52. Dylan
52
DYLAN
“ W hat are you supposed to be?” I asked, frowning at Jason. He didn’t look all that different, only instead of his usual football t-shirt, he was wearing an orange Hawaiian shirt decorated with palm trees and blue flowers. His hair looked notably blond…and longer.
He grinned. “Come on, you don’t get it?”
“Dad on vacation?” I asked, tilting my head. “Martian trying to fit in? Guy who’s colorblind? Making an existential statement?”
“Micah! Come here,” he laughed, reaching out a hand.
Smiling, Micah walked over. “Does this help?” He wore a dragon t-shirt and waved a too large book around.
I blinked. “Uh…dragon and dragon hunter?”
Brad bumped me. “Nah, can’t you see, Dyl? They’re from that one movie. You know, the one about the group on vacation?”
Jason rolled his eyes. “We’re Theo and Charlie , duh.”
I hummed. “Oh…I guess you are wearing a wig. Maybe that should have clued us in.”
Brad shrugged. “Thought he was just trying a new look. I’m too polite to say anything.”
“You two are menaces,” Micah said, but he was smiling, clinging to Jason’s arm.
Turning, I caught sight of the real Theo and Charlie, who seemed to be in on the joke as Theo was wearing some sports themed t-shirt — I couldn’t tell what it was or for what team. “Ah, okay. I’d say we should have tried that with Alex and Shane, but I don’t know if either of us could fit in pants as tight as Shane’s.”
Brad’s arm snaked around my waist. “Mm, I wouldn’t mind seeing you try, though.”
I snorted. “Are you saying you don’t love my supernova costume? I’m hurt.”
He laughed. “I love everything you do. Come on, let’s get a drink.”
I followed him, winding through people. Mostly, everyone had adjusted to us being together, and it wasn’t as strange as I’d feared it might be if I thought about it too hard. Not that I cared that much about their opinions. They were my friends, but I didn’t stake my whole life around their visions of me. It was just I didn’t know how to deal with things when they were too awkward. I didn’t want to sour the mood most of the time. Plus, I didn’t know what to do as the center of attention, so I was glad when that calmed down.
We ran into Alex and Shane as Brad grabbed the drinks. True to form, Shane was in the tightest pants imaginable, and for a moment, I wondered if he could breathe. “What are you two?” I asked.
Shane gestured to the bunny ears on his head. “ Hello .”
“Ah, cat again, changing it up. Nice.”
He rolled his eyes.
“I’m a tortoise.” Alex laughed, turning to show off his shell.
“Nice one,” Brad said. “I’m surprised Shane agreed to go in a costume where he loses. You feeling okay?”
Shane flipped us both off. “You know, I always knew the two of you were annoying, but I didn’t know it would get worse when you started fucking.”
We laughed as they walked away, and I took a drink. “Do you think we’ve gotten more annoying?” I asked, leaning against Brad.
He held onto me and hummed. “I don’t think that’s possible. We’re the same as ever.”
Tilting my head to look at him, I hummed. “Are we?”
A faint smile appeared, and he leaned in to kiss me. “Well, better. Same amount of annoying, though.”
I kissed him, even if the angle was a little bit weird since my back was to his chest and I was straining my neck to reach him. Turning instead, I wound my arms around his neck so I could kiss him. Normally I didn’t go in for the public affection thing — I didn’t want to turn into Jason and Micah, who made out in front of anyone anywhere, but something in me felt compelled to kiss him. I couldn’t get enough of him, knowing that he was truly mine. It still felt surreal that I didn’t have to wonder or hide things from anyone.
Part of me wondered if anything would change if I told my dad. Would he care? Would he even register what I was talking about?
“What are you thinking about, baby?” Brad asked, caressing my cheek tenderly as he looked down at me.
I hummed. “My dad.” Maybe not the most romantic answer.
“Oh? Something up?” His brow furrowed.
“No, I was just…thinking about if I told him about you.”
His lips pressed together, and he rubbed his big hand over my back. “You want to?”
“Yeah, but I don’t know if he’ll care.” It was hard to talk about, hard to explain to people. Brad understood, because I’d told him in bits and pieces before, but it was still strange.
“I can be there with you.” There was still that faint frown on his face, that look of concern like he didn’t want to push me, but wanted to make sure I’d be okay. Sometimes he looked at me like he was afraid I was going to break, or maybe like he just thought I was the most precious thing in his world, so he wanted to protect me.
That wouldn’t be so bad, would it? At least I could have someone there to support me when I crumbled. “Yeah, maybe. Come on, let’s see what other mischief we can get into tonight, hm?” I smiled a little and kissed him once more.
For the next hour, we played jokes on increasingly drunk people. Gummy spiders found their way onto walls and into drinks, people heard whispering behind them that made little sense, and lights went out in the middle of rooms. Brad was mostly my accomplice, following my whims with his usual smile, like he couldn’t help but indulge me.
Halloween was our favorite holiday, though, and we already planned that after we got sick of this party, we were going to go back to his room and watch horror flicks for the rest of the night. It was funny to play jokes on our friends, though, funny to see them look around like trying to find the ghost or culprit that had gotten to them.
Once we went to his room, Brad locked the door, not wanting to deal with anyone stumbling in for a hookup and disturbing us. I shed the more cumbersome parts of my costume, and we made ourselves comfortable on the bed, piled high with blankets and pillows. I nestled into Brad’s arm, leaning against him as the movie started on his laptop. It was one we’d seen a hundred times before, but it was a classic, and we never got tired of it.
As we sat there, Brad rubbed my back, and I laid my hand on his chest. It was nice, comfortable. Not that different from when we were friends, all things considered. We always hung out on his bed and watched movies. Only now I was just so aware of his presence, so aware of the way he felt against me, his hard body against me. He was so warm, and I didn’t want to leave.
Even if things were sometimes hard in other areas of my life, I knew Brad was going to last. I felt safe with him. I didn’t question if I was going to lose him or if he was going to run off. Because he was Brad, he was my constant for these past years, and it had only gotten stronger. Now that we were together for the world to know and see, nothing could break us apart.