Johnny woke to the sound of an unfamiliar ring tone. Sleepy and confused, it took him a moment to register why. There was a warm body snuggled up behind him and a heavy arm thrown over his waist, holding him close.

A smile spread over Johnny’s face.

Ryan.

The ringing had stopped, but it started again a few minutes later. This time Johnny twisted around in Ryan’s arms and patted his cheek. “Hey, your phone’s ringing. Wanna see if it’s important?”

“Huh?” Ryan cranked his eyes open and blinked sleepily. “Oh yeah. I suppose.” He heaved himself out of bed and found his phone in his jeans from last night. The ringing had already stopped again, so he lay back down and squinted at the screen. “My mum,” he said. “And then voicemail—probably from her. Guess I’d better listen to it.”

He pressed a few buttons and Johnny could hear the tinny sound of a voice but couldn’t pick out the words. He shuffled closer, stroking Ryan’s chest, and admiring his profile. The scent of sex and come surrounded them. They’d woken in the middle of the night and fucked again—Ryan topping that time—so the bed was doused in both their jizz this morning. It should probably be gross, but Johnny kind of liked it.

“Everything okay?” he asked as Ryan took his phone away from his ear and ended the call.

“Yeah, she was just phoning to find out how my last couple of exams went. I forgot to text my parents yesterday with an update. I’ll call her back later.”

“You can do it now if you want? I don’t mind. I can go and make us some coffee if you want privacy.”

“No, it’s fine. Stay here while I talk to her.” Ryan put his free arm around Johnny, drawing him closer. Johnny lay his head on Ryan’s shoulder and slid his arm around his torso to hold him tight. He loved being in Ryan’s arms.

“Hi, Mum…. Yeah, no. I’m fine…. Sorry I forgot to text last night. I went out to celebrate, you know how it is…. Yes the exams went fine. I think I did the best I could, which is all I can do…. Mid-July I’ll find out. So, how are things with you and Dad?”

There was a longer pause, and Ryan dipped his head to press a kiss to the top of Johnny’s head while his mum was talking.

Johnny’s heart did a little flip and he pressed an answering kiss to Ryan’s chest, just above his nipple.

Ryan was mostly listening now, interjecting with the occasional, “Mmm,” or “That’s good,” or a chuckle at some bit of news his mum was sharing.

“Yeah it was good to catch up, Mum. I’m glad all is well with you. Actually, before you go”—Ryan’s arm tightened around Johnny’s shoulders—“I have a bit of news myself. I’ve started seeing someone and I wanted to tell you about them.” Johnny stiffened at the pronoun. Was Ryan going to be evasive? He’d almost rather not be mentioned at all if that was the case. But he was quickly reassured by Ryan’s next words. “Actually, it’s a he, Mum.”

There was a pause while that bit of information was digested. Then Ryan’s mum said something else, and damn, Johnny wished he could hear both sides of the conversation. He drew back so he could see Ryan’s face. Ryan glanced sideways, expression anxious, and his jaw tense.

Please let her be cool. Johnny’s heart pounded hard and every muscle in his body was drawn tight.

Ryan chuckled nervously. “Yeah, it was a surprise for me too…. No, Mum, it doesn’t mean I’m gay now. I’m pretty sure I’m bisexual actually. But the important part is that Johnny—that’s his name—is awesome, and I really like him a lot. I think you and Dad will too…. Yes, hopefully you’ll get a chance to meet him fairly soon…. Okay. I’ll ask him…. Yes, he’s here with me now. Hang on.”

Ryan covered his phone with his hand and turned to Johnny. “I was planning on going back to visit them for a few days at the end of July, before I start work. Would you come with me? Assuming that everything is going well between us then?”

The idea of being introduced to Ryan’s parents was scary as hell, but it was also amazing. And if Ryan wanted him to meet the family then Johnny was game. He grinned, stomach flipping with nerves and excitement. “Yes. I’d love to.”

Ryan leaned over and kissed him, quick and soft, before drawing back to say, “He said yes…. Okay, Mum, I’d better go. Send my love to Dad and I’ll call again soon… or sure, we can FaceTime when Dad’s around too…. Bye…. Love you too.”

