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Chapter 24- Moving On, Meeting Obstacles

Shrugging, Jonah looked away, stuffing his hands into his jeans pockets, letting out a deep and somewhat aggravated breath. "Sounds like you two are getting along extremely well." There was something odd about that sentence. He'd put too much emphasis on the 'extremely' for it be taken as a literal comment. He was being sarcastic, and much too obvious about it for the male to possibly mean for it to have been discreet or left unnoticed.

"You're jealous," Connor stated, drawing a conclusion pretty quickly, but one that seemed to make sense to him, "and that's why you're asking about whether or not Matt's gay; because you're worried he's after me or something."
His taller boyfriend made no attempt to protest against his accusations, both teens knowing that there was at least some truth in his accusation.
Jonah stared at him from his place, leaning against the metal frame of the swing set while Connor sat on the swing, pushing himself backwards slightly on his heels, his dark eyes narrowing slightly.
"Maybe," Jonah admitted, once again turning to glare in another direction, his tone becoming angered and snappy, "or maybe I'm only jealous that he's spending so much time with you. Not going to the same school obviously means we can't see each other everyday like we used to, but I miss that already. Believe me, I'm happy we're both finding new friends, but I want to spend more time with you again. I'm not jealous because I think somethings happening between you two-I trust that it won't. I'm just not used to not spending time with you."

Connor was left almost depressed by this explanation, his eyes somewhat widened as his words were processed, taken in and finally understood. In his head, he cursed himself, silently screaming 'How dare you make Jonah angry! How dare you assume something so selfish!' It was only as his gaze tore away from the taller male and landed on the ground beneath his feet that he spoke, slowly standing himself up and approaching his boyfriend, taking his shirt in his hands and nuzzling under his chin; this was something he'd begun doing whenever he needed comfort or cheering up. Lips parting for a moment to think one more time, he spoke.
"I'm sorry, that was so selfish," he began, his voice quiet and calm, getting his lover's attention, feeling his large hands on his waist, "I promise, nothing will happen and Matt is straight."

"Still sounds insistent."

"It's for his sister, I think," Connor explained, Jonah looking down at him to listen closely, "he said she used to be a student in the younger years of our school, but she moved because she was bullied so badly for being a lesbian. She's at Oaken Ridge now."
From there, not much was said for a short while. At first, both of them remained still and silent, holding each other loosely against the swing set's frame, the only sounds surrounding them being some occasional rustling, the soft breezes of an early autumn afternoon shaking the branches of the surrounding trees and greenery.
The voice that pierced the silence between them was Connor's, moving very slightly to look back up at his partner again, his gentle smile returning to his face.
"In about a month, it will have been a year since we met, and we're almost at a year since we started dating too, aren't we? Do you really think I want to ruin that?"
The response his sweet words and soft smile received was the usual, gorgeous smile he often saw from his black-haired boyfriend, his suspicions and jealousy all fleeing his mind for a little longer, if not entirely, hearing what he said giving him confidence once again.

"I'm sorry I ever suspected otherwise," Jonah apologised sincerely, his grip on the slightly shorter male tightening slowly, pulling him closer again, "God, I love you so much."

"I love you, Jonah. Never doubt that again."

Although it would then be a while before Connor was to see Matt again, the circumstances, unfortunately, left the young lovers unable to see one another for the following few days as well.

The next day was a Friday, and as a nice way of rounding off the week, both of them decided to meet the other midway between their respective schools, after which they were to visit the high street's coffee shop before then walking back to Jonah's home to spend the rest of the evening together. Jonah finished all of his classes with a smile on his face, his enthusiasm for the afternoon ahead showing clearly throughout the entire day, the final lesson of the day coming to a close as he slung his rucksack over his shoulder and onto his back. However, just as the dark-haired male reached into his pocket to check his phone, he felt it vibrate, the flashlight flickering as it always did when he received a text message. Overjoyed to receive a text from his boyfriend, he beamed as he opened it to read, only for his smile to slowly fade from his face, his expression softening before falling into a somewhat saddened and confused look as he read it.