Seth's aunt thought he was at a study session. She continued to ignore the signs of his problem, much prefering to believe the stories he told rather than the idea that he was turning into her sister. Really, Seth was at the bar using his fake id and smooth words to get himself a rum and coke.

Tonight Murphy had a show and he was feeling pretty good. That morning he had taken his meds and he did a breathing treatment before the show. When he got there he took a puff off of his inhaler and then headed out to set up. It didn't take long and once they were set up he started playing his piano to start things off. He sang every other song just to keep his breath, though his voice was softer and breathier than Vegas' on account of his asthma.

Seth went out to have fun, but half the time he ended up feeling like shit, thinking about things he didn't want to deal with. The music tugged him out of his stupor though and it almost sounded familiar. When he turned around and saw a boy from school, Seth almost burst into laughter. He turned around on his stool so he could watch the show.

Murphy and Vegas played their own music and they played covers too, just having a good time. When they wrapped up their set, he went to get a bottle of water from the bar and when he saw Seth sitting there he smiled. "Hi. What are you doing here?"

Seth could always tell the difference between the two of them. He wasn't really friends with either, but it was difficult not to notice them because of their talent. Seth was more aware of Murphy than he was Vegas. His personality was alluring, sweet. Seth held up his drink in explanation of what he was doing here. It was kind of embarrassing actually, but he pretended not to care.

"Aren't you a little young for that?" Murphy asked softly, careful not to let anyone over hear because he didn't want to get Seth in trouble. "Do you always come here and drink by yourself?"

"You're as old as I am, Murphy." He wanted the boy to know he knew his name. "But I guess you came here to play and not drink, right?" It wasn't answering the question perse, but the big swig of booze he took afterward was answer enough.

"Yeah, just to play, Seth." He knew his name too, just because he knew the names of every person in their class. "I don't drink. It isn't really good for me." Neither was smoking and so he was grateful for the smoking ban in this particular bar.

"It isn't really good for anyone," he laughed, falling into a more chipper mindset. "You're really great, but you knew that--hey, maybe I came just to see you."

Murphy smiled at him and he tipped his head to the side a little to study his face. "I don't think that is true but did you really mean the part about us being great?" Because he liked the idea that someone thought that about their group.

"Yeah, I meant it. I like your voice." He was always impressed with talent, mainly because he didn't have any to speak of himself. "You look good up there too." He had a habit of flirting with people regardless of his feelings about them.

Murphy smiled again and he sat down next to Seth. "Thanks, but I look just like my brother." He didn't see any difference between them, if anything he thought Vegas was better than he was at everything.

"You don't think your brother looks good on stage?" He teased and glanced at the bartender for another drink. "Want something? Root beer?" The slightest bit of a jab, but a good natured one.

"I have a water, but thank you." Murphy didn't take it as cruelty, he just smiled at him and leaned back a little to get comfortable. "We usually go and get pizza after the show but Vegas made plans so I was just gonna go home, but would you like to go with me?"

"Water is so boring. I was trying to liven up your life a little." He was kind of amused with himself and he felt like he had the upper hand, but when Murphy invited him to pizza he looked surprised. He had to consider his options. The rest of his drink or a chance to socialize with Murphy. "Um," he stalled. "Yeah, can I finish this?"

"I guess so, but if I stay and let you finish it then you have to buy the pizza." He wouldn't stick to that if he protested but for now he was just going to see what he could get.

Seth quirked a brow and nodded a little. Paying for pizza was worth not wasting a drink. "I'd love to buy you pizza," he said, pretending to be suave but knowing he was not.

Murphy smiled broader and he nodded then. "Okay. And maybe I will be adventurous and drink a soda at the pizza place." he nudged Seth's foot with his and then he nudged Seth"s drink closer to him.

People were never really nice to Seth in such an honest way. He felt awkward, but he found that he liked it so he downed his drink and held back a hiccup. "Let's go," he said with gusto, standing up a bit too fast and having to lean against the bar for a second. "Okay now we can go."

When he wavered a little bit, Murphy put his hand on his back to hold him upright. "You all right?" He was still sort of smiling but it was obvious he was a little concerned by the face that he was fairly drunk.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Trust me, i've been far more drunk than this and been able to walk." He liked the way Murphy's hand felt on his back so he leaned against it. "Are you getting fresh with me?" He grinned.

"No!" He didn't pull his hand back, he just kept it in place. "I was making sure that you didn't fall over. If you tip over then I don't know if I can get you back up, so stay on your feet and I will help you out."

"You could get fresh with me if you wanted to," he said. His voice didn't sound at all drunk, but his movements were much looser than they usually were. Seth was the class clown, well liked by a lot of students but not close to anyone. It was clear that he was joking, but there was an element there that said he'd do anything Murphy wanted, which was kind of pathetic in many ways, but attractive to some.

