He didn't know how he'd ended up in this awful place with all these corporate rats. He'd agreed to go with Ewelina to her office party and had been regretting it deeply for the last two hours, sipping gin and tonic on one of the couches and trying to telepathically let people know that he had no wish for them to approach him. He didn't get it. Ewelina used to be pretty bearable, after all. She was also bearable when it was just the two of them, but all it took was to put her in this setting, and she became one of them. These people who, in casual conversations after work, were still 'pinging each other' and 'going offline' from time to time and were doing everything asap. Maks had adapted flawlessly; he'd just thought he had to get out of here asap.

He wondered what Aleks was doing. Whether he was thinking about him or not. He wondered when he would finally lose all the sanity he had left.

He finished his gin with a grimace. He preferred whiskey, but nobody had whiskey, and Ewelina had said that he would have gotten drunk too quickly and that he needed to be presentable. She was right; he'd always gotten drunk on whiskey in a flash.

She came up to him from behind and put her arms on his waist. "Are you having fun?" she asked a little breathlessly. She was a bit tipsy already.

Maks wasn't, for a change. He forced a smile. "It's okay," he lied automatically.

She brightened up. "See, I told you—" she started.

One of the guys whose name Maks didn't remember suddenly shouted, "Finally!"

Maks, along with everyone else, turned towards the entrance and saw a tall guy with loads of gel in his hair, accompanied by a slender blonde. Everyone started to get up to greet them. He and his fiancée were the only ones who stayed in their seats. Ewelina looked sulky. After a few cheerful 'hellos' and 'how you're doings', both newcomers approached them.

"Hey, buttercup," the guy said casually, looking smug and leaning to kiss Ewelina's cheek.

Maks watched the scene silently.

"Hi," she drawled out, glancing over her shoulder. "Baby, this is Karol," she introduced flatly. "And this is Maks, my fiancé," she added almost defiantly.

The guy—Karol—sized him up. "Pleasure," he said dumbly.

Maks had the impression that, for some reason, he was amused. He didn't like it. He shook his hand politely. Ewelina wasn't looking at either of them, she seemed to suddenly find the bar extremely fascinating.

It was boring—as boring as a party with people fixated on their completely uninteresting jobs and not able to talk about anything else could be. Maks wasn't sure how many hours he'd spent with them, but he would've given almost anything to be in his apartment right now, getting wasted with Aleks. For a moment, he was tempted to call him, but eventually chickened out. It wasn't that things had been strained between them since Aleks had left a few days ago, but it'd been a little weird, and pretending that nothing had happened was exhausting. Neither of them had said a word about it. Maks was a little scared and a little embarrassed, and Aleks didn't seem too keen to bring it up first.

He sighed and went to look for Ewelina, who had disappeared several minutes before. She was definitely the best company among all of them, and Maks suddenly felt glad that he'd decided to propose to her instead of one of these pretentious plastics she called friends.

He found her at the back entrance of the restaurant. She was smoking with the gel-head guy. He looked like he was trying to explain something. She looked pissed. Maks stopped just outside the door, not even feeling very guilty that he was eavesdropping.

"Listen, can't we just talk it over and finally leave it behind us? Do we really need to make a whole production out of it?" he whispered, sounding impatient.

She raised her eyebrows mockingly. "I've left it behind me," she hissed. "I wouldn't have said a word if you didn't get the brilliant idea to just show up with this harpy. You're so fucking inconsiderate and have no respect for anyone but—"

"That 'harpy' is my girlfriend now," he cut her off dryly. "Look, just accept it the way it is. We were never exclusive; you were the one who kept saying it was only temporary, until your boyfriend got back from the UK. So what? Was I supposed to wait forever?" he asked incredulously.

Ewelina crossed her arms, still looking mad but unable to find an appropriate comeback.

"It's not my fault that the moment I met someone else, you suddenly changed your mind and decided you wanted to leave him. It was too late by then," he scoffed.

Ewelina pressed her lips and swallowed heavily. "I've never said I wanted to leave him—" she protested quietly.

