NSFW (MxM) ✓

• 14

"Of course," I say with a bright smile. "This place is amazing, really."

"I'm already loving it here," Sheila agreed.

"Alright, let's get settled in," Sarah says. I follow Calvin upstairs and through a hall, entering his bedroom at the end. If this isn't the master bedroom, I can't imagine how large the actual one is. This room is pretty big for a medium sized home like this. I pull my suitcase over to one of the bureaus and start unpacking things I'd like to hang. Just the essentials. Everything else I keep in the suitcase.

I sit on Calvin's bed and rub my hands together impatiently. Calvin continues to unpack quietly, and I start to worry.

"You okay?" I ask. "You've been quiet."

Calvin distractedly stares into his suitcase, before he realizes I'm speaking to him. "Oh, sorry. Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just... taking a lot in at once."

"This is your first time back here, isn't it?" I ask. Calvin nods uncomfortably and sighs.

His eyes drift from me back to his clothes, then dart back to me. "It's hard to revisit your childhood. I don't know how to handle all of the nostalgic, painful memories. Every nice memory I have is tainted with the fact that it'll never be that way again."

"Come here," I sigh, patting the bed. As he approaches me, and lies his head down in my lap, I think of what exactly to say to him while he's fragile. I stroke his hair a bit to comfort him. "You're allowed to feel pain. I wish I could help you enjoy those good memories. But that's up to you. Memories may be bittersweet, but you have to remember they aren't more bitter than sweet." He rolls over and looks up at me, smiling.

"Let's make more memories here. Maybe that'll help me." I smirk back.

"We should probably get back to everyone for now, though," I deny his horny ass.

"Aw, baby, I meant later."

"Yeah, okay, Mr. 'I like handjobs every morning when I wake up.'"

"Oh, and you don't? A little handjob never hurt nobody." I can't help but laugh at his ridiculousness. I walk back downstairs and find Agatha sitting on the couch with a photo album open in her lap. She seems serene, something I rarely see happen with her.

"What's that?" I ask her to invite myself in. She looks to me and smiles.

"This is my favorite photo album," she says. "It has photographs of Sarah and I as very young children, along with some other family, including Calvin when he would visit us over the summers. Oh, here's a picture of him."

I sit beside her and look at the picture. He's maybe three years old and completely naked, running through the grass. "Wow. He's been most comfortable naked since he was a baby."

"Yeah, he was a weird one. It took years to crack his habit of stripping and running around with no embarrassment. We were convinced he was born with no social filter whatsoever, but over time he matured."

"Barely," I remark, and Agatha chuckles.

"Here is another album, from our days when Calvin was almost an adult. This is when he began living here after... Uncle Macaulay and Aunt Lorna passed away." I put a hand to her shoulder. "Benjamin, I really hope you've been able to help him with his grief. Sarah and I both know he's been holding onto it since his youth. Added to that was our mother's passing, and he's been so sad for so long. You are his happiness."

I hold back my tears and smile brightly. "Well, I'm glad I get to bring a smile to his face. It's what partners are for. I'm emotional support central for any baggage he has. To me, it isn't baggage. It's what makes him, him."