"I am not even sure if I know what you mean by getting fresh but I am not going to get fresh if it is a bad thing." Murphy smiled and just followed him out of the bar. "The pizza place is just down the street."

Maybe since Murphy had a hand on his back, helping him along, he was playing up needing it more than what was reality. "You knew my name," he said as they walked down the block and he thought maybe that meant he was popular, or that at least Murphy thought about him.

"I did. We have had classes together before so I know you." He had always sort of thought Seth was cute but unapproachable. "I would have talked to you but there are always so many people around you."

"Life of the party," he smirked and it wasn't clear if he was being sarcastic or not about that. "And I know we had classes together, I just didn't think you noticed me. I sat behind you in english for a semester." Until he'd dropped the class because it had proven too difficult for him.

"I know." He kept his hand on his back as they walked down the street mostly because he liked the way it felt to be touching him. "I missed you when you left."

Seth leaned more into Murphy, putting more of his weight on him for support, though he didn't need it. "You did not miss me!" he beamed, the idea that anyone would actually miss his presence was pleasing to him. Sometimes it felt like he was interchangable with any of the party kids at high school. It didn't matter, so long as somebody was there to make an ass out of themselves.

"I did because you always made me laugh and then you dropped the class and then I didn't laugh as much." He brushed his thumb along the small of his back. "So I did." He laughed a little bit. "This is the place over there."

"I like you," Seth said honestly, unconcerned with how weird that might sound to simply say outright. "I'd stare at the back of your head and wonder if you had music running in it all the time and I used to think how I'd like to be able to plug into it." That was downright weird, but Seth didn't seem to realize it and he reached out to hold the door open for Murphy.

"I do think about music all the time." He said wit ha smile. "there's always something going on in there that is music related." He held the pizza place's door open for him and once they were inside he took him over to sit down. "What kind of pizza do you like?"

Flopping down in the booth, Seth really wished he could get a beer here, but he wasn't going to risk it. It was so much easier in a dark bar to pass for older. Carding his hand through his hair, he picked up a menu and made a face. "Pepperoni probably, or mushrooms. Mushrooms are tops."

"All right." Murphy got up and he trotted over to the registers so that he could order the pizza. He got two plastic cups and on his way back to the table he filled them both with coke and then he came back to sit down across from him again. "I got you a coke, I hope that's okay. I can get you something else if you don't like it." he got his inhaler out of his pocket and shook it a little bit before uncapping it so he could take a puff off of it.

Without hiding it, Seth watched him take a pull from the inhaler. He was curious about it, always had been. "Why doesn't your brother have asthma?" he asked, putting his chin in his hand and taking a drink of his coke.

"I don't know." Murphy put the cap back onto it and then tucked the inhaler into his pocket. "He's older than me, but only by a few minutes, so it isn't like we didn't develop the same. I dont know." It could get pretty bad but he didn't want to make a big deal out of it.

Seth may have been the class clown, but he'd never made fun of Murphy for having asthma. Some kids did, and he'd always thought it was pretty shitty to do to someone. Instead of pressing the curiosity, he dropped it, poking his straw in and out of his coke to make the ice clink together. "So do you guys always play in bars? I'm surprised I haven't seen you before."

"Sometimes. We play in that one a lot because they don't mind that we are underaged. We play a lot of different places though and sometimes we play parties, it just depends." A lot of people did make fun of him, but for a variety of reasons. He was just too sweet and he riled too easily.

"I don't remember a lot of the parties I go to," he admitted and normally it wouldn't have bothered him to say it, but saying it to Murphy made him feel like a loser. Looking a little ashamed, he leaned back in the booth and stared down at the table.

"Do you drink a lot?" Murphy wasn't afraid to ask because he really didn't think it was such a big deal. If Seth didn't want him to know then he wouldn't tell him. "I mean, why do you drink?"

Seth quirked a brow and offered a careless shrug. "No, I don't drink that much." That wasn't true, but it wasn't a lie according to Seth. In his mind, he didn't drink that much, but his idea of "a lot" was warped. "And why does anyone drink? Just to have fun."

"But are you having fun when you are drinking by yourself? Because that doens't really seem like a lot of fun." He shrugged his shoulders a little bit. "Wouldn't it be more fun to just like hang out with me instead?"

"Do you want me to hang out with you?" He looked up at Murphy with a curious little smile, finding that suggestion to be really tempting. Maybe he could hang out with Murphy all the time.

"Yeah, I'd really like that." Because Seth seemed cool and funny and he liked the idea of getting to spend time with him. "Do you want to hang out with me? " He leaned his head in his hands, elbows propped up on the table.

