As the day wore on, the monotony of school life began to set in like usual. Ms. Knox was going on about her usual lecture about the art project while my mind was preoccupied with something much more pressing.
I couldn't stop thinking about Dydan and how things ended between us this morning. What started as a harmful cold on my side had now undoubtedly transmitted onto him and I felt terrible for getting him sick. The sight of how he looked this morning was horrible and it was all because of me, and the guilt was eating away inside.
Images of him effortlessly crossing the gap between my room to his with one swift jump flashed through my mind. I couldn't help but wonder if he hated me now. As the class clock ticked by, my anxiety grew. What if he never wanted to talk to me again? What if his opinion of me had changed after what I had done? Will he still pick me up today? I was consumed by the what-ifs.
"Alright class with that being said, please head over to your partners." Ms. Knox's announcement cut me out from my thoughts, causing the other students to rummage and roam around the class looking for their partners.
My attention were drawn along with my breath as I locked my attention onto a familiarly mesmerizing pair of eyes and its two different hues. With one eye a deep grey and the other a piercing blue, I couldn't help but feel enamored as if each eye was telling a different story, one of warmth and familiarity while the other of cold malice and unpredictable intentions.
I realized that Nikolai was already looking at me, waiting to see how I'd react to having him as my partner for the project.
Despite the field trip ending so badly, I hope he doesn't think I'm unappreciative that he saved my life from those two boys. Sure, we may have had our differences that same day, but in that moment, all that mattered was that he was there for me when I needed him most.
I approached him with a light cough in attempts to announce my presence. "Hey-um, is it okay if I sit here?" I tentatively spoke out even though he hadn't bothered to look up at me yet.
Nikolai's hand gestured for me to sit, only returning my gaze once our seats had leveled us to our rightful height. He sat all domineering and muscular on his seat while my shoulders barely touched the edge of mine, my feet hovering right over the floor like fragile icicles that could fall off at any moment.
"Well you look less-" He took a momentary pause to finish his sentence, observing my face as if he was keen on keeping his thoughts and emotions completely unreadable. "Contagious."
"Thanks?" I awkwardly tucked a golden curl behind my ear. "Was that why you didn't wanna group up yesterday? You thought I'd get you sick?"
"No." He answered as if he was inconvenienced by having to speak to me. "I never get sick."
I sighed out of confusion before beginning to ramble off into a stuttering mess. "Look-um, If it would help make this project go along much smoother, w-we can talk about it?"
"Talk about what?" He responded with a raised brow.
"You know like-like what happened that day?" I awkwardly shrugged.
"Besides regretting what I did to you and snapping that boy's arm in two, there's nothing much else to talk about." Nikolai returned my shrug as he deeply muttered out his response, his Russian accent subtly intertwining with his natural husk.
"I'm sorry that they outed you, Nikolai." I couldn't help but lean in with a deep pained breath, feeling the air tighten and waver right between us. "It's horrible what they did to you."
Nikolai suddenly straightened his back against his seat, almost as if he just wanted to cut straight into the chase. "I don't need your pity." He clenched his chiseled jaw with a low and steady voice, locking his intense sterling gaze onto mine with a subtle squint. "All I wanna know is why aren't you asking for another partner?"
I took a deep shaky breath, gathering my thoughts before I spoke pass my undoubtable intimidation for him. "Is that what you want?" I asked, my voice quivering with utmost fragility.
"You tell me." Nikolai deeply muttered with subtle solemnity in his voice. "You're the one who told me to stay away from you." He adds as his tense shoulders eased right back into a sigh.
"Look I-I didn't mean it, alright? I just remember feeling so overwhelmed with what happened between us and-and with those boys that I-I just lost it." I breathed out with shame etched on my face. "I'm sorry for being mean to you. The way I spoke to you that day was wrong, especially when you were the only one there to help me out." I continued, my voice barely above a whisper as I pursed my lips in regret.
