Chapter - Alex
ALEX
Starting from the end of my sophomore year, a wonderful period begins in my life, because Bay and I are finally together.
Something in him has changed so much since the day we marked each other on our glands, as if the whole world flipped upside down, like someone touched him with a magic wand and something inside him rebuilt itself.
He opens up to me even more while our feelings bloom like spring flowers.
We’re practically inseparable, always walking hand in hand, spending every possible minute together, and we’re so unbelievably happy that the entire past just melts away and disappears.
The newspapers report the death of the three Hansons, their car falling off a cliff, but we don’t talk about it much. I only say they got what karma owed them, and Bay agrees.
This year Bay and I are already enrolled in a different high school, Franklin High, so we say goodbye to the one that was the stage of our first meeting but also brought us so much tragedy. We leave it without regret, even though the principal still can’t get over losing Bay.
We’re supposed to spend part of the summer again at Bay’s uncle Van’s house and also at his other uncle Timothy’s. The men have a tradition of sending their kids to visit relatives to build family bonds.
At the beginning of summer, though, they always spend some time together, and of course I’m invited every day, and the Nolans’ favorite tradition is their music sessions on the patio.
Everyone plays an instrument except for me and Storm.
I help at the grill, flipping steaks while I listen to the others play and have fun, and I don’t mind, because at least I have a challenge here too: chess matches with Winter, Bay’s older brother.
And this guy is unbelievably ambitious. He just finished his degree and is supposed to start a full-time job in two weeks at a company called DevApp, belonging to the Lowens family, which does software development.
Winter’s drive and stubbornness make him a good opponent, so while he’s home, I make the most of it.
He’s the only one who actually makes me work for my win.
Sometimes we talk during our games, and I think he believes it’ll distract me.
He mentions once that the company’s boss, a man named Jacob Lowen from the famous billionaire family, has obvious hots for him, though he hides it well and keeps himself in check, but Winter says he feels it loud and clear.
He adds that Jacob Lowen is the rarest omega type, called a gamma, a true anomaly among omegas because he’s an actual hermaphrodite.
Two of his kids were actually sired by him and birthed by his husband, who’s also an omega.
We talk about it for a moment because everyone considers it a wild phenomenon and a real curiosity.
I love these evenings on the patio, and I love this family. They accept me and like me as if I were one of them. I have a great relationship with Bay’s dad, who is almost like a friend to me or an uncle, rather than just my boyfriend’s parent.
That evening Bay and I walk through the garden, talking about what waits for us at the new school. Supposedly they have a great music band, and a few people who used to be in it even made small music careers.
At one point I say, "I feel like you’re going to have a huge fan club there, and then you’ll forget about me," and I pout a little, tilting my head in a teasing way.
Bay’s expression turns serious. He pulls me closer and says, "Never.
No one will ever replace you, Alex," running his fingers through my hair. We kiss, and it quickly turn into something much wilder and more intense. I grab his hand and pull him toward a cluster of bushes on the left side of his parents’ property.
Bay laughs but runs after me, and I try to slip deeper between the green clumps so we can have a little more privacy.
We stop in a thicket of evergreen bushes, and Bay sinks down onto something, pulling me toward him.
We kiss like we’ve lost our minds, almost biting at each other’s mouths, our hands roaming feverishly over our bodies.
I’m standing, he’s sitting, so in that position I press my hips to his chest, letting him know I want more, nudging forward lightly, rhythmically, pulsing with my hips.
We break the kiss and I look at him. Bay’s eyes are half-lidded, his pupils blown, his breathing fast. He slides a hand down to my crotch, groping the bulge through my pants.
There’s something distinct about his expression, his cheeks flushed.
Slowly, he lowers his head and brings his face toward the bulge, but to do that he has to lean forward quite a bit, which catches my attention.
"What are you sitting on?"
"On something like a rock. Maybe I should move onto the ground…"
"Wait, what is that?"
Bay stands up, and we both look at the gray object, thickly overgrown with grass.
Hidden in the bushes, so well it’s hard to notice.
It looks like a concrete block with openings on two sides, completely overgrown not only with shrubs but with grass too.
No one mows this hidden patch, and everything grows however it wants.
"What could it be?" I wonder, brushing away the leaves and grass still stuck to the concrete block. "Honestly, it looks a little like some kind of chimney, except it’s sealed on top and has vents on the sides."
