Chapter 40
I looked back and forth between the two dress shirts laid out on my bed, trying to decide which one I should wear to the school dance tonight. I've never been to a school dance before, let alone any kind of dance so I didn't even know which one I should wear.
Maybe I shouldn't even go to the school dance. It was probably going to be extremely crowded, and I hated crowds.
But... I wanted to start getting out of my comfort zone. Not only that, but this was the last school dance before Jerome graduated. Well, there was prom too but I was only a sophomore so I probably wouldn't be able to go.
I continued to stare at the two shirts before deciding to wear the one I liked the most. I shouldn't worry about what I should wear at the dance. I should just wear what I liked the most.
So I went with my yellow dress shirt, since I loved the colour yellow. It always made me feel happy and joyful, which was definitely something I needed recently.
I mean, I have actually been happy, a lot more happy, than I was at the start of the year, but there was nothing wrong with trying to be as happy as I could be.
Once I was dressed, I hesitated before heading downstairs where Jerome was already waiting. It didn't take him long to get ready so he decided to wait downstairs with me so, in his words, he wouldn't make me feel uncomfortable because he would just be checking me out.
I mean, I wouldn't be uncomfortable by it but I would definitely feel very flustered.
I was flustered too easily...
When I got downstairs, Jerome looked up from his phone and smiled at me. "You look... amazing."
I looked down at my outfit before looking back at Jerome. "It's just clothes..."
"Yeah, I know," Jerome said, walking closer to me and placing his hands on both sides of my face. "But you always look amazing."
I smiled as he leaned down and pressed his lips on mine. It felt so good not trying to hide my relationship with him anymore. I wasn't trying to hide who I really was. I was just being me. I was happy. Genuinely happy.
"Oh, I have to take a picture of you two before you leave," Mom said.
I pulled away from Jerome and looked over at Mom, who was getting the camera ready on her phone. "What? No, you don't. This isn't prom or anything."
"Yes, I know," Mom said. "But it's your first school dance."
"Still not a big deal," I said.
"Oh, shush," Mom said. "Just let me take the picture."
I knew Mom was going to stop asking until she actually took my and Jerome's picture, so I let it happen. After all, it was good to know she was happy for me and supported my relationship with Jerome.
After my mom took a few dozen photos, Jerome and I finally left the house to head to the school dance. We were a bit late to the dance because it took me a while to figure out what I was going to wear, but Jerome assured me it was fine to be late. Rarely anyone showed up on time.
"Is what I'm wearing good enough for the dance...?" I asked.
"Yeah, of course it is," Jerome said. "The theme is Summer in the Spring, and what you're wearing definitely fits the theme. Even then, not everyone follows the theme of the dance. Also, I know you're iffy about crowds so if you ever want to leave the dance, just tell me."
I smiled at him. "I will."
The school dance was taking place in one of the gymnasiums and it really was a bit crowded. Not too crowded that would make me feel extremely anxious as soon as I walked in. Just enough to make me feel a tiny bit iffy about being here.
But I wanted to have fun so I was going to try my hardest to ignore the crowd.
Which was kind of hard to do when I saw Jerome's old friends walk into the gymnasium. Jerome noticed them too so he said, "Don't worry. They won't do anything to us."
"What makes you so sure?" I asked.
"Well, they haven't done anything recently," Jerome said. "Not since they outed us, at least. They can't really do anything else to us so let's just focus on us having fun. Enjoying the night together. I guarantee you'll have a lot of fun tonight as long as you're with me."
"So long as you don't say anything that will make me flustered," I said.
"Yeah, we know that's not going to happen," Jerome said. He kissed my cheek before pulling me to the dance floor so we could have some fun at the school dance. I was a bit hesitant to dance with him because of the crowd but eventually, I just let loose and I was having the time of my life.
Eventually, I was getting a bit exhausted so Jerome and I found a table to sit down at. The chairs looked a bit too uncomfortable for me, since they were just metal chairs, so I sat down on Jerome's lap once he sat down.
"Ooh, someone's getting brave," Jerome said.
"Shut up..." I muttered. "Th-the chairs are just u-uncomfortable..."
"Hey, I'll take whatever excuse," Jerome said, kissing my cheek. "So are you having fun tonight?"
"I actually am," I said. "Which is a good thing. I didn't want my first and only school dance to be a waste of my time."
"Only?" Jerome asked. "Why only?"
"Well... You're graduating soon," I said. "This is the last school dance before you graduate."
"There's actually one more," Jerome said.
"Prom," I said. "But I'm a sophomore."
"And anyone is allowed as long as they're a guest of a senior. Meaning you're allowed to come if you're my date so... Want to come to prom with me?"
"...Seriously?"
"Yeah, seriously."
I smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, okay."
Jerome smiled back before pressing his lips on mine. I smiled back as I kissed Jerome, wrapping my arms around his neck. It just felt so good being free. Being who I was.
After a few moments when my energy was regained, we got back on the dance floor, having the time of our lives. I didn't even care that Jerome's old friends were here, probably glaring us down. They weren't happy that Jerome was happy with me, but that was their loss. If they couldn't accept Jerome for who he was, then there was no use giving them a second thought.
The school dance was a few hours long but eventually, I didn't think I could be here anymore. Even more people were showing up, as late as ever. I didn't want to tell Jerome I wanted to leave, but he was able to sense it.
