disclaimer: sadly, i am making no money from this. i wrote it for fun.

a/n: thanks to Abster1 for being my beta. ilu bb. also, this fic contains smut, i would say hard r. don't like, don't read. you know the deal.

"Wow. Awesome, Miley. Your idea of a good time is to throw a stupid surprise party for your dorky friend. That's so… I was going to say 'nice' but then decided 'lame' was a better word for it."

"He's your friend too, Jackson."

"He is not!"

"What? You hang out all the time at Rico's, I've seen you. And what about that 'cheese jerky' thing you did together?"

"That was a business arrangement."

"Oh please, you are so weird when it comes to Oliver. One minute you're friends and the next you're being all mean to him!"

"Miley, he's your dork... I mean friend, okay? Just because the guy gets sick of you and tries to hang out with me doesn't make him my friend."

"Oh, like you're such an amazing person to hang out with."

"You know it."

Jackson turned on the TV. Miley slumped onto the couch with a big sigh "I don't know why he doesn't have a girlfriend. He's such a nice guy."

Jackson turned to his sister and started to speak very slowly, as if dealing with someone extremely thick. "Maybe… it's because… he's a queer."

"Say what? Gay?" Miley raised her eyebrow. "If that's the reason you think Oliver doesn't have a girlfriend – then I guess that means you're gay, right? I mean, you can't get a girlfriend either," she sniggered.

Jackson turned back to the television. "Shut up."

"Oooh, I hit a nerve!" Miley continued in a sing song voice.

Jackson's eyebrows furrowed, "Fuck you!"

Miley was about to retort vehemently when their dad entered the room and she jumped up forgetting all about Jackson. She moved into the kitchen to sweet talk Robby into letting her have the party. Jackson just rolled his eyes, turning back to the TV.

Only when Jackson heard Oliver's name again did he tune into their conversation. "Miley, why don't you just leave that boy alone?" he heard is father ask. "You're always meddling in his love life."

"Maybe Miley secretly likes him," Jackson suggested in a less than friendly voice.

"I do not like Oliver. Why would I be trying to find him a girlfriend if I did?"

"Maybe you should try finding him a boyfriend instead? You might have better luck."

"Oh shut up, Jackson! Maybe you might have a bit more luck if you looked for a boyfriend too! Thor, maybe?"

"Would the both of you shut up? You're giving me a headache!" Robby said.

"Oh, good one Jackson!"

"What? How is it my fault? I'm going to my room." He turned off the TV and stomped up the stairs.

Later at dinner, Miley was still trying to convince their dad that he should let her throw a surprise party for Oliver at their house. "It's his sixteenth birthday! I want to invite a whole bunch of girls from school so he can get to know them and start dating one."

"What are you gonna do?" Jackson interrupted, "Pay 'em?"

"I would've thought you'd be happy if the place was crawling with girls. Unless…"

"Shut the hell up!"

"Jackson! What is wrong with you?" his dad asked; a disturbing amount of concern in his voice.

"Sorry dad," Jackson replied with no sincerity at all. Robby gave his son a questioning look, but just nodded his head and continued eating.

Miley, on the other hand, was determined to finish the discussion. "So you don't want our house full of girls?"

Jackson scoffed, "Not the kind of girls that would show up for Oliver's party."

"Says Mister Desperate."

"Miley, I'll think about the party okay? But I can't do that with you two yappin, so for the last time: Be quiet."

"Jackson! Hey, Jackson!" Oliver came running up to Rico's, a lopsided grin on his face. He stopped in front of Jackson's position behind the counter. "Hey!"

Jackson forced a smile. "'Sup?"

Oliver took a seat on one of the stools. "Miley and Lilly have that 'girls' thing' they're going to tonight and I'm not invited."

"Aw, why not? You're a girl."

Oliver rolled his eyes, "Ha ha. Anyways, do you wanna hang out?"

"No."

Oliver didn't look too offended at Jackson's blunt reply. Continuing his campaign he said, "Why? What are you doing? Do you have a date? Who with? Does she have a friend? Can I come?"

"Dude, don't you have any other friends your age?"

Oliver looked down, as if he was slightly ashamed. "Well yeah, but… they all have girlfriends and stuff…" he trailed off.

Jackson sighed exasperatedly. "Fine. I didn't have plans anyway. I was just gonna watch some DVDs. Dad has a date. Can you believe that?"

