We made plans, though I don’t know if we understood we were making them.
At some point, the conversation changed from I to we.
That part never scared me, even when I became aware it was happening.
It’s inevitable, after all.
Kind of like him. Dom’s inevitable.
And it’s inevitable he’d show up here. In this place. This town, this apartment. My room.
He could only stay away for so long. I’m surprised he was able to last four months, to be honest. Tenacious, that one.
“Me,” he says from behind me, and I close my eyes because they burn. I close my eyes because I shake. I close my eyes not because I can’t breathe, but because it’s all I can do to keep from leaping up and jumping in his arms and telling him he can never let me go. That I’ve been gone long enough and he can never let me go.
But, of course, there’s an almost-naked roommate and a computer screen filled with family to contend with first. My life is so fucking weird.
Thank God for that.
“Holy shit,” Rob breathes. “You weren’t kidding about him. Does he have some kind of growth abnormality? Was he hit by gamma radiation? That can’t possibly be healthy.”
“If you want to live,” Corey tells him, “it’s probably a good idea that you run as fast as you can.”
“Ty?” I hear Bear ask worriedly.
I’m okay. I’m okay.
Because I am.
Things change. Goals. Dreams. Everything about who I am.
I’ll still conquer the world. You can bet your ass on that.
But for now, I think it needs to be me and him.
Me and Dom.
I open my eyes.
Everything is so bright. Like stars exploding.
Rob’s babbling about something. I turn my head.
Dom’s watching him with something akin to bemusement. He must feel my gaze on him because he looks over at me. The corner of his mouth curves up slightly. He shrugs just once and leans against the doorway, letting Rob talk himself into a deeper hole. Dom trusts me. He knows nothing happened here. Nor would anything happen.
“… and it’s not like I’m trying to seduce him or anything,” Rob is saying. He sounds hysterical. “I mean, he’s not even my type. What is he, two foot six? I like my guys big. Though not as big as you. How do you even fit through doors? Do you cause children to have nightmares? What was it like living on top of the beanstalk?”
“Rob,” I say.
He looks over at me. His eyes are wide. His towel is somehow still hanging on. “I don’t want to have sex with you!” he shouts.
“My life is so weird,” I mutter.
“How is this weird?” Bear asks. “I thought we were pretty normal.”
“Don’t you worry about it,” Otter tells him. “You’re the most normal thing there is.”
“That’s a big, fat lie,” Creed says.