Do Better

Royce Waite was the kind of guy that everybody loved. He was the captain of the soccer team and the student body vice president. If you wanted a job done, and done right mind you, you went to him. His report card was permanently graced with A's. Nobody even cared that he was gay.

Royce Waite was the perfect senior which is why nobody understood why he was dating Bryson Lee. 

Bryson was the type of guy that a lot of people couldn't stand. He was nice enough but he certainly spoke his mind and not many people liked that. He wasn't into sports, unless you counted partying as a sport and his report card? Well, let's just say that it was a good thing he had a pretty face.

You see, it's not like Bryson was bad, per se, but everyone knew Royce could do better. This thought constantly plagued Bryson, making him desperate to keep his perfect boyfriend. Royce was the greatest thing that ever happened to him and he was determined to prove the masses wrong.

Bryson got up early Saturday morning, well, okay, it was eleven, which was early for Bryson. He had a date with his boyfriend of almost two years and this time, it was Royce's turn to pick. 

Bryson got showered and dressed in a casual yet dressy outfit, just in case. He was almost successfully out of his house when his mother interrupted his escape attempt. 

"Oh, darling, you look spiffy. What're you up to today?" She asked, half curious, half suspicious.

"Just a date." Bryson mumbled, trying to sidestep his mom. 

"With Royce?" She asked critical eyes trained on her son. You see, she, too, was bewildered by Royce's choice of dating her son. Nothing against Bryson or anything, it was just that she knew how he could be and Royce really could do a lot better. 

"Yes, mom. Who else? It's not like we broke up or anything." The dark haired teen snapped. His insecurities were showing again which just made him even more insecure. He didn't like it when his weaknesses showed. 

"Don't be so moody." His mother deadpanned. 

"So, you're allowed to be moody five days a month and I'm not allowed to have one moment?" He asked, eyebrows raised and arms crossed.

Mrs. Lee just rolled her eyes and proceeded into the living room. If anyone was accustomed to Bryson's attitudes, it was her. She did carry him around in her uterus for nine months, after all. 

Bryson shook his head and rolled his eyes and huffed and stomped and slammed the door as he left. He had what you call angst. Nobody understood why, it's just something they accepted. Royce was really the only one who tried to figure out where it was rooted and he was oh so close.

It wasn't long before Bryson was knocking on Royce's front door. No matter how many times he had done this before, his palms still sweat and his heart still threatened to beat out of his chest. He was in love, okay? 

Mrs. Waite answered the door and gave Bryson the usual once over before arranging a tight smile to her lips. It wasn't that she didn't like him. 

Wait. 

Yes it was. Mrs. Waite hated Bryson. She knew that her son could do better and she knew that everyone else knew that too. She felt that Bryson was holding her son back and that's not something that any mother liked. But the thing is that, while Mrs. Waite was a horrible human being (there was no denying that), she was an excellent mother. 

She genuinely cared about her son's happiness and, much to her dismay, that happiness mostly, if not fully, rested on the shoulders if the boy standing in front of her.

So she stepped aside to let him in. "Royce is still getting ready. You're welcome to go get him." 

Bryson smiled weakly and nodded a thanks before darting up the stairs of the familiar house and opening the door to Royce's room. The shorter, tanner, and brighter of the two spun around with wide eyes, ready to yell at his mother for intruding when he noticed his boyfriend. Instead, a wide grin spread across his lips and he skipped, yes skipped, into Bryson's open arms. 

"I missed you!" He laughed.

"Baby, I just saw you last night." Bryson smiled, looking down into his bright green eyes. In all honesty, he missed the boy in his arms too, but he didn't want to admit it. He was supposed to be the more masculine of the two, after all. It was pretty much the only thing he had going for him. 

Royce knew, though. That he had missed him too, that is. Bryson didn't have to say it. Royce could read his boyfriend like a children's book. But he wouldn't tell him that. No, he was trying to rid Bryson of all his insecurities and he knew that that would only add to them. Instead, he pecked the taller boy on the corner of his mouth and returned to getting dressed for the evening. 

He wasn't good at planning their dates and he was slightly nervous about what Bryson would think. Tonights adventure was a little more on the sentimental side and while he knew that he himself would love it, he wasn't sure if Bryson would feel the same way. 

Though why would he think that? Bryson adored everything Royce did. He'd suffered many sunburns as a result of sitting outside and watching Royce's soccer games. He'd sat through many award ceremonies where his love was being awarded. He had even been coerced into attending a few student council meetings just because Royce didn't feel like they were spending enough time together.

Royce dressed casually and pulled on a hoodie before turning to his brown eyed  boy. Bryson finally allowed his eyes to roam over his body and immediately felt over dressed. Royce hardly noticed his unease and pecked him a kiss before threading their fingers together and leading him downstairs, calling to his mother as they walked out of the door.

