Devil's Fate

Moving Forward

The bed was covered in clothes, all of which belonged to Chester. He had them organized into stacks - shirts, jeans, pajama pants, underwear. Taking them down from the closet and out of the dresser that belonged to the college, not him and Mike, was a process, and Chester was enjoying himself. This was miles away from how it had been to pack his stuff up at the loft, when he'd waited till Mike and Jason weren't home and he and Ryan spent the afternoon shoving his belongings into bags and boxes while Chester cried and mourned the loss of his first love.

It was different from the last year, and the slow migration of his belongings from his borrowed room at Amir's to Mike's cramped campus apartment. Neither space really felt like Chester's, even though he was comfortable in both places. But this is going to be different. It's going to be our first real place together. The loft was Mark's, and even though it was kick ass, I was fucking bound to it. Mark held it over my head. And Amir's isn't mine. It's Amir's. I'm a guest there, and nothing more. And here...

Chester's gaze coasted around the small bedroom he and Mike had crammed themselves into over the last year. The space was tight for two, since it was only meant for one, but they'd made it work. Being together was more important than creature comforts like space, and it brought a sad smile to Chester's face. Despite the hideous carpet, the noise they could constantly hear through the walls, the small closet and furniture that didn't even belong to them, they'd made a lot of love in this room. There had been a lot of talks, a lot of tears shed and tons of laughter, too. It had been almost a year of their life, and Chester had to figure that maybe the tight space had served them well. It forced them to be around each other, not run away when things got hard.

We're doing so much better. It's good. We're good and we're going to be even better in the new place. It will be awesome to have room to actually spread out a little. And buy our own stuff. Have a bed that's ours. A couch we own. A dining room table that we pick out, not just what's there.

It was exciting to think about as Chester folded another pair of jeans and stuffed them into the bag that was almost full. The plan was simple. Spring Break was about to start, which played in their favor. It meant they had a week with no classes starting tomorrow. It would give them plenty of time to move everything to the new apartment, especially since they weren't moving any furniture. Tomorrow they would go and pick out a bed and things for the living room that would be delivered for them. Until then, they could move clothes and box up the kitchen.

It was almost too much for Chester to handle as he shook his hips and started to hum. His second bag was full, and his attention turned to his stack of pajama pants, underwear, socks, and his maternity clothes. Those need a separate bag.

He moved everything else out of the way to sort through the women's clothes that he had already decided he would drop off at the women's shelter for donation. He didn't have a ton of stuff, but what he did have was nice and clean. He'd only worn them for a few weeks while he'd been pregnant with Ellie. Everything still looked brand new, and Chester couldn't bring himself to throw away good clothes.

He folded the maternity shirts first, slowly packing them into the smaller bag that was just big enough to fit everything. For a brief moment, he thought about Ellie. A bit of sadness crossed his stomach, just as Cheese ran into the room. She went right to his feet, smelling all over him. "Hey, Cheesy Girl!" Chester stopped, all thoughts of Ellie gone as he bent down to scratch over her head and around her ears. "Did you have a good walk outside? Huh? Did you chase any good bugs?" he asked, as the terrier bounced around and licked at his hand. "Where's your daddy? Did you tell him he needs to hurry up and start packing?"

The moment he said it, he looked up to see Mike walking into the room. His dark hair looked messy and windblown, and Chester grinned as he stood up. "Sexy Boy," he said, groping his lover with his eyes. "You're looking all kinds manhandled," he said with a smirk.