Blue

Proposition

Leo's Perspective
Over the next two weeks, the withdrawals went away and the nightmares lessened. But they didn't necessarily stop. Occasionally, I would wake up shaking and hope Casper didn't wake up. He didn't sleep much, but when he did, he slept deeply, thank god.

Casper seemed to be doing well. No more incidents occurred, and we fell into a rhythm. We still haven't had sex, but hey, I've been in the closet my entire life and haven't ever had sex with a man. Waiting a little longer couldn't hurt.

I came back from the gym downstairs and went to go take a shower. I washed my body and hair, the hot water hitting my back. I wasn't allowed to use hot water at home, so it felt like heaven. It made me tired, though. I changed into some new clothes Casper, Chrissy, and I bought. Brushed my teeth and hair. I walked out and Casper looked at me from his position on the bed. "I have a proposition for you."

His words seemed calculated. Tip-Toeing. I crawled into bed and kissed his cheek. He blushed, as he always did. It made my heart flutter. "What's up?" I asked.

"I would like if you would go with me on my roadtrip tomorrow." He squeaked out.

"Aren't you visiting family?" I asked, a little confused.

"Yeah. And I would like you to meet them."

I was shocked. I don't know much about Casper's family, but I know they're important to him. If I go, I absolutely can't screw this up. Soulmates or not, the family's perception of me is very important. But I want to make steps with Casper. I want to be a good boyfriend.

"Okay. I'll go."

He immediately smashes his face into mine and kisses me. He straddles my lap and pulls away. He giggles and I laugh with him. The front door opens and Chrissy walks in. "Am I interrupting something?"

He gets off of me and runs to his best friend. "Leo's coming with me tomorrow!"

Chrissy smiles and says, "Oh my God! That's gonna be awesome!"

She turns to me. "Leo, can I talk to you real quick?"

I feel the fog in the back of my head but I force it away. It's fine. She's not mad. I'm not in trouble. Everything's fine. "Yeah, of course."

We walk down the hall together, and I feel her shift from fun to serious. She turns to me. "Okay, ground rules."

"Ground rules?" I ask, confused.

"For meeting the family. Casper's too head over heels to think this could go wrong. So I'm giving you the rules. 1. Figure out your story together. You can't talk about soulmates or the mansion or anything, so make up something about how you met and your first few dates. 2. Don't flirt, show PDA, or talk about sex in front of Henry or Percy, but do talk about it in front of Molly. She's very sex positive. 3-"

"Wait. Stop. Percy?" I ask. The fog creeps.

"What about him?"

I stumble over my words. "Nothing I just... I know someone with that name."

Her eyes soften. "Okay. Is it going to be a problem?"

"No, it's fine."

"Okay. Rule 3. Don't ask how they're all related. It would be an hour of explaining and you still won't get it. Basically, they all have different moms and dads but with enough crossover to have been siblings with one another at some point in their lives. Very few are fully blood related, they just all had shitty parents and bonded together. 4. They're progressive. They're knowledgeable. Talk to them if you're about to have an episode or whatever. They're good people."

She stares into my eyes. I intake the information and nod. She smiles, and is immediately back to her normal self. We go our separate ways and I return to the room. Casper and I spend the day together, eating meals and playing board games. The next day comes quickly.

Casper wakes me up at 6:00am. "I did not agree to this part." I mumble as the alarm goes off.

"You kinda did." He giggles.

I sit up and turn so my feet hit the floor. I rub the sleep out of my eyes and thats when I notice it. My leg is bouncing, the fog is creeping, and I am craving drugs. Badly. I look over at Casper and see that he's bouncing around excitedly. That eases the fog back, and I stand up, picking him up off of his feet and spinning him around. We stop and he kisses me. "I'm so excited!"

I smile at him and shove the bad thoughts away. "Let's do it!"

We loaded up the car with overnight bags and got in. It was about 3 hours away, in California. I get anxious about the drive; I've never been outside of Oregon before, and I've never been in a car this long before.

But I have Casper. So it should be fine.