The Sound of Us

Fifteen

Christmas at my in-laws had passed without incident.

Julie and I hadn't been ready to share our change in relationship status with her parents yet, so we made everything about Jason.

We all overcompensated for the shift in his family dynamics and he literally got everything on his Christmas wishlist.

I'd escaped regularly to text Amir and I was convinced that Julie had been doing the same with her celebrity boyfriend.

Since we were constantly kept busy, I'd hardly had time to actively miss Amir. I did often wonder what it would've been like to see him smiling at the dinner table or throwing snowballs in the backyard.

After picking Amir up from the airport, we'd stopped by his place to drop off his stuff. He was renting a room in an apartment with three other guys.

Although, he'd told me that Brendan, Allan and Caleb were all gay, it never occured to me that one of them might actually like him. The way Brendan looked at Amir was enough for me to make an internal decision.

I desperately wondered how he'd react. I'd poured him a drink and was waiting for him to return from the bathroom.

"Hey," he breathed. "Dollar for your thoughts."

"Isn't it a penny?"

"Rough economy," he said with a shrug.

It was a bit of a dad joke but I laughed anyway.

"Amir, I want you to have this," I said, taking the key out of my pocket and handing it to him.

"Is this a key to your apartment?" he asked with hesitation... just as I'd predicted.

"As much as I'd like for you to move in, I'm under the impression that you're not ready for that yet."

"Then, I'm not sure I follow," he said, holding out the key.

"That's a key to your new place, if you want it," I said, needing him to know I wasn't pushing.

"What?!" he said, now completely lost.

"I bought two apartments in this building, this one and a much smaller one on the top floor," I explained. "I was going to rent it out but..."

Amir hugged me tight and said, "All this, just because Brendan made you jealous."

Holy fuck, he'd seen right through me!

"Why don't I give you this back," he said, putting the key in my back pocket. "And you start by emptying out a drawer for me. I'm planning to spend a lot more time here."

A/N: Anyone that has read my previous works will know that I enjoy linking my stories. I'm keeping this story free of mature content to stay loyal to the previous version, however, I'm referencing stories from my one shot Collection that are a lot spicier. This Chapter contains a nod to the three part one shot; "Blizzard".