Feeling the warm sunshine on my face, I ever so slowly opened my eyes to smile. So that wasn't a dream, I thought while seeing the sleeping face of Wes next to me. His dark hair was sprawled out across his forehead, making me slowly move it off to the side. He seemed so peaceful while he was sleeping, if only things were this easy when he was awake.
Snuggling back into his chest, I yawned while closing my eyes. When I was finally almost asleep, the annoying sound of my phone woke me up. Groaning, I reached over and answered without looking at it.
"Hello?" I sleepily asked.
"Honey, do you still need all these baking and cooking books?"
Frowning, I slowly turned over before sitting on the side of the bed. "Mom, is that you?"
"Of course! What other female would be calling you this early in the morning? Unless... oh my. Noah honey, are you bi-curious? Did you just never tell me you were into girls? Do you have a girlfriend?"
Sweet baby Jesus. "Oh my god Mom. I'm not bi, I'm gay. I've never been into girls and I never will."
She sighed while some thumping noises were heard in the background. "That's good to hear. You know, women are so drama filled. I'd rather have a son-in-law. Anyway, how about these old books?"
"What are you talking about?" I asked while running my free hand over my tired face.
"I'm starting to clean out your room."
"Why? Are you that eager to get me out of the house? Geez Mom, I've only been in college for a few months."
She heavily sighed, my dad's voice now muffled in the background. "You know that is not true at all Noah. I love you more than anything and I'd love for you to stay here forever. But I know you're getting older and one day you'll own that bakery of yours. And I'm not getting rid of everything, just making room."
"Making room? For what?"
"Your father and I are taking up marble collecting!"
Rolling my eyes, I slowly laid back down onto the bed. "You're going to put marbles into my room?"
"Just wait until you see it! Come on over today and I'll show you."
"Mom, I don't know if I can just find a ride-"
"Oh dear, I think your dad just fell on a marble. Man that was hilarious! See you later honey, love you."
With that she hung up, making me roll my eyes again before chucking the phone onto my desk. I yawned again before looking up, instantly seeing blue eyes. Wes was staring at me with a sleepy expression. "So your Mom thinks you're bi huh?"
I couldn't help but laugh as I rolled my eyes. "She's ridiculous. She also wants me to come over to see her new marble collecting room, which was my room. I'm not even gone a year and she's already rearranging my room. She wants me to come over later..." Biting my bottom lip, I looked away from those blue eyes and instead focused on his shirt. "Uhm... would you like to come with me?"
When he didn't respond, I looked up expecting to see him uncomfortable. Instead, he was staring at me with an unreadable expression. "Sure."
Smiling, I snuggled my face back into my pillow to see him still staring at me. My heart fluttered when he suddenly ran his fingers through my hair. "You... you have really nice hair."
"Thank you," I whispered while smiling at him. I closed my eyes when his thumb slowly ran over my cheek. Being with Wes felt so natural and just... right.
Opening my eyes again, I tried to control my heart while seeing those blue eyes. He was then leaning forward and gently placing his lips on mine. Wrapping my fingers into his hair, I pulled him closer as goosebumps spread across my entire body. When his lips slowly moved to my neck, I moaned while pulling him closer.
Just as things were starting to get heated, the door suddenly opened. My eyes instantly opened and I gasped while seeing Archie walk in, who looked just as surprised.
"Shit, sorry." He then covered his eyes while slowly backing away. "I didn't see anything, I swear."
Rolling my eyes, I couldn't help but smile while sitting up. I could feel Wes still laying behind me, his thumb slowly running circles over my hip.
"Nothing was happening, don't worry."
He still looked nervous as he walked further into the room. He then started gathering up different books before giving us a small wave.
"Bye," I said but frowned when he quickly rushed out of the room and shut the door. Groaning, I flopped down behind me, only to have my head land onto Wes' stomach. "He's probably freaked out."
Wes shrugged as he slowly ran his fingers through my hair. "He'll get over it. It's not like he walked in on something worse."
"True," I whispered while tilting my head into his strong hand. When I turned towards him, I tried not to let too many emotions spread across my face. I was so head over heals for this man, I didn't want to scare him away.
Slowly getting off the bed, I started looking through my closet before saying, "Need a toothbrush? I have an extra one."
After grabbing it, I turned around and gasped. Wes was standing directly behind me, his face lacking any sort of emotion. I watched as he slowly wrapped his long fingers around mine, before taking the toothbrush. "Thanks," he whispered as his fingers slowly ran over my hand.
Taking a deep breath, I had to close my eyes to calm myself down. When I was finally calm enough, I led Wes into the bathroom. Even though it felt weird to think, I actually liked doing the little things with him. It felt really nice to be simply brushing my teeth next to someone like him. I couldn't help the blush that was creeping onto my face when he then stood behind me. My eyes closed while feeling his face nuzzle close to my ear, his minty breath hitting my cheek.
