One•Shots

colson + dayton

c o l s o n *

"Colson!" Mom yells my name from downstairs in the kitchen.
"Be right there!" I yell back.
I run down the stairs and stop at the edge of the kitchen; Mom turns around.
"Hey sweetie," she says. "I need you to bring Mia home tonight,"
"What about Kayla and Austin?" I ask.
"Kayla has practice, she said that one of her friends could bring her home. Austin said he was hanging out with a friend after school."
I nod. "Okay. Dayton is going to come over after school today,"
"Ooh," One of my little sisters, Mia, says, coming down the stairs and putting her backpack on the floor beside the couch. I turn around.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask. "Dayton comes over a lot, he's my best friend,"
She holds both of her hands up in mock surrender. "I didn't say anything,"
I raise an eyebrow but drop the subject.

Before I can finish grabbing my stuff from my locker, Dayton comes up and stands beside me.
I look over at him and sigh.
"What's up?" He asks me, touching my arm softly.
I shrug. "It feels like everything," I admit.
My mom is a single mom and has been working lots of overtime lately; I just feel like I've been left to watch and take care of my three younger siblings.
"I don't know, Mom just keeps working more and more, and leaves me to take care of Mia, Kayla, and Austin," I say. To give you an idea, Dayton and I are eighteen, Kayla is sixteen, Mia is fourteen, and Austin is twelve.
"Mia is going to be home later," I tell him. "Kayla has cheer practice, and Austin is hanging out with a friend, apparently."
"Okay, well, when I come over later, we're going to talk about your feelings," he says, poking me hard in the shoulder.
"Why?"
"Because you're very stressed and overwhelmed, Cole, and we both know it."

Since Mia started ninth grade this year, I don't have to drive to the middle school and pick her up; however, if I had to pick Austin up, I would. Mia meets me in the parking lot beside my car. I unlock the car so she can get in, and when I get in the car after putting my backpack in the back seat, she's already in the car and buckled up.
"So," she begins, and I look over at her. "What's going on with you and Dayton?" She asks as I start the car and start to back up.
"What do you mean 'what's going on'?" I ask her. "Nothing's going on, we're best friends just like we've always been,"
She gives me a 'come on' look. "I'm not stupid, and neither are you, Cole. Come on, we both know that both of you want more out of each other than just friendship."
"If you're implying that we want to be 'friends with benefits'--"
"No, I mean that you like him and he likes you. It's obvious, and if you two don't start talking about it, your friendship is going to get awkward and very well may end."
"Okay, Mia, I do like him, but I can't--you know that I can't--"
"Can't what? Tell him? Date him? You wouldn't be the first gay person in the house."
I look over. "What do you mean?"
"Didn't you know? Austin isn't hanging out with a 'friend', he has a boyfriend. Whether it's a real relationship or a seventh-grade relationship, I don't know, but I do know that they've kissed at least once."
"How do you know about this?" I ask her.
"I accidentally walked in on them the other day... it was like watching two seals with vacuums trying to kiss--"
"I don't need the details." I say, cutting her off.
She shrugs.

"Dayton is here!" Mia yells in my ear as we sit on the couch.
"I know, I can see out of the window, Mia," I tell her, looking over at her.
I get off the couch and open the door so Dayton can come in.
"Hey, Mia," he says, waving at her with a smile.
She waves back, smiling.
"Let's go upstairs," he says. "We need to talk about something." He grabs my arm and pulls me up the stairs to my bedroom.
"Sit," he commands, pointing to my bed as he closes the door and turns around to face me. I do as I was told, even though it's my bedroom.
"What's wrong?" I ask him immediately upon seeing his face.
I stand up as he walks over to me, touching his shoulders and looking into his face.
"I think--" he begins, swallowing hard. "I think that we're moving,"
"What?! It's our senior year, though!" I say.
"Well, Mom doesn't care. She doesn't care about what she does to the family, all that matters to her is she got a stupid promotion. She doesn't care that--"
"Hey, hey, hey, ssh, ssh, ssh, it's going to be okay. We'll figure it out."
"I don't want to leave you, you're my best friend,"
"We'll figure it out," I say again. "We'll figure it out like we always do."
He shakes his head, leading me to make a split-second decision. I hold his chin in my hand, lifting his face up and touching my lips to his. His hands, which had previously moved to my sides, squeeze tightly as he lets me kiss him gently.
I pull back. "M-maybe, until we go off to college, you can stay with me, hmm?" I say softly, rubbing my nose against his.

I hear the front door open and footsteps stomping up the stairs. I look at Dayton.
"I'll be right back," I say softly, getting off the bed.
I see a light on under Austin's door and go in his bedroom without invitation.
"Hey," I say softly. Austin is sitting on the floor, leaning against his bed. He looks up as I enter the room and close the door.
"Go away, Cole," he says softly and sadly.
I walk over and sit beside him. I nudge him with my foot.
"Why don't you tell me what's going on?" I say.
"You won't understand," he says glumly.
"Won't I? Dayton just told me his family is moving. I offered for him to stay here, I also kissed him, there, now I've told you what's just happened with me, so what's just happened with you?"
"I got dumped."
"What happened?"
"He said I was too clingy."
"Well... were you?"
"I don't think so... I mean, I liked kissing him... but he didn't want anyone to know about us."
"Ah, that's the thing, some people--boys and girls-- want all of us behind closed doors, but if they don't want us out in the open, then they're not worth it. You'll find someone that's gonna make your heart pound, and he'll make you so happy, and he'll want to show you off, but don't rush it, okay? You're still young--you're in seventh grade, so don't rush it, okay?"
He nods.

Dayton looks up as I enter my bedroom again. I collapse beside him on the bed and kiss him softly.
"Oh, Austin and his seventh-grade boyfriend," I say with a big sigh.
"This is already happening?" Dayton asks. I nod.
"I don't want you to be my little secret," I say softly, looking at Dayton. "Austin was telling me that his 'boyfriend' didn't want anyone to know that they were together, and I don't want to be like that..."

The few days are practically insane. We get it worked out with both of our families that Dayton can stay with me and my family to finish out our senior year. After we graduate, we're going to go to college and get an apartment together. We've both been accepted to the same college for about six months at this point. We move Dayton and his stuff in over the weekend.

Monday morning at school, Dayton and I walk into school together. We still haven't told our friends or anyone at school that we're together. I'm at my locker when Dayton comes up to me.
"Hey," I say, looking over at him.
He smiles. "Hey," A pause. "Can I kiss you?"
"You have to ask?"
He laughs and then he leans in and kisses me softly.

2/16/20