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The rest of the Thanksgiving break
went by much like the first two days. Maggie went back to work on
Friday, and Ryan, Toby, and I spent most of our time playing video
games and watching DVDs in Ryan's room. We all ate dinner together in
the evenings when Maggie got home, and Ryan and I got into a
comfortable habit of talking (and LOTS
of kissing!) when we went to bed. Toby had returned somewhat back to
normal, although he still occasionally ribbed Ryan and me when he
noticed us giving each other what he called "googly eyes," or when we
were holding hands or cuddling. We tried not to do overdo it when Toby
was around, especially not making out, because we were afraid that
either it would upset him, since we weren't sure whether or not he'd
gotten over his crush on me, or he might cause us (or more
specifically, me) too much embarrassment.
Over those next couple of
days, Ryan and I never went past our passionate kissing and gentle
groping. Each time we really got into it, though, I couldn't help but
think about doing more, but I was trying to be a "good boy."
On Saturday afternoon, Mikey ended up coming over to visit. Both Ryan
and I were a little surprised when he walked into Ryan's room while
Ryan and Toby were doing battle on the Playstation. After Toby lost,
Mikey took on Ryan, and they played for about a half hour. When they
were finished their game, though, Toby and Mikey suddenly excused
themselves and left the room. Shortly thereafter, we heard the sound of
loud music coming from next door in Toby's room. Ryan and I cast each
other slightly confused looks, but just shrugged it off and decided to
take full advantage of the time alone to get into some serious kissing
and snuggling.
My favorite part was after we had kissed for a while,
just lying next to Ryan, my head on his shoulder, running my fingers
gently around his chest, and talking. We talked about all kinds of
different things, from our relationship, to school, Ryan's friends,
what we wanted to do in the future (which I hadn't given much thought
to at that point), what songs I was thinking about performing, and
other silly topics.
After we had finished snuggling and kissing that Saturday, we went
downstairs to get some lunch and then snuggled up together on the sofa
to watch television. About two hours later, Mikey came into the living
room and announced that he was going home. He looked a little winded
and red in the face, but I didn't say anything. I had an idea of what
he'd come over for, and figured I might ask him about it later. I
didn't want to say anything to Ryan, because Mikey had said that Ryan
didn't know about his and Toby's past "relationship" (if you could
really call it that). Nevertheless, I was a little surprised, since I
thought that had ended a couple years ago.
Shortly after Mikey left,
Toby came into the living room, freshly showered, and sat down in the
recliner to watch television with us. I glanced over at him, and when
he met my eyes, he grinned a devilish little smile, basically
confirming my suspicions as to Mikey's impromptu visit.
By the time Monday rolled around, Ryan and Toby were headed back to
school, while I was stuck at their house alone. I was actually feeling
quite a bit better, and after spending the day bored out of my mind
watching game shows and a ridiculous talk show about redneck husbands
who slept with their wives' mothers, I decided that I'd rather be back
in school the next day. Even though I got to see Ryan when he got home
from school, he had homework to do, so I had to control my urges to
cling on to him and kiss him every two minutes, and content myself by
lying on the bed and watching him.
At dinner that night, I told everyone that I would be going to school
the next day, and after Maggie gave me another quick check-up and made
sure that I didn't have a fever anymore, I finally got the green light.
Maggie stressed that I was welcome to come over any time I wanted, even
if it was a school night, as did Ryan, but I felt like I needed to go
home. They didn't know about the other responsibilities I had, such as
making sure the rent was paid, paying the bills, and buying groceries,
so I needed to be there.
Also, part of me was afraid that if I hung around their house too much,
Ryan would eventually get tired of seeing me. Maybe it was an
irrational fear, but it was one that worried me nonetheless.
Fortunately, Maggie didn't bring up my situation at home again, but the
look she gave me when she told me that I'd better come over to their
house any time I needed to let me know that she would most likely be
watching me very closely. I just had to hope that I could avoid my
mother as much as possible, or that the bruises she left wouldn't be on
a visible part of my body, although now that Ryan and I had grown
accustomed to sleeping shirtless over the past several nights, it would
be difficult to hide much from him. On the bright side, though, things
had been a little more stable since my mother had started dating Krull.
Maybe she would keep him around for a while.
Since I still wasn't completely better yet, and my voice was still very
raspy, I called Mr. Bill to let him know that I couldn't make it to
work that week. He wasn't too happy at first, but then Maggie got on
the phone and explained to him (more like lectured to him, actually)
that if he didn't let me rest my vocal cords, I might not be able to
sing for much longer. He eventually relented and told me that he would
see me at the bar the following week, and I promised I would put on one
of my best shows ever. I wasn't too worried about taking
the week off after winning the two-hundred dollars at the talent
contest, but I would definitely have to go back the next week, hoarse
voice or not, if I was to keep up with my family's bills.
Monday night when Ryan and I went to bed, I felt a little sad that my
stay there was ending. However, I knew that now that our
relationship had grown, and there weren't any more questions as to how
we felt about each other, that I would be staying with him every
weekend, barring any unforeseen difficulties.
I was also a little
nervous about seeing all of his friends tomorrow, since I'm sure they
would be curious as to why I was suddenly hanging out with Ryan again
after a six week absence. And would they notice how close Ryan and I
had become? I was sure that Mikey wouldn't have a problem with it (that
was pretty obvious, if
he was fucking around with Toby again), and
Ryan had told me that his friends would be cool with it. Maybe they
would, but I was still worried about them looking at me differently,
and I was afraid that because of me, they would look at Ryan
differently, too.
However, all of those worries vanished completely when I felt Ryan take
me in his arms and place his soft lips on my mouth, our tongues once
again becoming entangled, holding each other closely, and I
was once again transported to that other world that belonged to just me
and my boyfriend.
My boyfriend! I loved the
sound of that!