I
Thursday had come round again and Jamie was with the twins at their usual table. Ed came over carrying two pint glasses and looking ever so slightly sheepish.
"Snakebite and black for you, Jamie?"
"Thanks."
"About Saturday night…"
"Ye-es?" Jamie flashed him a meaningful smile.
"Thanks for taking care of me: I don’t normally…"
"Champagne and brandy: bad combination"
"Oh, and Jamie?"
A quizzical look.
"Nothing" Ed walked back to the mirrors and was soon deep in conversation with his sister.
Danny rounded on Jamie.
"So what was that all about?"
"He was drunk, I put him to bed: end of story."
"Really?"
"Would I lie to my two favourite people in the whole world?"
"You might"
"He’s straight anyway" Elspeth cut in. "Just not worth the grief. Especially when you’ve got us."
Jamie smiled. The twins were all he could have hoped for and more. While Ed, Ed was, well, something else entirely. Dangerous: certainly, highly unlikely to ever notice him: quite possibly, but over all he was definitely worth the grief.
Over by the mirrors Lou and Ed were once again discussing who would partner them to the family wedding.
"So you didn’t ask her when you were over there?"
"She was ignoring me"
"You’ll have to ask someone soon: the wedding’s in less than a month."
"If I knew why she’s got it in for me…"
"Isn’t it obvious?"
"Danny? Surely not?"
"They’re twins, Ed, Elspeth thinks you’re deliberately hurting Danny’s feelings and so she’s not going to talk to you if she can help it."
"Danny doesn’t seem to have a problem
with me"
"But he’s still smitten with you…"
"Figures. So who do you think I should ask instead. And don’t say Danny"
"Why not? I tried the alternative before I decided where I stood on the matter. I don’t see why you should be any different."
"I think I already know, dear sister, I’ve been around long enough"
"You might enjoy it…"
Ed ignored her.
II
It was raining hard when Ed left the club that night. As he paused in the doorway he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"You’ll never get a taxi in this." It was Jamie, "I’m in halls two streets away: why not come back and watch DVDs until it stops? I’ve got quite a few new releases."
Ed accepted gratefully: Lou would be sleeping at Izzy’s tonight and he didn’t relish the thought of queuing at the taxi rank for the next hour. Bowing his head against the torrent he followed Jamie.
III
The room was bigger than he expected but every available space was crammed: books, vinyl, CDs, DVDs, mostly lined up on collapsible shelves. Although there were two beds there seemed top be no sign of the other occupant.
"Your room mate’s out late…?"
"He dropped out. They haven’t tried to inflict anyone else on me yet but I’m tempted to offer to pay them double if I can keep the room to myself."
"Could you manage that? I thought all students were poverty-stricken these days."
"It won’t be a hardship: I can’t ask my Parents for any more money but I know ways of making money that don’t interfere with my work or social life."
Looking around the room, Ed had a few reservations as to whether the multitude of possessions could have been paid for out of bar work or similar. He decided not to ask if Jamie’s methods were illegal or immoral (what he didn’t know couldn’t harm him).
"So I’ll get coffee, you decide what we’re going to watch."
By the time Jamie had reappeared with a tray on which were a large caffetiere, two mugs, milk, sugar and biscuits, Ed had selected three films he had yet to see. He settled back on the spare bed and Jamie put the first disk into the player.
Two films later…
"Ed? You look tired and I don’t think the rain’s stopping any time soon. Want to crash here?"
"If you don’t mind…"
"No trouble- I’m used to having Elspeth and Danny over and I’ve a couple of friends who sometimes crash here with their dates while I’m visiting the twins."
"So do you and they…"
"Ed! I’m surprised at you- a gentleman should never ask such things."
"So as you’re obviously not a gentleman, you won’t mind telling me…"
Jamie grinned "And ruin my air of mystery? I tell you, you tell Lou, soon all the goths in town will know. I much prefer having them speculate and try to decide whether they should disapprove or not."
Ed smiled back "Figures. They were very ambiguous about what they would and wouldn’t do that time I invited them over. I just wish I knew why Elspeth’s had it in for me ever since."
"She doesn’t talk about you that much, just bitches if Danny or I mention anything."
"I do feel a little guilty about him: I thought I made it obvious that Elspeth was the one I really wanted."
"He’ll get over it. You really like Elspeth, don’t you? Why not take her out for a meal? As a penniless student, she can hardly refuse, can she?"
"You can’t know her as well as you think- she’d accuse me of trying to buy her. If I said it wasn’t easy having money, you’d laugh at me, wouldn’t you?"
"Not at all." Jamie could see that the conversation was becoming far too maudlin. "Look, you’re tired- bathroom’s just down the hall- we can always talk about this some other time."
When Ed returned Jamie had changed into a black silk dressing gown and was brushing his hair, which looked far longer unbraided.
"Don’t you ever wear it down when you go out?"
"Sometimes- you just haven’t seen it like that yet. Now get some sleep: you look like you need it."
In spite of the strange bed, Ed slept very well. About midday he opened his eyes and saw Jamie looking back at him.
"I didn’t really want to disturb you when you looked so peaceful but I’ve got a tutorial in half an hour."
"No problem- I should really get back some time today"
Jamie looked as if he was waiting for something then he shrugged, got to his feet and walked over to the stereo.
III
It was a lazy Sunday: Jamie was sprawled on the twins’ sofa, his head in Elspeth’s lap while Danny fed him grapes.
