TW: Domestic Violence/Physical & Verbal Abuse
z a c h
"What are your plans for this weekend?" Kaden, my best friend, asks me as he slides in the seat beside me on Tuesday morning.
"I don't think I have any...why?" I reply, looking up at him.
"My parents had tickets to go to San Diego this weekend, but something came up--I think someone died--and they gave me the tickets and said I could take a friend. We'd leave at 3:30 on Thursday morning to go to the airport and we'd come back on Sunday evening. Do you think your parents would let you go?"
"They might...I can ask them tonight."
"Tell them if you don't go, I'll be very lonely and sad."
"Ok...I'll ask them tonight."
"Hey, Mom?" I ask shortly after getting home from school.
"You can go, Zach," she says, not looking up from making dinner.
"Wait...really?!"
"Yes, but be safe. You will text me when you get there, every night before bed, every morning when you wake up, and before you board the plane to come home."
"Alright. Deal! Thank you, Mom!!"
I turn around and run up the stairs to my bedroom and pull my suitcase out of my closet and start packing.
"What'd she say???" Kaden asks me the next morning before first period.
"She said I could go!!" I say.
Kaden beams at me. "You'll need to stay over tonight, though, so we can get to the airport."
"Okay, I've already packed most of my stuff, did you drive today?"
"Yeah."
"I didn't, can you take me home after school so I can get my stuff?"
"Yep."
"How long is the flight?"
"About four hours, because we're flying out of Charleston (South Carolina)."
"Bye, Mom," I say, hugging her.
"Bye, honey, be safe!" She says, hugging me again. "Have fun, and BE SAFE!"
"We will, Mom!"
"Kaden, look after my baby," she says, addressing Kaden.
"I will!"
"Call me if you need anything!"
"We will. Bye, Mom. I love you!"
"I love you too, sweetie! BE SAFE and have fun!"
As we back out of the driveway, she comes running out of the house and I'm 99.9999999% sure she's mouthing the words 'be safe'.
I'm laying in Kaden's bed, a pillow in between us when I look at the clock. 2:03 AM. We've gotta be up in 27 minutes. I sigh softly. Kaden rolls over, still sleeping. He kicks the pillow in his sleep and rolls over onto me, pressing up against my body. I gasp quietly, feeling the warmth and weight of his body against me. He grabs my arm and wraps it around him, lacing his fingers through mine, and I'm sure he's awake now. I consider saying his name softly, but he lets out a soft snore. I close my eyes and drift back off to sleep. I wake up 20 minutes later, being shaken by Kaden, who's leaning over me.
"Wake up, sleepyhead." He says, yawning. I roll over and fall off the bed and hear Kaden burst out laughing. I sit up.
"I'm fine, thanks for asking," I say.
He looks at me, still shaking with laughter.
We grab our stuff from the back of Kaden's mom's car and head into the airport after saying bye. We check-in and go to Starbucks to get coffee and breakfast. After getting our coffee and sandwiches, we head to the waiting area and eat. It's 3:22 when we sit down, but 3:30 approaches quickly. Soon, we're filing on to the plane and finding our seats. Kaden gives me the window seat and sits down beside me, buckling up and pulling his blanket out of his carry-on and yawning.
I fall asleep almost immediately after take-off, and again, get shaken awake by Kaden.
"We're about to land. We need to get our rental car," he says quietly. I stifle a yawn and nod at him. We file off the plane and go get our rental car.
"I vote we take a nap once we get to the hotel," I say yawning widely once we've gotten our rental car. "And then when we wake up, we can explore."
"I like that idea...it's currently 7:48 back home, but since it's different time zones, it's 4:48 here," he says.
We check into the hotel and head up to the fifth floor to our hotel room.
"Since my parents booked this, there's only one bed," he says on the way up to the room. I shrug and look at him. I'm suddenly overcome with so much emotion--toward him. I shake my head, trying to shake the feelings off, but they're still there. He unlocks the door with the key and the door opens. We walk in and put our bags on the floor. He walks over and falls on the bed, but I go in the bathroom, shutting the door and looking at myself in the mirror.