"That's what happens when you're with one person your whole fucking life," he cut her off derisively, not even listening to what she was saying.

Ewelina glared at him. "I've never said I wanted to leave him," she repeated venomously. "Don't flatter yourself. You didn't win in any category. I'm not mad because we've ended things; I'm exactly where I want to be right now. What I'm mad about is that on the same fucking day we talked, barely a few hours later, I had to find out from Ada that you'd already introduced her to everyone at work. You haven't even had the balls to say it to my face. That was fucking low," she whispered angrily.

Karol raised his eyebrows, clearly unimpressed. "Yeah, as low as what you've done to him," he remarked blankly. "What goes around, comes around. I actually feel sorry for him," he added suddenly.

Ewelina's eyes narrowed. "Don't even think of telling him," she threatened with a trace of panic in her voice.

Karol scoffed. "I'm not going to tell him shit. It's none of my business," he said flatly. "I just said that I feel sorry for him..."

Maks decided he didn't need to hear more. He felt a little numb, but he was holding up well enough to retreat stealthily, get back to the main lounge, smile noncommittally at a few random people, grab his jacket, and walk out. He didn't really care where he was going; he just went straight ahead in the direction of Ochota. He would end up at home sooner or later. It wasn't the biggest of his worries right now.

Not everything he registered at once. His brain was still connecting facts, and he felt torn between cursing Ewelina in his mind and some kind of masochistic mirth. Like, an office affair, seriously? Could she even get more cliché? She could have at least picked something more fanciful. His thing with Aleks was definitely more fanciful. And to even think that he'd felt guilty because of daydreaming about someone else while she'd been pretending for months that it had never happened. He hadn't thought she was such a good actress. He'd always considered himself the main liar in this relationship. And she'd been literally screwing someone else behind his back when he'd been studying abroad and throwing 'honeys' and 'sweethearts' around when they had been on the phone. If he wasn't so mad, he would have been almost impressed.

His head wanted to explode from the overflow of thoughts. He felt he had to do something to stop it, so he went into a random store and bought a bottle of whiskey. He sat on a bench in the park and started to sip it slowly. So what if he got a ticket? He had a good enough reason to get drunk in the park if he wanted. Every judge would let him off the hook.

He couldn't tell exactly what he was feeling. He felt chagrined. He felt betrayed. He felt ashamed, as if someone had brutally raped his self-esteem, but he wasn't sure if these were symptoms of a broken heart. He had never been heartbroken before, but it didn't look or smell like a broken heart. He was just pissed off, but he didn't feel like nothing was ever going to make sense again. He kind of wanted her to feel the same way, and though he knew that if it'd happened not that long ago, he would have probably seethed for a while to keep her on her toes and then forgiven her, now it was a bit more complicated than that. Now, along with all of these things, he also felt relief, because it kind of gave him... a go-ahead? He still wasn't sure if he wanted to actually exercise it, but it was nice to have it. Jesus, what was he even thinking? Just because his girlfriend had cheated on him didn't mean that doing something irreparable just to spite her was a good idea. And Aleks wasn't some toy to be used as a rebound and then left hanging. He didn't even know what Aleks was thinking about all of this; maybe he was just as confused as Maks was.

So yeah, it still wasn't a good enough reason to do stupid shit without thinking it over first. He should stop getting drunk, because it wasn't normal that his relationship was hanging by a thread, and his first thought was that cool, because now he could fuck someone too, guilt-free. No. He glanced at the bottle. Yeah, one more sip, and then home.

•~💥~•

"You can still call it off. I'm going to call it off for you," Kostek informed him in a resolved tone that was supposed to end the conversation before walking out of the room.

Aleks rolled his eyes. "Don't be stupid. He'd kill you," he muttered, knowing that his brother probably couldn't hear him. He shook his head in surrender and grabbed his jacket and keys from the hanger.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kostek snapped from the other room.

"Out," Aleks announced dryly.

