I had always felt like my life had never truly been mine. I used to play a part, living in the background and unable to dig myself out of depths I had found myself falling into. That all began to change when I moved in with my father.
The months had been long as I tried to find my place, but in the end I did.
Now, the day after my high school graduation, I had to move onto a new chapter. One that would hopefully improve on the last.
Josh was driving the two of us home from the place Mindy had cater our graduation party. She had sent us to get the food because, for some reason, she still had things she was cooking for the party while Dad set up tables and chairs outside.
"We're going to have left overs for weeks," Josh said when we got home and started bringing the food to the back yard.
"Mindy will pawn most of it off on people I'm sure," I replied as he held the gate open for me.
Dad had already set up the food tables so we could set the trays down and grab the rest from the car. Mindy watched us from the kitchen window, sending a wave our way.
After putting the food down, Dad enlisted our help in setting up chairs around the yard, and not long after, Fox came strolling into the backyard. He had a backwards baseball cap placed on his head, his hair curling out of the bottom.
"Need some help?" Fox asked with a grin as he made his way over, snaking his arm around my waist and pulling me in for a brief kiss.
"Enough of that," Josh complained, shoving Fox as he walked by.
Fox sent an amused glance Josh's way before placing another kiss on my lips, earning a look of disgust from my brother.
"I can give you a kiss too, Josh, if you're jealous," Fox teased, grabbing the chairs from my hand and setting them up near the others.
"No," I immediately denied, shaking my head.
"I wouldn't want one from you," Josh retorted, rolling his eyes. "You look ridiculous, you need a haircut."
"Your brother thinks my hair looks sexy," Fox replied just as Dad came back outside.
I didn't say anything because it was true; I did think his hair looked sexy.
"I think your hair looks nice," Dad added with a grin.
"Thanks Dan," Fox said, looking over at Josh with a boastful expression. Josh just rolled his eyes and didn't say anything.
We continued setting up everything outside for a while, Mindy and Ava bringing out more food once it was done cooking. Mindy had been worried all week that we wouldn't have enough food for her ginormous family and all of mine and Josh's friends. I was convinced she had gone overboard.
"Fox, your family is coming, right?" Mindy asked after all of us were back inside, waiting for guests to arrive.
"Yeah, they'll all be here," he answered with a nod, taking a sip of lemonade.
"Perfect. I need to talk to Vanessa about our yoga class," Mindy replied.
Mindy and Vanessa had gotten close over the course of mine and Fox's relationship. The two women would often spend time together as what started as doing things with Fawn and Ava, then transformed into a friendship between the two of them.
We had a little bit until guests were due to arrive, so Fox and I sneaked up to my room. Well, there wasn't much sneaking involved because we had been caught by Dad who was sure to remind us to keep the door open, though he knew we wouldn't.
Once Fox and I were alone in my room, I tightly shut the door before moving to lie on my bed. Fox took the opportunity to lie on top of me, hugging my waist and resting his head on my chest while I took his hat off and let my fingers play with his hair.
"Comfy?" I asked with a chuckle as my finger twirled a curl in his hair.
"Mhm," he hummed against my chest.
"I'm gonna miss this," I said with a sigh, causing Fox to pick his head up and look at me with a strange expression.
"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked me, his eyes narrowing. "Our schools are literally five minutes away from each other. I think we'll manage."
Fox had gotten into Northeastern and their hockey team while I had gotten into Boston University. The schools were right near each other in the city, but I was still worried we wouldn't be able to see each other much.
"We're gonna have busy schedules," I reminded him. "It's gonna be hard to see each other."
"I'm not worried about that right now. We have the whole summer together," Fox said, placing his head back on my chest and rubbing his hand up and down my abdomen. "What I'm worried about is meeting your grandparents today."
I scoffed, tugging on his hair. "Why are you worried about that?"
"Because there is a possibility that they'll hate me," he said, his tone suggesting I should have already known this.