"This is exactly the reason why those guys pick on you the way they do." He slowly leaned over the table, exuding an unreadably wise demeanor that made me wonder what kind of trials he had faced to become so effortlessly confident and nonchalant. "You're kindness makes you weak and vulnerable, making you look malleable in their eyes." He bluntly stated with a sense of understanding.
My eyes nervously darted around the room as he made me feel like an open book, unable to keep myself from being affected by what he was conveying. "I-I don't understand what you're trying to tell me?"
"I'm telling you to spare me your unnecessary apologies, especially when you did nothing wrong. Besides, even if you did, It helps to accept that regardless of how kind or mean you are, you're always gonna be the villain in someone else's story." Nikolai's eyes slowly trailed down my face before continuing. "And the thing is they have the right to their truth, just like how you have the right to do what's best for you." The school bell suddenly went off, causing my trail of thought to get lost in the commotion of everyone proceeding to get up and leave.
"W-Wait, the project-"
"We're doing the project at your house, there's no privacy in mine." Nikolai interrupted as he slung his backpack over his shoulder.
I was immediately sent into a frantic frenzy as I followed right behind him to walk out of class. "Wait no, I-I can't!"
"You can't?" He coldly asked without turning around to spare me a glance.
"There's hardly any privacy in mine either." I insisted, hoping that he wouldn't pry me for more information that could lead me to talk about my troubled relationship with my dad or risk exposing all the turmoil at home. "Perhaps m-maybe we can just-"
"Wait a minute-" A cheerful voice suddenly emitted from out of nowhere once Nikolai and I exited the class. "Are you Leone!?" The voice belonged to a girl I had never seen before. She had dark, straight hair that passed her shoulders. Like smooth silk, it hugged her sharp features such as her small mousy nose, her sharp almond eyes, and her sharp jawline that ended downward to her delicate chin.
She was honestly way too beautiful to be speaking to the likes of someone like me. "Y-Yes, do I know you?" I shyly asked, trying my best to return her genuinely warm smile.
"No, but I've heard a lot about you." She expressed with a wry smile directed towards a stoic Nikolai. "I'm Miyako, but you can call me Miya. Will you be sitting with us during lunch?"
I nervously glanced up at Nikolai for approval. "You can come if you want, or not-it doesn't matter." He defensively blurted out while refusing to meet my gaze. "I don't care." He gruffly spoke as if he was fighting some kind of internal battle.
I've never been the best at social cues but it probably meant that he would only be inconvenienced by my presence. Whatever it was being concealed by him, Miyako had no difficulty with catching onto it quite easily. It made her laugh while it only made me feel more awkward at the situation.
I nervously gulped down while uncontrollably clasping my hands together. "I-I shouldn't-I wouldn't wanna be a bother or anything."
"Don't listen to him." She interrupts me with an eye roll and a nudge made against Nikolai's shoulder before lightly grasping onto my hand. "I have plenty of food to share, and there's another friend of ours that I'd really like for you to meet!" Miya insisted with a gentle arm thrown right over my shoulders, steering me away from my usual routine of having to spend my break in the counselor's office.
The walk to the cafeteria was fairly short and was exactly the same way I remembered it and yet, the familiar route felt surprisingly new, as if the tiles below my feet were an uncharted territory. The last time I came here I was sitting all alone at a table by myself as usual, quietly eating and listening to music as I kept to myself. That's when the three boys who usually liked to torment me came and singled me out by shoving my face right against my food, momentarily blinding me as everyone laughed. They followed it up shortly after by spilling milk all over my hair, almost ruining my mother's Walkman. I remember the feeling of panic that surged through my body as I ran into the bathroom and locked myself up in one of the stalls. Tears streamed down my face as I desperately tried to compose myself, but I couldn't shake the sense of dread that had settled in my chest. It was then that they came and followed right after me. They tracked down the sounds of my sobs and pounded onto the door with their merciless words and taunts echoing off the bathroom walls. I tried to ignore them, but their words cut deep. I felt small and powerless in the face of their cruelty which were only further fueled once they found a way to get me out of the stall.
Further memories of what happened that day began to uncontrollably flash through my mind.
