Temptation

-31-

            Andy had been the one to suggest the idea. I was in the middle of making out with the wall – I had to do it for two whole minutes, which didn't sound like much, but seemed to drag on for ages when my lips were pressed up against the wall. At least I didn't have to do it in public this time.

"I kinda feel like I'm cheating on the chair with this," I'd said between smooches. Then, when I got no reply, I'd added "I bet you wish this was you."

"I always do," He'd smiled. I knew that he was worried that I was thinking about Sophie, and I hated that he was right. It would be so easy to go back to her now that she wanted me again, to slip back into the comfortable routine as first-nature as breathing. I wouldn't have to stress about coming out anymore. In my fantasy world, I wouldn't have to think about anything.

But, unfortunately, it was the real world that I lived in, and things would never be that simple. There was no question about it – I liked boys, and having a girlfriend wouldn't be able to mask that forever. Looking at it in retrospect, Sophie and I were never mean to be everlasting – Even now, I could tell, it wasn't really me that she was after. Maybe she was bored with her new man, or needed me as a rebound. Maybe she just needed to prove to herself that she could have me whenever she wanted me. Either way, she wouldn't be getting whatever her little heart desired – At least, not this time. Because now, I had Andy, and he was asking me if I wanted to go on a real date night. I had said yes. I would always say yes.

Maybe some people found it wrong, and they would always be deadest in their belief that we would burn in hell. And, maybe that would always bother me, at least a little bit. But they would never know just how nice it felt to hold Andy's hand and feel the weight of him leaning up against me as we waited in line to get suited up for laser tag.

They'd never have the comfort of sporting a strip of photobooth pictures in their pocket, knowing exactly what they were – In the first, I had my hands folded above his head, and my own resting about it. In the second, we were laughing, and Andy was looking at me like he'd waited a lifetime for this moment and couldn't believe that it was really happening. And in the third – Perhaps my favorite of them all – Our lips were interlocked, and I was freaking glowing. The cynics would never know the relief of finally being in a happy, healthy relationship, or how I loved him so much that my heart ached. So what if they were right? He could drag me through hell if it meant that I got to hold his hand.

As we put the vests on, I thought about dare #21. We'd waited until Sunday for our trip to the mall so we'd have the entire day to ourselves. I had to ask a random stranger for a tampon – Probably assuming that it was for somebody other than myself, she'd been willing to grant us one pretty easily.

"What should we do with the tampon?" I asked now. "Do you think we should leave it on Mikey's bed again?"

"That would be pretty priceless," Andy chuckled. "But now that he knows, he'd probably throw it at your head instead of Brooklyn's."

"You make a good point," I conceded. "It might still be worth it, though." Before we had time to discuss it further, the arena opened, and the game was on.

We'd been assigned to opposite teams, and, before I even had time to think, Andy said, "I love you, but this is war," and blasted me.

"This must be some sort of cheating, right?" I asked honestly, but he merely laughed and said "All's fair in love and war," and I had no choice but to retreat back to the blue home base to recharge.

Andy was surprisingly good at laser tag. For somebody who complained every time that he went to the gym, he caught me off guard with how sneaky and fast he was. Here, his small size helped him as he leaped out at me from behind fortresses and blasted me time and again. By the end of the round, I was sweaty and out of breath, but determined to get at least one shot in before time ran out.

Stealthily as I could manage, I snuck onto team red's territory. With a turn of luck, I spotted Andy in the far corner – Probably plotting his next move against me. With surprise on my side, I jumped out and blasted him before he even had the time to register that it was me. When he did, the tip of his mouth curved up into a smile.

"Took you long enough," He stated. I didn't reply, just kissed him instead. And it was then – The five minute warning going off and people becoming frantic in their last-ditch efforts to put team blue on the leaderboard – that it struck me. I didn't want to have to only kiss Andy in dark corners. I wanted him all of the time, everywhere.

But if I wanted to do that, then that only meant one thing – I would have to come out. And maybe, just maybe, I was ready this time.