Devil's Fate

A Bright Morning

The early morning sunshine lazily floating in over the master bedroom was enough to make Chester groan and rub his face deeper into his pillow. The sun hitting his face was something he'd left behind when he'd moved out of the loft. The window in his bedroom at Amir's faced west, and their small bedroom at the campus apartment didn't even have a window. It was a small irritation though, as he shifted, and snuggled himself closer to his boyfriend. Mike's body was wrapped around him, everything from his arm to their legs, and Chester didn't mind staying right where he was, sun or no sun.

He wasn't sure what time it was, but he'd yet to hear Cheese whine that she needed to go out, and until that happened, Chester was going to stay put. The long miles over the last two days had been exhausting, and knowing that there was nowhere to go today, no errands, no work to be done, was a relief. I don't even have to clean anything. No laundry. I'll clean the kitchen after we eat breakfast, but other than that, we can just relax...all day. I want to go out on the porch swing with Mike and Cheese. That will be fun. I bet we'd take a cute picture on that swing.

Chester's lips pulled into a smile. He'd grown up in the city his whole life, and his family hadn't been big on vacations. Because they were so close to the beach, that was always vacation in the Bennington household. A day trip to splash in the water and build sandcastles. Chester had zero bitter thoughts about those family vacations, but it also meant that until he became an adult, his traveling experience was limited. Almost every place I've been, it's been for work. For YRS or even Score. Until Mike came along.

It was another happy thought as his memory pulled up moments from their first vacation together - the weekend trip to Palm Springs. They'd hiked, and had Mexican food, and stayed in a hotel. Long Beach popped into his mind next - another weekend trip that involved a hotel. Both times had been fun, but this time - this trip - was going to be different. We're not in a hotel. We're not ordering room service or swimming in a pool. We're cooking our own stuff, and we're in the woods. Cheese is really going to love it.

Picturing their puppy as they hiked through the woods, or walked along the lake while he and Mike held hands sent all the feelings through Chester. It was going to be a trip they would always remember, the first one that wasn't attached to sad feelings. We weren't even really together in Long Beach. We were technically still broken up. And Palm Springs...we were at YRS. Everything was sad back then. Hard. Everything was fucking hard. But not anymore. Ry's going to be okay with Jason, and me and Mike are doing so much better.

For a brief second, thoughts of moving back in together hit. Not just part time, but full time. It was fun to imagine the cabin as their home, a vision of what life might be like years down the road. The nice, updated place that they would hopefully have one day in the future. A future where they lived together in a real house or a nice apartment, like the one Jason and Ryan had, with plenty of space for the two of them and a handful of creature comforts they were currently missing in the cramped USC apartment. Will it take years before I'm ready for that though? I hope not.

Chester shoved that line of thinking away quickly. He'd already gone over all of that right before they'd left for Seattle, and for the precious days they had in the cabin together, he didn't want to sour them by worrying over timelines and living situations. He let out a long sigh and opened his eyes. The windows were the first thing he saw, and they gave a full view of trees, bushes, and the lake. "Wow," Chester whispered as he carefully raised himself up on his elbow to get a better look. The lake was in the distance, but not far off. If Forrest's property wasn't right up to it, it was awfully close. The surface of the water was still, and there was frost hanging on the trees, and the ground, a thin white coating that wasn't quite snow. It looked cold outside, the sun shining through thick clouds overhead. Chester could only hope it would warm up as the day went on. The quick thought that they should have bought Cheese a puppy coat or sweater skirted across his mind. Maybe we will have to go out later, if Cheesy Girl gets too cold. She's a Cali girl. I bet she's going to love the fireplace.