Trashed

            Tamryn hadn’t thought it was possible for his lover to completely trash their apartment in less than 48 hours. Well, of course it was possible, he knew – Evan could do anything he put his mind to, he knew that all too well. But he didn’t think it was probable, especially after he so thoroughly expressed instructions to:

1)    Complete the list of chores he had left for him;

2)    Cook and eat only the foods he had left for him to prepare and;

3)    Not, under any circumstances, have friends in if there was to be alcohol present.

He should have remembered that Evan – although a sweet and typically well-behaved man – was still a Brat. It was easy sometimes to forget that fact. Evan was usually on his best behaviour, not docile, perhaps, but certainly passive and laid-back for the most part.

When he did get himself into trouble, it was usually due to work-related instances – he was late because he had a meeting or he felt he needed to work late to finish something or he had forgotten a dinner-date because he was working. At home, he was – by no means – the picture of perfection, but he was generally on the milder side of ‘Brat’.

Obviously Tam had forgotten that fact when he left his lover home alone for two days to attend the annual antiques auction a few cities over. He had obviously entrusted him with far too much, he realized, as he came into their apartment and saw the state it was in.

Usually overly clean when Tamryn was home, the place was hardly recognizable now. Their movie collection was scattered on the floor in front of the TV, couch cushions and throw blankets were dotted across the floor in random fashion. There were leftover Thai boxes, pizza boxes, candy wrappers and chip bags covering all flat surfaces – including the floor, coffee tables, the knocked-over television set. Empty beer bottles were strewn about the living room and kitchen. There was a random pile of vomit by the couch and everything was covered in a layer of toilet paper, he noted, as he tripped over a sleeping man on the floor. Perhaps the vomit was his, he mused.

Moving down the hallway was not much different. Toilet paper, vomit, bottles. He made a face as he glanced in the bathroom – another sleeping man with horrible aim, he noted. He moved on to their bedroom, simultaneously disgusted and relieved at the sight of his lover sleeping around a bucket of his own vomit in their bed and his friend Dan on the floor by the closet, wound in a comforter.

He nudged Dan with his foot and the younger man groaned and rolled away from him with a huff. Tam frowned and nudged him again until Dan, pissed, turned over and kicked him in the shin. “Fuck off, Aaron, I’m not driving you home yet!” he hissed angrily until he looked up at Tam’s silence and noticed who it was.

His eyes momentarily widened before he made a mad scramble for the bed, getting tangled in the comforter a few times on his way. “Evan! Fuck, Evan! Tam’s here!” he shrieked as he half crawled, half jumped onto the bed, knocking into Evan, who tipped the bucket of his puke all over the bed and himself.

Evan, rudely and disgustingly awoken, shifted up and away from the vomit and shoved Dan in the chest angrily. “Fucking asshole. I fucking told you to sleep on the goddamn floor, you retard,” he wailed. “Good God, I’m covered in puke. Get off m—”

Dan shoved him back. “Fuck, Evan! Look, you moron,” Dan pleaded and Evan frowned, finally looking up. Tam gave him a little smile, as if to let him know he most certainly would be killed later, and Evan gave a little gasp.

“Shiiiit,” he whined, kicking Dan until the other man got off his bed. Evan offered Tam an apologetic frown but his lover wasn’t about to accept that from him and he motioned Dan out. “How about you round up your drunken friends, Daniel, and go home, hm?” He made it seem more of an order than a suggestion and Dan nodded hurriedly, glancing at Evan when he saw the little spark of upset and anger in Tam’s eyes.

“I’ll see you later, okay?” he murmured and Evan barely nodded before he was passing Tamryn into the hallway to collect his friends and go.

Tam gave him a look. “Its good to see you worked through that list of chores as I’d asked,” he said with obvious sarcasm and Evan withered a little bit.

“Tam, I can explain –” he started but Tam cut him off with a wave of his hand, silencing him.

“Don’t bother. You stink; go shower,” he ordered and Evan lowered his eyes before he slunk off to go clean himself.

Tamryn made his way to the kitchen to start tea. His bag was still at the door among the young mens’ things and he watched them as they sleepily and hungover-ly collected their shoes and jackets at Dan’s insistence and left. He let his tea steep as he waited for Evan, thinking of where to start tidying.

Although it nearly killed him, he left the place a mess. He drank his tea, sidestepped the discarded food boxes and bags, and settled against the counter, leaning back to finish off his mug.

            When Evan traipsed into the kitchen, eyes and head lowered, feet shuffling, Tam could only smile. He was the picture of apologetic but it wouldn’t cut it. He smoothed back Evan’s hair as his lover tried to cuddle into his arms and offered him Tylenol and water.

            Evan gratefully and obediently swallowed the pills. He looked up at Tam, who wouldn’t let him past arms’ length, and pouted accordingly. “Tamryn, I can explain. I didn’t mean to let it happen, Tammie,” he promised, frowning.

            Tam shook his head. “You will have time to explain yourself later. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed or not, but the apartment is a mess. You know where the cleaning supplies are, Evan; have at it,” he said and Evan nodded with a sniffle and hurried to tidy up.

