Summer of Jonnor

Pancakes and Skateboarding

Jude stirred, feeling unexpectedly cold and confused by that fact until he realized that Connor wasn't in bed with him. His hands reflexively shot out onto the covers. Definitely no Connor. He stretched, yawned and went into the bathroom. He used the toilet and brushed his teeth, then went downstairs.

Connor was in the kitchen, pouring batter onto the griddle pan. "Oh hey, you're up. I was going to bring you breakfast in bed."

Jude laughed. "Breakfast in bed, really? Have we gotten this corny and cheesy already?"

Connor shrugged. "I don't have a problem with it. Was just trying to be romantic babycakes."

Barefoot and still in pajamas, Jude walked over to Connor and hugged him from behind. "We don't need breakfast in bed for romantic."

Connor gave him a quick peck. "Sorry, I'm trying to totally focus here. Precision batter mixing is a science, you know."

Jude smiled and shook his head and sat down at his plate. Connor brought a glass measuring cup filled with syrup over. "Heated for exactly thirty-seven seconds. Mariana said she's seen you time it."

Jude opened his eyes wide. "You quizzed Mariana about my pancake preferences?"

"Yeah, she said something about it being too early in the day for an inquisition, but she still gave me all the info." He put the butter plate next to Jude's. He flipped the hotcakes on the griddle. They were an impressively even color.

"Those look really good!"

"I hope so, I've been practicing for an hour. I'm gonna have to buy moms some more mix."

Jude giggled. "You've been practicing making pancakes? For me?"

Connor shrugged. "Of course. Your man needs to be able make perfect pancakes, right? It's like your favorite thing to eat."

Jude rested his chin on his hand and shook his head again. Connor brought over a stack of same-sized, ideally thick and delectably golden-brown pancakes, and watched as Jude buttered them and poured syrup on top. "Moment of truth," he said, as he cut them with his knife and fork into bite-size pieces. He lifted a forkful up to his mouth, closed his eyes, and chewed. "Mmmmm," he said.

"Marry me?" Connor said.

Jude laughed and smacked him. "Seriously though these are really good. Especially since, you know, they were made by my boyfriend. There's just one other thing they need though."

Connor looked suddenly horrified. "Did I forget something? Maybe there was too much water in that last batch."

Jude laughed. "No, silly. Come here." Connor came over to him, and Jude reached up and hugged and kissed him.

"Well, that's a new one," Connor said. "Sticky syrup pancake mouth. You think my kisses make your pancakes perfect and you accuse me of being cheesy?"

Jude laughed. And ate his pancakes with Connor watching him, a happy glow in his eyes.

***

Jude stood still as Connor adjusted his helmet and checked his elbow and knee pads. "Safety first!"

"If I trip and fall you are not allowed to call 911," Jude said. "Are you always going to be this over-protective?"

Connor shrugged. "Just don't want anything to happen to you, babe. You're my everything you know."

Jude smacked him. "God, we are worse than that chick flick where you did your stealth pinky-holding PDA thing with me."

Connor laughed. "Okay, now... no, don't put your right foot in front, babe. That's called goofy-foot and we'll have to see which one feels more normal to you, but I'm natural stance, so let's try that first so you can copy me. Put your left foot here, like this. Then you're going to push with your right foot. Here, I'll show you." Connor put his board down, put his left foot on first and pushed off with his right, then coasted with his left foot leading. He pivoted around and came back and then ollie'd right at Jude.

"Wow. You make that look really easy."

"Lots of practice, and don't worry about tricks. We'll learn those later. Today is going to be all about getting used to being on the board and keeping your balance. Try it?"

Jude nodded. He put his left foot onto the board and pushed off with his right, and tried to balance. He found himself trying to overcompensate on balance though, moving around way more than he needed to.

"Try not to move so much," Connor called behind him. "Just a small amount is enough." He jumped on his board and followed Jude. "That's better."

Jude used his right foot to accelerate. "I feel all wobbly," he said.

"It's normal the first few times. You'll get used to it."

***

"I still feel like I sucked," Jude said.

"No, you did great babe. It was your first day. It'll get easier. I've been doing it for years. It was fun, right?"

Jude put his hand on Connor's knee. "You're a very patient teacher." He looked down at the ground.

"What wrong, Jude?"

Jude gave a little snort. "I'm just feeling really inadequate right now is all."

"Why?"

"Because you've been so amazing today. Pancakes, teaching me to skate. I feel like I haven't done anything for you."

"Well, I hate to get accused of being cheesy again, and all, but just spending time with you...it's just...it was an amazing day for me, too, baby. I cherish every moment that I get to be with you. I feel like people should be writing songs and making videos and writing stories about us, because we have the most awesome thing ever." He put his hand on Jude's knee. "One more try?"

Jude nodded. "Sure." They got on their boards and rolled down the hill. The sun was starting to set, the wind was blowing a little, and Jude smiled at Connor. Maybe he was getting the hang of this. He heard a noise behind him and turned a bit, saw two other dudes on skateboards coming up behind them, going much faster than he or Connor. He turned as they passed him.

"Faggot!" one of them yelled, shoving Jude as he sped by him and Connor. They continued on down the street. Connor stopped and stared at them in horror. Then he turned back to Jude, who was sprawled down on the ground. Connor took his helmet off and threw it down the street towards the retreating skaters, then dashed to Jude and dropped to his side.

"Jude? Jude? JUDE!" he pulled his phone out, dialed and hit the speaker button, and dumped it on the ground while he cradled Jude in his arms.

"911 what's your emergency?"

"My friend Jude was attacked by some guys on skateboards. His mom is a police officer, Stef Adams-Foster—"

"Slow down, son. Where are you?"

Jude gasped. Dazed, he looked around blearily, but he could clearly feel Connor's tears hit his face.