Reap What You Sow 🌈

Chapter 23

Rory didn't get a wink of sleep that night. He was disappointed in Emilio and at the same time, he was glad about his honesty instead of stringing him along. He'd considered going to Maddie to talk to her, but in the end he'd decided not to. He would tell her later. The whole conversation made him emotional; especially because the feelings had been mutual this time but they wouldn't lead to anything anyway. He knew he should give it time. He didn't want to give up on their friendship, for he believed Emilio needed him and Rory liked being around him. 

All in all, he was in a bad mood the next morning. Maddie knew better than to ask questions; when he was ready, he would share his thoughts anyway. Actually he didn't want to go to church today, but he knew he would only be fretting when he stayed home. 

Only when he entered the church and saw Adam sitting among the others, he remembered he'd agreed to hang out today. Sighing softly, he wondered how Adam would deal with his mood. Probably not in a good way. 

The boy waved at him as he saw them come closer. There was an empty seat next to him and Rory was sure he'd reserved it for him. Rory felt compelled to sit there, so he grumbled a goodbye to Maddie and headed to the empty chair.

"Hey!" Adam smiled at him with sparkling eyes. 

"Hey."

Rory noticed that the sight of Adam's merry face and his sweet smile did something to him and he lifted the corners of his mouth as he sat down next to him. Why should I care about Emilio?  Turning his face towards Adam to start a conversation, he was surprised by a quick peck on the lips. His anger crumbled when he saw Adam's cheeks flush and he squeezed the boy's hand when he took his hand shyly. 

"How was your weekend?" Adam asked. 

"Eh, it was kinda fun. I had a LAN party and yesterday I went to a gig. How was yours?"

"I went home yesterday. My eh — my father's girlfriend has a six year old daughter, so I went with her and my little brother to the movies. It was obviously a children's film but it was a nice one."

Rory smiled as he watched Adam's innocent face. What a contrast with Emilio. One went to a children's movie with a little girl, the other picked up his friend from prison. One blushed because of a simple kiss, the other dove into bed with whoever was in the mood for it. He watched their laced fingers. Nevertheless, he thought back to yesterday, when Emilio had held his hand and even kissed the back of it. The memory freed a butterfly in his stomach, even though it was followed by a sharp sting. 

"What movie was it?" he asked, trying to distract his thoughts from Emilio. 

"DoLittle. Some kind of remake of Dr. DoLittle."

He lifted the corner of his mouth. "A family film, not something stupid like Dora the Explorer."

Adam nudged his shoulder. "Hey, there's nothing wrong with Dora the Explorer."

Rory chuckled quietly, rubbing his thumb across Adam's. He liked it more than he'd expected to be around Adam and he actually started to look forward to this afternoon. 

. . .

After the service was finished, they stuck around for a cup of coffee. Rory was talking about some game with a few other guys. Adam couldn't join the conversation since he'd never heard of the game, but he didn't mind. He also enjoyed listening, even when he didn't understand a thing of what they were saying. But Rory's voice was vivid, his hands constantly moving as he was talking and Adam knew he could listen to him for hours. He knew he was often quiet around the boy, but that was also because he could completely dream away when he saw him smile.