Love Hurts (boyxboy)

Chapter 10: Nerves

Parker POV

"Pack up your stuff Parks, you're coming home with me tonight." Griffin had slid into the house without waking my father and was now standing in my doorway watching me with something mischievous in his eyes.

It had almost been a week since I got jumped in the media room, and I still hadn't told him who had attacked me. Sometimes he would press the issue, but others he would shrug it off like it didn't concern him. However, there was hardly a moment in the day where Griffin wasn't by my side since.

"No," I sighed, "I've already got plans." As if to prove that he wasn't listening to what I was saying, Griffin grabbed a duffel bag out of my closet and brought it over to the bed.

"Going through sports pictures isn't plans." He scoffed. I bit my bottom lip, still not moving from my place on the bed.

"Janine is coming at-"

"She's out with a sophomore on the football team tonight. Thought they'd make a cute couple." He opened one of my drawers, starting to pull clothes out and pack them into the bag. "It'll be good for her to get out and explore a bit."

"Griffin." He stopped packing, looking over at me as if waiting for an order. "I don't want to." He furrowed his brow, coming around to the side of the bed, towering over me. I swallowed hard. Here it comes...

...

Griffin POV

I stared down at him, my eyes lingering on the faint bruises that were still littering his precious face. It hadn't really crossed my mind that he might not want to come to my place this weekend, I just figured...

"Why not?"

"I-I-" he had that scared look on his face.

"Come on, it'll be fun." I knelt down in front of him, taking his hands in mine. "Just the two of us, no parents or teammates, like old times." He sighed, eyes down on our hands, refusing to look at my face. I hated it when he got like this. He was always scared, either of his father at home, or some of the bigger guys at school, and even with me around he just never seemed like he felt safe anymore. Ever since we'd gotten together that badass attitude he typically carried had almost faded away entirely.

"Okay." His voice was barely audible, no more than a whisper, but I'd take it. I finished packing his bag before slinging it over my shoulder and waiting for him by the door. When I looked back at him, he was still on his bed, staring at the nightstand. When I followed his gaze I saw the framed picture of his mother staring back at me.

"She'd be proud of you," I said, smiling softly. His lips quirked into a smile for only half a second, almost just a twitch, but it was enough. "Let's get going before your old man wakes up."

...

Parker POV

At first, I was terrified of being alone with Griffin at his home. So many things could go wrong, and I wasn't sure what his intentions for the evening were. Besides a few kisses here and there, and him keeping an arm around me most of the day, our relationship wasn't really physical. There was that one time on the football bus that I fell asleep on his shoulder, but even then there were other people around and it wasn't that big of a deal.

I'd been to Griffin's house before, obviously, but everything inside was different than the last time. Of course, when you're an upper class family, you can afford to change up the aesthetic when you felt like it.

Griffin was talking about his mom's new job as he led the way through the house to his bedroom, where he dropped my bag in the floor. It had been a long time since I'd been in this room. My eyes began wandering over the posters on the wall of some main stream bands and professional athletes. He excused himself for a moment as he stepped into the bathroom attached to his room, leaving me alone.

A picture frame caught my eye on the nightstand by his bed. I picked it up, holding the thin black frame in my hand as I stared at the picture. It was of us when we were younger, a lot younger. Griffin was hugging me from behind with the biggest smile on his face as he looked straight into the camera. He had probably just done something funny because I looked like I was laughing, like I was...happy.

"I love that picture," he said from behind me. His strong arms snaked around my midsection, pulling our bodies flush together as he placed a kiss on the top of my head. A small blush came over my face as I realized where I was and what was happening. "It makes me wish I could hold you like this all the time."

I quickly set the picture down, wiggling my way out of his grasp and almost slamming the bathroom door behind me. What was happening? My heart was pounding in my chest, my face was hot and red in the mirror, my palms were starting to get clammy, what the hell was going on with me? Was I...nervous?

...