Funny How Love Is (Maylor AU)

Chapter 87

"No, Nana, it's Liz," Roger answered, his voice higher as he picked himself up and brushed his clothes off. Through the darkness, he spotted the culprit that led to his demise—a pair of heels that Nana had left in the middle of the room. He brought an embarrassed hand up to his forehead and sighed, turning his attention to the old woman in his bed and explaining softly, "Sorry to wake you. I was just trying to grab a few things."

Nana hummed, folding her arms over her chest and asking, "Planning on going somewhere?"

Yes. You're finally getting away from Tim.

"No, Nana."

"Well I wouldn't blame you if you were," the old woman murmured, cocking the blonde's eyebrow as she drew the eye mask back down and lied back in bed, "My boy doesn't deserve you, and he's crazy to think you two should get married because I'm pretty sure he's gay." Roger stifled a laugh at her accusation, clasping his hands over his mouth. "I've seen the way he looks at men. It's disgusting."

The blonde nodded his head, dropping his hands onto his hips and playing along with her unknowingly accurate statement by muttering as dejectedly as he could manage, "Yeah, I-I've noticed it too."

"And you want to know something even crazier?" she asked, curling up in the sheets and hugging one of the pillows she'd taken from the headboard, "He thinks you're cheating on him!"

Roger pressed his lips tightly together, tilting his head down and continuing to act like this was all new to him. "That's silly. I would never."

But he was.

"That's what I told him," Nana grumbled, beginning to drift back off to sleep. "You're a good girl, Liz, and if you want to leave tonight, I won't stop you." She dropped her jaw and yawned, smacking her dry lips together before tacking on softly, "In fact, I encourage you to. Get out before it's too late."

No more pretending to be someone you're not.

The blonde felt a faint blush rising in his cheeks, Tim's grandmother's blessing and show of care warming his heart and providing him with the courage he needed to follow through with this. Roger smiled inwardly and finally made his way to the closet, pushing the door aside—surprisingly without it sounding like nails on a chalkboard—and snatching a few of his shirts off their hangers.

No more dressing up in drag.

As the pile in his arms became too much to bear, he thought about where he would put them in, and without so much as a second thought, he threw them into the box that had been haphazardly put back together with adhesive tape—right on top of the clothes he'd been wearing these past few weeks as well as some of the items he had no for. Once the container had reached its capacity, clothes from both the closet and the dresser spilling over the edges, he picked it up and finally saw what he'd done.

He bit his lip and contemplated if—deep down—he wasn't ready to let that part of his life go. It was just like the client list, something he should've gotten rid of as soon as he was given the opportunity at the university. However, he couldn't imagine parting with it—not yet, and so, with a single tear rolling down his cheek, he headed for the door.

"Don't forget these, dear," Nana's raspy voice suddenly hit his ear, freezing him in place.

Roger looked back at her over his shoulder and noticed her hand resting on the nightstand, her eyes still hidden behind the mask and her frail fingers tapping the small collection of cigarette packs perched beside the lamp. The blonde smirked and retraced his steps, swiping the boxes off the nightstand and adding them to his already overflowing box. "Thank you, Nana," he whispered.

The old woman raised her eye mask again, this time meeting Roger's gaze through the shadow cast over the bedroom to tell him, "I'm going to miss you."

The music instructor reached down and wrapped his hand around Nana's, bending down to bring it to his lips for a kiss before murmuring, "I'm going to miss you too. Keep Tim out of trouble for me while I'm gone, will you?"

Nana laughed at the request. "I'll try."

Roger smiled through the tears streaming down his face and released the old woman's hand, bidding her good night and backing away from the bed.

Just as he was about to close the door behind him, he dared to take one last look at Nana—the old woman's eyes still on him. "You're doing the right thing, babe," she assured him, a small grin appearing on her face.

The blonde blew the old woman a kiss and shut the door behind him, leaning against it while his heart beat in his ears. This is happening, he thought to himself. No more of Tim's shit. No more abuse. No more Liz. You're doing the right thing. You deserve this.

"We deserve this," he murmured, his lips curling into a smirk.

Leaving the spare key he felt he no longer needed inside the apartment and rushing outside with a new sense of eagerness, Roger ran up to the car whose driver had gotten out and was pacing back and forth in the snow. The rustling of his coat as it rubbed against itself and scraped against the box alerted Brian of his approach but didn't give him time to prepare for Roger dropping his belongings and flinging himself at the professor, crashing his lips into his and causing the pair to stumble back into the side of the car.

Brian, stunned, gathered enough wits to kiss the blonde back, though the moment was short lived as Roger pulled away and grinned widely at him, announcing breathlessly, "I'm ready to go now."

"Yeah?" the professor chuckled.

The blonde nodded, his smile stretching even farther and his eyes glistening with an excitement Brian had yet to see from him. "Yeah."