Race swiped open the newest Snapchat from Albert and when he read the message, his heart dropped to his stomach.
Albert DaSilva: Hey is there a time for us to meet up and talk?
Ever since his 18th birthday, Albert has been off; dancing around questions and getting nervous whenever Race tried to look at his phone. Race tried to shrug it off, telling himself that it was nothing, Albert was just dealing with some things. But, in his heart, Race knew there was something else going on.
Race Higgins: yeah sure. want me to come pick you up?
Race didn't bother waiting for a response, knowing that Albert would say yes, and he grabbed his Adidas sandals and hopped in his car, making his way slowly to the other boys house that Race was starting to know like his own.
Pulling into the driveway, he found Albert already sitting on his front steps, waiting for him, and that calmed his beating heart a little bit. Leaning in for a kiss when Albert got into Race's car, Albert blushed. "Hey,"
"Hey you, what's going on?" Race signed with one hand, rubbing circles on Albert's hand with his other.
"Can we go somewhere? Like Starbucks? And talk. Nothing's wrong, per se, I just need to run something by you." Albert bit his lip and Race mentally groaned, knowing that the moment wasn't meant for pinning Albert to the passenger seat and kissing the red head until he was breathless.
Silently, Race backed his old Chevy Malibu out of Albert's driveway and drove to the nearest Starbucks, keeping his right hand on Albert's. Walking in, Albert went to order their drinks as Race went to find a table to sit at. Albert silently came over, pressing the iced drink into Race's hand and sat across from his younger boyfriend.
"So I don't know how you're gonna take this," Albert started off slowly, not meeting eyes with Race, opting to stare down at his coffee cup. "But I've been doing some research. About something called a cochlear implant. It's a device that would help me hear. It wouldn't be perfect, and I'd have to go through a bunch of tests to see if my damaged nerves would even respond to it before even being considered for the major surgery but," he paused, looking at Race who was staring back at him intently, an unreadable expression across his face. "I think I want to try it. I just wanted to know what you think about it."
Race reached over, grabbing his boyfriends hand, a soft smile on his face before pulling back and signing animatedly to him. "If that's something you wanna try, I think you should. I'll be behind you supporting you no matter what happens, Albert. You know that."
In that moment, Albert wanted to lean across the table and kiss the blond boy, telling him that he loved him but, those words haven't been spoken yet and Albert didn't want to scare Race away. So he smiled and grabbed Race's hand, pressing a kiss to the top of the soft skin. "Thank you,"
"Here I was worried that you were cheating on me," Race's laugh shook his shoulders and Albert couldn't help but wonder, not for the first time, what Race's laugh sounded like; what his voice sounded like. "But all you were doing was researching something. Next time, warn a fella so he doesn't get so scared."
Albert smiled, moving his chair so he was sitting next to Race at the round table instead of sitting across from him, and he leaned his head on Race's shoulder, just taking in the peacefulness of being in his boyfriends arms.