What I Left Behind (boyxboy)

A Final Ride

I still couldn't wrap my head around it in the morning. He always woke up first.
I think I was too horrified to move.

We both got up and went fishing again. Came back for breakfast, went down to the lake to swim for the afternoon. Not a word was spoken by him or myself about the previous two nights.
It almost didn't feel like we had to say anything, we just were both on the same level.

The rest of the week, the same thing happened every night. We would sleep in the same position. Staying right next to each other, intertwined in our strange cuddle position until the sun came up.
A word was never spoken, but it was never awkward either.

Two nights left before we backed up and back to reality we went.

I decided I needed to see if this was all just in my imagination.

We crawled into bed just like the past, almost immediately we ended up in our position. His arm came up to my ribs and the half smile appeared on his face.

Just do it Flynn, it's been almost two weeks of this every night. Just do it.

I took my arm and mimicked the spot on his ribs, the same place where he was holding onto mine.

I was waiting for him to jump up and yell
"Hey I'm not fucking queer!" Or something to that effect.

But what happened next shocked me, but also comforted me.
"Goodnight Flynn" he murmured.
"Night, Nick" I whispered
I saw a full smile on his face.
I fell asleep with a smile on mine.

Nick woke me up, it was pitch black other than the dim lighting from the campers lights.

"Let's go watch the sunrise doofus" he whispered as he changed his shirt.

I got up and we both walked to the lake in silence.

We found a spot along the wooded shoreline of the water. We sat down on a retaining wall that held back the shoreline from eroding into the lake.
We sat side by side, the birds were still sleeping. It was peaceful, serene and quiet.

"This is amazing" Nick muttered quietly
I sat silently.
Nick then scooted closer to me, wrapped his arm around my waist and rested his head on my shoulder.
I put my arm around him.
We sat like this in silence until the sun was fully risen.

"Ready for breakfast?" Nick asked
"Of course" I replied.

We never spoke about this either. But again, we were radiating on the same wavelength.

The next two nights were the same. Side by side almost immediately.
He wished me goodnight every night.

Friday came and we packed up, got in the car for a long ride home.

We dropped Nick off at the top of his street when we arrived back in town.
"Dinner this Sunday Nick?" my mother asked.

"I'll be there, Mrs.English! See you later, Flynn." His eyes met mine before he hopped out of the back seat of the pickup truck, grabbed his bag from the bed, tapped the metal door twice as he turned on his heel and walked up the hill to his house.

I couldn't stop thinking about it. The whole trip was almost magical.
I've never experienced feelings like that before.

It was starting to get cold out, unusual for this early in the fall.
Finally Sunday came. It hadn't been 48 hours since I had seen Nick, but I was pacing my room waiting for him to show up. My sister was home. I'm sure she was hungover from her two weeks of binge drinking while we camped.

After what seemed like eons, Nick's stepfathers truck pulled in the driveway with his dirt bike in the bed.
I bolted for the door. He gave me his signature half smile through the windshield of the Dodge.
We unloaded his bike and his step father said
"Pick you up tomorrow?"
"See you then" he replied as he kicked over the bike and puttered it over to the shed.

We ate early with my parents and Ally,
"One last ride for the fall, all of us?" My father asked, sounding hopeful.
"That would be nice, the leaves are so pretty" my mother glanced out the window.

We all suited up, even Ally decided to come along.
We got the bikes all running finally and helmets on.

"Wait! Let me get my camera!" My mother yelled over the drone of exhaust.
She ran inside.
Finally we all crossed the street and into the trails we went.
My mother and father led the way, with Nick and myself taking up the rear.

We hit a clearing and my mother motioned for all of us to pull over.
She set the camera up and we all took out helmets off, joined together. My parents standing in the back, Ally kneeling front and center, Nick and myself slightly off center.

My hit the shutter button and ran next to my father
"Five seconds!" She yelled

Nick grabbed my waist and pulled me close.

The little red light flashed and then went solid.

Click.