Pogue knew, of course. It wasn't as though Aaron was very subtle about it, making comments whenever he could about other guys, usually derogatory and of a sexual or genitalia-based nature. He figured most of the other guys didn't notice because they were busy making the same jokes; the difference between most of the other guys and Aaron was that they didn't emphasize the sex part. Aaron's jokes were vicious, and meant to hit a specific part of the body.

Not that Pogue cared one way or another. It was sort of funny to watch Aaron getting slammed into lockers by other people, when he took the joke too far. It was even funnier to watch Aaron get called out on his behavior, which always left him red-faced and sputtering but unable to reply.

And it wasn't that hard, after the first year of that, to figure out why being in a locker room was hard for Aaron. Why he made those jokes and said the things he did. Pogue was blessed with a household which, while they never talked about it and his parents never asked, also never condemned the so-called alternative lifestyle. The one or two times Pogue might have let the word 'boyfriend' slip it was assimilated into the conversation without anyone batting a lash.

Of course, that had ended pretty quickly after that, so it didn't much matter. And then there was Kate, and it still didn't matter.

He avoided making himself an obvious target whenever Aaron looked as though his blood was up. He ignored the other boy when he tried to make insinuations about the Sons of Ipswich, insinuations that often went ignored by the rest of the locker room as well, after Pogue started going out with Kate. Even after they broke up, clearly, Pogue had bagged one of the school hotties so he couldn't be queer, right?

Stupid assumption, but it didn't matter, and it didn't bother Pogue any. So he didn't think much about it when the climbed out of the pool after two hours of water therapy, post-accident, to find that Aaron was the only one left in the locker room.

Maybe not the only one. But still, close enough.

"Could you get those shorts any lower, man, I don't think the lifeguard got a good enough look at your package."

"Whatever, man."

Close the locker, grab a towel, head over to the showers. Hot water to get the chlorine out of his eyes, out of his hair. It made his skin itch.

Aaron actually followed him into the shower; for lack of anyone else to bully, Pogue assumed. Funny thing though, he didn't even say anything. After about a five minute shower Pogue turned off of the water and turned around and there was Aaron, glaring at him.

"Do you ever not glare at people in the locker room?"

An actual question. It stumped him long enough for Pogue to push past him and head for his locker. Aaron stared after him for a moment.

"What, you're ..." he started, but the belligerence trailed off somewhat limply when he couldn't come up with anything to say to finish that off. Pogue almost laughed. "Pussy.

Pogue turned, sweats in one hand. "Am I scared of you seeing me naked? No. You're the only one who seems to have a problem with sharing an open locker room like this. You have a problem with naked? Maybe you just want to get a good look."

That might have been a little over the top. Aaron turned red, then white, mouth working through words but nothing coming out.

The moment stretched out between them, and Pogue discovered that he kind of liked the way Aaron was looking at him. Maybe more because it had been a while since anyone had looked at him, naked, with that kind of appreciation. Or maybe it was because Aaron was obviously fighting a growing hard-on, and Pogue liked having that kind of control over someone. Aaron clearly didn't like the staring, but he was having problems moving away. Maybe because it would be giving up.

Finally Aaron took his turn to shoulder past Pogue, who grabbed him by the arm. "Look. That was an awful lot of staring you just did. You sure you don't have something to say?"

"Yeah, I have something to say." Aaron leaned in closer. "Get the hell away from me."

Pogue laughed. Aaron did not like this.

"What the hell are you laughing about?" Shove. Pogue knocked his arm away.

Which only got him grabbed again and somehow one of them was getting slammed into the locker and there was too much skin going on for there to be no even accidental contact. Aaron was wearing his speedo and Pogue was wearing nothing at all, and Aaron made some kind of sound like a sigh or a cough when he touched between Pogue's legs. Not there. But the inside of his thigh, and close enough.

It led, somehow, to him sitting on Aaron and pinning his hands down by the wrists and just a little bit of Power. "Are you gonna stop hitting on me?"

Aaron sputtered and Pogue realized what he'd just said, laughing. "No, I mean, are you going to s--"

"I'm not hitting on you, man!"

"Stop trying to beat me up." Pogue said, grinning. It wasn't helping any. Or at least, it wasn't for Aaron. He struggled, except Pogue was sitting on him, which meant that their bodies were still touching and now rubbing up against each other. "And if you stop moving, you'll probably actually be able to pretend I don't turn you on."

He stopped moving immediately. "What the fuck, man? I'm not a faggot like you freaks."