Seth nodded silently. Yes, he would like to hang out with Murphy, very much. The slightest trace of a flush hit his cheeks and he was willing to pretend that he was simply overheated rather than starting to feel shy around the other boy. He fanned himself with his hand and was glad when the pizza arrived.

Leaning back, Murphy thanked the waitress and when she left he handed one of the two plates over to Seth so that they could take the pieces they wanted. Murphy took one and then started to pick all the mushrooms off because he really didn't like them, but he'd ordered them because Seth wanted them.

Perplexed, Seth watched him do that. "You don't like mushrooms?" he said, completely nonplussed. "Why did you order mushrooms?" It didn't compute for him that Murphy was just that nice.

"Because you said that you wanted mushrooms." Once all the mushrooms were off he pushed his plate a little closer to Seth. "Do you want mine? You can have them if you want."

Staring at him as if he'd grown a second head, Seth tried to understand. "I said I liked mushrooms. You could have just said you didn't like them and then you wouldn't have had to pick them off." He did take the offered mushrooms though, tugging them off his plate and onto his pizza happily.

"I don't mind picking them off." Murphy took his plate back and he took bite of the just cheese slice. He wasn't very picky about things and he really didn't mind going out of his way to make someone else happy.

Seth nudged his foot under the table. "You're unbelievably nice. It's kind of scary." He was just teasing, nothing about Murphy was scary. Taking a bite of pizza with all of those mushrooms on it made him close his eyes. It was like the best thing he'd ever eaten. "But you've got to keep in mind you could have just ordered mushrooms on half of the pizza. You should stick up for yourself."

"Well I didn't know how much you were going to want to eat and I probably am only going to eat another piece or two, so it's not a big deal. I really don't mind." he nudged him back. "Do you ever have sleep overs?"

Glancing around, as if checking for candid cameras, Seth laughed. "Sleep overs? Like hooking up?" Murphy was a living episode of Leave it to Beaver. Sleep overs? But Seth liked it very much--it was so different than his own life.

Murphy's eyebrows lifted a little bit. "I meant more like watching movies and sleeping in the living room... " Yeah, he wasn't asking about hooking up, not in the least. "I was going to ask if you wanted to come over after this and watch a movie. You said you like to hang out."

"I've never had a sleep over where I didn't hook up." What was the point of sleeping over at someone else's house if there wasn't fucking involved? But as he looked at Murphy, he felt bad for thinking that way. Maybe it would be fun, and he did want a chance to spend more time with him. "Are your parents going to care?"

"Well... no they aren't going to care so long as we aren't hooking up. It could be fun." Though he wasn't sure if he was going to be as much fun for Seth if they weren't hooking up. Murphy hadn't ever hooked up with anyone so he didn't know if he'd be any good or if he'd even like it, so he just dismissed the idea. "Would your Aunt mind?" Clearly he paid more attention than most.

"She doesn't care," he said off hand. That wasn't necessarily the case, but she didn't ever ask questions for fear of the answer. Seth felt like he was starving and he devoured a few more pieces before making a deliciously full sound. "That was amazing."

"It is really good, yeah?" he smiled and finished off his second piece and then stacked their plates onto the mostly empty tray of pizza. Then he fished a few dollars out of his pocket so he could leave it for the waitress who brought their pizza over. "Would you like to go to my house then?"

When Murphy left a tip, Seth dug in his own pocket to put some more on top of that. He didn't normally leave tips, but something about Murphy doing it made him more inclined to follow suit. He took out money to pay the bill too, like he'd promised and when that was taken care of, he stood up, not that much more stable than when he'd sat down. "Yeah, let's go to your house."

"All right." He put his hand on Seth's back again, even though now that they'd eaten some of the alcohol would have been absorbed by the food and probably not as bad as it had been before. When they got outside he let his hand fall away and he took Seth's hand anyway.

Holding hands with Murphy made him melt. Leaning his head on the boy's shoulder, he sighed. "You're nice. Why are you so nice? I'm really glad I ran into you tonight and I'm glad that Vegas wasn't around because when you're with him you're--I don't know. You're just really close with him so it's intimidating."

"Well he's my twin brother, of course we're close." he smiled and let their hands swing a little bit. "You can still talk to me if Vegas is around, just because he is there doesn't mean i won't talk to you." He squeezed his hand a little, an encouraging squeeze. "When you hook up with people is it girls or boys?"

"Whoever is there," he said honestly. Sometimes Seth really just wanted that kind of attention. For a little while, it made him feel good, connected to someone. It never really mattered who it was.

