The Golden Hour {Gay-Themed}

Chapter 1

I've never seen so many trees before. Tall and vibrant with autumn painted leaves, each and every single tree that my eye could catch glimpse of as the car speed down the highway managed to make me feel small. Even though they were so still and beautiful against the fall sky, being buffered in by them felt overwhelming. It was almost like the body, the bark, were now prison bars. They made the transition feel permanent, like it wouldn't matter how hard I tried to get away from this place if I couldn't handle the move. I couldn't shake the feeling that it was just going to be me and these trees from now on. Yup, just me and these slowly dying trees.

The chilly winds pouring in from the cracked car window stung my cheeks, drowning me in such an odd calm. I could feel the touch of the breeze grab hold of me every time I breathed in through my nose. Taking everything in kept reminding me just how much I wasn't in California anymore. I've been there my whole life, so it was pretty strange to see how the world could be so different somewhere else. In a way, I felt like I was standing on a ledge, about to jump head first into unknown waters.

"...You trying to freeze to death back there?"

His voice caught me by surprise. That was the first thing my dad said since we left the motel we were staying at this morning. My mom still had yet to say anything. She was so immersed in that self-help book that she got before we left California that she didn't even bother to speak when dad and I were trying to get her attention. He and I understood though. She needed it. Especially after everything that happened.

"Earth to Emmer. You may not be freezing to death, but I'm an old man, and do you know what that means?" He asked, completely snapping me out of my haze. "Means these winter clothes on me are as good as a sheet of paper. Roll up the window please."

Sighing, I rolled it up, sadly kissing the cool breeze goodbye. That infamous glare of his very well did it's job even though he wasn't directly looking at me. As our eyes connected through the rear view mirror, the corners of my lips dipped down at the sight of the dark circles that he had under the same green eyes that he and I shared. It seemed like even he wasn't doing so well with the change, no matter how hard he was trying to hide it.

"You doing okay?" He asked, taking his eyes off me, putting them back on the vast expanse in front of him.

"I'm fine." I replied, rubbing my clammy hands over my knees.

Nodding his head, he thankfully left it at that. I wasn't really in the mood to talk anyway these days. Gluing my eye back on the road, I was surprised to see that we were finally getting off of the highway. The buffer of trees opened up into local streets and commercial buildings. It was interesting though, because the buildings didn't seem to take away from the nature around it. They weren't polluting the land, but simply sharing it.

...Such a weird place. I thought, eyeing the Georgia license plates on the cars that were taking off next to me once the traffic light turned green.

This was going to be my new home, but just the thought of that felt so surreal. Some part of me wasn't ready to give up the boardwalks, and sun kissed skin of all those faces that I once knew. I didn't want to be negative, but starting over didn't feel like it was going to be easy. Especially if it's only been three hours since I formally saw that 'Welcome to Georgia' state sign, and I was already feeling homesick.

Moments later, the car swung around into a neighborhood supermarket parking lot, making me cringe. Just the thought that I had to actually physically leave the car to face people, new people at that, was giving me anxiety. Before my dad could even manage to turn the car off and pull the key out of the ignition, my mom was already stepping out of the car. She yawned as loud as she could, stretching her arms up to the sky.