The Long Way Home

Thirty Four

Matthew slept for the entire plane ride home. Of course he did. He hadn't slept all night and the weight of the all nighter crashed on him the moment he sat in his seat. He didn't have a blanket and he was twisted at an odd angle so normally he wouldn't have slept well. But he was just
SO
DAMN
TIRED.
He woke up a few hours later when the plane finally landed but went back to sleep as soon as he and Lars were packed into the car.
While they were gone, Lars had people moving all of Matthew's stuff, which he had packed up over the week leading up to the Europe trip, into Arthur's house. All of Matt's weed stuff was now at Lars's place but he was allowed to visit whenever and Lars would take good care of his plants.
He would be pretty busy over the next few weeks, with unpacking and settling back in and what not, so he wouldn't have much of a chance to see Lars.
When Matthew woke up twenty minutes away from home, he realized that he should probably tell Lars now.
"I thought about what you said..."
"And?" Lars kept his jaw set and his eyes on the road. Matthew pursed his lips, nervous about starting.
"If it's a conflict of interest...maybe we shouldn't date..."
"I..."
"In public."
"What?"
"Like, we could sneak around easily. And then if we wanted to take any big steps, you could find me an editor that you trust and then we could come out aboot our relationship later."
"And you're absolutely sure that you want this?"
"Only if we take it slow. I've never dated anybody before."
"You didn't take it slow with Gil." Lars muttered. There was a playful sprinkle in his tone.
"Yeah and it was a huge mistake. Almost as huge as his-"
"Oh look. We're here." Lars pulled into the driveway of Matthew's old and new home. Peter was playing with tonka trucks on the front lawn. Those things were so hard to get these days.
"We need to set some rules." Matthew said. "Like, we can't tell even our closest friends aboot this."
"And you can't touch my hair."
"Oh come on!"
"Fine. You can't touch it without asking."
"That's better."
"And no sex in the hot tub."
"Ugh you're so boring." Matthew groaned. "But I'll accept those conditions."
"Does this mean we're boyfriends."
"Yeah. I guess it does." The conversation fizzled to a close when Arthur emerged from the house and waved at Matthew. Matthew waved back softly, getting ready to unbuckle his seatbelt.
"I guess this is goodbye for now." He smiled at Lars.
"I'll be around. Call when you need me."
Matthew nodded and climbed out of the car, going to the back seat where his luggage was packed in.
"I'll text you after dinner if dad's food doesn't kill me first."
"Will you be alright on your own?"
Matthew looked over at Arthur, who was now lecturing Peter about digging up the flower beds.
"Yeah. I'll be fine."
He may have taken the long way around, but he knew that he was finally home.

It's over but not really because there's a sequel. I'm just glad to be finished this cuz I was having a rough time for a while. The sequel (The Short Way Back) will be here Monday!! Stay tuned!