Almost Lover

“Wake up, Boo Bear…” I called carefully, poking my boyfriend’s cheek. He scrunched up his nose and slapped my hand away.
“Why?” He mumbled.
“We have no school,”
“All the more reason to let me rest,” He sighed heavily.
I rolled my eyes at the boy before getting up anyway. I went to the bathroom to go ahead and shower. When I finished, I just let my hair fall down however it pleased. When I returned into my bedroom, Stryker had managed to get even more wrapped up in the blanket than he was before. The only thing visible was his raven colored hair. I shook my head and smacked where I assumed his ass to be. I didn’t give the boy time to do anything before I was booking it out of my room. I bound down the stairs happily, and into the kitchen. Both of my parents were cooking in the kitchen.
“Morning,” I smiled at both of them, sitting down at the island.
“Morning,”
“Morning dear,” My mother added with a smile. “Where’s Stryker?”
“Asleep,” I scoffed. “What are you making?”
“Cookies!” My mom stated proudly.
“Why?” I laughed. “Mom, it’s like ten in the morning.”
“Asher, it is never too early to make chocolate chip cookies, end of discussion,”
I tossed my hands up.
“Okay, okay,”
“Why isn’t Stryker awake yet?” My dad asked.
I wanted to laugh. Normally my dad wouldn’t ask me too much about my boyfriend. He preferred me to keep that part of my life private. He wasn’t going to pry into my love life like my dearest mother loved to do any time she had a clear opportunity.
“Hell if I know. He was pretty restless last night,” I sighed, resting my chin against my right hand. My mother caught sight of the ring I had on, and sent me a playful wink. I choose to ignore it, and look over at my dad.
“That’s odd.” He stated.
“Have you both talked about college?” My mother questioned, turning around toward me. She placed her hands on her hips, and looked at me expectedly.
“Not in the last couple of months.” I admitted. “Is that a bad thing?”
“Considering he’s going to UNC Asheville in the fall…”
“So it’s official?” I furrowed my brows. “Like he is actually going to North Carolina?”
“I’m sorry, son,” My dad sighed, nodding his head.
“Ash, we found out recently too. Principle Moore took me, your father, and Shelley in to speak to all of us about it.”
“He got a scholarship.” My dad sighed.
I chewed on my bottom lip. I wasn’t all that mad at my parents. I wasn’t all that mad period. I was rather annoyed, and shocked to know that Stryker hadn’t even told me he was actually applying to that school. I didn’t know anything about this. Since when was Stryker applying for scholarships too? When did he do it? It must have been when we were either drifting apart or he had separate classes. I wanted to believe that was what our conversation yesterday was about, but somehow I knew that was connected to it.
“T-that’s incredible.” I slightly stuttered. “I had no idea,”
“I can tell,” My mom smiled softly. “What are you planning on doing?”
I shrugged.
“I’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” I sighed. “It’s difficult, you know? I have no idea what I want to do with my life.”
“You can always become a lawyer,” My dad stated. “We’re always looking for interns around there.”
I rolled my eyes.
“I’ll think about it dad,”
“You could be a photographer,” My mom offered. “You’re really good at that, and we know someone who might be able to hook you up with a job.”
“I love that idea,” My dad added.
I looked between the two of them.
“Did you plan this?”
“No,” My mom stated. However, my dad’s facial expression gave it all away. They had talked about us before without us even knowing. “Okay, fine…we did. He’s a wonderful photographer, Asher. I think that you would benefit from staying with him and his family for a while. He said that you were welcome to go any time that you wanted, and were able to stay for a while.”
I eyed her carefully.
“Yeah…”
“He is the best at what he does,” My dad spoke. “You would love his kids. They’re adorable. You’ve always wanted a sibling right?”
“Yes, but I don’t think any of that is really going to happen,” I laughed. “Look, Stryker and I are committed. If that means moving to North Carolina to stay with him, then I will do what’s needed. I love him,”
My mom smiled before walking over toward me. She sat down opposite, and placed her elbows on the table.
“I know that you do, sweetheart. Stryker knows that to. He also knows that you have to do what’s best for you, and what is best for you might not be to follow him.” She stated. “Just think about it, please?”
“That’s all we’re asking.” My dad added in. “Love is a wonderful thing, but you can’t forget who you are in the process. Son, it’s a tough world out there. It can make you or break you. We just want you to get the best experience possible,”
I sighed, lightly tugging at my waves of blonde hair.
“Where is it?” I questioned. My mom and my dad cautiously looked at each other before looking back at me. I was really confused at the moment. I know my parents are just being the concerning parents they normally are. It’s just weird how they were wording everything. They were trying to step cautiously around me. I chewed on my lip, waiting for an answer. “Mom…dad…seriously,”
“London.” My dad sighed. “He lives in London.”
“Hell no,” I stated before turning around quickly to walk up the stairs. I didn’t want to hear what else they had to say. They were practically trying to force me into an internship-type thing across the world. That wasn’t going to fly with me. I’m already going to be far enough from my boyfriend, if I don’t move with him. London is just undoable for us.
When I entered my bedroom, Stryker mumbled and moved a little bit so that I had a seat where I slept the night before. He didn’t say anything else, but he allowed me into the bed. I quickly snuggled up to him, pressing a light kiss on his neck. I hugged the boy tight, and he returned the death grip. I felt like I actually needed to feel him beside me. I don’t know where the sudden urge came from but it did.
“Are you okay?” He asked me tiredly, keeping his voice in a whisper.
“Why wouldn’t I be okay?”
“You rushed back up here pretty quickly.” He admitted. “Something up, babe?”
I nuzzled further into him.
“Just hold me,”
“Asher, seriously,” He sighed, turning his head toward me. I looked up and my eyes met his. “You never ask me to hold you,”
“What if I want to be the one being held for a change? Is that so weird?”
He bent down and kissed me slowly. I smiled, and gripped the younger boy tighter. He pulled back and continued to place sweet kisses across my face until his lips landed fully back against my own. I held him tighter. I wanted so badly to bring up what my parents had, but I didn’t have it in me. My pride wouldn’t let me. If Stryker wants me to know than he will tell me personally. He won’t keep it for too long, will he? I wouldn’t think so.
“I love you so fucking much. I want you to know that.” He sighed. “I’ve never loved anyone as much as I love you. I swear…”
“Yeah?”
“Can we promise that things won’t change?”
I looked back up at him.
“What do you mean?” I sighed.
Stryker’s hand came up and cupped the side of my face. His thumb brushed softly against my skin, making me smile slightly.
“Can we please promise each other that we won’t change? Let’s promise that we will love each other, no matter what, yeah?”
“Okay,” I laughed lightly. “Of course I’ll love you,”
“Good.” He smiled, pressing a longing kiss to my lips. “I love you,”
“I love you too, dumbass.” I retorted playfully.

