Sun-Kissed

Owen kept his word about taking things slowly. Our first official date after we decided to get back together was just a night at the movies. His car had a sunroof so after the movie, we sat in his car with our seats back and the sunroof open. We talked looking at the stars, sneaking peeks at each other. He asked permission before he tried anything, kissing me and even when he wanted to hold my hand.
Our relationship didn’t really get any further than that, at least not until school started. That was when the real test of our relationship came. I still wasn’t comfortable with labeling us as boyfriends, but I wanted to know that Owen wasn’t going to hide the fact that we were dating. The morning of the first day of school, I got into Robbie’s car. He still didn’t know that Owen and I were dating again, just because we were keeping it casual, I didn’t want him to overreact like he always did. Plus, everything between him and Petra was going really well and I didn’t want to distract him. I knew it was time to tell him.
“There’s something I want to tell you before we leave,” I said.
“What’s up?”
“I just wanted to tell you that...ever since the Fourth, Owen and I have been sort of seeing each other.”
“What?”
“We’ve been taking it really slow. We’ve only been out a few times, but...I’m happy.”
I could tell he wasn’t happy about it because he made a frustrated face, but he collected himself, took a deep breath and turned to me. “Well if you’re happy, I’m happy for you. Just please be careful.”
“That’s why we’re taking it slow. I’m only telling you because...he promised that he wouldn’t hide our relationship at school anymore and I just want someone who knows to keep both of us honest.”
We arrived at school. It was a typical first day. People were hanging around in the parking lot drinking their Starbucks and messing around with each other. Some hung around the front entrance of the school, but mostly everyone was in the quad. That’s where we met Justin, Petra, and the rest of the gang. Justin greeted me with a friendly hug and as soon as Petra and Robbie saw each other their lips were locked together.
I was about to say hello to Mouse when I felt someone grab me by the shoulder and spin me around. I looked up and it was Owen. He looked into my eyes as if to ask permission to kiss me. I gave him a smile as an answer. He smiled back, wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me close to him, our lips touched in a soft, but rather a long kiss, loner than I was used to. Everyone around us cheered and clapped. When the kiss was over, I looked around with a big smile on my face. Everyone was smiling, even Justin who had a sort of defeated smile, but he was still happy for me.
“What the hell?” It was Zoe. She was with Hannah, Bianca, Derek, and Hugo. “Was this why you broke up with me? You’re a fag?”
Owen turned around, with his arm still around my waist and me by his side. He saw them and smiled. “Zoe, I knew I couldn’t keep taking you out when I knew how I felt about Danny.”
“You fucking disgust me!” She puffed and then ran away crying.
The rest of them stood there in shock. Hannah then walked up to us. She put one hand on my shoulder and one hand on Owen’s shoulder.
“Fucking finally!” she said with an exhausted look on her face. “I was waiting for the day that you’d finally tell me.” She looked at Owen and smiled. “I’m so happy for you.”
Derek and Hugo looked at each other and then Derek looked at Bianca who had a smile on her face. She encouraged both Derek and Hugo to walk up and talk to Owen. The hesitated, but both walked up. Owen brought his arm from around my waist and prepared to face them, but what they did surprised me and it probably surprised Owen as well. They hugged him.
“Listen, man, we may not understand it, but we’re your bros. We just want you to be happy.”
“No one makes me happier,” said Owen with a smile as he looked at me and took my hand.
“And don’t worry about Zoe,” said Bianca. “Hannah and I will talk to her. She’s just hurt.”
“I hate what I did to her, but...I just wasn’t ready to come out yet.”
“So you like totally gay now?” asked Derek. “You like dudes?”
Owen smiled. “Well, I’m not straight, I can tell you that. I guess the closest thing to how I feel right now is bi. But I don’t want you to think of me like that. I’m just Owen, okay?”

After school, I rode with Owen. He told me that he was on a roll and he wanted to tell his parents about me. I wasn’t going to go with him, he just wanted to hold my hand as he drove. It was really sweet. He dropped me off at home and when I got there I noticed Robbie’s car outside my house. Owen noticed it too. I was glad that he understood my relationship with Robbie. Not many boyfriends would be okay with how close Robbie and I were.
Owen parked in front of my house and leaned over to give me a kiss on the cheek. He smiled at me and ran a hand through my curly hair. “I know that it’s been a while since the Fourth of July now, but I just wanted to talk about something I said that night.”
“Owen, I know what you’re talking about. You don’t have to say anything about it.”
