(A/N: First of all, smut warning again. Second of all, I owe a huge thank you to BregyBooks for helping me with the outline for the next few chapters, so thank you, Alex!!! You guys should check out his BMC fic too, it's super intense.)

Michael returned to the basement in a fresh outfit, carrying an armful of clean clothes for Jeremy to choose from. "I didn't know what you'd want to wear, so..." He dumped the pile onto the floor next to Jeremy, who sat cross-legged and held his shirt down firmly over his crotch as he blushed furiously.

"Uh, thanks," he stammered, reaching toward the clothes with one hand.

Michael stood awkwardly for a moment, wondering why Jeremy was just sitting there, until he realized he'd probably want some privacy. "Oh!" he cried, backtracking out of the room. "Right, right, sorry."

The door clicked shut behind him, and Jeremy sighed in relief. He picked through the clothes, grabbing a faded Jimmy Hendrix tee and a pair of checkered boxers that were definitely a size too big. He hurried into the bathroom, cleaned up, and changed as he thought about what the fuck just happened.

Jeremy didn't have much experience with other boys -- with any gender, truth be told, but even less so with boys. Until now, the furthest he'd ever gotten with anybody was a kiss.

The Squip materialized, clapping him on the shoulder. "Jeremy, you player," he grinned.

Jeremy jumped, startled. "What? No, I didn't -- "

"It's pretty obvious -- if not by simply accessing your neural memory, then by your change of clothes and the shade of red your face is right now -- exactly what you did," the Squip grinned. He shook his head and sobered. "However proud I am of you for reaching one of your long-term goals so quickly, I strongly advise that you do not continue this behavior, at least not tonight. Go play video games or something, be a kid for a while."

"Hey, Jeremy, get out here! I gotta show you something!" Michael called from outside the door.

"Depending on what he wants to show me... no promises," Jeremy whispered. He left the bathroom as the Squip rolled his eyes at the remark and disappeared.

Michael was sitting on the edge of his bed, holding a large envelope when Jeremy entered the room.

"Jeremy, look," Michael urged. "I ordered it last month and I got it in the mail like a week ago but I completely forgot about it. Look, look!" Michael ripped the top off the envelope and dumped its contents onto the bed as Jeremy sat down next to him.

Jeremy picked up the tightly folded square of fabric and opened it as Michael picked up the card that was included. He read it aloud.

"'Hello! This is your new binder from GC2b. To love it longer, you should hand wash and hang it to dry. Don't worry if you decide to machine wash and dry, your binder will be just fine.' Then there's another paragraph... 'designed to compress'... 'fits snugly'... blah blah blah." He turned to Jeremy, beaming. "I figured it'd be good to have two... So, what do you think?"

Jeremy held up the rainbow tie-dyed half tank and pulled a tortured look.

"Uh... Jeremy?"

"Michael, I don't know how to say this, but..." He took a dramatic deep breath. "It's really gay."

Michael blinked, dumbstruck, before cracking up completely. "Jeremy, you scared me for a sec there," he laughed. "Yeah, it's pretty gay, but I am gay, so..."

Jeremy carefully re-folded the binder and set it aside. "Gay for me," he retorted through his own giggles.

Michael took his hand as his laughter faded into a smile. "Right."

Now it was Jeremy's turn to be speechless, as Michael's thumb traced circles on his hand and Michael's gaze locked into his own. They both leaned in for a kiss at the same time.

It wasn't a long kiss, but it lingered on Jeremy's lips once Michael pulled back. "Aw, Jer, your face is really -- " His eyes drifted down and landed on Jeremy's very obvious bulge. "Whoa, dude, seriously? All I did was kiss you!"

Jeremy gasped. "Shit." His hands flew to cover himself up and he avoided eye contact at all costs, looking anywhere but at Michael. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, you're just really hot and I'm a teenage boy and what can you really expect of me and -- "

"Bro, you need Jesus," Michael snickered.

"Don't 'bro' me, it's not funny," Jeremy stammered. "I didn't mean to... I don't know, I just..." He closed his eyes and his mind ran through the routine list of not-sexy memories. That baseball game Dad took me to when I was seven. Family dinner at last Hanukkah. Come on come on go away --

Michael tilted Jeremy's chin up. "Jeremy. I'm messing with you," he grinned. "It's no big deal, so stop thinking about Grandma or whatever and look at me."

Jeremy finally did manage to look him in the eye. "Ah, Grandma, I missed that one," he smiled weakly. Using humor to cope. Nice.

Michael chuckled lightly, but his eyes were dark. He studied Jeremy's face. "I could, uh... you know." His voice lowered. "I could help you out."

Jeremy's heart skipped a beat. He was both mortified and extremely turned on. Fully aware of how stupid he sounded, he replied, "Okay."

Michael smirked and gave Jeremy a little peck on the mouth before sliding one hand slowly up Jeremy's thigh, looking him straight in the eye as he did so. Jeremy felt as though he was melting from the inside out.

Michael tugged at the waistband of Jeremy's boxers when he got there. He let Jeremy pull them down while he brushed his lips against his ear. "I'm gonna make you feel so good, Jeremiah."

Jeremy's breath hitched. He whimpered helplessly, paralyzed, and not entirely convinced he wasn't dreaming.

"Can I touch you?"

Jeremy nodded. Michael's hand curled around him and he moaned breathily. He leaned into Michael, who wrapped his free arm around Jeremy's thin frame as he kissed his forehead.

And then the Squip showed up. I knew this was too good to last.

"Shut it, Jeremy," the Squip began. "You need to wrap this up, quick. I'm serious, stop now."

Um... no? Go away, you're -- "Oh, fuck," he breathed. Michael had started to stroke him slowly. You're ruining the mood.

"Jeremy, listen to me. If you don't pull up your pants in the next twenty-six seconds, this is the scene Michael's father is going to walk in on."

Jeremy shot up straight. "Michael, stop, wait." Michael removed his hand, his brow drawn together in concern.

Jeremy stood and pulled the boxers on the whole way, then sat again, held a pillow in his lap, and allowed the Squip to cool the blush on his cheeks.

Michael turned to him, panicked. "Jeremy, I'm so sorry if you felt pressured or anything. If I crossed any lines -- "

The door opened.

"Hey sweetheart, can you -- Oh, hi, Jeremy." Mr. Mell did a double take. "Honey, you know you're not allowed to close the door when you have a boy in here."

"I'm sorry Dad, I forgot," Michael apologized.

"It's okay, just keep it open." He found his train of thought. "Anyway, can you order some Chinese or something? I gotta get a shower, I have work tomorrow."

Michael nodded. "Sure thing."

"You should go, too," the Squip suggested. "You're too flustered to explain yourself to Michael right now."

Jeremy cleared his throat. "Actually, I should get going, too," he said. "It's a school night. Nice seeing you, Mr. Mell."

He waited until Michael's dad reached the bottom of the stairs before he dared to stand, but he found there was no need to worry and nothing to cover up. Uh... did you do that?

"No comment," said the Squip. "You already know my capacity for physiological manipulation."

I didn't know that included boners.

"Shut up and go home, you appalling hormone-fueled teenage boy," the Squip replied, but Jeremy could swear the guy was holding back a childish smile.

Jeremy waved a quick goodbye to Michael and hurried out, beginning his first ever walk of shame in Michael's clothes. All the way home, he couldn't get the song "Blue" from Heathers out of his head.

He blamed Michael, for making him listen to the soundtrack. And for other things.