· N E R D ·

t w e n t y - f i v e

"What's wrong, Evan?"

"I'm sure it's not hard to figure out."

Jonathan somehow managed to withhold his laugh. "Let me guess: it's your back."

"Yes!" Evan groaned, face buried into the pillows on his bed. "My spine is killing me!"

The American sat on the bed next to his boyfriend's legs. "Do you want me to rub your back for you? You know I will."

Evan turned his head to the side and closed his eyes. "Please."

A few minutes into the massage, Jonathan spoke up again. "Yoga would also help, if you wanted to try that, too."

"Now I understand what women mean when they say, 'You did this to me.'"

The laugh couldn't be held back this time. "To be fair, you kinda did it to yourself."

"Shut up. It was kinda my therapist's idea."

Another laugh, followed by a peaceful silence. Then something struck Jonathan.

"Hey, Evan?"

"Yeah?"

"Why don't you have your driver's license?"

When they first met, Evan had told Jonathan that he didn't have his license, yet he didn't say why. It had always bothered him, not knowing, but he didn't feel the need to pry. Well, now he did.

"I got it revoked."

"What?"

"No, I'm just kidding. My mom couldn't afford to put me in driver's ed when I was in high school and then we ended up moving here so things changed. That's it."

"Oh."

"Why?"

"I think you should find a driver's ed to take when school starts up again."

Evan opened his eyes and frowned. "I don't know..."

"Why not? You're gonna be nineteen next month so technically you don't even need to take a class, you can just try the road test. But obviously classroom helps. Actually, you can probably just take an online class, that way you don't have to sit in another classroom all day. I don't know what the DMV laws are here in New Jersey so we'll have to look those up."

"I'll think about it."

"Whatever you decide on, I'm here to help."

"I know. Thanks."

Jonathan leaned forward and kissed the area between Evan's shoulder blades, followed by more silence and more of a relaxing massage.

"Oh yeah, your STD results came in."

Evan turned his head to look at Jonathan with worried eyes. "And?"

Jonathan smiled. "Nothing. You're clean."

"Oh thank goodness."

The American laughed and went back to massaging.