I rolled my eyes and lightly smacked him on the head.
"It's impossible to hate you," I told him.
"Shut up," he grumbled, his face against my chest.
It was only a few seconds later when Dad called up the stairs for the two of us to come down, letting us know that my grandparents had arrived. At the sound of my Dad's words, Fox shot up off my chest and stood next to the bed. I looked up at him, holding my hand out for him to pull me off the bed.
"Are you ready to meet them?" I asked with a sarcastic grin as Fox clasped my hand in his and pulled me to stand next to him.
Fox had a pout on his face as he picked up his hat from the bed and situated it back onto his head, taming the hair I had messed up with my fingers moments before.
"No," he grumbled.
"Why is it that you're always nervous to meet my family, yet I'm not nervous meeting yours?" I asked him, opening the bedroom door and leading him out into the hall toward the stairs.
"Because you're more naturally likable than me," Fox replied in a serious tone.
"That's not it."
I led Fox down the stairs where I heard conversation happening in the kitchen. As soon as we entered, my grandmother was in front of me, throwing her arms around me in a tight hug.
"Oh, Elijah, sweetheart, I'm so sorry we missed your graduation," Gram cried in an exaggerated tone. "Our flight kept getting delayed!"
"It's okay, Gram," I replied, returning her hug before she pulled away and went over to Fox.
"And you must be Fox," she said, wrapping her arms around him. "It's so good to finally meet you!"
I chuckled as he slowly returned the hug, his eyes darting to me. "It's good to meet you too," he said.
"Enough of that," Grandpa interjected. "Let the boys breathe."
Gram let go of Fox to place her hands on her hips as she glared over at her husband. Grandpa ignored her glare in order to introduce himself to Fox, shaking his hand.
"Anyway, how was graduation?" Gram asked, looking around at each of us. "We didn't miss too much, did we?"
"It was fine," Josh answered her with a shrug. "You didn't miss much at all."
Our graduation was just like any other ceremony going on, nothing special about it. There wasn't even someone who tried to get laughs by making a fool out of themselves. It was just speeches and diplomas. Boring.
"It was so boring," Ava added. "When I graduate, I'm not going."
"You weren't even paying attention," Mindy pointed out. "There was no way you could've been bored."
"You only graduate high school once, Ava," Gram told her. "You might change you mind when the time comes."
"Nah, she's right," I said. "It was pretty boring."
Fox chuckled at that, standing close to me.
Since we were all sitting in alphabetical order at graduation, I wasn't near any of my friends. Alex was a row behind me, trying to get my attention the whole time, but Fox and Ian were closer to the back. All I could do was sit there with no one to whisper to when I got bored.
"You'll look back on it with fond memories when you're older," Gram assured me, placing her hand on my shoulder.
It wasn't long after that other family members started to arrive. Mindy's ginormous family quickly filled up our backyard, her sister's many kids running around as the adults mingled. Fox, Josh, and I sat on chairs near the back porch, greeting family as they walked by.
"Tracey looks like she's ready to pop," Josh commented as Mindy's pregnant sister walked by.
"She's due within the next couple weeks," I replied. "Do they know what they're having?"
Josh shook his head. "They wanted it to be a surprise."
"I guess once you're on your eighth kid it doesn't matter as much," Fox commented, leaning forward in his seat and lightly brushing his fingers over my thigh.
I hummed in agreement, leaning closer to him as Josh shook his head at us.
"The guys need to get here so I'm not third wheeling anymore," Josh uttered with a sigh.
I glared at him while Fox glanced over with a smug expression, his lips quirking up in a smirk.
"Don't lie," Fox started, his sarcastic grin widening. "You enjoy third wheeling."
"He secretly does," I added to which Josh just shook his head again.
A moment later, three of Mindy's young nieces came over to us with wide eyes, the oldest not being older than ten. Their wide eyed gazes shifted to Fox, him raising his eyebrows at the girls.