"So you’ve had a naked Ed in your room three weeks running and done nothing about it?"
"I told you- he wasn’t completely naked."
"Wouldn’t have thought that’d have stopped you."
Jamie spat the latest grape back at Danny and stuck his tongue out.
"Ed’s my friend. I’m not going to take advantage of him. Even if it would be good for him."
Elspeth grinned at him "So now you’re admitting to fancying the great Ed Darcy?"
"Didn’t say that exactly- just that he could do with a bloody good shag."
"And you’re the bloody good shag in question?"
"Thanks for the compliment but not necessarily. He’s taking Trish to his cousin’s wedding next wee- maybe she’ll oblige."
"And you won’t be at all jealous? Either of you?" She looked meaningfully at her brother.
"Of course not" the boys chorused.
"Not if I get the video" Danny added.
"And show it to me" Jamie smiled, grabbing Danny’s head and kissing him.
Elspeth pulled Danny over the back of the sofa and the three of them ended up in a heap on the floor.
IV
Two days before this year’s major Darcy family get-together and Ed was walking back to Jamie’s room. It was still early but Jamie had homemade cider (courtesy of his brother) and a quarter of skunk (from an unnamed source). It was getting near to the end of term and many of the regulars had stayed home to finish projects rather than attend the goth night.
"So you’re definitely taking Trish with you on Saturday?"
"Not much of an option really, I failed to invite Elspeth and most of the other candidates were too busy."
"You could always go on your own."
"Too much hassle- with Lou taking Izzy I need to show that at least one of us can appear respectable. Besides Trish has met most of my family before and they seem to quite like her."
They arrived at Jamie’s room and Ed picked out a Monty Python DVD while Jamie found glasses and skinned up.
Ed hadn’t smoked since Uni. but if Jamie was going to get stoned he might as well join in. He dug out an empty Coke can to use as an ashtray, set it on the table between the beds and settled down to watch the film and get wrecked.
"’Life of Brian’ or ‘Holy Grail’ next?" Ed was starting to have trouble focussing and hoped Jamie would decide before he lost motor function as well.
Jamie looked up from the joint he was rolling "’Holy Grail’? And when you’ve put it on, how about you sit on this bed next to me so I don’t have to reach so far to pass you the joint?"
"Only if that means you won’t Bogart it again."
Jamie shifted across the bed slightly to make room for Ed. He took the joint, lit it and leaned back against the wall. Handing the spliff to Jamie he absentmindedly twisted a strand of blue hair around his finger. He could feel fingers caressing the back of his neck and shifted his weight slightly so as not to crush the hand behind him. Maybe it was just the skunk but he hadn’t felt this contented in ages.
He turned to look at Jamie: the boy was certainly very pretty and he could feel his stare penetrating deep inside his head. The caresses on his neck became more insistent and he leaned forward to kiss the waiting lips…
This had to be heaven: lying on his side returning Jamie’s kisses as the boy stroked his hair and told him yes he was loved but there was no need to do more right now…
Ed woke next morning in Jamie’s arms. His head felt surprisingly clear considering the amount he had drunk and smoked the night before. He slid out of the bed, grabbed a towel and went down the corridor to shower. By the time he came back to the room Jamie was also awake and beamed at him as he walked in.
"You hungry? I found a great caff that serves breakfast after twelve."
"Maybe next time- I promised Lou I’d pick up her dry-cleaning before one."
"Ok. You’ve got the wedding on Saturday so I won’t see you until Thursday, right?"
"Yeah, right," he answered distractedly, "see you then." He kissed the top of Jamie’s head and set off into the town centre.
V
Ed always despised family gatherings and this one in particular was torture. He couldn’t stop thinking about kissing Jamie; but surely it was Elspeth he was in love with? Trish had noticed how spaced he was acting and had hardly left his side, constantly checking that he was ok. She was fetching more champagne from the bar right now: it was far more expensive than that which he had taken to Rog and Emily’s party but he wasn’t enjoying it anything as much.
"Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?" She handed him a glass and ran her spare hand down his chest. He flinched and his heart sank when he saw how hurt she looked.
"I thought you invited me here because you still cared about me, not so you could brood over some other little tart."
"J-Elspeth’s not a little tart. And… I did, do want to be with you."
"So act like it. I’m going to talk to Izzy and Lou, coming?"
She stalked off, he started to follow then turned and walked through to the hotel reception to order a taxi. He didn’t care where he went, so long as it wasn’t here.
VI
Jamie, meanwhile, was visiting the twins but was no less distracted. He hadn’t expected to hear from Ed so soon but an email would have been nice. He’d now completely lost track of the story Elspeth had been telling and jumped when Danny threw a cushion at him.
"Wake up! You still haven’t told us what happened on Thursday. I hope it was worth missing the last set for."
"We got stoned and watched Monty Python. Nothing exciting."
"You mean he still hasn’t figured out that you fancy him?"
"Might have- doesn’t mean anything’s going to happen though. Look, I’m not really in the mood for being sociable. I’m going to go cruise the bars, see if I can pick up enough trade to pay for all the DVDs I’m after."
"You should ask Ed for money- I’m sure he’d give you it if he knew you were selling your ass just to stay ahead of the herd."
"Now way- if he hasn’t worked it out then I don’t want you telling him."
Jamie flounced out, pulling the door behind him only a little harder than necessary. He checked his pockets and came up blank: have to call in home for supplies before hitting the scene.
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