The Last Architects

Chapter Thirty-Nine.

November 14th.

The sun fell against my face as I sat at my desk, the brush in my hand, running across the small canvas with inspiration I hadn't had in weeks. And as Skyler sat beside me with his own project, I couldn't stop myself from smiling at the small doodles in the corner of his paper. "...Are you ever going to stop following me around? I mean, I'm your boyfriend now, doesn't that count as insurance?" I never took it personally that he was worried I could still possibly try something again, but I was more so concerned with just how much I'd scared him.

"... Yes and no." He nodded, and as he looked up at me from his paper I stood, "I'm not risking it until this whole thing blows over."

"Oh yeah?" I moved my arms over his shoulders, leaning down to plant a kiss against his neck. "What if I really wanna go get food at like 12:00 AM?" I blew into his ear.

"Then we can go get food at 12:00 AM. And I'll deal with your stomachache the next morning because you ignored my advice to wait." Skyler reached up and brought me closer, it still being a surprise each time he kissed me.

"...Can I give a really cheesy idea?" I murmured, moving my nails through his hair.

"Go ahead, though if it's bad I'll make a face while lying." He chuckled and I leaned away, sitting on my bed as I looked across the dorm.

I wasn't one for tacky crap... But admittedly, the mattresses were too small to comfortably keep sleeping together. "...What do you think about putting the beds together..? Like in the middle, then the desks in the corners..." I was so nervous.

Skyler looked over the dorm and when he nodded I let out a breath of relief, "I like it, a lot actually. I'll get larger bedsheets." He smiled at me and I looked away, "that wasn't cheesy, by the way."

"Then you must be insanely cheesy, because yes it was." I shook my head, walking to the kitchen to look through the fridge he always seemed to have packed. "You'll have to deal with all my stuff. You can't just divide the bedding straight down the middle like you did with the tape." I joked, tapping the red line we still hadn't taken off.

"... aha, as long as I don't wake up covered in paint." He leaned down to write something on the tape, and I walked over to see, "think we should leave this?"

"I think so. So if we ever fight, I can bring up how much of a dramatic cunt you always were." I smiled, leaning into him. "And you won't get paint on you. However I am getting something framed right now that I think you'll like."

"Oh? Is it a surprise or do I get to know." Skyler sat up, his hand finding my waist before pulling me closer and resting his head against my chest, one of the cutest things I'd ever seen, "and I still have that cardboard wall. Don't get too cocky." He sounded amused and I moved a hand over his mouth.

"It's a surprise... Hey..." I wasn't going to bring it up. Especially with his track record of buying me things even if it wasn't a big occasion, "...wanna go on a date today? I mean- it's not like you've asked me out yet. And it's only supposed to rain later tonight."

"Let's. We can paint at some cafe or go dancing. What would you like to do?" Skyler looked up at me with his hair a mess and his glasses askew, the grin on his face practically encouraging me to kiss him.

"Let's go dancing. It's a perfect day for it to be a weekend and I want to enjoy it. We can paint anywhere, but we should have fun." I spoke in between kisses.

"Then dancing it is. I'll ask Jane where- lord are you adorable." He let out a breathless laugh, but to me embarrassment, but before I could lean away, he kissed me back tenderly.

"It went from some serious slurs to adorable? You might be bipolar." I was too happy to even express it. I never liked today, but he made it so much better... How he smiled, how he kissed me, how he took my hands and pressed his thumbs against my palms, just everything. "I never would have thought you had this side..."

"I did say I was a romantic, no?" He chuckled, "And if I told my past self that I was dating you, he would think I was bipolar as well."

"Some romantic you are, I had to ask you out on a date first." I laughed, pulling away as I took off my shirt. "But I'll cut you some slack because you don't know how to be in a homosexual relationship."

"Why- homosexual, why not just 'relationship with a man?" He shook his head and my eyes rolled back, "sounds so vulgar. But yes, my first and last time with a man." Skyler stood, dragging his hand up my spine before kissing my shoulder and walking to the kitchen as if it was nothing.

Taking a second to compose myself, I kept an eye on him. "... You really need to cope with being gay... But while we're on the topic, I still would prefer if we weren't...Like super open about just in school. Does that make sense? At least not so close to all those rumors."

"Of course. That makes sense." He nodded, taking out a loaf of bread, "the guy, he hasn't tried to reach out, right?"

"No... I'd tell you if he did. And I prefer it this way... I don't think I'll see him for a while as long as I just avoid his class..." I leaned against his back. "I don't want you to deal with him, either, Skyler. I mean it."

"As long as he doesn't try anything again, we can keep it civil." Skyler looked back at me with a gentle smile, and as I turned, he kept a hand on my waist.

"Then the police deal with it, not you. If he got you involved in something too..." I faded off at the thought, a knot forming in my throat as I remembered how it had gone when I tried to break things off. And only then did I process just how dangerous it was to be dating Skyler.