H.B. and Gypsy

Landon kept pulling down the little mirror in front of him in my car, checking on his hair, rubbing his eyes, and trying to see if he looked alright for the entire way there. It was one of his nervous ticks, I noticed. One of many.

“I’m pretty sure your face hasn’t changed in the last ten seconds, babe.” I flip the mirror up and stop him from anxiously staring at himself again. He sighs and leans back into the seat.

“S-sorry.” He gives up and looks out the window. I shake my head with a slight smile.

“Once we get there and you meet them, you’ll realize that all this worrying was for nothing…” I grab his hand and turn onto Connor’s street.

“I kn-know. I’m just b-being…me, I g-guess…” He lightly laughs. I nod and bring his hand up to my lips, giving it an understanding kiss.

“Is there anything I can do?” I offer. He shrugs his shoulders.

“N-not really…” He mumbles. “I d-do kind of w-wish Connor knew ab-about me, though….” He adds.

“I don’t know how it never came up before this…” I think out loud. “And yeah, I wish I would have said something before, too. Sorry I never mentioned it to him, baby. It must have slipped my mind.” I say, craning my neck at weird angles, looking at the numbers of all the houses trying to find 445. We must be close.

“I love wh-when you call m-me that…” Landon blushes up at me.

I turn my head to him. “Call you what?”

“You kn-know…” He giggles. “…B-Baby.” He rolls his eyes. “It s-sounds stupid when I-I say it….” He mumbles to me.

My heart melted a little just then. “No, it sounds perfect.” I kiss his cheek. “In fact, I wouldn’t mind if you threw in a few pet names every now and again for me, love.” I wink at him.

“R-really? I didn’t know i-if you would c-care…” He looks at me with curious eyes.

“I mean, have you ever wanted to use them with me?” I ask, looking out the window.

Found it. 445 Rydell St.

“All th-the time.” He nods. I bring the car to a slow stop and park on the curb right outside the house. I turned to him while unbuckling my seatbelt with a laugh.

“Then, use them! Who cares what I think. ” I tell him. He laughs and nods.

“Ok, ok, I w-will.” He smiles and gets out of the car with me. I close my door and meet him on his side, grabbing his hand and leading him up to the house. He grasps it tightly, but keeps a composed face. I knew he was doing it for me…trying to make it “easier”, even though I never saw it as an issue to begin with.

We walked on the street for a few seconds in a comfortable silence.

“Aw, shit!” I slapped my forehead and abruptly halted our walking for a second. Landon jumped slightly at the outburst and turned to me with furrowed eyebrows.

“W-what the heck, E-e?” He breathes.

I groan. “We forgot to pick up some brownies from the store…” I sigh and roll my eyes at myself. I must have got distracted by Landon’s little moment he had back there.

“O-oh, that’s right…” He realizes, then shrugs his shoulders. “Well, n-nothing we c-can do now.”

“I guess.” I sigh and continue walking. After another few strides, we are walking up to the front door. I turned to Landon before ringing the doorbell and studied him for a minute. He was staring at his shoes, tapping his fingers against his leg, and grasping my hand for dear life.

“Hey.” I lift his chin up. “Don’t be afraid to give me the signal if you’re ready to go, alright?”

He smiles and gets on his tippy toes, giving me a kiss. “I love you, Ever.”

“I love you too, baby.” I tuck some hair behind his ear, “…now give me one more.” I grin and pull his waist to me, pressing a kiss to his lips.

Without warning, the front door swings open. We quickly pull apart and Landon blushes immediately, looking down with a shy smile, wiping his mouth off on the sleeve of his hoodie.

Jamie crosses his arms with a smug smile, leaning against the door frame. “Well, well, well….what do we have here?” He laughs.

I roll my eyes and go in for a hug. “Hey Jamie.” I smiled. He hugged back, but looked behind me at Landon, who was still grasping my hand. “Hey, “ He smiles, “…and who’s this?” He grinned. Landon looked up, and much to my surprise, he reached his hand out and gently shook Jamie’s hand. “L-Landon.” He says softly with a shy smile.

“Nice to finally meet you.” Jamie nods his head, but then halts for a moment, staring at Landon’s face. “Hey…do you wear color contacts?”

