A Scenic Connection (BoyxBoy)

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

I tossed and turned on and off that night. I was plenty comfortable in the warm blankets but something just felt like it was missing. Plus I couldn't stop thinking about getting to see Tyce again the next day and so I guess that made my nerves go a little crazy, making sleep elusive. 

The time finally passed through the night and my clock read 9 o'clock. I actually jumped out of bed and quickly made it, throwing the covers back up and smoothing them out. Once I was satisfied with that I ran my fingers through my mess of hair. I looked down and suddenly realized I had a, er, well typical morning problem. I needed to shower so I cracked my bedroom door open, looking both directions down the hallway to make sure the coast was clear before hurrying into the bathroom and closing the door behind me. 

I stepped out of my boxers and left them on the floor, checking myself out a little in the mirror for a moment. I turned the faucet to hot and waited for the spray to turn warm before stepping under it. I massaged my scalp, working the shampoo through my hair and then turned my attention to the soap, making sure I was lathered up good and was squeaky clean. I stepped out, turned the water off and as dabbed my face with the towel that was hanging nearby, before slowly drying off the rest of my body. 

Wrapping the towel around my waist I stepped up to the sink. I got out my toothbrush and some toothpaste, carefully squirting the toothpaste onto the brush. I scrubbed until I was satisfied with my pearly whites before rinsing and heading out of the bathroom. 

"Hey," Gracie said as the door to her bedroom opened and she appeared in the hallway just as I did. 

"Hey," I replied shortly, still remembering last night at dinner. I started to continue walking towards my room.

"I'm sorry okay? About teasing you," she mumbled quickly. I turned around to face her, raising and eyebrow.  "I guess I just, well I was being an annoying sister but at the same time, I just want to see you happy," she said evenly. I nodded.

"I wanna be happy too," I replied. "It doesn't make me feel any better though when you constantly bring it up."

"I know and I'm sorry," she said. I gave her a small smile. 

"It's okay, you'll always be my annoying little sister," I told her with a grin. She returned the smile and lightly punched my arm. 

"It's my job," she said with a giggle before entering the bathroom and closing the door behind her. I stepped into my room and closed the door. 

"Griffin!" She shouted through the door. I opened it to see her standing there with an annoyed expression on her face. 

"What?" I asked her. I was completely confused. 

"Aren't you forgetting something?" She asked, giving me a look. 

"Uh, no?" I replied. She sighed loudly.

"You need to pick up after yourself. I'm not touching it for you!" She scoffed. 

"What are you talking about?" I asked incredulously. 

"Your underwear? On the bathroom floor!?" She exclaimed. The realization dawned on me. 

"Oh, my bad," I chuckled awkwardly, and walked around her towards the bathroom. 

"You're disgusting sometimes!" She said loudly. I held my hands up innocently before quickly picking up my boxer briefs from the floor. "It's amazing that I still love you," she joked I walked past her. With that she hurried back to the bathroom and I closed my door behind me again, sighing and rolling my eyes. 

I walked over to my closet and threw my boxers in the laundry hamper. I dropped my towel, letting my boys have a little air before I restricted them in another pair of underwear. I decided on a pair of grey undies, some black and grey striped shorts, and a blue t shirt. Once I had everything on I looked at myself in the long mirror that was on the back of my closet door. Once I was satisfied, I put on some deodorant and sprayed some cologne. 

Now I just needed to fix my messy hair. My sister was done in the bathroom so I returned to fix my hair and make it look presentable. When that was finished I headed downstairs. 

"Good morning," my mom greeted as I entered the kitchen.

"Morning," I told her. My phone vibrated in my pocket as if on cue. 

Hey good morning Grif. We still on for today? Read Tyce's text. I grabbed some frosted flakes out of the pantry and set it on the counter, returning with a cereal bowl from one of the cabinets. I texted Tyce back. 

Of course. Around 11 right? It was already 9:30, and I needed to get gas in my car before I headed to his place, so I figured I needed to leave around 10:15. I poured the flakes into the bowl, then added some milk. I fetched a spoon out of one of the kitchen drawers and headed for the table where my mom was sitting with a mug of coffee. My phone vibrated again. 

Yessir! See you then :) he said. I smiled at my phone. 

"Texting a friend from the trip?" My mom asked, glancing over at me curiously. 

"Oh, yeah. We're gonna hang out today," I told her. She nodded.

"That will be fun," she replied, focusing on her coffee cup again. I dug in to my cereal. 

"Is Dad already gone?" I asked. She set her cup down. 

"Yeah he left earlier for work," she paused, tapping her finger on the edge of the table and looking out the window, as if she was thinking about something. I continued eating my cereal. "Your father told me what happened," she sighed finally. I looked over at her. 

"Oh," was all I said. 

"You should have told us," she said evenly. I nodded. 

"I know, I just didn't want to worry you unnecessarily," I replied. 

"He told me already why you did it," she said, an edge to her voice as if she were annoyed a little. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I also know that you're not a child anymore. I mean, you'll always be my child but...I can't scold you like one. I can only hope that I raised you to be a good man," she went on. I didn't really know why but I always felt embarrassed whenever talks like this happened with my family. It just felt somewhat embarrassing for my parents to talk about me being a man and how I needed to take care of myself and what not. 

"I will be Mom," I told her carefully as I finished up with my cereal. I shot her a quick, reassuring smile. She smiled back. 

"I know you will Griffin," she said. "Have fun today." I nodded as I stood up from the table and headed over to the sink to rinse my bowl. 

"I love you mom," I said as I passed through the kitchen and back upstairs to get my car keys. It was only 10 so I was leaving a little early but what the hell. I didn't really want to hang around and talk about any of that right now. There were going to be plenty of heavy conversations to be had with my family sometime in the future. 

I grabbed my keys off my bedside table where I had left them and turned on my heel, heading back out and towards the garage. When I opened the door, I couldn't help but smile at my blue car. Man I had missed driving this last week. I hit the button to open the garage door and slipped on some flip flops as I headed down the steps and over to my car. I quickly climbed in and inserted the key into the ignition, firing up the engine and the radio came on, bringing a smile to my face as I put the car into reverse and backed out of the driveway.