chapter 14

The rest of the night went amazingly after that. Aidan wouldn’t let me put my clothes back on, one of his birthday declarations, and his hands were all over me the entire night. I was convinced something was wrong with him because he actually seemed to like my body the way it was. I couldn’t have been any more fortunate, and maybe if Aidan liked how I looked, I could start to like it too. I kind of already did, and he was giving me the support to admit that.

I sang to him and we ate cake. We ordered pizza. We watched movies. We ate snacks. We laughed. We cuddled. We fucked again. We talked. We fucked some more.

“I got you a gift,” I said between sex sessions. It was one of those gold necklaces that said a person’s name. He opened a jewelry box with two necklaces. One that said Aidan and one that said Oakley.

“I’ll wear the one that says Aidan,” I said, grabbing the necklace with the longer, thicker chain. “I was hoping you’d wear the one that says Oakley.”

He put it on immediately, climbing on top of me and kissing me deeply. Of course this started things back up in a new position. I got to watch his face as he rode my dick, my name around his neck.

I knew then for sure that I loved him.

At some point we fell asleep. The next morning we straightened things up a bit in the room and checked out. I slipped my jacket onto his shoulders again, wanting to let the world know who he belonged to. I didn’t want to say goodbye to him, but he had to get home to get ready for work.

I wanted to spend every single minute with Aidan. It wasn’t fair we had to live in separate places. I couldn’t wait for college next year. Aidan had applied to the same school once I told him about my scholarship. We’d get to pick our housing next month, and hopefully we’d end up in the same dorm room. Just the thought of living with him was making me overly excited.

“Thanks again for everything,” he said. “That was the best night of my life.”

“Mine too,” I agreed.

We sat for a moment. He turned towards me and I knew he was trying to kiss me. I leaned over as well, and our lips met. I couldn’t believe this was getting me so hard considering how many times I came last night, but I wasn’t complaining. “I love you,” he said.

We hadn’t said that to one another yet. I had been wanting to say it for months. He had my mouth turning to mush again.

“I love you too Aidan,” I managed to get out, feeling emotional. He smiled, and it made me feel warm on the inside.

“I guess I should get going.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to take you?” I asked.

“We barely got any sleep last night,” he said, laughing. “You go home and rest. I’ll text you later.”

“Can I at least pick you up?” I begged, sticking out my lower lip.

“How can I say no to a face like that?” He laughed. “You don’t play fair.”

He got out of my truck and closed the door gently. He waved goodbye as he walked towards his front door. I looked at him in my jacket and grinned like a total dweeb. I had the cutest boyfriend in the whole world. He went inside, and I was going to make my way home, but I noticed Aidan’s phone in the passenger’s seat. The screen was going off like he was receiving notifications, but it wasn’t ringing on vibrating. I guess he had set it to silent last night.

I picked it up, killed the truck’s engine, and got out to take it to him. It was a pleasant April morning, not too cold, but slightly breezy. I looked down at his phone and his home screen displayed 30 missed calls and a bunch of unread texts from his brother. That was definitely weird.

I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, like something bad was going to happen. The wind blew and I realized Aidan was still wearing my letterman jacket.

I could hear Ryan yelling as I made my way up to the door. “You’re wearing his fucking shit now too!?” he yelled angrily. “You gonna walk around proud to be his bitch!?”

“Ryan, just leave me alone,” Aidan responded, his voice shaking. The door was still slightly ajar. Ryan hadn’t even closed the door before he started going ballistic.

“Don’t you touch him!” Autumn screamed in her shrill voice. Glass broke.

“Autumn, you bitch. If I fucking cut myself, you’re next.” I waited by the door. I wanted to go in, but I didn’t. What if this made things worse for Aidan? What if he didn’t want me to do anything? “Give me the jacket.”

“No,” Aidan said firmly. “Fuck you.”

“Give me the fucking jacket.”

“It’s not mine to give,” Aidan retorted. “It’s my boyfriend’s.” I heard a thump, like someone getting pushed against a wall.

