Our Safeguard

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

~Nolan~

       There was a knock on the bathroom door, but I refused to move from where I was. I didn't even say anything, hoping whoever was there would leave me alone.

       Unfortunately, he decided not to leave me alone. "Nolan, I know you're in there."

       "No, I'm not," I said. "I'm... in bed."

       My boyfriend sighed. "Come on, just open the door. I'm giving you a chance before I unlock it myself."

       "Do it," I said, thinking that he didn't know the secret to unlocking the door.

       As it turned out, my parents must have taught him the secret, probably because of how dangerous it had been for me to be locked in the bathroom for so long. Jerome didn't have any problem unlocking the door. Once he did, he took one look at me before furrowing his eyebrows as he closed and locked the door behind him. "Why are you sitting in the bathtub?"       

       I leaned my head back against the wall. "I thought that no one would find me here."

       "Considering your family is going to wake up to get ready for school soon, I have to say that this isn't the best place to hide," Jerome said. He walked over to the bathtub and crouched down beside it. "So what's up?"

       I sighed. "Nothing."

       "Right," Jerome said. "That's why you're hiding in the bathtub. Because nothing's up. Does this have to do with the fact that you're starting your senior year of high school today?"

       I didn't say anything, mainly because Jerome was right. Another reason why I didn't say anything was because I felt like chickening out of going back to public school again. I worked so hard over the summer to be mentally stable enough to not have to do online schooling again.

       However, the moment it was the first day of school, I felt like hiding out forever.

       Jerome gently took my hand and helped me stand up. "Alright, what are you worried about? What do you think is the worst that can happen?"

       "Let's see," I said, going through the mental list in my head. "I can get bullied again. I can have horrible teachers who don't understand my mental health. I can trip in the hallway and be laughed at. I can fall down the stairs, sprain my wrist, and never be able to paint again. I can--"

       "Nolan," Jerome interrupted, cupping my face in his hands. "None of that is going to happen. There was only one mean teacher at the school but she only teachers sophomores so there's no way you'll have here again. You're not going to trip in the hallway or sprain your wrist. And I don't think you'll get bullied again."

       "Okay, and I didn't think I would be gay but here I am."

       Jerome laughed slightly. "Cute. Look, if I'm being completely honesty, I don't know if all that will happen or not. But just think. This is your last day of school. Before you know it, you won't have to deal with high school anymore."

       Jerome was right. In fact, that was why I wanted to go back to public schooling. It was my last year of high school. While I, honestly, didn't care much for the memories that everyone always talked about, there were somethings I wanted to take part in.

       This was my last year. And if I think about it, when I was in public schooling in the eleventh grade, things weren't even that bad. It was my mental health that was bad, not my actual high school experience.

       Perhaps things would just stay the same. Going in with a negative mindset was probably just going to make things worse, even though it was hard for me to stay positive at times.

       I nodded. "Okay."

       Jerome smiled softly before leaning down, pressing his lips onto mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck. Jerome's hands moved from my face to my waist, pulling my closer to him before leading to my the bathroom counter. He lifted me up on it, accidentally knocking some stuff onto the ground.

       Neither of us paid attention to it, though. It was kind of hard when I was completely lost in the kiss, even more so when Jerome's lips moved away from mine and trailed to my neck. My hand reached up, fingers curling in Jerome's messy hair.

       This was certainly one way to get my mind off the nerves I was feeling on the first day of school.

       We were soon interrupted when there was a knock on the door. Jerome didn't stop kissing me, however, until we heard my older brother say, "Can you two hurry it up in there? I can hear you being horny. I need to use the washroom."

       My cheeks burned from embarrassment as Jerome pulled away from my neck. "Can't you use the bathroom downstairs?" Jerome asked.

       "No," Ryder said. "Now get out."

       I pulled away from Jerome, hopping off of the counter before quickly picking up the items on the floor that fell off earlier. Once it was all picked up, Jerome opened the bathroom door.

       Ryder glared at Jerome. "Can't you move out already?"

       "I mean, I can," Jerome said. "But it irritates you to have me living here, so I think I'm going to stay."

       Ryder pushed passed Jerome, so Jerome and I left the bathroom and headed back to our bedroom. I closed the door, about to head to my dresser to pick out what I was going to wear, but Jerome decided to wrap his arms around my waist, peppering more kisses on my neck.

       As much as I loved the feeling, I squirmed, trying to get out of his grasp. "J-Jerome. I need to get ready for school."

      "Awe," Jerome said. "You don't want to continue this?"

       I gently pried his arms away from my waist, kissing his cheek before heading to my dresser. My heart, once again, started to beat fast at the thought of having to go back to school, but I wasn't feeling as nervous as I was before. All Jerome and I did was have a simple conversation, but that simple conversation was all I needed to feel better.

       Maybe I could do this. Maybe I could make it through the school year without wanting to go back online. I might not have Jerome at school with me, but I knew he would still be here for me whenever I need it.

       We would always be here for each other.

___________________

or will you????

jk jk (or am i?)

anyway, here is the first chapter of the third instalment! i'm going to love writing this book as much as the other two.