"Who's he?" one of the girls, Talia, asked.
"That's Elijah's boyfriend Fox," Josh answered her.
"He's cute," another girl, Paula, added, causing Fox to let out a loud chuckle.
"Yes, I know," I replied with a sigh, knocking my leg into his to get him to stop laughing.
"I guess you're just a lucky guy, sweetheart," Fox chuckled, tossing his shoulder over mine which caused a chorus of squeals from the girls.
I rolled my eyes, leaning into his side. "You're the lucky one."
Fox nodded, letting out a content sigh.
The girls squealed again when some of Mindy's nephews started squirting water guns at them. The three of them ran away, being chased by their cousins.
"You can't go anywhere without being called hot," I told Fox, turning to face him with raised eyebrows.
Fox scoffed. "I could say the same about you but you're too modest to admit it."
"Are you admitting that you're not modest?"
"You know I'm not," he said.
"Can you two stop flirting for like two seconds?" Josh questioned with an irritated expression, looking down at his phone.
Fox reached over and smacked Josh's phone out of his hand, resulting in a nasty scowl from my brother.
"I can flirt a lot worse than that," Fox warned.
Josh scoffed, picking his phone up from the ground. "I know you can."
Fox wasn't able to respond when Alex's voice sounded through the air.
"The party has arrived!" Alex exclaimed as he walked through the backyard gate, lifting two cases of alcohol in his hands over his head.
"Are you seriously not even going to hide the fact that your brought alcohol?" I asked him, judging him with my eyes as he, Ryan, and Ian made their way over to us.
"Your folks won't mind right?" he asked, placing the cases down in front of us as he pulled up a chair.
Before I could say anything, Mindy walked by.
"If you drink a drop of alcohol, you're staying here tonight," she said in a stern tone as she passed us.
"See? All set!" Alex said with a wide grin as Ryan and Ian pulled over their own chairs.
"Guess I'm not drinking so I don't have to have a sleepover with him," Ian commented with a scoff.
"Rude," Alex replied with a pout, crossing his arms over his chest. "I wish Liam was here, he wouldn't treat me like this."
"He's in Aruba, he's not thinking about you at all," Ryan told him with a chuckle.
Jude showed up a few minutes later, immediately helping himself to Alex's alcohol.
When Fox's family arrived, I stood up to greet them.
"Hey guys, thanks for coming," I said with a smile as Vanessa leaned in for a hug.
"Wouldn't miss it," she said, squeezing me in her arms.
Fawn immediately headed off to where she saw Ava, after greeting me. Then Colt mingled with the younger kids and joined in on their game.
"Where do we put the gifts?" Leo asked me, holding out cards with my name and Josh's.
"Oh, you didn't have to get us anything," I said, slightly shaking my head. Leo gave me a look as if I was crazy.
"I should be giving you gifts just for putting up with Fox," he responded, handing me the cards.
I liked to think that we put up with each other; I knew I could be a lot to handle.
After taking the cards from Leo, he and Vanessa went over to my parents while I dropped the cards off with the rest. Raven, Robin, and Wren joined the group where Fox sat. By the time I had gotten over there, there were no seats left.
"You can sit on my lap," Fox suggested with a cheeky grin, holding his arms out for me.
"Or, I can go find another chair," I retorted, my eyebrows lifting on my face.
"Ooo. Rejected," Robin laughed, causing the others to laugh along with him.
Fox kicked his brother's chair, nearly causing it to tip over. Raven steadied Robin, shaking her head at Fox.
Before Fox could try pushing him over again, I took him up on his offer and situated myself in his lap. I could tell he had a smug look on his face by the content sigh that escaped his lips as he slung his arm around my waist.
"Get a room," Ian commented as he glared at the two of us.
Fox scoffed. "You guys are all just jealous because you're all single."
"Hey!" Alex exclaimed. "I am not single!"
"You and Beth are barely dating," Jude told him before taking a sip out of his can.