"Aleks, I've heard so much shit about this guy. He's fucked up. You should stay as far away from him as—"

"You should stay away from your stupid friends," Aleks cut him off mockingly.

Kostek paused. "You don't wanna end up like me," he said quietly.

Aleks laughed bitterly. Like he was the one to be giving him a fucking lecture. "Well, you can't tell me what to do anymore," he scoffed, not feeling up to a pointless argument. "I'm an adult."

He slammed the door before Kostek had time to answer. He was so sick of his brother treating him like some stupid kid when everything he knew, he knew from him. Damn him for not keeping his mouth shut. He could never keep anything secret from Kostek; he'd made it until he was fifteen before he'd blurted to him that he was gay, even though he'd known that Kostek would be one of the hardest people to convince that gay was okay. And he'd been resistant; it hadn't been until recently that he was able to talk about it openly, though he still scowled dramatically whenever the topic was brought up. But even now, it was more of an abstract concept in his head, and Aleks knew that if he ever actually saw him with a guy, it probably wouldn't be pretty.

He couldn't even go to Maks because he was at some stupid party. With Ewelina. It made him double pissed, because thinking about Maks and Ewelina together... kissing or doing other things... fucking hurt. And the worst thing was that he knew she was the one who had full rights over him. He felt so fucking helpless that it made him want to cry.

Things had also been a little tense between him and Maks lately. He'd really thought that after that almost-kiss and the mutual silent understanding they'd reached last time, something would have happened. One way or another, but at least some words would have been exchanged. But there'd been nothing, as if it'd never happened. He had to admit that Maks was a master of pretending that everything was fine and dandy.

So he carried on waiting, even though it was driving him crazy, but he didn't want to rush Maks. He needed to decide for himself what he wanted. Forcing his hand would be counterproductive, but he was slowly starting to doubt that Maks would ever make a move on his own.

Well, Maks was out, and there was only one other destination. Mazowiecka Street then, and his shot bar, which always made him feel better. When he left Chupito two hours later, he felt definitely uplifted. He decided it wouldn't hurt to check out the club across the street and maybe dance for a bit, since he was already here. Maybe he would run into someone he knew. Or maybe he'd meet some hot guy who would make him forget all about Maks. Unlikely, but worth a shot.

It was okay at first. He spent some time swaying to bad r'n'b against the bar and turned down two pretty blondes who apparently lacked gaydar, trying to be gentle and not hurt their pride too much. It would have continued to be okay if he hadn't noticed two familiar figures on his way to the smoking room. They were on the couches in a dark corner of the club; she was lying in a semi-conscious state, and he was yanking her, maybe just trying to not very gently pull her up, but it wasn't Aleks' first impression. He rolled his eyes. If Maks thought that he was the one with a tendency for getting into trouble, what could be said about his sister?

Fuck, he'd promised Partyka that he wouldn't get into another brawl with Adrian. He should walk by this scene without getting involved, because a promise given to Partyka was a pretty big deal. On the other hand, it was Maks' little sister. So no, he couldn't just walk by.

He approached them with a sense of foreboding. "What's going on here?" he asked quietly, but not enough to be drowned out by the music.

Adrian looked at him with loathing. Wiki didn't seem to know what was happening around her. There was also another girl around her age who looked frightened. No one answered him at first.

"Shit, you again?" Adrian scoffed, again trying to fruitlessly get Wiki up.

"Me again," Aleks admitted calmly. "How much did she drink?"

"The fuck do you care?" Adrian snarled. "Is she yours? I don't think so!"

Aleks wanted to wince, but he held back. "How much did she drink, and why so much?" he repeated, this time addressing the other girl, who seemed frantic and guilty.

"I really didn't see," she wailed pitifully. "I had to go for a while, not for long, and when I got back—"

"Yeah, okay," Aleks waved his hand to cut her off. "I'm taking her to her brother," he informed her considerately, coming up to Wiki and grasping her arm gently.

"Get the fuck off her," Adrian growled, pushing him away.

