Head Over Heels ✓

29 / growing up

september, age twenty-one

The last bag made its way up to the flat thirty minutes after the first, joining several others in the sitting room into which the front door opened. It wasn't much: rent was a killer in Brighton and the tiny one-bedroom flat was only a one-up from a studio. The bedroom just about had a view of the sea from almost a mile away, the shore at the end of a casual stroll down a long hill, and on the third floor, it was far enough away from the street that the noise from the revellers wasn't so disruptive.

After deciding to move in together, Asher and Lucas had spent tireless hours on the internet trying to find a flat that they could afford that was conveniently located for the university, the beach and the station. They had found the trifecta in the flat that would be theirs for the next year at least, with options to extend the rental contract if they wished to stay in the city: it sat right in the middle of the triangle, an equal distance from all three and not too far from the north laines either.

It was the next step. Lucas had to keep reminding himself of that every time a sliver of fear made its way into his heart. He had graduated – Asher had cheered him at his ceremony two months ago, alongside his parents and his step-parents – and he was dating the only man he had ever loved. Life was serious now, pushing him into the realm of adulthood, whether he was ready or not.

Sarah stood straight, her hands on the small of her back as she bent back with a heavy sigh and surveyed the modest flat her son was moving into. There was a lot of unpacking to do, mostly Asher's things when Lucas was a conscientious packer who had only filled a couple of cases to move down south whereas Asher's things were haphazardly thrust into bags for life and the odd box.

"Is that the last one?" Lucas asked, poking his head out of the bedroom. He had started to unpack his clothes, which had travelled from home on their hangers straight from his wardrobe

"Yup," his mother said as she scooped her hair into a ponytail. "This is everything." Bending down, she peered into the bag she had just brought up. "This is full of Asher's clothes, I think." She lifted the bag again and carried it into the room that Lucas and Asher now shared, dropping it onto the bed when her muscles gave in and she couldn't carry it anymore.

"Thanks, Sarah!" Asher took the bag from her, dragging it across the bed and tipping it out on top of the duvet. Lucas grimaced at how little he seemed to care for tidiness, his clothes sitting in a heap. Asher looked up and caught his eye with a laugh, pointing at him. "Hey, don't give me that look."

Lucas held up his hands. "I wasn't giving you a look."

Sarah chuckled and put her hand on her son's shoulder, several inches above her own. "I think you're just going to have to get used to a little more chaos, hun."

"He knew this when we decided to move in together," Asher said to his boyfriend's mother. "I've never changed and I don't think I will any time soon. I'm not tidy."

"I know that," Lucas said. He was well-versed in Asher's chaotic way of life and having never spent more than a few days in his house, he wasn't entirely sure what it would be like to live together – and in such close quarters. It was one thing to have his entire house to spread out in back in Farnleigh, but their flat was small. With the stress of his final year of his illustration degree, Asher was bound to be even messier.

"What if I leave you to sort out the cupboard?" Asher offered. "I'll go and unpack the kitchen stuff."

"Ok. How d'you want your clothes arranged?"

Asher laughed and kissed Lucas before he left. "Any way you want."

He hummed to himself as he headed into the kitchen, swinging a couple of bags onto the counter on his way. Sarah sat down on the edge of Lucas's bed, separating Asher's shirts and trousers. She began to fold his jeans into neat squares to be filed away in the chest of drawers that the two would share. Lucas had never really had to share before. Although their house was small, he had always had his own room. His three younger sisters shared another; the triplets in the last. If ever Audrie stayed over, she slept in the attic room she had converted for her last year or two at home.