Reap What You Sow 🌈

Chapter 6

Fifteen minutes and Rory had to leave. He slipped through the crack of Maddy's bedroom door and found her sitting at the desk. She was Mr. Somers' niece. Rory had lived with her parents for a while, until he had gone to college a year ago. A room had fallen vacant in Maddy's apartment, which Rory gladly had taken. Maddy's parents were incredibly sweet and they had been of great help, but often Rory had felt like a burden. Just like their two sons, they had witnessed many of his tantrums while he was trying to deal with the rejection of his parents. He still hadn't spoken to his family, he hadn't seen them in eighteen months. He had called them at their birthdays, but they all kept turning him down and it still caused him a lot of pain.

Yet, he tried not to linger in his sadness. His family situation was horrible, but apart from that, he was doing well. Maddy was his best friend and whatever was bothering him, Maddy and her parents were always there to listen to him. In the past months, he learned a lot about the different opinions among Christians; luckily, many of them believed that two boys or two girls were allowed to have a relationship too. It had given him peace, and so, he'd started dating a while back.

"You got any second date tips, Madds? That's where it always goes wrong." He flopped down on her bed.

He wasn't nervous, but he would neither have minded having a lazy night on the couch with Madds. Up to now, he had a few dates with guys he met through Tinder, but none of them had been really interesting. Somehow he only fell in love with purebred straight guys. This was the first time he was dating a boy he knew for a couple of months. Adam and he were both members of a Christian fraternity and they had both struggled with their sexuality. When Adam had reluctantly asked him out, Rory had responded enthusiastically. Doing something fun with someone was something he never refrained from. Adam however had been way too shy for Rory's taste, and therefore, it had been a bit of an awkward evening. Since Rory had already known about his shyness, he had taken him to a bowling center so they were at least doing something, but unfortunately, Adam hadn't been very competitive — and he had neither been very good at it. Nevertheless, it had led to a second date and Rory felt no regret. The boy probably just needed to loosen up a bit. He knew Adam had never kissed and all this was new to him, so he stayed positive and looked with curiosity at his friend.

"Well — that depends on it. What are you going to do?"

"I have no idea, it's up to him today. But knowing him a little... I guess he wants to cook me a meal and watch a movie?" Rory pulled a face. "I hope he's less romantic than I think he is... I can see him light candles and shit like that."

Maddy started to laugh. "Well... if things get too mushy you just tell him you've already seen the movie and say goodbye." She twisted a pen in her hand.

Rory chuckled. "He's never going to ask someone out again if I turn him down like that. He never dated someone before. I'm going to his place, hopefully, it'll make him feel more comfortable."

"You think there's a chance that you will fall in love with him?"

"I don't know. He's handsome, I just hope he'll loosen up a bit. He's always so serious, you know? But every human must be capable to have fun, right? Maybe he has just too many boring friends." He thought of the boys he hung out with — they weren't exactly party animals.

She started to laugh. "He might be one of the boring friends himself," she said. "But who knows — maybe he's more interesting than you think. That's why you're dating, right?"

"I'll find out soon enough!" Rory gave her an excited smile. "I better go now."

Maddy wished him luck and he raised his hand, waving her goodbye.

Adam lived only a few blocks away from him, but Rory decided to take his bicycle; maybe they could go to a bar afterward. Adam used to avoid public places, but Rory liked to have people around. Pressing the right doorbell, he waited until he heard Adam's voice.