"I've never hooked up with anyone before." Complete honesty because he just wasn't really capable of lying at all. It just wasn't something that he did easily so there was no point in it.

"That's a good thing," Seth said quickly. "Well, I mean it's not a bad thing. People are just different I guess. You don't--you don't think I'm bad for having sex sometimes, do you? You're not just being nice to me because you're a nice guy, are you? I don't want you to feel sorry for me. Trust me, I don't need that."

"I don't feel sorry for you. Unless you think I should and then I could probably muster up some sympathy. I am just being nice to you because i've never gotten the chance to before and I like you."

"You sound like you'll do anything I want, Murphy. You'd better be careful with that." And for once he didn't mean that as a come on line, just a genuine worry that he might drain the other emotionally. Deep down, Seth was aware that he needed a lot of work and a person patient enough to be around him.

"I don't think that is such a bad thing." Though it was, really. He was the type of person who always forgave a person for anything they did and always apologized when he didn't even do anything wrong. And he was really willing to do whatever he could for Murphy that he thought might help him out.

"It could be a bad thing with me," he said seriously, the tone of his voice changing briefly as he looked at him with a modicum of sobriety. Seth swallowed, wishing for just a moment he could not be so pathetic. He laughed and shook his head. "Don't listen to me."

"Why would it be a bad thing with you?" He squeezed his hand and just glanced over at Seth. He wanted to tell him that really it didn't matter what happened, he didn't think that he'd be able to do anything to really hurt him. But a lot of people thought Murphy was naive and they were probably right.

He leaned over and kissed Murphy on the cheek. "Because who knows if I'll remember what you do for me the next day?" He kept walking, wondering how far the boy's house was. His own was in the other direction, and he was glad they weren't going there.

"Well then maybe you shouldn't drink and then you won't have to worry about what I do for you." The kiss on the cheek made him blush a little but he was quick to turn his head and return the kiss, pressing one closer to Seth's mouth but still on his cheek. "We're almost there now."

Murphy was sending him all of the right signals and it was hard to reconcile what he usually did with what the other boy was probbaly expecting. Seth would so easily fall into bed with this one, pretending that they were a couple, at least until the sun came up and needled through his little fantasy. He didn't say anything about not drinking though, because he didn't want to imagine his life without that perfect oblivion that came from it. "Do you always have sleep overs with your friends?"

"Not always. Sometimes. Most of the time I just have sleepovers with Vegas." He wasn't going to tell Seth that more often than not he ended up just crawling into Vegas' bed whether or not he was invited. Most people took that the wrong way and really it was only because he had nightmares if he slept alone and it was comfortable to sleep next to someone who he felt safe with. "Just the ones I really like I guess."

"I don't think it counts if the sleepover is with your brother since you live in the same house." Seth thought about his own brother and how he'd like to have him back, but he'd taken off for college. Seth suspected Isaac wasn't actually at college, and he'd just wanted to get away from his family. Well fine, Seth always thought. Let him run. "You don't know me well enough to really like me," he pointed out.

"Well then I'll get to know you and then I'll really like you. Until then I am just going to go on my gut feeling that I'm going to really like you once I get to know you." He tugged Seth up the walk to his house when they got there. The lights were still on on the porch but the rest of the house was fairly dark because his parents had already turned in for the night.

That was starting to sound like a lot to live up to and he didn't think he could do it. Trying not to look upset by the sudden realization that he would only disappoint Murphy, Seth took a good look at the other's house. "Nice place," he said quietly.

"Thanks, I'll tell my parents you like it." Because it really wasn't his place. "Do you want to sleep down here in the living room where the flat sccreen is or do you want to go up to my room? It's more private, but the tv isn't as big and we'll have to share the bed instead of sleeping on the floor."

It didn't sound like that difficult of a choice to Seth, not right off the bat anyway, but as he thought about it, he started to think that sleeping in the same bed wouldn't be a good idea. "Living room," he said in a moment of good judgement.

"All right. If you want to go and get comfortable, I'm going to grab movies and pillows and blankets and pajamas from my room." he took a second to size Seth up and then he smiled. "I bet I have something you could wear to sleep in no problem."

The pizza was really helping to make him feel not so drunk now, but this whole situation was pretty surreal to him. When Murphy left to get the sleep over supplies, Seth wandered into the kitchen and stuck his head under the faucet to get a drink of water. He drank and drank until his stomach hurt from it and then he just stood there, leaning against the counter, cheek pressed to the cool tile.

Murphy heard the water running in the kitchen when he got back down, but he just let Seth do whatever he was doing while he spread out the blankets on the floor and got everything ready for their little sleep over. Once the makeshift beds were made he carried the pajamas into the kitchen and walked over. "What are you doing?"

