No Homo | zaylor ✓

best kept secret

The drive from Tennessee to New York felt never ending. Those thirteen hours that Taylor spent in the car — only getting out of it on the occasion where he and his family would stop for food or to use the bathroom — felt so much longer than that.

Taylor and his parents spent one night in a hotel. Well, a motel, really. Calling it a hotel would be an insult to hotels everywhere. The televisions were those big, old-style TVs that Taylor couldn't believe still existed. The rooms smelled of cigarettes, vomit, and a little bit of mildew.

The three Yorks couldn't wait to get out of there.

As soon as they could, they left the motel, got into their car — which had a UHaul connected to it that held all of Taylor's college necessities — and made their way to Taylor's temporary home.

Taylor and Zac had already discussed who would bring what. Taylor would bring the mini fridge and gaming console, Zac would bring the microwave and the television. The most difficult part of the entire process was the routine of carrying things up the stairs and to the room in the blistering late-August heat. Keep in mind that no elevator was available in the building. By the time Zac and his family had arrived, the York family was ready to say goodbye. Taylor had sweat through his navy blue shirt, a trail of perspiration having formed down his top. The trail formed a triangular shape along the front of his shirt, causing the otherwise loose fabric sticking to his chest.

That was a nice sight for Zac to see.

Once Mr. and Mrs. York had left their son, Taylor did his best to help Zac set up. But he was exhausted and wanted to nap more than he wanted to help. He could barely keep his eyes open. Not only was he exhausted from the strenuous labor he had been involved in, but it hadn't been very easy to get a good night's sleep in the motel that he had stayed in the night prior.

The lack of air conditioning did not help anything. Once Zac's parents said their goodbyes to both their son and to Taylor, the older of the two boys tore his shirt off and stood in front of one of the two fans that they had placed in their room, both of his arms extended away from his body.

This whole staying in the closet and resisting the constant urge of asking Taylor to fuck him was not going to be an easy task for Zac.

After a little bit of relaxing, their door came open. Without being welcomed in, their resident advisor, or RA, walked in. Even though both of the college freshmen were several feet away from the strange looking, bearded male, they could tell that he reeked of alcohol, marijuana, and cigarettes. Without a doubt, the most prominent scent was the weed. He was either a total pothead or a skunk had gotten scared near their room. Probably the former. Not very appealing. Taylor pulled on a clean shirt.

"Hey, what is up..." his voice trailed off as his eyes focused on the clipboard in his hands. He squinted his bloodshot eyes and then finished his sentence with, "Zachary and Taylor! It's nice to meet you guys, I'm Jeremy, your RA for this year. My room is right at the end of the hall, so make sure to come to me if you ever need anything."

"Will do," Taylor said with a phony smile and gave him a small salute. The only thing they would come to him for would be drugs.

Jeremy left the room, but the boys could hear him giving an almost identical introduction to the students in the room next to theirs. The walls were quite thin. Interesting.

After a few seconds of silence, Zac's phone buzzed. He stood up. "Hey, uh, do you want to come with me to meet my friend? She goes here and has an apartment this year. She's a sophomore, but anyway, I understand if you're tired and would rather sleep..."

Taylor shrugged his broad shoulders and pushed himself to his feet. He stretched his arms, a little yawn escaping his lips. "I'll come along."

His mom would be proud of him. He knew that he needed to branch out, he needed to at least make an effort or else he wouldn't make any friends. Easier said than done, but he could try.

Zac guided his roommate out of the building in which they would be living in for the entirety of their freshman year. Both of them were lost, Zac scratching the back of his neck as he looked around. They had no idea where they were going.

Zac went onto his phone and clicked his friend's contact, calling the person.

"Hey, my roommate and I just came out of our dorm. Can you come pick us up? No, I don't care what we...okay, that sounds good. We'll see you soon. Bye."

Zac ended the call and forced his phone into his pocket. He guided Taylor to the sidewalk, where they would then wait nearly ten minutes under the boiling sun for Zac's friend to appear.

Eventually, said friend showed up. A beaten down silver car came rolling down the road. It stopped at the curb and a tinted window rolled down, showing Zac's friend to be a girl with bleached hair. Taylor noted that the girl looked too small to even have her license. But whatever.

Zac approached the car, Taylor closely following. The girl stayed in her vehicle.

"Hey Zac, and uh..." the girl's voice trailed off as she looked at Taylor, who was still a stranger to her.

Taylor took a step closer and introduced himself. "I'm Taylor, it's nice to meet you."

They shook hands and the girl introduced herself as well, squinting up at the curly-haired brunet due to the sun that could be seen peeking out from behind him. "I'm Hayley. Zac's friend from back home. Get in, guys, I'm hungry."

Taylor hadn't eaten since the night prior. He had been so eager to leave the motel he had stayed at that food had been the last thing on his mind. But as he climbed into the silver car, his stomach grumbled. Maybe it was time for lunch.

Zac sat in the passenger's seat, chatting with Hayley about how things were up in Franklin.

Taylor sat in the back, his eyes watching cars speed by and focusing on people who walked down the busy sidewalks of Manhattan.

Taylor started to pay attention to the conversation between Zac and his friend once she started to talk about the adjustment of moving from the South to New York.

"It's different. Very different. We grew up in these places where nothing was ever meant to change. Look, you know I love Tennessee with all my heart, but I feel...free here, especially with Lindsey. And I think you're going to understand that, Zac. I know how terrified you were back at home and how you didn't think you could be the person you are. But up here, I promise you that nobody is going to judge you for being the way you are."

Zac knew exactly what Hayley was referring to. His eyes went wide and he looked at Hayley, quickly shaking his head to tell her no, shut up.

She got the message and understood. But Taylor, on the other hand, was confused. Why would anyone judge Zac? Taylor saw no reason for any judgment but that was because he was oblivious to Zac's sexuality. He ignored Hayley's words, pushing them to the back of his mind for the time being.

"Anyway, you guys won't believe how amazing New York pizza is. Unfortunately, finding parking is almost impossible."

As the three of them enjoyed their pizza and Taylor bonded with the other two about life back in Tennessee, he began to think about what Hayley had said. What did she mean by Zac being the way he is? And why wouldn't it be accepted in Tennessee?

Taylor wanted to know. But maybe if Zac wanted him to know, he would tell him.