Landon looked confused, but politely shook his head with a smile still on his face. “Really? Well, you have an incredible eye color.” Jamie raised his eyes brows. I grinned to myself, knowing that was one of my favorite features on him.

Landon bashfully smiled up at me and then looked back at Jamie, “Thank y-you.”

You know, today his stutter was barely even noticeable. It was insanely mild for some reason. Maybe Landon is trying to control it…aww.

Jamie grinned and nodded his head. “Well come inside, already! We want to start the movie.” He laughs. I make my way into the house with Landon and look around. This place was neat.

I feel a little tug on my sleeve. “I need t-to use the r-restroom, E.” Landon lowly whispered to me. I nod.

“Hey Jamie, where’s the restroom?” I ask. He points down the hallway next to the kitchen.

“Straight down there, and it’s the first door on your left.”

“Go, babe. I’ll be in the living room.” I smile at him. He nods his head and makes his way down the hallway.

Jamie and I got to the living room and the first thing I see is Connor and Blair fighting over the last chip in the bowl. “Geez guys, we haven’t even started the movie, and you’re finishing off the treats? Yikes.” I laugh.

“We have more, so not to worry.” Connor grins, but then tilts his head. “Where’s your boy?” He asks.

“Bathroom.”

“Ah.” Connor nods. Jamie walks over and sits in Connors lap.

“Speaking of him, “ Jamie lowers his voice slightly, “Is that a stutter that I detected? Or am I just nuts? I mean, not to sound rude or anth-”

“No, no, “ I smile, cutting him off. “You heard right.” I nod, clasping my hands together and glancing behind me, making sure Landon wasn’t going to pop into the conversation unexpectedly. “I’m actually surprised it didn’t come up before now…”

“Wow, that’s pretty interesting…” Connor comments. “How long has he…you know…” He trails off.

“Long story short, he is a selective mute.” I take a deep breath, trying to make this as quick as I can before Landon comes out, “He hadn’t talked to anyone but his mom for 11 years, but for some reason when he met me…that changed.” I explain softly. “So…now there’s only a small handful of people that he feels alright to talk in front of, so don’t be surprised if he’s particularly shy around you guys at first, I promise he’s as sweet as can be.” I lightly laugh.

“And it doesn’t bother you?” Blair asks with a smile forming on her face.”

I shook my head. “Not in the slightest…I actually find it to be really cute, it suits him.” I shrug my shoulders.

“How sweet…” Blair gushes. I blush and look down.

“You’re more of a man than me, dude.” Connor smiles.

“Nah.” I shake my head. “I mean, it doesn’t bother you guys or anything, right?” I question. They all shake their heads and Jamie laughs.

“Not at all.” He smiles. “He seems great, and who gives a fuck if he doesn’t feel like talking. I wish I could just stop talking to people too, more power to him.” He finishes. Blair and Connor nod their heads in agreement. Luckily, Landon just entered the entryway into the living room.

“Over here, babe.” I grin and reach my arms out to him. He smiles and curls up to me on the couch. “Blair, Landon. Landon, Blair.” I introduce them. Blair shakes his hand with a smile.

“You are cute.” She giggles. “Like a little doll or something.”

“Hey.” I jokingly warn her, holding Landon’s hips closer to me. “Mine.”

Landon blushes and lets out a giggle. “My lord, he’s adorable!” Blair adds after his little giggle.

I just laugh and nod my head in agreement. “I know this.”

“Pizza anyone?” Jamie gets up and strolls over to the kitchen, grabbing the boxes, and bringing them over to the coffee table in front of us.

“Thank god, finally. I’m starving over here.” Connor groans with a grin.

“Same here.” I nod. “Want some, love?”

“Y-yes, please. Th-thanks, E.” Landon softly answers with a shy smile. I hear Blair squeal behind me.

“Sorry.” She laughs. “The cuteness.”

Jamie, Connor, and I bust out laughing at her. We get it, my boyfriend is a precious little gem, I know this.

“Do we have to put a muzzle on you, or can you contain yourself?” Connor laughs. “Poor Landon is blushing like no other right now, leave him be.” He motions toward Landon who is currently smiling like crazy with cherry red cheeks.

