The Religious & The Damaged (UNDER EDITING)

54

Joseph

I walk into the apartment with Elias, and the door shuts behind me.
"You two are back late." Elias' father says from the couch, and I look over.
"I should've texted." Elias replies.
"It's okay, I just want to hear you guys had a good day."
Elias looks at me, then back at his father—a smile on his face as he says, "It was."
"Good."
Elias starts walking, and I follow. We walk into his room, and I close the door.
He turns to me. "Your aunt is really cool-" I interrupt him with a kiss, both my hands on either side of his neck. And he pulls away to ask, "What was that for?"
"I don't want today to end just yet." I reply.
He smiles and kisses me. I kiss him back as my hand reaches into his hair and his hands take my sides. I walk forward as he walks back towards his bed, and our lips break away as he drops into a sitting position. My knee plants onto the bed as I lean forward to kiss him again, and it's slow and full of love.
We're not thinking. We're too engrossed in our affection to let such little things get in the way.
I pull away and tug off his sweater, then mine's off. Our lips meet, and I can't help but smile into the kiss. He smiles too. His hand finds my belt, and he pulls away for reassurance that what he's doing is okay. I nod and kiss him again, then I hear my belt unbuckling. I leave kisses along his neck and jaw, and soft sounds escape him, then soon—they leave me too.

I pull into the parking lot of a store and take my hand from Elias' to put the car into park.
"Fuck. I'm so pumped to meet your aunt." Kelsey says from the backseat. "Elias talked her up all third period."
I huff out a laugh. "Oh yeah?"
Elias shrugs, a proud smile on his face. "What can I say? She won me over with her love for black nail polish."
I huff out another laugh. "Come on."
I turn and get out of the car, and I make sure they're out of the car before I head into the store. I see Bethany with a little boy—she's leaned against a wall, fidgeting with her rings and watching the little boy as he prances around like a kid should be, something I wasn't like growing up. But in some sense, I am now, and that's good enough for me.
The little boy is Bethany's son, Oliver. She told me and Elias all about him at the diner.
She spots us and forces herself off the wall and holds her hand out to the boy, and he takes it. She walks over to us with a gentle smile.
"Were you waiting long?" I ask.
"No, just a few minutes." She looks past me at Elias and Kelsey, but I know she's looking at Kelsey when she asks, "Who's this?"
I turn. "Kelsey-"
Kelsey interrupts me. "I'm the best friend." She steps beside me and pats me on the shoulder. "Lotta love for this guy."
I smile down at her, but she's looking at Bethany.
"Love the enthusiasm, Kelsey."
"And I love you. Are you straight?" Elias chokes out a laugh, and my eyes widen. "And follow up question: are you single?"
"Kelsey!" I yell, my face hot with embarrassment.
Elias places his hands on her shoulders as he says, "Down, girl." His voice heavy with amusement, and I glare back at him.
Bethany laughs nervously. I look over at her, and she points a finger at Kelsey.
"I like you. You're gonna be a lot of trouble, aren't you?"
"Oh, you're gonna be seeing me a lot." She looks up at me, her gaze gentle. "I don't know what I'd do without your nephew."
I smile and we seemingly look back at Bethany in unison when she speaks.
"You too, Elias?" She asks.
"Yeah. Definitely."
"Okay." She looks up at me, the smile she's held all this time is still on her face—it only grows. "Then, we should start with food. Pick out whatever you want and since I'll be seeing your friends a lot," She looks past me at them. "Pick some things out for yourselves and I'll make sure no one touches them but you two."
"Thank you, Bethany." Elias says.
"Yeah. Thanks." Kelsey adds.
Bethany waves a hand. "It's no big deal."
She turns and grabs a basket, and we follow as she walks. Elias appears next to me and takes my hand, and I smile down at him. He smiles back. Then, Kelsey appears on the other side of me and hooks her arm around mine, and I smile at her too.
She looks up at me. "Your aunt is milf energy, dude."
My face scrunches up and I look forward. "Stop talking." I say, but obviously she knows I don't actually mean it.
She only laughs. Elias taps his thumb on my hand once we're in the food aisles, and I look down at him—a sort of blank expression on my face.
"You okay?" He asks, a hint of worry in his voice.
I furrow my brows into a state of confusion, and it's not until he gestures around with his eyes that I realize what he's talking about, and I smile reassuringly at him and squeeze his hand with just as much reassurance.
"I'm okay." I answer, and I mean it.
I'm okay.
He nods and looks away.