29. HIVE
twenty-nine
X ander and Adam shared the enthusiasm about yoga videos. We were glad, seeing as how it allowed us to remain in the background and not come up with an opinion about how Xander looked on camera. He was our boss, after all.
As a result, we finished work at the studio late. After walking Adam back to school, we took the subway and went grocery shopping while sitting in class with Leo. We were very conscious about doing these things with one out in the open and getting a shopping cart at the store. Being close to Leo helped so much, and while we couldn’t stop ourself from looking over our shoulder in the familiar supermarket near Leo’s house, we managed to put everything from our list into our shopping cart.
We copied a slide Instructor Arick was showing about the history of night courts and some of those that had vanished over time, and that simple action helped while we were talking to the cashier. We even returned her smile. With our shopping bags in hand, we forced ourself to pace our steps. We were not running, and the neighborhood was very safe.
We left the store’s parking lot before we realized we’d forgotten to put on our sunglasses. Even at this time of the day, the sun was bright, and so we made a point of stopping and putting them on, awkwardly maneuvering our bags since we were only doing this with one.
A singular jogged past us with their dog on a leash, both of them oblivious and apparently enjoying the evening.
“It’s a nice evening,” we forced ourself to say out loud before continuing on. In the classroom, we turned to watch Leo, who was looking at the slide and nodding as Instructor Arick explained the different structures night courts could take, depending on the culture they had sprung from.
Back outside the store on the way home, we allowed ourself to look at passing cars, but each time we did, we reminded ourself that we weren’t going to see that human behind the wheel. We were far away. We were safe.
It was less than ten minutes from the store to the house, and after we crossed the street at a light, a row of maple trees made for a more shaded walk. We looked away from yet another car, looked at the green leaves instead. Above our head, they wove a pattern with the light. We thought we spotted a few of the leaves slightly turning color, an early sign of fall coming.
One step after the other, it was one step after the other. We were fine with one, we told ourself over and over, and we were. Nothing happened. Leo leaned over our shoulder to look at our notes and took the pen from our hand to mark the margin with an exclamation point so he’d remember to revise or maybe ask us a question about it later.
Our gleaming one’s nearness helped, and when we got into the house, we were much calmer, put the groceries away, and settled in the bed nest upstairs with some tea.
We rested there for the rest of Leo’s class, shifting our focus to the Dazzle where things were slow today. It was good, allowed us the calming rhythm of a familiar routine.
We fell asleep in Leo’s old childhood room. That was strange. We weren’t that tired, and Coral had said it was okay to be there with all of us. But we slept, thinking that maybe it was better, that maybe listening to Leo and Tate with two while we got some rest would make it so our gleaming one wouldn’t become worried about us.
***
We woke when we left the Dazzle with Leo and Tate, were done with our shower when we put Tate in the 47 cab outside the school, almost exactly where Leo’s cab had picked him up when we’d first met him. We waved at him, then took our gleaming one’s hand and walked away from the school and toward the subway.
There were still people out and about, but it wasn’t too crowded, and with night having fallen, few paid us any mind.
“Oh, lightning,” Leo said and pointed at the night sky.
We looked up into the indigo clouds. “It’s bright. Like you.”
Leo bit his lip, the shard of green in his left eye bright when we passed under a streetlight on our way.
“Isn’t that annoying? That I’m like some glowworm for you?”
We laughed while putting on a fresh shirt and clearing the teacup away that still sat next to the bed nest. Then we patted Bruno’s head. We’d woken with the teddy bear in our arms, probably because he reminded us of Leo.
“It’s not annoying. It’s the best thing there is. Oh, no, that’s not actually right. Being with you with all of us, that’s the best thing, but your brightness is a very close second.”
“Aww! My hive is the sweetest hive,” Leo said a bit too loudly, and a passerby looked over before looking away again. “Oops. Sorry. Hive, I think I’m a little bit drunk and—oh! Thunder.”
