Title: Mouse
Author: L'il ole me, John Dorrian
Email: john.door@e...
Pairing: Warren, Jonathan, Andrew
Summary: I suppose this is an AU tale. Warren's a nice guy (still
snarky, but at least he's not a murdering sociopath), the boys are all
gay, and are far more interested in making love than war.
Spoilers: None
Rating: R, just to be safe. Not much happens, but nudity and naughty
words lie herein.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, et al.
(I know I'd treat Jonathan a fuck of a lot better if I actually owned
the poor boy.)
Feedback: Yes, please. This is my first attempt at fanfic, so let me
know if you liked it.


Once his mind was made up, Jonathan got dressed as quickly and quietly
as he could. He didn't want to risk disturbing the others, so he
didn't turn any lights on, fumbling slightly as he gathered his things
in the dark. The old, familar loneliness was already settling in, as
he pulled his jacket on and slung his napsack over his shoulder. He
couldn't help but feel that he was being stupid...but it also seemed
like the right thing to do. Sighing, he didn't even look back at his
sleeping friends, figuring it was best to make a clean break of it.

He was almost at the door leading upstairs when a hand grasped his
shoulder. Jonathan squeaked in fright.

"Ssshh!" He turned to find himself facing a naked and bleary-eyed
Warren Mears. "Quiet. Andrew's still asleep." Warren was whispering.

"Uh...sorry." Jonathan whispered back. He looked down at his feet.
This was going to be embarrassing.

"Jonathan?" Warren rubbed his sleepy eyes. "What time is it?" He
glanced over at the bookshelf by the door. There was a nightlight, so
the boys could see one another more clearly than they could over by
the bed, but there was also Warren's patented glow-in-the-dark Jabba
the Hut Clock. By the green glow of Jabba's leering face, Warren had
no trouble seeing that the time was...

"A quarter to four in the morning?" He hissed. "Where the hell are you
going at this time of night?"

"Home." Jonathan muttered. He continued to stare unhappily at his
sneakers. Warren took hold of the smaller boy's chin, and gently
lifted it until they were looking one another in the eye.

"At 3:45 in the morning? By yourself? In Sunnydale, vampire capital of
the country?" Warren asked. He looked considerably more awake by now.
"I don't think so, Jon."

"I got a crucifix and a stake and stuff." Jonathan said. "I'll be ok."

Warren looked at him strangely. "What's going on here, Jonathan? We
have plans for tomorrow, remember? Going to the beach? Willow
Rosenberg introducing us to some of the people from her gay group at
the University? You said it might be a chance to make some new
friends. Does any of this ring a bell?"

"I was gonna meet you guys there." Jonathan said, but he was being
evasive and Warren knew it.

"Jonathan," Warren was getting annoyed. "Why are you running out on
us?"

Jonathan sighed. What the hell, might as well come clean. "You don't
need me." he said quietly.

Warren was now visably pissed off. "What's that supposed to..."

"Andrew's in love with you."

Warren gaped at him. Whatever he was expecting the other boy to say,
it wasn't that. Jonathan looked at him steadily as he said, "And
you're falling in love with him. Aren't you, Warren?"

He didn't answer, so Jonathan continued. "And three's a crowd, and I'd
only be getting in the way if I stuck around, a-and so I thought it
would be best i-i-if..."

Finally getting it, Warren smiled. No longer angry (at least, not
much), he dropped to one knee so he was looking up at the smaller boy.
Grasping Jonathan by the shoulder, he reached over and gently wiped a
tear off his friend's face. Jonathan blushed slightly. He hadn't even
realized there'd been tears until that moment.

"You're being an idiot." The larger boy said, not unkindly. "Come back
to bed. We'll discuss this in the morning."

"But..."

"Jon, listen closely because I'm only going to say this once: I want
you to stay. Andy wants you to stay."

"Andy's asleep."

"Well, if he were awake, he'd agree with me!" Warren snapped. Wincing,
he shot a glance at the bed, but Andrew was still sleeping peacefully.

"Look." He turned back towards the anxious little guy. "There are two
ways we can do this. You stop being a dope and come back to bed
voluntarily. Or I strip you forcibly, tie your cute l'il ass up and
drag you back to bed against your will. And while the second of the
two choices might be far more fun..." He yawned suddenly. "It's late
and I'm tired and I just don't have the energy right now. So whaddah
ya say?"

Jonathan stared for a moment and then responded by throwing his arms
around Warren, and hugging him fiercely. Warren wrapped his arms
around his friend and held him tight. The little guy was trembling
slightly. Warren stroked his hair, and made some quiet, soothing
noises. Eventually, Jonathan drew back a step. Warren was relieved to
see there were no more tears.

"Better?" he asked. Jonathan nodded.

"Good." He took the smaller boy's hand. "Let's get you naked."

