“Yeah, but you have your shit managed. You have a career and a house. You can function like an actual adult unlike me.”
“And it took me a long time to get where I’m at, not to mention all the support I’ve had along the way. Support that I still need because I still have hard days,” Jensen said. “You’re allowed to have flaws and need help from others. You don’t have to be perfect to be worthy of love.”
Daniel licked his dry lower lip. “Is that what this is? Love?”
“It could be, though the internet said it’s too early for grand declarations. But I’m certainly hoping it’s moving that way, since I’ve been telling my parents you’re my boyfriend for the last few weeks.”
Daniel chuckled softly, shaking his head. “Okay, handsome, I’ll be your boyfriend. No need for grand declarations or parades or matching cock rings.”
“Weren’t we already? We talk every day and?—”
“I think I’m done in here,” Daniel said, putting a hand on the ceramic tub behind him and leveraging himself up with a groan. “I need ten gallons of water. And I need to become acquainted with that bed of yours.”
“But we are partners, right?” Jensen wrapped his hand around Daniel’s waist to steady him.
Daniel looked up at him, a fond smile on his face. “Yeah, Jensen, we’re boyfriends.”
Jensen let out a breath. “My mother is going to be thrilled about this.”
The rich aroma of coffee swirled around Jensen and Daniel the next morning. The high sun tried to beat around the embroidered curtains Jensen had tugged shut the moment he entered the kitchen, an unsuccessful attempt at keeping his tired eyes safe. A smattering of toast crumbs across their plates were all that was left of their simple breakfast. Daniel had promised his stomach was feeling better, but that didn’t stop Jensen keeping it light. It also didn’t stop him checking the expiration date of every ingredient he’d used to make breakfast. Or from sniffing everything and taking the first bite to make sure he wouldn’t unintentionally poison Daniel again.
“Are you sure there’s nothing else I can get for you?” Jensen would have carried Daniel from room to room if he had been allowed. Of course, he didn’t have the muscle required to lift even Daniel’s slight frame, but he would have figured something out.
“Sweetheart, you’re going to give me a complex. How am I supposed to go back to my day-to-day if you keep trying to spoil me like this?”
Jensen knew it was a rhetorical question, a sort of tease, by Daniel’s flippant tone. But looking at his messy hair and corner-creased eyes, Jensen couldn’t help but take it seriously. With the taste of tart raspberry jam clinging to his tongue, the warmth of Daniel’s hand so casually resting on his thigh, and the soft flash of white teeth under plush pink lips, Jensen knew with everyfiber of his being that he could not go back to his everyday life. Things had changed for him, and for once the prospect of more change didn’t seem daunting. Things had shifted, and he would fight to keep them in their altered state. “What if you didn’t go back?”
Daniel’s eyebrow lifted, and he turned in the cedar dining chair to face Jensen fully. “What do you mean?”
He licked his dry lips, hoping he wasn’t going to ruin things further. A bout of food poisoning could be forgiven, but Jensen might have crossed the line. “After you fell asleep last night, I made a few phone calls, and?—”
“Jensen.” His mother’s voice cut him off and almost covered the sound of the front door opening. “Where’s this man of yours? Is he still sick? I brought food.”
Daniel looked at Jensen, eyes comically wide. “Your parents are here?” He squeaked and started patting at his hair with one hand and trying to straighten up the unwrinkled shirt he wore. “Shit, what do I do?”
Jensen opened his mouth to reassure him he didn’t have to do anything. Daniel was great just the way he was, and his parents would love him even if he sat there bald and naked. Though, Jensen didn’t want their first meeting to go that way. Or any of their meetings. He would need to change the locks to his house or institute a visitation schedule to make sure his parents didn’t catch them in a compromising position. God, even the mere thought of his mother walking in on them frotting in the living room the day before had the color draining from his cheeks.
“Did you take care of—oh!” Angela cut herself off when she entered the kitchen and saw the two of them standing up for her arrival. “Oh! Hello, I’m Jensen’s mother. Please call me Angela or Angie. Aren’t you handsome? Much better looking than Ruben—he’s a hairdresser at the salon I go to, and I’ve beentrying to set Jensen and him up for ages. He always said no, and I thought it was because he was being stubborn, but now I see it’s because he was holding out for someone more attractive. Not that my Jensen is shallow.”
“Mom,” he cut in, “can I take those dishes from you?”
“Oh yes.” She handed over the stacked food containers weighing down her hands. “Isn’t he the sweetest? Did he tell you he wrote a book and has received many awards for his work?”
“Let the boy breathe, Angie.” Jensen’s father walked into the room, carrying a wicker basket covered with a red, checkered cloth in one hand. “How you doing? I’m Jensen’s father, Graham.”
Daniel cleared his throat and stood, offering his hand. He still looked like a deer in headlights, but his momentary paralysis had apparently dispersed. “It’s good to meet you, sir.”
Everyone in the kitchen stared at him, the space utterly silent until Graham chuckled and gripped his outstretched hand. “There’s no need for that kind of language here, son. We’re all family.”
Daniel looked back at Jensen, uneasiness evident in his raised shoulders and tense lips. Jensen had seen that same look in the mirror so many times that his stomach turned on instinct. Setting the glass containers he was still holding down onto the counter, he slid next to Daniel and tugged him to his side in a show of support. The effect was instantaneous: Daniel let out a breath, and his tense muscles relaxed. Jensen’s heart kicked up, and he couldn’t keep the smile off his face if he tried. In the weeks they’d known each other, Daniel had become his safe place. When the world was too overwhelming, Daniel could quiet his racing mind. And Jensen could apparently do the same for Daniel. He was prouder of this development than any of the accolades he’d earned at work.
“Maybe we could all sit down and ease up a little,” he said with a gesture to the table that took up half the room.
“Of course,” his mom said, taking a seat and pulling his dad down next to her. “I’m just so happy to finally meet you. Jensen has been as closed off as a bank vault with information about you.”
“A bank vault is opened multiple times a day,” his dad remarked, his attention on unwrapping the basket and pulling out a piece of fluffy white bread.
“Worse than a bank vault, then. So, tell us about yourself. Where did you grow up? Do you have any siblings? When do you plan on moving here?”
