From the Inside Out

by Talya Andor

  "Oh." Claire's hands fluttered around her face as her head lifted, her startled wide eyes meeting his. "No…Soren, no, how could you think that? I'm not disappointed in you, I never have been."

  "Because I'm gay," Soren replied, clutching his arms over his chest. "Because…I know you've had such a hard time with it, I…"

  Claire pushed away from the table and stood. Her eyes were huge and watery.

  Soren stayed where he was and watched his mother cross the kitchen as though in slow motion. His arms were still folded defensively.

  "I love you," Claire said, standing before him. "I don't ever want you to doubt that, honey. We may…we will differ on some things, but that's the way of things, isn't it? You're growing up, moving out, doing what you want and going where your heart leads you. And I may not always agree with it, but I want you to know I'll always love you no matter what."

  Soren reached up to wipe below his left eye as he gave her a trembling smile. "Mom," he said, his voice coming out thick and raspy. He moved forward and she met him halfway.

  "I'm sorry," Claire said, stroking his hair as she hugged him tight. "I'm sorry if I ever gave you any reason to doubt that, Sorri."

  Soren let out a relieved sigh and held her close, patting her back. They hugged for a long moment until Claire sniffled against his shoulder and began to pull away.

  "So," Soren said, giving his mother a rueful smile. "Maybe we can try that dinner with Lucas again, some time?"

  Claire widened her eyes at him, turning away and covering her mouth with an embarrassed laugh. "That was awful. Oh, I behaved so badly…"

  "I met Lucas's parents two nights ago," Soren confided, reaching for his coffee again. "They're in town, and we went for dinner…"

  "Oh, Sorri…it's serious, then, isn't it? Meeting his parents…come, sit down, want me to get some food for you? Tell me all about it."

  Soren grinned, grabbed his coffee, and joined his mother at the table.

  *~*~*

  "Ahh, at last, this day is over," Lucas said, blowing out a relieved sigh as he hung up his apron. "You'd think every student on campus passed through our store on their way out of town, or something."

  "Thank goodness for the post-midterm break," Soren said, coming up behind him and slipping his arms around Lucas's waist.

  Lucas closed his eyes and leaned back for a second, imagining he could detect the clean, intrinsic odor Soren carried with him beneath the overlay of coffee that permeated their pores after their several-hour shift. "Not much of a break when we're going right from this to more work," he said, turning around in Soren's arm and pouting exaggeratedly. "With your parents out of town for the week, we should be spending the afternoon in bed…"

  "But you love me," Soren said in a sing-song voice. "That's why you want to spend your afternoon in hours of sweaty labor."

  "Ugh. It's not my preferred method of getting sweaty…"

  Soren fluttered his eyelashes at Lucas and planted a brief kiss on his mouth. "Later. If you even have the energy to do me justice."

  "Mm, I'll see if I can manage," Lucas replied, returning the kiss.

  "Gross; obnoxious PDA in progress."

  Lucas half-turned with Soren in his arms, barely bothering to detach his lips from the ones that moved so sensuously against his.

  Sloane stood there, head cocked to one side, short ashen blond hair clipped back away from her face with sparkly butterfly barrettes. She was dressed down in tattered old jeans and a stained, ancient dance logo sweater. She hadn't been working that day, but had agreed to meet Lucas and Soren at the end of their shift for the moving party. "No one wants to see that," she said, setting her fists on her hips.

  "Come on, this may be the only time I have to kiss Soren all day," Lucas said, trying to keep his arm looped around Soren's waist, but his attempt was in vain. Soren disengaged and went for his jacket, sticking his tongue out at Lucas when he made a disconsolate noise. "Don't point that thing at me unless you intend to use it."

  "You two are ridiculously sappy together. Ugh, I'm so not in the mood for this," Sloane said, but her eyes were crinkled up in good humor when Lucas gave her a sharp look.

  "And here you are abetting our illicit love, and all that," Lucas said. "Getting Soren out of the house so he can date whoever he wants. You ready to move some boxes?"

  Sloane pulled in a puff of air, her fists still settled on her hips. "Yes, but I'll need a sandwich. And if it gets to be too much, I'll stand back and supervise."

  "How kind of you," Soren said, coming around Lucas and patting his ass as he went by. "Emptied out your trunk?"

  "Yeah, yeah." Sloane said with an eye roll.

  "And I got plenty of sandwiches," Soren added. "They're in the fridge at my parents', along with a bunch of soda, a few bags of chips on the counter. I figured we could all eat after we got the stuff piled away, or grab food when we're hungry."

  "Let's go, let's go!" Sloane clapped her hands as they moved toward the front of the store, as though to herd them. "We've got to get moving if we're going to get everything moved over before night-time!"

  "Who do you think you are, our tiny drill sergeant?" Lucas asked, but they were on their way.

  Sloane followed them in her Honda, and it wasn't long before there was a line of cars parked outside the Wilkenson residence.

  The afternoon was crisp and clear, trees reaching their skeletal branches for the pure blue of the sky, as Lucas hefted his stack of boxes higher . His Lexus was waiting at the curb, trunk open, and Brandon's battered old Jeep Cherokee was parked behind it.

  Sloane was carting the light boxes, as promised, and piling them into her trunk; Lisa and Brandon were hauling things in the Cherokee's cargo hold. Even Alec had showed up, though Lucas suspected it had half to do with Soren's offer of free lunch to anyone who helped him move. Between six people and four cars, they made short work of Soren's belongings.

  "We'll meet you over there!" Brandon called out, waving from beside his Jeep.

  Lucas nodded, hooking his thumbs in his pockets as he ambled up the walk toward the house. Inside, Soren was bundling food into a pair of large, handled paper grocery bags. He turned at Lucas's approach, pressing a Pepsi into his hand. "Here, drink this—I don't want to leave a ton of sugary drinks in the fridge for when they get home, Mom hates them."

  Lucas held up his Pepsi in a toasting gesture. "So, to new adventures?"

  "To new beginnings," Soren said, bumping his plastic bottle against Lucas's with a gentle hand.

  They drank their soda in silence for a moment, and Lucas slid his arm around Soren's waist, enjoying the way he leaned into his touch. When they were finished, they shared a slow, sweet, cola-laced kiss. Lucas moved around tidying the counter while Soren packed the rest of the food up.

  Hand in hand, they left Soren's former home behind them.

  FIN

  About the Author

  Talya lives in the Pacific Northwest with her girlfriend and their girl-kitty who they believe to be cutest cat in the world, and is constantly balancing a busy slate of boylove stories to write with her day job, hobbies to upkeep, and nail polishes to collect. She has been writing fiction since elementary school and progressed to guy on guy erotica during college, honing her chops on fan fiction until original fiction lured her with its siren call. She loves writing and reading, routinely geeks out over gaming and movies, and watches far too many cooking shows.

  You can find Talya at her website, www.talya-andor.com; twitter, @TalyaAndor; or tumblr, http://talya-andor.tumblr.com/.

 

 

 
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