“He’s used to it, he has to deal with me everyday.” I laugh.

“Fair enough.” Connor nods his head.

I grab Landon and I a couple pieces of cheese pizza and pour us some sprite, passing the bottle to Jamie.

“So, what’s the movie, tonight?” I ask, chewing on my first bite.

“Well, are you guys feeling more like a scary flick or a funny flick?” He questions us. I turn to Landon.

“What are you up for?”

He rolls his eyes. I sigh and turn back to Connor. “Of course, why would I even ask.” I laugh. “Our vote is scary.”

“Okay, “Connor nods, “And you two?” He asks Jamie and Blair.

“Scary.” They say at the same time.

“Well, that was easy.”

________________________________________________________________________

You know, I never thought that I would see the day that I found a movie that would actually scare the shit out of me, but I guess I was wrong.

Landon was currently clutching my arm for dear life with his wide eyes fixed on the screen. Connor and Jamie were curled up in an arm chair together while Blair was on the floor, holding a comforter to her chest like a second skin. We were only about one third of the way through the movie, and we had already screamed out loud like 5 times. I tried to act as if it wasn’t all that bad, but honestly, I’ll be holding Landon a little closer tonight when we go to bed…

“Ahh!” We all screamed as some figure popped out of nowhere. “Jesus…” I breath and landon laughs at me. “Don’t look at me like that, you screamed too.” I lowly whisper to him, kissing his cheek.

“I kn-know, but its s-so funny seeing you so s-scared…” He giggled.

I just rolled my eyes with a grin and held him closer, fixing my eyes back on the screen. It’s, true, though. Landon was the horror movie buff, but usually he was the one screaming and holding onto me for the entire duration of the movie.

The music gets quiet, and I feel my muscles begin to tense up under the pessure, just knowing something is going to happen…

BAM! Connors backdoor slams open with a gust of wind, and reveals a figure standing in the doorway.

“AHHH!” We all turn our heads behind us, screaming at the top of our lungs. I nearly fall out of my seat, gripping Landon as if I were going to throw him over my back and start running any second.

“Gotcha!” An unfamiliar voice booms, taking a few steps forward, revealing himself.

Are you kidding me? I just nearly hauled ass out of here with my boyfriend nearly suffering of a minor heart attack. Landon was currently still holding onto my chest tightly, trying to catch his breath.

“Riley?” Jamie gasps. “What the fuck, dude?!”

“Come on, little bro. You have to admit that was pretty hilarious!” Riley say, and he waltzes into the living room, throwing his mask onto the coffee table.

This guy was so at the top of the food chain in high school, I can tell you that right now. He was a six-foot-something with a built body and short, brown hair. He was wearing some plain jeans with a zipped up navy hoodie and some cool looking sneakers.

“What are you even doing here?” Jamie gets up and pours himself a glass of sprite. Riley follows and sits down on the other side of the couch.

“Hey Con,” Riley grins, pounding Connors fist.

“Hello!” Jamie chimes back in, annoyed as hell, sitting on his boyfriend’s lap. “What the heck are you doing here?”

“Well if you must know, I was bored. Oh, and uh…Em dumped me.” He said nonchalantly.

“Wait, what?!” Jamie gasps. Riley shrugs his shoulders.

“She was old new anyways.” He then turned to Landon and I, “But these guys, however are new. Who are you? I’m Riley, nice to meet you.”

I laugh and take his handshake, “Ever. Nice to meet you too. “

“And you?” He turns to Landon.

“L-Landon” He blushes with a smile.

“Nice to meet you two.” Riley smiled. “Oh, and if you hadn’t already guessed, I’m James’s older brother.”

“Wait, James?” I turn to Jamie. He sighs.

“Yes, it’s my slave name, I’ve gone by Jamie since elementary, though.”

“I like the name James.” Connor comments, looking at Jamie, and then back to us. “But he refuses to let me call him that. I only do it if I pissed off at him for something.” He laughs. “James Alexander Hart!” He growls into Jamies ear, and Jamie just pushes him away with a soft laugh.

