He announced the three bands that would be moving on, and I heard Archer’s entire table going nuts when they said Tormented Accord. We gave each other high fives and hugs before we went onto the stage to be given the paperwork that showed we were moving on to Salt Lake City.
As we came back off the stage, Varick motioned to the cops that were making their way over to us. “I don’t think you can put it off.”
“If I’m not under arrest, they technically can’t make me go anywhere,” I grumbled. “But fine. Can you guys tell Archer and them what is going on?”
“Of course,” Zach replied.
“Keep your temper in check,” Nigel warned me, and I rolled my eyes at him before following the cops out of the venue and to their car.
They made me sit in the back, which was uncomfortable as hell. The seat was plastic and hard, and I had no interest in ever being in the back of a police car ever again. It didn’t take long for us to get to their precinct and they led me inside and to an interview room. Luckily, I wasn’t the one who was actually in trouble here, so it wasn’t like they showed in movies and books. I didn’t sit there for hours or anything. They brought me in a bottle of water and asked if I was comfortable before they started asking questions about my home life.
It wasn’t hard for them to find the police report that came from the hospital after my father beat me, but I was able to add more context to our relationship thanks to photos that my friends had always had me take whenever I had to say home from school with black eyes and split lips. I had always hated that my friends had wanted me to keep proof, but I could see how it was helpful now. I handed over my phone so they could make copies of the photos.
Part way through my interview, I was told that Archer had showed up and wanted to be in the room with me. I told them he was my boyfriend and had seen plenty of the aftermath of my father’s abuse, as well as being the person who took me to the hospital. Apparently they talked to Dorothy as well, getting her statement on what she had come home to find the night my father beat me and kicked me out of my home.
“So, are you charging my mother with murder?” I asked after we had been there for hours talking with them.
One of the detectives he had been talking to gave him a sympathetic smile. “I’m not technically supposed to talk to you about an open case like that, but based on the evidence you have given us, I’d say that it’s a pretty good case for self-defense. Do you need the officers to drive you boys home?”
“No, sir,” Archer replied. “My car is outside.”
I followed Archer out to his car, seeing that it was already two in the morning. I was surprised to hear my sister Eliza calling for me as we got to his car. She came running up, looking worse for wear that night. She was wearing clothing that looked like it came out of a lost and found, and I could see blood splatter on her face that she hadn’t washed off yet. She ran into my arms and I hugged her tightly while she cried. She had apparently been a witness to the whole event. They all had.
According to Eliza, our dad had been in a bad mood ever since they saw me on the street and I had started laughing so hard. Eliza wanted to leave to come see the band play, and dad was furious so he had grabbed her by the throat. Mom was screaming at him to stop and eventually she pulled his own gun on him. He had let go of Eliza and went to rush mom when mom shot the entire clip into him.
It was an odd feeling. I was both glad that mom had stuck up for Eliza, and bitter that she had never bothered to stick up for me. I was glad my sisters were safe but angry with my mother for the complete lack of any sort of warmth and love that she should have also had for her oldest child and only son. It wasn’t just because I was gay, though. She simply cared about her daughters in a way she never could for her son. I didn’t know if it was just because I was the oldest or because I was a man.
“Did you get through to Salt Lake City?” Eliza asked me.
I nodded my head. “Yeah, we did.”
“Well, nothing will stop me from being there, okay?” she told me and then threw her arms around me again. “I love you and I’m so proud of you.”
I smiled into her dark brown hair. “I love you too.”
I watched as my sister walked back into the police station, wanting to be with our mother as they asked her more questions. Apparently she had asked to see me, but when the officer brought it up, I just couldn’t bring myself to go in. I didn’t hate her, but I didn’t really love her either at this point. She had never done anything to protect me, and while I was glad she protected my sisters from him, I couldn’t help but be angry and envious of it. That anger was mostly directed at her, and not my sisters. So I told the officer I had no need to speak with her and left.
