Page 38 of Find Me Again

And Ryan was happy to give more and take just as much. As they kissed, his head was empty for a change, empty of anything other than this, right here, and the two of them in this exact moment. No past, no future, only here and now.

They kissed, and kissed, and kissed. Parting for breath was a brief pause, spent staring into each other's eyes—which was cheesy but also terrifying, as if they were about to jump from a cliff at any moment—or nuzzling each other's necks before working the skin there with teeth and tongue, not enough tomake a visible mark, but enough to shatter any defenses Ryan had left.

When they finally sat back with some space between them, Ryan realized it was getting dark outside, which explained the shadows they'd been slowly engulfed in inside the car.

As he glanced at Neil, he saw him looking back with a smile, so maybe he thought about the same thing Ryan did—about how they used to do it all the time, getting lost in each other and often scrambling to get home to meet their curfew.

"I hope I still remember how to drive this road in the dark," Neil said, basically confirming Ryan's theory.

"You better, otherwise we're in trouble." He smirked. "Or you can let me drive, I'm sure I can manage."

"Uh-oh, now you've done it. There's no way my competitive spirit can let a challenge like that go."

"There was no challenge."

"Oh, please."

They both knew better, of course. Turning something into a challenge had always been the fastest way of getting Neil to do it, and apparently, it still worked.

"Either way," Neil said, growing serious, "I think we should get going before it gets really dark."

Ryan nodded, ignoring how his stomach fell. "Sure, yeah."

"I wish I could invite you to my place, but my parents are there, so it would become really embarrassing really fast."

Neil ran a hand through his hair, mussing it even more, and Ryan made a decision between one breath and the next.

"We could go to my brother's house," he said, trying and failing at nonchalance. "I have the place to myself, so at least we wouldn't give your parents—or mine—any ammunition to embarrass us."

Neil's face brightened. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Ryan dropped his head to hide his grin in response to Neil's enthusiasm, but Neil cupped his face before lifting it up and dropping a kiss on his lips.

"Let's go, then," he whispered, yet instead of moving away, he dove in for another kiss, and another, and it couldn't be comfortable for him at that angle, but if Neil didn't mind, Ryan wasn't going to, either.

It took another few minutes before they managed to pull themselves apart for long enough to actually move to the front seats and get going. While the drive back was slow, Neil handled it just fine, and he was so proud of himself that Ryan had to laugh, amused.

Some things never changed.

Once they got to George's place, Ryan headed straight to the kitchen to put the kettle on. He'd been too distracted up there to notice, but now he was getting a reminder of how all the winter clothes were fine and good but didn't really change the weather. It was still freaking cold out there.

As he stood facing the counter and rubbing his hands together, Neil came up to him from behind and put his arms around Ryan's middle, fingers tangling low on his stomach.

"I swear, if you even think of putting your cold hands under my clothes, I'll put you down so fast," Ryan told him, even as he leaned back into the embrace. "Not a challenge, only a fair warning."

Neil laughed against his neck, huffing warm air onto his skin.

"I wouldn't dare."

"Smart." Ryan tilted his head so that Neil had more access. "This is good, though."

"Yeah." Neil kissed the tendon between Ryan's shoulder and neck. "This is great."

Closing his eyes, Ryan put his hands over Neil's, and theystood like that until the kettle was done.

They separated slowly—reluctantly, Ryan would dare to say—but not for long. Once they each had a big mug of tea, they headed towards the living room and nested on the couch with their backs to the opposite armrests and tangling their legs in the middle.

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