"Wait," Bay mutters, scratching his chin. "Something rings a bell." He crouches, studies the block from all sides, then starts walking around it and stomping on the ground.
"What are you doing?" I stare at him.
"When my parents bought this property, it used to belong to some colonel who originally built the house, but he had this obsession that a nuclear war would break out, and apparently he built himself a shelter…"
"Wow, seriously? That’s awesome. You think this is it?" I circle the block, studying the pattern of the plants.
"I don’t know. I remember when I was a kid, I heard my parents talking about how they’d have to deal with that bunker someday, but at the time it was completely swallowed by bushes and the entrance wasn’t even visible, so they just left it for later."
"No way, that’s amazing. Something like this on your own property? Maybe you can find the hatch!"
We both start stomping like maniacs, making circles within the radius of the vent block.
Finally, about ten feet away, Bay finds a patch of ground that sounds hollow. We push aside a thick layer of leaves, and underneath is indeed a huge hatch…
"Wow, I totally forgot about this," Bay mutters. "It’s been here for so many years."
"There’s a padlock," I say with disappointment, but Bay just grins.
"Hang on, I’ll run to the garage."
He comes back with a small crowbar.
"We’ll handle it in a second."
"You know, you could’ve just asked your parents for the keys."
"I doubt they have them. This bunker was probably last opened over three decades ago, when they moved in."
I sigh, disappointed. "Oh damn, that means it might be full of mold."
Bay wedges the crowbar under the hatch, and the padlock snaps like it’s made of dry sticks. Bay’s strength is unbelievable, so no surprise there. His body is like steel, sculpted and tattooed, beautiful. I pull myself together. This is not the time to admire my hot boyfriend.
"I don’t know. Look, there’s a ventilation system," he says, waving toward the vent. "And from what I know, there’s electricity wired down there too. We’ll see inside."
He slowly lifts the hatch, and inside we see stairs leading into darkness.
We switch on our phones. The bunker walls are smooth concrete with no moisture stains, so it seems water never made it inside.
We head down, and Bay spots a light switch on the wall. We exchange excited looks. It feels like an adventure, discovering a mysterious, forgotten bunker.
When Bay flips the switch, the interior lights up. Apparently the power really is still connected.
"Oh shit," I breathe out.
I never imagined bunkers like this even existed.
This one is huge, a big concrete hall with side rooms that might be a bathroom and a pantry or storage, and in the center are pieces of equipment like a power generator, metal cabinets, all kinds of crates, two camp beds, and a table surrounded by chairs.
On the table lies a chaotic spread of items, including gas masks and various objects wrapped in aluminum foil, plus some old magazines.
"Wow, this is so cool," I mutter, inhaling. "You’re right, the air is actually pretty good. Looks like the ventilation works."
"And it’s dry," Bay says, looking around carefully. He goes to the two doors we spotted, and when he opens the first one, it really is a food storage room, shelves of canned goods stacked to the ceiling, though I doubt they’re edible now. The second room is a bathroom.
"This bathroom uses groundwater," Bay says. "I remember my dad once joked after we got a high water bill from refilling the pool that if we ever get a bill like that again, we’ll hook up to the well in the bunker and have water for free."
The bathroom is large, with a tub, a shower, and a very strange rotating manual washer with a hand crank.
"Wow, this guy really believed he could live down here for years…"
"Seems like it. And the best part is, I’ve wanted my own gym forever. This is the perfect space." Bay looks around with huge eyes, thrilled and fascinated by everything.
"I think you’re already well built," I say playfully, brushing his bicep, "but if you want to bulk up more, this really could be the perfect spot. No one will bother you here."
Bay grins and pulls me close, and we kiss for a moment.
"It’ll be perfect. I already see in my head how I’ll set everything up."
"And it’s all thanks to you," he says, tilting his head. "If you hadn’t gotten horny enough for making out, we never would’ve gone into those bushes, and I never would’ve remembered the bunker."
I flutter my eyelashes dramatically. "If you need help decorating, I volunteer. If I can’t become a world-famous mathematician, I’ll switch to interior design," I say, winking, and he laughs and grabs me by the waist.
And then we test one of the camp beds because, well, the place needs a proper christening…