“Yes. It’s coming here. How are you feeling? Are you scared?”
Coral had made two cocktails for Leo, and we knew he’d been generous, clearly wanting to impress Leo.
Leo smiled, his feet going a little sideways. He stumbled into us. “Of a thunderstorm? No. Are you?”
We shook our heads. “No. We think it’s cozy.”
Leo nodded as the bright sign above the subway entrance came into view.
“My hive likes cozy things.”
“We do. You knew?”
He shrugged, then leaned against us as he walked, not an easy thing to do. If we’d been in the underground, we’d have picked him up and carried him home in our arms.
“Sure I knew. You say it a lot, that things are going to be cozy, and you always mean it’ll be all or most of you, and I know you like that.”
We stopped just before the subway entrance and tugged on Leo’s hand so that he turned and faced us.
“Leo.”
He giggled. “Oh, those drinks were too good. You’re spinning.”
“Leo. We want to tell you something. Do you think you’ll remember?”
His silly grin dimmed, and he looked at us in the exact moment another flash of lightning brightened the world once more.
“I’ll remember. I’m not that drunk, mostly because that third drink was a virgin version.”
We flushed. “You knew?”
“Yeah. You’re not as subtle as you think, hive.”
“We knew two was your limit, so…but we should have told you. We do apologize.”
He let out a breath. “I want to buy a bed. A big one. I want to put it in Gran’s—in the master. I’d like to put in new flooring and new wallpaper first. And we need a nice big wardrobe so that your stuff fits too. Once you’re officially moved in, no one will be able to say I’m an incel anymore.”
He slapped a hand over his mouth, his eyes going wide. Then he began to cackle with the silly laughter of the drunk.
“Leo, we meant to tell you something just now, and you—do you mean all of that? You want us to move in officially?”
He stopped looking silly, and his eyes were big and bright when he lifted his hand off his mouth and held our gaze.
“Yes. I’ve been looking at beds, but to be honest, all of the logistic stuff and the putting on wallpaper stuff is really stressing me out because I have no idea how to do anything like that. I’m also clumsy.” The corners of his mouth turned downward. “I’m so useless. Fuck. Who said I was ready to be an adult? They shouldn’t call you an adult because of age, you should have to take a test, just like in Instructor Arick’s class. We all need a chimera in our lives who tells us we aren’t ready for adulting yet, you know?”
“You—you do mean it?” We put an arm around Leo while we took his hands in ours. A man in a suit coming up from the subway glanced at us briefly, but we didn’t care. “You are making your home our home?”
He shrugged. “Come on. It’s been our home for a few weeks now. Do you spend any time back at your place at all?”
We shook our heads, all of them, happiness stinging our eyes with tears. Coral asked us if we were okay, but when he saw us smile, he turned back to his blender though he winked at us before turning it back on.
“We…we meant to tell you something just now,” we said again.
“Is it that you’ll be moving in?”
“Yes! We mean, no, but yes. We’re moving in. We’re going to take care of the wallpaper too, Leo. But that’s not it.”
“No?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“We love you, Leo.”
“You…” He was going pale, then pink, then lightning flashed his face, and raindrops fell on his forehead before we could raise our hand to ward them off.
“Let’s go down. We packed an umbrella, but we should make sure to catch the subway and get home before the storm really gets going.”
We took his hand and pulled him along down the stairs, but our gleaming one stopped right in the middle, facing us with his jaw set when we turned.
“Me too. I love you too, hive. I’m sorry it took me a hot second, but I do. I really, really do.”
It didn’t matter that we were in public where humans were. We went to him, hugged him close, and Leo put his arms around our necks, tilting his head back and inviting our kisses.
We missed the subway, and while we’d brought the umbrella, the wind was so strong and the rain so heavy that we were soaked once we got home. It shouldn’t have been funny, but Leo and we were laughing all the way. Back home, he let us towel dry his hair while we sat in the window seat and watched the thunderstorm come down.