Sunshine Days - Chapter 14
Jonathan and David exchanged a panicked look as the doorknob jiggled again. They heard the sound of someone cursing softly under their breath and sifting through keys on a ring.
In a flash David leapt off Jonathan's lap and scrambled to the floor, rushing to put on his clothes. Jonathan followed suit, hurriedly putting on his pants instead of underwear. He could feel his heart pounding hotly in his head and his breath coming out in shallow wheezes.
They heard the twinkling sound of keys falling to the ground and the voice mutter, "...Oh for Christ's sake..."
"Get under the bed," David hissed at Jonathan.
"Why?" Jonathan asked, wheezing softly as he tugged on a shirt.
"It'll look suspicious if there are two of us here and no one answers the door!" David said. He was wearing his shirt backwards and digging his walkman out of his bag.
Jonathan wasn't sure why David's quick inference surprised him, since he already knew that David was a lot sharper than he often appeared. He nodded and got down on to the floor quickly. He heard the key's sliding into the lock and turning just as he was slipping down under the bottom bunk. David jumped on top of the bed and popped his earbuds in right as the door opened.
Pastor Durham stepped into the cabin and looked down the rows of bunk beds. David turned on the walkman and closed his eyes, putting his paws behind his head and pretending that he was listening to music and hadn't heard anyone knocking at the door. Under the bed, Jonathan desperately tried to steady his breathing as his lungs seized painfully for air and burned in his chest. He held his breath the best he could as he saw the pastor's feet walking towards their bunk. His head was pounding harder, like the bass of a drum, and his chest ached excruciatingly. His body longed for his inhaler so deeply in that moment. It didn't help his situation that the dust under the bed was starting to affect his allergies as well.
"David? What are you doing here?" A perplexed Durham asked.
David popped open his eyes, frowning and pulling a bud out of one ear. "Do what?"
"What are you doing here?" He repeated, a bit more aggravated. "You and Jonathan are supposed to be with the rest of the boys."
"Oh!" David said, feigning surprise. "I didn't know we-I was supposed to be with them!"
"Where is Jonathan, anyway?" He continued, "And why on Earth did you have the door locked? Cubs are not allowed to lock the cabin doors."
"I didn't know..." David sounding like a man pleading ignorance, "I was just looking to have some alone time! And I don't know where Jonathan is. I think he said he was going over to wash his hands or something..."
Jonathan couldn't see the very skeptical look on Durham's face as he considered the pup's story. The elder fox's nose twitched. "What's that smell?" Vulpine noses were just as perceptive as canine noses at picking up particular scents. In that case, it was the lingering smell of lube, sweat, and musk.
David gulped and shook his head softly, "I dunno...It was like this when I got here..."
Durham gave the boy a steady look, studying him for any sign that he might be lying.
Jonathan held his paw over his muzzle, trying to hold his breath with all his might. On top of his lung spasms, he felt a sneeze building up in his nose. His eyes watered and his head ached, trying to hold on for as long as he could. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the fox turned around and started for the door.
"I'm going to go look for Jonathan. If you see him, tell him you both need to stay with the Cabin A group for now. And no more locking this door!"
As soon as the door slammed shut, Jonathan sneezed loudly enough to almost make David fall off the mattress. He heard David burst into loud, relieved laughter as he crawled out from under the bed wheezing and coughing. His nose dripped, his head pounded, and his lungs burned as he made his way towards his inhaler. He took a couple quick blasts from it, sneezed into his paws a few times, and turned over on the floor to glare up at the laughing pup.
"What's...so....funny?" Jonathan said in a raspy voice. He still wheezed between breaths.
"That was so close!" David said after he calmed down from his fit of giggles. "I swear... we were so close to getting caught..."
Jonathan tried to suppress a smile, trying to keep glaring at the pup. The smile broke through and he giggled softly, even though he was still in pain and still trembling from the adrenaline. He took another blast from the inhaler and wiped his glasses off on his shirt.
When they both managed to calm down after their brief scare, David got off the bed and came over to help Jonathan off the floor.
"You alright?" David asked as he wrapped and arm around him and pulled him up. His legs were a little wobbly beneath him as he held on to the pup's shoulder for support. He gave a little smile and nodded his head. He felt the pup's paw rubbing up his side and felt his warm snout gently nosing at his temple. He purred softly and pressed his face into the canine's broad chest. When he breathed in all he could smell was the boy's youthful scent and sweat. Instead of being repulsed by it, he was drawn to it, almost magnetically. He turned himself and embraced the taller boy. He rubbed his cheek against the shirt, purring a little more loudly than before as he indulged in the aroma, much like David had done earlier.
Jonathan snapped his eyes open, pulling back a little and blushing brightly. His tail flicked nervously as he looked up into the smiling canine's face. There was something a little smug about the way the way David smiled with a cocky little glimmer in his eyes. The normally reclusive and aloof kitten was opening up and David looked very proud to have made it happen.
Jonathan pried himself away from the canine's arms and mumbled softly, "I'm fine..." He sniffled, his head still stuffy from being under the dusty bed. "We should probably go and...you know."
