Don't Fall Apart On Me Tonight

I walked into the house after getting back from seeing Chretion, and leaned up against the closed door after locking it. I smiled to myself and closed my eyes. Chretion was sweeter than I ever imagined he would be. The picnic today was just, amazing beyond anything I've ever experienced. And he said yes to moving in with me. This was the best one-month anniversary I've ever experienced.

"Hey, honey. How was Chresh?"

"He's good. He set up a picnic for the two of us outside. And he said he'd move in with me."

"Wow, looks like you snagged yourself a gentleman."

"I really did, mom." I said, smiling wider. "He's so adorable and he goes to a lot of trouble to make sure I'm happy. He does everything he can to make sure I'm happy before making sure he's comfortable and it's just so amazing. After all these years of loving him and having to be quiet about it, it's been incredible just to let him know that I love him and to hear him say it back..."

"I take it your first month went well?"

"You assume correctly." I said. "You know what this means, don't you?"

"No, what?" she said.

"You have to come help me pick out an apartment."

***

The next few weeks were spent visiting Chretion as usual, then taking all of my free time working with my mom to try and figure out what a good apartment would be. But, looking at all of these places online wasn't really enough, so one weekend, we decided to travel up to Boston to take a closer look. The only problem was, if I wanted the apartment to be a surprise for Chresh, I couldn't tell him where we were going.

The night before I was leaving, I called the rehab center and asked to talk to Chretion. We talked as usual, just enjoying being able to speak to each other. After about 20 minutes of talking to him, he told me he'd have to go soon.

"All right, but, love, before you go, I just want to tell you that I won't be there tomorrow."

"Wait, what?"

"I know, I'm sorry, I just... I have to go somewhere with my mom."

"Where are you going?" he asked. "Will you be back soon?"

"Yeah, I'll only be gone for a day." I said. "And it doesn't matter where I'm going, just... you'll see, okay?"

"What do you mean, 'I'll see'?"

"You'll see where I'm going soon. I promise." I said. "I hope you'll like it, but that's all I'm saying. I'll see you on Sunday, okay?"

"All right, I'll see you then." he said. "Hurry back."

"I will." I said. "I love you."

"I love you, too. Don't have too much fun without me."

"I won't. Bye, love."

"See you."