Snap out of it, Zach! I tell myself. But my heart only beats faster, my nervousness increasing. I groan quietly and mentally curse.
Why now? Why when we get on the other side of the country?? I walk out of the bathroom, trying to make it look like nothing is wrong. He looks up at me as I walk out and collapse on the bed beside him.
"So...what do you want to do when we wake up after lunch?" I ask him.
"I was thinking we could go down to the beach since it's right there, and then go to dinner and go shopping? And then tomorrow, we could go to SeaWorld and the Zoo? And then Saturday, there's a Baja California Coastal tour that was booked."
"Sounds good to me! Are we going shopping before or after dinner? I would suggest after dinner because taking bags into the restaurant might not be that good of an idea--"
He cuts me off by pressing his lips against mine. I close my eyes and pull him on top of me, pulling him down closer to me, feeling his body press against mine. His lips move against mine quickly, perhaps too quickly, but even though it's messy, it's something I don't ever want to end. I put my hands on his waist, wrapping my arms around him and inclining up into the kiss. He breaks the kiss and moves his lips down my neck gently, moving back to my lips moments later. I put a hand on the back of his neck and run my fingers through his hair. He pulls away and tips his head against mine. I keep my eyes closed a few seconds longer, savoring the feeling of his lips that had been against mine. When I open my eyes, he meets my gaze and studies at me. He doesn't say anything; he leans closer and touches his lips to mine.
"Lay down," he says quietly, looking at me.
I look up at him through my eyelashes as he pushes me further back onto the bed. His hands rest on my waist as he still rests on top of me, snaking up my body and reaching my face to press his lips against mine. I cup his face but move them quickly to his waist. He breaks the kiss to look at me and mutters the word 'don't'. I look at him, confused.
He grabs my hands and pins them above my head, lacing his fingers through mine. He releases my hands and moves his hands back to my waist. Our lips move together in sync. I move my hands again, and he pins them back without breaking the kiss.
"Let me treat you right," he whispers, almost seductively.
I take a deep breath and look at him. He presses his lips to mine again, his body pressing against mine. I savor the feeling of his lips and his body on mine.
I wake up at 12:01 PM to Kaden staring at me.
"Good morning," he says in a soft, sing-song voice. I begin to think the previous events were just a dream until he leans over and kisses me. I grab his face as I kiss him back, smiling against his lips and feeling him smile back.
We begrudgingly get out of bed and change our clothes, going down to the lobby to get some lunch. After eating, we head back up to the room to put on swimming trunks and walk out to the beach, where, one second of being in the water, I nearly get knocked over and get in the head with a beach ball five minutes later. Kaden laughs and I look at him with a raised eyebrow.
"What??" he asks me.
"You better watch, it'll happen to you next," I say.
He rolls his eyes at me, and lo and behold, twenty seconds later a wave comes and nearly knocks him down, a beach ball flying at his head as he rights himself.
"I told you," I say in a sing-song voice.
"Oh, aren't you just a know-it-all?" he says.
"Why, yes, yes I am. Thank you for noticing!"
He laughs and rolls his eyes at me walking towards me.
Kaden comes towards me with sand all over his hands, trying to kiss me and I take off running towards the hotel. Washing off my feet before running into the hotel lobby and running up the stairs, looking behind me to see Kaden still standing at the place where you wash your feet off. I reach the fifth floor and run into our room, running into the bathroom, standing in the doorway and waiting for him to come into the room. He comes into the room a few seconds later, looking confused. I grab him and pull him into me, pressing our lips together. He holds me close and kisses back gently, leaning into the kiss. I smile against his lips again, feeling his lips spread into a smile against mine.
After we take turns showering, we head out to dinner at Rudford's Restaurant, a 'Circa-1949 spot with old-timey decor & booth seating serves classic diner fare around the clock' according to the Google description, and then heading over to Seaport Village to do some shopping.
We get back to the hotel around 9:30. I lean against the wall, waiting for him to unlock the door.
"Dibs on the bathroom," he says as he opens the door and sets his stuff down, going in the bathroom and shutting the door. He comes out a few minutes later and looks at me sitting on the bed.
