Home Sweet Home (mxm)

Chapter 2: Adapt

(Note to self. If you write about a nightmare, it just expands. Yay...) 

Jolting upright in bed, Taylor coughed out a lungful of water and shook his aching head. His hair was completely soaked, as well as the rest of his body. With his temples pounding, he slowly looked up and around the room, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. He hadn't unpacked much yet, so his dresser and a pair of tennis shoes were the only things there. 

What the hell was that? 

He'd had some pretty strange dreams in his life, but that one definitely took the cake. 

When he was finally able to catch his breath, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, frowning down at his soaked body before sniffing his shoulder. 

"I'm sweating, but this is ridiculous... and my hair definitely shouldn't be wet from it." 

He wasn't even going to think about the water he'd coughed up. Pushing the strange dream aside, Taylor checked his phone, cringing at the time. It was close to four A.M., an hour before he'd wanted to wake up. 

Might as well just start getting ready. 

His legs felt a bit sore, but he knew to expect that, at least. He'd moved all of his stuff from his old place yesterday and the aching in his muscles proved that. 

"Alright, a hot shower to start the day, then off to the office." 

He'd thankfully remembered to bring in his toiletries and unpack a few changes of clothing so within an hour he was ready to go in a dark blue suit and pants, a protein bar between his teeth and his keys and wallet in his hand. 

No other odd things had happened as he'd gotten ready, allowing him to relax and put the strange dream behind him as he closed and locked the door. Walking to his car, he unlocked it and opened the door, then turned back around and looked at his new property. It really was a steal for how much he'd gotten out of the deal. The house needed a lot of yardwork to bring it back from the weed-pocalypse, and the backyard chain-link fence needed a new gate, but there was so much potential. 

That's what was on his mind as he drove into work, and even between breaks and during lunch. Since he was the boss, he might have taken a few extra minutes here and there to draw out some of his plans for the yard, as well as things he wanted to add inside, especially since he now had a completely empty spare bedroom to work with. 

By the time the end of the day rolled around, two hours later than what he'd liked, Taylor packed up his stuff and headed home. 

It feels so good to have my own place to go back to. 

Pulling into the driveway, he let his body relax with a deep breath, then quiet sigh. Things were going well. Everything he'd worked hard for was falling into place. Nodding with enthusiasm, he grinned up at his house and pushed the car door open. 

"Now to unpack some of my boxes and make dinner." 

He happily got busy after taking his suit and dress pants off, replacing them with absolutely nothing, because he could! Taylor gladly worked in his boxers, managing to unpack three boxes of kitchen items and a bit for his bedroom before his simple meal of spaghetti with ground turkey was done. 

After adding enough cheese to equal the same weight as the pasta sauce, Taylor sat down on the single sofa he'd brought from his previous place. It was simple but soft, a dark blue that he appreciate... especially when he'd spilled stuff on it during late night study sessions. The pasta was delicious after working all day, but as he took a second bite, a shiver ran down his spine.