Under My Skin

And They're Off

Connor comes over every night - which isn't really a change, aside from the fact that he's been planning our dates.
Last night he brought over a game of Clue. We sat at the coffee table and just played for hours. Granted, it's not supposed to take hours, but both of us tend to get a little sidetracked when we start talking. The night before, he brought in my window boxes, soil, and seeds, and he helped me re-plant the flowers, which hadn't been tended to in four years. Well, he did all of the hands-on work, I picked the seeds and told him where I wanted them. I also watered them! Mostly, he planted my flowers while I talked and cleaned up his hands with a wipe after every seed. But it was a nice talk, I told him all about how we used to plant those flowers. And he looked genuinely happy just to listen.

Frankly, I didn't know dates could be this fun, not inside the house, at least. I've never dated, I never realized how much there was that we could do. I thought it began and ended with movies on the couch. But it doesn't, not with him. I don't even know what we're doing tonight. He told me to get all my blankets out, but that's all he'd give me. Normally, I hate surprises, but he manages to make them less scary. I don't know why, he just does.

I suppose I just know that he's not going to do anything to hurt me. He knows what I can and can't do, he's not going to do anything I can't handle. Except for that one time on my birthday.
I just... trust him. Which is something I'm not at all used to feeling, but I like it. To just be able to trust that he'll take care of me.

By the time he arrived, I had every blanket in the house out, in a pile on the couch. Well, not every blanket. My parents' sheets are staying put. They're not going anywhere.

He came in with a large brown wicker basket, and his school bag hung over his shoulder.

"Hey!" He greeted as he let himself in, smiling widely

"Hey... what's all this?"

"Your surprise."

"That being..?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise. Come on, help me get those blankets up."

"Up to what?"

"Do you always ask this many questions?"

"Yes."

We made a blanket fort. Well, he made a blanket fort. I don't know how, I mostly just handed him blankets and watched.

"...You're good at that." I mumbled, picking apart the edge of my nail

"Good at what? Blanket forts?"

"Yeah.."

"Well, it doesn't exactly take an architect.. any six year old can do it."

"I can't.."

"Then help me. I promise you'll be good at it."

"...what do I do?"

"I don't mean to overwhelm you, here.. but you put a blanket up over the chair."

"Oh- don't be rude!!"

"What else do you expect? I'm an asshole."

"You're not a.... that.. you're the nicest boy I've ever met in my life."

"Well, you haven't met a lot of nice boys"

"No, I haven't.. boys were never nice to me. They always dumped lunch trays in my bag and beat me up in the locker room."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah.. we always had to shower after gym. I always begged them not to make me, but they said we all had to.. they'd hide my clothes so I was the only one left by the time I found them. They had a field day with that.."