"Just trying to figure out how I got here." It seemed like such a strange chain of events, all because this boy was being so kind. "Are you sure you didn't bring me here under some sexual pretense? Are you sure you're not just acting nice to get me to sleep with you? Because you don't have to be nice to me for that."

That made him frown a little bit. "I didn't bring you here to sleep with you, no. I brought you here because I wanted to spend more time with you and I didn't want to wait until tomorrow." He shrugged his shoulders a little bit and he put the pajamas on the edge of the counter. "I brought those for you... but if you only came here for sex and you really don't want to hang out you don't have to stay. My feelings won't be hurt." They would, but he wasn't going to tell him that.

"I didn't come here for sex," he assured the other. "But you kind of make me want to kiss you," he couldn't help but add. He'd never been treated like this before and he took the pajamas and held them almost protectively to his chest, worried that Murphy might take them back. "I'll go change"

"Well then put your pajamas on and come lay down and if you still want to kiss me then you can kiss me. But we aren't going to have sex. I'm not ready and I don't know you well enough yet. But I want to get to know you." He smiled and then pointed down the hall. "That's the bathroom. If you want to change in there. I think there might even be a new toothbrush under the sink in there still in the package. We keep them for guests."

He didn't know if brushing his teeth was going to be enough to get the near permanent flavor of alcohol out of his mouth, but he was going to try. Heading to the bathroom, Seth tried not to feel giddy, or weird about this. It was new and awkward, but he found himself liking it a great deal. In the bathroom he cleaned up as best he could and tugged on the pajamas which fit him fairly well. When he finally came back out to lie down next to Murphy, his breath tasted like mint and he leaned over to offer Murphy a chaste kiss on the cheek. It seemed almost blasphemous to kiss him anywhere else.

Murphy had laid out the movies for them and then he got himself comfortable on the little make shift beds. There was a smile on his face when Seth laid down and he turned his head to ask him what movie he wanted to watch and was met with a kiss to the mouth instead. Seth had gone for his cheek and he had thwarted the effort by looking over at him mid kiss.

Seth pulled back immediately. "Sorry. I'm really sorry." He didn't want to take advantage of Murphy and now he felt like he had. Averting his embarrassment and his attention to the movies, he focused very hard on them, not looking at the other boy. "Which is your favorite?"

"My favorite is all of them." Murphy said and before Seth could pull away he turned his head gently and leaned in to kiss him on the lips. It was soft, but it wasn't quick like the first one had been. He let it linger, wanting to really have a good first kiss, because this was surely it.

Shoulders dropping their tension, Seth relaxed into the softness of the kiss. It felt innocent, even if it was on the mouth. He found himself enjoying it more than any other kiss, even some of the more intense kisses he'd had. Nothing quite compared to the quiet, sweet lingering of Murphy's lips on his.

Murphy kissed him until his heart was beating too fast and he felt like he would give himself an attack if he didn't settle. Pulling back, he bumped his nose against Seth's and then he looked down at all the movies. "We can watch whichever one you want.'

Seth would have much rather just kissed Murphy all night. He was glad he'd brushed his teeth, because something about the other was making him aware of the fact that his mouth often tasted like Bacardi, or Cuervo. Now it simply tasted like mint. "The Goonies," he said, picking that one up. "I haven't watched this since I was a kid. Isaac used to do the truffle shuffle when I was sad to cheer me up."

That made him laugh a little bit and he got up to put the Goonies in. "Is Issac your brother?" Murphy came back to the makeshift bed and he laid down again, the remote on the floor between them as he turned to face Seth again. "Is he older than you or younger than you?"

"Older. He's gone now. Took off for college." And left Seth to deal with their mother's death on his own. His expression went dark and he scrunched his knees up to his chest, feeling like closing off. He didn't talk about this when he was sober and he often forgot about it when he was drunk.

Murphy could tell that it wasn't a subject that Seth was very happy with. "I would do the truffle shuffle for you but I don't have much of a belly and it would probably make my asmtha a little crazy." he leaned his forehead against Seth's and bumped their noses together again.

Seth liked that little gesture so much that he thought his nose would never be the same again. "I don't want your asthma to act up," he said, already protective. "What makes it bad? Just moving around a lot?"

"It depends." Soemtimes it could get bad from the simplest things. "Sometimes when I sing too long or too loud it can get bad. Or at night sometimes when I'm laying down and trying to sleep. If I run around too much or too long. When I get nervous or scared."

Rolling his bottom lip inward for a good chew, Seth seemed to be mulling something over in his head. He laughed a little nervously and looked down at his hands. "Um--what about when you--you know. Can you do that? Can you--um--get yourself off without having an attack?" Typical that Seth would be concerned about something like that, but it was the first question that popped into his head.