"Strip him." Joshua blurted out as I couldn't help but cry even louder as I was stricken by fear of what was to come.
"Please-" I tried to speak pass all the excruciating pain echoing around my entire body. "Please I beg of you, please stop-" Their hands proceeded to snatch the fabric of my clothes, thrashing me around as they exposed my skin to the cold formidable air and their evil gazes.
I sobbed up into the air, letting my tears blur out my vision as they proceeded to rip up the seams of my shirt and my buckled pants.
"Look guys, I guess Limpy truly isn't a girl after all?" Eric chuckled into my ear as his hands skimmed down my chest until completely touching all of me. "So you do have a dick, huh?"
"Where does it all go though?" Hudson playfully gagged. "Because he carries himself around like it's never there."
"Which is even worse." Joshua clicked his mouth in disappointment. "I was hoping he would at least turn out to be a girl so we can have some fun, but he's just a useless faggot."
"What do you mean? We can still have fun, isn't that right Limpy?" I spun and fought back for my life, losing every chance I took to escape as their brutal kicks and punches intertwined with their intrusive gropes and fondling.
After awhile, my cries no longer made any sound, my mind no longer processed a thought, and I no longer felt anything for I was made to be a vessel of pain and humiliation.
I was completely dehumanized.
Suddenly, Miya's voice returned my head to the ground. "Leone meet Atalia, Atalia meet Leone!" Miya presented me to her friend that threw me a nod and smile.
"H-Hello." I greeted as I observed her beautifully long braided hair that was embellished with goldem cuffs.
"Ah, so you're Nikolai's boyfriend?" The whole table immediately went silent before she shared a mischievous cackle with Miya.
My mouth abruptly fell. "Nikolai's what?"
"You know, like the boy he's smashing?" She nonchalantly shrugged with a teasing line made on her mouth.
"S-Smashing?" I asked as I couldn't help but delve further into my confusion. "W-What does that mean?"
"The boy he's fucking." She bluntly reiterates, causing her and Miya to burst into laughter, leaving me to stare at Nikolai looking absolutely appalled.
"Atalia." Nikolai's brows furrowed down with a low growl, his command effortlessly intimidating the two girls.
"We're just playing, chill the hell out." Atalia humored with a faint laugh, surrendering her hands up with a dissipating laugh. "Don't mind me Leone, pissing off Nikolai is just one of the bags in our tricks."
"Bags in our tricks?" Miya furrowed her brows down in humorous confusion.
"Yeah and besides, we all know the rumor isn't true." Atalia shrugged before training her eyes down at me. "This little twink is clearly way too good for you-you're really cute you know?"
"T-Thanks?" I couldn't help but question what she just called me. "Wait, what rumor?"
"Everyone thinks we're dating." Nikolai answered before anyone else, turning to face me with an unimpressed look on his face. "So not only did they out me, but they assumed I had poor taste as well."
A sudden knot formed in my stomach due to the absurdity of the situation. "Well s-sorry for being a blow to your ego." I muttered lowly as I couldn't help but feel nothing but sympathy for him, regardless of his cruel but honest comment.
Atalia finished chewing her fries before leaning over to throw me a comforting look. "Don't be sorry, he's a dick, he's gonna need a couple blows." She teased, making me weakly smile at her joke.
"Ew Atalia, that's gross." Miya laughed with a disgusted wince before passing me a ziplock bag. "Want some apple slices?"
As we sat around the table, passing dishes and sharing laughs, I couldn't help but notice a subtle shift in the atmosphere. Nikolai's friends were friendly enough, but something was off. And then I saw it, Nikolai's striking eyes looking right past me with blazing anger.
My chewing slowed once an unexpected sense of commotion began to emit right behind me, making me nervously turn to face the source, only for my heart to suddenly drop as I saw the three usual boys heading our way.
I couldn't help but wonder what they wanted as they puffed up their chest and tightly clenched their fists. "You've been looking at our table for the past ten minutes, you got something to say, huh? You got a problem, you weird fuck!?" Hudson taunted with a reckless demeanor.