"Come on," he said, pulling me towards the exit. "Let's go. You look like you've had enough."
"Yeah," I said. "I did have fun, though. A lot of fun. Thanks for that."
Jerome smiled. "Anything for you."
We got into his car and he started it up. As he pulled out of the school parking lot, he said, "Hey, so my parents are out of town for a week for a business trip. Is it okay if we swing by my house so I could pick up a few more clothes and stuff? I don't want to forget to do it, and I would really rather not do it when my parents are home."
"Yeah, of course," I said. "Have you talked to either of your parents yet?"
Jerome hesitated. "No. Not yet. I'm waiting for them to contact me first. They know that I'm gay now so if they want to choose to support me, then they need to prove it by not waiting for me to make the first move."
"That's... fair," I said. "I'm sorry. About how all that went down."
"It is what it is," Jerome said. "At least I don't have to hide who I am anymore."
Jerome pulled into the driveway of his house, his huge house, and turned off his car. "You... You live here?" I asked as I looked out the windshield.
"I do," Jerome said, taking off his seatbelt. "Do you want to come with me or do you want to just wait here?"
"I'll come," I said, taking off my seatbelt before the two of us got out of the car. "I don't really like waiting in cars. In the dark. Scary things happen."
"Scary things like...?" Jerome asked as we walked towards the front door of his house.
"I wouldn't know," I said. "Like I said, I don't wait in cars in the dark. I just know that scary things happen."
Jerome chuckled. "You're cute."
Jerome unlocked the front door before the two of us walked inside. He turned on the light, and I looked around the foyer. Despite being a huge house, it kind of seemed... empty. While the house was decorated with some seemingly priceless artifacts, that was all that decorated the house. Nothing that made it seem like a family home; no pictures, no keepsakes, nothing.
"It shouldn't take long to get my stuff," Jerome said as I followed him up the stairs. "I do have a lot of clothes already. I just wanted to pick up a few more sweaters because someone keeps stealing mine."
"Okay, but in my defence, I'm smaller than you so anything I wear that's yours is oversized," I said. "And oversized clothes are extremely comfy for me."
"Again, why I need to get more clothes because you keep stealing mine," Jerome said, opening one of the doors in the hallway. "And I can't wear your clothes when I run out because I won't fit in them."
"We get it. I'm small."
"Nolan, you... You literally just called yourself smaller than me. You can't get mad if I say the same thing. Now, make yourself at home. I won't take long."
I sat down on Jerome's bed, looking around the room. Unlike the rest of the house, this one actually felt like it was part of a home. Jerome had pictures pinned to a bulletin board, trophies sitting on his dressers, and posters pinned up all over the room. It felt comfortable.
Jerome looked around his room before he found a bag to put some of his clothes and other belongings in. "I don't want to bring up a sensitive issue for you," I said. "But... Do you miss living here?"
Jerome stopped putting clothes into the bag for a few moments before continuing. "Admittedly, I do. But at the same time... It doesn't feel like home for me. My parents go out of town a lot for business trips so I actually got used to being here alone. That's why I used to throw a lot of parties. I didn't like being alone in this big house."
"I'm sorry," I said.
"Don't be," Jerome said. "It's fine. Really. I was planning on moving out sooner or later. I just... need to find a more stable job or at least pick up more hours at the dance studio. And that will be a lot easier once I graduate high school."
"I'm going to miss you when you graduate," I said. "I basically started interacting with you on my first day of school. It's... going to be weird not seeing you around there."
Jerome zipped up the bag and placed it on the floor. "Well, you don't have to worry about that for a few more months when you start your junior year. And in the meantime..." He gave me a lingering kiss. "You can't get rid of me that easily."
I smiled softly at him before I pressed my lips back onto his. My arms reached up and wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer to me. It was a bit hard to get closer with Jerome standing by the bed, so he climbed onto the bed, hovering over me.
We've kissed like this many times before since, thankfully, my family were polite and always knocked on the door so I never had to worry about anyone walking in on us kissing. And that was all we did at my home. Kiss. We never went too far because someone was always home with us.
No one was here with us now.
So I made a bold move and started unbuttoning Jerome's shirt as we continued to kiss. Soon enough, Jerome's shirt was off and he was working on unbuttoning mine as he kissed my neck. However, as soon as he did the final button, he pulled away from me.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"It's just..." Jerome said. "You've never really been shirtless around me. You have to get changed, but you always get changed so quickly so I wouldn't see anything. I don't want to feel like I'm pressuring you into doing something you're not comfortable with."
Jerome was just... so amazing.
I gave him a reassuring smile as I leaned up to give him a lingering kiss. When I pulled away, I said, "You're not," before I took off my shirt.
Jerome smiled back, moving back to where he was and pressing his lips on mine.
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whomp whomp i never write scenes further than this so sorry for cutting it off here.
at least jerome can never fluster nolan by saying he's gonna take his innocence away lol
oh also. i'm planning another au that i really shouldn't plan BUT I LOVE AUs. and this one will be including another special series of mine. idk if i'll be writing it on wattpad anytime soon, but i'll probably do it eventually because it includes two of my favourite couples, jerlan and grollie.
i did have a short crossover in the fall with the protector and spruceworth series, but it was a halloween series and i lowkey hate my halloween stories after i write them lol. i want a proper crossover between them that doesn't feel forced or anything oof.