Helping Hand

Helping Hand

by

Jay Northcote

To Justyna.

Thank you for the cheerleading. This story would probably have never

seen the light of day if it weren’t for your support.

Chapter One

Jez flipped idly through the channels on the TV as he m unched on

the bland, slightly soggy pizza that had been on special offer in the

superm arket. It tasted like shit.

“For fuck’s sake, j ust pick som ething and stick with it. You’re driving

m e crazy.” Mac—aka Jam es MacKenzie, aka Big Mac to his m ates—

grum bled from the dining table, where he had books and notes for their

current assignm ent spread out in front of him .

They were on the sam e course—Geography, and Jez had already

finished his and handed it in early, but Mac was only halfway through.

“You could work in y our room , dickhead, or go to the library if y ou

want peace and quiet,” Jez said, but his tone was m ild.

“I prefer it down here. Working on a Saturday night is bad enough

without being shut away on m y own as well.”

Jez settled on The Simpsons and put the rem ote aside.

The living room door opened and Shawn put his sandy blond head

around it. “Me and Mike are heading out soon. Are y ou sure y ou don’t

wanna com e and m eet us later? We’re going clubbing after the pub.

There’ll be tons of freshers out tonight; pulling will be like shooting fish in

a barrel. All those girls straight from the arm s of their parents ready for

their first taste of freedom —and by ‘freedom ,’ I m ean m y dick.”

Jez rolled his ey es. “In y our dream s, Shawny. And no. I’m skint,

rem em ber? So unless y ou want to buy all m y drinks tonight, it’s never

gonna happen.”

“What about y ou, Big Mac?”

Mac ran his hand over his short dark hair and didn’t glance up from

his laptop. “Nope. I’ve got this essay on river sy stem s to get done by

Tuesday.”

“Aw, com e on, m an. It’s Saturday night. Can’t it wait till tom orrow?”

Mac clenched his j aw and flushed as he shook his head, looking

down at his notes and shuffling the papers around. “No.”

“But—”

“Give him a break, Shawn,” Jez said, a steely thread of warning in

his voice. “I’m sure y ou and Mike can m anage without us.”

Jez, Mac, Shawn, and Mike had lived in the sam e corridor last y ear,

and had soon gravitated towards each other and started hanging out

together. At the start of the y ear, they ’d all gone out a lot, checking out all

the popular student pubs and clubs in Ply m outh, but Mike and Shawn

hadn’t gone quite as crazy as Jez and Mac, who kept up the party ing right

through till the sum m er. By the end of their first y ear, Jez had racked up

an enorm ous overdraft and his parents flatly refused to bail him out even

though they could easily afford it. Mac got behind with his studies, been

late for a couple of assignm ents, and then nearly flunked the end-of-y ear

exam s. So now, at the start of their second y ear, Jez and Mac had decided

to rein in the party ing, and Jez wasn’t going to stand by and watch Shawn

give Mac a hard tim e about it.

Shawn m et Jez’s gaze and obviously decided it wasn’t worth arguing.

He shrugged instead and said with a grin, “Okay, whatever. Later,

losers.”

“Have fun,” Jez said.

“Oh, we will.” Shawn banged the door shut behind him .

“Thanks,” Mac said, his brown ey es serious and levelled on Jez.

“You’re welcom e.”

Jez finished his pizza and then settled him self m ore com fortably on

the sofa, ly ing sideway s with his head propped up on a cushion. He could

hear the tap of Mac’s fingers on his laptop key s and the occasional scratch

of a pen and rustle of paper as he worked, but it didn’t bother him . As

Mac said, it was a bit sad being stuck in on Saturday night, and so he was

glad of Mac’s com pany. They had an easy relationship—a solid, casual

friendship based on spending lots of tim e in each other’s com pany over

the past y ear.

The house they lived in was a large rental with six bedroom s. On a

weeknight there were usually a few of them around, hanging out in the

living room or getting in each other’s way in the kitchen. But tonight Jez

and Mac were the only ones who’d stay ed in. Dani, the only girl who

lived with them , was away this weekend visiting her boy friend, and Josh,

the fifth guy in the house, was usually out every Friday and Saturday. He

tended to do his own thing rather than socialise with the rest of them at

weekends. Josh was gay, so his hangouts were rather different from the

rest of them .

An hour or so later, Mac finally closed his laptop. “That’s it. I’m

done for tonight. I need a drink.”

Jez watched as Mac stood and stretched, his back cracking as he

raised his arm s over his head and arched back. His T-shirt rose to show

enviable abs and a line of dark hair leading down to his j eans.

“It’s only nine,” Jez said. “You gonna go out after all?” A twinge of

disappointm ent licked at the edges of his consciousness. It really would

suck to be the only one stuck in on a Saturday night.

“Nah. I can’t be arsed. And Lucy will probably be out, and she’s still

pissed off with m e for breaking up with her. I could do without the aggro.

I’ve got a few beers in the fridge. D’y ou want one?”

“I won’t be able to pay y ou back, not for a while any way.” Jez had

m anaged to get a part-tim e j ob—a few shifts in a local café—but every

penny of that was going to pay off his debts.

“That’s okay. It’s only cheap stuff, and I did all that work for m y dad

over the sum m er.”

Mac’s dad was a builder, and he paid Mac a decent wage when Mac

helped him out.

“Okay, then. Cheers.”

Mac cam e back a m inute or so later with a four-pack of lager. “Shift

y our arse,” he said.

