The Fighter

They pulled up to a quaint little 2 story house on the edge of town a few blocks from the diner. Christian motioned him to park on the street in front of the house. Westley parked his car and followed him into the house. It was obviously owned by his parents. There were pictures on every wall of Christian and a young girl.

Westley pointed to what looked to be a more recent picture of him with an older couple, and the girl. He was holding up a Packer jersey.

"Mom, Dad, sister Eve. This was when I was drafted."

"You guys look happy."

"It was like nothing I expected. There was some discussion I might get picked, but nobody knew who was really interested. There's always speculation... We grew up poor. We didn't have much in life, but we had each other. I had football. It was tough, but I was able to keep myself and Eve from falling into bad crowds. I worked hard, and this was my reward. I bought this house with my first paycheck so my parents would never have to worry about having a roof above their heads. I live in an apartment right now, to save money. It's not glamorous, but I'm so used to tight living spaces."

Westley was quiet.

"You're a quiet guy."

"So everybody tells me."

"It's not a bad thing." Christian replied. "Here, sit with me."

Westley sat down on the couch next to the big man.

"You aren't nervous are you?"

"Not really. Wherever this leads to, I'm game. I just can't make any guarantees. I don't know where I will end up after graduation. And I'm not out to my parents. I have a few friends that know, but otherwise..."

"So we're kind of in the same boat. I'll be heading back to Wisconsin in a few weeks, so who knows where this will go."

Christian leaned in and brushed Westley's cheek with the back of his hand.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't want more. I think you're freaking cute and I'd love to have more than one night."

"I feel the same..."

"Awesome..." Christian said, leaning in for a kiss.

Westley returned the kiss with vigor, as Christian laid Westley back on the couch.

"Wes..." He whispered.

Christian kissed his way down to Westley's neck and pulled his collar down a bit to nibble on his collar bone. Westley pushed his hips up into Christian's stomach. Christian was a foot taller then Westley, so they didn't line up great at first. Christian chuckled at Westley's exuberance. He moved his hips so they lined up with Westley's. Westley reached up and pulled Christian's shirt off. He froze in shock. Christian's muscles had been hidden well under his clothes. The man was completely ripped, down to a hint of an 8 pack, his pecs were so well defined, Westley could only drool in awe.

"Like that, don't you?"

"God yes... that's so freaking hot." Westley traced the ridges with gentle fingers. Christian shuddered and undulated against Westley's pelvis. He leaned down, and captured Westley's lips in another sensuous kiss as he continued to rock his hips in a steady rhythm. Westley eagerly returned the kiss, and wrapped his arms around Christian's shoulders, pulling him tighter. The men moved together naturally and after only a few minutes of rubbing together, even though they never got their jeans off, it became too much too quick. The boys froze together, lips barely touching as they both shot their loads. Christian let out a breathless laugh.

"Wes...Holy... sorry about that, I guess it's been a while." He said after he caught his breath.

Westley panted and shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. I came kinda fast too."

"Hmm. Well, I'm going to go clean up, follow me." Christian said, lifting off of Westley.

Westley followed Christian to a bedroom upstairs. The room was dwarfed by a huge bed. There was barely any room for the dresser that was at the foot of the bed. Christian opened a drawer and pulled out two pairs of boxers. He stripped his jeans and boxers off, showing off a tight butt to Westley. He couldn't help but stare at the bulging muscles as Christian pulled back on a pair of boxers. Christian flipped Westley the other pair.

"They're small on me, hopefully they'll work for you. Or you can go commando..."

"You'd like that too much."

"You kidding? I'd like to see your tiny hips in my clothes..."

Westley laughed and ducked into the bathroom across the hall to clean up. He looked at his reflection in the mirror. For once he looked happy. It probably was a bit premature to be thinking they'd have anything more than this one night, but it would be one that lingered in Westley's memory for a long time.

"Hey, get out here, skinny minny." Christian said, knocking on the door.

Westley opened it and stepped out wearing just the boxers Christian had given him.

Christian whistled at the sight of the too large boxers sagging on Westley's boney hips. Westley pulled on his jeans.

"So, my parents aren't going to be home until tomorrow afternoon, so if you want to stay the night..." Christian hinted.

"I better let my mom know so she doesn't freak out."

"Cool. I'll pick out a movie while you do that."

Westley quickly called his mom, and lied to her a bit, implied and told her he had met up with a friend from college, had a bit too much to drink and was going to spend the night. His mom didn't sound worried and seemed to buy the story. He was grateful, he still wasn't sure how to broach the subject of his sexuality with his parents and this wasn't the way he wanted them to find out. Especially considering this was probably going to be a one night stand.

Westley wandered out to the living room where Christian had popped in a movie. They settled down on the couch to watch it.

"Hold the phone, did you really just put 'Ghost' in?"

"Dude, call me a sucker, but I love this movie."

"Ditto." Westley said. Christian laughed.

"Well, it's good I found another fan. The last guy I dated had never seen it, and he hated it."

"Humph. It's a classic."

Westley found himself nodding off before Sam ends up convincing Oda May to go to the bank with him. The next thing he knew, he woke up and the couch he'd been laying on had been pulled out and Christian was spooned up behind him. He was snoring softly and Westley sighed. It felt so good to be held by someone. He wasn't sure how to get Christian to even consider seeing him again, but he'd have to think of a way.

