Scott’s footsteps on the stairs made him turn around.
“This the last box?” Scott asked, a box full of books in his arms.
“If it’s the last one in my room, yeah,” Charlie said. He felt a momentary pang of guilt at letting Scott do most of the work, but promised himself that he’d make it up to him later.
After all, they were about to spend their first night living together. That called for a little special treatment.
“It is,” Scott confirmed. “I’m amazed we got it all in the car.”
Owen had loaned them his car so they wouldn’t have to carry every box all the way to Scott’s place. It wasn’t far to walk unburdened, but ten trips carrying heavy boxes of books and other things would have been difficult.
Charlie kissed his mom’s cheek and followed Scott out.
“I don’t own all that much stuff,” he said.
“And most of it is books,” Scott pointed out as he loaded the last box into the back seat.
Charlie held out the car keys for him. He still couldn’t keep his eyes off Scott when he was around.
That was love, he supposed.
Whatever it was, it was nice. The thought of getting to come home to Scott every day was exciting.
“I’m driving?” Scott asked.
Charlie shrugged. “I don’t know how, so…”
Scott blinked at him. “I’ll teach you,” he promised without missing a beat. “But maybe not today. Unless you wanna?”
Pressing the keys into Scott’s hand, Charlie barely suppressed a shudder at the thought. “Not today. Maybe sometime. I probably should learn.”
“Then we’ll get a little runaround car, and I’ll teach you. It’s really not all that hard. Once you learn it’s all automatic.”
“I believe you, but only because I trust you,” Charlie said, heading for the passenger-side door.
“You can always trust me.”
Scott climbed in on the driver’s side, boxes stacked high behind him.
“I know,” Charlie responded belatedly. “This is the first day of the rest of our lives, huh?”
“Sure is.” Scott grinned. “You’re stuck with me now.”
“That’s okay,” Charlie said as Scott started the engine. “You’re the person I’d most like to be stuck with.”
Epilogue
“Hey, uh, thanks for agreeing to do this,” Scott said to Owen, fiddling with his cufflinks.
It felt like half the town was watching him right now.
“No problem.” Owen grinned at him. “You’re family. I mean… you’ve been family for a while, we’re just making it official today. I always wanted another little brother.”
“Really?” Scott raised an eyebrow.
“Sure. I mean, I wanted one to play catch with ‘cause Charlie was a nerd who stayed inside reading all day, but you’ll do.”
“We can play catch,” Scott offered. “I’m not too old for that.”
