Embers | Jalex

one.

The Brazilian air filled my senses as I stepped onto the Tarmac.

Nathan gripped my hand and smiled at me, finally arriving at the second last destination of our gap year.

Well technically it was my gap year - Nathan was 22, and he didn't even graduate high school, but I just turned 18 and I decided to take him with me, considering he paid for half of my trip.

"I'm already sweating," Nathan laughed, fanning himself with his hand as we walked to collect our luggage.

This is the first time I've ever travelled, my parents always worked and there wasn't too much spare time for family things like that.

My parents were very religious; they went to church at least once a week, prayed before every meal, and of course, hated gays.

It was a struggle for me to finally come out to them, it took about 2 years of me actually tossing up if I was gay or not, and maybe it was a 'phase'. When I finally confronted them, they thought the best decision was for me to either get a girlfriend, or move out of home.

As a 17 year old I chose the second option, not knowing how hard it was to support yourself.

That's when I met Nathan.

He understood everything. Him and his family welcomed me into their home, helped me get a job and paid paid for my last year of education. I was forever grateful for what Nathan and his family did for me.

Now I get to spend a whole year travelling the world with him, I was beyond lucky.

"Hey, is that yours?" Nathan whispered into my ear. His small voice made me shiver.

"Oh, yeah it is," I replied smiling, breaking the contact of our hands. I gripped the leather handle of my suitcase and yanked it towards me. I stumbled back a bit not realising how light I packed.

Once Nathan collected his luggage, we hopped straight into the Uber that took us to the hotel.

I was amazed on the drive there. It was full of green hills, crystal clear water and happy civilians. Every now and then Nathan would squeeze my hand, and we exchanged smiles.

Soon enough we stepped outside the vehicle and picked up our bags, heading over to the front desk to acquire our keys.

I started to hum the familiar tune in the elevator, and Nathan was soon to mock me. I laughed at his imitation.

The elevator doors split in two and we walked out, paying attention to each door number.

Eleven.

Ten.

Nine.

Ah, room eight, there we go. I placed the card under the reader and I heard a click. With my free hand I opened up the door, exposing us to a open room, with an amazing view.

Both Nathan and I were in awe of the beauty as we quickly trudged into the large space. I dropped all bags into the floor by the door and obviously Nathan and I had the same idea to run as fast as you could to the bed.

We collapsed into the white duvet heaven and looked at each other laughing.

"Have I told you how happy I am that I get to do this with you?" I smiled.

Nathan giggled, "Yes, Alex, many times."

I blushed at the way he said my name. Sometimes I just loved being in his company, even if it's silent, he does so much for me.

"Cause I'm mega tired, do you reckon we can spend tonight in here?" He said hitting the duvet. "Maybe hire a few movies? Get some nice Brazilian takeaway?"

"That sounds perfect," I agreed, climbing over closer towards him and tangling myself in his arms. He rested his chin on my forehead, kissing the tip of my head every now and then.

We decided that a good marathon of Nanny McPhee, and of course we resorted to just ordering a pizza.

Thinking back on it, Nanny McPhee was the first movie me and Nathan ever watched together. That was the same night that my parents had kicked me out of home.

He had chosen the movie to try and cheer me up because he knew it was my favourite, he was always so considerate of how I was feeling. Like the time I was seriously hung-over and he devoted the whole day to making sure I was feeling good and prepared me some food.

I looked over at him, he was mouthing each word. I let out a quiet chuckle, not loud enough for him to be distracted from his viewing.

I suddenly felt a huge pain ache in my stomach, I lifted my top, exposing a large bruise. The colours mixed between purples and yellows. I poked at it and flinched. It was a new bruise and the wound was still raw. I pushed my shirt discretely back down and sighed.

I looked back up to the screen hovering off the wall, we were now at the end credits. It was weird I didn't pay full attention to this movie, I always do. But I guess there's only so many times you can see the transformation of Nanny McPhee.