"What are we?" I ask him.
"What do you mean?" he asks.
"Like are we dating? Or are we just friends?"
"You know there's no way on earth that we're 'just friends' after earlier," he tells me, looking at me.
"What are you saying then?" I ask him as he comes close to me, grabbing my hands, climbing on my lap and pushing me back on the bed, kissing my lips hard.
"I'm saying," he says pulling away from the kiss, leaning his head against mine. "That you're mine."
He kisses me again. "And I want people to know," he says.
His lips are on mine again and our lips are moving against each other slowly. He pulls away, slowly this time.
"Update your status," he says. "Post it on social media," Another kiss. "I want people to know you're not free." I wrap my arms around him and pull him down to me for another kiss.
"I love you," he says, pulling away and leaning his head against mine. "I really do,"
I look at him through my eyelashes. "I love you too," I whisper, almost silently. He kisses me softly.
Kaden and I are under the covers of the hotel bed, the TV turned on. I'm leaned against him, scrolling through Facebook when I gasp suddenly. He looks up from his scrolling.
"What?" he asks.
"I forgot to update my status!" I say.
He looks at me, a smile spreading across his face as he tips my chin up and kisses my lips.
I go to my relationship status and change it from 'Single' to 'In A Relationship with Kaden Campbell'. At the same time, Kaden changes his from 'single' to 'In A Relationship with Zach Taylor'.
The next morning, we leave the hotel around 9:30 AM after eating breakfast and go to SeaWorld first. We spend about four hours there and then head to the zoo, where we spend four or five hours. By then, it's around 7:00 PM when we get back to the hotel. We order food in, Kaden going down to the lobby to get it and head down to the beach after eating for a walk.
After we've been walking for about thirty minutes or so, Kaden stops me and turns me around to face him. I look at him confusedly; he leans in and presses his lips against mine lightly, cupping my face gently.
It's 9:21 PM when we get back to our hotel room, and we take turns taking showers. When I come out of the bathroom after showering, Kaden looks up at me, having already showered, and smiles. I put my dirty clothes in a plastic bag in my suitcase and walk over to the bed, falling beside him. He turns to me and kisses me softly.
"Today was fun," I say. "But I'm tired,"
"Me too," he says softly.
We fall asleep about twenty minutes or so later, waking up at 7:30 the next morning so we can eat breakfast and head to the tour we're supposed to be taking.
We drive around, stopping at several places and return back to the hotel at 8:30 that night.
"I don't want to go home tomorrow," I whine turning to look at Kaden.
"Me either," he says. "What's wrong?" He notices that I've just gone silent.
"What are people going to say?"
"About us? Who cares."
"What about our parents? What if I get kicked out?" I ask, feeling close to tears.
"Do you really think that would happen?" he asks me, rubbing my arm.
"I wouldn't put it past my father,"
"Listen, Zach, don't worry about it, okay? I love you, and it's going to be okay. If you need me, you know how to reach me, okay? Text me or call me, okay?"
I nod and look away from him as a tear rolls down my cheek. He tips my chin up and wipes the falling tear with his thumb.
"It's going to be okay," he says softly, wiping away another tear and pressing his lips to mine.
Our flight the next day lands at 3:00 PM South Carolina time, 12:00 PM San Diego time.
I look at Kaden. "I'm scared," I tell him as we file off the plane.
"It's going to be okay," he says, brushing a piece of hair from my face.
I shake my head. Since we only brought carry on-size suitcases, we don't need to go to the baggage claim.
"I'm going to the bathroom," I say quickly, suddenly feeling like I'm going to cry and throw up at the same time. Kaden calls my name as I walk away, running behind me. He squeezes in the stall before I can close the door. I look at him.
"Zach, it's going to be okay, I promise," he says to me. I shake my head as a tear rolls down my cheek. He pulls me into his arms and hugs me tightly, rubbing my back.
Kaden's mom picks us up from the airport, smiling brightly and congratulating us. When we pull up in front of my house, Kaden turns to me and squeezes my hand.
"Call me if you need me," he says as I get out of the car and kisses me goodbye.
