They walked slowly away from town, hands brushing closer and then clasping together once they reached a safe distance. For the moment they were quiet and Jake didn’t mind. He loved their quiet. It was the perfect comfortable type quiet, and ever so often Avery would look up at him through his slightly curled fringe and smile, and Jake’s insides would both flutter and melt at the same time. He squeezed Avery’s hand.
“Here,” Avery said suddenly, tugging Jake abruptly to the left. “I came out here once on my own when we first moved here and I remember thinking how often I would have come here if we had lived here when I was little.”
The road had almost aged twenty years beneath their feet; it was cracked horribly and the lines were faded almost beyond seeing, and grass was growing up out of the middle of the pavement in some places. Jake realised where Avery was taking him after a moment; he had actually come out here a few times when he was younger. He could see the train tracks now, as they walked off the road and into the tall grass. He hadn’t been out this far on this side of town in years, since they had started laying down the new tracks.
“I used to come out here,” Jake told him. “And walk on the tracks.” He looked at Avery and watched him smile. “That was before the new ones were here.”
Avery tugged on his hand again. “Come let’s walk on them now.” He turned when Jake slowed, and then grinned widely at the hesitant look on his face. “The old ones! Not the new ones,” he added. He led them over as if he’d been the one living there his entire life. Jake climbed into one rail and balanced, letting Avery’s hand go as the smaller boy started to walk on the same rail.
“Sometimes I wonder if anyone has ever been hit,” Avery thought out loud. “Right here in this very spot.” He jumped down in between the rusty rails and paused, then dropped down and laid on them, throwing his arms out and sticking out his tongue. Jake stared down at him, caught between shuddering and laughing. Finally he did both; he shuddered and looked away, then laughed it off.
“Gross, Avery,” he murmured, sitting down between the old rails next to him. Avery opened his eyes and grinned at him.
“You’re such a girl. Do you know of anyone dying on the train tracks?”
Jake shook his head. “Not that I can remember,” he told him.
“Well there you go!” Avery said, grabbing Jake’s hand again and tugging him over. “You’re safe. C’mere please.”
Jake scooted close and laid across the rails next to him, staring up at the cloud dotted sky. “I don’t really like to imagine I’m laying on someone’s old blood and guts.” Avery giggled at him. Jake poked him with his elbow, but Avery just giggled harder. The smaller boy rolled over into him and kissed his neck.
“I’ll keep you safe from the nasty, old, probably not even there ghostly blood and brain stains.” He giggled even harder.
Jake sighed dramatically, then turned and kissed Avery right on the mouth, swallowing the rest of his giggles. After a minute they turned into a breathless hum anyway, and when Jake pulled away he was smirking. Avery bit his lip.
“I remember kids used to tell stories about kids years ago coming out here to playing chicken, laying across the rail just like us now as a train came towards them to see who could stay there a longest before the train almost hit them,” Jake told him. “And of course those stories included some poor little kid who thought he’d be the bravest of them all and show them all up, and ended up getting hit and killed. But those are all urban legends.”
“Ooooooo,” Avery breathed. “But what if they’re not!” He squirmed in his spot, head resting on Jake’s shoulder. “His ghost could wander the tracks at night!”
“Nope, sorry,” Jake replied, almost laughing with Avery’s excitement. “There are no records of anyone being hit on the tracks in town.” Avery pouted, and Jake turned and kissed the closest part of him he could – which turned out to be his nose. Avery scrunched it.
“You’re lucky then,” he told Jake. The older boy covered his mouth with his hand before he could say anymore, and all that came out next was mmmfgh! After a moment Jake shifted and removed his hand, only to replace it with his mouth. A moment later, the smaller boy was weak beneath him and winding his arms around his neck to hold on.
“Let’s think about nice things,” Jake murmured, when he pulled slightly back. Avery hummed, arching a little as he chased after Jake’s lips.
“Still a girl,” he whispered, and grinned softly as he bit his bottom lip. Jake made a soft indignant noise as he kissed him again.
“Would you like me as much as you do if I really were a girl?” he asked. Avery tugged him back down for another kiss, not answering right away.
“Hmm no,” he answered, “So what does that say?” He grinned against Jake’s lips, his fingers curling into the hair at the nape of Jake’s neck.
“Avery!” Jake said, leaning up. He frowned at him. “I’m not a girl.”
“I’m kidding!” Avery replied quickly. “I know you’re not a girl,” he reassured him. He dropped his hands down to Jake’s shoulders and then arms, smoothly over the wonderfully toned muscles and warm skin. “You’re a man,” he continued, dropping his voice an octave, and patted Jake’s chest. “A manly man’s man.” With the last comment he dissolved into giggles. “Oh, I’m such a wit,” he finished, unable to stop giggling.
Jake couldn’t help laughing as he watched him. “You’re such a dork,” he whispered. He rubbed their noses together. “My dork.” Avery automatically turned pink.
“Yep!” he chirped. “But I’m not a dork! Just yours.” The pink deepened, and he looked up at Jake with his wide green eyes.
“Okay,” Jake murmured. He couldn’t help agreeing, with those eyes looking up at him. He leaned down again and kissed him softly, Avery’s fingers threading into his hair once more, the kiss deepening after only a moment. Avery rolled closer, so they were both on their sides and pressed closed, though uncomfortably on the ground in between the old train tracks. Jake reached up and brushed Avery’s hair away from his face as he pulled away, gently biting at his bottom lip. The smaller reached up and took his hand, twining their fingers together. He smiled.
“Silly,” Avery whispered, touching Jake’s nose. “You can’t say no to me, can you?” Jake grinned, half shyly, and shook his head.
“I can’t,” he agreed. His grin brightened though and he kissed him again. “And I’m not ashamed!” Avery laughed.
“I love you,” he said, his eyes bright and their hands resting half on their chests between them.
“I love you too,” Jake whispered too, without even thinking, and leaning closer to kiss Avery again. But Avery squeaked, and when Jake looked up he had blushed right to his ears, and only then did Jake realise what they had both just said to each other. He couldn’t stop the color from spreading over his cheeks either.
Avery giggled after a quiet moment. “I do though,” he whispered shyly. Jake grinned.
“I do too,” he whispered back. Avery tugged him closer and kissed him again, letting go of Jake’s hand to press his won to the older boy’s cheek and hold him close. They kissed until they absolutely had to part, for air, and even then it was just barely. Jake closed his eyes again and just brushed his lips over the other boy’s, feeling him breathe.
They laid close like that until the ground started to rumble. Jake opened his eyes, but it wasn’t until a whistle shrilled from a not very far distance that he sat up, his heart in his mouth, and scrambled to get off the tracks, tugging Avery with him.
A minute later he stared as a train screamed by, and it took another minute to realise Avery was near tears with laughter, bent double at his side.
“You didn’t have to jump off the tracks,” he gasped, still laughing even after the train had rumbled past. “They don’t use the rusty ones anymore!” Jake pulled a face and crossed his arms. “We were… more… than safe…” Avery sank to the ground, gasping for a breath, and bursting out laughing every so often still.
“Its not funny,” Jake murmured.
“You’re so high strung,” Avery said, and grinned. He wiped his eyes, and then held up his hand seriously. Jake reached down and helped him to his feet. “Do you really think I would have laid down on in use train tracks in the middle of the afternoon?” He patted Jake’s chest, and started heading back to the road.
“You know, sometimes I really just don’t know,” Jake replied.