"You obviously didn't see us make out at graduation," Alex pointed out. "Elijah saw, right?" He turned to me.
I nodded with a grimace on my face.
Unfortunately, I did turn a corner and get a face full of Alex using way too much tongue in public with Beth.
"That doesn't mean you're dating," Jude argued. "You make out and fuck—"
Alex abruptly cut him off, telling Jude how "untrue" his words were. My attention was drawn to Fox's fingers playing with the hem of my t-shirt. Wren sat beside us, eyeing Fox's actions.
The two of them had gotten considerably closer over the last two months. They still weren't incredibly close, but they had been consistently getting along for a while, only getting in arguments periodically.
However, by the way Wren watched him and how Fox wouldn't look his way, I could tell the two must have been at odds today.
"Want to go with me to get more chairs?" I quietly asked Fox, turning slightly on his lap so that I could get a better look at his face.
"What? You don't want to sit with me?" he asked, feigning offense.
I just rolled my eyes at him.
Fox tapped my hips, signaling for me to stand. The two of us stood and started making our way away from the group and toward the garage.
"Be right back," I said, more to Josh than anyone else.
"Where are you going?" Josh asked.
"Getting more chairs."
"Is that all you're doing?" he questioned in a suggestive tone.
I scoffed, turning to send him a disgusted look. "Don't be gross."
With that, Fox and I left the group and made our way to the garage where the rest of the chairs were.
"How many fucking chairs do you guys own?" Fox asked as we entered the garage where the copious amount of folding chairs were leaning against the wall.
"Mindy rented these," I told him, moving to grab a few. "She has a huge family if you couldn't tell."
"Yeah, I noticed," he said, following my actions.
We stood in silence for a few moments before I set my chairs down, earning a confused look from my boyfriend.
"Is everything okay with you and Wren?" I asked him. I couldn't help but be nosy when it was so painfully obvious that something had gone on.
Fox sighed and leaned his chairs back against the wall. "We just got into it this morning."
I nodded, waiting to see if he wanted to continue.
"It was kind of my fault," he admitted after a few moments.
"What did you do?"
"I sorta just mentioned how he hasn't come out to our parents yet," Fox started. "He keeps saying he's going to and then he puts it off."
I nodded in understanding.
"I'm not—" Fox continued, letting out a slightly frustrated sigh. "I'm not trying to pressure him or anything but he needs a little bit of a push. I know he wants to do it but he won't on his own."
"Were you nice about it or were you mean about it?" I asked him, knowing all too well the kind of attitude Fox often copped.
He gave me a sheepish smile and took his hat off for a moment to roughly run his hand through his hair before putting it back on. Without any words, that was all the answer I needed.
"Wren and I don't really do nice," Fox said, turning to pick up the chairs again. "We can't do that sappy shit. We just don't have that kind of relationship."
"Yeah, I know," I agreed, grabbing my chairs and turning to lead him out of the garage.
"So I may have been a little rude and he freaked out at me," Fox continued. "And now he's obviously feeling guilty for freaking out at me but won't admit it."
I sighed, opening the gate to the backyard.
"Don't sigh like you're mad at me," Fox said in an almost whiny tone.
"Why would I be mad at you?"
"Because you think I should be a better person?"
I rolled my eyes, grinning over at him and bumping my shoulder into his.
"I think you should maybe talk to your brother," I told him as we continued walking through the backyard.
As we walked through the yard, I noticed the GSA group standing near the rest of our friends. Austin had already helped himself to one of Alex's drinks, leaning against his chair as he listened to Alex say something.
"Oh good!" Austin exclaimed when he saw us. "You brought chairs!"
I nodded, handing him one that he then set up next to Alex, or more importantly, next to the drinks.
"There's my favorite couple," Claudia greeted, taking a chair from Fox and me for her and Holly.
"Rude," Nadia commented as we set down the rest of the chairs.
"You and Lexa won't go on double dates with us," Claudia defended, setting her chair up close to her girlfriend. "They will."