"You've been paranoid ever since we got here." Nikolai spoke through his clenched jaw, bravely meeting his intense gaze at each and everyone one of them without any means of backing down. "All I did was look back."
"Hey, Limpy." Eric clicked his mouth at me. "Shocked to see you back here, especially with what we did to you last time." He winked.
My lips wobbled as I immediately slumped my body down at his brutal reminder, feeling every inch of my body squirm in absolute repulsion.
"What do you guys want?" Miya asked out loud.
"That's what we wanna know." Hudson shrugged befitting snarling at Nikolai. "This boy has been throwing us a dirty look since we got here, what is it you want, huh? To suck my dick? Isn't your little boyfriend here enough for you?" All three boys proceeded to laugh to themselves like a bunch of idiots.
"We get it, you guys get zero bitches, now fuck off." Atalia exclaimed as she landed a gentle hand over mine.
"Hey shut your mouth, slut." Eric arrogantly let out.
Atalia's eyes immediately widened with a loud scoff. "Oh I know this boy didn't just-you bitch!" All hell suddenly broke loose as Atalia rushed towards Eric with a flurry of ruthless punches sent right onto his face. "Who the fuck are you calling a slut, huh!? Say it! Come on, say it again one more time!" She timed her words with every delivered punch made right onto his face.
I was caught so off guard by what just happened that my mind went blank, my senses numbed by the sudden turn of events, freezing me in a state of pure disbelief and confusion.
Chaos only further erupted once I noticed that Hudson and Nikolai had already started fighting as well, both separate situations immediately capturing the entire cafeteria's attention until the noise level that reverberated against the walls rose to a deafening pitch. A crowd of stunned, filming, and entertained students gathered around as fists flew, chairs and tables overturned, and chairs continued to fly.
Joshua took advantage of my isolation by rapidly rushing towards me, grabbing a handful of my collar before slamming me right down against the tiled floor. I abruptly coughed as the impact had suddenly emptied out all the air in my lungs, turning back around to see a roaring crowd completely blocking out a frantic Miya from attempting to help me out.
Joshua grabbed me up and made me face him. "Now I'm only gonna ask you this once-" I nervously gulped once he tightened his painful grip on me, giving me a closer look at the bags underneath his reddened eyes as well as his dark disheveled hair. "Who threw those rocks at my car?"
"I-I don't know." My voice couldn't help but break. "Please I-I swear I don't know-" I continued to plead for my life as Joshua didn't hesitate to tighten his hand into a fist, sending it straight into my stomach.
"Was it your boyfriend, huh you faggot!?" Joshua watched me abruptly fall and crumple on the cold hard floor before beginning to meet the already immense pain that rippled all throughout my body with a few brutal kicks.
"Please!" I uncontrollably coughed right into a sobbing mess as he continued to kick me. "Stop!"
"You're the one crying?" Joshua quickly snatched a large portion of my hair with a sharp jagged pain due to his tightened fist. "My first ever car is wrecked and my parents no longer trust me because of you, and you're the one crying!?" He forced our eyes to meet before sending a merciless punch right across my mouth.
"Get away from him!" Nikolai bursted right through the crowd and sent a thunderous blow against Joshua's cheek.
The entire situation took quite awhile to disperse as the principal as well as several faculty members had to rush in and bring the entire chaos to a halt.
"All of you, in my office now!" The principal yelled as his presence eventually caused the chaos in the cafeteria to die down. "You're all getting detention tomorrow!"
"N-No!" I whimpered at the sight of my own blood dripping from my mouth, my hands shaking as I tried to get up. "No, please! I can't have detention!" I shakily begged past my tears and hiccups to express my instilled fear in this entire situation possibly getting my father involved.
"Well you should've thought about that before causing trouble, Mr. Frasier." The principal angrily let out with a sharpened tongue.
"Leave him out of this, he didn't do anything!" Nikolai angrily interjected with fiery passion, quickly getting right in front of me with his arms protectively outstretched. "It was your idiot son and his friends who started it!"
