Love Me Like You Do (Jonnor Stories)

Granny

Connor came over to Jude's house one afternoon. Jude had just gotten a new roommate, AJ, so Connor wouldn't be able to spend the night until AJ got use to everything. Jude had been from home to home when he was in the system, so he didn't mind having him. Connor had been over a few times since Jesus left, but they were closely supervised.

"Can you turn that down?" Jude asked Connor, who was playing violent video games while Jude was playing Bejeweled.

"No way! I'm dominating!" Connor said.

"Seriously, it hurts my ears," Jude lied. Jude didn't want to admit that he was afraid of guns ever since the accident.

"Fine, whatever, Granny," Connor said, turning down the volume.

The next day, Jude was at him locker when Connor came up to him and invited him to play some new video games with him. Jude declined, knowing the games had guns involved. When Connor asked why, Jude lied to him.

"My mom's taking me to a shooting range to shoot a gun. A real gun," he said.

"Can I come?" Connor asked immediately. Jude told him that he could come with them if he wanted to. Later, Jude told Stef about the conversation and Stef finally agreed to take Jude and Connor to the shooting range. When it was finally time to shoot the pistol, Jude put it down and refuse to shoot it, claiming that he didn't need to. Connor managed to shoot the gun, but immediately regretted it. He remembered everything.

The shouts.
The broken glass.
The crack of the gun.
The excruciating pain.
The sirens of the ambulance.

"I'm gonna go wait outside," Connor said, leaving.

"We should go talk to him," Stef said.

"I wanna talk to him first, if that's okay," Jude said. Stef smiled, nodding. Jude hurried outside to find Connor, who was sitting on the curb. Jude sat down silently next to him.

"Are you okay?" Jude asked.

"I'm fine," Connor said.

"I never wanted to shoot a gun. My mom wasn't gonna take me shooting. I just told you that because I was embarrassed about not wanting to play those shooter games," Jude said.

"Why were you embarrassed?" Connor asked.

"You called me a granny," Jude reminded him.

"I don't know. I guess I'm not okay," Connor said, tears coming to his eyes. Jude put his arm around his boyfriend, pulling him closer. Connor laid his head on Jude's shoulder. Jude kissed him on the head.

"Jude, I-" Connor paused. He couldn't say it.

"Yeah?" Jude asked.

"I... am really glad you were here for this," Connor said. He sighed.

"Oh. Yeah, me too," Jude said. "Hey, look at me." Jude gently lifted Connor's chin to make him look Jude in the eyes. A few tears had left a trail down his face. Jude wiped away the tears and smiled at him. Connor attempted to return the smile. "I will always be here."

"Thank you," Connor whispered. Jude kissed Connor, then hugged him tightly. Jude put his arm back around Connor's shoulder, and Connor's head returned to its spot on Jude's shoulder.