Wiki raised her head, blinking absently, until suddenly a broad smile appeared on her face. "Aleks," she murmured happily, somehow getting on her feet, though still stumbling a little.

Aleks embraced her to help hold her upright. "What did you take?" he whispered.

Wiki shook her head fiercely. "I didn't take anything, I swear," she whimpered.

Aleks was skeptical but decided to let it go.

She looked at him with big, beseeching eyes. "Can we go?" she moaned. "Let's go somewhere. Do you remember the last night we spent together? Last Thursday? Let's do that again," she slurred, smiling to herself giddily.

Aleks held back a loud snort. From the outside, it might sound down and dirty, but in reality, they'd spent their last night eating jelly beans and watching 'Big Bang Theory' until the early morning hours. He looked up with bemusement but immediately froze when his eyes met Adrian's. He felt slightly disturbed by the amount of hatred in them, and his smirk was instantly gone.

"You just have to butt in wherever you're not wanted, don't you?" he asked threateningly.

Aleks gulped, because most of the time he didn't want to butt in anywhere. It just happened regardless.

"I don't know what your fucking problem with me is, but it's starting to piss me off, so if you want, we can settle it right here and right now."

Aleks really didn't want to. Stay quiet, he told himself. Don't call him on it.

"You know, one time might be an accident, but the second says something about us, doesn't it? Just be a man and face it," he chimed in, immediately cursing himself and his big mouth, because before he even registered what was happening, Adrian's fist connected with his face in full force. The back of Aleks' head slammed into a column so hard that he almost blacked out. Why the fuck had he had to say that? Had he had a fucking death wish? But it had just begged to be said out loud. It was absurd because Aleks wasn't even into it, but when you looked at it from the outside, then it would have been the second time he sneaked a girl from him. First Sonia couldn't have gotten rid of him, so she'd asked Aleks to be her fake boyfriend, and now Wiki was getting some crazy ideas. Whoever had said that women were trouble had been one hundred percent right.

Still, even gay, he was more successful with the ladies than this loser. That was reassuring, even though he would rather be successful with the gentlemen.

With that thought, he was going to pick himself up, but suddenly he heard Wiki's shriek and felt a hand grabbing the front of his jacket. Another punch landed on his jaw, and then another, until he finally lost count. Adrian didn't even take a break to give him a chance to fight back, and Aleks thought that he must have really wounded him up because he didn't seem like he was planning to stop anytime soon. At some point, Wiki shouted something like, 'Jesus Christ, you're going to kill him!', so Adrian struck one last time for good measure, this time right in the nose, before pushing him violently onto the tabletop.

Aleks blinked with effort, barely able to see anything, probably because of the blood in his eyes, and not only there; he felt like it was everywhere, gushing from his mouth and nose. Fucker was pretty strong. For a moment, he had an overwhelming need to just rip into him and fucking destroy him, but he was probably too weak, and besides, Adrian wasn't even there anymore. He coughed experimentally, and it hurt more than he'd expected. He touched his teeth with his tongue—they felt intact—then he raised his hand to his nose. It didn't seem broken, but his face must have been a little re-arranged. He could barely move it, like he'd lost any facial expression. He got onto his feet unsteadily, and suddenly Wiki's frantic babbling next to him started to sink in.

"Oh my God, Aleks, are you all right?!" She grabbed his arm to assist, but she was hindering more than helping. Her eyes were wide open and frightened.

Aleks nodded painfully. "I'm gonna go and try to clean up," he uttered, a bit less dazed. At least he could see something now that he'd rubbed his eyes a little. Jesus, Partyka was going to kill them. Both of them.

"We should go to the hospital?!" she squealed right into his ear.

It was hard to say whether it was a statement or a question. Aleks tried to pull a face but wasn't sure if it worked. "Yeah, right," he scoffed flippantly, taking a step towards the lavatories after determining that he shouldn't fall over.

"I'm coming with you," Wiki announced, still clutching his arm. "You can go if you want. I'm staying with him," she informed her friend over her shoulder.

