She Needed Him

Bonfire

"I can't believe you invited that twink."

"Austin!" I gasped, smacking him with the handtowel I had in my hand, "I have no idea what you have against Kyle all of a sudden but you need to quit! You guys have been friends for years and now you have a sour attitude all because of his new partner. You are going to catch yourself saying the wrong thing."

Austin rolled his eyes and developed a small pout on his lips. Thankfully, he did not make another comment while I was busy getting the cookies out of the oven. I threw the tray on top of the stove for them to cool as the aroma of fresh baked goods filled the small home.

I tossed the handtowel onto the countertop and looked at Austin with one hand on my hip, "anything you have to say for yourself?"

His eyes connected with mine for a moment, and then they darted back to staring at the wooden floor in the kitchen. Austin squirmed under my stare but didn't comment. Before I could interrogate him any longer, the doorbell rang.

I smiled, "They're here!"

I rushed to open the door and I was met with a tired-looking Kyle and a smaller young man by his side.

Kyle smiled at me, "Hey, Cara! It's been a while!"

Excited, I jumped right into Kyle's arms for a hug. It's been a long time since I have last seen him. During the embrace I heard a small whine escape from the lips of the boy behind him, so I quickly let Kyle go.

I chuckled awkwardly, "Sorry for that. Is this your boyfriend, Kyle? Nice to meet you!"

"Yes," Kyle gleamed, "This is Tucker, my boyfriend. Please excuse him today, he's a bit grumpy from working all week."

I giggled as Tucker groaned, moving aside to let the two boys into the home. Once inside, Kyle and Austin made their embraces as well- also being met with whines by the protesting Tucker.

"Hey Tucker," I whisper, seeing that the two oldest males have made conversation, "Want to come with me in the kitchen to taste test my cookies?"

The boy immediately grins. He goes to say something and looks towards Kyle, but stops himself. He shrugs, then nods his head for me to lead the way.

Passing by the boys, we walked down the hall and into the doorway leading to the kitchen.

I grab Tucker and I both a cookie, lightly hissing from the heat of it, "Sorry, it's still hot, be careful."

Tucker giggles, "It's otay."

I raise my eyebrow but don't think anything of it.

"Good?" I ask.

"Mhm," he mumbles.

A lightbulb goes off in my head, "how about another one?"

As we both eat our second cookie, we start giggling amongst one another.

Austin used to say I couldn't have too much sugar, and that it would keep me up at night. But now I am a big girl and can make my own decisions. It's the first weekend of nice weather- so why not stuff your belly full of sugar? If only he knew about the s'mores I had planned for later...

"Tucker? Cara? What are you guys doing?"

"Shit!" I laugh.

Tucker and I grab one more treat, stuffing our faces with it before the older men walk into the room. When they do, we get an eyebrow raised from both of them. Is it that noticeable?

"You guys look like chipmunks," Austin laughs.

I look at Tucker and quickly swallow, "Sorry, just taste-testing the cookies!"

Kyle's glance moves over to Tucker, "How many did you guys taste test?"

I scoff, "None of 'ya"

Austin's eyes widen. He looks towards Tucker. What am I missing here?

The room is silent for a minute. Then Kyle laughs, "Just not too much, Tucker. You know how too much sugar can make you, yes?"

Tucker's lips pucker into a pout and he looks at the floor, "Yes."

To kill whatever tension was in the air, Austin offered for everyone to go outside so he could get the bonfire going since the sun was setting. The group marched outside and found their respective seating around the bonfire pit. Austin went back inside for the supplies and for a few "motivational beers", he called it. Kyle needed the motivation too, supposedly.

The lot of us sat there for several hours as dusk turned into darkness. The air cooled and we complained about the mosquito bites. Tucker and I giggled at the dancing firefly lights that could be seen in the yard.

"Oh, Tucker, look! There's one on your shirt!"

Tucker froze as I reached over and cupped the creature into my hands. Sitting back, we both stared in awe seeing its light flicker.

"I wuv fireflies," Tucker giggles.

Tucker doesn't seem to notice but Kyle and Austin's eyes shot over to him. Both looked nervous.

I awkwardly coughed, "Hey, Tucker.. I have a question for you."

"Mhm?" He replied, still staring at the animal I had trapped in my palms.

"No offense, but do you happen to have a lisp?"

Tucker's head shot up and his eyes started to water. His bottom lip quivered.

I felt awful for the insensitive question, but just as I was going to apologize for it, Kyle started to lightly chuckle.

"You haven't told her, have you?"

"Told me what, Austin?"

Austin's complexion pales as he takes another sip of his beer, "Well.."

"Not everyone agrees with it," Kyle explains, "Just like not everyone agrees with me having a boyfriend. But it is what it is. Tucker is a little who is doing a very good job at trying to stay big."

Furrowing my eyebrows, I take a moment to soak up the information, "I know what a little is. But only the internet version of one, I suppose. Would you mind explaining your dynamic a bit so I can understand better?"

I softly glance at Tucker once more, who seems more relaxed. He is sitting in his chair playing with his fingers, mumbling a soft 'sorry' when told off by his partner to stop picking at his fingers.

Kyle sighs, "Ours is more of an age regression dynamic if you know what that is."

I look at Austin. He says nothing but has an almost unnoticeable blush painted on his cheeks.

"Well, it's just that I am mainly more of Tucker's caregiver in a sense. He uses his age regression as a major coping skill and finds his little headspace to be his safe place. He tends to be very young in his headspace, so he has a hard time containing it sometimes. Therefore, I have to keep an eye out for him and make sure he doesn't eat too many sweets."

Tucker pouts and Kyle laughs. I giggle, looking at Austin. He has a slight smirk as well. Did he know this? Is this the real reason why he doesn't like Tucker?

"Well I won't judge as long as you agree to Tucker having one more sweet. I have supplies for s'mores waiting inside."