"Gotta keep 'em separated."

[writeyourownending]

Who: Winston Slater and Romeo Dalton
What: Outside influences
Where: Romeo's apartment
When: Sunday evening

Winston wasn't exactly sulking, but he was definitely not in the best of moods. It was one thing to know his best friend and her sidekick were hating on his boyfriend in their own domains, but to do it on his Facebook where he got emails notifying of the bitching, it was a surefire way to piss him the hell off. He was usually so placid, but he was sick to death of defending not only Romeo, but his choice to date Romeo... like he was in some way too retarded to make his own choices.

He lying on Romeo's bed in his underwear. The high from Justin's performance the night before was gone again and in place just the broody under-the-skin irritation. Romeo was doing Yoga at the end of the bed because it exercise he could do peacefully after his show to chill out before bed. Watching him, Winston didn't know why Reecy and Autumn hated him by default. Neither of them had remotely even attempted to get to know Romeo for who he actually was. Instead, it was easier for them to say he was a bitch to fuel their shitty attitudes. Sure, he was a bitch, but they weren't giving him any reason to be anything but.

"I mean it. I'm not going to talk to either of them anymore if they don't stop this shit. I've had enough. Justin and Billy ask me more how things are with us and those other two pains in my ass have never asked once. They've never said they're glad I'm happy. It's just sniping and bitching and pouting because I'm not doing what they want or dating the dull assholes they try to set me up with," he complained.

Comments

[glamorqueen]

"Not going to let them bring us down, honey," Romeo reminded him as he stretched his arms up over his head with a slow intake of breath. "I think it's amusing how much my presence bothers them. Honestly, I work so hard, a little comedic relief is always welcome. I don't even have to try to piss them off now, just the mention of my name manages it. The difference between them, and between Justin and Billy is that they don't have anything to fight for to know what should be valued in life. Billy and Justin do. Maybe thinking they might actually lose you will help them dig their heads out of their asses. I don't think it's any remote coincidence that they're they're both single and have a problem with you dating. Sour grapes."

He exhaled as he brought his arms down again and then his hands came to rest in his lap as he gave Winston a sympathetic tilt of his head. "I'm glad you're happy. That counts as something, right? I've confided in you about things I would never talk to so many weak, two-faced people in this business. I know I can trust you, and you're an amazing listener. I don't care if they think I'm a bitch, darling. If they're thinking I'm a bitch, it means they're threatened. And if they're threatened, they're lacking in their own self-confidence. I'm not... and it's taken me a long time to get to this place. I can't let people like them pull me down again. If they give me a reason to play nice, I'll play nice. Ball's in their court. Now come here and kiss me."

[writeyourownending]

Winston scrunched his nose up, his patience over the whole situation worn thin. He pushed himself off the end of the bed and went to sit cross-legged in front of Romeo, leaning in to give him a kiss. He had no idea about Yoga and pretty sure he would be completely crap at it, but he liked watching Romeo do it... for various reasons. "Can't you just, I don't know, try to let them see how you really are?" he asked, even if it was a stab in the dark. He didn't really know how to fix any of this. He felt like he was stuck in the middle of it all, but he couldn't stop being pissed off at the girls lack of enthusiasm that he was happy.

"Yes, it counts. It counts more than anything. That's my whole point," he lamented with a huff and laced his fingers through Romeo's with both hands. "When was the last time you didn't do the Yoga routine before bed? I can't even use my sexual prowess to get you to ditch for a night because we slept together before it," he added with a laugh. Romeo had a lot of little rituals, and Winston understood why but he still asked the questions. He still wanted to know so he could know Romeo on a deeper level.

[glamorqueen]

Romeo laughed. "They don't want to see what you see, honey. I know they're you're friends, but it's you I care about and I have a gruelling schedule so I can't really run around after their precious egos and pat their butts telling them that, yes, they're right, I'm a bitch and I'll change my wicked ways to make their lives filled with puppies, daisies and sunshine. If I get bitched at, I'll bitch back. If I see an opening to push their buttons, I'm going to push because, why the fuck not when they've been nothing but just as much bitches as I have? No... I adore you, darling, but I'm not backing down unless they stop and realise my existence isn't solely to make their's miserable. I've got plenty of my own success, my own fans, my own friends who know the sort of person I can be. That's all I care about."

"Every form of exercise needs a warm up," he pointed out with a mischievous grin. He brushed his lips against Winston's again and started to kiss him heatedly. He wasn't avoiding the question, he just wasn't avoiding Winston's mouth right there either. It was such a beautiful and talented mouth. "I can't remember. This is more healthy for the soul than calorie-counting and treadmill marathons. An ED is like an addiction. You're never really fixed from it, you have to be mindful to stay on the wagon. Seeing Ajay again as reminded me I'm one of the lucky ones."

[writeyourownending]

Listening to Romeo's take on things, Winston had to admit, he had a valid point. As the ongoing rivalry was, why should Romeo just stand by and take it if he was getting bitched at just as much in return? He didn't see how an end to it would come, which was why he had been pulling out the big guns, but in this particular instance, he was firmly on Romeo's side because everyone was at fault and Romeo gave great head. Of course, he wasn't that shallow. He was just fed up and wanted to date in peace without feeling like his closest friends were against him for it. If they didn't like it, they could stick their friendship with him where the sun don't shine. "They seem to think you're just using me to piss them off and you're a big enough slut that you'll get bored and dispose of me eventually."

"What about a warm down?" he suggested licking his lips as he moved back to kneel in between Romeo's legs to pull his pants down. He knew Romeo was commando under his Yoga pants. Not just because he watching him dress before the workout but because he had a perfect eye-level view of what the pants had done very little to hide. "How sick did you get with it before you got help to recover?" he asked and then took Romeo's dick into his mouth to blow him, cupping his balls with a teasing massage of his fingertips.

[glamorqueen]

"Shows how little they really know about me and how petty their hating is," Romeo replied because he wasn't going to let shit like this bring him down. "Sure, I've slept with my share of fleeting hook-ups but what they don't know is that most of them have been friends or colleagues with the mutual goal of just having a bit of fun. Sex is a good way to keep the body fluid for performances. It releases the good endorphins and it's healthier for me than opening that small trickle that turns into a fucking tsunami of obsessive exercising. They don't even come into my choice of dating you whatso-fucking-ever. You are my sole consideration for that and you know what? It pisses me off that they truly believe they're that super special to even be a factor in the decision of my love life. And they call me fucking arrogant and full of myself. If I wanted to, I could have chosen to fuck every single guy in the Footloose ensemble to screw with them but I actually have a life of my own and don't care what they do or don't think."

He had gone huffy, and the bitchy wasn't far off. "I don't want to talk about how they feel anymore. Fuck them. You can deal with your friendship choices, but it's not dragging me down. Jesus fucking christ..." he said quickly through a sharp exhalation when he suddenly had Winston's mouth around his dick. His fingers automatically threading in through Winston's hair, a gesture of encouragement. "Mmm, you want me to try to keep thinking while you're doing this, huh? Hospitalised and spent time in a rehab clinic. It was a rude enough shock to shove me onto the straight and narrow... fuck, don't stop..."