Aleks didn't give a damn about her answer; he was just surprised that Wiki had sobered up so quickly. It'd probably been the adrenaline.

She dragged him to the ladies room because it was cleaner, and Aleks went straight to the sinks. He splashed his face, which invigorated him a little, then leaned against the cold tiles and closed his eyes.

Wiki pulled out a handful of paper towels and started to slowly and silently wash the blood off his face. After a few minutes, the dispenser was empty, and the entire floor was swamped.

"I'm so sorry," she said suddenly, her voice full of despair. "I really didn't know he was going to go apeshit—"

"Don't worry about it," Aleks rasped. "He's always been allergic to me. He'd find another reason."

"He's a fucking psycho," she whispered with disbelief. "I don't know what I'm going to do if he won't leave me alone."

Yeah, Aleks didn't want to tell her that Adrian wasn't the type of guy who left girls alone when they asked nicely and didn't handle rejection well. It could still get pretty messy.

"It just slipped out, because I wanted to rile him up, but I didn't mean—" she started to defend herself rapidly.

"I know." He cut her off, trying to smile, but it was too painful. "Trust me, the itch to rile that moron up is a natural and healthy impulse."

Wiki snorted at first but sobered up quickly. "Well, at least I've got you to rush to my rescue." She smiled skittishly, scooting closer to him and setting off alarm bells in his head. "You're a great guy, you know that? It just feels like I can trust you. That doesn't happen often," she whispered with a slightly wet smile. "Though I would rather you didn't stir him up again, I didn't know what to do, and I was so scared that he was going to..." she broke off and swallowed, raising her hand and resting it on his chest.

It was all too much. He hoped she wouldn't try to kiss him, because he had no desire to explain himself right now, but he felt like Maks' sister deserved to be turned down with something more substantial than 'thanks, but no thanks'. And why couldn't her brother be so straightforward and resolved? "Wiki..." he started tiredly, trying to figure out how to gently blow her off.

"I know," she assured him quickly, clearly misunderstanding his words. "We're definitely not doing it now. We don't want to fuck up your face even more. Let's wait until it gets all pretty again. Although," she added coyly, standing on her tiptoes to reach him. "I still think it's super hot," she whispered before brushing his swollen cheek with her lips.

He wanted to say something to dampen her enthusiasm a little, but his face had just been completely massacred by a guy he detested, and he didn't feel very lenient. He would probably end up blurting something like, 'Sorry, but between you and your sibling, you're not the one that I want', so he decided not to open his mouth at all. He pulled away. "Okay," he mumbled flatly, looking down at her.

Fortunately, she also moved on, leaving flirt mode. "Let's get out of here," she suggested, opening the door for him.

Aleks rubbed his temples. The things he suffered through for Maks, without even any guarantee that something would come out of it.

He tried calling him during the whole cab ride. Nothing. Was he still at that party? It was almost one a.m.; he would have never survived that long at some fucking sorority convention. Well, at worst, they would have to stay outside and wait.

Apparently, nerves and alcohol finally lulled Wiki to sleep, so he dragged her out of the car and up the stairs. She mewled softly but was mostly cooperative. It took almost ten minutes of banging at the door for Maks to kindly open it. He looked tired, and his eyes were twitching. For a long moment, he just stared at them, like he wasn't sure whether they were actually standing in front of him or if he was hallucinating. His gaze finally fixed on Aleks' face, and his mouth opened in surprise.

"I've got a delivery, one unconscious sister," he quipped, though he knew it wasn't very funny and his face probably looked even more gruesome when he tried to smile.

Maks blinked, then moved away silently to let them in. He didn't even ask any questions. He just took over and carried Wiki to his bedroom.

Aleks didn't wait for an invitation. He closed the door behind himself and went to the living room. He raised his eyebrows when he saw an almost empty Jack Daniels bottle. "Is this a private party?" he asked with amusement when he heard Maks coming back. "Was it that bad?" he added, glancing at him over his shoulder.