The principal's face turned red with fury. "That's enough from you! Everyone in my office now!" He roared out.
As we stood there in the office, the principal announced that Nikolai, Atalia, and I would have to endure detention. Meanwhile, Joshua, Eric, and Hudson only had to clean up the cafeteria with a grabber tool during lunch. It obviously didn't seem fair, but it was quite evident we were all collectively way too over it to try and argue with his authority. It was the same old injustice due to Eric being the principal's son, along with two of his best friends who were part of the richest families in this town.
When the school day ended, I contemplated whether or not Dydan was going to come and pick me up. I walked past the halls and areas that were filled with nothing but piercing stares as guilt and embarrassment washed over me in heavy waves. All I wanted was to throw my arms around him, soothing me from all the pain and emotions from today's chaos. I feared that my selfishness and inconsiderate action to get him sick had finally changed his view of me for the worst, and that he had finally decided to just drop me as a friend and never speak to me again. But it wasn't just the fear of losing him as a friend that weighed heavily on my mind. I couldn't bear the thought of Dydan suffering through the same formidable fever that had left me bedridden.
As I made my way outside, I past right through the usual crowds of students until I got a familiar view of the usual spot where we'd meet. My eyes darted around after assessing such emptiness, standing around for a few more minutes, searching for any sign of him, until eventually having no such luck.
The lack of his presence weighed heavily on me as I tried to shake off the feeling of dread that was settling in my body, but it was hard.
With a wobbly lip and somber look on my face, I eventually tucked a curly strand of hair behind my ear and started my journey home by myself.
As I rounded a familiar corner, I suddenly heard a sound that made my heart skip a beat. "I'm so sorry for being late!" There he was, rushing towards me with a smile. A smile that flooded me with nothing but tender relief and warm comfort. "My parents were being a bi-" I immediately cut him off with an impactful hug, meeting my head right against his stomach.
"You came, and you're okay!" I shakily let out, my voice trembling with emotion. "You're really here."
"Just a tiny bit late-but yeah, I am." Dydan returned my hug tightly, burying me further into his clean and distinct scent that instantly put me at ease. "Why, what's wrong? Did you think I wasn't going to?"
"I thought I got you sick, I-I was so worried." I broke the hug to look at his handsome face that looked as radiant as ever. "I even thought you hated me, b-but you're here, and you look just fine."
"What!?" Dydan's brows instantly furrowed downward, as if my words sounded completely absurd to him. "I could never hate you, and of course I'm fine, I got a pretty strong immune system, you know."
"B-But this morning-you looked-" Dydan quickly interrupted me mid-sentence by changing the subject with a light touch against the side of my lip, tilting my head to the side for a closer inspection at the scar Joshua had given me.
"What happened here?" Dydan asked, his jaw clenched with concern.
"I got it from a fight." My voice was barely above a whisper as I shyly pulled myself away from his gentle touch that lingered on my skin.
"Wow." Dydan's plump lips widened into an impressed smile. "Did you kick their ass?"
"I wish." I dryly snorted. "I was barely even apart of the fight. I was more like, like fighter-adjacent." I spoke through his confusion.
"What do you mean?" His puzzled expression prompted me to explain.
"It was really more so Nikolai and his friend who was apart of it. I just so happened to be sitting with them at lunch when it all went down." I let out a solemn sigh and sniffed. "We all ended up getting detention except for the boys, and now I'm just hoping that the school doesn't get my dad involved."
Dydan was fuming, his fists clenched and his brow furrowed in frustration. "I just don't understand how everything they're doing to you is just being ignored! It's all so wrong, and they should be punished!"
I sighed, my heart heavy with the weight of my situation. "But they won't." I said softly. "They're parents practically own everything in this town."
It was true. I had been the victim of bullying and harassment for years, and nothing was ever going to change that. Those boys were the children of wealthy and influential families, and their parents had a stranglehold on the community. They could do no wrong in the eyes of the town's people, and I was powerless to stop them. All I could do now is just try to stick through high school until the very end.
