Connected To Him (ManxMan)

Part 2: Chapter 42

"A trampoline park?" Ethan exclaimed, laughing in surprise. Chris smiled, watching Ethan stare at the sign in disbelief. "Are you sure we're not too old for this?"

"Get out of here!" Chris chuckled, pushing Ethan lightly on the shoulder. "You know for a fact that adults are in here all the time. You can't tell me that you're not excited to get in there."

The wry smile Ethan sent his way was all the response Chris needed. Chris threw an arm over Ethan's shoulder and pulled them through the door.

The trampolines in the far end of the shop caught Ethan's eye first. There were trampolines on the ground, slanted against the wall, trampoline basketball, and trampoline dodgeball. It was magnificent. Chris's hold on Ethan became essential. He dragged Ethan to the front desk to get them checked in while Ethan continued to gawk.

As Ethan expected, there were plenty of small children. Kids between six and thirteen dominated the space with their laughter, numbers, and sheer energy. Ethan rarely had the chance to interact with young kids in his day-to-day. All of his friends were grown and his clients never brought kids along to meetings or consultations. So seeing all of them running about brought a pleased smile to his face.

"Would you ever have kids?"

Chris nearly dropped the two pairs of socks he was handed, turning to look at Ethan with startled eyes.

"What?"

Ethan seemed to realize what he said and flushed bright enough to match the foam cubes being thrown around on the other end of the room. Moving slowly, Ethan pulled Chris's arm off of him and stepped back to create distance. He would need some room to hide his embarrassment.

"Sorry, I was just thinking because of all these kids," Ethan explained bashfully, smiling through his nerves. Their friendship worked best when they tried to ignore their history, tried to forget the 'I love yous' and fights and nights in dark bedrooms. He hoped he hadn't made Chris remember.

It was Chris's chuckle that allowed Ethan to relax. He began walking towards the short lockers the led to the trampolines and Ethan got the cue to follow.

"No, I'm sorry I was surprised. I guess we are at the age where that stuff comes up," Chris replied. He was smiling wistfully, looking around at some of the kids. Ethan guessed that he had the same look on his face just a moment ago. "Yeah, I would. Though I'm not sure how I'd get them."

"If you end up with a woman, it would probably be natural, right?" Ethan asked.

Chris paused. He looked stumped, lips pursed and brows drawn together. Then his eyes went to Ethan for a second before shooting back down at the ground.

"Yeah, I guess," He replied softly, barely above a whisper.

From what they'd said, that should have been the end of it. Yet, Ethan felt like that conversation wasn't over. But what else needed to be said?

Switching out their own shoes and socks for the grip-modified ones the park gave them drew Ethan's attention away from the conversation. He wasn't a kid anymore, so he rolled his ankles and warmed up his knees to prepare his joints for what was to come. Then, they set off.

Ethan quickly realized that he underestimated how exhausting trampolines could be. Within the first half hour, he was painting like he'd completed a full workout. When he asked Chris if they were almost done, Chris explained that he'd gotten them two hours. Ethan's heavy breath turned into an exhausted whine. By comparison, the little kids jumping circles around them couldn't have been doing better. The jumping practically brought a glow to their skin.

"Youth," Ethan exhaled brokenly in envy.

"You're not even 25 yet!" Chris exclaimed, laughing at the defeated look on Ethan's face. Ethan was watching as a group of girls practiced back flips on the next trampoline over. It was pretty impressive and Chris laughing began to slow. He started to understand Ethan's frustrations.