Page 57 of Stand By Me

He watched Ben turn around and disappear inside the house, and all he could think of was that it went both ways.

It wasn't a shock, with their history, but it still hurt.

He dragged himself to the car and drove off.

CHAPTER TWENTY

One glance at Clay when he arrived was enough for Mario to pull him into a hug and drop a kiss onto his jaw. Clay leaned into the embrace, circled his arms around Mario's waist, and held on, his head resting heavily on Mario's shoulder.

Any hope that the reality check Mario had served Ben earlier would change anything between the brothers for the better had been in vain, apparently.

They stood like this for who knew how long, and when they parted, Mario did it with a heavy heart as the entire evening hit him with full force.

"Come to bed," he said quietly, tugging at Clay's hand. Earlier, he'd thought that maybe they'd talk, but he was all out of words, and from the looks of it, so was Clay, who followed him without protest.

It wasn't about sex but about the need to be close, to comfort each other. They shed their clothes quickly and lay down, pressed together, with Clay's chest against Mario's back and their legs tangled.

Within minutes, their breathing fell into the same rhythm.

Mario couldn't tell when he fell asleep, but the next time he opened his eyes, there was light coming from outside, barely breaking into dawn. Clay was still behind him, tucked against his body, his arm around Mario's waist a welcomed, comforting weight.

It was incredible how quickly, how easily Mario had grown used to sleeping with Clay. Going to bed alone wasn't the same anymore, as if his body had recognized what was best and didn't want to settle for less any longer.

Now, he let himself enjoy this feeling for a little bit, half-awake and half-asleep, but then the memories of last night came rushing back, his fight with Ben replaying itself in flashes, and Mario knew his peace was over.

He slowly rolled to face Clay, hoping he wouldn't disturb him, but Clay opened his eyes right away.

"Sorry," Mario whispered. "Didn't mean to wake you."

Clay glanced behind him towards the window and back.

"'S okay," he murmured, his voice low and a bit raspy. "My alarm would've done it soon, anyway, in a much less pleasant way." He ran a hand over Mario's side. "How are you feeling?"

Mario pressed his face into Clay's neck and inhaled deeply, catching the already familiar scent of him.

"That bad, huh?" Clay whispered before kissing the top of Mario's head.

Mario hummed something close to an agreement, sneaked his arms around Clay's waist, and snuggled closer. A part of him recognized that they were both almost naked and it would be easy to turn this into sex, but he needed closeness and reassurance more than he needed an orgasm.

And it seemed he wasn't the only one.

"Yeah," Clay breathed out, as if he was hearing Mario's thoughts, or maybe answering his own question. Whichever it was, they stayed like that for a while longer, and Mario tried to quiet his overactive brain, but it didn't work.

"I don't know what to do now," he whispered into the small, damp space of the crook of Clay's neck, where his beard gave way to smooth skin.

Clay ran a hand between Mario's shoulder blades back and forth in a slow caress.

"It's going to be fine between you two," he murmured. "Maybe not today, but it will."

Mario had thought that, too, before last night. Now, he wasn't so sure.

"How?"

Clay sighed. "I don't know. But it's you two, so you'll figure it out. No one knows him like you do."

"Well, we both said things last night…" Mario trailed off, not sure how to finish the sentence.

Yeah, they hurt each other, but neither of them had said anything unforgivable, had they?

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