Instead of heading to his car, Royce walked straight to the sidewalk. Bryson wiggled his hand away from Royce's and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. The shorter boy smiled to himself and wrapped his own arm around Bryson's waist. 

"So, where are we going?" Bryson asked. He had a pretty good idea but he couldn't be sure. Royce occasionally had big, well thought out surprises up his sleeve. It was just one more thing he was better at than the older male.

"Guess." Royce giggled.

Bryson thought. It couldn't be that obvious, could it? But if he said the obvious thing and that wasn't it, he'd feel stupid. Dating a borderline genius could be hard sometimes. Or all the time. But, if you asked him, it was definitely worth it.

"Well?" The green eyed boy asked and poked his boyfriend in the side, earning himself the laugh that he loved so much. 

"I'm thinking." Bryson sighed, kissing Royce on the head.

Butterflies spread through his stomach at this random affectionate gesture. It wasn't unusual for Bryson to suddenly pull him close for a hug or a kiss. Honestly, could you blame him? He had the most amazing and gorgeous boyfriend in the world. 

Royce gathered himself before asking. "Are you succeeding in your quest of thought?"

"Not at all." Bryson admited.

"Then just follow me, baby." 

Royce lead Bryson down the street and into an area everyone called The Abyss. Now, don't let the name fool you. It's not a black pit or anything. It was simply an easily accessible section of the woods that many people used as a hangout. A few years ago a group of kids cleared out a wide field and filled it with abandoned furniture. Couches and tables and old washing machines. Even an old car or two. 

Royce chose this place because this was their place. The place where Bryson took him after their first date. The place where Bryson gave him his first kiss. The place where Bryson asked him to be his boyfriend. The place where they spent their one year anniversary. Everyone knew how special this place was to Royce and everyone respected that.

Bryson grinned. Yeah, he could guess as much. He absolutely loved that the memories that they had made together were Royce's favorites. Honestly, sometimes he had to convince himself that it wasn't a dream. It was seriously hard to believe that Royce had chosen him, even after two years.

The shorter boy lead them over to their favorite piece of furniture: an abandoned kitchen table that had been dragged here just days before their first kiss. It had actually happened when they were sitting on top of it.

Royce let go of Bryson and hoped up onto the table, sitting himself in the middle of the flat surface and crossing his legs. He slapped his thighs and Bryson climbed up onto the table and layed his head in his boyfriends lap, letting his legs dangle off the side.

No words were spoken for almost fifteen minutes. They really didn't need them. They were just happy to be together. I mean, it's not like they weren't together constantly it's just that they couldn't get enough. You would think that after two years you'd wanna spend some time apart. That was not the case for these two. They were so deeply rooted in their love that it was hard to go a few hours without the other.

It was a little sickening to those who don't know the feeling. In other words, everyone but the pair. 

Bryson was the first to break the silence. "How was your morning?" 

"Fine. I went running with my dad and then had a fight with my mom." Royce sighed then smileed down at him. "It's much better now, though."

Bryson frowned. "What'd you fight about?" Royce simply shook his head which gave him his answer. "Me."

"Baby, it's not like that. She was worried about a C on my physics test and she blamed you saying that you distracted me from studying. And then she tried to tell me I couldn't see you on school nights and I just got so pissed." Royce teared up but wiped them away furiously. "She told me I couldn't see you anymore. I told her no."

Bryson took this all in, knowing that he needed to let Royce just have his moment. He and his mom fought constantly about this, about him, and Bryson was sick of seeing his love so hurt. 

"Maybe she's right." Bryson murmured once Royce is smiling again. His stomach dropped when the smile melted from his lips once again. "I just mean maybe you need to focus on your grades and whatnot. I'm obviously no good in that area and it's the last term of the year. It's important. I'll still be around on the weekends." 

Bryson could hardly believe what he was saying. Since when did he want to spend less time with the love of his life? Royce was royally confused and slightly outraged. 

"Fuck Bryson! I love you! Get that through that thick head of yours." Royce exasperated. "I'm yours forever. I'm working on the forever part but I'm pretty sure that means all day, every day."

Bryson smiled like an idiot. Honestly, as soon as he thought he was as gay as he was going to get, Royce just makde him gayer. "I know but-"

"No buts. Just stay with me. Stand by me." He insisted. 

"I will." Bryson smiled. Royce grinned back and leaned down to show him just how much that meant to him. 

Bryson knew that Royce could have done better but he was ecstatic that he had chosen him. Like I said, he could hardly wrap his head around it. 

But. 

But maybe this wasn't so bad. Maybe people were overreacting. Royce was happy with Bryson and swore that he'd only be happy with him. Isn't Royce's happiness what everyone wanted? 

So, maybe, in reality, he really couldn't do better. Maybe everyone was wrong.

Because even though Royce could find someone 'better', he would never find anyone who loved him as much as Bryson did.