Not as they seem...

Friends with benefits

Jax left Anna with a strange sense of excitement that he hadn't felt in a long time. He was basking in his new excitement when he literally walked straight into Maddie.

“Where have you been?” she exclaimed, “I got here like half an hour ago. I messaged you!”

She looked a little put out, but that could not dampen his mood. He wasn't at all hopeful that anything would ever come of this meeting with Anna. Even so, he was already trying think of what he could text her.

Jax thought about telling Maddie about what had just happened, but something held him back. How could he tell her he'd just met up with someone like Anna. That he may even kinda of like someone like Anna. How could he tell anyone? His friends would think he was a daft i***t for trying it on with someone like her. Then if she ghotsed him, he would be way too embarrassed. Maddie would definitely laugh at him. A lot. And not in that 'good for you giving it a go!' kind of way. It would be more like a You are a complete daft prick for thinking you are better than yourself! kind of way.

Best he keep all this to himself for now, he thought.

He looked back to the shop and saw, who he now knew was Benny, waving goodbye to him. Maddie looked at her friend curiously, wondering why the strange gay guy in the shop was waving like that to him.

“Do you have an admirer?” she teased, slipping her arm around his waist as they walked on.

“Yeah sure.” was all he could reply, his arm instinctively going around her shoulder as they walked on.

Jax had used all his money on coffee with Anna, so he suggested they go back to his house. He looked at the time. His dad would be a few drinks in by now and, with any luck, his brother would be out. Maddie agreed. She didn't much feel like hanging around the shops either and hanging at Jaxs house was 100 times better than being at her own home, so she was happy with that.

When they got to his house, true to form, his dad was camped out on their threadbare couch with a beer in hand watching the footy. Maddie was one of the few people that his dad could actually tolerate. Maybe it was because she was like the daughter he never had. Maybe it was because Maddie knew how to sweet talk him. Whatever the reason, his dad would almost act like a normal person whenever she was around. Today was no different. He actually paused his TV and smiled up at her as she entered with Jax and said said hello to her.

“Hey there, love.” he greeted her, “What's going on?”

“Oh, we're just going to hang out for a bit. I hope that's OK?” she said.

He shrugged, “If you want to hang around my good-for-nothing son, that's up to you. Just make sure he's not a s**t head to you, OK? You come and talk to me if he does anything wrong.”

Maddie laughed lightly and that made Jax realise just how sombre she had been since they'd met earlier. His mind was still so much on Anna that he hadn't even noticed the troubled look in her eyes.

“Thanks Pop... as always.” Jax retorted with an eye roll, taking Maddie's hand and leading her to his bedroom.

He shut and locked the door behind them and she grabbed the remote to his small TV as she flopped down on his bed. He shuffled back to sit next to her, both leaning against the wall which his bed was up against.

“You wanna play Mario Brothers or just watch something?” Jax asked.

She sighed, “Just watch I s'pose.”

She snuggled in next to him as he heard the rain start hitting roof outside. They'd made it home just in time. She flicked through channels until they found something that looked remotely interesting.

“You got any in your stash?” she asked after a moment, eyes not leaving the TV.

He nodded and reached blindly for a tin container under his bed. He got to rolling 2 spliffs, lit one and handed it to Maddie , then lit his own. They both inhaled deeply.

“You wanna talk about it?” Jax asked, feeling the dope fill his lungs and start to enter his system.

She inhaled again and shook her head. “Not much to say really,” she said, “Same s**t, different day....It's just never ending.”

Jaz nodded and patted her knee that was propped up against him. She slid her fingers through his and smiled up at him wanly. “Thanks,”she said, giving his hand a squeeze. He smiled back, hoping the dope would cheer her up a bit, even if only for a few hours.

When they got to the bottom of their joints, she butted hers out on the ashtray by his bed and turned to him. He was feeling pretty relaxed now and his mind kept drifting back to Anna. Even so, he let Maddie start to kiss him. This is what they did. She felt s**t, he came to the rescue and made her feel better again. It was their way. He kissed her back and next thing he knew they were naked under his covers with his errection pressing firmly into her hip. She reached into his bedside drawers and pulled a condom out, sliding it into place like a practiced professional. She pulled him to her and let him enter her.

He had to admit that he enjoyed this aspect of the friendship a lot. Even with the dope on board, it didn't take either of them long before they got what they were after- that c****x that made everything else seem so insignificant. That feeling that they were connected to someone who cared about them, who just wanted to make them feel better. Then they fell apart, puffing and feeling somewhat better...even if it were only temporary.

“You wanna another joint?” he asked, and she nodded, taking a big gulp out of the Gatorade he had by his bed. He had barely finished rolling it when he realised that she had fallen asleep beside him. He pulled his boxers and t-shirt back on and then tucked the blankets up around her as she started to snore softly. He lit the joint for himself and turned his attention back to the TV. As he subconsciously smoothed her hair gently, his mind wondered back to Starbucks and his meeting with Anna that afternoon. It may have been the joint or the s*x or it could have actually been the way way he felt when he thought about Anna, but he realised he was sitting there with a huge grin on his face.