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27

"Thanks for the hot chocolate."
"Anytime."
"So... Want to move to some more comfortable chairs? Or a—"
"I'm fine here. Besides, your side of the counter has an extra chair in the back, right?"
"Yeah, but that's the love seat in the corner..."
"Then we'll share."
"I have no problem with that, I just wanted to make sure you were okay with it because you're the sexually confused one here."
"Whatever."

Ethan and Travis sat together in the love seat, both crossing their legs so they were on the seat entirely.

"This is nice."
"Yeah."
"What do you want to do?"
"Can I ask you stuff about your life?"
"Sure, as long as it's not about weird fetishes and shit."
"Okay... I never see you go to school, and you talk like I'm younger than you. Care to explain?"
"I graduated college when I was sixteen."
"Damn! Why are you working in a bookstore and not for NASA?"
"They don't hire anyone under the age of twenty-one, I think."
"Oh. Did you ever have a boyfriend? Or were your parents..."

Travis's face went pale.

"Fuck, that was a sensitive subject, backtrack, I—"
"No, it's fine. I'll talk about it."
"Oh. Okay."
"My family outed me when I was fourteen because I told them I was gay. Maybe a month or so after I found a family to live with until I could stabilize myself."
"Well shit, Travis. I'm so sorry."
"Yeah, there's nothing you could really do to prevent it."

Ethan looked at Travis, who refused to make eye contact while sipping on his hot chocolate.

"Put the hot chocolate on the floor for a second."
"Why?"
"Do it."

After setting down the drink, Ethan lunged at Travis, wrapping his arms around Travis's waist.

"You deserve better than some excuse of a family like that. And although I might not like you like that, you can always call me family."
"Fuck, Ethan, you're going to make me cry."

Travis slung his arms around Ethan's shoulders, closing his eyes and inhaling his scent just as the rain started to pour.