The thick dark clouds announced its impending rain coming down in sheets with a booming thunderstorm as Dydan and I stood there, our eyes squinting up at the wet droplets beginning to pat down on our faces.
Dydan clicked his mouth before gesturing for me to ride him. "Come on, get on." He said with a grin. "I wouldn't want you to get sick again."
I didn't need much convincing as I threw him a bashful smile before obliging. I surrendered my legs to his incredible strength and my arms around his neck. The rain was cold and chilling, but the warmth of Dydan's body against mine made me feel at ease. As we rode on, the sound of the raindrops hitting the ground created a symphony around us. I couldn't help but notice how serene and beautiful the world looked in the rain. The trees and plants seemed to come alive, and the droplets on the leaves sparkled like diamonds. But Dydan, being the playful guy he was, couldn't resist occasionally splashing through the puddles or running off into the middle of the street to spin the both of us around. I held on tightly as we grew increasingly drenched by the water, laughing and shrieking like kids as if nothing else in the world mattered.
Once we reached our destination, I quickly hopped off of Dydan's back and lead him inside my house feeling nothing but exhilarated and alive. We filled every corridor and room with our childish laughter and dripping footprints until we stumbled right into my room in an attempt to rid ourselves from the cold wetness of the rain.
With every piece of wet clothing we helped each other strip off, we cracked jokes and shared funny gestures like Dydan getting his head stuck in his shirt or my pants almost tripping me over, only for my safety to be abruptly secured by his arms.
"Is that what you're wearing?" Dydan laughed at my boxer briefs for having a variety of cartoon animals on them.
"Y-Yeah." I let out a shy laugh as his question had caused a maelstrom of butterflies to emit in my stomach. "Do you like it?" I asked, while doing a spin for him.
"Hmm, come closer, let me see." Dydan gently pulls me in closer until my back is only a few inches away from touching against his chiseled chest. "Toddler undies." His deep voice whispered teasingly into my ear before pulling back the band of my briefs and playfully letting it go, making it snap back against my bare bottom.
I quickly scoffed with a humorously offended look. "Wha-no they're not! What are yours like?"
"Hmm, nothing special like yours." Dydan bit down on his lips as he stripped down his pants, exposing his boxier briefs that contained an immensely bulging silhouette that effortlessly strained against the fabric. "They're just plain." My eyes uncontrollably looked down and widened at the way the fabric accentuated his lean yet toned abs, an envious Adonis' belt, and his muscular thighs that sat just right beside his...thing.
I shook my head in attempts to tear my gaze away from his irritatingly glorious body and changed the subject by pulling onto his brief's waist band like he did with me, letting it go with a snap. "Just as I thought." I nervously teased right back with returned eye contact, failing to cleanse my mind off of the visual of what I had just seen and oddly couldn't stop thinking about.
"Can I use your shower?" Dydan asked innocently with a tilted head.
"Y-Yeah, um-it's just down the hall, to the left." I breathlessly replied before lending him a towel and some clothes.
Once I made sure that he was gone from the room, that's when I sat down on the edge of my bed, trying to catch my breath as I could feel the burning heat emanating from my body. It was as if my heart was trying to escape my chest with each abnormal pump. I tried my best to fight past all the involuntary thoughts that began to plague my mind. I fought past the wonder of how he would feel around my hands, against my lips, below my arched back, teasingly pressing right into me-stop, I need to stop this, it's disgusting, I'm disgusting.
I'm not into boys! I never have and never will! I like girls, pretty girls who are kind, smart, and funny, and who have gorgeous hazel eyes that coalesced perfectly with their soft dark hair, and tanned skin that beautifully draped right over their six-foot-something muscular body.
"Leone?" A cautious chirp suddenly cut me out of my train of thought, causing me to follow it with a panic-stricken glance just outside my room.
"W-What are you-I thought you were in the shower?" I weakly let out with a hiccup.
