Disjointed Heart

Epilogue

"I love you. I'm glad I have you." He smiled and Chester picked at the hair on his nape.

"Let's go?" Chester said after a while and Mike nodded, a little uneasy, still. They got up and the blonde grabbed his lover's hand tightly, leading them out of the apartment and to the elevator.

*

The sun was coming down and the sky was beautifully orange when they arrived at the auditorium that was holding the graduation. It was a rather fancy place — fancier than they both expected — and Chester thanked god that he had decided to wear a suit as well.

"You got this, baby." Chester nodded as soon as they stepped inside the big saloon and kissed his lover's lips, squeezing his cheeks between his palms. Mike smiled into the kiss and, suddenly, he was feeling more confident and way lighter as well. They looked around and found a table for six. It was the biggest table they could find so they sat at it, even if there'd be eight people with them.

They waited until people were starting to show up, Mike's parents arrived first and complimented both their son and his boyfriend. They gave them both bone-crushing hugs and sat down. Jason, Mike's younger brother, gave Mike a quick hug and tapped his back and did the same to Chester.

The blonde was still a bit uncomfortable around Mike's family. Mainly Jason, because he seemed to be so much cooler than he'd ever be and he was just scared that he'd think he was a complete weirdo — even if Mike assured him every time that Jason liked him.

Not too long after, Chester's family arrived and Amber complimented both of the boys, before sitting by Jason. Mike and Chester exchanged a knowing look and greeted Margaret and Francis with hugs. Everyone was already there and talking, Mike was at ease now, and Chester just hoped that his façade of calmness was working.

As time passed by, waiters began to come and go at the tables, asking if anyone wanted anything to drink. Mike almost asked for a beer, telling himself that it would calm down his nerves, but he decided against it when he looked at Chester. He already had someone to do that for him, he didn't need alcohol after all, so he settled for a coke.

The cold drink felt good on his dry throat, as he felt like his tongue had gone heavy in his mouth due to stress. He decided to focus on everything except the fact that he was supposed to graduate tonight. His gaze lingered on his lover and Chester caught it before he smiled at him.

God, he really was the luckiest man alive, wasn't he?

"Look at them, being all lovey dovey." Amber commented while smirking.

As the year had progressed, Amber had grown quite close to her brother, just like they were before the accident, maybe a little more even, and she spent some time at Mike and Chester's place. Her brother helped her study a lot, just as he had promised, and he was proud that she was making a lot of progress. Of course, every time he asked her to stay the night, or for a couple of days, she would shake her head.

"You need to spend some time alone with your boyfriend." She always said, and each time, it left Chester blushing heavily.

The fact that he had never had a boyfriend before made him a little uneasy about things like that, he had to remember himself that even if he did find it weird, it was normal at his age to be in sexual relationship with his boyfriend, and that people would know about it without asking the young man. He had always felt smaller, younger than he really was. The incident with the fire, his anxiety, the troubles with Mark and everything that had come with it, had made him feel like he had left his life behind, like he was still a child.

Ever since he had met Mike though, his life had caught up to speed with him, and even if he was more than glad that he could finally feel like he was a grown up (hell, like he was human and normal), he still had some difficulties adjusting to it all.