Oscar shrugged. His eyes darted to the right. The bus was quite empty but there was an old lady a couple seats back and a woman with two small children in the front.
“You can’t talk.” Aaron’s lips wrinkled as he pressed them tight. His expression altered, eyes narrowing. “Are you on a bus?”
Oscar nodded.
“On the way home?” Aaron asked, perking up.
His bunny ears flopped and it drew the edges of a smile on Oscar’s mouth. What he wouldn’t give to play around with Aaron’s hair, to watch him wind down in his bunny headband and pajamas before they went to sleep. Oscar nodded.
“Have you passed the cathedral yet?”
Oscar leaned back in his seat, eyes focusing on the street outside, the familiar appliance shops with their old 2000s signs in those large blocky fonts, now trying hard to become techy, the pawn shops, the massage parlors and waxing salons that crowded this part of the city.
“Two more stops,” Oscar mumbled.
“I’ll meet you there.” Aaron flashed him a smile that dimpled his cheeks and Oscar wished he could become a crumb so he could fit in one of them and nestle there until his feelings faded. Aaron hung up before Oscar could confirm, which left him with few options except to ring the bell the moment they passed the middle school.
The air nipped at Oscar’s cheeks. Even in the summer, the nights were never too hot in their little town, and Oscar was glad. He hated sleeping with an open window, because then Luigi would have to sleep out on the couch, or else he’d jump out and get lost.
An old man sat on the quiet bus stop, nibbling on something, probably not waiting for a bus, given the only route that passed through town had just driven off.
Oscar glanced at his phone. It had only been a few minutes since Aaron had hung up. The wait felt endless, every moment between Oscar’s now and the potential of seeing Aaron an ocean that Oscar had no strength to swim across.
But then, all he needed to do was float. Wait for the raft.
And it came in the form of clopping flip flops against paving stones, a breathless wheeze that carried him back to the coffee shop and curled his mouth into a smile despite Ryan and his big asshole mouth.
Oscar turned in time to watch Aaron come to an abrupt halt in front of him, his hair messy, a jacket thrown on over sweats, flip flops showing off black painted toenails. Oscar had never really understood how anyone could likefeet, but Aaron’s were perfect. Everything about him was.
“Hi,” Oscar said.
“Come.”
Aaron reached out a hand, slipping it into Oscar’s as though they’d done this a million times. Oscar wished he had superhuman hearing so he could figure out whether Aaron’s heart was beating quite as loudly and as quickly as his own.His skin felt as flushed as the reddish tint in Aaron’s brown hair, his hand embarrassingly clammy in Aaron’s grip.
But Aaron seemed unfettered as he led him down the alley alongside the cathedral boundary, around corners and across a square to an older building overlooking the graveyard, rows upon rows of buried dead, among whom Oscar’s papa was not.
They’d buried him next to his own father. Oscar only had a few memories of Grandpa. He’d also died quite young, although not as young as Papa. At least he’d watched his son grow up and get married, have kids. He’d had the opportunity to fill Oscar and Lina up with candy despite their mother’s withering glares, flashing them winks while he stuffed their pockets with more treats to have throughout the week.
Aaron released Oscar’s hand to fish around his pocket for his keys, and the distance now felt catastrophic, like perhaps an alarm should be raised to warn the town that something was amiss and it would only be corrected should Aaron touch Oscar again.
A national emergency, really.
Lock down the schools.
Fucking hell,Oscar wanted to kiss him.
The door groaned as Aaron pushed it open. The stairwell was lit, perhaps from when he’d come down running to retrieve Oscar from the bus stop like a lost lamb. Well, Oscar wouldn’t mind sprawling across Aaron’s shoulders to be carried home.
In fact, all he could think about sometimes was spreading?—
“We’re up on the top floor. I hope you don’t mind all the stairs,” Aaron said, cutting into Oscar’s colorful thoughts.
Oscar simply nodded, because if he tried to make words, they would be the wrong ones. Who was he to assume that Aaron evenwantedanything like that?
They hadn’t even kissed after their date, nor after breakfast. Aaron had hovered at the door as he’d said goodbye and then he’d turned and gone, promising to text the moment he was on the bus.
And Oscar wished he’d at least walked with him, stolen some more minutes, but he hadn’t.
