Snippet: Rising Intimacies

"Damian!"

Josh all but threw his laptop to the side as he stood up. It thankfully landed on the couch next to him.

"What?" Damian came out of the kitchen and looked at him curiously. "Are you all right?"

Josh nodded. "I got in. I actually got in!" He couldn't believe it, but it was right there on his laptop. "I haven't gotten the A-level results back yet, they're supposed to be out tomorrow, but they have to be good because I got an unconditional offer." Josh stared down at the screen for a moment, just to make sure it really was an unconditional offer, then looked back up at Damian. "I got in to university!"

Damian smiled as he rounded the couch and embraced Josh in a tight hug. "I told you you could do it!"

"Not without you." Josh hugged him back. He'd done exceptionally bad at his A-levels the year before, as predicted, so he'd opted to retake them. Damian had helped him study, even though he had a lot of studying to do himself. "I couldn't have done it without you."

"I hardly did anything," Damian murmured against Josh's neck.

"You did." Josh pushed him back enough so that he could see Damian's face. He smiled, then leaned in and kissed him. Damian kissed him back instantly and Josh smiled into it as he thought back to a year ago, when they'd first met. Damian had become so much more comfortable with kissing, with bodily contact, than he had been back then when just a simple kiss had left him flustered. If only he would … Josh let his hand travel down Damian's stomach and down past the waistband of his jeans …

"What are you doing?" Damian pushed him away and stared at Josh with wide eyes.

Josh shook his head in frustration. "Nothing." He licked his lips, gathering courage as he looked up at Damian again. "It's been over a year, Damian."

Damian took a couple of steps back. He looked like a deer caught in headlights and Josh hated putting that look there, but it had been over a year. "It's the middle of the day, Josh."

Like that makes a difference. Josh hated pushing him. He tried not to, but damn … a year. He didn't understand why Damian was so squeamish about sex. Josh's own previous sex-life hadn't been healthy at all and very much trauma inducing, but that didn't mean he didn't want to have sex with Damian. Because he did, desperately.