“You don’t have to feel pressured to say it back. I know you want to take it slow and I completely understand. Just know that I really do love you and that’s why I can wait. I can wait for you for as long as it takes.”
I put my hand behind his head and brought him to me so I could kiss him softly. “Thank you for understanding. You’re amazing. Good luck with your parents.”
I got out of the car and walked up to my house. When I walked in I went straight to the kitchen. My mom was sitting at the kitchen counter reading a book. I walked to the refrigerator and grabbed the orange juice and an apple. After I grabbed a glass from the cupboard, I poured me a glass.
“Robbie’s in your room,” said my mom, not bringing her eyes up from her book.
“I saw his car outside,” I said, after taking a small sip of orange juice.
I remembered Robbie likes apples too so I reached into the refrigerator for another one. I washed both of them and took them along with my juice to my bedroom. I walked into my room and Robbie was sitting at my desk, browsing his Facebook on my laptop. He turned around when he heard me come in. I threw an apple his way and he caught it.
“Thanks,” he said.
“What’s up?” I asked, setting my juice on my desk. My bed was right next to my desk so I sat at the edge.
Robbie took a sip of my orange juice. “Just thought it would be cool to hang out. We haven’t done that in a while.”
I smiled. “That’s true.” I looked him in the eyes. “Look, not that I don’t want to hang out with you right now, but why are you really here?”
“What?! How dare you imply that I have ulterior motives.”
I gave him that look that told him that I didn’t believe him. “Come on, Robbie. The reason we haven’t hung out is because you spend every second possible with Petra. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. You should. But if you’re not with her there must be something you want to talk to me about.” I took a sip of orange juice.
When I put my glass down, he took another sip. “Okay, I just wanted to say that I’m really happy that Owen stepped up and that maybe he isn’t as bad as I thought he was.”
I could tell it was killing him and it made me smile. “You hated every second of that,” I said in a laugh.
He laughed, too. “Fuck, it was the worst.”
We spent the rest of the afternoon playing Street Fighter, binging on junk food, and watching old 80’s movies. Before we knew it, it was seven at night. I was about to ask him to stay for dinner, but that’s when I got a call from Owen. He called to say that he came out to my parents and that they wanted to meet me. He asked if I wanted to go to his house for dinner. I found this ironic because It was just over a year ago that I told him that my mom wanted to meet him and he freaked out. At the same time, I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I wanted to meet his parents. I wanted to meet his little brother. So, I was excited.
“I have to get ready. What the hell am I going to wear?” I started to panic.
“To what?” Robbie asked.
“Owen just asked me to have dinner with him and his parents.”
“Oh, that’s big. I was super nervous when I met Petra’s parents.”
“You have to help me get ready.”
“What do I know? I’d wear basketball shorts and t-shirts every day if I could.”
“I know, but I’m nervous and I’m afraid I’ll pick the wrong outfit.”
“Maybe you should FaceTime Lori and ask her opinion.”
“Come on, it won’t be that hard.”
Robbie finally agreed to help me. I ran to the bathroom to take a shower. When I got back, I tried on three different outfits. They were all pretty much different button-up shirt and jeans combos with some polo shirts sprinkled in. In the end, we decided on a green polo because it was dressed up without looking like I was trying too hard. We paired the polo with black jeans because they were more stylish than a regular blue jean.
When we finished, Robbie asked my mom if she wanted to have dinner with him and his dad since she was going to be alone. She gave him a smile and agreed. She had been spending a lot of time with Robbie’s dad. I had a secret suspicion that they were dating, but I never said anything because I wasn’t sure and if they were I wanted her to tell me in her own time. So, my mom left with Robbie to his house and I waited for Owen to pick me up.
I was waiting in the living room watching the premiere of the new Marvel tv show when Owen rang the doorbell. I turned the tv off and walked over to the door. When I opened it, he took one look at me and his eyes went wide.
“Wow,” he said as he looked me up and down. “You look hot.”
I could feel myself blush. “Thanks.” I gave him a ‘c’mere’ look.
He stepped up and wrapped his arms around my waist and looked me straight in the eyes. “You...are the most beautiful person I’ve ever met.”
I expected him to kiss me, but he just embraced me instead. He led me to his car and he couldn’t stop smiling the entire way to his house. I had never been to his house while his family was there and it was making me nervous. My hands were starting to get sweaty. Then, when we finally arrived, I started to tremble. Owen could sense my nerves because he put his hand on mine.