            It took him over two hours to get everything cleaned. Tam got his own bag of things put away in that time and went to put in a laundry downstairs while Evan cleaned. When he returned with his fresh laundry, Evan had another basket filled to be done and he went to start that one before he returned once more.

           

            Evan gave him a look as he joined him in the living room. Tam shifted back on the couch and Evan eagerly pressed into the space between his legs, whining softly. He wound his arms around his neck and Tam easily slid his own hands to the young man’s butt, hooking him close.

            “Tammie, I’m sorry,” Evan whispered. “I’m so sorry. It was jus’ going to be Dan and I hanging out but then Aaron called and asked if he and his boyfriend Paul could come over and I said yes and we ordered in and then a few more guys came over and we ordered more and we started drinking and then it all sorta just got out of hand, Tam, and I’m sorry. I am. Don’t be mad? Don’t spank me, please?”

            Tam patted his butt, almost a foreshadowing touch. Evan pouted at him.

            “I gave you some fairly simple instructions, Evan,” he told him, sadly. Evan lowered his eyes, chewing his lip. How was he going to worm his way out of a spanking? He could blame Dan, say it was his idea. But Tam would probably still spank him. And Dan didn’t really need another reason for Tamryn to hate him.

            “Nothing I asked of you got done, Evan. And the things I asked you not to do were. Does that make sense to you?” he asked. Evan shook his head a little. “I can’t trust you, Evan, a grown man, to be home alone for two days? One night, away, Evan. It wasn’t like I was gone a week. One night, two days. That’s pretty sad that I can’t trust you for that long,” he said.

            Evan sniffled, nodding. “Yeah,” he murmured. Tamryn turned his face up. “I even told you what time to expect me home at. If you had wanted to throw a party, you could have had it all cleaned up and put back the way it was long before I got home and I would have been none the wiser. It was noon when I came in, Evan. Did you want me find out?” he asked him.

            Evan shrugged absently and started playing with the hem of Tam’s shirt. “I dunno, Tammie. I don’t know,” he whispered sadly. “You gave me stupid rules and I was mad and I didn’t want to do chores and Dan and my friends are more fun than being stuck home alone cleaning, anyways, Tam. I said I was sorry. I won’t ever do it again, okay?” he promised hollowly. Tamryn patted his hip.

            “I know you won’t. I’m going to make sure you don’t. Shift off, please,” he said and Evan obediently shifted out of his lap and brought his knees to his chest as Tam got off the couch. “What are you gonna do, Tam?” he asked quietly, sounding small. Tam touched his cheek and offered a small smile.

            “I’m going to punish you, Evan,” he said simply and Evan buried his face in his knees as Tam left the living room. He heard him in the bedroom and then he was back a few seconds later, seated on the couch. Evan stood up and made a face at the hairbrush in Tam’s hands.

            “Tammie, noooo,” he whined, shaking his head at him. Tamryn gave him a look and Evan crumbled under his gaze and pulled his pants and boxers down to his ankles and then kicked them off, crawling over Tam’s lap. His fingers tangled around one of the couch cushions and he closed his eyes, biting his lip.

            “Evan, you will learn to follow my instructions if I ever decide to leave you alone again,” he said, lifting the man’s shirt and adjusting him into his lap a little more securely. “It is not fair to me to come home to a mess like this,” he said, “and if you want me to trust you, you need to give me a reason to.”

            Evan nodded sadly and braced himself when he felt Tam’s hand on his butt before he lifted it away and took up the hairbrush. The first smack with the wooden brush stung, badly. He didn’t cry out, though, biting his lip. Tam started a steady volley of swats until Evan’s butt was a deep shade of red and Evan was crying miserably in his lap, face buried in the couch.

            Tam set the brush down and Evan readily clambered into his arms. “Hurts, Tam! Oh God, so meeean,” he wailed, hugging him tightly around the neck, trusting Tam to support him by the waist so his butt wouldn’t have to touch his lap.

            “I’m sorry, Tam, I’m sorry. I won’t, I won’t, I won’t. Ever again, I promise. I’ll never do that again, I’ll always listen to you, Tammie, I promise!” Tam felt him subside into his chest and he listened to his ragged breathing as he cried himself out in his arms.

            After a while, his crying began to slow and he hiccupped embarrassedly and settled more securely in Tam’s arms as the older man drew him down against him into the couch. Evan hiccupped again, snuggling into his chest, still sniffling.

            “Tam? I won’t ever again. You can trust me to stay home alone, you can,” he promised quietly. Tam stroked his hair back, nodding faintly. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. Tam smiled a little bit, kissing the top of his head.

            “I know, Evan. You’ll be my good boy and behave next time, okay? I’ll give you another chance. You’re all forgiven, okay?”

            Evan nodded quickly and settled into his touches and his solid warmth, relieved and sleepy. Tam moved his hands slowly up and down his back and he felt himself drifting off until Tamryn patted his hip and told him:

            “You had better get started on those chores if you expect to meet your bedtime tonight at eleven.”

            Evan groaned but he nodded and dragged himself up from Tam’s arms.