Maks came to him slowly. Aleks suddenly felt concerned because, so far, he hadn't even smiled once.

"What happened to her?" he asked quietly. These were the first words he'd uttered since they'd arrived.

Aleks sensed it wasn't time for jokes. "She got intoxicated," he deadpanned, because this one seemed pretty obvious to him. "She was with Adrian again. I don't know how it happened, but—"

"And what happened to you?" Maks cut him off with his eyebrows knitted. He slowly raised his hand to his face.

His touch was gentle, but Aleks still hissed in pain. "Adrian happened," he muttered without elaborating.

Maks' eyes were roaming from one bruise to another, as if he didn't know where to fix his gaze. He was looking like what he saw was physically hurting him as well. "Why?" he whispered.

Aleks was silent for a moment. He swallowed nervously when Maks' thumb brushed his lower lip. Overall, he was feeling quite awful, but these eyes and this touch were still making his mouth go dry. He cleared his throat. "I guess he thinks I'm sleeping with your sister, and he would like to do that himself," he said bluntly.

Maks' fingers stilled. "Are you?" he asked calmly.

Aleks again felt that something was very wrong. This guy didn't act like Maks; it was some pathetic, impassive imitation of him.

"Sleeping with my sister?" Maks specified.

"No, Maks, I'm not sleeping with your sister," he said loud and clear, even though he actually considered this question too absurd to be graced with an answer.

"Why does Wiki always end up in this state when you're around?" Maks snapped out of the blue.

Aleks' eyebrows flew up. "Oh, so it's my fault?" he asked, affronted, because he'd only been trying to help, putting his health and beauty on the line, and was still taking the fall for it. "She was already like that when I found her—"

"Well, you've got your ass kicked by a guy who is jealous of her, so yeah, it seems a little fishy," Maks scoffed angrily.

Aleks had no idea what he was actually mad about, so he wisely kept silent, because there was no saying what Maks was going to do when he was so... not him.

"Seriously, is something happening between you two?" he asked flat out with a trace of accusation in his voice. "Is it about her? Cause why the fuck would you get beaten up for some random chick?"

For a moment, Aleks was wondering if he hadn't misheard before he burst into a bitter laugh, not able to help himself. "You think I'm doing it for her?" he sneered, because that was the most absurd piece of crap he'd heard lately. Then he took a step toward him and grabbed his arm harshly. "How much of a blind idiot are you to come to that conclusion and not figure out that the only reason I give a shit about her is that she's your sister?" he growled, putting the emphasis on 'your', because he'd officially run out of patience. He was staring at Maks, outraged, and waiting for him to put it together in his pretty little head because he couldn't have been more clear about what he'd meant. He would only have been more obvious if he'd stuck his tongue into his throat.

Maks was also staring, unnerved that this moment had apparently just come. He needed more time, because yeah, sure, he wanted it, but he didn't want to regret it, for Aleks to regret it, or for it to happen only because he was mad at Ewelina. But the truth was that Ewelina had cheated on him, probably multiple times, and Aleks was right here and was looking at him the way he always did, only with a trace of irritation, and he'd gotten his ass kicked for standing up for his little sister, even when he hadn't had to, and he'd just admitted out loud that he wanted the same thing Maks did. He'd signed their sentence with that because Maks was really fed up with ignoring all these excruciating feelings. He wanted to let them out and see where they led him, and now he wasn't even risking anything because he had nothing more to lose.

It wasn't about Ewelina, though. It wasn't about Wiktoria, either. From the very beginning, it'd only been about the two of them. Other people had nothing to do with this mysterious thing that was growing between them instead of fading. If it turned out to be a mistake, at least Maks would have an excuse that he'd been a mess after finding out about his girlfriend's infidelity and hadn't been thinking straight. Yeah, that sounded reasonable. He just wasn't thinking straight at all.

