Little Space (BoyXBoy) (DD/lb)

Chapter Seven: Settling In

Roman's house is just like Harley remembers it. Small and quaint with a large yard. Even though Roman has a lot of money (his parents own some big business or something like that) he chooses to live a simple life; No ginormous mansion, no fancy car, even the interior of the house is simple. Most rich people are shallow and spend as much money as they can on materialistic things like ginormous mansions and fancy cars but not the boy's best friend. He likes to save and he also gives to a lot of charities which is something everyone seems really like about him.

Roman unlocks the door and steps aside to let Harley in first. Everything is still in the same places as it was the last time he was here. The house is a double bath, two story, three bedroom home. The first thing to greet the two when they walk in the door is the faint scent of a vanilla candle that had burned yesterday. Harley steps into the cute living room and take in the familiar scene. Along the wall diagonal from him there is a simple black and white Moroccan style couch. Above it hangs a painting depicting The Lady of Shallot, a famous poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson. That's another thing about Roman. He really likes all kinds of art. It doesn't matter if it's poetry or paintings or music; he loves it all.

Directly across from the couch and the painting is a 42 inch TV sitting on an entertainment center. He also has a few gaming systems lined up as well as a dvd player. In one of the corners sits a small end table and a reading lamp. Titles such as Pride and Prejudice, Little Women, and Wuthering Heights also reside on the end table. 

Connected to the living room is a hallway leading to two bedrooms and one of the bathrooms, the dining room and kitchen area, and another very short hallway leading up to the master bedroom and the other bathroom.

Harley's stomach gurgles again, leaving him to blush sheepishly.

"Alright let's see what we have here." Roman laughs lightly but he's getting hungry too.

"Um where can I put my stuff?" The small boy asks quietly.

"Just plop them in one of the spare rooms. Whichever one you want is fine." He gestures to the hallway on the right whilst digging through the fridge. Harley shuffles to the bedrooms. The first one he finds has just plain white walls an oak dresser and a small closet. The other bedroom is slightly bigger and has dark blue walls, a mahogany dresser and a bigger closet. The twin size bed also looks a bit less ratty than the other one did so he sets my stuff down and saunters back to the kitchen.

"Leftover pizza sound okay?" Roman asks. Harley just nods his head. After the pizza is done, they both sit at the table, mostly in silence. "You're awfully quiet. Whatchya thinkin about?" Harley really doesn't want to answer because it's nothing good. Everything that's happened, every memory; they're all bouncing around in that small head of his. It's so overwhelming and his head hurts. He doesn't know what he should do.  So instead of telling Roman how he feels and making things easier, he just shrugs his shoulders. "It's going to be okay you know. You have me now and you don't ever have to worry about that jerk again." Harley appreciates what he's trying to do. Roman is just trying to make Harley feel better. But he's convinced himself that he's okay. Yep. Definitely okay.

"I don't want to talk about him." The two awkwardly finish their dinner in silence. "Um is it okay if I get a shower?"

"No you can't shower you have to sit there and stink for the rest of your life." The sarcasm practically drips off Roman's tongue. Harley forces himself to smile a teeny bit. "Course you can just let me get you a few things." Roman trots upstairs and he clears off his place and waits for him in the kitchen. When he comes back Roman hands Harley a towel, a washcloth some soap and generic shampoo. "I always keep extra essentials around, you know just in case." It's always hard to tell when Roman says something that has a deeper, dirtier meaning and Harley feels like now was one of those times. In high school he was always flirting with the younger, smaller more twink like guys, even if they weren't gay. Harley thanks him and heads into the bathroom.

Once Harley has figured out how to work Roman's alien shower, he lets the water heat up and strips down. The hot water runs down his body, soothing my tense muscles and relaxing him. Harley lets his mind wander while he scrubs himself. Every time he touches his body, a different memory surfaces. Memories of Paul and then of Kyle. The pain from each experience lingers on his body, like it will never go away. Harley doesn't realize it, but he spends nearly two hours scrubbing his body, trying to rid himself of the filthy feeling of his past.

Eventually he shuts the water off and dries himself off. Harley brushes his teeth with a toothbrush that Roman must have snuck in the bathroom while he wasn't paying attention. Wrapped in the fluffy towel, the small boy heads to his new room and starts to unpack. Since he has no clue where he stuffed his pajamas, he'll just have to wait until he stumbles across them. Harley closes the door and lets the towel fall to the floor. He takes the first things off the pile and try to figure out where to put them. Right as he decide that socks and underwear will go nicely in the top shelf of the dresser there's a knock on the door. Now, Harley is distracted and momentarily forgot that he was pacing around his room naked, he tells Roman to come on in.

"Hey Har- What the hell! You said it was safe to come in!" Roman covers his eyes and moans dramatically.

"I forgot that I was naked okay!" It's evident that Harley is blushing again; his face is a bright, vibrant shade of red. Highly embarrassed, Harley's shaky hand reaches down and picks up the towel, wrapping around his waist. "Okay now it's safe, I promise this time."

"I just wanted to see if you needed any help unpacking or whatever." Roman slowly lowers his hand, making sure that Harley is really covered this time.

"Um no I think I'm okay but thank you."

"No problem. Just holler if you need anything." Roman smiles and he nods sheepishly.

After he finishes unpacking, he puts a new pair of boxers on and a pair of black sweatpants and a white t shirt. Yawning, the tired little walks out to the living room where he finds Roman watching TV.

"I'm gonna head to bed okay?" He says sleepily.

"Okay love."

"Um thank you for everything okay goodnight." Harley scurries off before Roman has a chance to reply. 

He notices Roman put new sheets on the bed while he was in the shower. He grabs Charlie and climb under the covers. The bed is much more comfortable than his old one. Despite being in a semi new place, Harley falls asleep almost instantly, thinking of the new life that awaits him.