TW: Domestic Violence/Physical & Verbal Abuse
I walk in the house and I'm immediately met with yelling.
"What do you think you're doing? Dating a boy?!" My father shouts at me. "I didn't raise no gay boy! You're a disgrace!"
I feel tears sting my eyes. My mom walks in the room, an apologetic look on her face, but she doesn't do anything. My father walks over to me and slaps me, then punches me. My mom just stands there as watches, as he proceeds to hit me and yell at me.
"There!" My father says, finishing off his beating with a hard kick at my knees, causing me to fall to the floor and leading to him kicking my face, I feel blood spurt out of my nose. "Maybe that will fix you!"
I watch as he walks away and as my mom comes running to me.
"Don't touch me!" I shout. "You just stood there and watched it happen! You didn't do anything!"
"Honey, I-" she begins.
"NO! NO! Don't touch me! You just stood there and let him do that!"
I push myself up off the floor as best as I can, and open the front door, slamming it behind me, grabbing my bags and walking to my car. I realize all of my tires are flat and the driver's side window is punched in. I feel tears start to stream down my face, no doubt mixing with the blood from my nose. I dial Kaden's phone number.
"How'd it go?" comes his voice through the speaker.
I try to say something, but all that comes out is a sob.
"Zach?" he asks, the panic rising in his voice.
I keep trying to talk, but nothing comes out, just sobs and I hang up. I lean against my car and sit down in the driveway, crying and feeling the pain from where he hit and kicked me. My nose still pouring blood.
I put my head in my lap, looking up around ten minutes later when I hear a car pull in the driveway and realize my nose has stopped pouring blood. Kaden gets out of the car and comes over to me. I put my head back down. I can't look at him like this.
"Zach? What happened?" he asks.
I don't look up at him. He tips my chin up and pulls me to my feet. He gasps.
"Did he do this?" he asks me.
I nod. "She just stood there and watched!" I manage to say. "An-and my car-- the tires are slashed and the driver's side window is smashed."
Kaden's face shines with anger. "Come on, I'm taking you home with me." He says, helping me to the car. The drive to his house is silent.
Kaden helps me in the house, and his mom looks up with a smile on her face, but it disappears when she sees me.
"Kaden, take him upstairs to the bathroom. I'll be right there." His mom says. Kaden gently guides me up the stairs to the bathroom and lifts me onto the counter. I lay my head on his shoulder, starting to cry again.
"This is all my fault!" He says. "I told you to post it! I told you to go home!"
"NO! No, Kade, it's not your fault, please don't think that!" I say through my tears.
He looks at me. "It's totally--"
"No, it's not, Kaden." His mom says, coming in the bathroom with a bag of ice, and some washcloths. "I called the police, Zach."
I nod, feeling more tears streaming down my face.
"Kaden, you wipe off his face, I'm going to look at his stomach. She lifts my shirt up and reveals some scratches. She disappears and reappears a few seconds later with rubbing alcohol and bandages. Kaden wets the washcloth and starts to wipe the blood from my face as I press the ice pack to my eye. His mom cleans off the blood and scratches from my stomach and puts bandages on them.
Kaden guides me to his bedroom gently and helps me to lay down in his bed. The swelling on my eye has gone down, and I've switched from ice to heat. Kaden sits down beside me.
"I'm so sorry," he says, looking at me.
"It's not your fault," I say. He looks at me and opens his mouth, but I shake my head.
"Don't," I say. "Don't blame yourself. Come here,"
He comes closer and looks at me.
"Kiss me," I tell him. And he leans down over me and presses his lips against mine softly, making sure to be gentle. I kiss him back slowly, feeling the presence of his hand in mine.
"I love you," I whisper when he pulls away. "Thank you,"
"I love you too, but why are you thanking me?" he asks.
"For taking me to San Diego. For loving me. For being here for me. And for letting me stay here."
"You're my boyfriend, and you can stay here as long as you want. You can stay here until graduation and then we can move in together."
"I'm certainly not going home for a while," I whisper.
"I don't want you too," he whispers back, leaning over and pressing his lips against mine again. I smile against the kiss, and he smiles back, making me smile even bigger.
12/14/19