“Hey, it’s alright. My parents are gonna love you. I know it.”
I smiled at him and then we walked to the door hand in hand. When we walked in the house smelled like tomato sauce and garlic. I guess we were having some type of pasta. Owen called out to his parents as we walked through the house to the kitchen. His mom was there, tasting the sauce. She looked over, smiled and put her spoon down. She was tall, with fair skin and long dark brown hair that had a slight wave to it. She still had on what seemed to be her work clothes, but she wore an apron over them.
“You must be Danny,” she said as she extended a hand. She seemed nervous like she was trying her best to be pleasant, but she was visibly shaking.
I shook her hand which was a little sweaty. “It’s really nice to meet you, Mrs. Arnold.”
“I must say that when Owen told us that he was dating a boy, it threw me for a loop. But we love him no matter what and we’re happy to have you in our home.”
“Thank you. The food smells really good.”
“It’s almost ready.” She looked at Owen. “Your father is in the living room watching the football game. You probably shouldn’t bother him. He’s really into it. So just go to your room until dinner is ready. You have about fifteen minutes.”
“Cool, we’ll be back.” He took me by the hand and started to lead me to his bedroom.
“Keep the door open!” Mrs. Arnold called out to us.
Owen stopped “Mom!” He complained. “You’re so embarrassing.”
“Those are the rules.”
“Okay, okay…” He said as he squeezed my hand harder and pulled me into his room.
It was exactly as I remembered. It was slightly cleaner than I remembered. The sports memorabilia and trophies were all in the same spots, but they were all definitely dusted. It was almost as if he made an effort to clean his room just for me. Owen led me to his bed and he sat on his rolling desk chair and rolled it in front of me. He took my hands in mine. He looked into my eyes, but I was still nervous.
“I know what you’re thinking.”
“You do?”
“Yeah, the last time you were here, we…”
“Oh, yeah...I try to forget that.”
I knew I probably shouldn’t have said that as soon as I saw the hurt in his eyes.
“You...do?” He asked.
“No, that came out wrong. I just meant that...When I think of my first time, our first time, I think about how much you hurt me and that’s the last thing I want to think about.”
He looked down in disappointment. “I’m sorry that I was such a fucking idiot. I was scared of how I felt about you and it made me a coward. I just want you to know that I’ve learned my lesson and I never want to hide how I feel about you again.”
He leaned in and gave me one of the softest kisses he’s ever given me. He even snuck in a little tongue which I wasn’t mad about. That’s when we heard his door squeak open. It was his little brother, Sam. We pulled apart. Sam was like a little Owen. He had dark wavy hair and skin that was touched with just the right amount of sun.
“Ew! Were you kissing?!”
Owen started to laugh. “Yeah, so?”
“Is he your boyfriend?!”
I could feel my cheeks turn red. That’s when his mother came in and saved the moment to tell us all that dinner was ready. We all walked to the dining room and that’s where I first met Mr. Arnold. He was really tall and thin, cleanly-shaven with salt and pepper hair. He wore a shirt and tie with a cardigan, reminding me of Mr. Rogers. He seemed really nice, but also really stern somehow. He had this serious look on his face, but I think that could have been explained away by his favorite football team just losing.
“David, this is Danny,” said Mrs. Arnold.
Mr. Arnold walked over to me. He had that stern look on his face that terrified me. His brows pushed down and his mouth turned down. When he got to me, he towered over me. He stood there for what seemed like forever, giving me that look. I didn’t notice I was holding my breath until he broke his look and began to smile. When I realized that he was messing with me was when I was finally able to breathe.
“It’s nice to meet you, Danny,” he said with his deep voice. He extended his hand out to shake. As we shook hands, I looked into his eyes. They were kind, exactly the same as Owen’s.
“Dad, you’re horrible. I told you he would be nervous.”
“Come on, I’m allowed to have a little fun.” He looked back at me. “Thanks for joining us last minute.”
It was clear that Owen’s dad was having an easier time with the fact that he had a boyfriend. During dinner, he was making jokes and telling embarrassing stories about Owen’s childhood. Owen’s mother, on the other hand, was tense the entire time. One time she caught Owen brush his arm against mine and I could tell that she got really uncomfortable. She shifted in her chair and pretended not to notice as she pushed pasta around her bowl. At least she was trying. I was pretty sure that my dad didn’t want anything to do with me. Owen was lucky that his parents were at least trying. I knew I was lucky to have such an amazing mother and sister, but there was something about how angry my dad was that killed me inside.