading to the kitchen already murmuring furiously to Mal something he didn't want overheard. I went over to the bed and crawled into the center, feeling more comfortable as I remembered how nice it was to share the bed with Gavin. I felt like I was claiming my space as I settled onto the bed and yet it still felt big and empty without Gavin there.

It was only a few minutes before Gavin and Mal were back. Gavin had his arms crossed and was glaring at Mal expectantly, and Mal was sighing exasperatedly.

"I'm sorry I'm an asshole." He muttered flatly before rolling his eyes as Gavin only raised a brow in response.

He clearly expected a better apology than that.

"I'm sorry I called you pup and made you uncomfortable. I'm just an asshole in general, it was nothing personal." Mal said with a sigh.

Seemingly satisfied Gavin moved onto the bed with me, arranging us so that my back was leaning on his chest and I was cradled against him. He looked at Mal over my shoulder and murmured simply, "He's

my

pup. Got it? No one else's.

Mine

."

I tried to deny how happy it made me to hear Gavin say I was his, but the smile on my face grew beyond my control.

Maybe I hadn't ruined everything after all.