“Same,” I laugh with him and then turn to Landon, “Don’t I, Landon Autumn Lee?”

“You’re middle name is Autumn?!” Blair exclaims, looking at Landon.

He nods his head with an added, “Y-yep. Weird huh?”

“No, try the coolest middle name I’ve ever heard.” She smiles. “Mine’s pretty lame….like, Mackenzie? Really, mom?”

We all laugh. The night from then on was relatively calm, just throwing stories back and forth, having a few snack breaks, and switching movies out for a while. Riley stuck around for the next couple hours, just vegging out with us and shit talking his now ex-girlfriend Em. That soon turned into card games, which turned into bored games. We even got through a game or two of Clue, which I won…both times. Something else that went on tonight was a certain something with Jamie and Landon. They really got along great…and actually had a shit ton of the same interests. Like, Jamie does film and is actually a candy maker believe it or not. He’s going to culinary arts school in the spring., and is shooting a video for a local band next weekend. He said he’d let me come along and take some pictures if I wanted. He also promised Landon that they with have a horror movie night together.

I thanked the heavens that Landon finally found someone to really click with…other than me of course.

Eventually, I began to lose all and any energy I had and asked Landon if he was ready to go. Of course he sleepily nodded his head and let out an adorable yawn. I started to slip my jacket on and turned to Connor.

“I think we’re gonna head out, man.” I yawned.

“Alright, “ He grins, of course yawning right after I did. “Ah, shit man, you’re spreading the disease, I’m ready to pass out….” He laughs. I laugh with him.

“Well, it’s not like it’s 1:45 a.m. or anything.” I laugh sarcastically.

“Alright, alright, get outta here already.” He grins. Me and Landon gather the rest of our stuff and make our way towards the front door. “Bye guys, I’ll see you at the shop sometime this week.” I smile, waving at Blair, Jamie, and Riley. Landon waves with me.

“Bye!” They yell and I finally make my way out the door.

Barely a word was said the whole way to the car….but it was a good silence. I took Landons hand that I was holding and gave it a kiss.

“You were great tonight.” I smile down at him. He leans on my shoulder with a yawn.

“Y-you sure?”

“I’m positive.” I lean down and gave his pouty lips a kiss. I could feel him smiling.

“Mm,” He kept kissing me for a few more seconds and then pulled away with a blush. “I’m so r-ready to get in b-bed with you…” He rubs his sleepy eyes.

“Don’t rub them, baby.” I take his hand away from his face.

We make it to the car and I get back to his house as soon as I can, wanting to curl up with him right this second. When we get to his house, I carry him up to his room, lay him on his bed, and change him into his pj’s. He would have done had he not been completely out from the second he laid down in the car. I slipped his shirt and pants off, then slipped some pj pants up his legs. With a groan, I slip my pants and shirt off, not bothering to find pajama pants, and I crawl into bed with him. He hugs my chest and snuggles his face into my neck with a whimper. I hug him to me, shutting the lights off, and finally…I fall asleep.

________________________________________________________________________

Landon, of course, had another appointment right in the morning, so I made my way home for a few hours, hoping to catch my mom for a bit. I haven’t been seeing much of her lately…and honestly, its beginning to piss me off. All she seems to care about is the baby, and I know it’s important, but…I’m alive right now.

I’m her baby.

I know it may sound super lame that I’m saying it that way, but fuck, it’s true. She’s been my rock though everything…and even if she’s clueless to by dad hurting me all these years, she always seemed to keep him in check…at least when she’s around.

But now she’s never around…and what will I do then?

Goddamn, you stupid fucking pen. You stupid piece of shit, you better work in three…two….one-that’s what I thought.

I was currently sitting on my bed, writing a journal entry, when I hear someone walking up the stairs. I feel my hands grin my pen a little tighter.

My door opens.

“H-hi, dad…” I stare at him.

“Ever.” He nods. “Look, I just came up here to let you know you’re mother and I have a doctor appointment in an hour, so we’ll be gone. Dinner is in the fridge.” He grumbles and makes his way back out the door. I mumble a thanks and stare back down at my piece of paper miserably. So, I wont even really see her tonight? Cool…Ugh.

This isn't good.

This…is really not good.