"More like we're forced to," Fox added, sitting back down next to Wren.
I shook my head at him before going over to where Trevor and Johnny stood next to where Josh sat.
"Hey!" Trevor greeted with a wide grin, tossing an arm around me in a brief hug.
"Hey, Trev," I said, returning the hug. "Need a seat?"
He nodded, grabbing one for himself while I greeted Johnny. Trevor situated himself next to Josh as the two of them spoke.
I wasn't even going to begin to try and understand their friendship. The two had become best friends in a few short months. They always spent time together and Trevor had even convinced Josh to attend a few GSA meetings with him. As much as I thought Josh was going to end up dating him, it never happened.
By the time everyone had gotten a seat, I was left without one again. When I turned to look at Fox, he was already staring at me with a smug expression and patting his lap for me to sit.
Before I could even make my way over to him, Dad was called out my name and waving me over to where he stood. As soon as I turned to face him, I noticed the Hanson's were standing in front of him, along with Landon who awkwardly stood with his hands in his pockets beside Micah.
Micah and I had somewhat kept in touch over the last few months, though we hadn't seen each other much at all. Landon had ended up moving in with the Hanson's. I didn't know much about Landon's situation with his parents, but considering he was here with Micah's family, I assumed it wasn't good.
"Hey guys," I greeted when I walked over, standing next to my father.
"Congrats on graduating, Elijah," Mr. Hanson said with a smile. "We just wanted to drop by and extend an invitation to Micah and Landon's graduation party next weekend."
I exchanged a glance with Micah, who gave me a small smile, before looking over at Landon. He seemed like he felt out of place, though I didn't blame him.
"Yeah, of course," I replied with a nod. "I'll be there."
"Fox can come too," Micah added with a smirk, glancing over to where my boyfriend was watching us like a hawk.
I tried to tell him to stop with the look in my eyes, but he continued staring.
As Dad and Mr. Hanson continued talking, I thought about what I had just agreed to. If I went to Micah's party, I would have to face my old team and although Landon didn't look as if he was going to start throwing punches at me, I couldn't be so sure about the rest.
"The team's not going," Micah said, tearing me away from my thoughts. "Well, most of them aren't. If that's what you were thinking about."
"They're not?"
Micah shook his head. "It was really weird with all of us after the tournament. We couldn't get it together and that's why we sucked so bad and missed the playoffs this year."
"So you guys don't even talk?" I wondered.
"We're only still friends with a few of them," Micah answered, glancing over at Landon briefly.
Landon stood with a rigid posture, his hands in his pockets as he looked down at the ground. It was almost as if he could feel my stare just before he glanced up and locked eyes with me. Dad and Mr. Hanson had drifted away from us slightly, lost in their own conversation and leaving the three of us alone.
"I, uh," Landon started, looking down at the ground and clearing his throat before looking back at me. "I wanted to apologize to you."
His voice was softer than I had ever heard it. Landon was always one to make his presence known. He was a force, always seeming so sure of himself, though I knew that to be untrue.
"For the way I treated you," he continued. "I uh, I was in a dark place, but I'm better now."
I slowly nodded, taking in a deep breath. "That's good to hear. Thanks for apologizing."
Landon nodded. "I'm still, you know, figuring myself out."
I knew what he meant even if he didn't say it. Landon was still coming to terms with his sexuality. He had spent so much of his life being instilled with hatred for who he was. He had suppressed his true self due to all the lies he was told about what he was. It had taken time for me to come to terms with my own sexuality and self hatred, and it would take time for him too.
"Yeah, I get that," I agreed with a light smile.
Micah smiled at the two of us before redirecting the conversation.
"So I heard you committed to BU?" he said with excitement.
"Yeah," I replied, guilt creeping on me as I realized I didn't know anything of Micah's school plans. "Where did you guys commit?"
"I'm going to BC, Landon's going to Providence," Micah replied, looking over my shoulder as he spoke.