That got him punched. Pogue stood, shaking his head. "You're the only one doing this to yourself, man. Leave me the hell out of your sick, perverted fantasy life where you're straight." Just in case Aaron hadn't gotten the point.

Just in case Pogue hadn't gotten the point that Aaron hated the implication that he was in any way interested in other boys, he punched the blonde. So, naturally, Pogue punched him back.

"What the hell, man?"

"You fuck..." More fighting. Aaron seemed to be more interested in lashing out or shutting Pogue up or just flailing than actually fighting, and Pogue was just interested in protecting himself and wishing he'd put on some clothes before he'd picked a fight with Aaron. And glad, now that he thought about it as Aaron's head bounced off the edge of the bench, that they were alone.

"Oh, shit..." he stopped fighting, tried to anyway, standing over the other boy and cupping the back of his neck in his hand. "You okay?"

"What the hell do you care." But his eyes were glazed. He clearly wasn't that okay. "Fuck off."

"Come on," Pogue pulled him to his feet, and it was harder than he'd expected. Aaron's feet kept slipping out from under him. "No, sit down." Better idea. And it kept them both from falling over. Pogue sat down in front of him. Aaron looked like he was going to be sick and Pogue really didn't want to be puked on, but he'd rather that than leave the other boy alone with a concussion. That had been one hell of a crack.

"You're such a fucker..." Aaron muttered, but he put his head down anyway.

Pogue shook his head, running his hand through the other boy's hair and checking for growing goose eggs. "Not like you'd know. Stop that, I'm not hitting on you, I'm checking for bruises or bleeding. Less you want me to call the nurse..."

"No." Sharp, freaked out. And then silence. And then. "What time is it?"

"Late. After dinner, but ..." He shrugged. "It was after dinner by the time I got out of the pool. You look fine. Feel better?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

Pogue blinked. Maybe it was just that none of the other boys were there, or... no, he didn't know what it was. Maybe it was just having fought, and having tired Aaron out from the fighting. "No problem." He thought about getting up, but didn't. He also thought about pointing out that it wasn't a bad thing to be gay, or bisexual, or like guys that way. But he didn't do that either.

Aaron's mouth was moving, but if he was saying anything Pogue didn't hear him. He only caught the last two words, and he wasn't even sure he'd gotten them accurately. He wasn't that good at reading lips. But anything in that low of a voice meant he was ashamed of it, and if the last two words had been what he thought they'd been...

He put his hand on Aaron's knee, mostly to test him. He levered himself up after a moment, using the other boy's knee to push himself up, as though he hadn't meant anything by it. And when Aaron grabbed his hip it was as though Aaron didn't mean anything by it either, except giving in or maybe getting over a fear.

It was hot at first. His breath on Pogue's thigh, his mouth not exactly kissing but nuzzling. Pogue put a hand on his head to move him away and then jerked it off in the next instant, just in case Aaron felt the pressure to do anything. He wouldn't do any of the touching, just let Aaron take control. He didn't even know what the other boy wanted, this was... odd. To say the least.

Even more odd when his mouth started moving, when it got wet. "Aaron. What are you doing."

"Shut up."

Definitely anger there. And fear, the sound that someone made when they were swallowing back sobs. He knew that sound from other people, he'd never expected to be hearing it in Aaron.

"You don't have to..."

"Shut. Up."

He did, when Aaron's mouth closed over his cock and he didn't want to ask if the other boy was sure because he didn't want his mouth to move, except, yeah, just like that. Oh god, just like that, and his hands clenched into fists with the effort of not moving. Skill went out the window, he didn't care if Aaron had done this before. The pleasure was there anyway.

And he kind of vaguely remembered what it was like for him, at first, and he thought he warned the other boy, at least enough that when he came it was over Aaron's cheek and hair, and not in his mouth. Hips rocking forward, knees weak. Aaron was wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. Apparently he hadn't missed by that much.

Pogue got dressed and waited for him while Aaron showered, leaving him alone. He wasn't sure what had just happened but he was pretty sure Aaron wanted some alone time to deal with it. Hell, he could use some alone time to deal with it. His biggest schoolyard enemy had turned into a clandestine lover, at least for fifteen minutes.

They wouldn't talk about it again, he had that feeling when he saw Aaron's face as the other boy came out of the shower. Still, he gestured at his head, at the bruise he couldn't see but could imagine coming up under curls plastered to his head. "You sure you're okay? No dizziness or anything..." Being on a motorcycle a lot of the time made him think a lot about head injuries. Or maybe what had just happened was just making him think about Aaron differently.

"Yeah," he shrugged. "I'll be fine."

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