Murphy should have seen that coming. "Yeah, I can. Well it depends on what I am thinking about. Sometimes I can get really into it and then I'm out of breath and wheezy. But I've never had a full blown attack when I touch myself."

"When are you really into it? What do you think about?" He raised his eyebrows, curious now--curious before, but moreso now that he'd broached the subject

"Well, sometimes when I think about people that I am really attracted to. Sometimes I just think about movie stars or whatever because that's easy, but when I think about people that I really like then I can get really into it."

Seth nodded, knowing that asking anything more specific would be kind of weird. Not that he wasn't dying to know, but at least he had some kind of filter for his words thanks to the food on his stomach and the water he'd drank. When the movie started, he fell silent for a little while.

Murphy let his attention drift to the movie and he laid his head down against Seth's shoulder. He was quiet for a long time, just sort of thinking about things because he wasn't really paying that much notice to a movie he'd seen a hundred times or more. "I think next time I'll think about you."

"Don't say things like that," Seth murmured, feeling an all too pleasant twist in his stomach. "Because now I'm picturing you doing it, and I won't be able to sleep." That image could so easily consume his thoughts.

"What do I look like in your head when you think about it?" he asked, wondering if Seth thought he was rather attractive or not. "I'll probably do it after you leave tomorrow." he was being honest. "Maybe before I go to bed."

"Murphy," Seth said with a serious bent even though his voice was starting to get a little reedy. But now that they were talking about it, he didn't want to stop. "I guess I picture you with your eyes closed and your mouth open just a little. You have like, the perfect mouth. I've always thought so."

"Yeah?" He liked hearing that Seth thought that. "That's how I'll do it then. With my eyes closed like this." Murphy closed his eyes and he smiled a little. "And my mouth open just a little like this." He kept his lips parted just barely, enough so he could breathe.

"Stop," Seth begged again. He wondered if Murphy was doing this on purpose or if he was really just that open. "You're--" Seth didn't finish that thought but instead tried to focus on the movie again.

"I'm what?" Murphy asked softly, his voice quiet because he wasn't sure if Seth was going to respond to him or not. He wanted him to though and he let his fingers brush gently along his arm.

Seth was trying to deepen his shallow breath, but the fingers against his arm were making it worse. "You're really turning me on," he said, but kept his eyes on the television. The very idea of Murphy thinking about him while he touched himself was enough to make Seth very aware of the way his pajamas and the blanket were weighted against his groin.

"Seth?" he asked softly, not saying more until he had the boy's attention on him instead of the movie. Murphy wanted Seth to be looking at him before he said what was on his mind mostly becuase he thought that what he had to say was fairly important.

There was a little resistance, a hesitation before Seth finally had the courage to turn his head and look at Murphy. He smiled at him nervously, feeling a flutter of nerves go off in his stomach. "Hm?"

"There isn't anything wrong with that." Meaning he kind of liked that Seth was aroused just thinking about him. "I like that you are." Leaning his head in, he touched his forehead against Seth's for a moment and then tipped his head back enough to let his lips touch to Seth's.

Murphy was the sort of sweet that Seth could really get used to; he didn't get a lot of that in his life. But god, Seth knew he could do some not-so-sweet things to him if he kept this teasing up, even if it was unintentional. The moment their lips made contact, Seth crushed them harder together and he made a little sound in the back of his throat as his hand slipped around behind the other's neck.

On instinct, Murphy parted his lips to allow Seth to take the kiss deeper, or make it a little harder. The hand on the back of the neck drew a little noise out of him and he upt his hand against Seth's chest, curling his fingers against the edge of the t-shirt he was wearing.

It was so good, and Seth slipped his tongue past Murphy's lips, body leaning forward to push him back a little. His fingers turned inward, grazing nails across the nape of Murphy's neck as his zeal grew more intense. The kiss was turning rough, eager and maybe a little desperate.

Murphy's heart was racing and he wrapped his arm around Seth's shoulders as he pushed forward closer to him. He went from being on his side to being on his back and he let his hands splay out over the back of Seth's shoulders. He was excited and sort of scared, but he really liked this.

Slowly, Seth got closer and closer. Finally, he slipped one leg over Murphy so that he was straddling him as he kissed him, doing his best to keep his weight off of the other boy's chest because he didn't imagine that would be very good for him.

The pressure on his chest would have really been bad, but he didn't even think of it so it was a good thing that Seth was thinking. He let his hands slide down his back a little and he kissed him harder, letting his tongue sweep out against his bottom lip and into his mouth.

Seth was obviously excited, the outline of his erection starting to press against Murphy. It was embarrassing and he tried to pull his hips back so that Murphy wouldn't know. But all he wanted to do was thrust himself against the other.