I was surprised to hear Landon was going to Providence College. He was a legacy for Notre Dame, both of his parents being alumni, so he was always set on going there.
Just as I turned to see what Micah was looking at, Fox showed up beside me and put his arm around my shoulders.
"Everything okay?" Fox asked, though it was like he was asking the group as he stared Landon down.
"Everything's fine," I assured him.
I gave him a stern look that hopefully told him not to make a scene. He was understandably distrusting of Landon, so I knew he had probably had a hard time restraining himself from walking over here for as long as he did.
"I should probably apologize to you too," Landon spoke up, his voice even.
Fox gave him a questioning look as he tightened his arm around me.
"For fighting with you and making things hard on you and Elijah," Landon clarified.
Fox nodded, but didn't say anything else.
Eventually Mr. Hanson, Micah, and Landon left, saying they had other graduation parties they had to stop by at.
"So is he, like, out now?" Fox asked quietly as we walked back toward our friends.
"No," I denied, shaking my head. "He's still figuring it out I guess."
Once we got back to the group, Alex insisted on all of us playing some of the yard games we had out. He eventually dragged Austin into being his partner for cornhole against Fox and Ian while I stood off to the side with Wren to watch. Josh, Trevor, Claudia, and Holly played on the other cornhole set and our group was split watching the two games.
"So..." I trailed, gaining Wren's attention as he loosely crossed his arms over his chest. "Are you not talking to Fox?"
Wren rolled his eyes. "I'm not an idiot, Elijah. I know if you're asking me that, then you've already talked to him about it."
"I told him to talk to you," I said, briefly looking at Fox ross the bean bag before turning back to Wren.
"I don't need him to talk to me," Wren replied. "We're fine."
"Okay..."
We were quiet for a few moments before Wren looked around, seemingly making sure we weren't too close to others, before speaking to me in a hushed tone.
"Did he say what it was about?"
I nodded which caused Wren to send a brief glare to his brother, who was busy high-fiving Ian.
"Remember when you came out to me and Fox?" I whispered, leaning closer to him so no one would hear.
He hummed in agreement.
"How did you feel when you did that?"
I wasn't asking to be rude. I really wanted to know what he was feeling that gave him to courage to come out.
"Like I had nothing to lose," Wren admitted after a pause. "And I knew Fox wouldn't say anything to anyone. He's not like that."
"What about me?"
"No offense, but I didn't really care what you thought," Wren told me.
I let out a snort, turning back to face the game in front of us.
"You know, your parents won't judge you," I told him while still staring straight ahead.
He was silent for a moment, a look of contemplation on his face. It always took a lot for Wren to admit any of his short-comings or insecurities, and even when he did admit them, it was vague.
Wren didn't have the chance to say anything else when Fox threw the last bean bag, getting it in the hole on the board and winning the game for he and Ian. Alex let out a disgruntled sound of disappointment while Fox and Ian harbored boastful expressions.
"Did you see me win?" Fox asked as he walked over to me, immediately placing his hands on my hips to pull me closer.
"Oh yeah, it was so impressive," I sarcastically replied, tossing one arm around his shoulders.
"Do I get a kiss for my victory?"
Before I could reply, Wren let out a scoff which gained his brother's attention.
"You're nauseating," Wren told him.
"It's called charm," Fox told his brother. "You wouldn't know anything about that."
"Apparently neither do you, Foxy," Wren retorted.
Fox sent a scowl his way as Ian came up to the three of us, obviously having heard what Wren had said. Ian continued chuckling when he stood in front of us, Fox's scowl shifting to him.
"I still can't get over that fucking name," Ian laughed, shaking his head.
"He's so whipped over it too," Wren added, glancing over at Ian. "All Elijah has to do is say it and he'll do anything he wants."
"Oh, I know," Ian replied.
"Shut up, both of you," Fox snapped, causing the two to share smug smirks.
