You Make My Life Complete (Boyxboy)

Chapter 13

Levi's POV

"Riley, let's go." I yelled up the stairs with Spencer in my arms. "You know how Mrs. Connolly is when we get there late."

"I know, I know." He said, coming down looking nicer than I've seen him in awhile. He had on a nice pair of black skinny jeans, black loafers, and a light blue button-up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and only the top button unbuttoned. His light brown hair, which was usually falling forward into his eyes, was parted to the left, leaving his light blue eyes that matched mine in view. "She's already going to beat me for missing so many dinners."

"Well, then. You look nice." I smirked at him, hefting Spencer up higher on my hip.

"Oh, shut up." He looks down as his cheeks turn pink. "I want to look nice for her. She deserves it."

I ruffle his hair when he tries to brush past me. "You're so adorable, little bro. Come on." I lead him outside,  Spencer babbling in my ear.

The car ride was silent apart from the low music playing from the radio and Spencer's slightly incoherent babbling.

"See mammaw, daddy?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah, buddy. We are going to dinner at Grandma's." I smile back at him.

"Do you think she'll really be mad at me for not coming?" He asks quietly.

I look over at him quickly and see him looking down at his hands. "Not really. She loves you, so she will probably be a little mad at the beginning; maybe smack you on the head before pulling you in for a hug." I smile as he looks over at me.

"Okay." He smiles back shakily.

As we pull up in front of Mrs. Connolly's house, the door opens and she steps out, her graying hair up in a bun with a few flyaways framing her face. Her red dress shifted with the wind as she waved at us.

"Hello, boys!" She called out as we exited the car, smiling brightly at us. "Hurry up and come give me hugs."

I smile as I wave back before turning and unbuckling Spencer from his car seat.

"Mammaw!" Spencer cried as soon as he saw Mrs. Connolly.

"Hello, darling. Levi, let me see my little grandson." She says to me, pulling him from my arms the second he's within reach. "Hi, honey." She coos, directly to Spencer, returning the hug he gives her.

"Hi, mammaw," he says into her shoulder.

"You come here, too, Levi." She says, pulling me in with the arm that isn't holding Spencer. I melted into her side, taking comfort in the feeling of a motherly hug. After a couple of seconds, she pats my back, signaling for me to pull away. "Alright, you take Spencer while I give this boy a talking-to." She smiles deviously at me as she hands Spencer back over to me.

I take Spencer before turning to look at Riley. He's standing straight up, facing Mrs. Connolly with a blank expression on his face.

"Now, young man." Mrs. Connolly starts, waving a finger at him. "You have been blowing me off for weeks and that is not okay."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Connolly. I understand if you don't want me to stay." Riley's face remained blank, giving no indication of what he was feeling, however, the shake in his voice gave way to how nervous he actually was.

I wasn't surprised when Mrs. Connolly gave him a light smack to the back of the head. "Oh, don't be stupid, Ri. You just made me miss you too much. Now, come here and give me a hug." She said, opening her arms to him.

Riley's blank look fell away to a small, relieved smile. He moved forward, arms opening as he fell into Mrs. Connolly's embrace. Mrs. Connolly smiled, squeezing him back.

"Alright, boys, I know you must be starving," She says, pulling out of the hug while keeping a hand on Riley's back. "Let's head inside and get something to eat."

*******

Dinner was delicious, as always, however Spencer had no patience. Riley had taken Spencer into the living room to play while Mrs. Connolly and I cleaned up after our meal.

"So, I talked to Jay today." Mrs. Connolly says.

"What?" I asked. "Really?"

"Yeah, he came to grab some ice cream today." She said. "We talked about his future. Looks like he's gonna go to art school to become a photographer."

"Yeah, he printed some of his old negatives to show me. It was amazing. He, um, actually had photos of Cam and I." I peeked over at her. She paused for a minute before going back to scrubbing the plate in her hand. "He had caught us surfing a couple years ago."

"You boys did love surfing. All those times when you were no more than seven, begging me and your mom to go to the beach on your own." Mrs. Connolly smiled wistfully, not focusing on the plate she had been scrubbing for too long now. She sighed as she put down the sponge and rinsed off the plate, shaking her head.

Moments of silence passed by as she rinsed the plate and handed it to me to dry. It wasn't that Mrs. Connolly and I didn't talk about Cam, we did. We just didn't talk about him often. Most of the time, Mrs. Connolly and I liked to stay in a happy mood and talking about Cam usually brought on a wave of sadness that we couldn't shake. 

"You know he loved you, right?" Mrs. Connolly says, her warm brown eyes staring into mine as she handed me the serving bowl. "You were the closest thing he ever had to a brother and I doubt he would have been around as long if he didn't have you." 

My chest felt tight and there was a knot forming in the back of my throat. "I loved him, too. He was the best friend I've ever had."

She nodded, turning back to the dishes and started scrubbing again. 

*******

"Levi!" Jackson yelled, stumbling off his seat at the bar next to a couple of coworkers. "I haven't seen you without grease in your hair in ages! How have you been?" As soon as he got to me, he practically collapsed on me in a hug. 

I opened my mouth to reply only to be interrupted by more of Jackson's drunk slurring. "How's Ri and Pens, I mean Spence." He giggled at his own slip up before continuing. "Oh! And how's the hunk? Jackson? Is that his name? No, that's my name." His eyebrows furrowed, gaze concentrated on the ground as he tried to recall the name.

"Jay is doing great." I laughed. "And so are Riley and Spencer. They're home watching a movie. How are you already drunk? It's only 7:30."

"Excuse me. I'm not drunk. 'M tipsy. Anyway, I got off a little early today. I've been here for an hour already waiting for YOU, mister." He said, poking my nose, or rather my upper lip, with his finger.

"I did tell you that I was eating at Mrs. Connolly's before coming here. Now, come on, let's go sit." I said, yanking him over to a chair. 

Two hours, two beers, and two tequila shots later, I was properly buzzed. Jackson and I were cracking up over the word peanuts when I felt my phone vibrate. 

"Yes, this is Levi," I said, sounding very serious. 

"Levi?" A soft, velvety voice rang through the phone.

"Jay!" I gasped. "Your voice is so pretty."

"Uh, thanks." He laughed and I almost fainted. "Levi, you wouldn't happen to be drunk, would you?" 

"I am a little tipsy." I declared. "But it's fine, I'm fine. Oh my gosh, you know what's funny?" I put a hand over my mouth to hold in a giggle. "Peanut!" I managed before bursting out in laughter.

"Okay, whatever you say. I just wanted to call and say goodnight but do you need me to come pick you up? I don't think you should drive like this." He said. Wow, my boo is so cute.

"It's okay, my darling boo. Devon is our DD. Ha, it's two D's like two dicks." I snorted. 

"Okay, Levi." I could hear the smile in his voice. "Anyway, I'm going to go to bed. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay, but you're not allowed to hang up unless you call me your boo." I demanded.

A loud laugh came through the phone and it made me smile big. "Goodnight, my boo." 

"Goodnight, my boo." I smirked as I heard the click of the call ending.