Instaed of letting him pull back, Murphy's hands trailed down to Seth's hips and he pulled him down so that he could feel Seth's hard on. He liked knowing that he was the reason for that. Most of the time he felt like he wasn't as desireable as Vegas, so the fact that Seth talked to him and was here with him was a big deal to him.

He wanted to break the kiss and tell Murphy to stop. It wasn't that he didn't want him; it was that he didn't feel like he was anywhere near good enough for him. But his body thought otherwise and he moaned into Murphy's mouth at the crush of his cock into the warmth beneath him. His hands, which were previously propping him up, moved to Murphy's hair. Unfortunately that meant his weight started to push down on the other's chest, but Seth was just too far gone to keep thinking clearly.

At first the pressure wasn't so bad. In fact he kind of liked the weight of the other on top of him. And he was distracted by his own arousal, which was pressing back against Seth as their bodies connected. He'd never done anything like this before so he was really nervous but really into it, enjoying it as much as he could be.

Seth broke the kiss for just a second so that he could look down at Murphy's face. "I've liked you for a long time," he admitted, though he figured that had been pretty clear from the way he'd talked about him tonight.

"I liked you too. I like you." He kissed him again and he just smiled. "You feel good." The weight of him and the taste, everything was good. "I'm glad that you came here with me tonight." Otherwise they might not have ever figured this out.

Part of him was afraid that this was just the alcohol talking--but he realized that if he was afraid of that, then that probably wasn't the case. That made him grin, the idea that he really meant this. "I'm glad I decided to go to that particular bar."

"So am I." Murphy said with a soft laugh. He tilted his head to the side a little bit and he sighed softly. "I need to do my breathing treatment before I go to sleep. I should probably do it but I am not ready to let you go yet."

"I'll go with you," he presented as a solution, trying to offer both. "You don't have to let me go." He wasn't ready to end this contact, plus he was a little curious about what a breathing treatment entailed.

"All right." he wrapped his arms around Seth again. For a moment he just wanted to lay there, he wanted to be close. "I can't stop thinking about how good you feel."

"You don't have to stop thinking about it. I don't want you to stop." Because he didn't want Murphy to realize that maybe he was a bad choice. After a moment, he sat up and tugged Murphy up along with him. "Come on, you should do your treatment."

Murphy stood up with him and he wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him in closer. A few kisses later he was on his way to the bathroom where he could get his breathing machine ready.

Seth was working on getting himself calmed down and with the moderate amount of alcohol in his system it was quite easy. Padding after Seth, he leaned against the bathroom door when he arrived. "Do you mind if I watch?"

"That's okay." He usually didn't want people to see, but he figured that it would be good for Seth to understand. Setting the medicine up took a few minutes but when he settled down against the sink and brought the little mask up to his face, he waved Seth over. "Sit on the tub."

The machine looked uncomlicated, but the hose and mask disturbed him slightly. He sat down on the tub and leaned his elbows on his knees. The look of the mask said he probably couldn't talk through it.

It would be too hard to talk, so once the mask was on he sat there in quiet with Seth. But really quiet wasn't something that Murphy did well, so instead of talking with his voice he walked with his body. Reaching his foot out, he brushed it against Seth's knee.

Seth very much liked the way Murphy seemed to want to touch him. He put his hand on his foot, thumb pressing against the arch. "Everything about you is--I don't know--it's just really cool and interesting." He knew that he sounded stupid, but it's what he felt.

There was a smile on his face beneath the mask and he flexed his foot when Seth's thumb pressed against it. He couldn't really reply but there was a lot he wanted to say to Seth.

Looking down at the boy's foot, he etched his thumb down the center of Murphy's foot, fingertips tapping along the fine bones of the top. "Probably not a good idea for me to be rambling while I feel like this. God, even your toes are cute."

Murphy smiled wider and he wiggled his toes, entirely amused by this sort of honesty. He was already head over heels for this boy and they had only just started. When the machine started sputtering a little he tapped it, trying to make sure all the medicine was dispensed evenly.

As much as he adored Murphy, a well of sadness was starting to show. "I think I should go," he said quietly. This would not end up good for the other boy. As much as Seth had thought about making a move on Murphy in their English class, deep down he knew it would be a mistake. He pretended not to know he had a drinking problem, but he knew he was just like this mother and it made him sick inside.

Murphy's displeasure over Seth's announcement made his brow furrow and he looked more than slightly disgruntled at it. He shook his head, not yet pulling his foot away or taking the mask off because he didn't want to until he was finished with his treatment.

He stared down at Murphy's foot, staying put because the desire to leave wasn't there. He just thought it was a good idea. "Not that I want to. You're really nice and I like you."