He went for it without warning; he just grabbed the unhurt side of his jaw and crashed their lips together, feeling they were beyond any shyness or restraint. Aleks didn't object; he just hissed quietly, which Maks mostly missed. He was too startled because he didn't understand how it could still be so sweet despite the metallic and bitter tangs of blood and alcohol. He followed that taste with his tongue, grazing his lower lip and his teeth on its way further.

Aleks was completely still at first, stunned by the sudden pain and this unexpected development, because he'd really started to believe that Maks would never bring himself to do it, but now it was actually happening. Maks' tongue was on its way into his mouth without any unnecessary preamble, and that finally stirred him into action. He raised his hands and clutched the front of his sweater—he was wearing a cardigan; who even wore cardigans? How cute was that?—more to hold himself up than for any other purpose, and stood on his tiptoes to get closer. Maks' hand moved from his jaw to the back of his neck and tightened firmly on the short hair there. Aleks gasped quietly into his mouth, because maybe it'd taken him a while to get here, but after making a decision, he was definitely all in.

They broke away for a second to catch their breath and exchange one significant look before jumping right in simultaneously. Their lips met again. Maks started to push him back, but Aleks stopped him to hastily peel his sweater off, then grabbed his shirt to pull him with him. He pressed himself flat against the wall, and Maks pressed against him, dropping his hands to his hips. He closed his eyes and, for a moment, was just reveling in it, measuring them and loving the way they felt in his grasp. For the last few days, he had been doing everything in his power not to think of those hips. They'd been fucking haunting him. He rubbed against them experimentally and heard a tiny moan from Aleks, muffled by his own mouth. It made his head spin, and it was hard to focus on all of it at once, so he settled on nibbling his lower lip, holding his hips in an iron grip, and grinding against him. All he could think about was that he needed to keep him here somehow, right in this place, and not let him disappear. It was all that really mattered.

How could he have even considered not trying this? So what if he was a guy when he was so fucking gorgeous and Maks was so turned on already that he was afraid he would explode like some inept virgin. Though he kind of was like a virgin who had been given this delightful, vibrant creature and had no idea what to do with it. He raised one of his hands to cup Aleks' cheek, then jerked it back, suddenly realizing that it might not be pleasant for him.

"Does it hurt?" he whispered against his lips, sobering up in a flash.

Aleks just shook his head frantically, stretching his neck to keep their mouths connected and not let him retreat.

"We should get you some ice," Maks mumbled, suddenly hung up on this one thought—that Aleks was injured and he was probably making it worse.

"Don't you fucking dare," Aleks muttered back huskily.

Maks knew he was playing it down; it had to hurt like a bitch, but he didn't have a strong enough will not to surrender. To make his point, he left his face alone and dropped his lips to his neck.

Aleks titled his head. "Your sister is," he panted, distracted. "Around here somewhere," he finished lamely, clearly neither knowing where she was nor caring.

"Right," Maks agreed, forcing his mouth to rest behind his ear and trying to think, but his skin there smelled so good, so he first bit it gently, then started soothing it with the tip of his tongue.

Aleks hissed through his teeth and drew back slightly. "Come on," he urged him, pulling on his shirt desperately. It looked like he wanted to drag him somewhere. His hands dropped from his chest to his belt, and Maks thought he would let him drag him anywhere.

He managed to undo his belt before they got to the couch. Aleks pushed him on it and then followed him, straddling his hips, leaning in to kiss him, and starting to work on his fly.

Maks groaned loudly, throwing his head back when he felt a small hand sneaking into his boxers. He dropped his head back and panted into his shoulder, thrusting his hips to get closer to this miracle-working palm. It was such a trivial thing—hand jobs. Sure, they were nice, but Maks had always considered them so rudimentary compared to everything else. Except for now, because now it was Aleks; it was his fingers touching him in hasty, messy strokes; it was his thighs squeezing his hips; and it was his eyes boring into him, hazy and glassy and completely mesmerizing. Maks felt trapped under this fervent gaze that had already managed to shatter everything he'd thought he'd known about himself, and he was afraid of how much more damage it could do because right now he felt like there was no solid ground beneath his feet and was never going to be again.