"Thank you for the toothbrush," he whispered as his hands rested onto my hips.
Before I was able to respond, my heart dropped when I heard someone behind us say, "Can't you two fags go somewhere else to do that?"
Opening my eyes, I saw a guy glaring at us from the mirror. Wes instantly tensed, as he slowly turned around and pulled me behind him. "What did you just say?"
"Fags," the guy said while crossing his arms over his chest. "Are you that stupid? I shouldn't have to see you two while I come in here to do my business."
"Shouldn't have to see what? Two people who actually love each other? So if I was in here with a girl it wouldn't matter?" I gently placed my hands onto Wes' waist, when his voice sounded like pure anger. I couldn't see his face because he was so tall but I could tell he was pissed.
I slowly looked around his shoulder to see the guy laugh a humorless laugh. "Obviously, because guys are supposed to be with girls."
"Actually, it doesn't matter who someone is with. As long as they're happy."
"Oh go preach your liberal shit to someone who actually cares. Your little boy toy can't even stand up for himself," the guy said while suddenly glaring over at me.
I felt my body tense as I practically buried my face into Wes' shirt. I hated bullies, I wasn't too confident to begin with. When people start to be mean I can't really handle it, I'm used to just staying quiet. Sometimes if you stay quiet, they'll get bored and leave faster. Unfortunately, this guy didn't seem to appreciate that.
"Don't talk about him," Wes said while pulling my body closer behind his.
"What, is he too scared? Little chicken."
The guy then started to make chicken noises, which seemed to set Wes off. He pushed me back agaisnt the sinks before he punched the guy square in the jaw. The guy was able to get a punch in, before Wes shoved him against the bathroom door.
"Don't ever talk about him, or talk to him ever. I'll make you regret it." He then pushed the guy out of the bathroom, before instantly coming over to me. "Are you okay?"
I didn't say anything as I gently touched his jaw, where a small bruise was already forming. "I'm so sorry."
"No, don't apologize for him. I'm not ashamed of who I am, and will never back down to homophobic pricks."
Turning around, I grabbed a paper towel before getting it wet. I then gently placed it against his jaw as my body tensed. It was then that I realized that he said two people who love each other... does he love me?
"Noah?"
Do I love him? I care about him deeply, I mean I slept with him. Well, I guess that doesn't mean too much. Some people don't love the person they sleep with. But every time I'm around him, I get butterflies in my stomach and everything just feels right.
"Noah, are you okay?"
But what if he didn't really mean to say it? It could've just been said in the moment. He probably doesn't love me, does he? We haven't even been together for long, but I think I might be in love with him. What is love exactly?
I was brought out of my trance when blue eyes were looking at me with worry. Wes had bent down to my eye level, his hands slowly running up and down my arms. "Yeah?" I asked, my throat feeling very dry all of a sudden.
"Did that guy freak you out that much? He's just an asshole, don't let him get to you. You can't let narrow minded people like that get into your head. Okay?"
I slowly nodded while resting my head onto his chest. However, our little moment was interrupted when the bathroom door opened again. I instantly tensed when I heard, "Oh look, the two little queers are still here."
Looking behind Wes, I saw the guy from before with two more guys behind him. I'm going to die, I thought while my body started to shake with fear. Wes instantly turned around and stood in front of me, completely blocking the guys from my sight.
"What do you want?" Wes asked as I buried my fingers into his shirt.
"To get faggots like you out of our bathroom," a different voice said.
"Yeah, we don't want to walk in on your little tea parties. You'll probably be throwing glitter everywhere and shitting rainbows," another voice said.
Wes gave a hard laugh before saying, "Is that all you think gay men are? We're a lot different then you think. We're exactly like the three of you, except we happen to like men more."
"Which is what makes you disgusting. And we're going to make sure you never come back here again."
When Wes was suddenly ripped away, I instantly closed my eyes and sunk to the ground. I know I should probably help, but I'll admit that I'm a big baby. The bullies in high school used to throw me into lockers and mock me. Eventually they broke me, and I was actually ashamed of being gay. I thought that college would be different. I guess I was wrong.
Grunts and curse words were filling the bathroom, freaking me out even more. When footsteps were suddenly coming towards me, I tensed up and hid my face further into my hands. I tried not to scream when hands were then resting onto my arms, making me feel like such a loser. I should be able to stand up for myself.
"Noah."
Hearing Wes' voice, I looked up to instantly wrap my arms around his neck. I briefly opened my eyes to see the guys on the ground, all groaning while holding their faces. My eyes closed again when I felt him pick me up into his arms. When I looked around, I realized that he was taking me back to my room.
"How did you take those guys down?"
He gave me a small smile before placing me onto the bed. "I'm used to fighting off bullies."
"I should have helped you, I'm sorry. I can't handle bullies because they've always been there. I didn't mean to abandon you."