Murphy shook his head again and he put his other foot up on the edge of the tub on the other side of Seth to keep him from, going. He didn't want the boy to leave. He wanted him to stay the night so they could spend the afternoon together.

"Murphy," Seth said as he glanced at the other foot. "I'm pretty sure your parents would not like the idea of you hanging out with me. He didn't think Vegas would like it very much either.

"I don't care." The words were muffled but they were clear enough to be understood. "I want you to stay the night and you want to stay the night, so what's the problem?"

Seth screwed up his face thoughtfully. "I'm the problem," he said and shook his head. "You're kind of naive, you know? I'm fun sometimes, but a lot of the time I'm not."

PM"I'm not naive." He was the epitome of it. "What do you mean you aren't fun?" Because so far Murphy was having a lot of fun and he really liked spending time with him.

"Because sometimes I get drunk and forget, or I fight, or I say mean things, or I just puke everywhere." He gestured to the machine. "Is that done? Should you be talking?"

"No, it'll be done in a minute." He tapping on the little medicine cup to show that there was still some in there that he needed to inhale.

"See? I'm already causing you problems. I'm making you talk through your medicine." But he fell silent, folding his arms over his chest and trying to decide what to do next.

Murphy had already decided that he wasn't going to allow Seth to leave. That just wasn't in the cards at this point. So he finished up his breathing treatment and then clicked the machine off. He rushed through cleaning it up before he turned back to Seth. "I want you to stay the night."

"You're not listening to me," he sighed and stayed sitting on the tub. "Where is Vegas? Maybe he'll have something to say about me staying." He raised his eyebrows in challenge.

"Maybe I don't want to know what Vegas has to say about you. Maybe I just want you to stay the night and I want you to kiss me for a little while longer and sleep next to me. And then tomorrow you can go if you want to but you don't have to."

The words made his stomach feel funny in a good way. All of the wind went out of his self-pitying sails and he put his brown eyes to the floor. He felt frozen to the tub and he just sat there for a few moments more before standing up. "Okay. I mean, I'm already in your pajamas, right?"

"See. You are already in my pajamas." He nodded and then went to take Seth's hands so he could tug him up from the edge of the tub. "and you look good in my pajamas too." Without waiting for Seth to reply he started out towards the living room, tugging the boy along with him.

Seth couldn't wait until they made it to the living room and he pulled at Murphy's hand to stop him. It was a fluid move and he was up against Murphy, pressing him against the wall for another kiss.

Murphy fell into the kiss easily. His shoulders pressed back against the wall and he wrapped his arms around him even tighter. Again his heart was racing and he melted into it. One of his hands slid up into Seth's hair, fingers tangling into it just because he liked the way it felt.

Seth always kissed like he meant it, but with Murphy he really did mean it. He loved physical contact, but Murphy's was better than anything. His hands rested at Murphy's hips, squeezing every now and then as they made out. He was easily right back to being aroused again and he let his hips push against the other's to show him.

There it was again. The arousal pressed againsth im and he wanted nothing more than to do something about it, but he didn't know what to do. He pulled his head back and he looked at Seth, questioning a little bit. "What should I do?" Because he was hard too but he'd never gone farther than just making out.

The question was perplexing. "What should you do? I--well--" how did he explain. "It depends on what you want." His thigh slipped between Murphy's legs and hitched up pointedly against his erection.

Murphy let out a little breath and he just studied Seth's face for a moment. "I don't know." he wasn't sure what he wanted but he was really into it. Rocking his hips against Seth's thigh, he slid his hands over his ass to pull him closer.

The last thing he wanted to do was take advantage of something so innocent as Murphy. He kissed him for a little while longer, trying to keep his hips still. When he finally broke the kiss, he was flushed. "We should go get some sleep."

Murphy whined a little bit and he tipped his head forward. He rocked his hips against his one more time and leaned their foreheads together. "Okay. Let's go get some sleep." Becuase he knew he wasn't ready for sex and he was glad that Seth wasn't rushing him.

Seth made a little mewl in the back of his throat, feeling stupid for holding off, but for once he was making a good decision. He followed Murphy back to the main room and curled up in the makeshift bed.

Murphy curled right up next to him and wrapped an arm around his hip so that he could pull him a little bit closer. "Thanks for coming over tonight. I really wanted to spend more time with you."

"I want to spend lots of time with you," he admitted sleepily. "I will until you get tired of it." And he resolved himself to be okay with that arrangement.

"I won't get tired of it." He kissed his mouth, just a quick peck, and then he laid his head back down again. "Goodnight Seth." That was just a whisper and he let his eyes slide shut, already sort of sleepy from the long night.