I discretely grinned with Ian and Wren, knowing their words were true.
Later on, once it was dark, the family members had left the party, leaving just our friends sitting around a fire and drinking the alcohol Alex had brought. Alex was already pretty drunk, scaring me every time he got up from his seat and got too close to the fire. Luckily, Ryan was there to pull him back from a few close calls.
"You know," Alex slurred, pointing toward Fox and me. "I asked you guys before how you got together and you never told me."
Fox had decided to sit in my lap when we gathered around for a fire. There were more than enough chairs for everyone to have their own, but he tended to get especially cuddly at night and I definitely didn't mind holding him close.
"Oh, I'm very interested in this," Claudia commented with a wide grin before finishing off her can.
Small conversations between everyone in the group stopped as they all looked to Fox and me, willing us to tell the story. The only one who didn't look curious was Ian. His face was smug as he looked at the two of us.
"Ian, do you fucking know?" Josh asked as he noticed the look on his face. "There is no way you know."
"I didn't say anything," Ian shot back with a shrug.
Josh narrowed his eyes at him. "I can tell."
Fox let out an exaggerated sigh. "It's really not that interesting of a story."
Ian snorted, shaking his head at Fox's words.
"You do know!" Alex accused, stumbling as he stood up to point at Ian. Ryan and Jude both reached out to steady him, putting him back in his seat.
"We met last summer," I started, causing everyone's attention to be back at us. "At some club."
"Ooo, this sounds like it's going to get hot," Austin said, leaning forward in his seat and giving me his undivided attention.
"So you knew each other before school?" Josh asked with a confused look on his face.
"Kinda?" I said in a sheepish tone, feeling my cheeks heat up with embarrassment.
"We may have had sex in the back of Elijah's Honda," Fox added, causing the group to let out noises of surprise, shock taking over their faces.
Alex shot up out of his seat again, staring at us with his eyes wide. Josh had a similar expression on his face while Trevor's was a little more subdued as he sat beside him.
"Wow!" Nadia exclaimed with a laugh, the first to say anything. "Now, that was unexpected."
Claudia nodded in agreement, giggling with Holly.
"So you two were dating since the summer?" Trevor asked, his voice sounding curious with some discomfort.
My eyes widened. "No, no. We weren't dating until we got home from the tournament in December."
That just made Trevor look more confused.
"It was a one night stand," Fox clarified. "Then I tried avoiding him when he first got here, but I kissed him the night of his birthday."
"I was right, this is so hot," Austin added with a grin, causing Johnny to nudge his shoulder.
"Wow, you guys kept that a secret for a while," Jude commented, dragging out the last word.
"It wasn't really a secret," Ian interjected in a knowing tone. "They were so obvious about it but none of you pay attention."
"So you knew about all this?" Jude questioned him.
"I knew because I'm awesome and not stupid," Ian retorted with a bored look.
"And you have the advantage of being Fox's best friend and he tells you everything," Ryan argued.
Josh and I made eye contact, him looking as if he was trying to figure something out.
"So all that awkwardness between the two of you before was just because you hooked up," Josh said.
"And because Fox was being an asshole," I added, causing my boyfriend to face me with an offended look.
"You guys should write a book about your love story or something," Claudia suggested in a light tone, Alex exaggeratedly nodding his head.
"You should!" Alex agreed. "Can you make my character super awesome?"
"Then it wouldn't be a true story," Ian replied in a snarky tone.
Alex narrowed his eyes at him. "You're so mean."
Fox scoffed, shaking his head. "I don't think it would be a very interesting book." I nodded in agreement. I wasn't sure anyone other than our friends were that interested in our lives.
"Sure it would!" Claudia said. "The romance, the drama. Oh, it would be great."
"Yeah, not happening," Fox denied.
Thankfully, we eventually got off the topic and moved onto talking about college.
"When are you moving Ian? A couple of weeks?" Ryan asked, the fire dying down and make it dark around us.