The next morning Christian stirred, feeling the lithe body in his arms stir a bit with him. Westley was too damn cute to let him get away. Christian felt like his first season went well with the teammates and he could possibly start to test the waters this year to see how the guys would react to finding out he was gay. He was tired of being alone. He was tired of having his teammates rib him for not having a girlfriend. They all said they understood him not having a girlfriend his first year, as he'd begged off being set up with anyone due to not wanting to get distracted. He'd wanted to make an impression his first year playing and it had paid off, with him scoring a starting position. And as long has his training camp went well this year, he could be looking at having a starting position all year. In just a few short weeks he'd have to report to camp and would be in Wisconsin full time. He probably wouldn't be able to hook up with Westley much since he'd be here in Ohio.

Westley rolled over and saw Christian deep in thought.

"Hey..." He said softly.

"Sorry. Just drifted off a bit there."

"About what?"

"Wanting to see you again." He said nonchalantly.

Westley was quiet, not wanting to read too much into what Christian was saying.

"What about you? Would you want to see me again?"

"Yeah I would. But I don't know how that will happen. I'm here until graduation, and then I was thinking about moving to Wisconsin. I have some friends up there... But in the mean time..."

"It'll be hard, I know. But I can swing down here on my off days, and bye weeks. So it maybe only once a month if that, but we can try."

"I guess."

"You don't sound too enthusiastic."

"I just am unsure how it will work. But it's not like I have any other prospects for a relationship anyway..."

"Okay. So here, program your number in, and I'll text you quick so you have my number."

Westley grabbed the phone and typed in his number. He wasn't sure how to react to Christian's forwardness, but he'd be lying if he wasn't slightly thrilled to have the big man interested in meeting up again. Westley had decided he'd take any crumbs thrown his way. Without thinking about it too much, Westley left the house, forgetting his pair of boxers and wearing Christian's home.

Christian and Westley didn't see each other for while as the men had to get back into their lives. For Westley the occasional phone call was enough, but time flew. His dad seemed to be stable for the time being and he was able to concentrate on his studies. Christian was busy at first with preseason camps and work outs, meeting up with the rest of the linebacker core whenever he could. His previous season was pretty decent, but he wanted to step it up this year. He had great coaches and teammates to help him learn new techniques and hone his skills. He hardly remembered to call Westley more than a few times during the first few weeks of the season. The months flew past, and all of a sudden, it dawned on Christian that the team was going to be in Ohio playing the Bengals the next weekend. He'd normally have a curfew, but he chatted with the 'higher ups' and discussed about visiting and staying at his parents after the game, and begged off flying back with the team so he could possibly hook up with Westley too. After practice he talked with the people in charge. Once he got confirmation that he was going to be able to stay at his parent's place he called Westley right away. He hit the send button on his phone and patiently waited for Westley to pick up. He sat down on the bench in front of his locker.

"Hello?"

"Wes..." Christian savored saying his name, hopeful.

"Christian! How have you been?"

"Busy dude, busy. We're going to be in town next weekend..."

"Geez, I lost track of time. I take it you're going to take some time to visit your parents?"

"Actually yeah. And because we have a bye week after the Bengals game I begged off on flying home with the team so I get to stay a couple days."

Westley was quiet.

"That means I want to see you..." Christian said.

"Oh, well I didn't want to read too much into that..."

Christian sighed heavily. By this point he pretty much guessed Westley had some self esteem issues, but he wasn't sure how to handle it. Knowing he was gay from a young age, he never felt like he needed to learn about bolstering women with self esteem issues. And of course it wasn't like guys talked about it much either, so he was pretty much in the dark. He figured he'd just try to make sure Westley knew he wanted him and only him.

"I want to see you. I want to hold your lean body in my arms and cuddle with you. I want to kiss you until you can't even see straight." Christian teased.

Westley laughed.

"Alright. I'll make some time for you. Are you going to be at your parent's place? Or am I going to have to make the drive to Cincinnati?"

"Well, the night after the game I will be up there. But you're at school in Columbus, right?"

"Well, Dad is going in for some rechecks and what not this weekend so I was actually going to be in Cleveland."

"Oh, cool that works out. Well, I'll call you once I know more about my schedule, but plan on Monday afternoon for right now, I can probably get away from my parents for a bit."

"Sounds good. Look forward to hearing from you."

"Definitely. Sleep tight." Christian hung up and turned around to grab his bag from the floor behind him. Standing there was one of his defensive teammates, Mick.

"Ah, Christian's got himself a girl back home huh? Finally man, we were getting worried about you."

"What do you mean?" Christian asked.

"Well, you didn't seem to ever have a girl, or even pick up a groupie while traveling. The other guys were starting to wonder about watching their backsides, if you know what I mean." Mick said.

Christian barely held it together, but acted naïve.

"Naw dude, I don't. Besides, I want to be the best, and couldn't handle a distraction before now."

"Alright man. Whatever. Hook up with your little sweetie, hopefully it gets you into a better mood. You been crabby lately." On that note Mick walked away.

Christian shook his head, upset that when the subject of sexuality was brought up this first time, the reaction was laced homophobia. He wasn't sure if the rest of the team felt that way or not.