Our Skyler

Chapter 32

Skyler was exhausted. He was finally in bed after getting most of his stuff in place, which thankfully wasn't much. Now the blond boy was tucked in his bed in his new, very own apartment. It was a three-room flat with a kitchen that had just enough room for a small dining table for four, and a living room that for now only had a television in it. Skyler needed to buy a sofa and a table, and perhaps a carpet. The main problem for Skyler was that the couch had to be big enough for all of the spirits to fit on it. Eight people in this little apartment, Skyler wondered how long they would manage to continue like this without getting on each other's nerves. 

The apartment also had a bathroom with a shower and a bedroom that could just fit his bed and his computer table. It was an old, small apartment, but for Skyler, this was his new sanctuary. Here he could start anew on his own. Well, Skyler wasn't exactly on his own, with six spirits roaming the place, but he didn't have to live in that house anymore. Discovering those pictures sullied everything about the house and his foster parents. Skyler would rather just forget about them altogether.

Skyler desperately needed to sleep, but now that he was alone in the dark, quiet bedroom, he simply couldn't fall asleep. All he could think about was Grayson. And for the first time in the seventeen-year-old boy's life, Skyler experienced what it was like to have 'butterflies' in his stomach. He was excited but so very nervous about meeting the purple-haired man again. They had kissed, and Grayson had told him that he loved him. But before Skyler could tell Grayson that he loved him too, the tentacles attacked. The last thing Skyler saw of Grayson was him screaming after Skyler in panic. What happened to Grayson afterward? Did he go back to that dark space, thinking that Skyler had died? Skyler started to feel anxious, and by the time the clock turned 03.35, Skyler was still wide awake. He sat at the edge of his bed, wearing nothing but black boxers. His heart was beating like crazy in his chest out of anticipation. 

Right in front of him, in the middle of the room, Grayson materialized. The purple-haired man saw Skyler at once, and Skyler could see how relieved he became. When Grayson smiled, something inside Skyler snapped, and he rushed to his feet, throwing himself at the older man. Startled, Grayson dropped to the floor, not prepared for the energetic greeting, and he looked surprised at Skyler, who held him in his arms in a tight grip.

Skyler had his eyes shut hard, and he bit his trembling bottom lip. It looked like the boy tried not to cry. In Grayson's eyes, Skyler looked absolutely adorable. Grayson's heart was beating like crazy, especially by how he was pinned down to the floor, with the larger boy on top of him. Feeling the weight and the smell of the one he loved made Grayson turn hot, and he fidgetted nervously. The movement made Skyler flinch, and he opened his eyes, suddenly realizing that his face was very close to Grayson's. A deep crimson blush spread from the neck to his cheek, but the boy didn't move. He didn't want to. Skyler wanted to be close to Grayson all the time, every day, for the rest of his life. He never wanted to be separated ever again. Once a week wasn't enough. Skyler now realized that it had never been.

"Sorry, Skyler, but you're kinda crushing me here,"  Grayson said in a kind manner. 

"Oh, yeah. Sorry!" Skyler mumbled and sat up, dragging Grayson with him, still embracing him.
  
Skyler didn't want to let him go, not just yet, and Grayson didn't object, so the two just sat there on the floor, embracing each other. Grayson was in Skyler's lap, feeling comfortable in the boy's arms.

"I guess things have changed while I was away," Grayson stated, his head resting on Skyler's shoulder and his arms around Skyler's neck.

"I mean, apparently, we can touch now."

Skyler nodded and gently rubbed his cheek towards Graysons hair.
  
"Yeah, that's one of the things."

"There's more?" Grayson asked, frowning.

He grew anxious again.

"Can we talk about that later?" Skyler asked, not wanting to ruin the moment when he finally could be close to the man he loved.

But as soon as Skyler said that, he yawned, even though he tried to stop it. The loud noise made Grayson, to Skyler's disappointment, lift his head, and he looked at Skyler with his green eyes.