“There is a whole other sofa y ou know.”

“Yeah, but this one has the best view of the telly.”

Jez m oved his legs reluctantly, turning and putting them up on the

coffee table to m ake space for Mac in the other corner of the large three-

seater.

“This beats pay ing for overpriced beer in a crowded pub any way,”

Mac said. “I m eant it when I said I was going to stop going out every

weekend this y ear.”

“Yeah?” Jez hadn’t been sure Mac was com m itted to the plan. For

Jez, it was a necessity. He sim ply couldn’t afford to carry on like he had

last y ear.

“I’m on m y last chance,” Mac’s voice was serious. “My tutor called

m e in for a m eeting on the first day back. If I fuck up this y ear, then I’m

out.”

“Shit, really ?” Jez hadn’t realised it was that bad.

“Yeah. And I’m not one of those people who can dash off an essay

in an evening and still get a good grade. I need to put the tim e in.” Jez

flushed, feeling guilty because he was one of those people. “So,” Mac

continued. “I decided this term I’m not going out m uch at all. I’m

focusing on work, and relaxation isn’t going to involve late nights and

hangovers that m ake m e m iss lectures. A few beers in front of the TV is

gonna be m y lim it. It’ll be hard to stick to it, but I want to try.”

“Let’s m ake a pact,” Jez said. “We’ll both do it. Between now and

Christm as, we won’t go out drinking every weekend for the sake of it,

only on special occasions—like birthday s and stuff. It’ll be easier if we

both do it.”

“Safety in num bers?” Mac grinned.

“Som ething like that. We can help each other stay strong when

Shawn and Mike pester us.”

“Okay, it’s a deal.” Mac raised his can, and Jez bum ped it with his

own.

“Deal.”

They sat in com panionable silence for a while, finishing their drinks

while they watched TV before starting on a second.

“So, how com e y ou broke up with Lucy ?” Jez asked. “I thought y ou

seem ed pretty into her back in the sum m er.”

Mac shrugged. “I dunno. I j ust wasn’t feeling it, y ou know? She

wanted to get serious, and I wasn’t ready.”

“You wanted to stay y oung, free, and single?”

“Som ething like that.” Mac snorted in am usem ent and Jez turned to

see his grin. “But I’m not exactly m aking the m ost of it, am I? Stay ing in

with y ou instead of going out on the pull.”

“Yeah.” Jez grinned back. “Are y ou regretting our pact already ? It’s

not too late. You could still go and catch up with the others.”

“Hey, y ou’re not supposed to be encouraging m e.” Mac sounded

affronted. “But I’m tired any way, and pulling’s too m uch like hard work.

It’s easier to stay in and have a wank. My right hand’s a sure thing. There’s

no risk of crashing and burning there.”

Jez chuckled. “Truth.”

“I m iss blow j obs, though. Lucy was bloody good at that.” Mac’s

voice was wistful, and he gazed into space, clearly lost in fantasy. His

cheeks flushed a little as he continued, and Jez felt a rush of answering

heat in his groin.

“Yeah?” Jez’s voice cam e out a little hoarse. Fuck, he was getting

hard. Dam n Mac and his talk of wanking and blow j obs. His head was full

of im ages of Mac getting his dick sucked, and Jez wasn’t quite sure why

the idea of that was doing it for him . It never had before. Even though Jez

had had a few sexual experiences with other boy s at boarding school,

he’d alway s considered him self straight, because he definitely liked girls.

There was a long pause. The TV chattered away, but neither of

them paid any attention to it. Mac was a m illion m iles away, and Jez was

staring at him , his heart beating fast. He dropped his gaze to Mac’s lap.

The bulge in his tracksuit bottom s gave him away. Jez was relieved he

wasn’t the only one popping an inappropriate boner.

Suddenly Mac snapped back into reality. He cleared his throat and

stood up, adj usting the tent in his trousers. Jez stared—he couldn’t help

him self—and when he dragged his gaze back to Mac’s face, Mac was

watching him . The air between them felt charged. Jez wondered if it was

all him , or whether Mac felt it too.

Mac finally broke the silence. “I’m , uh…. I’m gonna head up to

bed.” He was still blushing.

“Tim e for that hot date with y our right hand?” Jez sm irked, try ing to

ease the tension back to som ething recognisable and fam iliar.

“Yeah. Som ething like that.”

Jez hit the off button on the TV rem ote. “All this talk has m ade m e

horny too. I m ight j oin y ou in a m inute.” Mac’s ey es flew wide open at

that, and the shock on his face m ade Jez burst out laughing. “Not literally,

y ou twat.”

Mac’s face had turned an even darker shade of scarlet. “Fuck off.”

He flipped Jez off. “Good night, loser.” He turned away.

“Night, Mac. Have fun with Mr Right.”

Jez watched Mac as he left the room , all big shoulders and slim hips.

No wonder the girls alway s chased him .

He left it a few m inutes before following Mac up the stairs. Jez

paused on the landing; Mac’s room was next to his on the top floor. He

listened, but the m uffled sound of m usic covered any other noises. He

wondered if Mac was watching porn or whacking off to the fantasies in

his own head, and if so, what those fantasies m ight be. Then he wondered

why he was thinking about his housem ate j erking off. Shaking his head at

him self, Jez went into his own room to take care of business and tried to

keep Mac out of his head while he did it.

He m ostly succeeded.

Chapter Two

The following Friday night, they were the only ones left in again.

They ’d both stay ed in all week, but this was the first tim e they ’d had