Leon, Leon (BoyxNB romance)

Chapter 33

“Ugh, God, Leon, why are you up already? It’s so early...”

I heard him open my curtains, and the light stung my eyes as I opened them, hastily, then felt them go wide as I looked at him, topless, with his back to me.

How did I think I was even slightly straight at one point? And how could I convince myself that he wasn’t one of the most attractive people I had met.
“I need to dress into clothes,” he said. “I have things that I need to do.”
“Really? It’s the day before we go back to school,” I said, hating the fact that I had reminded myself of it. “You can have a lie in.”

I mean... I wasn’t lying, but I totally wanted to express my newfound freedom to be as gay as I wanted (within reason) with him, my dreams mostly curling up in bed all day and burying myself in his hair. Also, yes, I had managed to stay in my room, with him also in the room. In the same bed, in particular. And not only did have ninety percent less aches than from the week I had spent in the living room, I was also blessed with this artwork in front of me.

“No,” he said, simply. “Your sister wants me to go to do shopping with her this morning. I do not want to make her wait.”
“Oh, alright... why did she ask you to go with her?”
“I do not know. Perhaps she wants to know me, more? I also need clothes, since... my house, is not a good place, now. So I will try to buy some.”
“Fair enough,” I said, not being able to stop thinking that she was up to something. “I hope you have a good time. You’ll be back in time for us to go out tonight though, yeah?”
“Yeah, of course,” he smiled. “I promise.”

I sat on the couch, coffee in my hand, one of the pups on my legs and one on Mam’s. “How are your shifts for next week looking, Mam?”
“Not bad, love, not bad. A couple of night ones covering for Nicky – his wife’s having their first kid, bless him, he looks so happy and terrified constantly – but it could be worse. What about school, love? Any news?”
“Not... really. Leon’s helping me with science, and I have this essay I’ve been putting off for ages, so I’ll get that done next week sometime, but... yeah. Life’s mostly just carrying on, to be honest.”
“Mhm,” she took a sip of her coffee. “You two are going out tonight, right?”
“Yeah, yeah,” she wiggled her eyebrows. “Just to take the dogs out, you know? And show him the beach. It’s been ages since I’ve gone down there myself, as well, and...”
“Good. Hopefully he’ll come back with something sexy to wear as well, huh?”
“Mam!” I said, slapping her arm gently. “Don’t... say stuff like that.”
“Sorry, love, sorry,” she chuckled. “It’s just my job to embarrass you, you know? As a mother, it’s on the list whenever you get a love interest.” She smiled. “Bur seriously, I do like him a lot. I hope it all works out for you guys tonight.”
“Th... thanks, Mam. It’s hard, sometimes, you know? Because, in truth... the relationship with Cass wasn’t great.”
“Kiddo, I know that. Just because you’re a man, you gotta be tough, but it doesn’t mean you can’t get hurt. She was bad to you, right? Really bad.”
“Um, yeah, it wasn’t... great.”
“I could tell. I know it’s hard – when we’ve only had one thing, and it went to shit, we think that if we ever do it again, it will just go to shit again so we think not to bother. But... he’s a completely different person, with different feelings and hobbies and interests and intentions. And... it will be better. I promise. And if it isn’t, you tell me, and I’ll make it better for you.”
“Thank you, Mam,” I smiled, a little. “Thank you.”