He led him over to the couch, and sat behind him while Jonathan
undressed. Once the last of his clothes were off, Warren pulled
Jonathan onto his lap. The smaller boy was only too happy to cuddle,
but he sensed Warren had something else in mind. "What about bed?" he
asked.

"In a minute." Warren replied absently. His arms were wrapped snugly
around his friend's chest, holding him in place. "Do you have any idea
how pissed I am at you right now?"

"Warren..."

"No. I talk, you listen." Warren said quietly. He considered a moment,
then continued, "You weren't planning to meet us the beach tomorrow,
were you? Just thought you'd nobly "step aside", is that it?"

"Yeah." Jonathan sighed. "I wasn't thinking..."

"I'll say you weren't. Fucking little drama queen. Andrew would have
been incredibly hurt if you ran out on us. You do realize that, don't
you?"

Another sigh. "Yeah."

"And he's not the only." Warren shifted Jon across his lap so they
could look at one another. "You're my best friend, Jonathan. Always
remember that. Whatever happens between Andy and myself, you're still
my best friend. Try and ditch me again, and I'll kick your ass."

"I'm sorry." Jonathan climbed up a little, until the two boys were
facing one another directly. He slipped his arms around Warren's neck.
"You are in love with him, though, aren't you?"

Warren hesitated. "Well, I don't know if I'd say that..."

"C'mon, Sasquatch." Jonathan smiled. It was Andy's pet nickname for
Warren, inspired by his ultra-hairy chest. "Spill it. I've already
figured it out, so it's not like you're gonna surprise me."

"I...I dunno, Jon. I think so...I probably do. I mean, it's hard to
say. We're all still pretty new to this whole gay thing, as is." He
suddenly shot Jonathan a suspicious look. "How'd you know, anyway?"

"Dude, please!" Jonathan snorted ans rolled his eyes. "Isn't it
obvious? You know he's carrying a torch for you. I've seen the
lovey-dovey looks you guys exchange when you think I'm not looking.
And the cute pet names? You call him "Bunny", for Chrissakes."

"Well, he's a total bunny in bed." Warren smirked. He pulled Jonathan
close, and cradled the smaller boy's head against his shoulder.
Jonathan idly stroked Warren's thick chest-hair. Ordinarily, he didn't
care for hairy guys, but he found Warren's silky fur to be rather
nice.

"Listen..." Warren thoguht for a moment. "We didn't mean to exclude
you. Ok? I'm sorry about that."

"You didn't. But like I said, I don't want to get in the way. If you
guys want to be together..."

"I haven't really talked to him about it." Warren idly cupped
Jonathan's balls in one hand and fondled them. "I'm not sure what to
say. This is new territory for me. It'll probably be best if I take
things with him slowly, so I don't think we'll be
entering...uh...official couplehood, or anything, for a while."

"Ok." Jonathan leaned in for a kiss. What was meant as only a quick
peck on the lips turned out to be a long, slow (and wet) make-out
session. Jonathan suddenly thought of Mystery Science Theatre's Crow
T. Robot squealing, "With plenty of lip and tongue action!" and he
snickered.

Warren broke away. "What?" he asked.

"Uh, nothing. Sorry." Jon smiled. "So what are we going to do?"

"Nothing. Let's just go on for the time being as we are. And I don't
think we should tell Andy about this conversation. It might upset him
if he knew you were going to bail on us. Agreed?"

Jonathan nodded. Warren reached out and tenderly carressed his face,
looking at him with such a loving expression, it was all Jonathan
could do to not start blubbering like a baby again. "You know we both
love you, right?"

"Y-yeah." Jonathan rubbed his eyes. Warren smiled sadly. As usual,
the poor, sweet, insecure little schnook still couldn't quite bring
himself to beleive anyone ever *COULD* love him.

"C'mon." He scooped Jonathan up in his arms and headed towards the
bed. "Time to put you to bed, Mouse."

"What did you call me?" the smaller boy asked. They were both
beginning to get tired. Warren tucked him in beside the still-sleeping
Andrew, who rolled over slightly to snuggle against his newfoud
bedmate. Warren climbed in on Jonathan's other side.

"Mouse." he whispered in his friend's ear. "That's what we call you
when you're not around." He leaned over to kiss Andrew's face, then
settled back, cuddling into Jonathan.

"What, did you think you missed out on the cute pet name sweepstakes?"
Warren whispered, grinning sleepily. Hewa already fading fast.

"Why 'Mouse'" Jonathan whispered back. He was nodding off pretty
quickly himself.

"Because you're tiny...and...and adorbale." Warren yawned silently. He
kissed Jonathan's cheek. "Goodnight, Mouse."

"'Night, Sasquatch." But Warren was already asleep.

Jonathan had a rare feeling of perfect contentment, wrapped in the
loving embrace of his dearest friends, before he nodded off mere
seconds after Warren did.

Fini!

John D.
john.door@e...