“Stop it!” Autumn hollered. I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. I opened the door and stood there taking in the scene. I saw Ryan pressing Aidan against a wall, grabbing at my letterman jacket. There was a broken picture frame on the ground near Ryan’s feet.

“That’s my jacket,” I barked. “I gave it to Aidan, not you.”

“Get out of here you big faggot,” Ryan spat at me. I didn’t care he insulted me. But he still held Aidan against the wall, pushing even harder now that I was there. He shifted so that his forearm was against Aidan’s throat. It caused his necklace to become untucked from underneath his shirt.

“Oakley,” Aidan choked out. “It’ll be okay. You can go.” He looked so scared there was no way I could just go. Autumn looked over at me, her eyes frantic. She shook her head no, letting me know she didn’t think I should leave. Ryan noticed the Oakley necklace and ripped it from Aidan’s neck, banging him against the wall again in anger.

I strode over to where they stood and pulled Ryan off of Aidan, who scrambled to pick up his broken necklace from the pile of shattered glass. I had lost control. Everything was tinged in red I was so enraged. I punched Ryan in the face, and he stumbled back. I caught him by his shirt and punched him again, this time in the stomach. I could feel my whole body on fire. I had to stop but I couldn’t. Not after seeing firsthand how he treated Aidan. I lifted him up off of the ground and pressed his body against the same wall he’d just had Aidan pinned against. I brought him close to me before banging his weak, worthless body against the wall again, denting the drywall. This guy was scrawny; he couldn’t have weighed much more than Aidan. “Don’t touch him ever again,” I roared. His eyes were wide. I didn’t think he was used to being a victim. I tossed him onto the glass, coming back to my senses.

I turned to look at Aidan and Autumn. They stared at me with wide eyes, the deer-in-the-headlights twins. I must’ve looked scary. I handed Aidan his phone from my back pocket and walked out of the house. What had I just done? I’d probably ruined things with Aidan. I’d probably get arrested. My scholarship would be taken away. I’d never get to live in a dorm room with Aidan.

Aidan followed me out of the door first, followed by Autumn who stopped to kick Ryan in his side.

“I—I’m sorry,” I said once we were standing near my truck. I tugged at my t-shirt, noticing that it had ridden up during the altercation.

“For what!?” Aidan and Autumn said in unison, perfectly in sync.

“I just wanted to help, and I lost control,” I said, breathing deeply. “I probably fucked everything up.”

“You saved me,” Aidan said. “And I’m glad you did.”

“Shit, me too,” Autumn added. “I didn’t know what he was going to do to Aidan. He hasn’t been this mad ever.” I gave a sigh of relief and Aidan came to embrace me. He held onto me tightly, and I squeezed him just as hard.

We spent the rest of that morning cleaning up their foyer and waiting for Ryan’s retaliation. About two hours after everything went down, he came and told Aidan that he wasn’t to ever speak to him again. And from what I’ve heard he hasn’t said a word to Aidan since.

Apparently, I broke his nose, and I wanted to feel bad, but he deserved that and so much more. Aidan finally told me the whole story about how Ryan had never approved of his “lifestyle” and had spent every moment since he’d come out as an opportunity to harass him about it. He’d suggested different therapies and programs to help Aidan live his life differently. It was total bullshit.

Autumn had plans to transfer to a school on the west coast in the fall, feeling that if Aidan were taken care of, she could have peace of mind. Aidan accepted his admission to the school I’d be playing football for and we’d be filling out housing applications next week. Prom was less than a month away and graduation was fast approaching.

I started hitting the gym hard again to prepare for the summer training camps, but my relationship weight wasn’t really going anywhere. I’d probably be a little bit bigger by the time the season started. I liked to think the extra weight made me better at looking out for Aidan.

I had reached the end of my rom-com, but thankfully this wasn’t a movie. This was my life. And it was only the beginning for me and Aidan. Our relationship still had so many more amazing moments that wouldn’t make it into the film. There was still room for sequel after sequel, and just like me, they’d just keep getting bigger and better.

The End!