Peaked in High School

Debriefing

"Wow," Everett breathes out. Beau's hands are resting on his waist from where he grabbed him to pull him in for the kiss. They both stare at each other with almost comically shocked looks on their faces.

"Yeah," Beau agrees sounding breathless and overwhelmed. As the more experienced gay out of the two of them, Everett attempts to pull himself out of his stupor so he can try to assuage the man holding onto him gently.

Relaxing his expression, Everett calmly asks, "Are you okay?"

He feels Beau grip his waist the slightest bit tighter, hesitate and then eventually remove his hands from him altogether. Not knowing what to do with his hands, Beau then crosses his arms over his chest as he continues to stare at Everett.

"Uh—yeah.... I think so. Are you okay? I didn't mean to jump you there." Everett suppresses a smile at how shy and unsure of himself Beau sounds. The guy is clearly out of his element and it's kind of cute, but Everett doesn't want it to seem like he's making fun of him.

"Can't say you didn't surprise me, but I obviously wasn't pulling away either," he replies honestly.

Beau looks at the ground and then back at Everett. "So I guess I do have, like, gay feelings for you?" He phrases it as a question, probably still confused about what is happening.

"It seems like it," Everett agrees. "I guess I have 'gay feelings' for you too."

Eyes widening again in disbelief, Beau asks, "Wait—what?"

Laughing lightly, Everett puts his hands on his hips where Beau's resided not too long ago. "I'm not sure if you remember from—I don't know—a minute ago, but I was definitely kissing you back. I don't tend to kiss people back unless I have some sort of feelings for them."

"I don't understand what we're doing." Beau looks incredibly lost and confused.

"We don't have to do anything, Beau. You're new to all of this and I'm going through a divorce. I don't expect us to start a relationship now or anything," Everett rationalizes.

This doesn't appear to quell Beau's anxieties like Everett had hoped it would. He now looks even more frustrated with himself and the situation. Not angry or anything, just frustrated.

"What if I do want to be in a relationship? I felt so annoyed when you were talking about bringing home guys and girls.... Like, obviously I'm into you. Right?" Beau tries to talk through his emotions which Everett is honestly very endeared by.

Crossing his arms over his chest to mirror Beau's stance, Everett looks at him with raised eyebrows. "You're saying you want to be in a relationship with me? Are you sure about that? Or do you just feel like you need to say that now that you know you're sort of into me?"

Beau runs a hand through his hair and drags both hands down his face in an exasperated manner. "You ask so many questions. Why can't it be as simple as I like you and you like me so let's date?"

"Because so many things could go wrong. If I learned anything from my failed marriage, it's that communication is important in a relationship. My concern is that you're not fully comfortable with your sexuality yet and that if we jump into this, then you'll get overwhelmed and leave. Then we're both miserable." Everett wants to make himself crystal clear this time around. Even if it lessens his chances of getting into a relationship again, he prefers establishing his thoughts and feelings now rather than letting himself get hurt in the future.

"You're right," Beau concedes sheepishly. "Sorry for pushing. If we're talking about concerns and shit, then one of mine is that you're not that into me and I'm just a rebound."