He ended the call and put his phone down on the floor before rolling back to Johnny.

“Well, that seemed to go okay.” Johnny couldn’t wipe the smile off his face, but there was one on Ryan’s that matched it.

“Yeah. My parents are cool. I knew it would be a surprise, but not a bad one. And they’ve got a few weeks to get used to the idea before they meet you.”

“And it gives me time to plan what to wear. I want to look my best to meet your parents, make a good impression. I’m not sure my black skinny jeans and boots will cut it. And I should probably ditch the eyeliner.”

“No way. You look hot like that. And my parents won’t judge. Seriously. You should see the old photos of what they used to wear in the eighties. My dad used to wear ruffles and velvet and shit like that—and more eyeliner than you ever do.”

Johnny laughed. “Wow. That’s awesome. I demand to see those photos when I visit.”

“Deal.”

Ryan rolled Johnny over onto his back and gazed down at him. The playful humour was gone, replaced by intensity. His expression was full of desire, but something softer too, something that made Johnny’s heart swell as well as quicken. Emotion rushed through him and a feeling of connection so strong it was overwhelming. “Kiss me,” he said, afraid of what he might say if his mouth wasn’t occupied.

When their lips met it was a different form of communication, and so was Ryan’s hand cupping Johnny’s cheek, stroking him like he was something precious. It might be too early to use words to express how they felt about each other, but they showed each other through touch. Rolling onto their sides they took each other’s cocks in hand, still kissing each other wherever they could reach—lips, cheeks, necks, and then locking their mouths together again as they got closer. Johnny came first, and Ryan followed after, moaning into the kiss as they stroked each other slowly through it.

“You need to buy more tissues,” Ryan said as they mopped up.

“I think it’s your turn to buy some. And condoms too.”

“Yeah. Fair enough.”

A knock on the door surprised them both.

“Yeah? Who is it?”

“It’s Mac,” a voice called. “We’re making house breakfast downstairs. Eggs, bacon, sausages, beans…. The works. Do you want some?”

“Do you?” Johnny whispered to Ryan, who nodded and gave a thumbs up.

“Got enough for me plus one?” Johnny shouted back.

“Yep.”

“In that case, yes please. We’ll be down in a few.”

As they entered the kitchen hand-in-hand, they were greeted by a chorus of whoops and claps. All of Johnny’s housemates, plus Ewan, were there with huge shit-eating grins on their faces. The air was thick with the scent of cooking bacon and slightly burned toast.

“I take it you sorted things out then?” Ewan said to Ryan.

Ryan’s grip tightened on Johnny’s hand. “Yeah. We did.”

“Awesome.”

“Yeah, congrats guys.” Jez gave them a thumbs up.

“Okay, I reckon this bacon is finally crispy enough,” Shawn said from by the cooker. “Can we start getting stuff on plates now?”

They all hurried to do things, some hindering as much as helping as they got in each other’s way trying to get out plates and cutlery, and get the food dished up before it got cold. There was a lot of noise and bickering, but somehow they finally got it all sorted.

They ate in the living room. Jez, Mac, Jude, and Shawn at the table; while Johnny and Ryan sat on one sofa, and Ewan and Dev on the other.

“God this is great,” Ryan said. “Thanks so much guys. Can I contribute something towards the food?”

“There’s no need,” Mac said. “We quite often do a house breakfast on a weekend, and I assume you’re going to be staying over more now, so you can bring something another time.”

“Okay, cool.” Ryan took another forkful of scrambled eggs.

Forgetting his food for a moment, Johnny looked around him. Jez and Mac’s feet were tangled together under the table. Shawn and Jude were eating one-handed, their free hands clasped together on the tabletop. Ewan and Dev were swapping food to and from each other’s plates, Dev taking Ewan’s sausage and giving him his bacon in return. Those little signs of casual intimacy no longer made Johnny feel envious like they had recently. Now they made him happy, because he could have that too.

He shuffled a little closer to Ryan and let his knee drop sideways so they were pressed together.

“You okay?” Ryan asked through a mouthful of food, turning to look at him.

Johnny grinned, and put his fork down so he could catch a stray bit of baked bean juice on Ryan’s lip with his fingertip. “Yeah. I’m awesome.”