David's smile faltered and his arms lowered. "Oh...yeah, okay. They're probably wondering where we are anyway..."
Jonathan's heart sank a little guiltily seeing the pup looking dejected again. He watched David turn around and slip out of his shirt to put it back on the right way around. He frowned down at the floor, kicking himself mentally for pushing himself away so hastily from the pup, even though he knew both of them were both enjoying it equally as much. There was just something about the way David had grinned at him that rubbed him wrong. He didn't like to be proven wrong or defeated in any way. Even though he was passive by nature, he could still be stubborn about being the one who's right.
After a little deliberation and swallowing the hard pill of pride, Jonathan came up behind David as he was redressing and grabbed his paw gently. He saw the pup's ears perk up in surprise as he turned around to face him. Jonathan pushed himself up on his tip toes and planted a kiss on David's muzzle. David's thin tail whipped side to side rapidly and the tip of Jonathan's tail flicked.
~~~
For the rest of the day, Jonathan went around with a little smile on his face. Though he and David didn't get much privacy, they still exchanged little glances and knowing smiles with one another. They stayed close by to one another as they went to watch the boys from Cabin A team off with the girls from Cabin B in a game of volleyball. Jonathan wished he could hold his friend's paw as they sat they sat and watched. He used to see cubs around his school holding paws all the time but never understood the appeal until that afternoon. He wondered how nice it would feel to be able to reach over and feel their paws touch, to rest his head on David's shoulder, and not attract negative attention for it.
As he watched the game and pretended to be invested in it, his mind started to wander. It occurred to him that he was starting to fall in love with David. From there it strayed into dangerous territory because the more he thought about the feelings he had for David, the more he started to worry again. He wondered what God would say to him on his day of judgment, about what he and David had done in the cabin. He wondered if their transgression was heinous enough to earn him an eternity in Hell. He wondered what his parent's would think. They were already arguing so much and talking about divorce. He didn't want to be the wedge that drove his parents to split apart, even though with all the talk it seemed almost inevitable at that point. Remembering his parent's imminent divorce drove a spike of sadness into his heart. Then he wondered what everyone else around him would think. He didn't really have any friends back home, so there wouldn't be a huge loss. He looked around, a little tremor of paranoia passing through him as he wondered if the other people already knew what they'd done. He withdrew a little from the pup on the bench. Thankfully, David was a little more involved in the game and didn't notice the kitten's discomfort.
As he looked around the crowd of younger cubs and adults he tried to dismiss his fears as irrational. No one really seemed to notice they were there. Their focus was almost entirely on the game. He felt a little relief until he remembered that Avery and Henry were still out on the camping trip. Surely they would have noticed his and David's absence by now. Perhaps rumors were spreading at that very moment, speculating as to where they went and what they were up to. They already seemed to know David's secret since he didn't make much of an attempt to hide it. What would they say about him?
His eyes scanned the small gathering, looking from the cubs on the team to the ones watching the game. Then his eyes caught those of a young Rottweiler pup that was watching them intently. His heart leapt when he recognized him from the morning where he had that 'incident'. It was Avery's little brother, Joey. His ears folded back nervously and the fur rose on the back of his neck as the younger cub smirked at him and pulled his cell phone out. He had no doubt that the little Rottweiler was texting his older brother about them.
Jonathan looked away quickly. He suddenly felt like someone had dumped ice water over him and shivered softly despite the warm weather. His stomach churned queasily and everything seemed to spin in front of him. The drum beat of his heart thudded hotly in his head again as he experienced momentary vertigo. He tried to avoid making eye contact with Joey again but he knew that the damage had already been done. As much as he tried, he couldn't rationalize the exchange between him and the younger pup. He positively knew that Joey was texting Avery about them. He started to speculate how long Joey had been watching and what he'd seen between them. He couldn't think of anything other than the occasional glances. But what if their shared smiles had been a little 'too suggestive' to the outside perspective?
He looked down at the dirt, holding his head in his paws as turbulent thoughts swarmed his paranoid mind. He felt like crying, or screaming, or both. He didn't know what to do since he didn't know what the future held. He was just as fearful of a definite future as an ambiguous one. He had no idea what Joey had texted or who he had sent it to but the malevolent smirk on his face seemed to say it all. The only way he would know for certain would be when the others came back from the camping trip. Of course, waiting was the worst part.
He jumped a little when he felt a paw brush over his back.
"You okay?" David asked kindly, looking down at his hunched form.
He nodded softly dismissively and closed his hot, red eyes. He didn't cry, though it felt like his eyes had watered up a bit. He took off his glasses and wiped his eyes.
"Allergies?" David asked.
"Yeah, sure..."
The game concluded with the girl's team thoroughly whipping the collective tails of the boy's team and leaving them with a shattered sense of pride. David seemed to be in high spirits though as he carried on with his day, occasionally asking with genuine concern if Jonathan was alright. Jonathan knew that he couldn't tell him outright what had happened during the game until they got back to their cabin that evening. He nodded and dismissively told David that he was fine each time. He felt as if he were walking around in a daze, unable to force his mind off of the matter. And he avoided making accidental eye contact with Joey again.