"Great! I'll bring popcorn!" Oliver exclaimed, and he ran off as fast as he had arrived.

"My own father can get a date and I can't," Jackson said to himself. "I'm not even jealous."

Oliver turned up at the Stewart house just before eight, and everyone had already gone out. "I got popcorn!" he said proudly, holding up three packets.

"Cool," Jackson said unenthusiastically. "Do you wanna make it? I'll put the movie on."

He popped the DVD into the player and then turned around to look at Oliver. The dark haired boy was staring into the microwave in a childlike manner, watching the popcorn spin around and expand. "Done!" he said, pulling the steaming bag carefully out of the microwave.

"Do you want to put it in a bowl?" Jackson asked, thinking there would be less of a chance of their hands awkwardly touching if the popcorn was in a big bowl. He didn't take the time to realise that he had actually contemplated such a generic romantic thing happening between them.

Oliver seemed to want to talk during the film, and ordinarily Jackson wouldn't have minded. He liked to do the same thing. But for some reason Oliver's constant commentary was getting on his nerves. "What the hell? That doesn't even make sense!" Oliver protested, as the protagonist of the movie explained something about robot mechanics.

"Shhh!"

Oliver looked startled and gave Jackson a funny look, "Sorry." He remained silent for the rest of the film, but this also annoyed Jackson. The entire time all Jackson could think about was how Oliver was irritating the hell out of him, but there really wasn't any reason for it.

He got up twice during the movie to make the rest of the popcorn, thinking that if he couldn't concentrate on the movie, at least he could think about eating. Instead of the boy who was sitting next to him, oblivious. But every time Jackson took any popcorn from the bowl he made sure he did it quickly so there was no chance his hand would meet Oliver's.

His stupid thoughts kept coming back to Oliver, and in the end all Jackson got himself was a stomach ache. He felt suffocated by the boy sitting next to him and couldn't wait for the movie to be over so he would leave.

But when it finally did end, Oliver made no signs of departure. "Well, that was lame."

"No it wasn't!" Jackson defended, even though he knew it was.

"Well, sorry. Jeez."

"Shouldn't you be going home now?" Jackson asked as he uncharacteristically rinsed out the popcorn bowl.

"It's not even ten thirty!"

"Just get out!" Jackson yelled hysterically at a shocked Oliver.

"What is your problem?" Oliver was standing now, facing Jackson defiantly.

Jackson took one look at Oliver's bold expression, his challenging brown eyes, and he deflated. "Sorry," he apologised. "I'm just stressed, you know. College applications and stuff."

"Oh?"

"Look, I'm sorry about that, you don't have to go."

"What did I do?"

"Nothing, I told you, it's college stuff."

Oliver wasn't entirely convinced, and continued, "You didn't want me here in the first place, did you? I know I shouldn't have invited myself, but I honestly didn't think you would mind…"

"Oliver, chill! Stop being so insecure, it has nothing to do with you."

Oliver raised an eyebrow, he clearly didn't believe that. Jackson gulped and quickly looked away, waiting for Oliver to say something. Anything. But there was simply an awkward silence filling the room.

"Um…" Jackson spoke up, "I have, uh, some new car magazines… if you want to stay?"

"Car magazines? Oh cool. Guy stuff." Oliver said, and Jackson had to shake his head in exasperation and amusement. Oliver seemed mildly embarrassed, "Oh, like you know anything about cars, Jackson. You bought a girl car."

Jackson relaxed a little, chuckling. "They're in my room if you wanna see."

Oliver pursed his lips together, as if considering, and Jackson wanted to kick himself for even bringing it up. Inviting Oliver to his room was probably something he should have thought over first. He wondered if he had a hopeful look on his face, and if it had anything to do with Oliver's decision. Because the next moment Oliver answered, "Sweet, let's go," making his way over to the stairs, leaving Jackson in his wake.

Upstairs Jackson handed Oliver a magazine and then threw himself onto his bed. Oliver took a seat on the floor with his back leaning against the bed. Jackson leaned back to look at him. "Oliver."

"Yeah?"

"You really don't have to sit on the floor. There is a lot of room up here."

"You want me to lie on your bed?"

Jackson rolled his eyes. "Well, you can stay on the floor if you want, I don't care."

It looked as if Oliver had turned slightly pink, but he climbed onto the bed. They both lay on their stomachs side by side, browsing the magazines. The magazines about cars, which were the last things on Jackson's mind.