Archer and I were both silent as he drove us home, as I was lost in all of my thoughts about what happened tonight. It was a night that mixed with so many conflicting emotions. Pride, elation, excitement, grief, hurt, anger, and envy. They didn’t all make sense together, but I couldn’t separate them out now.
He parked the car in the back, close to the door that led straight to the basement, and we both got out of the car. Neither of us said anything as we unlocked the basement and went down to my room. I could hear Dorothy and the girls upstairs, but I didn’t want to deal with the questions and concerns from them. I knew it was out of love, but it was too much.
“Are you okay?” Archer finally asked once we had sat down on the bed.
I shrugged, considering the question and everything that had happened tonight. “I’m just a ball of emotions right now. All of the good emotions of moving onto Salt Lake City, and then knowing my dad’s dead. Archer?”
“Yes?” he asked, tilting his head as he looked at me.
“Does it make me a horrible person because I feel…relieved…that he’s dead?” I asked, afraid of the answer.
Archer moved over on the bed so he could put his arms around me. “No, not even a little bit, babe. After everything he did to you, you’re bound to feel conflicting things, and relief makes sense. It’s hard to mourn your abuser.”
I let out a laugh, that was more about stress and frustration than actually laughing at the statement. “I wouldn’t even know how to mourn him. There was nothing to mourn. I’m even unsure of how I feel about protecting his killer. I mean, I didn’t, not really. I just told the cops the truth, but it still kind of exonerates her, doesn’t it? Not that she ever did anything to protect me from him.”
Archer was quiet for a moment, taking that in, before he let out a sigh and moved away from me far enough that he could look at me. “I get that, and your feelings are valid, but could I give you another perspective? Maybe his first victim in that household was her, and by the time you came along, she was already generally beaten into submission.”
I had never considered it like that, and I was glad for his thoughts on it. It would take a while for me to process that idea, but I had time. I didn’t think my mom would be contacting me anytime soon anyways, if she ever did. She wasn’t impressed with me being gay either, even if she wasn’t as dangerous as my father was. I didn’t really want to think about that right then though. I could take time to worry about it later.
I moved on the bed so that I could straddle his legs and put my arms around his neck. “You’re one the most thoughtful and introspective people I’ve ever met, and it’s one of the reasons I love you so much. You always help me look at things from a different perspective, even if it’s hard for me to do.”
Archer moved his arms so they were around my waist. “I know it can be difficult to shift your thinking. I just want you to think everything through before you decide what path you want to go down, because I want you to be happy.”
“I am happy,” I replied, and I truly meant it. “Even dealing with all of this, and having conflicting feelings over this, when I’m with you, I’m happy. You and my friends, and your family, fill my heart in a way I didn’t think was possible until I was with you.”
“Jason,” he whispered, closing his eyes as he brought his forehead to touch mine. “You make me happy too. This type of connection is what I kept missing in my relationships, but now I have you.”
“All of me,” I replied.
Archer smiled at that and put his hand over mine that was on his chest. “And you have all of me.”
“Good, because that’s exactly what I want,” I whispered to him, punctuating that by running my hands down his back and grabbing his ass, earning a little moan from him. “All of you.”
Archer laid down on the bed, keeping his hands on my hips as he looked up at me. The look on his face was so sweet and trusting. “Take it then. Take all of me. I will give it to you freely.”
I smiled at him, and kissed him deeply, my tongue invading his mouth. I could feel my cock filling up at the thought of being inside of him. “I love you.
“I love you too, Jason,” he replied and pulled me down into a deep kiss. We kissed for a while, slowly shedding our clothes so we could run our hands along naked skin.
Eventually we were rubbing our erections against each other, enjoying the hot friction between us through our pants and moans, but I wanted more. I didn’t want to come this way, and I knew he didn’t either. I reached over to the bedside table to grab the bottle of lube before moving down his body. I licked along his hard length, sweeping up the delicious pre-cum with my tongue. Archer moaned, his hips bucking under the attention, but his cock wasn’t my main goal right now.
