Days after..
I woke up in his bed.
Again.
But this time—it wasn't accidental.
He hadn't just fallen asleep beside me after sex.
I'd stayed over..
He'd asked me to,several times.
And when I rolled over that morning, groggy and sore and stretched in all the right places…
He was still there.
Awake.
Watching me.
---
"You snore," he said.
"No I don't."
"Yeah," he smirked. "You do. Like a dying lawn mower."
I groaned and buried my face in his shoulder.
It was warm. Familiar.
Too much like a relationship.
I pulled back a little. "You gonna kick me out now?"
His fingers brushed my jaw.
"No."
---
We ate breakfast in silence, our knees touching under the table.
He made coffee for me without asking how I liked it.
Because he already knew.
He kissed my temple when I stood to leave.
And that was when I realized—
We weren't just fucking anymore.
We were becoming something.
Something neither of us was ready to name.
---
The first crack came that afternoon.
I was in the garage, oil up to my elbows, when the door swung open and Jesse's younger brother, Evan, strolled in.
Cool. Cocky. Just back in town.
"You're the kid working with Jesse?" he asked.
I nodded.
He eyed me.
Too long. Too curious.
"That a hickey?" he asked, smirking as he pointed to the edge of my neck.
I instinctively tugged my collar higher.
"No."
He laughed. "Sure. Well, careful. Jesse's not exactly the gentle type."
My stomach twisted.
Something about the way he said it—
Like he knew something.
Or had seen something.
Or maybe… guessed.
---
That night, I didn't tell Jesse.
But I watched him more closely.
Noticed the way his hands trembled slightly when they weren't on me.
Noticed how he glanced at my bruises like he wanted to kiss them and erase them at once.
Noticed how he stopped calling me boy in public.
Not because he didn't feel it.
But because he was scared someone might notice.
Anyways,called Dad that evening and told him I wasn't coming home..
So I slept over at Jesse's again.
---
We didn't fuck that night.
We didn't talk much either.
He just pulled me into bed, held me tight, and whispered:
"I don't know how to keep you hidden anymore."
I buried my face in his chest.
"Then maybe we stop hiding."
He didn't answer.
But his grip didn't loosen.
And I think…
that was answer enough.