He got a shock a few moments later when he was ripped out of his stupor by the sound of Oliver's voice. "Oh man, look at this chick, she is so fine!"

Jackson looked at the picture Oliver was pointing to. A blonde woman clad in a string bikini. He glanced at Oliver who was watching him eagerly, as if waiting for approval. Jackson screwed up his nose. "Dude… why do you do that?"

Oliver made a puzzled face. "Do what?" he asked anxiously.

Jackson wasn't sure where the courage came from to say what he said next, "Well… do you really think she's hot? Or are you just… pretending?"

Oliver's face had turned a deep red, and his eyes were darting about as if he wanted to escape. "I, um… uh… no. I mean… yes…" He paused. "I was pretending."

"Oh." Jackson wasn't exactly expecting the truth. He wasn't surprised by Oliver's answer, but now that he knew for sure he didn't know how to react.

"How do you know?" Oliver asked. He didn't seem to notice Jackson's loss for words. "Am I that obvious?"

Jackson looked at the guy next to him and thought about it. He thought about how adamant Miley was about Oliver being straight. He thought about Oliver's blatant (at least on the surface) desire for women. And his own. "No. You're not obvious."

"Then how come you… figured it out?" He sounded worried.

"I don't know."

"Maybe other people have too."

"I don't think so, Oliver."

"How come you're not freaking out, anyway?"

"Why would I?"

"I dunno."

"Did you think I was… a homophobe or something?"

"No! Well… possibly… I don't know… you're kind of unpredictable."

"You mean like how I snap at you sometimes? I'm sorry if I ever hurt your feelings. I never really realised I was doing it until Miley mentioned it the other day…Why are you smiling?"

"Thanks."

Jackson smiled back. "Uh, you're welcome." They both looked down at the magazines and went back to turning the pages for several minutes before Jackson spoke up again. "Have you ever, you know, kissed a guy?"

Oliver glanced away and shook his head. "No."

Jackson couldn't believe what he was about to say, perhaps it was because Oliver was in his bedroom now. He felt like he had gone too far ahead to even attempt looking back. "Do you want to?"

Oliver's head snapped back, "With you?"

"Um, it was just a suggestion. You don't have to, I was just thinking that… if you needed practice or something… I mean…"

"Okay."

"Yes?"

"Yes."

They looked at each other. Jackson felt completely foolish for suggesting it as he had no idea what to do next. "How do we do it?"

"How do you kiss, you mean?"

"No you moron! I mean… how should we do it?"

"Oh! Should I sit up or something, maybe?"

"No, it's okay, stay there. I'll just move over…" Jackson wriggled his body over so that they were both lying propped up by their elbows, shoulder to shoulder. Their faces very close now. Jackson could feel the heat from Oliver's breath. "You smell like popcorn."

"So do you."

"Sorry." They both went quiet. Oliver stared into Jackson's eyes and he looked away. He cleared his throat nervously. "This is awkward."

"Yeah," Oliver agreed, "Out of all the weird things we've done together, this is probably the weirdest."

"We haven't done anything yet."

"Don't you want to anymore?"

"I do… okay let's just do it. On the count of three?" Oliver nodded. "Okay, one… two… three."

Jackson instantly felt something warm and soft on his lips. He looked at Oliver, who had his eyes tightly closed. He felt Oliver's nose against his own. It was larger than any girl he had kissed and so it felt a bit weird but not exactly uncomfortable. He wondered if he was supposed to close his eyes too, but he felt like he needed to see what was happening.

Then he started wondering how long it had been and if Oliver was going to pull away soon. But then he felt something wet press against his lips. He opened his mouth to let Oliver's tongue in, not sure why, but wanting to feel it. He didn't even realise he had finally closed his eyes. How long they had been kissing became irrelevant. All that Jackson was thinking about was how good it felt.

Without realising what was happening but still acutely aware of his body, Jackson rested his hand on Oliver's shoulder and slowly began to push it back so that the younger boy was rolled onto his side. He wrapped his arm around Oliver's waist and pulled him closer and their kissing became less hesitant and experimental, and completely exploratory.

He slipped his hand under Oliver's shirt; the skin was hot and smooth. When he ran his fingers lightly across Oliver's back the dark haired boy shivered and the wonderful things happening inside his mouth would momentarily be substituted with a gasp, and then they would start again with more energy and feel better than ever.

