Thirteen in 1982 (PG-13) - Warning for implication

[deelaundry]

Posted to ficwriters_anon on 9/12/07

Title: Thirteen in 1982
Author: Dee Laundry
Rating: PG-13
Words: 472
Summary: What happens after the rumor starts
Notes: House AU ficlet in which House & Wilson are both thirteen, set in 1982. Written for ficwriters_anon round 1. Warning for implication of sexual activity.

Greg looked down at his tennis shoes. They were getting too small, again, the sides wearing through and the front so tight that his toes were crammed together painfully. James’ sneakers looked new, and comfortable, and almost even cool, for James, but then he got to buy his shoes at the mall instead of the PX. Bigger selection.

They’d been standing in the hall outside James’ bedroom for forever, and all Greg wanted was for James to let him in, let him sit, talk for a minute and do something besides talking for a long time, and then everything would be fine. (And Greg wanted James to kiss him again down there, but he could wait until another day for that.)

“You’re a jerk,” James said, his eyes narrowed and his jaw set. “I deserve a better friend than you.”

“You deserve? Is that what your mom told you? Is she reading that I’m OK, You’re OK book? Because not everybody’s OK, you know.” They were the wrong words, Greg knew, but he couldn’t stop them from coming out of his mouth.

“I know,” James replied in that hoarse way he’d talk when he was trying not to yell. “I can tell you just who’s not OK, too. You.”

James poked a finger toward him. “Girls like me, Greg, really like me! Or they used to. And guys, yeah, guys would ask me to play ball or watch movies or whatever, until I became friends with you. I stuck up for you, and stuck with you, and if other guys didn’t ask me to hang out, then I could live with that.”

Greg stared at the floor. This was stupid. Why couldn’t James just shut up?

“And now there's this rumor out there, and it’s your turn to stick up for me, and you don’t. You’re a bad friend and a jerk, and I deserve better.”

Greg’s eye twitched and he chewed on the inside of his lip. Who was James to make him feel this small? Like James was anything all that special. “You sound like a feminist,” he retorted, and that didn’t even make sense, but James sure didn’t like it.

James’ eyes got really small, and then his mouth opened wide. “MOM! Greg is swearing!”

Jerking his head up abruptly, Greg stared as James took three steps back into his room. He could’ve sworn he saw a smirk on James’ face, but then Mrs. Wilson was there, tugging on his arm.

“Gregory! Do I have to call your mother?”

“I wasn’t!” he protested, over the slamming of James’ bedroom door.

“James Wilson, we are gentle with doors,” Mrs. Wilson admonished through the wood before turning back to Greg. “Was Jimmy being rude to you? He’s been in such a mood lately; I don’t know what to do with him.”

Comments

[aribbonofblack.livejournal.com]

Dee, you should know this by now, but someone's going to have a problem with almost everything you write. sometimes it's minor - that your schmoop is too schmoopy or your angst is too angsty or whatever. This is not minor. I understand your hesitation here, because 13 is really exceptionally young, and it could almost be seen as child exploitation in some ways.

But they're...House and Wilson, you know? They belong together. And it's not as if I wasn't exploring semi-sexually with my peers at 13. We can't lie to ourselves that the human drive for sex doesn't develop until a later, more convenient, more legal age. What's important about this 'verse, what makes it sort of okay in my book, is that they're on entirely equally footing. No one's really exploiting anybody; it's just House and Wilson exploring each other.

The argument could be made that we're exploiting them for our own twisted sexual purposes, but I just don't believe that's true of you at all (or of me). I think it's more a wanting to know, a fleshing out of the story, that drives this for you. I think if there was a way to write this without sex, you'd do it, but sex seems to be a central theme of their relationship at this stage in life.

I'm not trying to convince you to do this; that's a decision you'll have to make on your own. What I am saying is that you have to be true to yourself and to your story, almost to the exclusion of what anyone else thinks. Definitely cover the thing in warnings, of course, but if you feel like you need to write it, write it. If you're really uncomfortable with it, don't write it, you know?

It's just something you'll have to think about. And as I said, you're not the only one with an uneasy feeling. I felt a little dirty even asking about it in the first place, but as I said, this 'verse has potential (like so many of your 'verses), and I know you've got ideas in your head about it, and it would almost be a shame for us to miss out on them, sex or not.

(And there's an option, too - if you've got lots of bunnies in this 'verse, you could just write all of them except the sex. I guess I just really want to read more awkward early adolescent House/Wilson. It's lovely.)