Chapter 1

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Jameson

It has been a week since I left my parents and I was only now going on my first grocery shopping trip.

It had taken me two days to drive down here and three days to find a house. Then I spent one day preparing the house and then next day just walking around, getting to know my new home, exploring all the changes from the last time I had been here.

I soon found out that there was no real grocery stores in Northberry Shores, that I had to drive to the next town to get anything other than the basics.

I pulled into the Food Lion parking lot and parked, grabbing a cart on my way inside.

As I walked through the aisles, I started grabbing all of the foods my friends had when I was a kid but my parents never let me have. Soon, my cart was filled with Pringles and fruit snacks and I smirked, not caring how childish this must seem.

I threw the bag of rainbow goldfish in my carriage and continued down the aisle. I was stopped in front of the Capri Suns, trying to decide between fruit punch and grape, when I felt a tug on my shorts.

When I looked down, I saw a little boy, no older than three, sucking on his first and middle fingers and looking up at me. He had big brown doe eyes.

I looked up and down the aisle I was in but there was no one here. I dropped to my knees, making myself level with the boy.

"Hey, buddy." I said in my best baby voice. "Where's your mommy or daddy?"

His fingers slipped from his mouth and his arms wrapped around my neck. "Uppa!" He said.

Once I shook off my surprise, I judged that he probably wanted to be picked up. I wrapped my arms around him and stood up, holding him closely.

"You soff," he said, laying his head on my shoulder and sticking his fingers back in his mouth. Seconds later, I felt a little hand playing with the hair at the nape of my neck.

When I got over the shock, I smiled. "Let's go find your parents, alright bud?"

"I man ice keem." He said around his fingers.

Having no idea what he said, I just said okay and headed out of the aisle.

"Spencer!" I heard a masculine voice yell a couple aisles down. "I can't believe you lost him, Riley!"

I headed towards the voice. "Spencer!"

"Da?" The little boy said, raising his head.

I quickened my pace and turned down the aisle I heard the man tell from.

"You have to be more careful, Riley. Oh god, what if somebody took him?" The man speaking was facing away from me, talking to a teenaged boy.

The teenager looked past the older man and saw me holding the little boy then turned back to the other man saying, "He's fine. Turn around."

The man whipped around and I momentarily forgot where I was. The man was beautiful even with bloodshot, watery eyes and a flushed face. He had light brown hair that had natural looking blonde highlights in it. He had vibrant blue eyes and a lithe swimmer's build.

"Oh my god, Spencer." He whimpered before running at me. He pried Spencer from my arms with some difficulty as Spencer whined and held as tight to me as he could.

I stood there awkwardly, trying hard not to stare at the man but failing in doing so.

A couple of seconds after, he looked back to me and I tried to hide my blush.

"Thank you so much. I thought my boy might be kidnapped or something." The man said.

"Oh, it was no problem." I say. "He's actually a pretty adorable kid." I smile at Spencer.

"Mitah wawm!" He whined and held his arms out towards me, clenching and unclenching his tiny little fists.

I laughed and the man laughed with me.

"Yeah, he is."

"Oh, I'm Jay, by the way." I said, holding out my hand.

"Levi," he said back, taking my hand in his and shaking it.

For a moment we just stood there smiling at each other, not letting go of the other's hand. Not that I minded, though. His hands were smaller than mine, warm, and soft, making my heart speed up and butterflies erupt in my stomach.

Our moment was shattered when the teenager spoke up. "Can you quit flirting so we can leave?" He said in an irritated tone.

We immediately snatched our hands away and I looked at my feet, trying to hide my blush. I nervously gained the courage to ask a final question.

"H-Hey Levi," I said, looking up at him again. He met my eyes with an innocent glance and pinkish cheeks. "Would you mind, um, giving me your number? I, uh, just moved here and I don't really know anybody so it'd be great to have a friend." I said, not meeting his eyes.

"Oh, yeah. Sure." He replied.

"Thanks." I said, a smile taking over my face.

He chuckled as I pulled my phone out of my pocket and handed it to him. He used the hand he wasn't holding Spencer with to type quickly into my phone before handing it back.

"Levi! Let's go!" The boy said.

"Alright!" Levi snapped back. "I'll talk to you later." He said to me.

"Yeah." I nodded before we both turned and started walking away. As I turned to exit the aisle, I looked back at him and smiled as I watched him place Spencer in their cart and walk down the aisle in the opposite direction.

*******

Even after I got home, I couldn't keep the smile off my face. I had talked to a guy. A guy my age. A guy I may have a chance of having a future with.

I'm hoping I interpreted his brother's comment correctly, meaning he was gay, just like me.

I carried in my groceries and set them all on the counter before slowly starting to put them away. I turned in the radio as I did so, just listening to the music.

Back in Maine, I wasn't allowed to listen to music, only the classical stuff my parents played at dinner parties. They took it away for fear of it giving me ideas. Now, though, I listened to anything that came on, loving anything with words, with meaning.

After I finished up with the groceries, I stuck my phone in my pocket so I could still hear the music and headed to the basement to push along the load of laundry I washed.

As I descended the stairs, I noticed that the floor was wet at the bottom. The farther I descended, the more water I saw. All around the old washing machine was soapy bubbles and water.

I hurried across the room to check the machine, see if I could tell the what was wrong with it but nothing looked wrong besides the water and soap coming out of the top.

I ran my soapy hands through my hair. What am I supposed to do? I don't know how to make a bowl of cereal, let alone fix a washing machine. And I didn't know anyone here to help.

Then a picture of Levi popped through my head. Maybe he could help.

But wait, he literally gave me his number an hour ago. Is it too soon to call him?

I weighed out my options in my head and eventually I decided to call him.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and found Levi's contact. My finger hovered over the call button as I took a deep breath, preparing myself to talk to him again.

I pressed the call button and held the phone to my war, subconsciously holding my breath.

"Jay?" His voice answered after the second ring.

"Hey, Levi." I said shakily. "Um, are you free?"

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