When it Stops Hurting (Royce)

26

Chresanto's P.O.V.

"Jaden, this is Chresanto" Jacob greeted, "Chresanto, this is Jaden. He's the friend I'll be staying with until I can get my own apartment". I nodded a little, holding out my hand for Jaden to shake, he gladly did such thing.

"Jacob talks about you a lot".

"I do not".

"You wouldn't shut up about him yesterday at the coffee shop" he said, chuckling, he looked at me. "You've got him whipped".

I smiled a little, looking at Jacob. "Good". I looked around the foyer of the apartment, there was a small mirror when you first walked in and also a table. I felt Jacob take my hand in his, "I'm going to show you around, okay?" I nodded, allowing him to pull me to our first destination, which was the kitchen. He then led me to the living room, one of the two bathrooms, Jaden's room, then his soon to be room. "It's not much, but you know, my parents aren't here, so".

I nodded, wrapping my arm around him. "It's nice". He leaned against me, "what do you want to do?" "Anything you want to do".

"Well, um, actually, there's a boardwalk not too far from here. They have cool shops, we could look around, maybe?" I nodded, "okay". We were on our way, saying a goodbye to Jaden before leaving for our adventure. I hadn't been to a boardwalk in quite a while, the last time I went, I was elementary school, and now I'm in my last year of high school. I was going to the boardwalk with my boyfriend.

"Jacob, are you okay?" I asked, he seemed distant, and he was very quiet. I wasn't completely sure what was wrong, but it was obvious that something was upsetting him. "I'm fine. I'm just thinking". "About?" "My parents, my mom told me that the only reason she's forcing me to go to conversion therapy is because she thinks I won't be safe out in the real world if I don't change. I think that is the most dumbest thing I have ever heard".

"If you think that, then why are you stressing over it?"

"I don't know... It's just been on my mind lately".

"Don't let it get to you" I said, "it's not worth it. You're going to be fine, people are going to respect you, I promise". He nodded a bit. It was actually quite a nice day out, so Jacob and I didn't think twice about taking our jackets with us. I thought Jacob would, but he still had Rayan's bracelets, so his cuts weren't an issue as of right now. I allowed Jacob to lead the way, there was no particular shop that I wanted to go to, I was just happy that I was with him. 

I was pretty sure just by being with him, I was going to have a good time, and I was right. We went to different shops and bought little nick-knacks, we fed a few ducks, and we just sat and talked. One of my favorite moments of today was when I saw Jacob's eyes light up with pure joy, he gasped and I felt his hand in mine.

"We should take pictures!" He said cheerfully, he led me to an empty photo-booth. "Do you want to?"

I nodded, pulling back the black curtain, I stepped in first and Jacob followed. He tried sitting beside me, but I pulled him onto my lap. He smiled, inserting a five dollar bill into the machine. "Where am I looking at?" I asked curiously, trying to locate the camera, he laughed a little, pointing. Jacob and I took multiple pictures, some silly and some serious. I bet if anyone were to walk by the photo-booth they'd hear a constant flow of giggles from the both of us.

"Wait, wait, okay" he said, managing to position himself so he was facing me, but was still on my lap. I looked at him and he looked at me, I felt his fingers trace my jawline, my own hands found his waist. He smiled a little, gently cupping my face within his hands, I finally felt his lips against mine as he kissed me. I closed my eyes, not caring that I could hear the click of the camera going off every few seconds. I allowed Jacob to set the pace, parting my lips when he sneakily asked for an entrance. I felt like this kiss was different, even though we've shared passionate kisses before. No one was watching us, no one was whispering to others. It was just us. Us.