He was already shaking his head before I was even done talking. "No, you didn't abandon me. If you're not comfortable with something you shouldn't force yourself into it. You know, I liked being able to protect you. I've never been able to protect someone before, and I really like it. I want to protect you Noah, but I don't think that can happen here."
Raising my eyebrows, I slowly ran my thumb over his jaw. "What do you mean?" When he didn't respond, I instantly got worried. He wasn't looking at me, instead he was fidgiting with his pants. "Wes?"
"Nevermind. Come on," he suddenly said while standing up. "Your parents will start to worry."
Deciding not to pry, I got up and threw a sweatshirt over my head. I then followed Wes out towards his car, where we spent the ride in a peaceful silence. I still wasn't sure what he meant when he said he couldn't protect me here. What does that mean? Wait... does he want to live together?
I slowly looked over at him driving. He was holding the steering wheel with his right hand, while his left hand was resting under his chin. Those blue eyes of his were staring intently at the road, his dark messy hair curling around his ears. He seemed so mysterious, yet I didn't want to pry too much. I was afraid now that we were kind of a thing, that he would get bored and move on. I didn't want him to move on. Maybe if I showed him a lot of affection he wouldn't want to leave me?
When we finally pulled into my driveway, Wes parked behind my mom's bright pink Volkswagen Beetle. She had about a million bumper stickers all over the back, with flowers all over the other sides of her car. I frowned when I saw all of the happy equality stickers she had. I know she put them all over when I came out to her, but on the other hand I hated them.
After I came out to my parents, they were beyond supportive. They started wearing rainbow pins and buying me condoms, which was weird. But when the other people in my high school started to notice, they bullied me even more. Especially when they saw me get into a bright pink car after school, that was covered in equality stickers.
I wish I could've stood up to those bullies, but I guess I never will. One dream I've had is to adopt a few kids when I get older and settle down. If my son or daughter were to ever come out to me, I wouldn't want them to be afraid. I would want them to know that I support them no matter who they love. Maybe one day I'll get the kind of courage everyone else seems to have.
"Nice house," Wes said as he turned the car off.
My eyes isntantly glanced over to my childhood home. It was a cute one story brick house, with many colorful flowers out front. There was a white picket fence around the entire yard, where my mom planted every vegetable known to man.
Instead of responding, I quickly unbuckled my seatbelt and planted my lips onto his. I then crawled over to his lap, my ass hitting the steering wheel. Turning to the side, I quickly looked for the lever to lower his seat. When the seat lowered, I moved my lips to his neck and started to kiss up and down the skin.
I gently kissed his Adam's apple, as his hands slid up my thighs and landed on my ass. Returning my lips to his, I tangled my fingers into his thick hair while feeling his hands on my lower back. Just as my head was starting to get cloudy with desire, a knock on the window made me squeak and move away.
I felt my cheeks heat up when I looked over to see my mom happily smiling as she waved. "Fuck," I whispered while lowering the window. "Hi mom."
"Hi boys. Sorry to interrupt, but is anyone hungry? I'm making up a batch of cookies but I could make some food."
"No, we're fine," I said while rolling the window back up. "We'll be right in."
"Okay you two!"
As she walked away I couldn't help but groan. "That was the most embarrassing thing ever."
Wes chuckled as those blue eyes glanced up at me. "I'm not the one who decided to get frisky."
"Sorry," I whispered while staring down at his shirt. "You're just super attractive."
His large hand was then tilting my head up, so I was looking into his eyes again. "So are you."
He then leaned forward and gently kissed my lips. When I slowly pulled back, I kept my eyes closed while my nose nuzzled his face. "Maybe we should move in together," he suddenly whispered.
My eyes instantly opened as I pulled back. "What?"
Wes looked nervous as his hands tightened on my thighs for a moment before relaxing. "It's just... after what happened in the bathroom, it unsettles me. I don't want you to get hurt. I have some extra money, we can find a small apartment right outside campus."
"You really want to live with me? But what about getting too close and all that?"
He sighed before looking away. "I just feel different when I'm with you Noah." Those blue eyes looked back over at me before he said, "I've never felt this way about someone before. I'm not really sure about these feelings. I don't want you to be in danger. So... uhm what do you say?"
A smile spread across my face as I started to nod. I meant to tell him that sounded like a good idea, but instead I said, "I love you."
My eyes instantly got wide as I felt my cheeks heat up. Wes also seemed pretty shocked, since his body tensed under mine. "Oh god," I muttered while trying to open the door. "I... I'm sorry."
When I finally got the door open, I basically fell out onto the driveway. I then ended up running inside, feeling like I was going to throw up. How could I say that? He probably doesn't want to live with me anymore. Shit, I thought while running around to the back door. Leaning against the brick, I tried to catch my breath while feeling like an idiot. This day sucks.