♥

“I’m not going to lie and say that this isn’t…odd.” The photographer stated the second that Stryker and I showed up for our picture. My boyfriend and I exchanged glances before looking back at the older man. He tapped his chin carefully. He was obviously at a loss for words. “What I mean is that no one, like the two of you, have ever done this kind of school picture together,”
“You mean gay?” Stryker stated dryly.
The photographer all but blushed, and he nodded slowly.
“Normally we have the girl and the guy doing something cute with flowers or something. Are you guys really into that?”
I scoffed. I didn’t mean to, but it just sort of happened.
“Just because we’re gay automatically makes us the stereotypical gay couple, right?”
“I didn’t mean it that way,”
Stryker rolled his eyes.
“That’s what it sounded like man. No offense, but we kind of don’t do the whole gay stereotype thing. We’re both dudes, not girly-boys. It’s just how we are. He’s just as much of a man as you are, or more.”
“I’m straighter than he is, and he’s bisexual.” I shrugged. “Does that clear up anything?”
“We also won the best friends superlative.” Stryker sighed. “We choose this one.”
The photographer nodded his head.
“Right…well…how do you feel about piggy back rides?”
Stryker shook his head.
“Nope. No way,”
“You can do a casual arm around each other and looking at one another thing?” He offered up.
I looked over at Stryker and shrugged. I was okay with that if he was. He sighed, but he nodded in agreement. The photographer turned toward me for an answer. I nodded along with him. He moved us in front of our black backdrop. Stryker wrapped his arm around my lower waste, and I did the same to him. The photographer took a couple of shots of us actually looking at him before he had us look at each other. I smiled widely when I saw that he was still wearing the necklace that I got him. It just so happened to match my key necklace. I thought it was cute.
“Is that all?” I playfully asked. Stryker elbowed me in the gut. I shoved him away from me, causing both of us to laugh.
“May I ask how long you two have been together?” He questioned, looking down at his camera at our pictures.
“Almost six months,” Stryker admitted. I sent him a playfully wink to which he rolled his eyes at. “It feels like longer. He’s a freaking handful.”
“Me?” I laughed. “Oh, yeah…I’m the handful.”
Stryker laughed and gripped my hand tightly in his own.
“You are, babe. Don’t lie,”
“You’re no walk in the park either, buddy!” I laughed.
“Thanks…”
“I believe that’s all I need,” The photographer stated, looking back up at the two of us.
“Kay,”
“Whatever,” Stryker sighed, already dragging me toward the exit. I laughed the entire way, but I followed him anyway. He kept walking down the halls until we got back to our classroom. We entered the nearly silent room with laughing. Stryker pulled me back to our seats in the last room. The teacher simply rolled her eyes at us before attempting to go back to her lesson. It’s not like Stryker and I were really paying attention anyway. It was rather pointless.
I wanted more than anything to bring up the scholarship that he received. I knew that it was going to bug me until I did. However, I wanted Stryker to tell me himself. I don’t know why, but I really needed to hear the words come from his mouth. My parents are wonderful, but what if Asher doesn’t exactly want this? What if he just wants to stay here longer regardless of a scholarship? Sure it’s a little far fetched, but I’m here. I know that I mean the world to me as he does to me.
Initially that is what stopped me. It was on the tip of my tongue. I’m dying to ask him, but I just can’t. I can’t bring myself to do it. I’m rather scared of the answer. After it all becomes real, we have to talk about our options. It’s not going to be easy. We have to figure out things as a couple. That is a scary concept. Not only do I have to consider my future, but I also have to consider my boyfriends. Stryker must have been feeling the exact same way that I am.
“I love you,” I found myself saying to my boyfriend as we walked to lunch.
Stryker burst out in laughter.
“Wow, that was fucking random.” He stated, looking over at me. The boy gave me a childish grin before squeezing my hand in his. “But I love you too.”
“Okay, good.” I sighed.
“You alright?” He furrowed his brows.
“Yeah, I just needed to hear you say it again.”
The slightly shorter boy stopped walking, and wrapped his arms tightly around my neck. I smiled at him, gripping his hips.
“Asher, I’m wearing your stupid promise right, and you’re wearing mine. Of course I love you, babe. I’m yours okay? Seriously, this insecurity is getting ridiculous. You have no reason to doubt our relationship.”
“Really? Are you sure?” I questioned.
Stryker leaned closer before our lips pressed together in a longing kiss. It was simple and sweet, because we were standing in the hallway with other people walking around us. It wasn’t like the passionate kisses we usually share, but this one was just as good. Any kiss that Stryker gives me is beyond amazing.
“Asher, I’m sure.” He smiled.
I wish I would’ve known what was coming next.