I pushed his legs back and he grabbed them to give me better access. I brought my face down into his crack, licking and nibbling at him, loving the slightly musky flavor. It reminded me of how his sweat smelled and tasted. I moved my tongue deeper, licking over the sensitive skin of his puckered hole.
“Oh god yes, Jason,” Archer breathed out. “Just like that. That feels so good.”
I smiled against his ass and went back to eating his ass, using my tongue to run along his hole before I tensed it to penetrate him. Archer was moaning and swearing under his breath while he thrust his ass into my tongue, wanting more and more from me. I loved his musky flavor and how turned on he was. I could feel my erection throbbing for him, but I wanted to get him nice and ready first.
I grabbed the lube and slicked up my fingers before slowly using them to open him up. I started with one finger, and then two, scissoring my fingers to help loosen him up to get ready for me. From the sound of Archer’s moans, he was loving it. By the time I started using three fingers and curling them back around to hit his prostate, he was begging me to get my dick inside him.
I couldn’t very well ignore what my love wanted and needed so badly, now could I? I poured some of the lube on my hard cock, getting it nice and slick before I moved to lay on my back. I motioned for him to hop on, and he grinned at me before straddling me. He grabbed my dick to line it up with his now loosened hole and slowly started to slide down me.
He took a moment to get adjusted after the head popped inside, and I still marveled at how tight and hot he felt inside. He felt so good, and I wanted nothing more than for him to be riding me hard right now, but I could be patient. I ran my hands along his torso, letting my fingers brush against his nipples. Archer let out a sigh as he relaxed, and then kept moving down, slowly but surely, until I was seated all the way inside him.
“You’re so thick,” Archer painted breathlessly. “Fuck, I feel so full.”
I didn’t think I had the ability to speak right then, as he felt too good around me. Once he had relaxed enough and felt comfortable, Archer began to slowly move up and down on me. It felt so good, and all I could really do was moan as he started to move faster and harder against me. Eventually, I started to match his movement, thrusting up into him as he moved back down so I could go even deeper.
The way we were doing things right then, I could feel it when I hit his prostate, but we weren’t hitting it every thrust. Eventually, we moved so I was on top of him and took over the pace. He wrapped his legs around me and I could feel his heels on my ass, digging into the skin there while he was moaning my name into my ear.
“Right there, Jason,” he groaned out as I started hitting his prostate again. “Yes, there. Oh fuck, Jason.”
I loved the little whimpers that came from him each time I hit it just right. He was clawing at my back as I kept thrusting in and out of him. His hard cock was trapped between us, and our slick stomachs were rubbing up against it, as we had worked up quite a sweat.
“Don’t stop,” he gasped, digging his nails into the skin of my back. “I’m gonna cum.”
I could see and feel his abdomen and pelvis start to tighten. The only stimulation to his cock was by our stomachs. Archer threw his head back and cried out, his cum pumping out of his cock between us and onto our abdomens. I let out a groan at the feeling of how tight he had gotten around me. I closed my eyes and buried my head into his shoulder as I came inside of him, my cock pulsing inside his hole as shot after shot of cum spread out through his bowels.
Archer put his arms around me and I brought my head back up so we could kiss deeply. We both let out small moans as my cock softened and slipped out of him, and then he moved me so I was laying on the bed next to him and we started kissing again, putting every bit of emotion we were feeling into each one. I think I knew then that there would never be anyone like Archer for me. If soulmates existed, then Archer was it for me, and always would be.
I felt content, despite the turmoil of the night, in his arms. I felt safe and loved, and needed. Even once we moved and got into the shower, washing each other off sensually while starting up round two for the night, it felt right. It felt like forever. Perhaps that’s crazy, as I was only eighteen, and college was still a bit of a mystery. Archer had accepted a sports scholarship to a college across the country, and I knew that. My future depended on this Battle of the Bands, and it could lead us anywhere.
Archer might not see me as being forever, but I knew he was for me.
We didn’t let the Battle of the Bands float over our heads that night though. Those worries could come later. Right now, it was just about us and our passion. Our love.