5. Interlude

The drive back to Kennebunkport—to the coast—was quiet. Todd spent most of it wondering if he would ever be able to scrape himself out of debt, feeling completely horrible about the entire experience they'd had with Viktor. Snail's dim headlights quested endlessly amongst the pines, searching onward toward that seemingly ephemeral destination: home. And by the end of the drive, Todd was gripping Snail's wheel so hard that his fingers carried a dull ache deep within them. This had been a long day in the car, he realized, but then… it had been a long day period.

Beside him, Zack was humming quietly to himself, and Todd listened, content for the passive company of his baritone melody. The song was nothing he recognized—maybe not even really a song at all—but Todd zoned out to the deep bass of it, a meandering, haunting lyric that felt eerily familiar rising and falling like so many rumbling waves as the pair wound and weaved betwixt the dark trees.

By the timethey arrived back in the enormous driveway, the last sliver of sun had just slipped beneath the horizon. Snail clinked and blustered her way to a ratchety stop, likely glad to be done for the day. A silence expanded between Zack and Todd as the clicks and ticks of the engine falling to sleep provided them with a tinny, sporadic sort of concert.

"Hey." Todd found his voice a little more timorous than he'd hoped, a little weaker than he'd intended—like he couldn't quite get words out all of a sudden.

He swallowed, before continuing, "Thanks for helping me out today." Todd paused a moment before reaching for his door, half wanting to glance at the man who had spent his entire day helping him for no reason other than because he seemingly wanted to, but suddenly feeling very clumsy in his own skin.

"I…" Todd let out an exhausted breath, searching for the perfect words—for any words—to describe his feelings. He rambled on, "It's been a long week or… well, more than that, really." A lot fucking more. "And I know you don't owe me anything, so… yeah," he mumbled, more to himself than to Zack. "Thanks."

Todd flushed as he finally glanced at Zack, who was staring intensely back at him. He struggled to return the intensity of the other man's gaze, which had focused on him unwaveringly when he'd begun to speak. Zack listened in total silence, and he maintained that gentle quiet even now.

Smooth, moron. The voice chimed in. Todd swatted it away.

Hot tears had begun to well in the corner of his eyes for the third time that day, as though the inability to thank Zack properly was one failure too many.

"Whoa, whoa. Heyyyy…" Two of those big fingers had gently found his chin, tilting Todd's face upwards as Zack looked concernedly at him. "What's all this?" He asked, his voice gentle.

"Nothing." Todd whispered tearfully.

Todd instinctively attempted to recoil again, to withdraw into himself, wanting more than anything to stop staring into Zack's prying eyes—to stop being stared into by them. Todd worried senselessly that if he didn't break away he would lose himself. And Todd truly didn't know what sort of ugliness might spill out of him if he really let himself go…if he really allowed himself to feel what he needed to.

"I'm just…a bit of a mess." He giggled, sputtering on his tears a bit.

But even as he began to pull away, Todd realized Zack was unbuckling his seatbelt and was leaning toward Todd across the car's center console. Zack reached his hand around the back of Todd's head, lacing his fingers through his hair once more, and pulled his head in close.

Todd couldn't pull away if he wanted to now. But Zack hesitated, then leaned a little closer; Todd smelled that chlorine again, fainter now. But this time, he also smelled the hot warmth of Zack's breath against his face. He smelled the notes of pine wafting up alongside the heat of him—the musk of him…

Todd was swimming in Zack now. They were face to face, so close that Todd felt like he had lost all orientation. It was as though up had become down and everything was happening sideways and everywhere and all at once. He was sliding diagonally across the dimensions he normally oriented himself with. Surely, this was about to be the moment Zack let him down. Surely, this would be the second he found out what a cruel joke all of this had been the entire time—that he had been the joke. Hell, maybe Todd's entire family was about to jump out from behind the garage and start snapping photos of his almost stepbrother-porn moment. His anxious thoughts were racing even faster than his heart, and Todd could feel nothing but heat in his face.

"Is this not okay?" Zack asked, concerned. He'd drawn back abruptly when Todd had grown still, his eyes tender and worried. "I thought we'd been flirting all afternoon…" Zack looked at him intently, searching desperately for a sign that they hadn't just crossed some inexcusable boundary, hadn't ruined the whole day they'd built together. "I'm so sorry. I feel terrible."

But yet… even as Todd opened his mouth to reply, they were face to face again. Mouth to mouth. And Todd wasn't sure who had started what or when but he knew that they were both in it completely now.

And oh fuck they were in it.

Todd felt Zack's nose press so hard against his own it hurt. The taller man's face was tilted downward, his lusty breath and dark stubble tickling and scratching across Todd's lips, raking his chin and neck as he savaged him—hunting out places where Todd had never felt the brush of someone's touch before, licking and biting, sucking and whispering. In the moments their lips met, Todd faintly tasted peppermint, the coolness of it a respite from the waves of molten eruptions that coursed through him.

