Chapter 20 - Memories
Dex
I wake up to the sound of actual birds chirping. It pulls me from the best sleep of my life almost violently. Fuck this shit!
“Kill it with fire.” I rasp, burying myself deeper into the blankets.
“We are not burning the birds.” Leon laughs at me like I’ve said the silliest thing. “Try and get a bit more sleep, my love.” He tries to move away, but I latch onto him with
both hands and feet like a baby octopus.
“No.” I tell him, as I bury my nose in his throat and breathe deeply.
“I’ll get breakfast started while you sleep a bit more.” He says, but doesn’t move to leave again.
“What time is it?” I ask, so low I’m surprised he makes out what I said.
“Sometime between six and seven, judging by the light.” He tells me, rubbing gently between my shoulder blades.
“Ten more minutes.” I demand as I go back to sniffing his neck. It ends up being closer to half an hour, even if neither of us actually goes back to sleep. I’m perfectly content to hold Leon like this until the end of time.
I slowly unlatch my tentacles from him and he gets the hint and gets up to start rummaging through his duffel while pulling out clothes for both of us, along with our toothbrushes.
We cleaned as best as we could yesterday with the wipes he brought, but I’m in desperate need of a shower, since I can still feel remnants of lube on my thighs.
I wouldn’t change last night for anything in the world though.
That one is a memory that will live for the ages.
It’s not even that Leon bottomed for me, I was serious when I said I didn’t need it.
But having him trust me completely was the best feeling in the world.
By the time I crawl out of the comfy blanket bed we made and manage to get dressed, Leon already has a small fire going.
I take a seat next to him and watch as he puts some bacon on the small grill we used last night and pulls out his swiss knife to cut the breakfast muffins in half.
He also uses a small pot I didn’t even know we had to boil some water for coffee and I’m once again taken aback by how well prepared he has been during this whole trip.
If he didn’t tell me he loved me last night, I would know simply by watching the care he puts into everything he does for us.
It feels like a dream, though. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure it wasn’t a dream that my subconscious conjured in my blissed-out post-orgasm state.
It still seems unlikely that someone like Leon could fall in love with me.
We’re so different in many ways, but maybe that’s why we work so well.
Maybe we do actually complete each other.
When the fuck did I turn into this corny motherfucker?
While I ponder away, deep in thought, Leon gets everything ready like the superstar he is.
We eat in comfortable silence, sharing soft smiles while the sun illuminates the peaceful meadow.
I come to the conclusion that this is what I want with Leon, a life filled with peace and serenity, but also filled with laughter and love.
I’m deep in my thoughts, but for once it’s a good thing.
I think about the thing I taunted him with on our first date, the big house upstate with the kids and the cat.
A large garden for all of Leon’s plants.
I can see it so clearly in my mind, Leon and I wrapped in blankets on the porch swing fifty years from now.
I’m suddenly feeling so many emotions, joy, longing and bliss to name a few.
But most of all excitement for the future.
For the first time ever, I don’t feel like I’m living to survive.
To be financially secure and to not be afraid again.
I’m living for a future with Leon, to be able to give him everything he deserves and fuck it if I’m not going to do just that.
Because he does deserve everything, since I know now that he’s my whole world.
We pack everything up at an easy pace, working together seamlessly. Leon is obviously oblivious to the life-altering realisations I made this morning, but he doesn’t need to fret about anything. He just needs to keep loving me until the day I die.
I know I said to him that this will be the best trip I’ve ever been on because it was the first anyway, but that doesn’t seem to matter anymore.
All the moments in the past few days were perfect.
I know more about red pine and spruce trees now than your average ecologist, not to mention oaks and hickory trees as well.
Apparently, you can tell which is which by the leaves.
Leon was the perfect guide while we hiked on the trails, pointing to every plant.
We saw some blueberry plants, mountain laurels, rhododendrons and a whole array of wildflowers scattered throughout the forest and the meadows.
Leon picked and fed me some blueberries straight from the plant.
I was skeptical to say the least, but in my defense, what would you expect when you bring a city boy into the forest?
They tasted amazing though, tangy and sweet and bursting with flavor.
I make a mental note to plan a date for Leon where I take him to some sort of fruit picking activity.
It has nothing to do with me wanting him to feed me again.
Absolutely not! Maybe fruit picking in an orchard like the one we had our picnic in on the first day we got to the inn.
Stacy put together a small basket with mini sandwiches, pastries and fresh fruit and gave us a cushioned blanket to sit on.
Eating helped with reclaiming some energy after Leon’s fantastic first-time blowjob, but that didn’t stop me from taking a thirty-minute nap draped across his chest on the blanket.
We’re fully packed an hour later, but it’s still pretty early in the morning at only a little past 8am.
We have about an hour hike back down to the parking lot and a bit of a drive to Kingston, then some free time before we have to be at his parents’ house for lunch at noon.
Leon mentioned he wants to take me on a tour of the small town before we head over.
I’m excited to see the place he grew up in.
He mentioned on some of our other dates that they initially lived in Brooklyn, but moved upstate after his mom had a cancer scare because his dad wanted a more stress-free environment for her.
Apparently, she came from a small town in England and they met when she was doing a semester abroad at university, then fell in love and married quickly, after which she never left.
I mean, she’s been back to visit England, but looks like her heart is here to stay.
I can’t imagine she was happy living in a big city like New York and probably craved the small-town energy again.
The whole story gives me a very mushy feeling, which would have shocked and disturbed me just a few short months ago.
But Leon has turned me into a reformed man when it comes to syrupy, lovey-dovey shit.
I actually manage to catch a quick nap on the drive over, with Leon humming softly to the low sounds of whatever song is on the radio.
I don’t remember a time in my life when I felt this peaceful.
Even with Mr. Grey, there was always a sense of dread during our visits, knowing I would have to leave his house to go to whatever foster house I was in at that particular moment in time, where I didn’t feel wanted or loved.
Despite the short nap, I manage to dream of a dark storm rolling in all around the peaceful meadow I’m sitting in with Leon again.
It’s such a contrast to the peace I was feeling before falling asleep and it shakes something in me.
I wouldn’t say it was a bad dream, but it felt somewhat ominous.
Leon is glancing my way while still trying to focus his eyes on the road.
“You ok, babe?” He asks, with a note of concern.
“Yeah.” I clear my throat to get rid of the tension lining my body. “Just a weird dream. Almost there?”
“Ten minutes.” He beams at me. “I can’t wait to show you all the cool places in Kingston.
I know it’s really small and has nothing on New York, but it’s really pretty by the Hudson and there are even a few natural beaches around. We’ll bring swimsuits next time and take a dip. But there are also some pretty nice shops, a stunning church building and a cool lighthouse we can check out.”
“Think we’ll have time?” I ask, still a bit groggy.
“Should do, it’s really not a very big place. Plus, we can drive from place to place if we’re a bit strapped for time.” He tells me.
“Sure.” I reply easily and place my hand on his thigh for the rest of the drive.
He parks somewhere that looks like a main street and we go down and check out the shops on each side.
We end up getting some very nice freshly squeezed juices as we walk down the street for a bit, before returning to the Jeep and going further down towards the river, checking out the lighthouse and the beaches he mentioned.
We can’t walk to the lighthouse since the tide is in and the strip of land is submerged, but I can get a good idea from a distance.
The small town is really charming. I could see us buying a house here and coming on the weekends, until we relocate full-time and get ready to adopt a kid or three.
Before I know it, it’s time to head over to his parents’ house for lunch.
It’s towards the edge of town, so we need to drive a bit to get there.
I wring my hands nervously as we get back into the car, but Leon clocks it before I can stop.