Ian nodded. "Five weeks."
He had decided to move in as early as the school would let him. He was going to be playing hockey for Quinnipiac after getting a good scholarship. Ian would move in early and get to know his coaches, getting familiar with the athletics program and start training.
It was a good thing for him to be able to get out of his house, but Fox was still upset he would be leaving so soon, even if he didn't show it. Fox and I were going to drive down with him and help him move in, but I knew even then Fox would have a hard time saying goodbye to his best friend.
"We have five weeks to squeeze in as much summer fun as possible then," Jude replied.
Alex had passed out in his chair, slumping over against the arm rest. Ian glanced at him and shook his head with a small smile.
"I guess we do," he said.
Small conversations continued as we let the fire die out. Fox and I stayed silent, him resting against me, turned so he could lay his head on my shoulder. I had my arms wound around his waist, pulling him close to me.
We were in a comfortable position until my phone started ringing. I moved us slightly so I could pull my phone out of my pocket. When I saw the caller ID, my breath hitched in my throat. It was an all too familiar number that showed up on the screen.
My mother had tried calling me a couple of times right after she left, but when I never answered, she eventually gave up. Until now. I hadn't given her much thought in a while.
My thumb hovered over the screen, less than an inch away from sliding to answer the call. But I stopped myself. I put my phone on silent and slid it back into my pocket with a sigh.
"Everything okay?" Fox asked, looking at me with concern in his eyes.
I smiled at him, connecting our lips in a long and loving kiss. He moved his lips slowly and expertly over mine, bringing his hand up to cup my chin. The kiss stayed slow as we continued until Fox was knocked in the head with an empty beer can.
Fox immediately pulled away to glare at Josh, whose face automatically gave away his guilt. Josh smirked at my boyfriend, practically boasting that he had thrown the can. The look on his face was enough for Fox to get up off my lap and head over to Josh.
I laughed quietly as the two of them started rough housing while Trevor tried to inch away from them to avoid getting caught in the middle of it.
I thought back to the phone call I had just received as I continued watching Josh and Fox. Months ago, I would've felt guilty for ignoring her, but tonight I felt nothing.
As I looked around at my group of friends, I realized I had all that I needed. Everything was okay, even without the love and acceptance of my mother, because I had that love and acceptance right in front of me.
It took months but I had finally let myself trust others and be accepted by them. I stopped feeling like I was walking on thin ice with everyone, waiting for them to turn on me. I was comfortable, I was loved.
And I was finally happy.
**
THE END.
Sorry this took me so long to get out. I know for the last few chapters I was always late and I apologize for that.
I want to thank each and every one of you who has read even a word of this book. I'm so happy to be able to share my work with everyone and I'm so glad that so many of you enjoy my work. It literally makes my day reading your comments on here and on my message board, even if I don't always have the time to respond. This book was something that was in the works while I was working on Knight and I wasn't even sure I would ever post it because when I tell you I had no idea where it was going I mean, I had no idea where this book was going. I had plans for about up to chapter eleven and the rest I was trying really hard to figure out what to do. But I loved these characters so much so I knew I wanted to figure out something. The support I got from all my readers is what kept me writing this book and it's what keeps a lot of writers on here going. Writing can be really hard, especially writing a whole book, but YOU the readers are such an important part of the writing process. You keep me motivated, you make me want to keep doing better, you make me want to keep writing. So THANK YOU.
So what did you think of the Epilogue? Are there more questions you have that are unanswered (that I could potentially answer in a bonus chapter)? What about the book as a whole? What are your favorite parts? Favorite characters? Favorite memories? Final thoughts?
I did a Q&A for Knight, so if I get enough questions I'll do one for this book too (if not I'll just answer in the replies). So if you have any questions about the book, about writing in general, or anything else, you can ask them here.
I WILL be doing bonus chapters so be on the look out for those! And I will have a new book coming out soon so be on the look out for that :)
Thank you again!