Zack's large hands were commanding, too, and before long, he had removed both of their shirts in a few deft movements. Todd stared openly at Zack's exposed torso, his massive pecs rising and falling with each breath. In the fading light, Todd could still trace the maze of veins that wound up Zack's forearms, snaking over bulging biceps up towards his powerful shoulders.

"You're so fucking hot." Todd gasped.

"Get over here." Zack implored as he forced him up against the driver's side window. "All I've wanted all day is to do this."

His long, muscular torso smashed against Todd's smaller, leaner body. Zack had a hand at Todd's throat, holding his neck gently but firmly in one hand—he was using his size advantage to force the smaller man's back against the window, the cool of the glass searing against him. Todd was rock-hard. His boner was pressing furiously, achingly, against the sweat shorts that imprisoned it.

Zack pulled his shorts down in a swift motion, freeing Todd, and his cock throbbed wildly, desperately, against Zack's rippling torso as it pressed back into him. Even as he felt the warmth of that contact, Zack began to slowly slide up and down, his huge abdominal muscles rubbing along the length of Todd's cock in a slow, rhythmic motion.

Bump.

Bump.

Bump.

Todd felt them each in succession, rubbing over his pulsing member, the friction and fantasy of all of this causing him to moan uncontrollably.

"Ohhhh…." Todd groaned, totally helpless now.

Zack clasped Todd's hands above his head. Zack was kissing him—devouring him—moving along his neck from one ear to the other, nipping at his earlobes as he repeated the transit back and forth, pausing at times to force his tongue between Todd's lips or to bite at one of his nipples before tracing it absently with his big tongue, grasping at his hair while he grunted. All the while Zack was rubbing against him. Up and down. Todd's cock was vibrating at the overwhelming stimulation, a steady stream of precum oozing from him now as he fought back the urge to orgasm.

Zack worked his way around every inch of Todd's neck, making each inch of Todd's pale flesh come alight with crackling flames as he brushed his ample lips against its opaline surface. Licking. Teasing. Starting fires everywhere he went. Up and down and up and down. The massive, muscular torso pressed against Todd. Heavy. Solid. Huge.

The friction was… the rubbing was…

Todd breathed heavily, frantically, his head arcing against the glass so hard it hurt. The cool pressed back cruelly.

It's like he knows exactly what he's doing to me.Todd's thoughts frenzied as he bucked and groaned against the rippling expanse of Zack.

Bump.

Bump.

Bump.

Somewhere down by Todd's thigh, he could feel the weight of Zack's cock, straining obscenely against his joggers. It surged and throbbed with a heat that was equal parts exciting and terrifying.

Bump.

Bump.

Bump.

And then, all at once, Todd was seeing stars. He made a sound he had never made before, consumed entirely by the near-volcanic fury of his orgasm. His moan erupted violently—involuntarily—from a body he felt totally divorced from for a blinding moment.

Todd came uncontrollably. It went on and on and on spurting hotly against Zack's chiseled torso. Todd shuddered violently as the last of it spurted from him. Zack had freed himself now, too, and was using Todd's cum to jerk of his enormous cock in a frenzied rush, bucking into his huge hand as he, too, came all over himself.

Todd watched dumbstruck as his enormous dick heaved, spewing rope after rope of cum across his impossibly muscled torso.

"That was hot," Zack growled into Todd's ear before crashing back into the passenger seat and wiping the cum off of himself with a balled-up t-shirt.

"Fuck," was all Todd could say.

An enormous hand tussled his hair. "Next time,"Zack teased.

Todd slid into his seat, stupified all of this.

Zack was pulling his joggers back on, and Todd looked at him in the moonlight, comfortable for once with his nakedness in a way he'd never been with Danver.

"You don't think this is going to make things…I dunno, weird, do you?" Todd asked after a while.

"I mean, your dad's been married what? 5 times? I think they'd be able to handle it. Frankly, I doubt my mom would even notice. She's been checked out since before I can remember." Zack said.

"And besides," he added, " who cares what they think, anyway?" He clambered out of the car, the soiled shirt in his hand.

But Todd found he did care, and it was getting harder to pretend he didn't. And he certainly didn't want to overcomplicate things with Zack. After today, he rather liked him. All of this had happened so suddenly…

Todd's head was spinning as he got out of the car.

Ew. The voice burned. Jockboy, eh? You have terrible taste. It scathed.

"Jesus just leave me alone!" Todd whispered.

"Did you say something?" Zack asked from the front door of the mansion.

"No!" Todd said quickly, "Just talking to myself!" The gargoyle glowered at him as he made to follow Zack inside, the hair on his neck once again prickling as the sensation of being watched crept over him.

There you go. You feel it, don't you? They're coming…the voice whispered from the shadows.

Todd hurried inside, darting a single, furtive glance into the dark behind him before slamming the oak door shut and locking it behind himself, convincing himself that he'd left all of his woes on the other side.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Zack asked.

"Totally." Todd lied.

He was knew he was anything but.