He pushed Oliver over so that he was flat on his back. He couldn't stop; he had to continue. That was the only thing on his mind. He didn't know what he wanted exactly, just that it was a desperate feeling.

Oliver squirmed underneath him. He could feel the other boy growing hard and he liked it. Their kisses got even more aggressive and Jackson could feel himself sweating, and he felt it on Oliver's warm skin too. He moved away from Oliver's mouth to his neck, it tasted salty and musky and delicious.

"Please… touch me…" Oliver gasped.

Jackson went still. They both did. He looked up into Oliver's eyes; he was looking like he wished he hadn't said anything, like he was scared. Jackson said nothing but moved his body down until he reached Oliver's torso. He pulled the t-shirt up and began to kiss his pale skin. Oliver instantly began to writhe again, and mutter things incoherently.

Jackson moved his mouth lower and kissed the growing bulge through Oliver's typical brown pinstriped trousers. He mouthed the fabric, and grew more confident with every gasp he heard Oliver emit, and every involuntary thrust the boy made. He raised himself back up to look once again into Oliver's eyes. They were such a deep brown, and they had gone even darker and were shining. He reached his hand down and undid Oliver's belt and immediately his eyes were closed again and he threw his head back. Jackson unzipped the pants slowly, and when he heard Oliver pleading he kissed him again and let his hand do what Oliver wanted.

Moments passed and then he felt hands upon his own jeans. "What are you doing?" he asked.

Oliver's eyes opened, almost black, "I'm… going to do what you're doing to me," he whispered.

"Okay," Jackson replied, he felt suddenly nervous… not being the one in sole control made the whole thing more real. But when Oliver touched him it felt so good, and the feeling of not wanting to stop got even stronger, and he stroked Oliver with fresh desire until Oliver was moaning endlessly.

"Oh god," Oliver cried as he slowly moved his free hand down and placed it over Jackson's pumping fist. He guided it for a moment before desperately pushing Jackson's hand away and with a few strokes of his own, he came. Jackson quickly did the same thing.

He collapsed on top of the dark haired boy and he just couldn't move. He slipped one arm underneath Oliver's neck and pulled him as close as he could, nuzzling into his burning skin. He was trying to hold on to the feeling of contentment that in the back of his mind he knew would not last.

When he finally released Oliver he couldn't look into his eyes, not because he was ashamed, but for fear of what he might find there. He sat on the edge of the bed, pulling his sticky trousers around him and feeling the most vulnerable he had ever felt.

"I should probably go home now," Oliver said.

"Why?" Jackson asked. "Please… stay for just a little bit longer…"

"You really want me to?" Oliver asked, surprised.

"Yes," Jackson said purposefully. He made himself look up. "I really don't want to forget this."

"Me neither," Oliver said. By finally looking into his face Jackson could tell that this was the truth. "Are we… are we going to do this again?"

"I want to," Jackson confessed.

Oliver grinned awkwardly, "The weirdest thing we have ever done… but kinda the best."

"Yeah… I can't believe it."

"So are you like… gay…?" Oliver asked.

Jackson frowned. "Maybe?"

Oliver nodded, he seemed satisfied with that answer. They sat quietly for a moment, letting what had just happened sink in. Jackson was staring at the carpet when he felt Oliver move to sit closer to him. He felt the other boy's body pressing against his and his head shot up, feeling the familiar feeling to snap at Oliver rise. He thought perhaps Oliver felt it too because he instantly froze. They sat there looking into each other's eyes and Jackson forced himself to suppress his anger. He knew that it was unjustified, as it almost always was, and he didn't want to be angry with Oliver. He liked him a lot. He knew it was something that would be hard to get used to but he was willing to give it a try. He smiled and watched Oliver visibly relax.

They continued to sit quietly for several more moments before he spoke again. "Miley's trying to find you a girlfriend you know."

Oliver raised his eyebrows. "Really? Oh…"

"Yeah, she wants to throw you a big surprise party for your birthday. She plans on inviting a ton of girls for you to choose from."

Oliver grinned, "You just ruined the surprise!"

Jackson grinned back, "Oops."

Oliver pursed his lips together familiarly, "I guess I need to have a talk with her."

"I would say so. She's going to want a good explanation…"

Oliver shrugged. "As long as I know there is one…"

"Screw Miley…" Jackson finished as he finally leaned forward to kiss him.

The End