Today was the greatest and most nerve-racking day of both Connor and Jared's lives. Today, they were to graduate, to leave high school and move onto college. To the rest of their lives, really.
Although you'd never expect him to be so nervous, Jared was shaking, running his hand through his own hair and looking at himself in the mirror. Everyone's parents and family from every senior at school would be there. He wouldn't be able to be close to Connor, or anyone he knew.
He told himself, "All you have to do is walk on stage without tripping or embarrassing yourself, grab your diploma, move this damn tassel thing, and walk off. And then you'll wait for Connor to go on and it'll all be okay."
Somehow, even these words didn't soothe him.
Connor walked into the bathroom they shared, hugging the smaller boy from behind. Jared looked at Connor through the mirror and chuckled breathily.
"Talking to yourself again, Jare?" Connor asked, smiling softly. It was a nervous tick, really, and Connor knew this.
"Sorry, I'm just, what if I mess up?" Jared asked with worried eyes.
"You won't. You're the insanely cool Jared Kleinman, remember?" Connor assured, having more faith in Jared not screwing up than he had in himself.
"I should probably let that nickname die with high school." Jared smiled and rolled his eyes.
"Maybe," Connor nodded, "We should get going."
"Already? Last time I checked it was 2:30." He sighed.
"Yeah, well, it's 6 and we have to get there by 6:30, so we better hurry our asses up." Connor laughed merrily and let go of Jared. He began to walk out when Jared took his hand, pulling him back toward him and stepping on his tip toes to steal a kiss. He soon pulled away, knowing how important it was to not be late.
The two drove to the school, where they were met with incredible traffic. Of course there was traffic, everyone was going to the same place.
After about 10 minutes, Jared and Connor ran into the auditorium and got in their correct spots in the long line of seniors that were graduating. Before that, the two hugged each other for about a minute before moving apart.
"I'm gonna miss you." Jared smiled softly.
"We'll be separated for like, an hour, Jare, chill your tits." Connor joked.
"Chill my tits?" Jared said, acting offended.
"Yeah."
"Just walk me to my spot, you dork." Jared chuckled. The two did so, and Connor left Jared to go into his own spot.
About half an hour later, the ceremony started, and Jared waited for what seemed like forever to be called up. It seemed stupid to him. They were in a ceremony, wearing caps and gowns just to walk up, get a rolled up piece of paper, move a dangling string on their caps, and leave. It was almost comical.
Jared was up. From not too far away, Connor could hear the principal of his school call Jared's name, and he smiled as he listened.
"Jared Kleinman!" The principal called. Jared got up and took his diploma before the principal moved his tassel. In what felt like two seconds, he was off the stage and waiting for Connor.
Later on, you could hear Connor's name.
"Connor Murphy!"
Jared was trying to fight off tears. He was honestly just happy for Connor and how far he had come. At the beginning of the year, Connor had Ds and Fs. When he met Jared and they started dating, he had gotten so much better. And Jared was proud.
When Connor got off stage, Jared ran to him happily and hugged him tight. "We're officially outta this place!" He smiled hugely.
"Sure are, Jare," Connor grinned gently. "I can't believe it."
"I don't wanna wait half an hour more to kiss the hell out of you." Jared pouted.
"Patience is a virtue, my Jared." Connor said in a fake low voice. He chuckled and hugged Jared tightly.
"You're a weirdo." Jared rolled his eyes.
"But I'm your weirdo." Connor reminded.
Half an hour later, the ceremony was over, and Jared and Connor made their way to their small apartment not too far from the high school they used to attend. After they slipped into pajamas and got ready for bed, it was a cuddle fest.
They fell asleep in each other's arms while watching a random movie on their cable-free TV, and wouldn't wake up until the early hours of day, when they usually had to get up for school.
But not anymore.
