Sam watched him for a moment, unable to stop his fond smile, before allowing himself to drift off.
Chapter 7
Whenheawokeinthe late afternoon light, he was in a tangle with Tally. One arm was underneath his neck and Tally’s leg was draped over Sam’s hip. It was delightful. Sam savored it for a moment without moving. For some reason, he didn’t want Tally to stir, realize, and pull away. Surely now that the young man was over the worst, his feelings would probably change? The delusions quite likely fed by the drugs in his system.
He watched blue eyes flutter open. Tally didn’t look embarrassed, he didn’t shuffle back awkwardly like Sam was expecting. Instead, he gave Sam a dazzling smile that lit up his whole face and proceeded to wriggle even closer.
Sam couldn’t hold back his sigh of contentment. He shouldn’t be pleased that Tally was still lost in his delusion. He was a terrible person. But the snuggling was so damn nice.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Great!” beamed Tally.
Sam couldn’t stop his grin. There was no way Tally could be over his withdrawal already, but it was lovely that he was feeling so much better.
“Will you be alright if I work tonight?”
Tally’s blue eyes grew alarmed and Sam felt awful. Why was he so desperate to get back to work anyway?
“Can I come with you? I won’t get in the way.” pleaded Tally.
Sam’s first reaction was pleasure that Tally wanted to, but then his logical mind tried to think of a reason to say no. He didn’t know why some part of him was so skeptical of the idea. He worked in a bar, a public place. He was the boss. It really wasn’t a problem.
“Sure, if you are feeling well enough,” he answered.
Tally burrowed closer with a squeak of delight and squeezed Sam as if he had just been told they were going to Disneyland and not just Sam’s bar for the night.
Sam chuckled and decided he didn’t need to get out of bed right now. They could linger for a little while.
They cuddled contently until Sam couldn’t put it off anymore. He let Tally shower first whilst he made some coffee. Tally came out of the shower in just a towel. Sam swallowed. Despite his scars and being too thin, the young man had a beautiful body.
Tally sat calmly on the bed whilst Sam redid his bandages. They both agreed that it looked like only his wrists and ankles needed them now. Sam admired his handy work. He was definitely getting better at it.
He opened Danny’s side of the closet and told Tally to help himself. The young man strode over to it and seemed to just grab the first things he saw. A pair of tight white jeans and a loose fitting gray tee shirt. Without any warning, he dropped his towel and Sam had to snatch his eyes away.
Once the young man was dressed, Sam poured Tally a coffee and left him in the kitchen whilst he jumped into the shower.
He was just rinsing his hair off when the smoke alarm went off. He grabbed a towel, raced to the kitchen to find Tally curled up, squatting on the floor with his hands over his ears.
Smoke billowed from the oven, and the stench of burned eggs was overpowering. Sam reached up and tried to turn the smoke alarm off, but it was being stubborn. Growling, he reached up with both hands to twist the thing off and pull the battery out.
The incessant screeching stopped, and the pressure in his ears vanished. He looked down to discover his towel had fallen off and Tally, still crouched on the floor, was staring at his cock with a highly delighted grin.
Sam bent over and quickly snatched the towel from the floor and covered himself. Then he dashed over to the oven. There were things actually on fire in it. He turned the oven off, grabbed the oven gloves and pulled the whole tray out to dump in the sink. He whacked on the cold tap and jumped back at the hiss of steam.
“I wanted to make you breakfast.” said Tally forlornly.
Sam stared at the blackened husks of whatever had been in the oven. Eggs and bread were his best guess. All just jumbled together on a baking tray. He hadn’t even been in the shower that long.
“Nevermind,” he said numbly. Not sure what to think. Tally had destroyed his kitchen, nearly burned the place down, and unashamedly ogled him. Sam guessed he should be angry, dismayed, or something. He stood there for a moment longer in shocked silence. Then his chest started to shake and a laugh bubbled out of him and he couldn’t stop. Soon his shoulders were heaving.
Tally watched him in alarm, staring at him as if he thought Sam had lost his mind. The look just caused Sam to laugh even more.
“You’re not mad?” asked Tally.
Sam shook his head. He was laughing too hard to talk. Tally grinned at him and started to laugh too. Soon, they were both laughing uncontrollably.
Eventually, chest hurting and eyes watering, Sam’s laughter eased off. He took some muesli out of the cupboard and poured Tally and himself a bowl. He wasn’t prepared to try and salvage the kitchen enough to cook and since Tally had already seen him naked, he didn’t bother getting dressed. He just took a seat with his towel around his waist.