Dydan's cautious eyes scanned around my room before returning his gentle gaze right back into mine. "Well I was about to-and then I heard you start to cry-and, and I thought-"
"Oh god, I'm sorry." I rapidly wiped away my tear soaked face, tucking all of my feelings deep inside-hiding it all away in attempts to be normal.
I just wanted to be normal.
Dydan rushed towards me with a solemn look on his face, his gaze painted with such a gorgeous hue of kindness and genuine sweetness, a sight very much like honey that I would attempt to reach out and taste only if I was able to. "What's wrong?" He asked, sitting right beside me.
"It's my secret." I sniffed, shakily looking down at my clasped hands. "I-I thought I-I could keep it until I could forget about it, I thought maybe it would pass, but I'm afraid I'm bad at keeping secrets Dydan."
"It's okay, Leone," he gently brushed his hand against my cheek, holding it with reverence, tenderness, and affection that simultaneously spoke and unearthed something within me—something refusing to listen to my mind, which screamed he wasn't to be trusted, would hurt me, and was the enemy. "I'm here. I'm here for you." A small part of myself accepted his touch, resisting the majority of my inner saboteur. That small part desperately wanted him to hold me forever and never let go.
"I'm sorry; this is so embarrassing." I felt like I was losing my mind as I faintly laughed into the air.
"Here." Dydan leaned further into me, wrapping his hand around my freezing one. "How about you join me? I got the water running, so it should be all nice and warm now."
"A-Are you sure?" I weakly muttered, my tone dripping in disbelief, yet with a slight tinge of yearning. The idea of being unapologetically close with him in a way I had never imagined before filled my body with warmth and butterflies.
"I am, only if that's something you'd be comfortable with, of course." Dydan matched my tone while waving off his intense gaze with a meek head shake.
I nodded, and Dydan helped me get out of bed carefully, as if I were a small child. Shakily, I stood up, holding onto his arm as if it were the only thing tethering me to the world he had made much more beautiful for me.
The steam rose all around us, creating a thick mist that enveloped our naked bodies as we got into the shower. The warm water cascaded right over our bodies as the scent of soap filled the air. For me, sharing a shower with Dydan was more than just a physical experience. It was an emotional one, a moment of vulnerability and trust that brought us closer together as I could feel all of my doubts, fears, and insecurities wash down the drain. And it wasn't just the shower that was doing the trick-it was Dydan. I felt a shiver run down my spine, plastering a shy sheepish smile out of blissful relaxation as he reached out for the soap and glided his hands over every inch of my body with a delicate touch, until finally reaching my hair to massage it and lather it with soap.
"Dydan?" I let out a soft moan as all traces of tension, knot, and pain had been completely vanished from my body.
"Leone?" He chuckled, enjoying the effect he had on me.
"I think I'm ready to tell you my secret now, but can you promise me one thing?"
"Of course, what is it?"
"Promise me you won't hate me after I tell you?" I weakly melted right against him, causing my fingers to gently land on his chest for balance as his hands had no other choice but to hold onto my waist.
"I promise." He breathed, our lips almost an inch away from touching one another.
"I-I think I'm-" I slowly looked up at him, watching every drop of warm water hold onto the edge of his think dark lashes that embraced the intensity in his deeply alluring hazel eyes. "I think I'm-" I couldn't help but feebly stutter as a thousand flashes of all the disastrous events that could possibly happen after this confession took over my body and mind.
"What? What is it Leone?" Dydan's deep voice was filled with so much care and attention for me as he gently wiped away any obstruction from my face, looking at it in such a way that I knew nobody else ever will.
"I think I'm gay."
Without any words uttered in response, Dydan's lips met mine in a soft, delicate dance, sending warmth through me that whispered promises of him staying with me forever.
AAAAAHHHHHH
BEEE WHOO YOUUU AREEEEE
FOR YOUR PRIDEEEEEEEEE
I'm so proud of Leone honestly. He has come such a long way from Chapter One. My heart melts at how Dydan makes him feel so safe and cared for that he's able to show his true vulnerability around him and only him!
I love these two :(
It would be a shame if.....