Pathos [Gay/BL]

Chapter XIV

CHAPTER XIV: Drinking comes with problems

"So? You in?" his voice softly reached my brain.

"Umm... Who did you invite, you say?"

"Your friends! Amy, Stella and that little guy named Tyson."

"Yeah! I'm totally in," I answered.

After that kiss, Shad and I left my street, but Eric's eyes were still bright in the back of my mind, drawn like little dots. I wasn't able to look Shad in the eye for the first twenty minutes. He even asked if I thought what we did was wrong. "No," I answered, "I wanted it to happen, and you know it."

We spent some hours around the neighborhood. We watched the lights on the houses, peeked at people having dinner inside them, totally unaware of our despicable families. Kids that were anxious about Santa's visit, parents that played with their children, grandparents that told stories to their families. It looked cute... and I felt jealous.

Then, at twelve, Shad gave me my present. As I had hoped, it wasn't something really, really expensive. Instead, it was a beautiful, old-looking copy of the Odyssey that was fully decorated and illustrated. It looked so good yet so old...

"I have my present at home... I'm sorry," I helplessly said and looked at my hands.

"It's okay, you'll give it to me tomorrow, 'kay?" he answered and drew a hand to my cheek to brush it sweetly. I nodded with a grin.

After that, he asked if I wanted to spend some days at his cabin at the shore of Michigan Lake. "I asked your friends to come, too. Amy, Stella and Tyson." I'm not going to lie, it did sound good. An expensive cabin at the shore of Michigan Lake, just a few of us, no parents, no rules. Just a good time with no stress. I accepted.

"Did you like it?" Shad asked, his hands covered inside his pockets. I chuckled.

"It's beautiful. Where did you...?"

"No," he cut me off. "I'm not talking about the book."

His eyes set on mine. They were dark and infinite in the shadow of the night. His cheeks were flushed with cold, his nose too. He looked so beautiful. And what was I next to him? How could I tell him that his mere presence made me feel small? How could I tell him that I saw him as 'too perfect'? I sighed.

"Of course I liked it, Shad. You're kind of a good kisser," I joked. He chuckled and I could almost feel his nervousness leave his body through it.

"You're not far behind, Keller."

One and a half hours later, we decided that it was time to come back home. The streets were now pretty empty, since most of the children that had come out to play were already sleeping. I assumed my mom had gone to bed, too. It was 1:30 a.m. Shad drove me to my house and stopped the car in front of it. I looked at him with a soft smile.

"Thank you for tonight... I... I really needed it," I said.

"You don't have to thank me. I needed it, too," he answered with the sweetest smile.

"Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," he said. I leaned on the seat and kissed his cheek. He drew a cute smile, but there was disappointment in his eyes.

"Good night, Shad."

"Good night, Noah."

He drove off and I stood on the sidewalk, watching him leave. When his car was no longer visible, I took a deep breath and prayed that my mom was already in bed. Before turning around to my house, I caught myself looking at Eric's window. His curtains were closed, but there was a line of light between them, which told me he was still awake. An urge of running to his house, knocking desperately and shout at him that Shad was just a friend, that I missed him, that I wanted to kiss him again, came into my mind. Then the light turned off and I went home.